Monday Book Review: “Troubling a Star” by Madeleine L’Engle

http://www.amazon.com/Troubling-Star-Austin-Family-Chronicles/dp/B001L4EDWU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1314629822&sr=8-6

Synopsis from Amazon.com:

The Austins have settled back into their beloved home in the country after more than a year away. Though they had all missed the predictability and security of life in Thornhill, Vicky Austin is discovering that slipping back into her old life isn’t easy. She’s been changed by life in New York City and her travels around the country, while her old friends seem to have stayed the same. So Vicky finds herself spending time with a new friend, Serena Eddington – the great-aunt of a boy Vicky met over the summer.

Aunt Serena gives Vicky an incredible birthday gift – a month-long trip to Antarctica. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But Vicky is nervous. She’s never been away from her family before.

Once she sets off though, she finds that’s the least of her worries. She receives threatening letters. She’s surrounded by suspicious characters. Vicky no longer knows who to trust. And she may not make it home alive.

My Notes:

Madeleine L’Engle is my favorite author of all time. I first read her ‘Wrinkle in Time” series then found one of her Adult novels, “A Severed Wasp”–my all time favorite book.

In this Young Adult book, part of a series following the Austin Family, she creates a loving, close-knit group of people, both in and out of the family. The characters are fully realized, the parents somewhat two-dimensional but Aunt Serena, Vicky and the ensuing cast are fleshed out for the duration of a mystifying trip that almost claims young Vicky’s life.

 

Monday Book Review: “Closer than Blood” by Gregg Olsen

http://www.amazon.com/Closer-Than-Blood-ebook/dp/B004IWR3EW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1314033484&sr=8-3

It’s true that Blood is thicker than Water but it’s also true that you hurt the ones you love most.  Both are good sayings for “Closer than Blood”.

In this story, Gregg Olsen paints a picture of the epitome of a love/hate relationship between twins Tori and Kendall, one a little prettier than the other, one a bit more aggressive and assertive than the other. Maybe a little bit psychotic. One car accident as teens and a slip of the tongue pushes one over the edge. As families are wont, they lost touch then a sudden string of seemingly unrelated events bring them back together. There is an ultimate agenda but will it be found out in time?

Gregg weaves together seemingly disparate threads into a beautiful quilt of words that both engage and enthrall readers.  His descriptions of area cities and landmarks are spot-on and uses them as additional characters rather than backdrops. The characters are three dimensional, with flaws one can relate.  The plot and story lines are believable and move along quickly.  All in all, another great read from Gregg Olsen.

Monday Book Review: “J is for Judgement” by Sue Grafton

http://www.amazon.com/J-Judgment-ebook/dp/B003GY0KPW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1312825585&sr=8-2

Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone is quirky, fun and a great detective.  The protagonist is a fully rounded person, with strengths and foibles just like a real person.  She’s not perfect, which makes her perfect for detective work.  Personally, I would love to see Sue’s file on Kinsey.  We learn a little bit about Kinsey with each book that comes out as she works on the case (that usually corners her into accepting).

In “J is for Judgement”, she is asked to investigate a dead man that was seen thousands of miles away from her hometown of Santa Theresa, CA, in a Mexican resort town sipping umbrella’d drinks with a mystery woman. From there, Sue sets of a web that Kinsey must unravel.  And unravel it does, back in good old Santa Theresa. As usual, there’s a large sum of missing money and investors wanting the hide of the aforementioned missing/presumed dead, man.

What I love about Sue’s series is how detailed (but not obnoxious) the minor characters are.  Kinsey’s landlord, Henry (a spry octogenerian) and his cohorts, from his persnickety brother to the brassy tavern owner ‘just a few blocks down the street’ (who has her eye on the brother).  Each book brings out rich, vivid detail that is eagerly swallowed by eyes many times over around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Book Review: “Ghost Moon” by Heather Graham

 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ghost-moon-heather-graham/1023636182?ean=9780778327967&itm=2&usri=ghost%2bmoon

Heather Graham does it a final time in the last of this serial mystery triad.  My personal favorite character is back, Bartholomew the ghostly Privateer, this time hanging with Liam, an officer in Key West.

There’s a purportedly haunted house in which the owner is found dead at his desk, complete with a fright of terror!  In comes the long lost daughter, Kelsey Donovan, to see to his last will and testament is carried out and stake her claim.  Others have also staked a claim, but not in a court of law.  There’s another ghostly inhabitant of the dark old house on the shores of Key West!

There are plenty of twists and turns to keep even the most jaded reader awake and ‘alive’.  Kelsey’s father ran from Key West with her to escape the clutches of the house.  Her grandfather collected rare and precious cultural items from his work around the globe.  Could it be one of them killed her mother?  Her father wasn’t taking a chance!

How does Liam, Bartholemew and Kelsey find out the truth?

Nothing new under the sun

Seattle had some sunny days recently, which got me to thinking, “what will be new to discover?”

Personally, i’ve discovered i’m horrible at grammar, punctuation and word meanings, apparently.  Only a few people that have read my novel have told me while they like the story, the above problems are atrocious throughout the novel.  Well….i never claimed to be great at editing or proofreading and I could not afford $2000 + to hire a professional editor/proofreader to go through my 84,000 + word novel.  Nor could I find anyone to do it for free.  I tried for five years to edit and proofread but somehow I overlook the errors.

I like the story, the characters, the plot, cadence and rhythm of the story too much to dissect it the way it needs to be done. After five years, I got sick and tired of looking at the book and working on it, so I just published it.

Warts and all.   There have been and will continue to be grammatical, punctuation and word meaning errors by numerous successful authors and writers long before I was born and will be long after I’m gone.

Afterall, there is nothing new under the sun.

On Writing: My Version

Since 2001, Writing has become my hobby, a way to earn a few bucks here and there.  I’ve written in a few areas, health, fitness and real estate mostly.  I enjoy the research and producing good copy for clients.  It’s simple and straightforward.

I’ve also published my first novel, Aside of Murder (available on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords) which took me two years to write, then another five trying to edit and proofread. I’ve never liked editing or proofreading.  After struggling for five years, I was so sick of looking at the novel I wanted to print it off and just throw it at people, saying “TAKE IT!! JUST TAKE IT!”.  Don’t know if any other writers/authors out there can empathize.  I ended up just self-publishing last December on Smashwords.

What I enjoy about writing, is the creative process and getting the ideas down.  I like how the story unfolds (even I don’t know how things turn out until they’re written). Sometimes an idea works, other times, it doesn’t. Yes, I’ve deleted entire chapters before and had to ‘sit’ on ideas for weeks before tweaking. Does the story always flow smoothly?  No, and that’s a good thing.  Sometimes the story and reader have to be jolted out of the comfortable rhyme and meter of the words.

I enjoy the thrill of writing a scene, of tension between people or places, of stopping-your-breath action. I understand I’m not an editor or proofreader when it comes to my Books and Novels.

But, I’m one helluva gifted writer.

WOOHOO! Out of My Hands!

Thankfully, a friend’s husband is a tech person and has agreed to take a look at all these backend/behind-the-scenes stuff on all the blogs and websites.  Hopefully he can get google Adsense to read the ads/codes and fix whatever one hundred niggling little things that need fixed.

Now I can get back to what I enjoy, blogging and writing!  Still going to develop the book’s website, using wordpress, I believe.  Then ask the husband to get it on the server.

What have you been working on?

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