Brain Food For Readers and Writers... By Connie Vines #Halloween #Trick or Treat #Zombies and Monsters #BrainFood

It wasn't until I completed this blog post that I realized that my title, well... carried an unintended double meaning. 🧛🧟🧠

My featured novella this month—Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow —is a Zombie story. And today's topic is brain food. 

I'm not a hard-core fan of blood and gore when it comes to Halloween events (or reading material). 

I am an enthusiastic fan of dinner parties, little trick-or-treaters, and costumes.

I try to set my deadlines (for books, not evil deeds) before or after October.

Why?

Because when I'm on deadline, I'm possessed- -I mean, obsessed.  Forfeiting sleep, exercise, and nutrition, I claw my way to that moment and type "The End". 

My meals consist of grazing foods that are high in protein, easy to prep, and tasty.

Single-serve (5 ounces) of nonfat cottage cheese.  3 grams more protein than a typical serving of Greek yogurt.

Hard-boiled egg.  No longer shunned due to claims of too-high cholesterol, we can enjoy them in moderation. You can boil them yourself or purchase peeled and packaged at the market.

Peanut butter.  Scoop your own or buy single packets; smear on banana or apple slices.

Roasted chickpeas (I love hummus and falafel).  120 cals per serving, 5 grams of protein and fiber.

To prep, rinse and drain chickpeas in a bowl, then toss with olive oil.  Add chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes.

Greek yogurt

Turkey roll-ups. Nitrate-free deli turkey breast with a squirt os mustard, a slice of tomato, and some lettuce.  Add red pepper slices and baby carrots. Roll and store in a plastic container or foil.

Hummus.  Made from chickpeas, tahini, and olive oil, hummus is a healthy mix of protein and fiber. Use it as a dip for carrots, tomatoes, red pepper, and cucumber slices and String cheese.

Do you have a favorite "brain food"?

Or is Halloween all about "the candy and the treats "? 🍬🍫

My office is in semi-scary attire 
Bats on the wall and crows on my desk!

What's your favorite Fall/Autumn indulgence? I must confess I'm partial to pumpkin pancakes (drenched with warm maple syrup). 

Indulge in my Zombie RomCom (Zero calories and filled with Halloween fun!)

All my novels are available online at your favorite eBook vendor.

Link to the BWL site: https://www.bookswelove.com

Connie

 

  

The Magical Power of Sound and Music - by Vijaya Schartz

In the Chronicles of Kassouk, sound is sometimes used to power levitating vehicles
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Sound is a vibration – Everything in our universe is vibration. Depending on the frequency of a vibration, it is perceived differently, sometimes as sound, color, or other sensory perception.

The ancient Greek and Egyptians believed music was a gift from the gods… and the musical scale is based on divine mathematical science. Since antiquity, music has been played in sacred spaces. Some artificial caves in Turkey and Sicily were built thousands of years ago, to enhance a specific frequency, thought to elevate the soul.

The Gregorian chant, also divine in origin, when enhanced by the high vaults of churches and cathedrals, does elevate the soul. To this day, music and choirs are still part of worship.

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Some sounds have the power to soothe the mind and the body. They are used in therapy (singing bowls). Specific frequencies have been linked to healing different parts of the body. In the temples of India, Tibet, and Nepal, Similar kinds of sound frequencies (mantras like OHM or specific chimes) are said to resonate with the Shakras to awaken psychic abilities.

A Chi Warrior can also manifest psyhic abilities
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Closer to home, the purr of a cat also has healing powers. Its vibration naturally regulates the heart and can prevent some types of heart problems.

Plants and trees also vibrate at frequencies that can be recorded and amplified, to be heard as music. I’ve heard it, and it’s amazing to realize these beautiful harmonies originated in nature itself. But it shouldn’t surprise us. We’ve all heard the trill of a bird, the sound of the wind in the branches, the gentle pitter-patter of rain, which are also nature’s soothing sounds. Waterfalls and jungle-sounds recordings have been used to promote sleep.

The Azurans on the Phantom Ship protect the universe from evil
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In the past, some melodies have been forbidden on the radio, because they’d been determined to drive some listeners to suicide. Other melodies can bring peace, and others yet can give you energy and even bring pure joy.

Film makers know this well, as they use music and sound in every scene to create suspense, love, fear, empathy, or happiness on the screen.

On the darker side, some sounds can incite violence or drive people insane. Armies and revolutions all had their martial songs – During WWII, Wagner’s music became a symbol of Hitler’s third Reich. In America, hard rock was once accused of holding dark magic. Some conspiracy theorists even believe that sound can be used to control the mind of entire populations.

The Ladies of the Lost Isle also have magic powers
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Whether we like it or not, sound is a big part of our lives. TV commercials exploit the power of music or the special quality of a voice to create a mood, a need, a yearning for whatever product they are selling.

But if we are aware of the effect of sound on our mind, body, and soul, we can choose to listen to elevating sounds, enjoy the music that makes us feel good, and ignore or mute the negative sounds in our lives.

Good luck, and happy reading.

Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

Kick-butt Sci-fi Heroines, cats, romantic elements

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When Does Christmas Season Start by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

The Twelve Dates of Christmas

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/twelve-dates-of-christmas

https://books2read.com/The-Twelve-Dates-of-Christmas

https://www.amazon.ca/Twelve-Dates-Christmas-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/1772992518

Single Bells

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/single-bells

https://books2read.com/Single-Bells

https://www.amazon.ca/Single-Bells-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/0228628385

When I was a child (not quite pre-history) Christmas season started when our school put on the Christmas concert for parents. We children practiced our roles in plays and choirs and got our costumes organized by our parents (mainly mothers). The concert was held on a school evening about mid-month and most of us and our families walked to the school for the event. Santa appeared when the concert was over and we each received a bag of goodies from him. We were all excited to see Santa and each of us happy with what was in the bags.

Dad would go and buy our real tree, since there weren't artificial ones, about a week before Christmas and put it in a stand of water. We would decorate it and that was the only decorations in our house and most houses in our neighbourhood. No one had outdoor lights. Some of the stores put up decorations in their windows and painted scenes on their windows.

Nothing much changed until I was in my teens, when we added a few more decorations around the house and Dad and some other homeowners hung outdoor lights on their houses.  But, because television channels were limited, there still wasn't much advertising for toys or other gifts. People would go to the stores and wander around looking for the right toy for their children, the right clothing or piece of jewelry, or tool, or household appliance for other members of the family. The types of gifts and costs were limited.

But nothing good lasts for long. Soon stores put the Christmas decorations on their shelves in November and then in October, and now in September. They even start playing Christmas music in September. Television advertisers bombarded parents with what they need to buy for their children and then switched to bombarding children with what they should want from Santa. This is even before Thanksgiving and Hallowe'en.

When I was a child, the Christmas hype lasted about two or three weeks and then we had the gratification of Christmas morning. Now the hype lasts for months and many people get hype fatigue so that by the time Christmas actually arrives, they just want it over with.

So then, why am I advertising my Christmas novels now, in October and before Hallowe'en? My sister and I wrote both of them and now we have a third one coming out November 1st. Since I only post on the 24th of each month, this is my chance to start promoting it, and the first two, and gives readers time to check them out.  

Writing "The Book of Dreams" a part of the Paranormal Canadiana Collection by Dean Hovey

 My first mystery was published in 2000, followed by 43 others. The Doug Fletcher series continue to be among my publisher's best sellers. When my publisher and I discussed writing a paranormal book, I was intrigued, but also uneasy. After several email discussions, I suggested that I write a paranormal set in Nunavut, using that opportunity to deal with the dangling thread left at the end of "Bad Omens:Nunavut" when my protagonist makes a decision on his life's direction.

Based on the characters and location suggested by John Wisdomkeeper, I took Peter Pokaik back to Nunavut. He's married Connie, his high school sweetheart, and they are dealing with the death of his father-in-law. The book opens several years earlier with an attack on Connie's mother. As the scene closes, she curses her attackers, telling the leader he will "burn in hell."

We jump ahead to Connie (Kootoo) Pokaik taking leave from her radio broadcasting job to sort her father's estate. In the course of clearing out her childhood home, Connie discovers a dusty book that's warm to her touch. The book, hand-written long ago, suggests the meaning of dreams.

Over the course of the following days, Connie and Peter begin to discover the book's power and Connie's newfound ability to actually interpret dreams. This discovery makes them question the unsolved death of Connie's mother and whether she had been interpreting dreams, and possibly more. With the help of an RCMP Special Constable, they learn the fate of her mother's attackers.

By visiting with Hanta, an Inuit shaman who'd been introduced in "Bad Omens", they learn how to use Connie's newfound abilities, but also learn there's a downside to the use of her powers.

I drafted the first chapter and asked myself if I could do justice to the story. Within days, Peter and Connie were speaking to me. Hanta took on life and I felt like John Wisdomkeeper was channeling that character. 

When I finished the first draft, I took a deep breath and sent a copy to my daughter, who is into paranormal books. Because of her busy work schedule, it took her weeks to open the book. Once she started reading, she finished it in two days. I received a text, "Dad, this is the best book you've ever written.

If you're curious about what happened to Christopher Pokaik after "Bad Omens", or into paranormal books, I encourage you to pick up a copy of "The Book of Dreams" from Amazon or your favorite retailer when it's published next year.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dean-L.-Hovey/author/B00J78JMLY

Keely's Scary Dream from Allure of the Crystal Palace, by Diane Scott Lewis

 

Allure of the Crystal Palace will be available in November.

My books are also available at Barnes and Noble. Or scroll down for Amazon.

My heroine, Keely Harper, is trapped back in time, a harrowing experience. A modern woman in mid-Victorian London.

How would you react to such a change?

She is taken in by the kind Lady Sanderlund, but one night, she has a troubling dream. October is the time for spookiness:

Gasping for air, Keely ran through a shadowy alley that twisted and turned and seemed to have no end. Why was she here? She looked down, and she was dressed in her tight skirt again. Had she returned home? It felt too fuzzy to be really back in her modern world. She continued to scramble through the narrow, dark passage, the walls slimy to the touch. She appeared to be going around in circles.

Amanda emerged, holding the hands of her children, Ella and Hughie. “We miss you but understand your need for change.” Her sister gave her a sad smile. Then she moved away around a corner.

“Take me with you!” Keely rushed around after them, but no one was there; her heart sank.

A man loomed out of the shadows. He wore the frock coat and stovepipe hat of a Victorian. “Why are you here all alone?” he asked.

She backed up several steps. “I’m lost. Can you help me? I want to go home.”

“Oh, I’ll assist you, my dear.” He moved closer. At first, he looked like her ex-husband, Mark. Then he changed into someone grotesque, his face skull-like. “You’re a fine-looking whore.”

She tried to turn around to flee, yet couldn’t. “Don’t come any closer. Why can’t you help me?”

“There’s no help for it. You require a different life.” His gnarled hands reached out for her. His grin was predatory, his teeth rotten.

She raised her knee and struck him in the groin. She did it again, harder, her body shaking, a scream rising in her throat. It felt like striking a pillow. The man laughed as if her efforts meant nothing.

Baron Lambourne came from somewhere, broad-shouldered and handsome. “Be gone; you have no right to cause undue strife!”

Did he speak to the grotesque man or to her? She reached out to—

Keely woke suddenly, sat up in bed and clutched the blanket. She wheezed in her breath. A dream. A bizarre dream. Her subconscious was letting out her fears. Her own sister telling her she understood? Did this mean she was really exiled to the past and might never see her again? 

Keely choked back a sob. She massaged her temples, steadying herself. The skull-man must represent the obstacle she couldn’t get around.

Will Keely ever get home or must she make a life in 1851? No more cell phones, cars, or seeing her family. Will she find love with Baron Lambourne, who has obstacles of his own? 

To find out more about me and my books.

                    

Diane lives in Western Pennsylvania with one naughty dachshund.