A.O. Chika's Blog, page 17

Premade Book Cover: Crossing Over Series

Here is my first premade book cover series boxset. I’ve never actually made a book series boxset until today and to be honest, I spent most of the time afraid of getting the spine right.

 

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Book Review: Letters to Laura by Wesley Rivers

Title:


Letters to Laura








Author:



Wesley Rivers






Genre:


Romance





Publisher:


Wesley Rivers





Release Date:


March 17, 2016

REVIEW:

Breakups are tough, at first, we're miserable and then angry and then we try to play the victim by blaming the other person for everything, and if you're like me the next stage is pretending to be 'the bigger person'.

But despite it all, breakups change us whether for better or for worse, mostly living us with a crap load of self-doubt and trust issues... we've all been there.

When I started reading this book, I HATED Laura. I didn't understand her and for a while, I thought it didn't matter, breaking up with someone like that, shattering their whole world abusing them emotionally is unforgivable. But I continued reading, I began to see why she acted that way and a part of me understood her behaviour and empathized with her.

This book is beautiful because it shows us how much we can grow after a breakup, it doesn't mean the hurt disappears, but it shows you the journey towards getting to the point when you see them again and rather than pain, hurt, and acceptance, there is just a fond remembrance of all the good things you had and how much you've grown since then and maybe just maybe all the pain served it purpose.

And most importantly it didn't blame Laura for everything because truth is they were both broken, they both had their flaws and issues; one kept pretending to be what she was not, and the other kept pushing everyone away, destroying herself and everyone around her.

SYNOPSIS:

Letters to Laura is the story of one woman’s journey from heartbreak to healing. Told through a series of letters, this unique epistolary offers insight into coming out of the closet, losing your virginity, and learning how to genuinely grieve in the face of loss.

People don’t have to die to leave us and when two women—madly in love—break apart, the leaving is all too real. In this inspiringly raw work, grief shows its true nature: that of a healer. How much pain have you shoved down into the depths of your broken heart? Perhaps the light needed for your darkness lies between the lines of one brave woman’s willingness to be exposed.

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Dear LGBT Authors, Fix Your Blog!

Buckle up ladies and gentlemen. Sadly this post isn’t a book review or a post about my latest book cover design. Nope, this is about WordPress for authors.

So, I was stalking my favorite author yesterday… before you ask, I’m sure she doesn’t mind. My love for her reduced slightly on clicking on her author website for once, rather than her Amazon author page or social media account. Yup, that sounded creepy AF.

The point is while I would forever love her books, her website was trying to stand in the way of my love. So I’ve taken it upon myself to help her as well as other LGBT authors with zero WordPress skill and even lesser money to spend.

PS: This only works on a self-hosted WordPress site.

First, let’s start with themes.

Most authors prefer something simple rather than a magazine style layout like mine, also, most premium themes are surprisingly not free! however, I have compiled a list of links to free premium themes.

PS: The company responsible for the theme are not paying me for this, I very much doubt they know I exist.

Customizr: You need this stat! its simple to use, it comes with a top social media menu bar that you can link to ALL your social media profiles. It’s Woocommerce compatible, it’s… ITS AMAZING!
AcessPress: I use one of their themes. They have a lot of free premium themes ranging from simplistic to complicated magazine style. Also, their customer support is awesome, considering the fact that I’m using the free version of their themes and yet I’m constantly bugging them.

There are others but I highly recommend these two because I’ve used them. And yes before you as they both come with sliders.

Next, Email marketing

Mailchimp is awesome, the fact that you get your first two thousand subscribers free is amazing, but you know what? there’s no automated messaging for new subscribers, the fact that I need to create a template before adding it to a campaign pisses me off, maybe I’m missing something but here’s an alternative.

Mailpoet: I use this on my blog so I can recommend it. The subscription bar on the right is it’s widget. it also adds an option for commenters to subscribers to my blog, as well as gives you the option to create lists or add WordPress users/subscribers. Here’s a list of its features.


Drag & drop newsletter editor
Send your latest posts automatically
Autoresponders, i.e. “Send email 3 days after someone subscribes”
Send emails to your WordPress users
Start collecting subscribers in 2-clicks with our sign up widget
Single or double opt-in, your choice
Import subscribers in 2 steps
Get stats for your newsletter: opens, clicks, unsubscribes
Drag and drop subscription form designer
Your newsletters look the same in Gmail, iPhone, Android, Outlook, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.
Send with your web host, Gmail, any SMTP, like SendGrid, Amazon SES Mandrill, etc…
Segment your lists based on unopened, opened and clicked
Selection of over 70 themes. Photoshop files included
Sending newsletters in the free version is limited to 2000 subscribers

That’s all for today, I’ll continue this next week, feel free to comment on features you’d like on your Author website and I can give you some recommendations… After I’ve tried it out of course.

So, dear LGBT book authors you really have no reason to have a crappy author website. For LGBT authors with a wordpress.com blog, I’ll be making a similar blog post although with the limitations of wordpress.com blogs design and feature would depend on the theme. Luckily wordpress.com has several nice themes, you just have to look for it and keep trying them until you find the one that clicks.

For LGBT authors with a wordpress.com blog, I’ll be making a similar blog post although with the limitations of wordpress.com blogs design and feature would depend on the theme. Luckily wordpress.com has several nice themes, you just have to look for it and keep trying them until you find the one that clicks.

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Premade Book Cover: Black Crown Trilogy

I’ve never actually made a premade book cover series until now, and while it was my first time I didn’t want it too look so obvious. I think it came out nicely, although id admit i still have a lot to work on but Meh!

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Book Review: Dust On The Wing by Parker Foye

Title:


Dust On The Wing








Author:



Parker Foye






Genre:


Sci-fi





Publisher:


Less Than Three Press





Release Date:


March 16, 2016









Source:


NetGallery

REVIEW:

I really don't like writing a negative review because it makes me feel like a bully, but considering the fact that it took me two days to read this book despite its length, I had to write this.

God, it physically hurts to read this book. I mean the first page all I saw was Spade, Joker and blah blah blah. Honestly, I felt like I was being fed too much info from the get go. But since it was a free copy from the publisher I decided to persevere. It would be rude not to at least, get half way.

The story itself is interesting,but the characters are flat. I really couldn't picture them or see them come to life. They just felt flat.

I like the experimental nature of the story, I felt like the author was trying something new and while I don’t think he succeeded, it was still worth the try.

One thing I don’t get is what the book is about, seriously I have no idea what the story is about, all I know is that there is some guy who travels around and has a sort-of relationship with a dubious guy who turned out to be royalty. OH, and he calls his ship Princess.

The writing was beautiful, there were some places that grabbed my attention but ultimately it just felt flat, I kept waiting for something to happen and when something happened it just wasn’t exciting enough or emotionally compelling enough to make me care.

SYNOPSIS:

Captain Tam spends his life travelling through space on his beloved ship, the Paradigm Princess, and he likes nothing better than being alone with the horizon. However, when a routine stop on his favourite planet brings an unexpected new crew member, he breaks routine and agrees to take her on board—because if Tam plays this through, the powerful Marquis will owe him a favour. Surely that’s worth a detour.

The post Book Review: Dust On The Wing by Parker Foye appeared first on A.O. Chika.

Book Review: Blood and Clockwork by Katey Hawthorne

Title:


Blood and Clockwork








Author:



Katey Hawthorne






Genre:


Steampunk, Romance





Publisher:


Less Than Three Press





Release Date:


March 16, 2016









Source:


NetGallery

REVIEW:

Okay, at first, I wasn’t sure where the book was going, but then Marco came in and OMG I love that guy. He’s funny, adaptable and don’t get me started on the racial comments.

“Dude, I’m not going to be the black guy in this horror movie, hell no.”

“Are you out of your damn mind? You’re not going to be the white guy in this horror movie. There’s some kind of fucked up magic going on that involves blood sacrifice, people disappear in here all the time, and that room literally smells like someone’s grandma fell asleep in there a week ago and never woke up. Do not go in there.”

“Please let this be like night of the living dead...” was his only response

“What does that mean”

“The black guy actually lived.”

“I think I found why this place smells like a dead elephant’s asshole.”

“Can we just focus on this dead chick,please? This is freaky as fuck.”

“It doesn’t smell like death,” Marco said.

——(One paragraph later)

Marco sighed beside me. “Goddammit, I cannot believe I actually said that. After all this bullshit I still spoke too soon.”

“Please do not magically turn into a skeleton,” He said, voice and face all wryness.

OMG, I love this guy! Dear Katey Hawthorne, please marry me.

Okay, this book is freaking awesome, I love how Marco didn't see it as a big deal that Alistair wasn’t into sex. I definitely love how this book did not mention Alistair asexuality every five minutes like some books tend to.

I said this before and I’ll say it again, I love Marco, he’s Golden! I think I’ve found my book boyfriend.

SYNOPSIS:

Alistair Click set out to lay to rest the superstitious fears about the Mad Prince’s clockwork tower. If that meant he might bring the ghost city of Avalonia back to economic life, connecting the western kingdoms once again, so much the better. So what if no adventurer who’d entered the tower in the last century of desolation had ever re-emerged? They didn’t have his skill and wit. He could do better.

The tower turns out to be far more than Alistair expected, however. Not only are there clockwork puzzles to open every door, but one of them drops a boy from a strange world into his lap–figuratively speaking, if only just. Marco Murphy was just gaming in his New Jersey apartment, and now he’s stuck in what feels like a never ending LARP nightmare.

The deeper they delve into the Mad Prince’s tower, the darker the secrets they uncover. They’re not entirely sure they’ll ever be able to get out again, either. It’ll take all Marco’s charm and Alistair’s cleverness, plus the strange bond growing between them, to get them out together… and alive.

The post Book Review: Blood and Clockwork by Katey Hawthorne appeared first on A.O. Chika.

Author Highlight: Sara York

When it comes to M/M authors who has a special place in my heart, Sara York definitely has a special seat reserved for her with the words ‘ALL THE GAY’ proudly written on it.

The Colorado heart series, was beautiful.

For anyone new to her work I’d recommend starting with Colorado wild, which is book one of the Colorado heart series.

You can check out her website here or her Amazon author page here which I am admittedly guilty of constantly checking.

Follow my blog on bloglovin

That’s all folks, I’m off to stalk Sierra Riley

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Book Review: The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz

Title:


The Cybernetic Tea Shop








Author:



Meredith Katz






Genre:


Romance, Ace/Aro





Publisher:


Less Than Three Press





Release Date:


March 16, 2016









Source:


NetGallery

REVIEW:

OMG, I loved this, at first, I couldn't get past the first chapter but after closing it and returning back hours later I fell in love with it.

I love how Clara and Sal have this thing that is somewhat romantic but doesn't really have a name, it's warm and fuzzy and it's probably what home feels like.

Dear God, I love Joanie, that damned bird had me laughing, for an AI she has a crap load of sass.

In terms of originality, this book definitely had it in spades. the character arc was different from what I expected but then again one of the characters is an AI that's almost three hundred years, so that's to be expected.

What I loved the most was how the Author added emotion, body language and an impulse to a robot- for lack of better word. The description and imagery were so vivid and compelling that once I got past the first page I couldn't stop reading it.

I’m definitely looking forward to more books by Meredith Katz.

SYNOPSIS:

Clara Gutierrez is a highly-skilled technician specializing in the popular ‘Raise’ AI companions. Her childhood in a migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering in any one place, so she sticks around just long enough to replenish her funds before she moves on, her only constant companion Joanie, a fierce, energetic Raise hummingbird.

Sal is a fully autonomous robot, the creation of which was declared illegal ages earlier due to ethical concerns. She is older than the law, however, at best out of place in society and at worst hated. Her old master is long dead, but she continues to run the tea shop her master had owned, lost in memories of the past, slowly breaking down, and aiming to fulfill her master’s dream for the shop.

When Clara stops by Sal’s shop for lunch, she doesn’t expect to find a real robot there, let alone one who might need her help. But as they begin to spend time together and learn more about each other, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on

The post Book Review: The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz appeared first on A.O. Chika.

Fanfiction Review

I made a post earlier this week that I would be creating a fanfiction review system on my blog to review fanfiction books, as they are no different from other books.

Despite making that post I had to come up with a way to structure it so as to differentiate it from other book reviews as well as make it easy for readers to sort through them.

I’ll be focusing more on Fanfiction stories on AO3 because it allows readers to download the eBook, however that doesn’t mean fanfiction books on Wattpad will not be reviewed.

So, Here’s the fanfiction review system:

Fanfiction reviews can be sorted by Fandom, ratings, warnings, length, status and orientation.

FANDOM:

AO3 as well as other platforms for fanfiction stories have thousands if not millions of stories and I really cannot review books in any fandom so I have decided to narrow it down to the following fandoms.

Hannibal
Suits
Teen Wolf
Criminal Minds
Supernatural
Once Upon a Time
Shameless
Sherlock Holmes and related fandoms

To be honest I haven’t watched most of them, but I have found a lot of great stories written on them in AO3 and I think starting with these would be fine. Perhaps later I’ll add more fandoms to the list but for now these would do.

RATINGS:

Sorting by ratings will be the same as with any other book review, ratings will be from 1 to 5 stars.

WARNINGS:

I’ll be using AO3 warning system. Sorting by warning will be as follows

No warnings apply
Graphic depiction of Violence
Major character death
Rape/Non-con
Underage

LENGTH:

Sorting by length will be as follows

Short stories
Novellas
Novels
Long Novels

STATUS:

Sadly there are a lot of unfinished stories on AO3 but sometimes the story is too good be ignored and the story might not be abandoned just

Sorting by status will be as follows

Complete
Incomplete

ORIENTATION:

Sorting by orientation will be as follows

Asexual/Aromantic
Bisexual
Gay
Genderqueer
Intersex
Lesbian
Transgender

I’m really looking forward to doing some book reviews on fanfiction stories, I’ve already began stacking my ePUB reader with fanfic books.

You can always reach me on Bloglovin Facebook Twitter Tumblr

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Book Review: Tight Knit by Annabeth Albert

Title:


Tight Knit






Series:


Portland Heat





Author:



Annabeth Albert






Genre:


Romance, Ace/Aro





Publisher:


Lyrical Shine





Release Date:


April 12, 2016









Source:


NetGallery

REVIEW:

I love this book, I loved the coffee, Ev’s beautiful speech patterns mostly the way the slipped in Turkish words into his sentences.

I love coffee shop romance stories and anything that is based on people meeting through coffee(My one and only drug), what I loved even more, was how the story was thoroughly embedded in the knitting culture yet never lost the coffee shop romance feel

The romance was slow and steady but not boring. I love how there were other things going on in their lives other than just the romance, most MM books are heavily focused on the romance with barely there subplots, but this was beautiful.

While there wasn’t really a character arc with Brady, I think the author kinda made up for it by slowly changing Ev’s biased towards bisexuals.

I do feel that in the end their relationship went too fast I mean, Brady is just twenty-three and how does he even know that Ev’s it for him. Their wedding also felt like it happened to soon, but I guess such is love.

SYNOPSIS:

It’s no secret that Portland, Oregon, has some of best restaurants, shops, and cafés in the country. But it’s the hard-working men who serve it all up that keep us coming back for more…

One of Portland’s hottest young baristas, Brady is famous for his java-topping flair, turning a regular cup of joe into a work of art. Every Wednesday—aka “Knit Night”—hordes of women and their needles descend on the coffeehouse, and Brady’s feeling the heat. Into the fray walks a tall, dark, and distractingly handsome stranger from New York.

His name is Evren, and he’s the sexy nephew of Brady’s sweetest customer, the owner of the yarn shop down the street. He’s also got a killer smile, confident air, and masculine charm that’s tying Brady’s stomach in knots. The smitten barista can’t wait to see him at the next week’s gathering. But when he tries to ask Evren out, his plans unravel faster than an unfinished edge.

If Brady hopes to warm up more than Evren’s coffee, he’ll have to find a way to untangle their feelings, get out of the friend zone, and form a close-knit bond that’s bound to last a lifetime…

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