Sheila Deeth's Blog, page 89

Monday Morning Book Reviews

Okay, I know, it's probably not Monday morning anymore, but it's still morning here and it's definitely time I posted some of those book reviews I've been writing, so here goes. Enjoy coffee, follow the links to longer reviews, and read....

Oh, and don't forget, those ratings apply to the recommended coffee style, not my ratings of the read--I hate turning carefully considered reviews into random number generators.

Starting with my favorite book of last week, One Day by David Nicholls was a tho...

Why typing "The End" isn't the end of it.

It's not the real cover, of course, just the picture I had in mind while writing my novel. But I thought I'd post it to celebrate typing those magical words "The End!" Yes, it's finished, except it's not.

I'm sharpening my editor's pencil now, or my finger-ends as they tap against the keys. One of my protagonist is threatening to sharpen other things and complains over my shoulder.

"How dare you make me out to be a wimp," says Tom. "I'm not some shy retiring Englishman like Eric. I've got style...

Just let me finish another chapter, please...

My Mum used to joke when I was a kid that I'd stand at the pearly gates begging, "Just let me finish another chapter please." Hopefully those gates are still a long way off, but I've almost finished the novel, and I've just finished reading last week's books before starting on this week's. Just let me finish another chapter first, then I'll brew some coffee and make dinner.

As usual, the blue links should take you to my gather reviews, and the coffee ratings should take you to the nearest coff...

Free books and a shortage of free time

75,500 words... How can it take so long to write the final scenes of my novel? I think I'll blame the weather, the weeding, the grass-cutting, the pine-needles walked into the house requiring much vacuuming, etc... But I really must try to finish it this weekend.

Meanwhile, here are two great free books from Amazon.

Hearts Restored sounds like another fascinating historical novel from Knox Robinson: What can a young man of fifteen do when he is told by his mother that  the three cousins he...

Travelling the world for free?

Ah, I wish I could travel the world for free... or maybe not. I'd love to take a trip back to England sometime this summer, if we can manage to plan something that works. But reading How to Travel the World for Free by Michael Wigge, has convinced me I'd rather pay than try to travel free. I've reviewed How to Travel the World for Free here

but I didn't include any pictures, so here, for anyone wishing to see how free world-travelling might look, are just a few...

Eating flowers looks kind of o...

And so, to book reviews...

There's a good book going free on Amazon kindle today and tomorrow--Jackie Gamber's Redheart (read my review of Redheart, and its sequel Sela at these links)--so head on over there if my reviews have enticed you.

Meanwhile, here are some more book reviews... (Don't forget, the coffee recommendations are for style, not value, and the blue links take you to longer reviews on Gather.)

How to travel the world for free, by Michael Wigge, will be released as a TV series soon and is definitely interes...

Breathless, rained on, and writing

I plan to finish the novel this week. I really do. And if it rains I won't have to do yardwork so maybe I'll even succeed. It's up to 70,000 words now and taking the weekend off has told me a) which two sections need more work, and b) how the story's meant to end. Sounds good to me. My fingers are itching to type.
Meanwhile I've been reading, but I'm going to wait till tomorrow for those coffee and book reviews--I need to write! Instead, here's some information about a new book I plan to read...

Meet an economical author

Last month I received an email from Kersten Kelly, author of Economics, a Simple Twist on Normalcy. I guess I don't usually read non-fiction books, but you've got to admit, the title's catchy, and the author had taken the trouble to find out a few things about me, so she thought my site might be a relevant place to visit on her blog tour.

Of course, I did math, not economics, at college, and I have to admit a certain lack of interest in high finance. But Kersten's book's not about the esoteric...

Under the weather

I read about a friend who's feeling under the weather. So sad, with the weather being so bright and summer-like at last. Of course, all that sunshine after all that rain has encouraged all those weeds. So now my yard has me working "under the weather," depriving me of time to read and write.

Still, Love on a Transfer grew to 69,000 words today, and the chapters still bouncing around in my brain will surely find their way to the computer soon. (Hey, it might rain again!) Plus I've almost read t...

Killing time and angels

The novel's up to 67,000 words now and growing fast, scenes building into larger scenes while shadows fill out the spaces lying between . I'm enjoying writing it anyway, and reading the parts I've finished, and dreaming of more...

Meanwhile other people's books add themselves to my to-read list. How can I resist something called Angelkiller or a tagline that reads "Why do bad things happen to good people? Simple. In the ancient war between the Angels of Light and Darkness, the Dark won." And i...