Thursday, January 31, 2013

CAN YOU WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN???




How much do you know about Ancient Egypt???

1.     The Rosetta Stone played a key role in the deciphering of the hieroglyphic language. There are three languages inscribed on the stone: hieroglyphics, demotic, and:
A)    Greek
B)    Hebrew
C)    Akkadian

2.     Has an original mummy (from the pyramid age) been found in any pyramid?

A)    Yes
B)    No

3) What year was the tome of Tutankhamun discovered?

A)    1918       
B)    1922
C)    1898

4) The chief embalmer wore a mask of what Egyptian diety?

A)    Anubis
B)    Horus
C)    Set

5) Who discovered the Rosetta stone?

A) Jean Champollion
B) Henry Rawlinson
C) Napoleon Bonaparte

6) How many dynasties were there in pharaonic Egypt, from the unification of Egypt ca. 3200 B.C. to the beginning of the Graeco-Roman period in 332 B.C.?

A)    5
B)    31
C)    50

7) In ancient Egyptian religion the sun was worshipped by many names. What was the common name of the sun-god?

A) Re or Ra
B) Set
C) Hathor

 
8) Who was the pharaoh with the longest rule in the history of Egypt-it lasted 94 years during the 6th dynasty?

A)    Chephren
B)    Horus
C)    Pepy II

9) He was known as Akhenaten as a Pharaoh, but this was not his birth name. What was his name before he changed it?

A)    Aten
B)    Amenhotep IV
C)    Ramses
          
10) Akhenaten drew attention away from Egypt's pantheon of gods and directed it towards one particular god; that of the sun. What is the name of the god Akhenaten believed to be the most important?

A)    Aten
B)    Amhen
C)    Hotep
        
11) In honour of his favoured god, Akhenaten began the construction of a new capital city of Egypt. What is the name of this site now?

A)    Tel-Marna
B)    Amarna
C)    Aton

12) How was Akhenaten's reign remembered after his death?    

A)    He was considered a heretic and all mention of him was destroyed.
B)    People continued to uphold all his religious views.
C)    Amarna was considered a sacred site.

 
Answer Key: 1) A   2) B   3)B   4)A   5)A   6)B   7)A   8)C    9)B   10)A   11)B   12)A
12 Correct and you are fit to be a pharaoh.
9-11 Correct you're fit to be a member of the pharaoh's household.
5-9 Correct and you serve the pharaoh's household.
Less than 5 correct and you're a slave. Get some sunscreen and built me a monument!

                                                 



One woman. One man. An eternity of love hammered into twenty-one pieces of silver.
 
Marguerite is a victim of a vicious attack. The resulting brain damage causes amnesia and when she inexplicably appears in a tomb in Thebes, she insists she was coming to meet Robert Bruton. Disorientated, destitute, and alone, she senses that her necklace has led her to this familiar swashbuckler who takes her breath away; however, he claims he does not know her.

Lord Robert Bruton, eminent Egyptologist, and possible spy for the crown, has never discovered anything as captivating as the young woman he recovers unconscious on his dig. He has staked his career on finding the final resting place of Queen Tiye and wonders why Marguerite possesses a piece of jewelry belonging to the Eighteenth Dynasty queen. She could be a tomb robber, an American spy, or a madwoman spouting fantastical stories. 
As the necklace’s curse is revealed, the fire of Marguerite’s and Bruton’s ancient bond burns between them. But when Marguerite disappears, Bruton fears that the wings of Isis have carried away the true treasure he has been seeking his entire life.

For to breathe the breath of Isis is to be reborn.

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GI4J66

Apple: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/to-breathe-breath-isis-time/id488508141?mt=11

Friday, January 25, 2013

BLOOD DRIVE

BLOOD DRIVE  ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!!


Goodreads Book Giveaway

Descent of Blood by Elizabeth Marx

Descent of Blood

by Elizabeth Marx

Giveaway ends January 30, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win



Goodreads Book Giveaway

Ascent of Blood by Elizabeth Marx

Ascent of Blood

by Elizabeth Marx

Giveaway ends January 30, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION






 
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
 

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town . Chicago, Chicago, I'll show you around! I’m Band-Aid Palowski, I’m the retired closing pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and I want to take you to my favorite places in Chi-Town. Now the Windy City is known for many things, the Blues, crooked politicians, and Chicago style hot dogs, but I want to take you on a personal walk down memory lane to the places where significant things happened betweenLibby and I.

#1 Gutheries Bar


This is a local tavern in Wrigleyville where Libby dropped the bomb on me that I had a son, a son who desperately needed me. Corner bars are a dime a dozen in Chicago, but I smile every time I pass this place going to the ballpark now, because it’s not often in life you can identify the exact spot where an unexpected journey started in your life, but this little hole in the wall is where the most exciting and heartbreaking journey of my life began.

#2  737 Restaurant
 
I met Libby here to tell her what I wanted in exchange for helping her, well at least that’s what I told her to lure her there. Once I got her on my turf and she started lipping off with the legal ease of a killer barracuda, all I could think about was ripping off her geek chic glasses and doing something completely illegal with her smart mouth. I was able to control myself, until I got in the elevator with her, but then all hell broke loose.

#3 Lincoln Park
 
On a dirt baseball field, with no lights, no fans and just a grumpy umpire for back-up I fell in love with a little boy. He looked like me, but at six years old he had the wisdom of the man I should have been.  Cass had a crooked smile and a wicked pitching arm and dimples that matched mine.  He taught me what was important in life, with every word he spoke and every game we played. He was my son and I fell utterly and completely in love with him.

#4  Italian Village

This a Chicago landmark is where my family has been dinning upstairs alongside the miniature Ferris wheel for as long as I can remember. It’s where my parents met Cass and Libby for the first time, it’s where I faced that fact that all those years ago in college, I hadn’t given Libby or my parents enough credit. I thought they wouldn’t think that she was good enough for me, but I realized over a plate of linguine that I was terrified that I couldn’t be enough for her and the game.

#5  Art Institute of Chicago
 
I’m a jock and I’m not supposed to love art, but I do and it’s because of Libby. There’s one particular painting that reminds me of her, so I took her here and poured my soul out to her in front of that painting. I knew it was risky, because she was in a fragile state, but I wasn’t going to let her slip through my fingers again without telling her how much she meant to me. From the first moment I laid eyes on her I knew she was the one, and even if she never forgave me for all the mistakes I’d made, I owed her the words, I love you.

#7  Wrigley Field

After everything we’d been through, this is where I started to fear that I’d lost her forever.  I stood on a mound, at the top of my career, and realized that every single statistic in every single record book, no longer meant a thing because I didn’t have her waiting in the stands for me. That I had gained the world and lost the only thing that truly mattered.    

#8   Dunkin Donuts Parking lot
 
This is where I made the best catch in my life. One was named Duncan and the other one we call Donut. But you’ll have to read BINDING ARBITRATION to find out what exactly happened during a blizzard in October in Chicago. Maybe you should all …
                                     http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006423DPW
 
Thanks for stopping by. Next time you’re in Chi-Town look one of my haunts up, they are all real places you can visit and maybe you can make some memories of your own.

Aidan “Band-Aid” Palowski

Thanks for joing me for the Girly Books Blog Hop and special thanks to Libby Mercer for setting it up. Make sure you stop by all the stops listed below for more chances to win the great prize package on Libby's rafflecopter! http://libby-mercer.blogspot.com/2013/01/enter-to-win-girly-books-blog-hop-grand.html

Please leave a comment about your favorite location anywhere in the world and the memory that makes it special and I'll draw one name to win an eBook copy of BINDING ARBITRATION and a $10 Starbucks giftcard. Please make sure you leave an email address so I can reach you.

HAPPY READING & REVIEWING!
Elizabeth Marx

Thursday, January 10, 2013

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY IS VIRAL!!!


 
Come and sit for a spell and share your name with me. That’s what southerner’s do, no matter what they have they share it, and their pleasure in doing so is infectious. So that’s what I mean when I say southern hospitality is viral. Viral can have a negative connotation, as in I have a viral infection, but in the world of social media viral is a good thing. Viral means that your post was seen by hundreds, and if you’re lucky thousands, and then if you’re really clever hundreds of thousands.

I must be smarter than I thought because my little name a character post reached over a million people. But as my grandmother would say, even a blind hog finds an acorn now and again! Just to prove how unremarkable my post was I’ll attach it here.
 
♥ HELP ♥ I need help naming a character. My family originates in the south and I'm writing a book set in Alabama. I need a name for a girl, she's purty and she sings! Now it has to have two names like my name to my Grandma was Elizabeth Ann, I don't think she ever said my name any other way. Her name was Ora Mae and my mom's name was Ora Jean, my gram had sisters named Olgear and Delta so it can be unusual but it has to have an interesting combo of two names. If you give me the winning name I'll use your name for a character in the book, if you'd like that!!! Name away!!!

 The results, spectacular! I never thought I’d get 900 shares, 8700 likes, 82,200 comments and reach 1,037,000 people! As soon as the post went live something magical happened, people wanted to share, they wanted to tell me the names of their grandmothers and strong southern women they respected and the southern friends they had long since forgotten. They wanted to share the names of the southern people they loved. I enjoyed the stories about Great Aunt Tizzie, or Bessie Brite, or the grandmother who was called Nighting Gale, who had a beautiful voice and went on to study at Julliard School of Music.

All of these stories reminded me of one thing, I may be a born and bred a Yankee, but I have deep southern roots. I still remember that my mother was born in Alabama and named Ora Jean. My grandmother, her mother, Ora Mae, had 13 sisters and brothers and they picked cotton when she was a girl so they could earn their keep. Her daddy was a share cropper and that my grandmother thought it was a wonderful thing when she got an orange and a quarter for Christmas one year. The stories reminded me that my family comes from Sand Mountain which sits on the southwestern edge of the Appalachian Trail and that I can trace my family eastward along that mountain range, and through what was left of the Cherokee Nation all the way to Newberry, SC and onto the battlefields of the American Revolution. I lived two summers in Alabama & Tennessee growing up and I haven’t forgotten a single winding clay road or a cricket singing in an evening breeze.
                                         
 And now for the winner … drum roll please … Brandy Grimsley. The name she submitted, which will be Scarlett’s mother’s name is MAZEY GRACE and once you read the book you’ll realize just how perfect the name is because her character has a lot of Amazing Grace. Mazey was a very talented Sacred Harp singer and Amazing Grace was her favorite song.

Two other names that became instant characters in my mind were Tater Taught submitted by Joe Herndon and Dipsie Doodle by Terence Coogan. Tater Taught will be the hero’s best friend and he’s a quirky southern gentleman. Dipsie Doodle might be the name of someone’s pet or perhaps a nosy neighbor. I haven’t figured everything out yet, and I plan on asking other southern related questions as the book moves along, so make sure you like my page so you can follow the adventure: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorElizabethMarx

Here’s a short synopsis of ‘Stained’
When Scarlett was fourteen years old her mother took a Greyhound bus from Chicago to Alabama and committed suicide in a church. Scarlett’s always wondered what pushed her manic mother over the edge and why her mother didn’t leave her a note to say goodbye. Seven years later, Scarlett returns to the small rural town for her grandparents’ funeral. Scarlett’s grandfather, Preacher Man, has left Scarlett all his possessions and a single sheet of paper from her mother, but the terms of his will force Scarlett to remain in Alabama and face her southern roots before she can lay claim to either. Revell Marshall has been biding his time, awaiting the return of the Yankee girl who broke his heart all those summers ago. He’s determined to help Scarlett confront the memories of her mother’s past, but will the stain of the secrets bind Revell to Scarlett—or will they shatter the fragile bond between them?

Last but not least, I want to thank everyone who shared, left comments, and sent me personal messages. I really appreciate your participation, please know I wish I could respond to each one of you, but I’ve got a book to write.

Thank you , thank you , thank you! I feel like I have a million new southern friends.
Also, if  you'd like another chance to be a character in my book leave a comment about this post, you must include your email address and I will pull one name randomly! One comment and one entry per person!
Thanks again,
Elizabeth Marx aka Sissy

Monday, January 7, 2013

Downton Abbey Season 3 Premiere Recap




Downton Abbey Season 3 Premiere Recap

Welcome back to the wonderful world that is Downton Abbey. As Laura Linney said in the introduction to Downton's Season 3 premiere last night, Downton should be considered a “controlled substance”. The costumes, the countryside, and the characters have consumed us since last years’ season finale, but instead of giving you a play by play of what happened last night I thought I’d highlight some of the best lines because no one does dialogue like Downton!

 The Earl of Downton
“Are you telling me all the money is gone?”


Cora
“She’ll go into state morning and cast a pall over the proceedings.”


Mr. Carston
“If you cannot speak civilly you can eat out in the yard.”
“It’s like the chaos of Gomorrah!”
“Where’s the style, where’s the show?”

Mrs. Padamore
“Oh dear, have you gone on and swallowed a dictionary?”

Anna

“Never make an enemy by accident.”
“A cook broke in, cooked an arsenic pie, and forced her to eat it?”
“What I see, is a good man milady, and they’re not like buses, another one won’t be along in ten minutes.”  

Bates
“How can I admit what isn’t true?”

Matthew Crawley
“We’re to be brother-in-laws with high minded wives, we'd better stick together.”

Tom Branson
“I’ll tell you this, you won’t be happy with anyone else while Lady Mary walks the earth.”

Martha Levinson
“Oh really? So strange to think of the English embracing change.”
“Oh dear, I think the war has made old women of both of us.”

The Dowager Countess
“A family should never be a topic of conversation.”
“I shall make sure he behaves normal and I’ll hold his hand to the radiator to ensure that he does!”
“Are you going up to the house to welcome the Queen of Sheeba?”
“I am a woman of many parts.”
“She looks as if she’ll bury us all.”
“Nothing succeeds like excess!”
“I’m so sorry, I thought you were our waiter.”

Mrs. Hughes
“One day, I will die, as will you, and everyone else under this roof.”


No Mrs. Hughes, Dowton Abbey will go on forever, that's the thing about great houses, they outshine and outlive us all!



I’d like to thank all the other Downton Gala hostesses please stop by and check out their posts: Tracie Banister, Laura Chapman, Jen Coffeen, Jenny Gardiner, Cat Lavoie, Meredith Schorr and Jen Tucker. Our Friday's Q&A was a great success and last night’s Twitter party was quite the gala. Don’t forget there are still a couple of days left to enter to win the GIVEAWAY, just visit each hosts' blog and answer their question and please leave an email address where you can be reached.

Can’t wait for the rest of the season!

Lady Elizabeth Marx

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Downton Pre-Premiere Q&A and Giveaway




In celebration of the Season 3 premiere of Downton Abbey, some friends and I have gotten together and created a special blog blast tour. In addition to this post one of us will be recapping each episode all season long, so stop back on Monday January 7th for my premier post!!!

You're also cordially invited to our Twitter chat on premiere night. Your guilded invitation is just below this!



Make sure you read through all my answers and get to the giveaway at the end of this post.

With out further ado, here are my Blog Blast questions and answers!!!!


1)You're planning a dinner party for the Downton crew - who would be No. 1 on your invite list?

I’d have to pick the Dowager Countess Crawley because I have a thing for little old ladies with spunk! I mean she’s uppity and all, but can the lady wear costumes or what? Plus, who else gets to blurt out exactly what she’s thinking except for a little old lady with nothing to lose, and her facial expressions while she's saying them are spectacular.
 
2) Whose closet will you raid before the party?



I’ll have to go with Sybil’s! I have a thing for harem pants.



3) Once your guests have arrived, who are you most likely to flirt with?
It’s a toss up between Tom Branson & Matthew Crawley.

 
 
4) Who will you likely smack before the dessert course?
Thomas, I’d prefer to smack O'Brien, but she’s so crusty they never let her in the dining room.

5) Let's adjourn to the drawing room for some not-so-polite conversation: What's your theory on Patrick Gordon aka The Bandaged Man? Impostor or legitimate Crawley?

Patrick Gordon is an imposter, otherwise he wouldn’t have disappeared. You have to remember, that shortly after WWI is when many mysterious women claimed to be Anastsia. Who some thought escaped The house of Romanoff, while the rest of her family was assassinated. This woman claimed that she was Anastsia throughout her life, when in fact Anastasia's body was located in 2007 and DNA results proved she'd died the same night the rest of her family was killed.

 


6) How about Bates? Did he do it? Could he do it? If not, who killed Vera?
Bates did not do it. Bates is capable of doing it and surely she deserved it! I think Vera was taken out by someone associated with  Sir Richard Carlisle and his newspaper, it’s one of the reasons I think Carlisle won’t reveal Mary’s secrets.


 
7) Favorite quip from the Dowager Countess?

Need I say more???
8) Favorite Downton spoof?
9) Now you've done it! You've landed a guest spot on the show. What's your storyline?
My name is Lady Marguerite Bruton and my husband is Lord Robert Bruton the esteemed Egyptologist. The War has finally ended and we are eager to return to Egypt and resume our search for Queen Tiye’s Tomb and we are looking for generous benefactors to fund our expedition! Queen Tiye’s tomb is certainly filled with riches, and my husband is sure that the key to what brought me to Egypt, through time, from the modern world is buried with her. Here's my story and I'm sticking with it! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GI4J66
 
As a side note, many of you might not know that the great house used for Downton Abbey is the estate of the Lord of Carnarvon, the man who paid for Howard Carter's expedition that discovered Tut's Tomb. The basement houses many of the treasures that Lord Carnarvon received after the discovery!
 


10) What would you like to see happen in series three?
Whatever new drama unfolds, I’m so looking forward to this event!!!
                                                
 
And here’s the link to watch the first ten minutes of Season 3! Right now!
https://www.facebook.com/masterpiecepbs/app_130250873797508


GIVEAWAY!!! Enter to win a copy of this book!*


To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace
From the Gilded Age until 1914, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles–just like Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, the first of the Downton Abbey characters Julian Fellowes was inspired to create after reading To Marry An English Lord. Filled with vivid personalities, gossipy anecdotes, grand houses, and a wealth of period details–plus photographs, illustrations, quotes, and the finer points of Victorian and Edwardian etiquette–To Marry An English Lord is social history at its liveliest and most accessible.
http://www.amazon.com/Marry-English-Lord-Gail-MacColl/dp/0761171959

If you'd like to be entered to win the book that inspired Downton Abbey please leave a comment below and answer the question: Favorite quip from the Dowager Countess? And leave your email address so we can contact the winner!   

For even more chances to win stop by the following blogs, enjoy their answers to the questions and answer whatever question they pose.

Tracey Livesay: http://traceylivesay.com/ 

Thanks for joining me!

Lady Elizabeth Marx

*Book Giveaway to U.S. residents only. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH ENTRY!