Author: mel

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Just Finished…Alice Parker’s Metamorphosis

Reviewed by Mel C-J – originally posted at http://melcj.wordpress.com 

Thanks to author Nicola Palmer for providing me a copy of Alice Parker’s Metamorphosis this week. I’ve really enjoyed reading this fun, fantasy story about feisty thirteen-year-old Alice.

This is a really well-written book, perfect for the target ‘middle grade’ audience of 7+, with strong, defined characters who are both funny and believable. The relationships in the story feel genuine, especially between Alice, her brother and best friend. I really enjoyed the early scene-setting at Alice’s school – certainly brought back some memories 🙂 – and once you get the big reveal about Alice’s recent issues, the story transitions to an action-mystery.

Nicola Palmer is a great writer for children and this is a good debut. Alice Parker’s story is well-constructed with interesting twists and turns, great description and enjoyable characters. Overall, I’m sure this will appeal to a range of readers. Rating: 4*

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Thirteen-year-old Alice Parker knows something isn’t right. Aches and pains have started, she hardly sleeps and her craving for fruit is out of control. Suddenly she is top of the class in every subject. Feeling at odds with the world and being bullied by the ‘coven’ at school, Alice can’t take much more. Only when she collapses and experiences a life-changing transformation does she learn why she is different. But with this new identity comes responsibility and Alice isn’t convinced she can rise to the challenge. She just wants to be normal! The fact is she’s anything but.

Forgotten tales of a magical society are catapulted into the daily life of strong, memorable female characters who readers will grow to love. An intriguing blend of realism, suspense and fantasy, a must-read for girls of 7+.

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Guest Post…My Pen is Lethargic

Interesting post from the blog of author Karen Payze on why it’s hard to get going with your writing sometimes.

Karen's avatarDrawing Room Days

You may be wondering why it is that I started a blog.  It all came about because of  a desire to reignite my creative writing flame.  I have been a bit stuck since completing my novel.  I have been asking myself for some time now why it is that I cannot seem to get myself to write a second novel.

I have come to realise that it is a combination of things rather than just one specific thing – like writers block.  In fact, I know that it is not writers block.  How do I know this?  Well, I have a million stories floating around my head, and more are added every hour of every day.  They just need organising.  So, writers block – not an issue.

When thinking about my reasons for not writing, the first thing that springs to mind is my previous book.  In the world…

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meme…Friday Finds – 2

Another weekly meme from http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

This week I found:

The cover – I admit – I find uncomfortable, but it sounds great and the reviews have been good (including one where they said the cover put them off, but then enjoyed the book) – so I’m not judging by the cover and have this on my kindle now 🙂

This has been around for a long while, but I’d not come across it before. Recommended to me this week by the lovely Emily from Confessions of a Bookaholic – will be adding to my tbr list.

Although it’s a ‘classic’ I’ve never actually read The Outsiders, just seen the film! Inspired to read this by one of the Goodreads groups who have it as their April read. My copy came through the post this week.

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meme…Book Trailer Thursday – 2

We’re excited to take part in Book Trailer Thursday meme hosted each week by http://zoweesbookshelf.blogspot.co.uk/  Check out her lovely blog if you’d like to join in 🙂

For our Book Trailer Thursday meme we’re featuring the best-selling YA dystopian novel Divergent, by Veronica Roth. I have to say – I’m not a mega fan of the book, as you’ll see when you read the review – I’ve not posted yet as I’m waiting for the other blog readers to tell me if I’m being terribly unfair to the book…we’ll see… Anyway, for a dystopian it feels quite unrealistic, which is probably my main gripe: there’s no single overarching power or government in control of the environment that forces people into the various ‘factions’, it doesn’t feel like a situation that would naturally occur. Overall, it felt a little like YA dystopia-by-numbers: 1984 Room 101 type scenario – check; Hunger Games-esq violence – check; random division of society – check… It just wasn’t overly original to me, although it’s well-written.

So – what about the trailer – I expected something good for a big budget, publisher driven book – but it’s not really – it’s not unlike what many indie authors are producing for their own books, with minature budgets. Yes it’s polished, but there’s not much to it – again – it lack originality for me. And also – rip-off of The Hunger Games flaming mockingjay much?

What do you think?

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It’s Coming Soon…Indie Author Month!

OK…so it’s not long now…all of the authors have now enlisted for our huge Indie Author Month event in May and we’re excited to feature a whole range of giveaways as part of the event – including a mega book stash of over 30 books for one lucky winner, as well as opportunities on the day to download free copies of several books featured.

We’d love to have you’re support for the event, so if you run a blog / facebook page and would like to feature our event button, please copy one of the two below and add to you page(s) with a link back to https://asidefromwriting.wordpress.com Then come back and visit us every day in May to meet new authors, find great books and sort out your summer reading list!

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Just Finished…Bites by Ninfa Hayes

Reviewed by Mel – 4.5*

I’ve not read any ‘vampire books’ for a while now. Before I started Bites (last night at midnight, finished first thing this morning!) I was thinking to myself “I don’t really do vampire stories” but that’s not true: I read most of Ann Rice’s books, Twilight Saga, all the True Bloods (until about book ten when they got dull), Bram Stoker, dabbled in YA vampires with Blue Bloods, the first House of Night and a couple of not-so-good indie ones…and I liked most of them: some I loved, some not so much…and that doesn’t stop at books because I was a Buffy fan (not so much Angel) and have been loving the True Blood TV series. Perhaps I just go through phases of reading and then find myself a little under-awed with a genre after a while?

Anyway, I realised, I do “do vampire stories” – it’s just that I like ones that are written well, have some depth, interesting and/or original ideas… And Bites does 🙂

Bites is actually a novella of two short stories: Demonica and Last of the Blood – one is a more traditional vampire story, the other a semi-demon crossover with a smattering of angelic backstory which I was hooked on by the end of the first page… Both stories read well and quickly – as short stories there is a limited amount of world building (obviously!) but they introduce interesting characters and concepts.

In Bites, Damon is a thoughtful vampire – with shades of Louis, perhaps Angel, Edward and Bill about him – in how he views the existence he has and vampire/human relationships. I liked the POV story-telling from his side and found his rather poetic voice carried me through his story with interest. The resolution the issues of the story fits perfectly with his character. Catherine also really interested me – I think her experiences and perspective would offer a good story.

Demonica was my favourite of the two stories – I like the origins story aspects of the beginning and found myself drawn in very quickly. Again – good characters, interesting ideas and I think a good basis for longer novels.

Overall, I think this is a good debut for a new writer, showcasing her skills for writing interesting characters in familiar situations for the genre, but still doing something original with them. Definitely recommended 🙂

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This review was originally posted at Mel’s author blog on 31st March 2012

http://melcj.wordpress.com

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Guest Review…Aladdin’s Samovar

Mikko Azul, author of Askari (Book 1 – Child of Muralia Trilogy) joins us today with a guest review for Aladdin’s Samovar by Lauren Sweet – let’s take a look at what she thought…

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Aladdin’s Samovar, by Lauren Sweet, was one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Lauren Sweet takes paranormal romance to a whole new level in this triumphant debut novel! She masterfully combines the elements of paranormal romance with the impossibly fast-paced action/mystery/thriller elements. There are so many plot surprises and hilarious characters that it was truly heartbreaking to come to the end of the story. I’m anxiously awaiting the sequel!

Amber is a down-to-earth, hard-working girl who has to balance her flower-power mother’s paranoia of authority against the mischievous evil genie’s antics to entice Amber to make wishes for it to grant in whatever twisted way it sees fit. A simple wish to meet her absent father turns into a fast-paced race for sensitive data with the local Mob. Mousy Amber becomes Super Hero Amber as she figures out who is lying (everyone) and who she can trust (nobody) before getting herself killed, or worse, falling for the handsome genie.

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About the Author: I’m a reader and writer of fantasy adventure novels. My first work, which still doesn’t have a satisfactory title, won the San Francisco Writer’s Conference indie publishing competition. So…they’re generously paying to have this first novel published! Writers tend to work in a vaccuum…no input, little useful support and oftentimes marginalized. Winning this competition was a huge boost of confidence for me!

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Website: www.mikkoazul.com

Look out for Askari – Book 1 in the Child of Muralia series

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Writing 101…Copyright

So, you’ve finished a book. You carefully wrote an outline, craftily developed your characters, sweated out the formatting to make every page perfect. If you don’t get yourself a copyright through proper and legal channels, you don’t want to self-publish that story. If you do, I can download it, put my name on it and sell it as my own — legally. If you think slapping a copyright symbol and writing a disclaimer is enough to protect your rights, you might be wrong. Getting a copyright is pretty easy…but it’s not that easy.

What is a Copyright? 

You can’t have one unless you know what it is. When you own the copyright to a work — usually a piece of music, a book, artwork or a film — you and you alone are allowed to sell, distribute and duplicate that work. This means that if someone else wants to sell and/or distribute your work, they’ve got to go through you first. Copyrighting your book legally marks you as the owner, and it’s something you’ve got to do before you make that book available to the public in any form or fashion.

…If you live in the United States, that is.

Obtaining a Copyright

Obtaining a copyright is a legal process, and there may be certain channels you’ve got to go through in order to get it. If you live in the US, you’ve definitely got some work to do before you start happily self-publishing. Elsewhere…well, it’s quite a bit easier.

  • In the UK

If you create and produce your book in the UK, it’s automatically copyrighted. The UK copyright goes into effect the moment an idea leaves its creator’s mind and becomes an object (rather than a concept). The moment you type your first word, you’ve got a copyright on your work. You do not have to be a citizen of the UK for this copyright law to protect you; as long as you create and produce your work within the UK, you’re covered. The UK Intellectual Property Office offers more specific details.

  • In Canada

Canada’s copyright laws are similar to UK laws. Once you create and produce your work in country, you’re protected under Canadian copyright law. However, you should take the time to legally register your work through the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, a process which does include some monetary fees.

  • In the United States

If you live in the US, simply creating and producing your work absolutely isn’t enough. As an author, the responsibility falls to you and you alone to officially copyright your work and register it with the Library of Congress. It’s a relatively simple process that includes filling out a form and sending a copy of your work (for inclusion in the Library, of course). Use the online Electronic Copyright Office for ebooks and digital works. Filing the copyright does cost money, but it’s a necessity if you want to be legally recognized as the owner of your work.

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This post originally featured on Jade Varden’s author blog on 17th March 2012.

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Author Jade Varden is a regular guest contributor on Aside From Writing. The Writing 101 features originate from her own blog  at http://jadevarden.blogspot.co.uk where you can see more of her thoughts on writing, as well as her own books. Her debut novel Justice is available now, with The Tower scheduled for release in summer 2012. Read our review of Justice here.

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meme…Indie Author Spotlight – NEW!

Welcome to our inaugural

Indie Authors Spotlight is a BRAND NEW weekly meme that will be held on every SATURDAY in the month. It is hosted by Beckie @Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @A Bookalicious Story.
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So…for our first spotlight, we’re pleased to introduce Ada Adams…

“Many people sing in the shower. I write scenes in my head and act them out.”

At the age of five, Ada read her first chapter book—Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. Ever since that moment, she developed an intense passion for stories and characters found within the pages of literature.

In her career as an actress and a writer, Ada currently spends most of her days immersed in imaginary worlds. Much like the characters she enjoys playing and writing about, Ada is a martial artist with a Black Belt in Shotokan Karate. She is also a big proponent of lifelong learning, and has attained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (it aids in creating characters with unique quirks!) as well as a Master’s of Science in Education.

Ada strives to bring a fresh voice and perspective to fiction. She has been writing creatively for many years, and is an editor of a global fashion/literary magazine called VEUX. ReVamped is her debut novel.

She lives in Toronto, Canada, and enjoys adventurous nature hikes with her adorable puppies Cara and Oreo.

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Now check out the book – how gorgeous is this cover? I’ve already added it to my TBR pile 🙂

A simple mission turned deadly.

Nineteen-year-old vampire Dawn has led a sheltered life within the confines of her father’s presidential headquarters. Upon being sent on a mission to revamp four goofy misfits into guardians of a peaceful little town of Angel Creek, Dawn believes that all her dreams have finally come true. What starts off as a simple task, turns into something unexpected, changing Dawn’s life forever and leading the action-loving, thrill-seeking vampire teen on a path of mystery, danger and intrigue.

When a human girl is kidnapped by a group of rogue vamps, Dawn discovers that there is more going on in Angel Creek than meets the eye. And it all connects to Ethan, the cute newcomer who seems too perfect to be true, Sebastian, the mysterious vampire with a turbulent past, and even Dawn herself. Dawn must not only succeed in revamping the troubled recruits, but must also prevent the vampire race from being overtaken by a malevolent villain who has a strange and obsessive fascination with her. As threat escalates, romance blooms, and ghosts from her past begin to surface, Dawn is sure of only one thing: her life will never be the same.

Angel Creek Chronicles – Book One – Available now at Amazon (click on the Book Cover for link)

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meme…Friday Finds – 1

Another lovely weekly meme from http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

This week I found:

I also found some great new meme events we’ll doing in the future (including this one!)

Book Trailer Thursday hosted by Zowee at http://zoweesbookshelf.blogspot.co.uk/

Saturday Indie Author Spotlight hosted by Beckie @Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @A Bookalicious Story.