Adventures in Crafting with Words

Sometimes, just sometimes, I stumble on a book that catches my attention from an author I've never heard of before. All I did was click on Kindle Unlimited in the Kindle Book Store and then checked out the recommended for you section. After scrolling and scrolling and scrolling through the romances and retold fairy tales my results started getting interesting. I don't know if it was the title or cover that drew me into clicking on Challenge Accepted to learn more about the book.  But I clicked.  I read the description.  I clicked the Kindle Unlimited check out option. Then I read three chapters before curiosity got the better of me and I clicked to the end. Yes, dear readers, I cheat.  I'll read the endings. I do this for two reasons: 1. (Not applicable here) I'm bored and I want to make certain it'll get better.  If an unexpected ending happens I'll want to know why. 2.  Because I like the book and I don't want a disappointing ending....

Here's another new find I ran across during Megan O'Russell's book launch party for The Tale of Bryant Adams or How I Magically Messed Up My Life in 4 Freakin Days. K.M. Robinson's Jaded (book one of the duology) left me staying up way too late reading two nights in a row.  If you knew from a young age that you were promised to marry the Leader's (Commander in this series) son AND that they were going to kill you, what would you do? If you knew from a young age you were meant to marry the leader of the rebellion's daughter AND you were trained to kill here, what would you do? Things were going according to plan.  Jade married Roan.   Then they start to get to know each other... All, up until this point, that Jade knows about Roan is that he is his father's son.  The reverse is true for what Roan knows about Jade. Then she learns he's a painter and he learns she is kind-hearted and people love her. Then they both discover t...

There is just something about a socially awkward heroine... Add in the fact that she's been trained at a young age to be a jewel thief... fascinating. We start off in the middle of a musesum jewelry heist meant to help Marisol and her mother start over.  It quickly goes south when Petrov Rosinsky and his men hijack their burglary. With this book you have to have some suspension of belief. Cut to Marisol's first day at her sixth high school in three years - yup, our jewel thief is a high school junior! Before she even makes it into the school she's stopped by Nicky and graces us, Nicky, Will, and an unnamed third with her awkwardness... starting with her insta-crush on Will. Turns out he feels the same, literally pushing a guy out of a seat in front of him in their shared Pre-Cal class... all so Marisol would sit in front of him. Whatever he's feeling must be strong enough to overlook the back and forth ways that Marisol reacts around him.  Or he was just r...

I discovered a cache of promising indie/self-published authors while attending the FB Book Release Party of Megan O'Russell's latest book -  How I Magically.... The Tale of Bryant Adams (to be read and reviewed soon). So many books captured my attention, one of which was I Am Amyara by Hannah Earl.  The premise caught it so  quickly I couldn't wait a couple of hours to see if I'd won the giveaway and went ahead and bought it! (I did win the giveaway, by the way,  which was surprising because I never win giveaways, but I'll get Book 2 instead of book one. Female readers of the Percy Jackson series will enjoy this one. We meet Sophia Pappas and her sister, Callidora, in the middle of a life-threatening car accident.  We don't know the cause until later, but this car accident plays a big role in Sophia's - and Callidora's - life. Turns out Sophia is the daughter of the Greek God Eros! No, he isn't a chubby baby that shoots arrows at people; an...

On Monday I found the time to make the Beta recommended changes to The Consequences of Being Aiden - my NaNoWriMo2016 project.  I was able to get it listed on Amazon and released to the world later that night. Then the world interrupted once again. CoBA Amazon Link The Consequences of Being Aiden Description When Ainsley’s older brother asks for a nearly impossibly favor, Ainsley refuses at first, but eventually she finds herself dressed up as and pretending to be her brother, Aiden, and tutoring his best friend, Brendan.   The only problem is that she doesn’t like Brendan and her best friend, Zoe does.   If Zoe ever finds out that Ainsley is pretending to be Aiden then her best friend won’t let her forget it.   Brendan has a secret.   He’s aware that Aiden has convinced Ainsley to tutor him.   He is aware that Zoe has been sabotaging Ainsley’s relationships.   However, what he feels for Ainsley is far from the surrogate protec...

I've been waiting a while in order to post my review about The Collector's Society Series by Heather Lyons.  Mostly because I was waiting for the series to be complete.  Partly because I've been so busy with outside factors.  Cleaning out my grandparent's house for example.  Taking my mom to her Cardiac Rehab three days a week for another.  First: The Basics The Collectors Society consists of 4 books - The Collector's Society, The Hidden Library, The Forgotten  Mountain, and the Lost Codex (There's also a character encyclopedia.) What happens when the stories we all know and love become actual timelines where the characters can travel between our world and various stories? Meet The Collector's Society lead by Abraham (Brom) Van Brunt.  You might recognize him as Brom Bones from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (The Headless Horseman).  As the Librarian calls him - Brom is the Head of the Organization. And meet his Sons - Victor Frankenstein J...

Around October 30th or 31st I "finished" the manuscript for the mash up that I've been working on since August 2014.  The idea came to me while I was teaching Biology - interim position - and had some spare time.  I adore fairy tales.  Simply adore them and discovering their various variations.  Even the original tales have minor nuances that create five different tales from the same origin.  This was before I'd discovered Heather Lyon's The Collector's Society Series.  (Go, read the books. The last one comes out Nov. 7th!  I can't wait!)  So... what happens when a descendant of Alice finds herself in a strange land?  A land where fairy tales and children's stories were real?  Where a magic council can freeze the story's tales in a loop or allow them to continue on for generations?  I don't have the synopsis yet.  I don't even have the manuscript completely edited.  Only 54 pages.  But that will take a ha...

I am absolutely horrible about posting updates.  There is seriously 4 books on my blog list and I keep adding to it.  I have no excuses. I spend half my day tackling Etsy shop business (marketing, orders, etc)  www.abookwormcreates.com btw I spend the other half of my day writing and editing.  Add to this mix NaNoWriMo I think my head is about to spin around.  However... my next post will be about ITEF... Alicia

This is where my ability to remember stories and plot lines come in handy.  I was about to write the blog for this middle grade level book when the previous blog post occurred.  We're all home now, things are settling in, and I can go back to writing and blogging. Learning to Fly (Dana Burkey) is the first book in the TNT Force Cheer series.  It follows 12 ("But I'll be 13 in January") year old Maxine "Max" during the summer.  While playing with her neighbor Peter and his younger brother, Kyle, it starts to rain so they decide to go to the indoor trampoline park.  While there Max (don't call her Maxine) spots some girls her age practicing flips and other cheer stunts. Only Halley and Lexi aren't the typical cheerleaders - they belong to a gymnastics cheerleading squad.  All of those competition squads that do flips and flying stunts and dance rountines? Yeah, that's TNT Force. They start showing Max some of their stunts and Max ...

I don't even remember how I came across this book.  I can say that it was a throughly enjoyable escape while things were falling apart around me.  First off - Not a Young Adult.  I promise, the next couple of books will be YA books.   This book appealed to me on a few levels.   Like Ellie, I had a job that caused me to be miserable a good part of the time.  Like Ellie I love to bake. Unlike Ellie, the Choffee Cake wasn't appealing, but I'm not a fan of coffee, much like many of you might be.  Reading about Joe fighting his feelings for Ellie as Ellie works on getting over her ex (more getting back on her own two feet than anything) and learns about running a tea shop was exactly what I needed.  This was a charming British read.  Yes, a UK author! Castles! Dragons and moats!  Okay, no dragons and moats, but a simple lighthearted read that can make anybody feel better when things aren't running smoothly....

There are few books that draw me in like this one did.  From the very beginning we learn that Kit had a twin sister that was kidnapped by fairies, or so she dreams. She also has an ex-boyfriend, Tommy, who is clearly still crazy about her. There's a few reasons why Kit doesn't do serious relationships, even though the reader can tell she wishes otherwise with Tommy.  Our main character has issues stemming from her missing sister and a genetic disorder - Cystic Fibrosis.  She doesn't want Tommy to end up resenting her as her disease progresses. So she flirts with David Terry, eventually agreeing to go on a date with him even though a mysterious stranger warned her against him.  Even though she initially had a bad feeling about him. On their date, she inexplicably revealed details about her life that she hadn't even shared with her roommates or Tommy.  Despite their connection, Kit feels uncomfortable when David comes on too strong.  ...

First up, why am I expanding and revising The Bookworm Next Door?   At first I seriously thought that The Bookworm Next Door (BND) was complete.  I had been working on it for over seven years and the overall story never changed.  I've had so many possible endings, but I kept coming back to the one I ended the story with.  Then I hit publish and the prequel short stories started appearing.  Then the questions of "what happened to Aimee?" Kelly?  What about Jennifer?  Wesley?  Gloria and Brady?  That was when I realized that BND wasn't finished.  What is different about the current Bookworm Next Door and the revised and expanded edition? Over a hundred pages of new material.  What caused Grace to be shy and quiet when she's the oldest of X number of siblings?  What caused Aimee to set her sights on David? Some names have changed.  A Beta reader pointed out that she was having trouble keeping Grace and Gloria...

Something about this book caught my attention.  The adorable cover?  The unique title?  The book blurb? All three.  The trio promises a quirky ride through one senior's brain. Sally Spitz (unfortunate name that) is unlucky enough to have a boy crazy best friend determined to help her find Mr. or - in the opening set up's case - Ms. Right.  It doesn't help that her own mother is willing to help out Hooker (poor best friend with another unfortunate last name).  This didn’t actually make sense to me.  We learn early on that Sally's mother divorced Sally's father because he was cheating on her.  Would she be so willing to set up her daughter repeatedly while the girl is in high school?  I doubt it.  It's more likely she'd be content to let her daughter not date or find her own boyfriends.  Especially since she hasn't moved on and started dating again herself...  Maybe if Sally was 30-years old... But th...