ABOUT THE BOOK:

Little Meg finds the outside world a bit too loud and far too scary! So, she’s going to stay inside her safe white shell, thank you very much. But then the Howl breaks into the barn and steals Mother Hen! What is she supposed to do, still holed up in that egg of hers? She can’t run and she certainly can’t fly. Well, never get between a chick and her momma, cause this little bird’s got a can-do spirit and a whole lot of courage that she didn’t know she had before!C

A tale of self discovery that speaks to all children’s fears of the unknown, Ms. Borg delivers a great read-aloud resource for parents and teachers alike. With an onomatopoeic construction that gives life to the story and encourages children to participate through repetition of words, noises, and actions, MEG THE EGG is the perfect story for beginning readers.

AMAZON – AMAZON KINDLE – BARNES AND NOBLE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rita Antoinette Borg was educated in New York and now resides on the Mediterranean island of Malta. She performs storytelling and creative writing workshops in schools across the country and works as a freelance writer for local magazines and newspapers. Ms. Borg has published four picture books aimed at early readers as well as an anthology of short stories for older children. Her books have been recognized by the Malta National Annual Literary Awards. Her book “Don’t Cross the Road, Holly!” was chosen as the year’s best Children’s Book in English. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Writers & Illustrators.

WEBSITE – FACEBOOK

Pump Up Your Book and Rita Antoinette Borg are teaming up to give you a chance to win fabulous prizes!

Here’s how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. This promotion will run from April 22 – May 17, 2013. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on May 20, 2013. Each blogger who participates is eligible to enter and win. Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour. Good luck everyone!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Wednesday, May 8^th

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Books for Kids

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I’m A Reader, Not a Writer

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Literal Exposure

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The Crypto-Capers Review

Her latest book is Tickling Daphne H.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

What inspired you to write Tickling Daphne H.?

One of the things that made me begin writing Tickling Daphne H. was my disbelief at the lack of tickling material out there. In movies in particular, there is so little about tickling. Tickling scenes are usually short, and tickling in the media is generally sparse. I felt the world needed a real juicy story that was based primarily on tickling.

And of course, my tickling fetish provided plenty of inspiration. J

What other genres do you write?

I also write poetry and non-fiction

List two things that surprised you as you were writing your novel?

1. One thing that surprised me is that I developed a rather large crush on Dave, one of my main characters. He is so romantic and sensual, very much like my dream guy.

2. Another thing that surprised me were the characters. They sometimes left me sitting there with my mouth hanging open. I would find myself pleading with them not to do something, but when they wanted to get unusually naughty or just abandon their senses altogether, I just had to blush and go along for the ride.

How old were you when you first started writing?

I started writing around the age of ten.

What other creative abilities do you have?

I am a singer-songwriter.

Do you have a favorite spot where you like to write?

I like to write in the living room by my computer, especially late at night when it is really quiet.

What’s your favorite thing about being a writer?

Bringing what is churning deep inside me onto the page. There is something very exciting and liberating about taking an inner vision or feeling and successfully bringing it outside myself, where it can then become a true work of art.

What is your least favorite thing about being a writer?

My least favorite part of being a writer is the marketing part of it. When I am writing, I am so entranced in the story and the characters. I am creating. That is what writers are meant to do. The marketing part of things takes a lot of time and can sometimes take my focus away from starting another project, or completing projects I have already started.

Is there anything about writing that you consider to be bittersweet?

The insomnia I get when a new story dances around inside my head, begging to come out. Sometimes I just want to get some sleep, but my writer’s mind won’t let me. On the one hand, it is annoying because I don’t get enough sleep, but it is also so exhilarating to be inspired and feel my creativity coming alive inside of me. It feels sometimes like I am getting high off of my insomnia and all that creative energy. Bittersweet indeed.

What is your writing style? Do you like to outline or just write as you go?

I like to write as I go and be constantly surprised by my characters and all the wild situations they find themselves in.

What important messages does your novel convey?

That people are not straight white lines. They are zigzaggy, colorful beings with all kinds of desires. What seems inappropriate to one person might be totally acceptable to another and what repulses one person might arouse another. Life is not black and white and neither are fetishes. Fetishes are often taboo and misunderstood, but for some they are necessary for emotional survival.

Another message is that if you remain true to yourself and all your idiosyncrasies, even if they are embarrassing or unpopular, you can still find your soul mate and your true inner happiness. You might even be able to spice up your marriage or relationship by letting go and being more open with your partner, by exploring the things that might take you out of your comfort zone, but that are necessary for personal growth.

Good communication and openness are essential for the characters in my book, and I believe as human beings, we need a lot more of those qualities in our lives.

What is one of the biggest compliments you have received about your book?

One of the biggest compliments I received came from two different readers. They both told me that certain parts of my book made them feel like they were watching a Stanley Kubrick film.

What are you planning on writing in the future?

I am continuing to write erotica and more books about tickling and other fetishes. I am working on two different projects right now. One is a short story and the other is a really long novel that is somewhat on the gothic side.

Along with her co-authors, today’s brightest stars in women’s leadership roles, SUCCESS IN {HIGH HEELS} 30 Day Diet Feast to Success offers great ideas and sound advice from today’s most accomplished women. Each chapter is a lesson, 30 in all, and each lesson will teach you an important point in business or your life. By combining traditional advice, transformational ideas that embrace beauty, brains, wisdom and practices, this 30-day feast to success will help all women reach a place they call success.

Success in {High} Heels 30 Day Diet Feast to Success brings together a variety of successful women who empower all women with their essays to realize that they can pursue their dreams. The essays cover topics from dressing for success, taking the t out of can’t, transforming your hobby into a way of life, branding with beauty and more. According to Marmoy, the power that lies within women is a personal path through change and embracing situations will help them get out of their own way and rise to success. Marmoy drives home the point of success, that there are no borders to a woman’s power.

It never crossed Marmoy’s mind that she wouldn’t be able to pull together 30 of the most inspirational women on the planet. She personally hand-picked all the women with the criteria that each one had to have a vision for the world and each one had to be working with women. She states they had to be professional and fun and they were all amazing.

Marmoy’s background is the perfect backdrop to be an inspiration to other women. She thrives to lead a global movement – a movement to inspire and empower women to collaborate in innovative ways to stand out from the crowd, and profit from their unique brilliance in the international marketplace. According to Marmoy, Success in {High} Heels is the true testimony to what one women can achieve when they understand that being a woman is her greatest asset in life and in business.

All Authors in Chapter Order

Sue Donnelly * Bunny Star * Kelly Falardeau * Anna D. Garrett * Angelika Christie * Dorothy-Inez Del Tufo * Noni Boon * Lillian Ogbogoh * Angelas Raspass * Lisa Rehurek * Shawn Driscoll * Aime Hutton * Jasmin Christensen * Toni  Coleman Brown * Monique Alamedine * Kim Boudreau Smith * Catrice M. Jackson * Nancy Meadows * Miki Strong * Patty Farmer * Ava Diamond * Lisa Rothstein * Margo DeGange * Kathleen Hanagan * Kuumba Nia * Kat Mikic * Katrin Faensen * Terry Wildermann * Ana Lucia Novak * Christine Marmoy

Success in High Heels compiled by Christine Marmoy

Publisher: Marketing for Coach, Ltd

Self-Help Paperback, USD $18.95, GBP 14.00, CAD 19.50, EUR 16.00, AUD 19.00

ISBN: 978-0-9575561-0-2

So again, why would I focus on a strange title that comes out of a book written thousands of years ago?

Here is one of the reasons.  Next Year in Jerusalem! is actually a phrase that shows up at the end of the Haggadah.  Those of you who are not Jewish may wonder what that is.  The Haggadah is a book that the Jews have used for thousands of years to celebrate and relive the Passover experience.  Many people know that the central theme of the story is how the Jews, who were slaves in Egypt, were finally able to escape and began their long journey of 40 years to get to the promised Land, which was Israel.  However, what a lot of people don’t realize is that this theme is universal and can be taken metaphorically for all of us.  That is why when the Haggadah ends with the fourth glass of wine being drunk, and the words, Next Year in Jerusalem! the phrase becomes so significant.

We all have a struggle in our lives.  We all are searching for personal freedom, whether we are unfortunately in a horrible situation, such as a prison, or whether we are simply trying to be true to our own selves as we age and develop.  I’m going to talk a lot more about this theme.

However, to make this more real.  Let me give you an example that somewhat parallels some of the struggles that Maggie goes through after her divorce.

Here is what a friend told me about a bad time in her marriage. She had gone to a lecture where the speaker talked about how we all have to go out of our own personal Egypt, at times in our lives. She said that was certainly how she was feeling, struggling through some bad days with her marriage where she often felt criticized or misunderstood. She felt that the language between them no longer worked. All words seemed to lead to further arguments and put-downs. She was trying to find ways to honor herself through speaking ‘her own language’. Again, I mean that metaphorically. For example, one day she went out with her fiends, shopping and having so much fun. She felt as if she and was leaving her Egypt for a day and meeting her own needs. She could speak in ways that were understood, and relax without fear of conflict. She could laugh. Her friends ‘got it’ -whatever ‘it’ was, they all understood each other. She quickly found herself feeling uplifted during that day’s outing.

My friend left her own Egypt, at least for the time being, by maintaining a sense of her own needs and what made her joyful. In her case shopping, good conversation, and laughter with friends was a successful recipe for well-being.

She knew she hadn’t reached the promised land yet. She knew she had a difficult marriage to work on and/or ultimately leave, but she found a way to at least temporarily release herself and be was true to herself.  And in this sense she was already on her way to her promised land.  It might take another year or more, but she would get there.  And by the way she did!

So for her, she could honestly say, Next Year in Jerusalem!

Next Year in Jerusalem Book Excerpt

Natalie didn’t tell David (her husband)about her other dream, the one about Jack, the Jewish fellow from Chicago who’d been around to save her from despair after she decided she wasn’t moving to Iraq. A diamond salesman, Jack now lived in London and traveled back and forth to Israel all the time.

Natalie prided herself on staying in touch with lots of people from her past. Jack was one of them. Occasionally they e-mailed and he’d friended her on Facebook two years ago. Although they hadn’t written recently, if he read her Facebook page he would know she was going to Jerusalem. What if he tried to see her? What if there was still an attraction? Would she tell David? Would he care? Would she act out?

Her life with David was so good and stable and predictable. And boring!

Did I just say boring?

No, she must have meant solid. Or did she mean solid?

Oh, I’m a wreck. I’m miserable and I can’t sleep, she continued to obsess. What about that cute secretary at the college? The one who has a sparkle in her eye whenever she talks to David? How old is she? Forty-two? Divorced and sexy. How would I know if something’s going on there?

I’m going crazy lying here, she began again. Where’s the Xanax? Already packed. Oh, that was dumb.

About New Year in Jerusalem: Around Every Corner, Mystery & Romance in the Holy Land: Part Two

Continue the drama in Part 2 in this Trilogy of Romance Books as Natalie and Maggie, best friends since college, find themselves steeped in the romance, mysticism and mystery of Jerusalem.

The appearance of Jack, a diamond dealer and Natalie’s old boyfriend from college,
creates incredible tension and arousal for Natalie. How can see keep her marriage intact? A new man mesmerizes Maggie also in her life: Raji from India.

The mystery woman, Chaya Sarah, continues to share profound spiritual wisdom. Teaching Natalie the concept of ‘soul mate’ helps Natalie revive her marriage, at least for a night.

However Chaya Sara’s secrecy about herself baffles them, and concern grows that Chaya Sarah may be involved in more than meets the eye.

Too soon they must leave Jerusalem. A last minute surprising upset centered around Chaya Sarah frightens them and they realize they may be dealing with intrigue and terrorism.

How will Natalie and Maggie handle the mystery and romance that floods both women as they attempt to get back to life in the United States? Can a return to Jerusalem be far behind in this trilogy of romantic fiction?

Purchase Next Year in Jerusalem, Part 2, Around Every Corner, Mystery & Romance in the Holy Land

Book Excerpt from Next Year in Jerusalem, Part 2, Around Every Corner, Mystery & Romance in the Holy Land

Chapter Six,  

As the driver pulled away, Natalie realized how poorly lit the street was. Now, well past dusk, the one street light way down the block did nothing to brighten the end where she stood. The building itself had one little light above the doorway. As she walked along the sidewalk to the front door, she shivered suddenly and wondered why in the world she’d sent away her protection?

She rang the bell. Immediately a sweet young woman, probably no more than twenty-nine or thirty, head kerchief neatly in place, answered the door. Natalie felt better. Now to introduce herself and get started. Her heart pounded, but from excitement, not fear.

“Can I help you?”

“Chaya Sarah made an appointment for me to come here tonight after sundown.”

“Oh, sorry, phones no working,” the girl said in broken English. “No messages this week.”

Natalie felt her heart begin to pound harder. Now she was upset. Another mix-up, another confusion where she would never know if Chaya Sarah had tried to call!

“Oh, well, I’m here to go into the mikvah.* I understand I can go in as a bride, even though I’ve been married many years. It is my first time. I was told a matron would show me what to do and give me a prayer to say.”

“First time? No problem. Come in. I will show you where to go. Cost ninety shekels. Fill out form.”

Natalie handed over the money, and signed the visitor sheet (a blank piece of notepaper with the date at the top). She .was not at all sure the young woman understood most of what she said. Only later did she wonder why she so freely signed a blank piece of paper with her name and full home address.

“Come this way.” The young woman led Natalie past a small waiting room with pleasant pink walls and a soft gray marble floor. There were no pictures, no signs and no literature with the facility’s name. The place was stark, but certainly clean and feminine in its color scheme. It was eerily quiet. Natalie wished she had asked the taxi driver to wait.

The young woman spoke. “Please, you go here,” she said as she opened the door of a large, attractive bathroom with many mirrors. “Robe in there,” she explained as she pointed to a small closet. “After shower, go down hall to mikvah.”

“Will you be coming in to help me? Natalie practically begged. “Are there prayers to say?”

“See, mikvah down there. You open and go in. No one bother you.”

Obviously, they hadn’t communicated clearly. “Any prayers to say?” Natalie tried one more time.

The young woman looked perplexed. “Mrs. Levy not here, I alone.”  It hadn’t seemed to work, and eventually Natalie realized that not only was the woman’s English poor, but apparently Mrs. Levy was the wisdom keeper of everything, including the prayers. Finally, she surmised that she’d have to make the most of her experience. So much for that; she’d just have to carry on by herself. There was no going back now.

The woman walked back to the desk in the waiting room and sat down. Apparently, it was all now in Natalie’s hands.

She went into the bathroom and started to undress. Determined to make the most of this situation, she let the environment begin to take over. This was going to be fun. Yes, she would prepare for the mikvah as if she was a Queen. Maybe she’d been the Queen of Sheba in another life? She laughed to herself, and then the image of being a very special bride on her wedding night came to her. It was a lovely image.

Somehow the environment elicited from her vague yet powerful feelings. She felt so female, part of a special group, a sisterhood of women who had gone from babyhood to elder years … one by one in an endless chain of family life, belonging to the same tribe. She saw her body today, naked in the mirrors, and once more felt moved to tears. She envisioned those before her–her grandmothers and her mother, and then saw her daughter after her, and imagined granddaughters in the future. She felt their energy, their hopes, dreams and prayers along with hers in the highly charged feminine bathroom.

She felt good although she was crying at the same time. The golden chain of women in her mind’s eye engaged in no gossip, put-downs, criticisms or comparisons. It was as if each woman had been branded with a primitive imprint that identified them as belonging to the same clan. No need for words. Just timeless knowledge, maybe first known by Eve in the Garden of Eden and passed down over hundreds of generations, a knowledge of mannerisms and hopes and dreams that transcended time. And now she stood right here in the midst of it, finally able to enjoy the same rights as other Jewish women throughout history.

Natalie showered again with a vengeance. She was determined to be as clean as she could be for the purifying waters. With no one to guide her, she washed her hair, took off her make-up, and trimmed her nails with the small scissor that lay on the vanity. She looked at the three red strings on her wrist. Should she leave them? It didn’t seem right, since she knew she was to be completely  unadorned. Without another thought she cut them off with the scissor.

She was ready now. She took a fluffy robe from the closet, and a pair of paper slippers, the kind they give you when you’re in the hospital. She also grabbed a towel from the closet shelf and proceeded down the hall.

The building was totally silent. When she looked back she didn’t even see the young woman in the waiting room any more. She could see from the small window in the hallway that it was pitch dark outside. The only noise was that of a siren somewhere, and the sound of an occasional car passing by.

She opened the door to the mikvah. The room was the size of a small bedroom with white tile walls, and most of it was taken up by what looked like a very small swimming pool. She’d feared the water would be cold, but as she stepped down a small staircase into the water, she was surprised as the pleasant warmth rushed up to her. At chest level the water seemed so much smoother and silkier than regular water. She sank down further, letting her hands float at her sides as the water welcomed her. A profound feeling of safety and calmness enveloped her. Were there guardian angels in here with her? It felt that way, but she wasn’t scared. She felt protected and loved and, in turn, felt her heart opening up toward David.

Making her own prayer she said aloud softly, “Dear G-d, may David and I be blessed with the harmony that comes from being soul mates. And may I have the strength not to be influenced by other forces not in my best interests.”

That covered it. She wasn’t going to credit Jack by even saying his name aloud in these sacred waters.

She dunked herself in the waters three times, really fast. She had promised herself, but that part was hard. She grasped her towel and wiped her eyes and ears. She had almost drowned on Cape Cod once as a child, but a big strong man had pulled her out. Since then, she could never stand to go underwater. But this time it was worth it. This was for their marriage and for herself.

She returned to her changing room where she took another shower, this time a quick one, and got dressed. When she went back to the waiting room no one was there. In fact the young woman never reappeared even when Natalie called out….

*mikvah: A specified pure body of water that is used for total immersion, often associated with bringing a heightened level of sacredness to the marriage bed.

About Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, internationally known positive psychologist, inspires thousands with her ENCHANTED SELF®. Around the world, people benefit from her techniques to enhance well-being, and to live up to their potential. Known for her ability to make complex psychological concepts easy to understand and to implement, she has now turned her talents to novel writing.  “A great fiction read is a great escape, and yet, it is more! It is the gateway to new ways of thinking and behaving.”

Dr. Holstein received her Doctorate in Education from Boston University and her BA degree from Barnard College. Dr. Holstein has been a school psychologist and taught first and second grades. She is in private practice with her husband, Dr. Russell M. Holstein, in Long Branch, New Jersey. Find her at www.enchantedself.com

and www.next-year-in-jerusalem.com

Her previous books include:

• THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy
• Recipes for Enchantment, The Secret Ingredient is YOU!
• The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything)
• Seven Gateways to Happiness: Freeing Your Enchanted Self.

About Voices of the Locusts

Sixteen-year old Jack O’Brien has never known the bittersweet stint of love, and romance is the farthest thing from his mind as he and his family arrives at a remote U.S. Air Force outpost in Japan where Jack’s father is base commander. The year is 1948. Jack’s life changes after a chance encounter with Fujiko Kobaysi, a beautiful and enchanting 17-year-old Japanese girl. Jack is immediately smitten.

Fujiko’s traditional parents are overly protective and monitor her every move, and Jack and Fujiko meet secretly at her garden, located some distance from her village. There is a good reason why Fujiko’s parents are so protective and Jack is devastated when Fujiko tells him that her parents have promised her in marriage to an older man, a practice common throughout Asia at the time. The marriage is only a months away. Jack devises a cunning plan, one that will overshadow her arranged marriage and bring Fujiko and him together.

Playing against a backdrop of swirling post-War social change, Voices of the Locusts tells the story of three families – one black, one white, one Asian. Told in Jack’s voice in vivid and sometimes haunting detail, Jack and Fujiko are frustrated in their romantic quest by story characters coming to terms (often violently) with the emotional scars of World War II.

Voices of the Locusts Excerpt

A flutter of panic races through my body. It is instantly replaced by a sweep of joy, and a strange, unnatural lucidity overcomes me.

Fujiko and I hesitate for what seems a small eternity, our eyes locked in a moment of mutual understanding. Finally, I lean in toward Fujiko and she leans in toward me. Our eyes close and our mouths touch in a whisper-soft kiss, a brief, gentle brush of lips.

I pull back slowly, my heart racing, my head alive with all manner of strange, warm images. This must all be a dream. A wonderful, glorious dream. I don’t want to ever wake up.

Interview

Will you share with us how you came up with the idea for this book? 

I attended high school in Japan for two years when my father was stationed at an Air Force base in a remote part of the main island of Honshu. My father would often take me duck hunting, a service offered by a local fisherman who would ferry us about in search of ducks. After each hunt, my father would loan his shotgun to the Japanese fisherman, allowing the man to hunt for ducks himself. The Japanese man was poor and had a family, and the shotgun helped provide food for the fisherman’s family. The man was more than pleased by my father’s generosity, but by loaning the weapon, my father put his military career at great risk.

You see, my father’s kindness was in violation of Occupation Law, which prohibited Japanese citizens from owning or using firearms. (Occupation Law was enacted following World War II.) The loaning of the shotgun was the seed of the idea for my novel, and much of the story is based on my personal experiencing while living and attending school in Japan. And yes, there was a real fisherman who took us on real duck hunts in his rickety, diesel-powered fishing boat; I was 14 at the time, and recall the hunts in detail.

Do you plan your stories first with an outline or does it come to you as write it?

I tried outlines, but they simply didn’t work for me. I give a story a great amount of thought before sitting down to write it. I generally know the beginning, the middle, and the end of my story in advance of laying down the first chapter. I piece it together in my head before sitting at my laptop and banging out the story.

Do you know the end of the story at the beginning?

Yes, with one exception—my second novel “Latitude 38.” I had no idea how the novel would end, even as I was drawing close to the conclusion of the story. I rewrote the ending several times before settling on an ending I was comfortable with. I knew in advance how my other three novels would end.

Do you have a process for developing your characters?

Years ago, I read a short book titled “Characters Make Your Story.” The book served as a guidepost for me and I pay close attention to every character in my novels. Painting a picture of a character, for me, carries great weight. For the reader to visualize the character, a writer must pay close attention to every aspect of the character: his physical makeup: his attire, his speech; his habits, both good and bad, his likes and dislikes, etc. I paint my characters with a broad brush, and there is no mistaking the protagonist or the antagonist. Most of my characters are so-called “composite characters.” They are a mix of personality traits, both real and imagined.

It is said that authors write themselves into their characters. Is there any part of you in your characters and what they would be?

I would agree with this statement. I identify closely with Jack O’Brien in “Voices of the Locusts.” He is a young idealist struggling to please his father. I, too, was a young idealist (still am, the truth be told) and struggled in my early teen years to please my father.

What is your most favorite part about this book?

When Jack O’Brien first kisses Fujiko Kobaysi.

What struggles have you had on the road to being published?

My first two books traveled the traditional road. My next two were self-published. My third novel, a middle-grade story titled “A Boy Called Duct Tape,” was soundly rejected by many publishers, thus my decision to severe my relationship with my literary agent, and strike out on my own. Published in the spring of 2012, it took about six months for the novel to gain traction, but since December of 2012, I have sold more than 1,000 copies of the novel at Amazon. That’s small potatoes for a Doubleday, but large potatoes for me.

What has been the best part about being published?

The royalties. Amazon takes a small percentage, but the balance is deposited directly into my bank account by Amazon. It’s a clean business model.

What do you want readers to remember and carry with them after reading your novel?

I’d like the reader to feel his or her $4.99 was money well spent.

Do you have plans to write another book?

I have written first drafts on three more—two middle grade and one YA—and my adult novel “The Redhead, the Bookie, and the G-Man” is completed and will be posted at Amazon in about two months.

About Ron Hutchison

Ron Hutchison began writing fiction full time after a long career in journalism and public relations. Voices of the Locusts is his fourth novel. A multi-genre author, Hutchison’s choice of novels to write is determined not by genre, but by the weight of the story. Hutchison graduated from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism. He has worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist at newspapers in Texas, California, and Missouri. He was employed by a Fortune 100 company as a public relations executive, and later operated his own public relations agency. Hutchison attended high school in Japan, and much of his Voices of the Locusts is based on personal experience. Hutchison lives in Joplin, Missouri.

After petitioning the Father for answers to basic theological questions about the universal church, she took an eight-year journey with the Holy Spirit to provide clarity for herself about His vision.

Thy Kingdom Come provides readers with that clarity.

For anyone wondering what has happened to the Church, for anyone whose faith in God has been diminished, for anyone whose life has been destroyed by the yolks of bondage, Ruise offers new answers. She encourages her readers to follow along in the Bible itself to see how each of her lessons is validated by the Word of God.

“We perish because we don’t know how to survive,” writes Ruise. Thy Kingdom Come offers not only an apt diagnosis of the problem, but equips readers with the cure, as well. It is an excellent source book for Biblical history and spiritual revelation and it prompts valuable internalizing and soul-searching for veteran Christians as well as for new converts.

Link to book on Amazon:

Link to book at B&N:

Link to trailer:

About the author:

Lakesha Monique Ruise

Lady Ruise is a native of Thomasville Georgia. She is the First Lady of Emmanuel Church of God in Christ in Macclenny Florida. She medically retired from the U S Navy in 2007. Since her retirement, she obtained a degree in respiratory therapy and works as a Registered Respiratory Care Practitioner. She has a strong Christian background. She dedicated her life to the Lord at the age of 9 and became a minister at the age of 14. She has been licensed through the Holiness Church and the Baptist church as a minister for the past 24 years. She has been mentored by countless Pastors and Elders in the COGIC, Holiness Church, and the Baptist Church. She currently labors in ministry with her husband Pastor Joe Nathan Ruise as a praise team leader. She is also the president and founder of the Baker County Circle of Sisters in Macclenny, Fl. Lakesha Ruise is a prayer-warrior and intercessor, who is holy-ghost filled with an assignment from Jesus Christ to build his church!

Website Address: www.theerrorproofchurch.com

Twitter Address: https://twitter.com/ThyCome

Facebook Address: https://www.facebook.com/#!/lakesha.ruise.5

Pump Up Your Book and Lakesha Monique Ruise are teaming up to give you a chance to win some fabulous prizes!

Here’s how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. This promotion will run from March 8 – Apr 8. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on April 12, 2013. Each blogger who participates is eligible to enter and win. Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour. Good luck everyone!

THY KINGDOM COME TOUR PAGE: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/02/24/pump-up-your-book-presents-lakesha-monique-ruises-thy-kingdom-come-book-blast-win-25-visa-gift-card/

THY KINGDOM COME BOOK BLAST SCHEDULE

Friday March 8^th

If Books Could Talk

Monday, March 11^th

The Book Connection

Tuesday, March 12^th

The Writer’s Life

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As the Pages Turn

Thursday, March 14^th

Review from Here

Friday, March 15^th

The Busy Mom’s Daily

Monday, March 18^th

Literal Exposure

Tuesday, March 19^th

Lori’s Reading Corner

Thoughts in Progress

Wednesday, March 20^th

ASC Book Reviews

Thursday, March 21^st

Literarily Speaking

Friday, March 22^nd

A Year of Jubilee Reviews

Paperback Writer

Monday, March 25^th

Maureen’s Musings

Cheryl’s Christian Book Connection

Tuesday, March 26^th

Beyond the Books

Wednesday, March 27^th

Mary’s Cup of Tea

Thursday, March 28^th

Between the Covers

Monday, April 1^st

My Cozie Corner

Blooming with Books

Wednesday, April 3^rd

Pump Up Your Books, Blurbs n’ Bytes

Thursday, April 4^th

The Book Rack

Monday, April 8^th

Bluebell Books

January Justice Book Blast

About the book:

Reeling from his wife’s unsolved murder, Malcolm Cutter is just going through the motions as a chauffeur and bodyguard for Hollywood’s rich and famous. Then a pair of Guatemalan tough guys offer him a job. It’s an open question whether they’re patriotic revolutionaries or vicious terrorists. Either way, Cutter doesn’t much care until he gets a bomb through his window, a gangland beating on the streets of L.A., and three bullets in the chest. Now there’s another murder on Cutter’s Mind. His own.

Purchase January Justice

About the author:

Athol Dickson’s mystery, suspense, and literary novels have won three Christy Awards and an Audie Award. Suspense fans who enjoyed Athol’s They Shall See God will love his latest novel, January Justice, the first installment in a new mystery series called The Malcolm Cutter Memoirs. The second and third novels in the series, Free Fall in February, and A March Murder, are coming in 2013.

Critics have favorably compared Athol’s work to such diverse authors as Octavia Butler (Publisher’s Weekly), Hermann Hesse (The New York Journal of Books) and Flannery O’Connor (The New York Times). Athol lives with his wife in southern California.

Website:

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Pump Up Your Book and Athol Dickson are teaming up to give you a chance to win a fabulous prize!

Here’s how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. This promotion will run from March 18 – Mar 22. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on March 25, 2013. Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour. Good luck everyone!

JANUARY JUSTICE TOUR PAGE:

JANUARY JUSTICE BOOK BLAST SCHEDULE

Monday, March 18^th

The Book Connection

Literal Exposure

ASC Book Reviews

Tuesday, March 19^th

As the Pages Turn

Melina’s Book Blog

GivingNSharing

Miki’s Hope

Wednesday, March 20^th

Literarily Speaking

Between the Covers

Review from Here

Acme Authors Link

The Dark Phantom Review

Thursday, March 21^st

The Writer’s Life

Broken Teepee

Inside BJ’s Head

Paperback Writer

Friday, March 22^nd

Beyond the Books

Maureen’s Musings

The Busy Mom’s Daily

Bookingly Yours

Marilyn’s Musings

Vampire of Macondo

Title of Book: VAMPIRE OF MACONDO
Genre: Nonfiction
Author: Deborah Dupre
Website: www.deborahdupre.com
Publisher: Duprevent Publishing

PURCHASE VAMPIRE OF MACONDO HERE!

SUMMARY:

The untold story of psychopathic genocide of Americans by the petrochemical military industrial complex, of how BP’s Deepwater Horizon catastrophe has sickened and killed thousands of people on the Gulf of Mexico Coast and government covered it up. Hear heart-rending cries of the victims. Read thoroughly documented evidence of crimes by Big Oil, the military, the seafood and tourism industries, health care providers, and corrupt government leaders.

EXCERPT

“I know many people are getting the same treatment,” former Gulf oil cleanup worker, Jennifer Rexford told me. “This isn’t about money anymore. I don’t want cancer.”

Mother of three sons including a toddler, Mrs. Rexford, 29, told me about her continual medical battle against what would seem to most, insurmountable challenges. Her rights to health, safe environment and compensation for work-related injuries were repeatedly violated. She’d become too sick to physically continue. Her voice was about all she had left.

“The ones who can afford to move have moved,” New Orleans high-profile resident Jo Billups explains in The Big Fix documentary. “And the ones that can’t are just begging for help.”

“They’re sitting here losing their homes, their cars. They’re sick. They’ve lost their insurance. They can’t afford to go to the doctors,” said Gulf activist Robin Young.

Going for Excelsior

About the Author:

Wayne Hatford, B.A. in French and Spanish, M.A. in International Administration, is a teacher, writer, editor and author dedicated to bridging the gap between the physical and non-physical worlds. To that end, he channeled a friend, Janice Horn ~ “Letters from Janice: Correspondence with the Astral Plane” and, more recently, the spirit essence of Rudolph Valentino ~ “Valentino Speaks: The Wisdom of Rudolph Valentino” and “Going for Excelsior: Thriving in Seniorhood,” all of which are available via Amazon.com. Each of these works explores the “Other Side” while offering insight and practical suggestions on how best to make the most of this one.

A life-long student of metaphysics and transformation, Wayne has both taught in public school and been a personal property appraiser. Wayne Hatford now resides in Santa Rosa, California where he and the Valentino essence continue their collaboration.

His latest book is Going for Excelsior: Thriving in Seniorhood.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

About the Book:

What if you were as savvy as you could possibly be in matters of aging and, therefore, really soar, breeze through the final chapters of your life with flying colors? The ’senior’ experience, through only the most constructive and creative of lenses! Going for Excelsior” offers practical suggestions for successfully negotiating Seniorhood, a blueprint for active living ~ how to embrace where you’re at in your life, find hidden gems, turn up the voltage. Thriving in Seniorhood is about going beyond what’s expected or being directed at you by the host society and this book provides the reader with the tools and understandings to accomplish that goal. Conundrums solved. The sting removed from such phenomena as dementia and Alzheimer’s. Myths about Seniors debunked. These are only a few of the benefits that can be derived from reading this book which, hopefully, will serve to stretch your consciousness, something that’s rather elastic to begin with ~ in every stage of life.

‘Seniorhood’ ~ Where people often like to perceive us, once we have attained a certain age. Also, where we can choose to thrive, with clarity of purpose ~ and by design!

“Like all those who currently inhabit a body, you, too, are getting ready for Excelsior. Especially allow the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond of your ages to be magical in this regard, for you to be way-showers, preparing yourselves mentally, physically and spiritually for the next phase. There always is a next phase, by the way, and we are always getting ready for it. You are part of a grand design as am I. There is no other option!” ~ Rudolph Valentino

Purchase Link:

AMAZON

Going for Excelsior: Thriving in Seniorhood

Book Excerpt:

Now, let’s return to the more common definition of Excelsior, the loose packing material that is most associated with the shipping of fine art or antiques. It can come from many sources and, as a result, may have lots of different ‘looks.’ Metaphysically-speaking, however, Excelsior is a container for the soul and, being somewhat porous, allows for entry and exit, not only of the soul itself, but also of vibrations, both ours and those of other people. It might be easier to think of Excelsior as skin, that living, breathing, largest organ of the body whose properties model those of the Veil. Yes, once again our skin is a version of the Veil, that curtain of energy that separates the dimensions and whose function also is, under certain circumstances, to allow energy to pass through it. Our skin shields us from danger, yet it also allows us to shine our Light. Have you ever heard someone say that so and so’s skin was translucent? All of our skins are translucent. We shine, projecting the inner spark that is soul to the outer world while, at the same time, receiving Light from others, those we encounter in our daily lives. This is how we determine who to interact with, by what our impressions are of their Light. If, for example, we feel inundated or limited by their presence, it’s a sign that we ought to move on. So it’s about the quality of Light of each soul, which is the determining factor. This does not mean, however, that some souls have inferior Light. Rather, it simply signals that their frequencies are very different from ours and, as a consequence, are experienced as jarring. The converse could also be true ~ that we, too, might upset the applecart because our vibrations are not all that harmonious with theirs.

The following is perhaps a heady idea but, I think, very apropos. In lots of new age books, individual souls have often been referred to as Light workers. Indeed, that is exactly what we are, always putting on a show for our fellow travelers, those who happen to be in the body at the same moment as we. The skin, or Excelsior, monitors this so-called Light show, mostly on auto-pilot, but sometimes with the greatest of attention on our parts. What is it that throws the switch or adjusts the rheostat? A combination of factors, including, but not limited to, our own free will, emotional state of being and current degree of alignment. If we’re in sync with ourselves and our environment ~ in the flow, of course we glow. The soul is electric, like a dynamo or atom, independently functioning forever, and one of its modalities is to shed Light. That’s right, a soul cannot die, what we all know inside. It’s only the body that is capable of carrying out that task.

If you will, take a moment to focus on the porous nature of the skin. Not only does the soul make one definitive entrance and exit per physical body, but also countless others that are far more casual, such as each time we fall asleep or wake up. Yes, our soul or consciousness goes off to play in the Astral, in the so-called dream world when we sleep while remaining tethered to the physical body. It’s only when we die that the connection is broken and the soul can no longer re-enter the body. Some of you are more aware of the phenomenon of constantly leaving the body to dream than others. In the state we call half-sleep, people often sense their consciousness either floating close to the body or re-entering it with a thud when they suddenly awake. The skin, or Excelsior, breathes too, though in a more subtle way, in and out, mimicking the work of the lungs. Interesting that it’s the lungs, heart and skin that are the last bastions of movement before the body becomes inert, what we label as dead. At the very instant the first two stop working, the skin is poised to exhale the soul, ready to perform its final function.

Think of the skin that covers our bodies as millions of tiny mirrors, fractals with dampers that can be opened and closed at will. Yes, that is what we do when we emit Light, reflect it through the pores of our skin, and they are also the pathway for the Light of others to reach us. We are like solar panels then, forever in the process of reflecting and absorbing. What an exquisite landscape we wear! Who knew that packing material had such beauty, form, and function?

Going for Excelsior Tour Page:

 In the summer of 1979, twenty-one-year-old Linda Kovic contracts to become an au pair for an wealthy French family in the Loire Valley. To secure the position, she pretends to speak the language, fully aware her deception will be discovered once she arrives at her destination. Based on the author’s diary, French Illusions captures Linda’s fascinating and often challenging real-life story inside and outside the Château de Montclair. The over-bearing, Madame Dubois, her accommodating husband, Monsieur Dubois, and their two children are highlighted as Linda struggles to adapt to her new environment. Continually battling the language barrier, she signs up and attends classes at the local university in the nearby town of Tours, broadening her range of experiences. When she encounters, Adam, a handsome young student, her life with the Dubois family becomes more complicated, adding fuel to her internal battle for independence.

 About the Author:

Linda Kovic-Skow resides in Kirkland, Washington. She earned an Associate Degree in Medical Assisting in 1978 from North Seattle Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Seattle University in 1985. She has been married for 27 years and has two daughters. An enthusiastic traveler, Linda also enjoys boating, gardening and socializing with friends. French Illusions, her debut memoir, is the culmination of a three-year project.

You can visit her website at www.lindakovicskow.com.

French Illusions Tour Page:

 http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2012/11/24/pump-up-your-book-presents-french-illusions-virtual-book-publicity-tour/

Book Trailer Link:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QikoNLXZP_o&feature=youtu.be