Wednesday, December 31, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Only a generation of readers will spawn a generation of writers- Steven Spielberg 

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you- Maya Angelou

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Note to self: finding a cool quote and writing it in your journal is not a substitute for Getting. It. Done.- Betsy CaƱas Garmon.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

It took me 15 years to realize I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up, because by that time I was too famous- Robert Benchley

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say- Flannery O'Connor

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Writing is like giving yourself homework, really hard homework, everyday, for the rest of your life. You want glamorous? Throw glitter at the computer screen.- Ketrina Monroe 

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

IT WILL NOT BE RELEASED

Soooo.......here comes a bummer. The second installment to The Gifted Series, The Ruthless Race, will not be released on Oct 28th, its original release date. I know, I know. Really? Come on! I'm way more upset than you are. Just that chapters haven't been professionally corrected and this hasn't been overlooked and that hasn't been overlooked and the manuscript still needs to run through the process of paperbacks. Agh! Nothing has been prepared and I just want to say I apologize readers! This is bad news on both of our ends.

So I do not know the exact release date. I can't even tell you if it'll be released this year. Maybe late January or early February. That is all I can say for now. 

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Revision is one of the true pleasures of writing. I love the flowers of afterthought- Bernard Malamud 

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Be courageous and try to write in a way that scares you a little- Holly Gerth

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet - Anonymous 

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

So perhaps the best thing to do is to stop writing introductions and get on with the book- A.A. Milne

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

As a writer, you ask yourself to dream while you're awake.- Anonymous   

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Here is the quote for last Wendesday (sense I completely missed it).

Here's the first major lesson: writing is not an activity. It's not something you sit done at the keyboard, and just start doing. That's called 'typing'. Typing is an activity...writing is a process. And if you start thinking of it as a process, life gets so much easier.- Jeff Bollow

The quote for today.

Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works- Virginia Woolf

Friday, August 29, 2014

FICTION FLAME FRIDAY


                                               Black Roses by Jenn Brink


Black Roses is about a woman named Jessica Hart who is months away from marrying her amazing fiance. Everything is fine. Until she watches her husband enter a mysterious car with a creepy man. Everything after that is not fine. And with everyone telling her to go home and not worry about it, including her brother, the police, and her inner voice, she decides not to listen. Teaming up with a new, gorgeous friend, Eric Wolf, she'll get to the bottom of it. And right afterwards, she plans on getting a good manicure and relaxing with a margarita.
The moment I started the book, I was hooked. Jessica Hart's voice is very attracting and hilarious and a little psychotic. By the second chapter, the huge problem had already surfaced and each chapter got better and better. The characters were crafted very, very well. Sometimes it's hard to give each character their completely own personality and voice, but Jenn did it as easily as breathing. The story moved smoothly and fast- just the way I like it.
I don't think there was much of a problem with this book. At first I thought the romance part was going to be a pain in the butt, because I'm not much of a romance fan. So when I heard of the sexy Eric Wolf soon to come, I was like "oh great!" BUT I judged too quickly. The romance was amazing. Because it was real and it was mature and it was, let's not lie, steamy. And it all made sense. The connection wasn't forced and I was happy the scenes were more comedy than serious.
This book is totally on fire! The action, the characters, and the love.   

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing-  Eugene Ionesco

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

The writer must have a good imagination, but the imagination has to be muscular, which means it must be exercised in a disciplined way, day in & day out, by writing, failing, succeeding, and revising- Stephan King

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

The writer's job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them- Vladimir Nabokov

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart- Maya Angelou

Friday, July 25, 2014

FICTION FLAME FRIDAY

               The Good Sister
           by Wendy Corsi Staub


The Good Sister is about a gentle mother named Jen Archer that had dreamt that her oldest daughter Carley would be amazing at the school she used to attend when she was her daughter's age: Sacred Sister's Catholic girl's school. That dream didn't come true as her daughter is stuck in a bullied environment.
But Jen Archer doesn't realize that Carley isn't 100% alone. She's been chatting to an online person identified as "Angel". And she tells Angel everything, including the death of her past best friend. Carley trusts Angel. Maybe a little too much.
When another student is murdered, Jen begins to worry. The deaths are too coincidental, too close to a past memory. And everything tells her that her daughter, Carley, might be next to lose her life. Someone out there is hunting down the guilty. Teaching them how to fear and how to die.

Let me just start off by saying that this book was very slow in the beginning. Not that the scenes were drawn out too long, but more like nothing was happening. And when something DID start to happen, I felt the scene wasn't written well. There could've been stronger suspense and better reactions/behaviors from the characters.

BUT all was forgiven when I discovered what was really going on and who the killer was and the WHY. The why was what surprised me. I believe the reason for the kills and the "villain" was crafted perfectly. I had no idea! And I hate having no idea but it was a great surprise. I was so wrong on discovering the mystery that it told me I need to get back to reading my Nancy Drew novels. Some people said it was like the book/movie Carrrie. I wasn't able to disagree or agree because I haven't seen nor read it. But by watching the commercials, i think it has more depth or more secrets than Carrie. But I wouldn't really know.

So this book isn't on fire but it did spark a flame. Especially at the end!


Wednesday, July 23, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you- from I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

SECOND BOOK COVER RELEASE!

I am posting this a lot later than I had wished, but today was a very busy day. But I wasn't going to let you guys down. So here's the cover for the next book in The Gifted Series:

The Ruthless Race

Read what it's about::

Eighteen-year-old Suwelly Tate is a normal girl. A normal girl who has the power to turn invisible, heal people's wounds, and, once in a while, rob a house or two for a way to pay for college. But a ‘normal’ girl all the same.

Until the day when one of the burglaries goes wrong and three unexpected visitors catches Suwelly turn invisible. Now someone is after her ability and everywhere she turns she’s running into danger. She doesn't know whether to call the cops on the hooded men watching her or the mysterious boy following her around. Suwelly has to make a decision whether to fight or flight. Only, she doesn't realize the problem she’s facing is literally out of this world. 

At this point, Suwelly really wishes she is normal.




It will be available to purchase in October!

Thursday, July 10, 2014

FINAL WINNERS!!

CONGRATS TO THE THREE WINNERS OF THE GIVEAWAY (July 2-July 8):

1. DENISE BERNARD

2. JESSICA DROBKOV

3. VICTOR A DORA JR.

HURRAH TO YOU THREE! YOU'LL BE CONTACTED BY ME SOON TO RECEIVE YOUR SIGNED COPY.

CONGRATS ONCE AGAIN FOR WINNING THE GIVEAWAY AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SIGNED COPY OF THE CALLOUS CATCHER.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

TWO BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS

I have two big announcements for you guys! Well, more like three but one part of the announcement goes with the other. Anyway, let me start by saying that I thought I would never ever get to this point and that my stories would stay an eBook for the rest of my life. But i was wrong. Because now, not only is it an eBook, but it's a PAPERBACK as well.

A box of them came in just yesterday! And here's the other half of the 1st surprise:: the cover is different. I know I know, this is the third time this has happened. But I promise it is the last time. I seriously LOVE this cover and i will not be changing it for anyone. I hope you guys like it too!

You can buy the actual paperback from Amazon. It will be available on Barnes & Nobles very soon, but they have to do some fixing with it first. As soon as Barnes & Nobles is selling them, I'll make sure to tell you guys. So please go to Amazon website instead- they will definitely have it in stock. The book is not in stores yet. Be patient, I'm working on it.
Links::
The SECOND announcement is that I have a recorded interview about The Callous Catcher on
Youtube. It's my first interview and it's a special one because there is a giveaway at the end. If you have not yet watched the video, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JqIMr6wTDc

If you have watched the video and your here to comment about wanting in on the giveaway, please comment below, leaving your full name and email for a way to contact you. THANKS!


WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Write quickly and you will never write well; write well and you will soon write quickly- Marcus Fabius Quintilianous 

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

I'm the kind of writer that people think other people are reading- V.S. Naipaul 

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

I have a theory of my own about what the art of the novel is, and how it came into being...it happens because the storyteller's own experience...has moved him to an emotion so passionate that he can no longer keep it shut up in his heart- Lady Murasaki

Friday, June 6, 2014

FICTION FLAME FRIDAY


       Control by Kim Curran (the 2nd book in the Shift series)



Ever since I read this book, this series has become one of my favorite series. Like in my top six. I have fallen completely in LOVE with this series. 

It's about a character named Scott Tyler that discovers he has the ability to undo any choice he makes. Meaning, if he goes to a seafood restaurant and orders the sushi and it results in him having a bad stomachache, all he has to do is go back to the time he was looking at the menu and choose shrimp instead, and it was like he never ever had the stomachache. Pretty cool, huh?

The problem with Scott is that he remembers what he changes. The others like him, don't. And I think that's what makes the story so interesting. How boring would it be if you just watched someone redo their mistakes and live on with their life, not realizing when something changes or when that happens instead of this. That could be very dull. But remembering what should've happened is a hundred times cooler, especially sense Scott's life really  sucks. It's one of the coolest gifts I've ever heard. Now I want to be a shifter. The characters are amazing and the bad guys are even more amazing. The plot isn't confusing and full of nonsense- it's actually very good. And the thing I love/hate about the second book the most- it ended with a freckin cliff hanger! And it was just about one of the best cliff hangers I've ever read (that aside from the one in Heroes Oylympus- if you've read it you'll know what I'm talking about).

This book was written so amazingly perfect that it deserves ten stars and is definitely on fire! I can hardly imagine what will happen next.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

The task of a writer is being able to make something out of an idea- Thomas Mann

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Writing is like giving yourself homework, really hard homework, every day, for the rest of your life. You want glamorous? Throw glitter at the computer screen.- Ketrina Monroe

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

You know how it is in the kid's book world; it's just bunny eat bunny.
         - Anonymous

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

A book is simply the container of an idea- like a bottle; what is inside the book is what matters- Angela Carter

Friday, April 25, 2014

FICTION FLAME FRIDAY

A Necessary Evil by Alex Kava


Starting off the Fiction Flame Friday where I boost about a novel I've just finished, I wanted to start with Alex Kava's crime book A Nevessary Evil.
It's about a series of murders that are happening in a mean, calculated way. And it's the murder of priests! Priests! Who are murdering our beautiful, innocent priests that would never ever do anything wrong?? Is it a crazy serial killer on the loose? Or maybe it's a little closer to home. Maybe it's a internet game online gone a little too real.
To crack the case and discover the happenings of the murdered priests, Maggie O'Dell, a FBI Special Agent, and Tommy Pakula, a detective, is put on charge. As the murders rise, they rush to discover the killer. But as time goes by, Maggie O'Dell gets a call from a Father Michael Keller. It's a man she despises and a man that haunts her dreams. She'd rather wrap her hands around his throat and kill him, but in the end, she has no choice but to join forces with him if she wants to crack the case.


I had a few problems with the book and that was mostly due to the fact that there were too many characters at once. It was hard to keep track. It was a little confusing to keep up with the story. I had to memorize the names and remember who is who to each other. But that is all completely my fault for reading the fifth book in a series. It wasn't until after I started the book that I realized it was a series. I'm sure if I had began with book one, I would know all the characters from memory. At least by the middle part, I had every character completely stuck in my head. In a good way of course. 
I think one big thing I loved about it were the characters. Once I got to know them I was transported into their world and I saw things from their eyes. I guess that's the point of a story anyways. There's usually that one character I hate in a story, not because of their part in the book, like whether they're the good guy or the bad guy, but just because their traits personally annoy me. But in this book, there was not one character I disliked. And that's a big thing with me.
After i finished this book I realized that I needed to get back to reading my Nancy Drew stories. I was totally wrong about the killer! I didn't know how I could be so dumb! The murderer was right there all along. I couldn't believe it myself.
This book was for sure on fire and that's why I gave it five stars!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTE

To defend what you've written is a sign that you are alive- William Zinsser

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

I don't care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book- Roald Dahl

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it- Anais Nin

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed- Ernest Hemingway 

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it- Leo Rosten

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTE

Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none. - Jules Renard 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

About the most orginality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgement.- Josh Billings

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. -Joan Didion

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live- Henry D. Thoreau 

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Your life's story would not make a good book. Don't even try. - Fran Lebowitz 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly 

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very', otherwise you'll have no word left to use when you talk about something really 'infinite'. - C.S. Lewis


Have a great day!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard- Daphne du Maurier


Have a great day!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

WEDNESDAY WRITING QUOTES

First off let me just say, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I hope you stay strong this year and try your hardest to keep your New Years resolution. Unless it's going to the gym every week or waking up early on the weekends, which are just ridicules fantasy resolutions.

But here's your Wednesday Writing Quote, and since it's the first one, I created my own. One that, as a writer, I live by: Good writers look it up.
Great writers experience it.

Have a great day and happy new year!

THE LINKS

For those of you who need the links to buy The Callous Catcher (The Gifted series #1) here are the links::



And here are two websites where you can read it online: