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What it Means to Protect the Magic -- Exigency, from Marnie Cate

2/24/2016

Author: Marnie Cate
Title: Exigency
Series: The Protectors of the Elemental Magic Series
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Romance

Synopsis:

There is a world around us that most people don't take the time to see.

Mara Stone's world was shaken, but she is a fighter. Facing new adversaries, Mara is learning what it truly means to protect the magic. As she starts to rebuild her life, the web of her family's secrets continues to unravel. Mara is forced to face her fear of losing everything she holds dear.

She said that you would be a challenge to my children. I thought I had made the right choice when I selected Eliza. If only Mae had not interfered. But, enough of those sad thoughts, I think the two of you will be perfect replacements.

When Mara and Cole find themselves in the cold world of Snowstrum, they will have to choose either to be true to their promise to protect the magic, or to follow their desires. Magic may not be enough to free them from the icy fortress they are trapped in.

The second book in the Protectors of the Elemental Magic series, Exigency is a compelling, magical young adult fantasy tale.

Excerpt
As I continued walking, the air died down but I quickly found myself encompassed by a dense fog. My hair was no longer blinding me but I could barely see my hand in front of me. A soft voice in me told me to just to keep walking and I listened until I stepped into cold water.

"Damn it," I cried out.

Not sure where I was I stopped and called, "Air, please blow away this fog and let me see where I am."

Sitting down, I waited while the moist vapor drifted away showing me that I was on the rocky shore of Sparrow Lake. Sitting down, I wrapped my arms around my legs and gently began to rock myself. How did I get so far from home? I felt as if I was losing a connection with reality. I kept telling myself that if I just listened to my heart everything would be as planned. As I questioned my recent behavior and my faith that the Goddess would guide me, I heard a crackling sound behind me.

Turning to the direction of the noise, I saw a shadow quickly dart through the tree line.

No response came from the forest. Standing to face the unknown, the cold breeze off the lake picked up and covered my arms with goosebumps. Rubbing my arms frantically to warm up, I called out again. Calling out, I said, "Stop! Who are you? Why are you following me?

"Whoever is out there, show yourself," I said.

"With all the magic you hold, you could easily climb up the mountain and give them what they deserve," said the bewitching voice of a woman.

"You could start a little fire. One little ball of your magic could ignite the forest surrounding them. It would grow and grow until it would burn the mansion down. Or you could call a great wind and bring everything and everyone inside down into a crumbling ruin."

With more anger, the voice said, "And there is always my favorite. You can call the rain and demand it to pour down. Calling more and more of your magic until you finally send everything off the mountain. Mudslides happen all the time."

"Or if you wanted to be lazy, you can just ask the ground to shake and shake and shake until you have created dust out of them all."

The voice taunted, "Wouldn't it be so easy? Don't you think they deserve to be punished for what they did…?”

Amazon Book link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BVSJU5K

Marnie Cate Biography
Marnie Cate was born and raised in Montana before adventuring to the warmer states of Arizona and California. Her love of Dame Judi Dench and dreams of caticorns and rainbows inspired her to chase her dreams. One great sentence came to mind and the world of elemental magic and the humans they lived amongst filled her mind. With her first book Remember: Protectors of the Elemental Magic, the story has just begun.

Links:
Marnie Cate’s website: marniecate.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarnieCate
Twitter: twitter.com/Marnie_Cate
Pinterest: pinterest.com/marniecate
Goodreads: goodreads.com/Marnie_Cate
Amazon page: amazon.com/dp/B01BVSJU5K/

Don't forget -- if you pre-order now, Exigency will delivered to your Kindle on February 27.

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A Sepsis Survivor's Story

2/21/2016

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I am honoured to welcome Emily Pankhurst. Emily is a survivor of that dreadful illness, sepsis. All too often, sepsis kills. But, as Emily's story shows, if the right treatment is carried out in time, it's not a death sentence. But you do need to act FAST -- time is of the essence.

A Sepsis Survivor's Story,
by Emily Pankhurst

I am currently studying my final year in criminology at University of Kent in England. Between December 2015 and January 2016, I was going through an extremely stressful time of trying to complete deadlines for essays and everything got on top of me.

I started complaining of tiredness/fatigue, high temperature and constant headaches, which I believed was stress related. However, down below I noticed abnormal discharge appear straight after regular my period ended.

For Emily's full story, check out The Sepsis Alliance:

http://www.sepsis.org/faces/emily_pankhurst/

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GUEST POST -- Carole's Story, by Sandra Laing

2/14/2016

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I'd like to welcome my guest blogger, Sandra Laing, who is sharing the story of how she lost her dear sister to sepsis.

Carole's Story -- by Sandra Laing:

Carole was 48 when she was admitted to the Carseview Learning Disabilities Assessment Unit, part of Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland. Carole had suffered mental health problems since the age of 10 and had been on medication since then, she had also been a patient in Carseview on numerous occasions.

Her illness sadly, was not curable.

I visited Carole often along with my partner and I cannot count the number of times I pointed out things that were worrying me about Carole. She went a strange colour, her skin was pale and waxy looking, she kept having breathing problems, her speech was barely audible, she had muscle pain, dizziness and falling over, unexplained bleeding, feeling cold all the time.

These were symptoms that I reported to ward staff and her doctor over a period of months. I was continually told that Carole was fine and that they were treating her. I was told that she had fluid on the lungs, she was drinking too much, was not eating, was constipated, her mental health was failing again, she had various "minor" infections that were being treated etc., etc. everything but sepsis.

Even after I begged staff on the ward and her doctor to seek medical help, I was laughed at. Her doctor, who of course was not a medical doctor, but a psychiatrist, even asked where I got my medical degree from. No one would listen and no one would help. I knew my sister and loved her deeply, she had been one of my best friends our whole lives. I knew that something more serious was wrong. I was on my own. We only had each other left.

All I got from medical staff were insults, not one of them would listen to anything I had to say. They knew better. They had been trained.

I called Carseview one day to enquire about Carole and was told that she had been taken to The Intensive Care Unit in Ninewells itself. Again I was told it was because she was constipated. I called them immediately. Her new doctor told me he suspected that she had something called pancytopenia. This is when the bone marrow fails. You can no longer make red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. Your immune system gets destroyed.

At his request I went to speak to him about what had been "going on" with Carole. Finally I thought, someone who understands that I may have something to say that might help.

I explained that I felt they were to quick to give Carole medication. Every time something changed about her. The symptoms she had been having. All were treated with drugs, without any further investigations. Carole already had stage 3 liver and kidney disease. Why would you be so quick to add even more drugs to her regime? It was preposterous, but, apparently I was wrong. Her new doctor said that he had taken her off of all the medication she had been on except the ones he considered vital. I agreed with him.

Carole seemed to pick up a little, but her bone marrow was still failing. The antibiotics were not working.
A few days later I got a call from a nurse telling me that Carole had passed away at one o'clock that afternoon. I was stunned. Her autopsy report said that she had contracted sepsis via an infected venous catheter. This is what was put down as cause of death.

I believe that numerous opportunities were missed. I begged several times for a medical doctor to examine my sister. Why did she keep getting all of these other things? Why are they not looking for an underlying cause? These are questions I had been asking while Carole was alive, and I still do not have the answers. Several complaints to NHS Tayside and one to the General Medical Council. What a waste of time. I was told that this was acceptable, not one single reprimand was issued. All I got was a grudging sorry for your loss.

I now believe that Carole was showing signs of sepsis for a while and it was kept at bay by the various bouts of treatment. I believe that if further investigation was done she may still be here today. Carole was displaying most of the symptoms of sepsis and I know that if I had been aware of it I would have shouted from the rooftops until she got help, but I wasn't aware. I honestly just wasn't really expecting her to die.

This is wrong. Everyone should know what this is and what the sypmtoms are. Especially anyone in a care giving role. By the time it was diagnosed it was already too late to do anything about it. I only heard about it after her death. Even then it was never really explained to me. I had to learn about it myself.

The symptoms of sepsis include:-
Fever
Shivering
Breathing faster
Getting out of breath
Slurred speech
Dizziness
Feeling clammy
Pale skin
Muscle pain

Don't let it be too late for you. Know the symptoms and if you suspect it say it. It could save your life or the life of someone you care about. The symptoms above are just some of them. There are more. Please learn what they are. Carole was just 51 when she died. Not a day goes by without the thought coming to my head that, "if only I had known then what I know now".

I believe that if the symptoms had been looked at as maybe being related the outcome would have been different. Caroles symptoms were all teated individually. Nothing else was considered until she was taken to ICU. Even then the diagnosis was too late.

Everyone needs to learn from these mistakes.

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OUT -- A Frank and Honest Story from Scott McGlynn

2/13/2016

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OUT is a short, but powerful and moving autobiographical book, telling of the early struggles faced by a gay boy in a small Welsh town.

Due to be published at the end of March, I was fortunate to receive a review copy of Scott McGlynn's first book.

It chronicles 28-year-old Scott's early life, growing up in Barry. He tells of his secondary school experiences, where he ran into bullies who hated him solely because of his sexuality, at a time when he was still learning to come to terms with it himself.

OUT opens up about Scott's struggle with homophobia, coming to terms with his identity, self-acceptance, and also the beauty of friendship and love.

The all-too-short book begins with his early childhood and safe days of primary school, before moving on to the darker times at secondary school.

As the understanding of his sexuality begins to take shape he also starts to understand why bullies target him.

One would be forgiven for thinking that Scott has had more books published -- it's hard to realise that this is his first due to the powerful use of language, and the way he unfolds his journey right through to his first couple of jobs

For me, this book's real strength lies in the way he skilfully portrays early friendships both with boys and girls, and then his relationship with partner Justin.

A powerful, moving, story told from the heart. Definitely one to look out for when it's released at the end of March.

OUT, by Scott McGlynn.

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Win A Signed Copy Of Timeshaft At The Launch Party

2/6/2016

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It's the launch party for Timeshaft tonight (6 - pm to midnight UK time -- 1 pm to 7 pm EST).

One of the prizes on offer is a signed copy of the paperback.

It can only be won by posting your answers to this question on the party's event page. To access that, follow this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/206454606370963/

The winner will be chosen at random from the correct answers.

So -- here's your chance to win. Simply look at these four pictures of me taken in the dim and distant past, and decide what aspect connects them all. A clue -- it's still something I do today, and is very much part of who I am! Just post your answer, either A, B, or C in the "Paperback Competition" thread at the party.
Is it:
A - I never go indoors
B - I always wear blue
C - I'm usually barefoot.

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What it Means to Protect the Magic -- Exigency, from Marnie Cate

A Sepsis Survivor's Story

GUEST POST -- Carole's Story, by Sandra Laing

OUT -- A Frank and Honest Story from Scott McGlynn﻿

Win A Signed Copy Of Timeshaft At The Launch Party

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OUT -- A Frank and Honest Story from Scott McGlynn