Today I’m reviewing Clifton Chase and the Arrow of Light by Jaimie Engle, an ebook ARC received through Library Thing. Clifton is already available in paperback through the usual channels, and will release in ebook format on September 1, 2013.   The summary, adapted from Goodreads:   A strange arrow transports young Clifton Chase to Medieval England in 1485....

The Pirate’s Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke is the sequel to The Assassin’s Curse, reviewed here. In the interest of remaining spoiler free, I’ll keep my summary brief. Pirate Ananna and Assassin Naji are bound together by an impossible curse, which can only be broken by completing three impossible tasks. Less a sequel and more the second half of one story too...

I love a great series of books. In a series, you get more time with great main characters.  You can see secondary characters grow. And the author has more time to expand the plot and the action. But when you read too many series, it’s hard to keep up. I fall behind on which ones are out, and lately...

I have Son 1 to thank again for today’s review. We went to the bookstore together, and this is the first time he’s chosen a book to read completely on his own. (Meaning not influenced by me, a teacher, or a friend.) The cover and the title attracted him, and it turned out to be a...

I while back, I read a YA reviewer’s blog who named Tom Angleberger’s The Strange Case of Origami Yoda as her favorite book of the year. This really struck me, since she’d read and reviewed most of my favorite YA titles. I was excited to finally read the series with Son #1, and we just finished the second book,...

“It’s okay to take a break.” My husband said this to me yesterday. It’s one of those things I know to be true, but it helps to hear someone else reaffirm it. In the ever-shifting balance of life, family time and writing time keep up their antagonistic struggle. The blog usually gets the shortest stick in that draw, but I wanted...

Revising a novel can be overwhelming. It requires a different frame of mind than drafting, and it can take so many different paths. I’ve always used story-boarding for revisions, meaning I have a large white board with a chapter grid and tons of sticky notes. But I feel like I’ve gained so many different perspectives since the...

For a while now, I’ve thought that the greatest secondary benefit of being a writer was fulfilling my fan-girl fantasies of meeting the authors of books that I love. At my first writing conference, I had lunch with Charlaine Harris. (Well, we sat at the same table, and I was so tongue-tied that I barely said two words to...

2012 is almost over, and we’re all still here! I’ve been enjoying a relaxing week with my family leading up to Christmas. I’ve baked. I’ve written. I’ve read. A Lord of the Rings movie marathon followed our family reading and trip to see the Hobbit on the big screen. It’s been a good week, and it’s...

Today I’m reviewing Midnight City by J. Baron Mitchell, another book I read courtesy of the Southern Book Bloggers ARC tours. The Summary, adapted from Goodreads: Earth has been conquered by an alien race known as the Assembly. Holt Hawkins is a bounty hunter, and his current target is Mira Toombs, an infamous treasure seeker...