Welcome to the Party – Meet and Greet New Bloggers Saturday 9th July

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NEW RELEASE – ONE HOT MESS: A Children’s Environmental Fable…

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Ye Olde Boat Shoppe: If It Floats Then We Did Our Job

Legend of Zelda Wind Waker

Legend of Zelda Wind Waker

Welcome to Ye Olde Boat Shoppe, which has been in our family for so many generations that we never bothered to give it a flashy name.  Just to be clear, we make new boats that are tailored to your specifications.  There’s some confusion since it does sound like we only sell old boats.  Look, we’d change the name, but that risks the fury of our ancestors in the form of ghosts that yodel sea shanties.  It’s a very strange family curse placed on us by a mildly annoyed Pirate Queen after she stubbed her toe on that step by the front door that nobody ever sees.  Can’t change it either because of the H.O.A.  Are you going to order a boat or pay me for my biography?

A small vessel that can be manned by a single person and carry a lot of gear.  So you want a magic ship.  Let’s get the enchantments out of the way.  This would include a mast that controls the wind, a fortified hull, a self-adjusting rudder, and three holding boxes.  One will be for ship supplies, another for food and drink, and the last one would be for miscellaneous.  These are standard for such a ship and the price depends on how you want the enchantments to be forged.  Cheap means a powerful caster did the job with regular supplies, which can be undone in various situations.  A more durable set can be purchased if you want the blessing of a deity, which can come with either a deadly quest or the curse of never staying more than a day on land.  Our most expensive one is . . . don’t you want to hear it?  Fine, one Sacrifice of the Family ritual coming up.  Well, I guess it doesn’t have to be your family specifically.  Let’s move on.

Are you thinking of weapons too?  We do have the Mast Denter 6000 on sale along with a bag of cannonball regeneration.  It is still rather pricey, but you seem like a person where money is no object.  That small one with the sparkles is our Baby Mermaid model, which has unlimited ammunition.  Don’t get too excited because it fires cupcakes instead of cannonballs.  I don’t think there’s a big market for hunting down diabetic pirates.  I know I said weapons, but cannons are really it for this day and age.  Given the size of your ship, you won’t need more than that and should focus on maneuverability.  No, the gnomes have not invented torpedoes, missiles, or . . . are you sure you’re in the right genre?

Do you want this ship to look like anything specific?  A boat . . . I walked right into that one.  Just tell me colors, flags, designs on the side, the figurehead, or anything beyond the pieces.  Dark red is good and putting foam designs along the bottom isn’t too bad.  Squid flags are out of stock right now, but we do have a few octopus left.  Sea Urchin would be a special order since there aren’t many calls for that.  That leaves us with the figurehead and we have many choices.  One that talks?  Going back to enchantments, huh?  You want a busty woman with black hair and a bikini, but she speaks like a foul-mouthed pirate.  Oh, not like a foul-mouthed pirate, but her voice is male and she curses when giving you directions.  Free of charge on that one only because I really want to hear the stories that come from it.

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Free This Weekend Only

Unknown's avatarDon Massenzio

I am pleased to announce that I am offering my first novel, Frankly Speaking, free in e-book format from Amazon.com.

This book has been well reviewed and is a great read to enjoy over a Summer weekend. It will be available for free download beginning on July 8th through July 10th. Please take advantage of this opportunity.

Here are some of the latest reviews:

“Frankly Speaking is a great private detective mystery. Ex-cop Frank Rozzani is now living in Florida and working as PI He and his partner in crime solving, Clifford Jones a.k.a. Jonesy, a local lawyer/surfer dude are called in by a wealthy lawyer to find his missing 16 year old daughter, who disappeared during a church retreat at a local mega church. Along with the help of Jacksonville PD detective Anita, Frank and Jonesy go thought a…

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20 Questions with Debbie Edwards

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Don Massenzio Today, we have the pleasure of meeting U.K. author Debbie Edwards. Debbie will tell us about her whimsical work, her inspiration and a bit about herself. I hope you enjoy this edition of 20 Questions. Q1) When did … Continue reading →

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Heroes of Windemere: Nyx

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Hair– Black
Eyes– Violet
Race– Half-elf/Channeler
Hometown– Gaia; Birth town unknown
Career– Caster
Weapon(s) of Choice– Magic
Debut Book– Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower

Casters require years of training to master the gestures, incantations, and ingredients that are needed for spellcasting.  Nyx can create a tornado of flames if she sneezes, which means she is in a class by herself.  Orphaned at the age of 2, she has been raised by Willow and Cyril in the esteemed caster school called Rainbow Tower.  Nyx has excelled at her studies with the knowledge that she is meant to face an ancient darkness.  Having no skills at surviving outside of a city and not getting along with horses, this young woman has just as much of an uphill battle as Luke Callindor.

It doesn’t help that she has spent most of her life ostracized and feared by the other apprentices.  This has caused Nyx to be rather standoffish and short-fused when she is first encountered.  Yet, her bond with Luke helps to soften her edges and reveal that she is a fiercely loyal hero.  Having lost her family at such a young age, she sees the champions as her brothers and sisters.  Except for Delvin Cunningham, who is in the unique position of making her blush on a daily basis.  Still, many enemies learn that threatening anyone in Nyx’s family is unhealthy since she is prone to invent spells on the fly.  This can include a fire blast that will avoid a hostage and incinerate an enemy, but she does have a love of fighting.

Over the course of the series, Nyx proves to be the most powerful of the champions.  This results in her being targeted more often than her companions.  Sometimes it is to kill her while other enemies are interested in using her as a living weapon.  No matter what their goal, they always find that Nyx is a force to be reckoned with.

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Something different, on Lisa Burton Radio #RRBC

Check out the latest Lisa Burton Radio Show! If you’re an author then I recommend signing on as a guest. It’s a lot of fun.

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories


Welcome to another edition of Lisa Burton Radio. This is your host, Lisa the robot girl, with a show that’s a bit different today.

These interviews have gotten really popular, and I’m getting a lot of verbal commitments for future shows. What I’m not getting is action on those commitments. Because of this, I don’t have a guest this week.

I’ve hosted pirates, goblins, ghosts, spies, superheroes, a serial killer, even a lawyer. I have a hunch your characters will fit right in.

This show may be the only character based interview slot on the entire internet. Fiction authors should consider sending me a character to interview. I’m willing to include purchase links, cover art, and bios.

Today, I’m going to do what some of the morning show jocks do and call someone up. While I’m connecting, I’ll make my sponsor C. S. Boyack. He’s my author and writes…

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7 Tips to Surviving a Fantasy Ocean Adventure

Pirate Captain from 'Pirates: Band of Misfits'

Pirate Captain from ‘Pirates: Band of Misfits’

So you find yourself having to cross the sea, which is either the fifth or the third.  You already lost the map to an ornery gull, but you remember the advice you received from a friendly pirate.  At least his name tag said he was a pirate.  Maybe it was Patrick and he had bad handwriting?

  1. If it’s your first time at sea, don’t stuff yourself at every meal.  The veterans might tease you and you’ll not get dessert every night, but your stomach will thank you.  Especially if there’s a storm because then they’ll have to design a phrase that is worse than ‘chumming the waters’.
  2. When in the crow’s nest, don’t announce the appearance of every fish and creature that you see.  Yes, we know you love dolphins and the captain told you a story about ship-swallowing sharks.  That doesn’t mean you act like a PBS nature special and forget to warn everyone about the reef, which will be your home for the foreseeable future.
  3. Do not swashbuckle within the rigging unless you have no other choice.  Rope doesn’t grow on trees.  Even if it did, do you see any trees in the open ocean?  Let’s not forget that the only reason the pirates climbed up there was because you went first and started insulting their mothers.
  4. Working off the previous point: Stop talking like a pirate.  Nobody understands what you’re saying and they’re pretty sure this national holiday you speak of ended after the first 24 hours.
  5. Keep track of your navigation equipment.  This includes no dropping of compasses, no eating while reading maps, no fiddling with the captain’s sextant while giggling, and keep your hands off other people’s spyglasses.  If you fail to do all this and are asked for directions, all you can do is look at the sky, pretend to read the stars, and pray nobody on the crew can actually do what you’re about to fake.
  6. Never throw a harpoon at an animal when you’re not sure of its size.  That average-sized fin could be part of a regular sharp.  It could also be the smaller dorsal fin of a large-mouthed monster of the deep that hates getting poked in the eye.  While we’re on this subject, nobody cares about your opinion on if the tentacled whale is a mammal or a mollusk.  Either way, you threw a harpoon into its blow hole, which doesn’t really earn you a round of applause.
  7. Don’t grab part of the rigging to swing over to another ship.  Not sure what the movies told you, but this isn’t really a smart idea.  Grab the wrong rope and you’re simply swinging around your own mast.  Seriously, the thing is attached to your ship, so how is it going to swing as if it’s connected to the enemy?  Not to mention this puts you out in the open with no weapon in hand.  Just jump the gap, stick to range attacks, or use the gangplanks like everyone else.
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Kindle Countdown Offer – The Mystical Hexagram

Sue Vincent's avatarSue Vincent's Daily Echo

MH1smallTHE MYSTICAL HEXAGRAM: The Seven Inner Stars of Power, 2nd Edition

G. Michael Vasey and Sue Vincent

The Mystical Hexagram is a new and innovative way to work with this ancient symbol. Through personal revelations and exercises, the reader can experience the many layers of this new and insightful work.

The book explores a symbol. Not from some scholarly or deeply complex perspective, but seeing it as a representation relating to life and living. The forces and pressures that are associated with the hexagram are, after all the forces of life at both practical and Universal levels. By exploring and beginning to understand the symbol, we are able to learn and discover more about ourselves.

The meditations throughout the book take you on an inner journey of exploration, discovering the parallels between the self and the greater reality within which we live our lives. They illustrate the connection between the…

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#WW How To Get A Literary Agent

Very helpful advice for those seeking an agent.

Shannon A Thompson's avatarShannon A. Thompson

How do I get a literary agent? This is a popular question among aspiring writers, and to be honest, signing with a literary agent is a long and complicated process but well worth it for many. That being said, signing with a literary agent isn’t the only way to get published, but today, I’m only covering literary agents since that was what I was asked when I helped host a writer’s group this past month. Okay, now for the answer.

First and foremost, make sure you have a completed, polished manuscript ready to go. You want to be 100% ready. This means you’ve written, edited, listened to beta readers, edited again, and polished. Now that your novel is ready, you are ready to search for an agent.

1. Research Your Book and the Marketplace

Research, research, research. Understand your book’s genre and two-three great comp. titles. (Comp. Titles = Comparison titles…

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