Category Archives: books

Review of Twisted Desire by Jessi Elliot

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Review of Twisted Desire by Jessi Elliot. I love the book and it stars Skylar and Nikolai which is interesting since it’s done in the aftermath of the events of the previous book. And now they are on the way to stop The Experiment forever. I love the dynamic between Skylar and Nikolai since they make a cute couple together. The book is well written with twists and turns to keep me interested. I loved the ending to the book. It was a really good page turner, and I wanted to ignore the world to see how they stopped The Experiment. I loved seeing the relationship form too, and the character is full of sass as well. I look forward to seeing what happens next in the series.

*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

We’re In This Together: Celebrating Writers Who Persevere!

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perseveranceToday I am happy to be part of Writers Persevere!, an event that authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are running for the next few days to celebrate their release of their newest book, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma. This book looks at the difficult experiences embedded in our character’s backstory which will shape their motivation and behavior afterward.

Because Angela and Becca have spent the last year exploring painful human struggles, they wanted to highlight a very important aspect of overcoming difficult circumstances: it can make us stronger. I promised to let Angela hijack my blog today, so please read on!

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Hi everyone! When you set out to find examples of inner strength, you don’t have to go very far. Right here in the writing community we see it every day. Writers more than anyone understand the swirl of emotions as we work toward publication. We dream of making it and seeing our books in the hands of readers…yet doubt and frustration can be a constant companion. For us, there is a lot to learn, much to steel our nerves for, and unfortunately, a host of real-world problems that can try to derail us. And, even as we slowly move forward and grow, we can sometimes feel like impostors. This is a tough road.

But the fact that writers face this battle, day after day, and KEEP GOING…this should be celebrated! We need to be reminded that we are much stronger than we sometimes believe. We dream, create, and force ourselves to keep striving. Through the ups and downs, we persevere!

Have you encountered something on the writing road that made you question yourself? Have you faced an obstacle that required a force of will to get past?

Writers helping writersIf so, we want to hear about it! Join Becca and me at Writers Helping Writers from October 25-27th, where we are celebrating writers and their stories of perseverance. Stop in, and tell us about a challenge or struggle your faced, or if you like, join this event by writing a post on your own blog and share it using the hashtag #writerspersevere.  Let’s fill social media with your strength and let other writers know that it’s okay to question and have doubts but we shouldn’t let that stop us.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!

We also have a prize vault filled with items that can give your writing career a boost, so stop by Writers Helping Writers. I would love for one of you to win something that will help you get closer to your goal!

If you struggle, remember to reach out to others. We are in this together, and by supporting one another, we cross the finish line together (and then keep going!).

Happy writing!

Angela & Becca

To Buy The Emotional Wound Thesaurus Click Here!

 

#Writer’s Life My Favorite Things Book Review and Updates!

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I found a cool writing prompt book/journal at Barnes and Noble called My Favorite Things by Piccadilly. I’ve had this for a few weeks, but I haven’t cracked it open till last night. I’m glad I did since it’s awesome. It has over 200 prompts to list your favorite things, and it will definitely keep you busy for days at a time. I got a separate notebook to write the prompts down because I need more space then what they give you.

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If you love those books I suggest you pick it up since the possibilities are endless. They have prompts like name your favorite restaurants, and you can even put why they are your favorite. Ones like name your favorite greeting cards, and it’s a book of prompts all about you. It can help you get the creative juices flowing again, and it’s going to be fun to work through the entire book. It also gives you something to do when you are bored, and wasting time. It can also come in handy when it comes to getting to know your favorite character. I love those kind of books and I hope to have a ton of fun working on the exercises and writing down my favorite things. It gives me something to look back on, and I plan on doing all of the exercises.

In other news two out of the four ebooks I have will be in audio book form, and they are The Darkside of Human Nature and Being a Vampire in Retail sucks. I will write a blog post about my experiences in making an audio book, and the stuff I used for it.

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

Ebooks VS Real Books:

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I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I love to read both. I love ebooks and real books. They are all forms of reading and they both take you to other places. There are pros and cons to both which is what I’m going to talk about in this post. I might even do a video of it too.

Ebooks:
You can carry more of them then real books on an EReader
You can read them on your cell phone, Ipad, iPod, PC or Mac.
They can be read in the dark, and with a real book you can’t unless you had a light.
It does run on batteries though so you have to keep it charged or it could shut down at an important part.
You can highlight notes with your finger.
When you read on your smart phone no one knows what you are doing. You could be checking a text or reading a book. Playing a game and no one has to know you are reading 50 shades of Gray on your phone.
You can take your whole Kindle or Nook library with you, and you don’t have to lug it around,
They can be cheaper then real books too.
You can’t drop them though since it’s your Ereader.
You can’t touch the covers or smell the pages like real books.
Authors can’t sign it unless they use AuthorGraph or a PDF File.
For an avid reader it comes in handy at the beach, but don’t get sand or water on it.
It’s so handy to have when you are easily bored at family meetings or waiting in line.
There is a glare on the screen when you read it in the sun.
You can change the font and size of the text.
You can change it to off white, sepia or black and white.
You can load PDFs to your E-reader.
Delivery for ebooks are immediate on release days. You don’t have to worry about them running out of ebooks like you do paper backs or hard backs. There is no hey your book will be delivered in a few days if you order it online. Ebooks can cause eye strain when looking at a screen for too long. There are pros and cons to both.

Books:
You can pick them up. You can feel them as you flip through the pages. They can be hard and soft backs. You can read them in the back or on the beach. Try not to get the pages wet. You can feel their covers and see how stunning they are. You can also smell them and pet them. They are fun to discover at book stores. They never run out of batteries. They can be easy to open and read while sitting down. It’s not hard to sit and read with an Ipad. You can lay down while reading a book or ebook. They can be more expensive then ebooks. They have nice chapter headings. Some are beautifully formatted. When you go to a book store to read books you can get lost reading the titles and picking them up. For real books like textbooks you can highlight the words and write on them. Authors can sign the front of them. You can drop them and they wont break. People do write them.

They are both good options to have, and you can read them everywhere. They both offer an escape from daily life. Whatever the format it’s used to escape into a world the author created. Those are my thought on both.

What is your favorite ebooks or real books? Why?
Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

New Ideas Abound….

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The one good thing about publishing yourself is the ability of control. I know I’ve been bad lately over finishing projects I start them and stop them just as quickly. There is no deadline by a publisher, and sometimes it rocks since I can decide what I want to write, and when I want to finish it. The thing that has been going through my head lately is to write a few non fiction books, and one will be about my experiences working retail. I can write about what to expect, how to not treat people, the ways you can piss off a cashier, and even tell people some real life stories about what actually happened to me. There are a few complaints I’ve dealt with in the past 4 years. Not many since I try to be nice when I can. I’ve made the most screw ups the first year of retail. I didn’t know what to expect and I learned as I go. It’s something I want to do because not many people starting know what to expect, and it will be a fun guide too.
I also wanted to make a guide on self-publishing like I did and how I got my publisher too. I’m still learning though, and it was a fun process. You never realize how much work something is until you experience it yourself there are also a ton of books out there on it. I’ve read a lot and I will definitely review the best ones on my blog. I also have a ton of writing books to read, and I learn something new each time I read one. Reading books like that is good for the mind since it keeps you going. I’ve learned the importance of networking and how word of mouth happens. People are really more likely to buy your book if they know you. Networking with other authors works as well, and it helps if you have a team so they can guide you through the process. I’ve been on this road for 5 years, and I’m still learning more as I go along.

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

How to Write a Novel Part 1:

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I have been writing for a while, and I have several novels under my belt at this point. I woke up this morning, and thought I should write a series of blog posts about it because I want to share my wisdom with others. I also want to have some fun with it since it’s the best job in the entire world. I never really fit in to the rest of the jobs, and forget being a doctor, lawyer, or nurse. I suck at math, and I’ve always been a writer since the first grade. I want to write about my experience with the entire process, and even write some posts about the books I’ve found on the subject of writing. I’ll even film Youtube videos about it too.

I have three days off a week till January 19th since this is the last day of the semester for me. I took my last final, and all I have left is to turn in a portfolio. I might even post some of my essays on my blog too.

This is part one and the first thing I talk about is the stuff you will need in order to even start writing a book. This is geared toward fiction by the way.

  1. Your imagination: This is essential since no one wants to read a boring book, and be sure to use it to use the what if scenarios.
  2. Pencil, Pen and Paper: You need something to write and type your ideas down, and if you have a pencil you can even erase things that are not working. Paper is useful too, and I first write by hand then type it up.
  3. Laptop needs a word processor or document writing software to save your work. You can also take this with you everywhere, and even useful to have while you are on a long boring trip. Laptops can be a place to type up your novel if you want to type it up instead of write it.
  4. Jump drive: If you are using a laptop then you want to back up your work in case something happens. There are free places to save it like Google Drive, ICloud, and Skydrive. Even Dropbox can work. It’s useful to have if you don’t own a personal computer or have to use a public place.
  5. A drink that includes caffeine, energy drinks, coffee, and sometimes alcohol. Whatever keeps you going to put pen to paper. Tea and soda can be used too. Just something to hydrate you while you are writing or typing.
  6. Passion: It’s not easy to write a book, and you do have to love what you are doing since it’s not easy. Believe me there are times when I wanted to say fuck it and stop. I didn’t and it’s what kept me going even in the face of rejection and everything else.
  7. A stable surface believe me you don’t want the pen or laptop flying everywhere.
  8. Snacks nothing kills the writing vibe more than being hungry. I can’t write when I’m starving either.
  9. Time: This is very important since it takes time to write a novel even if it’s ten minutes a day. If it’s something you love definitely make time for it.
  10. Notebooks: It’s so important to use since it keeps track of everything.

 

These are just some of the basics, and there is more to add to it. These are just ten of the things you will need to start out with. The next time I can talk about outlining some, and even give you some ideas of what to write about.

What else would you need to write a novel?

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

This Crazy Summer…

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It has been a while since I have updated my blog, and there is not any major news yet. I’m still working on various projects, and the first Scarlet book is actually in the middle of the first draft. The second book I’m 8 chapters in for that draft, and I’m working on the second retail novel. It’s been a long summer due to working and writing. Things are pretty much normal now since I’ve been slowly getting my life back together, and I start school this month which means things will be the busy chaos I love. I miss school since it kept me busy throw in work and writing and I always had something to do. I have been reading more ebooks and books, and working on writing exercises. It is hard to come up with 1,000 words based on images. I can do it though, and I have learned more lessons this summer then I have any other since I’ve gained more then I’ve lost. It was a wild ride too, and I have talked to more people then ever. I love hearing their stories, and their pasts. Everyone has one, and it makes them who they are. People are interesting to me, and I enjoy life now that I’m not miserable. I will update this more as I go along because once my writing picks up more, and I am able to publish more books I will definitely have more to talk about. Right now its all about taking notes, and writing while waiting for VCU to start.

Until next time,

Wolfdreamer25

My Formal Introduction…

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To Fellow Bloggers, Readers, and Writers,   
    I am a reader and a writer. I have been writing since the fifth grade. I am also an avid reader capable of burning through books to expand my array of vast knowledge. I originally created this blog to document my writing career.
    One day I looked at my pile of books that are capable of spanning an enitre wall. I thought to myself I have a huge pile of books, and I have never done reviews on them. I read an awful lot 2 to 3 books a week! Then I got an idea to read the books that stand out to me. Some are fiction others are nonfiction. Ranging in genres like paranormal romance, urban fantasy, books about writing, and metaphysical reference books. Tons of goodies that are amazing in their own way. Some of them I can read over and over again without getting sick of them. I want to review the books in my collection to show you some of the cool books out there. Sometimes I will do video game reviews if I think the critics gave the game unfair ratings. Come with me on the amazing book journey, and I will take you on a wild ride through awesome book terrain.
From The Writing Dreamer,
Wolfdreamer25
Ps. If you have any suggestions to make this blog better please leave me a comment they are greatly appreciated to make this blog rock!!

Tv Shows, Books, and Video Games oh my!

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I have been staying away from the computer, and relaxing while watching mindless tv shows. I love the new teen wolf series on mtv. It was better then the classic movie. I watch Choppped a tv show where contestants compete to win 10,000 dollars. It is a very good show that comes on tuesdays at 10 on the food network.
Top Chef Master is always a favorite with chefs winning money for the charity, and competeing to win Top Chef masters, and 100,000 for their charity of choice.
The Next Food Network star is also a show I watch, and contestants compete to win a show on the food network. I love the challenges they have to do.

The shows I watch are good, but I cannot wait for True Blood. Season 4 is the season with witches, and the book for 4 is called Dead To The World. I hope they follow the story line.
I am re-reading The Summoning, The Awakening, and The Reckoning, by Kelley Armstrong. The main character is Chloe Saunders who is a necromancer running away from the people that genetically altered her powers. I forgot how good it was until now.
 As for video games I am anxiously waiting for Duke Nukem Forever, and Elder Scrolls Skyrim.
Duke Nukem Forever takes place where the last Duke left off. The earth is once again taken over by Aliens, and it is up to Duke to kick ass and take names. I played the demo, and it was better then I imagined. The graphics are surreal, and very good. I saw some of the monsters like the pig cops who are better then the original. I even saw a baby octobrain, and the face suckers are done really well. I loved the guns like the shrink ray.  The shotguns are there as well as some of the classic Duke Nukem guns. If the demo was good then the game will be even more awesome.
Elder Scrolls Skyrim takes place after Oblivion. This time there are real dragons in the main story. You can dual weild magic and weapons which is a very cool feature. The trailers are awesome in describing what has changed about the game, and so much has been added to the game that I want it to come out now. There are weather changes, more spells, leveling up is different, and more characters. The graphics are way cooler this time around.