Birthdays: Hannah Webster Foster (1758), Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880), Carl Van Doren (1885), Franz Werfel (1890), Cyril Connolly (1903), Charles Kuralt (1934), Mary Oliver (1935), Jared Diamond (1937), Stephen J. Gould (1941), Neale Donald Walsch (1943), Bill O’Reilly (1949), Andrei Makine (1957), Marian Keyes (1963)

Carl Van Doren won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Benjamin Franklin.

Charles Kuralt was a traveling journalist famous for his “On the Road” series on TV and in books.

Mary Oliver was an American poet who won both the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize.

Quote: “It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn’t in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.”― Charles Kuralt

“If you want the best the world has to offer, offer the world your best.”― Neale Donald Walsch

“The story begins when things change. The adventure begins when things go wrong.” – Dennis McKiernan

Tip: On the first page, you should have the answers to three questions: Whose story is this? (main character) What’s happening? What’s at stake?

Jumpstart: You work at a pet shop and arrive in the morning to find cages opened and animals everywhere—including the snakes—what happens next?

OATHSWORN by Sebastian Black

Fiction, Contemporary Paranormal Romance, LGBTQ, Level 5 heat

3***

Blurb: Can love set a mage free? Former chef Jasper Wight has been magically ensnared in his apartment for over three months. Cabin fever doesn’t begin to cover it. All he can do to pass the time is indulge in his hobby—painting portraits of his neighbors. But once a handsome new man moves into a swanky nearby penthouse, Jasper is no longer content merely to watch. Following his gut, he reaches out through astral projection…. Finn Anderson is the CEO of a food app funded by his parents, but he struggles to believe in the dream. When a mysterious someone starts leaving messages on his mirror, he learns the world holds more possibilities than he ever imagined. When a chance encounter brings Finn to Jasper’s door, the pair are soon as enamored with each other as Finn is of the magic he’s just discovering. But navigating a relationship that spans two worlds is only the tip of the iceberg. They still have to figure out how to free Jasper from his apartment, how to make Finn’s business into a success, and whether an outsider can be trusted with the secrets of the magical world.

Thoughts: I loved the character of Jasper. He’s a frustrated magic person who’s stuck in his apartment. He uses astral projection to visit his handsome across-the-street neighbor Finn. He tries to make contact by writing in the steamy mirror while Finn is in the shower. All it does is freak Finn out because he thinks he has a ghost. Jasper can make chef-level food from scraps his friends supply him with. And he is a painter. But he wants out.

Finn isn’t quite as well-rounded. He seems like a whiny, bored rich guy who runs at the first sign of conflict (his co-worker). I keep wondering why he doesn’t just stand up to the guy. He’s the boss! Why doesn’t he act like one? Okay, he doesn’t like the hand-shaking and kissing up that comes with the job, but very few do. He just doesn’t work well for me. What’s going to happen when the new venture gets going? Is he going to drop out there too? 

The romance is okay – but there seems to be more heat than romance. Yes, Jasper can’t get out, but Finn could do more to woo him. 

The best part for me – though it was also the shortest – was when Jasper finally got free although it took a few beats for him to realize why he got out. 

Recommendation: I do recommend the story – it’s a good story with a satisfying ending. But understand that you’re reading it for the heat level and the romance, not necessarily for what’s going on. 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions in this are my own and not influenced by anyone and anything. 

Birthdays: Frederic Mistral (1830), Siegfried Sassoon (1886), Jane Arbor (1903), Grace Metalious (1924), Michael Frayn (1933), Jack Prelutsky (1940), Jon Scieszka (1945), Marianne Wiggins (1947), Ann Beattie (1947), Michael Shemer (1954), Terry Tempest Williams (1955), Christopher Kim (1962)

Frederic Mistral won the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Grace Metalious is best known for her controversial novel “Peyton Place”

Jack Prelutsky was the American Children’s Poet Laureate.

Jon Scieszka (rhymes with “Fresca”) is best known for his children’s books like “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairy Stupid Tales”

Quote: “If every man, …ceased to hate and blame every other man for his own failures and shortcomings, we would see the end of every evil in the world, from war to backbiting.” ― Grace Metalious, Peyton Place

“My ideas come from all different things: my kids, kids I’ve taught, kids I’ve learned from, watching movies, playing with my cat, talking to my wife, staring out the window, and about a million other places. But what turns the ideas into stories and books is sitting down and writing and re-writing and throwing away writing and writing some more. That’s the hard part.” – Jon Scieszka

“You know that you are a writer if you are imaginative. You know that you are a writer if you are curious. You know that you are a writer if you are interested in the things and people of the world. You know that you are a writer if you hold a minie ball in your hand and wonder about its story. You know that you are a writer if you like the sound of rain on the roof. And if you want to tell someone else about your heart and how waiting for the thunder sometimes makes you feel, if you work to find the words to do that, then you are a writer. –Maureen O’Toople in the short story “Your Question for Author Here”

Tip: Avoid indirect negatives. For instance: He wasn’t very nice to us. Vs. He was rude to us. (The second one is better.)

Jumpstart: “The only way to keep a secret between two people is if one of them is dead,” she said as she pulled a gun from her pocket…

Birthdays: Edith Sitwell (1887), Taylor Caldwell (1900), Margaret Landon (1903), Michelle Paver (1960), Jennifer Egan (1962), David Levithan (1972),

Jennifer Egan won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “A Visit from the Goon Squad”

Margaret Landon is best known for her book “Anna and the King of Siam” which was translated into twenty languages and made into the movie “The King and I”

Quote: “The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.” – Edith Sitwell

“I print out and save all my drafts and I number them so if I start to have that experience of something good having disappeared, I can go through them and I can dig back to what I’m looking for. I distrust the continuous present of a screen because there’s no history there.” – Jennifer Egan

Tip: There are six basic types of conflict: man against nature (where someone is trying to survive in the wilderness or facing a storm of some sort, like Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” or Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”). Man against himself (as in “Hamlet” where the character is conflicted internally- literally fighting himself). Man against man (any book with a hero and a villain). Man vs. society (The Scarlet Letter). Man vs. technology (“Blade Runner” or “The Terminator”). And Man vs. the supernatural (Harry Potter). There may be other types of conflict, but these are the basics and you should have at least two in your story.

Jumpstart: When he got off the elevator, he noticed the door to his apartment was open…

CAPTAIN COOKED by S.P. Grogan

Fiction, Mystery

3***

Blurb: A new style and modern update to the old fashioned culinary mystery…not your Mother’s cozy read. All she wanted-A quiet beach where she could go topless–Not happening. Captain Cooked is a foodie travel mystery featuring special recipes from the top chefs on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Videographer Madison Merlot Dayne arrived on the Big Island to shoot the HDTV of her culinary father’s popular television food show. From her arrival on, Madison and her father are caught up trying to discover who may have poisoned a revered Hawaiian singing star. Her working vacation involves riots, suspicious accidents, earthquakes, flowing lava, dangerous Hawaiian war weapons–and a ‘real cliffhanger’. Madison is likewise having men problems. She desires island romance but not prepared for three men in her life…at the same time. And there is the mystery of the boiling cauldron. Will Maddison get off the island alive? 

Thoughts: Right from the beginning, I was sure I wasn’t going to like this book – it definitely needs better editing. The tenses are all over the place and more. But then… the story pulled me in. It is a good story – just poor editing. Madison and her father, Jeffrey, arrive on the big island of Hawaii to shoot a portion of her father’s TV food show. Things go wrong from the beginning with the death of a popular singer from eating what was supposed to be Madison and her father’s buffet meal. Though I pretty much had the killer pegged from the start, there is more than one death – and more than one killer. And just when you think the story is over… it goes on.

What I liked: all the recipes from actual chefs and restaurants on the island. And the facts about Hawaii (including correct spellings of things). The mysteries were pretty good, too. It’s obvious the author has visited (or lived) on Hawaii and did his research, though some of the facts could have been cut just a little.

What I didn’t like: Madison was a little too “I want to get laid” for me. She’s there for a job and all she can think about is how to get laid (which never happens). It got old real fast. Also the relationship between her and her father is a little…off-putting at times. And the end with the Hawaiians… um…ick.

Interesting fact: “Captain Cooked” is a Quest Mystery involving GPS; a real shark teeth war club is geo-cached (hidden) somewhere on the Big Island and when discovered can be redeemed for a cash prize. The clues are in the book. Twenty five cents ($.25) of each book sold will be contributed to the Food Basket — Hawai’i Island’s Food Bank. 25 recipes featured from the top chefs and restaurants on the Big Island. Local artists are showcased in the book. There is a Hawaiian war club hidden somewhere on The Big Island of Hawaii. When found and redeemed it is worth $5,000. The clues are in the book or at the website CaptainCooked.com

Recommendation: Maybe. As noted before, this is a good story, but needs a competent editor to make it better.

Disclaimer: Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Birthdays: Arthur Koestler (1905), John Cage (1912), Frank Yerby (1916), Justin Kaplan (1925), Ward Just (1935), Jonathan Kozol (1936), Sam Hamill (1943), Cathy Guisewite (1950),  Paul Fleischman (1952),

Justin Kaplan won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Mark Twain.

Quote: “Brain-washing starts in the cradle…The individual is not a killer, but the group is, and by identifying with it the individual is transformed into a killer.” – Arthur Koestler

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” – John Cage

“Writing a novel is like building a wall brick by brick; only amateurs believe in inspiration.” – Frank Yerby

Tip: An antagonist is a person (or thing) that opposes the protagonist. It doesn’t have to be inherently bad, but it does have to throw roadblocks in the hero’s way.

Jumpstart: Your character opens a fortune cookie and the strip inside says: “You will receive a legacy from a distant relative.” What is the legacy and why is she the one receiving it?

Birthdays: Mary Renault (1905), Richard Wright (1908), Syd Hoff (1912), Craig Claiborne (1920), Joan Aiken (1924), Forrest Carter (1925), David Lagercrantz (1962),

Syd Hoff is best known for his classic children’s book “Danny and the Dinosaur”

Quote: ““It’s not what one is, it’s what one does with it.” ― Mary Renault, The Charioteer

Stories ought not to be just little bits of fantasy that are used to wile away an idle hour; from the beginning of the human race stories have been used – by priests, by bards, by medicine men – as magic instruments of healing, of teaching, as a means of helping people come to terms with the fact that they continually have to face insoluble problems and unbearable realities.” – Joan Aiken

Tip: Confusing pronouns: “The lazy dog sat on the sofa. It was soft and plump.” – The second sentence could apply to either the dog or the sofa. The “it” makes it unclear. You need to be specific here. This often happens in books where there are multiple characters of the same sex. Using “she” or “he” for everyone gets too confusing as to who is whom.

Jumpstart: It’s spring and the birds are coming home. All of them. We need to be ready…

Birthdays: Sarah Orne Jewett (1849), Lawrence Clark Powell (1906), Alison Lurie (1926), Aliki (1929), Malcolm Gladwell (1963), Adriana Trigiani (1969), Kiran Desai (1971), Jenny Han (1980),

Alison Lurie won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel “Foreign Affairs”

Quote: “We are the children of a technological age. We have found streamlined ways of doing much of our routine work. Printing is no longer the only way of reproducing books. Reading them, however, has not changed.”― Lawrence Clark Powell

“The great subversive works of children’s literature suggest that there are other views of human life besides those of the shopping mall and the corporation. They mock current assumptions and express the imaginative, unconventional, noncommercial view of the world in its simplest and purest form. They appeal to the imaginative, questioning, rebellious child within all of us, renew our instinctive energy, and act as a force for change. This is why such literature is worthy of our attention and will endure long after more conventional tales have been forgotten.” ― Alison Lurie, Don’t Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children’s Literature

“Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.”― Lawrence Clark Powell

“You can’t write well with only the nice parts of your character, and only about nice things. And I don’t want even to try anymore. I want to use everything, including hate and envy and lust and fear.” – Alison Lurie

Tip: Dangling modifiers: modifiers are words or phrases that enhance other words in a sentence. If you misplace them (dangling), you can change the meaning of a sentence, or make it impossible as in: “Carrying the box, the leaves blew across his path.” In this case, it sounds like the leaves are doing the carrying. Much better: As he carried the box, the leaves blew across his path. Or: The leaves blew across his path as he carried the box.

Jumpstart: You’re going to be on a reality show—one that’s never been seen before. What will it be? What will the challenges be? What is the prize? Why are you doing this?

Birthdays: Lucretia Hale (1820), Eugene Field (1850), Paul Bourget (1852), Joseph Roth (1894), Cleveland Amory (1917), Allen Drury (1918), Barbara Dillon (1927), Jack Bickham (1930), John Bierhorst (1936), Demi (1942), Ellen Stohl Walsh (1942), Jon Berkeley (1962)

Cleveland Amory was an animal rights activist. Most of his books centered on his cat, Polar Bear, like “The Cat Who Came for Christmas”.

Allen Drury won the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “Advise and Consent”

Quote: “Books cannot change. A thousand years hence they are what you find them today, speaking the same words, holding forth the same cheer, the same promise, the same comfort; always constant, laughing with those who laugh and weeping with those who weep.” – Eugene Field

Tip: Watch your verb tenses. Whether writing in present or past tense, keep it consistent. I’ve seen too many books where the writer slips from present tense (I am doing this) to the past (I did this) to future (I will do this) sometimes in the same sentence. Most books are written in third person/past tense (She painted the picture.). Some in first person/past tense (I painted the picture). Whatever person/tense you choose, make sure you are consistent throughout.

Jumpstart: This is National Beheading Day. Why would anybody name a day after such a horrible practice? What is the history behind this day? Your character celebrates this day – why and how?

TREVOR’S REDEMPTION by Amber Daulton

Fiction, Romantic Suspense, #3.5 in Arresting Onyx, 275 pages (heat level 5)

4****

Blurb: The danger and lies are more than she can handle.
Shea O’Bannon feels like a fifth wheel around her romantically paired-off friends, but there’s too much slime in the dating pool for her to bother with it. Then she sees her two-timing ex, Trevor Madero, serenading the mostly female crowd at a live-music bar. God knows trouble follows him around, but her desire for him rushes back in anyway. After he rescues her from a handsy drunk, temptation takes over.
Determined to prove he never stepped out on Shea, Trevor slides back into her life—and her heart—with forever in mind. Even with the wall he keeps up to protect her, his secret criminal life weighs heavy on his soul and drives a wedge between them.
When the truth comes out and his enemies target them both, they’ll have to fight for their love, or kiss it goodbye.

Thoughts: Wow. This story has it all – heat, danger, suspense, and more. In this addition to the Arresting Onyx series, Shae and Trevor have to clear up previous misunderstandings. But the heat between them is obvious. They care for each other, but need to deal with issues not just from their pasts, but Trevor’s ties to Onyx. I loved Trevor’s aunt and Shea has a great group at her back so they both have support, but there’s a lot to overcome.

Recommendation: recommended – and also suggest you read the other books in the series to get the whole story. If you like your stories hot and the relationship that works, pick this series up.

Disclaimer: Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”