A.B. Shepherd's Blog, page 21

Book Review of Stranger in Town by Cheryl Bradshaw

Book Blurb:He only needed her to look away for a few seconds...

Six-year-old Olivia Hathaway tiptoes down the center aisle of Maybelle's Market, stopping once to glance over her shoulder and make sure her mother isn't watching. But Mrs. Hathaway is too preoccupied to notice her daughter has slipped away. Moments later, a frantic Mrs. Hathaway runs up and down the aisles, desperately searching for her missing daughter. But little Olivia is already in the arms of a stranger. Will PI Sloane Monroe find Olivia before it's too late?
My review:I picked this book up because it intrigued me. It is a story of an abducted child. I've been ruminating over a book idea I'm contemplating writing which is based on an actual disappearance of three children, that I would fictionalize, and so I wanted to see what direction another author might take with a story of an abducted child. Not with the intention of stealing or borrowing any of her ideas. Just out of curiosity as to where her story would go and how it would end. 
This is apparently the 4th book in a series, and I am happy to report that it stands alone well. I have not read any of the previous books in this series. After reading this one I feel like I do not NEED to read them to figure out what is going on here. I am intrigued enough by the main character, however, that I am interested to read them. 
Sloane Monroe is an intriguing lead character and I liked her. I want to know what makes her tick. This book flowed effortlessly and is well written as far as mysteries go. The only thing I can say about it that is even slightly negative is that it wrapped up really quickly in the end. I did thoroughly enjoy this book. How about you? Read any good mysteries lately?
About the author: Born and raised in Southern California, Cheryl Bradshaw became interested in writing at a young age, but it was almost two decades before she put pen to paper. In 2009 Cheryl wrote her first novel, Black Diamond Death (Sloane Monroe Series, Book 1). Within six weeks of its release it was in the top #100 in two different mystery categories on the Kindle and has been a top ranked novel since April 2011 averaging 4.8 out of 5 stars from reviewers.

For information and updates about Cheryl Bradshaw, visit her at cherylbradshawbooks.blogspot.com, cherylbradshaw.com, find her on Facebook on her Cheryl Bradshaw Author Page and follow her on Twitter @cherylbradshaw. 

Lifeboat Blurb Reveal!

Last week I revealed the cover of my new book, Lifeboat. I told you that is is a sci-fi suspense novel. 
This week I am revealing to you my Book Blurb, designed to pique your interest and I'd like your honest opinion once you have read it. Here it is:

Cass Carmichael has lost everything; her husband, her son, and her will to live.
When natural disasters destroy the earth she is rescued by extra-terrestrials and taken to a new world where the human race can rebuild. But something is wrong  here. Survivors are vanishing without a trace.
Can Cass unravel the riddle before humanity disappears for good?
What do you think? Does this blurb, combined with the cover make you want to read it? Will you want to buy my book when it is released in May?

A Tale of Frustration

As you all now know, I'm getting ready to release my novel, Lifeboat in May.
If you have not self-published a novel, you are likely not aware of all the behind the scenes work that goes into such an endeavor. You know about some of the fun stuff, like preparing the cover because I told you about that a few days ago. 
Other things that have to be done include marketing. I've created a book trailer, which was also fun for me. But I'll tell you more about that when I debut the trailer here in a week or two.
I also decided to get business cards made up with my book cover on one side and the blurb on the other. I thought this would be a fabulous marketing tool. I could hand them out to everyone I meet. The blurb side would also have my contact details. 
I spend quite of bit of time designing these cards to be perfect. The cover didn't fit properly so I had to play with it quite a bit. I ended up putting a border on it so that it would look good. That turned out pretty well. 
Then I spent even longer on the blurb side, laying out the wording, adjusting font sizes and layouts. I worked on it forever. 
I worked up a proof. Found a typo. Fixed the typo. Found another. Fixed it too. Read it over a gazillion times. And then I hit "order". 
I was sooooo excited. They were going to be so perfect! I could not wait for them to arrive. I've been on pins and needles since I got the email telling me they were shipped last week.
My cards arrived in the mail this morning. They are so beautiful. I gazed at them lovingly. 
Showed them to my husband. He said "looks good", indulging me. I couldn't stop looking at them. I read the blurb over and over again and admired the image of the cover. I was riding high.
My father-in-law came over this morning and I excitedly showed them to him. 
He said "That should say lost not lot." 
What? Where?
Oh crap. My beautiful, gorgeous business cards have a TYPO still. After all my hard work, still a typo. I'm so frustrated I could cry.
It's a good thing my book, unlike my cards, is being edited by a professional. Ugh.
Have you ever worked really hard on something only to have it come out wrong? Please tell me about it to make me feel a little better about my mistake.

Book Review of Contest by Matthew Reilly

Book Blurb:The New York Public Library. A silent sanctuary of knowledge; a 100-year-old labyrinth of towering bookcases, narrow aisles and long marble hallways. For Doctor Stephen Swain and his daughter, Holly, it is the site of a nightmare. Because for one night this historic building is to be the venue for a contest. A contest in which Swain is to compete - whether he likes it or not.

The rules are simple: Seven contestants will enter, only one will leave.

With his daughter in his arms, Stephen Swain is plunged into a terrifying fight for survival. The stakes are high, the odds brutal. He can choose to run, to hide or to fight - but if he wants to live, he has to win. For in this contest, unless you leave as the victor, you do not leave at all.  
My review:Discussing books with friends is one of my favorite parts of having friends who read. My friend Leilani and I talk about books all the time. One day during such a discussion she told me this book happened to be the book that got her into the sci-fi genre and she highly recommended it. So I figured, why not?
I liked it. It was a bit gory for my taste, but that didn't really bother me. The action was intense. A battle to the death and the need to survive. No escape possible. And to add to the intensity, the need to protect your only child as well as yourself.
As a parent, that part got me from the start. Parental instincts are incredibly strong. My only criticism here is that it was obvious, from a parental perspective, that this book was written by a man. I'm not putting him down, or at least not intending too, but as a woman there are several points in the story that no woman would have reacted that way with her child. But the main character isn't a woman so maybe that really IS how a man would react. I can't say. 
It was a good, solid, sci-fi action novel and I enjoyed it. I just wish it had had a little more heart. I'm not saying it doesn't have heart. It does. But when I compare it to a book with a similar theme, like The Hunger Games, I feel more of an emotional connection with the latter.
Have you read The Contest? How do you feel about it? 
About the author: Matthew Reilly is a New York Times best-selling author of eight novels that have been published in eighteen languages in twenty countries. He has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide.You can learn more about him at his website.

Cover Reveal for sci-fi/suspense novel Lifeboat!

You are going to have to "...read more" to actually see it. Aren't I a tease? Lifeboat is my debut novel.
If you are a faithful reader you will know that this book has been in process since November. It is a sci-fi/suspense novel (blurb to be revealed soon in another post) and I've been working really hard behind the scenes to do all the hard work that goes into to writing and self-publishing a book.
I've gone through several rewrites, more rewrites, and a professional edit. 
But there are so many more things that have to be done when you are self-publishing. Some of them are still in process and I have a planned release date for Lifeboat of May 2013 when I will be holding a Release Party right here!
One of the most fun parts has been cover design. I hired a professional graphic designer to prep a cover for me based on a few ideas I had. This is what she came up with and I loved it.  I really did. I love the font for the title. I thought it was dark and mysterious and I loved that the figure was in silhouette so you wouldn't have a preconceived idea of what Cass, my leading character, looked like. 
I even ordered a bit of swag using this cover - which I will be giving away during my Lifeboat Release Party in May.
But then my editor, who is SO much more than just an editor -  having read my book prior to editing it, had some ideas of her own. She decided one afternoon to play with her ideas and she mocked up a new cover just for fun. And I loved it too. Then I had to make a really tough decision. Which cover did I use? 
I shared both covers with some very helpful author and blogger friends, as well as friends and family whose opinions I really respect. I got votes for each.
The most compelling opinion, however, came from my beautiful 27 year old daughter who happens to be a reader and she voted overwhelmingly for the cover below. Her reasons were "The brighter colors are more alluring and the face makes you interested in the girl. Like I look at it and I want to know what happened to her. The other one is nice but it is not making me want to read it and know more. It's dark and her back is to us, which is uninviting." So I bow to her superior judgement and tada! 
Here is the official cover for my novel Lifeboat! I couldn't be happier with it.
 
Did we make the right choice? Please do tell me.

Fantasy Lovers Must Read - Interview with amazing author Rhiannon Douglas

I am thrilled today to have been granted an interview with Rhiannon Douglas - author of the fantasy novel Running which is the first book in the Empowered Series.  Rhiannon, where did the idea for Running and the Empowered Series come from?
I woke up after having an incredibly vivid dream, and was excited enough that I woke my partner up to tell him about it. He tells me about all of his dreams so I figured he could listen to one of mine. About half-way through telling him the dream he stopped me and made me start taking notes. He was so drawn in by the story of my dream that he bugged me to make more detailed notes than those I was writing. He didn't want me to forget any of it.That dream became the first book of the Empowered Series, Running. I developed the ideas for the following two books while writing the first. What do you like best about Gwen, your leading lady?
Gwen is a bit of a quiet one, with the heart of a tigress. She's learned not to expect much of herself, and manages to keep that humility when her life changes. She's a well grounded person, who loves fiercely.

What do you like least about her?
She has a tendency to come to rash decisions, often after freaking out and jumping to conclusions. We all have our flaws. Gwen happens to have one that can be both dangerous and helpful depending on her situation.

Running is your first novel. What have you learned in the process of writing it?
Mistakes are fine. Don't edit while you write, just let the words come to the page or screen as they come and worry about editing later. If I had spent less time tearing apart my own work before I'd finished it I would have more than one novel by now. It's a very hard thing to learn especially if you have a perfectionist streak.

What inspires you?My Grandparents have been a big inspiration to me. They moved from a conflict-ridden country to Australia with young children and not much money, worked hard and had fun with life. If I manage to be even half as good as them I'll be proud of myself. My Granda brought me up to use my imagination and encouraged me to tell stories. I know he would be proud of my writing. My Grandma is still inspiring me, supporting and believing in me while remaining one of the most active people I know. She refuses to let her age define her life, and I could not be more inspired by her. She's more active than I am.
When and how do you do your best work?I do my best work when I've managed to scrape together five or more hours of sleep, have an energy drink and chocolate bribes, paracetamol and ibuprofen to keep my hands working, music in my ears and a good show on the T.V.. If I'm in a quiet environment, I can't get anything done.

What can we expect from the next book in the Empowered Series?
A few shocks and sneaky reveals from the first book will be explored, history will be re-written, enemies will attack. I'm hesitant to go into much more detail, I don't want to give away spoilers for the first book!

When can we buy Running?
I'm aiming for a May/June 2013 launch date in both paperback and ebook. If things go as I'd like I'll have a launch date for the second novel; Behind the Curtain, towards the end of the year.

Rhiannon - thank you so much for stopping by to share your thoughts with me (us) today. Running is an incredible story, which I loved! I was really blessed you shared an advanced reader copy with me. Can't wait to read Behind the Curtain.
Readers I will post links when Running is available for purchase so be sure to check back.
If you'd like to get in touch with Rhiannon you can find her on her blog  or on Twitter.
And before you go be sure to read the synopsis of Running below. Trust me, you're going to love it.  In the meantime, what is your favorite fantasy novel you've read recently?  
Running, The Empowered Series Book 1 Blurb:She will be hunted. She will be found. The Empire will never be the same.
In a world where Power is everything, Gwendolyn leads a quiet life in a country town. That life ends the day a Rogue attack triggers the dormant Power within her. 
Her guardian has been kidnapped and her home is no longer the sanctuary it once was. Accompanied by a young man who is more than what he seems, hunted by Rogues and the Empire Ruling Council, Gwen must find herself before they do.
With Power she can't control and plagued by forgotten memories she does the only thing she can. 
Run.

Nate Rocks the School Twitter Release Party!

Got kids? They will LOVE this book!
Nate Rocks is at it again...


The highly anticipated third installment of the Nate Rocks series is here! 

According to Nathan Rockledge, fifth grade has plenty of perks. Oh sure, there’s more work and that know-it-all, Lisa Crane, is still around – but, there’s a lot to look forward to as well: a laser tag birthday party, baseball at recess, and even a cool Halloween dance. Of course, all of that means nothing without the biggest perk of all . . . the class trip to New York City in the spring. If Nathan’s class can raise enough money to go, that is.


Give Nathan paper and a pencil and watch as his imagination turns him into Nate Rocks, hero and fifth grade super star. With adventures abound, Nate saves the day time and again. But will Nate be able to save the fifth grade trip?


Join Nathan, his hilarious family, and his friends, as he rocks the school in another fun Nate Rocks adventure.


Pick up your copy at Amazon and B&N!


Chat with Karen Pokras Toz today at 10:30 am  EST and then follow the Nate Rocks the School Tour for appearances by the author and characters, reviews, and swag pack giveaways!

 

 

Grand Prize Giveaway




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A GWR Publicity Event. Sponsored by Karen Pokras Toz.