Ancient Egypt at Its Best

Today, I am introducing you to an author who not only writes in my own genre (Historical Fiction) but in its very sub-genre closest to my heart: Ancient Egypt. Even though our chosen themes, or dynasties, are about two-thousand years apart, I have kept a keen eye on the growing list of the titles of 

L. M. Ironside

 Passionate about history, she began devouring adult historical novels right off her mother's bookshelf at age eight and never looked back. In high school, her history teacher assigned her Hatshepsut as the subject of a report. The report turned into a meticulously crafted scale paper model of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple, and Ironside's fate was sealed: she was a confirmed Egypt nut from then on.

She has just published her third book in a series bringing to life this enigmatic She-King who dared to declared herself Pharaoh (after conveniently getting her brother-husband out of the way).

                             

The Sekhmet Bed

is the first volume of L. M. Ironside's series The She-King, a family saga of the Thutmosides, one of ancient Egypt's most fascinating royal families.

The Thutmoside dynasty saga continues with

The Crook and Flail.

In Sovereign of Stars,

Hatshepsut has fulfilled her divine destiny and taken the Pharaoh's throne.
But she knows her position is precarious.

Ironside tells me she is already working on the next in the series. “I'm still on target to finish the final book in the series around early January to have it out hopefully around the end of February, providing nothing crazy happens over the holidays.”

We all know how that can go – but I, as surely do her many other fans, wish her the very best of success.

Quite selfishly so, since we are all anxiously waiting for Book #4.

Visit L. M. Ironside at: 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/L.-M.-Ironside/e/B00BS3C9J8

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/84655

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/l.-m.-ironside

Kobo: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/l.-m.-ironside

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7114740.L_M_Ironside

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HawkerIronside

She would also love for you to sign up for her mailing list on her Website: http://Imironside.com

"Ich bin ein Berliner"

Sadly remembering the 50th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, I thought it might be appropriate to share my poem about JFK’s June 26, 1963 visit to Berlin. The ‘cursed’ Wall finally came down on November 11, 1989.

 * * *

Peace: War’s Abandoned Grave

From its cachéd acorn womb

the seedling sprouts through pungent moss,

soon greened by a rambunctious spring’s exuberance.

The Westwind, taking pity, laughs and heaves

and trembles off the would-be devourer of tender leaves.

The sapling climbs toward the tranquil summer sky,

shading the meadow by the river,

until the Eastwind, cold and blustery,

defeats the balmy climes

and heralds in this city’s soon-to-come heart-breaking times.

Branches at half-mast, the tree holds silent vigil

against the rapings by lust-driven Ural-hordes.

Its meadow barren, flowers vanquished under iron treads,

the oak, denuded in the smoke-veiled morn’,

breathes acrid mist from the River Spree, forlorn.

Amber tears drip from the tree’s strafed bark

as the proud city, quartered by its raucous victors,

writhes in shredded ruin, a graveyard of the living dead.

A people torn apart, despaired,

as brother now must fear the brother whom war had spared.

A saw’s rasping bite takes hold;

the last tree topples at the cusp of dawn.

The oak’s green planks strain vainly toward freedom

from deep within the cursed Wall.

A fire-blackened church accuses, a grim reminder to them all.

The pendulum of time reverses.

Survivors hail their former foe.

To these living dead, abandoning their graves of war,

as if he were a citizen, but keener,

a young world leader avows peace with:

“Ich bin ein Berliner!”

* * *

From “Moments of the Heart, A Book of Poems and Short Prose”

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0073VIQY6

New Work In Progress

 These are proposed covers for my new Work In Progress:

AFTER THE CATACLYSM

It is Book 3 of the Legends of the Winged Scarab

What do you think?

A                                            or                                             B

As an interesting Aside about this cover:

For CATACLYSM, I assigned an important part to a ghost ship that supposedly still plies the Atlantic Ocean. As devotees of mysteriously vanished boats continue to search for the real  Lyubov Orlova, believing that she still haunts the high seas, I imagined another life for this ill-fated vessel.

Built in 1976, she was named after a Russian screen siren from the 1930s. In 2010, she ran aground off Newfoundland. While being towed to be sold for scrap, the towline snapped. For years, the vessel drifted unclaimed without a living soul aboard—except for the rats.

Lovers of sea lore and old ships continue to look for the 328-foot Lyubov Orlova and even dedicated a website to her search: http://whereisorlova.wordpress.com/

Unless you can prove otherwise, let’s believe that she is still afloat, her golden First Dynasty tablets  stowed below, after they were saved from the Devil Winds KHAMSIN and SIROCCO. 

* * *

For easy comparison, here are the first two volumes (already on sale):

Fussy Librarian Accepts Khamsin

It was not easy to get accepted into library of books of The Fussy Librarian; that is because she is fussy about what to showcase for her readers.

Did you know that you can get your very own librarian, for free? It's true! Choose from 30 genres, select content preferences and she'll send you daily ebook recommendations.

www.TheFussyLibrarian.com

Khamsin, The Devil Wind of the Nile, will be featured on October 30th.
Check it out under Historical Fiction.

Maybe Toth, the Egyptian god of Reading and Writing, had something to do with being accepted, although he would like to see a few more reviews!

Checking Out What is New

   I like to check out my favorite reviewers’ thoughts on other authors. Lo and behold, I came across another writer from Austria, also writing in English.

   “Oh my,” I thought, “I won’t read that stuff.”

   Naturally, curiosity got the better of me (I am a woman, aren’t I). ‘That stuff,’ turned out to be not at all what I had so hastily surmised. Although, I expected that the author had to be a lot younger than I am...actually, it is just that I am somewhat, well – prissier (I really do try not to be).

   Instead, I found these short stories to be delicious, delightful and, admittedly spicy parodies and satires. In the end, I not only laughed out loud but talked to myself. No, I am not that dotty yet. It just felt so great to be brought out of my oh-so-earnest character for once.

  I am therefore not in the least bit hesitant (that’s understated for I am happy) to present my fellow author and lands-woman, and her clever spoofs on life, lust and love.

Ida Tornovski

   Ida has bundled three of her stories into a Boxed Set.

 

Visit Ida Tornovski’s Author Pages:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ida-Tornovski/e/B00EALNKWU

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/IdaTornovski

Blog: http://www.satires-and-parodies.blogspot.com/



Literary Self-Indulgence?

Author Christoph Fischer answers questions frequently asked by his readers.

Why I wrote THE BLACK EAGLE INN

Early feedback to my third book in the Three Nations Trilogy stated that it would probably be of most interest for people with a German heritage. As author I had to ask myself: could this novel bear relevance and interest for other people and non-German readers?  The answer is yes.

I was born 25 years after the end of the war. Our history lessons at school ended with the year 1945. One of the most urgent and important questions remained unanswered for me: How did a country with so much shame and horror in its past recover and move forward? How could it? I don’t think anything can ever make up for what has happened and nobody can forgive or atone for the collective guilt. But can the new generation ever deservedly rid itself of the stigma the previous generation has brought to the country?

Apart from the actual family story in my book I hope a great point of interest will be the way different characters carry on with their life and develop their philosophies, outlooks and politics. De-Nazification, restructuring of a political landscape and implementation of new state leaders are issues the book touches upon. Only ten years after the end of the war a wave of Italian and Turkish Immigrants filled the hole in the German employment market, but how did the Nation respond to those foreigners (named Gastarbeiter)? Ten years after that a new right wing party formed and threatened to tip the political balance and bring new shame to the nation.

The Sixties brought the Bader Meinhoff Complex, student revolts and many family conflicts instigated by the generation born after WWII. Many of those were disillusioned with politics and turned violent. It took a new generation of politicians to instigate a modernization of German society.

The year of my birth Chancellor Willy Brand famously fell on his knees in Warsaw, humbly honoring a monument for the victims Warsaw Uprising. An important symbolic gesture after previous governments tried too hastily to move on from the dark past.  My book covers a lot of ground about post war Germany and should be interesting for those whose knowledge of Germany also ends with 1945. We know about the Nuremberg Trials and the Nazi’s on the run in South America, but what about the little man, guilty or not? What does he do with this broken country?

What is your personal experience with the issues in the book?

I grew up with the first generation of children of mixed marriages and Gastarbeiter families and I experienced them being treated badly by some but also very welcoming by others. I grew up in times of a United Europe, exchange students and pop music from Italy, France, Britain and America. For me other nations and cultures were never anything but an exciting cultural enrichment and I adored the people in my generation who had a similar vision and worked hard to make such a mentality part of a modern Germany.

Of the three books THE BLACK EAGLE INN is the one that is closest to my own life experience although I was born around the time the story ends. While all three books deal with family sagas vaguely similar to some of my ancestors, this story takes place in an environment and times that I know almost first hand. Yet, there were an awful lot of facts that I only learnt about while researching the foundations for the book. I hope it helps to understand more about the path of the German people from its past to the current state.

A New Germany?

Can a leopard ever change its spots and can a Nation ever change? Is Germany trying to take over the European Union in militant fashion as some people claim? Are Germans always rigid, organized and pushy? Did Mussolini’s fascism stem from a reminiscent ‘Roman’ megalomania? Is there something inherently unchangeable in the makeup of a Nation?

Confronted with often harsh stereotypes of Nazi-esque Germans in film, television and conversations abroad it seems that a certain image sticks to us Germans in the view of other Nations. I left the country 20 years ago and often see the Germans from the outside perspective with similar eyes and cringe at some innocent remarks by my compatriots and their sometimes only misunderstood behaviors. Yet some of these stereotypes can reinforce undifferentiated ideas about German mentality and politics.

My book is by no means a glorification of the German nation. As much as I love my place of origin I am happy where I live now. By having written a somewhat political book about post-war Germany I hope to paint a more balanced and more complex picture about its past and its people. Like every country in the world Germany should remain a work in progress of continuous development and improvement.

Religion in THE BLACK EAGLE INN

Most of my characters in this book are Catholics and some of them are not portrayed favorably even though other Catholics are written with more differentiation. I would like to point out however in any case that by no means do I intend to condemn religion or Catholicism as a whole.

Implied criticism of those devout Catholic characters is directed at the dogmatism of some, which also shows in their political and other beliefs and behaviors. Certain outdated beliefs and practices are part of the historically accurate portrayal of the times and places. Misuse of religion and Bible quotes for personal gain or political goals are as old as religion itself and are not limited to Catholicism.

I would like you to know that I have the most profound respect for any responsible religious person who uses their respective belief system to become a better person and to better the world with love and tolerance of others.

Politics in THE BLACK EAGLE INN

To write about any Nation and its generational renewal party politics are difficult to avoid, even more so in the case of Germany where for 12 years one party dictated world history. In one plotline of the book I have gone deep into the rivalry between the two main parties in post-war Germany, which exists to this day.

I must apologize for any perceived bias and any offensive remarks against either of the parties portrayed. Party politics at the time were more differentiated than I could afford to showcase them in this book. The fictional party affiliation of some of my characters in the book was determined by certain ideas they stand for and which of the actual parties at the time would have fitted their profile the most.

In my view politicians of every party can be corrupt as they can be idealists. By no means would I like to imply that I favor the politicians of one party of another. My book is not a manifesto for political ideas per se but for humanitarian ideas that should be the foundation for any type of politics.

Politics can also be a frustrating and hard business and I applaud all of the idealists who go into politics and struggle hard for their visions and beliefs. I do not have the endurance for it myself and would like to thank those who have done so and who selflessly help to form and shape Germany into a modern state that has learnt from its past.

* * *

Visit Christoph Fischer’s Author pages:

On Amazon - US: http://www.amazon.com/Christoph-Fischer/e/B00CLO9VMQ/

On Amazon - UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christoph-Fischer/e/B00CLO9VMQ/

On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6590171.Christoph_Fischer

http://www.facebook.com/WriterChristophFischer?ref=hl

http://www.christophfischerbooks.com/

http://writerchristophfischer.wordpress.com/

Christoph Fischer Launches Book 3 of Three Nations Trilogy

"The Black Eagle Inn"

The Black Eagle Inn is an old established Restaurant and Farm business in the sleepy Bavarian countryside outside of Heimkirchen. Childless Anna Hinterberger has fought hard to make it her own and keep it running through WWII. Religion and rivalry divide her family as one of her nephews, Markus has got her heart and another nephew, Lukas got her ear. Her husband Herbert is still missing and for the wider family life in post-war Germany also has some unexpected challenges in store.

Once again Fischer tells a family saga with war in the far background and weaves the political and religious into the personal. Being the third in the Three Nations Trilogy this book offers another perspective on war, its impact on people and the themes of nations and identity.

On Facebook: http://ow.ly/pAX3y

On Goodreads: http://ow.ly/pAX8G

On Amazon- US: http://bookshow.me/B00FSBW2L6

On Amazon-UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christoph-Fischer

Christoph Fischer was born in Germany, near the Austrian border, as the son of a Sudeten-German father and a Bavarian mother. Not a full local in the eyes and ears of his peers he developed an ambiguous sense of belonging and home in Bavaria. He moved to Hamburg in pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few years he moved on to the UK where he is still resident today.

The Luck of The Weissensteiners was published in November 2012; 















Sebastian in May 2013. 

Fischer has written several other novels which are in the later stages of editing and finalization.

Visit Christoph Fischer’s Author Pages:

On Amazon - US: http://www.amazon.com/Christoph-Fischer/e/B00CLO9VMQ

On Amazon - UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christoph-Fischer/e/B00CLO9VMQ

On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6590171.Christoph_Fischer

http://www.facebook.com/WriterChristophFischer?ref=hl

http://www.christophfischerbooks.com/

http://writerchristophfischer.wordpress.com/

Introducing KAY HADASHI

I have always been fascinated by novels with exotic locations.

Hence, it is my pleasure to introduce author

Kay Hadashi

  

A third generation Japanese American, Hadashi grew up in a multi-generational home. She learned Japanese traditions from her grandparents, and the lessons of modern-day life in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Dividing her life between Hawaii and the mainland of America, she spends her time refining her tai chi skills, in zumba classes, and has a busy career in health care.

Kay Hadashi is the author of several intrigue and mystery novels about June Kato, neurosurgeon and ex-fashion model. Her novels are on the best-seller lists on Asian American Literature.

Bugeisha Dreams

A Historical Intrigue Novel

Offered during the month of October at an introductory price of $0.99

  

http://amzn.com/B00FEYOY40

Synopsis: 

Neurosurgeon June Kato suddenly enters a parallel life to her own, the life she would have lived five hundred years before in feudal Japan.  As a feudal landowner, she is immediately embroiled in all the same problems she left behind in her real world.  And those troubles are bigger than ever.  To save her family lands, she concocts her greatest scheme yet.

She sets out on one last battle against the powerful daimyo that is forcing her off the family lands she inherited from her ancestors.  With only an army of peasants and three blades, Lady Junko faces her future--and her past. Most of the story takes place 500 years ago in feudal Japan during the Warring States period.

 * * *

For those of us unfamiliar with the term (as certainly I was), Hadashi explains Onna-bugeisha were very important and honored women in feudal Japan.  An onna-bugeisha, or more simply bugeisha, was a Japanese female warrior of upper class background.  Many women in feudal Japan, especially during the Warring Period, engaged in battle, alongside samurai men. They were members of the bushi samurai class and were trained in the use of various weapons to defend their household, family, and honor in times of war.

Other June Kato Intrigues by Kay Hadashi

Kimono Suicide—First in the series, a murder mystery

Stalking Silk—Suspense and escape from a serial stalker

Yakuza Lover—An Intrigue Novel involving organized crime

Orchids and Ice—Intrigue set in Hawaii

Coming in late 2013:  Deadly Contact—A Medical Intrigue Novel

Visit Kay Hadashi’s Author Page at Amazon for more:

http://www.amazon.com/Kay-Hadashi/e/B00CP5B78M/

Her other links of interest are:

http://www.junekatointrigue.com/

https://www.facebook.com/kay.hadashi

Cover Reveal - The Ghosts of Aquinnah by Julie Flanders

Julie Flanders is a novelist and freelance writer in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a life-long love affair with the ocean and has spent more summer vacations than she can count on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

When not writing, Julie can be found reading, cheering on her favorite sports teams, and watching too much television.

* * *

I met Julie because she too is an animal lover. She shares her home with her dog and cat, and I hope to feature them on Pasha’s blog in the near future.

* * *

COVER REVEAL

The Ghosts of Aquinnah,

by Julie Flanders,

will be released by Ink Smith Publishing

on December 5, 2013

A brilliant flash of light transcends through time. Another freezes a cloaked figure within a frame of salty mist as waves crash against a rocky shore. Her harrowing expression shadows the beacon to a pinprick.

By the next blaze, she is gone. Only the lighthouse remains.

Hannah’s eyes blink in step with each heartbeat. Images of her deceased parents and Martha’s Vineyard explode like firecrackers inside her mind.

She shakes her head.

For weeks this eerie woman dressed in nineteenth century garb has been haunting my webcam, but tonight she stared into my soul.

Why? ...

Who is she? ...

Casting aside months of research on historic lighthouses, Hannah drives to the coast and boards a ferry.

What is the strange connection she has to this mysterious woman suspended in time?

Hannah finds out.

But, it’s not at all what she expects ...

Hannah unravels a century old murder.

* * *

Find Julie at:

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Goodreads

Multi-Faceted Christoph Fischer

Christoph Fischer is not only an avid reader, a scrupulous reviewer (IF you can get him to read your stuff), but foremost he is a writer with a deep sense of commitment to his own craft: Writing.

In his latest book, Fischer once again lays out a family saga with war in the distant background. Keeping the color scheme and the writing from his first two novels, The Luck of the Weissensteiners, and Sebastian, this book shows the Bavarian country side at its best with The Black Eagle Inn in the center. It is the name of a family business; to me it is also a foreboding sign of things to come as this was also an emblem on Germany’s flag.

As always, Fischer aptly inter-weaves political and religious themes with the very personal lives of his protagonists. The Black Eagle Inn is the third in the Three Nations Trilogy and—as do its two predecessors—this book offers an indirect perspective on war and its impact on ordinary people.

The Black Eagle Inn is slated for release by October 15.

Read more about in Fischer’s blog at:

http://writerchristophfischer.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/black-eagle-inn-cover-reveal/