From Reading to Writing

Before I became a writer, I was a reader. All writers are readers; it’s a prerequisite. I received my first training from the wall of YA books at our town library, and my hours of enjoyment only barely exceeded what I learned. The stories I chose were always about a strong female protagonist trying to figure out her place in the world. As I grew up, I never lost my love for reading. That love eventually led to my writing a novel myself, and all my books feature a resilient heroine on a path of self-discovery.

But when I started writing my first novel, I couldn’t shut up my inner-critic. “You can’t do this,” I’d tell myself. “You’re going to make a fool of yourself by trying.” It was a constant diatribe in my mind, until finally I got fed up. “Look,” I told myself. “You can spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince yourself that you can’t write a novel, or you can just write one.”

I chose option two.

I made a commitment to write 500 words a day. I stuck to that, and after a few months, I had my first draft. Yes, it needed a lot of revision, but it had potential. My first book, Following My Toes, eventually won the Indie Excellence Award for Chick Lit in 2008. It also got more than 20,000 paid downloads on Amazon.

Then, three and a half years ago, I got jury duty. This was two full-length novels and one novella after Following My Toes, and I’d become a writing/publishing junkie. As soon as I got on that jury, I started thinking about how I could use the experience for my next project. I also enjoyed watching the TV show Survivor, so I came up with the idea of a young woman who is embarrassed by her performance on a reality TV show, and gets jury duty when she comes home.

I fell in love with my main character, Robin, and after The Holdout was finished, I couldn’t just stop writing about her. So I wrote The Next Breath – and I used my years of theater training as inspiration, along with a lot of research about cystic fibrosis. But Robin’s story still didn’t feel finished, so I wrote The Standout . During that time I really enjoyed reading books like Gone Girl and Girl on a Train, so I decided to try my hand at writing a thriller. The joy in self-publishing is the freedom to experiment. If I read something that I really like, I can take a crack at writing something in the same genre. Of course, the story and the themes have to be my own; I wouldn’t have it any other way! But like I said, the most valuable writing lessons I’ve ever received have been from reading. When I read something that REALLY WORKS, I examine it, and then I use what I’ve learned in my own writing.

And learning has never been more fun!

The Bone Clocks

I had never read anything by David Mitchell before The Bone Clocks and I picked it because Audible had it on sale and I thought it sounded interesting. The story is about Holly Sykes, and when the book begins she is a teenager in 1980s England. She runs away from home after a fight with her mother, and soon encounters all sorts of craziness. It turns out that Holly is a "singular" sort of young lady, meaning that she has psychic abilities and she's attracted forces of both good and evil.

Then her younger brother Jacko goes missing, which is really the inciting incident of the whole story, for Jacko's disappearance sets a much broader battle into motion, although it will take years for this battle to come to fruition.

The first chapter is from Holly's POV, which I liked quite a bit. Mitchell did a good job of writing in a teen girl's voice, and Holly is tough, no-nonsense, yet very likable. The other chapters are all from other character's POVs, until the end, when it switches back to a 74-year-old Holly living in a post apocalypse Ireland. Although it's not always clear at the beginning of each chapter, eventually the reader understands what the new narrator's connection is with Holly, and how their interactions with her seems to bring out the best of their personalites.

There is also always a bigger theme, about life and death, and the meaning of our daily actions and interactions. We are all "bone clocks" - ticking time bombs, waiting to die. But at what price comes immortality? As Holly discovers, it is our love and generosity, and our willingness to sacrifice for others, that gives life meaning, and that's something that all the characters must contemplate at some point in this epic novel.

I really liked The Bone Clocks. David Mitchell has defied genre by making it part fantasy, part drama, and part social commentary. His characters are not always likable (although Cripsin Hershey really grew on me) but they are always redeemable. While I started out listening to it on audio, eventually I switched to reading it, and I'm glad I did. There were many passages I read over and over, because they left me with a lot to think about. I saw one book review headline, that The Bone Clocks is mostly empty calories, but I couldn't disagree more. It's not difficult reading, but after you ingest it, you're full for a long time.

Kindle Quest 2015: Help for The Haunted

Help for The Haunted has been on my kindle for over a year. I think I found it on BookBub for $1.99. I’d been meaning to read it for some time, and I decided to finally start because I’m interested in writing a ghost story, and I thought might benefit from reading what looked to be a promising novel.

I wasn’t disappointed. It takes place in 1980s New England, where Sylvie is trying to come to terms with her parent’s murder.  Sylvie’s mother was “gifted” – she could pray for haunted souls and somehow bring them peace. Sylvie’s father also worked in the paranormal, and together they provided “help for the haunted.” But shortly before they’re murdered, a book is released about them that calls their integrity into question. Plus, they’re having HUGE trouble with their older daughter, Rose, and the dad of one of the girls they supposedly helped is very bitter towards them.

So Sylvie thinks she knows what happened. Then, she realizes how little she knows, but she also gets that she is the only one who can find out. Sylvie narrates this story, and her character is merely middle-school age. Yet Sylvie is very wise – “special” – like her mother was, and she comes to question not just her upbringing, but everything she once believed to be true. This is a ghost story for sure, but it’s one that questions whether or not ghosts exist.

I liked this story, and I thought the twist at the end was well done. I did think the pacing was pretty slow; the chapters were very long and it took a while to get to the exciting part. The build-up was drawn out, so it’s a good thing that there was payoff at the end.

Sylvie was a great character, and John Searle’s writing is quite skilled. If you’re looking for a creepy, sometimes disturbing, sometimes uplifting story, try Help for The Haunted.

Woman-Child

In the latest issue of Glamour, Tina Fey talks about her most recent role in the movie, Sisters: "Woman-child, I think, is in reference to the fact that there are many male comedians who play man-childs—man-childs is a word. I do think it’s fun to be able to play a character that’s in no way aspirational and in no way a role model, and the more female characters there are on-screen, there’s less pressure on every character to represent everyone. I love playing people who are flawed."
I think she makes an interesting point.Whether it's books, movies, or TV, there is more pressure for female characters to be inspirational and ground breaking. Why is "man-child" even a word, but "woman-child" has just been made up? Comedians like Mindy Kaling and Amy Schumer have also recently played woman-child characters, so maybe it's becoming more of a thing.
On a different note, I recently got into a debate with my husband. I said that Katniss Everdeen was one of the meatiest female literary characters, ever. He disagreed, so I was like - okay, then who? He said Juliet and Lady Macbeth, but my cynical laughter quickly shut him down.
"They are simply there to support the male protagonist," I said. "I'm talking about female characters whose primary objective is not to be with, or to assist, a man."
Then he asked me for some other examples, and I had a hard time coming up with any. Scarlet O'Hara?
Maybe I'm just out of touch. Are things getting better, and more equal, for female roles/literary characters? What do you think?

The Standout Blog Tour Begins

CBB Promotions is hosting a blog tour for The Standout, and it started today! You can read reviews, excerpts, interviews, and guest posts, plus, you can enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card! Super Cool!!

For the full tour schedule, visit my blog tour page at CBB Promotions. Click here.

How Important Is The First Line?

“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to realize the gravity of our situation.” (Secret History, 1)

That is the first line of one of my favorite novels of all time. The Secret History is also one of the most successful novels ever, and it launched the career of Donna Tartt, who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for her most recent book, The Goldfinch. I love that first line because it immediately drew me in. I’m wondering who Bunny is, and why did he die? I know the story takes place during winter, in the mountains, and I’m curious who this “we” is that the narrator speaks of, and what, exactly, is their situation?

I’ve heard that the first line is the most important line of your novel, and if it’s not absolutely fabulous, with a huge, explosive impact, agents and publishers will stop reading immediately. I find this sort of hard to believe, because I’ve read lots of novels with lackluster first lines, yet they turned out to be good books, nonetheless.

Still, as a writer I feel that first-line pressure. The first line of The Standout is “I wanted to jump, but I didn’t have the guts.” I guess this line was interesting enough to keep people reading, because my book got a nice amount of nominations on Kindle Scout, and it won a publishing contract. But I doubt it will go down in history of best first lines ever.

It’s a difficult balance. This week a story I wrote was being workshopped in the grad-school class I’m taking. Actually, it’s the first chapter of a novel, about a woman whose sister dies. I reveal that this sister dies right away. The revelation isn’t in the first line, but in the first paragraph, and that’s been the major criticism so far. They say it ruins the suspense. Since the sister dying is merely the inciting incident that leads to a much bigger, more suspenseful storyline, I figured it was okay. I mean, you have to draw your readers in immediately, right? But maybe I’m doing it wrong.

For the same class, we had an assignment to come up with five “first lines” of novels or stories. Here are mine:

• Even before I opened that manila envelope, I knew my instructions would be to kill Tania, my one true love.
• Abby can’t say what compelled her up those rickety old steps, through the crooked, unstable door and into that abandoned house, only to find a box of Stephen’s childhood photos.
• First I smell the evergreens, then I open my eyes and see pine needles looming above me; is it sap that covers my naked body with mucous, or is it something more sinister?
•   I never believed I could kill so carelessly, but things happen, and now I’ll never be free again.
• Joanne used to laugh when Ryan said he knew voodoo, but that was before she dumped him, before she woke up the next day with appendicitis, before she inexplicably went blind in her left eye.

My instructor liked the last one best. If anyone would like to comment, I’d love to know your opinion. How important is the first line of a novel? Should it reveal the action, or does that ruin the suspense?

The Next Breath (Giveaway!)

I need to get the word out about my latest novel, The Next Breath, so I'm hosting a giveaway on Library Thing. Click here to sign up! Fifteen kindle copies will be gifted to the winners. Not a member of Library Thing and don't feel like signing up (even though it's free)? Email me at laurel (at) PMIBooks(dot)com and let me know! I'll put you in the running. :)

Read on the book description:

"A thought-provoking tale that evokes many emotions!" - InD'Tale Magazine (5 Stars!)
 
 "Brought me to tears and had me contemplating how nothing is really permanent. I enjoyed traveling with Robin through her journey of letting go and holding on. -Reader's Favorite Reviews (5 Stars!)

"I kiss him, choosing love over honesty, which is a choice nobody should ever have to make…" 
Robin loves sweet, responsible Nick, with his penchant for Beethoven and Ben Folds Five. But she also still loves her college boyfriend Jed, an irreverent playwright plagued with cystic fibrosis. Now Robin is struggling to reveal her secrets and confront her past, as she finally performs in the play that Jed wrote for her, eleven years ago. Will Robin have the strength to keep her promise and stay true to her heart? 
Alternating between present-day scenes, college flashbacks, and segments from Jed’s play, this tear-jerking yet uplifting tale illustrates how life is finite but love is infinite, and the road to recovery begins with the next breath. 


Laurel Osterkamp has written several award-winning/highly acclaimed novels. The Next Breath is a follow-up to rave-reviewed The Holdout, but they can be read in either order. Look for her on www.laurelosterkamp.com 

Kindle Quest 2014: Dear Daughter and Bittersweet

Well, the year is coming to a close, and I've definitely downloaded more books than I've read. And as long as Book Bub, Book Gorilla, and Pixel of Ink continue to send me emails everyday with all these incredible deals, that is a trend that will only continue. Still, I've read a lot of the books I've downloaded; what I've really been negligent on is blogging about them. So, here you go, world! Two book reviews! :)

Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little, is supposed to be this year’s Gone Girl – at least that’s what the blurb said. It’s about Jane Jenkins, a Paris Hilton type who gets convicted for her mother’s murder, and then, ten years later, released on a technicality. However, Jane’s troubles are far from over, because the world still thinks she’s guilty, and bloggers and haters are determined to find her and bring her down. So Jane travels, in disguise, to the town where her mother grew up to look for clues and to see if she can figure out who the real killer is.

I had mixed feelings about this book. A couple of times I considered giving up in the middle, because it took me a while to care about Jane, and parts of the story dragged. However, once I got into the middle of the story, things picked up and the reader was supplied with more information about why Jane was so jaded, and I liked her more.

I did find a lot of it implausible, especially how she could have dated  all these famous men by the time she was sixteen. But the writing was ultra clever and tight, and the plot twists were well done. Does it live up to the Gone Girl comparison? Not quite, however, a lot of readers will be equally frustrated with both book’s endings, so if you decide to take a stab at it – BEWARE!

Bittersweet, by Miranda Beverly Whittermore, is another suspenseful story of privilege gone wrong. Mabel’s roommate, Genevra, comes from an elite, white-bread family, and Mabel wants nothing more than to be a part of them. So she jumps at the chance to spend the summer with them on their compound, and the entire time she’s there, Mabel tries to figure a way to become a permanent fixture in the family. This includes chatting up an eccentric aunt, falling for Genevra’s older brother, befriending her younger sister, and doing research on the family’s history. But the more research Mabel uncovers and the longer the summer stay becomes, the closer she gets to unearthing the deep, dark secrets that could bring the entire family down!

I liked this book a lot. A few times the pacing was a bit slow, but the prose was beautifully done, and Mabel really grew on me as the book wore on. The ending brought together all the plot points, and culminated in a satisfying end. I definitely recommend it. This is the sort of book that will still be good ten years from now, when it’s no longer trendy.

Kindle Quest 2014 - The Husband's Secret, The Grisha Trilogy, and More

So I've been pretty remiss about charting my progress through all the books on my kindle. What's worse is, I keep downloading more so there's no way I'll ever read them all. But then again, does anyone actually read these posts? Probably not, so it doesn't really matter.

That said, I still don't have the heart to pan the books I didn't like. Yes, I did give Hopeless a snarky review, but Colleen Hoover has thousands and thousands of five star ratings on Goodreads and Amazon, so I expect she'll get over it. Other authors, who don't get reviewed often and who might have a Google alert on their name or on the title of their book, might take a bad review more to heart. So I'll just say that there were several books I'd started in the last few months, but was unable to finish because they were boring or just BAD. Oh well, it happens. Now I'll move on to the good ones.

First, I was pleasantly surprised with Shadow and Bone, the first book in the Grisha trilogy, by Leigh Burdugo.

It's another one of those books with a strong, young heroine who has to fight to save herself, the world, and the man she loves. It's like Hunger Games in that sense, but this is more fantasy than dystopian, and interestingly, a lot is based off of Russian history. The Russian names for places, characters, and fantastical elements were a little hard to keep track of at first, but I got used to it and was glad I did. This story held some genuine surprises, and it's about how everyone, even a protagonist, has a dark side. I strongly recommend it!

I definitely enjoyed Still Missing, by Chevy Stevens. It was very dark, but not so much that there wasn't a chance for things to (sort of) work out. The main character had a strong voice and the suspense was gripping. I guess I'm into suspense novels lately; I'm not really sure why.

Speaking of suspense, Omens, by Kelly Armstrong, was pretty good. It's about this young woman who finds out that not only was she adopted, but her birth-parents were serial killers. So she of course questions her identity, and her relationships with her mom and her fiance become quite strained. She sets out on her own, to this town called Cainesville, and teams up with a hot lawyer to try and prove her parents' innocence. Oh, and she can read omens and Cainesville is a spooky town.

I thought the writing was good and I really liked the human drama element of the story. The omens thing, however, got a little tedious. Still, I plan to check out the next book from the library - it's a series. I'm hoping it will be on audio. That will be perfect to listen to in my car.

Now, finally, I read The Husband's Secret, which was fabulous! I had heard a lot about it, and it had been on my kindle for a while, and I was finally in the mood to tackle it. None of the secrets were things I couldn't see coming, and I expect other readers figured it out easily too. But this book is more about WHY we keep secrets, and how we come to terms with keeping things both from ourselves and from those whom we love.

The story has three main characters - Cecelia, Tess, and Rachel, and they each are at a crossroads. Each, in her own way, becomes connected to the murder of Rachel's daughter, Janie, which happened years ago. Liane Moriarty does and excellent job of weaving these stories together, all with the through line of the Berlin Wall. Yes, it sounds strange, but I thought it was pretty brilliant.

All of these books were downloaded for cheap on my kindle.

Book Review - Spun by Catherine McKenzie

Spun by Catherine McKenzie is a fabulous novella that packs the same punch as a full length novel. It’s a sequel of sorts, to the novel Spin, but the point of view switches from Katie to Amber.

Several years have passed and Amber has managed, for the most part, to stay clean. But she’s been reduced to starring in perfume commercials and working with pretentious directors who don’t realize that she’s actually smarter than they are. Meanwhile, the paparazzi are still after Amber and her parents only communicate with her through televised “interventions.” Her best friend is still her publicist, and even Katie seems to have betrayed her.

So it’s no wonder that Amber is still drawn to her first love, the self-destructive Connor, and she can’t resist coming to him when he sends her a text in their coded language. But what follows is both unexpected and devastating.

Catherine McKenzie’s writing style is so polished and clever, but she also manages to make me laugh and cry. Spun is perfect for a plane ride or an evening or two of pleasant diversion. The pop culture references are flawless and the characterization is well done. Spun is just heavy enough not to feel fluffy and it’s also quite entertaining. A great read!

Kindle Quest 2014 -Whiskey Rebellion

I downloaded Whiskey Rebellion last winter, after I'd seen it advertised for free, several times. It sounded fun, and I like a good, sexy mystery every now and then. I wasn't disappointed. Liliana Hart has a lot of strengths as a writer, and that includes writing very clever, funny description and creating good chemistry between her characters. Addison is hilarious and lovable, and she reminded me a lot of Stephanie Plum. I know I'm not the first reader to make this comparison to Janet Evanovich's books, and I really did think most of this book was best-seller type material.
I was a little disappointed with the end, because I thought too much was packed into the last couple of paragraphs, with no real resolution. But I guess she was leaving readers wanting more, so they'd buy the second book in the series.
This is just another example of how much talent there is out there. Liliana Hart could have been Janet Evanovich, if she'd had her luck, because she definitely has her talent. Still, Hart seems to be doing okay. The Whiskey Rebellion series looks like it's doing very well on Amazon, and she can boast being a USA Today bestseller. It's well-deserved.

Kindle Quest 2014 - The Fault is in Our Stars

I bought this book last summer. It was on sale for under two dollars and since some place like Time or The New York Times Book Review said it was the best book of the year (rare for a YA novel) I thought I should go ahead and buy it. But I hesitated to read it for two reasons. One, I worried that it would make me think about what it would be like if either of my children got cancer. It did. Two, I figured the book HAD to be overrated. It wasn't.

I didn't think there was any way that a story about two kids dying from cancer could be so unique, engaging,and ultimately uplifting. John Green has managed to create compelling, lovable characters that I truly cared about and a great plot, but that, to me, wasn't the most amazing part. How did he manage to write so profoundly in such an accessible way? I have total writer's envy after reading this one.

And I came to a conclusion. There are writers who are good because they have learned from other writers and they managed to draw stylistically from them to create something unique of their own. On my good days I believe that I belong in that group. Then there are writers who define a genre or contribute so much original thought that the work they create becomes an instant classic.

That's John Green, and that's The Fault is in Our Stars.

Book Review - The Supreme Moment

At first The Supreme Moment reminded me of The Hunger Games. You have a teenage girl who's father is gone, and she's willing to sacrifice herself to keep her mother and little sister safe. Avery is very strong but she's also way more scared than she admits to being, which is another similarity to books like Hunger Games or Divergent. But that is not to say that this book isn't unique. It definitely is! The relationship between Avery and Darrion is developed with complexity, in an adult sort of way, that is both mysterious and believable. And the author's imagination and creativity are incredible! The Supreme Moment has a strong ending that won't disappoint, but the world that's been developed is so complex, I'm thinking there's room for many more novels. I hope so anyway!

Kindle Quest 2014 - Hopeless

One of my New Year's resolutions is to get through all the books I've downloaded on my kindle that are just waiting to be read. So a couple of weeks ago I started reading Hopeless, which I downloaded for free. I had heard a lot about it, and the fact that it has over a thousand five star reviews on Amazon made me both jealous and curious.

I enjoyed the first part. I liked the author's voice and I thought she had some clever lines. I liked her descriptions and I also liked how she formatted the book, and the pacing. The chemistry between Sky and Holder was very intense and I could understand why readers responded so well.

Then I got into the second half. It started to get kind of dark, but I was still curious to find out what happens (and I was right in my predictions.) I don't mind that the story got really serious, but I do have a problem with how some of it was handled.

Because the last fourth bothered me. SPOILER ALERT: Don't keep reading if you don't want the story ruined for you.

Okay. First of all, Sky and Holder watch her father commit suicide, then go back to their hotel room and have amazing sex? Uhgg. That just didn't seem right. Second of all, Sky's father was a cop. It never occurred to him to find his long lost sister and see if she kidnapped his daughter? I don't buy that. And then there's Holder. He seemed just a little too perfect in his reactions. And I got very tired of all lines about people's eyes - the concern in their eyes, the sadness in their eyes, the pain in their eyes - I know Colleen Hoover can do better because she does at other points in this book. And I also got tired of hearing about how strong Sky is. Holder tells her that a lot, and she tells herself that, and then they make out some more and then there's more description of how breathtaking their love is.  And the scene at the end? Uhgg. I also don't buy that a four and six-year-old would have that kind of conversation, and besides, their parents wouldn't let them be up that late and alone at night anyway.

I don't usually write critical posts about other author's work. And honestly, I do respect Colleen Hoover and her success. I guess I just needed to rant a little, because I don't understand why so many people are in love with this book. Please don't judge me for it.

Why "The Goldfinch" Means Poor Book Sales for Me and Other Indie Authors

Early last December I was going through a batch of unopened emails when I found one from Book Gorilla, advertising The Goldfinch on sale for only $1.69. I immediately clicked on the link because I had been eagerly awaiting the chance to read Donna Tartt's latest - I was one of many who adored The Secret History when it first came out. (Although I wasn't crazy about Little Friend.)

Anyway, luckily for me, it was still on sale and I downloaded it with glee. Later that evening I was talking to a friend who had just put the kindle app on her new iPad. "So show me how to download your book," she said. And I happily steered her towards The Holdout on Amazon, where she bought it for $2.99.

Then I told her about how I had bought The Goldfinch that morning for only $1.69, and she bought that too. And she said, "So I just spent more for your book than I did for a national bestseller?" I laughed because she was teasing me, but I couldn't stop thinking about the comment nonetheless.

How can I possibly compete? Sure, The Goldfinch is now $7.49, but on any given day you'll be able to find SOME bestseller for an astonishingly cheap price. And then there are the hundreds of free books out there. Why would anyone pay $2.99 to buy a book by an author they don't know?

It turns out that they wouldn't. My sales have flat-lined. Completely. Two and half years ago I was selling up to 60 copies a day of Following My Toes. Yes, it was at 99 cents, and I'll go into why I raised the prices of my books in a minute. But I knew that sort of winning streak couldn't last.

And it didn't. Even still, a year ago at this time I would sell several copies a week of each of my books, and when I released November Surprise it enjoyed a mild sales boon, benefiting from my promotions and blog tours.

Fast-forward a year, to when I released The Holdout. In my own, nonobjective opinion, it is my best and most marketable book so far. And I have really, really tried to market it. I've done promotion after promotion. I've done two blog tours, so far. I emailed book bloggers and Amazon reviewers and solicited reviews myself. And I've gotten a great response (read the latest reviews on kirkus and novel escapes) but none of it has translated into sales. None of my books are selling at all anymore, and as I watch my sales rankings plummet it's hard to keep my spirits up.

Maybe I'm the only author out there who is experiencing this frustration, but I'd be surprised if I was. I finished The Goldfinch last night, and after 800 pages I was moved and grateful for having read it. Tartt is a true talent and I'd love to be able to write an ending like she did, with such depth and description. But I can only keep trying.

Because in the end, the only remedy to the frustration of poor book sales is to write more books. I can't control how many people like and/or buy my books, but I can plan my next book and pin my hopes on that. And if nothing else, the several dozen readers who have heard of me will hopefully download it and enjoy my next realease. That's very, very cool when it happens.

As for why I don't just sell all my books at 99 cents anymore - I found that it doesn't necessarily help with sales, and if they're always that low, then I can't advertise on a lot of sites that only promote books that are on sale. So I have to keep at least some of my books at $2.99 so I can reduce the price occasionally, and advertise the sale when I do.

My other plan for alleviating my nobody's-buying-my-books angst is to get to all the other books on my kindle that I haven't read yet. There's a ton, and I've decided not to download any more until I read some in my electronic TBR pile. I realize the irony in this, because like a lot of other people, I'll be contributing to the huge supply/poor demand ebook market and its inevitable evolution over the past few years. But I'm going to report back on what I think of these books, and I plan to alternate between mainstream and indie published books. So my next read will be by an indie author, although I haven't decided which one yet.

And maybe by the time I'm ready to start downloading books again, my books will be selling again too.

Book Review - Saving Grace and Leaving Analise by Pamela Fagan Hutchins

I recently became familiar with a fantastic writer, Pamela Fagan Hutchins, and an awesome series. Saving Grace is only 99 cents on Amazon today. If I were you I'd snatch it up, and settle in for an enjoyable read with more to come. I've already read the second in the series, Leaving Analise, and it's just as good as the first. To buy Saving Grace on Amazon for only 99 cents, click here.

Read on for my review!

Poor Katie. She's having a rough time getting over her parents' tragic deaths, and in addition to that, there's this guy at work that she can't get out of her mind. This leads to some self-destructive behavior, which in turns leads to a hopefully healing trip to The Virgin Islands. The only snag in that plan is that her parents died in the Virgin Islands, and Katie is not convinced that it was an accident. So of course she wants to investigate.
This is simply the beginning of the story, and it only gets more compelling from there. Soon Katie is fixing up a house that communicates with her (believe me, in this story, it works), and she's dealing with all sorts of demons. But Katie is a likable character who never loses her sense of humor, and I was rooting for her the entire time. The mystery of the story only adds to its appeal.

Book Review - Until It's Over

I never would have picked this book if it wasn't for road construction. You see, due to closed freeway exits my daily commute to and from work has become much more complicated, and to make it more pleasant I decided to get some audio books from the library, and listen to them in my car. I chose Until It's Over because it sounded interesting, although I'm not usually into mysteries.  But the selection of audio books at the library isn't that great, and I thought, "why not?"

Well, I loved 90%  of it. The narration is excellent, and the suspense had me gripping the steering wheel most of the time. There were several afternoons when I considered taking an even longer way home because I wanted to find out more about Astrid, her housemates, and these mysterious murders that seem to be following Astrid around. She's worse than Jessica Fletcher.

It's also steamy. Astrid, a bike courier, is unknowingly the object of affection of all her male housemates. But which one is killing people, just to get her attention? You don't find out until two thirds of the way through the book, when it switches to the killer's point of view. I think the revelation was supposed to be shocking, but I saw it coming several miles away. And I don't read mysteries very often, so probably other people saw it coming too.

But it didn't ruin the story at all. The only part I didn't like was the end, which left me thinking, "what was the point?" However, I still strongly recommend this book, because now that it's over, my daily drives feel empty, without that British voice leaking juicy secrets about murder and intrigue.

Book Review - Widow Woman by Julia Tagliere

Widow Woman, by Julia Tagliere, takes place in the early 60s, and it’s the story of Audrey, a woman whose mother has just died. Plus, she recently found out her husband was cheating on her. Reeling from both events, Audrey must make sense of the world around her and decide what she wants. But that’s only the beginning of the story. As she learns more about her mother’s life and the secrets she kept, Audrey comes to question all her firmly held beliefs and her life begins to spiral out of control.

 

Julia Tagliere’s writing is engrossing and well-done. This is an author who obviously knows what she’s doing as she weaves character and plot into a moving story about love, loss, and hope. Fans of Mad Men might also connect with some of the issues women faced back then, and how far we’ve come in the meantime. I highly recommend this book.

Book Review - After The Ending

 

Co-authors and friends Lindsey Pogue and Lindsey Fairleigh have written an apocalyptic tale of what happens to two buddies, Zoe and Dani, when they survive a plague. Zoe and Dani live on different coasts of the U.S., but once the plague hits, the survivors (about 10% of the population) travel to Colorado to reside in what’s assumed to be a safe place. Dani makes this journey with Zoe’s brother, Jason, who is a military guy that Dani had a crush on while growing up. Zoe is teamed with her ex-boyfriend and a fairly new friend, Sarah. Everybody encounters a whole host of problems while on their journey, and for the most part they don’t know what’s become of their friends and family. But Zoe and Dani send regular emails as they travel to reach each other. Every other chapter is told from one of their perspectives, and the emails they send are also included.

This is a clever idea for a novel, and I was intrigued from the beginning. Twenty years ago I read Stephen King’s The Stand, and ever since then I’ve enjoyed a good mass-plague tale. This is definitely very different from The Stand however, although both works include super-natural elements. After the Ending is quite obviously written for a female audience. Zoe and Dani are as worried about their crushes and their relationships as they are about survival, and they’re both very introspective. They focus on figuring out their feelings even as the world is falling apart. That’s not a criticism – I’d probably do the same thing.

This is a lively book with lots of dialogue and description, and it’s the first in the series.

This review is part of a blog tour put on by Orangeberry. To read an Orangeberry interview with authors Lindsey Pogue and Lindsey Fairleigh, click here.

Amazon link - click here

Book Review - The Boy Next Door

The Boy Next Door by Annable Costa, is about two good friends who grow up and fall in love. Of course, one friend realizes his feelings (in this case it's the guy) before the other one does, and there are all sorts of issues that trip them up, like other relationships, family drama, and career choices. Does this sound like a familiar story?

Well, it is. But here's the unique part. The romantic lead, Jason, is a smart, loving, charismatic, good looking guy who also happens to be in a wheel chair. An accident in his childhood has left him unable to feel anything from the chest down. And Tasha, the main character and narrartor of the story, is funny and compelling, but she's also superficial (at times) so it takes her a while to see Jason as anything more than a friend.

I think the reader has a pretty good idea of how the book will end from the very first page. If you want a story with a lot twists and turns, don't read this one. But if you want a fun, witty, warm tale about how love can be at once imperfect and awesome, then this is the book for you. This story is more about the journey than the destination, and I'm glad I got on board. It's well written and the perfect feel-good beach read. Bravo to Annabelle Costa for writing a romance that challenges the boundaries of what we're used to.