I found this story a little slow at the beginning although I floated along behind the engaging internal dialogue. The novel is well worth reading for the ending alone.
A story of unselfish love and unending friendship, of loyalty and commitment beyond the bounds of expectation. The writing uses an unusual style. The main character speaks to the reader like a friend. Surprising for one so young, Amy is the CEO for a large worldwide group called the Family. She, her husband, and her best friend since childhood are very private people. We're with Amy while she handles shock, horror and sorrow when her friend is accused of murder. Acting for her friend in the role of private eye, we experience the difficulty of maintaining a carefully planned character. Amy's wonderful relationship with her husband is strained during her absence to say the least. I should have been prepared for the direction her stream of consciousness would go, but it took me surprise. There really was no other choice.
I found this story a little slow at the beginning although I floated along behind the engaging internal dialogue. The novel is well worth reading for the ending alone.
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I wrote a blog about this subject last week and received some amazing replies, which I'll share with you at the end of the post. In a nutshell, JK Rowling has released more teasers at a crime literary festival about her next crime novel under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith. She told an audience she was already half way through her third novel, and would go on well past the seven books she first expected to write. Rowling's pseudonym was dramatically unmasked earlier this year and her book was criticized. Many people consider this another marketing ploy. The writer spent ten years trying to raise some interest in her books until at last a publisher took her on. The rest is history as the Harry Potter series of novels went on to become best sellers and made into movies. With so many writers releasing books on their own cognizance, the market place is flooded with many novels of poor quality. It's very hard for any of us to sell books. And that leads to my situation. I've spent years perfecting each one so the reader will enjoy the best content. Solstice Publishing believed in the novels in the Moonstone series, set in present day England enough to publish them. #StillRockWater: a paranormal coming of age fantasy for a mother who wears an ancient ring with surprising properties. #TidalSurge: a battle over good and evil between mother and daughter via ancient jewelry. (Click on either link for Amazon.) And my marketing ploy: write a daily blog so readers will appreciate the quality of my writing and enjoy the way I present stories. Okay—it hasn't worked. I've written a daily blog of views on news for one and a half years. A tremendous number of people read them every day, which brings satisfaction but no earnings. I'm knocking myself out for nothing. Every morning, I read news stories for about half an hour before I select one I can relate to. It takes at least another hour to write the story and select accompanying pictures. Then, I market the blog on social sites—another hour. By the time I'm done, there's no time for novel writing before lunch. I want to write. I want to share my experiences: the joy of youth, the heartache of mental abuse, motherhood, escape, adventure, finding a job in a new country, meeting a new man, the death of children, aging in a caring society—there's nothing I haven't undergone. Now, I'm supported by a loving husband. But I won't live forever—nobody does. My time for writing will run out. I want people to enjoy my novels, to think, to dream of possibilities, and to tell other people about them. Without the fame of JK Rowling, nobody will hear about them otherwise. Here is some of the advice I received: Get a domain name to link everything I do. Use another blogger host and give it an appropriate title. Views on news is entirely different from the fantasy books I write. Link them more. Tour independent bookshops promoting my work. Life is too short for people to read every book on the market. A published book is an achievement in itself. Publish a book one chapter at a time on my blog. Many readers will get impatient and buy the novel. The fisherman's dilemma of fish and bait. Write first thing in the morning, blog later. If something inspires me after I've written more of the novel, blog about that. Blog 2-3 times a week instead of daily. That leaves more free time. Which pastime do I want to denote the best part of my day? Blogs are gone soon. A book lasts forever. And my own thoughts: My blog is incredibly popular. Sometimes, I can't believe how many people read my daily post. I'd be mad to back out of an activity that works. If I was selling another product like fish hooks alongside a street full of people peddling the same ware, I'd find something else to do. The same applies to books. One other piece of advice I received was that I am establishing my name through my blog. Sun and Moon. Lee Strauss *5 I've just finished this novel set in Germany and found it hard to put down. I'm so glad a friend recommended it to me because it's just the sort of plot I like. A flawed character escapes difficult circumstances and strives to make herself known in the music world. The excellent writing takes the reader deep into Katja's psyche as she struggles to overcome her background. All the while, problems rear ahead of her. At the moment, the ebook is free on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk I've just finished reading another novel released by Solstice Publishing. I thought I'd share my review with you. While this isn't my genre of choice, I found the book highly entertaining and well worth a read. The novel is An Element of Time by BeBe Knight. The plot embroiled vampires, warewolves and humans in a fanciful clash. However, if you like to read about inhuman creatures that terrorize innocent citizens, this isn't the book for you. The well-rounded characters are all too normal and you'll have no trouble understanding the altered condition they find themselves in. However, just like people in the normal world, some are flawed. Naive and grieving for her murdered family, Veronica is roped into a job for which she is ill-equipped. She's in for a surprise when she faces the man she is sent to kill single handed. You'll feel plenty of emotion in this well-written novel, but the only thing you'll taste is cooked steak and raw blood. The sense of smell is accentuated during peak times, and descriptions give a good idea of the unoccupied houses that surround the areas Veronica visits. Once I suspended belief that such creatures exist among people, I found the book highly entertaining and well worth a read. Be prepared for some sizzling love scenes. This well-written novel handles the omniscient point of view with such a lightness of touch that I was hardly aware of reading. The wonderful descriptions in this epic fantasy novel drew me into a new world of elves, humans, goblins and dragons. I was left with the impression of watching a movie to follow different characters through scenes rather than see the events unfolding through the eyes of one character. When the strong main character is pulled away from his leadership role to attend to family, he discovers weaknesses he needs to overcome. Especially so as he prepares to follow his father's wishes and seek the red sapphire. Along with his foolhardy relatives, he fails time and again to conquer his shortcomings, but never gives up. The quest is too important. Like the first in this series, this book held my attention. The omniscient point of view flies from character to character like a soaring dragon in this excellent fantasy novel. Beings from the beginning of time wrote the rules for elves, humans and goblins. The same game is played again and again throughout history, but when our heroes, and the characters we love to hate are involved, the scenario becomes personal to the reader. I found the ebook hard to put down from start to finish which happened in record speed. The main character is far stronger in his leadership in this episode as he and his kin go on a laborious journey to fulfil his calling. But no challenge is without sacrifices. If you liked Lord of the Rings, I recommend reading these two books, both of which are published by Solstice Publishing and can be found at Amazon. |
AuthorFrancene Stanley writes fantasy and paranormal novels from her study in England, Archives
March 2018
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