Big Move!

 

Hey guys!

I am excited to announce to you that I have successfully launched a website! I am moving my blog and most of my posts there so if you want to hear more from me your best bet it to head on over there.

I may still post a little here, but I make no promises since my current focus is the new site. It will operate in the same fashion I did this blog, just a little more official I guess.

Anyway it’s called Matina’s Bookcase and if you are interested you can head on over by clicking this link or typing http://www.matinasbookcase.com into your browser. I hope to see you all there!

Thanks!

~Matina (Dawn)

PS: For anyone wondering I am still working on my book, I’m almost done with the draft and I’ve got things set up to get a cover done too!

Dream Big for a Book!

I am excited to announce to you all that I will shortly be self publishing a book of my own! It’s a collection of short stories that I’ve been working on over the years. I’ve finally got enough to compile into something that I can share with others and that is what I have decided to do!

The short stories are all fairy tale retellings and continuations of classic favorites including Snow White, The Little Mermaid, The Wild Swans, and last but certainly not least The Goose Girl. I am excited about this and I hope you all are as well.

As things get closer to completion I will keep you all updated with things like book covers, titles, and a sure to be exciting summary. In anticipation of all of that I wanted to share a short excerpt from my Little Mermaid continuation entitled A Mermaid’s Tale:

Doctor Who: The Blood Cell Book Review

Doctor Who: The Blood Cell

James Goss

Rating (out of 5): 5

Genre: Science Fiction

Release Date: September 9, 2014
Series: Doctor Who
Profanity: Mild
Violence: Mild
Sexual Content: None
Age Recommendation: 15 +
Author Information: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/james-goss/

Summary:

“Release the Doctor – or the killing will start.” 

An asteroid in the furthest reaches of space – the most secure prison for the most dangerous of criminals. The Governor is responsible for the worst fraudsters and the cruelest murderers. So he’s certainly not impressed by the arrival of the man they’re calling the most dangerous criminal in the quadrant. Or, as he prefers to be known, the Doctor.

What does impress the Governor is the way the new prisoner immediately sets about trying to escape. And keeps trying. Finally, he sends for the Doctor and asks him why? But the answer surprises even the Governor. And then there’s the threat – unless the Governor listens to the Doctor, a lot of people will die.

Who is the Doctor and what’s he really doing here? Why does he want to help the Governor? And who is the young woman who comes every day to visit him, only to be turned away by the guards?

When the killing finally starts, the Governor begins to get his answers…

Review:

The first thing to capture my attention about The Blood Cell was the blurb on the front cover promising death if the Doctor wasn’t released. It was all I needed to want to dive headfirst into the story to see where the story would take me. From the blurb to the last line The Blood Cell had me hooked, so hooked that I read the entire book in one sitting.

The Diamond Thief Review

Rating (out of 5):5
Genre:Young Adult
Release Date: October 1, 2014
Series: Diamond Thief
Series Volume: 1
Profanity: very mild
Violence: very mild
Sexual Content:Very Mild
Age Recommendation: 14+
Author Website: http://sharongosling.wordpress.com/  

Summary:

No one performs on the circus trapeze like 16-year-old Rémy Brunel. But Rémy also leads another life, prowling through the backstreets of Victorian London as a jewel thief. When she is forced to steal one of the world’s most valuable diamonds, she uncovers a world of treachery and fiendish plots.

Meanwhile, young detective Thaddeus Rec is determined to find the jewel and clear his name. Will Thaddeus manage to rescue the jewel? Or is it really Rémy that he needs to save?

Review:

I’ve said before that I have a weakness for a good thief story and so it comes as no surprise that I was immediately attracted to The Diamond Thief. The fact that it was also set in Victorian London with a steam punk/fantasy twist had me hooked almost before I began reading it. And after I finished it I loved it even more.

Storm Siren Book Review

Rating (out of 5):5
Genre:Young Adult
Release Date: August 19, 2014
Series: No Series title yet
Series Volume: 1
Profanity: none
Violence: None
Sexual Content: None
Age Recommendation: 12+
Author Website: http://mchristineweber.com/

Summary:

“I raise my chin as the buyers stare. Yes. Look. You don’t want me. Because, eventually, accidentally, I will destroy you.”

In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse – and the girl – can be controlled.

As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth – meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.

Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.

Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight . . . not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.

But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?

Set in a beautifully eclectic world of suspicion, super abilities, and monsters, Storm Siren is a story of power. And whoever controls that power will win.

Full Steam Ahead Book Review

Rating (out of 5): 5

Genre: Inspirational Historical Romance
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Series: N/A
Series Volume: N/A
Profanity: None
Violence: Mild
Sexual Content: None
Age Recommendation: 13+
Author Website:http://www.karenwitemeyer.com/

Summary (found on Author’s Website): Nicole Renard returns home to Galveston and finds her father deathly ill. Though she loves him, he’s only ever focused on what she’s not. Not male. Not married. Not able to run Renard Shipping.

Vowing to secure a suitable husband to give her father the heir he desires before it’s too late, Nicole sets out with the Renard family’s greatest treasure as her dowry: the highly coveted Lafitte Dagger. But when her father’s rivals come after the dagger, she’s forced to change her destination.

Darius Thornton has been a man obsessed since the fatal boiler explosion aboard the Louisiana that nearly took his life. He will do anything to stop such disasters. Even hire a female secretary. Sure he can ignore the distraction of her pretty face, he’s not sure how to proceed when drawn to her clever mind.

Nicole is determined not to let her odd employer scare her off with his explosive experiments, yet when respect and mutual attraction grows between them, a new fear arises. How can she acquire an heir for her father when her heart belongs to an unsuitable candidate? And worse, when her father’s rivals discover her hiding place, she will have to choose between that love and her family’s legacy.

Review:

Karen Witemeyer does it again with Full Steam Ahead. This is her newest book and I’ve found it to be her best so far. The writing is quick and witty and the story is very well rounded out and put together.

Block-B-Gone A Quick Guide to Overcoming Writer’s Block

I’ve decided to tackle a problem that seems to plague every writer at some point or another. That’s right today I will be discussing the terror known as writer’s block.

I’ve battled on and off with writers block ever since I started writing. My first real experience with it was in middle school when after a writing club meeting I was assigned the task of writing a piece of short fiction dealing with advertising. I thought and thought on what I was going to do and came up empty each time. I was hit with the double whammy of blank page syndrome and writer’s block all at once and I couldn’t figure out where to go. 

Some of you may have experienced this awful feeling of wanting desperately to put something down on the page and not being able to. Others may be well into their work and have simply ground to a halt (or maybe come screaming to a stop) but almost any serious writer has come across it. Everyone says something different about writer’s block and curing it and I even came up with a miracle cure of my own back in middle school while wrestling with my short story. I finally hammered out the story of a sad author stuck deep in the mires of writer’s block who conveniently tunes into a commercial for a miracle drink known as Block-B-Gone the revolutionary cure for writers block.

If only curing writer’s block could be as easy as taking a swig of good old Block-B-Gone. 

The Girl with the Blood Red Lips Book Review

Rating (out of 5): 3.5

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Release Date: April 23, 2014
Series: Curses in Crimson
Series Volume: 1
Profanity: Mild
Violence: Mild
Sexual Content:
Age Recommendation: 13+
Author Website: N/A

Summary (found on Amazon):

Neva is different. Aside from having a phobia of mirrors and an unquenchable desire for apples, she harbors a dark secret. She’s been cursed to repeat the same three years of her life over and over again. Unfortunately, these three years happen to be Neva’s sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school, and high school’s not that easy when everyone considers you a freak. To break her curse, Neva must accomplish a grisly task that she can’t bring herself to complete. Will Neva break her curse in time, or will she be bound by it forever?

Review:

I am an avid reader of anything to do with fairy tales, especially if it is a retelling. Needless to say this book caught my eye from the start. I could tell from the summary that it was going to have to do with Snow White. I don’t care for the original tale but I’ve really enjoyed some of it’s retellings so I was hoping this would be another to add to my list of retellings.

John Dreamer Book Review

Rating (out of 5): 3.5
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Release Date: February 12, 2014
Series: John Dreamer
Series Volume: 1
Profanity: Mild
Violence: Mild
Sexual Content: None
Age Recommendation: 10+
Author Website: http://www.eliseceline.com/

Summary:

Andy wasn’t usually sure about much, but she was absolutely certain this was the weirdest day of her life as she stood stranded in the middle of a great white room with six strangers. Well, they were mostly strangers. She could have sworn she’d seen the guy with the green eyes before, and maybe that was why he kept staring at her. When a man calling himself the Guardian appeared and said they had come to make their deepest dreams come true, they embark on an adventure none of them ever imagined, and the consequences of their actions would change them forever.

Review:

Allow me to start off by saying that I really did enjoy this book. Despite the areas that needed cleaning and tightening I thought the plot and story were very good. John Dreamer is a book that along with a gorgeous cover has a great premise. Andy and another 6 people end up in a white room that spurns them into an adventure where all of their dreams can come true and they can change and grow themselves. My expectations were high going in, and after the first few pages I felt like I was really going to enjoy the book. I had a few problems with it though.

Stravaganza: City of Masks Book Review

Rating (out of 5): 5
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction/Fantasy
Release Date: February 1, 2011
Series: Stravaganza
Series Volume: 1
Profanity: None
Violence: Mild
Sexual Content: None
Age Recommendation: 8+
Author Website: http://www.maryhoffman.co.uk/

Summary (found on Amazon):

Lucien is very sick with cancer and struggles with his parents’ worry every day. But each night, through a magical gift from his father, his mind is transported to an enchanting city, Bellezza, a parallel city to Venice of our world. In Bellezza, Lucien discovers that he is a Stravagante, a rare person able to travel through worlds while sleeping.Befriended by a local girl and protected by an older Stravagante, Lucien uncovers a plot to murder the city’s beloved ruler, the Duchessa. But to save the Duchessa and the city Lucien risks his only chance to return home to family and his real life. The well-paced, thick-with-plot story will hook the reader immediately and not let go until the superb, unexpected end. City of Masks is the first in the acclaimed Stravaganza series from the gifted Mary Hoffman.

Review:

This is my second time reading this book, and I enjoyed it just as much this time as I did the last time I read it. This is one of my favorite Historical Fiction/Fantasy series and for good reason. Mary Hoffman does an excellent job of reproducing the feel of a historical Italy while at the same time not having to be completely accurate, since it is in an alternate form.