Author Vickie Johnstone - Charity Skydive

Charity skydive for Wood Green Animal Shelters

 Today I am happy to introduce you all to author Vicki Johnstone. She is the author of the Kiwi series, (the main character is Kiwi - a little, fluffy black cat who is often cheeky. How fun does that sound?) and Kaleidoscope, (a collection of poems. I have this book and one thing I love about it is that the poems are broken up into subjects. I will have more on this in an upcoming post). Vickie lives in London and she is doing something awesome and wonderful there. I have invited her here to tell you about it.

Vickie:

It all started one Tuesday in July when I was looking through the top posts in the Facebook news and came across a request from Wood Green Animal Shelters for volunteers to jump for charity. Yes, I thought, I'm up for that!

Back in… well about 10 years ago, I travelled to Australia and I kept challenging myself to do things on that fun trip. When I got to Queensland, the hostel I was staying in was organising tandem skydives. I'm trying that, I thought, and signed up. But then it was cancelled because it was too windy. I signed up again to jump the following day. Later on though, walking around town, my mind started thinking... what if it was cancelled for a reason?... what if I'm not supposed to do it... what if I crash into a tree?... blow out to sea?... the chute doesn't open??? Yep, you guessed - I cancelled it.

So, on this Tuesday, I thought I would give it another go. It's for a good cause after all. And, it's funny how, as I get older, things seem a bit scarier! Do you agree? Maybe, maybe not? Things I used to do before, now I think oh no, what if I injure this or that, or what if I look an idiot. Actually, that last bit never bothered me too much. Looking an idiot seems to come naturally. 

So, the upshot is that I am hoping to raise money for Wood Green Animal Shelters by chucking myself out of an aeroplane on Sunday 2 October, holding on for dear life to some poor guy who will hear my screams all the way down. I also have vertigo, and I can’t go upside down on fairground rides or get on the big rollercoaster, but, hey, I'm thinking it's so high up that maybe it won't matter! I'll be jumping from 10,000ft, freefalling 5,000ft at 120mph, and then riding the parachute down to the ground – so it says on my information pack. And, then I’ll probably be scarpering to the nearest pub.

There are a lot of worthy charities out there, but this one does a lot of worthy work to help our furry friends. The charity has a website at http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/ and a facebook page at  http://www.facebook.com/WoodGreenTheAnimalsCharity?sk=wall

Here's how you can help...

I’ve set up a page on JustGiving where people can sponsor me. It’s at http://www.justgiving.com/vickie-johnstone/ and every penny is going directly to Wood Green Animal Shelters. Donating is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.

Your thank you gift from me…

After donating, you’ll receive coupon codes to buy my books, two of which, incidentally, are about animals – cats, mice, hamsters J They are called Kiwi in Cat City and Kiwi and the missing Magic. These books are for sale on Smashwords and Amazon.

So, what’s so great about Wood Green Animal Shelters?

The history bit goes back to 1924, when Miss Louisa Snow opened the first centre in a small house in Lordship Lane, North London. She was concerned at the large number of abandoned and injured animals on the streets of London following the First World War.

Why do they need your help?

According to their website, in 2010, 79% of the charity’s income came from legacies and donations.

Stats & facts for 2010 –

-       We cared for over 5,500 lost and unwanted animals.

-       We rehomed 2507 cats and kittens, and 1469 dogs and puppies.

-       53 puppies were helped by our fostering volunteers.

-       We saw a 47% increase in the number of strays arriving at our centres.

-       38% of the animals we rehomed were neutered by our veterinary team.

-       22,000 medical checks and over 2,000 neutering procedures were carried out.

-       More than 16,000 people were reached through our 'Hands On' educational scheme.

-       At any one time we can accommodate up to 950 animals across our three centres.

-       We aim for an average stay of 21 days for a dog and 14 days for a cat.

-       40% of all animals we take in require veterinary care.

-       95% of animals are successfully re-homed.

-       At 52 acres, our Cambridgeshire Centre is one of the largest rehoming centres in Europe.

And, just in case any readers fancy doing a skydive for charity, you can find Information on the parachute company, Skyline, at http://www.skylineparachuting.co.uk/ Skyline was founded 14 years ago, specialising in organising parachute jumps for first-time jumpers. They are now one of the largest organisers of parachuting and skydiving courses in the UK, with over 7,000 people a year making their first-time jump with them. Many of these jumps are made for charity, and Skyline jumpers have so far raised £4.5million for more than 1,500 charities, according to their website. There is a list of charities on their site, from which you can choose to make a tandem dive.

So, now it’s Wednesday 14 September and I’m counting down the days. I’ve found some warm gloves, booked my train tickets to Peterborough and arranged an overnight stay there because you have to be at Sibson Airfield at 830am. Peterborough Parachute Centre is one of the best-equipped civilian parachute clubs in the UK. Apart from the excellent training facilities it has hot showers, lavatories, a licensed bar and restaurant, and free camping and caravan space. First I will be getting a 20-30 minute briefing session on what equipment I will be using, how to board the aircraft, and how to jump out in “a stable face-to-earth position”. Then it will up to the lovely British weather as to when I jump. So, Mr Sunshine, I hope you come out and play, and the clouds are nice and fluffy.

Charity edition book of poetry

I am also selling a charity edition book of poems called Childhood & Creatures. It is priced at £2.99, and all of my royalties will be going to Wood Green Animal Shelters. Poems inside: Magic pencils; The pink highlighter; My teacher actually fainted; Detention; The haunted house; The damaged bear; When playtime is over; The closet; The fox and the mole; Mog; The scarlet bird; Take flight; The captive; Open at your own risk; Dragonfly; The visitor, and Woof.

Where to buy it -

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81113
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055U9PEW http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055U9PEW 

Wood Green Animal Shelters is a registered charity - number 298348

My links:

My blog: http://vickiejohnstone.blogspot.com

Twitter: @vickiejohnstone

Smashwords profile: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/vixie

Amazon profile: http://tinyurl.com/6bh8b8e

What an awesome thing to do! I cannot wait to hear how you do. For my  friends outside of the UK, if you would like to help please go to Vickie's Just Giving page and Tweet it and Facebook it. Helping to spread the word will be a big help. I will be doing an upcoming post where I will be reviewing these four of Vickie's books. 

               

Please leave your comments, (and encouragement for Vicki), below!

Friday Feel Good

Friday Feel Good

I am a little late with this but it is something I have been meaning to jump on for awhile. So KB and Whitesnake forgive me, please, for coming in late. 

This is my feel good for this week. 

My grandson Victor sleeping with his friend. 

If you would like to see KB's please check out 

http://krazyblonde-kb.blogspot.com/

To join in the fun head over to Whitesnake's and check out his then join the linky. 

http://whitesnake45.blogspot.com/2011/09/friday-feel-good-rugby-world-cup.html

I think this is an awesome way to start the weekend feeling right. Hope you will join in! Maybe next week I will get it in on time. LOL

Comments are always welcome!

The Caretakers by Shauna Nosler

The Caretakers by Shauna Nosler

* I received this book from the author who requested a review. I received no compensation for this review. and the review is my honest opinion.*

The book opens up with a young woman getting an illegal abortion the year before Roe V Wade. It was one of the most emotional things I have read this year. Ms Nosler did an amazing job describing that scene. 

The book goes back and forth from 1972 to various years up to 1989. It is the story of one family. Early years deal with Mabel and one of her brothers, Jasper. While later years deal with Jasper's daughter, Rho, and her cousins, Mitch and Cecil at their Aunt Mabel's home. Ms Nosler was able to jump back and forth while maintaining the flow of the book. Her story was a compelling read. After her abortion Mabel is not able to have a child of her own. She has missing memories of parts of that night but has managed to get on with her life. Jasper has kept a secret all those years. He remembers that night and hold Mabel's missing memories. The summer of 1989 he finally opens up about it. Rho, Mitch and Cecil discover a cross on the property. Rho and Mitch decide they are going to solve the mystery of their aunt and the cross. Before they can though they have an argument right before Mitch's family leaves. Then Mitch has an accident. 

This book was an emotional roller coaster for me. It had reminders of summers when I was a child that brought sweet memories of my own cousins up. There are a lot of secrets, guilty feelings, sadness, anger, and forgiveness, hope and love. I think the most important thing they learn from this, (and in turn we learn), is how important communication is among people who love each other. I thought this was a beautifully told book. The characters were well developed - I felt like I knew them. The story flowed very well, something I wasn't certain would work going from one year to another then back again. I am giving this 5 stars. It is a book I would recommend.

Putting Up with Autism

 I came across this blog, The One-Minute Writer, that I think has an awesome idea going on. Beth, who runs it, has a one minute timer on her blog. The idea of it is to write for one minute. She has a prompt and you can respond in her comment section or on your blog linking back to hers. How fantastic is that? There are rules so be sure to check out her Q&A if you want to participate. The prompt that I responded to is PUT UP.

 Write about something in your life that you put up with.

My one-minute response can be found on her blog - just click on the link for The One-Minute Writer above.

My longer response would be:

Autism. Without a doubt this is what I put up with. My grandson, who is four and on the spectrum, lives with me. Everyday is a challenge, sometimes a heartbreaking one. For instance, once when we were walking outside to our door and he saw some children playing. There were 2 boys and a girl. He has played often with them. This day he stopped dead and leaned against the fence looking at the ground. I asked him what was wrong. He said ,"she don't like me. I try to be her friend but she says I'm not right. I try to be like the other kids but I don't know what I am doing wrong." You have seen this. You know it happened. You know it is going to happen again. What do you do? Your heart breaks. And the challenge is there. Staring at you. Daring you to make it right. So you pick up the challenge and you put up with autism because it is not going anywhere. Before he goes to school you role play "how to be a friend". After school you role play, " what to say when....". And you know this is still not going to do it because now he sounds like a robot. How do you cover every possible conversation? And even though you know it is not enough you keep doing it. Every day with the hope that never dies. The hope that he will pick up on some of the social skills he needs.

Then there is the sensory challenge. Junior hits every one but not consistently. So you never know when he is going to go into sensory overload or how. You just have to be ready. Ready for light to bother him. Sometimes from the sun, sometimes from lights. You learn to live without opening blinds all the way. You learn to keep the lighting in the house dim. You learn to time how long you can be in the store. Ready for touch to bother him. This is a toughie. Sometimes it's his clothes. Sometimes it's you. If you touch him to lightly it is like scraping his skin. If you touch him to hard it is uncomfortable and he pulls away. You learn where to buy clothes that have no tags. You learn how to touch with the right amount of pressure. You learn to let him come to you for a hug. And those you savor like it is nectar from God. Ready for sound to bother him. On sensory days he can have the most amazing things bother him. The sound of lights, the sound of water , the sound of a birds wings flapping, the sounds of wind, the phone ringing, normal talking, so many sounds. You learn that he can hear those lights way up high in the ceiling of the grocery store. You learn to wash dinner dishes in the middle of the night. You learn to shower when he is gone. You learn to fill the tub when he is out.  You learn to turn the phone ringer off and watch for it to light up. You learn to whisper. Then there is smells and taste to deal with. Not to mention the meltdown that occurs when he is in overload and there is nothing you can do. You learn to make sure he is safe and that others are too. You learn to ignore the hostile looks. You learn to ignore the comments of "bad parenting skills." You learn to be grateful for that one sympathetic look. You learn to take strength from the one supporting comment. And your friends. You learn how much you love them. Without them you aren't sure how you would make it. So here is a huge thank you to my support: Jennifer Griffin, Robin Y., Robin G., Melissa, Sid,  Annemarie, Rachel, Regina, Jamie, Sara, Iris, Cat, Bren, Donna, Susan Case and Jeni Decker.  You have my eternal gratitude.

    

 

                                                                                             

                                               

Please leave a comment. I love hearing from you.

FF

Hi everyone! Welcome to the Alaskan Book Cafe! I am Cristi.  Today is Follow My Book Blog Friday, (or FF). FF is hosted by 2 wonderfully awesome blogs, Parajunkee.com and Alisoncanread.com. Every Friday they feature 2 new blog and today I am one of the featured blogs, the other is Alaiel at Librarianmouse.com! *The crowd roars!*  I am so excited!!  For those new to my blog I read a wide variety of genres so you probably never really know what you are going to find here. I also have my grandson, who lives with me and is on the autism spectrum, on here sometimes doing children's book reviews. You can see him by clicking on One Face of Autism in my tabs. I also have pictures of Alaska both on a tab and also on posts. Right now I am hosting a giveaway for Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite so I hope you will all enter that. It is an awesome book and there will be 2 winners. So I hope you look around and like watch you see. Have a super awesome weekend! As you all know there is a question each week. Today's question is:    It's that pesky magic book fairy again! She has another wish: What imaginary book world would you like to make a reality?
Omgosh! There are so many! I want to live in Storyland. A magical place where you move from one book world into another much the way we travel city to city. That's not too much to ask is it?  My first pick would have to be the world of Anne of Green Gables. I have loved that book since childhood. Others I would like to visit are the world of the Midnight Breed series. I would so love to be one of the women living in that world. A bit dangerous yes but I am sure I would be kept safe.  I would love to walk into the world of the book I review below, Pirates of Savannah. Also dangerous but who has not dreamed of being a pirate? The world of Sookie Stackhouse would be another awesome place to go. All the different breeds coming out, vampires, shifters, the fae. It makes me dizzy from excitement. Really I think there should be a Book World to rival Disney World. I know you all would join me for a vacation there.
Please visit my fellow bloggers in the hop!

Enter Here for the Ghost On Black Mountain Giveaway!

Jarred Into Being by Pat Lawrence

Jarred Into Being by Pat Lawrence

I received a copy of this book from the authors to review. No promise of a good review was made. The review is based solely upon my honest thoughts and feelings. No offer of compensation was made nor was there any compensation given. 

 On Sunday night after TrueBlood, I was sitting downstairs waiting for Junior and had decided to check out the first chapter. Junior came home - I was still reading.  Junior brushed his teeth  and changed into his pajamas and I was following him around with the book open. I tucked him in, reading. When I finally checked I discovered I was on chapter 10! That's the kind of book this is. I forced myself to stop there with the promise I would continue it the next day. I picked it back up the next day and read it straight through in a few hours. We meet Eva as a well behaved child of two very loving parents. Then her parents leave her with her aunt and fail to pick her up. We know this is because they died in a car accident on their way to pick her up. She ends up living with her aunt and the downward spiral begins. Eva's aunt gets pregnant; continuing her abuse of drugs and alcohol. By the time the child is born Eva has grown up quite a bit and takes on much of the responsibility of her baby cousin. By the time Eva is 16 and Tina is two things have gone from bad to worse. Loretta, Eva's aunt, is now a prostitute and her boyfriend Dwayne  has moved in. One night Dwayne decides it is time for Eva to earn him some money too. The next day Eva awakes to find a note from Loretta telling her she left and Eva needs to take care of herself and her cousin Tina. She makes the decision to leave with Tina. Realizing that at 16, with only $22 she took while Dwayne slept, she is unable to take care of Tina.  Eva makes a heart-wrenching decision. The decisions Eva make that follow lead her to make a good friend but also unto more violence and abuse. When she takes a bag of money from drug lords her life changes once more and leads up to an explosive end.


As you can guess I really enjoyed this book. I liked that Eva kept having both good and bad things happen - that is how life is. Some parts were a bit unbelievable but I was fine with that. I was reading a fictional book. If I wanted everything to be believable I would have chosen non-fiction. I thought the characters were well developed and I could easily follow how Eva reasoned things out. I was able to make the connections on how experiences in her life affected how she thought and felt. Some of her actions were not the most honorable but they were human responses. The romance, I thought, was both sad and happy but, most of all, her love for Rafael was beautiful. The authors, a husband and wife team, wrapped things up nicely.  I would give this book 4 stars and recommend it if you are looking for a fast read thriller. 


Jarred Into Being by Pat Lawrence can be purchased in both paperback and hardback copies as well as E Book. It is available at OUTSKIRTS PRESS.
An audio sample is also available free at the above link.


A couple of questions with the authors, husband and wife, Pat and Lawrence. 


What would you say your book is about?


After the tragic death of her parents, Eva Lange must battle for her freedom; indeed, her very life. Fleeing her aunt's abuser, she falls prey to a murderous drug lord and his wife in their luxurious lair of lust. Using her wits, beauty and sexuality to save herself and break the bonds of captivity and degradation, Eva struggles against corruption and powerful political forces to reclaim her independence and save the life of the man she loves.


Why did you decide to write it?


We wanted to write the type of novel that we ourselves enjoy reading: a taut, suspense-filled roller coaster of a read that keeps you turning pages until you reach The End.


Congratulations. You succeeded with that goal. What types of readers  do you imagine will be interested in your book?


Anyone who enjoys fast paced, exciting fiction with a strong protagonist and convincing  fully drawn supporting characters will enjoy this book.


I liked that you made Tina real for me. Since she was only two and not a major part of the book, many authors would have chosen to just let her be without a real personality. You chose to give her life and it made Eva's decision all the more heartbreaking to read. 
So tell us please, why should we choose your book over others in this genre? What do you believe makes it different?


Our main character's physical beauty is both a curse to her and her ultimate salvation. Eva is preyed upon because of her desirability, and she learns to use that same attribute unapologetically to free herself and assert her total independence.


What else have you written? Are you writing anything now?


We have previously penned Murder Mysteries and a two act comedy play, SQUIRRELS IN THE ATTIC. We do have plans to publish more novels;  in fact,  our second novel is already underway.

Thank you for answering a few questions for us. The authors webpage is the link to OUTSKIRTSPRESS.COM

Please leave your comments below. 

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. It is hosted by Readingbetweenpages Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  

This week's theme is FEELINGS

My snippet is from Jarred Into Being,  found on page 6:

The unthinkable nightmare of that morning was merciless to Eva. She repeatedly pictured her parents smiling, laughing, hugging her, joking with one another, and her eyes spontaneously welled up with tears that blurred her vision and streamed down her face when she curled up in the corner of her room, hugging her knees to her chin.

 

Enter the GHOST ON BLACK MOUNTAIN GIVEAWAY Here

Waiting on Wednesday and WWW

P.O. Box Love by Paola Calvetti

January 2012

I came across this book and was intrigued. I googled the author to get to her website. It is in French and is located here http://www.librairierevesetsortileges.fr/ . I clicked on her books and they sounds like awesome romances. I really want this one!

Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors by Molly Harper

March 2012

I love Molly Harper! She is the queen of snark. This is the fourth in the Jane Jameson series. If you haven't tried her yet type fast over to B&N or Amazon, RUN to the nearest bookstore, call the library, whatever it takes, do it. You will not regret it. She is so funny.I first came across her from a book recommendation from my friend Robin Goodfellow, for How To Flirt With A Naked Werewolf, (set in Alaska). When I finished that I immediately purchased The Art of Seducing A Naked Werewolf. Her other books are And One Last Thing..., and of course, the Jane Jameson series starting with Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, followed by Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men and Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. If you haven't read her and you are looking for some fun pick her up, (WARNING *These books may cause you to laugh so hard you tinkle*).

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading? 
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Just Finished Reading:

  

I had a really bad week due to an out of control migraine that refused to leave me alone. So I am still working on everything from last Wednesday. :( 

Currently Reading: 

         

What's Next:

      

Reviews are coming for Jarred Into Being, Pirates of Savannah and The Caretakers. 

What are you waiting on? What are your three W's? Leave a comment and let me know. :D

Enter giveaway of Ghost on Black Mountain here