Mayhem in March: Guest Post by Khalid Muhammad

The story behind Agency Rules: Never an Easy Day at the Office

“When you are so hungry for peace that you are blind to atrocities, you are no longer sovereign or free.”

What’s it like to live in a country where you live in fear every time you leave the house? To live in an urban city under siege from criminals and gangs that operate under the unbridled support of political parties and terrorists alike, with police taking their share to the look the other way? Where bomb blasts and terrorist attacks become part of the nature of the country and people become desensitized to the blood and carnage with each passing day? What’s it like to have 90 million people suffering from Stockholm Syndrome believing that negotiating and agreeing to terrorist demands, the country may become safer, while the other 90 million are screaming for military action?

This is today’s Pakistan and the place that I call home. What I have just described to you is not all of what Pakistan is today. It is a nation that is fighting for its existence in the community of nations, but it is also a nation full of hard-working, educated, honest people that want to see peace returned to their country. And there lies the rub…

Over the years, Pakistan has been infiltrated by traitors to the nation, more interested in bolstering their offshore bank accounts and assets, than they are in building a better country. The repercussions are felt like shockwaves throughout the country every day - an economy in tatters, education non-existent for those without wealth and employment opportunities unavailable for those without approach. It’s the same Pakistan that the religious extremists use to recruit more followers into their holy wars.

Agency Rules – Never an Easy Day at the Office, rather than picking up from today, stumbles

backwards to the 1990s, right after the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan and the beginnings of the extremist/terrorist camps within the tribal areas. Fresh from a successful war with a superpower, the Mujahideen fighters that had traveled from Pakistan returned home. A segment of these fighters with more militant leanings looked to change the country that had neglected them and their religious beliefs in favor of a liberal agenda that allowed women to attend schools, men to dress in Western clothing and Islam to be sequestered to Friday prayers and religious holidays.

The book will take you through the 90s and the networks that were created within the country’s madrassahs (religious schools) that today funnel fighters into the al-Qaeda and the fight against the NATO forces in Afghanistan. It will give you a picture of Pakistan through one man’s eyes as he fights for his own identity and place in society. He is the embodiment of the Pakistani that the world doesn’t see in the headlines or the evening news. As the honorable soldier, the precision sniper, the intelligence operative and the conflicted man, Kamal Khan takes you through one of the greatest adventures before the War on Terror started to a Pakistan that is at war with itself.

Shrouded in political expediency, hampered by internal power struggles, international espionage and doublespeak that makes Washington’s spin doctors proud, Kamal’s mission is a nightmare of rampant militant fundamentalism that threatens to choke and take Pakistan hostage. For him, the fight is not just for freedom, but the survival of a nation.

Mayhem in March: Agency Rules by Khalid Muhammad

Find it on  Amazon  Smashwords  Kobo  Barnes and Noble 

Synopsis
Celebrated as a ragtag force that defeated and broke the Soviet Union, no one predicted the

Mujahideen would bring with them a plague that would spread like wildfire through Pakistan in the years to follow. When the battle-worn fighters returned with no enemy or war to fight, they turned their sights on the country that had been their creator and benefactor.
From the same battlegrounds that birthed the Mujahideen, a young Kamal Khan emerges as a different breed of warrior. Discarding his wealthy family comforts, Kamal becomes a precision sniper, an invincible commando and a clandestine operative bringing intimidation, dominance and death with him to the battlefield. Ending the plague is his prime directive.
Shrouded in political expediency, hampered by internal power struggles, international espionage and doublespeak that makes Washington’s spin doctors proud, Kamal’s mission is a nightmare of rampant militant fundamentalism that threatens to choke and take Pakistan hostage. For him, the fight is not just for freedom, but the survival of a nation.

Excerpt
Nine months ago, the Muslim League government had won a surprising mandate across Pakistan on a manifesto that was full of promises that would be difficult, if not impossible, to deliver. One of their core promises was returning Karachi, Pakistan’s largest metropolis and economic hub, back to a peaceful existence.
Since his party’s election victory, Prime Minister Azam Shah had struggled with difficult questions on the actual implementation of his manifesto that had gotten them elected, but had never seemed to provide any clear or direct answers. One thing he had clearly demonstrated was his intense love for the cameras and media spotlight during his political events. As the opposition leader in the previous government, he had taken great pleasure in highlighting the failings and bad decisions of the sitting government. Today, however, was a different story as his government was now in power and he was regularly in the hot seat. During a tour of a children’s hospital in his native Multan, the Prime Minister was again posturing for the media. As the visit drew to a close, the newly minted Prime Minister sauntered to the podium as if he had won an award, unserious and jovial, until a staunch critic of the government posed a difficult question.
“Prime Minister, you have occupied the most powerful seat in the country for almost nine months now. Do you not see it as a failure that your government has not drafted any policy to address the violence in Karachi?”
It was not the first time it has been asked, but it was the first time the word ‘failure’ had been introduced into the public debate. As he looked around the gaggle of journalists, each thrusting forward to capture his next words on their recorders, he knew this would be the lead headline for the rest of the day, opening the door for opposition and coalition parties to criticize his inaction.
He measured his response, almost rehearsing the words in his mind before speaking. “I think it’s too early to use words like failure. When we were not the ruling party, our information was limited to what the previous government wanted us to know. Now, we have more intelligence about the situation, and I am briefed daily.”
Journalists started firing follow-up questions at him before he could complete his response. He held up his hands to try to bring the situation back under control.
“Just a minute, may I finish my response before you start your follow-ups?” he asked, trying to assert his position, but even he knew he had less than thirty seconds to finish and get away before he was cornered by the wolves stalking their prey.
“The government has had several meetings with all the stakeholders, both collectively and individually, over the past few months to ascertain the best course of action,” he continued hesitantly, knowing he had been repeating this for months now. He knew he wouldn’t win any favors by repeating himself. Just then, he felt a hand on his side and saw a note placed before him on the podium. Quickly scanning the note, he flashed a semi-smile. “Next week, we will bring everyone together to decide the final course of action.”

About the Author

When people talk about Khalid Muhammad, they talk about an entrepreneur who has helped others build their dreams and businesses. They talk about a teacher, who is dedicated to his students, both inside and outside the classroom, and they return the dedication tenfold.
Now, they talk about the author, who has written a fast-paced, action-packed spy thriller
about Pakistan, the politics, the Army and terrorism.
Born in Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, educated and raised in the United States, Khalid returned to Pakistan almost 17 years ago and fell in love with his country. His debut novel, Agency Rules - Never an Easy Day at the Office, is a journey behind the headlines about Pakistan, the world's most dangerous place, to deliver an intense story that will challenge the reader to question what they have been told. 



 
Connect with Khalid online 
Website - http://agencyrules.com
Facebook http://facebook.com/AgencyRulesPK
Twitter http://twitter.com/AgencyRulesPK

A note from Linzé:  Come back tomorrow for a guest post from Khalid on the story behind Agency Rules.

Mayhem in March: Twisted by Vanessa Wright

Find it on Smashwords

Synopsis

A collection of 22 short stories from the bizarre to the truly chilling as the author takes you along for a roller coaster ride, welcoming you to the darker side of humanity. She delves into the shadowy world of obsessions, addictions, death and the loss of innocence and imagination. She takes an

honest, in depth look at things that happen all around us, yet we tend to ignore.

Here we are forced to look at the pain of what it means to be human in all its various facets and to truly explore the face that looks back at us in the mirror. No one is truly good or truly evil; nothing is exclusively beautiful or ugly, we are a sublime mix of the two, walking the tightrope median between the two opposites. The author expects the reader to think about what he has just read and to question the so called normalcy of everyday life. She peels back the layers to reveal the hidden skeletons in the closet. Fear, doubt, depression, loneliness, bulimia are only some of the elements which are open for discussion.

As a society we have shied away from the darker aspects that are certainly part and parcel of who we are. Surely the path to true wisdom and resolution of these issues is in the enlightenment thereof, the dusting off of the cobwebs in the cupboard.

Excerpt:

2. Bright Lines

The pain was so excruciating that the primitive, instinctual mind swept in and strangled her hold on the cold, metal object in her hand; survival being paramount. She endured a few agonizing seconds before euphoria washed her away and out to a sea of peace.

She could feel her mind escaping the confines of her body; the binding chains were thrown off, liberating her imprisoned soul. With a sigh of relief she became a light, downy feather abreast the rising air currents. She bobbed rhythmically to the deep internal breathing of the earth. She held her own breath, afraid of disturbing the feeling of inner peace and warmth that suffused her body. It broke through barriers and walls that were cemented into her soul by time; shattered her strongholds and allayed age old fears of insecurity and worthlessness. In this second, now, she was more than worthy.

Colours appeared brighter as if life had been washed back into them. The bleach had leeched out and leaves on the elm trees outside ran green with the sap of life. The sky seemed to bleed blue into the day. She exhaled slowly, carefully and watched her breath become kaleidoscopic reds, greens, yellows and shiny purples. Tentatively she reached out and touched the brittle clouds of vapour and dissipated them into slithering ribbons of light. Their beautiful reflections made her eyes hurt and her heart contract with sadness and loss.

Her body became weightless, tethered to the earth by a gossamer spider’s thread. Threadbare she had come into this earth and threadbare she would escape its confines. Her thoughts scattered and twisted, undulating lazily around the idea of living and surviving. Perhaps and perhaps not she thought, giggling giddily. Control was hers to keep or to release. How easy it would be to allow her life to slip silently away. Allow it to be carried away on sea breezes and on the white feathers of barn owls.

Her outer shell could then become one with the earth, decomposed and nutrient rich. Her bits and pieces gnawed at, secreted away by chipmunks and field mice; becoming part of a shelter here and the lining of a cosy nest there. Scattered and mindlessly free she would roam the earth, and her life’s circle would close, ending where it had begun…..dust to dust. At this thought a lazy self-indulgent smile curled at the corners of her wide mouth.

Author Bio

46 year old visual artist and home body, suddenly decides to pick up her writing again and just

couldn’t stop. I have been published in two anthologies: My kort vir jou sop  as well as Write for light 

Currently in the process of putting the finishing chapters to a crime thriller called Artifacts.

Find me on Twitter: @Artysoul1966

My blog where you can enjoy various short stories: http://iread1966.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VanessaWright.Auth

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/artysoul1966/boards/

Story board for Artifacts: http://pinterest.com/artysoul1966/artifacts-crime-novel-coming-soon/

Guest Post: Using Your Free time for Your Passion by Marcio Coelho

I was always interested in doing more things than my free time allowed. Surely having a job with something that does not make me truly happy, increases my anxiety to seek satisfaction outside of the company. But it’s been like this since I was a child. I remember that after I came home from school and ate lunch, I used to spend the day involved in some kind of activity, in most cases, related to music.
So I got some theoretical knowledge about music, rock bands, and national and international artists. Moreover, I myself have become a musician. Unfortunately I still don’t work in this business; I have music only as a hobby, and also part of a bigger dream to be realized, but distant for now.

But why am I talking about music, since the idea is to talk about time management?
Because I used the free time I had with something that I really liked: a passion. If you do not spend your spare time with your true passion, at least a portion of it, you are probably managing your time in the wrong way. And over time, not so good consequences will come.
Today I work as the only software developer for a small company . The workload, some times, is absurd for just one person. A few years ago, when I still did not have this notion of having a possibly inhumane job, I used to yell and struggle with my coworkers , take those bad feelings out of the company, and transfer it to my family and friends.
Anxiety took over my life – until very recently. Then gradually I began to educate myself to do only what was possible, and not worry about what I can not accomplish that day at work. No matter whether customers would complain, or if my boss would yell at me - we all had to understand the fact that I was alone. If the company did not want or could not hire other programmers to help me, fine, but I could not harm my physical and mental health because of a job. Areas like design, web design and software development have a motto in Portuguese that sounds like "our company is not a pastry" (where you ask for a pie and the clerk would delivers it to you right away).
Everything needs time and the customer must wait, like it or not.
If this is happening to you, it's time to stop and consider whether it is worth.
By the time you start to notice things like peeling skin, spinal pain, unexplained stomach aches and headaches, and so on, you need to stop and think about it. I have seen people going to the hospital because of accumulated stress at work. I myself have felt pain in the kidney that I could not explain very well how it happened. On another occasion, a sharp pain in the middle of my chest made me think that something serious was happening to me, some kind of heart problem, but in the end all the doctors found nothing and said "it would have been gas" (a little funny and kind of ridiculous, but rather that than a heart issue).
After what I have lived and suffered for not knowing how to manage well my time, I can say that if you feel some kind of imbalance in your life, or cannot do everything you would like, remember to stop for a few minutes, close your eyes, breathe, and try to search deep in your consciousness for what you can change, and be more free to do what you love, even if it is not in your current working time.
Exit the office, even if your job is not perfect, and make time to have fun with those you love, doing what you love. If you have an awesome job, it’s even better, but still don’t let it dominate your schedule. It`s you who command your calendar, and not the contrary!

 Author Bio
Marcio CS is a Brazilian musician, blogger and writer, 39 years old, who also works in IT. He`s happily married to another writer, Marcia Tondello. They have a daughter, Lara, who is also growing into an artist.
I use the nickname "Marcio CS", that is my artist nickname :)

My current blog is at http://www.marciocs.com.br (which it`s redirecting to http://eumarciocs.wordpress.com).

Read an eBook this week

It is eBook week on Smashwords and as a participating author I am discounting THREE of my books just for you this week

Click the title of the book and voila!
  

Géra's Gift is now $ 1.50 (50% off)  use code REW50 to get the discount

  Keeper of the Dragon Sword is $ 1.50 (75% off) use code REW75 to get the discount
  Their +1 is $ 1.50 (50% off) use code REW50 to get the discount

 Bubble Trouble is FREE
Pixie Dust, Boots and Reindeer is FREE

Click for help on how to download any Smashwords ebook to your eReader

ENJOY!

♥ ♥ ♥

 

February Fantasy Fan Month - One more Time!

Sometimes we miss the good stuff because real life interrupted. In case you did miss out on the blog tour, the books are still here and the links to find them still live. Here they are again, specially for you, a selection of fine fantasy writing!

Just click the title and there you go!

Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula by Elise Stokes

Canvas Skies by SL Wallace

Velvet Rain by David C Cassidy

Tolomay's World and the Pool of Light by ME Lorde

Tempest by RK Ryals

The Hunt for Xanadu by Elyse Salpeter 

The Rise of the Red Shadow by Joseph Lallo

Shadow Path by BL Blair

Thank you to these wonderful authors for taking a tour on my blog in support of the Fantasy Fan Month. Take a moment and find out more about them, you won't be sorry :)

See you in March for Murder, Mystery and Mayhem!

Fantastic February Blog Tour - Shadow Path

Amazon

Magic and crime. Agatha Christie meets J.R.R. Tolkien in “Shadow Path,” the first book in the new Portals series by author P.L. Blair.

An Ogre murdered with a rune-inscribed sword is just the beginning as Kat Morales, a very human detective on the Corpus Christi, Texas, police force, and her Elf partner Tevis McLeod follow a blood trail that leads to Pixies, necromancy and Magic of the Blackest kind ... to its climax in a stronghold Between worlds, where Tevis must duel spell for spell with a former lover who wants to see her old flame extinguished permanently.