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Thursday 28 January 2016

(Author Interview) Ben Starling Blog Tour


First of all, tell us a little about yourself. What do you do when you’re not writing? Do you play a musical instrument?

I was bemused by flute lessons as a child for an astonishingly brief period of time. I was also incarcerated in choir hall daily after school for many years. However, I would like to play the violin – it’s the most romantic instrument I can think of. Just once I’d like to bring tears someone’s eye through the beauty of music. I brought tears to the eyes of my flute teacher, but that was an entirely different story…

These days, when I’m not writing, I hike and swim to keep fit. And I still coach boxing.

Can you tell us about your new release?
Something in the Water is fundamentally a love story with a bit of adventure in the tropics thrown in too. A sidelined journalist teams up with a boxer to thwart a corporate cartel that is endangering a fragile paradise. The journalist and the boxer find they make a pretty good team!

Can you give us another hint of what’s in store for us in your novel?
Other highlights in this tale include: a mega yacht, a super sensitive whale, two environmentalists with a passion for concrete garden angels and Scrabble, verdant tropical island politics, seaweed farming and a faithful blue-footed seabird stowaway. And a love that lights up two lives and reaches past the grave.

Something in the Water, An Ocean Romance is available on Amazon. http://bit.ly/SITWgenu2am
How did you get started writing?
I’m a freelance editor, working on business plans and some fiction. After so many years of working on other people’s stories, it felt like the right time to create an original one of my own.

Something in the Water was inspired by the loss of my partner at forty-five years of age to ovarian cancer in 2012, just thirteen weeks after her diagnosis. In the aftermath, an old friend challenged me to turn that grief into something positive.

Remembering a conversation with a charismatic Polynesian fisherman (I visited there once) about his people’s vision of death and the afterlife, I began to write. I hoped to explore and capture several extraordinary events that happened around the time of my girlfriend’s death. The novel and the series kind of took off from there…

What are your top three favorite things about writing?
I enjoy staring at a computer screen – the writer’s blank canvas - and adding shape and color...I am also an artist and see parallels between writing and art. Every written scene has a foreground, mid-ground and background, just as a painting or drawing does. Secondly, the discipline of adding literary shape and colour in a structured way is challenging but rewarding. Thirdly, I love magic moment when it all comes together!

What’s your favorite movie?
Titanic. It brought tears to my eyes. I found it astonishing. Although the CGI used was an early-infancy technology, at the time, it was ground-breaking.

What can we look forward to next from you?
Something in the Water is supported by a series of short stories that reveal the backstories of the major characters in this world.

The first in the series, Something in the Air, is available now free at my website as well as free on Kobo (also available at Amazon) and the second short story in the series, Something on the Fly, will be released in the Spring!


Something in the Water - available on Amazon http://bit.ly/SITWgenu2am
Something in the Air
·         available for FREE at www.ben-starling.com and
·         available FREE at Kobo http://bit.ly/SITAgenu2kobo .
·         Also at Amazon http://bit.ly/SITAgenu2am
Something on the Fly – coming soon!


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EXCERPT

Something in the Water – Chapter 1 begins…
New York, September

He didn’t look like the hotel guests, the business people, or the tourists. He didn’t move like them either.

He brushed past me as I climbed off my Vespa, stilettos in hand, outside the entrance of the Waldorf Astoria. Had he smiled at the radiance of my scarlet ball gown? Or was he amused by my battered Converse sneakers?

As a valet approached to take my scooter and helmet, I spotted my boss, Malcolm, waving hello from the lobby. He was approaching the glass doors that separated us when I noticed a small wooden box on the ground. Two steps later, I had picked it up. Who could have dropped it?

No one was close by, so I turned. The only man who’d passed me was already a half block away, gliding beside the cars that waited for the lights to change at the end of the block. Was it his?

What I knew for sure was that now wasn’t the time to be tracking down the little box’s owner. I should hand it in to reception and concentrate on the evening ahead. For a few seconds, I relaxed as I studied the hotel’s confident, soaring opulence—a world unknown to me before my arrival from Nantucket four years ago. The smooth texture of the box, however, drew my thoughts back to it. Was there something valuable inside? What if it did belong to that man, and he never returned to collect it? I turned the box over—and caught my breath.

“How on earth…?”

Malcolm emerged in front of me. “Hello, darling, you look absolutely—are you okay?”
I thrust my sparkly evening shoes into his hands, and hitched up my shawl. I was about to give chase when a convertible Ferrari lurched to a stop beside me.

“Going my way, babe?” its driver shouted, over the thrum of the engine.

But my dress was redder, and I got the better start.

You can find the rest of Something in the Water, Chapter 1 at http://ben-starling.com/chapter-one/



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BIO & SOCIAL MEDIA

Ben Starling is passionate about marine conservation and boxing, both central themes in his upcoming novel. His interest in marine life has taken him across three continents over the past three decades. He is Oxford’s only ever Quintuple Blue (varsity champion five years running), was Captain of the university boxing team, and coached and boxed competitively until about five years ago. He is 6’3”and 185 lbs. Ben graduated from Oxford University with a Master of Arts and an M Phil. He was born in the USA but has lived in the UK since childhood.
Connect with Ben at www.ben-starling.com and

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Saturday 16 January 2016

#NOTICETHELOTUS at Target - derma e has arrived!

Hello again, everyone! Today I will be reviewing a few products from the brand Derma e which is now available at Target! First of all, I love that this is Cruelty Free, Natural, %100 Vegan, and paraben free! What more could someone ask for?
I've been using this eye creme for awhile and it has helped with my usual under eye circles from staying up too late. Other than that it hasn't totally impressed me. I usually am wary about trying new under eye products since my eye area is sensitive. This one didn't bother my eyes at all which is great! It doesn't sting or cause blemishes so I give it high marks for that.

I have been using this creme for about a week now and I love this! Whenever I choose a moisturizer to use I try and get something natural and hopefully something that won't clog my pores and or make my face look greasy since I already have oily skin. This is natural, hasn't clogged my pores and the best part? It made my face look so good almost as if it was a mattifier! I didn't even need to use a primer. I will definitely be getting this as my new day time moisturizer.

Same as above, this creme is natural, hasn't clogged my pores and makes my skin look great when I wake up. My skin has actually looked a lot better since I started using these which is amazing! I again, will definitely be buying this as my new night creme.

Click here to check out the brand: http://dermae.com/product/379/Firming-DMAE-Eye-Lift-.html

Read on below for more information about the brand!

Imagine a time, not long ago...

When people didn’t consider how their internal health affected their outward appearance. And, nobody understood that what you put on your skin matters too. The phrases “superfood”, “holistic health” and “sustainable” were rarely or never used. Nobody was concerned about their skincare being eco-friendly and nobody was eating kale.

Then derma e® got started.

Healthy before healthy was “in”
derma e® pushed skincare forward in a new direction by fusing powerful vitamins and plants together with modern science - we called it Green Chemistry. Continuing to be always aware, derma e® adheres to the highest ethical standards when it comes to animal welfare and our impact on the planet.

The results
derma e® built a passionate following in the natural products industry and beyond, always aspiring to make highly effective, premium skincare formulas but with cruelty-free green chemistry.

Thursday 7 January 2016

OZ Naturals Ultra Ageless Eye Crème!

Hey, guys! Today I will be reviewing an eye crème I got to try thanks to brandbacker.com and Oz Naturals! First of all, I always seem to buy eye products which I never use for some reason but I've been looking for one to start using so I was super excited when I got this! I always try and get all natural products plus brands that don't test on animals. Oz Naturals is 99% natural and cruelty free which is great! I started using this crème the night I got it and have used it for a while now with pretty good results. If you know me, you know I always stay up late reading, writing, or acting so I usually have under eye circles or puffiness under my eyes which I hate. After using this crème I've noticed that the circles and puffiness have lessened and hopefully will lessen even more after I've used it for a longer period of time. Overall I would definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a natural and cruelty free eye product! I also have looked at some of their other products and am considering trying some!

If you'd like to try it, click here: http://amzn.to/1LCHti3

If you want to learn a little more about the brand and the product please keep reading!

OZ Naturals is a top seller on amazon.com and its easy to understand why.

Co-Founder and Certified Esthetician, Angela Irish launched OZ Naturals as a company that embodies everything she's passionate about -- healthy skin, anti-aging, natural ingredients, and utilizing the latest technology to formulate the highest quality skin care products on the market.

Utilizing her personal experience of skin issues, that she understands that when your skin is unhealthy it can negatively affect your self-esteem. After try tons of products over the years she was always left with the same skin issues as before. Sometimes even worse than before. Angela knows how disheartening this can be, especially when so many skin care products make huge claims, and simply do not deliver. It's especially frustrating when the cost of those products are hardly affordable, and you realize once again that you've wasted your money.

While it's true that beautiful skin is also hereditary, healthy skin comes from taking care of the inside and outside of our bodies. However, finding the right products for your skin can be the toughest part of the equation. This is why OZ Naturals was founded, to create healthy, premium skin care products to help those who weren't naturally born with perfect skin, to obtain more perfect skin. The kind of skin that everyone deserves to have.

OZ NATURALS ULTRA AGELESS eye crème is packed with ingredients that are proven effective for many eye and facial area concerns.

THE INCLUSION OF A POTENT PEPTIDE, Matrixyl®synthe'6®, evens skin and smoothes wrinkles from the inside out, predominantly on the forehead and crow's feet around the eyes.

OZ Naturals ULTRA AGELESS EYE CRÈME also contains botanical Astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant with anti-inflammatory effects that defends skin cells from free radicals. Sometimes known as "Super Vitamin E," it has an antioxidant action up to 500 times that of Vitamin E.

ALGAE EXTRACT NOURISHES, protects and hydrates skin with vitamins and minerals, and provides wrinkle preventing properties. Carrot Root Extract also contains many effective anti-aging properties, acts as an anti-inflammatory, and has also been known to help reduce wrinkles, scarring and stretch marks.

THE DELICATE EYE AREA is further supported by caffeine and Paullinia Cupana Extract, which helps reduce puffiness and create a smoothing effect around the entire eye area.