Add JADE STERLING to your must-read list!

I told you it was out!  I just finished reading the final version of Portraits and writing my final review!  Some of you may remember that I had read the manuscript first so that I could provide a few lines for the book cover, which I was happy to do at the request of the author.

Okay, this was even better than the manuscript...so I thought I'd share my entire review right here!  It's not even posted on our site yet! http://www.bookreviewers.org/ but is out there on Amazon...so you can go out and buy a copy!

            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      

Warning: This is a Tearjerker! I’ve always loved "unique stuff" so it was a given that I loved this strange and enchanting story! In her first novel, Portraits: The Power of Undying Love, Jade Sterling, provides readers with an unbelievable mystery, a heartbreaking love, and inspired forgiveness. That’s combined with portraits of the past, a touch of magic, and a fulfillment of destiny. Merged together it results in one of the most fascinating romances I’ve ever read!

A strange bequest comes to Emily! It not only is strange to not know from whom the money came, it is strange because it sets off a series of questions and discoveries that finally results in a separation from her husband, Greg. Greg had promised his "Princess" that he would love and protect her; however, Emily felt his actions were based upon jealousy, possessiveness and a lack of trust. With these long-standing feelings, it was not surprising when money came to both Emily, and also to her father, that it would mean trouble.

The real breaking point for Emily, however, was finding that Greg had withheld a letter from a publishing company to whom she had applied for work. When Emily received the phone call asking why she had not responded to their letter and that they were very interested in hiring her to create a number of front covers for their magazine, she never once thought of saying no. She agreed to fly to New York to discuss a contract and their assignments. Nothing Greg could say would explain his opening and not bringing home this important letter that had been addresseddirectly to her. This was not about protection, this was about control—and Emily could no longer adapt to Greg’s obsessions!

But while in New York, Emily Brooks met Scott Harrison and immediately both Emily and Scott were caught in an unearthly magnetism which led to a brief love affair. Why did Emily feel as if she had already met Scott, her new boss? Why did he look so familiar to Emily? How could Emily and Scott come to love each other so much and so soon?

They say in Greek mythology that three goddesses control fate, or destiny. Clotho wove life based upon a thread to the past. Lachesis measured that thread, deciding when destiny would come about and Atropos would cut that thread, sometimes through a death. They come into our lives at birth, spinning good or evil, manipulating the threads of our lives. Was it destiny? We don’t know! What we do know is that neither Emily nor Scott wanted to fall in love. Scott was a committed husband and Christian. Emily, though hurt and confused by her husband’s actions, would never have picked her new married boss for a lover! She knew that could only lead to trouble and heartache…and yet…

Emily was commissioned to create a cover for a feature story on the survivors of the Titanic. Through a series of interviews, readers are provided a variety of well-researched information on the survivors and what happened to them and in learning these details, Emily is slowly able to piece together the mystery. But it was too late!

Sterling brings her characters to life through intimate dialogue and internal thoughts. Emily may be your best friend. Scott is so conflicted that you can feel his confusion and inner turmoil. Greg’s personality change, as it evolves, moves readers from early anger for his actions into a warm respect and admiration for the love and support he finally gives to his wife.

Is this a happily ever after book? Some may think so. But I have to wonder. Will destiny try again and will the goddess Atropos allow a different ending some time in the future? Portraits brings the past and present together in an unforgettable magical fulfillment of love once lost. Can the power of undying love ever really end?

This novel tops the normal top scale! I give it a 5+ and consider it a must-read for romance lovers everywhere!

Portraits: The Power of Undying Love Now Available!

Jade Sterling's Book is out! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1424123976/qid=1147704457/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4786298-0679269?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Ok, So I'm just a little excited about this book being available!  Check it Out!  I first read the manuscript and provided a preliminary review which I am now finalizing...it will be available shortly.  But I just had to let you know!  Buy It!  NOW!

This is a Tear Jerker--a love story like no other that I've ever read...and you know I prefer mysteries!  So when I'm raving, you know I am Serious!

Oh, and I just happened to be cited on the back cover!  LOL

Poet Still Writing! Read Kemp's Latest!

Goooooood Morning Vietnam! Yes, that's what I'm reading about right now...More about that book later!

Thomas Kemp, Poet, still writing

 

Your eyes were so much

Like passports to adventure

Looking out picture windows

As now I recall…

Yes you are very beautiful

More than a window

You have become my door

To love.

Thomas (U)

 

Thomas, my favorite poet, sent me his latest! Isn’t it lovely? If you like his poetry and don’t know it yet, his book is now available! Check out my review http://www.bookreviewers.org/your_poet_is.htm and then connect directly from there to Amazon to purchase! Personally, I hope it is selling well and the above is his first poem for his next book!

~~~

Now, where was I…?

As I was working on my last journal entry directly online, somehow I pushed some magic button that resulted in the last part of my entry being deleted. Ok, I admit it¾ I don’t handle frustration well. My solution, therefore, was just to close out "that" entry and plan for my next one! I’d already discovered not to submit entries directly to the journal. I put everything into Word and then I copy and paste onto my blog! So what happened last time…well, see, I was editing what was already there…Oh forget it…It was my frustration—I don’t want to make it yours! LOL

Hey, what have you been reading?! Any you’d like to recommend? You know, of course, that unless I give a book a bad review…anything I list here would be recommended for great reading!

Caught in the Shadows by C. A. Haddad                      

Trust No One by Christine Heggam

The Black Silent by David Dun

Dance for the Dead by Thomas Perry

A Vote for Murder by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain    

I’ll be Watching You by Andrea Kane                                                

The Hanged Man’s Song by John Sandford 

The Prey by Allison Brannan                      

The Final Voyage of the Sea Explorer by Douglas Boren*

*Look for a review on this sometime in the future!

On the professional front, I’ve had some good times. Many of you wrote and commented about my recent "sound-off" for the lack of concern for printing books that were not in perfect shape. Well, upon receiving my final review of the book about which I wrote, I was asked to illustrate errors/problems for the publisher. They agreed to redo the book! Maybe POD and similar publishers will begin to know that we expect the same care and professionalism from them and their staffs as we do from the big publishers! Whenever you find problems with books, I hope you, too, will speak up and try to help with this major problem!

I also was pleased to do a "critical review" of a book for an author. Sometimes, when a writer is working on a new novel, they just need an outside perspective. I had read the book of this author, and while it was good, I knew it could be better and I knew the author could write the story better. So, I shared my thoughts. The author is now rewriting. No, I’m not the greatest editor in the world. But it seems I do have a God-given talent for reading and seeing something "amiss." I’m thankful that I was the one to whom this particular book had been sent. The author shared having concerns about the book, but that other readers had thought it was great. So, be careful writers, go with your instinct and forget about deadlines if you feel your book is not yet what you want it to be!

So many books…so little time! LOL

 

I Never Learn!

Ok...I'm getting the hang of this...really I am...

What I've learned:  Do not leave your journal entry without saving it!  I just did it...and I did it the last time too...a lot of my words are going out into cyber space!  So, I'm going to send you a little poem that my boss, Bettie, sent me from our IP Site.  http://www.bookreviewers.org/

Why Computers Sometimes Crash!
by Dr. Seuss.
(You gotta read this one out loud)

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,

and the bus is interrupted at a very last resort,

and the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,

then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,

and the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash,

and your data is corrupted cause the index doesn't hash,

then your situation's hopeless and your system's gonna crash!

If the label on the cable on the table at your house,

says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,

but your packets want to tunnel to another protocol,

that's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall.

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,

so your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse;

then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,

'cuz sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang.

When the copy on your floppy's getting sloppy in the disk,

and the macro code instructions are causing unnecessary risk,

then you'll have to flash the memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM,

and then quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your Mom!

Well, that certainly clears things up for me. How about you?

Thank you, Bill Gates, for bringing all this into our lives

Happy Computing in 2006

P.S.  A lot of Moms aren't around for us...so just grin and bear it!  Like I do!

Later!  LOL!

Cabin Fever? Or Spring at Last!

It's Cabin Fever
by Rebecca Brown

When the walls in your home seem everso close
& the spaces between the furniture have shrunk
& the windows are dirty & the ceiling is low...
it's cabin fever.

When you bury your nose in dried mint
& open seed catalogs for inspiration
& beg your indoor plants to grow...
it's cabin fever.

When watery sunshine draws you out
& you bask in its faint warmth
& you change your clothes three times...
it's cabin fever.

When you notice the webs between your toes
& the dog won't follow you out into the rain
& you watch TV for sun–drenched scenes...
it's cabin fever.

When your tastebuds scream for something green
& oranges are first on your shopping list
& canned anything tastes like metal...
it's cabin fever.

When jumping into the car is an adventure
& every mile & errand fascinating
& you cannot sit still for another moment...
it's cabin fever.

When two's a crowd
& the UPS guy is Dr. Livingston
& you're reading junk mail...
Then cabin fever has got you.

It only lasts a month
& though you know it's imminent
& still it infects you until
all of a sudden you realize...

You're in a fever of pacing & growling
& fuming & howling
& huffing & puffing
at the confines of your little nest.

It's time to get out where no walls crowd
& no electricity hums.
& it's outside for any reason
where a body can move & breathe free.

As surely as the slugs return, cabin fever cometh.

By Rebecca of RebeccaReads.Com

Have you visited Rebecca? http://www.rebeccasreads.com/thoughts.html Cabin Fever is one of her creations! Since I enjoy living in and talking about my cabin, I asked her for permission to use it here in my little corner of the internet. Now I won’t say that I have Cabin Fever exactly, but I must admit that even though the cold continues, I’ve been pulling on a warm jacket and heading outside. I’ve freed my upcoming flowers from their cover of leaves and picked up all of the smaller limbs and branches that were broken by the crushing snows we had this year. And, of course I have to stop and bend down to wish each cat or kitten a good morning!

No, I don’t normally get Cabin Fever because there are too many books to keep my mind enthralled! Let me tell you about one in particular!

Lisa Jackson has become one of my favorite writers. I get a kick seeing her picture in the back. After reading a "gory story" there is this young woman who looks like she is still in college…unsophisticated, just starting out…And yet! Wow, do her books sizzle! I just finished Fatal Burn. Almost 500 pages of twists and turns kept me riveted. A young girl is kidnapped. And her father is taking an active role in finding her! He heads right to her birth mother, hoping that she is who has stolen his daughter. Not only is that not the case, but there are other people who are now being murdered…and clues are left indicating that the murderer is also holding the kidnapped girl. Ok, I didn’t know for sure "whodunit" but I did guess right! Does that count? Anyway, there were lots of suspects…lots of action…and lots of attraction between the adoptive father and the birth mother…Can’t get any better!

 

 

Was I Insulted? What say you?

I think I was insulted a few days ago. I’m not sure, maybe that was the intent. But after I thought about it, I could only feel sorry for the individual who had said it…because she was missing out on a LOT of good reading. You see, I was asked to do a little administrative work by the director of our BookReviewers site--to find one or two additional reviewers. I carefully went through the applicants and had narrowed them down to three. I started to contact them…the first one didn’t respond so I assumed she was no longer interested. The second one said "Yes!" and proceeded to submit further information and a sample review.

I then contacted the third one who had sent a sample review earlier. At first she said she was interested, but indicated she didn’t do POD or vanity books. I quickly wrote back and told her that most of our books to be reviewed were POD. She declined to be considered further, indicating that she just couldn’t do this kind of book.

Okay, I admit it. At first I was irritated, just a little bit offended. Yes, she does reviews of books that were published…but then, so do we. We just don't "refuse" books that were submitted to us by POD authors. I felt like she was implying that we weren’t professional reviewers! Well…Boo Hiss! I say! Admittedly, we do have some books that come to us with errors. We either refuse to review them or work with these authors to have them corrected. We want to support these new authors!

Why should I spend a lot of time reviewing books by James Patterson, Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, Dean Koontz, Linda Howard, N. Roberts/J.D.Robb, Robert B. Parker…and all the many favorite authors I read all the time? These individuals are great authors and everybody knows it!

I would much rather spend my "review" time with bright new shining stars that are fitting their writing into their busy lives. They are trying to follow their dreams while doing all that needs to be done to keep bread and milk on the table. I can stand to read and mark a few errors to help them move forward in their writing experience. Sometimes I even get to ghostwrite a paragraph or a book closing or a word or two within their books that helps them say what they want to say, just a little bit better.

Having over 40 years of writing experience of one type or another, I take most afternoons and evenings and spend time with my beloved favorite authors. If I wrote  a review, what could I say…"Great! As Always!" I do that once in awhile in this blog…ah, but it is so much more fun, more exciting, to be able to say that I was there right at the beginning…I helped make this individual’s first book happen! I let people know that this new author, though lacking a lot of writing experience, has dreamed and believed enough in himself/herself to ensure that they broke into the publishing world…whether through POD, a small press publisher, self-publishing, or even vanity…

I’ve enjoyed lots of great books that I might never have had the opportunity to read had I not agreed to read books that are by these new authors, finding a place for themselves via the new technologies in publishing.

So, to those of you, including the big publishers, who don't have time or don't care to "risk" money on these new authors...well, I can only pity you.  If God has given me a talent to read/enjoy books and a skill that allows me to help new authors find their way in the harsh publishing world, then that may indeed be the path He's chosen for me.  And, Wow, am I having a lot of fun doing it!