Review: The Chrysalis and King series by Ashlyn Forge

Ok, this is incredibly late, but… reasons. Mostly to do with over-extending myself, and never having written up a review for a series before. But this one was worth it ❤

OVERALL:
A trio of short stories with a big impact.

RECOMMENDED FOR:
Fans of old-school sci-fi where the authors unapologetically dropped the reader down into an alien situation and made them fend for themselves. For those who enjoy discovering other worlds and cultures. And heartily (haahaa) recommended for romantics.

Shameless plug…

AKA – Oh *bleep* it’s Thursday…

I will have a review for Ashlyn Forge’s Chrysalis and Kings series up shortly (tonight) but in the mean time…

If you are curious about what “Shadow and Clay” is all about, I posted the first three chapters of the first book in that series on Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/31662393-a-gift-of-flame

It’s fantasy, targeted at the young adult crowd. If you read it, I would LOVE to get feedback (please!!) – doesn’t have to be positive, but constructively telling me what I’m doing wrong would be nice…

The Art of Editing Vol. 3 – Ground down to a tiny nubbin.

I’m not yet to this point (still in the editing stages that involve completely rewriting the entire damn book), but when I DO get to this stage I hope to overcome my blocks as well as does the talented Mr. Cejka!

Puckishwird's Blog

Right. Yeah. I promised a blog about editing. So here it is. Frankly, i don’t really feel like it because i have been at it all day and my eyes are about to fall out of my head. Okay… that’s a lie. I HAVE been at it all day but i have also been goofing off in a huge proportion to the actual work getting done and THEN i hit a snag.

Right now i’m in the final phase. Proofreading. So that’s something you’ll need to figure on and put in your toolbox. It’s a bit of an annoying process. Really, it’s the easiest bit of editing because by now you should have smoothed out all the really rough edges to your work and are just on the verge of publishing the bad boy and getting out of the proverbial house. It’s all grown up and mouthing off and it…

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Review: Me, Cinderella? by Aubrey Rose

I spent the last week reading the first chapter of nearly every “to-read for blog” book on my Kindle. This was in an effort to weed out the books I really didn’t want to spend time on right now, and to prioritize the remainders. See my blog post on making a good first impression for more about that. When all was said and done, this was the book that screamed “READ ME!!” the most to my brain, and so this is where I started. And I’m glad I did.

As the main character, Brynn, put it:

Like the moment when you first open a book, uncertain of whether or not you’ll enjoy it. You decide to read the first page, and word by word it draws you in until you’ve reached the end of the first chapter without realizing it, then the second. Could the rest of the story live up to the promise? You’d have to wait and see.

OVERALL:

A very enjoyable read, with complex, relatable characters. A definite treat! This is in that newish category “New Adult”, aimed at college age readers and with a college-age protagonist. It is a brainy romance, weaving music, mathematics, fairy-tales, and the recovery process from deep psychological wounds into a story both sweet and compelling.

First Impressions, Part one: The opening line

I couldn’t get the blood off my hands.  — First line of “Ash – A Thriller” by Jason Brandt.

This is going to be amateur hour again, here at the Shadow and Clay. I’m approaching the topic of how to draw readers in solely as someone who has read a lot of books and has heard from experts on this topic. Experts like Stephen King, Brian Klems, Chuck Sambuchino, Miss Literati, Dr. K.P White and Victoria Grefer.

But mostly, I’m approaching this as someone who has spent the last week reading the first chapter of every “to-read” book on my stack, and sorting them into the “blog about” and “discard” piles. So I will be using specific examples about what caught my attention, and what lost it. Most of it will be subjective, but I hope there will be enough that is universal that the writers following this blog can find it useful.

Review: Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle by Phil and Kaja Foglio

OVERALL:

Reading this was like coming home – nostalgic with a high-possibility of holiday-related violence. This novel is a brilliant adaptation of volumes 7 – partway through volume 10 of the Girl Genius Graphic Novels, and really challenges the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” And if you know the incredible detail in every panel of Girl Genius, you know what high praise it is to say that they transmuted art to prose with commendable efficiency.

“Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle” is the third installment in this series. If you have not read the first two books, DO THAT NOW. And you probably should read at least the first 6 volumes of the Graphic Novels as well (free online for your frugal viewing pleasure!)

To Review or to not Review – Part Deux

Stephen King says “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

So I made my New Year’s resolution a pledge to read 52 books. I currently have finished 2, and have 100 sitting in my “to read for blog” stack, and that’s not counting the books that I want to read to actually enjoy, books by authors I stalk adore… or the dozens that I tack on there every week from book-giveaways or friends who finally have crossed that threshold that I hope to make it across sometime soon.

That’s reading… but why review? Well, when I started the whole “reviewing” thing, it was for two reasons – to support independent/small published authors and their works, and to hold a gun to my back and make me try new authors and keep my pledge.

Review: Misfortune Cookies by Linda Kozar

As you can probably tell, this is NOT Ronnie Virdi’s “Grave Beginnings”. With the craziness of the holidays and the news that the author is considering revising it again, I’ve decided to shelve that one for now. Feel free to get a jump start on me with it – I love the main character and Virdi knocks the action scenes out of the park 😀 Now back to “Misfortune Cookies.”

OVERALL:

A disappointing read for a scenario that had so much potential.

Review: Nothing, Everything, Nothing by Casia Schreyer

OVERALL:
This is a well written, well-researched novel about the factors that can lead an average girl to contemplate -and then attempt – suicide. Aimed at young adult readers, “Nothing, Everything, Nothing” is a heart-wrenching tale with a very clear message: Know your true friends, ignore those who only pretend to be.

BOOK TRIGGERS: Suicide, bulimia, abusive relationships

Things I did this week instead of write my book:

Played on Facebook

Did Crisis Management on Facebook

Played on Facebook some more when crisis was over

Parented a three-year old who is being “challenging” (i.e. being three and a half)

Wrote letters to Santa

Went Christmas shopping

Wrapped Christmas presents

Took two ferry rides

Drove about 100 miles while singing “BINGO was his Name-o” with my son

Cut down a Christmas tree

Decorated the tree

Attended a birthday party (my Dad’s and mine 🙂 )

Had an early Christmas for my son

Tried a bunch of things to get my cat to stop finding new, exciting places to poop and pee

Failed at finding a solution to the cat’s adventures in pooping

Read two books

Bought about 60 more to read

Watched “How To Train Your Dragon 2” twice

Watched “Guardians of the Galaxy” three *looks up* four times

Migrated my website from WordPress to WordPress.org hosted by GoDaddy

Did a LOT of learning about what exactly that means and what it takes to do that…

Rewrote my “About” and added a few new permanent pages to Shadow And Clay

Wrote a blog post

Wrote a blurb for the other novel that is trying to lure me away from Muses

Took a lot of photos

Thought about writing the final blog post in the “Covers from a Newb Perspective” series. Oops…

Nagged other writers about writing

Bought little “How To Train Your Dragon” figurines to reward myself for sticking to my exercise program

Didn’t exercise

Sewed a table cloth

Outlined all the chapters that still have to be written or revised for Muses

Wrote another blog post

 

… and eventually actually wrote in Muses. I’ve finished the third draft of Act I. Anyone interested in being a beta?