YABooksPodcast's podcast: Recent Episodes
Philip Carroll
Interviews of young adult authors about their lives, inspiration, writing methods, projects, and books.
This is episode number 99. I'd already purchased a book for the big one hundred, but I've decided to call it quits, again, with this one.
I hate to say goodbye. I love podcasting, meeting fascinating authors and introducing people to the first chapters of great books. But, I'm not getting the feedback to keep going. It got harder and harder to get authors to interview. I'm not sure why that was, if it was their fear of being interviewed, or my self doubts about whether they would really want to be on the podcast. Maybe I should have been more assertive. In addition, subscriptions and downloads have decreased steadily over the last two months. With the podcast taking up half of the creative time I have each week, I think I should focus on getting some of my novels edited and published.
If you're interested in finding out what I'm working on, you can find me at PhilipCarrollAuthor.com, on facebook at Philip Carroll Author, or you can contact me directly at norvaljoe@gmail.com
This weeks episode is:
Turtles all the way down by John Green, author of "The Fault in Our Stars" and other very popular novels.
I chose this one because it was chosen as the number 2 Reader's choice on Goodreads for Young Adult Fiction. It was 7,000 votes behind number one (The Hate U Give) with at 52K and a whole 30,000 ahead of number 3 "One of Us is Lying" which I reviewed a few months ago.
https://www.amazon.com/Turtles-All-Down-John-Green/dp/0525555366/ref=pd_rhf_pe_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=55XNSMP6GS3RM1ZMNG63
It has 4.5 star average on 695 reviews on Amazon.
It was published on Oct 10, 2017 by Dutton Books for Young Readers
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#2 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Coming of Age
#2 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Depression & Mental Illness
#2 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Anxiety Disorders
Here's the blurb:
Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.
Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.
In his long-awaited return, John Green, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.
The Amazon preview has the first chapter and a bit of the second. I'm going to read you all that is included:
(read)
John Green creates an intricate voice in the thoughts of Aza. I can see why he is so popular. He's created Aza to be witty, thoughtful and self reflective, just as teenagers would like to picture themselves. Probably more witty and self reflective than any actual teenager, but it makes for a fascinating character in a book.
Aza really worries about her microflora and feels outnumbered. If she was truly thoughtful and maybe a little more analytical, she would realize she's only outnumbered by count, not by volume. By volume, the aliens are way outnumbered. But, that's not the point. The point is her anxiety. Her anxiety appears entertaining. Maybe Green is using it as a gimmick, maybe he is truly concerned about teens and their anxieties. My teenage daughter has crushing anxiety that shuts her down in class, but she doesn't bounce out of it with witting interchanges with classmates.
These first two chapters barely introduce us to the story and if it wasn't for the blurb, this little bit that I read would hardly motivate you to read on. But add the blurb to the author's immaculate writing and immersive style and you're pretty much guaranteed a good read in, "Turtles All the Way Down".
Thanks for listening, and I'll miss hanging out with you next week.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Moss
https://www.amazon.com/Court-Thorns-Roses-Sarah-Maas-ebook/dp/B00OZP5VRS/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4E6XA4YHSXHFQJHC2Y6A
A Court of Wings and Ruin (05/02/2017)
Published May 5, 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,758 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#14 in Books > Teens > Romance > Fantasy
#22 in Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery
#23 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Fantasy
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R.R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.
First two chapters and a bit of the third. I'm going to read you the first two.
Here's why I like these two first chapters. We don't have to wait for action to start. The protagonist's peril is right there at the begining. We learn immidiately that whether or not she finds food, could determine whether she, her sister's and her father live another week.
Information about who the family is and how they found themselves in such dire straights is introduced to the story slowly and naturally. There are no big info dumps of back story. However, by the end of the second chapter, we know who Feyre is. How her two sisters behave and fit into the plot, and how she feels about her father, his fall from wealth, and his loss of health.
On the other hand, I still can't picture Feyre. The only description we've had of her so far is that she has the same hair color as her sisters. Unless I missed it, we've been given no clue about her height and weight, how she wears her hair, or her well developed muscled that give her the strength to draw a bow heavy enough to put a killing shaft into a very large wolf.
I can see from the author's literary skill why the trilogy has done so well, and why the third book rated first place for 2017 Goodreads reader's choice awards.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week for episode # 99, a review of John Green's book, Turtles All the Way Down.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
4.8 on 1242 reviews
https://www.amazon.com/Hate-U-Give-Angie-Thomas-ebook/dp/B01M0614T9/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CAY6N95PD98WKX1MSV1D
Published Feb 27, 2017
675 in the paid Kindle store
Voted #1 for Young Adult Fiction in the Goodreads Readers Choice awards for 2017
(Next week I'm going to review number 2. The the following week #1 in Young Adult Fantasy.)
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi as indicated by her accent. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop. She is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books.
What I like about this chapter.
The characters are realistic and natural. They're ethnic but not over the top.
Starr is a great protagonist. She's torn between two lives. The suburban prep school, her friends, and life there. And the urban reality of her home and those she's grown up with.
I wish that the preview had been longer so that I could have shared more of the plot with you, but I give this a five star recomendation to go and read further. It's not for the faint of heart or those who are offended by profanity.
Thanks for listening. Come back next week for more from the Goodreads readers choice awards.
To the Falls Book one of the falls trilogy
Heather Renee
https://www.amazon.com/Falls-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B06XX6FYB7/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1514851955&sr=1-1&keywords=to+the+falls
4.6 stars on 120 reviews
Published April 29, 2017
Book 2 From The Falls, Published on August 4th and has 4.7 stars on 94 reviews
Book 3 Embracing the Falls, Published on on December 29th, just a few days ago. It has a 4.9 star average on 56 reviews.
This author has her street team in place to get that many reviews up so quickly. Good for her. She appears to be a self published author and making smart moves. She has published her entire trilogy in one year and all three books are in the top 55K for the paid kindle store. That means she is selling at least one of each book a day. That may not sound like a lot, but for an indie author, it's a good start.
Heather Renee is an indie author that lives in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest in Oregon. She writes YA Fantasy that has a mixture of suspense, humor and a little romance.
When Heather's not writing, she is spending time with her beautiful daughter and amazing husband. Two cats, and a dog who loves the snow, complete their household. On weekends if she doesn't have a book in her face, you can find Heather going on different adventures with her family. Her favorite being hiking to the top of Multnomah Falls.
Kaliah "Kali" Atwater is awaiting two things, finishing sophomore year in college and her upcoming twentieth birthday. The day before Kali’s birthday, she finds out that the dream she's had every night for almost a year of a beautiful land, isn't a fantasy at all. It's her birth place.
Every twenty years a new generation of Guardians return to Arvata to bring life back to their world and renew the magic of the Falls. Now it’s Kali’s turn, but dark magic has made its way into her new home preventing the Falls from replenishing.
Kali must accept the role assigned to her by the Fates or let Arvata crumble. Can she and her friends save Arvata in time? Will new love make her stronger? Or will the darkness finally win?
Only the Fates know for sure...
Things that pulled me out of the story. It was hard to read out loud. Some of the sentences seemed inside out to me. I had to record some of them four times to get them to flow right. I don't know if that is a local way of speaking where the author comes from, but, as many great authors do, she might want to read her writing out loud to see how it flows, or maybe have her editor do it.
I wasn't sure out some of the tenses she used. She talked about how the dream had changed "this night" when I felt like she was relating something that had happened in the past. To me it should have been, "last night". No biggie, I know, but it pulled me out. Also, she talks about how she will have her last final that day, and later she said she didn't have a chance to eat between finals. Again, no big deal, but it pulled me out to wonder how that worked.
She also spoke about how relieved she was once her final was over, how her whole body showed it, then she says she can't wait to get back into the water to relieve some of the stress she is feeling. That left we feeling ambiguous.
The parents are young without a wrinkle on their faces, but a few pages later they have worry lines. I think the author was saying they were frowning in worry, but having worry lines, in my mind, is something more akin to wrinkles, which they didn't have. Maybe I'm picking nits, but it took me out of the story and I think a more astute editor should have caught the contradiction in words.
Again. The story sounds familiar. A person coming of age to find that they are a guardian over a people or a planet. The writing was good enough to keep me interested, though, I would have liked a reason to keep reading earler on. If this is your type of story, it looks like the author has a strong following and then there are two more books to enjoy.
Inception: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Marked Book 1)
by Bianca Scardoni
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015KOI7F0/ref=series_rw_dp_sw
Published in September of 2015 it has 4.5 Stars on 727 Amazon reviews.
I chose this book because I wanted one that was doing really well on the top 100 Young Adult book index. This was number 11, behind a bunch of Harry Potters and Hunger Game titles, on the day I bought it. It's now at 31 on that list, though #1 on three indices and #205 on the paid kindle store.
Book 2 was published in June of 2016 and Book 3 in April of this year, 2017. I don't know from looking at them if they will end with the third book, or if the series will continue. But, if you like it, there are at least two more in the series.
The Amazon blurb tells us....
My name is Jemma Blackburn and I have a secret. I know vampires are real. I watched one murder my father eight months ago, and even though they tried to convince me it didn’t happen—that I’d lost touch with reality due to the trauma, I know what I saw was real.
Hollow Hills is now the place I call home. It was supposed to be my chance at a normal life. My chance to bury my secret and start over. But everyone around me is keeping their own secrets, whispering lies into my ears like promises, and one of them is about to turn my entire world upside down.
I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had the answers. I thought I knew who I was. The truth is, I didn’t even know the half of it. There's a reason these vampires are still after me. There's a reason they will always hunt me. Because I'm not human.
I'm the devil they fear and the angel they crave.
Only problem is, I don't know it yet.
INCEPTION is the enthralling first installment in The Marked Saga. A coming of age YA paranormal romance full of atmosphere, supernatural adventure, and jaw-dropping twists that will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Perfect for fans of Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Fallen Angel Romances.
The Amazon preview has the Preface and the first five chapters. I'm going to read you the preface, which is really short...just the way I like a preface...and then the first two chapters.
Here we go....
What do I like about these chapters. The author is very descriptive and creates the mysterious mood of the area that Jemma has been moved to. She shows in the interactions with her uncle and her sister that something is going on that no one wants to talk about.
I think this book is as popular as it is because it hits all the points of a paranormal YA. I haven't read that many novels, but the characteristics of this story sound very familiar to others in the genre...which is the right thing to do if you want to sell books. Give people what they want. What has Bianca given us in these first two chapters?
A teenage girl torn from her family and placed far away with a relative.
Moved to a mysterious place. Something on the porch at night which the uncle won't admit he knows about. People killed by wild animals. And a high class prep school. The mysterious bad boy in her first class is almost as cliché as the mean girl who doesn't want Jemma looking at him. Sure. There has to be a love interest and a romantic conflict, but these two come across as a little too predictable. The preview promises us jaw dropping twists. If these two break the mold they appear to have come from, I would drop my jaw for that.
I'm impressed by the protagonists ability to observe eye color so quickly. After I meet someone for the first time, I can usually tell you how many eyes they had. Not much more. Especially from across the room. I've taken chemistry in college, so I should be able to tell you how cobalt blue differs from other blues, but I can't.
I'm giving this a four star recommendation, because I think it will be perfect for anyone looking for something to read that will be very much like, what books did the blurb name? Oh yeah. Twilight, Vampire Diaries and Fallen Angel Romances. Whether it crosses enough new territory, with jaw dropping twists, will remain to be seen. If it meets that expectation it set, then I would rate it five stars. If you read this and find it's more than just a well written, more of the same novel. Let me know.
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin Mckinley
First published in 1978 by HarperTeen
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00320G61M/ref=tmm_mmp_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=&sr=
So, that is the first chapter of Beauty. About sixteen pages. I love the author's use of language. Even though the story is told in first person, I hardly notice it.
The story continues with the family selling off their mansion in the city, traveling to the country and setting up shop on the edge of an enchanted forest. It takes a few twists but eventually Beauty ends up in the magical castle, alone with the fright some beast.
When Disney's Beauty and the Beast was announced, I looked forward to it with the hope that it would have the same charm as I found in this book. I think it fell way short. Even with Lumier, Cogsworth and Gaston (Or maybe because of...). In the movie, I never felt an affection for the beast as I did in reading this book.
Anyway. I hope you have a Merry Christmas or other celebration of choice. I'm going to go read Beauty for the eleventh time.
Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.
Erasmus T. Muddiman by Kathrine Pym
https://www.amazon.com/Erasmus-T-Muddiman-Publick-Distemper-ebook/dp/B01IU866GK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1513088704&sr=1-1&keywords=erasmus+t+muddiman
In retrospect, I think this is more of a middle grade story. At least it starts that way. And since I already recorded the first two chapters I'm going with it for this weeks episode anyway. Mostly because I like the author's voice. She has found a convincing way of portraying the time period in her choice of language. The characters are interesting and realistic. Also, the other book I started had two violent rapes in the first five pages and the writing was mediocre. If you're interested in reading a violent, mediocre book, email me at yabookspodcast@gmail.com and I'll let you know what the name is.
So, here's Erasmus T. Muddiman
It was published in August of 2016. It currently has 4.8 stars on sixteen reviews.
Here's the Amazon blurb:
It is London 1665, a year fraught with strange and unearthly events. Comets fly low in the sky while merchants clamor for war.
Eleven year old Erasmus T. Muddiman attends St Paul’s School with his younger brother. He enjoys Latin but hates to create Latin verses, preferring the new sciences as seen at the Royal Society. He plays football with the lads in Paul’s Yard, shimmies up the drainpipe outside his bedchamber window and he saves his brother, Desiderius, from all sorts of scrapes.
Soon, Erasmus cannot avoid the rumors of war. Men and boys are pressganged, taken to ships or the dockyards. Plague enters the city. As school fellows disappear, Erasmus and his family meet a terrible fate of survival. Who will live and who will die?
The Amazon preview has the first four chapters. Here are the first two....
What I like most about this story is that it brings history alive. I'm a big fan of history podcasts, like Hardcore History, and Revolutions podcast. These two chapters gave me a real feeling for life in that time period, from looking at comets through a hand held spyglass, to the smell of the air from the top of a bell tower, and the frozen rubbish in the street where the boys kicked their football.
The author has several more books that all appear to involve young people and historical fiction. On the author's amazon author page it says.
Katherine Pym likes history, especially 17th century England, specifically London during the 1660's. The decade is so exciting. It is filled with human interest stories as the people adjust from one government to another, and all their changing rules and regulations.
I also chose this book because the first two chapters occure shortly before Christmas and as I'm recording this, Christmas is about two weeks away. Next week I'm going to read the first few chapters of my favorite book of all time. I've read it nearly ten times and always in the month or two before Christmas.
Thanks for listening. And, we'll see you next week.
A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
4.3 Stars 291 reviews
Published November 2014 by Harper Collins
First in the Three book Firebird series
Book 2, Nov 2015
Book 3, Nov 2016
https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Pieces-You-Firebird-Book-ebook/dp/B00ICMX0C8/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=P7X0YHXAWY242T8ZVYY0
Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father's killer through multiple dimensions.
Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite's father is murdered, and the killer—her parent's handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul— escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows—including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul's guilt—as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is far more sinister than she expected.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all.
I really liked these chapters and recommend this book enthusiastically. It has almost all of what I like. It has mystery, action, science and nerdy romance. What could be better than dimension hopping with a beautiful young woman. It's well written. The plot flows and all the science, whether it's grounded or not, is entered into the dialog and narrative seamlessly. I'm recommending this as a 4, realizing that not everyone will be as enchanted by the science fiction as much as I am.
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth (Author of the Divergent trilogy)
https://www.amazon.com/Carve-Mark-Veronica-Roth-ebook/dp/B01ER5L9V2/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PX5T9Q6A9ZPX7PB28R2R
I know that I often feature lesser known books on the podcast, so this week I wanted to find something that might be more mainstream. I went to the Amazon top 100 young adult books, and the first one that wasn't a Harry Potter book was this one. It was around number six. With her Divergent Trilogy being so popular, I figured this was a good bet.
published on Jan 17, 2017 by
It must have recently been on a promotion, because I bought it for $2.99 and now it is at $10.99
It is currently at #678 on the Paid Kindle store.
When I bought it, it was #1 on three indices, now it is at 4, 5, and 5, on those indices.
4.0 stars on 304 reviews
Cyra Noavek and Akos Kereseth have grown up in enemy countries locked in a long-standing fight for dominance over their shared planet. When Akos and his brother are kidnapped by the ruling Noavek family, Akos is forced to serve Cyra, the sister of a dictator who governs with violence and fear. Cyra is known for her deadly power of transferring extraordinary pain unto others with simple touch, and her tyrant brother uses her as a weapon against those who challenge him. But as Akos fights for his own survival, he recognizes that Cyra is also fighting for hers, and that her true gift—resilience—might be what saves them both.
When Akos and Cyra are caught in the middle of a raging rebellion, everything they’ve been led to believe about their world and themselves must be called into question. But fighting for what’s right might mean betraying their countries, their families, and each other.
When the time comes, will they choose loyalty or love?
How did I like this first chapter?
I think the author's writing is great, though I did stumble on some of the phrasing when I was recording. There was one sentence about the Shotet being across a stretch of feathergrass that was really hard to read in a way that made sense. Let me read it. "And they lived on Thuvhe, the same planet as Akos and his family—though the Shotet didn’t call this planet “Thuvhe,” or themselves “Thuvhesits”—across a huge stretch of feathergrass." Reading that I feel like Fezzik in the Princess Bride, "I don't think that word means what he thinks in means." With the insertion about the Shotet in the middle of the sentence, we lose the connection to the original thought. I thought this was some weak writing in an otherwise strong story. There is a lot of wisdom in the idea that authors should read their work out loud to make sure it flows.
I'm impressed with the author's world building. I'm not impressed that she tried to explain so much of it in the first chapter, mixed in with cute childhood interactions. There was too much information dumped into the chapter. Again, too many obscure names introduced. If I hadn't read the chapter three times, including while recording, I don't know if I would have been clear on who was who at the end.
Also, we are barely introduced to the conflict at the end of the first chapter. And we only know what is coming by reading the blurb. Reading the chapter straight through, there is nothing in it that pushes me to know more. I'm disappointed that there isn't a nagging conflict to catch my interest.
If world building is a major draw for you, then, this chapter, and probably the book, is for you. I would have to read on another chapter of two to decide if there was enough conflict and potential character development to spur me on. The author has a lot of street cred, having written a major series in the Divergent trilogy. That is probably enough to encourage me to read the next two or three chapters to see if it will hook me.
Another thing that bugged me was the rankings. It was highest on a YA Scifi/distopian index. I'm not sure how they got the book into that index, because this story doesn't have any of the characteristics of a distopian novel, as far as I can see from the first chapter and the blurb. It is much more in the scifi/fantasy genre.
I was going to give this a four. Because it should appeal to more than just the distopian crowd. Or just the YA romance crowd. Based on the potential that the author knows what she's doing. It's worth a try for most readers. At least the first few chapters to see if you're going to get drawn in. But, the price point is a draw back. $11 is a lot for a 'maybe' e book. If other reviewers had averaged it higher than a straight four point oh, it would be a more sure bet. I give it between a three and a four recommendation. There are a lot of great books available for $5 that are less risk.
I apologize for missing a week. I actually recorded these chapters a week ago, but my lap top was giving me such a bad time that I had to buy a new one. In that recording my computer cut out thirteen little snippets, so I've had to go back, re record those corrupted sentences or paragraphs and edit them in. I appologize for any errors in this episode.
This week's episode is:
Rising From the Ashes: The Chronicles of Caymin (The Dragonmage Saga Book 1)
Caren J. Werlinger
4.7 stars on 40 reviews
Published by Corgyn Publishing on February 1, 2016
Going to her Amazon author page I see that Caren has written a number of other books, including books two and three of the Dragonmage Saga
http://cjwerlinger.wordpress.com
The book is listed in three catagories all ending with sword and sorcery.
Blurb
Rising From the Ashes: The Chronicles of Caymin
Ancient Ireland – an era of clan wars, petty kings and invasions by raiders from the north.
As Christianity tightens its hold, magic and the old ways fight to keep their place in the hearts of the people.
Born into this world is Ash, orphaned and maimed, left to die. She is rescued by a clan of badgers and raised to be one of them. As she grows, so does her magic, until at last she comes to the attention of other humans. Some of them want to protect her; some want to use her.
When she bonds with an orphaned dragon cub, the two of them become pawns in a bid for power. Forced to flee, dragon and dragonmage embark on a quest to seek the answers as to why they were bonded and what their future holds.
Book One in The Dragonmage Saga
There are a prolog and three chapters in the Amazon preview. I am going to read the prolog and first chapter. I was going to read the second chapter, but it was way long and I still have to meet my word count for Nanowrimo. So, here we go with the prolog:
In these two chapters we're introduced to Ash and the badgers. We see her magical ability to speak telepathically with animals and the appearance of her healing powers. Dragons, while mentioned in the title and in the blurb, don't make an appearance in the beginning.
The writing is strong and the characters are believable, even if they are talking animals.
I think this is a great start to an interesting story. So if you like dragons, fantasy, and Swords and Sorcery, this book might be written for you.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.
Today's episode is a first chapter review of Tiva Boon:Royal Guardian by Jenn Nixon
it is the first book of the Tiva Boon series
It has 4.3 stars on 71 reviews
It was published on july 8, 2014
https://www.amazon.com/Tiva-Boon-Royal-Guardian-Book-ebook/dp/B00LN8S32U/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4PEMC00KDC57C5SW35R2
Blurb
The kingdom of Abennelp has enjoyed an age of peace. Tiva Boon, a loyal and ambitious Royal Guardian is determined to carry on tradition and become an elite protector to the throne. It is all she has ever wanted. Possessing abilities and strength beyond her age, Tiva dedicates her youth and risks her life in the service of her king to prove she is worthy. With her goal achieved and her destiny in motion, a mysterious off-world threat emerges and shatters everything Tiva holds dear.
Exiled from her home and running for her life, Tiva seeks asylum with the Union, a universal security force, and attempts to put the past behind her. Finding herself alone among various space faring races, Tiva integrates herself into the strange society using her skills as a protector and befriends several aliens she meets along the way, ones who will change her life forever.
When a message from those loyal to her king reaches her months after she feels safe in her new life, Tiva’s destiny and the fate of her people collide.
The Amazon preview has the prolog and the first four chapters. I'm going to read yoou the prolog and the first two chapters.
So, here we go...
I like the combination of science fiction and fantasy. We have hover cars and swords. Empaths and architecture. There are a lot of fantasy tropes here to play with. Kings and kingdoms, the royal guardians, hundreds of years of history, and a hierarchy of families sworn to protect the royals. And a girl who won't accept her role in life as a woman.
I like the author's writing style and think she tells her story well.
Two things bothered me about the swords. One was that Tiva's sword grip fit her hand perfectly, matching each of her fingers. I haven't figured out how old Tiva is. I'm figuring around five. This is the sword she will learn to use for the rest of her life. Unless they are planning to reform the grip when she is done growing, I can't imagine that it will be comfortable for an adult to use.
Also. I'm interested to see how swords are used. Will they be used hand to hand in combat, or are there other weapons which are more technologically advanced.
They have hover cars that go fast enough to have killed two occupants. Unless they're powered by magic, the technology that makes them run could be used to create weapons that would be more effective than swords. For that matter, if two groups are engaged in hand to hand combat with swords, a single hover car could bring that to an end by simply driving through the crowd. Add some swords sticking off the front and sides and no one can even get at the driver without risking their lives.
The number of charactors and names introduced early on was a little overwhelming. It introduced the idea that Tiva has a large family and a long tradition of being guardians, but it also had me spending time wondering which names I should try to remember and who would be important further along in the story.
I give these chapters between a 3 and a 4. I think if you are into science fiction with a dose of fantasy, or some of the other tropes introduced, you will like this story. I'm interested to read further to see how things bear out.
Here's "Fairy Ring: Shards of Janderelle" Book 1 by Jacque Stevens
4.2 stars on 13 customer reviews
Published by Sjacquebooks on September 5th of this year.
It's in three teen and young adult indices all with the key words of Mental Illness or depression. The author is a full time nurse working in mental and developmental health and wrote her first novel as a stress relief activity during nursing school.
https://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Ring-Shards-Janderelle-Book-ebook/dp/B073PS2N5F/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XAX3JFNT79KXC3NR1FEF
Here is the Amazon blurb:
Fourteen-year-old Livy’s best friends just happen to be fairies.
With them, she defeats snow monsters and discovers lost treasure, running wild through her apartment complex. Game after endless game. That’s how it works with fairies. They might be illusions, but they helped her cope when her father walked out, leaving her to care for her drug-addicted mother alone.
Then Child Protective Services swoops in, sending Livy to live with her father, but that doesn’t stop the fairies from tagging along. The illusions that helped her in the past now cause nothing but trouble—preluding fires in chemistry and sword fights in gym. It isn’t any wonder her stepmother thinks she’s crazy, maybe even on drugs like her mother. Forced into therapy, Livy tries to conform to her new life. But when the military precision of her stepmother’s household becomes too much, she crosses the fairy ring to a dream world where her imagination can run free again.
Her scars transfer from one world to the other. So does a death. With her family ready to have her committed, Livy must unravel the truth behind her so-called schizophrenic delusions before they take another life—hers.
Fairy Ring: Shards of Janderelle is a darkly humorous and magical tale with elements of A Monster Calls (Patrick Ness), Calvin: A Novel (Martine Leavitt), and other young adult stories that blend the borders of contemporary fantasy and psychology. It explores teenage/family drama, mental illness, and a fantasy world that might be too good to be true.
The Amazon preview has the prologue, the first two chapters and part of the third. I'm going to read you the prologue and first chapter.
The first time I read this I had a hard time skipping from the prologue to the first chapter. While this prologue was used as it is supposed to--showing us pivotal scenes from the past. I immediately forgot that the first chapter was not just a continuation of the previous and was confused until I realized she was older. When I read this out loud to record it, everything made much more sense.
I wish there had been some cue about the passage of time between the two.
That said, it was my only real complaint about these two chapters.
I really enjoyed the spell/vision action of the Yeti fight. It was fun and creative and gives us a concise look at the nature of Livy's two fairy friends.
Knowing that the indices for this book include Mental Illness, I wonder now and then while reading this, if the fairies are just Livy's imagination. Hallucinations are classically what we think of when we consider mental illness, but that would be too simple. Alcohol abuse, drug abuse, depression and homelessness are also symptoms of mental illness that are much less glamorous, but probably much more common.
I give this book a four and hope that I'll get a chance to read further.
From the Sky, Book 1 of the Beyond Moondust Trilogy by JE Nicassio.
Published September 6th of this year. Book two came out two days later.
Book 1 of 2 in Beyond Moondust Triliogy (2 Book Series)
4.4 stars on 20 Customer reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/Sky-Beyond-Moondust-Triliogy-Book-ebook/dp/B075FSNZB9/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YR8GAZD5Q8ZXYK2NHYS3
From the Sky from best-selling author J.E. Nicassio writes the kind of close encounter that will leave readers spellbound. When high school junior, Samantha Hunter, and her father move to New Mexico, it's a chance to leave tragedy behind and start over. However, the arrival of a dark-haired stranger changes everything. Lucien introduces Sam to the prospect of enjoying life again, and to the hidden world of aliens. But crazier than that, Lucien doesn't feel entirely like a stranger. Redemption and romance follow Sam in her new life as she works to understand the alien-human romance she's developing--a romance that feels beyond her control. There's something bigger happening around her, and to her, too, and this is just the beginning....
--J. E. Nicassio packs in the action like a superhero movie-- From the Sky has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster--ready to light up the sky like a fleet of UFOs. "A must read! It had me from the very beginning to the last word. Every page had a plot twist and turn to make my imagination run wild." --Online Book Club.org Nicassio is a freelance writer and MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Field Investigator in Pittsburgh, PA, where she resides with her mother, two sons, and German Shepherd, Ava. She loves writing and is passionate about creating stories that entertain and comes straight from the heart. Her Children's book, Rocky (About Rockefeller Center and a tiny Christmas tree named Rocky) made the Amazon Top Ten Christmas Book List in 2016.
The Amazon preview has the Prolog and the first four chapters. I'm going to read you the prolog and the first two chapters.
(Read Chapters)
How did I like this so far?
I thought the first chapter, er, rather, the prolog, was great. It was a fast paced introduction to the main character and some unknown characters. They didn't say their names, but one of them says, "There'll be consequences, Brother." So either these first two strangers are brothers, or members of a religeous order. Anyway, it appears the Brother heals Sam.
Could this be Lucien, the love interest mentioned in the Amazon blurb?
If you read on in the preview, Chapter 3 is titled, Lucien. So, if you want to find out before you buy the book, you can read further than I did. I have to admit that by the end of chapter two, the pace of the story had slowed sufficiently that I wasn't really interested enough to read on at this point.
I thought chapter one was good and built on what we learned from the preview.
I felt like chapter 2 was mainly filler and slowed down considerably as she walks out to the bus stop.
I give this a three star rating and if I had nothing else to read, I'd read a few more chapters to see if this one picked up.
Part of what drags the recommendation down for me is the poorly written Amazon blurb. An Amazon blurb needs to grab you with the first sentence and drag you to the second which pushes you to the third and then shows you an emotional reason why you need to buy this book right now. This blurb starts out with telling us how great the author is.
From the Sky from best-selling author J.E. Nicassio writes the kind of close encounter that will leave readers spellbound.
Not only is the first line of the blurb improperly punctuated, it tells me nothing about the book--only claims that I will be spellbound, but not why. And frankly, "Best Selling" means nothing anymore. Maybe she's made some list somewhere. If I don't know the author's name and what they had written that was best selling, saying so will mean nothing.
So, in conclusion. If what the blurb promises appeals to you, it could be worth reading the next two chapters on the Amazon preview, or just paying out the 99 cents it costs right now to get book one. If you like it, there's at least one more book in the series, or two it it's a trilogy.
Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.
Bianca Rowena is the author of the Gift Stone Series and the Virgin Diaries. She was born in Romania, Transylvania and now lives in Southern Alberta with her husband, daughter and little dog Molli. Bianca graduated from Film Studies at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. You can check out her website at www.biancarowena.com or follow her on Twitter (@biancarowena) or Facebook www.facebook.com/biancarowena
I was born in Palmer, Alaska, but lived in every time zone of the lower 48 (and Taiwan) before I went to college. I studied at Brigham Young University and in East Asia (China, Japan), which proved amazing exploration territory.
Ten plus years later my exploration has turned inward, and "Hurricane Coltrane" reflects the difference. My people settled that lonely stretch of southern Utah desert. Some would call it barren earth, but I have discovered it fertile beyond anything I initially imagined...creatively. Welcome to the first fruits of my prosperous literary garden!
I now live in Bountiful, Utah with my story-adoring husband and daughter.
Hurricane Coltrane (April 2015)
Merrill Hinton is a lightning rod in a town named for bad weather. He’s an ace in math, but not smart enough to put together the pieces of his puzzling life, especially where finding his unknown father is concerned.
Musical genius Robbie Stubbs was born in nearby polygamist compound Colorado City. He has the chops to become another John Coltrane, but that will take running away from home, and into a firestorm of controversy–the kind his friend Merrill knows best.
Merrill sets Robbie onto a course that could rocket them both onto center stage, but being the focus of wide public attention will create serious issues. Robbie’s mother is not well, and the shock of her son breaking the family rules like this may put her over the edge.
And Merrill Hinton? His precarious future would be compromised in ways he doesn’t yet realize.
BIO:
Thedore FIcklestein is a writer of various poetry books and young adult and humor novels. He takes great influence from Shel Silverstein, JD Salinger and George Carlin. His novel A Day in the Life follows college student Nicholas Cripp. Through the eyes of a young yearning for meaning in a meaningless world, Nick learns that in life, the joke is on you.
Book Synopsis:
A Day In The Life is Theodore Ficklestein’s debut novel about Nickolas Cripp, a college student finding his way in the world. Although Nick won’t admit it, he is the main focus to a young adult book that follows him from his home to college to the city, where he wants to attend an open mic.
Along his path, he encounters a teacher who asks about the apocalypse, a drunk on the train and two friends who feel writing isn’t Nick’s strong point, among others. Nick soon finds out that the funniest things in life aren’t that funny at all, and the greatest comedians never go up on stage.
As he goes through his day, one oddball character at a time, Nick starts to question if the comedy club he dreams of being in, is really for him. Should he be who he wants to be? Or who the world thinks he should be? Neither of which, he is entirely sure about.
A personal journey of self-discovery through the eyes of a youth yearning for meaning in a meaningless world; Nick learns that in life, the joke is on you.
Links:
Official Website: theodoreficklestein.com
Twitter: twitter.com/theodorefickle
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35446255-a-day-in-the-life
Katherine Dell is a young adult fiction author fascinated by the supernatural and the stories that surround them. She began her writing endeavours in 2011 when she wanted to reinvent herself from her previous career as an event planner. When she’s not writing, she can be found in cold hockey arenas sipping coffee, working on her tan at little league games, or trying to keep her dog out of her many gardens. She lives with her husband, two boys, and fur babies, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Be careful what you wish for.
After moving from Vancouver to isolated Hazelton, BC, high school senior Rachel Barnes hopes she’ll finally find closure and a sense of direction after tragedy has torn her family apart. When she and her friends discover the old spirit box her grandmother gave her, they see it as a chance to wish their troubles away. But the Great Spirits—deer, crow, bear, and the mythical wendigo—give away nothing for free.
So instead of worrying about fitting in and finding a boyfriend, Rachel finds herself in a race to control the malevolent spirit who’s taken up residence in Mason Allen, who she fears and craves in equal measure. What began as a harmless game forces Rachel to confront her past—and offers her a future she never imagined.
Step into a reality that is not as it seems in Book 1 of the Harmless series.
Charlotte Leonetti is an up-and-coming young author. Her debut novel, Heartshire High, was written when she was just 16, in the moments between school, friends and family commitments and she is already working on her second novel. Charlotte decided to self-publish at seventeen, as a way to learn about the publishing industry and to connect with her readers. When Charlotte is not writing, she is avidly reading, and since 2015 she has been writing book reviews on the popular teen website Sassy Peach Reads. In early 2017 she beat 1,200 other applications to win one of five 1st places in the ScholarTrips contest for her essay ‘Jump’, sponsored by Allianz Global Assistance.
What grade are you in now?
When did you get the idea for Heartsland High?
What was your process for putting it together
How many times did you rewrite/edit?
Who was you editor?
Published August 15
#386,467 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#437 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Being a Teen
#704 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Friendship
#1167 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Being a Teen
Heartshire High takes the reader through Celia's move to a new town in her senior year, living with a less than caring dad, dealing a new school and having to make new friends. While Celia is focused on just surviving her last school year, and counting down the days until graduation, Bunni befriends her and leads her into the woods, and into a world of drugs, parties, and death.
Once Celia discovers the mysterious death of Tim, she can't help but dig into what happened. While the whole town tries to ignore what happened, Celia starts to ask questions which lead to her having even more questions. What really happened to Tim? Was it murder? Is somebody not telling the truth? Or is she prying into something she shouldn't be?
Episode 22 Jan 2016 The Fountain 4.4 Stars on 43 reviews on Amazon
www.whenwordscollide.org
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A Man of Cloud Nine by Adam Dreese
The Broken Ones by Danielle L. Jensen
www.suzyvadori.wordpress.com
https://evilalteregopress.wordpress.com/
The Fountain
Careful what you wish for. It just might come true.
Ava Marshall, driven by a desire to learn more about her mother's past, moved across the country to attend St. Augustus. But her mom’s secrets will have to wait, because she finds herself instantly hated for her family’s connection to her new school and is forced to fight alone against a classmate who is setting Ava up to be expelled.
Fleeing campus, she takes a shortcut to her Gran’s house through the forbidden West Woods and discovers a mysterious fountain that has the power to grant a wish and change it all. But can she live with the consequences? Or will she end up breaking every school rule and risking the love of her life to make it right…
The West Woods on Sep 22nd
The West Woods
Courtney Wallis wants nothing more than to escape St. Augustus boarding school. After uncovering a well-kept secret about the school’s founder, Isaac Young, Courtney turns to the school’s magic to convince her dad to let her leave. Things take a turn when she meets Cole, who lives in the nearby town of Evergreen. He gives her hope that things might not be so bad. However, the school's fountain has other ideas, and binds Courtney to her ambition, no matter the cost.
As Courtney struggles to keep the magic from taking over, she and her friends get drawn into the mystery woven into the school’s fabric. Everything seems to lead back to the forbidden West Woods. Together, she and her friends seek out the spirits of the past to ask for help, and find themselves in much deeper than they’d bargained for. If they succeed, Courtney could be free of the magic. If they fail, she may never be the same.
Keeper of dragons, the prince returns, keeper of dragons book 1
By J.A. Culican
4.4 stars on 113 reviews
https://www.amazon.com/Keeper-Dragons-Prince-Returns-Book-ebook/dp/B01FYL5BD0/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QK5WX8ZDQT98PHMQDAG2
Amazon blurb:
A mystical calling.
On his 18th birthday, Cole learns that he is a dragon fated to save all that was deemed true.
Destiny.
Cole's life spirals into an uncontrollable battle for life or death. First, he learns that his family isn't really his own and his birth parents are dragons. With that legacy comes a special calling; devoting an eternity to protecting all true beings from creatures bent on controlling the Earth and bringing an end to dragons.
Danger.
As the newly-minted Prince of Ochana, Cole is also the Keeper of Dragons and his first task is to keep the nefarious farro-fallen fairies-at bay. With no formal training, no control of his mahier-dragon magic, and fear like he's never experienced before, will Cole be able to reach outside of his human side and embrace his destiny in time to defeat the farros?
The Amazon preview has the Prolog, chapter 1 and most of chapter 2.
(READ the Chapters)
You've heard the blurb, so you know more about what is going than Cole does, even after the first chapter. Though I bought the ebook, I've read as much of the second chapter as is included in the preview, and Cole still doesn't know what he's in for.
I don't think the prolog gave us enough background to be considered a prolog and should have been called Chapter 1. A prolog should tell us information about the story or its characters that will enlighten us in subsequent chapters as to why they act as they do, or what has set up the plot. In my humble opinion, if there had to be a preview for this book, it should have shown us Cole's birth parents handing him off and giving us clues about their true nature and why they wouldn't be able to raise him safely in their kingdom. That's not the way this author works. They would rather hide information, perhaps for some great reveal, than give us clues about what is happening.
Between what we learn in the prolog and the first chapter, I think they could have been combined into one.
Dragging information out of a character annoys me. Characters should stop interupting others and let them speak. And I expect them to spill the beans and not feed me any of this, "You'll understand when we get where we're going."
"Cole, we're dragons. You're a dragon and we need to get going."
Are there still questions in the reader's mind? Of course. Cole now knows what we know from the blurb, but none of us know how this works and what will happen when he gets to dragon land.
So, what am I saying about this book's first chapters? I'm giving it 4 stars. It got a lot of good reviews. It's sitting at #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Interactive Adventures, so I feel there is potential for a good book. I would read on for a few more chapters to find out if the author creates any real conflict other than only refusing to tell us what's going on.
Wendy Terrien
"The Rampart Guards"
After his mom disappears, Jason Lex and his family move to a small town where he has no friends, no fun, no life. Things get worse when he’s chased by weird flying creatures that only he can see--Jason thinks he’s losing it.
But when Jason discovers new information about his family, he’s stunned to learn that creatures like Skyfish, Kappa, and the Mongolian Death Worm aren’t just stories on the Internet--they’re real and they live unseen alongside the human race. Many of these creatures naturally emit energy capable of incinerating humans. An invisible shield keeps these creatures hidden and protects the human race from their threatening force, but someone, or some thing, is trying to destroy it.
Unsure who he can trust, Jason is drawn into the fight to save the people closest to him, and he finds help in surprising places. Confronted with loss, uncertainty, and a devastating betrayal, Jason must make a gut-wrenching decision:
Who lives, and who dies.
https://www.amazon.com/Rampart-Guards-Chronicle-Adventures-Jason-ebook/dp/B0734B2JTC/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2NHQ5K017C3W0J0D1BSK
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Under Different Stars, The Kricket Series, Book 1
By Amy A. Bartol
4.6 stars on 1230 reviews
December 2014
#424 in the paid Kindle store and #1 on three teen and Young Adult indices.
Amazon Blurb:
Kricket Hollowell never wished upon stars. She was too busy hiding in plain sight, eluding Chicago’s foster care system. As her eighteenth birthday approaches, she now eagerly anticipates the day she’ll stop running and finally find her place in the world.
That day comes when she meets a young Etharian soldier named Trey Allairis, who has been charged with coming to Earth to find Kricket and transport her to her true home. As danger draws close, he must protect her until she can wield the powers she cannot use on Earth…and he soon realizes that counting a galaxy of stars would be easier than losing this extraordinary girl.
Kyon knows the powerful depths of Kricket’s gifts—gifts he’ll control when he takes her for his tribe and leads the forces that will claim Ethar and destroy his enemies, starting with Trey Allairis. Now, Kricket faces the most difficult choice of her life: whether to wage a battle for survival or a fight for love.
(Read Chapter)
The first time I read through this chapter I was laying in bed and falling asleep. I found it well written, but I missed a lot of the detail of the story. Recording this chapter tonight, the details were much clearer.
I want to know who these three thugs are and how she is going to evade them, if she gets away at all. They are obviously from another world, the world Kricket comes from--they have matching eyes. She obviously doesn't remember this world. It's clear when they tell her she's a criminal and she is wanted for disertion.
How did she come to this world and why doesn't she have any memory of the former. Inquiring minds want to know. Read on to find out. I'm going to...
Before I get to the story I want to update, "One of us is Lying". I'm almost done listening on Audible, I have 56 minutes to go out of about 11 hours total. It's well recorded switching the point of veiw between the four main characters, each one narrated by a different actor. We've figured out who the murderer is and were in kind of a bonus thriller type ending. I still give it five stars for the writing and characterization, even though I was able to guess who the murder was about half way through. Try it, though. I think you'll like it, even if you figure it out like me.
Today's episode...
17 Marigold Lane, Prudence Penderhaus
R.M. Gilmore
4.7 Stars 26 reviews
Published in September of 2015
Here is the blurb:
I was just an ordinary weirdo until the day one word changed the course of my life forever.
I’d given up on life as I knew it, and in the blink of an eye, made a decision that would turn my world, and the town of Flintlock, on its butt.
Uncovering a hidden boy and a town secret kept buried for decades, I maneuvered through my numbered days with one goal in mind, but the sheriff, life, and my body had other plans.
My name is Prudence Penderhaus. I've never done anything remarkable. Never even bothered to look up. Until the day I found out I was dying.
The Amazon preview has all of the first chapter and a bit of the second. I couldn't find a good place to cut off in the middle of the first chapter, so I'm going to read the whole thing.
Here goes me reading the part of a teenage girl again...
(Read story)
My review.
I like Prudence. I think she has a lot of characteristics that will appeal to a broad amount of readers. She's an underdog who is down on her luck having just received the bad news about cancer. When insult is added to injury and she gets bombed by the big gulp she decides to take destiny into her hands and investigates the spooky house.
If you've listened to a few of my author interviews, you probably know that I have a son with autism. Cassius sounds very much like my son, except Desmond is anything but organized. All of our dvd's end up in stacks around the living room. He does memorize and recite dialog from his favorite shows, though his favorite is knowing which studios and production companies make the movies. We were recently at Despicable Me 3 and as the theater went dark when the movie was about to start, Desmond exclaimed, "Here it comes, the Universal Logo". And he was right, the logo for Universal Studios spread across the screen.'
In this story, I'm interested to know how Prudence's desease progresses, how her friendship with Cassius progresses, and I'd like to know how they kept everyone in the house so well hidden.
Thanks for listening to the Young Adult Books podcast, this podcast is for you...
Brinwood
Small town cults linger around our communities. They’re hidden among us, picking up believers and working to grow strong, though most remain invisible to us. What would happen if a heavily religious cult took over one of our towns? How much damage would it cause us? Casper is an exile from his home, but when he finds out his brother has died, he returns to save his family from the ravenous followers who have taken over. Returning for his sister and mother, the young man must fight against the brainwashed folks he used to call neighbors. Can he save them? Or will his return cause the demise of the rest of his family? Welcome to the cold walls of Brinwood.
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > Two hours or more (65-100 pages) > Teen & Young Adult
From the Author
When I first thought of Brinwood, I actually envisioned it as a graphic novel. I wanted to write a book someone could pick up, get hooked, and finish all in one day. My main focus was entertainment so I focused on creating engaging characters, limiting exposition, and increasing the tempo. It amazed me how quickly I finished the first draft. The characters came to life and started acting on their own. It felt like I was watching a movie and transcribing the action scenes. Of course the book would never have been completed without the help of my editor. I owe most of my success to their diligent work.
I hope you enjoy this tale.
Your support truly means the world to me.
About the Author
R.K. Gold is an internationally published poet and novelist from Buffalo, NY. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Literature and has appeared in over a dozen publications since he began seriously pursuing writing in January 2014. His influences range from traditional American writers and poets like Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, and Kurt Vonnegut, to pop icons like Alan Moore, Stan Lee, and Stephen King. A writer, an environmentalist, and a dog lover, R.K. Gold hopes to make novels and philanthropy his full time profession in the future.
Lost in the Clouds
Neville Canton was about as average as any man can be. He had a mediocre job, a pleasant wife, an on-going feud with his sister, and an average case of cancer that took his life.
But death wasn’t the end of his problems and even average people have to learn to overcome.
Now trapped in a cloud between the living and the dead, he must find his way to the afterlife.
With the help of a spiritual guide he navigates through seven challenges; seven tasks to sever his final connections to the mortal world.
If he fails, he forfeits his eternity and the consequences may be worse than death.
One of us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
It has 4.4 stars on 141 reviews.
It was published on May 30th of this year, 2017 by Random House.
Here is the blurb:
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.
The Book is broken into three parts, Simon Says, Hide and Seek, and Truth or Dare.
Each part is divided into chapters and it looks as if they are named after the point of veiw character narrating that chapter.
The preview has the first one and a half chapters, for 5% of the total book. I'm going to read you all the preview. You will understand why, after I read it...
So, here it goes....
(Read)
What do you think? Pretty intense, right?
This is set up like a classic mystery with a dead body right off the bat, and a number of solidly potential murders. I'm going to read on to find out, "who dunnit".
Honestly, I bought this ebook for $10.99 and I'm probably going to get this on audio for Lisa to listen to. I think she would love it, too.
Thanks for listening. I hope you've found a new book to read or listen to, and I'f you'd like to help me buy some more books.....
Ready Player One has 4.6 Stars on 12,589
Published by Broadway books in August of 2011
#55 in the paid Kindle store
1, 1, and 2 in three science fiction indices.
It's Coming out as a movie in March of 2018 directed by Steven Spielburg
Blurb
At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.
It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?
Am I going to read further?
Of course I am. As a science fiction nerd, an online RPG player, and a YA fan, this one is right up my alley. This sounds like an exciting story with a lot of potential, and enough people, including my daughter, reccomending it that it should be a pretty safe bet I will like it.
Hannah has a pretty amazing story -- she started writing her book when she was just 12 years-old. Fast forward, 8 years later (today), Hannah not only had her book published, but it recently won a gold award in the prestigious 2017 Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Franklin Awards™. She is still pinching herself! The first-time author won in the Children’s/YA-New Voices category.
Kirkus Reviews called Ascension: “an exciting and fast-paced YA paranormal romance with an intriguing plot, well-drawn settings, and solid character development.” Ascension also won first place in 2016 for Young Adult Fiction in the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards.
Now a 20 year-old college student in Tennessee, Hannah is already in the editing stages of the next book in the trilogy (Due out Jan 18).
When she’s not thinking about hybrid human-vampires and the witches they love, or writing a "Geisha-inspired" Bardugo cocktail list, Hannah leads a creative writing group at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, volunteers for various nonprofits, and transcribes “snake handler sermons” for the college’s special collections department.
Here is a recent interview with Hannah from BEA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYHjWpAdPrQ&app=desktop
Life is supposed to be perfect after Cheyenne Lane's Ascension ceremony, but it turns out awakening her vampire half only complicates things more. Burdened with a patronizing family and constant surveillance by the Vampire Council, Cheyenne welcomes a summer vacation to the magical city of New Orleans. But Cheyenne quickly realizes that she can't escape her problems, no matter where she goes. After seventeen years of fearing exposing her secret to humans, Cheyenne's world is rocked when she starts to fall for a witch named Eli. When he shows Cheyenne how complex the world really is, she must accept that everything she thought she knew about being a Deuxsang is a lie. As if all this isn't problem enough, Cheyenne finds herself the pawn of a conspiracy hatched by those who should be protecting her. Her whole life Cheyenne is told what to believe and who to trust. Now, she's forced to choose for herself who and what is right. No matter which choice she makes, it will cost her everything.
Caravel by Stephanie Garber
This book was chosen by the Goodreads "YA Book Club" Book of the Month for July.
I thought it might be nice to try a book recommended by such an auspicious group.
4.3 on 461 reviews
Flatiron Books (January 31, 2017)
#6,586 Paid in Kindle Store
3,3,8 in three Teen indices.
https://www.amazon.com/Caraval-Stephanie-Garber-ebook/dp/B01EROYPQE/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=S1GC6N12TQ66WTSMD8J3
Instant New York Times bestseller!
#1 IndieNext Pick!
Entertainment Weekly Must List (Grade: A-)!
Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or a performance. It's the closest you'll ever find to magic in this world . . .
Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.
But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.
Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.
Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . beware of getting swept too far away.
“The Hunger Games meets The Night Circus. Grade: A-.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Impressive, original, wondrous.” —USA Today
“Spellbinding.” —US Weekly
“Magnificent.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“I lost myself in this world.” —Sabaa Tahir, author of An Ember in the Ashes
“Beautifully written.” —Renée Ahdieh, author of The Wrath and the Dawn
“Shimmers with magic.” —Marie Rutkoski, author of The Winner’s Curse
“Darkly enchanting.” —Kiersten White, author of And I Darken
“Decadent.” —Roshani Chokshi, author of The Star-Touched Queen
“Like stepping into a living dream.” —Stacey Lee, author of Outrun the Moon
“Destined to capture imaginations.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Ideal for fans of The Night Circus, Stardust, and The Hunger Games.” —School Library Journal
The first 2 chapters and a pinch of the third are in the Amazon preview and I'm going to read you chapters one and two.
What I liked about these two chapters.
I thought the first chapter was unique and gave us a lot of background and character development without burdening us with a preview. The story obviously begins at the second chapter, but we understand so much from reading Scarlett's letters from the Conquered Isle or Trisde to to Master Legend.
Hidden Wings by Cameo Renae appears to be the first in a series of five books. The author has a number of other books as well.
4.3 650 review
7842 in the kindle store
2,5, and 5 in three teen fantasy/religeon/spirituality
Published in Dec 2013 (Staying power)
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Wings-Book-One-ebook/dp/B00B27GAC2/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XFCS1J74QK5W0S7ZH86X
Blurb
*Descent, a Hidden Wings Novella, is included in this version of Hidden Wings*
What happens when Darkness and Light collide?
Seventeen is a life changing age for Emma Wise.
As her family's sole survivor in a car crash, she is left with a broken arm, and a few scrapes and bruises. But these are only outward marks; inside, her heart is broken and the pieces scattered.
Whisked away to Alaska, to an aunt she’s never met, Emma starts over. Secrets unveil themselves and now…she doesn't even know who or what she is.
A centuries old prophecy places Emma in the heart of danger. Creatures of horrifying and evil proportions are after her, and it will take Emma, her aunt, and six, gorgeously, captivating Guardians to keep her safe. But, if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday... things will change.
Bonus Material: Hidden Wings Inspired Poem by Amber McCallister.
Amazon Preview has the first three chapters. I am going to read you the first two.
(Read)
My questions from the first two chapters:
Why is she healing so fast?
Will her two good friends play a continueing role in the rest of the novel? I like that she has two nerdy friends who have a lot of personality on their own. Emma is moving far away, from Southern California all the way to Alaska. Though, from the cover blurb, I don't have a lot of hope for that.
I also wonder about the aunt. Having absolutely no knowledge about the aunt, and then having her contact the state so quickly after the accident stretches my suspension of disbelief to an uncomfortable length. I'll read on, but I'll be looking for some explanation about their relationship.
https://www.amazon.com/Adam-Dreece/e/B00JHI2SL0/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1498711096&sr=8-2-ent
In 2014, Adam Dreece stopped hoping to be an author one day. He wrote and indie published the first two installments in his young adult, steampunk meets fairy tale, series The Yellow Hoods. In 2015, when the first two books became IAN Book of the Year finalists in YA and Fantasy, he released two more in the series, as well as a novelette.
Along the way, Adam has become a fixture on Twitter and Facebook for his blog articles and willingness to help other authors. He's a frequent speaker on cons, festivals and events. He's currently working on his first science fiction novel called The Man of Cloud 9, and has a weekly serial called The Wizard Killer. In 2016 he plans to also bring out the 5th book in The Yellow Hoods series.
He currently resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his wife and children. He is an active online mentor at adamdreece.com, and is a busy public speaker, panelist, and author in Canada and the Pacific Northwest.
WISHBONES
a novel
VIRGINIA MACGREGOR
14-year-old Feather Tucker has the best mom in the world—funny, clever, loving, movie-star beautiful…and the fact that she weighs 500 pounds and never leaves the house? Feather can’t imagine life any other way.
But when she comes home on New Year’s Eve to find her mother in a life-threatening diabetic coma, she’s determined to nurse her mother back to health—and fast. Yet, as she desperately attempts to get through to her mother and enabling father, Feather realizes there might be more to her mother’s overeating than meets the eye.
Meanwhile, Feather’s crushing hard on the new boy in town, training for the swimming championships, and navigating her life-long friendship with lovable Jake…all while attempting to keep her pet goat Houdini from running away—again.
As friends old and new join Feather’s journey to save her mother, Feather begins to learn that we all bear the weight of our pasts in different ways.
https://www.amazon.com/Wishbones-Virginia-Macgregor-ebook/dp/B01LWTSXVN/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0SKVJ1WB7YQZEQ7ZWHAN
VIRGINIA MACGREGOR is currently Head of Creative Writing at Wellington College. She is the author of What Milo Saw and The Return of Norah Wells. She has taught at boarding schools in the UK and the US and currently lives in Concord, NH.
Virginia Macgregor was brought up in Germany, France and England by a mother who never stopped telling stories. From the moment she was old enough to hold a pen, Virginia set about writing her own, often late into the night - or behind her Maths textbook at school. Virginia was named after two great women, Virginia Wade and Virginia Woolf, in the hope she would be a writer and a tennis star. Her early years were those of a scribbling, rain-loving child who prayed for lightning to strike her tennis coach. After studying at Oxford, Virginia started writing regularly while working as an English Teacher and Housemistress. Virginia lives in Berkshire with her husband, Hugh.
Don't forget to breathe by Cathrina Constantine
I'm giving this episode the Explicit tag for Language, sex, and drug
Published in Feb of 2015 it has 4.4 star average on 88 reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Forget-Breathe-Cathrina-Constantine-ebook/dp/B00TAHWYIK/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RV8V416ADVJR2TMXVW5T
Cover copy, blurb
Sixteen-year-old Leocadia arrives home from school to find her mom’s bloody body. Unaware that the killer still lingers, she rushes to her mother’s side, only to be grabbed from behind and then everything fades to black.
After a year of retrograde amnesia and battling personal demons, Leo’s dreams are getting worse—she’s starting to remember. More bodies are discovered and they seem to be oddly linked to her mom’s unsolved homicide.
When Leo allows her friend, Henry to drag her into the haunted Lucien Mansion, misty ghosts appear, ghosts that just might lead to her mother’s murderer.
Will Leo let her memories threaten her into a relapse or, will she fight to find her mother’s killer – only to become his next victim?
2016 New Apple Medalist Award Winner for YA/Mystery-Thriller
Literary Classics 2016 GOLD AWARD
Received The Literary Classic's Seal of Approval
*READER'S FAVORITE*
2015 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD***
~ In Recognition of Excellence in Writing ~
However, she loses all Excellence awards do to the Uncerimoniously clause, which states that using that 'word which will not be spoken' within the first three pages of any novel negates any and all excellence awards for said novel.
Not really. But if you've followed this podcast for any time, you know how I feel about that word.
The author has three other books listed on Amazon, two with reader's award symbols on their covers as well, and one that describes her as a best selling author. All of her books appear to have been published in 2015.
The Amazon preview has four full chapters and a bit of the fifth.
I'm reading you the first two chapters, about 17 pages.
(Read the chapters)
I'm giving this book four out of five stars, which is a good recommendation to read further.
I am not docking it a star for sex, language, or drugs. Realistically, the average teenage boy thinks of little besides sex. These are real characteristics of teenage life. If you don't want these things in your literature, you'll be glad you listened to this podcast so that you can skip this book.
I like the thriller aspects of the story--the unsolved mystery of Leo's mother's death, the subsequent murders, and the possibilities of ghosts--this sounds like it could be an exciting story. And what's up with Henry anyway, is he a werewolf or something?
What brought this down from five stars in my opinion is purple prose. Like the use of the word, "Unceremoniously", there were other phrases which sounded "cool" which upon closer evaluation left me less than impressed.
Such as: When he raised his head from my shouldered nook, I glared at his ambiguous silhouette.
I know what she's trying to say, I just don't think she is actually saying it. What is a 'shouldered nook'? And 'an ambiguous silhouette' doesn't paint me a clear picture of what she is glaring at.
Then there's: He gravitated his hand along my shoulder.
A resigned breath splintered the seam of my lips.
A blood curdling scream scraped into my bones.
Triggering tears to trample over my face.
An uneasy zing cramped my bones.
Dragging in a distended breath
He cuffed his hand into his pocket. I don't know how you cuff you hand. This may actually be a typo that was meant to say, cupped his hand, but a spell check wouldn't pick up cuffed as incorrect. There was another typo where the author says "His slips" instead of "His lips".
I googled the name Leocadia and found that it is an actual name dating back to the late Roman period. There was a Saint Leocadia who was a third century Spanish martyr. I guess the author likes her character names as obscure as her word usage.
Anyway, I like the characterization. I like Leo and I think we can grow with her as she discovers more about the murder of her mother and others in the neighborhood. I'd like to learn a little more about Henry. Is he as good a friend as he thinks he is, or is he really a little more than an acquaintance.
I think her father is a little more realistic than the overbearing father in "Dark Creations", though a touch to easy going, considering his wife was brutally murdered. Maybe there is a reason why that we will learn as we continue on with the story.
There's only one way to find out. Well, no, there are two ways. Someone who reads it can tell you, or you can read it yourself.
The choice is yours.
A special thanks goes out to James T. Wood for being my first patreon supporter. I'm sorry about the delay of your recognition. I'm still learning how to use the patreon page. Again, my deepest thanks for helping me to buy books. I bought my share of them this week. I have a book to review, but it took reading the first few chapters of three other books before I got to this one.
Maybe I should make that my secret Patreon subscriber reward...I'll tell you the names of the books I didn't like. I've said before that I'm trying to make this a positive podcast where I tell you about why I like the book I'm reviewing this week, rather than telling you what I didn't like about the books I gave up on. I mean really, you don't want to listen to a half hour of a book that you won't want to read after I'm done giving it a negative review.
So. the three books I passed on, one I didn't like because the first fifteen pages was just telling the reader about the cute reasons why each of the characters had their given nickname. No plot. No conflict in fifteen pages, just story background. That doesn't work for me.
The second book was just boring and the third had constant unexpected point of view switches. You might call it omniscient view point, I call it confusing and frustrating.
Anyway, enough about what I don't like.
This week I'm going to talk about Dark Creations: Gabriel Rising by Jennifer and Christopher Martucci. They have a ton of books out, and this book is the first of six in a paranormal romance. It was first published in December of 2013. It has 4 out of 5 stars on 263 reviews. It only has 140 pages in the first book, but I just picked up a set of the first 3 on Kindle for free.
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Creations-Boxed-Set-Books-ebook/dp/B00J2F1QR0/ref=pd_sbs_351_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FVJ9BH7V9XDJTPTCWKB0
Here is the cover copy:
When Gabriel James mysteriously appears in seventeen-year-old Melissa Martin’s English class, she is not prepared for what she experiences, how she feels the first time they speak. With otherworldly attractiveness, gallantry, charm and intelligence, he is everything boys her age are not.
But Gabriel has a secret, a dark secret.
His secret threatens to rip them apart and unleash an evil on the world so horrific, humanity will be forever changed.
In this deeply romantic and captivating young adult paranormal romance novel, Gabriel and Melissa will risk everything – their very lives – to guard their love. Together, they will be forced to confront mankind’s darkest creation.
The Amazon preview has the prolog and most of the first chapter. I'm going to read you everything they gave:
(Read the chapters)
So, this is where the Amazon preview ends. The chapter goes for another few pages, so I know what happens next.
What do you think it will be?
Will this Gabriel mentioned in the cover copy be there to intervene?
What was the yellow eyed beast in the prolog? Was that Gabriel, or something else?
Is that monster waiting at Melissa's home to great her?
There were allusions to the prolog in the first chapter, the unusual darkness, the strange wind. What did it mean?
I like the way the authors set up the conflicts.
I always say that good thrillers take smart characters making dumb choices. I like Melissa's character. She's obviously a smart young woman, and I know we've been told that her friend talked he into going out with Kevin. She should have bailed on him as soon as he insisted on going to the Rec center. But then we wouldn't have had any of the fun conflict about shutting him down in the car. Plus, I give Kevin better than even odds that he will turn up dead some time very soon. (I haven't read that far. This is just my speculation.)
You haven't met the father yet, but I have, and I think he's a little over the top when it comes to protectiveness. But then again, there isn't a lot of conflict if he's understanding and settles with "lesson learned" about Kevin.
One thing about the authors' writing style that I find distracting is the avoidance of contractions. I know there are regions of the US, like in New York and around there where they don't use contractions. Maybe this is a regional characteristic of the authors. I have a friend from New York who writes like that and we've had to learn to agree to disagree when critiquing each others writing. To me it make everything sound too emphatic.
Anyway, I give Dark Creations a strong recommendation to read further. It looks like a thrilling ride.
"I can’t trust my own mind, or my memory, so I’m writing all of this down… There’s been a
murder in this town and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it."
Aaron Grayling hates summer. It’s a time of heat and humidity in the dreary town of Meriville.
It’s also the time when the bad dreams come, which have been intensifying since the death of his
father. He hardly seems to find the space to breathe…
Until the fateful day he finds a diary in the woods. Penned by the mysterious X, it hints at a
shadowy world of murder that seems too true for the boy to ignore.
Torn between school and a murder investigation, Aaron finds himself an unlikely companion in
X. Can they stop the crimewave from hitting Meriville before it's too late? And will it help Aaron
understand the turbulent goings-on in his head?
Hidden Lives is a powerful novel of friendship and loss, and staying true to who you
are against the odds.
Bio
Kestral Gaian is an award-winning broadcaster, scriptwriter, musician, and performer. Best
known for their work presenting regular radio series The Geekly Chronicles and for their often performed
choral compositions, they have also published two poetry collections - Silent Poet and
Counterweights - before breaking into longform writing with their debut novel Hidden Lives.
Having trained as an animator and worked in software before moving to writing and the arts,
Kestral's view on the world is eclectic and thoughtful. Their unique views on how technology
impacts human nature, their charity work, and tireless campaigning for equality has led to them
being invited to guest lecture at a number of top institutions across the world, including Eton
College, Cambridge, and Université de Bordeaux.
Outside of work, Kestral is a keen cook and even more keen consumer of food. They can be found
on Twitter and more of their work is available at their website
https://www.amazon.com/Mattie-J.-T.-Stepanek/e/B001KHJQY8/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1496203053&sr=1-2-ent
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Lives-Kestral-Gaian-ebook/dp/B071LBP4N7/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZB802D38RQWJ6K5H03AW
Katharine and Elizabeth Corr are sisters living in the leafy English county of Surrey. They both read history at university and worked as professionals in London. Then they both stopped working to raise families, not realising that children are far more demanding than clients or bosses. When they both decided to write novels – on account of fictional people being much easier to deal with than real ones – it was obvious they should do it together. When Katharine’s not writing, she likes playing the harp, learning dead languages and embracing her inner nerd. When Elizabeth’s not writing, she likes sketching, dancing round the kitchen and plotting for more time free of children and cats. They can sometimes be found in one of their local coffee shops, arguing over which character to kill off next.
Can true love’s kiss save the day…?
Electrifying dark magic debut by authors and sisters, Katharine and Elizabeth Corr.
Sixteeen-year-old Meredith is fed-up with her feuding family and feeling invisible at school – not to mention the witch magic that shoots out of her fingernails when she’s stressed. Then sweet, sensitive Jack comes into her life and she falls for him hard. The only problem is that he is periodically possessed by a destructive centuries-old curse.
Meredith has lost her heart, but will she also lose her life? Or in true fairytale tradition, can true love’s kiss save the day?
https://https://www.amazon.com/Witchs-Kiss-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01BB1VGVI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495682509&sr=1-1/Witchs-Kiss-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01BB1VGVI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495682509&sr=1-1
Wunderkids: Part 1 - Wildwood Academy
by Jacqueline Silvester
Published in March of 2017, apparently by the author. Good for her.
https://https://www.amazon.com/Wunderkids-PART-1-WILDWOOD-ACADEMY-ebook/dp/B06XS7SQKM/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0BV8HSRAQR7K47H4V305/Wunderkids-PART-1-WILDWOOD-ACADEMY-ebook/dp/B06XS7SQKM/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0BV8HSRAQR7K47H4V305
4.8 Stars with 9 Reviews
The Cover copy reads:
15-year-old Nikka is invited to attend Wildwood Academy, a prestigious but secret boarding school for talented youth located deep in the Californian mountains. Once there, Nikka quickly falls in love with her bizarre classes, the jaw-dropping scenery and... two very different boys.
However, Wildwood Academy has a dark and twisted secret, one that could cost Nikka the one thing she had never imagined she could lose, the one thing that money can’t buy. It is this very thing that Wildwood Academy was created to steal.
Nikka can stay and lose everything, or she can risk death and run.
About the Author
Jacqueline has had a colourful and dual life thus far; she's lived in a refugee camp in Sweden, a castle in France, a village in Germany, and spent her formative years in between Los Angeles, London and New York. As a result, she speaks four languages. Jacqueline has a Bachelors in English Literature from the University Of Massachusetts, and a Masters in Screenwriting from Royal Holloway, University Of London. After graduating she wrote her first novel and began writing cartoon screenplays. The two years she spent in an arts boarding school in the woods have inspired the particular world described in her debut novel Wunderkids. She lives in London with her husband, her excessive YA collection and a hyper husky named Laika.
Wunderkids has been translated into a number of languages and featured in Vogue magazine!
The Amazon preview has the first two chapters. I am going to read you the first.
Here we go:
(Read it.)
My thoughts about Wunderkids.
I've always said, or at least I've said for a few years now, that any author who uses the word "Unceremoniously" should be ceremonially flogged. Jacqueline Sylvester uses it on virtually the first page. I'm trying to forgive her for that.
I think the first chapter gives an entirely different feel to the story than the cover blurb does. In this first chapter we discover the ruin of Nikka's life as her mother blunders into what sounds like just another failure. The mother is upbeat about the future, looking for jobs in interesting places like Seattle.
We meat Sonya who takes Nikka on a dangerous but scenic drive through the mountains, which appears to be a stalling tactic of her mother's, and a set up to get her to go to the academy. Sonya's presence seems to be comic relief--unless I'm reading her wrong.
At one point during conversation between Nikka and her mother, we get the impression that Daria knows something about this academy, but clams up. Then at the end of the chapter it's as if Stamos and Daria share an inside joke, as they toast with champagne. I mean. There was supposedly no phone number for Nikka to call, how did Daria have one?
None of this foreshadows the terrible things implied in the cover copy. And if Nikka will be putting her life on the line before the end of the book, then her own mother appears to have knowingly set her up for this death.
One reviewer describes the story as a combination of Harry Potter and Hunger Games, which two books have entirely different feelings, if you look at the first books. In hunger games, we have a sense of dread and doom from the beginning chapters. In Harry Potter, life appears to be drab for Harry, but always hopeful and ultimately safe.
I like the voice of this book, coming from Nikka, and I'm willing to read on the next couple chapters to find out if the theme resolves into the light hearted adventure (Harry Potter) or life threatening danger of the hunger games.
One thing that bugged me in the first chapter was reference to the San Jacinto Mountains where the Wildwood Academy is supposed to be and of the pamphlet that shows dense redwood forests. I wonder if the pamphlet is misleading her, because if there are any trees in the San Jacinto Mountains, they're not dense redwoods. They're more likely to be scrubby and sparse lodge pole pines. If we go to the next chapter and find these dense redwoods it would throw me right out of the story. Perhaps the author's goal was to create a fictitious place in southern California where you will find dense redwoods. If that is the case, she should have given the place a fictitious location, instead of a place anyone can easily google and look up.
In closing, I think that girls will like this book because of the strong female character of Nikka. I think boys will like this book because the central image on the book cover is a girl with an extremely short skirt.
I think Jackqueline Sylvester is a good story teller and I give this first chapter a four star recommendation to read further.
The Row by J.R. Johansson
https://www.amazon.com/Row-J-R-Johansson-ebook/dp/B01D8FKXEG/ref=pd_rhf_pe_p_img_10?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=C0J60Y7EQ9EH4NT0FABZ
This book was reccomended on a podcast I often listen to, The Writing Excuses Podcast. They had JR Johansson on as a guest. Half way through the podcast they always reccomend a book and gave her the opportunity to choose the book of the week. I respect all of the authors on the podcast, and I've often talked about Brandon Sanderson as being one of my favorites. If you're not familiar with the podcast and are an aspiring writer at any point of the journey, you are missing out on some great instruction on how to make your writing the best it can be.
Anyway, Johansson pitched The Row and told a little about it. It sounded good to me and I vowed to review the first chapter. Well, the first two in this case, I like to do about 15 pages. The book was on the more expensive side, as ebooks go. It was $9.99 which is about double what most ebooks cost.
The Row has a 4.5 star average with 25 reviews.
It was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (October 11, 2016)
Here is the cover copy:
Seventeen-year-old Riley Beckett is no stranger to prison. Her father is a convicted serial killer on death row who has always maintained that he was falsely accused. Riley has never missed a single visit with her father. She wholeheartedly believes that he is innocent.
Then, a month before the execution date, Riley’s world is rocked when, in an attempt to help her move on, her father secretly confesses to her that he actually did carry out the murders. He takes it back almost immediately, but she can’t forget what he’s told her. Determined to uncover the truth for her own sake, she discovers something that will forever change everything she’s believed about the family she loves.
The Amazon preview has the first three chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 are the first sixteen pages, so I'm going to read you that....
(Read first two chapters)
What's there to like about Riley?
She's smart. She's learned the routine to see her father without causing waves. She's made friends with the prison staff and warden so that they're on her side.
She thinks her mother is resilient, but I get the idea that she's not really. I may be wrong, but I think we are going to see that her diligence at the office and her staying away from visits is her way of creating distance so that her work life goes smoothly and her security isn't affected as it was in the past. I'm predicting that she is creating a new life for herself without her husband.
I think Riley is the resilient one.
I like her dedication to her father how she faithfully visits him every week, year after year and how she saves every letter he has written to her. Being the father of daughters, myself, I understand how Riley's father could come to depend on her visits to feel grounded to the outside world. My first daughter was sixteen before we added more children to our family through adoption. She was truly one of my best friends. She brought, and still brings, a lot of joy to my life.
So, I want to read on to find out what happens at the hearing, and now, knowing the rest of the preview, how Riley will react when her father tells her his committed the crimes.
Gear Girl
by JM Davis
Self published by the author in June of 2016
It has a five star average with three reviews.
https://https://www.amazon.com/Gear-Girl-J-M-Davis-ebook/dp/B01GT7BO9I/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8M1P1CGWCM1AVF5D66P7www.amazon.com/Gear-Girl-J-M-Davis-ebook/dp/B01GT7BO9I/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8M1P1CGWCM1AVF5D66P7
Awaking in a strange place, Eleanor is afraid, and panicked. Unfamiliar people claiming to be her family nurse her back to health, but their vague answers seem to only stir up more questions. Where is she? How did she get the scar in the center of her chest? And what happened to her memories?
Over time, Eleanor learns she has been fitted with a mechanical heart, and the body she inhabits once belonged to someone else. With the truth finally revealed, depression nearly drives her to her deathbed. After being rushed to the hospital, Eleanor must learn to accept her second-chance at life.
Believing she is less than human with her steel heart, Eleanor needs a reminder that she is more than just clockwork, and gears. Percy Oliver, does just that. But, is her heart capable of love? Or is it just a machine crafted of cold metal?
The Amazon preview has three chapters. Here's the first one.
(Read Chapter)
Before I talk about this chapter I want to say that I had originally planned on reviewing a different book. I saw it advertized on facebook and twitter several times. Based on the book cover and the title, the story sounded like it would be mysterious and engrossing. The story started with a prolog. Fifteen pages in, I was looking ahead to see how much longer this prolog was. I was bored. The story was introducing the characters, their personalities and some of the plot, but there was nothing which was intriguing or mysterious. I realized there was nothing I could reccomend from what I had read, and rather than read it and give a bad review, I would move on to the next book on my list.
I want to give people ideas of books that they want to read, and not which ones to look out for.
A first chapter, or prolog, if the book has to have one, should be gripping and make me want to read more, make me want to move on to the next chapter. Not make me look ahead to see how much longer I have to read.
Gear Girl was this way. Even if it is written in first person present tense.
The author gives us enough information to sympathize with the main character, the feelings of confusion and disorientation, and ultimately of threat and violation from the man who enters the room.
Obviously, if we've read the cover copy, we know our protagonist has a clockwork heart and we can assume that the two people she interacts with in the first chapter are well meaning. But it's clear that Eleanor doesn't know this, and why she doesn't know this is one of the reasons I want to go on to the next chapter to find out why.
The story is clearly steampunk. It looks like Davis has created the environment and setting for an exciting speculative fiction.
The Bloody Shoe Affair: A daring and thrilling adventure with the Jailer's daughter.
by Joy York.
Published in Feb of 2015
4.4 Stars from 25 Reviews
http://www.joyyork.com/://www.joyyork.com/
Here is the cover copy:
In this mystery set in 1968, Christi, a shy and awkward teenager, never expected to get sucked into helping her cousin, Lily, the “double-dare-you” daughter of the county jailer, try to solve the grizzliest murder the town of Roselyn, Mississippi, had ever seen. Then again, Christi had been entangled in her misadventures before. So a whirlwind week of spying, lying, crawling through tunnels and sneaking into the jail should have come as no surprise to Christi.
Lily, a vivacious prankster, loves adventure. It’s not hard to find when you live in a house connected to the jail. Christi, a city girl, is self-conscious and afraid of everything. Still, she’s drawn to the excitement and adventure that Lily always seems to provide. Christi arrives for a visit in time to help her cousin discover what happened the night Lily observed a county deputy drop a pair of women’s bloody shoes from a bag. After a chance meeting with the accused, they learn new information that sheds doubt on his guilt. Seeking justice, Lily sets a plan in motion that takes them on an adventure of risk and surprising twists. They not only discover unexpected truths about the case, but about themselves as well.
The Amazon preview has two full chapters and a bit of the third. The second is much longer than the first, so if you like what you hear, you can go read some more if you are still debating whether or not to get this book.
Here is the first chapter:
(Read it)
About the Author
Joy York grew up in Alabama, but has spent much of her adult life in the Midwest. She is a graduate of Auburn University. She has had a rewarding career in retail management. She was an active volunteer in her community, holding positions on nonprofit boards supporting education, including an elected four- year term on the Hudson City School Board of Education in Hudson, Ohio. She was inspired to write when she began creating stories and adventures to entertain her son when he was growing up. She has returned to her home state of Alabama where she now follows her passion of writing fulltime.
Why I like this story.
The author takes full advantage of telling a story in the first person. The character's voice and the narrator are the same. We get Christi's thoughts and interpretation of events as they happen. Though we only have two short glimpses of Christi and her family in the first chapter we learn a lot about her personality, her feelings of awkwardness, her desire to fit in, and that she may actually enjoy the excitement that accompanies Lillie's reckless curiosity. We also learn about the plot. That there has been a murder, and Lillie's father being the jailer is going to put them right in the middle of the excitement.
I give this story five stars for characterization, plot, and pacing. The only draw back that I can see is that there isn't an audio version, so I'm going to have to actually read it. And I will. This looks to be a fast paced, fun read.
Savages: Chronicles of Warshard by Katherine Bogle.
https://www.amazon.com/Savages-Chronicles-Warshard-Katherine-Bogle-ebook/dp/B06XG5KJMT/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6WYYW82F41EZRX1CF6TB
It currently has 18 reviews with an average of 4.1 star rating.
It was published on April 4th of 2017. I saw this the week before, advertised on Twitter. The blurb and book cover caught my attention, so I preordered it for 99 cents.
Two weeks after it's release it is sitting at 12K odd in the Kindle store and at #5 for Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Historical
Katherine Bogle's debut young adult novel, Haven, came second in the World's Best Story contest 2015. She currently resides in Saint John, New Brunswick with her partner in crime, and plethora of cats. She can be found at www.katherinebogle.com.
Haven is a Chonicle of Warshard book as well as another one called Fyre which is a collection of short stories in the same environment.
Here's the story description on the amazon page.
Daughter of Chief Ruin, Breen is one of the most fearsome warriors in the Southern Delica Tribe, but nothing can stop the Emperor from reaping the Savage Lands for soldiers.
When her village is attacked, Breen is taken from her home and her family to the Seaburn Academy, where southern savages are broken and chained into a life of service to the Empire. Through the beatings and torture, Drakkone, one of the few Seaburn-born soldiers, brings solace to her days and gives her hope for the future.
Once freed of the Academy dungeons, Breen is sentenced to daily training between her plots for escape. But one night of unexpected passion turns into a problem bigger than either of them could have imagined.
Breen and Drakkone must risk capture and flee the city or death might be a blessing compared to eternal imprisonment.
The blurb has left me a little confused. It sounds to me like Drakkone is a Seaburn solder who beats and tortures Breen and by doing so, brings her solace and gives her hope. Then free of the Academy, though she is sentenced to daily training, she has an affair with someone, who we assume is Krakkone. This leaves me wondering, was he also a prisoner and in a position to become romantic with Breen, or was he still in a position of authority over her.
The Amazon preview has the first two full chapters and part of the third. I am going to read the first chapter which equaled 5% of the book. Here is Chapter 1:
(After the Chapter)
I thought the first chapter was well written. It's fast paced, gives us a feel for Breen's talents and the people of the Southern Delica Tribe, and sets us up with a conflict to carry us into the second chapter. The description copy tells us there is a lot of action to look forward to and at this point I am will to read on to see how she will become imprisoned and what she will do to try to escape.
The blurb mentions torture. I'm not big on torture, especially if it gets graphic or just too long winded. In the 1990's there was a series of books by Terry Goodkind that started with "Wizards first rule". I read that and several that came after it and it seemed that in each of these massive epic fantasies, the protagonist couldn't help but get caught and tortured for a couple hundred pages. It went on and on in intricate detail. If this book gets hung up on that kind of plot, I would have to give it up.
That aside, the only thing I found that took me out of the story was some ambiguity about who was talking. At times pronouns were used and it wouldn't be until the following paragraph that I would know who it was who had spoken.
So, overall, this is a good book and you probably should give it, or one of the author's other books a try.
Thanks for listening and I'll see you next week.
kakiolsen@yahoo.com
@kakiolsenbooks
www.kakiolsenbooks.com
Kaki Olsen is always on the brink of another adventure. If she couldn’t be a writer, she’d be a full-time musician or travel guide and she would take her lunch breaks at Fenway Park. Until that happens, she speaks both Spanish and English at her every-day office job, but she has vacationed enthusiastically in such places as Istanbul and Ireland. She has lived in five states, but will always refer to Boston as home.
She regularly contributes academic papers on zombies or wizards to Life, the Universe and Everything, a sci-fi/fantasy symposium originated at her alma mater, Brigham Young University. Her published works have appeared in such magazines as Voices and AuthorsPublish. Her debut novel, Swan and Shadow, was published by Sweetwater Books in 2016.
She is a doting aunt and librarian of two bulging bookshelves. This site allows her to share her literary obsessions.
Contact:
http://www.kakiolsenbooks.com/
http://www.kakirecommends.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kakiolsenbooks/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
@kakiolsenbooks
E-mail: Kaki@kakiolsenbooks.com
Aislin’s curse is the standard fare: swan by day, college student by night, true love as the only cure. But does true love even exist outside of fairy tales? After having to cover for Aislin during her swan hours, Aislin’s twin, Maeve, is willing to resort to anything from matchmaking to magic to see her sister live happily (and human) ever after. Will either of them get their wish?
The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still. Discover the riveting first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....
Editorial Reviews
Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.
Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.
Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.
I tried to access the sample of this book on the Amazon site, but it wouldn't load on my computer. I don't know if others would find it there if they tried, so I gave up and bought the book on Audible, intending to write an entire review. I got the audio book because the ebook was $10.99 and I could get it on audible, with our monthly account for one $13 token. Since I have much more time to listen than I do to sit down and read a book, I knew I was more likely to finish it this way. I might point out that the paperback book is listed for less than $8 which doesn't make sense to me, unless you are trying to encourage people to buy physical books.
So here is the first chapter, which is actually a prolog. I know. Don't get me started. I'll talk about that later.
(Read the prolog)
The prolog doesn't prepare us for the story or answer any questions for us. In fact it leaves us with a number of questions that we will later cause us to exclaim, or sigh, and say, Oh, that who that is, That's what Will meant, or So, this was an important point.
In the prolog we don't meet Tessa. The first chapter introduces us to her and introduces her to the Dark Sisters. I won't give anything away that the books own blurb didn't when I say that living with the dark sisters was a negative experience. Tessa displays her intelligence and her drive when she escapes from these two evil women and falls in with the Shadowhunters.
As I was working on this review my editor-alter-ego tried to take over and looked for as many things wrong as I could find. I don't care who you are, things can be found that are wrong with any book--so much of right and wrong in literature is based on personal likes and dislikes. So, before any of my potentially negative comments can be taken wrong, I want to go over the things that I really liked about this book.
Cassandra Claire is an excellent story teller. She well deserves the many New York Times best sellers she has earned. I was immediately in the story with Tessa on the docks in England feeling out of place and anxious. I listened to an audio version, which has its benefits and its drawbacks. On the plus side, the narrator was talented and helped to bring the story to life. For the most part, she held my attention. There were occasions where I was so into the story that I wonder if I missed some salient points, which I will come to later. When I'm listening, I can't always rewind and see if I heard correctly or if I missed something, not like you can flip back to a paragraph and reread, when you have a book in your hands.
I liked the characters, though in the beginning I was a bit confused about who was who as the many characters of the Shadowhunters seemed to all come at once. I'm still not sure who all of them were. The main characters were pretty clearly rounded out, even if they didn't act they way I would have wanted them to. I never really got to like Will. I'm not sure if we were supposed to feel sorry for him or admire his independent aloofness. By the end of the book I had him rating more as a jerk than as a hero.
The plot was solid with numerous satisfying twists which I didn't see coming. I did see one of them which allowed Tessa to make a mistake. Of course, the mistake propelled the conflict forward and with it, a major action scene. Sometimes it seems like our otherwise intelligent and competent characters have to make dumb choices for the sake of the plot.
We are warned in the synopsis that this is the first book of a trilogy. As such, many questions are left unanswered. Tessa has a full character arc in coming to grips with who she is and what her magical abilities might be, but much of the balance of the story is still up in the air.
One aspect of both of the blurbs that I read states, "Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still." It makes it appear that this is the theme of the book. If it is, I am left unconvinced. I think the story makes the point that trust in, or dedication to, someone you love can be dangerous, but love is not what causes the danger.
I thought Tessa was a little passive. She starts out showing some real gumption as she defies the Dark Sisters and fights for her freedom. Leaving that prison she's reluctant to join in with the Shadow Hunters for fear that they are going to use her like the sisters tried to, and then she is suddenly doing exactly what the Hunters ask her to do without any of her former resistance. She pretty much goes with the flow until the end of the story when she finally pulls up her socks and takes charge. I could accept more of her passivity if she had some internal dialog or conflict explaining why she was going along with the hunters.
If you find vampires alluring, you may be disappointed as those who appeared in the Clockwork Angel seemed weak and unusually fragile.
My other major concern with the plot was what the clockwork angel had to do with anything. It was on a necklace that Tessa wore. I think she got it from her parents and had some emotional attachment. At times the small device came to life and fluttered its wings. How it did that, or what brought on the action was never clear to me. I would think that the name sake of the entire book would have received some resolution.
I don't know if I'll go on to listen to the rest of the books in the series and trilogy, but I recommend this book to any lover of YA Steampunk as this book brings that mythological period of time to life with all its clockwork attackers, foggy London streets, and sword slashing, magic casting, battles.
nicoleschubertwrites@gmail.com
Nicole Schubert is a first-time novelist and award-winning screenwriter with a soft spot for comedy and romance. She also dabbles in other behind-the-scenes activities, like producing the monthly Improv Diary Show at Santa Monica’s Westside Comedy Theater. She’s produced a music awards TV show and European-wide photo exhibition out of Brussels and enjoyed another side of storytelling working in the editing rooms of numerous Hollywood feature films. Nicole lives with her family—including The Kid and pirate kitty Biddy—in Los Angeles, by way of Brussels and New Orleans, where she was born during a hurricane.
The second Francie met Chet, her poetic memory danced.
This beloved debut novel from Nicole Schubert brings you an honest and painfully relatable coming of age story about first love, loss, music, sports, alcoholism, family and friendship that will have you cheering, crying and singing with the quirky, pensive Francie Mills. Compassionate, heartbreaking and hopeful, this novel for teen readers is a favorite of adults of all ages as well! If you like Sherman Alexie, John Green, JD Salinger or books like The Perks of Being a Wallflower or movies like Loves of a Blonde or anything John Hughes, this might just be your cup of tea.
Meet Francie Mills. She’s 16. Lives in the boring burbs of L.A. Is super determined and hopeful. And wants one thing: to be an amazing tennis player. Because if something exponentially, brilliantly wonderful like that happened, like winning the U.S. Open or even getting to nationals, everything would be okay. Her life. Her family. Her. She would matter. Be part of something important. And wouldn’t have to feel so unbearably sad and alone every time her dad gets drunk, again.
But the likelihood of amazingness starts to seem impossible when Francie injures her knee…that is, until she meets Chet Jones, lead singer of the band Blues Harp Jones, in Austin, on location for her dad’s movie job. Francie instantly falls for Chet, in his weird blazer and “God Save the Queen” t-shirt, sexy, genuine, funny. And she’s sure something wonderful is finally happening, especially when Chet miraculously falls for her too. But the closer Francie gets to Chet back in L.A. and the more her dad’s drinking tears her apart, the more she realizes the best kind of something wonderful isn’t at all what she expected.
Brussels
Screen plays. How is writing them different than writing a novel?
producing the monthly Improv Diary Show
When did you decide to write a book?
Tell me about your book
The second Francie met Chet, her poetic memory danced.
Were any of the social issues address in your book what motivated you to write it?
Why Blues Harp Green?
Feb 4, 2017
4.6 stars 6 reviews
How's it doing?
How is your balancing act? Are you planning on writing another? Also in this genre?
What is the best way for people to get a hold of you?
https://https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Oceana-Mitchell-Charles-ebook/dp/B0195NT80A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490235234&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Kingdom+of+Oceanawww.amazon.com/Kingdom-Oceana-Mitchell-Charles-ebook/dp/B0195NT80A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490235234&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Kingdom+of+Oceana
Today's first chapter review is of the Young Adult Fantasy, "The Kingdom of Oceana". I received a request from a publicist, or maybe it was an offer, to review a copy of this book. I replied that I normally read the first chapter and then comment on it on my podcast, when I'm doing a review. What I also told her was that I would prefer to interview the author and allow him to pitch the story and talk about his inspiration, etc. I don't know if she pitched the idea to the author, but she said she would be happy to send me a copy of the book to do the review.
So, Mitchell Charles, if you happen to listen to this podcast, I'd still love to have you on to talk about your book in greater depth than I'm probably going to give it here.
Here is the pitch from the publicist. This is all I knew of the story before I read the first chapter:
The Kingdom of Oceana is a young-adult fantasy novel, by Mitchell Charles, that takes readers on a fun and exciting adventure filled with non-stop action, from big wave surfing, to fire walking and shark taming. Readers have compared it to Disney’s new movie Moana.
I think comparing a book to another is always risky. Here, the publicist compares this novel to the new Disney movie, "Moana". I recently spent a week with my grand kids and we watched Moana about six times. So I know what that movie is all about. Sitting down to read this first chapter, Moana is what I had in mind.
(Read the first chapter)
Here are my thoughts based on this first chapter and the publicist pitch.
I don't see any Moana here. No upbeat, cheerful characters. I see an older brother who is condescening toward his younger brother, referring to him as a parasitic sucker fish. We learn the older's name is Nahoa and he refers to the younger as Omo and Younger Brother. This first chapter seems to be focused more on Nahoa, than who we will find out later is the main character of the book. Nahoa's a bit of a cheat and bully when he jumps off the younger brother's back and then turns on him and tries to kill him. Again, no Moana here.
Standing on this first chapter alone, comparing to the publicist's pitch. I don't know if I would continue on.
Let's read the blurb. I found this further down in the initial email I received from the publicist, and it is also the blurb for the book on the Amazon page.
SURFER. SHARK TAMER. FIRE WALKER. EXPLORER. TEENAGER. HERO.
Set 500 years ago on the island now called Hawaii, there was a kingdom filled with adventure, beauty, and magic. When 16-year-old Prince Ailani and his brother Nahoa trespass on a forbidden burial ground and uncover an ancient tiki mask, they unleash a thousand-year-old curse that threatens to destroy their tropical paradise.
As warring factions collide for control of Oceana, it sparks an age-old conflict between rival sorcerers that threatens to erupt--just like Mauna Kea, the towering volcano. With the help of his ancestral spirit animals, his shape shifting sidekick, and a beautiful princess, Prince Ailani must overcome his own insecurities, a lifetime of sibling rivalry, and a plague of cursed sea creatures brought forth by the tiki's spell. Can peace be restored to the kingdom? Can Prince Ailani claim his rightful place as the future king of Oceana? Two brothers, but only one can rule.
This paints a whole new picture on the story.
We learn that the younger brother's name is Ailani.
We have ancestral spirit animals to look forward to. I'm thinking like the dragon from the Disney story Mulan. Or maybe Pumba and Timon. Again, the image of a Disney classic was put into my mind and I may be rewarded or disappointed. And a shape shifting sidekick, that sounds like fun. And what could be better than a beautiful princess. I would expect someone snarky as well as beautiful.
Is any of this in the first chapter, though? Not much.
Having this added information, I would probably read another two or three chapters to see if story starts to match any of my expectations.
"The Kingdom of Oceana" was first published in December of 2015, so it was out before "Moana".
It has forty reviews with a 4.6 average.
There are three chapters available for preview on the Amazon page. Try them out and see if it compares to Moana.
Again, If you'd like to help out the podcast, it would be great if you could leave a review. Stop by the patreon page, or if you have some ideas of who you'd like to hear on the podcast, leave me a note on the Facebook page, or email me at yabookspodcast@gmail.com
Find Under the Never Sky at Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=under+the+never+sky
First book in the Under the Never Sky trilogy by Veronica Rossi, which is complete and available.
This first book was published in January of 2012 by Harper Collins.
As of this recording it is ranking 21, 22, and 74 on three of the Amazon Young Adult indices. It has a 4.5 Star average with 1013 reviews.
The Amazon preview includes the first two chapters and I will share the first chapter on this episode.
Here is the blurb from the Amazon page.
Fighting to survive in a ravaged world, a Dweller and a Savage form an unlikely alliance in New York Times bestselling author Veronica Rossi's "unforgettable dystopian masterpiece" (Examiner.com).
Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive. A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption.
In alternating chapters told in Aria's and Perry's voices, Under the Never Sky subtly and powerfully captures the evolving relationship between these characters and sweeps readers away to a harsh but often beautiful world. Continuing with Through the Ever Night and concluding with Into the Still Blue, the Under the Never Sky trilogy has already been embraced by readers in twenty-six countries and been optioned for film by Warner Bros.
Goodreads, which has the book at 4.1 stars, but on nearly 92K ratings has the following blurb:
WORLDS KEPT THEM APART.
DESTINY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.
Aria has lived her whole life in the protected dome of Reverie. Her entire world confined to its spaces, she's never thought to dream of what lies beyond its doors. So when her mother goes missing, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland long enough to find her are slim.
Then Aria meets an outsider named Perry. He's searching for someone too. He's also wild - a savage - but might be her best hope at staying alive.
If they can survive, they are each other's best hope for finding answers.
Here is the first chapter. It's from Aria's point of veiw:
(Read Chapter)
Here are my thoughts on this first chapter. I want to read on for a couple of reasons.
Number one. The writing and characterization are absorbing and engaging. We gain sympathy for Aria right away. Her conflict and motivation are understandable and sympathetic. She wants to find out if her mother is still alive and well. She feels the only way to get that answer is from Soren.
The author has some writing idiosyncrasies that I can overlook in the first chapter, such as, Aria does a lot of staring. She stares on three occasions. If she stares as much in the second chapter, I might get more annoyed than intrigued.
Soren is self centered and manipulative and he has plans for the adventure, and for Aria, that he hasn't shared. He's a good bad guy, but I think his days are numbered. I want to find out.
At the end of this chapter we see the potential for catastrophy. They have just built a bon fire in the middle of a tinder box.
The second reason I want to read on is that we are told in the preview that Aria is exiled. I hope that Aria is a stronger character than this first chapter has shown. Soren threatened her that if she left, he would tell his father that this adventure was her idea. There are some problems with this threat.
- There are only 6000 residents in Reverie. You can't have that few people and not know who the resident trouble makers are, or aren't. It is obvious that Aria couldn't have come up with the codes to shut off their eyes or get them through the air lock. The three boys are well known for this ability.
Even if it was was Aria's idea, Soren stole the codes to break in. He didn't have to do what she suggested. He was culpable on his own. He and his friends go wild, taking off their clothes and covering themselves with mud, and then Soren brings out the battery and wire, proving that he had premeditated the idea of creating fire.
If Aria suffers this much injustice from the small group, I may unable to suspend disbelief long enough to finish the rest of the book. It's a plot weakness to large for me to forgive.
One other weakness with the plot is the description of Ag 6. Really. There is so much dust on the floor that Soren creates a trail through it, yet the food there appears to be only on the edge of being rotten. To me, that much dust would leave the fruit dried, the grapefruits shrivled husks. The food may have been able to be grown without leaves, soil, and much water, but the dark warehouse that the ag dome appears to be is too much of a stretch for my imagination.
I give this first chapter four stars and anyone who is interested enough to start the book should be more than rewarded to read on.
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
She's @kathglasgow on twitter. I saw that she had "Liked" a tweet about the "Killer in Me" review. When I checked her handle I saw she was launching her book. The title and book cover grabbed me.
Published on August 30th of 2016 by Delacort Press
She currently has 40 reviews with a 4.8 star average.
She's in the top 20K of books sold on the Kindle store and at #4, 10, and 60 on three of the Teen>Literature and Fiction lists.
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Pieces-Kathleen-Glasgow-ebook/dp/B01A4B1S9Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1473134689&sr=1-1&keywords=girl+in+pieces
Here is the Amazon preview:
For fans of Girl, Interrupted, Thirteen Reasons Why, and All the Bright Places comes a novel Nicola Yoon, author of Everything, Everything, calls "a haunting, beautiful, and necessary book that will stay with you long after you've read the last page."
Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people do in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.
Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.
A deeply moving portrait of a girl in a world that owes her nothing, and has taken so much, and the journey she undergoes to put herself back together. Kathleen Glasgow's debut is heartbreakingly real and unflinchingly honest. It’s a story you won’t be able to look away from.
"A haunting, beautiful, and necessary book that will stay with you long after you've read the last page." —Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything
The book is divided into three parts. The chapters are really short. Some only a half a page. The longest I will read is about three pages. In the first part there are 46 of these chapters. The Amazon preview is the first 15 chapters. I will read 13 of those.
"The Killer in Me" written by Margot Harrison was published on July 12, 2016 by Disney Hyperion.
https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Me-Margot-Harrison-ebook/dp/B01FZLMTT8/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SGHKDS7271H00NN4RKZ0
I bought this one a while ago. I think it was the same time that I bought "Learning to swear in America". I believe both of them were on the Goodreads top YA books for July.
Here's the synopsis:
Hasn't he lived long enough? Why not? I could take him like a thief in the night. This is how the Thief thinks. He serves death, the vacuum, the unknown. He's always waiting. Always there. Seventeen-year-old Nina Barrows knows all about the Thief. She's intimately familiar with his hunting methods: how he stalks and kills at random, how he disposes of his victims' bodies in an abandoned mine in the deepest, most desolate part of a desert. Now, for the first time, Nina has the chance to do something about the serial killer that no one else knows exists. With the help of her former best friend, Warren, she tracks the Thief two thousand miles, to his home turf—the deserts of New Mexico. But the man she meets there seems nothing like the brutal sociopath with whom she's had a disturbing connection her whole life. To anyone else, Dylan Shadwell is exactly what he appears to be: a young veteran committed to his girlfriend and her young daughter. As Nina spends more time with him, she begins to doubt the truth she once held as certain: Dylan Shadwell is the Thief. She even starts to wonder . . . what if there is no Thief? From debut author Margot Harrison comes a brilliantly twisted psychological thriller that asks which is more terrifying: the possibility that your nightmares are real . . . or the possibility that they begin and end with you?
The Kindle preview includes the first four chapters. I'm going to read you the first two, which ends up being about 19 pages.
I try to read the first couple chapters and put down my thoughts before reading the synopsis, so I can get an honest feeling for whether I would read on based on those pages. Here's what I got before I read the blurb on the Amazon page.
Nina is a girl who dreams a serial killer's life.
Plenty of opportunity for conflict and character developement.
She's on a life and death mission to save a couple who lives a hundred plus miles away. She's smart enough to realize no one will believe her--the woman she called certainly didn't.
The author's writing is crisp and clear, her characterization is solid, and her use of dialog is effective.
I want to read on initially to see how she does with firing the .38 and secondly to see if she is able to get to upstate New Yord to help the older couple. I believe that these two conflicts are just an introduction to the story and my hopes are that this will ramp up into a solid thriller.
I had an interview with an author scheduled tonight, but she had to cancel for her son's back to school night. Unless I can reconnect with her in the next couple days, it will be another first chapter review next week.
thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.
Cinderella Dreams of Fire by Casey Lane
Published on August 15th by the author.
44 Reviews with a 4.7 star average
https://www.amazon.com/Cinderella-Dreams-Fairy-Tales-Forever-ebook/dp/B01K227NN2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1472101302&sr=1-1&keywords=cinderella+dreams+of+fire
What if Cinderella led a double life?
Cinderella has a secret. In the 10 years since her mother's death, she's only pretended to be too weak to challenge her cold-blooded stepmother. By day, she cleans the floors and washes the laundry. By night, she takes to the streets as a fearless thief with no equal. Out on a routine mission, Cinderella never expected that she'd run into him…
Braedon is hardly a model prince. He spends most of his time in the tavern, much to the dismay of his royal mother. When an unexplainable blight strikes the queen's soldiers down, Braedon's attempt to help brings him face-to-face with the beautiful, sardonic thief. He wants nothing more than to partner up with her, even if it could get him killed…
The thief would much rather work alone, but the prince’s persistence starts to wear down her defenses. When the evil force decimating the army turns its attention to the throne, Cinderella and Braedon have one chance to save the kingdom, their loved ones, and themselves.
Cinderella Dreams of Fire is the first book in the Fairy Tales Forever series, a set of fantasy novels that inject the classic retellings you know with a burst of attitude. If you like strong female characters, action-packed fantasy, and simmering chemistry, then you’ll love Casey Lane’s romantic, fast-paced adaptation.
There are five chapters in the Amazon preview. I'm going to read you the first two chapters, about 15 pages.
(Read Chapters)
I wanted to review this one right away because I follow the author on the Sell More Book Show podcast and have read the first book of the "Ted Saves the World" series. He's writing under this new pen name and using the "Write to Market" method to publish books in a niche that is currently under represented but performing well. This method also stresses writing quickly to meet the market demand for the genre. He has promoted the book heavily and it is performing well in the Amazon charts. He's gotten several #1 best seller rankings and is hoping to stay in the top 2500 for all books on Amazon for the next month.
I have to admit, I was a little let down after reading these first two chapters. I had gotten used to the sharply detailed, quality writing of the last few books I've reviewed. This is not "My Lady Jane", "The Paper Magician", or "Learning to Swear in America". It reads like it was written very quickly with a focus on telling the story and not showing us the depth of character detail or the fantasy environment.
I read the first two chapters originally, before I read the synopsis, so it left me a little confused. In fact, it appears to me that the author spent more time fine tuning the synopsis than he did writing the story.
Chapter 1. We view the story through one girl's eyes. Kayla? With a visit to a country tavern. We get the information that they were once princesses but are currently starving. The mother asks about a local Duke. When the tavern keeper's daughter comes in the older sister draws a knife. Besides cruelly cutting the girl, her mother makes an obscure comment that she wants something more than what the keeper can offer. We learn in the second chapter that it was the duke's hand in marriage. How she got that from threatening the tavern keeper isn't explained. Did the tavern keeper have some special connection to the Duke? It's kind of hard for me to believe.
Chapter 2 we meet Cinderella. I'll admit, I expected her to have a slightly different name. I guess that was my bad. I mean the name of the book is "Cinderella Dreams of Fire", but also expected a creatively different approach to the use of the name. We find her cleaning up a wine stain, not cinders, and learn a little of how she came to be in this mess.
It appears that Casy knows the mechanics of story telling and punts a zinger at the end of each chapter to encourage the reader to continue to the next page. Neither zinger worked for me and left me somewhat annoyed. Chapter 1's was a little darker and violent than I had expected, though it showed me what a cruel person the mother and older sister were. And then in the next chapter the introduction that Cinderella works for the Godmother came across as silly and contradictory to the first chapter.
On his recap of his writing process in the bonus episode of the "Sell More Book Show" the author talks about knowing the tropes of the genre. I don't know if silliness is one of the expected tropes, like watching a Shrek movie, or not. If it is, the first chapter was entirely out of place. If the author didn't mean for it to come across as silly, then I completely misread this second chapter ending.
In conclusion, if Fairy Tale retellings is a genre that you like, you might like this one. I've mentioned before that one of my all time favorite books is "Beauty" by Patricia McKillop. It was neither dark not silly, just beautifully written.
I give this a three star recommendation, "Try it. You might like it." I will have to take a pass on this one and spend my time reading something else. Knowing the other things this author has written I expected a higher quality of writing and story telling. It seems like he has put his quality efforts into marketing this one.
Learning to Swear in America
By Katie Kennedy
Published on July 5, 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing
It has 29 reviews with a 4.8 star average.
Here's the Amazon synopsis:
An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Maybe not kill-all-the-dinosaurs bad, but at least kill-everyone-in-California-and-wipe-out-Japan-with-a-tsunami bad. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been recruited to aid NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster.
The good news is Yuri knows how to stop the asteroid--his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel prize if there's ever another Nobel prize awarded. But the trouble is, even though NASA asked for his help, no one there will listen to him. He's seventeen, and they've been studying physics longer than he's been alive.
Then he meets (pretty, wild, unpredictable) Dovie, who lives like a normal teenager, oblivious to the impending doom. Being with her, on the adventures she plans when he's not at NASA, Yuri catches a glimpse of what it means to save the world and live a life worth saving.
Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, and have your mind burst open with the questions of the universe.
The Amazon Preview has the first two chapters. Here's chapter #1. "No need to panic".
https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Swear-America-Katie-Kennedy-ebook/dp/B01FJ966S6/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1470283588&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=learning+to+swear+in+america+by+katie+kennedy
This is a great story told in third person from Yuri's point of view. He's a believable teenage boy. He worries about his sleeves getting too short and how to buy a shirt. He doesn't want to look out of place and is self conscious about his suitcase, and when he's thrown into a room with another younger boy, he plays together with him.
The conflicts are clear and understandable. Humanity is threatened by a devastating asteroid. This gives us all a reason to get behind our young hero and hope for his success. However, there are underlying conflicts which threaten Yuri's potential for success. Two of the most ubiquitous of large workplace conflicts...professional jealousy and distrust. Yuri is distrusted for both his age and his nationality.
Based on the first chapter, and I almost wasn't able to stop myself from jumping directly into the second, this looks to be a wonderfully, exciting book. And of the books I've read most recently, this is the one with the best movie potential (in my humble opinion).
Five stars. Try this one out.
Here's another I found on the Ya Ya Young Adult Books Facebook page.
"Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" by Martina McAtee
https://www.amazon.com/Children-Shouldnt-Play-Dead-Things-ebook/dp/B012KW638S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1469672321&sr=1-1&keywords=children+shouldn%27t+play+with+dead+things#navbar
The first thing about it that caught my attention was that it was free for a few days. I looked on Amazon tonight as I am recording this and it is still free. So if you hear this when it goes live and it sounds good to you, you may still be able to get it free. If you wait too long you're going to have to pay for it.
The second thing to catch my eye was the cover. Let me see if I can describe it. There is a silhouette of a grave yard with tomb stones and leafless trees. Above it are swirling storm clouds. Except the scene is upside down. Hanging from the ground, at the top of the page, is a swing, and sitting on the swing, filling most of the page is a girl in a white sleeveless, knee length, cotton dress. She is bare foot and her straight brown covers her face, neck and upper chest.
So, the price was right, I liked the title and the book cover, so I bought it without reading the Amazon description.
It looks like it was published by the author in August of 2015. The second book in the series just published on the 15th of this month, (July of 2016), maybe that's why the first book is free right now.... The second book is called "Dark Dreams and Dead Things".
The first book has 64 customer reviews with a 4.9 star average.
Here is the Amazon description:
17 year old Ember Denning has made an art of isolating herself. She prefers the dead. She spends her days skipping school in old cemeteries and her nights hiding from her alcoholic father at the funeral home where she works. When her own father dies, Ember learns her whole life is a lie. Standing in the cemetery that’s been her sanctuary, she’s threatened by the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen and rescued by two people who claim to be her family. They say she’s special, that she has a supernatural gift like them…they just don’t know exactly what it is.
They take her to a small Florida town, where Ember’s life takes a turn for the weird. She’s living with her reaper cousins, an orphaned werewolf pack, a faery and a human genius. Ember’s powers are growing stronger, morphing into something bigger than anything anybody anticipated. Ember has questions but nobody has answers. Nobody knows what she is. They only know her mysterious magical gift is trying to kill them and that beautiful dangerous boy from the cemetery may be the only thing standing between her and death.
As Ember’s talents are revealed so are the secrets her father hid and those in power who would seek to destroy her. What’s worse, saving Ember has put her cousins in danger and turned her friend’s lives upside down. Ember must learn to embrace her magic or risk losing the family she’s pieced together.
A lot happens in this description. Let's see where the first chapter takes us.
The only bones I have to pick with this first chapter is:
1) The author implies that people often stare at Ember, or shy away from her, possibly from the way she looks. Yet we don't get a good picture of her as to why that would happen. Her hair is "Maybe too orange". Is that her natural color or did she die it tangerine, or fluorescent orange. I've met some people with naturally orange hair and while it was noticeable, it didn't make me feel the person was in some way unnatural.
Her eye color is unusual, but the events are taking place in New Orleans where the unexpected and alarming are qualities that can be considered positive. She even sees people dressed up for the day of the dead on her way to the funeral. As far as the author has shown us, these characters are no more or less alarming in appearance than our main character.
2) My second concern may actually be with the synopsis from the Amazon page. We are told so much that happens in the story and in the first chapter so little of it happens. Knowing what is going to happen doesn't encourage me to read further to find out HOW it happens. I know what will be and I want to get past it, find out what the new conflicts will be, and grow with the character. The Amazon synopsis is almost like a movie preview that shows all the great parts. We've all seen the preview that when it's done we say, well, I don't need to watch that one now.
In conclusion, if I forget the Amazon synopsis, I'm intrigued by the change/seizure Ember has at the funeral. Something is happening to her that I'm hoping will develop her character and give me a reason to root for, and care about, her. We've met a mysterious character on the roof of the mausoleum. Is this the too-beautiful-boy who we are told not to trust in the synopsis? I would rather have developed my own distrust of this character through his behavior and interactions with Ember, but at this point, I willing to read further to see how they relate to each other.
I give this book a strong four stars to read three or four more chapters and see if I start to learn more about the character than I've been told in advance. As I said in the beginning, there are a whopping 9 chapters in the Amazon preview, so you have the opportunity to read a lot of the story before deciding if you want to buy it. But then, while it remains free, it's well worth the cost.
Episode 49 - First Chapter review of Varient
https://www.amazon.com/Variant-Robison-Wells-ebook/dp/B004XVN1E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1469072863&sr=1-1&keywords=variant#navbarVariant
Varient is written by Robison Wells and published by Harper Teen
in October of 2011
283 reviews with a 4.2 star average
Here's the Amazon book description
Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.
He was wrong.
Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.
Where breaking the rules equals death.
But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.
You can get the first two chapters on the Amazon preview.
Here is chapter 1.
If you heard my interview with Robison, you know I loved this story. It kicks of very fast at the end of the first chapter and doesn't slow down except for a few short places for the reader to catch their breath. I give this story a hearty five stars to continue reading past the first chapter.
If you've listened to the preceding two book reviews, I want to tell you that I finished "My Lady Jane" and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend the story with five stars. The characters are varied and endearing. I wanted to take the lot of them home with me for a big family dinner. To me it slowed down just a bit in the last ten minutes of the audio. but then, under it all, the story is a romance and it needed some romantic touches to tie the story up completely. I got used to the narrator after about an hour of the audio, and she only irritated me a few times after the first couple chapters.
Episode #48 The Paper Magician, Book One of the Paper Magician series. by Charlie N. Holmburg
To get this weeks episode I went to the Kindle top 100 Young Adult books. The number 1 book didn't sound Young Adult at all to me, so I skipped that one. the next six were either from the Harry Potter Series or from the Hunger Games, so I ended up with book #8. Eighth place is nothing to sniff at when you consider those in the first seven places.
Brandon Sanderson give this recommendation “Charlie is a vibrant writer with an excellent voice and great world building. I thoroughly enjoyed the Paper Magician.” —Brandon Sanderson, author of Mistborn and The Way of Kings
Paper Magician was published in September of 2014. The second and third books in the series are available and it is at 160 overall in the Kindle store, so you know it is getting daily sales. It has 3373 reviews with a 4.0 average.
https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Magician-Book-ebook/dp/B00HVF7OL0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1468473044&sr=1-1&keywords=the+paper+magician
Here's the Amazon book description.
Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever.
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.
An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.
From the imaginative mind of debut author Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician is an extraordinary adventure both dark and whimsical that will delight readers of all ages.
Short-Listed for the 2015 ALA Fantasy Reading List
I read the whole first chapter to prepare for the episode and wanted to read the whole thing for you, but it is around 25 pages and almost 10% of the book. The Amazon preview doesn't even give you the whole first chapter, so I'm going to read you about 12 pages
So, this is as far as I'm going to read for you. Using the magic of editing, I have actually listened to the preceding portion of the book before I record this followup and recommendation. I recorded a recommendation after I recorded those pages but there was a problem with the recording and it got all chopped up somehow. I'm glad, because I actually like the story more today, after listening to what I read. I got a better feel for the flow of the story listening to it, more than I did while recording it.
I'll be honest and tell you that I think it's a little slow getting started. There's no major conflict leading from page one. The preview tells us the major conflict of the story, and we've yet to see it happen. I'll give you a minor spoiler...we don't get into the conflict in the first chapter.
Dave Wolverton AKA David Farland, and author and writing teacher tells that one of the major draws of fantasy is the sense of wonder. I think that is what carries this first chapter. I think there is good characterization, the description and prose are beautiful, but what carries us along is discovery and wonder. All the aspects of magic, the paper folder's mansion, the paper flowers, the skeleton, and even Magician Thane create a sense of mystery and wonderful magic.
Last night when I recorded this I gave it a four star recommendation to continue reading, now I'm pushing that up to 4.5. I'm looking forward to hearing this one on audio. In fact, right now I'm listening to the book from last week, "My Lady Jane" on audible.com and while the book is wonderful, the writing terrific, I hate the narrator. She's doing this over the top British theatrical voice that to me is overly dramatic and almost juvenile in it's interpretation. I'm a couple hours into it and will give it another couple hours tomorrow, but if I don't get used to the narrator by then, I'll just drop it and go on to "The Paper Magician".
As usual, thanks for listening, and I'll see you next week.
The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.
At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.
Like that could go wrong.
https://www.amazon.com/My-Lady-Jane-Cynthia-Hand-ebook/dp/B015CYCHNQ/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=814F2NSYX71FDMQ1AXGV#navbar
Published June 7th of 2016 by Harper Teen it has about 58 customer reviews with a 5.4 average. and has a price point of $9.99 for the kindle version.
The cover shows a portrait of a young woman in historical costume, from the shoulders up. I assume this is Lady Jane Grey. the title is in block letters. In cursive there are three quotes written in like a student's graffiti on a book cover with little arrows pointing to the woman's face with the sayings, "sometimes history gets it all wrong", "it isn't easy being queen", and "off with her head".
The amazon preview includes the Prologue, which actually makes reasonable sense in this story, and into the second chapter. I will read a ways into the first chapter. The authors use parenthesis liberally. I won't point them out as I read. That would be tedious. I'll try to change my tone of voice to an explanatory inflection. We'll see if you can tell the difference.
Here's the story...
I found this book on the Goodreads Young Adult news letter among the five most popular YA Books of June. I was drawn to if because of it's comparison to "The Princess Bride". I consider myself a Princess Bride snob, not because I've watched the movie a hundred times, but because I first read the book as a teenager in the seventies. I've read it twice since. If you didn't know there was a book, I would recommend it to anyone who liked the movie. I wouldn't say the book is better than the movie, except that there is so much more of it. I thought the movie did a great service to the original work.
My goal in reading this book was to see if it would hold up to the princess bride. Any time you make a comparison like that, I'm going to judge you harder than I would have if the blurb just said something like, "Light hearted, absurdly non-historical," or words to that effect. As far as I read, I still think "The Princess Bride" is head and shoulders above.
I liked it though, and will probably get the Audible version to be able to finish the book in comfort. Hopefully their English accents are better than mine.
Having only read into the first chapter it's not apparent how the three authors work together, if they confer with each other about the plot, if they write together on each chapter, or if they take on separate characters. It would be interesting to hear from one or more of them how they went about writing it together.
I think the characterization is great and engaging. The writing is beautiful and the voice is clearly one that the young adult audience should, and by the reviews, does love.
I give My Lady Jane a five star reccomendation to continue reading.
Forestium by Christopher D. Morgan
Published March 2016 by himself
12 reviews with 4.3 average
https://www.amazon.com/Forestium-mirror-never-lies-Portallas-ebook/dp/B01CH8BGY6/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=WHTA5F4M17TE9DESB8EH#navbar
Joshua's life is on the line, as he attempts to navigate through the magical world to find the truth about his father. He and his companions will need to use all their cunning to stay alive and avoid the dark forces of the Goat. Will Joshua find the magical orbs and open the Portallas, a gateway to other worlds, before he is killed?
Joshua sets out to learn the truth about his father. Along the way, he finds friends, enemies, adventure & romance. Most of all, he finds himself.
Joshua, a young woodsman, is approaching the age of decision. Despite the tales of his father having died in a skirmish with another tribe, Joshua's dreams are telling him otherwise. The young man yearns for the truth and decides to enlist the help of his village elder to guide him. Armed with little more than the cryptic musing from the ailing elder, Joshua sets off to find the Oracle with his best friend and an imp, who is travelling the land to find others of his kind. It isn't long before they stumble into a beautiful and ingenious young woman who is herself on a journey of discovery.
On the way to the Oracle, Joshua comes by some curious magical artefacts. Can these help him to find his father? An evil and malevolent creature of the underworld known only as the Goat learns that Joshua has possession of some of the magical orbs needed to open the Portallas, a permanent gateway that links worlds together. Enraged, the Goat sends his dark forces to thwart Joshua and to prevent him from fulfilling his destiny.
Travelling through fantastic landscapes, the four travelling companions meet strange people and creatures alike, and must use all their cunning and ingenuity to find the remaining magical orbs. Will Joshua find all the magical artefacts needed to open the Portallas and free his father?
PORTALLAS - Forestium: The mirror never lies is full of twists and turns, as Joshua goes on a veritable roller-coaster ride of challenges that will test his courage and emotional strength.
This Young Adult Fantasy Adventure is the first in the series and will appeal best to young teens. The magical world of Forestium is filled with adventure and the coming of age story will resonate with young adults. Destined to be one of the best selling fantasy adventure series, book 1 has a storyline that moves at a fast pace with lots of twists and turns.
The first chapter is a prolog. I'll read it for you now:
Here's my problem with prologues.
I think that prologues should give you information to help you better understand the upcoming story, whether it's an in depth look at a character, the world the story takes place in, or the intricacies of the magic system. What did we learn from this prolog that we didn't learn from the Amazon book description.
There are humans and some of them are dying of a plague. There are birds with magical feathers which can change color, though we aren't told what that change of color indicated. I'm not sure if it was leading them to the healer. I guess not, since it had stay perfectly white until they found the Metamorph. I t hought it was going to be the payment for services, but the man told Valoria to put it away before someone saw it. Who knows.
There are Imps. In a crowded rickety town, something appears to be killing them.
There are magical balls of fire which cause carnage, or maybe not. Our family come upon a town square that is filled with carnage. However, each powerball that appears chases down an imp and vaporizes it. So, where did the carnage come from? I'm not sure.
Our family flees the town and finds a Trader. He has an orb which creates a vortex through which Melachor sees another land. The trader climbs through just before Melachor's family is consumed by one of the balls of light. Before he is consumed by another ball, he grabs the orb, left by the trader, and everything goes black.
I think thte story is nicely written. There are enough fantasy elements to keep most readers interested who are into that genre. The book cover is beautiful and remeniscent of the genre with a woodsman holding a hand mirror showing the image of a goat headed man.
But the prolog frustrates me. I would just as soon skip it for the number of questions it raises and doesn't come close to answering. It doesn't appear to relate to the book description at all, and if these don't begin to be answered in the first few chapters, I would probably put it down to read something else.
Two more notes are:
One.
"Barely able to stand" is repeated in the third paragraph. I don't know if this is a literary technique or a mistake. The literary technique is to repeat a word or phrase three times on the first page to create a mood. This phrase occurs only twice and in the same sentence. This second reference takes me out of the story to wonder why this mistake was overlooked by the editors. With a third instance of the phrase would resolve that feeling of confusion, as it was used to nail down a feeling or theme. In this case it doesn't, so, to me, it seems like a mistake.
Such an error on the first page sets me up to look for more editorial errors, rather than to enjoy the story. In the prolog the author mostly regained my interest.
Second, and finally, the book description ends with:
Destined to be one of the best selling fantasy adventure series, book 1 has a storyline that moves at a fast pace with lots of twists and turns.
Best selling fantasy adventures brings to my mind, Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, The Stormlight Trilogy, The Belgariad, The Sword of Shannarah, Game of Thrones. Is this novel destined to join these fantasy adventure giants? I don't think so.
I would say it looks like it will be good, but I doubt it will overtake any of those.
In this episode I interview Chris Mannino. We talk about teaching theater in high school, a trip to the alleged birth place of King Arthur, his inspiration behind his Scythe Wielders Secret trilogy, and working with Audible and ACX.
The first two books in the trilogy, School of Deaths and Sword of Deaths, are out now, with the third book Daughter of Deaths expected to be released later this year.
The series follows Suzie Sarnio, a thirteen-year-old whose world is turned upside down when she discovers that she is destined to be a Death. She always believed the Grim Reaper was a fairy tale image of a skeleton with a scythe, but now, forced to enter the College of Deaths, she finds herself training to bring souls from the Living World to the Hereafter. As her year progresses, Suzie uncovers a plot to overthrow the World of Deaths. Now she must learn and embrace the reason she was chosen to be the first female Death in a million years.
To learn more or to read an excerpt from the book, go to http://bookpublicityservices.com/school-of-deaths-the-scythe-wielders-secret-book-1/
Christopher Mannino's life is best described as an unending creative outlet. He teaches high school theatre in Greenbelt, Maryland. In addition to his daily drama classes, he runs several after-school performance/production drama groups. He spends his summers writing and singing. Mannino holds a Master of Arts in Theatre Education from Catholic University, and has studied mythology and literature both in America and at Oxford University. His work with young people helped inspire him to write young adult fantasy, although it was his love of reading that truly brought his writing to life. Growing up with adventure and fantasy stories filled with magic and imagination fueled him to create stories of his own.
School of Deaths began when Mannino spent a semester abroad at Oxford. On one side-trip, he became stranded on the Cornish coast, by Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Following a sleepless night above a noisy pub he climbed to a rocky peninsula to watch the dawn. Feeling completely alone, and attacked by winds from every direction as he clung to a cliff, Mannino imagined a character isolated in a strange world, attacked and bullied.
The Scythe Wielder's Secret is a series of Young Adult fantasy novels, which address issues of bullying, sexism, and social justice, all in a rich epic fantasy adventure world. As a teacher, Mannino hopes to inspire teenagers and other readers to dream and confront issues through their own determination.
Learn more about Mannino and his books at www.ChristopherMannino.com
YA YA (Young Adult Books) Public Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/411486002231062/?multi_permalinks=1052494814796841¬if_t=group_highlights¬if_id=1465014570757670
Amazon page
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4VVPII/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
Amazon Book Description
At eighteen years old, Cassidy has suffered more loss than most…
At the end of her senior year, her boyfriend, Jace Peters, was killed in a car accident, and her grandmother died only weeks later of a heart attack. Emotionally lost, Cassidy desperately searches for an heirloom her boyfriend was wearing in the crash—her mother’s gold ring. But during her search, Cassidy discovers more than her ring.
She finds a gate to the Demon Realm….
A battle is brewing, and Killian—head of the Demon hunters—preps his Clan for the approaching conflict. They’ve been working to secure the gate between his realm and the mortal world. But it’s been nearly impossible since Rya—a voracious demon on a quest to expand her power—devoured the soul of his Clan’s necromancer. Now Rya is possessed with the necromancer’s powers and she may break through the gate at any moment.
Apparently Rya isn’t the only one Killian has to worry about…
When Cassidy accidentally crosses into the Demon Realm, Killian can’t understand how a human girl survived the transition. Now he has to find a way to return her to her own world, or risk her being caught in the crossfire, which is a complication he definitely doesn’t need.
Once back in the Human Realm, Cassidy readies herself for battle. She signs up for Krav Maga classes, where she meets Tyler Romaitis—a handsome, tenacious, humble guy. He seems almost perfect, but nothing is ever that easy.
And as the balance between good and evil shifts, Cassidy finds herself—and her ring—at the heart of the conflict for the survival of mankind.
Between the Bleeding Willows (The Demon Hunters Series Book 1) by D.A Roach was
Published in March of 2016 by Limitless Publishing, LLC
33 Customer Reviews with a 4.8 average. She has four other books listed on Amazon in Kindle and paperback editions.
I saw Between the Bleeding Willows mentioned on the YA YA Young Adult Books Facebook Group (Link in the show notes) and it really caught my eye. A dark haired, dark eyed woman blends in with stom clouds in the sky behind her. Ravens wheel around her in the sky of the background. Below her in the foreground, the title is superimposed over a graphical design which implied knives or sword edges from a weapon.
I liked the cover enough to go to the Amazon Kindle page (Link in the shownotes) and read the description. Here's the description.
I found the description compelling enough to buy the kindle edition and read the first chapter. I'll read that now and then we'll see if I want to read further.
So this is chapter 1
Writing excuses,,,,first rule about plot....flashbacks.
This first chapter is a series of flashbacks
You can break the rules if you do it good enough. Did the author? I didn't hate it, It didn't make me want to stop reading. I don't know, at this point, if we've caught up to present time or not.
It's the same reasone I skip most 'Prologs'. I feel like they are telling us about people who are unimportant to the story, or that we will find the salient points in the following chapters.
The author began this final scene with "That night" and not refering to the previous scene, I have to believe she's still narrating the past.
At the end of this first chapter I still have enough interest and questions to keep me reading. I'll give it another few chapters before I decide if I want to finish it.
The cover was great, the Amazon descpription was compelling, the writing is clear, the character empathetic, and I want to find out how Jace is envolved after his death.
While I don't give this a five star raving review, it's good enough to keep me reading.
I should have an interview to share next week. So, thanks for listening and I'll see you then.
Connie A. Walker’s interest in fantasy developed before she started grade school. Her sister, June, who was five years older, practiced her reading skills by reading to Connie. June introduced her to The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, The Arabian Nights, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and hundreds of fairy tales. Connie fell asleep every night with visions of elves and ogres, sorcerers and enchanted lands, flitting through her mind.
When her sister started junior high school, the reading sessions dwindled to a few times a week. Suddenly Connie had difficulty sleeping. She began having nightmares. She dreaded going to bed.
One night, when Connie was very tired and having difficulty falling asleep, she pretended that June was reading her favorite story to her. She drifted off to sleep and had pleasant dreams. After that, when she went to bed, she reviewed other tales she had heard, often embellishing the action and adding characters.
Within a short while, she was making up stories of her own. That was when she decided to become a writer.
When Connie was seven years old, she won an annual writing contest sponsored by her elementary school. Students in first, second and third grades were eligible to enter. She was the first first-grader ever to win. Her story, “Stop, Look, and Listen,” was about a dog who acted as a crossing guard.
Throughout elementary and high school, Connie made her homework assignments enjoyable by being creative. When doing research papers, she presented the facts within a fictional frame story or a play. Essays were often written as satires, ending with unexpected twists. Connie considered everything she wrote as a prelude to a career as an author.
While getting her Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre at Brigham Young University, she had four original plays produced: a one act comedy and a two act drama (both of which were contest winners), plus two musicals. Later, she had two other one act comedies produced. After graduation, she worked as a technical writer, a graphic artist, and a public relations specialist. In the evenings, she wrote short stories, plays, poetry, and outlined ideas for fantasy novels. She filled a filing cabinet with unpublished manuscripts. A single mother of two, Connie often found her writing time shunted aside by such things as chicken pox, science projects, strep throat, baseball games, stomach flu, and school activities—all those things associated with parenting.
In the meantime, she had to make a living.
As her children entered the teenage years, financial demands increased, and Connie felt the need to develop a career that provided a predictable and adequate income. She attended the University of Utah and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a Master’s degree in social work. She has been employed as a foster care caseworker, a psychotherapist, and a clinical programs manager.
Now retired, she finally has enough uninterrupted time to write professionally. Her children’s book, Timmy and the K’nick K’nocker Ring, is a fantasy about a young boy who is transported to a world where his special talents are considered magic. It took first place in a local writer’s contest, Children’s Literature category, and was the grand prize winner as well.
The Spire of Kylet, a young adult fantasy, is the first book in The Wolkarean Inscription Trilogy. Katrine is a fifteen year old girl who thinks she has her life all planned out. But, after performing an act of heroisn, she is adopted into a tribe of wizards and receives their powers. Suddenly, she is thrust on a path toward a new destiny whether she likes it or not. The second and third books in the trilogy, The Eyes of Landor and Triumph at Serpent’s Head, are now available.
Connie is currently working on a second Wolkarean trilogy.
Her books are available through Amazon.com in paperback and kindle version.
Episode 42 A first chapter review of "Water so Deep" by Nichole Giles.
I read this book about a year ago when it was first published and was one of the books that gave me the idea that maybe I should start a podcast talking about Young Adult books. I met Nichole a few years ago at a writing conference. She was so friendly and approachable, I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to get these authors on a podcast and have them talk about their books, their characters and their inspiration behind their writing. We've talked a bit about doing an interview, but we just never seem to connect.
So, I thought I would go ahead and do a first chapter review of the book that got my mind headed in this direction and see if I can get her on an interveiw some time in the future.
Water so Deep was published in February 2015 by Jelly Bean Press.
It has 72 Amazon reviews with a 4.1 average.
Here is chapter 1:
The book cover shows a girl in a white cotton dress, underwater, and swimming to the surface. I think this is a great cover and illustrates the theme of the story. A young woman who is struggling to find the balance between her underwater and on-land self...between what she has grown up and familiar with becoming more and more out of reach to the person she is becoming, who she knows nothing about.
Nichole's use of imagery and tone in her writing makes her story a delight to read. I give her writing and description five stars. The lightning storm, the falling rain, and the transformation from mermaid back to human create a compelling mystery.
We see the foundations for the mer-folk established in this first chapter which follows throughout the book and builds logically and convincingly. I give plausibility five stars.
Setting is wonderful and clear. Of course, if you're going to have mermaids, you need the ocean.
Characters we meet in the first chapter. Emma Harris, our protagonist. Merrick, a mer-man who we learn is her intended below the surface. Tom, who was her love interest, until just now. Others who are introduced through implication are her parents, grandmother, her brother, and the Sea King.
What makes me want to read further...
Of course, I've already read this book and know what you don't know. But the characters in the first chapter are all compelling. Who is Merrick and why does he feel he has a claim to Emma? What is Tom's problem and what makes him think he has the right to judge Emma beat her up? As a man with daughters, the first time I read this book I wanted to grab Tom by the throat and shake him.
What is Emma's origin that she is turning into a mermaid, and her parents have not? She makes mention of her grandmother. Does she, or did she, know something that she didn't share with her grand daughter?
Who is the love interest that we haven't heard about yet? Oh, that's right. You haven't heard about the love interest who isn't Merrick. I don't think I'll spoil the story to tell you that there is a guy who becomes important to the story who you haven't heard about yet.
Is there a way out of it, or is she destined to become a mermaid, and end up in a marriage to Merrick?
Water so Deep isn't a treatise on the moral values of our contemporary youth. It doesn't make any allusions or assumptions about about society. But if you like a story with endearing characters struggling through conflicts to find love and happiness without having to endure torrid, bodice ripping, love scenes, this will be a book you will enjoy and remember.
https://www.amazon.com/Water-So-Deep-Book-One-ebook/dp/B00R9V955E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1464845035&sr=1-1&keywords=water+so+deep
Back in episode 31 I interviewed Karl Becktrand for the podcast. I asked him if there were any authors he thought would be good on the podcast and he reccomended Connie Walker. She's in his writing group and he described her as "One of the most underappreciated writers" he knows.
So, for ten weeks now I've been trying to get her interview done and I keep messing up on times and Skypes and all that stuff. I was scheduled to interview her last week and got the day messed up. She waited for me to call her while I sat in la la land, thinking we were scheduled for the next day.
I felt so bad that I went ahead and bought her book and promised to do an Amazon review.
After reading the first few chapters I understood why Karl said what he did. Connie is a wonderful writer and deserves to get more attention.
The Spire of Kylet starts with a prolog of about ten pages, so, I'm going to read that for you now.
The Spire of Kylet, a young adult fantasy, is the first book in The Wolkarean Inscription Trilogy.
Here's the Kindle blurb about the book.
Katrine of Banur has a scheme to escape the tedious life of a herder, with its forced early marriage, that her father has planned for her.
Secretly she applies to the illustrious Recorder’s School in the city of Pardish, where only a few exceptional apprentices are accepted each year. But Katrine has been honing her artistic talents and believes she has all the qualifications necessary to become one of the Regent’s elite historian-couriers. She has saved almost enough money from what she earns working on the family ranch in order to pay for the caravan trip. Regardless of what her parents say, she intends to leave home as soon as she receives notification of her acceptance.
Shortly after Katrine finds a spire, a magical weapon created centuries earlier by the sorcerer Kylet, a series of strange events assail her. Because of an act of heroism, she is adopted by one of the mystical Crennese tribes, the Glainites, and is given powers she does not understand and cannot control. She has upheavals of emotion and peculiar sensations in her body. She is plagued by headaches and blurry vision and horrible nightmares.
She fears her dream of becoming a Recorder is doomed.
Then, unexpectedly, she finds herself on a journey to Pardish in the company of a Master Recorder, his new apprentice, her most despised cousin, and a legendary Warrior. As they travel across the countryside, Katrine is faced with unimaginable dangers and decisions. Before she reaches her destination, she faces death three times, redefining her understanding of the world and her place in it.
The second and third books in the trilogy, The Eyes of Landor and Triumph at Serpent’s Head, are also available.
Spire was published in August of 2012 and has six reviews, all five stars.
My ratings:
The book cover shows a girl on a horse, leaning off toward something spining in the air that looks like a dreamcatcher. The picture is a small inset in the cover and is probably too small for getting atttention on Amazon. I give the cover only 3 stars and it may be the reason this book hasn't gotten more traction on Kindle.
The writing is immaculate. Karl Beckstand describes it in his Amazon review: The Spire of Kylet gets your attention from the start. Walker knows how to weave a great adventure--and she's artful in her use of language.
I agree one hundred percent. She has an economy to her writing. There are no redundant or superflous words.
Plausability: She sets up her magical system and shows the price of using magic in the very beginning. Horrifyingly, Elnid-Kyeh sucks the life force from a little girl to restore his waning strength. His magic is powerful--using a talisman to communicate with a distant underling and drawing up the vision of two young women--but there is an underlying method to the abilities which creates the sense of plausability.
Description: Again, Connie's economy of language and "artful use of language" clearly develop the scene we observe from Elnid-Kyeh's desceptive kindness to the little girl and his callused indiference to the prisoners he will soon consume to maintain his strength.
Setting: Whether with Elnid-Kyeh in the tower above the crashing waves or looking down on the two young women in the open field the setting is broad and believable.
Characters: We only truly meet Elnid-Kyeh in the prolog, though we are introduced to a girl who we will soon find out is Katrine, the heroine of the story. We learn a lot about Elnid-Kyeh in these first ten pages, what a cruel and calculating man he is, what his potential is, and the lengths he will go to achieve his desires. I look forward to learning more about the other characters of the story.
My overall rating is Five Stars. I will definately read the rest of this book. Not only because I promised Connie I would, but because I found the first chapter compelling and indicative of a well crafted story of fantasy and adventure.
I recomend that you read it as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Spire-Kylet-Wolkarean-Inscription-Book-ebook/dp/B00914INIW?ie=UTF8&keywords=The%20Spire%20of%20Kylet&qid=1464239460&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
Rebecca
My insatiable curiosity about people and culture developed at an early age, and was likely the result of many European misadventures and my experiences living in England, Denmark, and Canada. There is nothing like playing among the columns of a Bronze Age palace surrounded by the sapphire waters of the Mediterranean to pique an eight year old's interest and imagination.
I focused my University studies in Classical Archeology and Literature, Physical Anthropology, Social Work, and Criminology. For those of you questioning my use of the word 'focused' ...well, you'll just have to trust me when I say that I couldn't file my interests down to any sharper a point. I tried. The yearly course lists crammed with intriguing possibilities made me feel like a kid in a candy store - one of those really big stores with colorful jars lining the walls from floor to ceiling.
My career path has continued in the same vein. I was my grandmother's caregiver for two years; an opportunity for which I am ever grateful as spending that time with such a remarkable woman shaped me in ways I am still discovering. Among other things, I've been a vet assistant, worked at a halfway house for high-risk offenders, sat on many kids as a mascot, been the operations manager for a private investigation firm, and spent several months in Ontario with the Red Cross helping refugees from Kosovo acclimatize to Canada. I've also volunteered within maximum-security prisons and the community to help people serving life sentences transition from the regimented bubble of prison back to a very changed outside world.
Why I Write
Simply put - I write to explore, express, and connect. I delve into the web of relationships linking humans, animals, and the environment. I peer into my characters inner worlds and explore the inherent violence and compassion bound together in the human spirit. My guiding principle is that the human mosaic is beautiful because of the unique nature of each piece and I do my best to celebrate this diversity in my work.
Adriaan
I grew up in Calgary, Alberta on the divide between the prairie and Mountains. Calgary is a city that's surrounded by wide empty spaces. I think there's something about the pressing wilderness that makes one appreciate the inherent fragility of human society.
I've always been a bit of a dreamer with one foot in a world of make-believe. I learned to read very young and it's been my addiction ever since. Speculative 'what if' style stories (James and the Giant Peach) or stories that take you entirely out of the human frame of reference (Watership Down) quickly lead me into harder stuff (Tolkien, Heinlein)
My urge to see the world took me to Kingston, Ontario for university, then to Berkshire, England for a few years, though I'm generally drawn back to Calgary by ties of blood and friendship. Though we're often fooled by distance. You don't need to move half-way around the world to gain a new perspective, sometimes moving a few miles can make just as much of a difference.
I studied Engineering at university, though while there I was drawn in to the online community on the old IBM mainframe and then into this new and fascinating idea out of CERN called the 'World Wide Web'. This led me into tinkering with computer programming which became a bit of an obsession that luckily people like to pay me for.
I remember being told that the made-up worlds I loved were a childish thing that I would need to grow out of if I wanted to succeed in life. The older I get, the more I realise how wrong this is. In just the past few millennia, humans have moved from chipping tools out of stones to space exploration and heart transplants. Every step on that path was driven by someone who dreamed up something impossible.
Some of the writers that inspire me today are Lois Bujold, David Drake and C.J. Cherryh. These authors take on tough questions about what it means to be moral and the destiny of humanity without flinching. They inspire me to be a better person, as well as a better writer.
As an avid reader I'll never lose sight of the fact that the Author's first duty is to entertain but beyond that my goal is to bring back a sense of optimism about human achievement. The dark side of our natures will always be with us but I'm convinced that humanity has an amazing future ahead and prefer to dream big.
Rebecca Brae is a freelance writer, artist, and fog enthusiast, with a background in sociology and weird pets. Adriaan Brae is a software developer and tech-geek, with a passion for languages and martial arts. Their divergent interests can be challenging at times but their love of new ideas, storytelling, and Lego always brings them together.
WEBSITE: www.braevitae.com
TWITTER: twitter.com/RebeccaBrae
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/braevitae
BOOK 1: CHAOS BOUND (2014)
When the going gets weird, the tough are useless. You need a geek.
Jessica is no superhero, and though she believes being smart, curious, and compassionate should be considered qualifications, society has yet to agree.
Her life in Coldwater is low-key and predictable, just the way she likes it. Her biggest worries are staying at the top of her classes and avoiding the popular crowd, but a change that will shake the world is already taking hold in her small town.
The death of a classmate kicks her out of her safe routine. Stalked by the supernatural killer, she’ll need to embrace the chaos in order to survive: Lying, stealing, invoking barely understood magic, and even crashing a house party.
Abandoned by her friends and labelled a troublemaker, she’s determined to find a way to stop the killer. But at what cost?
BOOK 2: CURSE BOUND (2016)
When the world goes crazy, it helps to have a head start.
Mutant science projects, a troubled werewolf, and other magic-related dangers are Jessica’s new normal, but someone has started targeting the students of Coldwater High with powerful curses, and she’s a suspect. A serious mistake forces her to question whether she deserves Drew and Michiru’s loyalty, and with the gatekeeper’s alien influence in her head, she’s not even sure she can trust herself.
Just as Jessica realizes she has also been hit with a lethal curse, a disastrously magical Valentine’s Day leaves her cut off from friends and forces her to put her life in the hands of her worst enemy.
MIST WARDEN SERIES BLURB (YA Urban Fantasy)
The town of Coldwater is a quiet, in-between kind of place on the outskirts of Calgary at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Nestled up against the edge of a First Nation reserve, the town is a classic mix of big-city commuters and rural residents. But there are more secrets lost to history than anyone could imagine and now Coldwater is set to return to a more central role in the workings of the universe.
Three teens just entering high school are caught up in the transformation:
Jessica has lived in Coldwater all her life and loves the quiet. A proud geek, she's far happier lost in a book or an equation than dealing with the so-called ‘real world’. When dangerous forces are set loose in her town and start maiming and killing her classmates, she’s compelled to investigate. She never could leave a mystery alone.
Drew is one of the new First Nation students at Coldwater High and his goal is to be anywhere else as soon as possible. Armed with his trusty laptop and an extensive knowledge of tech and random facts, he becomes Jessica’s reluctant ally. His curiosity drives him to get involved and help out against his better judgement, but he does it all with his trademark wit and wicked snark.
Michiru is a force of nature and exceptional athlete who has lived all over the world, with most of her time spent in big cities like London, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, and Toronto. She confidently expects her stay in Coldwater to be every kind of dull, except for the camping and skiing, but is pleasantly surprised to find all the excitement she could want and more.
Nancy Norbeck wrote her first story, inspired by her brother's case of chicken pox, when she was in fourth grade. She flirted with writing off and on over the years, but began to take it seriously in high school, and then in college. After teaching writing to English as a Second Language students for several years, and working on her own writing projects, she enrolled in Goddard College's MFA in creative writing program, which she completed in 2009. The Silver Child is her first novel. She currently works as a writing and creative process coach.
Nancy is a longtime fan of Doctor Who and can often be found spoiling her two nephews rotten. She lives in New Jersey and loves to travel, especially when she can go back in time via a good book.
For more information on current projects, upcoming releases, and coaching services, please subscribe at nancynorbeck.com or follow her on Twitter @NancyNorbeck. She would love to hear from you.
Maia Starfield is on the run, having successfully hidden her ability to create silver just by singing—until government thugs arrived to take her away. Her mother sent her out the door just in time, giving her only one piece of advice: Find Dr. Martus.
Albert Martus has no idea why Maia was sent to find him—the doctor who delivered her 17 years ago. But from the moment she turns up, his story becomes intertwined with hers…as it has been since before she was born.
Follow this unlikely team as they discover the truth about the past and their present, the regime known as the Brotherhood, and the magical and ordinary power they each carry deep inside.
“Nancy Norbeck's THE SILVER CHILD shows us a fantasy world that is all too real, ruled by a modern Inquisition that seeks to control minds and wipe out history. Maia, the Silver Child of the title, is a natural magician who has only the faintest awareness of her powers. More important, she is alive, a vividly drawn teenage girl who must discover who she is in a time of terror. The story is big, the characters both heroic and sweet.”
~Rachel Pollack, World Fantasy Award and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novelist
For more about Nancy you can check out nancynorbeck.com (generally speaking), and more specifically, the page for the course that just ended is at nancynorbeck.com/intuitive-writing. They can also sign up on either of those pages to get my newsletter, which includes info about upcoming courses, writing prompts, etc.
YA Books Podcast Episode 38 - A 1st 10 Page Review of "The Rithmatist" by Brandon Sanderson
In my humble opinion Brandon Sanderson is one of the most masterful writers of genre fiction. He's produced many epic fantasy series, for his magical systems and how they are enmeshed in his intensely detailed worlds.
He's probably best known recently in the YA genre for his Reckoners series which started with, "Steelheart". I thought that book was good and the second in the series, "Firefight" was okay. I'm not saying I could write better, by any means. They're filled with very powerful, smack talking, superheroes and anti-heroes, with description, plot and conflict like no one other than Brandon Sanderson can write.
Before Steelheart, (by nearly five months) there was The Rithmatist. Published in May of 2013 it didn't seem to get the attention the later book would elicit.
I'm more of a Peter Parker fan, than I am a Bruce Wayne.
609 reviews, 4.6 average
Here's the blurb:
More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity's only defense against the Wild Chalklings—merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.
As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery—one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.
The Rithmatist starts with a prolog to give a background foundation to the conversation in the first chapter.
Here's the prolog.
I've been listening to the first dozen or so episodes of the "Writing Excuses" podcast in the last few weeks. You may or may not know that Brandon Sanderson is one of the four main podcasters of the show. In the most recent episode I've been listening to they talk about "Idea as a Genre." They even comment that this is one of Brandon's favorite genres to write in. In it, the reader should be wowwed and fascinated as elements of the world and story unfold.
I think the Rithmatist fits this genre and we can see from the prolog that the idea is, "How would it be if magic could be performed by drawing with chalk on the ground." Elements of conflict in this short intro fascinated me as the little chalk animals chewed through the spell caster's defenses.
The first chapter is too long for me to read and still feel like I'm only providing a short excerpt for editorial discussion. So I'm going to read the first scene of the chapter which brings the total of pages read to about 10. That short enough to asauge my conscience from believing I have violated any copy right.
Listen for elements of wonder:
I'm obviously giving this first chapter a solid 5 Star. It makes me want to read on, and did three years ago when I read it (Or listened to it on Audible).
The cover has a Steampunk flavor. The writing and description are excellent. He creates a foundation for all of his magical or plat based assertions so there is no challenge to the plausibility of the characters actions or plot events. The setting is clear and the characters realistic and dynamic.
I have this book on audio, I have the ebook, and a paperback copy. I had planned on going to the Storymaker's conference in Provo Utah this weekend and corner Brandon and interview him in person, but because of my job change and other concerns, I had to stay home. So this is the next best thing for me to reccomend this book that I enjoyed immensely and hope you will too.
Get it here:
https://www.amazon.com/Rithmatist-Brandon-Sanderson-ebook/dp/B00AJGNICW?ie=UTF8&refRID=1CXFWFWR9HVSGHPHWC8V&ref_=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1
In this episode I talk with Mia Siegert and we talk about Olympic Horse Jumping, MFA's, Adjunct Professors, professional hockey, internet hook ups, and other things.
Jerk Bait
Even though they're identical, Tristan isn't close to his twin Robbie at all—until Robbie tries to kill himself. Forced to share a room to prevent Robbie from hurting himself, the brothers begin to feel the weight of each other's lives on the ice, and off. Tristan starts seeing his twin not as a hockey star whose shadow Tristan can't escape, but a struggling gay teen terrified about coming out in the professional sports world. Robbie's future in the NHL is plagued by anxiety and the mounting pressure from their dad, coach, and scouts, while Tristan desperately fights to create his own future, not as a hockey player but a musical theatre performer. As their season progresses and friends turn out to be enemies, Robbie finds solace in an online stranger known only as "Jimmy2416." Between keeping Robbie's secret and saving him from taking his life, Tristan is given the final call: sacrifice his dream for a brother he barely knows, or pursue his own path. How far is Robbie willing to go—and more importantly, how far is Tristan willing to go to help him?
Mia Siegert received her MFA from Goddard College and her BA from Montclair State University where she won Honorable Mention in the 2009 English Department Awards for fiction. Her debut JERKBAIT will be released May 2016 by Jolly Fish Press. Siegert has been published in Clapboard House, Word Riot, The Limn Literary & Arts Journal, as well as a few other small presses.
Siegert currently works as an adjunct professor and a costume designer. She enjoys riding horses and watching hockey.
Escape to Eden by Rachel McClellan
Sweetwater Books an imprint of Cedar Fort Inc.
43 Reviews with 4.8 out of 5.0 stars
Feb 9, 2016
Available in ebook and paperback
About my ratings.
I'm not a professional editor, publisher, or journalist. I am only giving my opinion on whether or not the first chapter of this book would compel me to read further.
As on Amazon, five stars does not mean it is perfect, only that I really liked it. It's all about personal preference.
The Cover: The cover shows a portion of a woman's face. Psychologically this tells us that there is more to the woman, a much bigger picture than fits on the single page. The woman has a pensive look. On her left cheek is the blurb, "They'd kill for my genes". I give it a five because it's mysterious and makes me want to find out more about the character.
Writing: If you know me, you know that 1st person present is my least favorite point of view, but for this story, as you've seen, it's pretty much required. We're unfolding the story of a girl who has lost her memory and finds herself in curious surroundings. If could lose a lot of its intensity if told in in third person or in the past tense.
I thought the writing was great. No typos and it flowed nicely as I read it.
Plausibility:This was the only aspect that I would give a four. There were two circumstances that challenged my suspension of disbelief. Turning on the television she happens to catch a discussion of oDNA. As central to this society as it may be, I think it is still very convenient that her first glimps is pertinent to the plot. I know. This is a story and we need the plot to advance, but this is how my mind works. Secondly, the two words written on her fingers. We know she is an anomaly. She was found in the forest, and from her bruising we can assume they have been experimenting or testing on her. They believe she is unintelligent, but I find it difficult to believe no one would have noticed those words written on her fingers and put two and two together. I'm hoping the author will explain in the next few chapters why these things happened when and how they did.
Description: I give her description a five as well. We know where the protagonist is, we have an idea of what she looks like, we can picture her room and the few people we've met. All with an efficiency of description.
Setting: The setting is intriguing. We know she's in North America as Boston is mentioned. We know she was found in a forest and that now she's in a hospital which has two way screens to other rooms.
Characters: Clearly our protagonist is smarter than her captors believe she is. These advanced humans come in interesting shapes and variation, while our unknown girl sounds like a normal human. As I finished this first chapter I had to stop myself from reading further.
Based on my embryonic rating scale, this book gets 29 out of 30 points giving it 4.82 stars. Definitely worth reading further.
In this episode I interview YA author Kristy Acevedo. We talk about teaching high school English, teaching seniors and juniors as opposed to teaching freshmen. We discuss finding time to write when you teach all day, releasing her first novel, "Consider", and the follow up novel later this year. We talk about #pitmad twitter pitch festival that happens four times each year, and about using twitter.
Kristy Acevedo is a YA author, high school English teacher, and huge Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter fan. When she was a child, her "big sister" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program fostered her love of books by bringing her to the public library every Wednesday.
A member of SCBWI, her debut novel, CONSIDER, won the 2015 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two daughters, and two cats (Milo and Khaleesi). She believes coffee and dark chocolate were put on this planet for the good of humankind.
Jolly Fish Press
http://www.KristyAcevedo.com
Twitter @KristyAce
As if 17-year-old Alexandra Lucas’ anxiety disorder isn’t enough, mysterious holograms suddenly appear, heralding the end of the world. They bring an ultimatum: heed the warning and step through a portal-like vertex to safety, or stay and be destroyed by a comet that is on a collision course with Earth. The holograms,claiming to be humans from the future, bring the promise of safety. But without the ability to verify their story, Alex is forced to consider what is best for her friends, her family, and herself.
To stay or to go. A decision must be made.
With the deadline of the holograms’ prophecy fast approaching, Alex feels as though she is living on a ticking time bomb, until she discovers it is much, much worse.
In this episode I talk with Lauren Stock about going to university in Massachusetts, studying abroad, traveling, writing her first novel while in high school and collaborative writing with her father. Also, about her dachshunds.
Necrobloods
Lauren began writing in 8th grade. After having been a voracious reader of YA novels, she was determined to create her own book. Necrobloods was completed by her senior year in high school, with her father coming on board to help. Her first story involved competing styles of magic that had to vie for control.
Enjoying the process of writing, she decided to continue working with her dad, and they are now working on the Tamzin Clarke series. This set of novels is a combination of action/adventure and paranormal/supernatural.
Lauren is now in college, looking toward a degree in writing and international marketing. When at home, she enjoys spending time with her two miniature dachshunds.
You can find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurenStock/
valerieipson.blogspot.com
@valerieipson
www.facebook.com/valerieipson
www.valerieipson.com may still be under construction
http://www.amazon.com/Ideal-High-Valerie-Ipson-ebook/dp/B00U1Q0QO8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1459396247&sr=1-1&keywords=Ideal+high
Website: http://sweetdreamsnovel.com
http://horroraddicts.net
I write YA only under Emmy Z. Madrigal, so I am assuming that will be what we talk about, but if you want to mention my Emerian Rich name, that is fine. It is no secret to my readers.
Emmy Z. Madrigal began the Sweet Dreams Series in high school. Her love of music and the Jazz masters of the Big Band Era have always inspired her life and her writing. Her lead character, Victoria, is a high school student who strives to be a Jazz vocalist. Mixing the hopes and fears of high school seniors with dreams of the future, Emmy has been praised for her realistic portrayal of modern female characters and their will to survive in a world of adversity, prejudice, and economic hardship. Sweet Dreams is a love story, full of adventure, danger, and first experiences. It shows that love can conquer all and that sometimes, love comes when you least expect it. Emerian Rich writing as Emmy Z. Madrigal.
Books in the Sweet Dreams Musical Romance Series
1. Sweet Dreams (podcast 2008 / print 2010)
2. Star Struck (podcast 2009 / print 2014)
3. True Love? (podcast 2010 / print 2014)
4. Undecided (podcast 2014)
5. One More Try (coming to podcast soon)
Extra ~ Rob Malloy's Unauthorized Journal (coming soon to eBook)
Anime Girl - Spin off series in same universe
1. Anime Girl (eBook Novella 2013)
2. Anime Girl 2 (eBook Novella 2014)
In this second bonus episode on the YA Books Podcast I talk with an author I previously interviewed about his YA books, Robert Rayner.
He has a new book out that will be part of a three book series about the lives of people on a North American Atlantic Island off the coast of Canada.
Coming from New Foundland, Robert has some interesting perspectives regarding life on the islands and their future.
His book is "Defiant Island" and has been published by Speaking Volumes.
To Swallow the Earth - An Adventure 108 years in the making!
(Suspense) A man and a woman, each searching for missing family members, clash amid a Nevada silver rush scheme that leaves both unsure who to trust—and scrambling to stay alive. What if you came home after a journey and your family was gone? What if someone else was living in your house, running things—and trying to kill you? Could a beautiful woman be behind it? Wade Forester must stay in the shadows because, it seems, everyone has reason to shoot him. His father has disappeared, and his sister won’t speak to anyone. Beautiful Patricia Laughlin is searching for her family as well. Few people gain her confidence, though powerful landowner Bridger Calhoun just might be the man to do it. After a clash throws them to opposite sides, Wade must decide if risking his life to help Patricia is worth the trouble, and Patricia must learn which killer to trust with her life.
“To Swallow the Earth earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.
MIDVALE, Utah, Feb. 21, 2016 – Award-winning author Karl Beckstrand is from San Jose, California — and is only in his forties. His grandfather grew up ranching, hunting and fishing around the Sierra Nevada Mountains a hundred years ago and used that setting for a western thriller set in the Nevada silver rush.
It’s now a young adult suspense novel: “To Swallow the Earth” – and a finalist for the Laramie Award. “My grandfather grew up exploring the Sierra Nevadas on horseback, so he knew the country well,” Beckstrand said. “My challenge was to develop his characters while preserving the plot’s action, suspense and earthy vernacular.”
One reviewer said he’d buy the film rights if he had production money. He liked the true-to-life people in unpredictable circumstances.
Amazon Author page
Karl Beckstrand is the award-winning author of fifteen juvenile books and more than 40 ebook titles (reviews by Kirkus, The Horn Book blog, School Library Journal, ForeWord Reviews). Raised in San Jose, California, he received a B.A. in journalism from BYU, an M.A. in international relations from APU, and a certificate from Film A. Academy. Two publishers produced his early multicultural children's books; since 2004 he has run Premio Publishing & Gozo Books. An engaging speaker, consultant, and workshop facilitator, Beckstrand has experience in high tech, public policy, film, radio, and TV broadcasting--including scripts, speeches, and Web content. He teaches media at a state college and contrasts traditional publishing with digital book publishing. His YA fiction, ebook mysteries, nonfiction/biographies, Spanish & bilingual books for kids (with pronunciation guide), short stories, wordless books, and picture book app feature diverse characters of color and usually end with a twist. He has lived abroad, been a Spanish/English interpreter, and enjoys volleyball and kayaking (usually not at the same time). Beckstrand has presented for SUECON (education conference), Taiwan's Global Leadership for Youth, California's Capital Book Festival, Utah Educational Library Media Association, Salt Lake City Book Festival, PCI Webinars, Utah Humanities Council, Murray City Writer's Workshop, Utah Housing Coalition, Midvale City Reading Program, Utah Office of Education, professional groups, and schools. His racially diverse work has appeared in: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Border's Books, Costco, Deseret Book, The Children's Miracle Network, The Congressional Record of the U.S. House of Representatives, Papercrafts Magazine, LDS Film Festival, various broadcasts, and PremioBooks.com. Find: "Karl Beckstrand" on FB, Twitter, KarlBeckstrand.com
In this episode I talk with first time author, Caitlin Lynagh from the UK.
We talk about studying biology and physics in England, her book, "Anomaly: The Soul Prophecies", The science of Anomaly, and more...
http://caitlinlynagh.com/
https://www.facebook.com/caitlinlynaghauthor
https://thebookigloo.wordpress.com/
@CaitlinLynagh on Twitter
In this episode I talk with Janette Rallison about Arizona, raising teenage girls and using their experiences in her stories. About writing books for boys under the pseudonym CJ Hill. We talk about publishing with small publishers, back in the day of paper submissions and the advantages which come with having the internet.
Janette talks about her inspiration from "The Phantom Tollbooth", other authors, and from the artist, Minerva Teichert.
(From Janette's web page)
Janette Rallison is old. Don’t ask how old, because it isn’t polite. Let’s just say she’s older than she’d like to be and leave it at that.
Janette lives in Chandler, Arizona with her husband, five children and enough cats to classify her as “an eccentric cat lady.” She did not do this on purpose. (The cats, that is; she had the children on purpose.) Every single one of the felines showed up on its own and refuses to leave. Not even the family’s fearless little Westie dog can drive them off.
Since Janette has five children and deadlines to write books, she doesn’t have much time left over for hobbies. But since this is the internet and you can’t actually check up to see if anything on this site is true, let’s just say she enjoys dancing, scuba diving, horse back riding and long talks with Orlando Bloom. (Well, I never said he answers back.)
Book Report Questions
So you’ve decided to do a book report on me or one of my books. Congratulations! You are obviously a person with impeccable literary taste.
I’ll try to address some of the common questions I get from book reporters (generally the night before the assignment is due).
When were you born?
A long, long time ago. 1966 to be exact.
Where did you grow up?
A wonderful small town called Pullman, Washington, which is why most of my books are set in small towns. I love them. (Bonus trivia point to impress your teacher: All’s Fair in Love, War, and High School; Revenge of The Cheerleaders; and Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards are all set in Pullman.)
How do you chose the locations for your books?
I set Playing the Field in Gilbert, Arizona, because that’s where I lived at the time. It’s easy to write about places you know well. But since I couldn’t set every story in Gilbert, I branched out to other warm climates. Most of my stories take place in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Texas.
I try to stay in warm climates because quite frankly I’ve lived in Arizona for so long I’ve forgotten what the cold is like. When I first wrote about Washington I almost had a scene where people mowed the lawn in December. Oops.
Where do you get your ideas from?
I have a teenage daughter, which is sort of like living in your own reality show, but with fewer commercials. I borrow from her life a lot. In fact while I was writing It’s A Mall World After All I once lifted dialogue for a scene right off the text message log in my daughter’s cell phone.
Has any of the stuff you’ve written about ever happened to you?
Unfortunately yes, but generally only the parts where characters are making fools of themselves. I did that a lot as a teenager. I don’t think there’s such a thing as an easy or graceful adolescence. It’s all about embarrassing yourself.
Will any of your books ever be turned into movies?
Authors have very little say over that sort of thing. (Ditto for the book covers.) But if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.
Is it true that when you were thirteen you had a massive crush on Apollo from the original series of Battlestar Galactica?
Oh, yes.
P.S. If your teacher asks you to identify symbolism in my books you have my permission to tell him/her that I didn’t put any in.
If your teacher asks about theme, tell her/him that the book is about forgiviness. Unintentionally, most of my books are. I didn’t even realize this until the last book. My husband asked me what the book was about (I think he asks these questions so he doesn’t have to actually read my books.) I told him, “On a basic level it’s about realizing when you’re wrong, and about forgiveness.”
He said, “Wasn’t that what your last book was about too?”
“Um, yeah.”
Jasmine Kaur Dhuga was a third place award winner for the Canadian Federation of University Women Windsor Poetry Contest in 2011. Soon after, she became an editor for her school newspaper. Dhuga often uses her writing to voice her opinion on certain social issues. She resides in Ontario and is currently studying neuroscience.
"Monique Brooks has a pretty easy life. All she has to deal with is an alcoholic father, a dependent brother, and an abusive drug dealer. On top of all that, at the age of seventeen, she stumbles upon a completely different world, a world that she just so happens to be the protector of. To add more flowers to the garden, she finds out that her adoptive father wants to kill her for the power that she holds. Now, not only does she have to figure out a way to save herself, she must work hard to save the thousands of lives she has in her hands.
But that should all be a piece of cake, right?"
F.C. Shaw grew up with stories. First she had them told to her, and read to her. Then she read them for herself and discovered the magic therein. She is on a mission to help others discover the magic unlocked by reading a book, so has set forth to write her own stories. When she is not dreaming up and writing new stories, she tours the country sharing her books with kids. With a Master's Degree and Teaching Credential, she has taught everything from Kindergarten to college. She lives with her husband and two sons in California.
We talk about listening to stories told by grandmothers, book tours and assemblies at elementary schools, and what interests middle grade readers.
In this episode I talk with Sharon Ahern about the many books she published to gether with her late husband, Jerry and now with a former shared friend, Rob Anderson. She talks about publishing books in the 80's and 90's and how things have changed. We talk about bringing a series back and the new spin she has taken with all the children of the original protagonists.
Camp Zero is a spin off of
the Survivalist series which was written from 1981 to 1993 by my husband,
Jerry Ahern and myself and then I restarted the series in 2012 with author Bob
Anderson.
The Survivalist series always represented the idea that you should remember to
"always plan ahead." Camp Zero is the story of the next generation of
Rourkes/Rubensteins who have grown up in a much safer world where survival
skills are not nearly as important to them. The adults send them to a special
survival camp where they and other kids are taught how to think and act on
their own and to learn how to survive in all sorts of difficulties. Of course,
the world changes and these young teens are thrust into situations requiring
skills that they never took seriously.
Camp Zero will be primarily an action/adventure series but will also allow
young readers to learn basic survival skills along with the book's
protagonists. They also learn that not all friends are what they seem.
I'd like to talk about the beginnings of the Survivalist series and its
progression over the years up to the new YA series that will be coming out
this Spring.
In this episode I talk with Lorraine Carey and we talk about Grand Cayman and the Cayman Islands, island fever compared to the rat race, being a reading specialist for children of all ages, rock star readers in kindergarten, Arizona and the Superstition Mountains, Rome, Pompey and Vestal Virgins, Pachentro Italy, gypsy legends and curses. She likes to read the classics, Tolkien, Brent Legg "The Last Librarian", Teema Maria Lacobia, "The Queen of Vampires", YA author Amanda Hawking,
Find her at http://www.lorrainecarey.com
Lorraine Carey is a veteran children's reading specialist, teacher and an International Award-Winning Author. She has taught in many states in the US and currently is providing reading services for students at a private school on Grand Cayman, where she lives with her husband. Five years ago she was a city gal, living in Orange County, California, where life was very different from the one she lives in now. Trading in her fashionable heels for flip-flops was quite a change, but led to a lifestyle that allowed for a writing career to begin.
Her love for paranormal stories and urban legends began at a young age, when staying up all night to watch spooky movies or reading a scary book started a lifelong passion.
Published novels include: Losing Ground, a short memoir, followed by Mysteries of the Red Coyote Inn, Out of the Ashes, Jonathan's Locket and The Last Vestal Virgin. All of these novels are paranormal with a mix of historical fiction, woven with urban legends. Her most recent novel, Beloved Sacrifice, is a Supernatural Thriller for Young Adults to Adults.
As a bonus, Mysteries of the Red Coyote Inn and Jonathan's Locket have free downloadable comprehension worksheets on her website for educators, or parents.
Her latest novel, A Rock Star Reader by Kindergarten, is an educational guide for parents of young children to help their child achieve many of the pre-reading concepts necessary to be a successful reader by the time they reach kindergarten.
When not writing you can find Lorraine reading, beach- hopping, snorkeling, or boating around the island with her husband on their boat, the Angelica.
In this episode I talk with author Cameron Dayton about living in the Bay Area of California, video game development and story writing for video games, working with fascinating authors, and his book, "Etherwalker".
Best selling author, screenwriter, and developer for Blizzard Entertainment, EA Games, and Chair Entertainment -- Cameron Dayton has charted flights through the worlds of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Undertow, Advent Rising, Minions Paradise and beyond.
https://twitter.com/CameronDayton
And my Amazon book page is here:
http://amzn.to/1Q8VGqC
https://www.facebook.com/SiliconCovenant/
In this interview with Rich Meyrick we talk about historical environmentalism, Canada, Germany, The Great Migration of the Serengeti, Waterloo, London, and more.
http://www.jaspasjourney.com/
@JaspaJ on Twitter
https://www.facebook.com/Jaspa-48561121909/?fref=nf
Nothing New?
Jaspa’s Journey is all about travel and adventure. Nothing new there, you might think. But that’s where you’d be wrong. Because Jaspa’s Journey combines these two common themes in a totally unique way.
Firstly, there’s the Jaspa’s Journey Books. Written by Rich Meyrick, these thrilling novels are largely based on real places I’ve visited and the things I experienced along the way. They blend adventure and travel into exciting stories you can really lose yourself in, no matter how old you are.
Then there’s the ongoing, real-life Travel aspect of Jaspa’s Journey. Whether it’s the regular updates in the Travel section here on my website, on my WordPress blog (Jaspa’s Journal), or through my other social media accounts (see the Contact section), it’s all in my own words and from my own distinctive perspective. And don’t forget the ever-growing Gallery, capturing my travels on camera.
Almost daily, interactive tales from the star of a series of electrifying, award-winning novels for young and old. That has to be a first.
And you thought there was nothing new about Jaspa’s Journey!
In this episode I interview Shanned Crane Camp. We talk about video games new and old, being a girl gamer, her many book series', and her writing process.
June Series
Sugar Coated Trilogy
Parrish Chronicles
PWNed
Shannen Crane Camp was born and raised in Southern California, where she developed a love of reading, writing, and anything having to do with film. After high school, she moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University, where she received a degree in Media Arts and found herself a husband in fellow California native Josh Camp. The two now live in Utah with their miniature schnauzer Hemingway. Shannen's true love is Young Adult Fiction though she often dabbles in New Adult, Paranormal, and Mystery. She takes any opportunity to include her love of film and video games in her writing and you might just find a nerdy Easter Egg or two hidden in her works.
Shannen loves to hear from readers, so feel free to contact her at Shannencbooks@hotmail.com or visit her website for more information: http://shannencbooks.blogspot.com
In this episode I talk with author Davidson L. Haworth. We talk about selling books at Comic Cons, book tours in Russia and Ukraine and finding information about obscure, middle-age, European towns. (Specifically Prali, the location of his three young adult historical fantasy novels.)
Davidson L. Haworth has written several novels, and he is considered to be the father of historical fantasy. He is also the pioneer of conducting full book tours strictly at comic book, science fiction, and fantasy conventions. Davidson also tours on an international circuit to promote his writings and converse with those from around the globe. In the United States he spends most of his efforts speaking at pop culture conventions and educational institutions. Davidson lives with his wife and two children in San Jose, California.
Contact him through: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Davidson%20L.%20Haworth
"
Life in Prali, a small village nestled in a picturesque valley in the Italian Alps, is quiet and safe—until the gates to the underworld open nearby, unleashing the fury of the last of the dragons. Generations earlier, the dragons were driven from Prali and slaughtered. Now they have returned with only one goal: revenge against humanity.
A young Franciscan monk named Bernard, an English girl named Mary, and a knight named Leonardo are all that stand in the way of fiery oblivion unleashed by the invading dragon army. The underworld is a place of dark and mysterious magic, where threats far more diabolical than dragons lurk in the shadows.
A powerful wizard, Simon Magnus, sees the plight of the overwhelmed heroes and offers his assistance. But his intentions are far from altruistic; after the dragons destroy the villages, Magnus plans to step in to enslave the villagers and enlists the help of winged furia, demons from the underworld, to finish off the dragons. Desperate, Bernard seeks the assistance of the French leader, Clement Laurent. Infuriated, Magnus brings in Persian mercenaries to crush the resistance. Meanwhile, news that fighters from the Vampire Empire are on the march toward Prali pushes the heroes to the breaking point.
The fate of Prali rests in the outcome of an epic battle between the combined forces of good and evil. Can Bernard and his allies hope to save their village and their way of life?
Suzy Vadori
Young Adult Author
Suzy’s first Young Adult Novel, The Fountain was released December 8, 2015 with Evil Alter Ego Press.
Suzy’s long career building companies lends her a unique perspective in the literary world.
Suzy lives in Calgary, Canada with her husband and three children and is an involved community member. Currently, she is the Program Manager, Young Adult/Children’s Programming for When Words Collide (WWC), a literary Festival held in Calgary annually in August.
www.suzyvadori.wordpress.com
Twitter: @vadoris
https://www.facebook.com/Suzy-Vadori-Author-881782831858263/
In this episode I interview Ryan Dalton about his about-to-be-released novel, "The Year of Lightning".
Here's a link to the book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Year-Lightning-Time-Shift-Trilogy/dp/1631630504/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452142410&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Year+of+Lightning
www.ryandaltonwrites.com
Author Bio
Ryan Dalton is author of the young adult Time Shift Trilogy. His debut novel THE YEAR OF LIGHTNING will be released on December 8, 2015. Ryan splits his time between writing books during the day, fighting crime at night, and hanging out in his awesome underground lair. Please do not tell anyone he's Batman. It's a secret.
Welcome, People of Earth!
I’m Ryan Dalton, author of the young adult Time Shift Trilogy. My debut novel THE YEAR OF LIGHTNING is a sci-fi mystery, and it will be released through Jolly Fish Press on December 8, 2015. The sequel THE BLACK TEMPEST will be released in Fall 2016.
I write things, and I’m a geek. Yes, both at the same time. I also have thoughts about writing, geek culture, and other random things that may or may not be relevant (Spoiler Alert: they’re not). Welcome to my corner of the Interwebz, and when the fancy strikes I will post anything like tips on writing believable dialogue, the current state of comic books, and who would win in a fight between Abe Lincoln and an ill-tempered ham sandwich.
So buckle up, Jack! (that’s right, I’ve renamed you all Jack)
Want to reach out to me? Find me on social media (links are on the front page, at the bottom) or email me at RyanDaltonWrites@gmail.com
In this episode I talk with E.B. Wheeler about historical landscaping and restoration in national parks and historic sites. We talk about her book she has out, others she is preparing, and working with Cedar Fort Press.
E.B. Wheeler grew up in Georgia and California. She has graduate degrees in history and landscape architecture, and wrote about history and historic preservation before focusing on fiction. She is the author of THE HAUNTING OF SPRINGETT HALL and BORN TO TREASON (forthcoming May 2016). She lives in the mountains of Utah with her husband, daughters, various pets, and as many antique roses as she can cram into her yard. You can find more about her at ebwheeler.com
In this episode I interview YA Author Robison Wells.
We talk about Marketing
Understanding your readers, characters, and their motivations.
A squishy MBA
Diesel Punk
Mental Illness- Obsession and compulsion and writing.
Contact
@RobisonWells
robisonwells@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/robisonwells
Bio:
Robison Wells is also the author of Blackout, Variant, and Feedback. Variant was a Publishers Weekly Best Book and a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Robison lives in the Rocky Mountains in a house not too far from elk pastures. His wife, Erin, is a better person than he will ever be, and their three kids cause mischief and/or joy.
Robison suffers from five mental illnesses (panic disorder, OCD, agoraphobia, depression and dermatillomania) and is an outspoken advocate for those with mental illnesses.
His books have been published in nine different languages, and he is the winner of many awards both in and out of the United States.
Bryan Cohen and I talk about
Selling for Authors.com
bestpagefoward.net copy editing better blurbs get better sales.
Sell more books show podcast...Jazzy Jim Cucral
Marshmallow elect
For the purposes of this podcast...
Co host on The Split YA Book review podcast ..... currently 50+ reviews/discussion
Author of the series Ted Saves the world.
Instructor of Selling for authors closed on Thursday
Tell us about Ted saves the world
How many books.
Has he finished saving the world?
Book 0 came out this last summer. Do you have other YA fiction coming in the future?
YA books, boys and romance. Romantic tension...
"Red Rising" by Pierce Brown
"Grasshopper Jungle" by Andrew Smith
In this episode I interview Robert Rayner
We talk about performing and teaching music, school presentations, being a journalist, and his many books, among which as stories written in a publisher's imprint, Lorimer Sports, Lorimer Side Streets, and Lorimer Street Lights.
And his newest release through the publisher Speaking Volumnes, Colorland.
https://www.raggedbeliever.wordpress.com
The intro and outro music for this episode was written and performed by Robert and is the theme for his book, Colorland. The entire piece is available on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJuLBRX8rxw
Author Bio:
I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.
In addition to a few go-nowhere jobs, I've been a journalist (in Cambridge, England), a teacher (in Colchester, England; Glovertown, Newfoundland; and Charlotte County, New Brunswick), and an elementary school principal (in St. George, New Brunswick).
I've been writing for as long as I can remember - news and feature articles as a journalist, tracts and diatribes on education as a teacher, stories to read in assembly as a principal, and, all the time, stories for their own sake. I now have nine young adult novels, two teen novels, and three adult novels in print. My stories have been shortlisted for the Ann Connor Brimer Children's Literature Prize and (three times) for the Hackmatack Children's Choice Award, and five of them have been included in the Canadian Children's Book Centre annual 'Best Books' list.
Although I forsook being a school principal in order to teach music at home, and to have more time for writing, I still love the world of school, and often talk to students about writing, and read to them from my books, and present writing workshops. Many of my books have grown out of, and continue to grow out of, my experiences working with children of all ages.
Usually I write in the morning, starting early, and save afternoons for playing and teaching music. If I'm under pressure to finish something, or I'm obsessed with a story (which I regard as a good sign), I resume writing in the evening, or go over what I wrote earlier.
When I'm not writing, or playing and teaching music, I'm usually walking, reading, skiing, feeding and watching the birds, taking photographs, or listening to music. I play keyboard, saxophone and clarinet with Stepping Out, a band that performs standards, blues, and old rock and roll for dances and other social events, and use the guitar to accompany songs I've written to introduce some of the characters in the stories.
I live in St. George, New Brunswick, on the Magaguadavic River (the one that flooded so disastrously just before Christmas 2011), where I like to drive Nancy, my wife, to distraction by watching soccer on TV and playing loud music.
And while I write, and teach, and play music, I'm still wondering what I want to be when I grow up.
Colorland
He said slowly, “You know how sometimes something happens, and afterwards you think what you could have – should have – done, if only you had the nerve and the confidence to do it, but of course by the time you think that, it’s too late.”
Isolde nodded.
Wenden mumbled, “Only, like, all the time.”
“Well – it’s like having the nerve and the confidence to do it straight off, at the moment you need to do it,” said Ridge.
Life changes quickly from carefree, innocent fun to desperate survival when teen friends Ridge, Isolde and Wenden inadvertently transgress their city state’s strict rules of conduct and morality. They are sent to a remote institution for ‘retraining’, from which they escape, only to find themselves wandering an empty wilderness as they are hunted by the ruthless guards of the state. In order to survive, they draw on abilities they didn’t know they possessed. They call it Going to Colorland. They’re happy to go there. But afraid of not coming back.
In this episode I interview L.G. Rollilns and we talk about the editing process when working with a publisher, home schooling, American Sign Language, her debut novel Shadows of Angels, and Cedar Fort Publishing.
L. G. Rollins grew up in a far off land fighting dragons, stealing talismans, and traveling with dwarfs and elves. She is especially skilled at bribing giants with sweets. Currently, her husband and four kids live in Utah so that is where she spends most of her time. She may, or may not, have a Zaad Stone. To learn more about L. G. Rollins and her books visit LGRollins.com.
Shadows of Angels comes out December 8th and is the beginning of the Zaad Stone trilogy.
http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Angels-L-G-Rollins/dp/1462117465/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447356362&sr=8-1&keywords=shadows+of+angels+L+G+Rollins
http://www.lgrollins.com
http://blog.cedarfort.com/
In this episode I interveiw Ana Del C.
We talk about writing books in English and translating to Spanish. We talk about the many books she has written, where she gets her inspiration, and what her practices are for writing them.
Anna was born in the extreme South along some famous beaches. She is the third child and twins with her sister Elena. She grew up with four other siblings being placed in the middle. Her mother died when she was six years old and her father never married again.
The green eyed, brown haired author found a mother in her husband's mother and loves her dearly. She accredits her mother-in-law with teaching her many things in life.
The author loves reading, but had few opportunities to do so while growing up. Once married she was introduced to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books that she admits to having collected, which collections she still retains. They were the ones who wet her appetite. A few years ago she was introduced to Tolkien's Lord of the Ring's and to J. K. Rowling's writings, which she loves. She also loves romantic music that she listens to every day, plays that she attends at least six times a year, and cats (when they are not shedding.) She likes her clothes to be very feminine, with lace being one of her favorites. "I am afraid that I do not follow fashions," she was heard to say. "I wear what I like."
Early on in her life she showed an affinity for sewing and took classes that rewarded her with the opportunities of taking care of the costumes for the cast of four different plays, which she enjoyed immensely. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and understands Portuguese.
At twenty-one she moved north to marry Rodney and has resided in Utah since then. Her husband, a native of Idaho, met her in her hometown. They fell in love and she came to Utah on Christmas Eve to be married two weeks later. They are the parents of three princes and a princess.
With her husband and his family she has have the opportunity of traveling to many of the states in USA, most of them camping, and to three other countries, something she enjoys very much. Soon, she would like to visit the castles in Germany and other European countries.
Anna possesses a great mind and imagination, which, with the encouragement of her husband, she set to writing. The creation of her two series of books The Elf Series and her Medieval Romance series; are the result of many years of daydreaming and now, her own laptop. You can fallow Anna in her website at: http://www.annadelc.com
In this episode I talk with Alma Alexander
We discuss her trilogy "The Were Chronicles". "Random", "Wolf", and "Shifter" which should have gone live already, but is imminently going to drop at any moment.
She edited an anothogy "River" http://www.amazon.com/River-Joshua-Palmatier-ebook/dp/B008V5EQII/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1448483380&sr=1-1&keywords=River+Alma+Alexander
She can be contacted through her website at www.almaalexander.org
Alma Alexander, the 'Duchess of Fantasy,' was born on the banks of an ancient river in a country which no longer exists. When she was ten, her family left Europe and moved to Africa. Since then she has lived in several countries on four continents and now lives in America with a husband she met on the Internet
She has written three million words in more than 20 books and one of her novels, "The Secrets of Jin-shei," has been published around the world in 14 languages. The heroine of her popular Young Adult Worldweavers series is as American as Harry Potter is British. The first book in another young adult series about a shape-shifting Were family will be published shortly.
When asked what she would be if she weren't a writer, she quotes Ursula LeGuin's answer to that question: "Dead."
Alma is a punaholic and a chronic worrier, one of those people who proves that real pessimists are truly born and not made. She is owned by a cat. She was born on the fifth day of July (the day after America), six years before man walked on the moon, which makes her a cancer according to the Western horoscope and a water rabbit according to the Chinese one.
In this episode I interview Doug Fowler
We talk about:
Nanowrimo, Law School, Family Law, Challenges facing youth, youth ministry, distopian novels, and baseball.
His Bio:
Doug Fowler was born in NE Ohio with vision & hearing handicaps, plus a dash of cerebral palsy & Dandy-Walker Syndrome. He has also used the skills God gave him to accomplish a lot. He got a B.A. in Communication Studies from the College of Wooster('91), a J.D. from Case Western Reserve('94), & a Masters in Ministry from Tennessee Temple University('08) via online courses and modules. He does wills and estates part time as an attorney, serves as an online missionary with Global Media Outreach, co-hosts a radio show for a local youth ministry, Greater Canton Youthquake, and does numerous other things for the Lord toward earning rewards in Heaven.
Doug loves family friendly fun as well as baseball, which he has followed since he was little. (His first favorite team was Charlie Brown's) He loves using his brain to develop what-ifs, such as the alternate histories in this list. he creates occasional comedy tapes for his nieces and nephews, one of which helped spawn the zany goings-on in "Vikings Sack San Marino."
Doug has a free blogged book at takethespirituallead.blogspot.com for young people or anyone who wants to be a spiritual leader but worries they can't.
We talk about InD'Scribe conference
her two books,
http://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/home.html
http://www.pjboox.com/ November 22nd Book signing event in Ft. Meyers Florida between 1 and 4.
@bella623 on twitter
www.claudettemelanson.com
Facebook author page
Sherry Wingler, Wings of Darkness
Teema Maria Lacova, Blood Gifted
Louise White, The Calling
This is our first bonus episode.
We're back with Kevin L. Nielson as he prepares to launch his latest book, "Resurgent Shadows".
To learn more about this and the activities around the launch check his website at:
http://kevinlnielsen.com/
http://www.futurehousepublishing.com
Buy it at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017TKDHNA?keywords=resurgent%20shadows&pebp=1447390238785&perid=V6AJNJAMNSTDTASBG923&qid=1447390234&ref_=sr_1_1&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
In this episode I talk with Joana Hill about Maine, Tennessee, Nanowrimo, Scrivener, and her many manuscripts.
www.Nanowrimo.org
Scrivener
www.scribophile.com
Sarah Dessen
Gayle Foreman - If I Stay
joana@wordsandteabottles.com
http://nanowrimo.org/participants/maemi
We talk about getting a BA in English, Freanch, Humanities, Playing the violin and piano, her book, Ella, more books, Cedar Fort Press, and the LDStorymakers conference.
www.jotsbyjess.com for more contact
jess_peaslee Instagram
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Jessilyn-Stewart-Peaslee-890103107707130/?fref=ts
JESSILYN STEWART PEASLEE was born the fourth of seven children into a family of avid readers, music lovers, movie quoters, and sports fans. Jessilyn graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in English, and also studied French and the Humanities. She loves playing catch with her boys, singing, playing the piano, making Orange Julius and popcorn, and watching movies with her husband and five boys. She is very grateful to them for being so supportive while Mommy wrote her “girl book.” Jessilyn grew up in the beautiful high desert of Southern California and now resides in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. As you read this, she is probably folding laundry . . . or should be.
About Ella
As soon as I felt the warmth from the fire, I realized I was freezing. The thought of leaving the delicious heat sent chills through me and I couldn’t bear to abandon it. I stretched out my weary body on the hearth, not caring about the cinders and soot that clung to me. I untied my shawl, placed it under my head and lay down, and watched the flames dance to a song I couldn’t hear.
Without the help of mice, magic, or fairy godmothers, the reserved yet resilient Ella Blakeley must find within herself the courage to overcome almost insurmountable obstacles, combat feelings of loneliness and worthlessness, forgive the unrepentant, and open her eyes and heart to the selfless and patient nature of true love. Through sacrifice and perseverance, Ella slowly rises from the cinders in her soul to make the transformation from mere survival to truly living and loving.
Going Live November 11th
http://www.amazon.com/Ella-Jessilyn-Stewart-Peaslee/dp/1462117457/
In this episode I talk with Kai Strand about Bend, Oregon, the high desert, King of Bad, fantasy vrs. speculative fiction, contemporary romance, and bed time stories
Favorite authors: Maggie Stiefvater, Jonathan Stroud,
King of Bad
Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules or observe curfew. He wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; that is until he’s recruited by Super Villain Academy – where you learn to be good at being bad. In a school where one kid can evaporate all the water from your body and the girl you hang around with can perform psychic sex in your head, bad takes on a whole new meaning. Jeff wonders if he’s bad enough for SVA. He may never find out. Classmates vilify him when he develops good manners. Then he’s kidnapped by those closest to him and left to wonder who is good and who is bad. His rescue is the climactic episode that balances good and evil in the super world. The catalyst – the girl he’s crushing on. A girlfriend and balancing the supers is good, right? Or is it…bad?
Thanks for your interest in my books and me. I love talking books with readers and hope you'll share your thoughts on my books by leaving a review and/or dropping me an email. It's easiest to get a hold of me through my website: www.kaistrand.com. Perhaps you clicked on my bio to find out things about me, such as I hate to handle raw meat, I'm a wife and mother of four, a compulsive walker, and a Mozart fangirl. But since you stopped by, what I really want you to know is that I love that you read. Readers are smart, quick-witted, and usually good conversationalists--even if it's only inside their head. Introverts unite!
I write middle grade fiction because those are the most formative years of our lives. It's when we are trying to claim our freedom, while still being restricted by rules. The things we learn in books can give us the skills to navigate that maze. I write young adult fiction because there are no limits to what message I share or how I share it. Plus young adult readers are some of the most passionate readers out there. I heart YA readers.
If you'd like an image of me as a writer, go ahead and picture me with my laptop in a quaint bookshop café, fingers flying over the keys while the words pour out of my fingertips. It's much better than the real image of me in my pajamas with coffee breath, sinking into the me-sized crater in the couch, grumbling at my laptop when the words don't come.
Happy reading!
Woohoo!
We just got our first 100 downloads.
Eight episodes are up.
This might not sound like much, but most podcasts don't make it past 7 episodes. I have about 10 more interviews recorded and a half dozen lined up to record.
So...This podcast shouldn't go away for a while.
Please, take a moment, go to iTunes, subscribe, and give us a rating. This will help get the podcast out to the people who can help support these wonderful authors I have had on the show.
Thanks,
Philip Carroll
We talk about Education, being a reading specialist for middle school, The Outsiders, Writing through stress, a need to tell stories, two stories he is currently working on, books and movies as a reflection of society's concerns.
www.markmagroauthor.com
@magrocrag
Surfacing:
In a postapocalyptic world, two students discover that the worst thing about searching for the truth is actually finding it After a nuclear war has ravaged the planet, children of the few survivors are sent to renowned scientist Dr. Parkman and his underground facility, Parkman Institute of Science and Solutions, to learn, create, and test the latest technologies until they turn 18 and are sent back to the surface to help rebuild society. Balt and Zoe, 16-year-old students, have begun to realize something is amiss when Zoe is given a glimpse of an entirely different reality during a freak accident, one completely foreign to what Parkman has always described to his students. With the help of Balt and his midterm robotics project, the talkative head of an A.I. called Smith, the three devise a plan to escape the institute and travel through the ruins of the old labs to get to the surface. As they draw closer to their destination, they begin to see that their biggest threat might be each other. The old lab is full of secrets, and some answers are perhaps better left buried.