Author: Ronovan

Ronovan Hester is an author/poet/blogger, with a debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. "5.0 out of 5 stars: Now, I want to warn you… this is not your typical pirate tale! It’s BETTER!" "5.0 out of 5 stars: Totally unpredictable and a real gem of a discovery - Highly Recommended" "5.0 out of 5 stars: An action packed journey to piracy and revenge – all in the name of the crown, queen and county – set in 1705." He shares his life of problems, triumphs, and writing through his blog RonovanWrites.com. His love of writing, authors and community through his online world has led to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews and interviews known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

The Judas Apocalypse by @DanMcNeil888 “At times his encounters are humorous, deadly, and explosive.”

He’s been referred to as the new Dan on the block of historical fiction conspiracy theories. I don’t agree. Dan McNeil handles his subject with a better hand than Brown ever has. Yeah, sure, you want to knock him across the room at times but who doesn’t want to read something that gets them on an emotional level at times? If you want a fluff read, skip this review. McNeil isn’t about fluff.

Dan McNeil? You know, I normally have a few ideas to start off with for a review. The problem today is—McNeil throws numerous things into The Judas Apocalypse that are intriguing and varied. And they appeal to me on a DNA level. That meaning he has inclusions which spark my interests.

McNeil gives us a story that spans two thousand years, not year by year or hanging out in that distant past for so long you want to skip pages, and that story threatens to devastate a world, a way of life, and rewrite history. And he does so by piecing together historical facts with bits of legends and myths that are most familiar and some not so to the average layman. He brings some new twists to the saying “everything old is new again”.

I’ll tell you this, I know the legends, the history, and the names of the real people mentioned in The Judas Apocalypse. And McNeil gets them right AND he brings some to life in a most interesting way. Why do I know these things? I was a world history expert and teacher with special courses in Nazi and European History under my belt. I taught delinquents to the point they blew the national average in World History testing away.

History is still a major love of my life. This is why one day, not so long ago, I chose to pick up this book and begin reading for pleasure, yes, a Book Reviewer was going to read for pleasure with no intent on reviewing. But my motto is “Read a Book, Write a Review”.

Then I got either interested or ticked off because McNeil was writing about the same characters I used in a YA book I had written a few years ago. (It’s still in one of the draft stages on my computer.)

Dr. Gerhard Denninger, a Jewish Archaeologist in Nazi Germany is spending his years in of all places the Ahnenerbe, the Heritage Bureau of the Third Reich, headed by Heinrich Himmler himself. This is the department that searches for religious relics in the hopes their power will bring victory to the Third Reich.

He comes in contact with a fellow member of the Bureau, one Otto Rahn and off we go on the adventure of a life time. Denninger’s love of the legend of the Cathars and their missing treasure has consumed his life and now he finds himself doing whatever it takes to find it. This includes lying, cheating, and risking death at the hands of the Nazi regime as he makes his way closer and closer to his dream come true. At times his encounters are humorous, deadly, and explosive.

But what happens when he stumbles across four US Army soldiers, who make modern day Reality Shows look like the cast of My Three Sons, wandering France in search of their unit? It gets even stranger and more nerve racking.

McNeil unites four soldiers that represent a broad range of US culture and forces them to be a close knit unit to survive.

Who is good?
Who is bad?
Who is nuts?
Who can be trusted?

Honestly, the answers may not be as clear as you think, not even to Dr. Denninger who gets a ringside seat to the soap opera that occurs as they all continue on the hunt for the Cathar Treasure.

This is one well researched piece of fiction and you don’t feel like you’re reading a research article like you do in some novels who get lost and forget they are writing a story to entertain. There are times when you completely lose yourself in Dan McNeil’s world. You see and hear things. You feel remorse at times, even surprisingly for characters you can’t stand. McNeil makes you have emotions and thoughts, or perhaps maybe I should say he has you examine things about yourself at times that may make you wonder.

Dan McNeil makes mention at the beginning about the religious content of The Judas Apocalypse. For those on either side of the hill about their faith, this book need not worry you. Read as it was intended, a good, fun time to let your imagination flow from a man who obviously has some obsession with history and loves to piece together the pieces from different puzzles to make a new picture. I personally was able to read it with no problems and knew enough and felt enough about what I believe to enjoy the story.

Personally, I believe a book that gives one pause at times is a good book. I like to have a think as a result of something I have read rather than have my time and thoughts filled with something I won’t get anything out of. Dan McNeil’s The Judas Apocalypse is a book that will make you think. And at times some of you will shout at him. Don’t worry, he won’t hear you, and if he did, he would laugh and applaud, for that’s what he was hoping for, I’m sure.

Dan Brown? Indiana Jones? Neither. This is a unique story with characters not fitting nicely into anyone else’s pigeon hole. Similarities of feel? Maybe, just so you have that frame of reference where this might genre might fall, and find yourself comfortable in, but the story is its own story.

RECOMMENDATION

I recommend this book for lovers of history, WWII fiction, and some of those archaeological adventure stories.

Character Believability: 4
Flow and Pace: 4
Reader Engagement: 4
Reader Enrichment: 4.5
Reader Enjoyment: 4.5
Overall Rate: 4.2

GET THE JUDAS APOCALYPSE

Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk

Visit http://www.danmcneil.ca/ for other outlets.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan McNeil is a born, raised and currently residing Canadian and proud to say so. After a song-writing partnership brought some fame and continued own into a music career, Dan spent many years behind the scenes of television as a camera operator learning the art of storytelling, whether it be good or bad. He became senior editor of the station and often composed the music for many of the local productions. Then it happened.

His first book, “The Judas Apocalypse” was published in 2008. He fully enjoyed the experience and decided to write another. His latest offering is “Can’t Buy Me Love,” a light hearted romp about a heist during the Beatle’s first visit to the United States in 1964, to be released in the summer of 2012. He currently is fending off his friends and fans constant clamoring for more. As if there isn’t more in the works.

CONNECT WITH DAN

@DanMcNeil888

http://www.danmcneil.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/judasapocalypse

ALWAYS SHARE LITWORLDINTERVIEWS.COM BOOK REVIEWS AND ARTICLES!

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December of 2015. He shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

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5 WAYS TO MOVE AHEAD IN YOUR NOVEL.

It’s the end of the ‘work’ week and I thought before we hit the weekend and more easily accessible writing time, I would do a little bit of NaNoWriMo talk.

As of the writing of this post, I am over 25,000 words on my NaNoWriMo book, Honor Bound: Monsters. Crazy, right? The thing is I wrote 13,000 of that on Wednesday. How?

Actually it took me a while to find that groove. I was stuck in research limbo over wanting a fact to bridge one scene of the book to the next scene. Yes, I hear some of you now, “Dude, that is stoopid!”

And yes, it was not quite intelligent. I got caught in a trap. A trap I knew to look out for and to avoid during a first draft of a work of FICTION.

My advice has been “Just write the freaking story.”

And I was “Stalling on a freaking point.”

Now to the how to get in to your groove.

Don’t get stuck on the finer details at this point. It is just a first draft.
- How did I move from stuck to the next scene. I just went to the next scene. I knew where I was going, and I knew all I wanted was a simple dialogue scene with a touch of information in it, but I was too brain tired to get that part done, so I went on to where the ground was fertile, while making a HUGE note there was a need for a scene addition. And the great thing is, by the time I get back to that scene, I will know the characters even better and very likely have the information that I need to use in that scene. Or maybe, I will find I don’t need the bridge at all.
Take a break. If you write and push through exhaustion you end up burning out and for some they end up in pain. I do this too often, pushing. I did it Wednesday and suffered for it most of Thursday. I finally kicked back into the groove late in the day and put in a good number of words. I think begin half way to the NaNo goal isn’t bad. And when you do take a break what should you do?
Leave your writing in the middle of a sentence or scene. This way you know what to pick up with next time. Walking away at the end of a scene or chapter is one of the worst things you can do.
A big thing that helped me get my word count moving was being part of the facebook group for my NaNoWriMo Region. A bunch of strangers, or some are friends of each other, joining in and doing sprints. Sprints are when you write for 15 minutes as focused as you can and then time is called. You share your word count and people encourage and the like. It seriously helped me late last night. It got to the point my hands were so tired my fingers didn’t want to lift off the keys and move.
A challenge buddy is also pushing me. I have one particular friend that is as competitive if not more so than I am about this. I’m not overly competitive but I like to use competition to help encourage others to push onward, and you get caught up in it.

I find it odd that last year only about 17% of those who signed up for NaNoWriMo actually finished it. I think most of those not finishing never started, at least that’s my opinion. And if you don’t finish, at least get a habit going of writing.

Writing around 2000 words a day, writing a story that isn’t supposed to be read yet, isn’t that difficult. You keep writing and get yourself out of whatever you got yourself into.

Author and LWI Team Member Jo Robinson has a great article about Writer’s Block called Dodge Around the Blocks. Make sure to check it out for some more advice. Also the other helpful tips in the NaNoWriMo Support section might give you an idea to get you to where you want to be.

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New Book! A Haiku Perspective by Annette Rochelle Aben @YouAreTheExpert

A book just out makes me a bit proud.

A Haiku Perspective by best selling author Annette Rochelle Aben hits a bit close to the heart for me.

“If not for the prompting of Ronovan Hester and his
Weekly Haiku Challenges via his blog
http://www.ronovanwrites.wordpress.com I may not have fallen in love with writing Haiku. There is an entire section of this book filled with my offerings to some of these weekly challenges, for this is where it all started. Check out his blog, follow and receive the announcement each week of the challenge. I look forward to being inspired by what you write.”

But it’s not the mentioning of my name or my personal blog that is what touches my heart, it is also part of what Annette is trying to accomplish with her book.

The Storybook Project of Iowa

This program allows for people to purchase a book and send it to a mother in an Iowa prison who then reads the book and records it for her children to hear her voice. The book and the recording are then sent to the child. Annette can tell you more about it and I believe she even offers a way to have the books autographed when they are sent to the women. You basically would send it to her and she would then send it onward. You can contact Annette for the full details.

Some people think of people in prison as criminals, but sometimes they are there because of situations. A mother wanting to read to her child is a sign of a wonderful character to me.

From Annette

“Here is an address if anyone wishes to send THEIR BOOKS directly to them. The Storybook Project of Iowa 1111 9th Ste 320 Des Moines, IA 50314 Attn: Tabby K. Originally, the project was geared toward authors who wrote children’s books, as many of these women have small children. However they did accept my books and found that some of the older children really appreciated them. So please author friends, gift these families one of your books, it will mean so much!”

The book was in the top 25 upon release and I would review it but I don’t think that is a good idea. I’ve already reviewed most of the individual Haiku that were for my challenge. I will tell you that Annette has fun with her poetry. You will find humor, history, and heart.

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@RonovanWrites

New LitWorldInterviews.com Team Member-Elizabeth Tyree!

Everyone welcome our newest Team Member here at LitWordInterviews.com.

ELIZABETH S. TYREE

Some of you may know Beth from Here there Be Dragons, her blog where she currently shares her own writing and book reviews.

Colleen, you all know the Silver One, led me to Beth after reading her reviews and thought she would make a great addition to the team. After reading some of her reviews, noting her unique voice and her professionalism, I immediately emailed her. And here we are. And I’ve already thrown some reviews her way that were waiting in line.

We get a lot more books than we are able to handle as fast as I like, but the authors have been patient, understanding the great demand for Book Reviewers. And demand good book reviewers who are fair and professional is even greater. That is something I hope LitWorldInterviews has a reputation for.

ABOUT BETH:
In addition to her blog link above you can visit her Gravatar page for her other sites to follow, including facebook.

Bio: “I am a mother, an author, a musician, a crafter, a teacher and a seer of dragons! This blog will be focused on sharing my experiences and, hopefully, helping you through book reviews, short articles on family and home life, crafting, and writing, and the occasional off topic ramble just for funsies. Feel free to comment, ask questions, and lurk! Welcome to the Whimsical World of ESTyree!”

When asked her favorite quote she responded with;

“Ronovan Rocks!”

No, sorry, I had to do that. When you’re the one writing these things you have to throw some self promotion in where you can.

I am hard pressed to choose a favorite quote but one of my favorites is “Everyone wants some magical solution for their problem ad everyone refuses to believe in magic.” The Mad Hatter.

BETH’S GENRE INTERESTS
My main genre interests are ficiton, fantasy, fairy tale/folk tale/mythology retellings, teaching, picture books, children’s books, middle grade books, young adult books, mysteries, etc.

I am honestly up for reading just about anything. My typical genres are children’s, middle grade, and young adult because I write my own books in those areas and like to keep up with what is popular at the moment. However, I have no problem reading and reviewing the gamut of items.

BETH’S HOBBIES

My hobbies include writing, blogging, reading, adding to my TBR list, playing the flute, crocheting, obsessively watching Netflix or movies while I color (Adult coloring books are AMAZING), and playing with my daughter (who I’m teaching to love the finer things in life, like superheros, comics, and 80s cartoons!). *Side Note* Halloween is my favorite holiday, I love semi-creepy things, and I believe that fairy tales exist somewhere and that’s why we can write them in so many forms and still have them feel relevant today.

BETH’S BACKGROUND

I have a teaching degree and certificate for 1st-8th grades with a strong background in English, Literature, Music, and Learning Types. I like to partake in continuing education so I’m starting to also have a strong background in Brain Based Learning, Sciences, Autism, and Jewelry Making.

BETH’S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

Elizabeth S. Tyree

I’m very excited to have Beth as part of the team. I am constantly on the lookout for an original voice and professionalism to help stay up with our demand here, and this time Colleen came through for me AND for you, the author, with Elizabeth Tyree.

I look forward to a long association with Beth and many reviews AND interviews from her. Follow her blog(s) and she will have her own page here you can submit a request to soon you can get to through our About page, that is if you don’t want to use the regular Book Review Request form.

*All requests for signed copies of Beth’s bio photograph must be made to her directly. Our site cannot handle that amount of traffic at this time.

*Humor intended, perhaps.

Much Respect

Ronovan (Writes) Hester

LitWorldInterviews.com The next step in our Commitment.

It has been over a year since I made a strange decision. I created a second blog. A place to share my interests and love of books and authors and everything related to writing and literature.

With an ever growing team, now numbering TWELVE with the latest addition of Elizabeth Tyree of Here there Be Dragons, a writer and reviewer I was led to by Colleen who was recently promoted to Editor here at LWI, we’re no longer a normal blog. We have schedules and committed professionals who have a love for this profession and give of their time to add to the joy of others and to the careers of fellow authors.

And a full post with details about Elizabeth will be coming soon.

Today I simply wanted to let you all know about our commitment to you, the author, and to you the reader. You all know that any time a writer shells out money for anything, it’s a big deal. No matter how little or how large. It was determined a little could be put in the budget for something I love so much and I hope brings happiness to others.

Much Respect

Ronovan

Guest #Book #Review by @TheAranArtisan of Dancing to an Irish Reel by @CFullerton3

Dancing to an Irish Reel by Claire Fullerton – A book review

Oh to be twenty-something again, but this time with the same intuitive sensibility as Hailey Crossan, the heroine of this fictional story.

That thought crossed my mind many times while reading Claire Fullerton’s novel, Dancing to an Irish Reel. I had the pre-decided notion that I would relate personally to Hailey’s experience being that, like her, I’m an American woman involved with an Irish gentleman. Relate I did, but not where I expected to. Our relationships are as different as our personalities and the same goes for the men in our lives. So I reread the book with no expectation or comparison and it won my heart over.

What I most connected with were the references to western Ireland geography, weather, language, and societal mores — they are impeccable. I could nearly hear the distinct Connemara blas when natives spoke. Ms. Fullerton nailed the vernacular, evidence she had spent time in the setting either researching the book or being inspired to write it. How fortunate for her because the west of Ireland is a spectacular place to be.

Another appealing part of this book for me is the use of genuine locations. One pub in particular made me smile each time it was mentioned. My husband and I celebrated there with friends and family days before our wedding and returned again on the day following our wedding. I’ve eaten, drank, danced, shopped, and wandered in many of the places that are written about. And the places I was less familiar with, I found myself drawn to explore.

The story reads more like a true narrative rather than one of fiction. As Hailey keenly observes the nuances of Irish life, her confusion about her swain, Liam Hennessy, begins to make sense and she gains knowledge about the realities of life with an Irish man whose first loves are music and family. While all this is happening she remains remarkably level-headed and generous with her time and affections for friends, co-workers, and neighbours. In their own unique way, they provide insights that may or may not relieve some of her uncertainty; if not, they at least help to take her mind off the wonders of her heart while also enhancing the storyline.

Hailey and Liam’s relationship is not an uncommon scenario here in Ireland. Bittersweet at times, there’s an innocence and naivety to their love story that had me reading between the lines of their dialogue right up to the end of the book. I’ll admit, the ending was unexpected but not surprising. I could easily see a sequel to this book and would welcome it with open arms.

Would I recommend the book? Absolutely. Who would I recommend it to? Anyone living apart from Ireland who wants to get a sense of its people and intrinsic nature. Anyone who is living in or has visited Ireland and wants a reminder of how unique a culture it is. Readers who are interested in real life relationships, full of complications and void of fairy tale scenarios would also find this story appealing. If you enjoy a really good piece of fictional writing, then Dancing to an Irish Reel is for you.

Author Amazon page

Dancing to an Irish Reel – Google+ page

Dancing to an Irish Reel – Facebook page:

Claire’s blog

Follow Claire on Twitter: @cfullerton3

Claire on Pinterest

About the Reviewer:

Melissa Gillan “The Aran Artisan” is an Amercan lady who married her Irishman and moved to Ireland on love and a prayer. She and her husband work the land, raise their children, and do everything the Irish way. Her Blog, “The Aran Artisan“ is a favorite stop for many who love her style of sharing the Irish way of life in an American voice. She was chosen specifically for this review to deem how authentic and how successful Claire Fullerton had made Dancing to an Irish Reel. Living in the area of the setting for the book, she would know.

Jen’s Edits & Critiques. @JensPenDen

Have you ever wanted writing help from someone whose book has been optioned to a movie studio?

Or maybe you want someone with years of experience as a Lead Copywriter for a media company in a major US city?

What if you could combine those two into one?

Let me introduce you to the services of;

Jen’s Edits & Critiques

Jenna Willett

You’ve seen articles by Jenna Willett here on LWI before. She often has great advice, finds fabulous articles she shares on her blog Jen’s Pen Den, and I share those here whenever I remember to do so, much to the benefit of our readers and friends who visit us.

Jenna is very active in the writing community, participating in the annual NYC Midnight Challenges, where she does quite well and performs so many critiques she forgets there is a world of reality that exists. Believe me, I’ve done beta reading for her during the challenge and it’s a nightmare of an ordeal. And she keeps going back every year for more punishment.

For testimonials and pricing click HERE to head over to her business site.

I’ll say this in closing; if I were in the position to hire a professional to be my editor it would very likely be Jenna Willett. I’ve read her work, I know the dedication she has for the craft. I also know the agony she suffers through over her own work to get it just right. I know she would go even further for those engaging her services. She’s tough and will tell you like it is.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with the debut novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out in December. He shares his life as a father, amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com with the hope if inspiring others to chase their dreams and catch them. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com.

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Jen’s Top 10 NaNoWriMo Tips @JensPenDen

Here are Tips from a fellow brave soul, Author Jenna Willett-2015 NaNoWriMo participant.

Jen's Pen Den

Up until a few days ago, I hadn’t planned on participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I had planned on spending the month revising the latest draft of my current WIP. Unfortunately, my current WIP came to a grinding halt last week when I realized I’d made a fatal error:

I’d chosen the wrong narrator.

So, guess what? I have to rip up the majority of my first draft and start over.

*cue tears*

Okay, okay. Things aren’t that bad. Thanks to my methods of madness, I’ve already written a significant chunk of my new narrator’s backstory. Still, it’s going to be a lot of work. I need something–anything–to motivate me and push me to finish this new draft as quickly as possible.

After some hemming and hawing, I realized there’s no better motivator than NaNo. So, I’m signing up!

To prepare myself, and to help the rest of you who’ve accepted the daunting task of writing 50K words in one…

View original post 1,303 more words

5 TIPS FOR NaNoWriMo PREPARATION TODAY!

BEGIN TODAY!

Only around 17% of the people who signed up for NaNoWriMo actually finished NaNoWriMo. Why the low percentage?

A lot of likely signed up on impulse.
Some even just plain forgot about it.
Then there are those who wrote 45,000 words and didn’t want to find a way of putting in another 5,000 because they didn’t think the story needed it.
And you have those who thought they had a 50,000 word idea and it was more like 15,000.

A big reason for those who were successful can be found in their preparation.

PREPARATION NaNoWriMo

HAVING AN IDEA

You need to know what your story is about before that first day. You may want to do a YA Paranormal Romance but once you get into it you realize that the genre just isn’t speaking to you, or maybe even the story isn’t. You can easily sit and think, if you want to take that route, about the plot and how it will go.

DOING SOME RESEARCH

If you’re certain of your idea and it might need some research for parts, maybe some historical event or a technical aspect, go ahead and get that done and out of the way. But also remember this is a first draft and you can wing it for now and change it later if you need to. But if a big part of your book is based on those little details, research now. A second draft of complete rewriting is never fun.

HAVING A LOOSE OUTLINE

Know roughly where you will go from one chapter to the next. It could be once sentence, just as long as you know. This doesn’t mean you must stick to it, but it will let you know if you have a full length story or not.

HAVING NAMES

One of the most difficult things for a book is determining names. It sounds easy and it may be for some, but I tend to do research into names to fit regions and ancestry. I want the names to seem as authentic as possible. A boy named Bubba who was born and raised in Paris might take the reader out of the story, unless you have a very good reason for his name being Bubba. That’s a bit extreme and very unlikely a case but I think it shows you what I mean. The same goes for restaurants.

One of the best things to do is base your character names on people you know and perhaps even the setting where you live, if possible. You can’t write any more authentic than the place you know.

PREPARING YOUR HABITS

This is the most important thing. Begin now to write during the time you plan to write for NaNoWriMo. Begin writing roughly 2000 words on any subject, but write. And don’t stop writing and walk away until you have that 2000 words. You are not only training yourself but those around you as well. They’ll know that during this time is your time and not to disturb you. If you have the habit you’ll be surprised how quickly you can write 2000 words.

More tips, suggestions, and writing habits to come, stay tuned!

Check out the NaNoWriMo Pinterest Board I’ve started. As I find articles, mine or otherwise, I’ll be Pinning them, and I’ve allowed some others to do so as well that I know will find some great things to contribute. And here is a quote from a pep talk on NaNoWriMo from last year.

To be my NaNoWriMo Writing Buddy, click

http://nanowrimo.org/participants/ronovan

Much Respect

NaNoRonOvanO

About the Author and a Winner of NaNoWriMo 2014!

Ronovan Hester is an author, whose debut novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling is due to release in December of 2015. He’s also a blogger and former educator who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com, a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources. For those serious about book reviewing and interested in reviewing for the LWI site, email Ronovan at ronovanwrites (at) gmail (dot) com to begin a dialogue. It may not work out but then again it might.

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Excuse the mess . . . LWI is changing.

You might notice that we’re doing some construction work here on the site. It won’t take long . . . I hope.

Ronovan

WHY GO NaNoWriMo? WHY NOT? 5 Reasons to take the plunge.

Are you nervous about writing 50,000 words in 30 days? That’s about an average of 1,667 words per day.

Sound like a lot to you?

If you blog, how many words do you write per day in your posts, comments, social media?
If you are a normal human, how much do you write in emails or on social media? Just think about your facebook exchanges.

I’ll let you in on a secret though; This isn’t supposed to be submission quality work. AT ALL!

ONE REASON PEOPLE LIKE NaNoWriMo IS:

You write and write and get your basic story and plot down with encouragement and a goal. You have messages from the community and great guest posts from published authors, even superstars in the publishing world, who give you tips about what to do. I want to say last year that Jim Butcher was one of the authors who joined in.

A SECOND REASON IS:

NaNoWriMo is a lot easier to DO and get started in than you think. You sign up and your good to go. There is no sign in blood commitment. There is no fee. There is no criticism. You get out of NaNoWriMo what you want to get out of it.

With NaNoWriMo you can have “Buddies” who will encourage you and you can turn to. You can see their progress which in turn encourages you and yours.

I did NaNoWriMo for the first time last year and P.S. Bartlett was my only buddy. But having that buddy was encouraging. We would email our progress, see each others progress in word count on the NaNoWriMo site, and generally have that person doing the same thing we were doing. That person going through what we were going through.

Want to find me? Well, not too many people named Ronovan and my Author picture is the one I use there. I’ll be committing to NaNoWriMo in a big way this year. I will be attempting to get more involved in the community and whatever community we build here on LWI under the NaNoWriMo Support page and NaNoWriMo Support Articles.

And if you have a competitive type Buddy and you are competitive, then it’s game on!

I LIKE NaNoWriMo BECAUSE:

It forces me to put thoughts into words and I don’t have to worry about quality at that point. All I have to do is keep writing and flowing.

This year I am going to work on a book I’ve been promising my son I’ll do for a long time. Yes, I’ve had hugely legitimate reasons for not having done it yet, but now I’m going to do it. It’ll be something that will have his name attached to it because I sat with him one day while his Grandma was in an appointment we had taken her to and I had slowly nudged him through creating an idea. Now I’m combining his idea and my thoughts.

ANOTHER REASON I LIKE NaNoWriMo IS:

There is no failure in NaNoWriMo. So you don’t reach 50,000 words. Maybe you reach 40,000, but you wrote and you wrote. There is no judgement. Everyone is in the same boat and doing the same thing. Everyone gets it.

A FINAL REASON IS:

This is a world wide event. Sometimes regions compete against each other for fun, even cities. Last year my city competed against another one that is a rival to our college football team. I do believe we won. Not that we won anything personally, but it was an added thing of fun to the whole experience.

There really isn’t a reason not to try NaNoWriMo. It is a beginning for some, a yearly start for a novel for a lot of Indie Authors for their next published work, and a fun experience for those who love to write.

About the Author and a Winner of NaNoWriMo 2014!

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Email Address:

@RonovanWrites

30 Tips for NaNoWriMo from @JessicaStrawser & About LWI Support.

It’s that time of the year, or almost. November. Writing 50,000 words in one month. We cringe at the thought, but have you ever thought how many words you write on your blogs, social media, and just general messing around online? Think about it that way and you would be surprised how books you’ve written. Here’s a way to get focused, bear down, and get it done. WITH SUPPORT.

Here on LWI we’re going to have a page dedicated to NaNoWriMo. There will be inspirational posts you can comment on and receive feedback and support. If you need a pep talk, we’re here for you. Whenever we find something great we’ll share it and it will show under that dedicated page. So you visit here and click the NaNoWriMo tab/page in the menu and there you are. Our resident guru of Indie Authorship suggested we do something. I might be taking it over the top but I shoot for the unknown galaxies and your bound to hit a star somewhere along the way.

To start us off, here is an article from Writer’s Digest by Jessica Strawser. The beginning blurb is below, then click the HERE to go to juicy parts.

“Sometimes it’s a lone writer who’s been putting off a story idea for too long, and decides it’s now or never. Sometimes it’s a pair or a group determined to find out what they can achieve by sharing self-imposed deadlines and strong pots of coffee. Sometimes it’s peer pressure or curiosity about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org), that challenge that rallies ever-increasing numbers of writers around the globe every November to band together in pursuit of a 50,000-word “win.”

Book-in-a-month challenges take all forms, fueled by all stripes of writers with all manner of motivations—make the most of that time alone in a borrowed cabin, hunker down for the winter, stop procrastinating, have something ready to pitch at that conference, prove to yourself you can do it, prove to someone else you can do it, get a fresh start—and in this hyperconnected age of 24-hour fingertip resources and networks, of tiny portable keyboards and glow-in-the-dark screens, they’re more popular than ever.”

For the rest of the article and the 30 Tips, click HERE.

ABOUT JESSICA STRAWSER

@JessicaStrawser

Editor of Writer’s Digest magazine | debut novel, ALMOST MISSED YOU, coming from @StMartinsPress in 2017 | mother of two | book lover | repped by agent @bpoelle

About the Finder of the Article and a Winner of NaNoWriMo 2014!

Ronovan is an author, blogger and former educator who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com, a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources. For those serious about book reviewing and interested in reviewing for the LWI site, email Ronovan at ronovanwrites (at) gmail (dot) com to begin a dialogue. It may not work out but then again it might.

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@RonovanWrites

Be a Good Reviewer.

Levant Mirage by @OliverFChase “It’s so possible, it’s scary.” #Book Review

Author: Oliver F. Chase
Title: Levant Mirage
File Size: 3416 KB
Print Length: 309 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Pearl River Publishing Group; 1 edition (October 15, 2015)
Publication Date: October 15, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B015G7TWYQ
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Word Wise: Not Enabled
Lending: Enabled
Formats: Paperback & Kindle
Pricing: $13.99 & $3.99
Genres: Action, Adventure, Thriller, Suspense, War

I received a copy of this book for an honest review and I’m glad I did.

Levant Mirage takes snapshots from the headlines of the past few years to build a character and combines it with frighteningly realistic possibilities to give a story you pray never happens.

35 year old U.S. Army Major Adam Michaels is no James Bond, nor did he ever set out to be. What is he? He’s a man who rejects the easy path that being the heir to a shipping empire gives him in order to join the military, serve his country, and be a father. Right, no money other than what he makes as a Major in the Army. You don’t see jet flying, limousine riding, womanizing and all of that. I would trade in the 10 year old Corolla for something a little better though. Tap into the trust fund already.

Finding himself used as a scapegoat for a foreign relations nightmare, Michaels works out his days in the Pentagon pushing papers, and paying alimony, child support and the mortgage on his rising political star ex-wife’s house. You see the everyday life to some extent leading up to the changes in life the military can throw at you. You don’t control you in the Army. And there are times when that twists the guts out of Michaels.

Michaels is of a dubious parentage, with his father not being who he thought he was, but upon finding out explains a great deal. This in part leads to his choice of path in life. He wants to be his own man. He doesn’t want to be identified with a past that isn’t really what he thought it was.

But part of that past comes back in one night and changes a quiet world into a search to find the defense against a missile guidance system he created that is now in the hands of terrorists. Which terrorists? Who is the enemy? You won’t believe it. Or you will believe it but be surprised.

The believability of Levant Mirage is what makes it so freakin’ scary at times. Perhaps the guidance system isn’t real, or I hope it’s not. But I’m sure there is something like it out there. The enemy Michaels must fight against is out of this world. If he fails, billions die. If he succeeds?

Chase writes with detail and a knowledge base that gives the story realism. You are able to submerse yourself into Levant Mirage and you don’t get pulled out by oddities and unbelievable scenes. Some scenes are high energy and amped up, but still possible.

Being honest, the amount of detail is incredible at times and I could have done with a little less of the technological speak, but it doesn’t take away from the story. In truth, it adds the believability—you don’t have these leaps from action to intellect in the span of a few seconds. Okay, maybe you do but for a whole different reason, but I’m not giving those parts away. Ah, that does remind me of one scene that did cause me pause and have to reread in order to get it clear. In part, that was due to the surprise of those involved.

I enjoyed the handling of the terrorists. As you read you’ll develop ideas but never get to comfortable, you never know what is going to happen next, who is going to happen, or what the truth is until it’s almost too late. But there are clues along the way.

Recommendation

I would recommend Levant Mirage to those who like believable action thrillers. Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt and other NUMA series books come to mind, but not that fantastical or off the charts. Where Cussler takes you over the edge of believability at times, Chase keeps you here on earth and scares the life out of you with reality you can find in your neighbors living room.

Character Believability: 4
Flow and Pace: 4
Reader Engagement: 4
Reader Enrichment: 4
Reader Enjoyment: 4
Overall Rate: 4

Share this Review to Support this Author.

About the Author

Oliver spent five years in a police department working narcotics and SWAT, and the next 22 in the FBI. Now he’s the author of Marsh Island, Blind Marsh, the first two installments of the Hirebomber Series. And now Levant Mirage, releasing Oct. 15, 2015.

oliverchase.net

https://oliverchase.wordpress.com

facebook.com/oilverchase

https://twitter.com/OliverFChase

About the Reviewer

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Email Address:

@RonovanWrites

Truth In Fiction – Guest post by Claire Fullerton @CFullerton3

Find out more about Claire Fullerton and her writing of Dancing to an Irish Reel, which is my 5 Star Review and one of my favorite Interviews ever.

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

My guest today is Claire Fullerton, author of A Portal in Time. Today she shares her a little background to Dancing to an Irish Reel… and looks at a question Stuart and I are often asked about our books… just how much is true?

Photo: Claire Fullerton

I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Now that my book, ‘’Dancing to Irish Reel” is out, I’m being asked the inevitable question, “How much of the story is true?” Everyone who knows me personally knows I picked up and moved to the west coast of Ireland without much of a plan, and that I stayed for a year. Add that to the fact that the book is written in the first person, that the narrator’s interior monologues in the story are unabashedly confessional to the point of unnecessary risk. I’ve been told the book reads like a…

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Top Five #FREE #BOOK Today from @PSBartlett

ONE Top Five FREE BOOK TO GET TODAY!

LWI AUTHORS

Sorry, you missed this one. Now it’s 3.99 and it’s #7 paid. Obviously worth it.

JINX SCHWARTZ –JUST ADD SALT-A HETTA COFFEY SERIES BOOK

http://www.amazon.com/Just-Salt-Hetta-Coffey-Series-ebook/dp/B005SZ132Q/ref=zg_bs_157317011_f_2

Book Blurb

Hetta Coffey is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it!

A globe-trotting engineer with attitude, a penchant for trouble, and a yacht, Hetta is back, and this time she’s steering us into hot Mexican waters.
Miffed that vacation plans with her chronically absent boyfriend, Jenks Jenkins, have gone awry, she accepts a job in Baja.

So what, if she and her friend Jan are spectacularly unqualified to take her yacht on a thousand-mile cruise in the eastern Pacific Ocean during hurricane season?

Hiring a handsome, if somewhat fishy captain for the trip might keep them off the rocks, but probably won’t do the same for her future with Jenks. Meanwhile, a little eye candy on board can’t be all bad.

Hetta’s fierce independence impels her to tackle a very profitable (if environmentally and politically incorrect) project south of the border. True to form, her irreverent nature and disregard for danger soon swamps her in a sea of mayhem, illegal aliens, a pesky whale, and a menacing Mexican machinator.

Set sail for Baja Mexico’s Magdalena Bay as Hetta Coffey leads us once more into a morass of intrigue that will keep you laughing, breathless, and wanting more.

Top Most Useful Review

“When I finished the first book in the series, I realized I had Hetta withdrawals. I hurried to Amazon and purchased Just Add Salt. I would advise reading the first book first because it supplies the background – where it all began. But I enjoyed the second book even more than the first. There is danger from the get-go and tension on every page. I love a mystery with a touch of romance, and this book has it all. What it doesn’t have is over-the-top graphic violence or explicit sex. The Hetta Coffey mysteries are a refreshing change and I look forward to reading more. “– Laurie Hanan, author of the Louise Golden Hawaiian mysteries

P.S. BARTLETT WITH HER SHORT NOVELLA IVORY DAWN

A PREQUEL TO HER AWARD WINNING BLUE DIAMOND: THE RAZOR’S EDGE

http://www.amazon.com/IVORY-DAWN-Razors-Adventures-Bartlett-ebook/dp/B00XQPBJ6K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1443799720&sr=1-1&keywords=P.S.+Bartlett

Book Blurb

Ivory Shepard didn’t want to be a pirate when she grew up but she didn’t plan on being orphaned and alone at thirteen with her three cousins either.
After a Spanish raid in Charles Towne left them with nothing, Ivory held her cousins together, trained them to fight for their lives and led them to a life of quiet refuge on the banks of the Ashley River. Believing they were out of reach of the hands of unscrupulous men, they found life on the farm a tolerable substitute for the traditional alternatives life would force onto them—until the night the pirates showed up.
Unfortunately for the pirates, these handy young women were ready, and they weren’t going anywhere without a fight.

Top Most Useful Review

“The last thing he will see is my eyes before the Devil welcomes him home.”
Oh, how I missed you Ivory! This was my second read by P.S. Bartlett and she doesn’t know the meaning of disappointment! Thank you so much for sending me a file, you made my day!
This short story is a prequel of my first read, Demons & Pearls, and it was fascinating to learn how Ivory got granted passage onto Barclay’s ship. I must admit, that I missed him too. I only got a short time with him on the last book but I’m glad I got a little more of his banter with Ivory in this one. This was a hilarious quick read and I love how the bond these women have is as strong as ever. They seem to be extensions of themselves and they trust each other completely which is easily seen. Only con is that it’s too short, but that’s just because I will never get enough of Ivory and her adventures! I can’t wait to read more. I am addicted to pirate stories now!”-Cassandra Carpio-Serious Book Reviewer. Her Site.

Two Top Five #FREE #BOOKS Today from @JinxSchwartz & @PSBartlett

TWO Top Five FREE BOOKS TO GET TODAY!

LWI AUTHORS

JINX SCHWARTZ –JUST ADD SALT-A HETTA COFFEY SERIES BOOK

http://www.amazon.com/Just-Salt-Hetta-Coffey-Series-ebook/dp/B005SZ132Q/ref=zg_bs_157317011_f_2

Book Blurb

Hetta Coffey is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it!

A globe-trotting engineer with attitude, a penchant for trouble, and a yacht, Hetta is back, and this time she’s steering us into hot Mexican waters.
Miffed that vacation plans with her chronically absent boyfriend, Jenks Jenkins, have gone awry, she accepts a job in Baja.

So what, if she and her friend Jan are spectacularly unqualified to take her yacht on a thousand-mile cruise in the eastern Pacific Ocean during hurricane season?

Hiring a handsome, if somewhat fishy captain for the trip might keep them off the rocks, but probably won’t do the same for her future with Jenks. Meanwhile, a little eye candy on board can’t be all bad.

Hetta’s fierce independence impels her to tackle a very profitable (if environmentally and politically incorrect) project south of the border. True to form, her irreverent nature and disregard for danger soon swamps her in a sea of mayhem, illegal aliens, a pesky whale, and a menacing Mexican machinator.

Set sail for Baja Mexico’s Magdalena Bay as Hetta Coffey leads us once more into a morass of intrigue that will keep you laughing, breathless, and wanting more.

Top Most Useful Review

“When I finished the first book in the series, I realized I had Hetta withdrawals. I hurried to Amazon and purchased Just Add Salt. I would advise reading the first book first because it supplies the background – where it all began. But I enjoyed the second book even more than the first. There is danger from the get-go and tension on every page. I love a mystery with a touch of romance, and this book has it all. What it doesn’t have is over-the-top graphic violence or explicit sex. The Hetta Coffey mysteries are a refreshing change and I look forward to reading more. “– Laurie Hanan, author of the Louise Golden Hawaiian mysteries

P.S. BARTLETT WITH HER SHORT NOVELLA IVORY DAWN

A PREQUEL TO HER AWARD WINNING BLUE DIAMOND: THE RAZOR’S EDGE

http://www.amazon.com/IVORY-DAWN-Razors-Adventures-Bartlett-ebook/dp/B00XQPBJ6K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1443799720&sr=1-1&keywords=P.S.+Bartlett

Book Blurb

Top Most Useful Review

“The last thing he will see is my eyes before the Devil welcomes him home.”
Oh, how I missed you Ivory! This was my second read by P.S. Bartlett and she doesn’t know the meaning of disappointment! Thank you so much for sending me a file, you made my day!
This short story is a prequel of my first read, Demons & Pearls, and it was fascinating to learn how Ivory got granted passage onto Barclay’s ship. I must admit, that I missed him too. I only got a short time with him on the last book but I’m glad I got a little more of his banter with Ivory in this one. This was a hilarious quick read and I love how the bond these women have is as strong as ever. They seem to be extensions of themselves and they trust each other completely which is easily seen. Only con is that it’s too short, but that’s just because I will never get enough of Ivory and her adventures! I can’t wait to read more. I am addicted to pirate stories now!”-Cassandra Carpio-Serious Book Reviewer. Her Site.

Interview with J. Kahele Author of Violet Chain. @JanelleKahele

Who do you get when you combine 129 Five Star Ratings and 83 Four Star Ratings on Amazon and GoodReads? An author I met about a year ago and did a somewhat stock interview with that I’ve thankfully gotten away from.

I was newish to the arena of interviews and she was generous to say yes. The worst part was, I hadn’t had an opportunity to read her work. But now? It’s a year later, I’ve read and reviewed her latest. And here we are again with another, what I believe better interview. And I like to call us friends. Just don’t tell her that. I don’t want to get the raised eyebrow of “Say What?” from her.

You may have read my review of her book, Violet Chain, the book we’re discussing today. I don’t think the review does the book as much justice as I might have wished for it to. The characters have great layers to them and are not one dimensional, even the supporting cast. She just writes a great annoy character that bugged me. I hope she doesn’t read that line. Now let’s talk to J. Kahele. Author and More.

Let’s start off with why did you write Violet Chain?

Believe it or not I was throwing titles around in my head and come up with this one, then decided to create a story.

After catching her fiancé cheating on her the night of their engagement party, Violet Townsend, a woman people hold in high regards in all aspects of her life, goes through a transformation of character. What do you think brings out that seemingly sudden change the way it does that finds her in the arms of the books leading man?

It is out of the norm for a woman like Violet to delve into a one night stand, but as with every women, when hurt badly by a person they love, she needed an escape from the pain and hers was Chain.

The leading man, Chain Alexander, is sucked in to this wild ride of Violet’s road to recovery. Being a man myself, thank you very much, I would like to say a few things. I’ve read the reviews. Some love him, some don’t get him. Personally I think you nailed the emotional aspects of a character caught up in this situation perfectly. How do you come to write a male character role like that? What do you draw from to give him just the right male reactions? Psychic, or great observer?

Chain was not at all the character I had in my mind for original lead. I wanted more of an alpha male type, but with Violet’s character, there was no way an alpha male would have fit well, so I guess you could say that Chain kind of was a creation from the story itself.

Some people are going to buy this book for the sex, and romance angle. If people are narrow in their thinking and stick to that, I personally believe they are missing a lot of what you’re telling. Would you tell us about the psychological aspects of both the lead characters that make them just like anyone else once you take them out of their palaces and ivory towers, metaphorically speaking of course, and how they deal with love in a damaged arena? I believe readers connect with them in a great way.

I wanted real characters that everyone could identify with, the good, the bad and so I took a lot of extra time concentrating on that. I believe Violet and Chain both have very real emotions and turmoil’s and imperfections that make them very relatable.

Crazy as it may seem, I see a lot of . . . well crazy people in this book. Not so much crazy but people with quirks and foibles. You have a good supporting cast. Speaking to those quirks and the like, do you have a leaning toward or fascination with things like OCD and personality/mental issues that seems to come through in your writing?

Haha. My husband says I’m very OCD about certain things and I believe everyone has their little quirks, don’t you?

I am not falling into the trap of answering what my foibles are. Feel like I’m being cross examined here.

I have to say that you write a great annoying character in the part of Harrison, the cheating fiancé. And honestly even in the best friends of each of the leads in their certain quirks at times which doesn’t make you not like them, but as for Harrison, how much do you use your own personal experience or that of friends when being inspired to create a character like that, not so much the cheating part but his personality and actions through the remainder of the book?

Harrison was probably the easiest character to write, yes I did use personal dislikes I had for men, when writing him.

You did great, I wanted to throw him into a wall or out a door a few times, well every time. That’s how well you made me not like him.

As I was reading Violet Chain I noticed the organic style of writing. You touched on this subject when talking about CHain Alexander earlier. By organic I mean things didn’t always go where you planned. To me that often means the story, the characters themselves, have taken over the mind of the writer and begun to tell the story. Is that how you write, you start out writing, or does it take over at some point and if so, when do you give the characters their head and let them run?

I have never had control of the characters, once I have created them, they tend to go in a direction that I don’t always like and believe it or not I try to fight it, but I think when creating characters true to life, we lose control and that isn’t so bad.

I’ve read where a lot of people are hoping for a sequel. Is that the plan?

Yes. The sequel will be out in November.

You’re quite prolific in your writing and never seem to tie yourself down to one thing. What are you working on now that your fans will be excited to hear about? Because I know from the reviews that you do have fans, not just readers.

I am currently working on the final sequel of the Mine Series and a new series that I’m not revealing yet.

A question I’ve begun to ask my authors is this, what is your favorite line from the book? I think by sharing that you somewhat give us a peek into who J. Kahele is.

I wouldn’t say there is a favorite line in the book, but I do have a favorite part. It is when Chain and Violet are saying goodbye at the restaurant and Chain is begging to see her again and she kind of leaves him hanging. I love that part a lot.

And a final question. What motivates you to put words to your thoughts and begin a book? Writers have ideas, but what is your process of deciding “This is it!”?

When the thoughts follow you everywhere you go and you can’t shake them, until you write them down on paper.

To Connect with J. Kahele:

www.janellekahele.com

@JanelleKahele

www.facebook.com/J-Kahele

J. Kahele on Google+

And to view her other books visit her Amazon Author Page.

About the Interviewer

Ronovan is an author, and blogger who shares his life as an amnesiac and Chronic Pain sufferer though his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge and the creation of LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com, a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources. For those serious about book reviewing and interested in reviewing for the LWI site, email me at ronovanwrites (at) gmail (dot) com to begin a dialogue. It may not work out but then again it might.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

@RonovanWrites

#Read about Guest #Author Claire Fullerton @cfullerton3 from @StoryReadingApe #Blog

Read this amazing Guest Post by Claire Fullerton who I interviewed recently, and author of Dancing to an Irish Reel that I reviewed and LOVED.

Another great one from The Indie Author’s best friend, Chris Graham, The Story Reading Ape.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Road to Publication

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Once upon a time, I spent a year living on the west coast of Ireland, in the rural region of Inverin, while I worked thirteen miles down the coast road in Galway City. I had the best of both worlds, for Galway City is a vibrant college town with cobblestone streets in its center, where local musicians busk for change before pubs as old as the streets themselves, and locals come in from the outlying areas for the day to tend to important business. Contrarily, Inverin, Ireland is a land separated into geometric prisms by grey-stone walls leading down to the rock encrusted shores of the Atlantic on one side of the coast road and bog-land that stretches out forever on the other. Inverin is known as the gateway to Connemara, and is part of a region known as the Gaeltech, which refers to the area…

View original post 1,055 more words

Book Review of a Romance. Violet Chain by J. Kahele. @JanelleKahele

Author: J. Kahele
Title: Violet Chain
File Size: 1552 KB
Print Length: 243 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publication Date: July 17, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B011WHGT9K
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Enabled
Formats: Kindle
Price: $3.99
Genres: Romance, Contemporary Fiction

As always with any Book Review, these are one person’s opinions. That includes the great, the good, and the bad.

Violet Chain is a story of two people on roads to recovery. One to recover her self-worth and identity, and the other his life as a man and not a character he plays in the playboy world he’s created.

I received this book to form questions for an upcoming interview and not to do a book review. And truthfully I wasn’t intending to do one. But one of the mottos I’ve put forth is “Read a book, write a review.” And with that in mind I could not keep from writing a review.

Violet Chain falls into the genre of Romance. Throw in some sex and you’ve got what you might think of as your typical fare these days. For me, I look underneath the surface of a story to the characters center, what’s driving them. I am not setting centric as much a I am emotional and thinking centric when I read a book.

The book starts off with Violet Townsend, the leading lady of the book, walking in on her fiancé in a sexual situation with another woman at their engagement party. For Violet, the world flips upside down and her journey begins to define herself as Violet Townsend and not the girlfriend of someone. She’s alone. She’s hurting in a deep way. This guy has messed her up emotionally and mentally. She doesn’t want a man.

Not even 48 hours passes and she meets Chain Alexander, millionaire playboy builder of malls across North America. Self-made man who likes to be in control and doesn’t know how to live any other way. That is until the night he meets his best friend’s fiance’s best friend, Violet. The two forces meet and almost everyone tries to stop the inevitable from happening.

While one person attempts to become emotionally detached, the other finds himself feeling emotions he’s never experienced before. And he can’t do a blessed thing about it. From one night stands to one woman dreams.

The characters are believable on the level in which they are played. They stay true to who and what they are as the story goes along and as the characters grow in their emotional lives. Kahele does a great job of character building and giving them layers of personality. The supporting cast is great. Some are humorous at times, some annoying, and some you think were written about people you know. And none of them are perfect. In other words, we get real, albeit on a big rich people scale.

But the rich are people to and they get just as screwed up in life as the rest of us and have to deal with it. That’s what the author Kahele has recognized. People are the same no matter what, take a relationship and just put it in a setting you want to. We can all connect with characters that are authentic on the base emotional levels.

I believe there were only a very few areas of concern with the book and that was the speed of change in Violet’s character, her apparent personality that is pointed to throughout the book differs greatly from this new Violet that we see. I kind of see how it works being that there is an emotionally stressful situation that perhaps cracks her a bit or flips a switch during certain moments. That part doesn’t really take away from the story as it progresses, but it gave me pause for a moment so I am mentioning it. This was perhaps the only big issue of character believability for me.

The part of Harrison, the cheating fiancé, was a bit repetitive to me in his scenes and annoyed me to no end. Now this annoyance was intentional I am sure. You are not supposed to like the guy.

The final area is the ending. Now there is a sequel coming in November, so the ending isn’t as final and shocking with that in mind. The new Violet isn’t liked by everyone in the book, unlike the old Violet.

My favorite take away from Violet Chain is Chain Alexander. That could just be the guy in me. Kahele describes certain situations and emotions from a man’s perspective perfectly. I could actually feel what Chain was going through. The writing was urgent at times when it needed to be to convey what Chain was feeling.

I guess that is really the great thing about the book, the pacing of the sentence structure and word usage. Kahele does a great job of switching between the soft and touching to the hard and edgy to carry you along where she wants you to go. She divides the chapters up between first person in the first half of the chapter being Violet and the second half being Chain. I have to say I like this better than the full chapters that are done much the same way. These are smaller bites and don’t take you away from the either character’s perspective for too long.

When J. Kahele gave me the book, she warned me about the sex in it being edgy. She knows of my sensibilities. All I can say to that is, lady, you don’t know me as well as you think. The sex scenes are well done without being over the top and unbelievable and graphic. Some of the situations are awesome. Oh that balcony. Mm, mm, mm.

Recommendations

For the most part this is a safe book for most adults. Nothing too extreme. The ending disturbed me a bit. I’ve taken about a week to think about it and been able to decide that with a sequel coming, I can handle it. I might ask to read the next one to see what happens. A lot of Kahele’s fans trust her and have no problems with it so far, so I’m going to trust her as well to handle it as well as she did the rest of the book.

Character Believability: 4
Flow and Pace: 4
Reader Engagement: 4
Reader Enrichment: 3
Reader Enjoyment: 3
Overall Rate: 3.6

The Rating– First off, a 4 out of 5 from me is a great book. The score is lower than I expected, but I think the reason is the ending for me personally, and just little factors that took away from my own overall enjoyment. The book was well written, great layers to it. Don’t let a 3.6 keep you from the book. I am a tough reviewer.

About the Author

“I am a proud mother of three daughters who are my absolute complete existence. I write to relieve the scattered thoughts that stream through my mind, constantly. My biggest downfall is that I am a huge procrastinator, which makes my life at times hectic!”

www.janellekahele.com

@JanelleKahele

www.facebook.com/J-Kahele

J. Kahele on Google+

About the Reviewer

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@RonovanWrites

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