tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16897049308203150292024-02-19T00:36:30.565-08:00Fantasy Thoughts from My Easy ChairM. K. Theodoratus, Fantasy Writer, muses about make-believe worlds -- real and fantastical. I also mutter about my own writing progress and, sometimes, include interesting links.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.comBlogger518125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-67704039610946263832019-01-15T15:00:00.002-08:002019-01-15T15:00:25.170-08:00Can Writers Convey Interesting, Simple Work-a-Day Worlds?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNykwNNlWtliqFcr3bv9-G41uSgJE-nE-oD8RdA3jc22XgBEsQVF3MbQtIFJ8WkNnqXajjMKfigHZ9g7R4Mni5lahBhzll1_68r0UmZfmoVkSMQ_BTb9jGa2_l3RUYNsiUpu-aBfz_LGU/s1600/51rak-N5IRL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNykwNNlWtliqFcr3bv9-G41uSgJE-nE-oD8RdA3jc22XgBEsQVF3MbQtIFJ8WkNnqXajjMKfigHZ9g7R4Mni5lahBhzll1_68r0UmZfmoVkSMQ_BTb9jGa2_l3RUYNsiUpu-aBfz_LGU/s320/51rak-N5IRL.jpg" width="181" /></a>Every writer creates a fantasy world...even those writing contemporary fiction. It all happens by how the author picks which details to illustrate the protagonist's world. Characters can't move in a vaccum. They need a stage where the action needed to move the plot forwards has to happen.<br />
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The problem? In too many books I've tried to read lately, the characters act out in front of a green screen. They aren't anchored. They motivations aren't complex and contradictary. Chute opens; characters gallop towards a resolution without any internal sweat. Or, they dither, not doing much of anything interesting while the author lathers details upon similar details. So what if the "bad guys" or society is out to get the good guys.<br />
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Yeah. Interactions take place but there is no realistic setting, no grounding in a physical place. Nothing coming out of left field to upset the assumptions made by the reader. Oh, there are generic sops thrown at the reader, but nothing that anchors the characters in a unique place that is their's and no others'.<br />
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The pattern mirrors much of the political discussion in the US where broad slogans are thrown out without any indication on how they interact with the complexities of people's lives. Or, maybe it's just that the media write from data gleaned from simplistic polls that concentrate on two factors when most problems contain fifty.<br />
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The result too many writers limit the reader to primary-colored worlds, no shades to create a sense of wonder.<br />
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The writers I enjoy most work in four-dimensional worlds. The best are spare with words. One example Lee Child. His iconic character, Reacher, now travels with only his toothbrush and, I assume, a mysterious credit card which never runs out of money as constant companions. Yet, Child evokes the semi-deserted byways of the US like few writers I've read.<br />
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Granted this abstract rant describes my own biases. But, I demand a sense of people living in realistic places when I read a book. I want enough details that I can construct a world chugging along with or without the novel's characters.<br />
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How do you do that? I don't know. I'm a pantser when I write. Yet many of my reviews mention the amount of detail in my stories, details that most don't think slow down the action.<br />
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When you have your reading cap on, what do you want the world in the background to feel like?<br />
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<b>My Writing Run</b></div>
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Christmas, eye problems. and a staph infection have been cluttering my life the last few months...and may still be chasing me. Still, I play at writing. I'm still working on <u>Rendezvous with Demons</u>. Added several thousand words to the existing draft. Still, haven't gotten my characters over the hump, north out of Pacifica [aka California]. They confront the new demon invasion in Cascadia [Washington/Oregon].<br />
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Big note to myself, at this point in this perhaps first half of the novel: increase Gillen's role. Yeah. He reappears when he flees Beatifica. Talk about adding texture to a novel without getting off track.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhoXXtQmDDr8wscXn-fP6ad-HZX30EWfQD6vMKzPBMsrddTcMIIwhfy2_OyFaMXMgNPwbFFlsADdNkSS8hxdlv50V6zMMB43pKdic6ACSpleQ7txgVAFrDj4MPF3il9vGe77x7fOZZrR2n/s1600/kaytheod_There_Be_Demons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhoXXtQmDDr8wscXn-fP6ad-HZX30EWfQD6vMKzPBMsrddTcMIIwhfy2_OyFaMXMgNPwbFFlsADdNkSS8hxdlv50V6zMMB43pKdic6ACSpleQ7txgVAFrDj4MPF3il9vGe77x7fOZZrR2n/s320/kaytheod_There_Be_Demons.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
None of this make sense? You can check out the first book in the Andor Demon Wars, <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b>, on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JW5KCZB"><b>kindle</b></a> or at <b><a href="https://www.books2read.com/u/bwYX99">other vendors.</a> </b>Yeah. My whole crew reappears in Rendezvous: Britt, Cahal, and Gillen plus Pillar and Nate. The demons are represented by Vetis and Grylerrrque along with their new set of minions. It all setting up to be the demons last stand. I'm still writing notes about how Pillar reacts to Britt.<br />
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Gee, that description almost has me wanting to get back to the manuscript.<br />
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Rendezvous won't be published in 2019, though. I 've decided to go ahead and polish <u>Dark Solstice Turning Point</u>, a book about shifting political allianaces in a world of humans, hybrid elves, and scattered full elves to intensify the mischief. Yeah. I'm going to play with my Half-Elven for a while.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-22022077373945033332019-01-01T14:34:00.000-08:002019-01-02T08:40:15.798-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XeMK7ZUcWbQrVUe3DWHhIyl7USE8j8LFcaPvTIfHDKaelo3GNPDXHR6scyj-L2Qaby9qPxaHUKY1ujJNtB2rlmeq7YosXUN1EFphT1RB9uZainltoEm8CwyWzfrkku39hooUPoLlyFdW/s1600/Hawkins+..0_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XeMK7ZUcWbQrVUe3DWHhIyl7USE8j8LFcaPvTIfHDKaelo3GNPDXHR6scyj-L2Qaby9qPxaHUKY1ujJNtB2rlmeq7YosXUN1EFphT1RB9uZainltoEm8CwyWzfrkku39hooUPoLlyFdW/s320/Hawkins+..0_.jpg" width="205" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ahhh, the unreliable narrator. Paula Hawkins gives you plenty of point of views to puzzle over in her new book <i><b>Into the Water</b></i>. Her multiple narrators almost give you too many characters to keep track of. But then, instead of a who-dun-it, this book is a why-dun-it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While I felt the book got tedious at times, it wasn't for the usual reasons. I thought her character development tended to be shallow. Lots of good stuff was hinted at, but all too often, interesting developments and/or insights were glossed over. This is especially true of the perp who moved from the periphery to front and center in a lackadaisical manner. Oh, the motivation was there, but I didn't feel like the potential conflict was well developed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The troubled sort-of primary character returns to her childhood home when her sister commits suicide by jumping off a cliff. Like some villages have Saxon churches as their claim to fame, Beckford has deaths by drowning. </span>The book describes a troubled village's attempts to confront two interrelated drownings, the most recent of many deaths haunting the village. While I appreciate the exercise in viewpoint, I think Hawkins spread her writing too thin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More confusing, the "death pool" is also a teen hang-out. The book is filled with factoids rather than an insights into human nature. Comments are thrown on the table but I thought were never fleshed out. Did enjoy the book, though. You can check it out on</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Into-Water-Novel-Paula-Hawkins/dp/0735211221/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546380894&sr=1-1&keywords=Paula+Hawkins%2C+Into+the+Water">Amazon</a> </b> <b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/into-the-water-paula-hawkins/1125248053?ean=9780735211223#/">Barnes & Noble</a></b> <b><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=Paula+Hawkins%2C+Into+the+Water">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My Writing Rut</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDurNEIpF54-YRqLdhWaTUbzFCLe0P_Fqtb3CCoWshxdpYhfLkS28r4vWgw3zOxsJYJmAd8SxowzAmm6KHkZpocyQg7FtNhg_O5HTE9IiB2koto8mGAxVNvKFKHUEtwbo-7i1_oxRfTJoh/s1600/sml+Carverns+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgJL8CG3SYOzMJ4IDA-HSi-N8eOfarwNpS0GU6WXmXqBJ0LUGjs5hliN12KEpv5TYoJqARCQb2zWtul3bpMPyOMXVK_UlABLM2MD7bizYA9vFNMdzzipJcq2epBxjgSpDC6adPtz48SNl/s1600/new+Cavern_Between_Worlds+-1563.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgJL8CG3SYOzMJ4IDA-HSi-N8eOfarwNpS0GU6WXmXqBJ0LUGjs5hliN12KEpv5TYoJqARCQb2zWtul3bpMPyOMXVK_UlABLM2MD7bizYA9vFNMdzzipJcq2epBxjgSpDC6adPtz48SNl/s320/new+Cavern_Between_Worlds+-1563.jpg" width="200" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDurNEIpF54-YRqLdhWaTUbzFCLe0P_Fqtb3CCoWshxdpYhfLkS28r4vWgw3zOxsJYJmAd8SxowzAmm6KHkZpocyQg7FtNhg_O5HTE9IiB2koto8mGAxVNvKFKHUEtwbo-7i1_oxRfTJoh/s320/sml+Carverns+new.jpg" width="213" /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which do you like?</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>?????</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Email: kkaytheod at yahoo com</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am getting ready to start the new year on a slightly different tack than the old one. I decided<br />to switch to my Far Isles Half-Elven for my next published book: <b>Dark Stoltice Turning Point.</b> Have my slot reserved with my content editor. Still working on <b>Rendezvous with Demons</b>, mostly adding character complications to the chapters I've drafted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soon I will be publishing an updated free short story, Cavern Between Worlds. Haven't decided on a cover yet. Do you have a preference?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>There Be Demons</i></b> was on a 99c special last month. Even sold some though didn't make much money at the discount. The fun promo was the one I did for <b><i><a href="https://amzn.to/2uTNydN"><span style="color: #660000;">Recognizing Jamilla</span></a></i></b>, a free Andor story. It reached #1 in its category for a couple days. The story is probably the first, chronologically, in The Demon Wars series. The others are <b><i>Showdown at Crossings</i></b>, <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b>, and <b><i>Running from Demons. </i></b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-55249153358332965622018-10-09T19:33:00.001-07:002018-10-09T19:33:46.635-07:00Whooper Dooper Super-Author Hack to Produce More Books<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QZcLCAQaf86Foq-qr9H0saYXelJrU8fsdZL8ssaFM5RquIW2afAIkUtKI-FRlyqreJcdn4uBoOPNGcp_medTTqz7TCdcS30kYbDBbKaB3CpEyNAUe-TX1aFPzR2Er5nkKNDf-y8O3Fmp/s1600/Roberts_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="215" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QZcLCAQaf86Foq-qr9H0saYXelJrU8fsdZL8ssaFM5RquIW2afAIkUtKI-FRlyqreJcdn4uBoOPNGcp_medTTqz7TCdcS30kYbDBbKaB3CpEyNAUe-TX1aFPzR2Er5nkKNDf-y8O3Fmp/s320/Roberts_.jpg" width="198" /></a>Picked up the first book in an older Nora Roberts trilogy, <b><i>Key of Light</i></b>. I don't read much of Robert's body of work, but I like her paranormals when I know I'm going to be interrupted a lot. Why? Because I always know I'll get a competant read no matter how distracted I get.<br />
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This time the light bulb exploded. I understood how she works the cliche to produce the volume she does. She takes a problem, sets up three couples, an oily villain, and gets three books in writing one story by chopping up the verbage. I know lots of other writers use the pattern. They just haven't mastered the character development and discriptive chops. In short, she works the paradigm but adds warm, three dimensional characters.<br />
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Didn't care much for this set of people. Oh, the female characters were all interesting, even amusing. But the match in this book was way to "alpha" and felt like a hundred other characters I've read. There was nothing there to make him seem different than the result of cookie cutter characterization. The projected suiters for the other two books also didn't push beyond their cliche.<br />
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You can read a sample for yourself and look at the reviews on<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Key-Light-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B000OCXH8Q">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/key-of-light-nora-roberts/1100316973">B&N Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/key-of-light-1">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></div>
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<b>My Writing Rut</b></div>
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Not getting much done. Just toying with scenes that I've already written in Rendezvous with Demons.</div>
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I'm also waiting for the contracts returning the rights to republish There Be Demons while I take care of my old man. He's out of the dangerous part of the woods. Now comes the stuggle to keep him in his recliner as long as the doctors want him there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUG2FwKPHe6QSsrhuYOP1UPJ31SWPWOn62lVjZnFV8k8M-vYvwcVNgo7Br_jY3uMqGi5VRys7UU33DTry1_m0Vfb6s78KExQNXkly3cKgvbJ3DEV14puj2EopgX-uP5Jpv6HBOJmrYLU-t/s1600/Running+from+Demons+lrg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUG2FwKPHe6QSsrhuYOP1UPJ31SWPWOn62lVjZnFV8k8M-vYvwcVNgo7Br_jY3uMqGi5VRys7UU33DTry1_m0Vfb6s78KExQNXkly3cKgvbJ3DEV14puj2EopgX-uP5Jpv6HBOJmrYLU-t/s320/Running+from+Demons+lrg.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
For the heck of it, here's my latest 5* review:<br />
<span class="readable"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">M.K. Theodoratus has a
great ability for description. She really makes the reader understand the ins
and outs of Running from Demons by giving such in depth descriptions. </span></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br />
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<span class="readable">"I loved the spin that Theodoratus used in her writing. I
was shocked with how much I connected to the characters.</span><br />
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<span class="readable">Overall, I really enjoyed this. There is plenty going on
and its a very quick yet satisfying read."</span></span><br />
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You can read a sample at various vendors <a href="https://www.books2read.com/u/b5rYDw"><b>by clicking this link.</b></a></div>
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As usual, I've been a slow learner in getting the book up and running. I'm still trying to figure out the print-on-demand bit. Wish me luck.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-8639690483383755272018-09-21T09:48:00.000-07:002018-09-21T09:48:09.000-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Hey, sorry to say I'm in the "Twilight Zone".</b></div>
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<b>My husband has been in the hospital and will still need care when he comes home.</b></div>
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<b>At the moment, I'm not reading much.</b></div>
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On the other hand, my new book <b><i>Running from Demons</i></b> has been published in e-form. I haven't had time to get the Print-on-Demand set up. Think it has something about me being an old lady and there being only so many hours in the day. For some reason, my body thinks it has to sleep.<br />
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But, I have made sales and have reviews, mostly 5 stars. But, I like the one I used in the banner. I thought going through a teen's learning moments might be dull, Other reviews have said the same thing as the one below. So, I'll heave a sigh of relief.<br />
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You can see for yourself at this universal link which will direct you to <a href="http://books2read.com/u/b5rYDw">a universal link to a venue you can use. </a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJ2ZDHfaaeqvUpQpUivvzQpzDkwmnlez-2aT-a57Ksn48D_B0YPk588Dw5eUkWoNw8819vjj8bhStgk283Cj8ZLvwrh3WGW99mNPuopjU7kYYHJH9RNVg0m5Qm0w_zLnxcJkawZBUH1RB/s1600/918+demons+hunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="400" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJ2ZDHfaaeqvUpQpUivvzQpzDkwmnlez-2aT-a57Ksn48D_B0YPk588Dw5eUkWoNw8819vjj8bhStgk283Cj8ZLvwrh3WGW99mNPuopjU7kYYHJH9RNVg0m5Qm0w_zLnxcJkawZBUH1RB/s320/918+demons+hunt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Of course, if you happen to buy the book, I would appreciate a short review.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Should also say, I'm doing a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_kindle_giveaway/284294-running-from-demonst">GoodReads Giveaway</a> until 13 October 2018.</b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-24982539461309139032018-09-11T11:13:00.000-07:002018-09-11T11:13:04.907-07:00 Goof-ups and Murderous Mayhem Create Reading Magic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg56OZzD9AoqzjZzwq2uNyeYnSPj5VGtHwvcKA-7tval3z3Jk4-D-zDdLh_mL49sLLkRzzJxNkA9MSYZljTzL5iLhUc772qUzGj1nF8j09-Sz4xCRhFYltXOM2sSKCPBI66mP28lts79oS/s1600/Belcher+DahliaL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg56OZzD9AoqzjZzwq2uNyeYnSPj5VGtHwvcKA-7tval3z3Jk4-D-zDdLh_mL49sLLkRzzJxNkA9MSYZljTzL5iLhUc772qUzGj1nF8j09-Sz4xCRhFYltXOM2sSKCPBI66mP28lts79oS/s320/Belcher+DahliaL.jpg" width="210" /></a>Humor plus huge doses of magic, mayhem, and murder create a ripping story in R. S. Belcher's Nightwise <i style="font-weight: bold;">The Night Dahlia. </i>Laytham Ballard, the wizard protagonist, is hired by a powerfyl fae lord to find his missing daughter. Unfortunately, Ballard creates chaos wherever he goes, in spite of his good intentions.<br />
<br />
In the opening chapters, it soon becomes clear that Ballard is powerful in his own right and may be the perfect man to solve the cold case. At the same time, it becomes clearer that if something can go wrong, it will.<br />
<br />
<b><i>The Night Dahlia</i></b> has Ballard returning to his old stomping grounds in Los Angeles, CA where he once was a member of the wizardry cops, aka the Nightwise. Ballard's flip commentary as he digs into the porn film scene for clues keeps readers on their toes, and sometimes, holding their breath. Belcher adds depth to the plotline by tieing the current missing person case to a cold seriel murder case the kicked him out of Nightwise.<br />
<br />
So much for the mystery part of the book. Belcher's paranormal creatures are both pertinent and creative, even giving an explanation for serial murderer Charles Manson's powers of persuation. More important, Belcher makes clear why Ballard's abandoned friends still accept him.<br />
<br />
The book's a stand-alone, even thougn it takes place late in Ballard's life. His banter about his past goof-ups explain necessary backstory and keeps everything in perspective. You can learn more about Nightwise on<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Night-Dahlia-Nightwise-R-Belcher-ebook/dp/B075JM55TB">Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-night-dahlia-r-s-belcher/1126272812">Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-night-dahlia">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>~~~~~~~~~~~~</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>My Writing Rut</b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyh3_mao3V_kjAbj47rXq2k4F2VYy1nwso-GAtsiWYWzDOANWc_sAa7YIkKXkahRzH7ybjwDNWXyuq89YFiMVi3W6gdQodjrNlPLGPJeYgXe9M8C9SShQXnODOms4hLNHPQggoH-CpEsA/s1600/Running+from+Demons-+large+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyh3_mao3V_kjAbj47rXq2k4F2VYy1nwso-GAtsiWYWzDOANWc_sAa7YIkKXkahRzH7ybjwDNWXyuq89YFiMVi3W6gdQodjrNlPLGPJeYgXe9M8C9SShQXnODOms4hLNHPQggoH-CpEsA/s320/Running+from+Demons-+large+%25281%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
I'm still in my rut.....if I consider all the stuff I'm not getting done. On the other hand, <b><i>Running from Demo</i></b>ns is up and staggering. Still no reviews yet, and it's too soon for any sales to show up. That's partly my fault. I used "the pre-order" time to chase the formatting of the book rather than the sales.<br />
<br />
The short blurb:<br />
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pillar Beccon can't remember belonging
anywhere, especially not in the Freemage commune where she grew up. After she
graduates from high school, she jumps at the chance to learn why her mother ran
away from her family home far to the East. But danger haunts her journey as a
demon seeks to destroy her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Running
from Demons</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
tells the story of Pillar's search to find a place to call her own. The book
continues the chronicles of Andor, a land where the mundane world clashes with
one of magic and demons. If you love paranormal stories of discovery and
mayhem, this is the story for you.</span><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If you review books from Net Galley, you can get an ARC copy <a href="http://netgal.ly/UIDDJr">here</a> for free. If you'd like to read the longer blurb and/or a sample you can click <a href="http://books2read.com/u/b5rYDw">here</a>.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-10684764946589396202018-09-04T10:03:00.005-07:002018-09-04T10:03:54.621-07:00Returning to the Grindstone & Muttering About Tatoos<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7tOKnju6WU9MG6ycZc6XyP4Ayxg7om54AC9P8LURs31YTUiCzlSdB0uV7JJ9gARFofGG_k5kOJzFAUwFBaVPW5PcQHu8eTH1nRJWYw6BSJbTyPmO1BCskXiL2hYMPtI0CF821ibI3sAb/s1600/Briggs+Moon+Called_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7tOKnju6WU9MG6ycZc6XyP4Ayxg7om54AC9P8LURs31YTUiCzlSdB0uV7JJ9gARFofGG_k5kOJzFAUwFBaVPW5PcQHu8eTH1nRJWYw6BSJbTyPmO1BCskXiL2hYMPtI0CF821ibI3sAb/s320/Briggs+Moon+Called_.jpg" width="198" /></a>Since the US Labor Day [end of summer] is over, I guess I should come back from my blogging vacation.<br />
<br />
Oh, I didn't take a vacation from reading. Just from doing reviews, which was a good thing. I mostly reread books I wanted to visit again, which was good for you since I already reviewed many of them.<br />
<br />
My longest read? Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series which I've been itching to read straight through for years. Now I'm a big fan of Patricia Briggs so I won't bother you yet again about her craftmanship and imagination. Not only do her main characters evolve consistently through the series, but the secondary ones do too. Even the vampire antagonist, Marsilia.<br />
<br />
But I did have some bones to pick.<br />
<br />
Cover Art is always important. According to many experts it's key to selling books. But when you have a series, covers can become a problem. Take Mercy Thompson's tats, starting with <b><i>Moon Called</i></b>. Nice sleeves and the signature coyote one below her navel. Even has hints of a service station shirt.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSy_WmPYZ8n3ckhvQl16JM8JLlhtgLq-8QPhIntAi8yVdv9CjcjLXs_Toe0Gw_afmTl-trOjUmRwj62Q1jvDlWe25Yr45L8d6z7FK3aD7RfXcRoN2kIXn31KNAsVEoXptRxbQZcWuW3ob2/s1600/Briggs+Silence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSy_WmPYZ8n3ckhvQl16JM8JLlhtgLq-8QPhIntAi8yVdv9CjcjLXs_Toe0Gw_afmTl-trOjUmRwj62Q1jvDlWe25Yr45L8d6z7FK3aD7RfXcRoN2kIXn31KNAsVEoXptRxbQZcWuW3ob2/s320/Briggs+Silence.jpg" width="211" /></a>Won't plague you with seven or eight covers, but the cover for <b><i>Silence Fallen</i></b> corroborates my<br />
grumble. Note the tat above her breasts. Of course she could have gotten a new one. But removing the sleeves that reached her shoulders? Not so likely, I think, especially when <b><i>Night Broken</i></b> shows different sleeves and a coyote above her breasts.<br />
<br />
So much for being picky. I did enjoy revisiting Tamora Pierce's Tortal world from the Becca Cooper trilogy through the Trickster books. Love the historical development of the society and the struggles to return lady knights to the society. Still, find an implied problem with the technology, though. It's rather static over a couple hundred years.<br />
<br />
Wandered through some other authors, but mostly eliminated my to-read pile. Surprising how many books didn't last three chapters. Which is why they were festering on the pile.<br />
<br />
Did get some new reading done, mainly R. S. Belcher's new book, <b><i>The Night Dahlia</i></b>, which finally arrive from the family lending library. The kid didn't ask for it back, so I think it's getting stuck to my bookshelves.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>~~~~~~~~~~~</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>My Writing Rut</b></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3QY66pMpb-ilBNith9HmD_QCbv3Cxk4mSvCg-Jp2w6QrQJe-FvLiNRXptoD_X-aVqolZ2o7wuL5RQ8dwXoufleKT3nvY7Jt475hpeDcA_6-CWu_AflMkbc3rCHF0gLsk4u9_mCV-CRzp/s1600/Running+from+Demons+900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis3QY66pMpb-ilBNith9HmD_QCbv3Cxk4mSvCg-Jp2w6QrQJe-FvLiNRXptoD_X-aVqolZ2o7wuL5RQ8dwXoufleKT3nvY7Jt475hpeDcA_6-CWu_AflMkbc3rCHF0gLsk4u9_mCV-CRzp/s320/Running+from+Demons+900.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Most important for me, I did get <b><i><a href="https://bit.ly/2wulITP">Running from Demons</a></i></b> published. It can now be found at a number of different stores/venues as an ebook. I'm having problems getting the print on demand version up so it isn't yet available. I know they say it's easy, but you forget I have two black left-thumbs.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Short Blurb:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pillar Beccon can't remem-ber belonging
anywhere, especially not in the Freemage commune where she grew up. After she
graduates from high school, she jumps at the chance to learn why her mother ran
away from her family far to the East. But danger haunts her journey as a demon
seeks to destroy her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ydp79e2b895msonormal" style="background: white;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Running
from Demons</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
tells the story of Pillar's search to find a place to call her own. The book
continues the chronicles of Andor, a land where the mundane world clashes with
one of magic and demons. If you love paranormal stories of discovery and
mayhem, this is the story for you.</span><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-83053770872302430332018-06-26T11:01:00.000-07:002018-06-26T11:01:11.531-07:00A Very Unambitious Man: A True Anti-Hero<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY8iwif2f0-eFyIyO27vEw_TFdgsAzfXROeulZaWz7adXi-r0vpKr47kpfNAcGbiWxrrXsy3U4Fiqd4SxniLZu7sjgBOUeHztRcGMheaNbpC8VzEIu-XKmWiGEWhCeQUgQSkjMrF3VAAV/s1600/Beaton_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="230" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkY8iwif2f0-eFyIyO27vEw_TFdgsAzfXROeulZaWz7adXi-r0vpKr47kpfNAcGbiWxrrXsy3U4Fiqd4SxniLZu7sjgBOUeHztRcGMheaNbpC8VzEIu-XKmWiGEWhCeQUgQSkjMrF3VAAV/s320/Beaton_.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For about the first 20 pages, I always wonder why I buy M. C. Beaton's "Death of ???" mysteries. <b><i>Death of a Ghost</i></b> was no different. I find her declarative, staccato style annoying, not only because it's the antithesis of most of the advice I read about writing. Yet, the series continues on the "best selling" charts as it approaches the 40th book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is no mystery to the success of Beaton's hapless Highland sleuth, Hamish MacBeth. The books are as funny as all get out. A walk down the high street of Lochdubh, as Hamish ponders some murder or other problem, presents a series of chuckles as he meets the residents of the small town. In <b><i>Death of a Ghost</i></b>, the reader gets a funny subplot when a minister's wife tries to hook Hamish up with her neice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don't look for any indepth characterization here. The characters of the McBeth books </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">walk their ordained path with a minimum of description and deviation. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The chuckles are of prime importance. Even McBeth's constabulary opponents play the part of foils.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, there's a mystery to be solved about who murdered whom and why. It even sports some nice twists and turns. All in all Beaton's books are more complicated than it first seems. Still, Hamish keeps to his set patterns of avoiding credit for the crimes he solves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Care to take a look at a sample and other reviews? You can find print and epub versions of <b><i>Death of a Ghost</i></b> at</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GZY2854">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-of-a-ghost-m-c-beaton/1123889663?ean=9781455558292">B&N/Nook </a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/death-of-a-ghost-4">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For once, I found a news feed useful...one about the Queen of Great Britain and Megan Markle doing a royal tour together. Not a royalist. [I'm sort of stuck in a Pantagenant mind-set.] But, <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/whats-hot/body-language-expert-reveals-truth-behind-queen-elizabeth-and-meghan-markles-relationship/ar-AAyECsa?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout"><b>this article on body language</b></a> gave me a tick for one of my characters--Pillar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, an issue book buyers of all sorts should be interested in: anti-trust law. You know that 20th century idea that no one business should control sales of a particular product, aka no monopolies. The US has a particular problem with the idea. Can anyone say Amazon? -- Anyway, seems there has been some stirrings lately, and <a href="https://www.thepassivevoice.com/how-to-fight-amazon/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThePassiveVoice+%28The+Passive+Voice%29"><b>The</b> <b>Passive Guy wrote a blog about it.</b></a></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is depressing. Oh, I'm making some progress. Finally got Cahal and Britt together again--in Chapter 12 rather than Chapter 4. Now I have to go back because I forgot to include a bit about Britt's Granny Nan's rings. [I think it's going to be an important part of the last battle at the end of the book so it was necessary.] Ugh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3snxMcT3z0EbZc444J1N9WbWJLyKBKWyrhHdTiBgKTIqNv34fI4FTmBpfz_fSKd-rqRHGoKTNtEV7dS-YPMFi0web_8CCeB75yRkKAz-i9zQnajE8cCQRk7uwLdelNxdqZNEBO8j9he0/s1600/8+TBD+magic+622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3snxMcT3z0EbZc444J1N9WbWJLyKBKWyrhHdTiBgKTIqNv34fI4FTmBpfz_fSKd-rqRHGoKTNtEV7dS-YPMFi0web_8CCeB75yRkKAz-i9zQnajE8cCQRk7uwLdelNxdqZNEBO8j9he0/s320/8+TBD+magic+622.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am making more little banners for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/There-Be-Demons-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/dp/B075Q6KJST">There Be Demons</a>. Won't getting them on Twitter yet. I'm waiting for the publisher to get the book blurb changed. [You can also download the ebook on <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/there-be-demons">kobo/Rakuten</a>.]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5***** Review: </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"</span></b><b><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">a great
adventure through a fantasy land that captures your imagination and keeps you
turning the pages to find out what happens next. Characters are well developed
and the journey we are taken on is fast paced and filled with twists and
treachery throughout."</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Feisty
Britt Kelly's life is a disaster. When her divorces her mother, her family
moves into her half-sister's apartment in the projects. Britt must adjust to a
new school and a step-mother who hates her and her younger brothers</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But
poverty and coping with a new school aren't Britt's worst problems. In the long
standing Demon Wars, the minions of Prince Vetis build a secret base in
Trebridge b<span style="color: #26282a;">ehind the Kingscourt's battle lines.
W</span></span><span style="color: #26282a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">hen she is drafted to
fight the demons with three new friends, Britt didn't know demons existed.
She's not even sure she wants to fight them.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The race is on. As the
demon forces grow, the Gargoyle Guardians of the city must teach the four teens
to use enough "Grace" as a weapon to survive. Britt's new problem:
learning to control her magical powers...in spite of Gillen, the gargoyle
leader, pissing her off with his fussy rules.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-29027505108599965682018-06-19T08:44:00.000-07:002018-06-19T08:44:01.630-07:00Getting The Demons Under Control? The Unending To-Read Pile<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A tale of this week's reading. My to-do piles got smaller this week...by four. I forced myself to read the first books on top of two piles. After several attempts to get interested, they got dumped on the trade pile. I'm now reading M. C. Beaton's <b><i>Death of a Ghost</i></b> but haven't finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Excerpt of </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Running from Demons</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still doing copy edits of <b>Running From Demons</b>. Biggest change so far? I've decided to change the title. Anyway, here's an excerpt from the first chapter where Pillar comes on Grylerrque, a demon hiding from the authorities in human guise. The novel is set some seven/eight years after <b><i><a href="http://mybook.to/ThereBeDemons">There Be Demons</a></i></b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><i>S</i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">canning
the area, Pillar tested her developing talent for reading auras. The slow dance
of different shimmering colors popping through the light bluish-green glow of
their life pulse fascinated her, but she concentrated on possible threats.
Everyone in the lobby felt like nulls to Pillar. But her eavesdropping on the mage
elders talking to her guardian told her they worried about magical attacks from
demon-kind. While no adult talked much about them, Pillar assumed demons could
camouflage themselves behind shields, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hard to find.</i> She shuddered, not wanting
to think of demons possessing people<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.
Doubt if any demons would dare to hunt here, anyway.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> T</span>he thought comforted Pillar, and
she relaxed. The waitress arrived and picked a plate off her
ladened arm to plunk it on the counter with a sigh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Pillar smiled as the waitress scooted around the counter to
the tables against the wall. “Thanks. It looks delicious.” The waitress bustled
away without looking back, and Pillar shrugged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: -5.0pt; text-indent: 40.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not wanting to dribble cheese on the new tee she’d bought
in the museum shop, Pillar leaned forward to take a bite of her toasted ham and
cheese sandwich. The gooey cheese oozed out the sides, over her fingers. She
licked her fingers and lips. The cost of adding extra cheese was worth it,
making a perfect ending to her first solo venture into Taddledon. The ride home
would be dull in comparison to the carefree day she had enjoyed. At least her
stomach wouldn't be growling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 40.3pt;">The PA
system belched news of another arriving bus, adding to the racket bouncing off
the station walls. The garbled words made no sense. Pillar ignored the
announcement as she licked her fingers clean. The tenor of the air shifted. The
hair on her nape rose. Pillar glanced back towards the benches in the lobby.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 40.3pt;">Taking
another bite of her gooey sandwich, Pillar licked her lips as she searched for
the disturbance in the station’s energy. The power became so intense even
Pillar’s weak talent felt the rising pulse. A chill crawled across her
shoulders and down her back. Pillar turned around. Her eyes locked on a
tangled-haired girl, clutching a backpack in her hands and using the wall by
the platform doors to protect her back. The girl's eyes grew wider as she
scanned the station.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pillar's frizzy hair stood at attention. A strange odor, the like of
which she'd never smelled in Osseran, wafted from the outside doors. Her
stomach churned, and Pillar dropped her no longer appetizing sandwich. </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndentCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What's going on? That girl just doesn't feel
like a normal, but she shouldn't make my
stomach want to heave.</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-89096537026860440532018-06-12T08:43:00.003-07:002018-06-12T08:46:31.008-07:00What Everyone Needs: Someone to Care<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxD4HiZNUzAvw6xkg8UUM2Gw1PrdmeNwuxU9IxzcVEISSJu91y7nm2VxTXZFPCeA0roXYlfPeAX9F9UZTnDMogZzWpUWzkfUd5t-r49q-GJtQI6y3BjnFngtGGupJ1iXGCnQrzVA7PtUgZ/s1600/Balogh+Care+_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxD4HiZNUzAvw6xkg8UUM2Gw1PrdmeNwuxU9IxzcVEISSJu91y7nm2VxTXZFPCeA0roXYlfPeAX9F9UZTnDMogZzWpUWzkfUd5t-r49q-GJtQI6y3BjnFngtGGupJ1iXGCnQrzVA7PtUgZ/s320/Balogh+Care+_.jpg" width="198" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Had fun reading Mary Balogh's </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Someone to Care. </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No I'm not going to write a review. Actually, I shouldn't even have to say it's good. Her stuff is...mostly because she masterful in setting up her characters to find someone who who will care for them as people not as a means to another goal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I simply marvel at how Balogh manages to keep her plotlines engaging [not boring], especially since they are romance [one of the most unrealistic forms of fantasy]. I think she and Laurel K. Hamilton [Anita Blake] are the only romance writers I still read from those I was reading religiously five years ago. [Balogh was an outlier since I read mostly paranormal romances.] If anything, Balogh is a leftover from my Georgette Heyer reading of the 1970s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Writers who want to write romances or include a romantic thread in their books should study how Balogh does it. Readers can just enjoy. Me? I think I'm going to dig into my Georgette Heyers for one of her less well known Regencies instead of the few I still reread regularly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[Any other Heyer fans out there? What's your favorite book? Frederica immediately comes to my mind, but there are a couple others I can't quite remember the titles of I reread off and on.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can check out what other people say about Someone to Care plus read a blurb and reviews. Find both epub and print versions at</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Someone-Care-Westcott-Novel-Balogh/dp/0399586083">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/someone-to-care-mary-balogh/1126941658">B&N/Nook </a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/someone-to-care-3">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Caught a blog by Janet Reid, agent extraordinaire, on white writers writing black characters when someone pushed the politically correct button. No wonder the alt-right calls fuming liberals "snowflakes". In this case, I think they're either fuming about the right thing in the wrong way or just wanted some media time. Whatever, <a href="https://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2018/06/white-folks-writing-characters-of-color.html"><b>here's the link</b></a> to Janet Reid's answer to a pertinent question. -- Granted I'm influenced by the fact I included black kids in classes in <i style="font-weight: bold;">There Be Demons. </i></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wasted almost a full week trying to write a battle scene for the first third of <u>Rendezvous</u> <u>with Demons</u>. Have two chapters of character and world development roughed in, have the wall of the nest broached by explosives, have Britt and Gillen secretly shadowing the Crosssings mages, but... the stupid chapter won't get written. Result, one more week without any real progress on the novel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Actually it was for a good reason. Britt and Gillen don't go in and save the day ala the calvary. I'm setting her up to be royally put down... I think. This is written on Wednesday. I'll add something more before I post this. I'm wondering myself what answer I'm going to come up with. Didn't get any more written. Good thing the blog got done on Wednessday when I finished the book. -- Yeah, have been distracted by other things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think I feel a little envious of corporate authors who get their publicity done by the company. While trying to write, I've been also juggling promotion. Came up with an ad from my artwork of Vetis. Also think I may have found a new artist to create line drawings of my characters. -- Not that I really expect it to increase my sales. You can check out the ebook of <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b> on <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075Q6KJST">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/there-be-demons-m-k-theodoratus/1127118875">B&N Nook</a></b>, and <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/there-be-demons"><b>kobo/Rakuten.</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuAdPOrn9mEBMckW0dD-SnF4vg8Nh59QpXW5PJ2ZwKA5ekjU7PxHhNSxVEeNr12Udvqfr8Xb-MQmBdEP3DPE2UE4-I2fUjlhDhNrglyeS5k3kla3-a5lkIW3rsGZy-_FU3DwMOq0VxSYj/s1600/vet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuAdPOrn9mEBMckW0dD-SnF4vg8Nh59QpXW5PJ2ZwKA5ekjU7PxHhNSxVEeNr12Udvqfr8Xb-MQmBdEP3DPE2UE4-I2fUjlhDhNrglyeS5k3kla3-a5lkIW3rsGZy-_FU3DwMOq0VxSYj/s400/vet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Artwork ad</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-86502638258546034432018-06-05T10:50:00.002-07:002018-06-05T10:50:27.799-07:00Witches, Crows and Murder Most Cozy<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImddO-KClLpVXEGRyTCFZ8IQ-bdSyKLxScbLPk_GWePVJyTh02lkQhWix3W1-RWCSgy3YV5Ig4nBQJB8KwMWEt7cOKHKmOWgQOPvE3ReSaQeU8DSCTmdhG7iJhlY0_vDs8L4IqcfkcTgt/s1600/Perry0_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImddO-KClLpVXEGRyTCFZ8IQ-bdSyKLxScbLPk_GWePVJyTh02lkQhWix3W1-RWCSgy3YV5Ig4nBQJB8KwMWEt7cOKHKmOWgQOPvE3ReSaQeU8DSCTmdhG7iJhlY0_vDs8L4IqcfkcTgt/s320/Perry0_.jpg" width="196" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Witches and Salem are almost synomyns in the US. Carol J. Perry makes good use of the convention in her cozy mystery series starring Lee Barrett, sometime TV personality. <b><i>It Takes a Coven</i></b> is an enjoyable example, so enjoyable that I decided to write a book review even though I'm on vacation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barrett's Witch City series is bubbly without being fluffy. She doesn't juggle as many characters as say Louis Penny does, but each of her secondary characters have ongoing subplots that progress from book to book. That for me is masterful writing. [Maybe because I have problems with it.] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The best thing? I think you can read the book as a stand alone. I haven't read all the books [6] in the series, but I followed the mystery action well integrated with the daily stuff...though I thought the wedding sequences missed an opportunity to be sarcatistic about US wedding preps. The "compromise on the cake" was a throw-away when common sense ruled.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Integrating plot elements so there are no loose, dangling bits can be difficult. Barrett takes her crows, modern witches, and historical witches and weaves an interesting tale of cause and effect. Some plot elements from previous books have been "put to bed" in <i style="font-weight: bold;">It Takes a Coven-</i>-which leaves me wondering what direction the next book will be taking. Guess I'll have to wait a year to find out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Check it out for yourself on <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Takes-Coven-Witch-City-Mystery/dp/1496707192">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/reviews/it-takes-a-coven-carol-j-perry/1126477614">B&N Nook</a>, or <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/it-takes-a-coven">kobo/lRakuten</a>. </b>For the record, these links include ebooks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Interesting Reading</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Writer R. Mac Wheeler takes wonderful photos. Here recently posted some wonderful close-ups of flowers. <b><a href="http://rmacwheeler.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-bit-tighter-focus.html">You can check them out here.</a> </b>He also writes some fun fantasies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An older Write Unboxed blog had a short, to the point blog on writing a synopsis. Anyone needing to write a short report can benefit from its tips. <a href="http://writerunboxed.com/2012/02/27/untitled-2-27/">Take a look.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ever wonder about what's actually in the food and care products you use? I found this interesting because so many heath articles blame inflamation for tons of bad health conditions. This one has links to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. <a href="https://theconversation.com/triclosan-a-common-antimicrobial-in-toothpaste-and-other-products-linked-to-inflammation-and-cancer-in-the-gut-97432">Click here is you want to know what is lurking in your toothpaste, maybe.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yeah, some of this weren't posted yesterday. Maybe it's another point we should all take...about how long items last on the web. You never know when a search engine might spit out one of your posts. You can't count on the ads taking up enough space to conceal things. I'm still bouncing around the web seeing what there is to see. Am really disappointed in how low search engine results have sunk in the last three-five years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWz1n8T2NlTgzZAdE5N3OdzZ1H3jx3lS_miP66FFsWVfuck-RMHUja08_P-6q4pevSVqCcpcqfaTLtqvIQS9dyjNJA43QOa9h2VkWbY6F401XVbRn3n2rqGbdVi1JJn1jbPfGDmnHUoMnR/s1600/Vetis+demon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWz1n8T2NlTgzZAdE5N3OdzZ1H3jx3lS_miP66FFsWVfuck-RMHUja08_P-6q4pevSVqCcpcqfaTLtqvIQS9dyjNJA43QOa9h2VkWbY6F401XVbRn3n2rqGbdVi1JJn1jbPfGDmnHUoMnR/s320/Vetis+demon.jpg" width="226" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have been playing on Fivver, looking for something interesting to promote my books. Found an artist who might be able to create pictures of my characters in my demon books. Here's the one of Vetis, my arch villen, who proclaims in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/There-Be-Demons-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/dp/B075Q6KJST"><b><i>There Be Demons:</i></b></a> "The Angeli have lost the war. They just don't know it yet." Now have to figure out how to use the picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next illustration? Britt or maybe a group of demons?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Writing is going slow. Have been working for a week on my first demon fight in Rendezvous. Today I just got to the Freemages blowing a hole in the wall around the demon compound...in Docket's Diggings from <b><i>Noticing Jamilla</i></b>. Still, haven't gotten to the big fight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A *chuckle*. When I "drafted" the book, Britt linking up with Cahal in Pacifica happened in the fourth chapter. I'm working on Chapter 10 on a demon fight I didn't contemplate until Britt got off the bus in the mountains. That fourth chapter was from Pillar's [Running from Demons ?, thinking of title change...] pov. Still have a major fight with a demon biker gang before they even get to Cascadia.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-37929192488219593882018-05-29T12:07:00.002-07:002018-05-29T12:07:29.973-07:00 Magical Adventure Sparks Up the Heat on a Summer's Day<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's Summer Time</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and the Living is Lazy</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At least that's the way I'm feeling. So, I'm not always going to have a book review each week. In stead of taking a vacation, I'm just going to review when I finish a book...that isn't a reread.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yeah, I'm itching to reread some books again, and there's a good chance I've already</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> reviewed them once. The fact that my eyes prefer print to screen has a fair amount to do with this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, there's Naomi Novik's book </span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic;">Uprooted</b><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, which had me staying up late again. Really, liked the stolid, earthy [like soil and growing things] peasantness of the book. The story worked on so many different levels, including the enthralling adventure to defeat a devouing evil presence. Though I really enjoyed the depiction of the fumbling elite the most.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Grimm-like tale traces hostage story much like Beauty and the Beast, only with Slavic overtones. All sorts of evil dangers lurk and emerge from the Woods. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Agnieszka</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;">, the protagonist, is unexpectedly chosen as tribute to the wizard keeping the evil at bay from the peasants. The girl, then, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;">becomes a witch in her own right. Together, the two take on the evil at the heart of the forest when a prince of the court stirs up an ant's nest of trouble. I loved out Angeieszka had no use for the pomposity of the court.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;">No, this isn't a political diatribe. Novik is too masterful a rival for that. Her descriptions are deep and involved. There's enough adventure and magic to satisfy even the most supeficial action reader. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Best is the depth she gives to her characters. Many of the figures in the book are first presented as stereotypes, but Novik soon gives them a twist that make them three-dimensional. The twists and turns in the action keep the reader reading past the time they should be yawning as Agnieszka is forced to leave her beloved forest home, then to go to the court, and return again for the final showdown.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can check things out for yourself on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Uprooted-Naomi-Novik-ebook/dp/B00KUQIU7O">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/uprooted-naomi-novik/1119702245">B&N Nook</a>, and <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/uprooted-9">kobo/Rakuten.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am I right in thinking there's a bias for reading among the readers of this blog? Whatever, I'm biased towards reading, especially to young children. Science even supports my bias. The Passive Guy posted a blog on what goes on in a kid's brain when they're told a story in different media. <a href="https://www.thepassivevoice.com/whats-going-on-in-your-childs-brain-when-you-read-them-a-story/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThePassiveVoice+%28The+Passive+Voice%29"><b>You can check it out here.</b></a></span><b> </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Do you have problems getting pertinent answers to your research questions. I've been getting complaints from writer friends that their search results have too many ads. Know this is a big topic to argue about over a cup of coffee. Still, you might want to look at Kristine Pope's blog: <b><a href="https://thewritelife.com/research-writing-topics/">Do Your Homework: How to Research Your Writing Topics</a>.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An interesting take on the similarities of storylines. The BBC did a piece of the basic story plotlines.<b> <a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180525-every-story-in-the-world-has-one-of-these-six-basic-plots">Take a look here.</a></b> Writers will find some interesting takes on story arcs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">The business stuff of writing is sticking in my craw at the moment. Sometimes it seems like I do nothing but support work, but I'm getting in 500 to 750 new words a day on </span><u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Rendevous</u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">, even though some of that is addition/revision. Then, there are the few days when I get over a 1000 written. Think only a slow writer can appreciate the sweat that goes onto that grindstone. Still, it keeps me out of mischief.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did get a new cover ordered for an old free short story: <b><i><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65689">Cavern Between Worlds</a></i></b>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_T_jp1oPVSVucEemg6pnKEdzcVJEHzDOaGk2-SbuBt5W1oUdn6EkFyXlgkrIIwrb-markO-HzM_MDNOvt19pvYKAu1vbk7FJnY-zjxCY5DqbncqxtkdBANihtPwNKz9-U_ZGdGnJwYdji/s1600/New++Cav+Cov+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_T_jp1oPVSVucEemg6pnKEdzcVJEHzDOaGk2-SbuBt5W1oUdn6EkFyXlgkrIIwrb-markO-HzM_MDNOvt19pvYKAu1vbk7FJnY-zjxCY5DqbncqxtkdBANihtPwNKz9-U_ZGdGnJwYdji/s320/New++Cav+Cov+2.jpeg" width="239" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's a Far Isles Half-Elven story. The politics is at a minimum here as two Half-Elven warriors investigate why all the animal life is disappearing on an isolated island. Can't wait to see what the artist does with the concept.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> I'm wondering if I dare call it a romance. Anyone have an opinion? -- </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think I have to rewrite the story too but you can check it out at </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65689" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Smashwords </a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cavern-between-worlds-m-k-theodoratus/1104561368" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Nook</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I'm also working on gifs for my free stories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Copyedits of <u>On the Run</u> are happenin, sort of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fun part? I'm exploring what Fivver artists can do with some illustrations of the characters. Maybe I'll have something to share for my next blog. Vetis for <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b> is my first trial.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-82624210525138738322018-05-22T09:33:00.000-07:002018-05-23T15:20:38.305-07:00Conflict Among Allies, When do the Ends Justify the Means<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlvoEhP-KLEX5e0ONqopLAxh9EFpw7DEx_lZNoyYzLXGJGxQvjQoXYUZZhXOVO4P6UtXPRLZMZpKXujyMXcMoxIhJQbMQ5rv5nddhG8FfxQnudjJwrU0m6OzjOqkWZeINcr15kOpWVnPJ/s1600/Penny_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghlvoEhP-KLEX5e0ONqopLAxh9EFpw7DEx_lZNoyYzLXGJGxQvjQoXYUZZhXOVO4P6UtXPRLZMZpKXujyMXcMoxIhJQbMQ5rv5nddhG8FfxQnudjJwrU0m6OzjOqkWZeINcr15kOpWVnPJ/s1600/Penny_.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Louise Penny's recent Superintendent Gamache novel, <b><i>Glass Houses</i></b>, is a tale ripped from the opiod headlines. More important, Penny gives writers a wonderful example of how to mine the backstory of an enduring series to create depth in her latest book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Penny has already characterized the small hamlet of Three Pines as an idyllic hideaway from the bustle of the wider world, in this case Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I even think I remembered that bootleggers in the 1920s used Three Pines to smuggle booze into the Prohibition US. Or, maybe I'm just reading info into a previous crime. The deep woods on both sides of the Vermont/Quebec border are the perfect place to hide all sorts of nefarious activities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In <b><i>Glass Houses,</i></b> opiods are the cargo most terrible, and the hidie-hole in the church has been resurected. But illegal drugs aren't the only problem the book contends with. Penny is an adept at spinning several plotlines at once and makes head-hopping among various characters seem the best way to share plot points and feelings. No movie/tv paradigms here. Just a thick juicy mystery novel set inside a courtroom procedural--with a touch of creepiesness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Penny is a masterful weaver of plot points and emotions. More intriguing for a writer, she works with several communities who touch each other much like a Venn diagram--the Surety, the villagers, and occassional outsiders. Penny creates characters with so many dimensions, readers seem to return to Three Pines to find out what the secondary characters are doing as well as trying to solve the crime before the big reaveal. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am thinking that many readers wonder why more communities aren't as caring as Three Pines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you like to read a sample and/or other reviews, you can check</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Houses-Novel-Inspector-Gamache-ebook/dp/B01N9ZULCJ">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/glass-houses-louise-penny/1125961029">B&N/Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/glass-houses-19">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Passive Guy published an interesting take on why Barnes & Noble and other brick & mortar book stores are losing out to Amazon, <b><a href="https://www.thepassivevoice.com/we-shopped-at-barnes-noble-and-saw-a-key-shortcoming-thats-holding-it-back-in-its-battle-against-amazon/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThePassiveVoice+%28The+Passive+Voice%29">the main reason. </a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I slowly duck my head. We go to Barnes and Noble for coffee about once a month. They really have some good desserts even if they serve Starbucks coffee....But, we usually spend between $50 and $100 between the two of us. [Yes, it's nice to be truely middle class.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhN0pVGeWuEqplRPsQ9E5GMoBIg7tTyeBwVa3pk_VaJ_EgOTGrSRWrJcZzkYnthcLq9hjxON8zV81Jfl-Pf1adxn3HmBDg9fKXVYfqI0BYF7EKRS-uAVpHkjv-8egRLHH3RnY3AeoRqFJr/s1600/Thesml+Ghostcrow_new+%2528109x175%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhN0pVGeWuEqplRPsQ9E5GMoBIg7tTyeBwVa3pk_VaJ_EgOTGrSRWrJcZzkYnthcLq9hjxON8zV81Jfl-Pf1adxn3HmBDg9fKXVYfqI0BYF7EKRS-uAVpHkjv-8egRLHH3RnY3AeoRqFJr/s1600/Thesml+Ghostcrow_new+%2528109x175%2529.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I really admire mystery/suspense writers who manage to write an enthralling book like <b><i>Glass Houses</i></b>. I feel envious. I have some short stories that I once hoped would be the start of mystery short story series, sort of like Isaac Asimov's sleuth club where the waiter mostly solved the puzzle: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> --- Dumdie Swartz [<b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U5RTMC0">The Ghostcrow</a></i></b> and <b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K1S9SMM">The Ghost in the Closet</a></i></b>]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> --- the Highgrim/Allsdipp duo [<b><i>Doom Comes for a Sold Soul</i></b>] whose meeting with Britt's [<b><i>There Be Demons</i></b>] Granny Nan has grown mold in my computer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> --- I could also include Trapper Tremaine who's stuck after getting captured because I couldn't figure out how he could prove his worth and be accepted by the village. Nothing published here yet... or, maybe, ever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's not all. I think if I double checked, I'd find starts of Half-Elven stories that lack an executed mystery. Yeah, I think books should not only solve a characters' problems but provide a puzzle too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Rendezvous</b> continues to progress, though slowly. My outline's first skirmish is turning out to be the turning point battle with Britt feeling terribly alone and isolated, similar feelings but very different. But...I'm sort of a third of the way through [pushing halfway through, depending on how useful my notes are], and the first big battle is coming up, and Cahal hasn't even joined Britt yet...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-65592769175787382122018-05-15T11:07:00.001-07:002018-05-15T11:07:20.606-07:00What Problems CanYou Solve When You Raise the Dead?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rin Chupeco's <b><i>The Bone Witch </i></b>gave my linear, little mind a workout. Was kind of nice. Just when everything around me seems to be sinking to lowest common denominator, someone like Chepeco comes along. Nothing like flash backs and flash forwards, different cultural perspectives, and multiple viewpoints set in different time periods to keep the reader's brain cells bouncing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think I would have put down the book during the first chapter except for the opening statement from the protagonist's point of veiw. Have you ever seen a better hook than: "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise.” </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Oh oh, the main character can raise the dead. Necromancy usually leads to no good, but the character was depicted positively. Obviously, a puzzle waits for the reader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At first, the book seems like just another magical apprentice in training after Tea, the protagonist of the book, is discovered by a more experienced bone witch or necromancer. Chupeco quickly forcesTea to make life or death decisions each time she uses her magic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Descriptions are often lovely in this book. How many scenes have described magic being worked? Here's Chupeco's take: "With shaking hands, I drew the Heartsruin in the space between us. The red flowed from my finger and followed the path my hand took, staining the breeze with every movement, so that when I was done, the symbol stood before me, written in my own blood. I felt that welcome rush of relief and elation as the magic filled me up, infused itself into the rune."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Simple English sentence structure the above isn't. But it throbs with imagery and emotion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Descriptions are especially important when world building. Chupeco's magic system is both simple and complicated as it is concentrated in the heartstones all adults in her world seem to wear. Her magic organized and easy to understand in spite of the twists as Tea delves deeper into her powers. Chupeco even makes the strength of Tea's magic one of her weaknesses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">If you want to sample the richly rewarding book, you can go to</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bone-Witch-Rin-Chupeco/product-reviews/1492635820">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bone-witch-rin-chupeco/1123725845">Barnes & Nobel/Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-bone-witch">Rakuten/kobo</a> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have you heard of "cockygate"? A romance writer trademarked the word "cocky" and sent letters to other other writers to change their titles and asked Amazon to take down listings that didn't. Yes, there is a brouhaha. Here's a link to the <a href="https://www.thepassivevoice.com/trademark-shenanigans-weighing-in-on-cockygate"><b>Passive Guy's link</b></a> and the <b><a href="https://accrispin.blogspot.com/2018/05/trademark-shenanigans-weighing-in-on.html">Writers Beware blog.</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Janet Reid, my dream agent if I were a successful traditionally published writer, had an interest discuss of characters and character flaws. She even sounded neutral about Dath Vader. <a href="https://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2018/05/grief-as-character-flaw.html">T<b>ake a look here.</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>Rendezvous with Demons</u>. Just when I thought my writing might turn productive [a 1000 words a day], I hit another boggle. Not write's block <i>per se,</i> but a mess of dialog that had no anchor. Oh, there was a little bit of setting...but my go to search engines seems to be overrun with ads from sites wanting to sell me stuff related to my search. Though California </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCstzz6XQ4M0_2_WjWGyPOOHJV2NtywjUKU0mRbn8KssPgc9aWKFnWEBCGcq0Qg7pUz6PvZhbGb48QwAPgnM_E3Jiyqxfz6JW0caKii7P48b9YmG-kbJ0jdfuTfLTEqeujKTmk9ZrZ3W3Y/s1600/New+Jamilla%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1126" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCstzz6XQ4M0_2_WjWGyPOOHJV2NtywjUKU0mRbn8KssPgc9aWKFnWEBCGcq0Qg7pUz6PvZhbGb48QwAPgnM_E3Jiyqxfz6JW0caKii7P48b9YmG-kbJ0jdfuTfLTEqeujKTmk9ZrZ3W3Y/s320/New+Jamilla%25281%2529.jpg" width="225" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was specifically written in the search parameters, I got results from places like New Mexico and South Africa and points in between. Am willing to make a "donation" if I can find the data I want, but think the commercialization of the web is going too far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh. How do I get the best of "writer's block"? I write dialog for a pertinent scene. Before I get 500 words written, I'm going back to insert pertinent facts...description and narration and characters' reactions...as is appropriate for close third person viewpoint. I also use a lot of internal dialog to sum up loads of narative. Sounds good, but I'm still slow as molasses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still setting up Britt, as an adult, getting ready to fight the demons at Dockets Diggings with Gillen and Cahal with the Crossings Freemages. So far, after his dripping blood, first appearance, Gillen's been sleeping a lot in shrunken form. Cassy Mae and her grandmother are long gone. [If you are curious about their encounter with demons, you can visit <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IY9ZY9Q"><b>Amazon</b></a>, <b><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/noticing-jamilla-m-k-theodoratus/1126059580">B&N/Nook</a></b>, and <b><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/noticing-jamilla-a-tale-of-andor">Rakuten/kobo</a></b>. It's free in the US and the equivalent of a buck in other countries. If you live in another country you might try <b><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/412704">Smashwords</a></b> and see if you can download it free there.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>On the Run</u> is progressing. I have the copyedits. All I have to do is transfer them. Guess I won't be marketing much.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-84539941049415421912018-05-08T14:21:00.000-07:002018-05-08T14:21:39.478-07:00Shine On, Gibbous Moon Until the Monsters Rise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhumUogfHItUzoQEbDjS8U4mEyo0KZDjP9tdCiERH9zfBD2siEm-kuk_JJaWoTqWrhwW88T-CAJEk9XFaajqs6Oe-wr3G9nBAxJ7DZMmh7dTqwWC9PXkZxXpDuaiLRwK1z3gTKj4o56mC/s1600/Lincoln+Child_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="305" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhumUogfHItUzoQEbDjS8U4mEyo0KZDjP9tdCiERH9zfBD2siEm-kuk_JJaWoTqWrhwW88T-CAJEk9XFaajqs6Oe-wr3G9nBAxJ7DZMmh7dTqwWC9PXkZxXpDuaiLRwK1z3gTKj4o56mC/s320/Lincoln+Child_.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Took a creepy ride on the paranormal side with Lincoln Child's <i style="font-weight: bold;">Full Wolf Moon, </i>If you take one, you'll get a bit of a science fiction explanation for werewolfism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Never read a Jeremy Logan book that I can remember, though I've read several Pendergasts. Logan, the protagonist in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">this book, felt flat, not quite unidimensional, but almost. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Too many other suspense and thriller writers do a much better job of giving their main characters or sleuths more depth for Child to get top marks for this book. Not that Logan is unlikable. But all the descriptions of him feel like rehash. Example: as many times as I have read about Heather Graham's Krewe of Hunter characters, there always some little twist in their backgrounds that is new in most of the books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What annoyed me the most? Child's secondary characters were often more interesting than Logan. Still am wondering what the heck worries the guy at the core.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the same time, the book has enough hooks to keep the reader reading even though this book is easy to put down for another task, like going to sleep. There is a true puzzle wrapped in the plot, complete with a couple of red herrings. Problem: I prefer more twists and turns in the plots of the mystery suspense I read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The descriptions of the Adirondacks' deep woods pleased me most. Never visited them though I've driven through the Catskills. [If they're part of the same mountain system, that last statement needs to be adjusted. I'm not an easterner, so I don't know.] I loved the descriptions of small isolated dwellings surrounded by dark forests. The location adds a scary dimension to the vacation ambiance usually associated with the place. If you enjoy well written atmospheres with adequate craftsmanship, Child's descriptions are worth the price of admission.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the end, I found this an okay, entertaining read but found it very easy to find a bookmark when it was time to go to bed. If you want to read more reviews and/or a sample the book, you can look on</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Full-Wolf-Moon-Novel-Jeremy/dp/0307473767">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/full-wolf-moon-lincoln-child/1124690699">Barnes&Noble/Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/full-wolf-moon-3">Rakuten/kobo</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everyone can use tips on improving their writing. Came across one one by Mark Nichol about making lists that had me reading the whole thing. You might want to take a look at:</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.dailywritingtips.com/a-guide-to-in-line-lists/?mc_cid=d8b98ea7e9&mc_eid=c68e9f29ff">A Guide to In-Line Lists.</a></span> </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This should be especially useful for those who write business or school reports.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have been worrying about what my climatic human vs demon fight would be for <i>Rendezvous.</i> How was I ever going to squeeze out enough words for a full length novel. I think the problem will solve itself. My chapter 4 just became five chapters by the time all the action was mapped out. It may be shorter than the first two, but it only has to be over 100 pages and I'm almost there already. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kfmxLvpvsLWv38WVZzigNHPHZdzlRoXdStjRCWIs_kAZxFjZEUUDnCZb-13o0v0pJ51RRZAuXfKMk7g-XsLJwGWVXfLuFixQVrc5YhR0RhVFGsVcqS3eVulw7ETT2wUUp_f_afnEz3M3/s1600/New+Jamilla%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1126" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kfmxLvpvsLWv38WVZzigNHPHZdzlRoXdStjRCWIs_kAZxFjZEUUDnCZb-13o0v0pJ51RRZAuXfKMk7g-XsLJwGWVXfLuFixQVrc5YhR0RhVFGsVcqS3eVulw7ETT2wUUp_f_afnEz3M3/s320/New+Jamilla%25281%2529.jpg" width="225" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I find it interesting at how my chapters grow. What I thought would be the middle of my book is now seeming to be the final confrontation. At first, I thought <i>Rendezvous with Demons </i>was going to by equally from Britt and Pillar's point of view. The first scene I thought of for the book was their meeting in Taddledon. Have a good 10 chapters written and/or mapped out before the first major demon fight--still in Pacifica. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guess the book's Britt's again. <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b> started out a mainly from Gillen's point of view because his problem training of the teen draftees is what motivated me to write the book i the first place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 99c special for <b><i>There Be Demons </i></b>went well in spite of glitches. I broke well into the top-100 in all three of my sub-categories. My author rank had never been higher either. Now everything is sinking. One odd result: had lots of downloads of the free Andor short stories. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Got my </span><b><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Noticing-Jamilla-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/dp/B00IY9ZY9Q">Noticing Jamilla</a></i><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">,</i></b><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a free Andor short story,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> cover photoshoped to make the cover image more demonic. It's subtle but I'm hoping it makes a difference. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-24619185245015556872018-05-02T15:26:00.000-07:002018-05-02T15:26:49.514-07:00Escaping the Bad Guys With a Spiritual Twist<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AprLk5xROSpefH5Zas2Cks_BPGGul4EailDmHJRF089cj6p9KIWK6oRHpMczYZhZWo4ErK8AfgHzXqkY6jcSzyaAshYGIJ3k6XfCN3u03okoup_zf2ZNg1iD18oKtYlOw1GgMEC3P6Bc/s1600/Gillman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AprLk5xROSpefH5Zas2Cks_BPGGul4EailDmHJRF089cj6p9KIWK6oRHpMczYZhZWo4ErK8AfgHzXqkY6jcSzyaAshYGIJ3k6XfCN3u03okoup_zf2ZNg1iD18oKtYlOw1GgMEC3P6Bc/s320/Gillman.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read Dorothy Gilman's <b><i>Incident at Badamya</i></b> this week, a very nice teen, coming of age suspense novel. Still, I got a big</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> laugh out of it </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">for a serious novel set in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Asia just before the Korean War. The Communist Chinese are inciting revolt in Burma just as Gen Ferris' missionary father kills himself and tells her to find her way to America via Rangoon</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. The laugh came when I pulled the book from my to-read pile, a brand new novel with a price of $4.95 on the cover. I'm not even going to guess how long it was gathering dust on my </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">shelf.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, Dorothy Gillman isn't known for her YA books. I've only seen her marketed as adult fiction...with ladies of a "certain" age as her main characters</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. The adventures of Mrs. Pollifax</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> is her most famous series. I prefer Madam Karitska, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the Clarvoyent Countess mysteries. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Incident at Badamya</i></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> is one of her several stand alone novels. Of course, they are all mostly out of print and not in e-format. I think they're worth a little time in digging up a couple if you're looking for well-crafted mystery/suspense/adventure/light romance novel. Not many other books measure up to Gilman's writing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After her father kills himself, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gen Ferris must find her way through insurgent lines to return to her aunt in America, but she is captured on her way to the river ferry that'd take her to Rangoon. The river ferry doesn't land in her village as usual, but when she tries to catch it coming back down the river, she's captured by the Red Chinese. She is trapped behind enemy lines with some other European captives. Suspense builds as she and her bickering fellow prisoners figured out how to escape. Of course, nothing goes as planned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The book gives the reader a sense of traditional Burmese country life, before the place became Myanmar. The Buddist mysticisim, though different from her usual European turn, gives a thought provoking and educational aura to the book. You'll also get a feel for the rhythms of Burmese life from her multi-sense descriptions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, Gilman can't be found in e-format. You can read more about the book on <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Incident-at-Badamya-Dorothy-Gilman/dp/0449217213">Amazon</a>. </b>Used paperbacks are still available.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Rendezvous</b> surprised me again. Couldn't wait for Britt Kelly and Gillen, the gargoyle, to meet again. Dreamed of this big emotional scene of gore oozing every where. Got it written. Three pages of matter of fact back story, explanation of why Gillen is wounded, and some emotion, but not much. What a let down. But then, Britt's rather stern of purpose, when she isn't mad. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today shot down my chance of a big demon fight, but I'm going back to the chapter tomorrow. To see if, the Markham's from Docket's Diggings can fit into the flow. [<b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Noticing-Jamilla-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/dp/B00IY9ZY9Q">Noticing Jamilla</a>. </i></b>Cassy Mae is long gone from the town, and I assume her grandmother is too. Nothing like having life-force sucking demons controlling your town.]</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFb9v-2Cb4l2mxouss3sQVFhsueJEs69_NqnaWKFnQqIROk7jYekEkd83QemW5xuZFDpoQYS2imghLV3Qg25a9JbfBaU0VhduaDQl64py-MahriYRFOZMCpgf-FAQzrp4Bqoew4wY64B59/s1600/sml+use+cv+art+%2528156+x+250%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFb9v-2Cb4l2mxouss3sQVFhsueJEs69_NqnaWKFnQqIROk7jYekEkd83QemW5xuZFDpoQYS2imghLV3Qg25a9JbfBaU0VhduaDQl64py-MahriYRFOZMCpgf-FAQzrp4Bqoew4wY64B59/s1600/sml+use+cv+art+%2528156+x+250%2529.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Got another Five Star Review for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/There-Be-Demons-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/dp/B075Q6KJST"><b><i>There Be Demons</i></b>:</a></span><br />
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<a class="a-link-normal" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RFP9ZI1H7IV76/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B075Q6KJST" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c45500; cursor: pointer; outline: 0px;" title="5.0 out of 5 stars"><i class="a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating" data-hook="review-star-rating" style="background-image: url("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/AUIClients/AmazonUIBaseCSS-sprite_1x-7233320d393c05a5508cf7d579641c4b327cbda4._V2_.png"); background-position: -5px -368px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 18px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; width: 80px;"><span class="a-icon-alt" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: inherit; height: 18px; left: auto; line-height: normal; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: auto; width: 80px;">stars</span></i></a><span class="a-letter-space" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 0.385em;"></span><a class="a-size-base a-link-normal review-title a-color-base a-text-bold" data-hook="review-title" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RFP9ZI1H7IV76/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B075Q6KJST" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 19px !important; text-decoration-line: none;">There are no Elf kind here!</a></div>
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<span class="a-size-base a-color-secondary review-byline" data-hook="review-author" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85, 85, 85) !important; line-height: 19px !important;"><span class="a-color-secondary" style="box-sizing: border-box;">By</span><span class="a-letter-space" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 0.385em;"></span><a class="a-size-base a-link-normal author" data-hook="review-author" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AG5LAPBHTRVMUSN53NA2JZQXPCLA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pdp?ie=UTF8" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066c0; line-height: 19px !important; text-decoration-line: none;">David A Fouchey</a></span><span class="a-declarative" data-action="cr-popup" data-cr-popup="{"width":"340","title":"Help","url":"/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=cm_cr_dp_bdg_help?ie=UTF8&nodeId=14279681&pop-up=1#tr","height":"340"}" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span><span class="a-letter-space" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 0.385em;"></span><span class="a-size-base a-color-secondary review-date" data-hook="review-date" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(85, 85, 85) !important; line-height: 19px !important;">on May 1, 2018</span></div>
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<a class="a-size-mini a-link-normal a-color-secondary" data-hook="format-strip" href="https://www.amazon.com/There-Be-Demons-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/product-reviews/B075Q6KJST/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_fmt?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&formatType=current_format" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066c0; font-size: 11px !important; line-height: 1.465 !important; text-decoration-line: none;">Format: Kindle Edition</a><i aria-label="|" class="a-icon a-icon-text-separator" style="background-color: #dddddd; background-image: url("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/AUIClients/AmazonUIBaseCSS-sprite_1x-7233320d393c05a5508cf7d579641c4b327cbda4._V2_.png"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 14px; line-height: 0; margin: -2px 0.67375em 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 1px;"><span class="a-icon-alt" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-size: 1px; height: 1px; left: -9999px; line-height: 1px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: auto; width: 1px;">|</span></i><span class="a-declarative" data-action="reviews:filter-action:push-state" data-reviews:filter-action:push-state="{}" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a class="a-link-normal" data-reftag="cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_rvwer" data-reviews-state-param="{"pageNumber":"1","reviewerType":"avp_only_reviews"}" href="https://www.amazon.com/There-Be-Demons-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/product-reviews/B075Q6KJST/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_rvwer?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=avp_only_reviews" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0066c0; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="a-size-mini a-color-state a-text-bold" data-hook="avp-badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(196, 85, 0) !important; font-size: 11px !important; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 1.465 !important;">Verified Purchase</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-base review-text" data-hook="review-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px !important;">Whats not to like about a rollicking good story involving Teens teaming with Gargoyles to fight invading Demons? It was fun to see her use Gargoyles as the supernatural helpers of mortals in protecting the Mortal Lands from Demon-kind instead of the usual Elves, Fairies and Dwarves. Was a nice change of pace.</span></div>
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<span class="a-size-base review-text" data-hook="review-body" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19px !important;">The review kind of made me sad. I'm still thinking of revising one of my Far Isles Half-Elven manuscripts--Dark Solstice. Mariah is still my second-favorite character, and she's been sitting in my computer since I published Vengeance.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-56193924160683637722018-04-24T13:23:00.002-07:002018-04-24T13:23:34.927-07:00A Clausterphobic Tangle of Hardships to Be Endured<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuUtzcofNkLbZ89eD0T6P-lE-mNdmQu8waYNb6tFzkvUiwrhyMa0XQqfUEVhWHNcaW9f7yliDjQ31bC6Cxso9jiMncpSbBlcUEBKWv5AM86SfjysMgyCR6x90qM0_633bY83VyA3JXfUK/s1600/Judy+Fong+Bates_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="332" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsuUtzcofNkLbZ89eD0T6P-lE-mNdmQu8waYNb6tFzkvUiwrhyMa0XQqfUEVhWHNcaW9f7yliDjQ31bC6Cxso9jiMncpSbBlcUEBKWv5AM86SfjysMgyCR6x90qM0_633bY83VyA3JXfUK/s320/Judy+Fong+Bates_.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last week I tried to find something different in my reading pile. I discovered Judy Fong Bates' <i style="font-weight: bold;">Midnight at the Dragon Cafe. </i>Lots of good things have been said about this book since it was published in 2005, but the book had surprisingly weak reviews. All the mechanics of good writing a novel were there, but it felt flat to me too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In one sense, a Chinese iimmigrant family's struggle in small Canadian company town town provides a powerful insight into social isolation and self repression. The family--father, mother, and Su-Jenn/"Annie"--escaped from Chinese Communist rule, only to live in one room above a small greasy spoon diner that catered to working class customers. The parents are estranged, and their main point of interaction is their pride and love for their daughter, who becomes more and more Canadian over the course of the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the same time, the book is more than a routine immigrant rags to relative riches story. The books reads like a tale of peasant endurance, though the mother was originally rich by Chinese standards of the 1950s. It's a coming of age story were the M/C's childhood blinders fray under disappointments and tragedies to grow into understanding and acceptance. The clear, uncomplicated writing style reinforced Su-Jen's growing awareness of the secrets around her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This fictional memoir had me in a bind. I don't think of myself as an emotional person, but I found the story hiding behind a polite, yet tearful mask. Yet, the story felt one dimentional to me. Yeah, I know all about cultural differences and the importance of "face" in Chinese culture. I realize the book was written from a kid's point of view. But. But. But. I couldn't accept that there wasn't some greater depth to the inherent tragedies of the story line. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In short, I found this a non-engrossing book. I appreciated it. But, I had to force myself to finish it, almost like a school assignment. Like I was doing something for "the good of my soul" rather than reading for pleasure and/or insight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can read more about the book on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Dragon-Cafe-Novel-Awards/dp/1582431892"><b><span style="color: #660000;">Amazon</span></b></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Sorry, but there isn't an ebook.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Amazon has been getting an increasing amount of flack for their arbitrary review policy--mostly, deleting all accounts which their bots thinks are taking payment for book reviews. Anne R. Allen wrote a recent blog detailing this review policy: <b><a href="http://annerallen.com/2018/04/amazon-paid-reviews/"><span style="color: #660000;">Authors Beware: Amazon Gets Medieval on Paid and Traded Reviews</span></a>. </b>Included is a huge warning about paying for book reviews. More important, if you want to safe-guard your reviews [and maybe your account] you might check out the link.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I actually got new writing added to the third book in my Demon War trilogy. While I'm not doing a "happy dance", it still feels good. I have two chapters after splitting the long first chapter so I could have backstory from both Britt and Cahal from <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b>. I also added some action to both of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The original chapter is now Chapter 4 and is in need of some major editing. Can't wait for a badly wounded Gillen falling through Britt's old apartment door. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9n1yf4ZAIsGZ8gnKTzTCgIexIr7-hi4zXrAEO6tW-oB04kDACq4NYdNGLNMCtOJzxStldxKX00cLXFmOz_2McGQiOMU-Rk_Zq9TCwtbl9CmgPW7T44WNQRWzv9tFbPVt8lyOMqaOOMW7h/s1600/Demon+eyes+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9n1yf4ZAIsGZ8gnKTzTCgIexIr7-hi4zXrAEO6tW-oB04kDACq4NYdNGLNMCtOJzxStldxKX00cLXFmOz_2McGQiOMU-Rk_Zq9TCwtbl9CmgPW7T44WNQRWzv9tFbPVt8lyOMqaOOMW7h/s320/Demon+eyes+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next big decision is what happens when Britt hauls Gillen off to Crossings ,where her Granny Nan's house is located. I think I've already decided in the back of my mind that most of the chapters will be from a grown up Britt's point of view.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, yeah. Vetis and Grylerrque have prominent places in the story line. Basically, I'm going to have three romatic couples. How I'm going to write that I don't have the slightest idea. I don't do relationships easily, especially when they turn "smoochie".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The picture above was in some stock art I bought rights to. One of the busy-work things I've got to do next week is to find the contract to see if I can have the pic photoshopped to reflect the image I described for Vetis who is one of my brief viewpoint characters in Rendezvous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, a heads up. Wooden Pants is doing a 99c special on the <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b> ebook on 27-8 April and 1 May. I know it's going to be on <a href="http://mybook.to/ThereBeDemons"><b><span style="color: #660000;">Amazon</span></b></a>. You might see if the price also changed on <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/there-be-demons"><b><span style="color: #660000;">kobo/Rakuten</span></b></a> and <b><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1295154326"><span style="color: #660000;">iTunes/iBooks.</span></a></b></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-21560610085353113662018-04-17T10:04:00.002-07:002018-04-17T10:04:42.581-07:00It's All Blowing on the Wind, for Good or Ill<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Happened to grab Nevada Barr's <b><i>Ill Wind</i></b>, an </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgT1AeXYTHMvBqq6qKTyLYuwJJt_Ztbnpwv0KQO5z3rrz_5NPLA0gPVAM-nNp23Nfxtb6NMMsqH5ESdUqMBidy0117EaMltZ-mxwcTxcWS80wAjucEKslX3UmuaecVKVOUUeXjqZ5aOAty/s1600/Nevada+Barr_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgT1AeXYTHMvBqq6qKTyLYuwJJt_Ztbnpwv0KQO5z3rrz_5NPLA0gPVAM-nNp23Nfxtb6NMMsqH5ESdUqMBidy0117EaMltZ-mxwcTxcWS80wAjucEKslX3UmuaecVKVOUUeXjqZ5aOAty/s320/Nevada+Barr_.jpg" width="189" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">older Anne Pigeon mystery, off my to-read pile. Who knows how long it'd been buried there?. But it's about another Colorado localle, Mesa Verde National Park.The book really coveyed the wind-swept atmosphere of the Southwest plateaus I remember from my visits there. I most remember Mesa Verde for its isolation, in spite of all the other tourists running around the place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[No. I am not on an intentional Colorado reading kick.]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this third book in the series, Pigeon has just been transferred to Mesa Verde, so recent an addition to the staff that she must live in a "dorm situation" with uncomfotable roommates until permanent, private housing is available. As she gets to know the people around her, Barr uses the time to plant a number of red herrings among the clues. The result is an intricate mystery with several interesting subplots. Perhaps the most interesting--a fellow rangers dwarf step-daughter who provides one of the up-beat notes in the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Was surprised to find myself labeling <b style="font-style: italic;">Ill Wind </b>a cozy even though it doesn't have cutzie stuff connected to it. It's all in the development of the characters. Barr takes her time to describe them and their inter-relationships before she gets down to the serious stuff--solving the murders. The reader gets a real feel for living in an isolated spot, over an hour from towns, and how people can grate on others perople's nerves. Barr makes these characters so real that readers root for them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, there are the settings. You can almost feel the cool night winds as you read. If you're looking for loads of background about the Anazazi, the old ones who built the abandoned southwestern US towns, you'll have to go elsewhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read a sample and more reviews on</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Anna-Pigeon-Nevada-Barr/dp/0425197255">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ill-wind-nevada-barr/1100548743">Barnes & Nobel/Nook </a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ill-wind-1">kobo/Rakuten</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This blog, <a href="http://www.fictorians.com/2018/04/13/when-a-pantser-revises/"><b>When a Pantser Revises</b></a>, by Chris Marra made me pause. As a writer, I'm a panster trying to reform into an outliner. Marrs's an unapoligic panster, a writer who writes without an outline. Writers can find the blog useful for its revising tips. Readers can get an idea about how the "sausage" is made.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While fictional mysteries like <b><i>Ill Wind</i></b> tend to be neat and tidy, the real stuff is often the opposite. The New York Times has been running longer pieces on different topics for some time now. On 15 April 2018, it published an article by N. R. Kleinfield on <b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/nyregion/never-solved-a-college-dorm-fire-has-become-one-mans-obsession.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fn.-r.-kleinfield&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection">"Never Solved, a College Dorm Fire Becomes One Man's Obssession".</a> </b>I think the article demonstrates an interesting, reality-based counterpoint to the standard mystery novel is constructed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZsGuaTLF7Ds_0vyaQ1rb1yYduHI1UVsqGOOTTx-QimmGEVB-C6Mzp173aXy7xC4qAIQLqpfwq0dVDF_BprLQsgCzlfk7bxE7mB6NLy5kQhd3zbVZ6R0-luodPfgzG-S__dm7jCl6YLqL/s1600/Test+On+the+run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZsGuaTLF7Ds_0vyaQ1rb1yYduHI1UVsqGOOTTx-QimmGEVB-C6Mzp173aXy7xC4qAIQLqpfwq0dVDF_BprLQsgCzlfk7bxE7mB6NLy5kQhd3zbVZ6R0-luodPfgzG-S__dm7jCl6YLqL/s320/Test+On+the+run.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's happened. I finally turned <u>On the Run</u> over to my copy editor to play with. I went through the manuscript one more time and didn't find many corrections. But I know that she's going to find all sorts of places there should be commas and other places where my commas should be deleted. We won't talk about all the other stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyone want to guess how marked up my manuscript is going to be when she returns it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a short excerpt from Pillar's first day visiting at a school for mages run by unknown relatives:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Gracie [Pillar's mother's great-aunt] smiled broadly at her. “I see someone taught you how to keep your eyes to
yerself. But, you really must learn how to stop leaking power.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-indent: 40.3pt;">"Don't
have any power to leak. Didn't you hear Principal Tankin."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-indent: 40.3pt;">"Oh,
it's there if you know how to look."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thinking
Gracie felt as comfortable as the bus lady [a host containing a demon pursuing Pillar] should've been, Pillar relaxed,
wishing she knew how to ask the questions buzzing around her head. She didn't
want another academy person spitting nails at her. Knowing Delia [Pillar's foster mother] would want her
to keep a low profile made her more hesitant.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"So,
tell me about yerself."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I'm
Maisie's daughter. I come from the Osseran Commune, and I just graduated from
high school."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I
know all that. But, who are you?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pillar
gave her a sharp look but didn’t know how to phrase the thoughts buzzing in her
mind. The question blurted out on its own. "Why didn’t you guys come
looking for me when Ma died?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“I thought
it best you were where you was.” Gracie shrugged, her gaze flicking to the hall
door. “Going to be fun to have a true Beccon living here again.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“I
thought my father’s last name was Beccon?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Goodness
gracious no, child. Your parents weren’t married. In fact, Maisie never did
name your father.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>I’m
nameless? </i>The fact hit Pillar like a fist in the gut. <i>No wonder no one came looking for Ma. </i>Her brain throbbed as she
tried to absorb the information. </span><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Why didn’t Delia say something before?</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-40046277730875889632018-04-10T10:00:00.000-07:002018-04-10T10:00:38.502-07:00True Hauntings and Fictional: Getting Your Mystery Fix with a Spook<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HBEqtHXF5zwLpatyRk7OQ9EUW65d39-PC9io04G2JyP95wGSGZTvXMh0L6W_HoXG4aXi_rm4pc3EO6iZkqc_LGQPFlS6KgyxPGQnQ1nRtJUkUNiaQb7YjsQuc1XET_wv7tv9tsd6bx12/s1600/Hidden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HBEqtHXF5zwLpatyRk7OQ9EUW65d39-PC9io04G2JyP95wGSGZTvXMh0L6W_HoXG4aXi_rm4pc3EO6iZkqc_LGQPFlS6KgyxPGQnQ1nRtJUkUNiaQb7YjsQuc1XET_wv7tv9tsd6bx12/s320/Hidden.jpg" width="203" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The books in Heather Graham Krewe of Hunters series read two ways--as stand alones or as a strong series where a shifting, but continuing cast of characters solve interesting ghostly mysteries. She even adds more value for the reader by using interesting places for her settings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">{In fact, she teased me into buying this book by setting <b><i>The Hidden </i></b>in Estes Park, Colorado, a retirement-central extraordinaire if you like a high altitude and cold. [I prefer the flats along I25.]}</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seems like I've read a few books set in my local area, lately. Sometimes, the descriptions have been right on [Lee Child's Midnight Line]. Other times, I had a hard time recognizing the places. Graham got the mountains surrounding the bowl/park right. But, Estes Park is infested by unavoidable elk. Two days after finishing the book, I can't remember one mention of elk. They're one of the prime tourist Estes Park's attractions in addition to the Stanley Hotel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Copycat murders provides the core mystery for <b><i>The Hidden</i></b>. Former Reb soldier, Nathan Kendall, is murdered, shortly after the US Civil War. The crime was never solved. Today, his ranch has become a guest ranch and museum.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When modern descendants [thank the various DNA sites for this] are killed in much the same way as Kendal, the museum director, Scalett Barlow, comes under suspicion for their murders. With a plot hop--a Krewe of Hunters member is her former husband who rushes to prove her innocent. Everyone gathers for the crime-solving fun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, there is a romance. Actually, a couple of them, including the runaway marriage of Nathan Kendall and his wife, who lend their ghostly fingers to solving the muders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>The Hidden</i></b> isn't one of Graham's better books. I thought it lack suspense, the m/c was rather sappy, and the plot predictable. Maybe I have read too many of them, and the well-constructed plot elements have become tedious for me. [Must admit the moose was a surprise.] </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Or, is it just the romance and bed scenes I find overly similar? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the other hand, I always get a good relaxing read from Graham's books, reads that tempt me to read one more chapter, even though it's midnight or after. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bottom line: when you craft a book as well as she does, even your less than stellar books are worth reading. It's not her fault I've usually guessed the perps 2/3rds into the storyline.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Want to read other peoples' reviews? You can also check out some samples on</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Krewe-Hunters-Heather-Graham/dp/0778317587">Amazon/Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hidden-heather-graham/1121089553"> Barnes & Noble/Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-hidden-10"> kobo/Rakuten</a> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stephanie Laurens has it made with her Cynster series. Her characters and backgrounds come ready made. She's now working on the grandkids of the first book m/cs, an English duke finding his true love during the French Revolution. The series has reached the Victorian era as she writes the stories of how the varioious members of the Cynster clan find true love. She gets a little explicit on the love scenes, but she really doesn't go overboard. Of course, an evangelical Christian whould probably disagree with me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What's notable--her female Cynsters are just as strong and dangerous as the males. If you like your romance in period settings you might take a look at </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>A Match for Marcus Cyn</i></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>ster</i></b>. -- Yeah, Laurens has strong non-Cynster ladies in her world--though they aren't as menacing as her masterful males.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have you ever though about writing a blog? Jane Friedman, one of the best bloggers, is holding a webinair [12 April 2018], sponsored by Writer's Digest, on how to do <b><a href="https://www.writersdigestshop.com/how-to-blog-meaningfully-and-grow-your-audience">the blogging bit effectively</a>. </b>[Yes, there are ways to write better blogs than I do since I'm a confirmed dillettente.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGINTFIxmOsFjBnAMLkA79nXxyxt6INXAZ9ZESerFPw_Vabxkjnm0YJ1y34TeoHnvTlN_i4ct3L2u1vyFUu3Oil8gk4uOYv99kLxbCXh0QW0w2cOf_6pgT5qgt9SzhTl9ySE0BfAK8LHaV/s1600/sml+use+cv+art+%2528156+x+250%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGINTFIxmOsFjBnAMLkA79nXxyxt6INXAZ9ZESerFPw_Vabxkjnm0YJ1y34TeoHnvTlN_i4ct3L2u1vyFUu3Oil8gk4uOYv99kLxbCXh0QW0w2cOf_6pgT5qgt9SzhTl9ySE0BfAK8LHaV/s1600/sml+use+cv+art+%2528156+x+250%2529.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don't think of my blog as a rut, but I do write it. Imagine my surprise when I noticed I've written 500 blogs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Actually more. I used to write a separate blog about my Far Isles Half-Elven. But I got in a rut when after writing <b><i>Night for the Gargoyles. </i></b>I couldn't get out of Andor. Seems publishers think demons are more interesting than elves. You can download ebook free, for sure, on <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Night-Gargoyles-M-K-Theodoratus-ebook/dp/B00ODOAJ8W">Amazon</a></b> , <b><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/night-for-the-gargoyles/id913787676?mt=11">iBooks</a></b>, and <b><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/night-for-the-gargoyles">kobo/Rakuten</a></b>. Don't know if it shows up as free in other countries besides the US, but you might take a look.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Night for the Gargoyles</i></b> was the inspiration for <b><i>There Be Demons</i></b>, the first of a possible Demon War trilogy, which is available at the same places. Had to write a book to find out what happened when Gillen tried to teach for head-strong teens from the projects how to fight demons...and survive. I like to joke that the book has more reviews [good] than sales [bad, though it's approaching the average sales for an indie].</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-79783210891652828332018-04-02T14:24:00.001-07:002018-04-02T14:24:17.270-07:00When Refugee Colonizers Go Astray, What Must They Do to Survive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBfhpii6PBcN_CPfEnaxhDoLOBxa-7Ruk6wqpuDOicXXS9ivaEYRvUUu_EmAT-4F6l8LltAkQwhVwrpMeUFhnh5oQenk0siXkC0_RjFocM_Ouuq5tmrBf6ZUfa_QWZ-ZZRSvVwD9q4nsx/s1600/Polymath0_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBfhpii6PBcN_CPfEnaxhDoLOBxa-7Ruk6wqpuDOicXXS9ivaEYRvUUu_EmAT-4F6l8LltAkQwhVwrpMeUFhnh5oQenk0siXkC0_RjFocM_Ouuq5tmrBf6ZUfa_QWZ-ZZRSvVwD9q4nsx/s320/Polymath0_.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Polymath</i></b> by John Brunner is one of those hidden ScFi classics from back in the day when there was much controversy about calling Science Fiction ScFi. The book, written in 1974, also illustrates the optimistic viewpoint about democracy: people could rule themselves when guided by wise men. [Of course, the wise men still needed sharp, with-it women as mates.] </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We won't ever talk about how space exploration has been retarded by political decisions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But yeah, the social aspects of the book seem dated--almost fifty years later--but <b><i>Polymath</i></b> still gives the reader a quick moving, engrossing tale where one cheers for the good guys.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a writer, I couldn't help feeling envious. Today,<b><i> Polymath </i></b>would be considered a novella. [Both my books are twice that long.] Today, it ends at where the false conclusion starts. Yeah, there's no hint that the human vermin are destroying the ecology of the planet. The reader is left to assume that things will be done wisely, according to the Americal Way. [The reader must remember that the AW was not so explotive and predatory back then.]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Settling an alien planet is a common theme in Science Fiction. The problem in <b><i>Polymath </i></b>happens when the colonizers land in the wrong place, far off the established space lanes. Two different space ship landings offer two possible solutions to the dilemma. Granted the AW wins, but Brunner gives the reader a suspenseful ride. I would have liked to have read Brunner's take on what happened after the steering rules were set up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The characters made the book for me. All were multi-dimensional, especially the main character, Lex, a polymath being trainned to organize newly settled planets. But, the villians have more than one trait, too, as well as providing some comic relief.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can read a sample and more reviews on</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Polymath-John-Brunner/dp/0879977663">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/polymath-john-brunner/1122926730"> Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/polymath-1">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Writer, Writer, how does your garden grow? Oh. You write. Here's an interesting take on editing your manuscripts by Kristen Lamb: <a href="http://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/03/premature-editing-kills-amazing-stories/">The Dangers of Premature Editing.Pruning Our Stories vs Pillaging Them</a>. You might want to take a look.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still doing content edits of <u>On the Run</u>. Here's Pillar's reaction to the demon battle at the end:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"</span><span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 40.3pt;">A
scattering of drips splashed against Pillar’s face from the trees overhead.
Without knowing it, she had stepped back into their shelter after the explosion
of light. Ears ringing and muscles trembling, Pillar blinked, but the world was
slow to come in focus. Everything had gone silent. Pillar coughed to clear her
lungs as she fought to return to the world. Lefferson’s books had hinted that
power could explode rather than just light fires, but she hadn’t taken the
notebooks seriously."</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-48331885689761472612018-03-27T15:37:00.000-07:002018-03-27T15:37:11.080-07:00 Reading Historical Fiction for Truth or Fairy Tale<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZahHSklPvsGoNgKo57MdSMTRuZPRpUxCUmC2L3HlbBtF_7gja8NwV35qyiC5aSEP1rJvLOJkX7CwQxZ9mxyY45MV5z-XUdruvqVt33UvjJyWUbgG_Q8jFawknC_4MlsxdGZtg8UyfICXP/s1600/Tudor+Sisters_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="336" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZahHSklPvsGoNgKo57MdSMTRuZPRpUxCUmC2L3HlbBtF_7gja8NwV35qyiC5aSEP1rJvLOJkX7CwQxZ9mxyY45MV5z-XUdruvqVt33UvjJyWUbgG_Q8jFawknC_4MlsxdGZtg8UyfICXP/s320/Tudor+Sisters_.jpg" width="215" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most weeks I start browsing to see which book on my to-read pile holds my interest. This week's winner: Phillpa Gregory's <i><b>The Last Tudor</b></i>. Yes, she has finally come to the end of her Plantagenet and Tudor novels. The Plantagenets are favorites, the Tudors not so much. Still, I've read many of her novels set in the period. They' ve all been fascinating reads.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The La</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">st Tudors tells the story of Lady Jane Grey who became Queen of England for nine days as her father plotted to rule England. [They were Protestants and Princess Mary Tudor was Catholic, which was rapidly important then.] Most people know how that turned out, but they don't know much about her two sisters who were among the possible heirs to Queen Elisabeth I. The book's about being jerked about and imprisoned by someone who has the power to remove your head from your shoulders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Phillipa Gregory's lack of admiration for Elisabeth is obvious. Very little nice is said about her. Of course, she was dealing a bankrupted kingdom back on its financial feet at the beginning of her reign. But she could have been nicer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Must say though, I rather agree with Gregory's interpretation. I've always thought that all three Tudors were autocratic despots. In fact, I can remember reading this glowing book about Elisabeth I in eighth grade and suddenly realizing: Hey, this woman's a dictator. Having a difficult childhood wasn't any excuse, in my opinion, to take her anger out on other people. Queen Elisabeth I was lucky to have Cecil as her right-hand man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Okay, Gregory is a master at writing historical Fiction, but she does it differently than most. Her books aren't dense, weighed down with tons of factoids. She concentrates on her character's thoughts with sparse, judicious descriptions to anchor the reader in the time period. In <b><i>The Last Tudor</i></b>, Gregory gives one of the best descriptions of what a lady in waiting actually did in court taking care of the queen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other people think she's better than sliced bread; others not. Read a sample of the book and other reviews on:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Last-Tudor-Plantagenet-Novels/dp/1476758778">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-tudor-philippa-gregory/1125579818">Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-last-tudor-1">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Romance appears in all genres as well as being a popular genre of its own. I'm not a big romance reader...though I like to think I tolerate it. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, I encountered this discussion of romance novels curtesy of Books Go Social. Darcel Rocket explores </span><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/sc-fam-romance-novels-future-0206-story.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Where Are Romance Novels Headed Given Given the Current State of Women's Issues?</b></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In the Chicago Tribune. Yeah, it's complicated, a lot more complicated than the news bites lead one to believe. Think the ideas can apply to other genres too. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfluNXc0zwHWQKJe6bmmXuSrBlrfEwuVOLWxhHaArme-B6naSaqQgWLzGRZQOUnFswk0Fg7ZAxIHXTh6TzstB0_qSMxLg7yagBbNvhNvFu6_3LNii4lvub-b2_Cjs0KFnsitGZZgdSdRN/s1600/k+demon+eye+ban.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfluNXc0zwHWQKJe6bmmXuSrBlrfEwuVOLWxhHaArme-B6naSaqQgWLzGRZQOUnFswk0Fg7ZAxIHXTh6TzstB0_qSMxLg7yagBbNvhNvFu6_3LNii4lvub-b2_Cjs0KFnsitGZZgdSdRN/s1600/k+demon+eye+ban.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still revising/editing. My editor was right. The ending seems a little rushled. Am think whether I really want to write a new chapter and drag it out. The middle of the book was important because that's where Pillar's assumptions are destroyed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I have got my taxes done and in. Think a lot of people are going to be surprised when they do next year's taxes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Interested in adding some short stories to your ereader for when you want a quick fantasy read? Check out my Andor stories about the problems demons cause. Available at</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://author.to/kauthor_pg">Amazon</a> <a href="http://goo.gl/vkMNON">Nook</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=M.%20K.%20Theodoratus">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://ow.ly/MRfP308V2cx">Smashwords</a></b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-40498165865419362422018-03-20T10:02:00.000-07:002018-03-20T10:02:03.951-07:00Was the Pirate King Intentionally So Funny?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpyZfd0mIzP5_l0ZzKaiPNXfE3k7i3B6A3WLrrr6ct1Ybhhh7a3g2-DIx9ohSZkGm_YIdvKUYTTWAe3rHAT7ZjnzwwlThtW93Dyd3adSEcO2J6bcrx7ujggFvtM8pAokZ888MZh3ld1t9o/s1600/Pirate+King+0_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpyZfd0mIzP5_l0ZzKaiPNXfE3k7i3B6A3WLrrr6ct1Ybhhh7a3g2-DIx9ohSZkGm_YIdvKUYTTWAe3rHAT7ZjnzwwlThtW93Dyd3adSEcO2J6bcrx7ujggFvtM8pAokZ888MZh3ld1t9o/s320/Pirate+King+0_.jpg" width="201" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, for the days of yesteryear, when meglomaniacs made movies with scant crews. Such is the setting of <b><i>Pirate King</i></b> by Lauire R. King, a Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novel. Not much space is devoted to Holmes in this book, which is fine with me. I consider Sherlock Holms a meglomaniac. [Nice to have him on our side, though.] The play on a Gilbert and Sullivan play adds seasoning for Mary Russell's sardonic commentary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In short, all bets are off when Mary Russell agrees to go undercover, solo, on the set of a new British movie [ala 1920's] filmed in Portugal and Morocco. Goal: to find out why the film company is connected to crimes similar to those featured in their movies. Oh, there was some other doggerel about a missing person which appeared briefly at the beginning and end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Though King uses first person narrative well, the last couple of books I've read in the series came across as ponderous, without the enjoyable, sacastic wit. <b><i>The Pirates of Penzance</i></b> gave King a broad canvas to work with, especially when combined with Valentino imagery. Nothing like a little abuse to make the heart grow fonder. But it does give some plot twists a target as well as pratfalls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Okay, not the best of the series. But I enjoyed it as light reading after working on all the writerly things that have nothing do with creating a readable story. Sometimes this story became just plain boring. Granted there were lots of opportunities wasted, like one of the thirteen blond bells containing an adolescent male with a stage mommy. Guess I have an appetite for pratfalls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other episodes rose high on the just plain silly stage, like Russell dangling by a rope outside Holmes' cell. Still, if you're not a mystery fanatic, you can find a decent amount of entertainment in the book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Granted, this may seem like damming with faint praise. You can read a sample and read other reviews on:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pirate-King-Russell-Sherlock-Holmes/product-reviews/0553386751">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pirate-king-laurie-r-king/1100059271">Barnes & Noble [Nook]</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/pirate-king-with-bonus-short-story-beekeeping-for-beginners">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>More Reading</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBh7PBbhvQfdh2t0peegwL5FeFySbB3zNWotNO77u2OeREE_YPKGzZgdXUn5xs-qs3-4_-1f5rL4FrF1Vm4p9_N6R3jKlDGiT4HVw-ii8sJCBJRtPK_QT8f2N0BQvfHrsmTZ-DsonJqHxv/s1600/Plant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBh7PBbhvQfdh2t0peegwL5FeFySbB3zNWotNO77u2OeREE_YPKGzZgdXUn5xs-qs3-4_-1f5rL4FrF1Vm4p9_N6R3jKlDGiT4HVw-ii8sJCBJRtPK_QT8f2N0BQvfHrsmTZ-DsonJqHxv/s1600/Plant.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did get my three Tortall, women warriors quartets read and enjoyed to the fullest. Then, with all the hype surrounding the release of the <b><i>Wrinkle in Time</i></b> movie, I read the first three books in L'Engle's Meg series. Surprising how the Dell glue doesn't stand up to time like the Ace paperback glue. Hard to read when pages are coming loose.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The stories don't stand the test of a novel quite as well as I remembered. The three [including <b><i>A Wind in the Door</i></b> and <b><i>A Swiftly Tilting Planet</i></b>] read more like novellas than novels. But by the time an aspiring world dictator got his comeupance, I felt like I'd finished a novel. Many of Madeleine L'Engle's ideas in the books still felt fresh, though. Who says fantasy is pure entertainment?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the interesting things was I found out how much my copies are worth...at least the one where the glue held.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still in the middle of revising/editing on <u>On The Run</u>. My editior didn't have too many changes to recommend, but I find I must reread every page word for word. The worse part is </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKexTgDw4rakwmqHdjpqcYG6p-WQEuyIYOT144KOMGLO9MrN6yMTHZSLJ8pyM6xvX0JMiUy_okokYTgIlVKQ-82xrs_tyIHc1Op3XYtx3MEHXlQKEP6AAh57pD7E6wbN4WFQGG8LJ1Mxhy/s1600/Test+On+the+run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKexTgDw4rakwmqHdjpqcYG6p-WQEuyIYOT144KOMGLO9MrN6yMTHZSLJ8pyM6xvX0JMiUy_okokYTgIlVKQ-82xrs_tyIHc1Op3XYtx3MEHXlQKEP6AAh57pD7E6wbN4WFQGG8LJ1Mxhy/s320/Test+On+the+run.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">thinking about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a sample of my "false resolution" in editor speak:</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 40.3pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-indent: 40.3pt;">...Swirling yellowish darts
swarmed towards Gracie’s wall of light. Next to Pillar, Gracie’s body waxed
into a pillar of warmth. The darts stuck into the wall of power like arrows in
a target until they evaporated with soft pops. The bright wall grew thicker,
longer until it arced back around to protect the house. Pillar’s ears fill with
Gracie’s chanting voice.</span><br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
“You’re doing fine, girl.
Keep it up. Keep it up. Keep feeding the energy to me.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Huh?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pillar hadn’t realized she
was treating Gracie like her pinkie ring. She rested both hands, glowing with
blue light, on Gracie’s shoulders as the old lady crouched to the ground.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
“Good, girl. Keep it up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
Trembling, Pillar
concentrated harder. A flurry of blue spears flew from Gracie’s hands, passing
through the expanse of putrid light to hit the demons’ personal shields. The
sparks flew higher than the barn. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
The next round of spears
Gracie sent rolled into flaming balls that exploded above the demons, knocking
them to the ground.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The demons staggered back to their knees. ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-86747934909609746752018-03-06T14:32:00.000-08:002018-03-06T14:32:03.198-08:00What Is "Age Approprate" & Where Should It Be Applied?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiymwmW3hZLNjTf1jSdRqFrwpdSOBCgb9jLlxyTnANX2SlzXbdMwQXsXmH4JoYxL1TsnLcwTQBCSezw5i9BPme13iEuuXPvKqE20hpssZHVwItjcjXiSVnWelqINg6YDQOWQbeI9nN77I7a/s1600/Pierce+_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiymwmW3hZLNjTf1jSdRqFrwpdSOBCgb9jLlxyTnANX2SlzXbdMwQXsXmH4JoYxL1TsnLcwTQBCSezw5i9BPme13iEuuXPvKqE20hpssZHVwItjcjXiSVnWelqINg6YDQOWQbeI9nN77I7a/s320/Pierce+_.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When is a book age appropriate? I thought about that question a lot as I read <b><i>Tempests and Slaughter</i></b> by Tamora Pierce. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[Yeah, I broke down and bought the hardcover book. Even read it through my hurting thumbs and bedtimes.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The title promises all sorts of gore, but to my mind, it doesn't deliver. Which is probably ok since lots of readers under twelve will demand to read it, especially familiar with Pierce's earlier books. Which means nine and ten-year-olds will be reading it. Many young good readers demand syntactically difficult reading matter than their years might suggest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, there are gladiators maiming and killing each other, murder, and other mayhem, but the telling of the tale foregos the the graphic descriptions. Most of it also occurs off stage, and the book itself is more concerned with mending than slashing. The book even casually includes light sexual references. At the same time, it doesn't feel like Pierce is pulling punches as you read.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My problem is I'm an adult, even, very close to being an old oldie. Yet I recently immersed myself in <b><i>Crenshaw</i></b>, a middle grade novel for ten year olds. And, I pushed through a 400+ page book in about three days, in spite of my thumbs, thinking the book was tame. I guess what I'm complaining about is the almighties deciding the book is for 12 to 17 year olds. My kids would have read the books when they were 10 and will still read it when I toss it into the family lending library. Why are there age boundaries on innoucuous material? [Yeah, I know. Guidelines. But the subtext gibbered at me while I read.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Tempests and Slaughter</i></b> lacks the tension of Pierce's female warrior novels. T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">his doesn't mean that nothing happens during Araam Draper's first years at the mage university in Carthak. The tension of good storytelling is there in spades, but it's more intellectual than brawny. [I resisted the temptation of saying "brainy".] </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read a sample and other people's reviews on</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tempests-Slaughter-Numair-Chronicles-Book/dp/0375847111">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tempests-and-slaughter-tamora-pierce/1126605048">Barnes & Noble [Nook]</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tempests-and-slaughter-the-numair-chronicles-book-one">Rakuten/kobo</a></b></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am still editing <u>On the Run</u>. Guess I won't be done until April sometime. I still have copy edits to go, too, and the decision on how I'm to publish the novel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While I'm working, I'm going to take a holiday. I've been hankering to re-read some of Pierce's other books. I've decided I'm going to read the quartets from the Lioness series to the Protector of the Small. Sorry I can't sent you a postcard from Tortall.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-84842820848010264042018-02-27T11:05:00.000-08:002018-02-27T14:05:28.441-08:00Character Growth Keeps the Books Running<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7QrFraZmE17-VN-L0mZKj7tKvsHPPV0DiYBDJ7mtwYzWna18KkbHVQ8u2vdaOnYwP5x4Er_u4f9j4OJxGCqcmFLxfh8X0i2bMloPCgnR-gGaxrchqV5Lann0AAEa1bmxiGfaVJQowc9J/s1600/Secrets+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7QrFraZmE17-VN-L0mZKj7tKvsHPPV0DiYBDJ7mtwYzWna18KkbHVQ8u2vdaOnYwP5x4Er_u4f9j4OJxGCqcmFLxfh8X0i2bMloPCgnR-gGaxrchqV5Lann0AAEa1bmxiGfaVJQowc9J/s320/Secrets+.jpg" width="210" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You gotta admire writers who keep a series going, but one that's 47 books long and still popular? J. D. Robb [aka Nora Roberts] does just that</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> with her Eve Dallas novels. I'm late to the game, but I've just read <b>Secrets in Death</b>. Granted murder mysteries get a kick in the action fr</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">om the unend</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ing ways and reasons to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">killing someone. The personal development of the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">sleuth doesn't have to carry the novel, just give it some momentum. A personal crisis can take a couple of books to resolve, but the crime is always solved in one...unless the villain escapes. I doubt many villains get away from Dallas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Secrets in Death</b> is the first Eve Dallas book I've read. I've read other Nora Roberts novels from time to time, mostly her paranormal ones. Don't know why I bought this one so late in the series, but I did along with another super popular writer of many, many books and series. Started both books at the same time, a couple chapters each. Dallas is the one I kept reading, to the point I stayed up late to "read one more chapter"...and the chapters are on the long side. Sometimes, I read two more chapters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The mystery was intriguing. An obnoxious gossip columnist is killed in a bar under unusal circumstances. [Yeah, a cliche, but Robb/Roberts adds some interesting twists.] Who the murder victim was was as convoluted as who the killer turned out to be. Watching Dallas march through the procedural caught my interest and kept it. The mystery part provided enough entertainment to make the book worth while.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What makes the book, though, are the characters. As each clue is discovered, Dallas interacts with the suspects and the investigators. Each one is rounded out, some with more detail than others, but none of them are cardboard cut-outs. I'm almost tempted to go back to see how the major characters were developed, but I won't. I'm too lazy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've seen many mentions of "Robert's futuristic detective" series. On that note, I think Robb/Roberts falls flat. Serious science fiction readers wouldn't give her world building much of a pass. Everything is too generic, too vague to make the world feel different from our own time. "Airboots" and other "mod" terms just don't cut it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many of the reviews of the book complain that <b>Secrets in Death</b> isn't Robb/Robert's best book in the series. But it was more than good enough to amuse me at the end of the day. You can read a sample and other opinions at</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Death-Dallas-Novel-Book/dp/1250123178">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secrets-in-death-j-d-robb/1124936763">Barnes & Nobel</a> <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/secrets-in-death">kobo/Rakuten</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Writer? Reader? Both? Found an interesting blog at The Swivet about writers shouldn't write in alone: </span><a href="http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2012/07/writing-in-vacuum-why-community-is.html"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Writing in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> a</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Vacuu</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">m: Why Community is Essential to </span></span></b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2012/07/writing-in-vacuum-why-community-is.html"><b>Writers. </b></a>Basically, it says writers should build networks. It got me thinking that readers should too. Only they're called book groups, meeting once a month to discuss a book over coffee.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The blog is old, but the ideas are still good.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Interested in good writing? This list of the best writing blogs is making the rounds. I've seen several links to it, so <a href="http://worldsbest100.com/writing-blogs/"><b>I thought I'd share it.</b></a> I really enjoy the Absolute Write blog, and if your're serious about writing, you should check their forums.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b> My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Editing. Editing. And, Editing Some More.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[On the Run]</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe Someday I'll Get Around to Writing Something New.</span><br />
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, I'm working on the blurb for <u>On the Run:</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhve6dzuA0Fsb8i-j0s24G_cGA5-blm199y-T-BggmV5YQzHu0k9llYksumHf5G41Wjl0SD4_bXCoZmT3GFgQ3irm9WFLEemBJ-zvuBFsGULW7L3VDRaV7o976e5b2i4bGVucnef3lIlQpE/s1600/Test+On+the+run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhve6dzuA0Fsb8i-j0s24G_cGA5-blm199y-T-BggmV5YQzHu0k9llYksumHf5G41Wjl0SD4_bXCoZmT3GFgQ3irm9WFLEemBJ-zvuBFsGULW7L3VDRaV7o976e5b2i4bGVucnef3lIlQpE/s320/Test+On+the+run.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Orphaned
teen travels across the country to discover her mother's secrets, unaware she's
pursued by a demon seeking to destroy her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pillar
Beccon can't remember ever belonging anywhere, especially not in the Freemage
commune where she grew up. She's a null, a person without magic, the lowest of
the low in Andor. When she gets the chance to learn more about her mother's
family, she jumps at the chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
teen draws the attention of Grylerrque, a commander from The Demon Wars secretly
surviving in Andor, who recognizes what Pillar is and seeks to feed her life
force to her clutch. She sends her minions to capture her. Pillar escapes when
Thelma Tankin, her mother's cousin rescues her, but the teen soon learns she
was pulled out of the frying pan into the fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">On the Run</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> tells the story of
Pillar's journey to find a place to call her own. The book continues the
chronicles of Andor where a the mundane world clashes with one of magic and
demons from another plane of existence. If you love paranormal stories of discovery
and mayhem, this is the story for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-12085185085542062072018-02-20T14:50:00.000-08:002018-02-20T14:51:21.116-08:00Surviving the Layers of a Mystery Until the Puzzle Disappears<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUYQYYXSNwlAnuoMwmif9QvWnwWjs5JHaRNh-sJ9LkJdnPd2F8Rdly8p8HdtB9Jsnna45TZPXta51q5EYLoo4jI2OOu9cdh6iTgg7xOnKDy3zut_bk25ok3Um4tqw5-Uflz1GDs3nu1_a3/s1600/Prairie+Grass+Murders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUYQYYXSNwlAnuoMwmif9QvWnwWjs5JHaRNh-sJ9LkJdnPd2F8Rdly8p8HdtB9Jsnna45TZPXta51q5EYLoo4jI2OOu9cdh6iTgg7xOnKDy3zut_bk25ok3Um4tqw5-Uflz1GDs3nu1_a3/s1600/Prairie+Grass+Murders.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Prairie Grass Murders </b>by Patricia Stoltey starts as a straight forward mystery,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> simplistic even. Nam vet discovers corpse at his family's old farm while on vacation. When he runs afoul a corrupt cop, his little sister, who happens to be a judge in another jurisdiction, comes to the rescue. Stoltey piles the clues as the perps do their best to silence the sister/brother sleuths. But as in the best mysteries, nothing is as it first seems. There're plenty of red herrings to chase, but the best parts come after the reader learns who-done-it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What makes this book so engrossing is the well-rounded characters. Sure some of the bad guys are telegraphed from the git-go, but Stolety is deft at adding motivational twists to the action that keep the reader guessing. When you think the story line has settled onto a well-trod path, Stoltey lurches off in another direction that adds a new interpretation of the facts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The above isn't a criticism. Most mysteries are linear: A influences B, B influences C, etc. <b>The Prairie Grass Murders</b>' storyline<b> </b>twists and turns like any good mystery, but Stoltey takes it one step further. Reading her plotline is more like peeling an onion or opening a set of nesting dolls. You never quite know what you're going to find even though you have a fair idea about where the story is going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read sample and other reviews at</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Prairie-Grass-Murders-Patricia-Stoltey/dp/0373267002">Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-prairie-grass-murders-patricia-stoltey/1008268933">Barnes & Noble</a> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>More Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Against some writing advice, I always have a thesarus behind the manuscript as I write/revise. There always seems to be a page link to the origins of "bad words". When I finally looked at the page, I was amazed at the staying power of curse words. <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/e/s/bleep-curse-word-come"><b>You might be too.</b></a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Were you as amused as I was when I saw most were related to bodily functions rather than actual curses?</span><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Life is another subject that present layers and layers of experience. Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch wrote a blog about the important writing influences in her life, including Ursula K. LeGuin--<b><a href="https://kriswrites.com/2018/02/14/business-musings-mentors-inspiration-and-the-future/">Business Musings</a>.</b> It's a long blog, but thought-provoking. Think everyone has similar experiences between mentors and hinderers.</span><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>~~~~~~~~</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB66CdBhLE59xh1ec5VYqP0m73-uGaqdlpLKasBeOE2WYBIbMYjlpBWpYNdR7ZMsjxTdT3fudMSiTSewEVRvZeuNKNCFy6hmjlaAjpfsoTEV0P6JLSza1oFQS-LMKKk2JdoL-ZpCbCwjuV/s1600/On+the+run+cv_Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB66CdBhLE59xh1ec5VYqP0m73-uGaqdlpLKasBeOE2WYBIbMYjlpBWpYNdR7ZMsjxTdT3fudMSiTSewEVRvZeuNKNCFy6hmjlaAjpfsoTEV0P6JLSza1oFQS-LMKKk2JdoL-ZpCbCwjuV/s320/On+the+run+cv_Final.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am feeling old. Have been trying to write new stuff for a third book in my trilogy while editing/revising On the Run, the second book. It was supposedly ready to copy edit, but I sent it back to the content editor. Result? More suggested changes. Worse, she said my chapter hooks were too weak.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a look at a revision:</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
The PA
system belched news of another arriving bus, adding to the racket bouncing off
the station walls. The garbled words made no sense. Pillar ignored the
announcement as she licked her fingers clean. The tenor of the air shifted. The
hair on her nape rose. Pillar glanced back towards the benches in the lobby. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
Taking
another bite of her gooey sandwich, Pillar licked her lips as she searched for the
disturbance in the station’s energy. The power became so intense even Pillar’s
weak talent felt the rising pulse. A chill crawled across her shoulders and
down her back. Pillar turned around. Her eyes locked on a tangled-haired girl, clutching
a backpack in her hands and using the wall by the platform doors to protect her
back. The girl's eyes grew wider as she scanned the station.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 40.3pt;">
Pillar's
frizzy hair stood at attention. A strange odor, the like of which she'd never smelled
in Osseran, wafted from the outside doors. Her stomach churned, and Pillar dropped
her no longer appetizing sandwich. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsy3AyRvJupDxTmGlwjgNie3qaF30eFogZrqVg9OWpplBWoyp59xkQZiLG9zmsEknsC5tPYmLF-F4MLkjtfuRgjqRPayocMy-OM9H_-4g3peowBknMcQY5US_WjMcHCuPgpcnTpcp_PlMF/s1600/cover121158-small.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsy3AyRvJupDxTmGlwjgNie3qaF30eFogZrqVg9OWpplBWoyp59xkQZiLG9zmsEknsC5tPYmLF-F4MLkjtfuRgjqRPayocMy-OM9H_-4g3peowBknMcQY5US_WjMcHCuPgpcnTpcp_PlMF/s1600/cover121158-small.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marketing is still my biggest pain in the behind. Below is one of my more recent tweets. I keep trying to come up with something that'd encourage people to sample my short stories, novellas, and book. So far, I'm falling on my face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A land</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where mages rule in the name of a king </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where people without magic are scum</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where demons prowl</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Visit Andor where There Be Demons</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#kindle myBook.to/ThereBeDemons</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#kobo http://ow.ly/79nz30fmm9e </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#iTunes http://ow.ly/KeZk30glC3x</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1689704930820315029.post-18598890231033484392018-02-13T10:37:00.000-08:002018-02-13T10:48:00.488-08:00Nightmare Assassins Threaten Danger in a Dreamy Landscape<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnK2kAiosrjv-dmZiShWlRHNl1vBVLo00BpCC8WZgKMfZzeZhLOEgkFyiT5SOaQbcrlZEXqZaTQn8snVxGK9y8fxpYQxPX74AZWXpp9iQUay4bU_49DpJQ3ldKsLTGZBKcSwfaYLot7i4/s1600/Neverwhere_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnK2kAiosrjv-dmZiShWlRHNl1vBVLo00BpCC8WZgKMfZzeZhLOEgkFyiT5SOaQbcrlZEXqZaTQn8snVxGK9y8fxpYQxPX74AZWXpp9iQUay4bU_49DpJQ3ldKsLTGZBKcSwfaYLot7i4/s320/Neverwhere_.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Neverwhere</i></b> by Neil Gaiman gives the reader a familiar storyline--assassins chasing a fair maiden t</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hrough a dangerous world, helped by a good-hearted man. In this Gaiman's writing stars a creative, alternative London [London below].</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The quests of the two characters--one to find out who killed her family and the other on how to return to the real world--keeps the two main characters apart for a good share of the story. Gaiman creates a dreamy world where nothing works quite as expected, but just right enough to keep the reader anchored.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Actually, no one tilts and teeters as much as Richard Mayhew, the well-meaning, spineless hero. The poor man is first caught up in our time-driven, wealth-chasing modern world. A chance meeting with a bleeding girl on the streets of London throws him into an alternative world of London below where he tries to save her from nightmarish assassins. Fate has given him a alternative to a mapped out social rut stifling his soul. But Mayhew wants nothing more than to return to the real world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The black-suited, kitten-maiming assassins are the run-from highlight of the book. Believe it or not, they even provide the comic relief. Unfortunately, it's the background that stars in this book rather than the progtagonist who remains rather blah in spite off his battle to return to London above. None of the human characters are as sharply drawn as the minor ones named for physical location in London above. Still, a wonderful, creative read.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Take a look at the sample and other reviews--all 2,000+ of them, mostly 5-star--ones</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Neverwhere-by-Neil-Gaiman-1998-11-01/dp/B01K3MUOZA"><b>Amazon</b> </a> </span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/neverwhere-neil-gaiman/1100109136">Barnes & Noble</a></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/neverwhere-neil-gaiman/1100109136"> </a> </span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/neverwhere-1">Rakuten-kobo</a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Other Interesting Reading</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ever wonder what writers think of their writing. I happened to click this blog on Twitter. You might be interested since it gave me a chuckle. Like, "Oh, so true." Read about <b><a href="https://dronstadblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/08/night-time-blabbering-60/">Nighttime Blabbing.</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Bookmuse always writes interesting, useful blogs for writers. Anyway, I find they always jerk my chain when I read them. It seems I always forget more than I know. Becca Puglisi recently wrote on on </span><a href="http://writershelpingwriters.net/2018/02/characters-as-mirrors/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Character As Mirrors</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Lots of her comments put life's little tragedies in perspective.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>My Writing Rut</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Got my editorial comments back for <b>On the Run</b>, complete with cuts, additions, and new chapter suggestions. Every time I think I'm done and ready for copyediting, someone throws ice cubes over my head. Grumble. Grumble. Yeah, like most writers, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think editing and revising are never done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also got a new cover for the book. What do you think?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First Cover</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMcaq-Tadhse1pPQoYBgl1iXcqqI1PFo3Rm3GzK27a5o2YSw4mS05w4g-j1Fsr-xCka1uFQZ3pbKcuBbav5a-kBL-KcbMJKY6waiJamEB2DvBWaTziYxze_JtPqB6LACLcOjIJq08K9cE/s1600/cv+Run+%2528175%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMcaq-Tadhse1pPQoYBgl1iXcqqI1PFo3Rm3GzK27a5o2YSw4mS05w4g-j1Fsr-xCka1uFQZ3pbKcuBbav5a-kBL-KcbMJKY6waiJamEB2DvBWaTziYxze_JtPqB6LACLcOjIJq08K9cE/s1600/cv+Run+%2528175%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Second Cover</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-XHt6NfmwuIf7BVQSIGy-6o6Q2_nLtNqPtLSV5EKX-3JoKaz-nbtmp5N1U32B6wZlnALZEIZT5bBpGO7pZI_4UsIsEJ7-l91TYjg2da4YriBQcYlYH9PPoDoMfn3av7rnIAyDoMhB1Yx/s1600/Test+On+the+run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-XHt6NfmwuIf7BVQSIGy-6o6Q2_nLtNqPtLSV5EKX-3JoKaz-nbtmp5N1U32B6wZlnALZEIZT5bBpGO7pZI_4UsIsEJ7-l91TYjg2da4YriBQcYlYH9PPoDoMfn3av7rnIAyDoMhB1Yx/s320/Test+On+the+run.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's been an arty week akround here. I've also been getting new ad banners for There Be Demons made. Here's an example.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xTDg10h6NChOmD9N8T1xYZi7YrTsQ9DYC9ZkRlP8kpXsSE5udEo7QPwMlErTw5RmGPA5ps9fvENn8vlx5t18vLpODIEKlYYTZk9a7p-uxfoed1SqLQcTatmMXSWb03LSLITfOmhMRoeH/s1600/TBD+Kaytheod.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xTDg10h6NChOmD9N8T1xYZi7YrTsQ9DYC9ZkRlP8kpXsSE5udEo7QPwMlErTw5RmGPA5ps9fvENn8vlx5t18vLpODIEKlYYTZk9a7p-uxfoed1SqLQcTatmMXSWb03LSLITfOmhMRoeH/s320/TBD+Kaytheod.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can read a sample and the reviews on <a href="http://mybook.to/ThereBeDemons"><b>Amazon</b></a> and <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/there-be-demons"><b>Rakuten-kobo</b></a>.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.com0