Erika M Szabo Guest Post…

HELLO! 🙂

Please join us in welcoming the fabulous Erika M Szabo to our blog today! Over to you, Erika!

Erika M Szabo author, a little bit about me. I’ve been writing Alternative Medicine related books in English and Hungarian. I love healing as passionately as I love to write and read. Growing up with a father who was a closet reader (having a macho image allowed him to read only in secret which he shared with me after I caught him reading my book ‘The lady of the camellias’ and he left a few teardrops on the pages) he introduced me to many great books. I was playing with the idea of writing a fantasy story peppered with historical facts for awhile. The history of the Huns always fascinated me – they were my ancestors – although I decided that it was a stupid idea after I started reading about how to write a fiction book – I am not a literary genius, I have no idea how to create a good story line or form characters and make up a plot – I thought, but the idea didn’t leave me alone. I kept adding events and dialogs in my head to Ilona’s story. Not knowing how to do something properly had never prevented me from a accepting a good challenge before, so I sat down by the computer and began writing. I’ve never been good at following rules or formulas, therefore I discarded the instructions and I made up my own rules. I began writing Ilona’s story as a diary. ‘Just for my own enjoyment, writing down the ideas that are swirling in my head is far better than being hunted by them.’ I thought. I kept writing for months, and soon I realized that I never had so much fun doing anything in my life before. Somehow the characters came to life on their own, and they developed under my furiously typing fingers. Pretty soon I realized that I wrote about four hundred pages already. I gave the manuscript to my friends to read, and they urged me to publish it. I was elated when I received the publisher’s review about my story that said “I want to give you my overall impression of your work: You have a terrific writing style. You have obviously done a significant amount planning and preparation in crafting your work. Your prose is nicely written with details that capture the reader. Right from the start your plot was very engaging. You do a nice job of slowly making your way through the story with details and a certain voice that allows your reader to really interact with the characters (who are all round and very nicely developed). The greatest value in fiction, it seems to me, lies in what we can learn about our own lives when we take time to analyze someone else’s — even if that someone else is just a character in a story. Characterization is one of the most important elements of any successful story. I always love it when I leave a story feeling like I know the characters. This is true for your prose. So many authors rush through their stories without really developing them. Not you. Your book read like a movie in my mind. You have crafted a quality piece of writing.”

ERIKA’S LINKS:

WEBSITE: http://www.authorerikamszabo.com/ Facebook author page:https://www.facebook.com/Erika.M.Szabo.ND.Author My book page: https://www.facebook.com/IlonaTheHunNovelsFan page my two #1 fans made me:https://www.facebook.com/FansOfIlonaTheHunNovelsByErikaSzabo Book promotion group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/76288966856/TWITTER: https://twitter.com/#!/erikamszabo LINKEDIN:http://lnkd.in/N64qzw GOOGLE:https://plus.google.com/u/0/112402888400847638099/posts/p/pub PINTEREST http://pinterest.com/erikamszabo/HUNGARIAN WEBSITE: http://www.doktorszaboerika.com

BIRTHRIGHT BESTOWED: Book One of Ilona the Hun Trilogy:

Excerpt from BIRTHRIGHT BESTOWED: Book One of Ilona the Hun Trilogy:

I fingered the small flute; it had been in my mother’s family for ages. It was a dark red wood, smooth as glass, polished by the use of my ancestors for thousands of years – at least that’s what my mother had told me. Thousands of years? I never really thought about it before. Could it be possible? Was it just another legend I’d heard, but stored away as just a legend, never thinking of verifying it? I kept thinking, making a mental note to research a little into our history. The flute my mother inherited from my great-grandmother was now mine. Of course, I’d never met her, but the painting of her in the sitting room depicted a beautiful and strong-willed woman. Mom said that my daughter (should I ever have a daughter) would receive my grandmother’s flute – she kept in the safe – when she comes of age. Mom also said the flutes had been handed down from generation to generation since the beginning of time. Beginning of time? When was the beginning of time exactly? I questioned as a kid. I always thought that it was just some other Hun mystery I didn’t know anything about. Mom tried to explain, but my mind could only go back as far as my great- great-great-grandmother’s time. I can’t even imagine how many of my ancestors touched this small flute before me, I thought, feeling warmth spreading across my chest. They played the ancient tunes by placing the tip of their tongue on the narrow end and blowing gently into the hole to awake the magical sounds. Everyone was looking at me expectantly. I knew I had to play the little tune as I had on my prior birthdays. My mother said playing the flute let the Elders know – whoever they were – that another year had passed in my life. I never knew why it was so important, yet I complied with her wish. Mom said the Elders gave me my unique tune the day I was born. I’ve heard each of my parents play their own melodies on their birthdays. Playing my tune evoked magical feelings and I felt a deep connection to something unknown and mystical.

BUY LINKS:

BOOK ONE OF ILONA THE HUN NOVELS: AMAZON:http://tinyurl.com/mw66yzb BARNES & NOBLE:http://tinyurl.com/lllr3fk ITUNES: http://tinyurl.com/lnkhj7lPRINT: http://tinyurl.com/l5l8xva

BOOK TWO OF ILONA THE HUN NOVELS: AMAZON:http://tinyurl.com/lccfpoj BARNES & NOBLE:http://tinyurl.com/mbszacr PRINT:http://tinyurl.com/kxgtumb

Book three DESTINY ALTERED is coming in December