Monday, January 29, 2018

Book Blast: A Reed in the Wind by Thomas Griffith - Win a $25 Gift Card



Inside the Book:


Title: A Reed in the Wind
Author: Thomas Griffith
Publisher: xLibris
Genre: Poetry
Format: Ebook


The book starts out with a very short autobiographical sketch.

The next piece is about lousy relationships. It begins by being about a cat who doesn’t like being a pet. Then a mouse is introduced. He doesn’t like being terrorized by the cat. I do some editorializing here too.

The third piece follows the four seasons. It starts with Spring, and I am in love. Then it moves to Summer, and I am having a hard time meeting the demands reality makes on me. Then comes Fall, and I write about the tragic sense of life. Then Winter, and I begin the long road of accepting and coping with being broken.

The fourth piece is about the first of the 10 LSD trips I took back in the hippie days. Millions of people have taken it, and the hippie sub-culture it spawned has profoundly positively effected our music, social skills, language, dress, literature, etc It really encouraged and facilitated my spiritual development. I heard that some colleges and clinics are experimenting with experiencing it.

The next two pieces are beautiful and my favorites. They embody and personify the mystical state of dreaming.

The talk about the relationship between seeing and dreaming. The next piece talks about the complex and crucial experience of inner space. Very little is known about inner space, but I believe it is the source of all life.

The next piece and the 11th piece are about sex. Sex creates all life on Earth. Fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc are foods which were made by nature to serve a reproductive purpose. People like to imagine sex is as simple as sticking a rod in a tube. But often the simplest things turn out to be the most complicated. Sex has a wonderful side and it has a dark side.

The next piece attempts to start the conversation about how we all are multiple personalities. It is a huge unknown territory. Multiple personality is a common psychiatric diagnosis.

The next piece is melancholy and pastoral musings about life.

The next piece is about sex again. Having a sexual orientation and perspective is a very difficult role to play.

The next piece is about how my teenage friends and I would come together and party.

The next piece has 4 sections: Women, children, men and teenagers. I try to describe the belief systems and purposes of each group.

I have written 2 other books: A Schizophrenic’s Notes and A Way with Heart.



I have taken psychotropic medication for the treatment of schizophrenia everyday for 40 years.  I was one of the founders of a mental health provider association that was staffed and run by mental patients.  It has a 15 million dollar budget.  I left it a few years ago because it had become like the system were trying to transform.  I have had 25 jobs, most of them were part-time, all of them were minimum wage.  I have volunteered umpteen times.  I went to 6 colleges as I moved around.  I have read a lot of classic and sacred literature.  I fool around with guitar and piano.

Giveaway

Thomas is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 
Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
  • This giveaway begins January 22 and ends on February 2.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on February 3.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



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February 2

The Adventures of Mitee Mite by David John @miteemite




We are thrilled to be hosting David John, author of the children's book series, The Adventures of Mitee Mite! David will be traveling the blogosphere with Pump Up Your Book January 2 - February 28. Leave a comment below to let him know you stopped by!


Title: THE ADVENTURES OF MITEE MITE SERIES
Author: David John
Publisher: Mitee Mite
Pages: 120 pages total in series
Genre: Children’s Picture Book

BOOK BLURB:
Building on a desire to teach children about time, shapes, measurements, and money, author David John created THE ADVENTURES OF MITEE MITE series. In the same way that many of us learned our ABCs, the book and app (available on Google Play and iTunes) collection helps young readers learn how many seconds are in a minute, the number of sides different shapes contain, and more, using a catchy tune that captures their attention and motivates learning.
Focusing on children from age 3 to 11 years old, THE ADVENTURES OF MITEE MITE book and app series offers its readers a dynamic female superhero, Mitee Mite, as their guide through the often tricky terrain involved with mastering time, shapes, measurements, and money. In her matching red cape and boots, Mitee Mite, accompanied by her alarm clock sidekick, Terry the Ticker, activates her superpowers by using her manners, respecting others, and accurately answering questions in the games she encounters during her adventures.

The five books in THE ADVENTURES OF MITEE MITE book and app series include The Time Frame Game and The Time Frame Game Advanced, which break down seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years to teach readers the fundamentals of time. The Measuring Game explores the components of feet, yards, and miles, as well as cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. Mitee Mite teaches kids about currency in The Money Game and dives into a colorful world of triangles, squares, hexagons, and more in The Shape Game. The companion song for this series (available at www.miteemite.com) helps kinds absorb the skills in an enjoyable and interactive way.
           
The idea for THE ADVENTURES OF MITEE MITE book and app series came about when David was faced with a dire challenge. “One day as I was babysitting my friends’ children, and not having any idea what to do, I made up fun games to help them learn,” David revealed. The goal of the series is to expose children to a variety of lessons in a manner that is fun, relatable, and memorable. David says, “Mitee Mite was created to help give children a head start on the basics of time, measurements, shapes, and money.”
David’s daughter, whom he calls his “Little Mite,” is the inspiration for the main character and the themes of the series. David’s desire to teach his daughter the basic skills featured in THE ADVENTURES OF MITEE MITE book and app series has expanded into the goal of sharing these lessons with other children through his “You Buy, They Read” program. “We plan to give away one book for every one bought to kids in need.” In addition, David will donate $1 for every $2 of the gross sales of apps to teachers “who are going into their own pockets to buy supplies.”

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon

 


Book Trailer:



About the Author

David John is the author of The Adventures of Mitee Mite book and app series. The series follows the adventures of superhero Mitee Mite and her sidekick, Terry the Ticker. The five titles in the series are The Time Frame Game (Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-9860919-0-2; Softcover ISBN: 978-0-9860919-6-4), The Measuring Game (Softcover ISBN: 978-0-9860919-2-6), The Money Game (Softcover ISBN: 978-0-9860919-4-0), The Shape Game (Softcover ISBN: 978-0-9860919-3-3), and The Time Frame Game Advanced (Softcover ISBN: 978-0-9860919-5-7). Complementary apps for each book are available on Google Play and iTunes.  The companion song is available at the website:  www.miteemite.com.

David lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his wife and daughter. He enjoys spending time with his family, playing hockey, and creating new stories for The Adventures of Mitee Mite book and app series.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:



Friday, January 26, 2018

Book Feature: When Bad Backs Happen to Good People by Jordan S. Fersel, MD - Win a $25 Gift Card





Title: When Bad Backs Happen to Good People
Author: Jordan S. Fersel, MD
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Medical
Format: Ebook


Chronic back and neck pain is a thorny issue that plagues millions living in today’s modern world and has the power to take over a person’s life—not just physically, but also psychologically, emotionally, and physiologically. The good news is that there are effective ways of dealing with chronic pain that allows patients to return to a productive life without undergoing unnecessary surgery. Dr. Jordan Fersel is a board-certified pain specialist who relies on his diverse professional experience to distinguish the differences between acute and chronic pain, scrutinize the accuracy of an MRI scan to diagnose pain, examine the architecture of the spine, explain nerve injuries, differentiate between the various types of arthritis, and offer potential treatment options. Through included case studies and illustrations, pain sufferers will learn there is hope for managing pain through proper diagnosis and a treatment plan tailored to treat individual needs. It’s Not All in Your Head shares guidance from a trusted physician that explores chronic back and neck pain, its sources, and the many treatment options available.




Jordan Fersel, MD, is a board-certified, pain-management fellowship-trained physician who earned a BA in biology from Queens College and an MD degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He has been director of Pain Management Services at Trinitas Medical Center Oncology Unit for several years. Dr. Fersel and his wife, Esty, divide their time between Philadelphia and West Orange, New Jersey. 

GIVEAWAY

Jordan IS GIVING AWAY A $25 GIFT CARD!

  
Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
  • This giveaway begins January 22 and ends on February 2.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on February 3.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone! 

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway






Monday, January 22
Splashes of Joy
The Book Czar

Tuesday, January 23
The Book Refuge
Review From Here

Wednesday, January 24
A Title Wave
A Taste of My Mind

Thursday, January 25
A Book Lover
Voodoo Princess

Friday, January 26
The Literary Nook
Write and Take Flight

Monday, January 29
My Bookish Pleasures
Harmonious Publicity

Tuesday, January 30
Confessions of an Eccentric Bookaholic
From Paperback to Leatherbound

Wednesday, January 31
Lover of Literature
She Writes


Thursday, February 1
PUYB Virtual Book Club
Fiction to Fruition

Friday, February 2
The Hype and the Hoopla
The Revolving Bookshelf

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Book Feature: Fragments of Life by Anita R. Gibbons - Win a $25 Gift Card





Title: Fragments of Life
Author: Anita R. Gibbons
Publisher: XlibrisAU
Genre: Fiction
Format: Ebook


This story is in a sense a complex tale that commences at the end. It relates the tale of a developing “rocky” love affair between its two major characters as they each discover their capacity to fall in love with another woman, the charting of which is seen through the eyes of the survivor.

Maggie Cameron is a thirty-something single mother who has already established a moderately successful publishing business in Vancouver, Canada. She is also struggling to cope with the strain of a failing marriage and the needs of her growing daughter. Then into her life enters Carla Green as her young personal assistant.

Carla quickly becomes an invaluable player in Maggie’s business and family life. Then everything moves smoothly for a number of years until the confluence of two major events brings their developing relationship to a climax.

Carla is forced to confront the reemergence of her childhood demons on two fronts when a previous illness brings her mortality into question again. Maggie undertakes to publish a lesbian-focused story by a well-respected novelist under an assumed name. Maggie is deeply worried about the latter, even after Carla offers to play a role in addressing her major concerns. However, it is of even greater concern to both Maggie and her daughter, Stephanie, now in her teens, that Carla’s shattering prognosis will have severe repercussions on their developing comfortable family relationship.

By way of devising a coping strategy, Maggie and Stephanie begin plotting a way to make Carla’s impending death as happy as possible for all concerned. However, Carla seems to be rejecting all their efforts until an opportunity emerges for Stephanie to spend part of her upcoming school holiday in France. After considerable persuasion, Carla finally agrees to accompany them on their planned grand tour of Europe. Hence, although the story is set primarily in Vancouver, Canada, it also incorporates their travels across Europe.

As they all set about arranging for and planning their holiday itinerary, Carla is also trying to address her long-held concerns about her own sexuality. She eventually discloses her fears to Maggie, whose initial reaction is less than positive, particularly as Carla also soon expresses her deep feelings for her boss.

This unexpected development causes Maggie to also attempt an analysis her own deepening feelings for Carla, but before she is able to draw any conclusions, an event immediately preceding their departure seemingly dooms whatever future their relationship might hold.

The saga then proceeds as a mini travelogue covering their adventures in France. Indeed, it is only when Maggie and Carla, having deposited Stephanie with her troublesome father, set off on their own adventure to Italy that they begin to address the changing nature of their relationship.

It is only when they reach the idyllic setting of the small coastal village of Positano that Maggie finally gives in to the perceived pressure from Carla and finally admits to herself that she has irrevocably fallen totally ‘in love’ with Carla. However, more problems emerge as they grapple with the issue of Maggie’s willingness to share her newfound knowledge with Stephanie and the outside world in general.




After she was born in the United Kingdom, Anitaís family moved to Australia when she was still quite young. She studied her BA (sociology/politics) and MA (womenís studies) at Victoriaís Monash University. She met her life partner at age twenty, and they spent thirty-seven years together in their small home in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. They both enjoyed traveling, sailing, and sharing their time with an array of pet cats. Her writing has consisted of short stories, poetry, and articles for professional journals. Following her partnerís death in 2007, this novel finally burst out of its shackles. Her other major pastimes include presenting a weekly program for Melbourne community radio and still traveling whenever possible.

GIVEAWAY

Anita IS GIVING AWAY A $25 GIFT CARD!

  
Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
  • This giveaway begins January 22 and ends on February 2.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on February 3.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone! 

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway






Monday, January 22
She Writes
A Taste of My Mind

Tuesday, January 23
Books Are Love
Review From Here

Wednesday, January 24
A Title Wave
The Book Czar

Thursday, January 25
A Book Lover
The Literary Nook

Friday, January 26
Voodoo Princess
Write and Take Flight

Monday, January 29
My Bookish Pleasures
All Inclusive Retort

Tuesday, January 30
Confessions of an Eccentric Bookaholic
From Paperback to Leatherbound

Wednesday, January 31
Lover of Literature
Bent Over Bookwords

Thursday, February 1
PUYB Virtual Book Club
Fiction to Fruition

Friday, February 2
The Hype and the Hoopla
Inkslingers Opus

Friday, January 19, 2018

Book Blast: The Orange Cover by Moshy Shain - Win a $25 Gift Card






Title: The Orange Cover
Author: Moshy Shain
Publisher: XlibrisUS
Genre: Self-Help
Format: Ebook


We live in a beautiful world with nice people walking around the streets of happiness. But at the same time, we all feel that we are the only ones struggling with something in our lives. We are the only ones who are unhappy, and no one can understand us. We can feel lost in thoughts of how to get out of our own mess. We can’t stop telling ourselves that we are the only crazy ones who can’t deal with life. And that everyone out there is just perfect and everything in their lives goes just the way they wish. Only I am going through a hard time in life. And from the outside, it seems that I’m happy, but little do they know how much pain I’m dealing with.


Monday, January 8
Review From Here
Literal Exposure 

Tuesday, January 9
The Writers Life
As the Pages Turn 

Wednesday, January 10
A Title Wave
I'm Shelf-ish 

Thursday, January 11
Straight From the Authors Mouth
The Dark Phantom 

Friday, January 12
The Zen Reader
Inkslingers Opus 

Monday, January 15
All Inclusive Retort
A Taste of My Mind 

Tuesday, January 16
Bent Over Bookwords
Zensanity 

Wednesday, January 17
Lover of Literature
The Book Czar 

Thursday, January 18
The Book Refuge
The Revolving Bookshelf 

Friday, January 19
Voodoo Princess
The Literary Nook