Category: Author Insights

While comments are always welcomed, these post are written with the intent that others will want to comment because they are usually based on opinions from, Toi Thomas, this author/blogger.

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Author Insights

Author Insights 09: I have so much to say.

authorinsightThis is very unexpected, but here I go…Usually when I post an Author Insights, I have a specific topic I want to discuss or an issue I want to address. Today’s post is a bit rare. You see, I’m actually going to talk about myself for just a little while. I don’t like talking about myself, my work for sure, but not me. It just so happens that I have a few things I want to share.

1. Today the kind folks at WordPress were nice enough to inform me that I’ve received 500 likes on my blog. This may seem like small potatoes to some of you, but to me it’s a big deal. For so long I’ve wanted to interact with the blogging community, but couldn’t quite seem to find my place. Then I did a complete overhaul on my blog. I stopped trying to do all the popular things everyone else was doing, because it worked for them, and started doing what works for me. I’m so glad I did. I’ve made so many new fans and friends. Thank you all.

companion guide

2. I recently received my first consumer review for my ebook, 40 Days and Nights of Eternal Curse. Again, that may seem small to some of you, but to know that at least one person has read it and appreciates it, means so much to me. It really is a cool, fun, little read. A new edition of this book is now available; see notice below.

3. It’s getting closer and closer the end of voting for The Author Show’s “50 Great Writers You Should be Reading” contest and I’m a little nervous. My world will not be shattered if I’m not one of the finalists who makes it into the publication, but how cool would it be I if did make it. I’m doing everything I can to keep from thinking about it constantly.

4. I’m really excited about trying to independently release my short story collection and novella in time for the holiday season. I just hope I can work it out. I’m really excited to give everyone a chance to see some of the other ideas I have rolling around in my head. Unexplained and The Legend of the Boy, should be nice little reads for those who are interested.

5. I’m excited about the possibilities for self-promotion that keep presenting themselves. I spend so much time promoting others that I sometimes forget to promote myself.  I guess it’s just easier for me to shine the light on others, but I feel as though I’ve made some good connections that I won’t be too shy to open up to, sometime in the near future.

 

6. I’m still trying to get a grip on social media. I have twitter and use it, but I just don’t feel comfortable there. I love spending time on my blogs and I’m trying to engage better on Facebook, though I know most people have had it with FB. I’m not giving up on it just yet. I’m trying to start up some conversations and interaction on my page, but we’ll see how it goes.

Cover

7. Lastly, I have a birthday coming up very soon. I’m actually excited this year to not be doing a whole lot for my birthday, other than baking cup cakes for my friends. I know it sounds weird, but I like to bake and like seeing people smile after eating one of my cup cakes…I’m pretty content right now. I’m excited about things that are happening with my book, Eternal Curse, and life could be so much worse than it is now, so I’m grateful and blessed to be where I am. A new edition of this book is now available.

If you found this post to be a bit boring, don’t worry it’s not likely to appear again for at least six to twelve months. If you enjoyed this, check out my FB page. I’ll be making an effort to post more updates there to keep anyone who wants to know, in the loop.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Author Insights

Author Insights 08: I don’t feel Saf3

authorinsight

I don’t feel Saf3 :/

I very rarely speak up about pop culture matters in this way and especially not TV related things, but…

OH MY GOODNESS! Yesterday, Saturday September 21, 2013, I lost 43 minutes of my life I will never get back. I stumbled upon a new CW show called SAF3. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen and some people will probably love it, but I am scared for life.

One blogger, Major Daily, was kind enough to refer to this new show as BayWatch 2.0…they wish. I might have, strange as it sounds, liked it more if they had run down the beach in swimsuits. I’m not one for needlessly and hatefully bashing (especially since I don’t feel a sense of hatred of this) so I’ll explain why I didn’t like this show in a nice calm manner.

  1. I seriously hope this was an episode one, one time only, phenomena because that was the longest intro ever. I kept waiting for the Enegizer Bunny to come strolling through.
  2. The idea of the show really has such good intentions and potential, but failed to deliver in terms of acting, location, cinematography, script, and more.
  3. I was excited to see Dolph Lundgren in a major U.S. television role, but unless he’s a bad guy or making me laugh, I don’t think I take kindly to his acting technique.
  4. Did I mention script yet, specifically the plot? There were so many clichés in the first episode that watching it to the end seemed a little silly, but I kept waiting to be surprised. Also, it seems like someone on staff could have taken a few minutes to actually speak to some rescue professionals to make some of the procedures and details a little more believable…but maybe I’m wrong on this count. Maybe it’s perfectly acceptable to not only move, but swim against a wild current, when carrying a possible neck injury victim who could possibly end up with permanent paralysis.
  5. Halfway through the show I told myself that this was going to be one of those shows that was sooo bad, that it was actually good. I’d somehow find myself entertained by the absurdity of the show, but that didn’t happen.

The last thing I’d like to say is that it’s been a long time since I’ve sat down and actually tried to watch new television programming and that maybe I’m just out of touch. Also, this was episode one, maybe it will get better, but I don’t plan on finding out for myself. I’ll wait to hear about it through the grapevine and stick to my books.

For now, I’m still screaming on the inside, “What the crap did I just watch?!”

For more on Saf3, visit the links below.

Teaser promo: www.youtube.com

From Major Daily: ChicagoNow

IMDB: Saf3

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Author Insights Promotion

M.C.V. Egan Hosts The Peace In Time Book Blitz

Can Peace Be Conceived? by Toi Thomas
 

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”― Napoleon Hill

This sounds nice, doesn’t it? Well let’s look at the meaning of the key words in this statement.

Conceive: to form a notion or idea of; imagine.

Believe: to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.

Achieve: to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish.

While I’m sure Napoleon Hill had all the best intentions when he wrote this, there are so many ways in which a statement like this can be used to cause great destruction, but more on that later.  For now, let’s look a look at the meaning of some other words.

Perceive: identify by means of the senses, to recognize, discern, envision, or understand.

Concede: to grant as a right or privilege; yield.

It’s evident through history that people are quite capable of achieving many great and, unfortunately, devastating things. I often wonder how the likes of someone like Hitler could have perceived his course of action as the only way to get what he wanted. Perhaps, as is often the case with us mere humans, it is easier to fight and take what you want than it is to concede and work hard for it in some other way.

So, I guess the challenge I’m currently faced with is, “Is world peace even a viable option?” To work this out in my head, I look again the meaning of this word “peace”.

Peace: a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations.

It seems to me that peace is such an all-consuming powerful state of being to strive for that one would first need to experience harmony in order to achieve it. So, let’s look at the meaning of “harmony”.

Please don’t copy this image. Click the image to share on Pinterest.

Harmony: a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity.

Now I feel like I’m getting somewhere. What if World Peace isn’t exactly what we should be striving for? What if peace is too hard? What if what we’re really looking for is World Harmony? I know this isn’t a new concept because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen something to this effect before on Facebook or Google, but now that I’ve taken the time to work it out in my head, it does make sense.

True peace would require more than the average person is willing to give or, maybe, should even have to give. True peace would require everyone to get alone and love each other. While I personally would love for that to happen, I think it’s more plausible to live in a world where people live in peaceful harmony with others like them and not like them.

Harmony is a pleasing arrangement of parts and world harmony could be a socially aware acceptance of others that allows people to have differences without raging war. If only people could agree to disagree and not try to infringe on the rights of others. If only we could perceive individuals unlike ourselves without disdain and concede to their right to live whether we like them or not. I think it’s possible to live in a world where two people who aren’t friends don’t have to be enemies.

So for me, I’m striving for world harmony, but I’m still calling it World Peace because I like the sound of it. Maybe in another generation far beyond mine, true peace can be achieved.

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M.C.V. Egan lives in South Florida. She is fluent in four languages; English, Spanish, French and Swedish. From a young age became determined to solve the ‘mystery’ of her grandfather’s death, she has researched this story for almost two decades. The story has taken her to Denmark, England and unconventional world of psychics.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
 

Genre: Historical Paranormal
Publisher: AuthorHouse Publishing
Release Date: June 14, 2011 Amazon

On August 15th, 1939 an English passenger plane from British Airways Ltd. Crashed in Danish waters between the towns of Nykobing/Falster and Vordingborg. There were five casualties reported and one survivor. Just two weeks before Hitler invaded Poland with the world at the brink of war the manner in which this incident was investigated left much open to doubt. The jurisdiction battle between the two towns and the newly formed Danish secret police, created an atmosphere of intrigue and distrust.

In the winter of 2009-2010 a young executive, Bill is promoted and transferred to London for a major International firm. He has struggled for the better part of his life with nightmares and phobias, which only seem to worsen in London. As he seeks the help of a therapist he accepts that his issues may well be related to a ‘past-life trauma’.

Through love, curiosity, archives and the information superhighway of the 21st century Bill travels through knowledge and time to uncover the story of the 1939 plane crash.

The Bridge of Deaths is a love story and a mystery. Fictional characters travel through the world of past life regressions and information acquired from psychics as well as archives and historical sources to solve “One of those mysteries that never get solved” is based on true events and real people, it is the culmination of 18 years of sifting through sources in Denmark, England and the United States, it finds a way to help the reader feel that he /she is also sifting through data and forming their own conclusions.

The journey takes the reader to well-known and little known events leading up to the Second World War, both in Europe and America. The journey also takes the reader to the possibility of finding oneself in this lifetime by exploring past lives.

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Please don’t forget to check out below, the other stops on this tour, enter the amazing giveaway, and save for later- the entertaining video interview between the author of Bridge of Deaths, M.C.V. Egan, and Toi Thomas at the following link: http://youtu.be/_3OsLrj1O1Q.

All definitions included in this article have appeared in part as sourced from Dictionary.com  

Toi Thomas did not create the above images pertaining to peace or the M.C.V. Egan book blitz banner. 

Click here to see a Rafflecopter giveaway for this event.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords