Where Fiction and Reality Meet
Please join me in welcoming author Christian Baines to The Novel Approach today to chat about his new novel from Bold Strokes Books, Puppet Boy. There's also an excerpt from the book as well as the change to win an e-copy of Puppet Boy, so don't forget to click on the Rafflecopter widget to enter.... Continue Reading →
We're so pleased to welcome author Charlie Cochrane to The Novel Approach today to chat about her new novella from Bold Strokes Books, Don't Kiss the Vicar Welcome, Charlie! How and where does a story and its characters start? I know that some authors get an idea then plan their novel/novella down to the nth... Continue Reading →
Title: The Strange Case of the Big Sur Benefactor Author: Jess Faraday Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 99 Pages At a Glance: Clever, clever, clever! Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: Billiwack, California, 1884. When translator Rosetta Stein comes across her rival, Bartholomew Vincent, under attack by weird, raven-headed man-beasts behind the infamous Puckered Rosebud Gentleman’s... Continue Reading →
Title: Fool’s Gold (Ira Adler: Book Three) Author: Jess Faraday Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 322 Pages At a Glance: In a word: Outstanding. Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: For once, Ira Adler has it easy. He has money in his pocket, a comfortable arrangement with an undemanding young man, and no one’s punched, chased,... Continue Reading →
Title: Fool’s Gold Series: The Ira Adler Series: Book Three Author: Jess Faraday Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Length: 322 Pages Category: Historical, Mystery/Suspense Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: There’s a reason The Affair of the Porcelain Dog and Turnbull House both made my list of their respective years’ Best Books. Fool’s Gold will make... Continue Reading →
Title: Blackthorn Author: Simon Hawk Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 240 Pages At a Glance: While I hesitate to recommend this book to romance fans, I'll gladly do so to fans of erotic gay fiction. Reviewed By: Rena Blurb: Rian Blackthorn’s Gypsy and Elven heritage have earned him the title Master of the Hall... Continue Reading →
Title: Cheap as Beasts Author: Jon Wilson Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 240 Pages At a Glance: A recommendable read for lovers of classic murder mystery. Reviewed By: Lisa Blurb: Like most soldiers, Declan Colette lost his fair share in the war—in his case a sailor, drowned off Iwo Jima. Since then he’s been... Continue Reading →
We have reached the end of our journey, folks, the final choices for our Top Reads of 2014. In case you've missed the others, check out Sammy's and Tina's selections HERE; Jackie's, Lana's, and Jules' HERE; Lynn's and Chris's HERE; and Kim's and Kathie's HERE. Rena and I are the last to go, and I... Continue Reading →
Title: Bottled Up Secret Author: Brian McNamara Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 264 Pages Rating: 4 Stars Blurb: Brendan Madden is in the midst of his senior year of high school and couldn’t be happier. He has a great group of friends, his pick of colleges, and he has recently come to terms with... Continue Reading →
Title: Junior Willis Author: Richard Natale Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 84 Pages Rating: 5 Stars Blurb: From the moment he leaves the Midwest in the early 1950s, Tom Larson is forced to confront his sexual and romantic desires at every turn. His awakening begins in Korea where he has an affair with his... Continue Reading →
“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.” ― Rumi Title: Bonded Author: Rosalie Tarr Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 166 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: Alec Whitehall is old-fashioned—literally. Approaching his 123rd birthday, the steely vampire has nothing better to do with his time... Continue Reading →
“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.” ― Rumi Title: Bonded Author: Rosalie Tarr Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 166 Pages Rating: 4.5 Stars Blurb: Alec Whitehall is old-fashioned—literally. Approaching his 123rd birthday, the steely vampire has nothing better to do with his time... Continue Reading →
In the creative writing class I’m teaching, I start off by emphasizing how important it is to know how the story is going to go before you start writing. We map out the Triggering Event, the Turning Points, and try to bring it all to a Tidy Logical Conclusion in the end. We do outlines... Continue Reading →
As part of my non-writing life, I attended a development day, where one of the speakers discussed “Relationship Marketing” and the increasing loyalty as someone moves from being a prospective customer to a brand advocate. (How does this relate to the story behind “Awfully Glad”? Bear with, bear with...) I immediately could relate this concept... Continue Reading →
As part of my non-writing life, I attended a development day, where one of the speakers discussed “Relationship Marketing” and the increasing loyalty as someone moves from being a prospective customer to a brand advocate. (How does this relate to the story behind “Awfully Glad”? Bear with, bear with...) I immediately could relate this concept... Continue Reading →
“The antagonism between life and conscience may be removed in two ways: by a change of life or by a change of conscience.” ― Leo Tolstoy Title: Turnbull House Author: Jess Faraday Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Pages/Word Count: 288 Pages Rating: 5 Stars Blurb: London 1891. Former criminal Ira Adler has built a respectable, if... Continue Reading →
Title: Turnbull House Series: The Ira Adler Series: Book Two Author: Jess Faraday Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Length: 288 Pages Category: Historical, Mystery/Suspense Rating: 5 Stars At a Glance: Drawing vivid descriptions that transport the reader back to the latter years of the 19th century and welcoming a diverse pallet of role players from the... Continue Reading →
“Pets have more love and compassion in them than most humans”-- Robert Wagner Wow, I needed this book. I have had several disappointing YA LGBT reads lately. Books where abusers got away with their crimes and date rape was treated as just another mistake. I told myself I was finished with YA novels. But I... Continue Reading →
“Pets have more love and compassion in them than most humans”-- Robert Wagner Wow, I needed this book. I have had several disappointing YA LGBT reads lately. Books where abusers got away with their crimes and date rape was treated as just another mistake. I told myself I was finished with YA novels. But I... Continue Reading →
And then the car was beside him, not idling but panting like a deadly animal which may or may not be tamed. – Stephen King It’s hard not to automatically think of Stephen King when you read a book about possessed cars, isn’t it? No? Maybe it’s just me, and maybe I’ve just read too... Continue Reading →
The stage is the Crescent City; the script, blackmail and murder; the director of the action, Chanse MacLeod, ex-cop and private investigator who is embroiled in a case where prostitution and extortion crawl into bed together and end up with his client, Mike Hansen, taking a nap of the eternal variety. Mike was a hustler... Continue Reading →
The stage is the Crescent City; the script, blackmail and murder; the director of the action, Chanse MacLeod, ex-cop and private investigator who is embroiled in a case where prostitution and extortion crawl into bed together and end up with his client, Mike Hansen, taking a nap of the eternal variety. Mike was a hustler... Continue Reading →
Fontana is a brilliant book. And I don’t mean that solely in the intellectually brilliant sense of the word; I mean that it is also luminous and powerful, and it made me angry and it made me cry, and it’s been some time since I’ve read a book that engendered such a strong emotional reaction... Continue Reading →
Fontana is a brilliant book. And I don’t mean that solely in the intellectually brilliant sense of the word; I mean that it is also luminous and powerful, and it made me angry and it made me cry, and it’s been some time since I’ve read a book that engendered such a strong emotional reaction... Continue Reading →
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