Scookie Reviews

Cheers to all the fantastic authors I've had the pleasure of working with this month. Good luck to all of you in the new year. Here's the full list of articles: N.M. Mac Arthur Self-Publishing: It's Not as Easy as it Looks R.A. Black Giveaway of Apple    Author Interview How To Leave Your Readers Cold, Angry, and Afraid Apple Review Bethany Brown Author Interview Samantha Cook Must Read Advice Before You Self-Publish 10 Articles to Read Before You Self-Publish Tom Early Author Interview Lisa M. Green Author Interview J.P. Jackson Bucket List Item #9: Unchecked Herb Mallette Nine Questions Every Writer Needs to Ask - Over and Over Again Shirley Mclain Author Interview Nikki Morgan Author Interview Everlong  Review Developing Ideas Joel Ohman Author Interview Meritropolis  Review Paulina Ulrich Author Interview

Paulina Ulrich, author of  Flightless Bird.  Self-published using CreateSpace.  And the last post of my self-publishing fest is here. Later on today I'll post a round up of all the articles, but for now, here's a love story with a twist of magic. The summer of her seventeenth birthday Livy Eckels was faced with something she wasn't ready for. In the midst of a crumbling family, devastated, she grabs her bicycle and heads out of town to escape the heavy atmosphere at home. Livy unexpectedly crashes into the lives of two mysterious people living on the outskirts of town.  As she prepares to start her final exhaustive year of high school, she already has enough on her plate. Then with the entrance of Gregory Mason, her life becomes even more complicated. Tall, handsome, and ever so annoying, Livy can't stand being around him until she finds herself being pulled closer and closer to things she cannot explain. She was determined to understand why Gregory Maso...

R.A. Black, author of Apple . Self-published using CreateSpace and Smashwords There's still time to enter the giveaway to win a paperback copy of Apple. Here's the story of how it was published. Enter a gothic story of madness and cruelty, where the bonds of sibling loyalty are tested to the grave and beyond. High on the hill, Cavington Hall lurks like a beast surveying its territory. Spoken of in hushed whispers, it is home to Doctor Charles Cavington, last of a family cursed by genius and insanity in equal parts. It has now become home to twelve year old Apple. A run-away, she is forced into the doctor's service as payment for saving her brother's life. While Apple struggles to cope with her loneliness and isolation, the mysteries surrounding Doctor Cavington are growing. What exactly is his interest in the two siblings? Is there any truth to his strange tales of Guardians and Reapers, ethereal figures he claims are responsible for dealing with the souls of t...

Bucket List Item #09: Unchecked I think everyone has a list of things that they want to realize in life. I really started to think about my personal list during my late thirties. After all, that’s usually our mid-way point in life and a time where we start taking stock of what we’ve accomplished. Death is everyone’s final item on that so-called bucket list, whether we want it there or not, it’s something we all inevitably will do. After that’s been checked off, there’s no turning back, no second chances: you are done. My bucket list over the years has grown, and I’m pretty sure that there’s no way I’m going to be able to complete all the goals I’ve set before myself. The more I travel, the more people I meet, the more things I eat, smell, see and do, the more I think, I gotta do that! Admittedly, my list is fairly selfish, but then I think really that’s the point. #26: Go SCUBA diving and see an eel garden  ✓ I recently was able to cross this off my list. I’ve...

Self-Publishing: It's Not As Easy As It Looks Around this time last year I started leaning towards publishing my first novel The Prince of Prophecy Vol. I: Destined without the hassle of looking for an agent or praying that a big publisher might give a first time author like me a chance. As those of you who have tried to publish a book may know, most publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts so cutting out the middle man (the agent) wouldn’t really help my situation. And that’s where I thought my dreams of being a published author would end—no agent, no publisher, and no chance. Then I stumbled upon self-publishing. At first I was opposed to the idea—although it wasn’t for the right reasons. I thought print on demand books looked cheap and the title “self-published author” sounded so pretentious back then. However, I wanted my book published. I knew it was good and with some fine tuning I could make it even better. My ambitions out weight my apprehension, and thus I dec...

How to Leave your Readers Cold, Hungry, and Afraid By R.A. Black Have you ever read a scene about a snowstorm and felt cold? Or looked up from a book and found yourself surprised you are in your bedroom and not in a majestic forest? Part of the power of a good book is to draw us into the world we are reading about and make us feel like we are there. It’s easy to get caught up with characters and plot when writing, but if your readers feel immersed in the world, they’ll find it harder to put the book down. So, here are some hints and tips to consider when considering what and how to describe things in your story. I’d recommend having a thesaurus on hand (I still use the one my granddad gave me when I was nine), but make sure you never use a word you don’t fully understand, or you can give your sentence an incorrect meaning. Work it in: Big blocks of description can slow down the pacing of a story, and often it’s better to weave details through the narrative. For example, yo...

Lisa M. Green, author of The First , Self-published using Trident Publishing Here is another self-publishing story with a slightly different route from an author who decided to start her own publisher. A tale of myth, mystery...and a past long forgotten... Something is out there. And the people live in constant fear. But their biggest threat lies within their own village. Everyone and everything is dying, slowly and without hope of salvation. In a world where almost nothing is truth and isolation is the purest form of self-deception, the possibility of hope exists only in the heart and mind of a young woman who chooses to follow an unknown path in order to save everyone she knows and loves. Before long, she discovers that her most vital beliefs are based on a deception that will rock the foundation of her entire people. To save them, she must learn to open her heart and sacrifice…everything. You may think you have heard this story before, but be warned. You haven’t. ~*~ ...

Bethany Brown, author of Dark Lightning . Self-published by CreateSpace and Smashwords. Today we have a magical author interview, just in time for Christmas. Ever dreamed of having control over an element? Ava Sparks didn’t. She was just a normal girl without a passing thought that there could be something out there other than humans. Until her seventeenth birthday.  In a moment of panic, something unthinkable happens: lightning surged out of her hands. Soon after, she is swept away into the world of elementals.  At Westville Boarding School, she is drawn into a society full of dark secrets, power, and rivalry, and she must find her place in the battle Ms. Masters, the leader of the elementals, is set on instigating against humans.  Aided by her best friend Harper McGee, she realizes her true potential and the benefits of wielding lightning. However, reoccurring nightmares are testing the limits of her sanity and the fact that an unavoidable darkness fo...

EVERLONG by Nikki Morgan 3 Stars Verdict:  Beautiful descriptions, raw portrayal of depression, but copious mistakes. When love is a matter of life and death, it's not about losing your heart, but saving it. On a bitterly cold New Year's Eve, seventeen-year-old Evie Anderson jumps from the Old Bridge to her death. Seeing her fall, Josh Winters plunges into the river to save her. But Josh is the Angel of Death sent to collect her soul, and saving Evie is against the rules. As their worlds collide, they must conquer their demons, in the battle to survive. With Death standing between them, can love triumph as they fight for their lives? The Rating Breakdown Enjoyment:  4   I loved reading it and connected with the characters. Writing Style:  3   Beautiful but error prone.  Plot:  3  Interesting. Ends before divulging much. World & Concepts:  3   Concepts from Josh’s storyline need work.  Charac...

Nine Questions Every Writer Needs to Ask – Over and Over Again By Herb Mallette *(Get a copy of the adventure fantasy novel  The Last Tragedy and the second book in the series, The Sharp Edge of Memory , absolutely free December 18th and 19th through Amazon .)* Many beginning writers struggle with doubt, uncertainty, and confusion about mastering their craft: how to build a plot, how to develop rich characters, how to make dialogue ring true or sparkle with wit and humor. If you’re one of those writers ... congratulations! Your worries, your insecurity, and your occasional bafflement do not represent weaknesses on your part – in fact, they are your greatest friends. Why? Because writing is a process of discovery. In school, we learn to write as a means of expressing ourselves – of capturing ideas in language in order to relay them to others. But fiction doesn’t work that way. Fiction is not about constructing the right phrases, clauses, sentences and paragraphs to s...

MERITROPOLIS by Joel Ohman 2 stars Verdict: It felt suited to males who like action films. The year is AE3, 3 years after the Event. Within the walls of Meritropolis, 50,000 inhabitants live in fear, ruled by the brutal System that assigns each citizen a merit score that dictates whether they live or die. Those with the highest scores thrive, while those with the lowest are subject to the most unforgiving punishment--to be thrust outside the city gates, thrown to the terrifying hybrid creatures that exist beyond. But for one High Score, conforming to the System just isn't an option. Seventeen-year-old Charley has a brother to avenge. And nothing--not even a totalitarian military or dangerous science--is going to stop him. Where humankind has pushed nature and morals to the extreme, Charley is amongst the chosen few tasked with exploring the boundaries, forcing him to look deep into his very being to discern right from wrong. But as he and his friends learn more about the ...