Mountain Of The Dead

World's Scariest Places Book Five

Obsession about a mysterious past event turns into an unexpected horror.

I could not have predicted the action scenes with the racing for your life kind of momentum, literally the story took me by surprise. As original and unseemly the characters who banded together were, the last few scenes were even more unexpected.

I enjoy and appreciate the writing style of Jeremy Bates, like his descriptive narrative, his casual voice, and I have read most of his novels, but this story leaps ahead of the others in the Scariest Places series due to the intense historical background that was cleverly added as a thread against the current day's story plot.

The true historical event that happened in the Russian mountains back in 1959 that was named the Dyatlov Pass Incident, was well researched and smoothly intertwined that tale (which Bates totally expanded creatively) with the main story of the protagonist's search for answers. It was more than a search though, the protagonist was obsessed with the original mystery, compelled to do the trip.

More important, the old mystery was intriguing by itself, then add the current story of an obsessive man trying to come to grips with demons by throwing his all into a crazy expedition, dragging his BFF along, meeting up with unlikely climbing mates, who of course all have a reason for being there as well, and it makes for a stew of explosive scenes. There were moments I felt sorry for his dearest friend who faithfully followed Whitey and hoped things hadn't turned out the way they did for him, but .... it is a horror story.

There were extra horrors added to the story when the main character and friends stumbled across additional mysterious and deadly places, while on their way to the final peak/pass.

I enjoyed reading this story very much and highly recommend this novel.

Find the book HERE 

Connectivity - A Relative Concept - Is Speed the Most Important Aspect? or Freedom

 

Are We Really All Connected?

Another Friday - another week gone by, and still we are all probably working on our same projects.  Sometimes it feels like we are not moving fast enough, especially in this culture of quick impulses and fast connections.  I was astounded when I read a report that the US has very slow internet connectivity speeds. Check it out here at govtech.com .   Hong Kong was the leader for speed.  It's so funny, because not matter how fast the speed gets I still want it faster - how about you?

There are of course other factors to consider.  We may not have the fasted connectivity but we are the biggest users.  Find out more if your interested - Global Internet Users has been changing.

 

I personally hope as we think about our connectivity to others, our access and speed, that we also think about our freedoms and responsibilities.  We cannot take things for granted anymore.  Everyday we are reminded about the shadow of 'Big Brother' watching (and listening & gathering data)  I don't want to live my life monitoring every word out of my mouth afraid of censorship or worse - but at the same time I do realize I need to be responsible and send out inoffensive content because I don't want to be a negative influencer, but a positive part of the society as a hole.  So we all need to KEEP our FREEDOM in mind, and make sure we never lose our most precise asset of the internet connectivity.

 

 

I will be going on a short vacation next week, to see some of my family, and I will not be as active online.  My travels will lead me into the rolling Berkshire Hills where there is often a spot without any connectivity to be had :(  but the scenery is worth it!  Some may not check FB or tweet at all when on vacation, but I am not so sure I can manage that for ten days.  Still there will be days my hand is forced because there will be no internet access, so it will be an experiment as I walk along and say 'Can YOU hear me now' - here is a short clip about someone's plan to leave - although he intends to never come back!  I will return :)

 

Keep reading - Keep writing!

 

 

See you in the Shire :)

What I Live For - Freedom

Friday May 10th  I'm taking part in 'What I Live For', an online event organised by author Satya Robyn

People like me all over the world will be sharing what gives their lives meaning

In Satya Robyn's novel 'Thaw', Ruth gives herself three months to decide whether she can find a reason to carry on living. There's 75% off the kindle version today (99p / $1.49) - read more here: http://www.satyarobyn.com/?page_id=56

Please join in with your own art describing 'What I Live For' - visit the event  and post a thought, a picture, or a blog post  https://www.facebook.com/events/530335293684273/


Here are my thoughts....

What I Live For

 

For years I have been living for my family, my four children and husband.  The day began with making meals, breakfasts and bagged lunches, preparing dinners, washing clothes, cleaning the house, yard work, gardening, fixing scratched knees and broken hearts, and then hours of guilt when I was away, working at an hourly job.

So many hours were spent with thoughts of them in my head - their faces always in my vision, even when they were off living their lives and growing, they were close to me in my heart.  I cherished every flower painting given as a gift, each story bound into a homemade book, every award and contest, the fun filled Halloween costumes, and I enjoyed the soccer games and the chorus concerts.

Now my children are all grown - wonderful young men and woman.  I am proud of them all.  My children have become wonderful stewards of the world, keeping in their heart love of the land, simplicity in life and cherishing friendships.  I am proud of each, for their own persona and soul.  They will always be what I live for, even though I know the best for them now, is for us, my husband and myself, to let them go - so they can be free to find their own path and become who they were meant to be.

Now I turn a page and begin another career with writing.  I use  the love of my family as my muse.  I try to breath life into my words, with the underlying message - everyone deserves to be free.  We all struggle, and that journey is the only way to happiness.

Through the years I have had many blessings, and happy moments I will forever cherish.  I have known troubles too, and have made mistakes.  Lessons in humility, and understanding of others, have replaced the once boldness of my youth.  Now I hope to pass along a message, to everyone that I connect with, that they too can become who they want to be - grow into themselves, and be free.  This is what I still live for - freedom.

What Will You Cross Off Your Bucket List in 2013?

BUCKET LIST CHALLENGE BLOG HOP

With Dana Sitar to celebrate the launch of "A Writer's Bucket List"
http://writersbucketlist.com/challenge

   

HELLO FRIENDS - We all have our BUCKET LISTS

As writers, our lists usually involve publishing a piece of work, our ART. This is the year I plan to release my first novel,

“BREAKING CURSED BONDS”

 

It is a manuscript that has been on my writer's bucket list for a while now!

A work in progress for three years, finally I see the end of the tunnel. 

 

Now only two more items to check off my list in 2013!

#1 Sending free copies to a few choice friends and readers asking for some final feedback, and hopefully a review or two.  I have it formatted, so anyone interested, please send me an email.
 

#2 finalizing my cover design – currently there is a working option, but the final cover is not chosen, hoping for a few more choices.  I plan to use a designer to check the final file and formatting.

 

With all the steps below already checked off, and the last two soon to be done, I am confident I will be releasing the novel this year.  How do I feel about it? - SCARED!  It is difficult to let go.

My first work has been a labor of love, and I have enjoyed the process.  I have two more manuscripts in the works and hope to follow shortly with another release after “BREAKING CURSED BONDS”.  I hope you will enjoy my work in the near future.

 

THE PROCESS:

Working on my manuscript part time while working a full-time job for two years, I am now writing full time. I decided I needed to finish what I began, and give it my best effort.

I have a lot I can check off as accomplished, and that makes me feel good.

ü First Draft Finished

ü Requested Feedback & Comments from First Readers

ü Revised and Added Material

ü Printed and Made Corrections

ü Sent Copy to an Editor

ü Reviewed Editor’s Report and Revised Manuscript

ü Rewrite & Self Edit (this actually was done in a few cycles!)

ü Then it was converted to epub and mobi format to view and edit again, checking how the new material added looked.

ü Then I read it aloud and made more changes to dialogue

ü Again edited and checked for straggling mistakes not caught with built in spell and grammar checks

 

Best of luck to you and YOUR ART! Keep Writing.

 

 

Support our Blog Tour Host:

 

A message from Dana Sitar-

Thank you for your support of “A Writer’s Bucket List” throughout this journey. I’m so excited today to announce the book’s OFFICIAL RELEASE!

You can buy it here: http://e-junkie.com/danasitar

Today through February 12, the book is 30% off the list price. Get “A Writer’s Bucket List” plus a free copy of the DIY Writing “Brainstorming Workbook”, the “Bucket List Workbook”, and “Bucket List Exercises” for $6.95 -- so be sure to share the book today, so no one misses out on the discount!

How To Be More Productive (Book - "Extreme Productivity" by Robert C. Pozen)

Every day we are bombarded with meetings, get tons of email and face deadlines.  There are ways to help stay focused, so we can be more productive.
 

First and foremost you must know your GOALS. If you haven't already, write down your long term goals, yearly goals and then monthly & weekly goals. Breaking them down to the smaller element, helps you organize and identify your work.

· Prioritize your work

· Spend the most time on the most important tasks & goals

· Don't watch the clock, manage the clock

When you prioritize your responses to emails, or which meetings you attend, you in essence spend your efforts in the most critical places first. This will help you achieve your goals.

 

Many have used the 80/20 rule. Spend the first 20% of your time getting rid of the smaller stuff, or at least identifying them. Then spend the 80% of your time working on the most important tasks that are prevalent to your goals. 

 

Robert Pozen (lecturer at Harvard Business School)  uses the 80/20 a little differently.  He says you probably have to respond to only 20% of emails, and could disregard the other 80%.  Either way, 80/20 sounds like a good way to sort.

 

We all love to track. We watch the clock and think we spent so much time on something we must have accomplished a good days work. Not always so. If we waste our time working on reports that are not needed, or we spend too much time 'socializing' which sometimes is referred to as building bridges, then we have not always spent our time wisely.

Ask yourself the hard questions –

Will this task help me achieve my goal? Will this task make a difference?

 

If not then stay away and focus your time elsewhere. 

To be productive a person needs to manage their time, not be overwhelmed by tasks.  

Keep the perspective.  Step back and ask yourself the right questions. 

 

 

 Most important, always move forward.