Embracing Diversity through Middle Grade action adventure

Because each of us has different gifts and abilities, we must rely on one another in a mindset of teamwork to maximize the human potential. Not one person possesses every talent. No one person can do everything with exceptional aptitude. Some people can sing, some can draw and others are good at math. There are people with thumbs so green they can make flowers bloom under any earthly conditions. There are those who are superior servants and others who are great at giving.

Do you ever envy the gifts of others? Do you ever want to be able to do the things someone else can do and never get the hang of it, only to spend wasted time trying to be something you weren't meant to be. We must recognize the gifts in others in order to grow our own strengths and strengthen mankind. We should not be envious of another's gifts and we should not be irritated by our differences. Realizing our own gifts and appreciating the talents of others helps us to achieve our individual goals as well as our goals as a community.

If we were supposed to depend solely on ourselves, each of us would be completely self sustainable, completely independent and capable of all things.
Embrace diversity as it is the founder of unity.

THE C WALKER ADVENTURE SERIES promotes cultural diversity through action adventure and fantastical fiction. Book 1 of the series The Curse of Yama kindle e-book will be free for the next 5 days. Little Roni Publishers is celebrating the upcoming release of Book 2 in the Series, The Castle of Family Secrets.  

Get your free kindle version of THE CURSE OF YAMA .

FREE, did you say FREE! The Curse of Yama is free for the next 5 days!!!!

The Curse of Yama: Book 1 of The C Walker Adventure series is FREE on kindle May 29th, 2013 - June 2nd, 2013. Middle-Grade Teachers, now is a great time to check out some new reading for next year.

Dumb old curse... When Dad unwittingly unleashes upon himself a deadly and ancient curse, it’s up to 12-year-old Chloe Walker to come to the rescue. Once the entire family is deep within the Indian rainforest, Chloe and her local friend, Sotol, head out to find a cure for the illness that threatens her father’s life. To find the Golden Seed, Chloe and Sotol risk life and limb, facing ruthless poachers, desolate elephant burial grounds, and the fantastical wilds of nature. With a magical amulet, arguing gibbons, a mama tiger on the run, and an impossible rope bridge that only a nut would try to cross—Chloe is on the adventure of a lifetime. Decode the map, find the seed, and defeat Yama. No problem... Yeah Right!

A FREE Teachers Guide is available for Download at   Little Roni Publishers website. 


LITTLE RONI PUBLISHERS IS GETTING READY FOR THE SEQUEL TO BE RELEASED JULY 2013.

The Castle of Family Secrets to be RELEASED JULY 2013

The C Walker Adventures continues with an unparallelled adventure in this exciting sequel, The Castle of Family Secrets. The Walker family goes to Scotland to stay with Chloe's crazy aunt and uncovers an underworld that holds the hidden truths of her family's legacy. Unicorns, Pegasus and elusive shadows are just under Chloe's feet while Dr. C. Y. Clops tries to keep things in check. Can Chloe protect the family secret and keep these mythological creatures in the world of legends? With her knack for mischief, Chloe goes above and beyond in this episode. Trouble.....here she comes.

 

And the ADVENTURE CONTINUES...

 

Books Make a Difference

A new biweekly online magazine, Books Make a Difference, celebrates the written word. If you want to be "in the know" about the world of reading, writing and illustrating take a look at Books Make a Difference.
 
I had the pleasure of  interviewing the senior writer, Meagan Franks. Thanks so much for joining me on my blog.


How did books make a difference come to life?

Karen Pavlicin-Fragnito, the publisher of Books Make a Difference magazine has had the idea in her head for several years. She is a book publishing executive who was an editor of magazines for nearly 15 years.  She knows firsthand the difference books make in people’s lives, and she has been inspired to celebrate and share the stories behind the stories.

What inspired you to start the magazine?

I became involved with the magazine initially writing some of the articles about authors and illustrators who have interesting stories. What we thought would be a place to showcase the ways books have made a difference in creators’ lives has evolved into an all-encompassing book conversation.  We realized that there are some awesome non-profit groups doing great things to promote books and literacy.  We wanted to tell their stories. There are a million ways books are shared and, in the sharing of the books, lives are changed. We wanted to tell those stories too. Plus, there is a vibrant on-line community expanding every single day where writers, illustrators, cover designers, formatters, publishers, agents, publicists, and readers are engaging at a level that has never before existed.  We are thrilled to be a part of that blossoming conversation.

Where do you find your stories?

We get our stories in a number of places. We each have some pretty great connections through our own experiences, and then I do a lot of research too. We meet for our editorial calendar planning, and we map out ideas for compelling stories.  I track down people who we think would be interesting to cover. Sometimes I write the articles myself, and sometimes I assign them to a freelance writer who is a part of our team. I go to book fairs, networking meetings, and I float around in online chatrooms regularly. We are establishing a presence on both Twitter (@booksmake) and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ReadTheDifference and through both of those outlets we have found some great stories.

What is something you would like your readers to know about you and your magazine?

Being a part of this magazine feels like a great celebratory adventure. We are inspired by the power of books...the stories of those who create them, read them, and share them. We know we’ll never be able to read everything...nor cover everyone, so instead of quantity we aim for quality of coverage. We want to provide a more in-depth and intimate look at the inner workings of the book world and the people who populate it.  There is a lot of chatter available to folks who are interested in books, we want to offer a slower pace to the book conversation.  Instead of the fast-food drive-through coffee...we want to sit by the fire with readers and slowly sip from a steaming mug. That’s how we want our magazine to feel. It is truly awe-inspiring to be a part of it.

What does your Readers Write email offer subscribers?

Those people who subscribe to our free Readers Write email receive content from us monthly.  The magazine is published bi-monthly, but only subscribers to the email receive the content that we publish every month.  Subscribers have a chance to engage in conversation that is a part of the Readers Write column published in the magazine.  Subscribers have access to exclusive content that is not published on the magazine and there are occasional opportunities to win prizes.

Where can readers find your magazine and how do they subscribe?

The magazine is found at http://booksmakeadifference.com/ and they can subscribe to the Readers Write email here: http://booksmakeadifference.com/subscribe/

If anyone has advertising/sponsorship questions they can contact Karen:  Karen@booksmakeadifference.com

I can be reached at Meagan@booksmakeadifference.com

Thanks so much for joining us. Books Makes a Difference will be making a wonderful difference in the literary world.

THE CHILD OF THE LOCH by Elizabeth Delana Rose

Twenty-three year accountant, J.J. McDonnell, has spent her life trying to be normal and hide her gifts, but all dreams of normalcy are dashed on her twenty-fourth birthday. A handsome man shows up on her porch with a marriage edict and news that the grandfather she has never met, has died. Her world is about to change forever. J.J. must make the perilous journey to the Loch and take her place on its throne. With no idea what is expected of her and dark forces closing in at every turn, will J.J. be able to accept her destiny or will she be stopped before she can.

Watch the BOOK TRAILER !

Available on AMAZON

A Higher Court by John Betcher

An attorney is called to jury duty. This trial will be one of  unusual and supernatural circumstances. The existence of God is on trial. The Defense and the Prosecution present their cases and each juror must decide whether or not God exist.

My name is William Kensey. I have a wife and two great kids. Until very recently, I was a well-respected and financially successful trial attorney. I was also a man who was comfortable with his religion. I preferred it served at arm's length from the pulpit on Sunday morning. And would rather not discuss it the rest of the week. The circumstances that led me to write A HIGHER COURT changed all that. The entire experience was both bizarre and unavoidable. You see, I was summoned to serve as a juror in an improbable trial -- a trial to determine whether God exists. I know. You think that sounds ludicrous. I did, too . . . until the trial began. Witnesses buried me under mountains of scientific evidence. My own eyes forced me to confront the reality of extreme human suffering. God seemed less and less relevant -- even absent -- as the trial progressed. At the close of the trial, I had to render my verdict -- "God" or "No God." Affirm a new and deeper faith in a Creator, or confess the triumph of science. A HIGHER COURT is the story of how I discovered my ultimate truth. If your mind is open, you can join me in this journey of self-discovery. Come along. You won't be sorry.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Betcher makes you feel as if you are in the court room. This read is a definite page turner.

I had the pleasure of interviewing this gifted author.

How long have you been writing?

As a lawyer for the past twenty-five years, daily writing was a part of my job. My first foray into publication was in 2007, when I authored a feature article for COACHING VOLLEYBALL: The Journal of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. I was coaching girls high school and club volleyball at the time. COACHING VOLLEYBALL published two more of my feature articles culminating with a cover story in the April/May, 2009 Issue. Here's a link to the online version of that issue:

http://www.virtualonlinepubs.com/publication/?i=13938

A small book on coaching philosophy, entitled The Little Black Book of Volleyball Coaching, soon followed.

By this time, my law practice was winding down and our daughters had departed for college. Since I was no longer coaching their sports teams, attending their concerts, academic activities and awards banquets, I had extra time on my hands. That's when I began writing novels.

 

How did you come up with the idea for A Higher Court?

While I was writing my first two suspense/thrillers, I had this idea floating around in my head. It would be a book that offered a counterpoint to recent publications by "popular atheists," such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But rather than attempting a scholarly dissertation which, I believed, would be unappealing reading for a mass audience, I decided to research the major arguments for and against God's existence myself, then present the core of those arguments in a format real people could identify with.

Eventually, that "floating" idea gained urgency. I began to feel that God wanted me to write this book. In fact, although it would have made much greater worldly sense to write Book Three in the suspense series, I felt so "called" to write A HIGHER COURT, that I couldn't focus on another thriller until I had God's project out of the way.

Unlike my experience with writing the other novels, I actually started writing A HIGHER COURT with no idea how I would end it. I had decided that the book should make use of my legal expertise. So a trial of some sort seemed appropriate.

Once the research into the various "God arguments" was done, I just started writing.   

What other books have you written?

I've already mentioned my volleyball coaching book. In addition to that one and A HIGHER COURT, I've now written and self-published four suspense/thrillers. I refer to them as the Becker Suspense/Thriller Series, after the name of the main character. Their titles, in chronological order, are: THE 19TH ELEMENT, THE MISSING ELEMENT, THE COVERT ELEMENT and THE EXILED ELEMENT.  They're not Christian literature, per se; but they are quite "clean" books, considering the genre. There is a minimum of violence, cursing and vulgarities. And there is no explicit sex at all.

What do you do when you aren't writing?

When I'm not either writing or researching a book, I spend a good deal of time online, building my author platform on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+. I also attend church where I play guitar and sing as a member of our worship team. And my wife, Lynn, and I like to spend time together.

Are all of your books self-published?

Yes. When I began my publishing journey in 2009, traditional publishing was the only respected route for publication. So I sent a lot of query letters to literary agents hoping to find a representative to pitch my work to mainstream publishers. Despite a couple hundred letters (emails, actually), I had no luck finding an agent. Author friends warned me against self-publishing, saying doing so would ruin my reputation. But times were changing, even then, and I found self-publishing to be a viable option for me and my books.

  

What do you like about being self-published and what do you dislike about being self-published?

There are lots of things I like about self-publishing. I have complete creative control over the books and their content. I can bring new books to market much more quickly than a traditional publisher could dream of. And I can reap the financial rewards of my work.

Of course, traditional publishing has its benefits, too. Agents and big name publishers have access to marketing and distribution options I could only dream of. They've got great editors and artistic designers on staff, and have the financial professional ability to produce books of the highest quality.

The biggest drawback to self-publishing, for me, is also its greatest strength -- in every aspect of publication, the buck stops with me. Sometimes I make rookie mistakes. But then I learn from them and move on.

Do you have any books planned for future release?

At present, I've been researching what I hope will become Becker Book Five. The plot is not yet fully formed. My consultants so far have included a NASA scientist/engineer and a world class geneticist. I have confidence that, if this is a book I am supposed to write, God will show me the way to an appropriate plot.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

The most valuable quality for a writer is patience.

Where can readers find you book(s)?

All my books are available at Amazon.com in Kindle and print editions. Readers can also order them from any book store. And my local sales outlet in my hometown is the Red Wing Arts Association, where enthusiast can purchase signed editions. Of course, I entertain special requests for signed books and quantity discounts via email, which can be found at my website: www.johnbetcher.com.

Thanks very much interviewing me today, Kim. I had a blast.

 

Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider by Ellen C Maze

Little Roni Publishers is proud to announce that Beth Rider is back. She's written the novel of her life and if Rakum gets a hold of her, her book may cost her life. Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider brings you the world of vampires unlike any vampire book you've ever read. Beth Rider, the main character, is being hunted by Rakum, the vampire underworld, but she risks everything to save the souls of the undead. Ellen C Maze writes with style and suspense.

What if your novel attracts the wrong kind of attention?

Author Beth Rider's vampire novel has hit number one, but her fictitious plot puts her in the crosshairs of an ancient race of vampiric beings known as the Rakum. Spreading evil among mankind for thousands of years, the leadership of this bloodthirsty race now has a singular focus: catch Beth Rider—her very life in mortal jeopardy as she goes on the run, a rabbit desperate to escape the worst of predators.

Facing the most terrifying trial of her life against creatures known only in fables, one simple woman will unintentionally threaten the very existence of a powerful and accursed people. In the climactic mêlée, it is a race to the death—or if Beth has her way, a race to the life—of every Rakum who makes the choice


Available on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback.