Hi everyone!
I don’t usually come on here to write personal updates, and I want to start changing that. Tomorrow I will have at least two if not more reviews going live, but for today I just wanted to share this small post to announce my new YouTube channel, Author Anthony Avina.
My first new video is now live on my website, and in it I start a brand new series of vlogs where I share my writing behind the scenes of each new book project. I hope you enjoy it!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
A local herbalist and healer finds herself imbedded into a local murder investigation in author Judy Fishel’s “Murder of the Obeah Man”.
The Synopsis
When the owl hooted just outside her window, Jeenya cringed. She knew what it meant. When she was a girl her Granny, up in the Blue Mountains in Jamaica, taught her the omens. This was a sign that someone was dying. It was probably MURDER.
They found his body in the morning. Josiah Overman had been the richest, the most important, the most respected and loved man in Jamaica Lakes. He had built Jamaica Lakes. He was also their Obeah Man. No Jamaican would dare kill the Obeah Man. They all knew that his duppy (a vengeful ghost) would come after them, torture them, and perhaps kill them. It had to be a stranger.
Jeenya Birdsong, herbalist, healer, and spiritual advisor knew her old friend wasn’t perfect but, even with her knowledge of the people in this Jamaican community, even with her ability to look people in the eye and know what they were thinking, she still could not imagine why anyone would do this.
Jeenya knew she would need to help the detectives find the killer. She remembered dreaming of being a detective but now she wasn’t sure. Would she really be able to help? Her husband would worry, thinking it was too dangerous. She worried about getting in the way or even making a total fool of herself.
The Review
A fantastic read! The author has crafter a wonderful story that really delves into the murder mystery genre. The atmosphere and tone of the tale immediately grab the readers attention, setting up that classic sleuth story fans of the genre love.
What really stood out to me was the author’s use of setting to bring more depth to the characters and story. The setting of Jamaica Lakes was a character all its own, breathing life into the cast of characters, including the protagonist Jeenya.
The Verdict
A breath of fresh air in the murder mystery genre, author Judy Fishel’s “Murder of the Obeah Man” is a must read novel of the summer! Engaging, thoughtful and full of rich characters, this novel will not only keep readers on the edge of their seat, but will educate readers on history and lore from the Jamaican culture and people. It’s a fun read that will not disappoint you, so be sure to grab your own copy today!
Rating: 10/10
About the Author
Judy Fishel grew up in Florida, just across the river from Palm City. She and her grandfather often looked for wildflowers along the citrus groves. She also remembers the terrible freezes that killed the citrus trees. It made sense to set her story there. She started work on this book fifteen years ago but it just wasn’t working. She then wrote Straight A’s Are NOT Enough – study skills for college students. Finally, last summer she returned working on Murder of the Obeah Man. When one of her characters, Jeenya Birdsong, began appearing in her dreams, all the pieces began fitting together. Now, Judy likes to say that Jeenya is her spiritual advisor.
Over the years, the worlds of YouTube and the book industry have merged with the release of several popular YouTuber’s books, from Shane
Dawson and Justine Ezarik to Miranda Sings and Tyler Oakley. Ranging from fiction to memoirs, these books have revitalized an interest in reading
amongst younger audiences. One YouTuber is looking to not only continue that tradition, but to bring to light topics worth discussing, from
sexuality to body image issues and more. That YouTuber is Melanie Murphy, an Irish creator with a big following online, and her book is
“Fully Functioning Human (Almost): Living In An Online, Offline World.
Here is a little bit about the book and the author herself, Melanie Murphy.
In her first book, Irish YouTuber Melanie Murphy shares a series of experiences from the struggle that is growing up in the digital age:
cyberbullying, dumping by text, gaining (and then losing) too much weight, having acne in a world of Instagram filters, and, most of all,
finding the strength to tackle poor mental health. From self-image struggles to important life lessons about family, friendship, love and
mindset, Fully Functioning Human (Almost) is a warm, illuminating memoir full of wit and wisdom that doubles up as a life guide for millennials.
You can pre-order your copy of the book now. This is one of my highly anticipated books of 2017, so be sure to order your copies today!
Pre-Order Here –> http://amzn.to/2qmPxE4
Was walking through #canneryrow near @montereybayaquarium when I spotted #mooshwalks by @olgakay for sale in the window. What a small world. Awesome to see a fellow creator succeeding like that. 😃 #olgakay #youtuber #youtubers (at Cannery Row in Monterey)
There is some amazing #artwork in @shanedawson ’s #itgetsworsebook and #artist @tinhoangs recently contacted me, and he told me about creating the #art for one of my favorite chapters in the #book, The Ghost of my Grandma. The image is fantastic and everyone should go follow this incredible artist! #shanedawson #bookart #youtube #youtubers #igartists
Pre-ordered @shanedawson ’s new book, #itgetsworse and I cannot wait to read it! #shanedawson #youtube #memoir #youtubers #youtubebook #bookstagram #books #reading #tbr #book
Where We Stand: Avina Vlogs
Hello citizens of Avina Vlogs!
This is your host, author Anthony Avina, and I am writing this post today because recently YouTube relaunched their Creator Hub and along with
that their benefits levels. In essence, this shows us where we as creators stand within the community thus far, and gives us goals for which we
want to achieve. In the past three years, I have gone from this incredibly shy, quiet human being with dreams of being a writer, to now this
moderately shy, somewhat more energetic human with his dreams of being a writer slowly coming together. In those three years we have grown as
a community, and now we sport about 575 subscribers, nearly to the big 600.
According to the new benefits program, we are nestled in the Graphite level, but are nearly to the next level, the Opal level, which we will get
upon hitting our first 1,000 subscribers. My main goals with this YouTube channel has always been to have a living memory of my life preserved
through video to remember, and to entertain and connect with my audience as I grew as an author. In these last three years I have far exceeded
what I expected to do with this channel, having nearly 600 subscribers and having made some great friends here in the community as well. Doing
this channel has given me the confidence to dream big and go for what I want, and I want to immerse myself in the world of YouTube even more.
This year I have started playing around with different video styles, from tags/challenges and podcasts to video reviews of all forms of entertainment
and even some short films and trailers. I also have always enjoyed life casting my daily life, but for now I’m going to be saving those videos
for special or naturally entertaining moments until I get to a place where I can make my daily life interesting. I want to expand my brand and my
outreach on YouTube, and in order to do that I want to cultivate videos you guys love to watch.
I would love to reach 1,000 subscribers in the next few months. You guys seem to love the video reviews and I would love to know more about what
you like to see on this channel. The biggest help you current Avina Vlogs family members could be is to share the videos you watch, leave some
comments or questions so we can get some awesome Q&A videos going, and then leave some suggestions for future videos. Maybe I can review or share
gaming news/theories/previews, or talk about my love and fan theories for Game of Thrones and other pop culture shows. Or maybe you guys would like
to see more serious subject videos, much in the same vein as one of my favorite YouTubers, Jaclyn Glenn. I have a great new video series idea I
briefly mentioned in my last vlog, where I want to make writing challenge videos, in which I post a challenge to you guys each week, (write a
poem, essay, short story, first chapter of a novel, etc), and not only would I share my work for the week or month or whatever we decide, but I
would pick a couple of you guys to shout out your channels or social media feeds, then read what you submitted. You can submit the actual work
in the comments or you can publish your work to Wattpad or your website/blog and send me the link to share.
I love YouTube and writing, and want to combine the two to build an incredible community here on the internet. I am becoming so passionate about
the channel, and I want to grow it into the community I know it can be. So I’m reaching out to you, my incredible friends and community, to help
me make that a reality. The first stop is the Opal level, but I know that together we can grow this channel into something truly amazing. I hope
you’ll join me in doing so. Thanks everyone, and I hope to hear from you guys in the comment section or on social media!
I’m excited to share with you guys a brand new #booktrailer for my year-long project on @wattpad #LexingtonandFifth! Go to the link in my bio and watch the awesome new #trailer and if you like what you see be sure to read the book on #wattpad now! #youtube #youtubers #youtubechannel #youtubers #youtubevideo #video #bookstagram #books #book #horrorbooks #chapteraweek #authorsofinstagram #writersofinstagram
Author Anthony Avina's Blog 