#RRBC Pay It Forward with author, Mary Schmidt @MaryLSchmidt #RRBCPIF

This is Rave Reviews Book Club’s Pay It Forward Day. Welcome fellow author and RRBC Member, Mary Schmidt.

ABOUT MARY SCHMIDTmarySchmidt

Mary Schmidt, aka S. Jackson, grew up in a small Kansas (USA) town, and she lived in other states since then. At this time, she and her husband split their time between Kansas and Colorado (they loved the mountains and off road 4-wheeling). Traveling is one of their favorite things to do, and she always has a book or even three books that she reads, in the same week. Books were really her thing.

It seemed like every time she turned around she was obtaining a new library card due to the current one being stamped complete. Diving into a good book made any day perfect and you would be surprised at the number of books she read over and over. She drew paper dolls and clothes for them, and used watercolor as her medium when painting scenes, especially flowers.

She continued with art in high school exploring a wide variety of arts. The creative side of her loves to be an amateur “shutter-bug” and they actually have an online art gallery. In college she went into the sciences of all things and received a Bachelor’s degree in the Science of Nursing. Her nursing career was highly successful, and she hung up her nursing hat in December 2012.

Visit Mary’s Blog at When Angels Fly!

Mary’s Books

The Big Cheese Festival

bigCheeseFestivalIn The Big Cheese Festival, we meet Stubby Mouse and his family and friends. We learn that Stubby Mouse has a secret, that he is being bullied by another mouse, simply because his tail is short. Read how Stubby Mouse stood up for himself, and how he ended the bullying, in this delightful story for children. Targeted at ages 4-8, the book is easy to read and perfect for home or classroom. Children learn how bad bullying is, and what they can do to help stop bullies! Stubby Mouse encourages children to take a stand against bullies, and always be kind to each other. This story illustrates how everyone is different and unique, and it is a delightful read with cute illustrations for both children and adults. Take a stand against bullying today!

Get your copy of The Big Cheese Festival.

Suzy Has a SecretsuzyHasASecret

This book teaches a child, ages four to eight years-old, about personal safety and body ownership. Children learn how to identify who safe adults are in a child’s life. This book shows in positive and practical ways how parents, and educators, can talk to children about personal safety. Children learn about bad touch and good touch, and how their body belongs to them. Parents and educators can help children learn who the safe people are in their lives, and that they can always tell one of them about anything that may happen, and they aren’t comfortable about. Using little bug fairies and fairy houses, ensures that children aren’t scared when this story is read to them, or they read it on their own.

Get your copy of Suzy Has a Secret.

When Angels Fly

whenAngelsFlyWe often find ourselves daydreaming about what our futures will be like. This may be especially true if one lives in an environment most would consider less than desirable. Some are lucky to find their futures much like their childhood dreams. Others find the paths to their dreams strewn with hurdles.

Growing up, Sarah dodged her mother’s blows. She often hid in her room crying about her life. Still, she believes in her future and the happiness it can bring. In their book, When Angels Fly, authors S. Jackson and A. Raymond tell Sarah’s story – their stories. The authors use their journals to describe Sarah’s experiences of family dysfunction, strength, courage, faith, abuse, grief, and so much more. You’ll read how, like many, she attempts to escape from her mother’s abuse through marriage. And like many, she learns it is not a viable alternative. Then Sarah experiences a parent’s ultimate tragedy twice, the deaths of her sons, Joshua and Eli.

When Angels Fly is about much more than the telling of a family’s tragedy. It is also the story of finding faith after it has wavered. Most of all, it’s a story of love lost and found.

Get your copy of When Angels Fly.

Visit Mary’s Blog at When Angels Fly!

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Book Review: “Legend of the Walking Dead” by Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko

About The Author

Lo-Bamijoko1-373x330-300x265Joy Nwosu was born in Enugu, Anambra State of south-eastern Nigeria. Her parents were Charles Belonwu and Deborah Nwosu. She is the fifth in rank of the seven children of her parents. Joy was born into a music family.

Joy, now retired, was a music teacher, trained in Santa Cecilia, Rome, and obtained her Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Michigan, USA.

She has written and published extensively on national and international scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers.

Her short story I Come from Utopia was published in African Voices, Spring/Summer, 2007, pg. 18, and her first English novel; Mirror of Our Lives: Voices of Four Igbo Women was published in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Contest in 2012. She has also two books published in the Italian language.

Joy is a trained musician, and taught music for 35 years. She writes, performs, and record folk songs.

Her new book: The Legend of the Walking Dead: Igbo Mythologies, which has just been released, is a journey into the mysteries of life and death of the Igbos of Nigeria. She loves reading romances and mystery stories.

Buy the Kindle version at Amazon:-
Legend of the Walking Dead: Igbo Mythologies
http://goo.gl/V7wurb

Buy the B&N e-Pub version at:-
Legend of the Walking Dead:Igbo Mythologies
http://goo.gl/QS8PKo

Link to Joy’s Author’s Website
sbprabooks.com/joynwosulobamijoko/

YouTube Link to Joy’s Book’s Trailer
https://goo.gl/eiXLMj

Joy’s Blog Address
http://goo.gl/L967yq

Links to Joy’s FB Pages
https://www.facebook.com/joy.lobamijoko
https://goo.gl/iADV30

Twitter Handle: @Jinlobify

About The Book

Synopsis:
LOTWDLegend of the Walking Dead: Igbo Mythologies is a journey into the mysteries of life and death of the Igbos of Nigeria. The book draws readers into the Igbo people’s ancient and traditional beliefs about life and death.

There is a very thin line dividing the land of the living and the land of the dead, so thin that spirits from both lands coexist. Sometimes, during the story, it is difficult to differentiate between the living and the dead. Both have bodies; the living existing in their bodies, while the dead exist in (are using) borrowed bodies.

Fifteen-year-old Osondu has disappeared. His mother goes searching for her son and faces the same fate. She too goes missing.

The gods are ever present, in control, and minister to both the living and the dead. This is because the gods minister to the spirits, not the bodies that harbor them. To the gods, the spirits of both the living and the dead are ever alive.

The world of the traditional Igbo society is a world in which the dead visit and interact easily with the living. It is also a world in which most of the time the living are at the mercy of the gods.

Publisher’s website: http://sbprabooks.com/JoyNwosuLoBamijoko
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W4LI29E/

My Review:

Magical and yet, Serene

I loved the descriptions of life after death as described by Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko in Legend of the Walking Dead. It’s about the incredible Journey Osondu and his mother took after their deaths. Magical and yet serene, these two are given the opportunity to choose to live more fully than they ever had while they were alive. I have always loved mythological tales about past times and other cultures, and this one did not disappoint. I highly recommend Legend of the Walking Dead.

Buy The Book

Next SIX books and short stories on my Review List are: