Author Archives: Joanne Guidoccio

Wisdom from the Duck

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s an inspiring post from the Mind Fuel Daily blog:

We may see ducks regularly at the local pond or park, but have you ever stopped to consider and appreciate their many compelling qualities? Here are five things we can learn from the duck.

Form Quality Partnerships

Contrary to popular belief, ducks do not mate for life; instead, they practice seasonal monogamy each breeding season. Are you with the ideal partner for the current season of your life? Make sure your close partnerships in work and in life are a “match” for each phase or project.

Make Family a Priority

Female ducks lay an average of 5 to 12 eggs that hatch within 28 days. While they are gestating, the male duck will protect the nest and fight off any potential invaders. Be protective of your kin and raise your children attentively.

Let Stress Roll Right Off You

Ducks are equipped with naturally waterproof feathers that allow them to stay comfortable and dry even while in the water. They also don’t hold a grudge; if they have a tiff with another duck, they shake the stress of the encounter from their feathers and get on with their day.

Keep Your Wits About You

Ducks have an internal GPS system and see in color 360 degrees around them. The are also able to sleep with one eye open and half their brain engaged for protection against predators. Enjoy your life, but be ready to navigate quickly away from pitfalls and hazards.

Be Buoyant and Flexible

Equipped with both webbed feet and wings, most ducks can travel by water, land, and air. Be flexible and cultivate a buoyant spirit in life as you travel from one adventure to the next.

From the mallard to the wood duck to the scoter, ducks delight with their beautiful feathers and cheerful dispositions. Consider how you might apply these examples of wisdom from the duck.

Source: Mind Fuel Daily Blog

Virtual Book Tour: Gracefully Broken

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome Dr. Michele Williams. Today, Michele shares her new release, Gracefully Broken.

Blurb

This world is full of many offenses that we never could have imagined years ago, many are so deep in their troubles and worries that they believe that there is not a God that can heal them. But I’ve grown to learn and understand that God is sovereign, He is waiting with arms open and offering his grace to us. A woman in labor endures the pain and suffering of giving birth, but through this process brings forth a beautiful child. Although you may be a diamond in the rough when under pressure and being weighed down for a long period of time, the suffering will cease the end result is a beautiful stone that is brilliant and bright. The trials of your life are just a testimony for the glorious work that God is doing in you. Hold onto the faith, fight the good fight and don’t quit. This is the key to being Resilient.

Excerpt

Transformation is a process of removing the grave clothes of your past life. It takes time and work. Your character must change. You must be aware of wrong thinking patterns, wrong attitudes, wrong beliefs, deception, lies, and pointing the finger. In transformation, your appearance may change. You will start to see things in a different light. It is hard work. Remember the old saying, Rome was not built in a day.

We have lived most of our lives in our own crazy mindset, and now it is time to give it all up to a God you can’t see, or touch. This is faith, and it will take all of your energy, focus and will to change.

God is a God of love. He will guide you and lead you into His truth. It may be a struggle at first, but in time, change will come. There will be a renewing of your mind, and the desire of what you thought you wanted will no longer be what you want. Friends may fall away, family may fall away, but continue to stand. In time, your loved ones will see that all is well, and you will become a better person as you transition.

Author Bio and Links

Dr. Michele Williams currently serves as an ordained Evangelist under the leadership of Pastor Dr. Suzette M. Myles For His Glory Church Ministries in Hartford, Connecticut. She was baptized and received the Lord as her Savior in 1985 along with her son Michael at Little Zion Church of Christ in South Norwalk. She was ordained as an Evangelist in 2005. She is also a professor at North Carolina Bible Institute-New England. She attended Mattatuck Community College for two years and completed and graduated in 1983 with an Associate degree in Science from South Central now, Gateway Community College. In 2009 She received a Certificate of achievement from Side Street to Main Street 12 Business and Leadership Development Program. In 2012, she graduated with her Master’s degree in Biblical Studies, from Elohim Christian Center. In 2017, she received her Doctorate in Biblical Studies from NCBI-New England. The author is a retired worker from the State of Connecticut she served as a School Instructor after twenty-four and one half years of service. Evangelist Williams currently resides in East Hartford, Connecticut with her daughter and granddaughter. The author’s life experience is proof that she is a testimony of what God can do. Her love, commitment, and passion for others stem from her belief in Jesus Christ; she believes that there is nothing He can’t do. Delivered from drugs, alcohol, low self-esteem, rejection, abandonment, depression, and PTSD, she continues to walk in integrity as a servant of God as she matures into a virtuous woman. In this book, she discusses how you too can be made free. Discover the truth as you read and compare your life with those women in the Bible who have suffered in their time as much as women today, but found faith and strength.

Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Gracefully-Broken-Resilient-Woman-Tranquility/dp/1483438694

Giveaway

Michele Williams will be awarding a print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner (US ONLY) via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Michele on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Argue for Your Possibilities

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In her book, Let It Be Easy: Simple Ways to Stop Stressing & Start Living, life coach Susie Moore shares insightful gems. Here’s one of my favorites:

If you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. But if you argue for your possibilities, they expand.

We are experts at knowing our limitations. We defend them doggedly. We set up Judge Judy-style courtrooms in our heads and play the part of the prosecution—against ourselves. Against our own possibilities.

What if we flipped the script?

Next time you’re about to prove a personal limitation, pause. Is it helpful, to you or anyone else? I’ve never found it to be so.

Are you “too sensitive”? Maybe you’re highly empathetic, and that’s a superpower!

Are you “disorganized”? Maybe you’re an action taker who focuses on the overall mission over tidy perfection.

Are you “on the bossy side”? Maybe you’re a natural, confident leader.

What’s there to apologize for or explain away, exactly, here?

Here’s a fun exercise. Imagine you’re responsible for defending your possibilities in a courtroom. If you had to be your own attorney for just five minutes, what would you say about who you really are and what you can do?

Source: Let It Be Easy, pp. 65-66

A Unique Approach to the Writing Life

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, author and editor Kathryn Craft shared a unique approach to the writing life. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

For the 22 years I’ve been meandering up Author Mountain, I’ve been taking what you could call the Johnny Appleseed approach to the writing life: I keep seeds in my pocket wherever I go, and sow them wherever my spirit leads me. Which, let’s face it, is often into a library, bookstore, or a gathering of writers—I’m a writer, so my writing life enriches all of my life.

In fact, if I knew of a secret elevator that could be taken straight to the peak of Authordom Mountain, you wouldn’t find me taking it. There’s no view! No interesting people! No…story! I’d gladly tell you where to find it, but then you’d tell someone else, who would tell someone else, and soon that elevator would be so crowded it wouldn’t work anymore.

Truth is, there isn’t even an identifiable staircase. Each of us must pick our own way up the mountainside, exploring the deer paths, rock scrambles, and switchbacks; surviving the backslides and flash floods; and appreciating the flora, fauna, and vistas that will enrich your life and make your voice sing. Only by following your curiosity and staying keenly alert for the opportunity that’s right for you can you build a career that is uniquely yours.

Source: Writer Unboxed Blog

Idea → Sticky Idea → Premise

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Writers can find inspiration almost anywhere, and they don’t have to go too far to find those ideas. Checking Twitter or Facebook feeds, reading a daily newspaper, watching a movie or television program, visiting an art gallery, attending a workshop, eavesdropping on conversations…

Which ideas work best?

Sticky ideas…those ideas that simply won’t go away.

Once that idea takes root, it’s like a song you can’t get out of your head. You wake up thinking about it, dream about it, and fantasize about it. You can even imagine the A-list actors who will star in the screenplay based on your novel. You may seek validation from family and friends: “Don’t you think that would make a great novel?” Unfortunately, too many ideas remain fantasies and don’t reach the next step: transforming an idea into a premise.

Continue reading on the Soul Mate Authors blog.

Book Blast: Rodeo Clowns and Shakedowns

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome bestselling author Trixie Silvertale. Today, Trixie shares her new release, Rodeo Clowns and Shakedowns.

Blurb

Front row seats to murder. Thousands of eyewitnesses. Can our psychic sleuth trust her own eyes?

Mitzy Moon is loving life after the honeymoon. And as part of their agreement to try new things, she’s happily whooping it up at the local cowboy competition. But the newlyweds get roped into yet another investigation when their date night ends with a dead rodeo clown.

As her new husband’s history with the prime suspect’s wife tests all loyalties, Mitzy struggles to balance jealousy with keeping her man out of the hoosegow. And now she’ll need saddlebags of extra help from her mentor, Ghost-ma, and her entitled feline to unhorse the ruthless culprit.

Can Mitzy and Erick wrangle all the clues, or will spurious accusations bring a deadly showdown?

Rodeo Clowns and Shakedowns is the second book in the hilarious new paranormal cozy mystery series, Harper and Moon Investigations, a spinoff from the popular Mitzy Moon Mysteries. If you like snarky heroines, supernatural intrigue, and a dash of romance, then you’ll love Trixie Silvertale’s bucking brainteaser.

Buy Rodeo Clowns and Shakedowns to lasso a killer today!

Excerpt

“GET IT OFF ME!” I swipe the snake to the floor, step as far away as possible, and continue to flail my hands and shiver.

Ghost-ma floats down to the motionless reptile and shakes her head. “Just an old rubber snake from the toy basket in the children’s section, Mitzy.” She reaches an ethereal hand toward Pyewacket and raises one finger. “You shouldn’t torment your best human, Mr. Cuddlekins.”

With the welcome knowledge that a live snake is not slithering around my closet, I return to the bench. “Yeah, what she said, Pye. I can’t put up with feline shenanigans and keep ghosts out of my head before a proper cup of coffee!”

Grams chuckles as she continues to rifle through the closet. “Don’t blame me, dear. I honestly thought you said it out loud because I wasn’t watching your lips. I was hard at work finding the perfect outfit for your first rodeo parade.”

“It will be the rodeo parade I missed, if you don’t pick something soon! Erick just sent me another text. The marching band is warming up. Yeesh! Pick something! Anything!”

“Reeeee-ow.” A warning.

“Look, you’ve even got Pyewacket concerned. He’d hate for me to stand up Detective Harper. You know Pye’s all Team Erick, now.”

Ghost-ma and I share a giggle, and I stretch out my arm to scratch the broad tan head of my furry overlord. Along with this bookstore, a swanky apartment, and a healthy monetary inheritance, my grandmother passed on her most precious possession: Robin Pyewacket Goodfellow.

Pye is a half-wild caracal …

CONTINUE READING HERE: https://readerlinks.com/l/3460643

Author Bio and Links

USA TODAY Bestselling author Trixie Silvertale grew up reading an endless supply of Lilian Jackson Braun, Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew novels. She loves the amateur sleuths in cozy mysteries and obsesses about all things paranormal. Those two passions unite in her Mitzy Moon Mysteries and Harper and Moon Investigations, and she’s thrilled to write them and share them with you.

Website | Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Instagram | Facebook | Buy Link

Giveaway

Trixie Silvertale will be awarding a $75 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Trixie on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Blurb Blitz: Entheóphage

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Drema Deòraich. Today, Drema, shares her debut novel, Entheóphage.

Blurb

Dr. Isobel Fallon thinks she’s found a treatment that will help her son and others suffering from Milani Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. What she doesn’t realize is that harvesting the source of this treatment in the only accessible place on earth it grows, a coral reef in the Nlaan Islands, is going to have consequences far beyond the disruption of the fragile ecosystem on one small reef.

CDC researcher Nadine Parker and her team are baffled. Lukas Behn’s daughter Kyndra has contracted a bizarre new virus that leaves her screaming in pain. But they can’t identify any physical, biological source for that pain, not in Kyndra, nor in the dozens, then hundreds, and finally millions of children worldwide succumbing to the same virus. And no one seems to have made a connection between what’s happening with the infected children and the events on a small coral reef in the South Pacific.

Eventually, Nadine has to face the unlikely truth, and the enormous implications of it. The children aren’t sick. They’re changing. But will anyone else believe her?

Excerpt

Mitch grunted acknowledgment. “First off, your official designation for this virus is Novel Juvenile Cerebral Bacteriophage or NJCB.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Nadine said. “Let’s go with NJace.”

“Whatever you say. Good idea, I suppose, since we’ll be saying it a lot more in the coming days.” He hesitated. “This thing isn’t contained in Austin anymore.”

“Yeah, I saw on the news that the chickens got out of the coop. Texas, Idaho, where else?”

“Virginia and New York, cases that all match the working case definition.”

“Any luck in contact tracing?”

“Not yet. Tracking programs blew normal expectations all to hell. That initial case in Idaho—NJace’s first appearance outside Texas—had no exposure we can find to an infected kid from Texas. But at least that supports the argument that it isn’t airborne, which is a good thing.”

“Yeah. It’s already bad. Rhue Children’s Hospital discharged most of their non-critical cases and sent the patients home with medicines and a list of instructions on how to recuperate on their own. Phage cases are being lodged in every available room and Rhue staff even reached out to non-pediatric hospitals in the city looking for more space for future cases.” Nadine pinched the bridge of her nose. “If we don’t figure out how the dang bug’s getting around, stopping its spread is gonna be harder than cracking a macadamia.”

Mitch listened in silence, which made her twitchy.

“What else you got?” she asked.

He sighed. “The Department of Homeland Security is treating this as a possible terrorist attack.”

Buy Links

Paperback | Ebook

Author Bio and Links

Drema Deòraich is a writer of speculative fiction that asks big questions. Her short stories have been published in numerous online journals, as well as a few semi-professional zines. Her debut novel “Entheóphage,” a medical mystery/climate fiction novel released in October of 2022, has been nominated for the 2023 Ursula Le Guin prize. Drema is still hard at work on her science fantasy trilogy, “The Founder’s Seed,” with plans to release book one in late 2023.

When she isn’t writing, Drema helps her legal-eagle boss to save the world one case at a time, pets her husband’s cats, watches the starlings mob her birdfeeders, or spends time in Nature, surrounded by flora and fauna.

Author Website | Niveym Arts LLC | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Giveaway

Drema Deòraich will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Drema on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.