Officially: B.L. Newport was born with a strong belief and sensitivity in the supernatural side of life. After growing up in the small Northwest Arkansas town of Siloam Springs, she has lived in New York City and Las Vegas, Nevada. During these journeys, B.L. has discovered the joys of hard work, good friends and good coffee. She resides in Denver, Colorado with her soulmate, Rochelle.
Unofficially: B.L. Newport is a serious coffee-holic with an strange sense of humor.
<p>Richard II found himself under siege not once, but twice in his minority. Crowned king at age ten, he was only fourteen when the Peasants' Revolt terrorized London. But he proved himself every bit the Plantagenet successor, facing Wat Tyler and the rebels when all seemed lost. Alas, his triumph was short-lived, and for the next ten years he struggled to assert himself against his uncles and increasingly hostile nobles. Just like in the days of his great-grandfather Edward II, vengeful magnates strove to separate him from his friends and advisors, and even threatened to depose him if he refused to do their bidding. The Lords Appellant, as they came to be known, purged the royal household with the help of the Merciless Parliament. They murdered his closest allies, leaving the King alone and defenseless. He would never forget his humiliation at the hands of his subjects. Richard's inability to protect his adherents would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he vowed that next time, retribution would be his.</p>
The process of writing this book began in 2006 after watching my first 24 hour marathon of Ghost Hunters. Through the course of writing it, my main focus was how the main character, Brigit Malone, would keep a promise she had made to her true love. In the days prior to and the days since its publication, I have been asked many times over : What's it about? It's about the power of True Love and the measures one might take to hang onto that love. It's the idea that True Love can exist and reach beyond the grave to affect the ones still existing on the mortal plane. It's about the truths of being good and being a good person. It's about the power of Faith -- faith in love, faith in honesty, faith in courage and, in a round-about-way, faith in the Divine. It's about continuing to grow and looking deeper than the surface because not everything is as it seems. It's about meeting a challenge -- rising to the occasion despite the discomfort of it and learning from it. It's about treating one another with a respect not based solely on likenesses and commonalities. The one commonality we all share is that we are all humans and we all have a soul. It doesn't matter what color our skin is, what subculture we identify with and find a place in, what label we put on our faith, who we voted for in the last election or who we love in our lifetime. What is important, in this writer's humble opinion, is that we are human, we have loved and we are all sparks of the Divine.
<strong>Interesting perception of the Grim Reaper</strong>, April 18, 2010 <div style="margin-bottom:.5em;"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">By </td> <td><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2HU2IB2ZKUUXB/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdp"><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Book Journal "The Book <span style="white-space:nowrap;">Journal"<img style="border-bottom:medium none;border-left:medium none;border-top:medium none;border-right:medium none;" class="custPopRight" alt="" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/carrot._V192251235_.gif" /></span></span></a> (New York) - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A2HU2IB2ZKUUXB/ref=cm_cr_pr_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview">See all my reviews</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div style="margin-bottom:.5em;" class="tiny"><strong><span class="h3color tiny"><font color="#e47911">This review is from: </font></span>Reapers, Inc.- Brigit's Cross (Paperback)</strong> </div>I like this one. The story was well put together and I found myself wanting to be the Reaper's Assistant! <br /><br />This is the author's first book and I think she did a good job. While reading it it makes you question how you would react if you only had a very limited time with strangers. Would you be able to withhold judgment in order to help them pass through, or are we inclined to judge, even in death? <br /><br />It was interesting to see the Grim Reaper portrayed as a regular person instead of what we normally get of "a skeleton covered in black robes". This added more of a realistic edge to the book. You end up kind of hoping that a friendly reaper will meet with you once you die and listen to your story as you prepare to move to the next level. <br /><br />There were two big spelling errors (of the same word) that made me stop a minute, but once that page was turned, it read fluidly. The one thing I was not fond of, was the back cover. The font used made the "g" too elaborate and make it stand out too much. But if that is the worst thing I could say about the book, it's not too bad. <br /><br />This was a good one. Keep it up B.L. Newport.