Tag: book

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Non-fiction Author

#Author interview with Karl Ayling @AylingKarl #nonfic

Greetings readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors and welcome to The ToiBox of Words. I’m your host Toi Thomas, author of Eternal Curse, and today I have a treat to share. A while back, I had the pleasure to interview a wonderful author named, Karl Ayling. A good time was truly had by all, and here’s how it went down.

  Toi Thomas: Hi there Karl! It’s so lovely to have you here at the ToiBox Blog. I’m excited to learn more about you and your work.

Karl: Hi Toi. Thanks for having me.

Toi Thomas: So tell me, who is Karl Ayling?

Karl: I’m the author of Massive Power Massive Love. I’m a Christian who found faith later on in life. I’ve written about healing from the activities of paedophile parents and the emotional, physical and spiritual damage that this caused.

Toi Thomas: Well before we dive into your special message today, let’s get to know you, the person inside the author.

Toi Thomas: Who is so you and why?

Karl: I relate to The Who’s song Love Reign O’er Me from Quadrophenia. I have been listening to this track for many years and one day bopping along with my i-pod, I heard it differently. Something snapped and it hit me right in the heart. Transformation in music.

Toi Thomas: What’s your ideal reading spot for your next highly anticipated read?

Karl: I am currently reading David Finklehor and his research around the sociological background and effects of childhood sexual abuse. It’s an American book and based on US statistics which mirror those in my home country – the UK. I hope that this research will help me in my own writings.

Toi Thomas: What was your favorite book or story, pre-teen years?

Karl: Pre-teen I was into Spiderman and Superman comics. It was a cool way to follow the crowd whilst also hiding (and not dealing) with family issues.

Toi Thomas: In terms of interviews, whose brain are you just itching to scratch?

Karl: I would like to interview Jesus at anytime from his birth to age 30.

Toi Thomas: Now that we know a little more about you, the person, let’s learn about you, the author, and dive into your special message.

Toi Thomas: So what are you sharing with me today?

Karl: Shocking… heart- rending… inspiring… compulsive reading.

My book is a paperback published by Apolostolos Publishing. Its called, Massive Power Massive Love. It tells of my overcoming addiction and sexual abuse. Visit this link to learn more.

Toi Thomas: So where’s the motivation behind Massive Power Massive Love?

Karl: Both of my natural parents were abusive paedophiles; surviving childhood, OCD, and PTSD left me wanting to share. It has been a journey, which continues and the more I share about male abuse survivors perhaps, the more will be inspired to seek help.

Toi Thomas: What’s so special about this story that’s going to reel in the readers?

Karl: Not many male survivors write about childhood sexual abuse and overcoming addiction.

Toi Thomas: Past, present, future, is there a rhyme or reason to your writing?

Karl: I’m currently researching my next book. Reading around the topics and statistics of child sexual abuse along with client centred counselling. So far, I have chapter headings and some titles for poems. For me, this pre-writing process lets me see and find the edges of my topics before actually sitting down to write.

Toi Thomas: What author(s) has most influenced your writing? Why or how?

Karl: Coming out the other side of therapy and thinking about what I had to say, I developed my own unique style not based on anything other than an open and honest reflection of events.

Toi Thomas: Now this is where the questions get a little kooky; are you ready?

Karl: OK!

Toi Thomas: If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Karl: Lord of the Rings trilogy. This was literally the last book I read before finding my faith. And, I thought it was a secular work too!

Toi Thomas: When the soundtrack of your life is playing in your head, what songs express your glee and what songs bring out your rage?

Karl: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture brings joyful glee whenever I listen to it.

Monster by Skillet brings up rage and anger.

Toi Thomas: Let’s play zombie urban survivor. What 3 things do you need to survive a black-out in Central Park the day zombies attack?

Karl: My bible. My family. My wits.

Toi Thomas: What’s the most fun experience you’ve ever had, to date?

Karl: Racing my motorbike around Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground at 166mph and popping an unintentional wheelie at 147mph.

Toi Thomas: Last question of the day; here we go.

Toi Thomas: Not that you can see into the future, but in your opinion, what does the future hold?

Karl: As I mentioned earlier, I’m reading research around my core subjects and this may lead to starting up a counselling service in my area of the UK. There are woefully few male counsellors doing this work with my kind of background. There is a charity in a local city that specialises training counsellors and I am booked onto an introductory course later in the year.

Toi Thomas: Thank you so much, Karl for spending time with me today.

Karl: Thanks again, Toi, for having me.

Okay readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors, that’s all for today. Be sure to follow this blog to see who will be visiting next time. For more from Karl Ayling, check out these great links:

Website: KarlAyling.com

Twitter: @AylingKarl

Purchase links for Massive Power Massive Love: Amazon | Book Depository

This has been a

interviewpic-toibox
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

Categories
Books FlashbackFriday

#FlashbackFriday: #Fantasy #Book Review: Night Circus


Brought to you by, Michael G D’Agostino at A Life Examined, this is a time of the month (the last Friday) where you can republish an old post of yours that maybe didn’t get enough attention, you’re really proud of, or you think is still relevant, etc. I’ve chosen to share old book and movie reviews because those are always relevant.

Originally posted Friday, October 12, 2012.

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I give this story a solid 5.

LoveIt

This is the story of an unconventional game played to the death, only the participants don’t really understand that they are just pawns in a rivalry that has gone on far too long. It is the Night Circus that is their playing field and the weapon of choice is magic, though there won’t be any waving of wands or chanting of spells here. In many ways, that aren’t so oblivious, mystery and intrigue are the catalysts to changes in the player’s favor whether they are actively playing or not.

When posting my typical To the Point review of the audio book I said, “Think Cirque du Soleil meets Harry Potter with youthful imagination and mature sophistication. Listening to this story is like hearing a secret that no one else can handle, except you.”

Maybe I was being a bit deep, but that’s how the story made me feel. This is not a story for children, but only because I don’t think they’d get most of it. Teens with a fever for magic would probably eat this up, but still, the story is mature. I like that the story is for and about adults, but it’s clear the that Erin was definitely in touch with her inner child when she imagined this quirky Circus and all the people in it.

The story is filled with youthful imagination and has a mature appeal, but most of all, it has that ‘love conquers all’ or that ‘good triumphs over evil’ feel to it. The best thing about the story to me is the fact that the reader never really gets to pick sides in the game. Every time you think you’re going to pick one player over the other, something happens and the story takes you in a whole new direction. Like every story that inspired and shaped my imagination as a child, Night Circus left me wanting to leave the world of reality and take a trip through the lines of the story. I can just see myself now staring into the white flames of the bonfire just as the festivities are about to begin. I wish there was more of it to read.

Get a copy of this Kindle book here.

Get a print copy with free international shipping here.

Please visit the other participants in this hop and even join in if you’d like.

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

Categories
Question of the Month

#Question of the Month: a #bloghop to think about. No. 13- What was the first book you really fell in love with?

A little while ago, Michael D’Agostino, of A Life Examined, brought up the idea of a new blog hop called Question of the Month. He thinks blog readers would like to know a little more about us, the bloggers. So we’re all gathering to show you guys who we are by taking part in the Question of the Month blog hop. On the first Monday of each month, we answer the question that gets posted here.

This month’s question is: “What was the first book (or book series) you really fell in love with?”

This is an easy question to answer for me, the only problem is I can’t just pick one. It’s no secret to anyone who’s read a little of my blog that the book Peter and Wendy changed my life at a young age. It made me see the whole world as an adventure, at least for a while. But of course reality set in and one day I realized that no matter how much I tried I would never make it to Neverland and become a lost boy.

Then one day I accomplished the small but notable feat of reading an entire chapter book all by myself- the title was Ramona Quimby. Once I discovered the work of Beverly Cleary, I sped through at least three in the series. Always the strong-willed and mischievous tomboy, I could relate to Ramona; plus, she had a big sister just like me and the similarities, at the time, seemed so close.

As much as I don’t like to admit it, as I grew older reading for enjoyment lessened. Fortunately, I did enjoy some of the required reading in school, but by the time I reached college- if it wasn’t assigned, I didn’t read it. Years later when I decided to rekindle my friendship with books I returned to my comfort zone of fantasy.

It was Gregory Maguire’s The Wicked Years series that helped me reconcile the imagination of my youth with the reality of my adulthood. It’s not my favorite adult series, but it means a lot to me. I’ve always been a fan of pretty much anything Oz and to question my feelings about a world I thought could be so wonderful was refreshing. As a kid you never really question if the far distant worlds you love are actually as good as they seem, but reading The Wicked Years series gave me an opportunity to embrace the child within and still stand firm the in mental and physical maturity I’d grown into. It was basically a reality check of the fantasy kind. 😉

Please visit the other participants in this hop and even join in if you’d like. I can’t wait to see what other books and series have impacted so many.

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