Rennie St. James's Blog: Ramblings, page 4

Book Chat 9: Fury of a Phoenix

Book Chat 9 – Fury of a Phoenix

I’m posting this Book Chat later than normal, but I’m here and ready to chat!

This cover is probably what gained my attention first…then hearing it was a John Wick/ revenge type story didn’t hurt. While I typically prefer lighter reads, I was definitely excited to include this in our Book Chat. We’ll start with the usual details and stats before starting my review.

The Fury of a Phoenix (The Nix Series Book 1) by Shannon Mayer
Published: 7/11/17...

Guest post: Selene Kallan [How NOT to Stake a Vampiress]

Guest Post by Selene Kallan: How Not to Stake a Vampiress

I’m always excited when fellow authors want to drop by to chat and Selene has even visited previously! This time she has a new release to share (Huntress Prey). You’ll find out more below but I want to bring up a related favorite subject of mine: TROPES!

When I started writing, I didn’t even realize I was using a hero’s journey and found family tropes in my Rahki Chronicles. Now, I know those are two of my favorite tropes. I also ha...

Book Chat bonus: Hot & Badgered

Book Chat Bonus: Hot and Badgered

Okay, okay, I’ve heard so much praise for Shelly Laurenston’s Honey Badger series for what seems like forever now and I finally took the dive during an Amazon KU trial. Let’s start with the usual basics for our book chats even though this is a bonus.

Published: 3/27/18
Book 1 of 4
Amazon: 1,805 ratings, 4.6 avg
GR: 8,948 ratings, 1,404 reviews, 4.19 avg

Cover of Shelley Laurenston’s Hot and Badgered

It’s not every day that a beautiful naked wom...

Book Chat 8: Deadline

“I didn't share that information. Brownie point for me. And later a real brownie.”

"Sometimes, confidence was the difference between success and failure. and sometimes, confidence didn't do squat."

Overall, I’d give this one a solid 3.5 stars. It exceeded my expectations and provided a satisfying read. I would definitely read more in this series and from this author. There were also things I learned as an author from this book.

Deadline

...

Read my complete review here:
https://writerrsj.com/2021/09/30/book...

Book Chat 8: Deadline

Welcome back to this monthly blog post series – though I read in August, we skipped that assignment so I didn’t post a review here. However, this particular book was one I bought back in 2019 so it’s certainly time to give it a read. As usual, the basic book details and blurb follow. After that, we’ll start on the negative review points I found on GR and Amazon and start our chat!

Deadline [A Blood Trails novel] by Jennifer Blackstream
Book 1 of 12
Published: 1-14-98
Amazon: 821 ratings, 4.3...

The Zombie Apocalypse [aka Emergency Preparedness Tips]

The Zombie Apocalypse [aka Emergency Preparedness Tips]

September is Emergency Preparedness month so I felt the need to blog about this important subject. While current events might be inspiring my upcoming dystopian novel, I think it’s necessary to plan and discuss the possibilities in a realistic way. If we’ve learned nothing else since 2020, it is the importance of having extra toilet paper stored.

Supernatural memes are always needed: Hoard Toilet Paper

I’ve started approaching this...

3 Tips for New Authors

Sometimes, our lives are meant to serve as a warning for others…so perhaps, these 3 tips for new (and unpublished) authors may help you prepare for success or at least to avoid some mistakes I’ve made.

There are all kinds of information out there and some of it comes from many more successful authors. However, I’ve kinda stolen these tips from those more successful authors…and each one was something I did wrong and later had to fix.

Know your genre – Yes, you want to tell your story your ...

Rahki Travel Tips #3

Who is ready to get back out into the world?

Like many, we cancelled 2020 travel plans, but we hoped to resume normal travel in 2021. I did travel recently (July 2021) and Covid still impacted our plans. While that trip has inspired this post, my tips here will extend beyond the coronavirus.

Whether you are returning to travel or planning your first trip, I have some tips to share!

Safety – Personal safety is always a big concern for me and is something I’ve blogged about in a variety of w...

Book Chat 7: Magic Bites

We are officially over halfway through our 2021 Book Chat – I hope you’re having even half as much fun as I’m having with this! Our July read is Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. This husband/ wife writing duo tops so many favorite UF book lists that I was excited to give this one a try. Let’s start with the usual book details.

Amazon: 4.5 with 2,725 ratings; Goodreads: 4.03 with 115,911 ratings

Published Mar 27, 2007; 10 book series

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who make...

Returning to ‘normal’

Returning to normal

[aka Pandemic Survival: Lessons from martial arts Part 7]

Mere weeks ago, I stepped onto the mats again to train in aikido. This isn’t my only step back into my previous ‘normal’ so I had to revisit this blog series once more. If you missed any of it, you’ll find the links to the earlier posts at the bottom.

First, returning to the mats…

After my longest absence ever, I wasn’t sure what to expect of myself when stepping back on the mats. Bumpy rolls ranked pretty...