Saturday, 18 November 2017

PLEASE VOTE FOR A MERSEY MARINER

PLEASE ADD A VOTE FOR A MERSEY MARINER. (AND SHEBA)
As well as Sheba's book, A Mersey Mariner is also in the running for the Best Indie Book Awards, in the Mystery/Thriller section. If you have a minute to spare please vote for A Mersey Mariner at http://www.readfree.ly/vote-50-best-indie-books-2017-mysterythriller/
Just tick the box next to the book title then enter your name and email address and submit. If you have a second email address you can vote again. If you haven't voted for Sheba yet, please add a vote in the 'Others' section at http://www.readfree.ly/vote-50-best-indie-books-2017/
THANKS EVERYONE.

Friday, 17 November 2017

DOG LOVERS, PLEASE VOTE FOR SHEBA

Sheba's life story, Sheba: From Hell to Happiness, is in the final of the voting for the Top 50 Best Indie Books of 2017. Her story has touched the hearts of so many people, telling of her early life as a bait dog for dog fighters, then being thrown on a rubbish tip, a living skeleton and left to die, and finally being rescued and brought back to health and happiness in the love and warmth of our family. Her book has done so much to encourage people to see staffies in a better light and to encourage people to adopt rescue dogs.
It only takes a minute to place your vote for Sheba. (It's in the 'Others' section.
just go to http://www.readfree.ly/vote-50-best-indie-books-2017/ and put a tick in the box next to Sheba and enter your name and email address. If you have a second email address you can use another name and vote a second time.
BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOTE TO SUPPORT SHEBA'S STORY
(Voting closes 4th December) It would be lovely to celebrate Sheba's 12th birthday in December if she could do well in the voting.

Thursday, 16 November 2017

5 STARS FOR 'A MILLIONAIRE'S CHRISTMAS'

With Christmas just around the corner, it's nice to receive a new 5 star review for my Christmas short story book, A Millionaire's Christmas, which was specially commissioned for a magazine's special Christmas edition some years ago. Available in Kindle version only and only 99p in the UK and less than a dollar in the USA.5.0 out of 5 stars A special Christmas miracle.
By HZ on 16 November 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Aristedes Miklos is dying. No doubt about it. He knows he has an inoperable brain tumour, and nobody can help him. That is, until he is visited by a strange doctor, a newcomer to the hospital, where he lies on Christmas Eve seeing the days his youth in his mind’s eye. The doctor brings with him a young boy, Christos, also apparently terminally ill, who somehow reminds the old man of himself in his own younger days. And there we have a recipe for a very special Christmas miracle, one that will bring a smile to your face, as good Christmas stories should do.
Told in a really intriguing short story, A Millionaire’s Christmas is a brilliant and unusual Christmas tale, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.
A MILLIONAIRE'S CHRISTMAS
A dying man and a sick young boy are about to experience the miracle of Christmas.
On a snowy Christmas Eve, Aristedes Miklos lies in his hospital bed, dying from an inoperable brain tumor. His mind takes him back to his youth and his life plays out before him in a string of mental cameos. Suddenly, the door to his hospital room opens and a strange doctor enters. When the doctor speaks to him, Aristedes is at first confused, then comforted by his words. Soon they are joined by a young boy who is dying, like him. Before he can find out more, the doctor and the boy are gone, and Aristedes is left with nothing but their memory.
When everyone at the hospital later denies the existence of the strange doctor, Aristedes begins to realize that he has been cast to play a very special role in the life of young Christos. For one dying man and a very sick young boy, the miracle of Christmas is about to unfold.

Wednesday, 15 November 2017

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME IN THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2017

PLEASE.PLEASE, PLEASE, I NEED YOUR VOTES
My two nominations in The Best Indie Books 2017 awards have both reached the second voting stage.This will whittle the entries down to the final 50 best books of the year. PLEASE vote for A MERSEY MARINER in the Mystery/Thriller category and for SHEBA: FROM HELL TO HAPPINESS in the 'Others' category. You are entitled to two voted per category so if you have two email addresses you could vote twice for each book.
PLEASE go to the link below for the Others section at http://www.readfree.ly/vote-50-best-indie-books-2017/
and go to the Mystery/Thriller section at http://www.readfree.ly/vote-50-best-indie-books-2017-mysterythriller/  to vote for A Mersey Maiden. Every vote counts, as last years awards attracted thousands of votes, worldwide.

PLEASE share with your friends and groups and help spread the word if you'd like to see the books included in the Top 50 Best Indie Books of 2017
I hope all my friends and readers will help to make it a successful year for my books in this important and prestigious award.
Thank you all



Awards sponsored by Read Free.ly


Friday, 10 November 2017

A GREAT REVIEW FOR A MERSEY MAIDEN

A  MERSEY WINNER
My thanks go to author Nick Sweet for his great 5 star review of book three of my Mersey Mystery Series, A Mersey Maiden. Nick is currently unable to post his review on Amazon so has sent it to me, and he will add it there eventually

A MERSEY WINNER
With A MERSEY MAIDEN, Brian Porter serves up an excellent police procedural. Porter is excellent on detail, as we see in his description of an autopsy, and the plot slowly rolls out in a way that only happens when it’s engineered by a skilful writer who’s in control of his materials. The style is also clear and eaaablesy to read. So far as the plot is concerned, gifted cricketer, Aaron Decker, who’s made the switch from baseball, which he played in his native America, is found dead in bed next to his girlfriend Sally Metcalf. Both have been drugged, but Sally comes round to find her boyfriend dead. Or at least, that’s her version of events, but she is nevertheless a suspect. The plot thickens when we learn that Aaron had been researching a project that Aegis Oceanographic, the company that is sponsoring his girlfriend Sally through university, is involved in. Did Aaron find something he shouldn’t have, and did the company then take the ultimate form of lethal action to prevent him from revealing this information? No spoilers here, but suffice to say Brian Porter has written a highly readable whodunnit here and that’s well worth 5 stars.
See more at A Mersey Maiden
Available in Kindle and paperback and please see the rest of the series at The Mersey Mysteries
A Mersey Maiden
A MERSEY MAIDEN 
A peaceful cricket match on a warm summer’s day turns to murder and mystery, as the star player Aaron Decker lies dead in his bed, his girlfriend sleeping soundly beside him.

The case takes on a new twist with links to the disappearance of a German U-Boat and a British warship in 1945. With the mysterious Aegis Institute hovering in the background of the investigation, D.I Andy Ross and his team find themselves in their most complex case to date.

With events in Britain, Germany, the U.S.A and a secret submarine base in Canada all involved, Ross and his team need to work together with international law enforcement agencies and a respected German historian to not only solve the murder of Aaron Decker, but the strange case of U3000's last voyage.


Follow the Mersey Mysteries on Facebook at The Mersey Mysteries
 
The Mersey Mysteries

Wednesday, 8 November 2017

SASHA'S SPECIAL AWARD

SASHA'S SPECIAL AWARD
We are very grateful to Emma Turner at Facebook Group, Belle, Fee, Antonio & Friends for giving a special award to Sasha (and me), for helping to raise awareness and helping owners with dogs with canine epilepsy. Here's Sasha proudly showing off her lovely SPECIAL rosette. Thank you Emma and everyone at Belle, Fee, Antonio and Friends!


Sasha and I would like to say a big thank you to all those on Facebook who have sent us your 
congratulations and good wishes. It's lovely to know that the work Sasha and I do in trying to help other epi-dog owners is appreciated. It doesn't have to be an Oscar type award, it's the thought behind this special rosette that means such a lot to me. 

Tuesday, 7 November 2017

AN ITALIAN ARTICLE ON MYSTERY/THRILLER 'GLASTONBURY'

A terrific article about my mystery thriller Glastonbury, on the Italian literary blog of CP Traduzioni, and written by the book's Italian translator Ilaria Igieni, who has kindly provided me with an English Translation of the original article which is available to view at cptraduzioni

Glastonbury, an English mystery with  an insistent rhythm

Imagine a pale moon night in the English countryside, five men moving across a marshy field to bury some mysterious lead-lined boxes.

Then imagine an historical town in Somerset, where the ghosts of Arthurian legends hover around, and an annoying rain that has been pouring for days, preventing the main characters from getting their job done; that is to say, digging around in the surrounding countryside searching for an ancient and legendary artifact.

You'll get chills ̶ not only because of the mists swirling around Glastonbury Tor...

An ancient secret lies in the shadows of Glastonbury Tor

These are the preconditions for an engaging mystery novel full of plot twists. After millionaire Malcolm Capshaw hires Joe Cutler and his team to search for a fabled artifact, they enter a maze of lies, murder and betrayal.

The real purpose of their search is soon exposed, as an old London crime family displays an unusual interest in an ancient town where Christianity laid its roots in England.

There, aided by the enigmatic Professor Lucius Doberman, Joe and his team must solve the mystery of Glastonbury before the sinister historian Walter Graves makes the discovery that could cost him and the whole team their lives.



A simple, enjoyable and surprising reading: the reviewers' opinions

Glastonbury, the mystery novel by bestseller author Brian L Porter, has been receiving some terrific reviews on Amazon.com from 2014 onwards; and this year even the Italian version has had its successful debut on Amazon.it.
One of the reviews says it's “a beautiful, engaging novel shrouded in mystey, […] with a vortex of surprises and plot twists which make this book a real page-turner.

A reader talk about it as “a simple but enjoyable book”; another one enthusiastically affirms that “the plot is amazing, rich in coups de théâtre, original and not at all predictable”, and then she adds that “the novel is a fluid and quite light reading, and therefore it's extremely pleasant”.

Translating Glastonbury in order to make “friends”

As the translator of Glastonbury, I can just say that I had the time of my life. Describing the magical places and atmospheres was an easy job, because when I was 16 years old I visited the town of Glastonbury,  the quivering curiosity typical of teens, and my head filled with myths and legends.



A suggestive picture of Glastonbury Tor. Font: http://gardenofmidnight.blogspot.it

The characters surely required the most accurate and contemplated work, especially attempting to convey the peculiarities of everyone's own style: Winston's slang and humour, Professor Lucius Doberman's flamboyant and refined speech (my favourite one!), the obscene language of the London underworld.

I almost feel like I once knew them all in person, as if they were my friends unfortunately just for a few months, and then they left me for new adventures.

You can find the Italian version of Glastonbury on Amazon (Kindle and paperback), Google Books, Mondadori and other important digital platforms.

Brian, Harry or Juan Pablo?

Brian L Porter is surely a versatile author: in fact he has written novels, poetry and children books under three different names.

As Juan Pablo Jalisco he composed the romantic poetry collection Of Aztecs and Conquistadors; as Harry Porter he wrote two children's books and a young adults/teens adventure story; and finally, many other works, such as novels, poetry and short stories, all carry the Brian L Porter name.


Brian L Porter and his 'Miracle Dog' Sasha

Among all his works, I always like to remember a particular one, which reveals the generous and refined spirit of its author: Sasha, a touching true story about one of the rescue dogs adopted by the Porters; winner of the Preditors & Editors Award in 2016 and a real “climber” of Amazon Top Tens in its category all around the world, Sasha tells about the life of an unfortunate female dog, who faces every adversity with an incredible strenght, a lust for life and her permanently wagging tail, which is already become her most distinctive feature. Well, a very good example for all of us.

Italian edition Glastonbury, Italian
English edition Glastonbury, English


Ilaria Igieni for CP Traduzioni