J.’s Comments (group member since Jun 01, 2012)

J.’s comments from the Its OLD School – Ancient Style! group.

S.W. wrote: "Lol, my post is five years old. I tried to differentiate the list from typical Arthurian ones by limiting it to "Indie Goodreads fiction authors only". I don't know why "indie" isn't in the title, ..."

Nope, nothing was removed from the original post or title.

S.W. wrote: "HI! I write and mod-review Arthurian England type fiction. Here's a Listopia list I made that helps guide me--Indie Goodreads authors only. Perhaps members can make/post their fav List here in this..."

Thanks for sharing!

Awesome list, Feliks!

Here are a few more.

Author recommendation: Zoe Saadia
She writes about Mayan and Native American cultures. All very good.

Another author recommendation: Elsa Hart
Her two books (the first set in 1708) set in China are two of my favorites.

Book recommendations:
The Legend of Sheba: Rise of a Queen
A.D. 30 (this one is about people who experience Jesus's ministry)
The Mark of the King
Gwendolyn's Sword
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Cleopatra's Daughter
Mistress of the Art of Death
Roma

I think you've got an awesome start here!!!

Elsa wrote: "Hi all! I am currently in the process of rediscovering my love of reading and am looking for book recommendations. If you have any, I'd love to hear about your favourites!"

Hey, Elsa. So what do you like to read? Historical romance, historical mystery, Egypt, Greek, Roman, Mayan, China? I have so many recommendations I could share. Do you like explicit or non explicit. I'm not a fan of explicit, so "Ancient Evenings" isn't a book I would read. I thank Feliks for the disclaimer!!!

Hey all,

If you're interested in a promotion, sign up here to join a Book Cave magnet group for historical fiction. You will need to have a book on Instafreebie to participate.

This is a magnet promotion for FREE historical fiction reads. If we have enough authors sign up, we can offer a free Kindle to readers who download our books. Sweet!!! Plus, its a great way to build newsletters sign ups.

You can sign up to participate in the promotion here; https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

Readers - Free books! Promotion starts 7/17. We've got some great authors signed up already!!

Kenneth wrote: "Hi All,
The Kindle version of my travel memoir about Yemen, Tracking the Queen of Sheba (https://www.amazon.com/Tracking-Queen......"

Thanks for sharing. I'm very interested! I have read a few fictional stories about the Queen of Sheba and have loved the exploration into the time and place. I will mark my calendar for 1/4!

Hi groupies! I'm looking for some Beta readers! I have completed my personal edits for part 1 of my next book, "The Forgotten: Heir of the Heretic" and would love some input from historical fiction readers! I think you'd have a lot to offer in terms of historical content and clarity.

Please let me know if you are interested. I can send you a Word doc via email (see below). You will be listed in the acknowledgements/thanks section at the end of the book. Please be sure to identify yourself when you email me as an "OLD School Groupie."

Word count for part 1: 62,601
Due date: I would appreciate all responses by mid-May (By that time, I may have part 2 ready for beta reading!!! ;) )
If interested, email me at: jess@teasippinnerdymom.com

About the book:
Setting - Ancient Egypt, Reign of Ahkenaten, 1343 - 1332 BC
Main characters - Merytaten (Daughter of Ahkenaten), Nefertiti, Ahkenaten
Synopsis - It is a time of new beginnings. Pharaoh Akhenaten has declared that there is only one god to be worshipped throughout Egypt. He has also made a promise to his oldest daughter, Merytaten: One day, she will be his heir and the future pharaoh. But this promise quickly fades as Akhenaten becomes obsessed with producing a male heir. As pressures build up against his new religion, it falls upon Akhenaten's wife, the great Nefertiti, and their children to help their citizens and prevent an insurrection. Merytaten soon finds herself trapped in a world of broken dreams. When she loses the meaning to her life, how can she possibly help others? What can she do to assist her people who are falling into poverty and starving? How can she save those she loves when Death's shadow looms large across the city of Ahkenaten? Discover the struggles and triumphs of one young woman's lifetime...

This book takes place in a time prior and during my current book: "The Forgotten: Aten's Last Queen."

Sorry, forgot to address the different classes in Egyptian society and women's rights topic. I think we all realize that the lower in class you got, any where and any time throughout the world, rights seemed to fly out the window. Women worked along side men many times, probably due more to a need to harvest and sell as much as possible so they could barder for goods for their families and not due to having a particular status. I assume their rights were very minimal as is typical. Its a common factor almost anywhere and can still be seen today in places. I've studied a lot of the pharaohs, queens, and their children in ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, there are few records about the lower classes, so I really cannot comment much on their rights as individuals. While the ancient Egyptians considered women as equal to men, I cannot comment on how philosophy versus practice worked for the different classes of people. Typically, it would have been in greater practice for those higher up the "totem pole" than those lower.

Damn, I think I've started a typhoon! To clarify for Laura, I apologize for leaving out "global" loss of women's rights. I missed that word, and it changes my statement considerably. Totally my fault.

Egypt was a class by itself. If Rome had not overtaken it, I believe there might have been more women leaders after Cleopatra. Women might have been treated with more respect. They might have been remembered better in our historical texts. What we have about Cleopatra is mostly from Roman writings, sadly. Laura, you are also correct in the fact that Greece was terrible about women and thought of them as little more than children/minors. I am fascinated by many aspects of ancient Greece as well - except for their attitude towards women.

Feliks - I will work on the "group rules." Thanks for the feedback.

Sam wrote: "Suggesting that women's role as being simply property in the Roman period is painting with too broad a brush. Slave women were, of course, literally property, but high class women in Rome had many..."

Yes, I admit that my strokes are coming across as very broad. I have not done a lot of research on Rome. I've read some excellent novels set in the time period. I do know that laws were strict, especially for Vestal priestesses who would occasionally be buried alive for transgressions. There were also terrible instances of women's children being thrown out by her husband if the baby was not born male. No doubt that also happened in many societies. However, there were some exceptional women from that time period.

Egypt is a bit set apart as Egyptian society recognized women as equal to men. Women could achieve important social positions. They could head businesses and even become doctors. Just amazing for this time period.

Thanks for the discussion!

Feliks wrote: "J. wrote: "And while I do kinda blame Rome for the downfall of women's rights after taking Alexand..."

Gee I hope I am not coming off as salty or strident. I think I could contribute a lot of topi..."

Ancient Egypt was a fascinating culture that granted many rights to women. Women could speak in a court of law, they could own land, they could accumulate wealth, in a divorce they would be entitled to half instead of being thrown out with nothing, they had a lot of privileges in the society. A lot of good things developed in ancient Egypt in which women could participate in. Women had a better standing. When you read about Rome, women were basically property. Overthrowing Alexandra also changed the mindset in ancient Egypt to Roman. So that's basically what I meant. I have always been impressed with the way women in ancient Egypt lived. I like to imagine how that might have effected the world if Egypt had become the superpower over Rome.

Feliks wrote: "Observations as a new member:

#1: group guidelines appear every time a member posts?

#2: I don't think I was rude or disrespectful towards Edward last night in my reply to his conspiracy-theory-s..."

Hi, Feliks, and thanks for the questions.

1. Yes, group rules do appear each time. I apologize for the inconvenience.

2. Thanks for your input.

3. No, I did not delete Edward as a member. I simply deleted the subject. It was not a topic for our group. We're a group of readers who enjoy sharing books. I created essentially to meet other readers and get some new book recommendations.

4. I only kept the return comments advising Edward that this group was not the right forum for his topic. Sorry if this is confusing the way I did this. I did this because he re-posted his topic after I had deleted the original conversation.

Best!

I'm sorry, but this is not a topic for this group. I appreciate you sharing your views. However, we are a group of people who love to read historical fiction and share books. We are not a debating group, and the last conversation was disrespectful.

SarahLMaguire wrote: "Hello, I'm Sarah and I love reading and writing about ancient history and mythology. Some of my favourite authors of ancient historical fiction are Robert Graves, [author:Mary Rena..."

Hi, Sarah! Thanks for joining! I'm glad you're excited about conversing about the ancient world. I read about your writing in the "Your Works" section. Look forward to hearing more from you!!

Danielle wrote: "Hi, I came out to Goodreads today to look for book recommendations for my precocious 6 year old reader.

Don't laugh but I give credit to Katy Perry and the time traveling cartoon movie that came o..."

Hi, Danielle! I love hearing about excited kid readers. My kids also enjoy Peabody & Sherman, however, I'm not a fan of the "rhymes with butt" line - though my kids think its hilarious. Of course, now they can't look at some of my books without laughing. Goofballs!

I have a 12 year old and 9 year old. I'm happy to share book recommendations anytime. I have a few on my website www.teasippinnerdymom.com - none focused on ancient Egypt though... I wish my kids were into history! Lucky!

Best! I look forward to more posts from you!

J. Lynn

Hey all! Here's some info for you. I've found a new location for Indie authors! Check it out! Its called Indie Book Discovery! Its a new website. I would recommend taking a peek. You can also find them on Twitter.

Here's my profile (PS - which is currently free!): J. Lynn Else is on #IndieBookDiscovery http://shar.es/1fkVv8

Damian wrote: "Head over heels about Ancient Egypt! I've been to Hatshepsut's temple!!!!!!! I find her stories fascinating!"

I bet seeing her temple was AMAZING! Do you have a favorite story written about her?

@Amira: A big congrats on all those 5-star reviews! I'm a bit jealous!!! ;)

I cannot wait to start reading your story. Thanks for the intro.

Best!

Did you know there is a Goodreads Creative Writing section? Check out the info I just cut and pasted below. I have not tried it yet, but intent to explore more. Let me know your thoughts if you've tried it!

"For published writers it’s important to stay on the radar of readers in order to build a platform. One way for authors to do this is to share their writing on Goodreads. After all, the more content you provide, the more discoverable your work will be. Uploading an excerpt of the finished book to the book page is one of the most common strategies to introduce new readers to your writing style, and regular blogging or posting status updates is another way to stay on readers' minds.

The creative writing section on Goodreads offers authors another engaging platform to share their writing. Your writing shows up at the bottom of your author profile, providing your readers with the opportunity to discover and engage with your content to build social amplification. Here are some great examples of authors using their Writing sections to add value for their readers:

▪ Sylvia Day offers preview chapters of her upcoming books to the delight of her readers. ("SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" writes Goodreads Member Alice.)
▪ Kailin Gow uploaded reading group discussion questions about her books to help book clubs get the conversation going.
▪ Karren Russell interviewed Stephen King—and both of them shared the conversation in their respective writing sections.

Just think of all the creative possibilities this platform gives you! The format is a great way to test out a chapter of a book without it appearing on the actual book page. Encourage feedback on your writing or solicit ideas for alternate story lines. Experiment with writing in a different genre than your previously published work, and include relevant tags to make your content more discoverable. You can also group stories by chapters for easy navigation.

Ready for your challenge? Start writing!"

Hey guys,

I was sent a copy of this book to review. I have to say, its very interesting and well-written retelling of the Hercules story.

The author is having a pre-order sale if you're interested. It is a retelling of ancient Greek tales set in a future world. Read more about it here:

http://tammiepainter.com/the-trials-o...

For the authors out there, share with your other self-published friends!