Oct 13 2016

AudioBook Review – Black Widows

This was a great short Ep and a good introduction to the world created by Michael. I am really interested in more of these, I looked on over to amazon and fingers crossed because there are more!

——————–

“Great Episode and I am looking for more.”

Overall

Performance

Story

I wasn’t totally sure when I came into this one, so many shorts are just that, part of a larger piece, and I guess this is just that. It shows in the setup and execution. But it’s not a bad thing. I think we get so used to having longer works that we forget the excitement of receiving something as part of a series… so kudos to both writer and narrator for taking this on. It’s well worth the listen and the time to start investing in both narrator and characters.

Story wise, I do think that the all-female cast is really good. It’s not over-done, it’s refreshing because they’re strong and they think. It’s not all about the action.

Of course, I had my fav, and Nancy did a fantastic job of distinguishing between them all even though it was a very short just under 2 hours long…. it was worth investing in and I’m looking forward to more, and will happily follow this new series 🙂 so thank you.

As the author of this review, I received a free copy of this audio, with no requirement to review or endorse. These are my honest thoughts on this story/narration.

Oct 12 2016

Sci Fi Blog Hop – Author Interview – Ash Litton

Today’s Author Interview is with Ash Litton. And I love that there’s a unicorn on the cover!

appalachiandreamtalescovers

Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books?

Ash: I’m always an advocate for all things in moderation, but the reality of marketing is that you need to A: have a planned schedule, and B: prepare in advanced. Don’t be afraid to have a script – I’ve always written up a rotation of advertising blurbs and run the same blurbs across multiple platforms across multiple days, weeks, or months. I’ve included pictures, too – the cover art by itself, or sometimes a “promo card”, as I call it – to help give a visual incentive for potential buyers to follow the vendor links.

Did you make any marketing mistakes or is there anything you would avoid in future?

Ash: Starting out, I didn’t do any marketing, and I felt the results of that. I think I had the gratuitous buys from friends and family during the first month or two, but after that, I didn’t sell a single copy for at least six months. I switched up my behaviour, started marketing my work through Twitter, and saw the spike in sales. I’ve since found dedicated genre groups on Facebook and have extended my promotions there, and have seen an added increase in sales. It also helps that I’m putting out more material each year. The more you have to sell, the greater the chance you have of making sales.

Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?

Ash: To a degree, yes. There are groups dedicated to the analytics of covert art and sales projections, but in my own opinion: so long as the cover doesn’t look like a Hollywood “ransom note” with pieces cut and pasted together, I don’t think many buyers are going to care whether the author spent $5 or $500 for cover art services.

Did you do a press release, Goodreads book launch, or anything else to promote your work, and did it work?

Ash: Outside of a pre-sale promotion by my regular methods of advertising, I haven’t done anything so formal, no. I will be considering it with my larger works, though, but until I hammer out release dates for those, then I won’t be able to set up a formal game plan outside of “shop around, see what my options are, and put together a tentative outline of execution”.

Which writers inspire you?

Ash: Quite a few. I was first introduced to Neil Gaiman through the Illustrated Film Script of MirrorMask, when I got a copy of the book to read from the library. Through Neil Gaiman, I found my way to the late Sir Terry Pratchett. I started reading books by Laurell K. Hamilton back in high school, and the same with JK Rowling. I don’t remember how it was that I discovered Jim Butcher, but I was so glad I did.

***

ashauthorphoto

Ash Litton is a writer and lover of sci-fi, fantasy, and all things fictional. She is the author of No Signal, Thoroughbred, Evening Hallow, and Comeuppance, and works on other Appalachian Dream Tales between her ongoing novel projects.

When she’s not writing, she’s drawing, and when she’s not doing either of those, she’s dreaming up new projects to work on. Born and raised in rural West Virginia, Ash has always wondered what things lay hidden in the hills around her. She attended West Virginia University, where she studied the English language before returning home to her family in rural West Virginia.
You can follow her on her website, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

Sep 27 2016

AudioBook Review – We are Legion. We are Bob

I was so excited that this turned to an audiobook! this is one of the greatest projects I’ve had the joy of being part of. Even be it a tiny part of.

Huge congrats to Dennis for this amazing world. And I hope lots of others will join me and Bob on this journey!

Review as follows

“Exciting new sci fi!”

Overall

Performance

Story

Full disclosure. I had the wonderful opportunity to read some of this in one of my author crit groups, but I was super excited to then learn of it as an audiobook! Especially read by Ray Porter, who I enjoyed for some of his other works. So I had to go and buy this. 🙂

Dennis’s Bobiverse was a little strange at first. But, you’re soon taken in by the wonderful humour of Bob and the weird circumstances he’s got himself into and has to keep himself sane from…. I admit there’s a lot going on, and there are some ‘Bob’s I like more than others. But that’s to be expected. They are all so different…. and of course as a trecky fan I love Ryker. And Homer 🙂

This really was a joy to be a part of and an excellent listen. I think my only gripe was the story seemed to have really gotten going, and then it ended. Of course, it’s that vast and large a world, as in the whole universe, that there is much more scope for Bob and his replicants, and the last few survivors from Earth.

An excellent story for any sci fi lovers, this is something very different, full of science, and things I don’t understand, but loved learning about.

Thank you Dennis and Ray… and hurry up with Bob 2! I can’t wait.

Sep 10 2016

Sci Fi Blog Hop – Author Interview – H T Lyon

As part of the Sci Fi blog hop I’m excited to have a new writer aboard for today, here’s my interview with the fab H T Lyon.

———

H.T.Lyon

Bio:

I am aspiring writer of science fiction. A futurist with a keen interest in where our society is heading, I tend focus most of my attention on stories that examine the direction our society is taking or that shows where we could end up. Optimistic my nature, I believe that one day we will look to settle the Solar System as we outgrow our planet and some of my stories examine how this could look. Currently, I have a number of novels underway and some short stories. My aim is to get one of these up and published before the end of the year around the other commitments that exist in my life.

Questions –

How often do you write, and do you have a special time during the day to write?

I write when I can. Having Google Docs (and before that One Note) is a great way to make writing portable. I should be able to pick up a device and get writing but I do seem to need some quiet space to get into it. Nanowrimo was a great motivation to get writing. I’d write in my lunchtime and in the evening and whenever I could. I hit the target and it’s the most productive I’ve ever been. I try to write once a day but sometimes only manage once a week. If there was any chance I could make to my writing, it would be to write more often. Style be damned if you don’t have the words to start with!

For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?

Personally, I’ve grown up with paper books so I am more comfortable reading them. I would prefer to be more comfortable with ebooks though. They are more environmentally friendly and also, it would be nice to be more comfortable reading using the platform I primarily intend to publish in. Weight for weight, the ebook has the advantage. You could take one paper book on a long plane flight but for the same weight, 1,000 ebooks. I can and have read books in ebook format and enjoyed them immensely. The main difference I find is that I am a lot faster when reading a paper book.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing as far as content?

The number one challenge for me is injecting personality into my characters. I really struggle there, I want them to pop out and I haven’t managed to get into the space where I can get into the moment and inhabit a character shoes, especially where the character is unlike myself. I do find the best way to get over this is to carry on with the draft and let the actions define the characters. The needs of the plot eventually sorts this out for me! The thing I then need to deal with is their voice. It’s not point the villain and the hero having the same speech patterns!

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?

The first story I remember reading that had a major impact on me was Lord of the Rings. It was a massive book and I tried several times to follow in my brother’s footsteps and read the damn thing but I could never really get it started. Then one day I flipped to page 119 (I think) and was immediately in the battle for Weathertop from then on, I made it all the way through and had enough context to get through the beginning again! What I took from it was amazement that someone could create a world like that and an amazement that I could get lost in it. I think my friends heard about the book for months after that!

Did you have any ideas about being a writer that becoming a writer changed?

I always thought that writing was a job like being an accountant; people would learn to do it and then become good. Being around writers online has certainly been an education. Even the experienced of us struggle. Its the ultimate creative exercise. You can become better at it but it will always be something that is hard. For anyone standing at the edge and wondering whether to give it a go, I encourage you to do so. It only takes one positive reaction and it all becomes worthwhile.

Sep 6 2016

AudioBook Review – 36 Hours

Great shorter listen this week, by a narrator who I’ve had the pleasure of listening to before. Kevin’s voice is really deep, gritty but easy on the ears 🙂