THE BREEDLING AND THE CITY IN THE GARDEN BLOG TOUR - INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR KIMBERLEE ANN BASTIAN & GIVEAWAY

About the Book

Absolute obedience, servitude, neutrality.

​

These were the laws that once governed Bartholomew, an immortal soulcatcher, until one ill-fated night when he was forced to make a choice: rebel against his masters or reveal an ancient, dangerous secret.

He chose defiance.

Imprisoned for centuries as punishment for his decision, Bartholomew wastes away—until he creates an opportunity to escape. By a stroke of chance, Bartholomew finds himself in the human world and soon learns that breaking his bonds does not come without a price. Cut off from the grace that once ruled him, he must discover a new magic in 1930s Chicago.

Armed with only a cryptic message to give him direction, Bartholomew desperately tries to resume the mission he had started so long ago. Relying on the unlikely guidance of the streetwise orphan Charlie Reese, Bartholomew must navigate the depressed streets of the City in the Garden. But in order to solve this riddle, he must first discover if choice and fate are one in the same.

MY INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR KIMBERLEEE ANN BASTIAN

Hello and welcome, Kimberlee! Let’s start with my first question. THE BREEDLING AND THE CITY IN THE GARDEN is the first instalment of your Element Odysseys saga. What are the main features/themes in your series?

The main features in the series are the historical setting and elements I use to surround my fictitional characters. It was important to me to create a historical fantasy that is set apart from those traditionally thought of, especially those in Europe. Setting it in America during the Depression Era gave me the leeway to use a melting-pot of beliefs, folklore, and myths to create an unique world building mythology, as well as provide a setting that would cater to the plausibility that supernatural elements intereacted with the “real” world. 

Two of the biggest themes of the series deal with the notions of free-will verses destiny, and the honor of keeping ones word.

When and How did your fascination with mythology start?

I was a Disney Kid, through and through, so I have always been facinated by make-believe and fairytales; but I think my love for mythology was fully realized in sixth grade when my class read and studied Homer’s Odyssey.

Time travelling is one of the elements in your saga, especially in this first book.  How difficult is it to write about different time periods, especially past periods. Do you work a lot on research?

OCTOBER WATCHING, READING, TEACHING, LIVING

1. WATCHING - Don't you love Sunday nights?

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark

Most people hate Sunday nights since the weekend is over and the idea of starting a new working week is not easy to tackle. But I'm lucky enough to have found not one but two perfect antidotes in the recent weeks and I don't mind sharing them with you. This is how I face the ugly truth: Monday you do not scare me!  I prepare all my lesson plans and do my paperwork in advance, which I usually do at night, so that I can sit as comfortably as I can, turn the TV on and 1) enjoy Poldark's 18th century Cornish adventures on BBC 1 then 2) swoon on Victoria and Albert's 19th century royal romance on ITV +1. The result is I head to bed something like this  ...

... mesmerized! And who cares it'll be Monday in few hours!

Why are these series such safe havens? Too long to explain, but I'm sure you can understand. I am so grateful to UK TV for giving us such great period drama series.

HAPPY PEACE DAY, DEAR FRIENDS!

Today,  21st September, is the International Day of Peace, also known as Peace Day. It was brought into being by United Nations Resolutions in 1981 and 2001. Each year, hundreds of students take part in a student observance of Peace Day at the United Nations which includes Messengers of Peace. 

"The people of the world have asked us to shine a light on a future of promise and opportunity. Member States have responded with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development... It is an agenda for people, to end poverty in all its forms. An agenda for the planet, our common home. An agenda for shared prosperity, peace and partnership." stated UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. 

But is this mere utopia? 

Let's see if unforgettable and undeniable peace makers can  help us find the answer

BOOKS & MORE BOOKS! A GREAT MUST - READ LIST FROM GUEST BLOGGER STACEY

 Our guest blogger today is young and lovely Stacey Marone. Get to know more about her reading the bio note below this post and following her on twitter. Stacey has prepared a 30 must- read list full of interesting titles and reading tips. What title would you absolute add to her list? How many of these books have you read? Contribute your titles in the comment section,  it would be great to hear from you.  Happy reading, everyone!

     The 30 Books Everyone Should Read in Their Lives

Books are a luxury that can be enjoyed at every stage of your life, and nothing is more enjoyable nor enlightening than  to sit down with a book that gets you thinking, pulls the heartstrings and takes you to a new place. Below is an overview of 30 books that everyone should read at least once in their lifetime - in no particular order.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

It is not enough to simply see the movie. The book is a mixture of humanity and humour and there is a reason why it is one of the most loved and discussed books of our time.

2. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

So much more than a science book, Bill Bryson attempts to make sense of the universe and the meaning of the planet. A must read for anyone even remotely interested in what is out there.

3. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale - Art Spiegelman

A clever take on the usual holocaust novels, Maus is a graphic novel (comic) that tells a story of survival in the war by using cats and mice to represent Nazi's and Jews.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... EVERLASTING LIES BY BARBARA WARREN

About the Book

Edina Paxton is kissed at twelve, seduced at fourteen and married with child at fifteen. She immediately regrets her marriage to Charles Vernon and is relieved when he leaves to fight in the trenches during WW1. She soon finds love, comfort and sexual satisfaction with Bill, another soldier and the boy who first kissed her.

Charles is invalided out of the army and is sent to India on a hospital ship. There, he becomes a manager of a coalmine in Britain’s Indian Empire, with all the privileges that his position rewards, including sexual favours from female employees. At the end of his army service in 1920 he returns to England to collect his family and return to India, only to be greeted with the news that while he was away Edina was at play. She is pregnant.

Reluctantly, Edina and her three children sail for India with Charles and Edina gives birth to her fourth child while sailing south on the Red Sea. On reaching India Charles finds his Indian mistress is pregnant and Edina finds Charles’s Indian boss to be very attractive. It’s a mutual attraction. Neither Edina nor Charles is a saint.

BOOK BLAST & GIVEAWAY: THE KING OF FRIEND ZONE BY SHERALYN PRATT

The King of the Friend Zone by Sheralyn Pratt

Esme Taylor has an amazing fiancé, a lifelong best friend, and a problem. The problem stems from the fact that her best friend is named Hunter and, well. . .he’s kind of (totally) hot. It’s hate at first sight when her fiancé, Jon, and Hunter meet. Jon’s convinced that Hunter is in love with Esme, and that Hunter must be out of the picture if their upcoming marriage is to succeed. Esme thinks Jon is paranoid. The truth is, Jon’s not that far off. Hunter is in love with his best friend and always has been. What Jon has wrong, however, is that Hunter never had any plans of ruining Esme’s happily ever after. Hunter wants what’s best for Esme, even if that’s not him. When Jon pushes hard to end Esme and Hunter’s friendship, opposition comes from the most unlikely of places. It’s an eccentric lady with a cookie cart who suggests a different solution to Esme’s problem: Hunter and Esme should give each other a chance. They’ve both thought of the possibility over the years—of course they have. But with a ring already on Esme’s finger and a heap of hurt feelings and broken trust in the mix, there hasn’t been a worse time to explore the depths of their feelings for each other. Both Esme and Hunter think it’s time to move on and leave childhood crushes in the past. The question is: Can one woman and the taste of one cookie change their minds?

 

NEW RELEASE - THE FALL OF LORD DRAYSON BY RACHEL ANDERSON + GIVEAWAY

The Fall of Lord Drayson by Rachael Anderson 

Who is he really? A high and mighty lord or a lowly servant? When Colin Cavendish, the new earl of Drayson, informs Lucy Beresford that she and her mother need to vacate the house they've called home for the past two years, Lucy is fit to be tied. They have no money, no relations they can turn to for help, and nowhere to go. 

How dare the earl break the promise his father had made to the Beresfords without so much as a twinge of conscience? Fate plays her hand when Lucy discovers the earl unconscious and injured in the middle of the road. When he awakens with no recollection of who he is, Lucy seizes the opportunity to teach the earl a much-needed lesson in humility and tells him that he is nothing more than a mere servant. 

Her servant, in fact. And thus begins the charming tale of a pompous lord and an impetuous young woman, caught together in a web so tangled that it begs the question: Will they ever get out?

ARE YOU A WRITER? HERE'S TOP BOOKS TO AMP UP YOUR WRITING SKILLS

(by guest blogger Rachel Bartee) If you want to be a successful writer, there’s no room for stagnation. You must continuously learn new stuff and improve your writing skills. Your style and the quality of your content is greatly influenced by how much time you put into your personal development. Every successful writer, no matter the writing genre, got to where he is now by consistently crafting his writing skills through various methods.

As a writer for Edugeeksclub, constantly having to improve myself in order to keep up with the requirements, I’ve figured out many techniques on how to improve myself and my writing.

One of the most efficient ways writers use in order to improve their quality of writing is quite simple. They read. There are so many helpful books that are written with one purpose in mind: educating and training novice writers. They’re extremely specific and they’re offering a lot of useful and on-topic information concerning writing styles, grammar, writing tricks, and so on. In today’s article, we’ll take a look at the top eight books that can take your writing to the next level:

#1 On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser                  

This book is dedicated to everyone who wants to improve their writing. It’s a collection of well-written essays, along with in-depth analytics and explanations. It is not a technical book which offers step-by-step processes!

It offers a lot of great tips and insights, shows you many mistakes that you’re currently doing, and gives you the necessary tools to correct and improve your writing. It’s more about non-fiction writing rather than other genres. If you’re looking for those small details that can do a lot, this is the book for you.

PERIOD & MORE PERIOD: POLDARK IS BACK - ARE YOU IN FOR SOME MORE CORNISH DELIGHTS AND BITTERSWEET DRAMA?

Autumn usually brings new series and new shows on TV.  Summer is going to end soon, this means we must get ready to some excitement. Are you waiting for anything in particular? Excited for any of the coming-soon shows? 

I'm writing about mine, ok? What about sharing yours in the comments section? Too many question marks here! To the point! 

What about Poldark series two? Isn't that something worth some enthusiasm? After the cliffhanger we were left with at the end of series one, I can't wait? Have you read the books meanwhile? Or re-watched the episodes of the first season? 

Too many question marks again! Time for real news, now. Here is some info from the BBC Press Media Center website. Beware of some spoilers!

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as his wife Demelza are back on BBC One this September 4 at 9pm . The debut series peaked with 9.4 million viewers across TV and iPlayer, generating phenomenal media interest and devotion from viewers which culminated in it winning the Radio Times Audience Award at this year’s Baftas.

BOOKS & MORE BOOKS - 'ME BEFORE YOU' AND 'AFTER YOU' BY JOJO MOYES

Prologue

I did it again. It was around the end of the school year in May. I saw one of my students fully-immersed in the reading of a book during the break and asked: "What is it that you are so eagerly reading?”

Her answer was a big smile and “So beautiful, prof.! You must read it. “ And then she showed me the book cover with the title.

“In English?”

“Yes, it is not out in Italian yet”

“A romance?” I suspected it from the cover and the title.

 Her answer came after a while: “ Not exactly … not only … it’s pretty special”

That  was enough to made me curious. I googled it, saw there was a movie coming soon starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin, read the synopsis and … promised myself I was definitely not going to read it! Not another cheesy romance my students loved which was going to make me cry!

But then, while on holiday in Scotland,  I happened  to enter a bookshop with books half-price all over and I came out with not only “Me Before You” but its sequel too! I must be crazy, you say? Must be, since I not only bought those books,  I even read them. Well, worse even: I not only read them but also liked them.

Why did I start this post with "I did it again"? It ‘s not the first time I read books or watch movies recommended by my students and find them not so bad.  Did I say cheesy, somewhere above? Well, it wasn't. It isn't. Aren’t I a lucky teacher? ;-)