Ileandra’s August Indie eBook Review: Come Apart

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Ileandra Young

Roger Colby

Roger Colby

Author: Roger Colby
Title: Come Apart
Genre: Sci-Fi
ASIN: B00JQRR5JM
‘In our lives there is always one event that we wish we could change, to travel back and make a step to the left rather than to the right. Michael Prosper is one such individual who finds himself trapped in his own small town, his mind clouded with amnesia, a vague mist that slowly clears to reveal a waking nightmare of a life gone wrong. It is the story of teenage Danny who also suffers from memory loss, but as the mystery unravels they both discover connections with each other and with the strangeness of the town that ultimately leads them on a journey within, and when the truth about them both is finally revealed, the curtain rises on choices that will forever alter their perception of themselves and the people around them.’

Keeping up with these reviews is something I’ve been slacking in and I’m sorry about that. Reading all these other books by big authors that don’t need my money makes me feel like something of a traitor. :-p Then again, A Song of Ice and Fire is such an amazing read I really don’t feel like excusing myself.

Today’s book is by fellow blogger Roger Colby. I’ve followed him for a while and I enjoy his blog as his posts are an entertaining mix of humour, tips on writing and his own take on what’s happening in the publishing world here and there. This book I snagged when it released, but it’s only recently I’ve been able to read it. Here goes.

Cover:

three starsNow that I’ve read the book I feel I understand the cover. However, to begin with I really didn’t get the significance of some of the images and the style of the cover itself. Including the locket is a great touch, as is the computer-style writing that overlays the whole thing. I also like the green tones to the cover as offers even more of a computer-y (yes it is a word) feel to what I’m seeing.

Story:

three starsMichael is a bit of a bum who doesn’t really understand what’s happening in his life. He can’t hold down a job, or a girl, everyone in town seems to know something about him that he doesn’t and it makes him uneasy. As you might expect.
He has several run ins with a young lad named Danny (familiar to him, but not) and a wandering vagrant who always seems to have a tale of happenings that seem to take their root in conspiracy theories about aliens and people diving into your brain.
Mix that all together in a big pot of small American town with football teams, hat-wearing sheriffs and folk who always know everyone else’s business, and you have a batter that makes the body of this novel. Throw in some weird happenings, inexplicable red lights, sounds and sensations and you have a bit of creep factor too.

The base of the story is good. I like the idea, however the punch line took too long in coming. I found myself occasionally losing interest and taking ages in coming back to the book. It’s not massively long and yet I found myself reading four of George R R Martin’s monster novels from the Song of Ice and Fire series in the middle of reading this one book.

Characters:

two starsMichael spent a long time being confused. His confusion fed into me to the point that I got frustrated with him for not doing more to find out what the hell was going on. Because it became plain very fast that if he didn’t know what was going on, I wasn’t going to either.
The vagrant/bum type was actually my favourite of the whole lot, (which, should you read the book yourself should give you a bit of a giggle). I think this is because he seemed the most honest of all the characters. And, in the last 20% of the book when things really begin to kick off, I found that what he had to say was the most intriguing.
The sheriff was just a nasty piece of work. He just gave me chills. Good, I suppose, but there was a vague sense of I think I’ve seen this somewhere else. Not in a bad way, only that I recognise this character from other literature and from films too and it took a little of the mystery away from him as a character amongst the rest.

Overall experience:

two starsDespite how much I liked the story and how interesting the characters were, this book was just too hard going for me. It was too abstract. In portions of it I simply couldn’t place what was happening and I feel, at times there was too much information surrounding what was going on, rather than focusing on the crunchy core of the matter.
More than that, there were a couple of phrases that just jarred with me throughout and made me gnash my teeth as I read them. I don’t know if it’s an across the pond sort of thing (USA vs UK) but there were points when I had to put down my Kindle, take a deep breath and then go on.
Despite that the formatting of the book was very well done. I know Roger formatted the book himself using Scrivener, and the fact that he can do so with a piece of software I also use is very encouraging. Formatting for Raven and I doesn’t cost a bundle, but if we’re able to do it was well as Roger did for free, then that’s one issue knocked off my list of many when it comes to SORB.

Final score:

2.5 starsAverage across all scores is 2.5 which is an easy to write 2 and a half stars.
Looking back over my notes I can safely say this is a taste thing. I love my vampires, my dragons, my elves and my swords. I also love my fae, my guns, my big epic battles and car chases. Yes, this book did have a car chase in it (!) but the surrounding matter just didn’t suit my tastes. I think, mainly because it leans towards sci-fi rather than ‘traditional fantasy.’
Those of you who enjoy sci-fi however, I’m sure you’ll find plenty in here to whet your literary appetites. 🙂
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Too Scared To Share – (& I Haz Planz 14/08)

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Raven ShadowHawk

Both Ileandra and I have been really lucky over the past year. Things we’ve done and works we’ve submitted have been picked up/accepted/short listed at a rate neither of us could have ever imagined. No, we’ve not won any competitions, or signed any six figure deals, but we’ve done extremely well in the space 18 months.
I, more than her, want to share. I’m so happy about the things that we’ve done that I just want to spread that joy around.

It’s not about gloating. It’s not even about getting a pat on the back. The desperate desire to share is far more about showing people that if we can do it, so can they.

I have a pair of 2 year old boys. Twins, if you didn’t know. I gave up my job to stay home with them and have been writing in the chunks of free time they give me. I’m knackered all the time, I barely go out, and when I do it’s for writing (with the Phoenix Writers) or roller derby (because it’s the only exercise I get across the week). I don’t do social stuff any more. But I’m still getting stuff done.

And yet, sometimes, I feel guilty about sharing. A common joke at the Phoenix Writers (and I know it IS a joke, so don’t deliberately misunderstand me here) is that when the chair asks for news, the group looks at me. Straight at me. Sometimes I have a success to share, sometimes I don’t. When I do, I’m pleased to share, when I don’t, I laugh about it and say ‘maybe next time.’

But some weeks I feel a hint of resentment jealousy coolness in the response. And sometimes I actually hear ‘Oh, what is it this time?’ And it’s not vindictive. It isn’t. I’ll say it again because the group just isn’t like that. But I wonder, in those moments, if I should keep my mouth closed and the success to myself.

So far I haven’t. The question is asked, so I answer. But I’m curious about what you guys think. Is this a situation in which you’d stay quiet, or would you say ‘screw it’ and talk about as many successes as you could? Is there any reason to feel bad about sharing what you’ve achieved? Does it matter what other people may or may not think? Should you keep quiet as an attempt to avoid making others feel bad/inadequate/unsuccessful? What do you think?

line break, swirling graphics, from openclipart

Right, mooooving on!

Last Week
Putting aside all the bouncing around I was doing I also managed to get a fair amount done. Let’s see….

~Finish fine edits on ‘Eric & Morgan’
Done. I actually read the piece aloud in 500 word chunks and made notes as I went along. Now I need to listen to the files as I make the changes. This is what I would have liked to do with Slippers & Chains, but the story was just too long to treat that way. Maybe I can do it with the next one.

~Write broad outline for next ‘Slippers & Chains’ story (in preparation for chapter by chapter break down)
Done. Apparently done weeks months ago! Going through my notes for S&C Sugar Dust, I found a neat section put aside for ‘Second Base’, that being the name tentatively put aside for S&C2. So… that was easy. Thank goodness. ^_^

~Print ‘Simone & Mr Sharpe’ in preparation for deep edits (once ‘Eric & Morgan’ is done)
Eeeerm. Also done. o.O I had been borrowing a printer and a few months back my generous friend took it back. Not that I blame him; I’d had it for nearly two years. But when I knew he was coming to take it, apparently I printed everything I thought I’d need on paper for the foreseeable future. Ha! Talk about foresight. Go me!

~Choose freebie for my next newsletter
Also done. In fact, I have a series now so the newsletter is well populated for the next couple of months. It should give me and the readers a laugh actually, so if you’ve not signed up yet, now is the time to do so. 🙂

This Week
I suppose I can relax a smidgy bit. I’ve got things I want to do, but it’s all moving along at a fair pace. I think we’ll be looking at an October release for ‘Eric & Morgan’ at this rate. Wooohoo!

  1. Make sure my newsletter goes out on time using the new host client
  2. Transfer ‘Eric & Morgan’ fine edits back to Scrivener
  3. Hit the beta reader trail

In fact, I’ll open this up to you guys now. Do you fancy reading an ARC copy of ‘Eric & Morgan’, the latest in my ‘Meeting Each Other’ series? It’s a romantic MM pairing nudging towards the 6,000 words mark. The copies I send out will be available in .doc, .mobi and .epub files. I’d love to get some feedback from the general readers as well as my usual betas. I’ll even add your name to the list of thanks I make with each new story. I’ll call you my Beta B Team. 😉

Fancy that? Ping me a message in the comments or use the Contact page to reach me and I’ll send you out the file.
Cheers! x

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5 Tips To Beat The Post First Draft Funk (& Mah Plans – 11/08)

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Ileandra Young

Finishing a first draft is amazing. Last week I talked about finishing my draft of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge‘ and how the end crept up to nab me in the back. This week I want to talk about how to deal with ‘the end.’

One: Recognise That It’s Not the End

You’ve finished your draft. Your characters have done whatever it was they were going to do (certainly not what you were planning for them to do if your luck is anything like mine) and you’ve written ‘the end’ with a flourish at the end of whatever software you might be using.
But it’s not the end. This is only the beginning. This draft is done but there will be redrafts. There will be edits. There will be fine tuning. You’re not done with these characters yet.
They’ve spent weeks (or months) leading you a merry dance through the manuscript digging themselves into holes, getting lost in the plot and talking over much. Now it’s your turn the rein them in and make their words and actions shine like silver (or gold if that’s your preference).

Two: Have A Rest

You bloody deserve it. Writing a story, be it novel, novella or flash, takes a lot out of you. You invest yourself in it. Take a chance to rest now. Go for a walk. Have dinner with your family. Remind yourself what your kids look like. Forget about the story for a while.
This time allows your mind to decompress and effectively forget about the story. If you need a month, take a month. If you need longer, take that. Whatever you do, rest your brain, let it leave that particular story alone. Tip Three will help with that.

Three: Have The Next Project Lined Up In Advance

Whether it’s editing or another first draft, make sure you know what you’ll be moving onto before you finish that first draft. It’s easy to get lost in ‘dead space’ and struggle to find something to fill your writing time when that all consuming first draft is done. Planning ahead and knowing what you’re doing next will help with that.
It also means that when you leave the story behind to give yourself space from it, you’ve not stepped away from writing completely. You’re still working. And, better than that, your brain will still be working on the story anyway. Quietly. Unobtrusively. Without you knowing. This ‘back brain’ process is invaluable, but won’t happen unless you are distracted by something else. Give yourself that space.

Four: Decide What You Want To Do With It

If, like me, you’re planning to self publish your masterpiece, there are lots of things to consider. Many people will tell you that now is not the time to be thinking about book covers, marketing plans and pricing, but I say it is. This is the perfect time to think about it because it helps remind you why you wrote the piece in the first place.
I need constant reminders of my plans. Why do you think I do goal posts every week? I need to know what’s coming because the knowing is a spur keep me moving. When I’m flagging, or losing hope, knowing that my final place will see my book for sale on Amazon or anywhere else, it gives me fresh energy. If I know I’ll be able to hold a physical copy of my book in my hands and touch the awesome cover, that helps when I’m feeling low. So thinking about all these other things is really handy for keeping my head in the game.

Five: Reward Yourself

Don’t confuse this with having a rest. It’s not the same. When I say reward, I mean do something for yourself to place a massive exclamation point at the end of your achievement. And fit the reward to the task you completed. When I finish a first draft, I like to sit down to a good movie. If I can, I go to the cinema, if not I sit in the living room in full dark with a bag of crisps beside me and a pack of Haribo.
If I’ve sold something I like to go to dinner and involve my family. Rewards can be anything you like, so long as they say ‘well done’ for the fantastic achievement you’ve just made. And be sure to do it. We writers are hard on ourselves, we don’t pat ourselves on the back anywhere near enough.line break, swirling graphics, from openclipartWith all that said, I guess I’d better make sure I’m doing it!

Last week

Was a little slow. I don’t feel like I achieved quite as much as I wanted because I was floating around in the fog of Raven’s achievement.

Outline ghost story for Boo Books anthology call
Done. I even started writing, I think I got 400 words in.

Speak with fellow collaborators to learn if I’m allowed to talk about what we’re up to
Eeerm. Yes and now. Yes, in that I’m on the hunt for authors willing to write fantasy stories anywhere from 5,000 words to 25,000 words to a brief we provided. No, in that I can’t give you masses and masses of detail. Ho hum.

Read through the reader notes offered by betas and organise them into ‘problem type’
Half way through doing this I realise what I waste of time it was. The comments are clear and concise and having already read through them I know where the issues are. In light of that, I just started going through Silk Over Razor Blades again with those in mind. I’ve already made a pretty significant change based on a combination of the comments. All three of my main readers pointed out that the beginning two thirds are a little slow compared to the last. That’s good in that they’re not just slow, but even compared to the rest that’s no good. Some of the changes I’ve already made should take care of that and I’ve sheared off a whole chapter to up the pace a little bit. It already feels cleaner and smoother. I’ll keep you posted with how I get on.

This Week

I want to get this ghost story out of the way. I think I’ve been quiet lax about it and I want it done fairly soon so I can give more time over to my other project. I’d also like to read it at the Phoenix Writers before I sent it off, which means I need as much time as possible to read it.

  1. Write at least 1,000 words of Boo Books ghost story per working day (at least three days)
  2. Beta edit at least four chapters of SORB (at least four working days)
  3. Figure out what the hell a blog tour is and how to run one

Yep. It’s time to think of marketing, promotion and getting heard. All stuff that needs lots of planning in advance. I have an idea of what a blog tour is, but so far everything I’ve read seems to conflict. A bit weird, that. So I’ll be doing some research on that across the week. I believe I do need one (it’s such a nice way to meet new bloggers and gain exposure) that it would be a wasted opportunity, what with a novel due out in Autumn.

…anybody interested in being involved with that? 😉

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Raven’s July Indie eBook Review: Pink Lace And Stolen Hearts

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Raven ShadowHawk

cover art for Pink Lace and Stolen Hearts

JC Wallace

Author: JC Wallace
Title: Pink Lace and Stolen Hearts
Genre: Gay Erotica / Romance
ISBN: 9781311378194
Words: 22,800
‘Greg is my roommate and best friend. He’s been depressed ever since his boyfriend found out that he likes to wear feminine underwear and dumped him. When I saw Greg in those blue silk panties, my entire world changed. I may actually love him, but I can’t. I’m not gay, right?’

My attention span sucks. It must do, or else what reason can you think of that explains the fact that I don’t (and can’t) read any erotica longer than about 60,000 words? I just can’t. 25-30,000 seems to be my cap otherwise I just get bored.

Not a bad thing I suppose, just an observation. Which means I’m increasingly happy that there are so many people out there happy to write to that sort of length. Novellas, sometimes known as ‘lunch reads.’ Because you can read them over lunch 😉

And that’s exactly what I did with this.

How adorable is this story? Either I’m getting sappy or Da Shared Brain is seeping into me, or something, but recently I’ve stepped away from the harder, grittier stuff I’ve been known to read. This story is a touching ‘first time’ story which includes coming out and a good dose of angst to boot. I used to think it’s not my thing but… what do I know?

Cover:

Two-Flame-RatingNice pants. Wish my arse was small enough to fit into knickers that size. 😉
The image is a good one; a good base. Unfortunately, for me, the surrounding text looks like the efforts of someone self publishing. Not bad but not as professional or unique as some others I’ve seen. A pity, because the style and colour choices work really well with the image.

Story:

Law (Lawson) lives with his gay room mate Greg. He has recently come to learn that Greg likes to dress in women’s underwear. Not necessarily as a kink or fetish, but because it makes him feel good. However Law is not upset by this, quite the reverse, he finds himself attracted to the memory of his house mate in frilly pink underwear.
But Greg has a boyfriend. 😦
But Greg tells his boyfriend (Simon) about his desire to wear female underwear and all hell breaks loose. Great for Law, right?
Well kinda….

Characters:

I love Law’s voice. He’s very real to me, his heart and his thoughts are incredibly clear. The choice of first person as a means to tell the story helps with that a great deal, but if I’m honest, it’s mostly in the strength of the writing.
Greg, is a girlie-man. At least to me. I understand more about his character towards the end, but something about his words and actions strikes me as a fraction too feminine. And it’s not the underwear that does it. While I don’t enjoy him as a character as much as Law, the contrast he provides is perfect. It’s a very good literary match.
(Simple) Simon is a- I can’t really tell you without giving too much of a spoiler. But he makes a great third corner to the triangle these men make. There’s a little bit of everything to be found between them and it ensures the book is interesting throughout.

Eroticism:

A slow build, which I liked, and a satisfying crescendo. I guess my only gripe is how easily these two men eventually got down with it. o.O
Yes there was sustained sexual tension and yes there was emotional depth, but these men had never touched each other in this way before. There was no clumsiness or awkwardness or sense of hoooooooly fuck this is actually a pretty big fucking deal! Maybe that’s a flaw in me- should it be a big deal? I don’t know.

But I do know that my first sexual experience with a woman, no matter how much I wanted it, was anything easy and calm and sensual. It was a mess! A very enjoyable and memorable mess to be sure, but still a mess. This felt too… neat….

Overall experience:

Wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it in a heartbeat. There were no cringe worthy moments, no icky bits and certainly nothing that made me want to stop. I read the whole thing in one sitting and fast enough that I barely noticed any formatting issues or typos. If they existed at all.

Final score:

Average across all scores is 3.8 which, rounds out to 4 fireballs.

This was a truly excellent read. And, the fact that it was free makes me even more inclined to keep raving about it. There aren’t enough M/M stories in my life so I’m glad I got back into them with this one. It was a very good start.

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I DID IT! I DID IT! – (& I Haz Planz 07/08)

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Raven ShadowHawk

I’VE SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH BREATHLESS PRESS! THEY’RE GOING TO PUBLISH ‘SLIPPERS & CHAINS’!

*huff huff huff*
Sorry for the caps, but I’ve been sitting on that for sooooo long I just couldn’t keep it in any longer.Clipart lemon from OpenClipArt,

I’m now part of the Breathless Press family and they will be working with me to publish ‘Sugar Dust, Slippers & Chains Book 1′ in the near future.

SQUEEEEEEE!

I’ve been sitting on this for a while but I wanted to be sure of where I stood before I shouted about it. After sending the MS I actually received a positive response within three days. I knew very early on that they wanted the book but thought it best to sit on my hands until the contract was signed. Sorry to leave you hanging so long, I know you’ve been curious.

In the coming weeks I’ll be learning about what on earth comes
next. Remember, despite the Meeting Each Other series I’ve never done this before. The last success of this nature was one for Ileandra and unfortunately that small press decided to step away from fiction and focus on poetry, so all her rights were returned. In this case I’m a total n00b wandering out across the dark landscape of small press publishing with only a tiny light (common sense) to guide me.

Ha, that’s not true. I’ve already fallen into conversation with another Breathless Press author (Liana Brooks) and she’s been lovely in answering my questions.

*happy sigh* So that’s where we are. I have no idea what to add beyond the fact that I’m (very) happy right now and floating on fluffy clouds in the shape of naked bodies. When I know more, you’ll know more, but until that time please bear with me while I try to figure out a way to include you all in my celebrations. ^_^

line break, swirling graphics, from openclipart

Right, mooooving on!

Last Week
Putting aside all the bouncing around I was doing I also managed to get a fair amount done. Let’s see….

~Get in contact with my cover designer to discuss ideas for ‘Eric & Morgan’ cover
Sorted.
Cover image picked and all details handed over to Angie to make her magic happen. Really looking forward to seeing the final product.

~Begin fine edits on ‘Eric & Morgan’. Complete at least 2,000 words.
Yep, 3,000 actually, which put me at the half way mark. I took it with my the PWG last week as well, so I got some very handy comments from them. I’ll also be taking the next 1,000 words to read (time permitting) so I can get even more help from them too.
Failing that I still have my trusty betas to help me so I’m not worried if I’m not able to read. It is nice though; those guys are a lovely bunch and so helpful with their critique. They really help my work shine.

This Week
Looking forward I think I can afford to take on an extra task or two, so long as they’re small.

  1. Finish fine edits on ‘Eric & Morgan’
  2. Write broad outline for next ‘Slippers & Chains’ story (in preparation for chapter by chapter break down)
  3. Print ‘Simone & Mr Sharpe’ in preparation for deep edits (once ‘Eric & Morgan’ is done)
  4. Choose freebie for my next newsletter

Aaaaaaaah, I love being busy. ^_^

When I figure out how I want to celebrate this success with Breathless Press I’ll be sure to let you know. It will probably be some sort of give away or competition but I’ll let you know when I reach that point.

For now, have a good week and I’ll catch you again on Saturday. x

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