Nate Rocks the Boat
Written by: Karen Pokras Toz
Published by: Grand Daisy Press
ASIN: B007WC1L9I
Pub Date: April 20, 2012
Pages: 142

    Nate is back in the sequel to Nate Rocks the World, in which he is not looking forward to spending the summer at Camp Spring Ridge, as Nate is more of dreamer than an outdoor kid, but he changes his mind when he finds out his best friend Tommy is going to camp too. He thinks that maybe this summer will be great, that is until he learns that his annoying older sister, Abby, is going to the camp too.

    He has big dreams about the camp, such as eating great food (well better than his mother’s cooking), and meeting new friends, but dreams are just dreams as he realizes that camp isn’t exactly what he hoped it would be.

Danger in the Dark
Written by: L. Ron Hubbard
Publisher: Galaxy Press
ISBN: 978-1-59212-240-0
Pub Date: January 19, 2009
Running Time: Approx 2 hours


Danger in the Dark is the fourth audiobook I have reviewed from Galaxy Press's Stories from the Golden Age. In which all their titles are by L. Ron Hubbard. Many may have different opinions about him because he was the founder of the religion Scientology, but many forget that he was a talented writer. He wrote more than 150 stories during the 1930s and 1940s, mainly being published in Pulp fiction magazines of the time. He published a wide variety of short stories, such as air adventure, sea adventure, far-flung adventure, mysteries, and tales from the orient, science fiction, fantasies, and westerns.

The audiobook consists of three stories, Danger in the Dark, The Room, and He Didn't Like Cats," on 2 discs.

The main character in Danger in the Dark, which was first published in the May 1939 issue of Unknown, is Billy Newman who becomes rich when he strikes gold while mining in the Philippines. He may be rich, but he likes a good bargain as anyone else does. He buys a South Seas island for a low price. Billy believes that he is the luckiest person alive, but the island comes with another price. Soon the crops start dying and the local natives become ill. The tribal chiefs tell Billy that he has angered the island's 75-foot god Tadamona because he bought the island, as the island can not be owned by anyone. The only way to stop the Tadamona is a sacrifice of a young girl. Billy tells them not to go to that extreme and to give him 24 hours to cure their ill ones. Now Billy doesn't actually believe in the god, and dares the god to show himself, but to Billy's surprise Tadamona does exist.

What are your Writing Habits?

By Courtney Rene

One of the hardest parts of being a writer for me is finding the time to sit down and just write. My life is very busy. In my real life, I hold a job. That means from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I am on the clock for someone else. However, I use my lunch hour very well. I do most of my administrative work (and surprisingly writing has a TON of admin work) during my lunch hour. I return emails, I research, I work on promotion, I blog hop. I get a lot of stuff done in that one measly little hour. The more I can get done during my lunch, the less I have to do when I want to, and can actually be…writing. Some days it’s hard, as I want to go for a walk in the park, or stop over at Kohl’s and browse around, or best of all, hit the shoe store for the spring sale, but I have to really buckle down some times and can’t do those things. Yes, there are days that I NEED to get out and I take those days. But, on the other hand if I have deadlines or something, I have to suck it up and deal with it.


After work, I get to deal with my life of being a wife and mother. The things like dinner, laundry, homework, boy drama, girl drama, and all that comes with being a wife and mother, take precedent over my writing. There are a few little writer moments now and then, such as dance class. I spend a lot of time, and I mean a LOT, at dance studios. Yes, there was an ‘S’ on studio. Seren, my youngest, takes Ballet, Jazz, and now Ballroom and Salsa. Each class is about an hour, so that’s a lot of hours waiting. I do editing and revision work during these times. Not always, I admit it, sometimes I can’t concentrate with the loud music going on, but if I have work to do, I bring it along and do what I can.


During the summer (which means right now) I also spend a lot of time at the softball field for my girls. Can’t do much in the way of writing at the pitch, but again, I can do revision work and edit work, and research now and then while sitting in the hot sun. Not during games though. I get too excited and worked up that there is no work going on at all.

Giants in the Land
Written by: Clark Rich Burbidge
Illustrated by: Karl C. Hepworth
Publisher: WinePressPublishing
ISBN: 9781414122205
Pub Date: 2012
Pages: 126

    Ever since they could remember, the giants had always been there to help the villagers. Wolves and bears never dared to attack become they feared the giants. The giants carried heavy stones for foundations, dug canals for irrigation, built and took care of the levee that prevented flooding. The villagers depended on the giants for their everyday living, but when disaster strikes, the giants are nowhere to be found.

 A young farmer, Thomas, volunteers to leave his family, travel through the forest looking for the giants, and bring them back. Thomas accepts this dangerous journey, which will question his courage and faith as he learns the true meaning of what a giant really is.

Warehouse 13: Volume 1
Writers: Ben Raab, Deric A. Hughes
Artist: Ben Morse
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
ISBN: 9781606902721 
Pub Date: July 10, 2012
Pages: 128


Based upon the hit SyFy television series comes volume one of the Warehouse 13 comic book series containing issues 1-5.

Issue #1 finds the Warehouse team heading to Rio de Janerio to investigate the sinkholes beneath the streets, which a Carnival happens to be above it. The team learns that someone is using an ancient device to mine underground for gold!

In issue #2 the Warehouse teams heads to the Emerald Isle where people are disappearing. While investigating on what device could be responsible for the disappearance, Myka also goes missing, leaving Pete alone to solve the case.

The third and final part of the Crimson Empire series was planned to be released in 2001, but was eventually cancelled. In 2008, Michael Richardson announced that he was working on the Crimson Empire III. In October 2011, Dark Horse Comics released the first of the six issues, with the last was released back in April. Courtesy of NetGalley and Dark Horse Comics, I got a chance to review the upcoming complete final volume of the Crimson Empire legacy, containing all six issues.

Kir Kanos, a former Imperial Guardsman to the late Emperor Palapatine, returns to bounty hunting after three years of hiding, when he is asked to join a group of other Imperial Guardsmen, whom want to restore the Empire.

The Complete Tax Guide for E-commerce Retailers
Written by Martha Maeda
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
ISBN: 9781601381248
Pub Date: 212
Pages: 288

    With the economy continuing to get worse every week, more and more people are finding a second income by becoming an online seller on popular sites like Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Even television is getting into making money by selling used items such as Pawn Stars, American Pickers, and Storage Wars. Of course Amazon and eBay have been available to the public for many years before these shows existed. Some people may find it as a hobby selling collectables, antiques, old books, used items, or handmade crafts online, while others are making a small if not large income from having an online store.

    Just as bloggers now have to have a disclaimer on what review copies they receive, the government is now cracking down on e-Sellers. When the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 went into effect in 2011, e-Sellers now have to turn in your newfound income to the IRS, especially if you are bringing in at least $20,000 from your e-Selling.