Book Brouhaha

I really don't know what I would do with myself if I didn't have my writing.  It's like there was no escaping it.  The creature had to be made. I had this weird reflective moment a couple days ago.  I started thinking about my younger, elementary-aged self and then compared it to what I am doing right now as an adult.  I have to say, I would never have called it.  Just about the last thing I wanted to do was teach the violin. I should have known better than to jinx myself.  Now in retrospect I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing that teaching music.  The pieces just all seemed to fit together. The thing is with private teaching is that most of your work happens in the after school/work hours.  Aside from a handful of homeschoolers and adult students, I mostly have the morning and early afternoon free.  Which is nice.  It's when I make the time to exercise or run errands. It's also when I write. ...

Summary: Asha is a 15-year old girl with the soul of a demon. She plans to wage war against heaven and hell using humanity as her main weapon. Asha begins the epic tale of the revenge of the dark goddess of demons! Review: I've read quite a few works by Hendrickson and this story certainly speaks for his ability to present interesting story lines move along at a nice clip.  I liked the protagonist.  She was an intriguing juxtaposition of human emotions and demon knowledge.  And yet it's because  I liked her that I found myself a little frustrated with the story.  I wanted to know more about her motives but all dialogue explanation remained frustratingly vague.  I learned more about the plot reading the summary than I did reading the story.  At no point in the story does Asha explain that she wants to wage a war or that humans will play an integral part in this war.  I don't expect an in-depth out...

So it had to happen at some point.  It always does.  Book selling is cruel like that.  The very moment you start to think "Wow! My sales are really doing well!  At this rate I'll be buying that private island I've had my eye on in no time!" Then the Summer season sets in. But there's no need to panic.  Really.  It's just a cold reminder of what actually happens in your own life.  The weather is nice... you have some time off... you're on vacation... you're not  reading... Wait?  Not reading?  Oh yeah, I guess I'm not really. At least not as much as I do during the winter when the sun sets at 4:00pm and there's no reason to be outside. But it doesn't change the sting of seeing your sales numbers drop like a rock to the bottom of the sales rank ocean.  This too shall pass.  Just keep publishing.  Avoid hitting the refresh button on your KDP window.  And know that places like Amazon are not broken.  They a...

Summary: Beth Tanner has a secret. It's one she's kept from her husband, Jackson, for more than a decade of marriage. Now, a chance encounter with a device that allows your past to be viewed in full detail, Beth Tanner must confront her long ago transgressions. Beth lives an ideal soccer-mom suburban lifestyle. It's a life she's grown accustomed to and she doesn't want to give it up. But Jackson needs to know the truth and that world she treasurers so much could be taken away. Review: A short piece with a quick, engaging plot that somehow feels lacking in the end.  Lincoln has some writing skills, no question there.  The opening scene to the story is quite good.  He immediately manages to create sympathetic characters with only a few short paragraphs.  Beth and Jackson are having the type of conversation that almost any person that has been in a long-term relationship could relate to. The mysterious salesman and "life-sync" device pique...

My dad, being the engineer that he is, always says that 5% or more is statistically significant.  So does it solidify my nerdiness if I said that more than 5% of my Netflix recommendations are documentaries? What?  I like  National Geographic!  And it's only a matter of time before Nova actually catches the Loch Ness monster on film.  What's really pathetic is I get hooked on these things late at night. So the latest installment was "Jiro Dreams of Sushi."  If you haven't see it, go watch it now.  It's on Netflix instant watch.  It's about one of the world's best sushi chefs.  He runs a restaurant that has ten seats and his sushi starts at $300 a plate.  Crazy right?  But everyone who eats at his place says it's totally worth the money.  Customers have to book their spot a month in advance. What's really interesting about the documentary is Jiro himself.  They talk a little about what goes into his sushi making but...