Bernard Jan's Blog, page 14

Free and Simple

I'll put it simple. Look for Me Under the Rainbow FREE DOWNLOAD!

Saturday, June 30, 2018, 12:00 AM PDT to Tuesday, July 3, 2018, 11:59 PM PDT

I won't say it for certain, but this is probably the last free promo in a while of my story of Danny, a curious harp seal pup with soft white fur and black innocent eyes, and Helen, an environmentalist and member of a young activist crew of the Rainbow Warriors, whose mission is to save animals.

This is why I give you four days to download my e-book. Happy reading!

In the brief moment he surfaced, he thought he heard a familiar sound. Rumbling, buzzing, splashing. Dragged under too soon, he could not figure it out.
But he had managed to breathe in some air before it yanked him below the surface again. He began to hallucinate. Images floated in front of his eyes. His mother, his father, Jon, other seals. They all smiled at him. All of them except the human female with golden hair and the sea colored eyes. In hers, this time, he only saw fear.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

Bernard Jan

The World According to Bob: A Book Review

Svijet prema Bobu by James Bowen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As someone who was saved by my cat Marcel, which I described in my novella A World Without Color, I can say there is not a single thing I did not like about The World According to Bob: The Further Adventures of One Man and His Street-wise Cat. Just as in its prequel A Street Cat Named Bob: The Amazing True Story of One Man and His Cat, Bob made me smile, laugh and cry. There were so many familiar things in his behavior I saw and recognized in Marcel. Marcel was my world and losing him was an emotional and intellectual apocalypse.

I am grateful to author James Bowen for sharing his touching and difficult life story and for evoking my fondest and saddest memories. I am grateful to him for portraying Bob as someone extraordinary, smart, intelligent and cunning, the most loyal, compassionate and best friend possible.

Animals are the purest souls on this planet and if we let them touch our hearts, we will feel and experience something no other human can give us. I am saying this not only as someone who has a soft spot for cats and is a one hundred percent cat person, but as someone who has been there and lived it.

Bob, you have my love and admiration. Stay awesome as you are.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

Bernard Jan



View all my reviews

Are You a Black Sheep?: A Book Review

What does it mean to be a black sheep? by Kristina Gallo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Although Kristina Gallo's short book What does it mean to be a black sheep? is written from a female perspective, it is a book for everyone. Because whether you are a woman or a man, a child or an adult, there will be a time in your life when you will feel—different. When you will seek for your place of belonging and recognition, a safe harbor to be sheltered in.

Whether you are a child or an adult, a male or a female, you hurt equally under the boot of injustice or cuts of sharp tongues or burns of mean looks. You feel abandoned and alone in taking a stand against the world. It is hard to find strength to be who you are, with all your differences and oddness, with your uniqueness which causes you nothing but problems.

In situations like these it is crucial to acknowledge, embrace and accept yourself for who you are. To see beyond the norms of the society, set by imperfect individuals who can be colorblind or deaf to the music of your soul. Even if you lose some of your friends, as in the cases described in Kristina's short book, you will find people worthy of your trust, people who will accept you in their flock despite the black, pink, white or any other color of your personality. I hope and wish Kristina's book helps you with that.

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

Disclaimer: I have received a complimentary copy from the author for an honest review.

Bernard Jan



View all my reviews

The Cold Aftermath: A Book Review

The Scattered and the Dead (Book 1.5): Post Apocalyptic Fiction by Tim McBain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In the cold winter aftermath of zombie outbreak, one woman is struggling with her sanity and humanity. A few months before, one mother is putting on stake everything to rush her dying child to the hospital. There are a few other scattered and isolated individual characters, still alive, but for how long?

The Scattered and the Dead (Book 1.5): Post Apocalyptic Fiction is yet another beautifully written volume of Tim McBain's and L.T. Vargus' zombie saga which leaves you holding your breath as you slide through its snow and silence encrusted pages. It's scariest part is not what the walking dead can do to you but how solitude and loneliness can affect your mind and the ability of survival in the world that has forcefully gone to sleep.

Bj
www.bernardjan.com

Bernard Jan



View all my reviews

Godeena Book Review

Godeena by Stjepan Varesevac Cobets

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My reading of this page-turner of a SF novel took much longer (52 days) than expected but that is not because it didn't grip me but rather due to various circumstances and reasons. April and May were months when (almost) every EU author was crazy and busy studying and complying with the GDPR. Besides that and to name just the two of reasons/circumstances, the author of Godeena, Stjepan Varesevac Cobets, asked me to stop reading the e-book he sent me in exchange for an honest review. He would hire a new editor and polish his novel. I'm so glad he did it!

While I stumbled and got stuck in the language spider-web of the old version, the new one came with a happy exhale of relief that turned my second reading into fun and pleasure! Godeena, a hostile and mysterious planet that devours its inhabitants, expeditions of teams of scientists and two teams of Special Forces alike, now shines in its full glory and terror!

If you've read the old edition of this book, read it again now. You will look at it with clear, different eyes. This action-and-death-filled story deserves your full attention as it forces you to speed through it while the team of criminals is gathered from the notorious prison to be sent on a rescue mission which seems to be doomed to failure before it started. The intriguing set of characters, weaponry, training and situations that pull your fingers to click-forward the pages faster and faster is a guarantee for the experience you will love and enjoy.

So put your helmet (or glasses on), buckle up and get ready to be launched to system Naude, planet Godeena and the huge, preserved and uninhabited city Absolute. I know you can't wait to find out what kind of terror is waiting for you there! I couldn't!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

p. s. A message and a plea for writers: Follow the good example of Godeena and edit and professionally edit your books! Your readers deserve only the best from you.

Bernard Jan



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Zero: Book Review

Angel's Nightmare Adventure: Zero by Angel Ramon Medina

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For the fans of video games comes another book from the seriesAngel's Nightmare Adventure! Angel Ramon blasts us to the past with the prequel Zero to Angel's Nightmare Adventure Amazon best-selling book, to the place and time where it all began. In Angel's Nightmare Adventure: Zero we are following again two parallel stories as we are led into the Clark Family Mansion in Upstate New York where the Raven Hawk Virus was first discovered.

Although GameLit is not among my favorite genres, I have to give Angel credit for keeping my attention and curiosity at full alert with a variety of human and human-made characters (zombies, dogs, snakes, web spinners, Polybius, Lizarda, flea drainers and other enemies of the human race) pacing through the stories as the battle for survival within the mansion culminates.

I won't reveal if there are any survivors of the Alpha and Bravo NYPD Special Forces team at the end of this story. The only spoiler you'll hear from me is that Angel's Nightmare Adventure doesn't end with Zero because Angel's Nightmare Adventure 1.5 is already available for pre-order!

Forgive me, I stand corrected. I have one more spoiler for you: both book covers for Angel's Nightmare Adventure: Zero and Angel's Nightmare Adventure 1.5 look darn good! They are a perfect addition to those dark horror stories!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com

Bernard Jan



View all my reviews

Blooms and Thorns of May

Most definitely May 2018 was one of the most exciting and annoying months. When my heart bloomed and my soul wept with frustration.

Good news? My Twitter profile got its first 10,000 followers! My LinkedIn profile hit the number of 4,000 friends and followers! Fantastic news!

Care to join my old and new followers? Would be so cool!

May 9 was a good day. An excellent day, because the paperback edition of my novella Look for Me Under the Rainbow has been released on Amazon. Oh, happy day! Happy was also May 22 when my copies were released by Croatian customs and arrived at my home!

Celebration! And then frustration!

Boring and long frustration just like all those GDPR notifications piling up in our mailboxes. I must admit guilt on my account too for sending you my Privacy Policy. Did you read it? Oh please, tell me you did because we take great care of your data and privacy protection so you can safely browse my website and feel as good there as in your home.

Thanks to the new EU legislation and everyone NOT being prepared for it I spent a great majority of my time studying it instead of with my books.

As if this wasn't enough, I had an emails exchange with Amazon about my reviews which, thankfully, ended well and had painful few days while updating my Microsoft Office and reinstalling my Windows.

Let's conclude this May chronicles with some good news. Look for Me Under the Rainbow was in the finals of AllAuthor cover contest for May and it ended up ranked #6! Not bad at all considering I entered the contest with one day and 140 votes delay!

Look for Me Under the Rainbow has also been approved in the YA and Middle-Grade Book Category of the TCK Publishing 2018 Reader’s Choice Awards so please follow this link and browse to page 12 where you can cast your vote for it! Wouldn't it be a great thing to do after reading this post?

Thanks!

BJ
www.bernardjan.com


Bernard Jan

First Ebook, Now Paperback!

I am thrilled to announce that my paperback edition of Look for Me Under the Rainbow has been launched on May 9, 2018!

You can get your copy on Amazon at the special launch price of $6.43 only during May before the price goes up. My ebook will be available for $2.99.

PAPERBACK
EBOOK

I like my ebook cover, but paperback looks even better! Don't you think so too? Mario Kožar from MKM Media did a splendid job! If you like his style and how he does my book covers, visit his website and shoot him a message.

Speaking of book covers: As you know, Look for Me Under the Rainbow is competing for Cover of the month May in AllAuthor contest. Being enrolled a day later than other books, it is ranked #6 with 105 votes. If you think it deserves a better rank, please vote for it now and tell your friends to do so too. If you've already voted, don't worry, you can vote again because it's the new round of the contest. Thanks!

Here is a little something from me to you, a short random excerpt from my book Look for Me Under the Rainbow.

Jon woke up and remained motionless. Not only because he felt an icy stab of fear when he noticed Danny had disappeared, but also because of the scene that surrounded him. Scattered icebergs floated wearily in the sea, the sky clear and bright like a sincere smile—only instead of a smile, the sun shined cheerfully. Best of all, the black no longer stained the ocean. Gone, as if it never existed. The only traces were small black stains on the edge of the ice floe and Jon’s fur, still almost completely coated in the oily substance. But he could not enjoy the beauty of the scene because Danny was missing which brought the realization he was alone. That frightened him more than anything. The silence surrounding him made him uneasy and he felt panic rising in his throat.

Bernard Jan
www.bernardjan.com

You can get my honest and moving novella A World Without Color for only $0.99 as ebook and $5.99 as paperback.

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Bernard Jan

Danny Needs Your Votes

My new book Look for Me Under the Rainbow has been enrolled in the AllAuthor Cover of the month for May contest, competing with 69 other books!

This year it has been enlisted a day later than other books, so already at the start it didn't have an equal position when it appeared online: it was over 140 votes behind.

This is why my harp seal pup Danny and my book need your help more than ever! Please vote for Look for Me Under the Rainbow. Help it catch up and give it a chance to fight the battle of equals. With your support, we stand a chance. Without you . . . well I don't even want to consider that option.

Thank you so much for your support! I look forward to your votes!

Please follow this link if you want to purchase Look for Me Under the Rainbow on Amazon.

To get A World Without Color, a true story of the last three days with my cat, this is the link where you can find it on Amazon.

Please consider leaving an honest review for either both or just one book. Thank you!

Bernard Jan
www.bernardjan.com

Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!


Bernard Jan

Bandwidth: A Book Review

Bandwidth by Eliot Peper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


He did it again! Eliot Peper is a master of creeping his way into your brain cells with stories that carry a premonition sign of a society galloping into its dystopian future and human entities running wild with seemingly no one to save them.

Having recent events flooding the world media in mind, Bandwidth (An Analog Novel Book 1) comes as another shocking reminder of the realities we live in, both virtual and the real-time ones, and the hidden battles fought for our souls, money and lives.

Bandwidth is a prophecy of a digital feed era which lures us into its techno-thriller net with an immense potential of manipulating everything and everyone. The only way of survival might be in trusting no one and questioning every authority.

Whether or not you fancy that shape of our future or not, read Bandwidth. If not for the story itself than for the author's writing.

I don't hide; I love Peper's style. His Bandwidth opening pages are a carefully handcrafted textbook example of a great writer catching the attention of his reader at an early stage and the promise of an entertaining read for those seeking intellectual and sophisticated writing.

Oh yes, he did it again! High five!

Bernard Jan
www.bernardjan.com

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from the author as his early reader in exchange for an honest review.

Join my mailing list, subscribe to blog Muse!

Bernard Jan



View all my reviews