Hello fellow bibliophiles
I have a bit of a problem. In the spring I went to a writers' conference and an agent was interested in my manuscript. Yay! It was still in the editing phase, so she told me to submit it when it is ready.
I'm done with editing, but I have yet to have beta readers. I had some lined up-I read and commented on their works, and they were supposed to reciprocate. They are not replying to their emails, and it's been months :c
So, is anyone interested in giving me feedback? Basic or detailed, all is appreciated. Even if you don't like it and stop reading, that's fine, and though I'd like to know how I can improve. Here's my premise for a YA horror, currently titled She Came From the Sea:
Tourist destination Star Harbor has picturesque waters, beaches, lighthouses, and residents. For moody teenager Brent, these things mean nothing. His crush rejected him publicly. His parents are divorcing and they fight over custody of the dog instead of him. They ignore him and obsess over ruining each other’s lives. Deciding to end it all he goes to a secluded beach of black rocks. He is about to throw himself in when a beautiful girl surfaces from the water. Her name is Nerin and she is half woman, half fish-a mermaid. Love binds them together and he swears to protect her.
A mermaid’s duty is to punish unjust men, and she enlists Brent to help her locate deserving offenders. Believing that she intends to scare them, he gladly sends his school bullies to her.
But there is something else is amiss in Star Harbor. Men have been going missing, with their body parts and entrails washing ashore. Somewhere in this mess is Nerin, and Brent has to keep afloat before he is in too deep to save himself.
So...if anyone wants some reading material over the winter holidays, we can swap material and give feedback. My email is my full name, at @gmail . com (you can find it on my profile page).
Happy winter reading!
Friday 29 November 2013
Tuesday 12 November 2013
Audrey's Guide to Black Magic by Jody Gehrman
Website: Author's Website and Author’s blog
Publisher:
Magic Genie Books
Publication Date: September 7, 2013
Introduction
Audrey
is back with a new section to her guide-the guide to black magic! Sadie takes
Meg and Audrey back to the Land for protection and Audrey’s training. There she
meets the handsome Ramone, the curt and inhospitable Kalinka, the sweet Leila,
and her maternal grandmother, who happens to be the Land matriarch. Audrey’s
mother is still fighting the evil Cormack, she misses her boyfriend, Julian,
and one person on the Land has betrayed them and is working with Cormack.
Audrey has to train, deal with boyfriend and little sister problems, and find
the traitor before Cormack makes his next move.
I
was a beta reader for this book last year and I am so grateful for the
experience! With a final release of the book, I happily re-read it.
Cover
The
colours are gorgeous! I can’t say I like the model used (I can’t look away from
her chest and disconnected head), but the colours of the dress and background
are stunning.
Story
There
is a lot more happening in this book than the previous book, Audrey’s Guide to Witchcraft. They are
far removed from the contemporary life we are familiar with. The Land is
amazing; it is full of magic, yet magic also absent because they do everything
by hand if they can (a far cry from the Harry Potter universe). Not being at
home keeps the pace moving fast.
Meg
First
and foremost, I love what Gehrman did with Meg in this book. There is a steep
role reversal here. I am so glad that the author didn’t do what most uninspired
authors would do: have Meg continue to be the center of attention as the social
butterfly that she usually is. On the Land of Mad River, she is the outsider,
the outcast. Audrey is new, but welcome. In fact, a lot ride on Audrey being
there. Meg is an ignorant interloper. I can honestly say that if someone in my
family had magical powers and I didn’t I’d die of jealously. Meg’s frustration
at being politely shunned by the entire community for being mundane was well-done.
Sadie
The
lady of ultimate cool is back to help. This installment gives her lots of
attention, delving into her personality, interests, and hopes for her future. Her
interest in black magic and why she’s interested is very compelling. It would
be nice to see her magic in a fight, unless her magic isn’t offensive. The
first book and the second had her absent from the final fights and I hope that
we get to see her in action in the future.
Audrey
and Julian
There
is not much development for Audrey. We get the reveal about what Julian means
to Audrey’s magic, but nothing notable changes for her. She is her usual self
and she goes about her adventure. There has a little inner conflict relating to
Cormack, and that’s all that stood out to me, and that’s disappointing. I’d
really like to see more done with Julian. Other than being the love interest,
there isn’t that much that he does in this book. Now that we know what he is,
I’d like to see him more involved in the action.
Final
Verdict
I
highly recommend this book. In fact, I recommend this more highly than the
first book. Lots of magic, action, and conflict. It’s an enchanting read that
will fascinate girls who love the story of a witch defending what matters most
to her. I cannot wait for a possible third installment to develop Julian and
Audrey further, and you can never go wrong with more Sadie!
Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman
Published: June 30th 2012
Publisher: Magic Genie Books
Author’s website
Author’s blog
Introduction
Audrey is a normal girl until a
face appears in her Crème Brulee. This is the same day that her mother goes
missing and her mysterious “cousin”, Sadie, appears at her doorstep. Intuition
screams that something is dangerously amiss, and strange occurrences abound,
eventually leading up the revelation that she is a witch. At 17-years-old,
Audrey has to hone her rare abilities, save her mother, protect herself, and
fall in love, all the while keeping her normal sister, Meg, in the dark about
everything to do with magic.
Story
This
is a Guidebook. The first of many (well, at least two, thus far). She lives in
the human world while trying to learn about her witchy abilities in secret.
It’s about magic and love-maternal and the boy-crush kind of love. This all
happens while going to school and dealing with the high school mean girl, and
other everyday girl problems.
Audrey
My
favourite aspect of Audrey is that she is far from perfect. She has many
positive aspects: protective, independent, thoughtful, and funny. She also
makes mistakes, such as going off on handsome boys about things that have
absolutely nothing to do with them. Inside my head I was freaking out,
thinking, Audrey! Stop it! Stop it now! She
is snarky, cynical, and at times irrational. Her imperfections make her a
believable character and someone you
can root for. And she is a baker-you can’t go wrong with a witch that bakes.
Sadie
The
characters are far removed from the danger most of the time, as they are not
with the central hub of witches. Audrey has to learn how to use magic to defend
herself against the antagonist, and Sadie steps in, even though she cannot
adequately tap into Audrey’s special abilities. The moment that Sadie arrives,
she is cool, confident, and beautiful. Surrounded by animals, she holds answers
and more mysteries that she keeps to herself. By far my favourite character
here, I adore the mystifying way she handles herself. Her presence kept me
wondering throughout the book.
Meg
Meg
is the little sister who is the foil to Audrey, yet she shares some
similarities with Sadie. She is confident, manipulative, ambitious, social, and
beautiful. She fronts the suggestively named band Cherry. It sounds like Meg
always gets what she wants. However, Meg is a human with no magical abilities.
If you do some digging and analyzing, you’ll see that she is arguably the most
emotionally complex character in the cast thus far. Not a throw-away character.
Not a character that is the “little sister” and nothing more. The family
dynamics here are phenomenal.
Believability
Personally, I’m tired of heroines
being unrealistically heroic or stubbornly buried in denial. Her mother goes
missing and she discovers that she is a witch. After some healthy skepticism,
she picks up the mantle to go help her mother fight, or rather, fend off, the
big bad, knowing that she can’t possibly offer much help. It’s different from
Harry Potter-this is the beginning of her new magical life, and she isn’t
going to be killing He Who Must Not Be Named because skill wise, she isn’t
there yet. Yes, it’s a little depressing to put yourself in her shoes, and it’s
refreshingly realistic. It’s about survival and love.
Ending/Mysteries
If
you read my other reviews, you’ll note that I don’t mind open endings, as long
as they don’t end in the middle of something important like a fight or a
conversation. Some mysteries left unsolved are fine. In fact, they are awesome
if it means that the book will get a sequel and
this book does! Even if this book didn’t have a sequel (and I didn’t know
it did when I read it), I like thinking about the possibilities that remaining mysteries leave behind. You know, sometimes an author leave these mysteries unsolved intentionally.
Verdict
I received this book about a year ago, and it is still one of my favourite books, largely, in part, due to the characters, and the way that it is believable. I want more Guidebooks written by Audrey Oliver-it was one of my top three favourites in 2012. I recommend this for a teen book club read as it is relatable without being crass. Yes, it has witchcraft. Good witchcraft! And recipes for chocolate cake and crème brulee! I highly recommend this for girls into the paranormal but are perhaps sick of the overblown paranormal romances that are circulating.
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