A.B. Shepherd's Blog, page 10

NOT a YA novel! The Cloud Seeders by James Zerndt #amreading #bookreview

The Cloud Seeders is a dystopian science fiction novel where the USA is in a severe drought and you can be punished for using water and energy. Two young brothers who have been surviving by working as water police, set off on a journey to find their parents - their father is a scientist who has been working to develop weather control technology.

This is what drew me to this book. I've recently been doing some research on weather control technology because I'm considering using it in some of my writing and to find this book with that as a plot device intrigued me.

I've read several reviews by others. Some were quite critical because the readers didn't like the profanity and the single sex scene in this book. I will say, in my view the sex scene was not extremely explicit, and I fully believe in writing a book to be as believabl as possible. In this  story where you have two boys - one a teenager in charge of the younger, who've been on their own for over a year - I think the profanity adds realism. 

However, despite the age of the protagonists and how it has been classified, this is really not a Young Adult (YA) book. It's listed on Amazon as a children's book. Nuh uh. It's not. New Adult? Maybe. The subject matter in this book is not suitable for children or young teens. At least not in my humble opinion.

I did, however enjoy this author's take on such a dystopian future and I didn't want to put it down. I found the ending a bit simplistic, but I was still satisfied with it. Overall I really liked it.

If you'd like to check it out for yourself, just click here to see it on Amazon.

What is your favorite dystopian plot device? Which books have you read that use it?


Book Blurb:
Serve Your Country, Conserve Your Water, Observe Your Neighbor.

This is the slogan of the Sustainability Unit and of a country gone eco-hysterical. After nearly twelve months without rain and the hinges of the world barely still oiled, Thomas and his younger brother, Dustin, set out across a drought-ridden landscape in search of answers. What they discover along the way will change their lives, and their country, forever. 

"Zerndt is a real talent and THE CLOUD SEEDERS is an intense journey into a new land, a parched Pacific Northwest, where water police roam the streets and people no longer bother to look up for rain." -Pete Fromm, author of AS COOL AS I AM and INDIAN CREEK CHRONICLES

About the author:
James Zerndt lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and son. His poetry has appeared in The Oregonian, and his fiction has most recently appeared in Gray's Sporting Journal and SWINK magazine. He recieved an MFA in Writing from Pacific University and rarely refers to himself in the third person.

Sob-fest but worthwhile. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green #amreading #bookreview

It's a good thing I don't judge a book by it's cover, because I think this is one of the lamest covers I have ever seen. 

I've been hearing about this book for a long time - over a year I think. Everyone has been raving about it, but I put off reading it because I knew it was about a dying girl and I try to avoid books about death and dying as I've had a bit too much of that in my life and this type of subject matter often leaves me feeling depressed.

Then I saw that this book was being made into a movie, and I don't know why but all of a sudden that made me want to read it. I bowed to peer pressure. I thought - well I can read the first chapter and if it feels too depressing, I'll just stop. Right?

So I read the first chapter - and I didnt's top. I got sucked right in. This is a truly wonderful book. Yes, it is about a young dying girl, but it is also about first love, and friendship, and not fitting in, and figuring out how to survive loss. It is also about dealing with the disappointment of finding out your idol isn't worthy of your adoration. So much about growing up.

This is my first 5 star book of 2014. So what didn't I like about it?

Only one tiny little nitpicky thing. Hazel is oxygen bound and the author in his Author Note does say that the medical information in this book is fictional so I shouldn't even nitpick this but - from personal experience (not my own but my loved ones) the oxygen bound do not use portable canisters in their homes. They don't get enough of them to squander them like that. Instead they drag long tubing around with them because they stay hooked up to their "Phillip" when at home. So that minor discrepancy aside - this is still a 5 star book and I loved every word of it. I read it in one day. Couldn't put it down.

I may have ugly cried a little bit, but it did not leave me feeling depressed at all. 

If you'd like to check out The Fault in Our Stars you can click here to go to its Amazon page. It is oddly far cheaper in print than for Kindle.

Are you planning to read any of the books being made into movies this year? Which one(s)?

Book blurb:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

About the author:
John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.

In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters website, or a direct link here.

I WANTED to love this book, but didn't. Vanished by John Shepard #amreading #bookreview

You all know I love sci-fi, and stories of aliens interacting with us. I wanted to love this story. Sadly, I didn't.

First, although an editor's name is listed on Amazon for this book, I'm not sure what she edited. This book is in desperate need of a proof reader. I don't usually nitpick over the occasional typo, but the typos in this book were many and more along the line of omitted words, or the wrong tense or version of the word in question being used which made me have to re-read sentences multiple times in order to try to understand what was attempting to be said.

Next, this book is written by a man with a female protagonist and while I often read books written by men with female protagnists and they are often seamless - this time it showed.

Papria, the main character, is from a world where men are the protectors and women are protected. Papria, raised by her father with the fighting skills of a man, wants to join a crew of soldiers on a voyage to Earth. She trains through the same academy as the men and passes her knowledge test, but then is subjected to a simulated physical/emotional endurance trial which is rigged to cause her to fail. This is how the book starts. I won't go into any more detail because to do so would give spoilers which I don't like to do.

But here's the thing. Papria, as written by this author, is emotionally volatile with a temper she can't control, she's irrational, and she's capricious. Now, I think the author expects us to sympathize with her, and put her reactions down to what she endured during her physical/emotional test, and SOME of it we could, but not all of her behavior can be explained away and she comes off as a spoiled, narcisistic, nut case for the most part. Based on what takes place throughout the story (after her trial) I don't think she was fit for the mission.

She likes to fight - it's why she's on this journey - but the fight scenes take up most of the novella and I found them boring.

That this mission is staffed with only new recruits and no senior crew I found incredulous. That the men of her world would follow her into a dangerous situation just because she was set-up and survived it is ludicrous, especially considering her subsequent behavior.

And I know this is nitpicky of me, but at one point on the space ship - which is of such high-tech that it can get this crew from their planet to Earth in a matter of days - someone sits on or shifts or something on the bed and it GROANS . You're tellling me that this advanced society, who has the technology I already mentioned, can't make beds that don't make noise? On their high tech spaceship? Seriously???

Additionally, the ending of this novella was bizarre. We were moving along, just about to get to something interesting and then all of a sudden - BAM - we have an epilogue that appears to be an afterthought - as if someone complained to the author that the book ended too abruptly so he added it on for some closure.

If not for the epilogue I would have thought this author was planning this as a series -and he still could be. But the epilogue seems to take place quite some time after the last chapter and a lot of the potential for what could have been the best part of this story in between the last chapter and the epilogue is lost.

If you'd like to check it out for yourself, you can get to the Amazon page for Vanished by clicking here.

What have you read that you really wanted to love, but just didn't?

Book blurb:
Papria’s father used to tell her stories. Stories of a planet; a haven, a wondrous place filled with intelligent life. His passion became her obsession. When he died she swore she’d become the woman he wanted her to be.

Even he didn’t know how far her kind would go to stop a woman from succeeding. She’s humiliated, publicly shamed, and hurt, but wins the trials. Yet she’s still denied her right to leave the planet.

Papria’s not a quitter. She’s getting off-world no matter what the cost; including sparking a revolution.

This novella is 38,000 words and 50% of the proceeds from this book go to Kourageous Kids Storybooks; a non-profit helping enrich the lives of terminally ill children by writing them as heroes of their own books.

About the author:
No image of this author was found on Goodreads or Amazon.

John's earliest memories are of curling up on the chase in his father's study with books. Though he didn't seriously take up writing until his late twenties, he's poured his heart and soul into learning and has a love of strong-willed women leads, tempestuous characters, and anti-heroes.

He lives in Washington, loves to swim in the Sound, and can be found writing more often than not. Because reading was such an important part of his childhood, he's decided to donate 50% of all profit on his books to Kourageous Kids Storybooks; an organization dedicated to writing books for terminally ill children featuring them as the hero.

What makes a book a best seller? #amreading #bestseller

The short answer is - you, the reader. You read a book, you love it, and you tell everyone you know that they HAVE to read it. Right?

But here's the long answer.

So you're an author and you've written a book and you think it's pretty darn good. How do you get it on a best seller list?

Well if you happen to have been published with a traditional publisher you likely have an agent. Your agent, and your publisher will help. They have a marketing team that will advertise your book in appropriate forums, they will contact critiques at various publications for reviews, they will help you set up personal appearances and book signings. Sure, you still have to work hard at marketing yourself too. It's in the best interest of all of you if your books sell. But even that doesn't guarantee you a best seller.

And getting a traditional pulishing contract isn't easy. Did you know that some of the best sellers of all time were rejected by traditional publishing houses?

Carrie by Stephen King was rejected 30 times.Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected 140 times.Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell was rejected by 38 publishers.


Look at Hugh Howey and his Wool series. A classic case in point.

But what if you are an unknown, self-published author? How do you become a best seller?

Well it doesn't happen over night. You write the best darn book you can. You get a professional quality cover and a good editor. You do blog tours and develop your own  marketing strategy. You may set up your own local book signings. You ask reviewers to read your book(s) and post reviews. You beg those who like your book to tell their friends, their family, their social media contacts and to leave reviews and you hope word of mouth gets you a few more readers.

And some days you get so disheartened that you feel like giving up. But you have a compulsion to write and you have a need to share your work - your blood, sweat and tears - the innermost workings of your mind -  with the world. And it's scary as hell. But then someone reads your book and they tell you they can't stop thinking about it - and it's all worth it. 

So you keep writing and you keep putting your work out there.

You aren't in it to become rich and famous. You just want your books to be read. Sure, money and fame would be nice, but you'd settle for selling enough books to at least pay for the production costs of the one you are working on next and you wouldn't mind making a little profit too.

Me? I hate marketing my books and myself. I find it exhausting and mostly futile.

There is very little likelihood I will ever have a best seller. I even have trouble getting reviewers to take a look at my books. Of course, I know my books are niche and that has a lot to do with it. They aren't for everyone.

But boy, wouldn't I love it if one day one of my books took off and shot to the top of the rankings! In the meantime, I will keep plugging away.

Take a look at my book tabs at the top of the page. If you are interested in reviewing either of them (on Goodreads/Amazon and anywhere else you want) - shoot me an email. 

I will gladly send you an ebook ARC (advanced reader copy) free in exchange for an honest review. And if you like it - tell all your friends, your family and your social media contacts, okay? I can use all the word of mouth I can get.

Maybe, just maybe, your review will help me make it to the best seller list one day. 

Want to help get the word out about my books? Please review them. 

Are you an author who is finding some success? Tell me what you've done that is working. 

Are you a reader that loves to get free books? Become a reviewer - reviewers hold more power than they know.

Kill a friend??? Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner #amreading #bookreview

You all know how much I love Indie Authors and their books. I'd say probably 85% to 90% of what I read is Indies. But now and then I venture into the realm of traditionally published authors and this is one of those times.

Lisa Gardner is, in my humble opinion, one of the best mystery/crime writers around and with every book she gets that much better. And one thing I learned about her when I finished this book - and that I absoluetly LOVE - is that she has an annual "Kill a Friend, Maim a Mate" contest for her fans where they can enter the name of a friend or loved one in the contest. The chosen name will become a character which will be killed off in one of Lisa's novels. How fun is that?

I've previously read four of her books - one of which I only rated three stars and the other three got four stars. Pretty good marks in my opinion.

So Touch & Go is my fifth foray into Lisa Gardner's extensive body of work. I must say - I think this one gets five stars from me. 

It is the story of a family in crisis, for a variety of reasons - who in thie midst of their personal chaos just happen to be kidnapped. Unsure of their survival, this family implodes under the stress during captivity. It is written from the perspective of Libby - the wife/mother, and also from the perspective of two of the investigators desperately searching for the family before the worst case scenario happens.

I felt Lisa did an excellent job of getting inside Libby's head and all the emotions she went through. I empathisized with her greatly. I will admit I figured out who the mastermind was long before the end. I can't say if that is because I read a lot of mysteries, or maybe even Lisa and I have the same twisted type of logic.

I will say this - this book kept me up until 4:30 am in my desperate need to not put it down. It's a little bit pricey for a Kindle book - you can get the paperback cheaper. If you are interested in getting a copy for yourself - just click here to go to Amazon and look at all the book options - including that cheaper paperback.

Who is your favorite crime/mystery author and what is your favorite of their books?

Book blurb:
#1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Gardner, author of Catch Me and Love You More, returns with a heart-thumping thriller about what lurks behind the facade of a perfect family.

This is my family:  Vanished without a trace…

Justin and Libby Denbe have the kind of life that looks good in the pages of a glossy magazine. A beautiful fifteen-year old daughter, Ashlyn. A gorgeous brownstone on a tree-lined street in Boston’s elite Back Bay neighborhood. A great marriage, admired by friends and family.  A perfect life.

This is what I know:  Pain has a flavor…

When investigator Tessa Leoni arrives at the crime scene in the Denbes’ home, she finds scuff marks on the floor and Taser confetti in the foyer.  The family appears to have been abducted, with only a pile of their most personal possessions remaining behind.  No witnesses, no ransom demands, no motive.  Just an entire family, vanished without a trace.

This is what I fear:  The worst is yet to come…

Tessa knows better than anyone that even the most perfect façades can hide the darkest secrets.  Now she must race against the clock to uncover the Denbes’ innermost dealings, a complex tangle of friendships and betrayal, big business and small sacrifices.  Who would want to kidnap such a perfect little family?  And how far would such a person be willing to go?

This is the truth:  Love, safety, family… - it is all touch and go.

About the author:
New York Times bestselling crime novelist Lisa Gardner began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has parlayed her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics and twisted plots into a streak of eleven bestselling suspense novels.

Readers are invited to get in on the fun by entering the annual "Kill a Friend, Maim a Mate" Sweepstakes, where they can nominate the person of their choice to die in Lisa's latest novel. Every year, one lucky stiff is selected for literary immortality. It's cheaper than therapy, and you get a great book besides. For more details, simply visit Lisa's website.

Lisa lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with her family, as well as two highly spoiled dogs and one extremely neurotic three-legged cat. Lisa graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations.

YA Action! ShockWaves by Suzanna Williams #amreading #bookreview

 I was in the mood for something with both action and a little bit of the paranormal so I picked up this little gem.

ShockWaves is set in Britain and is the story of two teenagers who have never met, yet have an impossible bond. Paige is a priviledged young woman who tragically loses her parents in a car accident. Lee has lived a difficult life, never knowing his father and has lost his mother to cancer. They end up in the same foster home where they meet for the first time, only to realize they psychically they've known each other for years.

I really liked this book. The action was non-stop. The hero and heroine were amazingly physically fit (which is explained by their active athleticism) and resilient in spite of what they endure, but not unbelievably so - or at least no more so than any other action movie or book. I liked their psychic link. I believe a second book is planned and I'm hoping Ms. Williams will explore that link further and tell us why it exists between these two.

The only teeny-tiny little (not worth mentioning, but as usual I'll mention it anyway) issue I had with this one is that neither Paige, nor Lee seemed to have really ever heard of telepathy before. I found that a bit unbelievable, but I guess it would be better than them jumping right in as if they were experts on the subject.

This is a really solid YA action/suspense story. Very well done and I will definitely watch for a second book with these characters by this author.

Read any great YA Action (other than fantasy) books lately? Recommend your faves. 

If you'd like to read Shock Waves for yourself, you can check it out on Amazon by clicking here. 

Book Blurb:
Lee Banner has one passion, parkour; one secret, he's telepathic; and one problem, an ex-IRA terrorist, with a thirst for revenge, has  kidnapped the girl of his dreams.

Sixteen year old Lee Banner thinks he’s a daydreamer. One minute he’s watching the football, the next he’s seeing a girl in a car crash. It’s so real he can feel her fear, hear her scream. But when he meets Paige Harper, the girl from the crash, and her parents have actually been killed in a hit-and-run accident, can it really be just his over-active imagination?

And then Paige is kidnapped. Will their special connection and Lee’s parkour be enough to save her?

ShockWaves is the first in a fast-paced YA action-adventure trilogy about a special connection and friends who refuse to give up



About the author:

Other than this delightful photograph, no author information for Suzanna Williams was found on either Goodreads.com or Amazon.com.

A history lesson in a fiction novel. Sliding Beneath the Surface by Doug Dillon #amreading #bookreview

Sliding Beneath the Surface is the first novel in The St. Augustine Trilogy. In this novel Dillon introduces us to Jeff Golden, a lonely, lost teenager, his would-be girlfriend Carla, and Carla's friend/mentor Lobo.

I'm not sure if this is intended to be a YA series, but it is certainly clean enough to be. You all know I am a fan of YA stuff so my review below is not a reflection on the fact that it is a YA book.

Jeff has recently moved to St. Augustine. His father is dead and his mother neglects him. His only friend is Carla. Strange things start happening to Jeff. He has nightmares that are keeping him from sleeping and things only get weirder from there (for him).

Carla introduces Jeff to her friend Lobo, because Lobo is a Native American shaman and she thinks he can help Jeff with his problem, because he helped her with her own paranormal issue before.

I really wanted to love this story. Worlds within worlds within worlds. Ghosts. The whole shabang. The concept was great and I DO love me some paranormal stuff. I was also intrigued to find the author has co-written a non-fiction book about his own paranormal experiences. Something I just might have to check out.

But when it comes to Sliding Beneath the Surface, for me it felt more like a history lesson wrapped up in a novel in an attempt to get teens interested in history. Yes, history is important. History in novel form CAN be a good thing, when done well. But for me there was just too much emphasis by the author on getting all the tiny historical facts about this battle in the novel. It made it feel a bit tedious at times.

Many of the reviews for this book have said how much the reader loved the character of Carla because she was spunky. I didn't feel that way. I didn't feel like Carla was a very developed character at all. Maybe that is because the story was told from Jeff's perspective, but I never got a real sense of Carla. Oh sure, she would say something a bit spunky now and then, but for me she was just coleslaw on the side, ya know? Jeff was the main course and he needed a side dish. The coleslaw is there whether or not it is appetizing.

Jeff was a so-so character for me as well. Yes, he was a teenaged boy and so his moody rebelliousness was in character, as was his disbelief in adults having superior knowledge. But he just lacked something - something I can't define right now - to make him feel genuine for me. Where I would have expected him to turn to Carla as his only friend, he avoided her. Didn't quite make sense to me.

My favorite character was Lobo. I'd love to read more with him as the main character. He is the mystical, all-knowing spiritual guide. HIM I found fascinating.

I don't know where Doug Dillon is taking this series. I don't know if Jeff and Carla will feature in the remaining two books, or where Lobo will fit in.

If you are a fan of history written in novel form, and you are interested in the Seminole wars, with a bit of paranormal thrown in, you just might really like this book. It didn't quite do it for me, although I did find it educational.

If you'd like to get Sliding Beneath the Surface for yourself, you can get it on Amazon. Just click here to go to the Amazon page for it. 

What is your favorite book that captured a real life event in a fictional format?

Book Blurb:
In America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augusti

ne, Florida, teenager Jeff Golden is in trouble. Horrible dreams won’t let him sleep, and he is up to his eyeballs in terrifying, paranormal experiences.

Finally, Jeff turns to his girlfriend Carla, and Lobo, the mysterious Native American shaman, for help. But what he discovers is a lot more than he bargained for.

A ghostly presence linked to a local historic cemetery is not only threatening Jeff’s sanity but his life as well. And before he knows what’s happening, Jeff finds both and Carla pulled into one of the nastiest and bloody events in Florida history. It is a place from which they may never escape.

About the author:
An award winning author and educator, Doug writes about things paranormal and historical. His interest in the paranormal comes from personal experiences as detailed in the nonfiction adult book he and wife wrote titled, An Explosion of Being: An American Family's Journey into the Psychic. Out of those events and extensive historical research, he then created Sliding Beneath the Surface for young adults, Book I of the St. Augustine Trilogy. Doug set his trilogy in the oldest and most haunted city in the United States, St. Augustine, Florida. Books II and III of the trilogy are on the way.

 

I don't make resolutions - I set goals. #amwriting #amreading #newyear

I never make New Year's resolutions. Oh I used to - the same ones everyone else did. Lose weight, exercise more, eat better, change my life in this way or that way. But resolutions always fall by the wayside by the end of the first week of January, don't they? Or by the end of January at the latest.

Nope - no more resolutions for me. Instead, I now set goals.

What is the difference between a resolution and a goal, you ask?  

Well a resolution is just that. It's like a little promise you make to yourself. And you break it. And you hate yourself for it.

But a goal - well a goal is a horse of a different color.

A goal is reachable, measurable and has small daily steps on how to get there. If you follow those small steps, you will reach your goal. And if somethiing gets in the way, you can adjust the goal or adjust the steps. You learn from it, whether you reach it or not. If you don't reach it and you followed the steps, maybe you set it too high and you need to bring it down a little. If you didn't follow the steps, why not? Do they need adjusting? Does your goal no longer meet your needs? Change it. Goals can be set at any time. I just chose to do some of mine at the beginning of a new year.

So as 2013 rolls to a close I take a look back on what I have accomplished, to help me set my goals for 2014.

For the past few years I have set reading goals for each year. Goodreads.com is a great place to help with this. You sign up, set your goal and as you read and review books throughout the year on their site, they will automatically update your ticker - tracking exactly how many books you've read and whether you are on target, ahead, or behind in your goal. I really love that feature Goodreads offers - well I love a lot of Goodreads features - and no - they don't pay me to say that. ;)

The first year I did it (2011) I set my goal at 100 books. I started a couple of weeks into January and I exceeded it by 10, so the following year I got a little more ambitious.

For 2012 I set it at 125. I came close but didn't quite get there. I read something like 120. But I also started this blog in 2012 so I cut myself a little slack and adjusted my reading goal for 2013.


For 2013 my goal was 115 books - and I didn't even come close to meeting it. As of the time I am writing this post I have read 66 books this year and I may get one or two more in before 2014 rolls in. There are many reasons why I didn't meet this goal. Some were personal reasons that I let throw me off track, and some others - well they were legitimate reasons to readjust my reading goal - although I didn't officially do so. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

You see I have accomplished a few other things in 2013 that offset my failure to come close to my reading goal. 

In 2013 I spent many months editing and writing and editing and publishing my two books, Lifeboat and The Beacon. I am really proud of those accomplishments whether or not I ever really get people to read them. The few who have read them have been quite complimentary, so at least I feel like I'm doing something right. Although, so far sales have been abysmal. But that's probably because I hate marketing so I am inconsistent and unskilled in my attempts to do so. I wish I had the budget to hire someone to do that kind of thing for me. But alas...

Writing time does detract a little bit from my reading time - mostly because I've been fairly unorganized about both in 2013. I'll admit that.


So for 2014 I will adjust my reading goal once again. I won't worry about what I set it at last year, instead I will look at what I accomplished last year and set it slightly higher.

My reading goal will be 75 books for 2014.
As for my 2013 writing goals - well I didn't really have any formal goals for writing. I just wanted to finish and publish Lifeboat - which I achieved. And then I went on to write and publish The Beacon. So I can say I met my writing goals this past year.

As for 2014 - I have two books I am currently writing (early stages yet for both). One is the much requested sequel to Lifeboat - the other is another psychological thriller. 
I chose to write two concurrently because I sometimes get to where I hit a wall on a work in progress (WIP). I read somewhere that another author said he always has two WIP going at one time so that when he hits a wall on one he can switch to the other. I thought that sounded like a great idea so I've taken up that practice. So far it is working for me. 
But I am undisciplined and unorganized too.

I try to keep updating things on here for you, and I also like to play around on the internet, especially Facebook - my primary way of keeping in touch with family and friends far away. And I find that once I've done all that I don't feel much like writing on my WIPs. I pretty much want to throw my laptop across the room. So...my writing goals for 2014 will take all this into account. 
My big picture writing goals for 2014 are to finish, edit and publish both of my current WIP by the end of the year. Which gets done first and when they will be published will be determined later, but I hope to get one out mid-year - say June-ish - and the other by December. And to get there, I have set a goal for myself that each day I will write for at least an hour before I let myself play on the internet. 
Additionally, my writing goals have to include this blog, right? So my goal is to post new content on the blog at least every three days, which will include reviews of the 75 books I am going to read in 2014.
I do, of course, have other more personal daily/weekly goals I have set unrelated to reading or writing, but I'm not quite willing to share those with you right now. They aren't really relevant to the blog so why am I telling you they exist? Well, just so you know I'm human, and I don't quite live and breathe reading and writing although both are really important parts of my life.
How about you. Do you make New Year's resolutions? If you do, do you ever keep them?
Or do you set goals - measurable, accomplishable goals? What do YOU have planned for 2014? Doesn't have to be reading/writing related. I want to know what turns you on, and what you plan to do about it.

Peggy Sue Got Married & Back to the Future all rolled into one! Living Backwards by Tracy Sweeney @pink_flask #amreading #bookreview

I received this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Living backwards is the story of a 29 year old woman who somehow manages to time travel back to three weeks before her high school graduation. 

As most of you know I am not really a fan of romance books, unless there is some other primary element. In this case, the time travel aspect - which just happens to be one of my favorite plot devises - was what drew me to this book. 

As the title of this post states - it is pretty much a combination of Peggy Sue Got Married and Back to the Future - both movies are actually even referenced in the book, as is The Butterfly Effect - only this story has been updated for present day to include references to Facebook, and of course has different characters and situations. 

The key question of time travel remains - if you can change your past how will it effect your future. What will be the ripple effect?
 The book is told from several view points, primarily those of Jillian, and her crush Luke. I don't miind stories told from different points of view and sometimes that can be very helpful when you want to really get inside a character's head. In this case, for me, it worked and it didn't work. It was good to get to see both sides, but at the same time when we've gone through days worth of Jillian's perspective, then we switch to Luke's and go back several days to repeat everything from his view point, well it just felt a bit unnecessary. And since this is a fairly long book, that made it feel even more so. Perhaps if the author had not backtracked when switching points of view I would have enjoyed that part a bit more.

I nearly set this book aside for a couple of reasons. One is that I had trouble getting into it. It does have some humor and the 90s pop culture references were a bit fun even though I'm a generation older. 

Part of what was turning me off was Jillian's reliance on "Joan", her alcohol-filled flask, to get through normal day-to-day situations. I didn't want to read a book about an alcoholic, no matter how cute it was written. Just not my thing. But I was curious to see where the author was going with that element of the story. I'll admit I was starting to wonder if the author herself were an alcoholic and this story was her way of justifying her own alcohol abuse. I will say, without giving away any spoilers, that I no longer have that suspicion of the author and I was satisfied with where she went with that aspect of the story.

A couple of other tiny things that just slightly annoyed me, and really aren't even worth mentioning, but I'm going to mention them anyway (hahaha - it's my blog and I can say what I want) - one is that Jillian, Luke, and the other four primary characters were all "only children" with some pretty hands-off parents. Stretching the believability a bit. The other is the amount of "distraction" based on the sexual frustration and/or lust both Jillian and Luke experienced - but hey - it IS a romance after all. Neither of these issues is really relevant.


So in summary: This is a somewhat cute, chick-lit story about getting a high school do-over, and how it changed Jillian's (and Luke's) present and future. It is a solid and enjoyable story, full of romance, teen - and adult - angst, and a satisfying ending, but it was just a bit longer than it needed to be.

If you'd like to check out Living Backwards for yourself  - click here to go to it's Amazon page. 

What are your favorite time travel books?

Book Blurb:
Twenty-nine-year-old Jillian Cross refuses to believe that a pair of skinny jeans has led to her untimely demise. Life just isn't that cruel. But when an overly-enthusiastic attempt at squeezing herself into them leads her to fall and lose consciousness, she is faced with just that possibility. When she awakens with both a bruised ego and a bump on her head, she's not in her tiny apartment but her childhood bedroom circa 1999-the spring of her senior year in high school. Jillian knows that time travel isn't logical. But then again, neither was her decision to wear skinny jeans. As she attempts to navigate her way through the halls of Reynolds High, walking the same path and making the same choices she made years before, she knows that any change she makes can have a catastrophic effect on her future. But when she strikes up an unexpected friendship with motorcycle-riding, cigarette-smoking Luke Chambers, can she pretend to be the same shy girl she once was? At least she has her pink sparkly flask to take the edge off. One little change won't hurt, right?

About the author:
Tracy Sweeney graduated with a degree in Management and Finance but prefers writing ridiculous things to crunching ridiculous numbers. She lives north of Boston, Massachusetts with her two young boys. Her short stories have appeared in Literary Juice, Solecisms and Slice of Life Magazines. She is currently working on her second novel which will be equally as ridiculous.

Follow her nonsense on Twitter at @pink_flask.

Interview with Marsha Cornelius and excerpt of Losing it All. #amreading @marshacornelius

A couple of years ago author Marsha Cornelius asked me to read her debut novel, H10N1. I did and I loved it. You can read that review here. 

Marsha is back with a new novel, Losing It All, and she has graciously consented to allow me to interview her and share an excerpt with all of us. 
Hi Marsha - it's great to see you again. Tell me - Your latest book, Losing It All, is about homeless people. How did you research the topic?

Well, I didn’t live in a car for 6 months, if that’s what you’re wondering. But over the years, I’ve had my share of interaction with the homeless. I’m not a believer in giving cash, but I’ve left bags of clothing in the park instead of the Salvation Army. I’ve bought homeless people food.

I also volunteered at a soup kitchen, and I visited the women’s shelter in Atlanta. A lot of what I saw appears in the book.


What kind of response are you getting to a book that is basically about people who have nothing?

I was afraid people might shy away from the theme of destitution, especially since the economy in nearly every country has taken a beating in the past few years. 

During the Depression, Busby Berkeley filmed extravagant musicals filled with chorus girls dancing and singing, to allow people to escape from reality. But these days, I think people want to understand what is happening. They want to be informed. 

So the response to Losing It All is mostly positive. Yes, there are depressing scenes in the book, but nothing the characters can’t handle. And isn’t that what life is about?



I understand the book is written from two POVs. Why did you decide to write the book that way?


The two characters come from different worlds. Frank has been living on the streets for the past 12 years, so he’s almost a veteran to the experience. Chloe, on the other hand, has never experienced anything like it. She’s certainly not rich, but losing your possessions, being evicted? I don’t think many of us are prepared to deal with something like that.

Point of View is tricky. If you want to allow your reader to really get into someone’s head, you have to show their POV. And since my two characters come into this story from such different directions, I decided to let the reader into both of their heads.

It’s not as confusing as say a romance novel, where each paragraph can jump from his thoughts to her thoughts. Each chapter is told from one character’s POV. I wanted the reader to see how differently the same situation could affect two people.


How did you come up with the idea for Losing It All?

When I first moved to the country north of Atlanta, I came across an abandoned house in the woods near a small horse farm. There was so much underbrush that you could barely see the house. The windows were all busted. Inside, the walls had holes punched in them, but the floors were sound, the roof kept the structure dry. 

I thought it was a shame that no one had kept the place up. And it occurred to me, that for someone who sleeps on a park bench, or under an overpass, that little house would be a great improvement. The idea just snowballed from there. 

Are you working on your next book?


Oh, sure. I’m always somewhere in the process of a book: dreaming up an idea, hammering out the details, or marketing a book that has already been published.

My next book deals with peoples’ reliance on pharmaceuticals for everything from their peace of mind to their weight. We’re a quickly becoming a nation that doesn’t want to deal with our problems, we just want to take a pill and make it all better. 


Wow - sounds intriguing - AND highly accurate. What a great concept for a book. Marsha, where can readers find you?


I have an author’s page on Amazon, where you can see all three of my books. Here are the links:Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk
If you want to drop me a quick line, use Twitter.  https://twitter.com/marshacornelius
To gab about books, hook up with me on Goodreads:   http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4993738.M_R_Cornelius And if you want to read my blogs, go to my website: http://www.mrcornelius



Can you give us a brief taste of Losing It All?


Sure. Here’s a quick look at Frank, a homeless vet how has been living on the streets since he came home from Vietnam.


As soon as the sun went down, the night air regained its bite. Frank zipped his jacket up to his raw chin. The front wheel of his grocery cart squeaked as he pushed a load of rotten lumber toward his favorite convenience store. A hooker stood under a street lamp, displaying her wares to drivers that passed. When she saw Frank, she relaxed her pose.
“Evening, Frank,” Diamond called, boosting her double Ds in a tight sweater.
“Hey, Diamond.” Frank parked his buggy against the lamppost. “How you doing?”
“Glittering, honey.” She fluffed her Afro with silver fingernails.
“I see that.”
“Got some sugar for you.” She cocked a leg out and ran her hand up her fishnet stocking.
“I’ll pass tonight. Thanks.”


Those fingernails had raked a good chunk of flesh off Frank’s forearm the first time he met Diamond all those years ago. His GI cut had grown just shaggy enough that she thought he was an Emory student on his way to the Plaza Theater. But when she offered to suck his dick, he flashed-back on those whores in Saigon, and took a swing at Diamond with the pint of Sloe gin he’d been guzzling. He grazed the side of her head, and she came after him, her arms whirling like a windmill.
Frank had tried to retreat but somehow Diamond got a fistful of his hair. Her shiny silver high-heel drew back, and when Frank saw her knee rise up toward his crotch, he cried out, fell to the sidewalk, and curled into a fetal position, clutching his jewels.
She could have laughed at him, or taken advantage of his sniveling by kicking him with said silver shoe. But she knelt and helped him to his feet. “Come here, Sugar. Why don’t you tell Diamond all about it?”
Between slurps of gin, he told her about the horrors of Vietnam, and how he’d been compensating ever since with drugs and alcohol.


“Watch my stuff?” he asked Diamond as he reached for the door handle.
She swiveled her hips. “Like you be watchin’ mine.”
Inside the deserted convenience store, a clerk perched on a stool, watching a small black and white TV. A little old lady in a commercial stepped up to a counter and grumbled, “Where’s the beef?” The clerk laughed and tried to mimic the phrase in his heavy accent. He grinned and nodded at Frank for approval.
“Not bad,” Frank told him.
“Marlboros, Mr. Frank?” the clerk asked.
Marsha thanks so much for stopping by and telling us all about Losing It All. I wish you much luck with it. Abites - check out Losing It All, and if you haven't already - be sure to read H10N1.
You can get H10N1 for your Kindle by clicking here.  And you can get Losing It All for your Kindle by clicking here.
I hope you will be to come back and tell Marsha and I what you think of it.