Introducing a wonderful new author

For those who love reading laugh out loud books, my friend John Brook has just written a great book, very entertaining read! Check it out!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDy6-LmF0LE&feature=youtu.be

Great Review for Hush Baby

Reviewed By Valerie Rouse for Readers’ Favorite

Hush Baby by author C. Vine is a gripping tale surrounding Kyle Rushton and his sour relationship with his live-in girlfriend Marlene. They have a son, Max, who is three years old. Max means the world to Kyle. Unfortunately, Kyle’s see-saw relationship with Marlene was taking a toll on him and Kyle made the difficult decision to leave Marlene and Max and move in with his sister Sylvie. Kyle was forced to seek out a lawyer after Marlene blocked him from picking up Max from daycare. Things rapidly escalated with social services becoming involved as well. After establishing a proper visitation schedule to have access to Max, Kyle received a phone call that Max was seriously ill. On rushing to the hospital, he found out that Max had ingested rat poison. Unfortunately, Max died. Kyle became very depressed; however, he had emotional support from Sylvie and close friends. He later discovered that Marlene had given birth to two other children who also died mysteriously. Further digging led to the discovery of more secrets about Marlene’s upbringing and school life.

Hush Baby is an interesting read about personal relationships. Author C. Vine did an excellent job developing the plot. The story began at a slow pace, however, it quickened in the latter half of the novel. I love the unexpected twists that were included in the story. In my opinion, the story literally took on a different feel and transformed into a suspense thriller. This tactic is very cleverly orchestrated by author C. Vine. It propels the reader to become more engrossed in the plot. I did not want to put down the book! The language is simple and easy to understand. What was refreshing was that the novel was written from the viewpoint of a male as opposed to a female. Normally, most stories outlining relationship woes are slanted in the favour of females. This welcome diversion from the norm speaks well for equality of the sexes. I loved the descriptive passages in the novel. I applaud author C. Vine for keeping her readers on their toes, wondering how the story would finally end. The staccato formatting of the final chapter was a good move. It suggests that the reader should accept unpredictability in the plot. I recommend this book to all readers who love suspense.
Hush Baby and Cindy Vine's other books are all available on Amazon  in both print and kindle format.

How to stand out from the rest!

Every now and then you come across a genuinely funny person who is able to put a little sunshine in an otherwise gloomy overcast day.  Steve Novak is that person.

AUTHOR BIO: Born in Chicago Illinois, Steven Novak has spent the whole of his life creating. After attending The Columbus College of Art and Design for four years he moved to California where he married his wife. The pair have been together for nearly a decade. He likes pizza. He’s sort of a nerd. He has terrible luck and worse personal hygiene. He also hates having to write bios about himself. He thinks bios are stupid. His work can be found online at www.novakillustration.com

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD?

When I was asked by Cindy to type up a little something about how I make my writing “stand out from the crowd,” and what I do to “make it different,” I had absolutely no idea what in the world I was going to write.

Does my writing even, technically, stand out from the crowd?

If my writing passed you on the street, would you drop the sunglasses from your eyes like Corey Haim in a terrible 80’s flick, lick your lips and watch it’s booty sway hypnotically as it walked away?

I doubt it.

Would the construction guys across the street toss it a catcall?

Probably not.

Would the cops arrest it for loitering?

There’s a decent chance.

Honestly, in my mind I’m not the least bit qualified to offer advice on this subject. I’m going to do it do it anyway. Why? Well, the only thing Phil McGraw is qualified to give advice on is being a pompous blowhard a silly mustache, and that putz has his own television show. If Phil can pretend he knows everything about things he really knows nothing, so can I.

So here it is: The best advice I can offer anyone when it comes to making your writing stand out from the crowd is to learn to hate the crowd. That’s right, I’m telling you that you need to hate more stuff. That might be contrary to what you’ve heard in the past, but I need you to forget what you’ve heard in the past. I’m not John Lennon. My beard isn’t nearly as impressive. I don’t own a single pair of tiny glasses and I’m not married to a weirdo that drove a wedge between my childhood pals and I.

I don’t want you to give peace a chance.

I’m asking you to give hate a try.

Okay, that’s not really true. It was funny though.

It also extended my word count into the 500’s.

Truthfully, when I set out to write Goats Eat Cans there wasn’t any actual thought put into how exactly I would go about making my writing stand out. I wrote what I knew and I wrote it the best way I knew how.  That’s it. I personally don’t believe there’s any great mystery to writing and in my opinion people tend to over think the process entirely too much. My best advice is to be honest with yourself and your words.

When someone opens up your book they should be reading you.

If you’re writing a horror novel, don’t try and write it like Stephen King. Leave your characters as far away from Maine as possible and certainly don’t make the lead a middle-aged writer.

If you insist on writing another damn vampire love triangle book, try and avoid making your shirtless emo-boy vampire sparkle. Sparkle vampires are overhyped Meyer’s thing. Do your thing.

If you’re writing humor, don’t try to do David Sedaris. David Sedaris is already doing David Sedaris and the world doesn’t really need another David Sedaris. You should be doing you.
Writing isn’t sex. Writing is masturbation.

Pleasure yourself first and foremost and if you’re good enough at it the world might just take notice.

Just don’t do it in movie theaters.
That’s Paul Rubens’ thing.

Goats eat Cans is Steve's new book. 

BOOK SYNOPSIS: Remember the weird kid with the greasy hair and the odd smell you went to school with? You know, the one who never talked to anyone? That creepy little jerk who sat alone at lunch? The oddball who never took a shower in gym class? The one you imagined might one day go on a shooting spree?

Believe it or not, that kid grew up.

He grew up, he got married, he never shot a single person, he wrote a book, and he even started taking showers after his workouts – most of the time.

Goats Eat Cans is his story.

Follow along as Steven Novak recounts the sometimes hilarious, sometimes hilariously painful, and sometimes painfully hilarious moments that have made his life so wonderfully frustrating. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you might even vomit. No matter what, you won't be able to stop reading.

Goats Eat Cans features 55 stories, 55 illustrations, 99 luftballons and enough nonsense to keep you chuckling and giggling for days on end – or hours – or at the very least a few minutes.

WEBSITES:

http://goatseatcans.blogspot.com/

http://novakillustration.com/

PURCHASE LINKS:

http://www.amazon.com/Goats-Eat-Cans-1-ebook/dp/B007BICKXE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330048498&sr=8-1

A Slice of Life

Every now and then you read a great little book you just want to share with the world.  Something Blue by Jean Christopher Spaugh is just that book.  It was one of those books that come up on Amazon when you buy another book.  You know, 'Customers who bought this book also bought...'  It was cheap and I thought it looked interesting, so I added it onto my Kindle.  I'm so pleased I did.
Something Blue by Jean Christopher Spaugh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The imagery in Something Blue was fantastic! Reading the novel, I could see pictures in my head while I read. Many will identify with the main character, Judy Duncan, who has so many things on the boil. Trying to juggle family, a wayward husband, work, her ambitions within an ever-changing family dynamic. Judy Duncan is the classic rescuer, trying to fix everything. However, in the relationship triangle the rescuer always ends up as the victim for a period, before making their way back to being a rescuer. I felt that the author perfectly removed a slice out of a life and placed it under a microscope for us to study every detail, every emotion. This was a great read and I recommend it highly.

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Book Review: The Girl who kicked the hornet's nest

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The last in the series and what a rollercoaster ride it was for Kalle Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. The reader was hooked from the beginning, wondering how on earth she'd extricate herself from the huge mess.

Although gripping and a real page-turner, on quiet reflection after finishing the book, I do have to say there are a few flaws, little niggles that I can't move past. Things that are worrying me. Maybe they would have been addressed in a fourth volume which sadly will never be written. Camilla the twin sister never features, never appears and even at the end we are told Salander has no clue where she was. I have to ask, why was she even included in the story if she played no part whatsoever? Blomkvist texts Salander and tells her she made an error and that's how he found out she'd stolen all that money. When she asks how she slipped up, he tells her that if she meets him for coffee, he'll tell her. They never meet for coffee, he never tells her, so I'm left hanging, how did she slip up? How did Blomkvist find out?

There was also a part where the billions of kronor she had, at the end suddenly turned into billions of US$. Is that the same thing? Are Swedish kronor equivalent to US$?

I also didn't like how she dismissed her inheritance from Zalachenko. I understand she has her own fortune and the money from him is negligable, but it would have left a better feeling, a more warm fuzzy one, if she donated that money to open a centre for abused women and children or something. It would have rounded off the story better.

Otherwise, another cracking good read that had me turning pages until 2am. Now I've finished the series, I can get on with my life and my own writing again!



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Book Giveaway on Goodreads!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Not Telling

by Cindy Vine

Giveaway ends August 31, 2010.







See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

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