L.S. Murphy's Blog, page 31
February 6, 2012
Book Review: Bloodbreeders: Living In Darkness by Robin Renee Ray
Synopsis from Goodreads: Not once in her life did farm girl Renee Crocker, imagine she would encounter a world found only in the minds of myth-seeking men. Although the things they sought were not always unheard of in the 1930's in other parts of the world, life was just too harsh in the small Texas community, to pay mind to anything other than raising a healthy crop to ensure the survival of one's family. But late one evening during supper, a stranger comes knocking on the door of the Crocker family farm house and is invited inside.
It doesn't take long for Renee to discover a great number of things that people in her neck of the woods couldn't even contemplate. The dark of night takes on a whole new meaning, and the once vulnerable young country woman finds herself struggling to survive in a world that demands she live forever in darkness.
The Cover: The red and black gives off a vibe of the eerie, which is totally suitable for this novel.
The First Line (from the prologue): "I lie in the cold silent darkness with no way of knowing how much time has passed, for what seemed like an eternity." Definitely a good way to suck a reader in. I dove in head first wondering why this was happening & feeling empathy for the narrator.
The First Line (from Chapter 1): "I will never forget the night that he arrived at the farm." This is also a great way to suck a reader into the story. You immediately know that the MC is a woman and "he" made a lasting impact on the first night. You also know that this woman is a farm girl and that the setting is not modern-day.
The Good: The main character is well-crafted. I love her growth from a 26-year-old naive spinster to a tough as nails vampire and how you go through that journey along with her. Renee is stronger than you realize at first and that keeps you reading. I also love the way the author doesn't shy away from the harsh truth that Renee must face.
The Bad: Not a fan of the prologue. It didn't seem necessary and was a little long which is why I listed both first lines. The way Chapter 1 opens is well crafted. (As a general rule, I'm not a huge fan of prologues to begin with.)
Recommendation: If you can stomach the horrors that Renee faces in her "new life" as well as the things that she does, then this is totally worth it. This is not a novel for the faint of heart. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next book in the series.
Tagged: Authors, book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Horror, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Vampires, Writers, Writing
Cover Unveiling: Breathless by Cole Gibsen
I am SOOOOOOOO excited to reveal the cover for Breathless by one of my favorite people, Miss Cole Gibsen. In the upcoming days, I'll have an interview with Cole that will BLOW your mind.
But first, this COVER will BLOW YOUR MIND!
Coming March 27th, 2012 from Crescent Moon Press
Obituary-reading emo girl Edith Small is broken – the end result of forcing herself inside a mold that doesn't fit. All she wants is to conform to her strict sergeant stepfather's rules long enough to make it to graduation day.
But a boat accident threatens to unravel the life Edith has worked so hard to keep. After waking up in a hospital with a lacerated shoulder, Edith fakes amnesia. Because admitting she received her injuries from a blue-haired girl who breathes underwater is all the reason Sir needs to send Edith on the first bus to military school.
Safe at home, Edith struggles to put the nightmare behind her. But the mysterious creatures that live in the ocean aren't about to let her forget.
After meeting Bastin – a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes – on a secluded dock, Edith learns about the war raging undersea to end human existence. A war that Edith, unwittingly, has become the key to winning.
In a world where death is an ever-present shadow and motives are as dark as the bottom of the ocean, Edith must decide if her life is worth risking for a love that can't survive past the shore.
Release Date: March 27th, 2012
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Tagged: 2012, Authors, Book Covers, Cover Reveal, Covers, Fiction, Just for Fun, Photography, Photos, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Writers, YA books, Young Adult Books
February 1, 2012
5 Questions with Dawn Binkley
Executive Editor, Dawn Binkley
Dawn Binkley, a writer since her late teens is driven by the written word. She believes, without writers the world as we know it would cease to exist. Books, scripts, advertisements, history, the daily news reports, none of it would be possible without smart, articulate people to write it.
Mrs. Binkley is also a writer and is better known under her pen name Keira Kroft.
Dawn, co-owner of Hellfire Publishing and Hellfire Comics, also carries a vet assistance degree. Her love for animals is as great as her love of people. She gives a percentage of her personal book sale profits to the animal welfare league.
She was born and raised in Chicago and now resides in a quiet suburbs in the outskirts of the city with her husband and her daughter. Dawn spends her spare time working with her cats Scamper and Sawyer, to achieve total world domination, one shared Twinkie at a time. Her passions include reading, writing, football and shopping.
Dawn will read anything you put in front of her. Whether she will like it, is another story. Her preferences are vampires. If an author were to submit something with what she calls "real" vampires, she will rip the hair out the head of any one that will try to take it from her. Also amongst her preferences are ghost stories, werewolves and other paranormal beings. She looks for creativity and wild imagination.
Direct quote from Dawn "without great imagination, writing would simply be nothing more than meaningless paper."
She strives to bring the best fiction possible to the plate and has carefully staffed HP with like-minded, smart, driven people in the editor positions. The entire foundation of Hellfire Publishing is built upon community, love and trust.
Now on to the FIVE QUESTIONS:
1. What is something you are seeing too much or too little of in your slush pile?
Dawn: Too much of writers not following simple submission instructions, (raises eyebrow) and too little Romance.
2. What are the most common mistakes writers make when submitting to you?
Dawn: I am so glad you asked, 
Rudeness, which we do not tolerate and multiple submissions. The later might be our fault; we need to be clearer in stating that we don't take multiple submissions. It's stated in our FAQ's section. I am sure not everyone reads them unless they're looking for something particular, although I suggest that they should.
3. What is your solution to writer's block?
Dawn: Keep writing. Seriously, start something else. I have many novels and stories started. That is good thing, I can follow my muse wherever it leads and eventually it will lead to over fifty finished pieces of work.
4. What are you reading right now?
Dawn: Bloodbreeders 2: The Revenge by the awesome Robin Renee Ray.
5. Finally, Beatles or Rolling Stones?
Dawn: That is so funny, I ask a daily question on my Facebook and that 'WAS' going to be one of this week's questions, lol. I think it's thee question. Stones, baby! Although I am a huge Beatles fan.
Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Fiction, Just for Fun, Musings, Paranormal Romance, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Writers, Writing
January 29, 2012
Book Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Synopsis from Goodreads: Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don't kill him first, that is.
The Cover: What I really like about this cover is that you know the story is science fiction by the way the title is shown. And you know it's Young Adult by the models. I love the use of green and black as well. Very striking.
The First Line: "I stared at the pile of boxes in my new bedroom, wishing the Internet had been hooked up." Immediately, I knew a lot about the character and I liked her. Naturally, I wanted to know more.
The Good: Do I really have to narrow it down? There isn't enough room here… The plot is smooth. The characters are believable and likable. The setting is well planned. So, pretty much the entire book is good. I couldn't put it down.
Katy is well-rounded. Readers will have no problem relating to her personality or to how her life is changing. Daemon is… arrogant, awesome, and will have readers falling in love with him. Dee is adorable. Who doesn't want a friend like Dee?
The sci-fi plays more like paranormal romances that are so hot right now. It adds a new twist to the genre that has seen its share of hot vampires and cuddly werewolves.
The Bad: Um…nothing. There were a couple of typos in the Kindle version, but that's about it.
Recommendation: Read it. Now. And reread it tomorrow, because you won't want to put it down.
Tagged: 2012, Authors, book Review, Books, Fiction, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA books, Young Adult Books
January 26, 2012
Book Review: The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi
Synopsis from Goodreads:
The severed arms of five girls who vanished in broad daylight are discovered buried in a clearing in the woods. Alive or dead, the remainder of the girls' bodies are nowhere to be found. Worse still, there is a sixth, yet to be identified.
At first, the case seems simple. A series of clues leads investigators Mila Vasquez, a celebrated profiler with an attitude problem who is an expert in crimes relating to children, and Goran Gavila, the eerily prescient criminologist who sees deeper into Mila's dark past than any man has before, to a twisted killer. But when they begin to follow the leads for the second missing child, it points in a vastly different direction.
Vasquez and Gavila begin to wonder if they've been brought in to take the fall in a near-hopeless case. Is it all coincidence? Copycats? Or, is there a mastermind of evil behind the killings? And if so, from where is he conducting his symphony of murder?
Obsessed with a case that becomes more tangled and intense as they unravel the layers of evil, Gavila and Vasquez find that their lives are increasingly in each other's hands….
The Cover: I love the cover of this book. The color is striking and the butterfly is a clue.
The First Line: "I wish to inform you about the strange case of one of our inmates." This is the first line of the letter that serves as a prologue. I really like this. I'm intrigued enough to keep reading.
The Good: This starts out as a great mystery. Since the setting is in Italy, it was fascinating to read about the legal practices and police procedures in another country. The central story arc is finding the killer of five young girls and the identity of a sixth. Mila Vasquez is brought in to identify and find the sixth victim. She joins an established team of investigators headed by Dr. Goran Gavila, an esteemed criminologist.
Mila is an interesting character who comes across as caring, yet cold, and you want to know why she is the way she is. Goran is highly intelligent with deep dark secrets of his own. The characters are well rounded if a bit on the cold side, but they were difficult to care about for me. The plot of the story really carried me forward more than the characters.
The Bad: All great thrillers have unexpected twists. The key is to make those twists plausible. Up until the appearance of the character Nicla, the novel was fast-paced and hard to put down. Nicla has a special ability and the possibility of such things should have been introduced early on. It felt like an easy out to use a character such as Nicla instead of having Mila and Goran discover things through their investigation techniques. After that, the some of twists and turns became less believable and caused me to lose interest.
Recommendation: If you like literary thrillers, go for it. If you're a causal reader of this genre, I'd recommend skipping it or getting it from the library.
Tagged: 2012, book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Literary, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Thrillers
January 24, 2012
5 Questions with Kate Jonez
Kate Jonez is the author of Murdock the Nobody, Flicker, and Comic Book Hero. When's she's not writing dark fantasy, she's busy over at Omnium Gatherum Media as chief editor. Omnium Gatherum list includes: Chuggie and the Desecration of Stagwater by Brent Michael Kelley, Idols & Cons by S. S. Michaels, and Knock Knock by S. P. Miskowski. Visit her website at: http://katejonez.com/
Now on to the FIVE QUESTIONS!
1. What is your favorite monster?
I am an amateur monster historian. If your readers would like to find out more about some of the more obscure monsters, they can visit my blog at http://katejonez.com/blog/ If I have to pick a favorite it would be a monster of the human variety. The Baron Roman Feodoravich von Ungern Sternberg defected from the Red army during the Russian revolution/civil war. He, with an odd band of misfits and psychopaths, took off for Mongolia where he declared himself king. Of his many twisted and horrifying policies, his treatment of thieves was perhaps the most strange. By decree of the king, thieves were treated to turpentine enemas after which mice were sewn into their livers. The cure often led to the death of the patient. In this kingdom, death didn't disqualify a person from holding government office. Several rotting corpses held high level positions during Sternberg's rein. My second favorite would be the Liderc. He's a gold hunting chicken who shape-shifts into a sexy man and drains women of their energy.
2. As an editor, what is something you are seeing too much or too little of in your slush pile?
Popular writing advice recommends getting the words on the page as quickly as possible. When I do this as a writer, the first idea that pops into my head usually belongs to someone else. Those first ideas, for me, come from something I've read or seen on T.V. If I had to guess, I think some of the the overly familiar characters, plots, and dialog I've seen come from writers rushing to get words on the page. I prefer to see stories where writers have taken time to think and plan and get to know their story.
3. As a writer, do you struggle with your editing side or are you able to set that aside?
Editing has definitely helped me become a better writer. As and editor, I'm always asking questions like: what would make this scene more memorable? Why is this part boring me? What's so special in this section that I'm walking around thinking about it all day? When I began to turn a critical eye on my own work and asked the questions that an editor would, my writing noticeably improved. I wouldn't even think of writing a scene just to get characters from one place to another because the story needs it (have been guilty of this). Every word has to count. The whole story needs to be interesting in one way or another.
I still find copy editing and proofreading my own stuff to be nearly impossible. I wish someone would come up with a solution for that.
4. What is your solution to writer's block?
When I come down with a case of writer's block, it's usually because I have a structural, pacing, or organizational problem. The cure, for me is to revisit the outline and tinker until things fit together in a more satisfying way. If that doesn't work I add to my spreadsheet list of all the monsters in the world.
5. Finally, Beatles or Rolling Stones?
Wow, this is really the hardest question ever. Rolling Stones. I love the songs from the disco years, especially.
Don't forget to check out the books over at Omnium Gatherum. They've got some great titles.
Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Dark Fantasy, Editing, Fantasy, Horror, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Writers, Writing
January 15, 2012
Release Day: UnCONventional
UnCONventional:Twenty-Two Tales of Paranormal Gatherings Under the Guise of Conventions
It's about to get weird… okay, weirder in here.Alien ascensions in hotel ballrooms.
Mermaids on cruise ships.
Werewolves in dog shows.
Steampunk fairy time travelers.
A teenage superhero hitching a ride with a supervillain.
Comic books that absorb their readers.
Magical filk… and much more.
http://www.site.spencerhillpress.com/
Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Fiction, Fun, Musings, ramblings, Random Thoughts, Reading, Writers, Writing, YA books, Young Adult Books
January 13, 2012
Release Day: Detritus
[image error]The impulse to collect springs from deep within the human psyche Squirrels gather acorns, rats collect shiny things, but only humans assign meaning to the objects they collect. Detritus is a collection of stories about the impulse to collect, preserve, and display gone horribly wrong.
We have a wonderful group of new and experienced authors in this anthology.
Alphabetical listing:
Brent Michael Kelley Ride
Edmund Colell Shrieking Gauze
Jeremy Shipp Chewed up
Kealan Patrick Burke The Room Beneath the Stairs
Lee Widener Let Them Into Your Heart
L.S. Murphy The Tick-Tock Heart
Louise Bohmer Armoire
Mary Borsellino Shots and Cuts
Michael Colangelo Arkitektur
Michael Montoure Heroes and Villains
Neil Davies Candy Lady
Opal Edgar Crawling Insect Life
Pete Clark In His Own Graven Image
Phil Hickes Mrs. Grainger's Animal Emporium
S.P Miskowski The Highest and the Sweetest
http://www.omniumgatherumedia.com/
Tagged: 2012, Author, Authors, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy books, Fiction, Horror, Musings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Release Day, Writers, Writing
January 12, 2012
Book Trailer: The Fault in Our Stars
John Green's newest novel The Fault in Our Stars is already making Best of Lists. It looks like he's hit another one out of the ballpark.
Synopsis: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs… for now.
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.
Here's the book trailer:
Book trailers are the latest advertising assault on potential readers. Would I read Green's novel based on the book trailer? Maybe. Would I read it based on the synopsis? Absolutely. (I'd read it just because it's John Green!) This trailer's visual appeal is striking, but it doesn't tell us anything about the story other than the LOVE story. I would've liked the girl to have an oxygen tank in the trailer, then she would've been more like Hazel in the book and not just a teenager in love.
I love the song choice.
Tagged: 2012, Authors, bo, Book Trailers, Books, Fiction, Fun, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Videos, Writers, Writing, YA books, Young Adult Books
January 10, 2012
2012 Winter Warm Up Preview
The Annual Winter Warm Up is less than a week away and fans in St. Louis will be lining up to see their favorite players past and present. While plenty of people are aware that the Cardinals franchise player for the last decade will be absent for the next decade (or longer), there are still plenty of autographs to be had. And it ALL goes to Cardinals Care, one of the most notable charitable organizations in St. Louis.
There are some great bargains to be had if you're an autograph seeker. BUT a lot of the tickets are already sold out. Yes… SOLD OUT.
Crazy? Maybe, but Cardinal Nation is strong even without the faces that have been associated with the team for last sixteen years. So if you missed your chance to plop down the dough for Lance Berkman or David Freese, don't despair. You can still get in on the free autographs and hear the baseball chatter as we wait impatiently for Spring Training to start.
Head downtown to get into the baseball spirit this weekend. I promise you won't regret it.
The following players will be signing free autographs and will not require an autograph ticket.
CURRENT PLAYERS
Matt Carpenter
Zach Cox
Brandon Dickson
Mark Hamilton
Pete Kozma
Shane Robinson
NEGRO LEAGUE PLAYERS
Jesse Rogers
DeMorris Smith
Sam Taylor
FORMER PLAYERS
George Altman
Alan Benes
Andy Benes
Glenn Brummer
Jerry Buchek
Danny Cox
Mike Crudale
Boots Day
Ken Dayley
Chuck Diering
Jim Donohue
Chris Duncan
Cal Eldred
Neil Fiala
Curt Ford
Phil Gagliano
David Green
Tom Henke
Rex Hudler
Dick Hughes
Mike Jorgensen
Tom Lawless
John Mabry
T.J. Mathews
Ed Mickelson
Wally Moon
Tom Pagnozzi
Ken Reitz
Kerry Robinson
Stan Royer
Ted Savage
Jason Simontacchi
Bob Sykes
Lee Thomas
Mike Tyson
Bill Virdon
Ray Washburn
Tagged: Baseball, Cardinals, Family, friends, Fun, Just for Fun, Major League Baseball, Memories, Missouri, MLB, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, St. Louis, St. Louis Cardinals, Winter Warm Up 
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