Underground Book Reviews moved to undergroundbookreviews.org in 2016.
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Here at the Underground, our goal is to promote as many quality indie authors as we can. Toward this end, we're continuing Author Spotlight Thursdays. If you are an author and like what you see, go to our Author Spotlight form for a chance to be featured on Underground Book Reviews! Please welcome Susan Moore Jordan! If you had a writing motto what would it be? Music is a power in the universe which can help people deal with -- and even overcome -- adversity. I challenge myself to show this power in the lives of the characters I create. Where do you draw your inspiration? Mainly from music and my own emotional, physical, and visceral reaction to it. It's been an intrinsic part of my life for as long as I can remember due to my parents' - especially my father's - devotion to music. In my first three novels I also drew on experiences from my high school and college years and some remarkable people I have encountered in my long life. Currently I am writing a book about a brother and sister - she is a violin prodigy and he pursues an entirely different genre, folk music. I've been doing a lot of research and networking on this project. What is one interesting fact about you? After a lifetime as a musician and musical theater director, I wrote my first novel at the age of seventy-five, nearly three years ago. And I can't stop writing! It has become yet another passion. Have you learned anything from the self publishing process and would you do anything differently next time? I'm still learning. I published my first novel through Virtual Bookworm. I still think it was a good choice, even though I recently released a revision of that novel, "How I Grew Up" through CreateSpace. Since discovering CreateSpace I have taken advantage of my computer skills and done my own formatting, thereby saving a considerable amount of money. I would NOT have purchased the VBW "silver marketing package." Writing is one thing. Marketing is something else entirely! Lots of people out there who would love for you to buy their product to help you market your book. I'm still working through this maze, and like many indie authors, I have limited funds. I try to spend my (very small) marketing budget very carefully. What has been your most successful marketing strategy? Using social media, at least to this point. I'm fortunate in that I have a built in audience from having directed musical theater productions (high schools and community organizations) locally for over thirty years. "Musical book signings" at a local author-friendly theater have been helpful, and the theater also carries print copies of my books. Press releases and radio interviews have been helpful as well. I'm using my website and Facebook author page more. I recently held my first "book launch party" and did well. Of course, everything is relative! What is the best kept secret you have found in regard to indie publishing? My first novel was released in late October 2013 and I was definitely a babe in the woods. I'm still finding my way. UBR has been a very good experience and I was thrilled to have received such a nice review of "Eli's Heart." I've shared it on social media and had some response ... at least more people are aware of the book. I have truly appreciated the support and encouragement of other indie authors, and of members of the local writers' group I joined last year. In theater, there is always a team as it is definitely a team effort. Writing is solitary, and it's been great to connect with some remarkable people both locally and through the Internet who share and understand the ups and downs of the indie author. We all go through periods of wondering why on earth we're doing this! But it has become what I live for. Having one person say to me they read and enjoyed one of my books is like a round of applause. And those nice reviews are a standing ovation! About the book ELI'S HEART
ELI'S HEART is Book Two of The CAROUSEL Trilogy. In the nineteen fifties, ELI LEVIN, a brilliant teenage pianist born with a serious heart defect and not expected to live past the age of thirty, meets KRISSY PORTER on a visit to a small town in the Southeast. They play piano duets, talk about baseball, eat banana splits. A budding romance is ended by interference from Eli’s family, but they find their way back to each other three years later. They marry on Krissy’s twentieth birthday while they are both college students. The music they share is a vital part of their life together. Once he begins his career, Eli’s rise in the music world is meteoric. Although they are devoted and intensely passionate from the beginning, the couple must struggle with never knowing when the various repairs to Eli’s heart might give out. BUY THE BOOK review by Katie Pryal THE RUNDOWN
Swan Deception opens at a fancy cafe in a fancy Boston suburb. The Cooper family—mother Shelby, father Jason, teen daughter Abbie, and 11-year-old son Miles—are having breakfast. Shelby sees a man who startles her so badly she spills her green tea. Then he disappears, calling her on her phone a few minutes later. After Shelby lies to her husband, Shelby and her Burberry coat meet the man out in back of the restaurant. The man, Alessandro, is her former physical therapist who nursed her back to health after her motorcycle crash; they also had an affair. Now he needs Shelby’s help to leave the country with his two small children to escape his abusive wife. She agrees to help by giving him a large sum of cash, acquiring illegal passports, and arranging a private jet. You might think that the conflict with Alessandro—the hidden affair, the abetting of kidnapping, the abusive wife—would form the groundwork of this thriller. You would be very, very wrong. Dr. Shelby Cooper pulls in a big salary a bioinformatics lab. Her husband is about to ascend to CEO of a global software company. The stakes for their family are high. That’s when a stalker emerges and begins threatening Shelby and her family, and the real plot(s) begin. Unfortunately, although the book is billed as a thriller, it is not one: it is a soap opera. Nearly every character has a secret that hangs over her head, or a secret motive, or a past identity that comes to light. The young people, the older people, the grandparents—no one is safe from the cliche of the “dark secret.” There are also far too many coincidences. Too many people from the various characters’ pasts end up in the present, muddying up the storyline. There are also character inconsistencies: For example, surely a middle-aged woman who loves her diamonds and Burberry, who has two children, and who is a leader in the field of bioinformatics would know the statistical dangers of motorcycles—and would avoid them. Yet the entire novel turns on her statistically likely, near-deadly motorcycle crash. And how could Shelby and Jason, two highly intelligent people who have been married for 15 years, have kept so many high-stakes secrets from one another—and yet also claim to be soul mates? There were also factual inconsistencies: the green tea at the beginning? A few pages later it turns into espresso. At one point, Jason is drinking his second glass of scotch, then suddenly feels the need for a second glass of scotch. A blocked texter is suddenly able to send text messages again. And more. These inconsistencies, as well as the overblown plot, are the sorts of things a good independent editor would have been able to help an author with. Although the book had its challenges, it had its plusses, too. The author has a great ear for dialogue, and the plot certainly was not predictable. Abbie, Shelby’s daughter, grew on me as I got into the book—after a rough start where she made some questionable choices, she became just the right blend of smart, innocent, and straight-talking. (Apparently, Abbie is the main character of the author’s next book.) Lastly, as a reader, it was a dream to read a book filled with a cast of characters who were African American and who were in leading roles and not relegated to the background, characters who were people from all walks of life facing a variety of struggles. THE RECOMMENDATION Kabongo shows a lot of promise as an author, but this book needs an editor to help wrangle the plot lines, the characters, and the details. Not every character needs a dark secret to hold a reader’s interest, and sometimes less is more when it comes to plot. However: If you liked Desperate Housewives, if you can never have enough skeletons in the closet, if you cannot get enough of juicy secrets being revealed, then this is the book for you. THE RATING 3 Stars (out of 5) THE REVIEWER Katie Rose Guest Pryal is a novelist and freelance journalist living in Chapel Hill, NC. She reads all the time—and all kinds of books—from Booker Prizers to indie urban fantasies. She is the author of ENTANGLEMENT: A Novel and LOVE AND ENTROPY: A Novella (both with Velvet Morning Press). She is active on Twitter (@krgpryal), Facebook, and her blog,katieroseguestpryal.com. Visit Katie Rose Guest Pryal‘s website. Here at the Underground, our goal is to promote as many quality indie authors as we can. Toward this end, we're continuing Author Spotlight Thursdays. If you are an author and like what you see, go to our Author Spotlight form for a chance to be featured on Underground Book Reviews! Please welcome Tim Patten! If you had a writing motto what would it be? Words give out heart wings. Where do you draw your inspiration? Life experiences. What is one interesting fact about you? A cancer and rape survivor and HIV positive for over 33 years. Have you learned anything from the self publishing process and would you do anything differently next time? Take more time to edit. What is the best kept secret you have found in regard to indie publishing? It clears inhibitions and can ease and repair emotional wounds. About the Book Roller Babes
Imagine it's 1951 and women were not allowed out of the kitchen. Roller Babes honors the women of 1950s professional roller derby: indomitable athletes who inspired millions to find independence and freedom in the world of sports. BUY THE BOOK Underground Book Reviews 2.0, our beta website, is currently running in tandem with our old website. The website you're currently reading will soon go away. Our new website is radically different. What you’re seeing now is a test flight, or as my partner Amy Biddle might say, a shakedown cruise. There are lots of differences from the old website to the new one, but one thing hasn’t changed - our commitment to excellence. At UBR, we measure the pinnacle of excellence with our Top Pick novels.
Top Picks are those indie novels that stand above their traditionally or independently published peers. Even if a reviewer gives a novel a five star rating, only our staff can bestow Top Pick. Top Picks are few and far between, and some have gone on to win both commercial and critical acclaim. How does an indie author get chosen as Top Pick? It starts with applying for Underground Certification. We keep hearing that independently published books need a “filter”, a formal process to separate the serious novels from the not-so-serious. If this is true, who is qualified to provide such a filter? Not us, we’re just indie writers like you. Anyway, thousands and thousands of indie novels are published in the English speaking world every year. A formal process of sifting through all of them is daunting, to say the least. Maybe a different tack is needed. Maybe indie novels don’t need a filter. Maybe indie authors need a standard. Welcome to the Underground Certified program. Underground Certification is a multifaceted, comprehensive threshold an author must step over on the road to Top Pick. We’re not just looking at the novel, but the author’s attempt at creating a minimally functional market presentation. In other words, is the author putting in the minimal required effort and quality to begin the journey to Top Pick? Certification is a two step process. First, the author must complete the application form correctly. If you don’t fill out the form correctly, your novel won’t be considered. If your application gets kicked back for corrections, no problem. Our submissions editor never throws out an application and always provides feedback as how to fix it. We give you as many chances as necessary. Why? Because we want you to succeed. We’re on your side. Once your application is accepted, it moves on to part two: review by our moderator staff. We look at the whole application, but concentrate on the real meat - pitch and sample. We’re essentially picking up your novel, glancing at the cover, reading the inside flap, and the first few pages. How does this compare to other novels in its genre? Does it grab our attention? Is it any good? The voting is blind, judges can’t influence each other. The moderators assign each book a score based on both measurable criteria and their opinion, and leave comments for the submission editor. Only those novels that achieve a minimum score are certified. Certified novels go on to compete for our Pitch Perfect Pick award. (but more about that in my next column!) Even better, you can submit multiple books, and it only takes one certified novel to make you an Underground Certified Author. Certified novels are also eligible to compete for our awards, to include Top Pick, and Novel of the Year, as well as our exclusive advertising packages. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “What if my novel isn’t Underground Certified?” If it isn’t certified, you are still welcome to our community of authors! Remember, we’re on your side. Your novel can still be selected for review. Hey, we’re human, and sometimes we overlook a good book. Send your fans to vote for your book and tell us we were wrong. Submissions with at least 5 votes will be displayed on the front page of our e-magazine and the most popular books are displayed at the top of our sidebar, whether they are certified or not. UBR is about indie authors and the readers that love their books. We’re excited about the new direction Underground Book Reviews is taking, and we want you to join us. Begin your journey to Top Pick by submitting your novels here. Find out more about Rhiduana on UBR 2.0. The Rundown Rhidauna: The Shadow of Revenaunt by Paul E. Horsman is the story of Ghyll, a young Baron, sent on a quest by his dead uncle to recover several artifacts after his island home of Tinnurad is destroyed mysteriously one night by fire-breathing birds and macabre golems. Accompanied by his foster brother Olle and his friend Damion, and joined by a fire mage, a young paladin, and a beastmistress, Ghyll sets out on a journey that will take him across Rhidauna. But they encounter evil and mysterious sorcerers determined to kill them at almost every turn, and as they start to amass the artifacts one by one, questions about Ghyll’s past and identity start to emerge. (TO BE CONTINUED...) UBR co-founder and contributor Katie French has a new book out.
The Breeders Box Set is here! On sale for a limited time only. The first part of the award-winning, best-selling young adult dystopian romance series, is now available in one place. The Breeders. Books One, Two and Three plus novellas Nessa and Clay have been downloaded over 50,000 times. Book One alone has over 300 four and five star reviews. Find out what everyone's talking about. And makes a great holiday gift! Save over 50% on purchasing individual books. Get it now before the price goes up. Review by Katie Rose Guest Pryal The Rundown
When we first meet eighteen-year-old Rosalie Lockwood, her BMW has run out of gas on a Colorado highway and her cell phone battery is dead. She is on the run from her sexually abusive stepfather. When she gets out of her car in high heels and a fancy dress, a bear chases her into the forest and onto a back road just as a motorcycle stops in front of her. The rider tells her to get on. She ignores the “warning bells” in her head (note: this won’t be the first time she does this) and rides off with him. So begins Rosalie’s adventure with Steele and his motorcycle club. Steele takes her back to his clubhouse and introduces him to his sister, Lexie, and his best friends, Lithium (the club President) and Blaze (another club member and Lithium’s girlfriend). Lexie hates Rosalie on sight, and continues to hate her until it gets tiresome for everyone (including the reader). Blaze, however, takes Rosalie under wing. Speaking of wings, the reader quickly learns, from both the cover (which features an angel) and the early pages of the book, that this is a story of angels and demons. Just who the angels and demons are, however, remains a mystery—indeed, until the very end. The story is well plotted, and it never drags. I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. This book’s main weakness has to do with the warning bells mentioned above. Throughout the book, Rosalie takes actions that are against her better judgment. She ignores warning bells. She “[knows] she should turn and run” (page 30) but doesn’t. In short, a reader has a hard time understanding Rosalie’s motives because she’s constantly doing things for no reason. It’s okay for a person who is just waking up to a latent power or destiny to take actions that she doesn’t understand. But that’s not what Rosalie is doing. She’s taking actions that are against her instinct, against her latent knowledge. Because Rosalie is entering a new world, indeed two new worlds, her motivations are very, very important to the story—and they’re missing. Despite the weaknesses, the book is a page-turner with a satisfying ending. It straddles YA and adult, so it is appropriate for younger audiences. Plus, the author presents a unique take on the angel/demon mythology. And by the end, Rosalie knows just what she’s doing. The Recommendation A fast-paced book that will appeal to paranormal and motorcycle fans. The Rating 4-stars. For the right audience, this book is a great read. Find out more about The Devil's Flower on UBR 2.0 with links to purchase. |
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January 2016
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