#Author Tami Urbanek On What Inspired Her To #Write Her #Book @tamiurbanek

What Inspired Me to Write My Book

My book is a memoir and I never really thought I would write my story. It especially was not on my mind when I was experiencing the pain of my first marriage and then later my daughter’s adolescence! During that distressing period, all I was trying to do was survive.

As I began making my way out of my hurt and fear and I was seeing results in my own healing process, a few friends wanted to know how I did it: How I helped my daughter start moving past her anger at her father and to begin embracing her life. I had to think what did I do to start that process?

My change was my inspiration. If I could move past my own fear and help my daughter heal her male abandonment issues-her anger at her biological father and embrace her son, then I could write a book showing those steps. My difficulty became in how do I share my story?

I was able to quickly write out my abusive year-long first marriage that occurred at age eighteen, my experience as a financially struggling single mother, my second husband who became my rock, my advancement in education and becoming an award winning teacher, changing professions to medium/clairvoyant work, my daughter’s painful adolescence, and her son who came into our lives. That was easy. What wasn’t easy was refining it, fine-tuning it, making it GOOD! No, not good. Excellent! I needed help, so I sought out an editor.

My editor made me dig into my own emotions to pry out those painful years as a teenage bride in an abusive marriage. She made me dig into the fear and frustration around my own teenage daughter’s choices that mimicked mine from years before. I had to recall old memories and feelings and be able to translate that on paper for anyone to feel and understand too.

As the editing process took on a life of its own, my book did so too. I felt inspired to share about why bonding with our children is of the utmost importance as a parent. I wanted to share with the world how important our children are and how much love can be passed between parent and child. My daughter’s growth and my grandson became my inspiration.

Broke, with a month-old baby, nineteen-year old Tami Urbanek walks away from an abusive marriage only to find herself wallowing in anxiety and confusion, wondering how she will survive. At the time, she had no idea that the journey in front of her would guide her so far away from fear of financial survival and instead would push her into the realm of healing and spirituality. 

As the daughter of internationally renowned medium, Hossca Harrison, Tami seeks the assistance of her loving parents and a spiritual teacher named Jonah. With their help, she begins to understand herself and her daughter, whose adolescent path of destruction threatens to tear apart their relationship. As Tami's own clairvoyant abilities surface, she is challenged with the task of helping not just her daughter, but the child that her sixteen-year old daughter is carrying: a child whose painful past life still haunts him and which must be resolved before his birth. Told with humor, insight and honesty, Tami's story challenges readers' minds as it touches their hearts, and when the last page is turned, it is a story not easily forgotten.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Memoir

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

Connect with Tami Urbanek on Facebook & Twitter

#AmReading with Chris Myers - 10 Good #Books I've Read @CMyersFiction #YA

Ten good books I’ve read in the past couple of years:

Nonfiction:
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
A story about aWWII POW survivor. Amazing story about survival, resilience, and redemption.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
A story about two men, one an architect and the other a serial murderer, at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

Fiction:
Young Adult:
Flat-out Love by Jessica Park
A romance tied to a dysfunctional family. Unique premise and wonderfully told.

The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking (actually three books)
A fantasy about a girl born into a human family, though she has royal troll blood. This is really and fast-paced.

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle
A delightful read about her contemporary girl traveling back to stop Shakespeare from making a huge mistake.

The Fault in our Stars by John Greene
Awesome novel about a girl with cancer who discovers life.

Adult fiction:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Set in the 1960s in Mississippi, a young college grad seeks to write a life-changing book about the black maids who care for white families. Minny is the best!

Easy by Tammara Webber
When a girl is almost raped, she is rescued by a boy who may help her recover from her ex-boyfriend dumping her.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
Beautifully researched book about two children disagreeing over a man in a coma who lived among wolves.

If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones
I have to read the rest of these. A girl inherits journals from a missing woman she left in a storage unit. Very spicey.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - YA Paranormal Mystery, Romance

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

Connect with Chris Myers on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.chrismyersfiction.com

#Free The Alpha Choice (The Te'an Trilogy) by MD Hall #SciFi #Kindle

Three thousand years ago, the Vespoid Khitine are about to learn they must live with the disappointment of trade negotiations collapsing - or at least most of them will have to live with it - Chindara has other things to occupy her mind.

Their erstwhile partners to be, the Te, have their own plans. This is merely one more conquest, hardly different to scores that have gone before, Well, that isn't quite right; it's the first time they have had their actions halted by the appearance of a tiny electric blue light, a Custodian. Never have they watched, helplessly, as two of their battle cruisers blinked out of existence, before receiving a polite, but firm warning: attempts to circumvent the, hitherto unheard of, Accords will result in their complete destruction.

Twenty-one years ago, in the Gallsor system, the warning all but forgotten, Commander Jaron makes a choice that will have unimaginable consequences, the least of which follows his return to Te'ath, when the Supreme Council are prompted - on the urging of the most dangerous of the three heads of the covert Agency, Garnoth - to sanction a plan circumventing the Accords. The target? Telluria (Earth).

Garnoth's most able protégé, Tala, is tasked with leading the expedition, the success of which is dependent upon the Tellurian, Hugo Black (a Boston corporate attorney) heading up a multinational corporation, TeCorp.

Only two people can disrupt Garnoth's plan: Gorn, a twenty-one year old Te'an prodigy, whose brilliance is matched by his self-doubt and social ineptitude. He is recruited, when particularly vulnerable, to the cause of the Te'an rebellion by the single minded Narol. Gorn will betray his best, his only friend and, if he succeeds in his 'mission,' condemn his people to almost certain destruction. While taxing his mind over the choices to be made, he is completely unaware he has been marked for assassination.

The second potential fly in the Te'an ointment is history lecturer, Jonathon (Jon) Tyler and his recently acquired, rebellious young companion, Emily. Spirited from his bed, in the dead of night, he meets the physical embodiment of the electric blue light; a woman, whose beauty reminds him of a classical statue, an impression heightened by a cold and humourless aspect enhanced, in turn, by her inhuman electric blue eyes, completely electric blue eyes. Jon is told that an Artefact exists - a sentient, artificial life form, which may, or may not choose to help - and his job is to bring it to the attention of those who speak for Earth. How difficult could that be?

He is allowed to glimpse the consequences of converging forces, far beyond the danger posed by the Te'an threat, and guesses this to be the real reason for Custodian interest in his planet. For now, he has no choice but to act as a Custodian pawn in an opening gambit, on a board only just beginning to take shape, and where all the pieces have yet to arrive.

Amazon Kindle US | Amazon Kindle UK

Rating – PG13

Genre – Sci-Fi

5.0 (8 reviews)

Free until 16 January 2014

#AmReading - Elephant Girl by Jane Devin @janedevin

Elephant Girl by Jane Devin

Amazon

Written in three distinct voices -- child, teen and adult -- Jane Devin takes readers on an intimate, imaginative and often harrowing life journey. Born unwanted and raised without love, the child-author invents a rich inner life to see her through years of trauma. Leaving home at 16, the teen-author struggles to find happiness and a sense of place in a world that feels confusing and unfamiliar. Then, years after stumbling into an adulthood mired in tragedy and broken dreams, the woman-author finds herself at a crossroads. The choice she ultimately makes is as stunning as it is brave.Told in unflinching and often lyrical prose, Elephant Girl goes beyond a singular life story to speak of powerful, universal truths and the ability of the human spirit to redeem itself.

In a culture of bootstraps and bromides, it has become unfashionable to talk about the long-term effects of child abuse and being raised without love or nurture. Unlike psychologist Harry Harlowe's infamous experiments with monkeys and maternal deprivation -- where all his subjects ended up abnormal or dead from what has been termed "emotional anorexia" -- abused children are supposed to be more resilient. In fact, it's a common belief that child abuse isn't really that big of a deal and that abused children will eventually enter into adulthood with the same knowledge and tools as those who were not abused, or at least be able to gain them quickly and easily. Less acknowledged is the fact that there can be long-term and even lifelong physical, social and emotional consequences of child abuse. Oftentimes, the one affected doesn't even realize what those consequences are until well into adulthood. High anxiety, hyper-vigilance, thwarted sexuality and brain damage that went undiagnosed until the age of 46 were just some of the after-effects experienced by the author of Elephant Girl: A Human Story.
The story of Precious ends with her teenage years. Jeannette Walls concludes Glass Castles as a college student. In A Child Called It, Dave Pelzer is removed from his abusive home by age 12 and eventually finds a loving foster family. In contrast, Elephant Girl: A Human Story is about what happens when there is no clear path to follow, no outside guidance and no dramatic rescue--when the only life-saving graces are imagination, self-determination and, ultimately, an undefeatable sense of hope.
This is not an easy story to read. Those who enjoy reading about miracles or quick solutions will surely be disappointed. Those looking to cast blame or buoy their belief that they could have survived better will find plenty of ammunition. However, those who are willing to see beyond the convenience and labels of bootstraps and bromides -- who believe that human experiences are as diverse and complex as those who have them -- will find much to relate to in this insightful and rarely told and ultimately hope-filled story.

#AmReading - Private Air by Billie Bates @BillieBates1

Private Air by Billie Bates

Amazon

When Sienna Harris joined the Australian Air Force as a flight attendant for the Prime Minister, she thought she’d hit the glam-job jackpot. But three years of weapons training, outback destinations, and a cheating fighter pilot fiancé, and she’s realized it’s not so fabulous after all. Time to embark on a new adventure, this time to the prestigious world of international VIP aviation.
Sienna and her best friend leave behind their small-town lives for a glitzy career flight attending on a Saudi prince’s private jet. Money, parties, designer clothes, and exotic locations fill the job description, while the sexy pilot, Ted, makes it hard for Sienna to obey the “no fraternizing” rule.
But even the most opulent of journeys can hit turbulence. Sienna’s boss, the appearance-obsessed chief stewardess, issues diuretics and Botox with the uniforms and catering orders, and the prince is a man who’s never told no. Underneath its lush appearance, could this desert oasis be more of a muddy puddle?
The Devil Wears Prada meets Pan Am in this fun frolic to the glamorous side of air travel, inspired by the author’s own experience as a VIP flight attendant in Saudi Arabia and Europe.

#AmReading - My Cheeky Angel by Mimi Barbour @MimiBarbour

My Cheeky Angel by Mimi Barbour

Amazon

Woman-hater, tomboy and a Cheeky Angel! Sparks fly when the tomboy grows
up and decides to make drastic changes to her boring life, and thanks to her
helpful angel she's goes all out. Instead of being a playmate for her bachelor
buddy, she's turned into a real dazzler. Now what's a guy to do?

#AmReading - A Hint of Magic by Claire Chilton @ClaireChilton1

A Hint of Magic by Claire Chilton

Amazon

Dora Carridine is fed up with her life as a preacher’s daughter and sets out to explore the darker side of life instead. If she can find some magic in the world, then maybe she will find a place she belongs.
When she comes across a coven of witches, she takes on their trials to try and join them. But the witches aren’t all they appear to be, and Dora finds herself slipping into a darker world than she imagined.
She has to make a choice to do the right thing, but Dora’s never been very good at doing anything right…
*This is a Demon Diaries Origins Story

#AmReading - Interrupt by Jeff Carlson @authorjcarlson

Interrupt by Jeff Carlson

Amazon

In the distant past, the leader of a Neanderthal tribe confronts the end of his kind.

Today, a computational biologist, a Navy pilot, and an autistic boy are drawn together by the ancient mystery that gave rise to Homo sapiens.

Planes are falling from the sky. Global communications have ceased. America stands on the brink of war with China—but war is the least of humankind’s concerns. As solar storms destroy Earth’s electronics and plunge the world into another Ice Age, our civilization finds itself overrun by a powerful new species of man...

This brilliant thriller takes readers to an all-too-plausible tomorrow that’s as scientifically rigorous as it is wildly imaginative.

Jeff Carlson is the internationally bestselling author of Plague Year and The Frozen Sky. With Interrupt, he brings his forward-thinking fiction to a contemporary setting with this edge-of-your-seat thriller.

#AmReading - Poison Princess by Kresley Cole @kresleycole

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Amazon

She could save the world—or destroy it.
Sixteen year old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life—until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, killing everyone she loves, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.
But she can’t do either alone.
With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally trust Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?
Who can Evie trust?
As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side…

#AmReading - Sanctum by Sarah Fine @finesarah

Sanctum by Sarah Fine

Amazon

"My plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Find a way out. Simple."

A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos’s best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance – hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn’t just anyone – she’s determined to save her best friend’s soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife.

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she’s captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city’s endless streets. Their all-too human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn’t – the dark city isn’t the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

#AmReading - The Sword of Sighs by Greg James @_gregjames_

The Sword of Sighs by Greg James

Amazon

THE NUMBER ONE DARK FANTASY BESTSELLER!
Sarah Bean lives a quiet life in Okeechobee, Florida until the day when she is transported from our world to the fantastic realm of Seythe. She meets a wayfaring wizard called Ossen who saves her from the dreaded black riders, servants of a being known only as the Fallen One. Together, they will have to undertake a treacherous journey to the far-away Fellhorn mountain where Sarah must find the one weapon that can save them from the black riders pursuing them - The Sword of Sighs.
NB: This novel is recommended for mature young adults as it contains occasional bad language and occasional scenes of a graphic nature.

#AmReading - Requiem by SB Jones @Starbuck_Jones

Requiem by SB Jones

Amazon

Final Fantasy meets Dr. Who in this magic filled steampunk fantasy.
Angela had a choice: abandon everything for a prophecy that wasn't hers or fight for her people.  She chose wrong and died.  This is her chance to choose again.
Kail was born with a magical inheritance he knew nothing about, and he suddenly finds himself at the center of a vengeance filled power struggle left over from a war before he was born.
Brought together by a time traveling mage known as the Guardian and with the help from a captain of an experimental airship, they will set about unlocking hidden powers on a journey that takes them across the world and to the edge of time.

#AmReading - At the Edge of Her Memory by Sandra Ross @SandraRossBooks

At the Edge of Her Memory by Sandra Ross

Amazon

When Ryanne woke up in the hospital, she couldn't remember who she was. Even when they found her wallet with her name and address in it, the detectives couldn't find her in the system. Who was she? And why was she found so far away from a fake address?
In all the confusion, Dr. Garett Hamilton is there to make sure she would be alright. The physical attraction is felt immediately. And as soon as he learns that she's in danger, he carries her home.

And in the fire of their embrace, she helps create the kind of memories that would last a lifetime... until her past threatens to  catch up on her.   

#AmReading - CyberStorm by Matthew Mather @PhutureNews

CyberStorm by Matthew Mather

Amazon

Sometimes the worst storms aren't from Mother Nature, and sometimes the worst nightmares aren't the ones in our heads.

Mike Mitchell, an average New Yorker already struggling to keep his family together, suddenly finds himself fighting just to keep them alive when an increasingly bizarre string of disasters start appearing on the world's news networks. As the world and cyberworld come crashing down, bending perception and reality, a monster snowstorm cuts New York off from the world, turning it into a wintry tomb where nothing is what it seems...and no one can be trusted...

"A chilling prophecy...well written, a must read for any fan of good fiction." - Ian Peterson, Official Book Review, Sci-Fi Readers

"As a member of the Military that does 'cyber' for his job, it's refreshing to finally see a novel that shows how dangerous our transition to an interconnected infrastructure will become without proper safeguards...I couldn't put down!" - Karic Allegra, Joint Interoperability Command, US NAVY

CyberStorm is the newly released novel from Matthew Mather, author of the best-selling hit series Atopia Chronicles. In his other lives, Mather is one of the leading members of the world's cybersecurity community, as well as a real-life tech pioneer and award-winning videogame designer. CyberStorm is a novel for anyone who enjoys insightful, cutting-edge fiction mixed with action and adventure.

#AmReading - The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton @LoriBrighton

The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton

Amazon

Cameron Winters is a freak. Fortunately, no one but her family knows the truth …that Cameron can read minds. For years Cameron has hidden behind a facade of normalcy, warned that there are those who would do her harm. When gorgeous and mysterious Lewis Douglas arrives he destroys everything Cameron has ever believed and tempts her with possibilities of freedom. Determined to embrace her hidden talents, Cameron heads to a secret haven with Lewis; a place where she meets others like her, Mind Readers.
But as Cameron soon finds out some things are too good to be true. When the Mind Readers realize the extent of Cameron’s abilities, they want to use her powers for their own needs. Cameron suddenly finds herself involved in a war in which her idea of what is right and wrong is greatly tested. In the end she’ll be forced to make a choice that will not only threaten her relationship with Lewis, but her very life.

#AmReading - Defending Jacob by William Landay @williamlanday

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Amazon

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney for two decades. He is respected. Admired in the courtroom. Happy at home with the loves of his life, his wife, Laurie, and teenage son, Jacob.
Then Andy’s quiet suburb is stunned by a shocking crime: a young boy stabbed to death in a leafy park. And an even greater shock: The accused is Andy’s own son—shy, awkward, mysterious Jacob.
Andy believes in Jacob’s innocence. Any parent would. But the pressure mounts. Damning evidence. Doubt. A faltering marriage. The neighbors’ contempt. A murder trial that threatens to obliterate Andy’s family.
It is the ultimate test for any parent: How far would you go to protect your child? It is a test of devotion. A test of how well a parent can know a child. For Andy Barber, a man with an iron will and a dark secret, it is a test of guilt and innocence in the deepest sense.
How far would you go?

#AmReading - A Shadow in the Flames by Michael G. Munz @TheWriteMunz

A Shadow in the Flames by Michael G. Munz

Amazon

Northgate is in turmoil. Decaying, violent and corrupt, it is a common enough city in the mid twenty-first century, yet discoveries beneath the Moon's surface have marked it with their first distant echoes.
Into Northgate has come Michael Flynn. Jobless and down to his last few dollars, Michael still dreams of making a positive difference of his own. Yet he has no family, no friends save for the freelancer known only as Diomedes, and tonight the apartment they share will burn to the ground.
When Diomedes becomes his mentor in a search for the arsonist responsible, Michael will get his chance to realize those dreams. But he must face dangers far more personal than fire if he is to succeed, for like a shadow in the flames, neither arsonist nor mentor may be what they appear.
And the ones who search the Moon will be watching.

#AmReading - Surface Tension by Christine Kling @christinekling

Surface Tension by Christine Kling

Amazon

Years ago Seychelle Sullivan had the chance to save a person’s life. But on that summer night in Florida, lost in a world of teenage resentment and loneliness, Seychelle was not able to feel any pain but her own. Today Seychelle captains her father’s forty-six-foot salvage boat out of Fort Lauderdale’s New River. But she’s never escaped that one moment when she could have made a difference and didn’t.
On a steamy Florida morning Seychelle is answering a Mayday call launched from the five-million-dollar Broward yacht called Top Ten. Racing her fiercest competitor for salvage rights, Seychelle has a personal stake in this rescue: Her former lover, Neal Garrett, is the yacht’s hired skipper. But being the first to reach Top Ten leads to a bloody payday. A beautiful woman has been stabbed to death onboard. And Garrett is nowhere to be found.
While the police treat her as the prime suspect, Seychelle begins to unravel a tangled plot centered on a strip club where “all the girls are tens on top.” Seychelle is connecting human predators with innocent victims, and a mystery on land with a mystery buried deep beneath the sea. Now, to find out what really happened to Neal Garrett, Seychelle must retrace his last steps, through two murders and a horrific crime wave, to a final confrontation with someone who may want to kill her . . . or be her salvation.

#AmReading - The Search for South Pole Santa by JingleBelle Jackson @JingleBelleJ

The Search for South Pole Santa by JingleBelle Jackson

Amazon

The population alarm has gone off at the North Pole alerting the world that there will soon be too many children for Santa to serve! The search begins for a second Santa, South Pole Santa. Many people apply, but only six are selected to compete - including a teenage girl attending school far away on a remote tropical island. Cassandra Penelope Clausmonetsiamlydelaterra. . . wants the job, despite the odds against her and everything that goes wrong!
Can Sandra's dream come true? Can she become South Pole Santa ? The polar opposite of Santa? And who, or what, is trying so hard to keep her from it?
This holiday family book is full of mayhem, magic, mystery, bad guys, dark caves and a good dose of elves. Not just for the Christmas lovers amongst us, anyone who enjoys a fun adventure where kindness reigns in the end, will enjoy this timely new holiday choice.
Oh, Oh, Oh!

#AmReading - The Favor by Megan Hart @megan_hart

The Favor by Megan Hart

Amazon

With characteristic compassion and searing honesty, MEGAN HART weaves a shattering small-town story about what can turn brother against brother, and the kinds of secrets that cannot remain untold.

Janelle Decker has happy childhood memories of her grandma's house, and even lived there through high school. Now she's back with her twelve-year-old son to look after her ailing Nan, and hardly anything seems to have changed, not even the Tierney boys next door.

Gabriel Tierney, local bad boy. The twins, Michael and Andrew. After everything that happened between the four of them, Janelle is shocked that Gabe still lives in St. Mary's. And he isn't trying very hard to convince Janelle he's changed from the moody teenage boy she once knew. If anything, he seems bent on making sure she has no intentions of rekindling their past.

To this day, though there might've been a lot of speculation about her relationship with Gabe, nobody else knows she was there in the woods that day…the day a devastating accident tore the Tierney brothers apart and drove Janelle away. But there are things that even Janelle doesn't know, and as she and Gabe revisit their interrupted romance, she begins to uncover the truth denied to her when she ran away all those years ago.