Friday, May 31, 2019

Nothing About Us Without Us: The Adventures of the Cartoon Republican Army by David Perlmutter

Nothing About Us Without Us:
The Adventures of the Cartoon Republican Army
by David Perlmutter
Genre: Fantasy
Anybody who loves animated cartoons should be interested in knowing the truth about them. Which is that they have lives after the camera stops filming, and pretty interesting ones at that. This book will give you the truth about who they are and what they feel, direct from their lips. Particularly about how the leaders of the world want them out of the way, for good....
David Perlmutter is a freelance writer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is the author of America Toons In: A History of Television Animation (McFarland and Co.), The Singular Adventures Of Jefferson Ball (Amazon Kindle/Smashwords), The Pups (Booklocker.com), Certain Private Conversations and Other Stories (Aurora Publishing), Honey and Salt (Scarlet Leaf Publishing), Orthicon; or, the History of a Bad Idea (Linkville Press, forthcoming), The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows (Rowman and Littlefield) and Nothing About Us Without Us (Amazon Kindle Direct Prime). His short stories can be read on Curious Fictions at Curious Fictions/David Perlmutter. He can be reached on Facebook at David Perlmutter-Writer, Twitter at @DKPLJW1, and Tumblr at The Musings of David Perlmutter (yesdavidperlmutterfan).
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Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Murder, She Uncovered (Murder, She Reported Series)



About the Book




An intrepid 1930s Manhattan socialite uncovers deadly secrets during an assignment to the Hamptons in this riveting historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.
Westhampton, 1938. To the dismay of her well-to-do family, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is quickly establishing herself as a seasoned photographer over at the Daily Trumpet. Growing more confident in her decision to pursue a career, Elizabeth is thrilled when she and her reporter sidekick, Ralph Kaminsky, are sent to Long Island to cover the story of a young maid found dead in one of the glamourous summer homes in the devastating aftermath of the Great New England Hurricane—also known as the Long Island Express.
At first it’s assumed that the young woman was caught in the terrible storm, but when a suspicious wound is found on the side of her head, the police suspect murder. The maid’s death becomes even more tragic when it’s discovered she was pregnant, and with Elizabeth and Kaminsky at the scene of the crime, the Daily Trumpet scoops all the other papers in town.
The young woman’s boyfriend emerges as the likeliest suspect. But as Elizabeth follows the story, she begins to wonder whether someone in the household of the maid’s employers might be responsible—someone who’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth about the baby’s paternity hidden. . . .

About the Author

Mystery writing lets Peg indulge her curiosity under the guise of “work” (aka research). As a kid, she read the entire set of children’s encyclopedias her parents gave her and has been known to read the dictionary. She put pen to paper at age seven when she wrote plays and forced her cousins to perform them at Christmas dinner. She switched to mysteries when she discovered the perfect hiding place for a body down the street from her house.
When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading, cooking, spoiling her granddaughter and checking her books’ stats on Amazon.
A former Jersey girl, Peg now resides in Michigan with her husband and Westhighland white terrier, Reg. She is the author of the Sweet Nothings Lingerie series (written as Meg London), the Gourmet De-Lite series, the Lucille series, the Cranberry Cove series,   and the Farmer’s Daughter series.
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Saturday, May 25, 2019

The Downton Abbey Effect Cottages and Palaces in “His Red Eminence” By Laurel A. Rockefeller



The Downton Abbey Effect
Cottages and Palaces in “His Red Eminence”

By Laurel A. Rockefeller

“Downton Abbey.” Few period dramas have earned the critical acclaim and popularity as the story of its Crawley family as they navigate the dramatic changes faced in the early 20th century. Featuring lavish estates and stories centred on both the upstairs nobles and downstairs servants, it can be no wonder so many of us are excited about the September 2019 release of a theatrical film that continues the stories of these beloved characters.
Important to Downton Abbey’s appeal stems from its window into how the upper classes live and how they interact with the servants whose labours empower their lifestyle. It’s a time gone by for nearly all of us, a culture few of us experience or understand. A culture that was very much part of life in 17th century France.
In “His Red Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu” we are taken through the good cardinal’s entire adult life, starting at the age of twenty when he was a student at his beloved Sorbonne. Along the way, he lived in everything from a spartan dormitory to modest cottages to palaces. Each of these held a very different lifestyle. Each of them enlightened by watching “Downtown Abbey.”  Let’s take a look at his homes.

Du Plessis Manor/Château Richelieu – Poitou (1585-1594, intermittent thereafter)
The cardinal’s childhood home was the medieval manor built by his ancestors and resided at for centuries. The 16th century Wars of Religion which ultimately claimed the life of Armand’s father François in 1590 bankrupted the family, forcing Armand’s mother Suzanne de la Porte to cut what few staff they had before. Odds are the frugality Suzanne de la Porte imposed on her household meant Armand grew up with few if any of the luxuries normally enjoyed by the nobility, a simplicity in lifestyle he maintained for the rest of his life.
Upon the death of his father in 1590, eldest brother Henri du Plessis became Seigneur de Richelieu. Through political skill and the kindness of King Henri IV, Henri improved the du Plessis fortunes by convincing the king to appoint Armand as Bishop of Luçon and with it, a yearly income of 15,000 livres for his brother and, by extension, the family.


(engraving of the Château Richelieu before its demolition in 1805.)

As Armand’s career improved over the years, he invested in the family home, transforming it in the Château Richelieu built by architect Jacques Lemercier, and employing a proper household staff to attend him whenever he or other family members stayed there. From footmen to housemaids, valets, and lady’s maids, the château scenes in chapter twelve are modelled closely after those in Downton Abbey and the many adventures of those who lived there, both upstairs and downstairs.

Dormitory at the Sorbonne (1606-1607)
Like most students, Armand-Jean lived simply in a bedroom that served as bedroom, library, office, and beyond. He probably shared both a kitchen and lavatory with others living in the same building. It is the style of life most familiar to us today and therefore most relatable.

Bishop’s Mansion – Luçon (1608-1614)
More spacious than his dormitory, ordination as a priest and investiture as a bishop was a step up for His Excellency, Bishop du Plessis.  As bishop he lived in a parsonage where he lived, maintained an office complete with a secretary, and entertained. No less than a cook and a housekeeper maintained the residence and probably other servants as well, though likely fewer than ten altogether. Though the sizes of bishop mansions varied with the wealth and important of individual dioceses, the mansion in Luçon probably maintained at least five guest bedrooms in addition to the master bedroom the bishop occupied and those reserved on the top floor for residential staff.

Mansions – Blois and Avignon Exiles (1617-1620)
Historically speaking, we know essentially nothing about where exactly Bishop du Plessis lived during his years in exile in Blois and Avignon created by his service to Marie de Medici. As a civil servant, he most likely lived in the same home as the dowager queen while in Blois. Given Marie de Medici was essentially running a quasi-independent, rival French government, it is logical to deduce that she and her staff (du Plessis included) lived in a modest mansion sufficiently sized to accommodate a household of at least thirty and probably closer to sixty. Upon being ordered away from de Medici in the form of being sent to Avignon, Bishop du Plessis and those exiled with him probably experienced a more scaled down version of his life in Blois with a smaller mansion-prison and fewer staff, but still attended somewhat by cooks, housekeepers, and perhaps a footman or two whose real function was to enforce the house arrest while spying on the prisoners.

Parisian Cottages (1614-1617, 1620-1629)
In September, 1614 Bishop du Plessis arrived in Paris as a delegate from Poitou representing its clergy at the meeting of the Estates-General in Paris. Though we know nothing about how or where the bishop was housed, it was most likely a modest cottage not unlike Crawley House in Downton Abbey. The bishop probably had a cook and a housekeeper to look after him. Upon being appointed to the large stream of government positions showcased in “Eminence” that staff level would have slowed increased, but rarely exceeding more than five or ten total servants plus or minus the red guards who protected his person. These cottages probably looked and felt a great deal like Crawley House, modest but comfortable, but better suited to city life than the rural-centric Crawley House.

Apartment at the Louvre (intermittent, 1622-1629)
Living at the Louvre was a special honour granted as a reward to favourite courtiers. It was also given to those ministers the king wanted kept close to him—either because he wanted him closely watched and/or because he needed that minister available to him at all hours of the day and night.
As seen in “Eminence,” Richelieu most likely divided his residency between an apartment in the Louvre and a nearby cottage. While staying at the Louvre, housemaids would have kept his apartment tidy and cooks would have provided him with his meals. Footmen summoned him into the royal presence.
Following his 1628 success at La Rochelle, King Louis XIII gifted him with his own estate mere metres from the Louvre which Richelieu designed with architect Jacques Lemercier, the Palais Cardinal, a grand home that survives to this day as the “Palais Royal.”

Palais Cardinal (1629-1642)
In 1629 Jacques Lemercier completed the Palais Cardinal, the ultra-modern palace estate which became Cardinal Richelieu’s principle residence from 1629 until his death on 4 December, 1642. The Palais Cardinal featured Paris’ first theatre at which the many plays Richelieu penned were performed. Though the cardinal maintained the simple lifestyle one expects of a parish priest, he spent generously on a massive household staff at the Palais Cardinal. With an income exceeding two million livres per year at the end of his life, he could afford it. But as with everything else, his spending was far more about the principle than his own needs or interests. In patronizing the visual, dramatic, and musical arts at the Palais, he fostered French culture in ways he believed were essential to the longevity of the State. In offering employment to a far larger household staff than he needed, he invested in his community.

In the end, Armand-Jean du Plessis, cardinal and duc de Richelieu was not the mean-spirited and heartless villain of the Dumas novels, but rather the kind, extremely generous, and far-sighted statesman who invested in people, in the arts, in long-term diplomacy, and in a strong, unified France. Instead of using his income from government service for his own creature comforts and agendas, he invested in the French people, in French culture, and in the French State.
The fictional Earl of Grantham considered himself the custodian of Downtown Abbey. The very real Cardinal Richelieu made himself the custodian of France itself.  Few ministers have done more or served better than His Red Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu.

His Red Eminence
Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu
by Laurel A. Rockefeller
Genre: Historical Fiction

Priest. Lover. Statesman.



From the author of the best-selling “Legendary Women of World History” series ...



Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu is one of the most famous -- or infamous politicians of all time. Made a villain in the popular Dumas novel, "The Three Musketeers," the real man was a dedicated public servant loyal to king and country. A man of logic and reason, he transformed how we think about nations and nationality. He secularized wars between countries, patronized the arts for the sake of the public good, founded the first newspaper in France, and created France as the modern country we know today.

Filled with period music, dance, and plenty of romance, "His Red Eminence" transports you back to the court of King Louis XIII in all its vibrant and living color.

Includes eight period songs, plus prayers, a detailed timeline, and extensive bibliography so you can keep learning.









Born, raised, and educated in Lincoln, Nebraska USA Laurel A. Rockefeller is author of over twenty books published and self-published since August, 2012 and in languages ranging from Welsh to Spanish to Chinese and everything in between. 
A dedicated scholar and biographical historian, Ms. Rockefeller is passionate about education and improving history literacy worldwide. 


With her lyrical writing style, Laurel's books are as beautiful to read as they are informative.


In her spare time, Laurel enjoys spending time with her cockatiels, attending living history activities, travelling to historic places in both the United States and United Kingdom, and watching classic motion pictures and classic television series.




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Tuesday, May 21, 2019

FROM FOLD 3 HQ .... Read at source

Shot Down Over France

On May 29, 1943, 1st Lt. Theodore “Ted” Melvin Peterson was shot down near St. Quay-Portrieux in German-occupied France. He was rescued by brave villagers and the French resistance, spent two months making his way across France, and then hiked 11 days over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain and freedom. In a remarkable twist of fate, Peterson and his rescuers would meet again in an emotional reunion 33 years later.

Theodore “Ted” Melvin Peterson
member of the 8th Army Air Corps, 379th Bomb Group and 526th Bomb Squadron, Peterson was based out of Kimbolton Airbase near London. On the afternoon of May 29th, Peterson and his crew received mission orders. They were to fly their B-17 “Flying Fortress” and bomb the submarine pens at St. Nazaire. As they approached the French coastline, a volley of German anti-aircraft fire riddled Peterson’s plane, blowing a large hole in the wing. Several engines caught fire and they were losing altitude. Peterson ordered everyone to bail out.

Monday, May 20, 2019

JUNE 15th, BOCA RATON, FLORIDA




 DATE: June 15, 2019 Florida Chapter, Mystery Writers of America Luncheon Meeting
GUEST SPEAKER: Melinda Clayton

PROGRAM:  Creating mult "Creating multidimensional antagonists: A psychological perspective.”

Speaker:  Melinda Clayton is the author of seven novels and has published numerous articles and short stories in various print and online magazines. In addition to writing, she has an Ed.D. in Special Education Administration, is a licensed psychotherapist in the states of Florida and Colorado (on retired status), is a writing tutor for Pearson/Smarthinking, and teaches writing/publishing classes for Southern New Hampshire University’s online MFA program. 

DATE:  SATURDAY, June 15, 2019
TIME: 11:30: Mingling; 12:00: Lunch; 12:30: Business Meeting; 1:00: Presentation
PLACE: Embassy Suites by Hilton Boca Raton, 661 NW 53rd Street, Boca Raton, Florida, 33487; Get Directions Here
COST:  $25 for MWA members; $30 for non-members. Prepayment by January 16 is strongly urged.

RESERVATIONS/PREPAYMENT:   To reserve and pay online: go to website link www.mwaflorida.org and click on the “Monthly Meeting” tab under “Events”. Once you reach the page, click on the “Register for Monthly Meeting Here” link. Scroll down to the “Sign up for Luncheon Meeting” box and fill in your information, then click the “Pay Now” button and follow the instructions.

Friday, May 17, 2019

PLANET EARTH IS BLUE by Nicole Panteleakos


About the Book

Title: PLANET EARTH IS BLUE
Author: Nicole Panteleakos

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"Tender and illuminating. A beautiful debut." --Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Reach Me 

A heartrending and hopeful debut novel about a nonverbal girl and her passion for space exploration, for fans of See You in the CosmosMockingbird, and The Thing About Jellyfish.

Twelve-year-old Nova is eagerly awaiting the launch of the space shuttle Challenger--it's the first time a teacher is going into space, and kids across America will watch the event on live TV in their classrooms. Nova and her big sister, Bridget, share a love of astronomy and the space program. They planned to watch the launch together. But Bridget has disappeared, and Nova is in a new foster home.

While foster families and teachers dismiss Nova as severely autistic and nonverbal, Bridget understands how intelligent and special Nova is, and all that she can't express. As the liftoff draws closer, Nova's new foster family and teachers begin to see her potential, and for the first time, she is making friends without Bridget. But every day, she's counting down to the launch, and to the moment when she'll see Bridget again. Because Bridget said, "No matter what, I'll be there. I promise."

Monday, May 13, 2019

Deep Past: A Novel by Eugene Linden

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Thriller
Stand Alone Novel
About the Book
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Deep Past: A Novelhttps://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=dollycsthoug-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=75e786c8bb888fe258f589672a4a87e3&_cb=1554751598176
RosettaBooks (May 14, 2019)
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 1948122375
ISBN-13: 978-1948122375
Digital ASIN: B07PMF4Y17
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If nature could invent intelligence of our scale in a blink of geologic time, who’s to say it hasn’t been done before…
A routine dig in Kazakhstan takes a radical turn for thirty-two-year-old anthropologist Claire Knowland when a stranger turns up at the site with a bizarre find from a remote section of the desolate Kazakh Steppe. Her initial skepticism of this mysterious discovery gives way to a realization that the find will shake the very foundations of our understanding of evolution and intelligence.
Corrupt politics of Kazakhstan force Claire to take reckless chances with the discovery. Among the allies she gathers in her fight to save herself and bring the discovery to light is Sergei Anachev, a brilliant but enigmatic Russian geologist who becomes her unlikely protector even as he deals with his own unknown crisis.
Ultimately, Claire finds herself fighting not just for the discovery and her academic reputation, but for her very life as great power conflict engulfs the unstable region and an unscrupulous oligarch attempts to take advantage of the chaos.
Drawing on Eugene Linden’s celebrated non-fiction investigations into what makes humans different from other species, this international thriller mixes fact and the fantastical, the realities of academic politics, and high stakes geopolitics—engaging the reader every step of the way.
About the Author
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Eugene Linden is an award-winning journalist and author on science, nature, and the environment. Deep Past draws on his long career in non-fiction as the author of ten books, including his celebrated works on animal intelligence and climate change: Apes, Men, and Language, the New York Times “Notable Book” Silent Partners, and the bestselling The Parrot’s Lament. His book, Winds of Change, which explored the connection between climate change and the rise and fall of civilizations, was awarded the Grantham Prize Special Award of Merit. For many years, Linden wrote about nature and global environmental issues for TIME where he garnered several awards including the American Geophysical Union’s Walter Sullivan Award. He has also contributed to the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and National Geographic, among many other publications.

Author Link
Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Rosetta Books

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Awakening Cocijo by Thomas Juarez








                                                        
                                                           What inspired you to write this book?
 A lifelong dream of mine, and a need to escape my own realities.  Where would we be without dreams?

What can we expect from you in the future? 
I would like to write a second part of this book.  I think anyone who completes reading the book (provided you like it), will want to know what’s next.

Do you have any “side stories” about the characters? 
I was a gunnery department instructor like Citalli…but no, I did not make Citalli like me; I wanted him to be something more.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Awakening Cocijo? 
Citalli means star and is a feminine name, but I had to have that character to be named star…just something called to me.  You’ll see in the book how I maneuvered into, and explained, the origin of Citalli’s name.

How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book? 
I was gifted a book about how to write a book; what a great gift!  I found developing the characters to be the most difficult part of the journey.  Trying to figure out quirks and speech patterns for each of them.  If you pay attention to those around you, or even to interviews on tv, we all tend to have repetitive words and phrases we covet.  I wanted my characters to be mainly Hispanic, although I wanted Kara to be Native American.  I wanted the American peoples native to this continent to be portrayed as children of the same god(s).

Where did you come up with the names in the story? 
Some names I researched on the internet and some I came up with myself.  When naming General Percival, I was searching for pretentious names, lol.  Sorry General officers, nothing personal; he was a fictional character, I do not think General officers are pretentious.  I just wanted something, I don’t know, different maybe.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book? 
The escape!  I quit worrying about the world around me and just pecked away.

Who designed your book covers? 


Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book? 
I learned tons!  Things that don’t occur to new writers like me.  If you have an animal stalking and killing another animal…how would that act occur specific to hunter and prey?  How did people live?  What did they eat?  How did they speak?

If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead? 
Michael Pena


What is your favorite part of this book and why? 
My favorite part of the book was represented in Pecala’s dream world.  I wanted to create a fantastic dream, have other gods revealed, and give a sneak peak into things that would come to pass.

If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day? 
I think I would choose Canneo because of his carefree nature.

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination? 
Entirely from imagination except one…you can find that in the author’s notes.


Convince us why you feel your book is a must read. 
I feel as though my book is unique.  Moreover, I feel as though the Zapotec people have been overlooked…they are still with us today.  I hope to have some Zapotec people read the book and admire the story.

Have you written any other books that are not published? 
Nope!  This is it.  Please let me know if I should continue.

If your book had a candle, what scent would it be? 
Moon flower

What did you edit out of this book? 
Originally, I was going to have Kara die in child birth, but I felt the need for a strong feminine character.  I needed a character to have smarts and to be able to gently maneuver through my story using an influential style leadership.
 


Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process of the book. 

I have a 3d printed replica of a funerary urn which represents Cocijo.  I placed this urn next to my laptop for inspiration as I worked.

Awakening Cocijo
by Thomas Juarez
Genre: Metaphysical Fiction

Chaotic skies reveal untold prophecies. A storm rises. Can a boy quell the fury of a god?Join the Zapotec on a journey through time and across generations.
Referring to themselves as the cloud people, their fierce warriors conquered and ruled the Oaxaca for centuries. Witness rites, rituals and incantations aimed at appeasing the divine in an attempt to gain favor; favor that would grant them greatness. So, where did it all go wrong? Why would such powerful gods allow their disciples to be conquered? These answers and more would be offered many centuries later by their descendants. Descendants of a civilization whose glory can only be revived by the awakening of the most powerful deity in Zapotec lore: Cocijo, the god of lightening and rain.




Thomas (Tom) Juarez is a retired United States Army soldier with about twenty-one years of active federal service. Hailing from Wetumpka, Alabama, Tom currently enjoys his military retirement with his wife in Sterling, Oklahoma.




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