Tag Archives: book sales

FOR THE HAUNTING SEASON:

Special price reduction on Timeless Tulips, Dark Diamonds- A Ghost Story (.99 ebook)!!

Yes, it’s a ghost story but there’s plenty of history behind that story. I have personal connections to the area of NY state where Annika and Lydia’s tale plays out. And then there are the European connections and research that went into the book.

Several years ago, I got caught up in the story of the tulip. Way back in 1554, an ambassador to Turkey sent some bulbs and seeds back home. These found their way into Vienna and then into the Low Counties. It took the careful work of Carolus Clusius (a botanist at the University of Leiden) to cultivate and catalog those bulbs that would tolerate the local conditions and soon tulips were popular. Newly independent Holland had a unique flower, and it soon became a luxury item. (Slideshow below shows me at the Hortus Bontanicus in Leiden where Clusius once worked his magic.)

More and more fantastic species were developed. The most sought-after tulips actually suffered from a virus that broke the colors into streaks. Eventually, a whole speculative trade came into existence in which people who bought the bulbs never saw them and never possessed them. Tulip fever reached its height in the winter of 1636 when a single bulb might be traded as many as ten times in a day. Then abruptly in February, there came a day when traders just stayed home. The bubble had burst. Fortunes had been made and lost.

Special price reduction on Timeless Tulips, Dark Diamonds- A Ghost Story (.99 ebook)!!

In this chilling ghost story, an act from the distant past is reawakened and afflicts the life of a modern teenage girl.

When Lydia travels to Amsterdam with her parents, bizarre things start to happen. Curtains flutter and unexplained shadows move unnerving her. With Dad interviewing for a job, Lydia is content to dismiss the oddities blaming them on jet lag and her migraine disease. But upon returning home to New York, the experiences intensify.

This is the haunting tale of two girls separated by four hundred years. Lydia is confused and in danger because the ghost of a little Dutch girl, Annika, wants revenge. When Lydia’s life is threatened, she is forced to solve a centuries’ old mystery to uncover the truth about Annika, her story, and how their past and present connect them. Can Lydia learn the truth in time to save herself and help Annika?

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Alice Day Sale:

July 4th commemorates the famous day of the boat ride, when legend has it, the story of Alice was first told.

In 1862, the Rev. Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll), who was a mathematics don at Oxford, took three little neighbor girls out for a ride on a boat. On a hot, sunny July day, and in the company of his friend, Robinson Duckworth, the don began to spin yet another fantastic story for the amusement of the girls. Alice, who was ten at the time, begged Mr. Dodgson to write down the tale for her. She was presented with a handwritten copy of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, illustrated by the author during Christmas 1864. That copy resides in the British Museum and is probably the most famous book in all children’s literature. The next year the rest of the world welcomed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland into history.

ORDER HERE: bit.ly/3roGX9f

SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE: Contact himalayaspencerellis@yahoo.com for more info!

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A CHILL IN AMSTERDAM

The fascinating history of the rise and fall in the speculative tulip market during the seventeenth century provided the backdrop for my book, Timeless Tulips, Dark Diamonds. The tale developed through daughter Annika’s eyes who grew up in a typical Dutch merchant class family. Annika lived during the Dutch Golden Age, a time of wealth, power, and opportunity. Even hundreds of years later, she would recognize Amsterdam’s canals, grand houses, and the Western Church. And perhaps, she might smile at the stories of others like herself who haunt the city.     

THE SPINHUIS (Spinning House)-Today this site is a fashionable hotel but back in 1597, convicted women were held here and forced to sew clothes. In one famous tale, a priest fell in love with a young girl jailed in the facility and when he was denied access to her, he committed suicide. The ghost of the priest is said to haunt one of the hotel rooms and hotel staff refuse to enter the room.

BLACK MATTHEW– In Amsterdam, there is a tale dating back to the thirteenth century of a sinister character called Black Matthew. This rogue and magician apparently made a pact with the devil. Ever since, he has haunted the streets threating locals and tourists alike. Beware being out alone on the streets at night. No area in the entire city is outside his evil reach!

SPOOKSTEEG (Ghost Alley)- This story involves the notorious ghost of Helene who murdered her sister to marry a sailor who had favored her sister. On her deathbed, Helene confessed to the husband who cursed her for the act. Helene’s ghost has been seen in dark corners of this part of the city, moaning and screaming.     

Should you like to explore more ghostly tales, I invite you to escape into the seventeenth century to visit Annika and see how she meets a modern-day American teenager named Lydia. Let the haunting begin! (Timeless Tulips, Dark Diamonds)

I remind everyone of my own ghost tale offering. The e-book has been discounted from $4.99 to $2.99 for all of October. The print copy is also available.  

Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WnlqZX

E- book available: https://amzn.to/2l7LhHP

TIMELESS TULIPS, DARK DIAMONDS- A GHOST STORY

When fourteen-year-old Lydia travels to Amsterdam with her parents, the last thing she expects is the weird incidents that plague her stay. Curtains flutter mysteriously, and unexplained shadows move through the kitchen unnerving her. But Lydia is more concerned with the potential move to upstate New York. She dismisses the odd occurrences blaming them on jet lag and the various symptoms of her migraine disease.

When Lydia’s father lands a new job and the family moves to an area first settled by the Dutch, the bizarre happenings continue. Suffering from migraines has never been easy, but now Lydia must face what she may have inadvertently brought home with her. A vengeful ghost!

Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WnlqZX

E- book available: https://amzn.to/2l7LhHP

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THE GHOST STORY

IN LITERATURE

This time of year as the days grow short and the air crisp, Halloween lurks just around the corner, my thoughts turn to those creepy tales told before the fire. Ghosts figure in many of them and the traditional ghost story has a long history. Every culture produced oral and/or written stories of ghosts.

Among the earliest written examples, Homer’s Odyssey depicts a journey into the underworld where the hero finds ghosts of the dead. A haunted house was portrayed by Plautus, the Roman playwright in his work entitled, Mostellaria. The ghost bound in chains was perhaps first described by Pliny the Younger in another haunted place tale. The Roman writer, Seneca was also fond of using ghosts in his tragedies. These classical examples would start to set the stage for the development of ghost stories in our own culture and day.

In celebration of the deep roots of this tradition, I remind everyone of my own ghost tale offering. The e-book has been discounted from $4.99 to $2.99 for all of October. The print copy is also available.  

Available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WnlqZX

E- book available: https://amzn.to/2l7LhHP

TIMELESS TULIPS, DARK DIAMONDS- A GHOST STORY

When fourteen-year-old Lydia travels to Amsterdam with her parents, the last thing she expects is the weird incidents that plague her stay. Curtains flutter mysteriously, and unexplained shadows move through the kitchen unnerving her. But Lydia is more concerned with the potential move to upstate New York. She dismisses the odd occurrences blaming them on jet lag and the various symptoms of her migraine disease. When Lydia’s father lands a new job and the family moves to an area first settled by the Dutch, the bizarre happenings continue. Suffering from migraines has never been easy, but now Lydia must face what she may have inadvertently brought home with her. A vengeful ghost.

E-book: sale $2.99 https://amzn.to/2l7LhHP

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BOOK SALE

For the next two weeks (May 30-Jun 15), INTO THE LAND OF SNOWS, Kindle edition, will be on sale for $2.99 ( orig. price $4.99).

HIGH ALTITUDE MAGIC & MYSTERY:

Sixteen year old Blake travels to Base Camp on Mt. Everest to spend time with his physician father. When a deadly avalanche occurs, Dad is forced to rethink things and sends Blake away. Now accompanied by a Sherpa guide, and in possession of a mysterious camera, Blake undertakes a journey that will challenge everything he believes. In the magical Himalayas, he will be forever changed by what he experiences.

To find my books, follow the link below.

https://amzn.to/33TcrTh

REIKI DISTANCE HEALING TREATMENTS: I’d like to offer my services to readers of the blog during the Covid crisis. Anyone interested in receiving a Reiki distance treatment can contact me at: ellisnelson@gmx.com. I will provide additional information via email. To honor the exchange practice of Reiki, you will be asked to make a $25 donation to your favorite charity.      

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