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The Seed of Curiosity
Patricia Bosssano Author Interview
Cradle Gift follows Maité as she discovers the origins of her gift and the meaning behind her ability to move in and out of dreams. What were some new ideas you wanted to expand on in the second book in the series that you didn’t, or couldn’t, get to in the first book?
Here are a few of the things I wanted to explore with Cradle Gift:
- I’ve always been fascinated with Lucid Dreaming, so to continue expanding my knowledge on that subject was very satisfying. Although I put it to my readers as acradle-giftedability, Lucid Dreaming is something you can develop and perfect through practice… maybe not to the astral projection level Maité achieves, but it’s as close to having wings or gills as we can get.
- I wanted to establish the 200-year gap between Celeste and Maité, and plant the seed of curiosity over what happened with the family during those 2 centuries.
- I wanted to highlight “adaptability” without denying the suffering and struggle it takes a person to achieve it. I agree with Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Maité is strong, intelligent, adaptable and therefore, a survivor.
You were able to craft a world that was equally as beautiful as in book one. What were some lessons learned in book one that helped you write book two?
Book 1 was my first full-length novel and through its production I learned a great deal about the technical aspects of publishing, but more than anything, that is where I began to develop “my voice.” Faery Sight became my go-to document for Cradle Gift because locales had been established there along with coordinates for the Faerie Realm—I was so glad that I kept my drafts, maps, and notes! I took with me a briefcase stuffed with all my papers when I traveled to San Sebastián, Spain. I stayed there for one whole blustery week in March to round up my research.
Maité continues to be a dynamic and intriguing character. I find that authors are sometimes exploring their characters when writing just as much as readers are when reading. Do you find this to be true? What kind of exploration did you do with Maité’s character in this book?
The women and girls in my family are the inspiration behind my stories—the series really is a family affair.
The girl on the cover of Cradle Gift is my niece (my older sister’s first born), some of her character traits and astrological attributes account for a big part of Maité’s personality.
FYI: My younger sister’s first born is on the cover of Faery Sight, and my daughter is on the cover of Nahia.
Nahia is the third book in your Faerie Legacy series. Where can readers expect the story to go in the next installment?
Nahia is a common denominator whose story covers the 200-year gap between books 1 and 2.
I consider this novel is a philosophical-fiction of sorts because it is about Nahia’s journey to know herself, to find her place in the world. She’s willful and stubborn, she’d rather ask for forgiveness (grudgingly) than permission, but when the weight of the realm is thrust upon her, Nahia, accepts the challenge, realizing that the time for her to grow up is at hand.
Her strengths and weaknesses lead her to change the genetic footprint of humanity, and to a bitter sweet victory.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
![Cradle Gift (Faerie Legacy Series Book 2) by [Bossano, Patricia]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-WJKQbhoL.jpg)
On the day she was born, Maité received a cradle gift from the faery Nahia—a gift that allows her to travel into other worlds while in a dream state.
At seventeen, Maité’s mortal world is torn apart with the tragic loss of her parents. Uprooted from the only home she’s ever known and isolated in a foreign country, the young woman struggles to make sense of her new life. But the conflict in the realm of Faerie is about to bleed over into Maité’s reality. She finds herself in the middle of an ancient struggle between Nahia and the Beautiful One as they furiously clash for control over the realm.
Through her Cradle Gift, Maité uncovers the extent of the Faerie Realm’s involvement in her life, and in her quest to come to terms with it, Maité has the help of best friend Emily, and David; a young man whose interest in genetics illuminates possibilities that will change her identity forever.
I Came to Know Him
Todd Richard Johnson Author Interview
Fathering the Fatherless tackles the important issue of fatherlessness and how it affects children and society. Do you feel that fatherlessness will become a bigger issue in the future?
Fathering the Fatherless book was and is to shine a light and to spark interest for the reader to go on there own personal journey of looking.
How has your faith helped you come to terms with fatherlessness?
Far as my faith it has helped me realize there prayers and the word of God The Holy Bible that I came to know Him as Abba Fathering now my book is to get you to ask yourself am I doing my very best and does God love me more than anything else and yes he does.
You use many facts and figures in your book. Was there a statistic that you came across that surprised you?
There was a few statistics I feel under and I was surprised.
What is the next book that you are writing and when will it be available?
My next book should be out this year from Author House Fathering The Fatherless 2nd Edition more information new chapter on psychological aspects of a fatherless home and more details other chapter.
Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads | Google+
Fathering The Fatherless deals with Fatherless in the home’s & how affects children in the home & what we can do to change. It’s a short read and aimed to open your eyes and heart, to get you asking and thinking.
Once Upon a Faery
Patricia Bossano Author Interview
Faery Sight follows a young woman raised among faeries as she is confronted with the tragedy surrounding her birth. What was your inspiration for this book and how did that help you begin your Faery Legacy series?
I come from a family where women are more numerous than the men, and over generations, our alpha-females have effectively organized us into a matriarchy. In my mind, I’ve likened us to Faeries, as they are the ultimate matriarchal society and in that light, I might say my series fits the ‘autobiographical fiction’ genre.
The women in my family—their spirit and beauty, our strengths and weakness, how we manage our relationships, inspired the magic in Faery Sight and the others.
When I set out to write Faery Sight, my intent wasn’t to produce a full length novel, much less a series. I just wanted to entertain people in my family with a short story, a novella at best.
Indeed, the original manuscript went through multiple revisions, and not only that, its first working title; Once Upon a Faery, changed fleetingly to Ersatz, until at last, close to launch date, Faery Sight revealed itself to me.
Celeste’s discovery of her love for Etienne, a human destined to marry another woman, is a captivating relationship. What were some things that were important for you when writing their relationship?
Celeste and Etienne have a very special place in my heart; they came out of my imagination with such genuine attitudes it was impossible not to cheer for their beautiful love story. She is impulsive and free, he is trapped in a traditional life-style. When they meet, Etienne’s heart skips a beat and he finds the courage to defy tradition.
Over the years, various members of my family, myself included, have been a Celeste or an Etienne, at one point or another, and it is my hope that whenever choices come up, we will always follow our hearts, just like Celeste and Etienne.
I enjoyed Celeste’s character, and it seemed she became multilayered as the story progressed. What were some obstacles you felt were important to her character’s development?
Celeste has a stubborn streak, a highly competitive nature (although not as nuclear as Nahia) and she is also impulsive. Therefore her character development needed to involve attaining a degree of maturity, while staying true to her heart.
As her story progressed, any inherent negativity in those traits were flushed out of her, painfully, as was the case with the death of her mother, but also blissfully, like when she realized that Etienne loved her too, and that Nahia’s bad temper had been due to her fears that Celeste might trade their special “sisterhood” for a man!
Where does the story take readers in book 2, Cradle Gift?
Whereas Faery Sight was set in the 1800’s, Cradle Gift is a contemporary tale where we meet Celeste’s latest descendant, Maité. She is born in 1992.
She knows nothing of the connection her family had with the Faerie Realm, and she’s clueless as to the Cradle Gift Nahia gives her on the day of her birth. From there… A journey, a manuscript, and a family tree unlock the mystery behind Maité’s lucid dreaming ability.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
![Faery Sight (Faerie Legacy Series Book 1) by [Bossano, Patricia]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516tWLCIFML.jpg)
At seventeen, the realm of faerie is the only world Celeste knows, and she aspires to become as close to a faery as a human may. But daunting revelations made by her dying mother knock her plans off course. Orphaned and anxious to establish where she fits in, Celeste’s convictions waver.
Is she the human princess her mother raised her to be, or is she the human faery she longs to become? Is she to avenge the wrongs done to her parents by an evil sorceress?
Is she to honor a betrothal she’s known nothing about? Or should she keep at the side of the true love that recently walked into her life?
Celeste chooses to be the avenger of her parents, even if it means having to acknowledge her rightful place in the human dimension.
Urged by the faery, Nahia, and championed by the faerie court and her true love, Celeste sets out to expose the deceitful sorceress, Arantxa. She trusts that nothing can keep her from returning to the realm of faerie, nothing that is, until the identity of her betrothed becomes known.
The Real Outback Country
Lesley J. Mooney Author Interview
Beyond Sun and Shadows is a sweeping tale set on an Australian cattle station in 1948 and follows the lives of a small community as their lives are thrown into turmoil by unforeseen circumstances. The setup to this novel is unique and vivid. What were some influences that motivated you to write this story?
This novel is about my own experiences as I have explained in the note in first pages.
My father took me and my brother with him away from boarding colleges out to Roy Hill Station, south of Nullagine in the outback of Western Aust. to Roy Hill station (named Row hill station in the story). That place now belongs to Gina Reinhardt with her copper mines all around. I mentioned that I altered the names in the story. We stayed there and worked for some years until I went To Ethel Creek station down the track to help the Managers wife and children; and my Dad and Brother were moved north to Waterloo Station, near the Northern Territory border. Later on I joined them there. When finding a Lump on my back I was flown to Wyndham on the coast to have it removed. After being there for some weeks, as in my biography, I flew to Darwin and started work there as a clerk
with the Government for over two years.
Everything I wrote included myself (as Lea) and my family. All the story of the station and helping the shearers, mustering, The wet season, and animals are true, as were the staff of aboriginal workers and us going to their camp. We watched them dance and joined in with them clicking sticks in time. One old man Bindi the gardener, used to press his trousers under his mattress.
Some of the characters are from stations I went to during those few years. The main parts of fiction was the two young men who were murdered and the escaped prisoners who turned up there. A few of the events were fiction, but the characters I met there and at other stations were as I found them , except the head shearer who wrote poetry, but all the poetry written in there is mine. The local dialogue is true as it’s written. Many of the things the young daughter and her friend did and felt were my experiences.
This book has a diverse cast of characters. What character was your favorite to write for?
Favourite characters were many – Chipper (not his name), that mailman was fiction, the funny Chinese cook, and the little boy Eric whom I looked after (his name was Micheal). Everything I wrote about Wyndham did happen and were true, even the song they sang. The young girl who lived with her father, the weatherman, was my actual friend there.
I felt that the books themes seem to be humankind’s connection to the land and the pioneering spirit of the Australian people. What do you hope readers take away from your book?
I really hope that people reading my story will understand and realize this is the real outback country, and how the people of the outback come across. Not false or artificial, but as I described them. Their life is is in this land and most of them become part of the free spirit of the country with it red plains and spinifex whirling into the sky as willy willy’s do. Even my poetry in the book symbolizes the land and it inhabitants. I have written many story poems about the outback, the trees, the animals, pioneers and ordinary bush people. Some are humorous, some sad.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads | Shashwords
![Beyond Sun and Shadows by [Mooney, Lesley J]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51tnYjUK20L.jpg)
An epic adventure story set on the coast and inland, detailing life in Western Australia in 1948 on a sheep and cattle station. This is real outback living where dramatic events can occur and unforgotten shadows effect the everyday lives of others. When the meatworks were in Wyndham, escaped prisoners strike terror… a family and a stockman with unhappy pasts… the mailman finds a strange body on the road… an accident in windy weather… a shearer with talent… a tragic death daunts natives… a minister’s plane crashes… cattle rustlers cause a stampede… three girls lost in the mountain range discover the past… and even love alters lives…
The Adventures of Fawn: ‘Til the Last Snowflake Falls
![The Adventures of Fawn: 'Til the Last Snowflake Falls by [Boy, Al E.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/511ka7Bn%2B1L.jpg)
Do you still believe in magic? Do you still believe in Santa and his elves up at the North Pole? Comet and Vixen have a new little fawn that unfortunately is very bored and lonely at the North Pole. There are no other children to play with or keep her company. Fawn secretly discovers how to leave Santa’s village and escape to the outside world. There she meets a Snowboy, and a bunny. They decide to become best friends ‘Til the last snowflake falls. What happens though is that they discover that animals are going missing out of nowhere. Baby animals are left parentless and afraid. There is a new human, Dr. Mary Weather, a veterinarian that has come to the artic to study and help animals. With the help of Dr. Weather the inhabitants of Santa’s village look to solve the mystery of the missing animals and reunite all the families.
The Adventures of Fawn ‘Til the Last Snowflake Falls by Al E. Boy is listed as a children’s book, however it is novel. The writing is easy to understand, not a lot of challenging words. The scenery descriptions are colorful and entertaining but kept short to appeal to childrens shorter attention spans. There is a lot of funny interaction between the animals that will have you laughing and rooting them on. The personalities are well written and appealing, they have a mischievous streak, not a “bad kid” one but just kids being kids exploring and playing pranks. One funny scene involves two elves, known as the Forgetful Twins, and a bunny scatters who straw behind the elves as they’re sweeping, and the elves can’t figure out what is going on. The book than goes into deeper plots and themes. The bad guys that are kidnapping animals are mean to both people and animals. While there isn’t a lot of violence, the hostilities are implied.
The constant theme of friendship and sticking together is weaved deeply into the plot. At every turn characters are bonding and helping each other. The concern for their fellow companions is heartwarming. It shows that despite all the differences, human, snowman, reindeer, elf, bunny, it doesn’t matter, they all bond together. This is a great lesson for children, and adults. It doesn’t matter how different we all are, we can come together to solve a problem and help each other in times of need.
While the story takes place in the North Pole, it is not a Christmas story. It is a compelling story about friendship and overcoming adversity. Fawn is a loving character that is easy to relate to, and the magic of Santa’s Village and talking animals is sure to draw in readers of all ages. I loved being able to escape back to a childlike innocence and for the course of this book just believe in the magic of Santa and the North Pole again. It makes me happy and reminds me to appreciate the little things in life and share these moments with my own kids. This would make a great family reading novel with lots of topics for discussion.
Pages: 349 | ASIN: B00NRZO920
The Ties That Bind: From Slavery To Freedom
William Bowie a slave and skilled carpenter along with his family were freed by the will of Roderick McGregor of Prince George County Maryland in the year 1858. Fifty- Five years later in 1913, his grandson William Augus Bowie and John Whitelaw Lewis co-founded the Industrial Savings Bank in Washington DC and together they would make important and lasting contributions to the African-American community of Washington. Thomas and John Vreeland Jackson were manumitted by Richard Vreeland in 1828 in Bergen County NJ. Oystermen by trade they would go on to become two of the first black property owners in Bergen County and conductors of the Underground Railroad who helped thousands of slaves to escape to freedom. In 1823, Joseph VanArsdale was freed by the will of Abraham VanArsdalen in Somerset County, New Jersey. Joseph would become one of the earliest black property owners in Princeton, New Jersey. This is their story in Slavery and Freedom.
The BreakAway Girl: Secrets of a Tantric Yogi
![The BreakAway Girl: Secrets of a Tantric Yogi by [Bodeman, Paulette ]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51eNCqooaiL.jpg)
Life is filled with challenges and for people with crippling anxiety it is worse. That anxiety feeds depression, and the two together can define and break a person down, or they can adapt, find ways to manage it and thrive in life. The BreakAway: Girl Secrets of a Tantric Yogi by Paulette Bodeman is Paulette’s memoir’s. Her story ranges from early in life to after her child is grown and an adult himself. This collection of her memories works like the human brain, it isn’t linier, rather the memories flow back and forth leaving imprints on the reader. Throughout the book Paulette slowly discovers yoga in a variety of forms before finding her place, at the end of this book she shares her knowledge with information on how to mediate, yoga poses, and how to embrace your own BreakAway moments in life, be them big or small.
Paulette Bodeman decided when she started writing this book that she was not going to just include all the good points or put a happy twist on her life moments. She promised herself to include all the ugly moments, all the hard memories, from addiction, divorce, depression and loss. They were not written with caveats that ‘oh this made me a better person for living through it’. Instead it is just raw emotions. It is real life and despite the jumping from one memory to another often not in chronological order, it is captivating to the reader. Some people will be frustrated by the lack of cohesion from one memory to the next; but I found it relatable and it gave me a better understanding of her. When I think back in time to my own memories it is a jumbled road, and those pieces all fit together in my own broken puzzle, that is what this book reminds me of. You don’t put a puzzle together left to right, you fit them together as you find them and once done you have a complete picture.
Much of the book focuses on her finding herself though her experiences and how they all led her to where she is now. But written in her style that path isn’t clear. In the last part of the book she explains her views on BreakAway moments, big and small. She talks about how they are the defining moments in your life that you may or may not even reorganize as being a defining moment. This last part pulls together everything she wrote. The inclusion of mediation suggestions, yoga poses, and spiritual healing ideas just completes the book. You start reading about her chaotic and disjointed life and end with a guide on how to find your own path through your own chaos.
This is not your traditional yoga book, it is not your traditional book on finding inspiration in life or how to better yourself. It is not a self-help book you pick up and read step by step to find your perfect balance. It is a book that will inspire you, give you bits and pieces you can relate to and give you suggestions on finding your own inner peace at your own pace and discovering your own BreakAway moments and how they have defined you.
Pages: 226 | ASIN: B079NCH83G
20 Quirks 7 Strange Habits – InfoGraphic
Everybody has some habits that might be intriguing and even weird. No famous authors are exceptions. Custom-Writing.org put together 20 of them in their infographic. Find out who was a fan of rotten apples and whose way of better writing is hanging upside down.
LITERARY TITAN 