Writers of the Future {Book Review}

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Before I get to the review, I want to apologize. This post was supposed to come out two weeks ago, but due to illness, I've gotten quite behind on a number of projects (and school!) that I am working on. This is the reason that the contest at the bottom closes so soon.

When I got a copy of the Writer's of the Future book this year, I was a little excited, since I have heard good things about the stories in these collections, and also a little skeptical about the program and contest in general. In this post, I'm going to talk only about the individual stories and their particular merits, as well as the organization and readability of the collection as a whole.

I'm going to be honest: I don't really think I'd want to read this book in public, and a few things that I had read online about the contest did weird me out a little, but on the whole, the individual stories were quite good. I'll let you do your own research about the rest of it. In my review, I'm going to focus on a two of the stories (though there are many more great ones than that), and give more in depth reviews of them. I will also talk about how I thought the book was organized and the quality of the stories as a collection.

My Review
First of all, my review of the collection as a whole. I was impressed by the variety of stories and the quality of them. There are stories ranging all parts of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genres, and it is fun to read. The illustrations were also quite good, though there were times where the illustration almost didn't seem to fit with the story it accompanied. The book itself was very readable, and good quality. Now, I am going to briefly review two of the stories I read. I had a hard time choosing the stories to review, but in the end I chose the two which most stood out to me as I read them, for various reasons.

Another Range of Mountains by Megan E. O'Keefe is the first story I am reviewing. I enjoyed the story and plot, but there were moments where I felt a little overwhelmed by it. There was a lot of plot in those 25 pages, more, maybe, then made sense. I was intrigued by the premise, and I liked the ending, but it felt a little abrupt. I would have liked a little more backstory, and a much slower plot. I actually would love to read this same story in a novella format. I think that with maybe 150 pages to work within, this story would be really great.

The second story I'm reviewing is Giants at the End of the World by Leena Likitalo. I'm going start by saying that I loved this story. The plot was subtle, the writing was absolutely beautiful, and the ending was perfectly set up. This is the kind of story that makes me want to find everything this author has ever written. The short story is, in my reading and writing experience, a difficult medium to master, since you are limited in space, but still trying to tell a full story. The plot in the story was subtle: there wasn't a lot to it at first glance, but it was still substantial. I felt satisfied at the end, but also curious as what might happen next.

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 I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Jayden and the Mysterious Mountain {Book Review}

(This review contains affiliate links, and I will receive a small compensation if you purchase a product through them.)


Today, I am reviewing Jayden & the Mysterious Mountain by Katrina Kope. You can find the book on Amazon by clicking the title in the previous sentence, and you can find the author's website here.

Amazon.com Summary
When a rich grandfather figure strangely appears in the dark street to rescue the young boy, Jayden from homelessness, a life better than his dreams has come true. He is taken to a five star hotel – no, actually a school called The Sanctum, camouflaged in the mountains. The students build and operate high tech equipment, including surrogate robots all to fight against terrorism or are they?

By the way, you don’t want to annoy Scarlet who runs the general operations of the building. She is one cheeky AI and plays nasty if you cross her.

My Review
I chose to read and review this book because I was intrigued by the description. I enjoyed the story, and I found myself often curious about where the story was going. I also found the characters to be mostly enjoyable, particularly Scarlet, who had some great lines. :)

This book is full of misspellings, grammatical errors, and awkward phrasings. To me, it reads like a first draft. That does not mean that this story is bad, but it made if difficult for me to enjoy. What this book needs is some thorough editing, and then I think I would enjoy it much more. I have been informed by the author that a new edition of this book, which will have been more thoroughly edited will be released soon. As I have not seen the new edition, I can not say anything for sure about it, but I will say that I expect that I would be able to give it a higher recommendation.

Who Should Read It?
My recommendation of this book is mixed. While I feel like this book has many positive aspects, particularly in terms of the story, the technical errors and stylistic awkwardness may make it difficult for you to read. If this is not something that bothers you, I think that this book would be enjoyed by preteens, and young teens, though older teen and adults might like it too. If you are unsure it, but still find the premise interesting, I would maybe wait until the new edition is released.

I am going to give this 2.5 stars at the moment (out of five). While it is quite possible that an edition of this book with better editing would receive a higher rating, I have not seen it, and can not say for certain.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Freelance Writing Guide by Christine Rice {Book Review}

Today I am reviewing Freelance Writing Guide: What to Expect in Your First Year as a Freelance Writer by Christine Rice. To preface this review, I am not a freelance writer, and I don't think I will be in the future (though I'm not going to close any doors), so my thoughts on this book are from the experience of an uninformed reader.

This book is short, and to the point. It does not mess around with long introductions and personal stories, but instead gets straight to the information promised. For this reason, I think this ebook makes a good reference book. While I did read it straight through, you certainly don't need to. If you want to know more about the details of ghostwriting, or if you want advice on writing a good cover letter for your resume, you could go to that page, and read just that section.

I was impressed with the mixture of practical and personal advice. While I said above that she doesn't spend a lot of time on personal stories, and this is true, she always will say what her personal experience was in the situation she is discussing. For example, when talking about payment types, and levels of pay in various jobs, she discusses each one in an objective, but familiar manner.

My final verdict is that I found many parts of this book to be very useful, and even though I don't see freelance writing in my future at the moment, there are still sections of this book that I found useful, and that I expect I will find myself referring to.

If freelance writing is something you are thinking about delving into, but have not yet made the final decision, this book will be useful in helping you make a smart, informed decision. And, as I said before, even if you are not a freelance writer, but if you would like a good reference material on things like resume writing for the writing industry, or managing and monetizing a professional blog, I would recommend this book.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 

 *This post contains affiliate links.

Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires {Book Review}

Today I'm reviewing Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, a collection of ten short stories featuring, you guessed it, vampires! While I read each story, I jotted down some thoughts, reactions, and feelings, some of which I will share with you after I talk a little about the anthology as a whole.

As you might know, I'm a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel fan, so I've got a bit of a soft spot for a well done vampire story. I do feel that the sparkly vamps have taken over a bit recently in a way I'm not fond of, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book.

What I found was a terrific amount of variety. While none of the vamps in this anthology sparkled, there were a few stories, particularly Tangled Dreams by Liv Rancourt that reminded me of that variety of vampire. On the whole, I liked how different all the stories where, and the very unique mythologies many of these authors created within this not exactly new genre.

My very favorite story has to be Reality Bites by Jim Bernheimer. It was funny, but felt real, and good, distinctive characters. A close second was Why I Won't Read Song of Solomon by Douglas Kolacki. It featured a totally different variety of vampire (hint: they don't drink blood), which was refreshing, and the ending felt so, so human. I also really enjoyed Night Train by Rayne Hall, which had a wonderful writing style, and a surprise ending I enjoyed.

Since there are some many different authors here, my few critiques are about individual stories, not the book as a whole. The Fledgling Doubt  by Lana Bange was a story I wanted to like, but found too confusing. It is a story that would have benefited from a little back story.

If you find the vampire genre interesting, but are perhaps not sure what to think of the modern vampire novels, I would give this story a try. Most of the stories are relatively tame, but remember, this is a vampire anthology, so there is going to be blood and death, though two of them: The Dhampir's Kiss by Carole Ann Moleti and Exile by April Grey, include sexual content some may not wish to read.

I have a lot of fun post planned for the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

  I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.