Alexander the Great's Words of Wisdom

A friend sent this to me and I want to share with you:

 

On June 10, 323 BC, Alexander the Great died of fever in Babylon

after battling illness for several days. He had conquered the Persian Empire,

traveled farther east than the god Dionysus, and survived a multitude of war

wounds. Alexander left no clear successor, though he had a son, Heracles, and

another child on the way by his Bactrian wife, Roxane.

  
 On his death bed, Alexander summoned his generals and told them his three ultimate wishes:

 1. The best doctors should carry his coffin; ...

 2. The wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones.) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery.

 3. His hands should be let loose, hanging outside the coffin for all to see!!


 One of his generals who was surprised by these unusual requests asked Alexander to explain. Here is what Alexander the Great had to say:

 1. I want the best doctors to carry my coffin to demonstrate that, in the face of death, even the best doctors in the world have no power to heal;

 2. I want the road to be covered with my treasure so that everybody sees that material wealth acquired on earth, stays on earth...

 3. I want my hands to swing in the wind, so that people understand that we come to this world empty handed and we leave this world empty handed after the most precious treasure of all is exhausted, and that is TIME.

 4. We do not take to our grave any material wealth . TIME is our most precious treasure because it is LIMITED. We can produce more wealth, but we cannot produce more time.

 5. When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we will never take back. Our time is our life!

 6. The best present that you can give to your family and friends is your TIME. *May God grant you plenty of TIME and may you have the wisdom to give it away so that you can LIVE, LOVE and DIE in peace.

All the best,

Gerrie Ferris Finger
THE END GAME
THE LAST TEMPTATION
THE DEVIL LAUGHED Released Aug. 21 2013

A GLORIOUS CURSE

An unpopular archeologist is murdered at his dig in the dead of night. The killer’s narcissistic mind cloaks the cowardly crime. Now Ann Gavrion must use unworldly methods to unmask the murderer.

http://amzn.to/14Yey8g

After Ann’s voyage on THE GHOST SHIP, her tumultuous relationship with Rod Curator settles into a love affair. She moves from Atlanta to Hatteras Island and becomes an unofficial partner with Rod in his duties as a marine biologist for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
She helps him save stranded whales and fights alongside him against bullies protesting the controversial beach closing laws designed to protect shore birds and turtle nests.

http://amzn.to/r3imp5

And she ducks when bullets fly.

She's beautiful, she's found the perfect mate along with her calling. There's just one flaw. The sea, or the ghost--she's not sure which--gave her the gift of telepathy. She'd return it, if only she could.
Nevertheless, she's certainly not relying on the cursed gift as her only weapon to unmask a murderer.

She’s taking gun lessons.

Happy Reading,

Gerrie Ferris Finger
www.gerrieferrisfinger.com
www.crimewritersblog.blogspot.com

One Perspective on Snarky Reviews

Unfortunately not everyone loves our books. It's a fact writers accept when negative opinions come from professionals, and even honest, critical amateurs. However, it appears there's a growing list of nameless customer critics out there with minds conjuring poisonous words and phrases to vent upon some hard-working author.

I'm on several lists and social media sites, and, lately, there have been several posts about bad reviews and how unfair customer opinions are. On Amazon, if you buy a trinket, you're eligible to review a book. If you're an author whose work is out there for all to read and review, you know whereof I speak.

Bad reviews are inevitable -- and for a variety of valid reasons. I review other writers' books. If I don't care for a book's plot, premise, characters, etc., I don't review it. Chances are I don't finish it. Life's too short to read something I don't enjoy. All that said, there's never a reason to give a two-star or a two-heart rating, much less a one. Others might not agree, but opinions on weightier matters differ, too.

I read a phrase from an author that stuck in my head. He called unnecessarily cruel reviews "electronic snarking." These are tirades from readers who, many times, have not even read the book. You know the type: This book was so awful I threw it against the wall. The best part about it was the cover and that wasn't good either.

If you're a small press, mid-list or indy author these rants are very damaging. The meanies may simply think they're being cute, have an ax to grind, or possess a devilish desire to bring down your star rating. Whatever the motivation,  their snarking can kill sales for a promising book. It only takes a handful of unfair opinions to dampen enthusiasm.

 

I would implore those with a bent to rant negatively to stop and think of the consequences to an author with whom you might enjoy drinking a cup of coffee or sharing jokes over a beer.

 

Also authors must constantly monitor internet customer opinion sites. It is said that we authors should not answer our critics. That's easy if you're Nora Roberts and have multi-thousand reader reviews per book, but we who toil at protecting our reputations must comment on unfair snarking, and promptly.

 

And now a little blatant self promotion on the subject of reviews. My coming release, THE DEVIL LAUGHED (Five Star/Gale) was reviewed by Kirkus, a giant in the world of professional reviews. That they chose my book to review out of the thousands they receive a month was good news. While not glowing (does Kirkus ever give a glowing review?) it was positive, fair, and I'm happy with it. That's all an author can ask for.

 

 

 

 Gerrie Ferris Finger

THE END GAME

THE LAST TEMPTATION

THE DEVIL LAUGHED

 

BOBBING FOR A WINNER

Hello,

Last weekend at the Amelia Island Book Festival -- I love book festivals, the camaraderie with readers and other authors is indescribable  -- I held a drawing for a free Advance Reader/Reviewer Copy of my August release, THE DEVIL LAUGHED.

Bogey, the black standard poodle, selected a name that corresponded to a number on one of his tennis balls and came up with a winner. I will email her for an address and send the book. I'm hoping for a review, but there were no strings attached to entry. Not even buying one of my books for sale at the festival.

And there you have it, a simple selection method to ding the Power Ball apparatus. ;-D



Regards,

Gerrie Ferris Finger

THE END GAME, 1st in Dru/Lake Series
THE LAST TEMPTATION, 2nd in Series
THE DEVIL LAUGHED, third in Series, August 2013
A GLORIOUS CURSE, May 2013 release, sequel to
THE GHOST SHIP

CUMBERLAND ISLAND - Strong Women, Wild Horses

Hello,

Last weekend I attended the annual Amelia Island Book Festival in Fernandina Beach, Florida. I had a fabulous time hobnobbing with the many authors that I met. The event -- from luncheon to the sale of books by authors ready to autograph them -- was a huge success, and my compliments to the organizers. I was told this was the third venue since the festival's founding. It kept getting bigger and bigger, and that's good news for authors and readers. Lest I forget, the Kid's event was a buzzing success, too.

I had the pleasure of meeting a Facebook friend, Holly McClure. We've made a pact to get together with others in our Georgia authors and readers community.

Happily, I was reunited with a colleague from my days at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Charles Seabrook. I am retired and Charlie is semi-so -- his editors having pressed him to continue his column, "Wild Georgia". This is good for those who enjoy a lively piece on nature and our environment. At the newspaper Charlie was the National Environmental Reporter. When he wrote a probing series about Georgia's mining industry, he won the Investigative Reporters and Editors "Best Story of the Year" award in 1994.

Charlie is also the author of the beautiful, CUMBERLAND ISLAND - Strong Women, Wild Horses. I haven't finished it yet, but so far, half way through, it's dynamic in its depiction of the island itself and its inhabitants. Wild horses could serve as a metaphor for the wilderness island, but they're very real. The horses are sturdy little buggers that are as protective of their small herds as the women who fought to protect the island they loved, dating from the days of the Revolutionary War until today.

Highly Recommended

I've been on Cumberland a number of times. It's a fascinating place, and (plug in here for moi), my granddaughter photographed the Grand Avenue for the cover of my book WHISPERING, a romantic suspense novel set on the island -- renamed Sago Island for fictional purposes.

 

 



 

CUMBERLAND ISLAND, Strong Women, Wild Horses
John F. Blair, Publisher
Fourth Printing

Gerrie Ferris Finger
Did I say Cumberland Island, Strong Women, Wild Horses was highly recommended?

SECRETS - a Carl Brookins Review

SECRETS                  
By Frederick Ramsay

ISBN: 1590581881
Poisoned Pen Press, August 2005
290 pgs

 

Small town, male sheriff protagonist, religious murder with larger implications

The sheriff, Ike Schwartz, has retired from the world stage of law enforcement. He likes this small town of Picketsville where most of his time is spent smoozing with the citizens and dealing with the administration of his small department.

The characters in his department are close to being clichés. And we have a classic town vs. gown dance. But a couple of things make a big difference, every time the novel starts to drift into the ho hum. First, there is Samantha Ryder, a slick, leggy and very bright computer wizard who not only towers over the sheriff in height, but her understanding of the use of computers in law enforcement even in this small municipality, is becoming legendary. That’s particularly true with the sheriff who sometimes can’t find the power switch on the things. Then there’s the local college president. There’s no denying the attraction between the highly educated, sophisticated president of Callend College and the sheriff, even if an observer might be hard pressed to figure out why. But they don’t really care, except that Sheriff Ike seems to have a predilection for tossing barbed comments at her faculty on frequent occasions. It keeps the relationship fresh.

Then Waldo gets murdered. Now here’s a quiet inoffensive not-very-talented church organist. Who’d want to kill him? And in the very place he works of a Sunday, the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Episcopalian Church. And why did some people think he was a little creepy? Not only that it’s a double tap. That is, twice shot, once dead.

 
The solutions will amaze and satisfy you in this crisply written novel.

From Amazon: Dr. Frederick Ramsay was born in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and received his doctorate in Anatomy from the University of Illinois.

Carl Brookins
www.carlbrookins.com  http://agora2.blogspot.com,
Case of the Great Train Robbery, Reunion, Red Sky

 

Submitted by Gerrie Ferris Finger
THE END GAME
THE LAST TEMPTATION
THE DEVIL LAUGHED, August 2013
 

There Was an Old Woman - a Carl Brookins Review

 

 

there was an old woman  

by Hallie Ephron

ISBN: 978-0-06-211760-1

A William Morrow 2013 release,

304 pages

 

I could hardly put it down. Creepy, tension filled, elegantly crafted, filled with emotional turmoil and characters that seem to rise from the pages and sit beside you while you read. Not a mystery in the usual sense, not a novel of slam-bang adventure with bodies dropping on every other page. This elegantly crafted novel demonstrates a mastery of story-telling, of how to feed tidbits of information to the reader in a way that not only keeps one glued to the book, but step-by-step raises gut-wrenching questions of life and death and reality.

 

Somehow, Ephron has plumbed the dark recesses of the mind of an elderly woman named Mina Yetner. Independent still at ninety-one, and living in a small New York City neighborhood on the edge of a salt marsh, she’s sound of mind if physically frail and she’s determined to live out her life as she has always done, to the very end. Mina is a wonderful fresh character and readers shouldn’t be surprised if her voice comes, unbidden to mind while they turn the pages.

 

In this time of aging baby boomers, of rising concerns about privacy, rampant mortgage offers, retail development, and uncertain government, here is a universal crime novel that should be read by just about everybody on the planet.

Carl Brookins
www.carlbrookins.com  http://agora2.blogspot.com,
Case of the Great Train Robbery, Reunion, Red Sky

-- Carl Brookins www.carlbrookins.com http://agora2.blogspot.com, Case of the Great Train Robbery, Reunion, Red Sky