On the subject of bargains and scams.
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On the subject of bargains and scams.
I became aware today that someone is offering a free audiobook of ‘Shadow Over Avalon’. It isn’t me or my publisher. There are no audiobooks of my works…yet. I will be first to shout out if that happens. If this offer were genuine, which it is not, then it would be theft, pure and simple. What it will do is give you a great dose of virus for you PC. I found this out when I went to look and bear in mind I have uber protection on my PC, which kicked in and informed me of the danger. I believe it was a trojan horse. Lovely. Please bear in mind that no one gives away something for nothing, not even me. My promos are aimed at increasing sales on the next book. See? Truth here.
Speaking of promos, I have two currently running. ‘Shadow Over Avalon’ is currently 99c on all platforms for the ebook. Here is one. http://amzn.to/1R5BHet
Another promo is going on in the UK at Amazon and is for the paperback version of Darkspire Reaches, so yes, the second book is coming soon. Here s the link and the deal.
£3.75
- RRP: £8.99
- You Save: £5.24 (58%)
FREE Delivery in the UK on orders with at least £10 of books.
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.
Gift-wrap available.
Gift-wrap available.
£3.75
- RRP: £8.99
- You Save: £5.24 (58%)
FREE Delivery in the UK on orders with at least £10 of books.
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.
Gift-wrap available.
Gift-wrap available.
Please remember that unless it comes from me or from Kristell Ink/Grimbold Books it is not a genuine offer and you will certainly be either picking up all sorts of goodies you really didn’t want to acquire or even worse, you might be losing things you worked really hard to accumulate. Some of these hackers can burrow down into a person’s bank account. Whatever book you wish to buy/acquire, then get it only from a genuine platform such as Amazon, Barns and Nobel, Kobo, iTunes, or Smashwords. Google also has one, but my stuff isn’t on there.
Catch up and competition!
Reclaiming time.
I made a decision this morning on opening my email. I am going to cut down on the number of groups I had joined, namely the ones where negativity seems to not only thrive but be actively nurtured. I don’t have time for this. I don’t need a downer to start my day. Next on my list of unfollows are sites so profoundly wrapped up in rules and regulations that a person can’t sneeze without getting moderated. I had several of these I haven’t visited for months because of this and they were beginning to create a log jam in my sidebar on FB. Oh and some of the negative ones are also the over-moderated.
The plan is to go through five sites a week and see if I really want or need to be there. These are not ones I contribute to on a regular basis so it is highly unlikely my absence will be even noticed. However, time clawed back to be used in a more productive manner.
Economy and convenience bring their own changes.
A few weeks back I was perusing, or at least trying to peruse shops for china. First off, one of my favorites has disappeared from the face of the planet. Fine, I can get over that. So we go to the departmental stores, namely Sears and the Bay. The first was a washout. Well, I guess it might be as the word is that Sears are pulling in their horns. I had higher hopes for the Bay, (Hudson Bay Company), as I have spent many a happy hour wandering through their fine china. Nope, not this time. All gone except about three types of rather bland white china.
Why? No point asking the employees, who will give the stock answer that there was no call for such things. However, I can make an educated guess. Most of the finest china was not dishwasher safe. Sure, this is very expensive and people would have a regular set of china for everyday use, but times have changed dramatically from the last century to this one. Yes, dishwashers have been around for decades, so what is different? Time and custom.
At one time, it was the norm for a household to rely on a single income with the wife, or husband staying home to raise the kids. Not so much now with tax breaks for childcare and way more expensive living conditions. It has made for homes where time is important as it is restricted by circumstances of both working. After marriage and before having kids, it is very much the norm for there to be two incomes, which leads to a reliance on labor-saving devices, such as the dishwasher. Now people are conditioned to use it if they have one and will do so even if one of them stays home after the kids as this is a proven way to get more time for important things, like raising a child. It means the choice of fancy china is not going to happen because it must be washed by hand. Yep, that is always a chore. How many people with dishwashers also have draining trays and loads of tea towels? I don’t possess either one, so when I wash my fine china I have to improvise.
Times are changing and I didn’t get the china I was after.
Five star review for Shadow Over Avalon
I am not one to reveal too much of a story line to people who have not read a novel and who are considering doing that. For me the story is everything.
I will say that this is a fascinating novel and I want to write about what I see in the crafting. The writer clearly has an exquisite command of the elements that make Shadow Over Avalon an enigma that demands to be read to completion. I loved the story.
Settings are beautifully drawn. The Author has given the reader the fine gift of clarity. It is possible to see a vista of the entire scene from the well crafted sentences and word choices. To me the dialogue is appropriate for the story line with different cultures represented by the way they speak. I can nearly hear their voices as they utter their words.
Shadow Over Avalon has a blend of Medieval times with the technology of the Future. Yet the future technology is explained in such a way as to leave the reader with understanding and logical conclusions. There is incredible creativity at work with the detail and attention paid to providing a strong picture of the world building that has been achieved.
I feel as if there is something for everyone in this novel. Romance, conflict between races, high tech devices and genetic engineering, combat, strategy, intrigue, mystery and many elements from various genres. It is one of those reads that makes you want to keep going long after bedtime.
Available on all the Amazons, Kobo, iTunes, Nook and Smashwords.
Spring has near enough sprung I guess.
I base this on the enactment of the sacred yearly ritual observed by my neighbors, whom we will call the Mumbles. Mr. Mumble has been hard at work on this compelling annual task all morning. First of all he rakes the roots of his still brown grass almost down to the bedrock, then he picks up by hand what would have become his lawn and bags it. Out comes the mower, set to the lowest shave setting, although I truly believe he has tinkered with the thing to get it even lower than manufacturers lowest settings. Next comes another all encompassing raking and hand bagging, followed by another mowing. His…what should I call it now?…bare roots are now at least three inches below my emerging grass, just beginning to green up. He, Mr. Mumble, is now stood with Mrs. Mumble, admiring this new desert of brown dirt, he is his lumberjack shirt and yellow peaked cap, carefully chosen to look for all the world like a laborer’s hard hat, (I had to do a double-take), and she in her Daisy Dukes and crop top. I did mention this is a retired couple, no? I try not to look at her fashion choices in the warmer months as I do not want them indelibly blazed into my retinas.
In about two weeks, the first panic will begin to set in when we dethatch our grass and give it the first lite, high trim. Their brown desert will not have altered in any way whatsoever. They might as well be living in Arizona without an underground irrigation system. This will result in more of their rakings and mowings of what is rapidly becoming a hard, mud patch. Rinse and repeat all summer with occasional sprinklings of lawn fertilizer to no avail.
No, we don’t say anything to them from the comfort of our lush greenness, for that would be discourteous and imply they were incapable of observation. Besides, our other retired neighbor, whom we shall call ‘Mr. Bighead’ is full of good advice he likes to impart to others when he isn’t intent on impressing them with his material possessions. Aside from that, the Mumble’s grass has become a local attraction with people coming from far and wide to observe this peculiar phenomenon. It would be unsporting to spoil the fun.
Interests, or lack thereof.
I find I am very picky who I choose to follow or follow in return on Twitter. People generally put that which is most important to them in a prominent place in their profile and it is a great indication of what sort of things they will tweet about.
Anything remotely to do with politics with send me running away as it is a very personal issue with most people and I don’t find it interesting. Likewise, any mention of any sort of religion and I will head for the hills. This is a highly personal issue that is again, subject to opinions, which I don’t want to hear. Religious instruction has those people highly qualified to do just that and it is not a function of those on twitter.
Flames wars, or nasty, snarky comments are also a way to get unfriended. Don’t have time for negativity and never will.
To plant or not to plant, that is the question.
Yes, I do know it is April, but I am in Alberta, Western Canada and although I can see the grass starting, we may well get more snowfall and I know we will get more frosts.
No, I do not propose to put out any bedding plants and haven’t bought any yet. That is as good as waving a flag at the weather fairy to say ‘Come dump on me’. What I was proposing to put in was a part of my new, bright, shiny plan. I thought I would put perennial bulbs in the planters to be the focal center. Things like bleeding hearts and begonias, freesias and calla lilies…things to give the planters height and maybe stick some in the hanging baskets, too. It wouldn’t really matter if they got snowed on as they take awhile to get going underground anyhow.
Yep, I am getting antsy as I feel I am being teased by this warm spell. I know I can’t dig in the flower beds as they will still be frozen solid, but not so the planters, all in warm locations. I am also hoping my peonies have survived though I won’t know until the end of May. I have an idea they make a winter snack for hibernating mice and such. As long as I haven’t got a gofer I don’t mind. Mice and voles end up as cat snacks in the summer, so don’t get to be a problem and Alberta doesn’t have rats so I don’t have to be too worried about what the cats are stalking.
I’d love some support.
My thunderclap promotion for Shadow Over Avalon ends tomorrow at noon, Mountain Time. If anyone who hasn’t already supported it feels like doing so, to increase the thunderousness of the thing, then that would be awesome. I am not shy of numbers and the campaign will go ahead. I just sort of would like it to have an even more wicked reach than it does already. http://thndr.it/1BSALSI
