Contests & Giveaways in the Writing World - Week of September 10th

The air is a bit chillier and crispier today - a sure sign of the fall. It's a gorgeous day here - so Happy Monday! :)

To start off the week in the right (happy) way, here's a selection of contests and giveaways in the writing world going on now:


Entangled Teen blog is giving away books (some of them signed, like Obsidian and Onyx by by Jennifer L. Armentrout) and lots of swag! The giveaway ends October 5th.


BookTrib is giving away a new sexy romance, Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks! Hurry to enter.

Check out this awesome contest and giveaway from Fantasy Book Addict. My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century Blog Tour: Interview & Contest by Rachel Harris! Sounds so fun.

There's five more days left to enter a giveaway to win one of the signed copies of Mirror of Shadows by T. Lynne Tolles

And especially exciting, Tracey Garvis Graves is giving away not one, but two (!) Nook Color Tablets on the 3rd day of her big Giveaway. Head there right now, 12 hours are left to enter!

*As always, please contact me for the inclusion of your contests/giveaways into the Monday Contests and Giveaways in the Writing World posts.

Have fun and good luck! 

Also, don't forget to become a follower of this blog to make sure you catch giveaways coming soon!

Friday Art & History Feature - Europe travel diary - Part I

For the next couple of weeks, instead of focusing on a particular artist or historical place/event, I thought I'd do a bit of a diary from my trip to Europe last month.

My husband was scheduled to teach karate seminars in Poland. He's been doing it for many years but haven't gone in the last few. I've never gone with him, so this year we combined our vacation with the karate event. Since I also always dreamed of going to Paris, we did four days there on the way to Poland.

Now, before I continue, you have to understand something about me - when I was growing up in Russia, I grew up on french classic literature. From Charles Perot's fairy tales read to me by my mom when I was little, to swallowing whole adventures by Alexandre Dumas Sr. (Three Musketeers, Queen Margot, Count de Monte Kristo) and poetic works (prose and poetry) of Victor Hugo when I could read on my own. From the short stories of Guy de Maupassant, which fascinated me with their details of life in Paris of the time (and adult romance, of course) to the then shocking Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. And of course, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the timeless classic that was as interesting to me as a child as it is to me as an adult, touching in its simplicity and full of life and adventure.

So, as you can see, French literature played a huge role in my childhood development. Of course, from reading these books, I got fascinated with the French history itself and I have never stopped being fascinated by it. I also remember reading biographies of Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo and being swept away by how amazing and eternally fascinating they were, and how much I wanted to be like them - a writer. After immersing myself into Hugo's poetry and re-writing it into my notebook, I even tried my own hand in writing poems. Alas, I'm definitely better at writing prose.

I also wanted to study French so I could read some of these works in the original language. Unfortunately, all I could manage, for various reason, was two semester in college plus some self-study. The dream still remains though.

And finally, I got to see Paris this summer! The places that were on my list of "must see!" were the Louvre, Versailles Palace and Gardens, Notre Dame de Paris, Champs-Elysee, Musee Rodin (one of my favorite artists/sculptors), and Basilica Saint Denis, where many of the French royalty is buried, going back to the 400s BC and all the way to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. I saw all of the above, and more. The Pantheon held an amazing surprise for me. I knew that some of the great minds of France were buried there, including Victor Hugo, Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau. What I didn't know was that, right next to Victor Hugo, was the Alexandre Dumas!

In all, it was a wonderful trip and I hope to return there and see even more. I also hope that the next time I go, I can speak better French.
I came back inspired to write more and better - how can you not be inspired by this city of lights and history?

Here are a few pictures from the Paris part of our trip.

At Versailles

In front of Versailles palace with hubby

In front of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette tomb statues at Basilica Saint Denis

In front of Antoine De Saint Exupery memorial at the Pantheon

Mauseleums of Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas at the Pantheon

In front of Psyche and Cupid at the Louvre

Louvre at night

Notre Dame de Paris

Next week, in part II of the diary, our trip to Poland, including visits to two concentration camps.

Writer Wednesdsay Flash Fiction - Reflection

This is more of a small reflection than a flash fiction. Hope you enjoy.

Reflection

I bent down and picked up a stone. It was a smooth, gray rock with a greenish tint, shaped and molded this way by thousands or millions of waves of the ocean. My feet sank deep into the white soft sand, warmer on top, cooler below the surface.
Looking straight out to the horizon, I let my memories carry me away. This was the beach where I first fell in love, where my youth was so fresh and naive, it almost hurts to think about it. This was where the future looked exciting and full of possibilities, limitless and wonderful.
Later, this sand absorbed some of my first tears of disappointment and regret, of crushed dreams and dimming future. And then, more tears - of happiness as I watched my children play in the pearly azure waters with the same zeal and excitement for life as I once had. And life was then full of wonder and possibilities once more.
This would be my last time coming here. I smoothed the stone with my fingers, feeling its perfection. It will have a special place in my home, among the other stones I picked up here over the years as reminders of joy and sadness that this beach had been a witness to. Goodbye, my beach. Keep witnessing other lives now, other joys and sadness. And one day, my ashes will be mixed with your buttery sand so I could forever remain here.

Teaser Tuesday - Angelique series

Today, instead of a real teaser, I'm going to mention the book I'm reading, as I'm reading it in Russian and can't post an actual teaser. This book is one of my favorites in the historical fiction and romance genre. It was written by a french married writer team of Anne and Serge Golon, better known in America as Sergeanne Golon. They wrote the Angelique series from the 1950s through 1970s.

Angelique is a series of novel, in which the heroine, Angelique, a girl from impoverished nobility, goes through various adventures that take her from the arms of true love and riches to the rags of Parisian poor bandits, to the splendor of Versailles and before the eyes of Sun King himself, who wants her for his mistress, and much much more.

The first time I read the books was when I was 13 (even though it's an adult themed series), and they made a big impression on me. I was surprised to pick up the books again now and find that I still loved them.

Various version of Angelique books from different countries: http://www.jannaludlow.co.uk/Angelique/Angelique_Gallery.html

Unfortunately, most of these books currently are used books but they are available out there.

I would recommend these novels to any fan of a good historical fiction and/or historical romance.

There is also a series of films that were made in 1960s, a joint production of France, Italy and Germany.

1960s series of film based on S. & A. Golon's books

Fall - season of renewed hope and commitment

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

Albert Camus

(image courtesy of free images of http://www.dreamstime.com/)

I love spring, when nature awakens and the air itself is saturated with new hope and growth. I love the summer when I feel full of life and ready for anything. And because yes, I prefer heat to cold.

But there's something so special and beautiful about fall that it makes me pause and take a look around, and at the same time also fills me with a sense of new hope and adventures. It also makes me want to jump back into work and studies with both feet and a renewed optimism - writing, fitness, art and other pursuits.

Even though, like any other sane person (grin) I never loved the idea of going back to school after the summer break, I always did feel a sense of excitement at going back to studying. Maybe what I feel now at the beginning of the fall comes from that.

So, dear readers, let's welcome this beautiful season of colors and fresh air with hope and a renewed commitment to our goals and endeavors.

And, as always, look out for new fresh content on this blog.

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face."

John Donne

August Blog Hiatus

I probably should have put this up in the beginning of August :)

 Due to work and lots of travel (and I will do posts on that travel in September!), I need to declare an August Blog Hiatus. But I'm ready to jump back in with both feet in September - lots of articles on writing, great posts for the Art & History feature (especially after the trip to Paris and Poland with the hubby!) and more flash fiction. So I will see you all back in September with renewed energy and enthusiasm!

Friday Art & History Feature - Sergey Brandt

I love watercolor. I love painting with this medium, I love looking at watercolor art. For a long time, I have been searching for watercolor paintings of my native city, Kiev. I've found a few over the years, but earlier this week I found a wonderful watercolor artist based in Kiev and was overjoyed to have discovered Mr. Brandt's work. I emailed him and asked for his permission to feature him in the Friday Feature on my blog. So, with his permission, I present to you Sergey Brandt.

All the information about the artist and all the work is taken from the artist's website: http://sergeybrandt.com/index2.html#main. Please visit this site for more information and to see the full gallery of Mr. Brandt's works.

Sergey Brandt was born in 1963 in Gytomer, Ukraine. In 1990, he graduated from the National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture - with a specialty in architecture. Starting the year after that, he started painting profesionally. He's had exhibitions in Poland, Prague and, of course, his native Ukraine. He has also worked as an interior designer in Kiev.

Here's a sampling of Sergey Brandt's works - enjoy!

Thank you to the artist, Sergey Brandt for letting me feature his work on my blog.