Jules Jones's Blog, page 17
December 28, 2015
Book log 2015: 8) Doranna Durgin - Barrenlands
Prequel fantasy novel which works well as a standalone. The Barrenlands of the title are a magical wasteland that forms an almost impassable border territory between two countries. But where there is a border, there will be crossings, and people who make a living bringing things across that border, whether it is with or without the blessing of the governments concerned. Ehran, head of the King's Guard, will end up tangling with it more than once in his quest first to find the murderers of his beloved king, and then to find and dispose of the family of the king's brother. He's been sent on the latter mission supposedly to prevent the exile trying to seize the throne from the king's young son, a mission he rightly sees as a means of getting him out of the way of an unknown traitor within the court.
Some nice world-building here, with appealing characters and a worthwhile mystery. It's obvious from the first who the villain is, because Ehren's not stupid and already has his suspicions. But means and motive are another matter, and untangling those make for an entertaining story. A short novel offering an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.
http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/book/barrenlands/
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/barrenlands
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Some nice world-building here, with appealing characters and a worthwhile mystery. It's obvious from the first who the villain is, because Ehren's not stupid and already has his suspicions. But means and motive are another matter, and untangling those make for an entertaining story. A short novel offering an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.
http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/book/barrenlands/
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/barrenlands
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/305549.html, where it has received
comments.
December 25, 2015
Christmas Day
A safe and happy Christmas to you all, whether you celebrate this season with Christmas, Newtonmass, Hogswatch, Hanukkah, your own birthday (hi, Feetnotes:-), Yule, or something else entirely.
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Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/305153.html, where it has received
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December 20, 2015
Happy Gauda Prime Day!
And so it came to pass that 34 years ago, many of us were looking forward to the season finale of the fourth season of Blake's 7. It was obviously going to be a cliffhanger, because that's what they always did.
We're still hanging on the edge of that cliff...
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We're still hanging on the edge of that cliff...
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December 13, 2015
More ebooks on sale
Stuff from the Amazon UK Christmas sale
of potential interest. I'm just picking out ones I think likely to be of interest to several of you - there are far more than this. Check the price at the site before purchasing. A lot of the titles are also on sale at Kobo, for those of you who prefer open file formats.
As previously noted:
99p Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-weirdstone-of-brisingamen
###
£1.49 Hercule Poirot's Christmas (Poirot) (Hercule Poirot Series Book 20)
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/hercule-poirot-s-christmas-poirot
£1.69 The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries: The Most Complete Collection of Yuletide Whodunits Ever Assembled
(Note: this initially looked to me suspiciously like one of those anthologies assembled by collecting a lot of material which fell out of copyright in the US during the period when copyright had to be actively renewed, but it's a UK edition and a lot of the material is later than the "use it or lose it" period or pre-Mouse, so there's a mix of material.)
99p Tad Willams - The Dirty Streets of Heaven: Bobby Dollar 1
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-dirty-streets-of-heaven
(The next 2 books are also 99p each at Amazon and Kobo.)
£1.69 Kim Newman - Anno Dracula
£2.29 Tom's Midnight Garden
£1.99 Pippi Longstocking
£2.29 Do You Know Pippi Longstocking?
£1.49 First Term at Malory Towers (Malory Towers (Pamela Cox) Book 1)
Be warned that the few one star reviews are single stars because this is a "modernised" edition and not the original text.
99p Jen Frederick - Losing Control (Kerr Chronicles Book 1)
99p Jen Frederick - Taking Control (Kerr Chronicles Book 2)
Yes, *that* Jen Frederick, now known to be Jane Litte of Dear Author. I am... conflicted... about this one. I have no regrets about donating to her legal defence fund, and would do so again. But I think her actions relating to the dual identity amounted to catfishing, and were rank hypocrisy given how her DA persona would have treated any other author who did the same thing. Going to think a while longer about buying these.
ETA: katlinel notes in comments "many of Helen MacInnes' thrillers (WW2 and Cold War era) are available for 99p for Kindle at the moment." Bumping up to the post because it sounds like an author/series that if one of my friends likes it, several will.
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/304595.html, where it has received
comments.
of potential interest. I'm just picking out ones I think likely to be of interest to several of you - there are far more than this. Check the price at the site before purchasing. A lot of the titles are also on sale at Kobo, for those of you who prefer open file formats.As previously noted:
99p Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-weirdstone-of-brisingamen
###
£1.49 Hercule Poirot's Christmas (Poirot) (Hercule Poirot Series Book 20)
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/hercule-poirot-s-christmas-poirot
£1.69 The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries: The Most Complete Collection of Yuletide Whodunits Ever Assembled
(Note: this initially looked to me suspiciously like one of those anthologies assembled by collecting a lot of material which fell out of copyright in the US during the period when copyright had to be actively renewed, but it's a UK edition and a lot of the material is later than the "use it or lose it" period or pre-Mouse, so there's a mix of material.)
99p Tad Willams - The Dirty Streets of Heaven: Bobby Dollar 1
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-dirty-streets-of-heaven
(The next 2 books are also 99p each at Amazon and Kobo.)
£1.69 Kim Newman - Anno Dracula
£2.29 Tom's Midnight Garden
£1.99 Pippi Longstocking
£2.29 Do You Know Pippi Longstocking?
£1.49 First Term at Malory Towers (Malory Towers (Pamela Cox) Book 1)
Be warned that the few one star reviews are single stars because this is a "modernised" edition and not the original text.
99p Jen Frederick - Losing Control (Kerr Chronicles Book 1)
99p Jen Frederick - Taking Control (Kerr Chronicles Book 2)
Yes, *that* Jen Frederick, now known to be Jane Litte of Dear Author. I am... conflicted... about this one. I have no regrets about donating to her legal defence fund, and would do so again. But I think her actions relating to the dual identity amounted to catfishing, and were rank hypocrisy given how her DA persona would have treated any other author who did the same thing. Going to think a while longer about buying these.
ETA: katlinel notes in comments "many of Helen MacInnes' thrillers (WW2 and Cold War era) are available for 99p for Kindle at the moment." Bumping up to the post because it sounds like an author/series that if one of my friends likes it, several will.
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/304595.html, where it has received
comments.
December 12, 2015
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen ebook on offer
Just checked the Amazon monthly Kindle deals, and... Look what's on offer for 99p!
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
CLICK
(Now to go back and check the rest of the deals for items of potential interest to this parish.)
ETA: also 99p at Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-weirdstone-of-brisingamen
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/304267.html, where it has received
comments.
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
CLICK
(Now to go back and check the rest of the deals for items of potential interest to this parish.)
ETA: also 99p at Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-weirdstone-of-brisingamen
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/304267.html, where it has received
comments.
November 28, 2015
Nice Tie is a featured bargain at All Romance eBooks
My m/m contemporary romance Nice Tie is 50% off today with any purchase at All Romance eBooks. :-) And once you've read it, you can head over to Loose Id and pick up the wedding short story Knotting the Tie as a freebie.
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Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/304033.html, where it has received
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November 27, 2015
New website and news
waveney
has been poking around in the back end of the server for me, and I now have access to WordPress on my site. I've spent the last couple of days starting to build a new mobile-friendly website, and a good thing too, because this morning my publisher emailed me to say that tomorrow Nice Tie will be the Daily Deal at ARe, with 50% off. With any luck this will result in traffic, and I will even have a mobile-friendly top level page to point them at. Unfortunately it won't be the landing page *just* yet, as I'm still building the thing, so I've had to be content with putting a link front and centre on the old site.Testing would be appreciated... Also, I'm doing an overhaul in general, so if there is anything you've had a burning desire to see on my site, let me know. If it's a sensible suggestion, I'll consider how to incorporate it. If it's not sensible, I'm sure it will amuse everyone else to read about your burning desire in the comments.
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November 22, 2015
Book Log: Mr Bingo - Hate Mail: the Definitive Collection
I had far too much fun backing random "that looks interesting/amusing" publishing projects on Kickstarter a few months ago, and the fruits are now falling into my letterbox. Yesterday's was this:
Hilariously obscene collection of Mr Bingo's favourites from his Hate Mail project - pay good money to a professional artist to have him draw a lovingly rendered insult on the back of an item from his collection of vintage postcards, and post it to you. Having done nearly a thousand of these, he then launched a Kickstarter to publish his favourites as a high quality art book. Whether or not you enjoy the contents depends very much on your sense of humour, but if it is your sort of thing, here it is in a physical object that's a work of art in itself. It's printed on heavy art paper, Smyth-sewn, clothbound casing, and tastefully stamped in gold foil with the title on the spine and a line drawing on the front cover reflecting the contents. That line drawing being of an octopus putting two fingers up at the world with all eight legs...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mrbingo/hate-mail-the-definitive-collection
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/303537.html, where it has received
comments.
Hilariously obscene collection of Mr Bingo's favourites from his Hate Mail project - pay good money to a professional artist to have him draw a lovingly rendered insult on the back of an item from his collection of vintage postcards, and post it to you. Having done nearly a thousand of these, he then launched a Kickstarter to publish his favourites as a high quality art book. Whether or not you enjoy the contents depends very much on your sense of humour, but if it is your sort of thing, here it is in a physical object that's a work of art in itself. It's printed on heavy art paper, Smyth-sewn, clothbound casing, and tastefully stamped in gold foil with the title on the spine and a line drawing on the front cover reflecting the contents. That line drawing being of an octopus putting two fingers up at the world with all eight legs...
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mrbingo/hate-mail-the-definitive-collection
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November 11, 2015
Migraine
Book release day, the perfect day to get a migraine...
Started yesterday, so will probably go on until tomorrow night. Not actually feeling too bad, but can't update website without a working brain. :-/ Or indeed ability to look at screen for more than a minute or two without feeling dizzy.
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Started yesterday, so will probably go on until tomorrow night. Not actually feeling too bad, but can't update website without a working brain. :-/ Or indeed ability to look at screen for more than a minute or two without feeling dizzy.
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November 9, 2015
Out now: Knotting the Tie
Knotting the Tie is out today. And... it's currently free. It will probably remain free indefinitely at Loose Id, although official list price is $1.25. You'll need to sign up for a Loose Id account to download it, but they don't spam. You can read an excerpt at the book catalogue page before you sign up. (And thanks to Predatrix and Neyronrose for beta-reading this at very short notice. :-)
Knotting the Tie
After a year together, Alex knows what he has with Robin is for life, and he wants to stand up and say so in public. It’s time to propose, and he’s doing it the old fashioned way – roses, champagne and going down on one knee. But it may take more than that to persuade Robin it’s safe to put the past behind him. Maybe even more than the persuasive powers of a glass of champagne and going down on both knees…
This is a standalone sequel short story to Nice Tie - it's the story of Alex proposing to Robin, but you can read it without knowing anything about the novel.
Available now at the Loose Id website: http://www.loose-id.com/knotting-the-tie.html
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/303027.html, where it has received
comments.
Knotting the Tie
After a year together, Alex knows what he has with Robin is for life, and he wants to stand up and say so in public. It’s time to propose, and he’s doing it the old fashioned way – roses, champagne and going down on one knee. But it may take more than that to persuade Robin it’s safe to put the past behind him. Maybe even more than the persuasive powers of a glass of champagne and going down on both knees…
This is a standalone sequel short story to Nice Tie - it's the story of Alex proposing to Robin, but you can read it without knowing anything about the novel.
Available now at the Loose Id website: http://www.loose-id.com/knotting-the-tie.html
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/303027.html, where it has received
comments.
