Tag Archives: author

Beta Books and Beta Readers (Tip + Update)

Hello, peeps!

I hope you enjoyed my last book reviews. As always, it’s a pleasure to read and give my opinions of them to you.

Don’t fret: I’ve also got news!

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I’m still a long way from publishing my Nightshade series; however, I now have TWO beta readers for my short stories and Nightshade in particular! One of them is my best friend, but don’t go thinking he’ll be soft with his critiques… Trust me, he’s not. And it’s a very good thing for me!

As a tip for you guys and gals, here’s what I use to manage the beta reading:

BetaBooks.co

I found this cozy site months ago in its infancy. It wasn’t even open to the general public, imagine that! So I waited… But it sounded like such a great idea! So I waited some more.

Then, it opened. Admittedly, I didn’t sign up until two weeks ago because I thought they were charging even the basic features. I was surprised! You can still create a free account. Isn’t it neat?!

If you do, you’ll be able to upload ONE story and invite up to THREE beta readers and some “fancy” features are locked like the inline comments. Nevertheless, most of what a budding author needs is handled pretty well with the free account, let me tell you. If you go over the limits, you’ll enter the first paid subscription tier (which, I think, is reasonably priced, $14.99.)

Want to know what else you can do with a free account?

Here:

  • Track reader progress
  • Collect reader feedback
  • Reply and discuss feedback in-app
  • Triage and categorize with our feedback marking system
  • See all your feedback in one screen
  • One Book
  • Up to Three Readers

Again, if you want to test this lovely service, sign up at BetaBooks.co for a free account.

Did I mention all of the feedback given and received is private when you invite your beta readers?

See you next post, lovelies (it will be a book review)!

 

Breaking Order: A Review

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by Catherine Kopf

Amazon.com

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Goodreads

Genre: YA, Dystopian, Fantasy

Pages: 244

ISBN: 9781981781324

*I was given a free e-copy of Breaking Order by the author. Thank you!*

The Story:

Dreams, Creativity, and Magic are all gone under a single order.

Banned from the things that make you different, people must conform to a dull and practical lifestyle.

The daughter of The Regime’s Head Executioner is expected to follow in his footsteps, but fourteen-year-old Calista Knight is curious about creativity and dreams. It doesn’t help that she is isolated and bullied at school because of her asthma. When the new boy, Wes, encourages Calista to stop taking the medicine preventing dreams and introduces her to creativity, a new life opens up to her. Magic becomes very real, and with dreams and creativity intertwined, limits are endless.

But the Regime wants no one to dream.

Calista is a threat to the order, and she only has two options:

Overcome her own personal fears of dreaming…

…or end up just as compliant to the Regime as others around her.

The Introduction:

Read that summary? That’s what got me greatly interested in reading this book as well as the gorgeous cover! All about this book screams creativity and dystopia and I so wanted to see how it was dealt with. Also, you said magic? Here I am! I must say Breaking Order delivered. How about we review it together?

The Positive Points:

Let’s start with the positive sides. This story introduces us to a terrifying and very controlling dystopian reality in Fortress (that’s the city’s name. Lovely, isn’t it?) Creativity and ambition (a.k.a dreams) are outlawed and their penalty is death, no less. In other words, you mustn’t stand out in a crowd nor think much for yourself. What’s better is that Calista’s own father is the Head Executioner. Now that makes for drama! Also, I’ve got to say the villain in this story is quite vile and cruel, which makes them totally my style. I didn’t think they could go to such lengths but… Yes, and it was wonderful (in a gasping, shocked-sort of way).

Their dreaming confers the Dreamers, the radicals and rebels who dare to dream and be creative, powers from the likes found in fantasy stories. How interesting is that?!

As for the writing, it is smooth and the vocabulary quite developed, which is a delight. Moreover, a few foreshadowing moments are woven into the exact words the author chooses to describe the story. It shows Miss Kopf really thought it through and gave it the attention it deserves!

Honestly, I spent days either wanting to go back to reading this book or flipping through its pages, engrossed in the story! The reading is eased by the good writing and ongoing action and drama.

The Negative Points:

As for the bad points, there simply are two. A few mistakes and typos, but nothing too troublesome. Also, there’s the issue of fighting being way too easy for the children against trained adults. I know the kids have military training, but two of them (those who don’t have offensive powers) can take down several guards without batting an eye or at least much of it? That’s the only weakness of this story.

In Conclusion:

You’re probably expecting an excellent rating for this one and you’d be right. I give it a rating of 4.5 stars because it’s amazing but too easy for the teens’ gang. Besides that, I can assure you you’re in for an entertaining ride! The villain, the mysteries, and the sheer creativity of the story are worth it, in my opinion.

I recommend Breaking Order without hesitation and now I’m patiently waiting for the sequel, i. e. I want it. Right. Now!

…

Is it out yet?

If you want to learn more about the author, Catherine Kopf, and her books, please visit her Web site , Twitter and Wattpad accounts (where you can read the first draft of the sequel, yay!). You can also add Breaking Order to your Goodreads shelves and follow her Goodreads author page!

P.S.: You’ll notice on Web sites where there are no half points possible that I’ve given this book 5 stars. I think it deserves more a 5-star rating than the loss of a whole point. Thank you.

A Little PC Issue…

Hello, lasses and lads!

If you’re wondering why I’ve been so silent lately, it’s not because I lack reviews and post ideas.

It’s because my computer broke. (What a bummer!)

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Since I’m a distance university student, I needed a new one as quickly as possible! And so I went shopping for a new PC this week.

Please bear with me as I’m transferring everything from my external hard drive to this new computer…

However, fret not!

I’ve still got you covered: writing progress as well as book reviews and other writing-related posts are coming!

They’ve just been delayed by this… minor… incident.

You should expect a new post later during the week.

Thank you all, lovelies!

 

Merry Writing and Updates!

Hello everyone,

Here is a quick note to wish you a merry Christmas and best wishes!

Also, I have made huge progress with my novel Heaven’s Army: Down to Earth last week in terms of plot and characters. I will update you more when the holidays are over.

There are two or three book reviews coming soon too.

And the poetry workbook I told you about recently? Yes, I did write some of it! It’s coming together. I will tell you more when I am back from the holidays.

Again: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

See you next post!

The Queen of Justice – My First Published Poem

 

Hello everyone!

Today I have the most wonderful writing news to share with you!

You have been diligent and adventurous companions on my writing journey for years now. I have shared with you poems, short stories, and excerpts from my novels, my hopes and dreams as well as my temporary setbacks. I have always let you know when I participated in contests, classes, workshops, and the likes.

Though it seemed I wasn’t making much progress, today I haven been proven wrong. Why?

I have the pleasure of announcing to you, dear fellow adventurers, that I am finally published!

Yes!

As of today, my poem The Queen of Justice is published on the lovely Selcouth Station Web site. Simply click here to read it (it’s free!) – I really hope you enjoy it!

Don’t forget to browse the site afterwards for there are other interesting pieces on there too.

Now, here’s that poem’s funny backstory: I started writing it in French over a year ago. Yep, that’s right. About two weeks ago, I stumbled on it again and I found the inspiration to finish writing it! I wrote a line here… then a line there… and I swear I was lying in bed and I just couldn’t stop writing it in my head! However, I was too tired to actually get up… so I took my phone off my nighttable and I wrote all of it on the tiny screen! But, ladies and gents, am I glad I did.

I have been aware of the Selcouth Station Web site for months due to my sometimes discussing with the team on Twitter (they’re very kind and amusing!). I thought: ”Hey, why don’t I translate this kickass poem into English and try to get published on Selcouth Station?!” I had high hopes because, in my opinion, it is my best poem yet. I wanted them to say yes so much!

Thank you Selcouth Station for publishing my poem, thank you!

I am so proud and I hope you guys and gals see the progress I’ve made. I might be as fast as a snail, but I am getting there. Thank you, fellow adventurers, for supporting me.

Again, if you wish to read my poem, here it is: The Queen of Justice.

Did you enjoy it?

If so, why?

What emotions did it invoke in you?

If not, why?

Thank you for reading, as always.

See you next post, sweethearts!

 

A Discovery of Writing Wealth

Hello, fellow adventurers!

Yesterday, I was looking for more information about the writing craft. Perhaps I was hoping to find a book that wasn’t so expensive or a few online articles from trusted sources… but I hadn’t expected to stumble upon podcasts.

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Now, I knew what a podcast was and I doubted listening to celebrities talk about their life and such would help me improve. What I did not know was that I had listened to the wrong podcasts a few years ago!

Let me explain: I thought podcasts were only by celebrities (from the music industry, the movie industry, etc.) and book reviewers. Why would I want to listen to that? I mean, it’s good if you like this stuff as podcasts, but I don’t. I was looking for something to help me improve my writing craft.

The first writing podcast I found is I Should Be Writing (ISBW) by Mur Lafferty. Since I don’t have the money right now to buy her book I Should Be Writing: A Writer’s Workshop, I figured I could glean some information via her podcast.

And it did not disappoint!

So, of course, I opened iTunes and subscribed. Then, I looked up other writing podcasts. Just so you know, it felt like bliss because I had just found that podcasts could actually teach you important stuff instead of just wasting your precious time!

Here are the two other writing podcasts I found that are worth subscribing to:

They have a wealth of information and tips on the writing craft and also how to be an indie author in our years. I encourage you to at least try them.

Go on, listen to one episode and see for yourself!

Did you know about writing podcasts?

If so, which ones do you like to listen to?

If not, what other free writing resources do you use?

See you next post, lovelies!

 

Absence (For a Very Good Reason)

Hello, everyone!

I’m posting this short message to inform you that I’ll be getting a new pacemaker (heart surgery) tomorrow, thus I shan’t be available for a week or two. I promise two book reviews when I come back though, yay! I’ll also implement the changes I talked about a few days ago.

Thank you and have a nice week.

Writing Apps on Android: A Review

Hello again, folks!

I promised you a review of two free writing apps available in the Google Play Store. Well, here it is!

Let’s start with World Scribe, my favorite of the two.

World Scribe by Averi Studios

Just like its name says, this app lets you build a world along with all the connections, concepts, characters it must have for it to be believable and great.

Positive points:

  • It is cute but simple and easy to navigate and create new files (or even worlds). There’s a big ”+” button for that need and it’s quite hard to miss.
  • We can add pictures!!! (I cannot stress this enough as I am one who loves casting my characters or even add a picture that resembles the place I am creating.)
  • There is a space for general information, the possibility to create memberships and roles to groups YOU create, residences (worlds), various connections such as relationships to one another or with a certain item, and snippets of information that do not fit in the bio.
  • A fact I particularly liked: it can backup to Dropbox! So even if you lose the app or it doesn’t work anymore for whatever reason, you can find all you need in Dropbox (if you backed it up once or more, of course).
  • There are different app themes which consist of five colors and even a night mode (the background then becomes black).
  • You can create as many worlds as you wish!
  • There is a search function in each tab (or category) if you ever have too many characters or else.
  • You can even create concepts about your worlds, items, characters, or whatever it is you want the concept to be about. It is fun to have this possibility because we know that there are many concepts in a world in order for it to feel real…
  • Last but not least, no ads!

You’re probably wondering where the negative points are… I am as well for I couldn’t find any! For an app, it is quite interesting and worth the downloading and installing bits. Now, you can have your worlds and basic character descriptions at your fingertips, wherever you are. Doesn’t this sound magical? It is! So, I give this cute and useful app a rating of 5 out of 5. I recommend it to everyone who writes! Even if you’re not worldbuilding, you can just enter the basic information of the real place your characters are set in and then expand on the relationships, groups, concepts, etc. Thus, you’ll have all you need to start writing on a whim on the subway or on the bus or anywhere, really!

Writing Prompts by Datamix Soft

This app gives you writing prompts for when your creativity fuel is running low or only to exercise your writing skills.

Negative points:

  • There are ads, which is annoying.
  • The interface is dark (bleh) and the pixels show; it doesn’t have a nice and beautiful finish feel to it.
  • There is a tab titled ”Writing Guides”, but when I click it, it tells me to download another app from them in which there are all of their writing guides. This would have been very interesting if it were integrated in the Writing Prompts app. Otherwise, one must use more download in order to get to them…

Positive points:

  • The prompts are fun and diverse. However, they are not precise enough with ideas – they’re more about techniques.
  • Easy navigation.
  • The ”Online Writing Communities” tab lists the 7 most popular writing communities you can find online along with short descriptions and direct links to them. I even discovered a few! This is, by far, the best point of this writing app.
  • The interface’s main screen is a fun space – it mimics a corkboard with the prompts written on a small piece of paper pinned to it. If only it weren’t so pixelated…

Unfortunately, I don’t really recommend it unless you want to explore the various online writing communities, that is. I give this app a rating of 2 out of 5 for the easy interface and the discovery of online writing communities.

Next up will probably be a book review or my review of K.M. Weiland’s outlining software!

P.S.: I’m so glad I re-read my last post because I had completely forgotten about my sci-fi short story… Don’t worry! I’ll get to it and share it with you in due time. Once the research and writing parts are done, of course.

P.S. 2: Also, if there are apps or sites you want me to review or anything you’d like to know, just comment and tell me! I’ll do my best to help you.

Will you try one of these two apps? If so, what did you like and dislike about them?

As always, thanks for sticking with me and see you next post!

 

Get On the Apps Train, Girl!

Hello, folks!

I’ve had quite an exceptional week (birthday and all)! However, that’s not what I’m here for today. No, in fact, it’s because I stumbled into the Android apps world and… I just can’t get out!

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You see, I used to have 1G of Internet downloads per month, so I couldn’t really download nor use apps (I could only check my email addresses once in a while). But ever since I switched to 2G per month, my horizon has broadened!

Guess what I found? WRITING APPS! I swear I didn’t know they even existed. So, you can imagine me squealing like a little girl – in reality, I was bouncing on the spot.

Of course, I downloaded the essential ones (Audible, Audiobooks, Celtx, Wattpad, and Ao3). Unfortunately, there isn’t a Scrivener app for Android. Yet. I’m looking at you, creators of Scrivener.

Also, I downloaded a writing prompts app (simply called Writing Prompts – quite original if you ask me…) and an actual story-building and writing app called World Scribe. I thought: ”Hey! I could give them a try and write reviews on my blog in order to help other writers/authors!”

It’s exactly what I’ll do.

Stay tuned for my next post about those two writing apps!

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(Because I just love the Hunger Games, okay? ;))

Off the Roller Coaster Ride (Updates!)

Hello, everyone!

I’m sorry for not having posted lately, but I have three good excuses and updates. I must admit that these last two weeks hasn’t been easy for me in terms of writing. In fact, it was my darkest hour, I would say. I was genuinely considering giving up writing altogether (except for book reviews). I was so desperate and sorrowful I had trouble going through my days. I kept thinking and thinking about my dreams, my stories, and how much I want them to be published. Then, quite unexpectedly, I found a few ideas for old stories of mine! Now, I can’t choose which one to finish writing between four stories! But it’s a problem I’m loving. This means my inspiration has come back somehow and even though my will is still fragile, it’s there and I’m holding onto it!

This brings me to something else that is writing-related: I finally identified the main issue in my stories. So, I bought writing craft books about it and I am reading them, hoping to fix this major issue soon. It’s silly and ironic, really, because I have always loved the villains in stories and preferred them over the main characters (except for Percy Jackson!), but the thing is I can’t seem to write a mean enough villain for my own stories! They’re always either too kind or thoughtful or they don’t really scare the reader or thwart the main character’s plan. See? But don’t worry, I am working on this and shall come back with an awesomely kick-ass villain!

On another note, I have just finished my legal translation class and scored an excellent grade. This helped me to decide that I’ll take a specialisation in legal translation, financial translation, and literary translation at the Master’s degree level. I am still at the bachelor’s level for now and guess what? I have only two classes left to take to be done with the basics! Then, my third and last year will start (it will be mostly about Spanish translation and review classes).

 

The last reason I was away is that I’ve been reading novels that I need to review this month. Thus, expect two reviews soon, my dears!

I shall post updates and news more regularly now, like I used to before these dreadful two weeks of what I call ”writing depression”. Thank you for reading as always and you’re wonderful companions on this journey!

See you next post, lovelies!