Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Writer's Block? Step Into My Shower
Guest Post by ROBERT GERMAUX
Does this sound familiar? You’ve placed one of your
characters (let’s call her Jenny) in a pretty sticky situation, and now you
have no idea how to get her out of that pickle. You’ve tried several scenarios,
but none of them quite works. Finally, you decide to take a break, clear your
mind a bit. You’re thinking grab a quick shower, drive over to Starbucks for a
latte, then come back and get to work on saving Jenny. Five minutes later,
you’re halfway into that shower, and suddenly, it hits you, the perfect way to
extricate Jenny from that sticky situation.
That sort of thing has happened to me often enough that, at
some point, I began to wonder about the possibility of a connection between
water and creativity. So, of course, I Googled it, and I quickly learned that
there is a veritable waterfall of information on this topic. Yeah, I know.
Waterfall of info on water. I couldn’t resist it. No more, I promise. Anyway, I
discovered that there does, indeed, appear to be a connection, although it’s
not the water per se, but rather a progression of events in which water is just
one part. With apologies to Mr. Metcalf, my high school science teacher, I’ll
do my best to walk you through the process. It involves dopamine, and one of
the few things I still remember from Mr. Metcalf’s class is that dopamine equals
good. Apparently, dopamine aids in the creative process (no idea; I got a C- in
science), but to get the dopamine released into our brains, we first need to be
doing something relaxing, like taking that warm shower or a long walk or a
leisurely drive in the country. During these types of activities, your mind is
distracted from whatever subject you’ve been concentrating on all day (for
instance, poor Jenny), which allows your brain to relax at the same time it’s
being flooded with dopamine, and before your know it, genius hits.
Okay, there you have it. Maybe not the most scientific
explanation of the process (again, C-), but it gives you the general idea.
Relaxation plus distraction plus dopamine equal problem solved. So the next
time you’re sitting there staring at that blank page, take a hike.
ABOUT ROBERT GERMAUX:
Both my parents were readers. I'm talking stacks-of-books-on-their-nightstands readers. So it's no surprise that at an early age, I, too, became an avid reader. Everything from sports books (especially baseball) to Nancy Drew to the Hardy Boys to almost anything about distant and exotic places.
Although I've always enjoyed putting words on paper, the writer in me didn't fully emerge until I retired after three decades of teaching high school English. I quickly wrote two books aimed at middle school readers, at which point my wife urged me to try a novel for adults. As is usually the case, Cynthia's idea was a good one.
Over the next few years, I wrote several books about Pittsburgh private eye Jeremy Barnes. I took a brief hiatus from the detective genre to write Small Talk and The Backup Husband. Now I’m back and I just released my first Jeremy Barnes novel, Hard Court, on April 11.
In our spare time, Cynthia and I enjoy reading (of course), going to live theater productions, watching reruns of favorite TV shows such as "Sports Night" and "Gilmore Girls," and traveling to some of those distant and exotic places I used to read about as a child. So far, we've been fortunate enough to walk in the sands of Waikiki, swim in the warm waters of the South Pacific and share a romantic dinner in Paris.
I love interacting with my readers and getting their input on my characters and stories. Please feel free to contact me via my website.
HARD COURT
A Jeremy Barnes Mystery
File Size: 638 KB
Print Length: 253 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Robert T. Germaux (April 6,
2016)
Publication Date: April 6, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B01DX54ZFO
ABOUT HARD COURT:
Miles Bradshaw, the dot-com
billionaire owner of Pittsburgh’s first NBA franchise, hires private detective
Jeremy Barnes to look into what appears to be a simple case of harassment of
one of the team’s players. But when Jeremy (JB to his friends) begins his
investigation, the case proves to be anything but simple, eventually involving
a local businessman with suspected criminal ties, a major FBI task force, a
computer geek in California and a mob boss in Erie. Along the way, JB, who can
quote Shakespeare as quickly and easily as he can land a solid left jab, uses
his wits and his ever-present sense of humor to wend his way through a cast of
characters who range from the ridiculously inept to the ruthlessly lethal.
As Hard Court unfolds, there
are numerous surprises and plot twists, culminating in a dramatic confrontation
that neither JB nor the reader could have predicted.
Friday, April 8, 2016
Virtual #BookTour ~ LOVE & HAPPINESS ~
LOVE & Happiness by Ben Burgess Jr.
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Ben Burgess
Jr. (April 23, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0988374544
ISBN-13: 978-0988374546
Karen has it all: a handsome husband, beautiful twin daughters, a lovely home and a great job. Karen also has a secret; she’s cheating on her husband, with not one man, but two.
On the outside her life seems perfect, but on the inside Karen feels neglected, bored and unappreciated. Yearning for affection and excitement, she falls into the arms of first Raheem and then
Tyrell. Out of fear of losing her husband and breaking up her family, Karen ends the affairs but things don’t turn out how she planned. When Karen’s dirty secrets are revealed she must fight to keep her family together.
Chris is doing all he can to hold his marriage together. He loves Karen but she grows more distant every day. When she starts coming home later and later, he suspects she is being unfaithful. When Chris accidentally takes her cell phone what he finds changes their lives forever.
When tragedy strikes, Karen must decide if she should sacrifice her happiness for her husband’s love, and Chris wonders if he should stay with Karen because he still loves her despite her infidelity. But
if they do stay together, will they ever find love and happiness again?
Sexy and relatable, insightful and inspiring, Love and Happiness shows us both sides of Chris and Karen's story, and reminds us that sometimes to have it all, you must first lose it all.
PURCHASE “LOVE AND HAPPINESS” ON AMAZON.COM HERE
RECEIVE A FREE DOWNLOAD OF “LOVE AND HAPPINESS” IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR
HONEST REVIEW HERE
ABOUT BEN BURGESS JR:
Ben Burgess Jr. is the author of the award winning novels Monster, Wounded, the poetry book Times Have Changed and Life is Strange and the new novel Love and Happiness He is an active performer of spoken word poetry.
Ben uses his love of writing to inspire and influence youths to strive for what they believe in, and to never give up on their dreams. His poetry book Times Have Changed and Life is Strange and his novel Monster are currently used in schools on the lower east side of Manhattan.
Ben Burgess has a BA degree in Business Management, and a MA degree in Educational Leadership.
He is the proud father of his daughter Jaelynn and is active in trying to improve urban neighborhoods and communities.
CONNECT WITH BEN
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Sunday, March 6, 2016
#NewRelease #Romance ~ SWEET INDULGENCE
The Silicon Beach Trilogy continues with Becca and Leo's story...
SWEET INDULGENCE
Becca Markham
spent the last six years trying to please everyone else. Now it's her turn. She
ditches her cheating boyfriend, quits her high-stress job as a software
engineer, and decides to transform her life-long love of baking from a
part-time hobby into a full-time business.
Leo Kogan spent
years scrambling to escape a life of poverty—first in Russia, then in the U.S.
Now a successful surgeon, he needs just one thing to complete his American
dream: the perfect woman. But making the leap from casual friends to lovers
proves harder than he expects.
Despite a
sizzling attraction, Becca and Leo don't see eye to eye—especially when it
comes to love and money. She’s looking for sex without strings; he wants a
partner for life. She stakes her future on a risky new business; he’s obsessed
with financial security.
Can love bring
two headstrong people together…or will their differences end up tearing them
apart?
Release date: MARCH 25, 2016
(Read for Free on Kindle Unlimited)
_____________________________________________________________
If you missed Beyond the Ivory Tower (The Silicon Beach Trilogy, Book 1), here's your chance to read Anna and Ethan's story for free!
Dowload your FREE COPY between March 25 and March 28:
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