Between the Covers - Book Review #14

There's been a lot of reading going on lately in my house and sadly, not much writing while I recover from my many stays at the hospital recently! :(

I have five selections for you, my faithful demon hunters.

1) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern proved to be an envious debut novel. I don't really know what so many of the "critics" were talking about on Goodreads and other review sites; this book wasn't all description without plot. If you read enough reviews yourself, you will find that people either loved or hated the book because of her descriptions, which some readers found too lengthy and distracting. I found her writing to be wonderful. This is a beautiful fantasy love story involving two dueling magicians at a circus I wish to attend! (And that's saying something for me, since I don't approve of circuses because of their use of animals.) Do not miss this series and if you're a writer, have tissues handy, for you will probably be crying with envy!

2) Sherrilyn Kenyon's Bad Moon Rising is a pleasing addition to her Dark-Hunter series, but don't expect a very complicated plot. Do expect a light, entertaining love story between two different Were species and some action/fight scenes. No big plot twists here, but it's a good escape, though I could have done without the detailed sex scenes. At least, they were mostly plot oriented and not gratuitous.

3) Dean Koontz's 77th Shadow Street left me with a sour taste in my mouth. What promised to be a unique story about an apartment building with a dark history fell flat. The characters are interesting and unique, but Koontz's delivery falls apart in the last few chapters, in which I finally learned the origin of the malevolent being targeting tenants and was disappointed. It's a great explanation, but too little and too late.

4) Patricia Cornwell's The Scarpetta Factor is another great addition to the Scarpetta forensic series, with a few good turns. However, towards the end, a few chapters cut would speed things up nicely. Dr. Kay Scarpetta is one of my all-time favorite female characters from a crime/suspense series. In this story, the suspects include an actor accused of a sex crime and a former, secret billionairess lover of Lucy's.

5) In Kathy Reichs's 206 Bones, Temperance Brenan is kidnapped and trapped in an underground tomb. The story works backwards in time, which is refreshing, though if you watch the TV series, Bones, like most beasts, the books are an entirely different animal from the TV series, of which, I actually enjoy both. In this novel, Brenan solves the murders of a few elderly women and discovers someone in her forensic lab is sabotaging her work and her reputation. This is a quick read, but worth it.

A Bloody Good Valentine's Day Book List - 2012

If you're like me, you hate being bombarded with commercial greeting card crap and probably would like to read a really good book for Valentine's Day, right? Well, here are my picks for you.

A Bloody Good Valentine's Day Book List 2012

1) They're Coming For You: Scary Stories that Scream to be Read: Bloody Valentine Edition [Kindle Edition] - For the love of horror fans everywhere.

2) Zombie in Love - A ghoulish book for young readers. Where will Mortimer find love?

3) My Zombie Valentine - A young book about zombie love.

4) A Succubus for Valentine's Day and other tales of perilous pleasures - All succubus all the time.

5) Cupid's Maze [Kindle Edition] - A corn maze and a proposal trip gone wrong.

6) My Bloody Valentine - High School voting for the king and queen of the dance can be quite deadly.

7) Love Kills: My Bloody Valentine - A killer short story collection.

8) Love is Dead: A Zombie Anthology [Kindle Edition] - A zombie anthology.

9) Roses Are Dread, Violets Are Boo!: A Vampire Valentine Story - A child's story.

10) Valentine's Day of the Undead [NOOK Book] 

11) Saint Valentine's Clash [NOOK Book] - Featuring a vampire and his pscionist lover.   

12) Valentine's Day Is Killing Me [NOOK Book] - A Mary Janice Davidson murder mystery.

13) Love, Creativity & Magick - A Steampunk Valentine's Day Tale [Kindle Edition]     

14) Hotter Than Hell - A Paranormal Love Anthology edited by Kim Harrison 

Five Fun Ways to Promote Your Book by Author Michelle Scott & Free eBook Contest

Michelle Scott received her MFA from Wayne State University. Her stories have appeared in such places as Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, All Possible Worlds and Realms. Her fantasy novel, The Dragons of Hazlett was nominated for a 2009 EPPIE Award. Her latest urban fantasy novel, The Soulless, was recently released from Mundania Press, LLC. Michelle lives in southeast Michigan with her husband and three children. You can read free samples of her work on her website.

THE SOULLESS: They prey upon society’s outcasts--the lonely, the desperate, the guilty--feeding upon the rage and lust and fear hidden in these human hearts. Once they find a victim, they are able to erase the boundary between impulse and action, turning an angry thought into murderous rage and a simple desire into manic obsession.

Only one person understands the danger. Evander Calhoun has spent a lifetime protecting his unsuspecting neighbors from these evil spirits, but--after a nearly a century of service--the old man no longer has the strength to continue the fight.

Evander must find a replacement. But, despite the fact that his master was a nearly crippled, illiterate, farmhand, Evander staunchly refuses to consider anyone but a strong, young male for an apprentice. In fact, he is so blinded by prejudice that he is apt to overlook the best chance he has of saving his beloved town.

Buy a copy.

Book promotion is very important to writers, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be a chore. And when you enjoy doing something, you lessen your chances of burning out. Here are five ways that you can connect with readers that should be fun for you as well.

1. Join online book discussion groups. I’m not just a writer; I’m a reader as well! I love discussing new books, recommending books I love, and talking about my favorite characters. Joining online book sites like GoodReads and Shelfari allows you to find other readers who share your reading interests. The point here is not to make drive-by promotional comments or to mention, “I’m a writer” in every thread. No, it’s to create connections with readers by engaging in conversations about the books you love.

2. Chase a meme. Bloggers, especially book bloggers, use memes (daily topics or question that are passed from blog to blog in hopes of going viral) as a way to lead readers from one blog to another. When you chase down a meme (travel from one blog to another, following the thread of posts relating to the meme) you can discover a huge number of book-related websites. You will not only meet other readers, but you may also connect with bloggers who are willing to review your latest release or host an interview.

3. Host a giveaway. At least once a month, I host a giveaway with one of my books as a prize. Oftentimes, I will do this as a part of a blog hop. (A blog hop is similar to a meme in that several blogs link together so that readers can ‘hop’ from one blog to another in order to enter as many contests as possible.)  At other times, I will write a guest post for a blog and then offer a prize as well.  Not only is it fun to give away prizes, but giving away copies will put your book into readers’ hands.  Hopefully, that will land you either a good review or, at the very least, a little word of mouth.

4. Start a Poll.  Engage your readers by asking for their input.  Maybe you’ll have them help you decide which cover you should use for your next release, or maybe it’s as simple as asking what book you should read next.  What a poll does is build a conversation between you and your followers.  After all, everyone loves to give an opinion!

5. Talk about something other than writing and reading!  It’s easy to forget that there is a world outside the written page.  Readers have a variety of interests, and it’s wonderful to connect with them on a level that doesn’t involve books.  I’ve also been known to start Twitter conversations about topics like Tim Gunn, cats, and chocolate.  Also, as an avid knitter, I interact with other knitters and knitting threads throughout the Web.  Whenever I join social sites (such as Pinterest or Ravelry), I make sure that my profile includes links to my website and books.  That way, if people are interested, they can check out my work. 

Remember, promotion isn’t about shoving your book in people’s faces and screaming, “Look at me!  I’m a writer!”  No, it’s about making connections and building relationships.  Building a fan base can very time consuming, but it can also be rewarding and, most importantly, fun!

You have a chance to win a FREE eBook copy of The Soulless!

Contest Rules

1)      Only ONE comment per person.

2)      Please include your email, if not listed in your profile post link. You can post it like this to avoid spammers: yourname at yourdomain dot com.

3)      I’ll announce the winner on Friday, February 3, 2012. The contest ends at midnight on Thursday, February 2, 2012.

4)      In 100 words or less, tell me how you would protect your own town from evil spirits.

Good luck and have fun my wily demon hunters!

Between the Covers - Book Review #4

This week's book review is brought to you by this cute, cuddly cat from The Dallas World Aquarium. I've got three picks for you.

1) I discovered Valerie Laken at my local library's fundraiser book sale. When I read she teaches at the university where I started graduate school, my interest was piqued. Dream House, her debut novel, started out relatively slow. If you're willing to stick with the story, the plot does pick up after about four chapters. Its cover blurb is misleading. I thought I was purchasing a ghost story, but it wasn't much of one. It was a great study in character development, though. The writing is good, but honestly, after reading it and putting it aside, the story hasn't stayed with me the way good ones do. Dream House follows a young couple through their troubled marriage and renovation of a house once owned by a family with a dark history of domestic violence. After being released from prison, a mysterious man befriends Kate, the woman of the house, and offers to help her renovate, but he has a secret himself. He used to live there and he knows what happened the night that tore his family apart forever. I'd say this book is worth a vacation read, but don't expect any gothic grandness, paranormal experiences, or a seriously profound ending.

2) Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling was better than Dream House. This young adult collection of tales entertained me. A few stories stuck with me well past when I closed the cover. Genevieve Valentine's Things to Know About Being Dead was a lovely take on Asian vampires. I truly enjoyed the female character in Christopher Barzak's Gap Year, struggling with the coming of age debacle after high school. Delia Sherman delivered a unique perspective from a family of circus performers and lovely collection of cats, my very favorite story in the anthology. And Tanith Lee's Why Light? proved to be a great love story. I recommend this one for all ages and I've been introduced a new author, so thank you kindly, Ms. Datlow and Ms. Windling.

3) Then I read Patricia Cornwell's From Potter's Field, a Kay Scarpetta novel that did not disappoint. I love the Kay Scarpetta series because she's a strong female character who doesn't wimp out for love, sticks to her principles, and works well under pressure. Also, it helps that the other characters are interesting and the subplots aren't boring either. The murders never fail to entertain with their details too. This one deals with the case of a young woman found naked and frozen, propped up beside a fountain in a New York park during the holidays. Scarpetta is on the hunt for the sadistic Temple Gault, a character her readers are very familiar with by now, one that's eluded and traumatized her family, friends, and coworkers, leaving a trail of bodies behind him to shame Hannibal Lector. Will she catch him this time? Read and find out.

As always, happy reading and happy writing to all!

Between the Covers - Book Review #3

The book gods smiled on me this week. I have three books to share with you and no bad reviews.

1) Emma Bull's Finder is a wonderful YA novel set in Bordertown, the land originally created by Terri Windling. (Bordertown is the town between Fairy and our world where humans, elves, and half-bloods exist.) Orient is a finder with a secret. He came to Bordertown after committing a terrible crime in our world. Now he's been commissioned with his friend, Tinker, to find the person who is selling a dangerous drug to humans. The drug "supposedly" will turn a human into a TrueBlood so they can cross the border into Fairy, but in reality, people are dying terrible deaths. This book is filled with wonderful, quirky characters and moves fast. I recommend it.

2) Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner promises to entertain young adults and adults alike. Her take on the world of the Fae and the war between humans and faeries is original and creative. In the town where Liza lives, humans fear magic after The War. Plants and trees left behind by the Fae attack and kill without warning, but in another town, humans have learned that magic is a gift that can be controlled. When Liza's magical talents begin to manifest, she knows she must run away from home before her father kills her like her baby sister. She discovers an entire town filled with people with magical abilities and the secret of what really happened to her mother, a dark secret that will lead her to St. Louis, Missouri and through The Arch into the destroyed world of Faerie. It's been a long time since I've read such an inventive book about Faerie. You will not be disappointed with this one.

3) Tom Piccirilli's The Deceased is brilliantly written. Where other authors use gore simply for shock value, Piccirilli weaves a visceral tale of the gothic and supernatural. It's a whole new animal. Author Jacob Maelstrom returns to his childhood home where ten years ago his sister beheaded his entire family with an axe. Jacob hid in his closet for three days before anyone found him, but he doesn't consider himself a survivor. Haunted by the memories of that night and wondering what happened to his family's heads, as they were never found, Jacob returns to the scene of the grisly murders in hopes of coming to grips with his violent past, but will he cope with the secrets he uncovers? I cannot say enough good things about this novel. It's a must-read for any horror fan. Beautifully written and very emotionally gripping, you have to get this book.

Bookin' It Reviews - #1

Master Houdini couldn't resist putting in his two whiskers worth of opinions for my latest book review. As you can see, he highly approves of my reading selections as a headrest for scholarly cats with creative leanings.

I also changed my book review post title. I got bored. It happens. *grins*

Here are three fantastic selections for all you bookworms out there.

1) A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli. The book is riveting. I read it so fast I couldn't believe it. This is a southern gothic novel -- very twisted. In the town of Kingdom Come, a backwards southern swampland with a habit towards floods of biblical proportions, live Thomas and his brothers, three conjoined triplets fond of deviant behavior with no qualms about hiding a dark family secret from Thomas. The cast of characters is as bizarre as the ones from the 90s hit T.V. drama, Twin Peaks. If you love weird, this one is for you. Superbly written and darkly damning, you can't miss it.

2) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of fall and the Halloween season. This novel is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy. The next is expected out in 2012. Deborah Harkness combines historical fact with fantastical fiction in this tale of a witch with an exceptional family lineage -- the Bishops of Salem witch trial fame. Diana Bishop is a scholar studying alchemy manuscripts at Oxford in England, when she meets a mysterious vampire, Matthew Clairmont. After researching an intriguing and long-lost alchemy manuscript with a spell attached to it, Diana alerts all the demons and vampires to its location. The manuscript supposedly holds the key to the origin of vampires and demons. Matthew Clairmont falls in love with the beautiful and bewitching Diana Bishop while protecting her from the supernatural forces hell-bent on getting the manuscript's location, but there is an ancient covenant the two have broken. Two different kinds of supernatural beings cannot be romantically involved. Now, fighting for their lives and the precious alchemical book, Diana and Matthew must face even greater supernatural forces than expected. This book is a delight and I cannot wait for the second. And never fear -- this is nothing like an Anne Rice novel. It's waaaay better.

3) Welcome to Bordertown: New Stories and Poems of the Borderlands, edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner, returns Bordertown fans to the urban fantasy setting they love. Carrying on the Bordertown tradition, authors such as Neil Gaiman, Patricia McKillip, Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, and Emma Bull give you a whole new set of tales set in the city bordering our world and the world of the Fae. This book will not disappoint. It is as lovely as the original Bordertown tales and a real treat for urban fantasy lovers. All of the stories are great. It is hard for me to pick a favorite to mention here, but let's just say that there are spell-boxed motorcycles, talented Celtic musicians, Green Men, and more in  this collection guaranteed to satisfy. I highly recommend it.

As always, happy writing and happy reading!


What Are You Reading Between the Covers? - #11

I need a vacation from my vacation to recover all the sleep I lost due to delayed flights. I haven't read much since returning home to sunny, springtime Dallas, but I finally am able to keep my eyes open long enough to blog about my latest whirlwind of books. I got a lot of reading done on my vacation, though admittedly, I missed my book companion, Toshio. I read three novels the last few days in Wisconsin.

The first was Dayhunter, the second novel in the Dark Days vampire series by Jocelynn Drake. It was a good second book, but nothing really stood out as spectacular. We learn who Danaus really is, which was exactly what I thought he was going to be, disappointing that it was predictable, but he's still a cool character. I like this series because there is no gratuitous vampire sex in it. There was actually only one sex scene in this story and it was plot related -- imagine that! I don't even remember any sex scenes from the first book. In this one Mira and Danaus are continuing their fight to stop the naturi from breaking the seal and releasing their queen so they can purge the earth of mankind (the parasite). It was a fast and entertaining read. These books cannot be read as standalones the way some series can. If you miss one, you miss essential plot elements, so reader beware!

After sinking my teeth into the vamp tale, I switched gears and read Dark Cities Underground by Lisa Goldstein, a very refreshing urban fantasy. Much to my delight, all the childhood stories I loved like Peter Pan, The Wind in the Willows, and Alice in Wonderland, turned out all to be true accounts. In this story children who had discovered an underground world beneath the world's subway system come back to tell their tales. Hence, the classic children's stories are invented! Ruth Berry, one of the main characters, loses her daughter in this dark fantastical world based on Egyptian myth. She and Jeremy Jones, from the famous childhood books in the story, must recover The Eye of Horus to free her daughter and escape using the underground subway system. This book was amazing! I cannot begin to say enough about it. A must read! I couldn't put it down. If you are a fan of urban fantasy and haven't read this one, pick it up!

After that wonderful story I knew Diana Wynn Jones would not disappoint with Howl's Moving Castle, an oldie, but a goodie. I had just watched the movie adaptation by Hayao Miyazaki of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away fame (good animes, if you haven't seen them. Actually, any of his work is great to watch, very whimsical and fun, just like Diana Wynn Jones's work). Ms. Jones actually helped write the screenplay for Howl's Moving Castle, so the movie remarkably mirrored the young adult book, with a few minor plot cuts. The book is about the wizard Howl, his moving castle propelled by his demon fire Calcifer, and a young hatter named Sophie, cursed by a famous witch to look old. She falls in love with Howl after coming to live as a cleaning lady in his castle, but she cannot tell him or anyone else about her curse. Sophie enters into a bargain with Calcifer to free him from Howl's service in return for her curse being broken. The characters are adorable; the ideas are unique and playful. Adults will enjoy this young adult novel too. I highly recommend it! And do see the movie! It is a masterpiece. Even better, this is the first in a trilogy. The next two books are Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways, which I will certainly be reading myself.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

What Are You Reading Between the Covers? - #10

Well, it's cold in Wisconsin where I am vacationing. Spring has come to Dallas and I am not there to enjoy it, but it's still under the cover book reading weather in Milwaukee. As usual, I raided the local library the day after my flight home to see my folks. I've read three novels on vacation so far, Nightlight, a parody of the Twilight series by The Harvard Lampoon, Dean Koontz's What the Night Knows, and Nightwalker, the first Dark Days novel by Jocelynn Drake.

Nightlight didn't even take me a full day to read. Whether or not you are a fan of the Twilight series, this is a funny parody. (For the record, I am not a fan. I think Bella and Edward are whiny and annoying. Bella is not a strong female character and Edward annoyed me with how indecisive he was about being near Bella or staying away). The parody plays on a lot of the plot from Meyer's work. Belle Goose is the female protagonist. Her klutziness is even more apparent, which is funny, so is her need to cook for her father. She drives a U-Haul she is obsessed with. Her relationship with Edwart is very dramatic and you can't help but snort at the way The Harvard Lampoon pokes fun of Meyer's drawn out love triangle. However, about halfway through the book the humor becomes a bit heavy and the read gets slower. This is not a book I would recommend for anyone looking for a stellar parody, but it is passable.

What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz was a wonderful read. I really enjoyed this one. The two sisters, Naomi and Minnie were my favorite characters. Naomi is the older sister who still believes in fairytales and knights, while Minnie, the younger sister likes to keep her grounded in stark blazing reality. Minnie's personality is essential to the conclusion of the story. The plot centers around a serial killer's ghost coming back to finish the job he started. Not a new idea, but Koontz writes an engaging plot. And who couldn't love the endearing ghost of the family dog, Willard, who tries to warn them of impending doom?After recently losing a pet, this small detail really touched my heart. I recommend this read, if you are a fan of Koontz. It is more like classic Koontz than some of his newer books have been. It was nice to see him back again.

I was skeptical about Nightwalker, mainly because of the cheesy artwork on the cover. It looked like it was going to be the same type of vampire novel I read before, but Drake managed to freshen up the vampire image with her female character, Mira, also a fire starter. And then of course, there's the naturi, which are her version of the fey. Mira is searching for the naturi to stop them from completing a magical rite that would open a mysterious seal and change the world for supernaturals and humans alike. Along the way she meets, Danaus, a hunter, who has some odd powers of his own. We don't learn what he is in the first book, but I have my suspicions he is not fully human. I would recommend this book, if you like Rachel Morgan in Kim Harrison's Hollows series. Mira could match Ivy fang for fang, in my opinion.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

What Are You Reading Between the Covers? - #8

I've been busy reading the past week and not doing as much writing, but I have been inspired and learned a new writing technique as well.

The first book I read this week was like eating a chocolate cake. The author's words always make me cry. I don't cry very often when I read, but Katherine Vaz has some beautiful imagery in her writing. She has been described as a magic realist author, but I think you could also classify her as mainstream, since she writes about her heritage, which is Portuguese-American. I first discovered her work in Our Lady of the Artichokes and Other Portuguese-American Stories, which is another short story collectionI recommend. Fado & Other Stories is the collection I read this week, and it did not disappoint. Ms. Vaz explains fados on pg. 96:

The fados wailing from our record players remind us that without love we will die, that the oceans are salty because the Portuguese have shed so many tears on their beaches for those they will never hold again. This was a central theme to the collection of magic realism stories.

For those of you who do not know what magic realism is, this is a genre of writing where magical elements are introduced into normal settings to give us a deeper understanding. The magical elements become normal to the reader in the story. For example, my favorite story from Fado was The Journey of the Eyeball. In it a young man is having an affair with a married woman. He pines for Ana so much he decides to win all the contests at an annual festival. He hopes she is watching, but he sees her leaving with her husband, instead. The young man ends up dunked as punishment for not winning all the contests and the prize. During this event, his eyeball separates from his body and goes on this wild journey to find Ana's house and see her. The story is told from the eyeball's point of view. How fun is that!?

The next book I read is not magic realism. It's classified as an urban fantasy and Charles de Lint is the master of this genre. Urban fantasy, for everyone who doesn't know this term, is a fantasy set in a city. A lot of urban fantasies take place in modern cities, but it doesn't have to be modern. It jutst has to be a city. Charles de Lint sets his novel, The Painted Boy, in Santo del Vado Viejo, an Arizonan desert town. The plot centers on James Li, a teenager from Chicago born as a member of The Yellow Dragon Clan. He's on a personal quest to deal with his heritage and its responsibilities and there is a fight going on in Santo del Vado Viejo between the good people of the town and the bandas, the gangs who are trying to take over the streets. But there's a twist -- not everyone you meet in the book is human, and that is all I will say because I am not a book spoiler. Charles de Lint manages to inject the myths of the Southwest into his story with a colorful whimsy. This book will not disappoint. It actually made me a little homesick for Albuquerque, New Mexico where I lived for a year and a half. The landscape of the desert is similar and Mr. de Lint does a beautiful job taking you there.

I also had an opportunity to learn a new writing technique from him, one that will alleviate the hassle of needing a translator for foreign languages. I asked Mr. de Lint on Facebook this week why he used this technique. He replied that he had taken a lot of criticism from his fans for his Spanish in Forest of the Heart. (I personally loved that book as well, but I do not speak Spanish). This technique he uses eliminates foreign translation problems. He commented that he got it from reading another author, but could not find a source online. This is an small example for those of you who are writers. The foreign language, Mandarin, is indicated by these signs: < >.

Paupau frowned... the tone of her daughter's voice and being addressed in their adopted language rather than Mandarin...
"<I was only making conversation, daughter,>" she said.
Susan nodded...
"I thought my children would be free of the curse."

Enough technical talk about writing! I am sure all of you want to know the name of the last book I am sharing with you this week. This one I literally spent half of last night reading and then finished this morning when I woke up. It's Kathleen Grissom's The Kitchen House, a unique southern slave plantation story. This one focuses on a young Irish indentured servant who works alongside the slaves on the Tall Oaks tobacco plantation. Lavinia, the Irish servant, and the young female slave, Belle, her caretaker, tell the story. It is a heartbreaking tale about the definition of family and love. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys historical novels. This one is well written and well-worth your time.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!