Review: Brigid Kemmerer – call it what you want

Posted on by
Reply

call it what you want
Brigid Kemmerer

Maegan was a straight A student until the pressure of her perfect family got to her. She’s not their good girl anymore. But netither is her sister – pregnant and home from college unexpectedly. Paired with Rob who would rather fly under the radar until he graduates, can the two get over their prickly and worn edges to succeed?

Rob is a lovely tortured character determined to be miserable. If only he wasn’t quite so, charming? about it? I’m not quite sure what went wrong, but his character just didn’t sing true for me. Maegan on the other hand I could understand, but ultimately it ended up being more about her sister. And the romance between Rob and Maegan was sort of off I guess. They go from kissing to having her shirt off almost instantly as far as I can tell. No, I’m not ok with that, even in a YA novel. It seems like their family circumstances caused them to skip forward in time and not in a good way.

The ending of this was disappointing. It skipped forwards in time in such a way that I didn’t really believe in what happened. Also, the librarian? Really? Because no-one saw that coming… I wanted to shake Rob and Maegan half the time. And the rest of the time I wondered what on earth they were thinking.

I know that Kemmerer can produce novels that are far more intriguing and powerful than this one, so I found myself underwhelmed. How many normal teenage readers are going to be able to empathize with a multi-million dollar embezzling father?  Rob’s character is tortured and lonely and I entirely wanted him to succeed. What I did like was the way he couldn’t reconcile his own feelings about his father not being an asshole, with his father, well, being an asshole. Things just are never as simple as they seem.

The origami cover image leaves me pretty cold as well – neither of the two main characters are into it, and the pastel pink is just average. I connected more with Toffee (also published by Bloomsbury), and that was written in verse! Kemmerer, I’m not impressed. Please write the sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely ASAP instead.

Bloomsbury | 1st July 2019 | AU$16.99 | paperback

Review: Audrey Coulthurst & Paula Garner – Starworld

Posted on by
1

Starworld
Audrey Coulthurst & Paula Garner

Sam’s a withdrawn artist with one best and only friend in the world. Somehow Zoe, a popular cute girl, enters into Sam’s universe through one of Sam’s paintings. Sam and Zoe aren’t sure they’ll be friends, but together they can escape into another world outside their complicated families.

The *star talk* of Zoe and Sam’s fantasy world together didn’t actually set me on fire (pun intended). I was more interested in their complicated emotions and cute ways of showing they cared. For example, Sam’s mom packs her a lunch in foods that are colour coded and divisible by four (which I personally find a very odd manifestation of OCD – but who am I to judge?). Then they share and make crazy flavour combinations.

Look, I’m not sure whether this novel was trying to take too much on or not, but there was certainly a whole range of things going on (so many that I wondered that it had to be set up like that – as in, I’d never expect a situation like this in real life). There’s Sam, with her Aspergers and OCD mom, and then there’s Zoe who is adopted with a severely intellectually disabled brother. Too many themes in one novel? Oh, and then add some true artistic skill and a queer angle just for good measure.

That being said, I liked this novel. Mainly because it had me ugly crying at one point, and it was JUST SO SAD. Sam, my heart broke with yours. Not as relate-able as perhaps Our Chemical Hearts or the dangerous art of blending in, but still good. If I had one teensy complaint, it would be that the ending left me feeling cold and empty. That’s what keeps me from giving this five stars, despite the emotional wreck that it left me in.

Walker Books | 1st July 2019 | AU$24.99 | paperback

Review: Kristen Hadeed – Permission to Screw Up (S)

Posted on by
3

Permission to Screw Up
Kristen Hadeed

“This is the story of how Kristen Hadeed built Student Maid, a cleaning company where people are happy, loyal, productive, and empowered, even while they’re mopping floors and scrubbing toilets. It’s the story of how she went from being an almost comically inept leader to a sought-after CEO who teaches others how to lead.”

My wife listened to this book as an audiobook on long car rides, and I listened to some of it with her. This book was narrated to great effect by the author. This was amazing because although there was the standard business techniques that you get in any book, they were told as part of an enthralling story. It was told in such a way that the reader felt like they were there with Kristen, and wanted to know what would happen next. There were no bits where I was bored!

I felt like it was a longer than normal talking book that I would listen to, but it didn’t feel that long. [Rose notes that it clocks in at 5.5 hours(as opposed to Get to the Point, which was only two hours)]. I don’t normally like reading things twice, but there were some parts that I HAVE read again, such as the techniques of how to FBI (it’s a feedback technique).

Anyone in a leadership role, not just owning your own business (also middle manager, team leader etc) should read this book. There are business books out there that contradict themselves but this book tell you that even if others say that this is the ‘best way’, if it doesn’t suit your team, don’t push something that isn’t working.

The book by itself was 4 stars, but with the reading it’s 5 stars. The author helped. It sounded as if it wasn’t a book, it was a story. I’m not sure if the author had put in side notes that weren’t in the text, but it sounded like it. It felt like even when she ‘renamed’ characters, it was real in the story.

Some of the techniques that she uses and decided as really good should be highlighted more – like shit sandwiches, but FBI is better than that. They were explained equally, but more emphasis should be put on the FBI. The FBI method stands for: feelings, behavior, impact. It starts with saying how you feel, and then your feedback-ee can’t argue that and get off topic. What is the impact on the relationship, company, team, client etc? Feedback shouldn’t be an ordeal and a sit down session. Everyone in a team should be able to give FBI.

The take home message from this book is that team company culture is important and how to give feedback using the FBI method. Always keep trying different things, and if that isn’t working for you in those circumstances, try something else.

Review: Sarah Crossan – Toffee

Posted on by
1

Toffee
Sarah Crossan

Allison has run from the burning, and has run so far that she’s no longer herself. She’s Toffee, and she lives with Marla. Marla isn’t herself either. Can Allison find her way back, or does she even want to?

This is the first time I have forced myself through a book of poems / short sentences. It looks like a thick, impressive book, but every page only has a couple of sentences on it. I found that while I connected with the characters, I just didn’t find it as immersive as a ‘regular’ book.

I really liked the way Allison and Marla interact. Allison’s character is so self-aware, and at the same time, so oblivious. Seeing inside her mind and having her own feelings and background exposed was really confronting and believable. I’ve never read any of Crossan’s other novels (and I probably won’t, if they are in poetry format), but I’d consider it from the strength of her characters.

There should be a trigger warning attached to this novel for domestic abuse and burn scars. I don’t think ‘mental health’ really covers dementia either. That being said, this novel is more than that. Friendship? Yes. Parenthood? Also yes. But in terms of closure and answers and completeness, it’s not satisfying. I need to know what happens to Allison’s dad and whether she survives.

I’m divided on whether this should be worth three or four stars. I feel like it was very good, because I got into the story, and I loved Allison and Marla. But then again, I felt cheated by the format and while the ending was good, it wasn’t quite enough. Read it, and let me know what you think.

Bloomsbury | 17th June 2019 | AU$14.99 | paperback

Interview with Anne Montgomery

Posted on by
1

An Interview with Anne Montgomery, author of A Light in the Desert

Anne Butler Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. Her first TV job came at WRBL-TV in Columbus, Georgia, and led to positions at WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP-TV in Phoenix, Arizona, and ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award-winning SportsCenter. She finished her on-camera broadcasting career with a two-year stint as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery was a freelance and/or staff reporter for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archaeological pieces. Her novels include The Scent of Rain and A Light in the Desert. Nothing But Echoes will be released in 2020. Montgomery teaches communications at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, is a foster mom to three sons, and is an Arizona Interscholastic Association football referee and crew chief. When she can, she indulges in her passions: rock collecting, football officiating, scuba diving, and playing her guitar.

Is there one book that is your own personal favorite?

Asking an author to pick a favorite book is like asking a mother to choose her favorite child. While they might secretly prefer one, I don’t think they’d say so. That said, I don’t think I have a favorite, or even a favorite character, for that matter.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external hard drive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

My first book is called The Integrity of the Game. It’s a thriller based on Major League Baseball and gambling. I spent a good chunk of my life as a sports reporter in both television and print and I umpired amateur baseball for about 25 years. I have taken the manuscript out of that bottom drawer occasionally over the years. I don’t know if I’ll ever try to publish it again. When I look at the copy, I realize I am a much better writer now. So, perhaps that’s the purpose of those first, and maybe second and third books. We get better as we go.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

I never had any training in creative writing. I learned to write by being a reporter. The editors I’ve worked with since I started publishing my books have been excellent teachers who helped me with dialogue and pacing. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I’m pretty adept at getting novels done once I pick a topic that inspires me. The idea might roll around in my head for a while, but I can do the research and get a first draft done in about four or five months. The caveat here is that I have a day job. I’m a high school teacher, at least for one more year, so I do little novel writing during the school year. Books tend to occupy my summer vacation mostly.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I have an office in my Phoenix home. As I am easily distracted, I need quiet and order. Also, I have horrible handwriting, so I am all in in regard to writing on a computer.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

The problem with beta readers is that they are often people who love us and who are uncomfortable critiquing our work. By nature, they think whatever we write is great. However, I am fortunate that I have a few friends who understand they won’t hurt my feelings with their comments and suggestions. I cherish them. I am also lucky that I have an agent who pulls no punches. She goes through my manuscripts and I rarely refuse her suggestions. Once she and I are in agreement, she sends it to publishers and I am assigned an editor who dives in with me. Before we go to print, I hand the manuscript to anyone who offers to take a look, in order to catch errors. I figure the more the merrier. Authors need new eyeballs on their writing. And we need to have thick skins.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favorite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I swore I would not read e-books and then I got a Kindle as a gift. The idea that when I finish reading a book I can just push a button and another one magically appears is hard to resist. Also, e-books make it easier to get my work out into the marketplace. I am happy when people read my book in whatever delivery system they prefer.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favorite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

I didn’t read much as a young person. I am a low-level dyslexic and struggled with reading. When I did sort things out, I started reading historical fiction, much of it based on the World War II era. I then expanded to other times and locales. I read a wide range of historical fiction today. I also like thrillers and mysteries.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

Social Media! I could say it is the bane of every author’s existence, mostly because it takes up so much time. But there are no other options. This is how we sell books, until some new system appears. I am required, per my contract with my publisher, to have a website and blog. While it was difficult getting started, it is so much a part of my life now, that it has become easier. I did have to decide which platforms I could handle, and I suggest that authors who are new to Social Media start slowly. You don’t have to jump on every platform at once. Also, blogging needs to be done regularly, which means coming up with interesting articles that will pull people to your site. As a former reporter, I do pretty well with this part, but it does take planning ahead. It’s kind of like the care and feeding of a pet.

Tell us some quirky facts about yourself.

I have a lot of interests. One is that I’m a rock and mineral collector, a hobby I’ve had my whole life. There are pictures of me toddling around in diapers putting rocks in cups. I have about 400 specimens in my living room. Also, I’ve been an amateur sports official since 1978. I’ve called football, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, and basketball games over the years. Today, I remain a high school football referee and crew chief with the Arizona Interscholastic Association. I love scuba diving, especially with sharks, which are beautiful creatures in the wild, and I have recently rekindled my love of musical theater. I also play the guitar.

What are the stories behind your books?

I write realistic fiction, which means the stories relate to real-life situations. As a former journalist and news junkie, I take stories about issues and events that happen around us. My books cover a wide range of topics. I’ve written about mental illness, child abuse, polygamy, archeological looting and black-market sales of antiquities, a serial rapist, cults, and the deadly, cold-case sabotage of passenger train.

Interview with Max Davine

Posted on by
Reply

An Interview with Max Davine, author of Mighty Mary, Off the Map, and other novels.

Max Davine was born in Victoria, Australia in 1989, to an eclectic mix of backgrounds. His father’s family had immigrated from Ireland during the Potato Famine, and are a mix of Irish, Norwegian and Spanish ancestry. His mother’s family escaped from Hungary, Austria and Germany during the Soviet takeover, and subsequent revolutions, after the Second World War. Members of his grandfather’s extended family fought both for the Nazis and for the partisans who rebelled against them. This unique lineage, and the rather unusual stories passed onto him by way of living relatives, informs both his writing and philosophical perspectives of history and where the world is headed.

Who is your favourite Dragon in literature?

Puff, the Magic Dragon. Such a simple yet beautiful story. It reminds me of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem Block City; that same sort of message and just delivered in such a profound and simple way.

I’m not going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

Aside from Mighty Mary, I would have to say Off The Map. It is probably the least known of my books and yet it means so much to me. I had it for thirteen years. Thirteen years of writing and rewriting. I had to make it seem like it was written in the year it was set. I guess the sales figures are an indication as to why you shouldn’t do it but I’m glad I did because there’s a real big piece of my life out there and maybe people will rediscover it one day.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

Oh, the first one I wrote? Eek. No. There is no saving that. That’s dead and buried. Having said that, it did go through a few hundred incarnations over the years and I may yet try again, but for all intents and purposes it is as dead as the dodo.

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

Everything. Every aspect of it. I look back on my old work and it’s like looking at myself learning to walk. There’s literally nothing that hasn’t been affected either by my continuing to study at University or by my acting lessons or just by the sheer amount of reading I do.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

It’s always different. After Dino Hunt was released I went quiet. There wasn’t much that grabbed me until about 2016 or ’17, about two years later when I started working on one I haven’t finished yet. Then I stopped that to write Mighty Mary and that took about a year to get right. And then there’s another big one, a real epic, that I’ve been working on about fifteen years. But this year has been productive. I’ve put down two first drafts this year and I’ve got one more to go. Then I’ll go back and do rewrites and whichever one strikes me as the best will be the one I publish next. The rest, it takes what it takes. One might be ready in six month, the other might take another decade. You never know. There are manuscripts I’ve never finished after years and years.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

It all starts with a pen and paper. But for proper drafting I go digital. I use a desktop computer with a big, thick keyboard because I break keyboards and that’s why I can’t use laptops. If you break the keyboard on a laptop, it’s goodnight, Charlie.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I’m fortunate enough to be traditionally published by Tamarind Hill Press and they’ve got an amazing team of editors and cover artists. Jesse McGun worked with me on Mighty Mary and he was just fantastic and I love a cover designer who just tells me if my ideas aren’t going to work because I’ve had ones before who just went on and tried to bend to my wishes and it hasn’t come out too well.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

The Strand in New York City is not only the greatest bookshop in the world, it is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s like Roald Dahl’s chocolate factory to me. I’d live there just to be close to it. I’ve never read an ebook but I guess they’d be handy while travelling. It does get challenging to carry an accumulation of books around on long trips, especially if you’re a backpacker! … my material comes from old photographs, mostly. Obviously there is that famous one of Mary, for example, but I love old pictures and that’s an Actor’s Lab thing. We were always taught to go to pictures of real life first for characters, then find them in that place. I still do that. Although it might be a painting or a statue or just being in a certain place and thinking wow, what happened here that we don’t know about?

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

I don’t have a specific genre to read. I write a lot of historical fiction, but I deviate into unconventional Sci-Fi or fantasy, but it’s always with real-world settings. I think our world is too fascinating to replicate in a Westeros or a Middle Earth. I mean, what for? A Song of Fire and Ice is an astonishing achievement but it’ll never be what the real War of the Roses was, for me. I appreciate and admire what Martin did with that very much, it’s just I couldn’t do it myself. I’d want the real thing. Having said that, one of my favorite authors is Robert E. Howard and I know Stephen King – among others – doesn’t like him but I wish he’d give the guy another chance! Yes, there are retrospective social issues to be found in his works and the works of Lovecraft but Howard’s prose was just dreamlike. Otherworldly in its visceral beauty.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

I have help. I manage it myself because who’s going to take pictures for me? But I do need to be kicked into doing it. It’s just not something that occurs to me during my day. I’ll be working or something, probably working, and get an email like your blog is due, you haven’t posted anything today, or whatever. I know it’s important. I’m very grateful I’m looked after in that sense.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

No! Most of my interviews are in-person so I can’t do that anyway because I’d never remember what I’d said to the last interviewer.

Review: NDF novels #1

Posted on by
Reply

These are some short reviews of novels that I started and couldn’t finish. I’ll probably pass them onto a friend or attempt to sell them to a local bookstore. Sing out if you want them!

Maggie Stiefvater – The Raven King

I read and reviewed the first three novels (The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Lily Blue, Lily Blue) in this series when The Raven King arrived in my mailbox. But then I was feeling so ‘meh’ about the whole series that I abandoned it. I reattempted The Raven King, but I found myself with the same complaints as the first time – too many side avenues, irritating and unreliable characters and a confusing plot line.

Scholastic | 1st September 2017 | AU$19.99 | hardback

Un-su Kim – The Plotters

I just couldn’t get into this one. It reminded me a little of The Name of Death, in that it talked about a specific assassin, but it lacked the hook and suspense. I don’t even remember who the assassin was now, or what his name was. I know that his Plotter was in charge of a library though! The ‘story’ meandered and I couldn’t find anything redeeming about it.

Text Publishing | 30th July 2018 | AU$29.99 | paperback

Review: Elizabeth Gilbert – City of Girls

Posted on by
Reply

City of Girls
Elizabeth Gilbert

Vivian Morris is writing a letter to a woman who’s father she spent time with following the war. This letter and novel tells the story of her life and how it all leads up to her sexual and business freedom.

I didn’t feel very strongly about this novel. It all pretty much boiled down to ‘it was all a dream’. Not exactly, but that was the feeling I had – in that everything that had happened before actually didn’t have any impact or was anything that mattered. I knew she would survive everything thrown her way, and that she’d end up being happy regardless of the challenges.

I get that for its time, the protagonist is a daring and unusual heroine who is a paragon of sexual freedom. But the novel isn’t set up for me to actually enjoy her story. Vivian (even the name suggests she enjoys life) doesn’t endear herself to me at all and I never connected with her little asides about how she didn’t know anything at the time, but oh, looking back she was amazed at her naivety.

This is billed as a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Unique, yes, thrilling and enthralling, no. 3 stars, and maybe a different audience would be more suitable to read this (someone keen on the 1940s and the war times?).

Bloomsbury | 4th June 2019 | AU$32.99 | paperback

Review: Sarah Hopkins – The Subjects

Posted on by
Reply

The Subjects
Sarah Hopkins

Daniel is a teenage drug dealer on his way to jail. But suddenly he is granted a reprieve – he is taken to a facility purpose built to treat people like him. When he enters into The Contract with Dr. J and starts taking classes with the enigmatic Helen and smart PW Daniel’s emotional thresholds are going to change. But the story is narrated by the older and more worldly Daniel who knows just how things will play out.

I requested this novel because it reminded me of another that I had read with a similar concept – delinquents taken to a bush setting and let loose to sort themselves out. But this novel is nothing like that. Daniel is guided without having known he was guided, and treated without having really known what was wrong. His search for a descriptor of what is wrong with him seems futile when his friendships are changing him.

I loved how the author was able to get inside the teenage boy mind and draw out a painful expose of what growing up looks like, without having to rely on the traditional narrative of high school and families. By putting her ‘vulnerable’ characters in a courtyard with pear trees Hopkins makes the characters, not the setting, the core of the story. We know that the teenagers must be some sort of program, but we don’t work out until the very end what it actually means. The author really crafted this carefully until the ending just sprang on me.

Over-prescription of medication, and diagnosing young children with mood and mental disorders is a growing problem. Ritalin seems to be the magic bullet against children who can’t sit still. Instead of talking about the problem we can throw drugs at it to fix it. As someone who takes daily medication to keep myself sane and sociable, I fully admit that psychoactive drugs have their places in society. But I agree with this novel’s ultimate offering in that we should be careful who we trust to do the right thing (and who benefits from it financially).

I can’t recommend this novel, but I’m not sure why not. This novel left me with a very strange feeling in my mouth. In fact, it reminded me a lot of ‘Some Tests’, a novel I never finished reviewing because it was too weird to even keep reading. I’m trying to think of who might enjoy this novel, as I’m certain that someone, somewhere would enjoy it. It is quite brilliantly written, even if the style didn’t suit me.

Text Publishing | 4th June 2019 | AU$29.99 | paperback

Review: Kesia Lupo – We are Blood and Thunder

Posted on by
Reply

We are Blood and Thunder
Kesia Lupo

Lena is desperate to escape her life as a cryptling serving the Duke’s Forest Ancestors – but instead finds herself needing to escape to survive after she is branded as a mage. Constance is a mage trying to find her way back into the Forest after her flight many years ago. Both of them are somehow connected to the storm that is slowly killing the Duke’s people, but can they realise this in time to save anyone?

You won’t see the twists coming in this novel. I feel like even mentioning that there is a twist might give things away.  In addition, I liked the idea that magic could be aided or changed by adding clockwork elements, and I think more could have been done with this.

I didn’t get a sense of how large the world was. It seemed absurd to me that Duke’s Forest could be a walk away from the King. I didn’t even see the King and it seemed like this important figure was just invisible behind the potential Radicals. So some important things also seemed inconsistent – the change in Constance’s magic. I thought it was purple? And then it turned out to be white.

What I couldn’t believe, and what spoiled the book for me, was the romance aspect. The relationships that develop seem to be fragile and tenuous from the way that the characters spoke, but then their actions said that there were some strong feelings going on.

I could have seen more about the various religious/God sects which I thought were introduced but not properly discussed. Perhaps this will be explored in the not-a-sequel set in the same world. 3 stars for this one due to the disappointing characters, but I expect to see more good things from this author.

Bloomsbury | 1st May 2019 | AU$16.99 | paperback