Toi Thomas's Blog, page 90

ToiBox Blog Weekly Recap 11/23/13

Check out my Recent Posts links to see what I was up to this week.

I started out the week with Sample Sunday 21- Eternal Curse: Battleground chapter 3.1

On Monday I posted my Listography of my favorite movies as a kid and then…

I announced my Black Friday & Cyber Monday free downloads and giveaway.

On Tuesday I added to my Character files the Rorschach test for Tori and then…

Brenda Perlin shared Home Wrecker II with us.

On Wednesday I posted my monthly Blogdom post sharing some of my reading highlights.

On Thursday I Counted My Blessings and talked about pets.

On Friday after a brief Friday Forecast I posted my review of City of Bones.

Today in my Adventures in Blogging I’ll introduce my take on social media marketing and touch on the use of Rafflecopter.

I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself this week and enjoy a very pleasant weekend.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: author, biography, blessings, blogging, books, character, culture, discussion, entertainment, fashion, geek, interviews, journal, life, likes, lists, reading, reviews, sample, wip

Review: City of Bones

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments, book1) by Cassandra Clare

I give this book a 4.

A book about the existence and intermingling of angles with human beings, why wouldn’t I like this?

This is the Nephilim genre at its YA best, as its heroine Clary encounters the world of Shadowhunters for the first time. Clary isn’t a social outcast just waiting for some adventure to enter her life. She’s a normal teen with normal issues, but soon learns that she’s so much more. A chance encounter at a night club opens her up to a whole other world that exists in the shadows.

After Clary’s chance encounter, all she wants to do is go home and forget what she saw and hopes that “they” forget seeing her. But that would be too easy. Chance encounters or not, the world of the Shadowhunters was destined to come knocking at her door, and her mother knew this all alone. The problem now is that her mother is missing and she has to depend on strangers to help her find answers.

I really liked this book. I must admit that I allowed myself to be too hyped before reading it and was thus left a little disappointed. I wanted more, but I guess that’s why it’s a series. It’s no secret that I struggle with the YA genre. I have enough problems of my own that make it difficult for me to relate to the struggles of the ever changing, growing, and maturing mind of teenagers, but this book was good.

I adored the lore of this story and the way it plays into the actions of the characters. I liked the mixture of mysticism and magic. There were times, however, when I felt there was too much going on. There were too many creatures and beings to keep up with, but I guess it all worked for the story in the end.  This a definitely a good read for teens, but even adults with a passion for fantasy will enjoy this one.

*I was hoping for a little more spirituality to be infused with a story of this nature, but it is what it is.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try these links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: angels, books, demons, fantasy, fiction, friends, reviews, romance, spec-fic, vampires, werewolves, YA

Friday Forecast : 11/22/13

Highlighting interviewees, guest posters, my standard weekly posts, and whatever else I can think of, going into the next week.

So, here what’s happening next week:

Sample Sunday

Mira’s Closet

Character Files

My review of Year Zero

Thanksgiving and A Day in My Life

A mini spotlight of, Sarah J. Pepper, author of Death of the Mad Hatter, releasing on Black Friday.

–

Today I’ll post my review of City of Bones.

I hope I’m able to put together a post for my Adventures in Blogging tomorrow, but we’ll just have to see.

My letter “Dear Stick” will appear on the Dose of Daily Gratitude blog in two days, on Sunday, the 24th. See my side panel for information. There have been some touching posts this month.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: author, blogging, interviews, life, reviews, sneak peak, try this, writing

Count Your Blessings 06

Pet(s)

There is nothing essential about pets, but they sure are nice to have. As far as I know, no other animal takes in species unlike its own and nurtures and cares for them, but we humans are more than just animals. Pets make us feel good about ourselves for any number of good, and sometimes bad, reasons.

Pets are a great way for people to give and receive uncomplicated affection. Pets also teach us life lessons. The care of a pet teaches us the importance of: nurturing, discipline, fitness, and more. Anyone having trouble keeping their pets alive shouldn’t be trying to have kids, but that unfortunately isn’t the world we live in. In any case, I’m blessed to live in a world with the concept of pets.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Blessings Tagged: blessings, gratitude, life, pets

Blogdom Oct. 23-Nov. 20 ’13

Oh boy, do I have loads to share from my Blogdom (my personal realm of the Blogosphere)!

You may want to bookmark this and come back to it a few times. Good stuff here.

(Oct.23-Nov.20, 2013)

Book Reviews

-From Living Europe, A CHARMING MASS SUICIDE: PAASILINNA’S TRAGICOMIC

-From Blogging for a Good Book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio

-From Blogging for a Good Book, Page by Paige, by Laura Lee Gulledge

-From Blogging for a Good Book, Swamp Thing Volume 1: Raise Them Bones…

-From Aleksandra’s Corner, “The Creeps” by John Connolly

-From BIBLIOBETH, The Sign of Four – Arthur Conan Doyle

-From Reading and Writing Urban Fantasy, Review: Pendomus by Carissa Andrews

-From TyngasReviews, The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

-From Alex J. Cavanaugh, Ender’s Game Book Review (plus a bunch of other cool stuff)

-From Obsession with Books, Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth (may contain spoilers, I only skimmed over it myself afraid to see too much)

-From BIBLIOBETH, Talking about Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach with Chrissi

-From The Artificial Selection Project, There’s Sex, Drugs, and Violence – “Blacksad” Review

-From The Punchy Lands!, Book Review: A Kingdom Far and Clear

-From Anneque G. Malchien, Podcast: Indie and More Book Review

-From Bookaholics Book Club, Allegiant – Review

-From Ravenz Reviews, Burning Bridges by Nadẻge Richards (might be hard to read, I usually highlight the page)

Interviews

-From 4covert2overt, AMBER SKYE FORBES and ~ WHEN STARS DIE ~

-From Authors to Watch, Interview with Steph A. Amey

- From Authors to Watch, Interview with Lacole Kinter

- From The Wizard’s Cauldron, Kyra Dune meets the Wizard…around the Cauldron

- From BookMarketingBuzzBlog, Jewish Novelist Speaks On Racism

-From 4covert2over, … Alec Hawkes an English Chap With Strong Opinions…

Book Trailers

-From Samsun Lobe, RUIN Awakening

-From Funny or Die, Steve Martin and Kermit the Frog -Dueling Banjos With Matt Hoyle

-From Penguin Books USA, I’d Rather Be Short, Becky Murphy

-From Picadorusa via Shelfawareness, HAVISHAM by Ronald Frame

-From Lynne Cantwell, Crosswind trailer

Short Stories

-From 300 Stories, 115. A HUNTER, LOST IN THE WOODS

-From The Between, Spawn

-From Counting Duck, You Gotta Laugh

Writing

-From Liesel Hill via Alex J. Cavanaugh, Complications I Wish Were Part of my Writing Life

- From Live Write Thrive, Whom Should You Say?

-From Crimson League, AUTHORS: Prepare For Negative Feedback From…

-From Tricia Drammeh, Write the Book First

Blogging

- From Amy Lynn Andrews via Blogging with Amy, HOW TO EMBED TWEETS & WAYS TO USE THEM

-From Insecure Writers Support Group, I Promise…

Marketing

-From ALLi, Reaching Readers: The Best Way to Schedule your Tweets…

- From BookMarketingBuzzBlog, Making Your Book Viral Like a Chain Letter

-From The Between, Wednesday Writers Wisdom/ Got Google+

News

-From The New York Times via Shelfawareness, William Harrison, 79, Novelist and ‘Rollerball’ Writer, Dies

-From Digital Book World, With eBook Sales Flat, Is it Time to Experiment with New Models?

-From Forbes, Amazon Courts Local Bookstores With New ‘Source’ Program

-From Comsumerist, Are Small Bookstores Committing Suicide If They Join Amazon’s New Kindle Program?

-Take notice of the date at the link- http://www.takeyourchildtoabookstore.org/

Movie Reviews, Trailers, & More

-From MOVIECLIPS, The Immigrant Official International Trailer (2013)

-From HollywoodStreams, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ International Trailer

-From AdoptingJames, My Weirdest Scary Movie Moments

-From The Ferguson Theater, 12 Years A Slave

-From The Geek Twins, 6 Dinosaur Blunders From JURASSIC PARK Everyone Believes

-From IndieWire: The Playlist, New Trailer For Martin Scorsese’s ‘Wolf Of Wall Street,’

-From Alex J. Cavanaugh, Ender’s Game Movie Review (plus a bunch of other cool stuff)

-From MOVIECLIPS Trailers, A Case Of You Official Trailer #1 (2013)

-From MOVIECLIPS Trailers, Antboy Official Theatrical Trailer #1 (2013)

-From Roanoke.com via Shelfawareness, Big Stone Gap revels in starring role (My in-laws live there and one will be an extra in the movie.)

-From The Geek Twins: 6 Logical Reasons There Are Black People in THOR THE DARK WORLD [Movies]

Entertainment

-From TheReporterandTheGirl, Guest Contributor: Women’s Weapon of Seduction (opinion based article, good for thought or discussion-content advisory)

-From TheReporterandTheGirl, A response to: Women’s Weapons of Seduction by Lily (follow-up article, good for thought or discussion-content advisory)

-From TED Talks, Parul Sehgal: An ode to envy

-From CharitySpring, Education- A Game Changer

-From Strange Paul, Some recent work and an example of ‘what I do’

-From Writerland, What Makes You Angry?

-From PaperGong, Chvrches – The Bones Of What You Believe

-From The Wannabe Saint, We’re All Insane

-From VirginAmerica via Amy Lynn Andrews, Virgin America Safety Video #VXsafetydance

-From A Curious Gal, WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: EERIE (be sure to check out the comments)

-From JOANNA RENTERIA via TheReporterandTheGirl, I was considering Grad School…and then I saw this. HILARIOUS!

-From Donovan Moore via Alex J. Cavanaugh, Paul Gerke as Paul Burgundy

-From papergong, Unique Lorde Cover

-From Interesting Literature, Guest Blog: Ten Reasons Why the Bible is Literature

Remembrance

-From Kyra Lennon via Alex J. Cavanaugh & IWSG, A Tribute to Andrew McNaughton

By including links to these articles, reviews, interviews, etc…I am not endorsing the opinions of these bloggers and writers, but am simply sharing the highlights of my blog reading experience.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Memes Tagged: blog roll, blogging, books, interviews, links, movies, news, reviews, trailers, try this, writing

Home Wrecker II by Brenda Perlin

image provided by author

Book Title: Home Wrecker II: The Brooklyn Chronicles

Series: Brooklyn and Bo Chronicles

Author Name: Brenda Perlin

Publisher: Master Koda Select Publishing

Reading Level: Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Content Rating: R -for adult subject matter

Available Formats: Ebook

Number of Pages: 151

Purchase Links: Consumer Review by Ea Stanmore | Home Wrecker II: The Brooklyn Chronicles is available, for a limited time only, for $0.99 at Amazon.com

Book Blurb

Brooklyn Rosen had high moral principles and was raised properly. Married for over fifteen years, those standards went out the window along with her fidelity when she met Bo. After becoming a self-proclaimed “Home Wrecker” Brooklyn left behind her marital home, along with the damage caused by her emotional wrecking ball. But the whispered remarks followed.

In “Brooklyn and Bo Chronicles” we learn what shaped Brooklyn, the trials of an unhappy marriage and a deep abiding love that would not be denied. We meet a troubled, spiteful wife, who does not want to become an “ex”.

Will Brooklyn and Bo survive, or will all be lost to a bitter woman?

Book Excerpt

On the day that I left for good, I remember getting into my car like I always did. While driving out of the garage I watched our dog Grace watching me drive away. I knew it would be for the last time. Fortunately, she wouldn’t remember any of it. As for me, I wouldn’t be able to get that image out of my head. As I drove away, tears filled my eyes. The guilt that I felt at that moment was insurmountable. Those tears that I cried were the only tears that I shed throughout that entire time period. Never once did I cry for my husband.

Author bio

image provided by author

Brenda Perlin is an independent adult contemporary fiction author.   Brenda evokes emotional responses in her readers by using a provocatively unique writing style.   Her latest book in the Brooklyn and Bo Chronicles, captures the soul-wrenching conflicts of a personal struggle for emotional fulfillment.

Ever since Brenda was a child, she has been fascinated with writing.  She draws her biggest inspiration from Judy Blume.  This sparked a passion in Brenda to pursue personal expression through writing.  Once she was old enough to go to coffee shops alone, Brenda recalls losing herself in the world of writing, all while documenting her ideas on paper napkins.

“There is really no creative process, I just write,” – Brenda Perlin

Brenda’s first book, Brooklyn and Bo Chronicles, was published with Master Koda Select Publishing. Within a short time, the book developed a strong fan base and is continuing to grow as it both entertains its readers and leaves them in a state of profound reflection.  In the near future, Brenda would like to have Brooklyn and Bo Chronicles expanded into a trilogy in order to tell the untold stories of her characters.

Author Links:

Blog: http://brendaperlin.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrooklynandBoChronicles

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrooklynandBo

Website: http://Brooklynandbo.com

Also to learn more about this author, check out her special Facebook Interview here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Guest Posts Tagged: author, book, drama, fiction, guest post, promotion, relationships, romance

Character Files from the ToiBox 36: Tori- Psych Test

Rorschach Test

This is not a real Rorschach test , but simply a fun little additive to the whole character profile motif.

Subject EC:B 1-Tori describe test image #1 as:

A disfigured soul searching for pleasant form.

This subject seems to romanticize pain and suffering, assuming there is some greater meaning to it all. She does not appear to mentally unstable, but needs continued observation. Threat level undetermined.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Character Files, EC: Battleground Tagged: angels, being overwhelmed, character, cultural study, demons, fiction, profile, spec-fic

Black Friday & Cyber Monday #Giveaway & More!

Happy Holidays to You!

In the spirit of celebrating life and blessings, I’m showing the world just how blessed I am and just how happy I am to be doing something that I love. I’m offering my two shorts as free Kindle downloads on November 29th and then again on December 2nd.

That’s right, you heard it. My novelette “The Legend of the Boy” and my short story collection “Unexplained” will be available as free Kindle downloads on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

…But wait there’s more. Post your buy tweets and more at the link below to have a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card and a free copy of my ebook companion guide, 40 Days and Nights of Eternal Curse.

Two free downloads and a chance to win another free ebook and a $10 gift card.

So, have fun shopping, reading, and winning and don’t forget to spread the word.

Thank you all for your wonderful support.

You can add these books your GoodReads bookshelves here:

Legend of the Boy | Unexplained | 40 Days and Nights of Eternal Curse

Click here for a chance to win!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Black Friday, contest, Cyber Monday, ebook, free, giveaway, novella, rafflecopter, short story

Listography of Toi 05: Movies as a Kid

These are the lists that tell my life story. They are in no particular order and some of them are very personal. Please be nice, and if you want to share, I’d be glad to take a look at what you have.

Favorite Movies As A Kid

-Wizard of Oz

-Annie

-Goonies

-Labyrinth

-A Little Princess (Shirley Temple)

-The Neverending Story

-Peter Pan

-Grease

Listograhy are books and a website dedicated to helping you write or consider your autobiography through the process of making lists.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: About Me Tagged: author, biography, childhood, life, lists, movies

Sample Sunday 21

Here is approximately 100 – 150 words from a randomly selected original piece for your enjoyment. These samples can include excerpts from my all my WIPs and my Eternal Curse Series, but only as works in progress (not the final products). These samples of published and unpublished works are protected under the U.S. Copyright agreement.

Eternal Curse: Battleground chapter 3.1 (wip)

Mira was the only aspect of my life that couldn’t be controlled and I adored her for it. Every day I felt I was becoming more and more this other person, this other being Bletsian, but I wanted to be Giovanni for as long as I could. Mira was the only link to my humanity and I thanked mercy for her daily. My feelings for her grew stronger; it was as though she had a power over me that even she was unaware of. I didn’t lust to conquer her spirit or ravage her body. I didn’t lean towards evil, but I loved her the way a man loves a woman, and I clung to that knowledge and love daily. With Mira, I was a real man, almost human.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

 

Filed under: EC: Battleground, Samples Tagged: angels, demons, family, fiction, spec-fic, war, wip