LOST CHILDREN: A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY IS NOW AVAILABLE IN TRADE PAPERBACK

 I love the e-book… primarily for its convenience, but my love affair with the bound and printed word transcends even 21^st century technology and I will never completely give up the traditional book… be it hardback, soft cover or paperback.  For those who are like-minded, Lost Children: A Charity Anthology can now be ordered in the form of nature’s most renewable resource… paper.

The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology contains stories by 30 different authors, of which I am humbled and honored to be included among, which sprung from the brain child of Thomas Pluck, Fiona Johnson and Ron Earl Phillips over at Flash Fiction Friday.  Having raised a tidy sum for children’s charities in an online flash fiction writing challenge earlier this year, the trio decided to take things a step further… thus the Lost Children Charity Anthology e-book was born, followed now by the print version.  You can read a bit of the history of this project over at The Lost Children: A Charity Ebook Anthology, including stories about the authors and their personal experiences.  The goal of everyone connected with this project, is to bring public awareness to the plight of lost, abused and neglected children and to raise money for PROTECT: The National Coalition to Protect Children and Children 1st of Scotland.

This is a great book … for a great price… and written for a great cause!  If you are looking for a compelling read, for yourself or as a gift (that’s right… Christmas is looming over us like the rock wall at Six Flags!), you can order the anthology online at Amazon or Createspace for the modest sum of $9.99, of which 40% goes directly to PROTECT and Children 1^st. 

The anthology is also available digitally at Amazon (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (NOOK), iTunes (ibook for iPad/iTouch) and Smashwords.  The e-book is only $2.99, of which every penny goes to charity.

Thank you,

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

LOST CHILDREN: A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY

I join my colleagues in a very heartfelt thank you to Thomas Pluck, Fiona Johnson and Ron Earl Phillips for their tireless efforts in seeing The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology to its fruition.

I would be remiss if I did not make a special thank you to artist and photographer extraordinaire Danielle Tunstall for her generous permission to use one of her photographs on the cover of the e-book as well as The Lost Children Anthology websites, and to Sarah Bennett Pluck for her incredible work producing the cover for this anthology.

~~**~~

"Some children are lost before they have even started living. Some children are a throw-away commodity like a burger box that’s left to blow down the street in the wind and rain." - Fiona Johnson

This is how it started.

A prompt on Flash Fiction Friday - A Community Writing Project.  Guest moderator, author Fiona Johnson, asked us to write a story about lost children.  Our inspiration was the heart-wrenching photograph by Danielle Tunstall shown below.

Thomas Pluck offered to donate $5 for each story submitted to PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children.  Fiona in turn pledged to donate $5 to Children 1st, a children’s charity in Scotland.  Together , $600 was raised for the two charities, thanks to the generous and creative writing communities of Flash Fiction Friday, Fictionaut; as well as the crime fiction community on Twitter.

43 entries were submitted.  The flash fiction challenge was such a success that Thomas, Fiona and Ron decided to take it further... they would publish an anthology, with 100% of the e-book proceeds going to the two charities PROTECT and Children 1st.  Ron, Fiona and Thomas chose 30 of the best stories for the anthology.

50% of the e-book proceeds will go to Children 1st, which is a children’s charity based in Scotland.  The other 50% of the e-book proceeds will go to PROTECT:  The National Association to Protect Children.  PROTECT is based in the United States.

More information about PROTECT and Children 1st can be found at their respective websites..

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology is available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Smashwords, Apple iBookstore, and Barnes & Noble.  Please help us support these charities and help a child.  With Christmas just around the corner, this anthology will make a wonderful gift for family and friends.  Links for Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords are to the right, under the anthology's cover image.

The e-book anthology is available in the following formats:
$2.99 for Kindle, Kindle Cloud Reader and Kindle for Phone and Desktop at Amazon
$2.99 for Adobe PDF, epub format, mobi format, Kobo, Sony e-reader and readable online at Smashwords
$2.99 for Nook in the Barnes & Noble store (also available via Smashwords, if you use Calibre e-book manager)
$2.99 at the Apple iBookstore

Thomas has lately been burning the candle far into the night to prepare a print edition, which will soon be available through Amazon and Createspace.  This should be ready in time to give as a Christmas gift, for either yourself or friends and family.

Thank you.

P.S

If you would like a little background on my story, LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN, please visit http://networkedblogs.com/p8p99.  I am humbled and and honoured to have my story selected and to be part of this amazing project.  By buying the anthology, you too can help a very worthwhile cause.

BOOK REVIEW - MCDROLL (FIONA JOHNSON): KICK IT AGAIN

Kick It Again by McDroll

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh... Beeny's a little shite, isn't he? Lying to his mate like that!

Veronica, Queen Slave of the Mutant Monkeys sounds very interesting indeed... she doesn't come on the DS, does she? Haha!

A STRAIGHT GAME is an absorbing, all-too realistic story of a couple of delinquents. The characters.. . the dialogue... I can almost hear the conversation... the inflection in their voices... you capture perfectly the dialect. It really brings the characters to life. Excellent read!

This is really first rate writing, Fiona! As with all of your stories, I absolutely LOVE A STRAIGHT GAME.

NO MORE CHOICES... a raw, powerful, bleak story... when a mother's love and desperation takes her down to the very bottom of that long, dark path to something she hoped and prayed would never come to pass. there is a dark, tragic sadness in this telling of the human condition. Beautifully written, Fiona.

This one doesn't tug... it rips at my heart! We read stories like this and the lucky ones who haven't had to make the hard choices can only be thankful that they haven't had to. For those of us who have... the anguish and torment here wrings our emotions. This one brings tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat.

Beautifully written, Fiona! That last line... "The pilot light popped. The gas hissed into the darkness." ... that one got to me.

If I write anymore, I might give something away, so I will leave to you, gentle reader, the other three amazing stories in this collection.

~~**~~

Brilliant and breathtaking 'slices' of crime/noir; Fiona Johnson has another winner in KICK IT AGAIN. She sets a bar many reach for, but few attain.  Be sure to check out her previous collection - KICK IT, available on Amazon, and visit Fiona's website at http://imeanttoreadthat.blogspot.com/.  Her writing can also be found in The Lost Children:  A Charity Anthology, on sale at Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Nobles; proceeds of which go to children's charities.  Visit THE LOST CHILDREN:  A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY  for more information.

~~finis~~

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The Lost Children Charity Anthology - On Sale Now At Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble

I join my colleagues in a very heartfelt thank you to Thomas Pluck, Fiona Johnson and Ron Earl Phillips for their tireless efforts in seeing The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology to its fruition.

Two special thank you's - To artist and photographer extraordinaire Danielle Tunstall for her generous permission to use one of her photographs on the cover of the e-book as well as The Lost Children Anthology websites, and to Sarah Bennett Pluck for her incredible work producing the cover for this anthology.

"Some children are lost before they have even started living. Some children are a throw-away commodity like a burger box that’s left to blow down the street in the wind and rain." - Fiona Johnson

This is how it started.

A prompt on Flash Fiction Friday - A Community Writing Project.  Guest moderator, author Fiona Johnson, asked us to write a story about lost children.  Our inspiration was the heart-wrenching photograph by Danielle Tunstall shown below.

Thomas Pluck offered to donate $5 for each story submitted to PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children.  Fiona in turn pledged to donate $5 to Children 1st, a children’s charity in Scotland.  Together , $600 was raised for the two charities, thanks to the generous and creative writing communities of Flash Fiction Friday, Fictionaut; as well as the crime fiction community on Twitter.

43 entries were submitted.  The flash fiction challenge was such a success that Thomas, Fiona and Ron decided to take it further... they would publish an anthology, with 100% of the proceeds going to the two charities PROTECT and Children 1st.

Ron, Fiona and Thomas chose 30 of the best stories to put in a charity anthology, all proceeds of which would go to PROTECT and Children 1st.

50% of the proceeds will go to Children 1st, which is a children’s charity based in Scotland – see http://networkedblogs.com/p0GhX for more information about the charity and how you can help.

The other 50% of the proceeds will go to PROTECT:  The National Association to Protect Children.  PROTECT is based in the United States - see http://networkedblogs.com/p13Gv for more about them and how you can help.

And finally, please see http://networkedblogs.com/p8p99 for a little background on my story, ‘LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN’.  I am humbled and and honoured to have my story selected and to be part of this amazing project.  By buying the anthology, you too can help a very worthwhile cause.

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology is now available for purchase on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.  Please help us support these charities and help a child.  Thank you.

BOOK REVIEW - KATHY REICHS: SPIDER BONES

Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did not enjoy Spider Bones as much as some of Kathy's earlier books.  I thought it rather 'busy', and some of the subplot suggested rather heavily of incompetence on the part of certain government agencies.  The chimera 'device' seemed a bit desperate... an attempt to get out of a less than perfectly plotted story?  Not fond of the cliches, either.


I love technical writing and usually have no trouble following Ms Reichs' stories, but I confess... this one; I got 'lost' a couple of times.


Overall, Kathy Reichs has produced a great body of work... I have loved everything before Spider Bones... and will continue to read her.  I would offer a couple of suggestions to her...


Get rid of Ryan... he is played out and tired.


Please do something with Charlie!  Please?


P.S.  If you already have, in books subsequent to Spider Bones, forget I mentioned it.  :)


Kathy Reichs is still one of my favorite writers!


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BOOK REVIEW - PAUL D. BRAZILL'S: DRUNK ON THE MOON - BOOK ONE

Drunk on the Moon by Paul D Brazill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well... this is just a wee bit embarrassing!  I read DRUNK ON THE MOON almost two months ago and STILL haven't written so much as a "Smashing read, Paul!"? (Turn in your reading glasses and go to your room, young lady!)


I read the first part of DRUNK ON THE MOON in Dark Valentine some months back... it takes a truly dark and brilliant mind to conjure the idea of a werewolf P.I.... and make it so incredibly believable!  When I finished that short story, I was completely taken by Paul's writing... what a wonderful introduction to a new author!  Smashing read, Paul!


Okay... redemption?


DRUNK ON THE MOON takes my breath away... it sends chills up and down my spine... absolutely!  This story gave me many a sleepless night, tossing and turning... unable to get those dark, gruesome images out of my head... even a night light could not keep them at bay (Paul, if you don't own stock in a night light company, you may want to look into that.)


What a dark, deliciously horrifying read... I LOVED every minute of it!  Someone... I'm sorry, I can't recall who it was at the moment... said Paul's writing was a bit like jazz (I'm paraphrasing).  This  is so true... his words have a beat and a pulse all their own... wrapping themselves around your senses and pulling you in... taking you on an amazing journey through P.I. Roman Dalton's world.  And, like great jazz, Paul's writing doesn't let go after you've read the last line and closed the book.  It stays with you long after you've finished... leaving you sated, yet wanting more at the same time.


Paul's writing has all the grit and punch of Chandler and the horror of Stoker and Shelley.  Seemingly without effort, he blends noir and horror to create an unforgettable character and a story you won't forget.  The dialogue is dark and gritty, perfectly balanced with his wonderfully colorful narrative of The City and the others in it.


"The moon slices the night like a fang..."... "...death black coffee."  Such startling imagery from a few well-chosen words, Paul's style is unmatched.  Others may yearn to write like this, but just as Chandler is oft-imitated, yet always missing the mark... those who attempt to emulate Paul D Brazill's style will be pale imitators at best!


Okay... time to wind this up... somebody has got it in their head that I am cooking dinner tonight.


What's that?  What is the book about?


Oh... I'm not going to tell you that... I could not even begin to do it justice... no, you will have to read this for yourself.


DRUNK ON THE MOON is not just a story... it's an experience!


Okay... a hint... there's a new 'sheriff' in town... P.I. Roman Dalton... and he is ridding The City of criminal elements.  Now... go buy the book!


Oh... one more thing...


P.I. Roman Dalton is a werewolf... did I forget to mention that?


Paul... from the bottom of my heart... thank you for all the sleepless nights you have given me... with DRUNK ON THE MOON, that is! (Wouldn't want to give people the wrong idea... give you a reputation undeserved... hehe!)  Not to mention the inspiration you have given me as well... I mention Roman in one of my short stories... seems my vampyre has a crush on him.


Read this book, people! You won't be disappointed!


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BOOK REVIEW - LILY CHILDS' MAGENTA SHAMAN

Magenta Shaman by Lily Childs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Breathless... that's what I am, after reading Magenta Shaman.  And, it's not because I literally 'tore' through the story.  Once I started reading, I could NOT put this down!  I don't have a Kindle yet, so I download to the Kindle for PC app.  I was reading this on my desktop computer the other night, and if the power had chosen that particular time to go out... my 'cries' would have been heard all the way to Eastbourne! (I live on the West Coast of the United States.)

Urban fantasy/horror is a genre I have not read a lot of, especially the last several years.  Not because I lost interest... but, because I found new interests.  After reading Magenta Shaman, I am asking myself what was so bloody important to leave behind stories like this!

Lily's dark tale... you were right, Lily. It IS a love story... leaves a delicious 'taste', and a hunger for more!  What absolutely wonderful, dark imagery her words conjure... I can almost feel the Billowat's fetid, rotting breath on me. From the opening paragraph, my heart rate doubled... if I had been reading a paper book version, I would have left sweaty fingerprints throughout.

Oh... I was right about one thing, Lily.  Even with a night light, I tossed and turned all night!

Somehow... "Thank you" seems a bit inadequate!


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