Tag Archives: Books

Meet the Author! Andrew Joyce

Andrew Joyce is a guest on Books and Opinions, LLC, where he talks about the research involved when writing his four novels. Research can become convoluted at times and be pretty exasperating, especially when you thought little research would be involved at the outset! And yes, that’s exactly where my head was when I began writing my current novel. But we can count on any detail overlooked being pointed out by a reviewer. Andrew addresses this as well. Hop over to Angela‘s blog to read this superb post…

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Biography:

Andrew Joyce left high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. He wouldn’t return from his journey until decades later when he decided to become a writer. Joyce has written five books, including a two-volume collection of one hundred and fifty short stories comprised of his hitching adventures called BEDTIME STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS (as yet unpublished), and his latest novel, YELLOW HAIR. He now lives aboard a boat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his dog, Danny, where he is busy working on his next book, tentatively entitled, MICK REILLY.

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How he came to write this book:

My name is Andrew Joyce and I write books for a living. I would like to thank Angela for allowing me to be here today to promote my latest, Yellow Hair, which documents the injustices done to the Sioux Nation from their first treaty with the…

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Nostalgia Post No.3: Such a Goofy Dream! – Guest Post…

Lorinda J Taylor is a guest on The Story Reading Ape, sharing a goofy dream about coconuts, Merv Griffin, and funfairs. This was the perfect post to end the evening with in light of the intense political climate here in the U.S. Thank you, Lorinda and Chris. I shall sleep well tonight 🙂

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Back in 2013 I had a really goofy dream – goofy enough for me to want to share it and possibly make you chuckle.

It seemed there was a new TV station starting up and they were building a news team.  (I presume this is from my having watched so much wildfire coverage lately.)  I had been hired as a news anchor.  Unfortunately, they signed me to do sports (a subject I know nothing about; the only sport I follow is ice hockey).  But I must have needed a job because I took the assignment. 

But the other strange thing was that all the anchors had to top off their reports by singing a song. (??)  When my turn came, I sang “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.”  Is anybody here old enough to remember that song?  Here is what the Wikipedia article says about it:

” ‘I’ve Got…

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Why I Ditched My Blog Sidebar – Guest Post…

Yecheilyah Ysrayl discusses foregoing the sidebar on our blogs because they are not mobile friendly. Since mobile now represents 65% of digital media time, many visitors might leave instead of browse — or worse yet, might not follow. Hop over to The Story Reading Ape for details, including possibly switching to a WP theme with a slide-side bar…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Why I Ditched My Blog Sidebar

I took a two-week break from posting on my own blog a few months ago. In that time, I was refueled with post ideas but I also had the opportunity to read most of yours. In that process, I realized something I hadn’t paid much attention to before. I didn’t pay much attention to it because that’s just how ingrained these things are in our lives today. The Cell Phone. During my observation, I realized that I read most of your blog posts (90%) from my phone. In fact, I observed that the only time I read blog posts from my laptop / desktop, is when I am logged in to draft a post that I can’t draft on my phone.

The number of mobile-only users has recently surpassed the number of desktop-only users. According to an article in Marketing Land, “Mobile now represents 65 percent of digital media time…

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Grouchy Bear Wearers Who Drink Beer – Guest Post…

Craig Boyack is a guest on The Story Reading Ape where he discusses what authors should not be writing; how writing to the market is a risky business; and what he does to make his characters unique…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

November marks the third installment of the three post package the Story Reading Ape offered. So far we’ve talked about short form fiction, and paranormal. I also write science fiction and fantasy.

Since these shouldn’t be just promotional, let’s discuss something few authors discuss. What shouldn’t we be writing?

All authors have strengths and weaknesses. Many times we don’t learn what they are until we write something out. It’s a tough lesson to learn with 120,000 words of fantasy. This is where short forms are so helpful to an author. If it doesn’t work out, you’ve lost a weekend. With a novel, you may have lost a year.

Writing to the market is a risky business. In many cases the market changes before the author can reach it. I know there are any number of sparkly vampire novels and schools for witches novels that missed the mark. I think the…

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A Young Man

Well-researched historical fiction by Andrew Joyce that resonates with today’s controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline…

Andrew Joyce's avatarAndrew Joyce

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Through no fault of his own, a young man is thrust into a new culture just at the time that culture is undergoing massive changes. It is losing its identity, its lands, and its dignity. He not only adapts, he perseveres and, over time, becomes a leader—and on occasion, the hand of vengeance against those who would destroy his adopted people.

Buy @ Amazon: US  UK – CA – AU

 

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Food in Fiction – Part 3 – Guest Post…

Christine Campbell is a guest on The Story Reading ape today, bringing us Part 3 of her Food in Fiction series. She discusses food as a central character in our novels. I think Countess Chocolate would make a delectable protagonist 🙂

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

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In the first two articles on this subject, we gave some thought to scenes in novels we’ve read where food played an important role, and how their attitude to food can reveal things about your character’s character. We looked at some examples, and talked about how important food is in our lives and, by extension, the lives of fictional characters.

I thought it would be interesting to think now about food as a central character in its own right. For instance, in Chocolat by Joanne Harris, chocolate plays the most important role. Without it, there would be no story.

When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud denounces her as a serious moral danger to his flock – especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. As…

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Christmas Promotions – Starting November 13th – Smorgasbord Christmas Reading.

It’s time once again for Christmas promotions on Sally Cronin‘s Smorgasbord, beginning Sunday November 13th. Soooo… All you authors and artisans out there, hop over to Sally’s blog for the details, as well as a look at John Howell‘s lovely Christmas Tree 🙂

Guest Post: Andrew Joyce

Captivating guest post by Andrew Joyce on Marie Story‘s blog. He talks about his latest novel, Yellow Hair, and tells us the fascinating creation story of the Dakota, known today as the Sioux…

Marie Story's avatarStory Book Reviews

AndrewMy name is Andrew Joyce and I write books for a living. I would like to thank Marie for allowing me to be here today to promote my latest, Yellow Hair, which documents the injustices done to the Sioux Nation from their first treaty with the United States in 1805 through Wounded Knee in 1890. Every death, murder, battle, and outrage I write about actually took place. The historical figures that play a role in my fact-based tale of fiction were real people and I use their real names. Yellow Hair is an epic tale of adventure, family, love, and hate that spans most of the 19th century.


1yellowhair-800-cover-reveal-and-promotionalNow that the commercial is out of the way, we can get down to what I really came here to talk about: the Sioux people. The people we know as the Sioux were originally known as the Dakota, which means…

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Guest author Sally Cronin, book promotion, writing, blogging, author services, D.G. Kaye

D.G. Kaye interviews Sally Cronin on her series, Guest Author Friday – Who Has a New Book? Sally is well-known in our author blogging community and much loved for her generosity, diversity, and open heart. Like Sally, Debby Gies, aka D.G. Kaye, is a prolific author and generous soul who is always ready to lend a hand. Sally discusses her book-in-progress, The R’s of Life, and how writing it on her blog is benefiting her writing process. Hop over to Debby’s blog and learn more about Sally, her new book, and how she manages a busy life ❤ 

guest-post-header-by-debby-giesI’m thrilled to be featuring today’s guest, Sally Cronin here on my blog! Many of you in the blogosphere may know Sally, and for the many more of you who don’t, you’re in for a treat!

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About Sally:

After working in a number of industries for over 25 years, I decided that I wanted to pursue a completely different career, one that I had always been fascinated with. I began studying Nutrition and the human body twenty years ago and I opened my first diet advisory centre in Ireland in 1998.

Over the last 18 years I have practiced in Ireland and the UK as well as written columns, articles and radio programmes on health and nutrition. I published my first book with a Canadian self-publisher in the late 90s and since then have republished that book and released eight others as part of our own self-publishing company. Apart from health I also enjoy writing fiction in the form of novels and short stories.

Sally is not only a talented and diverse writer of several books, but she’s one of the most generous bloggers around who offers several author promotion series on her blogs for authors to promote their books on her blog. I am honored to have been one of those author’s who she has promoted several times, and blessed to have her friendship. And in today’s interview, we will be learning a little more about Sally, and about her interesting decision she made to write her latest book, The R’s of Life, on her blog.

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“Thank you for inviting me over today Debby …”

It’s my pleasure to have you over Sal, and now let’s get into the goods! 

Sally, please tell us a little about how and why you came up with the idea to write The R’s of Life?

I was actually browsing an online thesaurus looking for some alternatives to describe respect.  While I was in the R section I noticed that a great many words applied to life’s experiences and I jotted down a few. Just for the fun of it I then expanded the list and found around 35 possible chapter headings.  I had no intention of writing another book but I became intrigued about where it might lead me.

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Danny’s Dilemma

Danny the Dog brings us a not-so-tail-wagging tale from around the marina. He tries to teach his human a lesson, but Andrew is either a bit obtuse or too irritated to get the message! What’s a dog to do? Hop over to The Story Reading Ape and read about Danny’s best laid scheme that went astray 🙂

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Danny Happy
To run or not to run, that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? . . . to paraphrase Billy Shakespeare.

Howdy, folks. It’s me, Danny the Dog. I live on a boat with my human, Andrew. Today, I’m here to speak about outrageous fortune. And the outrageous fortune of which I speak is the insidious leash he makes me wear. I mean . . . really . . . just because I’ve run away a few times, he thinks I can’t be trusted. I’m a big boy—I’m almost fourteen years old! I can go out catting (excuse the expression) around at night and still make my way home all by myself.

01 Danny XXl
So here’s my problem. Andrew doesn’t use a regular leash like any sane…

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