Don’t stop now! If you’ve downloaded a FREE copy of Occasional Soulmates, be sure to leave a review. And if you haven’t downloaded a FREE copy of Occasional Soulmates, you better hurry!
Wow! Over a thousand downloads today, and well over 300 yesterday. We’re cookin’ with gas, kids!
Join the fun. Download Occasional Soulmates for free. Then tell all your friends.
Here’s your chance for a great FREE read: Occasional Soulmates by Kevin Brennan is FREE to download this weekend only! Get yourself a copy for a guilty pleasure or gift it to friends. It has all the ingredients of a page-turner: love, sex, humor, San Francisco, grief, mystery, secrets, San Francisco … okay, I love San Francisco and I loved this book. Now go get yourself a copy!
Right on schedule, the Amazon freebie has kicked in, and you can now download Occasional Soulmates for free. The deal runs through Sunday evening.
If you have a spare mo or two, let your readerly friends know about it via Twitter, Facebook, email, sky writing, semaphore, Morse code, secret languages, or even telephone. They need to read this book! Your mom needs to read this book.
If you never thought a dude could write chick lit, Occasional Soulmates will prove you wrong.
Just sayin’.
Grab your copy today, and help move some virtual paper by spreadin’ the word for me.
As always, much obliged!
I’m still chugging along with a free online poetry course so here, again, is a traditional book review. And, again, why wait? I’ve posted this review on Amazon and Goodreads, but why not share the review through my blog now instead of waiting for my Muse (i.e., Time) to strike a different kind of book review within me? I say, drum up some interest (and hopefully $$) for the author now! So, here we go …
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Jo Robinson’s novel is a fascinating study of a psychological disorder, Malignant Narcissistic Personality Disorder, in the framework of a novel. Donna is the wife of Marco, a man used to getting his own way and being in total control. Marco has never physically harmed Donna, but he has emotionally abused and neglected her. Robinson neatly lays out the domestic abuse that is the foundation of Donna’s marriage to Marco as well as Donna’s growing strength and self-determination when she learns, by happenstance, about the madness behind her husband’s actions.
Having worked with victims of domestic abuse, I truly appreciated how well Robinson informs the reader of Donna’s situation without turning her novel into a self-help book. It really isn’t, even though it will no doubt be helpful to any reader who may be a victim to such a creature as Marco. The novel allows you to consider with Donna her options as she tries to free herself from her cruel husband. Along the way she is very fortunate to make friends with a group of charmingly eccentric characters who see through her efforts to hide her shame at being manipulated. And she learns that she has a talent, a skill that few have. A skill that could be her key to freedom.
I liked Donna so much that I wish Robinson had described her a bit more. The reader spends a lot of time in Donna’s head, which works to make her very sympathetic to the reader. But while she considers herself ugly, I suspected that Donna was in fact beautiful. I was frustrated at times to not have a better picture of her drawn for me by the author, but then I wondered if that were on purpose. Without a portrait of lines and color, I had to fill in with my own vision of Donna, and that could be any woman, especially any woman I had counseled in escaping an abusive relationship.
Some things also seemed a little too easy, too convenient for Donna, such as the good luck in finding friends in spite of her near-total isolation. Even her own adult daughter seemed slow to understand what was happening to Donna. And, yet, Robinson doesn’t give Donna too easy a time of it. Extricating herself from someone like Marco won’t be easy, and it could be life threatening to Donna, even her friends and daughter.
I do recommend this book both as an entertaining novel of mystery and as a psychological study that may chill you to the bone.
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Jo Robinson is the author of several novels, which you can learn about here on her Amazon page. Be sure to follow her blog as well (click here). With Jo’s writing, there’s something for everyone.
If you’re not the grocery shopper in your family, better read this list courtesy of John Howell. Successful grocery shopping takes skills that few of us have … Enjoy!
This list is inspired by being tapped by my wife to do the grocery shopping while she was on a trip. It is true in our house our chores are divided according to talent. I have no talent in the area of grocery shopping. I cook competently and do dishes (uh load the dishwasher). I also do not do laundry and not because I have a problem doing it. The fact that at one time we had pink towels and sheets from formerly white is the main reason for being banned from the laundry.
Ten Things not to do If You are Designated Fill in Shopper
If you are asked to shop, do not buy anything that is not on the list. If you do, at best you will be making a return trip for the returns. At worst, you will need to attend a special class run by your…
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To everyone who enjoys a good story, one that she will ponder for a long while after finishing the book: Next weekend, one of my fav authors is GIVING AWAY his most recent novel. You can get Occasional Soulmates for free next weekend! Of course, I would prefer that readers do what I did and buy the paperback version because it is so much more fun to read than an e-book. But, if you haven’t yet read Occasional Soulmates, take advantage of the free promotion next weekend. Read and fall in love with Sarah Phelan and Dylan Cakebread and follow them on their sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-breaking journey. Then buy the paperbook because, you know, you’ll want that baby on your bookshelf.
I know, I know. I said I’d never do it. Early in my self-publishing experiment, I declared (at least I think I did) that I’d never give my books away as a promotion. The very idea repelled me. I gagged at the notion that people would grab the thing by the hundreds for free but they wouldn’t pay the 99 cents I usually ask in a promo. Yet, it seems to be the case that self-publishing ebooks is almost dependent on the freebie.
What changed my mind, you ask? Well, for one thing, sales of Occasional Soulmates have been (sob sob) disappointing. My experience this time around has driven home the fact that you have to market constantly, you have to spend quite a bit of money, and you have to obsess over the selling of a book to give it any kind of life on the charts. Possibly I…
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As I often complain to anyone who will spare me a few minutes (and that usually reduces to a few seconds once they see I’m about to complain): I have a tower of to-be-read and to-be-reviewed books that may as well be called Eiffel for it’s height. It’s my own fault, I know. I buy books at the urging of friends, or because of a fascinating interview with the author, or because I participated in a promotion, or, as in this case, because I am already familiar with the author’s writing and just had to read more.
Many of you I hope already know Katie Sullivan from The D/A Dialogues, an often hilarious blog where Katie spars with a Druid who’s been living in her head for roughly the last 20 years. She is currently working on a series, a young adult historical fantasy novel replete with Druids and Fae, magic and mystery. I’ve read the first novel since published, Changelings: Into the Mist, and wrote a review which you may read here.
When I heard that Katie was publishing a novella, I couldn’t wait until it was available. And while I prefer to write my reviews in the form of stories, well, sometimes there just isn’t time for that. But I did write a traditional review, as would be acceptable on Goodreads and Amazon. So, here it is. I hope you enjoy it and that it makes you want to pick up your own copy of Three Ghosts.
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Three Ghosts is a fast read not just because it’s only 69 pages. The author pulls you right in with a conflict between two men, Pearse Finnegan and Pat McGuire, and the woman between them, Pearse’s wife Deirdre. Pearse supposedly dies in a conflagration of an abandoned wharf, and Deirdre is gone from Ireland. Fast forward 15 years and Deirdre is back in Ireland on a mysterious assignment. There is much that is mysterious in this well-told tale, and to say too much more would give it all away.
Let’s just say, Deirdre has to come face-to-face with the ghosts of her past, not knowing which of them, if any, she can trust. In many ways, the twists and turns of this story reminded me of some of the Alfred Hitchcock movies of intrigue and betrayal. While I am by no means an expert on Irish history (recent or long past), the author Katie Sullivan appears to be quite astute with historical details as well as creating a sense of place so strong I once felt I was sitting in the table next to Deirdre and Pat as they worried over events yet to unfold.
I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed in the ending, in part because it came too soon. I would have liked to have kept reading, to have had that tell-all scene drawn out some more, to have continued to feel the rising tension as everyone slowly realizes who has been betraying who. As it was, the ending reminded me of the old Perry Mason TV episodes where Mason brings together all the suspects and then neatly points out the murderer.
Perhaps the author thought she needed to wrap things up, but she didn’t. I would have liked to have stayed in the company of Deirdre O’Brien a good while longer. While I’m not sure I would trust Deirdre as far I could throw her, she was still someone I could admire for her wit and her will. I recommend this novella in large part for the pure entertainment value of Deirdre. Perhaps, as subtle hint to the author should she read this review, we haven’t heard the last of Deirdre O’Brien.
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Now, Dear Reader, get thee to Amazon and purchase your own copy of Three Ghosts!
Here’s a funny but all-too-true Top Ten list from John Howell that should resonate with every writer out there, published or not. Enjoy!
This list has as inspiration personal experience in trying to discuss writing with non-writers. Hope you enjoy
Top Ten Writing Things Not to Discuss with Anyone Who’s Not a Writer
10 If you are a writer, do not discuss how hard it is to write. If you do, at best you get an eye roll. At worst, you be talking to someone who has to disarm bombs for a living and will laugh out loud in your face.
9 If you are a writer, do not discuss your characters as if they are real. If you do, at best you will find people avoiding you. At worst, you will be talking to someone who has an imaginary friend that they believe would be a perfect protagonist for your next book.
8 If you are a writer, do not discuss your latest plot breakthrough. If you do, at best you will…
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The following poem was published on The Community Storyboard way back in June 2013. I confess this re-post is in part because I’m at a loss for new material. The well runneth dry at the moment. But another reason is because I’m preparing to take a free online class on how to write poetry. The course is through the University of Iowa International Writing Program. You can find more information about by clicking here.
This poem is in memory of Wendy Bishop. She was my mentor when I began my master’s in English program back in 1990. I had a teaching assistantship and she was director of the teaching program, so we had frequent meetings. I recognized a kindred spirit in her: we had both lived on the West Coast, we both had liberal views relative to those in the region where we now lived, we were close in age, and we were introverts. But I was intimidated by the depth and breadth of her ever-growing portfolio and shied away at times when I should have been close at her heels. We kept in touch off and on over the years until she died from leukemia at the young age of 50, in November 2003. She was always incredibly busy, but always, always smiling and writing.
I miss her still.
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They laid their hands side by side
She marveled
At how much alike they were
The one near death
The other nearest life
The one near death
Burned bright
With beach-bleached hair
Sandy skin
A smile an ocean-wide
She burned bright
And hummed through
Dot-matrix printers and laserjets
A low constant hum of life in words
Paper cascading from their mouths
Laid end to end they would circle the earth
And wrap it tight like a silk girdle
She burned bright
Writing more in her one-half-century
Than most could have written in two
She burned bright
The one near death
And marveled at her daughter’s hands, so like her own
She burned . . .
. . . out
And grown men cried
And grown women sighed
And I
who so wanted to be like her, she who burned bright
Stopped breathing
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Thinking about changing internet providers? Read this list of what not to do, courtesy of John Howell. Heed his warnings and you might avoid accidentally going off the grid.
This list has as inspiration recently changing phone, internet, and TV providers. I wanted to get higher speed internet, and the local phone company had nothing faster, so I had to go to a new supplier. I bought a bundle including phone, internet, and TV.
Ten Things Not to Do When Changing Entertainment Providers
10 If you are changing entertainment providers, do not expect anything to work that day. If you do, at best you will be frustrated. At worst, you will need someone to apply some electroshock to bring you back from the heart attack.
9 If you are changing entertainment providers, do not let them touch anything until verifying the price. If you do, at best the price will be the same as agreed. At worst, some clod in the sales department quoted you a price on just half the equipment, and now the COD charge is twice…
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About the Book:
A serial killer has the people of Pittsburgh on edge, and Detective Daniel Hayes and his hand-picked Special Assignment Squad are working feverishly to solve the case before more innocent lives are lost. But the killer proves to be a formidable foe, whose viciousness appears to be matched only by his ability to elude capture.
Throughout Small Talk, the reader is given glimpses into the mind of this cunning and sadistic murderer, an individual who seeks a face-to-face confrontation with his pursuers, a confrontation Daniel is only too willing to provide.
Read the first seven chapters of Small Talk
About Robert Germaux:
Robert Germaux and his wife, Cynthia, live outside of Pittsburgh. After three decades as a high school English teacher, and now a good many years into retirement, he is beginning to have serious doubts about his lifelong dream of pitching for the Pirates.
Small Talk is Robert Germaux’s second book. His first book, The Backup Husband, is a contemporary romance novel, available on Amazon.
Enter a Rafflecopter giveaway to win a copy of Small Talk.
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Marie at 1 Write Way 