May Issues of Fleet Life and EHD

The May issues of both the local magazines that I wrote for are now out online, these are great opportunities for authors with approximately 7000 paper issues of the magazine being printed and online versions with endless numbers of potential readers.

Fleet Life is showcasing the following books – go to http://www.fleetkife.org.uk, click on the online directory and turn to page 14.

http://www.fleetlife.org.uk

Greening of A heart by Stepheny Houghtlin, Overlanding, How, What, Where and With Who by Andy N. Robinson and Kirsty McGregor, The Nosferatu Scroll by James Becker, The Royal Descendant by Fleet Author John P Ford and Red Clay and Roses by S.K.Nicholls.

The Elvetham Heath Directory has its set of books too. http://www.ehd.org.uk, click on the online directory and find my review on page 6.

http://www.ehd.org.uk

Hostile Witness by Rebecca Forster, Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando, Dawning by Olivia Stocum, The Orphan & The Thief by M.L.LeGette and Murder at the Maples by Joanne Phillips.

Good Deeds week 12th – 18th January

I’m now in to my ninth month of my year of Good Deeds challenge, where I try to do at least one Good Deed a day and I write about them. I find that, for me, this brings their value to the forefront of my thoughts. My inspiration came from reading “A Year of Doing Good” by Judith O’Reilly.

Let’s catch up with my Good deeds for the week.

Sunday 12th – A low profile day today and just 2 book review posts sent out.

Monday 13th – My Good Deed morning at school volunteering didn’t go as planned. I was interrupted by 3 phone calls, now I don’t like to answer my phone in school it’s rude, but since I updated my phone on Saturday the thing hasn’t stopped ringing. (The reason I needed an update being that I got little reception with the old one because it was nearly conked out, I used to have a quiet life, sigh!) Hubby needed me to cut my morning short and race home to sign for a parcel. Then a “Lovely man” from HMRC (Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue) wanted to arrange a telephone appointment with me to check on my Money Laundering procedures. (Don’t ask! And No! I’m not printing money! It’s because I do a little book keeping.) Agreed he could ring me Wednesday, well I couldn’t actually refuse!

Signed for the parcel. Collected and delivered some farm potatoes for my friend, the ****phone rang again while I was driving to the supermarket. Parked the car and tried to ring the brother-in-law back, played ping pong phoning each other, as his phone kept going to voicemail, finally got through and gave him more computer advice. Did my grocery shopping. Answered the ringing phone again to a little old lady who rang twice, nice to chat to her but I’m not called Barbara! “You’ve go the wrong number, luv”

Posted another book review for Della Connor and her book Spirit Warriors. I’ll be reviewing this on the blog early February along with a lovely guest author post and your chance to win a copy of the book too.

Tuesday 14th- A work morning and I did more than was required because when I spoke to my colleague last evening she was still at work way after her going home time because she had so much to do. (She sounded more stressed than I was. Is that the phone again?) The phone’s ringing again! One of the partners at work rang me twice (Ha! Bad reception and he got cut off) trying to find some paperwork that I’d tidied away, fortunately (Good Deed) I remembered where I’d put it.

The parcel I signed for yesterday turned out to be only one quarter of the full delivery, the parcel tracking service claims it was delivered last Thursday, but to where? Husband set off knocking on doors around the estate last evening to no avail. Then today a lady kindly knocked on our door with a complicated tale about the missing parcels, but we’re still not sure where they are. I’d go and collect the parcels if we knew which house they’d got to.

Good Deeds received, plenty of Good luck wishes for my telephone audit tomorrow, it’s not enjoyable being questioned by Government officials.

Wednesday 15th – Phew! Passed my MLR audit. Have just Okey the proof of February’s edition of my Rosie’s Good Reads for Fleet Life, I always get excited seeing my work in print. 5 more author’s get a bit more publicity, I’ll blog about them when the paper copy arrives through my door in a couple more weeks. finished reading The Dating Game by Susan Buchanan, drafting a post for early February.

Thursday 16th – Gave a money donation to Action for Children, a charity that supports and speaks out for the UK’s most vulnerable and neglected children and young people, for as long as it takes to make a difference in their lives…

Friday 17th – Posted another book review on Goodreads and Amazon for a book which looks like it splits the readers into those that love it and those that hate it. I’ll be posting my own review of Prince of Wolves by Quinn Loftis here on the blog in mid February. Left a tip for my hairdresser in thanks, after she had tamed my wild locks.

Saturday 18th – Made a donation to Helping the Heroes, a UK Military Charity whilst I was in Aldershot, Home of the British Army. Then headed home to do a bit more reading.

Good Deeds Week 29th December – 4th January 2014

Welcome to New Year week of my Good Deeds weekly challenge. My own challenge to do one Good Deed a day based on the book by Judith O’Reilly called “A Year of Doing Good”

Find your own copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Whoop, Whoop! This week we step across to 2014, what a wonderful year this is going to be. My year long challenge doesn’t stop here because I began on 16th April, the day I began reading Judith’s book. Judith will be our guest today  (Sunday 5th January) in a second post, I’m so excited that she agreed to give up a piece of her valuable time to talk to us on the blog.

So what have I been up to this week?

December 29th – Cooked a lovely roast dinner for my parents as we didn’t see them on Christmas Day. The January issue of Fleet Life was delivered this morning, so I was able to write a second post today and let authors know about their books. This months books were “No Strings Attached” by Lily Bishop, “The Initiate” by Sue Vincent and Stuart France, “Ghost in the Machine” by Ed James, “Passion United” by Phillip Miles and “Summer’s Passing” by Randy Mixter. You can check out my post here http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4mz or go to the online version at www.fleetlife.org.uk, click on the online directory and find Rosie’s Good Reads on page 48.

Good Deeds received; Mum really appreciated not cooking or doing the washing up and it was lovely to spend some relaxing time with them.

December 30th – We have a friend of my son over today, the boys have some school work to complete together and I’m providing lunch. Launched my Rosie’s Good Read Collections – Historical books today. Good Deeds received; Had some lovely comments and support for my post today, thanks folks it makes it all worthwhile. Here is a link to the post http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-39v

December 31st – At work today I spent extra time doing a job today which makes out lives easier and one that I could have left, but didn’t. Came home and visited lots of my wonderful friends on WordPress. It’s so busy that my like buttons haven’t been loading on people’s sites, so I shall endeavour to go back later to support you all. My yearly WordPress stats were a delight to read and I’ve sent off some personal thanks to followers and contributors to my site who have helped make my year such a success. Special mention to Stephanie Hurt , Harula at Words That Serve and Marin Thomas plus all my guest and fellow authors and writers who have given their precious time and words to my blog.

Good deeds received; The postman delivered a copy of “Please Call Me Derek” by Mac Black which I can’t wait to start reading, and author Julia Hughes offered me a copy of her recently published book “The Griffin’s Boy.” These should start my next year of reading off to a flying start. In 2013 I read 154 books in my Goodreads challenge.

January 1st – HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all, and it’s off to a flying start. 3 people contacted me today asking for book reviews. I have finished reading my first book of 2014 and have just sent the review off to the author before I post on Goodreads and Amazon. I have set my Goodreads book challenge at 120 books at the moment, if I’m near to smashing it before the end of the year then I’ll increase the target. Good Deeds received: Have had lots of lovely comments and support from fellow bloggers and readers of my New Year post. If you missed it here is the link. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4mZ

January 2nd – Started off with a Good Deed Received; Author Julia Hughes who recently sent me her latest book to read, this morning sent me another book on behalf of  Sean and Daniel Campbell. The best bit was that she reminded me about a great website for authors and writers called Words Unlimited where they have book promotions and author posts, they get about 600 views per day so why not check them out, please mention my name if you do decide to make contact with them, thanks.

Good Deeds; Have finished my second book already this year and posted my review on Goodreads and Amazon. A Haunting tale from Randy Mixter called “A Girl of the Paper Sky”

January 3rd – Strong winds and driving rain have been bending our neighbour’s tree over the fence until it hits our roof, so today we helped out our neighbour who has been too ill to tackle the tree. With her permission we cut back the tree finding a split in its lower trunk which could have meant it toppled over in the next windy storm. It was sad to cut the tree, but it was becoming too big for it’s small patch and a danger to our house. Good Deeds received;  My brother-in-law took the tree away at no cost to anyone.

January 4th – I have finished my third book of the year and written a review for author Mac Black of his book “Please Call me Derek”. This will appear on the blog later in January and Mac has agreed to be a guest author as well. We’re working on the interview at the moment. That’s all for this week, don’t forget to check out Judith’s guest post.

January Fleet Life – Rosie’s Good Reads

The January Issue of Fleet Life just dropped through my door, so here it is with this months authors and their books.

The online version will be up shortly at www.fleetlife.org.uk. Then you can click on the online directory and find the reviews on Page 48.

This month featured books are;

“No Strings Attached” by Lily Bishop Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

“The Initiate” by Sue Vincent and Stuart France Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

“Ghost in the Machine” by Ed James Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com free on kindle at time of going to press.

“Passion United” by Phil Miles Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

“Summer’s Passing” by Randy Mixter Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Follow Fleet Life on https://twitter.com/FleetLife

https://www.facebook.com/FleetLife

Keep in touch with Rosie Amber on https://twitter.com/rosieamber1

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosie-Amberauthor/413145378724802

Or sign up to my blog today!

December Issue of Fleet Life

I’m really thrilled to once again have my book reviews featured in Fleet Life. This magazine goes out locally and is also available online at www.fleetlife.org.uk click on the online directory and find my review page on Page 50.

This month my featured books are;

 It’s NOT a Holiday by Andy Robinson and Kirsty McGregor Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Becoming Anorak Nid – A Rude Awakening by local author Alix Macey Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 Beatrysel by Johnny Worthen Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Death of the Mad Hatter by Sarah J Pepper Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 What it Takes by Terry Tyler Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

November issue of Fleet Life

This month’s issue of Fleet Life is now available online go to www.fleetlife.org.uk click on the online Directory and Rosie’s Good Reads are on page 56 this month.

This month’s featured books and authors are;

“The Singing Dagger” by Kylie Sabra

“Good Husband Material” by Trisha Ashley

“Inceptio” by Alison Morton

“Becoming Anorak Nid” by Alix B Macey

“Steps into Darkness” by Ben Woodard

Guest Author Jason Wellnitz

Please give a big welcome to Author Jason Wellnitz who has kindly agreed to come along today. I first read Jason’s book “A River Way Home” several months ago, I was so impressed that it made it in to Fleet Life as one of “Rosie’s Good Reads”. Here is a reminder of my review;

River Way Home by Jason Wellnitz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a deep story that pulls at your heart-strings. The story of an orphan and how he meets two wonderful parents. Then they are tragically taken from him. He battles with what he has been taught about God and makes his own life. He tells us the full tale of his life as it flows down the river.

Let’s learn more about Jason;

1) Where is your home town?

I grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, USA. Waterloo is the place where most of the green John Deere tractors in the world are made. It’s next to the Cedar River which flows into the Mississippi.

2) What inspired you to write “River Way Home”?

In 2011 I travelled to Mozambique with my father-in-law and some others on a short-term mission trip to work with Food For the Hungry. On that trip I met a few people who had amazing life stories. For a while I tried to write a non-fiction account of their stories. I wasn’t able to pull that off (yet) so eventually I started a short novel that was set in Mozambique. I also wanted to put some of my hometown into the story so it’s partly set in Iowa and partly in Africa.

3) The story travels to Mozambique, have you ever been there? Can you tell us 5 great things about the country?

There are so many great things about Mozambique! Here are a few

– There are children everywhere. Fifty per cent of the population is under 15!

– The singing and dancing there is joyous and straight from the heart. 

– Cynicism is rare. 

– The coast along the Indian Ocean is beautiful at sunset.

– The large animal population (elephants, lions, etc.) is growing again.

– The Zambezi River is stunning.

4) How does the title of the book link to the orphan Halkeno?

I’ve often thought that our lives are like rivers. Sometimes we’re in the centre current where we should be and sometimes 

we’re too near the shore. I used the metaphor of the river as the centreline of the book. Halkeno’s river (life) takes many twists and turns but in the end he finds his way to his true home. (Note: there is a real man named Halkeno and his story is more amazing than the story I tell in the novel. I hope he lets me write it someday.)

5) One reviewer of your book says it’s written in the style of an African Folk Legend, that’s a great honour! Has your love of a good tale inspired your Kickstarter project?

Thank you! I appreciate my reviewers very much (including, and especially, you Rosie Amber). Its an honour to have someone take the time to thoughtfully write about your creative works. 

I had an idea where I wanted to have the main character in a series of short novels travel to each state in the U.S. The Kickstarter project came out of my desire to find a way to get people to “vote” for which state I should start with. I thought that people could “vote” by donating $5 or donate more and essentially pre-order the book. It was a way to involve more people in the creative process.

6) Tell us a bit more about what you hope to achieve in this new project and how you want people to get involved.

I will be the first to admit that a Kickstarter project for an unwritten novel is a bit odd. What I’m *attempting* to do is:

– Get some feedback on the idea so I can be relatively sure the idea isn’t dead on arrival

– Get people excited about choosing the state in which the first novel is set (I know, I know, this isn’t a very “global” project. Very U.S. focused. My next series should be Thirteen Shires Of Peace)

– Build some buzz for the launch of the series later this year

– I would use the funds that were raised primarily to hire a professional copyeditor and promote the book upon its launch

I’ve already had some great feedback about the idea and the intro I’ve written. I know need to change the working title and rework the cover a bit.

7) Do you have a time scale that you’d like to work to for the first drafts?

In the Kickstarter project I say I’ll have the first novel done by the end of December. That would mean the first drafts need to be complete in the next 6-8 weeks.

8) What can readers do to help you promote the project?

If your readers think this project could be a good series the best way they could help would be to donate to the Kickstarter project here: http://t.co/J85dlZApRc

If they thought the idea was good but needed some tweaks they could contact me via my website: http://jasonwellnitz.com with suggestions.

Thank you Jason, anyone interested in more information about the Kickstarter project should contact Jason directly, Good Luck with the new writing!

Good Deeds Week 11th – 17th August

Let’s get on with my next round up of Good Deeds from my year long challenge. If you are new to this page, back in April, I started one Good Deed a day on the day I started reading “A Year of Doing Good” by Judith O’Reilly. I’m thrilled to tell you that last week Judith agreed to come and be a guest author on the blog after the school holidays are over. As I’m planning  the Romancing September World Blog Tour for the whole of September, I’ll pencil in her interview for early October.

11th August – Finished reading a book today and posted my review on Goodreads for the author, I needed to finish the book so that I could send a set of questions to the author who is also taking part in our Romancing September tour. Have been really busy promoting the opportunity for authors to promote their work for free in two places across the world on the same day.

12th August – Doing Good Deeds for others is truly amazing my cup is overfloweth, well my inbox is! Romancing September has gone overboard and we’ve been inundated today with requests to join the tour. On top of that I’m sorting out guest posts for authors on my blog  for August  and October. Sent my daughter off to see friends with a box of cakes. Had an appointment at my chiropractor and confessed that my neck and shoulders were a mess due to spending too many hours at the computer. Brought a smile to his face when I told him it was all self inflicted due to this super addictive blog. Suggested he browse his table in the waiting room and pick up copy of Fleet Life to see my page of “Rosie’s Good Reads”, two plugs there, one for Fleet Life and one for me! Have been sending love and support across to America for a blogging friend facing some medical demons.

13th August – Posted a guest author interview for a hugely popular author, at the age of 14 Savannah Grace was taken backpacking for a year with her family, she kept a diary and wrote a book about their adventures, she then got the travel bug and has travelled all over the world. Check out her post here, I was so pleased I could introduce readers to her adventures. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2mb A busy day, but I still had time to pick up litter when I went for a walk to post a letter.

14th August – Took my son to the park for a game of tennis, picked up litter on the way out as a thank you for the lovely free facilities. Just had a phone call from my husband’s aunt who wants to pay us a visit on Friday afternoon, so I need to run around like a mad thing tidying the house as we are in school holiday mode. It will give me a great opportunity for a good deed because she wants me to help her find a cottage that her Grandmother used to live in. We laugh that this will be a royal visit! She’s of an era that oozes etiquette and she is a tour guide for Prince Charles’ gardens, so we’re pretty close with our label.

15th August – Did the grocery shopping today and gave a donation to a charity called “Children’s Hope Foundation” a charity for children with special needs.

16th August -Have done the Good Deed for my husband’s Aunt, I took her to visit some houses that her cousins and Grandmother lived in over 50 years ago. Sadly all has changed and there was little left of the places she knew, but she had tied it in with a visit in the morning to a house where her and her husband had once lived. She is 84 and wears me out with all her activities, she plans to fit in trips to Scotland, Anglesey and the gardens of Versailles in Paris all before the end of September!

17th August – Friends dropped by to pick up some books. I was extremely pleased when a conversation I had with the husband on Thursday encouraged him to visit his mother who has Alzheimer’s. She didn’t know who he was, but his guilt and fear had lifted and he was able to face his father once more.

August Issue Of Fleet Life

Fleet Life have kindly once again featured “Rosie’s Good Reads”, where I review several books every month.

This magazine can be accessed via it’s on-line version at www.fleetlife.org.uk click on the on-line directory and this month you can find my reviews on page 18.

These are the featured books for August;

Saving Jackie K by LDC Fitzgerald,  see the book here

After The Fall by Charity Norman, see the book here

The Unicorn Girl by Melissa LeGette, see the book here

The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching, see the book here, free on kindle

Sihpromatum – I Grew My Boobs in China by Savannah Grace, see the book here

Rosie’s Reads in the June Issue of Fleet Life

This month I’m proud to present the following books as part of Rosie’s Good Reads in my local Fleet Life magazine. Over 5000 copies go out to people in the area and the on-line version is available world wide. Go to www.fleetlife.org.uk click on the on-line directory and find me on page 10 of the June issue.

Call Nurse Millie by Jean Fullerton

The Griffin Cryer by Julia Hughes

The Haunting by Alan Titchmarsh

Can’t Sell, Won’t Sell by Sean and Daniel Campbell

A Year of Doing Good by Judith O’Reilly.