Fun Writing Quiz by Margaret Watson

Writing Quiz

By Margaret Watson
Author of Cook Book: Blokes with Stoves


(1)What kind of writer are you?

a) Writing is my main source of income
b) I had a piece published in a college magazine once
c) I write regularly but rarely submit any
d) I write every day and submit regularly


(2)What is writer’s block?

a) Making the fifth cup of coffee in an hour rather than getting on with it
b) Staring at a blank piece of paper
c) A bin full of screwed up attempts
d) A teenager who says ‘You aren’t using the computer are you? Oh, were you supposed to save that?’

(3)What kind of agent do you have?

a) I receive e-mails from time to time
b) My best friend
c) I’ve got one but I can’t find his address
d) What’s an agent?


(4)How do you submit manuscripts?

a) Hand written first drafts by snail mail
b) Double spaced word processed in rtf with inch space all round sent as attachments.
c) Your 25th attempt at making the computer print it properly
d) An e-mail on the way to work

(5)What kind of writing do you do?

a) Whatever pays the bills
b) My favourite kind
c) It depends on the market requirements
d) Whatever inspires me

(6)Why do you write?

a) What else is there to do?
b) It is something I can do at home in comfort while also looking after the children/my mother/the dog.
c) I want to be a best selling author
d) It is what I’m good at


(7)What is your attitude to your writing?

a) I look forward to starting a new piece
b) I get a sense of satisfaction from completing a piece to the best of my abilities
c) It’s a job
d) The acceptances make up for the rejections


Scoring (1)a) 4, b)1, c)2, d)3

(2) a)1, b)2, c)4, d)3

(3) a)3, b)4,c)2, d)1

(4) a)1,b)4 c)3, d)2

(5) a)3, b)1 c)4,d)2

(6) a)3,b) 1 c)2,d)4

(7) a)3,b)4,c)1,d)2


Remember this is just for fun, and I could well be wrong but here it is:-

21-28 – A true professional
14-21 – You’re on the way
7-14 - A nice hobby
1-7 - Are you really trying?

Cromarty Biggs Powder Monkey

Title: Cromarty Biggs: Powder Monkey

Author: Stuart Rivers

Synopsis

When Cromarty Biggs and his friend Craig Tarrant skive off school to sneak on board HMS Victory in Portsmouth, they have no idea that their small adventure is about to turn into an experience they will never forget. Its Cromarty’s thirteenth birthday and, along with a tidy sum of money, he has been given an old Swiss Army knife by his Uncle Jim. An odd attachment on the knife, a skeleton key, opens time portals and they are propelled back in time when they use it to lock a cabin door on the ship, having been chased to a bolthole beneath the poop deck. Interrogated as spies, pressed into the service of the Georgian Royal Navy and given to the ship’s cook and boatswain to act as their servants, the two boys experience first hand the rigours of the life of a powder monkey on board a ship of the line.

In contemporary Britain, a police investigation is underway as a hunt is mounted for the two boys who seemed to have vanished without a trace from the dockyard. Not until Cromarty finds his way back, leaving Craig behind to experience the Battle of Trafalgar, and he tells his uncle the story of their disappearance, does the truth become clear to Jim Biggs.

On Cromarty’s insistence, they must return to the 21st October 1805 and rescue the powder monkey who died saving the life of Lord Nelson by taking the bullet that was meant for the iconic admiral. Only then, will history be restored.

Meet the Author: Rachna Trivedi Jain

Rachna Trivedi Jain born in Solapur, Maharashtra, India, and grew up in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). In the course of a writing career spanning over ten years, she has written over a hundred short stories for children.
Born in a traditional Hindi Brahmin Family, Rachna’s childhood days spent with her granny find a heavy influence on her poems, which mostly revolve around the tales of fairies, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, flowers, the birds and animals -the central characters of folklores and stories told by her granny.
In a career spanning over almost a decade, Rachna has "carved out a unique literary landscape". Replete with unassuming humor and quiet wisdom, her children’s rhymes manifest a deep love for nature and people.
A collection of her children’s rhyming picture books for the very young are - 'Sea Beach', 'Wonder Why' and 'From Where Do You Come?'

Meet the Author: Horane Smith

Author: Horane Smith
Release: 2008
Title: Seven Days in Jamaica
Publisher: Rain Publishing

Horane Smith was born in 1957, at Yardley Chase in the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, home of the famous tourist attraction Lover’s Leap.
Mr. Smith commenced a career in journalism at the
government information bureau, the Agency for Public
information (now the Jamaica information Service) in 1975.
From the API, Mr. Smith moved to Jamaica’s first community radio station, JBC Radio West, in 1979, where he worked as a freelance producer and programme producer.
In 1980, Mr. Smith was the recipient of the Jack Anderson Memorial Scholarship for Journalism awarded by the Press Association of Jamaica, to study Mass Communication at the University of the West Indies. Jack Anderson was a veteran Jamaican journalist and the scholarship is awarded annually to honour his commitment and dedication to the profession.
After graduating from UWI, Mr. Smith returned to the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, this time at its Kingston headquarters. He started there as a freelance writer and
moved quickly up to the rank of Senior News Producer/Reporter/ Editor and subsequently acted as Assistant Director of Television News. He was the recipient of the Outstanding Dedication to Duties Award from the JBC.
In 1988, Mr. Smith left full time duties at JBC to work as Information Assistant at the United States Embassy in Kingston, where he served as the main contact between the media and the Embassy. During that time, Mr. Smith was Consulting Editor to the JBC Newsroom.
Mr. Smith and his family left Jamaica in 1990, to take up residence in Toronto, Canada. While in Canada, he continued his journalism duties, corresponding for JBC-TV and writing columns for the Jamaica Herald and Dawn newspapers in Canada. In 1995, he returned to Jamaica on a visit and went to the famous and legendary tourist attraction, Lover’s Leap, where
he used to play as a young boy. Three months later, his debut novel, Lover’s Leap: Based on the Jamaican Legend was written. The novel was published in England, in 1999, to international acclaim.
John Prebble, the late British best-selling author, well-known for the 1960s box-office hit Zulu, starring Michael Caine, commented: “I have read it with great admiration, for not only
is it a bitter-sweet story but a profound comment on a contemporary subject.” Just before he died in January 2000, Mr. Prebble was asked by friends what was one of his regrets in
life. He responded that he wouldn’t be around to see the success of four new writers. Horane Smith was named among them.
Mr. Smith’s second novel, Underground to Freedom, was published in 2000, and the popular Port Royal in 2001. The Lynching Stream, his fourth work of historical fiction, was published in July 2003. Reggae Silver is his fifth novel, and was published in 2004. His sixth, Dawn at Lover’s Leap, the sequel to Lover’s Leap, was published in 2006.
Mr. Smith has been described by the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, one of the largest in Canada, as “no ordinary novelist.” He has been described by book reviewers as “prolific…going from
strength to strength…an engaging writer...a gripping writer.”
Mr. Smith works for a media monitoring/intelligence Firm and lives in Woodbridge, Ontario, where he lives with his wife and children.

Horane Smith is the winner of the inaugural Burke’s Books Literary Awards (BURLA) for his outstanding contribution to African-Canadian and Caribbean Literature. He is also among the first 100 outstanding Jamaicans to be recognized by the Jamaica-Canada Diaspora Foundation for his contribution to Jamaican literature. His latest novel Dawn at Lover’s Leap, was a finalist in the USA Booknews Best Book Award for Historical Fiction.

http://www.horanesmith.com/

Sisters

Nellie’s Newsletter
Voices of Women
2007

Sisters
by Joanna Shawana

My sisters, my friends, my companions. As I stare into your eyes, I see our father's and mother's eyes in each of you. The eyes of caring, sharing and loving that we Were taught as were growing up.
My sisters, my friends, my companions. You were there when I cried for help. You were my eyes when I could not see clearly, You seen things that I was not able to see.
My sisters, my friends, my companions. You were there when I was numb. You felt my pain when I could not feel. You took my pain to help me go through with life.
My sisters, my friends, my companions. You were my voice when I could not speak. Each of you spoke from your hearts. Each of you share my pain, my hurt and frustrations.
Each of you has helped me see, feel and speak. My sisters you will always be a part of my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joanna Shawana' adds her "voice' against violence speaking at such organizations as "Nellies", The Brock University, The Woman's Bookstore and many others. Her book of poems and aboriginal teachings "Voice of an Eagle" are available by placing an order at a local bookstore near you or by visiting www.rainboooks.com or Amazon.com

Meet the Author: Mary Brunini McArdle

Alice Reflected
Thriller
April 2008
Rain Publishing



Meet the Author
Mary Brunini McArdle

Mary Brunini McArdle was raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She has a B.A. with a major in History and a minor in English from the University of Dallas, and graduate courses in History, Military Strategy, and English. Continuing Education (credit and noncredit) consists of Marine Science, Creative Writing, Art, Environmental Science, and Zoology.

McArdle’s work experience has been varied. She has numerous publication credits and awards in Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Plays. For eight years she was Poetry Columnist for an Illinois journal. Publication credits include THE VILLAGER, MISSISSIPPI GARDENS, MISSISSIPPI OUTDOORS, INNISFREE, THE ROSWELL LITERARY REVIEW, MOBIUS, and others. Recently she has been publishing online, in COMBAT MAGAZINE, APHELION, THE TRUTH MAGAZINE, BEWILDERING STORIES, and more.

McArdle also participated in the recording of a CD of contemporary religious music by an Alabama musician. She has been active in church, senior, and combined choirs. McArdle also designs original, handmade doll clothes.

She has taught Military Strategy, History, and Poetry for the U.A.H. Lifetime Learning Program and Writing at the Huntsville and Madison Senior Centers.

This summer she won two prizes (her first) in Southern Expressions, an annual Tennessee art exhibit.

How to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?

How to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?

Don’t give yourself any other choice…

By Krissy Brady

I’ve always wanted to be a full-time writer—literally since I was six years old I have pictured a life of manuscripts, publishers, and book tours.
Now that it is actually happening, I am ecstatic, though terrified at the same time. When I was six, I lead a cushioned existence. As I got older, fears and complexes started to set in—self-consciousness, the need to find and establish a status for myself, and of course the dreaded comfort zone that has always been difficult for me to shrug off.
I think the biggest fear of anyone when trying to establish their dream career is the fact that once it becomes your reality, there is no escape. When I was working towards what I currently have, the thought of reaching this ultimate end result would always help to take me away from my current reality, one I wasn’t entirely satisfied with, yet knew I would be eventually.
There is no escape now, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. My problem has become the lack of understanding from those who, while they are close to me, are not able to relate to my endless need for writing industry success. Until they know what it’s like to sacrifice everything for what they want, and the sacrifices that come with keeping it, there will always be a barrier in our conversations.
I have met too many people who settle, and sometimes have a hard time understanding why they choose a comfort zone instead of their ultimate end result. When I left my job to work at home full-time, I was looked at like I was crazy: why would I leave a steady job? A guaranteed income? A defined existence?
I left my steady job, guaranteed income, and defined existence because that’s all it is: an existence. I want an identity. I want to contribute. I don’t want to be told what I can and cannot do. Basically, I don’t want to be stifled, and I want to work hard towards influencing others to do the same. If you don’t give yourself any other choice but to be who you really are, and not who you think you should be, there is no greater satisfaction. The sacrifice is always worth the ultimate end result.

About Krissy BradyKrissy
Brady is a freelance writer residing in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. She is the editor-in-chief of Brady Magazine, an online writer's trade directory dedicated to putting writers on the map. She is also a poet, whose book Tidal Wave (Rain Publishing, October 2006).This article is free to publish as long as it is kept completely in tact.

Louis Jannetta

The Spalding's

Roots, Wings and Other Things. A Mother's True Story on Transracial Adoptions.
Donna Gillis Spalding
$15.95
9781897381007
Non-Fiction: Inspirational True Story

Photos above: Donna and Howard Spalding with their children, and grandchildren.

Ground Shifting For Women

Ground Shifting for Women

Report by OIATH

Author Joanna Shawana is a proud part of the battle aagainst violence, and we at Rain Enterprises are proud to publish and respresent her cause!

Action to end violence against women was created by women for women.The story has been a truly inspiring one.

Women have changed our communities and ourselves in new and liberating ways.

In just over 30 years, women have made stunning progress against gender inequality that is hundreds of thousands of years old. We have reached miraculous goals in aware­ness and services for women who have experienced violence.

Many of us thought our challenges could be won by now. But there are always new ones to face and new changes to make.

As OAITH reaches 30, feminist shelter advo­cates want to celebrate our gains and move forward in solidarity with each other and we want to protect our progress against increasing erosion of our grassroots vision.

Shifts for Women and Children

The past year brought a number of changes for women and children.
Some of the funding promised by the Ontario government has started to flow to community services that support women. Some systems are now starting to receive basic training on how to better respond to women and children--legal aid, housing, judges and health profession.

There has been some improvement to shel­ter and second stage agency funding. And small changes have been made to improve Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program.

At the same time, steps by the Ministry of Community and Social Services to cut off access to the special dietary allowance has left many women desperate to find healthy food for their children and themselves.

Neither the provincial nor federal govern­ments have any overall strategies for ending the entrenched poverty and oppression that affects women and children in marginalized communities.

Although child welfare authorities now rec­ognize some of the flaws of the current sys­tem in addressing child exposure to woman abuse, in 2003 fully 24% of women in abusive relationships were charged by child welfare with “failure to protect”.

By now, women know that the long-awaited national day care program, one that would have helped so many women, will likely be scrapped by the new federal government.

Federal and provincial social housing plans, already moving slow, are now up in the air. Fears that social programs may again be at the mercy of the very Ontario politicians
who cut them in 1995 are not unreasonable.

Shifts for Women’s Services
Women’s services--from shelters to rape cri­sis centres to women’s neighbourhood cen­tres have seen many changes over the years, especially at the whim of social policy.
Shelters have seen a number of key shifts: from early gains in core funding to the cuts in 1995, from grassroots organizing to insti­tutional practices, from public disbelief to a measure of community awareness and from exclusion to a growing integrated, feminist anti-racist/anti-oppression understanding of violence against women.

While there have been many positive changes for the women’s anti-violence move­ment, there are emerging new challenges to overcome. Many women’s advocates are now questioning the “gender mainstreaming” of violence against women, shifts to gender neutrality, and focus on psychological models of response. Funding continues to be inade­quate, and government more focussed on service systems than on equality rights.

New energy is rising and new activist voices are calling for a renewed focus beyond our struggles for more and better services, to our goal of preventing and ending violence against all women and their children.

We have not yet won our equality. Until we do, violence against women will go on. ~
SJAC worked with the Board on policy development within OAITH, for example to develop draft policy positions on coordina­tion, funding for VAW work in gender neu­tral agencies and government relations.

OAITH also worked with other equality-seeking groups on joint efforts.
For example, we participated in the Hands Murdered women remembered: Women hold signs with the names of 231 women and children mur­dered in Ontario since 1995, and listen to Linda Ense speak on behalf of the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA). Linda is also Executive Director of the Native Women’s Centre in Hamilton.

Working with Carrol Anne Sceviour from Ontario Federation of Labour, as we have
Action a focus of OAITH social justice work Without social change work, our efforts to end vio­lence against women cannot succeed. OAITH is committed to taking social change action and to encour­aging all OAITH mem­ber shelters to partici­pate locally, provincially and federally on all social policy issues that affect women and children.

This year, despite our small resources, we have broadened our action in this area.
Walking their talk: Members of the OAITH Social Justice and Action Committee hold our new ban-The Lobby Committee ner at the OAITH organized November 28 Walk the Talk rally in front of Queen’s Park Legislature.

The ‘new’ Social Justice and Action Committee (SJAC) will make our role more clear to members, government and the pub­lic at large. We hope that the change will be more inviting for women in the network who want to do social change work but don’t want to be a “lobbyist” as defined in public circles.

Change Work Has Many Faces
This year, social justice and action work cov­ered a lot of ground.
done in the past, OAITH Board and Committee members created a poster marking this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Nov. 25th.

The OFL generously paid for printing of 10,000 copies of the poster.

Posters were distrib­uted at the October AGM and throughout Ontario unions, as well as through requests. It is now available on our website at www.oaith.ca.

Off! campaign to press the Province to end the clawback of the federal Child Tax Benefit Supplement (CTBS) for children on social assistance programs. Many shelters in the OAITH network took part by ordering cam­paign postcards and endorsing this ongoing campaign online.

Walk the Talk
November also saw us joining with sister provincial anti-violence networks to plan a meeting of women’s activists to discuss and evaluate the Domestic Violence Action Plan and public policy directions on violence against women.
We hope this year, Premier McGuinty will honour his pre-election promise to stop the clawback of support from the poorest chil­dren in Ontario.

OAITH also supported and promoted the Walk,Wheel, Ride for Dignity organized to rally at Queen’s Park for a raise in OW and ODSP rates.We are a member of Campaign 2000 and have been active in bringing women’s issues of poverty and violence to
the campaign.

OAITH was anThe meeting took place on the first day of the Finding Common Ground provincial con­ference and over 60 women from rape crisis centres, shelters, francophone and communi­ty based women’s groups attended.

Organizers included OAITH, the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, Action ontarienne contre la violence faite aux femmes and the Ontario Women’s Justice Network (METRAC).
endorsing member of the No Religious Arbitration Coalition and supported the work of the coalition to end the legal effect of religious arbitration decisions.

November WWPM
Woman Abuse Prevention Month was busy, as usual.Women issued a press release from the gathering urging the Province to support organizing efforts of women’s policy net-works with funding and recognition.

The meeting was titled Walk the Talk in soli­darity with an OAITH-organized rally at Queen’s Park of the same name, designed to remember 23 1 Ontario women and children murdered since 1995 and to have advocate voices “open” the conference.'

We are so impressed with and grateful for the crowd that came to the rally from OAITH shelters, students, labour representatives, provin­cial women’s coalitions, and the community at large, despite teeming rain.

Brief reports of both the activist meeting and the rally are on the OAITH website, along with the press release issued by the activist group.
provided for the lucky participants chosen to attend, the Minister’s treatment of women pleading for healthy food for their children had to be the lowest point. One violence survivor who was present at the conference later characterized the Minister’s response as “losing common ground”.~
OAITH contributes to public policy and training efforts

Joanna Shawana author of "Voice of An Eagle" stands behind these beliefs everyday!

Tales you will fall in Love With

Tales that Children and Adults Will Both Love

“Madison’s Special Dolly and Timmy and the Storm teach children about love, giving, and letting go in touching tales by author Jeffrey Yosick.”

Columbus (OH)- In his two releases Madison’s Special Dolly and Timmy and the Storm, author Jeffrey Yosick teaches children valuable lessons about life and giving while creating stories adults will love reading to their kids. During these troubled times of war, and lost ideals both these books are welcome additions to the host of children’s classics.

War is hard enough for any child to understand. It’s much harder to comprehend when it hits your intimate home setting. For many children, it’s a scary bigger then life concept that they can’t completely grasp. Kids just know that it’s bad, that their parent could get hurt or killed. In Timmy and the Storm, Timmy’s mother uses a tale of three bunnies to help Timmy understand what his father has to do in a time of war.

“When I wrote Timmy and the Storm my number one goal was to find a way to help the children of soldiers heading off to Iraq,” Yosick explains. “I actually wrote the story in 2004 after I received word that my brother would be deployed himself. I was able to take the emotions that were bottled up from my loss, and pour it out into the story that became Timmy and the Storm. Although this book was geared to children of military parents, it is a story that would help any parent explain to their children why soldiers have to go to war.”

Yosick’s inspiration for writing children’s books comes from his own three kids. Although he’s always been an avid writer and poet and been very passionate about the written word, it was having his children that truly made him see the way his words could be just as valuable to his readers as they are to him.

Madison’s Special Dolly is a result of that inspiration and filled with love and the spirit giving as we approach the holiday season. A little girl who saves all of her chore money for a special new doll finally gets to purchase it. On the journey home, something unexpected happens to make this little girl’s dolly truly a special one. Inspired by Yosick’s own daughter’s homemade gift to him and the joy she received from just giving it to him, Madison’s Special Dolly is a book kids and adults both will find heartwarming.

“My goal for this book is to show children and adults the valuable lesson of giving,” Yosick says. “I want the readers to walk away inspired by the actions of a little girl named Madison. It is my hope that people will see how love and giving can go beyond what our imaginations allow us to believe, and that the same joy that a person feels when they receive can also be felt through the selfless act of giving.”

Yosick’s third children's book was released in April of 2007 from Rain Publishing Inc. titled Running the Race which explains the very serious issue of breast cancer and breast cancer research to better help children understand this issue.


Additional information and media inquiries should be sent to info at rainbooks dot com; ask for your copies of Jeff Yosick’s prose at a bookstore near you or visit http://www.rainbooks.com/

Michael "Cy" Cywink

Image copyright protected by Michael Cywink-reproduced with permission.

Cywink – “Cy”
Artist/Author/Curator
Miizhen at hotmail dot com


Michael “Cy” Cywink is a band member to the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island. Which has been designated as a Cultural Capital in Canada, 1 of 5. He is also an alumnus to the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Cy is an Independent Curator, previously he was the curator for the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, M'Chigeeng, Manitoulin Island. And a First Nations cultural consultant with Walt Disney Imagineering, Glendale, California.

" I am originally out of a small village, one of the main stopping places for the Anishinabe while on their migrations long before contact, this place is now called Whitefish Falls and my father Nick Cywink Sr. was born there into the Cywink/Biidassige Bear Clan. He was a veteran of World War 2. A real warrior on two wheels, "One of the best snipers doing 40 mph", he'd say. He was sixteen when he enlisted into the Canadian Army. He began his journey into the spirit world in 1990. I am of Shigwadja/Neganigwane through my mother Eva Neganigwane (Pheasant). She came from the nation's capital of South Bay. Her father, my Mishomis introduced me to the world as Mii Zhen. He held me in his hand and looked at my mother and said, " This is Mii Zhen, He Is Good For You". My mother is still with us.

Writing for me doesn't come as smoothly as coloring. There generates within me a different kind of energy which comes through word art. The Adventures of Crazy Turtle came out over a period of 20 or so years. And what an adventure it is. Crazy Turtle is the basis of my Creation Story. There is no end to a Creation Story, so there is no end to the Adventures of Crazy Turtle.

The concept of having a Turtle as the main character goes back to the times when everything around you is coming down, closing in. So just as a Turtle protects themselves, we hide inside our shells, in this case, we hide inside our thoughts and feelings, and we build invisible walls around us to hide and protect our being, our true feelings. But Crazy Turtle goes beyond that, Crazy Turtle brings out a truth in us that we need no longer hide, we need no longer go away and try to run from our inner being. That in-turn everything remains the same and it is our inner awareness and perception on life that evolves around our time while here with Mother Earth.

Each of us as human beings, have our own time here on this earth walk and, within our growing, as an individual we must adhere to the responsibilities of tradition and value, just as our Elders are the caretakers of cultural knowledge. It is truth when said that we are spirit beings living in the psychical gift of Creation, we are not human beings falling to our knees looking for a Spirit.

This is a story for Children of All Ages, It is meant to help one understand the spirit being inside their "shell." Have you lost the child in you?"

In this workshop I will be discussing "The Makings of Crazy Turtle, how the adventure came to be, and showing accompanying illustrations. Books can be ordered directly through http://www.rainbooks.com/

Dangerous Days

Dave Stevenson and Andy Halmay- Co-authors of "Dangerous Days" greeting guests and signing copies of their novel at "The Harlem" in Toronto--Dave Stevenson, actor and stuntman and Andy Halmay award winning playwright make a great team when it comes to "The Biz" and now this new adventure-their prose "Dangerous Days" is another winner!

Tampa Tribune Review: Jim Melvin "The Death Wizard Chronicles"

Book review from the Tampa Tribune:

'Death Wizard' Captures Magic Of Potter Series
By KAREN HAYMON LONG
Published: October 21, 2007

The Death Wizard Chronicles: Book One (The Pit) by Jim Melvin (Rain Publishing Inc., $18)

Adult Harry Potter and Eragon fans can get their next fix with Jim Melvin's six-book epic The Death Wizard Chronicles. Book one (The Pit) and book two (Moon Goddess) are out now. The other four will follow once a month beginning in November.

In The Pit, Melvin's imagination and writing equal that of J.K. Rowling, author of the fantastically popular Harry Potter series, and Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon and Eldest. Some of his descriptions -- and creatures -- even surpass theirs.

His fantasy takes place on Triken, a world of ancient rulers, of good vs. evil, love vs. hate.

His hero, Torg, wizard king of the Tugars, is a "Death Knower," who has died and come back to life stronger than ever many times over the centuries. Torg oversees a peaceful people threatened by an evil ruler, Invictus.

In exchange for the freedom of nuns and monks imprisoned by Invictus, Torg agrees to imprisonment in a pit in a monstrously grotesque frozen mountain called Asubha. No one expects him to survive.

But through his magical powers, great strength and by dying and resurrecting, he survives all that's thrown at him: a monstrous snow giant, demons, evil sorcerers, a cruel spider and giant worm monsters.

Melvin's descriptions of these monsters make them seem frightfully real. That's especially true of the demon Vedana, Invictus' grandmother, who forces Torg to impregnate her.

Melvin's hero may not have the youthful appeal of Harry Potter, but he's compelling enough to hook those who read The Pit.
-- Karen Haymon Long is the Tribune's book editor.

More Than Just A Novel

http://wd-desert.blogspot.com


Section: Books!

DESERT RAIN
More than just a novel
By Barbara Kowal

It was a wet Los Angeles afternoon when I went to visit Wallace Dorian about his new novella, Desert Rain, which seemed apropos, given the title of his book. I wanted to get a sense of the story through the author himself. Looking much younger than his sixty years--his black hair streaked with gray, and smoking cigarettes one after another--I interviewed Mr. Dorian about Desert Rain and how he came to write it.. He talked about more than his book. He also spoke about his struggling years and his humble beginnings growing up in rural Massachusetts.

BK (Barbara Kowal): Is Desert Rain your first novel?

WD (Wallace Dorian): Yes. Actually, it’s a novella. The story of how I came to write it is a journey in itself. Most of my writing has been screenplays and stage plays. I was living in Colorado at the time and feeling frustrated so I wrote this story “Desert Rain” which has a Native American theme running through it as you know. For the Hopi and Native American peoples, and for all of us for that matter, rain is an essential part of our lives, which boils down to water. Water symbolizes many things. It can sustain life, grow crops for food and can also be the very thing that kills us.

BK: The story has a very haunting quality to it. It seems to have all the mythic elements that a good story should have--that is, the hero’s journey into a kind of heart-of-darkness yet, new-age sensibility. You also incorporate the Native American theme into the story, which makes it even more compelling. Why did you choose to write about the Hopi?

WD: When I was a child, my father showed me a painting of the Hopi snake dance and how certain elders or dancers during the ceremony would put a rattlesnake in their mouths, and that image always stayed with me. In writing the story, the main character, Cynthia, a documentary filmmaker and a very independent woman in her 40s, is making a comeback after the tragic suicide of her teenage son, Steven. This, in fact, is the ghost that haunts her throughout the story even though we never see the events that precipitated it. I thought of the metaphor of the desert and this woman entering the arena of the Southwest, mainly Arizona and New Mexico. I then thought of the Southwest Native Americans and did a lot of research about the Anasazi, Pueblo and Navajo. But what really struck me as more intriguing were the Hopi Indians and the idea of the Kachina cult. Thus, I used the ancient Hopi stories that weave themselves very subtly into the fabric of the novella. This is done through the character of John Lone Eagle, a fictional elder.

BK: You also tell the coming-of-age story of an interesting character in Desert Rain--an eighteen-year-old girl who is half-Hopi.

WD: I’m glad you mentioned her because it is this character, Mary, or Kuwanyauma, who symbolizes the emerging generation of Hopi...especially in a high-tech, frenzied world that tries to cut them off from their native roots. In that sense, Mary is a symbol of hope for her people and one that will endure. The story also tells of Mary’s self-identity struggle in a world that wants her to conform to the status quo, and of her tense relationship with her single mother, Amber, who is trying to forget her Hopi roots. Mary also yearns to get close to her cowboy, drifter father who, after nine years away, suddenly returns. The story is a also a call for social acceptance in a world that is primarily racist. I try to convey this idea through storytelling that is indigenous to all cultures of the world.

BK: The book begins 500 years ago, when Coronado was trying to conquer the City of Cibola, or seven cities of gold. You have a scene where a mother is telling her young son a story about their past, just before they are murdered by Conquistadors later on.

WD: Yes. Ironically, I wrote the prologue after I’d already written the first draft of the book and developed Mary’s story more fully. The prologue conveys this idea of storytelling to carry on one’s respect and love of their culture. This storytelling concept comes full circle in the end when Mary–now married with a child and a successful lawyer in the year 2023–is relating an old Hopi folk story to her young son. It is here that the story really comes together in expressing the need for future generations to never forget who they are and where they came from.

BK: What do you hope to accomplish with this book?

WD: Someone once said to me that I was in the “emotion” business. And I was also asked how I came to write a story with the Hopi in it since I’m not even Hopi. I don’t know. Maybe someone was writing it through me in some strange way. I’m just an instrument. I do believe that the story has universal appeal and is not just about Hopi or Native American culture. I think it speaks to all of us about the nature of love, redemption, loss, sacrifice, family and tradition that everyone can relate to. I just tried to convey it in a literary and emotional way. I also hope the book will also strike a nerve with young adults and teens.

BK: All the best with Desert Rain, Mr. Dorian, and thank you very much.

WD: Thank you.

Desert Rain is available at select bookstores near you or at www.rainbooks.com

Unusual Abductors Sighted in Toronto

UNUSUAL ABDUCTORS SIGHTED IN TORONTO


Just when we all thought we were safe, it has been reported that Graeme Hulis, an English boy in Toronto Canada has began to experience unusual sightings.

According to him, these sightings indicate that Abductors are afoot in the city. The thirteen year old boy was reluctant to describe at length the nature of his encounters, but it was reported that he did not have prior exposure with paranormal activity. Rumors surfaced which indicate that the sudden disappearance of the boy’s father might indeed be an unusual abduction.

Explosive information has surfaced concerning the boy’s long dead mother indicating that she too might have been exposed to mysterious encounters and activity in and around the home they left behind in the UK. It would appear at this time, that there is every possibility that things Graeme Hulis might have confided to his Jamaican school friend Norman Abdilani are unexplainable. No one, not even Norman Abdilani seems to know for sure why Graeme Hulis has been targeted by Abductors. Norman speculates that his friend’s interest in folk and alien lore might well have stimulated the interest of beings outside of our realm.

Graeme Hulis of course is the main character is Bernadette Gaby Dyer’s new Young Adult Fantasy book “Abductors” released by Rain Publishing in the summer of 2007-Dyer author of Waltzes I Have Not Forgotten, Women’s Press, 2004 and Villa Fair, Beach Home, 2000 is also a professional reader for The Writers Union of Canada.

Born in Kingston Jamaica, where she graduated from The Immaculate Conception High School, as well as The Jamaica School Of Art, having specialized in Painting and Design. She was trained as a teacher at Toronto’s Lakeshore Teacher’s College, before becoming a novelist, a poet, a storyteller, a short story writer and a playwright.

Bernadette has told stories on CBC Radio, as well as a variety of Toronto venues, that include the popular "1001 Nights Storytelling Series," and festivals at Nathan Phillips Square. She has read from her own work at Harbor Front, Lees Palace, the University Of Toronto, and numerous other locations. Her work has been anthologized in several collections and appeared in Canadian literary magazines as well as literary magazines from the University of London England, a journal from France, and a literary magazine from the University of Miami Florida.

Bernadette lives and works in Toronto.

###

Please contact Rain Publishing admin at rainbooks dot com 905-592-2122 for more information, or to arrange an interview with Bernadette Gabay Dyer contact her directly at BERNADETTEEDYER@aol.com

When Breast Cancer Said Hello

When Breast Cancer Said Hello



It was a typical November day in 2004 when the phone rang in my office. Most of my thoughts were on the upcoming feast of Thanksgiving and time spent with family sharing laughs and great food. The thoughts of the wonderful days ahead were soon dashed by the tone of my Mother’s voice at the end of the line.

My Mother had recently had a mammogram that had shown a suspicious area in her breast that the doctors decided to biopsy. “Jeff, the results weren’t good,” was all she needed to say. As a lump formed in my throat I scrambled for whatever words I could respond with, I quickly entered a state of denial. The only thought that raced through my brain was “This isn’t real; these things just don’t happen to us.” The conversation changed into a discussion on what would happen next and the plans of treatment that the physician recommended. What I had hoped was only a bad dream that I’d soon awake from suddenly became something very real, my Mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The news for our family couldn’t have come at a more difficult time. My Brother, who serves in the Army, was nearing the end of his 10th month in Iraq. It had been a very difficult load for all of us, especially my parents. The latest news would make for a very difficult holiday season for our entire family.

When the holidays arrived they were difficult but we made it through them. There was still the glow in the eyes of the grandchildren, and we enjoyed the time together sharing memories of Christmas past. But with my Brother in Iraq and the mountain that my Mother was facing, there was a distinct somberness that couldn’t be avoided.

My Mother’s surgery was during the first week of January and was a success without any complications. The next several months were spent going from one appointment to another as she slowly recovered while battling the disease. The process was a real rollercoaster ride for Mom, full of ups and downs in the way she felt physically and mentally.

I will never be able to fully express the gratitude I have for my parents for the unspoken life lessons that were taught to me through this difficult time. In my Father I saw the words “in sickness and in health” being lived out before my very eyes. Although I know that this was tough on him, my Father was a rock through this never leaving my Mother’s side. He showed me what being dedicated to a commitment meant and that we each have only one true love in our life, but only a lucky few ever find them.

I saw an inner strength from my Mother that could only be described as someone that is truly living on faith, along with a belief that this faith would see her through. When some of us grew weak along the road, she remained positive and strong. Mom became a hero for all of us, and I will always treasure her for the living example that she is.

It was through my Mother’s battle that I became inspired to write “Running the Race,” a children’s story about breast cancer. It is my sincere hope that the story will serve as an educational tool for children of loved ones stricken to better cope with something that is difficult to understand.

“Running the Race” is for adults too. The story offers an inspirational message that will show that everyone can make a difference in this battle against breast cancer. It is my sincere hope that all who turn the pages of “Running the Race” will be touched in a special way. I believe that everyone will find something that truly speaks to their hearts.

The story of how breast cancer has affected my family is one that is lived out by families around the world each and every day. There have been great advances in efforts toward awareness, prevention, and research, and this wonderful progress that we are witnessing is only the beginning.

No one ever expects breast cancer to say hello, but I firmly believe that someday the same hello that has haunted millions of lives will become a goodbye…forever.

Author Jeff Yosick’s book “Running the Race”was released by Rain Publishing Inc. Ask for your copy at a local bookstore near you, or visit http://www.rainbooks.com/ for more information.

-end-

P.L. Reed-Wallinger

P.L. Reed-Wallinger,
Masters Curriculum & Instruction
Novelist Ÿ Author Ÿ Educator
Dark Secrets, Forbidden Fantasies, Emma's Choice and coming winter 2007- Obscene Obsessions

Born into a military family, in San Diego, California, P.L. Reed-Wallinger traveled a great deal with her parents and brother, W. Craig, living in such places as California, Guam, Turkey, Washington State, Arizona, and Maryland. After twenty years of service, most in cloak and dagger Intelligence work, her father, William J. Reed, retired from the Navy and took up writing. That life change introduced his children to a new world—one that not only fascinated, but lit the creative fires within.

With her family raised, P.L.Reed-Wallinger followed that life-long dream to put pen to paper and stepped into the literary arena alongside her father, William Joseph Reed, and brother, W. Craig Reed, with the publication of her first book the romantic suspense, Dark Secrets. One year later, and excited to be with a new publisher, Reed-Wallinger has penned two more novels due for publication. The first release, Forbidden Fantasies, is another romantic suspense, but with an erotica leaning. Emma’s Choice, the second release, is a young adult novel set in Wymore, Nebraska.

Reed-Wallinger claims her years of residing in the state of Nebraska have given her a profound appreciation for the work ethic, resiliency, backbone, and heart of its people, something she tries to capture in her work. Holding a Masters of Curriculum and Instruction, and employed as a middle school general science teacher, P.L.Reed-Wallinger currently lives in southeast Nebraska.

The author also encourages feedback from her readers, via email at the following address: pam@reedwriting.com

For more information on Reed-Wallinger’s work, please visit www.rainbooks.com or www.reedwriting.com.

Fool On My Knees

Fool On My Knees

Tilly Rivers

Reaching out into the air
Seeing the colours that aren’t really there
When will I learn that love is a fable
And stop falling on my knees like a fool

Raise my hands to the sky
Clenched fists begging why
Why am I such a fool to believe?
Why am I such a fool to still care?

It does not seem to matter how much you hurt me
I still have a spot that won’t let you go inside me
I’m not a silly person without backbone or brain
Why am I such a fool when it comes to you?

Let him go my mind screams
Let him go my spirit begs from the pain
Yet my heart hangs on like a fool
A fool on my knees

Nothing To Do "FAN" by Kathi Blackwell

Book Launch: Elliot Stone Two

Rocker Dick Cooper

Dangerous Days

Swindon man publishes first book

Stuart Rivers
Rain Publishing
www.rainbooks.com

Novel Stands Out From the Crowd

Real Characters That Will Appeal to Both the Heterosexual and Homosexual Demographic Makes This Novel Stand Out From the Crowd!


Victoria Tatum’s The Virgin Children is a story of complex family identification that shows what makes or breaks the bonds that bind.


Santa Cruz (CA) – You cannot help but be drawn to The Virgin’s Children. The story of self discovery, same-sex relationships, and family identification which shares the parallel stories of Paul, who has only known the love of his religious grandmother, and Nora, who discovers she is pregnant after a drunken graduation night tryst with her homosexual friend Evan.

Victoria Tatum has certainly proven her MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University has gone to good use. This is literature at its best and will appeal to a large demographic including both heterosexual and homosexual readers, with believable characters fostering a real life feel.

Tilly Rivers, CEO of Rain Publishing Inc states “Victoria has penned a story that we can all relate with; that being the struggle of self and where we fit in.”

The Virgin’s Children was released in December 2006 from Rain Publishing Inc. and is available by request at local bookstores or on line at www.rainbooks.com

For more information regarding The Virgin’s Children please call 905-592-2122 or email info@rainbooks.com
-end-

Excerpt: Anhedonia
Colin O’Sullivan
Rain Publishing
www.rainbooks.com

*

We’ve just got out of the truck, Billy, Gerri and I. Billy was driving and then he told us what he’d done and he pulled over to the side of the road and we got out. Gerri screamed so loud I thought the windscreen would shatter. Gerri’s a girl. When we were young I used to tease her, telling her it was a boy’s name. But she really got off on that. She never liked being a girl. She still wears boys’ clothes. Even takes Billy’s clothes though they are too big for her. Billy’s her brother. I think I’d probably like to have a go with her, you know, if she was more feminine, and if she wasn’t Billy’s brother, looking like him and all. But she’s like one of the guys, so I can’t, could never really, get a handle on it. She screams like a girl though. No changing that. If you don’t have an Adam’s apple you scream like a girl. Or like a bitch Billy says. But you can’t blame her for screaming this time. I nearly did. I gasped and felt my balls go funny, as if warm soup had just been poured inside my testicle sack. Billy’s just told us that Mrs. Cane’s body is in the back of the truck.

I used to call her Mrs. Cane, even when she said to call her Julie. I couldn’t get a handle on it. I like to be polite to people when I am talking to them. I always called her late husband Mr. Cane too; truth is though, I didn’t even know his first name. He fell off some scaffolding while on a job somewhere, building a building or something. At least that’s what Billy said. But you can’t always trust Billy. Although he’s like our leader and everything, you can’t believe everything he’d say to you. He’s always making things up. When he’s not doing damage to people that is. He gets in lots of fights. All three of us do. But he gets in more because he’s always aggressive. About everything. He comes up with the ideas, like how the three of us wear matching denim overalls now, and matching peaked caps; Billy fears the ultraviolet rays, “devil’s secret work”, so we protect ourselves. These are his notions. And we go along with them. And the rock band idea was his too. Though none of us could play an instrument. We just liked the idea of being in a band. Gerri can sing a bit though. I sometimes sit outside her door when she’s singing in the shower; it makes me feel good. But because Billy wanted to be the singer he decided to split up the band. He said, “as of now, I am hereby dissolving the band, as sugar does in water.” He always has funny ways of saying things. He gets the stuff from books. You wouldn’t take him for a reader but he is; the only thing he really liked in school, not that we ever spent too much time there, was reading them English books Mrs. Liddy would dish out. School has been over for a few years now. Now we are all legal. We can drink. Billy even has a driving license and we can have sex if we want to. And though I sometimes want to do it with Gerri, like when we go to the beach and she wears a swimsuit and doesn’t look like a boy at all…but I think Billy wouldn’t allow me. They are very close. We all are, but especially those two, obviously, because they are family and all. He gives her big hugs and tells her everything will be all right. And he strokes her short hair. She always keeps it short like a boy. I remember when their grandfather died and they were real young and they didn’t even cry. Or maybe they did, but in private. I didn’t see it. I cried though, for myself more than anyone else. I was thinking how sad it would be if someone in my family died. That’s why I was crying. I haven’t cried for years now though. Billy knocked all that out of me, for my own good. Even when we did get around to killing my father I didn’t cry. Billy had told us that if we were to carry out our mission, our vocation, well, we had to start with the most painful stuff. It made sense I guess. Billy has a way of making you think that what he says makes sense. It’s like a car salesman or something. You know they are lying to you but you kind of think what they are saying is impressive the way they do it, all gestures and smiles and all. My mother had left us, me and my father that is, years ago. She said was staying with her sister for a few days and got on the bus and never came back. The school principal Mrs. West, a fat woman with glasses, said it retarded my development, but I think I was pretty developed all right. I felt like taking down my pants then and there and showing her just how developed I was. Could have slapped my dick across her cheek. That would have shut her up. But I have my real family in Billy and Gerri anyway. They are a few years older than me and take care of me. With my Mom gone we burned the house down with my dad in it. It was easy for everyone to think he got drunk and fell asleep and let his cigarette fall near the old kerosene lamp and the whole thing spread so fast, we had kind of made it look like it was a drunken accident. Everyone bought it. I think they didn’t really care enough to investigate too much. He was such a sorry state after Mom left for her sister’s, a drunken mess most of the time. There were cockroaches everywhere. I think Billy used to call over just to have fun killing them with that big old mallet he used to carry around. The social workers thought I’d be better off with a proper family and started making inroads to get me to move to a foster family. I did spend some time with a family a few miles down the road. The Watson’s. They were nice but couldn’t contain me much. I was always running off. I dodged them enough till I became old, became an adult like, and the authorities gave up and knew I slept in Billy’s house most of the time anyway. Billy’s parents, and Gerri’s obviously, don’t mind me staying there. I’m there most of my days. Unless the three of us are out on a mission of sacrifice (we just tell the folks we are camping out in the woods for a little while. Billy’s parents think we are real outdoor people). I think they kind of like having me around the house though. I’m real polite to them. And I never swear. Billy’s always at it. They tell him to cut it out but it’s too late now it’s such a habit. Maybe they think I will marry Gerri someday. Which isn’t a bad idea… but I doubt Billy will go for it.

Why he has decided to kill old Mrs. Cane I don’t know. How he chooses the catches, I don’t get it. It’s like we started doing ritual stuff, like he told us the books said, but we soon gave all that up. Blood of chickens etc, it all got a bit much, was kind of dumb, so we just got rid of all that stuff, just did the killings straight up. Billy says that you can only know real sadness if you know happiness and freedom if you know pain. He says I know freedom now because I burned down my house with my dad in it. Billy gets loads of books from the library. And he underlines some of the interesting bits though I told him he shouldn’t, ‘snot his property. Some of the books are philosophy and history and stuff. He can read much better than me. Gerri can too. She’s smart. It bugs me sometimes. The Mrs. Cane thing is kind of getting to me now too. She was such a nice old lady. She used to make this great blackcurrant jam and bring it over to my Mom and my Mom would lash it onto my toast. I don’t see why Billy had to do this to her.

Abductors Reviewed by Teen Read Too! 5 star Rating

ABDUCTORS by Bernadette Gabay Dyer
Category: Science Fiction
Age Recommendation: Grades 6+
Release Date: 6/1/07
Publisher: Rain Publishing
Reviewed by: Marta Morrison
Rating: 5 StarsBalance.

That is a theme that I have come across in books and society. We need balance in all we do. We need it in work and play, physical and mental, good and evil, and in spiritual and earthly. The earth is out of balance and we need to make it right again.

ABDUCTORS explores this theme in the realm of good and evil. The good starts with the plight of Graeme Hulis, who awakens on the Downs in Sussex, England. He is found by a professor who is studying the paranormal. Graeme cannot remember anything about his life. Then he meets a beautiful girl named Anna Wall. The professor then decides to hypnotize Graeme, and he tells him and Anna the fascinating story involving the abduction of his mother by little men, the arrival of spacemen in Toronto, Canada, the love of fairies, and the future of the balance in nature.

There are many interesting characters in this story, There is a loving family, a talking fox, little men, amazing friendships, and a main character who the reader will grow to love. It is a quick read that holds the reader's attention. I hope Ms. Dyer will write a sequel, because I would like to hear more about Graeme and his friends.

Unplanned Family Finds a Way to Make Things Work

Unplanned family finds a way to make things work; Mother of seven chronicles their life together in conjunction with adoption month

New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal
Page: B6 Section: News Byline: By Erin Dwyer For the Telegraph-Journal Source:


Donna Gillis Spalding always dreamt of adopting a child - a dream that grew from her volunteer work in a Cape Breton orphanage when she was 16.
But she never imagined she and husband, Howard, would adopt seven children - all from different racial backgrounds.
"This was a totally unplanned family," she said.
Today, Spalding is launching her book, Roots, Wings & Other Things: A mother's true stories of transracial adoptions, in conjunction with National Adoption Month.
The book, published by Ontario's Rain Publishing, is coming out at a time when adoption officials in the province are once again encouraging people to consider adopting older children. It's also coming out at a time when Madonna's adoption of a Malawi boy made headline news and stirred debate about the ethics and merits of transracial adoptions.
In her book, Spalding offers an internal glimpse into an interracial family, and one of the first in Canada. Transracial adoption was not permitted in Canada until the 1970s. With little Canadian research on the success of transracial adoptions, according to the publisher, this book begins to fill the gap by providing anecdotal evidence that they do work.
Spalding said she wanted to demonstrate that a family does not have to be white, middle class with two children to be normal. She wanted to tell others that family is more important than race of culture.
"The controversy over transracial adoption usually focuses on the importance of children being raised among people of their own race," she writes. "Although we recognize the value in that point of view, we believe that having a family, regardless of one's race or traditions, is more important that not having one.
"Transracial adoption is not exploitation; it's just practical," she adds.
But Spalding has a second message. At a time when international adoptions are popular, Spalding said, there are many older children here in the province waiting for a good and loving home.
According to recent statistics from the province, more than 600 children - most of them between the ages of three and 12 - are in care needing permanent homes.
"In terms of bonding, it is just as easy to bond with an older child as a younger child," she said. "But with an older child, we had to back off being the parent. We had to let the children talk, and let them tell them this is a good place, and then let them wait until they were ready."
Having never forgot the orphans she worked with as a teenager, she decided early on she would adopt when she was married. She even made it one of her criteria for finding a husband - something Howard Spalding agreed to before their wedding in 1964.
A year after their biological son, Jade, was born, they proceeded with their first adoption - a three-month-old boy African-Canadian boy named Jason. For several years, they raised their two boys while attending classes at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, where both were pursuing their undergraduate degrees.
On the day of their graduation, instead of attending the ceremony, they drove to Cape Breton where they adopted Aleta, a two-year-old girl of First Nations descent. In the same foster home, they laid eyes on a white, African- Canadian girl. At the time, Megan was not available for adoption, but a year later the four-year-old was adopted into the Spalding home.
When Howard began practising law in Saint John, one of his first cases involved the adoption of two siblings of Chinese-Canadian descent. The adoption fell through and soon Jessica, 5, and Scott, 8, joined the growing Hampton family.
When Jade was 13, he brought home a 13-year-old boy named Angus.
"You've been bringing kids home all my life, now it's my turn," Spalding recalled her son saying.
Angus, of Acadian descent, lived with the family for two years before deciding he wanted to be adopted, becoming the seventh child in the family.
Nadine, who was of Canadian-Jamaican descent, joined the family as a 20-year- old, old enough not to have to go through the formal adoption process.
Growing up, the children did experience racism, Spalding said. But because so many of them came from different cultural backgrounds, they could rely on each other.
"The fact there were so many of them in the same situation, it really wasn't that big a problem. They could relate to each other and they formed a pretty strong unit. They could defend one another pretty readily, and did."
While most parents don't know what problems their children will encounter in life, Spalding said, she and her husband had the advantage of being able to identify some. They knew the children - some of whom had experienced physical and mental abuse before being adopted - might encounter racism, have difficulty in developing a sense of identity and difficulty accepting the concept of family.
"We knew we had to make them into really strong individuals. So we didn't sweat the little things."
While they didn't drag them to cultural centres, Spalding said, she and her husband encouraged their children to investigate their ethnic backgrounds just as she encouraged them to look up their biological family.
"In the end, it is family, not race, which matters," she said.
All of the children attended university and became professionals. During a week this past summer, three of them were married on the family homestead in Hampton, planning their weddings so they would coincide. At one wedding, there was a sweet grass ceremony and native drumming. At another wedding, the couple jumped the broom - an African-American marriage rite.
"Our children have grown beyond our beliefs and values, having to a large extent developed unique values and beliefs of their own," Spalding writes in her book. "But in the end, what we will always share is that common root system that wound its way through the years, nourishing each of us as we grew individually, and as part of a larger family."

Interview with Jim Melvin

Epic fantasy novelist. The Death Wizard Chronicles. Rain Publishing. www.rainbooks.com

Interview with Jim Melvin“The Death Wizard Chronicles”

WEB SITE: http://www.mrmedia.com RSS FEED: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MrMedia

Jim Melvin has been a friend of mine for more than twenty years and, for as long as I’ve known him, his driving interest has been writing an epic fantasy series, something that might find shelf space alongside J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

But life kept getting in the way. He was married, raised two wonderful daughters, had a full-time job as an editor at the St. Petersburg Times, and did all the other good stuff that eats up time and interferes with achieving those very personal dreams we all entertain.

But that’s life, right? Well, a few years ago, Jim decided it was now or never. He retired from the newspaper, took his family and savings, and moved to North Carolina. He put everything else aside to fulfill what he believed to be his destiny and nearly two- thousand pages that became The Death Wizard Chronicles.

The first book in the six-book epic fantasy was released in September by Rain Publishing, and a new installment will be delivered to bookstores every thirty days until the entire series is available in February 2008.

It’s a hell of a story, a hell of a series, and Jim Melvin is a hell of a guy.(You can meet Jim in person when he makes his major book festival debut on Saturday, October 27, 2007, at the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading!)

Check out this week’s entertaining Mr. Media interview – via audio or read the transcription – now: http://www.mrmedia.com !

Don’t miss an audio download – subscribe to Mr. Media in the podcast section of iTunes!

As always, thanks for checking out Mr. Media!
Bob Andelman

Mr. Mediahttp://www.mrmedia.com http://feeds.feedburner.com/MrMedia

10 Tips on How to be an Awkward Author!

Margaret Watson
Blokes with Stoves, Hot as You Like It
Stockport, Cheshire UK

**This is just for a quick smile and a laugh**


How to be an awkward author – 10 top tips

1) Make sure there are enough spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in your query letters. About one a line at least. A couple of crossings out would add a touch of authenticity – Charles Dickens did it, and a certain Mr Shakespeare or is that Shakspar


2) Editors hate good original work, otherwise why do they reject so much. Ensure that yours is neither good nor original by writing a bad parody. If you are writing for a magazine look at last months issue and write an article on a featured subject. If it worked well last month it will be twice as good next month – right?


3) Don’t bother about author’s guidelines, formatting and word counts. They are only for beginners and anyway they aren’t important now that we have word processors.

4) Address your query letter to ‘To whom it may concern.’ rather than using the editor’s name. Everyone knows how busy editors are and you will ensure that at least it ends up on someone’s desk. Also it shows that you are too busy to spare time looking up the editors name and probably haven’t had time to read the magazine.

5) Call frequently to see what progress your submission is making. About once a day is about right, but the more often the better. They will publish just to shut you up. On the other hand don’t return telephone calls or e.mails or only after a week or so. Keep them on their toes.

6) Do not cite references. Looking things up is someone’s job and you don’t want them to be redundant. Anyway quoting proper references may result in paying royalty payments.

7) Always get deadlines extended. It shows you are in control and a Christmas article at Easter will be unique but in December it will be only one of many.

8) Have firmly fixed ideas before you begin about such things as art work, fonts to be used etc. You know what you want so why listen to experts.

9) Be inflexible when it comes to publicity opportunities such as signings and book fairs – if only the second Thursday in December will do stick to it.

10) Most importantly – do not accept editorial advice – this is your work take it or leave it.

Not everyone can an Awkward Author, but follow all or as many of these rules as possible and you’ll make it. There are authors out there who get published without keeping any of these rules, but remember an Awkward Author is a Remembered Author.

Michele Paiva Sets up Parents to Win Against Professional Bullies in the School System

Pocket Guide for The Educational Advocate

by Michele Paiva

This brief guide of what you need to know, to advocate your rights, in any educational system will help parents express their rights and even the 'playing' field against "professional" bulling by teachers in the School System.

Teachers need to be aware of their obligations and responsibilities . Students need to be aware of their rights, and how they can stand up against power abuse . Administrators and all federally funded program employers and employees, such as a district as a whole and all of the individuals within, also need to know their obligations – both ethically and legally.

From the K through 12 system, and colleges (training institutes to Ivy League) from students and parents to professors and teachers; there is a need for a higher level of understanding on rights and empowerment for students, who are inevitably, the most common victims of failings in the education system.

www.rainbooks.com

Elliot Stone and the Mystery of the Backyard Treasure by LP Chase

Elliot Stone and the Mystery of the Backyard Treasure by L.P. Chase

Elliot Stone is back! And he and his friends, Cassie and Jake are ready to solve their newest mystery! It all begins when the trio sets out to dig up a buried treasure chest and discover much more than they bargain for--a secret box, a mysterious key, a foreign name...What does it all mean? But when Elliot discovers a creepy statue in his grandparents’ house, he can’t shake the urge to investigate even more. Dig in with Elliot, Jake and Cassie, as they get to the bottom of this latest mission.

Complete details at www.rainbooks.com

Constructing Your Masterpiece

Constructing Your Masterpiece
It’s Possible At Any Age
By Krissy Brady

My first book Tidal Wave was released by Rain Publishing Inc. There is nothing more amazing than accomplishing something that you have wanted since the age of six. I can seriously still remember sitting in my grade one classroom, stapling stacks of paper together in order to create my “novels”. Apparently, I was even detail-oriented back then, because afterwards I would attach a piece of construction paper and design an original “cover” for each one I put together.

My tastes have obviously changed, and the caliber of my writing has improved (let’s hope), but no matter how many books I end up publishing, it’s still going to feel like I’m putting together a book of scribbling and construction paper. I’ll complete each project with just as much pride as I did when I was six.

Though I’m more particular about the finished product than I used to be, the natural enjoyment I have during the entire process is timeless—it’s how I know I’ve chosen the perfect career.

When you end up turning your hobby into a career, it’s important to keep your work as light as possible so as to take it seriously enough to succeed, but to still gain the sincere enjoyment out of it that was always there. It’s a hard thing to remember at times as workloads fluctuate, but there’s nothing more satisfying than waking up and knowing that you have complete control over your day.


About Krissy Brady
Krissy Brady is a freelance writer residing in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. She is the editor-in-chief of Brady Magazine, an online writer’s trade directory dedicated to putting writers on the map. She is also a poet, whose book Tidal Wave is currently in production (Rain Publishing, www.rainbooks.com).

Thinking Teens

Thinking Teens

By Mark Lavorato, Author of Veracity
Rain Publishing

/ http://www.rainbooks.com/


Teens think. And a lot – more than adults and professionals, more, I would say, than anyone else in our society. Why? Because they aren’t afraid of the big questions, like: Why am I here? What is the meaning of it all? Why is the world the way it is, if no one seems to be satisfied with it? And the reason teens can ask these questions (which, make no mistake, adults have become too afraid to ask themselves) is that they understand the simple fact that some questions don’t necessarily need answers. No. They just need asking.

When I was in high school I had plenty of ‘hypothetical’ conversations with my best friend, conversations that left their mark on me, well into adulthood. We talked a lot about the ‘extreme ways’ that people were trying to fix the world, and how strange it was that this ‘fixing’ so often became a much bigger problem in itself. It occurred to us that there was no such thing as a simple solution, and it was only when we tried to apply simple solutions to the world’s problems, that things became quite complicated. Until eventually, out of these conversations, a story began to emerge, a dilemma, an unstoppable adventure that threaded together all of these ‘scary questions’ that youth – the thinkers of our society – are so busy asking themselves. It takes the form of a novel, called Veracity (which means ‘the unrelenting dedication to truth’) and I believe that the people who will get the most out of it are young adults, the very kind of people who aren’t afraid to ask themselves questions. Questions, mind you, that might not necessarily have answers to them. But that certainly still need asking.

Danny Howard Hero at Large

Danny Howard: Hero at Large
To be released in 2008 by Rain Publishing

Twelve-year-old Danny Howard is not impressed. He and his father, Kent, pack their station wagon and battle with a second-hand tent during their move to Alberta. The only cool thing about it is that they’ll get to live in a tent for the summer. It’s not so cool when he’s inside alone during a terrifying thunderstorm and the loud crashes he can hear are more than thunder.

Later, while checking out the local park, Danny meets Janey, Marlin, and Travis. Everything is great until Matthew strolls over to them, and Danny has to create a distraction so that Marlin can get away when Matthew starts picking on him. Starting school in a new town is tough, but Danny is excited about volleyball tryouts. Matthew complicates even that, and after school, he targets Marlin again, but Danny hits first in the scuffle that follows and ends up in big trouble for it. It seems like no matter what happens, Danny is continually forced to be a hero and he doesn’t like it.

Finally, during the school track meet, Matthew humiliates Danny because he has to live in a tent and his clothes are ragged, and finally he’s had enough. He takes off from school—not even caring that he’ll be in trouble again. Just when things seem to be settling down, Matthew accuses Danny of stealing a band instrument, and he has to use every last bit of ingenuity he has to think of a way out of it.

Also to tbe released by Rain Publishing Danny Howard: Fostering Eli

Meet the Author

Donna MacNaughton is a homegrown Albertan—born in Banff and raised in Southern Alberta. She lives in Brooks with her wonderful husband and their two amazing teenaged sons. She loves spending time with family and friends, especially if she can do it while relaxing on a beach. Donna reads anything and everything; however, writing now occupies much of her former leisure time. She works part time at her sons’ school, and with her busy life, she has very little time for cooking, crowded stores, and messes—none of which she likes anyway.

As a freelance writer, Donna’s work has appeared in several newspapers and magazines, most recently in West Magazine. She belongs to the Writer’s Guild of Alberta and has received three honourable mentions for short stories in Writer’s Digest competitions.

The Houseguest That Never Seems to Leave

The Houseguest That Never Seems to Leave
By Krissy Brady

I decided to have what I thought would be a relaxing shower today, and was greeted by a spider the size of my fist. I’m not the type of girl who is interested in familiarizing herself with the various types of household bugs, so I’ll do my best to describe the spider to you: it’s the one that an entire can of Raid won’t get rid of. It’s the one that no matter how many times you smash your shampoo bottle against it, there it is, pointing and laughing at you. It’s the spider that pretends to curl up and die as soon as you spot it, like I would be so stupid as to fall for that one…again.

To be honest I don’t know which is worse: the gigantic spiders, or the really tiny ones that you at first mistake for lint. Either way, it takes me a solid hour after getting rid of it before I start to feel safe in my own home again, and slowly begin to peel myself off the ceiling.

It’s embarrassing really—I consider myself to be very level-headed, yet the sight of a spider, or any bug for that matter, turns me into a screaming five year-old. I don’t think they’re going to do anything to harm me (obviously), I just think they are completely disgusting, and I don’t find there is anything good about finding a bug in my apartment. I’m a girl who keeps a very clean home, and the fact that a revolting bug of any kind would welcome itself into my home is just plain insulting.

They become the houseguest that never seems to leave. You think you have a moment to yourself, but not a chance: there’s something crawling on your kitchen counter, or something flying around your living room, running into every wall. I’ve often wondered actually how long before the bug realizes it’s impossible to go through a closed window?
I can handle my own just fine—I’ll only begin feeling real concern towards them when they start coming in with little suitcases.

About Krissy BradyKrissy Brady is a freelance writer residing in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. She is the editor-in-chief of Brady Magazine, an online writer’s trade directory dedicated to putting writers on the map. She is also a poet, whose book Tidal Wave is currently in production (Rain Publishing http://www.rainbooks.com/ ).

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