tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91147952042052141862024-03-19T05:18:15.537-04:00Midnyte ReaderJust one more page...Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.comBlogger820125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-54748457726485458352019-11-25T20:40:00.000-05:002019-11-25T20:40:02.704-05:00Testing...1, 2, 3, 4...test<br />
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-81526017795356060542017-10-26T17:58:00.000-04:002017-10-26T17:58:23.477-04:00Guest Post by Sarah Jones - Running in Horror Movies!<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Why the Victims Always Run but Still Get Caught in Horror Stories<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Do you love a good scare?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The horror genre has an avid following
and as one of those followers you will get a kick out this discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the likes of Stephen King or many
other well-known horror story writers, their tales will send shivers down your
spine and make you jump at every sound. There are certain things that
constitute the makings of an excellent </span><a href="http://midnytereader.com/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: 12.0pt;">horror
story</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">, and you may have noticed a few
elements that almost every scary story has.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Horror Genre<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Horror stories are meant to
cause anxiety, stress, fear, suspense, tension, and many other highly-charged
emotions. Many </span><a href="https://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-write-horror-story-tips/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-size: 12.0pt;">horror tales</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> can be quite morbid, with evil creatures, horrible
deaths, demons, and other elements that are sure to keep you awake at night.
Not only are the characters memorable, but there are often surprising and
shocking plot twists that can catch the reader off guard. There are also a few
elements that are common in horror stories, and the plot wouldn’t be the same
without them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">What to Expect<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_70g9t1ec6hs"></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Scary
horror novels, stories and films tap into our human fears. It could be natural
disasters, murderers, clowns, sharks, snakes, or anything that would normally
send us shrieking. It also uses the use of tragedy. Many books and movies have
a hero or heroine, who, throughout their entire ordeal are strengthened as they
overcome all obstacles and tackle their destiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_xxkc84lvkguk"></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Horror
often has the main character failing, or in some cases, dying. People close to
them perish as well, but that is what makes the books so wonderfully terrible.
Tragedy can trigger fear and shock, especially in these types of books where
the characters make huge mistakes or wrong decisions which can lead to their
ultimate doom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_gjdgxs"></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It is
terrifying because we can relate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What if we hadn’t stepped back to the curb in time and the vehicle
hadn’t missed hitting us? It opens the doors to terrible possibilities that
make the perfect horror story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Hope You Can Run<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">One of the classic horror
elements is the art of the chase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It wouldn’t be the same if there wasn’t some terrifying pursuit where
screaming victims were trying to run for their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many times, in scary stories, the people get caught and are
killed. The thrill and suspense of the chase while hoping the victims make it
out alive are often dashed due to a well-placed trip or stumble by the author
or just plain slowness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of us
wonder, could we outrun the evil? Why didn’t they run faster? They had to trip
at the perfect moment?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Perfect Catch<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Our minds often go down the
thought process of “what-if,” in horror stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if the person had worn better running shoes? </span><a href="https://kickschoice.com/best-running-shoes-for-flat-feet-reviews/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12.0pt;">Read this</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> for a break away from the horror story and some
advice on which running shoes to wear when running from a horror villain.
Getting back to it, what if they had actually tried to run faster? What if they
hadn’t kept looking back at their attacker and just focused on running? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">We tend to analyze the details,
but keep in mind it’s the shock to the senses that keep us entertained and
horrified. Of course, we may wonder if they hadn’t had flip flops on, would
they have been able to outrun the pursuer and possibly live to tell the tale.
But if that was the case, then it wouldn’t be a horror story, would it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The horror genre can get our
hearts pounding and increase our blood pressure. A good scare is fun, and many
enjoy the thrill and the suspense of such stories. Some of greatest fears come
to life in the horror genre. We can see where the characters went wrong, and
make mental notes of what we would do in that sort of situation. Just be sure
to wear some good running shoes, and don’t look back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFQorXZytyV053F74vualeFZJ5IUdubF0nMAjUIJvQy4bwq3x2Bv1bUB5dJXMH6sSKdRSVsb5ZWvPt9o2rnaDjDlaJtsylBU0SClE0UOpEii9NTXzthnpbg5WRJZx-HuI0V4Y9WiF84kWL/s1600/sarah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFQorXZytyV053F74vualeFZJ5IUdubF0nMAjUIJvQy4bwq3x2Bv1bUB5dJXMH6sSKdRSVsb5ZWvPt9o2rnaDjDlaJtsylBU0SClE0UOpEii9NTXzthnpbg5WRJZx-HuI0V4Y9WiF84kWL/s1600/sarah.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Bio: Sarah is the author of </span></b><a href="https://kickschoice.com/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12.0pt;">https://kickschoice.com/</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">. Whether
it’s a horror story in books or in real life, she will help you decide which
running shoes to wear to run away from all the baddies.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-46143594735399776812017-05-30T08:00:00.000-04:002017-05-30T08:00:35.829-04:00Guest post by Rose Martin - 8 Scariest Books That No One Should Read Alone!<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIKwHd-1cMgWiemWx_oDYi4XmmbR3LSlXZgZ9F4SAb7M_XUgx-nUhgR8wLnxQVjSPWf7myU0x7UPHMUojC9sAhVBrTj2pGIAG3EEDIZbGOe3xsynkwIhyphenhyphenKEv1Hd9j8tqKYvAD5XRmxL3c/s1600/skulls-2009656_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1547" data-original-width="1600" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIKwHd-1cMgWiemWx_oDYi4XmmbR3LSlXZgZ9F4SAb7M_XUgx-nUhgR8wLnxQVjSPWf7myU0x7UPHMUojC9sAhVBrTj2pGIAG3EEDIZbGOe3xsynkwIhyphenhyphenKEv1Hd9j8tqKYvAD5XRmxL3c/s320/skulls-2009656_1920.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Image via: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: purple;"><a href="https://pixabay.com/en/skulls-halloween-magic-horror-2009656/">https://pixabay.com/en/skulls-halloween-magic-horror-2009656/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Do
you watch scary movies and TV shows? Do you watch them alone or with someone?
The latter, we are sure. When it comes to reading books, we all want to be
alone, don’t we? That’s because book-reading, especially at home, is a solo
activity, unless you’re reading to a child. Well, here we have 10 scary books
that you’ll definitely not want to read alone. We mean it. We dare you to read
them on your own, and not grab for your phone. Go on. We double dare you.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">1. Christine by Stephen King<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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young friends, a car and the ‘anything goes’ atmosphere of the ‘70s – what
could possibly be wrong with this picture? The car turns out to be haunted,
that’s what. The thing with a premise like this is the abject disbelief that
sets in even before one opens the book. Not with Christine, however. So
cunningly does Stephen King present the vehicle’s malice that Christine becomes
a character in the milieu, not just a car. This book will keep you up nights,
and when you walk to your car in the morning, just for a moment there, you will
wonder if the headlights are following you …..<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ListParagraph1" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">2. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Shirley
Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ holds far more subtlety and terror than
all haunted house movies put together. Jackson’s book isn’t all about horror
through and through though – there’s humor too, and very approachable
characters. Still, right underneath it all, running like a fine line of blood
under the nails, is the subtle horror that’s tailored into the text. Get this </span><a href="https://booksiren.com/holocaust-books/"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">book from holocaust books</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> and approach it with
great respect, and in company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">3. The House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The
scariest part about a haunted house isn’t just what haunts it – it’s the house
itself. Mark Deneilewski understands this in his bones, as you can tell from
this book. The Navidson family can tell that something’s not ok with their home
when they return home. They see doors where there were none and sinister
passageways open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The house itself
is turning into a live, sentient creature, full of miasmic malice. Mark
Danielewski’s use of blank spaces and other visual cues bring forth such a
chaotic sense of suspense, you’ll be biting all your nails by the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">4. The Shining by Stephen King<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The
premise is simple – an alcoholic father, an abused mother and a psychic son, a
‘shiner’, and therefore the title of the book. The father takes up a winter
caretaker’s job at a hilltop hotel, which is haunted with many ghosts. This
book’s beauty lies in the way King makes every room and every corridor in the
hotel vibrate with tenseness. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_%28novel%29"><span style="color: purple;">Superna<span style="mso-bookmark: _GoBack;"></span>tural</span></a><!--[if !supportNestedAnchors]--><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" name="_GoBack"></a><!--[endif]--> events occur when you least expect them, hitting
you in the solar plexus, robbing you of your breath. After sometime, you start
doubting your own grip on sanity. The book shocks you at many levels – the
supernatural presences, the human-on-human violence and the little boy
witnessing his father descend into madness.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Image via: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://pixabay.com/en/man-run-escalator-city-urban-1930522/">https://pixabay.com/en/man-run-escalator-city-urban-1930522/</a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">5. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The
Exorcist is a true classic, but don’t be hasty and derive comfort from that.
Just imagine your little girl possessed by an unimaginably malevolent entity
that will not rest until it has fully devoured her soul. The exorcist begins
mildly, taking you through sweet glimpses of the child’s life, till you cannot
turn a page without the horror seeping into your very bones. This book deals
with the concept of a god who allows an innocent to suffer needlessly. It makes
you ponder your own vulnerability and question everything you’ve taken for
granted till now.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ListParagraph1" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">6. Rustication by Charles Palliser</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">This
book revolves around a junkie teenager, Richard Shenstone, who lives with his
newly-destitute family in an old rambling mansion. Richard’s world is one of
murder, sadistic letters, sexual obsession and delusions. Make what you will of
the reality that Richard sees there – beds made for people who don’t exist, weird
noises and inexplicable whispers. The house isn’t evil in this book, but you’ll
have a hard time discounting that. It’s just as evil as the evil in it. It’s
hard to see if Richard is just a kid or the root of the evil in the house.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ListParagraph1" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">7. The Little Stranger by Sarah Water<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Ever
dismissed creepy noises or scribbles on the wall? Read this book and you’ll
wish you hadn’t. The book is about a former aristocratic family that’s residing
in an old 18<sup>th</sup> century mansion. Events occur, such as a young kid
being mauled by a complaisant family dog for no reason, and childish scribbles
appearing on walls. All these spooky events are explained away by the narrator
Dr. Faraday. However, it’s all going beyond the realms of science and the grasp
of logic. The reader is left trying to make sense of scorched walls, strange
noises and other events with no explanations. Unsettling is the word we’re
after.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ListParagraph1" style="margin-left: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">8. The Mist by Stephen King<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Consider
this – life is going on as usual, and you kiss your wife goodbye and head out
to the store with your kid. Then an abnormally thick and very unnatural mist
descends all over town. That’s when people become aware of the otherworldly
predators coming out of it. The whole book moves slowly, yet seems to race
along. A group of people bar themselves into the store, hoping to survive the
mist. People turn against people, and chaos results. This is a book that will
rob you of sleep for weeks to come.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Cinematic
representations of horror stories are well and fine, but it is books that let
the horror seep into your bones. That’s because it’s your imagination bringing
the environment to life. The more books you read, the more imaginative you
become. So try it! Give some of these scary books a try, and tell us what you
think.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGmRqwaAIqZomSg3Vk6w4rCpCNwGYO8Jp6uBW5mhIGeT9xqmhNUSTmMBZXCK0lAv7s9iss5PNjWlDDqCaJEVhUGXsYSMhCYwSu5JtqtmxlWgbD6BmWfvQlJcN_IubJYxHkZc9N1ahnihW/s1600/AIbEiAIAAABECNahz5SauNSD6QEiC3ZjYXJkX3Bob3RvKihlNDU3OTUwNGI3NmE0Njg5MmQwODJlMjJjZTczMmRiNGViMWNjOWNhMAEdT69x3IFQjluHhGr0NTErVfoJWw.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="64" data-original-width="64" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGmRqwaAIqZomSg3Vk6w4rCpCNwGYO8Jp6uBW5mhIGeT9xqmhNUSTmMBZXCK0lAv7s9iss5PNjWlDDqCaJEVhUGXsYSMhCYwSu5JtqtmxlWgbD6BmWfvQlJcN_IubJYxHkZc9N1ahnihW/s1600/AIbEiAIAAABECNahz5SauNSD6QEiC3ZjYXJkX3Bob3RvKihlNDU3OTUwNGI3NmE0Njg5MmQwODJlMjJjZTczMmRiNGViMWNjOWNhMAEdT69x3IFQjluHhGr0NTErVfoJWw.jpeg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><i style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Rose Martin loves blogging on lifestyle, self-improvement, women, parenting and travel. Rose is also interested in music, fitness and art. In spare time, she loves to spend time with family and friends.</i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-87403558088002555342016-09-30T08:00:00.000-04:002016-09-30T08:00:08.173-04:00Excerpt from The Devil's Work by Mark Edwards.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GD0XCsCiZOXL-_eosszmek7Rb-6o1b6GLpufBUhGxpTBbHyF6ev4DtgIHJZu7KK6alyHjr74HoiiNEhDjwT4Wl2kNUgrlHKoA5I5Xtea1QrWJt0w5IJbNB9kGK5QRAUk_0BISgT-y3T3/s1600/The+Devil%2527s+Work+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2GD0XCsCiZOXL-_eosszmek7Rb-6o1b6GLpufBUhGxpTBbHyF6ev4DtgIHJZu7KK6alyHjr74HoiiNEhDjwT4Wl2kNUgrlHKoA5I5Xtea1QrWJt0w5IJbNB9kGK5QRAUk_0BISgT-y3T3/s320/The+Devil%2527s+Work+cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Back in her room, she was about to start unpacking her suitcase, trying hard not to think about Liam or the gift she’d turned down, when a scream came from the room next door. </div>
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Sophie jumped up, yanked the door open and peered out. Several other girls had done the same. </div>
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Becky stood outside her room, both hands held to her mouth, eyes stretched open in horror, fingers clawing at her head like the character in that painting, The Scream. All the blood had drained from her face. Her bulky pink suitcase lay at her feet. She was staring at the room like there was a monster inside. Or a corpse. She made little gibbering noises, unformed words, like the sound of her sanity shattering into tiny fragments.</div>
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Sophie reached her first. ‘What is it?’ she asked in a soothing voice. ‘What’s happened?’ </div>
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‘My. Room.’ That was all Becky could say. She pointed a shaking finger at the closed door then sank to her haunches. She stared up at Sophie, her eyes empty. What had she seen in that room? Sophie didn’t want to know. </div>
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<div>
Two other girls had reached them, Jenny and Ameera, the latter crouching and putting an arm around Becky, who was making the awful noises again, noises that penetrated Sophie’s skull, made the inside of her head itch. Sophie guessed that not many people had returned yet or the whole corridor would be filled with gawping, concerned students. </div>
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‘Go on,’ Jenny said. ‘Take a look.’ </div>
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Sophie turned to her. ‘Me?’ </div>
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When she realised no one else was going to make a move, she approached the door, gripped the handle and pushed it open slowly, sticking her head inside then immediately withdrawing it. </div>
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‘Oh, God, it stinks in there.’ </div>
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‘What of?’ Jenny asked, clamping her hand over her nose as the smell escaped the room and reached them. </div>
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It smelled like a cut she’d once had that became infected, sweet and rotten. </div>
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‘What did you see?’ whispered Ameera. </div>
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Sophie had been hit so hard by the stench that her other senses hadn’t kicked in. She moved back towards the door and pushed it open. </div>
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<div>
‘Oh, my God,’ said Jenny, as Becky began to wail.</div>
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<div>
All the clothes and possessions that Becky had left behind were strewn around the room – clothes and underwear on the floor, CDs and books smashed and ripped and scattered. A large cuddly rabbit lay in the middle of the floor, its belly slit open, stuffing bulging out. Its eyes had been pulled out and there was a vibrator stuck into one of the holes, still buzzing. Photos of Becky which were stuck to the wall had been defaced – devil’s horns drawn on her head, red pen slashes across her face. A family photo had been torn to shreds and a picture of a woman who was clearly Becky’s mum had been rendered obscene, saggy breasts and a dense pubic triangle drawn over her clothes, a crudely rendered penis spurting close to her lips. </div>
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<div>
That was far from the worst of it. </div>
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<div>
A washing line had been strung across the room, tied to the wardrobe handle at one end and attached to a nail in the wall at the other. Dead mice had been attached to it by their tails, their plump white bodies hanging motionless, little black eyes open, staring sightlessly. Their stomachs had been slashed open like the rabbit toy beneath them. Stepping closer, forcing herself to confront the horror, Sophie could see that wire had been wrapped around the tails and the washing line to pin them to it. There were seven of them. </div>
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<div>
‘I’ll call Security,’ Jenny said quietly from the corridor. </div>
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<div>
Sophie looked back. Becky sat on the floor, arms wrapped around her legs, rocking back and forth, her expression glazed and slack. Her sleeves were pulled up and Sophie was shocked to see scars criss-crossing Becky’s forearms. She realised she had never seen Becky in short sleeves. There were no fresh cuts but the scars were evidence that Becky had, at one point, self-harmed. </div>
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‘Take Becky to the kitchen, give her something to drink.’ </div>
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<div>
The other two girls nodded and led Becky away, leaving Sophie on her own in the room, trying not to look at the dead mice, focusing on the bed.</div>
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<div>
Photos of Becky and Lucas lay on the pillow, ripped in two. A used condom lay unfurled on the quilt, apparently still containing sperm. She turned her head away. Someone had scrawled words on the mirror in red lipstick. </div>
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SLUT. BITCH. SLAG. </div>
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DIE IN PAIN. </div>
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Small words designed to cause maximum pain. </div>
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<div>
Next to them were more photos, dim and underexposed, of Becky pressed up against a wall, face screwed up, a man entering her from behind. </div>
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<div>
Sophie left the room. Her head felt light, legs shaky. The urge to be sick bubbled up through her but she fought it. A minute later, one of the caretakers arrived along with a security guy. Sophie drifted away towards her room. She wasn’t going to be sick. She wasn’t. She had a horrible feeling about who had done this. She remembered hearing Liam say that Becky needed to be taught a lesson, recalled Jasmine’s threat to Becky after she revealed her identity. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
No. Surely not. Liam was a self-proclaimed rebel, but she couldn’t believe he would do something this hateful. Beneath the pose, he was a nice guy. She had to believe that. Jasmine too. She could be hot-headed, had told Becky she’d cut her tongue out, but there was no way she would do this, surely? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It had to be Lucas, Becky’s betrayed boyfriend. Apart from seeing his band play once at the Student Union she didn’t know him very well, but he came across as pretty intense on stage, his lyrics all about S&M and suicide. She had thought that was just him playing at being a rock star but maybe it went deeper. And besides, jealousy could turn the mildest people into monsters. The room was full of vile sexual imagery, including the shots exposing Becky’s betrayal of Lucas, plus naked photos that had probably been taken for Lucas’s benefit. Everything in the room spoke of revenge for Becky’s betrayal of her boyfriend. It had to be him.</div>
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<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Excerpted from THE DEVIL'S WORK © Copyright 2016 by Mark Edwards. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.</span><br />
<div>
<br />
<u style="font-size: 12.8px;">About <i>The Devil's Work</i> by Mark Edwards</u><br />
<br style="font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of <i>Follow You Home</i> and <i>The Magpies</i>.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">It was the job she had dreamed of since childhood. But on her very first day, when an unnerving encounter drags up memories Sophie Greenwood would rather forget, she wonders if she has made a mistake. A fatal mistake.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">What is her ambitious young assistant really up to? And what exactly happened to Sophie’s predecessor? When her husband and daughter are pulled into the nightmare, Sophie is forced to confront the darkest secrets she has carried for years.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">As her life begins to fall apart at </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">work</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> and at home, Sophie must race to uncover the truth about her new job…before it kills her.</span><br />
<br style="font-size: 12.8px;" />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZR2N9Pq1A-psGZcNHVAqKSbMmwq1z6zvI4Og_NQaR5acCCNdHI_blcukvU480Ntx5rw3t8UHAtTGTF1AaLieMAg6gs89Ke4Qv1vqbtiVNah08faZEn2Yx25F1Vy5302D4cDfZb29oopy/s1600/Mark+Edwards+author+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZR2N9Pq1A-psGZcNHVAqKSbMmwq1z6zvI4Og_NQaR5acCCNdHI_blcukvU480Ntx5rw3t8UHAtTGTF1AaLieMAg6gs89Ke4Qv1vqbtiVNah08faZEn2Yx25F1Vy5302D4cDfZb29oopy/s320/Mark+Edwards+author+photo.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<u style="font-size: 12.8px;">About Mark Edwards</u><br />
<u style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></u>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which terrifying things happen to ordinary people. His first solar novel, <i>The Magpies</i> (2013), reached the No. 1 spot on Amazon UK as did his third novel <i>Because She Loves Me</i> (2014). He has also co-written various crime novels with Louise Voss such as <i>Killing Cupid</i> (2011) and <i>The Blissfully Dead</i> (2015). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mark grew up on the south coast of England and started writing in his twenties while working in a number of dead-end-jobs. He lived in Tokyo for a year before returning to the UK and starting a career in marketing. As well as a full-time-writer, Mark is a stay at home dad for his three children, his wife and a ginger cat. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Website: www.markedwardsauthor.com</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Twitter: @mredwards</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markedwardsbooks</span><br />
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Horror as a genre exists in part to remind us of fear. Fear is an emotion essential for survival because it indicates danger and triggers fight or flight. On a primal, lizard-brain level, for horror to work it must evoke an existential threat of some kind. This threat is of harm to the self, if you can indulge me as I stretch the definition of ‘self’ to include the individual or the group. When executed properly, all horror emanates from here.</div>
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If I were more web-savvy I would have an info-graphic here, but this is what I’ve got: Predators trigger a direct danger to the self. The unknown triggers the idea that it might be a predator, and tracks back to danger to self. In evolutionary terms, it is smart to consider the unknown dangerous until proven otherwise. To understand the danger to children you’d have to see that in some way children are the means by which the self propagates or transmits to the next generation. To transmit your DNA (or cultural/psychic DNA if adopted) to the next generation is important to the self, therefore to endanger children is to endanger the self. Evil children in horror fiction represent a form of contaminated seed, which is a danger to the self.</div>
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Horror is a big part of my literary DNA. Shirley Jackson, Henry James, Mary Shelley, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, and others, I read their books to pieces. ‘It’ by Stephen King is probably my most re-read book. I do write straight up horror (the short stories Monkey House, Slip Road, and the novella Gnaw, for example) but I also see horror as in integral part of the fantastical fiction storyscape. To me, the best sci-fi works with a horror element (like <i>Aliens</i>, for example). </div>
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In my novel <i>Rosewater</i> there are several scenes of full-blown horror. In the contaminated biosphere there are several alien creatures, often used by criminals. Kaaro, my protagonist, is captured and held by a criminal who has a carnivorous alien for a pet. I took time to design the monster. Aliens trigger the fear of unknown, and in addition, this monster is a carnivore, a predator. Floaters are used by gangsters for body disposal. Floaters use protein breakdown products to produce a gas which they use to inflate biological bladders harnessed for flight. It also stinks and remains suspended in the air even after death.</div>
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Imagine if you will, a man walking down the street peacefully, when a hungry floater descends like a hawk, grabbing the man with clawed limbs, lifting the person into the sky <i>silently</i> and eating the man during ascent. The next time the man is seen is when the stripped skeleton falls to the Earth, forty minutes later. Imagine swarms of these creatures haunting the rooftops of your city. Imagine their mummurations at breeding season.</div>
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Welcome to <i>Rosewater</i>. I hope you enjoy your stay. Don’t get eaten.</div>
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© 2016 by Tade Thompson</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tade Thompson lives and works in
the south of England. His first novel MAKING WOLF won the 2016 Kitschies Golden
Tentacle award for best debut novel. He has written a number of short stories
including “Budo” at Escape Pod. His horror novella GNAW will be released in
December from Solaris Books. ROSEWATER comes out 15th November, but is </span><a href="http://www.apexbookcompany.com/products/rosewater-preorder"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">available for pre-order</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> now.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-86947530490535419162016-08-08T08:00:00.000-04:002016-08-08T08:00:32.556-04:00Vanishing Girls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><u>Title Author</u>: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver.</span><u><br /></u><u>Read by</u>: Saskia Maarleveld, Elizabeth Evans, Dan Bittner, Justis Bolding, Tavia Gilbert, Joel Richards. <br />
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<u>Genre</u>: YA, Contemporary, Mystery.<br />
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<u>Source</u>: Library.<br />
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<u>Synopsis</u>: Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. <br />
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When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick things Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it's too late. ~Goodreads.</blockquote>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="color: #181818;"><u><br /></u></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="color: #181818;"><span style="color: #181818;"><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: Vanishing Girls caught my attention from the beginning, and held it throughout the story. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;">I liked main character Nick and felt kind of sorry for Dara. The dynamics of the two sisters were interesting. They are envious of each other because they see in each other what they do not see in themselves. Nick was athletic and smart and Dara was pretty and popular. Mix that with the boy next door and the jealousy, insecurity and resentment escalate. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818;">But Nick also discovers that Dara holds a secret and it might be the key to not only Dara's strange and distant behaviors but also a missing child. The plot was intriguing and at times exciting with the twists and turns.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818;">I did like the alternating pov's of the two sisters telling the story. It gave insight into the characters and even more once you get to the end. Oliver also has a lovely and haunting writing style and the chapters flew by.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "georgia";">I admit it, I did not predict the mystery/ending. A lot of people did, but I guess that was good for me in that I was surprised. However, I was also annoyed. <span style="background-color: black;"> </span><span style="background-color: black;">I don't mind unreliable narrators, but for some reason, my reaction was less than positive. I really wonder if Oliver didn't intend to have Dara be dead at first, because it really read like that. I know this is part of the twist and drama, but it felt a little...like a cheat? </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818;"><u><br /></u></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;"><span style="color: #181818;"><u>Narration</u>: The narration was very good. </span>
No complaints.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "georgia";">Enjoyable. Worth the read.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><br /></span></span></div> <div> <span style=;"><span georgia="" merriweather="" quot="" serif="" style="background-color: ><u>Midnyte Musings</u>: (Please note: Spoilers!) Haunting, beautifully written, melancholy. </span></span><br /> <span style=;">
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<span style="background-color: #bd081c; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; left: 26px; line-height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; top: 18px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span><span style="background-color: #bd081c; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; left: 26px; line-height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; top: 18px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span>Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-83887212203814307342016-08-04T08:00:00.000-04:002016-08-04T08:00:22.065-04:00Guest Post by Erica L. Satifka - Stay Crazy.<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="background-color: background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="background-color: background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: "arial";">I like killing things.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br />
</span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";">Not real things, mind you. In person, I'm a
pacifist. But fictional things? I'll
happily send wave after wave of troops toward certain death in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Civilization</i>, usually in the direction
of my spouse Rob's cities.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";">Writing characters, though, is a little different
from clicking a mouse on a unit and
pushing them into battle. While there are certainly a lot of lighter moments and clever zingers in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stay Crazy</i>, the central conflict is grim: an alien entity that is
attempting to destroy the universe by sucking the life energy out of workers at
a big-box store. When the victims are depleted, they commit suicide, bringing
the world one step closer to annihilation.</span><br />
<o:p></o:p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stay Crazy
</i>is also the story of a young woman haunted by her neurological issues. Em,
our heroine, is faced with such an
improbable situation – a second, helpful paranormal being contacting her via
the RFID chips in frozen foods – that she's
not sure whether or not she's falling back into illness. Like nearly all people
with schizophrenia, Em is not violent, and I worked hard to tell her story
respectfully and not buy into false stereotypes. (No "psycho-killers"
in this book! Or any of my books, ever!)</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";">Even though the two otherworldly beings in the
book manifest mostly as disembodied voices, the self-inflicted human deaths are
all too real. And it's all massively triggering for Em, who at the start of the
book has just gotten out of a mental hospital. Because of the gravity of the
overall situation, I didn't want the deaths in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stay Crazy</i> to be mere cannon fodder, and I thought long and hard about the consequences for the plot. Who
was this character in relation to Em?
Would their death matter? Was I falling
into any of the tropes I hate most as a reader? One important character in particular came in and out of my focus as a person
to murder. I almost felt like I had them
at the edge of a plank on a pirate ship, hovering
between life and death, waiting to be rescued (or not!) by my keyboard strokes.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";">Ultimately, I won't be the final arbiter of
those questions. Readers will. But I'd
like to think that I took death seriously in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stay Crazy</i>, the same way that
I took Em's mental illness seriously, working hard to ensure I captured the nature of her struggle while
still creating a compelling narrative.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";">As for the character I mentioned above? Did they
live or die? I guess you'll just have to
wait until<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="aqj">August
16th</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to find out!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3L-sFbQIBKKtvmwiH_qu0h7WD5Im8wrqn3l6wYJyOjPj0dNCXESLN3UpnFHzBDgJzeeXk2sbuUkb5qqBLeIa2QRXcwA5PlfINqp_KOCvVAkSlp_QuIq9ANWO5L3tzZ7wEAQw1kq8fQPn/s1600/2016pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3L-sFbQIBKKtvmwiH_qu0h7WD5Im8wrqn3l6wYJyOjPj0dNCXESLN3UpnFHzBDgJzeeXk2sbuUkb5qqBLeIa2QRXcwA5PlfINqp_KOCvVAkSlp_QuIq9ANWO5L3tzZ7wEAQw1kq8fQPn/s1600/2016pic.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: black;">Erica L. Satifka is a writer
and/or friendly artificial construct, forged in a heady mix of iced coffee and
sarcasm. She enjoys rainy days, questioning reality, ignoring her to-do list,
and adding to her collection of tattoos. Her short fiction has appeared
in Clarkesworld, Shimmer, Lightspeed, and Intergalactic
Medicine Show, and her debut novel </span><a href="http://www.apexbookcompany.com/products/stay-crazy-preorder">Stay
Crazy </a><span style="color: black;">will be released in August 2016 by
Apex Publications. Originally from Pittsburgh, she now lives in Portland,
Oregon with her spouse Rob and an indeterminate number of cats.</span></i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Preorder Stay Crazy at <a href="http://www.apexbookcompany.com/products/stay-crazy-preorder" target="_blank">Apex Books</a>. </span></div>
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" /><br />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-70031633094400739452016-07-25T08:00:00.000-04:002016-08-03T20:39:51.382-04:00Guest Post by Darren Beyer - An Emerging Sub-Genre: Smart Science Fiction.<div style="color: #343e47; line-height: 28.9px; margin-bottom: 1.4em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most nights after I get into bed, I pick up whatever is my current novel and read to clear my mind of the stresses of the day. It tends to be a little too effective – usually after just a few pages, my eyes grow heavy and I’m forced to close the cover. A couple years ago, while searching for another science fiction novel to grace those few minutes each night, I came across Andy Weir’s <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Martian</em>. It seemed to have an interesting premise, was science fiction, and was getting good reviews. I was happy the day it arrived, as my previous book was now sitting on the shelf, and I needed something new to bring on my slumber. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Martian</em> failed miserably to meet that need. When, on the first night of reading, the clock hit two, I had to force myself to put it down. It grabbed a hold of me from page one and wouldn’t let go. I finished it two nights later – so much for a good night’s sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Science fiction novels tend to rely on action and the genre itself as a means to draw readers. <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Martian </em>is science fiction, but it differs from the norm. It is a novel first and science fiction second. It is every bit as engrossing a story as Robinson Crusoe – just in a science fiction setting. As such, it appeals to a wide variety of readers, including those who would have never otherwise even looked at the cover of a pure science fiction novel. People who had never shown interest in anything resembling a space ship, were drawn to theaters to watch the movie adaptation. The technology and science Weir depicts is nearly flawless. The challenges that must be overcome, real and relatable. The plot, the details, the ingenuity are what made <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Martian</em> so successful – the genre played a role, but the work as a whole appealed to everyone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last year I had the luck to fall into another novel from a first-time author. Like <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Martian</em>, this book had a science fiction theme to it, but it wasn’t what made it so appealing. It treated me to as detailed and interwoven plot as one could hope for. It brought in historic world events, science, and technology to tell a history of humanity that had never before been explored. The book was <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Atlantis Gene</em> by A.G. Riddle. It was followed by two more enthralling installments: <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Atlantis Plague</em> and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Atlantis World</em>. Even though the books have decidedly sci-fi components, Riddle bills them as techno thrillers. I like to call them, and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Martian</em>, something else: smart science fiction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Novels like <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Martian</em> and the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Atlantis</em> series rely on plot, theme, tempo, and realism to draw the reader in, versus attracting them simply because they belong to a genre the reader finds appealing. They have detailed back stories that draw on real history, science and technology to create believable worlds in which the reader can fall into. I’ve read a myriad of science fiction novels. They’ve painted wonderful pictures of far-off worlds, star ships, alien attacks and interstellar wars. As a fan of the genre, I’ve enjoyed the reads, but aside from providing those few minutes of escape each night, most left me with little else. In fact, aside from a select few like Dune, Ender’s Game, I Robot, 2001, and Ring World, I can’t even recite most of the titles I’ve read over the years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Science fiction authors are now beginning to weave more stories that transcend the genre and attract a wider audience. This metamorphosis is taking place in film as well. Movies like <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Avatar</em> and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Interstellar</em> <wbr></wbr>are less about laser beams and explosions, and more about the story, science and character development. Certainly, no one can say this type of science fiction didn’t exist over the years – it’s been there from such greats as Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, and others . But it never made the leap to mainstream, primarily because the majority of works in the genre catered to the same old themes and diluted those that could have broader appeal. For the longest time I was happy reading those nameless novels, but now authors like Weir and Riddle have ruined it for me. Now I demand more from my reads. Now I demand smart science fiction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Check out Darren Beyer's blog at <a href="https://tek22.com/">https://tek22.com</a>.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com115tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-64984004233221533212016-07-21T08:00:00.000-04:002016-08-03T20:40:16.630-04:00The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Audio by Holly Black. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<u>Title/Author</u>: Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. <br />
<br />
<u>Read by</u>: Christine Larkin.<br />
<br />
<u>Genre</u>: YA, UF. <br />
<br />
<u>Publisher</u>: Little, Brown Young Readers.<br />
<br />
<u>Source</u>: Library.<br />
<br />
<u>Synopsis</u>: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown's gates, you can never leave.<br />
<br />
One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself. ~Goodreads.com</blockquote>
<br />
<u>Midnyte Musings</u>:<br />
Holly Black does it again with <i>The Coldest Girl in Coldtown</i>. The story had me hooked from the first page (or rather disc). It starts out strong, is exciting and fast paced. Although not a "light" book, as it delves in some deep issues, it is easy to read/listen to and enjoyable to follow. <br />
<br />
There is mystery and Holly's signature twists. Her characters drew me in immediately. All of them. They are adventurous, human, monstrous, damaged and some are, at times, deceitful. I love the main character Tana. She's kind of a badass and can be remote and distant, but there's a reason she has walls built up around her. I especially loved how her ex-boyfriend, Aidan, perceived her. I thought it was so interesting because Tana was presenting herself as one way and he took it as another. Gavriel, the vampire that Tana saves is another intriguing character and there is so much more to him than what you see at first glance. Also a character named Midnight. What? And guess what? She's a blogger. Not a book blogger, she blogs about vampires. <br />
<br />
There is romance, but it is definitely not the main storyline, which is another reason I loved it. And you could say there is a love triangle, but no, not really. Maybe just the potential for there to be one. <br />
<br />
I haven't read a Holly Black book in a while and you know how you sometimes get worried that an author may disappoint you when you read a new book? Well Black's writing doesn't diminish. Her style is compelling, her dialogue smart. When she talked about a character's hair color being akin to a blue gum ball, by God, I wanted a blue gum ball! The world building, the vampire mythology, the Dystopian atmosphere -- all are so unique and clever. <br />
<br />
<u>Narration</u>: Fabulous. I loved Christine Larkin's voice and would listen to anything she reads. She brought Tana to life and is skilled and convincing in her portrayal of all the characters, yes even the male ones. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
In a word - fabulous!</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
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<div class="Chap-No" style="margin-top: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="Chap-title">
Beyond Amityville</div>
<div class="Txt-para1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Txt-para1">
<br /></div>
<div class="Txt-para1">
Outside Ed Warren’s office in Fairfield County, an old
chapel clock ticked away the passing moments with quiet, mechanical precision.
All else stood still. It was the middle of a cold, dark night in New England.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Inside the office, a brass lamp lit the desk where Ed
Warren, a pensive, gray-haired man of fifty, sat working. Hundreds of books
surrounded him, most bearing strange, arcane titles on the mysterious lore of
demonology. Above the desk hung photographs of monks and grim-faced exorcists,
standing with Ed Warren in abbey-like settings. For Ed, working in the still
silence of night, it had been a wicked day—one that was not yet over.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Just before the hour, the clock movement came alive in a
series of clicks and relays, finally churning up three somber, resonating
bongs. At the third stroke, Ed looked up, listened into <span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;">the darkness, then went back to writing. It was three o’clock in the</span>
morning, the true witching hour, the hour of the Antichrist. And now,
unbeknownst to him, Ed Warren was on borrowed time.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Only hours before, Ed and Lorraine Warren had returned to
their home in Connecticut after having been called in to investigate claims of
a “haunted house” on Long Island’s south shore, in a pleasant residential
suburb of New York City. In December 1975, the house had been purchased by
George and Kathleen Lutz, who moved into it around Christmas of that year with
their three young children. A year before the Lutzes bought the house, the
eldest son of the previous owner murdered the six sleeping members of his family
at 3:15 in the morning of November 13, 1974, with a .35 caliber rifle.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">*</span></span></span></a> On January 15,
1976, the Lutzes fled from the house, contending that they had been victimized
by manifest supernatural forces. It was a case that later came to be known as <i>The
Amityville Horror.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
By the end of January 1976, the press had become fully aware
of the Lutz family’s claim of a bizarre experience in the house, and promptly
called experts into the case. The experts brought in were Ed and Lorraine
Warren. The Warrens were consulted because, in professional circles, they are
considered to be perhaps this country’s leading authorities on the subject of
spirits and supernatural phenomena. Over the course of some three decades, Ed
and Lorraine Warren have investigated over three <i>thousand </i>paranormal and
supernatural disturbances.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
The question the news media had essentially wanted answered
was whether there was a “ghost” in the house at the time.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
The answer the Warrens gave at the end of their three-day
investigation, however, was something no one had bargained for. Indeed, their
answer literally strained credulity.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
“Yes,” the Warrens disclosed at the time, “in our judgment,
there was a <i>spirit </i>that had plagued the Lutzes in the house. But,” they
also concluded, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“<i>no </i></span>ghost
was present.”</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
What did this paradoxical statement mean? Did this imply
there were <i>other </i>kinds of spirits than ghosts?</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Incredibly, the answer the Warrens gave was “Yes!”</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
“There are two types of spirits that are encountered in true
haunting situations,” the Warrens explained on March 6, <span style="letter-spacing: -.15pt;">1976. “One is human; the other, however, is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in</i>human. An inhuman</span> <span style="letter-spacing: -.15pt;">spirit
is something that has never walked the earth in human form.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
The Warrens’ sobering information was not merely
well-intentioned speculation—because fully two weeks before, Ed and Lorraine
Warren had been confronted by an inhuman spirit in their own home. The
visitation happened to Ed first.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
<br /></div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Ed Warren’s office is located in a small, cottage-sized
building attached to the main house by a long enclosed passageway. As Ed sat
working on preliminary details of the Amityville case that fateful February
morning, the latch at the end of the passageway snapped open, followed by the
percussive boom of the heavy wooden door. Footsteps then started toward the
office.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Ed leaned back in his chair, waiting for Lorraine to enter
with a much-needed cup of coffee.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
“In here,” Ed Warren called out. Long moments passed,
however, and she did not appear. “Lorraine?” Ed called out again, but there was
no reply.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
What he heard instead, building in the distance, was an
eerie, howling wind. It was not the whistling of wind under the eaves, but
rather the menacing roar of a distant cyclone. Goose flesh rose on his arms.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
<i>“Lorraine?” </i>he asked forcefully. <i>“Are you there?” </i>But
still there was no response.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
As the ominous swirling sound built in power and intensity,
Ed quickly thought back over the last few moments. It then occurred to him that
he’d heard only <i>three </i>footsteps in the passageway—not the continuous
tread of a person walking. Something was wrong!</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Suddenly, the desk lamp dimmed to the strength of a candle
flame. Then, abruptly, the temperature in the office plunged to that of a
walk-in freezer. A rank, pungent smell of sulfur rose in the room.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Suspicious of the unnatural clamor, Ed Warren opened a desk
drawer and withdrew a vial of holy water and a large wooden crucifix. He then
got up and walked a few steps out of his office into the anteroom. As he did,
there swirled out of the passageway a horrendous, conical whirlwind.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Pointed at the bottom, broad at the top, the thing was
blacker than the natural blackness of night. Far larger than a man, the
swirling black mass moved into the dimly lit room and drifted slowly to Ed’s
left side and came to a halt some ten feet away. As Ed watched, it appeared to
grow even denser and blacker than it was before! Indeed, within the swirl, he
could see that something was beginning to take shape. An entity was beginning
to manifest in physical form!</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
<span style="letter-spacing: -.1pt;">As a demonologist, Ed
Warren knew he had to act quickly,</span> to take the initiative before this
fearsome black mass transformed itself into something even more forbidding and
dangerous.</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Holding the cross toward what was now rapidly changing into
a macabre hooded spectre, Ed Warren stepped forward. The moment he did, however,
the entity moved defiantly <i>toward him</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Ed stopped and stood his ground as the form slowly drifted
forward. When the swirling black mass was no more than a few feet away, Ed
methodically, and with absolute determination, showered the thing in the sign
of the cross with the contents of the holy water vial. Then he spoke the
ancient command: “In the name of Jesus Christ, I <i>command you </i>to leave!”</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
For eternal seconds the black mass stayed motionless, no more than a foot away from the cross. Then, slowly, it began to back off - though not before giving Ed a clear vision of himself and Lorraine involved in a potentially deadly automobile accident along a highway. With that, the entity, withdrew into the passageway from whence it came. </div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
An enormous sense of relief came over Ed Warren as he stood, sweating profusely, in the freezing cold room. Yet as he attempted to collect his thoughts, the vicious snarl of fighting animals suddenly erupted outside the house. Immediately, Ed realized there were no animals fighting: the visitation was still in progress. The entity had simply moved upstairs to attack Lorraine!</div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
Avoiding the passageway, Ed flung open the side door to the office and ran up the back steps of the house. <br />
<br /></div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
He would be too late. </div>
<div class="Txt-para2">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
All Rights Reserved.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" name="_GoBack"></a> Reprinted with permission of
Graymalkin Media (Reprint edition).</div>
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<br />
<div id="ftn" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">*</span></span></span></a> <i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 9.0pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">The New York Times, </span></i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 9.0pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">November 15, 1974.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lacy Dawn's father relives the Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in The Hollow isn't great. But Lacy has one advantage -- she's been befriended by a semi-organic, semi-robot who works with her to cure her parents. He wants something in exchange, though. It's up to her to save the Universe.<br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To prepare Lacy for her coming task, she is being schooled daily via direct downloads into her brain. Some of these courses tell her how to apply magic to resolve everyday problems much more pressing to her than a universe in big trouble, like those at home and at school. She doesn't mind saving the universe, but her own family and friends come first.<br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will Lacy Dawn's predisposition, education, and magic be enough for her to save the Universe, Earth, and, most importantly, protect her own family?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rarity from the Hollow</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is adult literary science fiction filled with tragedy, comedy and satire. It is a children's story for adults, not for the prudish, faint of heart, or easily offended.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmxVwXOy6-chSAUUPosspoUM-jUbyEVmBoiaoNHl5p9hSXUXdRiCXRk_9v92rGkGfglk4NCGc80Y8y6qRruRmHUWpF_voYtweieaD_vO5uP5Q-KxQRI2ruJHe9Vt36-S8h0MsAs4Yqdgys/s1600/aiaraisedgoldTHIS+%25282%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmxVwXOy6-chSAUUPosspoUM-jUbyEVmBoiaoNHl5p9hSXUXdRiCXRk_9v92rGkGfglk4NCGc80Y8y6qRruRmHUWpF_voYtweieaD_vO5uP5Q-KxQRI2ruJHe9Vt36-S8h0MsAs4Yqdgys/s200/aiaraisedgoldTHIS+%25282%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Awesome Indies</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“…a hillbilly version of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, only instead of the earth being destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass, Lacy Dawn must…The author has managed to do what I would have thought impossible; taken serious subjects like poverty, ignorance, abuse, and written about them with tongue-in-cheek humor without trivializing them…Eggleton sucks you into the Hollow, dunks you in the creek, rolls you in the mud, and splays you in the sun to dry off. Tucked between the folds of humor are some profound observations on human nature and modern society that you have to read to appreciate…it’s a funny book that most sci-fi fans will thoroughly enjoy.” -- </span><a href="http://awesomeindies.net/ai-approved-review-of-rarity-from-the-holly-by-robert-eggleton/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://awesomeindies.net/ai-approved-review-of-rarity-from-the-holly-by-robert-eggleton/</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42bG0I6K8XrUC-BqIGXenmaDElB9gA-FewKaXIghZ0cZuWNSWXXyIMfpgIUR_qmLtoo5VTbdIx66vBWbtV3hbcaPUfvGgFYOuUWluz1WA-kl-TPmH0tKjd7PnWX6v3oYDwnQmcQmVpPQS/s1600/5star-flat-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42bG0I6K8XrUC-BqIGXenmaDElB9gA-FewKaXIghZ0cZuWNSWXXyIMfpgIUR_qmLtoo5VTbdIx66vBWbtV3hbcaPUfvGgFYOuUWluz1WA-kl-TPmH0tKjd7PnWX6v3oYDwnQmcQmVpPQS/s1600/5star-flat-web.png" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Readers’ Favorite</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“…Full of cranky characters and crazy situations, Rarity From the Hollow sneaks up you and, before you know it, you are either laughing like crazy or crying in despair, but the one thing you won’t be is unmoved… Robert Eggleton is a brilliant writer whose work is better read on several levels. I appreciated this story on all of them.” -- </span><a href="https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/rarity-from-the-hollow" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/rarity-from-the-hollow</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From chapter 13, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mom I’d Like to Introduce You to My Fiancé</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">…..…</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jenny (the mother) walked up the hill to Roundabend. She called Lacy Dawn's name every few yards. Her muddy tennis shoes slipped and slid.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hear her voice. Why won't she answer me? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Sounds like she’s talking to someone,” Jenny said to the Woods. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nobody responded. The trees weren't supposed to since Jenny was no longer a child. Her former best friends had made no long-term commitment beyond childhood victimization. They had not agreed to help her deal with domestic violence in adulthood. She hugged the closest tree. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will always love you guys. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jenny quickened her pace, stopped, and listened for human voices. A few yards later, she stopped again. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now it sounds like she’s behind me instead of in front. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jenny looked to the left of the path.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There ain't no cave Roundabend, but there it is. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> She walked toward the entrance. The voices grew louder and she looked inside. Lacy Dawn sat on a bright orange recliner. Tears streamed down her face. Jenny ran to her daughter through a cave that didn't exit and into a blue light that did. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “All right, you mother f**ker!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Mom!” Lacy Dawn yelled. “You didn’t say, ‘It’s me’ like you're supposed to (a traditional announcement mentioned earlier in the story)."</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> DotCom (the android) sat naked in a lotus position on the floor in front of the recliner. Jenny covered Lacy Dawn with her body and glared at him. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Grrrrr," emanated from Jenny. It was a sound similar to the one that Brownie (Lacy Dawn's dog) made the entire time the food stamp woman was at their house. It was a sound that filled the atmosphere with hate. No one moved. The spaceship’s door slid shut.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Mommmmmy, I can’t breathe. Get up.” </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “You make one move you sonofabitch and I’ll tear your heart out,” Jenny repositioned to take her weight off Lacy Dawn.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stay between them</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Mommy, he’s my friend. More than my friend, we’re going to get married when I'm old enough -- like when I turn fourteen. He’s my boyfriend -- what you call it -- my fiancé.” </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “You been messin’ with my little girl you pervert!” Jenny readied to pounce. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “MOM! Take a chill pill! He ain’t been messing with me. He’s a good person, or whatever. Anyway, he’s not a pervert. You need to just calm down and get off me.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jenny stood up. DotCom stood up. Jenny’s jaw dropped.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He ain't got no private parts, not even a little bump. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “DotCom, I’d like to introduce you to my mommy, Mrs. Jenny Hickman. Mommy, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancé, DotCom.” </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jenny sat down on the recliner. Her face was less than a foot from DotCom’s crotch and she stared straight at it. It was smooth, hairless, and odor free. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Mrs. Hickman, I apologize for any inconvenience that this misunderstanding has caused. It is very nice to meet you after having heard so much. You arrived earlier than expected. I did not have time to properly prepare and receive. Again, I apologize.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will need much more training if I'm ever assigned to a more formal setting than a cave, such as to the United Nations.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Come on, Mommy. Give him a hug or something.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jenny's left eye twitched. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> DotCom put on clothing that Lacy Dawn had bought him at Goodwill. It hung a little loose until he modified his body. Lacy Dawn hugged her mother… </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> …(scene of Dwayne, the father, overheard by those in the spaceship while talking to himself)… “Besides, the transmitter was part of Daddy’s treatment. There're a lot of other things that he did to help fix Daddy. DotCom is like a doctor. You can see that Daddy has gotten better every day. And no, there ain’t no transmitter in you. DotCom figured you out like a good doctor and the only things wrong are a lack of opportunity and rotten teeth that poison your body. You don’t need no transmitter. He just gave you a few shots of ego boost. I don’t know what medicine that is, but I trust him. You ain't complained since the shots started -- not even with an upset stomach.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "He's a doctor?" Jenny asked.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “What's your problem anyway?” Lacy Dawn asked. “I know. You’re prejudiced. You told me that people have much more in common than they do that's different -- even if someone is a different color or religion, or from a different state than us. You told me to try to become friends because sometimes that person may need a good friend. Now, here you are acting like a butt hole about my boyfriend. You’re prejudiced because he’s different than us.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Honey, he’s not even a person – that’s about as different as a boyfriend can get,” Jenny said. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “So?” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mommy's right. Maybe I need a different argument.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A fast clicking sound, a blur of motion, and a familiar smell assaulted them. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "What's that?" Jenny asked. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> She moved to protect her daughter from whatever threat loomed. Brownie, who had been granted 27 / 7 access to the ship, bounded over the orange recliner, knocked DotCom to the floor, licked DotCom’s face, and rubbed his head on Jenny’s leg. He then jumped onto the recliner and lay down. His tail wagged throughout. Jenny sat down on the recliner beside Brownie and looked at Lacy Dawn.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “But, you were crying when I first came in. That thing was hurting you.” Jenny shook her finger at DotCom to emphasize a different argument against him.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Mommy, I'm so happy that I couldn’t help but cry. My man just came home from an out-of-state job. I didn't talk to him for a whole year. Before he left, he told me that he wasn’t even sure if he'd be able to come home. I still don’t know what happened while he was gone. We ain't had no chance to talk. All I know is that he's home and I'm sooooo happy.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Your man came home from an out-of-state job?” Jenny patted Brownie on his head, some more and some more…. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's unusual for a man to promise to come back home and ever be seen again. Brownie likes him and that's a good sign. Maybe she's right about him</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">helping Dwayne. Something sure did and it wasn’t me. It is a nice living room. They've been together for a while and I ain't seen a mark on her</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That's unusual too. He ain't got no private parts and that's another good thing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hell, if I get in the middle, she’d just run off with him anyway. I</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">d better play it smart. I don't want to lose my baby.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “What about his stupid name?” Jenny asked. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “I’ve got a stupid name, too. All the kids at school call me hick because my last name is Hickman.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “My name was given to me by my manager a very long time ago. It represents a respected tradition -- the persistent marketing of that which is not necessarily the most needed. I spam…,” DotCom said. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> They both glared at him. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Dwayne is sure to be home. I don’t want him to worry. Let’s go,” Jenny said. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Okay, Mommy.” </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “I love you, DotCom,” Lacy Dawn stepped out the ship’s door, which had slid open. Brownie and Jenny were right behind her. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “I love you too,” DotCom said. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Lacy Dawn and Jenny held hands and walked down the path toward home. The trees didn’t smile -- at least not so Jenny would notice. On the other hand, no living thing obstructed, intruded, or interfered with the rite. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jenny sang to the Woods, “My little girl’s going to marry a doctor when she grows up, marry a doctor when she grows up, when she grows up. My little girl’s going to marry a doctor when she grows up, marry a doctor when she grows up, when she grows up….”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About the author:</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-9f7a4be6-60f1-2566-3c14-8ed75efcbf0f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robert Eggleton has served as a children's advocate in an impoverished state for over forty years. He is best known for his investigative reports about children’s programs, most of which were published by the West Virginia Supreme Court where he worked from 1982 through 1997, and which also included publication of models of serving disadvantaged and homeless children in the community instead of in large institutions, research into foster care drift involving children bouncing from one home to the next -- never finding a permanent loving family, and statistical reports on the occurrence and correlates of child abuse and delinquency. </span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, he is a recently retired children's psychotherapist from the mental health center in Charleston, West Virginia, where he specialized in helping victims cope with and overcome physical and sexual abuse, and other mental health concerns. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rarity from the Hollow </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is his debut novel and its release followed publication of three short Lacy Dawn Adventures in magazines: Wingspan Quarterly, Beyond Centauri, and Atomjack Science Fiction. Author proceeds have been donated to a child abuse prevention program operated by Children’s Home Society of West Virginia. </span><a href="http://www.childhswv.org/%20" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.childhswv.org/</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Robert continues to write fiction with new adventures based on a protagonist that is a composite character of children that he met when delivering group therapy services. The overall theme of his stories remains victimization to empowerment.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purchase links:</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rarity-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton-ebook/dp/B017REIA44/ref" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.amazon.com/Rarity-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton-ebook/dp/B017REIA44/</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rarity-From-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton/dp/1907133062" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rarity-From-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton/dp/1907133062</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.doghornpublishing.com/wordpress/books/rarity-from-the-hollow" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.doghornpublishing.com/wordpress/books/rarity-from-the-hollow </span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Author Contacts:</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span>
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<a href="http://www.lacydawnadventures.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.lacydawnadventures.com</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13603677-rarity-from-the-hollow" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13603677-rarity-from-the-hollow </span></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/robert.eggleton2" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.facebook.com/robert.eggleton2 </span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Lacy-Dawn-Adventures-73354432693864/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.facebook.com/Lacy-Dawn-Adventures-73354432693864/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 22pt; letter-spacing: 5.7pt;">CELEBRATING 11 YEARS<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 22pt; letter-spacing: 5.7pt;">THRILLERFEST XI<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 22pt;">RETURNS TO GRAND HYATT NEW YORK<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 22pt;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2025816576" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">JULY 5-9, 2016</span></span><u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 22pt;">Gillian Flynn, Heather Graham, John Lescroart, C.J. Box, Walter Mosley and more!<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Remember that domestic thriller about a marriage of mayhem that jolted readers with its mind-bending twist? Gillian Flynn, who took the thriller world by storm in 2012 with her <i>New York Times</i> #1 bestseller <b><i>Gone Girl</i></b><i>,</i>takes her deserved place among the ranks of the world’s greatest thriller writers at the International Thriller Writers’ (ITW) ThrillerFest XI <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2025816577" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">July 5-9, 2016</span></span> in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">In addition to special guest Gillian Flynn, Heather Graham will serve as the 2016 ThrillerMaster of the largest international gathering of fans and writers of the genre. Graham is the bestselling author of <i>The Cafferty and Quinn</i> series, <i>The Krewe of Hunters</i> series, and the <i>Bone Island Trilogy</i>. Graham also launched books for Dell’s Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette’s Shadows, and for Harlequin’s mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books. Other spotlight guests include C.J. Box and Walter Mosley. John Lescroart will receive the 2016 Silver Bullet Award for his humanitarian work.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The thrills continue with two greatly anticipated events: CraftFest, where the best authors in the business share trade secrets with peers; and PitchFest, “speed-dating” with top agents, producers, and editors<b>. </b>Again this year the exciting addition to the ThrillerFest roster is CareerFest. Nestled into CraftFest, CareerFest focuses on marketing, promotion, and other career-related advice, such as determining the best publishing path, social media, expanding your visibility, and building your platform. <span style="color: red;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 22px;">It all culminates with the 2016 ITW Thriller Awards Banquet, during which the awards for best original paperback, best hardcover, best debut novel, best eBook, best YA novel, and best short story will be finally revealed—a riveting climax to a sensational event.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Event highlights include:<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">Master CraftFest</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">: <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2025816578" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday, July 5</span></span>, a pre-ThrillerFest event that is a thriller writer’s dream come true. This intensive, one-day seminar features the bestselling masters of the craft: <b>Steve Berry, David Corbett, Grant Blackwood, Andrew Gross</b>, <b>Meg Gardiner, Heather Graham,</b> <b>Richard Krevolin</b>(screenwriting) and <b>Gayle Lynds</b>. Master CraftFest features small groups and personal instruction.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">CraftFest</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">: Called the greatest opportunity for professional growth at ThrillerFest, everyone from aspiring authors to published pros have the opportunity to improve their craft from the best in the business.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">PitchFest</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">: PitchFest changes writing careers with more than 60 agents waiting to discover the next hot talent. Writer John Beatty attended ThrillerFest/Pitchfest, found an agent and received a contract with a major New York publisher: “One of the things I love about PitchFest is how intense, time-efficient, and concentrated it was. I ended up pitching my story to 10 agents in one day. A few months later, we landed a contract with Disney Hyperion. <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2025816579" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Two years later</span></span>, when <i>Serafina and the Black Cloak</i>launched, it became a <i>New York Times</i> bestseller.”<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">CareerFest:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> A slate of industry insiders will help pave the road to publication. “Discoveries” this year include, Discover Indie Publishing from A to Z, Discover the Road to Hollywood, Discover the Road Map to Success in Traditional Publishing, Discover the Successful Author in You, and Discover How to Get an Agent and What to Do after You’ve Got One.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">Today’s FBI: Crime Essentials for Writers. </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">Everything a writer ever wanted to know about the FBI but didn’t know whom to ask. Authors will hear from experts in cyber-crime, international terrorism, criminal investigation and much more. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">ITW ThrillerFest Awards Banquet:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> The envelope please! Talent will be recognized on <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2025816580" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday, July 9</span></span> when Thriller Nation assembles to shine a light on their brightest stars including 2011 ThrillerMaster R.L. Stine who will present the title to 2016 ThrillerMaster Heather Graham.<b><span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"></span></b><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">John Lescroart, Silver Bullet recipient:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> Will be honored for his humanitarian philanthropy at the Awards Banquet. Lescroart, a founding member of ITW and a <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of legal thrillers, is known for his charitable work. He has donated funds from character-naming auctions to support libraries, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, diabetes research, the First Amendment Project, and many others. He’s also been involved in the Authors on the Move fundraiser for the Sacramento Public Library Foundation, and he donated $150,000 to the graduate program in creative writing at the University of California, Davis, even though UC Berkeley is his alma mater. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cocktail parties:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> ThrillerFest is famous for opportunities to mix and mingle with the stars, get books signed and make new friends within the profession. <u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<u></u><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><u></u><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">ThrillerFest panels, workshops, and lectures—oh my!</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> Top authors and industry experts offer thought provoking commentary and instruction. </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://thrillerfest.com/about/schedule/&source=gmail&ust=1466022458525000&usg=AFQjCNHjkBT8wq1773UuhCaKOvQh8FWU7w" href="http://thrillerfest.com/about/schedule/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">Events Schedule</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"> is an honorary society of more than 3,700 authors in 42 countries with three billion books in print. One of the main purposes of the organization is to provide a way for successful, bestselling authors to help debut and midlist authors advance their careers. In addition, ITW promotes literacy, gives money to worthy organizations, supports libraries, and advances the genre.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">To make a reservation for the suspense-inspired, five-day adventure, please visit </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.ThrillerFest.com&source=gmail&ust=1466022458526000&usg=AFQjCNEbpSv7u3KCZkTzv8GjSg34m9c70A" href="http://www.thrillerfest.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">www.ThrillerFest.com</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #bd081c; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: bold; left: 193px; line-height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; top: 18px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #bd081c; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: bold; left: 193px; line-height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; top: 18px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #bd081c; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: bold; left: 193px; line-height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; top: 18px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: #bd081c; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: bold; left: 193px; line-height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; top: 18px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span>Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-90740644184434615892016-05-16T08:00:00.000-04:002016-05-16T08:00:35.524-04:00On Strong Female Characters, Race-Neutral Heroes, and Myriad Personalities - Guest Post by Dan O'Brien.<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgZooDRL_90cR8-HlvLk0pjs2AUdDBxHR_v7gGnTA45KJKbMoWPkR9XVh7WMoHjwwsPC-bkW1aPxMtWmJzxba3GQbe1vUbcVMduSQ7T987NtkYFrGoHVPlwJpWNVeg-Ep-kwgZkkNRwmT/s1600/Sixth+Prime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgZooDRL_90cR8-HlvLk0pjs2AUdDBxHR_v7gGnTA45KJKbMoWPkR9XVh7WMoHjwwsPC-bkW1aPxMtWmJzxba3GQbe1vUbcVMduSQ7T987NtkYFrGoHVPlwJpWNVeg-Ep-kwgZkkNRwmT/s320/Sixth+Prime.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
When I started writing <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENLPOVG&source=gmail&ust=1463174380109000&usg=AFQjCNHK6fVEJvujYfbfygw0o3y5vZV0oA" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENLPOVG" style="color: #57ad68; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><em>Sixth Prime</em></a>, I decided early on to do something very deliberate: I would make half the main characters female; I would make sure the personalities better reflected the myriad of the human experience; and I would describe characters without using skin color or any physical identifiers.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
You might be wondering: <em>what exactly is the point of that?</em></div>
<h2 style="clear: both; color: #333332; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.938rem; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; margin-top: 2.5rem;">
<strong><em>Women represent half the population</em>. </strong></h2>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
I would be remiss if I ignored the statistics right in front of me. 82% of readers are female, so why wouldn't you include female characters when so many readers are women. I don't mean the traditional roles of queens and romantic interests; I'm talking about adventurers and villains, scientists and soldiers, and everything in between. The goal should be to tell the best possible story. I waited until I had outlined everything, and then randomly assigned characters as men and women (this includes romantic relationships as well, so buckle your seatbelts).</div>
<h2 style="clear: both; color: #333332; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.938rem; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; margin-top: 2.5rem;">
<em>Personality guides behavior and decision-making.</em></h2>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
I went to graduate school for psychology, and as such I've always had a fascination with why people do what they do. This, naturally, translated into thinking about how I could smuggle personality psychology into a narrative. The Prime saga, beginning with <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENLPOVG&source=gmail&ust=1463174380109000&usg=AFQjCNHK6fVEJvujYfbfygw0o3y5vZV0oA" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENLPOVG" style="color: #57ad68; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><em>Sixth Prime</em></a>, is an attempt to do just that. I wanted readers to feel like they were represented by one of the characters in such a way that the decisions and consequences felt more real to them.</div>
<h2 style="clear: both; color: #333332; font-family: 'PT Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.938rem; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 1.2rem; margin-top: 2.5rem;">
<strong><em>The reader should decide how the characters look.</em> </strong></h2>
<span class="im" style="color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span class="im" style="color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
I know it's a long shot, but maybe (just maybe) the Prime Saga becomes a movie or limited series. I bring this up because nothing is worse than people arguing how characters should <em>look</em> or the kinds of actors or actresses who should play them. Really, even if an adaptation is not in order, I love the idea of people coming to their own conclusions about how a character should look based on their choices, personality, and behavior. I want the characters to be defined by how they make readers feel; I want a reader to be able to see themselves in the character <strong>and as the character</strong>.</div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Here is the working teaser:</div>
<blockquote style="border-color: rgb(87, 173, 104); border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 3px; font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 29.45px; margin: 1.4em 1em 1.4em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.313rem;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">
2.3.5.7.11.13.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">
A war brews as a galaxy struggles to maintain a peace treaty signed in haste. The Commonwealth boasts sprawling cities built upon slums. The Sovereignty has placed the yoke of industry upon its citizens. Sixteen men and women are connected in a way they cannot yet understand. A murder of a prominent artist begins a chain of events that will ultimately determine the fate of the universe.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">
Only thirteen will remain.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">
In the end, there can be only one Prime.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em;">
Are you a Prime?</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Interested yet? I sure hope so. If you are, then how about a brief excerpt? Check it out at: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://authordanobrien.com/2016/03/05/preview-of-sixth-prime/&source=gmail&ust=1463174590075000&usg=AFQjCNG2uYXCJlGTlKjlri-yOVcDtXbrlA" href="http://authordanobrien.com/2016/03/05/preview-of-sixth-prime/" style="color: #57ad68; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://authordanobrien.<wbr></wbr>com/2016/03/05/preview-of-<wbr></wbr>sixth-prime/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
<span class="im" style="color: #500050; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'PT Serif', Georgia, serif; line-height: 29.45px; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Perhaps you want to pre-order the Kindle version for only $2.99? <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENLPOVG&source=gmail&ust=1463174590075000&usg=AFQjCNEflkICp5FkPGIVT561teplGZbJtA" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENLPOVG" style="color: #57ad68; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr>dp/B01ENLPOVG</a></div>
</div>
<br />
<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-41224503575286291992016-05-09T08:00:00.000-04:002016-05-09T08:00:25.626-04:00Recent Grads: Nine Books That Can Help to Tackle the World Ahead of You - Guest post by Jason Phillips.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<br /></div>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Reading is an important skill and a valuable way to spend your spare
time; this is true no matter whether you are a child or a pensioner. Reading
will broaden your vocabulary, improve your knowledge of grammar and sentence
structure, your knowledge of a subject and they are also an excellent way to
improve your cognitive skills and your ability to think outside the box. The
following nine books are essential reads for any recent grad; they will help
you to prepare for life in the real world.</span><br />
<br />
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><a href="webkit-fake-url://b3f20580-1c93-4227-8aef-626f38e81e7e/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://b3f20580-1c93-4227-8aef-626f38e81e7e/application.pdf" width="209" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Bell MT'; font-size: 12pt;">1. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT'; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Bell MT'; font-size: 12pt;">Jonathan Frazen’s “Freedom” is a witty novel that confronts issues of
friendship or love. The book deals with a love triangle which first starts at
college and leaves the protagonist with just one option, friendship or love. Everyone
should consider the implications of this decision and how they would react</span> <br />
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="webkit-fake-url://a09c30e6-428d-4887-8fc8-7f4b9792a69e/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://a09c30e6-428d-4887-8fc8-7f4b9792a69e/application.pdf" width="214" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Bell MT'; font-size: 12pt;">2. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">“This Side of Paradise” is a book that deals with an issue that affects
every recent graduate - life after college and during college. Faced with the
task of having to reassess yourself, your beliefs and even your goals, it is
easy to become disillusioned. The book will help recent grads find the right
path forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="webkit-fake-url://9a44eb9c-21a5-45b2-a614-e37fcecafbcc/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://9a44eb9c-21a5-45b2-a614-e37fcecafbcc/application.pdf" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">3. 1984 by George Orwell</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">“1984” is the kind of book that every youngster should read at least
once in their life. It was written decades ago, when 1984 was still in the
future. Its picture of the future is surprisingly accurate and raises a serious
issue for all recent grads. Will you become a part of the system or will you
retain your individuality and choose your own path?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="webkit-fake-url://3ac2d7a6-59cf-4ade-8a97-eed3cd7e5b58/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://3ac2d7a6-59cf-4ade-8a97-eed3cd7e5b58/application.pdf" width="201" /></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">4. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dpstoyevsky</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">This famous story tells the tale of a student who kills an elderly
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world. Not everything is as it seems. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="webkit-fake-url://13ee98a2-e890-4a23-82ef-04a15fc34f16/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://13ee98a2-e890-4a23-82ef-04a15fc34f16/application.pdf" width="210" /></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">5. A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">“A Brave New World” takes a look at a future utopia where everyone is
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is individuality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It raises an
important question, is it possible to be happy whilst being the same as
everyone else?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a recent grad
you have unlimited potential, are you prepared to follow your own path and
fight the system?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<!--StartFragment--><a href="webkit-fake-url://abddcca5-b90d-40e9-b143-be54e53f09b8/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://abddcca5-b90d-40e9-b143-be54e53f09b8/application.pdf" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">6. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Imagine a future where, no matter what you do, you are doomed to be
lonely. Love may be everywhere but it is fatal. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Solitude-Harper-Perennial-Classics/dp/0060883286"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">“One Hundred
Years of Solitude”</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> will remind you of the
importance of family and true friends.</span><br />
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<a href="webkit-fake-url://9da8797d-c0e2-4859-be02-df305f53dcd1/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://9da8797d-c0e2-4859-be02-df305f53dcd1/application.pdf" width="210" /></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Gatsby-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">Great Gatsby</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"> deals with the epic highs of life and the
disillusionment that comes when it all falls apart. Sometimes you have to know
your limits and what you can still achieve. The past is gone and cannot be
changed; only the present and the future matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="webkit-fake-url://89246113-838a-4676-85f8-703eac54b157/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://89246113-838a-4676-85f8-703eac54b157/application.pdf" width="193" /></a><span lang="EN-GB"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">8. Lolita by Vladamir Nobokov</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lolita-Vladimir-Nabokov/dp/3942656477">“Lolita”</a></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">tell us the story of a young man’s encounter with a nymphet, and the
forbidden love that he simply cannot resist. As the story develops and
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<a href="webkit-fake-url://fabccb43-6e6b-44f1-a7ad-a17bd2e81b86/application.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="webkit-fake-url://fabccb43-6e6b-44f1-a7ad-a17bd2e81b86/application.pdf" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">9. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">Uncle Tom’s Cabin” has received equal amounts of praise and criticism,
but it is an important part of the history of many colleges in the United
States. It deals with a difficult part of American history and how the values
and principles of this great nation arose; and how they have changed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">By Jason Phillips and </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.lovereading.co.uk/"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">LoveReading.co.uk</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";">!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Yu Mincho Light";"><br /></span></div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" /><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-13969172855141743832016-05-02T08:00:00.000-04:002016-05-02T08:00:12.007-04:00Excerpt from The Last Girl by Joe Hart!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QKk3CU72kisvHPM2ZapOiSITKI6P1U-gk0nxwFK-g9tp32WzzGKbsVnnQIifr5Y5py2xiyq4jJT032i6DuCGaLQAaAZIqO2xfE4anLyiby-GhJY19Tm1r5LlF48srr16nCJlnSKPrM55/s1600/unnamed-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QKk3CU72kisvHPM2ZapOiSITKI6P1U-gk0nxwFK-g9tp32WzzGKbsVnnQIifr5Y5py2xiyq4jJT032i6DuCGaLQAaAZIqO2xfE4anLyiby-GhJY19Tm1r5LlF48srr16nCJlnSKPrM55/s320/unnamed-2.jpg" width="213" /></a>BEFORE . . .<br />
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<i> “As of today we don’t have any solid factual data or numbers to speak of concerning the phenomena. We are working tirelessly with the World Health Organization as well as the Attorney General’s office. Everyone can rest assured that we will issue a statement soon, and in the meantime we’re doing everything we can to identify the cause.”</i> —Cameron West, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, January 2017<i><br /><br />"I think what most people are missing is the fact that this isn’t a localized event. This is global, and it happened overnight. To my knowledge no one—not a scientist, not a government official, and not a single news source—has come up with a satisfying explanation for what’s happening.” </i>—Ramona Chandler, independent journalist for The Underground, May 2017<i><br /><br /> “The National Obstetric Alliance that was formed early last year has made significant progress in determining the cause of the so-called ‘drought of female births.’ I can honestly say that we are on the verge of understanding the origin of this occurrence, and we implore the American people as well as citizens throughout the world to remain calm and strong in the face of this unprecedented challenge. An answer is very near.” </i>—Benson Andrews, 45th President of the United States of America, February 2018<i><br /><br />NT: In your opinion, what truly caused the uprising in Harrisburg?<br />FW: (draws on cigarette) Limits.<br /><br />NT: Limits?<br /><br />FW: Yeah, limits. Everyone has theirs, you know? When the induction into NOA’s research program went from voluntary to mandatory, that’s what did it. It pushed people past their limits. This is America, for God’s sake, the land of the free. But suddenly we’re being told that all women who’ve given birth to baby girls in the last five years have to report to one of NOA’s reception complexes, or else? (shakes his head) No way. No way were people going to put up with that. Listen, I’ve heard stories of armed raiding groups taking entire families from their beds at night. here is a woman in New York who said her eight-month-old daughter was taken from her crib and that a government official contacted her the next morning warning her not to take action. And then of course there was the Divinity cult that Senator Jesperson was associated with in Texas that was exterminating newborn boys in its membership. They thought that this was all God’s work, and if they kept killing male infants the females would start being born again. I mean, this doesn’t sound like the United States at all, at least not the one that I’m familiar with.<br /><br />NT: There hasn’t been a female birthrate report released in over six months now. The last one put the percentage at one in one hundred thousand. Would you say that’s correct?<br /><br />FW: (laughs) Are you kidding? One in a hundred thousand? Try one in ten million. That’s the last statistic I saw before resigning, and by all accounts it was getting worse. I wouldn’t be surprised if the new data shows one in a hundred million. When the masses start to realize what’s happening, there’s going to be war.<br /><br />NT: You predict there will be more uprisings like in Pennsylvania?<br /><br />FW: Slaughter. Call it what it was. A slaughter of American citizens by their government. And yes, this is only the beginning.</i>—Excerpt from NewsTime interview with Foster White, former Undersecretary to the Attorney General’s office, ten days before his disappearance, June 2018<i><br /><br />“The rebellion’s a tide, just like whatever the hell happened to the baby girls. You can’t stop it.” </i>—Anonymous rebel soldier, November 2018<i><br /><br />No women<br />No babies<br />No hope</i>—Graffiti on the Washington Monument, December 2018<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>About <i>The Last Girl</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A mysterious worldwide epidemic reduces the birthrate of female infants from 50 percent to less than 1 percent. Medical science and governments around the world scramble in an effort to solve the problem, but twenty-<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1333897938" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">five years later</span></span> there is no cure, and an entire generation grows up with a population of fewer than a thousand women.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zoey and some of the surviving young women are housed in a scientific research compound dedicated to determining the cause. For two decades, she’s been isolated from her family, treated as a test subject, and locked away—told only that the virus has wiped out the rest of the world’s population.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Captivity is the only life Zoey has ever known, and escaping her heavily armed captors is no easy task, but she’s determined to leave before she is subjected to the next round of tests…a program that no other woman has ever returned from. Even if she’s successful, Zoey has no idea what she’ll encounter in the strange new world beyond the facility’s walls. Winning her freedom will take brutality she never imagined she possessed, as well as all her strength and cunning—but Zoey is ready for war.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv753bkNiAXPUAzKHjaB9idIa71SDLblnR-8T73pgVAu-p4QbnC52MBAm8bVv8CrdNzI04A5-qfckOL77G_aGU_6S4ErP6opOTqWtGRacqABN__nFudYaw1AaKXOQnhNFVmNaj1yHDsSrl/s1600/unnamed-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv753bkNiAXPUAzKHjaB9idIa71SDLblnR-8T73pgVAu-p4QbnC52MBAm8bVv8CrdNzI04A5-qfckOL77G_aGU_6S4ErP6opOTqWtGRacqABN__nFudYaw1AaKXOQnhNFVmNaj1yHDsSrl/s200/unnamed-1.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>About the Author</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Joe Hart was born and raised in northern Minnesota. Having dedicated himself to writing horror and thriller fiction since the tender age of nine, he is now the author of eight novels that include <i>The River Is Dark</i>, <i>Lineage</i>, and <i>EverFall</i>. <i>The Last Girl</i> is the first installment in the highly anticipated Dominion Trilogy and once again showcases Hart’s knack for creating breathtaking futuristic thrillers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising, exploring the great outdoors, and watching movies with his family. For more information on his upcoming novels and access to his blog, visit <a href="http://www.joehartbooks.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.joehartbooks.com</a>.</span></div>
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-63337101502901031542016-04-12T20:49:00.003-04:002016-04-12T20:49:47.761-04:00Old Flames / Right to Life <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer68MRArxNBbCZ0lRnEfTOBLy3jg79M3UXuNlsGJZCkkFIu7CQbJXN94PcyN6u-KoS_UiyJOCdpU1wgxEJ1EPHIG_nZ8G8-2cjQHQsRCMvONF2qCcbBhgcMFtGxnW7M7xVLJBs5wIY7zB/s1600/2583591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjer68MRArxNBbCZ0lRnEfTOBLy3jg79M3UXuNlsGJZCkkFIu7CQbJXN94PcyN6u-KoS_UiyJOCdpU1wgxEJ1EPHIG_nZ8G8-2cjQHQsRCMvONF2qCcbBhgcMFtGxnW7M7xVLJBs5wIY7zB/s320/2583591.jpg" width="198" /></a><br />
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<u>Title/Author</u>: Old Flames and Right To Life by Jack Ketchum.<br />
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<u>Genre</u>: Dark Fiction.<br />
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<u>Publisher</u>: Leisure Books.<br />
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<u>Source</u>: Purchased.<br />
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<u>Synopsis</u>:If you are familiar with Jack Ketchum you probably understand that you will find a dark, gritty, harsh and many times bloody story.The novellas Old Flames and Right to Life is no different. </blockquote>
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Old Flames starts with Dora, a woman who, disappointed with every relationship she's ever been in, looks up her college boyfriend. Even though he is married with two children, she schemes to insinuate herself into his life. This story may have gone into another direction if the ex boyfriend had made different choices, but then we would not have been allowed to see the downward spiral of this reunion and Dora herself. Tragic and heartbreaking, Old Flames shows how a manipulative and delusional person can destroy not just a family, but her own life as well. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY64eA6NpX4WOr_aBJ-cngFyaH2JF28upZFBItH6rz7AvrFGVtCXOKOKLUAfmqDM_pnEcIJdWOhqexaYXz9sYcGhr2hq2CIcpBcuFhEZvlldTD1GolnSdttBFbVdbaBX_7VcN2fKLD1VOY/s1600/179736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY64eA6NpX4WOr_aBJ-cngFyaH2JF28upZFBItH6rz7AvrFGVtCXOKOKLUAfmqDM_pnEcIJdWOhqexaYXz9sYcGhr2hq2CIcpBcuFhEZvlldTD1GolnSdttBFbVdbaBX_7VcN2fKLD1VOY/s320/179736.jpg" width="202" /></a>Right to Life was dark and twisted in a different way. More of a <i>Criminal Minds</i> than the above <i>Law and Order. </i>Okay maybe a lot worse than any Criminal Minds episode I've ever seen.<i> </i>Looking at the cover to this novella basically shows you the premise. Sara Foster finds out she is pregnant and is kidnapped right outside of an abortion clinic. Her two kidnappers have an agenda and a twisted way to keep her in line and obedient. The relationship between her and her two kidnappers twist and change as she struggles to hold on to her life and her sanity. This story is pretty brutal, so why did I keep reading it? I wanted to see if Sara survives and escapes. I wanted to find out if the kidnappers turn on each other. I simply wanted to see how it ended. (Warning: This story is very graphic.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9114795204205214186%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D6333710150290103154%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dlink&media=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-g8SNIQHGiK0%2FVwsENZ8--KI%2FAAAAAAAAKyE%2FPARoHccn-dcBg8cWEYrmWmMDCvdd7rfgg%2Fs320%2F179736.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=SPddFDWUBZDK&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 26px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 394px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D9114795204205214186%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D6333710150290103154%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dlink&media=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-g8SNIQHGiK0%2FVwsENZ8--KI%2FAAAAAAAAKyE%2FPARoHccn-dcBg8cWEYrmWmMDCvdd7rfgg%2Fs320%2F179736.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=SPddFDWUBZDK&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 26px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 394px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-32026719669779899682016-03-27T21:59:00.003-04:002016-04-07T23:46:05.351-04:00Talking Dead liked my Tweet!!! <div class="stream-item-activity-header" style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
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I would like to thank everyone who made this moment possible!</div>
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<strong class="fullname" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><a class="pretty-link js-user-profile-link js-action-profile-name" data-user-id="381688396" href="https://twitter.com/AMCTalkingDead" style="color: #b30000; text-decoration: none;">AMC Talking Dead</a></strong> liked your Tweet<span class="activity-type activity-type-favorite" style="display: block; font-size: 15px; height: 16px; left: 46px; margin-left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 8px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><span class="Icon Icon--heartBadge" style="color: #e81c4f; display: inline-block; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<a class="latest-tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-tooltip" data-original-title="6:50 PM - 27 Mar 2016" href="https://twitter.com/MidnyteReader/status/714268360993857536" style="color: #8899a6; display: inline; text-decoration: none;">7m</a>:<br />
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"I don't take chances...anymore." <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ApocalypseCredo?src=hash" style="color: #8899a6; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ccd6dd;">#</span>ApocalypseCredo</a> <a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav" data-mentioned-user-id="65184105" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/WalkingDead_AMC" style="color: #8899a6; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ccd6dd;">@</span>WalkingDead_AMC</a> <a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav" data-mentioned-user-id="381688396" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/AMCTalkingDead" style="color: #8899a6; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ccd6dd;">@</span>AMCTalkingDead</a></div>
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<li class="supplement visible-supplement" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 20px;"><a class="js-profile-popup-actionable js-user-tipsy js-tooltip" data-user-id="381688396" href="https://twitter.com/AMCTalkingDead" original-title="AMC Talking Dead" style="color: #b30000; display: inline-block; text-decoration: none;" title="AMC Talking Dead"><img alt="AMC Talking Dead" class="avatar size24 js-user-profile-link" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/648865441322942464/bv02gHY__normal.png" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 24px; margin-right: 5px; width: 24px;" /></a></li>
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Addendum: Is this real? Have they liked two of my tweets? <br />
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<a class="pretty-link js-user-profile-link js-action-profile-name" data-user-id="1225229720" href="https://twitter.com/kcornelius75" style="color: #b30000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;"><strong class="fullname" style="color: black;">Kimberly Cornelius</strong></a><span style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and</span><span style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a class="pretty-link js-user-profile-link js-action-profile-name" data-user-id="381688396" href="https://twitter.com/AMCTalkingDead" style="color: #b30000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;"><strong class="fullname" style="color: black;">AMC Talking Dead</strong></a><span style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">liked your Tweet</span><br />
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<a class="latest-tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-tooltip" href="https://twitter.com/MidnyteReader/status/714272812400246784" style="color: #8899a6; display: inline; text-decoration: none;" title="7:08 PM - 27 Mar 2016">2m</a>: <div class="tweet-text js-tweet-text" lang="en" style="display: inline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">
I also LOVE when Denise Huth is on <a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav" data-mentioned-user-id="381688396" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/AMCTalkingDead" style="color: #8899a6; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ccd6dd;">@</span>AMCTalkingDead</a></div>
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<li class="supplement visible-supplement" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 20px;"><a class="js-profile-popup-actionable js-user-tipsy js-tooltip" data-user-id="1225229720" href="https://twitter.com/kcornelius75" original-title="Kimberly Cornelius" style="color: #b30000; display: inline-block; text-decoration: none;" title="Kimberly Cornelius"><img alt="Kimberly Cornelius" class="avatar size24 js-user-profile-link" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/713530251779956737/p0Z1IpW__normal.jpg" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 24px; margin-right: 5px; width: 24px;" /></a></li>
<li class="supplement visible-supplement" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 20px;"><a class="js-profile-popup-actionable js-user-tipsy js-tooltip" data-user-id="381688396" href="https://twitter.com/AMCTalkingDead" original-title="AMC Talking Dead" style="color: #b30000; display: inline-block; text-decoration: none;" title="AMC Talking Dead"><img alt="AMC Talking Dead" class="avatar size24 js-user-profile-link" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/648865441322942464/bv02gHY__normal.png" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 24px; margin-right: 5px; width: 24px;" /></a></li>
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" /><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-84674746037588599842016-02-08T08:31:00.003-05:002016-02-08T08:31:37.250-05:00Guest Post by Spencer John - Power Grid Failure and Natural Disasters Are All Too Real in The 5th Wave<i><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i><br />
<i><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The 5th Wave</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> explores what might happen in a world of massive
power outages, natural disasters and invasion. Although there is a general
taste for </span><a href="http://www.midnytereader.com/2015/11/guest-post-by-spencer-blohm-dystopian.html"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">post-apocalyptic novels and movies</span></a><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, <i>The 5th Wave</i> sets itself apart based on
its perspective. It follows the Old Testament plague storyline of a population
being attacked again and again by various deluges - a power grid failure, avian
flu, a massive tsunami and even extraterrestrial body snatchers. In some
fashion, we have experienced all of these things in our actual lives, and this
is what makes <i>The 5th Wave</i> so poignant.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As aliens make their presence
on Earth know through these “waves” of attack, the story follows 16 year old
Cassie (Chloë Grace Moretz) on a race to rescue her younger brother (</span><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zackary Arthur</span><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">) from an alien-run training camp. In the first wave, all
electronics completely stopped working. The movie was perhaps ahead of its time
in showing how dependent everyone had become on technology. Humanity was
completely defenseless against the attacks - communication was shut down and no
one knew what to do without their machines. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the second wave, steel beams
fall on the major fault lines around the world, followed by tsunamis that wiped
out about a quarter of the population around the world. The true horror of this
part of the movie occurs as people think back to the earthquakes that so easily
destroy even the most powerful and sturdy of human creations. The third wave
attacked the population on the cellular level. An avian flu overtook the world
in the same way that Ebola did and the current </span><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/zika/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Zika
virus</span></a><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is. Although Ebola did not
have near the same effect that the avian flu had in the movie, the fear and
panic was undoubtedly similar.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally, in the fourth wave,
the aliens came down and began to physically possess human bodies. Once
humanity had been weakened to the point of no defense, the aliens felt no fear
in coming down and initiating a frontal attack. The possession turned humanity
on itself as a civil war of sorts began between family members and friends.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While not that great of a movie overall, the
really interesting thing about <i>The 5th Wave</i> is the realistic energy
threats it presents - these things could happen in real life! The </span><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2015/08/19/five-reasons-the-u-s-power-grid-is-overdue-for-a-cyber-catastrophe/#5bfd6dcb3d28"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">power grid failure</span></a><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in the first wave of attack calls attention to
the power outages that have happened around the world as well as the
vulnerability of the American power grid. According to </span><a href="http://www.albertaenergyproviders.ca/direct-energy-alberta/Alberta/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Direct Energy</span></a><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, the US power grid is using over ten percent more power than
it was a decade ago, and experiencing more than 210 blackout minutes per year.
Huge blackouts in Pakistan and North Holland showcased just how dependent
humanity has become on its electric grids, and it’s scary to think that
humanity was weakened so much by the power outages that no one was prepared for
the plagues that came after!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not only are blackouts a
constant worry and inconvenience, but hacking and EMP attacks have been
concerns of the government for years, especially now that our dependency
on machines has skyrocketed. The entire power grid could be dismantled by an
electromagnetic pulse from a high altitude nuclear bomb, terrorist </span><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/18/technology/security/energy-grid-hack/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">hackers</span></a><span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> could easily disable the grid due to lack of upgrades and
safety regulations and let’s not forget how susceptible it is to major forces
of weather. But not only does <i>The 5th Wave </i>touch on technological
failure, climate change is brought front and center through natural disasters
with catastrophic results. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="background: color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3726226201?ref_=ttvi_vi_imdb_1"><i><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The 5th Wave</span></i></a><span style="background: font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> presents a compelling and exciting take on a
dystopia, fans of the novel source material were slightly disappointed in it’s
adaptation. The movie had less detail than the source material; however, the
visuals and stellar performances from a talented cast definitely added a level
of immersion that the book simply could not have. While an overall entertaining
storyline and watch overall, if we really take the message of <i>The 5th Wave</i>
seriously, we all have some serious changes to make in our lives to avoid an
attack of our own!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Spencer John is a freelance entertainment, culture, and lifestyle blogger. He lives and works in Chicago. When not working he can be found camped out in his apartment watching the latest films and newest television shows.</i><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-27610000799757791852016-02-03T10:26:00.001-05:002016-02-03T10:26:20.962-05:00Midnight Crossings - Audio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOckHPNvaApvsNINXOp0l27Y836GvkPA77YTIJMrMCQNm00PpNWZxKHix9lUbXRXtIygculxYzFPNaFV_YEPhjO2HYynsOYh9Q-g5D_9itLgYaxk2Z_BVBtkE4yNr1AkBR6V0RFn5lKPXu/s1600/22466162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOckHPNvaApvsNINXOp0l27Y836GvkPA77YTIJMrMCQNm00PpNWZxKHix9lUbXRXtIygculxYzFPNaFV_YEPhjO2HYynsOYh9Q-g5D_9itLgYaxk2Z_BVBtkE4yNr1AkBR6V0RFn5lKPXu/s1600/22466162.jpg" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<u>Title/Author</u>: Midnight Crossroad (Midnight Texas #1) by Charlaine Harris.<br />
<br />
<u>Read by</u>: Susan Bennett.<br />
<br />
<u>Genre</u>: Supernatural.<br />
<br />
<u>Publisher</u>: Recorded Books.<br />
<br />
<u>Source</u>: Library.<br />
<br />
<u>Synopsis</u>: Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.<br />
<br />
There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).<br />
<br />
Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...~Goodreads.com.</blockquote>
<br />
<u>Midnyte Musings</u>: This is not a book I expected to enjoy as much as I did. It had a lot of characters that were not fully developed, a lot of point of views and a lot of the events felt forced. However, I followed it closely and enjoyed it immensely. <br />
<br />
The characters were quirky and different enough to differentiate between each other. The book starts out with one of the characters moving to the small town of Midnight and discovering that a small town holds big secrets. I thought the story would follow him mainly, but it was really about several different characters. The main theme in this installment is the murder of Aubrey. <br />
<br />
I don't feel anyone was placed in the story that did not have a role. It also contained a lot of serious issues yet did it in a manner that was easy to follow; murder, militarism, racism. For a tiny town, a lot happens and Midnight seems like an interesting place to live.<br />
<br />
One of my favorite parts about this book was Fiji Cavanaugh's cat, Mr. Snuggly. I'm not going to say any more, but even if you hate everything else in the book, Mr. Snuggly makes up for it. <br />
<br />
<u>Narration</u>: I have to admit, that I can't guarantee I would have liked the book as much if I had read it instead of listened to it. Susan Bennett did a good job trying to differentiate between the characters and she moved the story along. Again, my favorite part - the voice of Mr. Snuggly. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
A fun, light read. You could probably finish this one very fast. </blockquote>
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<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-49295602525048150302015-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:002015-12-02T08:00:07.417-05:00Guest Post by Spencer Blohm - Frankenstein Adaptations Through the Years.<div>
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3739136793?ref_=ttvi_vi_imdb_1"><i><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Victor Frankenstein</span></i></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, one of the most exciting movies to come
out during this holiday season, is a new take on the old Mary Shelley classic.
Ever since Shelley wrote <i>Frankenstein</i> as a teenager in 1818, the story
of a patchwork man reanimated after death has chilled readers and moviegoers on
a primal level. The work has survived dozens of film, TV, and theater
adaptations, each one more grisly and grim than the last - but why are we so
fascinated with this story and the mythology of Frankenstein's monster?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mary Shelley was
only nineteen years old when she conceived the idea for </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/Frankenstein1818Edition"><i><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Frankenstein</span></i></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> during a contest with her peers based on
who could write the scariest story. It remained her most famous work and became
a classic of gothic horror. Some even say Shelley invented the science fiction
genre with her book because it mixes ideas of biology, engineering, and
psychology to create a compelling fantasy story. <i>Frankenstein</i> is still
studied and enjoyed in high schools and colleges all over the world almost 200
years after its publication, and continues to have a looming presence in both
the literary and film worlds.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Frankenstein</span></i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> has been a popular book to adapt to
screen ever since the conception of film. It hit the stage in the 1820s before
being adapted to film for the first time in a 16 minute short film in 1910. But
the most well-known adaptation was James Whale's 1931 </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021884/"><i><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Frankenstein</span></i></a><i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><span style="background: font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">through Universal Studios, which gave audiences
the perception we still hold of the monster today. Actor Boris Karloff
popularized the idea of a flat-headed, moaning monster with screws on his neck
- a character we still commonly see around Halloween. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Due to the
popularity of Karloff's portrayal, Frankenstein's monster became a huge hit
with horror audiences. He reappeared in 1935 in the acclaimed <i>Bride of
Frankenstein </i>(find it </span><a href="http://www.canistream.it/search/movie/bride%20of%20frankenstein"><span style="background: font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">online</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">), which is said to be one of the greatest
horror films ever made. However, this sequel began a long string of <i>Frankenstein</i>
films that diverted from the source material. Though the monster stayed
generally true to form, he was given a female companion, something Victor
Frankenstein decided against in the novel. In 1939, horror actor Bela Lugosi
(known for portraying Count Dracula) appeared alongside Karloff in <i>Son of
Frankenstein</i> as </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_(character)"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">lab assistant Igor</span></a><span style="background: font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> - a character that does not exist in the
literary tale - showing how these classic horror stories all meshed together to
create a popular mythology among moviegoers.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As Universal Studios
horror films waned in popularity, Frankenstein's monster took a backseat until
Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy hit </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOPTriLG5cU"><i><span style="background: font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Young Frankenstein</span></i></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, starring Gene Wilder. This film
(streaming info </span><a href="http://www.directstartv.com/directv_customer_support/directv_customer_support.html"><span style="background: font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">here</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">) loosely adapted the story while poking fun at
the gothic style of previous films. It let the monster tap dance and groan out
a song while Victor Frankenstein tried desperately to clear his family's name.
Rather than an all-out spoof, it comes off as a loving homage to a classic
story, inviting new audiences outside the horror genre to enjoy the tale. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2015's <i>Victor
Frankenstein</i>, starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe and directed by
Paul McGuigan, focuses more heavily on the creator and lab assistant of the
monster than the monster himself, showing that even an old story can take on
new and interesting points of view in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_in_popular_culture"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">each adaptation</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Even though Shelley's novel is a
classic, it still makes audiences question what it means to be human and to
create life, making it a popular and ever-relevant tale to turn into film.</span></div>
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<br />
<i>Spencer Blohm is a freelance entertainment, culture, and lifestyle blogger. He lives and works in Chicago. When not working he can be found camped out in his apartment watching the latest films and newest television shows.</i><br />
<br />
<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-79436420846834386822015-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:002015-11-24T08:00:08.605-05:00Guest Post Andrew Man - Dystopian Adventures vs. Conspiracy Thrillers.<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Over the last few years, young adult dystopian
fiction has seen a </span></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><a href="http://the-artifice.com/popularity-of-dystopian-literature/" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Hyperlink0"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">spike in popularity</span></span></a><span style="text-align: justify;"><span class="None"> with several young authors
writing trilogies like <i>The Hunger Games </i>and </span></span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span class="None"><i><span lang="NL">Divergent</span></i> which have become
best-selling books and films. These ideas are in contrast to past conspiracy
thrillers from writers like Dan Brown and the thought-provoking espionage
novels of John Le Carré. Based on this rise in popularity between the two
genres, I decided to write a fiction series which would be a modern day
conspiracy thriller, with some of the dystopian ideas from the future. In this
way, the reader is able to relate to the characters, in our current world and
read about the same characters in a world fifty years in the future. <i>‘Tego
Arcana Dei’</i> is a three part thriller series which follows the protagonist
through his adventures in his past working life, up to the present day. These
three books are both exciting and mind bending, as shown in the </span></span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7MIrXmkLoA" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Hyperlink1"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">book trailer</span></span></a><span style="text-align: justify;"><span class="None"><span lang="DA"> for </span><i>Forces of
Retribution,</i> leaving the reader wanting to know more. The final book will
debut later this month,<i> </i></span></span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span class="None"><span lang="IT">so let</span>’s take a
closer look at this three book series.</span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><b><i><span lang="NL" style="mso-ansi-language: NL;">Book 1 - Keeping God</span>’</i></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><b><i><span lang="DA" style="mso-ansi-language: DA;">s Secret </span></i></b><i>(2011)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None">The
British hero James Pollack meets a young American on a train in London who
shows him events which he will have to do in his future life. Britain is
suffering under a recession and James leaves to work for a bank in Switzerland–
only to return to the Caribbean island of Antigua for a meeting. Her name is
Gina; her client is the Commander of one of the world’s most powerful agencies.
As the couple plunge into a dizzying, mystical adventure, American powers
collide with secrets at the Vatican summer palace. James is helped by </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><i><span lang="NL" style="mso-ansi-language: NL;">Deepak</span></i> his guardian who shows him a
circle of wormholes leading from Rome down to ancient ruins in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the antagonist Elizabeth tracks his banking activities and his
travel with unusual friends. The story takes James back to the shadowy
corridors of Italian Banking, his excitement heightened by memories of his
escape in Rome with Alexei a young legal assistant. This leads him on to the Russian
Natasha at an archeologically dig on the coast of Lebanon, where they find an
ancient artefact. A magic blade enabling him to time travel to other
dimensions, and so the real adventure starts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><b><i>Book 2 - Forces of
Retribution </i></b><i>(2013)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None">In
this story’s most powerful, and heart stopping novel yet, James is at a
hospital in Geneva, after major surgery from his time travel experiences.
Locations move back to Lebanon, London, and onto the pyramids in Egypt in a
desperate hunt to find the secret of </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><i><span lang="DE" style="mso-ansi-language: DE;">quantum
weirdness</span></i>. The hunter is the passionate and resourceful James
Pollack, an ex-Swiss banker who has an interest in science, the paranormal and
women. His quarry is the young Italian Alexei, who has given up on her life and
seeks his help to time travel from a Centre of Science in Switzerland, to the
very heart of our Universe, fifty years into the future. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None">This
story picks up where <i>the first book </i>left off continuing to follow the
Russian Natasha trapped in another dimension in the South of Lebanon. While
Natasha is on the run in a warzone she is given an ancient Madonna doll which
James finds he can open with his magic blade. Inside they find a mysterious
time travelling medallion, similar to the one used by their Indian guardian and
needed by his friends to return from the future. We get a glimpse into how
string theory can explain multiple universes and some of the theories as to
what the pyramids in Egypt really are. There is a very anthropological dialogue
about the origins of humans and the evolution from Mitochondrial Eve. The
benevolent guardian </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><i><span lang="NL" style="mso-ansi-language: NL;">Deepak</span></i>
again appears to control who and what appears and where to help James solve the
mystery of instant communication.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Oc6TkPZ2DJ97dW7kIoZH-taQnybDl9TUhi8q1SCotzyf0Ev0xqOLlWbYgoUUIWjse6zNhOUtfBbMXWOxsdWJNhO-eJpVoKsEVIlS12c1oceWwPjoY50CbSUiO3iHbnhhXMps7s8UdwiL/s1600/27039782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Oc6TkPZ2DJ97dW7kIoZH-taQnybDl9TUhi8q1SCotzyf0Ev0xqOLlWbYgoUUIWjse6zNhOUtfBbMXWOxsdWJNhO-eJpVoKsEVIlS12c1oceWwPjoY50CbSUiO3iHbnhhXMps7s8UdwiL/s320/27039782.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><b><i>Book 3 - Beyond the Rest
of Us </i></b><i>(2015)</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None">The
final book is set in the current decade, when James now retired is kidnapped at
a Geneva hotel for crimes he doesn’t understand and an Italian cruise ship
crashes into rocks in the Tyrrhenian Sea. A respected American scientist
disappears into thin air, but when the mist clears, we see mind control and
astral travel in their dreams. Elizabeth the antagonist from the previous books
is still following a trail of corrupt power in this third book featuring Andrew
Man’</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><span lang="NL" style="mso-ansi-language: NL;">s aging male protagonist James Pollack.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><span lang="NL" style="mso-ansi-language: NL;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None">In
this story, when James is kidnapped back to 1814 he has to use all his skills
to uncover the corrupt European operation, against the backdrop of a
disintegrating and unscrupulous world. The story mentions the crumbling
European economy and the conflicts in the Middle East and the part the West had
to play in them. We cross continents, eras and astral planes on this journey
and meet a variety of James’ friends and enemies, before the characters return
to the temples in Lebanon to finish the series. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None">The
title of the series <i>Tego Arcana Dei</i> roughly translates to “Begone, I
conceal the secrets of God” and is an anagram of “Et in Arcadia Ego.” This was
represented in a painting by Poussin in the early 1600’s called ‘The Arcadian
Shepherds’, which is a common theme throughout the three books.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Andrew Man is an independent author, of books about
politics, science and conspiracy theories. He lives and writes in Switzerland.
In addition to his writing, he has formed the Geneva Creatives Group with </span></i></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"></span><a href="http://www.stage32.com/"><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="Hyperlink2"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">www.stage32.com</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: bookmark;"><span class="None"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> and can sometimes be
found at a cinema centre, discussing new projects over a glass of wine.</span></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-91489670982499264522015-11-03T23:25:00.000-05:002015-11-03T23:25:00.229-05:00Guest Post by Spencer Blohm - Dystopian Adaptations Continue to Dominate the Big Screen.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over the last few
years, young adult dystopian fiction has seen a </span><a href="http://the-artifice.com/popularity-of-dystopian-literature/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">spike in popularity</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> with a number of adaptations making it
to the big screen. Trilogies like <i>The Hunger Games </i>and <i>Divergent</i>
were not only best-sellers, but also came out on top dominating the box office
upon their on screen debuts. This rise in popularity could be attributed to
audiences being able to relate so closely to the characters, or it could purely
be the entertainment factor of watching a dystopian world played out. Either
way, these stories are both exciting and mind bending, and leave audiences
constantly wanting more. In anticipation of the fourth and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YddkQoxkZMQ&app=desktop"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">final installment</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in the <i>Hunger Games</i> franchise
premiering this month,<i> </i>let’s take a look back at the top five
adaptations of the genre. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ender's Game</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ender's Game</span></i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> takes place in the distant future where
young boy named Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is said to be a brilliant strategist and
fighter. During the course </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1731141/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">of the film</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, his incredible skills are mastered and
he is successful in destroying the planet Earth is at war with. One of the best
scenes in the movie is when Ender is sparring with a friend in a zero gravity
room above Earth, the cinematics of the scene are truly breathtaking. Even
though the author played a role in the adaptation, fans of the book agree the
movie lacked in terms of plot and character development. But what the film
compensates for the lack of substance by delivering stunning visuals and a
condensed version of the tale without compromising the lead character or core
message.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Insurgent</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Insurgent </span></i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">picks up right where <i>Divergent </i>left
off continuing to follow Erudite leader Jeanine on her mission to dominate the
factions and an end to all divergents. Tris and Four are on the run from
Jeanine and her army of evil, and appear to be the only ones capable of saving
the world and revealing the truth about the Erudites. While both movies in the
series, currently on demand through </span><a href="http://cabletv.org/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DTV</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> & </span><a href="http://decider.com/movie/insurgent/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hulu</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, have streamlined the story on screen, <i>Insurgent
</i>took far more liberties and altered the driving force behind the story. In
the movie, there is a mysterious box that can only be opened by a divergent,
Tris, after passing sims of all five factions. However, this box does not even
exist in the book, and Jeanine’s hunting Tris in order to make a serum. These </span><a href="http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2015/03/21/insurgent-book-movie-differences-the-box/"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">alterations in the storyline</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> left fans wondering what this meant for
the <i>All<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9114795204205214186" name="_GoBack"></a>egiant </i>adaptation and where we will see
Tris and Four next.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Giver</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Giver</span></i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is a story of a young boy named Jonas
who lives in what appears to be a utopian society. Jonas and the rest of his
neighbors live in a peaceful area that is protected by a council of elders. Far
more intelligent than other children his age, he is selected to be The Receiver
of Memories upon graduation. While in his new position, he quickly discovers
that people are basically being brainwashed, arranged in marriage, and even
euthanized. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNNugNe0Wo"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The movie</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> does a good job of taking the major
points of the book and putting them on screen. Other than there being a few
film differences that are actually celebrated by fans of the story, the movie
does a great job of telling a story full of ethics and complex issues without
being too heavy-handed.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Maze Runner</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Maze Runner </span></i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">follows Thomas as he wakes up in
transport to an unknown location. After a short time, Thomas discovers that he
is trapped in a large maze. His goal is to escape and save the others that are
stuck in the same predicament. The film adaption of <i>The Maze Runner</i> did
its best to stick to the main plot of the book, but there are still a few
changes that took place. Thomas begins to remember things from his life very
quickly in the film, Alby and Thomas are friendly with each other, and Teresa
doesn’t spend half of the time in a coma. The book version offers much more
intimate and in-depth character building throughout, but that’s almost to be
expected. And in comparison to reactions to the </span><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/maze-runner-scorch-trials-star-reveals-differences-between-movie-book-2052824"><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">changes made from the source material</span></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in <i>The Scorch Trials </i>adaptation,
fans were relatively pleased with these.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hunger Games,
Mockingjay Part 1</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The</span></i><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <i>Hunger Games</i> series is arguably
the greatest dystopian film franchise of all time. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PkkHsuMrho"><i><span style="background: color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1</span></i></a><span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> takes place after Katniss is rescued
from Quarter Quell. She wakes up underneath District 13, and she learns that
her home, District 12, has been destroyed. As Katniss is saddened by the news
of her home's destruction, she also learns of a rebellion taking place in order
to dethrone President Snow with herself as the leading symbol. Burrowing deep
into the concept of a revolution, this film is a standout among the series with
few notable differences from the book. Katniss visits the destroyed city of District
12 much later in the film, and Peeta’s physical description is altered, but we
get a better emotional understanding of Katniss and a clear showing of the
power of propaganda cleverly put forth by Snow. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s never easy
adapting a book to the big screen and full capturing every detail to fans
expectation. While these strayed from their sources, there no denying the high
levels of entertainment put forth by each. With this genre more popular than
ever, it’s only a matter of time before another dystopian adaptation is in the
works. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<i>Spencer Blohm is a freelance entertainment, culture, and lifestyle blogger. He lives and works in Chicago. When not working he can be found camped out in his apartment watching the latest films and newest television shows.</i><br />
</div>
<br />
<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-20488704209634281352015-10-30T17:49:00.000-04:002015-10-30T17:49:03.285-04:00Press Release: Bride of Ha-Ha! Horror.<div class="page" title="Page 1">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoqhVZ9kjV2KmpqJ2UwjdTUsFtDR2VYUCUIN_A5pOdXwsT_P7Hil3AZvY3sO7DA3SnjTNNoTzPz6TRJejFDc66uiRPyFGLgdga6hb2qVqTsLzOaSLsV6XCzzf_leqypuThrQHA7RjJCEV/s1600/image1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoqhVZ9kjV2KmpqJ2UwjdTUsFtDR2VYUCUIN_A5pOdXwsT_P7Hil3AZvY3sO7DA3SnjTNNoTzPz6TRJejFDc66uiRPyFGLgdga6hb2qVqTsLzOaSLsV6XCzzf_leqypuThrQHA7RjJCEV/s320/image1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">Award winning author and artist Monstermatt
Patterson (The Man of a Thousand Bad Monster
Jokes) is pleased to announce the release of his
new book, Bride of Ha-Ha! Horror, published by
Mystery & Horror LLC. Foreword by Zac Amico and
Aftwerword by Justin Martell, both from Return to
Nuke 'Em High Vol.1&2
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">The book is full (over 500 jokes) of "rancid rhymes"
and "putrid puns" aimed at the horror movies we
love. There are a number of cartoons that
accompany the gags, too!
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">With each book of hilarious horror humor,
Monstermatt reaches out to the horror community
and enlists actors/actresses , filmmakers and
authors to roast him. Poking fun at him this time,
are
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">Julie Adams- Creature From the Black Lagoon </span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">John Amplas -Creepshow<br />
Sean Whalen- People Under the Stairs<br />
John Migliore- The Drownsman
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">Nathan Head - Exorcist Chronicles </span><span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">2</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">Sephera Giron- Experiments in Fear<br />
Chris Olen Ray- Mega Shark<br />
Greg Petaloudis-Diabolique Magazine<br />
Ron Mackay- Return to Nuke 'Em High Vol.1&2
Melantha Blackthorne- Death Race 2000<br />
Mitch Markowitz- Hilarious House of Frightenstein
Charles Band- Full Moon Entertainment </span><span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">3</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">What can readers expect from the book? Classic
gags like...
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">Why was The Invisible Man mistaken for a
Scientologist?
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">He went CLEAR!
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">What is a grave digger's favorite nursery rhyme?
"Little Jack MOURNER!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">Which Hellraiser Cenobite wants to compete on
"Dancing With the Stars?"
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">"Dr. Cha-Cha-CHANNARD!"
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">The jokes entertain and educate those looking to
further their horror movie knowledge, while using a
"borscht belt" type of humor.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">The book is now available for your Halloween
enjoyment. It's perfect for the ghoul or horror
movie buff in your life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="page" title="Page 6">
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<span style="font-family: AvenirNext;">Bride of Ha-Ha! Horror <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996420940/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_HV3kwbNR2QXJ6" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/dp/0996420940/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_HV3kwbNR2QXJ6</a> </span><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-82523309694495169702015-10-26T05:00:00.000-04:002015-10-26T05:00:07.166-04:00Zombie Beauty Tips<a href="http://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/zombie-makeup/"><img alt="Zombie Beauty Tips" src="http://cdnx4.ogleschool.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Zombie-Makeup_IG.png" width="600px" height="3580px" /></a><br><a href="http://www.ogleschool.edu/blog/zombie-makeup/">Zombie Beauty Tips</a> Created By: <a href="http://www.ogleschool.edu/cosmetology-schools/dallas-texas/"> Ogle School</a>
<img src="http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd388/midnytereader/midnyte24.png" />Midnyte Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411332857885069319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114795204205214186.post-23620029223927598422015-10-23T08:00:00.000-04:002015-10-23T08:00:02.975-04:00Guest Post by Jason Phillips - Halloween book hits for kids.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Halloween holiday is right at the
door, and parents have already started picking (or making) outfits for their
little ones and decorating their homes. But there’s more to this celebration
than meets the eyes, and every child should know that. This season you could
surprise your kids with several cool Halloween inspired books. Here are 5
titles that will help them love this costume holiday even more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Gail Gibbons talks about the origins of
the Halloween holiday in his book. It also ties it to Christmas and it tells the
story in a very whimsical and alluring way. Beautifully decorated with pumpkins
and wee ghosts, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823417972/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me="><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Halloween Is…”</span></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> will definitely appeal to kids
with ages between 4 and 8. All children should know how the Halloween holiday
began and where it has its roots. In this book, the funky illustrations will
make the lecture even more pleasurable and enticing.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bell MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Bell MT";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Scary, Scary Halloween” Eve
Bunting <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Scary, Scary Halloween” is one of the
most famous Halloween books ever published for children. It packs an ideal
amount of scariness for the little ones, so you don’t have to worry that you’ll
terrify your toddler if you read it aloud. There are gremlins, witches,
werewolves, and vampires spread throughout this fascinating book; so kids will definitely
be excited to know more. Readers will be instantly drawn by the plot and
adventurous events, not to mention that the pictures will add to the overall
experience. Get your children excited about the spooky Halloween holiday, and read
this book together. Use voice inflections to make the atmosphere seem
mysterious, and they will want you to read it every year on Halloween. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bell MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Bell MT";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Tell Me a Scary Story…But Not
Too Scary” Carl Reiner <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This book is for older kids who want to
be scared on Halloween. Carl Reiner, comedy writer and award-winning director,
has managed to write a genuine spine chiller. “Tell Me a Scary Story…” offers
lots of exciting events that will keep your blood pumping. No avid reader with
a passion for mysteries will be able to resist this provoking tale of scary
monsters. The book tells the story of Carl, a young boy lured in his basement
where he’ll be greeted by fake eyeballs and creaking doors. Of course, there’s
a lot more to this than meets the eye, but you’ll just have to read the book uncover
all the mysteries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Y8n32IUIry8YAZ109B8yEs2AcMJypvOn0d-WtaNUlox_QlrSEF44lQonKHbEfm797zuw-3lSvkwE7_zw5OqsZDRzbtYUc2rQ7EyW_dN6nZAhaQ7H2gp7tzD0YfVWfBblryqg-PNVBuzU/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Y8n32IUIry8YAZ109B8yEs2AcMJypvOn0d-WtaNUlox_QlrSEF44lQonKHbEfm797zuw-3lSvkwE7_zw5OqsZDRzbtYUc2rQ7EyW_dN6nZAhaQ7H2gp7tzD0YfVWfBblryqg-PNVBuzU/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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type="#_x0000_t75" alt="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61F54iTwjTL.jpg"
href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316002607/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me="
style='width:300pt;height:300pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bell MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Bell MT";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“Coraline” Neil Gaiman<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Before the famous Coraline movie, there
was a book; a New York Times bestseller with the exact same name. The tale is
absolutely incredible. Packed with mysterious events and scary places, “Coraline”
centers on the story of a little girl who finds a hidden door in her home. She
chooses to open it and notices a whole new world, apparently a better world.
Will she be able to go back home to her loved ones? You can find that out by
reading “Coraline” with your kids for this Halloween. It’s strange but
interesting, dark but alluring; a must-read for this festive season. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1aBKyVAUG3y700wz9cjPbQM3vbz8un76dCvfegHQ6xTv9CTLJ_IIBstHWcWGBr8QDsBRGtKaq8fQHbccyWCs6n4QG8oe2VRM6ljlO0jtqeZfxjRSi7OtxYLc91zTxjmZrvUG1iTvo2hV/s1600/474073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1aBKyVAUG3y700wz9cjPbQM3vbz8un76dCvfegHQ6xTv9CTLJ_IIBstHWcWGBr8QDsBRGtKaq8fQHbccyWCs6n4QG8oe2VRM6ljlO0jtqeZfxjRSi7OtxYLc91zTxjmZrvUG1iTvo2hV/s320/474073.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Bell MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Bell MT";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“A Tale Dark And Grimm” Adam
Gidwitz <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">With unexpected delicacy and disarming
good cheer, Gidwitz reveals several of the most unbelievable stories collected
by the Grimm Brothers in the famous Hansel and Gretel book. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142419672/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me="><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“A Tale Dark And Grimm”</span></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> is
incredibly compelling; but it’s also quite scary, so read it carefully. Funny
and scary at the same time, the narrative of the book will instantly appeal to
the senses of your kids. Read to them before bedtime and make a statement with
voice inflections. This way the story will come alive and your little ones will
feel more connected to the storytelling. Spooky but not overly aggressive, this
book is an ideal read for this Halloween; so make sure to check it out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMis3YyqzOiAtV1JbiqB08WAv8sVipL-VVk1s09FS1TWpNLvRqob6rh0j9JGlPIAerK3ClTmVlMqFrcfUc50Dee9_TiPXazWd_cxLHy7H5l0Tt-Phyphenhyphenc_lf1muHR0UjZOTx1XGZfsCBxke/s1600/books2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMis3YyqzOiAtV1JbiqB08WAv8sVipL-VVk1s09FS1TWpNLvRqob6rh0j9JGlPIAerK3ClTmVlMqFrcfUc50Dee9_TiPXazWd_cxLHy7H5l0Tt-Phyphenhyphenc_lf1muHR0UjZOTx1XGZfsCBxke/s320/books2.png" width="215" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Are your kids ready for Halloween? Let
this be a most memorable celebration. Make them the coolest costumes, take them
trick-and-treating, and prepare them the most delicious Halloween-inspired
dinner. At the end of the night, cuddle up and let the reading begin. The 5
amazing books we mentioned above are truly worth checking out. They’re all
packed with mysterious events, spooky characters and fun stories that will keep
your kids engaged. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By Jason Phillips and </span><a href="http://www.lovereading.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">LoveReading.co.uk</span></a><span style="font-family: "Bell MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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