A.B. Shepherd's Blog, page 9

Want to help me title my book? #amwriting

I've been working writing very hard since the release of The Beacon. I have two works in progress at the moment.

One is a psychological thriller - like my novella The Beacon.

The other is the sequel to my first book, the science-fiction/suspense story Lifeboat. 

I'm having trouble coming up with titles for both at the moment. I just decided on one I like for the thriller yesterday although it isn't set in stone and it may change.

For today, however, I am concentrating on my sequel which is about a quarter of the way written. Of course, there are many more steps to go. First, I need to finish it, then to do an initial edit, then an official edit with an editor, and on and on. But I'd really love to come up with a title to carry with me through the process.

If you've read Lifeboat you will know how the story ends. I don't want to go into that here, for those who haven't read it, because I don't want to give any spoilers. 

Suffice it to say Cassie has a child I am calling Tolo - a hybrid human/alien - and this sequel is his story. I'd really appreciate it if you would vote in my poll and help me give his story a name. Thank you Abites. :)

P.S. If you come up with a better name and I use it you might just get yourself thanked in the acknowledgements! ;)

Edit: There is a last minute forerunner to be added to the list. The aliens use the derogatory term "mockling" to describe hybrid aliens/humans. This potential title should be added to the list, but if you like it you are going to have to say so in the comments, okay?

Rise of the Mockling


What should I title the sequel to Lifeboat?ToloTolo's StoryCassie's ChildOther - suggestion left in comments  pollcode.com free polls 

Hard-hitting interview with Dying for a Living author Kory M. Shrum @koryshrum #interview

Kory M. ShrumSo Abites - not long ago I shared with you my review of Dying for a Living (click here for review) by Kory M. Shrum. 

The lovely Kory has been kind enough to take time out of her European tour to sit down and answer some hard-hitting questions for me and for you. Curious minds and all that. Are you ready to have your mind blown? You really need to read Dying for a Living. It is due to be released on March 4th.

Even though it is not available yet, if you are a member of Goodreads you can put it on your "to read" list by clicking this link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

And if you want to know THE MOMENT the book is available, you can sign up for Kory's mailing list here: eepurl.com/LCLu5Welcome Kory! I'm just going to jump right in here, okay?Dying for a Living rocks! What inspired this story? I loved the correlation you showed between Necronites and the hypnic jerk. Made perfect sense to me.Thanks! It made sense to me too. Jesse was a character I had in my mind for a long time, but it wasn’t until 2008/2009 that her occupation, NRD condition, and her
In Dying for a Living the Church is unified as one Church for all religions worldwide. How did you come up with that idea? Do you think such a thing could solve the religious wars that plague the world now? I wanted “The Church” to be more of an overwhelming ‘presence’ or ‘force’ in the novel rather than point a finger at a particular sect. I wanted to illustrate the ways that some people use faith to suppress rather than support others. So for this reason, I blurred the lines quite a bit. And no, I don’t think such a thing could solve religious warring. In that case, I think acceptance and diversity are the answer—not assimilation. Jesse has had sexual relationships with both her boyfriend, and her best friend. Did you think twice about creating a bi-sexual protagonist? Did you worry about negative feedback? Do you think sexuality in fiction is no longer the hot-button issue it once was?I did think twice only because I wondered if it was cliché to create a LGBT protagonist simply because I’m LGBT myself. I always question whether or not I’m “playing it safe” in writing. I think the only chance I have in producing good fiction lies in always pushing myself out of my comfort zone—so I really aim for that. Eventually I decided expressing my own sexuality openly was challenge enough, and left it as is. Couple that with Jesse’s personality and bisexuality fits her perfectly. I would like to think that sexuality isn’t such a hot-button issue anymore, but that is probably naive. I’m sure someone will hate it. As they say haters gonna hate.Do you think any part of Dying for a Living might be a prediction for the future of the real world - the way so many great science-fiction novels have been?While I think it would be very cool if my brain just suddenly decided NOT to let me die, I doubt that will come to pass. Unfortunately. What can we expect to see more of in the next Jesse Sullivan novel?
Ally. She has her own narrative in the second book that interplays with Jesse’s, giving (I think) a greater dimension to their world and what is happening around them.  Also, Jesse’s true adversary, who was mostly behind-the-scenes pulling strings in the first book, will have a more direct role in her misery this time around. Lastly, unlike the first book, where the worst possible outcome was averted at the last moment—Jesse won’t come out as clean the second time. Expect to see a serious loss.Are you working on any other projects?
In addition to spit-shining the next Jesse book, polishing a few short stories, and whipping a poetry collection into shape-- I’m also rehauling a YA book titled Water & Dark. In the book, Olivia is haunted by her twin sister, who drowned when they were children. And the witchy, demon-hunting aunts who raised her can do nothing to protect her from the ghost hell-bent on revenge. And just because I love James Lipton and Inside the Actor’s Studio - I always ask these questions:What is your favorite word?
That’s a hard one. But I’ve been favouring capriciouslately.What is your least favorite word?
 Also hard. It would have to be something dull, something that lacked lyrical qualities, which means I couldn’t do much with it. Something like goiter. What turns you on?
Flattery. I’m a huge sucker for a good compliment. And I don’t mean just any compliment because I can spot a false/insincere flattery easily. But a compliment that takes me by total surprise in its originality, insightfulness, and/or delivery. Hit me with that and—yeahhh—putty, I tell you.What turns you off?
Ignorance & bigotry—Small minds make me claustrophobicWhat sound do you love?
My pug makes some pretty great sounds. All those snorts are like a whole other language.What sound do you hate?
Styrofoam. Bizarrely it sends me into some kind of berserker mode. I just want to violently dismember whatever is responsible for the sound—be it a person—or a box.What is your favourite curse word?
It’s actually not an English word.  Dipuga, pronounced dee-POO-gah which is an Illonggo (Filipino) word that roughly translates to shhhit—like the kind of awww shhhhit that hits you when you realize you’re screwed, or just messed up royally.What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
I assume you don’t mean teaching, since that is what I do when I’m not writing. And if so, then I’d have to say something that involves evasive driving. And maybe guns. No, not guns. Just the evasive driving.What profession would you not like to do?
Anything involving poop. Or vomit. Or snot. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
“I’ve made all the preparations according to your taste, my lady. This way, if you please.”

Thank you Kory - I found your answers fascinating - just like I find you and Dying for a Living.  

 Abites - are you intrigued? Want to put Dying for a Living on your to-read list yet?

Jonathan Gould shares an excerpt of his latest work - Scrawling! #excerpt

Abites - I'm privileged today to have Jonathan Gould stop by to share with us an excerpt of his latest book - Scrawling. 
One reader has said of Scrawling, "This story is witty and sharp, but also satirical; satire is something Jonathan does particularly well. I guarantee this third outing with Neville will amuse, entertain and charm you, and like me, you’ll be fidgeting in anticipation of his next book." Enjoy!
Neville waited expectantly for the class to begin. He watched as the Teacher Fish opened its mouth. He listened carefully as the Teacher Fish uttered two words:“Swim away!”Immediately, the rest of the class echoed the cry.“Swim away,” they all screamed.Neville looked around, trying to figure out what had caused such panic to descend on the previously well-ordered class. At first, he couldn’t see anything. Then he realised there seemed to be some sort of dark shadow approaching from directly behind them.
“What is it?” he cried.None of the other fish were interested in taking the time to tell him. With what seemed like effortless twitching of their fins and tails, they quickly vanished, leaving Neville all alone at the bottom of the sea.Not quite all alone. There was still the matter of the shadow, which was rapidly gaining in both size and darkness.Neville tried to copy the other fish and twitch his fins and tail, or at least his nearest equivalent, but it didn’t do him any good. There was no way he could swim away so quickly. With the speed the shadow was approaching, he had no chance of getting out of the way in time.By now, it was no longer just a shadow. A more precise shape was defining itself. Like the fish in the Teacher Fish’s school, this creature was also made entirely out of words, but the words weren’t very nice. And the shape of this creature was definitely not very nice, either.It was huge: easily four times as big as Neville. It had a long, sleek body, narrowing down towards the far end, before widening out into a powerful tail. Atop its back was a large triangular fin, and at its front end, a broad jaw opened up, full of razor-sharp teeth.Even from a distance, Neville had no doubt what this creature was: the most fearsome predator that lurked beneath the sea. The one beast most feared by all who entered the water. And it was getting closer and closer.Neville did his best. He paddled with his arms, and kicked with his legs, but there was no way he could outswim this monster. He was the outsider, caught in the domain of the beast. Escaping from its grasp did not seem possible.The brute was almost upon Neville. Its massive jaws gaped ever wider, and even though there was very little light this far down in the sea of words, still the teeth inside glistened and gleamed.Neville was still paddling and kicking for all he was worth, trying in vain to outswim the beast. At any second, he expected to feel those teeth ripping into him.But the monster didn’t bite. Instead, from out of its gaping mouth, words flew out.“Call that swimming? You couldn’t win a dog-paddle race in a field of cats.”Neville stopped, momentarily relieved. Could it be that this creature didn’t want to eat him, after all?Then the words hit him. A couple struck him in the arms, and a couple struck him in the legs, but most of them slammed straight into his midriff.“Owww,” Neville wailed. Where they had connected, the words stung and burnt. It was like being hit with steaming-hot acid.“Oh dear, a bit dainty are we?” More words flew at Neville from the mouth of the creature. More burning pain exploded across Neville’s body where they hit.“Ouch, that really hurts,” Neville cried. “What are you doing?”“You don’t know?” said the monster, shaking its head. “You’ve got less spine than a jellyfish and fewer brains than a sea sponge.”The words sped towards Neville like deadly torpedoes. Luckily, this time he was half ready, and he managed to dodge most of them, though a couple just grazed his chest. He rubbed at the angry red marks, doing his best to relieve that burning feeling.“Your words are really hurting me,” he said.The monster laughed. “Of course my words are hurting you. Words are the deadliest weapons there are. If you really want to hurt somebody, the best thing you can use against them is words.”Neville was ducking and weaving, trying to avoid the words as they rocketed towards him. He found that the first few, the ones projected while the creature was laughing, hurt even more than the others.“Why do you want to do that?” said Neville, after the last of the words had hurtled past.“Why would I want to do what?” sneered the creature.“Hurt other people with words.” Neville prepared himself to take evasive action.The creature laughed again. “Because I can. Because it’s fun. But mostly, because idiots like you are constantly asking for it. If you say something stupid, I’m going to be gunning for you. And as far as I can tell, that means every time you open your mouth.”“Do you really think everything I say is stupid?” said Neville, as his body contorted in three directions at once in an attempt to avoid the rapid-fire words.“Without a doubt,” the giant fish scoffed. “You’re as thick as an overfed sperm whale. You’re as dumb as a mouthless toadfish. You’re as—”“Hang on a minute,” Neville cried, trying to gain some relief from the seemingly endless barrage of stinging insults. “I think I know what your game is. You’re softening me up before you try and eat me.”“Oh, that takes the cake,” the monster chortled. “You think I want to eat you. That’s the stupidest thing you’ve said so far, and you’ve already said a whole bunch of really stupid stuff.”“You don’t want to eat me?”“Why would I want to eat you? I’m having far too much fun with you just the way you are.”“But I thought creatures like you were always looking to eat other creatures. Isn’t that what you do?”“Creatures like me? What sort of creature am I, according to your totally inadequate mind?”“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” said Neville, now starting to feel quite exhausted from matching wits with this rather unpleasant creature, as well as continual pain from the bombardment of words he had long since given up trying to dodge. “You’re a shark, aren’t you?”“That’s the best one yet,” roared the monster, bursting into more burning torrents of laughter. “You think I’m a shark.”“You look like a shark,” said Neville.“You really think I’m a shark?”“Well, if you’re not a shark, what are you?”“I’m certainly not a shark,” said the creature. “Though I suppose a dimwit like you might think I resemble one. But I’m something much, much nastier. Something that can do a lot more damage. Something you definitely want to stay well away from. I’m a Snark.”Neville recoiled in shock. It all made sense. He could see why those words caused so much pain when they struck him. He understood why the other fish had fled as soon as they saw this monster approaching. A Snark was definitely one of the nastiest beasts you would ever want to meet, especially down at the bottom of a sea of words.Fortunately, Neville had a good idea how to handle a Snark. He knew it wouldn’t do him any good to try to stand firm and bear the pain of the words hurled in his direction. There was a far more effective way of dealing with creatures like this.Neville turned and began walking away.“Can’t take the pressure,” the Snark sniggered. “You’ve got as much guts as a filleted codfish.”The words pounded into Neville’s back, but they didn’t seem to hurt anywhere near as much as when they had hit him in the front.The Snark tried again. “Too scared to face the music. If a marching band came past, you’d probably faint from shock.”The words pinged off Neville’s back with all the impact of table tennis balls.Still, the Snark wouldn’t let it go. “I could paint a picture of you, and I’d only need one colour,” it cried. “Yellow.”This time, Neville hardly felt anything. The Snark’s words were losing their impact completely.“At least this way I get to see your best side,” the Snark called after Neville, somewhat pathetically. Then there was the swish of a fin and a whooshing sound. When Neville finally turned around, he could barely see the shadow of the beast disappearing into the distance.
Want to check out Scrawling for yourself? Just click here to go to its Amazon page. 
Blurb:
Sequel number two for the Goodreads Choice semi-finalist Doodling.

Neville Lansdowne drowned in a sea of words.

Of course, he didn't really drown. You can't actually drown in a sea of words. But you can sink a long way down into its depths, and that's exactly what happened to Neville.

Deep down in an undersea world constructed entirely out of words, Neville meets some peculiar new companion and soon finds himself in the middle of another strange and wholly unexpected adventure.

For more stories that stand out from the crowd, check out these other books by Jonathan Gould:
Doodling : More strange and unexpected adventures for Neville Lansdowne.
Scribbling : Even more strange and unexpected adventures for Neville Lansdowne.
Magnus Opum : An epic fantasy that's slightly skewed - Tolkien with a twist.   Flidderbugs : A political satire, a fable, or maybe just a funny little story about a bunch of bugs with some very peculiar obsessions.

About the Author:
Jonathan Gould has lived in Melbourne, Australia all his life, except when he hasn't. He has written comedy sketches for both the theatre and radio, as well as several published children's books for the educational market.He likes to refer to his stories as dag-lit because they don't easily fit into recognisable genres (dag is Australian slang for a person who is unfashionable and doesn't follow the crowd - but in an amusing and fun way). You might think of them as comic fantasies, or modern fairytales for the young and the young-at-heart.
Over the years, his writing has been compared to Douglas Adams, Monty Python, A.A. Milne, Lewis Carroll, the Goons, Dr Seuss, Terry Pratchett, and even Enid Blyton (in a good way).

I live two lives. #amwriting

 I am A.B. Shepherd - and I live two lives.


As readers - and writers - we live many lives through the adventures of our characters, but that is not what I'm talking about today.

I am an introvert. I am reserved. I do not like being the center of attention - in real life.
Here online? Under the guise of my pen name? I'm fairly extroverted, only a little reserved, and I love being the center of attention. Why else would I write a blog for the world to see?
Yes, there are two distinct personalities living in my single body. Hidden behind my computer screen I can do and be anything. In my real life I have limitations.
While my friends and family know of my online persona they don't generally realize how introverted I really am. Because if you know me well and I feel comfortable with you my reserve is lifted and nothing is off limits. They know I need time to myself and I don't leave my house much, but that's just me and they accept that as the norm.
Most other people I interact with in the real world don't know of my online persona. Not my neighbors, not the postie, not the folks at the grocery store. To those people I am just what they see. And I don't let them see much. Kind of like this well known image - you see what you want to see and have to look much harder to see anything else. Is she old? Or young?

You, on the other hand, you are privileged. You get to see me. The me I keep hidden from the real world - even most of my real life friends and family. (I can guarantee you that none of them read this blog - although a few have read my books). The me that lives in my mind, my fantasies, my stories. The me that is adventurous and intrigued, curious and limitless. The me that I share with the you - the honored masses that get to know the true me behind the pseudonym.
I've been asked why I don't do a reading of my books here in town. It could be easily arranged. It could sell books, and isn't that the point of it all?
The answer is, the thought of it terrifies me. There is no way I want to stand up in front of a room full of strangers, exposed, and baring my soul. I can't do it face to face. Just the thought of it makes me squirm and could trigger a panic attack if I hold that thought for long. 
I can bare my soul for you, from behind the bullet-proof glass of my screen, where I don't have to uncomfortably meet your eyes as you look deeply into the inner recesses of my mind and my heart.
I don't even tell people I am a writer. Or I didn't. Until today.
Although I am an introvert I've spent enough years in the real life business world that I learned to play the game a long, long time ago. I can pretend - for brief periods - to be an extrovert, and you'd never know otherwise.
I can represent a company, put on a professional face and make small talk with the best of them. I can make others feel listened to and welcome. I can be friendly to strangers, even in the real world. I'm very good at asking questions - about you. I'm also good at avoiding questions about myself.
But today, for some reason I have yet to understand myself, I answered a question about me. I was getting my hair cut at our local walk-in salon and the stylist asked me what I do. With heart pounding, palms sweating and hands trembling I hesitated for a moment, a bazillion possible avoidance answers running through my mind. 
Then I answered, "I'm a writer."  


The conversation went on with her asking me what I write and me fumbling around uncomfortably before I told her I could give her my business cards. That's right my business cards. I always carry them, but I've never taken them out of my purse. 
When I first published Lifeboat I printed business cards. I thought they would be a great way to promote it. In fact, I have most of the box sitting right here in the drawer of the table next to me. The front of the card has Lifeboat's cover, and the back a brief blurb and my contact info. 
I decided not to print cards for The Beacon, but I recently printed cards for me as an author, not specific to my books (exactly like the picture below), with the back left blank so I can autograph them, or add my mobile (cell phone) number if I choose to. I admit to being slightly disappointed with these. I should have paid extra for a glossy finish. But I digress.


As I've done giveaways of physical copies of my books, I've included a few of Lifeboat's cards in hopes that recipients will pass them on to family or friends with their recommendation. I've yet to give away any of the new author cards.
Until today. Today, I gave a stranger - the lovely woman who cut my hair - Jenelle - my Lifeboat card and my author card. Face to face. 
Today, for a brief moment, I merged my two lives. As soon as I returned home, they again separated, but who knows - one day it just might happen again.
If you'd like a few of my business cards, autographed or not, just email me with your mailing address. Email address is on the card shown above.  

And tell me, how may lives do you live? Do you have a secret life?

What if you died over and over again? Dying for a Living by Kory M. Shrum #bookreview #amreading

Okay so this book isn't even going to be released until March 4th, but I was very graciously provided a review copy free of charge from the author - who is a really lovely, friendly woman by the way. She also just happens to be from Michigan - where I grew up and lived most of my life.

For me, genre is sometimes hard to define. Someone called this a zombie book - another called it urban fantasy. Someone else called it science fiction. There is a strong mystery element. I guess it is all of those and probably even more - but I just call it awesome. This is Kory's first novel and she's knocked it out of the park.

Jesse Sullivan is a Necronite - one of a small percentage of the population born with a genetic defect that causes her brain to jump start her body again after she dies. Most people that are Necronites live their entire lives not knowing they are - because you can't tell until you die - the first time. 

Jesse died as a teenager and was recruited by the government who had begun regulating Necronites and using them for profit in combination with A.M.P.s - left-over remote viewers that the military had experimented on. The remote viewers accurately predict when someone will die and you can buy the services of a Necronite who will die for you - for a large fee of course. 

But someone has started killing the Necronites - and making sure they stay dead. It's up to Jesse to figure out who, before she dies for good.

This is not your typical zombie story. Zombies aren't running around trying to eat you. You don't turn into one if you get bitten. Jesse and her co-workers just come back from the dead - over and over again.

It is complex but well told and there is almost no gore (Yay!). There is lots of government conspiracy stuff here, but the way Kory writes it it is very believable. Jesse is a fascinating and relatable character. She has secrets, and she has engaging friends who help her along the way, but there is also an element of not knowing quite who to trust. There is also a very believable love triangle that pulls at Jesse. I really loved this one.

I don't have a link for you because this one isn't out yet - but you are going to want to keep an eye out for it. It's a great read. I am already impatiently waiting for the next book in this series.And the beautiful Kory M. Shrum has allowed me to interview her. I will have that interview for you soon. Keep an eye out for it.

Are you intrigued? Would you enjoy a zombie story that isn't quite a zombie story?


Book Blurb:
On the morning before her 67th death, it is business as usual for Jesse Sullivan: meet with the mortician, counsel soon-to-be-dead clients, and have coffee while reading the latest regeneration theory. Jesse dies for a living, literally. As a Necronite, she is one of the population’s rare 2% who can serve as a death replacement agent, dying so others don’t have to. Although each death is different, the result is the same: a life is saved, and Jesse resurrects days later with sore muscles, new scars, and another hole in her memory.

But when Jesse is murdered and becomes the sole suspect in a federal investigation, more than her freedom and sanity are at stake. She must catch the killer herself—or die trying.

About the author:
Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. When not writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, and wearing a gi. Her poetry has appeared in North American Review, Bateau and elsewhere. Her first novel Dying for a Living will be released March 4, 2014.

YA Alien Abduction = awesome! The Taking by Kimberly Derting #amreading #bookreview

When my friend Kriss, the Cabin Goddess, told me about this book she said I would love it because it was about alien abduction in a Young Adult (YA) format. She wasn't wrong.
I read the blurb on Goodreads and my first thought was - that sounds a bit like Flight of the Navigator! I loved that movie. For those of you who have never heard of it, Flight of the Navigator was an 80s movie about a 12 year old boy who went missing one day and returned years later - still 12 years old. Similar concept and both that story - and The Taking - are very well done.  In The Taking, Kyra disappears in a flash of light after an argument with her dad over college and her boyfriend. The next thing she knows she turns up behind the dumpster of a nearby convenience store five years later - and she hasn't even changed clothes since the day she left.
Derting skillfully explores the changes Kyra's family and friends would have gone through in those five years, and deftly deals with a sixteen year old's emotional reactions at all the upheaval. I won't go into detail for fear of spoilers, but Kyra behaves like a normal teenager would, at least in my opinion. As the story unfolds, Kyra tries to figure out what has happened to her and meets some pretty scary characters along the way.
You all know I'm not a fan of romance novels, and there is a lot of romance in this one, but romance isn't the primary story although it plays a significant part. Some parts of the romance were a bit unbelievable for me - especially the parts about the maturity 17 year old Tyler exhibits, and how quickly Kyra shifted her affections from Austin to Tyler considering she and Austin had been together for years, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The sixteen year old deep inside me would have loved a boy like Tyler. 
I'm very much looking forward to the next installment in this awesome new series.
I even really like the cover of this book. I do think Harper Collins has overpriced it, especially the Kindle version - but then I tend to be a bit frugal. I'm sure most of you probably wouldn't balk at the price at all. It is technically not available for purchase yet, however you can preorder it on Amazon. You can get to its Amazon page by clicking here. 
Do you love alien abduction stories too? Which is your favorite?
Book Blurb:
A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?
About the author:Kimberly is the author of the BODY FINDER series (HarperCollins), THE PLEDGE trilogy (Simon & Schuster), and THE TAKING trilogy (coming April 29th from HarperTeen). She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the ideal place to write anything dark or creepy...a gloomy day can set the perfect mood. She lives with her husband and their three beautiful (and often mouthy) children who provide an endless source of inspiration. 

The book that made me love sci-fi. #amreading #Ilovescifi

This is NOT a book review. This is just a little post to give you a tiny bit of insight into my soul.

Many moons ago - YEARS ago - before ebooks and Kindles existed, before I discovered Indie authors - before the world of books became what it is today - I was a an avid reader

I've always been an avid reader from way back in my preteen years - and I am OLD now.


I started out reading sweet and innocent Harlequin romances, moved on to bodice rippers and stuck with those for many years. I think I was probably in my early 30s before I branched out to other genres.

That's when I discovered mysteries and I fell in love.

James Patterson was, at that time, one of my very favorite mystery authors - not like now when most of his books are "co-written" by others. I guess once you get so rich and famous you don't even have to author your own books anymore. *sigh*

Anyway, in delving into the mystery genre, I came across When the Wind Blows - James Patterson's first foray into sci-fi, centering on genetic experiments done on children. I LOVED it and I immediately read it's sequel, The Lake House.

James Patterson later took Max and some of the other kids from When the Wind Blows and created a YA series called Maximum Ride. I've read a few of them and they aren't bad, but nothing can dim my fondness for When the Wind Blows.

Interested in checking it out for yourself? Amazon has the paperback - used - from only $.01. Click here to go to the Amazon page for When the Wind Blows.

What book helped you discover a love of a new genre?


Book Blurb:
October 1998
With five previous number one megabestsellers to his name, James Patterson can take some risks. Acclaimed for his Alex Cross series � Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, Jack & Jill, Cat & Mouse � Patterson strikes an entirely new chord with When the Wind Blows. A chilling suspense novel � perhaps too realistic for comfort � Patterson combines jaw-dropping scenes, heart-pounding plot twists, and memorable characters in one unforgettable package.

Set against a sinister backdrop of genetic engineering and illegal scientific experimentation, When the Wind Blows dares readers to test their notions of human evolution and medical science. Frannie O'Neill is a caring young veterinarian living in the Colorado Rockies, trying to erase the memory of her beloved husband's mysterious murder. It is not long before another neighbor suddenly dies, and FBI agent Kit Harrison arrives at Frannie's doorstep. Kit is hell-bent on solving the heinous case despite resounding protests from the FBI and the thrashing of his own internal demons.

Kit secretly pursues the investigation, yet witnesses keep turning up dead. Then Frannie stumbles upon an astonishing discovery in the nearby woods, and their lives are altered in ways they could never have imagined. Simply knowing the secret of Max � the terrified 11-year-old girl with an amazing gift � could mean death.

As more and more diabolical details are unearthed, the murderer's bloody trail ultimately leads the trio to an underground lab network, known as "the School." Here scientists conduct shockingly incomprehensible experiments involving children and genetic alteration.

But perhaps not so unfathomable: Doctors and medical researchers who have read Where the Wind Blows say the events described in this book could actually be a reality in the next 20 to 30 years. If not before.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

As part of my reading goal for this year I want to read  more from Australian authors. Liane Moriarty is the first Australian author I've read in 2014. 

I came across this book on the NY Times Best Seller list and I was immediately intrigued by the concept. What if you found a letter addressed to you by your husband to be opened in the event of his death - only he was still alive? Would you open it?

This novel is so much more than I expected it to be. The question above is only the first of many complex moral and ethical dilemmas posed in this story. I honestly don't know what I would do if confronted by any of them.


Set in Melbourne and Sydney, it was a little bit confusing at first because the book is written from three different view points and initially they are not very clearly defined. The first three chapters set the tone for that. Once you get used to it, it isn't so confusing.  

There are three main plot lines that are intersecting. It's a riveting tale and it is told very well. From the opening page which tells of Pandora and her jar - not box - I was captivated. I read it in one sitting. I highly recommend it.

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

How likely are you to give in to curiousity - temptation? If you found such a letter from your spouse - would you open it?

Book Blurb:
From the author of the critically acclaimed What Alice Forgot comes a breakout new novel about the secrets husbands and wives keep from each other.

My Darling Cecilia
If you're reading this, then I've died . . .

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all - she's an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia - or each other - but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband's devastating secret.

About the author:
Liane was born on a beautiful November day in 1966 in Sydney. A few hours after she was born, she smiled directly at her father through the nursery glass window, which is remarkable, seeing as most babies can’t even focus their eyes at that age.

Her first word was ‘glug’. This was faithfully recorded in the baby book kept by her mother. (As the eldest of six children, Liane was the only one to get a baby book so she likes to refer to it often.)

As a child, she loved to read, so much so that school friends would cruelly hide their books when she came to play. She still doesn’t know how to go to sleep at night without first reading a novel for a very long time in a very hot bath.

She can’t remember the first story she ever wrote, but she does remember her first publishing deal. Her father ‘commissioned’ her to write a novel for him and paid her an advance of $1.00. She wrote a three volume epic called, ‘The Mystery of Dead Man’s Island’

After leaving school, Liane began a career in advertising and marketing. She became quite corporate for a while and wore suits and worried a lot about the size of her office. She eventually left her position as marketing manager of a legal publishing company to run her own (not especially successful) business called The Little Ad Agency. After that she worked as (a more successful, thankfully) freelance advertising copywriter, writing everything from websites and TV commercials to the back of the Sultana Bran box.

She also wrote short stories and many first chapters of novels that didn’t go any further. The problem was that she didn’t actually believe that real people had novels published. Then one day she found out that they did, when her younger sister Jaclyn Moriarty called to say that her (brilliant, hilarious, award-winning) novel, Feeling Sorry for Celia was about to be published.

In a fever of sibling rivalry, Liane rushed to the computer and wrote a children’s book called The Animal Olympics, which went on to be enthusiastically rejected by every publisher in Australia.

She calmed down and enrolled in a Masters degree at Macquarie University in Sydney. As part of that degree, she wrote her first novel, Three Wishes. It was accepted by the lovely people at Pan Macmillan and went on to be published around the world. (Her latest books are published by the equally lovely people at Penguin in both the US and the UK)

Since then she has written two more novels for adults, as well as a series of books for children.

Liane is now a full-time author. She lives in Sydney with her husband, her new baby daughter Anna, and her son George, who likes to sit on her lap while she works, helpfully smashing his fist against the keyboard and suggesting that she might prefer to be watching the Wiggles instead.

Once upon a time she went heli-skiing and skydiving* and scuba diving. These days she goes to the park and ‘Gymbaroo’ and sings ‘I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock’ at swimming lessons. She has discovered that the adrenaline burst you experience from jumping out of a plane is remarkably similar to the one you get when your toddler makes a run for it in a busy car park.

So not what I expected - Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut #amreading #bookreview

Going into Slaughterhouse-Five I knew that Kurt Vonnegut was reputed to be one of the best science fiction authors of all time, but not much else. 

Based on the name alone, I assumed this was some serious science fiction with vicious aliens or a bleak post apocalyptic setting. Boy was I wrong.

Although I suppose this is science fiction - and satire - and absurdism - as it has been touted, that is not my take on this book. I read it as a very sad case of a WWII veteran who suffered severe PTSD at a time long before they knew what PTSD was.

There is black humor, but I didn't find it amusing, although it did lighten the tone of the book. But for me, the sad, world-weary tone prevailed throughout.

It bounces around in no chronological order and so can be slightly hard to follow, but it is easy and captivating reading. I was never  tempted to put it down.


It is powerful. It is absurdism cloaking heartbreak. It is science fiction in its purest form of escapism. 

It is something every military official, every politician, and every warmonger should read. And you should read it too.

And so it goes.

Check out Slaughterhouse-Five on Amazon by clicking here.

Book blurb:
Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

Don't let the ease of reading fool you - Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters."

Slaughterhouse-Five is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is also as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy - and humor.

About the author:
Kurt Vonnegut, Junior was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. He was recognized as New York State Author for 2001-2003.

He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.

After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.

His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.

Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973) 

Why no happily-ever-after ending? #amwriting #amreading

- NOT!

The books and stories I write generally don't have happily-ever-after type endings.

So much so in fact, that after reading The Beacon, someone told my husband that it was a good thing I listed domestic violence hotlines at the back because I was going to need them! 
 It was a joke - but it expressed the reader's displeasure that the story doesn't have a happy ending. The Beacon touches on domestic violence, which is why the hotlines are listed in the back as a public service - but it is not about domestic violence.

That reader actually asked me directly - "When are you going to write a story that will end how I want it to?"

To end the book how YOU want it to end, means you should have written it. This is my story and I end it as I feel it must end.

If you want happily-ever-after endings my books probably aren't for you. That doesn't mean they are depressing, or that some things don't go right for my characters, but life doesn't have happily-ever-after endings - so why should my books?

You could argue that books are meant to be escapism, and I would argue in return that my books ARE escapism. You aren't likely to share the experiences in your real life that my characters do. That's what makes great reading. Living experiences that you may not get to (or even want to) in real life. My characters aren't just characters - they are people, like you and me. They are relatable, believable people, but they experience unusual things.

You may experience domestic violence (I sincerely hope you don't), like one of the characters in The Beacon, but you are not likely to experience being stranded on an island, or truly questioning your sanity, or many of the other experiences my protagonist lives through.

You may experience love and loss, like Cassie in Lifeboat. But you aren't likely to be taken aboard an alien spacecraft - are you? Well maybe some of you are, or have been, but I'd guess your numbers are few.

The fact is, when a story ends on a happily-ever-after note - that isn't the end of the story. It was only the beginning.

Maybe what happens after that isn't as interesting as what led up to it, but the story goes on even though it isn't told, because life goes on.

And sometimes, yes oftentimes, what happens after the happily-ever-after is the most interesting part.

It is the part after the happily-ever-after that keeps you thinking, and keeps you invested in the outcome. In my opinion that is the best part. 

What do you think? Do you prefer happily-ever-after endings? Or do you prefer more interesting endings?