WEEKLY STATUS REPORT # 33

Last Sunday I received the approval that my book is ready to be released, but the having any certainty about not having any problem which would result in having some pages print light than others, I decided to investigate the problem further.

It took a while, but on Tuesday I found the cause – the style at the top of the WORD document main page had different for each page which appear lighter when printed. I created a duplicate file so I wouldn’t lose the integrity for the problematic file and proceeded to make the necessary corrections. Once I finished the correction process I resubmitted all the files again to await their approval. Before retiring for the night at around 1:00 AM on Wednesday I checked the status of my book on CreateSpace and found the files were approved. I then viewed a virtual copy and seeing no problems, I ordered a printed proof copy this time paying for an expedited delivery. I’ve been tracking the packing and I’m due to receive it tomorrow, Monday, December 1, 2014.

With the satisfaction that all is well now that my second book has been released, I’ve started to write a sequel with another 100 micro fictions being written.  The only difference is I’ll be looking for other venues to find my prompt words, and so far I’ve written a total of eight items.

If you’ve been following my blog this past week, you’d know I’ve posted reviews for 4 more books. I currently still have 2 more physical books in my possession I need to read/review plus an additional book I’ve yet to receive from my GoodReads.com giveaway wins; plus one e-book on my bookshelf on Shelfari to read/review.

In regards my Haiku Anthology I’ve added no additional items. However, after joining a new internet group I’ve have which deals with the writing of Haiku, I’m now in the process of tweaking the ones I’ve already as well as the titles I’d written for each one; apparently a Haiku doesn’t get a title unless there are several written as a sequence for a single topic.

I’d so much wanted to write another chapter for my YA Urban Fantasy The Secret of the Well.  But with Thanksgiving and the shopping madness over the weekend, this didn’t happen. Hopefully, this week will finally bear some fruit for this endeavor.

BOOK REVIEW # 33 - STAY ANOTHER NIGHT

I received a print copy of this book as a giveaway on GoodReads.com in return for my honest opinion for the book.

From the inviting title I entered the giveaway to win one of the 100 copies being offered. When I received my copy I didn’t really care its relatively small pocket trim size, as compared to the trim sizes I usually receive. The trim size made it somewhat less comfortable to read

.

The premise for the storyline is also something which caught my eye; a young runaway, underage girl, Coco gets a job in a strip club run by a Mafia-type Don, she then gets a job as a model followed by that of an actress. Coco seems to be too prefect at times, probably due to the male POV the book seems to have been written in. While the storyline takes a few twists and the foreign locations are quite vivid in their descriptions, the book as a whole didn’t really do anything to arouse my interest in the book.

I find it interesting the book, in its paperback format or the hardcover edition, are apparently no longer available. I also found it interesting the copy of the book I’d received had been printed in India.

In the end, the best I can give this book is only 3 STARS.

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FBMKIRW

UK  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FBMKIRW 

BOOK REVIEW # 32 - JADED

Jaded is a one of those YA novels which come along once in a while that has a wonderful blend of items which makes it appealing to a wider audience.

The book tells the story of a young girl, Jade, who lives in a highly restrictive dystopian commune environment where the color of one’s eyes determines everything. While the community’s ophthalmology knowledge exceeds the world on the Outside, the same level of technology is almost non-existing when it comes many other areas of life.

Jade is now of the age where she needs to make vital decisions concerning the rest of her life.

Jade’s eyes, and everyone else’s, have been closed to the reality of the community they all live in. It’s only when her Grandmother Ruby gives her the forbidden diary she’s written that Jade begins to discover the shocking secrets which abound in the society she’s living in, secrets which include her parents past. Jade is aided in her quest for the truth by two individuals about her own age, Tyrian [Ty to his friends] and Peaches [daughter of the commune’s leader].

Jade continuously runs the risk of being caught and being sent to a slave cabin or even worse being blinded. To makes matters worse someone unknown to her is determined to stop Jade in her pursuit to find the truth of what’s really behind the commune’s very existence. The red herrings and twists the story contains make this book a real page turner and one which is hard to put down. My only regret is not having bought the paperback but I couldn’t resist paying only 99 cents for the KINDLE edition for the book.

Given what I’ve written for my review in the above, I feel it deserves the 4 STARS I’m giving. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get to read the rest of the author’s planned installments for this series.

US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00II0UUSQ

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00II0UUSQ

BOOK REVIEW # 31 - JAYDEN & THE MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAIN

Been quite busy with the release of my second book, Micro Fiction – An Anthology, couldn’t post my reviews on a more timely basis.

As a rule street kids have nothing to look forward to except a live in the streets trying to eke their existence on an on-going basis. Most street kids that is until Jayden and his friends of the street got picked up a benefactor who wanted to turn their lives around. Their benefactor places them in a private school where they’re taught better than any school in their former neighborhoods.

If you thought their benefactor had a reason for doing this, you’d be right, he needed them to be totally trained in how to fight terrorists who threatens everyone’s existence. The book contains a wonderful mix of genres; action/adventure, sci-fi with the use of high-tech equipment, etc. This is story in which its young street kids learn to take responsibility, and take it seriously.

While Ms. Cope’s writing style has turned the book into a page turner complete with the red herrings in contains, it could use some tweaking to correct the errors it contains. Overall I believe Jayden & The Mysterious Mountain: Book 1deserves the 4 STARS I’m giving it.

I read this book from November 19th – 21st 2014

US:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EYSKMF2

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EYSKMF2

FIVE SENTENCE FICTION - IRRITATION

Well I’m back again this week with my response for Lillie’s prompt word of “IRRITATION.”

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

The other day Denise Dey received a certified letter stating her husband’s car would be repossessed if a payment isn’t made within 14 days.  It didn’t seem to matter to the customer service representative she spoke that the car had been paid off two months after he’d died, even after the documentation had been faxed to them.

Denise explained her situation over and over, again and again, to one individual after another; but all of her efforts seemed to have been fruitless. Finally with two days left you can just imagine how irritated she felt when she’d received a phone call vice-president of the company apologizing for the inconvenience they’d created. It appears they wanted someone else, they wanted a Denice Day and not her.   

BOOK REVIEW # 30 - LOWRIDERS IN SPACE

The following review is my honest opinion for an ARC of this book I won in a giveaway on GoodReads.com

One of the reasons I decided to enter the drawing for this book is that the book is in reality a comic book. As any child of the 1950’s can recall, comics played a major part of what we read; as well as being something we’d used a part of our allowance each month for. Comics were broken down by sex; while the boys had their Superman, Batman, etc comics, the girls had their comics from the Archie series of comics: Archie, Jughead, and Betty and Veronica.

Lowriders in Space succeeded in bringing me back to those days of my youth, with it being a comic with a more adult storyline. I found the book interesting because it dealt with two elements which are not usually found in literature. The first is the topic of the storyline, the building of a lowrider. Lowriders are unique to the Mexican¬-America culture of Southern California are personally modified cars, usually junkers, built to ride closer to the ground than regular car and had been made for cruising rather than for racing. These cars built by teams then get enter into competition for the glitziest, uniqueness, etc car.

The second element deals with women in non-traditional roles, and the one in this book is that of the lead mechanic of the team which built the winning entry for the competition the book deals with to win a carload of cash and a solid gold steering wheel. Not only did the car run after they were finished with it, it also wound up launching itself into outer space.

For its unique storyline which crosses genres and what I’d mentioned in the above, this book definitely deserved the 5 STARS I’m giving it.

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KGNMT0K  

UK  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KGNMT0K  

WEEKLY STATUS REPORT # 32

Well last week has been a BIG WEEK for me as far as my second book, Micro Fiction – An Anthology, is concerned. On Friday I received the PROOF COPY for this book, and after examining it, I noticed an minor error in the text for the back cover. This meant correcting the error and starting the approval process over again, on Saturday I got notified the book is ready to be released. However, I decided to recheck the actual book itself for errors, which turned out a good decision to make as I found a handful of minor errors which needed to be corrected, which I did. I then submitted the entire book for a new review.

However, in examining the interior of the book I noticed an uneven printing of its pages, which I advised CreateSpace of; which they can’t tell the reason for since I’ve resubmitted my files. They’re refunding the cost of receiving the PROOF COPY. Now the question is whether or not I’m going to ask for a second PROOF COPY and wait until the end of November to receive it delaying its release; or will I attempt to correct the problem myself, delaying its release even longer. The answer next week.

If you’ve been following my blog this past week, you’d know I’ve only read and posted review for 1 additional book. I currently still have one more physical book in my possession I need to read/review plus an additional three books I’ve yet to receive from my GoodReads.com giveaway wins; plus one e-book on my bookshelf on Shelfari to read/review.

In regards to the yet untitled anthology of Haikus I’m writing, I’ve made what I feel has been considered progress in this endeavor; I now written a total of 15 Haikus this week, which brings the total of Haikus written to 93 or 37.2% of my target figure of 250. I’ve obtained the most of these prompts in the past week from http://www.haikuhorizons.wordpress.com and I’ve placed myself on their mailing list to receive their future prompts each Sunday.

This past week I succeeded in re-reading the manuscript for my YA Urban Fantasy, The Secret of the Well. My goal, from here on, is to write at least one chapter each week until the manuscript is completed. This time I’m going to have the text edited by a third party, and at the same time I’m going to start searching for someone to design the cover for the book, both of which will be done if I obtain the needed funds.

BOOK REVIEW # 29 - MORES OF THE MAELSTORM = VOLUME 1

I received a copy of this book as part of giveaway on GoodReads.com in return for my honest opinion of it.

This is the first time I’ve read anything by the author, Mark Shelton; and I must I’m quite pleased with the experience. The stories in “Mores of the Maelstorm,” reminds me a little of the original, black and white episodes of “The Twilight Zone,” in which each story basically falling into its own category. The book runs the gumut, from sci-fi and fantasy to the macabre. Each story contains some sort of twist at the end.

While I read this book at a single sitting I feel it might have been better if I’d read it one story at a time.

I believe it deserves the 5 STARS I’m giving.

US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OQKU0V4

UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OQKU0V4

WEEKLY STATUS REPORT # 31

Well last week has been a BIG WEEK for me as far as my second book, Micro Fiction – An Anthology, is concerned. On Wednesday I created a simplistic cover for the book at no cost on CreateSpace using one of their templates. On Thursday, I worked on the interior text for the book. And Friday morning a virtual proof was ready for my approval, but I opted to receive a printed PROOF copy for the book instead. I expect to receive this PROOF next Monday, November 24, 2014.  This means, once I give my approval, the paperback edition should become available in about two days; at the same time I’m going to order the conversion for the KINDLE Edition.

If you’ve been following my blog this past week, you’d know I’ve read and posted reviews for five more books. I currently still have two books in my possession I need to read/review plus an additional two books I’ve yet to receive from my GoodReads.com giveaway wins; plus one more e-book on my bookshelf on Shelfari. I’m most definitively keeping the New Year’s Resolution I made this year about starting to read books again.

With the above accomplished and reading requirements under control, I feel confident I can return to working on my MG/YA Urban Fantasy The Secret of the Well, and my adult Contemporary Romance novel, His Darkest Secret this week.

The 64 Haikus I’ve already written are now arranged into five categories so far. I’ve also decided to reduce the number of Haikus I plan to include in this anthology from 400 to 250, which means I’ve completed about 25.6% of this endeavor. I’m now going to now search in earnest for sites which deal with the writing of Haikus to obtain my prompts/ideas to write them with. I’ve found one of these sites http://www.haikuhorizons.wordpress.com where I looking at all of the prompts they’ve already given and writing a Haiku for each one. I’m following this site now and I’m going to be current with it. This week I wrote an additional 14 Haikus, giving me a total 78 [31.2% completed.]

With the completion of my first anthology of Micro Fiction, I’ve eagerly started working on a second volume. But this time, I’m not going to reply on only one source for my prompts, which has worked out wonderfully for me, and as of now I’ve already written five of them.

HAIKU - HAIKU HORIZON PROMPT - COLD

I'm always looking for another venue in which I can be created in.

I think I've found it in the writing of HAIKU

Here are my responses for the Haiku prompt on Haiku Horizons

Nature

One day hot. Next cold.

Mother Nature deals the cards.

No one knows what’s next.

Midsummer’s Cyclc

Midsummer heat’s on

Longing for mid-winter’s cold

Heat’s longed for again

Goldilocks Syndrome

This one is too hot.

Then choose the other instead.

But that one's too cold.

A TOUR HAS STOPPED ON MY BLOG - AOIFE MARIE SHERIDAN

Hunters

The Demon Series #1

By Aoife Marie Sheridan

Abigail is nineteen. Her job, she hunts demons.

Her life so far has been tough. Having witnessed her family’s death and her mother’s suicide, she’s been taken in by a priest, who believes her when she says that she sees ghosts. Father Peter trains her as a demon hunter with three other members, one being Daniel, who isn’t what he seems.

But when a possession goes wrong, and ghosts start to attack Abigail, the tight rope she has on her emotions soon starts to loosen. Abigail draws the unwanted attention of the Reote, and she finds out a lot more than she was willing to learn.

Knowledge is power, but for Abigail, it’s her undoing, and the only thing keeping her together is Daniel.

sheridan101@gmail.com 

Website: www.aoifemariesheridan.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Aoifemariesheri

Blog:  aoifesheri.wordpress.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6551996.Aoife_Marie_Sheridan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aoifesheri

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+AoifeMarieSheridan

Linkedin: http://ie.linkedin.com/pub/aoife-marie-sheridan/66/760/942

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aoifesheri/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Aoife%20Marie%20Sheridan&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

   

 Purchase Links:

Amazon.com -   http://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Demon-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00NLRMJ5S/ref=sr_1_7?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1411466472&sr=1-7&keywords=hunters

Amazon.co.uk - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunters-Demon-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00NLRMJ5S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1411466580&sr=1-1

Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/4652900

About the Author:

Aoife Marie Sheridan has loved reading from a very young age, starting off with mills and boon's books, given to by her grandmother her love for romances grew, by the age of 14 she had read hundreds of them.

Aoife had a passion for writing poetry or in her eyes her journal entries. It was something she did throughout her teens and into her twenties. Aoife won first place for two of her poems and had them published at a young age of just nineteen. Realising she needed to get a real job (What writing isn't) she studied accountancy and qualified working in that field for many years, until her passion for reading returned and she found Maria V Snyder. Poison study one of her favourite books has been read and re-read countless times.

Aoife's first book Eden Forest (Part one of the Saskia Trilogy) came to be after a dream of a man and woman on a black horse jumping through a wall of fire and the idea of Saskia was born. Now with her first novel published and taking first place for Eden Forest with Writers Got Talent 2013, Aoife continues to write tales of fantasy and is currently working on her third book for the Saskia Trilogy amongst other new works.

To contact Aoife you can email her at aoifesheridan101@gmail.com 

Website: www.aoifemariesheridan.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Aoifemariesheri

Blog:  aoifesheri.wordpress.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6551996.Aoife_Marie_Sheridan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aoifesheri

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+AoifeMarieSheridan

Linkedin: http://ie.linkedin.com/pub/aoife-marie-sheridan/66/760/942

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aoifesheri/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Aoife%20Marie%20Sheridan&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

FIVE SENTENCE FICTION - Flight

After not having responded to Lillie McFerrin’s prompt word each week, I wanted to do it last week with the prompt word of “ENVY,” however by the time I got around to post the links I’d been locked out of doing so.

I first started responding to Lillie’s prompt words back in January/February of 2012, and a few months I decided to compile an anthology of all the prompts I’d posted links for on her site. I wanted to have 100 items in it, however for one reason or another I came up short. This meant I had to back track to pick the prompts I missed responding to.

It’s taken me a while to complete this task and I’m happy to report that I’ll me releasing this anthology shortly. Right now I’m waiting to receive a print PROOF COPY for it; which I’m scheduled to receive on Monday, November 24^th. I wanted to have all of the 100 items to be five sentences long, but with the editing which has occurred this could no longer be possible. The book is entitled Micro Fiction – An Anthology.

The following is one of the items in the book which has been edited so it would only have five sentences.

THE TREASURE TROVE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FLIGHT OF STAIRS

Mary looked out her window that morning and seeing the rain realized she’ll have a very miserable day, she asked her mother, “Would it be okay if I explore the rest of the house today?”

“You can, but remember the attic is still off limits; the staircase there hasn’t been fixed yet.”

Turning on the light switch at the top of the stairs, she slowly walked down the steep FLIGHT of stairs. Once she got to the bottom Mary saw a huge wooden chest in a corner, and went over to investigate it. The instant she opened it, she discovered it was filled with all sorts of stuff any girl her age would love.

BOOK REVIEW # 28 - TAKE A PIECE OF MY HEART

I found “Take a Piece of My Heart” by Diane Rose Duffy to be an almost true story of what happens to a young girl like Kara, who’s too young to really understand the true meaning of love. Kara, against her parent’s wishes decides to run off with a guy her parents had forbidden her to see and gets married to him; which only could have happened because of her youthful innocence.

Before long she discovers the truth of what the adorable man she’d married is truly like, and the happy ever after she once thought she’d get is merely is now a nightmare no woman wants to be in.

Not only did the cad she married take a piece of her; he took quite a lot more from her. I believe her husband had taken almost everything from her, everything that is except for her will to survive and her determination to find solace somewhere far away from him.

This is a story any woman who’s in an abusive relationship and has been able to escape from can relate to. Once Kara leaves her husband she gets on a roller coaster of emotions like any another woman who has lived through the same ordeal.

While I usually find 50+ chapters a bit excessive for a novel of this length; however, Ms. Duffy skillful use this number of chapters to her first outing as an author, makes it like a diary of Kara’s existence with her husband, from when they first met, through her horrific life with him, her escape, to the journey in which she finds the happy ever after she has search so long for.

It’s too bad I can only give this book 5 STARS, as it deserves more.

US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OMLU1H0

UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OMLU1H0

BOOK REVIEW # 27 - FAIRY TALE IN NEW YORK

It’s Christmastime and once again Nicky Wells has offered her readers another novella in the Christmas spirit. “Fairy Tale in New York” is the fourth time I’ve had the pleasure of reading one of her writing endeavors/endeavours.

It’s a been about a year since I read this author’s first Christmas novella, “Spirits of Christmas,” where Jude learns the true meaning of the holiday, and wins back the love of his girlfriend Carrie. Now a year later he has taken her and their baby Maya to New York City for a pre-Christmas vacation/holiday, where they experience the holiday season in a much different manner they’d planned.

Everything’s basically fine, fine that is until Jude, with his still newly found Christmas spirit, gives up their seats back to someone else who needed to desperately get back to the U.K. because his wife is in labor/labour. They stay an extra day in the man’s hotel suite after which they’ve got no place to stay since all the hotels are booked and the falling snow has shut down the city. They wind up experiencing Christmas Eve, as well as the next two days, with the sheer joy of helping others.   

I’ve once again enjoyed reading something from the mind of this author that I’m more than happy to give it 5 STARS. And if haven’t her previous Christmas novella, “The Spirits of Christmas,” I recommend you do.

US   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O98EMRG

UK   http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00O98EMRG

BOOK REVIEW # 26 - THE SPIRIT OF WANT

The following review is my honest opinion for the copy I received in a giveaway on GoodReads.com

One thing I don’t do in writing my reviews is to look at what other reviewers have already written, I don’t want the ones they wrote to have any influence on me.

I’d looked forward to reading this book after reading its description, which is one of the reasons I decided to enter the giveaway for one of the 100 copies being offered.

Unfortunately I became more and more disappointed in what I read. To begin what I felt the 62 chapters it has to be somewhat excessive with some of the chapters being only 1 or 2 pages long. The adding of a character’s name didn’t help matters since you had same character associated with a few chapters in a row.

There was no continuity for the characters in this as they could change from one chapter to the next. The book is also in need of some copyediting as well.

I’m not going to say anything about the publisher for this book as there’s plenty of information about it already. So for his efforts, the best I can give this book is 3 STARS.

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1496928849 

UK  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1496928849  

FIVE SENTENCE FICTION - Envy

I know it’s been a while since I’ve responded to one of Lillie McFerrin’s prompt words, but I’ve been engrossed in my other endeavors. And as you can see from my posts here, one of them is that of having recently become a Book Reviewer. In additional, I’m happy to announce that a few days I’ll be releasing my second book, Micro Fiction – An Anthology. And has soon as I can, I’ll be providing details about it.

THE MONSTER WITHIN

Edna is really a sweet person once you get to know her, but unfortunately is not the type of person you really want to be friends with.

Now don’t get me wrong, she’s a great individual who she does have one trait which can turn her deadly.

Vying to have anything her little heart desires as long as she doesn’t know you have it, everything’s okay.

Yet, the moment she finds out you do, you need to watch out.

You need to watch out because she turns into a green monster known as ENVY.

BOOK REVIEW # 25 - THE ART OF STILLNESS: ADVENTURES IN GOING NOWHERE

When I began to read Pico Iyer’s “The Art of Stillness” I read it like any other book; sitting in a chair in front of my computer. However, the book didn’t seem to do anything for me as it felt like I just read a string of words, sentences and paragraphs which have been put together.

But this couldn’t be the case as the book had promised to take me somewhere or increase my knowledge. From what I’ve read about the author, I’d anticipated getting much more. If the book isn’t the problem, then the problem rested with me. Sitting totally still, the realization came to me I must change; I didn’t have to change anything about myself, I had to change the way I’d approached in reading this.

Laying on my bed in total silence, not a sound being able to distract my thoughts, and my mind a blank I began reading the book anew. This time the author’s thoughts and ideas became clear, and I began to understand this message.

“The Art of Stillness” is a wonderful way to escape reality and to take someone to places they’ve never been to physically. And if your mind is allowed to take a trip to nowhere you’ll actually wind up in a place where your mind is allowed to wander aimlessly; and once it comes back, you’ll find yourself refreshed and feeling like someone new.

Mr. Pico writing I feel talks to you in a very subtle manner, a manner in which you’ll learn a lot about things and yourself. I can’t see giving this book anything but 5 STARS.

I received a hardcover copy of this book in a giveaway on GoodReads.com and this review has been my honest opinion.

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1476784728

UK  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1476784728

BOOK REVIEW # 24 - THE EVIL IS IN THE ICE

While the writing of this book is relatively good and I enjoyed the genre mix it contains as well as the action in it, there are several factors which wound up distracting my total enjoyment. Unless I missed it, given the four bodies had been discovered in Siberia, I don’t see how Dr. Orville got the Russians to allow his research to be moved to NY City instead of being done in a place like Moscow.

I found the author’s dating each chapter to be a nuisance as multiple consecutive chapters had the same date. After reading Chapters 20 – 27 with the date of November 18, 2015, I come to Chapter 28 with a date of November 18, 2013 without any rhyme or reason; after which we jump to the Epilogue with a date of spring 2018. In addition, I found the manner in which the author had decided to break the story into chapters to be somewhat distracting as well.

Unfortunately, while I’d love to have given this book a better rating the best I can do is only 3 STARS.

I received my copy of this book through a giveaway on GoodReads.com and this review has been my honest opinion for it.

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KMY11TI

UK  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KMY11TI

WEEKLY STATUS REPORT # 30

As you can by reading my blog in the past week I’ve read and reviewed 5 books [three of them were from the backlog of e-books I have, the other two were for books I’ve won on GiveAways on GoodReads.com]

Currently I have 5 more books in my possession that I’ve won from GoodReads.com which I need to read/review, and I’m still waiting to receive two more. This doesn’t include any additional books I might win this week.

I can’t believe my 2nd second career as a Book Reviewer has taken over that of being an author; and even though this might be the case this past week I’ve been able to enter another 10% of the physical edits I’ve done for my anthology into the Word document on my computer.

My endeavor to compile my anthology of Haikus I’ve written is currently on the back burner as I need to rethink how I’m going to compile them in the manuscript. I feel it’s better to do it now, while it’s still manageable.

My two other endeavors are currently on hold, but I expect I’ll be getting back to my YA Urban Fantasy, The Secret of the Well by the end of this week or by the beginning of next week.

BOOK REVIEW # 23 - SPITTING DAISIES & COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE SUNSET

The following is my honest review for a copy of this book that I won as a giveaway on GoodReads.

The reason I decided to enter the drawing for this book is that I’ve never read any sort of play before except for the Shakespeare ones in Junior and Senior High School.  And I’ve found the experience of reading these two one-act plays by Kerri Kochanski a wonderful experience.

In Spitting Daisies, the story reminds me of the days in New York City when the IRT line trains had no air conditioning and some could actually stick at least part of their heads through an open window. The conversation between a boy [Frank] and a girl could have been an actual one between them. Two students both going to one of the colleges there, where one saw the another, while the other doesn’t imagine anyone would be noticing her with all the real beautiful women there; beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, which is a theme I saw prevalent here.  This creates “conflict” between the two, while at the same time Frank believes he’s helping the girl, the girl is in fact saving Frank’s life. When they both realize the truth between them, the girl hugs Frank in an increasing embrace.

In the second one-act play Rachel has to come to the reality of what had actually happen when she had been a little girl and what she did when she became the victim of incest by a male member of her family.  She also needs to create a new image in her mind of who she is in order to move on with her life and with a relationship with Frankie who wants to find the Rachel she’s been hiding because of her dark past.

As I said in the beginning of my review I found reading these two one-act plays a wonderful experience which is why I giving this endeavor by Ms. Kochanski  5 STARS.

US:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1453856722

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1453856722

BOOK REVIEW # 22 - 33 FRAGMENTS of SICK-SAD LIVING

This is my honest review for a book I won in a GoodReads.com giveaway.

Before I could barely wink an eye before I’d finished reading this amazingly brief endeavor written by Brian Alan Ellis. In compiling this, the author wrote each entry without any regard to the language he used.  The language which is blunt, coarse, and at times even vulgar aids in making the image one sees more vivid, and the characters more human. The actual truth regarding the state of the many things we have to deal with or live with is represented by the language used in describing them. While I might feel I’m a too old to be reading this material, I feel it’s a prefect reading for anyone who still in their twenties, are into drugs or alcohol; or into still the same type of language used here. Which is why I’m giving it 4 STARS.  

US:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GQ4CVYW

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GQ4CVYW

BOOK REVIEW # 21 - RED SHOES

Donna Steele has written a wondrous novella regarding a young woman, living under the assumed name of Nicole [Nikki] Setzer, who has just escaped from the cloistered life she had to endure living under with her rich, power-hunger, aspiring State Senator of a husband.

Her escape had been made possible by the sheer timing of events, her husband being out of town; but more important being a get her hands on a certain letter, a letter addressed to her, directly from the postman. Normally a servant would have answered the door and signed for the letter, which then would have been brought into her husband’s office to be screened first.

Each meets Micah Allen when he almost ran her over with his car in the parking lot of the supermarket.  She distrusts him and tries to avoid him as much as possible. Nikki trusts no one for fear the individual might be employed by her estranged husband trying to locate her. Luckily, as the story progress she discovers Micah is the type of man she’s always desired; and for Micah, Nikki has been the type of woman he’s longed for in his dreams.  In the beginning of this novella you get a sense that you’re reading two separate stories as you go from one chapter to the next. These “two separate” eventually collide when all these three parties meet and they all go at each other.

At the end of the story is well, and Nikki again is wearing her red shoes as a sign of her victory in regaining total control over her life, and the battle she’s just won for it. The same red shoes she first wore when she met Adrian.

I loved reading this so much; I can’t but give it 4 STARS.

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EIVXMCK

UK  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EIVXMCK

BOOK REVIEW # 20 - TOGETHER THEY OVERCAME

The story starts off with a young girl named Rosalind from South Africa of mix heritage, Jewish and Catholic, who follows her boyfriend to Israel and soon discovers his hidden violent tendencies; tendencies which forces her to ultimately abandon her relationship with him.

Rosalind is a young student nurse working in a hospital in Israel during the Sinai War of 1956, where she faces a challenge in dealing with all the young men who have not only been physically scarred from the battles they’ve been in, but emotionally as well. It is here she meets Eyal, a young soldier suffering from a gunshot wound. They develop an emotional relationship with each other which eventually leads to her moving in with him and his family.

Unfortunately, this simple action immediately leads into conflict, as Eyal’s mother resents the fact that her son would be interest in a non-Jewish girlfriend, let allow have her move in with his family and eventually marry him. Since Rosalind’s mother is Catholic automatically makes her Catholic as well. [Jewish law follows the maternal line when it comes to deciding the religion of a child.] But what makes this even worse is the fact Rosalind’s mother is a German Catholic, and it has only been the end of WWII, and the extermination of millions of Jews at the hands of the Nazis.

One of the problems facing Rosalind is that she is immature to really be involved in a relationship, the magnitude of the one she has with Eyal. And in an effort to try to escape this, she actually begins to fantasize about her relationship with her former lover. But eventually everything begins to work out and their marriage finally stabilizes.

With all the

 elements this story contains and the manner in which it has been written I’m giving Juliet Aharoni’s novel, “Together They Overcame,” 4 STARS. 

While these elements made for a wonderful story of love conquering whatever these two lovers had to endure; I feel, there are two possible reasons some readers might not be interest in reading this novel. The first reason is the fear of assimilation of the Jewish young people into other religions, and the second the simple fact the story is taking place in Israel in 1956.

US:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M7JAFHA

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00M7JAFHA