How to Write Strong Female Characters

Read Lazlo Ferran's post on Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar's blog: 'How to Write Strong Female Characters' It's not exactly a tutorial, but it shows what difficulties are faced and some possible solutions when writing female characters from a male feminist point of view.

Donna G. Driver

Blue Owl welcomes yet another great author. D. G. Driver has been a published author for 20 years. She has several critically-acclaimed nonfiction books under Donna Getzinger. Her YA books Cry of the Sea and Passing Notes are published by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books, and she has a sequel to Cry coming out in November. She also has a story in the pirate anthology A Tall Ship, A Star, and Plunder. She lives near Nashville, TN with her family.

Cry of the Sea
Juniper Sawfeather is choosing which college to attend after graduation from West Olympia High School next year. She wants to go to San Diego to be far away from her environmental activist parents. They expect her to think the way they do, but having to be constantly fighting causes makes it difficult to be an average 17 year old high school student. Why do her parents have to be so out there?

Everything changes when she and her father rush to the beach after a reported oil spill. As they document the damage, June discovers three humans washed up on the beach, struggling to breathe through the oil coating their skin. At first she thinks they must be surfers, but as she gets closer, she realizes these aren't human at all. They're mermaids!Now begins a complex story of intrigue, conspiracy and manipulation as June, her parents, a marine biologist and his handsome young intern, her best friend, the popular clique at school and the oil company fight over the fate of the mermaids.

Read more about Donna, her work and Cry of the Sea on her dedicated author page.

Blue Owl Success Story

I wanted to share with you a nice little success story: Lorraine Carey just posted this comment on her dedicated author page:

"I want to give a huge shout out to Blue Owl Publishing for increasing my ranks from the millions to now in the four hundred thousand category. Their consistent, diligent and creative promo service is to be commended. Many have commented on my attractive free author page. I truly have been blessed to have found this amazing company!"

Khalid Muhammad

We welcome Khalid Muhammad to Blue Owl. By day, Khalid is a mild-mannered business executive keeping busy running a marketing and brand management company. By night, his alter ego emerges; one that has a penchant for sadistic retribution towards those who wrong others, and that spends its time devising intricate and detailed plans for a nefarious end.

Born in Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, educated and raised in the United States, Khalid returned to Pakistan almost 17 years ago and fell in love with his country. His debut novel, Agency Rules - Never an Easy Day at the Office, is a journey behind the headlines about Pakistan, the world's most dangerous place, to deliver an intense story that will challenge the reader to question everything they have been told about the country.

He began writing to let the wickedness escape, as the other option means a great deal of blood, numerous torture implements and... well, infinite ways to dump a body. It's safer for everyone involved and less dangerous for the guilty... until he writes another book.

Agency Rules - Never an Easy Day at the Office

Celebrated as a ragtag force that defeated and broke the Soviet Union, no one predicted the Mujahideen would bring with them a plague that would spread like wildfire through Pakistan in the years to follow. When the battle-worn fighters returned with no enemy or war to fight, they turned their sights on the country that had been their creator and benefactor.

Read more about Khalid, his work and Agency Rules - Never an Easy Day at the Office on his dedicated author page.

Occult Thriller - Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate now Free around the world

Lazlo Ferran is delighted to announce that Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate is now FREE on US, UK and Indian Amazon sites, Google Play globally, most iTunes (Apple) sites around the world, Smashwords (including FlipKart) and all Bookbaby outlets (including Oyster, txtr and E-Sentral). See his Availability in your country page on my blog for more details. If you cannot find it free, email him: lazloferran@gmail.com

Newly published today - Suspense kindle: Lotus

Lazlo Ferran published his first new novel for over a year - and it's a good one - Lotus

Here's the blurb:

Six characters from history enter the Devil's labyrinth 

Robert Lath dies in the trenches of World War One. But he wakes to find himself on a never-ending flight of stone steps. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot reach the top or bottom. Then a face appears and offers him a choice; a choice that might damn his soul.

Six characters from different spans of history battle against illness, seemingly the result of a game with Satan, and human frailty to find salvation but are they all the same man?

A soul is trapped and gradually dissected in this intriguing and labyrinthine story of trust, betrayal, disease, death and immortality.

You can buy it for an introductory offer of just 99 cents on:
Amazon: http://bit.ly/amlotus
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/lotusswds

The Last Vestal Virgin

Lorraine Carey has just published: The Last Vestal Virgin

Christina Ciccone didn't feel ready to leave this lifetime. Raised in a strict Italian-American home, she felt surrounded by love and pampered like a princess. So why had she experienced nightmares and panic attacks for so many years? She didn't know that she had another family, from another lifetime, waiting for her.

Christina recently graduated from high school and had big plans for college. While enjoying a trip to Rome with her history club, the strange nightmares return and she is faced with bizarre encounters while touring many of the ancient ruins, causing her to become quite ill. She is faced with powerful supernatural forces when one Roman goddess and her priestesses decide this would be Christina’s last trip.

The story, with many fascinating facts on the Rome’s Vestal Virgin, climaxes with a shocking Paranormal twist.

Get it now on Amazon for $3.08 (£1.97) - amzn.to/1ro6v9W