M.J.A. Ware's Blog, page 3

The World's Greatest Living Science Fiction Writer - No More

I remember like it was yesterday, picking up a book, not even reading the title, just looking for that marketing phase, "The World's Greatest Living Science Fiction Writer." When I saw those words, I picked it up.

At my library, Ray's books were always checked out. Even today, check your local used bookstore for anything by Ray Bradbury--they sell the same day the come in, and rightfully so. I still have my paperbacks I read as a kid. Even though my writing style is nothing like his, no other writer has influenced me more than Ray Bradbury.
This may sound like the beginning of an obituary filled with praise and glowing words for this master craftsman of the written word. And I had considered writing an essay explaining Ray's disdain of books and the internet.
But alas, it is not to be. For even if I could dig up any words from the hollow pit in my belly, they wouldn't do him justice.
My only solace is I know we will speak again soon, the next time I open any of his works.

More Reviews Rolling In

So, I'm way behind in posting reviews, again. Sorry reviewers, I really do appreciate  the fact that you graciously give your time to help struggling authors. I'm just not very good at keeping up with you.

First up (and most belated) is a review from Kitty Bullard at Great Minds Think Aloud. Kitty loved SZJMB, well her exact words were, "I absolutely, 100%, loved this book!"
She's also the first person to spot a little Easter Egg in the print version of the book. I won't spoil it here, but if you are interested, check out her great review.

Cordelia Dinsmore frequents Absolute Write, a great writer's community and contacted me on there about getting a review copy. She's not a zombie fan and was a little worried SZJMB might not suit her taste, but I think the characters won her over as left a great review, "I think MJ has nailed the middle grade voice. I have a young son, so we read a lot of middle grade books around our house. We also watch quite a bit of kid-friendly television. The characters in SZJMB think and act quite similarly to many of the kids, both real and fictional, with which I am familiar."

Cordelia has her own MG/YA book, Michaela's Gift coming out next month, so keep an eye on her blog.

Last, is my shortest review ever (not counting iPod/Pad reviews), but it's still a great one, from Trisha at Passing Through. This also happens to be my first Tumblr review, which explains why it's just three (great) sentences.

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews!

I've owe an apology to the reviewers who've recently taken the time to read and review Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb. I've been putting together a Middle Grade anthology while also finishing up my latest manuscript. So, I'm a little behind on posting these great reviews:

First up, My Life on Mars posted a review of the Graphic Novel version for SZJMB, saying, "MJA Ware tells a fun story that any kid would enjoy..."

Unlike the first blog, Susan Reviews does leave star ratingS and gave SZJMB five of them saying, "A humorous tale of friendship complicated by growing up, zombie invasion and lemonade."

While the blog, A Room With Books doesn't give star ratings, it did rate SZJMB as a "Hit." In a pretty in depth review, where she recommends it for Middle Grade readers.

Last, but not least, Azure Dwarf also gave SZJMB 5-stars. Azure Dwarf writes and reviews mostly kidlit, especially boy stuff, so it was great when he said, "This is an excellent addition to the YA genre."

A lot of readers have been leaving Amazon and LibraryThing reviewS recently and I just wanted to say how much these help; without them no one would find my books, let alone take a chance on them.

THANK YOU REVIEWERS, YOU ROCK!!!

Opening Day!!! - And Some Updates

Well, it's finally here, Opening Day 2012. I for one am taking off work early to watch the Giants beat the Daimondbacks.I'll go even further than that and predict that the Giants have what it take to get to the World Series this year.!!GO GIANTS!!
In other news, I've been writing quite a bit recently. I have some shorts that I'm going to finish and put out soon.
I'm almost finished with the first draft of a Chapter Book I've tentatively titled: Zack and Zoey's Alien Apocalypse. It needs quite a bit of polishing, but I'm going to try to have it out by the end of the month. And even though it's a Chapter Book, I think fans of Super Zombie Juice will enjoy it.
Speaking of Super Zombie Juice, I'm about 20% done with book two. Looks like it's going to be at least a bit longer than book one. I'm hoping each book gets a little longer than its predecessor. I've mapped out the kids adventures right to the end; but I'm not sure how many books it work will out to (seems like when I start writing, things always go in a different direction than I plan). It's looking like five titles total for the series, could be 4-6.
I know a few readers have asked, when the heck am I going to finish Girls Bite (my YA paranormal). Well, it's going through another major revision. I know I've been predicting this one since December, but it's just not ready. It's the first of a series, and I really want to get it right. I love Paranormal Romances, but only when they are done right--and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure mine is done right.On the plus side, it's grown from what was suppose to be an intro novella to almost novel length (45-50k); still short for a YA paranormal, but the right length to tell the opening of this story.
If you enjoy reading my work, please consider signing up for my newsletter. I promise to never send out more than six e-mails a year (haven't sent one at all this year). I only use it when I have big news, like a new release. In fact, that's why I'm suggesting you sign up; because the newsletter readers are my BEST readers and until further notice get a free (e)copy of all my books. I hope one day, the list will grow to the point where I can't do that anymore, but if that happens, it's going to be a while and I'll still treat these readers like royalty.
One last thing. I really like doing Happy Release Day posts and they do get a little bit of traffic. I know a lot of other authors read the blog, so shoot me a note when you release a book and I'll post a link to just about any genre that's kid friendly (ie no erotica or really hardcore, slasher-type horror--but light romance is fine).
I hope everyone gets to leave work early to watch their favorite team play today!

Review from Kindling The Fire & My book Gets Pirated

Bri, over at Kindling The Fire just posted a great review of Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb. Here's a quote:
"It's cute and funny in it's own way and will find it's way into your heart as you read it. The characters were depicted well, I loved Kali (I refuse to spoil anything! But it's so hard!) and I liked Nate and Misty's innocence, but awesome courage as they battled zombies."


Bri's site is newer, but she posts a lot and the site is growing quickly. If you haven't checked it out yet, I recommend you do.
In other news, I found my first pirated link to Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb . This isn't the first time one of my books have shown up online and I'm sure it won't be the last.
The good news is that you have to download and install the Ares file sharing program, then search for it and even then, I had trouble finding it. So basically, it's way easier to pay for a copy, espcially since it's only 99¢ right now.
Just a note to clarify: Bri's site has nothing to do the the copyright infringement, they just happened to be posted on the same day.

Google Digs Up New Reviews & Deranged Zombie Teddy Bears

In theory Google News Alerts tells you anytime someone posts news, a blog, or even a new webpage about you or your book.
However, as I recently figured out, the alerts sometimes miss blogs (and other pages) that the Google search engine picks up. I was recently searching for an old review of SZJMB on Google when I noticed pages that I had never received alerts for.
This lead me to search Google for undiscovered links to Super Zombie Juice. Most turned out to be worthless, mostly Amazon affiliate links. But some were Gold. I found two reviews and two mention of my book in blogs!
First, I found a great blog: Paranormal Sisters. They gave SZJMB 4.5 stars and wrote a great review. Here's a quote:
"Over all I totally loved and am happy with how it ended, with a slice of sense of humor. But I want more. Whether more of these characters or more of MJA Ware writing, which is lucky we get two bonus short stories along with this book. Yay. "
My reply is: Don't worry Dashley, book 2 is coming along! If you've never heard of this blog check it out, it has some great reviews and they provide updates on Free paranormal Kindle books.
Elsewhere, I found what seemed to be a great review from The Crew of Misfits:
"SUPER ZOMBIE JUICE MEGA BOMB is the first installment of this unique series that is something new, something fresh, and ..."
But alas, the site is now offline and all I can read of the review is that small portion which Google had cached.
I found one more blog: Jess Resides Here (header may not be work safe) recently got a copy and I'm keeping an out for the review.
Last, there was a really cool mention on the blog, Tales of a Semi-existent Being. Apparently, the blogger had a dream (maybe more of a deranged nightmare) inspired by a wonderful zombie book, Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb (his words, not mine) :
"The zombies were giant pink fluffy teddie bears and they zombified you by giving you a hug."
Wow, that's what I call a dream, and the first one (outside of my own while writing it) to be inspired by the book!
Image Credit: http://nightmarelunatic.deviantart.com/art/Zombie-Teddy-Bear-192973591

Reviews Can Make Your Day!

I woke-up this morning with a cold so bad that I couldn't (or maybe wouldn't) get out of bed--finally dragged myself up at 2pm feeling terrible until I saw this review over at The Kostiuk Crew . Here's a snippet:

"...She could not put this read down, she even took it with us on our little vacation and the only time she stopped reading is when we are swimming. She had the book done by the end of that night and kept telling K little pieces here and their so he was ready to start reading himself. He started reading it on the car ride home and if you could hear the noises coming from this kid you would have busted up laughing to. He was giggling and huh and the noises just kept coming when he was reading."

Throw in a 5-star review on Amazon and I fell about a thousand times better. Who needs antibiotics when you have book reviewers!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays -- and Lots of Reviews

I haven't updated my blog in quite a while; I've been swamped at work (due to the holidays). But I wanted to be sure to take a minute and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
I've also been remiss in posting SZJMB reviews and there's a lot of them. Hopefully, I haven't left anyone out:
First, way back in November Kayla Merritt did a great review over at The Bee's Knees Reviews closing her review with, "I would highly reccomend it for young readers over ten and zombie fans alike."
Author (in progress), Loren DeShon says, "SZJMB should be enjoyable to any young adult fan of the genre. " in his review.
The Little Library Muse calls it, "a must read." And even lists her favorite quote from the book.
The Alaskan Bookie did a great Mother-Daughter review. They loved the title and cover, but thought the ending was a bit sad. My reply, don't get too down, wait for book two!
Greta at Paranormal Wastelands asked her son to do the review and then interviewed him.
Alexa Loves Books closes her review with, "It's definitely one entertaining read!"
Wow, that's a bunch of reviews. Hopefully, they will spur sales; last month was great, but things have been dragging in December.
Again, I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Kindle Fire - First Impressions

I've probably played with my Kindle Fire for 2 hours or so. By far my biggest complaint is lack of apps. For example, I couldn't find Google Sky Map in the App store. This is a killer app and I'll be tempted to return if I can't get it.

But that's not the only app that's lacking. I had terrible time finding free apps for my daughter, even just trial versions. Amazon needs to quickly beef-up their app store.

Here's what I've found so far:

Good:
-Screen is nice and bright.
-My eBooks automatically showed up.
-Easy to use.

Bad
-Not many apps to chose from.
-Hard to configure. For example, I can't figure out how to require the password for app purchases (to keep my daughter from buying apps.)
-Lots of fingerprints on the glass.
-Music purchases over 90 days old can't be auto loaded.

Neutral:
-Battery seemed to run down fast, but after a recharge, it seems better.
-Heavier than I thought. Might be too heavy to read in bed for long periods.

I need some more time to play with it before I can decide if it's a keeper.

More Reviews for SZJMB

Gothical posted a 5-star review of Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb (SZJMB) on her blog. Here's a quote:

"...SUPER ZOMBIE JUICE MEGA BOMB was a fun, fast pace, unique read that I look forward to reading more from the author and MUST have a sequel I would sell a blue smurf for a sequel to this book."
Which leads to my only question about this review: I thought all smurfs were blue?
I also had two great kid reviews over on Goodreads. One by an eight-year-old and another by a fourteen-year-old. I was a little surprised that the younger boy seemed to enjoy SZJMB more and his review has to be my favorite so far:
"Nate & Misty are bestfriends. They decide to run away after they get grounded for sneaking out. When they come home they see the town is full of zombies. They are really smart and move in to a Walmart. By accident they find out that zombies can be killed with lemons and different things that have acid in them. They meet a genius named Kali that help them kill the zombies with a really cool firetruck. Awesome book." 5-Stars

There's nothing like a review from a target reader to make your day!
If you haven't picked up your copy of SZJMB yet, the ebook is on sale now for 99¢ at Amazon and on my website (in 3 formats).