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The Other World: Stories by John Stewart Wynne

May 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

OTHER
The Other World: Stories by John Stewart Wynne
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Historical, Horror
Length: Short Story (97 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Paranoia, psychotic breaks, danger, fear, loneliness, yearning. This acclaimed short story collection, first published by City Lights, is peopled by sociopaths, circus performers, tattooed drifters, cross-dressing teenagers and God-fearing families. Its hallucinatory edge makes the everyday seem like another world.

Is it ever possible to prepare for something that you don’t know is coming for you?

Sometimes the most frightening tales are the ones that feel like they could really happen. Everything in this collection sounds like something I could have read about in the local paper. None of the villains were capable of supernatural feats and all of the heroes had moments of uncertainty or hesitation which made following along on their journeys even more rewarding.

The Other World chilled me to the bone from the very first scene. The eerie atmosphere intensified my apprehension about Pete especially as I grew to know more about his proclivities. His parents’ inability to see what was really happening only made the situation worsen. I only wish we had more information about how Pete developed this particular hobby as most monsters aren’t born that way.

“Nameless Thing” had a fast-paced, attention-grabbing introduction but I never understood what Hilda saw in Elb. His poorly-controlled temper, habitual dishonesty and lack of personal boundaries outshone his positive qualities to such a degree that I had a hard time believing he was the third wheel of the love triangle.
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What does it feel like to be emotionally smothered? In “Raphael” we meet a teenager who has tasted just enough freedom to realize what he’s missing. This was by far my favorite part of the collection. Kathryn’s ability to twist even something as horrifically inappropriate as offering to bathe her teenage son into an example of her motherly devotion sent a shudder down my spine. I only wish I could know what happens to these characters after the climax!

“Lights of Broadway” painted one of the most sympathetic portraits of the relationship between a prostitute and her john that I’ve ever read. Beth and Val grew up in the same neighbourhood. While he technically does pay her for occasional sex their interactions feel more like what I would expect to see between a pastor and a member of her congregation. Clearly Beth is the voice of reason in this relationship. The question is, will Val listen to her? I changed my mind about the answer to it several times before the answer was revealed.

The creepiest premise by far in this book belongs to “Halloween Card.” Sadly, Jane, the narrator, is so influenced by intoxicating substances that I was never quite sure how much of what she described was actually taking place. By the end of it I wondered if Jane was actually hallucinating in a dark bedroom somewhere. I loved the first few scenes, though, and do think this idea would bloom if it was given more time to grow.

“Vulture” is full of imagery that dances back into my thoughts when I’m falling asleep. The people and places that Pat and Davy meet are so vivid I feel as though I’ve personally experienced them. What didn’t make sense to me, though, was exactly how a certain violent scene took place. The narrator skimmed over the details to such an extent that I spent the next several scenes wondering what else he had lied to me about. Eventually I figured out what had probably happened, but it was jarring to not know how trustworthy this particular character was for that length of time.

This is a collection that deserves to be savoured. Several stories were even more engrossing when I read them for the second time, and I expect that they will grow even better my third time around.

The Other World: Stories is full of frights that can be found in any home, neighbourhood or culture. We don’t need to invent creatures that bump in the night in order the fear the dark. Sometimes human beings are the scariest monsters of all.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Gathering Speed by Tess Grant

May 29, 2013 By 3 Comments

SPEED
Gathering Speed by Tess Grant
The Kitty Irish Trilogy, Book Two
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, YA
Length: Full Length (171 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Poinsettia

All Kitty Irish wants to do is complete the task given to her by Daniel Phinney—free their small town from the werewolves that plague it. But every move she makes sets off an unforeseen reaction. She burns Phinney’s cabin to the ground to lay her mentor to rest. Instead the hot ashes raise up a detective bent on connecting the dots between Kitty and his cold case list. The truth she tells to free a friend brings her an unexpected ally in the fight. And the letter she opens shows her a window into a past she never knew she had. Kitty’s mission is gathering speed.

Kitty thought her war with the werewolves was winding down. She’d never been more wrong.

I was very excited to have the opportunity to read Gathering Speed, the second installment in the Kitty Irish Trilogy. Trajectories, the first book, had such an open ended conclusion that I jumped at the chance to learn more about Kitty and her mission. Gathering Speed picks up exactly where Trajectories ended. Anyone wanting to enjoy this thrilling tale must read Trajectories first.

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Kitty is a very strong heroine and is no stranger to responsibility. With her father still in Iraq and her mother continuing to work long hours, Kitty is still in charge of managing the house and her younger brother. Her ability to hold herself together while her world is falling apart at the seams is amazing. Hunting werewolves is understandably time consuming and her friendships were already beginning to suffer in Trajectories. Now that she is beginning her senior year of high school, Kitty finds herself under unbearable pressure. Kitty has some very tough choices to make. Does she let her friends in on her secret, or continue to shoulder the responsibility alone? Will her friends even believe her if she tells them the truth?

In the first book, Kitty and Joe took a few tentative steps on the path to romance. When I started reading Gathering Speed, I hoped that I’d be able to watch their romance continue to grow. I was definitely rewarded. Kitty and Joe’s relationship is paced perfectly, evolves naturally. However, Kitty does tend to be a bit of a control freak, and I wonder if she will be able to treat Joe as an equal partner.

As in the first book, I do wish that Jenna’s character had been more rounded. She and Kitty are supposed to have been good friends, but again, I must note that I saw very little evidence of that. Kitty and Jenna don’t even seem to move in the same social circle. I will say that Kitty’s concern for Jenna’s well being is genuine, and by the time I finished reading this tale, I was beginning to see the possibility of a full reconciliation between them.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Gathering Speed. I’d become emotionally attached to Kitty in the first book and I absolutely loved spending more time with her in this book. Ms. Grant has completely captured my interest with a saga that is both spine tingling and heartwarming. I highly recommend this latest offering by Ms. Grant and look forward to reading the conclusion of the Kitty Irish Trilogy in the near future.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Family You Choose by Ellen Bishop

May 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment

FAMILY
The Family You Choose by Ellen Bishop
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story (37 pgs)
Other: M/M
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

It’s been nearly a year since Henry Graham’s brother and wife passed away and he took custody of their daughter, Brenna. He never thought he’d be a parent, much less to a grieving eight year-old girl, and Brenna proves to be almost more than he can handle. Her willful personality and stubborn temper drive away nannies almost faster than he can hire them, and Henry’s nearly at his wit’s end. When the most recent nanny shows up for the job, Henry is as equally appalled by the fact that it’s a man as he is by the tattoos up and down his arms. Before either of them know it, Michael Anders is filling gaps in their lives that they didn’t know they had, and no matter how unprofessional it is, he can’t deny the attraction he feels for his nanny.

Henry Graham has taken custody of his niece, Brenna, after the death of his brother. Positive the nanny service is going to blacklist them after Brenna has run off every care-giver to date, Henry is starting to feel like an abject failure as an uncle and father. Determined to make this nanny stick, Henry is struck dumb when he answers the door to a charming, youthful, utterly sexy man with a wicked grin and shining eyes. Lust hits Henry hard and he struggles not to swallow his tongue as Michael – the new nanny – introduces himself. Puzzled, but hoping faintly that perhaps using a different style altogether might help Brenna adjust, Henry is willing to give this a shot.
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I really fell in love with all three of these main characters. I greatly enjoyed how the author made Brenna, Henry and Michael all so different but wonderfully compatible. The characters all but leap from the page, and the pace of the novel is excellent. You really get to know the circumstances and how Michael and Henry get together – but just be warned, there are only a few kisses, no consummation or sex in this story. Personally I didn’t mind the lack of sex in the least – or not until the last few pages when I wished there’d been another dozen or so pages to finish where they began… *grins*. There is tons of sexual tension, desire and lust – all unresolved until the last few pages. My only issue was this was billed as an erotic story, and for me a few kisses and a happy ending doesn’t cut it as “erotic”.

Regardless, I adored the characters I thought the plot was deep, emotional and highly interesting. This is definitely a “proper” short story and not just a few scenes strung together. I read this whole thing in one sitting and would have been just as happy had this story been twice as long. It’s one of those rare tales where I wish the author (or perhaps the word limit) allowed for it to keep on going. An emotional, complex and wonderful story, I’d strongly recommend it for when you’re in the mood to read a character-and-plot heavy short story.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,

Mariposa by Nancy Springer

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

MARIPOSA
Mariposa by Nancy Springer
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (11 pages)
Rating Best Books
Reviewed by Astilbe

Aimee believes everything in her life is great. She’s got a boyfriend who’s terrific (in bed and out), a penthouse apartment, and everything else a girl of privilege could possibly want.

Well, except for a soul. That seems to have gone missing somehow.

After a trip to a Warlock Doctor confirms that her soul has indeed vanished, she’s left with two options: buy a prosthetic one, or try to figure out what happened to the original. Feeling that she must have left her first one somewhere where she could find it, Aimee enlists the help of her mother and grandmother in a hunt for the wayward soul. But Aimee’s search for the missing part of her is about to bring forth some long-forgotten memories, and she’s going to learn what it really means to have everything in life that’s really important.

Would you notice the difference if you lost your soul?
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From the outside, Aimee’s life is perfect. She has no logical reason for feeling so sad and is quite surprised with Warlock Doctor’s diagnosis. To be honest I wasn’t particularly fond of Aimee before she discovers that her soul is missing because so much of her emotional energy is focused on what she and everyone around her is wearing and whether their outfits make a good impression. Once she began her quest to discover what happened to her soul, though, I quickly grew to like the imaginative and industrious aspects of her personality.

As someone who has vivid, frequent dreams I was fascinated by Warlock Doctor’s beliefs about their origins. Aimee hasn’t had a dream in a decade and she doesn’t seem to miss them. At first this seemed odd to me until I realized it was another symptom of her ailment.

This is a modern day fairy tale for adults. While none of the scenes are necessarily inappropriate for younger readers the message is clearly meant for an older audience. The metaphors in this tale are beautiful and achingly honest, but they are best appreciated by readers who know what its like to lose pieces of their true selves as they stumble into adulthood.

Some stories were meant to be revisited and Mariposa is one of them. I only wish I had discovered it sooner! This is the perfect choice for anyone who has ever looked back into his or her childhood and felt a twinge of regret for not quite growing up to be the person he or she had dreamed about becoming.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

May 14, 2013 By 3 Comments

Best Book 2013 copySTORYTELLER

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (462 pgs)
Rating: Best Book
Reviewed by Thistledown

Some stories live forever . . .

Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t, and they become companions.

Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shameful secret—one that nobody else in town would ever suspect—and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With her own identity suddenly challenged, and the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. When does a moral choice become a moral imperative? And where does one draw the line between punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy?

Some books stay with you long after you turn the last page. The Storyteller is one of those books.

An epic read that spans both the present and the past, The Storyteller is a myriad tapestry of forgiveness, betrayal, family, murder and the power of love. Sage, the central character is a wounded soul who works in a bakery to hide herself from the harsh eyes of the world. Her face is scarred by an automobile accident that claimed the life of her mother. She feels the weight of it every time she looks in the mirror, and uses it to make some rather questionable decisions. Through her job, she meets an elderly man Josef, who frequents the bakery, with his little dog Eva. They both attend a group for people dealing with grief and it is through their unlikely friendship that a request will be made that will change both of their lives forever.
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Josef is a man with a past, but on the outside, looks like any other older man in the twilight of his life. When conversations reveal her Jewish heritage, Josef makes a request that Sage kill him because of sins he committed in the past. Thus begins a journey of guilt, redemption, The Holocaust and the true meaning of forgiveness; or not.

It is also a story of love and baking and I can totally identify with that. Love for me has always been linked with food. In this tale, it is the tempting aroma of baking bread and all the generations of bakers in Sage and Minka’s family that bring the story to life in a very tangible way. Baking bread is an art and a science. What most people don’t know is that it can also be a love letter or a gift that can kill.

As The Storyteller moves along, we meet each of the characters involved as they each tell their stories. Sage, the young baker with scars across her face and soul, Josef the possible Nazi war criminal, Minka Sage’s grandmother and Holocaust survivor, Leo the Department of Justice investigator into war crimes and finally Ania, the character in a story that was written by Minka. All of these points of view weave together to craft an unforgettable tale that literally had me running to my work breaks and staying up late into the night, crying at the depths of emotion this book brought out in me. The events of the Holocaust were so evil and so reprehensible I felt literally sick at some points. In others, I felt the supreme love and majesty of a people so bonded in family and love that it gave me faith in humanity once again. Ms. Picoult tells a story like no other and I believe this is her finest work to date. At the conclusion of the book, she lists reference resources for those who are curious about the book and where she got her information.

Some central themes that rampage through the book are family, morality, mercy, the power of fear, people’s willingness to believe anything if it helps them and ultimately what the true power of forgiveness is about. What if someone asked you to kill them for their sins? Would you even consider it? If you did, how awful would those sins have to be? As Sage learns more about Josef and who he really was and how it all weaves together with her grandmother’s time at Auschwitz I got chills. These are people you grow to love like your own family. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does and with each affront to humanity, your heart breaks for those that lost their lives to the gas chambers and bullets in a time of unnecessary violence.

The chapters done with each different perspective really worked. I got to see all aspects of the story and wasn’t limited by, say, Sage’s point of view. It was an effective way to show all sides, even the reasoning for Josef’s actions as makes a conscious decision to become a monster. Everything can be justified, given the right circumstances. This is a ribbon of thought that runs through the book and honestly, it really made me think. What if it was you? What if you lived in this time and had to encounter either side of the coin? Holocaust victim or perpetrator? What if you had to become a monster just to survive, like the character in Minka’s tale? This book reverberated deep down and made me think about events in my own life that required forgiveness and how hate can indeed bloom out of one’s heart like a thorny branch and quickly take over if you don’t give it up to someplace higher, no matter what your religious convictions. It has been three days since I finished reading The Storyteller, but the voices of Sage, Minka, Josef, Ania and Leo still echo in my head. Now if you will excuse me, I think I need to see about a loaf of bread I just put in the oven.

Any time I want to read something that stirs the soul, I will be going back to The Storyteller. It is an epic journey of healing, destruction and the mysteries of the heart.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Passport to Phelamanga by Michael Sutherland

May 3, 2013 By 2 Comments

PASSPORT
Passport to Phelamanga by Michael Sutherland
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal
Length: Short Story (59 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Grab your passport and throw away the return, because you’re never going home again.

Grab your passport for the roller coaster ride of your life as you travel through five mind bending journeys that will shock you out of your comfort zone, and take you into the new dawn you’ve always been looking for, to the land of Phelamanga.

‘After All’ – The elite have plundered the planet until there is nothing left and now their own children have mutated into an abandoned race of weakened albinos daring to crawl back to the surface to discover the truth for themselves.

‘Only Human’ – A lone young man gazes out from the mouth of a cave over the relics left by civilization. And now he is the only one left to witness the arrival of planet Earth’s first celestial visitor.

‘Bridge to Andromeda’ – He waits by a lonely road in the night determined to fulfill a promise made between friends when they were still schoolboys, to disappear into the wilds and never return.

‘Till Dawn’ – An old tramp has been on an endless journey, since the day he was released from an orphanage at the age of thirteen, in the vain hope that one day he will finally get see the mother he never knew, before experiencing his last sunrise.

‘Death Trapped’ – One phone call to the skuzzy office of the editor’s underground rag and he’s hooked on a mind bending nightmare too creepy to be real. So much of a bad trip that he can’t bring himself to believe that it’s true. But he’s the kind of guy who runs his life right on up to the wire hoping that all his problems will just fade away. It’s always worked before. But this time it’s too late. And there’s not a damn thing he can do to stop it.

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It’s scary to think that someday the human race will end. Whether our descendants die out or evolve into a new species has yet to be determined but one of the loneliest fates I can imagine is outliving ever other human being and then face one’s own mortality. The stories in the book are spooky, sad, and even occasionally funny but all of them attempt to describe what it would be like to be in this situation.

Till Dawn was full of run-on sentences that made it difficult to follow the narrator’s thoughts. I suspect that it was intended to show the narrator’s disorganized thinking and possibly hint at an underlying mental illness. The concept was quite intriguing but I spent so much time trying to figure out if the narrator was reliable that I never quite got into it.

After All shows what would really happen in an apocalypse: the wealthy would hog all of the resources, everyone else would die slowly and terribly. The question is, though, what happens many generations from now when the wealthy re-inherit the earth? Can a society survive longterm if only a few personality types are allowed to reproduce?

Death Trapped once again had me wondering how much of what the main character described was actually happening versus how much of it was a hallucination. The entities the main character meets are so unusual that they could easily be described but even when the author’s intentions are confirmed I found myself listing reasons why the other explanation was still valid. It definitely kept me guessing, though, and the characters in this story were my favourite in the entire book.

Only Human is the strongest entry in this collection. It would be so lonely to be the last member of one’s species still alive especially while witnessing the genesis of the species that will be your replacement. The twist at the end of it was unexpected and even though it left me wanting more everything was tied together precisely and all of the questions I had at the beginning were more than satisfactorily answered.

The Bridge to Andromeda has an attention-grabbing introduction but I had trouble figuring out why it ended so abruptly or how certain aspects of the plot were intended to connect to one another. The metaphors were so well-written that I could almost see them bubbling out between the sentences. I truly wished to savour the final story but never quite understood what the author was attempting to communicate.

Despite a few bumps along the way Passport to Phelamanga is an imaginative collection of tales that I never wanted to end. I hope to read more from Michael Sutherland soon and in the meantime will be revisiting these worlds and wondering what he will come up with next!

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Resolved by J. Lilley

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

RESOLVED
Resolved: Shalean Moon Book 6 by J. Lilley
Publisher: Lycaon Press
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (95 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Cyclamen

When Shaleans fight Shaleans nothing is simple. With the help of true friends can good overcome evil?

To save Shalea, so much depends on so few people, that nothing is certain. It’s not even clear just which side some of them support, and the Sept is getting weaker.

Brios and his friends must save their world, but time is running out. To make things worse, the identities of some people might just result in no resolution at all.
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Can everything become clear and good triumph over evil before the next Shalean Moon, or is Shalea as they know it over?

Rach is worried about her friends who have been missing for ten days. She is still discovering her own powers as a shape-shifter and she needs the help and support of her friends, but where are they? This is the sixth novel in the Shalean Moon series and it is filled with suspense as the history of several characters is revealed.

I enjoyed this book and I found it easier to get into it because I had read the fifth in the series, Threatened. J. Lilley writes compelling, fast moving novels which are fun to read. Her characters are very believable, and I especially enjoyed the dynamics between Rach and her father and their relationships, in turn, with Rach’s friends. Lilley handles the entire adolescent maturing process realistically. We see Brios, a teenage boy, needing the comfort of his father’s arms. We see Rach worrying about how her father will react to various revelations. There are other examples of how these families handle their difficulties in ways that show clearly the strengths that are found in ties of both family and friends.

I do wish that I had more background and more details about the nature of the Sept and shape-shifting in general. I do not know if this was covered in earlier novels in the series, but if so, then summaries at the start of new novels in the series would be helpful. I have really enjoyed the two Shalean Moon books that I have read, but they do not stand alone. The epilogue of book 5, for instance, was expanded to become the prologue of book 6. Writing a series can be a great deal more complex than writing an individual novel. On the plus side, the author already has their characters and setting in place. But on the minus side, readers don’t always read the novels in order from the beginning. Some authors solve this by having each story in the series complete and able to be read without any knowledge of the earlier books. That is not the case here. These novels seem to be so closely related as to make a single larger novel, a novel that I for one would happily read. For this reason, I would really prefer that each book gave a brief synopsis of what has gone before. I was able to sort out most of the details, but a synopsis would have made for a richer, more informed read.

Lilley has once again crafted an excellent fast-paced story with dynamic characters set in a small village in Scotland. I am eager to learn more about this world of Shalea and all the people within it. I have been drawn into this world and I was pleased to discover that I really do care what happens to it.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Queen Mean by Jennifer Anderson

April 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

MEAN
Queen Mean by Jennifer Anderson
Honey Creek Royalty Series, Book 3
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press
Genre: Contemporary, YA
Length: Short Story (76 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Poinsettia

Beckie Clark knew winning state in cheerleading was a big deal to her and the other squad members. Little did she know the small town of Honey Creek, Ohio felt the same way. The sudden royal treatment catches her off guard, leaving her to wonder what has gotten into everyone.

Then Grandma throws Beckie a curve by hiring the new guy, Andrew Macom, to help around the house. Guilt stricken, Beckie makes an effort to be home more, giving her a chance to develop feelings for Andrew. Feelings she’ll never own because of a lack of judgment during a summer party.

Swearing off guys hasn’t been easy—between Andrew and Kurt Sanders, the one guy all her friends want her to be with. When she finally allows herself to go on a date, the worst happens. Her grandmother falls, landing in the hospital in a coma.

The town’s special treatment pulls into full force, conflicting Beckie. She doesn’t want the attention, and guilt weighs on her again.

Moreover, any driver who wants to improve his/her driving intelligence only then, he/she might take the driver education online and that is viagra pill cost why we are to highlight its advantages: Ubiquitous accessibility – That means anytime, anywhere a person can gain access to the driving lessons using their Smartphone, Tablet or PC. Penis enlargement supplements offer more prescription viagra than just ‘size boost’. If you really wish to get over erectile dysfunction in a very less time span as it completely cures the disorder and never affects the person ever again viagra price my nichestlouis.com in his life. cialis australia prices This helps in stopping ejaculation and delays it to time when it is required. Andrew never leaves Beckie or her grandmother’s side, being the constant strong shoulder she needs. Will her grandmother recover? And will Beckie open herself up to love, or will the royal treatment from everyone leave her as the cold-hearted Queen Mean?

Fame in a small town can be stifling.

Ms. Anderson has once again expertly captured small town life within the pages of this installment of the Honey Creek Royalty series. I could practically smell the vinyl seats of the school bus as Beckie rode home from the cheerleading competition. Memories of my own bumpy bus rides in high school brought a smile to my face as I read.

I liked Beckie immediately. When the town goes crazy after she and her fellow cheerleaders win state, Beckie doesn’t let her new found fame go to her head. In fact, aside from accepting an invite to a good party, Beckie decides to ignore the attention as much as possible. Beckie is a very responsible young girl. She found herself in a scary situation with an older guy the previous summer that could have ended very badly. Fortunately, Beckie is smart and learned from her mistake. I have no doubt that she’ll never go down that path again. However, Beckie’s lapse in judgment has led her to swear guys off indefinitely. Will the guilt of her past cause her to miss out on a chance for a meaningful relationship?

Even though Beckie strikes me as a very mature young woman, she’s also a very realistic character. When all the attention from her victory at state becomes too much, she doesn’t always handle it gracefully. Beckie’s frustration with the superficial behavior of the people in Honey Creek comes to a head after her Grandma ends up in the hospital. The emotions become too much for her to handle and she ends up snapping at people who genuinely care for her. I found Beckie’s reaction to the unwanted attention to be completely believable.

Beckie’s dilemma concerning Kurt and Andrew is also very well written. I could clearly picture Beckie trying to figure out her feelings for an old friend versus the new boy who quickly found his way into her heart. Beckie makes a few missteps while sorting out her feelings, but this only serves to make her a more endearing character in my mind.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Queen Mean. It is a heartwarming tale of romance, friendship, and the meaning of family. Fans of young adult romance would do well to give Queen Mean a try.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

INTERVIEW and giveaway: SARA JAY

April 15, 2013 By 2 Comments

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Sara Jay, whose newest novella The Book Collector is out. Leave a comment on this interview, and you might win a free copy!

Sara is currently working on a novel, Hard as a Rock, to be released this summer. This will be her longest work to date and she told me she’s completely in love with her gargoyle hero, Basalt.

“It’s a love story thousands of years in the making between him and a faery called Canna. It has plenty of tragedy courtesy of a Greek god, but it also has a happily ever after ending,” she assured me.

Sara enjoys word plays when it comes to her titles.

“Hard as a Rock is an AC/DC song that I love,” she explained, “and Nobody Rides for Free is pretty self-explanatory! The Boon Collector is a twist on The Bone Collector. Not all of my titles are like this, but I do have others in store, too.”

When Sara was little, her grandmother was her best friend and started writing books together when Sara was four—tiny things filled with pictures that Sara drew of animals that talked. She hasn’t really ever stopped writing since then. Her first full story in elementary school was about a war between Barbie and GI Joe. She’s had poems, short stories, blog posts and articles published online and offline since she was 13, and Changeling Press published her first novella, Nobody Rides for Free, last year.

For Sara, good characters are the most important thing—if she doesn’t get hooked on a character, she won’t finish the story.

“The worst thing an author can do to me is to give me boring, superficial or otherwise unlikeable characters,” she said. “At least one has to be incredibly interesting. I can forgive you for killing off someone I love–I am a big tragedy fan–but not for boring me to pieces.”

Her own characters pretty much develop themselves, she told me.

“I get a scenario in my head–a faery meets three bikers in the desert, for example–and I sit down to write it and they pretty much tell me their story. It might take a day for a first draft, or it might take weeks. I do take some time with my naming characters, though. Sometimes I give a character pages of dialogue before I find out his or her name, or I actively search for the perfect name.”

Some of her favorite authors include Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, JK Rowling, Amy Tan, and Suzanne Collins.

“Right now I am plowing through Jim Butcher’s Dresden books like they’re a drug,” she admitted. “I am in love with this world and wish I could slow down to enjoy it, but I just can’t.”

When she was younger, she was heavily influenced by Christopher Pike and still is to this day.

“He really gave me something better to read than the recommend book lists I was provided by teachers at my ‘appropriate’ reading level,” she told me.

I asked Sara to describe her writing space for us.

“I have a wonderful office filled with things I love–from South Park, Strawberry Shortcake and Wizard of Oz figures to posters of The Hunger Games. I have a dreamboard, several desks, an altar, and tons of creative instruments and art supplies…and yet I often write in the floor of the living room once everyone is asleep. I think adding carpet to my office would make a huge difference! I have to have my feet level with my waist. I keep a tall footrest under my desk, but writing on the floor at a tiny table or chair is even better. I don’t like my legs to dangle. And I like to write on a sugar high. I’ll write 4,000 words in a single night if I’m on a sugar high. Yeah, they’ll have to be heavily edited later, but they’ll be on paper!”

She writes for work every night from 8 pm to 4 am, except for the days when her husband is off work. She also often work all day Saturday, Wednesday, and sometimes Friday, depending on the week. She might write a few pages throughout the week on her fiction, but Sunday nights she tries to get a full night of writing in. During the day, she’s busy homeschooling her daughter.
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“Getting to that page every day is the hardest part of writing for me,” she told me. “My life is full of full time work, homeschooling, volunteering and participating in several organizations and clubs, so it’s often hard enough just to schedule in sleep. I’m bad at procrastinating, have a full plate and my own blood pressure resents it all sometimes–so yeah, definitely just sticking to my schedule.”

“What do you like to do when you are not writing?” I asked.

“My strongest asset as a writer is my vast array of interests. I think if you want to write, you should be an intensely curious person. I ask why almost as much as my seven-year-old does, and you better believe that I schedule field trips as much for me as for her! All of this stuff goes into my writing sooner or later. I like to explore, travel, create or experience art, play with my daughter, date my husband–and read. I could read sunup to sundown and be one happy camper.”

The name Sara Jay is a pseudonym she uses for her erotic writing—it’s formed by using her own first name and her middle initial spelled out.

“I write many other genres that have not been published yet, so I felt like I should use a pen name for my erotic fiction,” she explained.

“How do you judge what makes a good erotic story when writing your own fiction?”

“If you want to turn someone on, you have to turn yourself on. It’s just like any other genre: to scare someone, scare yourself! To make people cry, you must cry. So I know that if my writing is turning me on–and it does; my husband and I even read it aloud to one another!–it will turn other people on, too.”

Finally, I asked her, “What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?”

“Just write! Get to that page every day. Promise yourself you’ll write for at least ten minutes or for one paragraph, then it will escalate from there. And don’t give up. One company’s rejection letter (or dozens of companies’ letters!) is another’s acceptance letter. Trust me; it happens every few months at my house!”

About the Author:

4_15 INTERVIEW authorpicSara Jay is a supernatural erotic romance writer from Missouri. An award-winning poet and full-time freelance writer, she loves Marvel comics, fantasy lit and homeschooling her daughter. Sara has also taught children in Spain, managed a restaurant, served as the editor and producer of a popular youth activism website, and been published in several books both on and offline. She runs the local 4H and homeschool groups and is active with her daughter in several other programs. Sara is married to her high school sweetheart and has four shapeshifting cats.

 

You can find Sara online at:
http://sarajayserotica.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/SaraJaysErotica
https://www.facebook.com/sarajayschmidt

4_15 INTERVIEW boon collectorTimid Tisha Sanderson never had much luck in love or life. When a smoking hot demon, Bane, comes to collect a debt from her ex-lover and decides to make her pay up instead, her life suddenly becomes more interesting.

Tisha finds herself on both the giving and receiving ends of torture in Hell as she attempts to escape Bane. As the lines between pleasure and pain blur, Tisha begins to connect with long-forgotten parts of herself. Her completion of the final dark deed grants her freedom.
The question is, does she still want it?

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Interviews Tagged With: ,
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