Saturday 31 October 2020
Guest Review: I, Robot: How to be a Footballer 2 By Peter Crouch
Friday 30 October 2020
Review: When I Come Home Again by Caroline Scott
They need him to remember. He wants to forget.
Thursday 29 October 2020
Guest Review: Christmas Wishes by Sue Moorcroft
Hannah and Nico are meant to be together.
But fate is keeping them apart…
As soon as Hannah bumps into her brother Rob’s best friend Nico in Stockholm, the two rekindle a fast friendship. But Hannah has a boyfriend – and Nico has two children to look after.
When Hannah loses her beloved shop in Stockholm, though, she is forced to move back to the little village of Middledip – only to find Nico has just moved in too. Under the same snowy sky, can the childhood friends make a romance work – or are there too many obstacles standing in their way?
Wednesday 28 October 2020
Blog Tour: Review of The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain
Tuesday 27 October 2020
Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Scared Me 27/10/20
Monday 26 October 2020
Review: A Friend of The Family by Lisa Jewell
A stranger in your home can only mean trouble . . .
The London family is in crisis.
Newly-divorced Tony is fantasizing about someone he shouldn't.
Prize-winning writer Sean has a hot new girlfriend, and a dose of writer's block.
Their brother Ned has just come back from Australia, leaving his girlfriend behind.
Sunday 25 October 2020
Blog Tour: Tentoria by Sorin Banu @lovebooksgroup @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours
An army of bionic humans made up as a last ditch solution to establish peace will turn against humanity.
In the 22nd century, mankind enters into a new world war to produce the first generation of Tentorians. Cyborgs with functioning bodies and human intelligence, they are the first genuine success in the artificial improvement. In time, the Tentorians come officially to be a nation, showing more and more their true nature: blood and power-thirsty, human-bodied machines. Thus, in the 25th century, the great powers made up their minds to hunt them down all over the world and have them isolated inside a region called TENTORIA.
A Tentorian nation that will bear consequences on the past.
The action moves back in time 500 years, to the year 2024 and to a planet Earth consisting but of a piece of land surrounded by one single large ocean, and a population of 12 million people ruled by a secret organization. Cole is a 27-year-old young man leading a happy life in this peculiar world. As the story unfolds, he realizes the reality of his existence at break-neck speed on the edge of survival.
“Are you ready to forget the future?”
First question-bit of a cliche-how did you get into writing?
I have been entranced since an early age by questions like: "Where mankind is heading? How we really came into being? How large is the universe? Who or what lies behind the rules governing our existence? What is soul? What is life? etc., so I started with writing down all sorts of ideas and possible theoretical scenarios in a philosophical themed manuscript only to realize in time that I like words and enjoy building up ideas.
Do you write full time & if so, have you always done this?
Did more the few years before launching Tentoria. These days is just a bit during weekends. Hopefully, one day I will come back to the good habits of writing more.
Do you have a particular writing style or genre that you prefer to write?
Not necessarily. It is worth mentioning I like Frank Herbert, George R.R. Martin, Isaac Asimov.
How do you develop your characters as you write, are any of them based on real people?
I am not very good in developing complex characters, though I would like to improve on this skill. I develop characters to the strict necessary, based on the story needs; and not so much based on real people.
What was the inspiration behind your book?
As I’ve always liked action and Sci-Fi movies, and been an emerging technologies freak, I told myself it would be interesting to create an enticing story easy to be read; and I started from my philosophical notes wrote in the above mentioned manuscript.
That’s how "Tentoria" came to light and, leaving aside the ideas behind the story, I hope it is an absorbing narrative who will keep you glued to it up to the end.
What is your writing process-do you plan it out first? Write a bit at a time?
In short: I write a bit at a time, but is good to have an overall plan.
One of the things I enjoyed most: to have a puzzle built first and then to start taking it apart; to scatter its pieces along the narration, using some of the last pieces in the beginning without betraying the outcome, but trying at the same time to have the story flow and to hook the reader as often as possible.
At the beginning, it was hard to plan all these because I haven’t played previously with such techniques. As writer, in particular a debutant one, you experience a great satisfaction in having the reader at last finding the blanks in the puzzle as you orderly left them there.
How much of you is reflected in your writing?
Not of me but a lot of my philosophy.
What kind of research did you have to do before/during writing behind your book?
Quite some, e.g. medical, on technology, and a lot about Iceland, which I discovered more while writing Tentoria – a must visit country I would say. I have even done a lot of Google-ing on weapons (needed for the action in the book), so much that if someone had checked my profile based on my searches, he would have thought I am planning a terrorist attack .
How much attention do you pay to the reviews that you get?
Nowadays reviews are the most important marketing tool; these are vital especially for an unknown author like me. Many thanks upfront to every reader that could spend a few minutes leaving an honest review to my book.
Are friends and family supportive of your writing?
A few, yes. However, more important is that they helped me with lots of reviews. Through them, I learned what wasn’t working in same parts of the book and I made corrections. Good occasion to thank them again here.
How do you feel leading up to your publication day?
The publication day was great, for both versions, Romanian and English. Being the first book, probably they were two of the most memorable days of my life.
Which other authors inspire you or are there any you particularly enjoy reading?
I am not a true fan of GOT nor read it entirely, but I really like how R.R. Martin writes.
Finally...what are you working on right now?
In the very little time I write, second volume of Tentoria. Yes, it should have a sequel.
Thank you!
Friday 23 October 2020
Review: Pumpkin Everything by Beth Labonte
After calling off her fall wedding, horror novelist Amy Fox is left with a broken heart, a mega case of writer’s block, and a serious aversion to all things pumpkin spice. When she receives news that her grandfather has broken his wrist driving through a Dunkin Donuts—literally straight through the front windows—five hundred miles away, in her hometown of Autumnboro, New Hampshire, Amy has no choice but to return to check on him. If she doesn’t make sure that he’s back on his feet, Grandpa may be moved into assisted living, and Amy’s beloved childhood home will be put on the market.
Thursday 22 October 2020
Review: One Hit Wonder by Lisa Jewell
After her number-one single she was never heard of again . . .
Fifteen years later, Bee Bearhorn is found dead in her flat.
Ana Willis always day-dreamed about the exotic half-sister she hadn't seen in years. Now she comes to London to sort through Bee's possessions, only to find a life more surprising and mysterious than even she imagined.
Along with Bee's closest friends, Ana sets out to discover exactly what happened to her half-sister, the one-hit wonder . . .
Wednesday 21 October 2020
Guest Review: One More for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
Tuesday 20 October 2020
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read Because They Were Recommended To Me 20/10/20
Monday 19 October 2020
Review: Goodnight Stories For Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli
This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review from Penguin Random House Audio.
The latest installment in the New York Times bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series, featuring 100 immigrant women who have shaped, and will continue to shape, our world.