Book SALE: Captives by Jill Williamson

CAPTIVES IS ON SALE FOR $2.99!

Captives, Jill's first book in The Safe Lands series, is on a special $2.99 ebook sale on Amazon. If you liked dystopian teen books like The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Maze Runner, or Z for Zachariah, you might also like Captives. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Captives-Safe-Lands-The-ebook/dp/B008EGV6LO/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371562131&sr=8-1&keywords=captives+jill+williamson

Read my review of Captives here

FREE The New Recruit by Jill Williamson

From Jill's Newsletter:

THE NEW RECRUIT IS FREE!
To celebrate the release of Project Gemini, The New Recruit will be FREE on Amazon Kindle for five days. Starting on Tuesday, June 18 through Saturday, June 22, you’ll be able to download the ebook for FREE. This is a great chance to give Spencer and the spy kids a try. If you like YA or know of some teens who’d enjoy reading about a sarcastic spy guy, I’d love your help spreading the word. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/New-Recruit-Mission-Moscow-ebook/dp/B0097ADIGW/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371560193&sr=8-1&keywords=the+new+recruit+jill+williamson

REVIEW: Captives by Jill Williamson

“Captives” by Jill Williamson is one of those hard to find books that I couldn’t put down. From the prologue I was drawn in, and the tug to keep reading never stopped. (I finished the book in a day, which for a girl who likes the draw out the enjoyment of reading for a week, rather than gobble it all up, is pretty fast)

The book is incredibly fast paced, jumping between the POV of four various characters. While it certainly kept things interesting, I didn’t become as attached to the characters as I have in previous books with fewer characters. Mind you this isn’t because of lack of character development, Jill is fantastic with developing faulted, lovable, unique characters. We simply don’t have to opportunity to spend as much time with the characters. On the flip side we get to skip over boring parts and see what’s going on with a variety of characters. This is simply an observation, as there’s really no way to resolve the issue, and wouldn’t want Jill to have written it any other way.

Jill does touch on some more mature topics now and then, however nothing is explicit and all instances only further the plot and are tastefully handled. I would not recommend the book to younger readers though. I’m fairly conservative in my reading choices, however even at 13-14 I would have found the vaporizing (aka smoking) club life and various lifestyles squirm worthy. As I said, everything is to further the plot and/or development of various characters and excluding them would have made the “gilded cage” much less cage-like and shocking.

One of my only gripes is the book does end on a cliffhanger. (As far as cliffhangers go I’d rate it a medium) Which for a series is almost a requirement, but I prefer an ending that’s a little more wrapped up with a few loose ends and minor cliffhangers. This is more personal preference, and not a big deal, just be forewarned you’ll be searching Jill’s website for the release date of “Captives” sequel. :)

If you enjoy Sci-Fi, Dystopian, or anything in between you’ll certainly enjoy “Captives”. Jill has weaved a unique and drawing story that lucky for us, spans more than one book. Now get out there and dive headlong into the story world and character's in Captives. Enjoy!

REVIEW "The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet" by Stephanie Morrill

"The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet" was a very enjoyable book. Throughout the novel there is a "what's going to happen next" feel. For me it was the kind of book I wanted to keep reading but at the same time didn't because I knew it would end sooner.

I was a little disappointed that the focus was a bit more on Ellie's boy troubles than her book troubles. However, I hardly ever read books with romance (I hate to call it that, it's more like cute, relatable crushes, mixed with problems with dating) so keep that in mind, I'm more into action adventure and mysteries. Having said that, I really enjoyed the book, and have recommended it to some friends who are more into light teen romance type books. From what I've heard they think it's marvelous and I agree with them.

Stephanie Morrill did an excellent job making Ellie relatable, her issues real, and her story interesting. I enjoyed her cast of characters, from Ellie's picky grandmother to the girl's at school to Chase and Palmer. There is a lot of growth in Ellie (particularly with her relationship with her parents) and it was fun to read about her writer's journey, especially as I myself am an aspiring writer. There was a few points in the book where I got really nervous for Ellie, angry at one of the characters, or some other emotion, which for me is an indicator of a good book.

It wasn't hard to dive into Ellie's world, and I will certainly dive into it again this fall upon the second release of Ellie Sweet. Ellie was a light, sweet read. :)     


Purchase a copy of Ellie Sweet here.

"The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet" Audio Recording Chapter 1

Now this was fun, but quite the trick. My character voices are laugh worthy but I think it adds to the charm. ;)

I'm so doing this with the first chapter of my book!

REVIEW Go Teen Writers: How to turn your first draft into a published book

I've been following the blog this book was based around for several years now. So it's no surprise I ended up buying the book within the week of it's release. I was not disappointed!

This book has a ton of information packed into it. It's 300 pages of tips, grammar helps, examples, exercises, general info and generally answers any FAQ a writer has. They make it fun too! It's one of those writer books that is just fun to read. :)

The design is pleasing to the eye. The way the text is formatted, sectioned, and the handling of co-authorship is perfectly done.

The Table of Contents is very thorough. Here is a sampling of topics found in the table of contents.
The Story Problem
Digging Out Your Themes
Giving Your Narrative a Boost
Flashbacks
Writing a Strong Antagonist
Creating Plot Twists
Writing the Cream of Your Story
Filling in the Gaps
Formatting
How to Know When You're Done
Behaving Like a Pro Before You Are
Traditional Publishing
Self Publishing
Your Hook Sentence
Your Target Audience
Dealing With Rejection
+ a whole lot of other topics and lovely Extras Section full of lists and resources. :)

Also, don't be deceived by this book's title. My father started reading my copy and said it appeared to be a very good book, one he plans to read in the future. So, even if you aren't a teen anymore (or yet), this book can certainly help you. It's not dumbed down to teen level or anything along those lines. Jill and Stephanie just have a heart for helping young authors.

I am definitely planning on purchasing additional copies of this book for a few birthdays. If you aren't sure whether this book is the one you're looking for, head right on over to Stephanie and Jill's GoTeenWriter's blog. If you like what you see there, you will certainly love this book!


(Also as a side note: As a person who has both the book and the ebook, I highly recommend the book. This is an invaluable resource, and one of the books that you'll want to flip to a certain section, bookmark, possibly even jot in the margins. I'm not one to usually mind a book over an ebook (yes real books are my preference but it isn't a big deal) however in this case go for the book it's worth the extra $!!)

Three Tips for Being a Better Beta Reader

I found these tips are perfect, all beta readers should go through this article prior to each critique.

Link

I'll definitely do a better job critiquing next time!