SASHA AND SHEBA'S POETRY CONTEST

SASHA AND SHEBA'S POETRY CONTEST - SPONSORED BY CREATIVIA PUBLISHING
How much do you love your dog/dogs? Can you put that love, or your general feelings about your best canine friend into words? Starting today, and for the next three weeks

, Sasha and Sheba are running a poetry contest to find the best "I Love my Dog" poem.

The contest will run until Sunday, 16th April, and the winner will be able to choose either a copy of Sasha, or Sheba: From Hell to Happiness, in your choice of paperback or digital editions, generously supplied and delivered by Creativia Publishing. Certificates will go to the first 3 places and those top 3 poems will also be included in my next dog rescue book, Sasha & Sheba's Canine Friends.
THE RULES
OK, here's what we're looking for.
1. Poems can be in rhyming or non-rhyming format up to a maximum of 28 lines.
2. Writers of the winning entries give their permission for their poems to be included in the book, Sasha & Sheba's Canine Friends, and all entrants give their permission for their poems to be reproduced on any of the organiser's websites or Facebook groups.
3. Your poem should express your feelings about your dog, perhaps how you found each other, why your dog's love is important to you, or why you love your dog, why your dogs love each other as well as you, anything at all relating to your own dog or dogs and the love and interaction that exists between you and your best friend.
4. Entries must be received by midnight, UK time, on Sunday, 16th April. Entries received after that time will sadly not be included in the final judging.
5. The judges decision is final. As a former winner of the Preditors & Editors Poet of the Year Award (as Juan Pablo Jalisco) and the author of two bestselling poetry collections, the sole judge will be Brian L (Harry) Porter.
6. Please indicate at the bottom of your poem which book, and in which format you would like it in the event of your poem being the winner.
7. Poems must be your own, original work and must be previously unpublished either digitally or in print, and should be sent by email to sashadoo13@gmail.com with 'POETRY CONTEST' in the subject column.
8. Finally, please include your name, mailing address and email address at the bottom of your poem so we know where to send your prize if your are the winner
Hope you enjoy putting you thinking caps on and penning your own poetic masterpiece in tribute to your dogs. Have fun!
Please share on any groups you belong to. The more the merrier!

SASHA'S A NUMBER 1 BESTSELLER IN AUSTRALIA + REVIEW

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #5,691 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Dogs
Fantastic to see Sasha holding the Number 1 bestseller position in Australia today.
Her story is definitely continuing to touch hearts and minds around the world. Here's her latest review:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story about a beautiful and happy dog
By Jen wright on 22 March 2017
Format: Paperback
What a beautiful and engaging book. The story of Sasha is a fabulous read and for anyone who loves staffys (and all dogs)this book is a must.. The story of this brave and happy dog is written beautifully and I enjoyed it thoroughly..

See more at  Sasha

Available in Kindle and paperback editions and FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

The review quoted above is Sasha's 91st consecutive 5 star review on Amazon UK. I'm so proud of my very special girl and we also received some good news from her vet today with the results of her latest tests.

Sasha's vet phoned today with the results of her recent tests for Cushing's Disease. I'm delighted to say Sasha DOES NOT HAVE CUSHING'S. The vet also had the lab check for other problems too that might be causing problems for her liver but I'm pleased to say everything was normal. So, we can concentrate on getting the seizures under control and Rebecca the vet and I discussed at length various things including Sasha's diet and we have devised a new plan to augment her diet with more protein and less carbohydrates, and additional Omega 3 in an effort to both support her liver and help to prevent further cluster seizures. Sasha will be going to see Rebecca for a check-up in two weeks time, so we'll see how she's doing after that visit.

SHEBA - ONLY 99 PENCE/99 CENTS UNTIL 23RD MARCH

My bestselling Sheba: From Hell to Happiness, is on a Kindle Countdown Deal until 23rd March. You can get the book for only 99p in the UK or 99 cents or equivalent anywhere else in the world.

SHEBA

Sheba is the sequel to Brian L Porter's award-winning bestseller, Sasha, and tells the story of rescue dog Sheba, Sasha’s best friend, starved, beaten and used as bait for the training of fighting dogs and then thrown on a rubbish tip and left to die, a barely living skeleton.

The author and his wife adopted this unfortunate waif and so began a long period of recuperation and training, as they gradually helped Sheba back to full health and helped her to learn to live sociably and happily within their pack of rescue dogs.

Sheba with best friend Sasha

A story of real triumph over adversity, full of emotion and a fair amount of humor too, Sheba’s is a real-life tale of what can be achieved in rehabilitating a dog, having suffered a living hell, from the brink of death to a life full of happiness.    
    
See more at  Sheba: From Hell to Happiness where the book is available in the Kindle edition or in paperback as well as being FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

A REVIEW OF SHEBA

5.0 out of 5 stars... reading about Sasha I had to read about her best mate Sheba and what a story it is

ByDonna Ibbotsonon 1 March 2017

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

After reading about Sasha I had to read about her best mate Sheba and what a story it is. My heart broke as I read about the start in life this little dog had. How people can treat dogs like that makes my blood boil. But the love that this dog received when she finally got her happy ending just makes you feel so good. Fingers crossed there are more books about these dogs as they really are fantastic

The author with Sheba and Sasha and their bestselling book covers

GLASTONBURY - FREE UNTIL 16TH MARCH

Here's a chance to read my best selling, award-winning mystery novel, Glastonbury, ABSOLUTELY FREE until midnight on the 16th March. Just go to Glastonbury to download this great Kindle offer. No Kindle? No problem. Just download the FREE Kindle app from any Amazon book page and you can then download Kindle books to any device.

GLASTONBURY was the winner of the Preditors & Editors Best Mystery Novel Award 2010
Hidden in the shadows of Glastonbury Tor lies an ancient secret. After being hired by millionaire Malcolm Capshaw to search for a fabled artifact, Joe Cutler and his team from Strata Survey Systems are drawn into a web of lies, murder and betrayal.

The artifact is revealed to be bogus, and the real purpose of their search is slowly exposed. A menacing presence, in the form of an old London crime family, displays an unusual interest in the events in the ancient town where Christianity laid its roots in England.

There, aided by the enigmatic professor Lucius Doberman, Joe and his team must solve the mystery of Glastonbury before the sinister historian Walter Graves makes the discovery that could cost him and the whole team their lives.

A mind-bending mystery for fans of The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Glastonbury is a gripping story from bestselling author Brian L. Porter.

A REVIEW

5.0 out of 5 starsSecrets of the Livara?

By Broadway Turk Superstar 

Brian L. Porter is a man of many literary talents, as demonstrated by his medical thriller Pestilence and his poetry compilation Lest We Forget. The native Liverpudlian shows what he knows in using Merrie Olde England as his backdrop for his works, going from the fictitious Olney St. Mary in Pestilence to the skies over Great Britain with his WWII prose collection. His lost treasure melodrama, Glastonbury, centers on the town in Somerset where two teams of fortune hunters square off in a death match, mostly ‘cuz they don’t like each other’s faces. There’s something almost American about this novel, from Joe Cutler’s wiseass attitude to Walter Graves’ casual duplicity. Even though the baddies, the villainous Malcolm Capshaw and his henchmen Maitland brothers, are bred and buttered Continentals, the hot-to-trot Sally Corbett, Charlotte Raeburn and her cousin Jennifer come off like pin-up gals from the Dallas TV series. For Anglophobes who generally steer clear of British-based novels, you’ll find that this whole storyline could have shifted to Los Angeles (or Dallas) without missing a beat.

Not that Porter doesn’t stay true to his roots. Capshaw is an old-school London mobster maintaining a veneer of respectability. Only he’s drawn offside by getting wind of a wild goose chase in Glastonbury where people are whispering about Excalibur, the fabled sword of King Arthur. He’s got the backstabbing Walter Graves on the high road and the cutthroat Maitlands on the low road, and who’ll be in Scotland---erm, Glastonbury, before ye? Professor Lucius Doberman (seriously!), that’s who, and he’s got our boy Cutler and sexy Sally doing the heavy lifting for him. The spit hits the fan when Capshaw’s S&M games with Charlotte take a fatal turn, and the Maitlands are compromised while doing their cleanup chores. It looks like Sally’s going to be the next in line when the whip comes down, and Cutler has to make some fast moves before Capshaw captures the fair maiden, the magic sword, and everything else on the round table.

Check out Brian’s Amazon page for a list of books on sale by this versatile author. Rest assured, Glastonbury is a great place to start.

A READER'S POST ABOUT SASHA

One of the recent readers of Sasha's life story, Mandi Steinhovden posted this wonderful message on my Facebook page a couple of days ago. It's great when someone takes the time to post something like this on Facebook and it shows just how much Mandi enjoyed reading Sasha's story. I have thanked her personally and Mandi will also be posting her own review of the book on Amazon soon. Can't wait to see what she has to say about the book on there. So I just want to say thank you again to Mandi for these lovely words about the book in her home.

I have just finished reading this amazing story of a beautiful courageous little girl named Sasha. This book has made me smile laugh and at certain points cry her story being told in such a way by her human daddy that you feel like you know them personally. Have a read I promise you won't be disappointed

Read all about the book on Amazon at Sasha
It's available in Kindle edition with full colour photos and in paperback, and subscribers to Kindle Unlimited can get the book for FREE.  

A MERSEY KILLING - WHAT A TERRIFIC REVIEW!

Sometimes, an author receives a review that makes all the work that goes into creating a book seem totally worthwhile, and today was one of those days. A MERSEY KILLING  has received a phenomenal review from former Merseyside police officer Steve Bentley, also a native of the city of Liverpool. To receive a review like this goes to show the accuracy of my facts and procedures appertaining to the police procedures and the events and places of the time era the book was set in.

Steve's review was originally posted on his own webpage at A MERSEY KILLING, REVIEW and is reproduced here from Amazon UK:

5.0 out of 5 starsFab! Gear! Sound!

By SB on 7 Mar. 2017

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

To use the vernacular of 1960's Liverpool, this book by author Brian L. Porter was fab, gear and sound! I believe these days Scousers would also call it boss!

As a former detective who served on Merseyside in the 1960's I simply delighted in this novel. My enjoyment was heightened even more so owing to my long-ago teenage memories growing up in Huyton who used to "sag" off school to attend Cavern lunch time sessions at the height of the Mersey Beat days. This book has those days as a back drop to the tale of murder, intrigue, suspense and Porter deftly weaves his work bridging three decades in the telling of the tale.
The characters are real. The author clearly has Merseyside roots and accurately depicts the city of Liverpool, its folk, geography, the old docks and the terraced houses.
As a former detective, I found Detective Inspector Andy Ross and his sidekick "Izzie" to be entirely credible. I felt I knew them from my past. The way the cold case investigation unfolds is also a credit to the author and so realistic. He even includes a little internal police politics to add an authentic feel to the proceedings.
Porter has a feel for real people. It comes through in all his characters particularly Connie, the God-fearing long-suffering wife of James, the bigoted Irishman. There are brief references to sectarianism in the "old days" in Liverpool but with respect to the author it is down played and contains, for example, no reference to the Orange Lodge parades, an annual event in the city often the source of flare-ups between Catholics and Protestants. Notwithstanding that, the author does a fine job of portraying an authentic "feel" to the times in the city.
Porter is a master at using dialogue to tell his story. He allows the characters to live, breathe and inform.
All in all I found this novel thoroughly enjoyable, easy to read and it has its element of surprises to keep the reader guessing.
A final word - you don't have to have Liverpool connections to enjoy this book. It stands alone as a very good piece of writing and is highly recommended reading.
Just off to order Book 2 in the 'Mersey Killing' series! Well done, Brian, and thanks for the good read.

A MERSEY KILLING 

A skeleton and a missing woman. A doomed romance. A mystery spanning two generations.

Liverpool, 1961. A group of young men come together seeking fame and fortune, as the fledgling sounds of the Swinging Sixties take root in the city. Very soon, Liverpool will become synonymous with the groups and music that will shape a generation.

Liverpool, 1999. Skeletal remains found in the docklands lead Detective Inspector Andy Ross and Sergeant Izzie Drake into a journey through time, as the investigation takes them back to early days of the Mersey Beat.

Whose bones laid beneath the mud of the River Mersey for over thirty years, and what links them to a young woman, missing for the entire time?

A Mersey Killing, the first book in Brian L. Porter's Mersey Murder Mysteries series, is a crime story deeply rooted in the early days of rock n'roll.

A MERSEY KILLING is available Kindle and paperback editions and is also FREE on Kindle Unlimited from A Mersey Killing

No Kindle? No problem, simply download the free Kindle app from any Amazon book page and then download Kindle books to any device.

Don't forget the other books in the series,  All Saints    and  A Mersey Maiden also available from Amazon. 

The Mersey Mysteries from Brian L Porter

MERSEY MYSTERIES

Great to  see that Amazon have made it easy for people to read about and buy my Mersey Mystery series of books by putting them together on one page as a series at The Mersey Mysteries

A Mersey Killing, All Saints, Murder on the Mersey and A Mersey Maiden all have terrific reviews.
A MERSEY KILLING
" A Mersey Killing is fab" John Gill
ALL SAINTS
" A stunner with suspense that crescendos" - Mary Deal
A MERSEY MAIDEN
Riveting" - Debbiie23

All available in Kindle and paperback editions and FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Look out for book 4 in the series, A Mersey Mariner, coming soon

COMING SOON

FREE SAMPLE OF AWARD-WINNING GLASTONBURY

Grab yourself a FREE copy of the first chapter of my award-winning novel Glastonbury from today. Glastonbury won the Preditor's & Editors Best Mystery Novel Award 2010, and is available in both Kindle and paperback editions. Get your free sample from Glastonbury - Instafreebie
GLASTONBURY

Hidden in the shadows of Glastonbury Tor lies an ancient secret. After being hired by millionaire Malcolm Capshaw to search for a fabled artifact, Joe Cutler and his team from Strata Survey Systems are drawn into a web of lies, murder and betrayal. 

The artifact is revealed to be bogus, and the real purpose of their search is slowly exposed. A menacing presence, in the form of an old London crime family, displays an unusual interest in the events in the ancient town where Christianity laid its roots in England. 

There, aided by the enigmatic professor Lucius Doberman, Joe and his team must solve the mystery of Glastonbury before the sinister historian Walter Graves makes the discovery that could cost him and the whole team their lives. 

A mind-bending mystery for fans of The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Glastonbury is a gripping story from bestselling author Brian L. Porter.

Buy the complete book at Glastonbury

WHAT A WEEK! SEIZURES FOR SASHA, GREAT REVIEWS FOR BOOKS

SASHA'S SEIZURES
It's been a real week up ups and downs and I'm starting withe the down side as it affects my gorgeous Sasha. In the early hours of Friday morning, she had an epileptic seizure which was followed over the next twenty four hours by six more, a total of seven seizures! I spent most of Friday night downstairs in the lounge with her as she suffered three fits through the night.
Today, Saturday, I took her to see her vet. Blood tests were taken and we await the results of those, early next week. Meanwhile, her vet has increased the dose of her epiphen by an extra 60mg daily, pending the results of the blood tests and she is ona three day course of Keppra to try to help reduce the convulsions. Praying that the cluster of seizures is over now and that beautiful Sasha can return to normal life for a while.

BOOK REVIEWS
Sasha's life story has also received some more fantastic reviews this week. She now has 84 consecutive UK 5 star reviews and a total approaching 220 worldwide. Here's the latest of her wonderful reviews, which is from UK author Richard Ankers...praise indeed!

5.0 out of 5 starsSasha: A Remarkable Tale of Love

ByRichardon 2 March 2017

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

They say truth is stranger than fiction and in the case of this remarkable little dog, it is.
A refreshingly short and poignant tale of a dog, and her owners, who simply refused to give up, Sasha's tale will have you cringing one minute, cheering the next and even shedding a tear. Neither injury nor illness could stop her from wagging her tail with the sheer joy of love and life. I don't think they ever will.
A highly recommended read for both dog lovers and non-dog lovers alike.
Five Woofs! I mean stars.

BESTSELLER IN AUSTRALIA
Soon after this review was published on Amazon learned that Sasha's book had become a #1 bestseller in Australia, a wonderful achievement following on from twice being a UK bestseller.

• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #6,823 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  
• #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Dogs

What a wonderful achievement for my gorgeous little rescuedog.

See Sasha's book at Sasha

This universal link will take you to your local Amazon website anywhere in the world

SHEBA: FROM HELL TO HAPPINESS - MORE GREAT REVIEWS

Meanwhile, my new release Sheba: From Hell to Happiness has also been receiving some great reviews, every one of them 5 stars, in the UK, USA and in Australia and Canada too. Here's a sample of what readers think of Sheba which can be found at Sheba: From Hell to Happiness

5.0 out of 5 starsHighly recommend

Byemma fosteron 3 March 2017

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

This book had me in floods of tears from the first page all the way through to the last .. from tears of sorrow through to tears of joy. After everything sheba went through in her early life she came through as the true fighter she is and is what makes me love the breed so much and as for her owners .. well they are truly angels in human form xx

                                                                              #

There are many more and I hope you'll maybe give both Sasha and Sheba a read, if you haven't done so already. If you do, please be kind enough to leave us a short review on Amazon if you've enjoyed the book(s).

I hope the next week will be a good one for Sasha and for everyone out there. Thanks for taking a few minutes of your day to read this. See you again soon, i hope.