No matter how good you think you are at doing something there is always room for improvement and there’s always something new you can learn. Lately I’ve been reading books … Continue reading Writing Tools
Category: Reviews
Valentine R: Book Two on Patreon
Greetings, good readers! I come bearing good news. I’m currently writing my next three books, with Valentine R Book Two leading the way as the strongest frontrunner for completion. I’m … Continue reading Valentine R: Book Two on Patreon
Writer’s Resource: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic
Lately, I’ve been searching the stacks of the public library where I work for inspiration. I read books about writing and publishing in order to blog about them here. But, … Continue reading Writer’s Resource: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic
The Age of the Daughter: A Review
In November of 2017, indie author Nicole Woolaston released her first urban paranormal book, The Witch of Fulton Lane. If you’re not familiar with this book, there are several reasons … Continue reading The Age of the Daughter: A Review
The Importance of “Jo Fuentes: Project Sleep”
WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!! I’m a fan of literary cliffhangers. They can lead to another arc of a story, or simply create a series of questions in the reader’s … Continue reading The Importance of “Jo Fuentes: Project Sleep”
My Review of “Year of the Monkey”
Let me start by saying, if Punk Rock was a religion, Patti Smith would be it’s Pope.
Patti has a way with words. Her writing style is so descriptive its easy to visualize the places she’s describing as you read her work. Of all of her memoirs I’ve read (Just Kids, M Train), Year of the Monkey is my favorite. In this book she chronicles a year of traveling, dreaming in different hotels, close friends and random yet memorable encounters. And of course, there are still shots in black and white, to help illustrate the journey. I appreciate the simplicity of her journey: she travels light, only packing what she needs,(t-shirts, socks, and her camera),freeing her to enjoy the journey itself without being weighed down by unnecessary things. There are no meals at fancy high-end restaurants and flights in the first-class section of planes: she hitches rides and eats modestly at the little cafes she finds along the way.
This was a nice transition from the Patti Smith of Just Kids. She has grown from artist to musician to a wise traveler. She handles the trials and triumphs of the year gracefully, including the election of Trump. It’s a fun and fantastic read, from beginning to end.
The Dark Side of Jo Fuentes — ebunnygirl
Nicole Woolaston, my favorite indie author, is preparing to release the sequel to her 2017 book, Jo Fuentes: The Black Queen. The sequel, titled, Jo Fuentes: Project Sleep, picks up where the Valentine series left off (if you haven’t read the series, I promise I won’t spoil it for you!). Jo is still working for Kelly McCormick, and she’s still wondering […]
My Review of “Smash!” by Ian Winwood
A friend recommended this book to me, because I’m a huge Green Day fan. I have to say, this book did not disappoint me at all. I gained a greater … Continue reading My Review of “Smash!” by Ian Winwood
Monday Blog: Guest Blogger Ebunnygirl!
Welcome to a special edition of the Monday Blog! This week, guest blogger Ebunnygirl will be posting one of her WordPress blogs. Please enjoy, and you can find more of her posts on her WordPress page, https://ebunnygirl.wordpress.com/
Nicole Woolaston’s Spin-offs Are Worth Reading
I’ve never been a huge fan of spin-offs. Sometimes you find a really good TV show or book, and then someone decides to take a character or idea from it and create a second show or write a second book. The spin-off usually stinks. For example, I love the show “Criminal Minds”, but “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” kinda sucked.
As I have mentioned before, I’m a fan of indie authors, especially Nicole Woolaston. She’s the author of the Fortune’s Wing series, the Valentine series, and the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series. BTW: I am not being compensated in any way, to post any of this. Woolaston’s books are unique, and completely different from any other books I’ve read. Once you pick one up and start reading, you’re going to have a hard time putting it down. I’ve read Valentine, and it’s one of my favorite books. When I discovered Woolaston was publishing a series of companion books for the Valentine series, I became curious. Normally, when I give a spin-off a try, I end up being uninterested and disappointed. But that wasn’t the case with the Valentine Apart series.
The Valentine Apart series focuses on characters APART from Valentine (the lead character) herself. The first is Allan and Mac, which is about the brother and sister duo who work as hitmen. It is HYSTERICAL! The casual conversations that take place between Allan and Mac when they’re in the middle of doing their job, are brilliant. Next, is Her Name is Lola Vencent, which give details about Lola’s life before she started working for John Rafferty, the primary villain in the Valentine series. Jo Fuentes: The Black Queen talks about one of my favorite characters, Jo Fuentes. She’s the Marine turned hitwoman from the regular series.
What makes these books so good, is the way they’re written. You can read them as companion books to the Valentine series, or you can read them separate and apart. The end of each book, however, ties into the regular series with such ease. If you’ve read the regular series (as I have) you find yourself thinking, Oh, I know what this is! I remember that scene from one of the other books!
The companion books in the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series work the same way. You can read them along with the regular series, or read them alone. And, much like the Valentine Apart books, the stories and endings tie into the books from the regular series.
I think one of the reasons Woolaston’s spin-offs are so entertaining, is the way she chooses particular characters to focus on. Allan, Mac, Lola and Jo from Valentine were excellent choices for stand-alone books. Erin, Dee and Jon from Our Lady of Righteous Rage are characters we didn’t know a lot about, but their personal stories were interesting enough to make for good reading. The author is currently writing two more Valentine Apart books, and is planning to write another Our Lady book as well. I’m looking forward to reading all of them. If you’ve never read Woolaston’s books, you really should pick one up.
Nicole Woolaston can be found here on WordPress and on her website, www.woolastonentertainment.com
Thank you to Ebunnygirl for providing this week’s post!
Monday Blog: Mike and Vanessa; Fiverr.com
Welcome to yet another exciting post on the Monday Blog! Okay…that might be overdoing it, but hey, whatever! This week’s post will be brief: a little bit about one of W.E.’s earliest comics, and my gig on Fiverr.com.
Mike and Vanessa
Mike Murnsen and Vanessa Vance of the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series once appeared in their very own comic strip. “Mike and Vanessa”, was one of W.E.’s earliest comics, and it first appeared in the Toonville 1999 Calendar (btw: W.E. has had a few calendars, too!). Toonville was W.E.’s old name, before I changed it to my last name. The comics were single frame scenes, and mainly concerned jokes about parenting and married life (as I saw it). The sketches were crudely drawn, but the point got across.
Fiverr.com
I recently posted a gig on Fiverr.com, and I have been receiving requests left and right. So many, in fact, I had to place my account on Vacation Mode, until August 24, so I could fill my current orders! If you’ve never used Fiverr, it’s a great place for people to share whatever talents or skills they have, and it’s also great for anyone who is in need of said talents. My gig, is book reviews. I will post a book review for authors on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads.com. My starting price is only $5. If you post a gig there, you can set your own price. If you need a book review, check me out! Here’s a link to my page: https://www.fiverr.com/woolent .
I’m in the process of editing Valentine 5: The Queen’s Fold. It should be ready to be released by the end of next month. Anyone who won a book through my Goodreads giveaways, should receive their books in the mail next week. Until then, keep reading!
woolastonentertainment.com 