Sean Keefer's Blog, page 3

The Story Continues - Open Heart by Emlyn Chand

Back in November I reviewed Emlyn Chand's first novel, Farsighted .  Loved it.  

Chand opened my eyes to a genre that I had not previously considered in my zone of interest.  That being Young Adult fiction.  Since she nudged me towards these books, I have encountered some really good writers.

However, my first book of the summer will be Open Heart, the anticipated follow up to Farsighted.  I'll be reviewing it as soon as I finish it, which likely won't be long.  But for now, here is an excerpt for you to enjoy and to whet the appetite. 

An Excerpt from Open Heart
We exit the school, and Alex startles me by yanking my arm in the opposite direction of the flagpole. He finds an empty patch of grass and scoops me into his arms for a dramatic, old timey kiss.

“What was that for?”

“Because you’re nervous, and I wanted to make you feel better.”

“Hey, I’m the one with clairsentience here.” I titter.

Alex ignores my comment and reaches down to grasp my hands. One of them is holding the lily he gifted me earlier in the day. He plucks the flower from my fingers and tickles my cheek with the petals as he traces tiny circles across my skin. He repositions the flower between his thumb and ring finger and uses his index finger to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, then tucks the stem in, too. The whole time I see my image reflecting back in his glasses. My ghastliness is destroying this tender moment. It’s almost too much to bear.

“Pretty.” He smiles, then gives me another kiss. “Now whenever I kiss you, I get to smell the lily mixing with your Almond Joy scent. Flowers and chocolates--sooo romantic.” He makes a silly face and gives me another kiss to make his point. “Pretty.” He takes in a deep breath.

His lips brush against my cheek, and I use the opportunity to slide his glasses into his soft spiky hair. No longer distracted by the unattractive reflection, I relish the sight of his unshielded eyes, then draw in closer and touch his eyelashes with mine. I outline the square shape of his jaw with my finger, then nuzzle his nose with my nose. Alex allows me to study him without expressing any discomfort. He’s overcoming his insecurities as a way to be closer to me. I wish I could do the same.

I give him another kiss and his face lights up. His skin glows with a subtle orangey-gold hue and his aura vibrates soothingly, as if massaging me. For a moment I allow myself to relax in the security of his strong, steady presence. Then he obliterates the comfort altogether by making another unwanted proclamation. “I love you, Simmi.”

Rather than starting a fight or walking away, I push him back against the brick exterior of the school and press my body into his, ignoring my insecurities. I kiss him the best I can and wrap my arms around the back of his neck. I mimic his aura, producing massage-like vibrations, and I go over the options in my mind.

I can’t tell him mujhe pata hai forever. Eventually, I will either have to tell him I love him, or worse still, tell him I don’t. I almost love him. I’m almost to that place. Maybe I’ll feel it by the end of the week or by the end of the month. It has to be only a matter of time. If I tell him I don’t feel the same way, it will hurt him so badly. Alex is the best guy I know, and he doesn’t deserve that—least of all from me.

Alex turns his head to the side and tries to retreat from our impromptu dance of passion, but I push his face back into mine and kiss him deeper, more fully. Something inside him stirs. The tickling vibration becomes firmer and hotter, and the heat thickens, wrapping us both in a crashing embrace. A tidal wave hits us from all sides and then turns to vapor. I kiss him so hard I forget the reason I initiated this steamy make-out session. I forget we’re in a public place, and I almost forget my insecurities enough to surrender to the lapping waves as they spin around our entwined bodies.

Alex places his hands on my shoulders and pushes me back a couple inches. “Okay, enough. Not that I’m not enjoying this, but I kind of need to breathe, too.” He takes a few exaggerated breaths and shakes his head. “If you’re going to do that every time I tell you I love you, I’m going to say it a lot more often. C’mon, Shapri’s been waiting a while. We can pick this up later. Promise.”

He slides his glasses back onto his nose and grabs my hand. We walk to the flagpole where Shapri is standing. As soon as she spots us, her eyes grow wide as if somebody’s slapped her on the back of the head.

I blush and reach to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear. Only then do I notice the lily is gone. The flower signifying my dreams, my reminder to always reach for the stars, has been trampled beneath our passion.

Open Heart is available through Amazon so don't wait any longer than you have to.  

Make it your first book of the summer!

Visit EmlynChand.com for loads more information and some really great extras!

So while you’re here please feel free to read an excerpt from my book or even buy a copy of your own.

Charlinder's Walk by Alyson Miers - A Review

The first thing you realize when you begin Charlinder's Walk by Alyson Miers is that 2012 was a bad year.  In 2012 the world is/was(will be?) hit by the Plague, a catastrophe that kills, in short order, the majority of the world's population leaving only small pockets of survivors scattered across the globe. 

There’s no electricity, no technology, no infrastructure, no mass transportation, no central government - basically nothing remains of the world that exists were we to turn and look out of the nearest window.

Fast-forward approximately 1 and ¼ centuries.

Here we meet Charlinder who lives in a small agrarian settlement nestled in what was the previously the eastern United States.  Previously being the operative term here.  The world of 2130 doesn’t look much like the world of 2012.

For those in the year 2130 the overall thought of the times is probably best summed up by a quote from the book.

            "But I mean to say, even we here in Dover don't have much to say about the Plague anymore. Our grandparents went on about it, but for us, it's more like, yeah, it happened, it killed everyone and the rest of us got put back to the friggin' tenth century BC, now here we are in the ninth century BC, so what else is there to say?" 

The overall premise of the book is actually quite refreshing. (Yes that’s an interesting choice of words when the end of the world is the topic, but Miers’ treatment of the subject is novel.)

Charlinder is a bit of an anomaly. He lives in a small village that was founded post-Plague by a woman who provided a written account of the times around the Plague as the end of society has come to be known.  Charlinder spends a great deal of time studying her accounts.  He lives in a society where skills such as building, hunting, farming and other physical abilities are prized.  He, on the other hand, is a teacher.  He’s also a thinker.

From the time his community was founded there have been competing theories as to why the Plague occurred.  View one is that the Plague happened as a product of science.  View two is that God caused the Plague as punishment.

Charlinder wants to definitively answer this question.  So, using guidance from the written history he has, he decides to take a walk and find the answer.  Trouble is, Charlinder lives on the east coast of what was the United States and conventional wisdom is that the Plague started in Italy. 

Quite a walk.  A walk that becomes Charlinder's Walk.

Questions arise and are debated at length concerning secular and religious foundations as well as government and society.  While some of the discussions do get a bit drawn out, it was impressive to see the vehicle of apocalyptic fiction to engage this discussion.  It’s particularly fascinating to see how

Beach House Memories by Mary Alice Monroe

Mary Alice Monroe is no stranger to the South Carolina Lowcountry having regularly looked to the area as the setting for her novels.  In This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

The HOUSE of Order by John Paul Jaramillo - A Review

I wasn't sure what to expect when I received my copy of Barnes & Noble.

Generation by William Knight

I've met Hendrix Harrison.  In the event you've yet to meet him, I'd suggest you remedy that situation by reading Generation by William Knight.

Harrison's a writer for Strange Phenomena, a magazine that keeps their readers in the know on ghosts, werewolves, conspiracies, bigfoot, and all things fringe.  Harrison's military past didn't exactly pave the way for a career as a journalist, but Strange Phenomena isn't exactly your mainstream media outlet.   To complicate matters, Harrison isn't exactly what you would call technologically savvy.  In fact, he actually shuns technology while trying to do his job with credibility and integrity.

All things aside, Harrison is facing turbulent times. 

Then he's sent on a minor assignment by his editor – follow up on some reader reports of, you guessed it strange phenomena.  The assignment turns out to be a bust, or so Harrison initially thinks; however, as the dust starts to settle where there was nothing, Harrison sees the potential for a story.  A big story.   

Strange things are afoot in the English countryside.  People have been seeing ghosts, shades, creatures – exactly what no one knows.  Harrison runs down lead after lead.  Ultimately he finds himself at a body farm run for research purposes to better help criminologist understand how to solve future unexplained deaths based upon how cadavers decompose under a variety of different conditions.

All of the cadavers come from various medical facilities across the land primarily as a result of the deceased's donating their bodies to science. 

Then things take a turn for the worse.

The large, all powerful Mendel Pharmaceuticals rears their mighty head.  In a nutshell, Mendel has created the drug to end all drugs.  They have Re-Gene, a treatment that conceptually could make a person live forever.  They plan on making millions, nay, billons.  All that stands in their way is the announcement of the drug, well, that and the fact that those who take it continue to live as their bodies die around them.  The result is something that could only be described as markedly less appealing than a zombie.  Imagine wanting to die and not being able to.

Slowly the conspiracy starts to unravel with Harrison who is aided by the talented, yet skeptical research scientist Dr. Sarah Wallace, at the vortex. 

Knight takes you on a ride you won't soon forget.

Generation is a face-paced book that keeps you guessing.  All too often thrillers such as this follow a set formula that can be all too predictable.  Knight did a great job in keeping me guessing in such a way that as situations resolved themselves I was compelled to turn the page in a hurry to see what happened next. 

I was also quite drawn to the characters, all of who were developed quite well by Knight.  I am universally disappointed when a character is larger than life with no flaws or weaknesses.  It would have been easy for Knight, given Harrison's military background, to have made him a super soldier who was able to summon the one man military might of the British Empire to bear on the situation; however, Harrison is just an average Joe who is caught up in a difficult situation.  The most endearing quality he possess is that he realizes this and lets this redouble his efforts to make things right. 

This realistic approach pervades all of the characters and the story as a whole all the way to a very satisfying ending.

I will say that in total I would classify Generations as more thriller or suspense rather than horror.  I never had any spine tingles while reading it, but on more than one occasion I found myself on the edge of my seat, eager to see what happened next.

I also found it refreshing reading a book written by a non-US writer.  The book was set in the UK and the dialogue, the slang, the colloquialisms, all with a definite British slant. 

Overall, I was quite taken with this book.  Generations would appeal to fans of suspense or the thriller genre.  Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.  One word of caution; however, you'll be ready to read William Knight's next book as soon as you finish Generation.

Novel Publicity Blog Tour Notes: Get Generation on Amazon or Barnes & Noble – you know you want to! And please vote for my blog in the traffic-breaker poll for this tour. The blogger with the most votes wins a $50 Amazon gift card. I want that to be me! You can vote in the poll by visiting the official Generation blog tour page and scrolling all the way to the bottom. Be sure to enter for your chance to win an autographed copy of Generation : ENTER HERE. William Knight is a British born journalist and technologist currently living and working in Wellington, New Zealand. He's chased a varying career starting in acting, progressing to music, enjoyed a brief flirtation with handbag manufacturing and was eventually wired into technology where he's been since 1989. In 2003 he published his first feature in Computing magazine and has since written about the many successes and failings of high-tech for the Guardian, Financial Times and the BBC among many others publications. He continues to maintain a lively IT consultancy. Connect with William on his website, blog, Facebook, Twitter or GoodReads.

Inside Ring by Mike Lawson

I read a lot.  

That being said one of the consequences is I get stagnant with what I have on the horizon for future reads.  From time to time I'm lucky enough to find a new author.  I consider myself extremely lucky if I happen to discover a writer with more than one book in print.

            Such is the case with Mike Lawson.  Lawson writes thrillers set in DC.  While he has clearly spent some time in our nation's capital, he wasn't a politician, rather he's a nuclear engineer who's made a very successful transition to writing.  Things get more interesting when you add to the equation that Lawson lives in the Pacific Northwest, about as far away as one can get from DC and still be in the lower 48.  However, this doesn't stop Lawson from crafting some quality fiction.

            Lawson grabs, and keeps, the reader's attention from the start in Inside Ring is a saint – quite the contrary, but the characters behave in a believable fashion. 

            At the center of all of this is a very enjoyable plot.  I was a bit worried that I was going to be reading a book where our everyman hero, a hero of limited ability, is called upon to save the world.  Fortunately that's not the case here.  Lawson starts out and keeps you guessing at every turn.  Despite the surprises and the unforeseen twists and turns, Lawson doesn't have to revert to a suspension of disbelief to reach the book's climax – and what the surprise ending it is.

            I've already started the second book in the DeMarco series and will post a review about it when I've finished.  Given the speed with which I read the Inside Ring, I imagine that I'll have this up soon.  I try to keep in tune with quality new writers, but I'm clearly a late comer to the game when it comes to Lawson.  Do yourself a favor if you haven't read his work yet.  Go grab Inside Ring and you'll likely be hooked.

            Fans of thrillers with a swift plot and engaging characters will enjoy his book.  Fair warning however, you will not want to put it down once you start. 

Doxology by Brian Holers - A Review

If I am being completely honest, which I generally prefer to be, I wasn't sure what to expect when I started GoodReads.

Farsighted by Emlyn Chand - A Review

I don't generally read the YA genre, but I've been expanding my reading list.  With Farsighted by Emlyn Chand, I'm rather glad I did. 

The premise is straight forward. 

We have a sleepy mid-western town and in this town is a high school.  Along with the high school comes all that one would expect.  There are those who are members of the "in" crowd and those who simply aren't.

Then there is Alex Kosmitoras. 

Alex is a 16 year old sophomore who is struggling to fit in.   If all were perfect for him, fitting in might still be a problem, but alas, all is far from perfect.  His lack of friends, his parents financial struggles and the requisite teenage angst would be enough to maximize the stress for any teenager, but Alex's problems are compounded. 

Alex is blind.

With all of his compounded problems he copes by keeping to himself.  In fact, this had been his plan as he entered his sophomore year.  However, as with any well conceived teenage plan, one can generally expect the worst.

Shortly into his sophomore year Alex realizes that he has a special gift.  You see, Alex is able to see into the future.  However, since nothing is as it may see, the gift appears in its most raw of raw forms.  Initially Alex has tremendous difficulty distinguishing his visions of the future from reality.  This causes some interesting and entertaining moments for him. 

Initially Alex fights his gift not wanting to become even more the social outcast; however, he meets two girls who have moved to his small town who, he finds out, like he, also have special gifts.

The trio join forces and collectively usher us through the first installment of a series that has great potential. 

The strength in Chand's writing and story telling is her ability to capture the teen psyche.  As an aside, I find the thought process used by most teenagers incredibly frustrating often forgetting that like most things in the teenage world, it is still developing.  As Alex was proceeding through Farsighted, I found myself wanting to grab him and say, "Really?  That's what your going to do here?"  In short I simply didn't agree with how he was going about things.   However, I would remind myself that the genre was Young Adult and that such was the reality of the teenage world and in large part is what makes YA, well, YA and in this case, really good YA fiction.

In my frustration it came to my realization that Chand had nailed the moving target that most  teenagers embrace.  And she did it without any cliches.

Alex makes some terrible decisions, but he learns from the decisions and his education moves the story along.

While the story is a tale, partially at least, of a teenager's coming of age, he still has some age to attain (which bodes well for the next book and the book after that.)  However, you'll find more than the struggling teenager.  The family relationships in the book are written in the most solid of fashions.  The dialogue is crisp and compelling

and through it all, Farsighted is a good ole' mystery.  The fun part of the mystery is that given Alex's ability to see into the future, the mystery is a prospective mystery leading the characters on a quest not to find out what happened, but to, hopefully,  keep what they know will happen from happening.

Farsighted is Emlyn Chand's debut novel.  It won't be her last.  Get on the band wagon early.


  Blog Tour Notes THE BOOK:  Alex Kosmitoras may be blind, but he can still "see" things others can't.  When his unwanted visions of the future begin to suggest that the girl he likes could be in danger, he has no choice but to take on destiny and demand it reconsider. Get your copy today by visiting Amazon.com's Kindle store or the eBook retailer of your choice. The paperback edition will be available on November 24 (for the author's birthday). THE CASH PRIZES:  Guess what? You could win a $100 Amazon gift card as part of this special blog tour. That's right! Just leave a comment below saying something about the post you just read, and you'll be entered into the raffle. I could win $100 too! Please help by voting for my blog in the traffic-breaker poll. To cast your vote, visit the official Farsighted blog tour page and scroll all the way to the bottom. Thank you for your help with that. THE GIVEAWAYS:  Win 1 of 10 autographed copies of Farsighted before its paperback release by entering the giveaway on GoodReads. Perhaps you'd like an autographed postcard from the author; you can request one on her site. THE AUTHOR:  Emlyn Chand has always loved to hear and tell stories, having emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). When she's not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm, Novel Publicity. Emlyn loves to connect with readers and is available throughout the social media interweb. Visit www.emlynchand.com for more info. Don't forget to say "hi" to her sun conure Ducky! MORE FUN: There's more fun below. Watch the live action Farsighted book trailer and take the quiz to find out which character is most like you!    

Blog Tour de Troops

In Leah's Wake, joins 50 indie authors in Blog Tour de Troops, a charity blog hop sponsored by the Indie Book Collective.

To celebrate, Terri is hosting Emmy-winning film editor Nina Gilberti, currently a full-time editor for the hit CBS crime drama Criminal Minds. Nina is also an indie filmmaker. On Terri's blog, Nina talks about her upcoming documentary, 
yes 50, FREE eBooks.  

For details and a list of participating authors, please visit the Indie Book Collective site: http://indiebookcollective.wordpress.com

AMAZING PRIZES

Leave a comment on Terri's blog and receive a coupon for an In Leah's Wake eBook – for every comment, Terri will also give a free eBook to an active-duty troop.

PLUS, just for leaving a comment, you'll be entered in a random drawing for one of these amazing prizes:


FIRST PRIZE – a $ 50 Amazon gift card, a copy of the Criminal Minds script for episode 701- the season seven opener written by executive producer and writer Erica Messer, SIGNED BY MS. MESSER AND THE ENTIRE CM CAST, PLUS an autographed photo of the Criminal Minds cast!


SECOND PRIZE (total 3) – autographed photograph of the Criminal Minds cast!

WIN A CARE PACKAGE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SOLDIER

With your comment, leave the name of a U.S. troop and he or she will be eligible to win an awesome care package, consisting of:  $ 100 Amazon gift card, a boxed video set of Criminal Minds, Season 6, PLUS an autographed photo of the CM cast!

* Winners to be determined by a random number generator, using random.org.

To learn more about the film When Jane & Johnny Come Marching Homeless and to enter the raffle, please visit Terri's blog.

Fine Dining or your Favorite Dive

Sometimes I get distracted from my writing.  Heck, I think we all do from time to time.  After all, it's easy for other things to pop up.  Lately I've been deluged with friends coming into town, college football (oh my poor SC Gamecocks), work conferences, travel, and the list goes on.  However, one thing that's been a common factor for all of these things is that any of them can be better enjoyed with food. 

Yes, there's been a lot of food lately.  It has been a nice variety as well, pizza on game day, some great roadside diners and some incredible fine dining experiences. 

All of this has me thinking about writing.  Now this could be because many a time I should have been writing I was either on the way to or from some dining event or, if not, I was likely planning one.  The result of my thinking was I realized writing is a lot like dining. 

If you keep this in mind you may just find that what you serve up will be a bit more readily received.

For example, I was recently in a wonderful upscale restaurant in Charleston, SC – Mcrady's.  The restaurant's chef is a James Beard award winner, the atmosphere is pristine, the service top notch and the food? Simply amazing.  To start my recent meal there I had a charred mustard leaf with malt vinegar powder and homemade apple butter.  Never in my life had I heard of such but it was wonderful.  The catch?  Wonderful as it was, it isn't for everyone. 

The week before I'd been attending a conference at Amelia Island, Florida and I wandered into a small café in downtown Fernandina Beach off a side street – Lulu's at the Thompson House. I half expected I'd walked into an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Nothing at all fancy but the calamari rings in the sweet thai chili sauce was some of the best I have ever out in my mouth; however, if I was looking for charred mustard leaf I would have been disappointed.

These were two completely different dining experiences yet both were homeruns.  However if someone had been expecting the fine dining of Mcrady's, I dare say Lulu's might not have been anything short of a miserable failure.  The same is true in reverse.  If someone was looking for low key Mcrady's might not have done it.

Writing is just the same. 

So, is your writing going to be fine dining or is it going to be rustic comfort food?  There's nothing wrong with either but knowing what it is going to be in advance will only help in the long run. 

Knowing your content and style will help in defining the audience as well as the agent or the publisher, or for the ever growing group of independent self-publishers, knowing the answer to this question will be a critical first step in the marketing of your book.

So approach it like you would prepare a meal – generally speaking.

1 – Organize your ingredients.  Prepare your manuscript in advance as you would the components of a meal.  This will let you know if you are going for white table cloth or the popular dive. 

2 – Don't try to pass off meatloaf as filet mignon.  Meatloaf is great but not if you are expecting Kobe beef.  Be true to what you have written.  Your book may be an edge of your seat page-turner, but that doesn't mean it is literary fiction.

3 – Make sure it's a complete meal.  Regardless of the style of your writing make sure that you are providing a complete meal.  Don't usher your reader through the book and not offer a dessert course.  Make sure they walk away satisfied.

If you do all of these and give the reader a good experience you'll build up what restaurants love – a word of mouth following.

So it doesn't matter if your place is fine dining or a popular dive and it doesn't matter if your writing is the most literary of literary or anything else.  If it is good it will stand alone and keep the reader coming back for more and telling people along the way.

So while you're here please feel free to read an excerpt from my book or even buy a copy of your own.