Healing Yourself

Everyone has had experiences that have hurt them. Some experiences are even bad enough to leave deep emotional wounds.

While there are many ways with which to cope with these emotional scars, such as support from family and friends and intervention from counselors, there is only one sure thing that will be able to heal these wounds - helping your own self to heal.

 Laila: A True Story by Mansoor Ali is one such tale of a man who wishes to recover from such emotional wounds. The story is intertwined with elements of the supernatural, giving a unique twist on the journey of self-healing.

Laila: A True Story is currently available in Kindle format at Amazon.com. Click on the link to preview the book or download your own copy.

Screwed Mind - An Espionage Thriller: The International Mystery of the Mossad and Other Intelligence Agencies

With continuous advances in technology, many have pointed to the demise of the espionage thriller novel. Luckily, there are still authors that are willing to tackle the topic, because people love them, but does it take a reader willing to suspend disbelief of reality to enjoy a modern-day spy novel, or an author with enough creativity to figure out a way it can be done realistically?

Traditionally, espionage novels had a main character who was in the practice of spying, employed by governments or special espionage agencies. They use a variety of techniques, including eavesdropping, undercover work, surveillance, intelligence, and reconnaissance, and in the past they impressed users with their arsenal of futuristic tools that helped them gather information on their foes.

Your typical thriller features a tough and resourceful protagonist that woks to undermine the antagonist that is out to destroy the spy, their organization or country, or even the whole world. Thrillers have an intense time-sensitive plot, which is dependent on the spy being able to avoid or escape traps and find and neutralize the bad guy before their evil plot succeeds.

The espionage thriller work best when the protagonist is unknown, so they can infiltrate the threatening organization, but is it even possible for someone to be unknown spy today? In the world we live in now everyone leaves a digital fingerprint, and if they have one wiped clean it would be a red flag for any organization recruiting someone. This is everything from online banking to telephone records, social media pages, and LinkedIn network contacts. These are just some of the challenges that authors face when crafting a believable spy story for readers of the 21st century.

The Witch - Modern Connotations versus Real Folklore

Mention the word witch today and it likely conjures up images akin to the Wicked Witch of the West – ugly, scarred with moles, dressed in black and purely evil.  However, the modern connotation of a witch is a far cry from the early history of witchcraft.  The term witch is believed to be thousands of years old, dating back to the time of worship of Mother Nature.  In ancient societies, people sought the services of a witch not just for magical powers, but for healing herbs, potions and other simple remedies.  In addition, witches often acted as talented midwives and healers whose knowledge was passed down through the generations.  These women were revered members of society, not the permutation found today.

The drastic change in the public’s view of witches likely began in early Christian times for several reasons.  First, witchcraft is in fact a type of religion whose followers worship the natural world, not the tenets of the church.  This fact lead to witches being labeled as pagans.  Second, witches directly competed with priests and other church officials as to who people turned to in times of need.  The Christian church proclaimed that a witch’s power came from the Devil himself and lead to the persecution and death of thousands of women branded as witches.  However, in many countries, witchcraft is undergoing a resurgence through the practice of Wicca.  To understand this resurgence, it is important to know the folklore and mythology of witchcraft.

The Virago Book of Witches ‘covers the subject of witches like no other.’ The book is the result of research into the subject of witches and includes folklore and mythology from 50 countries.  The book includes tales of both good and evil witches.  For example, Jewish folklore tells of Lilith, who in the strictest tradition is considered the first wife of Adam who rebelled against God.  Alternatively she is portrayed as a female succubus – a demon who seduces men.  She is found in the story “Lilith and the Blade of Grass.”  From Germany comes the tale of Mother Holle, who rewards hard work with riches and laziness with pitch.  The diversity of stories in The Virago Book of Witches is a must read for people who wish to know the real folklore of witches.

The Virago Book of Witches is available in the Kindle edition from Amazon – click here

Nobody Can Prepare for Love (Featured Kindle Romance: Gift of Love)

You can try to prepare for examinations, studying your notes and reading your books. You can try to prepare for a calamity, stocking up on supplies and teaching your family the proper ways to keep themselves safe. You can try to prepare for a business meeting, reviewing your client’s profile and creating a fabulous presentation.

For love? You can’t prepare for it. You simply just can’t.

With so many novels, songs and movies dealing with and trying to explain love, we really just can’t get a good grasp on how it works – simply because, perhaps, we are meant never to be able to. There are no concepts or rules that define love, which throws any form of preparation that you might have for it out the window.

Love can be as short as a blink of an eye, or it can last as long as a powerful dynasty. It can be as delicate as a breeze or as intense as a typhoon. It can be as adventurous as a grand epic, or as sad as the worst tragedy.

However, it will rarely, if at all, come at a time or place that you expect it. Sometimes, you don’t realize that it's love when you see it – and sadly, sometimes, it’s already too late when you do.

“The Gift of Love” by Eris Field shows that can you never fully prepare for love, nor expect it to happen when you want or need it to.

The story revolves around Laurel, a 26-year-old pediatric nurse, and Andrew, a 39-year-old psychiatrist – two individuals that meet at the worst of times but soon find themselves needing to work together. Will they be able to discard bad first impressions and trust each other – perhaps, even let love in?

“The Gift of Love” by Eris Field is currently available in Kindle format at Amazon.com. Click on the link to preview the book or download your own copy.

Unusual Kindle Promotion Marks a Turning Point in eBook Evolution

                                                      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Seattle, Washigton. June 24, 2013 —The Center of Artificial Imagination, Inc., a leading publisher of Kindle eBooks, is running a Kindle eBook promotion  that is the first of its kind—they are giving everyone who purchases the Kindle edition of the Amazon memoir Inside the Giant Machine: An Amazon.com Story the print version of the book for free. 

This unique promotion marks the beginning of a turning point in the Book 2.0 evolution with launch of the Kindle eBook reader in 2007. 

So far, it has been common for media retailers and publishers to give away the digital form of media free with the purchase of the physical form such as book, DVD, or CD.  By giving away the physical form of the book with purchase of the electronic Kindle edition, this unique promotion acknowledges the many advantages of a book’s digital form.  

 “I am very pleased to see that my publisher is acknowledging that,  given the current state of technology, the electronic format of books has many advantages over the print format,” says Kalpanik S., author of Inside the Giant Machine.  “You can access your almost from anywhere in the world from the cloud, and read it on a multitude of devices such as your smart phone with a Kindle App, your Kindle eReader or even a browser without worrying about ever losing it. There is no weight to be carried around or mailed, and if you live in the tight living spaces of a modern metropolis, having your library stored on a Kindle or Kindle Fire device, which can fit in your pocket and is automatically backed up, is a great advantage by itself.”

Inside the Giant Machine: An Amazon.com Story holds an average rating of 4.2 at both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Authored by a former Amazon technologist and developed from a blog, the book shares the inside scoop behind Amazon’s impressive machinery. Kalpanik S. tells the complex story of his journey working within Amazon in a quirky but relatable manner.  His creativity and humor shine through, leaving his readers thoroughly entertained.

“The book is fast paced and easy to read, the author a likable guy,” says a review at Amazon.com by Linda Linguvic, a Hall of Fame reviewer. “Especially interesting to me was the Amazon.com working culture, which was indeed hard on the employees as Amazon created the mammoth business that it is today.”

Another reader, George A. Butler, from Redwood City, describes how “each of the hundreds of times” he purchased something at Amazon.com, he wondered at how smart the people who got it working must have been. He says the author’s depiction of the company invoked the same feelings as one gets towards a chess-playing software that can win against human players: “You acknowledge its superiority but don't admire it.”

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 “This book does more than share facts and statistics,” says Linda Q. Chan, a reader based in San Francisco Bay Area.  “It shares the story of how the average modern-day man navigates his way through a massive corporation and comes out on the other end in one piece and with his sense of humor and determination still going strong.” 

Click here to find out more about this unique and unusual Kindle offer, or download the Kindle edition of Inside the Giant Machine: An Amazon.com Story, at Amazon.com.

New Kindle Book Captures Mystique and Beauty of New Orleans

Press Release

New Orleans, LA - Sept. 20, 2013 (KindleWire) / “Primal Creatures” by Eric Wilder vividly

describes the South in this book, capturing the beauty of New Orleans and Louisiana in a picturesque way. But New Orleans is not just famous for its beautiful landscape; there is lot of mystery and mythic surrounding it too. The book does not stop at just the exploring the beauty - in this instalment of Wyatt Thomas French Quarter Mysteries, you will find out about the monsters lurking in its wetlands – and how vivid the monsters are described as well!

In “Primal Creatures” Wyatt Thomas, the French Quarter’s favourite sleuth, takes on the rougarou – the Cajun werewolf. The story takes place in Goose Island, located forty miles south of New Orleans and five feet out of the shallow waters of south Louisiana’s wetlands. The island is home to the Tracists Monastery, as well as a resort that’s frequented by actors, screenwriters, and the who’s who in the flourishing Louisiana film industry.

However, a heinous death occurs on the island, which causes a movie producer to hire the services of Wyatt Thomas. What follows is a whirlwind adventure of epic proportions as Thomas fights against a faceless enemy that’s out to take his life before he is able to solve the mystery enveloping Goose Island.

Was it wild dogs that killed the victim? Or was it the rougarou, as a local voodoo woman tells Wyatt?  Who wants Wyatt dead? What do the monks of Tracists Monastery have to do with all the gruesome events? And what will Wyatt do about that deadly hurricane heading straight for the monastery?

If you are into fast-paced mysteries laced with shocking horror and heart-pounding suspense, then you will love Primal Creatures.

“Primal Creatures” by Eric Wilder is currently available in Kindle format at Amazon.com and is currently being offered at discounted price of only $2.99.

Contact Information:

Joi De Vera

Info@new-media.biz

New Orleans, LA, USA

The Machines of War

Just as technology has advanced to save lives and make the world a better place, it has also been used to get the better of others, strike fear into the hearts of people and, in some cases, even outright kill.

Here are some instances when technology is abused:

• Theft tools, which make it easier to steal things even in the tightest security.
• Recording gadgets, which can capture others in compromising situations.
• Online fraud and hacking, which abuses the Internet’s many flaws and security issues.
• Machines of war, which range from the smallest guns to the largest battleships.

Everyone knows about the machines of war, showing that man has long evolved from waging wars with swords and shields. It is a very disturbing trend, but it is required – how can you fight against such machines of war without having your own? How can you defend your mother country without resorting to the same technology that the opposing armies utilize?

And, amidst all these wars between armies, amidst all these machines and weapons, are the normal people – families with frantic parents and scared children, trying to keep themselves safe.

In “A Company of Tanks” by Major William Henry Lowe Watson D.S.O. D.C.M., the author takes us along a first-hand account of being in close proximity of one of the most dreaded machines of war – tanks.

The eBook also has detailed illustrations of the steel behemoths, which would have anyone in awe before you realize how frightening it must have been for a soldier to always be around these tanks.

Are these tanks, along with all machines of war, good use of technology? Or are they abuse of it? As always, it depends on how one sees them - as protectors of dreams or as destroyers of lands.

“A Company of Tanks” is is currently available in Kindle format at Amazon.com. Click on the link to preview the book or download your own copy.