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Must read Classic Noir Books

There are few genres or styles as enduring and iconic as noir, with the pulp detectives, femme fatales, and conspiracies that invariably go all the way to the top. These are some of the genre’s foundational classics.

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

Not only a definitive work of noir fiction but also a book that has become the template for so many pop culture depictions of the mind of a serial killer. This tale of small-town murder is a grisly and twisty narrative that also digs deep into the mind of an all too human monster.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

One of the genre’s true masters at his absolute finest, this famously adapted work is the quintessential noir text. Containing all the elements and styles that would give the genre its feel and legacy, it was also based on much of Hammett’s own experiences working for the infamous Pinkerton agency.

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain

With an iconic setup, that would become a template for many a future noir writer, this was a book that hooked many, even if it did earn some controversy at the time for its stark depictions of sex and violence. A beautifully written and quick-paced story of lust, greed, and murder, it also helped define the classic noir ending, one that was anything but happy.

If you’re a fan of classic noir, or just simply looking for a mystery to unravel, head over to www.mediazenn.com. Where they have an enthralling selection of mystery eBooks and audiobooks for your reading pleasure.

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Truth is stranger than fiction: Three crime novels inspired by real-life events

Skilled crime novelists require an active imagination among all the other traits of being a successful writer. However, when it comes to inspiration, they are very often inspired by real-life events. That’s understandable, especially when you consider the oft-repeat saying that ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ and see all the true crime TV shows which have cropped up over the last decade or so.

Of course, many readers may be unaware of the true stories behind many of their favorite mystery novels. Here are a few books which have been inspired by real-life events which you may not know about.

Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

When you consider the legendary output of the acclaimed doyen of mystery and crime literature, it’s no surprise that Agatha Christie drew from real events to inspire her work. In Murder on The Orient Express, Christie used her own experiences of riding the train and noted its layout and design. At the time of writing, the news of the kidnap of the Lindbergh baby was everywhere and Christie was influenced by that when she penned her classic whodunit tale.

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

A classic detective tale of murder and deception, Ellroy’s story of the murder of a young girl in Los Angeles had its roots in a real-life story of an aspiring actress who has found dead in the 1940s, prompting a widespread police investigation across California.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint

A single mother is suspected of killing her two young children, but an investigative reporter believes there’s more to the story than meets the eye. The novel is inspired by the real-life events in New York in the 1960s when two young children are found dead during a heatwave.

For more mystery books which have been inspired by real life check out www.mediazenn.com.

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Mysteries of Ancient Egypt

Depicted in television and movies for decades, the world has formed its opinion in regards to the ancient Egyptians, who they were, how they lived, and what they looked like. Yet for all the speculation, much information is still in doubt when it comes to the ancient Egyptians, and many of their greatest mysteries remain unsolved to this day. Here are just three of the many unsolved mysteries of ancient Egypt.

The Pyramids. The size and scale of structures such as the Egyptian pyramids would certainly be impressive benchmarks for any society, but what’s baffling about the ancient Egyptians is that they built their pyramids with none of the technological advancements of today. Historians and archaeologists alike still struggle with questions of who built these pyramids and how they were built.

The death of King Tut. Tutankhamun came into power at the age of 9 or 10, making him the youngest pharaoh to ever rule over ancient Egypt. His death, however, also came at an incredibly young age, when he was a mere 19 years old. King Tut’s death has been shrouded in mystery not only due to his young age at the time of his death, but due to the very many things wrong with his body, which could lead to several conclusions regarding cause of death.

The disappearance of Queen Nefertiti. One of the few women to have ruled over ancient Egypt, Nefertiti’s body has remained unaccounted for to this day unlike many other pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Only adding to the mystery, there is no recording of her death in Egyptian history.

Looking for more mystery? Check out the wide variety of books and more available at www.mediazenn.com.

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Mystery novels: always keep them guessing

You might think that if you’re a dab hand at the board game Clue, you’re great at solving mysteries but a really good mystery novel should always keep us guessing.

It’s no surprise that mystery is such a popular genre, it has all the ingredients of great storytelling and can keep readers in suspense right up to the final pages. You really get value for money with a mystery book as any good mystery writer will be sure to cram each page full of pertinent information to take you this way and that.

A good mystery novel must first have interesting characters and a good writer will take care to provide enough information about them to the reader. A good setting is important too. Many older mystery novels, the kind made famous by British writer Agatha Christie, may be set in an old country home or castle, but the more modern stories are usually set in more everyday scenarios.

But the key ingredient to any good mystery story is that there must be a problem to solve. In many cases, this could be a murder or any other crime where the perpetrator’s identity isn’t immediately obvious to the reader and indeed those investigating it in the story.

The writer will drop various clues and hints throughout the story, many of them designed to throw the reader off the scent and this is what makes a ‘whodunit’ story so compelling. You may think you have solved the mystery only for your choice of the perp to be bumped off. The key is to always keep them guessing.

Discover compelling mystery books that will keep you gripped at www.mediazenn.com.

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The Most Baffling Unsolved Mysteries You Won’t Believe

Everyone loves a good mystery but there are some that even the experts can’t solve. Dating back many decades, there are unsolved conundrums that have left everyone scratching their heads. Here’s a run-through of some of the most puzzling mysteries of all time.

The dancing death

In the 16th century, a Strasbourg woman known as Frau Troffea took to the streets and started to dance wildly. Within a week, a further 100 people had joined her, and in the forthcoming month, there were four times as many. The dancing appeared to be reluctant but uncontrollable and many participated either collapsed with exhaustion or died.

Up to 10 separate incidents of this dancing death were noted but no rational explanation was ever uncovered. Evil possession? Mass hysteria? Or some kind of unknown virus or illness? The case remains unsolved.

Do vampires exist?

Mercy Brown was a young woman who died in 1892 of tuberculosis, along with her mother and sister. Her body was exhumed when her father was given the news that an evil spirit had afflicted them all. Despite having been buried and allegedly dead for two months, Mercy looked as fresh as the day she died. Her hair and nails had grown, her blood was still liquid and there were no blemishes on her skin. Even stranger, the body appeared to have moved within the coffin.

Science has been unable to explain all of these separate elements, leaving only the possibility that Mercy was indeed a real-life vampire…

The Taos Hum

Known as the Taos Hum, this low-pitched sound can be heard on occasions in Taos, New Mexico. It has also been noted in selected other locations in the US, the UK and parts of northern Europe. It requires a quiet environment in order to be heard, but the weirdest part about the phenomena is that it cannot be detected by VLF antennae or microphones.

A number of explanations have been offered up, including the possibility of mass hallucinations, but none have adequately been able to identify the true cause.

If you want to read more mysteries and stretch your imagination in all kinds of ways, take a look at the library at www.mediazenn.com. Full of exciting titles, you may even come up with the answer to one of the world’s unsolved riddles!

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How To Write A Credible Character Arc: Part II

Character arcs are important when writing an engaging story, and many writers rush through theirs, making for anticlimactic narratives. If you’re writing a story but struggling with this part, we’re here to offer you tips on how to write credible and compelling character arcs.

Give your character something to overcome. Whilst all characters should be written as flawed, it’s important for an arc to depict your characters with one main struggle they need to overcome. This might be an injustice they’re facing, a big flaw or addiction, essentially a recurring obstacle that will lead to their redemption. It’s more impacting to a story to show that your characters have their own internal battles to face and not just the main conflict. You can show how this personal obstacle afflicts them throughout the story, how it holds them back. This way, when they overcome it, your readers will really feel that the character has unlocked their true potential.

Show how their flaws are holding them back in all aspects of their lives. Don’t just limit their flaws to the main conflict, show how they’re affecting all parts of their lives. On one part, this helps to really set the scene on where your character is in his life so you can see how hard the journey to redemption is going to be. On another part, it also helps to make the flaw more realistic. If you only center their problem to the plot it loses impact. For example in Part I we gave the example of an alcoholic selfish man who has to look after a complicated child and later grows into a father figure. To make his flaws as realistic as possible you need to show how his alcoholism affects his everyday life not just his parenting, show how it keeps him from work or from having a healthy romantic relationship. That way you can also show their progress by having them overcome these small obstacles whilst still struggling with the main conflict.

Give them a moment where they really mess up. Have your character face a moment where they can make the right choice but choose not to. This will help to reinforce their struggle and show just how hard they will have to fight to overcome it and make their character arc much more valuable. This moment is also your opportunity to mark it as a meaningful inflection point in their journey. Use this moment to have them face a true internal battle after they notice they’ve hit rock bottom. Have your character suffer real consequences for making the wrong choice and use this as a tool to push them to a real redemption.

This is the second installment of the article so if you haven’t read the first, we recommend you check it out to see what else you can do to write a quality character arc. You can also explore the many books in our online library www.mediazenn.com to see how other authors write compelling character arcs. We recommend looking into Gillian Flynn’s work.

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How To Write A Credible Character Arc: Part I

When planning out your story you shouldn’t think of story development and character development as two separate things. The truth is you need your plot to develop your characters in the most credible way possible and vice versa. Quality books have powerful character arcs that help to show the impact of the story. Character arcs are essentially the internal journey characters go through that give credibility and authenticity to your story since it allows you to build three-dimensional characters. If you’re currently developing your own book and are struggling to write a compelling and credible arc for your characters, here are a few tips.

A good character arc is not reserved exclusively for the main protagonist. Whilst it’s important to make sure your lead character has a good character arc, you don’t have to hold back on secondary characters. In fact, usually it’s the secondary characters that tend to have the best arcs and that’s because the lead character’s arc is more limited by their need to lead the story. One of the best character arcs in recent years, and an example that is usually referenced is of a secondary character in Avatar The Last Airbender called Zuko. His transition from good to bad is one of the most honest and human arcs in recent years because of how it portrays his internal battle. Often we see arcs where as soon as the character realizes what the ‘good side’ is, they switch without thinking anything about the consequences it has on them. This follows the trope of ‘good triumphs over evil’. However, in Zuko’s case, you see part of the struggle is him acknowledging that by changing side he would have to give up all the things he spent his life fighting for. It ends up making his change more valuable and authentic.

Consider your plot when planning your character's growth. When thinking about how you want your character to grow, you need to make it compatible with your story, otherwise, you won't be able to integrate them together very well. This is a mistake that usually makes stories seem incomplete. On one part you need to think about where you want your character to start and where you want them to finish, eg: selfish alcoholic man that turns into a fatherly figure. Think about what events need to take place for this change to happen as organically as possible. You need to think about how your character would react to what’s happening in the story. If you have an alcoholic and selfish man, he isn’t going to naturally volunteer to take care of a problematic kid, so what would need to happen to make him take care of the child? Maybe somebody pressured them by hurting their ego, and as a flawed proud man found himself forced to take care of the child. This allows you to develop the story and characters equally so that it’s as natural as possible.

Give your characters a compelling backstory. Take the time to write a credible backstory for your characters to show the context of how they got to where they are. What tragedies did they face? This helps readers understand the actions of the character and show empathy towards them. For example, the alcoholic selfish man we were talking about before could have lost his child and wife. Learning this about him will help readers understand why he didn’t want to take care of the problem child in the first place, making his actions human instead of selfish. Understanding why it’s a struggle for him means that when he becomes a fatherly figure at the end the readers will understand his journey better. Context helps to shape how readers will perceive your characters.

These are just some tips you should keep in mind when developing your characters. Next week we will cover more tips focusing on the importance of flaws in development. However, one of the best ways to see the different character arcs there are out there is by reading as much as possible, so we invite you to browse through some of the novels in our online library www.mediazenn.com.

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Is Your Life Missing Adventure

We all agree that life is full of adventures. Whether it is a normal day for us or not, it takes us through a unique adventure daily. Have you ever tried to jump in an adventure book? Or have you ever imagined yourself as Porthos from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas? Adventure books are all about indulging with them and experiencing the adventure that it takes us to. Mediazenn is one such platform which allows you to enjoy ad experience the wide collection of adventure books.

Adventure consists of various emotions such as danger, risk and anger all at one place and at one time. Adventure books can take you to far-away places and enjoy the exploratory tour within a reasonable price. You can experience your favorite adventure on the internet for free with adventure books. It has the ability to dig out your hiking gear and seek your adventurous journey before its late.

However, there are various authors without whom this genre remains incomplete. We cannot even discuss adventure stories without the literary work of Alexandre Dumas or Walter Scott. On the other hand, Robert Louis Stevenson took each one of us to the Treasure Island at least once in our lifetime. We have been through such classics and authors with their adventurous journey and still are fond of such journey somewhere in our heart. Come, explore the world of adventure on Mediazenn and experience the twists and turns of the adventure with us.

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Clever Magic, The Intertwining Politics Of The Warring Empires, Cultures With Non-Binary Genders : The Mirror Empire By Kameron Hurley

Worlds are colliding. The fabric of time and space is being torn apart and reknit into a mirror that reflects the very worst. A young girl dreams of finding her mother. A warrior questions her loyalties and her empress. A man has no choice but to take over his sister’s role and be a leader. Thousands of the weakest race are mercilessly slaughtered by those who could offer them protection. The satellites rise and fall in the sky, bringing and taking away the powers of those connected to them. There is magic in blood, danger in plants, threats from wild beasts and fear in every breath. Packed with vivid imagination and originality like none before , read this masterpiece at Mediazenn.

A book that pushes at the boundaries of traditional epic fantasies even more than before—Hurley is nothing if not ambitious. Even if the new area she discovers by stretching and reshaping fantasy is not always totally refined, it is always refreshing, intelligent and challenging. This is world-building at its finest an imaginative and fantastical world that is unrelenting in its immersiveness. And oh boy is it Dark. Add blood magic to the mix, and you get a wonderfully visceral masterpiece that you're attracted to despite your rational inclinations. In the end, one world will rise – and many will perish , find out what happens at Mediazenn. The Mirror Empire is an audacious and exciting start to an epic fantasy that is sure to leave a mark.

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Award Winning Books Of 2017

There are various books which have made their way to the winning list whereas there are some unnoticed books yet worth a read. Mediazenn is an online platform where you can find books from various genres. The award winning books of 2017 from the genres- Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry and Young People’s Literature were:

Fiction: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Non-Fiction: The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia by Masha Gessen

Poetry: Half-Light: Collected Poems by Frank Bidart

Young People’s Literature: Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

Now, let’s look at the achievements of the award winning authors. Jesmyn Ward, An American Novelist and English professor at Tulane University has won three awards – National Book Award 2017, Alex Award 2011 and National Book Critics Circle Award 2013. Masha Gessen, a Russian journalist, author and translator has achieved four awards – Stora Journalist priest 2012, Liberty Media Corporation for her article “The Wrath of Putin” in 2013, University of Michigan Wallenberg Medal in 2015 and National Book Award 2017. In the poetry genre, Frank Bidart has achieved various awards for his creations from which National Book Award 2017 is the eleventh achievement. Robin Benway got her first National Book Award 2017 and is inspired to achieve more in near future.

Want to explore books from various authors? Visit Mediazenn and enjoy your favorite author’s work.

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Mediazenn: Perfect Place For Mystery Lover

Are you in search of something exciting and thrilling to read? Mediazenn is the place where your search ends. The online library gives you the opportunity to uncover exciting mysteries. The site has an enormous collection of audiobooks, eBooks as well as music. The readers can enjoy every bit of this online platform. This platform takes readers to the world of excitement and thrill.

Mediazenn is the ultimate destination for readers who love solving mysteries. The interesting characters with horrifying places create thrilling and breathtaking suspense that make the story more exciting. At the same time, it makes readers more anxious about the plot of the story. While talking about the climax, the unexpected climax is always anxious and awaited part of a mysterious story.

Readers are always eager to see what is going to happen in the end. Readers are always in their seat while reading a mystery content. They don’t want to miss even a single piece of the story. Thrillers become much more exciting when you are listening to it as an audiobook or reading the eBook. It simply makes you addicted to it. The regular updates of these stories keep you engaged.

You find yourself mesmerized in your first visit to the site. This is the single place where you can enjoy reading eBooks, listening to audiobooks as well as find a good collection of music. This is quite an impressive feature of Mediazenn. To be a part of this thrilling journey you need to sign up and explore the collection.

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Read The Pilgrim’s Progress On Mediazenn

The narrator here talks about his dream and defending the story which is framed as a dream. He explains that while he was asleep, he dreamt of a man named Christian, who is anguished by a spiritual feeling. An Evangelist, who is a spiritual guide who urges him to leave the City of Destruction.

He leaves and tries to convince his family to leave but he is unsuccessful in his attempt. He falls into many hard times, but he was always saved. He met and come across many people along the way like a wise man who urges him to lead a life theta’s practical and a happy existence without religion, and he learnt a lot about faith. So, in a nutshell, the story is an extended metaphor that represents larger ideas and concepts.

So, if you like this book, and wants to read it online, get it on Mediazenn. It’s one of the best library for books of any genre. There are books of all categories written by well-known authors.

All you have to do is sign up and get access to unlimited editions of the books you love. There’s a plan for every reader, it depends on what your needs are. You can read the eBooks anywhere you like! There’s a book for every mood. The website is compatible with all the devices. Be a member of Mediazenn now!

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A Complete Guide for Single Moms: Raise Your Child Happy and Healthy

A Complete Guide for Single Mother by Janis Adams is one of the best guide books available at Mediazenn. This novel is for all single mothers who want to learn to raise their kids on their own. Regardless of your past of becoming single mother whether it was surrogacy, unplanned pregnancy, end of a relationship or adoption, this guide will take you through all the need to know information that will help you and your kid adjust to a whole new lifestyle.

In this comprehensive guide, Janis teaches you the basics of child care, which included the necessities of a kid in her or his first year, from diapers and breastfeeding to travel and clothing. You will also learn what you should expect as your kid starts going to school and enters teenage. You need to prepare yourself for various sacrifices that you will have to make and learn to tackle financial issues. This book even teaches you to handle difficult situations such as discussing with your child about the loss of her/his father for the first time.

This guide will tell you when to fill in father’s space and when you can’t and what all you should do to give the male support or influence that children require during formative years. This ultimate guide covers all you need to know when raising your child as a single mom. Read the complete guide at Mediazenn.

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How Literature Expands The Level Of Your Intellectuality?

How many of you love reading literature? If you are one of them truly love literature, you have landed at the right platform. At Mediazenn, you are going to have the best collection of literature to get dipped in the deep feelings.

Literature Brings Huge Change –

This is true that literature brings a great change in your perception. You come across the writer’s perception. You will come to know about many things which you may not know before reading that. Literature unfolds great layer and unveils many new things. It also improves your social skills.

The fact cannot be ignored that classic literature always comes up with great features. It makes you happy right from the core. It makes you get indulged with the great things including the characters, emotions, experiences, and perspective. For many people, literature is a boon for many literature freaks.

Getting indulged with nicely written literature means also enhancing your vocabulary. The simply and nicely written literature makes your mood good. It does not go straight over your head but it touches your heart. It makes you able think new things easily.

Do you also wish to know more about the great literature, you need to go with Mediazenn? Here, you will come across the great books collection to experience something great. The platform has been built in order to bring the gigantic collection of amazing books in order to experience the best feeling of reading literature.

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Types of Fantasy Novels You Must Read

The fantasy genre is quite famous among all ages of people. There are several subgenres of Fantasy fiction. Some of them are mentioned below in detail:

Teen Fantasy -- Genres

Teen Fantasy novels are geared toward teenaged readers. The main characters in this genre are involved in the main plot of the story are teenagers and usually involves situations teenagers can relate to. Mediazenn offers content of different genres too.

This genre of fantasy fiction can be challenging for some to write because fashion, slang, and fads change so rapidly among teenagers. This requires the author of teen fantasy fiction to do some market research, be a trendsetter, or find a way to remove such things that will ultimately become dated.

Supernatural Fantasy -- Genres

Supernatural Fantasy novels comprise a large portion of published fantasy fiction novels. Making up almost 30% of the fantasy fiction market, supernatural fantasy includes mythical, spiritual, magical, superhuman and biblical plots and characters. Many fantasy novels fall in this category since any novel that contains elements of magic in it can be considered a supernatural fantasy novel.

Mediazenn for some amazing quality books online. You can access them anytime, anywhere and their subscription plan is really affordable. Get started now!

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Democracy: The Quintessential American Political Novel

A lot has been written about politics over the years, historical classics found on websites like Mediazenn bear witness of this fact. Many writers have attempted this genre, but very few have succeeded. One of them is Henry Adams and one of most notable works till date is Democracy.

It is a quintessential American political novel which became an instant bestseller when it was first published in 1880. It describes the story of a young woman named Madeleine Lee who is a widow. She comes to Washington D.C. to understand the workings of power. She is pursued by Silas Racliffe, who is the most influential member of the Senate. After getting in contact with him, Madeleine sees enough power and its corrupting influence that will last her a lifetime.

This novel was published anonymously by historian Henry Adams, the way he has described deal-making and corruption in the novel seems almost contemporary. In addition to that, the novel also features an interesting and admirable protagonist who wishes to learn about power, duty, and service in Washington D.C.

One of the best parts of the novel is that the story has absolutely no political agenda, but it holds a fairly dim view of Washington. This is a book that can be enjoyed by anyone who is remotely interested in politics regardless of the fact whether they are conservative or liberal.

All in all, Democracy is a novel about political power, its acquisition, use, and abuse. If you are interested in reading this novel, all you have to do is sign up at Mediazenn, choose this novel and start reading right away!

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3 Tips For Effective Book Market Research

Market research is extremely important in any industry, especially in the publishing industry. Getting featured on platforms like Mediazenn is not an easy feat. You have to be adept at handling the changing tastes and demands of the market and offer great content. If you are just venturing into the publishing world, here are some tips that can prepare you to tackle the challenges.

The Ideal Reader

Every book needs an audience and finding the right audience is your responsibility. Do not write for the masses, write for your ideal reader. You are not out to please every person in the market, you have to find your target audience who would appreciate your work and style of writing.

The Competition

Always assess the competition to understand what type of books are selling in the market. Study your target audience's response to these books and also monitor the criticisms. You can learn a lot from how your competitors are performing in the market and improve your own writing.

The Review Community

The reviewers of books are plenty, but there are specific influential websites and channels that take their review writing quite seriously. These channels have several followers and they can easily influence readers across the globe. Monitor and assess these websites to understand what the avid readers are looking for in a good book.

These tips can help writers crack into the publishing industry and even get featured on platforms like Mediazenn. It's time to explore the literary arena!