Book Spotlight: Deathload by Cy Young

Deathload

By Cy Young

Genre: Thriller

When his Marine son is killed by friendly fire in Desert Storm, ex-CIA agent and truck tycoon Vincent Fazio constructs two trucks and out of revenge, sends them on a destructive rampage across the country blowing up air force bases.  Tracking the behemoths is Phoenix P.D. detective and karate champion Manny Breen.  Breen teams up with Phoenix P.D. chopper pilot Sharon Kramer.  Together they follow the trucks and end up at the White House for a powerful ending.

 

About the Author 

Cy Young performed as a dancer/singer on Broadway and co-starred at the Globe Theater in London in Divorce Me Darling.  He worked with Howard Keel (On A Clear Day) and Buster Keaton (Once Upon A Mattress) as a featured player with great reviews.  Young has many recordings on the Painted Smiles Records, performed a night club act at New York's famous Number One Fifth Avenue, and has done numerous commercials and voice overs.  Also a writer, Cy has written three published (French) plays, three musicals, and has a song on the Streisand Third album, Draw Me A Circle, which Barbra used to open one of her early TV Specials.  Cy's short story, The Schitzle Connection, has been published by Twit Publishing (Winter/Spring. 2011 edition) and won Best Short Story in an Oklahoma City Writer's Group contest.

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indie.lector

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CyrilCCC.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cy.young.jr/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1209374.Cy_Young

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Deathload-Highway-Destruction-Cy-Young-ebook/dp/B07R1RDYHS

DEATHLOAD Prologue 

Bursts of heavy artillery fire danced on the horizon as the staccato rumble of Saddam’s big guns rolled across the windswept desert toward them. Marine Lance Cor- poral Vincent Fazio, Jr. squinted into the rolling clouds of dust at the road ahead.

Vincent’s LAV-25 was the third Light Armored Vehicle in the convoy now highballing recklessly into heavy enemy fire. The armored unit was speed- ing toward Umm Hugul. The Marines were the iron fist of the thrust and Vince was beginning to get that sick feeling again in the pit of his stomach.

Operation Desert Storm was moving into high gear. Vince and his buddies had hoped the ground war would never materialize. Now reality was star- ing them in the face.

A shell burst off the road behind them. The LAV swerved erratically.

“Shit, that was close!” Vince’s buddy yelled as he was jolted against the steel struts of the vehicle.

Norm Kleinhsauer was wishing he’d stayed at the hardware store in Monet, Missouri. It was better

to be a live clerk than a dead Marine. He glanced over at his buddy.

“Hey, Vince? You scared?”

Fazio’s face, illuminated in a sudden shell burst, was tense. Tense? He was scared shitless. But what the hell, he was a Marine, wasn’t he?

Marines were tough assholes, square-jawed leather-necks. He could fake it as well as the next guy.

“Nah,” Vince shouted, glancing at his buddy, “I saw more action last year when I visited New York!”

Norm laughed as another shell whined over- head. Both ducked as the shell went wide, bursting well to their right. Vince liked Norman. He liked most of the guys in his unit. They’d learned to stick together, be a family. Not like his own family. His fa- ther was too rich, too powerful, too busy making deals and traveling to pay much attention to him. He’d been proud when Vince joined the Marines, though. Vince knew because he’d overheard Vince Senior bragging about him to an old pal in the CIA.

Vince had mixed feelings about his dad. The man could be heartless, cruel. He’d seen him break associates, destroy them without mercy, then laugh about the way they’d squirmed and folded. Vince had learned to be tough. He’d learned from the best.

The first they knew of the Warthog was a wrenching roar behind and above them. Slow and ugly, the A-10 was one of the deadliest planes taking part in Desert Storm. The tank killer had a battery of high powered weapons which were already locking onto the convoy below. After the tragedy, the pilot swore he didn’t see the markings on the LAVs identi- fying them as friendly. But it was war. Crazy things happened.

Norm was the first to hear the plane closing behind them and turned. “Hey, guys? We got air cover!” he shouted as he strained to see through the smoke and sand swirls erupting around them. His as- sumption that the plane was friendly was accurate. The Iraqi Air Force had been decimated in the first few days of the air war. Now the multi-nationals owned the air. “Go get those mothers!” he yelled at the approaching plane.

As Vince turned to look back, the A-10’s two cannons fired a salvo striking the LAV and knocking it into the air. The vehicle landed on its nose with a violent thud, hop-skipping end over end half a dozen

times before skidding to a stop upside down. The Marines had been blown free and were lying scat- tered on the sand. All except for Vincent Fazio, Jr. He was wedged under the LAV’s front end, blood oozing from his mouth, his body crushed, his eyes open in a blank stare of death.

The young casualty was one of less than two hundred men killed in combat in the Gulf War. The men who would die because of Vincent’s death by friendly fire would reach into the thousands.

Interview with Author Kimberley B. Jones, Our Friendship Matters #YA

Our Friendship Matters

By Kimberley B. Jones

Genre: Young Adult

About the Book

Sasha and Leah are living the good life. They have money, good looks, great boyfriends, loving families, supportive friends, good grades, and, most importantly, they have each other. They do everything together, from playing sports to planning for their big prom night, and they share a bond of trust and loyalty almost as if they were sisters. However, beneath the surface, neither their lives nor their friendship are as untroubled as they seem. When a friend from Sasha’s past becomes the victim of police brutality, their friendship is put to the test as both girls are forced to confront their values and what it means to be privileged in

American society.

Interview with the Author

What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?

What is challenging to me about the writing process is the editing. You can write all day until you go back and revise what you have written. I set some time away on nights and weekends while putting myself on a schedule and completing the tasks before my deadlines given by my publishing company.

When and where do you do your writing?

I have an office next to my laundry room. It’s not the best when clothes are being washed, but it’s away from everything where I can focused on my writing.

What have you learned about promoting your books?

What I’ve learned about promoting books is that it doesn’t matter if you are self-published or traditional published; you still have to promote your book. It’s not easy, and it could be tiresome, but it’s worth it at the end. Promoting yourself is also great because I gives you a chance to build relationships as well.

What are you most proud of as a writer?

I am most proud of getting my words out to readers not only for just the writing part but changing the world. But truly and honestly, I can tell me mother that I’ve finished the novel and I’m making you proud.

If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be, and what would you talk about?

Just one. Okay, if I can choose one, it would be James Baldwin. I would want to talk about the past and compare it to today. I will ask him if he sees any changes, or do you see a reverse of going back to the old days.

I will sit with him and talk about one of my favorite quotes by him, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

How powerful can that be? That’s all I want to do with Our Friendship Matters is face the issues of today’s society and change it.

About the Author

Kimberley B. Jones is a professional early childhood educator. She was born in the small town of Saint George, South Carolina, on September 12, 1982. She graduated from Woodland High School in 2000, Benedict College in 2004 with B.S., Child & Family Development, and Ashford University in 2013 with a Masters in Early Childhood Education. After receiving her education and being a military spouse, she held several jobs as a preschool teacher and a preschool director, but she wanted to use her education by writing children’s books. She wrote her first book in college for a children’s literature course. She has since self-published several books that can be found on Amazon. Currently, she is branching off into writing fiction YA, NA, and A novels on issues in society. She loves writing and would change it for nothing in this world. She is now representing Rhetoric Askew, a great publishing company. Kimberley is the author of “Our Friendship Matters,” soon to be released and so much more coming soon.

Website: www.kimberleybjones.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kimberley.jones.3762584 

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/KimberleyBJones

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/authorkimberleyjones/

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08C44GYMD?tag=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54355969-our-friendship-matters

Book Spotlight: radical. by heather liz #poetry

radical.

By heather liz

Genre: Poetry Collection

About the book

radical lays bare the devastating effects of patriarchy on the lives of women. It shows how beliefs, laws, and even aspects of feminism are used to keep women in place. A place that wounds. These pieces require more from the reader than casual poetry reading. In fact, you may at times find yourself holding your breath as you race to consume the book in one sitting. radical takes you on a journey that even the most self-proclaimed woke person still needs to go on. It is uncomfortable at times to have liz perfectly describe pain, anger, or loss you thought dealt with long ago. And yet, every word validates who you are and what you have experienced in life, as if she knew all your secrets. But don't worry, radical also suggest a way forward. After all, liz wants what we all want, a better way of being human. 

From the book:

So, what does that say about us women?

Foolish

Weak

Things

Who clearly cannot be trusted 

With their own self

Having never experienced being a self.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  

heather liz wrote her debut collection, radical., on accident. A culmination of events: leaving a high-demand religion, entering her last year of law school, and the discovery of her body as her own (as opposed to belonging to a man) caused her to realize what we have done to women. This collection captures her first observations of the world, as it currently stands, and her critiques and suggestions for how to change it. heather liz resides in the Carolinas with her husband and five children.

Find her: www.heather-liz.com

Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/radical-heather-liz/dp/1545675554/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YC5936W252T4&dchild=1&keywords=radical.+heather+liz&qid=1599318475&sprefix=radical.+heather%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-1

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/radical-heather-liz/1136514718;jsessionid=826C1C735CB7C8404B70D4CD402EE368.prodny_store01-atgap13?ean=9781545675557

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherlizpoet

Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherlizpoet

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51651396-radical?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Fo7DlgGBiz&rank=1#other_reviews

 

 

Book Spotlight: Sky Queen by Judy Kundert

Sky Queen

By Judy Kundert

Genre: Women’s Fiction

It's 1967, and Katherine Roebling is a Chicago-based stewardess caught between the hold of highflying travel and the call of her Native American ancestors just as the women’s movement is taking the US by storm. As she vacillates between an ever-present mystical ancestral feather and her alluring stewardess life of excitement and travel, she embarks on a journey from one adventure to the next―each episode bringing her closer to her predestined calling. A chance meeting with a college student from Athens, Greece at a Chicago Playboy Mansion Press Party and her visit to the Oracle of Delphi intertwine with Katherine's discovery of the treasure inside herself. Ultimately, she gains wings that allow her to glide over society’s barriers; she abandons the so-called glamorous life she’s been living, creates her own path, and embarks upon a new career at the Smithsonian in DC―one that will take her on a miraculous experience of personal growth and uncharted paths.

About the Author 

Judy Kundert, a recipient of the Marquis Who’s Who Excellence in Authorship award, loves storytelling, from folk and fairy tales to classics for elementary school children. She authors award-winning middle-grade novels designed to inspire and intrigue children. After she left her career as a United Airlines stewardess, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University, Chicago and a Master of Arts from DePaul University, Chicago. Most recently, she completed a master’s Certificate in Public Relations and Marketing from the University of Denver. For fun, she likes reading (usually three or four books at a time), watching movies from the oldies to the current films, traveling, biking, and hiking in the vast Colorado outdoors with her husband. Learn more at www.judykundert.com.

Links 

On Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41646615-sky-queen?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=kGsP1I6ECr&rank=1

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudyKundertAuthor/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/judykundert

On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sky-Queen-Novel-Judy-Kundert/dp/1631525239/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1590007077&sr=1-1

On B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sky-queen-judy-kundert/1129475084?ean=9781631525230

Book Spotlight & Excerpt: How a Monster is Made by RaShell Lashbrook

How a Monster is Made

By RaShell Lashbrook

Genre: Psychological Suspense/Thriller, Dark Domestic Thriller

About the Book

From the author of Hidden in the Dark comes a novel about the childhood of a man who will go on to commit unimaginable crimes against the most vulnerable in society.

Curious and energetic, Randy Carter is an ordinary enough little boy in the beginning. Born post-WWII in a sleepy Texas town, he is the middle child of an alcoholic father and a mother who suffers from bouts of severe psychosis. Forced to survive in an unpredictable world of violence and poverty, Randy develops into a calculating young man with a growing need for control.

Bad things happen when Randy is around.

Evil incarnate or just a broken child? Sociopath or victim? What is undeniable is the path of destruction left in his wake. There is a fine line between prey and predator, and Randy Carter is about to cross over it.

About the Author 

RaShell Danette Lashbrook was born in Wellington, Kansas. Her parents threw the television away when she was just two years old, so she spent her childhood in the little town of Mulvane, Kansas reading, exploring, biting her nails, and picking her nose.

Her deep love of reading always fueled a small flame of desire to write, but it wasn't until 2012 that she began to practice the craft of throwing words onto paper and rearranging them repeatedly.

She is blessed to share her life with her six magnificent children and their friends, parents that anyone would be envious of, the best siblings in the whole world, and a "top-shelf" circle of close friends and extended family.

RaShell's fascination with many different subjects has served her well in her writing. She prefers to think of her dabbling as "research". Her lasting passions have been organic gardening, music, cooking, murder, mysteries, aliens, and mental disorders.

Website: rashelllashbrook.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaShellLashbrook

Twitter:  @PoppyJuiceBlog

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08835BVCY

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53356124-how-a-monster-is-made 

Brief excerpt 

The jagged edges of the stick burned deep in his throat, but he couldn’t turn away. The bitch had his head trapped between her feet. Arms and legs bound; he was at her mercy. No doubt, she was loving every second of this. Raine had always been a little off in the head, and this was just more proof.

The seriousness of the situation was sinking in. Randall had a fleeting thought that he might not make it out alive. He stopped fighting back in hopes she might ease up some - but no luck. She pushed even harder, and he could feel the blood trickling down the back of his throat. The damned stick was taking up all the space in his mouth, and swallowing was impossible.

She repositioned the rod, and with a grunt, shoved it in harder. The trickle turned into a gush, and breathing was no longer an option. Panic didn’t take over like he’d thought it would. The booze from earlier in the day helped make everything softer.

Strange, he thought, how calm he felt, knowing he was a goner. It was as if he could see everything from a distance. His last thoughts meshed with his first memories.

His mouth was full but not with the hardened, rough edges of the stick. Soft flesh filled his mouth. He suckled furiously, milk from his mother’s breast spraying the back of his throat with each swallow.

Her arms were around him, cradling him close. He was safe now. Warm and loved. He reached up for her face, and she smiled down at him, kissing the palm of his hand. Mama pulled the soft blanket up around his shoulder and began to stroke his head gently. When she did this, he could barely keep his eyes open. Drifting off to sleep, he left the cruel stick, the blood, and the last part of his life behind.

Book Blitz: DORK by Will Winkle #newadult #humor

DORK

By Will Winkle

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Humor

Book Description

Charlie Brown meets The Catcher in the Rye in this humorous novel following a neurotic economics major weeks from graduation.

Ray Cooper is graduating from college and doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life – stop me if you’ve heard this before. Besides his impending graduation, Coop also has the problem of trying to start a new relationship in the shadow of his last one. Plus, his term project is due in two weeks. He’s also losing his hair. Alright, he has a few problems. Over a weekend, Ray attends the birthday party of a girl he isn't sure if he knows, meets odd people at bars, and looks forward to the last hurrah he and his friends have planned for Saturday when the local bars are offering discounts to anyone with wristbands sold for charity. There’s no way any of this could go wrong.

About the Author 

Will Winkle graduated from the University of Idaho with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics, so naturally, he’s decided to become a novelist. While in college Will wrote comedy segments for the show he hosted on the university’s radio station, KUOI 89.3 FM Moscow, Idaho. Currently, he is writing short stories and co-writing a one-man-show with a graduate theater student at the University of Alabama.

Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dork-Will-Winkle/dp/1647181461/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dork+winkle&qid=1583792520&s=books&sr=1-1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50384526-dork

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dork-will-winkle/1136057074?ean=9781647181468

Website (First chapter can be read here): https://willwinkle.com/

Excerpt:

You’re supposed to run going with traffic, but the other side of the street lacked a sidewalk for that particular section of my route. Instead, there was a dirt trail lined on both sides by patches of tall grass. Whenever I ran on that side a clutch of small rocks would magically appear inside of my shoes, and it was the time of year when snakes and lizards were starting to be out and about. I’m not afraid of snakes, I’ve been startled more times by sticks that looked like snakes than actual snakes. As long as I see one soon enough I’m fine with it, but I’m markedly less fine with unexpectedly colliding with a living creature that has so much in common with a rope. It’s not like they can deftly avoid an impending running shoe, so if I spot it too late there’s nothing either of us can do. Snakes can become tangled around your legs, their only choice of action being to writhe around, which wouldn’t make matters better for either of us. I don’t like octopi for the same reason, them being the small net to the snakes' rope. My world changed the first time I saw a bird carrying a snake while flying. Implying that at any moment my day can be ruined in a way that I hadn’t even considered possible. I’m happy that I don’t live by the sea or a large open-air aquarium, because if I ever saw a bird flying with an octopus, I doubt I would ever go outside again.

Book Blitz - I'll Be Watching You by Leslie A. Kelly

I'll Be Watching You

By Leslie A. Kelly

Genre: Romantic Suspense

About the Book

She can trust him with her heart, but can she trust him with her life?

Growing up as a foster kid, Jessica Jensen found her escape in movies-especially those starring teen heartthrob Reece Winchester. When she meets him as an adult, he's just as charming, fascinating, and devastatingly handsome as she'd imagined. Before she knows it, Jessica is falling hard. But her real-life Cinderella story is about to take a deadly turn...

Jessica has completely upended everything about Reece's carefully ordered life. There's a reason he's never allowed anyone to get so close to him before. But now that she has, there's a target on her back. Because someone knows that the Winchesters have been hiding some dark family secrets. Someone who is out there waiting to strike. Waiting...and always watching.

Review Quote:

"Throughout this charged, fast-paced love story, Kelly expertly balances sensuality and intrigue. This will be a hit with readers looking for a

spicy contemporary romance." - Publisher's Weekly

About the Author 

Leslie A. Kelly is a New York Times, USA Today Bestselling Author of dark romantic thrillers and sexy romance (as Leslie Kelly.)

Known for their dark, edgy plots, strong characters, intense action, and powerful worldbuilding, Leslie's romantic thrillers have won great acclaim, including the National Reader's Choice Award, the Aspen Gold Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and a Romantic Times Magazine Award nomination. 

Leslie lives in Colorado with her husband of 34 years and two spoiled dogs. 

Visit her "alter ego" site--www.lesliekelly.com--to learn more about her sexy contemporary romances. 

www.leslieAkelly.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Watching-previously-published-Hollywood-Heat/dp/1538735148/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=leslie+a.+kelly+I%27ll+be+watching+you&qid=1582831584&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ill-be-watching-you-leslie-a-kelly/1132620043?ean=9781538735145#/  

On Social Media:

www.facebook.com/authorlesliekelly

www.twitter.com/lesliekelly

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47355921-i-ll-be-watching-you  

Excerpt

As a film director, Reece Winchester was used to watching life through a camera lens, picturing angles, depth, color, and texture. He lived as a voyeur, removed from the action he oversaw, the unseen god of the worlds he created for moviegoers everywhere. Some people might see him as being aloof or uncaring. Hell, maybe he was. But he’d learned hard lessons throughout his life about trust, about grief, about tragedy and loss. Better to put a layer between yourself and the outside world, as far as he was concerned.

 Maybe that’s why he was able to remain calm during this latest catastrophe. He only sighed as he stared at the charred remnants of his house, eying the wisps of smoke still rising from the ruin in the early morning light, was number one on that list.

 “Damn, Reece, I’m so sorry,” said his brother Rowan, who’d been the one to call him at two a.m. to tell him about the fire. He’d repeated the phrase about a dozen times.

Reece had been shooting in the New Mexico desert, so his Beverly Hills home had been empty when it went up in flames last night. He’d spent most of the flight back being thankful he’d left his dog with his and had given the couple who looked after the place two weeks off. During other trips, he’d left Cecil B., his golden retriever, at home with the Scotts. He didn’t even want to think about what could have happened if they’d been there. Shit could be replaced. Lives could not. The loss of a couple of statues of a guy named Oscar was nothing compared to the singeing of one hair on the heads of his employees or his dog.

 “Any idea yet what started it?” he bit out.

“I talked to the fire investigator. He already found accelerant.”

Accelerant. Arson? Jesus.

“Somebody hates me enough to burn down my house?” Reece murmured, a little more stunned by that fact than by the fire itself.

“It could have been a frustrated stalker who expected to find you at home.”

“And when I wasn’t, they decided to make sure I didn’t have a home to come back to?”

 “You know it’s possible.”

Yes, it probably was. He’d had overzealous fans before, mostly during his acting days. They occasionally slipped from pushy into obsessive. He’d been dealing with a particularly bad one lately, who’d found out where he lived and had been leaving notes stuffed into the security gate. Perhaps that was who had gotten past the fence last night and decided to send his home up in a giant ball of flame that had, reportedly, been seen by people miles away.

“Do you ever wonder if we’re damned?” he asked.

He’d had this thought many times over the years but had never shared it with his twin.

“Don’t say that.”

 He didn’t push, knowing Rowan had done a better job moving beyond all the dark episodes of the past. Reece, though, had found letting that go extremely difficult to do.

“You know you can stay with me for a while. At least until you find another place,” Rowan offered.

Reece nodded. “Dad has a spare room, too.” 

Reece, his twin Rowan, and their baby brother, Raine, had bought their hardworking father, who’d supported them all his life, a big place on the beach a few months ago. His dad would hate to hear about the fire but would probably love some company.

Reece watched silently as firefighters walked the site. They carefully looked for any sputtering embers trying to reignite. With the drought, they also had to be sure no sparks landed on a nearby roof, spreading the conflagration to the entire neighborhood.

“Why don’t we get outta here?” Rowan asked. “You’ve given your statement. You don’t have to stay. Want some breakfast? We can pick up Cecil B. and take him out for pancakes.”

 Seeing his dog sounded like a great idea to Reece. “Sure.” He was hungry, as, he suspected, were the sweaty, exhausted firefighters. He’d already put in an order for cold drinks and food for the guys who’d tried so hard to rescue his six-thousand-square-foot house.

Just a house. Just a building. Right.

Frankly, the worst part wasn’t the fire, but the realization that someone had set it. He was in somebody’s crosshairs. The knowledge unsettled him.

“Surfing after?” They hadn’t surfed together in months, both of them having busy schedules, and Reece.

Book Spotlight: Soul Alchemy ~ A Vision Quest By Elizabeth Foley

Soul Alchemy ~ A Vision Quest

By Elizabeth Foley

Genre: Art & Poetry

Purchase Soul Alchemy: https://radiantearthstudios.com/soul-alchemy-art-and-poetry

Artist's Statement about Soul Alchemy
 

For me making art is a spiritual practice.  It makes me feel alive, centered, and connected to something greater than myself.

Much of my work explores feminine archetypes from warrior and muse to medicine woman and inner child.  Each painting is an expression of my own journey to reconnect with these parts of myself.

At the core of each painting is something I seek to discover, an intention I am exploring.  What does my inner artist need in order to feel free to express my unique voice?  What does the idea of the Muse mean to me. How do I access her inspiration?  What would my life look like if I thought of myself as legendary?

As I progress through a painting I enter a dialogue with the emerging image.  What message does it have for me each step along the way?  What does the way that this layer or that drip of paint interacts with each other have to tell me about my inquiry?

Each brush stroke is made with intention.  Dots become prayers. A line reflects a trauma or long held desire.  Deeply personal symbols are created that reflect a broader universal language.

I believe that at the core of the problems that plague today's world - human suffering and environmental degradation - is greed, apathy, and a lack of compassion.  To solve these problems what we need isn't just a legislative or a scientific response but a spiritual and cultural transformation.

We need to wake up to our interconnectedness with each other and with nature.  To create real change we must awaken compassion, empathy, and understanding.  I envision my art as one voice in a chorus of voices that will catalyze this shift in the consciousness in humankind.

This poem accompanies the piece titled Elishaba ~ Visionary Warrior

You Are Legendary.

Dive deeper within yourself.
There are gifts awaiting you there.
Dive Deeper.

Inside you lives one who is patient and powerful.
One who is focused, fearless and fierce.

Dive Deeper.

Inside you lives one who owns her truth.
One who is boldly authentic.

Dive Deeper.
There are powers untapped within you.

Inside you lives a cosmic warrior
a visionary queen,
a healer,
a sage.

Dive Deeper.

Inside you lives one who is consecrated to the divine.
One who embraces determination.

Trust.
Trust a little more.
Trust even more still.

Trust your intuition.
Trust that you are on the right path.
Trust in your vision.
Trust that if you take the leap
You will come floating gently down into the valley of your dreams.

You are meant to show others the way.
You are meant to lead others to greatness.
You are meant to shine light in the darkness.

You are one with the universe.
You are a supreme being of infinite wisdom.

Facebook Group - Radiant You - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1506259369529561/

Bio: 

Artist, Elizabeth Foley helps women feel more joy and fulfillment by experiencing creative expression.  She offers online and in person workshops, retreats and one on one coaching.  Elizabeth has been passionate about creativity since childhood and believes that we are all creative beings whether we claim the identity of artist or not.

Elizabeth is a painter, potter, poet and creativity coach.  Currently her medium of choice is acrylic paints.  Elizabeth studied fine art and ceramics at The University of Oregon and apprenticed to accomplished Oregon potter Gil Harrison. She has studied with award winning artists Shiloh Sophia McCloud and Amber Kuileimailani Bonnici.  Elizabeth is a certified Intentional Creativity Instructor and a Cosmic Smash Book Teacher in training.

Elizabeth loves getting her hands dirty with paint, clay and in the garden.  When she isn't busy in her studio you'll find her climbing a mountain or relaxing by a waterfall in her hammock.  Elizabeth is grateful to make her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC.