Val Tobin's Blog, page 24
June 26, 2016
Book Review – The Experiencers by Val Tobin
Awesome review for The Experiencers.
I had a fun childhood. I grew up looking for UFOs and buried treasure. Our school library had all manner of kick-ass books on UFOs and ghosts and MiBs. I got my first copy of Who Goes There? from a school book drive when I was 11. For those of you not in the know, Who Goes There? would later become a little movie called The Thing. These were the heady days when Star Trek and Space:1999 reruns could be found from time to time and movies like Hanger 18 were out there. My childhood also include V, that crazy series about spacefaring lizard people and the rebellion that fights them on Earth. The end result was I spent a lot of time thinking about aliens and UFOs and MiBs and all the other fun stuff that makes up a healthy childhood.
Space, you might say, was injected into my…
View original post 595 more words
June 18, 2016
Authors beware: A new danger for KU authors
Are the risks of KS outweighing the benefits?
Darrienia: The Forgotten Legacies Series
Hi all,
Anyone who follows me closely will know my book was removed from Amazon for almost a fortnight after they registered some unusual activity. At first I was at a loss. What was it, where had it come from? But since I have learnt a terrifying truth behind Kindle Unlimited, it is one all authors need to be aware of. It is a KU scam that could ruin your career and put your money into fraudsters’ pockets.
In this post I will detail my own experience, in hope you know what to look out for.
I was running a book promotion, a push to generate interest in my first book. After approaching blogs and book promotion sites I began to run a 99cents promotion on Darrienia, which at that time was number one in two of its categories. Book two is coming out at the end of the year…
View original post 1,309 more words
June 17, 2016
5 Stages: Reading a Mind Blowing Book #books #reader #bookworm
I have another stage in there: when I realize I’m nearing the end and want to slow down and savour it but can’t, because I have to find out what happens next.
There are some books out there that blow your mind.
They are not your average book. The premise, the plot, the setting or the characterisation is like nothing you have ever read before.
These books can be fiction or non-fiction.
They are quite simply amazing and you know that you will always remember how they made you feel for years afterwards.
There are 5 stages to this wonderful reading experience.
Life Before Book.Your life before reading amind blowing bookcan be summed up in one word – dull! There is nothing exciting going on and everything feels bland. Days feel the same; get up, shuffleto work, trudge home, trawl social media, watch TV and go to bed. Your TBR pile offers you nothing spectacular and reading starts to feel like a chore. With no sparkle or magic in your life you start to walk around with a face…
View original post 481 more words
June 8, 2016
Salby Evolution – Pre-order universal link
Ian D. Moore releasing a sequel to Salby Damned.
Click image to go to the Amazon page in your country.
One man holds the key to our future. One man holds the key to our extinction.
The merciless Salby viral strain, sweeping across the country, spawns a new breed of predator.
Simon Lloyd, borderline alcoholic, must vanquish the demons of his past and change his single-minded ways.
Filled with resentment, he enters a world far removed from his own. He must choose to take a stand for the greater good or risk losing his estranged wife and children forever.
Against overwhelming odds, unethical science and the prospect of eternal exile, the decisions he makes will shape the future of mankind.
It’s here! Yes, finally, Salby Evolution is now available on pre-order worldwide. If you’re a fan of good old-fashioned paperbacks, you won’t need to wait until 1st August to get your hands on the story. It should be out…
View original post 203 more words
June 7, 2016
Do you know how to write a book review?
Great tips for writing a book review.
I must confess, writing a book review is very hard for me.
You’d think as a writer, writing a book review would be easy. It’s not.
But reviews are as important to writers as water to fish. Writers need book reviews. The best way to get is to give.
So I set out to learn more about writing a good review.
I used to adhere to the old saying, “If you can’t say something good say nothing.”
Now I go with, “In everything, there is some good. Look for it.”
When you write a review, it’s important to find that “something” good to say.
Even for books that aren’t my genre, and even for those that make me cringe, I search for something good to say.
Things to look for…
Did the title or the cover get your attention?
Identify the genre.
Identify the audience (age.)
Identify the Point of…
View original post 303 more words
Free Short Story
Free short story from Eric Lahti. Looking forward to reading.
Your interesting bit of trivia for the day: Zona Peligrosa has a companion story. The two short stories are intended to introduce Jack and Sally Anne and set up a book I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while. Loophole, the companion story to Zona Peligrosa, was published in the IASDHoles Anthology last year. So, for those of you who’ve read The Clock Man and wondered if there was more about Jack’s devil girlfriend, the answer is yes and Sally Anne is quite the bad ass in her own right.
Download links below. Enjoy.
June 3, 2016
Salby Evolution – A Cover Story…
What a fascinating post. Nico Laeser does gorgeous work.
I want to introduce you to someone I consider to be a true gentleman.
No only that, this man has talent you couldn’t measure. He is a reputable author, brilliant designer and commissioned artist, as well as a songwriter and musician. More than that, I consider him a true friend among friends.
This man is called Nico Laeser.
I’d like to tell you a story if I may. Go grab yourself a coffee, or a tea if you prefer, and join me in the making of a book cover.
My story begins with a problem. How to get a decent cover for a sequel book, given the impact of the first extremely expensive cover for Salby Damned. My wallet began to tremble and beads of sweat formed upon my brow at the thought of several weeks of overtime to raise the funds needed. It was about this time that I’d…
View original post 960 more words
June 1, 2016
Writing Tip – POV Switching
Good discussion on POV. I think the POV should fit the needs of the story. Readers should have intimacy with some characters, with others, they shouldn’t. Well-crafted POV changes provide the writer with another tool to manipulate the reader’s thoughts and emotions in relation to the story.
The first book I read that switched between 1st person and 3rd person point of view was Charles Stross’s The Rhesus Chart. At first it was the normal 1st person POV I’d come to expect from Stross, but then there were little bits of 3rd person POV that popped up. It threw me for a moment because it was unexpected, but the POV change was handled skillfully enough that it added a dimension to the narrative rather than pulling me out of the story. In a way, it was more like the chorus in Greek tragedies – those folks that told what was happening when the action on the stage wasn’t happening.
I don’t know if this is a new thing – this hopping between the depth of focus that comes from 1st person narrative to the breadth of knowledge that comes from 3rd person – but it seems to be…
View original post 828 more words
May 30, 2016
10 Most Common Dreams and What They Mean Infographic…
May 25, 2016
Tips for writing a good book review
Today’s post is a guest post. Author and book coach Dr. Lucinda Moebius Ed. D has kindly given me permission to share the article she wrote on how to write a good book review.
To learn more of Dr. Moebius, check out her website.
Here is her article on writing a good book review:
Writing a book review follows the same pattern as any other piece of writing. Think about the pattern of writing: Beginning-Middle-End.
Beginning:
Write a brief description of the book. (No spoilers or plot summaries. This is not a book report).
Middle:
Discuss what you liked about the book. This could be the characters, specific plot points, imagery, or any other ideas you enjoyed.
Discuss what you might not have liked. Don’t feel obligated to be negative, but if there is area for improvement mention it. If the author is self-published they may have the opportunity to fix the issues and resubmit the book.
End:
Offer a conclusion, a summary or your final thoughts.
A few other tips:
Write the review in first person.
Be honest in your review. You are not doing the author or future readers any favors by giving a positive review when the book has issues.
Be succinct. Good reviews are between 75-300 words. (To give you a good base this document is 256 words)
Finally, books need a mixture of reviews, positive and negative. If a book has nothing but 5 star reviews they appear to be fake.
For those on the receiving end of reviews, be prepared. Reviewers will either like your book or they won’t. DO NOT respond to reviews, good or bad. If you need to read the reviews (if you’re that kind of person) then sit on them for a few days. You may find some great benefit from the information.
