tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44121057430592333982024-02-06T20:44:46.373-08:00Indie Author Soapbox by R.J. CraddockIndie Author, Book, Music and Film Critic.
Author of "The Thirteen Tribes of Cain series" A Mature Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-24146363291679575392018-02-20T23:32:00.001-08:002018-02-20T23:35:45.833-08:00New Job, New State and New House!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4kto9rv1K3vSpajrvFV1144riRCOqQLvhui_32-90TDy1bV8L-9HnItwzYxdtZD7XfYRu6L09qP1oFEQY1MQxm94pKzo4imGv9fDRNu66cJZEY6VoqvVRHccbxthphvRkA4nb_2Xeyk/s1600/2017-02-13_16.47.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="813" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4kto9rv1K3vSpajrvFV1144riRCOqQLvhui_32-90TDy1bV8L-9HnItwzYxdtZD7XfYRu6L09qP1oFEQY1MQxm94pKzo4imGv9fDRNu66cJZEY6VoqvVRHccbxthphvRkA4nb_2Xeyk/s400/2017-02-13_16.47.15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Hello, there gentle readers. It's been quite a while since we've bumped into one another and it's not at all your fault. I've been a bit preoccupied for the past what...two years?! You see my entire universe went and rearranged on me and my family back in July 2016. That's when my husband suddenly found himself laid off from his, what seemed like a steady and forever job, after 9 years of hard work and loyalty. We suddenly were left scratching our heads wondering what went wrong. Scrambling for a new direction for our lives. Eventually, we found ourselves packing up our family of six, selling our beloved home in Utah. We left all our family and friends behind to move across the country to upstate New York for a new job.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoUr56fK2Taz_r8hZTkhLwdQVU2QFRlTByTUanWm3Mnyjmr2iliU-bt8IvKXouJEoX6_U7z4P-ftNGTZNr_28PPEx8WeHV97ObrCLYEA9vgirT_6EUVk4gdXtxe7CfD5h-JaVPhV7VKk/s1600/20170416_133945+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoUr56fK2Taz_r8hZTkhLwdQVU2QFRlTByTUanWm3Mnyjmr2iliU-bt8IvKXouJEoX6_U7z4P-ftNGTZNr_28PPEx8WeHV97ObrCLYEA9vgirT_6EUVk4gdXtxe7CfD5h-JaVPhV7VKk/s200/20170416_133945+%25281%2529.jpg" width="112" /></a>At the time I was also pregnant with our last child and our first little girl. So this only made the upheaval all the more stressful. Needless to say, my writing career and all other work, besides keeping my family afloat during this tumultuous transition, got put on hold. When we first arrived in New York we got a modest little apartment to get us settled while we looked for a house. Having bought and moved into our first house only a week before our first son was born we had never before experienced apartment living with little kids. <b>We did not enjoy it.</b> Children need lots of room to run around and play, inside and outdoors. We had neither in our apartment. Then we went and added a new baby a couple months after moving. Our daughter Lucy was born last April! :)<br />
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The housing market in this part of New York is really crazy. We lost three of the four houses we attempted to buy. Unfortunately, this meant it took us 6 months to find the right house for us. Finally, we moved into our new home in September the day before the new school year started. Ahhhh! It was nuts trying to get moved in and get my three oldest sons registered for school all at the same time. Somehow we managed it though. I wish I could say that was the end of our trails but alas our new home was only new to us; it was anything but in reality. Built-in 1960 and bought from the original owner who apparently updated very little over the 58 years they lived here, it was as outdated as a house can get! However, the house has great bones. It has four bedrooms to fit our large family. Large family room and living room and three bathrooms. Add a killer master bedroom with a master bath and it was nearly perfect. It also came with a separate room for an office totally secluded from the rest of the house. Did I mention I've always had to have my desk in someone's bedroom? Well, I have. So having a real office was a huge plus for me! The house is also located in our ideal neighborhood with friends only a few blocks away and right next to the school. So the house had loads of potential, but we simply couldn't live a moment in this dark, dingy grandma house the way it was.</div>
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Between my design background from my time attending The Art Institute of Phoenix, Arizona, and my husband's clean freak tendencies, the two of us put our creative energy together and embarked on the reno! Right away we started painting walls and tearing out the world most disgusting carpets. Amongst the first things to be redone was our rather ugly front entryway.<br />
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As you can see it wasn't pretty. The tiles were a strange beige color with brown veins throughout. Random blue and yellow floral tiles stuck out with a black dirty grout backdrop. The hexagon-shaped tiles were kinda neat though. My first instinct was to rip it all out and start band new, but my husband was intimidated by tile work and the potential cost involved. The next thought was to paint the tile, which would be much more cost-effective. It also meant no demo and would be more time effective, too! My original plan was to paint it all white and then stencil an Augusta pattern in blue over top. However, this kind of pattern is usually done on square tiles and wasn't ideal for a hexagon tile. :( While I scoured Pinterest and the rest of the internet for a stencil for a hexagon tile my husband stumbled upon another good option. As beautiful as my original idea would've been it was going to be tedious to accomplish. With five little ones in the house we needed a design solution, we could execute fairly quickly, especially if we didn't want little feet trampling paint all over our brand new carpet! So as much as I hated to admit it, my husband's idea was a pretty darn good one. So we went with his concept instea<span style="background-color: white;">d.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/blog/how-to-stencil-a-tile-pattern-on-a-bathroom-floor.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="352" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRkEJBYwC-T4ubcjfqOpbZaw_NmALmWcQXg4AbLCoJqO1rLkY6W6Ghw1dXYn-poEOixKZn69R4TkB1hFk1WJ1H26Gq2w1ExSeJUdDQLn_z5cQmMfsV6TK1cuic5n17c947xccyWBzZvI/s320/augusta-tile-stencil-diy-stenciled-bathroom-floor-352x530.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">My original design plan</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TG3q9yEphDlOlKrCsqclW40scbe7s4XDt5jS1iEs9o266tUgAMbJF8vJ2JZ2YNg6gmyMAU5mRU9HKrbpigf1Yf8lMkT7Yre8c-WAo7e9s8oqyd_AX2LhVFMuGnuzmBUUZbfVnO9NrC8/s1600/received_10212716648249150.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="620" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TG3q9yEphDlOlKrCsqclW40scbe7s4XDt5jS1iEs9o266tUgAMbJF8vJ2JZ2YNg6gmyMAU5mRU9HKrbpigf1Yf8lMkT7Yre8c-WAo7e9s8oqyd_AX2LhVFMuGnuzmBUUZbfVnO9NrC8/s320/received_10212716648249150.png" width="254" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Jonny's design solution</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjI8E_tve1MRrcXCR8Zcm8vGW613WXaEojeRFZM2unmj5bIu4eOsxzHxjATzI_fU2WOfWXsivPYMOyF9mYYCTVWlAnaE_iIBmVVIRXOvYVWzLQZc0QT8iE_weKrWKQmhN-gni9FYMjLI/s1600/20171017_233557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjI8E_tve1MRrcXCR8Zcm8vGW613WXaEojeRFZM2unmj5bIu4eOsxzHxjATzI_fU2WOfWXsivPYMOyF9mYYCTVWlAnaE_iIBmVVIRXOvYVWzLQZc0QT8iE_weKrWKQmhN-gni9FYMjLI/s320/20171017_233557.jpg" width="177" /></span></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjI8E_tve1MRrcXCR8Zcm8vGW613WXaEojeRFZM2unmj5bIu4eOsxzHxjATzI_fU2WOfWXsivPYMOyF9mYYCTVWlAnaE_iIBmVVIRXOvYVWzLQZc0QT8iE_weKrWKQmhN-gni9FYMjLI/s1600/20171017_233557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>To execute the project I got Behr premium 1-gallon deep base gloss enamel exterior Porch and Patio Paint in grey, white, and blue. We decided to trade black for blue in the pattern to better suit our homes overall color scheme. After a good cleaning with soap and warm water, we did a light sanding of the floor. (It's recommended to clean the floor with mineral water or vinegar to help the tile be more absorbent of the paint) Next, we painted the whole floor white. This gave us a blank canvas so to speak. Also, we had decided to have white grout lines. Next, we painted random tiles grey. Since I have a very steady hand and I don't trust painters tape we didn't use any tape to keep from painting outside the hexagon onto the grout. Lastly, we painted blue tiles at random to complete the spontaneousness of the pattern. We did this all late at night after the kids were all asleep to ensure we wouldn't be interrupted. This still didn't keep our crazy wild toddler from trying to get on it while it was still wet. (he's not a good sleeper - *sigh*) Luckily he caused very little damage to the paint. However, even after it dried the paint felt a bit tacky. It turns out that the paint was completely set up right because of the cold weather. Since we were painting in an entryway right next to a door it would've been ideal to have waited until the weather warmed up to paint. Fast forward a few months, and we're now seeing bits of the paint scraping off. We believe this is due to it not setting up right at first. As soon as spring arrives we plan to do touch-ups. In the end, we're very happy with our new entryway! We get lots of compliments on the floor and the kids think it's fun too. It also ties in all the colors form the adjoining rooms.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB_10hCowc4gqN_0XuNQfA9bIgpZjNLaCBsybKgFF1CbTVpkAydOaVAaem9RadYCnjtbo43sTdBQzjpB5N8k1BgsUfya5XHGdFmyCH_d2e2aZeULscybo9fajiOCc-fYo9uKj6e85G_4/s1600/20171019_231510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB_10hCowc4gqN_0XuNQfA9bIgpZjNLaCBsybKgFF1CbTVpkAydOaVAaem9RadYCnjtbo43sTdBQzjpB5N8k1BgsUfya5XHGdFmyCH_d2e2aZeULscybo9fajiOCc-fYo9uKj6e85G_4/s320/20171019_231510.jpg" width="180" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;">This isn't the first time I've given a Pinterest pin a try and it certainly won't be the last. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">But that's a story for another blog. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">And yes you can expect to see more DIY blog post intermixed with writing, art, and stay-at-home-mom-posts. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Have you had a similar experience with a Pinterest that inspired a project of your own? If so, please share it with me in the comments or on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RJCraddockAuthor/" target="_blank">facebook page.</a> </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3G1PomOPBicDF7GeUK3HqojqIgXeyCnMRl0AINPh5Bfk6YHTH_ToNYBMnaNswgWO2itO-ma09y8ExxLRisC8k-_2EqaGoym8RW58K80pXrhm_q9NQDMi5IDbAzV4Clgjx6A3ETlJLaL4/s1600/20170921_215717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3G1PomOPBicDF7GeUK3HqojqIgXeyCnMRl0AINPh5Bfk6YHTH_ToNYBMnaNswgWO2itO-ma09y8ExxLRisC8k-_2EqaGoym8RW58K80pXrhm_q9NQDMi5IDbAzV4Clgjx6A3ETlJLaL4/s200/20170921_215717.jpg" width="112" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</span> <span style="text-align: justify;">So in closing, we've been living in New York a year now and time has certainly flown by. We've been in the house six months and there's still so </span>much work to be done. But we're excited to see the process unfold and claim this old house as our own one room at a time. In the meantime, thanks for visiting my blog and having patience with my long absence from the blog sphere. :) It's been a pleasure sharing all the news of the past couple years with you. I hope to visit with you again really soon. I wish you all the best of luck in all your endeavors till we read again...<br />
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- R.J. Craddock<br />
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(Inspiration pics courtesy of <a href="https://pinklittlenotebook.com/">Pink little Notebook</a> and <a href="http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/blog/how-to-stencil-a-tile-pattern-on-a-bathroom-floor.html">Cutting Edge Stencil</a>) The paint used in this project can be found <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-Premium-1-gal-Deep-Base-Gloss-Enamel-Exterior-Porch-and-Patio-Floor-Paint-673001/100142045">here</a>.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-74342725035009928902016-03-27T16:25:00.000-07:002016-04-07T13:14:38.070-07:00Impossible Girl (Sexy Nerd Boys, 2.5) by K.M. Neuhold - Cover Reveal<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-color: black; color: magenta;">Hey everyone I just wanted to share with you a cover reveal for a new book coming out in June 2016! You can even read the first chapter now on her website at <a href="http://kmneuhold.weebly.com/" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">http://kmneuhold.<wbr></wbr>weebly.com/</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-color: black; color: magenta;">Cover Design by Mae's Wicked Grafix</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: magenta; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The only thing more difficult than catching her, is keeping her.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: magenta; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dex</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="background-color: black; color: magenta;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve spent the last four years in self-imposed celibacy. It was going fine until I met </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">her</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Remy Harris, the wild-eyed vixen no man can pin down. She’s more than willing to have a good time, but I’m looking for so much more than that. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: magenta; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remy</span></div>
<span style="background-color: black; color: magenta; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Love ‘em and leave ‘em. It’s safer that way. In my experience all men are looking for is a good time anyway. It’s better to give them what they want and walk away before they can do the same to you. When I needed a calculus tutor I never expected to find one who’s so...sexy. Since when are nerds so hot? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: magenta; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep An eye out for Impossible Girl coming in June!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: magenta; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now go for, and read, read and then read some more! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: magenta; white-space: pre-wrap;">R.J. Craddock</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-59795128313024161702016-03-17T22:42:00.001-07:002016-03-17T22:45:18.466-07:00Rebranding my urban fantasy series!<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qs07MCWtEP0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Yep The rumors are true, The Children of Cain series by R.J. Craddock (yours truly) has undergone a major change. From henceforth is will be known as The Thirteen Tribes of Cain series! Why? Because there is a handful of other book series out there with The Children of Cain name and also because The Thirteen Tribes of Cain makes a lot more sense with my series as a whole. So there you have it. A new name just in time for the release of the third book The Decree. In honor of this occasion I have revamped the original Forsaken trailer. Enjoy :)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-17231215176480670812016-01-13T18:39:00.000-08:002016-01-13T18:39:58.263-08:00RIP David Bowie :(I grew up watching Labyrinth and always loved David Bowie in the part. I also enjoyed his brief cameo in Zoolander and am now a big Flight of the Conchords fan. So here in honor of the great David Bowie's passing, I present to you my favorite Bowie Moments, both real and imaginary :)<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-13711995381255621032015-12-16T00:15:00.002-08:002015-12-21T15:06:57.470-08:00First Quarterly Book Bash/ Give Away!<br />
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: black; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: white; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">I'm doing an experiment. My books are in a very popular genre and have very common themes. It is very difficult to get to the top 10 let alone the top 100 of a genre on amazon with this many books to compete with. One way to do this is to have a lot of sales on amazon in a short amount of time, this makes your amazon book ranking rise considerably. Why is this important? You ask. Well, the higher your book is on a list or search, the more visible it is to potential readers; which means more book sells and more chance of getting some real attention. So here's what I'm going to do. On Saturday, December 26, I'm throwing a Book Bash for my first book “The Forsaken”. Both my eBooks will be on sale for .99 cents that whole day. I'm trying to get as many people to buy my book that day as possible in the hope it'll help my book rise in the book ranking and thus make “The Forsaken” more visible to readers on amazon. As part of my Book Bash, I will be giving away a $25 gift card to one random person who buys my book that day. Also, I will give out a few other prizes as well for some other lucky reader to win.</span> <span style="background-color: black; color: red;">Here’s how you get credit for your</span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: white; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">purchase to</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: white; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> be </span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: white; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: red;">entered into the giveaway. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Buy “The Forsaken” eBook for .99 cents<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Take a screenshot or take a picture of your amazon purchase confirmation email. Post it in the comments of the Book Bash giveaway post on my author Facebook page <a href="http://www.facebook.com/rjcraddockauthor">www.facebook.com/rjcraddockauthor</a> </span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red;">(2 entries)</span><span style="color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Buy book two “The Offspring” as well as “The Forsaken”. </span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red;">(2 entries) </span><span style="color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Again you must show the proof of this purchase in the comments of the giveaway post. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Share your purchase in a post on Facebook, or twitter by using the hashtag #rjcraddockbooks <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red;">(1 entry per site) </span><span style="color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Like my author Facebook page www.facebook.com/rjcraddockauthor </span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red;">(1 Entry) </span><span style="color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Sunday afternoon December 27th Rafflecopter will take the entries and randomly select one person to win the $25 Amazon gift card and four more to win a copy of one of the four eBooks available. That’s It! Spending .99 cents to potentially get $25 seems pretty awesome right? So mark your calendar, share this post and make sure to join The Forsaken Book Bash the day after Christmas! You get my eBook for a steal, you could get a free amazon gift card, and it’s a win/win! The .99 cent sale ends on Saturday the 26 at midnight. Here’s hoping my little experiment works and together we can make big changes happen and win lots of great prizes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Now go forth and enter!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Until next time,</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">R</span><span style="background-color: black;">.J. Craddock</span></span><br />
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-87728988829128611372015-11-05T16:52:00.001-08:002015-11-05T16:54:33.475-08:00Batman & Robin In The Clutches Of Fear<div style="text-align: center;">
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Some of you may not already know this, but my family and I are filmmakers. It is a Craddock family tradition to make a short film for every Halloween. We have them all on youtube on my Ruth Craddock channel if you want to check them all out. Anyways this year we went with a Super Hero theme. This is the results. It's a bit late but then I do have four kids so everything takes longer than I'd like it to. Anyways, without further ado I present to you Batman & Robin In The Clutches Of Fear! Muhahahahahahaha<br />
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Now go forth and watch it and share the spooky.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
R.J. Craddock<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-50304645162698140952015-11-03T22:39:00.001-08:002015-11-03T22:39:10.866-08:00Numbers Ignite by Rebecca Rode - Cover Reveal<div style="margin: 0 auto 15px; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="color: yellow;">Hello again. It's been a while gentle readers, but there's good news. If you couldn't tell from the title of this post or the great big banner above I'm here to help reveal the cover for a new book coming out soon! Nope not book three in The Children of Cain series, (that's in the works though) but the sequel to the bestselling dystopian novel Numbers Game by my writer friend Rebecca Rode. Numbers Ignite is due out January 26th, 2016. That's a while from now, but you can see the new cover and learn more about it here while you wait. </span></i></div>
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<strong>Numbers Ignite </strong><br />
<strong>Rebecca Rode </strong><br />(Numbers Game, #2)<br />Publication date: January 26th, 2016 <br />Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult<br />
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<span id="freeText11701537361078579412">Treena and Vance think they’ve pulled out of the numbers game forever. They’re wrong.</span><br />
After Treena’s disastrous attempt to unite the nation, she has the deaths of hundreds haunting her dreams. Now, with hatred and accusations following her past the border, she’s determined to leave that horrible day behind and find a peaceful, uneventful life with Vance and the settlers. But when she starts seeing mysterious figures hiding in the abandoned cities at night and uncovers a strange desert population, she realizes there’s a danger much greater than NORA to worry about—and she just abandoned her people to their fate.<br />
Vance is a prisoner. Being rejected by the girl he loves and put on trial for betraying his clan are bad enough, but now he’s been framed for a crime he never committed. Their less-than-perfect refuge has become the political game of a madman, and Vance is the only one who can stop it—if he can keep from being executed first.<br />
Treena and Vance are still very much in the game, and this time it will take everything they have to save those they love.<br />
<em>*Numbers Ignite is the sequel to the runaway Amazon #1 Bestseller, Numbers Game.</em><br />
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<strong>Sequel to:</strong><br /><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25131711-numbers-game?ac=1" target="_blank"><img alt="25131711" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-16460" src="http://xpressobooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/10/25131711.jpg" height="200" width="134" /></a></div>
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Author Bio:<br />
REBECCA RODE is an award-winning author, journalist, and mother of four. She is the author of the YA dystopian novel, NUMBERS GAME, and the inspirational book, HOW TO HAVE PEACE WHEN YOU'RE FALLING TO PIECES. She also writes for Deseret News, KSL.com, FamilyShare, and Provo Daily Herald. However, her true love is writing for teenagers. She enjoys traveling, reading, and martial arts, and she has a ridiculous addiction to chocolate-banana shakes. Visit her at www.AuthorRebeccaRode.com.<br />
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<a href="http://www.authorrebeccarode.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> / <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13486058.Rebecca_Rode" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/authorrebeccarode" target="_blank">Facebook</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/RebeccaRode" target="_blank">Twitter</a></div>
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Hosted by:<br /><br />
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<i><span style="color: yellow;">Now go forth and check out Numbers game ( If you haven't already read it) and mark your calendar for Numbers Ignite's release January 26th! </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: yellow;">Till next time,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: yellow;">R.J. Craddock</span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-172599807559778902015-10-09T16:58:00.000-07:002015-10-09T16:58:38.950-07:00Funny 4 Free eBook Friday!!!Hello, everyone! To shake things up a bit and for the sake of having more things to post about, I'm adding new segments to all my social media! One of which is Funny 4 Free eBook Friday! What's that? You ask. Well, it's where I post about something funny; a film, a story, a meme, a picture or what have you, and you the fans comment something funny back, share the post and like or follow the twinner posts on Facebook and Twitter. The fan/ reader who participates the most on the Friday post will win a free eBook either of one of my novels or of a third option should the reader already own both of my books. So here we go, the first installment of Funny 4 Free eBook Friday!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUVYaS7WM3nhAeqjP6ehzE9EZOIHcQus-df1C9kvjlaO7hZyQ2eS3WGfjftzi1_C8rEYqozmbOWRtUwXMwCHuGpwOoh2vMlZyPL7MwPI9UcaniXAjdLjp934yfac2OiYgZQtsfApIdeI/s1600/book-suicide.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="635" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVUVYaS7WM3nhAeqjP6ehzE9EZOIHcQus-df1C9kvjlaO7hZyQ2eS3WGfjftzi1_C8rEYqozmbOWRtUwXMwCHuGpwOoh2vMlZyPL7MwPI9UcaniXAjdLjp934yfac2OiYgZQtsfApIdeI/s640/book-suicide.png" width="640" /></a> I don't know how you all feel about reality television, but I personally think it's the worst thing ever! However I know people who I love and care for who absolutely love it, MOM *Cough* so I won't rip on it too much. I will say though that the best kinds of reality shows are home improvement shows like Love It or List It and Flea Market Flip or mockumentary shows like The Office. Otherwise, I feel one's time is better spent reading a book, but then I'm an author so I might be bias. </div>
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Anyways that's all for now. Don't forget to comment, share, and like this post or go to my<a href="http://www.facebook.com/rjcraddockauthor" target="_blank"> Facebook page </a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/RJCraddockwrite" target="_blank">Twitter</a> to comment, like and share there as well and use <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rjcraddockbooks?src=hash" target="_blank">#rjcraddockbooks</a> to get a chance to win a free eBook! The winner will be announced tomorrow Saturday 10th 2015. </div>
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Now go forth and be funny this fine Friday</div>
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Until next time, R.J. Craddock</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-16449357907280911742015-08-05T07:06:00.001-07:002015-08-05T07:06:50.154-07:00The Man in the Black Top Hat by Ju Ephraime - Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once again it seems as though I've fallen off the face of the earth or at least the internet world. But, alas, gentle readers, I am still living; just overwhelmed and having perhaps the craziest summer of my life. Anyhow, I return to you today with a book review! "And the villagers rejoiced! Yea!" The book? </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006IGCCLU?redirect=true&ref_=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0" style="background-color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The Man in the Black Top Hat</span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> by </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ju-Ephraime/e/B00546GTQO/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1" style="background-color: red; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Ju Ephraime</a><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: red;">.</span><span style="background-color: black;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Synopsis: </span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Syria Warrington came home one afternoon and found an old black top hat on her front step, being a lover of all things old; she did not hesitate to take it into her home. But bringing this top hat into her home unknowingly exposed her to the spirit that called this hat home. The strange happenings that began to take place in her home from that day on had Syria questioning her sanity. Her life, as she knew it, began to quickly unravel before her very eyes as night after night she found herself in the arms of a stranger. Were her experiences real or imagined?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">The Pros: I love the premise of this book, but then I grew up in a haunted house and was the center of that paranormal activity so maybe I'm bias. However, I love the physiological </span><span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">aspect of having a ghost stalker. You can't see them. You can't stop them. You can't really get a restraining order or call the cops. Heck, you can't even really tell anyone about it without everyone thinking you're crazy! That would drive anyone mad! Plus, the added sense that you're no longer safe in your own home and the fear that this entity will do harm to your family just adds to the tension the main character is under. Not to mention can you imagine being afraid to go to sleep for fear of what this invisible stalker will do to you? I relate to Syria's love of old things, and this helped me connect with her. I have always enjoyed things from other eras more than my own. However, I buy old furniture and pieces and make them over, I even paint them! This, Syria would never approve of. What's funny is I just barely bought a 1940's telephone from a flea market for decor in my kitchen. I got it for a steal, too, and then I went and read this book and now I'm worried that I may have made the same mistake Syria did! (Spoiler) Hmmm, I'll have to keep an eye on that phone, I'm not tossing it into a barbecue anytime soon but if it starts moving about the house, or I start having crazy sex dreams about some random World War II solider then it's out of here!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">The Cons: This book is written in a style that resembles a memoir more than a traditional novel, meaning that the majority of the book is summarized. Instead of unfolding as if you were apart of the story, you feel like an outsider reading an account from someone's journal. This is acceptable from time to time in a book when events need to move along, but as a whole book it undermined the tension of the situation the leading lady was under. The book also seems to have ten beginnings, the story doesn't really start until chapter three. There was some good background info in there to help setup the story but because it was written the way it was, without action or in the moment, it felt dry. We also know who the ghost is before the haunting even begins which I felt hurt the tension and the suspense of the book. Although I did enjoy the chapter written from the ghost's perspective. I think it would've been a better read to have taken that out or put it in later. Perhaps after Syria had figured out the identity of the personage possessing the top hat first, then have him reveal to her his side of their once-encounter when he was living and how he/the hat came to be in her home. This, I think, would've made it more of a mystery and heightened the intensity of the story. Although some really creepy things do happen in this tale, my morbid side wanted the ghost to go a step further and for things to get even crazier than they did. If this is indeed based on a true story then I understand why the author didn't take things down darker paths. Despite this, I still enjoyed the book. A few random notes. This book is slightly erotic. Personally, I don't read traditional romance or erotica novels. There really not my thing, partially because it is rather difficult to write a good sex scene that isn't corny let alone a whole book packed with them! The writer of such books has to keep things fresh, change up the sex scenes, and be careful not to be repetitive in positions/situations or descriptions. I would rate the sex scenes in this book a notch or two below the steaminess of a Sookie Stackhouse novel. They're not super kinky but not mellow either. However, with all the sex acts happening with the ghost and the husband being in the master bedroom they tend to repeat each other. I do give the author credit for trying to change them up though and did enjoy some of her descriptions. Eventually when Syria finally confided in her mother about the situation her mom told her to call a "Ghostbuster" to get rid of the ghost. I thought it was funny when the mom used the term. Syria uses it in her narrative three times afterward even after she had researched paranormal activities on the internet. Paranormal Investigator, Exorcist, or Medium would've been more proper terms and Syria would know this from her googling. It's not a big deal but it </span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">seemed odd and took me out of the story. Although she never ended up calling such a person to solve her haunting issues, I did like the solution she and her friend eventually came up with and how the book ended. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Overall I give this book four hats/stars. It's a good, steamy read for any paranormal lover or twisted weirdo like me. I enjoyed this book and the heebbie-jeebbies it gave me. Though it may have ruined me from thrift store shopping and frequenting flea markets for a while. My hat is off to the author for creating this chilling tale. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Now go forth and give this haunted, twisted romance a read, but do so at your own risk! Muwa-ha-ha-haaa! You can find it </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006IGCCLU?redirect=true&ref_=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> Till next time.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="font-size: large;">R.J. Craddock</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><br /></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-83513186167670590252015-04-13T23:41:00.001-07:002015-05-07T18:41:08.252-07:00Acquisitions by Christine Haggerty - Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="line-height: 12.2880001068115px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello again, my book loving friends! Today I'm reviewing a book by a fellow Utah Fantasy Guild author Christine Haggerty, called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Acquisitions-Plague-Legacy-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00H15COZQ/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">“Acquisitions”</a>. It is a Young Adult Dystopian novel, and book one in the Plague Legacy series. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 12.2880001068115px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Synopsis: Half a century after the world was decimated by a bio-engineered plague, military scouts are acquisitioning a new supply of exports—slaves. Orphan, Cameron Landry, is dealing with the loss of his family, most recently his revered older brother Dom. As Cam tries to forge new friendships and navigate the awkwardness of his first experiences with teen romance, he is also running from the aggressive mutant bully, Devon Miller. Against a background of burned homes and a rusting ship, Cam has to find the strength within himself to survive. Cam and his friends are on different sides of the mutant and immune societal divide—even though they are teenage orphans who are largely left to govern themselves, they live in a post-apocalyptic society that has taught them to believe that there are distinct differences in the categories of human beings. </span></span></span></span><br />
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The Pros: First off, I must admit I'm not one of the scores of readers in the world that adores Dystopian novels. In general they just don't do it for me. This is mostly because the concepts behind their new world governments, and the reasons behind the former societies collapse, are convoluted at best. I will say that this is not the case with “Acquisitions”. Everything made sense within this world and I really appreciated the effort the writer put into making this world seem realistic. I found this book to be very well-written. There were great descriptions throughout and occasionally those descriptive moments took my breath away. The author has a very good grasp of her characters. This made it easy to get to know each new person that came into the story without feeling like the reader was being spoon-fed information. The writer doesn't make you feel stupid by pointing out the obvious; she lets you experience the story as it plays out. The lead character, Cameron, was very likable and easy to root for. Although he does have that annoying trait most teenage boys have of not knowing exactly how he feels toward the two female characters and does the typical guy things. However, this did make him feel realistic, so I forgave him. After all, most teenage boys act like a deer caught in headlights when they first encounter love, they can't help it. I really liked that the two female love interests were opposite from each other, yet not so much that it seemed unrealistic that Cam would like both of them. They still had enough similarities to have appeal to the same guy. The setting and era of the story was well done and felt very real for me. Overall, I loved the concept of the world that the author created.</span></span></span></span><br />
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The Cons: Although they're headed to a fascinating world called Salvation that seems a throwback to Roman times with Gladiators and such. The world we start off in isn't very exciting at all. Cam's world is that of a dying nation, that is really just a carcass of its former fatty self. It makes for an interesting backdrop but it's not a terribly exciting place to read about. I must warn you that this is the first book in a series and just like most first books it has to carry the heavy burden of establishing a world on its fledgling shoulders. This means that not much happens within its pages besides character development and world building. It is at its heart a travel log. (Think "The Hobbit" or "The Fellowship of the Ring"). In my opinion the other two books in that series, "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King" are faster paced and more interesting reads. I'm hoping that this is the case with The Plague Legacy series and that next book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Assets-Plague-Legacy-Christine-Haggerty-ebook/dp/B00U93JR6Q/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">“Assets: The Plague Legacy, Volume 2”</a>, is even better than the first with faster pacing without losing attention to details</span></span></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Spolier Alert!! Skip this next paragraph if you don't want the ending given away) </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 12.2880001068115px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Overall, the books pacing was just too slow, which is funny for me to say since I generally don't go for fast-paced action-packed books. This is probably the first time I've ever really enjoyed a book, yet felt a little bored at the same time. I think this is in part due to the fact that I was expecting a more action-packed read because of the books blurb. I think I was expecting to get to Salvation a lot earlier in the book and for there to be more action and gore. Don't get me wrong there is some action throughout the book. Tension builds between Cam and his mutant rival Devon from the very beginning but it gets derailed on their journey across the Ocean. When Devon gets sent into solitary confinement for a few days the tension lapses and I think this hurt the books ending making it anti-climatic for me. I understand why the author removed Devon from the main action for a bit, if she hadn't, Cam would never have gotten a chance to get close to Devon's twin, Tara, who Devon guards protectively like an obsessive lover. While this helped the romance along it killed the overall tension and made Cam's overcoming Devon as an obstacle less fulfilling for me. In fact, Devon's comeuppance was over way too quickly and the ending just felt too abrupt. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="line-height: 12.2880001068115px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite all this, I still really enjoyed the book and give it a four star rating! I think it's a great improvement on the typical Y.A. Dystopian novel with hints of Charles Dickens in its tale. I would call it a mix of “Oliver Twist” and “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome”. Christine Haggerty created a nitty-gritty world that is perfect for a coming-of-age adventure that both sexes can enjoy. (Here's a little old style Mad Max for your amusement below!)</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now go forth and read people, read! If you want to read this book in particular you can find it <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Acquisitions-The-Plague-Legacy-Book-ebook/dp/B00H15COZQ" target="_blank">here!</a> And yes that was Tina Turner in the video. <i>"Rolling, rolling, rolling down the river!" </i>She was awesome in that film. And yes Mel Gibson was once a total hottie, too bad gravity ruins everything :(</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">R.J. Craddock</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-53708031770763041732015-03-06T22:46:00.001-08:002015-03-10T16:00:46.957-07:00What Makes You An Author?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the film “Amelie” the title character says, “…every seller window should have a person who whispers comebacks...” That would be my dream job, to tell people off and rebuke their asinine arguments. "At least you'll never be a vegetable - even artichokes have hearts." However, I was raised in a culture of kindness and goodwill where a gift like mine has no use. And it's not considered very nice to tell people they suck, or that their point is ridiculous even if you say it in a colorful and intelligent way. Furthermore, we now live in a world where you can no longer agree to disagree and stay civil. If you disagree with someone you're a monster. Meanwhile, there are people out there publishing ludicrous opinions as fact via blogs, Twitter, and Facebook who think they can go unchallenged or un-corrected. But since I was taught The Golden Rule and that old adage: "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all”, I've learned to keep my comebacks and jibes to myself rather than saying them aloud. Until now that is. I’ve decided to use my gift for a worthy cause, to defend the under-appreciated and misjudged. I'm speaking, of course, of self-published authors, my people, my kind. <br />
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Recently I read a blog post wherein the blogger said boldly that "Self-published authors shouldn't be called authors at all." He stated that they were not the same as traditionally published authors. "Just because it’s easy to upload your written word, so that it can be downloaded to another machine does not make you an author, any more than me buying a stethoscope allows me to be called a doctor." A more idiotic statement I have never heard. For one, you’re comparing a profession of science, that requires ten plus years of schooling and training to a profession that doesn't require a degree or training at all. Writing is an art form more than it will ever be a science. You can learn techniques and method until you’re blue in the face, but that won't make you a great writer. It's not something that can just be taught, it has to be earned. With every bad bit of dialogue and every poorly-thought plot point, a writer hones their craft. Writing is all about trial and error, rewrites, and do-overs. A doctor can't afford to make a mistake. There are no second drafts when it comes to saving a life. It's a precise science, whereas writing is subjective. What constitutes great writing in one genre is nonsensical in another. Two authors can have the same idea and yet write two completely different books. <br />
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The blogger went on to say that the true definition of what makes a real author is whether certain organizations recognize them as such. These guilds/associations base their inclusion on how much money an author makes. So apparently an author is only judged on the nickels and dimes they have to rub together not on the quality of their prose or character development. "You have to earn $1,000.00 in the form of an advance on a single Eligible Novel. Or, you have to earn $1,000.00 in the form of royalties or a combination of advance plus royalties on a single published Eligible Novel. Finally, you have to pull in $5,000.00 in the form of earnings for a Self-Published novel." It seems that this blogger is confusing professional with successful.<br />
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There are plenty of individuals in lots of professions that, although talented, are not particularly successful by most people's standards. To be professional at anything means you are doing it as your profession, you treat it like a job, not a hobby. Again, this is where his comparison of doctors to writers makes little sense. However, we'll stick with it a moment to prove my point. To be a professional doctor you have to: go to school, get the training/degree, set up a practice, and be compliant with certain laws and regulations. To be successful/make money as a doctor you have to: advertise and network so that people know who you are and where your office is located, you have to have a good bedside manner with your patients. This gets you recommended from your satisfied clientele to their friends and family. Now, there are a few ways to go about becoming a professional writer. If you want to be a journalist and write for a newspaper or magazine you need to: go to school, get a degree, do some internships/ training/ build your resume, and then apply for a job(s). For this kind of writing schooling is necessary. To be a successful writer for a newspaper or magazine you have to: have people skills, have an article or column that lots of people read and enjoy, you have to have some credentials for the type of work you write, for example, if you write for a finance magazine you need to know something about finance and be able to write an article that makes sense and gets the point across in the allotted word count.<br />
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However, the above mentioned blogger wasn't talking about a magazine writer or columnist in a newspaper he was talking about authors of novels, Fiction, Non-Fiction, and so on. So what are the requirements for a novelist then? To be a professional novelist/author you have to: have a story to tell and know the technique to tell it. Believe in your story to the point of madness (being a tad insane doesn't hurt). Submit your work to agents/publishers, get a publishing deal. Have your books distributed to bookstores/have an online platform where readers can find your work. To be successful/make money as an author you need to have: A recognizable name (as in, people have heard of you and your work). A finished product to sell that looks professional. Have a book that is easy to find and buy because it is widely distributed and promoted, and have and maintain a solid reputation as a good writer which means your work is of a high quality (reviews). If you're writing about a certain topic it helps if you've studied it or have a degree in that field but it's not necessary as you can always research it for the book or hire someone to do that for you. If you're writing Fiction, Sci-Fi, or Fantasy you can do without a ton of research and come up with a lot of it entirely out of your own skull. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need an English degree to write a book in the language, they have these people called editors who can "edit" your work for you. Proofreaders and beta readers who go through it and help you find the segments that don't make sense or slow down the flow of the story. <br />
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Comparing a doctor to a writer is idiotic because it takes a truly bad doctor with terrible people skills and poor judgment to fail at his profession, where as an author's success is based almost entirely on the readers. You can be the best writer ever and do everything right and still not be successful if people don't hear about you, can't find your printed work to purchase, and you don't get good reviews thus not getting word of mouth recommendations to other readers. <br />
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Many an artist never reaches true success until long after they are gone. Garnishing fans over the last hundred plus years American author, Edgar Allan Poe, struggled in his own time. Poe’s total earnings as a “professional” author, poet, editor, and lecturer were about $6,200.00, and that is over a course of fourteen years! His highest payment he ever received was when his classic short story, "The Gold-Bug" won a $100.00 prize from Philadelphia's Dollar Newspaper. In John Ward Ostrom’s lecture, “Poe's Literary Labors and Rewards, ¬Myths and Reality at the Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society 1987”, he calculated that Poe's life earnings as a writer, $6,200.00 would be worth about $56,000 by 1987. Divide that by fourteen years that means that Poe only made $400 a year! Now I'm not sure what the dollar is worth today in relation to the poverty level we were at in the 80's, but I dare say that even now Poe's earnings would be considered poultry at best. By the before-mentioned blogger’s standards, Edgar Allan Poe, the inventor of the detective novel and one of the most celebrated American novelists of all time, would not be deemed worthy of the title “professional author.” <br />
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Dutch post-impressionist Artist, Vincent Van Gogh, lived in poverty, producing close to 900 works, yet only selling one. The Red Vineyard at Arles sold for 400 Francs. That's equal to about $1,00000-$1,050.00 today. However, now his works are all very sought after. The Portrait of Dr. Gachet painted June 1890 was sold in 1990 for $138.4 million. By this one blog’s standard, Van Gogh was not a professional, he was not of value. Yet his paintings didn't change over the years. They are the same now as they were then. So is the case with a novel. It doesn't transform into a masterpiece the second it makes x amount of dollars or gets a publisher’s stamp slapped on it. The writing process is the same for an indie as it is for a traditional author. Big name authors don't have magical pixie dust that makes a book appear out of thin air. Writing is work; it is hard work, no matter who you are, period. <br />
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<a href="https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/65/MPW-32838" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/65/MPW-32838" width="131" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjUD7zEbPzqjAe00Dg9thiGQH00-CSbEALmjiGntv_SV5ejpVkaOPoqf2U-3jAN6wRuNt3F3wMDOrJn2apBIQ9iv_JM_qWB0Iu5BoKqPhKZJJlfbxPc12x-fkAhnISronFkPVmei5W-np5WDaKY1wNoI5ThPQ5mtaNcvKu9Ew55LL1WBQ0k-3lNJS99=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/sucker-punch-movie-poster-01.jpg" height="200" width="135" /></a>Personally, I like to compare the publishing world today to the film industry. Every year the big studios release about 200 films. Not all of them are glowing gems of cinematic brilliance. Some are "Schindlerd’s List" Oscar contenders and others are simply of the "Dude, Where’s My Car" variety. Having been released by a big studio doesn't guarantee a film’s worth or success. Some are box office smashes, some are moderately successful and some just tank. The critically-acclaimed masterpieces are not always big money makers. The quality of the film has nothing to do with how much money was put into it, or how much it made. “American Beauty” had a budget of just $15 million yet won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture. On the other hand, “Sucker Punch” had a budget of $82 million and only grossed $89.8 million worldwide, and was scorned by critics and movie goers alike. No, the quality of a film is dependent on the talent of the writers, cast, and the crew that made it.<br />
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Likewise, not all books released by the top five Publishing Houses are all quality books or big international best sellers. The best-sellers may not be the best written either. Take "Twilight" for example. I can't think of a book that creates more contempt in authors then Stephanie Meyer's four part vampire saga. Why? Because it is so poorly written, and its success so staggering that it angers other authors who actually have talent, yet struggle to make it in the mainstream world. They envy her success, sure, but they mock her inability to foreshadow, write interesting characters, or give a book a decent ending. She is not respected by a large part of the authors in the industry, traditionally published or indie. Yet, based off of this blogger’s criteria, she is a true author while small indie authors, like myself, aren't even worth noting because our book(s) haven't given us fat bank accounts. Meanwhile, some of the breakout films over the years have been low budget, well-written, independent films. These films got recognized for their brilliance because the film critics looked beyond the shiny logo of a big studio and judged it off of its own merit. The Sundance Film Festival was created for indie films to get a chance to shine. In fact, there are hundreds of film festivals like it that make it possible for films, that otherwise might never be seen, get noticed from movie goes, critics, and studios alike. <br />
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Finally, after an eternity in the dark ages, the publishing industry developed its own kind of Sundance for books: Amazon. Thanks to the invention of the e-reader and Print on Demand publishing, the once-silent now have a voice in the publishing world. The game has changed so that the big five can no longer decide for us what is worth reading and what isn't. After all, why should they have that power? They don't write the books, or come up with the plot. They aren't the ones toiling for months, and even years, over stories, weaving parts of their soul into their narratives. No, really all a publisher does is clean, package, and promote a product. Nowadays with the networks of freelance professionals online anyone can hire a few editors, a formatter, a cover artist, <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm86z23jDerzNm4go9DncPFYlmay56kCuC88P9uIUx9kvcRP95mllc6SIW_rJJddTXphEC_eF1a-HmDcdgW0oYYmkIS0bwaspzIEbKxeI68FBLbeStaFJi1WX5_zl26yb0s9lgYUxhD2Q/s1600/justforsakencoverne.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm86z23jDerzNm4go9DncPFYlmay56kCuC88P9uIUx9kvcRP95mllc6SIW_rJJddTXphEC_eF1a-HmDcdgW0oYYmkIS0bwaspzIEbKxeI68FBLbeStaFJi1WX5_zl26yb0s9lgYUxhD2Q/s1600/justforsakencoverne.jpeg" height="200" width="133" /></a>and pay for their own advertising. About the only thing one can't do is get onto the shelves of a brick and mortar Barnes and Noble. This mostly has to do with limited store space and the cost of overhead. After all, they can't carry every book that they have on their online catalog in the store. They have to limit themselves to the ones that seem most likely to sell well. This doesn't mean anything about the quality of the books.<br />
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So, putting all that aside, what really makes an author and author? What does one have to do to be worthy of that prestigious title? Once more, what can be done to dispel this idiotic notion that indie authors are a lesser life form than traditional authors? Why is it that a person who decides to take their fate into their own hands and put out a book on their own is not as viable as those who get chosen by the publisher and have someone else produce their work for them? Why should those who have money and power decide for the rest of us what is hip and trendy and what is<br />
not? Why are we still living in a world of haves and have not? <br />
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So my point is that there is a whole lot that goes into a book. There is a whole lot that goes into becoming an author. Whether you do it on your own, or with the help of a publisher, the process in large is the same, except one turns the writer into an employee and the other makes the writer god of their own universe. If your only goal in writing is to make money, then you might want to reconsider your profession. If you find you can't live with yourself if you don't at least try to write, then chances are this is what you’re meant to do. Because no matter how you publish, the only thing that is going to get you through all the crap that comes with writing is your level of passion and commitment. After all if Poe didn't give up after fourteen years of struggling, then neither should you! So, like the old axiom, "You can't judge a book by its cover", I likewise say, "You can't judge an author by their publisher!" That's all from this Indie Author's Soapbox.<br />
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Now go forth and buy an indie book! You know you want to! Or just buy any book, I don't care just as long as you're all out there reading!<br />
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Till next time,<br />
R.J. Craddock<br />
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P.S. If you'd like to read the original blog that got me all riled up you can find it <a href="http://goodereader.com/blog/commentary/self-publishers-should-not-be-called-authors" target="_blank">here.</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzx3hUuKyoKsj4vkMi8YimAzNzA19lFeAOV-4K1vDRgCqCynnTOJW3GAi0ZNrZvJBALaaNTIHqKVZ2_kfgmof0SRGurMXWACkuQ7-3KkPeZcmt3I-EbVo4ASy5p2Sl6njP9QxG-RqhFk/s1600/NumbersGameMock1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzx3hUuKyoKsj4vkMi8YimAzNzA19lFeAOV-4K1vDRgCqCynnTOJW3GAi0ZNrZvJBALaaNTIHqKVZ2_kfgmof0SRGurMXWACkuQ7-3KkPeZcmt3I-EbVo4ASy5p2Sl6njP9QxG-RqhFk/s320/NumbersGameMock1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Treena is nervous for Rating Day. A single number will brand her forever—a valuable citizen, or a pathetic waste of space. Her top-Rated boyfriend is confident their scores will coincide so they can attend the academy together. But when the big day arrives, her true number shocks everyone.<br />
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To get her life—and boyfriend—back, she must go undercover and expose a military spy. Doesn’t sound too hard, except that someone wants her dead. And then there’s Vance, the mysterious soldier with a haunted past and beautiful brown eyes. Together, they discover a dark numbers conspiracy, one that shatters the nation’s future. Treena must join up with Vance if she is to survive the dangerous game of numbers—and the terrible war that rages within her heart.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-1U2a4mHvqrJBZNuARGfABmcCRfjLM_-HlLdOSrngEiLiLxhhO5W-FCJvUwd1BBg0R6xx6jCcDPXhF9JzpolIsVopUGmbfHKIWyz3wPhFesT5dECrYpPiHt1mUMl4_R_POUY3Tndu7Y/s1600/10644208_10205954885574025_5989674014070298079_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-1U2a4mHvqrJBZNuARGfABmcCRfjLM_-HlLdOSrngEiLiLxhhO5W-FCJvUwd1BBg0R6xx6jCcDPXhF9JzpolIsVopUGmbfHKIWyz3wPhFesT5dECrYpPiHt1mUMl4_R_POUY3Tndu7Y/s200/10644208_10205954885574025_5989674014070298079_o.jpg" /></a></div>REBECCA RODE is an award-winning author, journalist, and mother of four. She is the author of the inspirational book, How to Have Peace When You’re Falling to Pieces, and writes for Deseret News, KSL.com, FamilyShare, and Provo Daily Herald. However, her true love is writing for teenagers. She enjoys traveling, reading, and martial arts, and she has a ridiculous affinity for chocolate-banana shakes. Visit her at <a href="http://www.AuthorRebeccaRode.com">www.AuthorRebeccaRode.com.</a><br />
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Well, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and make sure to keep an eye out for the release of “Numbers Game” in March! <br />
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Now go forth, buy books, read books, review books, and repeat.<br />
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Untill next time, R.J. CraddockAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-61692927499142922902014-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:002014-09-27T19:56:00.368-07:00Eye of Persuasion by Adrienne Monson - Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6OCnQ3T2RzBOoMLAoLz9MoWPB7Vo3WoxoMIPTde967zgFHduJ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6OCnQ3T2RzBOoMLAoLz9MoWPB7Vo3WoxoMIPTde967zgFHduJ" /></a></div>
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I picked up this book whilst sharing a booth at SLC Comic Con from my fellow author and long time friend, Adrienne Monson. We were there as members of the Utah Fantasy Authors (UFA) branch of the League of Utah Writers (LUW). There were ten other authors involved in the UFA booth besides Adrienne and myself, everyone with a book or two to sell. Although I've only read a few of the books that we were offering in the booth I only took home two of them. One of them was Monson's new novella "Eyes of Persuasion" a historical romance with a fantasy twist thrown in for good measure.<br />
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Synopsis: When her parents are murdered, Lady Maybrick is taken in by an abusive uncle to help pay his gambling debt. But Isabeau has a secret, a talent hidden since birth. Her gift helps to keep her out of the whorehouse and out of trouble--that is, until she meets Everett Radcliff. Hard working Everett Radcliff detests high society and finds plenty of excuses to avoid it. But when he meets Lady Maybrick, he can't help but be enthralled by her violet eyes. When he hires an investigator to uncover a crook, his path crosses with hers, throwing them into a world of mystery, murder, and, surprisingly, love.<br />
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The Pros: "Eyes of Persuasion" is a fast-paced, plot-driven easy read. Set in eighteenth century London, taking us everywhere from high society balls, to the dirty hustle of the shipping industry of London's port. This tale is well researched making the reader feel as though they've fallen through the pages back into time. This book begins like many a historical romances with a unique, yet unappreciated, high-born maiden forced into an engagement with a man she doesn't love, but has no choice but to marry. However, Isabeau Maybrick is no ordinary lady, as we find out within the first couple chapters. The author endeavors to deliver a fresh look at this era with a heroine who has not only a special gift but some modern day gumption. Fast-paced and unpredictable this book delivers some interesting twists that will pleasantly surprise readers.<br />
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The Cons: Although well-written with it's attention to the details and lingo of the era, the story felt rushed. This might be due in part to the fact that it is a novella and not a typical novel. It felt more plot driven then character driven, a pattern I noticed in Monson's other book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dissension-Inheritance-Trilogy-Adrienne-Monson-ebook/dp/B00I2FWTZO/ref=la_B00BEJLHA8_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411872933&sr=1-2" target="_blank">"Dissension" (book 1 in the Blood Inheritance Trilogy)</a> Depending on the reader this may or may not be a bad thing. My issue is, that with the plot taking up the entirety of the book their is little time to develop characters or create emotional depth in even the most intense scenes. I struggled to connect even with the principle characters, Lady Maybrick and Everett Radcliff. Although I found their relationship somewhat entertaining, the story rushes their romance along too quickly. Personally, I feel that the book would've been greatly improved had it been a regular novel; giving the characters more time to grow and their relationship would also feel more genuine. As it is, I found that I wasn't invested enough in the characters to be drawn into the suspense of the story. Some of the secondary characters felt very under developed and somewhat two dimensional such as Isabeau's abusive gambling Uncle Brig. Although he's not a huge part of the story, he's in it enough that I found his actions and motives puzzling because his character is never examined. He comes off more as a stereotype then a real character and this took me out of the story from time to time. The dialogue was a little weak here and there also taking me out of the action.<br />
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Overall the book is unpredictable and easy to read. It's length and ever twisting plot combined with the setting makes it an entertaining escape for a rainy day. I give it four stars. A decent book executed fairly well. But, as always, don't just take my word for it, go out and read it yourselves!<br />
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Now go forth and pick up this book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Persuasion-Adrienne-Monson-ebook/dp/B00MORR44C/ref=la_B00BEJLHA8_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411872121&sr=1-3" target="_blank">"Eyes of Persuasion"</a> and come on back to share your thoughts with us when you're done.<br />
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Till next time,<br />
R.J. Craddock<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-55030954066676942752014-08-01T12:23:00.001-07:002014-08-01T12:23:34.967-07:00Divergent - Book to Movie Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Could the world become so corrupt and devastated by war that all of society would break down and the only way to survive and rebuild would be to label everyone and divide them into factions to keep them in line and keep the peace? Apparently the author of Divergent, Veronica Roth, thinks so because that's exactly what happens in her best-selling young adult dystopian novel. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right after turning sixteen Beatrix Pryer is tested. This test is a simulation that will determine her true nature and the faction she should live in for the rest of her life. She's been raised to be an Abnegation, the faction that believes in selfless acts and putting others before themselves. But Beatrix isn't selfless like her parents or her brother; she isn't like the others of her faction. She longs to be fearless to be free and adventurous. She longs to be a member of Dauntless, the faction that believes in courage, strength, and conquering ones fears. She longs to be a warrior, a soldier. When she takes the test, however, her results are inconclusive. She is divergent, one who does not fit into just one faction, and thus is considered dangerous to their society. She is told to keep the truth about herself secret, and now has to decide all on her own which faction she should choose for the rest of her life. Should she be true to her own desires and follow her ambition to Dauntless or should she do what's expected of her and stay where it's save in Abnegation? Either way she has to leave something behind, her own dreams or her family. One choice can transform her forever!</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Book Review: First off, I am not a Dystopian fan. The explanations of how modern society crumbles are either non-existent, vague, or riddled with flaws. Also, the reasoning behind why and how these new societies take shape rising from the ashes of the former governments are convoluted at best. I really don't see the point of a society in where you are only able to act on one aspect of your personality. Are they reasoning that having too much personality, too much freedom, is what destroyed the previous civilization and that's why this faction system is suppose to work? The concept is interesting but I have a hard time believing that most people would agree to this kind of a prejudice society. Essentially they're all labeled and put into little boxes where they have to stay for the rest of their lives. How would this make for a peaceful society? This would drive me insane! </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that aside I was grateful to find that Beatrix has a personality. She is a complex person with more than one side to her, and struggles with this faction idea as much as I would. I found it interesting how she wasn't able to be labeled by the test and has to choose based on her own desires what she wanted to do the rest of her life. This is more true to real life and the decision we all make when we choose a profession or a major when we go off to college. The initiation into Dauntless from jumping onto the train to jumping off a building into a black hole that leads to who knows where drew me in and caught my imagination. I had no trouble putting myself into Beatrix's shoes and going through her struggles as if I was her. I mostly identified with her being a small girl who everyone assumed was weak and incompetent. I'm short myself and have always been independent. Yet because of my size people have always treated me as if I was incapable of doing anything physical. In ways Beatrix home faction reminds me a lot of my religion and the ideals we live by including: selflessness, service, and modesty. When she chooses to transform herself into Trix she has to face her fears and change her whole way of life, including becoming more comfortable with her body and herself. I like that although she gets a tattoo like everyone else in Dauntless they have meaning and purpose, not just something that looks cool. Ultimately, I rooted for her through it all and loved that her being Divergent gave her an advantage in some of her trails as she fought to become accepted into Dauntless. </span><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I loved that she doesn't let the actions and the perceptions of others stop her from conquering her shortcomings to become triumphant. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love interest wise I enjoyed the way this story unfolded. It happened naturally and gradually throughout the plot not side tracking from her personal journey or the action of the story. The love interest was a strong and interesting character. I found his attraction to Trix believable and his behavior practical, yet still romantic in nature. He was neither too flat or over written, which I think helped him feel more real. The tension between Trix and her rival initiates and her budding friendships were all well-written and believable. The ending was a bit rushed for me but still well done with a satisfying conclusion. </span></span><br />
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Overall I really enjoyed this book despite its unrealistic concept and society. I found it easy to read, and hard to put down. Intense from beginning to end with an ending that was both satisfying yet left you wondering what’s next, making you feel like you needed to pick up book two right away. I would give it five stars and recommend it to people like me who don't like Dystopian or young adult. It's the kind of book most anyone could get into. </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Movie Review: Only a few days after finishing the book I went and saw the movie adaptation of the book. First off the movie is well done overall and enjoyable. However, I have a few complaints. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, in typical Hollywood fashion they went and cast, Shailene Woodley a tall actress to play Beatrix, a short character. It's not a big deal that they didn't cast a blonde, although I do believe that people often perceive blondes as naive, innocent, weak, or simple-minded, so being blonde was a big part of the character in the book. What really bothers me is that they took a strong-willed, short woman role and gave it to someone tall when there are plenty of talented short blonde actresses out there who could've done a far better job. Not That Woodley was terrible or anything, I just found that her inability to embody the actual character of the book distracted from the film itself. Beatrix's height was a huge part of why her victory was so poignant in the book. She goes from being the weakest, smallest, and most likely to fail to the top initiate in her training. It's a huge accomplishment because everyone treats her like she's too weak to keep up. Because she has to overcome her physical limitations her struggle is more realistic, her triumph more rewarding. They took that away from the character when they made her tall, even taller than her best friend Christina, who was stronger and bigger than her in the book. Also, the fact that Beatrix in the book was of a similar build to mine made her more relate-able for me, and was a huge part of why I loved her character. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Second, they stayed pretty close to the book at first then went off on a completely different direction by the ending. In some ways this worked, in others it didn't. They also rushed through some vital scenes which made the story seem choppy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Third, they down played the villain characters, Eric and Peter, making them seem far less menacing then they had been in the book, losing their impact in the movie. They barely mentioned her friend, Albert, until later in the story so that when a key event happened it was less impactful because he wasn't as important to Beatrix. I also didn't like how they changed the relationship between Beatrix and her brother. When she goes to him for help in the book he was more considerate and understanding then he was in the movie. Also, he was key in helping solve the big mystery behind how the government would be overthrown in the book. In the movie he was not helpful at all, just a weak side character. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, the ending went off a little from where the book took it but ultimately gave us the same results with a Hollywood flare. In some ways I did like the movie ending better than the book. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Overall the movie gets a four out of five star rating. Had they cast an actress better suited to the original character who had to overcome more and prove herself then I would've given it five stars. Otherwise the casting in the film was pretty spot on, with Theo James as the perfect Four, Ashley Judd and Tony Goldwyn as her parents, and Kate Winslet as the female villianess. The production value was excellent and it was all in all a descent adaptation. However, a</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">s is often the case, </span><span style="background-color: black; color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">the book is definitely better than the film.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now go forth, read the book watch the movie and have a great weekend! Till next time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">R.J. Craddock</span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-7965952566761425612014-06-30T23:39:00.001-07:002014-06-30T23:39:29.608-07:00Copper Descent by Angela Hartley - Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51l7dQHkQaL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51l7dQHkQaL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Copper Descent” is the tale of Nina Douglas, a Native American girl with a secret. She walks into the dream world, even though her mother forbids it. Nina and her family are the last of their tribe, their village destroyed by Sinuf, a dark god from before the beginning of time. Nina's mother is afraid that Sinuf will find Nina in the dream world and take control of her, turning her mysterious gifts into something dark and sinister. One night the dream world shows Nina a terrible vision of the future. Afraid her mother will be angry with her for walking into the dream behind her back, Nina keeps the vision to herself. Her decision ends up costing her dearly and turning her world upside down. Guilt forces her to make a difficult choice sacrificing a part of herself forever. At last she is safe from the dark wolf of her dreams… or so she thought. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's been a while since a book has really impressed me, especially a debut novel by a new author. This is the case with “Copper Descent.” Right away you’re drawn into the story, and your attention is held by the author’s creative attention to detail. She has a talent for blending the modern world and realistic settings with Native American folklore in a way that makes everything seem plausible. The pacing is great in this book. I never once found myself getting bored or wanting to skip ahead. As is the case with most books the best character is the Villain. In “Copper Descent”, Angela gives us Sinuf, an interesting twist on the classic image of Lucifer with roots in both christen mythology and Native American lore. The effect is an antagonist that is sexy, deadly, haunting and somehow likable in a bad-boy-kind-of-way.The kind of guy that lures women with tendencies towards fixer uppers. I found myself hoping that maybe Nina could turn this cold-hearted serpent around so that perhaps he could redeem himself in the end. At first I found that I didn't really like Nate, Nina's love interest. He came off very immature and just plain rude at first. Later on, when he came back into the story, he seemed to have grown up some and turned into my second favorite character. The story was never predictable and kept you guessing. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My only complaints are these: The action seemed a bit choppy in the last couple chapters. This wouldn't be a big deal as most modern books seem to be written this way, except that this book was not up until the end. It's not really noticeable except in two spots where it took me out of the story. Perhaps in the excitement of wrapping up the book these moments were rushed a bit to render the scenes a little confusing instead of having the natural flow the rest of the book had. Secondly, the ending wasn't what I was hoping for. There was a bit of a Wizard of Oz ending to it, "You had the power within you all along." Although it was well-written and made perfect sense with the book, the final fight seemed to easily won for my taste and a was little anti-climatic. My last issue with the book is that I never fell in love with the leading lady, Nina. She was well-written and had complexity to her, and had some good dialogue and great hero moments, but for some reason I never really became invested in her. I don't think this is at all the author’s fault, just for some reason she just didn't resonate with me. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite these minor flaws I still found “Copper Descent” to be a wildly creative, well-written, and exciting read! I give it five stars. I would recommend it to anyone with a love for Urban Fantasy, Horror and an interest in Religious Mythology and Native American Folklore.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 15.359999656677246px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now go forth read, and decide for yourself if it's as good as I say it is. And if you love it, too, make sure to tell everyone you know about it. You can find the book or follow the author at the following links.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Copper-Descent-Sentient-Chronicles-Hartley-ebook/dp/B00KKC7MC2/ref=sr_sp-atf_image_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404124284&sr=8-1&keywords=copper+descent" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">Amazon</span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22399812-copper-descent?ac=1" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">Goodreads</span></a><br />
<a href="http://angelahartley.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">Blog</span></a><br />
<a href="http://foxhollowpublications.com/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">Foxhollow</span></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">R.J. Craddock</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-51990857761321730992014-06-08T15:42:00.001-07:002014-06-08T15:49:02.501-07:00Maleficent - Movie Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Society would have us all believe that every woman grew up dreaming of being a princess, Well, I for one, did not. As the youngest of eight children, five of which were boys, and with my sisters seven and eleven years older then me, I grew up, you guessed it, as a tomboy. So why is it then that even I loved Disney's animated film "Sleeping Beauty"? First off, I was raised to appreciate fine art and beautiful music by my parents and my own insatiable hunger for enlightenment. Naturally the advanced artistry in "Sleeping Beauty's" every frame caught my young eye and captured my attention. Borrowing from the ballet version of the tale and using</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17px;">Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's magnificent music for the score only heightened the intensity of the movie's beauty. Yet even the story makes it stand out from other princess tales. Although "Snow White" also features an evil female villain for some reason Maleficent with her iron-clad grudge always seemed more intriguing then the evil Queen obsessed with beauty. And let's not forget the fire-breathing dragon! Honestly how many of the old fairy tales have dragons? Even though the animated film came out in 1959, it has remained a huge favorite for fairy tale lovers.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17px;">Now fast forward 55 years to the year 2014. Disney releases their new spin on their old tale with a live action film called "Maleficent". At first I was just ecstatic that my favorite fairy tale Witch was being played by my favorite actress Angelina Jolie! As the trailers kept rolling out I got even more excited because it seemed the film would center more on Maleficent's perspective of things and might give us a whole new angle to the classic story. When the movie came out May 31st I had to go see it opening day. I usually wait a while till movies go to the dollar theater or red box, but no way could I wait another day to see this one! </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17px;">Brief</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> synopsis: A human kingdom resides on the border of a magical one called The Moors. The two kingdoms are not friendly but stay to themselves. Until a young boy named Stefan sneaks into The Moors and tries to steal something valuable to improve his meager existence. Instead he meets Maleficent the strongest of all the Fairies who makes him return his stole trinket and sends him safely home. However, when he leaves he takes with him Maleficent's heart. They grow up and while he comes to visit Maleficent from time to time Stefan's ambitions lead him to the palace and make him the trusted servant to the king. When the greedy king decides to go to battle against The Moors he finds Maleficent and an army of tree warriors in his way. His altercation with the fully grown Maleficent leaves the king at death's door. When the king announces that he will give his throne to the man who avenges him and slays the Fairy, Maleficent, Stefan is faced with a difficult choice. Suddenly his childhood friend and first love is the only thing standing in the way of his ultimate dream, unlimited wealth and power. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17px;">I won't give anything else away if you haven't seen it but let's just say that in this version of the tale Maleficent has plenty of reason to hold a grudge. You almost sympathize with her when Aurora is born and she crashes the party to get her own revenge. As The princess grows up under the care of three very poor Fairy caretakers, Maleficent is there all along just biding her time. But whilst Aurora's guardians are a bit flighty, Maleficent finds herself having to step in from time to time to keep the little "Beasty" alive. At least long enough for her prophecy to be fulfilled. However, b</span><span style="line-height: 17px;">y the end of the movie everything seems to change and the good guy is the villain and the villain the real hero.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">For me this was the most satisfying movie going experience I've had in a long time. Too often then not the trailer for a film will be better then the film itself leaving me feeling let down and a little lied to. Trust me Maleficent does not disappoint. It is almost as beautiful as the animated classic with ten times the emotional impact and richness in plot. Angelina was Magnificent as Maleficent. The rest of the cast played their parts well. One of my favorite twists on the original tale is Maleficent's faithful crow companion Diaval. In the film he is a bird she saves and then enlists to serve her. When she wants to communicate with him she changes him into a man. At other times she changes him into a dog and even a dragon! I loved the banter and the relationship between the two of them as the story unfolds. He became one of my favorite characters. </span><span style="line-height: 17px;">Elle Fanning, who is Dakota Fanning's little, yet taller, sister played princess Aurora. She did a fine job portraying the innocence and sweetness of the character but in my opinion she is not a great beauty. Perhaps an equally charming but more stunning actress should have been cast in this role. Honestly that is my only complaint. The visual effects were breath taking, the writing and acting endearing, and the ending inspiring. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17px;">I give "Maleficent" a solid five star rating. I enjoyed it so much I might just go back and see it in theaters again. When the movie comes out on DVD I'll be the first to rush out and buy a copy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 17px;">Now go forth and see it for yourselves. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. See you next time.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 17px;">R.J. Craddock</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-92080574546760627362014-05-24T14:45:00.000-07:002014-05-24T14:45:49.340-07:00"Chest of Wishes" -Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Chest of Wishes" is listed as a paranormal romance novella by Natashiah Jansen and Zhu Hsia. It is also the first novella I've ever read. I prefer full length novels myself because you can really get to know the characters and get immersed in their world. Which is why I have to say this story would've been better as a novel. As it is it's a fun quick read with an intriguing premise that catches you up in it's tale right away. However to make it a novella a lot of details were smudged over and a great deal of the story was told to us rather than shown. Since I'm a novelist myself I am unfamiliar with novella writing etiquette, although telling instead of showing is considered a "No, No" with traditional novel writing. I feel like the author could have shown us the portions that were simply told and the story would have been richer, and the mystery aspect of it more intense.<br />
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A personal pet peeve of mine is when the characters are never physically described, which is the case with this story. I had to go a long just imaging generic people in the roles rather then feeling like I was reading real flesh and bone individuals. I still enjoyed the story despite this but some description would have made this story just a little bit better.<br />
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I am unfamiliar with modern day Egypt society so I was confused as to weather it's normal for Egyptians to have western names like Adam, Mark, George and Mary. It took me a bit out of the story as the love interest was named Isis and her mother and father had Egyptian sounding names. Every one else's names made them sound like they were English or American not Egyptian. Again like I said maybe this is normal in Egypt today. However it seems really out of place for the wealthy Egyptian family to have a daughter named Isis and a son named Adam.<br />
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I enjoyed the back story twist that involved Mark's mother. It added a whole other layer of intrigue which I think was nicely done. Overall I really enjoyed the tale of "Chest of Wishes". I just wish it had been told with more attention to detail while keeping the energy level building to the finale. I would recommend it to anyone who likes quick, fun, reads with an element of magic and history.<br />
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Now go forth and pick it up for yourself. It is available now for just .99 cents. You can get it <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wishes-Paranormal-Fantasy-Romance-Novella-ebook/dp/B00IQIRFHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400967014&sr=8-1&keywords=Chest+of+Wishes" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Till Next time,<br />
R.J. CraddockAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-9728888245554418982014-05-10T21:27:00.003-07:002014-05-10T21:27:57.986-07:00The Princess and The Prom Queen by Jaclyn Weist - Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ5-3zLrsrKIghq_NR9fbIQyfZjVr-vQiMzVfq9V3by053nc9zUXmMS3WSZiiFMM9jl2xTlEMAczMezpZkfigGG6dKX_iKtfwGtzwTPTtAwW7DmGzvLKlmhGC0nSqrfgqRDk8-4AJMkU/s1600/PandPcoverFinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQ5-3zLrsrKIghq_NR9fbIQyfZjVr-vQiMzVfq9V3by053nc9zUXmMS3WSZiiFMM9jl2xTlEMAczMezpZkfigGG6dKX_iKtfwGtzwTPTtAwW7DmGzvLKlmhGC0nSqrfgqRDk8-4AJMkU/s1600/PandPcoverFinal.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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Nowadays there are as many different kinds of books as there are readers. Furthermore, there are many different ways to publish a book in today's ever-growing digital age. Besides the big publishing houses, we now have smaller presses and many self-publishing options for the modern author in which to choose. This book in particular was published by a small Utah press called <a href="http://www.trifectabooks.com/" target="_blank">Trifecta books.</a><br />
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First off, the cover and title did little to peek my interest, both unimaginative and typical of the YA market. However, I decided to look passed this and give the book a chance.<br />
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<u>The Pros</u>: <br />The concept is clever and wildly imaginative putting a twist on my favorite fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty"and combining it with time travel and the old classic "The Prince and the Pauper." The book begins with Jenny a typical teenage girl from present day USA who wakes up to a prince kissing her, in a mid-evil castle discovering that she has switched places with Princess Genevieve who happens to be the real life person the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale was based on. This gives the story two interesting settings and concepts. The plot is fast-paced for younger readers, and the story is not too predictable with some good plot twists.<br />
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<u>The Cons</u>: <br />I desperately wanted to love this book because of the "Sleeping Beauty" element, but alas I just couldn't and I'll tell you why. First off the inciting incident happens too fast. We're only a few pages into the book, we've barely even met Jenny, and we're suddenly thrust into another time when she awakes as princess Genevieve. We don't have time to care enough about her before her life gets turned upside down. Generally the industry experts will tell you to introduce the inciting incident early in the book, but I feel in this case this idea was taken to an extreme. There is little to no description or world building which made it a very bland read. For me the beauty is in the details. One can get away with little description in a modern timeline but typical Fantasy readers expect to be drawn into a whole new world. Descriptive writing that creates atmosphere is how this is done. Because of the lack of detail this book reads more like a first draft then a finished novel. Everyone has heard the saying "Show, Don't Tell" well... this book tells and never shows. The dialogue is basic giving little to no sense of the characters' personality. Some plot points are weak and unbelievable such as: Jenny's parents are far too willing to believe that their daughter has been replaced by a mid-evil princess. I would've liked to have seen a little more skepticism on her parents' part. I have a hard time imagining any reader over twelve really enjoying this book. I, myself, never got emotionally involved with the characters perhaps because they were two dimensional and never felt real. In the end the villain is defeated too easily, the ending wrapped up too fast, and a solution to the main conflict of the book solved too conveniently. Had the ending been better I would've given the book another star.<br />
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Also, I noticed nine missing or misused words. Had this been self-published I would've dismissed this but as a professionally published novel this looks bad. As a self-published author I know my books have a few mistakes in them. Whereas I don't have the resources to hire a team of editors to find every flaw in my novels, this book, being published by a press, that claims to have experience should not have this many mistakes.<br />
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"The Princess and the Prom Queen" is a creative tale with a decent plot that just didn't reach it's full potential. I give it two stars. So low a rating I have never given a book in my life. I generally don't like to leave a bad review. As an author myself I know what it feels like to receive a review like this. However, I feel so passionately about my bad experience with this book I feel I owe it to other readers to share my thoughts and feelings. On the upside a few bad reviews lends a book more credibility for perspective readers. When a book has only five and four star reviews one can't help but wonder if they're all written by friends and family. As a close I want to add that as beauty is in the eye of the beholder so merit is in the mind of the reader. What was an unsatisfying reading experience for me might be a great experience for another reader. To best judge if you would agree with my critique of this book I would recommend reading my other reviews or just plain reading the book for yourself. Click here to get <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Prom-Queen-Jaclyn-Weist-ebook/dp/B00JY0AX7W" target="_blank">"The Princess and the Prom Queen"</a> <br />
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Now go forth and read and then read some more!<br />
Till Next time,<br />
<br />
R.J. CraddockAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-31568319031435945822014-05-10T16:18:00.002-07:002014-05-13T14:25:33.274-07:00Idle Revolution by Lucid 8 - Music Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: white;">A few years ago I would've said that Lucid 8's unique style was too
different from the mainstream to be radio worthy. Their talent as musicians is
undeniable and their musical chemistry is unlike anything else out there. Now
with the release of their new album “Idle Revolution” (which is superb in its
quality of sound recording), and with the shift in the music industry leaning
more toward the eighties and nineties sound, it seems that perhaps Lucid 8's
day in the limelight is finally at hand.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: white;">As an album “Idle Revolution” is a solid piece of work for this Utah
band, flowing from one track to the next with seamless procession, making it a
great experience for the listener. Two tracks stand out as obvious radio
contenders.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: white;">Track number two on the album "The Truth" really packs a
punch. This up-tempo tune has a catchy melody, great music, and clever lyrics
with a theme that is relate-able for anyone who's ever dealt with a deceitful
friend or lover who let them down one too many times. Track five "Pieces"
is a heart-felt alternative rock ballad that will strike a chord with anyone
who has kids, or has felt the loving support of good parents. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As for the rest of the songs they all have a little something special
that makes them memorable. As a whole I'd say that this album would fit nicely
with the modern musical trend, with eighties and nineties influences, strong
guitar work, excellent drums, and good vocals. It's hard to compare this band
to any other, but I'll say that they can stand toe to toe with other well-known
Utah bands such as Royal Bliss and American Hitmen. You can get Lucid 8's new
album “Idle Revolution” at </span><a href="http://www.lucid8.net/">www.lucid8.net</a> or on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Idle-Revolution-Lucid-8/dp/B00K5RVUAW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399412031&sr=8-2&keywords=Lucid+8+Idle+revolution" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/R3vepz" target="_blank">iTunes</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Lucid_8_Idle_Revolution?id=Bbk6tyqpw5f2ssegvgjvbiusjkq" target="_blank">Google Play.</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Now go forth and pick
up a copy or find them on your favorite online retailer and give these guys a
listen. Till next time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"> R.J. Craddock<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-47678133571178686552014-04-22T17:41:00.000-07:002014-04-22T17:41:00.716-07:00The Offspring Blog Tour - excerpt from The Forsaken<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Offspring Blog Tour is almost over! If you've been following me on Facebook, Twitter or my website you might have been following the blog tour as well. Today the tour stops by here on my own blog for an excerpt from book one The Forsaken. This is a tidbit for those who haven't read the first book in The Children of Cain series. Enjoy the read and go pick up the book at the links below.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "AR BERKLEY"; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%;">H</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">er eyes still sting from the tears she cried
an hour ago, the remnants dry upon her rosy soot-covered cheeks. She cannot go
back to where she came from, and there is no place for her to run, but still she
has to flee. Everyone is gone now, everything in flames. There is nothing left
but ash and tears. She has to keep walking for there is nothing left to do. She
is utterly alone in the world. All she can feel is the bitter cold as she walks
endlessly through the woods; the only living thing in an empty world of white.
A mixture of glacial air and lingering smoke causes her lungs to ache, her
rasping coughs blowing out in white clouds. Her whole body is frigid and stiff,
as cold as the snow that is all around her. She notices that even the morning
sky above her is white, vast, and empty. She continues on, her stockings soaked
through, and her feet past feeling, numb.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">She lost one of her shoes a while back, walking over
a bunch of fallen branches. Her foot had slipped into a crevice, and when she tried
to pull her foot back out, her shoe did not come with it. Her little arms were
too short to reach the shoe, so she had simply left it there. However, walking
with just one shoe proved uncomfortable, so she took it off her foot, holding
the lonely shoe clasped in her hands and pressed against her chest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The blackened soiled clothes on her back are her
only possessions in the whole world. Her short dress, once sunny-yellow trimmed
with frilly white lace, is now dirty with ash and dried blood; the lace is gray
and singed. Her once-white stockings, now gray with holes burned away in places.
Her green winter coat, musky with the smell of smoke, is still in pristine
condition. Around her neck, she wears a gold chain necklace with an oval-shaped
locket branded with the symbol of a burning rose and the name Gwenevere
engraved upon it. The locket is the only tie to her past, the only remnant of
her identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">She </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">hasn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> seen a single soul, no towns, no houses, and
no roads. She makes her trek toward an unknown future, leaving behind her
painful past. An image of her mother’s beautiful face creeps into her dazed
mind, making her want to start crying all over again, but she holds back the
tears. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Crying never got the world to stop spinning,” her
father had once said. Or at least she thought the man was her father. She had
only met him a handful of times; he always came to visit their little cottage
late at night. She would see him only briefly before she was sent off to bed,
and he was long gone before she awoke the next morning. Nonetheless, she </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">learns quickly not to cry, pout, or go to him for comfort. He is always
serious, worried, and cold.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">If he is my father, then why </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">didn't</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> he live with us?
Why did he feel like a stranger? Why </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">wasn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> he there when the fire came and ate
up everything? A father is meant to protect his family.</span></span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">
<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Her eyes begin to water. She sniffles, forcing back
the tears, pushing the memories away. It is better that she forgets them and
leaves them behind her, and so she does. With every step she takes forward, she
puts more distance between herself and the world with which she once belonged.
Hour after hour goes by and fatigue makes it easier to shut out all thoughts
and feelings. She thinks of nothing but walking in a straight line, as the wind
blows through her long black hair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Brushing the errant strands out of her eyes, she
sees a man, a tall dark figure lurking amongst trees ahead of her. One moment
she was alone in the forest and then suddenly the stranger is there, watching
her. She blinks several times but the apparition remains. She hesitates only a
moment then continues. Not wanting to show her fear, she avoids his eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">He looks warm in his long, black, trench coat, tall
leather boots, and black suit. But something about him is wrong, frightening.
With a dark unnerving determination, she senses his gaze follow her wherever
she moves. A bone-deep chill comes from his direction. Quickly she deviates her
course slightly off to the right, planning to simply pass him by. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As she comes closer to the dark stranger, he makes a
quick move toward her. She bolts, breaking into a wild run. The forest becomes
a </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">blur
around her as she speeds forward in a headlong dash.</span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Keep
running. Don’t look back</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">That's all for now. If you want to read more you can get <i>The Forsaken</i> and <i>The Offspring</i> here:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
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R.J. Craddock</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-56344279895157474702014-04-01T15:17:00.000-07:002014-04-01T15:17:09.684-07:00Author Interview with Krista Wayment<br />
Hello everyone. I'm very excited to have Krista Wayment author of Trusted here with us today!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cTdBhb6uXrG4D0AkIvUH7mW-5FiRvXW2lDcpS-WPJ8QsVrbcdWVuT_4g22-Twj7givsGPcMJZ11TeRpyOkVmIdhh-wpte90LqAwY7HKq0HHWxui5QEN9DvcuRrt8e50L_2GoLtWlIBY/s1600/author.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cTdBhb6uXrG4D0AkIvUH7mW-5FiRvXW2lDcpS-WPJ8QsVrbcdWVuT_4g22-Twj7givsGPcMJZ11TeRpyOkVmIdhh-wpte90LqAwY7HKq0HHWxui5QEN9DvcuRrt8e50L_2GoLtWlIBY/s1600/author.jpg" height="200" width="149" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Krista
Wayment </b>has been making up stories since she learned to talk. Writing naturally
grew out of that. Krista is an avid Fantasy and Science Fiction fan, and a
total nerd. She is also a software engineer and loves playing video games.
Although, curling up with a good book is still one of her favorite past times. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here's a little info on her new book </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; text-indent: 24px;">Trusted:</i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPyFkMmjU8xexBUcKb9vjX0-yBcGPEUckeFI0c2NgbBxXlvcckmZ4cLMSezmgMboYeQzqOyS8WUHuygyDooOS0t_Z0UDC1L9TWJm7jeze-lhwOiDsMy9lCic5EqYAwQo7lfmuBnnul_A/s1600/Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPyFkMmjU8xexBUcKb9vjX0-yBcGPEUckeFI0c2NgbBxXlvcckmZ4cLMSezmgMboYeQzqOyS8WUHuygyDooOS0t_Z0UDC1L9TWJm7jeze-lhwOiDsMy9lCic5EqYAwQo7lfmuBnnul_A/s1600/Cover.png" height="320" width="208" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">Renick, the fifth son of a dragon
breeder, crashes into an unexpected adventure that challenges everything he
thought he knew about dragons, history, and himself. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">Stranded in the massive Helath forest,
Renick meets two other passengers: Thane, a noble training to be a dragon
knight, and Lainey, the orphaned niece of a healer. Together they survive an
attack by vicious wolves, rescue a baby dragon with a broken wing, and escape
from a band of dragon hunters as they make a perilous climb into the mountains.
What they discover there will change everything. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;">Sounds Interesting, doesn't it? Well than with out further ado lets learn a little more about Krista shall we?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="background-color: black;">What was the first thing that sparked the idea for Trusted? </b></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><i><b style="background-color: black;">I wanted to write a story about dragons. So I started asking myself questions about what kind of dragons I wanted in my world. After several rounds of "What if?" and "Why?" the Dragons' Trust world was born. From there it was easy to craft the story and characters for Trusted. </b></i></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><b style="background-color: black;">What was your favorite chapter to write and why?</b></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><i><b style="background-color: black;">Chapter 23: Proven. It is my main characters shining moment. And one of my characters, Lainey, overcomes her greatest fear. I still get wrapped up in it whenever I read it.</b></i></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterTitle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">What is your favorite book you have read recently?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Hmmm, recently. I recently re-read The Riddle-Master of Hed series by Patricia A. McKillip and LOVED it. It was so inspiring and much better than I remembered it.</span></b></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Who was your favorite author growing up?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Robin McKinely. My favorite books of hers are The Blue Sword and Beauty both of which I have read at least four times.</span></b></i></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i style="background-color: black;"><br /></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">What is the first random word that comes to mind?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Popcorn.</span></b></i></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i style="background-color: black;"><br /></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">What do you think inspired that answer?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">I am craving caramel or chocolate popcorn right now :)</span></b></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Other than Renick, who is your favorite character in Trusted?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2iRvSJvR48KiQTZifyV4M0pIf1eO1yACfESbnvK3SF5fQYHaMKdxPwmxfW3PkVxyWoQWuX_C61Ti3d0RaIaeVmBxvlvrpI6MnpB7lhCxacRpY7jD0f59lwXHM7hqlwy1Ntdg0ChtpkE8/s1600/BlueDragonScale.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2iRvSJvR48KiQTZifyV4M0pIf1eO1yACfESbnvK3SF5fQYHaMKdxPwmxfW3PkVxyWoQWuX_C61Ti3d0RaIaeVmBxvlvrpI6MnpB7lhCxacRpY7jD0f59lwXHM7hqlwy1Ntdg0ChtpkE8/s1600/BlueDragonScale.png" /></a><i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">I would have to say Plyth. He is a baby dragon and so very, very cute. </span></b></i><br />
<b style="background-color: black; color: #222222;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="background-color: black; color: #222222;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Who are some if your favorite fictional characters?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">I have so many. But I'll pick just one--whole cast :) I love the characters in Lloyd Alexander's Series The Prydain Chronicles.</span></b></i></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">If you had a time machine and could meet any author--who would it be?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">Probably Jane Austin. Mostly because I would be fascinated to see the woman behind so many books that have been so popular for so long.</span></b></i></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i style="background-color: black;"><br /></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">What's your next project and when do you hope to have it finished?</span></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i><b><span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6;">My next project is book 2 of the Dragons' Trust series, which sadly does not have a title yet. I am hoping to have it finished in time to release later this year.</span></b></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">I'm sure after reading Trusted we'll all be dying for book two. Good luck with everything Krista, and thanks for stopping by.</span></b></div>
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Okay avid readers Krista make sure to enter the </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><u>Trusted Giveaway</u></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> as part of the Trusted Blog tour. And if keep your eyes peeled for that special extra entry the dragon scale! Also to follow Krista and keep informed on all the goings on with her book Trusted you can find her at the following links. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Now go forth and pick up your own copy of Trusted and come back and let us know what you think of Krista Wayment's take on Dragons.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Till next time, </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">R.J. Craddock.</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: black;"><br /></b>
<b style="background-color: black;"><br /></b></div>
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<div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Author Website: www.kristawayment.com</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Book Website</span><span style="color: #222222;">: </span><a href="http://dragonstrust.blogspot.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">dragonstrust.<wbr></wbr>blogspot.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Facebook</span><span style="color: #222222;">: </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Krista-Wayment-Author/223311651035091?ref=hl" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>facebook.com/pages/Krista-<wbr></wbr>Wayment-Author/<wbr></wbr>223311651035091?ref=hl</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Twitter</span><span style="color: #222222;">: </span><a href="https://twitter.com/KristaWayment" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/<wbr></wbr>KristaWayment</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Goodreads:</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5764548-krista-wayment" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>goodreads.com/user/show/<wbr></wbr>5764548-krista-wayment</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Book on Goodreads</span><span style="color: #222222;">: </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20803900-trusted" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr></wbr>goodreads.com/book/show/<wbr></wbr>20803900-trusted</a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-16371569156405977282014-03-05T09:30:00.001-08:002014-03-05T09:30:55.257-08:00The Offspring - Book Cover Reveal!After a couple years of hard work and a little bit of insanity, my second book is just months away from being released! That's right The Offspring (Children of Cain book two) will be released online April 11th! The physical release will be April 17th at the Salt Lake City <a href="http://saltlakecomiccon.com/" target="_blank">comic-con</a> at the Salt Palace Convention Center! Yahoo! But in the mean time I'm sure your all dying to see the cover for The Offspring, so lets do a little cover reveal shall we?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQTBC2cwKIW7pgxzaXRR-ugohWfWN5rOKd0JIjwjpQd2LGX4nPrJVI0_xTVE4r8ifyUqbtTcLEI2MbtbrCGYWf_dgNcZvbp9YVEhf8G_IpjgEY1EPcNxKPkvcGGl8aUV3R1km7yXL5i0/s1600/theoffspring1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQTBC2cwKIW7pgxzaXRR-ugohWfWN5rOKd0JIjwjpQd2LGX4nPrJVI0_xTVE4r8ifyUqbtTcLEI2MbtbrCGYWf_dgNcZvbp9YVEhf8G_IpjgEY1EPcNxKPkvcGGl8aUV3R1km7yXL5i0/s1600/theoffspring1.jpeg" height="472" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now that I've got your attention, would you like to know a little more about the book? I knew you would!<br />
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The Offspring:<o:p></o:p></div>
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A murder behind her and the wilderness before her,
friendless witch Gwenevere flees to survive. Yet Mother Nature is not kind and
even Gwen’s magical gifts can’t save her from a deadly winter storm. Narrowly
escaping death, she is rescued by an unlikely hero and taken into the shelter
of a mythical realm. Has Gwen at long
last found her own kind? Will she finally solve the mystery to her own
identity, or her mother’s murder? Or is innocence blinding her to the true reality
of this dark sanctuary?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqbabd_pmWVYsGVflj40uEjpGIIhtiifOHkwlbyHkMmKAia9SHGfeDZS1GNvXP5mt3syV_iFOCIhJ4-cP_bm1ODs88YodRHvQrOUOhBTnIYrj31TRpGjwObz0MohpdLV45-mCeEfaO-k/s1600/mockcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqbabd_pmWVYsGVflj40uEjpGIIhtiifOHkwlbyHkMmKAia9SHGfeDZS1GNvXP5mt3syV_iFOCIhJ4-cP_bm1ODs88YodRHvQrOUOhBTnIYrj31TRpGjwObz0MohpdLV45-mCeEfaO-k/s1600/mockcover.jpg" height="320" width="209" /></a>Well that's all I can give you for now. Keep checking back here, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RJCraddockAuthor" target="_blank">facebook,</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RJCraddockwrite" target="_blank">twitter </a>and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/RJCraddock" target="_blank">goodreads</a> for more info on the upcoming release of The Offspring! While you wait eagerly for it's release you can always pick up book one The Forsaken at www.rjcraddock.com, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615806481?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0615806481&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2" target="_blank">amazon,</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-forsaken-r-j-craddock/1115287679?ean=9780615806488&itm=1&usri=9780615806488&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-GwEz7vxblVU-_-10:1&r=1,%201" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a>. </div>
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Now go forth and share the cover for The Offspring with your fellow book lovers and remember to tell them the book come out April 11th! Till next time.</div>
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R.J. Craddock</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-24936179502933318862014-03-02T21:50:00.000-08:002014-03-02T21:50:25.031-08:00Fire Light by J. Abram Barneck - Book Review<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXSyj8QvfVQP2Fh6S1PbzOA1wN76D4YEPBW787enB_9AyxZk85wHetrxo3M9TeFdZ7NZT4pFlkegejHKJXuUOwhGE80y4tssm_71BS_6QuhKNoEIxTzcDxHZ5_skFR5FwwwwivcSAAdQ/s1600/18303178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXSyj8QvfVQP2Fh6S1PbzOA1wN76D4YEPBW787enB_9AyxZk85wHetrxo3M9TeFdZ7NZT4pFlkegejHKJXuUOwhGE80y4tssm_71BS_6QuhKNoEIxTzcDxHZ5_skFR5FwwwwivcSAAdQ/s1600/18303178.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
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April 17th - 19th I will be at the Salt Lake City Comic-Con sharing a table with the Author of this book. I figured I better know the other novel in which I'm sharing my booth. So I got it on kindle, and jumped right into it. Here are my thoughts: J. Abram Barneck's "Fire Light" is a unique YA Urban Fantasy set in the Great Salt Lake Valley. The protagonist, Jacob Stevens, is a seventeen-year-old geek turned jock who will do anything to seem normal, although he's anything but. Then one day he meets Charles O'Brien, an FBI agent who brings with him an ancient magical textbook and some bad news for Jake: someone is trying to kill him.Why? Because it turns out Jake is a Druid. Some mysterious organization has been hunting down all the Druids, even the potential ones, like Jake, with the intent to exterminate the ancient society. Running for his life, Jake is torn away from his family and the life he took for granted. Helping O'Brien uncover the identity of the ones responsible for this genocide, Jake is thrust into a dangerous world filled with magic, Nightwalkers, and even a Vampire King! Sounds exciting right? Well, it is and it isn't. Although the writing was excellent throughout the book, and the plot was very well thought out, for me "Fire Light" had a few weaknesses.</div>
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1) The inciting incident doesn't happen until chapter twelve. For those of you who don't know what an inciting incident is here's the definition. <i>When an event happens to the protagonist forcing their lives to change from the norm to adapt to the story's plot. </i>Pretty much it's the part that kicks the story off and gets the ball rolling. Most writing gurus and creative writing courses teach that an inciting incident should happen in the first act, within the first few chapters in a novel or the first ten pages in a screenplay. If this was a typical epic Fantasy novel like Robert Jordan's "<u>The Eye of the World"</u> the reader would expect this kind of build up because the writer is introducing them to a whole new world. However, the author of "Fire Light" spends the first twelve chapters of the book <i>just</i> getting us acquainted with Jake. We learn about his parentage, his sister, his geek lifestyle and we meet his friends and other supporting characters. All good things to learn as this helps to establish Jake's character, but it drags on a bit. Had I been a beta reader for this book I would've suggested condensing this whole segment to help the story move along more quickly. </div>
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2) Just before the story finally picks up, the author forces a love connection between Jake and his sister's best friend Kendra. At this point it was the last thing I wanted to read, I just wanted the fantasy element to happen already. Also, I found Kendra's character weak and inconsistent. She's described as confident but then goes on to do things that make her seem insecure, childish, and desperate. I found it hard to care about her and was relieved when the inciting incident finally arrived and Jake was taken away into another world. I found myself hoping we'd never see Kendra again. </div>
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However, once the story took off, it kept on going! The pacing from chapter twelve on was fantastic, keeping you interested and wanting more. Later, another female character was introduced, Alexis, who didn't annoy me and I found I suddenly needed to finish the book more because of her than anything else. The author managed to surprise me in some places and that's not easily done. The author didn't shy away from darker subjects yet kept things somewhat PG-13 with which I was impressed. He kept the dark fantasy world realistic without getting too morbid for young adult readers to enjoy. The ending was action packed and exciting without being too over-the-top or unbelievable. The big climax did not disappoint as many YA books do, and kept me on the edge of my seat to the very end. When it was all said and done I found myself eager to read the next book! Which unfortunately does not yet have a release date set. </div>
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Is "Fire Light" a worth while read? Yes. Will I be reading the next book in the series? You betcha! Does it take a while to get going? Sure, but the pay off makes it's well worth the wait. So, overall I'd give "Fire Light" four and a half stars! </div>
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Now go forth and pick up "Fire Light" by J. Abram Barneck, (at the following links) and find out for yourself what "Fire Light" is all about. Till next time.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Light-Trinity-Abram-Barneck-ebook/dp/B00EQANIJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393729149&sr=8-1&keywords=Fire+light+by+J.+Abram+Barneck" target="_blank">Amazon</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-light-j-abram-barneck/1117474667?ean=9780989810906" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/jabrambarneck" target="_blank">Facebook Fan page</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-44519226554688592932014-02-15T21:35:00.001-08:002014-02-15T21:36:27.866-08:00Librarians do it Between the Covers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0AJhKsEAcGsXSoXTrgKHDOsDXnmir5mfao_xEVJ42YfA2ICW6GXANGcw9bVHlV4Dl5Z8zxD83yCRwwOs8zjTRrhunhPtQiwPhKDBjMbr-vxe3qtgERBoTIiYTqiGNN8HtPEt3TD_CLU/s1600/beauty-and-the-beast-library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0AJhKsEAcGsXSoXTrgKHDOsDXnmir5mfao_xEVJ42YfA2ICW6GXANGcw9bVHlV4Dl5Z8zxD83yCRwwOs8zjTRrhunhPtQiwPhKDBjMbr-vxe3qtgERBoTIiYTqiGNN8HtPEt3TD_CLU/s1600/beauty-and-the-beast-library.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
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Hello, gentle readers, I don't know about you, but I love printed books far more than ebooks. Yes, it's convenient and space-saving to have one hand held device that carries countless volumes of literature. However, there's something magical about holding a bound book in one's hands and watching the pages fly by as you read. I'm also a sucker for the smell of books. Paper and ink are two of my most favorite things! Needless to say I also love Libraries! I adore being in a room full of books. There's an excitement in the air that makes me almost giddy, wondering what beautiful words or vast worlds I might discover next!<br />
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Naturally when I was publishing my book "The Forsaken" (Children of Cain - book one) I dreamed of someday seeing my book not only on bookstore shelves but on Library shelves as well. However, neither is easily done when your self-published. I do currently have my book in one store, and am constantly looking for more possible markets. "The Forsaken" at present is only available at the Spanish Fork Library in Utah. This is because some friends of mine requested it. Another friend saw it on the book shelf recently and told me it looked well-read. This tickles me pink, because my book is available for more readers to discover it. This got me thinking though. Wouldn't it be great if my book was available everywhere? Yes, yes, it would be awesome! But, I can't go to every library in the state of Utah and request my own book, let alone the entire country or world (although that would make for one heck of a road trip)! ;-) </div>
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Why can't I just do this in my own state you might ask? Mainly because you have to have a library card for each library to be able to do this. Also libraries tend to want proof that you live in the area before they give you access to their collection, let alone start requesting new books on your behalf. So then I got thinking some more (a dangerous past time, I know) and decided I could always ask my friends, family, and fans to go out and do the requesting for me. So I'm putting it out there. Who wants to help a new author get their book in libraries across the United States? Who wants to help get "The Forsaken" on shelves in libraries all around the globe? If you said "I do" or "Me" then great! If you haven't read my book yet and were planning to this helps you in that you can do so without purchasing it. This helps me because the library does purchase it from me, and also having it on their shelves gives other avid readers the opportunity to experience my dream world as well. </div>
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So the next time you make a trip to your local library don't forget to ask the Librarian how you can request a book, and help me get "The Forsaken" on the shelf and ultimately into the hands of more readers like yourself. If you do you'll be doing me a huge favor, and I will be eternally in your debt. :-) </div>
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Now go forth, visit your local libraries and remember to request "The Forsaken" by R.J. Craddock (Children of Cain series - book one). Also, keep checking back here for more info on book two "The Offspring" which comes out in April! Till next time.</div>
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R.J. Craddock</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04879438066137551226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4412105743059233398.post-16786850788688111242014-02-02T15:38:00.000-08:002014-02-02T15:38:11.204-08:00Religion, Mythology and Fiction.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mgu3iEsJGvXWafrAwUwP3vjRC6EsudoKuaWJsMk4qHKUJAMbrFheqOVOYgX4h7LnMGJ2rVzeKCX4on_2vVpqEruayWg37AgWwR2XUjnuQYQfKhUBMew5Bic8ualnRvWgN8hM8BCg_fM/s1600/lilith.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mgu3iEsJGvXWafrAwUwP3vjRC6EsudoKuaWJsMk4qHKUJAMbrFheqOVOYgX4h7LnMGJ2rVzeKCX4on_2vVpqEruayWg37AgWwR2XUjnuQYQfKhUBMew5Bic8ualnRvWgN8hM8BCg_fM/s1600/lilith.png" height="400" width="341" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For some, Religion, Mythology, and Fiction all mean the same thing. Many find profound truths in Religion, deep moral lessons in Mythology, and just plain good entertainment in Fiction. However, every once in a while a book intermingles the three into one tale. Such is the case with my novel "The Forsaken" (Children of Cain - book one). I have to admit that I was heavily influenced by my own religious beliefs when it came time to come up with my own mythology for Gwenevere's story. My fantasy world is after all spawned from one of the oldest stories ever told, the creation. However, mine starts with Adam and his first wife Lilith.</span></span></h2>
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</span><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now some of you just scratched your head and asked yourselves, "Who is Lilith?" Well, Lilith is sort of a cross between a redundancy in the Bible and an ancient myth. The creation story is told twice in the Bible. First in Genesis 1:1-2 and secondly in Genesis 2:4-25. In the first scripture man and woman are created at the same time, however, neither of them is ever named. And, in the second telling of the creation, man was created first, then the animals and then woman. The man’s name isn't mentioned for a few scriptures but he is introduced as Adam. Only after she has eaten from the tree of good and evil and persuaded Adam to eat as well does the woman get a name. Adam calls her Eve because she will be the mother of all living now that they are being cast out of the Garden of Eden and she now must bear children. Add this to the fact that other stories emerged over the years, naturally this got me speculating. What if there were two women created in the garden of Eden? What if Eve was actually the second woman to be created on the Earth, and not Adam's first wife? Some mythologies suggest that this was the case. See the link below for more details: <a class="_553k" href="http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1513/whats-the-story-on-lilith-adams-first-wifes" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1513/whats-the-story-on-lilith-adams-first-wifes</a> </span></span></h2>
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</span><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Growing up in a Christian home reading the Bible and being fascinated by different religious beliefs, I was aware of the notion of a first wife prior to Eve in the Garden of Eden and always thought the idea was fascinating. What might have really happened to make this first wife fall? Now do I believe that Lilith really existed? No. However, the idea of such a person got my wheels turning and before I knew it I had created my own version of the creation story with Lilith as the original wife of Adam and her eventual fall from grace. This leads to her becoming the mother of all mythical beings and myths we've all grown up with. You might know them as Witches, Elves, Vampires, Werewolves, Fairies, Giants, Dwarfs, Mermaids and such but in my mythology they are all known as The Forsaken. </span></span></h2>
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</span><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A while back I met a fellow author, C. David Belt, who had a series with a very similar name to mine, “The Children of Lilith Trilogy”. I even wrote a blog about this meeting, read it <a href="http://rjcraddockauthor.blogspot.com/2013/06/has-every-story-been-already-told.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Since both our stories deal with Lilith in their mythologies we started talking about the possibility that such a person might have existed. "The idea of Lilith as Adam's first wife supposes that God makes mistakes, and God does not make mistakes." C. David Belt reasoned. And I have to say that I disagree. If God gave us free agency to choose as we wish so that we might learn for ourselves right from wrong then any choice made by us would be no one’s fault but our own, for we are solely accountable, not God. So I reason that such a person could have existed and not threaten the belief that God knows all, as the master planner. </span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">To write this story I had to delve into a lot mythology and fairy tales as well as learn a lot about Wicca and Witchcraft in general. As a born and breed Christian, do I believe in any of these things? No. Does writing about them contradict my real life faith and values? No. In writing this book I seek only to entertain and to teach a moral about the true importance of one’s character and the choices we make throughout our lives. I believe in God and Jesus Christ. I believe there is a heaven and hell. But any speculations about these places in my books are merely mythology, intertwined with religion for entertainment.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For my character I built a world in which she is doomed no matter what she does because of what she was born, a Witch, one of The Forsaken. My purpose in creating this world and writing this story is to answer a few questions. "What would you do if you were damned no matter how good or bad you were? Would you still choose to do the right thing? Would you be a good person if there was no reward waiting for you in heaven, or would you just indulged yourself and do whatever you liked? A lot of religions teach that if you're faithful you'll receive blessings in heaven and a mansion on high, and thus the motivation for some to do good. But shouldn't we do good and be righteous and selfless, giving to others just because it is righteous and not just because we want a reward for our good deeds? These questions and more I strive to answer in the Children of Cain series. </span><span style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I invite you all to read the series and find out what Gwenevere does when faced with these questions, and find out where her decisions lead her. </span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The Forsaken" is currently out and can be purchased at <a class="_553k" href="http://www.rjcraddock.com/" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.rjcraddock.com</a>. Links to my book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble can be found there or at the top menu of this blog. "The Offspring" book two of the six-part series comes out in April 2014.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now go forth and pick up "The Forsaken" and may it inspire you to make righteous decisions and have strength to overcome even when in the face of true evil. Till next time. </span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span data-measureme="1" style="line-height: 14.079999923706055px; white-space: pre-wrap;">R.J. Craddock</span></span></h2>
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