Have you ever read the story of someone else’s life, and found yourself thinking, “Wow, we have a lot in common!” That’s how I felt while reading this book. There … Continue reading My Review of Positive Obsession
Tag: review
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: Wrapping Up 2017
Happy Holidays, everyone! Welcome to the final blog post for 2017! I hope everyone enjoys their holiday. With 2017 coming to a close, it’s time to look ahead to 2018. But first, what happened to W.E. in 2017? I published more books this year than ever before. I’m having a comic published in my high school’s newspaper, The Bear Facts (from Bethel High in Virginia). I created a brand new story, The Witch of Fulton Lane. And, I’ve managed to use my writing to fund this website. All in all, I’d say 2017 was a great year for W.E.
The year 2018 is right around the corner. When January hits, I’m going into “beast mode”. My goal is to place more W.E. books in the hands of more readers, and start picking up some online reviews. I have plans to start a book club, which would start out with W.E. books, but would eventually expand. Our Lady of Righteous Rage is coming back, along with a side story, Dee Seybrook: Rock n’ Roll Diva. I’d also like to dive deeper into the life of Valentine’s Jo Fuentes, by giving her another stand-alone book. Plus, merchandise! Next year, there will be some merchandise (other than the books) available on woolastonentertainment.com. Calendars, posters, etc.
OLORR album cover
2017 was great, but I know 2018 will be even better. I’ll see you on the other side!
War Poems by Christopher Pascale (A Review)
I recently had an opportunity to read a collection of poetry by author and US Marine, Christopher Pascale, titled War Poems. The poems are written in free verse, which I happen to be a fan of, simply because it gives the poet more freedom to create his or her own writing style. A description is present for each poem, which contains some background info about the poem itself. Each poems flows in a way that made me feel like they needed to be read out loud, at a café where spoken word is welcomed, or a t a poetry slam. This is especially true for “196 Chicago Ave”. One of my personal favorites, is “Autumn”. This poem feels like it has a dual meaning: Autumn could be the season itself, or a person. I also like the sense of loneliness in “Chanelle”.
While “Camping With Dad” is fictional, it definitely feels real: a child’s point of view of a veteran parent’s flashback. Anyone who has ever experienced being poor, or just down on their luck (I certainly have) can relate to the feeling of desperation in “Falling Down”, another one of my favorites.
Whether you’re looking for new poetry, or simply in search of work from a new author, War Poems is definitely worth reading. These poems are raw and filled with emotion, and describe places and feelings many of us will never experience, and perhaps, take for granted.
About the Author:
Christopher Pascale served in the US Marine Corps from 2003-2008 as a combat engineer. He currently lives on Long Island.
War Poems is available for sale here: https://www.amazon.com/War-Poems-Marines-Tour-2003-2008/dp/1576385108/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489431356&sr=8-1&keywords=war+poems+christopher+pascale
Tribute To The Black Parade
I recently purchased a copy of Rock Sound Magazine, which came with a copy of the Black Parade Tribute Album. Before I popped it into my CD player, I had to remind myself of something very important: this is a tribute album. I had to tell myself, “You are not about to hear MCR. Gerard Way’s melodious voice singing “I Don’t Love You” or “Disenchanted”. With that in mind, I pressed play.
Thirteen different bands cover thirteen tracks of the original Black Parade album (I guess no one wanted to do the hidden bonus track, “Blood”). Like any member of the MCRmy, I have my favorites from the Black Parade, so I was hoping they wouldn’t be ruined by the other bands. As far as the tribute album goes, I have my likes and dislikes.
Likes:
State Champs’ cover of “The Sharpest Lives” is pretty sweet. I also liked Crown the Empire’s version of “Welcome to the Black Parade”. I sort of liked Moose Blood’s “I Don’t Love You”. That is one of my favorite MCR songs, so I was counting on whoever covered it to do it some justice. Twenty One Pilots’ take on “Cancer” was interesting as well. It had a techno/electronica vibe to it that I wasn’t expecting, but enjoyed.
Dislikes:
Well, you can’t win them all, right? There were only two tracks on this album I wasn’t completely happy about. One, is Creeper’s cover of “This Is How I Disappear”. It sounded as though they were trying to sound like My Chem, which ruined it for me. The other, is “Disenchanted”, performed by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! “Disenchanted” is one of my favorites, so that was a little disappointing.
Absolute best:
Palisades cover of “House of Wolves”. I loved the emo-screamo towards the end. Ghost Town’s cover of “Mama” and Asking Alexandria’s “Famous Last Words” were definitely on point. My favorite track, belongs to New Years Day. Ash Costello’s cover of “Sleep” is the best cover I’ve ever heard of this song.
Just my humble opinion.
woolastonentertainment.com 