Check out this short intro I just made for my #WriteTip video series on YouTube. I'm pretty happy with how it came out.
#WriteTip for Beginners: Free-Writing

Jonathan Fesmire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ukFYNtH58

bookcover: 
Author: 
Merry Jones
Publisher: 
Oceanview Publishing
Action-Adventure: 
Rating: 
9
ISBN/ASIN: 

9781608091911

Description of Sales Url: 
Purchase from OceanView
Review: 

As the story begins, Elle Harrison is beginning a new year of teaching second grade at Logan Elementary. Though this is a book in a series, we can tell without reading the other books that our Elle is a survivor, fighting to keep her life on an even keel, in spite of personal demons, destructive memories, and fears of random individuals like the creepy school custodian. She fights in a tangible way by taking on new challenges like selling her house to free herself of her past, and taking up the trapeze with her friends Becky and Susan (both projects with dubious success.) She's haunted by memories of her late husband, Charlie, and zones out, a thing her friends call "pulling an Elle." She has a lot to deal with, including finding the school principal Mrs. Marshall murdered, and being interrogated by Nick Stiles, the same detective who had been on her husband's case. By the end of the first chapter, her canoe is fully loaded with rocks and headed toward the waterfall with a slow leak.

We have sympathy with Elle because she has such troubles. She deals with not only her personal issues, but also having to work with Joyce (her nemesis). Joyce is something of a cold fish, and would be a challenge to work with in any environment except maybe in concert with other cold fish. Elle and her friends have empathy for their students, even troubled ones like Ty Evans, one of her former pupils who has a troubled family, and whose release from prison complicates the story.

Writing in first person is a challenge. Though Elle's life has made her neurotic, a condition which has her second guessing everything, this can be difficult for the reader to hear constantly and still remain sympathetic, she does remain a sympathetic character. This does make her pretty whiney for a heroine, although she has good reason to be. Her friends are somewhat supportive, and I can't decide if the author meant them to be realistic, loyal or pandering, because they know of her problems, but aren't as supportive as they could have been. (What kind of friends drink with someone prone to blackouts?) As for the mystery, on one count I was surprised, and on another count, I was not. I did enjoy the read. Even though Elle is a prisoner of her history and nerosis, and lives to be a piñata for life to beat up, I finished in one sitting. Childs Play is a series book that does stand alone.

bookcover: 
Riskybusiness bookcover
Author: 
George Hatcher
Series: 
Ambulance Chaser
Publisher: 
Casa Hatcher Press
Action-Adventure: 
Rating: 
9
ISBN/ASIN: 

9780996592772

Description of Sales Url: 
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Review: 

Having read two of George Hatcher’s prior books, Risky Business feels like a re-acquaintance with old friends. Several of the characters are familiar to me, with the exception of Melina. Melina is new in Mario’s life. She comes into his life at a most opportune time, when he’s at a low point in his life.

His best friend and lover, Tanis, is killed in front of him, and Mario is devastated, and out for blood. In his small community, blood pays for blood with blood. He knows the bullet that took Tanis away from him was meant for him. What he doesn’t know is who wants him dead. He didn’t want the police involved, so he sets out on a mission to solve Tanis' murder, all while hurting physically and emotionally. Throughout the time it takes to gather information, he keeps on with business as usual. That includes satisfying his enormous sexual appetite, oftentimes, with more than one woman at a time. Mario slows down a bit only when he meets Melina after she is involved in a car wreck. He tried to use Melina to replace Tanis, but once again, another attempt is made on his life. This one is eerily familiar, but it was only then that Mario finds out who wants him dead, and why.

The book has a nice pace and is written in a dialogue that’s easy to follow. It kept me rapidly turning the pages to find out who put the hit out on Mario. He seems to be liked by everyone, especially the women in his life. When it is finally revealed, I’m left speechless because the plot was kept tight until the very end. Great suspenseful read with lots of action and genuine love all around. Real hot page turner, new raunchy moralist on the block!

bookcover: 
Author: 
Lari Don
Series: 
Fabled Beast Chronicles
Publisher: 
Floris Books, Myrick Marketing & Media imprint
Genre: 
Rating: 
8
ISBN/ASIN: 

Electronic: 9780863156366

Description of Sales Url: 
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Review: 

As a parent, I can tell you firsthand that kids don't do what you say. They do what you do. It may be an adage, but adages become adages because the truth can only be hammered so many times before the words like fossils are cast in stone. Our adolescent heroine in First Aid for Fairies is Helen; and although she's not sweating over adages, she personifies this to a certain degree. First, Helen is not your ordinary little girl (if there is such a thing as ordinary.) Helen is a violinist, a student, and the daughter of a veterinarian. We learn that Helen's mother would like Helen to follow in her footsteps; instead, Helen wants to follow her great talent and her first love, which is music. But life throws her a complication when she is approached by an injured centaur named Yann who was bitten by some creature whose teeth she finds.

Yann has a wound that must be treated, and Helen treats it. And then she is drawn in to his quest when he returns to collect the teeth which belong to an evil creature. Her new friends include Lavender the fairy, Rona the selkie, Sapphire the dragon and Yann's best friend, a phoenix named Catesby. Helen's path is not an easy one. She must prove herself at every step, not only to her friends but to herself. As the healer's child, she becomes the healer for the little entourage. Helen grows in confidence, and makes careful choices, often having to weigh options which are not always black and white. There's an interesting twist as well—because these magical kids are trying to straighten up a mess they made. Helen is not the only one who has to prove herself. To join the magical creatures' secret quest, she must take items from her mother's medical practice, sneak out, keep secrets from her family, and allow her parents to believe the worst of her baby sister.

First Aid for Fairies is appealing on a number of levels. It is a fantasy adventure but introduces young readers to traditional Scottish mythological characters, and explores some of the Scottish countryside as well. And while Helen is surrounded by creatures of magic, she herself is solidly grounded in science and reality, heals based on the advice from books, and is usually the voice of reason and good sense. She's a good character for her young readers to relate to, because the choices she makes are so well-considered, and every decision comes with a lesson/consequence that isn't so heavy-handed that it will be ignored.

On the publisher's website, the book is considered to be an 8-12 reader; but there is no reason to limit readership to an age-group. Consumers of good vs evil quest-style fairy tale and fantasy will find the unexpected on every page, and love this book regardless of age.

© January 2012 Allie Bates

bookcover: 
Last to Die, Rizzoli and Isles book cover
Author: 
Tess Gerritsen
Series: 
Rizzoli & Isles
Publisher: 
Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine
Rating: 
9
ISBN/ASIN: 

9780345515636

Description of Sales Url: 
Purchase from Amazon
Review: 

Last to Die was my first Tess Gerritsen novel. It is a story of pursuit and rescue, of outsiders and insiders. Our entry into the story is thru Teddy Clock, whose family is massacred. He (and others) are rescued by the mysterious blonde who says "if you want to live." Boston police detective Jane Rizzoli has his case, and takes him to the Evensong boarding school in Maine, where many strange and damaged orphaned children are sequestered in protective custody in the wilderness. Medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli make it their business to protect the orphans. Something is after them.

Fans of the television series Rizzoli and Isles will recognize the characters to some degree; but Jane and Maura's lives take a different turn in the books than they do on the screen. If I had never seen the television series, I would have visualized the book differently, I think, even though I read the books first, and discovered the series later.

I found the writing to be very serious, as compared to someone like, say, the entertaining Janet Evanovich, but infinitely more relatable than Kathy Reichs Bones series. No puff and fluff here, but chilling to the bone. Tess Gerritsen's knowledge as a doctor is intrinsic to the content of the book, and the content of Maura Isles personality, but the author's love of mystery and puzzle solving comes out as well. If you want a book that talks down to you, and that spoonfeeds you the story, Gerritsen's stories are not for you. If you love writing that respects you as a reader, and presents challenging stories and well rounded characters carved as sharply and clearly as a doctor's scalpel, then you will love Gerritsen's work as I do, though it might come with some nightmares.

• Always establish clear requirements. If you don’t understand about what your professor wants from you, then you can’t expect your writer to understand. So always try to write a set of clear requirements about your assignment and discuss each one of the requirements with your writer. In this way you can avoid misunderstanding and you can make sure that whether the final result is close to your expectations or not.

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