Ashlyn Brady Author - writing Romance, History & Mysteries.
Hello Friends,
This week I’ve been
putting together a video of the Holiday Kisses book launch from all of the images I saved on my phone.
We had lots of books for
sale and more Christmas food than anyone could eat. Ho-ho-ho! The video
might make you hungry.
So come along on the
tour of the book launch and take a peek into a world of Christmas romance.
Holiday Kisses is
available now for your reading pleasure.
Hello Friends,
I’m back from attending
my first ever book launch. I've spent this last week coming down from a high
point in my writing life.
It took a team of people
to make the Christmas romance anthology and bring it to life. The launch
started with good vibes and a feeling of success. Overnight, Holiday Kisses had hit the
highest ranking on Amazon Australia, a #1 best-selling new book release.
Last Sunday, the book
launch was held in a heritage building located in a south-eastern suburb of the
city of Perth, Western Australia. The venue was a restored homestead which had been turned
into a community center. The old brick and stone house had the biggest
fireplace I’ve ever seen which was a perfect place for Christmas decorations
and a poster of the book cover (see the fireplace photograph at the beginning of the post).
A team of authors and
helpers set up the homestead room early. Then we were welcomed by Gumnut Press publisher,
Peta Flanigan. Next an acknowledgement of the traditional indigenous owners of
country was made.
The first cheery
Christmas song was sung by Alyssa.
Lisa, the Director of
Dragonfly Publishing gave a witty and sometimes humorous outline of each story
in the anthology. Holiday Kisses was then officially launched.
Alyssa
sang another festive song. Afterward, it was time for a chat to get to know the
authors a little better. During the author chat, each of us were asked two
questions. First, I answered the question about where my favorite place to
write is. Which is the laptop on the kitchen table. When I’m not working at my
day job, I’m often multi-tasking at home. Preparing meals, and cleaning etc.
The kitchen table is the perfect hub for me to get my home jobs done while
still catching some writing time.
The
second question was if there was an author who I use as inspiration to write.
In the mid 2000’s, early in my romance writing days, I was
inspired by Australian romance author, Anna Campbell. She started her career as
an unknown writer whose manuscript went to auction among traditional publishers
in New York. Her historical romances dared to be different to what was selling
in the book market at the time. She was successful at bringing dark, sexy
regency stories to readers, and then she went on to build a career writing romance. I
also listened to her speak at Romance Writers of Australia conferences and she
generously offered advice to beginner writers.
The next activity was for each author to read an engaging section of their book to the guests. I opened a brand-new paper copy of Holiday Kisses, to find the scene I was going to read. Suddenly I got an attack of the nerves. My story, The Now or Never Miracle, had only ever been read by me in my kitchen and the Gumnut Press editors. Now it was going out into the world for the first time.
I went to the podium to read but my nerves wouldn’t calm down. My hands shook the whole time. It was a personal challenge, and fortunately the guests didn’t boo me. I had chosen a light comedy section of the story to share. The hero, Jedd with his eyes closed, thinks Gracie is pleasantly tickling his face. What was really happening was the donkey called Colin was rubbing his whiskery jaw over Jedd’s face and checking him out. I tried not to laugh as I was reading and some of the guests thought the scene was a little funny.
Along
came the third snowy Christmas song to fill the room with cheer. The free
raffles for the guests were drawn from a table of goodies. I really liked the
drinking mugs decorated with the book cover.
A fabulous, big, creamy
sponge cake was cut by the authors to celebrate the book launch. Then we moved
to the back of the room for the book signings. There were tables of delicious
Christmas themed food for the guests to eat.
It was a wonderful book launch
organized by Gumnut Press and I thank them for including my story in the Christmas
romance anthology.
During
the next week I plan to put together a short video showing some of the features
of the special launch day.
Hello Friends,
This week, I’m blogging
earlier than usual because tomorrow I’m travelling from the country to the city
of Perth, Western Australia. There’s a special reason for the trip. It’s nearly
time for the book launch of Holiday Kisses.
Yay!
Woo-hoo!
This Sunday, I’ll be meeting
the other authors of our Christmas romance anthology at the book launch. My red
and white Christmassy dress and silver shoes are already packed in the
suitcase. We are going to bring a plate of Christmas food to share. My daughter
has found us a recipe for a savory Santa snack we can’t resist making.
After years of sitting
in the chair and typing away on the keyboard, I can’t wait to go to a ‘romance
book event’. The ladies in the room will be romance readers like me. We love the
Romance book world. You gotta love it! Romance reading is such fun, pleasure,
and love makes you feel good.
At the time of writing
this blog, Holiday Kisses anthology was ranking as a #2 Hot New Release on Amazon. The
authors are so happy with the reader’s interest. We are hoping to reach the top
spot on Amazon but the results are fantastic anyway.
Next week, I plan to bring you news from the book launch.
Photo Credits: Nathan Anderson on Unsplash.com and Gumnut Press
👻Hello Friends👻
This All Hallow’s Eve,
when,
ghouls and ghosts,
leave their ghastly dens,
and roam through the gates of the worlds,
to return home.
Have some fun,
with spooky things.
Happy Halloween!!
Discover Ireland, the Home of Halloween.
Photo Credits: Bee Felten Leidel on Unsplash.com
Hello Friends,
This week’s spooky story
for Halloween is about a place called Wycliffe Well. There you will find
statues of green aliens standing outside their pyramid spaceship. Another
feature is a wall of mural artwork showing UFO’s flying through outer space.
Earthlings are also welcome too.
Wycliffe Well is the
self-proclaimed UFO capital of Australia. It also claims to be one of the 5 top
hot spots in the world to see UFO’s. Yet, I wasn’t successful in finding much
information about UFO’s here.
One reason could be that Wycliffe Well is a small and isolated place in the red center of Australia. It’s in the middle of nowhere. People originally settled at Wycliffe Well when a water well was dug to provide water for cattle that were on the move to graze native grasses and bushes, once called stock routes.
Today, Wycliffe Well
mostly consists of a fuel station and a holiday park for caravans and camping. Located
about 380 kilometers north of Alice Springs, Wycliffe Well seems like a place to
stop for food and fuel on the way to somewhere else.
The second reason for the lack of UFO information
could be the presence of a military base near Alice Springs. It’s a joint defense facility shared by Australia and United States Government agencies
including the famous ones known by acronym names (I’m not typing them). A
secret facility that does global surveillance and spying. So, I guess lots of people
chasing UFO’s in the region wouldn’t be a good thing. Or are the UFO’s chasing
the military? I don’t know. But the Nevada Desert in America is another place
known for having a military base and alleged to have UFO’s.
👽👽👽
Back in Wycliffe Well, some people say you have to be unlucky not to see a UFO in the night sky. Some other ET experiences include being chasing in the car by a UFO. Rectangular and cigar-shaped spaceships have been seen. Watch the video to see the green alien statues and the restaurant wall with the UFO artwork.
Wycliffe Well as a world-wide, UFO hot spot
remains a mystery to me. But it’s an interesting story about what happens in
the red-desert, heartland of Australia a long way from the big cities. Could be scary!
Photo Credits: Uninteneded Concept & Jonathan Martin on Unsplash.com
👽👽👽
Alien Street Art Post
From 2019, come and see the Alien artwork chalked on the footpath in the city of Fremantle, Western Australia. I was very curious, and my imagination conjured up thoughts about the fall of Atlantis/Lemuria/Mu and the end of days marked by the arrival of the people from the stars. Here's the LINK
Hello Friends,
With Halloween drawing near, I thought it was time to get out the spooky stories.
Let’s start in Western Australia, my home state.
This week we’re off to the Fremantle Prison which opened in 1855.
1859 watercolor painting of the Main Cell Block, by Henry Wray
The old jail is located in the port city of Fremantle which is 11 km south of the state capital of Perth. It was built for British convicts/criminals that were sent to Australia by sailing ship.
It started as a home where
the first convicts lived. These people had done minor crimes in England and
were punished with short sentences in jail, in another country. They
were used as laborers to construct the city’s buildings, roads, and infrastructure.
Over time, violent and
dangerous convicts with long jail sentences were sent there. Laboring work
outside the prison was no longer allowed. There were various gruesome
punishments for bad behavior. In 1888, they built a way to give the ultimate
punishment to prisoners.
The Gallows.
Death by hanging.
During the life of the
prison, 43 men and 1 woman were executed.
Another unpleasant part
of the prison’s record was a Governor who was tyrannical and harsh.
The newly restored prison gatehouse in 2005
Today, Fremantle Prison is one of the most haunted places in Australia. The hard life of the criminals and their executions didn’t rest easy with history.
Strange, ghostly happenings experienced inside the jail include rattling sounds, footsteps and voices. People have taken photos inside the Gallows room and discovered they appear headless in the images.
Once I tried to visit the Fremantle Prison
myself. When my car got close, I felt the unhappy vibes still locked in the
colonial buildings. I couldn’t make myself get any closer and drove away.
Over the years, I’ve
spoken to people in my town who’ve visited the old jail. Most of them said they
got a reaction in the Gallow’s room. They felt uneasy in the stomach, or
turned cold, or wanted to leave the room straight away. Some have been touched
by an invisible presence or even been pushed against the wall.
For spooky tourists, the
Fremantle Prison has a nigh time, torchlight tour to explore the darker side of
history. There is also a Tunnel Tour where you can climb down ladders to
beneath the old jail and visit the labyrinth of tunnels built by prisoners.
Ghostly, if you dare.
Take care,
Photo Credits: Diego Sanchez & Zane Lee on Unsplash.com
Hello Friends,
This week I wanted to
return to Uluru, the big red rock in the center of Australia, which is a sacred
place for the traditional owners—the Anangu People.
The Field of Lights is a
beautiful light show that happens after the sun goes down. International
artist, Bruce Munro, created the light show in the desert country with Uluru in
the background. Field of Lights consists of over 50,000 solar powered globes.
The exhibition opened in April 2016 and brought life and color to the arid
landscape.
The artwork was named, Tili
Wiru Tjuta Nyakutjaku, meaning looking at lots of beautiful lights. The exhibition
was meant to be temporary. However, due to the success in bringing the raw and
eerie beauty of the desert to life, Field of Lights continues. It’s something
unique and magnificent.
Watch the video.
Fields of Light Uluru is award winning art that
was made by many hands. It connects people to landscape. The next multi-million-dollar
light show to be created by Bruce Munro in central Australia will be at King’s
Canyon resort, which is located over 300 kilometers away from Uluru. There will
be 69 light towers made of 220 bottles filled with fiber optic cables. The
light towers will be taller than an average human. There will also be sound
from many voices coming together. The artwork is planned to open in April 2023.
In these desert skies, there is no light pollution. I’m sure Light Towers will
be something special too.
Photo
Credits: Trevor McKinnon on Unsplash.com
More ULURU Posts
Uluru has been in the
news recently, and for this Part One post I’ll talk about the rains. In early June, the big rock was covered in cloud and took on an
eerie, translucent appearance…
Australia is an ancient
land with the big red rock in its desert center. In recent years, messages have
been sent out from Uluru which is located inside the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National
Park....
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
