Category Archives: Book Reviews

Out of this world… a review of Spirits Smirits by KB Draper

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I think I just might be in love with KB Draper’s writing. Dramedy is difficult to pull off, but so is this genre of adventure-comedy, which I would call “Adventurdy.” Since I am both a reader and a writer, I have two categories in which to sing her praises. First, as a reader: Spirits Smirits is immediately engaging, laugh out loud funny, and a happy circus of quirky humans, clever monsters and universal themes that will have you on tenterhooks drying out after feeling you have experienced everything right along with the main character. And that main character is a … Continue reading →

Rocking the Boat Authors must defend themselves

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Don’t say anything. Don’t make a comment. It will make you look bad. That’s the usual advice in the publishing industry when someone posts a caustic review of your book, under the assumption that this is about some type of insecurity on the part of a writer. This is not insecurity. It is frustration, and in this case, it’s also outrage. In fact, historically, authors are expected to keep their mouth shut about these things, but I am a proponent of the adage Silence equals Death. This advice to stay mum strikes me as the same mentality that got that Orange Nightmare in the Oval … Continue reading →

Is it Goodreads or Badreaders? Mean-spirited behavior is a learned behavior. It can be unlearned.

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I’ve always believed that every ill in our society falls under one or more of three categories: Greed, Ignorance or Zealotry. I was faced with an example of one or more of these while updating my author page on Goodreads. I came across a negative review, quite by accident, of one of my earlier books. Against my better judgment, I read it, and was horrified. The reviewer, obviously, did not like my book, and that’s fine, in and of itself, but this reviewer made statements that were patently false. She claimed the character in my book was “helping a pedophile.” … Continue reading →

“well-written, quick, entertaining read with very engaging characters.”

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  A Review of Also Known as Rising and Falling, by Kelli Jae Baeli Posted on June 24, 2014 by wspice4815 under lesbian protagonist(s), Mystery READ JUNE 2014 ONLINE SUMMARY – Jobeth O’Brien discovers that even when she’s out of commission, due to a back injury, there’s no way she can stay out of the loop. Not when so much is going on in her household full of women. There’s a disturbing theme to things though, when time after time she and Phoebe, Izzy and Ginger are forced to help women out of violent situations, and go after the men intent on … Continue reading →

Syzygy gets GLOWING review!

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WHILE BLINKING AWAY HAPPY TEARS::: If I never get another review in my life, this will suffice. I have never been so overjoyed by not only how well this reviewer understood what i was trying to accomplish–on EVERY LEVEL–with Also Known as Syzygy, but that the review was glowing like Christmas lights, while also being profoundly intelligent and insightful. All the hard work is now worth it. I could not be more pleased by what this reviewer had to say about one of my books (all of them, really). This book was, at times, very difficult to write, but I … Continue reading →

Scott Crowder Interview of me on House of Fists (reblog)

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reblog Kelli Jae Baeli   My favorite of her book covers. Grumpy Cat cracks me the hell up. Kelli Jae Baeli is different from most of the writers I interview here at The House of Fists in that it was her non-fiction that first drew me to her work, as opposed to the horror or dark fiction practiced by the other interviewees. I’m trying to learn more about writing, though, and not just about writing horror, so I immediately asked her to do me the honor of being interviewed here. She writes very clearly and persuasively, her tone neatly balanced … Continue reading →

Scribe’s Melancholia, Literary Mind-Expansion & 50 Shades of Grape It's just too difficult to pinpoint the fickle and often inexplicable tastes of the readers

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  I’m in a bit of a funk, a tizzy, a doldrum (take your pick) about writing at the moment. Call it Scribe’s Melancholia. I’m having to seriously consider ignoring my book-marketing, because it’s so time-consuming and takes me away from what I’m really supposed to be doing–writing (Hello). Back to old-school, where writers were sequestered in a dark room with a candle and their muses, and never had to actually market themselves as a product, nor deal with their creations after they were delivered to the publisher. Further, it’s impossible to predict what people will buy anymore. And as far … Continue reading →

Alien Methodology

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A few days ago, I began working on a story idea of the alien invasion variety, because the premise made me laugh and I thought it would be fun. Besides, I have wanted to do a series of short stories to test the market and see what people were responding to these days. Well, the alien invasion story became more like an alien visitation. And then, I found that while it was entertaining in premise, there was no real conflict going on, and none of the characters had much to gain or lose. That’s the death knell for plotting. One … Continue reading →

Thoughts from a Literary Contrarian  I have developed a zero-tolerance for all the tripe out there

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Let’s face it: the fairy tale never happens like that in real life. So if it’s not naïveté, then it’s compliant escapism; and what a sad commentary on a life, that one would need such callow, fanciful stories to avoid being present in it. I enjoy the commonality and compatibility in my current relationship. (Wait. Current relationship makes it sound temporary. It’s not. Let me give that another go: I enjoy the commonality and compatibility with my love, my life, my lovely wife. (Better). Anyway, we have this ritual of reading every night before sleep, if not also in blocks … Continue reading →

Along Came a Spider A vitriolic critic of my 6 volume explanation of my atheism

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It’s not like I didn’t expect to hear from the usual suspects in regard to my 6-volume book, God on a Stick (An exhaustive investigation into Christianity and why I decided it made no damn sense) formerly titled, Supernatural Hypocrisy: The Cognitive Dissonance of a God Cosmology But even now, I can be surprised by the variations of hubris and ignorance, even among those who claim no religion. My Facebook friend, Jackie LeMerand, posted on her wall that she had just purchased my book, and then, shall we say, Along Came a Spider.   Jackie LaMerand Yesterday at 9:13am · Kelli‘s … Continue reading →

Demanding Better of Lesfic

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I am reposting this here, because I was so relieved to see that someone else out there sees this issue clearly. I am hoping we can overhaul the lesbian literature environment, eventually. From the Lynn Pierce blog….       Piercing Fiction: Straight Arrow Reviews Literature, movies and whatever else occurs to me. Sunday, April 7, 2013 It’s time to be more discriminating in the books This is a post I made on a the group I moderate on Yahoo called Lesfic_Unbound. I’m sharing it here as a thought to put out to the community.I had contact with an author … Continue reading →

Thatness & Whatness – being snarky

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Bound to happen….don’t know why I’m surprised. I’ve been publishing excerpts intended to market Supernatural Hypocrisy. Someone just gave me a pissy little review on one of them a while ago, so I went to his site and left one of my own. Amazing what people do. His review was on Thatness & Whatness, and only said “Review by: Brent Adams on March 31, 2013 : star Not impressed. Doesn’t seem well thought out or researched.” So I looked at his wordpress site, and it was one of those generic, newly made ones with all the defaults still up, and … Continue reading →

1st Review of Jael.In a Tent. With a Spike.

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Recently, I’ve been trying to market my 6 volume magnum opus, Supernatural Hypocrisy: The Cognitive Dissonance of a God Cosmology, as I am in the unique position of being a relatively small fish in a big pond, where that material is concerned. Since I am no Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, my name alone will not sell a book–especially one like this.I do mention this in the Author’s Note: I am not a Bible scholar or a Ph.D.–wielding lecturer, nor a scientist. I was one semester away from a degree in Professional Writing & Editing, and intend … Continue reading →

Giving it Away:1st review

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So, got the first review on the eArticle I published today on Smashwords. The article is Giving it Away : Spoilers as Both Noun & Accusation (Why Book Reviews Matter & How to Write a Proper One)   Review by: David H. Keith on March 19, 2013 : I found this book timely, although a bit vague and short on specifics. I’m not knocking the book – it’s only some 5100 words long, after all – but simply saying Baeli could have done more with it even if that entailed a much larger book. I think the topic itself – … Continue reading →

Giving it Away: Spoilers as Both Noun & Accusation

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Directly out of the chute, let me say this is coming from myself as both a writer and a reader. One compelling reason (among others) that I became an author, was due to my disappointment in the offerings of a certain genre. I wanted to write books *I* would want to read. I launched myself into this vocation with little knowledge of what that decision would bring. I had no way of knowing the degree of vulnerability that publishing my writing would entail. Publishing a book is very much like being naked in public. So it’s difficult not to take … Continue reading →