Meet Charles Cross #RPBP

Meet debut author Charles Cross, who has just released his book of poems entitled, If I Settle Down.

Charles Cross lives alone in East Tennessee where he is buried alive underneath the dogged pursuit of credit card companies and unpaid student loans.

I recently interviewed Charles for my Rukia Publishing blog take a look here. This is a talented author who we will be seeing a lot more of....Watch this space and remember who told you first!

Get your copy of this new release at:

B&N 
Goodreads 
Amazon ebooks
Amazon paperback

Part 2 in my 'Behind the scenes' series - today featuring The Black Rose #RPBP

Welcome to the behind the scenes series from the Rukia featured authors. Today we welcome back The Black Rose for part two of the making of The Yugoslavian.
If you missed part one you can find it here

We would love to get your feedback so please leave a comment.

The Making of The Yugoslavian – Part Two

In Search of the Perfect Cover Photo

Here we go, this was a challenge. I started laying out book covers back in 1995. I tried images that looked like postcards, searched the Internet for images to purchase, created a plain cover…nothing quite fit the story. In 2012, when I gave myself a deadline to publish the story, I again started searching for the perfect cover photo. It had to be a photograph that captured the mood of the novel. Unlike my other series, The Killing Game Series, which is more of a dark drama, this story always gave me a sense of the color gray or blue.

Again, I searched online. The years made a difference on what could be purchased from stock photo companies. I searched, but nothing was right. Being a photographer, I almost always have some form of a camera in my possession. In the morning when I’m out in the yard with my pup, I’m usually photographing her. (Last count was about 8 years ago and I had a little over 17,000 photographs of her. I can only imagine how many I’ve taken since.) The view from the yard is spectacular, especially in winter. I had spent a good deal of time photographing the woods and I was intrigued by the trees across the lake approximately half a mile away. I spent several days the winter of 2013 capturing images. I transferred the photographs to my computer, not actually examining them because I could take 100 or so in any one session.

Spring came and I thought perhaps a cemetery would give me the atmosphere I sought. I wrote to two of the larger historic cemeteries just outside of Manhattan, gained permission to photograph there and found several worthy statues. Even with the fabulous shots I took, the cover wasn’t coming from that session.

Typically the way I photograph is shooting a series of the very same subject, changing lighting, angle, etc. Most of the time I will do what I call a sweep, using the motor drive at high speed to reduce blur when not using a tripod. That sometimes provides hundreds of photographs to examine and look through. That is time-consuming, but a valuable practice because each millisecond the light changes and the captured essence in one shot may not have been in the shot before or just after.

I went back and began reviewing all the winter shots I had and there were three photographs, taken in succession, of three different locations of the trees across the lake all on February 11, 2013. The first was taken at 1:00 pm, the second at 1:02 pm, and the third at 1:03 pm.




Nothing was taken in between. The time lapse was me moving from one location to the next. Three individual scenes, all beautiful and secretive. My goal was to see the trees across the lake while simultaneously creating a mystery as if someone is looking through binoculars or perhaps a rifle scope. Someone who is hiding, someone who doesn’t want to be seen. The winner was obvious. After manipulating the color to bring out the blue emotion, the end result was:





After changing the hue, finding the right lightness and adding the text, the front cover was perfect for the story. This is the final product.


Quite often I get scolded for obscuring my name. But the story is about the characters, even if my heart and soul are behind each and every word. Writing is an art. Once you have committed your story to paper, finding the perfect image to reflect what your heart has transcribed is sometimes the hardest part of the entire writing process. It is said,“You can’t judge a book by its cover.” They’re right. Just as you can’t judge a book by its title (another thing I hear about from people). Yet it is true. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And even if everyone doesn’t see the wintery mystery of someone spying through the trees in this cover, my heart is content in knowing no other image could take its place.

In the end, the perfect cover photograph was right in my backyard…

If you would like to connect with The Black Rose or see more of her photography or get a copy of The Yugoslavian here are the links you need:

http://smarturl.it/TYTBR (Amazon)
http://smarturl.it/YugoslavianBN15 (Barnes & Noble)
Amazon look inside feature
The Yugoslavian page from theblackrosenyc.com
The soundtrack to The Yugoslavian
Book Trailer The Wanted Man
Tess Travel Journal YouTube

How fiction authors develop an idea into a captivating novel #RPBP

http://smarturl.it/YUGO15

Welcome to my guest blogger today The Black Rose. Ever since my first read of The Yugoslavian, I have been a huge fan of her work. It always interests me, as non-fiction author, how fiction authors develop an idea into a captivating novel and what other elements need to be considered  to maintain authenticity. I hand you over to The Black Rose for part one of this insightful guest blog.

Hello Sarah Jane, thanks for inviting me to talk about how I work and what goes on behind the scenes. I have divided this feature into two parts. The first part includes talking about writing The Yugoslavian without actually being in Sarajevo. What motivated me and the decisions for the story line along with why the book is more pro-Serb than anti-Serb. In the second part, I talk about my decades-long search for the perfect cover photo. I stressed over it—it had to be perfect. Tried a few things that didn’t do it for me and eventually found the perfect cover in my own back yard…literally. 

The Making of The Yugoslavian – Part One

Writing it without having been there 
I’m not certain how it happened, but it did. I was in the throws of writing The Killing Game and one day I looked at a photograph of a man and directly into his eyes, a man from the former Yugoslavia. In my head, I heard a man’s voice, “Write a story about my country.” I heard that voice in my head so clearly as if whoever he was right there with me. Whose voice was it I heard? God’s? My favorite, Archangel Michael’s? Or someone else’s? It was difficult to know, but it was an idea I could not let go of. I tried not to think about it, but again, within about fifteen minutes to half an hour, I was busily typing the opening sequence on my computer.At that point, I had written the story from beginning to end inside my head and it was now clamoring to get out. This was during the Christmas holiday of 1994 when the siege for Sarajevo was hot and heavy. I had read and listened to the news about the war, but I did not quite understand it. The press painted the reason behind the war as “ethnic cleansing due to religious differences” but that sounded so bogus. So I started to dig. I started asking questions and found that most of the facts were cloaked in the propaganda of the war’s side effects. I started searching for people from the former Yugoslavia and I found them. I asked questions and received many different points of view--it was a bit mind boggling.

From all the information I gleaned, there was more confusion than sense to be made of it all. That, in essence, was the crux of the war and would be the backdrop of my story. Misconceptions, lies, deceptions, loss and, lost causes gave me only a few choices for conjuring a story about a place I had neither traveled to nor seen the war up close. Actually, I’ve never seen war up close. I have seen a lot of things in life but not war. So how do I write about it?

First, I had to decide what the story would be about. That took a whole of two seconds. I write about interpersonal relationships (let’s call it IR for this segment).And what sort of IR would this story be about? Naturally a man and woman, but not the typical man/woman relationship. War would cause issues, would it not? Are they both from Yugoslavia or from somewhere else? If they were from the same country, they might be clawing to get out of there. If from different countries, how would they get in? Or better, why?

At the time, there were several movies in the works about this situation but my story had to be different. Nothing yet told the everyday stories of those who fought to stay alive in this war. I wanted my story to be about that. No one spoke about the everyday heroes that stove to help others who could not help themselves. The news made it sound as if the civilian populace were rabid dogs,fighting with anyone and everyone to get what they could. And that was only when they cared to report on civilians other than the major atrocities. But the press has always been about sensationalism because that sells newspapers. I wanted something different. Something that would speak to the heart and soul of the people.

The answer was obvious. A man from Yugoslavia and a woman from America. But what would bring her out of her comfortable existence in the US to a war-torncountry? It did not take long to formulate the answer, which was a concern since I first heard about the war—the children who had lost their parents? Yes, an orphan would be something motivating to bring the heroine from her safe environment. It would be enough to make me want to find her. So the story would be about a man from Yugoslavia, a woman from America, and an orphan.

I had written a sketch before I found sites documenting the atrocities of this war.My sketches consist of cohesive thoughts laid out in the order they will occur, usually needing the details filled in later. So I wrote this sketch before I read about the prison camps held by all three warring sides: Muslims, Croatians, and Serbians. Mind you, when I use these ethnic titles, I am speaking about the military sides of the war, not the civilian population. However, nationalist ideologies do bleed out into the civilian population. But my story is about one man, with only the ideology of what is right by God’s laws. It was my goal to tell the story of a man who, though not of Serbian descent, was raised by a Serbian family. In this situation, alesser man might have been swayed by his nationalist ancestry and turned on the very people that gave him a beautiful life. In the heroes own words:

“Sergej told me that you won’t turn your back on a friend. A friend is a friend until that friend proves otherwise,” she said.

“If I do not keep my word, what sort of a man am I?” he asked, briefly reflecting on private thoughts. “Even if no one else mattered, how could I turn my back on the one person that took me in when I had no home? How could I turn against the one person that gave me everything when I had nothing, even after I stole from her? How could I ever turn my back on Mrs. Tomić?”

For now, I am not going to go into details about what caused the war. Read the book and you will get enough information to understand its cause without belaboring the war itself. Read the book and you will be pulled into an adventure, less about war and more about love and honor. Through those emotions, your heart will feel the story. It will feel the plight of those souls stuck in the middle of warring factions, fighting for all they felt was right. And when it comes to the end you will either relate to the characters and say to yourself, that’s exactly what I would have done. Or you will slam the book shut and say getting involved was stupid. Regardless, you will have felt something and that, in the end, is what writing is about. Love, hate, sorrow, joy—whatever the emotion, the point is that you felt it while you were in the story.

Don't miss part 2 of this feature here very soon!

The Yugoslavian available at:
Amazon:
http://ow.ly/P9qrG
Check out the look inside feature:
http://ow.ly/Qv7lm 
Visit The Yugoslavian page from the author website theblackrosenyc.comhttp://ow.ly/Qv7HZ 

Monday update from Sarah Jane in the world of memoirs! #RPBP

http://smarturl.it/OFSCAA

Hello!

I must be getting old because time seems to be going so fast of late, or is it that my life is just so busy!

August is turning into a busy month in my world of memoirs. The month got underway with the wonderful news that Our Frugal Summer in Charente was voted by readers to be one of the top 50 self-published books of 2015 worth reading. This culinary memoir continues to receive glowing 5-star reviews from readers interested in cooking, frugal living, gardening, France and the continuing story of our family travel adventures. 

Meanwhile I have been working on The Nomadic Nurse Series and I am preparing for the release of the first book in this new series of memoirs based on almost three decades in the nursing profession. Ooh Matron! is on pre-order now at all distributors! Release date 14th September - watch for news of the launch day party!

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 home to live in a garrison town with a housemate who is a party animal? The big question being, is she really cut out to be a nurse? 
Let's start at the beginning with Sarah Jane as a sixteen-year-old country girl, a bit old fashioned but who has a mischievous sense of humour and who suddenly decides she wants to be a nurse! 

"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 which was able to take me from laughing out loud to having welled tears of empathy." S. Brewster 

http://bit.ly/OohMatronNook
http://bit.ly/OohMatronKobo
http://bit.ly/OohMatronApple
http://smarturl.it/OohMatron15PO (Amazon)

All of this book promotion work is in addition to my other newish role as a grandmother (or nanny) to the gorgeous Shane now 10 months old and getting cuter and more mobile by the day.

So without further ado I bid you farewell as I get back to work.
Be sure to pass on my new release news!
Take care and have a great week.
Sarah Jane

Calling all London Mums! Get your kids reading and win great prizes! #RPBP

London Mums!!!

Get your kids reading, keep them entertained then take a family day out to follow the Time Trap trail.

Read and win :)

Prizes to be won include:1st prize £75 Waterstone's book voucher 
2nd prize £25 Waterstone's book voucher
3rd/4th prizes Time Trap baseball caps


Read, enter and win!
Simply read the book and email the answers to the following questions to rukiapublishing@mail.com
What was the name of Hector's regiment?

What were the names of the two gang members Jamie and Todd went with to burgle the house in Soho Square?

What did Hector call the steam contraption he made? 


Get your copy of Time Trap here


The closing date for entries is 1st September 2015.


If you live in London or are visiting London over the school holidays you and your children might like to take part in the Time Trap Trail for more details visit Richards website 

'A picture is worth a thousand words' introducing Jackie Parry author of A Standard Journey #RPBP 99c sale

Introducing Jackie Parry author of 

A Standard Journey: 5 horses, 2 people and 1 tent

'A picture is worth a thousand words.' This is a famous saying which is very often true, however when the words are used to convey a true story of courage, determination and commitment the words become very important. Therefore to celebrate and promote A Standard Journey during its 99c sale (because 50% of the royalties are going to a horse charities) I am going to share words and pictures with you today.

Here are some of the comments so far:

‘Equal parts adventure, comedy, and tear-jerking drama’ 
 
‘I was so sad when it ended because I didn’t want to leave this couple and their horses behind.’ 
 
‘Not only do I recommend this book, but I intend to get my hands on all of Parry’s other work as well.’ 
 
‘She’s an exceptional writer and a kind and thoughtful human being (donating fifty percent of the book’s profits).’

“A very special story that will be enjoyed by readers of many genres” 
 
A Standard Journey is more than a story of a couple adopting horses and deciding to tackle the Bicentennial Trail in Australia. 


Get your copy before the countdown ends just 99c's here 

You can find more photographs in Jackie's photograph album on her website http://jackieparry.com/photo-album/

Jackie is also featured at Rukia Publishing here are the links:

http://www.rukiapublishing.com/meet-the-author-jackie-parry.html

http://www.rukiapublishing.com/book-showcase---a-standard-journey-by-jackie-parry.html

Aspiring or new authors get the inside story and start your book journey with Sarah Jane Butfield #RPBP

It's 99c to help you get started!!!  http://smarturl.it/AMAU15

The Amateur Authorpreneur is a beginners’ guide for authors who intend to develop their writing into a business, addressing the important task of book promotion and marketing. We look at laying the foundations of the authorpreneur book promotion toolkit, building a fan base on social media and much more.
You've written a book or you plan to - what do you need to consider?
What does it offer readers?
Why will they buy it?
Where are your readers?
When will you publish it?
Who are you?
How do you promote it!
Find out how to take the business of being an author up a gear to become an authorpreneur. The Amateur Authorpreneur will describe, using the What, Why Where, When, Who & How template, the process of taking the first steps into combining the craft of being an author with the business of marketing your work


Take a look at the UK reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Guide 10 Jun. 2015
By JLC13
Format:Kindle Edition
The Amateur Authorpreneur was all I had hoped it would be and more! Sarah Jane Butfield lays out a simple, doable and effective plan for becoming a successful author. She covers everything from the basics of setting up social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook to how one can utilize them on a daily basis for building a brand, solidifying a promotional strategy and boosting sales. This book is the perfect guide for anyone who is writing or has written a book. I plan on keeping it handy for quick referencing of important hashtags and tips for growing my Twitter following. I can't wait to see what she has in store for all of us in Book 3 of this series.


5.0 out of 5 stars First class follow up for self pub authors in a frenzy! 27 May 2015
By Wussyboy
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
I have nothing but praise for this second in the series of Sarah Jane's marvellous `tool kits' for self published authors. Written in a highly accessible style, getting the basics in place using small bite sized tasks, pieces of information and actions, she demystifies the often daunting task of setting up as an "authorpreneur". From Facebook and Twitter to blogs and websites - even from acronymns to algorithms! - this wonderful primer is full of first-class tips and suggestions, and is - to my mind - essential reading for any indie author plunging into the choppy sea of self-marketing. Well done, Sarah Jane, can't wait for book 3!

5.0 out of 5 stars easy to understand guide to the marketing of books 23 Jun. 2015
By Ronald W. Sharp
Format:Kindle Edition
This is a well-crafted, easy to understand guide to the marketing of books, especially those of the self-published variety. In it, Sarah Jane Butfield takes us on a journey that illustrates the value of Facebook, Twitter and blogs as tools of promotion, and steers us away from unwise practices relating to their use. I recommend this book to both beginners and those who need to know the ins and outs of do-it-yourself promotion

5.0 out of 5 stars An insight into Authorpreneurship. 23 Jun. 2015
By Susan Keefe
Format:Kindle Edition
Whether you are writing a book or have been published a while, if you are at a loss how to manoeuvre in the social media worlds of Twitter, Facebook and Google this book has the answers.

Why use hashtags and @’s, why are they there, what purpose do they serve? Why share? Why give your books away free?

Are you considering if you should perhaps have a website or write a blog? Don’t know where to start, or which way to turn.

If you need answers to any of the above questions and many more you didn’t realise you wanted to ask, then this is the book for you!

If you missed Book 1 in this series it's available from Amazon/Nook/iTunes/Kobo/Scribd just 99c/99p Links on my author website

Final day of Tom Winton's extraordinary countdown sale - 5 books at 99c each!! #RPBP

Author Tom Winton hatched a plan to make this generous offering, 5 of his novels for only 99c each for 2 days only!!! (Ends today)
Don't miss this opportunity to sample his work if you haven't already.

Get your copy of Within A Man's Heart for 99c here
Four years after burying his young wife, New York sales executive Christian Crews still can’t move forward with his life. Day after day, treasured memories of his beloved Elyse continue to drift through his spirit like an endless procession of mournful ghosts.
Then, on the fourth anniversary of Elyse’s death, Chris makes two shocking discoveries, and a part of him begins to believe that she would want him to go on with his life.
Could there be a future for them? Will Elyse allow it? After all, she’s still deep within Chris’s heart—a place no one else has ever been.It has been said that author Tom Winton is a man who writes with his pen dipped in his soul. Like all his previous Amazon best-selling books, his new novella, Within a Man's Heart, is packed with intrigue and emotion.

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Get your copy of Beyond Nostalgia for 99c here
Dean Cassidy looks back on a life filled with hardship and remembers Theresa Wayman, the bright spark that lit up his world when he was eighteen. As an adult, many years later, Dean becomes a successful author but still can't move past his betrayal and loss of Theresa.

Beyond Nostalgia is a poignant story about growing up, making choices, learning to forgive and moving on. A moving portrait of a man's transformation through life, from a teenager inspired by his first love to a man who finally learns to accept his fate, Beyond Nostalgia is an illuminating and poignant tale.

 Be sure to check out the new stand-alone sequel to Beyond Nostalgia--Forever Three. 

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Get your copy of The Last American Martyr 99c here

Unemployed doorman Thomas Soles has had it. Sick and tired of watching so many families lose their "Dream" because of Corporate America's insatiable lust for profit, he sits in the kitchen of his rented tenement and writes a book about the tragedy.

Working folks all over the world adore the book. Virtually overnight it becomes an international bestseller and a year later earns the unlikely candidate a Nobel Prize. But not everybody is happy. When Soles and his wife return home from Stockholm with the coveted award they find the walls of their modest apartment riddled with messages--death threats, written in blood.

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Get your copy of Four Days with Hemingway's Ghost for 99c here
After big-time Hemingway fan Jack Phelan falls into a coma following an accident, he somehow finds himself in Key West, Florida, rubbing shoulders with his longtime hero. The legendary author has been sent down by "The Main Man in the clouds" to see if Jack has what it takes to write a book for Him. And though Hemingway knows his decision may very well determine whether or not Jack comes out of his coma, he doesn't have a clue that the book is going to be about him.
For the next four days, Jack and Hem not only knock around Key West but they also travel to more of Hemingway's old haunts. Together the two meet up with many of the famous author's long gone friends and have some rollicking good times. But it's not all fun and games. During their journey Hem and Jack both find themselves facing highly-emotional tests of strength as well. 

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Get your copy of A Second Chance in Paradise for 99c here
Long Island salesman Sonny Raines has had it. He's sick and tired of living in a world where wrong always wins over right. Then, on his thirty-ninth birthday, when he loses his job and comes home to the most devastating shock of his life, that's it. He's dropping out.
With nothing left to lose, and little in his pocket, Sonny chucks it all and drives his aging van fifteen-hundred miles to the lower reaches of the Florida Keys. All he wants is to get over his recent losses and simplify his hectic life, and that's exactly what he thinks he's doing when he settles on a paradisiacal speck of an island known as Wrecker's Key. Then things get even worse. One night, under the cover of darkness, danger drifts up the deep, silent currents from the lower keys--serious danger--life and death danger. And Sonny Raines finds himself right in the middle of it.

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Good luck Tom!!
Readers - Please share and RT this post and don't forget to leave a short review :)

I know you are fed up with this!!! #RPBP

Good morning everyone :)

I know you have all seen the posts about the shortlisted 50 Self-Published Books Worth Reading 2015. Those of us that have books nominated are filling up your news feeds with 'vote for me' posts! Well, that's because not only are we super excited to have got to this stage but because we are proud to be self-published and whichever books win we are flying the flag for indies and self-publishing.
If you can spare the time to vote you get three votes in three categories and there are some awesome books to choose from. Those of you who subscribe to RPBP news for daily free & 99c books plus author news from indie authors will have seen some of the authors who are nominated featured. 
Today I am plugging for votes for my book, but next week I will do a final listing of my ASMSG, TWFBG friends who have books nominated in a final push for votes.
Thank you for reading and voting :)
Sarah Jane

The 50 Self-Published Books Worth Reading 2015

Our Frugal Summer in Charente is nominated in the Other category (that sounds like something from the TV series 'Lost' - be afraid of the others!!! sorry I digress)

Here is the link to vote http://www.readfree.ly/vote-for-the-50-self-published-books-worth-reading-2015-other/

What's the book about anyway???

Our Frugal Summer in Charente: An Expat’s Kitchen Garden Journal Meet Sarah Jane, a woman with a reputation for culinary catastrophe who tries to keep her family fed in challenging circumstances in rural France. Frugal living was not part of the plan when they arrived from Australia to undertake the renovation of a quaint cottage in the Charente. However, when life throws them a curve-ball the challenge was set. How to survive in France with very little money and two Australian cattle dogs. The answer came in the form of 5 chickens, 4 ducks and a vegetable garden! The frugal plan was to save money by any means possible, to enable any money they could earn to be invested into continuing the renovation of the cottage. In true ‘Good Life’ style Sarah Jane attacks this challenge head on by keeping some small livestock and converting a garden, that resembled a meadow, into a French ‘potager’ or kitchen garden.The French tradition of using produce from their ‘potagers’ is renowned for enabling families to create meals that are healthy, cost effective and simple. There are 31 recipes for a variety of food and drinks, included in a month by month account, of how they transformed a neglected garden into a frugal yet productive expat kitchen garden.

Find links to all book stores where you can find my books here 

Free children's books and a colourful guest blog from Maretha Botha #RPBP

Introducing Maretha Botha 

Children’s Author and Illustrator of Fauna Park Tales, An African Adventure – a 5-book series for preteens


Maretha Botha is a South AfricanItalian. She was born in a Western Province town called Montague and grew up in nearby Worcester – a town reminiscent of living in Switzerland among the snow-capped mountains in winter. Worcester had a small library. At the time, the librarian limited her visits to three times a week, because“You spend too much time with your nose in a book and neglect your school work.” Maretha Botha has remained a confirmed bookworm and constantly strives to raise more bookworms who will enjoy reading, not just as a pleasant past-time, but as an excellent tool to be used when grown-up. Read more on my blog at Rukia Publishing.

Maretha has kindly written a guest blog over at Rukia Publishing and shared some of her illustrations. Her ebooks are on FREE promotion this weekend so pop over, get your copies and find out more about this talented author and illustrator.

http://smarturl.it/Flameebook1

http://smarturl.it/FriendsBK2

Get kids reading this summer with 'Read and Win' Great prizes from Time Trap author Richard Smith #RPBP

As the start of the UK school holidays draws closer Rukia Publishing and author Richard Smith have been working together on a competition that will encourage reading over the summer and offers some amazing prizes.

Before we begin, what age group is Time Trap aimed at?
Primarily, Time Trap is aimed at a 9-12 readership although the feedback I get is that many adults have enjoyed it too.

Prizes to be won include:1st prize £75 Waterstone's book voucher 
2nd prize £25 Waterstone's book voucher
3rd/4th prizes Time Trap baseball caps


Read, enter and win!
Simply read the book and email the answers to the following questions to rukiapublishing@mail.comWhat was the name of Hector's regiment?

What were the names of the two gang members Jamie and Todd went with to burgle the house in Soho Square?

What did Hector call the steam contraption he made? 

Get your copy of Time Trap here

The closing date for entries is 1st September 2015.

If you live in London or are visiting London over the school holidays you and your children might like to take part in the Time Trap Trail for more details visit Richard's website.
http://www.timetrap.co.uk/p/the-trail.html 
Good luck and happy reading!
Sarah Jane & Richard Smith

ADHD to Honor Roll #FREE book promotion ending soon! What's the story behind it? #RPBP

Get your FREE copy of ADHD To Honor Roll by Soozy Miller today!

Amazon

Here's some of the backstory from the author Soozy Miller.

Is ADHD Real? Doesn’t Matter, Cure the Symptoms

While I was curing my son of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), several people suggested there is no such thing as ADHD. Despite some pushback, it is a popular diagnosis and continues to grow in the United States. In 2011, the latest year of statistics available from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

§  Approximately 11% of children 4-17 years of age (6.4 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD.

§  The percentage of children with an ADHD diagnosis continues to increase, from 7.8% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2007 and to 11.0% in 2011.

§  Only half of preschoolers (4-5 years of age) with ADHD received behavioral therapy.

§  About half of preschoolers with ADHD were taking medication for ADHD, and about 1 in 4 were treated only with medication.

In general, ADHD symptoms manifest like this:

·       Difficulty paying attention to details; careless mistakes; producing work that is often messy and careless; difficulty completing tasks that require concentration

·       Easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli and frequently interrupting ongoing tasks with inability to sustain attention on tasks or activities

·       Procrastination

·       Frequent shifts in conversation, not listening to others, not keeping one's mind on conversations, and not following details or rules of activities in social situations

·       Fidgeting, squirming when seated; getting up frequently to walk or run around

·       Running or climbing excessively when it's inappropriate (in teens this may appear as restlessness)

·       Having difficulty playing quietly or engaging in quiet leisure activities

·       Talking excessively

These symptoms are real and can interfere with schoolwork, emotional development and overall wellbeing. My son was diagnosed when he was six. He couldn’t concentrate in school, he was kicking the teachers, he couldn’t finish homework after 7pm, and he took a baseball bat to his bedroom door one night.

ADHD symptoms have traditionally been managed with medication, and at first I capitulated. But I read a lot about how unhealthy the medications are. Have you seen the chemicals in ADHD pharmaceuticals? They don’t fix the problem, they just mask the symptoms, and other critical parts of the body—the liver, the stomach, the kidneys, and the heart—can suffer from toxic chemicals. Scientists and doctors are not even sure how the medications work and if they work at all—the drug pamphlets and company websites fully admit this.

However, my son did exhibit ADHD symptoms. There was a source of the problem and I just had to find it.

I found a functional medicine doctor. We discovered many physical issues, including an overload of yeast in his body and a deficit of inositol, a natural brain calmer. We gave him Diflucan for a short time to reduce the yeast and supplements and natural inositol pills to make up for the deficit. We changed his body chemistry; I tossed all the sugar and corn in the house and I adjusted my cooking. The body is a dynamic, agile machine; by changing what he ate we improved general function and, in turn, brain function.

Of course, there are cases in which the child suffers from a brain chemistry imbalance that must be addressed with appropriate drugs. But as a result of my experience curing my son, I might agree with those that say ADHD is not a true condition. Symptoms like those listed above are not necessarily hardcore brain chemistry issues, but may be the result of the brain reacting to other issues inside the body. The source could be food, environment, lifestyle and other influences that affect body function.

My son is now 12, ADHD free and in High Honor Roll. He plays basketball, volleyball, track and baseball. He talks about attending MIT.


I wrote ADHD to Honor Roll to encourage all parents of behaviorally challenged children to consider a route other than pharmaceuticals. If you work with the right practitioner, you consider other factors, and you focus on your child’s responses and behavioral changes, you will find the root of the problem. Whether or not you believe ADHD is a valid diagnosis, you can cure the symptoms naturally.

 Thank you Soozy for an insightful post. Readers, if you have enjoyed this or have questions for Soozy be sure to comment below and don't forget to get your free copy of ADHD to Honor Roll
 
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Let's take peek over the garden fence into an expat kitchen garden in Charente - for 99c #RPBP

Hello and welcome to Sarah Jane's secret garden!

Yesterday, sitting with Dave and Buster in the garden, I remembered how busy my garden and my kitchen was in the summer of 2013. As the summer weather gives some of us the opportunity to get outdoors it's a great time to share the foraging recipes and funny stories from my French kitchen garden.
Described as 'an amazing and insightful culinary memoir that is a keeper for summers to come' it's now just 99c/99p. So enjoy and eat well, frugally!l

Extract from Chapter 5 - June

As the sun continued to shine, and June arrived, while harvesting my peas I was informed by André and Yvette that my haricot verte (green beans) should be in the ground by now. After months of me being the first to plant and harvest crops, I was now the one who was behind schedule. How did that happen? And why must I call them haricot verte even though they are green beans? Apparently it’s just the way it is here in France, I can call all the other vegetables by their English names but not these beans. I wondered if this had something to do with the numerous varieties of beans, as I remembered as a child that my grandmother always called them French runner beans. On Yvette’s daily inspections of my vegetable patch, she admired my flags that marked and named the rows. For some of the plants, which she recommended, I translated my English labelling into French for which she would give me the thumbs up if it was correct. This was indeed an honour because Yvette speaks ‘patois’ or old French which is thought to originate from rural regional dialects. I wasn’t sure if there was a special way to write this as I couldn’t find any guidance on it. Either way she obviously understood the words. At last I was making some progress with the language, even if it was only in writing it!

The second planting of leeks took place in the area where some of the lettuces had been. The soil is getting richer and improving in drainage with each planting of the various above and below ground crops. On the 10th June, we harvested the first crop of beetroot. I deliberately harvested them while they were small to medium sized as I didn’t want to risk them developing a flavourless, woody texture as I intended to pickle them. We have always enjoyed baby beetroot which are delicious with salads or sandwiches any time of year therefore I was eager to preserve as many as possible. 

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My first garlic plait of 2013

When the girls were young, I used to plait their hair every morning for school just as my mum had done for me when I was a child. Therefore, I did not anticipate any issues with plaiting some dried stalks of garlic. Naive? Most definitely. I sat on my fluorescent green plastic chair in the garden with my box of garlic. I knew what I wanted it to look like, but my mind was completely blank as to how to achieve the layered garlic look with no straggling stalks. After a few failed attempts, I resorted to some internet research. I read and reread the instructions that reminded me of reading a Haynes car mechanic manual; it made no sense to me at all without the pictures. So after some further research I found a YouTube video and then I was ready. 

 In very basic terms you take the three largest bulbs and lay them on a flat surface, you plait the three stems as you would hair to about one inch in length. Take a new bulb and lay it in the centre beneath the middle bulb and add its stalk to the plaiting. Plait again for one turn then add a new bulb to the right, plait again then add a bulb to the left and continue. And so it continues adding one bulb at a time centre, right then left keeping the braid tight. If any of the stalks snap then a simple trick is it to tie a piece of garden string around the plait above the break. Then tie it to the broken off stalk and then continue to plait incorporating the end of the string to keep it looking tidy yet secure. It sounds quite horrendous when you try to write or explain it, but in reality it’s quite easy once you get started. 

Our Frugal Summer in Charente is available at:

iTunes - http://bit.ly/OFSCiT

Kobo - http://bit.ly/1uM4WG1

Amazon - http://smarturl.it/OFSCAA

It's also on the subscription service Scribd - http://bit.ly/Sbdofsc which offers a 30-day free trial.

If you prefer a paperback it's only £3.99 - http://bit.ly/ofscpbaf