Wednesday, December 23, 2015

25 Days of Christmas







Blurb: New Edition of “Collection of 25 Days of Christmas Poetry” A family book of poems with a special touch of Christmas joy, cheer and Christ.


























Excerpt:
Winter
Quiet, soft tender sounds
Crackling fireplaces
Warm blankets
Sleepy afternoons
Snow falling so peaceful
Winter is here

Homemade soups
Fill the tummies
Sweet smell of yummy desserts
Christmas in the air
Lights of sorted colors

Family, friends and loved ones
Hugs and kisses
Laughter and love
Smiling faces
Pretty wrapped presents
Underneath the Christmas tree

Baby Jesus
Shepherds travel
Near and far
North Star lighting
The nightly sky
Remember

Christ this season!

Bio
Jeniann Bowers was born in Whitefish, Montana in 1972. She was raised in Eureka, Montana most of her younger years. She was the youngest of four children and is the only surviving girl. Jeniann attended Rexford Elementary School her kindergarten year and the following year she transferred to Eureka Elementary School where she graduated from the eighth grade in 1987. She attended Lincoln County High School until her junior year when she moved from Eureka to Medford, Oregon with her mother and stepfather. Her mother passed away in January 1991, and Jeniann soon got married and started a family. She was married for 21 years and had five children. She lost a daughter to SIDS in March 1994. Jeniann has recently become divorced and is raising her two boys with her daughter's help. Jeniann's youngest son suffers from Autism. J. also suffers from her own disabilities of Fibromyalgia, physical chronic pain, neuropathy, chronic depression and anxiety.
Jeniann attended college at Capella University throughout most of her writing career. She made both the President's and Dean's list for outstanding academic achievements.
Jeniann is published poetess. Her books have been in the top ten bestselling list on Amazon in the past and her current ratings stand at 4.5. She has published the following books: Expressions on Life Book One, Expressions and Letters, Phraseology and Letters, Collection of 25 Days of Christmas Poetry, Poems, Dreams & More, Poetry Is...???, Poetry: The Lighter Side of Silliness, The Sound of Nature: Collected Poems & Other Writings and soon to be released Fragments, and the re-release of Expressions, and Phraseology of Love, 25 Days of Christmas Poetry.
Jeniann is the owner of Poetry is...which is a blogging business of her own personal poetry, teachings of poetry, journals and other writings. Jeniann is a firm advocate for poetry publishing and writing poetry.

Email Address: poetryis@hotmail.com
Poetry is... - Blogger
Poet J. Bowers - Facebook
Poet J. Bowers -Twitter
@_JBowers
Poet J. Bowers - Goodreads Author






Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Expressions & Phraseology of Love Book Blog Tour


Blurb: My poetry has been an escape from the harsh reality of tragedy, loneliness, dark and scary times in my life. My thoughts, feelings and emotions that are expressed through my poems speak of who I am and where I came from being a young girl growing up in the mountains of Montana to facing death in the face for the first time when I was 10. My losses have been great, my sorrow has been huge, loneliness has been my friend and lover, but in the end I have conquered and survived. I stand tall, proud and happy today.







Excerpt:
A child’s touch
A child’s hand,
Inside of his mother’s hand,
Sweet kisses,
Upon the cheek,

God’s garden,
Full of love,
Jesus’ strength,
To save thee little one

Mother’s glory,
Her child’s smile,
To hear the laughter,
To wipe away the tears,

God’s garden,
Full of love,
Jesus’ strength,
To save thee little one



Blurb:
Live simply
                                          Dream big
                                                            Be grateful
                                          Give love
                                                            Laugh lots
Live as easy as possible,
         Less worries,
Dream and dream BIG,   
                                   Jump for the stars and never stop


Gratefulness is the gift Jesus gave us on the cross, and for us to be grateful for Him and everything we have in life….

LOVE is the mystery of the world,
                   Nobody has the correct answers
                               So stop searching for them


Excerpt:
Live, laugh, love
  Life is for you
Live it well
     Laugh with friends
Love is in your palm
Love, grasp it and never let it go









Bio:  J. Bowers was born in Whitefish, Montana in 1972. She was raised in Eureka, Montana most of her younger years. She was the youngest of four children and is the only surviving girl. J. attended Rexford Elementary School her kindergarten year and the following year she transferred to Eureka Elementary School where she graduated from the eighth grade in 1987. She attended Lincoln County High School until her junior year when she moved from Eureka to Medford, Oregon with her mother and stepfather. Her mother passed away in January 1991, and J. soon got married and started a family. She was married for 21 years and had five children. She lost a daughter to SIDS in March 1994. J. has recently become divorced and is raising her two boys with her daughter's help. J.'s youngest son suffers from Autism. J. also suffers from her own disabilities of Fibromyalgia, physical chronic pain, neuropathy, chronic depression and anxiety.
J. was a student at Capella University throughout her writing career when her health permitted her too. She made both the President's and Dean's list for outstanding academic achievements.
J. is published poetess. Her books have been in the top ten bestselling list on Amazon in the past and her current ratings stand at 4.5. She has published the following books: Expressions on Life Book One, Expressions and Letters, Phraseology and Letters, Collection of 25 Days of Christmas Poetry, Poems, Dreams & More, Poetry Is...???, Poetry: The Lighter Side of Silliness, The Sound of Nature: Collected Poems & Other Writings and soon to be released Fragments, and the re-release of Expressions, and Phraseology of Love, 25 Days of Christmas Poetry.
J. is the owner of Poetry is...which is a blogging business of her own personal poetry, teachings of poetry, journals and other writings. J. is a firm advocate for poetry publishing and writing poetry.

J.'s Contact Information:
Email Address: poetryis@hotmail.com
Poetry is... - Blogger
Poet J. Bowers - Facebook
Poet J. Bowers -Twitter
@_JBowers
Poet J. Bowers - Goodreads Author

Monday, December 21, 2015

Blog Tour Black Eagles Series @KatGreen00

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The rise of the Black Eagles was meteoric, from band practice in the garage to global stars almost overnight. And Melissa Webb, the beautiful girlfriend of the front man, appeared to have it all. But when Luke Black disappears without a trace and Melissa wakes up in a hospital bed after a savage attack, her perfect world is shattered and their lives are plunged into a potentially deadly crisis. Where is Luke, and can he be found before it is too late?  

Encore
The Black Eagles and their loved ones try to recover from the traumatic events that have beset the band, starting to piece together their lives while trying to make sense of everything that happened to them. How can they trust again, after so much betrayal? As they begin a collective healing process, they find that the future has more demons in store for them. At the centre of it all are Luke and Melissa, only just starting to put their lives back together. As they embark on new adventures, old enemies may not be ready to let them forget.  


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Kat Green was born Nov 1979 into a military family and moved around a lot during her childhood. This shaped her into the person she is today. She is at ease with meeting new people and adapting to new surroundings. Her family roots are from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Kat now lives with her husband and son on the south coast of England, Portsmouth. She doesn't pretend to be the best and is still growing as a writer and having fun along the way. She loves books and has a busy imagination. Her love for music plays a big part in her first novel called Strings. Kat loves to watch live bands and can usually be found at gigs around the UK. In 2010 she lost her mother to blood cancer and it was time to put her words on a page and stop worrying about what people might say 'Life is too short and precious to waste' is her motto. Writing is her passion and her escape.  
QuoteKat4.jpg  



Teaser 1
She felt as though they were never going to let her recover in private – the vultures were already circling, and picking for information as to what had happened. Jean had dodged two of them as she’d come into the hospital and that wasn’t even the beginning. There would be more – lots more. She wanted to scream at them to leave her daughter alone, but what would be the point? She was an intelligent woman and she knew that the lifestyle Melissa and Luke had chosen came at a price. But surely there had to be a limit? Apparently, her broken and terrified daughter was even more exciting to them than she was before. It was just another scoop for them to sell their trash, she thought. They didn’t care that two families and their friends were going through a terrible time, which would only get worse if he didn’t return. Millions of fans around the world waited to discover the fate of their idol. But to Melissa he was her boyfriend, her soul mate, her world.


Melissa went deathly white and the sound that came from within her made her parents jump; it was like an animal being tortured. She was hysterical, and had to be restrained as she threw herself on the floor screaming for Luke. Her parents struggled with her, begging her to calm down but she had snapped. Everything she had been subjected to rushed to the surface and boiled over. She was unable to control herself any more.

Her medical team rushed in and quickly assessed the situation. Due to her state of mind, they decided that sedation was the only way to calm her down and prevent her from causing herself harm.

‘Do it, doctor – now!’ Jean yelled as she struggled to hold her broken daughter.




Giveaway


The Black Eagles Band bracelet & Keychains Giveaway      




  _‘We’re too busy way,’ he chuckled. ‘I’m a rock star, not a chef.’_ - Strings by Kat Green.jpg

Saturday, December 19, 2015

NEXT DOOR TO A STAR by @KrystenLindsay


NEXT DOOR TO A STAR by Krysten Lindsay Hager
Genre: Young Adult
SYNOPSIS
Hadley Daniels is tired of feeling invisible.
After Hadley’s best friend moves away and she gets on the bad side of some girls at school, she goes to spend the summer with her grandparents in the Lake Michigan resort town of Grand Haven. Her next door neighbor is none other than teen TV star Simone Hendrickson, who is everything Hadley longs to be—pretty, popular, and famous—and she’s thrilled when Simone treats her like a friend.
Being popular is a lot harder than it looks.
It’s fun and flattering when Simone includes her in her circle, though Hadley is puzzled about why her new friend refuses to discuss her former Hollywood life. Caught up with Simone, Hadley finds herself ignoring her quiet, steadfast friend, Charlotte.
To make things even more complicated, along comes Nick Jenkins…
He’s sweet, good-looking, and Hadley can be herself around him without all the fake drama. However, the mean girls have other ideas and they fill Nick’s head with lies about Hadley, sending him running back to his ex-girlfriend and leaving Hadley heartbroken.
So when her parents decide to relocate to Grand Haven, Hadley hopes things will change when school starts…only to be disappointed once again.
Cliques. Back-stabbing. Love gone bad.
Is this really what it’s like to live…Next Door To A Star?

Links




Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnLXsu2c43k





 Bio: Krysten Lindsay Hager is an obsessive reader and has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and humor essayist, and writes for teens, tweens, and adults. She is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series and the new Star Series and her work has been featured in USA Today and named as Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Values and Virtues Fiction and Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Children’s Books on Values. Krysten writes about  friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle school and high school, frenemies, modeling, crushes, values, and self-image in True Colors and Best Friends…Forever? as well as in, Next Door to a Star. The sequel to Next Door to a Star (Competing with the Star: Star Series: Book 2) will be out March 22nd and the 3rd book in the Landry’s True Colors Series (Landry in Like: Book 3) will be out January 12th.
She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South Dakota, and currently resides in southwestern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.


Top Ten Favorite Songs:
10. I Don’t Care by Cheryl Cole: It’s the song I put on when someone or something has upset me and I have to take a moment to step back and realize I don’t care about what anyone else thinks and how they react to me or my life. It’s a very freeing and liberating song.
9. Feelin’ So Good by Jennifer Lopez: This video for this song represents a time in my life when I was in grad school and I love watching the video and reminiscing. This is probably why I’m having trouble cleaning out my closet with all the J.Lo clothes from back then in it!
8. Fight Song by Rachel Platten: This song represents every moment where I had to keep pushing and keep going when other people thought I should just stay with a “safe job.” I had a lot of people who thought I was crazy to keep pursuing a writing career because it’s such a shot in the dark. I look back at old journals of mine and can see who had no faith in me. It’s sobering.
7. I Look to You by Whitney Houston: I started listening to this one a few years ago when I lost a friend and a cousin around the same time. This is also a song I would play during the time my dad was going through an illness. I actually played it for him in the hospital and it was so weird—the lyrics which had always made me think it was a narrative for me, suddenly sounded like what my dad was going through himself. It’s one of those songs where you have nothing left and you turn to God for strength.
6. Change Your Mind by Boyce Avenue: I swear this song is my soundtrack for so many of the breakup/love-gone-bad bad relationships scenes I write.
5. Healer by Kari Jobe: If I’m upset or not feeling well, I play this one on repeat and it always calms me down. My friend Melissa sent me the video for it when I was having a hard time years ago and it was the perfect song at just the right moment.
4. Mama Do by Pixie Lott: They used to play this video all the time when I lived in Portugal and I loved it then and love it now.
3. I Need You Tonight by Professor Green featuring Ed Drewett : Take the INXS song and add an English rapper to it. Magic.  
2. That’s Life by Frank Sinatra: This one felt like my theme song when I lived overseas. It’s funny because there’s a line in the song that basically says if nothing happens by July, you’re going roll up and die, and I kept saying, watch me find out something major in July. Sure enough, July  that year I found out I was moving back to the U.S.
1. Breathe (2 AM) Anna Nalick: it just sums up how you feel in those early morning hours when you’re writing in your journal uninhibited.




Facts About Next Door to a Star
The idea for the book came from situations I observed back in my school days. I couldn’t understand why some girls let their “friends” treat them the way they did. Hadley isn’t based on me, but rather on a lot of things I witnessed that made an impression on me.
The Pilar character is a mix of both a mean girl and a victim of a mean girl. In the next book, Competing with the Star, you’ll learn more about Pilar and why she acts the way she does.
The first time I saw the show, “Girl Meets World,” I thought that Lucas (Peyton Meyer) looked exactly like how I pictured Nick Jenkins in my mind.
When I saw my cover, I just gasped because the cover model is the perfect Hadley. Hats off to Ashley Byland of Redbird Designs for getting that so right.
I went to Grand Haven almost every summer as a kid and teen and made several research trips, too. There’s nothing like walking the pier imagining the characters with you. I have tons of pictures—I even have the picture of the alley where Asia and Hadley see their rock star crush, Jack Brogger.
There’s a scene where Nick walks Hadley and her friends home early from a party even though it means he has to leave himself. It’s based on something that happened when I was in high school and a guy left a football game early to walk me and my friend to her brother’s car which was parked far away. I thought it was the sweetest thing and never forgot that.
When I was writing the book, I pictured Grace Kelly as Aunt Faith.
People ask me who Charlotte’s grandpa was based on and honestly I imagine a comic book strip character when I write his scenes—he looks like Ralph from Crankshaft. Oddly, I got to meet the creator of Crankshaft last spring at a writing event. I hadn’t signed the contract for Next Door to a Star at that point though, but we did talk about Ralph because I liked the storyline he did with Ralph and his wife’s dementia.
The idea for Hadley’s rock star crush came from my decades long crush on George Michael. I used the last name “Brogger” for him because that was a nickname my grandpa’s coworkers gave him.
Simone and Hadley do movie marathons of Josh Haven, but who was my Josh Haven? Well, when I was in grade school it was…Charlie Sheen. Yup, my cousin Anne and I did a movie marathon of Charlie Sheen films. Her mom even rented, “Heidi,” for us and we fast-forwarded through every scene Charlie wasn’t in. You might be thinking about the “Two and a Half Men” show right now, but let me just say, “Wall Street.” Google it, see Charlie’s beauty, and then ask yourself why my uncle would think that was an appropriate movie for a 10 year old to watch. 























Friday, November 27, 2015

Blog Tour Love or Justice with Giveaway



“How do you hunt down a killer when he’s also hunting you?”


Laurie Shelton is the only person alive who can identify Hawaii’s most notorious mob boss…


After stumbling into a deadly kidnapping, Laurie’s life is in grave danger, and it falls to US Marshal Dante Stark to keep her safe until she testifies against Kaimi Quamboa—assuming he can be captured.


Dante knows he’ll lose his job if he becomes romantically involved with a witness…


But when he has to comfort her through constant nightmares, he finds it nearly impossible to fight his attraction to the beautiful, strong young woman he is sworn to protect. Laurie feels it too, but aware she’s in a high-stress situation and that when the danger is past she’ll never see Dante again, she tries to ignore his easygoing smile and the security he offers.


Laurie and Dante are forced to flee again…


When Kaimi’s men descend on their hideaway, they escape to a second safe house, only to be tracked down there as well. Dante now knows there’s a mole inside the US Marshal Service, and the only thing left to do is disappear.


Kaimi will never stop looking for Laurie, and if he’s caught, showing up to testify could be the last thing she ever does.


With each choice as dangerous as the next, Dante and Laurie must confront the boundaries of what they’re willing to sacrifice, and which is more important…


Love or Justice.






Excerpt II for Love or Justice


Later that night, David’s false alarm was all Laurie wanted to talk about as they got ready for bed. Laurie sat on her bed, pulling her nightclothes out of her bag.
Dante took out his nightshirt and sweats, laying them beside his sleeping bag. He was determined to sleep in his own bed tonight, no matter what happened. He had been on dangerous ground the last couple of nights, but he mentally committed himself to stopping it tonight.
“I don’t think I could do it. Be away from my husband when I’m about to give birth.” Laurie ran a brush through her hair.
“Lots of people have to, military wives, police wives when their husbands are on long assignments, Marshals Service. It’s just something that happens. Love the man; you have to love the job too.”
“Yeah, I guess, but God that must be hard.”
“It is hard. I’ve seen a lot of men do it. It makes them crazy. David’s doing well with it though. He’s going to be a great Witsec Inspector.”
“Well, he should be doing great with it. Apparently he has the best teacher.” Laurie winked at him.
Dante laughed.
“Don’t pay any attention to Rick.” Dante shook his head. “He trained me, so if that tells you—”
“Intruder!” Max yelled from downstairs. The sound of several gun shots followed, then return gunfire.
Laurie sucked in a breath, and stared at Dante in shock.
Dante grabbed her, dragging her into the hall. He unlatched the safe room with a swift motion. Without a word, he thrust her in, slamming the door.
As soon as Dante closed the safe room door, David burst through his bedroom door.
“Laurie?” was all David said. Dante pointed to the safe room.
“This way.” Dante got out his gun and moved down the hall.
Dante never expected a gun battle here. He led David to the mouth of the hallway where they crouched down low to the floor. Dante could hear shots and return fire. Max and Cheyn were both still fighting. Dante intended to give them cover.
He gestured to David to cover the left. He crouched close to the right side of the hallway and inched his way forward until he could see out over the living room. Then he ducked back behind the wall. He was just above Max, who was hiding behind a protrusion in the stonewall that housed the fireplace.
Max shot across the room at a man behind the couch.
Dante aimed. When the man popped up again, Dante let off a round. The man flew backward, and lay on the floor. Dante crouched back down again.
He could still hear gunshots coming from the living room below him. He maneuvered himself to see where else Max was aiming. There was another man hiding just outside the door to the patio. The man’s gunfire hit the stone wall with a sharp rapping and the tinkling of broken stone. Dante took aim, but the assailant saw him. Dante ducked behind the wall.
Two more shots came. One to him, the other to Max. The former missed, the second didn’t.
Dante turned back to the scene just in time to see Max crumple to the floor. He took aim at the assailant and fired. The man crumpled to the ground as well.
Dante heard continued gunfire on the left side of the house. He crawled over to David, who shot and then ducked for cover. There was an armed man crouched on the other side of the counter toward the open front door. He used both as an effective shield from the gunfire. Dante took aim, but had to duck as a bullet flew at them, narrowly missing his head.
David returned fire. It caught the man in the neck.
He fell to the floor. All was silent.
“Where’s Cheyn?” Dante glanced down into the kitchen.
“Kitchen floor. He’s bleeding, but I don’t know where he got shot.”
“Any more of them?”
“I don’t think so, I only saw one.”
Dante grabbed his cell phone. He punched the radio button.
“The Hilo safe house has been assaulted. Two officers down. Three assailants dead. Requesting immediate back-up and medical assistance!”
“Copy that, safe house. Back-up and medical assistance is on the way,” responded the voice on the other side of the phone. Dante stuck the phone back in his pocket.
“David, we have to secure the house. I’m going to crawl out to the end of the landing. I need you to cover me.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Dante was halfway down the landing, a shot rang out from a part of the kitchen below where David was crouched.
A scream came from the hallway behind Dante. Oh God. Laurie was out of the safe room.






Author Rachel Mannino

Rachel Mannino is a passionate writer who creates characters and settings that allow readers to explore power dynamics in relationships, the empowerment of women, and the ethical and moral dilemmas love can create in our lives. Rachel also uses her writing skills to raise thousands of dollars for entities that enrich our lives and create community change around the world. She has worked for the Peace Corps; the Humanities Council of Washington, DC; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; and the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events in Boston, MA. Her first novel, Love or Justice, will be published by Limitless Press in 2016. Her second novel, Fractal, will be published by eTreasures publishing in the spring of 2016. Rachel has a BA in theatre studies and writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College, and she has used it every day since graduation. She lives with her husband, author Christopher Mannino (http://www.christophermannino.com/), and their adorable dog and cat in College Park, Maryland.