R.M. Ridley's Blog, page 25
June 7, 2014
And Now For Something Completely Different…
A KITTEN!
Stormageddon – ‘Storm’ to his friends – left his siblings yesterday and came to live with us. There was no apparent trauma over this from Storms point of view.
He is five weeks old, brave, vocal and I’m sure going to be a holy terror.
His new best friend is Hera, our St. Bernard. They get along smashingly, because Hera thinks Storm is just the cat’s meow.
As for our other two cats… they have voiced their opinion of Storm to his face. They came, sniffed, hissed once in his face, and since then have spent the majority of their time upstairs. Eventually they will realize Storm is neither going anywhere or a threat to them. This should lead to our eldest cat teaching him ‘The Way of the Cat‘. – more importantly ‘Her Way of the Cat’.
Until then, the dog and one of us will be with him all the time until he’s big enough to fend for himself and not get into too much trouble — I’m predicting July . . . 2015
Filed under: MIscellaneous Tagged: BFF, cats, dog, kitten, St. Bernard, Stormageddon
June 6, 2014
Getting Light Headed
It has begun – reviews are coming in from ARC readers. This is getting real. Two wonderful reviews on Goodreads that are making my head spin.
It seems people just might actually like my writing, my words, and more importantly–my world.
It is that last one that is most important to me, because if people don’t like the world I’ve built than they won’t want to delve into it again and again. I write because I am a writer, but the White Dragon Black world is such a part of me now that doing it just for myself seems well, almost unfair.
Jonathan Alvey’s world has become so real to me, that I don’t want to live there alone.
… Wow –didn’t that sound like I was losing my mind in a whole knew way?
The point is, that I want to share these stories with others because I believe the vignettes my Muse gives me were meant for more than just my mind to explore. Hopefully, I’m right– the reviews will have to tell me if I am.
Filed under: Book Release, Publishing, Writing Tagged: characters, crazy, goodreads, Jonathan Alvey, muse, novel, paranormal, paranormal private investigator, reviews, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, world building, writing, Xchyler Publishing
Looking for a New Read? – Daimones Trilogy
Daimones | OnceHumans | PhoenixPrelude
Dan Amenta wakes up one morning to discover the world has changed…the Apocalypse has arrived. Death, destruction, and disaster are spreading around the globe. Yet Dan and his family remain untouched.
Planet Earth is in the hands of an older power, one Dan never envisioned and dares not disobey. – http://myBook.to/Daimones
Mankind is undergoing rebirth, the new arrivals closely watched by the Selected: the transgenic beings created by the Moîrai.
From the coldest climes to the deepest ocean floors, a cosmic conspiracy full of betrayal and fear is being hatched with the hope of pushing the world perilously close to the brink of self-destruction. – http://myBook.to/OnceHumans
A deadly, silent invasion leaves survivors befuddled, wary, and broken. A First Contact and an Apocalypse with roots millions of years old.
“The what-ifs in this story will leave readers with bone-chilling concerns.” Judges Writer’s Digest 21st Annual Self-Publishing Book Awards
http://Author.to/MassimoMarino
THE AUTHOR
I’m Italian, and because even in Italy that means everything and nothing at all, I should say, I am Sicilian. I was born in Palermo, and as it happened with countless Sicilians, I left it, back in 1986. I lived more years abroad than in my home country, and I have changed in many and different ways than my old friends there. It is always a pleasure to go back, but it is now 6 long years since my last visit. Saudade? Maybe, a little.
I lived in Switzerland, France, and the United States. I am a scientist as a background, and have spent over 17 years in fundamental research. Most of my writing are then academic stuff, and I always wonder at how much Google is able to find about everyone. I am sure one has to Google oneself so not to forget too much…
I worked for many years at CERN—an international lab for particle physics research near Geneva, Switzerland—then in the US at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Fantastic moments and memories from those years. In 2005 I moved to the private sector, worked with Apple Inc., and then for the World Economic Forum.
I wrote since I was a kid, short stories and novellas, but never had anyone read it. It was a personal thing. Then, work and life took their toll and I stopped. Slightly over a year ago, for various reasons, I started again with some burning inside that needed to come out. On the first weekend I got over 15000 words, then subscribed to critters.org for peer review, lurked a year keeping on writing and getting feedback.
On September 2012 my debut novel, “Daimones”, saw the light. It received the 2012 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award in Science Fiction. Last February it was awarded with the Hall of Fame – Best Science Fiction by Quality Reads UK, and received over 64% of the 1600+ readers votes. To the day, Daimones has sold over 4,000 copies. Both novels are available as digital and printed editions.
The sequel, “Once Humans”, was published last July and has sold more than 1,000 copies since. I’m writing Vol.3, “The Rise of the Phoenix”. Its Prelude (chapters 1-4) has been published last November and readers can have a taste of what’s coming in the trilogy.
The novels have been optioned by an Independent Audiobook Publisher in the US, Sci-Fi Publishing LCC, and both Daimones and Once Humans are now available as audiobook, too. (From audible.com, Amazon and iTunes).
My Amazon page is: http://www.amazon.com/Massimo-Marino/e/B008O53L5O
my blog: http://massimomarinoauthor.com
@Massim0Marin0
Filed under: Book Release Tagged: Daimones, Massimo Marino, Once Human, Science Fiction, The Daimones Trilogy
June 4, 2014
GULP!
So I have my first official review of ‘Tomorrow Wendell”. It’s absolutely fabulous and it made me smile, ear to ear. It also made the butterflies in my stomach turn into angry bats.
Reading it, on another blog, with the promotion package– it makes it all so . . .real!
~GULP~
This is happening, there’s no denying it now. No turning back. Not that I want to but… well did I mention ~GULP~?
Yesterday the book went up on the Goodreads site as well, another exciting and sobering moment in this journey. It was awesome to see my novel sitting there on Goddreads but it was also well . . . ~GULP~.
I have been trying to get back to editing the second White Dragon Black novel ‘Bindings & Spines’ during all of this, and I definitely have second book syndrome. Is it good enough? How will it compare against the first? Was Tomorrow Wendell a fluke?
I’m trying not to over analyze every singe word on the screen, but I’m also aware that this will be the second book and it will be compared to the first. If it isn’t as good … will there be a third?
~GULP~
And I’m still asking if the first is actually any good.
Not that I think the good people over at Xchyler Publishing are just toying with me but… yeah – ~GULP~.
I think I’m going to need go buy more gin and tonic.
Filed under: Book Release, Publishing, Writing Tagged: Bindings & Spines, blogger, edits, G&T's, goodreads, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal, paranormal private investigator, publish, readers, review, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, wierd thoughts, Xchyler Publishing
June 3, 2014
Sure you’ve seen it before – but now with fancy links!
June 2, 2014
Another Guest Review of Exodus 2022
REVIEW from Chrissy Ellis
If you’re looking for a good mystery this is your book. It’s unlike any book that I have read before and I look forward to reading more from this author. There was much suspense in it trying to figure out what was going to happen and it was very hard to put down. It’s a book I would have no problem reading several more times because there is a lot more to discover. I would recommend this to all of my friends. It was written very well.
I was given an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Filed under: Book Release
June 1, 2014
COMING JUNE 28th! This one’s Mine!
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Filed under: Book Release, Publishing Tagged: characters, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal, paranormal private investigator, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, Xchyler Publishing
Balance and Bonding
So I got a good writing session in this morning – 1500 words worth. That is how I like to start my day, as it gives me a sense of accomplishment, and is good for my messed up brain.
This is the fifth novel in the White Dragon Black series, and although I hope whoever is reading it (when that time comes) is already a fan, knows Jonathan Alvey, and the world — I can’t count on it. This is not a series set up to be read starting at book one and moving to book two, then to book three … but individual novels in their own right. I hope.
I want readers to be able to pick up book five, even if they have never even read a short story in the same world. I hate coming across a novel that sounds cool, only to realize it is book two of a trilogy and I have no access to book one. I also want those readers who have started following the series right at ‘Tomorrow Wendell’, and followed diligently with every novel after, to have a sense of continuation — of progress.
So the novels are chronologically set, one after the other. I am slowly adding longer term connections from one novel to the next, which will culminate in the final installment of the series, to help give a feeling of building something over the long haul.
The issue is to balance these. I have to make each book have the required information for a new reader that will give them access to the world I’ve built. I need to explain the rules and introduce them to the characters. In doing this, I risk pummeling those readers who are avid followers with the same info, over and over, until they are sick of hearing it.
I have to balance the information so not to bore my faithful followers, and yet allow new readers to bond with Jonathan. It is an issue I have to face with each novel and it doesn’t become easier as time goes on – it gets harder.
As more characters are established with each new novel, and more history is built up, the information that needs to be imparted grows and becomes more difficult to untangle to be presented as new. I have to make it seem as new to the long term readers, as it is to the new readers. This calls for a touch of magic, as there really is no formula – especially for a ‘seat of the pants’ writer like me.
All I can do is shoot for the best of both, hope that I hit the mark, and that my readers are forgiving of my flaws.
Filed under: Writing Tagged: characters, current work in progress, Jonathan Alvey, novel, paranormal, paranormal private investigator, plot, readers, scene, short story, Tomorrow Wendell, Urban Fantasy, White Dragon Black Series, world building, writing
Guest Blog Book Review – Exodus 2022
While the sci-fi genre is not typically one I read, the synopsis caught my eye so I decided to give it a try. The opening chapter quickly caught my attention and interest. As I was reading, I realized I needed to get to bed and found myself saying ‘just one more chapter’ more than once. Thankfully, the chapters are short, which I love. Joe Stanton wakes up one morning and starts searching for his daughter, Lorna Gwin. He starts to go crazy, running out of the hotel room and screaming on the street. Problem is, he never had a daughter. Other men have had this same hallucination and, as a result, died. Now Joe and his girlfriend, Ella, are doing everything they can so Joe doesn’t suffer the same fate. As I continued reading, I kept wondering who Lorna Gwin was. What was so significant about her that people kept repeating her name? As the answers unraveled I couldn’t put the book down. It’s unlike any other book I’ve read before. My emotions kept going from one extreme to the next. The story was well written and the characters beautifully described. Overall, this was a phenomenal book and I highly recommend it to anyone! I wish there was more!
About the Book – About the Author – Prizes!!!
About the prizes: Who doesn’t love prizes? You could win one of two $50 Amazon gift cards or an autographed copy of EXODUS 2022! Here’s what you need to do…
Enter the Rafflecopter contest
Leave a comment on my blog
That’s it! One random commenter during this tour will win the first gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win–the full list of participating bloggers can be found HERE. The other two prizes will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official EXODUS 2022 tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck!
About the book: Joe Stanton is in agony. Out of his mind over the death of his young daughter. Or so it seems.
Unable to contain his grief, Joe loses control in public, screaming his daughter’s name and causing a huge scene at a hotel on San Juan Island in Washington State. Thing is, Joe Stanton doesn’t have a daughter. Never did. And when the authorities arrive they blame the 28-year-old’s outburst on drugs.
What they don’t yet know is that others up and down the Pacific coast—from the Bering Sea to the Puget Sound—are suffering identical, always fatal mental breakdowns.
With the help of his girlfriend—the woman he loves and dreams of marrying—Joe struggles to unravel the meaning of the hallucination destroying his mind. As the couple begins to perceive its significance—and Joe’s role in a looming global calamity—they must also outwit a billionaire weapons contractor bent on exploiting Joe’s newfound understanding of the cosmos, and outlast the time bomb ticking in Joe’s brain
Get EXODUS 2022 through Amazonor Barnes & Noble.
About the author: Kenneth G. Bennett is the author of the young adult novels, THE GAIA WARS and BATTLE FOR CASCADIA, and the new sci-fi thriller, EXODUS 2022. A wilderness enthusiast who loves backpacking, skiing and kayaking, Ken enjoys mysteries, science fiction, action adventure stories and, most especially, novels that explore the relationship between humans and the wild. He lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and son and two hyperactive Australian Shepherds.
Connect with Kenneth on his website, Facebook, Twitter,or GoodReads..
Filed under: Book Release Tagged: $50 Amazon gift card, autographed copy, BATTLE FOR CASCADIA, Exodus 2022, Kenneth G. Bennett, novel, Rafflecopter giveaway, review, Science Fiction, THE GAIA WARS, win prizes
May 31, 2014
I’m a writer… I have enough distractions!
I love summer. As far as I’m concerned, summer all year long would be great. Summer means, sitting outdoors relaxing. For me, it means a more social time of the year. It is also green all around and, as a gardener, I get to play and enjoy. It is also a time when outdoor projects can be worked on, and the days are long and languid.
Of course, all of the above are things which keep me from sitting in front of my computer and getting work done. Now, mind you, 3/4 of the year that is exactly where I am, so I shouldn’t feel bad about 1/4 when my writing productivity drops. I shouldn’t but – well, I’m a writer.
I think all writers fell guilty when they are not writing. I think a writer would feel guilty for not writing while they pulled a baby and cat from a burning car, caught in a tree. Although they would also be making mental notes so they could use the experience in their writing–it’s the nature of the beast.
So how do I deal with this issue? Usually, I write late at night. When the rest of the day is used for other things, including sitting around drink a G&T, and projects have been worked on, I usually sit down at 11pm or so and write for an hour or two.
It usually works but, annoyingly, right now, my body and brain seem to think I should be going to bed at ten and getting up at eight.
I’ve declared war on both of them.
Filed under: Homesteading, MIscellaneous, Writing Tagged: garden, garndening, Summer, writer, writing
