Friday 27 November 2015

Ooh Matron! It's only 99c!!! #RPBP

Ooh Matron! It's only 99c!!!
At all good bookstores
Find all the links here http://bit.ly/OohmatronAWS

Sarah Jane is a sixteen-year-old country girl, a little old-fashioned with a mischievous sense of humour, who suddenly decides she wants to be a nurse. 
I am not sure what Florence Nightingale would make of her! 
Sarah Jane has no career aspirations, all she wants is to leave school, work as a cashier at Woolworths and get married. Then everything changes and she finds herself wearing a fluorescent pink uniform and studying to get into Nursing School. 
What inspired this surprising change of direction? What happens when she leaves her Suffolk home, friends and family to live in nurses quarters in an Essex garrison town with a housemate who is a party animal?  

5-star reviewers say: 

"I laughed out loud at the hilarious antics, and was sobered by the genuine emotional moments that all health professionals will recognise. This is a book that will make you laugh and cry and you’ll feel better for it - The perfect prescription." Bookworm 

"This funny, yet poignant nursing memoir has Sarah Jane's trademark honest writing style which shines through in every story she tells. From starting her student nurse training in Essex to coping with patients in happy, sad and heart-breaking situations. It gives you a young woman's view into the realities of entering the world of nursing in the 1980’s. A highly entertaining and informative memoir.



The young Sarah Jane!



Ooh Matron! A review by Christoph Fischer: 
I don’t often read memoirs because I’m a fiction fan but the title, reminiscent of Carry On Films tempted me into buying this one. I used to work in care homes in my youth and was interested in that aspect of the memoir, too.
The book is written with a wonderfully human spirit: caring, humorous, upbeat and full of life. Where other memoirs drift into documentary style and dry facts, Butfield knows how to spice things up. Great anecdotes, warm-hearted humour and accessible writing make this as an entertaining, interesting and enjoyable read as the title promises. 
On a more serious note, the author reflects on many aspects of nursing with great empathy and honesty, particularly the parts about working with mentally ill patients and those with Down Syndrome were moving and informative to me. There’s a lot you can learn from this book. An all round winner. 



Vote for The 50 Best Indie Books of 2015: Comedy


Ooh matron! Is nominated in the Read Freely Best Indie Books 2015 - Comedy group
Your vote would be appreciated. There is no sign up, just click beside Ooh Matron, add you name and submit!

Thursday 26 November 2015

Curl up by the fire with a Kindle Fire #RPBP #tw4rw


Happy Holidays GiveAway!

Win a Kindle Fire + 56 ebooks!

Sign up now! goo.gl/RTFpPL 

Check out the authors involved in this giveaway!

Feeling lucky?
 
Enter to win a Kindle Fire and 56 novels. 

Register to win at goo.gl/5UoUC5


Good luck to all
Happy holidays!

Wednesday 25 November 2015

#RPBP One woman’s story: a child lost at birth, war, betrayal, travel, dreams and art 99c!!!


http://smarturl.it/TLI15

Just 99c!!!


One woman’s story: 

A child lost at birth, war, betrayal, travel, dreams, and art


In a hospital in a foreign land, a young American woman gives birth. Her son, one hope of saving her troubled marriage to a mysterious man, is born dead. Soon after, while she still grieves, Susan's island paradise in Cyprus collapses into a war zone, and she finds herself trapped in fierce fighting between defending Greek and Turkish forces. Evacuated by the British Navy, she starts putting pieces back together in England. Then she learns that her husband had something to do with the war. And in lucid dreams, she sees that he is also cheating on her. She confronts him, and he responds with a too-professional chokehold that threatens her life. Stunned, she finds herself penniless in the streets of Brussels. But friends, dreams, and creativity push her forward as she discovers that her "ticking clock" is not the need to produce a child, but her need to create a life that reflects her true expressive self.

This twelve-year memoir of profound personal transformation and friendships is a true page-turner. Again and again, you will ask yourself "what could possibly happen next?"

Don't forget that Susan's second book in the Journeys series 
is now available on pre-order!


When Susan and Charles receive a letter from Cyprus friends, now in Taiwan, they get a chance to help crew a sailboat from Sri Lanka across the Indian Ocean. They have no clue what to expect. Susan reminds Charles she isn't a good swimmer. He tells her a life jacket will do the trick, and convinces her it's the opportunity of a lifetime. A must-do travel adventure. They say goodbye to friends and family in sunny California, fly to New York and on to India, arriving the day the Indian government has issued a state of emergency. And then onto the boat, and into the ocean. In monsoon season. With no charts.

In this true-life travel adventure, Susan keeps a journal and records her bizarre thoughts and telling dreams. A real life thriller, Susan's monsoon-season journey is about discovery and spiritual realization--one dream at a time.

You can find out more about award-winning author Susan Joyce and her books at Rukia Publishing:

Meet The Author Susan Joyce
Book showcase The Lullaby Illusion

Friday 13 November 2015

It's competition time with Time Trap author Richard Smith and Rukia Publishing #RPBP


 Welcome to my Friday blog!
I have opened up my blog to fellow Rukia Publishing featured author Richard Smith to give you a sneak preview of his double competition launch today! It will be featured on my blog at Rukia tomorrow and on some other blogs, but you have seen it here first!

It's a busy day today as Friday 13th November is also the Glass Half Full Bookaversary. We have a party in progress on Facebook so feel free to pop over for some virtual cake, food, drinks, games and giveaways.

Here is your invitation 


http://bit.ly/GHFBookaversary


Now it's over to author Richard Smith to tell you about his generous and fun competitions to get children reading, writing and being creative. 
Hello Richard and welcome.

Thank you Sarah Jane, it's lovely to be here today and Happy Bookaversary!!!!

Firstly, I would like to tell you a little about myself and my book, as those of you who don't read children's books may not know me! 
I am the author of Time Trap a children's book aimed at 9-14-year-olds, although many adults have admitted to picking it up accidentally and enjoying too. I grew up in Ilford, Essex. It was at Uphall Primary School that I first took up writing, when I was nine, and I've loved writing ever since. Two of my passions are time-travel and Victorian London, so I guess it was inevitable I wrote a story consisting of both aspects.

Time Trap




TODD'S IN A STREET GANG, JAMIE WANTS TO BE. TO GET HIS FRIEND'S BACKING AND JOIN THE RIVERSIDE POSSE, HE TAKES HIM TO A SECRET LABORATORY. BUT DISASTER IS ABOUT TO STRIKE...

Who was the mysterious Hector Lightfoot? What was he up to when he disappeared, and who were the two ghosts once seen in his house? School friends Jamie and Todd are destined to find out when they go to London to spend a weekend with Jamie's Uncle Simon, who now lives in that very house. Soon after they arrive, Jamie has a frightening encounter with the two ghosts.
Get your copy of Time Trap here


Hector, a veteran from the First Afghan War, joined a covert expedition to China, and afterwards worked on a secret Government project in an underground lab at the British Museum. He vanished suddenly, and was never heard from again.

Simon takes the boys to the lab, where they find a strange contraption – which, unknown to any of them, is a time-travel device. When the building is struck by lightning, the device is energized, and sends the boys back in time to the year 1862. There, surrounded by danger and exposed to disease, they are sucked into a life of crime in order to survive.
Only if they can find Hector will they have any chance of getting home again. But why has he gone into hiding? Who is the man after him and what does he want? As the boys struggle to escape back to their own time, Jamie becomes convinced that the two ghosts he saw earlier are following them…



Now there is a very good reason that I gave you such a detailed introduction to Time Trap, it's because one of the two competitions I am launching today involves writing a short story based on a character from the book. It can be a mini-adventure, a new plot-line or anything that stirs within you or your children's imagination.The opportunities are endless. We have Hector and Catherine, of course, but then there's the Holton gang, and Cornelius and his secret organization. Or you can relate it the Trail that readers can go on which is linked to my author website 

http://www.timetrap.co.uk/p/the-trail.html

To enter email your short story to rukiapublishing@mail.com and enter Time Trap Short Story in the subject header.
Entries should be 1500 words maximum, no minimum, and please include the writer's name, age and preferred contact email address.

The  competition opens Friday 13th November 2015 and closes on 4th December 2015. The three selected winners will be announced here and on the Rukia Publishing associated blogs and social media December 6th. 
The winning entries will be featured on the Rukia Publishing website in a boxed feature and promoted on our associated blogs and social media. 

Now to the prizes!!

1st Prize
An autographed copy of the book with a personalized message to the winner and  a Time Trap baseball hat
2nd prize
Signed copy of Time Trap and a Time Trap baseball hat
3rd prize
Signed Copy of Time Trap

Good luck to all!





Competition Two


This competition will appeal to the creative readers 

It's a Christmas Card Design Competition 

I would like your readers to design a 'Time Trap' Christmas Card.
As Time Trap is set in Victorian London, which is often a theme for Christmas cards, you can let your imagination run wild to demonstrate how the characters of Time Trap might celebrate Christmas or the kind of card they would make to send to their friends and family.

How to enter:


To enter email your design to rukiapublishing@mail.com and enter Time Trap Christmas Card Design in the subject header.
Entries can be scanned and attached to the email.
Please include the entrant's name, age and preferred contact email address.

The  competition opens Friday 13th November 2015 and closes on 4th December 2015. The three selected winners will be announced here and on the Rukia Publishing associated blogs and social media December 6th. 
The winning entries will be featured on the Rukia Publishing website and promoted on our associated blogs and social media. 

Get your copy of Time Trap here

Now to the prizes!!

1st Prize
An autographed copy of the book with a personalized message to the winner and  a Time Trap baseball hat
2nd prize
Signed copy of Time Trap and a Time Trap baseball hat
3rd prize
Signed Copy of Time Trap

Get designing!!!


Well that's it, Sarah Jane, I hope that one or both of these competitions will appeal to your readers, followers and/or their children and I am looking forward to reviewing the entries. Thank you for allowing me to launch the competition on your writing blog.

Thank you Richard, those are great competitions and generous prizes which I am sure will inspire our budding authors and artists to get creative.

For more on Richard and his book Time Trap visit his author website and don't forget to follow him on Twitter and Facebook for more great articles and features about Time Trap and it's characters.

Good luck everyone and I look forward to hosting the winning stories and Christmas cards!

Friday 6 November 2015

First time FREE- Prunes for Breakfast by John Searancke #RPBP


http://bit.ly/FREEprunesJS

Good morning everyone!
It's a wet and windy Friday here in Wales! If you are looking for a good book to cozy up with in a warm room and a cup of tea then look no further.
For 2 days only Prunes for Breakfast is FREE - normal price $7.64 so don't be shy you literally have nothing to lose - get your copy today!

Check out this early review:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read! 22 Oct. 2015
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Torn from his cosy well-to-do life as a (very) young company director in Burton on Trent, with its all-pervading smell of roasted hops from the breweries, Private Edward Searancke (the author’s father) is dumped from the back of a removals van into a far less cosy life in the British army. There’s a war on, Hitler is at the gate, and Edward is determined to do his duty – even if it means endless square bashing (torture to his fallen arches), separation from his new bride Elizabeth, and nowhere to park his golf clubs. Yet it is through a combination of golf and grit that he rises rapidly up through the ranks to become a captain, one of the brave many who stormed the beaches at Normandy in 1944.
The skill of this marvellous book is the combination of real-life letters, written to and from ‘Eddie’ and Elizabeth, and straight ‘imagined’ narrative as meticulously crafted by their son, John (aka “JE”). The frustration of the two lovers, as Eddie is shunted from pillar to post, from the Isle of Man to St Albans, from Ireland to Kent, and finally to France is brilliantly evoked: what marriage could have had a harder start, when every time they try to meet, a last minute extra duty or a politically important game of golf (I laughed at this, Elizabeth didn’t!) manages to keep them apart. I scanned the letters a few times to work out how they managed to conceive young John!
I also scratched my head over where the Prunes for Breakfast of the title might be – halfway through the book and not a prune in sight – but then Eddie gets captured by the Nazis and banged up in a POW holding camp for officers. What’s for breakfast? Oh yes, it’s prunes, and Eddie becomes a very regular soldier indeed. How glad, however, he is to exchange this meagre repast for steak and chips upon his release by the Yanks – he hasn’t seen a chip in years!
At times hilarious, at others a stern reminder of how Britain kept the great in Great Britain, this is not just the story of how an ordinary man performed extraordinary things in times of war. It is a paean to the virtues of hope, courage and the love of two people whose pens were mightier than the sword. Kudos, John, for interpreting their love and penmanship so beautifully – this is a wonderful read.

Extract from Prunes for Breakfast by John Searancke.
"I chose to write in a diary format, reconstructing the story of my father’s war through research and reproducing sections from his letters verbatim in between the telling of the tale. I have not found (although I am sure that it must exist) another book which details the humdrum and mundane, as well as the exciting and dramatic, experienced and recorded in writing by one man over the full period of World War Two, as he was turned from a civilian into a fighting soldier and leader of men."
Visit John Searancke's book showcase at Rukia Publishing 
Meet the author John Searancke at Rukia Publishing
Download now from Amazon


Have a wonderful Friday and if you download a free copy and you enjoy this touching story please leave a review, just a few words makes a big difference to an author.

Take care,
Sarah Jane

Tuesday 3 November 2015

DRUM ROLL!!!! The Glass Half Full winning caption is.......... #RPBP

http://bit.ly/AuthorWS



The caption competition on my Glass Half Full Facebook Fan Page has been so much fun. I would like to thank everyone who shared the post, liked the page and submitted a possible caption for the photograph above.

The competition has been running on Facebook, Twitter and on the Rukia Publishing associate blogs and we have had some giggles compiling the list to go into the draw to win a paperback copy of Glass Half Full.

Here are a couple of my favourites:

You do know you picked up the wrong Joey. Ours doesn't have fur x

"So this is your Pal Joey, then"

Wow, it's even got a pouch for my tablet!

I said I wanted a lap dog! This is not a dog and is not going on my lap!

And who is going to explain this new addition to Dave and Buster?


These are all awesome entries but the winning caption belongs to...... 


Maretha Botha

"Let's take him home! One more's not gonna kill us, Nigel."

Congratulations Maretha, I will message you on Facebook for your postal address to send your prize.


Because it was so hard to choose a winner I would like to offer a free ebook copy to these runners up:

John Holt
Lisa Wadsworth-mather 
Sarah Williams