STORM blog tour

 Book Title: Storm
Author: Bernard Lee DeLeo
Source: Blog Tour







Book Blurb

The FBI blackmailed Storm Crandall; but only after Storm hacked their database. At sixteen, she’s under cover at a high school, looking for clues involving five missing girls. Besides computer skills, Storm has game in the magic department. A sect of the Temple of Set soon finds out power comes in many guises.
With two FBI agents posing as her parents in the city of Warren, Ohio, Storm finds love, allies, and tragedy in her hunt for answers. By fulfilling her end of the bargain, Storm can buy her way out of spending the days until her eighteenth birthday in a juvenile detention facility.
Storm’s FBI handlers discover their young charge can do more than type fast. Their first encounter with the creature behind the disappearances shows the agents they need Storm for far more than information gathering as a high school spy.
Teaming up with an enigmatic young man attending classes with her, Storm begins unraveling a horror no one anticipated. When the case morphs from serial kidnapping into a supernatural witch hunt, Storm and her friends, under the guidance of the FBI agents, scramble to stay alive while tracking down monsters, both human and inhuman.

Review:

This story had an interesting plot, the pacing was well done as well.
Sixteen year old, Storm is a computer whiz and works for the FBI after being arrested for hacking their database. At the begining of this book, she is enrolled in a new school, working undercover on a case where five girls have gone missing. She meets Logan who comes to her rescue when she is being bullied by three students, and later on meets other girls in her class. During her investigation she finds out who is responsible for the kidnappings, and so 'Storm together with her friends and the FBI agents work together to solve the case.

The author did  a great job of providing enough details to create vivid images in the story. The characters well done and believable.  What didn't work for me was the predicatability of the story. It would have been nice to see Storm being challenged by the events, maybe lose something/someone close to her to create more conflict, make me care more about what is happening to her. Janet was tough/acted tough. A little background, maybe a small paragraph while on her POV would have helped to know why she acted they was she did.

I recommend this for fans of action-packed supernatural stories.

Release Day: Hollywood Ever After by Sasha Summers

Today is Sasha Summer's Hollywoord Ever After book release, and I'm really excited to be a part of it. Hollywood Ever After, published through Inkspell Publishing is the first book in the Red Carpet Series.  Hollywood, love and happy ever afters... Below is the blurb, enticing as the book title itself. 

Book Blurb:

Happy Endings are for fairy tales. Or the movies. Not for real life. At least, not in Claire’s life. Even though she’s starting over, she knows better than to want too much this time. But when she falls, literally, into the strong arms of Hollywood’s ‘it’ boy Josh Wiley, Claire’s in for some surprises. Her plans for rest and relaxation are forgotten as one incredible night with Josh becomes two… And her heart begins to want him as much as her body. Will two kids, one bastard ex-husband, and Josh’s juggernaut career mean the end of their affair? Or can Claire find her happy ending after all?

To know more about this awesome author, please hop over to: www.sashasummers.com

Other books by Sasha:

Medusa, A Love Story (Book 1, Loves of Olympus a fantasy romance series), Available Now ~ ~ For the Love of Hades (Book 2) - January 20133

Hollywood Ever After (Book 1, Red Carpet Series contemporary romance) coming July 14, 2012 ~ ~ Hollywood Holiday - winter 2012

Galileo's Holiday part of the 2012 Carina Press SciFi Holiday Anthology - December 2012

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InkSpell Link: http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/1/post/2012/03/hollywood-ever-after-cover-reveal.html

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Ever-After-Sasha-Summers/dp/0985148330/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341495273&sr=8-1&keywords=hollywood+ever+after

B&N Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hollywood-ever-after-sasha-summers/1110208518?ean=9780985148331

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg6oWKVGwlg

Friday Fantastic Feature: Cover Art Designer Najla Qamber

Hi Friends! Today I'd like to introduce you to a very talented , lovely lady, Najla Qambar. She is responsible for designing the cover of Truly Madly Deeply You, capturing the couple on the cover exactly as I had imagined them. I call her Midas on Heels. Everything she touches turns to.... well... gold. :D Without further ado, let's get a little bit up and close with Najla.

Hey Najla, so great to have you here with us. Please tell us a little about yourself.

Cece! :D I'm so happy to be here. About myself? Hmmm...! I think I'll just put it in 5 points below! :D 

- I have a huge passion for design (Design Blog) and books (Book Blog) (my bookshelf is filllllllled!)

- My dad's Persian and my mom's Filipino. :D (Power to the Halfies!)

- I'm 7 months away from graduating with a B.S. Degree in Business Informatics

- I write reviews for a Bahraini local newspaper (Daily Tribune)

- I'm a workaholic (Cece, knows this!)

Oh, I do know, and from your art work, I say being workaholic is a good thing, It's all worth it. :)  What kind of designing do you do? 

I do all kinds of designs (branding, cover design, illustrations, vector art, tshirt designs, stationery, bookmarks, etc) except minimalism, annnndd... some typography. I'm pretty sure there are more that I don't do but I can't think of anything at the moment. 

What got you into designing? 

My first intern job got me into designing. I actually started out photo-manipulating on deviantart.com as a hobby, which then got me a job at a branding company where they trusted me enough to do some designs which then awakened my passions for design! How I got into cover design, is a whole different story. :D

You currently live in Bahrain, to me it sounds/looks exotic from books I've read or photos I've seen.  Tell us a bit about Bahrain.

Haha, ya, you can say that it is a little bit exotic. Bahrain is part of the GCC in the Middle East. We are a little bit off the coast of Saudi Arabia. 

Bahrain right now, is the best home I can ever get. Even better than the Philippines sometimes. Life here is good, its open (sort of) and hot! Its a desert with lots of reclaimed land. But its still an extremely small country. It takes an hour to get from one point of the country to the other.

 Where do you get inspiration from?

Most of my inspiration comes from deviantart.com, or by asking Uncle Google. :D Also! If I have the money I buy design books with lots of wonderful designs to look from. 

Where can you be found on the web? 

Design Blog 

Join me at my design blog for authors and bloggers who need a new book cover or a blog layout at affordable prices!

DeviantArt Gallery 

Cover Gallery (Not up-to-date, but it has most of the covers)

http://najlaqamberdesigns.blogspot.com/p/book-covers.html

DA Portfolio

http://najlaqamber.daportfolio.com/

Book Blog

Thank's Cece for having me! It's an honor to be part of your blog. You are awesome!

Oh, you are very welcome Naj! It was great to sip  tea and  nibble biscuits while chatting with you. :D 

Facial Quirks

Lately I have been obsessed with hunting down facial quirks - discreetly staring at faces on the street and in the train and tram, and also searching for articles on the net. One might wonder why. I promise you it's not because I enjoy scaring fellow pedestrians and commuters, though I have to admit these quirks make for interesting and memorable features.

I have been searching for different things that would distinguish my characters in the story I am working on. Something that will make them memorable.

I found this article written by John Yeoman at Writers Village on Character Signatures character signatures. Impressive. Writers Village is an absolute writer's dream.

Some of the facial quirks which coul make a face memorable :

• A mole anywhere on the face (my daughter has slightly below the left eye on the cheek) We call it a beauty spot. :D  

• Gap between the upper front or lower teeth : My mom and my sister have the gap. Also reminds me of Anna Paquin from True Blood

• Different eye colour - reminds me of Katsa from Kristin Cashore's Graceling

• Crooked nose

• Dimpled chin.

• Dimpled cheeks - I have one on the right side. It shows up when I smile, so I tend to do that alot..haha my daughter has one on the left side.

•  A wide smile sort of like Julia Roberts'

• Full lips, think lips

• Big eyes cast in thick lick lashes -  Reminds me of my son.  Sometimes when I'm applying makeup, I envy him for having such lush eyelashes.

•  Big, intense eyes -  My daughter has such eyes. Sometimes when she looks at me, I have to avert my gaze. It's as if she can see right through me.

• Scars - Thanks, Diane.   

•  Slightly lopsided smile - Thanks, Kelly

Oh, my left ear is pointed at the tip (not as extreme as an elf's though), and the right one is rounded at the tip.  Guess I  ear gene my dad. :D  That is part of facial quirk, I think.

Do you have facial quirks, know someone who has one or two? Or maybe you could mention a couple to add to the list?

It will be great hearing from you.  Please comment below, and I will add on the list above. Might come in handy for anyone in need. I realised it was not easy finding these on the net. Oh, here is an article in Glamour magazine. If anyone is interested. There are about 104 comments mentioning individual quirks.

Happy Wednesday!

H.D. Gordon's JOE virtual book tour

Author: H.D. Gordon

Book Title: JOE


Source: Blog Tour

Rating: 4/5 stars


Author's Link:  http://hdgordon.com/


Buy Links:Amazon





Book Summary:

From the author of the Alexa Montgomery Saga, comes a book that will take you into the mind of a geniune pyschopath, the lives of six ordinary people, and the world of a very special girl named Joe.

Joe is seemingly an ordinary college student. She works, studies and reads. But in between these activities Joe has a gift that promises to add a dose of color to her life at any given moment. Joe sees things before they happen. Bad things, and the worst thing she has ever faced is just around the corner. Someone is planning a massacre at the college university that Joe attends, and the only person with a hope of stopping the pyschopath is her.

Oh, the beauty of foresight. More like a curse. Joe has four days to figure out the mystery, make plans to take down the pyscho, and save the lives of people. People like you and me. Ordinary people.

My Review:


JOE is written is different  POVs. In each one we get to know the characters, their backgrounds and what each one of them is looking forward to in the near future. H.D. Gordon weaves this story so well, and how each of these characters are connected to Joe, the main character, the silver-eyed, raven haired girl who has the ability to see things before they happen.

The author also did a great job of getting into the villain's mind, drawing the kind of emotions appropriate for this type of character. This guy makes other psychopaths one meets on the streets look like amateurs. Very well done.


This story is gripping, emotional and I was eager to know the outcome after all was said and done. So much action, emotions, conflicts packed in a four days.

I felt some descriptions were a bit too long, though, not that it hindered me in any way. Still enjoyed this story alot.

And I loved the ending :) To see a simple girl who doesn't talk much change so many lives was amazing. Hopefully we will be seeing more of Joe. What a loveable character!

Check out my awesome awards!

I received this wonderful awards from the lovely  C. Lee McKenzie

List your 5 favourite books. 

1. Shatter Me by Taheri Mafi.
2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver  
3. Easy by Tammara Webber
4. A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught
5.Psy-changelling series by Nalini Singh. I couldnt really choose one in this series becuase I love all the books in this series. Worldbuilding is well done.

5 fabulous moments

1. The click moment - that's what I call the moment I solve a plot problem that has been bother ing me for a while in my story

2. It is so uplifting to see a smile from one of my elderly clients when I've done something as small as, well, handing him/her a glass of water. Makes me feel...appreciated. :)

3. Every second I get to spend with my children.

4. The moment I pull the cake from the oven and see the middle is still puffed up - I have a problem at times almost always, for some reason my cakes obey the law of gravity and sink in the middle.

5. When I open my eyes to a new day, with birds chirping out my window



5 Things i love 

1. Love watching TV - My Sat receiver blew up last week after a blood-chilling storm. The last few days have been quite depressing. I'll feel alive once again if it's in working order.

2. Oh, I love sleeping ALOT. Just to catch up with the hours I have to wake up early in the morning.

3. My children

4. To read a book while cuddled up on my favourite burgundy couch.

5. Oldies. There is nothing like the seventies and eighties music.



5 Thinks I dislike

1. Dishonesty
2. People who take advantage of others people's good intentions
3. Gossip
4. Being idle
5. People who have nothing better to do than nit-pick for other people's faults.


5 people I would like to share this awards with:

1. Martina
2. C.A. Szarek
3. Liz Davis
4. Mina
5. Debbie Brown

Happy Monday!

Where do I get story ideas from.

This is a guest post I did sometime back during the Truly, Madly, Deeply You blog tour on Jacob's Beloved Books blog.

My inspiration comes from almost everywhere: Walking down the street, in the shower, watching TV, that space of time between waking up and sleeping whne my mind is drifting in all directions … 

For Truly, Madly, Deeply, You, I was inspired by a couple who I visited in their home during my home visits. The man was 93 years and his wife 88. While I sat there listening to them, telling me how they were best friends even before they got married, my mind wandered. I began weaving a story: a friends to lovers story. Only in mine, the male harbors feelings for his female friend, but she has no idea how he feels. And the woman is so guilt ridden the only way she can protect herself is ‘block’ any feelings the hero gushes over her. As I am not an outline person, I sit and just let the characters take over.

In Truly, Madly, the story is more character oriented and less plot. More about friendship and love, and discovery and with a bit of salvation thrown in there. I focused on the two characters, Frey and Liese, and explored their relationship and their feelings toward each other.

There is nothing as heady as when ideas blossom inside my mind. Intoxicating. 

What about you? What inspires you to write a story?