Jodi Arias Trial Has Eerie Similarities with the Murder Trial of “Zaydee”

Striking resemblances abound between accused killer Jodi Arias and the character of Zaydee,  the heroine in the book “That Girl Started Her Own Country.”

Both are small, attractive young women in their thirties and had a complicated love life. Both have a history of hacking (Arias, however, seems to be a novice, while Zaydee is a full-fledged hacktivist). And both are accused of first-degree murder.

Arias, though physically frail looking was able to stab a man much larger than her 27 times in less than one minute. Zaydee, on the other hand, is able to bring an FBI agent to his knees in a matter of seconds.

In the book, Zaydee deals with less-than-honorable FBI agents. In real life, Arias faced unusually hateful prosecutors.

And while anticipation builds for the verdict in Arias’ trial, a similar anticipation is growing among readers of “That Girl Started Her Own Country” for the sequel of the book, where they will find out what becomes of Zaydee, who is awaiting trial in Miami, Florida, when the story ends in the book.

An early reviewer of “That Girl Started Her Own Country” wrote:

Fantastic. That is a strange statement from me, as I was not the biggest fan of the Millennium trilogy. I never cared all that much about the girl who kicked the hornet’s nest. Maybe something was lost to me in translation.

However, in “That Girl Started Her Own Country,” I found that I cared very much. So much, in fact, that I quite literally did not put it down even when it became a danger to myself and others that I was walking around with my nose in a book, completely oblivious to my environment. The heroine’s personality left a mark. I sit here wanting badly to know, “How will she do it?” I will be sure to buy the next books in line.

“That Girl Started Her Own Country” is part of a series of books, which includes “The Sultan of Monte Cristo” and “The Boy Who Played With Dark Matter.”

There is also a contest for discovering the identity of the author, “Holy Ghost Writer.” A $1,000 prize will be given to the first person who can discover, from the clues given throughout the sequels, what the author’s true name is.

“That Girl Started Her Own Country,” by Holy Ghost Writer, is available on Amazon.com in Kindle e-book format. It is also available in paperback through online retail distributors such as Barnes & Noble.

Defiant Author Drops Price of His Kindle eBook as Petition to Amazon to Ban the Controversial e-Memoir Gains Signatures

Kalpanik S., author of Controversial Amazon e-Memoir  published on Kindle "Inside the Giant Machine: Confessions of an Amazon.com Technologist" dropped the price of his Kindle exclusive book to $2.99 as pressure build up on Amazon to Ban the Kindle eBook from warehouse supervisors and other managers. The eBook is not always complementary of Amazon, and criticizes Amazon for its management policies and worker treatment. 

A petition has been started for Amazon asking Amazon to ban this book on Kindle. The petition  seems to be quickly gathering support among angry warehouse supervisors who work at Amazon.  Among other allegations, the petition points out that the cover of the eBook on Kindle seems to have the insignia of a left wing organization "Conspiracy for Good" embedded on it. 

The author Kalpanik S. finally issued the following statement "This Kindle book captures my true feelings about working at Amazon which were recorded as they happened,and cover both the good and the bad. Some people are uncomfortable about "the bad" and are calling for a ban on this book on Kindle since Kindle is Amazon's publishing platform.  However, one of the good things about Amazon is that it does not believe in censorship. I am confident that Amazon will continue to resist the pressure from such misguided attempts and the book will remain available on Kindle. I deny I am member of 'Conspiracy for Good'. There is no insignia embedded on the cover of the boook, just a discoloration."

Despite the call for its ban, the eBook seems to be still available at Amazon.com for purchase at $2.99. 

Award Winning Kindle Book "Welcome to the USA" now for a super low price!

Amazon.com and its international subsidiaries are offering "Welcome to the USA: Winner of the Best Teen Book Award in Multicultural Books Category" for Free at  Amazon's KIndle Stores in US, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and France. Only a limited number of copies will be available for FREE download, so once they are gone, they will be gone. 

At the time of this writing, this top-rated eBook is at #1 spot in two Young Adult categories at Kindle store in the US. 

George A. Butler a reviewer from Redwood City says "This book is a charmer for its content and original style. I think that the word that  describes the humor is "fey". In any case I found it honest, human, and I got to see the USA through a quite different pair of eyes.

A short video presentation for the book

 This book which won the Reader Views award in the multicultural books (Young Adult Category) can be downloaded for FREE for a limited time. 

What is a Heightened Awareness?

By Guest Blogger Kate Burke,  Author of Noticing Nature’s Intriguing Inspirations


For some time the eastern teachings have known there is a deeper ‘sense of sensing’. Some may call it a ‘presence of awareness’, spirit, soul, stillness, silence, or simply a quite with mind or thought, even emotional intelligence. I happened to be fortunate enough to learn from western teachings which would have really originated from the east. The terms used were presence of awareness, “beingness” and “isness”, meaning it “just is’ what it is. Yes, we can be aware. Yet, “awareness” suggests something beyond ‘aware of’.

So what is “heightened” awareness? In my experience, and I can only really write on my experience, it is really aiming to write on the ‘non-descript’ which may be why there are so many differing words for it. It needs no words to be, just as the blue sky needs no control to be what it already is, nor does it need to control. It seems fair to honour that “awareness” is non-descript and allow each to discover this intriguing nature that’s born within. Some have suggested a non-suffering. Could they be so bold? Well, they have been, Nisargadatta Maharaj, sage from India, for example!

Words or visuals are all thought and perception, yet “being” that awareness that already is born within takes it a step further for exploring an unlimited potential from the inside.Whether that ‘awareness’ is noticed or not, it is there for emotions to move and flow in, on and through. Also, I noticed when I tuned into what is actually here in this moment, rather than “what was” and “the past”, I was much more naturally open and free on an internal level. Beneath is an outrageous joy, and a softness that seems at the deeper true nature of the being. Once, again when allowing the self to discover its own truth beyond what it thinks it truly is, the real nature can be explored internally. What is it that is aware of ‘thinking’? Are you that awareness? Could you welcome and notice that!

That present ‘beneath the surface’ beauty of ‘being’ what you already are, remains just like ‘the clear of clearest’ movie screens upon which the story of life is played upon. If you are open to it, with your mind and heart, you may well discover a ‘greateness’ from deeper within allowing for your infinite nature to be noticed as what it truly is, a freedom beyond any words or pictures whilst still being that exquisite ‘awareness’, in any moment and beyond ! Enjoy the ebook Noticing Nature’s Intriguing Inspirations. I certainly did and do, when in that moment and beyond!

The ebook is available at amazon.com and is dedicated to “thrivors” of sexual assault and rape.

Thank you Lester Levenson, and Hale Dwoskin, from The Sedona Method. The teachings which unravelled “a heightened awareness”. Thank you J. Canfield, Breakthrough To Success Event, where I was first introduced to many resources which expanded who and what I truly am!

Kate Burke http://www.kateburke.weebly.com

A review of "January Jackson and Friends: The Premiere"

Review By Guest Blogger "Jane. K."

THIS one is for all the single ladies...and the married ladies....ahhh heck, it's for ALL the ladies! You guys could learn a thing or three as well. The recipe for this book is great friends, hot lovers. ambition intrigue and sex that is HOT as H*LL. 

I've read erotic novels before. The characters are usually just placeholders for the sex. Not so with January Jackson and Friends! These characters are REAL and really flawed. the characters of Terry, Charlene, Monica, Jasmine and January; the glue that seems to hold them all together, are all very well fleshed out. I cared about these ladies, their motivations, their passions and their heartbreak were all as real and satisfying emotionally as the sex. Oh and the sex! Holy Cow! The sex is masturbation worthy. You'll love reading this book, more than often only with one hand. I sure did!

This Week’s Featured Kindle Book: The Weight Loss Motivation Bible

It happens every year.

As January 1st approaches millions of people will resolve to finally get into shape. But most of them will fail to reach their goal for ONE simple reason…

Their mistake? They’ll begin by picking a good diet plan, or enrolling at the gym.

Instead, what they should be starting with is this. It’s the missing piece to the fat loss puzzle. The problem? The old philosophy of “eat less, exercise more” no longer works.

Not without this one missing ingredient.

So. If your goal is sustainable fat loss, and if what you’ve tried so far simply has not worked…it’s time you finally learned the truth. And it will COMPLETELY change the way you think about fat loss.

The Weight Loss Motivation Bible is authored by Carolyn Hansen, a Fitness professional and is available at Amazon’s Kindle Store for only $2.99. 

Inside the Giant Machine: A Funny Sad Amazon.com Story

I was lured into reading “Inside the Giant Machine” by the “inside story” angle. I expected an interesting though somewhat mechanical narration, like a gripping news documentary. But upon reading further into the book, I discovered it was a little more than that.

In the very first chapter, I was hooked in by the author’s quirky sense of humor. Okay, he was a bit geeky – at the start of the book, for instance, he describes his love affair with a computer program, of all things – but the way he tells it makes it all sound so charming.

Charm. I think that is a good word to sum up what I found in this book. There is charm in the author’s wit, in his wide-eyed description of Seattle from the eyes of an Indian migrant, in his undisguised admiration of the American female, in his tender devotion to his family, even in the honesty of his sorrow when he realizes that the company he had once admired from the outside was far from perfect when seen from the inside.

One thing not so charming about the book, though, is the author’s undeniable bitterness towards Amazon’s management. I mean, okay, the book is the inside story of Amazon.com, so bitterness (sour grapes?) should be expected. But the thing is, for some reason, the bitterness/sourness in the story does not cross over from him, the author, to me, the reader.

In my opinion, an effective story should make the reader feel the same way as the author. In this case, I merely felt like a spectator watching somebody gripe about a company that treated him wrong. I saw his pain, but I did not feel it.

But when he talks about the things he admired about Amazon.com, I feel as wide-eyed and fascinated as he was. Like when the author described how humongous Amazon’s fulfillment centers were – did you know you could fit thirteen football fields inside one of these centers? And can you imagine the robotlike efficiency and tirelessness that a worker in one of these centers is expected to have, to keep Amazon’s inventory moving at Amazon’s desired rate? It’s all in the book.

The author also described the ruthless way by which Amazon.com’s management regularly culls the bottom 10% of its employees. That surprised me at first, but if you think about it, it’s probably the secret behind Amazon.com’s success.

All in all, this is a sad story that was able to make me laugh. It had sourness tempered by a lot of sweet. There is balance in the book, like the taste of nicely ripened grapes. To enjoy it, you just need to spit out the seeds, or swallow them.

(Review by Beatrice Adams)