Jeffrey L. Blehar's Blog, page 5
December 12, 2017
Review: Madhouse: Don’t Talk to Strangers by Miguel Estrada
“Don’t talk to strangers.
Faced with his parents’s divorce, eleven-year-old Lucas runs away from his house with the hope that his family will get back together to find him. On his way walking through the empty streets, he is picked up by a mysterious woman who offers to take care of him and provide him with a loving family.
The boy then wakes up in shackles, confined to a bed in a decrepit house in the middle of nowhere and will have to face his deepest fears in order to survive in his new ho...
December 11, 2017
Review: The Snow and the Darkness by Matthew Warren Wilson
“Jason and Valerie wanted a nice, leisurely vacation, visiting Jason’s brother in Virginia, but Mother Nature intervened, delivering a hellacious snowstorm to the region. With their transportation plans thwarted, the travelers find themselves on a deserted road in the middle of the night, a blizzard raging all around them, and a suspicious stranger has joined their midst. To Jason, the newcomer seems a little off. He might just be a run-of-the-mill drunk, but Jason senses something else—a str...
December 7, 2017
Influences: Alex Raymond
Alex Raymond (1909-1956) was an American artist best known for creating Flash Gordon. Thanks to support from his family, he landed a job as an illustrator in the early 1930’s for Tillie the Toiler (the story of a flapper and her career 1921-1959) and Tim Tyler’s Luck (an adventure strip centering on the international adventures of the titular hero 1928-1996).
His work on Tyler, in particular paved the way for his most memorable work. Flash Gordon appeared in early 1934. Originally, planned...
December 6, 2017
Devlin: A Book of the Broken (Update)
I am making extremely good progress with the sequel/prequel to “Nighthawks: A Book of the Broken”. I have made it to chapter three on “Devlin: A Book of the Broken”. This may seem like a small accomplishment, but these chapters are huge!
Once again, I am playing around with the structure of the novel. I am telling the story of the hitman from Nighthawks in reverse order.
I have a lot of stories to tell about “The City” and its inhabitants, but decided to start the sequels with Devlin’s sto...
December 5, 2017
Review: Flash Gold by Lindsay Buroker
“Eighteen-year-old Kali McAlister enters her steam-powered “dogless sled” in a race, intending to win the thousand-dollar prize and escape remote Moose Hollow forever. The problem? Fortune seekers and airship pirates are after her for the secret to flash gold, her late father’s alchemical masterpiece.
With her modified rifle and a pocketful of home-made smoke bombs, Kali wouldn’t normally hide from a confrontation, but taking on a whole airship single-handedly is a daunting task. Unfortunatel...
December 4, 2017
Review: Incanta Soul-Catcher (Lost Souls #1) by Avie Adams
“Darkness rules her life. A pitiless man wants her body. A Daemon craves her heart.
Cytriah’s songs can enslave souls in dead bodies.
It’s not a gift, or a curse.
It’s what’s expected of girls born on Daemon-controlled Malvaar Island, where failure is punishable with the worst any woman can fear.
Whilst Cytriah strives to join the elite of soul-catchers, a chilling secret from her past rips her life apart. Trapped between dangerous men, she’s left with one choice: to pact with a Daemon.
It is...
December 1, 2017
Christmas Sale!
There is nothing better than curling up with a good book and a mug of hot cocoa on a dark and cold, snowy night.
“Nighthawks: A Book of the Broken” Paper back is on sale through Christmas, at Amazon.
Almost everything is on sale for Christmas at Millhaven Press.
November 30, 2017
The Machines: Merritt
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The Merritt Index typewriter was designed by Mortimer and Charles Merritt and first produced in 1890 (or 1889, by some accounts). It is an index machine which used a knob to slide the character into place. It was then pressed to print. It was able to print upper case, lower case and numbers. The machine was offered as an economical alternative to the full-sized machines of its competitors.
The machine, like other index machines was cheaper and easier to produce, but its use as an office...
November 29, 2017
Review: Summer Storm by Elizabeth Baxter
“Falen feels like an outsider. Raised in the male dominated, warrior culture of Variss, she struggles to be a good Varisean woman. She hates poetry. She’s no good at art. And the thought of marriage makes her shudder. Instead, to the eternal disappointment of her father, Falen wants to be a scientist. She dreams of journeying to the southern city of Ral Tora to study at its famous engineering academy. But Falen’s dreams seem doomed to failure. That is, until a chance encounter with a stranger...
November 21, 2017
First 5 Star Review for “Nighthawks”
Just got a 5-Star review on Amazon. I’m really proud of the book and really appreciate what the reviewer had to say about the world I am creating…
“Nighthawks : A Book of the Broken is an interesting genre blending story. The book combines crime noir with paranormal fantasy to create a different kind of world. The author weaves a multitude of characters’ stories together to eventually form a combined narrative . Each character takes center stage for portions of the book, allowing for a flesh...
