The Busy Mom's Daily

Friday, August 7, 2015

Character Interview: Dark Sorcerer from The White Knight, the Lost Kingdom, and the Sea Princess by Judy Carlson

Just as the creator of the Chronicles of Narnia decided to try his writer’s hand and imagination, I decided to try something too. And so, I have written a story of my own having been prompted by that same idea of creating a God presence in another place. No, it is not Narnia but it is a new world similar yet different from our own. Surely, as I write this, I was inspired by the man who has invited tens of thousands of readers and not a few writers to write, think and look beyond this ‘shadow land’ called earth. I have named it The White Knight, the Lost Kingdom, and the Sea Princess’.

It is a story of intrigue and ever present danger in a world populated by creatures and mortals, whose destiny hangs by the threads of an Emperor’s vision, a prince’s lost love, mysterious foes, enchanting forest maidens, unlikely heroes, and a mermaid-heroine. All of this is wrapped up in a champion so invincible, yet mysterious, that he challenges the Dark Sorcerer with supernatural forces of a fascinating nature, using even the humblest of defenders. This profound love story will leave you with a taste for a country and a universe beyond your dreams and even imaginings. A world that is A fairy tale come true, and one “you will never want to end”.

IT MAY BECOME YOUR TRUEST 'HAPPILY EVER AFTER' STORY, AND perhaps YOUR OWN FAIRY TALE WILL NEVER END AS WELL.

Interview with the Dark Sorcerer

How did you come to power?

I am a powerful Sorcerer and my power is drawn from the Dark Kingdom that spans the depth of the underworld. I rule the watery realm of Bysmia as my staging ground. From there I am only beginning to show the full breadth and heigth of my power in conquering of the Eastern Island Kingdom of Ajar. From there I shall reach the Dominions of the Northern Empire of Tundrand and beyond!

Why are you against the White Knight?

The White Knight Aryel is only a weakling slave of the Ancient One. (May he be forever accursed!) I am showing his downfall, the flaw in his great (hah!) white armor as he gives all human chattel the power to choose. This is his fatal error and shall continue to destroy the very fabric of his will to rule all men, but only by their own choosing. Fool!! Dominance, threat, terror, brutality that is what man and beast must have in a conqueror. That is what they truly ultimately want is to be ruled over and given no lee way to choose their loyalties, idiots that they all are.

Do you fear the Ancient One?

I fear no power but the threat of the usurpation of my rightful reign over the world of men. Any power, be he man, devil or God will find me the foe that cannot be overcome! My minions fear Him and tremble at the thought but I would rather reign supreme in the Dark Kingdom than serve or be dominated by that unspeakable name and abide in his weak willed kingdom of fools and saintly weaklings!

Will you ever be defeated?

NEVER!!

Title: The White Knight, the Lost Kingdom, and the Sea Princess
Author: Judy Carlson
Publisher: Nordskog Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date: July 1, 2015
Format: eBook / PDF / Paperback
Pages: 476
ISBN: 978-0983195757
Genre: Mythical Fantasy

Buy The Book:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/White-Knight-Lost-Kingdom-Princess/dp/0983195757

Judy Carlson is from St. Paul, MN. She and husband Tim have six children and 20 grandchildren and reside in Missouri. Judy has a BA in English from Trinity International University. Her lifetime passion for literature and writing and the works of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien has permeated this novel with their characteristic sense of wonder. She wrote her first story at age nine, and has been the grand storyteller to her children and grandchildren.

Connect with Judy:

Publisher Website: www.NordskogPublishing.com

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Book Blast & Giveaway: Love, Defined by Leila Tualla

Author: Leila Tualla
Book Title: Love, Defined
Paperback: 242 pages
ISBN-10: 1680582313
ISBN-13: 978-1680582314
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Genre: Christian YA Romance

Into their final summer before graduating college, three childhood friends, Alex Makapulo, Lori Hanson, and Andy Taylor had each expected an uncomplicated transition to adulthood.
Alex had recently professed her love for Christ and is toying with the idea of leaving the Catholic Church and becoming a member of her best friend, Jack Page’s church. Jack wonders what is keeping Alex from being baptized and fully accepting a new life with Christ. Alex wonders the same thing and believes that she needs to be 100 % in her conviction before fully committing to a new Christian life. Like everyone she has doubts and wants to make sure she’s doing the right thing in her spiritual walk. Her new found beliefs disconnects her from her roommates and while they feel she is intentionally separating herself from them, to Alex, she is trying to figure out what is Christian and what isn’t.

For Lori’s twenty-second birthday, her grandfather Pete Hanson presented her with a summer vacation to England. While looking up various tourist spots, she meets and befriends Colin Watson, a British musician, online who then suggest they meet when she lands in London. They hit it off instantly but Pete is angry and believes that she only used him as a means to meet Colin. When he finds out that Lori met Colin online, he forbids Lori from seeing Colin entirely. Lori, who has fallen in love with Colin, is heartbroken. Pete threatens to leave England with Lori’s passport. Colin and Lori try to arrange meetups where they can see each other but Pete catches on. Lori takes this as a sign that it wasn’t meant to be. She unhappily finishes her trip with Pete and goes home vowing not to forgive her grandfather.

Andy reconnects with her old crush, Miles Webber and decides she wants a more meaningful relationship with him. She tells Alex about the situation and Alex truthfully tells Andy that Miles only wanted her for sex. This angers Andy and she walks out of the apartment.

Andy ends up walking to the coffeehouse and comes up with an idea to throw a surprise birthday party for Alex. She believes that if Alex and Jack were to hook up, the focus would shift from Miles and her. Andy spikes all the drinks for Alex’s party and leaves her friend while she goes in search of Miles. He shows up at the bar with another girl. In an effort to soothe her wounded ego, she goes home with someone else. When she wakes up the next day, she realizes she’s in bed with Alex’s young boss from the coffeehouse, David Roberts, Jr.
They return home from their trip with Alex asking Jack to baptize her. Andy confronts David and Lori both forgives and asks for forgiveness from Pete.

Leila Tualla is a Christian blogger and writer. She blogs at www.tuallaleila.blogspot.com and writes about her misadventures in faith, in motherhood, and whatever else inspires her. She holds a membership to the American Christian Fiction Writer. Her current project is a YA Christian Romance.

Social Links:
Website: http://tuallaleila.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LeilaTuallaM
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LeilaTualla
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/1680582313
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-defined-leila-tualla/1122402464

Follow the tour here: http://wnlbooktours.com/?p=5650
Enter Giveaway: One winner will receive an autographed copy of Love, Defined

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author Leila Tualla and is hosted and managed by Paulette from Write Now Literary Book Tours. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send an email to Paulette @ pharperjohnson@gmail.com

Love, Defined by Leila Tualla Book Blast & Giveaway

Follow the tour here: http://wnlbooktours.com/?p=5650
Enter Giveaway: One winner will receive an autographed copy of Love, Defined

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, August 3, 2015

Mailbox Monday: August 3

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

Would someone please tell me where the summer is going? By this time next month the girls will be in school. How scary is that?

Another busy week in my real estate world: signed up three new buyers and managed several showings. Might have another sale coming soon. Fingers crossed.

This is a book that was gifted to me as a prize from a reading challenge. This concept fascinates me.

Second Editions: Revised with some new material gathered through 13 years of teaching these concepts at writers conferences. ------------- Want to bring characters to life on the page as vividly as fine actors do on the stage or screen? Getting Into Character will give you a whole new way of thinking about your writing. Drawing on the Method Acting theory that theater professionals have used for decades, this in-depth guide explains seven characterization techniques and adapts them for the novelist’s use. You’ll discover concepts that will lead you to understand and communicate the motivation and psychology of all your characters. These highly effective techniques will help you: ~ create characters whose distinctive traits become plot components ~ determine each character’s specific objectives and motivations ~ write natural, meaningful dialogue that moves the story forward ~ endow your characters with three-dimensional emotional lives ~ use character motivation to bring action sequences to exuberant life ~ write convincingly about any character facing any circumstance.

So, what was in your mailbox?

New in Christian Fiction!

The third installment in the Healing Grace series finds young Amish widow Sarah Yoder facing her greatest challenge--herself.

Sarah Yoder hasn't seen Henry Byler since he became engaged to an Englisch woman, which is best for her peace of mind. Since Henry never joined the Amish church, any relationship but a neighborly one is impossible. So she stays busy with her family, welcoming her son back from the ranch he's been working on in Colorado, doing a little matchmaking for her sister-in-law, and making the teas and tinctures that heal the members of her church.

Then Henry seeks her out, desperate for a balm for his sensitive hands before his success as a potter is jeopardized, and Sarah must call on every ounce of strength to deny the cry of her heart. Yet there is Someone who just might have a special cure in mind-a healing balm with the power to change everything. But with Henry's wedding only weeks away, is it already too late?

Purchase here!

A Dash of Love, a Pinch of Hope, and a Whole Lot of Good Cooking

Lovina Miller should be thrilled. Pinecraft, Florida, has everything a young Amish woman could ask for: sun, sand, volleyball games, and evening singings in the park. But Pinecraft lacks the one thing Lovina desperately wants--a pie shop of her own. She longs for a place to gather with the community and serve the treat she loves.

A young carpenter named Noah Yoder strolls into her life and offers a way to make her dream come true. But before Noah and Lovina can build a shop--and a life--together, they must each face heartaches from the past. Is their new love stronger than their regrets?

Find inspiration, romance, and authentic Amish recipes for everyone's favorite food--pie!

Purchase here!

For the last four years, Lindsay Bedford has lived in a small Amish community. But now at 18 years old, she has reached a crossroads - does she stay with the Amish she has grown to love, or return to the English life of her hometown in Virginia where her older sister is a college student?

An extended visit to Virgina may just tip the scales as Lindsay reconnects with old friends and joins a new church - will pressure from her sister force her to stay and "make something of herself"? Will Lindsay leave her aunt Rebecca and become English, or settle in Bird-in-Hand and join the Amish church?

Purchase here!

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Stop The Diet, I Want To Get Off! Release Day Blitz with Lisa Tillinger Johansen

We're happy to be hosting Lisa Tillinger Johansen and her STOP THE DIET I WANT TO GET OFF RELEASE DAY BLITZ today!

About the Book:

Title:
Stop the Diet, I Want To Get Off!

Author: Lisa Tillinger Johansen

Publisher: J. Murray Press

Pages: 275

Genre: Nonfiction/Nutrition/Health

Purchase at AMAZON

The Paleo. The Zone. The Gluten-free. Another day, another diet. We’re caught in a never-ending merry-go-round of weight loss plans, fueled by celebrity endorsers, TV doctors and companies
angling for a piece of a $60 billion industry.

But do these diets really work?

And how healthy are they?

Registered Dietitian Lisa Tillinger Johansen examines dozens of the most wildly popular diets based on medical facts, not hype. And along the way, she reveals tried-and-true weight loss strategies, relying on her years of hospital experience, weight-loss seminars and community outreach efforts. With insight and humor, Stop The Diet, I Want To Get Off shows that the best answer is often not a trendy celebrity-endorsed diet, but easy-to-follow guidelines that are best for our health and our waistlines.

Book Excerpt:

The idea for this book began at a wedding.

Who doesn’t love a good wedding? The clothes, the flowers, the romance, the food…

Ah, the food. As we moved into the banquet hall, the culinary feast was on everyone’s minds. It was all anyone seemed talk about. But for some reason, guests weren’t conversing about the dishes being served; they were swapping stories of diets they had heard about from friends, magazine articles, even celebrities on talk shows.

I’m a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutritional science and years of clinical and health education experience. I’ve counseled thousands of patients and clients on all of these diets. But hearing the guests only momentarily distracted me from my horrible faux pas of wearing white (gasp!) to a friend’s wedding.

“I’m on the Blood Type Diet,” said a woman with an impossibly high bouffant hairdo. “You’ve heard of that, haven’t you? It’s the one where you choose your foods based on your blood type. I’m an AB, so I’ll be having the fish.”

“Really?” her friend replied. “I swear by the gluten-free diet. I’m on it, my daughter’s on it, and my granddaughter’s on it.”

I happened to know her granddaughter was six and didn’t have a gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.

Then there was the stocky guy who was trying to impress one of the bridesmaids. “I’m a paleo man myself,” he said, piling his plate high with beef kebabs. “It gives me more stamina, know what I mean? It puts me in touch with my inner caveman. There’s a restaurant near my apartment that’s paleo friendly. Maybe we can grab a bite there sometime, or…Hey wait, where are you going?”

And there were three Weight Watchers sisters who typed furiously on their phones and argued over their meals’ point values. Apparently there was some discrepancy between their various apps, and the sisters’ discussion was becoming more heated by the moment.

I’m past the point of being surprised by the wide range of weight-loss strategies—some worthless, some crazy, some quite reasonable—being tossed around. In the past few years, there has been a tidal wave of diets washing up on the shores of our nutritional consciousness. Celebrities prance across our screens, promoting a variety of weight-loss schemes on talk shows and infomercials. Medical doctors star in their own syndicated television programs, exposing millions to weight-loss techniques, often unsupported by medical research. Other diets get traction on the Internet, racing all over the globe in social media posts, YouTube videos, and annoying spam e-mails. It’s hard to walk past a shopping center vitamin store without being approached by salespeople trying to pitch the latest weight-loss supplements. It seems that everyone wants a piece of the pie; the American diet industry tops $60 billion annually.

It’s classic information overload. You can’t blame people for being confused by all the diets out there, even as crazy as some of them may sound. I didn’t speak up to my fellow wedding guests that day, but it occurred to me they would benefit from some hard facts about the diets they so ardently follow.

So during the toasts, I thought to myself, I should write a book.

I counsel clients on these matters each week, giving them information they need to make the best choices for their health and waistlines. I find that all too often there’s nothing to the diets that are presented to me in my counseling sessions and classes. They just plain don’t work, particularly over the long term. And some of them are harmful, even potentially lethal. But it’s also unhealthy to carry extra weight on our frames. So how do we separate good diets from the bad?

In the chapters to come, we’ll take a good, hard look at the various weight-loss plans out there. I’ll pull no punches in my professional evaluation of some of the most wildly popular diets, both bad and good, of the past few years. And along the way, I’ll explore tried-and-true strategies for losing weight, based on my years of hospital experience, weight-loss seminars, and community outreach efforts. More often than not, the best answer is not a trendy celebrity-endorsed diet, but instead a few easy-to-follow guidelines that I’ve seen work in literally thousands of cases.

Enough is enough. It’s time for the madness—and the diets—to stop.

LISA TILLINGER JOHANSEN, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian who counsels clients on a wide range of health issues. Her debut nutrition book, Fast Food Vindication, received the Discovery
Award (sponsored by USA Today, Kirkus and The Huffington Post). She lives in Southern California.

For More Information

Visit Lisa Tillinger
Johansen’s websites – Stop the Diet,
Consult the Dietician and Fast Food Vindication.
Connect with Lisa on Facebook
and Twitter.