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Showing posts from November, 2015

Book Review: The Tornado by Missy Blue

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(Blurb): A once gifted ballet dancer chained to the demons of her past, Jewel is broken and can no longer dance, her dream torn away from her. Determined to not lie down and die, she takes up the fight, disguising herself as a man, and dares to enter... The Tornado’s testosterone-fueled boxing gym. An ex-Marine turned MMA fighter, living in the shadow of his tragic past, Asher “The Tornado” Prince only wants to keep his head in the game, turning any man who enters the ring into dust. His temper is hotter than a branding iron, keeping everyone at arm’s length for good reason. He is all tattooed muscle, blood, sweat, and anyone who dares to cross his path, he’ll leave them in tears. But one night is all it takes. One look is all it takes. Two broken souls find love in the unlikeliest of places. Jewel wants out of her dark world, and she faces the fight of her life to get there. But she won’t do it alone. When Asher discovers that the skinny little kid who comes to his gym every night

Blog Talk: Why followers are not signing up for your newsletter

Honestly, I don't know exactly why they are not signing up for your newsletter or email posts in particular. But I have a pretty good guess as to why many bloggers don't have have the numbers that they would like. It's the same reason that I (personally, not as a blogger)  don't sign up for newsletters; we have enough emails to sort through every day . Obvious answer.  You were probably hoping for something more profound. While that's not necessarily profound, it is an answer that people don't like to acknowledge. I get questions from bloggers all the time asking about how many subscribers I have to various things and how long it took me to get there. I don't have the exact answer to that. It's not a cookbook formula. We all like to think we have the best site out there. Who wouldn't want to read our stuff?? We're awesome!  But the fact is that if every reader signed up for every blog "Newsletter" and "email notificati

Blog Talk: Ghosting in the book blog world

Ghosting. You know. When you go on a date or two with someone and have what you think is one of the greatest dates...and within a week you never hear from the person again. Or maybe you were the one to fall off the edge of the earth. I'll be honest, I've done it. And I've had it done to me. It sucks. Before I digress down that sullen road, I'll get back to the topic: Ghosting in the book blog world. I once read somewhere that the average lifespan of a blog is a year. (Insert a ridiculously high number) of people start one every year and only a handful make it to a "blogiversary". The numbers get fewer and fewer as time goes on. I'm hitting on 3 years and am pretty dang proud to belong to one of the few . I can think of quite a few blogs that were favorites of mine that I was ghosted by. They were doing excellent (in my opinion) and I had a great time getting to know the bloggers and their book adventures. And then one day *poof*  they were gone. Neve

Book Spotlight: 99 Cent Sale for The Naughty List by L. A. Kelley

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The Naughty List L. A. Kelley 99 Cents November 13-27 This is not your typical yuletide tale. Murder, mystical artifacts, an invisible demon with anger management issues, and an overbearing cupid—not what Rosalie Thatcher wished for on her Christmas list. The holidays had always been a magical time for Rosalie, but not this year. Stephanie, her new manager at Penrose’s Department Store, is determined to make this season the most profitable in the store’s history, even if it sucks the life out of every employee. Introducing arbitrary rules and stealing the affections of the cute temp Santa were bad enough, but forcing Rosalie into the stupid elf hat was the worst. The worst, that is, until she meets a real E.L.F. (Elemental Life Form) named David and gets lassoed into a desperate hunt for the stolen Naughty and Nice List. Now all Rosalie and David must do is dodge a murderous invisible demon and recover the missing artifact before hellhounds track them down.  The co

Book Spotlight: Scarred by Joanne Macgregor

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(Blurb):   Seventeen year-old Sloane Munster is funny, feisty, and scarred. Trying to reboot her life after a serious auto accident, she starts her senior year at a new school and immediately has a scar-to-face encounter with the caramel-haired, hazel-eyed Luke Naughton, whom she once (almost) met on the competitive swimming circuit. Sloane is attracted. Luke, unfortunately, seems disgusted and revolted. But the chemistry between them sparks a growing connection set against a background of guilt, secrets, and mounting tensions at a school where bullying is rife and Sloane is not the most deeply scarred person. Life leaves you scarred, love can make you beautiful. Book Information: Age : New Adult Genre : Romance, Drama Length : 251pg What others are saying about Scarred “This book was so full of surprises and definitely packs so much drama within its pages, forgiveness, love, bullying… my mind was in turmoil and my heart was breaking, I connected with th

Blog Talk: The ebb and flow of blogging

All bloggers go through it. I wouldn't necessarily call it burnout, but it's a close cousin; a writing stalemate. I experienced a major burnout shortly after I first started blogging. I was trying to do too much at once and satisfy everyone. Then I remembered the whole reason I started was to satisfy an itch for me ...that just happened to help satisfy an itch for others. So I went back to basics and restructured my thinking on the blog. I've been pretty content ever since! That doesn't mean I don't go through droughts. The majority of this year has been a drought for me. I've had a stock pile of topic ideas, reviews, and everything else imaginable but I just haven't taken the time to put things together, proof, and schedule them. A part of it has to do with a busy work life. But the other part is more like writers block. Which is weird for me. I may not be able to come up with a Blog Talk or Book Talk topic, but how the heck can I not string some words

Feature and Follow #28 (take the place of an author)

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What is Feature and Follow? F&F is a weekly blog hop that consists of book bloggers. It is hosted by Alison Can Read  and  Parajunkee . The rules of involvement are simple: 1.) Link up on the blog hop Linky gadget below this post, 2.) follow the hosts via their network of choice, 3.) follow the weekly featured blog(s) via their network of choice (listed as "featured" in the blog list below), and lastly, 4) check out the rest of the blogs on the hop! If you become a new follower of a blog, let them know and they will follow you back. The F&F is a great way to network, meet other book bloggers, and gain new followers. Even more so, it's a great way to drive fun discussion on a weekly topic. This Week's FF:   If you could take the place of one author, which author would it be and what changes would you make in his/her writing style?  I couldn't do it. I know that I have a very different writing style compared to others. I wouldn

Book Review of Out on the Wire by Jessica Abel

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Books in graphic form are not just filled with superheroes, Japanese manga, or women in push-up spandex bustiers. Occasionally, you can actually learn something.  Writer/Cartoonist Jessica Abel’s new book describes the ins and outs of producing radio shows at NPR. The oral medium of storytelling is well suited to graphics, especially in Abel’s creative hands. Although the book focuses on NPR, the information applies to writing in general. Whether producing a podcast or novel, the creative processes overlap in several ways. Oral and written storytelling requires solid ideas and finding the right voice. Each needs a logical structure and a way to make an audience care. As with fiction, the best stories come from “following some itch.” Catherine Burns, artistic director of the program, The Moth, makes a comment any writer can relate to. “The simplest way to say it is...who are you at the beginning and who are you at the end.” That’s Storytelling 101 for any writer. In both podc