REVIEW: Diary of a Seventh Grade Hybrid

Diary of a Seventh Grade Hybrid

By: Lee Mavin

Synopsis: Ziggy's first year at Fuqian International school is hard enough with bullies who want to flush him, fat math teachers who make him do extra math tutoring and a strange girl who keeps following him around everywhere. But all of that is nothing compared to the secret he is keeping under his hat. The Diary of a Seventh Grade Hybrid is the first of a six part series that slowly uncovers the memories, thoughts and adventures of Ziggy, a boy with a very special secret!

 Imagine waking up with no memories beyond who you are. No recollection of last year, of school or friends or why you are who you are. Compound that with the fact that you’re the only kid in your school that has antennas on your head and you’ve fallen into the life of Ziggy. Aside from antennas and a strange new ability, Ziggy is a normal 7^th grade student. He hates math, loves his English teacher and writes beautifully deep poetry. But Ziggy will soon find that antennas and impending math tests are the least of his troubles.

Follow Ziggy on this wild adventure as he learns about himself and the world he’s woken up into.

Lee Mavin has opened up a wonderful world of sci-fi fantasy and adventure that any fun loving boy or girl would enjoy. While this first installment was a little rough around the edges the quirky fresh story line had enough intrigue to keep me reading all the way to the end, and excited about the next book.

Start the adventure HERE!

Paperback: 232 pages

Publisher: Grace Publishers (July 8, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9881922097

ISBN-13: 978-9881922090

$15.95 

REVIEW: Tuesday's Child

Tuesday’s Child

By: Carolyn Gibbs

To someone on the outside Lane Harris appears to have it all. She lives in the biggest mansion in the town, her father controls the jobs, and she has servants to answer to her every beck and call. Having such a “perfect” life has taken its toll on Lane. Hated by every kid in school, ostracized for being her father’s daughter her only friend is Ray.

When Lane disappears from town everyone looks at Ray. Being a man of the cloth affords him no mercy under the scrutiny of the small town, or from his brother, who happens to be the town Sherriff. Ray ignores the whispers and the looks; his only concern is for Lane, because Ray is the only person who might know why she really left.

Unloved, beaten and treated like a servant herself, Lane finds her very life in danger when she is left to fend for herself in Seattle. Homeless and afraid of her own shadow Lane fights to find a way to regain some normalcy in her life. But who can she trust and where can she hide until then?

From the very beginning I fell in love with Lane. I wanted to scoop her up and take her home with me. Packed with mystery, tragedy and a small twist here and there, Tuesday’s Child exposes the dark world of teenage abandoned children. Through Lane’s heart wrenching story the reader will wander the frightening alleys of homelessness in a big city, absolute loneliness in the wild and the power of good in people as they fight against the raw evil that lurks in some.

Carolyn Gibbs gives a voice to the muted masses left on the streets or fighting for their lives behind the facade of a perfect family. She will capture your heart and move you to make a change in the juvenile system.

A great read for anyone. Check in on Carolyn’s website and keep an eye open for the upcoming sequel.

Author's Website

Alas the summer ends!

As the Texas heat and lack of rain pounds my small home town into the dust, the end of summer smiles from the horizon. While I look gleefully forward to cooler temps and the possibility of rain, I will not miss my long uninterrupted days to write, read and blog.

With the end of summer comes the beginning of the work week, and a vast slowing of all my literary progress. I work as an educational aid in a junior high, and after eight long hours of running from class to class, reteaching the same lesson throughout seven class periods and dealing with a heart defect that leaves me absolutely drained on a non work day, I find my writing suffering the effects.

I will trudge onward though, just with less haste, like molasses uphill as my grandfather would say. Aside from finding inventive ways of letting my children win at board games as well as finding even more inventive ways of beating them , reading and writing are what make me happy. So it must go on regardless of how tired I am or how late the hour has become.

There is nothing more invigorating than finding a character in a book or creating one yourself that you can latch onto and follow into the very bowels of hell. To stand with them as they face down the perils that make them the person they are, to laugh with them and cry with them, and to love them so much that even when the book as reached it's end you carry them with you.

So bear with me as I try to fit my life into a schedule that lacks enough time and free space for me to cram everything I want, need and desire into it. The reviews may come slower but they will still be packed with enthusiasm and love for all the new characters I meet along the way.

As for my books, there are here waiting for me. My characters hanging in whatever predicament I left them, patiently holding on until I can scoop them up and move them through the tragedy I have made of their lives.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by. I love your feedback and comments so much, they mean the world to me!

Revision Re-write Re-mind me why I do this?

So as it often happens to me I had a great idea about 2am as I lay snuggled all warm in my bed. And as I often do I lay there for what felt like a very long span of time repeating the idea in my head until it began to sound like gibberish, at this point there is always a choice to be made, crawl out of bed, turn on the pc and get it out of there, or lay for the rest of the night dozing on and off mumbling things to myself until I fall asleep, only to wake up tired, annoyed and immensely frustrated that I've completely lost the idea that started this train wreck into motion. So I got up and started typing.

I have three stories in the works right now and I feel like by the time I finish the one I work on most it's going to be a completely different story than it began. I'm ok with that as long as it's a BETTER story than I began with!

I have posted the beginning before but now that it has been rewritten I am going to post the "new" story opening. I would love love love for you guys to let me know what you think. Does it work, does it suck, does it hinder or help the story, does it feel awkward? Lay it on me straight cuz if I don't get this story out and done with soon I may go insane from lack of sleep!

Thank you so much for your time and for your deeply appreciated opinions!
Amanda

P.s. the original beginning can be found farther back in my blog if you would like to compare.

When No One Was Listening

There are many things that I’m not, like, popular, drop dead gorgeous or normal but it’s what I am that bothers me the most. I am alone, I am broken, I am a murderer. Some things can be pushed down deep inside of you, but if you can still hear your dead twin’s voice in your head, well then they aren’t deep enough. That’s why right now I am the crazy girl who punched the future prom queen.

 I almost drowned when I was eight years old, the day I killed my twin, a fact that had everything to do with my cold, wet fist smashing into Bitsy Ramones perfect nose. It shouldn’t have been a good feeling, her nose crunching under the rage, but it was.

Oh that was great! Did you see the look on her face?

Are you happy now? I’m going to be in trouble AGAIN because of you! Mom’s gonna flip Sarah.

Don’t blame me, I’m dead.

Thin drops of blood stained her porcelain white skin, rolled, splattered and pooled at her feet as the dirty grout sucked it up. The sound of the room rushed inside my ears, pounding in my head, her gasps, the jeering of onlookers, the sound of feet slapping against wet cement and loud, shrill laughter. The smell of chlorine, wet clothes and iron swam up my nose.

My perfect unbroken nose.

My sides ached with laughter that I’m not sure was mine. Stuttering breaths and every bit of my will power couldn’t stop the cackle rolling forth and ricocheting off the walls. Years upon years of repressed guilt and rage poured to the surface, falling from me in shrill peals of laughter.  Everyone stood and stared in utter disbelief of the chaos I created. I found very little composer in the harsh stares, and lost it again as Bitsy whined,

“My nosth sthee brothke my nosth”

OMG, look at her face.

HA! Her prom dress choices just changed drastically!

I learned years ago I couldn’t quite the sound of my sister in my head, worse than that I often found myself talking back. Sarah was always the adventurous one, the brave one. I always hid behind her, afraid to look people in the eyes, afraid to stand up or speak my mind. Days like today, she often pushed my buttons and forced me into actions I myself would never take, like punching the most popular girl in school right in the face.

I went willingly as Mr. Hawthorn led me toward his office. The resounding slam of his door brought forth thoughts of jail cells clanging closed. I needed a cell, a padded cell to hide in. One where Sarah couldn’t find me, couldn’t remind me of who I really was. A broken, lonely girl who killed the only person who ever cared, who now wanted nothing more than to be normal, to be loved.

Sloane Christianson cheerleader slayer, priceless.

Stop you got me in trouble!

Well you got me dead so I guess we’re even for today.

REVIEW: Darwin's Children

Darwin’s Children

By Natasha Larry

Synopsis

Life can get pretty complicated for any seventeen-year-old girl, but for a home-schooled telepathic black girl trying to survive in a prestigious private school in small-town Jonesborough, Tennessee, it can be maddening – especially when her telepathic father keeps eavesdropping on her thoughts!

Jaycie Lerner’s family isn’t the usual mom-dad-kid setup. Jaycie’s mom’s MIA, but Allison, her personal live-in ‘trainer,’ is more than a mom, with her own special abilities, like being able to lift cars and run incredibly fast. And Jaycie’s godfather John is more than persuasive – he can literally convince anyone to do anything.

As far as the rest of the world’s concerned, Jaycie’s on the outside looking in. The townsfolk love Jaycie’s pediatrician father, but she doesn’t fit in with ‘normal’ kids, and she doesn’t really want to. Most of her free time is spent training to keep her telekinetic and telepathic powers under control. But there’s one thing she can’t control – and that’s her feelings, especially when her best friend Matt is nearby. If only he knew what she was truly capable of...

Everything seems to be status quo for Jaycie until she receives a cryptic message from a stranger and meets a very unusual girl new to Jonesborough. Then all hell breaks loose!

Natasha Larry builds a world filled with fresh new characters with amazing abilities, crushing flaws and problems like everyone else. Jaycie is everything you want from a lead heroine; she is smart, witty, rebellious, stubborn, insecure and completely baffled when it comes to her feelings for her best friend Matt and the mystery that surrounds her new friend Haylee.

Haylee is awkward, mysterious and a character you will want to stand up and cheer for. Burdened with a power she doesn’t understand she turns to the only person in her life that seems to accept her, Jaycie.

Together they learn more about the paranormal world around them, as they become best friends. But how far would you go for your best friend? Would you carry their burdens? Would you kill for them?

As Jaycies powers grow the road she travels will become stranger and harder. Can she harness her powers? Can she handle being a teenager and a telekinetic super power?

Dive into the wonderful world of Darwin’s Children and find out!

Book two is due out in September. Check out Natasha Larry’s blog to find out more.

www.paranormalwire.blogspot.com

http://natashalarrybooks.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Darwins-Children-Natasha-Larry/145755472156223

REVIEW Terminal Departure

Terminal Departure

By Joe Crubaugh

Synopsis

When agent Cleo Matts boards an airliner to defuse a false flag operation, things don't go as planned. He didn't count on the CIA planting a pound of C-4 in the cargo bay. He didn't count on being seated next to a gorgeous runaway Hollywood superstar. He didn't count on the ancient Watchers intruding in the flight path. And he didn't count on a U.S. President gone rogue who can't bowl worth a crap.

Instead of business as usual, Matts embarks on a balls-to-the-wall adventure that takes him from 35,000 feet in the sky to the back streets of the Big Easy, from the halls of NASA to the corridors of Washington, DC, to a final bloody showdown with the Ministry of Streunberg in a raging ice storm.

This espionage action thriller is a plunging, twisting roller coaster ride that serves up a heaping helping of political satire, aliens, secret agents, scientists, politicians, beautiful women, a genetically-modified super virus, a CIA false flag operation, men in black, a jetliner that isn't going to make it to the ground in one piece, and many eccentric characters driving the plot.

Book length: 84,000 words.

Terminal Departure is a wild ride through a twisted and unique cast of characters. If you love aliens, CIA, Super secret CIA and complete madness then this is the book for you.

Cleo Matts, secret agent or complete lunatic? Hollywood starlet Julia will have to decide quickly after a series of events lead to Cleo breaking her husband’s nose then threatening to blow up the plane they are all riding in.

Well written and full of action and adventure you won’t want to put it down because you have no idea what’s going to happen next.

Follow the cast of characters as they are murdered, abducted and more!

Not for stuffy readers who take their books too seriously. This is a fun, entertaining read that will take you from the edge of your seat to the outer limits.

Find out more about Joe Crubaugh on his website:

http://www.joecrubaugh.com

Find Terminal Departure on any of the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Terminal-Departure-Matts-Novel-ebook/dp/B005AJBC9O

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/terminal-departure-joe-crubaugh/1104160582

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11991557-terminal-departure

REVIEW: The Hour of Tiamat

The Hour of Tiamat

By Lisa Taylor

We've all heard of the Mayan predictions of a vast change coming in the year 2012; but it turns out the ancient Sumerian people had a very similar prophecy…
The dreaded Necronomicon, a book of fable said to contain all the ancient knowledge of the Sumerian civilization has surfaced and fallen into the hands of four teenagers in a small Texas town. Tonight, after years of studying its dark teachings in secret, they gather to call back to Earth those Gods that tried to enslave humanity over ten thousand years ago, and in turn become rulers themselves.

What do you get when you mix three misled teens, one sociopath leader, a girl with a tragic past and unsatisfying present, a ghost and a strange little boy who likes to cry in the woods? A roller coaster ride towards the end of the world!

How far would you go to stop the end of the world? To save the one you love, even if they can’t love you anymore? Would you go to hell just to be close to someone?

Tristan can’t believe he’s been stupid enough to follow Celicia, Malaki and Tara as they plot to bring the end of the world. In too deep to stop now he helps them open the gate and usher in the end of times. Only to learn there is a fifth person in the woods watching them.

Evelyn loves walking in the woods at after dark. Little does she know this night would be filled with terror and mystery. Stumbling upon a seemingly lost little boy and a foursome of evil doers, Evelyn gets caught up in the fray.

Now with the end of the world coming all Tristan can think about it trying to stop what he helped start and protecting Evelyn from the other three in his circle.

Together they begin the journey to find the answers to saving the world. Every step brings them closer to what they need as well as to each other. But will Tristan’s secret tear them apart? How much betrayal can Evelyn forgive?

Lisa Taylor weaves a powerful tale of murder, demons, and love. Follow along with Tristan and Evelyn as they face the end of the world.

I really enjoyed this read. It was full of surprises and twists that kept me reading thru until the end!

Check out Lisa Taylor’s website to purchase The Hour of Tiamat and learn about her other works as well!

Find it HERE!