Press Release for "The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

“The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)”

A thrilling and original adventure to the world of imagination for the entire family.

 

In this whimsical mystery novel written for all ages, Grandpa Kingsley takes his entire family along with the reader on an unforgettable adventure where imagination and reality collide.

Burbank, CA – October 10, 2013 – Sandra Alex is debuting her fantasy literature “The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)” released on August 1, 2013 through the Kindle Publishing program of Amazon.com. The trilogy collection contains elements of mystery, thriller, adventure and romance for the coming of age demographic, and for parents and grandparents alike. An Irish-themed party will be held in November for the launch with members of the press.

National Emmy Award winner Frank Radice, television producer and co-author of Random House’s popup book “Sam Katz on the Loose,” said, “As an author of content for kids I know the difficulty of creating a world that is intriguing, engaging and fun. ‘The Conjunction of the Realms’ has achieved that goal, and gone way beyond, in both originality and beauty. It is a giant leap for the genre. This has great ‘Legs!’”
 
Chere Berman, author of acclaimed poetry book for women, “Amber String of Beads” offered the following five-star review on Amazon: “Utterly original and spellbinding. The Conjunction of the Realms is quite unlike anything I have ever read… what you will discover will both delight you and release your inner child to consider the possibilities of the world that we live in. The illustrations are winsome and lovely….I can’t wait for Part II!”
 
Sandra Alex is available for interviews and appearances. The eBook is currently being distributed via Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Kobo.com and on Apple’s iBooks store.

About Sandra Alex

 

Sandra, an entrepreneur and creative writer originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been working towards the publication of her first book for the past ten years while raising her daughter, running a successful software business and consulting for major television studios. As a cinematographer, Sandra co-owns Studio City’s production company, Shoot to Film, and is the founder of Livre Press, Inc., an e-publishing corporation that she started to support the release of upcoming books.

For more information about THE CONJUNCTION OF THE REALMS (Part One), please visit: www.livrepress.net or call at (800) 804-1173, Ext. 107.

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Positive feedback all the way from Germany!

I wanted to share a positive feedback for “The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)” from Hanni, a native German who lives in Munich:

“It truly amazed me to read such a positive book about love and family, and it seems to make one dreaming… Normally I don’t read fantasy so I don’t have much comparison with others in this genre. But I just liked it. Most (especially sophisticated) literature usually dwells on the negative sides of humanity and this was different. Fantastic job…”

Thank you, Hanni, for liking this book and for your kind words. It was my intent to do just that: dwell on what we can be as human beings, provide a vision for the families, and for a future that is different from what we have now. I understand that by exposing all of the ugliness that exists inside the human heart then there are no surprises. I get that. But I also believe that by focusing so much on the negative, almost exalting evil, a certain cynicism is generated along with a warped look on life.
This is not to say that life is easy, or as my dad used to put it: “Life is not a sea of roses.” “The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)” does not aspire to be the next Pollyanna, and it definitely does not portray life as a “sea of roses.” I cannot imagine experiencing the loss of a 3-year old child. And yet, that is what happens in our story. For the Kingsley’s family, life took a whole new meaning after that event. They never healed from the loss, but that pain heightened their awareness one of another, and whenever a contentious situation arose, they consciously opted to express kindness instead of irritation; a smile instead of a frown, and so on. I ask of the reader: if I don’t believe that a family like Grandpa Kingsley’s can exist on the earth, what kind of earth am I wanting to leave behind for the future generations? The challenge of “The Conjunction of the Realms” is to provoke the reader to dream and dream big, to think of what the future can be, rather than looking limitedly at how the present presents itself. I hope that more readers can say like Hanni: “…it seems to make one dreaming.”

“The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)” can be purchased at Livre Press, Inc. in any digital format.

2013 © Juan Hernandez (used with permission). Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without written authorization from Livre Press, Inc. or Juan Hernandez.

 

"O Boto Cor-de-Rosa" (The Pink Dolphin)

The pink dolphins are not cartoon characters nor are they to be compared with pink elephants. Well, they can be cartoon characters. In “The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)” the pink dolphins play a huge part in helping transport the humans to the world of imagination, but in the case of Paulo Cardoso or in our material world, they are real dolphins.

For those who have not yet read the book, Paulo Cardoso made a few documentaries on preservation projects in his homeland of Brazil. One of his films, titled in Portuguese, “O Boto Cor-de-Rosa,” featured Brazilian ecologists’ efforts to save the pink dolphins of the Amazon river, not only rare at the time but also endangered. For those who have never heard of these fresh water mammals, they are called Pink Amazon River Dolphins because of a light pink tinge in their almost white skin pigmentation. The ecological project, supported by Paulo’s documentary, gave birth to legends and stories that would educate the next generation of Brazilian children on the importance of preserving our earth’s interconnected systems. In fact, Paulo’s documentary was so successful that today he states with a sigh of relief that the pink dolphin has been removed from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Resources’ Red List of Endangered Species.

On one of his recent trips to the Amazon forest, Paulo shot a large amount of footage for his new documentary “The Encounter of the Waters.” The encounter of the waters is an unexplainable phenomena where the dark waters of the Negro river and the lighter muddy waters of the Solimões river first collide, then run parallel to each other without mixing for approximately six kilometers (or three and a half miles) and finally join together to form the great Amazon river. The trip required that Paulo contract a small helicopter to get some aerial shots where the contrasting colors of the rivers could be well depicted on screen. After being in the air for a couple of hours, Paulo joined his two-man crew on the small, motorized boat to travel up the Negro River towards Janauari, an ecological park filled with streams and lakes. Paulo, his cinematographer, and their assistant traveled in the small, motorized boat up the Negro River for almost a full day and finally arrived at the ecological park. To his utmost delight, a large pack of pink dolphins, larger than he had ever seen, was at play on the other side of the riverbed. A sight that would have been so rare in the early 1990’s was now more prominent, thanks to his and many others’ efforts to save the happy, playful creatures. Paulo motioned to his camera guy to document the beautiful aquatic ballet. A sighting such as this is simply extraordinary. Every piece of footage on the fresh water creatures is valuable and irreplaceable; Paulo captured every movement of the dolphins provoking each other to good fun while they splashed, jumped, and dove in the river waters innumerous times.

(I do not own the copyright for these images. If the rightful owner wishes to have them removed from this blog, please leave a reply below. Thank you!)

The Hobbit in real life?

(or in the case of "The Conjunction of the Realms, Part One" could it be “Laddy” in real life?)


Another one of Paulo Cardoso’s documentaries: the archaeological discovery of a very small humanoid-type, possibly a contemporary of humans, but supposedly now extinct. Or perhaps they are visible only with the mind’s eye.

Homo floresiensis (“Flores Man,” nicknamed “hobbit” and “Flo”) is a possible species, now extinct, in the genus Homo. The remains were discovered in 2004 on the island of Flores in Indonesia. Partial skeletons of nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete cranium (skull). These remains have been the subject of intense research to determine whether they represent a species distinct from modern humans, and the progress of this scientific controversy has been closely followed by the news media at large.

This hominin is remarkable for its small body and brain and for its survival until relatively recent times (possibly as recently as 12,000 years ago). Recovered alongside the skeletal remains were stone tools from archaeological horizons ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago. The discoverers (archaeologist Mike Morwood and colleagues) proposed that a variety of features, both primitive and derived, identify these individuals as belonging to a new species, H. floresiensis, within the taxonomic tribe of Hominini. The discoverers also proposed that H. floresiensis lived contemporaneously with modern humans on Flores.

To find out more about this particular documentary and the other documentaries from Paulo Cardoso, please visit livrepress.net to purchase a copy of "The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)."

The Legend of the Vitoria Regia

Paulo Cardoso is one of the characters in The Conjunction of the Realms series.  Paulo came from the southernmost parts of Brazil and arrived in Northern Ireland as an exchange student during secondary school. Upon graduating, he went to the University of Ulster to get a degree in film. Paulo now has his own film production company. His famous documentaries require constant travel throughout Europe, Africa, Indonesia, and mainly South America. One beautiful documentary by Paulo Cardoso reports on the Vitoria Regia, the most peculiar and largest water-lily in the world, indigenous to the Amazon region. The Vitoria Regias vary from one hundred and forty to one hundred and eighty centimeters or four to six feet in diameter, and can hold up to forty-five kilograms or one hundred pounds. A child can sit in the middle of the plant and neither the plant nor the child will sink. The Brazilian Indian tribe Tupi-Guarani has a legend explaining the origin of this unique water plant (to listen to the legend, instead of read it, you can go to SoundCloud®).

“It was said of the moon goddess, Iaci, that she was known for her majestic presence in the heavens inspiring young native women to fall in love. The legend also tells how the young women who loved and were loved the most, eventually became a shiny star, glamorizing the heavens with their brilliance. Naia, the chief’s daughter and princess of the Tupi tribe, became so enthralled with this legend that every full-moon night, she would climb the hills to be closer to heaven and cry out to Iaci, longing for love. One night, Naia looked down from the top of the hill and saw Iaci’s reflection on the waters of a calm lake, as if spending countless hours contemplating her own beauty. The splendor of that reflection convinced the young Indian that the moon had heard her cry and descended from heaven to bathe in the pristine lake. This was Naia’s chance to be closer than ever to Iaci, when she, too, could be stricken by love and be transformed into a bright, shiny star. In no time, the princess ran down the hill and threw herself into the illuminant waters, in hopes to touch the celestial being. The deeper she swam, the further she became from Iaci; eventually, Naia was overtaken by the waters and drowned to her death. Iaci, moved by the girl’s unfortunate tragedy, was unable to transform Naia into a star in heaven, so she transformed her into a different kind of star: the magnificent ‘Star of the Waters,’ also known as the Vitoria Regia. Thus was born the aquatic plant and its exquisite flower that only blooms during the full-moon, exuding unique, sweet perfume; the flower’s petals are first white to reflect the moonlight; the following morning, the petals turn pink and then red when they finally wither, after only three days.”

The lake from which the legend originates is to this day called “Mirror of the Moon,” and it is located near the Amazonas and Pará states border.

Another Positive Review

National Emmy Award winner Frank Radice, television producer and co-author of Random House’s pop-up book “Sam Katz on the Loose,” said:

“As an author of content for kids I know the difficulty of creating a world that is intriguing, engaging and fun. ‘The Conjunction of the Realms’ has achieved that goal, and gone way beyond, in both originality and beauty. It is a giant leap for the genre. This has great ‘Legs!’”
The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One) is available for sale at:

- Amazon.com
- Amazon.co.uk (currently discounted! Only £2.00)
- Barnes & Noble
- iBooks from Apple
- Kobo

You can also Like us on Facebook or follow Sandra Alex here on Twitter or on Google+.

Why Northern Ireland

Beginning October 10, 2013 and continuing for the next thirty days, “The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One)” is being discounted on Amazon.co.uk.

Why is this promotion taking place in the United Kingdom and not in the United States?
When I started writing The Conjunction of the Realm’s first volume, I imagined the story to occur in a magical location, filled with beauty and mystique. A place where the existence of creatures from a different realm was still considered a possibility and bedtime stories never stopped being told; a place where forests, caves, and waterfalls could be found all around. Ireland was my first pick. There Leprechauns are as close to real as rainbows, and there just might be a pot of gold hiding somewhere. Then suddenly my focus shifted to Northern Ireland. Searching the internet, I stumbled upon Glenariff, the most beautiful of the nine Glens of Antrim, sometimes known as the Queen of all the glens. Besides Glenariff and Waterfoot, the cities of Belfast and Hillsborough became strategic locations for The Conjunction of the Realms (Part One). Later, with the advent of Google® Maps, I was able to virtually visit each one of these places and carefully examine them from my MacBook® Pro’s screen. I even had the strange experience of seeing one of these locations in my mind’s eye (Dark Hedges) before I knew it existed.

Northern Ireland also appealed to me because of The Troubles’ history in the late 1960’s, leading to the Bogside Massacre of 1972, or as it became famously known: “Bloody Sunday.” Yes, the same “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” sung by Bono and the U2 band. My heart had always gone out to the people of Northern Ireland. I imagined depicting this beautiful place filled with wonder, where the importance of relationships is paramount, and the love of family surpasses all remaining friction. I imagined my little book making an impact in the lives of those Northern Irish children and families, and eliminating any possibilities of future conflict. Quite the imagination I have, and yet, why put a limitation on it? Why not think big? I began writing, picturing myself in Glenariff, describing each location as best as I possibly could, knowing that since a conjunction of the realms was taking place in the Northern Ireland of my book, the reader would find some aspects from the realm of imagination superimposed on the current state of things, which some refer to as reality.

As if all of the above was not reason enough to have Northern Ireland be the perfect location for The Conjunction of the Realms, this next discovery was about to astound me. Writing Chapter 4, I came to a stand still and began questioning myself: “Why write a book? You’re not even a writer! Who do you think you are?” The wave of discouragement was so strong that it halted my writing for a couple of years. One day, while doing a research for Disney on the 2005 release of “Chronicles of Narnia,” I began studying the life of C.S. Lewis. The first sentence read: “Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland…” At that moment I knew it was no coincidence. The Conjunction of the Realms needed to be written. Thanks to C.S. Lewis and his inspiring legacy which has blessed and continues to bless children all over the world, my goal of blessing the children and the families of Northern Ireland grew stronger and stronger, enough to help me finish the first installment of the series.