Tag Archives: Writing

New Release: Pimp ur Blog Episode Three

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I’m pleased to announce the release of Pimp ur Blog Episode Three: Working With Amazon and Google by Paul Rice! It’s currently free on Smashwords through July 31st.

Blurb:

Many bloggers and authors have experiences with Google and Amazon that they would like to share. Many more people will benefit from these shared experiences.

The third eBook in the Pimp ur Blog series is now open to multiple co-authors. My offer for Pimp ur Blog Episode Three: Working with Amazon and Google is to publish another edition each time I receive another co-author’s material. I will, of course, publicize each Episode Three edition with press releases, bookmark links on three-dozen social bookmarking sites, blog posts, social media, and inclusion of blurbs for each co-author’s other works.

I will add permanent links to each co-author’s blog or website on each PimpUrBlog.com page. The eventual result will be that each co-author’s name and/or blog will make its way into 100 or so associated links and references in Google’s search results!

The initial Episode Three edition starts with my experiences in working with Google as a blogger by describing how to access the wealth of information that Google Webmaster Tools stores for every blog. I share the details of the tests I ran with a $100 Google AdWords credit, and briefly review what effect the recent changes within Google have had when they filter down to our blogs’ Google search results.

I continue with my experiences in working with Amazon as an author who does not participate in Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Select program. Episode Three wraps up with some items of interest from the previous eBooks in the Pimp ur Blog series.

Except that Episode Three does not really conclude at all. Anyone who wants to contribute as a co-author will always be welcome! Let me know what you think through the blog’s contact page, Paul Rice’s links, PRice@PimpUrBlog.com, comments, your review, or any other way you want.

 

Blog Tour: The Macabre Masterpiece

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The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore by Justin Bienvenue

Please see my review, posted here.

SYNOPSIS: An anthology of fifty poems of the creepy, the eerie and the even down right horrific. Five chapters about all things gruesome, strange and unknown. Hell, a look into and take on the underworld as we have come to know it. Blood, the tales of the notorious red liquid from different levels. Creatures, some of histories most beloved and feared monsters each with their own little twist. Creepy, poems of things that leave us shaken and hidden deep under our covers scared out of our minds. Suspense, tales that leave us scared but turning the page and gripping the edge of our seats wanting more. The Macabre Masterpiece, a sure scare, treat and must read for all horror and poetry lovers out there.

EXCERPT: The Spirit of the dead is near, they’ve asked me to bring you all here, I can see it in your eyes, you all look despaired..

The need for bloodshed is done in the back of the shed in the back of the head until the back is red.

Crouching in position posing in perfect posture, on the rooftop of a gothic cathedral sits a monster.. Continue reading Blog Tour: The Macabre Masterpiece →

Review: The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore

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The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore
The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore by Justin Bienvenue
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Let the red run slowly into the stream
In this river your hands will not be washed clean
Guilt will arise and your skin will stain
Plain and drained to the vein from those you’ve slain

The Macabre Masterpiece is a collection of short poems with a Gothic feel to them, mainly due to the subject matter – blood, vampires, and the like. It attempted to shed new light on this subject matter, using poetry as the medium.

There were various rhyming patterns utilized, and many of the rhymes sounded forced, as if the sentence was purposely convoluted to ensure the rhyme happened at the end of the line. Also of note, there was little to no punctuation, creating a run-on of words with no pauses for breath indicated.

While the blurb promised in-dept poems, most of them were very superficial and could have been giving more depth – more gore, more horror – instead of just simply describing the subject. There was no “showing,” simply “telling” the reader – sometimes in creative ways – how blood looks or how death is.

Quick horror poems portraying vampires, murderers, and blood, The Macabre Masterpiece takes a light-to-the-night and the creatures crawling there, but leaves the reader with only a Dr. Seuss headache.

View all my reviews

Guest Post: Kevin Anthony

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Today I have with me author Kevin Anthony talking about why he didn’t include vampires or werewolves in his Urban Fantasy series. Mad Moral is the first book and it’s currently free on Smashwords (link below). I admit, I grabbed a copy – the characters look interesting. So, for all you thriller/horror/urban fantasy lovers out there, check this one out!

No Vampires or Werewolves Allowed

The moment I started writing my Urban Fantasy novel Mad Moral I made the decision not to include any vampires or werewolves. I know vampires and werewolves play huge roles in many Urban Fantasy novels and many other genres and that’s the main reason I didn’t want to include them in Mad Moral.

I’m a big fan of vampires and werewolves, but I didn’t want to travel down a road that had been explored so many times. I decided to give a new set of beings time to shine in more humanizing roles, horror movie characters.

I’m aware the word “horror” instantly causes many to lose interest. My novel isn’t a horror, just inspired by the many elements and characters of horror movies. Continue reading Guest Post: Kevin Anthony →

Review: Shield

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Shield
Shield by J.C. Andrijeski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The world is insane in a way. All of us are insane.

Coming to terms with being the Bridge isn’t easy, especially when your husband won’t tell you all the rules – and keeps getting separated from you. As Allie tries to come to terms with both her new role as the Bridge and her feelings for Revik, she also must stop a war – if she can. Amidst all of this tension, the boy appears, claiming Allie belongs to him.

Continuing where Rook left off, the tension between Allie and Revik is hyped up in this book, a factor of how the Seer marriage works. And just as they get together to figure their feelings out, they are ripped apart once again. Allie does manage to learn more about being a Seer and a Bridge – both the “easy” way and the “hard” way. Along the way, Allie discovers the boy, and her world is shaken with her understanding of who he is.

Fast-paced, action-filled, and full of emotional rides, Shield is a worthy sequel to the Allie’s War series. Once again Andrijeski pulls you into the Seer’s world, twists your emotions on edge, and holds you there until the very end, leaving you with a shock strong enough to have you picking up the next book.

View all my reviews

Cover Reveal: Determinate

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Determinant, Book 3 The Guardians of Vesturon

Series : The Guardians of Vesturon
Genre : Young Adult Paranormal Romance (with a sci-fi element)
Heat : Hot

Synopsis:

January St. Davis, on her own since the age of sixteen and struggling to stay in college, thinks she’s scored in a major way when she lands a paid summer internship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. One evening, after working an especially long shift, a chance encouter with a group of mysterious men alters the course of her life.

Rykerian Yarrister, a Guardian of Vesturon with unearthly powers and impossibly gorgeous looks, finds himself at odds over the human female he recently saved from certain death. When it seems he is on the verge of winning her over, she is ripped from
his hands by a strange and powerful being, threatening to destroy her if his demands are not met.

Do Rykerian and the Guardians have the ability to meet this fierce barbarian’s ultimatums, or will January suffer a horrid demise? Continue reading Cover Reveal: Determinate →

Blog Tour: Writings From the Heart

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Welcome to the Writings From the Heart Blog Tour! Today I have a few authors here to give just a little info on why they chose to write for this anthology, and their reasons might surprise you! This book is a great way to not only support authors but to support a great cause as well – the Cohen Children’s Medical Center of NY!

Thank you for having me on your blog today, Tricia! I am here to talk to you folks about an anthology that I published called Writings From the Heart: Stories and Poetry From Around the World.  Thirty authors from around the world contributed to this anthology. What’s unique about it, is that not only does it contain literature from many different countries, but all proceeds are going to the Cohen Children’s Medical Center of NY.  Everyone’s support has been great, and I’d like to share with you some of the contributor’s reasons as to why they participated to such a great cause! Continue reading Blog Tour: Writings From the Heart →

Status Update: On The Mend

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So, I had to have emergency surgery over this past weekend. Everything went well and I’m on the mend, but I’m behind in my reading and editing. As much as I know my body needed it, losing one day to the hospital and two days to sleep set me back. Oh well, life happens.

In other news, I got some great news from my pal Bill Talcott: he’s made me his official editor! I got the news this morning via Facebook that he has officially added me to the book. I’m thrilled! He writes a good story, and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next! And if you haven’t checked out The Mission yet, see my review (written before I was his editor) and then go get a copy! It’s a quick read with good characters and thrilling plot – easy enough reading for a nice sunny weekend.

And let’s face it, Bill breaks in here enough that I just might as well give him the key anyway. 🙂

I also just finished the (as of yet unreleased) sequel to Jim Galford‘s first book, In Wilder Lands: The Fall of Eldvar. This is one book I can’t WAIT til it comes out! (Officially, that is…) The cover art on the first book is being updated and the same guy, Darryl Taylor, is doing the second book’s cover – his work is awesome! The book itself, called Into the Desert Wilds, picks up where the first one left off (kinda) and follows the characters across new lands. There are some details on Jim’s website, but I’m not going to give much away (yet!) though Jim has given me permission to rave about his book, so there will be future posts about it, I’m sure!

Oh! I almost forgot! I got interviewed! You can find out a little more about me and the authors I’ve worked with here.

Guest Post: Behind the Words by Bill Talcott

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I just so happened to be talking to my pal, Bill, the other day and he kindly agreed to stop by again. You see, he’d written this post, but thought it would be nice to post it on my blog – and, of course, I said yes! He poses a good question and I’m curious to see what you think about it. Oh, and he’s the author of a really good story – perhaps you’ve seen my review?

Behind the words

Often when I sit down to write I’ll bring my story up on the screen and at first glance it is just pages of words. Hit Ctrl + End and I’m where I left off yesterday. I go back a couple of paragraphs just to be sure I approve of what I wrote the last time I sat down at it. That’s when the images begin to develop.

Behind the words I see the faces and hear the dialog between my characters. I can feel their joy and happiness when things are going right for them. I can also feel the pain of their losses and tragedies. I know their fears and their realities. Realities? Yes, during these moments, it is all that exists.

During conversations, I am there participating in all sides of it. Does that make me crazy? No, don’t answer that. When you think about it though, you are formulating both sides of any argument between characters and you have feelings one way or another about the current topic of that conversation. Okay, I am crazy, or perhaps there are just those of us who can see both sides of the coin. Yeah, that’s it. Continue reading Guest Post: Behind the Words by Bill Talcott →