Author Elle Hill talks about how 'The Tithe' aligns with her own beliefs

The Tithe is a novel about religion. Not religious as in preachy or even inspirational. Not religious as in spiritual. Not even religious as furthering morals set out by Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or pagan practitioners. Religion as in exploring the effects of a government built on religious doctrine.

I set the book vaguely in the future – maybe a hundred years, maybe more. It’s simultaneously post-apocalyptic and “utopian.” After the bulk of humankind perished in 2012 (remember the Mayan calendar scare?), a few hundred thousand humans remained and organized themselves into ten towns situated in the Mojave Desert in Southern California. The towns have mayors and other bureaucrats, but the real power in the cities rests with the holy women and men, the imrabi and minnabi, respectively.

I had a lot of fun deciding how to organize the towns, structure their religious rituals and beliefs, and construct characters’ relationships with their towns’ religious dogma. Even choosing names like “imrabi” and “minnabi” proved interesting and fun: “Imrabi” is a not-entirely-subtle combination of “imam” and “rabbi,” while “minnabi” combines “minister” and “rabbi.” The name of the novel’s god, “Elovah,” is an amalgamation of “Allah, “Elohim,” and “Jehovah.” One difference from these patriarchal religions, though: Elovah is a female deity.

In case it’s not glaringly obvious, I based the fundamentals of this religious system on the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I even designed my religious rituals, such as how to pray and what weddings look like, by squishing them all together.

I suppose I could have been more inventive and designed a religious system from scratch. I’m a sociologist, though. Fascinating to me as a social scientist is the reunification of these three religions, which actually have much more in common than we like to acknowledge. Heck, Judaism birthed both. Also, let’s be super honest: I’m a big fan of sticking with what I know. I grew up Christian, and my fiancé is Jewish. Easy knowledge pickins. Granted, I don’t know as much about Islam, but that’s why the Internet exists, right?

Now, at the ripe ol’ age of 40, I am an ex-Christian Atheist. Did my own spiritual or religious beliefs shape this book? Yes and no. Yes, because I used information from my own Christian background in designing a futuristic religious system that nonetheless looks a lot like the ones we know today. I honor my Christian background for providing fodder for that kind of project. No, because although this is in part a book about religion, it’s ultimately a novel that contemplates the liberatory and oppressive functions of institutionalized religion. I honor my degrees in sociology for providing fodder for that kind of project.

The Tithe is a book about religion. This does not mean it’s an inspirational or even particularly religious novel. It’s a novel that explores some effects, functions, and possibilities of a theocratic society. It’s a book a sociologist, rather than a religious devotee, would pen.

The Tithe

by Elle Hill

BLURB:

Every seven years, the towns sacrifice their sick and disabled. No one has ever survived the angels’ harvest. Until now.

“Every seven years, seven persons from each of the ten towns must go into the desert, where they will enter into the realm of Elovah, their God.”

No one knows exactly what happens to these seventy Tithes, but everyone knows who: the “unworkables,” those with differing physical and mental capacities. Joshua Barstow, raised for twenty years among her town’s holy women, is one of these seventy Tithes. She is joined by the effervescent Lynna, the scholarly Avery, and the amoral Blue, a man who has spent most of his life in total solitude.

Each night, an angel swoops down to take one of their numbers. Each night, that is, except the first, when the angel touches Josh… and leaves her. What is so special about Josh? She doesn’t feel special; she feels like a woman trying to survive while finally learning the meanings of friendship, community, and love.

How funny that she had to be sacrificed to find reasons to live.

Read an excerpt:

Josh sighed.

“I guess if I only have a month at most left, I should use my actions and words to, you know, shape the world the right way, the way that brings the most good.”

“You do that every day.”

“You’re biased,” she said, smiling. “But the changes I’ve seen since I’ve been here, not just in me but in everyone, they’re scary sometimes. Sometimes I feel like . . . as if the world is so vast, so full of people, and I’ll burst if I love them all. But I don’t ever burst.

“I loved a lot of people before I came here, but always in the abstract. Here . . .” She breathed, in and out, for a while. “It’s not abstract. I don’t love them because we share humanity. I love them for their beauty, their pettiness, their fears and their compassion.

“You said my pain makes me the person I am. How bizarre is it that my pain, my incapacity, and my imminent death have brought me all this? It’s the greatest, most horrible gift I’ve ever received. You know?”

“Yes.”

“And I’d like to say I’m strong enough that I’d do this all over again—become an unworkable and a Tithe—if given the choice, but I don’t know if that’s true. I’m scared.”

He held her tightly against him.

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born in Idaho during the height of disco, Elle Hill now chicken-pecks at the keyboard while rocking out to Donna Summer and KC and the Sunshine Band. She worked in Idaho for several years as a secretary and journalist before moving to California and selling her soul to academia. After receiving her PhD in Sociology, Elle Hill became a not-so-mild-mannered college instructor by night and a community activist during the remainder of her waking hours. Always a journalist and writer at heart, one of her favorite pastimes includes publishing commentary on the political and social state of the world; some of her thoughts are posted on her blog at ellehillauthor.blogspot.com.

Elle welcomes visitors to her website at www.ellehill.com. She also urges everyone to become a superhero and adopt their next non-human companion from a local animal shelter.

Blog: http://ellehillauthor.blogspot.com/

Website: http://www.ellehill.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Elle-Hill/155409064486649?ref=hl

Twitter: @ellehillauthor

Elle will be awarding a $50 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Author Seth Mullins on the birth of his book 'What Casts the Shadow?'

The Birth of “What Casts the Shadow?”

“What Casts the Shadow?” was originally born from a series of late night reveries. Sometimes I like to entice the Muse by turning out all the lights in my apartment, pouring music into my ears through headphones and moving about from room to room, in near-complete darkness, just letting my fantasies roam where they will.

Oftentimes those fantasies revolve around music itself. I have some background here: Years of teaching myself guitar, followed by further years of devotion to the craft of songwriting, this finally coming to fruition during a rewarding period of time when I was an active performer on what club circuit there was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was all before I realized that writing was my more dominant passion.

Nonetheless, my musically-endowed self lived on from that moment, though he was now relegated to some remote closet of my consciousness. There he became a kind of alter-ego, a character with his own separate life and destiny, his own inclinations and gifts. It was particularly during those moments when I was in the dark, my mind subsumed in the music, that Brandon Chane began to come to life. I’d hear little hints of the life experiences that lay behind his songs, what his Muse spurred him to say when he was onstage before his hungry audiences…

Influenced, no doubt, by the way that I’d spent my adolescence - devouring biographies of such artists as Jim Morrison, Arthur Rimbaud, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Syd Barrett, etc. - I imagined him both brilliant and doomed.

Or… could he perhaps be saved? In this instance, could the ‘live fast, die young’ rock’n’roll credo (and cliché) be somehow sidestepped? After all, we’ve seen the cycle of frenzied inspiration followed by tragic burnout often enough: The lives of artists who one might compare to shooting stars, to Icarus who flew too high and then crashed back down to earth in flames.

If that fate was to be avoided then Brandon Chane was going to need some guidance. He was living too close to the edge. He couldn’t pull himself back alone.

Thus Saul Mason was born, the man who would become Brandon’s enigmatic mentor. And here was another opportunity for me to draw upon my own personal journey in order to fill out my fiction. All my years of treading the ‘inner way’, of searching whatever practices and philosophies might help me to illuminate life’s deeper significance, found utterance now in Saul’s teachings. He and Brandon had much to learn from each other, actually; and this relationship between young man and mentor was bound to impact upon the wider world, too, as Brandon’s band battled its way to greater and greater prominence within the cutthroat jungle that is the music industry.

From this point, the storyline quickly kindled to bright flame within my mind. I had a core idea that fused two of my deepest passions: Music (and creativity itself, in broader terms) and the exploration of our inner depths. Within this tale, each would feed the other. Self-understanding would lead to further creativity, which in turn would lead to deeper plunges into the unknown. I already had a head full of rock’n’roll mythology and spiritual teachings: It was just a matter, now, of blending those influences in a way that would, hopefully, avoid the clichés that one often encounters on either side. I didn’t want to talk overmuch about the inner way or about the travails of a struggling artist. I desired only to follow, as faithfully as possible, the journey of someone who walked that path and endured those travails – reaping a unique kind of reward, for both himself and his audience, in the end.

What Casts the Shadow?

by Seth Mullins

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

A troubled young rock musician, a mystic mentor, and a generation of lost souls longing for a new voice to emerge from the wilderness...

When an altercation outside of a performance venue nearly proves fatal, Brandon Chane begins to realize how far his life is spinning out of control. His efforts to channel his pain, frustration and thwarted loves into his music may not suffice to save him. Then he meets Saul, a crisis counselor with the soul of an ancient medicine man, and a far-reaching journey of healing - one that may teach him how to steer away from the very edge of the abyss - begins.

Read an excerpt:

An Air of Pilgrimage

Now it was all deepening. We merged with a river born of magic, myth and the dreams of all those who’d gone before us. I turned to my right and saw some violets casting off glints of tiny light like flecks of stardust. All at once, everything in existence was being created in every moment.

“It’s the light that can’t be extinguished!” I shouted. “I understand now!”

It’s easy to say such things when you feel all of Creation communing with you; easy, too, to assume that the other people around you will understand your sense of euphoria. And yet in actual fact Tommy did shout “Yes!” from his place at the vanguard as if he knew exactly what I was talking about.

And just like that, our whole holy pilgrimage south flashed across my inner eyes: the distances, the pockets of heart warmth and of emptiness, the strangers met and the intimacy of the music that we’d ushered in to their stomping grounds. My imagination deified our trusty travelling van, transforming it into an ancient Egyptian Solar Boat that had borne us across the heavens of Vision so that we could spread our gospel of every human being’s Divinity.

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Seth Mullins draws upon the great sweep of human soul-journeying to weave his tales. He's inspired by music, shamanism, dreams and the mysteries and miracles of our inner life. His greatest love as a writer is for fiction that depicts a journey towards self-awareness in the deepest sense.

"Probably the most valuable thing that I learned throughout my spiritual journey in this life is the importance of trusting in one's self. Many of our cultural lessons encourage us to ignore or even fear our inner reality. And yet it is this realm that really does hold the answers to all of our questions, and can point the way towards the most fulfilling life experiences possible for us."

Mr. Mullins has lived in Maine, Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont.

http://www.humanityswayforward.com (Humanity's Way Forward - my website)

http://frontiersofconsciousness.blogspot.com (The Edge of the Known by Seth Mullins - my blog)

"What Casts the Shadow?" (The Edge of the Known) on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1rkhffS

My Amazon author page: amazon.com/author/sethmullins

https://www.facebook.com/seth.thomas.37454

http://twitter.com/SethMullins1

https://www.facebook.com/WhatCaststheShadow

Prizes for the tour are as follows:

• One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

• One randomly chosen host will receive a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

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'The Heart of Christmas' by Brenda Novak

The Heart of Christmas

by Brenda Novak

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Just call her Christmas Eve…

Eve Harmon has always enjoyed Christmas, but this year it reminds her of everything she doesn’t have. Almost all her friends are married now, and that’s what Eve wants, too. Love. A husband and kids of her own. But the B-and-B she manages and even Whiskey Creek, the small Gold Country town where she was born and raised, suddenly seem…confining.

As Eve turns thirty-five, she’s worried that her future will simply be a reflection of her past. She’s dated all the eligible men in the area. There’s no one she could even imagine as a husband—until a handsome stranger comes to town. Eve’s definitely attracted to him, and he seems to have the same reaction to her. But his darkly mysterious past could ruin Eve’s happily ever after—just when it finally seems within reach. Just when she’s counting on the best Christmas of her life!

Read an excerpt:

She stopped trying to act as if discovering him in her bed was no big deal. “This whole situation embarrasses me,” she admitted. “I’ve never taken anyone home from a bar before and, unlike you, I won’t be leaving this town any time soon. That means I’ll have to face all the people who witnessed my licentious behavior.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Licentious?”

“Promiscuous, debauched. Whatever you want to call it. Waking up with a total stranger isn’t something that’s normal for me.”

He studied her, his gaze…thoughtful. “Last night you told me it was your birthday.”

“And?”

“Quit being so hard on yourself. From what I could gather, it was a rough one. And with the holidays coming up, and knowing you’re going to spend another year alone, you said it wasn’t likely to get any easier.”

Damn. She’d shared that? Hadn’t she revealed enough when she took off her clothes? “My birthday was fine. Spending another Christmas as a single woman is fine. Everything’s fine.” How could she complain when she’d always had it so good?

She could hear the scrape of his beard growth as he ran a hand over his chin. “What’s that saying about protesting too much?”

“I’m not protesting.”

“If you say so.”

Holding the sheet in place, she slid a few more inches away from him, but she couldn’t go far. She was about to fall out of bed. He wasn’t bulky, but he had wide shoulders and he didn’t seem to be concerned about giving her space. “If you know it was my birthday, you remember more than getting dropped off here,” she said.

“It’s coming back to me.”

Bits and pieces were coming back to her, too. How she’d noticed him watching her from where he sat alone at the bar. How she’d danced for him in such a seductive manner, reveling in the appreciation she kindled in his eyes. How he’d eventually gotten up and walked over to join her. How he’d danced with her, so cautiously and respectfully even though the sparks between them felt like they were about to burn the place down.

How she’d slipped through the crush of bodies on the dance floor to catch her breath outside and he’d followed….

There were still things she couldn’t recall, however, and his name was one of them. Had he ever told her what it was?

“Who are you?” she asked.

Without even a stretch or a concluding peck on the cheek, he climbed out of bed and started to dress.

At least she wouldn’t have to ask him to leave, she told herself. It looked as if he planned on walking into the sunset—or sunrise since it was early—as soon as possible. But this wasn’t New York or Los Angeles. He couldn’t just hail a taxi. She lived in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California in one of the many mining towns along Highway 49 that had sprung up when gold was discovered a century and a half ago. It was a community that hadn’t changed as much as one might expect in such a modern, technologically advanced world. And if the lack of urban conveniences in Whiskey Creek wasn’t enough of an obstacle, she lived several miles outside town. There was very little traffic out here and no buses or other public transit.

He’d have a long hike if he intended to make his way back to Whiskey Creek without catching a ride from her.

Or maybe he planned to call someone. He had a cell phone and, for the most part, there was service.

“You won’t answer?” she asked.

“What difference does my name make?” he finally responded.

Buy links

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak is the author of more than fifty books. A four-time Rita nominee, she has won many awards, including the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Daphne, and the Holt Medallion. She also runs an annual on-line auction for diabetes research every May at www.brendanovak.com (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised over $2 million. For more about Brenda, please visit www.brendanovak.com.


Links:

www.brendanovak.com

https://www.facebook.com/BrendaNovakAuthor

Enter the 12 Days of Christmas Contest: http://www.brendanovak.com/monthlycontests/rafflecopterbloggercontest/

Brenda will be awarding a $100 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $50 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn host.

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'Written in Blood' by Elaina Lee

Romantic Suspense
Date Published: Jan 1, 2011 (Re-published June 2014)

Written in Blood: A dark and sensual, award winning, romantic suspense.

Lyndi Crisdean is assigned one of the hardest cases in her career as a defense attorney. A serial murder case. Investigating is Alek Trevian, the lead investigator for the district attorney, and a handsome and supremely dangerous man. Lyndi finds herself in over her head when she chooses desire for Alek over common sense. If they're caught, Lyndi will lose everything she's worked for. Circumstances beyond her control pull her toward Alek, for he turns out to be the only one who can help when threats start to mount against her.

Lyndi may be the key Alek needs to bring down a murderous cult running loose in his city. When her beach house is broken into and a man begins to tail Lyndi, Alek can't help but reason Lyndi may be next on the cult's hitlist. The question is, will he discover the identity of the cult, keep her safe, and still win the case against the serial killer she's defending, all while losing a battle against the strong, untamable desire she alone ignites within him?

Read an excerpt:

Black hair framed his face and hung down just past his collar. Her fingers twitched at her side, gripping her purse tighter. What she wouldn’t give to find out if his hair was as soft as it looked under the pale lighting. With a quick shake of her head, she snapped out of her reverie. Coming here had been a mistake. Sin, like the man walking toward her, didn’t need another invitation to her front door.

Before she could change her mind, she turned away from him and headed toward the entrance. The door to freedom seemed much farther than she remembered. She reached out; her fingers touched smooth wood. A cool, fresh breeze brushed the flushed skin of her face, beckoning her. She didn’t make the night wait. She burst out onto the sidewalk, sucking in air to calm her raging pulse. What was wrong with her? For whatever reason, though, something about that man had told her to run and not look back.

Hair flitted across her face, and she pushed the stray locks away. Home was only fifteen minutes from here. Shouldering her purse once again, she turned and started in the direction of her apartment building.

“Miss.” A deep, smooth voice sounded from behind her.

Lyndi froze. Did she really want to look? Biting her lower lip, she glanced over her shoulder. Mr. Wickedly Handsome’s lips twitched in what she figured must have been his equivalent of a smile.

“Do we know each other?” she asked, turning to face him.

“Are you alone tonight?”

“Listen... I don’t know you, and I’m not going to answer that question, so have a good evening.”

When she tried to turn away, his hand caressed her upper arm. Gentle and confusing, the touch left her too mystified to protest when he stepped closer. Leaning down, he whispered against her mouth, “Trust me when I say, you know me.”

His warm breath brushed across her lips, sending a wave of heat to the pit of her stomach. Every muscle in her body wanted to move closer, wanted the distraction she knew that mouth could offer. But despite her earlier thoughts, losing herself in a man wasn’t something she could afford right now.

Steeling herself against the tingle of desire he created, Lyndi lifted her gaze to his shadowed eyes. “You’re wrong and must have mistaken me for someone else.”

A small smile curled along his lips; his fingers grazed along her jaw. Her breath caught in her throat, and she swallowed the whimper forming in her throat. “I know exactly who you are, Ms. Crisdean. You are unmistakable.”

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Elaina Lee

I'm Elaina Lee, romance writer. Since given an assignment in the 6th grade to write a fantasy story, I knew writing was a passion I'd never be able to do without. From that moment on my imagination took flight. Over the years I've written everything from the Dark Ages to Science Fiction, all with romantic elements, of course ;-).

As a mother of two boys, a kindergartner and high schooler, life is never boring in my house! When I'm not keeping a little one out of trouble, or trying to keep my sanity as a boy migrates into a man, I write. I'm very fortunate to have met my remarkable husband who has supported and encouraged my dreams of being an author since the day we met.

Thanks for taking the time to learn about me!


Links:

Website: http://www.elainalee.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElainaLeeAuthor?fref=ts

Blog: http://www.elaina-lee.blogspot.com/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Elaina-Lee/e/B00M21C1VQ

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'Balanced Effectiveness at Work' by Flip Brown

Blurb: 

Balanced Effectiveness at Work: How to Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor Without Driving Yourself Nuts is a resiliency manual for anyone who works for a living.

Within each chapter there are conceptual definitions, sample scenarios, frank assessments, “Flip’s Tips,” action plans for real traction, and positive reinforcement. The book addresses the chronic dissatisfaction that comes from being in a crazy-paced, priority-confusing, soul-sapping workplace. With a light-hearted but in-depth look at twenty-four wide-ranging topics, presented in a unique news-you-can-use format, it will provide you with real options, helpful resources, and renewed optimism.

Available on Amazon

About the author:

Flip Brown is the owner and founder of Business Culture Consultants - a Certified B Corp - in Burlington, Vermont. He helps people find more meaning and fulfillment at work. He has a background in business, psychology, organic gardening, and rock 'n' roll. He loves his job.

Find out more: www.balancedeffectiveness.com

'Active Appreciation: How to Develop Employees Who Exceed Expectations' by Paula Schwartz

Blurb:

A person who feels appreciated will exceed expectations.

"Conversations build a culture. Culture builds a company. There are few conversations more powerful in building a strong, engaging culture than the conversations of active appreciation."

"In accounting, the term, "active appreciation" refers to an asset's increase in value. In this timely, common sense leadership guide, Paula Schwartz explores active appreciation as a means for increasing the value of an organization's greatest assets, it's people."

Available on Amazon

About the author:

Paula Schwartz is the owner and founder of HSE Performance Solutions in Houston, Texas. Her expertise is garnered through her interactions with hundreds of workers, managers, and executives mostly in the offshore and land drilling industries, and also in the finance and manufacturing sectors. She is honored to work with the people who take on the responsibility of providing the world’s energy. Her writing is inspired and driven by the risks they take to do so and devoted to their success, safety, and quality of life.

Active Appreciation is written to inspire growth, innovation, and contribution to the people and businesses who strive for such.

Paula lives in Katy, Texas, and appreciates every opportunity to take her work to different parts of the world, with recent projects in Brazil, Scotland, Norway, Australia, Canada, and Angola.

'Say Nothing of What You See' by Christy Effinger

Say Nothing of What You See

by Christy Effinger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

When her aunt steps off a grain elevator into the emptiness of a prairie evening, Mira Piper loses her one protector. Chloe, her flighty mother, impulsively drags her daughter to Bramblewood, an isolated spiritualist retreat in northern Michigan, run by the enigmatic Dr. Virgil Simon.

Chloe plans to train as a medium but it's Mira who discovers she can communicate with the dead. When her mother abandons her, Mira discovers a darker aspect to Bramblewood: the seemingly kind doctor has a sinister side and a strange control over his students.

Then one winter's day Troy Farrington arrives, to fulfill his mother's dying wish and deliver her letter to the doctor. But calamity strikes and he finds himself a captive, tended by a sympathetic Mira. Haunted by her dead aunt and desperate to escape Bramblewood, Mira makes a devil's deal with Dr. Simon. But fulfillment comes with a steep cost...betrayal.

Read an excerpt:

I remember the way she fell.

I remember, too, the moment just before it happened, when I came home from my summer job at the snow cone stand and found the house empty.

Aunt Charlotte had not set foot outside her bedroom for days, and now suddenly she was gone. She left a candle burning on the kitchen table, a damp towel on the bathroom floor, an empty shot glass on the nightstand. Her bedroom smelled of rose lotion and whiskey.

One of her straw sandals lay in the living room. The other lay on its side in the hall, as if she had hastily kicked it off on her way out the door. It meant trouble, all right, if Aunt Charlotte was barefoot. She never did anything sane when she was barefoot.

I picked up the sandals and stepped outside. A fat bumblebee ascended from one of the peonies by the porch steps, drunk with nectar. He banged stupidly against the screen door once, twice, and then careened around the house, clearly annoyed.

My gaze swept across our small yard and down the country road to the grain elevator. From somewhere far away came the discordant wail of a train. I glanced along the tracks and out into the cornfield before turning back to the grain elevator. What I saw there made me drop the sandals.

Buy links

Amazon \ B&N \ Wild Rose Press

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Christy Effinger’s poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in various print and online publications. She lives near Indianapolis. Her website is www.christyeffinger.com.

Links:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/christyeffinger

Twitter: http://twitter.com/christyeffinger

Tumblr: http://christyeffinger.tumblr.com

Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/christyeffinger

Christy will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn host.

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Find your thrills with the works of Paul Kyriazi

Looking for a new thriller? Check out author Paul Kyriazi. Many of these also come with a free audio book download with purchase on Kindle. Click on a book cover for more information!

CIA agent James McKnight has three problems...amnesia...the Mafia ...and his addiction to the ultimate woman. Can he trust her?

Includes a free link to download the 3.7 hr. audio-book narrated by Frank Sinatra Jr. Performed by Robert Culp, Nancy Kwan, David Hedison, Henry Silva Alan Young, Gary Lockwood, Edd Byrnes, Don Stroud, H.M. Wynant & Barbara Leigh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty-eight year old Julia Rodriguez loves her young boyfriend, Robert. He loves living the high life with her. But when her money runs out and the glamorous trips end, he walks out on her. Soon after, Julia runs into her old friend Vicki Hawkins, who's now dealing blackjack in Las Vegas. Vicki also needs money and has a plan to scam a casino, so she invites Julia to go partners with her. The two women descend into a terrorizing situation where Julia's dubious past survival skills are put to the test.

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My Casino Caper, (also included as a novella) happened in 1977 when EDD Kookie' BYRNES, (Grease, 77 Sunset Strip) won three million dollars in Las Vegas. Immediately, he was stalked by a thug for his winnings. In this memoir, Edd finally reveals what actually happened.

Justice is Mine, by Paul Kyriazi, concerns a bizarre Hollywood studio accident that leads a man to a mysterious woman. In Wicked Players, also by Kyriazi, two women team up to scam a casino blackjack game.

Included in this 3 novella book, is a free download of the 77 min. audio-book My Casino Caper, performed by Edd Byrnes, Alan Young, David Hedison, Michael Callan and Henry Silva.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Changing lives since 1998, this is the original course taught at The Learning Annex & SpyFest, now expanded & updated for 2012. With 354 pages of information to upgrade all areas of your life.

Chapters include: Re-invent Yourself, Bond Symbols for Change, Your Base of Operations, Your Appearance, The Bond Personality, Bond and His Cash, Your Bond Car, Bond Girls, Resort Hotels, Bond on the Job, Casino Gambling, Your Mission, Upgrading Your Image, The Greatest Adventure, The Ultimate Secret of Women, & much more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the author:

Paul Kyriazi has directed 22 movie stars in his six feature films and five full-cast audio-books; including Rod Taylor, Robert Culp, Adam West, Russ Tamblyn & George Chakiris. He has a BA in Film from San Francisco State University. He wrote and directed the movie 'Omega Cop' starring Adam 'Batman' West. The audio-book productions of his novels have film-quality sound effects and music, making them 'audio-movies' of sorts.

Author Paul Kyriazi on Frank Sinatra, Jr. recording his audio book 'McKnight's Memory'

After my producer, Larry Metzger and myself had finished recording all the actors and dramatizations for our audio-book McKnight's Memory, we still needed a narrator.

Larry had heard Frank Sinatra Jr's audio commentary his father's movie, Robin and the Seven Hoods and was impressed with his voice and articulation, as well as Frank's respect for character actors, so Larry asked me, "What about Frank Sinatra Jr for the narrator?" I said ,"It would be great to get him, but maybe impossible."

Larry got in touch with Frank's office and pitched the deal for him to record with us, even though other Hollywood agents and casting directors had told Larry that he could never get Frank as he was too busy and would have to go through too many people who would stop Larry before he ever got to Frank. However, Larry finally got the information to get in touch with Frank's management office and then to Frank.

It turned out that Frank was coached for voice work by the great voice actor Paul Frees. Frank also collected recordings of some of the great actors reading books, such as James Mason and Charles Laughton, listening carefully to them, so as to perfect his narrating technique. Thusly Frank told Larry that he was very much interested in doing his first audio-book with us.

In his live concerts, Frank Sinatra Jr is known for his great story telling on stage, so it was an easy jump for him to do the narration for a story. Larry asked him why he waited so long to do an audio-book. Frank said, "This project is a 'story well told', so I decided to do it."

Frank requested his recording be done at night as that is when most singers feel their voice is the best. He gave a concentrated performance, only taking one break during the three hours as he wanted to stay 'in character'. On my other audio-novel I had Rod Taylor (The Time Machine, The Birds) do one take on his narration. Basically a continuous read unless he was unsure of a line, then he'd ask a question.

Frank however, wanted to read a one minute section of the text and then do two more takes of that same section, so I'd have a choice when it came to editing. After we finished he said, "Most of the best takes will be the third take." And with a couple of exceptions that turned out to be true when I got to the editing the next day.

Frank found a few places where he asked if he could change the words, as I wrote the text I encouraged him to do so. All his additions were great. For example, there is a line that read, "The hit man was dead before his 200 pound body crashed to the floor." Mr. Sinatra changed it to: "The hit man was dead before his 200 pounds crashed to the floor." When I heard that, I was overjoyed that this subtle, but powerful change had happened.

"Okay fellas," Frank said to Larry and I in the control room, "I'll read it as written so that you'll have a choice." But we knew right then which reading we would use. This happened a few other times as well. Larry and I were in awe of his annunciation and how he sometimes ended a paragraph in an upward tone, leaving it hanging as if more will come. We didn't know what that's called, but we loved it.

During our breaks, he talked to us about the sets that he visited of some of the now classic movies, such as Journey to the Center of the Earth and Them.

After hearing the final test product with sound effects and music. Frank said he had some additional ideas and worked with Larry and I for three more nights adding a lot more effects and music. The end result was so much more powerful. Frank has the Music Supervision credit on the project.

The McKnight's Memory cast includes Robert Culp, Nancy Kwan, David Hedison, Henry Silva, Don Stroud, Barbara Leigh, Alan Young, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, Gary Lockwood, and others. Produced by Larry Metzger. Directed by Paul Kyriazi.


Book Blurb:

CIA agent James McKnight has three problems....amnesia...the Mafia...and an addiction to the ultimate woman. Can he trust her?

Available on Amazon

This kindle edition includes 'The largest production in audio-book history'. 4 hrs. narrated by Frank Sinatra Jr. and performed by 10 stars as you can see on the cover. It comes as a FREE download with the $2.99 Kindle purchase from Amazon.

About the author:

Paul Kyriazi has directed 22 movie stars in his six feature films and five full-cast audio-books; including Rod Taylor, Robert Culp, Adam West, Russ Tamblyn & George Chakiris. He has a BA in Film from San Francisco State University. He wrote and directed the movie 'Omega Cop' starring Adam 'Batman' West. The audio-book productions of his novels have film-quality sound effects and music, making them 'audio-movies' of sorts.

Author Paul Kyriazi on directing Robert Culp in the audio book adaptation of 'McKnight's Memory'

When Robert Culp walked into the recording studio he was carrying his marked up script for Rock Star Rising and a whole lot of TV and film history. I always make it a point to not immediately go into the work at hand, but to welcome the actor and mention my favorite parts of films they did.

I also try to have something of one of their films to give them. And not as a conversation piece, but as coming from a true fan. Since Mr. Culp was in three Outer Limits shows, I gave him the DVD box set. I mentioned to him that I had heard that the The Outer Limits episode Demon with a Glass Hand was the number one watched hour program in the history of television. He said, "That's right and also the highest cost to profit ratio in the history of television."

After looking over the episodes on the back of the box, Mr. Culp got right into questions about the character he would record for my Rock Star Rising multi-voice audio-book. His character was that of a shady agent for the rock star Shane. He had made notes in his script and we went through them.

As Mr. Culp is a writer as well as actor, I knew I'd better have good answers to his questions. Robert Culp started off in Broadway, and then jumped to starring in the TV western, Trackdown for two years where her began witting scripts which he wrote from "Gunsmoke" and The Rifleman, as well.

His big break came with I SPY on TV and then for movies with Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice. He started directing in the second season of "I Spy" as well as for other TV programs, and the feature film Hickey and Boggs appearing with Bill Cosby again. He appeared on countless TV shows including co-starring on the series The Greatest American Hero, while still appearing in features such as The Pelican Brief as the president. After going over his script notes for Rock Star Rising, he got into the recording booth for his first scene with a actress playing a reporter.

Then most of his other scenes were with James Darren playing Shane. However, I told the to actors that when Kevin McCarthy showed up, that we would jump to the scene between him and Mr. Culp.

At one point, Mr. Culp's character had to make a long speech, selling a new concert. He asked for me to wait a few moments. So outside the booth, me and the mixer waited for what seemed to be a long time, maybe 5 minutes only, as Mr. Culp, made notes, changes, additional lines, as he stood with his script in front of him. "All right. I'm ready", he said. And then went on to give a brilliant speech, better than I had written or imagined.

Following the script in front of me while recording, I would sometimes quickly look into the glass door and see Culp standing by the mike, waving his arms, and doing other physicality to keep him in character and deliver a superb performance in every scene. He seemed to really be enjoying himself. At the end of the day, he confirmed it by saying to James Darren, "This is the first one of these I've done and it was really fun."

After James Darren left the booth for a break, Mr. Culp motioned me inside the booth with him. I wondered what this was going to be. He said, "Paul, I feel I now know you well enough to say........." Now I'm really thinking, what favor is he going to ask me?" Mr. Culp continued, "If you for any reason need any of these lines re-done, let me know and I'll come back with no charge." Wow ! I thought. "Thanks", I said. "It's good to know because I often worry about what happens if I missed something."

When Kevin McCarthy arrived, he adjusted his quick rhythm that he had with James Darren, to the more thoughtful, methodical, and also effective rhythm that Mr. McCarthy had. Mr. Culp really gave to Mr. McCarthy, allowing him to warm up and get up to speed. Then the two of them performed a brilliant cat and mouse negotiating scene. I had chosen Mr. McCarthy, not only because I'm a big fan, but who else could intimidate I SPY's Robert Culp, but the man that save us all from the "Pods" in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

When Mr. Culp finished with both actors, it was time to say good-by. I told him, "The next time you see Hannie Caulder listen to the way you say my favorite one word line, "Winchester" when your are surrounded by bandits and want Hannie to throw you your rifle without them knowing it." He said, "Okay, I will. and thanks for the DVDs.", waved and headed out the door. You can see Robbet Culp on the upcoming NBS comedy pilot Early Birds.

One year later I hired Mr. Culp to co-star with Nancy Kwan in my audio-book thriller McKnight's Memory narrated by Frank Sinatra Jr. 'As he was the lead it took two long days to complete. The first day I arranged to have Mr. Culp do all his scenes with the other male actors who played the CIA chasing him. Mr. Culp was in the recording room at one mike and I had the other actors in the green room standing by, as I moved them in and out of the recording room depending on which scenes were coming up.

The next day Mr. Culp had many scenes with his romantic lead Nancy Kwan.As he played a CIA agent and sounded just like he did when he was age 40, he had many scenes reminicent of I SPY. Once again, he greatly enjoyed himself. He came up with some great text editing ideas as well as encouraged the actors that worked with him.

Mr. Culp really enjoyed listening to the final results of the 3.7 hour production once it was complete with music and film quality sound effects. It was was great time for all of us and I feel privilaged to work with him twice.

Book Blurb:

CIA agent James McKnight has three problems....amnesia...the Mafia...and an addiction to the ultimate woman. Can he trust her?

Available on Amazon

This kindle edition includes 'The largest production in audio-book history'. 4 hrs. narrated by Frank Sinatra Jr. and performed by 10 stars as you can see on the cover. It comes as a FREE download with the $2.99 Kindle purchase from Amazon.

About the author:

Paul Kyriazi has directed 22 movie stars in his six feature films and five full-cast audio-books; including Rod Taylor, Robert Culp, Adam West, Russ Tamblyn & George Chakiris. He has a BA in Film from San Francisco State University. He wrote and directed the movie 'Omega Cop' starring Adam 'Batman' West. The audio-book productions of his novels have film-quality sound effects and music, making them 'audio-movies' of sorts.