Bernard Jan's Blog, page 8
January 22, 2020
TopShelf Book Award Nominee
It seems that 2020 didn’t start so bad for my novella Look for Me Under the Rainbow because it was nominated for TopShelf Book Awards 2020!
I was lucky that someone from either agencies, publicists, publishers, TopShelf scouts, or Insider members has recognized my book for that special honor. Thank you, whoever you are! And thank you, TopShelf Magazine, for picking my book from the crowd and giving it this opportunity.
I will know if I am one of the TopShelf Book Award finalists by the end of September 2020, and the winners will be announced in the Holiday Edition of TopShelf Magazine in December 2020.
BJ
www,bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
I was lucky that someone from either agencies, publicists, publishers, TopShelf scouts, or Insider members has recognized my book for that special honor. Thank you, whoever you are! And thank you, TopShelf Magazine, for picking my book from the crowd and giving it this opportunity.
I will know if I am one of the TopShelf Book Award finalists by the end of September 2020, and the winners will be announced in the Holiday Edition of TopShelf Magazine in December 2020.
BJ
www,bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
January 12, 2020
Memories From The Darkness Review
Memories From The Darkness: A Control Freakz Novella Collection by Michael EvansMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Forever Gone (Control Freakz #0.5)
In Forever Gone, the first novella in the Memories From The Darkness collection set before the first book in the Control Freakz series, a young author Michael Evans describes with maturity of an experienced writer the heartbreak, doom and fall of one marriage and lost love. Determined to escape a controlled life from the hands of her husband Wilburn Ash, the President of the United States, the First Lady Danielle finds her freedom in a divorce and plotting a secret plan to stop the fanatic rule of the most powerful man in the world who can end her life at any moment or sign of rebellion before he destroys everything else.
Shattered Pasts (Control Freakz Series #1.5)
A great dark novella about a young girl Dulce, a sole survivor of the Camp Camel bombing, who struggles to reconcile with her past in which she lost everyone she loved. Even when she is welcomed in the rebel organization of the White Knights which is trying to save both the people and the country from the merciless hands of the American government, she knows that won’t be easy. Apocalyptic scenes of destruction and the atmosphere of dystopian world sunk in fear, in Shattered Pasts, the second novella in Memories From The Darkness: A Control Freakz Novella Collection, are fantastic.
Dream On (Control Freakz Series #2.5)
Things get better, more exciting and unreal as we travel through Memories From The Darkness: A Control Freakz Novella Collection! In Dream On, Justin, who gave his life to the secret organization Syndicate of Truth, wants it back. Sacrificing thirty years of his life meant nothing, because when he betrayed the most powerful of the powerful ones, he started to pay the ultra-high price. There is only one way to his freedom and liberation from the days filled with regrets, guilt, nightmares and one beautiful but haunting dream of being reunited with his lover Rose Parker, imprisoned in Area 51. But to make this dream become a reality, he will have to give up everything else.
In The Shadows (Control Freakz Series #3.5)
From Forever Gone to In The Shadows, the circle is closed. In this emotional finale, one more and for the last time Jacob meets his old ally. This is his desperate attempt to ask for help to see his real family, or what is left of it, before the world is destroyed. And the world will cease to exist because the monster Jacob has created has started its countdown. It seems there is no one who will stop the President Wilburn Ash in killing everyone. But will the remaining time be enough for Jacob to get so much needed help and with it one last chance to see his family so he can tell them how much he loves them? A great last novella of this exciting, intriguing and dark post-apocalyptic thriller series.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Check out my review of Control Freakz.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
January 7, 2020
Watching Glass Shatter Review
Watching Glass Shatter by James J. CudneyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’m glad that the first book I’ve read in the new year is the book from the author I very much respect and love reading, James J. Cudney. I can say nothing but praise for his debut novel Watching Glass Shatter, a moving family drama with strong and memorable characters, which I’ve read after all his other books published to this day.
Two letters that Benjamin Glass leaves to his wife Olivia after his unexpected death, explode with a threat of shattering the whole family. Supported by her sister Diane, Olivia struggles with many family secrets she learns about while visiting each of her five sons. Will she be able to reunite them as a family as each secret cuts her heart like a shattered piece of glass?
Watching Glass Shatter is an impressive portrait of the Glass family members with their real problems, successes and quickly-to-like personalities. It is a story of sadness, pain and love, but also a story of humanity and determination to rise from the sorrow and differences and build a garden where everyone will belong and bloom.
A note to the author: I uncovered Ben’s secret already in Chapter 2 after the family gathering to read his will. That should be a compliment, for you allowed me to connect and empathize with Ben’s sons and their personal situations so early in the book. Thanks and kudos!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
January 5, 2020
A Fiery Apocalypse in Australia
We are witnessing the death of our planet. Or at least its severe destruction. What’s happening in Australia now is something that may happen anywhere else, on any of other continents. Unless we do something and change our living habits.
This is the ugly face of apocalypse that has buried tens of millions of innocent lives in its wrinkles. And devoured and devastated the area the size of some European countries! And it keeps devouring, destroying and taking lives, and animals’ and people’s homes.
It’s time to act now! Prayers won’t put out the fires, but the inhuman efforts of the firefighters and others who are helping them, maybe will. If we help them too.
Please donate any amount you can. Even the smallest donation helps.
You can help the firefighters, you can help the wildlife, and you can help those affected by the devastating bushfires.
They all need us. Australia needs us.
DONATE HERE
Thank you.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
This is the ugly face of apocalypse that has buried tens of millions of innocent lives in its wrinkles. And devoured and devastated the area the size of some European countries! And it keeps devouring, destroying and taking lives, and animals’ and people’s homes.
It’s time to act now! Prayers won’t put out the fires, but the inhuman efforts of the firefighters and others who are helping them, maybe will. If we help them too.
Please donate any amount you can. Even the smallest donation helps.
You can help the firefighters, you can help the wildlife, and you can help those affected by the devastating bushfires.
They all need us. Australia needs us.
DONATE HERE
Thank you.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
December 29, 2019
Uncommon Stock: Power Play Book Review
Uncommon Stock: Power Play by Eliot PeperMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
It’s hard to believe that three years, three months, and twenty-four days have passed since I’ve read the first book of The Uncommon Series. Reviewing Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 on September 5, 2016 was like it happened yesterday the moment I started reading its sequel Power Play. Mara Winkel and her heartfelt dedication to her idea(l)s and work came to life in my memory already with the first bass beats of Burning Man.
In this instalment, the CEO of Mozaik, the fastest-growing tech startup in Boulder, leads her team in building a software that will uncover financial fraud at a large international bank.
The book one was a fast read but in the book two Uncommon Stock: Power Play Eliot Peper speeds things up even more by pushing Mara to stir the hornet’s nest and sets lose the dark forces of corrupted corporate capitalist world. His writing is again beautifully contagious, educational and informative. His story is full of action and it pulses within your bloodstreams as it quenches your thirst for the first-rate startup thriller. Thankfully, there is one more book to go!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
My review of Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
December 22, 2019
My Very Best Wishes (with Hopes for a Happier World)
To all my friends, followers, readers, and reviewers. To all of you who got in touch with me in this year and to all of you who will read this.
I wish you all the best for the holidays and many days after. I wish you to spend them with the people you love and who give you their unconditional love; surrounded with warmth, happiness, kindness and with no worry on your mind. Whether you spend them with your family, friends or alone, let them be full of all good things that make this life worth living.
I don’t have big plans for the end of this year. I will work on my book, read books from my huge reading list, spend time at home with my parents and my online friends. I like to keep it quiet, cozy and relaxing, doing things I like best, because books are my addiction. This passion keeps burning inside me no matter what time of day or year. My other passion is spreading kindness and compassion to and for those in need, especially animals. Even in times of celebration and holidays I will keep thinking on them, wishing I can do more for them to ease their misery and suffering. There are days when being a vegan doesn’t seem enough, when I feel I can do and should do more like jump in the catastrophic fires that are devastating Australia and be a protective shield between devouring flames and animals and people losing their lives and homes there. And it’s not only Down Under. It’s like that all over our beautiful planet!
Do you sometimes feel the same? Do you feel bad, frustrated and angry seeing our planet going from bad to worse as it spins madly toward the cataclysm, and those in power to make a change do nothing or ignore it? They have the power, yes, but they are not the only ones. We have the power too, you and me. If we do something on our small personal level, things will move forward. And if others join us, we can do bigger, greater things. We can change the world, I firmly believe that.
So, why not start now, during these holidays? Why not end this year and begin a new year with small acts of kindness? It’s actually very simple. Having a plant-based Christmas dinner or New Year’s party can mean a lot to animals who suffer, and it won’t cost us anything. It will open our windows to the world of new flavors and smells, the best ones being kindness, compassion, and empathy. Those are the flavors I enjoy for 18 years already and they feel so good. The best things I’ve ever tasted! You’d give me a great joy if you tried them too and let me know how you liked them. One thing is certain: they get better with time because the more we taste them the more we heal our planet. It’s the best natural cure our Earth can get from us. And, to be honest, it needs it!
Thank you for spreading love and kindness, thank you for having a big and compassionate heart. Thanks for all good things you will do for others in the last moments of this year and for good things you will continue doing in 2020.
Hopefully, it brings us all many memorable and pleasant moments, happiness, good health, and great books.
Much love and my very best wishes!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
I wish you all the best for the holidays and many days after. I wish you to spend them with the people you love and who give you their unconditional love; surrounded with warmth, happiness, kindness and with no worry on your mind. Whether you spend them with your family, friends or alone, let them be full of all good things that make this life worth living.
I don’t have big plans for the end of this year. I will work on my book, read books from my huge reading list, spend time at home with my parents and my online friends. I like to keep it quiet, cozy and relaxing, doing things I like best, because books are my addiction. This passion keeps burning inside me no matter what time of day or year. My other passion is spreading kindness and compassion to and for those in need, especially animals. Even in times of celebration and holidays I will keep thinking on them, wishing I can do more for them to ease their misery and suffering. There are days when being a vegan doesn’t seem enough, when I feel I can do and should do more like jump in the catastrophic fires that are devastating Australia and be a protective shield between devouring flames and animals and people losing their lives and homes there. And it’s not only Down Under. It’s like that all over our beautiful planet!
Do you sometimes feel the same? Do you feel bad, frustrated and angry seeing our planet going from bad to worse as it spins madly toward the cataclysm, and those in power to make a change do nothing or ignore it? They have the power, yes, but they are not the only ones. We have the power too, you and me. If we do something on our small personal level, things will move forward. And if others join us, we can do bigger, greater things. We can change the world, I firmly believe that.
So, why not start now, during these holidays? Why not end this year and begin a new year with small acts of kindness? It’s actually very simple. Having a plant-based Christmas dinner or New Year’s party can mean a lot to animals who suffer, and it won’t cost us anything. It will open our windows to the world of new flavors and smells, the best ones being kindness, compassion, and empathy. Those are the flavors I enjoy for 18 years already and they feel so good. The best things I’ve ever tasted! You’d give me a great joy if you tried them too and let me know how you liked them. One thing is certain: they get better with time because the more we taste them the more we heal our planet. It’s the best natural cure our Earth can get from us. And, to be honest, it needs it!
Thank you for spreading love and kindness, thank you for having a big and compassionate heart. Thanks for all good things you will do for others in the last moments of this year and for good things you will continue doing in 2020.
Hopefully, it brings us all many memorable and pleasant moments, happiness, good health, and great books.
Much love and my very best wishes!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
December 14, 2019
The Last Discount in 2019!
For the last time in 2019 my eBook Look for Me Under the Rainbow is at a 67% discount price!
Sunday, December 15, 2019, 8:00 AM PST through Sunday, December 22, 2019, 12:00 AM PST
If you still don’t know what to give as a gift to your beloved ones, this could be a nice opportunity and addition to their library. Make the best use of my Kindle promo week and get the story of a harp seal Danny at a favorable price! Thank you for spreading the word and telling others about it. Even more, thank you for leaving an honest review on Amazon and Goodreads.
Don’t forget: my other book A World Without Color is at a permanent price of $0.99!
“A book filled with heart and love for all living things, I found the book touching and inspirational! The author's sincere character is embedded into each & every word! I highly recommend this book and give it five stars!”—S. Richard, author of Man at 50: A Journey of Crisis, Revelation and Survival!
An excerpt from Look for Me Under the Rainbow:
One day everything changed. Danny got a brother. Overwhelmed with joy, he completely forgot about the fear he felt when his mother left him alone a little longer than usual. He had begun to think something happened to her. Like maybe the sea current dragged her to the open sea where a killer whale swallowed her up . . . or a shark tore her apart . . . or she got caught in the ice . . . or she met a man. . . . But when he saw her coming with a tiny pup in tow, just opening its eyes, his fears and foreboding dispelled.
Danny received Jon with such sincere affection and love, his mother almost burst into tears from happiness and pride.
Jon’s mother died in labor leaving him alone. And he barely survived.
Even Danny’s father, in their vicinity at that moment, was slightly bemused by this extraordinary show of affection. But as soon as Danny—feeling his gaze—turned to look at him, his father averted his eyes and disappeared behind a huge chunk of ice.
Now she had not one, but two pups to worry about. Danny refused to be weaned and now Jon suckled as if he had not tasted food in his entire life. Still, Danny’s mother knew she did the right thing. Her malcontent and mischievous little pup Danny whom she could not let out of sight even for a second, now changed beyond recognition. Not only did he stop pestering her with his interminable questions, he almost stopped his excursions to the sea. His attention focused on Jon, he treated his adopted brother with warmth and kindness. She thought that was amazing. If she weren’t a mother who loved Danny more than anything in the world, she might have thought his love for Jon stronger than her own. But that was impossible. She loved Danny as much as it was possible to love anybody.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Download Look for Me Under the Rainbow.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
Sunday, December 15, 2019, 8:00 AM PST through Sunday, December 22, 2019, 12:00 AM PST
If you still don’t know what to give as a gift to your beloved ones, this could be a nice opportunity and addition to their library. Make the best use of my Kindle promo week and get the story of a harp seal Danny at a favorable price! Thank you for spreading the word and telling others about it. Even more, thank you for leaving an honest review on Amazon and Goodreads.
Don’t forget: my other book A World Without Color is at a permanent price of $0.99!
“A book filled with heart and love for all living things, I found the book touching and inspirational! The author's sincere character is embedded into each & every word! I highly recommend this book and give it five stars!”—S. Richard, author of Man at 50: A Journey of Crisis, Revelation and Survival!
An excerpt from Look for Me Under the Rainbow:
One day everything changed. Danny got a brother. Overwhelmed with joy, he completely forgot about the fear he felt when his mother left him alone a little longer than usual. He had begun to think something happened to her. Like maybe the sea current dragged her to the open sea where a killer whale swallowed her up . . . or a shark tore her apart . . . or she got caught in the ice . . . or she met a man. . . . But when he saw her coming with a tiny pup in tow, just opening its eyes, his fears and foreboding dispelled.
Danny received Jon with such sincere affection and love, his mother almost burst into tears from happiness and pride.
Jon’s mother died in labor leaving him alone. And he barely survived.
Even Danny’s father, in their vicinity at that moment, was slightly bemused by this extraordinary show of affection. But as soon as Danny—feeling his gaze—turned to look at him, his father averted his eyes and disappeared behind a huge chunk of ice.
Now she had not one, but two pups to worry about. Danny refused to be weaned and now Jon suckled as if he had not tasted food in his entire life. Still, Danny’s mother knew she did the right thing. Her malcontent and mischievous little pup Danny whom she could not let out of sight even for a second, now changed beyond recognition. Not only did he stop pestering her with his interminable questions, he almost stopped his excursions to the sea. His attention focused on Jon, he treated his adopted brother with warmth and kindness. She thought that was amazing. If she weren’t a mother who loved Danny more than anything in the world, she might have thought his love for Jon stronger than her own. But that was impossible. She loved Danny as much as it was possible to love anybody.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Download Look for Me Under the Rainbow.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
December 12, 2019
The Last Migration Book Review
The Last Migration by Michael EvansMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Highly action-packed third instalment of the Conspiracy Chronicles puts Sam in front of many new challenges. The biggest challenge is saving millions of people before they perish in the vats of acid of his father’s company Chimera, but it’s not the last one. As the truth of The Last Migration plan leaks to the public, Sam is propelled into a series of events that will grind his emotions and body with a turbulent force of new discoveries with devastating consequences.
Speeding from one dangerous situation to another, a young author of The Last Migration twists and turns his characters to the limit. With a brilliant narrative he proves his excellence as a storyteller and skillfulness in creating and destroying worlds. Michael Evans is a talent yet to be discovered and recognized by many. I am honored and happy to enjoy and hungrily devour his books at such an early stage of his career.
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
My review of Deadwave and Blood Brothers.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
December 2, 2019
Biopage
I have a new profile, this time on Biopage!
“Biopage is a social networking platform that encourages people to write their story—a biography page to introduce yourself in your own words, and updating posts for important events and life experiences. It is a social networking place for writers.” (Quoted from their website)
Check it out and make sure to follow me if you open your free account. Will be happy to see you there and follow you back!
This is me: biopage.com/bernardjan.
Thanks!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
“Biopage is a social networking platform that encourages people to write their story—a biography page to introduce yourself in your own words, and updating posts for important events and life experiences. It is a social networking place for writers.” (Quoted from their website)
Check it out and make sure to follow me if you open your free account. Will be happy to see you there and follow you back!
This is me: biopage.com/bernardjan.
Thanks!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
November 10, 2019
Blood Brothers Review
Blood Brothers by Michael EvansMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
It doesn’t happen often that I finish reading one book in the series and can’t wait for another one as it’s with the Conspiracy Chronicles by teenage author Michael Evans.
Deadwave, the first book in the Conspiracy Chronicles turned me into a fan instantly. Sam, who faces the biggest challenge of his life to stay alive and becomes the best player on the planet by winning the Deadwave World Championship, a virtual reality zombie video game, in Blood Brothers faces even bigger challenge. To stay alive, he must keep his promise and kill his father in a mission orchestrated by an ultra-powerful secret organization of elites.
But Sam and his father have their own agenda. As Sam becomes a blood brother and the powerful member of the organization, will he be able to help his father in realizing his grand plan for his company Chimera? Will things go smoothly for Sam and what will happen to tens of millions of people living in virtual worlds controlled by Chimera?
Only a month after publishing Deadwave, a talented and prolific storyteller Michael Evans launches another fast-paced and super-exciting novel that takes us into the heart of a secret organization, its plots and ruthlessness in manipulating and sparing no one on its path to control and rule the world. Blood Brothers is a page-turner that will make you crave for more!
BJ
www.bernardjan.com
My review of Deadwave.
Follow me on Twitter.
Bernard Jan
View all my reviews
