I know it isn’t Saturday, and yes I am happy to admit that The Sanibel Slouch by A.J. Pompano is the first read on my new Kindle. Am I trying to brag? No, I am fortunate to have received it as a gift from my

children. What I am trying to do is bring this blog and my reading habits up to

speed. I had plenty of doubts about whether I was going to enjoy using this

device to read. I mean to not hold a book in my hands and enjoy it. I have to

say it was a…

I am not a big vampire guy and really don’t read that much of the genre. My saying anything about this being a typical vampire novel would be incorrect and impolite. What this novel is though, is just plain flat out

fun and a very good read. The Radleys try to be the every neighbor, the middle

of the road couple, the average family, but they are anything but that; they

are abstaining vampires. Fun, frivolity, family soap opera, fast paced action

are what…

Book Review - Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee

For me, it’s hard to find compelling Christian fiction that can hold my interest. I became a fan of Tosca Lee when I met her about a year ago at a writer’s meeting and purchased a copy of Havah: The Story of Eve.

Havah opened my eyes to how beautifully Christian fiction could be written

without coming off preachy. In the same lines of Ted Dekker, Tosca knows how to

write compelling fiction…

Alright, today is Thursday and this completes my trifecta of best lists for 2010. Next year I will be able to expand them a bit more and include Romance novels. Romantic Wednesday is becoming a very large part of our

week here @ The Scoop. After I put this post up in the different areas I

usually put them, I am signing off till after Christmas. The Gelati family

wishes you and yours the best and most Merry Christmas ever. Thanks.…

Are there any Scarecrow fans out there? I am definitely one. You can count me among those that have read everything that is available that Matthew Reilly has written, including the YA Hover Car series. The last time I posted

on a Matthew Reilly novel was for the Five Greatest Warriors novel (please

check the archives for that; I loved it). Here is what this short novel is

about:

“This revised edition of the…

Hi, me again. I am not going to get up on my soap box and explain my love for the digital short story again, but hey, they rock. Here are 15 of my favs from this year. Next year, I hope to make it a top 50 as I get

into them more. Enjoy and download the fun:

1-      Agents of Treachery…

I am not a year-end list type of guy but I am going to put three out here this week. I have broken my lists up into three categories: novels, digital short stories, and self-published work. The plan is to put them up in that order Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The time frame involved for inclusion in this is the entire year, not just a quarter as I have done throughout the year. Placement of some of the novels may surprise you and/or irritate you (sorry), but I am more than happy to…

-Have you found that the response that you get from those that have read your book to be positive and that they got the spirit of why it was written?

Yes, Readers have written to me from all across America and even several countries around the world with feedback.  Having a dialog with readers is such a pleasure.

-What are some of the positive things that have come from your readers taking your message to heart? There is nothing more meaningful than when readers…

BOOM! Studios put out this graphic novel written and created by Samuel L. Jackson /Eric Calderon with the artwork done by Jeremy Rock. Yes, it is THE Samuel L. Jackson. Who knew the guy was a comic book fan? He explains all that in the introduction in a style that is all his own. I had the feeling he was talking directly to me, explaining what I was going to be experiencing in the graphic novel. Here is the synopsis of the 112 page Cold Space:

“From Academy Award-nominee Samuel L.…

I was hoping that this was not a digital short story about The South of The Border. I have come to know and now skip stopping at South of the Border off of Interstate 95 on our way down south on vacation. I like the neon as a marker in the evening, the billboards make me think of my childhood, but I could only think a good comedy would come of a story revolving around it. Thankfully David DeLee has something else in mind. Grace deHaviland rides again: ”Tracking a U.S. bail jumper across the…

Today is going to be a hybrid type of day. I got stuck, or should I say had the joy, of doing some serious Christmas shopping yesterday and didn’t finish off Graphic Novel Friday as I would have liked to. Add to that the Samuel L. Jackson graphic novel I picked up and the interest, comments, and questions about it, I knew I had to hustle today and get this all done. Tuesday I launch my best of the year lists a little later than I wanted to, but hey, life happens. Let’s get right into the…

To Have and To Kill is the first novel in  a new series for Mary Jane Clark. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading one of her novels before so this was a first of firsts for me, I enjoyed it. Clark definitely drew me in right away. Here is what this novel is about:

“My new character, Piper Donovan, is a struggling actress with no immediate prospects and a recently broken engagement. Reluctantly, she moves back in with her parents to take stock of her life. Piper steps…

Back in the day I used to read all of Joseph Wambaugh’s novels: The New Centurions, The Blue Night, The Choirboys, The Black Marble, The Glitter Dome, The Onion Field (non-fiction). It seems I have missed nine novels since and four non-fiction books. I am not going to list them; you can see them on the inside of the novel, Hollywood Hills when you crack it open. Let’s get into the action shall we?

“The legendary Hollywood Hills are home to wealth, fame, and…

When I put in the time to read a book, I find that I can really only get to the end of it if I’ve fallen in love, to some degree, with the characters, the plot, or both. There is the rare occasion where I will finish the book - or want to finish the book - simply because I’ve invested so much into it, but those instances are few and far between. The characters are usually the ones who carry me through because most of what I write is centered around character development, so it’s only natural…

Peeker

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Yep, that’s me. I’m one of those. I peek. I look at the end of books before I finish them. Sometimes I look at the end of chapters. I skip around all the time.

Often my excuse is simple: I look ahead to see how many pages are left before I finish the chapter, the section, the entire bloody book. I glance forward to see how many pages there are, period.

I consider those legitimate glances. Anyone, in the right…

Why Shakespeare, what made made you pick that time and period and author?

C: Actually we sort of came upon the Bard by accident. We were brainstorming video ame ideas (a medium that interests us as storytellers) and Anthony made a crack about Kill Bill. Except he said instead of having a game where you are trying to kill David Carradine, he said it should be a different Bill, such as say… Billy Shakespeare?

A: We’ve both been fans of…

We have an ambitious tripleheader today, three novels each different, each has a decidedly different flavor, and each is the type of novel that one can take and use for different reasons. Our first novel this morning has its roots in a Ponzi scheme, but that isn’t what I want to focus on, instead I want to focus on the main message Alan Sakowitz is trying to deliver, or at least, I think he is. Here is the synopsis of the novel and I think you may possible see where I am going with…

Paranormal mystery murder short story is what the tags read on this digital short story by A.J. Pompano. Has your GPS ever given you the wrong directions? Ever wonder why? One explanation can be gotten from this brick of plastic explosives disguised in a firecracker 4910 words. Check out the story line:

“Chuck Stratton’s detective father brought two disappointments to the grave. One was that that he couldn’t find a kidnapped girl in time to prevent her murder and the other…

I have featured Tor in the past and enjoyed his work so much I wanted to read some more. He has a nice package up over at Smashwords that has four digital short stories in it called: Four Felonies and One Very Small Problem. The price to pick up all four is $2.99, not bad for four quality stories. I have featured one already, Starting Over , please check our archives for my thoughts on that. Today I want to concentrate on another digital…

Check this out, it comes from the back cover of this graphic novel:

“Mission Statement:

To entertain and educate young minds by creating unique illustrated books to recount stories of human values, to arouse curiosity in the world around us, and to inspire by tales of great deeds of unforgettable people.”

Their website is : www.campfire.co.in

The author of this graphic novel is C.E.L. Welsh. I have…