Tara Chevrestt's Blog, page 130

Titanic Deception by John & Toni Rakestraw

I've read a lot of Titanic books, and frankly, I thought I'd read every twist there could possibly have been, excluding vampires, werecreatures, and ridiculous stuff like that. But the Rakestraws threw another possibility into the mix, and the tale is unlike any other Titanic book I've read.

Imagine...a company so greedy and deceitful that instead of folding and taking a loss, they decide to swindle their insurance company...resulting in 1,500 lives.

That's their idea, and it actually comes across as plausible. Switch some paint, change some windows, kill a few people... I believed it.

The story goes back and forth between modern day Michael and Titanic day Alice. The modern day hero, I have to say, I like the fact he isn't perfect. He has insecurities, doesn't make a ton of money, isn't ripped with muscle or super handsome or heroic. He's the kind of man you see every day in the grocery store. And to me, this made the book more realistic. I specially loved this part here:

"They were contemporaries, and while neither could win a modeling contract, neither had left themselves go completely."

I just liked that this book was about imperfect people. It's not something you see done much nowadays.

Moving on. Michael finds his life NOW affected by events that occurred 100 years ago all because he finds a journal and starts a blog and asks some questions... The Occupy protests are even wrapped up in the modern-day plot. There's kidnapping, bombs, threats... but in the end, the truth of the Titanic must come to the surface.

My only quibble is Alice's reaction after Thomas revealed a big secret. I found it really surprising that she wouldn't at least get angry. Nevertheless, it's such a small part.

Five stars. I bought this on Amazon.

Deleted Scenes... Dominique Goodall wants to know what you think....

Deleted scenes – that section you turn to whenever you turn on a DVD. How amusing they can be; occasionally pointless and often punctuated with mistakes and speeches which are said with a smile. No one ever thinks of the scenes in a book where the author has heartlessly slashed through a chapter and deleted it, denying it the beauty of ever being printed and seen by someone who may, or may not; find it important to the book.
Such decisions are just par to the course for every writer. The question always being what does this scene bring to my story? Does it develop a character or lead the story on to the final conclusion? What makes a scene stand out and what makes it unneeded? Authors have the hardest job for things like that but fortunately for me I have yet to ever write a story in which a scene has not been classed as necessary, as vital to the plot.
From characters learning more about themselves to the very feeling of wind in fur during a hunt; my scenes hurry the story along towards the final tumultuous finale; the big finish – the fireworks at the end of a party. I’ve often read a book or two where some scenes are unneeded – and yet others which haven’t been connected properly where a scene has been deleted. I love reading deleted scenes, or sections which the author has chosen to make the cut.
Often these are cut in editing, some people keeping them in hopes that they can improve those sections – the sections left so amazing that they make us laugh, make us cry – and even, on my part, made me scream at the book in frustration when a story ends too quickly or even when the wrong character dies. I love the thought of the cut – the image of a red pen slashing through words and slicing them away – like a knife, trimming off the edges of the stale bread – I know, weird analogy but that’s just me! :p
So now we’re onto you. What do you think about deleted scenes? Should humorous ones be included for your amusement?Which books have you read where you’ve actually wanted to scene a pointless scene cut?
And if you disagree with someone’s book…let’s have a discussion – IF we know the book!

[image error] Dominique Goodall is the author of the soon to be released Echoes of Winter, book one in the Seasons of the Wolf series and a self-confessed wolf addict. She has currently been published in two anthologies by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing and is currently working on getting herself better known by sending in manuscripts for as many different anthologies as she possibly can.
As much as she loves to admit it, she never will be able to count her wolf stuff- there's nothing left for her to be truly able to collect without her own home.
She can be friended on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/WaterSingerHer author page on Facebook is here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dominique-Goodall-author/250907358312446The page for Echoes of Winter is here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Echoes-of-Winter/355235744499607Her twitter name is: https://twitter.com/#!/DomGoodallAnd her blog can be found here: http://dominiquegoodall.wordpress.com/And the trailer for her book is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kix63EXBW50&feature=plcp

Check Out Time by Rosa Sophia

A very intriguing mystery that takes place in a grocery store. Amazing what the night shift/stockers run across. Coworkers trying to smash each other in box smashers...suicides...
 
And the heroine has a mysterious stalker. Is it the sexy man that has caught her eye and vice versa or is it someone or something more sinister? After all, surely a guy who liked her wouldn't bash her windows in.

I especially liked the fedora wearing, cigar puffing private detective. What I didn't like, however, was the lack of emotions. That's the only reason it doesn't make the five star mark.

What the Heart Knows by Shyla Colt

Major thumbs up for a unique story I haven't read fifty times before. You have a woman with a bad heart and a bucket list of things to do before she dies and a man grieving for and blaming himself for his wife's death. It's just a pure stroke of luck he happens to walk into the coffee shop where she works...or is it? Could there be other things at work there?
Things happen and they begin to wonder what really brought them together. The attraction was instant. She knows things about him she shouldn't know. She has memories she shouldn't have. Ollie sees something odd in her at times... Enter the paranormal aspect.

I'm going to keep this short cause to reveal certain things gives away too much story/plot I can't give away. What brought them together could very well keep them apart. And there were a few instances I doubted this couple would get their HEA. It threw me off many times, kept me guessing.

I rarely say this as I'm one of those "get to the point already" type readers, but I actually think this novella could have been a novel. I'd have liked it to be longer, more in depth. It was so  unique.

The sex was pretty hot too. *eyebrows waggling*

Four stars. I bought this on Amazon.

Gilbert M. Stack's Panic Button: Lighthouse Island

I'm pleased to welcome Gilbert M. Stack today. He's agreed to answer a few questions about his new book:  Panic Button: Lighthouse Island. I'm hoping this is the first of a series and I'm hoping I get asked to review those too, cause this absolutely rocked, and that is not something I say often!

I'm not a fan of reality TV, but looking at it from a woman's POV, following a character in a book, feeling what she feels...just wow. I was riveted. As to be expected, the contestants of this reality show fight and argue nonstop. There is 250,000 bucks at stake...at first. And amid the fighting, there's fear, craziness, and romance.

There is no sex. It's not even needed. It's just nonstop, heart-pounding action.

The deal: A snooty college professor, an elementary school teacher, a handsome Adonis, a mechanic, a model wannabe, an overweight man, a tough African American woman, and older lady are thrown together on Lighthouse Island with a crazy keeper who seems to get way into his role.

There's shackles, a flooding cellar, a dry well, infested food, ghost stories, and mind games. The heroine is constantly faced with: hit the panic button, save so-and-so, do this, save so-and-so, and in the end, she may win or lose because of love. Can a showmance become a romance?

I loved it, and though the bickering got on my nerves at times, I could see as totally plausible. In moments of extreme stress and with lots of money at stake, people behave in appalling ways. How would YOU behave?

I give this one five stars.

Meanwhile, welcome Mr. Stack.


This book was incredible. I actually forgot to make questions and notes. LOL But here are a few:
Reality TV is hot so asking how the idea came to you seems silly, but I do wonder, is there any reality show in particular you like?
We watch a lot of Reality TV in my house. It’s mostly Big Brother this summer, but Survivor has always been one of my favorites. I really like the social game that has to be played to win these shows, but in Survivor you also have the difficulty of enduring physical challenges. These players are under a lot of stress and one poorly spoken word can cost them everything. I love them!
There’s one instance Boy Scouts is mentioned. Were you in the scouts and did you learn any cool survival techniques?
I loved my years in the boy scouts. We did a lot of backpacking and camping, and while we never actually needed these survival skills we talked about what to do in extreme circumstances a lot. I think this sort of challenge (i.e. How do you feed yourself on a deserted island?) shows up on television and in literature so often because people are fascinated by nature and want to know on some fundamental level if we’ve become too civilized to survive in the wild.
Is there a particular lighthouse that you visualized while writing about Lighthouse Island? Or perhaps one with a sordid history such as this one?
This is a tough question. I’ve always been fascinated by lighthouses and even used to fantasize about buying one and living in it. I don’t think that would be so bad today with cell phones and television, but back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it would have been a different story. The psychological stresses that lighthouse keepers lived under must have been incredible. Lives literally depended on them every single night. And yet it was intensely solitary work, often requiring the men and their families to live in isolation beyond the edge of civilization. So while the keeper in Panic Button is a complete fabrication, I think the idea of the keeper cracking under the pressure and going a bit crazy is completely credible.
The contestants have no water for two days, only rum rations. Could you survive like that? And if so, would you prefer Captain Morgan or Bacardi?
Research is always one of the most enjoyable parts of the writing process and Panic Button gave me the excuse to learn a lot more about rum. Both brands are really good, but I have to come down on the side of Captain Morgan. I don’t know if it’s the historian or the romantic in me, but there’s something appealing about drinking the namesake of one of the New World’s most successful pirates who managed to keep his wealth by going straight.
Rook nearly gets stuck in a well. Heather was afraid of the dark, Ronnie of chains. Shackles…infested food, what would have made YOU press your panic button?
This is another tough question. What do you fear so much that being subjected to it would make you give up your chance to win a quarter million dollars? While the infested food would certainly make me gag, I think that it’s Hank’s fear that would have succeeded in driving me out the game. But I can’t say any more about that now without spoiling the story.
Thanks so much for having me on your website today, Tara. I’ve really enjoyed your questions and I always love talking about books with other readers. I hope you’ll friend me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/gilbert.stack and visit me on my site at gilbertstack.com.

Out of the Blue by Victor Cruz & Peter Schrager

Victor Cruz did not just come from nowhere. He didn't just appear out of the blue. He came from what some would dub a broken home, streets rife with crime, and a little boy with big dreams became a legend. It wasn't an overnight thing. It came with struggles and stress attached. As Victor says at the end of this book, "You can't wait for your chance. You can't expect it. You have to earn it." Wise words. I think I'll post them somewhere I can see them and remind myself of this when I get frustrated over my writing career.

I learned a lot as I read this. Football players, the pros anyway, are not dumb jocks. They have to make good SAT scores to get into those colleges where recruiters find them. And after reading about the lockout, the financial stuff they go through, the injuries, the stress, the whole drafting process, I have a newfound respect for football players in general.
Cruz grew up in Paterson, NJ and turned to sports to stay off the streets and out of trouble. He was raised by a single mom and his abuela and papi. His dad was a firefighter who wasn't a part of his life till Cruz turned seven. He introduced his son to football. Cruz had a series of hard knocks: gangs beating on him and his friends, shootings, illness in the family, his father dying, bad grades, and just frustration when the NFL kept passing him by. Nothing was handed to this guy.

I absolutely loved how Cruz managed to talk about all his accomplishments without being arrogant. He even credits numerous other players for helping him, teaching him, praises Eli Manning. He talks about other football players' unique stories, not just himself. And when it got to the 2011 football season, I already knew the scores, had watched the games, but Cruz's POV showed me what was going on behind the scenes.

I appreciate Cruz writing this book, taking the time to tell his story. He gives the rest of us, whether you're from Paterson, NJ, or Tulsa, Oklahoma, a feeling of hope. Reading his story, reading about his persistence in the face of adversity, makes me want to overcome it in my own life. He did it. He made it. He dreamed big and accomplished it.

Five stars. This book was a gift from my mother.

The Wisest Maiden by Dahlia DeWinters

Imagine 1001 Nights, but instead of telling tales, the heroine has to use wits and the skills/assets she's been blessed with. This is a short novelette inspired by the original story. Issalia has been hidden away by her parents as the king of their kingdom has an extreme hatred against women. He takes one maiden as his wife every year, deflowers them, and kills them. So far, he has killed three. Will Issalia be his third? When Toridesh lays eyes on her one fateful day in the marketplace, he thinks yes.

She's taken to his palace and becomes his bride...only she doesn't die the next day. Why? She is wise. She uses her skills with herbs, womanly seduction, and just plain simple common sense as she tries to get through to the king. Can she show him that not all women are bad? Can she break this...curse?

In a time when books feel like the same story told over and over, I was very pleased to discover myself shocked at two different turns. DeWinters manages to give an old story many new twists. I'm not big on descriptions, but this author managed to describe things from the food to the decor to the characters in such eloquent prose, I felt I was there eating the fruit, riding the camel, touching the king.

And the best part was...this man will kill her once her deflowers her, yet her body yearns for him. Loved her inner turmoil. "More often than not, her mind and body urged her to simply give in, be taken and suffer the consequences." Imagine wanting a man that bad...I could feel it with the heroine.

There's also humor, most notably when Issalia finds out about her diet. I won't reveal more than that.

Five stars. I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Dahlia DeWinters Talks About the Importance of Word Choice

I'm pleased to welcome Dahlia DeWinters today as she celebrates her latest release. I, of course, asked a ton of questions about her edits and how she felt about them and what she learned. Here's a great post from her about the the importance of word choice.


"There was a book out a time ago, called “Roman Soldiers Don’t Wear Watches” which  was about movie mistakes that you find in period films, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, where in one scene you can see a man in t-shirt and jeans in the crowd.  http://www.moviemistakes.com/picture13357. Kinda weird seeing that with all the other people around him in proper desert-wear, right?
Writing a fantasy fairy tale was a challenge, not in the execution of the story itself, but the world-building and within that world-building, the creation of language.  I don’t mean I created my own language, although I slipped in a few made-up words here and there, but I mean how the cadence of the dialogue and word choice transports (I hope) the reader to the fantasy land of the story.
Going back to Raiders, seeing that guy in the t-shirt sauntering along may ruin the period feel of the film.  In the same way, the wrong word choice will jerk your readers out of the story.  In writing The Wisest Maiden, I made the conscious decision to have no contractions in the book.  Short of using “thee” and “thou” this was a way of making the speech of the characters formal and polite.  I also used no slang.   The king doesn’t tell his subjects to “Relax” or “Take a chill pill”.  Not that he would be so inclined to do so anyway!  Word choice was another decision I made--with the help of my editor--during the editing process.  In order to lend a more archaic tone to the story, I replaced words such as “gorgeous” or “sexy” because they wouldn’t be appropriate for the “once upon a time” feel of the fairy tale.  Instead, I used words such as “ripe” and “luscious”, words that conveyed the king’s intense feeling for his soon-to-be-bride without using modern words that may yank the reader out of the spell that I’m trying to weave.  I opted to use more formal, and at times awkward, language to keep the readers in the “long ago and far away” mood.
Note the difference between the two phrases:
“Don’t touch me.  Save it for the wedding night, King.”
and
“Preserve your caresses for your wedding night, King.”
Both convey the same basic meaning, but the second sounds like it belongs in a fairy tale. The word choice puts you “there”.
Certainly, writing (and editing) a fantasy story was an experience!  While it was frustrating at times to find the right word to express the thought without sounding contemporary, it helped to stretch my vocabulary and learn how to make great use of the online dictionary sites.   All in all, it was a learning experience that has made me more cognizant of the difference that language makes."

Thank you, Dahlia. I look forward to reading this story. Readers, the book she's speaking of The Wisest Maiden...

Betrayed by his first wife, King Toridesh gives his new brides no chance to deceive him. After he marries a virgin of his choosing and consummates the marriage, he has them killed.

As an only child, Issalia has been sheltered by her parents in an attempt to shield her from their king’s murderous intent. When her mother falls ill, Issalia refuses to allow their market-stall to be closed for the day, knowing this one day of income stands between them and poverty.

While in disguise, the king spies the lovely Issalia in the marketplace and takes her as his next bride. Will Issalia succumb to the fate of the virgin brides before her, or will she be able to break the king’s curse?

It can be bought on Amazon and All Romance Ebooks.

A Writer's Life, the Ups and Downs with Jennifer Don

The life of a writer is not as easy as some would have you think, but it is a worthy road to undertake and certainly well worth the time you put into it. Of course, I can only speak from my experiences when I say that. Such experiences are still very new in coming about but are more than enough to make the previous statement a valid one. Others may well tell you otherwise from their own journey through this rough road and that is fine. Life is all about balance and writing is of no exception.
It is full of highs and lows. Let us not forget those moments of trials and errors. Or those that keep us second guessing our work and those spent on our toes in anticipation of how something will be received by our steady growing audience of followers.  
To be a writer is to walk a treacherous path of pitfalls at every turn and rough ragged mountains to face upon every climb. It is a life made of sacrifices and hours spent alone deep in thought or rather in deep undulating mental conversations with your argumentative muse or bothersome characters. It is a life where you make friends and break friends, and a life where you must learn to endure the hard times and embrace all the good times. There will be many of those upon the writing road of life. There is certainly very few days when I’ve crossed through clear waters in this sailing trip of words and I know that I stand not alone on this matter.
One moment you could be on the top of the world and the next, you’ve hit the lowest of lows and want nothing more to do with the pen held in your hand. It is often upon this low moment that one deadly thought crosses the forefront of the writers mind. This very same thought is one that can be deemed as the eighth cardinal sin. That deadly thought is the one where all you want to do is abandon your hopes, dreams and all you’ve dared to build and replace it with something better. It’s that very moment where you question your ability in the passion to write that you’ve held for so long and so deep within your soul.
 God knows I’ve been on that verge a fair few times in my short writing journey. But you know what? I’ve never crossed that threshold into the abyss and do you know why? It is all down to the support that I have found from people in the same boat. If you head on over to MasterKoda.com on Facebook you’ll see exactly what I mean. These people spend their time working on their projects, whether they are writers, publishers, editors or whatever. It doesn’t matter; they will still be there for you. They will make time for you. If you give to them, they will give to you without any questions being asked. This very group has been a lifesaver on more than one occasion for me and I owe them the world of thanks. But none more so than Kim Mutch Emerson, who helped pull me up from the lowest point in writing that I have ever stooped upon. She, with her words of advice helped me to see the light on matters that I was facing.
But that still doesn’t make writing any easier to grasp. So why do we write when we know it’s not going to be easy?
Well, I don’t know about you, but I write because I am incomplete without it. I write because my soul demands the expression and there is no better way to freely express what you feel than with the power of words. It doesn’t matter how you put them down on paper, or how you chose to express it. The freedom to do just what you want with them is the very fuel that is ever lasting and remains to keep the fire burning.
When you tell someone that you are writer, you may be shot down by questionable glances and accolades of jeering moments as they try to remove you from your passionate perch. But don’t let get you down. If anything, use it to your advantage. Use it to prove them wrong. Allow it to become the very passion you love within your writing.
Writers all over the world will tell you that it can be so frustrating when nothing seems to be working for you. You can also go green with envy over your fellow writers success when you are left trailing in the mud but please don’t let this become a growing focus in your mind. Don’t allow the green eyed monster to take control and jeopardise everything that you have worked for. So what if it takes you longer to make ready your book or writing project. It does not matter about how quickly it appears in the public eye. You want to make it the best thing ever so take your time and enjoy the process. Be happy for those who have found success and keep working on your own. You never know, yours might just be the best seller and hitting the streets for millions to be reading and then who’s laughing?
Oh let’s not forget the stereotypes here. Writers… what do people see when you tell them you are a writer? Well, some see you as being a person who has relocated themselves to a lifetime of perpetual torture at the hands of devil’s tool – the mighty pen. Others may see you as being someone who sits behind a computer all day with a notepad to the side and balls of paper littering the floor – who hasn’t been there? Some will think that you do nothing but write and therefore live an isolated life with no time for socialisation. But we all know this couldn’t be further from the truth even if we tried. Many writers out there have a family to look after, and education to learn and a job to keep. We do not slave endlessly to the willpower of the written word, as much as we wish we could, an earning must be made.                                                                                                                  But seriously, the journey of writing is different for everyone, but we will all share those high moments and those low moments. We may all lose the friends we have tried so hard to keep and often it will be down to a difference of opinion or no respecting support from them. These things happen. This is why many will say that to be a writer is to live a life of near isolation. The most enjoyment comes when you are engrossed in the lives of your characters or when you are reading the lives of others. Yes you need down time and friends are good for that, but the world is your oyster.
The dream you hold, is the dream worth living for. It is the dream worth fighting for. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You my friend are welcome in the arms of fellow writers to write until your heart is content. Forget all about what comes next when you’ve finished that first draft. Worry about that when it comes to it. Focus on what you are writing first and foremost and enjoy the ride.
                To my fellow writers out there, what advice can you offer to those just starting out? What handy tips are you willing to share to those ready to further their writing?What do people look for when reading the works of others?What pitfalls catch you upon every turn? Do you have moments of the past where you have felt like throwing the towel in?If so, would you share them with us?
About Jennifer DonJennifer spent many years without daring to lift a pen, without writing a word that wasn’t forced. But 2008 arrived and with it, her love of writing. She began with poetry which quenched her thirst to begin with but soon that wasn’t enough to satisfy her. 2011 arrived with a dream to write her first novel – Awakening, which is on-going. November saw her attempt her first NaNoWriMo, and so Timber Varden was born, with the bulk of it being written within that month. Now she finds herself aiming to re-write that draft and turn it into her first published novel.ContactWhile she aims to work through the edits needed, updates on her progress can be found on here -http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferDon
To find out more with regards to her other projects, then check out her blog here - http://thoughtsgowild.blogspot.co.uk/
And should you wish to follow her on Twitter, or ask her any questions please see here -https://twitter.com/#!/Voice_Of_SpiritYou can also add and follow Jennifer over on Goodreads. You will find that link here – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6155054.Jennifer_DonJennifer will be more than happy to answer any questions you have for her. You can contact her at any of the links posted above. Or email her at authorjenniferdon@hotmail.co.uk

The Wild Princess by Mary Hart Perry

I was completely immersed in this novel. Is it a tad preposterous? Yes, but that's part of the fun.

We have here a fictional account of what may have been, with the heroine being a rebellious princess of the great Queen Victoria. First of all, I love that this wasn't a worthless princess like so many others we read about. This woman went to suffragist parades, fought to be in class with the boys, to paint nudity in a time when women did not do that. She also started the Women's Work Society and provided a place where destitute girls and women may learn crafts and sell them. I was greatly impressed by this princess.
As with any novel revolving around the royal family, there's secrets and traitors. Louise has secrets in her past...one I knew right away. I must say I wish the book had covered it better, not made it so obvious. I'd have preferred a surprise. Nevertheless, as Louise searches for an old love, a new one enters her life...but she's tied down to a man of her mother, the queen's choosing.

I loved reading about both the young girl and the young woman. The scandalous love stories are surrounded by intrigue as the angry Irish plot and set bombs and whatnot to try to harm the royal family. A traitor is in their midst. Two men from the American Civil War war are in the middle of it all. The princess's friend Amanda nearly stole the show at times with her own side story as well.

Truly, no end to the excitement in this one. I think there could have been more passion between the hero and heroine and I'd have liked some questions I had regarding Queen's Victoria's choices/meddling answered  more thoroughly, but I have to say this is a great read. I'll be watching for more by this author.

Four stars. I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.