Thursday, June 30, 2016

2016 June Reading List

Hot in Hellcat Canyon by Julie Ann Long – Every red blooded woman has dreamed at least once about meeting a movie star, and this makes the story a bit of a cliché. I think I’ll stick to Long’s historical romance novels, those are more fun. 3/5 stars

My Cat is a Hypocrite by Helene Lassarre – I can’t decide whether this book was aimed at kids or adults. For adults, it could have been funnier. As for kids, I fear they’ll miss some of the irony and sarcasm. A funny little book, though I’ve never seen my cat playing with green beans. 3/5 stars

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead – Lovely cover. Unfortunately, this book is billed as fantasy while it’s not, and it doesn’t work well as historical romance either. Add to this an MC who is supposed to be intelligent and well educated but makes the most stupid and irrational decisions ever and it becomes a terribly frustrating read. 2/5 stars

Company Town by Madeline Ashby - I'm the type of reader who doesn't mind when an otherwise unlucky character gets everything he or she has ever wanted and more at the end of the book. I didn’t care much for the serial killer subplot because it took too long to make sense, but other than that it’s a recommended read. 4/5 stars

Tinerete fara batranete (Youth without Old Age) by Marian Coman & all comic books, issues 1-6 – An interesting sci fi interpretation of the old Romanian myth/fairytale. With some minor exceptions, the illustrations looked great. The dialogue felt clunky in places, but maybe it’s the comic book style and I’m just not used to it. 4/5 stars

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – One of the best covers from last year. A bit simplistic and slow. I tried to listen to the audiobook, but it was dragging too much so I had to get the ebook instead. 3/5 stars

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraigth – I would have been happier without the gory parts. The novel is strong enough to stand on its own without the shock factor. And Robin must be competing for the longest engagement in the history record, three 500+ pages books and counting. 4/5 stars

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab – I’ve loved all three books I’ve read by Ms. Schwab so far, however this one didn’t live up to my expectations. Too much teenage angst, whining, and gore while we find out little about the secondary characters besides their names and the worldbuilding isn’t explained enough to fully make sense. 3/5 stars

Friday, June 24, 2016

The Wattys 2016 Awards and What to Read for Free


The Wattys 2016 awards are on, that is the awards given by the Wattpad.com writing community, and I have two stories entered. One is Broken People, which was serialized last winter on the site. It's still there so yes, you can read the full novel for free. I hope you'll find The Nightingale Circus' world just as fascinating as I do.

The other story is Razbunarea lui Tepes. This is the Romanian edition of The Impaler's Revenge. I'm serializing it right now as I'm going through the final draft of the translation, and it will compete in the WattysRo category. By the way, The Impaler's Revenge is still available to read for free on Wattpad.

With so many stories from all over the world entered in the competition, the goal here is not to win in one of the categories but to gain exposure. So if you read my stories already, please help spread the word. If you haven't, read them, comment, vote, and then spread the word. :) Thanks!

Monday, June 6, 2016

The Stolen Wings series is on Sale!


New week, new series put on sale. :) The Stolen Wings series has suffered a big price drop from $3.99 to $0.99. If you enjoy reading urban fantasy, get the books now!

The Weight of a Wing http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W4BSUUU

The Strength of a Heart http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4AP5KI

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Law and Crucible Saga is Free on Amazon


Since you've asked for it, Law and Crucible Saga is free on Amazon for a few days:

This the first time all three installments are free and it will probably be the last time as well so get it while it lasts! 

Edited to add: There seems to be some confusion on whether this is the full series. It is not. These are only the first three installments in a series of several novellas and short stories. The plan is to publish three of them at a time, and I'll try to stick to it.