My Dead True Love by Kim Pierce

 

My Dead True Love

by Kim Pierce

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GENRE: Women's literature

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BLURB:

When a newspaper reporter’s fiancé dies abruptly, she questions how he could just cease to be.

Dogged by unbidden thoughts, odd coincidences and unexplained phenomena, Ann Stewart becomes obsessed with finding out what really happens after we die and whether her beloved Gregory is still out there. She finds her answer, which takes her and a close-knit coterie of women to the edge of the cosmos—and the core of their own hearts.

Based on a true story.

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Excerpt :

“It was definitely Gregory,” Connie declared, forcing herself to return to the vision. “As clear as if he were standing next to me. Smiling.”

“If you saw him”—and I still wasn’t believing—“did he see you? Did he see me?”

It made no sense, but I had to know more.

“I don’t know. I tried to un-see him. I really did,” she said, turning to me, something akin to terror twisting her face. “This ‘seeing’ is a part of me that triggers so much shame—and reactivates the trauma. Like shell shock.” Red mottling crept up Connie’s neck and onto her cheeks.

She saw him. The words slid off my brain as if she were speaking in tongues. What did that mean?

“Could it have been your imagination?” I offered wanly, not wanting that to be the case.

“Yes, I suppose it could.”

Neither of us believed it.

I waited.

“What would it mean for you to ‘see’ him?” I pressed.

Tell me. Even if it makes no sense.

“That there’s something wrong with me,” came her acrid reply. “Deeply, terribly wrong. At least that’s what my father would say. And a lot of other people who make judgments about what I can do.” She slammed the car into park a little too aggressively.

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” I said, getting out of the car.

Connie shut down.

“I need to go home for a while,” she said.

Tell. Me. More.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kim Pierce is a former Dallas Morning News writer and editor who completed the Writer’s Path fiction program at Southern Methodist University. My Dead True Love is her first novel, inspired by events surrounding the death of her fiancé in 1998. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with her partner and three cats.

https://mydeadtruelove.com/

Buy Links:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Dead-True-Love-Kim-Pierce-ebook/dp/B0BGYF2PYR

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-dead-true-love-kim-pierce/1142397885

 

Other links:

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62852735-my-dead-true-love

 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085084524074

 

https://twitter.com/KimPierceauthor

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

A randomly drawn winner will receive a $50 Amazon/BN GC.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Adventures of a Southern (Baptist) Buddhist by Pamela McConnell, MSW, LCSW

 The Adventures of a Southern (Baptist) Buddhist

by Pamela McConnell, MSW, LCSW

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GENRE: Non-Fiction, Autobiography

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by 

Goddess FishPromotions. Pamela McConnell will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

This true story is about a girl who is born up north; into a conservative, fundamentalist/evangelical family—but then becomes a Liberal Buddhist. Her family moves back to their roots in the Appalachian south, where Pam is molested by her grandfather. She later owns her sexuality by becoming promiscuous; beginning a pattern of serial dating, marrying, and divorcing. She is first married at 18 to another 18-year-old, who gives her a beautiful son—but he is a redneck and they have nothing else in common. Her second husband is a talented musician but turns out to like sex with men. Her third husband speaks five languages and is a Pakistani, but he beats her up. Her fourth husband is a chef who makes delicious meals but turns out to be a felon and a crackhead. Finally, the love of her life neglects to tell Pam for seven years that he is married. In the meantime, Pam completes two degrees and works as a counselor, and then 20 years as a hospice social worker. She begins her hospice career in Southern California, where she has moved to get away from the DEEP South. That is where she converts to Buddhism. From that point, she begins to look inward for the answers to her questions about life’s meaning.  Pam leaves the country after two failed relationships, some years apart. She spends a year teaching English in South Korea and goes from there to Pakistan with her third husband. In between, her dad dies and Pam reconnects and bonds with her mom, backpacking on the Appalachian Trail. When she leaves the love of her life, she goes on Pilgrimage to India and Nepal. The meaning of her life is coming into focus. At the end of the book, Pam goes on a trek in the Himalayas, on the Annapurna Circuit. Just over the three-mile high pass is a magical Pure Land in Muktinath, with a Buddhist temple that is dedicated to the female Buddha Vajrayogini. With a new perspective, Pam has the realization that her Enlightenment is ensured; she WILL become a Buddha someday.

Excerpt:  

Our fathers worked at farming factories, making things like Farmall and John Deere tractors.

Although we all lived in the suburbs near the Mississippi River, I remember still: mile after mile

of corn fields, as far as the eye could see. The North was flat with black dirt and straight roads,

while the southern mountains were very steep with curvy roads and red dirt.

Corn was the view, as the two families all took the trip every summer, back to the brothers’

beloved mountains in the DEEP South. We stayed with both sets of grandparents. We kids

usually slept on the floor with feather beds that made me sneeze. Mom’s parents still had an

outhouse in those days, with actual Sears & Roebuck catalogs to wipe with.

Mom told a story about how after she got saved, “I was ‘convicted’ about wearing make-up and

jewelry. Because of that, I threw my wedding band down in the outhouse potty. Your dad fished

it out and wouldn’t give it back to me until decades later!”

I inherited that band several years after dad died, and still wear it today, but I’ve promised to

pass it along to my niece.

Author Bio and Links 

Pamela McConnell, MSW, LCSW was raised in a fundamentalist/ evangelical Christian church and family. At age 34 she converted formally to Buddhism. She has recently completed a Pilgrimage in India and Nepal. Earlier, she spent two years in Asia: a year teaching English in S. Korea and a year in Pakistan with her 3rd husband. She worked as a counselor after earning a B.S. in Psychology. She worked as a hospice social worker for the last 20 years of her career after earning an MSW degree and becoming licensed as an LCSW. She is an avid backpacker and trekker, having done 500 miles on the Appalachian Trail and more than half of the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas. 

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Rebirth of a Sage by Lani Gonzales

 

Rebirth of a Sage

by Lani Gonzales

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GENRE: Spirituality/Self Help/Memoir

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BLURB:

A TRANSFORMATIONAL MEMOIR OF LOVE AND LIGHT.

In Lani Gonzales' intimate self-help debut, Rebirth of a Sage, readers meet the woman she was when she discovered ayahuasca and commenced her journey toward spiritual rejuvenation. Panicked, fearful, and drained, she hoped for an escape for both her and the lonely little girl she'd buried inside. Guided by the Shamans and supported by friends she made along the way, her cleanse progressed one ceremony at a time, culminating in a state of pure spiritual refinement.

Through eleven soul-stirring chapters enriched with enlightenment and healing, readers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions as they journey with Lani. A heartwarming chronicle ensues, traversing the blissful highs and devastating lows she faced along her way to rebirth. Unburying her darkest demons, she inspires us to do the same, gradually weaving threads of transformation and encouraging us to reconnect and reignite the divine flame within our souls.

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Excerpt :

I will not carry the weight of your sin.

It is yours to carry, and not my own.

When my innocent eyes looked to you,

You took your life, and I slowly lost my own.

But that is your sin to carry, and your sin alone.

I will not carry the weight of your sin.

It is yours to carry, and not my own.

You taught me that life was worthless,

Something that easily comes and goes.

But that is your sin to carry, and your sin alone.

You trespassed on my innocence, the pureness of my soul.

But that is your sin to carry, and your sin alone.

I will not carry the weight of your sin.

It is yours to carry, and not my own.

You told me to be silent. You told me to be still.

But something inside me rotted; something inside me grew cold.

But that is your sin to carry, and your sin alone.

I will not carry the weight of your sin.

It is yours to carry, and not my own.

You violated my body, using it for the needs of your own.

But that is your sin to carry, and your sin alone.

I will not carry the weight of your sin.

It is yours to carry, and not my own.

The weight I’ve tried to shed.

The weight I’ve tried to purge.

Deceived into believing it should be shed from my body, the vessel for my soul.

But the weight that should be lost is that of your original sin, your sin, and yours alone.

I will not carry the weight of your sin.

It is not mine to carry.

It is yours and yours alone.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born in the Philippines, Lani Gonzales immigrated to Virginia, USA, with her family when she was only two years old. Determined to emulate her parents' discipline and ambition, Lani worked through college and law school and is now a practicing partner in a successful law firm in Tampa, Florida. A world-traveling, volunteering, energy-healing, aspiring hypnotherapist, Lani is committed to using her light as a beacon to help others find theirs.

Author's website : https://www.lanigonzales.com/

Amazon buy link : https://www.amazon.com/Rebirth-Sage-Lani-Gonzales/dp/B0BGNF1M3B/

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

Lani Gonzales will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AUTHOR Q & A :

Hello and welcome to my blog! Can you tell me a little about yourself, and and your book?

Rebirth of a Sage is about my experience with ayahuasca and how it helped me process rape, trauma and abuse. Our bodies are vessels for our souls, but they are also vessels for every grief and hardship that we do not properly process, and these things ultimately poison us emotionally, mentally and physically if we do not learn to let go and surrender. Rebirth of a Sage is the story of how I found the divine within once I surrendered.

Is your book based on someone in real life?

Rebirth of a Sage is my true story and shares some of the moments in my childhood that caused the deepest wounds. I wrote Rebirth of a Sage to honor the little girl that I once was who suffered in silence and in shame. I know that her story will help others to break their silence and surrender their shame.

What are your favorite times for writing? Morning? Evening?

Morning or night, I write whenever I feel inspired. I love to write in some of my favorite coffee shops with a cup of chai tea.

Who are your favorite authors? Did they influence your writing, and if so, how?

Rudyard Kipling is one of my favorite authors. His poem, “If” is the cornerstone for how I lead my life. Pick any life problem, and the answer to the problem will be in one of the lines of “If.” The power behind his words inspired me to use my words as a messenger for light and love.

Did you have a favorite book as a child? Did it influence your choice to become an author?

My favorite book as a child was The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. On the surface, The Little Prince is a children’s book about how a prince from another planet crashed on Earth. However, The Little Prince is a social commentary that discussed things, such as suicide, that aren’t polite conversation topics.

Editors of Rebirth of a Sage warned me that the book may be controversial or unsettling, but realizing the power behind our words and our stories from authors like Antoine de Saint-Exupery, I was determined to tell my story authentically.

Thank you for answering my questions, and letting readers get to know you better. It sounds like you have turned a horrific experience into a positive outlet. I wish you all the best!