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Raoul Duquette, the Narrator in Katherine Mansfield's "Je Ne Parle Pas Français"

4/27/2020

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Katherine MansfieldBritish Writer Katherine Mansfield (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)

Katherine Mansfield’s short story “Je Ne Parle Pas Français” is narrated by one Raoul Duquette, an aspiring French writer. Duquette is perhaps one of Mansfield’s most fascinating characters. He is the only first-person narrator that she ever used in any of her stories, making this story by far one of her most interesting.

An analysis of a first-person narrator should seem easy considering that he is the character through which we see the entire story. However, the reader’s knowledge is narrowed to only Duquette’s own perceptions. So, it is actually somewhat more difficult than it first would appear.

As the reader only sees the world through Duquette’s own interpretations, we must come to understand why he interprets the world in the way in which he does. In doing so, we may better understand his interactions with those in it. In the end, he is a man of many flaws and one who only ever really shares himself through his writing.

Raoul is very imaginative and very high on himself. As confident as Raoul is in his writing skills, and from his writing it is easy to see why, he is, in fact, a lonely man. Raoul describes himself as a true Parisian, born and raised. He says that he has no family and likes it that way. Raoul has forgotten his childhood completely, save the vivid memories of his family’s laundress. “Bury it under a laundry basket instead of a shower of roses and passon outré,” he writes of his past.

The only other detail which Raoul offers about his past is that he was “tiny for my age, and pale, with a lovely little half-open mouth – I feel sure of that.” From these vague details, it is plausible to believe that he was certainly not a favorite son. It also seems he had a fairly unhappy childhood.

Our narrator says that his life truly began as soon as he moved into his first apartment. Who he is now did not exist before that moment. “I date myself from the moment that I became the tenant of a small bachelor flat,” he declares. “There I emerged,” he writes importantly, “came out into the light and put out my two horns with a study and a bedroom and a kitchen on my back.”

For the first time in that apartment, Raoul found he was finally able to define himself. He would be an aspiring writer who would write a book to “stagger the critics.” His writing talents are certainly never in doubt, especially with the way he tells his own story. It seems that he has made somewhat of a decent living thanks to his talents. Yet, aside from his writing, he seems to have very little else happening in his life.

Raoul goes into quite a bit of detail about his appearance, likening himself to “a little woman in a café who has to introduce herself with a handful of photographs.” He blames this on his “submerged life.” He reveals himself to be a very imaginative and very sensitive man, as well as a romanticist. It is here that he makes it very evident that he is definitely a loner; he feels quite brilliant and important for his writing, but that is all.

Beyond that, Raoul simply drifts through life. His livelihood exists only in the exquisiteness of his works and within his own imagination. He is still, in a sense, the same little boy as which he began. But, he has learned to simply move on, and not live in the past. This practice has indeed helped him to create at least a solid literary career.

After his rather lengthy introduction, Raoul tells the story of what made the café at which he writes this story so special to him. It is about the first real friend he ever made. He orders whisky, even though he despises it, for the mere fact that he firmly believes he must to write about an Englishman. This Englishman, Dick Harmon, is his first real friend. Drinking his whisky rather disgustedly, but thoughtfully, Raoul writes about how he met Dick. They met at an editor’s party where Dick was the only Englishman, making him easily stand out. Raoul instantly found Dick absolutely fascinating.

When Raoul asks the host about him, he discovers that Dick is a writer himself, making a special study of modern French literature. By chance, Raoul just happened to be a “young, serious writer who was making a special study of modern English literature.” Upon learning this, it was Dick, apparently already aware of him, that as Raoul put it “made the first advances.”

It is curious how Raoul seems to refer to Dick not as a buddy and more as a sort of romantic interest. Then again, considering the evidently hermitic nature of Raoul’s existence, it is wholly unfair to blame him for feeling otherwise. Anyhow, the two instantly became fast friends, having very much in common with their profession and favorite topics of conversation.

When the two meet for dinner, Raoul reveals things about himself to Dick no one else knew. These presumably include things he does not even tell the reader, and Dick becomes his confidant. Whether Dick really takes much of what Raoul’s sense is anyone’s guess. They were both rather drunk at the time, by Raoul’s admission. But it is still a huge deal for Raoul because he had never found anyone else who he was so comfortable in being with.

As Dick leaves in a rush for England to take care of some important business, Raoul feels insulted Dick did not inform him sooner. After receiving Dick’s letter a couple days later, he doesn’t get another letter until many months later. By that time, Raoul has almost forgotten all about Dick, consistent with his “rule of not looking back.” Before he meets Dick and his lady friend, Mouse, Raoul practices a part in front of his mirror. This is to make himself out to be much more successful than he really is.

When he meets Mouse, for the first time in his life, he finds himself truly fascinated with a woman. It is a sad ending to the entire deal, after what happens between her and Dick. Although it seems entirely possible that Raoul and Mouse could have continued their relationship, the extreme awkwardness of the situation made him never go near their lodgings ever again. For all that he has consistently done to leave the past behind, he can never stop thinking of Mouse.

When Raoul sees the phrase “Je ne parle pas Français” inscribed in green ink on the bottom of an otherwise pedestrian piece of paper, he is overtaken by the echo of the memory of his first true love telling him those exact same words. It is a sad story, and one is left to wonder what will become of poor old Raoul.  Will he ever be able to just move on like he has so many times before?

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14 Thriller, Action & Suspense Novels to Add to Your Bookshelf!

11/26/2017

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Books
Are you into thrillers, action, and suspense novels? Here are 14 hand-picked novels we think may whet your action and suspense fiction appetite!
Active Measures

In the winter of 1990, as the Soviet empire crumbled, a small Russian special forces team entered the dense forests of West Germany and buried an insurance policy.

In present day Iran, the United States' most valuable agent uncovers a devastating secret brewing deep beneath the country's mountainous terrain: In mere months, a faction of the regime's Revolutionary Guards will successfully assemble a nuclear bomb.
As the full might of the American intelligence community is mobilized to stop it, the CIA's new director must confront a web of threats both at home and abroad, from a resentful White House chieftain, to a cunning Israeli spymaster, and the fearsome commander of the Iranian Quds Force.

In Moscow--after an oil trader with ties to the Kremlin is found burned alive in his Geneva home--an aide to Russia's adored and despotic president is caught between opposing powers. At one side is an eccentric billionaire with lofty dreams of reorienting Russia toward the West, and at the other is the autocratic strongman whose ardent quest for resurgence has brought Russia into a risky, open confrontation with NATO.

In Lebanon, the Syrian civil war that raged for years across the border has reached its bloody climax. Yet in its wake, a new menace comes crawling from the shadows to feast on the remains. A brilliant CIA officer in Beirut, working desperately to penetrate an exhausted Hezbollah, is first to recognize the danger. As she begins calling on deaf ears, it is only a matter of time until the drums of war start beating again in the Middle East--and now with the greatest terrorist the world has ever known leading the charge.

Warping the line between illusion and reality, amid a labyrinth of characters, plots and counter-plots that span the globe--from the halls of the Kremlin and the suburbs of northern Virginia, to the slums of Beirut and the back alleys of Tehran--comes a story of intrigue and betrayal, life and death, setting a collision course toward a firestorm that will consume thousands and blind a superpower.
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The Odd Twins

Life is full of mysteries and we limit our thoughts to what we believe sounds right and reasonable. Our minds control our lives based on our past experiences and so our ability to expand is limited. New incoming information is handled based on the past and so we constantly live in the past.

This writing will take you beyond what you believe and allow you to experience an event that seems so unbelievable that it will have you researching to find out if it is possible.
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Tune Up

On their second case, Qigiq and Kandy are loaned to the Traffic Division to investigate an early morning accident. Hit and run. By a motorcycle. The victim is an elderly Asian woman. A young witness in a nearby dry cleaner and a truck driver suggests all “accidents” aren’t created equal.
Then the Captain drops a new assignment on their desk: an affluent Bay Area lawyer is missing. The man’s wife stomps into their office screaming about a contract she found hidden in the backups of their home computer. A contract with a seven-figure payout, and an incriminating Exhibit A.

Following the trail of both the motorcycle rider and the lawyer with Kandy complaining, “We’re homicide detectives, there should be a body,” leads to a vintage motorcycle club called the Ton Up where lips are sealed, a yacht harbor on the coast where riddles run deep, and a midnight roadside confrontation that ends with a splash. As the trails twist they soon find that these people and places have one thing in common:

A violist named Mylin. Who plays in an all-female orchestra called The Girls of the Orient. And, unbeknownst to her, is the subject of a fine-art photographer’s latest collection.

From San Francisco to Mexico, the treacherous cliffs of the Pacific coast to the desolation of Nevada’s high desert, Tune Up moves like Kandy’s turbocharged Mini through a foggy landscape of false identities, fake romance, and frenzied chases, as Qigiq realizes one picture really can reveal more than 1,000 words.
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Where Losers Live, Heroes Die

Hans Metzger, nicknamed Cowboy by his U.S. Army Sergeant buddy, Pete, gets in and out of trouble, because of his hunting experiences on the farm and training as a marksman in the army. With a rocky love life and bad luck on the farm, Hans reunites with his army buddy, Pete. They become good, bad guys fighting the bad, bad guys to open a casino in the Bahamas. From Vietnam to stealing cars, ripping off a U.S. National Guard Amory, getting thrown in jail, high jacking a merchant freighter, and burning casino.
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Three Yards and a Plate of Mullet

If you’re a football fanatic, then you’ve probably heard the term “three yards and a cloud of dust.” Well, in Drabenville, Florida, they do things a little differently.

Twenty-two-year-old Jake Yankelovich is learning that the hard way. On the precipice of a soul-crushing slog into the corporate world, he decides to become a sportswriter—and he has to start somewhere…
As he covers an intense season of high school football, Jake is blown away by the passion everyone has for the sport. But as the new guy in an alien, insular town, he’s also running up against the old-boy network. That’s making it difficult for him to get answers about murky financial dealings and a dubious school redistricting decision that just so happens to have brought some of the best players in the state to perennial powerhouse Dolphin High, which had fallen from dominance.

Three Yards and a Plate of Mullet is a thoroughly entertaining flashback to 1980s Florida. Uniting the worlds of high-stakes high school football with newsroom drama and eccentric characters, it follows our intrepid young reporter as he works to make it in the business he loves while finding his way around a peculiar culture.
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Days of the Kill

In this tale of murder and mystery, a small town girl moves to Oregon to start a new life away from her dysfunctional family. However, after she takes a teaching job she realizes to her horror she had not really escaped the dysfunctional members of her family. As the body count rises she has to face the fact that she is dysfunctional, too. Are any of us really who we appear to be?

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The Intern

It's 1995, and life is great for Washington, DC intern Trent Norris. But life can change in a moment—and does when Trent becomes the prime suspect in two murders and a slew of other crimes. Overnight, he becomes the most wanted man in America. Trent has to find a way—any way—out.

He holes up at The Watergate on a senator's dime and enlists a call girl as his unwitting ally. But with the media eating Trent alive, he doesn't have long before they catch him. From the tony clubs of Georgetown to murders on Capitol Hill, The Intern has all the twists and turns of a classic DC thriller, with an added comedic flair.
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Missing Mona

Tommy has boomeranged back to his parents residence and a dead-end job after too many years in college. As he looks squarely at his next decade of life his smartphone convinces him the time is ripe for a change. A gift from his grandfather provides the means, so he embarks on the path of blues artists and beatniks before him--and hits the road.
He immediately meets a damsel in hitchhiking distress who says her name is Mona. Her presence persuades him that the bright lights and dark clubs of Chicago might be his kind of town. So on a summer Saturday night they settle into a fancy hotel overlooking the beaches of Lake Michigan.

On Sunday...Mona disappears.

But she leaves behind more than a sweet memory that involves Tommy in a brand new cash flow problem he never imagined. While trying to sort out how to stay on the right side of the law and get back on the road, he meets a young criminologist who helps him, a DJ who doesn't, and a librarian who teaches him about the city, women, and the art of the makeover. After truth and lies are stirred like a blue martini, being assaulted by a pink monkey, and witnessing a drive-by shooting that drowns a Ferrari--Tommy is desperate to help Mona.

If he can find her.
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Bai Tide

CIA case officer Bai Hsu is assigned to a high-security private school for what he’s told is an easy assignment. Just a few months after he arrives, a hostile operative with ties to North Korea tries to break in to a school event, with motives unknown.
As his investigation progresses, he unravels a plot that, if not stopped, will result in the untimely and murderous deaths of tens of millions of people. Bai Tide is Bai’s greatest challenge yet. A mission that will take him from the windswept beaches of San Diego to a whiteout blizzard in the foothills of Pyongyang, and make him question everything he thought he knew about working in the field…and about himself.
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The Final Factor: Duty

"The Final Factor: Duty" is a spy action thriller involving a plot that stretches to the highest levels of the United States government. A few good people must stand up and protect the country as soon as they figure out what's going on. This story has likable heroes and heroines, dastardly villains, fast paced powerful stuff inspired by today's headlines.
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Boston Darkens

Ben Randal and his wife, Alice, have been blessed with the American dream. They have two children, Jessica and Randy. Both Ben and Alice have good jobs, and they raised their children in a traditional American Christian home. They are from Nebraska, and they found the culture and customs of the East Coast a little challenging. Their faith, character, and resolve are put to an extreme test.

With a little dry humor and some heart-stopping tension, Michael Kravitz wades into the drama of a post-EMP attack. It is the story of Ben Randal, his family, his neighbors, and some quirky friends coming together with some old-fashioned values and hope as they struggled to survive in this sudden and unprecedented crisis as Boston Darkens.
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Boston Flickers

"Boston Flickers" is a sequel to "Boston Darkens." It is a longer story,  but just as captivating as the first. With the stress of time and mounting causalities, the conflict within, and out of the Randall family intensifies. With both sadness and hope, you will be captivated until the end.
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Silver Lake

After losing his father, his job and his home, Tom's friend convinces him to take out a huge life insurance policy, and together they will fake his death. What Tom doesn't realize is that his fiance--the beneficiary--is in on the plan, too, and is in league with his lifelong nemesis, Bob Faith. With a motive to kill, all Bob needs is the opportunity.
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7 Memorable Memoirs Worth Reading

11/26/2017

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Books
Love autobiographies and memoirs? Looking for something new to read, or looking for a gift for a fellow book lover? Here are 7 memorable memoirs worth reading!

My Way Home

His life was barely worth a dollar. He slept outside, on park benches, in stairwells, under bushes. Michael Gaulden lived in shelter after shelter across the United States. With his father incarcerated and mother disabled, he stayed homeless for ten years.

From the age of seven to seventeen, Michael, with his mother and sister, journeyed along his own underground railroad, desperately searching for a way to free his family from the sewers of society.

Michael learned death was a big part of youth homelessness. Education was not. To survive, he had to become something more. Caught in between two worlds- his dreams vs. his reality- violence, gangsters, hunger, poverty, and sorrow marked his daily life.

Michael vowed to change his fate through getting his high school diploma. He never hoped to dream that not only would he graduate from high school but also from a prestigious California university. This is the true story of a homeless boy, marked for prison or worse, who fought against tremendous odds and persevered to achieve academic and professional success.
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Being Seen

Being Seen is a memoir about a woman with autism struggling not only to be seen, but to be understood and respected. Anlor Davin grew up in a small town on the Western coast of France. From earliest childhood she was beset by overwhelming sensory chaos and had trouble navigating the social world. Only many years later did she learn that she was autistic.
Throughout childhood, Anlor struggled to hold her world together and in many ways succeeded: she became an accomplished young tennis player, competing even at the level of the French Open. However, in addition to her autism a dark history hung over her family—a history that she did not fully understand for years to come. Without yet having a name for her world-shattering condition, Anlor headed to a new life in America. But she now had to contend with the raw basics of survival in a new culture, speaking a new language, and without support from her family.

Through incredible effort, Anlor was able to parlay her knowledge of the French language into a job teaching in the notorious South Side neighborhood of Chicago, one of America's most violent. Anlor married, had a child, and even dreamed that she might be able to pass as a neurotypical person. The grim toll of daily compensating for her autism and “pretending to be normal” proved too great a challenge and Anlor’s life imploded. She spiraled downward into a kind of hell, losing her marriage and her beloved son.

Desperate, Anlor moved west to California, where she found a mysterious and ancient tradition of spiritual practice from the Far East—zen. Through this profound meditation and community she was able to slowly rebuild her life, this time with honest acceptance of the challenge she faced. The path took her through extreme emotional and physical duress but—at last—led to proper medical diagnosis and treatment of her autism. Today, Anlor works to help people understand her way of being, and the value of basic meditative practice in living and thriving with autism.
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Surviving Mental Illness: My Story

The Road to Recovery Written from the perspective of someone whose life has been challenged by mental illness, this book offers help, hope, and inspiration to others struggling with psychological disorders. It provides information about mental illness in general-and mood disorders in particular-valuable tips about treatment and medication, and resources and organizations dedicated to helping those suffering from these disorders.
Surviving Mental Illness helps break through the fear and stigma of mental illness and focuses on how to find health and happiness. The author shares her personal journey: the heartbreak and challenges of bipolar disorder, and the joy of making her way back to mental health. Through her own story, she shows that help is out there, and with a little faith, recovery is possible. My faith in G-d has led me to recover in ways you cannot imagine. Life is having faith to overcome any obstacles, and that is what my recovery from mental illness is all about.
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One Groovy Summer

This novel relates the enjoyable story told from the perspective of a young man who just graduated from high school in 1968. This was a time when he could be drafted into the Vietnam War any day now. So this eighteen year old boy and his friends just wanted to have as much fun, adventure, and romance as possible. And that is just what they did that summer and much more.
In the novel One Groovy Summer you will experience plenty of comedy, romance, adventure, and nostalgia. This was a time of great change. There was the Sexual Revolution, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and Hippies everywhere. It was a truly memorable trip. So come along for the ride. It's going to be One Groovy Summer!
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Misdiagnosed

When a lymphoma scare threatened the life of a journalist, she began a quest to find the correct medical diagnosis for the mysterious illness she'd battled for nearly 20 years. She turned to her favorite TV show, House M.D., for inspiration. She used her research skills to look for a "real life" Gregory House to give her some answers. In this brutally honest memoir, Nika Beamon reveals how she found the doctor who saved her and how you can too.
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Autism's Stepchild: A Mother's Story

Autism's Stepchild is the story of a mother's unfailing struggle over two decades to find adequate care for her daughter Jean. Misdiagnosed and misunderstood Jean had a condition that today would be understood to be autism. Erik Erikson became interested in her and counseled her family. She became the chapter "Early Ego Failure" in his classic book, Childhood and Society.
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Storm Over South Africa

Storm over South Africa follows the lives and tribulations of a diverse group of characters through the Second Anglo-Boer War from 1899-1902 in South Africa. They belonged to different levels of the opposing societies and the story follows their actual life and death experiences in this conflict. 

The characters include the seventeen year old son of a Boer president; a young shipbuilding dock worker and his military nurse girlfriend from the industrial north-east of England, and a young Canadian soldier who volunteered for Canada’s first campaign outside its borders. Involved too are such illustrious British participants as Winston Churchill, Field marshal Frederick Roberts and Generals Kitchener, Ian Hamilton and Robert Baden-Powell among others. Boer leaders involved include Generals Christiaan de Wet, Louis Botha, Koos de la Rey and Jan Smuts. 

The reader is guided through the various twists and turns of the first major British conflict of the 20th century from its beginning through to its end. The naivety and excitement of combatants in the lead up to and beginning of the Second Anglo-Boer War was contagious. It pulled many naïve young men into the maelstrom of combat. The failures, frustrations, disappointments, disillusionments and sufferings soon emerge. It is a tale of imperial arrogance and determination, of stubbornness, innocence, love and loss experienced in a rugged and alluring land far from the heart of the British Empire.
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14 Great Books for the Historical Fiction and Nonfiction Lover in Your Life!

11/25/2017

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historical fiction display
Whether it's for a birthday, Christmas, or any other special occasion, historical fiction and nonfiction lovers always enjoy the gift of a good read! Here are some historical fiction novels and nonfiction books worth checking out and giving as gifts!
Courage of the Heart​: An American Odyssey 1915 to 1923

      This book is a true historical narrative of World War I based on the letters found in the house of my husband's grandmother after her death. This is an intimate account of two families and four brothers from Western Illinois, each facing the Great War in uniquely different ways. It is the extraordinary love story of Haidee Wilson and Maurice Chatterton, written in their own words, spanning the years from 1915 until 1923.  This is an odyssey of courage, hardship, war, death, illness, and finally, survival and a love that endured. This is an American Odyssey.

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Madam of My Heart: A Novel of Love, Loss and Redemption

Baltimore, 1849. During a scandalous crisis, the young Irish Brianna Baird flees her home at Fells Point. With little cash and only a seamstress's trade, she braves the hypnotic streets of New Orleans. The tantalizing Madam DeSalle lures her to her brothel, then sells her to the dashing but questionable gambler, Edward Spina, who falls in love with her. In a tawdry alliance with these two profiteers, Brianna embarks on a journey through the French Quarter's debauched and glittering Voodoo world.
Facing the horrors of slavery, she triumphs by gaining freedom papers for her maid Emma's enslaved husband and son. Brianna and Edward escape with them to San Francisco. There she becomes one of the most sought after madams in the gold rush parlor house trade. But will her fame and pluck be enough to save Edward from the Vigilante noose? This is the first book in the American Madams series.
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Skipper

This is a coming of age story about a boy growing up in Central Florida in the 1950's. The boy seeks to know the truth about God and religion, sexual awakenings, love, friendship, hate and betrayal.


His boring and uninteresting life is transported into a magical life of excitement and adventure through explorations of rural ranch life, fishing in remote lakes, and the Gulf of Mexico. A Scout Master provides the opportunity of a life time for these wonderful new experiences, but is there too big of a price to pay? Only the boy can answer this question as he seeks the truth.
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Flight to Ohio: From Slavery to Passing to Freedom

“Flight to Ohio” begins in 1836, as 21-year-old Tom and his mother Nellie escape slavery on a Virginia plantation. They soon discover that Tom, the bastard son of the white master, passes as white when he is not seen with his mother. Tom must make a choice as to how to live. The stakes are raised when he courts and marries 18-year-old Sarah Long, a young white woman from a respected local farm family.

What is lost when identity is concealed? What price is paid? Tom’s emotional story unfolds against the backdrop of the Cincinnati race riots of 1836 and 1841 and the oncoming Civil War. In a place and time beset with racism, hate, jealousy and violence, the novel’s characters forge deep evolving loves, friendships, and loyalties as they move towards freedom, their ultimate goal.

This is the author’s imagined story of her own maternal ancestry.

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Shades of Africa

This is a story about a white girl, Shirley Schreiber, and her family. Growing up in South Africa and Rhodesia during the early years of racial discrimination including the apartheid years: 1944– to 1972. Shirley grows up during the years of racism and apartheid and the black power push for communism; when both sides are right, both are wrong. The betrayal by blacks and whites, each with a fierce passion for this cruel, unforgiving land where to trust could mean death.

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Legend of Coco Palms Resort

Never confuse Hawaiian spirits for Aloha spirit.

On the lush tropical Hawaiian island of Kauai sits the iconic dilapidated Coco Palms Resort, once a paradise getaway for the rich and famous. On September 11, 1992 Hurricane Iniki ripped through Kauai, leaving the resort nothing more than a hollowed shell.

Centuries before Iniki struck, the land belonged to Kauai's royal family. The lush coconut grove along the Wailua River was home to Queen Deborah, the last reigning monarch, whose remains have never been found. Rumor has it that she walks the halls of the resort.

After more than two decades, corporate New York lawyer, Abby Parker has been hired to acquire the property for a wealthy land developer. Abby soon discovers that the Heritage and Cultural Association is not the biggest obstacle to stand in her way. Within hours of arriving on the island, Abby finds herself on a gurney, in the back of an ambulance. Abby may have bitten off more than she can chew.

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Portrait in Time & Vale of Years


Portrait in Time and Vale of Years center on a dead body and mysterious naked woman found amidst the height of French art. Susanne Bruante, assistant gallery director at Paris' Musee d'Orsay, has developed a controversial theory about the provenance of some famous 19th century nudes. She's also having an affair with the museum's executive director to further her career, and hiding this fact from police makes her a prime murder suspect. However, the truth surrounding the man's death goes deeper than murder and involves love, art, and time travel. Susanne discovers this and inserts herself into history, setting up a plot to inherit the wealth of a famous painter before returning to her own time.



The Seed Apple

Holocaust survivor Mendel Traig meets the Binyans, Jewish Indians living in the California desert who claim to be descended from King Solomon’s sailors. Is the fantastic tale of the family’s ancient journey from the disintegrating Mayan culture of the Yucatan to this northern “promised land” true or a myth?
The Cold War is raging. Mendel falls for Sara Cavanaugh, the engineer responsible for a controversial tower under construction on a sacred site. If completed, the tower will communicate globally with the American nuclear submarine fleet. The Binyan patriarch and his brilliant son are in a generational conflict over the tower and the son’s future.

Spiced with magical realism and mysticism, The Seed Apple (a follow up to Greene’s Lost and Found) is a mysterious, funny, moving novel by a critically acclaimed author.
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Pearl MD by Marie Bartlett

"Pearl MD" is a fictional account of a female physician in 1800s North Carolina, inspired by real medical journals of the time. Rebuilding her life after a medical mistake that could have taken the life of a former patient who died in childbirth, Pearl starts her new practice far out in the country. She finds a friend in her African-American female assistant and encounters romance from a Chinese immigrant and from the town sheriff, who finds he must arrest her when her past catches up to her. Most of this book is actually about medicine and daily life in the time period, it's not a soap opera.

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Stray Son

Richard Slota's Stray Son
tells the story of a haunted Vietnam vet in the year 2000, reduced to working for a Santa Barbara mortuary, picking up dead bodies.  One day he picks up a live one—his elderly father’s young ghost, a WWII Marine who starts following him around town. Then son receives a phone call that his old father just died. At that moment the young Marine knocks on the son’s trailer door.
The grieving, confused son can no longer keep this apparition from his wife and kids—and opens the door. The Marine finally declares why he is there: to straighten out his stray son—and bum a ride to see his dying mother in a 1942 Sioux City, Iowa hospital. The son needs to take his family to Sioux City in the year 2000 to attend his father’s funeral. So the young father and the old son take their battles back to World War II on a trip across a wartime America towards death and an elusive reconciliation.

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The Village of Bones

A perilous journey, a stunning prophecy, a dangerous love that could destroy humankind: In 4386 B.C., a young priestess named Sabalah conceives a magical child with a mysterious stranger named Arash. Sabalah names the child Marrah. This child will save the Goddess-worshiping people of Europe from marauding nomad invaders called Beastmen, but only if her mother can keep her alive long enough to grow up. Warned by the Goddess in a vision of the coming invasion, Sabalah flees west with Arash to save her baby daughter, only to discover that she is running into the arms of her worst enemies. In the dark forests of northern Europe, other human-like species left over from the Ice Age still exist.
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The Illusion of Memory

This literary historical fiction novel is a story of two sisters, children of Holocaust survivor parents, who bond after tragedy and uncover secrets about their family. It offers exploration of how historical trauma affects families over multiple generations and a story from the heart about the experience of living one's childhood and young womanhood always in the shadow of the unspeakable.
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Expect Deception

Just when US WAVE Livvy Delacourt thinks she and her team of psychic Nazi hunters are ready for whatever The Reich can throw at them, Hitler adds to the mix a spy who also happens to be a wizard. Now dark magic is being used to attack US facilities, and Livvy must match wits with the evil wizard, whose objective is to destroy Operation Delphi and all her team. If she fails to ramp up her psychic powers, she may perish―and perhaps cause the US to lose the war with Germany while she’s at it.
An emotional journey through paranormal realms, Expect Deception is a fast-paced, suspenseful tale of what happens when US Navy psychics pit themselves against their Nazi counterparts.
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These World-Changing Books Make Great Christmas Gifts!

11/7/2017

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byLyn Lomasi,Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff
Give me...
Christmas is the season for giving. Make your gifts count this year by touching hearts with these world-changing true stories. These  will inspire, help people relate to one another, and perhaps even help some change the world themselves.

My Way Home: Growing Up Homeless in America

"His life was barely worth a dollar. He slept outside, on park benches, in stairwells, under bushes. Michael Gaulden lived in shelter after shelter across the United States. With his father incarcerated and mother disabled, he stayed homeless for ten years.

From the age of seven to seventeen, Michael, with his mother and sister, journeyed along his own underground railroad, desperately searching for a way to free his family from the sewers of society.

Michael learned death was a big part of youth homelessness. Education was not. To survive, he had to become something more. Caught in between two worlds- his dreams vs. his reality- violence, gangsters, hunger, poverty, and sorrow marked his daily life.

Michael vowed to change his fate through getting his high school diploma. He never hoped to dream that not only would he graduate from high school but also from a prestigious California university. This is the true story of a homeless boy, marked for prison or worse, who fought against tremendous odds and persevered to achieve academic and professional success."

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Being Seen: Memoir of an Autistic Mother, Immigrant, And Zen Student

"Being Seen is a memoir about a woman with autism struggling not only to be seen, but to be understood and respected. Anlor Davin grew up in a small town on the Western coast of France. From earliest childhood she was beset by overwhelming sensory chaos and had trouble navigating the social world. Only many years later did she learn that she was autistic. Throughout childhood, Anlor struggled to hold her world together and in many ways succeeded: she became an accomplished young tennis player, competing even at the level of the French Open. However, in addition to her autism a dark history hung over her family—a history that she did not fully understand for years to come"
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AMERICAN JUSTICE ON TRIAL: People v. Newton

"On the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party, Pearlman’s new book American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton compares the explosive state of American race relations in 1968 to race relations today with insights from key participants and observers of the internationally-watched Oakland, California death-penalty trial that launched the Panther Party and transformed the American jury “of one’s peers” to the diverse cross-section we often take for granted today."
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The Girl from Spaceship Earth: A True Story

"This innovative debut memoir tells the remarkable true story of one girl's lifelong passion to live up to the practical utopian ideas of the iconic American genius Steve Jobs called the Leonardo da Vinci of the twentieth century.

Instead of great works of art, Buckminster Fuller created new ways of thinking. A search to understand and then to share his practical utopian wisdom turns into a heartfelt, sometimes hilarious and always inspiring journey.....

The famous revolutionary thinker, inventor and futurist known to all as Bucky twice sweeps the author off her feet: First as a young girl visiting Fuller's 1969 World Game in Carbondale, Illinois and then again as a fledgling journalist in 1982 Chicago. High atop Michigan Avenue Bucky takes her cosmic surfing in an animated lecture about the remarkable possibilities for humanity to succeed beyond our wildest dreams. She promises to share his ideas with the world, which is the passionate obsession in an inspiring coming of age journey.

Readers get a charming introduction to an important historical figure as well as some uncommon sense prescriptions for humanity's success. 

This book gets readers out of their comfort zones to find their own voices to speak truth to power. Discovering Bucky's ideas is like finding a new engine under the hood of your car.  "

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Captive Market: Commercial Kidnapping Stories from Nigeria

"Captive Market is the first ever book-length exposé of the business side of kidnapping in Nigeria. Using first hand interviews with kidnap victims and their families, a story emerges that is packed with surprising twists, turns and paradoxes as it shines a light on the fear and the fact of kidnapping.

Kidnapping in Nigeria, though a growing fact of life that few want to talk about, is not very well understood. Its existence is a cancer that needs to be rooted out - it limits the potential of a growing Nigerian economy and the simple fear

of being the next kidnapping victim degrades how many Nigerians live their lives.

Captive Market takes the view that if we understand the way kidnappers think about kidnapping it might be easier to get people out of kidnapping situations. It uses first person kidnapping stories and interviews with hostage negotiators and peeks into the twisted and bizarre world of kidnapping insurance."

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Book Review - "Unless" by Carol Shields

9/2/2017

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This is an expanded version of a book review I submitted to Amazon. I will warn you: spoilers follow…

“Unless” is a novel that has received mixed reviews. Some call it boring. Some say the ending is too predictable. I actually have to say I didn’t pick up on it until the last few pages. But I suppose I wasn’t reading the book for the ending.

Perhaps the way in which you read this book is most important. Some might say that it doesn’t have enough action, and that there isn’t a coherent storyline. Some complain that the book is about a writer writing about writing a book about a woman writer. There are complaints that the book is extremely feminist; that is something I have no problem with. All the points Shields makes in the book are perfectly valid.

I think that this book is about how to deal with an extremely difficult situation: someone you love dearly has suddenly fallen out of life. As we find out, this actually is not as crazy as it first appears.  Life does not stop while you are dealing with a situation; you have to learn to cope.

There are a lot of undertones about how women are made to feel powerless in our society; this does seem to be a major theme in contemporary Canadian literature and I think this ruins the book for some people. But when you take it from the perspective of the character of Reta, an extremely well-written first-person narrative, it’s actually pretty easy to get caught up into thinking these words could be taken from a real woman’s diary. In fact, I actually found myself wondering about the actuality of certain aspects of the plot. I will refrain from giving away too many spoilers, but I really felt after reading this book that there were real people involved in the story of this book. I felt these were real people being written about.

Reta, our protagonist, is a writer, but mainly has been the personal translator for a legendary French/Canadian author Danielle Westerman. This character of Westerman was so interesting to me that I actually turned to Almighty Google to see what I could dig up. I found a musician, quite a lovely musician/model at that, and a link to an interview with Carol Shields, which basically said that Westerman was totally made up and not based on anyone in particular – this to me makes the character even more fascinating.

Danielle Westerman, at the telling of this story, is eighty-five going on eighty-six years old. She is a major feminist writer who lived through the Holocaust, who’s always written in French. Reta has translated three out of five volumes of Westerman’s memoirs, and she has received great praise from them all. Shields makes this woman so interesting that I wanted to read these memoirs for myself. They obviously, alas, do not exist for our enjoyment.

But now, Reta has taken a shot at novel writing. Her first was a modest success, so naturally, she is now pursuing her second. Being a writer of sorts, I found this sort-of “inside analysis” of the writing process of her novel most interesting; I think a lot of people were not too entertained by this aspect of the story. I must say that I’m not fond of the sort of “light fiction” she was working on, or the very annoying editor character introduced towards the end, but what she writes about character development was very interesting.

Shields makes Reta a very thoughtful and observant person. People may say this detracts from the story-telling, but I think Shields wrote this book exactly this way for a reason; she’s a writer writing about a writer and how she writes. It does seem to me, however, that someone as eloquent in her letters and her diary/journal entries would be much better served publishing such musings rather than some contrived silly work of “light” fiction.

Apologies for this being a major spoiler, but I understand exactly why Reta’s daughter, Norah, falls out in the way that she does. There’s actually quite a traumatic event, as you may infer is the case from something noted earlier in the book, involved in Norah’s sudden abandonment of her “normal life.” This concept of “goodness” I must say, that Norah becomes a silent spokesman for on a Toronto street corner, is never really dealt with in the pages of the book as I sort of hoped it would be. It is actually an act of “goodness” that has Norah end up in this apparently catatonic state, an act of goodness that does not go unpunished; she is scarred in more ways than one. I honestly can’t blame her. But all the while everyone is trying to psychologically deconstruct her; “what the hell went wrong?” people ask. I am relieved that in the end there was a perfectly understandable reason behind it. But it seems what Shields was trying to do here was make people ask themselves, what is “goodness” really? This was a book designed to make you think.
Unfortunately, for as much as I liked this book, I felt it lacked something. But for me, that something it was missing was made up for by my own experience. But again, maybe that was the point. This book is written from quite a feminist perspective, yes, and those “underpinnings” are not at all subtle; so it would be improper to refer to these obvious messages as underpinnings, then.

It's true that women are extremely under-represented in many areas of society. As I'll  say again, it seems to be still an extremely polarizing issue in Canada. Also, the marginalization of women in literature also becomes a major theme in the book. This is something that I think greatly distracts from the main plot with Norah. That is one major criticism I have with the book – even though it is one thing Norah does make clear she was rather displeased with a certain college literature professor about.

But this story is about a lot more than that. What touched me so much about this book is that it is about a mother doing everything possible to continue living a “normal” life while her daughter has totally abandoned any sort of “normality.” One of these coping mechanisms is writing the “light” fiction novel I mentioned before.

But that is only one such mechanism: reading, “club” meetings, daily routines, etc. This novel is about a “real” person coping with harsh “reality” by immersing herself in something “light.” So while people may think this is a weakness of the book, I feel it is a strength. I really “got to know” Reta. I want to have tea with her. I want to help Norah in trying to get her life back together.

Not being one for reading novels, honestly, I found this book to be a fantastic read. I read it in an evening, actually, and I couldn’t put it down. It made me reflect on the concept of “goodness” and how Reta’s daughter’s sudden falling out of “normal” life, trying to understand things that you just can’t explain, and having that overwhelm you to the point where “normality” seems irrelevant – that aspect of the story to me was very moving. Whether this is Carol Shields’ greatest work I cannot say, for it’s the only work of hers, so far, I’ve read. But I will say that it is a tremendous bookend to a marvelous literary career.


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About "Barrett & Ivan: Something About Him"  by A.D. Ellis

10/2/2016

 
by A.D. Ellis, Author
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Barrett & Ivan: Something About Him by A.D. Ellis

Despite the curve balls thrown at him throughout his childhood, Barrett Kenner is now a successful musician. The only thing missing is romance.

Ivan Romanov killed a man to save his sister’s life. Although he has served his time, Ivan’s past left him with baggage far heavier than the meager belongings he carries out of prison.

Barrett clings to the memory of a fervent kiss, a kiss that Ivan tries to pretend meant nothing. When the two men finally accept their feelings for each other, life should be smooth sailing, but the past still lurks in the shadows.

Can Barrett and Ivan protect their love and their lives, or will dangers from long ago be more than they can withstand?

**This is a male/male romance meant for ages 18+ due to adult language and adult situations.**

Read the teasers below:
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About the Author

A.D. Ellis spends the majority of her days loving and wrangling two school-aged children and a husband before heading to the inner city of Indiana to teach a challenging group of alternative education students in grades third through sixth. Most days she hits the gym after school in hopes of running and lifting away the stress and headaches of the day before picking up her children and squeezing a whole day’s worth of loving and living into the too-short hours before bed. It’s no wonder Ms. Ellis lives for the slower, easier days she gets to enjoy on breaks from school.

Growing up in a small farming town in southern Indiana, A.D. is grateful to her mother for passing along the love of reading. With her nose constantly stuck in a book, Ms. Ellis became accustomed to friends and acquaintances snickering and shaking their heads at her love of reading.

A.D. never dreamed of being anything but a teacher, although there are certain times of the year when she laments her career choice. Ms. Ellis had a story idea floating in her head for about a year. After persistent prodding from a friend, A.D. put pen to paper and began writing her first story in October 2013. From that moment on, she was hooked. Taking the people and stories from her head and sharing them with readers is a scary, exhausting, rewarding, and fulfilling experience which A.D. plans to continue until there are no more stories banging around in her mind.

A.D. Ellis’ work can be found on both iBooks and Amazon. Please contact her on Facebook, Twitter, or her website.

iBooks bit.ly/ADEllisiBooks
Amazon author.to/ADEllisAmazon
Facebook www.facebook.com/adellisauthor
Twitter www.twitter.com/ADEllisAuthor
Website http://www.adellisauthor.com

About  "Brody & Nick: Something About Him" by A.D. Ellis

10/2/2016

 
by A.D. Ellis, Author
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Brody & Nick: Something About Him by A.D. Ellis

Army specialist Brody King is a successful and respected soldier. With only a year left in his commitment, he devises a plan to help him save money—a plan that requires him to marry.

Nick Ferguson is working toward college graduation and his community services management career. With his lease about to expire, he’s more than willing to take Brody up on his crazy marriage scheme.

A solution that seems quick and easy turns into more than either of them ever anticipated. When Brody’s fears and insecurities surface, he makes a decision that may push Nick away forever.

Can a fake marriage built upon friendship withstand the obstacles of an uncertain future?

**This is a male/male romance for ages 18+ due to adult language and themes.**

Read the teasers below:


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About the Author

A.D. Ellis spends the majority of her days loving and wrangling two school-aged children and a husband before heading to the inner city of Indiana to teach a challenging group of alternative education students in grades third through sixth. Most days she hits the gym after school in hopes of running and lifting away the stress and headaches of the day before picking up her children and squeezing a whole day’s worth of loving and living into the too-short hours before bed. It’s no wonder Ms. Ellis lives for the slower, easier days she gets to enjoy on breaks from school.

Growing up in a small farming town in southern Indiana, A.D. is grateful to her mother for passing along the love of reading. With her nose constantly stuck in a book, Ms. Ellis became accustomed to friends and acquaintances snickering and shaking their heads at her love of reading.

A.D. never dreamed of being anything but a teacher, although there are certain times of the year when she laments her career choice. Ms. Ellis had a story idea floating in her head for about a year. After persistent prodding from a friend, A.D. put pen to paper and began writing her first story in October 2013. From that moment on, she was hooked. Taking the people and stories from her head and sharing them with readers is a scary, exhausting, rewarding, and fulfilling experience which A.D. plans to continue until there are no more stories banging around in her mind.

A.D. Ellis’ work can be found on both iBooks and Amazon. Please contact her on Facebook, Twitter, or her website.

iBooks bit.ly/ADEllisiBooks
Amazon author.to/ADEllisAmazon
Facebook www.facebook.com/adellisauthor
Twitter www.twitter.com/ADEllisAuthor
Website http://www.adellisauthor.com



About "Bryan & Jase: Something About Him" by A.D. Ellis

10/2/2016

 
by A.D. Ellis, Author
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Brian & Jase: Something About Him by A.D. Ellis

Jase Rafferty grew up hiding his sexual curiosities—until he meets Bryan Keating. Bryan’s sexuality is no secret, and being deployed overseas together allows the two men to forge a solid friendship. The sexual attraction is undeniable, but after one lust-filled week, they must go their separate ways.

A year later, a chance meeting gives them one more weekend together, even though they know Jase can’t risk his military career or his family obligations to be with Bryan.

Several years pass before Jase finally accepts the desperate longing in his heart and body. But when fear and hatred threaten to tear them apart, Jase must make a tough decision, one that he isn’t sure he and Bryan can overcome. Together, they must choose to weather the storm or say goodbye forever.

**This is a male/male romance meant for ages 18+ due to adult language and adult situations.**

Read the teasers below.
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About the Author


A.D. Ellis spends the majority of her days loving and wrangling two school-aged children and a husband before heading to the inner city of Indiana to teach a challenging group of alternative education students in grades third through sixth. Most days she hits the gym after school in hopes of running and lifting away the stress and headaches of the day before picking up her children and squeezing a whole day’s worth of loving and living into the too-short hours before bed. It’s no wonder Ms. Ellis lives for the slower, easier days she gets to enjoy on breaks from school.

Growing up in a small farming town in southern Indiana, A.D. is grateful to her mother for passing along the love of reading. With her nose constantly stuck in a book, Ms. Ellis became accustomed to friends and acquaintances snickering and shaking their heads at her love of reading.

A.D. never dreamed of being anything but a teacher, although there are certain times of the year when she laments her career choice. Ms. Ellis had a story idea floating in her head for about a year. After persistent prodding from a friend, A.D. put pen to paper and began writing her first story in October 2013. From that moment on, she was hooked. Taking the people and stories from her head and sharing them with readers is a scary, exhausting, rewarding, and fulfilling experience which A.D. plans to continue until there are no more stories banging around in her mind.

A.D. Ellis’ work can be found on both iBooks and Amazon. Please contact her on Facebook, Twitter, or her website.

iBooks bit.ly/ADEllisiBooks
Amazon author.to/ADEllisAmazon
Facebook www.facebook.com/adellisauthor
Twitter www.twitter.com/ADEllisAuthor
Website http://www.adellisauthor.com



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    Lyn Lomasi is founder and owner of the Brand Shamans Content Community. Services include ordained soul therapy and healing ministry, business success coaching, business success services, handcrafted healing jewelry, ethereal and anointing oils, altar and spiritual supplies and services, handcrafted healing beauty products, and more!

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ALL SITES

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The Brand Shamans market jewelry, crystals, authors, books, healing products, ritual supplies, content and content services, brands, branding, marketing, business success, all businesses (with preferences and specialties in small businesses, disadvantaged businesses, minority businesses, family, women, and more), and much more. CONTACT US for questions or to get your business noticed!

Brand Shamans Content Community is your top source for quality content. Whether you need content or are looking to publish your best work, we have you covered. We are a community of content superstars saving the web from crap content daily! We're also a full-circle consulting firm for marketing, publishing, and content. We use branding experience & Earth's energy to better your brand. Our expert natural-born intuitive healers are also industry experts that have been helping others succeed for years. We believe that everything is connected, but as humans, we can't always see what's in front of us. Our mission is to help your potential customers, audience, team members, and other key players find you and stay connected!

ABOUT THE OWNER

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Lyn Lomasi is founder and owner of the Brand Shamans Content Community. Services include ordained soul therapy and healing ministry, business success coaching, business success services, handcrafted healing jewelry, ethereal and anointing oils, altar and spiritual supplies and services, handcrafted healing beauty products, and more!

Lyn is your brand healing, soul healing, marketing & content superhero to the rescue! While rescuing civilians from boring business practices and energy vampires, this awesomely crazy family conquers evil and creates change.

They live among tigers, dragons, mermaids, unicorns, and other fantastic energies, teaching others to claim their own power and do the same.

By supporting us, you support a dedicated parent, healer,  and minority small business that donates to several causes. Profits from our all-inclusive store, Intent-sive Nature support these causes and our beautiful family!

HIRE OR SHOP WITH LYN  |  CONTACT LYN


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