Tuesday 22 January 2013

Hats off to the Reviewers

Even before I tried my hand at writing a book, I have been a reader. I love books, and ever since I have mastered the skill of reading, it has become a pleasure that I will keep indulging in.
I am sure you can relate when I say that there are writers that I love and cannot wait for their next book, and then there have also been instances where I have been disappointed. Though not many, I am glad to say.
This past month or two I have had the pleasure to read and review a few books. I don't know what other people do, but it took a long time for me to read every book not just scan through it. Much longer than I had anticipated, given the fact that I am on a deadline to finish the editing of my second novel.
So this is my thanks to the readers who go so far as to post reviews for the books they have read. It takes time to read a book and then write a review. Time that you probably could have spend somewhere else, doing something else. And yet, you didn't.
As indie authors we love the feedback and, while you probably drink as much coffee reading as we do when writing, we promise to keep writing even more books that you can enjoy for years to come.
Cheers!

Sunday 20 January 2013

The Look of Love by Bella Andre (A Review)


The Look of Love is the first book in the Sullivans Series by Bella Andre and it is not going to be last one I read. These Sullivan men are hot!

Chase Sullivan is pure alpha male, but underneath that playboy exterior is man with a heart that quickly sees that Chloe is going to be trouble. That is trouble with a capital T, and she is going to threaten his bachelor existence before the week is out if she keeps smiling at him.

It's not all heat and sizzle, but its hard not to get all drawn into the characters' lives as you keep turning the pages to find out what is going to happen next. I kept on holding my breath to see when that spark was going to ignite, and not once did Ms Andre disappoint.

It is the kind of series where you know you are not going to get any sleep until you have read them all.

As for meeting the rest of the brothers?  I think I am going to melt all over my favourite chair very soon, but it will be worth every moment.

Find this review and many others on Goodreads and Amazon

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Torn Together by Emlyn Chand (A review)

You can also read my review along with many others on Goodreads.


I will re-post mine here. And in case you are wondering? Do yourself a favour and read this book!

Although women's literature is not my genre of choice, Torn Together turned out to be a revelation. A story about the circle of life. How relationships are torn up, and woven together like a tapestry from the finest threads of love, loss, making friends and forming bonds of family whether by blood or love.
As I read this journey of Daly and Laine it was hard to put it down to get some necessary sleep every night.
Ms. Chand managed to create a story that will stay with me for a long time.

Monday 14 January 2013

Blog Tour - TORN TOGETHER by Emlyn Chand

About the Book - About the Author - Prizes!!!

About the book:  Life, love, and an unforgettable trip to India--readers call "Torn Together" an emotional roller coaster ride. What's all the fuss about? Grab your mother, daughter, sister, or closest friend, and get reading. Make sure to keep a box of Kleenex handy! Get Torn Together through AmazonBarnes & Noble, or Kobo Books.

About the author: Emlyn Chand emerged from the womb with a fountain pen clutched in her left hand (true story). When she's not writing, she runs a large book club in Ann Arbor and is the president of author PR firm Novel Publicity. Best known for her Young Adult novels, she is also developing a small, but devoted, following to her children's book series and is beginning to dabble in other genres as well. Emlyn enjoys connecting with readers and is available via almost every social media site in existence. Visit EmlynChand.com for more info. Don't forget to say "hi" to her sun conure Ducky! Connect with Emlyn on her websiteFacebookGoodReads, or Twitter.

About the prizes:  Who doesn't love prizes? You could win one of two $50 Amazon gift cards or an autographed copy of Torn Together! Here's what you need to do...
  1. Enter the Rafflecopter contest
  2. Leave a comment on my blog.
That's it! One random commenter during this tour will win the first gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win--the full list of participating bloggers can be found here. The other two prizes will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official Torn Together tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck!

Thursday 10 January 2013

Tips, Tricks and Tales - Lesson 4

Editing your Story: Using the Stylesheet Proofreading Trick


I am presently reading Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies by Suzanne Gilad, a lady of considerable experience in these fields. Now you might argue, correctly too, that the book was written for somebody who wants to pursue these activities as a career. I have no ambition to be either of those professionally, but I did quickly sense that learning how a professional did these tasks could also benefit my writing as a romance author.

Let’s examine the proofreading tips of the Stylesheet that I have posted here:
As a South African my English more closely resembles that of a British person, that is why the Oxford dictionary and the UK setting on my spell checker. It is a choice, but it has to be employed consistently (1).
Also, Keeper of the Dragon Sword is the second novel in a series. So any words that I used in Géra’s Gift during the magic battle scenes, I have to use again, in the same manner and spelling (1) and (4). So when someone reads Keeper after Géra’s Gift (which I sincerely hope they do) suddenly using a firestrike, instead of a fire-ball would be irritating my reader and that would be the last thing I want.
Employing the same substituted words (my characters have a more formal way of expressing themselves) is also essential in a series (3), and that includes the descriptions of my main characters’ designations (6). Going to great lengths to address Géra as ‘my lord Grandmaster’ in the first book, would really seem demeaning to just call him ‘the grandmaster’ in the rest of the series.
Something that I find particularly irritating in myself is my constant mistyping of words that the computer spellchecker would miss. Words like, ‘fro’ instead of ‘for’ and mistakes like ‘a the’ as opposed to ‘at the’. Since I do it with such regularity I made a list of them to check during editing. The list here (4) is incomplete, but I am sure you understand my point.

It is therefor important to be consistent, especially when writing a series of books.

In Lesson 5 we will look at the Copyediting tricks that you can employ using the Stylesheet.

Theme reveal: My A-to-Z blog challenge 2024

  It's been a while since I have taken part in the blog challenge. The problem is always coming up with new ideas so it isn't boring...