Ingrid Hall's Blog, page 26

Review of The Hollywood Survival Guide For Actors by Kym Jackson

Kym Jackson is an Australian actress who has been living and working in Hollywood since 2004.  Upon arriving in L.A Kym, had various different day jobs within the film industry to support her acting career.  As an actress, she has had a recurring guest star role in NCIS Los Angeles,  and roles in films including Snitch, and Dark Power, she also has roles in several films which are scheduled for release in 2014.

I will admit to being a little bemused when I received this book for review, as I am not a Hollywood actor, and nor do I have any aspirations to be one.  I was, however, intrigued enough by the premise behind the book to start reading…and was hooked!

The book is quite literally a “How to” guide for anyone wanting to make it in Hollywood, and covers everything from the different types of marketing materials a would be actor will need, to finding representation, as well as the audition process and how to handle the process…including when it is acceptable to get your tits out, and when it’s not.  The book is written in an easily accessible style and seeing as it is broken down into numerous sub-genres, then I would imagine it would be a useful reference guide to those actors that are more established, as well as those arriving in L.A, for the very first time.

While this book is professionally written and edited, unlike the actors that it is targeting, it’s contents haven’t been airbrushed, and the author is quite blunt about what is required, and what is not required.  I found her direct approach appealing, and would be actors should be under no illusions about the difficulties that they will face when trying to land their big break.

While the book is obviously aimed at wannabee actors, the more I read,  the more I realised that indie authors and aspiring actors aren’t that different; especially when it comes to having to market ourselves, okay, so budding actors are probably by nature more in your face,  but it is a fact that the most successful indie authors are the ones that have nailed their marketing…as such, this book is definitely worth a look. even if all it does is make you realise that you are going to have to take ownership of your  publicity and sell yourself as a brand as well as selling your books…

You can find more by visiting:

http://www.thehollywoodsurvivalguide.com/about.html

 

Grammar is not the only Gremlin…

Since I launched my range of Pay As You Go Services for authors in January, I have been thrilled, and amazed by the demand for the service.   As the months have passed I have noticed that there seems to be a wide-spread belief that if you simply fix the grammatical errors in the book, then you will have an end product that is fit for publication.

Unfortunately, this rarely seems to be the case, and while there will always be manuscripts that need a full and thorough edit (and in some cases, major re-writing and revision) I am also coming across lots, that with some work on areas such as sentence structure, tense and viewpoint, would have a very good chance of success, in what is let’s face it, a brutal marketplace.

With that in mind, I am now launching my MANUSCRIPT HEALTH CHECK

The total cost of this service is just £75 ($126.03) Payable in 2 installments.  Once you have paid the first installment of £20 (33.62)  I will read the manuscript and provide you with a FULL assessment of it’s strengths and weaknesses.  Provided  that I am satisfied at this stage that it is not going to require a full re-write, or major revision,  then I will invoice you for the remaining balance and iron out issues with the following:

Viewpoint

Tense

Sentence Structure

And yes…Grammar

If after completing the assessment, I feel that major work is required, you will have the option of paying upfront for a full edit (current price £300 $504.24) or taking up my Pay As You Go Option  Please note the initial fee of £20 is for the time it takes me to undertake a full assessment of your manuscript and is non refundable.  I can also provide testimonials from satisfied customers.

Interested? Contact me via the contact form below.

[contact-form]

Grammar is not the only bogeyman…

Since I launched my range of Pay As You Go Services for authors in January, I have been thrilled, and amazed by the demand for the service.   As the months have passed I have noticed that there seems to be a wide-spread belief that if you simply fix the grammatical errors in the book, then you will have an end product that is fit for publication.

Unfortunately, this rarely seems to be the case, and while there will always be manuscripts that need a full and thorough edit (and in some cases, major re-writing and revision) I am also coming across lots, that with some work on areas such as sentence structure, tense and viewpoint, would have a very good chance of success, in what is let’s face it, a brutal marketplace.

With that in mind, I am now launching my MANUSCRIPT HEALTH CHECK

The total cost of this service is just £75 ($126.03) Payable in 2 installments.  Once you have paid the first installment of £20 (33.62)  I will read the manuscript and provide you with a FULL assessment of it’s strengths and weaknesses.  Provided  that I am satisfied at this stage that it is not going to require a full re-write, or major revision,  then I will invoice you for the remaining balance and iron out issues with the following:

Viewpoint

Tense

Sentence Structure

And yes…Grammar

If after completing the assessment, I feel that major work is required, you will have the option of paying upfront for a full edit (current price £300 $504.24) or taking up my Pay As You Go Option  Please note the initial fee of £20 is for the time it takes me to undertake a full assessment of your manuscript and is non refundable.  I can also provide testimonials from satisfied customers.

Interested? Contact me via the contact form below.

[contact-form]

Review of Snooze: A Story of Awakening by Sol Luckman

Sol Luckman is a visual artist and author of fiction and nonfiction. His books include the bestselling title Conscious Healing and it’s sequel Potentiate your DNA.

The aptly named Snooze is without doubt one of the best coming of age, awakening books that I have ever read, and it had me entranced from the beginning to the end.  Unlike a lot of books in the YA genre, which while perfectly enjoyable, are nonetheless superficial, Snooze takes the reader on a magical mystery tour of astral projection, lucid dreaming, out of body experiences, levitation, telepathy…the list goes on, and all of this is interwoven with themes of bullying, isolation, grief, friendship and characters, that you cannot fail to love.

Max Diver, nick-named Snooze by his astronaut father because of his love of sleep, was born with a caul. (A membrane that sometimes covers a new-born’s head, and which is supposed to be a sign of enhanced psychic ability) Tragically his mother died as a result of complications and he was brought up by his father, with the help of his slightly batty Aunt Nadine.  Prone to lucid dreaming and out of body experiences from a very early age, Snooze is not your typical kid and the first part of the book deals with him trying to fit in at school, all the while coming to terms with his extraordinary spiritual awakening. His relationship with his father is genuinely moving, likewise his friendship with the adorable Tuesday; a kindred spirit, if not his soul-mate.

Even though, Snooze’s mother died without him ever knowing her, her presence is very much still felt in the Driver household, and Snooze’s dad hasn’t so much as looked at another woman since her death, until he meets Tuesday’s mother…Sadly, it would seem like romance is not to be, because within a day or two of them getting together, Snooze’s dad disappears while out on a secret mission and is presumed dead.  It is only years later that Snooze discovers that the area that his dad was flying in at the time of his disappearance was the notorious Bermuda Triangle.

Having now lost both parents, and living with his kindly but closed-minded aunt, Snooze plunges into grief and blocks out his psychic abilities…and the blue man; his spiritual/subconscious twin.  Fast forward several years and both Snooze and Tuesday are at University and following a complete nervous breakdown, Tuesday and his room-mate, help him realise that maybe his father isn’t dead after all, maybe he is trapped somewhere in the “otherworld”   Throw in a bad secret nazi professor, a good professor who also happened to sleep with Snooze’s mother before she chose his father, and before long Snooze is Maxing out (Pardon, the dreadful pun!) his psychic abilities and heading off into this alternate world in search of his father.

It would be impossible to do justice to this wonderful book in just one review, suffice to say that I highly recommend it and love the notion that the Loch Ness Monster might really exist…

You can find more at: http://www.crowrising.com

Essay and Memoir Writing Competition…

Following the success of our recent Short Story Competition, I am pleased to announce that I have once again teamed up with The Writer’s Drawer to bring you an Essay and Memoir Writing Competition!

All submissions will be posted in the  Essays  and memoirs sections of The Writer’s Drawer, subject to the conditions laid down in the creative writing section (no erotica or entries that offend religious, ethnic or religious sensibilities). The essay/memoir should be an original piece and not appear elsewhere either in published form or on the internet.

The prizes for the winning entry are:

A LIMITED HARD COPY, and beautifully illustrated edition of Scorpion Soup, by best-selling author Tahir Shah;

·       A print (paperback) edition of the children’s/YA story Fraud at Snowfields, by Indie and Proud author Daniel Klock;

·       A print (paperback) edition of my novella about a Near Death Experience,  The Tunnel Betwixt…

·       A print (paperback) edition of The Writer’s Drawer anthology  A Certain Kind of Freedom: Stories and Poems from The Writer’s Drawer; 

·       Inclusion in the next Writer’s Drawer anthology, scheduled for publication in late 2014/early2015

·       Invitation guest blogs, interviews and other publicity for the winning author and their work both via myself and The Writer’s Drawer.

You can check out my review of one of Tahir Shah’s other books – Eye Spy here

You can find Lenora’s review of Fraud at Snowfields here

You can find Lenora’s review of A Certain Kind of Freedom: Stories and Poems from The Writer’s Drawer here.

 

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS : 31st JULY 2014

Maximum length: 2,500 words Maximum no. of entries per person: one Send your original entry as a Word attachment to  writersdrawer@gmail.com

Subject: Essays/Memoirs Competition

Please also include a short bio and photo (the latter is optional). Please note that this is not a short story competition. In the case of an essay, we expect a short work of non-fiction ˗ 

 “an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary); 

or memoir ˗

“a narrative composed from personal experience” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).As long as it suits the slightly altered format of the next anthology.

 

Review of The Sons of Cain by C.W. Burgett

With Lenora having  only just returned from a lengthy hiking holiday in Spain, and being tied up with her house move, I am SO grateful that the lovely DIANA STARR,  illustrator of children’s book, Floppy the Mystery Dog has stepped up and offered to help out with some book reviews. I will be reviewing Floppy, and also running a feature on Diana over the next few weeks.

REVIEW BY DIANA STARR

Des Moines author, CW Burgett, debuts his writing talent in his first published novel, Sons of Cain. Mr. Burgett and his wife and two boys advocates for helping individuals with neuromuscular disorders and are travel ambassadors for The Speak Foundation.10% of the profits from this books will be donated to their cause.

 As a new Indie Author myself, I feel it’s important to give back to the community. This review is honest and heartfelt, just as all reviews I compose.

 I haven’t delved into political thrillers in a while after overdosing on Jack Reacher books a few years back. I chuckled at the funny little coincidence that here on my Kindle, is another “Jack” in Sons of Cain. This Jack is a little different though, a little softer, a little damaged, and a good-hearted family man. He’s almost too humble in the beginning, complaining about his tired appearance and salt-and-pepper hair, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that his current challenges are bringing out the best in Jack.

 The story begins as the Senator of Virginia is stretching his legs on the porch of his secluded cabin, leaving his protection team down the hill so he could have a little seclusion and solitude. Big mistake. The story unfolds at a quick pace from page 3, taking us on rollercoaster of a ride from an exploding home office straight into the top-secret headquarter hallways of the Sons of Cain, a mysterious group evilly bent on orchestrating and profiting from full scale wars.

 I enjoyed the read, even if I was a little disappointed in the character development. Several of the characters where two dimensional and I never got a true visual of what they looked like. When I read a novel, I translate every single word into a visual feast. It just didn’t happen with Jack’s wife or daughter, key characters in the story.

 The ending was the biggest surprise of the book. A twist I simply did not expect!  But I won’t ruin it for you. You will have to read it to find out.  The story is solid, and my heart raced through several of the scenes. I would recommend the book to my mother, a die-hard thriller consumer.

You can find out more about this author on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCWBurgett and on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7181437.C_W_Burgett

You can also buy the book here: http://amazon.com/author/cwburgett

Indie and Proud: Review of Katya and Cyrus Time Pilgrims by Dennis Higgins

Dennis Higgins says he is a world traveller and distant relative of Davy Crockett.  A native of Chicago, Illinois he has always had a love of things of the past which are gone, but not forgotten.  He lives in the suburbs with his wife, two dogs, and three birds.  Dennis is also participating in Indie and Proud.

I have been looking forward to reading Katya and Cyrus Time Pilgrims, ever since I read and reviewed Parallel Roads: Lost on Route 66 as I was keen to catch up with Kevin and Cheryl and also learn more about the lead characters in this story, Katya and Cyrus.

Set in a futuristic time period, the opening scene in which Katya and Cyrus find themselves transported back in time and at the twin towers just minutes before the planes crash into them is very well written, with the author even going as far as to describe the look on the hijacker’s face as he goes ahead with his suicide mission.  I was hooked, and I could imagine that a young adult audience would also be gripped.  As the story progresses, we learn that both Katya and Cyrus are the most talented time travellers in the world and that Katya is suffering from a form of temporal displacement, in which she is trapped in a timeline that is not her own.

The young time travellers, as you would expect must undergo a series of challenges and find themselves unwitting pawns in a sinister plot to bring down their organisation by the evil head of Sundial, a rival time travel organisation, based in London and yes, the baddie is a stereotypical British, Bond style villain.  Dennis, I am not just griping at you here, I am griping at all American  writers.  Will someone PLEASE write a British villain, that is not posh, not bonkers, doesn’t speak with marbles in his mouth, and is preferably from somewhere other than London….PLEASE!!!!  Anyway, the Sundial subplot forms a large part of the book and, as a result, Katya and Cyrus find themselves back in 1871, in Chicago, with no way of returning to their time zone,  just as the Great Fire is about to start! Apart from the opening scene, this was by far in my opinion, the best part of the book as it was so brilliantly researched.  The attention to detail was incredible, and for a short while, I actually believed that I was there, in the moment, and this was the part of the book when I finally “got” Katya.

I am a good twenty years older than the lead characters, and definitely relate more to Kevin and Cheryl (Cyrus’s parents) I was a little disappointed that their role wasn’t bigger in this book, however, shouldn’t have been that surprised given how Parallel Roads was their story, and this book is entitled Katya and Cyrus…Kind of a clue really, but nevertheless, I wanted a little more from them.  While she clearly loves Cyrus and Katya, and her tears were real when she thought she was never going to see her baby boy again,  Cheryl seems to have morphed into a scary dragon somewhere along the way, and Kevin, well, I don’t know what’s happened to him.  For me, he’s just lost his sex appeal.  Happens to all middle-aged men, I guess!

In terms of Katya and Cyrus, well, they are great kids, and they both have a good moral compass BUT, and I have harked on about this in reviews, in the past, I KNOW American laws are different to British laws – Over here, it’s legal to drink alcohol from the age of 18, whereas in the states, you have to wait until you are 21.  BUT, I laughed when Cyrus’s sister (aged 20) asked her mom/mam/mum/mother if she was allowed to have a glass of champagne, and Cheryl said something like “No, you may not” The concept of a 20 year old asking for permission to drink alcohol and to be denied is just alien to me. At twenty, I had already moved away from my parent’s home in Newcastle and had been living in London for two years.  I was a fully functioning, independent ADULT. Likewise, the whole romance thing between Katya and Cyrus, was sweet, it was touching, but again, and I know I am going over old ground here so, I am going to put it down to a cultural difference between the U.K and the U.S.A I wanted it to be a lot hotter.  I just don’t buy into this twenty year old, hand holding and not really taking it much further than a chaste kiss type of thing…Then again, maybe I am just a tart!

On a BIG positive.  While I am interested to find out more about Katya’s past.  The person that REALLY holds a lot of potential for me is Cyrus’s sister Cathy. Dennis Higgins has done a good job at laying the foundations for the next book in the series. I absolutely loved her back story and thought the whole concept of her hiding (literally) in yesterday was amazing.  I was thrilled when as new time pilgrims, she was partnered with Dawn,  who I also loved as a character, and I know that they are going to play a big role in the next book in the series,  Almost Yesterday, which I will be downloading and reading.

In a nutshell, Katya and Cyrus is an entertaining tale of two young people travelling back in time and falling in love, against the backdrop of an evil nemesis who wishes them harm and is most suited, in my opinion, to a young/new adult audience.

Find out more: http://www.timepilgrims.com/katya-and-cyrus.html

Review of Returning The Gift By Steven Donoso

Steven Donoso grew up in the South Bronx, of New York City and moved to New England when he was eighteen.  He has presented hundreds of films and live events over the last thirty six years.  Steven describes himself as a “Freelance Human Being.”

A lover of all things spiritual and new age, I was immediately fascinated by the concept of this book, and fully intended reading and reviewing it when it first came in several months ago.  Life is, however, crazy and so apologies to the author for taking so long…

Returning The Gift: Dialogues with Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, Timothy Wilson and Laura Water, does exactly what it says on the packet.   The author starts each segment with a bio,  information about the guru that he is planning on talking to, and why he is interested in that person, before having the conversation,  and chronicling it, pretty much verbatim for the reader. Now, while the conversations do throw up some fascinating insights and information, and are definitely worth reading, I found the style to be clunky and a little off-putting.  The format of Donoso – Wilson – Donoso – Wilson is followed religiously throughout and there is no real interaction, blending; anything really to liven it up.

I think this book is a good starting point for anyone wanting to explore the minds and philosophies of Tolle, Adyashanti, Wilson and Water, but it was just too clinical and bland to hold my attention for any length of time. (Which is one of the reasons, why I have been dipping in and out of it for several months)

You can find the book at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/STEVEN-DONOSO/e/B00EYT3RCQ

Another Satisfied Customer!

I just wanted to shout about this endorsement that I have received for my editing services from Claudia Lord-Lynch, author of Distant Dreams, a wonderful novel highlighting racial tensions in England in the 1950′s.  The revised and fully edited version will be re-uploaded and available to buy very soon.  Watch, this space for details!

“Ingrid’s editing was comprehensive, thorough and excellent. The service was delivered on time, and I found her assessment extremely helpful not only for this project for also for future projects. I would definitely recommend her services.”

Claudia Lord-Lynch 17/05/2014

A reminder that I am currently offering a full manuscript edit for just £120 ($202.28) This offer is available until the end of May.  If your manuscript will not be ready until after this date, you can reserve this offer with a low deposit of just £20.  Simply email me ingrid@grannyirene.com   Find out more by clicking here.

You can also find out what author J.D. Miller a.k.a. Lady of Kaos thinks of my services here.

Review of From Souk to Souk by Robin Ratchford

Robin Ratchford is a writer, traveller and adventurer who has lived in six different countries, and visited more than one hundred and their territories on all seven continents.  He currently lives in Belgium with his dog.  Robin recently won the short story competition that Indie and Proud ran in conjunction with The Writers Drawer.

First of all a Souk is is a market or part of a market in an Arab city.  I think the author presumes that his readers will automatically know this as it is not clearly defined at the beginning.  I went into the book, hazarding a guess, and while it does quickly become apparent what the author is referring to, a brief explanation from the offset would have been nice…

Moan over, this is one of the most engaging and sensually stimulating books that I have read in a long time.  Ratchford says from the offset that some of the tales from his travels are fiction and others are told as it happened.  The fact that, as a reader, you have no idea what is fact and what is embellished, simply adds to the whole mystery and excitement of his exotic travels.  His travels to a whole host of countries, which most people would consider off limits (Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria) to name but three, happened just before the Arab Spring, and Ratchford states that he has deliberately depicted the countries as they were at that moment, rather than portraying them retrospectively.  This, I think was a smart move as he manages to bring humanity to countries that are perceived by the west to be inhumane.  I hope that he writes a sequel, and re-visits these countries as soon as it is safe to do so.

I am a self confessed scaredy cat.  I know that I will never dare venture to any of these countries, however, in a small way; I feel that I have now visited these countries and Ratchford has seared some images that will remain in my mind for a long time to come.  (The image of seeing a giant tadpole like drone, as he flew into Kabul airport.  The notion of Syria being a country that anyone would actually want to visit.   Yemen, and images of the Queen of Sheba.)

With the kindle version coming in at £4.99, Ratchford clearly isn’t about to start pandering to the trend of authors giving their books away for free.  Don’t let the price put you off though.  This is an absolute must read for anyone with a lingering love of travel…and a fear of wandering off the beaten track.

You can find more at http://www.robinratchford.com