Christine Rose

Rowan of the Wood (Podcast) – Chapter 5

christinerose — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:26:44 +0000

After a millennium of imprisonment in his magic wand, an ancient wizard possesses the young boy who released him. When danger is nigh, he emerges from the frightened child to set things right. Both he and the boy try to grasp what has happened to them only to discover a deeper problem. Somehow the wizard’s bride from the ancient past has survived and become something evil.

Appropriate for all ages.

Rowan of the Wood – Chapter 5

Download: RW_Podcast_CH5.mp3

Buy your copy of the award-winning Rowan of the Wood via Amazon or Barnes & Noble in paperback, on the Kindle or Nook, or on Smashwords in various eBook formats. Also available: Author-Signed through the publisher.

Rowan of the Wood Podcast
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Rowan of the Wood (Podcast) – Chapter 4

christinerose — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:25:24 +0000

Appropriate for all ages.

Rowan of the Wood – Chapter 4

Download: RW_Podcast_CH4.mp3

Rowan of the Wood Podcast
Subscribe in a reader …. or in iTunes

Little-in-Big Stories

christinerose — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:39:04 +0000

This guest post was riginally posted on May 7, 2012 at Making It Up As I Go by emerging author Dan Thompson. Excellent blog. He’s got another great recent article about marketing, or Unmarketing, as he puts it. Check him out!

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One of my favorite kinds of stories isn’t identifiable by ray guns, magic wands, or trenchcoats. It’s less about genre and more about structure. Specifically, I like to see the little guy in the big story. We’re used to seeing the President making tough calls or Captain Kirk charging into battle, but I find I’m drawn to the stories of the front-line soldier, the pilot’s wife, or even the young boy.

I still like to see the epic tales of sweeping conflict, but to me they often seem more real when seen from the role of a person not that different from me. But it’s not that these little guys are powerless figures, struggling to stay afloat in the tsunami around them. In a proper little-in-big story, the little guy is somehow drawn to the center of the conflict, and the fate of the world ends up resting on his undersized little-guy shoulders.

The Epic Volunteer

Lots of stories have this element, and they usually show us some of the bits with the big epic characters as well. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a good example of this. The four hobbit adventurers (Frodo, Samwise, Merry, and Pippin) are truly little guys in more than one sense. They’re not kings, wizards, great warriors, or even particularly fierce. They’re simply regular fellows like you are me, who when the weight of the world came down on their shoulders refused to buckle under and collapse.

But in Lord of the Rings and stories like it, our little guy heroes know how much responsibility they’re taking on. Certainly, the reality of their path can get harsher and harsher as the tale goes on, but Frodo had at least some idea what he was signing up for when he said he would carry the ring into Mordor. He didn’t know the way it was going to leech at his soul and nearly cost him his sanity, but when he stepped forward in Rivendell, he knew it was a Big Deal.

Destiny’s Hero

Other little-guy heroes don’t get that much advanced warning. They’re just trying to live their lives, but as events unfold they find their options increasingly cut off until they have no choice but to step forward and save the world or die trying. Harry Potter is a good example of this. He’s just a kid who wants to make friends and have a family, and he’s finding out that this wizardry thing is pretty fun. Yet in each book and over the course of the series, he finds that his fun-and-friends life is less and less of an option, until at the end, it is clear that he and he alone can save the world.

I confess I really enjoyed the slow build and even slower reveal of the Harry Potter series, but Harry didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter. He didn’t step forward at age eleven and volunteer to pit his soul against ultimate evil. Then again, at age eleven he didn’t have the strength of character to step up for that. He was scared, meek, and merely hoping to be let out from under the stairs. We got to see him grow into the person that would valiantly step up for that battle, and that was a journey worth watching.

Who Me?

And then there are the little guys who don’t get to have that weight of the world until the very last moment. Certainly, they have struggled through the epic events, and the crucible of their lives has forged their character, but they don’t get to see their true role in the tale until the last moment, when they are forced to act. Only then do they realize that the epic battle has come down to that one moment, and that it’s up to them to save the world or to damn it though inaction.

I can’t think of an example as famous as the other two, but I have run into this kind of little guy often enough. In Babylon 5, Vir Cotto had a number of such little guy moments, rising to the occasion when it became clear he was the only one who could. Asimov’s tale of The Mule features another such little guy hero in the form of Bayta, who little more than the pilots wife and friend to the musician-clown Magnifico, and yet when the critical moment comes, she becomes the hero of the tale. Another is C.J. Cherryh’s “Finity’s End”, where young Fletcher Neihart tracks down and confronts a conspiracy for his own reasons, only to have that action become critical to the larger story going on around him.

I enjoy all three of these kinds of little-in-big tales. Certainly, I like other tales as well – Captain Kirk has some excellent adventures – but these little tales will always hold a special place for me. It’s not just that I can relate to these mundane characters better. It’s that they make me feel better about myself. I’m not a king or a great warrior or even a starship captain, but these little guys step up to their heroic roles just as I like to imagine I would step up. They give me the chance to think about those epic life-and-death moments, and since they always face them bravely, they make me feel like I would too.

I suppose it’s because of that aspect that the third style of these little-in-big tales calls to me the most. I haven’t volunteered to carry the ring to Mordor, nor are events conspiring around me to force me into a legendary battle with forces of evil. But the world is changing around me, perhaps not quite as epically as in most tales, but it is changing, and this kind of story tells me that when push comes to shove, little guys like me CAN make the right decision and save the world.

And who doesn’t want to feel that way?

So, final thought to the readers… what little-in-big stories have caught your eye over the years? Try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, because I may very well want to read them.

Rowan of the Wood (Podcast) – Chapter 3

christinerose — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:22:30 +0000

Appropriate for all ages.

Rowan of the Wood – Chapter 3

Download: RW_Podcast_CH3.mp3

Rowan of the Wood Podcast
Subscribe in a reader …. or in iTunes

Rowan of the Wood (Podcast) – Chapter 2

christinerose — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:20:33 +0000

Appropriate for all ages.

Rowan of the Wood – Chapter 2

Download: RW_Podcast_CH2.mp3

Rowan of the Wood Podcast
Subscribe in a reader …. or in iTunes

Rowan of the Wood (Podcast) – Chapter 1

christinerose — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:20:17 +0000

Starting today, Rowan of the Wood, will be available for free in a serialized audio format via this blog, iTunes, Feedburner, and Podiobooks. Upon completion, we will be selling the full audiobook for your listening pleasure.

Appropriate for all ages.

Rowan of the Wood – Chapter 1

Download: RW_Podcast_CH1.mp3

Rowan of the Wood Podcast
Subscribe in a reader …. or in iTunes

Arrogance vs. Confidence

christinerose — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:59:03 +0000

Over the past few months, I’ve been on a healing and personal journey that taught me a lot about myself and human nature in general. And it has indeed been eye-opening.

This past Wednesday evening, I started a class at the Human Potential Center on Building Healthy Self-Esteem, and I’m everso excited. As someone who started looking deeply inward when I was about 25, seventeen years ago, it is no news to me that the foundation of many of my issues and shortcomings and fears (especially fears) are based in my lack of healthy self-esteem.

Ridiculous, really. I’ve written and published seven books, several of which have won awards and were Amazon bestsellers; produced and directed two documentaries, one of which premiered theatrically in Paris; and have two degrees in English Literature. Some would say I was well accomplished, but my self-esteem is lower than nearly anyone I know. In fact, it’s at a really crippling low level…

What’s up with that?

Self-esteem is something that is gifted to a person in childhood. Or, in far too many cases, isn’t. After one hits puberty without it, they’re pretty much on their own.

Healthy self-esteem can be the difference between success and failure. Seriously. Especially in one’s own mind, which is really where it counts. Even if the world sees you as a success, one word from a critic can cause you to crumble. That’s low self-esteem.

But what many people don’t understand (it wasn’t clear to me until very recently), people who are arrogant also have low self-esteem. Arrogance does not equal confidence. Quite the opposite….

Please read the rest of this entry over at the Human Potential Center’s Blog and LIKE their Facebook Page!

Simple Meditation Techniques to Stumble Upon Peace

christinerose — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:38:22 +0000

In this messy and chaotic life, human has become a highly stressed and disturbed. People are too busy in their professional life or in other activities; they are so busy that they don’t bother about themselves. They don’t have time for themselves. Human’s biggest strength is peace of mind as it gives him strength to think better and act intelligently, and human’s biggest foe is stress, he loses what he wants and becomes an ugly person, he loses sense of humanity, he becomes totally insane. For people with stressed life, should follow the art of meditation.

Here are few simple tips for meditation to gain peace of mind and walk forward towards quality and happy life.

Daily routine of meditation
Make meditation your daily routine. Involve this habit in your life. Make a suitable time, when you are completely free and no one is there to disturb you. Daily meditation helps you to learn self-control and be disciplined.

Stretching before meditation
You should perform some stretching exercises before you start up with the mediation. Stretching helps you to feel relaxed and promoted flexibility. Stretching program releases tension from tendons and muscles. The stretching exercise helps to concentrate better.

Candle gives light
One of the best techniques of meditation is by using candle. Keep a lightened candle and continuously gaze its inner flame (the red part of the flame). Try to concentrate on the flame. While you concentrate on the flame, you forget the world and for few seconds you are fully concentrated on the candle. This is called meditation. This enhances your concentration power and also gives peace to your mind. The state of total null or void is known as meditation. Your mind is free from worldly chaos and worries. It is free from the bad spirits. Daily practice will increase your mediation time and help to improve concentration. This would accelerate your mind activity and your will feel more energetic and happy.

Feel the nature
Feeling the cool breeze through you is also one kind of meditation, for a movement you forget the world and get immerse in a peaceful reservoir.

Focus your breath
Sit straight, close your eyes and breathe deeply. Remove all the thoughts from your mind. Just focus on your breath. This is one of the effective meditations. This meditation cleanses your system as you do deep breathing. Deep breathing removes all toxins through the air. It makes you feel fresh and increases your concentration power.

Sleeping is not Meditation
Don’t think that when you are sleeping, meditation process is on. Sleeping is a passive process, you are taking rest but your mind or inner conscience works in some or the other way, for example dreams. In meditation you are actually giving rest to your mind and this is very active process. In meditation you keep your mind focused to one point and this need extreme concentration level.

Place for meditation
Always be very particular while you choose your meditation place. It should be clean, quiet and calm. Best place for meditation is within nature, like garden or lawn.
Conclusion

Meditation should be your integral part of daily routine. It helps to release stress and make you more active. Always choose a clam place for meditation and fix your time. Daily meditation has wonder effects to for your health.

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About the author: Margaret is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on environment and technology. Beside this she is fond of books. She recently bought cool flash drives. These days she is busy in writing an article on right brain left brain test.

5 Ways to Get Noticed and Earn a Full-Time Writing Job

christinerose — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:34:32 +0000

Once you’ve found your calling, it’s difficult to devote yourself to a job in an unrelated field. However, as you’re working on perfecting your manuscript, it’s still necessary to earn an income and support yourself in the meantime. Luckily, there are ways to work towards refining your writing skills and make money doing so.
Developing your portfolio and showing potential employers your value as a writer is paramount to entering the field and positioning yourself above some steep competition. Because it’s not an easy task to cultivate your selection of samples, I’ve put together a list of the five ways I was able to build my resume and earn the opportunity to align my work with my passion.

I am excited to share my experience here with Christine Rose’s readers! I hope that these suggestions will help you to grow as a writer and find employment doing what you love!

Read the five tips here: https://www.ecollegefinder.org/pdfs/ecf_5wayswritingjob.pdf

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About the author: Brittany Behrman began her writing career prior to college graduation reporting for her school’s newspaper and contributing to two sponsored blogs. Since earning her B.A. at Rutgers University in Journalism and Media Studies in 2009, she has spent the majority of her time freelancing and bouncing around the job market. In her tireless search for a writing position, she perfected these five tips and is now approaching her one year anniversary writing full-time for the Performance Marketing Agency, DMi Partners, and an education portal for online colleges, eCollegeFinder.org.

10 Facebook Status Updates After Being Turned Into a Vampire

christinerose — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:30:14 +0000

This post copied from the original source HERE.

Social networking sites have us in the habit of sharing every facet of our lives, from the menial to the monumental. When something happens in our lives, we just need to post it, don’t we? So after watching the Twilight series the other night, we wondered: what would our updates look like if someone were to put the bite on us and we became vampires? Surely that would have some impact on our social networking, we reasoned. We came up with ten Facebook status updates we might use after being turned into vampires:

Well that’s the last time I date anyone I meet online. Creepy, pasty-faced loser freaked out on me when I ordered the garlic shrimp. I told him to bite me. Funny, I don’t remember much after that.
Got tagged in a photo, but no one can see me in it. WTF? – One day your friends are posting comments about your Halloween pic, and the next …well, you’re just not there anymore.
A like, and a link, to my favorite cause: the American Red Cross Blood Drive. – Suddenly, you’re a fan of stocking up on that red stuff. You used to faint at the sight of a needle. Go figure.
Dentist appointment this morning for my monthly cleaning. I think I might need crowns … and sunglasses. Anyone know a good 24-hour dental clinic?
Good news from my doctor. Blood pressure is excellent and iron levels are up. Yay me!
My ex gave me a gift membership to Express Tan for my birthday. What a d-bag. – Some people just have no sympathy for your delicate condition.
Man, what a Christmas party last night. I must be getting old. Can’t handle that kind of drinking anymore. One Coors Light Silver Bullet, and it was lights out for me.
On the plus side, I guess I was rockin’ some serious beer muscles before I passed out. Friends tell me I tossed a sofa into the swimming pool – with four people sitting on it. RAWR!
Twilight marathon and sleepover at my place tonight at 8. BYOB, for all you AB negative types.
Switching to the graveyard shift. I figure I can be more productive that time of day, and really sink my teeth into my work.