Lyle Blake Smythers

SPOTLIGHT AUTHOR.Lyle Blake Smythers:



Lyle Blake Smythers is an actor, writer and librarian in the Washington, D.C., area. Since 1976 he has performed in over 100 stage productions, including three appearances at the National Theatre. He has published fiction, poetry, satire and literary criticism in Manscape, FirstHand, Playguy, The William and Mary Review, Insights, School Library Journal and Children?s Literature Review. He is a former children?s librarian and is currently providing cataloging support for an ongoing project at the Library of Congress.
Title: Feasting With Panthers
Genre – Literary FantasyPublisher – Pink Narcissus PressRelease Date – January 31, 2012

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Excerpt.

We found the first one-eyed man at dawn...

So begins the highly original fantasy tale of warrior poet Catalan, when he and his band stumble upon a handsome acolyte near death in a mountain pass. But when the acolyte reveals his mystical vision, the
poet finds himself at the center of a War Game between two mysterious sorcerers. To unravel the mystery, Catalan and the agents of the War Game must seek the missing pieces of an enchanted chess set in a quest complicated by deceit and treachery, in which nothing is what it seems.

Ingeniously weaving together citations throughout the text from a variety of sources ? including Yeats, Milton, Joyce, Poe, Baudelaire, the King James Bible and many more ? author Lyle Blake Smythers serves up a truly literary feast.

Welcome to Margaret Blake.

Good morning. Today I have the lovely Margaret Blake stopping by in my virtual blog lounge to have a chat about her new release The Longest Pleasure. But first, let me tell you a bit about this very talented lady

Margaret Blake, was born in Manchester, England and published her first book in l978. This was A Spring of Broom and this historical novel was re-released by Whiskey Creek Press sometime in December 2012 One reviewer wrote: This book has an action-packed plot full of twists and turns. What a wonderful book! ***** (AC). Since that memorable date Margaret has published twenty-seven novels of historical, contemporary and suspenseful romance. This year she will be publishing two new novels. “I just want to hit the 30 mark,” says Margaret, “and then I might retire.”
Margaret’s greatest trauma was losing her husband John in January 2010, she is still raw and hurting from the loss but gets by with great support. “My family and friends pull me through, I am more than fortunate in both.” Margaret has one son, a gorgeous daughter in law and three fantastic grandkids, they as well as dear friends are a gift that keeps on giving.
The next book to be published is called “The Longest Pleasure,” if anyone can guess what it means they can win either an e-book or print book of any one of her Whiskey Creek novels – get your thinking caps on now.

Hi Margaret. Although we share the same name, we don’t share the same writing genre, so why not tell us about your new book.

Hello Margaret, I am very happy to be here. I am all snug and warm in my study, it is grey and miserable outside but as you know, we writers can transport ourselves anywhere we wish, so I am imagining I am in warm and beautiful Florida today. The Longest Pleasure is about Olivia/Viola who is living under a false name. She is afraid of a man she helped put into prison but who is now out. She meets the handsome Jed Lowe who is a private investigator. Eventually, Viola tells him the truth about herself. Victor, her aggressor moves closer into her and Jed’s sphere. It seems there is no escape from this vicious man.

Viola lived most of her life at a wonderful cliff top home in Cornwall and had a warm and loving relationship with her parents. It is when she moved to London that she came under the influence of Victor. Being young and naïve then she allowed Victor to dominate her. It is her experience with Victor that makes her, if not afraid exactly, but very cautious with men. However, Jed is different from anyone she has met before. She likes his sense of humour and before they realise they are a tad more than attracted to one another they become good friends. Jed draws her closer to his brother and sister but it is not long before Victor is a malign influence in their lives.

Wow, this sounds brilliant. I really feel for viola. I can’t wait to see what happens. This is going straight on my TBR pile. So what’s next on your writing agenda?

I am currently writing suspense and a contemporary romance I do have another contemporary romance out in June. Tilly’s Trials is a straight romance but with a hint of mystery. Tilly had divorced Marsh after she found him in a compromising situation. Now he is back in her life again, invited by her father to take a hand in running their business. Tilly realises that the break up of her marriage was her own fault. They were never able to consummate their marriage and although she can see clearly the problems they failed to resolve, she can’t bring herself to admit them to Marsh. She always had a crush on him, even at school, he was the coolest dude in the class, although from a poor background he has made a success of his life yet she can’t understand why her father has brought him back into her sphere, but then again her father has a secret of his own!

Let’s pause, sip our tea and have a quick game. Pick your favourite character from your new release and tell us about them.

I like Viola because she is strong; In spite of being terrified she really tries to bring order to her life. She is very careful about men but is attracted to Jed. Viola can be forthright but there are times when she gets confused and afraid. This is a psychological flaw left by Victor’s treatment of her. When someone turns against her, she tends to melt away instead of standing her corner. She has to learn the hard way that she is not always wrong. Having to lead a secretive life has also made her extra cautious about being open with everyone, especially men.

I am really getting to like viola. She sounds like a strong alpha woman. Would you categorise her in that way?

No she is not an alpha woman; she is too vulnerable for that. She is thought a survivor. Her having to lead a secretive life makes her not make the very best of herself. She has to dye her hair and try to stay at the back of things instead of the forefront. However, she has lots of unknown, to her, strengths and finally is able to realise that no matter what Victor did to her, he did not rob her of her essential decency and strength.

Can you offer any advice to other authors about marketing their books?
It’s good to promote your book on the various sites and also if possible, generate a little local publicity if you can. I have for the last couple of years done talks at libraries and for church groups, these can get you known and also help you sell more books. It’s good to have a few jokes too, and not to be too serious. Mostly my audience has been women and they do come out to have a good time. I’ve gained lots of new readers doing this. Also I do find that if you make friends with your local librarians this can be very good. They remember you if they ware looking for a speaker and also, if you donate a copy of your book, will remember to promote you. If anyone writes to you remember their name, send out a newsletter. If someone writes to tell you they don’t want it, don’t worry. It’s nothing personal. They just get tired of getting loads of mail.

Now for something completely different. Here we become very nosy lol. Where did you meet your partner? We all love to hear a good romance story.

I met my husband on a blind date organised by a friend. I was laughing when I saw him as years before he had worked part-time on the door at a dance place I used to go to, and my friend was mad about him. However, he never gave her the time of day. My husband has since died but I can honestly say we had lots and lots of laugh. Our romance began with a laugh and that carried on throughout our thirty eight years together.

How lovely. I am sorry for your loss. Before you go where can any followers find you?

They can find me lurking here most days.

Welcome to M.C.V Egan

Good morning and today be are doing a HUUUUGGGE giveaway and book blitz. M.C.V. Egan is the pen name chosen by Maria Catalina Egan the author of The Bridge of Deaths. Catalina was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1959, one of eight children.

Today she asks is paranormal the new ‘normal’? I am giving away a beautiful bag of crystals to the person who leaves the best comment and Catalina is prepared to snail mail one book to a UK follower of my blog who makes a request through the contact form and mentions my name. You can’t ask for more!!!!

So tell us, what are your views on the paranormal? Do you believe that crystals have the power to unlock illness within the body and set it free? E.C.V Egan does.


Her book The Bridge of Deaths is a love story and a mystery. Fictional characters travel through the world of past life regressions and information acquired from psychics as well as archives and historical sources to solve "One of those mysteries that never get solved" is based on true events and real people. The journey will take you to the possibility of finding yourself in this lifetime, by exploring past lives.

Paranormal according to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language (Second Edition out in 1987) is ‘of or pertaining to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation, as psychokenisis, extrasensory perception, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena.’
The word is given roots from around 1915-1920. Of course wonderful reported ghost appearances, seers, astrologers and any number of psychic phenomena have been around for far longer than that. The word is also linked to other negative connotations such as Occult and I won’t bother to make you laugh with the long list I found in my Thesaurus.
Words that today are not threatening were in past generations loaded with fear provoking Taboos. I was personally raised this way, the forbidden fruit that was not to be touched and that would provoke terrible consequences. I was cautioned by the common urban fantasy of the young woman who was told by a psychic she would die at a certain age and when this did not come to pass she went mad and spent the rest of her living days in an insane asylum.

Fortunately I was a rebellious, curios soul also fortunately in 1987 we had the massive Harmonic Convergence and the world shifted monumentally in the way it interpreted what had been “unacceptable”.
The ‘New Age’ movement gave us so many books that became mainstream and acceptable pretty much everywhere. I know I speak to you from the perspective of America and that Europe is far more open to explore. This being said I had my foot on each continent at the time and my observation is that perception in such matters also influenced European minds.
I had dabbled a little here and there trying to decide whether to stay on course in the religion I had been raised or to espouse this amazing energy I could feel almost touch and see all around me. I did not have to put much effort into learning as the saying goes ‘when the student is ready the teacher will appear’ manifested in my life as such a powerful, visible and strong force that I could not chose any other path.


I do not exaggerate when I say that books fell off shelves and right by my feet or literally hit my arm s if magically screaming “READ ME” I befriended people that on the surface seemed so every day and turned out to be masterfully learned in matters such as crystals, different healing or divination modalities. I will not pretend to have been so brave, open and just plunged in…no I wasn’t. One of these great teachers who guided me often described me as someone who clung to the past kicking and screaming afraid to meet her fate.

That was a quarter of a century ago, today I dance around my fate smiling holding on the beautiful crystal ...today it is Lapis lazuli…I have a writing deadline I need to work with my 5th Chakra - my communication center. Tomorrow I will probably hold an Amethyst and look at fate full in the face ask for Enlightenment and open my heart and shout out to the Universe “I am ready.” In 2012 dare we say ‘paranormal’ is the new ‘normal’?

Welcome to Acacia Slaton Beumer

Good Morning.

Because hotmail has decided to steal my emails I have not been able to provide Acacia with a full interview. I'm showcasing her today because she really is a fabulous author and I feel this book will go far. “Launch Out Into the Deep!” is her first book and it really does inspire the heart.
Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There will be a $50 Visa Gift Card to one commenter from her tour. Here is a bit about her.

Acacia Slaton Beumer is a graduate of Oral Roberts University; she will earn her Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy in the summer of 2012. She works in the Social Service field and finds a sense of joy from helping others. Her husband, John, is in the United States Army. Acacia has two daughters, Jana, who is three years old, and one year old Jaci. Acacia loves to interact with readers and welcomes questions and feedback. div>

Aaron L. Slaton:
Aaron Slaton is the author of the poetry and one chapter featured in this book. Writing since the age of twelve, Aaron has been gifted with the ability to bring the Scriptures to life through rhythm and rhyme. Aaron is an aspiring songwriter and producer. If you're interested in contacting Aaron email him at aaron@launchoutbook.com
Title: Launch Out Into The Deep
Genre - Christian/Inspirational
Format - Ebook, Audiobook, & Print


Title: Launch Out Into The Deep
Genre - Christian/Inspirational
Format - Ebook, Audiobook, & Print
Publisher - Self Published with CreateSpace
Release Date - December 2011

Website

Purchase Link:

Link to Tour on Main Site

The topics are contemporary and compelling; these are subjects that affect our world today and those for which people are seeking genuine guidance. Her words reveal an understanding of the depth of emotions in our world, as she explains situations through her own personal experiences. Yet, throughout the book, there is a solid and strong emphasis on the Word of God. The author has effectively bridged the gap between the natural and the spiritual world. Her complete reliance on the power of God brings a taste of heaven to some of today's bitter situations. Sexual promiscuity, peer pressure, disease and even crime are discussed with a bold and frank style. Readers will know there is nothing outside of God's reach that He cannot restore and make right again. An added layer of spiritual enlightenment comes from the poems that accompany many of these essays. Intense and extremely insightful, the words of Aaron L. Slaton provide a strong commentary to his sister's counsel. Encouraging, yet filled with many hard-hitting exhortations, this book speaks with a contemporary language and a timeless commitment to love and truth.

The trailer is absolutely beautiful. I'd like to hear your comments on that as well.

M.C.V Egan. Spotlighted Author

M.C.V. Egan is the pen name chosen by Maria Catalina Egan the author of The Bridge of Deaths. Catalina was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1959, one of eight children. From a very young age she became obsessed with the story of her maternal Grandfather, Cesar Agustin Castillo, mostly the story of how he died. She only spent her childhood in Mexico. Her father became an employee of The World Bank in Washington D.C.

From the early 1970s at the age of 12 she moved with her entire family to the United States. She was already fluent in Southern English as she had spent one school year in the town of Pineville, Louisiana with her grandparents. There she won the English award; ironically being the only one who had English as a second language in her class. In the D.C. suburbs she attended various private Catholic schools and graduated from Winston Churchill HS in Potomac, Maryland in 1977. She attended Montgomery Community College, where she changed majors every semester. She also studied in Lyons, France at the Catholic University for two years. In 1981, due to an impulsive young marriage to a Viking ( The Swedish kind, not the football player kind) Catalina moved to Sweden where she resided for five years and taught at a language school for Swedish, Danish, and Finnish businesspeople. She returned to the USA where she has been living ever since. She is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Swedish.

Mrs. Egan has worked for various companies and holds an Insurance license for the State of Florida. Not her favorite field but involves very nice folks and makes money!

Maria Catalina Egan is married and has one son, who together with their five pound Chihuahua makes her feel like a fulltime mother. Although she would not call herself an Astrologer she has taken many classes and taught a few beginner classes in Astrology. This is one of her many past times when she is not writing or researching.

She celebrated her 52nd birthday on July 2nd 2011 and gave herself self-publishing The Bridge of Deaths as a gift; she never submitted it to anyone prior to this decision and has enjoyed the very positive feedback.



Genre: Historical/Paranormal/Romance/Mystery


Historical:
The book was researched in archives in Denmark, UK, US and people interviewed in those countries as well as Mexico, this is documented with 200+ footnotes.
Paranormal:
Four psychics using psychometry, a Peruvian Shaman, A Hypnotherapist and documented past life regressions were used.
Mystery:
The event being researched is an actual "mystery"
Romance:
To protect anonymity of past life regression subject fictional character were created to tell the story and theirs is a journey of LOVE transcending more than one life.

Format: Paperback & E-book
Publisher:AuthorHouse
Release Date: June 9, 2011
Website:
Email: m_c_v_egan@yahoo.com

Eldon Taylor. In the spotlight.

Eldon Taylor is an award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of more than 300 books, audio, and video programs. He’s the inventor of the patented InnerTalk technology and the founder and president of Progressive Awareness Research. He has been called a “master of the mind” and has appeared as an expert witness on both hypnosis and subliminal communication.
Eldon was a practicing criminalist conducting investigations and lie-detection examinations for many years. He is listed in more than a dozen Who’s Who publications, including Who’s Who of Intellectuals and Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. He is a fellow in the American Psychotherapy Association and an internationally sought-after speaker. His books and audio-video materials have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have sold millions worldwide.
Eldon is the host of the popular radio show Provocative Enlightenment. He has interviewed some of the most interesting people on the planet. His shows are thought-provoking and always fresh in both their perspective and the exchange.

Title – I Believe: When What You Believe Matters!
Format – Paperback
Publisher – Hay House
Genre – Self Help
Release Date – March 13, 2012

Website
Blog
Email (Publicist)

Trailer

Eldon Taylor.

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Announcing I Believe, the latest release
by New York Times best selling author,
Eldon Taylor.

Join the launch party for I Believe: When What You Believe Matters!
Hundreds of bonus gifts will be given away to everyone who participates. Plus, enter to win grand prizes worth over $5K from personalities such as Lindsay Wagner (Bionic Woman), James Van Praagh, Bob Doyle, Hay House, InnerTalk, Norman Shealy and Caroline Sutherland. For more information, visit here.

Q. Why did you write I Believe?

I have spent over thirty years investigating why people self-sabotage or limit themselves, thus experiencing so much less than their highest best! What I have found is the reason rests solely in their beliefs—not their spiritual belief so much as their life beliefs. I found this to be true when I was conducting lie detection tests and discovering criminality, and equally true when I worked with elite athletes, business executives, professionals and lay people alike. The bottom line is this: What you believe always matters! It’s like a web that fastens itself to belief-anchors, causing disheartening mediocrity in place of the glorious success we all seek.

I Believe spells out the power of belief and how it influences everything from our health and longevity to our success with relationships and life. Astounding as it may seem, belief can (and has) defied our so-called laws of science and it has done so over and over again. As ordinary and trite as it may seem, belief nevertheless makes all the difference in success in all walks of life. Knowing how we acquire our beliefs, and which beliefs serve us while others sabotage us, is critical to maximizing our individual potential. I Believe: When What You Believe Matters! was written to empower you with the roadmap to decipher and re-write the programming governing your life.


Excerpt
Personal Identity

The idea that we’re each a drop of water in the ocean can be compelling in some ways. The typical perspective offered in Buddhism postulates that we are drops of water, individualized but for a moment from the greater sea that is the total of all-that-is. I get the idea of immersion, being one with the One. I don’t, however, see that as requiring the surrender of my self, and isn’t a healthy ego necessary for my identification? I’ve said before that an ego out of control fits the 12-step-program interpretation of the word: Edging God Out. But a healthy ego is who we are.
I know myself in many ways, chiefly as an experience, as I’ve already discussed. In that sense, I expect that the word ego doesn’t really apply in its traditional form. For as a verb instead of a noun, I am my experiences—always in motion, dynamic as opposed to static, changing as opposed to immutable, expanding as opposed to contracting, and forever young in every instance as opposed to aging. Still, even in this view, I have a self-concept, and from this spring my lessons, alternatives, choices, likes, and dislikes. This is identity, and it’s absolutely attached to the experience, even if part of that is letting go in order to proceed in a new and different way in some other dimension of existence.
I’m totally unaware of any near-death experiences (NDE) in which the survivor tells of being immersed and losing all sense of identification. It’s possible, however, to lose our sense of being, to become so involved in the moment that we lose ourselves. That may be what immersion really is. Getting lost in the experience, whether on this plane or another, is experience at its highest.
For me, the analogy of a drop of water in the ocean is fitting when I think of losing myself in the moment. To do that, I must truly choose to engage in everything life brings to me, and that can’t be done while unattached. I become the experience by being fully aware of what’s happening in each moment. In doing so I can let go of my expectations, for as long as I hold them, I can’t be fully present.
Words can be tricky, and ideas can become puzzles, whereas definitions can and do delimit our understanding of all that we care enough to think about. When many of these concepts are distilled, there remain a few constants. One of them is simply this: immersing ourselves in the experience of life gives rise to understanding that we could otherwise never grasp. The little miracles are not only noticed but fully integrated into our journey. The sadness that comes along is recognized for what it is, but this doesn’t rob us of hope, for we’re not hanging onto some expectation in the moment. Setting about each day with the idea that it’s a miracle—that every moment is a wondrous opportunity to glimpse yet another spectacular exchange in the nature of life, a grand time for fully immersing ourselves in the experience—approaches heaven on earth here and now.

The Gift

I believe that every breath is a gift, and what you do with that is the only way you can pay tribute to the Giver. I believe that you were meant to have faith in yourself and that you deserve to know an unlimited cornucopia of abundance in all the good things this life has to offer. When you trust in yourself, you turn the key in the lock that opens the door to manifesting your true potential. You aren’t going to take anything with you out of here except your experiences. And notice that it’s you I believe in—and that calls for the distinctly unique individual that you are—not some generalization. Perhaps I’m attached to an idea of being unattached, at least to an outcome, yet as with everyone else, I’m also committed to being uniquely me. In the end, if I weren’t invested in anything, including my experience and ideas, then who would I be?
In the words of novelist Virginia Woolf, “[It] is like a spider’s web, attached ever so slightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is scarcely perceptible”4 (emphasis added).

Reflection
So what is it that you believe? Do you think that the goal of a spiritual life is to overcome the illusion of separateness, to lose your sense of identity and so to return to the oneness? Or do you believe that this life and your individuality are amazing gifts that should be treasured and experienced to the fullest? Should you be attached to outcomes, or should you focus on doing your best and then detaching? Which beliefs would serve you best?


For information on the book launch, please visit here.

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