Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Friday, June 8, 2012

Review - The Caves of Etretat by Matt Chatelain

*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Paul Sirenne owns a small bookstore in Canada and is just living a normal life until his parents are brutally murdered, leaving him with one clue - H.N. His father had prepared for such tragedy and had sent Paul a note before their untimely demise. The content holds a long, hidden family secret which sends Paul to Etretat, France where a hundred year old family mystery lies within the book “The Hollow Needle” by Maurice Leblanc.

He isn’t alone on the mystery hunt as he is assisted by Leblanc’s great-granddaughter, Raymonde. Together they try to unravel the puzzle that has been unleashed before them, which takes them to the caves in Etretat’s chalk cliffs.

The Friday 56 - The Reckoning

Billy Burgess The Friday 56 ,

Rules:

Grab a book, any book.

Turn to page 56.

Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.

Post it.

Add your (url) post below in the Linky at http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/.

Guest Post with author Linda Juliano

Billy Burgess guest author ,

Creating a Snappy Title & Character Names

The title of a book is intrinsically important. As a reader, I can tell you the title alone has a great deal of influence over whether I take the next step and read the book flap or put it back on the shelf (or click to view the next e-book). Knowing this to be true about myself, I’m sure there are plenty of other readers who find the title to hold equal importance. So as a writer, I work hard to give my novels a title that will (I hope) capture a potential reader’s interest enough to take them past the cover and into the story.

A title has to be well thought out and connected to the story-line in some clever (if not obvious) way. In the case of “Cadence Beach”, the location plays a large role in the story, so the title was appropriate. But as easy as creating a title for this particular book was, it’s rarely that smooth and simple.

I have an odd process of creating my stories; I tend to begin with a title. For me, the title coaxes the story from my imagination. It’s not easy to explain, but I begin with a snapshot of a story idea, follow it with a preliminary title then sit back and let the story flow from there. It actually works for me, as strange as it may sound. I don’t always stick with the original title, but whatever title I choose, it’s with the intent of capturing a potential reader’s curiosity right away while offering some sense of what the story is about.

Insomnia, Journey 2, The Reckoning, & Blogger Hop

Billy Burgess book blogger hop , thursday ramblings

I have been suffering with insomnia for most of this week. The only good thing about this is that I have gotten several things done, including reading several books. I do have a few reviews to write tomorrow, well it's more than than a few, more like eight, and that's only book reviews. I have a few other non-books reviews to write too.

I bought the DVD Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which I saw at the theater back in April. I didn't care much for the first film, but I thought the sequel was slightly better. Silly, but watchable. I might post a review for it when I have some free time.

Review - Charmed: Season 9 Volume 3

Billy Burgess comic books , graphic novel

Title: Charmed Season 9 Volume 3
Publisher: Zenescope
Pub Date: April 24, 2012
ISBN: 9781937068967
Author: Paul Ruditis

I caught a couple of episodes of Charmed during it’s original run, but I didn’t get a chance to really like it until I borrowed my grandmother’s complete series of it. I watched episode after episode and I had the whole series watched in three months. When I saw Season 9 Volume 3 was up for review on NetGalley, I had to request to review it.

In the continuing style of the Buffyverse comics, Charmed continues the storyline from the series finale with the Season 9 comic book series. Even though I haven’t read the first two volumes, I easily understood what was going on in Volume 3 which consists of the issues 13-19.

Guest post with author Monique Domovitch

Billy Burgess guest author ,

Today we have Monique Domovitch as a guest blogger to our site. She is having an exciting 99cent promotion for her books, Scorpio Rising and The Sting of the Scorpio and is also doing a mega giveaway on her blog. Go check it out to win gift certificates to Amazon and free books!

http://MoniqueDomovitch.com

Deciding to become a writer was a natural extension of falling in love.

People often ask me what attracted me to the life of a writer, and I have to say it was a natural extension of falling in love…with books, which I have been for as long as I can remember.

I remember my mother taking me to the public library when I was as young as four years old. That was when she introduced me to Madeline, the little schoolgirl. As teenager, I discovered Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames, and then Harlequin books. And then I really fell in love for the first time. I was in England where my friends introduced me to a book by Wilbur Smith.

I think I hadn't read ten pages of his book--can't remember the title anymore--when I knew this was it. I could spend the rest of my life in bed with this writer's books.

Review: The Earth Painter by Melissa Lee

Billy Burgess book review ,

Holly Scrugg’s life is turned upside down when her father loses his job and they have move to Chesnee, South Carolina just prior to her 18th birthday. She is not looking forward to meeting new friends at school and would rather read her Kindle than socialize with other students. To her dismay, she is assigned to the Drama Club, where she notices a young man named Theo, but nobody else can see him.

She runs into the Theo at local restaurant called The Fish Camp, where the boy had painted beautiful realistic scenery on the walls. The strange thing is that the owners do not remember ever hiring him nor do they recall ever meeting him.