Find a place with a clear view of the western horizon and see the waxing crescent Moon and three planets.
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Did you see the moon near Venus or Mercury these past few nights? Tonight … if your sky is clear, you’ll surely see the moon near Jupiter!
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Time to see the starlit Milky Way
This is the perfect time to do some stargazing!
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New moon is August 2, 2016. The next few evenings are a wonderful time to go out in the country for an edgewise view into our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
August 2016 guide to the 5 bright planets
Here’s your stargazing/planet watching guide for August!
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It’s fun (but not easy) to see all 5 bright planets together in early August. Then watch for meetings of Jupiter, Mercury and Venus after sunset.
If it’s not a UFO, what is it?
This is a great article about some of the things most often identified as a UFO. While I’m pretty-much a UFO believer, it’s also obvious that many things mistaken for them are not. We saw an Iridium flare last night at a star party as well as three meteor shower fireballs. Clearly they were NOT a UFO!
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Most Unidentified Flying Objects aren’t unidentified at all. Here’s a list of natural and human-made objects in the sky that people frequently mistake for UFOs.
Source: If it’s not a UFO, what is it?
See all 5 bright planets after sunset
This doesn’t happen very often so be sure not to miss it while it lasts!
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Three of the 5 planets are easy to see. Two aren’t so easy. Charts and info here that can help you see all 5 planets together in late July and early August, 2016.
News about “LUDWIKA” – now available as #audiobook and #14 in Readfreely’s poll of Top 50 Indiebooks
If you’re looking for an intense historical read, check out “Ludwika”!
My historical novel LUDWIKA is now also available as Audiobook
I’m giving away UK audible codes for anyone interested in reviewing the book.
Thanks to Tessa Peterson who did a marvellous job at telling the story.
Thanks also to all of you who voted for Ludwika in ReadFreely’s Poll of Indie Books Worth Reading. “Ludwika” made it to #14 
After receiving the Reader’s Favorite 5 Star Seal for it I am truly over the moon.
https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/ludwika
“Ludwika
A Polish Woman’s Struggle To Survive In Nazi Germany” by Christoph Fischer
A Polish Woman’s Struggle To Survive In Nazi Germany” by Christoph Fischer
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite
Ludwika: A Polish Woman’s Struggle To Survive In Nazi Germany is an historical novel written by Christoph Fischer. The author based this novel on the actual life and experiences of Ludwika Gierz. In the later part of 1939, Ludwika was 22 years old and the unwed mother of a five-year-old daughter, who…
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Perseid outburst expected in 2016
The Perseid meteor shower next month is supposed to be a good one! More information below.
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Outburst – perhaps 200 meteors an hour – predicted for 2016 Perseid meteor shower. Peak night August 11-12, but watch on the nights leading up to the peak, too.
Total eclipse of sun: August 21, 2017
This will be extremely cool! This could be your chance in a lifetime to see a total solar eclipse without having to travel to some farawy place.
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First total solar eclipse visible from the U.S. since 1991 (seen only from part of Hawaii), and first visible from contiguous U.S. since 1979. Start planning now!
RRBC Spotlight Author Blog Tour: Yvette M. Calleiro
It’s an honor to host the first day of this week’s RRBC Author Spotlight Blog Tour featuring Yvette Calleiro. She writes young adult fantasy and paranormal books that sound absolutely intriguing! I love the cover you can see above. Yvette is a born writer who has found inspiration for her stories in her dreams. Now those dreams are manifesting again in her latest book, “The One Discovered.” I can really relate to Yvette in that her story has expanded to several books as her characters took over. I love it when that happens! Read on to learn more about this amazing, up and coming author!
It Began with a Dream…
by
Yvette M. Calleiro
What better way to share with you this journey that I’m on than to begin at the beginning. I am an avid reader and have been since as far back as I can remember. As a child, I used to love writing, but I stopped writing as I grew older and life became more cumbersome. About six years ago, I rediscovered my love for writing, and my life has been a whirlwind of enjoyment ever since!
I woke up one morning from a dream that was so intense and so vivid that I was emotionally distraught. I can’t really share the dream with you without giving away a major event in my first book, but I will tell you that it involved a girl whose life was forever altered by a tragic event, and she was being forced to make a choice in that very emotional moment. I woke up before she made the choice (which was extremely irritating). I felt her angst, her pain, and her utter turmoil. I lay in bed processing it all and then ran to my office to write it all down (I now keep a journal by my bed for such moments). I just wrote the dream. Nothing more. It was just that powerful that it had to be given life.
At the time, I was co-teaching with a dear friend, Armando. I was also heavily absorbed in PC and Kristen Cast’s world in their House of Night series as well as Cassandra Claire’s Mortal Instrument series. Armando loved to share with me tidbits of Wicca and history as I spoke to him about the novels that I read. I fell in love with many aspects of Wicca, and somehow my dream kept coming to the forefront of my thoughts. I finally accepted that this dream was an untold story that needed to be shared, and I would pull my favorite ideas from books new and old to create their story. After all, all stories are ideas that were born from somewhere!
What came first was what they looked like. I could still picture them from the dream. I’m old-school and had to write it all out in a journal first. Their physical characteristics, their personalities, their power(s)…all of that came easily. Their names, on the other hand, took a while. I even had the background story lined up before their names were known to me! It was that background story which allowed the characters to whisper to me what their names would be: Sofia, Rafe, Angel, and Ar’ch (pronounced ar-rick). I shouldn’t have favorites, but I can’t help it. Ar’ch was definitely my favorite at the beginning! It’s not a common name (actually, it’s never been used as a name). But it’s perfect and it’s his, and it fits the story line beautifully!
Once I finally allowed myself to listen to my characters’ voices, the whole story wrote itself (well, the basics were at least born). Still, there was a lot of research that I had to do. Anyone who knows me knows that my absolutely worst subject is History, but I wanted to loosely base the back story on a few historical events. Granted, I’ve had to “slightly alter” those events to incorporate my Diasodz, but it was important to me that it would make sense if it were real. I also researched Wicca and nature’s elements and their properties. I’m sure that there will be naysayers who can point out that one thing or another isn’t authentic, but – hey – it’s MY world! I want it to be as realistic as possible, but I can’t help it if the Diasodz have their own ideas on what is real and what isn’t.
The journey of writing The One Discovered was so fulfilling, and I knew I had to share this world with readers. I tried going the traditional route. Apparently, they weren’t too interested in my query letter. My family and the few friends I shared it with kept encouraging me to publish it. One friend in particular, Rob, became my first true fan! He’s more into sci-fi and super heroes than paranormal, but he became hooked with my characters and their story. His eagerness to know more and his passion about my story kept me going at many times throughout this journey. He has a way of saying something or asking me a question which then causes a whole new character or story line to be created. In fact, because of Rob, one of the characters from book one was saved. I had plans on killing her off, but he told me that he thought she was awesome. The very next night, that character told me off (hehe) and a whole story line for her was created! So, if you also fall in love with Mel, you can thank Rob for saving her! 😉 I thank him all of the time because she’s become my new favorite. 🙂
I finally decided to self-publish. It’s been two years since The One Discovered was released, and I still feel like I am in unknown territory. Self-publishing, blogging, creating a web site, having a Facebook author page, and connecting through Twitter…. It’s overwhelming, nerve-wrecking, and exciting all at the same time! Originally, I thought there would only be four books in this series, but as I am currently writing book four, I know there will at least be one more after this one (possibly two). I hope you’ll stick around to fall in love with my Diasodz and the journey they must endure to save us mere humans from a life not worth living…
Yvette is the author of the young adult fantasy/paranormal books, The One Discovered, The One Enlightened, and The One Betrayed.
Follow Yvette on Social Media:
Twitter: @YvetteMCalleiro
Facebook: http://facebook.com/yvettemcalleiro
Website: http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Ho’oponopono Could Change the World
I first heard of ho’oponopono from motivational speaker, Joe Vitale, and found it fascinating. This little book by Paul Jackson takes it to the next level with the specific background needed to substantiate the method and use it more effectively than possible with Vitale’s testimonial alone.
I find it fascinating that ho’oponopono is not entirely unique. There are numerous methods of deleting old baggage and hangups, but they have interesting similarities. What each technique seems to consistently emphasize is love, being sorry for past mistakes, asking forgiveness, and giving thanks. These emotions represent positive vibes that energize your soul and allow you to get rid of the negativity that can hold you back from joy, success and living your life to the fullest.
I find that a combination of the various methods is especially effective. While they all suggest that this attitude change is permanent, I have found this not to be true. It’s too easy to slip back into negative programming and thus a refresher now and then is necessary, at least for me. Using the same one over and over can get boring and thus ineffective, so it’s always interesting to find a new one that supports previous methods. Other books I’ve read that are similar include Karol Kuhn Truman’s “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die”; “The Emotion Code” by Dr. Bradley Nelson; and “Frequency” by Penney Peirce. I highly recommend them all if you’re looking for a self-help attitude adjustment in a positive direction.
One thing this book points out with more emphasis than the others is the principle that we’re all connected at the spiritual level, i.e. the collective consciousness. When we change ourselves, it ripples out to others. It reminds you that when you point the finger at someone, that there are four fingers pointing back at yourself. It’s about taking responsibility for the effect you may have had on others, even those you do not know personally, and rectifying it. It’s beautiful in that respect. Love is the one thing that can change the world and you can make a bigger difference than you realize.
This little book was an excellent refresher, but could also serve as a great introduction to a simple yet effective method of shifting your personal vibration to a more positive level. We attract what we project, so if your life isn’t going in the direction you’d prefer, then it’s likely you could benefit from some cleanup. It does have a variety of typos and a few word usage issues (i.e. commiserate instead of commensurate) but over all, the book is highly recommended. In these times when it seems our home planet has gone crazy with us surrounded by hate, dishonesty, corruption, violence and general negativity, this could be the boost you need to maintain a positive outlook and feel as if you can make a difference. This book will convince you that indeed you can.
Pick up your copy of “Ho’oponopono Secrets” by Paul Jackson on Amazon.
Marcha's Two-Cents Worth 