Dragonfly Dreams by Jennifer Chow

Dear Fellow Reader,

I have talked on this blog before about my wonderful on-line writing group. Wordsmith Studio is a supportive interesting diverse community of writers. If you would like to find out more about the group, you can check the web site or look at the Facebook page.

One of the members of the group has published her third book! I have talked about Jennifer Chow’s books previously. She is the author of 228 Legacy and Seniors Sleuth.  Jennifer’s newest book is Dragonfly Dreams.

dragonfly dreams

Dragonfly Dreams is a young adult story about a 17 year old Chinese girl who dies in childbirth in 1880 Fresno, CA.  She is given the chance to watch over  and be an influence in her daughter’s life if she teaches her daughter to live the the Ten Commandments. This is not a simple task as Topaz does not know the Ten Commandments or realize the implications of her influence. Topaz has to learn that what she does and how she is influenced has a far reaching effect on her family.

Jennifer Chow has brought us three totally different well developed interesting stories in her three books. With Dragonfly Dreams, Jennifer successfully branches into Young Adult paranormal.

Dragonfly Dreams is available on Kindle for only $0.99 today and tomorrow (Feb. 9-10) and is available on  iTunes FREE those same dates.

Thanks for reading!

 

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The Obituary Society

Dear Readers,

I wanted to give you a quick note to let you know that the book The Obituary Society by Jessica L. Randall is available FREE on Amazon right now.

I have not reviewed this book yet but just quickly –

When Lila Moore’s grandfather dies, she returns to his hometown to bury him and find out about his life and why he left his family’s hometown and never returned.  While there, she finds out the ups and downs of small town life and finds there is a mystery that needs to be solved.

There were twists and turns in the story that made it an interesting read.

It is definitely worth it as a FREE book.  I don’t know how long it will be free so pick it up now.

Thanks for reading!

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The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

Dear Reader,

I have been waiting to tell you about a book for a month to two. It is being released on Tuesday and I think you might really like it. I received a copy of this book as an advanced reader copy (ARC). I had this book on my kindle and had no idea what it was about before I started it. What a delightful surprise!

the readers of broken wheel

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

Sara has traveled to  Iowa from Sweden to meet her pen pal, Amy.  When Amy was not there to meet Sarah in the next big town, Hope, IA, a stranger gave her a ride to Broken Wheel. From the two people she meets from Hope, IA, she gets the impression that Broken Wheel is not just the name of the town but the condition of the town also. From Amy’s letters, she had imagined Broken Wheel  and the people who lived there. When she arrived in Broken Wheel, the town did not seem to have the glow that it had in Amy’s writing. Sara’s ride drops her in the middle of the  what seems to be the near empty downtown of Broken Wheel. There is a diner that is open and Sara goes in to find out where Amy lives so she can go to her house.

Sara had the definite feeling that Grace-who- wasn’t –to- be –called- Grace was enjoying the moment, drawing it out. Grace nodded three times to herself, took a deep drag of her cigarette, and let the smoke curl slowly upward from one corner of her mouth. She leaned over the counter.

“Amy’s dead,” she said.

Sara had arrived on the day of Amy’s funeral. Sara was then given a ride to Amy’s house where the was a post funeral gathering. The people there insisted that she stay at Amy’s house during the two months she was supposed to visit Amy. She starts to meet the real people that Amy had talked about in her letters. She finds some people welcome her and some are not that happy that she is there.

Over the time she is visiting, she makes friends and comes to adjust to and then love the town. She is not allowed to work because of her visa but after some time, she decides to open a free book store with all the books that Amy had left behind. Sara has a talent for finding a book that is a match for each person and she gets the town reading. The townspeople are revitalized through her presence and stop feeling like the town has been left behind.

My opinion

This is one of those books that will surprise you. The story moves along and the characters become more real and understandable as you read through the book. Sara, while the lead character, is an unlikely catalyst of change for the town but her demeanor has quite an affect.  Interspersed through the book are the letters that Amy sent to Sara about the books and the people in the town.

Reading this book was a complete delight. It was so much better than I expected – partially because I didn’t know what to expect. So many of the ARC books I get are fine but they are not great literature or even maybe literature. This is a well written, enjoyable story.  For those of you with reading groups, there is a reading group guide at the end of the book.

Thanks for reading!
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Fixed in Fear by T.E. Woods

Hello Fellow Reader!

Happy New Year!  Have you made reading resolutions this year?  I understand that you can keep track of your resolution on Goodreads. Are you familiar with Goodreads?  It is a site where you can read and write book reviews and find new books to read. You can keep track of your book reading resolution on Goodreads. You go on and set a number of books that you would like to read for the year.  Then as you go in and review books, they keep track of how many you have read. There are over 834,000 people participating in the challenge.

fixed in fear

The latest in the Justice Series by T. E Woods is now available.  The latest book is entitled Fixed in Fear. It is the fifth book in the series.  The other books (in order) are The Fixer, Red Hot Fix,  The Unforgivable Fix, Fixed in Blood.  (Notice anything about the titles?) I have reviewed books 2-4 previously. 

Synopsis (1)

In this new book, we find out more about Seattle Chief Detective Mort Grant’s close friend Larry.  Larry has been mentioned in other stories but this story tells us more about Larry and the mysterious death of his wife 18 years ago.   Mort’s daughter Allie is also back causing problems for both the Fixer and Mort.

Larry comes to Mort when he learns that Carlton Smydon is killed in a mass murder in a sweat lodge. Carlton Smydon was the uncle of Larry’s late wife and was his last friendly connection to his wife. From the forensics, it is apparent that Carton was the intended victim of the killing.  Larry asks Mort if he could take  a look into the murder even though it is out of his jurisdiction.

Lydia in her role as the fixer, tracks down a man who had evaded the police and had stolen money leaving a widow destitute.  In a change from her usual ways, she does not kill the man but directs the police to where he was hiding.  She is not sure she is happy about this change but she recognizes it as a change for the good.

At the same time, Mort’s daughter makes an appearance on the soccer field at Mort’s granddaughter’s school.  Mort and his son send the girls over to their mother. Allie makes it clear that she wants to play a role in the girl’s lives and that she misses family.  Mort makes it clear that while he loves her, she will have to turn herself into the police for all her illegal activities before she will be welcomed into the family again.

Mort then asks Lydia Corriger (the Fixer) to find his daughter and find out what she is up to so he can protect his family.  Lydia tracks down Allie but at the same time Allie comes to Lydia with an ultimatum.

My opinion

I enjoyed the book until the end.  I don’t like it when at the end of a book there is an obvious cliff hanger. I think if you have done a good job, that readers will want to read your next book without a cliffhanger. I like each book to be complete and not have a tease for the next book.

Ignoring my feeling about this, I enjoyed the book. There was some good character growth and it kept my interest.

If you have not read any of these books, I would say that I did not read the first book and was just fine reading the others.  I think it might be harder as the series moves along to not have read any of them and just jump in in the middle.

If you would like to know more about the author, you can visit her web site. Unfortunately, it has not been updated very regularly.

Thanks for reading!

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5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing

Dear Fellow Readers,

J. Lynn Sheridan is a guest on my blog this week.  She has a review of a book about writing.  I am thrilled that she wanted to post here and I hope you enjoy her review.

5 Editors Tackle

My Review of 5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing – 

It’s not a secret that writers love to read about writing and editors love to write about writing.  So when I was offered to review 5 Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing, I jumped at the chance.

S. Lakin, Linda S. Clare, Christy Distler, Robin Patchen, Rachel Starr Thomson have written a complete, fun, instructional manual from the point of view of editors who are also writers.

This how-to-write book is different from the myriad other writing how-to books on the market in that these editors SHOW rather than just TELL. (And then they SHOW why the mantra: “Show. Don’t Tell” is not always the correct advice. They reiterate that you need to know the rules in order to break the rules.)

Each of the twelve fatal flaws are contained in their own chapter. Flaws such as: overwriting and lack of pacing and tension. Each contributing editor instructs the reader in a non-condescending manner expanding upon the previous editor’s insight and instruction illustrating the chapter’s fatal flaw with personal samples from their own writing. They demonstrate how to strengthen scenes by fixing the fatal flaw in those segments. This book caters to writers and editors who love examples. ME!

You’ll learn about the Rule of Three for all the writing elements and you’ll learn how to search for Word Weasels, Talking Heads, and Floating Body Parts, in addition to the fatal “Cold Mashed Potato Rule.”

I love the chapter ending checklists. You’ll want to print them out and keep them handy as you write or edit. Look for the quotable nuggets of writing wisdom under the “In Conclusion” sections.

Coming off a NaNoWriMo fail, I appreciate Lakins’s final advice to slow down. To “show words the honor they deserve and work with them respectfully.”

Think of this book as your personal writing coach that you’ll return to often for reference.

 

J. Lynn Sheridan professes to be a literary thief – you can  go to her web site to find her definition of the term.  She is a writer, a poet, and an editor.  She has a poetry blog , Writing on the Sun and a blog about Alzheimer’s called The Slow Forget.

 

 

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