Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Unbound and Reaper Cover Reveal

The world of ghosts and spirits is nothing new to eighteen year old Anora Benson; she’s spent her whole life trying to ignore them, trying to be normal. But when the Pricolici, a group of ancient bounty hunters, are sent after her, Anora realizes she is more than just a medium. 

As a witch she has power, power she doesn’t know how to use, power that makes her vulnerable to the demons that desire her gifts. Anora is alone and scared, forced to face the darkness on her own. Then she meets Ethan, a mysterious boy who shows up in her life right along with the magic, and he seems to know quite a bit about her and her legacy Coven. Will she risk everything by trusting him or risk fighting alone?



https://www.createspace.com/3736330

http://www.amazon.com/Unbound-The-Guardian-Legacies-ebook/dp/B005YTMZQY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1349475118&sr=8-2&keywords=unbound+emily+goodwin


After discovering her destiny as a witch, Anora is on a mission to find out everything she can about the magical world. Unbeknownst to her, the creatures of that world are trying to find out everything they can about her…and the people closest to her.

With Ethan and Hunter to protect her, Anora feels safe and happy with her new life. That is, until she begins to be plagued with terrifying visions that only she can see, leaving her full of fear and doubt. What if the hallucinations are real? What if there is something dark out there that can attack her from within?


If Anora can’t even trust herself, who can she turn to?

Enter for a chance to win both copies of the books Reaper and Unbound.

Emily Goodwin resides in Indiana, where she lives with her husband, many four legged children and their much loved German Shepherd named Vader. Accused of being a day dreamer, Emily began writing at an early age, making use of her active imagination. She has a degree in psychology, is currently working on her second degree in nursing, likes anything paranormal, 80's rock, going on crazy adventures with her friends and is an animal rights activist.






Mischief tee shirt

Mischief tee shirt by RavenKing
Design unique customizable clothing online at Zazzle.





Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Lovely Blog Award


Thank you Suzy Henderson for nominating my blog.

Seven random facts about me:
1. I met numerous talented writers and artists through my blog.
2.  I enjoy reading books from fiction to software. I read the Gimp Bible, Inkscape book and an Invent Games with Python.

3. I registered to take An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python course through Coursera.  I  am attending Rice University.  The course is free and this knowledge will help me explore making video games.  In my second week I have explored boolean values and made a mini text program with a variation of rock paper scissors lizard Spock.

4. I am a fan of GIMP software my latest artwork, Guinevere was done in in this software from start to finish.  I used airbrush at varying levels of opacity.

5.  I think I learn something new everyday. I am living in an allergy garden.  Why do I say that?  I am surrounded for miles in every direction by sagebrush which is related to ambrosia, also known as ragweed.  You would think with a name like ambrosia, food of the gods,  would be a super food.  Where is ambrosia?  It is here...ah...choo.

6.  I like making music from candy box, keyboard or virtual instrument.

7.  I opened a new zazzle store and you can see some of at my deviantart gallery.  I have designed tee shirts, kindle cases, pillow cases, ipad cases.

I have the pleasure to nominate 15 bloggers for the lovely blog award.  If you choose to accept name who nominated you with their link, tell 7 random facts about yourself and nominate at least 15 other bloggers and post the lovely blog award pic in pink!
One note, I wanted to mention these ladies and some of their accomplishments and that means more than one link.


Julia Hanna is an artist writer one of her latest book reviews Book Review: Our Lady of Kafeng by Aya Katz. Sweetbearies is her personal blog she writes about her her art.  At hubpages she writes very interesting book reviews and art tutorials. See some of her art here. I read her columns at the http://www.examiner.com/budget-crafting-in-national/julia-hanna
she writes about art, writers and crafts. Here Julia interviews Aya Katz and her latest novel.

Aya Katz is a primatologist has both a newspaper The Aya Katz Daily and blog named Notes from the Pens and is a writer who illustrates her own books she runs Inverted A Press and I saw a charming photo of this author.


Mary Bookhound formed a huge an active group at bookblogs.ning where bloggers of books can post book reviews and cover real.  http://bookblogs.ning.com/group/networkyourblog?xg_source=activity
She has two lovely blogs. http://maryinhb.blogspot.com/
http://foreveryoungadult.blogspot.com/

BookHounds
 
 
I have had a sneek peek at  Shah Wharton's newest novel in the making Finding Esta and have attended her many blog hops which she has hosted. Her blog http://shahwharton.com/
Her is her book trailer.






Source: amazon.com via Ann on Pinterest
Claude Dancourt has a clever, lovely blog.  She has a delightful sense of humor.  Read her latest novel set in Camelot cocooned in intrigue, romance, humor and magic.
http://www.claudedancourt.webs.com/
https://twitter.com/ClaudeDancourt

Carly Labuschagne
Her lovely book trailer has illuminated this blog. http://www.carlylelabuschagne.com/index.html



K.W. Mc Cabe is a talented author who writes in the fantasy romance genre.  Stay tuned to this blog.  I will write a book review of her latest book The Dragon's Call. Visit her blog here http://kwmccabe.blogspot.com/
and here





Source: amazon.com via Ann on Pinterest
Shanon is having an exciting contest for her new book.  Her site is wonderful with a banner displaying King Arthur and the words
"the Dark Celtic Fairytale, Creatures of the Night both real and imagined"…
http://livinglibraryblog.com/?page_id=1070 



Christine Rice is an energetic writer who writes very informative books.  She edits and you can visit her site here. http://christinerice-author.com/

Source: amazon.com via Ann on Pinterest

Maria Luisa Arnaiz
I see beautiful yet erotic paintings and thought provoking poems in Spanish. I do visit this site, yet I don't understand Spanish. Fulva Lux is the name of this blog http://mlarnaiz13.blogspot.com/

Reading with Anacasia focuses on romantic sexy novels in the fantasy genre. Check out her lovely widgets.
http://readingwithanacrasia.blogspot.com/

Jesica Hische posts her beautiful designs at http://www.dailydropcap.com/# she invites people to visit her site and allows them to use her designs at personal (non commercial) blog posts.

Maureen writes about art in her blog Writing Without Paper. http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/


Source: 365sketches.org via Ann on Pinterest
John Lemansey creates an image each day. View his site here. Many of the Images were created with inkscape. http://365sketches.org/


Source: examiner.com via Ann on Pinterest
Wayne Tully captures demons and zombies on paper. http://drawfantasyart.com/






Sunday, October 14, 2012

Book Review: Return to Caer Lon


Return to Caer Lon was written by Claude Dancourt.  The story begins at the height of drama.  Queen Ylianor shields her young son Derek while the castle is being attacked by fireballs.  King William Pendragon sends his wife and child away from Camelot so he can fight his foe, Wolfryth a despicable sorcerer who kills him.

The story fast forwards fifteen years later.  Derek has grown to be a tall handsome man who looks and acts like his late father. Derek is eager to claim back Camelot and avenge his father's death.  He feels competing in tournaments is frivolous use of his time. Ylianor  raised her son within the Haven's walls overlooking the sea and  became an herbalist who has been treating Derek's favorite antagonist, Sacha for nightmares which are actually visions.  Sacha a raven haired young lady is a seer.  Residents of Haven snicker because Derek and Sacha would make a lovely couple, but they can't stand eachother due to their frictitous relationship.


Source: amazon.com via Ann on Pinterest

The adventure unfolds after Sebastian, Sacha's cousin, and Ewlyn, Sacha's twin brother,  go missing after scouting the area of Pemfro.  Sacha finds a wounded and unconscious Sebastian.  Both Derek and Sacha ask permission for a search party to find her brother, but are denied permission. The following scene made me laugh.  One night Sacha sneeks into Derek's quarters.  He was relieved that she wasn't naked under her cloak.  She wasn't sure if she should consider that an insult.  They sneek into the night on horseback.  Gee,  seems romantic, but they take turns teasing eachother and getting angry.  I think it is remarkable how two people who can't get along would decide to go on trip together.

Their relationship takes an arc from almost childish bickering to a sense of curiosity when they stay in the inn.  They sleep on separate beds.  Their relationship deepens in the cave after she almost drowns.  They develop feelings of concern and lust which they try to conceal from eachother.
This story explores magic as well as honor. Sacha has elemental powers while her bother has Earth powers.  She continues to have visions that suggest she should turn back.  They are unaware that Wolfryth is watching them through Sacha.  A riddle replays in their mind: the blood of a dragon will reveal the source.  Ewlyn is tortured and kept in a dungeon by Wolfryth.  Ewlyn tells his sister via telepathy that he is in Caer Lon, a forgotten city.  Sacha has a difficult time trying to convince Derek because he considers the city a myth and he is very sceptical of magic.
Derek and Sacha are in danger.  They travel alone without telling anyone.  Thugs with swords roam the streets.  They visit a monastery for clues to Caer Lon.  Derek peaks his interest upon learning his Pendragon heritage intertwines with the lost city.
I highly recommend this book. At times I laughed while eager to finish this book of magic and romance.

You can find Return to Caer Lon at amazon
You can visit her blog http://www.claudedancourt.webs.com/
Visit her on twitter https://twitter.com/ClaudeDancourt
Goodreads...good reading!
 http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5157110.Claude_Dancourt?auto_login_attempted=true


Win a digital copy of Return to Caer Lon
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4a60c98/






create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Friday, October 12, 2012

My First Python Class

I am so excited to be taking my first computer programming course An Introduction into Interactive Programming in Python.  I enrolled through Coursera at  Rice University and this is my first week.  This online class  will teach me how to make a video game! I will be learning the basics about programming in the python language which includes importing a gui, a graphical user interface and event handling which includes what happens after the button is clicked.  What will you see if you join this class?  Video lectures, course material, code skulptor which allows you to code online through your browser and online forums to ask questions or discuss issues with other students.  I found the sytatical shortcut '+=' to be an interesting feature.  Here's an example: if a = 3
                                   a += 2
The answer is 5 because we added 3 + 2.
I also found modulus math interesting, especially the remainder which is a form of division.
Here's an example: 4 % 4
The answer results in 0, because although 4 divided by 4 equals 1, the remainder is zero.  There are no left overs in this equation.
 Click  here to read more about this course. Hurry class begins October 15, 2012.
Did I mention the class is free!

I drew my second vector drawing with inkscape.  I think Lucinda is ready for Halloween and I call this drawing Lucinda's First Bite.


Lucinda's First Bite by ~ravensartshack on deviantART


I See You pet bowl
I See You pet bowl by RavenKing
Browse other cat bowl designs on Zazzle.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

My first inkscape Drawing

I am beginning to learn how to use inkscape to make my first vector drawing.  Because I am so fond of entering contests I decided to enter the Mountain Dew contest so that I would have a deadline for making my drawing.  The size is small at 600 x 600 pixels and it took about four hours to make.  The palette was limited to 5 colors which they provided four along with the logo.  Restrictions help keep my design simple since this drawing could wrap around a soda can. I made a spider from the mountain ridges covered in fresh snow.  What I found interesting in drawing with inkscape is that when you draw your shape you can choose a different color for the outline than the fill.   Each shape or line is a layer and you can alter it by moving the nodes or simply selecting it to stretch it. Mountain Dew contest ends October, 10.

This is my second variation of my Mountain Dew entry. I decided to make the snow shine by changing the opacities of the snow.  Which do you think is better snow plates or snow shine?
 
There is one more contest that I might enter.  The author is hosting a contest on her blog to design a book cover about a samurai who travels between the living and the dead. 
Or you can see the link on deviantart.
The contest ends October31, 2012.


Psst...psst...hey...you can visit my zazzle store and flip through my calendar pages.  :)