today we are featuring the book

SHADOW ON THE WALL

by author

PAVARTI K. TYLER

available now at

amazon

about the book:

Recai Osman: Muslim, philosopher, billionaire and Superhero? 

Controversial and daring, Shadow on the Wall details the transformation of Recai Osman from complicated man to Superhero. Forced to witness the cruelty of the Morality Police in his home city of Elih, Turkey, Recai is called upon by the power of the desert to be the vehicle of change. Does he have the strength to answer Allah's call or will his dark past and self doubt stand in his way?

Pulling on his faith in Allah, the friendship of a Jewish father-figure and a deeply held belief that his people deserve better, Recai Osman must become The SandStorm.

In the tradition of books by Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, Shadow on the Wall tackles issues of religion, gender, corruption and the basic human condition. Beautiful and challenging, this is not a book to miss.

Pavarti has kindly given us an excerpt of the book

A man. A voice. Darkness tangled her thoughts with fear and childhood warnings.

Sabiha, you shouldn’t be walking alone, she’d heard it say.

Stupidity had made her rash; selfish concerns about her brother caused her to make the worst possible mistake—the kind of mistake that would make her wish she had died, if by any chance she managed to survive.

The low voice knew her name, knew her family name—it had come specifically for her.

She ignored its call, quickening her pace. A laugh broke out in the night, mocking her fear. Suddenly the owner of the voice grabbed her, turning her around to face him.

Refusing to meet the voice’s gaze, Sabiha fixed her eyes forward. Her gaze came to rest on his arm where she saw the outline of a tattoo, dark and menacing. A snake’s tail circled his bicep and disappeared behind his back, only to reveal itself on the other side of his neck with two onyx eyes staring at her, unblinking. 

about 

Pavarti K Tyler

Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number cruncher. She graduated Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway. 

Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry as a freelance accountant for several international law firms.  She now operates her own accounting firm in the Washington DC area, where she lives with her husband, two daughters and two terrible dogs.  When not preparing taxes, she is hard at work as the Director of Publicity at Novel Publicity and penning her next novel.

follow the link

http://soundcloud.com/mosno/moonless-planet-exclusive

for an exclusive mp3 version

 of Moonless Planet, an exclusive song Mosno Al-Moseeki wrote for the character, Darya Yilmaz.

also, follow the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZiLml6iEWQ&feature=youtu.be

for the book's video trailer

Pavarti has also offered a guest blog and offered her insight into her experience with the Hijab.

Take it away Pavarti,

Behind the Veil: My Experience with Hijab 

Hijab is the headscarf some Muslim women wear.  There is great debate over the need, use and appropriateness of the hijab, which has fueled cultural debate and conflict.  In Islam there is a cultural practice of covering a woman’s hair and neck, this is considered modest dress and the roots of the practice are based in the Qu’ran.  There are multiple surahs (verses) and hadiths (oral histories) which are used to explain the need for men and women to dress modestly.

The specifics of what needs to be covered is controversial.  Some say only the hair must be covered, others say everything but the eyes and hands should be.  From Burquas in Afghanistan to hijabs in France, it seems everyone has an opinion.

In 2001, right after 9/11, I participated in an event called “Sisters for Solidarity.”  The sponsoring group was an interfaith movement for social awareness.  Over 200,000 women in the US donned hijab for Eid Al-Fitr, a celebration that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Somewhere in the depths of my basement there is a picture of me with a beautiful red-and-gold scarf covering my hair and neck. For three days in November, 2011, I went to work, the grocery store, church and everywhere else with my hair covered.

I could discuss the political reasons for doing this, or my own religion beliefs, but what I learned during those three days has nothing to do with either. I donned a headscarf for very personal reasons, which I believed deeply and still hold dear.  And every moment I wore it, I felt stronger in my convictions.  Something about a physical declaration of my beliefs was empowering and liberating.

I also felt a part of something.  Other women in hijab would stop, smile and speak with me no matter where we were.  It was a kind of sisterhood I haven’t experienced in other parts of my life.  Even when they found out I wasn’t Muslim, the kind response I received for what I was doing was deeply touching.

Simultaneously, I found the covering very oppressive.  It was hot under there, and kept slipping.  This was probably mostly due to my inexperience, but I found it physically cumbersome and something that needed constant monitoring.  I was also very surprised to find that a number of co-workers with whom I had been close to did not speak with me during the days I was wearing hijab. I received sideways glances on the bus and subway, not the usual smiles and commuter camaraderie I was accustomed to.

There are three female characters in my novel, Shadow on the Wall.  Each has an opinion of and relationship with wearing the hijab.  I pulled on my short experience to inform how I wrote these characters. Rebekah, Darya and Maryam - each of them represents a different archetype of Middle Eastern women.  While it's certainly not an exhaustive representation, the issues of gender and the veil are explored in depth through the course of the story.  

What I learned during the Sisters for Solidarity movement - and what I hope Shadow on the Wall conveys - is that covering is a deeply personal experience. Ideally each  woman would be able to decide for herself without the pressures of politics, family or cultural assumptions.  Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world, which is what makes the discussion so volatile.  

I’m curious as I move into publishing Shadow on the Wall how readers will feel about these women.  Which will they respond to?  With which will they identify?

this tour brought to you by

WELCOME TO KAREN POKRAS TOZ

author of 

NATE ROCKS THE BOAT

synopsis (from Goodreads)

The Adventure Continues...With fourth grade finally winding down, 10-year-old Nathan Rockledge is looking forward to a fun and relaxing summer at home with his friends. That is, until his mom decides he has to go to overnight camp with his annoying older sister. When his best friend, Tommy, decides to tag along, Nathan thinks maybe his summer won’t actually be so bad. After all, he does get to be away from his mom's awful cooking for an entire six weeks. Amongst Color War competitions, a flaky counselor, and a bully named "No-Neck,” Nathan turns to his trusty sketchpad, transforming himself into Nate Rocks: 10-year-old extraordinaire. His speedboat ready for action, Nate saves the day time and again from the perils of floods, snakes, ghosts, and even the most wanted criminals. Join Nathan, Tommy, Abby, and a whole new cast of characters as Nate Rocks once again proves nothing can hold him back.

MY REVIEW

Karen has done it again!  It's very difficult to find a book that boys will love.  Nate fills the bill.  My 11 year old son laughed all through Nate.  This is the second installment in the Nate series.  It's fantastic to read about a great kid who knows how to use his imagination. Nate's adventures from the first book were mostly imaginary.  In this book, Nate gets to have actual, real life adventures.  Don't be concerned, he uses his imagination plenty! 

Nate is at Overnight Camp with his friend and (gasp!!) his older, pain in the neck, sister.   Karen pays attention to every detail of the story.  When you read, you are at camp with Nate.

There is a great ending which allows Nate to compete with his sister.  I have to say, I never attended camp as a kid, I think I missed out on something.  

There is a great lesson about friendship in this book.  The lesson is given in a fun to read manner.  Kids, especially boys, will love this book.  Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for Nate's next adventure.

ABOUT KAREN

Karen Pokras Toz is a writer, wife and mom. Karen grew up in Orange, Connecticut and currently lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and three children. In June 2011, Karen published her first middle grade children’s novel for 7-12 year olds called Nate Rocks the World. The second book in the Nate Rocks series, Nate Rocks the Boat, is to be published in the spring of 2012. Karen is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators

Follow the link

kids'n'books

for a character interview  of

Nate

Today we welcome author

Ashley Mackler-Paternostro

author of

The Milestone Tapes

about the book:

Jenna Chamberland never wanted anything more than to be a wife and mother. That is, until she realized that her life was ending after a three-year battle against breast cancer. Now, all she really wants is more time.

With 4,320 hours left to live, Jenna worries for her loved ones and what she knows awaits them on the other side: Gabe will have to make the slip from husband to widower, left alone to raise their seven-year-old daughter; Mia will be forced to cope with life without her mother by her side. In a moment of reflection, Jenna decides to record a set of audiocassettes — The Milestone Tapes – leaving her voice behind as a legacy for her daughter.

Nine years later, Mia is a precocious sixteen-year-old and her life is changing all around, all she wants is her mother. Through the tapes, Jenna’s voice returns to teach Mia the magic of life, her words showing her daughter how to spread her wings and embrace the coming challenges with humor, grace and hope.

THE MILESTONE TAPES is the journey of love between a parent and child, and of the bond that holds them when life no longer can.

Buy Now @ Amazon 

Genre - Literary Fiction

Rating - PG13

a bit about Ashley
Ashley Mackler-Paternostro lives on outskirts of Chicago, Illinois with her husband and their three dogs.  A hairstylist by trade, Ashley will say some of the best stories she's ever heard were told to her while working behind the chair.  The Milestone Tapes is Ashley's first work, her sophomore effort In The After will be published in late 2012.  Want to learn more?  Visit

http://ashleymacklerpaternostro.com/home/

Ashley's Goodreads page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5426348.Ashley_Mackler_Paternostro

Ashley has a second book listed on her website for your reading pleasure:

Ashley's blog tour brought to you by:

Just a reminder. book one

THE DOORKNOB SOCIETY,

on sale for $0.99 at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Doorknob-Society-Saga-ebook/dp/B0077RTCO4

THE IMPOSSIBLE ENGINEERS

BOOK TWO OF

THE DOORKNOB SOCIETY

BY

MJ FLETCHER

synopsis

(Goodreads)

Chloe Masters’s world changes in a heartbeat and all she did was touch a doorknob. 

James Nightshade has been on Chloe’s mind since the day she met him. Arrogant and frustrating, she thought she had put him behind her when she chose Michael Slade.

When the secret she is seeking leads to questions about the death of Nightshade’s former girlfriend, she has no chose but to bring him into the investigation. A move she will come to regret. 

Danger awaits them around every corner as they search for answers. In the end a choice will need to be made, but is Chloe strong enough to make it?

MY REVIEW

Usually when I read a book series, subsequent books aren't quite as good as the first.  Well, I'm happy to say that's not the case with THE IMPOSSIBLE ENGINEERS.  It happens to be EVEN BETTER than the Doorknob Society.  We learn more about the characters, a lot more.  They are now like old friends. I wasn't so sure about Chloe in the first book, now I want her for my best friend!  Team Nightshade or Team Slade?  I'm glad I picked the right team.  Edgar is still my favorite.  We are introduced to a few new characters in this installment.  Faith, Jasper, Gavin and of course, Talia Grimm-Masters.   The book just flows..  It's easy to read and a perfect continuation of book one.  Action packed from the beginning right through to the end.   Only, it's not an end.  What society group is featured in the next book?  Hmmm...I can't wait to read the next book.   

MJ Fletcher has created an amazing series with fabulous characters and situations.  Remember while you are reading, these are high schoolers.  Just kids really.  I found myself glued to the pages of the book.  Couldn't put it down, I was too afraid I would miss something.  I reread pages over and over to see if I missed clues about certain people.   

I look forward to the rest of the books.  I give this book 5 stars..and recommend you read The Doorknob Society and The Impossible Engineers.  

to purchase the book, 

use the following links

www.smashwords.com/books/view/157317

barnesandnoble.com

http://www.amazon.com/Impossible-Engineers-Doorknob-Society-ebook/dp/B007Y94X2G/

www.amazon.co.uk

Today we'd like to welcome our guest blogger 

author

SHANE W. SMITH

author of 

THE LESSER EVIL

about the book:

Stanley Myres, Chancellor of the galactic Senate... Elam Padakan, Overlord of exiled superpower Padakan House... Young Ross Tillman, a student on Messar... When civil war erupts on Messar, these three men are drawn into the conflict. And as their paths begin to intersect and tangle together, they come to realise that the galaxy has very different plans for all of their dreams. The Lesser Evil is a graphic novel that examines what it means to have a dream... and what that dream can end up costing, regardless of whether it comes true.

Buy Now @ Amazon 

Genre - Science Fiction / Graphic Novel

Rating - PG13

Connect with Shane W Smith on Twitter & Facebook

Website http://shanewsmith.com/

Now,

Thank you Shane for visiting. 

Shane has written a guest blog about why he writes science fiction

 

The lure of science-fiction

The decision I took to write stories in the genre of science fiction was taken before I had the critical faculties to evaluate the pros and cons of such an idea. In some ways, it seems strange that such an intuitive impulse should turn out feeling so right. Sci-fi may not be the right environment for all my work, but I’ll now try to unpack the reasons I think it works for The Lesser Evil.

When I’ve tried to base fiction stories in my hometown, I’ve never been comfortable with the result; it feels heavy with my own voice, filtered by my eyes, and the characters seem as though they are wearing masks that may at any time fall off to reveal that they are, in truth, just people in my life. This writing ‘too close to home’ is accompanied by both paranoia and embarrassment, even if the characters and events have nothing to do (or so I think) with the people and events around me. When looking over what I’ve written, there’s always that thought: ‘So-and-so will think I’m writing about them,’ or ‘I know someone who will take offence at this.’ (Bowman, 2009)

Never the stereotyped society-shunning artiste, my life has always been tied to other people. The family with whom I lived as a child, the spouse with whom I am currently living, and friends and colleagues whom I secretly hoped would one day become fans. And so I found myself gripped by the same paranoia outlined by Christopher Bowman in the above quote.

I turned to science fiction, anticipating that its distance from contemporary reality would offer enough of a buffer between my life and those of my characters that fewer comparisons would be made.

When I began putting this brief explanation together, I came across Christopher Bowman’s article in the April 2009 imprint of Text, who outlines similar concerns. His solution was to develop a new narrative voice, an ideolect that is not his own. He finds this to be a “vehicle of enablement” and finds that it acts as a reflection that allows him to “turn around and see [...] in a new light.”

What Bowman finds in a new narrative voice, I have found, to some extent, in a science-fiction setting. This largely came from over a decade of practice, but I now feel I am somewhat comfortable with the genre.

However, though I find that science fiction does offer some relief from comparisons between my life and that of the characters in The Lesser Evil, I have realised that the story began to truly shine (in my own heart, at least) once I embraced it as my story.

The point is that sci-fi is (for now, at least) my vehicle of enablement, the combination of exotic and familiar (as Stephen Donaldson puts it in his intro to The Real Story) that makes for a compelling story.

Following on from the previous ideas, this quote from Worlds Apart: The Narratology of Science Fiction explains the benefits of the familiar/exotic mix:

… standards of comparison between the two worlds can therefore be established. But at the same time that world is structured by its novum, a distancing element which forces the reader to look at the basic narrative world from the estranged perspective of a new optic. Ernst Bloch has said that the “real function of estrangement is – and must be – the provision of a shocking and distancing mirror above the all too familiar reality.” (Malmgren, p11)

Ballard, too, claims that his explorations of “outer space” are really investigations into “inner space” (cited by Malmgren, p134). And of course, anyone familiar with the genre recognises its potential to make us see everyday objects or interactions in a brand new light.

This is, of course, the purpose of “encounter” science fiction, generally involving alien life forms, but which has also been successfully done with man-made automatons.

We think of ourselves as the Knights of Holy Contact. This is another lie. We are only seeking Man. We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. (Solaris, cited by Malmgren, p48)

Science fiction is clearly not a reflection of reality. Faster-than-light travel, time travel, alien civilisations, slow-moving-laser beam weapons, etc etc, do not exist in contemporary reality, and the current belief is that many of these might actually be impossible. However, science fiction does provide a mirror of sorts – a kind of distorted looking-glass, if you will – a reflection on reality.

As I have claimed The Lesser Evil as my story, I suppose I should clarify, or at least qualify, this statement. The Lesser Evil is, in true science fiction style, a reflection on my life and values, rather than a reflection of them.

 

References: Worlds Apart: The Narratology of Science Fiction (Malmgren, 1991) 

about Shane:

BIO

 

Shane W. Smith was born in 1985. For quite a long time after this, nothing much happened. Then he got used to writing about himself in third person for bios like this. Before The Lesser Evil was picked up by Zeta Comics last year, his proudest professional moment was getting a comic book entitled Academaesthetics published in an A-ranked academic journal. His family makes up the remainder of his proud moments.

Shane has a Bachelor Degree in Creative Writing, with First Class Honours, and believes that analysing stories to find out what makes them work is the best possible use of his brain power. 

The Lesser Evil is, hopefully, the first step in Shane's prolific and profound creative career.

 

Find out more about Shane's books at his website: http://shanewsmith.com 

Shane appears courtesy of