Award Party on Lada Ray Blog + Beautiful New Photos of Russia!

Tags

Accidental Spy Adventure Series, Author Lada Ray, Beautiful Blogger Award, Blog awards, Gold Train by author Lada Ray, Golden Ring of Russia, Kremlin, Moscow, nature photography, Palekh, photos of Russia, Reader Appreciation Award, Sergiev Posad, The Earth Shifter, World Heritage Site

Welcome to my Award Party! Celebrating two new awards!

Wow! I am very honored and touched to receive Reader Appreciation Award from a fabulous guy and fellow author, Jim L. Wright. Thank you very much, Jim!

Here is the link to Jim’s post about the award. http://jimlwright.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/301/

Please check out Jim’s blog, The Left Wright Brain – it’s really great!

The rules for this award are:

• Post seven interesting things about yourself,
• Nominate 5 people who in turn will post on their page the award with the link to the giver,
• Let them know about the nomination
• Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog
• Post the award logo

I already mentioned various interesting things about myself in my “acceptance speeches” for previous awards. 😉

You are invited to check them out here:

1. Sunshine Award 

2. Versatile Blogger Award

3. One Lovely Blog Award

This time, I decided to do something a bit different, something I think my readers will enjoy. In keeping with the theme of this particular award, here are…

SEVEN THINGS I ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO WRITE ABOUT!

1. Awesome adventures, mysteries and thrillers. My adventure/thriller series with a touch of romance and paranormal, Accidental Spy Adventures, is well underway. So far, I’ve released Green Desert (Prequel, short novella), STEPFORD USA (US Adventure, full size novel) and GOLD TRAIN (Russia Adventure, full size novel). Coming next year: DRAGON GATE (Asia Adventure).

2. Fantasy and scifi. On September 13 I released my first fantasy/scifi short entitled CATHARSIS, Legend of the Lemurians (Earth Keepers Chronicles: Book 1). In December I’ll be releasing the highly anticipated THE EARTH SHIFTER, my new YA fantasy/thriller novel.

3. Wisdom and Spirituality

4. Futurism, or put another way, predictive analysis of future events

5. Nature and animals

6. Feng Shui, beauty, and Oriental art. (I regularly write about all of the above on my blog and I invite you to check out my posts!)

7. Last but not least! My travels and world cultures. In addition to writing about those, I love photography and try to post great pics of my favorite places to make it visual.

The new series of posts I am starting this fall is entitled “Beautiful Russia.” In this series I will be posting about various beautiful gems of Russian architecture, art, nature and culture. The first 2 posts will be about the Golden Ring of Russia, a ring of beautiful ancient towns north-east of Moscow. Most of these towns are at least 1000 years old and all of them are a feast for the senses, boasting beautiful art, architecture and nature. The UNESCO World Heritage Sites abound here. I will have tons of gorgeous pics soon, but for now, enjoy a sneak peek:

The ancient Kremlin, town of Suzdal, the Golden Ring of Russia

Suzdal monastery

The town of Sergiev Posad, the famous Sergiev Monastery, the Golden Ring of Russia

The town of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, the Golden Ring of Russia

The artisans of the Golden Ring produce exquisite traditional Russian art. The town of Palekh is where the famous Palekh boxes come from. Each tiny box is hand-painted in the secret Palekh technique of feather-light stroke and goes for hundreds and thousands of dollars. And the town of Sergiev Posad is the birth place of the famous Russian Matryoshka (above).

I love this award! Once more, many thanks to Jim L. Wright for nominating me for the Reader Appreciation Award!

In turn, here are five (+ one) of my favorite bloggers whom I want to nominate for this great award. I love reading their blogs and highly recommend them to my readers!

1. Russel Ray is a San Diego photographer and a very outspoken, fun blogger – I love this guy! (purely platonically, Russel ;)) http://russelrayphotos2.com/

2. M. G. Edwards blogs about his world travels – lots of great pics! http://worldadventurers.wordpress.com/

3. Francis writes lovely poetry and does lovely photography http://niltsi.com/

4. Elisa Cashiola – blogs about feng shui http://elisacashiola.com/

5. Lesley Fletcher – lovely blog http://inspirationimport.wordpress.com/

6. Holly Michael blogs about Christian values, her world travels, writing and family http://writingstraight.com/. I know she has already received this award, but I love her blog and want to honor her here. Holly, let’s consider this an honorary award. 🙂

How awesome is that! Another beautiful award!

I received The Beautiful Blogger Award from a fellow Indie author and wonderful blogger, Cassandra Giovanni. http://cgiovanniwrites.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/holy-cannoli/ Thank you so much, Cassandra! It is a true honor!

Cassandra is the author of the novel, Walking in the Shadows, to be released on October 31, 2012. Check out her blog http://cgiovanniwrites.wordpress.com for more about her and her books!

These are the rules for accepting The Beautiful Blogger Award:

1. Write a little something about the Beautiful Blogger who nominated you. See above and don’t forget to go and check her out too.
2.  Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate for this award 7 worthy beautiful bloggers.

Here are the 7 things I’d like to share:

1. I love my collection of Oriental art.

2. …And my writing retreat in the Catskills, NY

3. In 2011 I published two novels and one short novella in the Accidental Spy Adventure Series: GOLD TRAIN (Russia Adventure), STEPFORD USA (US Adventure) and Green Desert (Iraq Prequel). DRAGON GATE (Accidental Spy Asia Adventure) coming in 2013!

4. I love designing my own book covers! I find it to be a very creative, uplifting and meditative experience. I always feel better having designed a new cover–the more beautiful the better!

5. GOLD TRAIN and STEPFORD USA just got a face lift, with new cool covers and updated blurbs. Check them out!

6.  I have just released my first fantasy/scifi short CATHARSIS, Legend of the Lemurians (Earth Keepers Chronicles: Book 1), prequel to the upcoming fantasy/thriller THE EARTH SHIFTER. If you haven’t yet, check it out! It’s only $.99 on Kindle and FREE for a limited time on Smashwords. You can also enter the Catharsis Contest.

7. In December, 2012 I will be releasing my new YA fantasy thriller novel, THE EARTH SHIFTER. Earth Keepers Chronicles (see above) serve as companion for the upcoming EARTH SHIFTER trilogy. Incidentally, CATHARSIS includes an exclusive sneak peek excerpt from THE EARTH SHIFTER (first 2 chapters). More about The Earth Shifter.

There are so many beautiful blogs and it’s so hard to choose just 7! These are the bloggers I’ve decided to nominate:

1. Rick Braveheart – beautiful American nature photography http://thegreatamericanlandscape.wordpress.com/

2. http://imaginecontinua.wordpress.com/ Historic photos of Romania and nature

3. http://astronomybythecosmos.com/ Awesome posts about Cosmos, astronomy and Outer Space – I just love it!

4. Carl Pettit, columnist, journalist, author http://carlpettit.wordpress.com/. Cool illustrations.

5. Ash, beautiful poetry http://momentsofclarityandotherthings.wordpress.com/

6. Lovely Christian blog, poetry, devotional and more http://watmattersmost.wordpress.com/

7. Fascinating photography by a Spanish artist http://manolirizofotografia.com/

Once more, many thanks to Cassandra Giovanni!

Congratulations, winners! Enjoy!

ANNOUNCEMENT:

This is Harvest time all over the world and the time of October Fest in Germany. As a total non-drinker, but lover of harvest and the idea of abundant October Fest,

I will host the INDIE BOOK REVIEW FEST on my blog on 10/2. It will include my recent reviews of various great books by fellow authors + the best and most recent reviews by readers of my own books! You are invited to stop by, and I promise a feast for the reader’s soul!

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Sunshine Award & Awesome New Photos of Russia

Tags

Accidental Spy Adventure Series, Battleship Potemkin, Black Sea, Blogging, Gold Train by author Lada Ray, green tea, Lada Ray Blog, Lake Baikal, Moscow, Odessa, Russia, Siberia, Sunshine Blogger Award, Travel, World Heritage Site

I received a Sunshine Blogger Award from author and inspiring blogger, Holly Michael. Thank you, thank you, Holly! It is a great honor and privilege!

Here is the link to Holly’s blog, Writing Straight: http://writingstraight.com/2012/08/13/award-time-yay/ Check it out, it’s awesome!

To accept this award, I am required to answer a series of questions and then pass the Sunshine Blogger Award to other deserving bloggers, link my nominees to this post and comment on their blog letting them know of their nomination. Below are my answers and the blogs I have nominated.

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Christmas in Connecticut. It’s fun and funny, has enough intrigue and romance, plus a rare innocence impossible to duplicate today.

2. What is your favorite flower?

Lotus. Check out my recent post: The Divine Lotus

3. What is your favorite non-alcoholic beverage? Green Tea: Jasmine Pearl or Dragon Pearl (Chinese), as well as Sencha (Japanese). I like making tea in one of my traditional yixing teapots, which I collect, and drink it out of a delicate china cup, enjoying the aroma and taste. It’s a very meditative experience. Yum!

4. What is your passion? Imagining cool stories and making them come alive on paper or screen. I like to teach, inspire and open people’s eyes to the obvious and not so obvious through my writing.

5. What is your favorite time of year? Spring, because that’s when nature awakens to new life and because it’s my birthday time. And Fall, because of the beautiful colors and festive harvest.

6. What is your favorite time of day? Night time, when everything out there, in the big world, quiets down and I can sit down at my computer to think and write.

7. What is your favorite physical activity? Walking and hiking. They say, it’s a quintessential writer’s activity as creative juices flow best while walking. 😉

8. What is your favorite vacation? I’ve been to many countries and loved them all. I really miss Russia. I went back to Russia last year to reconnect and do research for my book, Gold Train, Accidental Spy Russia Adventure set in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

One of the golden-domed Kremlin cathedrals, Moscow, Russia (this is real gold, by the way).

I am planning trips to Odessa, on the Black Sea, and to Lake Baikal, Siberia, both to re-visit and do research for my upcoming books.

A beach in Odessa where I grew up. Odessa is a beautiful resort on the Black Sea. Along with several other exotic Black Sea locales, it will be the backdrop of one of the future Accidental Spy Adventures.

The famous Potemkin Steps in Odessa, connecting the historic center above with the seaport. The Potemkin Steps ensemble considered one-of-a-kind architectural phenomenon, was the site of the 1925 silent film, Battleship Potemkin (Russian: Броненосец «Потёмкин», Bronenosets Potyomkin), which has been called one of the most influential movies of all time, and was named “the greatest film of all time” in 1958.

Odessa’s spectacular Opera & Ballet House, located at – where else – 1 Chaikovsky Drive.

The famous grand stares inside Odessa Opera, considered by some architecturally the best Opera House in the world, along with Milan’s La Scala. And in case you were wondering, yes, it is real gold! The Odessa Opera, Potemkin Steps, the unique seaport, along with the entire stately center of Odessa together are a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sacred Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The oldest (25 mln years old), largest and deepest lake in the world, Baikal contains over 20% of the planet’s fresh water reserves, and according to locals, possesses mysterious healing powers. It will be featured in my upcoming YA fantasy/thriller, The Earth Shifter.

These are the bloggers I feel deserve the Sunshine Award because of their positive, inspiring and/or creative blogs.

1. Lori Lipsky http://poetrypatio.wordpress.com/. I love Lori’s poetry and her sunshine attitude!

2. Russel Ray http://russelrayphotos2.com/ Russel is a San Diego photographer with sharp wit and very cool cat, named Zoey. His posts are super-creative and very funny!

3. Francis http://niltsi.com/ Francis writes beautiful poetry and does wonderful photography. His dog, Pumpkin, is a cutie!

4. Maddy Walsh at 1 Earth Now Blog http://1earthnow.wordpress.com/ For selflessly and generously seeking out & reblogging today’s best and most inspired bloggers!

5. Maxima http://hillsofherchastity.wordpress.com/ For beautiful flowers and lovely sentiment!

6. The Blazing Trail http://theblazingtrail.wordpress.com/ For courageous and inspiring posts!

7. Ayanna Nahmias http://ayannanahmias.com/ For caring what happens in our world and speaking out for justice (even if I disagree with some of Ayanna’s views). I especially want to honor Ayanna for the heartbreaking post: Love, Compassion and Ugly http://ayannanahmias.com/2012/08/12/animal-rights-story/

Update: I have just added 3 more well-deserving blogs to my list of award recipients.

8. Benjamin http://prewitt1970.wordpress.com/,  who is fighting Parkinson’s desease, while producing some absolutely stunning art! I especially want to honor Benjamin for his amazing painting and post entitled Angels and Demons http://prewitt1970.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/angels-and-demons-2/

9. Sumithra Sriram http://hearingwiththeeye.wordpress.com/ for beautiful and wise nature photography!

10. Gertie http://fabricatedfables.wordpress.com/ Gertie is only 12, but she writes with maturity some adults could envy. Her stories are imaginative and evolved and I think she has great future as a writer! I especially liked her fantasy short story, Why Should I Save the Universe? http://fabricatedfables.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/stuff/ Keep writing, Gertie!

Congratulations to all winners!

New GOLD TRAIN Book Trailer – new dramatic score!

Tags

action, Barnes & Noble Nook, book trailer, CULTURE: Russia, geopolitical thriller, Gold Reserve of the Russian Empire, Gold Train, historic mystery, Jade Snow, Jade Snow International Adventure Series, Moscow, mystery thriller, romance, Russia Adventure, Saint Petersburg, spy thriller, suspense, trailer, World Heritage Site, YouTube

Tsars, Oligarchs and Imperial Treasure: ST.PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Tags

Accidental Spy Russia Adventure, Anichkov Bridge, Bronze Horseman, Catherine Palace, Fontanka River, Gold Train by author Lada Ray, Hermitage, Neva River, Peter the Great, Russia, Russian culture, Russian History, Saint Petersburg, St Petersburg, World Heritage Site

Above: Bankovsky Bridge

Below: The famous singing gold fountains of Peterhof

Year 1703. During the Northern War with Sweden, Peter the Great stands on the wind-swept bank of the Neva River, amid mosquito infested swamps and desolate landscape of the north, and declares that he’ll build a city of unrivaled splendor, to become Russia’s first sea port and maritime window to Europe.

Years later, his vision became a reality – and then some! Above: Medniy Vsadnik (Bronze Horseman). Monument to Peter, the city’s founder. The inscription reads: To Peter – the First, from Catherine – the Second.

Presenting St. Petersburg, Russia‘s second capital, unique cultural phenomenon, UNESCO World Heritage site and the most beautiful city on planet Earth!

The entire center of “Peter,” as it’s affectionately called by the Russians, or St. Pete, as it’s called by the expats, is the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The unbelievable beauty of its many exquisite buildings, bridges, palaces and statues can awe even the most seasoned world traveler. Despite its harsh northern climate, it can be incredibly romantic and it always is unforgettable.

Some of the most important episodes in GOLD TRAIN take place in St. Petersburg. The GOLD TRAIN heroine, international journalist Jade Snow, stays at the Duchess Vera’s house in the very heart of the historic center, not far from Nevsky Prospekt and the Hermitage.

Above: Romantic couple by the Anichkov Bridge. One of Nevsky Prospekt‘s most popular sights, Anichkov Bridge across the Fontanka River is particularly famous for the four equestrian statues, “The Horse Tamers,” which stand at each corner of the bridge. 

Try visiting St. Petersburg in the summer, during The White Nights, a unique phenomenon occurring when the Northern Lights illuminate the sky, making a night almost as bright as day.

The mood during the White Nights in indescribable! No one in this city of 5 million sleeps and scores of people wander the streets, marveling at its monuments and watching the drawing of its amazing system of draw bridges.

Above: St. Pete’s bridges being drawn during the White Nights. Notice, how bright the skies are even after midnight!

Above: Dvortsovy Bridge (Palace Bridge) next to the Winter Palace – The Hermitage

All St. Pete’s bridges are incredibly beautiful and unique. Above: Probably the most famous of its pedestrian bridges, Bankovsky Bridge – Bank Bridge, which is just a few meters down the Griboedov Canal from Kazan Cathedral, owes its reputation to its four beautiful golden-winged griffons.

The Lion Bridge, another gorgeous bridge along the system of St Pete‘s canals

Above: Trinity Bridge

Below: Winter Palace, former residence of the Russian Tsars, the most magnificent palace in the world. Now, the Hermitage Museum.

Inside The Hermitage Museum:

The Throne Room

The Grand Stairs

Tsar’s Gold Coach

Above and below, The Hermitage Galleries

Below: The Winter Palace Ballroom. When I wrote the Menshikov Mansion ballroom scene in GOLD TRAIN, I imagined something like this! Well, minus tourists in jeans.

Some of the most dramatic scenes in GOLD TRAIN take place at the Menshikov Mansion. Prince Menshikov (Duke Menshikov in GOLD TRAIN) was a real historic figure. As Peter the Great’s first lieutenant, originally a commoner, the Prince rose to prominence during Peter’s reign. Peter relied on him for reform ideas, staunch support and execution of his grand plans to re-shape Russia for the modern age.

In GOLD TRAIN, I thought it was especially fitting – and ironic – that the Menshikov Mansion would be owned by the infamous Russian oligarch, a nouveau riche and prince-wannabe, Yury Gurevich, who would be instrumental in plunging the country into darkness as a result of the conspiracy… But… I don’t want to spoil your reading experience, so let’s not reveal the plot. 😉

Of course, the real Menshikov Palace is now a museum and is owned by the state.

Below: The Menshikov Palace, now Menshikov Museum

More beautiful views of St. Pete:

Below: Peterhof, Peter’s Summer residence and its magnificent gardens, complete with the system of gold singing fountains. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and my personal favorite.

The Grand Cascade

Above: Famous gold mythological fountains in Peterhof’s gardens

In GOLD TRAIN, Jade is supposed to visit the town of Pushkin near St. Petersburg, a UNESCO World Heritage site, famous for its connection to the Russian writer Pushkin as well as for the magnificent Catherine the Great’s Palace.

Above: Monument to Pushkin, who lived in St. Petersburg and went to school in Pushkin, originally called Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar’s Village)

Below: Catherine Palace and gardens

The Amber Room (Yantarnaya Komnata) at Catherine Palace – considered by some the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” The Amber Room had been carved from top to bottom out of precious Baltic amber and presented to Peter the Great by the Prussian king Friedrich, who went bankrupt to make it happen. The room was later expanded and perfected by the Russian craftsmen.

According to the historic accounts, Catherine could sit in the Amber Room for hours, meditating. Those who’d been in the original Amber Room described the feeling as being entranced and transported to another dimension. Catherine would forget about everything, including pressing state affairs, when she was in that state.

Unfortunately, the original Amber Room was stolen by the Nazi Germany during WWII. It was dismantled and taken to Prussia, where it had vanished without a trace. Its whereabouts are not known to this day.

Starting in 1979, the new Amber Room had been painstakingly re-created from the origianl photos and drawings. It took many years to complete the project and several years ago, the Amber Room reopened for the public.

Below: Re-creating The Amber Room

Below: The magnificent Amber Room

Below: Another room at Catherine Palace, with Empress’ images

And now, back to the city center.

The grand St. Pete Metro stations, much like Moscow’s, resemble underground palaces.

Below: One of such palacial stations

One of the most dramatic scenes in GOLD TRAIN takes place at the Sportivnaya Metro Station. Below: The incredibly deep metro escalator, much like the one, Jade took in GOLD TRAIN.

Below: Sportivnaya Metro Station with its Ancient Greek Olympics theme

For more about stately St. Petersburg Metro and Sportivnaya Station, check out my post  GOLD TRAIN: Amazing Russian Metro

Above: The famous Church of Savior on Spilled Blood, featured on the GOLD TRAIN cover. The name of this church is highly symbolic, as those who read the book would recognize.

Buy GOLD TRAIN (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure) ebook & paperback!

Amazon    Barnes & Noble    Smashwords

More about Books by Lada Ray

 

Read companion posts:

GOLD TRAIN Magical Setting: Moscow, Russia

 

GOLD TRAIN: the World of Russian Trains and My Childhood Memories

 

GOLD TRAIN: Meet Jade Snow, heroine of the Accidental Spy Series

 

GOLD TRAIN: Who is this mysterious Alexei?