Tag Archives: Jenifer Eaton

Reading a book come Hell Or High Water (A review) Okay, maybe that’s not my best pun. Whatever.

Posted on February 12, 2018 | Comments Off on Reading a book come Hell Or High Water (A review) Okay, maybe that’s not my best pun. Whatever.

Hell or High Water by Julie Ann Walker(Audiobook) This is book one in the Deep Six series. I was introduced to Julie Ann Walker with an ARC of book two in this series, Devil in the Deep last year, and I was instantly hooked, chowing down on all of her Black Knights books. But when those started to get a little stale for me (After many, many books), I decided to check out the rest of the series that drew me in in the first place. 23510148Hell or High Water instantly drew me in. I think This is because I enjoy the setting of the sea and islands in the Deep Six books a little more than I enjoy the bike shop setting of Black Knights. Anyway, Hell or High Water is about a team of retired Navy SEALs that have become salvage-guys. They are searching for the fabled wreck of the treasure ship Santa Christina. But their history comes to haunt them when a CIA agent that worked with them on a past SEAL job comes to them for help. A group of terrorists have stolen a stash of Chemicals that can be turned into horrific weapons. The CIA managed to sink their ship, but now the CIA needed to get to the chemicals before the terrorists come back to get them, and the Deep 6 team is the closest salvage team with government connections, and the only team that can get there in time. Of course, everything goes wrong or there wouldn’t be a story. Terrorist are horribly unpredictable, making for a great high-octane thrill ride to save the world. Hell or High Water had everything I loved in the second book, and it was great seeing the characters featured in Devil in the Deep meeting for the first time. I give this one two enthusiastic thumbs up (and an adult content warning. One of the SEALs has a heck of a thing for the Female CIA agent, and SEALs aren’t afraid to go after what they want, if you get my meaning)

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You can find the Fire in the Woods series at all these awesome bookish places!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Kobo | Chapters Indigo! | iBooks | IndiBound | Google Play

 

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Beyond Thunderdome-Creating a world inside a futuristic Dome

Posted on November 20, 2017 | Comments Off on Beyond Thunderdome-Creating a world inside a futuristic Dome

Today we’re welcoming Melanie McFarlane, talking about building her futuristic world inside a dome. Giveaway at the end of the post. Woohoo!

Hi there, Mel!  Which did you come up with first, the characters for your story, or did the world come first and then the characters?

When I wrote There Once Were Stars, the world came to me fast and furious. I wrote my first draft in three months.

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I had always wanted to write a story about people who lived in a domed city, because of radiation from a nuclear war. But it wasn’t until I was watching The Walking Dead that I realized I wanted the story to be about people trying to survive after a global pandemic. From there the character of Natalie Greyes developed. I needed someone sweet, yet broken by the system – which is where the idea of the death of her parents developed. But I also needed her to be so innocent and naïve that the thought of a rebellion from inside the safety of a dome was a challenge to her. I tried to give her the personal stakes, similar to Katniss in the Hunger Games, but without the inborn survival skills.

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When it came to developing the dome, I researched biodomes, ventilation systems, and basic engineering. I stayed away from writing any hard science, and let my imagination take over from there. To do this I focused on three things, making them important to the plot – the exterior had to be able to withstand a nuclear war, the Outer Forest needed to exist inside the Continue reading →

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I’ll have my super powers, and I’ll use them, too. A review of Anomaly by Tonya Kuper **** Four Stars!

Posted on July 14, 2017 | 3 comments

Anomaly by Tonya Kuper (Ebook)

This book is about a girl who suddenly 20696040can make almost anything appear. Anomaly takes place in present day, but there is a secret society of Pushers (those who can make anything inorganic appear) and Pullers (Those that can retract, or make things disappear). Occasionally among these people is born an Anomaly that can both Push and Pull. (Yup, our heroine is an Anomaly) She may be the most powerful anomaly the world has ever known, and they need to train her fast, because they need to get a top secret serum to the Vice President quickly, but there is another secret society that wants to stop them. (Okay, it’s a little more complicated than that, but this is the jist of it.)

I really enjoyed this book. The writing flows nicely and I felt completely engaged with the characters. My only nitpick might be that the big, scary job that they are 23014836training her to do didn’t really seem all that big and scary to me. And when they got there, there was this epic battle, but I wasn’t really sure why the main character HAD to be the one. (Especially since there were so many others there.)

Pushing that aside, this was a really fun read, and there is a double-edged twist in the end that really caught me off guard. Never saw either one coming.

So, yes, a thumbs up on this one. I will be reading and reviewing the next book, Enigma, shortly.

Book two just released, so no worries about having to wait to continue the series. And according to the author on Goodreads, this s only a two book series. So… ready, set, go! (She reaches for her Kindle and opens up the next book)

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Using Audio for Editing with Melissa Crispin

Posted on April 10, 2017 | 2 comments

When I go into editing mode, I try to find ways to distance myself from my words. I search for methods that will allow me to assess my work-in-progress in an impartial way. One of my favorite tools for this is the text-to-speech function on my kindle. I find it useful for different stages of editing.

Some of the issues it helps me to catch are:

  • Pacing – There may be certain spots I’ve read over and over again, causing my eyes to skim over the content. When the automated voice is reading for me, I can’t speed it up or slow it down. This highlights places that drag, as well as places that are missing an extra something.
  • Stilted dialog – If the robotic voice is reading a character’s dialog and it sounds like a robot, I know it’s worth revisiting.
  • Misplaced or missing words – When I’m proofreading a manuscript, I find the text-to-speech invaluable for finding these problems. An extra “the” or “a” in a weird spot, or a word that is absent from a sentence won’t get picked up by spellcheck.

I’ve heard of other people using a speech function in Microsoft Word for editing. I plan to try this out someday too. What about you? Do you have any editing tricks that may seem unusual or uncommon?

Thanks so much for having me on your blog today, Jennifer!

TheCrimsonCurse_Cover Cursed and disfigured, Calliope must find true love before the final leaf falls from the Enchanted Tree. Being bound to her mansion on the outskirts of town leaves her with little hope.

Abandoned by his wife for a wealthy man, Bastian only needs one female in his life, his five-year-old daughter, Yareena. When she goes missing during a raging fire, fate brings him to a strange place where he encounters a woman wearing a golden mask.

An attack by rogues puts Bastian in Calliope’s care. As he struggles against pride and prejudice, Bastian can’t ignore his growing attraction to the kind soul behind the mask.

Yareena and the mansion staff do their best at matchmaking, but Calliope can’t reveal her darkest secret. Will Bastian discover her true beauty before it’s too late?

Sasser, Melissa 02 color low resMelissa J. Crispin lives in Connecticut with her husband, two kids, and an adorable Siberian Husky. She spends her days in the corporate world, and pursues her passion for writing in the late nights and early mornings.

From micro-fiction to novels, Melissa loves to write stories in varying lengths. But, no matter the story, it’s almost always about the romance.

Facebook: Melissa J. Crispin – author Twitter: @MelissaJCrispin Instagram: @MelissaJCrispin Website:www.melissajcrispin.com

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Write a Story with Me #58 – Elin Gregory “If we die, we die together.”

Posted on August 26, 2013 | 6 comments

Write a Story with Me is a group endeavor just for the fun of it.  A different writer adds a new 250 words each week.  It is the ultimate Flash Fiction Challenge!

If you’d like to sign up, come on over.  There’s always room for more!

Here’s this week’s excerpt.  We hope you enjoy!

58 – Elin Gregory “If we die, we die together.”

The three formations, formed their arrowheads and idled while Janosc consulted with Briss and Dolor, the head of formation three.

“A head-on attack is out,” Dolor said. “Look at those air intakes. I don’t want any of my boys shredded.”

“And I don’t like that shimmer,” Briss added.

Janosc had to agree. At this distance it was unlikely to do much damage, but he had sent out a curse, heavily laced with malice, and it had caromed off the shimmer like a gently tossed apple core. “They have something to block magic,” he said. “If we are going to bring the ship down it must be by physical means and our chances …” He eyed the ship and glanced back at the ranks of fae, wings blurring against the ocean.

“I have an idea.” He explained quickly, divided the force and allocated duties then tuned his mind to Briss’s. “Go back to Jenelle. Her safety is your responsibility.”Janosc could see Briss’s distress in the jerky flutter of his wings, the clenching of his armoured fists.  “You mean too much to me to see you die.”

“No, I will take the aft air intake. If we die, we die together.”

They bumped fists then the groups of fae sped to Janosc’s bidding. He gave the word and their magically contained bundles of seawater hit the air intakes, smashing the fans and flashing into expanding clouds of superheated steam. The ship’s engines screamed and it lurched, sliding towards the angry waves.

Want to read more?  See below for past excerpts.

If you’d like to sign up, come on over.  There’s always room for more!

Parts One – Fifty Click Here

Part Fifty-One – Joe Owens

Part Fifty-Two – Shayla Kwiatkowski

Part Fifty-Three – Jennifer Eaton

Part Fifty-Four – Shan Jeniah Burton

Part Fifty-Five – Jenny Keller Ford

Part Fifty-Six – Susan Rocan

Part Fifty-Seven – Susan Roebuck

Part Fifty-Eight – Elin Gregory

Don’t forget to stop by next week to see what happens next.

  Nicky Wells — TAG!  You are “It”

Write a Story With Me Contributors

shayla kwiatkowski gryphonboy Jennifer M. Eaton Vanessa Chapman
Siv Maria Sharon Manship shanjeniah Vikki (The View Outside)
Danielle Ackley-McPhail Richard Leonard susanroebuck Jenny Keller Ford
aparnauteur kaidamian Eileen Snyder Elin Gregory
Joe Owens anelephantcant mysocalledDutchlife Nicky Wells
norahdeayjansen Julie Catherine Ravena Guron
jiltaroo 4amWriter mywithershins

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