Java Davis's Blog, page 38

Book Review – Three Moons over Sedona, by Sherry Hartzler (4 Coffee Beans)

Book Review – Three Moons over Sedona, by Sherry Hartzler.

 

 

I love a good road trip and this one was terrific. The ultimate road trip fantasy is finding your happy place at the end of the road, and I loved that Georgia Mae Brown found just that. The female characters had the usual highs and lows. What made this book different for me was that the men were, for the most part, likable, good men.

Another thing I enjoy is when a book includes favorite recipes. Much of the action takes place at a diner, and the diner’s recipes for its two best-regarded items are included at the end: cinnamon yeast buns, and lemon and rum meringue pie.

I take one star off because of the character of Zoë, owner of a new age gift shop next-door to the diner. In the beginning, she is serene and her presence is relaxing. By the end, she’s somewhat of an hysteric.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a joy ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon U.S. Link

Book Review – BadAss Zombie Road Trip, by Tonia Brown (1 Coffee Bean)

Book Review – BadAss Zombie Road Trip, by Tonia Brown.

 

 

I am a huge fan of Tonia Brown’s Steampunk series, but this is a completely unworthy addition to her collected works.  Because there were two males in the car, often I couldn’t tell who “he” or “him” referred to. Poorly done. I was confused more often than I was clear.

But DO check out her “Railroad” series, which smoothly combines great stories with subtle humor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon U.S. Link

Book Review – Jeep Tour, by Gail Ward Olmsted (2 Coffee Beans)

Book Review – Jeep Tour, by Gail Ward Olmsted.

The author has skill, but this book does not show talent. This book left me cold and angry.

This is the story of a woman who decides to make radical changes in her life. Jax has a good life. She and her ex-husband are great friends (with benefits), she’s well-though-of as a college professor of marketing, her late parents left her financially comfortable for life, and she has a very sweet best girlfriend.

Jax and two co-workers go to a conference in Arizona. They all take a jeep tour with a young and studly tour guide. He and Jax work up a mild flirtation that Jax misinterprets as being serious.  She goes home dreaming of this guy and builds a whole new life in her mind. She is downsized out of her job, sells her house, puts things in storage, buys a hot car, and moves. Jax rushes into the arms of her tour guide, who has no recollection of her at all. Facilitating up to four tours a day, this guy has plenty of opportunities for flirtations. Duh!

This poor, deluded woman sees herself as a cougar and acts aggressively to instill herself into Mr. Tour’s life. I felt sorry for the man, who ends up with an appropriately-aged girlfriend. But Jax’s move is a catalyst for her loved ones, too, but I just didn’t care. I felt sorry for Jax and her delusions, and I felt VERY sorry for Mr. Tour Guide, who had the jumble of this stranger’s life strapped onto his shoulders. And shame on Jax’s friends, who encouraged her in this insanity.

When this author has a better story to tell, I will try her again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon U.S. Link

Cover Reveals - Seriously?

Over the past couple of years, I hear more and more about the excitement of a cover reveal, or of a NEW cover reveal. So let me get this straight -- you can reveal a cover, and then you can change the cover and reveal it again.

I'm yawning already.

Not only does this sound like a ridiculous waste of my time, but now, time and time again I see books with the exact same covers. Those authors should have some sort of cover show-down. The last author standing gets to keep the cover, and the loser, hanging a head in shame, must create a new cover.

But wait! This losing author gets to have another COVER REVEAL!

Does your artwork represent what's truly in the book, or is it sex for sex's sake? Is your text legible? Can I tell the difference between your name and your title? Oftentimes, I truly can't. I play a game with myself, deciding which is the author and which is the title. Bragging rights if I guess right.

I understand that everyone is not artistic, but ask for help, for heaven's sake! Don't ask your best friend, your college roommate, and your sister, and expect that you've done your due diligence.

Can you tell I'm cranky today?

Ebook versus Paperback -- Is it about choice?

For several years, I (cheaply) only offered Amazon ebooks for all of my titles. Recently, I took the paperback plunge on CreateSpace and now offer paperbacks, too.

I have yet to sell a single paperback. I'd love to hear whether other people have found that offering paperbacks was a huge seller for them.

All I've found so far is that paperbacks are much easier to donate to libraries, and also to mail to giveaway contest winners. Also, none of my family/friends thought that they should get free ebooks, but everyone expected (and got) free paperbacks.

So, did I waste my time on CreateSpace? Or will my ship eventually come in? I haven't had the energy to do the research for my next book. Eventually, I'll lose this feeling of disappointment and move on, I know, but for now ...

Goodreads Giveaway Results

My first Goodreads Book Giveaway has ended, and for once, I'm satisfied with the results of a marketing ploy.

So far, advertising hasn't worked, press releases haven't worked, networking hasn't worked, blog interviews haven't worked, etc., etc.

Finally, something has worked. This giveaway introduced me to hundreds of people. Almost 450 people entered to win one of 8 copies of my latest book, Commune. Another 200 or so added it to their to-read lists. I also had a huge happiness factor from mailing out the winning 8 copies to people in the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. I felt personally connected in a new way.

Indie authors, I would do this again in a heartbeat.

Commune Paperback Giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Commune


by Java Davis

Giveaway ends June 23, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

My Returned Quilt

My friend's husband died. He was my friend, too. My friend was going to move in with her children, going from a queen-size bed to a twin. As a housewarming gift, I made her a twin quilt. I chose the fabrics carefully. The background fabric was the same color blue as their accent wall in the bedroom. There were lots of floral prints, a baseball print, and foreign stamps, remarkably featuring places where they had traveled together. I made this quilt in my favorite pattern, Whirlygig.

My friend did not move in with her children after all. She moved in with her elderly mother, and back into a queen-size bed. She folded up the quilt and set it aside for months.

One day, she called me. She felt guilty that this quilt was just sitting and would I like to give it to someone else. It was so full of love, I told her I would take it back for myself.

This is the first time a quilt would be returned to me. It felt bizarre. How often does one return a quilt?

A few days later, she showed up at my door, quilt in hand. I laid it on my bed where we both admired it. It's beautiful. Now, I could never part with it again.

Do I Really Have to "Brand"?

I thought that branding, like writing a Mission Statement," was a ridiculous waste of time. Then I went to a seminar that showed me the light. Now, I am all about the brand.

But what IS a brand, and how do you work with a word that is both a noun (the brand) and a verb (to brand) AND an adjective ("Brand X")? I decided to see what Merriam-Webster had to say. I looked up "brand." Lots of definitions available, but my favorite is: "a particular kind or type of something."

Such a nebulous definition makes the branding decisions seem less intimidating. Anyone or anything can fall into this particular definition.

So that's me, "a particular kind or type of something." Mission accomplished.

PubSmart Con - Recap

Home again! Got an appropriate greeting from the two dogs and the cat (in particular, the cat!). Caught up on mail, email, unpacked, etc.

So now it's time to start sorting through all the information and goodies I got at the conference. I met loads of lovely people and found companies and organizations that I'm anxious to connect with. I feel like Java Davis will be entering a new era of commercial quality and occupational connections.

I also discovered that my husband missed me. We never travel together so that one of us is always home with the animals, but usually, there is no problem being apart for any length of time. Whoever's away just comes back home. This time was different. After 18 years of marriage, there are still surprises left.

I hope that everyone out there had a wonderful Passover week or Easter Sunday. G'd bless you all.