S.M. Boyce's Blog: My Journal, page 47

You're…you're BORED?

I read a fantastic article recently about boredom. And when I say "recently," I really mean a month ago. I had to schedule this out because of the January giveaway. Still, it's a great article!

 

Whipple, the fantastic blogging guru, said that smart people don't get bored because they're too busy appreciating the wonder of the universe. There is just too much magic, brilliance, and mystery in this world for us to be bored. Click hereto read it.

 

So the next time you lean back in your chair and look out the window, eyes glossing over from the lack of focus, don't think about how there's nothing to do. Think about what you can create with your valuable time.

 

Thanks again for the insight, Whipple.

New Book Trailer for LICHGATES (Grimoire Trilogy #1)

Because I'm one of those people that needs to constantly tweak, this is the revised book trailer for my young adult fantasy adventure, LICHGATES (Grimoire Trilogy #1). I hope to all that is good I'm done tweaking it. So, here goes!

 

 

What'd you think? Here's all the info on the book, if you're interested.

 

Book Blurb:

The Grimoire turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it, and Kara Magari is its next target. She has no idea what she's getting herself into when she stumbles across the old book while hiking a hidden trail. Once she opens it, she's thrown into Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying things that all want the Grimoire's secrets. Everyone in this new world is trying to find her, and most want to control her new-found power.

 

Braeden Drakonin grew up in Ourea, and all he's ever known of life is lying. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. He has one question to ask the book—one question that can fix everything in his broken life—and he's not letting Kara out of his sight until he gets an answer.

 

There's no escaping Ourea. There's no going back now.

 

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S.M. Boyce's website

S.M. Boyce: The Blog!

Official Book Website & Encylcopedia

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WHERE TO BUY

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

 

Note: all quotes are taken from Amazon & Barnes & Noble Reviews.

Book Review of The Fall of Billy Hitchings by Kirkus MacGowan

The Fall of Billy Hitchings

by Kirkus MacGowan

gets 4 stars.

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I received an advance copy of Kirkus MacGowan's The Fall of Billy Hitchings and then completely failed to read it before his release. I apologized profusely, of course, and snuck my Nook into meetings and luncheons so that I could read between boring status updates and stuffing my face with crème puffs. Still, I didn't finish until about 3 hours ago…and alas, that's what happens during the holidays.

 

Kirkus MacGowan is a good person, friend, and up-and-coming mystery author that also has a thing for fantasy books. His blog "Diapers, Bookmarks, and Pipedreams" has about the best freaking title I've ever heard for a blog (besides my own brilliantly creative one, of course!), and he's very supportive of other writers. If you haven't met him, you need to. Go say hi on twitter, and while you're there, say hi to me, too, because I'm an obsessive tweeter and hopelessly addicted.

 

The Fall of Billy Hitchings is the first of a mystery series. It follows three men from three different walks of life as they try to piece together the mystery surrounding a massive explosion that killed one person and severely wounded several more. These three leading men are: John Reeves, a bodyguard and expert in all things bad ass; Dr. Amfar Ditpra, a brilliant paleontologist with all the right connections and no clue about women; and Billy Hitchings, an orphaned young man who works at a fast food joint and lives with his grandmother. The explosion and the subsequent chase scenes all have to do with Billy, even though no one quite knows how or why.

 

What I Liked

The Characters: MacGowan majored in psychology. While some of you just chuckled, think about it for a second: he has extensively studied the human condition, as well as the way we interact with each other. He's analyzed what we do and why we do it. This gives him a fantastic insight when it comes to characters.

 

He created a wide array of brilliantly unique male characters. You can even see this in his choice of narrators: a warrior-esque BAMF, a paleontologist who's nervous around women, and a fast food cashier who sucks at fighting. These are three starkly different characters that all tell you the same story in different ways. Each perspective is pivotal in its own way, and you would not read the same story from just one of them. MacGowan's main characters add a unique depth to his novel that is rarely seen in debut authors.

 

Descriptive Nuances: MacGowan has moments of literary brilliance, and I don't use that term lightly or for just anyone. There are moments where all I could do was nod my head and say "yep, I do that!" There are passages I tore through because they're so vivid that I visualized the lightning as it flashes, illuminating the half-hidden faces of armed foes in the dark…and got goose bumps. There are minor but insanely realistic details that sucked me into scenes and made me not just visualize, but hear and smell my environment.

 

That's the mark of good writing, and I think that this novel is a good start to MacGowan's writing career.

 

Dialogue: The dialogue is, on the whole, fairly realistic. There are some conversations that I just don't think would take place in the real world, like one character telling another character, "He's fallen" when he really means his spirit has been broken or he's in a depression. Those moments aren't too common, and on the whole, aren't really noticeable.

 

 

What I Disliked

Pacing that relies on backstory: Oh, pacing. Even though not everyone appreciates what it is, virtually any reader can tell whether a novel is well-paced or not. Pacing, for those curious, is another word for the story arc's movement, or "flow." It's the inexplicable thing that keeps you reading, that moves you from one page to the next. It's the hook that keeps you up until 4 am even though you have to leave for work at 7. A well-paced novel will hook you and make you yawn in your morning meeting, but damn it, that book was good.

 

I actually toyed with whether or not to put MacGowan's pacing in the like or disliked section. It's a tossup. Half of his novel is a page turner because of the descriptive nuances I mentioned above. The other half, however, involved development, reveals, and backstory. While a reader needs most of this latter information to appreciate the climax and resolution, I just know that we didn't need all of the backstory.

 

Backstory, as you probably guessed, is anything that happened before the story the author is telling now. In the second chapter, Billy has a few "man in the bathtub" moments, where he reflects on his life-to-date and reveals everything from the fact that he's an orphan to his coworkers' nicknames and the fact that his grandmother broke a hip at one point. It's hard for me to get involved in this sort of development, because I'm an impatient Generation Y-er and want to know about the now.

 

It's important to establish your characters, so don't get me wrong. A little backstory is bound to slip into even the most impatient author's writing because it's just necessary. However, I prefer that backstory to be subtle. Show me that he's an orphan when he passes by an old photo and has to stop for a brief moment to collect himself, but doesn't tell us the details quite yet. Imply that something happened, then tell us later, when he's having a heart-to-heart with someone. That's a slightly over-used example, but you get my point, right?

 

Lack of Female Characters: Okay, so you all know that I'm not exactly a feminist. Usually, I don't even notice the gender balance in a story. However, there are only a handful of female characters in MacGowan's novel, and most of them are in the sidelines. Only one of them has a significant speaking role, and even she disappears half way through. While I'm sure that most guys won't even notice this, it makes it harder for me as a woman to relate to the story because it limits the characters that I can relate to. It's hard for me to relate to the bad ass John Reeves, even though he's my favorite character in the novel, because I've never even thought about interrogating a corrupt police chief at gunpoint while said man is on a toilet in a public restroom. That thought just never crossed my mind, and as ridiculously BAMF as that might be, I can't exactly slip into that man's shoes.

 

Twists: It's hard to surprise me. Besides the fact that I come from a long line of "What'd ya get me for Christmas? Tell me!"-ers, I'm not a bad guess when it comes to endings and plot twists. That's why it's so aggravating to watch a movie with me or anyone in my family: we always guess the ending within the first thirty minutes. And we say it out loud.

 

I definitely wasn't expecting MacGowan's plot twists, which could be either a good or bad thing. I think it both intrigued me and rubbed me the wrong way, because I'm so good at guessing. To me, the source of all this commotion came out of nowhere and confused me because it seemed completely random.

 

However, you have to step back for a minute. It's a mystery. If it were obvious, it wouldn't be a mystery. You'll need to decide for yourself when you read. To me, like I said, it seemed to come out of nowhere.

 

Caution: the next few paragraphs are spoiler-esque.These make much more sense if you read the book first.

 

In one scene, we discover that one of our lead narrators stole something from one of the other lead narrators, but the thief doesn't reveal it to the reader until much later in the book. So there's this disconnect in time and events that left me scratching my head, because there was an opportunity for dramatic irony that was completely lost in what I think was an effort to contribute to the mystery. However, instead of adding any suspense or intrigue, it just made me trust the narrators less. I felt like something had been deleted in an edit, or missed in the narrative. I actually re-read the chapter where the item is stolen because I was certain I had just skipped over a paragraph on accident. I didn't.

 

Additionally, the ending kind of came out of nowhere. I didn't get the feeling that Billy's new-found ability had any backing, based on what I'd learned throughout the novel. It was largely based on the thematic element that power can be used for good and healing as well as evil and destruction, but his ability and his sudden mastering of said ability just didn't make sense to me. It's possible that I missed something, since I had to read over a long period of time instead of my usual couple of days. If that's so, I'll update my review with corrections.

 

End of Spoilers

 

Despite my qualms, I must admit that I in no way guessed what was going to happen. Billy ultimately grew as a person and learned what it meant to do something right. And for anyone who thinks I gave away the ending – I never said he survives. Ha! Now you have to read it.

 

 

The Bottom Line

I think that The Fall of Billy Hitchings is a good debut. MacGowan's background in psychology means that he has a gift for realistic characters, even if there is the occasional hiccup in realistic dialogue. You're bound to be fond of at least one of his leads, and his moments of descriptive brilliance will leave you wanting more. There are some twists and turns that will likely leave you stumbling, and ladies will likely be without a heroine to admire, but all in all I think you should pick up MacGowan's debut novel and gives this mystery series a chance.

 

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Want a copy of The Fall of Billy Hitchings? Get it here:

 

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Cover photo courtesy of the author.

Book Review: Wooten & Santora's Wise Bear William

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Wise Bear William: A New Beginning

by Arthur WootenIllustrated by Bud Santora

gets 5 stars.

 

I may look like an adult, but a good children's story will knock my socks off every time. I know that it's unconventional for me to blog about a kid's book, but I can't help myself with this one.

 

Arthur Wooten & Bud Santora's mini-masterpiece is called Wise Bear William – A New Beginning, and it's one of the most adorable and best-illustrated children's books I've read. And I still have a box or three of my childhood books sitting in storage! (It's Florida. We don't use attics here. Things combust).

 

Wise Bear William is about a group of toys in the attic. They're tattered, a bit frayed, and mostly forgotten…that is, until a particular stuffed bunny hears that a group of children will be coming to rescue some of them. They scramble about, all wanting to make themselves presentable so that they're chosen, and in the end, the toys discover what it means to be truly beautiful.

 

I heard about Wise Bear William because Arthur asked to be a part of the January 2012 "31 Days of Giveaways." You can read more about this author/illustrator team by clicking here. The giveaway was a blast, and the lucky winner of the signed copy has since told me that they can't get enough of it. His daughter made him read it to her for 10 nights in a row, and he choked up when he read the end. I borrowed a copy to read it after such a great testimonial, and I have to say that it is very touching. I'd forgotten that children's books, in their raw sweetness, can be so moving.

 

The artwork is just as sweet as the story – it's stunning, well-drawn, and simply gorgeous. I found myself looking for the mouse in every picture! The details were incredible, and I wish I could post more of them here. Trust me, this will become a valued book and a fond memory for most young kids.

 

This is an informal review because I can't really critique much without giving things away. Point is, I think you'll love it. And, well, the kids might, too. Ha!

 

I'm a ways off from having kids, but I will be buying this book for them. I absolutely adored it.

 

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Learn More

Want a copy of Wise Bear William: A New Beginning? Get it here:

Boyce's Book Swag!

For all you Grimoire Trilogy fans, I've added a store where you can snag swag. Say that five times fast.

 

You can click on the "Boyce's Book Swag" menu header to the left, or click on the slide show below! New products are added all the time. If you have an idea for something, let me know! I might add it.

 

Stay awesome! Remember to enter the Networked Blogs followers contest for a chance to win a Lichgates prize pack that includes an Amazon gift card. Click here for details.

 

View more gifts at Zazzle.

 

Google Friend Connect is cancelled? Fine. Hello, Networked Blogs & Linky Followers!

No more GFC.   That's right. I read an article recently that says Google is discontinuing their Google Friend Connect for all non-bloggspot blogs starting March 1st. Well that sucks, because a good deal of...

Google Friend Connect is cancelled? Fine. Hello, Networked Blogs!

No more GFC.

 

That's right. I read an article today that says Google is discontinuing their Google Friend Connect for all non-bloggspot blogs starting March 1st. Well that sucks, because a good deal of my minions and overlords follow via GFC. So, sorry, but I removed the widget so that no one else will accidentally follow that way.

 

I don't want to lose you guys as followers, so I'd like to blatantly bribe you into following me in another manner.

 

I'm going to give away a Lichgates prize pack – one of the prize packs I was going to give away over my LICHGATES Hidden World Tour that kicks off in March. Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that yet, was I? Oh well, you get first dibs. More on that in a few days.

 

Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win this amazing prize pack:

$25 Amazon giftcard. (because you rock!).
A signed, personalized, and hugged copy of Lichgates.
One of each bookmark currently available: Kara, Braeden, and the Lichgate itself.
Five "I Survived Ourea" wristbands for you and your friends.
Five Grimoire temporary tattoos (because we all know you're awesome and will actually wear them).
Good karma (I can give that out, right?)

 

So here's how you enter:

The rafflecopter entry form is below. This contest goes until February 29th at midnight, so you have a ton of chances to win. First, the details:

 

The only requirement of the giveaway is actually a really cool: follow me via an awesome site that I recently discovered, called Networked Blogs. It's an easy way to not only manage the blogs you follow via RSS, but it's also a great way to manage your own blog. It helps you post to FB and Twitter through its syndication services, and its layout is very simple and easy. I'd definitely recommend you give it a shot.

 

If you're zealous and want some optional extra chances, you can tweet everyday about the giveaway for an extra 2 points. Every. Day. H'oh yeah. You can also like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, leave a comment, subscribe to the email digest, and/or hop on one foot. Well, no, that last one isn't in there, but it was a funny image while it lasted.

 

So, onward and upward, amiright? Let's blow Networked Blogs out of the water. You know, in a good way. Good luck! Clicky, clicky!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.

 

Now that you've entered the giveaway, you need to also check out a wonderful new book I read: The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton. Those of you who like vampires, shapeshifters, and the occasional adult situation should really enjoy it.

Review of THE FOREVER GIRL by Rebecca Hamilton

The Forever Girl

by Rebecca Hamilton

gets 5 stars.

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For those of you who like vampires, monsters, new creatures you've never heard of, and the occasional adult situation, you're in for a treat. Rebecca Hamilton (@inkmuse) just released her debut novel, The Forever Girl, on February 1, 2012. She was kind enough to send me a release copy.

 

The novel is about a young woman named Sophia who is tortured with an incessant buzzing in her mind that she cannot control and does not understand. Then, in an effort to silence this noise forever, she discovers a family curse that dates back hundreds of years – and is thrown into an underworld she wished she could forget. Sophia's family has skeletons alright…but not all of them are in their graves.

 

What I Liked

Voice & Humor: This is a 1st person novel, so it's inherent that you're going to get closer to the narrator in this style. Still, Hamilton gives us a fresh voice when it comes to Sophia, and we get fantastic moments of character with snippets like, "Arguing with her would be like blowing out a light bulb." These bits keep us laughing through the less-climactic moments, and carries the story along nicely.

 

Characters: There's a dynamic to Hamilton's characters that I admire. Even the villains are dynamic; while you don't particularly like them (my response to the Mother was "that bitch be crazy"), you do sympathize for their flaws and the weaknesses which brought them to their current state. You wish that they'd chosen a different road, because otherwise, they would be fairly normal and maybe even likable.

 

Sophia herself is a strong character who is unafraid to be alone, and that strength carries through the novel. You believe her religious choice, because she finds resolution and calm in it despite the hatred with which others wrongfully accost her.

 

Backstory: I'm sure you all know that I'm a finicky snit and it's hard to make me happy in the literary sense, especially when it comes to pacing and backstory. However, Rebecca knows how to finesse backstory into the novel with subtle threads that the reader barely notices. She tells us about Sophia's relationship with her father and her mother in a single paragraph when she sees a charm that sparks a flashback. That's all I need: that little detail to get me to the next development. That subtly and that depth is hard to master, but Hamilton's got it.

 

Transitions: Hamilton has a knack for pulling you into the next scene even though you want to go to bed. Whether it's movement from one break to the next or from one chapter to the next, you're pulled along and you don't want to stop reading. She leaves you with suspenseful zingers like this one:

 

"That whole thing with Mr. Petrenko—that was long over with, right? I'd only found his body. I hadn't killed the man. No matter what anyone thought."

 

Yeah. Try stopping after that.

 

She has a knack for building suspense, even though there isn't much action in the first half of the book; it's a nice balance between direct action and suspenseful plot building. So in the first few chapters, while our character is only moving from the restaurant to the police station to a shop, I was hooked and didn't want to stop reading.

 

The End: I won't tell you what happens, but I will tell you that the sense of resolution was very strong. It left me with a smile on my face.

 

What I Disliked

Occasional Odd Motivations: Sometimes I just didn't agree with something Sophia did or her reasoning behind doing something. This is sort of inevitable with any main character, though; since they aren't you, they're occasionally going to do something you just think isn't the best idea. Unfortunately, I can't give examples here without giving away key points in the plot, so I'd be happy to continue this discussion with people in the comments.

 

The Bottom Line

The Forever Girl is a thrilling tale and I loved every minute of reading it. I was pulled into a fantastic world full of interesting creatures, sexy heroes, strong-willed heroines, and plenty of the paranormal. There were ghosts, vampires, and a host of never-before-seen creatures that made me want to learn more about Hamilton's world. It was a suspenseful read, and I can promise you that I will be reading every single book in this series. You should definitely check out The Forever Girl and put Hamilton on your list of up-and-coming authors to keep an eye on.

 

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Want a copy of The Forever Girl? Get it here:

 

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Cover photo courtesy of Rebecca Hamilton

Back to your regularly scheduled sarcasm.

Did you enjoy the 31 Days of Giveaways? I hope so. The response was incredible, and I met some fantastic and talented authors. To you lucky winners, congrats! And if you didn't win, you should support the author by snagging their book on your favorite distributor (I have a Nook, so I have bn.com bookmarked. lol). Go back to the giveaway calendar for a full list of all the novels, and then check out these giveaways which are still open:

Click on the thumbnail to jump to the giveaway.

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So back to the Grimoire

While the giveaway was going, I was also busy working out the plots to the rest of the Grimoire Trilogy. I wore my Grimoire clover necklace (featured at the left) to continuously remind myself to MAKE time for my book, despite the multiple jobs I'm currently juggling and despite the stress of an upcoming, cross-state move.

 

So anyway, the series is mostly hammered out. However, I would love your input. I'm 99.5% sure that I've addressed everything, but I love asking anyway. What questions did you have from the first novel? Who did you love? Hate? Secretly (or not so secretly) want to take home with you and keep in your basement?

 

Anyone who leaves a comment will get a free bookmark with limited edition artwork on it. Already have one? Good. I have 3. I'll get you one you don't have yet if you get to me before the last ones disappear (they're on their way out…). Oh, and I'll sign them. Here are the three bookmarks:

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Comment away and make sure you leave a valid email so that I can contact you for your mailing address. Stay awesome, my friends!

January 31 Giveaway: Rebecca Hamilton's THE FOREVER GIRL

Click here to go back to the Giveaway Calendar.See more currently running giveaways at the end of this post.

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Signed Copy of

The Forever Girl
by Rebecca Hamilton USA only

Paranormal Fantasy

18+ for adult situations.

Giveaway Date: Tuesday, January 31 – Tuesday, February 7

Note: This is a pre-release giveaway.The winner will get one of the first printed copies of this novel in February!

 

Cool News!

Rebecca Hamilton is offering an eBook copy of The Forever Girl for just $0.99 (regularly $2.99) to anyone who enters this giveaway. So no matter what, you win!You will be emailed the code, so make sure your email is accurate!

 

About The Forever Girl

Sophia Parsons' family has skeletons, but they aren't in their graves…

 

Solving the mystery of an ancestor's hanging might silence the clashing whispers in Sophia's mind, but the cult in her town and the supernaturals who secretly reside there are determined to silence her first.

 

As Sophia unknowingly crosses the line into an elemental world full of vampire-like creatures, shapeshifters, and supernatural grim reapers, she meets Charles, a man who becomes both lover and ally.

 

But can she trust him?

 

It's not until someone nearly kills Sophia that she realizes the only way to unveil the source of her family's curse: abandon her faith or abandon her humanity. If she wants to survive, she must accept her who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.

 

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Giveaway open from
Jan 31 – Feb 7

Click on the cover image above to enter this giveaway!

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See which other giveaways are still open!

Click on the thumbnail to jump to the giveaway.

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All images courtesy of the author.

Click here to go back to the Giveaway Calendar