Tag: review

Dangerous Liaisons by Sarah Stuart – a review

On By TomIn Achievement, General, Insight, Novel, Promotion, Review1 Comment

A dynasty of dreams and deception        Dangerous Liaisons

I expect a story to have well-rounded characters, good imagery, and a level of detail which conveys an air of authenticity. In a word, I want – entertainment.

The dialogue should reflect the period in which the story exists, and if there are any outside influences, then they must fit into the tale and be unnoticed, because they belong. For example: car models, locations, or journeys are things that I expect to sound matter-of-fact.

I believe Sarah Stuart has a fair grounding in more than one area covered in this story. It would otherwise be difficult to cover such diverse topics as 16th century royal lifestyles, present day highland country estate life, and modern showbiz; complete with the trimmings – both positive and negative.

There is a premise from the outset that there is a personal journal which has been handed down through the centuries to the females of the family lineage. Okay, that’s a nice touch, but to carry off such a conspicuous vein throughout an entire novel is risky. Sarah not only does it well, she tailors the language of the journal to sound appropriate for the period it was written. She also enables the modern characters to reflect on the similarities of then and now.

If you enjoy your story relationships with a good dose of love, loss, deceit, sexual tension, and even mildly erotic scenes – treat yourself and indulge in this book.

Amazon UK                                         Amazon US

Y … is for You

On By TomIn Achievement, Competitions, General, Insight, Novel, Poetry, Review, Short Stories5 Comments

Y[1]  is for you. Yes, you if you are a writer!

What can we do?

All the rest of us can offer advice, give constructive criticism, and as much support as we possibly can.

What else can we do?

We can buy into your brand. We can buy the end product; your book, and then we can read. How hard can that be? Well, the response to that particular question rests again with you. Have you done your job properly?

What can you do to affect our response to your writing?

1.  You can come up with a good, preferably original idea for a story, and write it.

 2.  You can take your time and tell it well, remembering to edit, print it, read it aloud and edit again.

3.  You can put it away to let it simmer in your files for a few weeks … yes, I’m serious.

4.  You can get on with other projects for a while, and perhaps start another idea, or simply read up more on the main theme of your masterpiece.

5.  You can go back to your story, and go through it to see where you can improve it. More editing? Yes, and never believe it stops. As an artist, even when I finish a piece of artwork, it may be completed, but I’m never totally satisfied with the result.

Is there any more that you can do?

Yes, if you want us to read it and give it a glowing review, you can keep the effort going right on through the final stages, when you get to the presentation stage.

 1.  Don’t settle for the first title you think of.

2.  Don’t settle for the first cover idea you think of.

3.  Don’t waste all your literary efforts by throwing the manuscript and supporting information together.

4.  Don’t allow somebody else to do the formatting, unless you know they are capable.

 5. Don’t forget to keep a ‘safe’ copy of your completed work before formatting and final stages.

What do you get out of that brief list of do’s and dont’s?

In simple terms, you will end up with a better product to sell to us. You will also be rewarded.

 1.  You will gain financially by seeing the book sell.

2.  You will be looking forward to the reviews and confident they will be mainly positive.

3.  You will have the satisfaction of knowing you did what was expected of you, by the people who paid good money.

4. You will have the confidence to move on with your next project, and you will have learned many lessons.

5.  You will feel so good about the whole experience, you will want to help others as much as you can.

I would like to thank you for dropping by and taking these tips on board, like the good writer that you are.

If you should decide to come back to read my final post on the A to Z Challenge 2014, you might be in for a surprise.

I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, for ‘Z’ … .