Spotlight feature: Al Shabah: An Assassin’s Story takes readers into the heart and heat of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). The story starts with a ten year old Paul as Bassam, a terrorist known as “Yellow Eyes”, overtakes Paul’s small hometown in the Bekaa Valley, killing his brother and sister in front of him. This forces Paul to take an oath: To grow up and find the yellow-eyed shooter—a man who soon becomes the charismatic leader of a jihadist group destroying his home country. As Paul watches Bassam recruit and head his own group of fighters and suicide bombers, Paul is forced into military action as a teenager. Paul fights for the Lebanese Forces to protect the innocent families caught up in a war disguised as a fight for religion, but is actually about gaining control and greed for a few selected powerful figures in the Middle East. Realizing that the foot soldiers are expendable fodder for poorly trained military leaders, Paul joins counter-terrorist operations to fight against Bassam, training in Israel with the Mossad and Kidon. Paul and Bassam cross paths as Paul is sent out on dangerous missions, only to come face-to-face in a final showdown—a showdown only one will survive. “The…

Writing A Book And Everything You Need To Know Is it true that everyone has a book inside them, waiting to be written? Perhaps not, but you may well think you have a great idea for a story, how to guide, or memoir, just begging to be put down on paper. However, writing is book isn’t as easy as it looks. Here’s everything you need to know about writing a book yourself. You need to decide why you want to write The reason for writing a book will be different for everyone. You need to decide what your reasoning is, as it will inform how you approach writing. For example, you may want to write because you feel there’s a gap in the market for your book. Maybe you’ve been asked to write, or you just feel the need to get it down. Either way, know your reasoning before you start working. Work out why your book is unique There’s a lot of books being published every day, and there’s going to many that cover the same topics you’re covering. You need to discover just what it is that makes your unique. Does it look at a subject from a…

On Friday January 20th, 2017 the craziest thing happened. Dystopian novels became popular again. North Americans suddenly couldn’t get enough of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World. Random House and its subsidiary, Harvill Secker threw a party. I can only imagine that it was a depressing, dystopian-themed party. These novels, written decades ago, were back on the top of the best-seller lists. While I’d like to think that the hubbub is over my new novel, Interpretation, I think the event to shake the book world is the United States’ inauguration of Donald Trump. Now, I’m no fan of the man, myself. You might be, and that is okay. I will not pass judgement and I hope for the same in return. But I think the entire world of dystopian writers should collectively thank him. The genre has shown increased sales. Many of these novels have hit the top ten on Amazon over the last few months. I find the shift interesting, to say the least. I’m happy it’s happened – I started writing a dystopian novel just over a year ago, before the spike in the genre. So entering into a ‘hot’ category makes me hopeful. And despite writing about…

Han Kang is a writer who comes from South Korea originally who received a few awards in the field of literature. She wrote The Vegetarian book back in the year 2007 but the book was published in English this year only. “I wrote of a human being who did not want to be human in this world.” Han Kang Buy The Vegetarian from Amazon.com The novel consists of three parts each of which is narrated by one of different characters but neither on behalf of the main female character Yeong-Hye. From little extracts only we get to know about her dreams and thoughts. The narration is straight-line. The husband of the main lady character tells the first part. He speaks of her as a completely unremarkable in every way wife who acts weird all of a sudden. She throws out an expensive eel out of the fridge in the middle of the night, then eggs and milk, meat and serves a salad for dinner made of soy-bean paste and a soup of oar weed. She claims she will never ever eat meat again. She refuses to iron shirts of her husband and to put socks on his feet. He treats her…

If you did not know yet about good old truth that book is the best gift, then this article is for you and the best book for a modern miss is a book about fashion. You can choose any one of these books of outgoing year as a present for your girlfriend, sister or yourself. Irreverent written by Carine Roitfeld, This book memoir of the former Vogue Paris editor in chief Carine Roitfeld. Stories about fashion, style, career, photo shots and advertisement, which Carine was creating through the years of working in the most fashion magazine. Christian Louboutin. Bible for Carrie Bradshaw if she was real and a table-top book for any shoes lover. A story of the greatest designer, beginning from his work for Chanel until his up-to-date look books, his collection with many of pictures, which were not published ever before. American Fashion written by Charles Scheips. The book about history of American fashion, which was created under the direction of members of Council of Fashion Designers of America. The book treats of more than 100 the most outstanding American designers with variety of illustrations. Vincent Aletti, Carol Squires, Willis Hartshorn, Phillipe Garner, Avedon Fashion, 1944-2000. The photo…

In part, Focusing Emptiness is about the decisions we make, and specifically, the way our defenses can influence these decisions, often affecting the direction our life takes.

David Dunham is the author of The Silent Land, a novel set in England between 1903 and 1919, and is currently writing The Legend of Caradoc. You can find him at: @ddunhamauthor and on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidDunhamAuthor and through his website, daviddunham.co.uk The ironing board desk and the fountain pen I admit, I’ve done it. In the early days, that is: the searching for novelists’ daily word counts. I felt dirty doing it, ashamed even, ashamed that I was comparing myself to others and matching my own average to that of the masters. And then I stopped, not through sudden disinterest, but because it was futile. My environment for writing The Silent Land was different to others’. At times, it was ideal in that it was quiet, I had an antique desk and there was a kettle close by. At other times, not so, in that my office was the laundry room at the back of the house where the noise from the building site was not as violent as at the front, and my desk was an ironing board, and there was no kettle, just an iron. And then there was the method. The Silent Land is set in…

Photo via Pixabay by Unsplash Books are one of the best ways to relax, forget about real-life stress, and travel without ever leaving the comfort of your own home, yet many of us struggle to find time to read. With so many good books coming out this fall–and so many different e-readers available to read them on–it’s a shame not to at least try to carve out time in your busy schedule for them. Here are a few of the best ways to do just that. Keep one on you at all times Stephen King once said that he never goes anywhere without a paperback, because you never know when you might need to wait–at the doctor’s office, in a traffic jam, in that long line at the DMV. These days, you don’t even need to carry a physical book with you; e-readers are surprisingly affordable and are light and durable enough to slip into a purse or backpack for easy access. Having something to read not only comes in handy during those boring, having-to-wait times, it also allows you to work on your to-be-read list instead of playing a game on your phone. The trick is to keep…

W. E. Lawrence’s latest historical romance novel Chakana is a James Bond meets Indiana Jones action/adventure story. It is set in Peru, just before the start of World War II. The basis of the tale is a race between good and evil to find an ancient treasure that could affect the outcome of the war before it even begins. It’s filled with danger, suspense, some humor, and even a torrid romance (with sex scenes). The publisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book –to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post. Synopsis: In 1940, before the start of World War II, James Fleming, the original British secret agent, races on a high-stakes chase to track down the ancient lost treasure of King Huascar of the Incas. He must recover it before the Nazis do or the whole world will be in imminent danger. But this is no ordinary treasure hunt. The Incas have proven their cunning and intellect in not only how they hid their treasure, but how they protected it. Fleming joins forces in the remote ruins of Peru, South America with Kate Rhodes, a policewoman on leave from the United States, her archaeologist brother,…

The Lad Lit Blog Tour has been going strong for three weeks now, and I think it is fair to say I’ve managed to convert a good few people on both sides of the Atlantic to dip their toe in the lad lit pond, and the ripple effect of laughter has helped convince a few more along the way! Still, the questions keep coming in from those who have not really heard of the genre before. What is lad lit? Will I enjoy it? To help answer those questions, I have put together a top five list of things that will make you want to choose lad lit as your next read. 1. Lad Lit is not perfect Never has the average Joe been made to feel so image conscious. We live in a society where men are constantly told how we should strive to look like David Beckham, whether it’s on the pages on glossy magazines or TV adverts ramming it down our throats. But never fear, lad lit is here! Lad lit speaks the truth – it lives in the real world, not that plastic fantasy land where families like The Kardashians live. It paints the picture of…