Interview with Loren Abbey, author of A Massacre of Innocents

Title: A Massacre of Innocents
Author: Loren Abbey & Pamela Zibura
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: True Crime/Murder
Format: Ebook

In 1952 on a highway in the small Northern California mountain village of Chester, a local businessman and four small children are carjacked, robbed and savagely bludgeoned. Three of the children are killed.

A year earlier, a Folsom gold mine operator had been murdered in a home break-in robbery attempt and five months after the Chester murders, the quiet Southern California city of Burbank is rocked when, during another home break-in, an elderly widow is found bound, gagged and brutally murdered in her own home.

Thus begins the terrifying chronicle of the Mountain Murder Mob’s deadly rampage up, down and through the Golden State—from the gritty back alleyways of the Los Angeles suburbs to the forested foothills of the Northern Sierras—a gang of ruthless killers ply their murderous trade by preying on society’s most vulnerable citizens.

And behind the scenes, the victims’ young wife and mother copes with the grief of a life turned upside down after her heartbreaking loss. Struggling to build a new life for herself and for what now remains of her devastated family, she leans on her unwavering faith and a deep reservoir of inner strength.

A Massacre of Innocents is the previously untold true story of the Mountain Murder Mob’s horrific crimes and how they ultimately paid for those crimes.

Do you listen to music while writing? If so, what do you listen to? 

Mostly Jazz

How do you/would you react to a bad review of your book? 

Any kind of review would be welcome. We would use any criticism that this book receives as a guide in writing the next book.

Loren Abbey has been a prolific blogger and contributor to a number of periodicals and trade journals. A former Silicon Valley executive, he is now retired, residing in Roseville, California. Pamela Zibura is a successful realtor and mother of four grown children, She resides with her husband Tony, in South Carolina near the historic antebellum city of Charleston. A Massacre of Innocents is her first book.

The Battle of Top Hat Wood by Taylor Samuel Lyen Book Blast - Win a $25 Gift Card

Title: The Battle of Top Hat Wood
Author: Taylor Samuel Lyen
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Format: Ebook/Paperback

“An Educational, Inspirational Tale About Spiders That’s Fun to Read.” Kirkus Reviews

Jerry thes pider is a smart-aleck jumping spider that reluctantly joins Alma’s quest to vanquish the evil Sitharon. Hanging in her web above the entrance to the old Presbyterian Church in a small California town, Alma has a nightmare about the horrible slaughter of innocent spiders by a giant flying beast, a Sitharon that lives in the ancient English woodland called Top Hat Wood. Months later, her children are born. As they balloon away to their new homes, Alma senses the presence of evil still lurking in the old woodland. She fears for the lives of her children and feels powerless against the evil Sitharon. She quietly conceives a plan to defeat the Sitharon. Confined to her web, Alma picks Jerrythespider to be her eyes and ears in Top Hat Wood. She creates a possible future where Jerry the spider meets Dr. Greenstone, who she needs to first transport Jerry the spider to England and later to be a valuable ally. But, Dr. Greenstone is preoccupied with his vacation trip to the Sutton Hoo Farmlands. Plus, he is preparing for his expert testimony at the upcoming Moroccan-Three Murder Trial. He is oblivious to the struggle between good and evil, which is literally taking place all around him. Nonetheless, Alma plans to have Jerrythespider team up with Dr. Greenstone. Together—Alma, Jerry, and Dr. Greenstone—will continue to seek and destroy evil wherever it shows its face.  

ORDER INFORMATION

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Taylor is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins December 7 and ends on December 18.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 19.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

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Chapters by Dianna Hubbard Stein Book Blast - Win a $25 Gift Card

Title: Chapters
Author: Dianna Hubbard Stein
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Genre: Biography/Autobiography
Format: Ebook

Dianna and Steve were roaring through life, in love, happy, and intent on having a family along the way. The story that unfolds and changes their lives forever, seemingly by chance, is a reminder to us all that amazing things can happen if you listen to your heart. The joy of finally finding their son, the complex emotions of adoptive parents and birth families, and the deep sorrow of the blows that stole their happiness can be understood by each and every person who has loved and lost, as can the belief that happiness is cyclical, as is life.  

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Dianna is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins December 7 and ends on December 18.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 19.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

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Self-Knowledge and Spiritual Yearning by E. Douglass Brown Book Blast

Title: Self-Knowledge and Spiritual Yearning
Author: E. Douglass Brown, Ph.D
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Psychology
Format: Ebook/Hardcover/Paperback

According to E. Douglass Brown, modern science has silenced all doubt among open-minded informed people that life emanates from an intelligent designer. The all-encompassing, distinct characteristic of the human being is an inborn link to the spirit of God. To cultivate that link, the Creator provides human beings with a divine paradigm for self-development. In Self-Knowledge and Spiritual Yearning: The Role of Spirituality in Psychological Health, Dr. Brown offers revitalizing prescriptions from the Quran for cultivating a healthy personality and for healing the person who has suffered psychospiritual injury and rupture from his or her true self. Dr. Brown also describes seven stages of psychospiritual self-development identified centuries ago by Islamic scholars and mystics, and provides examples of behavior in each stage. Through the use of universal metaphors, Dr. Brown explains how a person advances to higher levels of self-awareness, finally culminating in unfettered God-consciousness. He also includes instructions from the Quran about how to overcome life situations that impede your progress in achieving a greater plane of consciousness. Learn to focus on spiritual healing and start integrating it into your daily life!

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Self-Knowledge and Spiritual Yearning is available for order at

    E. Douglass Brown holds a BS in Psychology and Philosophy from St. Louis University, an MA in Social Psychology from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in Psychology from St. Louis University. A former Associate Professor of Psychology and licensed Clinical Psychologist for twenty-nine years, Dr. Brown has worked with patient populations in varied settings.   

E. Douglass is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins November 30 and ends on December 11.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 12.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

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Book Blast! Reflective Leaders and High-Performance Organizations by Nick A. Shepherd and Peter J. Smyth

Title: Reflective Leaders and High-Performance Organizations
Author: Nick A. Shepherd and Peter J. Smyth
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Business and Economics
Format: Ebook/Paperback

An organization operating in the twenty-first century is different from one that operated during the Industrial Revolution. Today’s focus is on optimizing human potential; people are the enablers of most aspects of intangible value. People develop relationships with suppliers, customers, distributors, and other third parties through which work is executed. In Reflective Leaders and High-Performance Organizations, authors Nick Shepherd and Peter Smyth take an integrated view of organizational performance that blends a focus on both outcomes and relationships. Reflective Leaders and High-Performance Organizations suggests a framework for developing and applying an improved approach to organizational leadership and management. In addition to philosophy and conceptual approaches, it presents tested practical tools and direction. It also delivers case studies of organizations that have applied Shepherd’s and Smyth’s ideas and realized measurable improvements in the day-to-day activities of the organization, along with measurably improved outcomes from the organizational activity. Using over twenty years of practical consulting experience as well as careers in management, Shepherd and Smyth demonstrate how effective leaders can maintain a focus on organizational tasks and outcomes and do this while building and enhancing human relationships.

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Reflective Leaders and High-Performance Organizations is available for order at

Nick A. Shepherd has more than forty years of business experience. Since 1989, he has owned the management-consulting and professional-development company, EduVision Inc., which provides management-consulting and development services to public and private sector organizations. Peter J. Smyth has over thirty-five years of experience in the fields of adult education and organizational consultation, counseling, psychology, social work, and mental health. He holds numerous qualifications in the areas of teamwork, leadership, coaching, emotional intelligence, and personal and organizational assessment. Shepherd and Smyth have worked together for over twenty-five years facilitating workshops and helping clients enhance their teams and leadership capabilities.

Nick and Peter are giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins November 30 and ends on December 11.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 12.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

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Christianity and Cosmic Consciousness by Alexis Georg Hoen Book Blast

Title: Christianity and Cosmic Consciousness
Author: Alexis Georg Hoen
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Religion/Christianity
Format: Ebook/Paperback

Born in the Ukraine, educated in Munich, and having practiced medicine in the United States, author Alexis Georg Hoen has been exposed to widely differing political systems and religious beliefs, and he has always maintained an interest as to the origin of these beliefs and their relation to the innermost nature of man. In Christianity and Cosmic Consciousness, he interprets the words and the sacrifice of Jesus as pointing the way toward a realization of our innermost nature—the will to live and love that exists within all.

Sharing his experiences and ideas about Christ’s words and sacrifice, Hoen uses personal anecdotes and biblical examples to illustrate the nature of Christian belief. He provides a host of examples, including key illustrations from the Bible and relevant source material from other writers who address this topic. He shows us that through sacrifice we live in and for others. That is eternal life. Christianity and Cosmic Consciousness represents the core of Christian teaching without resorting to the supernatural and miraculous, yet doesn’t try to disprove it.

ORDER INFORMATION

Christianity and Cosmic Consciousness is available for order at

Alexis Georg Hoen attended medical school in Munich. He immigrated to the United States at age twenty-five, and he practiced medicine in Los Angeles for fifty years. In addition to the study of religion, he enjoys gardening and spending time with his three children and six grandchildren.

Alexis is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins November 30 and ends on December 11.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 12.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

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Soldier Boy by Allan Green Book Blast - Win a $25 Gift Card!

Title: Soldier Boy
Author: Allan Green
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Ebook/Paperback

Tom Blaine, the son of poor coal miners, sees his life with a vision unclouded by coal dust. His intelligence is his key for a better future in his home in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania. Instead of following his father and older brother down the mine shafts, he opts for a life surrounded by love. His heart belongs to Nola, the daughter of the local grocer, and his working hours are spent in her family’s grocery store.

Life in a coal mining community is filled with uncertainty, suffering, and too-frequent tragedy. His own mother had to abandon her dreams of becoming a teacher, lacking the funds to get an education. Tom’s life is tainted by bullies and narrow-minded neighbors, but he is still determined to rise above the odds to build a better life for himself and his lady love. As the nation is pulled into World War II, Tom follows his instincts to protect all that he loves. He enlists and heads into the bloody fields of battle.

Life on the battlefield is a shock to the small-town boy from Pennsylvania, but he does his best, relying on his wits and natural physical abilities to survive. Even on the front line, he uses his natural gifts to bring optimism and humor to an indescribably difficult experience. But are those gifts enough to return him to his wife’s loving arms?  

ORDER INFORMATION

Soldier Boy is available for order at

 

Allan is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins November 30 and ends on December 11.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 12.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

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Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes by Will Slatyer

Title: Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes - Debt Before Dishonour
Author: Will Slatyer
Publisher: Partridge Publishing
Genre: Business and Economics
Format: Ebook/Paperback

Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes – Debt before Dishonour explores the cyclical theory of cultural development, with particular attention paid to the introduction of democratic forms of government in the British Empire and the United States republic. The cyclical theory allows a forecast of the fading of the dominance of the United States as an imperial power. Similar to cultural survival of the loss of dominance experienced by the British Empire after the Great War, the United States will survive in a new form. Which superpower will take over the reins remains to be seen, but the likely contender is the People’s Republic of China. This conclusion and the timing will allow long-term planning by corporations and governments. In the age of political correctness, it is unlikely that readers will experience any such forecasts by government bodies. Throughout history, societies have used and abused debt, revolted and warred over debt, and have forbidden usury. But the modern financial world as we know it simply cannot exist without usury. Since the 1400s, modern governments have found new ways to expand debt to produce modern economies, which are still subject to the age-old basic principle of debt – that it needs to be repaid or dire consequences ensue.

ORDER INFORMATION

Life/Death Rhythms of Capitalist Regimes is available for order at

 

Will is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins November 30 and ends on December 11.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 12.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

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Positive by David Wellington Book Feature

Title: Positive
Author: David Wellington
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Format: Ebook/Hardcover/Paperback/Audible

In the bestselling vein of Guillermo Del Toro and Justin Cronin, the acclaimed author of Chimera and The Hydra Protocol delivers his spectacular breakout novel—an entertaining page-turning zombie epic that is sure to become a classic.

Anyone can be positive . . . The tattooed plus sign on Finnegan's hand marks him as a Positive. At any time, the zombie virus could explode in his body, turning him from a rational human into a ravenous monster. His only chance of a normal life is to survive the last two years of the potential incubation period. If he reaches his twenty-first birthday without an incident, he'll be cleared.

Until then, Finn must go to a special facility for positives, segregated from society to keep the healthy population safe. But when the military caravan transporting him is attacked, Finn becomes separated. To make it to safety, he must embark on a perilous cross-country journey across an America transformed—a dark and dangerous land populated with heroes, villains, madmen, and hordes of zombies. And though the zombies are everywhere, Finn discovers that the real danger may be his fellow humans.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome meets World War Z and I Am Legend in this thrilling tale that has it all: a compelling story, great characters, and explosive action, making Positive the ultimate zombie novel of our time.

ORDER INFORMATION

Positive is available for order at  

 

 

David Wellington was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where George Romero's classic zombie films were shot. He is the author of an online zombie serial, the Monster Island trilogy; Thirteen Bullets, a serialized vampire novel; and the Jim Chapel missions, including the digital shorts "Minotaur" and "Myrmidon," and the novels Chimera and The Hydra Protocol. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

For More Information
Visit David’s website.
Connect with David on Facebook and Twitter

Book Blast - The Uncommon Cure by T. Agvanian: Win a $25 Gift Card

Title: The Uncommon Cure
Author: T. Agvanian
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Cultural Heritage
Format: Ebook/Paperback

The past haunts you and the future terrifies you. What do you do, seek redemption, sink into madness, or eat? These stories follow the lives of women trying to find emotional peace through food, fantasy, or virtue. The urge for liberation from pain drives them to face conflicts arising from the desire for relief.

Eva has been carrying a terrible secret from the Second World War in Ukraine. As she approaches the end of her life, she wishes to eat herself into a diabetic coma to escape the guilt. Unfortunately, her daughter-in-law feels it is her Hippocratic duty to save Eva from gastronomic excess. While each comes at the other from complex, very different life experiences, peaceful intentions inevitably end in war.

Long ago, Sarah gave up living on the outside. Now in an attempt to insulate herself from painful events, she tries to dream an alternative reality into existence.

After Magnolia commits the ultimate sin and realizes there will be no happy ending, she must somehow find clarity and peace. As a narrator of a sleepy American suburb comically recounts a squirrel’s demise, she soon discovers that the joke may be on her. The Uncommon Cure shares a novella and three short stories that intertwine the struggles of several female characters as they attempt to cure their ills with unorthodox solutions.

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The Uncommon Cure is available for order at

T. Agvanian has always been interested in the history of World War II in Russia and other former Soviet Republics. She earned a degree in Russian Literature and History. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her family. This is her first book.

T. Agvanian is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins November 30 and ends on December 11.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 12.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

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We Have to Change by Maria Ronay Book Blast - Win a $25 Gift Card

Title: We Have to Change
Author: Maria Ronay
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Political Science
Format: Ebook/Paperback

Do you know enough about the world’s most pressing issues? Are you familiar with the consequences of climate change and methods for sharing the permissible carbon quotas? Are you aware that we are using up nature’s capital and not just its interest, that world poverty is rampant and urgently needs to be reduced, and that the consequence of current US immigration laws is unsustainable population growth? We Have to Change aims to highlight these issues, to make us stop and think seriously about them, and to encourage everyone to become actively involved in the global challenges facing the world today. It presents climate change, liquidation of nature’s capital, world poverty, and unsustainable population growth together, in their interaction, in one concise volume. Author Maria Ronay reviews the world resources available, predicts the dangers ahead, and proposes courses of action for individuals and the world to mitigate climate change, preserve nature’s capital, reduce world poverty, and stabilize the world’s population by emphasizing existing United Nations programs. For the US carbon tax on gasoline and electricity invested in reducing atmospheric carbon and reforming legal immigration laws are recommended.

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We Have to Change is available for order at

Maria Ronay was born in Budapest, Hungary, and immigrated to the United States for her marriage. She has a PhD in materials physics and spent her career at Columbia University, New York, and the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York.

Maria is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
• This giveaway begins November 30 and ends on December 11.
• Winners will be contacted via email on December 12.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

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