November...what a month!

November was supposed to be the month I wrote my first novel. Instead it turned out to be one of the worst months of my life! The first couple of days started well with the writing, then it was a little shaky, before I picked up again on the second week, but after that it all went to pot!

I knew after the second week that I wasn't going to meet the 30th November deadline for my book, but I fully intended to give it a damn good go. I knew I would fall behind in the third week due to a mini-break with my other half in Amsterdam, but I planned to play catch up once I returned. But, as with all plans, they never work out as you think they will.

On the day of our return from Amsterdam, I discovered that my sister and mum were going through some personal issues, which I can't really go into at this time, this mean't that my ten-month-old nephew was to live with me for a while. Having no children of my own and Mason being the only child I have ever really been around it has been an incredibly difficult two weeks, with little sleep, toys everywhere, lots of sick and dirty nappies and one very poorly little baby. Thankful this nightmare is coming to a close and he will soon be back with his Mummy, but for now he is staying with his Nanny and Popsy.

In the middle of last week my other half, Dean, found out that someone very close to him had been diagnosed with Bladder Cancer. This was a massive blow to both of us, but we are hoping that the outcome will be positive. 

During all of this I have had to play piggy in the middle and try and remain positive for everyone and with one thing sorted, I feel emotionally drained. Things at home are starting to get back to normal and my dogs are pleased that there is no snotty baby tugging at their ears! With normality resumed, here's to December!

My first week as a writer...it could have been better!

Last week I blogged about my desire to start writing this month, after much to-ing and fro-ing I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and get on with it. Fortunately I timed it just right as Thursday marked the beginning on National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) so on Wednesday I logged into the site and set myself up for a month or writing and becoming a hermit.

Day One...
I woke up on Thursday morning full of excitement for what they day ahead had to offer. Logging into Twitter and I was overwhelmed with the number of people who were getting involved and suddenly became extremely daunted about the task ahead. Throughout the day I read lots of tweets and visited lots of sites that offered help and advice about the best ways to tackle NaNoWriMo and make the most out of your time. Getting home I felt prepared to face the challenge ahead.
I sat down in the office and began mapping out my book - characters, timeline, events and plot. I then began writing. After a few hours I reached my daily total and felt a lot better about the whole process.

Day Two...
I woke up eager and excited to get writing, I sat thinking off all the possibilities for my story and couldn't wait to get started...But then I realised I was babysitting my ten month old nephew and had to get up and ready to pick him up.
At home with him I sat him down in the office with his toys and tried to start writing. However, he had other ideas and as much as I tried to coax him into sitting still, he was having a far better time crawling around and making a dash for the stairs! I decided to give up for the day.

Day Three, Four & Five
My initial eagerness to get stuck into the writing process kind of... disappeared. Instead it was replaced with a lazy attitude and me lying on the sofa reading, obviously when I wasn't babysitting or working! I had the occassional thought about my book, but soon dismissed it and distracted myself with something else.

Day Six
Today the bug is back! I came into work early and plan on going home, putting the dinner on, sorting the dogs out and hiding away in the office until I have written at least one days writing quota. If I can manage to write a little more, then I will be happy.
I am having a dreadful time at work at the moment and am really desperate to make some career changes in my life and writing is something that I am hugely passionate about and it is time I turned my dreams into reality, as cheesy as that sounds, otherwise I will be stuck in a job that makes me uphappy for the rest of my life!

So here is to the next 24 days! I will make it to the end and I will write 50,000 words!!!

November already?!

Another month has flown by once again! We have somehow got to November, where does the time go? After a quiet month in September, I seem to have made up for it in October and managed to review a whooping seven books! Granted a few of them where short stories.

Last month I decided that it was time that I sat down and started my own book, so far I haven't made any progress and to be honest haven't really given it much thought. Then I got an email from NaNoWriMo mapping out this years event... it said that on day one you should write 1,667 words and I thought "how hard can that be?" I know I will be eating my words in about a weeks time, but in all honestly that isn't a huge amount to write in one day and I should be able to do it, I just need to give myself a massive kick up the bum and do it! My only problem is that I an enjoying reading books so much, if I do start my own book I will have to stop reading for a little while so I don't distract myself!

Whether I do decide to make a start on my own novel or not, I am setting myself the target of writing a short story this month. I have a couple of days booked off work, so I think this is definitely achievable.

While I continue to ponder over whether to write or not to write I have got a selection of books to review this month...

I have very kindly been sent all of this months books - One Hundred Names and Kismetology are definitely my kind of books whereas Spirit of Angels is something very different to what I usually read so I am very much looking forward to seeing what they all have in store for me.

Remember, if you have a book that you would like me to read and review then please send it on! Always happy to help a new author and lend a hand where I can, I will be asking the same when the time comes :-) 

As always, thanks for reading x

Short Story Review - From Man to Man

From Man to Man by David Emrys

Released 14th October 2012

PDF 20 pages

Publisher Four Branches Publishing

Rating 4/5

Source Sent a copy by David.

Summary…

‘ I've traded my old enemies for just this one…’ The axe thundered home. ‘I miss the old ones.’

Every man has a past, none more so than Draven Reinhardt. Abandoning his old life to settle down as a villager, he struggles to fit in, let alone hold down a job. When opportunity offers the much needed coin, Draven is torn between a promise and a purpose. 

But, what’s one last job if you've already got blood on your hands?

My thoughts…

From Man to Man is the debut short story from author David Emrys. This was another book that was sent to me via links from Twitter, so I started the book completely blind – with no idea what the book was about and certainly no expectations.

The book title and the cover suggested a Robin Hood themed/type story, fitting into the adult fiction genre, with a view at targeting men. While the book does actually tick all of those boxes, I think women will enjoy the book as equally as men.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Draven, a mysterious man with a past. He lives with his wife and young child, but seems to have a tendency to get into fights with the villagers while trying to run away from his past, until he is set a task that brings his old life in to his new life.

The story is quite fast paced, with a few reflective periods throughout that give you the opportunity to explore Draven’s character a little more. One thing I love about this book is the way that everything is described in intricate detail. People, surroundings, tools and even sounds are described in such a way that you can vividly picture it all in your mind and almost hear the twigs snapping.

At this point I would usually complain about the lack of answers to things that happened within the book, but I know that this is just a taster for the novel, so all is forgiven. David has been very clever and has written a brilliant short story to pull you in to the world of Draven and just when you get into it, he stops and tells you to wait for the novel. I for one will now be patiently waiting to read ‘It Began with Ashes’.

Short Story Review - Suddenly Lost In Words

Suddenly Lost In Words by Ahmed Khan, Gregory Marlow, Tyler Hansen, Connor Thomas Cleary, Lisa Cronkhite, Gary Egan, Sara DeGregoria and Kurt Bachard

Released 11th September 2012

Word Doc 36 pages

Publisher Self published

Rating 5/5

Source Sent a copy by Clare

My thoughts…

Suddenly Lost In Words is a collection of seven short stories from the authors listed above. Each story offers something very different – one offers a story of a rather unpleasant teenager, while another about a girl who feeds people to a Werewolf.

The book fits neatly into the Young Adult Fiction genre. It is full of typical teenage stories, but with a twist. Thanks to Twilight and Teen Wolf, Werewolf’s are very “in” and therefore the short ‘The Werewolf Ate My Homework’ is very topical, but it provides a different twist on a familiar story.

Even though the book is targeted at young adults I loved it, even though I am 25! In some way a lot of people will be able to relate to the stories, if it’s not because you don’t feel like you belong like Scarlett in ‘City Speaker’ or you have suffered in the hands of bullies just like, but not as bad as, Sean in ‘ Friday’s Children’, or you know someone who is just a spoilt as the girl is ‘Grandma Silence’. Whatever your age, you will still remember what it is like to be a teenager so it kind of made me feel nostalgic,

Before being contacted by the group Suddenly Lost In Words on Twitter I hadn't come across any of the authors or the book so I didn't have any expectations, but I am pleased to say that I am thrilled that I had the chance of reading this and would highly recommend this to anyone of any age.

The book is available to buy from Amazon now!

Short Story Review - Stephen C Spencer

I have never really given much thought to short stories, I just dismissed them as stories for people who don't have time to read proper books... Then I became a book reviewer and came across Ellie Darkins on Twitter, she posted a link to a short story that she had written and posted on her blog... from the very beginning I was hooked, everything happened to quickly and then it was over leaving my wanting more.

So I decided to explore more short stories and put a hit out on Twitter. This is where the lovely Stephen Spencer comes in.. He very kindly sent me two of his short stories to read Role Reversal and Window of Opportunity. So here is what I thought...

Window of Opportunity

Released 6th March 2012

PDF 12

Publisher Self Published

Rating 2/5

Source Sent by Stephen

My thoughts…

Window of Opportunity was the first short story that I read by Stephen, it is about Paul Mallory, a journalist who is trying to track down a Russian criminal that tried to kill him.

The story does exactly what it needs to do as a short story and that is to move at a fast pace. For me a thriller works really well as a short story as you get to move the story along so quickly, engaging the reader to read on and want more at the end of it, as well as getting to the point quickly as opposed to dragging it out.

With this being said, as much as I liked the pace in which this story moved, I felt it left out a lot of detail. This is the first book that I have read by Stephen and from the Paul Mallory series, so maybe that is why I didn’t really connect with the book because there are so many before this that would have helped me understand the characters more.

I am not saying that this is a terrible book, but I would recommend maybe readying the Paul Mallory series in order, which is what I should have done!

Role Reversal

Released 9th September 2012

PDF 11

Publisher Self Published

Rating 4/5

Source Sent by Stephen

My thoughts…

Role Reversal was the second short story that I ready by Stephen, from the cover I saw that this was also part of the Paul Mallory series so I wasn't holding out much hope for it. However I am pleased to say that this was completely different to my first experience.

The story revolves around two women who live together and work for the same man as Paul Mallory, they have been invited to mark the 100 year anniversary of the Titanic by going on a cruise of the Titanic route. Both Marie and Fliss are looking forward to the trip, but then Fliss starts to get nightmares. Not remembering what the nightmares are Marie orders her to a hypnotherapy session to get to the bottom of it, with her hunch that it is something to do the Titanic.

As someone who is extremely interested in the Titanic, I love reading, watching documentaries, films and stories about it, and Role Reversal fits in perfectly with one of my interests. For me, this story could be expanded into a novel – exploring the history on both Marie and Fliss’s families and exploring the history of the Titanic.

This isn't really a thriller, like the first, but I still found myself reading at a record speed to get to the end and find out what the outcome would be. If you are looking for something quick to read, then I would definitely recommend this.

Book Review - First, I Love You

First, I Love You by Genevieve Dewey

Released 27th September 2012

Paperback 300 pages

Publisher Smashbox

Rating 5/5

Source Sent a copy by Genevieve.

Summary…

'First, I Love You' is the first novel in the Downey Trilogy exploring the powerful bonds of family, friendship, and love. After having spent most of his life avoiding his father, Omaha Detective Tommy Gates takes an opportunity to work his first big Federal case in Chicago, the same city where his father, retired mobster Mickey Downey now lives. While battling the increasing meddling of his sister Kiki Downey and his co-workers, Tommy struggles with taking the risk of letting his father into his heart when his world-view is everything Tommy stands against. Just as he is beginning to navigate these issues of family, loyalty and trust, his personal and professional lives collide in a way that could threaten them all.

My thoughts…

The title suggests a love story to me, First, I Love You reminded me so much of Cecelia Ahern’s PS I Love You. However, reading about Genevieve’s passion for organised crime, I figured I was in for a very different kind of story in the first instalment of the Downey trilogy.

The book doesn't quite follow the rules of any specific genre – while the main theme is organised crime intertwined is a story of hatred, love and regret, which pleased me greatly. Some may say that you cannot have a story about warring Mafia families, crime and murder with stories of love thrown in, but I think in this instance it really worked.

The story is told from the viewpoint of six main characters: Tommy, Mickey, Mark, Kiki, James and Ginny. Each chapter is told from the view of a different character with each one following on from where the previous have left off. Each character is introduced at a steady pace allowing you to get to know one before another is added into the mix, instead of just throwing them all in at the beginning. For me all of this worked perfectly, as each character plays a highly important role within the story and by constantly changing the narrative, the story is allowed to move at a much faster pace.

The story is completely believable. You have Mickey, a famous gangster who has an affair which results in the birth of his first son, Tommy. Mary loves Mickey dearly but wants the complete family so she does what she believes is the only way to do this and turns to the FBI. Mickey wants nothing more than to be a part of Tommy’s life, but he must do everything possible to keep his two loves safe and that is to let them go. 20 years later and a “retired” Mickey also have Kiki and Joey to keep safe now while Tommy is a Detective working to bring down one of his father’s associates. With so much history, it is no surprise that things don’t go quite to plan.

I am a huge fan of chick lits and crime thrillers and this book brought my two loves together. On one hand you have two new loves beginning, you have an old one rekindled and you have the love between a father and a son – you then have the nitty gritty child sex ring, gangland murder and Mafia feuds.

One thing that Mary says really stuck with my throughout the whole book, “why did no one never know the answer to these things until after the milk had been spilt?” The book poses so many questions, with some being answered and the others leaving you on the biggest cliff-hanger dying to find out how it will all end.

If you are a fan of Harlan Coben that I would definitely recommend First, I Love You. Such a fantastic debut novel from Genevieve Dewey, I cannot wait to see what else she has in store for us.

You can buy the book from Amazon now.