#BlogTour Absolution by Paul E. Hardisty

It is my pleasure to host the BlogTour for Absolution by Paul E. Hardisty today. Absolution is the fourth book in the Claymore Straker series by Hardisty, and by Jove it does not disappoint. Looks to me like Hardisty is just getting warmed up!

About the Author
Canadian Paul Hardisty has spent 25 years working all over the world as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist. He has roughnecked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, mapped geology in Eastern Turkey (where he was befriended by PKK rebels), and rehabilitated water wells in the wilds of Africa. He was in Ethiopia in 1991 as the Mengistu regime fell, and was bumped from one of the last flights out of Addis Ababa by bureaucrats and their families fleeing the rebels. In 1993 he survived a bomb blast in a café in Sana’a, and was one of the last Westerners out of Yemen before the outbreak of the 1994 civil war. Paul is a university professor and CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). He is a sailor, a private pilot, keen outdoorsman, conservation volunteer, and lives in Western Australia.

To connect with Paul E. Hardisty follow @Hardisty_Paul or @Orendabooks on Twitter
Follow Hardisty on facebook.com/paul.hardisty.9
Buy Absolution

About the book
It is 1997, eight months since vigilante justice-seeker Claymore Straker fled South Africa after his explosive testimony to Desmond Tutu’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In Paris, Rania LaTour, journalist, comes home to find that her son and her husband, a celebrated human rights lawyer, have disappeared. On an isolated island off the coast of East Africa, the family that Clay has befriended is murdered as he watches.

So begins the fourth instalment in the Claymore Straker series, a breakneck journey through the darkest reaches of the human soul, as Clay and Rania fight to uncover the mystery behind the disappearances and murders, and find those responsible. Events lead them both inexorably to Egypt, where an act of the most shocking terrorist brutality will reveal not only why those they loved were sacrificed, but how they were both, indirectly, responsible. Relentlessly pursued by those who want them dead, they must work together to uncover the truth, and to find a way to survive in a world gone crazy. At times brutal, often lyrical, but always gripping, Absolution is a thriller that will leave you breathless and questioning the very basis of how we live and why we love.

Review
Hardisty has stepped up his game since Reconciliation for the Dead (Claymore Straker #3). The flow of the story, dialogue, plot and interactions between characters - everything has been taken up a notch to create a read par excellence in this fourth book of the Straker series.

The story switches between two characters throughout the duration of the book. We follow Claymore as he is tracked and hunted for speaking out against heinous crimes, and Rania who feels compelled to track and hunt those who have taken her loved ones from her. Rania's account is written as if she were writing a letter to Clay or having a constant inner dialogue with herself, with Clay and often even with God. Clay's part of the story is written in the here and now, as a story would evolve naturally.

It gives the reader a feeling of being in the midst of intense action scenes one minute, and then switching to this nostalgic, almost apologetic intimate dialogue in the next minute. If you have ever read or seen The English Patient, you will understand what I mean. The only difference is The EP wanders from past to present, whereas this takes place simultaneously in the same time period, but in different countries at first.

Hardisty is without a doubt honing his skills as a writer and a storyteller. Absolution is an extraordinary venture into the action genre. It brims with political intrigue, sins of the past and betrayal, and the tension is as taut as a wire strung with the deadly intention of a hidden assassin.

The beginning lures the reader in with the mellow warmth of the beautiful setting, which is quickly interrupted by persistent enemies and ruthless collaborators. The pace goes from that of a hesitant uncertain gazelle to a lion stalking its prey with a dogged stride, until the characters collide with unexpected violence and irreparable consequences.

Hardisty can take his place up there with the best of them with Absolution, it is an exceptional read.

Buy Absolution (Claymore Straker #4) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Published by Orenda Books. Visit orendabooks.co.uk
Kindle released 30th March 2018  Paperback release 30th May 2018
Read my review of Reconciliation for the Dead

The Claymore Straker series:
Buy The Abrupt Physics of Dying (Claymore Straker #1),
Buy The Evolution of Fear (Claymore Straker #2)
Buy Reconciliation for the Dead (Claymore Straker #3)

#BlogTour The Girls' Book of Priesthood by Louise Rowland

It is a pleasure to take pat in the BlogTour for The Girl's Book of Priesthood by Louise Rowland. book has a title, which may steer readers away from what is an entertaining, realistic and honest approach to what is simply a woman doing a job, which is 'owned' by men. Leaving aside faith and religion for a minute, this could apply to any career considered to be a purely man's domain.

About the Author
Louise Rowland grew up in Bournemouth and studied English at Cambridge. She went on to work as a speechwriter, journalist and copywriter - including 11 years in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam. She has a Masters in Novel Writing from City University, where she won the course prize. She lives in London with her husband and has two grown-up daughters. The Girls’Book of Priesthood is her first novel.

Follow @louiserowland20 @MuswellPress
Buy The Girls' Book of Priesthood

About the book
Meticulously researched, The Girls’ Book of Priesthood is being published to coincide with the anniversary of women’s ordination in March.
‘I mean, you know, someone says “woman priest” and you think the whole grey-hair-bobbly cardigan-house-full-of-cats thing, right?’
Margot Goodwin is a young curate struggling to survive her trial year in the parish, when everything and everyone seems hell-bent on stopping her. Success would mean becoming a fully-fledged priest, something she feels profoundly called to do. Failure would not only prove her father right, but would also delight all the antis who consider women priests at best a joke, at worst, an abomination. But from the very start, Margot faces a multitude of challenges, both personal and professional, from the hostile teenage daughter of her host family, to the married parishioner she is hopelessly drawn to. Can she convince everyone - herself included - that she’s more than a lipstick-wearing, part-timer with a PhD, and realise her long-held dream of becoming a priest.

Louise Rowland on writing The Girls' Book of Priesthood

What inspired you to write the book? I started writing the book as part of the Novel Writing Master’s at City University. Initially, I was very keen to do something around the idea of the cuckoo in the nest’: a stranger renting a room with a dysfunctional family and the tensions that would create.

The ‘stranger’ then became a male curate (a character loosely inspired by a young trainee priest friend). That in turn opened up a whole raft of new questions. What kind of person would choose to be a priest? Where would his personal boundaries lie, living cheek by jowl with a messy family set-up? How would he be treated by the teenagers in the house –, by everyone he met in the ‘real world’?Could he ever check out and simply be himself? But it was when I decided to make the central character female that the whole book really came to life. If the role of priest is a tough call for men, try doing it if you’re young and female and likely to encounter a whole extra layer of prejudice and stereotypes (and that’s just from your colleagues).

I wanted to explore who exactly this young woman was; what motivated her; why she didn’t just go off and live a ‘normal’ life; what kind of sacrifices she’d have to make. Would she be able have a relationship without feverish prying eyes?

What research was involved in it? 
I was lucky enough to be able to interview around twenty female priests around the country: some of them right at the start of their journey at theological college; some knee deep in training on the job in parishes; and one or two who had been amongst the small initial batch in the mid 90s – including a woman who had marched down Whitehall, banner aloft, like a clerical suffragette.

Did you uncover anything surprising when talking to these women? All the time. How diverse they were as people and how far they confounded the lazy stereotypes: women priests as earnest, frumpy, make-up and men-free zones - well-meaning but completely out of step with the modern world. The women I spoke to shared a razor-sharp intelligence - and most revelled in a robust gallows humour, underpinned by a very clear-eyed appreciation of just what they were letting themselves in for. And several of them were exceptionally glamorous – even in a dog collar!

This is not a 'Christian book' - but does it stem from some form of personal experience of
the Church or religious faith? I didn’t set out to write a ‘Christian book’ in any sense. What gripped me as a writer was the potential internal conflict of a young woman who desperately wants to fulfil her profound sense of calling - but who also craves the things that most other mid-20s millennials want. A loving relationship, a sense of personal freedom, control of her own identity … fun.

My family and I are part of the congregation at a socially liberal Anglo-Catholic (ie choir, robes, female and gay priests) church in central London. As one of the current church wardens, I help out on a voluntary basis on the administrative side.St Mark’s is an entirely fictional creation – but its depiction undoubtedly draws on insider knowledge of how that whole world works, its rhythms and challenges and some of the personalities that tend to inhabit it.

Faith itself is a very private matter for me – and always been subject to constant questioning, as I think it is for many people. One of the women I interviewed talked about her branch of the Church of England as being very comfortable with ‘not knowing all the answers or having all the certainties’. I’d put myself firmly in that middle of the road camp –sometimes hesitant but still hanging-in-there. I once read an interview with David Cameron where he compared his religious belief to the radio signal in the Chilterns: it comes and goes, at times falteringly weak, at others, clearly defined. To me, that’s the perfect analogy!
(Q&A provided by Muswell Press and Louise Rowland)

Review
Although it may be a blasé and sweeping stereotypical statement - the role of women as the listener, the advice-giver and the problem-solver, is one that has always been attributed to our gender. Perhaps unwillingly when it comes to the same traits in leadership roles, and it is most certainly met with distrust in the role of leadership as it relates to religion and faith.

Revered in the role as the nun, the subservient celibate mistress of the faith and married to God, but regarded as too emotional, not level-headed enough and well let's just say way too female to lead a flock to their salvation. Always in the supporting role and never in role of the hand of God.

At times I felt this was more about the way society perceives women in general, than just the adjustment and acknowledgement of women in priesthood.

Adding to that particular sentiment is the attitude of her friend Clarissa, who seems to be trying to squeeze Margot into the role society expects her to inhabit, instead of supporting her attempt to win over the patriarchal religious institution and the attitude of both the members of her church, her family and the leaders of said institution.

What resonated with me was the notion that the flock believes the priest belongs to them in some way. A special in-the-flesh messenger straight to God, which automatically means they can infringe on privacy and try to dictate attitudes, clothes and behaviour. Perhaps more so when the vicar/priest is a woman. They forget the person is doing a job and because faith is all encompassing and a 24/7 job, it leaves no room for self-thought or even just the occasional stint as a free person.

I think perhaps the expectation of this book is one of a preachy heavy-handed attempt to look at our existent or non-existent relationships with faith, and the difficulty society has in accepting women as leaders of faith and religion. The latter is true, but Rowland is clear on the notion that this isn't in any way supposed to be a book about Christians or Christianity, and it isn't.

It is a story of a woman trying to combine her career choice, and the opposition she faces in a job made-up by men, ruled by men and where the rules are set in stone by men. At the same time she is a normal woman, who wants to have a relationship within the confines of those strict rules, and is trying to navigate the difficult stormy waters of her own emotions and the expectations of her family.

In a way it reads like a sleuth come rom-com with a hefty portion emotional turmoil and political side-stepping thrown in for free, and let's not forget the sanctimonious attitude of the church towards enlightenment and progression. Just as DNA changes and evolves to withstand and survive environmental changes, so must society and the people within it.

This book has a title, which may steer readers away from what is an entertaining, realistic and honest approach to what is simply a woman doing a job, which is 'owned' by men. Leaving aside faith and religion for a minute, this could apply to any career considered to be a purely man's domain.

Rowland surprised me with this subtle and realistic portrayal of Margot. It has the charm of Father Brown combined with a contemporary voice. It is also a reminder of humanity, of simplicity and of kindness, and yet it is also a wake-up call to chisel away at the archaic systems still at the helm of our ships. It's time for diversity and equality to infiltrate the crumblings walls of years of patriarchal oppression and automated obedience.

Buy The Girls' Book of Priesthood at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Visit muswell-press.co.uk

#BlogTour A Mind Polluted by Martin Geraghty

Today it is my turn on the BlogTour for A Mind Polluted by Martin Geraghty. A disturbing tale of anger, revenge and emotional turmoil. As a reader you may ask yourself who the real culprit is, and who should be carrying the burden of blame. Read it and see what you think.

About the Author
Martin Geraghty is a forty-five-year-old from Glasgow. He is a self-employed Private Investigator who claims his profession is not remotely as interesting as it may seem. Human beings and how they react to the various curveballs that life throws at them is generally what inspires him to write. He has had work published in various litzines including Razur Cuts and Glove. When not writing or playing amateur detective, he can be found on a golf course or indulging in his chief passions, food, wine and music. A Mind Polluted is his debut novel.

Follow @MartinGeraght1 @crookedcatbooks
Visit martingeraghty.co.uk
Buy A Mind Polluted

About the book
His world falls apart…

Triggered by overhearing a confession from his mother's lips when he was a young boy, Connor Boyd carries the burden of the secret through his life.

Is falling in love his saviour? Or will he embark on a journey down a self-destructive path which ultimately leads to his version of justice?

Will he concentrate on his future, or be consumed by his past?

Review
I could talk about this book for pages. It is controversial in a sense that not everyone is going experience or evaluate the story of Connor the same way, and I don't just mean the subjective reading experience each reader has. However first just let me say kudos to Geraghty for the ending. Talk about way out of left field, but in a way it creates an even bigger platform for discussion.

Imagine hearing something as a child that changes your entire outlook on life, your family and your attitude in general. The kind of comment that buries into your head like a parasite. A worm munching away at the stability of your temperament and personality, the stability of your relationships and inevitably changes your path in life.

Although the story gives you that initial perception I would also argue that Connor may have made the same choices irrespective of being privy to a comment made in anger or haste. The majority of kids and teens experience, see and hear things they aren't supposed to, and yet it doesn't automatically set them on a path of destruction.

The volatile aspect of his personality may have appeared eventually, and towards the end of the story someone does confront Connor with his constant need to blame others. He is always the victim and never the one at fault. No matter how controlling, how insulting or how abusive he is, he always blames the other person. In fact, a tree could fall on him from a great height in the middle of a desert and he would always blame his mother. The woman who has become his personal demon, the sat nav in his destructive life.

Someone give the child, the teen and the man a hefty slap, and tell him to take responsibility for his actions. His actions, his choices and ultimately his decisions. Although the story veers into the issue of mental health at one point, and he could certainly have done with a lot more support, especially as a child, I personally think the last pages speak to an altogether different evaluation.

The irony of A Mind Polluted is that at the end Connor and his mother probably have more in common than either of them are willing to acknowledge. The scales of nature vs nurture are weighing up equally by the end of this dark tale of anger and regret.

I have to hand it to Geraghty, you can read this and feel empathy or read it and feel the underlying current of aggression. It is a two-way path, a crossing, depending on your personal frame of reference. Is it a mind polluted by emotional turmoil or is the mind polluted from the get-go, a seed that grows when watered sufficiently with the right or wrong kind of nourishment?

Buy A Mind Polluted at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Paperback available now, E-book release 10th May 2018 Publisher: Crooked Cats Books

#BlogTour Medium Wave by Rose

Today I am delighted to take part in the BlogTour for Medium Wave by Rose Zolock. Medium Wave is the story about a woman who makes the mistake of sneering at the dark by using it to make money and herself famous, then the dark comes looking for her...

About the Author
Her Irish grandmother first told Rose about the Banshee when she was just a small child. How the wailing sound of the spirit of the dead and dying could be heard when someone was about to pass.
It was family folklore that the women in the family had ‘the touch’, the ability to see spirits and other dimensions. Rose listened and grew up fascinated by those who claimed to have supernatural or psychic abilities.

Rose does not claim to have those powers. Take her to Venice in February when the mist swirls over the canals, walk by her side along the darkened streets of Greenwich Village in New York City in high summer, listening to a ghost walk tour guide tell the stories of death, murder and the unexplained – Rose would say those stories and our belief in them gives her a power to see into the shadows within our imagination.

As a journalist, Rose takes every opportunity to explore and investigate strange stories, myth and folklore. Living in rural Yorkshire, with a rich library of ghost stories and literary tradition, Rose also has a sceptical and forensic insight into those who peddle the stories which feed our imagination but of which we have yet found no proof. She has listened to the debunkers who argue against those believers who are convinced that sand the dark side exist.
Rose’s mind is open. Is yours?

Follow @RoseZolock @caffeinenights
Visit rosezolock.com

Buy Medium Wave

About the book
Becky Moran has built a career claiming to talk to the dead. A successful clairvoyant medium, a Cambridge graduate with her own radio show ‘Medium Wave’ and a team dedicated to crafting the celebrity myth – because Becky Moran is a fake. Until, one night, something supernatural, inexplicable, breaks through live on air as she is broadcasting. Becky Moran discovers the paranormal is real, the dead can indeed speak and she is being pursued relentlessly towards a battle for her very survival.

‘This thing has no defined shape. Whatever energy exists within it, it cannot settle on a shape. The strands of darkness curl out and then wrap back inwards. The bulk of the shadow becomes concave, then bulbous, the height building in on itself but lacking any skeletal structure to wrap itself around. There are no eyes, no clearly defined head shape. It is creating itself from darkness, like a swirl of ebony ink dropped into a vat of putrid water, spreading silently….’

Review
Scientists will tell you there is a logical explanation for every unusual occurrence or events very often described as psychic, unexplained or mystical. The majority of us want to believe in entities beyond our reach or in a higher power we cannot see or hear, and yet feel as if we it-they-him-her is there with us. It's what faith and most religions are based on.

Fact and logic based arguments will apply scientific knowledge to any experience termed as impossible or mystical in nature, but the truth is not even scientists know or can explain everything, so perhaps there is some small avenue for the unexplained or mysterious events none of us have stumbled upon as yet.

Mediums and so-called psychics make a profitable career out of scamming the vulnerable. Let me say this though, some of their clients want to believe the dead can speak through someone, despite knowing it isn't true. They want to be comforted by the thought that their loved ones are at peace and happy on the supposed other side.

Becky Moran is one of the really experienced cold readers, who makes a lot of money and celebrity from her status as a medium. It is kind of ironic that she ends up connecting with the dark side that she has sneered at in the past, and doesn't exist according to her.

The dark, the occult and the evil finds a path to her via an ancient object, and after that door is opened Becky finds herself inundated with visions, images and new perceptions. Suddenly she can pass on real messages and interact with the other side. Sounds like a good business venture right, except for the fact evil seems to be trying to find a way to take control of her.

Zolock combines a gothic horror vibe with a paranormal urban fantasy. She plays with the aspect of our hidden fears and shadows in the dark like a violin virtuoso. Do you believe in monsters in the dark? Have you ever invited them in to play? Well this author invites them in, plays with them, and then hands them back to the main character and asks her to deal with them instead.

Buy Medium Wave on Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Days of Wonder by Keith Stuart

I absolutely adored A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart and I have recommended his work quite often, because it is a great read, but also for its emotional and educational value in regards to the topic of autism and a father seeking a connection to his son.

I was genuinely interested to see of he could bring the same kind of emotional inner turmoil and tug-of-war to the table with Days of Wonder.The answer to that is yes, but in a completely different way.

The focus in Days of Wonder is on the relationship between Tom and his daughter Hannah, however the difference is the connection between them is already there. Instead the author explores the difficulty between father and daughter as she comes of age, with the added tragic factor of a future she may never be part of.

The topic of a child with heart disease is one I found easy to relate to. Being told that your child has joined the inner sanctum and group of children suffering from or affected by a terribly frightening disease, especially when it comes out of the blue, is devastating and incredibly traumatic.

Luckily for my child, who was a guinea pig for a new procedure nearly 25 years ago, the medical world had a solution and she is now a healthy young woman. For Tom and Hannah the reality is a lot more dire. They both know that their time together is limited and on a timer.

Tom decided a long time ago to make every birthday Hannah manages to celebrate an event to remember, and there is no limit to his imagination. I loved the ideas he prepared for his child, especially the fairy parade. What a wonderful memory and experience to give to your child. This is the kind of parent Tom is, but he is also a typical father who has trouble letting his beautiful caged bird fly and experience the world for herself.

Days of Wonder is an ode to the relationships between fathers and daughters. The majority of stories focus on mother and daughter bonds or dysfunctional family relationships, which makes this a refreshing change of tempo and a smorgasbord of emotions.

Stuart manages to change a tragedy into a warm, heartfelt coming-of-age story. He portrays the father as a man willing to go to any length to ensure his daughter experiences each moment to the fullest, even when she decides it is time to cut the cord between them. Kudos to the author for giving Days of Wonder the ending it deserved, and not falling prey to the scenario some readers may want to see, as opposed to the brutal reality it needed.

Keith Stuart offers up his heart, mind and part of his soul, which is part of his style and it's what makes his books so memorable. He invites the reader to sit down at the table with his characters and become part of the family. At the end of Days of Wonder you may just see the fairies dancing in your garden at night too, and that is the magic Stuart creates.

Buy Days of Wonder at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Published by Little Brown Books Uk of 7th June 2018

Follow @keefstuart @LittleBrownUK
Follow boymadeofblocks.tumblr.com

Read A Boy Made Of Blocks

#BlogTour Girl Fighter by Cyan Night

Today it is my turn to host the BlogTour for Girl Fighter by Cyan Night. It is a harsh look into the world of women in a so-called male dominated sport, whilst taking a closer look at the person behind the fighting fists.

About the Author
Cyan Night is a self-professed martial arts junkie with training in Chinese Martial Arts (Wushu), Thai style boxing (Muay Thai), Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Judo, Fencing and MMA. She grew up in Asia, holds degrees in Design and IT from universities in London (where she lived for 6½ years) and currently lives in Melbourne.

Follow @girlfighterbook  and @CameronPMtweets on Twitter and girlfighterbook on Facebook
Visit girlfighterbook.com View the trailer at:  youtu.be/oiucOuDOtqA
Buy Girl Fighter

About the book
A novel that goes behind the scenes in the life of a female MMA cage fighter - the training, the dedication, and the danger. Written by a former competitive martial artist who can talk about the life and motivation of women who fight.

- Fighters are rarely the brainless thugs we imagine. Many are intelligent, highly-qualified and looking for an outlet. Most are marginalised, have experienced tremendous hardship and are looking for the only way out of poverty and/or abuse.

- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a real risk and fighters who suffer repeated head damage often show symptoms such as a negative shift in temperament and a severe reduction in productivity. While writing the novel Cyan Night joined several forums and support groups for TBI survivors and caregivers and included their experiences in the book.

Aliyah, a mixed race Australian lives a solitary life as a computer specialist in London. She is born with an exceptional intelligence but her gifted mind does little to alleviate the pain she carries inside since her childhood.

One day Aliyah stumbles upon a mixed martial arts gym. Like many fighters before her she finds peace in a sport that is seemingly violent. She takes on training with a military discipline as an easy substitute for any meaningful bond in her life. Her journey to her debut cage fight is challenging, but
it does nothing to prepare her for the biggest fight of her life.

Girl Fighter explores the motivations of a mixed martial artist, the challenges of women in combat sport and the unseen struggles of a brain injury survivor.

Review
This has such a personal feel to it from both an emotional and professional sports perspective. As a reader it is fair to wonder how much of Cyan Night is infused into the story of Aliyah.

A reader wouldn't be wrong in thinking that Girl Fighter is all about the journey Aliyah takes in the art, control and power of the sport, and her personal journey after it changes her life. However, it is also a long hard look at loneliness and the way people in society co-exist without really knowing each other at all.

Aliyah spends the majority of her time alone. The only time she interacts with other people is at work and in the gym, but even there she is isolated and spends her time doubting herself. Everything leads back to a motherless childhood and a father who drank to drown out the pain of losing his wife. She often wonders what it would be like to have memories of a loving mother, to have a family member who actually cares how she is feeling, but what she really wants is someone to share her life with. A partner, a confidante, a lover and a friend.

You can't see or feel it when someone is lonely, especially not when we are all caught up in our own lives. Suspicions are usually waved away with phrases like 'I'm fine, I am ok' and we are happy to hear it, because we have enough on our own plate.

The most honest and realistic aspect of this story is the inner rage. The type of rage a person is often unaware of, as it simmers just below the surface waiting for the opportunity to break free and rain down upon someone like an angry vicious beast.

Neglect, trauma and a lack of human interaction can cause a brain that is still developing to rewire and make connections a happy content brain doesn't make, so  I would throw that theory into the arena before Aliyah receives a hammering in the cage. The rage is a result of the past, the pummeling provokes the uncontrolled reaction and causes physical pre-damage to the brain, before the actual accident.

It is a dire set of circumstances that come together and end up changing the way Aliyah deals with situations and her emotions. One could argue that the groundwork for the reaction was already set in stone long before the accident, and that her impulse control vanishes after the event in question.

I think a first person narrative would have been better for Girl Fighter, and there are minor editing issues. Aside from that it is an emotional and often dismal read with a brutally frank approach to mental health, sexism in sports, racism and the chauvinistic attitudes in men.

Cyan Night comes down hard on her character, herself and society's response to her in this particular situation. It's not an easy ride, in fact it's a fast bicycle ride through the busy streets of life, during which you have to watch out for car doors waiting to catapult you through the air. Like the fallible humans we all are, sometimes these doors catch us by surprise.

Buy Girl Fighter at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

#BlogTour Saving the World by Paola Diana

Today it really is a pleasure to host the BlogTour for Saving the World - Women: The Twenty-First Century's Factor for Change by Paola Diana. It should be made in pocket size, so all women and men can read it on the go.

About the Author
A top ten bestselling author and political activist in Italy, Paola Diana is a mouthpiece for female equality in a country that has some of the worst work place equality in the world ranking 118th out of 144 countries in terms of women’s participation in economic life and 126th for wage equality for similar work according to the 2017 Global Gender Gap Index, with Italy lagging behind India and Iran in wage equality.

A London based entrepreneur and campaigner for equal rights Paola has dedicated her life to championing sexual equality in business and politics in the UK and Italy. In Italy, Paola is the founder of the organisation PariMerito (Equal Merit), which she used to lobby the Italian Government to pass new equality laws in the work place, including a new bill requiring every company board to have minimum 30% female representation.

Prior to starting PariMerito Paola ran a Think Tank in support of the former Prime Minister and President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi’s political campaign, which had a particular focus on issues including welfare, female employment and structural policies in favour of the family and equal opportunities.

Paola is also an entrepreneur starting her first business as a single mother of two, her hugely successful Diana Group, comprises three separate businesses and has established itself as a market leader in recruitment and lifestyle services, recognised as one of London’s most influential service providers for high net worth individuals, families and corporations around the world.
Follow @paoladiana_ @quartetbooks @midaspr
Buy Saving the World

About the book
“I write about history to free us from the past, I write about the present to strive for alternative destinies and I write about the future because the world we live in is not the only one possible.”

Part manifesto for change part historical and sociological essay, Saving the World charts women’s condition through the centuries, analysing their treatment within political, religious, economic and societal contexts to form a bigger picture of their place in the world; and explores what needs to be done in 2018 to create a truly equal world. Having already broken the glass ceiling for women in Italy, where she introduced a new bill requiring company boards to have 30% female representation, Paola turns to the Gender Pay Gap and puts forward her vision for how we reach an equal society, one in which all women are set free from fear, violence and oppression. Paola Diana impresses on us that this world we inhabit, dominated by men and often seemingly immutable, is far from the only one possible.

Already a bestseller in Italy, this translation has been extensively revised by the author to incorporate recent UK events that impinge on women’s rights and the struggle to achieve equality. A clarion call for change, Diana’s polemic should be read by all who hold powerful positions in government, industry and the arts.

Review
There is a paragraph in the preface that gave me food for thought. The author believes she was born with certain instincts, which have made her more attuned to the injustices and discrimination against women, although she does point out that she would have reacted and felt the same if those were directed towards men.

It really made me think about my own tendencies to stand up for the oppressed, the vulnerable and those who have to deal with injustice and discrimination. Our temperament is already shaped within the womb.  Are we perhaps genetically pre-wired to be more of a 'save the universe and the downtrodden' kind of person? Scientists have proven that there are links between genetics and violence, is it so far-fetched to believe a social justice warrior gene could be embedded in our DNA? It isn't just a 'I feel more empathy' kind of emotion either.

I guess we end up back with the old nature vs nurture argument. I, for instance was privy to an upbringing, which some would now call liberal thinking. Nowadays liberal is perceived to be some kind of insult and associated with an anti-authoritarian free-thinking no rules kind of upbringing. I had rules and was taught discipline, but I was also taught acceptance and tolerance.

Admittedly I think the word tolerance is probably the wrong one, because I wasn't taught to tolerate anyone, I was taught that we are all equal. No matter the skin colour, education, origins, socio-economic status, gender or religion. Sounds very flower powery - far from it, because I was also taught that an arsehole is an arsehole regardless of race, colour, gender or religion.

The patriarchal system is the main reason the systemic abuse, oppression and discrimination against women is still alive and kicking. Old habits die hard and a leopard doesn't change its spots or rather refuses to change them at all.

'There is no religious justification for female subjugation.' Diana couldn't be more right about the way religion is used to control, weaken and oppress the rights of women. To the point of women being so brainwashed by centuries-old man-written rules to keep the opposite gender quiet and submissive, that they dare not question the need for ten wives for one man. The need to support hebephilia and ephebophilia, so men can marry children or the need to obey or be punished, because God says so. Men wrote the rule books, not any entity of faith.

There are so many examples throughout history and many countries, of women standing up to the institutional oppression. Sometimes individuals have been able to bring about change. Women have been tortured and killed to allow us the same rights as men. It is often apparent that 21st century women and girls don't really have a clue what some women have achieved in history to ensure we can cast a vote in an election for instance.

Among many controversial topics that make me stand up for women's rights is the topic of our bodies. No man should be allowed to determine what I can or can't do to my body. You don't own me, you don't own my physical appearance and you certainly don't own my uterus or anything which may reside in it, so your opinions are unwanted and invalid.  Women shouldn't have to return to the dark alleys of medieval times just because men, religious institutions run by men and governed by rules written by men and interpreted by men, decide they own the rental space in my uterus and yours.

Let's be clear, the majority of the male gender of our species believes us to be inferior, albeit often a subconscious thought process, which is why we don't deserve equal pay or equal representation in the world of politics or business.

What becomes abundantly clear in Saving the World, is not only the need for change, but also how unaware the world really is to the daily injustices against women. We need to educate those, who have been raised to perceive a rift between man and woman. The people who expect obedience and subservience instead of acknowledging the need for equality. For me the change must start in the cradle. Mothers must teach their sons to respect women instead of teaching them to treat women as a sub-humans, they must also teach their daughters to want more than just a life dictated by a patriarchal society.

On the stage of the world we must fight for and insist upon equal representation. It's time the old boy, and especially the old boy white club mentality, disappeared. We need more female role models for younger women to not only emulate, but also so they can see there is a change on the horizon. Locker room humour, chauvinistic and sexist attitudes should be relegated to the dusty pages of the history books.

There are a lot of negative connotations when it comes to the umbrella phrase of feminism, which is a term I tend not to use to describe myself. I believe in women. I believe in equality, and I believe in justice for the oppressed and those who are discriminated. That is just common sense, which doesn't need a blanket term or stereotype, so others can box me in by trying to invalidate my arguments.

If there is one thing you take away from this strong encouraging voice of empowerment, then let it be that women should work together and not against each other. When we are critical of women in positions of power, we undermine ourselves and them, and automatically fall back into the trap laid out by men. Not that I am saying women shouldn't be challenged, by all means challenge them on the topic they are speaking on or their opinions if you disagree, but never do it to undermine in an attempt to be one of the boys. You will never be one of the boys. We are woman, and it is time to hear us roar.

Kudos to Paola Diana for roaring for all of us.

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