Everyday Enchantments: Musings on Ordinary Magic & Daily Conjurings by Maria DeBlassie

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Everyday Enchantments: Musings on Ordinary Magic & Daily Conjurings by Maria DeBlassie

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Genre – Inspirational Nonfiction

Page Count – 200 Pages

Cover Designer – Harris Channing

GOODREADS – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37690869-everyday-enchantments

Everyday Enchantments is a love letter to the magic of everyday life, the sweet moments and the profound that we often overlook in our hurry to get from one place to the next.

What if we had the power to unplug from our daily hustle and bustle and conjure a more profound way of living rooted in natural mysticism?

We do. All it takes is the whispered wish for more everyday enchantment breathed onto a dandelion head. This collection of essays reminds us to escape into the ordinary, find beauty in a simple cup of tea or rereading a beloved novel—and joyfully let our world turn upside down when synchronicity strikes in the form of wrong turns down forgotten lanes and unexpected midnight conversations with the moon.

This book is a study in what it means to live deliciously, joyfully, and magically. And it’s an invitation to conjure your own bliss—-because let’s face it: we could all use a little more magic in our lives.

~ AMAZON ~

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Maria DeBlassie, Ph.D. is a native New Mexican mestiza blogger, writer, and educator living in the Land of Enchantment. Her first book, Everyday Enchantments, published through Moon Books, will be released in October of 2018. Her blogging life started as a year-long journey to write her back into happy, healthy, and whole through daily posts about life’s simple pleasures, everyday magic, and radical self-care. That year-long experiment turned into a lifestyle, a book, and her ongoing blog, Enchantment Learning & Living. She is forever looking for magic in her life and somehow always finding more than she thought was there. Find out more about Maria and conjuring everyday magic at www.mariadeblassie.com. And don’t forget to follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for regular inspiration on magical living.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH MARIA DEBLASSIE

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John the Baptist: As His Soul Remembers by Stuart Ledwith

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John the Baptist: As His Soul Remembers by Stuart Ledwith

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PAGE COUNT – 228 pages

Genre – Non-fiction, Inspirational

Cover Designer – Iconologist Paula Lichvar

GOODREADS – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54558951-john-the-baptist

Welcome to the life and times of John the Baptist, a Messiah, a prophet, a healer, a baptizer, a loner, a lover, a bringer of great news to the Jewish people and all others who listened. This is in no way a religious book. It is writen to clarify his life, his thought, his feelings and to set right a few wrongs.

Edouard, the philosopher, believes humans will always try to take over the things of souls and the things of God and when they do they misuse the word of God to fit their own needs for power and control. Edouard’s message was to listen to the word of God, love God as God loves you, live unconditional love, all are created equal.

In his lifetime there were no people in power willing to listen to him or his message. The mangods conspired to eliminate him. He died on the whim of a dancing girl who wanted his head on a platter.

~ AMAZON ~

You can find this video on our YouTube Channel

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Dr. Stu has always enjoyed spending time and conversing with souls desiring to make themselves known to him. He finds it quite normal to converse with them as he would a human. When writing with them he writes what they say verbatum or as close as possible to the desired meaning, he describes pictures they present and the emotions displayed. In his last book he wrote for the soul of Sarah Tarbell, a distant cousin of his describing the harrowing tale of her abduction at age fourteen and her growth to adulthood in a very different world. In this volume he writes for the soul Edouard who enlivened the body of John the Baptist. These works are subtitled, “As His/Her Soul

Author Interview With Stuart Ledwith

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Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman Book 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail

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Build-A-Book Workshop (The Literary Handyman Book 2) by Danielle Ackley-McPhail

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#indiepublishing #smallpress #bookdesign #BuildABookWorkshop #DIYBookDesign #selfpublishing #OnTour #ItsyBitsyBookBitsTours #BookSpotlightShowcase

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Genre – NonFiction

Page Count – 110 Pages

Cover Designer – Mike McPhail, McP Digital Graphics

GOODREADS – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53273501-build-a-book-workshop

Are you starting a new venture as an independent publisher?

Or are you already running a small press and you want to up your game?

Maybe you are an author planning to go it on your own for whatever reason inspires you.

If any of those apply to you, this book is a good starting point for doing the job. The Literary Handyman: Build-A-Book Workshop takes decades of experience in book design and layout and parses it into an easy-to-understand blueprint for constructing a book that will only stand out for the best reasons.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Please note, this is a guide to understanding the basic elements of professional book layout, not a step-by-step tutorial on how to use publishing or art programs or how to artistically design a book.

~ AMAZON ~

You can find this video on our YouTube Channel

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Award-winning author, editor, and publisher Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for longer than she cares to admit. In 2014 she joined forces with husband Mike McPhail and friend Greg Schauer to form her own publishing house, eSpec Books (www.especbooks.com).

Her published works include six novels, Yesterday’s Dreams, Tomorrow’s Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court, The Redcaps’ Queen, and Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo collections Eternal Wanderings, A Legacy of Stars, Consigned to the Sea, Flash in the Can, Transcendence, Between Darkness and Light, and the non-fiction writers’ guides The Literary Handyman and LH: Build-A-Book Workshop. She is the senior editor of the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Gaslight & Grimm, Side of Good/Side of Evil, After Punk, and Footprints in the Stars. Her short stories are included in numerous other anthologies and collections.

In addition to her literary acclaim, she crafts and sells original costume horns under the moniker The Hornie Lady Custom Costume Horns, and homemade flavor-infused candied ginger under the brand of Ginger KICK! at literary conventions, on commission, and wholesale.

Danielle lives in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail and one extremely spoiled cat.

To learn more about her work, visit www.sidhenadaire.com or www.especbooks.

Author Interview With Danielle Ackley-McPhail

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On With the Butter! Spread More Living onto Everyday Life by Heidi Herman

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On With the Butter! Spread More Living onto Everyday Life by Heidi Herman
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#HeidiHerman #Family #NONFiction #OnWithTheButter #OnTour #ItsyBitsyBookBitsTours #BookSpotlightShowcase #vitality #thisis500 #retired
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Genre – Non-Fiction, Retirement, Aging, Self-Help, Motivational
Page Count – 246 Pages
Cover Designer – Kelly A. Martin, KAM Design
Carry on, keep doing what you’re doing, forge ahead, and keep moving. Icelanders have a saying for it: Áfram með Smjörið – on with the butter!

If you’re looking for new ways to add zest to your life or have free time in retirement, this book offers a wide variety of activities and challenges, along with inspiring and heartwarming stories. Discover ways to explore, play, take, chances, try new things, make a difference, and have more fun in life. You’re the activities director, and On with the Butter! is your guidebook.

As we get older, it’s easy to become consumed with our health and taking care of ourselves. We may change our diet, take prescriptions to treat medical conditions, and focus more on physical fitness. But while we’re working so hard to increase our life span, what are we doing to appreciate and make the most of that time? Those are the questions On with the Butter invites us to entertain.

So keep moving, keep doing, and keep spreading more living onto everyday life. After all, everything’s better with butter.

~ AMAZON ~ PUBLISHER ~

You can find this video on our YouTube Channel

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Heidi Herman was born and raised in Central Illinois, but her passion and a common theme in her writing is her Icelandic heritage. After a 30-year career in business, where she authored magazine articles, white papers, and technical assessment reports, Heidi turned to fiction writing full-time, inspired by her mother’s example. In the winter of 2012, her mother, Íeda Jónasdóttir Herman, published a childhood memoir, which featured some of Iceland’s folklore. Heidi was immersed in childhood memories of the Scandinavian legends, lore, and imaginative stories. The myth of Iceland’s troll-like Christmas characters – Jólasveinar – sparked the imagination of many readers and led to Heidi writing her first book, “The Legend of the Icelandic Yule Lads.”

It was followed by two more books on Icelandic folklore: “The Guardians of Iceland and Other Icelandic Folk Tales” and “The Icelandic Yule Lads Mayhem at the North Pole.” In 2017, she co-authored and Icelandic cookbook, “Homestyle Icelandic Cooking for American Kitchens” with her mother, Íeda Jónasdóttir Herman, which won a US category in The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards that year. Heidi published her debut novel, “Her Viking Heart”, in 2018 and it was named the 2018 Foreward INDIES Book of the Year Gold Winner – Romance Category.

Her newest work, “On with The Butter: Spread More Living onto Everyday Life” was inspired when Heidi worked to complete her mother’s final work, “Never Too Late.” Íeda Jónasdóttir Herman (1925-2019) was 94 years old and had completed a year of new experiences to prove a person is never too old to enjoy life. That message, along with her mother’s example, led Heidi to write this new motivational book with ideas and encouragement on how anyone can find those activities and experiences.

Heidi currently lives in South Dakota but snowbirds south in the winter to Arizona. In addition to writing, she loves Scandinavian festivals, cooking, photography, travel, and exploring the outdoors. She is a member of the Women Fiction Writers Association and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers.

Author Interview With Heidi Herman

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton

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#Alzheimers #Momoir #ADaughtersQuest #FindingRuth

Hosted by Itsy Bitsy Book Bits

Genre – Biography, Memoir, Fictionalized biography

Page Count – 255 Pages

Cover Designer – Six Penny Graphics

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32055542-finding-ruth

As fiercely independent Ruth struggles to stay self-reliant at the age of 86, each day brings her closer to an event that will alter her life forever. While her author daughter shifts through Ruth’s possessions prior to her move into a skilled nursing facility, she discovers a previously unseen photo from 1949 and realizes how little she knows of her mother’s life.

As Alzheimer’s continues to warp Ruth’s once sharp mind, she can no longer shed any light on the past. Yearning to know who her mother was as a person in her own right, the author painstakingly reconstructs Ruth’s life from photos, letters, public records and firsthand memories.

What emerges is a portrait of a bright, beautiful woman who is propelled through decades of broken promises and heartache, bouncing from one ill-fated relationship to the next, but always staying strong, always surviving. Through a timeline going back sixty years, the author gleans a much better understanding of the woman she had known only as Mom.

~ AMAZON ~

You can find this video on our YouTube Channel

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Though I was always an ardent reader, I was convinced I couldn’t string sentences together if my life depended on it. Fortunately for me, when I was looking for something creative I could do from bed—if my mystery illness progressed to that point—I decided to try my hand at it. No pressure, no expectations. I didn’t tell anyone what I was up to. I just wanted to see if I could string sentences together and tell an interesting story.

 

I remembered a quote by Hemingway, “Write about what you know.” With this mandate, I chose the time spent living with my husband in the French Quarter of New Orleans as the backdrop for my story. I typed out my first two paragraphs on my forty-third birthday. I finished that book on my next birthday, and started my second the same day. I now consider those my “practice books”.

 

As my still-nameless illness progressed, I continued running the family business and continued to write. Nine years after my symptoms began, I finally received a correct diagnosis: Lyme disease, and more specifically, late-stage Lyme, because it had been allowed to progress untreated for so long.

 

Though the pain was almost unendurable, I clung to my writing like a life preserver. It allowed me to crawl up inside my head, out of my body, giving me brief respites from the vast array of pains.

 

Though I would never wish this disease on anyone, I can honestly say I am grateful for the path my life took, for it gave me the gift of writing. I now have nine published books, all of which have special significance for me. I write general fiction, mysteries and some nonfiction.

 

Once Upon a Lyme: The Tale of Two Journeys, is the detailed account of the path my mystery illness led me down as I sought help from over two-dozen doctors, and the gift of writing that was the unexpected upside of being so hopeless ill.

 

Finding Ruth was inspired by a previously unseen photograph of my mother taken when she was nineteen. I found it as I was going through her things prior to her move into a skilled nursing hospital. That gorgeous photograph of her looking so happy and full of promise made me realize how little I knew about her life before I came along. Because Alzheimer’s has taken away all her memories, I painstakingly reconstructed her life from public records, thousands of photographs, and what my brother, sister and I could remember. The message in the tribute to my mom is Ask while you have the chance.

 

As of this writing, I have just completed the fourth book in the Madeline Dawkins mystery series. I’m still in love with writing and I still squeal with joy to think that I’ve written eleven books and self-published nine of them. If there is a message in this, it’s Never discount what you are capable of achieving.

Author Interview With Cynthia Hamilton

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