How you can Help…
Posted on August 13, 2017 inBook Review, Books, good, love, Paranormal, Romance
I’m a reader-always have been. What does that mean? It means that from Kindergarten through eighth grade, my favorite day of the month was when the scholastic book order forms came in and then the day the books actually arrived. I always ordered way more than I could possibly read and lugging those boxes of books home was like the eighth night of hannukkah and my birthday all rolled into one…
When my children were younger, it meant reading books sometimes a word at a time, but I always had a book with me and I will admit to great pride that I finished any books at all with my children at toddler age. Now it means always having a book loaded on my phone to play or read every opportunity I get.
For me, books are a necessity. I cannot imagine a world without books. If something was wrong in my life, most times being swallowed into a story would make it better or at the very least put off the problem until I could find a solution. Reading gave me time to assimilate, a place where all my life’s problems could be put on a shelf for a while. I could visit fantastical worlds where magic and all things were possible. I could bear witness to amazing legal battles and see fancy balls from all the ages. I could see love triumph over incredible odds. There was no end to what I might find between the covers of a book.
As I have grown older and my burdens have become heavier, I have found that sometimes books bring me a simple distraction and I have also found that the characters in these books can become friends in a way. I am fully aware that the characters in my favorite books are fictional, but I worry over their lives as I would a friend. And I have found that having these books I love so very much has brought me some true friends along the way. Those friendships start with a conversation when we notice we are reading the same book or author and can develop into deep discussions and speculation.
And that love of books brought me to this blog. In reaching out to my favorite authors I found that they were struggling. Niche Publishing Houses had gone out of business, and the big publishing houses were mismarketing the books{marketing an urban fantasy book as a traditional romance, leaving the consumers of both urban fantasy and traditional romance unhappy)-so that when contract negotiations for more books began, the publisher could point to bad sales. The publishing house has complete control over when the books are released as well–and with a few different authors, they keep announcing dates, then pushing them back with no communication. That led to a number of angered fans, some of whom have sworn off the authors entirely. Also, some of the authors had felt very comfortable with the niche houses and so left broad areas in their contracts because of the level of trust that existed. Now those broad areas are leaving them with little contractual wigggle room, allowing the big houses to do many things without the authors input or consent. Bad pairings were being made between authors and editors which led to bad books and a loss of loyal fans.
A few of those authors told me that the best thing I can do to help is write reviews and generate buzz around their latest releases. This led me to this blog and now I am finding that I need to generate followers in order to get electronic ARC’s so I can create bigger buzz leading up to the release of the books.
So, I need your help. First, find my facebook link at the end of this post and like the page. There is also a twitter account associated with the blog. In order to raise my Search Engine rankings, please search for my website address in whichever search engine you use whenever you have a chance.
If you should decide to buy one of the books or anything else, try using one of my amazon links so I get a small commission. Or leave a donation using the link below-every little bit helps!
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BestBookLover/
If you want to support the blog and keep getting great content make a donation at paypal.me/Bestbooklover/
Cool Blog and giveaways!
Posted on August 13, 2017 inBook Review, Books, Karen Chance
So, I found another great blog to follow. They have great giveaways and some great articles by various authors we love like Karen Chance. Check out her submission here! http://rabidreads.ca/2017/08/anatomy-of-an-action-scene-by-karen-chance-caspalmerseries-stompvsromp.html#comment-55397
I look forward to discussing all of this with fellow fans at my site bestbooklover.net and at the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BestBookLover/
Don’t forget to like the Facebook Page to get updates
If you want to support the blog and keep getting great content make a donation at paypal.me/Bestbooklover/
[Top]Congratulations are in order for…Seanan Mcguire! Even more than my usual praise and undying affection and fangirling squees …
Posted on July 29, 2017 inSeanan Mcguire, Uncategorized
She made it to the final ballot for the World Fantasy Awards! WOO HOO!!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!
[Top]Random Thoughts some will be of Great Importance, others not so much…
Posted on July 2, 2017 inwisdom
Fist, an apology of sorts. I went radio silent for the last little bit of time. There are many reasons for this, but I am only going to bore you with a few of them:
1. I went on a trip with my deceased husband’s family. We do this every year since Jerome died. We all go somewhere for a week-his parents and grandparents, Me and my girls, his brother and his wife and kids and his sister and her husband. For the past two years we have been going to a remote home in the smoky mountains, which is in a gully, beside a river. But there is no cell service and internet is only available from midnight to 5 am. So I wasn’t able to publish anything… I did a lot of reading and will be catching up on reviews here really soon.
2. I have had some family drama and my head space has been an ugly place to be in and I didn’t want to taint anyone else
3. I asked for help with seo and this was a huge mistake on my part. I have been flooded with calls and emails yelling me how awful my sight was and how they needed to fix it. For an exorbitant price. And after explaining what I envisioned for the website over and over to people who just couldn’t get it through their heads that I am not an expert commerce site. I would be thrilled if anyone clicked to give me a coffee or a PayPal donation, both of those links are in here somewhere.
4. I have been drifting a bit and lost focus on what I was doing with this site. And I have been watching with a morbid fascination as a publishing house baffles and confuses a loyal group of fans for a major author. It’s like someone read the cliff notes version of the series, randomly selected a Character to be the second main character in a long running and popular book series. And it’s not even in all the books, this second main chatacter. I think you guys all know who and what I am talking about, if not here is a big clue, she recently scrapped her release for 2017 and told her fans it will be sometime in 2018 before book is out.
I think from what I’ve read in blog posts that there is a mismatch between the editor (who has recently come onto the scene) and the author. At least that’s what it seems like to me. And I have seen this particular publishing house do something similar to one of my favorite authors to talk about, Karen Chance.
But now for the good News! Karen Chance released a new Dorina Book, Lover’s Knot. She had been issuing it a chapter at a time but now the full book is out and available as a freebie on amazon and smashwords… So what are you waiting for.. Go get it..!
[Top]Buy this Special Edition and Support an Awesome Writer!
Posted on July 2, 2017 inJC Daniels, Kit Colbana
A personal Admission
Posted on June 5, 2017 inwisdom
So, here is the deal with whats going on with me, this blog and the lack of content you are probably noticing…
My transition online went a little like this. I’ve used FaceBook for years to share pictures with people far and wide as my kids aged. And I used email when I tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to keep in touch with the family of my heart (my friends) and the family of my blood. I started a blog back then because I was writing these long emails to keep everyone up to date on all the cute things my kids were doing. Then the online social world took off, right around the time I became a widow. And an online presence was the absolute last thought on my mind-although it is why I finally joined facebook.
I read books on my kindles, which changed through the years and managed my ebooks on my laptops. I joined goodreads when it came about and followed my authors via their webpages and blogs. And about a year ago, I started writing reviews of my books on goodreads and amazon. There was so much negativity out there aimed at the authors and I wanted the authors to know that there were readers who weren’t negative and appreciated all the effort that went into their books.
I started reaching out to the authors (and their media minions) to offer support. And some of them told me the best thing I could do for them is write reviews and write blog posts. SO I started a tumblr blog-mostly to build up one authors body of work. And when I went to upgrade my netgalley account and sign up for amazon ad links, I was told tumblr wasn’t considered a respectable platform. Youtube and twitter are, but not tumblr. So, I needed a real website or a twitter following.
And I have spent the last month or so transitioning to wordpress and driving myself insane rying to make it look right, to get the tags right, to get the categories right. I’m still not there! But I realized if I didn’t start posting again the appearance wouldn’t matter-no one would see it!
So, I’m spending most of my time on the appearance! And I will try to remember that I have to post too! I want this site to be a place where book lovers can come and hear my thoughts on the latest books and share theirs. I will work to make it that- so please leave comments or crosspost me!
And if you notice radio silence for too long, don’t be hesitant to email me and remind me that I’m doing this to build up my favorite authors-large and small!!!!
[Top]OK guys and gals…
Posted on June 5, 2017
Its imperative we support Amy Lane’s Little Goddess Series…Or we won’t get more Green Hill or Cory’s adventures
Come on everyone…get the word out!
Vulnerable: http://amzn.to/2qPdXTC
Wounded vol 1 http://amzn.to/2suBtXp vol 2 http://amzn.to/2sv2zOe
Bound vol 1 http://amzn.to/2suVDkb vol 2 http://amzn.to/2sGlNiX
Rampant vol 1 http://amzn.to/2sGGdbv vol 2 http://amzn.to/2suLiVk
Quickening vol 1 http://amzn.to/2suRoVK vol 2 http://amzn.to/2suKQpS
[Top]So, I have a few revelations to share…
Posted on June 5, 2017
1) What I am reading greatly affects my overall mood, mental health, and physical health. I was reading a book I didn’t care very much for, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Deadmen Walking. I expected to love it, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. I was angry and irritable and it was taking me forever to get through the book. That led me to watching hours of bad crime television on YouTube.
2) Something big and bad is happening in the publishing industry-especially for paranormal authors. I’ve been shocked by the news that Laurell K Hamilton won’t be releasing a book this year. While I fully support her decision to take time to recharge and get to know her new editor, I’m hearing a lot of rumblings. A lot of readers expressed unhappiness with Crimson Death, the last Anita Blake book by Laurell K. Hamilton and I am putting that onus on the publishers and the editor they assigned to her. I am hoping that their relationship will improve or that someone will add in anther person in the process who knows Laurell K. Hamilton’s books backward, forward and upside down (other then her significant others) and can discuss whatever Laurell K. Hamilton needs or somehow help the editor get their Laurell K. Hamilton knowledge up to snuff.
3) We have to support our authors. If authors as important and big time as Laurell K. Hamilton are having trouble what about all our other authors. I need my books. They are my coping mechanism and they keep me away from my head exploding from our daily world news.
[Top]Quote from Shannon Mayer’s Destroyer
Posted on June 2, 2017
“I turned to him, surprised by the rush of relief I felt seeing him. After all Raven had done, that I could want to trust him again should have surprised me. But that was the reality of family. You always hoped those who’d done you wrong would come back around. Maybe that was the case with Raven. Maybe we could find a friendship now.” Destroyer, Shannon Mayer
Destroyer (The Elemental Series) (Volume 7)
The Elemental Series
Shannon Mayer
Paranormal Romance
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 30, 2017)
(May 30, 2017)
e book
328
From HiJinks Ink Publishing and Shannon Mayer comes The USA Today Bestselling ELEMENTAL SERIES beginning with RECURVE (Book 1). With over 1.4 million books sold, Shannon Mayer proves, once again, she can dominate her genre right out of the gate.
“My name is Larkspur, and I am an Elemental.”
My people use the power of the earth to sustain life and defy our enemies. I should be at my father's side as a royal princess. But as a half-breed, bastard child, that isn't going to happen.
Taken away by the last Spirit Walker, I am mean to train with him so that I can finally stop the false mother goddess and her plans to rule both humans and elementals. I am meant to train so that I can meet her on even ground, but training takes time.
Time is not something we have. The world is coming apart at the seams as the humans rain down destruction upon their own kind and the supernatural world. The false mother goddess is hunting down the most powerful elementals to take the last of their power, and through it all, the secrets of who I truly am begin to spill upward.
I must find the strength to stop the mother goddess, and to save our world, but which aspect of my heart will hold me up and what will it cost me in the end?
Blood of the earth. . . .
Child of Spirit. . . .
Bastard Princess . . .
Ender . . .
Protector . . .
Destroyer.
Snared by Jennifer Estep
Posted on May 7, 2017
Book Review of Jennifer Estep’s Snared
When I first started the book, I was confused. It started out very similarly to some of the
other books and was so close that I actually checked that I had the right e-book. But, it quickly moves on to original content
and boy, is it a revelation-almost as big as when Eira was shown to be a member
of the Circle. For those of you who have
not gotten that far in the series, please stop reading here! Snared is a great addition to the Elemental
Assassin series. It has all the great
writing that I have come to expect from Jennifer Estep and moves the story
along. I love this series, and I love
that Estep’s writing always exceeds my expectations. There is never any editorial missteps or any
plot sinkholes. In fact, I expect so
much from Estep’s writing that I keep expecting to be disappointed-but I never
am. This deserves accolades and awards
as there are few authors who can live up to my insane expectations.
Snared has the usual intricate plot that seamlessly integrates
the stand-alone story with the overall story arc. We discover that Eira’s relationship to the
circle was closer then previously thought.
We have a deepening understanding of Hugh Tucker and we get to see Gin
in her element, helping friends and kicking butt! In the process, Gin cements more alliances
and as her circle of friends, allies and family continues to grow so does she. My personal opinion is that Gin’s world is
growing grayer. Not all villains are 100%
bad and Gin herself recognizes that she is the villain of some criminal’s
tales.
It is a great read and a wonderful addition to the
series. A true five stars for this great
book!