Tag: Jacqui Murray

Blog Tour: Against All Odds by Jacqui Murray

Published on by J. Kelland Perry28 Comments

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Today I’m happy to host Jacqui Murray, a fellow blogger and prolific author as she launches Against All Odds, Book 3 in the Crossroads series. I’ve read most of her work and hold a special fascination for her prehistoric thrillers. Here’s the summary for her newest book:

A million years of evolution made Xhosa tough but was it enough? She and her People finally reach their destination—a glorious land of tall grasses, few predators, and an abundance that seems limitless, but an enemy greater than any they have met so far threatens to end their dreams. If Xhosa can’t stop this one, she and her People must again flee.

The Crossroads trilogy is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated most of Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, a smarter version of himself, one destined to obliterate all those who came before.

From prehistoric fiction author Jacqui Murray comes the unforgettable saga of a courageous woman who questions assumptions, searches for truth, and does what she must despite daunting opposition. Read the final chapter of her search for freedom, safety, and a new home. A perfect book for fans of Jean Auel and the Gears!

I had the pleasure of asking Jacqui a few questions about her latest novel:

You made up the bird language—right?

Wrong. Imitating bird song to communicate over difficult-to-traverse expanses has been used throughout the world by different cultures. If you’re curious, try this link: https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/09/26/443434027/in-a-turkish-village-a-conversation-with-whistles-not-words

 Could early man really run down their prey?

That answer is a resounding Yes. Scientists call this the “Endurance Running Hypothesis”. Early Man didn’t run faster than herd animals. They ran harder—all day or more. The Homo genus evolved a more stable head, looser hips, longer legs, shock-absorbing joints, and a springier foot formation. This made them—and us—well-suited to continuous running. Other changes in body makeup meant humans didn’t tire or overheat from this activity. Most animals sprint only short distances before they must stop to catch their breath and let their bodies cool down. We didn’t.

Could primitive man build rafts as suggested in this story?

Yes, absolutely. They possessed the brainpower, and the required tools were available at the time. Because these rafts must have been made of wood and vines—-materials that don’t preserve over time—no artifacts remain to prove this. Anthropologists speculate this earliest raft was more of a floating platform made from bamboo and tied together with vine. Scientists tested this hypothesis by building rafts using the prehistoric techniques Xhosa employed to cross the Straits of Gibraltar and then sailing the raft through Indonesia as the ancient people might have done.

Thank you, Jacqui. I wish you much success with this book and with all of your writing endeavors.

Available digitally (print soon) at:
Kindle US   Kindle UK   Kindle CA   Kindle AU

Visit Jacqui’s Amazon Author page here.

A Shout-out to my Commenters

Published on by J. Kelland Perry17 Comments

Many thanks to everyone who visits my blog.

I’m throwing out a bouquet today to all who consistently like and comment on my articles, updates and photos throughout the year, but particularly I wish to thank the six most frequent commenters of late.

I hope you know how much I value your visits and our conversations. These visits bring the reward of connection with other like-minded people from all over, as well as with those who walk an entirely different path.

Have a look. You just might hit the follow button and join our blogging community.

Book Club Mom, a.k.a. Barbara Vitelli, hails from the U.S. and is my most frequent commenter. She is a book reviewer and blogger here on WordPress, where she shares author interviews, indie author profiles and blogging advice. Barbara is also a librarian, a book-clubber, and an avid reviewer on Net Galley and GoodReads.

Jacqui Murray of WordDreams is an author, freelance journalist, teacher, Amazon Vine Voice, and the bearer of a wealth of helpful advice for all things wordy. I have learned a lot from her posts which she fills with hints, lists,  how-tos, and book reviews. Jacqui lives in California.

Jill Weatherholt is a writer of contemporary stories about love, faith, friendship and forgiveness. Her sweet novels always end with a “happily ever after.” She started her blog as a way to share her journey and to create a community for other new writers, artists and fellow bloggers. Jill lives in North Carolina.

Clanmother, a.k.a. Rebecca Budd, is a fellow Canadian living in British Columbia. She hosts several blogs, sharing her talents as a visual storyteller, photographer, podcaster, traveler and life-long learner.

Andrea Stephenson of Harvesting Hecate is a gifted writer as well as a painter. She hails from the United Kingdom, where she draws inspiration from nature, the coastline and the turn of the seasons. She has written two magical realism novels for adults.

Joanne Meadows of joannerambling  is a blogger from Australia. She loves to blog about family, write letters to pen pals, and she’s always eager to share my posts on Twitter.

Honorable mention goes out to each and every commenter and visitor.

You all rock! 

Book Launch: The Quest For Home by Jacqui Murray

Published on by J. Kelland Perry20 Comments

I am delighted once again to help fellow author Jacqui Murray  with the launch of her latest novel. The Quest for Home is the second in her Crossroads trilogy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first in the prehistoric fiction trilogy, Survival of the Fittest, and I highly recommend it. Jacqui is a masterful writer and researcher, and I can’t wait to read this next book in the series.

Summary:

Chased by a ruthless and powerful enemy, Xhosa flees with her People, leaving behind her African homeland, leading her People on a grueling journey through unknown and perilous lands. As they struggle to overcome treachery, lies, danger, tragedy, hidden secrets, and Nature herself, Xhosa must face the reality that her most dangerous enemy isn’t the one she expected. It may be one she trusts with her life.

The story is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, the one destined to obliterate any who came before.

Based on a true story, this is the unforgettable saga of hardship and determination, conflict and passion as early man makes his way across Eurasia, fleeing those who would kill him. He must be bigger-than-life, prepared time and again to do the impossible because nothing less than the future of mankind is at stake.

The Quest for Home info:

Series: Book 2 in the Crossroads series, part of the Man vs. Nature saga
Genre: Prehistoric fiction
Available at: Kindle US   Kindle UK   Kindle CA   Kindle AU

I asked Jacqui a couple of questions about her book:

1. If I am not reading these books in order, does it matter?

Survival of the Fittest starts the Crossroads trilogy, The Quest for Home is Book 2. Crossroads itself the second trilogy in the Man vs. Nature saga. Each trilogy is a stand-alone story; each book in the trilogy fairly standalone in that I include details to catch you up on what occurred in prior books but without most of the drama. They can be read out of order, but you may find the experience enhanced if the three books in each trilogy are read consecutively.

2. Could Xhosa, the main character of The Quest for Home, really have traveled with a wolf companion?

Dogs weren’t domesticated until about 10-15,000 years ago, long after Xhosa lived 850,000 years ago. But her understanding of man and animal were not what ours is. To Xhosa, the line between man and animal was blurry. She didn’t think of animals as lesser creatures. Why would she? As far as she knew, like her, they could plan, think, problem-solve, and display emotions just as she did.
So, for Xhosa to partner with a wolf made perfect sense.

It does make perfect sense, especially for an animal lover like me.
Thanks so much, Jacqui, for letting me assist with your book launch!

Author Bio:
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for  NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, In the Footsteps of Giants, Winter 2020, the final chapter in the Crossroads Trilogy.

Find out more and follow Jacqui Murray on Social Media:

Amazon Author Page
Blog
Twitter
Website

Book Launch: Survival of the Fittest by Jacqui Murray

Published on by J. Kelland Perry27 Comments

Five tribes. One leader. A treacherous journey across three continents in search of a new home.

Hey, everyone! I’m excited to host author Jacqui Murray today, as she launches her newest novel in the prehistoric fiction genre, Survival of the Fittest. 

Jacqui is a prolific writer, a tech teacher, and a whirlwind of energy in the blogging world and on social media. On top of all that, she is a voracious reader. If you’re a writer too, I suggest you follow her blog WordDreams for a wealth of info and tips to help you on your writing journey.

Here’s what her latest book is all about:

Chased by a ruthless and powerful enemy, Xhosa flees with her People, leaving behind a certain life in her African homeland to search for an unknown future. She leads her People on a grueling journey through unknown and dangerous lands but an escape path laid out years before by her father as a final desperate means to survival. She is joined by other homeless tribes–from Indonesia, China, South Africa, East Africa, and the Levant—all similarly forced by timeless events to find new lives. As they struggle to overcome treachery, lies, danger, tragedy, hidden secrets, and Nature herself, Xhosa must face the reality that this enemy doesn’t want her People’s land. He wants to destroy her.

Title: Survival of the Fittest
Series: Book 1 in the Crossroads series, part of the Man vs. Nature saga
Cover by: Damonza 
Available at: Kindle US Kindle UK Kindle CA Kindle AU

Q. Is there a goal to writing this story, Jacqui?

A. All the books in this series, Man vs. Nature, will be written with a goal of explaining how man’s essentials–art, music, culture, body adornments, religion, counting, spoken language, critical thinking, and abstract thinking—bloomed from our earliest roots.

Author Bio: Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for TeachHUB and NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Quest for Home, Summer 2019. You can find her tech ed books at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.

Social Media contacts:

http://twitter.com/worddreams
http://pinterest.com/askatechteacher
http://linkedin.com/in/jacquimurray
https://worddreams.wordpress.com
https://jacquimurray.net

Congrats on your latest release, Jacqui! 

Blog Hop: Born in a Treacherous Time by Jacqui Murray

Published on by J. Kelland Perry43 Comments

FYI: Sunday Snap will be back as usual next week.

Today, I’m delighted to welcome author and tech teacher Jacqui Murray from over at WordDreams. She has a brand new release out now in an unusual and fascinating genre.

Book Info:

Title: Born in a Treacherous Time
Series: Book 1 in the Man vs. Nature series
Genre: Prehistoric fiction
Cover by: Damonza 
Available at: Kindle

Jennifer: Good morning, Jacqui. Born in a Treacherous Time sounds intriguing! Can you tell me a bit about it?

Jacqui: Thank you for having me, Jennifer. Here’s a short summary:

Lucy and her band of early humans struggle to survive in the harsh reality of a world where nature rules, survival is a daily challenge, and a violent band threatens to destroy everything Lucy thinks she understands.

If you like Man vs. Wild, you’ll love this book. If you ever wondered how earliest man survived but couldn’t get through the academic discussions, this book is for you. It will bring that world – East Africa 1.8 million years ago – to life in a way never seen before.

Jennifer: I can’t wait to read it. I’ve never read prehistoric fiction before, but it has been of interest to me ever since I saw the movie Quest For Fire. What prompted you to write the book, and your switch to this niche genre?

Jacqui: Born in a Treacherous Time is a spin-off of my previous book, To Hunt a Sub.
More specifically, it is a spin-off of Lucy, the ancient female who mentored Kali Delamagente, the female protagonist of that series.

Jennifer: Lucy was such an interesting part of that story. But why did you write a book in such a tiny niche?

Jacqui: Born in a Treacherous Time is written in the sub-genre of historic fiction called prehistoric fiction, a time before recorded history. There aren’t a lot of readers in this genre but they are devoted!
Because the only records are rocks, world building has proven difficult but Lucy (the heroine) really didn’t give me a choice. She nagged me to tell her story from my first page twenty years ago to my final draft. Now maybe Lucy will leave me alone!

Jennifer: You have a couple of noteworthy reviews you’d like to share with our readers, including a Kirkus review. Here they are:

Kirkus review: “Murray’s lean prose is steeped in the characters’ brutal worldview, which lends a delightful otherness to the narration …The book’s plot is similar in key ways to other works in the genre, particularly Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear. However, Murray weaves a taut, compelling narrative, building her story on timeless human concerns of survival, acceptance, and fear of the unknown. Even if readers have a general sense of where the plot is going, they’ll still find the specific twists and revelations to be highly entertaining throughout.
A well-executed tale of early man.”  (Click here for the entire review)

 An early reader’s review: “Born in a Treacherous Time sheds light on a period of time that gave birth to the human race, and allow us to bear witness to the harshness and tenacious spirit that is uniquely human—to survive and endure. Readers with a thirst for knowledge and who enjoy historical fiction, this is a must read. I am looking forward to reading book 2 when it is published. I devoured the book in 2 sittings.”– Luciana Cavallaro, author of Servant of the Gods series and webmaster of Eternal Atlantis

Jennifer: Those are wonderful reviews. I love that this book has a strong and unique female lead. Thank you so much for this, Jacqui!

To learn more about my guest today, check out the following:

Author Bio: Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature series. She is also the author of over a hundred books on integrating technology into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for TeachHUB, monthly contributor to Today’s Author, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her books at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.

Social media links:
http://twitter.com/worddreams
http://linkedin.com/in/jacquimurray
https://worddreams.wordpress.com
https://jacquimurray.net

Author Blog Hop: Twenty-Four Days

Published on by J. Kelland Perry8 Comments

Fellow blogger, author, and e-friend Jacqui Murray has a new book out:
Twenty-Four Days.
It’s the exciting sequel to her first novel, To Hunt a Sub.
Here’s the scoop on it, as well as my review.

Short Synopsis of Twenty-four Days:

A former SEAL, a brilliant scientist, a love-besotted nerd, and a quirky AI have twenty-four days to stop a terrorist attack. The problems: They don’t know what it is, where it is, or who’s involved.

Long Synopsis of Twenty-four Days:

What sets this story apart from other thrillers is the edgy science used to build the drama, the creative thinking that unravels the deadly plot, and the sentient artificial intelligence who thinks he’s human:

An unlikely team is America’s only chance

World-renowned paleoanthropologist, Dr. Zeke Rowe is surprised when a friend from his SEAL past shows up in his Columbia lab and asks for help: Two submarines have been hijacked and Rowe might be the only man who can find them.

At first he refuses, fearing a return to his former life will end a sputtering romance with fellow scientist and love of his life, Kali Delamagente, but when one of his closest friends is killed by the hijackers, he changes his mind. He asks Delamagente for the use of her one-of-a-kind AI Otto who possesses the unique skill of being able to follow anything with a digital trail.

In a matter of hours, Otto finds one of the subs and it is neutralized.
But the second, Otto can’t locate.

Piece by piece, Rowe uncovers a bizarre nexus between Salah Al-Zahrawi–the world’s most dangerous terrorist and a man Rowe thought he had killed a year ago, a North Korean communications satellite America believes is a nuclear-tipped weapon, an ideologue that cares only about revenge, and the USS Bunker Hill (a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser) tasked with supervising the satellite launch.

And a deadline that expires in twenty-four days.

As America teeters on the brink of destruction, Zeke finally realizes that Al-Zahrawi’s goal isn’t nuclear war, but payback against the country that cost him so much.

My Review:

5 out of 5 stars: Fast-paced suspense in this page-turning sequel
Format: Kindle Edition
What a wild ride! This was an enthralling followup to To Hunt a Sub, which I also read; I loved the characters, including Otto the AI (I actually would have liked to read more about him), and the edge-of-your-seat suspense as the book built to a riveting climax. I also appreciated how strong and capable the female characters in the story were drawn, especially LT Paloma Chacone. Refreshing to read of this brand of heroism from both genders.
It boggles my mind to think of the research it must have required to tell this tale. I’m sure fans of the thriller and military genres would enjoy it.

Kirkus Review:

A blistering pace is set from the beginning: dates open each new chapter/section, generating a countdown that intensifies the title’s time limit. Murray skillfully bounces from scene to scene, handling numerous characters, from hijackers to MI6 special agent Haster.
… A steady tempo and indelible menace form a stirring nautical tale.

Book information:

Title and author: Twenty-four Days by J. Murray
Genre: Thriller, military thriller
Cover by: Paper and Sage Design
Available at: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

Author bio:

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular
Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, and the thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and  Twenty-four Days. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer,  a columnist for TeachHUB, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.
You can find her books at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.

Social Media contacts:

http://twitter.com/worddreams
http://facebook.com/kali.delamagente
http://pinterest.com/askatechteacher
http://linkedin.com/in/jacquimurray
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102387213454808379775/posts

Friday Bouquet #10

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

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worddreams…

Jacqui Murray is an author, a journalist, a teacher, and a wealth of helpful advice for all things wordy.

I have learned a lot from her posts she fills with hints, lists,  how-tos, and reviews.

As Jacqui says on her About page:

I love writing–always have–so this blog will cover writing topics, with brief forays into other things. If you know writers, we’re intrigued by everything around us. Life is full of characters, plot lines, unique settings, and we want to experience it all.

Here’s a recent post that I found valuable and you might too:

Writers Tips #78:  8 Writing Tricks You Won’t Read Anywhere Else    

Go and check out WordDreams for help with your writing and blogging questions, and say hi to Jacqui for me.  🙂

*Comments are closed here but open on the blogger’s page.