Nicole MacDonald's Blog, page 21

Creative designs - Introducing my Cover Designer!

Okay so that was a totally possessive title *grin* but I LOVE my cover and it is all thanks to the skills of a certain… KEARY TAYLOR! Who has finally (after lots of badgering from people..  including myself) started her own design business in covers for fantastic prices!!  Finally Independent Authors can have beautiful classy exquisite covers for a very reasonable price.  I should also mention Keary is a fantastic author and on rather a few best selling lists in the UK!! So now she's taking over the design sector too *grin*Below is another pic of my cover and the other design I was stuck between that she created.  I do think I chose the right one but I still love the other one LOTS!  

And the next cover…. *giggle*.. well I was going to keep it under wraps until the story is ready to be published.  Well it's the cover of my short story that I entered in the GoodReads contest.  Even if it doesn't win the contest (I'm a little concerned it didn't have enough humour in it for the requirements) I still want to publish it.  I'm really pleased with it and it show-cases a different writing style *blush* so I thought it worth a shot.  I think Keary captured the .. uh.. moment perfectly!  And I can't stop sneaking peeks at it *grin* I cannot begin to explain the utter thrill you get when you finally have the right cover for your work.  Finally it feels real and you get a little thrill every time you see it or get to show it off.  A good cover really is invaluable.   So go to Keary's gorgeous new site (and she SO mastered WIX, something I totally failed at *lol*) and have a squiz, her prices are very reasonable for something which really can make the difference between a top seller and a bottom.  I have a permanent spot on my right side bar so if you need a cover just hit that gorgeous button and cruise on over to the utter Sorceress of Design, Keary Taylor.
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!

Friday funnies! Funny/cute etc pictures

Kinda early I know but we're gonna be out of area for net soon enough : )  We're taking the niece & nephew up the bush (and leaving the kitten in the capable hands of Ems) so expect some crazy shots on Sunday *grin* They want to visit the clay-pool again and things got very messy there last time ;p Have an awesome weekend peoples!












Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!

Thursday Writing tip - why have one when you can have 50!

An interesting list I stumbled across on a site called Poynter.  Some will be useful to you some not so much I'm sure : ) Yes I'm skiving on todays post a little but that would be due to the made amount of writing I've done on my draft!! Wooohooo! Goodbye writers block *grin*  So have a read of these tips, I'd love to know which one you think is best : )


Fifty Writing Tips
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!

Wednesday Review - and a confession

Okay so the book review I'm posting is actually the second book I reviewed on the weekend.. The reason I'm not putting the first one up is because it's bad.  No I'm not been overly critical.  But after a rather bad sleep (and dreaming of sharks eating a random guy.. which according to the dream diary might be the author..) I realised something.I don't want to write BAD reviews and I don't want to review bad books.  Now I'm not weaselling out of my promise of honest reviews, I still firmly intend to stick to that.  But if a book sample is horrendously awful I won't buy the book and I certainly won't review it.  The same for those samples that I just 'don't get' cause lets face it not everyone is going to love your work… *sigh*
Anyhoo now that's off my chest on with the review!
Review of, The Fat bag - stuck between a rock cake and a hard plaice, by Pearl Barley.
The blurb.A humorous look at one person's efforts to 'get with the programme' and lose those excess pounds. What are the stumbling blocks? Where do I acquire that elusive extra will-power? Why is my attitude to food my biggest weakness? Are there psychological undertones to my lifelong struggle...or am I just plain greedy? Losing weight and keeping it off is only marginally less stressful than divorce and moving house! Laugh along to an issue we can all relate to.
Three out of five stars.This book was what it promised.  A funny, witty look at years of yoyo dieting.  It obviously caught me in the sample and also due to my mum being a chronic yoyo dieter from before I was born and still to this day.. *sigh*.  So for me personally I found it a hilarious insider's point of view of the craziness that is extreme dieting.  Every golden promise of weight loss appears to have been seized and explored in this book and the 'Bridget Jones style' writing is quirky and enjoyable.The reason it got three stars is due to the formatting.  Now I can quite happily pass over the odd typo/format issue but this book has a constant issue.. It is fixable and I hope the author considers doing so because it is very distracting (and happens SO often).  What has happened is she's used the block style paragraphs, which is fine.  But instead of allowing the text to 'continue' around the page she's hit enter.  Which means you have half a sentence that then continues at the beginning of the next paragraph (or occasionally floats between paragraphs all on its lonesome).  For a $4.99 priced book I don't think it's unreasonable to say I feel more time was needed here.  But otherwise a funny chatty read that comes across on the borderline of fiction/non-fiction.  It probably would be a good read for those attempting the.. ahh.. not so sensible dieting practises? *grin*

Tuesday Riddle! Solve it and win a copy of The Arrival

Okay I'm in a state of shock right now… Seriously I'm speechless and that happens rarely people..
I got sent a tweet saying
SARARUEFORREAL @Dmslinadrtydrss - I'm totally gonna download ur book to my iPad :)
Which made my jaw hit the floor and I replied
@SARARUEFORREAL ...*gulp* ... okay I know this says Sara Rue for real but is it!?!? IS it???!!! *cue hyperventilating*
And then I got this direct message
Yep - my fiancé saw some or ur tweets about the book. I have a shoot this week but plan to start reading it after things calm down a bit :) Direct message sent by Sara Rue (@SARARUEFORREAL) to you (@DmslinaDrtyDrss) on Mar 29, 7:19 PM.
So I meant to say stuff on this blog but I can honestly say it's totally gone out of my head.. I'm swinging between extreme delight and the urge to squeal like a 16yr old (..okay I may have indulged myself there…) and utter terror she'll hate it… Actually no that's kinda behind the stunned mullet expression at the moment.
Here's the riddle
You have a barrel of oil, and you need to measure out just one gallon. How do you do this if you only have a three-gallon container and a five-gallon container?
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!

Character Monday - Introducing Catherine (Cat)

And I'm soooo excited to be able to say that… Sara Rue has been chosen to play Catherine!!  
I know, I know - I'm far too excited about my make-believe movie characters right now ;p but I don't care!  I've adored Sara Rue since watching her on Popular but never considered her for Cat's part due to her fuller figure.  Well now she's slimmed down and I can't imagine a more suitable, utterly gorgeous, natural red-head!  Okay so she's a tad older than the character and a few inches taller… I don't care!  As Tim Gunn loves to say, 'Make it work!'  And for Sara Rue I so would (yeah.. I may have a tinsy bit of a crush on her).  I love her comedic timing and it would be perfect for Cat's character.

So enough gushing over Sara, let me introduce you to Catherine.
Catherine or Cat (or Kitty Cat if you want to annoy her) is the second eldest of the group and the main voice of The BirthRight Trilogy.  An animal lover, she adopted a puppy as soon as she left home and has since taken up running to keep Audrey, a huntaway cross, happy.  Cat's the red-head of the group and though she tends to dismiss compliments she really does turn heads with her ivory skin, green eyes and fantastic figure.  But then if you ran every day and trained in ju-jitsu several times a week chances are you'd be in good shape too *grin*.  As a person with a natural 'flight not fight' instinct, Cat began ju-jitsu at 16 after a nasty close call.  It proved fantastic inspiration to train hard and she relishes knowing she's capable of defending herself now.  A wee bit shortsighted (her friends tease her about being 'blind') she walks with an aloof expression that leaves some people thinking she's a bit of a snob.  In reality it's a defense mechanism after waving and smiling hello at the wrong person too many times due to misrecognising them.  So anyone who knows her knows that if they spot her on the street airplane signals are required to get her attention.
When it comes to the opposite sex Cat is a natural flirt and discovered from about 17 on that if she smiles brightly men tend to think she wants to sleep with them.  While an amusing concept at first, it now explains her somewhat coquettish appearance as she'll often break eye contact to be 'safe' and not give people the wrong idea.  As anyone whose read The Arrival will know, she's an utter sucker for a guy in uniform and the sight of Alek in his guard uniform makes her swoon (much to the other girls amusement).An incredibly loyal friend it takes a bit to make Cat angry and more fool those who go to the effort.  As a Leo Cat has a pretty decent temper once roused (and a good set of lungs too) and won't back down till her point is across.  Once that's done however she'll forgive, forget and move on.  This can be an issue at times as she is occasionally too trusting and can forgive people who don't deserve it.  Cat is also one of those people with a 'glass' face so you always know what's up.
As with all my characters I could go on (and on and on ;p) but if you want to learn more about Cat the easiest way is to read The Arrival *grin*   
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!

Support Japan through Write Hope!

A blog set up to raise money for Japan, Write Hope, is auctioning off copies of books that Authors have donated.  The Arrival is now up for auction so if you've been meaning to donate to Japan you can also get a copy of The Arrival in the process!  All proceeds from the auctions go to the cause and it's not just my book on there.  Get on and have a look at all the auctions running, there's a heap of them and as I said all money goes to this very worthy cause.  Have a great weekend peoples : )


Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!

Friday funnies! Funny/cute etc pictures

Have a great weekend peoples (and Friday for you lot in the Northern Hemisphere) and now I'm off to read the next book for Wednesday's review.. wish me luck ;p
Take care all! Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!

Thursday Writing Tip - Simple English

And no I'm not referring to 'simple' as in for those who speak English as a second language, but keeping that in mind may help you.
What I'm talking about is sentences that describe/tell/explain your story in a way that's succinct and to the point.  Without excessive flowery language or those often overused adverbs.  There is no right or wrong way, really, just keep it simple.  Remember you don't need to fully describe something to a reader immediately.  Just mention single points as you go along.  For example if I was to describe my appearance I could say, "A female in her mid to late twenties with mid length dark red hair".Now there's nothing wrong with that sentence at all, but I could have just said, "A woman with red hair" and then as I continue in my writing, mention other descriptions.  If I felt the need.  Often we as writers get so involved in intense descriptions to make sure the reader can place themselves that we forget how easily a simple sentence can place us.  Here's another example
"The blustery wind wrenched at her coat as she hurried down the main road, its icy fingers clawed at her collar and she quickly did her top button up"
"The wind was icy and she fastened her coat's top button as she walked."
Again neither of these are right or wrong but the simple sentence does still get the same point across.  What are your thoughts?  Any favorite examples?
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today! 

Wednesday Review and a 'how I review' explanation

Hello all new eyes out there, I know there are a few of you cautiously poking your head in to see if you should risk the wrath of Nicole *lol*.  So I thought I'd explain my reviewing process as let's face it we all have our own way of doing things : )
I don't judge or compare books to anything except the work I'm reviewing.. Okay that may sound confusing, I'll try to elaborate.  Say I buy your book and your blurb declares it to be a fun silly read that's to entertain kids and parents alike (referring to last weeks review Bloated Goat).  Then that's what I expect.  If however I begin reading it and it's totally boring with a barest hint of humour then I'm going to give it a low rating and not really recommend it.  I will assume that any book I buy to review has been edited (no not professionally) has had spell check used and the person putting it up has been conscious of the formatting.  I won't shred a book for any of these things though, unless they are REALLY bad.  If I can get a book published from studying the net then I assume others can too and no I'm not a computer wiz.  I just spent a decent amount of time researching stuff.
Basically what I'm assuming when I buy your book is that it is your shot at producing as professional a works as possible.  Does that make sense?  I am assuming you have had beta readers etc and aren't a complete narcissist who just thinks they rock *grin*  I'm not here to give 'nice/sweet' reviews I'm here to give honest thoughts on what I've read.  I'd really like people who tend to disregard Indie authors to be able to regard my reviews as an honest interpretation of my experience reading them.  I want to do us - Independent Authors - a favour by proving we are just as good as a traditionally published author.  So that's where the word of warning comes in.. If you've flicked up a crud piece of writing in the hopes of achieving say, Amanda Hocking's success, then I will shred you.  Because we don't need to be associated with nutty 'get rich quick' schemes.  People like Amanda have written many good, enjoyable reads hence their success.  
And now on to my first two star review *gulp*

Review of Fatal Sisters by Leon Shure
The blurb:A discharged soldier, Thomas Spevak, returns home only to find that someone is impersonating his sister, Megan. Hoping to find out what happened to his sister, Tommy hides his own identity and fakes a friendship with the woman who he calls Meg. But when he starts to fall in love with Meg, he discovers to his horror that Meg probably murdered his sister.
Review: 2 out of 5 starsI was a little confused when I began reading this book as it starts with a character that isn't mentioned in the book.  Once I got over the 'eh? Is this the right book' moment I quickly fell into the story.  The author is a good writer, I am in no way disputing that.  His characters are likable and believable and the situation (at first) is darn clever.  At the end of chapter 2 I was doing my best evil chuckle at the predicament of a pair of bumbling idiots (not giving spoilers away ;p you'll have to buy or read sample) and had to tell Glenn (my partner for those who don't know) all about it.  He did his thoughtful nodding while rattling off the titles of a couple of movie plots it reminded him of.  Not having seen any of them I shrugged and continued to read.  The first frustrating thing I noticed (in the first few pages too) is that the author over describes EVERYTHING.  I ended up skimming pages due to his characters internal ramblings (and wow can they ramble!) or his five descriptions of one thing.  He literally explains jokes after saying them.. way to kill the humour much. 
I liked when he stuck to 'his' voice.  A masculine (as to be expected) simple voice.  However I'm going to guess someone told him they felt it was too simple and needed more descriptions.  If I ever meet that person I'll be tempted to smack them..  Simple English is surprisingly hard to do and honestly if someone calls your book an 'easy' read you should be flattered!  Don't start cramming in extra flowery 'feminine' words to try and 'fix' it.  So yes I did a lot of skim reading and rolling of eyes in sections where he insistently over described things.  As a beta reader I was itching to cross sections out as they really were just fluff that did nothing but annoy a reader trying to get on with the story.  Which really was good, a little cliché for sure but what story isn't?Until the last ten percent.  Sure there were a couple of moments in the plot where I thought 'loophole! Would never happen or work' but that would have been fine (or at least acceptable).  Until he threw in an annoying and unnecessary twist.  Sigh. 
Which suddenly brought the story and murder down to a 'honour' killing, finish (or rather that's what it felt like) and left me furious.  A character I liked and respected just went down the dunny and I'm left wailing 'whhhyyyyyy?'  It was one of those moments we've all seen before.  The person you least suspected turns out to be the killer!  Except it was so ridiculously left field that it just felt as though he decided to do it on a whim five minutes before publishing.  A very disappointing end to a read I almost enjoyed.. *sigh*   
And on to my next read!  But you won't know if I've chosen your book till next week..*mwahahaha* ;p And remember if you're looking for advertising space for your book cover I'm happy to 'switch blog space'.  I'll advertise yours if you'll advertise mine.
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, only $3.99 on Amazon or UK Amazon or $3.99 on Smashwords Buy it today!