Hello fellow adventure seekers! Sorry there weren’t any blogs last week. I did notice a number of people checking-in and perhaps wondering why there weren’t the regular blogs. The simple reason is I needed a break as it is a busy season with my regular job. So thanks for checking in and this week, there will be two book reviews for you to enjoy.
I hope you’re doing well and life is good to you. Have a wonderful day!
This is perhaps the only other fairly tale books I’ll ever read from K. M. Shea. I’m not a huge fan of fairy tale re-telling, which is something that is really feeling overdone. What I do like, however, is when an author manages to receive inspiration for a beloved classic and totally make it their own.
Puss in Boots is a story about a young woman who’s very beautiful but she’s trapped in a life she doesn’t want. She befriends or perhaps a cat wearing boots befriends her and soon they are on their way. Throughout the story, the hero learns that when she helps people, they don’t care about her appearance, but they care about her and this brings her a great deal of pleasure.
It’s a cute story, a quick read and comes to a satisfying ending. So if this sounds like something you’d like to read, head on over to amazon and start your adventure today.
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A few months ago, I handed over a manuscript to my editor. I’d poured myself into this particular story. A few weeks later, the editor returned the piece and while he said he felt it was my best work, he was also highly critical in his comments. Now, I’m not talking about me being overly sensitive and taking the comments personally. I’m talking about him calling me names, making accusations and assumptions and providing sloppy work. Usually I love working with this editor. I truly believe he wants the best for my work, so I decided to speak with him about the way he treated me and my work (I do pay him a substantial amount of money for his time and expertise, so I believe he should be professional). However, when I tried to talk with him, he didn’t handle it well. As a result, it has made it hard to work with his feedback and has made my progress slow.
In life, we all receive criticism from all angles and sometimes it is heavy. Sometimes it’s helpful and needed. And sometimes… well perhaps the Bambi principle should have been applied (“if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”). It’s this third category I’m writing about today.
First, we need to learn to be our own best encourager. Not everyone is going to like everything we do and people certainly have their opinions. (Yeah for freedom of speech!) But if we don’t practice building ourselves up and believing in the dreams inside of us, then the words of others will quickly tear us apart.
Second, we need to surround ourselves with people who love us and speak positive words into our lives. People who will support and encourage our dreams even when others don’t. And maybe they don’t have the same faith in our dreams, but they know enough to encourage and let us try.
Third, we always need to look for the good in what others say. Even criticism that is better left unsaid might have a possible grain of truth in it. So like an oyster, force that sucker open and find the pearl! It might be a small pearl, but it’s still a pearl.
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Are you feeling a bit tired of the vampire trope? Or does it still interest you. I have to admit, there is something that is still appealing about vampires and many authors are generating their own spin: villain, tortured soul or well-mannered contributing member of society with a ‘special diet’.
The book, Life Bound by Aubrey Winters, takes a bit of a different spin where the vampires are sort of ‘all of the above’ and a bit more as they are divided into various factions. The main character, a human who doesn’t know she’s part of the shadows or they mythical/magical community, is life bound to the oldest vampire alive. The two are forced to travel together on a quest to find a disappearing grandmother.
It’s an interesting read with a second book, which I look forward to reading (soon). The plot was well paced with a few interesting twists and turn. It was also a clean read and the relationships between the main character and the vampire was fairly well done. There were road trips, fighting and a bit of a slow burn romance developing.
I did find it a bit tiring that every time something happened the main character and the vampire were drinking each others blood. That was overdone and became a predictable pattern. Also, the book did end on a bit of a cliff hanger, which I don’t like. Normally I wouldn’t continue a book that ends this way, but since it’s only a duology that’s already complete, I’d like to give a try. Plus it looks like Aubrey Winters is a new self-published author, so it’s always good to show support! I look forward to more entertaining reads as her writing abilities continue to develop.
Have you ever met those people who seem to get a ridiculous amount of work done and you’re left scratching your head wondering ‘how’?
I confess that I’m one of the people that tends to be high on productivity, but it wasn’t always this way. There used to be a time where I did accomplish a lot, but it was work or school related and I never felt like I was having fun or pursuing things I wanted to do. And I started to resent the things I had to do.
One of the biggest changes that helped me was establishing Time Pockets in my life. Now it wasn’t like time pockets didn’t exist, but I never used them. And if you’re reading this, then you might not be aware of them either.
First let me define what time pockets are. Very simply, they are those 10 or 15 minutes that pop up all over the place in our lives when we’re waiting for an appointment or between meetings. We arrive early and have nothing to do. While I admit it’s hard to accomplish significant tasks during these time pockets, we can do any number of activities.
Let me give you some examples of time pockets and how I’ve used them as a writer:
When we live with an awareness of time pockets, and fill them with productive activities that bring us joy, this also has a positive impact on our well-being. We no longer feel trapped, but we can experience the momentum of pursing our dreams, hobbies and interest.
So the next time you have a few minutes and are tempted to scroll through Facebook or a news feed, stop and do something valuable to you. The minutes will disappear and you’ll be on your way to increased productivity coupled with an increase of contentment.
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This book had a great premise. The main character is an Amish girl on her Rumspringa (the time Amish young people have to experience the ‘English’ world and decide if they will remain on the colony or leave it.) While returning home from a party, her buggy is hit by an approaching car and she’s on the side of the road dying but is spared by a vampire.
Oh it sounded interesting and free, so I downloaded it. The book was well-written and kept my attention. I wanted to know what would happen next and how things would work out for the main character. And it was a good but average read.
Where the book fell a bit flat for me is the whole Amish side and the girl’s lack of reaction to her change in life circumstances was poorly done. The exciting premise didn’t show the girl’s struggle with being forced to leave her community, her father uncaringly dropping her off and telling her never to return because of her change or even any struggle with the girl entering her new life. There wasn’t even much of a struggle around her drinking blood.
The author did seem to have a passing knowledge of Amish culture, so she probably did some research. I think the book would have been more interesting if the girl hadn’t come from an Amish background though because that really set an expectation for some exciting plot and conflict opportunities.
The book is still free on Amazon, so I encourage you to give it a read and let me know your thoughts. Get your free copy here: Crimson Born
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When we sit down to enjoy a good book, there’s a number of reasons why we like or dislike the story. Sometimes we can easily identify the reason, but other times it’s a bit more elusive. One factor that does stand out to us though is the characters and how well they are developed.
In every novel, there’s a bunch of ‘people’ the author brings to life on the page and from your high school English class, you can probably name: Protagonist and Antagonist.
The Protagonist is your main character who either creates the action or is in the midst of the excitement and if the author’s done their job well, then the story wouldn’t happen without this vital person.
The Antagonist is the character who opposes the main character. This character can be an actual character or villain. There is always only one who stands in opposition to the Protagonist, but they can have ‘helpers’.
Now beyond this, can you name more characters? There are actually five other major players that surround the Protagonist, and depending on the length of the novel, they might overlap or play minor roles and appear only a few times in the course of the novel.
So here they are! Think of some of your favorite reads try to identify how the author created their cast of characters.
The Mentor: This could also be an impact character who helps the main character face their journey, understand the theme (the lesson the main character needs to learn), in order to have their ultimate showdown in the final battle with the antagonist.
Sidekick: This character is usually a friend to the main character is often known as the support character. Their job is to journey and face the challenges with the main character. They bring their opinions and ideas to the dialogue and may engage in some of the battles as well.
The Voice of Reason: This character is the logic in the journey. They can be seen as antagonizing the main character because they constantly disagree. Though they can be supportive of the main character as well. This is usually someone close enough to the main character that can speak directly to the character to influence the journey positively or negatively.
Emotional Character: Very often this character is a child or someone young in the story who balances out the logic. They bring the emotional dynamic to the story. A child or a ‘young-at-heart’ character who will react with tears or laughter or fear when needed.
Comic Relief: This character is a pretty static character and their primary purpose is to bring in a bit of humor. This type of personality makes us laugh and we usually expect the same kind of behavior from them. They make a somber moment light.
Of these five characters, they can overlap. For example, a character that is The Voice of Reason could also be The Mentor.
So think of some of your favorite reads and think about how the author has used these in their craft.
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Think Jurassic Park but you’ve been transported back in time and you’re stuck.
This was my first time reading a book from this author. I was pleasantly surprised. The story had good suspense and I was constantly wondering what would happen next. I had to put the book down for things like work, but even then my thoughts were gravitating towards, ‘I need to know…’
The main character, Rogue, was part of an event in history that split the modern world with the prehistoric world and she ended up as part of dino history. The city Rogue lives in is led by a corrupt leader and it is believed that the citizens are safe as long as they live behind the walls surrounding the city. But things aren’t so simple for our main character who finds herself exiled and fighting for survival.
It was a fast-paced entertaining read. The book finishes well with a hint of more to come. The overall writing is fairly solid. And I look forward to the second book though by the looks of it, the author has a habit of writing series that go one for quite a while, so I might wait before purchasing more in the series.
Pick up your copy today on Amazon!
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Hi Everyone, so the podcasting will take a bit more time to set up, but there’s a new addition coming to the website today and I hope you take a few minutes to step on over and check it out!
Here’s a link to the page!
I’d love to know what you think!
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Free for 4-5 days!
-Sean Stone
This is an interesting new series with a hero that kind of isn’t a hero. Jacob Graves owns a night club, is secretly in love with the woman who manages his night club and has some magic that gives him an edge. But he likes to stay below the radar of the magical and Dorian Grey, the real uh person in charge of his city.
Oh, and did I mention that he gets his real source of income as an assassin? But he’s the good kind who only kills bad guys. Unfortunately for Jacob, he’s met his match in his next mark. Jacob Graves kills the guy, but he has this irritating habit of coming back to life. Say what now? You’ll have to read the book to find out more. (And I did mention it’s for free on Amazon for a few days only, so get it while it’s hot!)
The novel is well put together and the promise of the love interest gives a bit of mystery. The book has a good pace that keeps you reading and invested in the story.
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K. M. Wray