Review, Guest Post & Giveaway (autographed copy): Maycly by Janet Beasley

Original Title: Maycly

Series: Hidden Earth Series

Author: Janet Beasley

Publisher: JLB Creatives

Published Date: March 2012

Genre: Fantasy

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Maycly is a world everyone longs to experience, but for Iona, left alone to fend for herself, Maycly has become a fading dream. After years of endless searching for her missing family, she had all but given up hope. But the Grand Wizard, SUL, had a plan.
 This faith based fantasy adventure is suitable for the entire family. Maycly is filled with adventure, trials, love, and epic battles, along with fantastic flora, creative creatures, and characters that come to life through illustrations. There is no profanity, vulgarity, or explicit sex.
 Will Iona discover her true destiny? Will she ever find her missing family? Is Maycly bound to an existence of Evil for eternity? What will happen to Earth? Only the tales of HIDDN EARTH hold the answers.

REVIEW OF MAYCLY PART 1

The novel started with a tragedy.  20-year old Iona, who is happily married to Cole, a loving husband and lives near her parents' house.  She is also suffering from various ailments and Cole takes care of her in all possible ways.  One bad day, Cole and her parents doesn't return back from their doesn't return home after their travel.  After searching the hospitals, police stations and neighborhood for days, Iona is left alone with her ailments..and yeah, debts.  After some months, Iona's home is going to be taken for debts and she is homeless.  At that time, she is gifted with a cute puppy, which is left at her doorstep.

Iona leaves home and wanders away with the puppy.  She sleeps in the streets and eats from the garbage.  Yeah, I know..not a story that you gives you the happy feelings right?  But, don't worry..Iona's sufferings ends here.  When she reaches another village, she is given home and job by a stranger who calls himself - "The Man Behind the Dumpster" or "Dumpster Man".  She soon is thrown into a series of activities, that is not in any way in her control.  Will Iona live up to her expectations?  Will she trust the God of Maycly - SUL?  Will she be able to save the land of God?  Will she ever find and rejoin with her parents and her husband?  I know you hope she does..join the club!

There is a separate story of Maycly - the land of all good things.  It explains the creation of the universe, Earth and Maycly.  The Creator is called SUL!  It was really exciting to read about the theory of creation of the Universe.  This book is more suitable to middle grade/children. 

The author has amazing imagination and she really has a good talent in writing.  This series will be remembered by children as the one that they enjoyed.  (But, I really doubt whether the same goes for adults..)

An interesting attempt on pure fantasy!

SERIES ORDER

There are three parts of the Hidden Earth series.  But, this is available in one single set too (above picture).

10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

 - Guest Post by Janet Beasley

1.  I love westerns
2.  If my husband and I could do anything in the world we would race offshore boats.

3.  I get attached to the fish in my aquarium
4.  I hate coconut
5.  I can’t draw pictures of anything
6.  I’m scared to death of caterpillars, grass hoppers, and big beetles
7.  I have no talent at growing anything in the flora realm
8.  Chick flicks are nowhere in my vocabulary
9.  I write so much better than I read
10.  I’m terrible at math

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Janet was born and raised in Ohio. She and her husband, Don, moved to Florida in the 1980′s to not only escape the cold winters, but to also pursue their careers as live event and production specialists. It was through their parent company, Multi-Tech Productions, Inc, that Janet's creativity was given free reign to soar. She was published in trade specific magazines, published non-fiction books, spoke at international conferences nationwide, and developed training classes pertaining to technical theater applications. When chronic illness stopped her in her tracks, it didn't stop her as a creative genius. Once she was back on her feet she took over the family gourmet dog treat business and expanded it by adding a full scale bakery to the already established "BARK"-ery. Again she collapsed, and again she didn't let it keep her down. Her creativity crested new horizons, and after putting herself through schooling at age 49 she became an epic fantasy author. She birthed JLB Creatives, a subsidiary of Multi-Tech Productions, Inc., which handles the publishing and authorship side of the business.

Volume 1 - Maycly in her HIDDEN EARTH series was an eight year project brought to fruition by her determination, dedication, and zest for life! Janet and Don still reside in Florida. Janet is a dog lover who enjoys tandem kayaking, photographing nature, and baking cupcakes.

AUTHOR ONLINE: Blog 1 | Blog 2 | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | LinkedIn | Flickr

GIVEAWAY

Well readers, the author is giving away an autographed copy of Maycly (Complete Hidden Earth series set) to one winner of Continental US.  If you are outside Continental U.S., you have to take care of the shipping charges.  

GIVEAWAY ENDS 4TH JUNE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview & Giveaway: Maycly by Janet Beasley

Is there an inspiration behind why you chose writing?

There are several underlying inspirations! First would be the fact that I was never the kid in school who was interested in the cut and dry – you know, what was going on in class. I was the kid who was always looking out the window, daydreaming about what land I could be princess of when I got home. Visuals of creatures, plants, and characters would race through my head and I couldn’t wait to get home and start playing with all of my imaginary friends. Secondly, my husband and I have been involved in the technical side of productions and entertainment since we started dating back in the 70’s. In ’98 we started our own live event and production company, Multi-Tech Productions Inc. Through that we have helped schools, churches, and community theaters with the technical side of their productions. My health failed me, taking me away from the physically demanding work of production, so I turned to baking gourmet dog treats – the family business for years. I expanded the dog treat business, and included a bakery filled with sweet confections for people. I designed four restaurants complete with menus, recipes, and venue specs. My health condition relapsed, and I collapsed yet again. Not being a quitter, I turned my creativity to writing – and can gladly say I’ve found my niche` in life…it only took 50 years! LOL!

Give us a glimpse into a typical day in your day starting when you wake up till you lie down again.

Given unlimited resources, how would you change the publishing world?

Original Title: Mrs. Tuesday's Departure

Author: Suzanne E. Anderson

Publisher: Henry and George Press

Published Date: February 7th 2012

Genre: Historical Fiction

Links: Amazon | Goodreads

AUTHOR ONLINE: Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…
 Hungary's fragile alliance with Germany kept Natalie, a renowned children’s book author, and her family out of harm's way for most of the war. Now as the Führer's desperation grows during the waning years of the conflict, so does its threat. Natalie's younger sister, Ilona, married a Jewish man, putting both her and her young daughter, Mila, in peril; Natalie's twin sister, Anna, is losing her already tenuous hold on reality. As the streets of Budapest thrum with the pounding boots of Nazi soldiers, danger creeps to the doorstep where Natalie shields them all.
 Ilona and her husband take the last two tickets to safety for themselves, abandoning Natalie to protect Anna and Mila from the encroaching danger. Anna's paranoid explosion at a university where was once a professor, sparked by delusions over an imagined love triangle, threatens their only other chance for escape. Ultimately, Natalie is presented with a choice no one should ever have to make; which of her family will she save?
 An inspirational story of faith and family, strength and weakness, and the ultimate triumph of love over hate. Mrs. Tuesday’s Departure demonstrates the power of faith to light even the most harrowing darkness.
 ... faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Given unlimited resources, how would you change the publishing world?

 - Guest Post By Suzanne Anderson

Actually, thanks to Amazon.com and the ease with which self-publishing has allowed anyone to enter the market, I think the publishing world is doing a great job of going through it’s own rapid evolution and requires no help from me. The gate-keepers of literary agents and publishing houses have, like the little man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz, lost a great deal of their power in the past few years. While they will always play a vital and important role in the market, luckily for us, they are no longer the only avenue to publication.

The best outcome of this revolution in publishing is that it doesn’t take unlimited resources to play the game. The barriers to entry have been virtually eliminated thanks to the advent of the e-reader and the availability of venues for free publication.

Remember when you had to spend months querying agents in New York, just hoping to find one who would represent you and your book? That process was like playing the lottery. It could take months or you could win on your first try. But that was only the first step.

The next wait came when your agent sent your book out to publishers. Then the beauty contest began again. If the book was not picked up by a publisher, you might be asked to re-write the book, your agent might drop you, or she might wait around while you wrote a second book.

If you were lucky enough to find a publisher to take on your book, you had to hope that it would become the victim of the revolving door of editors moving from house to house. If you were lucky your book might see the shelves of a bookstore one and a half years after your typed ‘The End’.

Now, all of that has changed. In my mind, for the better.

Today you can take matters into your own hands and self-publish your work and get your book into the hands of readers immediately.

Yes, you do still need to have your work edited. An eye-catching book cover will help you stand out from the crowd. And working up a consistent marketing campaign will help readers to find you.

The key is that all of these opportunities and responsibilities are now in your hands.

Which is why, in my mind, today is the best time in the history of the world to be a writer. The only thing stopping you is your willingness to do the work. Which means that really, you have all the unlimited resources you could ever need!

Shelf Candy Saturday #6

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday, a Saturday meme, hosted by Five Alarm Book Reviews.

This is where I feature a favorite cover and its artist, which does not have to come from a new release or something that I received in my mailbox.  Any cover that I discover and love will fit the bill.  

My pick this week is Ethos: Morning Star (Ethos #1) by Desiree Finkbeiner.

Amazon | Goodreads | Library Thing | Shelfari