Hello again

After half a year off from blogging, I admit, I kind of missed it.  I had no idea if anyone was even reading the blog postings and frankly, I was too busy ‘working’ all the blogs I had. They were taking away from my Novel writing; besides, I wasn’t even getting paid for them. 

There have been a few changes.  Microsoft shut down their Office Live Small Business, ,in favor of their Office 365 (which doesn’t even include hosting or domain), then charged $72-150/yr just to use MS software on the blog or business page.  So, I just ended up shutting down www.LioneServices.com and bought the domain over on godaddy.com.  So now I own my six domain names, the two now-defunct blogs (www.encouragehealthyhabits.com and www.thetechgadget.com) and LioneServices.com. What will i do with them? no idea.  If anyone wants to blog on them for revenue share, feel free to contact me.  Likewise, if anyone out there can create web pages from scratch, contact me.

I’ve got an editor for “Aside of Murder” (found on www.smashwords.com and most major ebooktailers), started on the second in the series, as well as two separate novels.  Yes, i’ve been a busy man.

Also, i’ve applied to study for an Associates degree in Web Development, in case this whole Novel business doesn’t pan out.  The previous degree in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling is useless–no one is hiring at the state or federal level these days. But I did keep up my CRC.  I worked too hard to just let that go!

Top Ten Ebooks from Yesterday and Today week ending November 4, 2011

Top 10 EBooks last 7 days from gutenberg.org:

1. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Vatsyayana (5338) 2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (3623) 3. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (3442) 4. Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (3195) 5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (3075) 6. How to Analyze People on Sight by Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict (2966) 7. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (2761) 8. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (2246) 9. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (2203) 10. Ulysses by James Joyce (2198)

Top Ten Ebooks from amazon.com:

1. 33 days in the top 100 Steve Jobs › Walter Isaacson Kindle Edition

2. 61 days in the top 100 The Litigators › John Grisham Kindle Edition

3. 2 days in the top 100 Pearl of China: A Novel › Anchee Min Kindle Edition

4. 31 days in the top 100 Last Breath › Michael Prescott Kindle Edition

5. 38 days in the top 100 The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy › Nora Roberts Kindle Edition

6. 22 days in the top 100 Zero Day › David Baldacci Kindle Edition

7. 29 days in the top 100 Unfinished Business Nora Roberts Kindle Edition

8. 108 days in the top 100 The Mill River Recluse › Darcie Chan Kindle Edition

9. 43 days in the top 100 The Best of Me › Nicholas Sparks Kindle Edition

10. 539 days in the top 100 The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins Kindle E

Book Review: “Heart of Evil” by Heather Graham

Heart of Evil (Krewe of Hunters)

Heart of Evil

Synopsis from Amazon.com:

Emerging from the bayou like an apparition, Donegal Plantation is known for its unsurpassed dining, captivating atmosphere, haunting legends…and now a corpse swinging from the marble angel that marks its cemetery’s most majestic vault. A corpse discovered in nearly the same situation as that of Marshall Donegal, the patriarch killed in a skirmish just before the Civil War.

Desperate for help traditional criminologists could never provide, plantation heiress Ashley Donegal turns to an elite team of paranormal investigators who blend hard forensics with rare—often inexplicable—intuition. Among the “Krewe of Hunters” is an old ï ¬ ‚ ame, Jake Mallory, a gifted musician with talent stretching far beyond the realm of the physical, and a few dark ghosts of his own.

The evil the team unveils has the power to shake the plantation to its very core. Jake and Ashley are forced to risk everything to unravel secrets that will not stay buried—even in death.…

My Review:

Heather Graham is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. If you love mystical mysteries, then “Heart of Evil” is for you.

Heather manages to take us to Donegal Plantation in both form and fiction. You feel as if you are there, walking the grounds with the characters, that it in and of itself becomes a live character. The people Heather creates are fully human, that is, they have foibles just as you and I do yet are capable of carrying out their duties. The theme that Heather uses is widely seen in this effort, a ghost controlling humans, taking advantage of a decades (century’s?) old vendetta from one family against another. Even though we’ve seen this in the trilogy before, it’s still refreshing to see.

Back at the Biz Blog

After a few weeks of changes, I’m back at the Lione Services biz blog.

 

I moved three whole blocks to a bigger, cheaper apartment in downtown Seattle. I’ve got a real bedroom now, rather than a one-room studio apartment. I’ve unpacked, arranged and admired the apartment, view and ambiance. I was ready to write!

 

Then I had massive and major computer issues with my trusty old TC1100 and Nokia communicator. Sudden reboots, lagging issues and so on.  I knew it was time to replace and upgrade. After a fortunate series of events, i was able to buy a new tablet and phone! Now i’ve got an Asus Transformer and a Samsung Exhibit and have joined the 21st century, tech-wise.

I’ll be posting several book reviews this week to make up for the lack of posts.

In other news, i’ve started writing two new series!  Book one of “The Rose Petal Wine Murder Mysteries” is being professionall edited after I re-wrote parts of it.I’ll be uploading the new, revised book to Smashwords, hopefully before Christmas, complete with new book cover!  Book two is  in the ‘creative phase’ at the moment.

 

So, without further ado

Monday Book Review: Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic

http://www.amazon.com/Regarding-Ducks-and-Universes-ebook/dp/B003WQAZ3Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316368133&sr=8-2

Synopsis:

On a foggy Monday in 1986, the universe suddenly, without warning, bifurcated. Fast-forward to 35 years later: Felix Sayers is a culinary writer living in San Francisco of Universe A who spends his days lunching at Coconut Café and dreaming of a successful career penning Agatha Christie-style mysteries. But everything changes when his Aunt Henrietta dies, leaving Felix a photograph of his father and himself—dated ten days before Felix was born. It can only mean one thing: Felix has an ‘alter’ in Universe B. In a panic that his mystery novel may have been written already, Felix crosses to San Francisco B and proceeds to flagrantly violate the rules of both worlds by snooping around his alter’s life. But when he narrowly escapes a hit-and-run, it becomes clear that someone knows he’s crossed over… and whoever it is isn’t happy about it. Now Felix must uncover the truth about his alter, the events of one Monday, and a wayward rubber duck before his time in both worlds runs out.

My Review:

Science fiction/fantasy really hasn’t been my area of interest, however, a friend suggested I read this split-universe book.  I was wary at first but quickly became enamored with Mila Maslakovic’s two worlds.  An almost-identical version of the one but with minor differences.  Different foods in the same restaurants, a bridge missing due to earthquake in one, complete in the other.  Mila does a great job creating the two worlds and their ‘alters’, as the duplicate universe people are called.  Since this is science fiction, one can give the plot and it’s directives leeway, without rolling one’s eyes.  I quite enjoyed the sameness or equal quality Mila gives the characters and dual universes; the quirky differences make the novel.

About Commenting

If you are going to comment, please talk about the content of the post and not about your website, just to bring up your ranking in search engines. Those comments will be deleted. My book blog is about books, authors, publishing, MY Writing Business and/or Books/Novels/Writing and whatever I choose to blog about.

Also, i’ve noticed alot of searches for www.thetechgadget.com and www.encouragehealthyhabits.com. These were blogs I had for years but due to lack of advertisers/incoming money, I removed them, being unable to afford hosting fees. I’ve always said, if someone can figure out the free hosting sites, i’ll be glad to put them back up.

Thank you for understanding.

Brick ONeil

Where are the Jobs, then?

Big businesses, conglomerates, millionaires and billionaires have had roughly 10+ years of the lowest tax rates and/or no taxes to create and sustain American jobs so the middle class can live and thrive.

Well, where are the jobs?

Republicans have cried and wailed for years that taxes would hurt and strangle job growth and the middle class if the rich and big businesses had to pay taxes.  Now all the middle class and poor see are jobs swiftly moving overseas, jobs in American states cut, benefits like full coverage health insurance stricken and slashed. Where are all the investments that the Republicans promised of the Rich and big business conglomerates?

Did they mean just for themselves?  That’s all Americans are seeing these days from their homeless encampments.  Their own homes long gone to foreclosure, banks razing empty houses in lieu of working with homeowners.

What is the endgame?  Do we all move to China, India or Indonesia for these American jobs? Will all major cities turn into Detroit, were all we see are pictures of urban decay, lawlessness, death and destruction? Buildings crumbling, people gazing out with hollowed, glazed over eyes? Hope and dreams crushed under the heel of endless poverty? Overseen by govermental rules, regulations and offices like DSHS, Social Security? Will there even be governmental agencies like DSHS and Social Security in the near future?

So many people would like a hand up, not a hand out. It’s about time the rich and big business conglomerates invest in Americans and America again.  We deserve it.

Top Ten EBooks from Yesterday and Today Week Ending August 5, 2011

Top 10 EBooks last 7 days from Gutenberg.org:

1. The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Vatsyayana (5991)
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (4320)
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (3578)
4. The Best American Humorous Short Stories (3261)
5. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (2957)
6. Ulysses by James Joyce (2767)
7. How to Analyze People on Sight by Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict (2665)
8. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (2447)
9. The Art of War by Sunzi (2325)
10. Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (2200)

TOP TEN EBOOKS LAST 7 DAYS FROM Amazon.com:

	1. 612 days in the top 100 The Help Kathryn Stockett (Author) Kindle Edition $9.99
	2. 30 days in the top 100 Caribbean Moon (A Manny Williams Thriller) Rick Murcer (Author) Kindle Edition $0.99
	3. 52 days in the top 100 Now You See Her James Patterson (Author) … Kindle Edition $12.99
	4. Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 448 days in the top 100 The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins (Author) Kindle Edition $4.69
	5. Ranking has gone down in the past 24 hours 31 days in the top 100 A Stolen Life Jaycee Dugard (Author) Kindle Edition $11.99
	6. Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 429 days in the top 100 Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) Suzanne Collins (Author) Kindle Edition $7.70
	7. Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 347 days in the top 100 Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) Suzanne Collins (Author) Kindle Edition $7.14
	8. Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 43 days in the top 100 Stealing Faces Michael Prescott (Author) Kindle Edition $0.99
	9. Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 18 days in the top 100 A Small Fortune Audrey Braun (Author) Kindle Edition $2.99
	10. 223 days in the top 100 Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His… Todd Burpo (Author) … Kindle Edition $5.00

My Review of Perspective 2002 Green Tortoise

Originally submitted at CoastalContacts.com

Looking for a new look? Try these rimless Perspective 2002 Green Tortoise eyeglasses! Fast shipping^ easy online ordering and great customer service. Come shop with us today!

Perspective 2002 Green Tortoise

Classic, Contemporary and Comfortable

By Brick ONeil from Seattle, WA on 7/25/2011

 

5out of 5

Sizing: Feels true to size

Pros: Comfortable, Accurate Magnification, High Quality, Durable, Lightweight

Best Uses: Outdoors, Travel, Low Light

Describe Yourself: Classic Dresser

Attractive at a reasonable price. The color is both understated and fashion-forward, the style is contemporary and classic and the fit is the right distance from the eyes and at the temples. I always receive compliments whenever I wear this pair and they are quickly becoming my favorite.

(legalese)

My Review of Ltede 1065 Black Silver

Originally submitted at CoastalContacts.com

Ltede 1065 Black Silver eyeglasses have a sleek^ trendy design. Fast shipping^ easy online ordering and great customer service. Come shop with us today!

Ltede 1065 Black Silver

Sleek, Sturdy, Businesslike

By Brick ONeil from Seattle, WA on 7/25/2011

 

5out of 5

Sizing: Feels true to size

Pros: Comfortable, Accurate Magnification, Lightweight, Durable, High Quality

Cons: Close to facelashes

Best Uses: Outdoors, Travel

Describe Yourself: Classic Dresser

Being nearsighted, these glasses are near-perfect. They sit high enough so I can read under the bottom of the frames, yet look up and out at distances. They do hit very close to the face/lashes and therefore smudge easily. They are very business-like, no-nonsense frames, yet very sleek and sexy.

(legalese)