Imran Siddiq's Blog, page 23

Calling All Reviewers!

Geeks Unleashed is looking for a few good reviewers. We here at Geeks Unleashed are expanding our Book Department and are looking for some new faces to feature as regular guest reviewers on our site.

We are looking for writers in the following genres:

Fantasy
Romance
Sci-Fi
Non-fiction (including biographies, memoirs, especially technical books pertaining to areas of Geekdom, i.e. technology, graphic design, film etc.)
Young Adult
Literary Fiction

We are looking for writers who have a strong, individual, and unique voice. Reviews written for Geeks Unleashed will be exclusive to the Geeks Unleashed website and will also be posted on the Geeks Unleashed Goodreads account.

If interested, you’ll need to submit a sample review or article as well as a short bio to Ashley(dot)AE(dot)Elizabeth(at)Gmail(dot)com.

Please include the genre(s) you are interested in covering and how often you would be able to submit articles (example: three times a week, bi-weekly, once a month).

 

Note: From Imran: I know many that write for Geeks Unleashed, and they are an amazing fun bunch. Don’t be afraid of getting involved.

 

How I created the Wraparound Cover

Disconnect – due Feb 22

 

 

 

Here’s how I created the wraparound cover

 

Disconnect Wraparound

Big Reveal:

The Disconnect Wraparound Cover

Oh I Need to Update…

Sneak Peek of Wraparound…

Have I been busy for the last two weeks? You betcha!

And the term busy sounds too tame for what i’ve been up to.

 

This is a short update, so I’ll keep it sharp.

Novel 5: The  sequel to Disconnect has had its first self-edit applied


Novel 6: The third part to Disconnect will begin writing tomorrow. I hope to finish the 1st draft in 30 days.


Created the wraparound cover for Disconnect


Updated this site. What do you think?


The e-book conversion of Disconnect is well underway, and I had a sneak peek of it yesterday.


The paperback version of Disconnect has been created with Createspace, and I’m ordering a proof copy to check.


I’ve been listed in the Top 10 Anticipated Books for 2013.


And had a mention by my novel formatter in her blog on Social Interaction.

 

I will do a grand blog soon that covers each stage of getting the e-book and paperback created, and things that worked for me and against me, including costs/outlay that I incurred.

 

Note: The costs have been finalised.

The e-book will cost $2.99, £1.99, or 2.49 Euros

The paperback will cost $10.99, £5.99, or 6.99 Euros

 

Remember, Disconnect is out on Feb 22 2013.

 

Disconnect Cover, Blitz and Book Tour

January 4th saw many bloggers around the world help to reveal the final cover for Disconnect.



Feb 22 2013 is the release date. At the moment, I’ve just finalised the polished version. The MS is with a formatter to check it meets e-publishing requirements and then it will be over to another 3rd party to covert and distribute.

But in the meantime – I hope many of you will participate in the Blitz and Book Tour.

Pop over here to find out more - http://www.xpressobooktours.com/2013/01/tour-blitz-sign-up-disconnect-by-imran.html

Review of Non Compliance by Paige Daniels

Here’s my review of Non-Compliance written by Paige Daniels, and published by Kristel Ink





The main character, Shea Kelly, came across initially as a testosterone-infested female with guts and sore attitude in her knuckles. That might satisfy many, but I felt like I’d seen that representation of a female before. Wrong – I took a step back, and after the first 4 pages, went back to reading it with clearer thoughts. Although movies and many television programmes promote strong women characters they aren’t a common feature of novels. Sure – they exist but Paige Daniels returns us to the old concept of a strong willed women who doesn’t rely on a vampire bite or a sword blessed with the seven heavens to get the job done.


And it was great to see that return.


I imagined Shea to be a Ripley (Alien[s][3][Resurrection]) type of character but with more drive about her. She has a humorous side and you’ll chuckle at moments, I sure did.


At times, Shea possesses a aura of leave me alone and don’t mess me around, so I didn’t get attached to caring when the risks heightened, but that’s the character and I respect that. I am not prescriptive over world building and hate to see minute details such as every grain of wood, or each light in the skyscraper and what type of lampshade there is, but in some places painting a picture of the novel felt distant. It’s not easy – and I have fallen foul of not giving a clear image – but some explanation might have helped me in footing Shea and her movements. If you are not keen on having descriptions slow the pace, then the world building will work fine. Don’t get me wrong – I could see the world, but couldn’t jump into it fully. (Almost like 3D glasses but slightly smudged).


Many say that Dystopian novels are so yesterday – and I would agree unless you find a new take, and the courage of Shea to non-comply with the controlling organisations delivers that. Trust me it’s not all smiles in this novel; there are some gruesome parts that cause a shudder at how evil and sadistic a human can be. The moments when I did attach to Shea are when her luck is battered and she’s on the verge of losing. Nobody likes to see a female hurt, but as a reader, you’re willing her to fight back and find a way out.


Paige Daniels stays away from purple prose and that’s good. Yes, a little description might have helped, but the quick scenes and the witty dialogue placed cleverly helps to make this a brisk enjoyable read.


As a summary: Although Shea refuses to have her life controlled, she wants control to return her Sector rather than see a newbie unsettle the norm. It contradicts how someone without respect for complying wants it back for her own, but is very true of rebels and groups in the modern world where order within disorder satisfies them.


A comparison I can make to Non-Compliance and my debut: Disconnect is how the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of how everything works in terms of technology isn’t fully explained. I understand why. It’s up to the reader to form their own conclusion of the techy bits so they can relate to the character’s struggles. If we wanted to know how all work, we’d be picking up a non-fiction novel.


I would give this 3.5 out of 5
And that’s not a bad thing.


My ratings:


0 = Dropped after a few pages.


1 = For when bored.


2 = Kept me going.


3 = A good read.


4 = A really good page turner.


5 = Awesome, didn’t want to put down.


Non-Compliance is a good read that I’d recommend.

Fantasy Saga, Shadows of the Realm, on Sale Jan 8-22!

A fellow writer and friend (Dionne Lister @DionneLister) is offering a sale of their novel.




Fantasy Saga, Shadows of the Realm, on Sale Jan 8-22!
Shadows of the Realm is an epic fantasy for teens and adults. Join Bronwyn and Blayke, two young realmists, and their animal companions, as they are forced to leave the only home they’ve ever known to undertake a dangerous journey towards Vellonia, city of the dragons.


The gormons are invading, slipping through the corridors between realms, and they want blood, lots of Talian blood. Will the young realmists learn enough of the Second Realm magic to prevail, or will everything they love be destroyed?


The first book in The Circle of Talia series is on sale from the 8th to the 22nd of January for the bargain price of $1.99 on Smashwords and Amazon. Grab it and escape into an original and enchanting world filled with mystery, danger, dragons and adventure; you won’t be sorry!


Smashwords  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/155266


Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Realm-Circle-Talia-ebook/dp/B007X6Y02I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357334942&sr=8-1


Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Realm-Circle-Talia-ebook/dp/B007X6Y02I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335428585&sr=8-1

Guest Post: My Reflection of 2012

Want to know my answers to the following questions?

 

Do you still write?
How has your writing changed in 2012?
Have your plans for how you wish to be published/agented changed?
Have you ditched any novels/WIP and why?
Favourite book of 2012
Plans for 2013
Writing related events attending in 2013
Have any events in 2012 influenced your writing and if so why?

 

Click here… http://nomadnovelist.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/flickimp-refle…riting-in-2012/

Guest Post: The Politics of Brotherhood

Guest Post by Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion - writing together as M.H. Mead


Sibling rivalry isn’t the central conflict of our new novel, Taking the Highway, but it certainly affects the narrative in key ways, and was uppermost in our minds as we wrote. Is there anything more important to character than family? We both have siblings of our own, although none of them nearly as annoying as Andre LaCroix’s much older brother, Oliver.


Oliver is a member of Detroit City Council, and Andre can’t imagine anyone more irritating. Nothing is worse than a politician, especially one who can’t seem to turn off his campaign. And if he’s ten years your senior and constantly telling you how to run your life? Unbearable.


But Andre LaCroix has to bear it, because his brother is constantly in his life, telling Andre how to do his job, giving him unwanted advice, and keeping extra-close tabs on the valuable classic car they both inherited from their father. But it’s the way that Oliver constantly pushes himself into the public eye that bothers Andre the most. Oliver can’t even eat at a fast-food place without choosing the most visible table in the room. His motto: see and be seen.


Andre tries not to let his brother get to him, but he looks at Oliver and sees the most frustrating aspects of his own jobs. Andre makes his living as a homicide detective, a job with plenty of politics of its own. He also moonlights as a paid hitchhiker called a “fourth.” Since every highway in Detroit is restricted to cars with four passengers, carpools that come up short must either take surface streets through dangerous neighborhoods or hire extra riders—fourths—to fill their cars.


Like all fourths, Andre is more than a warm body. Competition is fierce at pick-up spots. Every fourth has to be sharply-dressed and well-groomed. But more important than looks is charm. Andre has to flatter, appeal to the people in the car, and be interesting without being offensive. In short, he has to be a politician.


Andre would never admit to Oliver exactly how much he likes his second job, nor would he admit how much it makes him act like his older brother. For his part, Oliver wishes Andre would concentrate on law enforcement, especially when someone starts killing fourths, threatening to bring the entire city to a standstill.


Success as a fourth has made Andre a slacker of a cop. Yet, the harder he works for the city, the less time he has for fourthing. With both jobs on the line, Andre has to find the killer and he has to do it fast, before he becomes the next victim. But when his investigation exposes a terrorist cell, one of whom may be Oliver’s son, more than two jobs hang in the balance.


Playing politics only makes things messier, and Oliver can’t help. But he can do something for Andre—the one thing that little brothers always want their big brothers to do.


Stay out of the way.




About the authors: Margaret Yang and Harry R. Campion are the authors of three novels and many short stories, all written under the shared pen name M.H. Mead. To find out more about them and Taking the Highway, or if you have a key lime pie recipe to share, come visit their website www.yangandcampion.com.


Amazon  http://amzn.to/TLFXCw


BN  http://bit.ly/Txzadi


Kobo http://bit.ly/V9WDRd


Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MHMead

In Full-Edit Mode

2013 is right around the corner, and I have a lot to get through.


There’s the polish after the proof-read of Disconnect – Book One of the Divided Worlds Trilogy – in time for the release of 22 Feb 2013. Now, you may say that Feb is while away, and I shouldn’t fret but when the time between involves conversion and distribution of the ebook, and the promotional prep… heck there’s a lot.


During Jan 2013 I have another project that requires my attention.


The sequel to Disconnect. The first draft was written within 26 days. Let me tell you now that I am astounded that pulled off the one chapter a day and am impressed that I maintained the flow and blasted my usual 1,200 a day.


The first draft word count came in at 64k for the YA Sci Fi. Well… I’m now in total-triple-X edit mode. Head down, paper-editing and making red lines the fashion of the day. It’s not easy, but the moment I have doubt I scribble out and delete.


I don’t keep back-up copies of previous versions. I know many will disagree, but I see that if I want to bring back an element that I’d deleted, then I rewrite from scratch.


Anyways… Jan is a period of 1 week of paper-edit, 1 week of applying the edit, 1 week of paper-editing again, and then a week of applying the edit.


Of course, external copy-edits take place after that to ensure I haven’t written junk.


If all goes to plan, the sequel to Disconnect will be released end of May 2013.


2013 will be a good year – I hope!


PS: To see the youtube trailer for Disconnect – click here — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KOPE7U530U


and to help promote the cover to be released on Jan 4th – click here — http://www.xpressobooktours.com/2012/12/cover-reveal-sign-up-disconnect-by.html