Fiona Ingram's Blog, page 34

Book Review: Midnight Owl

Midnight Owl is the first book in the Joe Leverette Mystery Series. Don’t get too comfortable because the book starts off with a real bang. The action erupts on page one as a young woman is stalked. We, the readers, get to watch her death by dismemberment. That’s right, dismemberment. So if you’re looking for a sweet little murder mystery with a Miss Marple lookalike pottering around, think again. This is not it. The body is cut into six parts, and these parts are found by six individuals, completely unrelated to each other or the victim. The problem is, each ‘witness’ has had a horrible dream involving seeing the criminal kill the young woman. The body part they dream about is the one they find. They awaken to the sound of an owl hooting three times. Naturally, they don’t tell the police this because they’d be thought mad or even suspects. An even bigger problem is the killer is now going after these ‘witnesses’ and he manages to kill two. Detective Joe Leverette, who is assigned to the case, finds himself (hesitantly) attracted to one of the witnesses, Carole Sage, who is a ‘sensitive,’ meaning she can see the original murder and the murders of the two witnesses. The police sting set up to catch the killer fails, but is Carole next on his list?
Well, put aside your chores because you’ll just read and read and read (as I did) until you fall off the edge of the cliff. There’s no cliff-hanger in the conventional sense. The book ends with the reader going, “Oh no, don’t end now!” I’m a bit of a cosy mystery fan so this one had my hair standing on end. I love things that are slightly paranormal, but not outside the bounds of what could happen. I found the idea of the dreams and Carole’s psychic abilities fascinating. I also found the fact that the chief of police accepted her help in this regard quite refreshing. I wonder how many times a psychic has pointed out the location of a body to the police.
The book is quite graphic, but when you consider some novels and television series that make sure the reader/viewer is awash in blood and gore, I didn’t think this level of action overstepped the bounds. Murder, after all, is a bloody business and to commit cold, premediated murder, one has to be a particularly horrible person. I was disappointed that the book ended so abruptly, literally at the moment critique, but I have it on good authority that the author is writing furiously to continue the tale. I’m dying to know who the killer is, why the ‘witnesses’ had dreams, what’s the meaning of the owl hooting, so I’m eagerly waiting for the next in the series.  I didn’t feel I got to know as much about Joe Leverette as I’d have liked, but that’s what sequels are for, and I hope the author expands on his character and back story. I’m also rooting for a romance between him and Carole. If you’re a murder mystery or detective thriller fan, you’ll love this book. Five stars.

Book Review: Dragons Are Real

Dragons Are Real, written by Valarie Budayr and illustrated by Michael Welply, is a must-have for dragon aficionados the world over. Inside this amazing book is a grand revelation: dragons ARE real. Much maligned over the centuries through myth and legend (and made up stories!), the dragon is not the tyrannical, fire-breathing monster who kidnaps damsels in distress and gobbles them up with mustard and ketchup. No, the true dragon is a humble, gentle friend to all, with amazing qualities that would make anyone want to be his comrade for life.
 They love to laugh, so you can always give them a good tickle, and they particularly enjoy riddles. The author offers a unique riddle inside the book, one that is guaranteed to secure your lifelong friendship with a dragon. They love reading and (contrary to popular opinion held usually by banks and kings in their counting houses) the dragon prefers to hoard books, rather than gold treasure. You see? A very different picture of the dragon begins to emerge. They love to dance and have fun. Masters of disguise, they can become anything you want, for example if you feel like rolling down a lush green hillside, just for fun. The dragon is an amazing and incredible creature and this book reveals the true nature and excellent qualities of dragons.This is an absolutely beautiful book. I received a pdf copy and would have loved a print copy because the design and illustrations are just outstanding. This is a book for children to keep, to linger over and treasure, not only for the amazing images, but because the detail within each page keeps the reader there. The dragons’ expressions, the fine detail, the very ‘aliveness’ of each illustration had me spellbound. I loved the dragon being a master of disguise, and particularly appreciated the intricacies of the dragon’s study, filled with books, and with a tiny resident mouse also engrossed in a miniature volume.

I cannot praise this book more highly and I feel really privileged to have read it. I wish it could be animated, so as to enjoy these amazing dragons and the beautiful details even more. Congratulations to the author and illustrator for a work of art. I spent time on each page and I’d encourage parents to do the same when reading this with their kids. An excellent message, besides all the lovely ones about the good and noble qualities of dragons, is that reading is something to bring enjoyment; it’s a doorway to a magical world, as this stunning book amply proves.

Book Review: Al, The Story of a Vegetarian Dinosaur

Al: The Story of a Vegetarian T-Rex by Ron Stoltz is a very different kind of dinosaur story … because Al is a very different kind of dinosaur. You see, Al is a vegetarian, something that’s unheard of in the carnivore community where everyone likes to eat meat. Al loves veggies and fruit, especially strawberries. He doesn’t even mind if a couple of bugs have taken a few bites out of the strawberries. The other kids laugh at him and think he is weird, but Al sticks to his choices. His parents are so concerned about Al’s eating habits that they send him to his aunt who is a great cook. She whips him up some Stegosaurus steaks, but it’s a no go, Al won’t eat it. His aunt gives up on him and sends him home. En route, a storm brews and all the lightning, thunder, and rain force the T-Rex kids to take shelter in the school. A huge tree falls over, blocking their escape. What can they do? Amazingly, Al has the answer, an answer that turns him into a hero.
What a delightful story for young readers! The illustrations are absolutely fantastic and bring the scenes to life on every page. Al is a truly lovable character that young readers will relate to and cheer on, especially when it comes to being a hero. The messages are subtle yet strong – it’s perfectly acceptable to be different, to make choices that determine your path in life, and to stick to your beliefs, even when the pressure is on from family members and friends. With many families eschewing meat products for various reasons, the child who may have felt uncertain will now be reassured that not eating meat is fine, if that’s what you want. This is perfect for parents and teachers to read aloud to kids, and to put on various voices and/or sound effects where necessary. An absolutely five-star read for the family.

Book Review: Patch Goes to Hong Kong

Patch Goes to Hong Kong is the second adventure that Patch, an intrepid Jack Russell, undertakes. His first adventure took him to London where he solved a mystery using clues given to him all throughout his journey. Patch’s new adventure starts right away when the mailman delivers a package … a wooden chest that Patch must open using the golden key on his collar. Inside he finds a ticket to … Hong Kong! Whoopee! A new adventure. Patch is so excited. What will he discover on this trip? The first of the clues appears while he is on the plane; a bracelet with a Buddha pendant. As Patch is led from one exciting and interesting place to another, he receives more clues from various dogs, taking him along on his journey. Each place he stops at is a famous tourist site, so he learns a bit more about Hong Kong with each stop. At last he reaches his final destination and meets … a very special person. Who can it be?
Patch Goes to Hong Kong by Anjalique Gupta is simply an adorable, five-star book for young readers. First, the cover and illustrations by Alexandra Gold are just superb, vivid, and do justice to the interesting places Patch visits. I loved them and young readers will have much to appreciate when they take their time over each page. The map at the very beginning is a wonderful idea because young readers can trace Patch’s journey as they read, and see where each place is in relation to each other. Maps are also such fun! This book is a great learning experience for young readers because there’s so much for them to investigate once they have read the story, such as the various kinds of dogs Patch meets, and the cultural aspects of Hong Kong such as the market place and the Dragon festival, and different kinds of food. The illustrations are so detailed and incorporate lots of traditional cultural elements as well. This charming tale of adventure and travel also includes subtle messages about family, love, communication, and caring. Just reading about where Patch visits, what he sees and does will inspire young readers to want to pack their suitcases and have an adventure of their own. The good news is that at the very end of the story we get a hint of where Patch might be going next…

Cheryl Carpinello and The World of King Arthur

I’ve read all Cheryl Carpinello’s books and have enjoyed them very much, particularly the Arthurian themed stories. I asked Cheryl what started her writing on Arthuriana.
Cheryl: I’ve always loved Arthurian Legend, but it wasn’t until I taught high school English that I learned the value of the Legend. I would have students that refused to read the literature I assigned. When we when to the library to get reading books, these students stood by the book shelves, thumbed through several books, and returned them to the shelf. When the unit on King Arthur begin, I started off by asking my students to share what they already knew about Arthur. My non-readers usually had their hands up first! Over the course of the unit (3-4 weeks), these students who didn’t read, scrambled to get their hands on stories, books, and movies before anyone else. The first year this happened I was stunned. After about the 4th year in a row, I realized I had discovered the figurative ‘sword in the stone that propelled these students to read. I loved it!
Book review of The King’s Ransom: When the King’s Ransom, a wondrous jewelled medallion, is stolen from Pembroke Castle in Wales, it is up to three young heroes to band together to solve this mystery and save a life. Prince Gavin (12), the youngest son of King Wallace and Queen Katherine, and his two friends, Philip (13), an orphan, and Bryan (15), a blacksmith’s apprentice, are an unlikely trio, uneven in terms of social status, but firm and loyal companions. Their friend, the Wild Man, is accused of murdering the king’s advisor and stealing the marvellous medallion, a symbol of absolute power and justice, but only in the right hands. Kings have enemies, and it soon becomes apparent that someone was after the medallion for the prestige it would bestow. Gavin, Bryan, and Philip race against time to find the medallion, reveal the true killer, and save the Wild Man’s life. They have only a few days before the arrival of King Arthur. If the medallion is not found, the Wild Man will be executed in front of Arthur. Can they overcome their fears and fulfil this momentous quest? Is it possible the Wild Man has tricked them all and simply used their friendship to get closer to the medallion?
What a delightful five-star story. I am familiar with Cheryl Carpinello’s writing from reading and reviewing her first Arthurian book, Guinevere: On the Eve of a Legend. Then I was entranced by the author’s spell-binding descriptions of life in Arthurian times and her meticulous attention to detail. Cheryl’s skills have remained as bright as ever with the unfolding of this fast-paced tale, threaded with mystery, adventure, a bit of magic, danger, darkness, and lovely twists in the end. I so enjoyed the factual information about weapons, clothing, daily life, and places, cleverly interspersed in the text and dialogue to inform without overwhelming young readers. The author has a gift for delving into the depths of each young hero’s psyche. The way each one of the trio faces their fears, learns to believe in themselves, and finds their true meaning and path in life is moving. This is a superb coming-of-age story, set in a time of chivalry and pageantry, and harking back to an age when a hero was truly a hero.Fans will love that there is a FREE Study Guide to help expand their knowledge of King Arthur and his era. You can find out more about Cheryl’s books here.

Book Review: Antiques and Avarice

Could anything bad possibly happen in a small, pretty town in New Hampshire? Of course not, but then maybe it could. Olivia McKenna, an antiques buyer for her collector clients, inadvertently stumbles upon a murder in an antiques shop, and thereafter becomes a target for someone who might just be the murderer. But why? Olivia hasn’t seen anything that could make a killer worried. Or has she? And what about the poor old man who met his demise, the poor old man who turns out to have had a criminal past… Olivia crosses paths with handsome detective Josh Abrams, who also has a few secrets he’s keeping under wraps. Join Josh and Olivia, and not forgetting Molly, Olivia’s adorable (and clever) Golden Retriever, and Sheyna, the cat Olivia rescued from the scene of the crime, as they try to solve the murder before anyone else gets hurt.
If you like antiques and love a readable, cosy murder mystery, look no further than Antiques and Avarice by author Jane Firebaugh. I found myself drawn into the story, the beautifully described locale, and the characters, both main and secondary. Olivia is a spunky heroine with backbone, not needing a man to take care of her. Josh is a totally swoonworthy hero, the kind of man every woman would love to date: handsome, courteous, considerate, romantic, just delicious. Through appealing details, the author lets the daily activities of her characters unfold, giving the reader a bird’s-eye view of their lives and motivations. The plot is nicely done and the reader does not get tangled up in too many red herrings or false leads. A lot happens and there’s a strong back story of robbery, fraud, and corruption which will surprise readers. I only wish the author had included the recipes for some of the mouth-watering dishes the characters tuck into as the story progresses. I got hungry every time they had a meal!

Book Review: Tutankhamen Speaks

On 4 November, 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter and his team discovered a tomb in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings, a tomb that he and his sponsor, Lord Carnarvon, weren’t even sure existed. It was the tomb of a little known king, a young man who’d taken the throne at around eight or nine, and had died around age 18: Tutankhamen. The young king, whose obscurity during his own time allowed his tomb to be forgotten, has now become one of the most well-known figures of ancient Egypt. But what do we know about the young king and his unexpected death at such an early age? What do we know about how he lived, how he felt about things like duty, responsibility and obligation, his emotions and opinions, his family life, and his love for his wife, Ankhesenpaaten? The mystery begins right away! Author Cheryl Carpinello, an ardent Egyptophile, reveals that one day she met the Egyptian scholar S.L. Wood, who mentioned that he’d found an ancient scroll, damaged in parts, in a basement room of the Cairo Museum. This appeared to be a scroll written by the young king, almost speaking to his people from beyond the grave. Was it a hoax? Did this scroll even exist? Read on to find out what the young king says in Tutankhamen Speaks .
Cheryl Carpinello has an extraordinary gift for being able to breathe life into what could be dry and dusty facts about people who, to the average person, are just names in a history book. Through wonderful, evocative and poignant descriptions, she takes us back in time to when a young boy lived in ancient Egypt, a boy who was in awe of his great father, and loved his half-sister Ankhesenpaaten. His memories of early childhood, descriptions of daily life in ancient times, his growing up years, the games he played, the ceremonies and, of course, the politics and religion are all examined for the interested reader. The author also includes interesting facts that readers may not be aware of, so interesting that these might quite change your thoughts of ancient Egyptian times and rulers. This is a wonderful read for all ages, and at the end of this short book, you’ll be left like me, wanting more. I truly enjoyed this! Five stars.

My 5 Top Book Marketing Methods

“Discoverability” is the word on every author’s lips as they try to get their books into the spotlight, making readers aware of their new releases and hoping for reviews and of course sales. With so many books being released every day, getting noticed is a huge and sometimes seemingly insurmountable problem.

Since I released my first multi award winning Middle Grade adventure,   The Secret of the Sacred Scarab in 2009, I have tried many and varied forms of marketing. I have wasted some money, gained some success, and learned lots of lessons in this journey. Just recently I have had great results with ‘teams.’ You may wonder how an author can use a team. Well, doing all your own marketing is impossible, since it takes up so much time that the author finds they are doing more marketing than writing the next book. I tumbled to the idea of teams quite by accident, but patience, persistence, and using teams is paying off. Here are the five team marketing methods that work for me:
1.     Team Twitter: Although Twitter blasts are good and do have an effect, having a consistent Twitter presence thanks to someone who does it for you, and has their followers tweet your news, is really very useful. I use @bookboost, although there are many around, and was surprised to find the price so reasonable and the Twitter reach so far. I also use AskDavid if I have special book news to announce.
2.     Team Authors: A while ago I noticed two authors writing in Middle Grade with similar themes (Egyptian, Arthurian, Ancient World), but oddly enough, we did not overlap and therefore were not competition for each other. Besides, we figured that young readers who love Egyptian or Arthurian themes were going to read all the books they could find, so why not team up and offer lots of books under one roof. Wendy Leighton-Porter, Cheryl Carpinello and I formed The Quest Books, where we have grouped all our similarly themed books for young readers to enjoy. We have a newsletter and offer free downloads, so the site works for all of us.
3.     Team Blog Hosts: Initially I went on loads of book tours, with definitely chequered results. Some tours were wildly successful, catering specifically to the parents of Middle Grade readers, while others were a mix masala and I found my book shoved in between other books, such as thrillers/detectives, fantasy and romances, that I felt did not give me a target market audience. Through trial and error I have now fine tuned my blog tours to very specific hosts who only deal with the children’s/juvenile fiction genre. Getting to a specific market offers better results because you are approaching an audience eager to find out more about your particular books.
4.     Team Facebook: As in joining up with my fellow Quest authors, I also found myself part of a shared Facebook page based on a group of authors who produced an anthology of kids’ stories for fundraising purposes, Book Elves Anthology Volume 1 . From the anthology, came the Facebook page and Book Elves has become a great way for the burden of marketing to be shared among other authors, who also post their news. It is just a click a day to share news with page followers and since other authors are doing the same, the marketing results benefit everyone.
5.     Street Team:  I had never heard of a street team in relation to book marketing, but have now engaged with a wonderful team where the news is shared on the various team members’ Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social sites. It is a reasonable fee and my only hard work is to keep the team leader up to date with anything I am doing, such as blog posts, book tours, award wins, anything newsworthy that the team members can share to their friends and followers.
There is no get rich and famous quick scheme, but rather a consistent presence reaps the right kind of results. Teaming up with the right people for the right fee spreads the burden of marketing and gives the author a chance to get back to what they are supposed to be doing … writing their next book!If you’re looking for more adventures, then please visit The Quest Books, where Middle Grade authors Cheryl Carpinello, Wendy Leighton-Porter and I have teamed up to offer readers an array of exciting quests. Sign up for our monthly newsletter with exciting exclusive material and get a fantastic e-book, Passport to Adventure, FREE!   

What Inspired Book 2: The Search for the Stone of Excalibur!

Charming Oxford!Before I started writing I used to wonder what inspired writers, where did their ideas come from, what could have sparked their story. Interestingly, and something many people already know, my first book The Secret of the Sacred Scarab , was sparked by a family trip to Egypt with my mom and my two young nephews. When I’d written the story of my young heroes’ adventures, I realised they hadn’t had time to save the world yet. Another adventure was needed. But what and where could they go? Like many people I am sure, I am a huge Arthurian fan. I then happened to accompany a relative on a tour of Scotland’s castles, but before we went off to discover them, we stopped off at Oxford, England, also a favourite city of mine.

Scotland was marvellous and I came back with all sorts of images and ideas floundering around in my head, but nothing concrete. By then I’d decided my adventure had to include King Arthur and his famed sword Excalibur (where perhaps one would find a Stone of Power embedded in the hilt?), and I so loved Oxford that I had to somehow have my young heroes go there as well. But how was I to marry all these elements together? I am a big Inspector Morse fan and one night I watched an episode called The Wolvercote Tongue, a story about the discovery of a Dark Ages artefact, a jewelled belt buckle, and it involved the Ashmolean Museum (also a favourite!). I woke up in the middle of the night with the plot of The Search for the Stone of Excalibur complete in my head. Of course you’ll have to read the book to enjoy the story, but here’s a little teaser.
Continuing the adventure that began in Egypt a few months prior in The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, cousins Adam and Justin Sinclair are hot on the trail of the second Stone of Power, one of seven ancient stones lost centuries ago. This stone might be embedded in the hilt of a newly discovered sword that archaeologists believe belonged to King Arthur: Excalibur. However, their long-standing enemy, Dr. Khalid, is following them as they travel to Scotland to investigate an old castle. Little do they know there is another deadly force, the Eaters of Poison, who have their own mission to complete. Time is running out as the confluence of the planets draws closer. Can Justin and Adam find the second Stone of Power and survive?
Fairytale Dunrobin Castle

Somehow I managed to find space for not only the museum, but also the prettiest castle in Scotland, Dunrobin Castle, which fitted the bill perfectly for the old castle in the book. I had visited and already decided to squeeze in the best ruined chapel around, Rosslyn Chapel, just filled with incredible and mysterious architecture. I am still amazed at what inspires a writer, be it an image, an event, a place, an experience. Mysterious Rosslyn Chapel If you’re looking for more adventures, then please visit The Quest Books, where Middle Grade authors Cheryl Carpinello, Wendy Leighton-Porter and I have teamed up to offer readers an array of exciting quests. Sign up for our monthly newsletter with exciting exclusive material and get your choice of any e-book on the site FREE!   

Boost Your Books With Bublish!

Why Bublish? And what is Bublish? Bublish is a platform that turns an author in an ‘authorpreneur,’ giving them a dashboard with powerful marketing and book creation tools. I first heard of Bublish when looking for a marketing strategy for my middle grade children’s adventures. I already had a publisher, but I wanted an extra boost for marketing. There are loads of ‘book marketing sites’ out there. I have tried a number of these sites, where you load a profile and book details, and I was initially hesitant, but something different about Bublish attracted my attention. The idea of creating ‘bubbles’ or interesting snippets from various chapters that I could share on social media, encouraging readers to follow the bubbles back to the books on purchase sites, appealed to me. Bublish also markets for authors who sign up, so another plus. In my experience, many social book sites have the social share buttons, but the authors must do their own marketing. As many indie authors (and traditionally published ones) know, you have to do your own marketing. Finding the time to write and market is difficult. With Bublish, you get someone also doing the marketing with you! What a bonus!
Bublish offers an author a dashboard to load their profile, their completed books, even work in progress books, and links to sales sites. An author can basically do anything on their dashboard, from actually writing the books to marketing their books. Plus, in case one is still not convinced, the first month is free to test drive the system, and thereafter a very small monthly fee is charged. The more an author markets their own ‘bubbles’, which Bublish then also markets, the more successful one is likely to be. However, it was only when I found myself with seven historical romance e-books and no distributor that I found out just how good Bublish is for the entrepreneurially minded author. I write Regency romances under the pseudonym Arabella Sheraton. While I wrote them for my mom, and for fun, I never knew just how big the romance market is, or that any savvy author can market right and earn big while doing so. My previous publisher closed its doors so I had to do something with my Regency romance books. After a discussion with Kathy Meis, CEO of Bublish, I loaded the books and Arabella started afresh in a Bublish distribution program.

Right off, I saw a huge difference in earnings and sales rankings. With Bublish, their mission is ‘E-book Author Discovery & Promotion.’ But that’s not all, they do it with you. Whereas previously my romance book marketing had been mostly up to me (so I didn’t do much of it, hence poor sales), with Bublish the load is shared. Bublish retweets an author’s ‘bubbles’ onto their social media sites, so any author is getting double exposure. Here’s a sample of a book bubble from my romance author profile. In addition, Bublish has a weekly ‘floating bookstore’ showcasing various authors and their work. Their aim is to help authors build a dynamic brand that drives sales. Apart from the FAQ and many tutorials to guide authors, as well as webinars with top marketers in publishing, Team Bublish is always on hand to answer any queries. There are so many other options for the marketing minded author, such as tracking reader engagement, tracking click through to sales,  and keeping up with what bubbles you shared got the most response. Promotion and finding out just how much your effort generated has never been so easy.  For me, never having taken my romance books all that seriously because they did not seem to be selling well, the move to Bublish as a distributor for those titles has been the best thing I ever did. Any author will tell you that while one should, yes, be writing for the love of it, we all want to see results; we’d all love to get some money for our efforts. I have been blown away by my romance books’ sales. Truly blown away. But it’s not just about putting books up on Amazon and other sites; it’s about consistently creating interesting ‘packages’ or sales drives, and price drops and ‘free days’ to generate consumer interest and reap the rewards. Bublish has come up with seasonal promotions for my books set either over Valentine or Christmas. A box set is something I never thought of as appealing, but they are, and I have seen wonderful sales figures.




But wait! There’s more! Bublish is now offering a host of AuthorServices for the indie author on a budget, from cover design to copy editing to distribution. Bublish has authors covered from every angle.  I am totally sold on Bublish. Check out my Fiona Ingram profile as well as my Arabella Sheraton profile. Now that I can see incredible results, I am inspired to get more books written asap. If you’re looking for a marketing/distribution partner to get your titles out there and into the hands of readers, try Bublish. Remember, the first month is free.