Kaye Lynne Booth's Blog: Writing to be Read, page 47

Book Review: The Ones They Buried

About the Book

Phoebe Watson was a rising star in the fitness world. Then she disappeared.

The mystery captivates the nation, and the investigation takes a dark turn when her body is discovered a year later, buried deep in a remote, wooded area.

Only one person seems to know something about those remains—multi-millionaire Catherine Bower, one of Phoebe’s former clients. Soon after Phoebe disappeared, Catherine suffered a life-altering accident.

FBI Special Agent Victoria Heslin believes there’s a connection between Phoebe’s murder and Catherine’s accident. As Victoria digs deeper, she uncovers a thick web of secrets and lies, and every thread she untangles points toward a shocking truth.

Bestselling author Jenifer Ruff’s latest chilling crime fiction novel will have you on the edge of your seat as you unravel the clues. The Ones They Buried is book 8 in the award-winning Agent Victoria Heslin crime fiction mystery series. Each of the books features a unique investigation and can ABSOLUTELY be read as a STANDALONE.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Ones-Buried-Agent-Victoria-Heslin-ebook/dp/B0CD8VGFVK/

My Review

I was already a fan of Jennifer Ruff’s Agent Victoria Hesling Thrillers, having reviewed several. It seems I’ve missed a couple, since The Ones They Buried in number eight, but that is okay, because the books in this series are all good as stand alones.

You can see my other reviews of Jenifer Ruff’s books here:

The Numbers Killer: https://writingtoberead.com/2019/07/12/the-numbers-killer-a-crime-thriller-that-keeps-readers-guessing/Pretty Little Girls & When They Find Us: https://writingtoberead.com/2023/10/13/book-reviews-pretty-little-girls-when-they-find-us/

In The Ones They Buried, Jennifer Ruff has outdone herself. This book has enough twists and turns, and red herrings to make the killer reveal a true surprise. Skillfully crafted to keep readers guessing.

A dead body is found in the woods, and identified as a woman who disappeared a year ago, starting an investigation into the prestigeous family of the woman who employed her at the time of her death. But who is the killer? George the gardener, who was the last person to see her? His shady brother-in-law with a criminal record? Katherine’s adulterous husband? Or someone else? Katherine knows, but she can’t communicate the truth if she wanted to due to an unfortunate swimming accident which deprived her of oxygen for too long. But was it an accident, or was someone tring to silence her because she knew too much? It’s up to Agent Victoria Hessling to find out, but someone is trying to stop her. No spoilers. You’ll have to read the book to find out who and why.

Ruff is the master of crime thriller fiction. I give The Ones They Buried five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Book Review – War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches

About the Book

Nineteen gut-wrenching reports from the front lines of the War of the Worlds, as logged by Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, H.P. Lovecraft, Winston Churchill, Jules Verne, and many of the other most famous writers of the time. The most popular and acclaimed science fiction writers of today relive the Martian invasion through the eyes of their famous predecessors.

My Review

I received War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches as a stretch goal reward from Kevin J. Anderson’s Bats in the Belfry Kickstarter campaign. This anthology offers a global take on the invasion begun in a novel by H.G. Wells and the 1938 radio broadcast that caused near panic when thought to be real. Compiled by Kevin J. Anderson, this anthology contains stories by various authors, portraying the invasion through the eyes of various historical figures. Authors with featured dispatches include Kevin J. Anderson, Dave Wolverton, Mike Resnick, David Brin, Gregory Benford, Walter Jon Williams, Connie Willis, Robert Silverberg, and others. MacLeod Andrews narrates these fictional tales from arounf the globe.

H.G. Wells nearly created a mass hysteria with his famous radio broadcast in 1938. By now, we’re all familiar with the infamous tale of a Martian invasion and foiled plan to take over the world. They came, smashing their cyclinders into the Earth at every vantage point they could find. We know what happened here in the U.S., where the original story was set, but what about the rest of the world?

Global Dispatches presents nineteen different perspectives on the Martian invasion from around the world, with more tripods and tentacles than you can count. Mike Resnik offers up the perspective of Theodore Roosevelt, Kevin J. Anderson speaks as Percival Lowell, a Chinese Empress speaks through Walter Jon Williams, Danial Marcus gives us the Picaso perspective, etc… How each of these historical figures might have percieved such an alien invasion is presented through nineteen talented authors.

To me, it seemed like all these stories were just more of the same, and I was easily bored as one tripod looks the same as the next. The fact that I was familiar with the oiginal story and knew how it ended, made it difficult for me to feel fear for any of the characters in these tales. Reactions are not surprising. All watch in fear as the invaders wreck havoc wherever they are until they all eventually come to a halt as our viruses and germs which their systems couldn’t fight off.

Although it may be interesting to explore this tale from different historical perspectives, how much variance can there be between the different areas of the globe? This one wasn’t for me. I give this story collection three quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Mind Fields: The Nature Of Breath

The Nature of Breath

Oct 19, 2009

Your breath has a shape

unique

like a fingerprint

no two alike

in all the world.

Everything about you

is found in your breath

all your lives

and deaths,

all your thoughts.

Think of your body

as vanished,

only breath remains

it has an in stop

and an out stop

and contains so much more

than air.

If we could know one another

by our breaths

if we could see the human crowd

as a throng of breaths,

nothing else,

(hello jagged anxious breath

how are you

hello smooth relaxed breath

nice to see you)

the human race is

a breath collective

today some will arrive

today some will depart

lungs are merely homes

like hands fill gloves.

Everything sacred, every dark secret

lives in the breath

and when it leaves your body

for the last time

it is a system of information

like a letter full of you,

air mail, breath mail.

I would tell you more of this

if I knew any more

but this is as far as I’ve got

in learning the nature of breath.

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Arthur Rosch is a novelist, musician, photographer and poet. His works are funny, memorable and often compelling. One reviewer said “He’s wicked and feisty, but when he gets you by the guts, he never lets go.” Listeners to his music have compared him to Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Randy Newman or Mose Allison. These comparisons are flattering but deceptive. Rosch is a stylist, a complete original. His material ranges from sly wit to gripping political commentary.

Arthur was born in the heart of Illinois and grew up in the western suburbs of St. Louis. In his teens he discovered his creative potential while hoping to please a girl. Though she left the scene, Arthur’s creativity stayed behind. In his early twenties he moved to San Francisco and took part in the thriving arts scene. His first literary sale was to Playboy Magazine. The piece went on to receive Playboy’s “Best Story of the Year” award. Arthur also has writing credits in Exquisite Corpse, Shutterbug, eDigital, and Cat Fancy Magazine. He has written five novels, a memoir and a large collection of poetry. His autobiographical novel, Confessions Of An Honest Man won the Honorable Mention award from Writer’s Digest in 2016.

More of his work can be found at www.artrosch.com

Photos at https://500px.com/p/artsdigiphoto?view=photos

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POP—I Still Care About Star Wars, and so Should You

Exploring popular culture with both feet planted on terra firma. This is your monthly POP—I Still Care About Star Wars, and so Should Youby Jeff Bowles

When I was just entering the sixth grade, I had very few comforts in life. My family had just disintegrated due to my parents’ divorce, and I was now living with just my mom in a small mountain apartment. I was getting mercilessly bullied at school due to my weight, and my two closest friends from grade school had recently left the area for good. To top it all off, my big brother—the one guy I admired most—had just a few months prior left for college, gone to start his own life, a thing I understand well now but at that point had challenges accepting. I was sad a lot, alone a lot, and felt pretty abused by life.

But I always had Star Wars. It got me through. I owned the three original movies on VHS and watched them religiously, until the tapes were all but worn out. I had the toys and the comics and books and video games. I could quote long lines of dialogue, and I one day hoped to write epic stories that captivated people just as fully as George Lucas’ magnum opus had captivated me. As time went on and life began to offer me new opportunities, my love of Star Wars endured. To this day, I watch every new Star Wars show and movie, buy the games and read (some of) the books and comics, because I know that the eleven-year-old within still needs to be comforted from time to time. Star Wars has been a positive force in my life. A hopeful force. I don’t know what I would do without it.

But is that all Star Wars is good for? Hopeful nostalgia for old-school fans like me? Because I’ve got to be honest, for more and more of the Star Wars devoted, that isn’t quite good enough anymore. In 2012, George Lucas sold his legendary production company, Lucasfilm, to The Walt Disney Company, and ever since, there have been more new Star Wars projects than you can shake a humming lightsaber at. Whereas Lucas himself only oversaw the creation and release of six original Star Wars films and a couple animated shows over the course of thirty-five years or so, it took Disney-owned Lucasfilm—under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy—a third of the time to produce five new movies, six new animated series, and five big-budget live-action series available through Disney+.

Lucas himself coveted the frontier of live-action television but never managed to get there with Star Wars. Odd, because we would’ve killed for something like The Mandalorian or Andor back in the day. Disney has gone above and beyond TV, however. There are numerous multi-media properties that continue to push the boundaries of what Disney and Lucasfilm have come to call the Star Wars “timeline”. One of the things Disney did immediately after buying Lucasfilm was to excommunicate the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which Lucas himself commissioned from a multitude of very talented creators throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. That Expanded Universe had no filmic equivalent; it was made up solely of books, games, and comics, and maybe, just maybe—from a business standpoint, at least—Disney was smart to cut it loose.

Much to the chagrin of many a classic Star Wars fan, the truth is that the House of Mouse would’ve been adapting old projects to film for decades if they’d allowed the EU to live. For reasons almost too numerous to ponder, that was never an option for them. It seems clear George Lucas expected it to happen, however, that he literally thought every new Star Wars film and show for years to come would in some ways acknowledge those legacy projects. He himself pitched to Kathleen Kennedy and Disney his concepts for Episodes VII through IX, but those concepts were more or less ignored. Except for a few key characters that’ve managed to make the jump, like Grand Admiral Thrawn’s recent introduction on Ahsoka, the majority of the filmgoing world will never know of the original continued adventures of Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Chewbacca and all the rest.

And that is kind of a shame. Many of those old books were pretty good. Of course, if Lucas had really wanted to continue his saga in a powerful and enduring way, he’d have kept making movies instead of cloistering and keeping lock-safe all his secret intentions. It really does no good to cherry-pick the past. That’s sort of the entire point. If Lucas felt betrayed by Disney, many of his fans took it even harder. Imagine spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Star Wars merchandise throughout the years, only to be told by Peter Pan’s parent company, “Sorry, everyone, but we own the goods now, and what we say goes.”

I don’t fault these fans for resenting, disliking, and even outright hating the choices Disney-owned Lucasfilm has made. By comparison, the Expanded Universe had everything, including a ton of great content depicting the years immediately following the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic. None of the recently released Star Wars movies had a single scene in which all the original principal heroes shared screen time. Han and Luke never got to shake hands over another key victory, Luke and Leia never got to reconcile their father’s descent into the dark side and his miraculous redemption. That would’ve been some cool stuff to see. We assume it happened, but where’s the evidence?

Disney ultimately hired director J.J. Abrams and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (the guy responsible for penning The Empire Strikes Back) to produce Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh part of the Skywalker Saga. The Force Awakens featured a new and original generation of heroes, led by female protagonist Rey, whose backstory is just as mysterious as her inexplicable proficiency with the Force. There’s gender politics tied up in all this, objections to Disney’s wokeness and a slew of counterarguments to oppose them. Suffice it to say, this is a debate that belongs on a political blog and not here on Writing to be Read. I’d rather this discussion remain as dignified as possible, if you don’t mind (now back to the corporate history of space wizards and their laser swords).

The Force Awakens was generally well received and did extraordinary business at the box office in the winter of 2015. I liked that movie for all its youth and vigor. It somehow kindled in me that wonderful glowing nostalgia I crave so much. It felt like Star Wars of old, perhaps a little too much, because while it was fun to watch, it didn’t necessarily do anything new. Episode VII, appropriately enough, was followed up two years later by Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. I also like The Last Jedi, but gosh, that is sometimes a controversial stance to take. Many diehards bemoan its existence; The Last Jedi marks a turning point at which fan-generated goodwill toward Lucasfilm and Disney began to fester.

Petitions started circulating the internet not long after its release, somehow expecting entertainment superpower The Walt Disney Company to remake a movie they’d already spent $250 million to produce. Not going to happen, in this galaxy or the next. I was surprised by the backlash, frankly, but my perspective is a bit different. When I said George Lucas inspired me as a child, I wasn’t kidding. I’m a novelist today, a short story writer, a nonfiction writer, a blogger, a poet; I went to grad school specifically to learn how to write popular fiction. And as a writer of pop fiction, I don’t fault other creators for doing things a little differently. The Last Jedi is a perfect example. I didn’t expect Luke Skywalker to become a bitter failure by the end of his life, but I respect Rian Johnson (the movie’s writer and director) for choosing to go there, because I recognize it both holds with Star Wars tradition and moves one of my favorite fictional characters in a direction I didn’t anticipate. It’s a bold decision. Not easy to make. I honor that as a writer.

But that’s just me. Around the same time as The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm also made two offshoot Star Wars movies, Rogue One and Solo. As an exploration of the events occurring just before the original 1977 film, Rogue One certainly nails the nostalgia factor. Solo, however, is less convincing, mostly because it tells the story of a young Han in a pretty glib manner. These two ‘Star Wars Story’ films didn’t perform as well as Disney anticipated, so they kind of axed the idea of doing more like them.

In 2019, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker—the quote, unquote “final” entry in the Skywalker Saga—premiered to almost unanimous fan derision. Even if you liked The Last Jedi, you probably weren’t so enamored with The Rise of Skywalker. The disparity in storytelling styles between filmmakers, and the basic fact that Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams clearly hadn’t planned this new trilogy as well as they said they had, contributed to the growing sentiment that Star Wars’ best days were behind it.

And maybe they are. Those old movies made over forty years ago do have the tendency to outshine their modern equivalents. Is Star Wars really dead? At least from a quality perspective? More to the point, is Disney-era Star Wars inferior to Lucas-era Star Wars? I will say this: nostalgia, rather than being a boon to people like me, can occasionally become a liability. The feeling I got as an eleven-year-old, when my family was in dire straits and the kids at school were picking on me, that feeling of sitting in front of the TV and watching those old VHS copies of my favorite three movies, it lends itself well to coloring my experience today. That’s the problem with nostalgia. That’s the problem with fandom. Many of us love Star Wars too much.

Need proof? When the prequels came out (in the years 1999 through 2005) most old-school fans declared the acting terrible, the writing and directing even worse. Even though many young adults today remember those movies fondly and feel they’re superior to the ones we grew up with. Back then, we said the prequels ruined our childhoods. Those were the words we used. As if the past can be ruined by anything in the present, as if it isn’t over and done with.

In my humble opinion, too many older fans can’t move on, can’t let go, even just a little, and accept the fact that if Star Wars is going to survive, it needs to speak to new generations of eleven-year-old kids. I’m thirty-nine now. Those new shows and cartoons I mentioned? They aren’t made for me, not really. They’re made for my nieces and nephews, for the kids of 2023 and beyond. Sure, they can go check out Luke, Leia, and Han’s old adventures, but odds are, they’ll like the new stuff better. Because it’s new. It’s made for them. Not for us. For them.

Which isn’t to say, of course, that us old fogies can’t enjoy modern Star Wars, too. The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Andor, there’s some good stuff happening on those shows. It’s just that many grumpy adults would like to see the Disney era come to an end. They say so on social media, make long diatribe videos about it on YouTube, do their utmost from the safety of their internet pulpits to try to convince anyone and everyone Star Wars needs to end. And what for? What does it matter to any of us what kinds of entertainment others enjoy? 

It comes down to this: do you as a Star Wars fan really want this thing to die because Disney ruined your childhood? Really? Again, lay aside the ridiculous argument that childhoods can be destroyed when we’re all middle-aged anyway. I’ll tell you what’s infinitely better and more inspiring. I’d rather see Star Wars continue to influence the lives and imaginations of the children who need it now. I don’t need Star Wars like I did when the world seemed like it was against me, when I felt lonely and angry, when George Lucas’ tale of good versus evil touched my heart in ways I still can’t quite quantify. Your sons and daughters, they’re the ones who need it. And hopefully someday, it’ll still exist in exciting new ways for their sons and daughters to enjoy and to need, and so on.

That’s the power of myth, of generational transmission. That’s the power of Star Wars, and George Lucas knew it the entire time.

I’m not saying people have to stick around if they don’t want to. If the sequel trilogy, Kathleen Kennedy, and Star Wars by-and-large turns you off, then by all means, unplug and never come back. But if there’s even just a glimmer of appreciation in you for characters like Grogu (the ‘baby Yoda’), Cassian Andor, Ahoska Tano, Finn, Poe Dameron, and even Rey Skywalker, please, I’m begging you, one fan to another, stop with all the wild resentment, the online petitions, the negative so-and-so.

I don’t like everything Lucasfilm produces. Heck, I resent the basic fact Star Wars has to be a silly, confusing timeline at this long-estranged point. But ultimately, under George Lucas, Star Wars was dying a slow death, no new content, nothing to connect it with new audiences, to keep it vital and alive. Under new leadership, it’s been given a fighting chance. They actually make Star Wars movies again. Just a decade ago, that was unthinkable. The basic truth is this: older Star Wars fans need to take a knee and let new generations have their say and have their day. Star Wars hasn’t been ruined by Lucasfilm, or Kathleen Kennedy, or The Walt Disney Company. Far from it, in fact. It has been preserved for generations to come.

May the Force be with you, always. Come back next month for a brand-new POP.

Resurrection Mixtape

Jeff Bowles is a science fiction and horror writer from the mountains of Colorado. The best of his outrageous and imaginative work can be found in Resurrection Mixtape, Love/Madness/Demon, God’s Body: Book One – The Fall, Godling and Other Paint Stories, Fear and Loathing in Las Cruces, and Brave New Multiverse. He has published work in magazines and anthologies like PodCastle, Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, the Threepenny Review, and Dark Moon Digest. Jeff earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing at Western State Colorado University. He currently lives in the high-altitude Pikes Peak region, where he dreams strange dreams and spends far too much time under the stars.

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Join WordCrafter for Sonoran Dawn’s Yuletide Jingle- Cover Reveal Party

https://www.facebook.com/events/813348287206158/?ti=ls

This is an invitation for you all to join WordCrafter Press for the holidays over on Sonoran Dawn’s Yuletide Jingle – Cover Reveal Party. This holiday book event will last three days, December 9th – 11th, with three different time blocks will be available for author takeovers, so all our author friends around the globe will have opportunity to participate. Come promote your work, party with us, and be there for the cover reveal for The Town Santa Forgot, the new short story by DL Mullan. You can R.S.V.P. at the link above or watch for my invites on Facebook. Sign up for an author takeover as soon as she posts the schedules, because author slots may go quickly.

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Want exclusive content? Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. She won’t flood your inbox, she NEVER sells her list, and you might get a freebie occasionally. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, just for joining.

Book Review: Terror in the Shadows

About the Book

Prepare to be captivated by “Terror in the Shadows,” a gripping paranormal, mystery, suspense novel that plunges into a world of hidden secrets and uncertain destinies. Kelsey, a tenacious young reporter known for chasing stories, suddenly vanishes, paralleling the puzzling disappearance of her mother three months ago. As time ticks away, the race to find Kelsey becomes a desperate pursuit for Detective Silverton.

Haunted by the mysterious photo of Kelsey, Lucy, a mysterious man with an intriguing connection to the supernatural, feels an unwavering urge to aid in the search. With his enigmatic powers, he reveals the missing pieces as they rush into the shadows to unearth long-hidden truths.

In a realm where secrets and lies intertwine, ancient powers stir from their slumber, ready to shape the fate of all involved. Within this realm, where the boundaries between light and dark blur, Kelsey’s fate hangs in the balance.

As Detective Silverton uncovers the truth behind Kelsey and her mother’s disappearance, he walks a treacherous tightrope between saving the young woman and losing everyone he loves. The stakes have never been higher as the clock relentlessly counts down.

With each page turned, “Terror in the Shadows” will immerse you in a world where gripping suspense and unexpected twists reign supreme. As the story unfolds, you’ll be held enthralled from the very first page to the heart-stopping climax. Will the truth set Kelsey free, or will she become another headline shadowed by darkness?

Prepare yourself for an exhilarating journey that will keep you on the edge of your seat, yearning for answers until the last word. “Terror in the Shadows” will leave you craving more, long after you’ve turned the last page.”

My Review

I requested a copy of this book from the author, Jupiter Rose, in exchange for an honest review, because the cover caught my eye. (Yes, I often consciously choose books by their covers.) The flaming pentagram with the figure of a man in it intrigued me and the title, Terror in the Shadows, promised a tale of dark fiction or horror to keep one awake at night. While this story has a lot of potential to be an excellent dark fantasy thriller, it failed to deliver on its promise.

It has an excellent premise, with witches and witch hunters, and even an appearance from the Dark Lord, himself, going by the name of Lucy. The mysterious disappearance of Kelsey’s mother starts things off, but we only get to learn about it through Kelsey’s thoughts before Kelsey herself disappears and it’s up to her two best friends Frank and Jennifer to find her before it’s too late. There are mysterious men stalking her, and a mysterious man who appears out of nowhere to help find her who has more information than he should, all building up to a climatic confrontation between the hunters and the hunted. I loved the tale enough to finish the book despite the problems that I found with it which included:

Massive head hopping. This story changes P.O.V. so often it’s difficult to know whose head your in – sometimes as often as every other paragraph.Numerous typos, sometimes changing gender identifiers within a single sentence.The characters were likeable enough, but they lacked depth, which could have easily been remedied by staying in P.O.V. so we could get more of their inner feelings and resonate with the reasons for their actions. There are too many extraordinary events that are reacted to by the characters as if they were every day occurrences, and no understanding as to why that would be.Needed to be more realistic, and plot holes that need patched. The character of Frank, in particular, was hard to figure out. He is portrayed as a policeman, but his behavior is very un-cop-like. They all have massive time off of work to delve into mysteries, and after her abduction, they bring Kelsey home and report nothing to the police or the media, after her photo has been plastered all over to the public. Then her boss calls to demand her to come back to work before he has any way to know she’s no longer missing. These moments make the reader pause from the story to say, “What? When did that happen?” And there a many of them.Too much telling and not enough showing. Told in past tense, it was too easy to fill us in later and just tell us something happened while we were out.

I never like to give less than positive reviews, but since I requested the book, I felt obligated to give an honest review as promised. The storyline was good enough to keep me reading despite the problems with craft and grammar. What makes it sad is that all of them could have been corrected by running it by a decent editor and giving it a good proofread. While I am a D.I.Y. author and publisher, I believe in putting out the best book possible, and I know how important it is to have a second, or even a third set of eyes go over the books that I publish. A book like this one just drives that message home.

Hard to get through due to typos and crafting mistakes. I give Terror in the Shadows three quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Writer’s Corner: Who Needs an Editor?

Even Stephen King Needs an Editor

In my graduate publishing classes, Kevin J. Anderson talked about how traditional publishers have tried to cut corners by providing minimal editing, and how they won’t even look at a manuscript that will require heavy editing, unless you are a big name author. Then he told the story of how Stephen King submitted something to a publisher who didn’t thinkm his work needed editing because he is a bestselling author, and Stephen King said something like, “What? No, wait. Part of the reason I’m a bestselling author is because I have fantastic editors to make me look good.”

Even bestselling authors need editors to help them make their writing the best that it can be. They don’t whip out stories that are grammatically correct and properly spelled right off the cuff. They work at it, and they have others input to help them improve their writing, and together, they turn out well written novels which then, become bestsellers.

For me, KJA’s story drove home a point. I’m an unknown author, and writing is a learning process which never stops. So, if bestselling author Stephen King believes he needs editors then, what makes me think that I don’t? Of course I do. I don’t claim to write as well as King, not by a long shot, so of course I need to have someone knowledgeable in all things writing to take a look at my works before I share them with the world.

Advantages of Having Your Work EditedYou’ll produce a better quality work that you can be proud of.Readers will appreciate not having to struggle through poorly spelled, or poorly structured sentences and paragraphs, just to follow the plot of the story.So, What Does an Editor Do That I Can’t?

There are many types of editing, but for the sake of this discussion, we’ll talk about line editing, or copyediting in the world of advertising and content marketing. For our purposes, we’ll use line editing.

A line editor sits down in front of your manuscript and goes through it line by line, marking misspellings, inconsistancies and grammar errors. If you’ve got a good repore with them they may also point out plot holes, but that really falls under the deep dive of developmental editing. And about now, you’re saying, “Well, I can do all of that.” And you can, but the thing is, they are not as close to your work as you are. And because you are so close to it, (if you’re anything like me, your stories are like your babies, so you’re biased toward your own writing), they may see things that you don’t, even though it’s right there in front of your eyes.

A Second, (and Maybe a Third or a Fourth), Set of Eyes

Editors are expensive, because editing takes a lot of time, when it’s done right. And I realize that not all authors can afford to hire an editor, especially when you are just starting out, and sometimes even years down the road, when you’re still trying to gain traction. I know because I’m one. I don’t make enough from my writing yet to give up my day job, as much as I would like to. Of course, I want my work to be its absolute best before publishing, so what is an author to do?

I’m a DIY author, but I believe that you really do need that second set of eyes that are distanced from your writing to get an objective opinion, but you don’t always need to pay a professional editor to get that. I don’t mean have Aunty Em give it a look, but someone who is knowledgeable about grammer and spelling, perhaps another author like yourself. I’ve found in the indie author and blogging worlds that there are many authors willing to trade services, or even pay things forward, if you just reach out and ask. The worst that can happen is they’ll say, “No.” If they do, try someone else.

You can try to find an editor on Fivver, but I would caution that you may get what you pay for there. Editors on Reedsy don’t usually come cheap either. But these are two options that are available to authors where you might find an affordable editor.

I utilize several of my author friends as a second set of eyes to beta read or edit my stories. When I can get them, I employ both. I know authors are busy people, so in turn, I must be willing to do the same for them, and I’ve also done a good share of paying forward. I’ve had some author friends turn me down because they were too busy at the time. I get that. Most of the authors I know have a lot going on. I happily move on, although I may come back to them latter.

Self-Editing Tools for Writers

I came across this great blog site, KD Did It Edits, which offers free editing tools for authors who can’t afford an editor, or those who just like to make their writing their absolute best before sending it to their editor, or second set of eyes. The whole site is filled with editing tips and tools, so drop in and browse around. I use many of the resources and tools that she has listed in my own work, including the Perdue Owl, and several of the style guides.

I also use Pro-Writing Aide in my final proof, before I upload my manuscript for publishing, which is basically an AI editor, similar to the one that catches my mistakes in MS Word. These AI tools catch errors which I may have overlooked on the first passover and point them out, so I can decide if they need correction, and how any corrections should be made. So, the AI tools are not writing for me, but they do assist me in catching as many errors as I can. I use them with my own writing and when I’m editing for others. I know I am human and can make mistakes or miss things, and they help me to make all my work the best that it can be. These tools are not a substitute for another set of human eyes on my own work, and I still use beta readers or my fellow authors to see other things that I might not have noticed. For the work of others, it goes back to the author with my comments and the author decides which corrections will be made, and which will be discarded.

Speaking as an Editor

As I mentioned, I do editing for others in a professional capacity through my Write it Right Quality Editing Services. Of course, I want writer’s to employ my editing services, but like I’ve said, I understand that many can’t afford an editor. I’ve always tried to offer my services at affordable prices, but today, I find my services offered at right around the going rate. I do offer discounted rates and special deals, at times. And of course, if you publish through WordCrafter Press, my line editing comes as a part of the publshing package, which is a 50/50 royalty split.

I do offer developmental editing services, but I don’t advertise it on my site and charge for them on an individual case-by-case basis, depending on how much work is needed. You can reach out to me for a quote on the contact form on my site through the link above, or at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com.

Conclusion

In my opinion, any author that is human will make mistakes, so every author needs an editor, or someone else knowledgable in writing, to go over their manuscript or story. I hope that authors will find my site and chose to employ my services, but I understand when they don’t. As a reader who enjoys good writing, I hope that they are striving for perfection in their work, and will find someone else to do it, so that whatever they put out into the world will be the absolute best that it can be.

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Book Review: Day of the Vikings & A Thousand Fiendish Angels

About Day of the VikingsShe has been called many things: murderer, madwoman, monster. She will become only one thing: a god.

The Crone. A woman of legend, a creature of blood. A Valkyrie. She has tortured, murdered, maimed — performing all the rituals needed to call forth the power of Odin himself and summon Ragnarok. She just needs one more thing: the staff of Skara Brae, and her plans will be fulfilled.

But the staff is already in the hands of Morgan Sierra. An agent of ARKANE, the British agency tasked with protecting the world from supernatural crises, Morgan knows that giving up the staff could spell the end of all things.

Now the Crone has taken dozens of staff members, visitors — even children — hostage at the British Museum, demanding that Morgan turn over the staff. Willing to kill, possessor of powers beyond anything ARKANE has yet encountered, the Crone seems unstoppable.

Morgan’s only advantages are her wit, her skill… and Blake Daniel (of the best-selling Brooke and Daniel crime thriller series). Cursed with clairvoyance, Blake’s powers may be just enough to help Morgan turn back the Crone and stop the end of the world.

But the Crone has her own secrets. Able to weave illusions, to wield fear, even to call forth the dead Vikings of old. She is the most powerful adversary Morgan has ever faced. But will she be the last?

The Crone beckons. Ragnarok looms. And it is up to Morgan and Blake to deny them both.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Day-Vikings-ARKANE-Book-5-ebook/dp/B00K49B3X0/

My Review of Day of the Vikings

I received a free digital copy of Day of the Vikings, by J.F. Penn as a bonus from her newsletter. I am not very familiar with Viking lore, but I do like supernatural thrillers, so I thought I would give it a go, and I’m glad that I did.

Morgan Sierra is an ARKANE agent out to protect the world from ancient evils of the world. When she visits the British museum to examine the Viking Relics housed there, a group of well organized neo-Vikings seize the museum in search of the ancient staff of skara brie, in a fiendish plot to recreate the brutal ritual sacrifice, the Blood Eagle. The Blood Eagle ritual opens the power for them to locate The Eye of Odin and use it to summon Ragnarok and destroy the earth and it’s up to Morgan to stop them.

Day of the Vikings is a fast paced supernatural thriller with a solid plot, although the characters were rather unremarkable. Although allowed small glimpses into the characters, I never got a real sense of who they were. There is Blake Daniels, who holds the potential to become a very interesting character, if allowed, but then it sounds like he has his own series. Even Morgan’s character seemed a bit flat compared to the bigger than life Valkyrie and her terror mongers and their onslaught.

Keeps you reading. I give Day of the Vikings four quills.

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About A Thousand Fiendish AngelsThree dark short stories inspired by Dante’s Inferno, linked by a book of human skin passed down through generations.

Sins of the Flesh:

When the mutilated corpse of a wealthy author is discovered, the police officer sent to investigate finds a curious diary amongst the occult objects at the scene.

Will he uncover the author’s secret at the ruined chapel, and is he willing to pay the price that it demands?

Sins of Treachery:

On the death of their grandfather, twin brothers Simon and Gestas are left a map covered in alchemical symbols that could lead them to great wealth and power.

But they find more than they expected in the frozen wastes of the Arctic north …

Sins of Violence:

In a brutal post-apocalyptic world, a young girl is about to be taken to The Minotaur for a Blessing that will end her innocence.

Can her sister gain access to the fortified city of Dis in time to stop the ritual and avenge her own lost youth?

Purchase link:

My Review of A Thousand Fiendish Angels

A Thousand Fiendish Angels, by J.F. Penn is a triology of short tales with the common theme of sins. Written for a challenge to write three interlinking stories, using the symbolism of Dante’s Inferno, these short tales explore the depths of the human soul. Sins of Flesh, Sins of Treachery, Sins of Violence; each tale explores a different aspect of sin and the human abilities to resist and weaknesses to give in, and the consequences. These stories are well thought out and well written, leaving me with much to ponder.

Thought provoking short fiction with a theme, but there should have been seven, instead of stopping at three. I give A Thousand Fiendish Angels five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Book Review: Silent Blue

About the Book Unleash the Storm of Suspense and Rebellion!

Prepare yourself for a heart-pounding journey into a world of deception, determination, and daring courage in Silent Blue, the electrifying sequel to JD Steiner’s Wreckleaf series. The saga continues as the tempestuous aftermath of the Season’s explosive finale thrusts Nerissa John into a whirlwind of danger and discovery, where silence is no longer an option.

 Survival Against All Odds 

Awakening to a brutal reality after the gripping conclusion of the Season, Nerissa John finds herself ensnared in a web of captivity. The battle she thought was won has merely transformed into an even more treacherous struggle for survival. Witness as she evolves from a vulnerable captive to a fierce warrior, confronting manipulation, torture, and despair head-on.

 Unmasking Shadows Beneath the Surface Beneath the gilded surface of the opulent Panacea lies a labyrinth of dark secrets. Nerissa refuses to be silenced, determined to expose the truth that threatens to shatter the illusions of society’s elite. As the stakes grow higher, she races against time to unveil the corruption hidden behind the luxurious façade—even if it means sacrificing herself in the process. A Battle for Justice Reaches its Climax 

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Blue-JD-Steiner/dp/B0CF8D6ZP2/

My Review

Silent Blue, by JD Steiner is the sequel to the unique fantasy thriller novel, Wreckleaf. (See my review of Wreckleaf here.) The tale in Book 2 picks up where the Book 1 left off. Steiner has created a villian in Colonel William Banks to rival the worst of them in diabolical cruelty, but Narrisa won’t give up her quest to stop him, even when it seems all is lost. And Steiner has created a world in which it seems no one cares to stop him.

Even after destroying his laboratory compound, Banks manages to gain the upper hand and forces Narrissa to surrender to save her people, the Dulhuphemale, a hybrid breed that isn’t supposed to exist. Narrissa is a strong willed female Dulhuphemale, determined to uncover the truth, even it it means her own death. She rebels even as she cooperates, knowing that he holds the fate of her family, her people, in his hands. Along the way, she finds unexpected allies and learns she’s not alone, but by joining forces their lives are endangered as well. Filled with twists, turns and surprises, this YA fantasy is one you won’t want to put down.

You’ll be rooting for Narrissa all the way, in this delightful fantasy. I give Silent Blue five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Book Review : Finding Harmony

About the Book

Katie Connell is happily married and living the island life on St. Marcos. Just when she thinks life is settling down with her dream man and their gorgeous children, they learn a stranger died at the front gate of their jumbie house. After the victim’s well-connected employer hires Katie and Nick to investigate, they discover a horrifying secret about the place they call home.

Before Katie can process the information, her husband doesn’t return home one night. As if that weren’t enough, the uncooperative police chief counters Katie’s plea for help with a threat to seize their home out from under her. Can Katie track down her husband alone before his trail goes cold, or will powerful forces at work send her to an early grave?

Purchase Links:

Audible: https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Harmony-Romantic-Mystery-Doesnt/dp/B096G4SH28

Chirp: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/finding-harmony-a-katie-connell-texas-to-caribbean-mystery

My Review

I listened to Finding Harmony, by Pamela Fagan Hutchins, narrated by the author. Finding Harmony is the third book in Hutchins’ Katie Connell Caribean Mystery. (I listened to another audiobook by this author, Fighting for Anna. and you can read my review here.)Her accents and island dialects are wonderful, making it easy to tell who is speaking from the dreadlocked island native Rashidi to her New York proper father-in-law, Kurt. I must applaud her.

Katie Connell is a strong female protagonist who is very relatable. All she wants is a happy life in their haunted island estate with her wonderful husband and beautiful children, and she’s pleased to extend her family, including her in-laws in the household. She’s used to Estate Annalise communicating its needs in poltergisty ways and comforted in the knowledge that the house will protect her and her family.

What she isn’t used to is a man dying in her driveway, her husband’s plane disappearing with him in it, and the local law enforcement threatening her children with harm instead of helping her to locate her husband. With no one else to count on, and convinced that her husband is still alive somewhere, Katie sets out to find him with her father-in-law, but it looks like they’re on their own. The task grows even bigger as they learn that a Mexican drug cartel is involved and is determined to stop them from uncovering the truth, but Katie holds her own.

Throughly entertaining, from the first page to the last. I was rooting for Katie all the way, and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I give Finding Harmony five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.