Jenn Nixon Mind: The Beginning Blog Tour

MIND: The Beginning Blog Tour

What:	Jenn Nixon’s Virtual Blog Tour and Give-A-Way Contest!
When:	September 2 through September 20, 2013
Where:	Online!
Why:	New Jersey Author Jenn Nixon is pleased to announce her MIND: The Beginning Blog Tour & Give-A-Way Contest! Join Jenn Nixon for a blog hop Virtual Tour around the internet from the comfort of your home! The Blog Tour will feature interviews and blog posts from Jenn about her new Sci-Fi Romance release, MIND: The Beginning coming September 2, 2013 from Crescent Moon Press About MIND: The Beginning - After Dina Ranger loses telepathic contact with her brother, she breaks into his apartment and stumbles onto a special government unit responsible for monitoring the psychic population. She's offered a job where she can use her psionic gifts to help people. Stranded on earth over a hundred years ago, Liam of Shria is searching for a metal needed to repair his ship when he finds Dina, a telepathic investigator, and narrowly saves her from an exploding alien pod. Together, they uncover a plot to rebuild an ancient weapon and discover the truth behind Dina's abilities while unlocking dangerous secrets about the alien presence on earth. How about an excerpt?   The woman’s phone rang for the second time in ten minutes. Someone really wanted to talk to her. Considering it was five in the morning, he assumed it was one of the two men she’d been with at the visitor’s center. Liam had an inkling she needed to answer the next call.             “Going to have to wake her…” He crossed the motel room and shook Dina’s shoulder. She mumbled, rolled away, and stretched her legs down the bed. Come on, wake up.                        I’m awake, get out of my head. “And stop staring at my ass.”             “Did that earlier when I put you to bed.”             “Oh, ha, you’re a funny alien.” She blinked, the expression on her face changing slowly as she moved to the edge of the bed and sat up. “This is all real; it’s not some psi ability.”             “Yes, ma’am.”             “You…look human.”             “Frankly, so does the vast majority of intelligent evolved life out there. We’re all made up of the same bits and pieces of the universe. Those shows you humans entertain yourselves with are so far off base.” Liam smirked, thinking of all the fantastically bizarre creatures science-fiction had turned out over the years.             “We all look the same?”             “Not the same, similar. Various differences, skin tone, hair and eyes, appendage length, shape—”             “Powers? You were invisible, teleported, what else can you do?”             “A lot. Most humanoids have psionic traits in their genetics, only some develop depending on their planetary conditions and evolution. I come from one of the older, more advanced planets in the universe.”             “Okay, information overload, let’s take it down a notch.”             “We’re going to be interrupted shortly anyway.”             Dina’s phone rang. Her eyes expanded wide. “You’re a precog too?”             “No,” he replied with a chuckle. “Third phone call. That’s why I woke you. I figure it’s important.” Wanna read more? Jenn's book is available for purchase at http://www.amazon.com/Mind-The-Beginning-ebook/dp/B00EVWZ6XO One commentor from each blog will win an ebook copy of Jenn’s Romantic Suspense E-Book Lucky’s Charm, one GRAND PRIZE WINNER will also receive an E-Book Copy of Lucky’s Charm and a $15 Gift Card to any online book retailer of their choice! Virtual Blog Tour Dates & Locations: September 2:  myblog2point0.blogspot.com and cheriereich.blogspot.com September 3:  lesliestalley.blogspot.com    September 4:  www.louanncarroll.com/blog.html and www.caridad.com/blog September 5:  katieosullivan.blogspot.com and /jodyakessler.com September 6:  dragontargeseries.blogspot.com September 7:  maerwilson.com September 9:  cindyyoungturner.com/blog September 10: constancephillips.com/blog & chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com September 11:  www.shawnaromkey.com September 12:  cmmichaels.blogspot.com September 13:  www.erindanzer.com/blog September 16:  danielledevor.wordpress.com and interviwingauthors.blogspot.com September 17:  territalleyventers.blogspot.com September 18:  nancysbrandt.com September 19:  www.hunterthehorrible.com September 20: jennafern.blogspot.com
Note:	Author Jenn Nixon is a resident of New Jersey and a member of RWA and Liberty States Fiction Writers. Jenn often adds a thriller and suspense element to anything she writes be it Romance, Science Fiction, or Fantasy. When not writing, she spends her time reading, observing pop culture, playing with her two dogs, and working on various charitable projects in her home state of New Jersey. Past Releases: Lucky’s Charm from Wild Child Publishing. Upcoming Releases: Tiva Boon: Royal Guardian from Hydra Publications.
Cost	Free!
Contacts:	jenn@jennnixon.com	www.jennnixon.com

Banned Book Month- The Boy Who Was Banned

Doo do Doo Do DOOOOOOO do dooo.  Can you name that tune in seven notes? How about seven books?  The Harry Potter series is one of the largest pop culture phenomenons, spawning board games, video games, coined phrases, and a wealth of deathly hallows tattoos.   While I don't feel that it has the same quality of effects on our society, no one can deny that it is a tasty, tasty bit of brain candy.  Who doesn't have their favorite House, or character (Rupert, if you're reading this,call me)?  The answer is a surprising amount.  The series came under attack immediately upon gaining popularity simply because of one word: witchcraft.  Ill-informed individuals believed that the witchcraft referred to in this book was synonymous with witchcraft as performed by those who practice Wicca.  While I obviously don't believe that the book ought be banned in any case, the level of misunderstanding in this conflict only served to heighten the offense.  Obviously, the protective charms cast by the crew in Hogwart's were able to withstand the attempted banning.

Writing Prompt: Cast a spell.  Write a short story in which a character casts a spell - in whatever manner you choose.

A Writing Prompt for Algernon

"Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keys was given to me for the first time as a preteen girl by a parent who was exasperated and at a loss.  I had devoured the local children's library, and had been found reading a V.C. Andrews book that I had nicked from my step-monster's bookshelf because the color looked pretty.  I needed something more than what my school had to offer, but Andrews was simply not acceptable for a child my age.  She handed me two musty smelling books out of a box in our basement, and both changed my life.  The first was "Watership Down," the second was "Flowers for Algernon."  The novel, a first person piece is written as a diary by Charlie, a mentally impaired young man who volunteers to be the subject of an experimental surgery which will increase his IQ.  We travel with him as he becomes first intelligent and then a genius before discovering the flaw in his own surgery which will lead to an inevitable regression.  We struggle with him as his social skills develop far more slowly than his intellect, as he tries to come to terms with elements of his past, deals with his sexuality, and finally as he experiences the heartwrenching return to his original state of being.  This book has been challenged for nearly as long as it has been released, with instances of drunkenness and sexuality cited as the reason. 

Your writing prompt today - We all remember the hormone soup that was our brain and body as we began to reach our sexual maturity.  Write a short story that includes that awkward and exciting time. 

Banned Book Month- And we are back

Hello, everyone.  I apologize for the lack of posts. Satellite internet and storms are not a happy combination.  I'm back, though, with today's banned book- Bridge to Terebithia.  Bridge to Terebithia is a middle grade fiction novel featuring Leslie and Jess, two unlikely friends who meet in the cow pasture while Jess is practicing to become the fastest boy in his grade.  Their friendship grows as they find mutual ground in art and loneliness.  Jess is able to provide Leslie with some stability and friendship, and Leslie shows him how to open up and use his imagination as they have a series of adventures revolving around an imaginary land across a river.  Tragically, Leslie dies and Jess is left to deal with the guilt and returned loneliness.  The story ends with hope, as Jess introduced his younger sister to Terebithia.  Sadly, opponents of this book have found fault in the language (the kids say "Oh Lordy" often), and the perceived disrespect to parents.

Today's Prompt: Those wily kids.  Write a story in which kids engage in mild disobedience or adventure.

Banned Book Day 3 - The Giver

"The Giver" by Lois Lowry depicts a utopian future in which Sameness had taken the place of competition, emotion, weather, sickness, and more.  People are assigned their jobs, their spouses, and their children, and function in these roles until they are "released."  Released, we find out, is simply a euphemism for euthanized. One person is selected from each generation to be the holder of the memories of the time before Sameness.  This book emphasizes the need for calculated risk, bravery, and love.  Yet, it has been banned for everything from occult themes (the memories are transferred through a combination of touch and some sort of psychic-like connection), to lewdness (the boy stops taking the pills that repress all sexual desire), to -unbelievably- being pro-euthanasia.  Lois Lowry once spoke out about the frequent banning of her book, saying, ."I think banning books is a very, very dangerous thing. It takes away an important freedom. Any time there is an attempt to ban a book, you should fight it as hard as you can. It’s okay for a parent to say, ‘I don’t want my child to read this book.’ But it is not okay for anyone to try to make that decision for other people. The world portrayed in The Giver is a world where choice has been taken away. It is a frightening world. Let’s work hard to keep it from truly happening.”

Today's Prompt: Write a short story in which a character's ability to make decisions or choices is severely inhibited by an internal or external force

Banned Book Month Day Two - You sure look funny naked.

Another frequently challenged book is "The Dirty Cowboy" by Amy Timberlake.  While I'm not going to state that this picture book has the same societal and personal impact as A.A. Milne's works, it is a cute little story.  After discovering a tumbleweed in his britches and some bugs a-buzzin' a cowboy decides that it is time for his yearly bath.  He strips down and leaves his clothing on the banks of the river after instructing his faithful hound not to let anyone steal them. After his bath, he smells so different that the confused beast won't relinquish the cowboy's coverins.  Though the cartoon cowboy's privates are covered in every picture, this book has been banned in many places due to the nudity.

Today's prompt: Use a little nudity to make us giggle.

Banned Book Month - Winnie the Pooh

The Winnie the Pooh stories are amongst my favorites in children's literature. I grew up snuggled against my mom while she read the stories with voices so often that I know many of them by heart to this day.  I have raised my children on the same, and they love the stories the same as I.  In fact, my youngest has referred to himself as "da Pooh Beah" for a year or more.  One would think that there could be little more innocuous than a silly old bear and his Very Small friend who lives in the house of Trespassers W.  However, these stories have come under fire from two religious sects and have been banned in many places because of this.  In England, the stories have been banned because of complaints from the Muslim populations regarding Piglet.  Meanwhile, in the United States, some Christians have deemed the books inappropriate because the speaking and thinking animals are considered an affront to God.  

Your prompt for today: Write a short story featuring talking animals.