June 28, 2011

Review: A Great Place for a Seizure - Terry Tracy


This is probably the first book I ever read that has this special meaning to me. I feel honoured  to be reviewing it and delighted by the internet for making it able to me to be found by Terry Tracy, author of "A Great Place for a Seizure".

And why is this so important to me, you ask? Because I have epilepsy. Not many people know, I don't really make it a secret, but's not important. I found out I had it when I was 12 going on 13, when I had my two first seizures in a month's time. After that, I had several ENFURIATING doctors who'd tell me "you're epiletic, you'll never be able to do anything on your own, you can't sleep alone or walk the streets without someone with you. You'll take medicines for the rest of your life and that's what's going to happen" and all that WITHOUT one.single.exam. I had a major temper already, so you can guess what happened.

I have a minor, very light form of the disease, I get seizures when I'm off my meds and deeply stressed, so sleeping 2 - 3 hours a night, for two days in a row, for example, triggers it, but only when someone wakes me up. After I started taking my medicine, I didn't get any more seizures. My doctor tried to take me off my meds, I had one seizure and went back. It's been 8 years and we're trying to cut off my meds again, technically I take a baby's dosage, but it can damage my liver, my ability to have babies and makes me sleepy (like I'm not sleepy enough without it) so we're trying. And I'm just trying to avoid stress because of that.

I only had a seizure in front of my family and my boyfriend, but that was enough. When people hear I take (or used to take) a "permanent" medicine or that I had seizures, they would stare. And that stare was full of fear or pity. When I had my "last" seizure my boyfriend was with me, but he had no idea, I was off my meds for 6 months and I never told him... He tried to hold my tongue (who started that freaking rumour anyway?) and I bit his finger. He still has the scar. He's freaked off that I'm off my meds, he keeps staring and expecting me to seizure (we've been together for 9 years, yes). It's frustrating.

I take the book I'm reading with me everywhere. And the reactions of other people to this particular one were very interesting: some people would ask me what a "seizure" is (not everyone is fluent here, most people only speak portuguese) and then stare at me, like "that's no reading matterial", this one girl who's fluent, stared at the book, read the back cover and said "how awful, poor girl". I keep wanting to say "poor girl, poor girl but that could be me! I was lucky to have a light version, but that IS me!". And, besides, how is that not good reading matterial? Is torture, world war I, II or whatever good reading matterial? And then why Anne Frank is a classic but a beautiful and wonderful book about Epilepsy isn't?

So, in a much smaller scale, I understand Mischa (the main character). Mischa feels it much stronger, because she does have the case where meds don't really work and she gets seizures every now and then. I don't, I never felt the look of strangers after a seizure - except for one of my neighbours who my mom yelled to come when I had a seizure once, I never had to deal with leaving the house and having a seizure wherever I am, that was never a concern. But it scares a person either way.

Enough of me - to the book. Mischa finds out she has epilepsy when she's 14. She lives her life normally, or at least as much as she can, that way, she's the daughter of a Chilean aristocrat and an american professor of Russian literature, living in Chile for her childhood and moving to the US when she is almost a teen. 

She lives her life through the seizures, counting them each time she moves through a step of her life, like high school, college, first job, etc. I love Mischa's temper, her witty jokes, her way of saying she HAS epilepsy but she ISN`T epiletic, because it is something she has, not who she is. It's a condition, a disease, and she insists she is not disabled, she is not handicapped, she can live and work and do her own stuff her way, because she's just a normal girl who happens to have seizures.

Terry's style is cute and funny, while sarcastic. Like Mischa says "I'm being sarcastic/ironic, so it means my brain is coming back" after a seizure, Terry keeps us laughing, smiling and letting some "aww" and "oh"s escape every now and then. I love the way she portraits seizures, the aura, everything - I never had an aura, since I'm always asleep when I have a seizure, and those seemed like, well, the only good part of it, so that's pretty sad, in a way.


Mischa's friend Sophie is amazing, aswell. She is the perfect sidekick and shows that not everyone is suited to be a friend of someone with a "condition" because people get touchy, people get angry, it's hard to tell them some things and Sophie can do it, Mischa listens to Sophie because they know and trust eachother. And I can't get enough of Hector. He's cute, adorable and oh so british.


This book should be translated to every single language in the world and given in schools, distributed in clinics, handed around, so that people could understand things. Understand conditions and disabilities, see how it's life with a condition instead of seeing people on TV who can't get up in the morning because of their issues, illnesses or conditions, so they can see that some people are actually functional with their diseases and they can very well be a normal part of the society.


Thank you Terry. Thank you, for writing this book.

June 27, 2011

Results - Giveaway - Cold! Steel! Justice!!!


Hello guys and gals!

I`m very proud of you, each giveaway I get better results than the previous one and I can see Mr. McManus there will have lots of success with his book, thanks to you guys :)

The lucky person who is going to receive a copy of Cold! Steel! Justice!!! is....

Debbie! With lucky number #10

I'll get in touch with you to deliver your prize.

Everyone else, stay tuned, new giveaways coming soon!

June 19, 2011

Results - Winner - With Proud Humillity

Hello friends!


After a very busy week, I'm here today to draw the lucky number for the person who will win a copy of With Proud Humillity.


And the lucky number is... #4


Shanna


I've contacted you by email so you can receive your prize :)






Also, for those that didn't win, don't forget I still have a giveaway up:




June 14, 2011

Review: The Vital Principle - Amy Corwin


Hello there!

The Vital Principle is a lovely mistery romance by Amy Corwin, featuring Knight Gaunt and Pru Barnard.
Amy has a wonderful narrative, that kept me guessing until nearly the end. When the last major event on the book happened, I was already sure of who was the killer, but that was pretty much when it was revealed, merely pages before, so kudos to Amy, it's not that easy to fool me ;)

Pru Barnard is a lovely fraud, she pretends to be able to communicate with the death and she was invited by Lady Crowley, recently widowed, to go to her house and try to reach her late husband. Lord Crowley, her son, is sure she is a charlatan and hires Mr. Gaunt to expose her "in a way as humilliating as possible".

Lord Crowley is killed (and no, that is not a spoiler, they tell you on the back cover) and Mr. Gaunt is left to inquire (he IS an Inquiry Agent of the Second Sons Inquiry Agency) and find out who murdered him.

As we go along, we end up hating Lord Crowley. He is a despicable little man, hateful and hideous, who ended up hurting and damaging several people, specially women. Also, we end up understanding and caring for Pru and Knighton who, of course, are romantically attracted.

I see my "philosophical" views alternate between Pru and Knighton, Pru's view of "the truth"  is much alike mine and Knighton's view of the people around him (specially the women) who he thinks are, usually, untrustworthy or histerical. Really, screaming, histerical females drive me crazy. Get ahold of yourself woman!

The historical aspect, the relations between man and women, between noble people and workers ("working for a living" being something awful and all, really cute), the difference on the police and inquiry work, that's all just very interesting.

Amy's rythm is amazing, she keeps you turning pages without breathing, wanting to see what'll happen next, wanting to see what Pru was thinking during that one scene that Mr. Gaunt just narrated (did I mention they both narrate chapters? They do), who is the killer, why, when, how? Keeps you asking but also keeps you giggling, laughing, entertained.

May Allen is a separate delight. The perfect portrait of so many women nowadays, her speech was a bit hard for me, English not being my first language and all, with the way she speaks being too coloquial, illiterate, some words I didn't know, some I had to infer from the context. We'd call her a golddigger, nowadays, but when you think about it, sure, she was being ambitious and, well, pretty greedy, but what was in the world for her? Nothing, really. So she had to take her faith on her hands. And do it for herself, work with whatever she had.

The story revolves and, eventually, you think that ANYONE could have killed Lord Crowley, simply because he was an awful person. Hell, I would've killed him if he wasn't dead. Hideous, awful little man, hurtful, despicable, misoginist, likes to feel enpowered, hurting people even after he's dead, his own poor mother... Anyways. Yeah. Hateful.

Quite interesting to see how Amy shows the women on the book, some are strong, most are weak and sad, depending on man, just. like. today.  I mean, when you think about it, the world didn't change all that much... But maybe I should leave that to another post ;)

Overall, The Vital Principle is an amazing book, with strong characters and a very clever plot, full of witty remarks, cute, romantic, funny but also full of mistery. I look forward to reading more of Pru Barnard and Knighton Gaunt, although I'm adding the other "Second Sons Inquiry Agency" books to my wishlist (my very long wishlist), for when I'm actually able to buy books (my mom and my boyfriend say I will only be allowed to buy when I have under 4 on my TBR pile, so that may take a while). Read it, you won't regret it.

You can buy The Vital Principle at Amazon
 

Also, don't forget the open giveaways:


and

June 09, 2011

Unread Interview: Darragh McManus

 
Please welcome Darragh McManus for this week's Unread Interview! Darragh is promoting his latest book, written as  Alexander O’Hara, Cold! Steel! Justice! We have a Giveaway as well, so after you are done reading, click the button just below!


Unread Interview is a series where I feature authors whose books I couldn't accept for review because of time or logistics issues.
From Amazon: IN PARADISE CITY, ALL HELL IS ABOUT TO BREAK LOOSE...
Renegade ex-cop Christian Beretta was kicked off the Dice City Police Force for being "just too damn violent". Now he's BACK - and teaming up with his old partner/sidekick, the gnarly-but-kindly Chief of Police and his feisty ex-girlfriend (who's resurrected from the dead) for the toughest mission of his life. An evil Irish-born Mayor aims to take over the illegal drug trade and execute criminals on live TV - and only Beretta can stop him...
Cold! Steel! Justice!!! is a tour de force of action, comedy, comic-action, action-comedy, and a whole load of nonsense. Like all the great straight-to-video cop movies you remember from the 1980s, it's packed with suspense, violence, incident, smart quips, daring deeds, racial stereotypes, gratuitous nudity, men wearing bandanas in flagrant contravention of all rules of taste, and at least one scene where a Mexican drug lord is incinerated in his own car. As convention dictates.
The renegade but good-hearted Beretta causes mayhem, busts things up, does cool things with big goddamn guns, cracks wise, breaks all the rules, gets the girl and saves the day.
In a world of pain, he's the Novocaine...if Novocaine wore a sexy leather overcoat, smoked 40 filterless a day and carried a hand-cannon so goddamn enormous it makes other hand-cannons wet their underpants.
So stand in line for YOUR fill...of Cold! Steel! Justice!!!
You can also buy Cold! Steel! Justice!!! at Smashwords.
Tell us a bit about your book (s).
I have two e-books currently for sale at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com: Cold! Steel! Justice!!!, which is a comical crime novel, and Terminating Hollywood, a collection of satirical pieces on movies. CSJ!! is about a renegade cop trying to stop an insane politician from executing criminals on live TV, among other misdeeds. Terminating Hollywood has lots of silliness, such as the life of Tom Cruise rewritten in a Biblical style, and the ten most ridiculous character names ever invented.

Have you ever wanted to be a writer? When did you start writing "seriously"?
I’ve always wanted to be a writer, I think, but didn’t start writing seriously until about 28. Until then I wrote for newspapers and magazines, as my job, but no fiction or book-length non-fiction. I was probably a bit lazy! But don’t worry, I’m quite industrious now.

Do you read much? What kind of books do you usually read?
Not as much as I’d like to. With family and work commitments, I don’t get the time to read as much as I want. But when I do, it’s generally ‘literary’ books, often older ones – mid 20th century, etc – rather than the latest releases. I also like a good crime novel from time to time, and popular science books, which are fascinating to me even though I can’t comprehend most of it.

What are your favorite or least favorite scenes to write?
I don’t think I have favourites as such. Probably the easiest thing to write, though, is dialogue: I have a pretty good ear for it and it flows fairly naturally. Passages of prose can be a slog sometimes, for sure.

Do you relate more to any of your characters? Why?
Not really – they’re a pretty wide mix of people. And depending on the book, they might be realistic – such as in a literary novel I wrote – or outlandish caricatures, like in Cold! Steel! Justice!!! So I wouldn’t especially relate to the gun-slinging loose cannon cop busting up the town in pursuit of justice! Having said that, the main character in the novel I mentioned above is basically me in fictional form: 90% me, probably.

Which genre do you feel it would be a challenge to write?
Young Adult or children’s. Because there are a lot of restrictions in terms of what you can say or the sort of language you can use. And it can’t be as oblique or open-ended as adult fiction, I don’t think: you have to tell a story first and foremost.

What inspires you? And how's your writing environment - music, place, etc.?
Inspiration comes from anything, really – though not from other books and writers, strangely enough. It could literally be something as simple as a word or phrase or quick thought while still half-asleep or snatch of music I heard somewhere. Or I could just steal from someone else, which is easier. (Joke!)

What would you say about the book - your words, no blurbs! - to convince someone to read your book?
They’re both very, very funny. That’s all there is and that’s all you should need! Genuinely, laugh-out-loud, both of them. Packed with great jokes on every page. You may not usually read comical books, but you should make an exception for Cold! Steel! Justice!!! and Terminating Hollywood.

What are your plans for the future, writing-wise? New books, sequels, publishing deals, etc.
I hope to upload several more satirical non-fiction books, after Terminating Hollywood, which is first in my Popp’d Off series: humorous looks at the world of arts, entertainment, media and pop culture. The next one will probably be on music. I also have a literary novel and collection of short stories out with a few different publishers at the moment, and am currently contacting theatres about my first play, in tandem with a really excellent Canadian director. The next book I’m going to write is a Young Adult novel with a little paranormal twist – but not vampires, I promise! Then I’m going to finish my second play. And after that, who knows?

Thank you, Darragh, for your time! It was nice to have you here and good luck!


June 04, 2011

Giveaway – Cold! Steel! Justice!!!

Simple! Doesn’t everyone love simple giveaways? So, easy, fill in the form just below and I’ll use random.org to find a winner.
The giveaway runs from June 4th to June 26th and it is international, since it is a digital copy. The book that’s been gently given by it’s author (Darragh McManus aka Alexander O’Hara) is Cold! Steel! Justice!!!
From Amazon: IN PARADISE CITY, ALL HELL IS ABOUT TO BREAK LOOSE... 

Renegade ex-cop Christian Beretta was kicked off the Dice City Police Force for being "just too damn violent". Now he's BACK - and teaming up with his old partner/sidekick, the gnarly-but-kindly Chief of Police and his feisty ex-girlfriend (who's resurrected from the dead) for the toughest mission of his life. An evil Irish-born Mayor aims to take over the illegal drug trade and execute criminals on live TV - and only Beretta can stop him... 

Cold! Steel! Justice!!! is a tour de force of action, comedy, comic-action, action-comedy, and a whole load of nonsense. Like all the great straight-to-video cop movies you remember from the 1980s, it's packed with suspense, violence, incident, smart quips, daring deeds, racial stereotypes, gratuitous nudity, men wearing bandanas in flagrant contravention of all rules of taste, and at least one scene where a Mexican drug lord is incinerated in his own car. As convention dictates. 
The renegade but good-hearted Beretta causes mayhem, busts things up, does cool things with big goddamn guns, cracks wise, breaks all the rules, gets the girl and saves the day. 
In a world of pain, he's the Novocaine...if Novocaine wore a sexy leather overcoat, smoked 40 filterless a day and carried a hand-cannon so goddamn enormous it makes other hand-cannons wet their underpants. 
So stand in line for YOUR fill...of Cold! Steel! Justice!!!
Renegade ex-cop Christian Beretta was kicked off the Dice City Police Force for being "just too damn violent". Now he's BACK - and teaming up with his old partner/sidekick, the gnarly-but-kindly Chief of Police and his feisty ex-girlfriend (who's resurrected from the dead) for the toughest mission of his life. An evil Irish-born Mayor aims to take over the illegal drug trade and execute criminals on live TV - and only Beretta can stop him... 
Cold! Steel! Justice!!! is a tour de force of action, comedy, comic-action, action-comedy, and a whole load of nonsense. Like all the great straight-to-video cop movies you remember from the 1980s, it's packed with suspense, violence, incident, smart quips, daring deeds, racial stereotypes, gratuitous nudity, men wearing bandanas in flagrant contravention of all rules of taste, and at least one scene where a Mexican drug lord is incinerated in his own car. As convention dictates.
The renegade but good-hearted Beretta causes mayhem, busts things up, does cool things with big goddamn guns, cracks wise, breaks all the rules, gets the girl and saves the day. 
In a world of pain, he's the Novocaine...if Novocaine wore a sexy leather overcoat, smoked 40 filterless a day and carried a hand-cannon so goddamn enormous it makes other hand-cannons wet their underpants.
So stand in line for YOUR fill...of Cold! Steel! Justice!!!
You can also buy Cold! Steel! Justice!!! at Smashwords.

Review: The Job - Craig Davis


Hello!

I'm not a fan of Christian Fiction. At all. Religion is a sore spot for me, so I tend to stay away from the subject, when possible.

I received this book, called The Job, which seemed like a very interesting and funny book, and it is! But it is also Christian. I wouldn't really have thought it, if I didn't read the back, where it mentions the author is Christian and has several reviews by specialized groups/blogs/sites.


51 VmhdUBgLThat being said, I enjoyed the book, a lot. The Job is a tale, something that is bound to have happened somewhere (right?), where Joe B., an ordinary man, with a great performance at work and a lovely family, shows up to work one day and he has a memo: he’s been demoted to the mailroom. He’s devastated – there must be something wrong, he’s worked for years to this company, leaving his family aside, sometimes, just to do his work right and now the Big Boss just demotes him, with no explanation.
He was the victim of a very jealous co-worker, we get told that right at the beginning, we know who set him up – he didn’t do anything wrong, but his success made him a hated person, jealousy is a bitch (excuse my language).
The book is funny and witty, as we read along, we understand more of Joe B.’s life, how he doesn’t have real friends, some co-workers who don’t really care about him and actually give him pretty crappy advice. He thinks the only way to find out what happened is to talk to the actual Big Boss, but he can’t seem to get an audience with him, he’s just another worker and has no privileges to talk to “The Man”.

I can see the Christian connotation here, Big Boss is God, and even if we don’t understand things, he has a reason for things to happen and sometimes we are not punished because of something we did, but for things we simply can’t understand because our view is limited.
I’m not Christian, but I understand. I also agree with the idea of the book, as everyone should, simply exchanging “God” or “The Big Boss” with concepts such as karma, laws of physics, etc.
I guess this is another one of those books where we just can’t let our prejudice take us away. I loved the book, the funny parts were really funny, the smart parts were quite smart. I do not like morals very much, I admit it, but I think the book shows a great message for everyone, not just Christians, on how life is too complicated and we can only consider and try to make sense of it with our limited vision.
I highly recommend The Job either as a light, fun, read or as a deep reflection of human race and religious convictions – that is up to you to decide.

You can buy The Job on Amazon – Kindle Edition or Paperback.