Tuesday, March 31, 2015

In My Mailbox March 2015


I was saving money this month so I had plenty next month to buy books at Wales Comic Con and to have my picture done with people while there so I only had 5 books.


  1. Cinderella Ate My Daughter - Peggy Orenstein
  2. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
  3. Haven - D. C. Akers
  4. 3 Girls and a Baby - Rachel Schwig
  5. The Ghost and the Graveyard - Genevieve Jack

Monday, March 30, 2015

Get to know me with Ember Shane

Where do you live?
I'm currently living in Franklin, OH (Southern OH), though I hope to return home to Tennessee this summer.

Can you tell me about yourself?
I'm a single mom with an associate’s degree in nursing.  I work two jobs, homeschool my 9 year old, and occasionally homemake newborn photography props to sell in my spare time.  When I'm not working or writing, I like to read, knit, and crochet.  What I really stink at is home repairs and cooking.  If I ever had an excess of free time, I'd take some classes to learn the basics.

Why and when did you begin to write?
I can remember being in kindergarten and falling in love with books.  I would take every book I could get my hands on and stow them away in my cheap, plastic tent I used as a hideaway in the corner of my room, and I'd stay in there for hours.  Becoming an author is just something I always knew I wanted to do.  I wanted to weave that kind of magic for other readers too.

How long each day/week do you dedicate to writing?
I don't set any specific writing times, but if I go a couple days without writing anything, it affects me.  I won't be able to concentrate on other things properly, and I'll feel a little ill.  These days, it seems like I've been averaging a chapter every week or two.  I look forward to summer break just as much as my son does because my time spent writing shoots through the roof.

What has been the best compliment and worst criticism given to you as an author?
The best compliment I've ever received was from a former English composition college professor.  I did well in his class, but I always wondered why my paper would inevitably be in the last batch of papers he would return after handing in an assignment.  For me, I would think that if I really liked someone's work, I'd be super excited to get it and read it first.  Which is why I'm among the first ones in line at the bookstore when an anticipated book finally releases.  So, I just assumed that he didn't feel that way about my reading.  At the end of the year, each student had to have a one on one conference with him to discuss their work and the previous semester.  During my conference, he told me that he really loved reading my writing.  In fact, he enjoyed it so much, that he would always save my papers for last to give him something to look forward to.  He has no idea how much that meant to me.
The worst criticism?  That's one harder to answer.  I think it would probably be that I sometimes include too many benign details.  But, I appreciated that feedback.  That's something I watch out more closely for now.

If you were shipwrecked on a desert island what book, author and item would you take? Assuming the parameters are for a fictional book, I would say Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  And for the item, I'd say a machete, just to be on the practical side.  I'd need something to crack open those coconuts with. 

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Book Jar's

Well I was over at my cousin's blog and found this interesting post on choosing what book to read next or to put on your to be read list which she got from an instagram that Jenna Burtenshaw posted.

The post was about using pots and sticky notes or just bits of paper to pick your next read from, having a pot to make a note of books you want to buy sometime soon and a pot to put the slip in saying what you have read.

This sounded like a great idea so I took my cousin's idea and I managed to get my own little jars. I have made a list of all my books and got some pots to put my lists in although I will only use two pots as I tend to buy books on a whim, if I see a book I want I will buy it.

My jars.
To Read, Review Books and Read
Here are my jars, I still have three but the third is not a 'to buy jar' as I buy books whenever I feel like it and sometimes I just buy a book because I see it and other times I buy books because they are the next in the series or because the book is by an author that I like, the third jar is full of books that I have been sent to review.

I have decided that I am just going to stick half of the books I own with the books that are the next in the series to ones I have started in a jar and get my boyfriend to pick which book I read next so that I don't pick a book and then put it back in the pot because I don't want to read it yet.

If you have trouble deciding what to read next maybe you could try this also. If you have a different way to choose what book your going to read next let me know.

Happy Reading

Saturday, March 07, 2015

Mystic by Alyson Noel

MysticTitle: Mystic
Author: Alyson Noel
Series: The Soul Seekers
Pages: 309
Release Date: 7th May 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: Amazon
Format: Paperback
Buy it: Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Synopsis: Since arriving in the dusty desert town of Enchantment, everything in Daire Santos life has changed...and not always for the better. While she's come to accept and embrace her new powers as a Soul Seeker, Daire struggles with the responsibility she holds navigating between the worlds of the living and the dead--and her mission to defeat the evil Cade Richter.  But Cade's soul is inextricably entwined with that of her boyfriend Dace, putting their love to the ultimate test.  How can she can't defeat Cade if it means destroying Dace too?  And is their love strong enough to survive death—and what lies beyond?

MYSTIC is the third book in The Soul Seekers, a magnificent new series about a girl who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël.


My Review: Alyson did it again, just when I was beginning to like someone she kills them off *I'm talking about Phyre here*

A lot of things happen in Mystic, Daire and Dace find out that when Dace went after the dark soul it meant that his and Cade's soul are now linked and to kill one means killing the other so Daire cannot kill her boyfriends evil twin without also killing her boyfriend.

Dace's ex girlfriend Phyre and her crazy preacher father return to Enchantment to stop 'The end of the world'. 

At the start of the book Daire is trapped in the Upper world with Dace's guide Axel who saved her until she manages to escape and Dace is lost in the lower world and the preacher finds him stranded and leaves him their to die until Daire saves him. When Daire finds him Dace believes that they are both dead.

On Daire's search she takes her best friends Lita and Xolich to the enchanted spring's so that she can see if Xolich can sense anything because she has fantastic six sense with her being blind she can sense things a lot better than anyone else and after leaving the enchanted spring's Xolich ends up being able to see.

Cade gives Lita a tourmaline crystal which ends up being given to Paloma who aling with Xolich senses that it is a bad stone but Paloma keeps it so she can do tests on it and she ends up dying because if it.

In the end Lita, Daire and Xolich save the world from ending no matter how much Cade tried he didn't manage to succeed and Cade almost's dies until his brother Dace saves him but the Rabbit Hole club burns down.

Friday, March 06, 2015

My Interview With Sherri Fulmer Moorer

Sherri Fulmer Moorer is in the hot seat today.

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?
I started seriously writing for publication in 2001. My first book was an inspirational Christian book titled Battleground Earth – Living by Faith in a Pagan World. It was published in 2004, but frankly I didn’t find much success with writing inspirational work. I think the reason is because when you do faith-based writing, you’re expected to create a “safe haven” for people, and I just can’t do that – I’m in the trenches of ugly reality with you, and my interest is in navigating it. I switched to writing fiction in 2007 and published my next book, a young adult murder mystery titled Blurry, in 2011. Fiction was a good move for me. I enjoy writing it so much more – it’s fun!

Can you tell us about your upcoming book? And how you come up with the idea? 
Right now, I’m working on a science fiction trilogy titled The Earthside Trilogy. I finished the rough draft of Book One, titled Fracture, in October. I’m working on Book Two, tentatively titled Schism, now. It takes place in the near future (about 50-75 years from now) and is about aliens coming to Earth, but not in ways you expect: instead of landing in ships, they take over human minds live symbiotically in their bodies. It’s learned that these aliens came because another race of cyborgs have noticed the technological advancements of humanity, and they want to control us through our computers and machines. It really is a biology versus technology type of battle. The idea for this trilogy came to me when my father-in-law was in  his final stages of dementia – in fact, I started writing Fracture five days after he passed away. He was the third family member I’ve lost to dementia, but this was the closest hit, and the hardest journey I witnessed. There was something about witnessing his final journey that left me feeling less than human, and I still can’t find a way to articulate what I saw, felt, and experienced during those last few months of his life. I guess fiction is an easier way for me to express it than straight reality right now.

When writing about something you don’t know very much about where does your information come from?
I do research. A lot on the Internet, but I also like to talk to people that know about what I’m planning to write about. For example, one of the protagonist in my work in progress is an electrical engineer. I’m not an engineer, but I’ve worked with and talked to many in my “day job,” so I would ask them my questions. Most people do like to talk about themselves and what they do, and they’re glad that you’re interested in learning more about what’s important to them.

What is the easiest and the hardest part to write?
The easiest part is the proofreading and beta reading, which I usually do together. I love that part because you have the story the  best you can have it, and you finally get to send it to others that help you make it shine. The hardest part is writing the rough draft. Even if you know exactly what you want to write, it still takes the most time to get that first draft done. Everything after that is easier because you at least have something to work with.

Do you ever experience writers block? If so how do you find best to cure it?
I do experience it. I’ve discovered that it usually happens when I’m stressed out and trying to do too much. The best cure I’ve found for it is to take a break. I truly believe that writer’s block is your muse’s way of telling you that they have burnout, and you need to give them a break to restore the creative well. I miss writing when I don’t do it, but sometimes that break is absolutely essential for me to open my eyes to the world around me and find the inspiration waiting to be discovered. One thing I never do, though, is panic. It always passes. If you remain calm and just live, you’ll find that the ideas will flow again.

Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?
First of all, thank you for reading my writing! Second, I hope it entertains and inspires them, and that reading my novels gives them the same joy that I experience when I read a good book. Third, I’d like for them to take from my books what’s meaningful to them. Yes, writers do have ideas and themes about what their books “mean,” but I think that good fiction can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. I just want them to be able to relate to the characters and situations in ways that they find significant, whether it’s actually what I had in mind or not. I’m not one that’s offended if you see something different in it, so enjoy and be inspired!

What is your favourite part of a book to write and why?
The end. I love writing the entire book, of course, because it’s exciting to create your own worlds, but it’s satisfying to see it come to completion and see your vision has become a reality – on a computer screen, at least!

Where do most of your ideas come from?
Real life. For some reason, I find that I handle what’s going on “in my head” a lot better when I drop it into a fictional setting. I guess it gives me a different perspective. For example, I wrote Move after making a major work move that people thought I was crazy to accept and should have fought against harder. It gave me the idea of a novel about a young woman that resists change until it destroys her, and then she takes drastic measures to “go back,” only to find out that it isn’t possible. The idea turned so big that I wrote Obsidian, the sequel, a few years later when I had more “realizations” on what it really means to finish what you start and to do things the right way. As I recently told someone, “when you read a book, you’re riding shotgun to the author’s mental issues.”

Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you would like to work more on?
I’m very happy to be writing science fiction now, and would like to do more in that genre. My goal would be for 50% of my novels to be science fiction and the other 50% be mysteries. I love them both!

If you could work with any author who is no longer with us who would it be?

C.S. Lewis. He was a brilliant person and a great writer. He had a keen mind and yet was humble enough to admit his failures. I would have loved to have been in one of his classes!

Monday, March 02, 2015

Get to know me With Sherri Fulmer Moorer

Where do you live?
I live in Columbia, South Carolina. That’s in the Southeast United States.

Can you tell me about yourself?
By day, I’m a program assistant working in professional licensing for design and environmental professionals. By night, I’m an independent author of science fiction and mystery novels. I live in the woods of South Carolina (in the Southeastern United States) with my husband, Rick, and our two parrots, Zack and Chloe. I admit that I am an opportunist that wanted to jump on the ebook wave and took full advantage of it as soon as I could! I enjoy spending time with my family, new technology, TV shows and movies about superheros (and villains!), and, of course, reading.

Why and when did you begin to write?
I’ve always been a writer, ever since I learned how to read and write. You could say I “officially” started writing in 2001 when I got my own personal computer so I could write and do research at home.

How long each day/week do you dedicate to writing?
I have a full time job (along with writing), so it can be a balancing act. I try to write about 2 hours a day, 4 days a week as an average.

Do you work with an outline or do just write?
I just write. I’ve tried outlines, and I deviated too much from them. Once I get into writing the book, there’s no telling where it will lead, and I want to give my characters (and the plot) the freedom to go where it will.

When reading yourself do you prefer eBooks, paperbacks or hardbacks?
I prefer eBooks. I’m a techno-junkie, but that’s probably because my husband is a computer technician! Sometimes I do enjoy a good paperback too. I swore off hardbacks when I got into eBooks because frankly, they’re heavy and cumbersome to handle. 
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