Don’t miss Ailsa Abraham’s launch party this Friday!
We have a launch! Friday 10th March (13.00 – 20.00 UK time) you are all invited to my party on Facebook to celebrate my first Crime/Romance novel. Here is the link to the launch As I have alr…
Tag: Ailsa Abraham
Hi all:
I know I’ve been telling you for a while that I had reviews pending to share, and I thought as you might have a bit of time to read over the holidays (ha!) I’d bring you some before the year ends. (Doesn’t time fly!)
Here two books that although very different share fabulous plots, strong female characters and a good deal of ‘magic’, ‘secrets’ and very unexpected things. Both writers are also great bloggers and I’m sure will keep coming back.
First:
Alchemy by Ailsa Abraham. Sometimes perfect solutions bring unexpected problems.
Ailsa Abraham’s novel Alchemy starts with a premise that would be the perfect ending for many novels, in appearance promising an idyllic utopian future for all. With a mysterious thriller-like beginning, a discovery that for once falls in the right hands, and a deal too good for all governments to ignore, one wonders where the story will go from there. Fascinating and enlightened characters appear and then quickly get to work, and new characters, whose relationship to the previous ones is not always evident at first, make an entry.
There is magic related to Pagan religious practice, and we follow two young children, a boy and a girl, as they discover their faith and are trained to reach the highest ranks. Do not worry if you’re not very versed in the different pagan practices and groups, as Adrian, a Professor in Ancient Religious Studies and once born (not magical) and his girlfriend, Helen, a thriller writer, serve as a point of contact and questioning guides into the ins and outs of the new world religious order. And if you thought everything seemed too nice to be true, there’s evil at work and dangerous alliances that put humanity at risk. A pair of unlikely hero and heroine will have to step forward and pay the price.
If you think fights over fuel and religious wars are responsible for all that’s wrong in our world, read this book and you might think again. Alchemy is a novel that combines a plot interesting from an ethical and philosophical point of view, with a good story and fascinating characters that I hope will be further developed in other books in the series. And if you like a good romantic story of impossible love, Riga and Iamo are far more interesting than Romeo and Juliette. (And two of the most intriguing characters I’ve met in recent times).
If you have an open mind and like to explore big questions whilst being transported to worlds both familiar and completely alien to ours, you should read this book. If you love adventures that go beyond the usual, don’t miss it. If you love beautifully written books with great characters, this one is for you too. In summary, if you have a bit of imagination and enjoy reading, give it a go. I am looking forward to reviewing Shaman’s Drum soon.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I3A4HCQ/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I3A4HCQ/
Paper:
http://www.amazon.com/Alchemy-Ailsa-Abraham/dp/1909841501/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alchemy-Ailsa-Abraham/dp/1909841501/
Here, her Amazon page so you can keep up with her news. And don’t forget to follow!
http://www.amazon.com/Ailsa-Abraham/e/B00AYKUBQ4/
And her blog:
And:
Bad Moon by Anita Dawes. Blood Ties and an Unforgiving Fate.
Bad Moon is narrated in the first person by Annie, a young girl who lives happily with her family: mother (Ruby), father (Jed), and older brother (Nathan). She adores her father, although her mother’s behaviour is far from exemplary (she regularly invites other men to her home and that results in incidents with her husband, who takes it out on the men and seem remarkably tolerant of his wife’s behaviour). At first, Annie is worried that she might end up becoming a woman like her mother when she grows up and thinks it is all due to her mother’s family (her father says that her mother was born under a ‘bad moon’ and she comes from ‘the Hills’ where people seem to have their own morality and rules of behaviour). The inhabitants of the Hills seem to be directly related to those of The Hills Have Eyes or the banjo players in Deliverance. What Annie doesn’t know is that things are worse than she ever could imagine. She has lived all her life in a world of lies and secrets. She is convinced she must learn the truth to avoid history repeating itself and is prepared to go to any lengths to achieve that. The costs are high indeed.
Annie does not have much formal schooling (she decides to leave school when she realises things aren’t as they should) but she is extremely articulate, and some of the descriptions of the landscape surrounding her home, of her experiences and dreams, her mystical feelings on visiting the caves previously inhabited by a Native-American tribe, and her reflections are beautiful and lyrical. We might disagree with some of her decisions but it is difficult not to admire her determination. She never tries to be liked or makes excuses for her own behaviour (she might blame others at times, but despite not being a believer or having much in the way of role models, she does question her actions and tries to make things better), and she is neither all good nor all bad. It’s a testimony to the skill of the author that although Annie’s head is not a pleasant place to be in, we can’t help but wish she’ll succeed and live to see another day.
With themes including incest, rape, infanticide, murder, cannibalism, paedophilia and plenty of violence, this is not a gentle novel or an easy read. There is sex and violence, although these are not graphically rendered, but anybody with a modicum of imagination will be left with many powerful images difficult to forget. The strong intuition of the main character, the roles of fate, blood and family history and the communities portrayed turn this book into a tragedy where instead of kings and gods we have as protagonists a family in the outskirts of society and outside of history. (The historical period of the story and the outside society are not described in detail and this adds to the sense of claustrophobia an entrapment.)
If Annie is a heroine, a tragic hero or an anti-hero is open to interpretation and I haven’t decided yet. I’m not sure I’d like to meet her in real life, but I know I’d like to read more about her.
Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Moon-Anita-Dawes-ebook/dp/B009BK3AYS/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Moon-Anita-Dawes-ebook/dp/B009BK3AYS/
Paper:
http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Moon-Anita-Dawes/dp/1326330179/
Here is her Amazon page to keep up with her news. And don’t forget to follow!:
http://www.amazon.com/Anita-Dawes/e/B0034NUE10/
And her (and sister Jaye Marie’s) blogs:
http://anitajaydawes.blogspot.co.uk/
Thanks to the authors for two great books, thanks to you all for reading, and don’t forget to share, like, comment, and CLICK! And Keep Reading!
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¡Hola, Olga! 2
Thanks so much to Ailsa Abraham Author for a great interview and for the hospitality. Beware! Today I talk about my books!
Welcome back. Still chatting to Olga. Finally, your own work! Tell us all about your writing.
Thanks Ailsa. I’ve been writing since I was quite young, although, thankfully, most of it has been lost in the darkness of time. The first novel I published, called ‘The Man Who Never Was’ is a story about Jesús, a 
very ugly boy, and his very special family. I was very influenced by Magic Realism at the time when I wrote the first draft (I must have been 17 or 18) but have worked on the story a lot since.
The second story ‘Twin Evils?’ I also wrote years back. It’s a novella about a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, complete opposites of each other, and a their best friend, a girl their age, who finds it difficult to keep neutral between them. I published it as a YA story, although…
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Video, arte, y tranquilidad.
Hola a todos:
Estaba preparando un post sobre marketing, cuando de repente me di cuenta de que la semana pasada había sido muy larga y había hecho muchas cosas.
Había conocido a gente
Ailsa Abraham es una escritora y bloguera a la que conocí a través de las redes y que estaba de vacaciones cerca de Barcelona, y se vino a visitarme con su marido y su perrita Lily.
Fue el cumpleaños de mi madre:
Hicimos gestiones, vi a amistades (hola Montse!) y nos paseamos por San Jordi (y no tengo foto pero vimos a David Lucas y Josep Capsir. ¡Qué majos!)
El viernes de vuelta a Inglaterra.
Así que pensé que necesitaba un descanso. Por suerte, las escritoras de un grupo al que pertenezco, unas mujeres con muchísimo talento, pensaron que ya que el tiempo está mejorando, hay que ponerse a pensar en qué leeremos en la playa. Así que si leéis inglés, os dejo el video de promoción (sé que habrá regalos y más cosas):
Y siguiendo con el tema de la playa, un vecino me había guardado esta pieza de la artista Ashley O’Neal, que es una de su serie Drifting Bones (Huesos a la deriva)
Mucha gracias por leer, y si os ha gustado, dadle al me gusta, comentad, compartid, y haced CLIC!
Categories
Video, art and quiet.
Hi all:
I was preparing (I’ve prepared it already) a post asking more questions on book marketing, and then I thought… Last week was quite long, seeing people…
(By the way, what a joy meeting Ailsa, Peter (a.k.a. Badger) and Lily, in person), celebrating my mother’s birthday
trying to sort a few things, traveling back to the UK…
So I though a light post would do.
And luckily, a group of very talented writers I belong to came to the rescue. They decided that as the weather is improving, it’s time to get our Beach Reads ready, and to promote the idea, here is the video. I know there are giveaways and things coming up, so I’ll keep you posted.
And talking about beaches, when I got home, my next door neighbour had been keeping something for me all this time. A work of art by Ashley O’Neal. One of her series Drifting Bones.
Thank you so much for reading and if you’ve enjoyed it, like, comment, share, and… go find something to CLICK!
Hi all:
Hugh Roberts from Hugh’s Views and News is hosting a blog hop party.It’s wonderful to be able to invite you all to enjoy the promised sunshine now that Spring has arrived. I was invited to join by Lord David Prosser himself, a great blogger, a generous man, and an envoi to the Queen (don’t miss his books to learn more).
I had great problems choosing only one blogger and was tempted to invite many, although suspect we’re all bound to be inviting each other, and as I was thinking, I read a post by Ailsa Abraham, a great author, a witty blogger (The Bingergread Cottage, a must read, recently with great interviews), an otter with a very peculiar style, honest to a fault, and who can make you laugh and a second later have you in tears. And, who I recently discovered has a beautiful voice too. And I though, yes, who wouldn’t want Ailsa in a party!
Here what she says about herself in her page:
From my home in rural France, the little village under the mountain, an hour from everywhere, I’ll be updating you on my writing, quirky things that happen here and welcoming other authors into the Bingergread Cottage. It’s called that because it’s an upside-down house (more space up than down) and so the reverse of the usual witch’s dwelling.
Dip into the liquorice all-sorts box and see what you come up with. Shamanism, healing, writing or any of my other varied interests? You’ll probably get to meet my hounds, Titch and Lily and the Old Feller himself, The Ancient Mariner. Don’t forget to come back regularly to check for competitions, special offers, free short stories and work in progress.
If you are wondering…why the otters? Well they are one of my totem animals and my Shaman name is Otter, Ottie to my friends. Watch out for lots of pictures of them in this blog.
And her two books:
Here is her page in Amazon.
Like everything, this blog hop has a few Rules/Guidelines.
Guidelines
- Choose a fellow blogger who you think spreads blog love.
- Write a short post about them.
- Entitle your post Walking On Sunshine Blog Hop Party (so others can find your post).
- Create a pingback to this post, so that the link appears in the comments section, so that other participants can read your post.
- If you are not sure how to create a pingback, then copy and paste the link to your post in the comments section below (so that other participants can read your post)
I was in two minds about inviting more people but I’ll leave it up to Hugh to make his own rules.
Have a great spring, don’t forget to visit everybody, and have fun!
Hi all:
I decided I should share some of the blogs I follow and read regularly (as much as I can) for a couple of reasons. One is because I’m a bit in flux at the moment and as I wasn’t sure how much new content I could provide, I thought it was only fair to share the content of some of the blogs I come back to regularly so you would have a chance to go exploring. Another reason is that every now and then I get offered some award for blogging, and as I decided some time ago to concentrate on the writing, I don’t follow through. A fellow blogger (more about her later) when she gets offered and award, she shares some of the blogs she follows and finds inspiring, and I thought that was a very good idea. So, thank you Teagan!
I follow many more blogs and I read as many as I can, but I thought I’d leave you a selection of a few (more next week) by topic. I hope this would become a feature and I’ll bring you updates regularly.
Today I thought I’d share some of the blogs that offer good information on all aspects of writing, and some that are by writers who talk about their trade, but also about their lives and other equally (or to my mind sometimes much more) fascinating themes.
Seumas Gallacher:
This Scotsman now living in warmer and drier climates, has a unique style of interaction and loves social networking (you have to read him to know what I mean. I won’t try and imitate his style). He is amusing, provides useful information, and his approach proves that being unique and genial are strong assets in this world of blandness and copycats. Go on and check him out!
Daily Writing Tips (Maeve Maddox):
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/
Not being a native English speaker, I’m always trying to check my language and looking for tips, suggestions and good explanations. Maeve’s post never fail to teach me something new, and they’re always well thought and researched. A great resource!
Communicate Resources for Writers (Cate Artios)
http://cateartios.wordpress.com/
I know Cate through one of the writers’ groups I belong too, and we belong to the same Tribe in Triberr, so we share each other posts regularly. I enjoy the posts of all of my colleagues, but I’ve found Cate’s posts again a great resource and a mine of information. Cate creates her own posts and she’s always prompt to reblog and share posts she thinks will help others. Thanks Cate!
Sandy Appleyard (Author of hopeful memoirs and fiction)
http://www.sandyappleyard.com/
I’ve been following Sandy’s post for a while. She always manages to discover a new way to promote your books and increase visibility, and she’s always generous in passing the information on and offering help if you have difficulties. Now I’ve joined a group she’s created in Facebook and I’m sure there’s plenty more learning to come!
The Creative Penn (Joanna Penn):
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/
Joanna Penn and ‘The Creative Penn’ are well-known for their efforts in informing writers about resources, technology, programmes, training opportunities, and bringing innovators to her blog. I can’t imagine there are many people who haven’t come across her yet, but just in case somebody has been asleep for a while, I thought I’d mention her.
Teagan’s Books (Teagan Geneviene):
http://teagansbooks.wordpress.com/
Teagan’s blog, like many blogs of writers (I guess including mine) are a bit of a mix. Sometimes we all like to feel that it is our blog and therefore we’ll write about what we like, and if somebody likes it, all the better. But what I love about Teagan’s Books is the writing. Teagan is committed to writing a new piece (instalment) every week, and she takes to writing challenges like duck to water. I only discovered Teagan recently (although it feels as if we were close friends already) but I’m glued to her series of the three ingredients, where she’s writing a story set in the 1920s incorporating 3 food ingredients every week (these are provided by friends and other bloggers). She’s done other writing assignments before and I hope to be able to catch up with them soon. And don’t miss the care she takes in finding great period images for her posts (and of course, the recipes)! Go Teagan!
The next three blogs are by writers about writing also, but to me they have a bit of a more personal style.
Laurie Smith’s blog:
http://laurie27wsmith.wordpress.com/
Laurie Smith is a man who seems to have lived many lives in one. I love his Army series, that includes pictures of the period (oh, the pink tank!), his Wednesday offerings (usually great pictures and kangaroos and wallabies for good measure), and recently he’s talking about his experiences as a medium. If you want variety, Laurie is your man!
Barsetshire Diaries (David Prosser):
http://barsetshirediaries.wordpress.com/
Lord David Prosser (as his close friends call him), follows a diary style for his blogs. He writes his daily happenings and posts on a Sunday. Over time I’ve become fond of Reuben (grandchildren always a plus, and he’s gorgeous), his fishes, his brother (what time will he get up today?), the people at the eateries he visits, and the never ending stream of e-mails and posts that keep him glued to his computer (unfortunately my posts are part of the problem). He’s recently published a children’s book with illustrations and he’s a generous and thoughtful blogger, who will add mid-week posts if some good cause comes his way. He’s also become part of my family of bloggers.
Ailsa Abraham:
I’d love to remember who alerted me to Ailsa’s posts (I think it might have been Seumas, who’s always prompt at reblogging posts he enjoys) but I read one where she was talking about trying to cope with her stroke in such a humorous way that I kept telling everybody I met about it. Ailsa is a writer, now living in France, and she has a fantastic sense of humour. She’s trying her hand at poetry and I cannot recommend her blog enough. Go and visit! You’ll feel better for it!
Thanks to all the bloggers for participating (without their knowledge but I hope they won’t mind), thank you for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed it, and if you have, please like, share, comment, and especially CLICK and FOLLOW!
Just Olga 
