**Coming Soon**

I have started reading "Dragon Apocalypse The Complete Collection" by James Maxey

 

I must admit the cover art looks pretty awesome! Follow how far I am getting in the book on my goodreads account. Click the link below.

goodreads-ashley-blodgett

The Official Review Of Black City Demon

 Black City Demon

Release date: March 14th 2017

  Once again the New York Times Best Selling Author, Mr. Richard A Knaak, does not disappoint. His book, Black City Demon, the sequel to Black City Saint, has enthralled this reader. It’s excitable twists, inner conflict, and action packed adventure is the perfect continuation to Black City Saint. It embodies everything I would expect book two to be.

  Mr. Medea dives head first into murder, madness, and magic. The faithful shape-shifter, fetch, and his ever returning love, Claryce, are there once again to aid him in his efforts to keep the gate separating the two worlds- intact. Unlikely alliances and untrustworthy adversaries surround Nick again as he realizes that the evils of Feirie aren’t the only things Chicago needs protected from anymore.
I personally love sequels and series of books because they really divulge so much more information about the characters and their own personal stories within. You get attached as you realize that even the secondary characters in a story can be just as detailed and profound  as the main characters. I found that very thing in this book.

   I personally hope to see a third book coming out in the future. I have grown attached to this man who was once known as Saint George and everyone else who has been pulled into his world. Whether they wanted to be or not.

To get your copy go to:
amazon.com/Black-City-Demon
To read the first book, Black City Saint head here:
amazon.com/Black-City-Saint
To find out more about Richard A Knaak, go to his website at:
richardaknaak.com/
or follow him on Facebook at:
facebook.com/Richard-A-Knaak

Don't Drink The Water- A Mother Of Summit Elementary School Children

I will never forget the day my child came home with a paper from The Department Of Environmental Protection Bureau. In big bold letters i read "IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT LEAD IN YOUR DRINKING WATER." As a mother, my heart dropped. I continued reading the paper as i quickly hushed my children so i could considerate on what was suddenly put before me. I read the health effects of lead, sources of lead, and the steps you can take to reduce exposure.  Further down the paper i saw that tests were done August 15th, 2016, and August 29th, 2016.

Its the middle of January. My three children have spent roughly six hours a day, five days a week, for almost five months at that school being exposed to lead. I sat down in shock. I called my children's pediatricians' office and said my kids go to Summit, and I was requesting lead tests to be done. I took my 10 year old, 8 year old, and 6 year old to get blood drawn, and waited. Waited. And Waited.

 While i waited, I read what is considered safe levels of lead, and what wasn't. I read about a study that was conducted on young children who had lead levels between 5 and 10, and how learning disabilities, behavior problems, and increased chances of dropping out in high school were shown because the lead effects the Central Nervous System in the brain.

I cursed those who knew about the lead levels as i realized that lead poisoning wasn't the only thing i should of been worrying about.  You wouldn't believe my relief when i got the call with their results and found out my children all had below level one test results. Some lead yes, but nothing that could be deemed harmful in any way.

 I found out the superintendent knew about the lead levels from the news. He put me through that. The worry, the stress, the fear. It was his fault. He said he didn't understand the results of the water tests that shown unsafe levels of lead in the drinking water. I signed the petition for his resignation.

My kids went back to school after being reassured they would have no access to the unsafe water, and that they were working hard to fix the situation for our children. They were setting up lead tests for the kids in the school  nearly a WEEK AFTER I first got my letter, but hey, better late then never, right?  Unfortunately for those parents, that was cancelled the night before. Without notice or explanation, i received a call at 10 p.m on a Monday that school was cancelled for the rest of the week. It wasn't until I checked the news that i found out why. There was E-coli found in the underground levels of the water, but the filtration system kept it from even entering the school at all.

The news also informed me that they were fixing a previously closed down elementary school in town to transfer the children to, by the following Monday. Imagine that shock when the kids go to school and its a place they have never been, where they do not know where their classes are, let alone anything else.  A school that is in a location most perceive as a bad neighborhood. Where most say drug using is right across the street, and overdoses aren't uncommon behind a pizza place in the back of the school.

So lets take a minute to let this really sink in. The superintendent sees there's lead in the water, and ignores it. Only when cornered does he try to rectify the situation by working out a way to keep the kids in school learning, and being able to have safe drinking water again. He then sees E-coli that was filtered OUT of the water that wasn't even reaching our children in the first place, and decides to close school down completely and transfer them to a previously vacant school that he closed down almost two years prior.

Would you trust this man with the safety of your children? Does the above evidence show that what he does is what is in the best interest of the children? Does it sound reliable? Honest? Would you trust his choices? His judgement? Would you?

Should I?

Official Review Of Black City Saint

Black City Saint- written by Richard A Knaak              

Coming March 2016

    The difference between fiction and non-fiction is that fiction must be absolutely believable- Mark Twain

     This quote came to mind after reading Richard A Knaak's new book, Black City Saint. His ability to give us an alternate experience of the "Roaring Twenties" made his fiction novel seem believable. Al Capone and the Great Chicago Fire is well known to all, and he was able to give us a different view of it all.

     Black City Saint is set in Chicago in the 1920s following the Chicago fire. The main character, Nick Medea, guards the gate between our world and a more sinister world. Part of being the guardian is to protect the people of Chicago from the shadows who have somehow crossed over. Through it all, Nick must also save the reincarnation of the woman he loves, deal with treacherous people, and contain the one thing that could potentially destroy it all.....again.

     For me, this book housed some of my favorite aspects of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Magic, heroes, love, and mystical creatures, are just a few examples. I enjoyed this so much that I found myself unable to put it down. I was immediately drown into it within the first curious page. The descriptive writing painted a clear picture, and I was enthralled by the main character through the whole book. I expected nothing less from a book written by such an iconic figure in the fantasy community.

                                                   EYE thoroughly enjoyed Black City Saint.

                                  (You will understand that after you read Black City Saint yourself.)

To follow Black City Saint until it is released go to :

www.richardaknaak.com

or

www.facebook.com/pages/Richard-A-Knaak/246792848679824

How I manage to work from home.

I want to earn some money while I am stay at home mom. I can't get a job,daycare is too expensive,  but I need to have one. I have joined an in home company before, but it just didn't work for me. 

Does that all sound familiar? That's exactly what I was going through too. As a blogger I am always looking for something to write, something to read, and something that might make me a few bucks. Being a stay at home mom, I barely have time for anything. I wasn't sure I could even add anything else to my plate. 

This is all I do:

Get three kids ready for school

- this entails toothpaste on their brushes, checking their teeth afterwards, telling my 2 girls to change their outfits at least twice, trying to explain to my son why night pants are NOT school clothes, do the girls hair, and watch from the door as they wait outside for the bus. (In case you are wondering, they eat at school) 

Take care if my toddler

- Toddler, need I say more? Well for me, this means fighting him to eat his breakfast because he stole 4 packs of crackers when I was watching the other children at the bus stop, hollering for him to stay out of the fridge, trying in vain to hide the coffee creamer,  giving him a snack, changing the cartoons 5 different times, asking him where he hid my phone, negotiating lunch menus, and asking him to take the toys out of the living room. 

Clean the house

-During all of the above I have to do the dishes for a house of 6 people (4 kids 2 adults), clean the bathroom 3 times because my toddler insists on being a big boy when it comes to using the potty, wipe off the table from breakfast, pick up the toys, run the sweeper to pick up the cracker crumbs, get the finger prints off the T.V before my husband sees, scrap last nights dinner off the stove, and let's not forget the pile of laundry in front of the washer and in each room. 

Influenster

I get vox boxes via Influenster. They send me products to test out, and then I do a short survey about them. Sometimes they ask for you to post pictures online, but for the most part it's quick and easy. This is a great way for me to get some free products for my family. If you are interested in Influenster, feel free to follow the link. I only have 17 spots open as of right now so if the link does not work, chances are it's because it's full. 

www.influenster.com/r/415970 
Swag bucksI watch videos, I do surveys, and I enter giveaways on this site. It gives me access to a points system. 500 points gives you a $5.00 gift card to many things such as Amazon.com. It's not something I do often, but it definitely helps with my families spending. To join swags bucks simple message me your email and I will send the invite that way. 

Writing

I write for myself, and I also try to write a few articles online to make some money. Sometimes it can take me an hour to research the topic at hand and finish the piece. Other times they want 1,000 words on  dog food and it gets a bit harder. When that happens, I'm looking at like 4 hours when you take in consideration all the stops when my children need something. 

The money I make from writing so far has excitingly covered some of my bills. Okay, one bill. Okay fine, Netflix. It covers Netflix. Yes, I write my butt off for less then a penny a word, and since I need some exposure I also try to write as a guest blogger on other sites. It takes up a lot of my time yes, it may not be worth the money either, but I enjoy it. To me, it's worth it. 

text broker.com is where I get my articles. 

Direct Sales

Ah yes, in home companies. Almost every stay at home mom has at least in one point in her life, joined an in home party company. For me, this is my second. Second and last. I researched, and I found the best in home company for me. One with products that I love, and something that is not too popular in my area so I wasn't competing with other consultants for sales. After all, if you know at least 10 consultants from the same DS company, it's probably safe for you NOT to join. If everyone you know has heard of, and bought from that company for the past few years, and STILL has the stuff they bought, probably a good idea NOT to join. 

Maybe I am crazy, but I hate being bored. I hate doing nothing, but I want to stay at home. I also wanted to find something that I enjoy doing that is going to make money. Since my love of writing wasn't earning me significant money, I chose a direct sales company. I found TONS of free books for the kindle on social media marketing, and after about a week of research, I chose the company that I wanted to work for. I chose Jewelry In Candles. 

Jewelry In Candles is only 2 years old. They are growing fast because they have an amazing product that has residual income for the REPS. These candles burn for an amazing 100+ hours. After that, your customers will return to you for more. Returning customers are a very important and with JIC they return not only because the jewelry could be valued at $10-$10,000, they are made of soy, or even because you can easily reuse the jar. They return because the candles smelled AMAZING! 

Another reason why I chose them was because I can sell these to anyone. I am not hindered by age requirements, latest fashionistas, or make up lovers. I can sell these to anyone because almost everyone loves candles and tarts, AND they have JEWELRY inside which sets them above a normal everyday, over priced candle or tart. 

If you are reading this, you were in the same boat I was, and looking for something that might finally help you to row faster. If so, think about getting in touch with me. I'll talk to you and see if JIC is right for you too. 

www.jewelryincandles.com/store/ashley_blodgett 

Facebook 

www.facebook.com/jicashleyblodgett 

Official Review Of Guardian Of The Gauntlet.

Official review of Guardian OF The Gauntlet by Lenita Sheridan

The Guardian Of The Gauntlet is a story about two sisters who are thrown into a crazy situation which all started with a prince named Denir. These two princesses undergo some strange occurances, due to a mysterious gauntlet, and throughout their adventure they get to encounter even more mysterious creatures. 

In my opinion, this story shouldn't be set as a young adult novel, but instead as a children's chapter book geared toward ages 6-13. Both of my daughters enjoyed me reading it to them since the writing came off as someone telling a story vs. experiencing it. The length of the book also compliments that age group over young adults.

This is a great way to teach children to believe in themselves, and that they can do what they set their minds to. I think the basic outline was nice, and if a few things were fixed it could become a very popular book for young children. 

For me, the story could benefit greatly from a editor. There were a lot of technical mistakes, and contradicting sentences. In a story of that size, only pertinent information should be explained. There was a lot more stagnation then progress in the story. Then when there was progress, it seemed be over very quickly.

Also, I really didn't not like the promotion for another book half way through the first chapter. "If you wish to read more of ........, and now it's time to get back to the princesses and their castle." It completely broke the story in my opinion.  Again, an editor would be able to fix such things for the story to come out in the best way possible. 

I had a hard time familiarizing myself with the characters and what drove them throughout the story. They seemed almost flat, which can lead to people feeling like they are horribly shallow.  I often felt myself thinking "why" in regards to motivations. The only character development from any of them came at the very end of the book with Camari , and even then it was random. Nothing let up to her change except that she said she had for some reason. 

I believe the story has promise. It could become a beautiful story. It is in there, I read it, it just needs to be polished. In my opinion, a writer creates a story, and an editor projects it. Without both coming together this story might not reach the heights it could. 

The Official Review Of The Janus Mask

Official Review Of The Janus Mask by Richard A Knaak

Baron Mandrol is the ruler of Medecia who shows his many triumphs over his foes in the form of his death masks. His greatest rival, Vikor Falsche, is one such mask. In an attempt to showcase his triumph, Vikor was granted one last chance to finish what he started. Unfortunately for Vikor, his mask was not designed to last forever. 

For me, I was quite worried at first. The beginning  with the alchemist and the farmer, coupled with the description of the book made me assume he was going to cut someone's face off. I have read several of Mr. Knacks books and his descriptive sentences made me believe that this part would be as descriptive as it could be. My stomach was much obliged that my assumption was wrong! 

I personally enjoyed the book. It enthralled me throughout the story, and there was never a boring moment for me. I was pleasantly surprised at his ability to explain the death masks without me imagining a bloody piece of skin. It is actually nothing like that at all! My preconceptions of the book were completely wrong. The death masks were almost a tribute of sorts. Like an interpretation of that person more then their actual face. It was somewhat poetic to me.  

I would recommend this book to the fans out there that enjoy sci-if and fantasy. The action, adventure, unexpected moments, and twinge of forbidden love will make any avid reader enjoy this book. I was very happy to have this chance to review The Janus Mask. 

As always, Mr. Knaak did not disappoint with this book. 

To find this book and any others he has written go to : 

Www.richardaknaak.com

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5369.Richard_A_Knaak

A special thanks to Mr. Knaak for the opportunity to officially review one of his amazing books. 

To my blog followers: stay tuned in the upcoming months for one last taste of what he has to offer his fans!!