Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Raphael Pond, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his new science-fiction dystopian thriller, Bell Tower.
Presenting…
About the Book
In a future where one phrase can heal any pain, there exists a meditation unlike any other: Solosis. It’s a practice that forms an empathetic bond between two souls, unlocking unparalleled healing power. But its secrets are fiercely guarded by Sasha Sumzer, a mysterious meditation teacher with a darker agenda. Sasha is determined to bring down Axiom, the social media giant that has reshaped society with its revolutionary Glow Domes—devices that have replaced smartphones and altered daily life forever. While Glow Domes captivate the masses, Sasha believes the human mind is the final frontier for true liberation. As an unsuspecting group of individuals stumbles upon Sasha’s teachings, they become entangled in a dangerous game that forces them to question whether Solosis is a tool for healing or a weapon for control. To discover the truth , they must confront their deepest fears and decide what they’re willing to sacrifice to save the nation’s collective consciousness. In this gripping thriller, the battle for the mind has begun—and the line between healing and manipulation is dangerously thin.
Author bio: Raphael Pond earned a degree in professional writing at York College of Pennsylvania. While there, he also studied the philosophy of technology and its effects on humankind. Raphael currently lives in Salem, Oregon where he is a personal trainer by day and a writer by night. In the summers, he and his wife like to go on adventures in nature. They are always looking for a good hike, hot spring, swimming hole, or rock wall to climb.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge! We’re thrilled to host author Robert A. Walker today, who will be unveiling an intriguing excerpt from their new fantasy series, The Legend of Baelon, Six Moons, Seven Gods. Dive in and get an exclusive sneak peek into the intriguing world they’ve crafted in their latest work!
About the Book
Six Moons, Seven Gods
“One must be careful practicing deception. The easiest to deceive will always be one’s self.”
The skilled thieves of the Takers Guild plot to overthrow the kingdoms of Baelon, but when their plans are thwarted by a prescient woman and her brooding daughter, they must turn to the League of Assassins for assistance. Meanwhile, retired royal guard Rolft Aerns returns to the palace of King Axil with an old score to settle. When they all cross paths–and swords–in the dark shadows of Fostead’s south end, nothing is as it seems and the murder count rises quickly.
The long fingers of the Guild reach everywhere, and one overly ambitious thief is all it takes to spark a chain of events that will haunt the world of Baelon for many years to come.
Six Moons, Seven Gods is book one in The Legends of Baelon.
Night was falling as Sibil left the cobbler’s shop. She turned to watch its front door close, managing to wave before the cobbler’s wrinkled face and long leather apron disappeared inside. The small shop was, as the abbot had said, but a short walk from The God of Children’s House; she had had no trouble finding it following his directions. The abbot had given her a metal amulet in the shape of a rectangular shield the size of her palm. Its leather thong enabled it to be worn around the neck, but the abbot had told her to present it to the cobbler with one of her mother’s worn shoes upon arrival.
She had done so and, as predicted by the abbot, the cobbler—a kindly old man with a mop of white hair—had simply asked, “How do you come by this, my dear?”
And though it seemed a bit odd to her, she had responded as instructed: “Thank you for asking, Master Nash. Father Syrus prays for me.”
The cobbler had returned the amulet to her hand, folding her fingers around it. “Then I am at your service, madam. What can I do for you?”
When Sibil had explained her predicament, the cobbler had assured her that if she would return on the morrow at sunrise, he would have ready for her mother a pair of new turnshoes made of soft leather goatskin. There would be no charge.
Sibil retraced her steps down a narrow alley as her thoughts returned to her mother’s strange behavior. She had purposely ignored previous impulses to reconstruct the day’s events, telling herself she had more important things to pursue. She had first focused her energies on finding shelter, and then busied herself with the abbot’s offer of new shoes. Those would help her mother’s immediate plight, no doubt, but the woman’s physical ailments were clearly nothing compared to what was plaguing her mind. Things had not been right with her since Sibil’s father died. And they had gotten progressively worse. It was as though she had drifted away from her old self, and from those she had been close to. Sibil had not had a meaningful conversation with her for almons. There were sparks of life here and there, moments when Sibil dared to hope that her mother might be released from whatever enthralled her, but today’s events had seriously dashed any such dream. Aloof and withdrawn was bad enough. Now it seemed her mother was drifting from reality as well. Her irrational rants about the king and Sibil’s own safety were a new—
A violent force slammed into Sibil’s shoulder, knocking her sideways and into the alley wall. She lost her footing, falling to one knee, dazed. There was the sound of gravel grating under foot.
“Well now, lass, jest where might you be goin’?”
Sibil’s heartbeat quickened. She should have known not to take the alley. It was dark, but not so dark that she could not make out the shape of a tall man standing over her. She could smell him as well. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head toward his crotch.
Sibil still held the amulet. Instinctively, she drove it as hard as she could up between the man’s legs. He gasped and released her hair.
“Bitch!” The man reached once more for her, but Sibil had already drawn her arm back. She struck him again with the amulet, in the same spot, only this time with more purchase and resolve. “Agh!” Too late, the man struggled to shield his privates.
Sibil stood, dropping the amulet as she reached frantically for the dagger beneath her coat. Her fingers trembled as they curled tightly around its hilt. She brandished the blade menacingly, panting as she sought to ward off her attacker.
“Bitch!” The man drew his own, much larger, knife. He lunged as Sibil turned and ran straight into the arms of an even larger man she had not seen approaching from the other end of the alley. She tried to push away, but already he had wrapped a strong arm around her, pinning both of hers and lifting her off her feet. Still holding her, the big man grabbed her oncoming assailant with his other arm and threw him headfirst against the alley wall.
Sibil squirmed, but the big man held her tightly with one arm. With the other, he pried the dagger from her hand.
“I’m going to let you go now. No further harm will come to you.”
Sibil found herself standing on her own, unsure of what to think. The big man held her dagger by the blade and offered it to her. “Take it and be off.”
What’s happening? Sibil hesitated before instinct overrode all else. With another surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins, she snatched her knife and ran.
About The Author
Robert A. Walker
I grew up in a small Northwestern town in Massachusetts. My father was a professional editor, so I’m sure the itch to play with words is something I inherited from him. I was always writing stories as a youth, and my dad would scribble all over them before handing them back to me. When I graduated college, I packed everything I owned into a small car with a rusted-out floorboard and headed west. I wound up in California where I found not only employment, but a wife, and we have lived here happily with our dogs and a view of the Pacific Ocean ever since. When I’m not fabricating tales, I can be found competing on local tennis courts or working on a never-ending list of DIY house projects.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge! We’re thrilled to host author Andrew Goliszek today, who will be unveiling an intriguing excerpt from their new fantasy series, Like Embers in the Night. Dive in and get an exclusive sneak peek into the intriguing world they’ve crafted in their latest work!
About the Book
Like Embers in the Night
During Stalin’s brutal reign of terror, Janek, a Polish soldier, and his wife, Wanda, endure the horrors of Soviet labor camps and Siberian gulags as World War II rages across Europe. While millions perish, they endure the invasion of Poland by Germany and Russia and then miraculously survive mass deportations, imprisonment, torture, and starvation. Broken both physically and emotionally by their near-death experiences and the unspeakable atrocities of dictatorships and of war, Janek and Wanda are reunited seven years after he marched off to defend his country. They must begin a new life and try to forget the many scars of their past, but where? And can they ever truly forget all that happened to them while they were apart…
You can find Like Embers in the Night here: Amazon
Excerpt
Slumped almost lifelessly against the tufts of her chair, Wanda stared out an open window overlooking a lovely garden. Warm August rains had colored the grounds with a sea of vibrant flowers, their scent filling her room like a bouquet, though she barely noticed. Occasionally, even the most insignificant events would trigger memories from a time long gone: a soft whisper, a faint smell, the delicate warmth of a child’s breath against her face, the soothing melody of a Mozart sonata. It was at those moments that Wanda would waken from her darkness and, with a look of fear spreading across her face, remember her family in Radom, who had no idea that a hundred miles south, the skies rained gray with the ashes of a thousand souls. On most days, they hardly detected the grainy soot around them, or even witnessed an evening sunset because the five incinerators in Auschwitz burned bodies day and night. Before long, everyone in Radom simply got used to it—a lingering grit that filled the air and settled upon the smallest things: a blade of grass, a delicate flower, a pat of butter spread on toast, a tongue that flicked unconsciously to rid itself of a strange and fleshy taste that hours earlier had been someone’s husband or wife.
Wanda’s memories these days came in and out, bubbling to the surface, then vanishing as if someone had reached in and wiped them away. On especially bad days, her world was a blank slate. No parents or grandparents to remember. No children or grandchildren to bring joy into her life. Not even a husband to keep her warm at night as she slept. The good sisters of Saint Francis who ran the Catholic nursing home tried as best they could to ease the bouts of anger and depression that overcame her. It didn’t help that Wanda, afflicted with worsening dementia, had, on some days, reverted to speaking Polish to everyone around her.
That particular day in early August started out as a good one. Perked up and searching the room for anything familiar, her eyes sparkled as she caught glimpses of happier days, but suddenly turned despondent when she remembered the day she’d seen her beloved Janek for the last time. He was eighty-six years old when she walked into his hospital room in Pensacola, Florida—a gentle shadow of a man with a Polish accent, a kind but stoic face, and such remarkable stories of love and suffering and war that they’d forever changed the way his children and grandchildren looked at life. The few friends he had knew him as John, but he preferred Janek, one of the few reminders he had of his beloved Poland. His hazel eyes, so animated they seemed to dance, would glisten with tears whenever he spoke of what his wife and daughter had endured in the brutal labor camps of Siberia; and it was at those moments when Janek’s eyes would harden and expose the very depths of his soul.
Wanda remembered that morning like it was yesterday, picturing the ventilator tube snaked down his throat, his frail chest rising and falling to the rhythm of oxygen that kept his heart from stopping until his family could all gather and say goodbye for the last time, staring at his ashen face as she thought back to a life that most people would find unimaginable. Her bony fingers clenched as if holding onto something precious, she looked at a small painting of the Virgin Mary, then glanced around the stark room. Something familiar pervaded the silence. She felt alone, as she did on most days, though she rarely knew it or even cared, until her memory suddenly returned and she would whisper, “Janek. Where are you, my love?”
For the entire minute she was lucid, Wanda remembered pressing Janek’s cold hand into hers, thinking that he had no business being alive; that his children and grandchildren should not have been born; that whosever’s life he’d ever touched or changed, made better or worse because of his existence on earth, would be as different as night and day. And that whatever he’d done in his next forty-six years, whatever contributions he’d made, significant or not, would have vanished like dust in the wind were it not for the fateful day he’d risked his life and walked to freedom while twenty-five thousand other Polish soldiers marched in lockstep to Stalin’s execution order and on to their graves in the Katyn Forest.
Over the years, Wanda had heard the tragic story of Stalin’s Katyn Massacre and the Polish soldiers executed and thrown into mass graves where they lay buried and forgotten for decades. Though she’d never spoken of it herself, and it pained her to listen to Janek’s heart wrenching tales of war, she’d accepted that, for him, it was cathartic. But as she grew older, and because she’d experienced more pain in seven years than most women would suffer in a lifetime, she prohibited even a mention of anything Russian, especially when Janek would describe a time in history when hell, in all its fury, had made its home on earth.
Wanda’s Poland, with a population of only thirty-five million, was the only Allied nation that fought in World War II from the opening salvos of Nazi occupation and Russia’s invasion in 1939 until Germany’s surrender a week after Adolf Hitler had committed suicide in 1945. For its size, no other nation on earth had given as much or had suffered more than Poland: millions sent to gulags or deported to labor camps in Kazakhstan and the frigid regions of Siberia; millions more exterminated in concentration camps dotted across the Polish landscape; countless men, women, and children starved, tortured, murdered, and worked to death simply because they were Poles. By the time the war ended, its population had been reduced by at least ten million. To survive six years of the two most brutal regimes in modern history was not only unlikely, it was truly a miracle. But amongst the ashes and smoldering ruins, broken lives and unspeakable horrors of war, miracles did happen; survivors who’d lived to tell their children of war and gulags, of victors and unlikely heroes, trying in vain to forget the shocking cruelty of a world that had taken everything they had from them, living their lives in the shadows as if no one else in the world cared. It’s said that these heroes are like embers in the night, glowing brilliantly in the darkest moments of history, forever changing the course of humanity, and then, just as suddenly, vanishing as distant memories fade and the world forgets what ordinary men and women did when hope was gone and all seemed lost. Wanda and Janek were two of those seemingly ordinary people, and on that day and at that moment in Sandusky, Ohio, Wanda remembered.
About The Author
Andrew Goliszek
After receiving a Ph.D. in Physiology from Utah State University, Dr. Andrew Goliszek was a research associate at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in both the department of Physiology and the department of Medicine. Following that, he was Associate Professor of Biology and Human Anatomy & Physiology at North Carolina A&T State University where he developed and taught 6 undergraduate and graduate course. He has written numerous books and articles, was principal investigator on several NIH biomedical research grants, and was recipient of the prestigious College of Arts & Sciences Faculty of the Year Award for excellence in teaching, research, and student advising.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Robert A. Walker for his book, Six Moons, Seven Gods.
Book: Six Moons, Seven Gods Author: Robert A. Walker Publication Date: November 1, 2023 Genres: Fantasy, Adventure Page Count: 305 pages Publisher: –
About the Book
“One must be careful practicing deception. The easiest to deceive will always be one’s self.”
The skilled thieves of the Takers Guild plot to overthrow the kingdoms of Baelon, but when their plans are thwarted by a prescient woman and her brooding daughter, they must turn to the League of Assassins for assistance. Meanwhile, retired royal guard Rolft Aerns returns to the palace of King Axil with an old score to settle. When they all cross paths–and swords–in the dark shadows of Fostead’s south end, nothing is as it seems and the murder count rises quickly.
The long fingers of the Guild reach everywhere, and one overly ambitious thief is all it takes to spark a chain of events that will haunt the world of Baelon for many years to come.
Six Moons, Seven Gods is book one in The Legends of Baelon.
Winner of Book Excellence Award for Best Medieval Fantasy, Chick Lit Cafe, November, 2023
Winner of Literary Titan Book Award, December, 2023
I grew up in a small Northwestern town in Massachusetts. My father was a professional editor, so I’m sure the itch to play with words is something I inherited from him. I was always writing stories as a youth, and my dad would scribble all over them before handing them back to me. When I graduated college, I packed everything I owned into a small car with a rusted-out floorboard and headed west. I wound up in California where I found not only employment, but a wife, and we have lived here happily with our dogs and a view of the Pacific Ocean ever since. When I’m not fabricating tales, I can be found competing on local tennis courts or working on a never-ending list of DIY house projects.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Andrew Goliszek for his latest release, Like Embers in the Night.
Book: Like Embers in the Night Author: Andrew Goliszek Publication date: December 16, 2024 Genres: Historical Fiction, General Fiction, Women’s Fiction Page Count: 333 pages Publisher: Wild Rose Press, NY
About the Book
During Stalin’s brutal reign of terror, Janek, a Polish soldier, and his wife, Wanda, endure the horrors of Soviet labor camps and Siberian gulags as World War II rages across Europe. While millions perish, they endure the invasion of Poland by Germany and Russia and then miraculously survive mass deportations, imprisonment, torture, and starvation. Broken both physically and emotionally by their near-death experiences and the unspeakable atrocities of dictatorships and of war, Janek and Wanda are reunited seven years after he marched off to defend his country. They must begin a new life and try to forget the many scars of their past, but where? And can they ever truly forget all that happened to them while they were apart…
You can find Like Embers in the Night here: Amazon
About The Author
Andrew Goliszek
After receiving a Ph.D. in Physiology from Utah State University, Dr. Andrew Goliszek was a research associate at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in both the department of Physiology and the department of Medicine. Following that, he was Associate Professor of Biology and Human Anatomy & Physiology at North Carolina A&T State University where he developed and taught 6 undergraduate and graduate course. He has written numerous books and articles, was principal investigator on several NIH biomedical research grants, and was recipient of the prestigious College of Arts & Sciences Faculty of the Year Award for excellence in teaching, research, and student advising.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Andrew Goliszek, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his historical fiction novel, Like Embers in the Night.
Presenting…
About the Book
During Stalin’s brutal reign of terror, Janek, a Polish soldier, and his wife, Wanda, endure the horrors of Soviet labor camps and Siberian gulags as World War II rages across Europe. While millions perish, they endure the invasion of Poland by Germany and Russia and then miraculously survive mass deportations, imprisonment, torture, and starvation. Broken both physically and emotionally by their near-death experiences and the unspeakable atrocities of dictatorships and of war, Janek and Wanda are reunited seven years after he marched off to defend his country. They must begin a new life and try to forget the many scars of their past, but where? And can they ever truly forget all that happened to them while they were apart…
You can find Like Embers in the Night here: Amazon
About The Author
Andrew Goliszek
After receiving a Ph.D. in Physiology from Utah State University, Dr. Andrew Goliszek was a research associate at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in both the department of Physiology and the department of Medicine. Following that, he was Associate Professor of Biology and Human Anatomy & Physiology at North Carolina A&T State University where he developed and taught 6 undergraduate and graduate course. He has written numerous books and articles, was principal investigator on several NIH biomedical research grants, and was recipient of the prestigious College of Arts & Sciences Faculty of the Year Award for excellence in teaching, research, and student advising.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Lisa A. Moore for her latest release, Whispers of the Selkie.
Book: Whispers of the Selkie Author: Lisa A. Moore Publication date: January 21, 2025 Genres: Urban Fantasy, Mystical Realism, Contemporary Fantasy Page Count: 306 pages Publisher: –
About the Book
Some secrets refuse to stay buried-especially when the ocean itself seems to be keeping them.
When Morwenna Willowheart Brightwood receives a mysterious letter shimmering with an otherworldly pull, her carefully controlled life begins to unravel. She’s content in her weathered lighthouse home on the Maine coast, weaving stories for others and tending her wind-battered garden. But this letter isn’t just a piece of paper-it’s a summons. One that carries her across the sea to the mist-shrouded Scottish Highlands, where ancient legends breathe, magic hums just beneath the surface, and family secrets refuse to stay silent.
Thrown into a world she barely understands, Morwenna is forced to confront the legacy she’s unknowingly inherited-a tangled web of selkie folklore, forgotten power, and a curse that stretches back generations. With her fiercely protective sister Ava by her side and the guidance of mysterious allies with motives as murky as the sea itself, Morwenna must navigate a path filled with danger, deception, and choices she’s not ready to make.
But legends don’t care about readiness. They don’t care about fear. And the tide waits for no one.
Whispers of the Selkie is a story where urban fantasy collides with mystical realism, set against the haunting beauty of the Scottish coastline. Rich with contemporary fantasy flair, it’s a tale of family loyalty, reluctant destiny, and the pull of magic that refuses to let go.
Perfect for fans of Karen Moning, Deborah Harkness, and readers who crave sharp-witted heroines, atmospheric worlds, and secrets wrapped in salt and shadow.
Lisa Moore juggles more storylines than her pilot husband does flight schedules. Specializing in urban fantasy and psychological thrillers, she occasionally dabbles in gothic and paranormal for a fun plot twist. A master of multitasking, she keeps several stories brewing at once—one as her main obsession and the others as creative pit stops when her imagination needs a stretch. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her chasing after her energetic dog, Violette, or splashing vibrant watercolors, adding a little color to the chaos.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB! We are really excited to have you over. Please give our readers a brief introduction about yourself before we begin.
*stares at you for a moment as if she is trying to see the bottom of your soul* Siff Braghor, Commander, first officer on the Herald Petrel, ship number 3342 of the Company Cargo Fleet (CCF). The type is a Stargazer Mark V.
What is your age and what do you do for a living?
35. As I just said, I am the first officer on the Herald Petrel.
How you like to spend your free time?
Exercising. I do a lot of sports. Won some competitions. I also hold the current title in Pokaran Procat Pull.
What’s that?
*rolls eyes* The most important skill competition for heavy equipment drivers. Are you Earthlings never educating yourself about what goes on in the universe outside of that ridiculous small blue planet? You are so pathetic!
I also heard rumors that you read books?
Who said that? *raises suspicious eyebrow* Are you trying to lure me into a trap? *cracks knuckles*
Let’s skip that. Please share some of your beliefs, principles, motivations and morals (can be social, religious or political or, etc. Anything that will help us get to know you better.)
I believe I shouldn’t trust strangers asking too many questions.
We already had Captain Galahad and Raffi answering the same question.
Did they, now? And when two of your crew mates are eating toxic trappel berry jam with pietec feet you do the same just because they did?
Let’s skip that as well, then. Tell us something about your family and childhood.
The crew is my family, now. They are all that matter. Everything else is in the past and doesn’t mean anything.
Tell us something about your dreams and aspirations? Were you able to achieve them or are you planning to?
I am very happy to be the Commander of the Herald Petrel. I don’t need anything else.
What is your biggest fear in life?
I don’t fear anything in this universe.
How would you describe your life in one sentence?
Good, considering the circumstances.
What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?
You have no idea. Be glad you have no idea. *stares at you as if she sees all the bad things that ever happened to you and all the terrible things you ever did in your life and judges you for them*
Did it change you for the better or the worse?
People constantly change. Better or worse are dubious concepts that depend hugely on viewpoint.
What are your plans for the future?
Fly to Providence 5. Then see who the new captain is going to be. Because they can’t seriously keep that lame excuse for a captain around for much longer. I have no idea what they thought when they made Galahad captain, but he is not able to run a ship. He says he was a captain before, even claiming that he led missions in dangerous territory, but I don’t believe one bit of it. He just doesn’t have it. Being a captain needs grit, confidence, quick thinking and most of all passion. I sense nothing of that in Galahad.
So, you want to be a captain?
*spits out* Mother Goddess, no! I am not that stupid. I want to be first officer under a capable captain, that’s all!
Is there anything else you want to tell us?
No. Can I go, now? I have a ship to run.
Wow, thanks a lot, Siff, for your… enlightening answers. I look forward to knowing more about you and your adventures in the future!
Herald Petrel
If you ask Harold Galahad, he isn’t fit to lead the crew of the half-destroyed cargo spaceship Herald Petrel back home. But nobody asks Harry.
An explosion leaves the ship helplessly floating in space and Harry reliving his own personal nightmare. He doesn’t want to be a captain anymore, and nobody trusts him as captain—least of all himself. The crew behaves strangely, his first officer is less than helpful, and the more he finds out, the more Harry has to challenge his own beliefs. While forced to relive the darkest part of his past, Captain Harold Galahad needs to figure out what happened and find a way back home.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB! We are really excited to have you over. Please—
Oh, I am also very excited to be here. Like: big time! I got so many questions for you. Like, how is it to have a book blog? I think that must be totally exciting. But also exhausting, I imagine. I mean, all those reviews, you must read, like, superfast, like, at lightning speed or something. And then—
Uhm, this is a character interview. So, we are asking the character from a book questions, not the other way round. But before we begin with that, please give our readers a brief introduction about yourself.
Oh, yes, of course that makes so much more sense. Okay, my name is Rafaela Louise Sanchez Gomez but everybody calls me Raffi. I like that better, too. Like, you can totally trip over every single part of my full name, but Raffi is something straightforward and easy to say, right?
Right. What is your age and what do you do for a living?
I’m 19, will turn 20 this year. I work as Mister Galahad’s assistant. Have you met Mister Galahad already? He’s like, the cutest boss ever. Oh, wait, no, not what you are thinking. Not like that. I’m asexual, you know? That’s actually why I am Mister Galahad’s assistant. Okay, no, that sounded better in my head than when I said it out loud. But, yeah, matter of fact, I am assistant to the Head of Logistics at the Company but right now it is nearly like I am unemployed because we are on this spaceship and, let me tell you something, a cargo spaceship is like, the most boring place ever. Like, nothing happens round here. Like, if you think watching your toenails grow is boring try being on a spaceship where everybody but yourself has work to do. I had imagined this being much more fun. Ah, well, live and learn, huh?
That ties in well with our next question: How you like to spend your free time?
Oh, I love playing games on the entertainment system. Doesn’t matter what, really. Horror, fantasy, mystery, I do them all, action, strategy, shooters. I hate when they force a romantic sub-plot on your character, though. Seems nobody keeps the aromantics in mind, really. Same with movies. And most of the plot lines are somewhat dull. But it’s still fun. I mean, some of the Company productions are so plain stupid it is just too much fun criticizing them to the ground. We do that sometimes, Mister Galahad and me. We get some snacks and watch a movie together, the more stupid, the better and then we laugh our heads off.
Please share some of your beliefs, principles, motivations and morals (can be social, religious or political or, etc. Anything that will help us get to know you better.)
Okay, so…bear with me. I think religions are just a load of crap but also, it’s okay when people believe in stuff. Like, you know, whatever you need to keep you upright and get you out of bed every day, right?
I myself, I think justice is important and that everybody should be treated equal, no matter the species and rank. You know, nobody is less than the other. But I see that a lot. You know, look who is promoted in the Company and who stays in the entry level positions. Notice something? Yeah, the higher in the hierarchy you get, the more it is exclusively Earthlings. Or look how people are exploited because they are from a certain species. Like, Handorians only doing the menial work like cleaning the offices or Blunkarians being put into jobs they have to perform without breaks just because they have two heads and therefore one can sleep while the other is awake. But that’s not right. Everybody deserves breaks and vacations! And also doing stuff they enjoy! There is so much injustice in this universe. And that’s just not right!
Tell us something about your family and childhood.
Woah, you have to come visit and meet them all! We are one big family, it is amazing! Like, I do have a brother and three sisters, although two of them are technically just my half-sisters but I have so many cousins I can’t even count them! And we all lived together until I moved out to be closer to work. It was like, yeah, several houses which all belonged to my family. And several moms and dads. So, yeah, I do have a biological mom and dad, that’s where I got the Sanchez and the Gomez from but emotionally there is also Pá Ramírez and then there is dear Mommy Matii and Bantak and… I am starting to bore you, right? Well, you can just write down that I had a happy childhood and I love my family very much. Every single one of them. Even the weird ones like uncle Albi. Perhaps especially uncle Albi. But, yeah, don’t get me started…
Tell us something about your dreams and aspirations? Were you able to achieve them or are you planning to?
You know, that’s a good question. I mean, if you think what I really would like to do it would be becoming a game designer or an author for entertainment system series. I could write much better stuff than the crap that is on, you know? But at the same time, I know it isn’t possible. My ideas of a good story just don’t align enough with company’s values. They’d never let me do what I want to do. Might do some *looks around, lowers voice* independent stuff. But you better not write that.
*Continues with her usual cheery, bubbly, excited voice* I think working corporate is okay for the time being. The money is okay. Not much excitement. But I am glad that I now work for Mister Galahad. The team before that was a disaster. They had exactly two topics: romantic relationships and sex. It sucked!
But I think in the future I want to do something different. I like people and I want to have a job that is actually meaningful, you know? One that makes a difference. Still not sure what it could be, but it certainly isn’t what I am doing right now.
What is your biggest fear in life?
Something bad happening to my family or my friends.
How would you describe your life in one sentence?
Ready for my next adventure.
What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?
When my Granddaddy died. It was so unexpected and so hard for all of us, for Grammy, especially. It was nearly as if the house lost its soul. Nobody knew he was so sick. He always tried to conceal it so we wouldn’t worry. If he had just said something earlier. *gulps* I mean, probably, there was nothing that could have been done but still, why didn’t he say something? He denied us to take care of him, you know? *gulps*
I’m sorry for your loss. Did it change you for the better or the worse?
I think it made me cherish life more, you know? Like, it showed me how fast life can be over and that doing stuff I don’t want to do is a waste of precious time. Also, that we have to watch out for each other and you can’t always see what is going on in people. I try to be more aware of the people close to me, now.
Okay, last question: What are your plans for the future?
Oh, well, I am excited to see Providence 5. I have never been there, have you?
I am not thinking farther ahead because, yeah, as I said, life is precious and I like to see what opportunities arise and just, you know, grab them and see where they take me.
Since this was the last one: Can I ask you some questions, now?
Well, thanks a lot, Raffi, for your intruiguing answers. I look forward to reading more about your adventures in the future!
Herald Petrel
If you ask Harold Galahad, he isn’t fit to lead the crew of the half-destroyed cargo spaceship Herald Petrel back home. But nobody asks Harry.
An explosion leaves the ship helplessly floating in space and Harry reliving his own personal nightmare. He doesn’t want to be a captain anymore, and nobody trusts him as captain—least of all himself. The crew behaves strangely, his first officer is less than helpful, and the more he finds out, the more Harry has to challenge his own beliefs. While forced to relive the darkest part of his past, Captain Harold Galahad needs to figure out what happened and find a way back home.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to The Reading Bud! We are really excited to have you over. Please give our readers a brief introduction about yourself before we begin.
Thank you for having me. My name is Harry Galahad. I was born on Earth. Current residence Charkovaya. I have a background in Space Navigation and Intergalactic Law. I was navigation officer and later captain on exploratory missions to the outskirts of the universe for my university. Later I worked as a captain for the Company.
Which brings me to my next question: What is your age and what do you do for a living?
I am 47 and I’m Head Logistics Planer for the Company. Well, actually, right now I am captain on a delivery flight to Providence 5, on the cargo spaceship Herald Petrel but that is… it is not what I do for a living, usually. I’m not a captain any longer. It is just… just… because my friend Singh can’t do it anymore. He was the captain. I have just taken over because nobody else was available. And also… I mean, he was my best friend. There are some things that are just… a moral obligation, I guess?
What happened to your friend?
He’s dead.
Oh, very sorry to hear that. Let’s change topic. How you like to spend your free time?
Oh, I love listening to music. Beethoven, mainly. Sometimes Bach and Tchaikowski. Some Jazz as well. I also… *looks around as if to make sure nobody is listening in and lowers voice* …read.
Oh, interesting, what do you read?
Not so loud! People could hear us! *whispers* I have a soft spot for Earth’s ancient literature. They called it Science Fiction, back in the 20th and early 21st century. It is endearing to see how they envisioned the future back then. Nearly cute. I mean, now, 500 years later, of course it is easy to see how wrong they were. I mean, yeah, intergalactic space flight became possible, and Earth rules the universe but… let’s not go into this further.
Alright. Please share some of your beliefs, principles, motivations and morals (can be social, religious or political or, etc. Anything that will help us get to know you better.)
Oh, I am just a normal bloke, I guess. I’m not especially religious or anything. I guess when you are traveling the outskirts of the universe and work with a lot of people from different planets, all kinds of species, you know, Blunkarians, Gathesians, Laharians, even some from Phtat’Grthak… you kind of…lose the faith that there is one true religion. I think there are some moral principles that would be good if everybody adhered to them. You know, things like: Treat others like you yourself want to be treated. Help others if you can. When in a stronger position, protect the ones who can’t protect themselves. Common sense, really.
Hm, sounds plausible but also rather generic. Perhaps tell us a bit more about your motivation?
Generic? *scoffs* Universally true and applicable, more like it. But this is your space, so I am not going to argue. Motivation, you say? *exhales* I don’t have much motivation to do anything lately, truth be told. I mean, I want to get over this mission, land that damn thing on Providence 5 and take the next flight back to Charkovaya to get behind my desk again. How’s that for a motivation?
Uhm…enough to understand you don’t want to dwell on that subject. So…Tell us something about your family and childhood.
Ah, yeah, that’s better. I had a happy childhood. My parents were great people and paved the way so I could study. They were a bit disappointed that I didn’t become a priest like they originally intended, but I hope I made them proud with my career. So, sorry, no tragic backstory to unearth here.
Oh, that’s okay. Not every character needs a traumatic childhood, although we see that a lot. Tell us something about your dreams and aspirations? Were you able to achieve them or are you planning to?
Oh, you know, I lived my life. I still know how excited I was as a newly appointed navigation officer. I also know how proud I was when I earned my stripes as a captain. But that’s in the past. Nowadays, those things don’t matter to me anymore. Nothing matters anymore. *stares ahead as if he sees something no one else sees*
What is your biggest fear in life?
I have lost the ability to be scared of anything. When death comes to take me, I am more than ready. *flinches* Oh, wait, no, that’s not true. If something bad happens to Raffi, that would be horrible! And likely. She’s so nosy! She always wants to find out. I just hope she keeps out of trouble.
Who is Raffi?
My assistant. Perhaps you should interview her, too. She sure would enjoy that! And talk your ear off. Be warned. *smiles for the first time during the interview, a very warm smile, his eyes twinkling*
Perhaps we’ll do that, thanks for the hint. How would you describe your life in one sentence?
I can even do in one word: pointless.
What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?
*mumbles* I have lost my wife. Three years ago. On the 25th of March 2519.
Oh. I am sorry for your loss. What happened?
An accident. I don’t want to talk about it. *brushes over his eyes*
Did it change you for the better or the worse?
*stares at the interviewer for several seconds before asking* Who can tell?
What are your plans for the future?
Bringing this ship to Providence 5 with as little disruption as possible. Get back behind my desk. I hope my life doesn’t last too long.
Well, thanks a lot, Captain Galahad, for your frank answers. I look forward to reading more about your adventures in the future!
Herald Petrel
If you ask Harold Galahad, he isn’t fit to lead the crew of the half-destroyed cargo spaceship Herald Petrel back home. But nobody asks Harry.
An explosion leaves the ship helplessly floating in space and Harry reliving his own personal nightmare. He doesn’t want to be a captain anymore, and nobody trusts him as captain—least of all himself. The crew behaves strangely, his first officer is less than helpful, and the more he finds out, the more Harry has to challenge his own beliefs. While forced to relive the darkest part of his past, Captain Harold Galahad needs to figure out what happened and find a way back home.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge! We’re thrilled to host author Allen Whyler today, who will be unveiling an intriguing excerpt from their newest release, Deadly Odds 7.0. Dive in and get an exclusive sneak peek into the intriguing world they’ve crafted in their latest work!
About the Book
Deadly Odds 7.0
In Wyler’s 7th installment of the Deadly Odds techno-thriller series, reformed hacker Arnold Gold and his team are contracted to come up with a daring plan to sneak past the building’s newly installed AI-enhanced security systems to hack the computers and offices a high-profile Seattle law firm in an ultra-secure downtown office building while squaring off against the clock and a hard-driving, paranoid Head of Security, Itzhak Mizrahi.
Excerpt
EXCEPT FOR OCASSIONAL intense sapphire glints from her eyes, low sweeping cedar branches formed an island of impenetrable layered shadows in a lake of harsh mercury-vapor streetlight, cloistering a petite female in black jeans, black wool turtleneck, black shoes, and a black ski mask over her pale white skin and regimented coif of platinum-blond hair. She sat cross-legged in a roughly triangular patch of weed-infested ivy, back propped against the scaly red strips of cedar bark. Her third consecutive night of surveilling Arnold Gold’s home from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Precisely. And like the prior nights, no one appeared to be inside the ultra-contemporary cube despite various lights that turned on at the same time each evening. Alexa smart switches, she assumed.
Another glance at her watch. Another sixty minutes had just snailed past. Amazing. The time just seemed to… dissipate. Another sixty minutes of her life had evaporated doing… what, exactly? Surveillance. There was, however, a bright side. Those sixty minutes were billable. The not-so-bright side, however, was that the time could never be recaptured. Oh well, it was a job, and like certain orifices, everybody needs one. If she weren’t doing this, she might be wiping tables and slinging hash browns at a Denny’s. She stifled a yawn. Enough. She had fulfilled her commitment for the evening.
According to the property records, this was indeed Gold’s home. But he wasn’t inside during the specified hours on these specified evenings. Where was he? On vacation? At a girlfriend’s? Or perhaps a boyfriend’s? No idea and not her problem, for she hadn’t been asked to address that question. Adhering to her well-established reputation as a diligent and rigorous investigator, she intended to write up the exact details outlined in the assignment and that would be that. Then on to the next job.
She stood, swatted debris from her black pants, did an about-face to ruffle the matted ivy back into some semblance of natural confusion, then stepped back to inspect how well she’d disguised her presence. Not quite perfect. Bending over, she messed up an edge that didn’t look quite right. Surveyed her work again and nodded silent approval. Now it was perfect.
Three full strides and she was standing on the edge of the narrow, windy, asphalt side street. Stood still for a moment, scanning the immediate vicinity. No vehicular nor pedestrian traffic. No one in sight. Off came her ski mask, which she quickly wadded into the back pocket of her jeans, then slid from the concealing shadows up the sidewalk of the deserted street. Turned right at the corner, continued straight ahead for half a block, then another right turn into the alley that again shrouded her in the dense shadows of shrubs and fences. Silently she navigated an obstacle course of color-coded recycling, garbage, and compost bins, all the while concealed in the darkest areas. Her contracted three hours finished, she was now working on her own time. But true to her reputation for scrupulous thoroughness, she felt it necessary to add a trademark garnish to her report. Lest anyone should ever accuse her work of being shoddy. And besides, it cost only a handful of minutes. Salve for her conscience. This job, after all, had turned out to be less of a challenge than originally thought, so anything to spice it up…
About The Author
Allen Wyler
Allen Wyler is a retired neurosurgeon who lives in Seattle.
Allen’s thrillers have twice been nominated for the prestigious Thriller Award. He has served on the Board of Directors of the International Thriller Writers and is also an active member of the North American Crime Writers and Mystery Writers of America. He lives in Seattle.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Solveig Larssen for her latest release, Don’t Feed the Beast: But Do Punish the Free-Riders (Triumvirate Book 1).
Book: Don’t Feed the Beast: But Do Punish the Free-Riders Author: Solveig Larssen Publication date: March 1, 2024 Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Political Fiction, Thriller Page Count: 152 pages Publisher: Ostkorridor Books
About the Book
Mountainland, the richest, proudest, and freest nation in the world, has resorted to forming a militia and creating incarceration camps to stem the influx of migrants… Fjordland, the most civilised, equal, and just nation in the world, is falling apart, unable to accommodate its newfound diversity… Meanwhile, life is getting worse on the Savannah and in the Jungle, with autocratic high-tech city-states and abundant cheap labour to exploit. Somewhere, amidst it all, only the rootless global technology organisations seem to prosper. Eskild, the sympathetic Brotherhood bear, expelled and humiliated—is on his journey to visit his younger, liberal siblings, Dag and Selma. Justice has deteriorated in the world because Selma, to navigate the changes of globalisation, has abandoned her old ways. If Eskild cannot persuade Selma to support a new order that promises peaceful coexistence among all parties, even with the sinister C-Cult, Fjordland will cease to be a liberal democracy. Globalisation will grind on, forcing most people to join the workforce of the disruptive transnational platform organisations. Don’t Feed the Beast is the first book in the Triumvirate series, featuring delightful fable animals in a dystopian world. It’s a fast-paced story, perfect for readers who want to explore our changing world.
Solveig Larssen is the pen name of Sune Larsen, a transportation policy advisor, and co-founder of Almenr, a co-living business. Sune lives with his spouse, Regitze, in Copenhagen.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Solveig Larssen, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of her newest dystopian novel, Don’t Feed the Beast: But Do Punish the Free-Riders (Triumvirate Book 1).
Presenting…
About the Book
Mountainland, the richest, proudest, and freest nation in the world, has resorted to forming a militia and creating incarceration camps to stem the influx of migrants… Fjordland, the most civilised, equal, and just nation in the world, is falling apart, unable to accommodate its newfound diversity…
Meanwhile, life is getting worse on the Savannah and in the Jungle, with autocratic high-tech city-states and abundant cheap labour to exploit. Somewhere, amidst it all, only the rootless global technology organisations seem to prosper. Eskild, the sympathetic Brotherhood bear, expelled and humiliated—is on his journey to visit his younger, liberal siblings, Dag and Selma. Justice has deteriorated in the world because Selma, to navigate the changes of globalisation, has abandoned her old ways.
If Eskild cannot persuade Selma to support a new order that promises peaceful coexistence among all parties, even with the sinister C-Cult, Fjordland will cease to be a liberal democracy. Globalisation will grind on, forcing most people to join the workforce of the disruptive transnational platform organisations.
Don’t Feed the Beast is the first book in the Triumvirate series, featuring delightful fable animals in a dystopian world. It’s a fast-paced story, perfect for readers who want to explore our changing world.
Solveig Larssen is the pen name of Sune Larsen, a transportation policy advisor, and co-founder of Almenr, a co-living business. Sune lives with his spouse, Regitze, in Copenhagen.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Today, we are featuring Junis Sultan, author of Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar by Harold Phifer to share his guest article.
About The Author
Harold Phifer
Harold Phifer was born and raised in Columbus, Mississippi. All of his first 25 years were solidly spent inside his home state. After graduating from Mississippi State University and Jackson State University, he went on to work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for 23 years as an Air Traffic Controller. He left the FAA and began work as an International Contractor, where he has done numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A story of a young man survived being reared by a schizophrenic mom and a greedy aunt yet having to deal with bullying, sexual assaults, self confidence, coming of age, an absent father, racism, and dating through his own vision of what life was supposed to be. For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer childhood living conditions remained a secret even to those who thought they knew him best. It wasn’t until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar.
About The Book
Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar
For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer’s childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best. No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.
It wasn’t until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
If you are an author and wish to be interviewed or if you are a publicist and want to get your author interviewed on TRB, then please get in touch through direct e-mail: thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge! We’re thrilled to host author Harold Phifer today, who will be unveiling tantalising excerpts from their newest masterpiece, Surviving Chaos, How I found Peace at a Beach Bar. Dive in and get an exclusive sneak peek into the intriguing world they’ve crafted in their latest work!
About the Book
Surviving Chaos, How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar
For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer’s childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best. No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.
It wasn’t until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
Out of nowhere, one of the twins grabbed my cap while the other delivered a blow to my head. She slapped the taste right out of my mouth. I couldn’t even feel my tongue. I spun around to face my bullies. The twins had become triplets. I couldn’t remember ever trying to drink three glasses of anything and this wouldn’t be the day to try. The girls stared at me and said, “Who the hell do you think you are?”
As I approached the twins I smiled, tipped my hat, and continued on my way. I had done the ‘big move’ just as Jerry instructed. I smiled from jawline to jawline; I was so full of myself.
The third girl disappeared. She was a mirage, a figment of my imagination; created when I was knocked senseless. I shrugged and stared back at the twins. They gave me back my cap and told me to get lost. I didn’t challenge those instructions.
So much for Jerry’s advice! I needed to create my own playbook.
Tapping Out
Once I got to know Adela, I learned she was a religious zealot. Her friends and family were of the same mindset. They always tried to ‘out-Christian’ one another. If one person said, “Praise the Lord” then the other had to top it with, “Praise the Lord and Thank you, Jesus!” Or someone would say, “Oh, help me Lord,” then a voice would say, “Help me Lord. You are an angel of mercy on high.” Or, someone would say, “Jesus carried me today,” and suddenly some- one would jump up doing the church dance while screaming, “Won’t he do it, Lord! Won’t he do it!”
Dinner at 2:00
Second, I knew Dad was concerned about my past associations. I was from the Trash Alley. It was my community. I hung out with thugs from the Frog Bottom, the Burns Bottoms, the Red Line, the S-Curve, the Sandfield, the Morning Side, and a bunch of other places that shall remain nameless. I knew all of the “Legends of the Hood”: Sin Man, Swap, Boo Boo, Emp-Man, Cookie Man, Shank, Polar Bear, Bae Willy, Bae
Bruh, Skullhead Ned, Pimp, Crunch, and Goat Turd (just to name a few). I thought maybe Dad had summoned me as a “show and tell” for the kids in his neighborhood—the hardliner to scare those wayward suburban brats back into reality.
About The Author
Harold Phifer
Harold Phifer was born and raised in Columbus, Mississippi. All of his first 25 years were solidly spent inside his home state. After graduating from Mississippi State University and Jackson State University, he went on to work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for 23 years as an Air Traffic Controller. He left the FAA and began work as an International Contractor, where he has done numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Harold Phifer, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his newest masterpiece, Surviving Chaos, How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar. Prepare to be enchanted, for what you’re about to see is not just a cover—it’s a visual symphony that captures the very soul of the story. 📚💖
Presenting…
Alternate Cover
About the Book
For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer’s childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best. No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.
It wasn’t until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
Harold Phifer was born in a deeply segregated South It is here he learned how to survive the harsh life of being unnurtured and unloved on the streets of Columbus, Mississippi. His first twenty-five years were spent dreaming, hustling, and ducking bullies at every turn. After graduating Mississippi State and Jackson State Universities, he became a highly specialized Air Traffic Controller, living and working as an international contractor, serving numerous tours in lraq and Afghanistan. Because of those experiences of being so close to death and the Taliban, he had no choice but accept the Tee-shirt while authoring his memoir “SleepWalking Out of Afghanistan: Walking it all Back.” Next, Harold followed up with an expanded autobiography, “Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar,” which is a combination of two books through different phases of trauma all meshed into one big novel.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Asher Black, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his newest masterpiece, The Guitar Decoder Ring. Prepare to be enchanted, for what you’re about to see is not just a cover—it’s a visual symphony that captures the very soul of the story. 📚💖
Presenting…
The Guitar Decoder Ring
About the Book
Meet SIGIL—the new language of guitar. Guitarists who want to improvise and compose, from novice to advanced, will find SIGIL works like a decoder ring for the guitar, yet it’s simple enough to keep in one’s head.
Visualize the whole fretboard. Gain portable knowledge of modes, scales, and intervals without wall charts. This is guitar study re-engineered for every level.
Create more interesting solos. Break through your lull or stall. Decrypt the instrument and unleash your play. The authors are a seasoned musician with albums under his belt and a lively storyteller who walk you through the toolset with eye-opening and sometimes hilarious examples.
023 NYC Big Book Award Winner in the category of Music.
2023 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for a How-to Book.
Asher Black is an author, karateka, musician, digital ecologist® and maintainer of tobacco pipes of various personalities in Brooklyn, NY. He writes about everything, is a host of multiple podcasts, and (for his day job) connects enterprise sales teams with their audience through sales enablement campaigns and brand story. He boats, dances, and plays with cryptography and linguistics, while reading history and hard-boiled detective novels.
Asher Black is an enforcer for the creativity mafia, plying his art through storytelling (even in non-fiction), collecting oil paintings, improvising and composing for the guitar with the romance of a practitioner in love with the fretboard, and pushing through to zen-like execution of the martial arts. He is a hitman with words, broadcasting from the home studio a continual critique of one-sided thinking, and is known for his raucous sense of humor.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Harold Phifer for his latest release,Surviving Chaos: How I found Peace At A Beach Bar.
About The Author
Harold Phifer
Harold Phifer was born in a deeply segregated South It is here he learned how to survive the harsh life of being unnurtured and unloved on the streets of Columbus, Mississippi. His first twenty-five years were spent dreaming, hustling, and ducking bullies at every turn. After graduating Mississippi State and Jackson State Universities, he became a highly specialized Air Traffic Controller, living and working as an international contractor, serving numerous tours in lraq and Afghanistan. Because of those experiences of being so close to death and the Taliban, he had no choice but accept the Tee-shirt while authoring his memoir “SleepWalking Out of Afghanistan: Walking it all Back.” Next, Harold followed up with an expanded autobiography, “Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar,” which is a combination of two books through different phases of trauma all meshed into one big novel.
For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer’s childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best. No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.
It wasn’t until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Emma Roberson for her latest release, Beast: Book One.
Book: Beast: Book One Author: Emma Roberson Publication date: September 13, 2023 Genres: Fantasy, Monster-Beast Fiction Page Count: 220 pages Publisher: Green Hill Publishing
About the Book
FORCED FROM THE SEA HE ONCE ROAMED AS AN APEX PREDATOR, THE LEVIATHAN MUST FIGHT TO SURVIVE ON LAND.
With a new face and name the Leviathan carves a place for himself in a volatile and violent world where monsters and humans wage war against each other and amongst themselves for survival and supremacy.
An unlikely alliance is forged between the Master of the Vanguard, the leader of the kingdoms royally sanctioned monster hunters, and the Leviathan, once the most notorious and elusive monster of the sea. United by terrible circumstance and bound by a shared purpose, the Master and the Leviathan struggle to overcome the hatred and fear which rules and rots the realm.
The Leviathan must defend the realm from all things monstrous, including himself. He must find a way to conquer the turmoil of the kingdom and the darkness of his own nature.
Emma Roberson is an Australian author and illustrator who is obsessed with all things strange, dark and wild. Emma is an avid reptile and horse keeper, and these animals often feature in her writing and illustrations. Beast is the first book of The Leviathan Series, an illustrated fantasy adventure full of frightful monsters and gritty quests. Find Emma, the critters and the latest updates on her written work on Facebook.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorHarold Phifer for his latest release, Surviving Chaos, How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar.
Book: Surviving Chaos: How I found Peace At A Beach Bar Author: Harold Phifer Publication date: Feb 18, 2021 Genres: Humour, Dysfunctional Family, Young Adult, Non-Fiction Page Count: 267 pages Publisher: Rise and Read Free Press
About the Book
For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer’s childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best. No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.
It wasn’t until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
Harold Phifer was born in a deeply segregated South It is here he learned how to survive the harsh life of being unnurtured and unloved on the streets of Columbus, Mississippi. His first twenty-five years were spent dreaming, hustling, and ducking bullies at every turn. After graduating Mississippi State and Jackson State Universities, he became a highly specialized Air Traffic Controller, living and working as an international contractor, serving numerous tours in lraq and Afghanistan. Because of those experiences of being so close to death and the Taliban, he had no choice but accept the Tee-shirt while authoring his memoir “SleepWalking Out of Afghanistan: Walking it all Back.” Next, Harold followed up with an expanded autobiography, “Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar,” which is a combination of two books through different phases of trauma all meshed into one big novel.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorRebecca Butt for her latest release,Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir.
About The Author
Rebecca Butt
As a young child, Rebecca escaped into books, and wrote happy stories accompanied by bright and cheerful pictures with houses, trees, flowers, and birds,that were a contradiction to her real-life circumstances. Her childhood love for reading and writing endured, and she eventualy wrote and published her short stories and poetry in a literary journal in college. Lipstick on a Pig is her lengthiest writing endeavor. A licensed Speech Language Pathologist with a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders, she is the Director of Special Education for a school district in New Hampshire, where she resides.
Candid and poignant, humorous and heart-wrenching, in nomadic fashion, the directionless Butt Family chaotically relocated throughout the city of Laconia, New Hampshire, like a ship, adrift and lost at sea without a captain.
Encumbered by night terrors, hauntings, and scraps of memories that spoke to a cruelty beyond her mother, Becky sneakily devoured her way into young adulthood and developed a crippling, yet all too comforting, binge-eating disorder.
Morbidly obese, visited often by a seething presence, and drowning under the smothering symptoms of childhood trauma, Becky is sure she’s the defective link in her broken family-until her ghost relative provides her a life jacket of hope that may just keep her afloat.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Mark Gutter, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his newest masterpiece, Dancer on the Ceiling: More Darkly Humorous Tales. Prepare to be enchanted, for what you’re about to see is not just a cover—it’s a visual symphony that captures the very soul of storytelling. 📚💖
Presenting…
About the Book
Presenting laugh-out-loud stories for lovers of absurd comedy, featuring an eccentric cast of characters including Derek Organ: Private Investigator, Lionel the Moth, Roman slave Servus Minimus, the Battlefield Masseur, ambulance chaser Bradley Scherp, the Incredibly Delusional Shrinking Man, Compound Fracture the Clown, and of course, the Dancer on the Ceiling.
MARK NUTTER grew up in a motel near Joliet, Illinois, which is not as glamorous as it sounds. He acquired a taste for absurd comedy while in the womb. Mark is the author of three short fiction collections (Dancer on the Ceiling, Giant Banana Over Texas, and Sunset Cruise on the River Styx). He’s also written for the stage (Re-Animator the Musical, The Bicycle Men, Christmas Smackdown), television (SNL, 3rd Rock from the Sun), and film (Almost Heroes).
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
The world is dead, suffocated by the greed and neglect of the very children it gave birth to, and humankind itself is dancing on a razor’s edge between survival and extinction. Coghan, a young Breath Hunter, is sent out on his first mission to collect breathable air for the Dome, one of humanity’s last bastions. But in a world where a toxic atmosphere blocks out the sun, acid rain corrodes metal, and the wind blows away anything else remaining, a single misstep can be your last. And when everyone looks only after themselves, whom can you trust? Can you hope humanity will learn from its mistakes? Suit up with Coghan and brave through the toxic hell that is the legacy of a society that killed their own planet!
Harken Void is the author’s alter ego – his real name is Kevin – and he uses Harken as a medium to tell his stories. In his writing, he likes to incorporate elements of spirituality, science, philosophy, and personal growth, and present it all in as awesome and epic a way as he can. He loves to ask the big questions, explore life’s deepest secrets, and shine light at those darkest places – while keeping a lighthearted attitude and leaving his readers with a sense of upliftment. He feels most at home in Fantasy and Science Fiction, genres of ideas and exploration of reality itself. While Harken is a multidimensional being, existing beyond all space and time, Kevin is mortal, and he lives in Slovenia, a small country in Europe. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Geology. Besides writing and contemplating existence, his two most burning passions are music and nature.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorRebecca Butt for her latest release,Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir.
Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir
Book: Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir Author: Rebecca Butt Publication date: June 30, 2023 Genres: Memoir, Non-Fiction Page Count: 276 pages Publisher: Bowker
About the Book
Candid and poignant, humorous and heart-wrenching, in nomadic fashion, the directionless Butt Family chaotically relocated throughout the city of Laconia, New Hampshire, like a ship, adrift and lost at sea without a captain.
Encumbered by night terrors, hauntings, and scraps of memories that spoke to a cruelty beyond her mother, Becky sneakily devoured her way into young adulthood and developed a crippling, yet all too comforting, binge-eating disorder.
Morbidly obese, visited often by a seething presence, and drowning under the smothering symptoms of childhood trauma, Becky is sure she’s the defective link in her broken family-until her ghost relative provides her a life jacket of hope that may just keep her afloat.
As a young child, Rebecca escaped into books, and wrote happy stories accompanied by bright and cheerful pictures with houses, trees, flowers, and birds,that were a contradiction to her real-life circumstances. Her childhood love for reading and writing endured, and she eventualy wrote and published her short stories and poetry in a literary journal in college. Lipstick on a Pig is her lengthiest writing endeavor. A licensed Speech Language Pathologist with a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders, she is the Director of Special Education for a school district in New Hampshire, where she resides.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Steven McFadden for his latest release,Native Knowings: Wisdom Keys for One and All.
Native Knowings: Wisdom Keys for One and All
Book: Native Knowings: Wisdom Keys for One and All Author: Steven McFadden Publication date: May 26, 2023 Genres: Motivational, Self-Help, Inspirational, Non-Fiction Page Count: 84 pages Publisher: –
About the Book
This original compilation–a small treasure of 72 pages–offers a concise and contemporary compendium of some key North American (Turtle Island) wisdom teachings to help support people through this era of transition.
“I ask you to listen, not just with your minds. I ask you to listen with your hearts, because that’s the only way you can receive what it is, what we are giving. These are the teachings of our hearts.” – Frank Decontie, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg
What do some of the venerable, deeply rooted wisdom teachings of the Americas offer in our era of transition?
This Soul*Sparks small treasure offers an array of thoughtful messages, a compilation of keys that everyone has opportunities to turn. We’d be wise to understand and then to weave their enduring insights into the fabric of what we are creating for ourselves, our children, and our children’s children
The words of contemporary elders, in particular, sound a note of urgency.
Steven McFadden is an independent journalist based in the Southwest of the USA. In the early 1980s he initiated Chiron Communications as an umbrella concept for his varied interests and pursuits. Chiron is a bridging figure, and bridging is what he has mainly been interested in over the years. After authoring Profiles in Wisdom and then Legend of the Rainbow Warriors in the early 1990s, he rested the chiron concept to serve as National Coordinator for the annual Earth Day USA celebration, in partnership with the Seventh Generation Fund (1993). Then he returned to the work of chiron. As a journalist, he is the author of a range of non-fiction books, including Farms of Tomorrow, Farms of Tomorrow Revisited, The Call of the Land, Teach Us To Number Our Days, A Primer for Pilgrims, and Classical Considerations. He is also the author of an epic, nonfiction saga of North America:Odyssey of the 8th Fire. This saga (8thFire.net) relates a true story arising from the deepest roots of the Americas, but taking place in the present and the future. In it, circles within circles, honorable elders make a great and generous giveaway of the teachings they carry. McFadden’s newest agrarian book, Deep Agroecology: Farms, Food, and Our Future won the national Indie Excellence Award in the environmental category (2020). He is a member of the New Mexico Book Association (NMBA), and also the SouthWest Writers association (SWW).
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorGlendall C. Jackson III for his latest release, Naked Came the Detective.
Naked Came the Detective
Book: Naked Came the Detective Author: Glendall C. Jackson III Publication date: 20th June 2023 Genres: Detective Fiction Page Count: 102 pages Publisher: GCJ3 Enterprise Awards: WINNER: 2023 Paris Book Festival, WINNER, best novella: 2023 Firebird Book Awards, WINNER, best noir mystery: The 2023 BookFest Awards, WINNER: 2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award, RUNNER-UP, sleuth-mystery: 2023 PenCraft Book Awards
Naked Came the Detective
In many murder mysteries, the call girl gets killed. This novella turns that tired trope on its head. A skilled and versatile sex worker learns that one of her clients, a prominent businessman, was brutally murdered just hours after their last date. With her unique access to the upper echelon of Washington D.C. society, she embarks on an investigation that leads to a shocking discovery. Glendall C. Jackson III, an award-winning non-fiction writer, creates a vivid portrait of high-end sex work.
You can find Naked Came the Detectivehere: Amazon |Goodreads
About The Author
Glendall C. Jackson III
Glendall C. Jackson III is an award-winning writer who has long specialized in deeply-reported non fiction. Naked Came the Detective, his first novel, won an award in the Paris Book Festival and has earned numerous five-star reviews.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Greg Belliveau on The Reading Bud for his latest release,Gods Of Imago.
About The Author
Greg Belliveau
Greg Belliveau’s books include his dystopian novel Gods of IMAGO (Rogue Phoenix Press, 2023), IMAGO, and Go Down To Silence (Multnomah Publishing), a Christy Award Finalist for Best First Novel. He has written a collection of creative nonfiction entitled Seeds: Mediations on Grace in a World with Teeth (Crosslink Publishing, 2017). His short stories have been published in Fathom Magazine, The Atticus Review, The Cleveland Review, and Vine Leaves, where his vignette “LG Don’t Want To Fly” was selected for their 2012 Best Of Anthology, published by eMergent Publishing. He is a Christopher Isherwood grant recipient and teaches Creative Writing at Antioch University, Midwest, and has taught at The Antioch Writer’s Workshop, Yellow Springs, OH. He is currently a Visiting Instructor at Capital University and lives in Ohio with his wife and two daughters.
It has been ten years since Christopher Dante, the last storyteller, defeated the Ghul in the abandoned subway tunnels under Cogstin, and now he has vanished without a trace. There are rumors and whispers of a new evil emerging, ancient, dark, beyond the Black Mountains, a Horned God who rules the skeleton people of the north. Welcome to Gods of IMAGO, book two in the stunning IMAGO Series. Gods of IMAGO is literary dystopia at its absolute best, blending amazing world-building with thought-provoking, artful prose in an unforgettable, page-turning experience that will haunt the reader long after the last sentence.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Greg Belliveau for his latest release, Gods of Imago.
Gods of Imago
Book: Gods of Imago Author: Greg Belliveau Publication date: August 15, 2023 Genres: Fantasy Page Count: 381 pages Publisher: Rogue Phoenix Press
About Gods of Imago
It has been ten years since Christopher Dante, the last storyteller, defeated the Ghul in the abandoned subway tunnels under Cogstin, and now he has vanished without a trace. There are rumors and whispers of a new evil emerging, ancient, dark, beyond the Black Mountains, a Horned God who rules the skeleton people of the north. Welcome to Gods of IMAGO, book two in the stunning IMAGO Series. Gods of IMAGO is literary dystopia at its absolute best, blending amazing world-building with thought-provoking, artful prose in an unforgettable, page-turning experience that will haunt the reader long after the last sentence.
Greg Belliveau’s books include his dystopian novel Gods of IMAGO (Rogue Phoenix Press, 2023), IMAGO, and Go Down To Silence (Multnomah Publishing), a Christy Award Finalist for Best First Novel. He has written a collection of creative nonfiction entitled Seeds: Mediations on Grace in a World with Teeth (Crosslink Publishing, 2017). His short stories have been published in Fathom Magazine, The Atticus Review, The Cleveland Review, and Vine Leaves, where his vignette “LG Don’t Want To Fly” was selected for their 2012 Best Of Anthology, published by eMergent Publishing. He is a Christopher Isherwood grant recipient and teaches Creative Writing at Antioch University, Midwest, and has taught at The Antioch Writer’s Workshop, Yellow Springs, OH. He is currently a Visiting Instructor at Capital University and lives in Ohio with his wife and two daughters.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Glendall Jackson, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his newest masterpiece, Naked Came the Detective. Prepare to be enchanted, for what you’re about to see is not just a cover—it’s a visual symphony that captures the very soul of storytelling. 📚💖
Presenting…
About the Book
WINNER: 2023 Paris Book Festival WINNER, best novella: 2023 Firebird Book Awards WINNER, best noir mystery: The 2023 BookFest Awards WINNER: 2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award RUNNER-UP, sleuth-mystery: 2023 PenCraft Book Awards
In many murder mysteries, the call girl gets killed. This novella turns that tired trope on its head. A skilled and versatile sex worker learns that one of her clients, a prominent businessman, was brutally murdered just hours after their last date. With her unique access to the upper echelon of Washington D.C. society, she embarks on an investigation that leads to a shocking discovery. Glendall C. Jackson III, an award-winning non-fiction writer, creates a vivid portrait of high-end sex work.
You can find Naked Came the Detectivehere: Amazon |Goodreads
In the Press
International Thriller Writers – Author Spotlight
About The Authors
Glendall C. Jackson III
Glendall C. Jackson III is an award-winning writer who has long specialized in deeply-reported non fiction. Naked Came the Detective, his first novel, won an award in the Paris Book Festival and has earned numerous five-star reviews.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge! We’re thrilled to host author Jack Lucci today, who will be unveiling a tantalising excerpt from their newest masterpiece, Loving & Leaving. Dive in and get an exclusive sneak peek into the intriguing world they’ve crafted in their latest work!
About the Book
Loving & Leaving
The first installment of Jack Lucci’s living memoir, Loving & Leaving spans five years, touching on themes of gratefulness and regret and stories of love for people, places, narcotics, and the effort it takes to sustain that love. Far from stable and rather turbulent, Lucci chronicles his life as he oscillates between hero and anti-hero, sharing lessons learned in the Italian countryside, mistakes made in America’s Second City, the angst and constriction of southeastern Washington, and observations on the miserable Oregon coast. Whether you find yourself rooting for or against him, Loving & Leaving is the result of bleeding over the keyboard.
The light coming in over the water’s edge was blinding. One must block a portion to see the subject clearly. She was a comet crashing through, a most delighted interruption. A shot and a beer sat in front of her, a half-full pack of American Spirit tobacco, and a single hand-rolled cigarette. While my initial impression would turn out to be partially incorrect, I doubt anyone could live up to the way she appeared to me in that moment.
Discovering love seems to be an instant, a flash, bulbs burst, an image captured forever. A single-minded drive to share a moment. My goal became to talk to her. Stan pumped fleeting courage into my spine, and I kept an eye on her. I waited like an alligator in the brush, on the edge of the water, lying completely still, aware that if she perceived any movement, it would be taken as a threat, and while she certainly may evade me, I had a smile to surprise her with. She began to move, taking a step toward the patio.
This was my moment to act. Other predators inhabit the environment, and they, too, stalk their prey. I drank my beer and positioned a pre-rolled cigarette, ready to light, attempting to appear natural, as if we serendipitously decided to step out at the same time. I stepped outside, and it was like stepping off a cliff. I imagine my face went white because my brain, right then, was completely empty. I struggled to offer a greeting; instead, I just stared, forcing her to acknowledge my presence and attempt to engage with the strange man in front of her.
She asked, “You need a light?”
I responded with words that, looking back, were purely instinctual, as there was no way I spoke on my own volition. She offered me a seat at the bench where she was sitting, which I accepted eagerly…
About The Author
Jack Lucci
The American melancholic writer Jack Lucci was born in a valley at the base of the blues. Lucci has lived all over the world and shares stories from his travels with a deserved honesty concerning people, places, and things. Although Lucci may at times be his own worst enemy readers can expect honest introspection and vulnerability. His first book, Loving & Leaving is available now. His blog, Separation Naturalist can be found on his website, Jacklucci.com.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
The Reading Bud 