Did you know JRR Tolkien wrote Father Christmas (Santa) letters to his children every year? The video below, shows some of the letters and illustrations from a new book about it.
Happy Holidays!
Below are a couple of videos of book-themed holiday trees. The first has adult books and the second has kid’s books. There are more on my YouTube channel.
Finally, INTO THE LAND OF SNOWS is on sale this month. $.99 Kindle and $9.99 Print.
Filed under Books
I’ve been experimenting with several free, AI image generators over the last month or so. I know there are some powerful applications out there if you pay for them and are good at technology. Alas, not me. But I did have some success with Microsoft’s Designer’s Image Creator. Take a look at the images in the video below. Typing in ever more specific details over a period of time did result in usable images. ArtGuru also produced good images for fantasy but was awful for historical themes. Others to try: Runway, Craiyon, Adobe Firefly, Dream Studio, Night Cafe, DeepAI. All in the future, when I get the time. What works for you?
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 has to contend with what she may have inadvertently brought home with her.
BUY E- book here: https://bit.ly/4elCeZE
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
5-Star Rating Amazon:
“Timeless Tulips Dark Diamonds is a ghost story for a family read. The story narrates the relationship between two young girls who meet in a place where eternity is now; Annika is living in the seventeenth century and Lydia in the twenty-first. They are connected by place as Lydia unknowingly traces Annika’s passage from Europe to America, discovering at the end of her journey the house in which Annika was murdered.
The book is crammed with real information that’s guaranteed to stimulate the imagination. The writer provides a wealth of background in art, American history and the inside story of the great Tulip crash of 1637. It’s exactly the kind of book I used to read to my children back when they were still children and I recommend it to all parents or caregivers for reading to the children in their care.”
SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE: Contact himalayaspencerellis@yahoo.com for more info!
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The book is here!!
Book Description:
While visiting a museum in England, Ben and Kyle experience the extraordinary. Gazing at the Alfred Jewel, an ancient Anglo-Saxon artifact, they watch as it spins, contorts, and evaporates from its case, taking them with it.
Whisked back to Victorian England, the brothers are shocked to find themselves sprawled on the floor before Mr. Charles Dodgson, also known as Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland.
They soon learn that the famous author’s muse, Alice, is missing. Alice has used the Alfred Jewel to enter Wonderland and, by so doing, has upset the time continuum. The only way for the boys to return home is to locate Alice and return her safely.
But Wonderland is a strange and dangerous place…
ORDER HERE: (from your favorite store)
bit.ly/3roGX9f
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Final Countdown To Launch- Down the Treacle Well (Nov 7th): Announcements! Review magazine, early reviewers, book trailer, cake, a book horoscope (really? REALLY!!).
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Some final comments on how last night’s Halloween book event went.
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The index of articles from this blog are now posted as a page. Find the listing here:
ASTROLOGY SERVICES:
To find my books, click on the link below.
Filed under Blogging
A NOVEL by Megan Campisi
I’ve been intrigued by the notion of sin-eaters since I saw a movie concerning the topic years ago (The Last Sin Eater, 2007). Recently, I spotted this YA historical fiction work on the theme. It’s an intriguing book with a nice murder mystery at its heart.
But what is a sin-eater? Sin-eaters are designated individuals within a community who consume ritual foods thereby taking on the sins of a deceased person. The foods symbolize (or absorb, depending on your perspective) the sins and through ingestion, the sin-eater acquires the sin thereby absolving the deceased, and paving the way for entry into heaven. Historically, the practice is associated with Wales and the English counties bordering Wales.
In the book, The Sin Eater, 14-year-old, May, is made a sin-eater after stealing a loaf of bread during the reign of Elizabeth I. Marked as a sin-eater and shunned by society, May eventually seeks out an older woman in the same situation. This woman mentors May in this hard life through example because verbal communication is forbidden. Sin-eaters are well fed and outcasts who are redeemed only upon death, having faithfully served their purpose—or so May is led to believe. Things are turned upside down when the older sin-eater refuses to consume a deer heart for a royal governess who’s died. Refusing to do so costs her life. May loses her teacher and ends up center stage in a mystery of death and intrigue involving the royal bloodline.
I enjoyed the book because it is an imaginative tale about something very little is known about. And yet, it did exist culturally, and the legacy carried on to some extent in areas including western England, Wales, Bavaria, and 17th century Dutch America. Campisi’s novel is now available in paperback.
Click below to find my books.
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This is the time of year of ghosts, spooks, specters. Americans love a good ghost story, don’t we? I’ve always thought so. This week, I found a few statistics that surprised me. A Harris Poll (2013) found 43% of us believe in ghosts and 20% (according to the Pew Research Center) report an encounter with a ghost or presence. All I can say is really? That all? Actually, I suppose the number is quite high given the prevailing material paradigm.
When writing my ghost tale, I stuck to the notion of the white, insubstantial energy form portrayed in many traditional stories. Annika in Timeless Tulips, Dark Diamonds appeared this way but also took solid shape when Lydia time traveled back to the 17th century. My portrayal of a ghost had both wispy and life-like appearances. Not unlike stories that have come down to us from ghost lore. While many spirits have appeared in flimsy diaphanous, white apparel—some haven’t. Some have donned colorful clothing they’d be comfortable wearing in daily life. Specters fitted out in armor, monk’s robes, or silken gowns are common enough. Some of these appear solid and fully fleshed out. Real, in fact. There are reports of people shaking hands or trying to, with some of these ghosts. Naked ghosts are rarely reported, cultural propriety prevails even for those stuck between worlds.
As we approach Halloween and the veil thins, it’s good to keep an open mind. I’ve had a few experiences that leave me highly suspicious of our understanding of reality. One of those instances is highlighted in the dedication of Timeless Tulips, the others I’ll save for another occasion.
I remind everyone of my own ghost tale offering, Timeless Tulips, Dark Diamonds. 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
Filed under Books
ellisnelson 