Fey Lights Review

"Fey Lights" by Liana Brooks

Let me start off right now by telling you there *will* be SPOILERS in this review. I'll do my best alert the reader before-hand, so that those who enjoy their reviews spoiler free may enjoy this one.

"Fey Lights" is a sci-fi novella. Interwoven among it's plot lines is a touch of adventure, a dash of action, a pinch of mystery, and a sprinkling of romance. Stir it all up and let it simmer in the tropical island setting, and you have a receipt for a tasty dish.

I had the chance to beta read this novella. There were few places I could find to poke holes in the story, and the author added some extra seasonings to make the published version of this story twice as nice.

*Here there be SPOILERS*

"Fey Lights" starts not with a bang, but with a crash. Literally. Main character Jeani finds herself shipwrecked on a back-rocket planet in the middle of nowhere, on the trail of a missing colleague, and on the run from a slave dealer. Then Jeani's life gets complicated when ghosts of her past she can barely recall turn up, bearing torches.

Throw in flying jellyfish, a sea creature or two, a few daring escapes, and a head-spinning plot twist, and you have a read that is both enjoyable, and leaves you wanting more.

*Spoilers Finished*

The author offers up a grand universe to explore in just a short novella. Competing empires, competitively cooperating police forces, shape-shifting humanoids, native species with their own colorful local customs. There's enough here for an entire series to explore.  There were mere hints of a larger back story that I hope the author brings to light. I for one would enjoy another outing in the Fey Lights universe. I think most other readers would too.

"Fey Lights" is available now. 

Amazon  B&N  Kobo  Smashwords  Goodreads

Unspun & Bloody Promos

Rachel Firasek stops by to give readers her take on being a newly indie-published author, and to share a little about her new Book "Unspun".

Bloody Promos

As I write this, my fingers are bleeding. It’s the first of 5 million blog posts for the month of July. The world of promoting a new release, especially my first indie-pub release is demanding and extracting of plasma. Yes, I said it, plasma.

Wikipedia’s definition=Blood plasma is the yellow liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume.

So, now that I’m weak from plasma and blood loss, I’ll try to humor you fine people on what it’s like in my world right now. There is a reason so many authors’ fight, beg, offer favors of devious intent to find the magical agent that will love their manuscript enough to beg, offer favors…etc. to a New York market.

Once that book is in the hands of a lovely editor in the “big” world of publishing and their marketing department, the author can sit back and relax, right? Wrong. But, it is still better than what those of us less than mid-level authors have to work with. Forging on to find our place in the market, we must sweat, pant, and yes, sometimes bleed for the recognition that will, hopefully, place our books out in the world.

I woke from a sweaty dream last night, no---get your minds out of the gutter---to realize I was sweating over all the months of hard work I’ve put into booking blog spots, chats, vlogs, and now, even a Skype conference with a book club. It’s here and I’ve done so much work finding homes for my lovely words, that I haven’t written my posts! Yikes.

So, night sweats and all, I’m putting on my happy face, and marching on. It’s what I do. For those of you selling a book, start now, not when the book is for sale on Amazon--or worse--on clearance. It will take months of developing treasured relationships, finding people you can trust to share your work with, and finding the right homes for your promo.

I know some of you probably think I’m all over the place and so put together, but the truth is, what you are seeing is half a year of work in the making. I put aside my shy and hiding nature and stuck out my hand/keyboard to introduce myself to other bloggers, writers, and yes…authors. Guess what…they didn’t bite. So, here I am, celebrating my release with you, and writing this hopefully entertaining post on promo. Have a great day! And, now I must go wrap my poor mangled hands in gauze and allow them time to heal before I begin writing my 499,999,999^th post. Happy July everyone!

Here's a little about the book! :)

She gave away her heart…
Giving her heart to a mortal wasn't something the First Fate planned. Losing him nearly shattered her soul. Upon his death, Clotho swore never to love—or weave life—again. Hoping she'll change her mind before it's too late, Zeus commands the spinner of life to take a much needed vacation from her immortal responsibilities.

He had to hide his...
Dane is close to cracking the drug ring he's spent the last two years infiltrating, but needs to perform one last heist to meet the head man and prevent an impending war. An undercover agent, he’s now on the run from drug lords, thieves and with the very woman whose tears make him forget his purpose.

Together they’ll find a way back from the dark.
Chloe will have to put her trust in the man she believes may have killed her fiance, or face an eternity on Earth. Without the desire for life, hope could slip through the cracks of time if he doesn’t love away her sorrow.

BUY NOW!

AMAZON 

B&N

Rachel’s writing career began at the impressionable age of twelve with a poem dedicated to the soldiers of Desert Storm. A dark macabre affair that earned her a publication in an anthology and many raised eyebrows from family and friends, she hid her poetry and artistic style for years…

Tucked away in the heart of Central Texas, with the loving support of her husband and three children, she dusted the cobwebs from her craft. Returning to those twisted regions of her mind, she creates dark urban fantasies and soul-searching paranormal romance.

To learn where love twists the soul and lights the shadows, visit Rachel at http://www.rachelfirasek.com/

Rachel Firasek
True Love Devastates...
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Lucky Day

Well, it's Brain Drippings' 1st blogiversary. Considering my reluctance to begin blogging *at all*, I'd say the blog is lucky enough to have made it this far. So, in the spirit of bon chance (What the French would call good luck or good fortune), I thought I'd tell you about a day I had happen to me once.

Ever have one of those days when things just go right for you? Even when things go wrong, they still turn out right for you? One of those days where Karma decides "Let's let him/her have one today." Happened to me a couple years back.

The gf and I were going out of town to an airshow in San Angelo, Texas. We were leaving DFW and driving west to the part of Texas that, on a colored map, changes over from green to yellow-brown. We stopped at the bank around lunch-time, and I'm sitting there, waiting to get into the parking spot in front of the building. There's a man blocking the open space while he's getting something out of the backseat of his Tahoe. He's a tall black guy, tall enough to look over the top of his Tahoe; could have played guard or forward on a basketball team, he's that tall. Something is on the ground next to his feet, so the gf hops out and tells him about it.

He thanks her, picks it up (looks like a checkbook or something that size), and she goes on into the bank, and he follows a moment later. I pull into the slot and wait. When she comes out, she's holding a bank envelope. (We weren't picking up cash or anything, so this is a little odd) She tells me that the man was waiting for her by the door to the bank with the envelope. He'd thanked her again and handed her the envelope and said "This is for you and your husband. Lunch is on me." She opened the envelope in the truck, and there's $100 in 20s in the envelope! We both looked at each other and I said "Well, there's gas money for the weekend!"

Then we went across the street to Target. She wanted to look at digital cameras, and found one she liked. It was already 30% off. The only one left in stock was the display unit. She asked if anything would be taken off the price because it was the display. They did. She ended up getting a $250 camera for less than half. Our day just kept getting better and better.

We picked up the boy after school, and got out of DFW around 4:30, after fighting some monster traffic on 820 headed west & south around Ft Worth. After we stopped for dinner, and finally made it to San Angelo, (And nearly hitting a deer at night on a 4 lane highway in the middle of nowhere, Texas) we arrived at our hotel at 9:30pm. We'd booked a double with two queen-sized beds on a credit card. This was a price of around $75/night for two nights.

When we got to the hotel, and the gf hopped out to go check us in, it was several minutes before she came back out. She had bad news, and good news. The bad news was that the hotel, at which several of the performers and show personnel were also staying, needed our room and gave it away, since we were so late in checking in. The good news, however, was that since we'd booked it on a credit card, they had to give us another room. The only thing they had available? The $155/night suite over the lobby! King-sized bed, living room with fold out couch, small kitchenette, two tvs and a decent sized closet. And, because we'd booked it on the card, they gave us the suite for the rate of the double we'd originally booked.!

Tell me about your lucky day! Comments are always welcome.

Flight For Control

"Flight for Control" is a new aviation thriller that reads like a mystery by Karlene Pettitt.

Three airliners have crashed in the last year and nobody knows why. After a ten-year leave, Kathryn Jacobs has been invited back to the N.T.S.B to investigate this series of unexplained airline crashes. But her husband, Captain Bill Jacobs, has his concerns. While her twin daughters are off at camp, and Bill is actively campaigning for the Pilot Union Presidency, Kathryn secretly begins her investigation.

What she learns will shock the nation.

Flight For Control is a thriller that reads like a mystery. But to Kathryn, there is no mystery on the condition of the airline industry—it’s broken. Planes are crashing. Pensions are lost. Pilots are financially and emotionally bankrupt due to fatigue, furloughs, and loss of seniority. It’s time that someone takes control before it’s too late—unless it already is

Karlene Petitt is very qualified to write an aviation thriller. She's an International Airline Pilot who is type-rated and has flown and/or Instructed on the B744, B747, B767, B757, B737, B727 and A330. Petitt is a 33-year veteran of flying, and has worked for Coastal Airways, Evergreen, Braniff, Premair, America West, Guyana, Tower Air, Northwest Airlines and currently flies an Airbus for an international airline. She is the mother of three, grandmother of six, and holds MBA and MHS degrees. 

"Flight for Control" is now available at Amazon and B&N.

But wait, there's more!

Just return to the blog and show a proof of purchase in the comments section and be registered into a world-wide drawing for Karlene Petitt to fly to your location and talk to your book club, in person! Not only will she come to speak with your book club, she'll bring five copies of "Flight for Control" for the club as well!

You get a great book, and get the chance to win a really cool prize!" 

A Cry For Help

'Help me Blog Readers. You're my only hope."

I'm at the fork in the road. Actually, I am deciding between 3 choices, so technically this fork is a trident. :D I'm looking at buying a Kindle of some kind (I still love you most paper books!), and I'm trying to decide between the Kindle Keyboard 3G (139.00), the Kindle DX (379.00) and the Kindle Fire (199.00). My problem is, I don't know which to choose. I like the size of the DX, but I like that the Fire is in color. I've seen and used Kindle Keyboards before, but I've heard zip about the DX.

My primary use would as an e-reader first; both for pleasure and for reference when I'm writing- so I don't have to change screens back and forth all the time. Music or videos would be a distant secondary use.

What's been your experience with the gaggle of Kindles available today?

No Tag Backs!

The hash tag. It's a useful tool in spreading content or a message across twitter. If you are building brand and name recognition it can be one of the most powerful marketing tools available. It's fun and heartening to see others re-tweet you, spreading your message, content (or plans for world domination) even further across a hash tag. Communities had sprung up around some hash tags. #MyWANA being a big one that comes to mind.

But do people know how to effectively use hash tags?

Over  and over, I  keep seeing RTs going out to the same tags used in the original tweet. Sure, a RT to the same tags is fine, if a period of time has passed since the original tweet. Not everyone is on twitter at the same time to see the first tweet. But, RTing it immediately to the same tags? Not so much.

Example:

@wrytersblockDH wrote:

 Come read my new blog! #myWANA #Twitter

Then, user @AbcTweeter tweeted 2 tweets in the timeline later:

RT @wrytersblockDH: Come read my new blog! #myWANA #Twitter

Now, do this on a popular/busy hash tag, and the number of RTs can get obnoxious. The RTs mean well, and are sharing something they think is worthy, but there's no need to be beat over the head with it. What you can do instead is to edit the RT first, and change the hash tags. This spreads the tweet further and further, and keeps the hash tags you love from getting really annoyed with you. You can reach other tags that the original tweeter didn't think of, or didn't have room to include.

Think of RTing with hash tags like a game of tag you played as a kid - No Tag Backs!

Motivation and Inspiration

Rock and roll bands. It's not always about amplifiers turned up to 11 and  scoring chicks. Sometimes you get inspirational words to live by. And if there is anyone who understands how life can grind you up and spit you out, it's rock and roll bands. Here are a couple of my favorites.

The first comes from an Atlanta band called Drivin' N' Cryin'. D'N'C' released a 4 song ep in 91 with a cut from their latest album and 3 live tracks. The first live track contained this nugget of wisdom:

...We've been all around, and we've come back home with three very important rules of life. I'm gonna tell you what they are.
Said a toy never played with is not a toy at all
Said a day never lived in is not a day at all
Said a promise never broken is a strange thing indeed...

-- Kevn Kinney of Drivin' N' Cryin' song: "Toy Never Played With"

The second comes from a band out of New Orleans called Cowboy Mouth. CM's mantra is that life is really short, so make every day count. Sounds trite and overused, I know, but this is how their front man Fred LeBlanc puts it:

Sometimes it feels like everybody's against you. Sometimes it feels like the world doesn't care. But what you've got to do is you've got to get up. You've got to find your heart. You've got to find your soul. You've got to find those strengths inside yourself that make you take on the day. That make you take on the world. That make you appreciate what goes on around you. That make you glad to be ALIVE!

-- Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth song: "Why Ya Wanna Do Me"

Words to live by, no matter if you're a rocker, a roller, a writer, a painter, or just a human being trying to hang onto this spinning hunk of rock we call home.