Teaser Tuesday – 31st October, 2017

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

76% Her name was Nancy, and even though Clay was disruptive, she like me because the angel, Micah, had also come through her school, so it was obvious I wasn’t the problem. “How do you do it?” she asked the day Clay jumped on his desk and broke it. “How do you live with two boys? One is enough to drive me crazy.”

“I grew up with four sisters,” I said. “I’d take a fraternity over a sorority any day.”.

BLURB: Orphaned, raised by wolves, and the proud owner of a horned pig named Merlin, Weylyn Grey knew he wasn’t like other people. But when he single-handedly stopped that tornado on a stormy Christmas day in Oklahoma, he realized just how different he actually was.

Whatever I thought this book would be – it isn’t. Set in the US in a contemporary setting it depicts someone with paranormal superpowers. But it is as far away from a superhero adventure as you can possibly get. Beautifully written, the story circles around Weylyn’s life mostly told by the people he comes into contact with and I’m loving it.

 

ANNDDD…

Mello & June It’s a Book Thang are hosting the final stop of the blog tour for Running Out of Space

Review of KINDLE Ebook World of Fire – Book 1 of the Dev Harmer Mission series by James Lovegrove

I had already read the enjoyable World of Water which happens to be the second in the series – and spotted that I actually had the first book in my TBR pile…

Dev Harmer wakes in a new body with every mission, and he has woken this time on Alighieri, a planet perpetually in flames, where the world’s wealth lies below the elemental surface, and humanity is not the only race after it. Dev Harmer, reluctant agent of Interstellar Security Solutions, wakes up in a newly cloned host body on the planet Alighieri, ready for action. It’s an infernal world, so close to its sun that it surface is regularly baked to 1,000°C, hot enough to turn rock to lava. But deep underground there are networks of tunnels connecting colonies of miners who dig for the precious helium-3 regolith deposits in Alighieri’s crust. Polis+, the AI race who are humankind’s great galactic rivals, want to claim the fiery planet’s mineral wealth for their own. All that stands between them and this goal is Dev. But as well as Polis+’s agents, there are giant moleworms to contend with, and a spate of mysterious earthquakes, and the perils of the surface where a man can be burned to cinders if he gets caught unprotected on the day side…

Dev is such an enjoyable character. As ever, this book starts with a bang when poor old Dev, barely able to stand as he is still getting to grips with his new body, which is very nicely described, suddenly finds himself in the middle of an earthquake. And from that moment, Dev is playing catchup on a hostile planet with some heavily vested interests in a body that isn’t his own.

This is just what I needed to keep the misery of flu in the background as I was swept up into this action thriller. Lovegrove’s sense of pacing is always good and as Dev finds himself struggling against an alien race determined to see humanity founder and fail, the pages flipped past where other books I had thought I wanted to read got abandoned. It didn’t hurt that there were also some nice touches of humour in amongst the action and danger. But I simply relaxed and became swept up in Dev’s problems. For me, the highlight was the action in the tunnel when confronting those moleworms.

Lovegrove satisfactorily brings this tale of danger to a suitably exciting close – but I did enjoy the poignancy of poor Dev, doomed to continue on these ridiculously dangerous missions in a series of disposable bodies, until he has earned the right to have his own body back. Checking this out on Goodreads, I note there are only the two books so far – I do hope there are more to come and recommend these for anyone who enjoys a well-written far future action thriller.
8/10

Sunday Post – 29th October 2017

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.

It’s been half term here, so I was able to get back to full fitness after my attack of flu without needing to snap immediately into teaching mode. On Monday we still had the grandchildren, so surprise, surprise – the weather was dreadful. We went shopping and somehow ended up in a bookshop where my dyslexic granddaughter scooped up one of the Rick Riordan offerings – because she wanted to read some of the jokey dialogue, rather than just listen to it on her Audible version. I’m so very proud of her… On Tuesday I needed to teach a Creative Writing catch-up session as I missed a couple of classes due to the flu and afterwards, the grandchildren went home. On Wednesday, we were filming parts of Tim’s script in Bognor Regis. The sun shone, the park where we filmed the two main scenes was idyllic and later we were on the pier and the beach, filming some of the shots for a couple of the songs. Once we were done, it was warm enough to grab a fish and chip supper and sit in the late afternoon sunshine and eat it – what a bonus at this time of the year.

On Thursday, my writing buddy Mhairi came over the for day and we properly caught up – we haven’t seen nearly enough of each other this summer and on Friday I spent the morning chatting with a friend at the Harbour Lights over coffee and a sticky bun, before returning to my mountain of admin in the afternoon. Yesterday, Mhairi came over and helped me change over the heading on my Twitter and Facebook pages, while today I’m hoping to get organised for this coming week’s lessons. It’s been a lovely sociable week and I hope everyone is having a superb weekend with a continuation of this amazingly mild weather – long may it continue!

This week I have read:
Nothing… no – that’s not true as I’m still working my way through Gnomon by Nick Harkaway and thoroughly enjoying it. But I haven’t finished a single book.

My posts last week:

Sunday Post – 22nd October 2017

Shoot for the Moon Challenge – September Roundup

Teaser Tuesday featuring Gnomon by Nick Harkaway + Caught Reading Redheaded hosts the Running Out of Space blog tour, including an article about the worldbuilding and a review

Reblog of Running Out of Space blog tour where Alexandra from TheHufflepuffNerdette interviews me about my writing process

Can’t-Wait Wednesday featuring Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky + Laura at Fuonlyknew reviews Running Out of Space on the blog tour

*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia + Rose at Lovely Paranormal Books asks me to list the pros and cons of living in space as part of the blog tour for Running Out of Space

Friday Face-off – These mist covered mountains featuring Brothers in Arms – Book 5 of the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold + Steph at Earthian Hivemind interviews me about my writing life and my debut novel, Running Out of Space

Reblog of Guest Post by S.J. Higbee: Five Books That Inspired her Novel “Running Out of Space” at Sara Letourneau’s Official Website and Blog

Reblog – Here is My Interview with Sarah Jane Higbee by Fiona McVie at authorsinterviews

Review of Wolfbane – Book 4 of the Silver series by Rhiannon Held

Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:

14 Things You’ll Relate to If You Have an Endless To-Read Pile https://powerfulwomenreaders.wordpress.com/2017/10/27/14-things-youll-relate-to-if-you-have-an-endless-to-read-pile/ I think all passionate readers these days can identify with at least some of these problems – I know I can!

The Witch from Norwich https://ginnibites.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/28th-october-socs-the-witch-from-norwich/ Ginni is a talented, often edgy poet whose work I love. This is a seasonal offering…

Cluster https://photolicioux.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/cluster/ This photograph particularly caught my eye – but there is always plenty to choose from at this interesting site.

Seven Things You May Not Know About Punctuation https://interestingliterature.com/2017/10/27/seven-things-you-may-not-know-about-punctuation/ Another excellent, informative article from this gem of a blog.

How To Write Foreigners in Dialogues http://www.10minutenovelists.com/write-foreign-characters-dialogues/ Writing friend and fellow blogger, Joanna Maciejewska writes about an excellent article on how to denote foreigners in dialogue while avoiding a forest of apostrophes and the same old tired clichés.

Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to visit, like and comment on my site and may you have a great week.

Review of KINDLE Ebook Wolfsbane – Book 4 of the Silver series by Rhiannon Held

I have really enjoyed the previous books in this superior werewolf series – see my reviews of Silver, Tarnished and Reflected – and was delighted to see this one on my Kindle, evidently bought as a gift from Himself.

When an envoy arrives from the secretive Russian werewolf pack, Roanoke alphas Silver and Andrew Dare are instantly suspicious. Tatiana claims she has been sent to locate an heirloom, lost by immigrants centuries ago, but she and the alphas both suspect that Russia fears the strength of the newly-united, continent-spanning Roanoke pack.

This is an interesting book. Andrew and Silver are absolutely correct to be concerned about this envoy as they fall prey to an unusual form of attack and while they lie comatose, fighting for their lives, they find themselves in vivid dreams or visions where an alternative timeline prevails.

It isn’t necessarily the same timeline and there is some confusion/crossover where Andrew, in particular, knows that he isn’t really a brutalised enforcer at the mercy of an inept alpha he actually took care of years ago. And that lands him in a shedload of trouble, just at a time when he doesn’t need it. However, it is Silver’s timeline which is probably the most heart-rending. In her alternate timeline, she has escaped the devastating effects of being injected with silver, so she no longer struggles with a paralysed arm or is unable to Change. So you’d think she would be capering for joy – except the consequences for her pack having not been the one hit is catastrophic. She is whole and her family are still alive, but the cost is terrible…

Meanwhile the Russian envoy, who incapacitated these two high-profile alphas, is having to cope with some hard truths of her own. Expecting to be torn to pieces for attacking Andrew and Silver, she is shaken at the response, having been raised so very differently. While I would recommend you read the series in order, this book would make a good entry point with the flashbacks and as we follow Tatiana as she copes with the difference in customs between the Russian and US packs, we learn a fair amount about the politics in this complex, intriguing world that Held has constructed. I was also pleased to meet up with John and Susan again – they are solid favourites of mine, particularly Susan. It’s refreshing to read an urban fantasy werewolf series where the strong characters aren’t necessarily the largest and shaggiest with the sharpest teeth.

Knowing how Held can take a story and produce unexpected twists, the pages flew by as I was engrossed in this story right up to the end. I don’t think this is her best book – the visions/dreams did slightly remove that edge of danger that generally permeates these adventures. However, there was more character development and it was lovely to get back to this enjoyable, complex world. I’m very much looking forward to reading more books in this quality series.
8/10

Here is my interview with Sarah Jane Higbee

A delightful surprise – Fiona McVie just contacted me to say that her interview with me is now posted on her blog…

authorsinterviews

Name: Sarah Jane Higbee

Where are you from:

I was born in Ringwood, on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire in southern England. I’m now lucky enough to live right on the south coast at Littlehampton just a five-minute drive away from the beach.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

I published my first novel, Running Out of Space, Book 1 of the Sunblinded trilogy – a new adult, space opera adventure on 11^th October and I’m planning to release the sequel, Dying for Space in December.

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I can’t recall a time when I didn’t write. I was always scribbling long, rambling stories as a child and knew there would be a time when I’d write a book. Once I remarried, I started reading and writing again and after Himself introduced me to his library of science…

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Friday Faceoff – These mist covered mountains…

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This week the theme is couples, so I’ve chosen Brothers in Arms – Book 5 of the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold.

 

This is the cover produced by Baen Book in November 2001. I like the pulp feel that is Baen’s trademark and I think this is one of their best offerings. The figures reclining in the middle of the cover relate directly to the content inside, as does the disembodied faces. I also really like the title font and the manner in which the author’s name is also featured – nifty and elegantly done. If I could change anything, I’d do away with the chatter, but you can’t have everything.

 

And this is what Baen came up with in January 2008. Oh dear. What a sad, lacklustre affair when compared with the quirky excellence of seven years earlier… The figures are poorly detailed and that polka-dotted background doesn’t even convince as a starscape!

 

This is more like it! Published in January 2007 by Blackstone Audiobooks, I really like the detail of the cockpit here, with the reflection of the pilot looking out towards the approaching planet. This gives the sense of the action and drama that this book brims with in an attractive, evocative setting. This is my favourite.

 

Produced in October 1996 by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, this German edition is very simple. The cover is clearly a play on the title and a reference to Miles’ two identities. It is very simple and the rather washed-out skyscape gives a sense of the genre, but is surprisingly effective. I’d certainly pick it up to have another look, although I don’t like the depiction of Miles – I think he looks cruel.

 

This edition, published in August 2008 by Nesta Press, once more gives us a slice of the action. I like the artwork and the drama, while the blues and greys work well to draw the eye and encourage me to take another look. Again, this is a deliberate attempt to hark back to the pulp editions of early science fiction novels and successfully informs the browsing reader of the genre. Which is your favourite?

 

ANNDDD…

 

Steph at Earthian Hivemind interviews me about my writing and my debut novel…

Guest Post by S.J. Higbee: Five Books That Inspired Her Debut Novel “Running Out of Space”

Sara Letourneau asks me to list the books that had an impact on my ideas for Running Out of Space in this article – which was so much fun to write…

Sara Letourneau

Today I’m thrilled to be taking part in a blog tour for one of my writer friends, S.J. Higbee! She recently self-published her debut novel RUNNING OUT OF SPACE, the first installment of the Sunblinded Trilogy. I was one of S.J.’s beta-readers for this novel a couple years ago, and I remember being swept away by her futuristic universe of spaceships, interplanetary travel, and a young woman who can’t seem to keep herself out of trouble. Now she’s here to share five novels that inspired RUNNING OUT OF SPACE – and I think you’ll be surprised at the variety of her picks. 

Also, thanks to Lola’s Blog Tours for letting me be part of S.J.’s blog tour, which runs until October 31st. Check out the complete schedule here.

Thank you so much, Sara, for inviting me to give my Top Five List of books that have influenced my writing…

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*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Yes… I’ve done it again. Seen a lovely cover, crooned over it and then requested the book.

In a world of etiquette and polite masks, no one is who they seem to be. Antonina Beaulieu is in the glittering city of Loisail for her first Grand Season, where she will attend balls and mingle among high society. Under the tutelage of the beautiful but cold Valérie Beaulieu, she hopes to find a suitable husband. However, the haphazard manifestations of Nina’s telekinetic powers make her the subject of malicious gossip. Yet dazzling telekinetic performer and outsider Hector Auvray sees Nina’s powers as a gift, and he teaches her how to hone and control them. As they spend more and more time together, Nina falls in love and believes she’s found the great romance that she’s always dreamed of, but Hector’s courtship of Nina is deceptive.

This is far more a romance than a paranormal novel. While there is a strand of strangeness woven within this tale of love, betrayal and deceit, it isn’t the engine that powers the story forward. What we have here is Hector, who is consumed by passion for a woman he had hoped to make his wife – the stunningly beautiful Valérie. Now established in society and made wealthy by his mastery of his telekinetic powers, Hector can visit Valérie… be in her presence… talk to her… so long as he appears to be courting her husband’s young niece, Nina.

I really enjoyed this one. Moreno-Garcia paints a vivid picture of the belle epoch, when the rich could have it all. Women have never been so beautifully attired, men had the freedom to buy it all – so long as they were rich. Further down the greasy pole, of course, life was a lot less glittering. I thoroughly enjoyed the story – and yet it isn’t one that I expected to like. Hector is behaving appallingly and the fact that I understood and accepted the situation without throwing my Kindle across the room or irritably deleting it, says a lot for the depth of the characterisation.

Nina, the charming, clumsy and intelligent girl with an unexpectedly strong sense of herself, again was very well drawn and while I was reading, she was the character I sympathised with. But since I finished this book and whenever I thought about it – it isn’t either of these two characters that I find myself pondering – it is Valérie. The beautiful, spiky woman who is dying inside by slow degrees because she has married a man for his money. Because she was forced to marry a man for his money. And while her husband is kindly and thoughtful, she simply doesn’t love him – indeed, his little habits and annoying penchant for actually consulting Nina about her wishes regarding her courtship, has Valérie grinding her teeth.

I generally don’t read romance stories, yet this one really held me as somehow Moreno-Garcia managed to depict all three of the main characters, warts and all, with a degree of compassion and understanding that gave me an insight into how they all ticked. It made a very enjoyable change from my usual fare at a time when I was struggling with flu and if you do enjoy a well-written, character-led romance, this one comes recommended. While I obtained the arc of The Beautiful Ones from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
8/10

 

ANNDDD…

Lovely Paranormal Books is taking part in the blog tour for Running Out of Space – and Rose asked me to list the pros and cons of living in space for my protagonist…

Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 25th October, 2017

40276268 – vintage old pocket watch and book

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

This week’s Can’t Wait offering – Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

#science fiction #military

Rex is a Good Dog. He loves humans. He hates enemies. He’s utterly obedient to Master.

He’s also seven foot tall at the shoulder, bulletproof, bristling with heavy calibre weaponry and his voice resonates with subsonics especially designed to instil fear. With Dragon, Honey and Bees, he’s part of a Multi-form Assault Pack operating in the lawless anarchy of Campeche, Southeastern Mexico.

Rex is a genetically engineered bioform, a deadly weapon in a dirty war. He has the intelligence to carry out his orders and feedback implants to reward him when he does. All he wants to be is a Good Dog. And to do that he must do exactly what Master says and Master says he’s got to kill a lot of enemies. But who, exactly, are the enemies?

I’m a fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s writing as he writes cracking adventures that also has you thinking about the issues he raises long after you’ve closed the book and walked away. I’m guessing this one will be no different and that poor Rex will be caught in a very difficult situation. Fortunately, I shan’t have to wait too long as this one is being published on 2nd November.

 

ANNDDD…

 

Laura at Fuonlyknew reviews Running Out of Space…

Teaser Tuesday – 24th October, 2017

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:

Gnomon by Nick Harkaway
57% Without really meaning to, she does something she has never done before, running a location ping on Jonathan Jones. Not far away. Alone. Reading and drinking wine over a bowl of gnocchi in a place she has never heard of. It must be new. The reviews say it is excellent. Jones has not yet added his own opinion, which is heavily weighted with acquired respect.
She realises she has made quite a bold move, like the sudden hinge point of a casual contact where the hand is not withdrawn. There is no going back to where they were, to the pretence of disinterest. If she does not reach out to him, after this, she will look flighty.

BLURB: Gnomon, which took Harkaway more than three years to complete, is set in a world of ubiquitous surveillance. Pitched as “a mind-bending Borgesian puzzle box of identity, meaning and reality in which the solution steps sideways as you approach it”, it features: a detective who finds herself investigating the very society she believes in, urged on by a suspect who may be an assassin or an ally, hunting through the dreams of a torture victim in search of the key to something she does not yet understand; a banker who is pursued by a shark that swallows Fortune 500 companies; Saint Augustine’s jilted mistress who reshapes the world with miracles; a refugee grandfather turned games designer who must remember how to walk through walls or be burned alive by fascists; and a sociopath who falls backwards through time in order to commit a murder.

Yep. Same book as last week. It is thoroughly enjoyable, if dense and very layered, so no skimming through this one, or I’ll miss something important. Besides, with such beautifully crafted prose, it would be something of a crime to speedread through it. I really like Detective Neith – while also thoroughly on the side of Diana Hunter, the woman she is investigating. I’m fascinated to see how this one turns out…

 

ANNDDD…

 

Caught Reading Redheaded hosts this part of the blog tour and asks me about the worldbuilding in Running Out of Space – as well as posting a review…