My 5 Favorite Temples

If you follow my blog, you will know that I have a passion for ancient churches, temple and ruins. I have already blogged about the temples in Egypt but I thought I would put my favorite ruins in the world all together in one place.

1) Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
I took this photo at sunrise and what a magical way it was to start our tour of this fantastic building. It's hard to imagine that until not long ago, this complex of many temples was buried in the jungle, its existence only known to the locals of the area. I recommend a visit now before the rapidly increasing tourist numbers create the circus that surround most of the more beautiful, ancient buildings of the world.

2) Abu Simbel in Egypt.
Abu Simbel consists of two temples on the shores of Lake Nassar, which were lifted and moved back onto dry land when the area was flooded due to the construction of the Aswan Dam. I won't write about the history of them again as I have done so elsewhere on this blog. Suffice it to say that they are a sight for sore eyes, isolated away from any main centre as they are and perched on the side of the lake in the middle of the desert.

3) Knossos in Crete, Greece.
I visited this site many, many years ago and so have no digital photos of it. This one is from Wikipedia.
Knossos, built between 1700 and1400BC, was the centre of Minoan civilization. Its ruins were only discovered in 1878 and have now been made much more tourist-friendly. But back when I saw it, its raw state struck a cord with me and so it remains among my favorite ruins.



4) The Roman Forum in Rome.
I have visited this site several times but there's always something more to see. This was the civil centre of Roman life back in Roman times. I love visualizing how it was back then when these buildings were intact. Imagine the hustle and bustle, so different from out main centers, and yet basically the same - just a bunch of human beings going about everyday life.

5) Machu Picchu in Peru.
Okay, so I'm cheating. I have yet to visit Machu Picchu but I just know it will be one of my favorites so here it is. I can't imagine the tireless ingenuity involved in building a small city up so high in the mountains. Built in 1460, it was used only for 100 years before it was abandoned during the Spaniard conquest. One day I will get there.

My Clever Son

This is another proud mother moment. As part of the same project as the model Skateboard Park blogged about not long ago, Dario had to design a double page magazine layout with the theme of skateboarding. He wrote about the skateboarder and human being extraordinaire, Bam Margera. Above is the double page layout. Click on it to get a better view, though it is not nearly as clear as the original form. Sorry about that.

Murder on the Mountain

A couple of times I have mentioned the website Authors Promoting Authors, which is purely for the promotion of books which are not published by the larger publishers. Today I would like to promote one of their more eye-catching books, Murder on the Mountain, by Maddie James. Look at that glorious cover.


A Ladies of Legend Novel...In the two long years since her Tennessee state trooper husband's murder, Kate Carpenter thinks she's coped with his death, although everyone in Legend, Tennessee keeps telling her she hasn't. She can't see what the problem is, really.She has her parents, and her best friend Patti Jo, and her students.
What else could a twenty-nine year old woman need?
A man, Patti Jo keeps telling her.
A thought that Kara quickly puts aside.
All is fine until one hot August afternoon when Trooper Mike Lehman invades her classroom, and her life. When she can't get out of working with the trooper, assigned to teach drug abuse prevention classes, she bites the bullet and tells herself it's for the good of her students.
Inside, she's fighting demons she hasn't fought in a while.
Sent to Kate's classroom on a investigation, Mike uses his drug prevention training as his cover.
His mission, however, is to find out what Kate knows, if anything, about Rob Carpenter’s supposed death. Recent reports indicate he is alive and that he faked his death because of his involvement in a drug-running operation.
Mike's task is to expose Carpenter, and if she's involved, Kate.
And he’ll stop at nothing, to get the answers he wants.Buy Murder on the Mountain Visit Maddie James' Website

Crash into Darkness

Yes, another release! Crash into Darkness has been released today at Wild Child Publishing.

The cover was also designed by me but the background is one of my clever son's paintings. I added the words, the woman and the ship.

The internationally famous author, Nalini Singh, read mybook and had this to say about it:
"A darkly compelling story--Suzanne Perazzini takes us on an emotional, action-filled journey into a unique new world."

Blurb for Crash into Darkness

Amber has no reason to leave the daily turmoil of life aboard a prison ship, created to house those with the violent Cleaven gene. Though now rehabilitated, she has chosen to stay and counsel the inmates who struggle to come to terms with their imprisonment. Possessing extraordinary gifts - an ability to assess situations with perfect clarity and to feel the emotions of others - her skills are in great demand in the volatile environment of the ship.
Jaden, also rehabilitated and with the special gift of mind reading, ploughs the seas on board the boat that delivers supplies and prisoners to and from the ship.
Amber and Jaden are thrown together when the prisoners rebel and an explosion breaches the hull of the ship during a storm. Together they battle the elements, a new, cold-eyed prisoner who has Amber in his sights and their traumatic pasts which sent them to the ship in the first place.

If you are interested, you can buy the book here.

Work of Art - Skate Park

This is a post from a proud mother. As part of my son, Dario's, final design project in his final year at school, he designed and created a skatepark model. This measures approximately four feet by three feet. It is made from wood with metal trims, and the detail, as you can see from the photos, is intricate. He had his last day at school today and now he must study for his final exams. Next year he will study architecture at college.

Award Received

Nature Shows and Dreams has awarded me with the I Love Your Blog Award! Thank you, so much. Now it's my turn to pass it on to blogs I enjoy visiting. Here are the rules: 1) Add the logo of the award to your blog 2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you 3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs 4) Add links to those blogs on your blog 5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

These are some of my favorite blogs.

1) Raine Weaver has been a writing friend for years now. She is always there for me in the good and the bad. One day she will be a big star and I can say I knew her back when she was a struggling starlet. I enjoy her blog for her sharp intelligence and insightful outlook on current events and the writing world.

2) Erica Orloff is a well-published, successful writer, whose life is chaotic, creative and full of love. Every day she blogs about a different subject that gets you thinking. How she comes up with an idea a day, I don't know but that's Erica. She has a very loyal group of commenters who add to the enjoyment of my daily visit to her blog.

3)Tina-Sue is a fellow writer, whose book No Shadows Left Behind is currently on the shelves. She is a generous, quirky lady whose blog is always worth reading. She also runs Authors Promoting Authors where writers with small publishers or epublishers can promote their books. She runs this out of the kindness of her heart.

4) Heather Dugan is a writer and photographer, whose photos blow me away. She loves the great outdoors and hikes often through glorious landscapes with her lovely family, snapping photos as she goes. We are privileged that she shares them with us.

5) Tanya from Kenya lives in a glorious spot in the wilderness of Kenya. On her blog, she shares amazing stories of her life in this fascinating place and posts wonderful photos of the wildlife, which wanders about outside and often inside her house.

6) Jill Shalvis has an amazing, natural sense of humor. I visit her blog every day without fail and would miss it if she failed to blog. She is a well-established writer but blogs mainly about her life up in the mountains, where encounters with bears are a daily event. This is one blog you shouldn't miss.

7) Kameron Hurley has a blog which draws you in for her fierceness, her determination and her 'never-say-die' attitude. Her first book will be out shortly. Visit her blog and buy it when the time comes because her writing is powerful and beautiful. I also love the photos of women and quotes by women all the way down the side of her blog. Worth visiting just for those.