Remembering JFK: 11/22/63 Book Review

11/22/63...a day that will live in infamy for many people in America. For those of you who follow this blog and don't live in the States, you may not know what I'm referring to.

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the JFK assassination.

I was not alive in '63, but I honestly believe that many things changed for our country on that day. A strong sense of distrust was created towards our government that lingers and festers. I know people who could expound for hours (and have) on that very subject. Countless books have been written about President Kennedy and his life, and the History Channel has dug out every piece of footage it has on the assassination and broadcast it for the last three weeks.

Last year, I read and reviewed Stephen King's book 11/22/63. I thought today was a fitting day to reprint that review. --Mary Ann

Good writers are also readers. I firmly believe this. I think that it's just as important to make time for reading every week as it is to make time for writing. The more you read, the better of a writer you become. You start to notice the little quirks and nuances about other writers that either drive you crazy or make you fall in love with their style. If you've read Stephen King's book, On Writing, you'll remember that reading is an important thing to the Master of Horror. Because I enjoy Mr. King's work, I decided to follow his good example and read his latest novel, 11/22/63.

It's 900 pages. 900! I'm one of the fastest readers I know, but it took me three days to get my Kindle to show that I was even 50% done. 900 freakin' pages...Again, referring to On Writing by Mr. King, I seem to recall one of his mantras to be "Cut unnecessary words."

Hmmm....

Well, despite the 900 pages, I have to say that this might be one of my favorite King novels to date. Yes, he could have cut a few words here and there, trimmed up the fat, but I didn't really feel that the pace of the novel was too slow. As always, Mr. King is a master storyteller, weaving magic with his characters and taking on the JFK assassination.

For those expecting a horror tale, you're out of luck (although there are some psycho creepy moments). This is a historical fiction with science fiction elements in the form of time travel. The basic premise is this: Jake is an English teacher who teaches adult education classes in the evenings. After school, he occasionally stops by the diner across the street, which is run by a guy named Al. Al has a big secret he wants to share with Jake. Turns out he has a time loop in his diner's pantry. If you enter it, you end up in 1958. Apparently, Al has been making quite a few trips to the past, but whenever he returns to 2011, only two minutes have gone by. Every time he goes through the time slip, it's always the same day, same time, same starting location in 1958. Al has become obsessed with the idea of living in the past with the hopes of making it to 1963 so that he can stop the assassination of JFK by Lee Harvey Oswald. Unfortunately, he has cancer and is too ill to accomplish the goal. He wants Jake to continue the mission

Jake is hesitant to take on the task. After all, what about the butterfly effect? What will happen if history is altered? Can it be altered? Does he have the guts to kill Oswald? Al assures Jake that the great thing about changing history is that if it doesn't work out or things go wrong, one can always go back through the time slip in the pantry and effectively restart the whole loop. After a few test runs where Jake attempts to save the family of one of his adult students whose life was drastically altered in 1958, he agrees to live in the past long enough to stop Oswald from killing Kennedy in Dallas.

Of course, he hasn't counted on a few complications. Like falling in love. Or becoming part of a community. Or the fact that something in the past doesn't want the future to be changed and will fight tooth and nail to keep that from happening--even if it means killing those near and dear to Jake.

Cue the dramatic music please!

I love the idea of time travel, and this book does a great job exploring the concept with all its pros and cons. So many people wonder about JFK and what would have happened if he'd lived. That being said, anyone with a basic understanding of the "rules" of time travel will have a pretty good idea of how this whole business will go down.

One of the interesting things about this story is that it revisits the fictional town of Derry, Maine. If you are a fan of the novel It, part of this tale occurs right after the end of the child murders in that book. And of course, if you are a believer that Oswald acted alone, then you'll be intrigued by the second half of the book which takes place in Dallas, Fort Worth, and a little town named Jody.

We know a great deal already about the events that occurred in Dallas that day in 1963, but King explores the subculture of the area and paints a gritty, racist picture of the city in the 1960s. I suspect he wasn't too far off the mark. He includes a lot of things that native Texans would appreciate and find familiar. Of course, that can have its drawbacks, too. One flaw I found which really bugged me was his reference of the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas." That didn't become a part of Texas culture until the 1980's. Still, it's a small thing in the overall scheme of things!

All in all, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others. Make sure you have ample time to sit down and absorb the story.

900 pages...geez....

Shrouded in Ilusion by H.D. Thomson--Book Review

I love finding a great summertime read! Today's book was given to me courtesy of the fabulous folks at Innovative Online Book Tours. If you're ready for a little mystery, a little romance, and a little telekinesis with a slice of thriller on the side, then H.D. Thomson's Shrouded in Illusion is the book for you!

Here is the publisher's blurb:

Someone wants Skye Hunter’s son and they’re willing to kill her or anyone else to get to him. On the run for her life, she is forced to turn to the only person who can help her—a complete stranger with a shared past—David Bishop, a renowned illusionist.

David’s life is also an illusion, built of smoke and little else. He meets Skye, a woman filled with passion and conviction, and the pain he sees in her eyes is a mirror to his own soul. But when he realizes she has the same strange, telekinetic phenomenon inside her body that he does, he is forced to question his life, his childhood and the father who raised him. Can these two lost souls uncover the mystery behind their powers and save Skye’s son and themselves in the process?

This was a fast-paced read that I finished within a day--that's always a plus when you're looking for a great beach read. The story opens with Skye and her son caught up in convenience store robbery. I thought this first chapter was a great set up for the reader to discover exactly what is important to Skye and what kind of person she is. She's a woman on the run who will do anything to protect the child she loves.

Her journey has led her to Vegas where she hopes to run into David Bishop--a man whose name keeps popping up in her dreams of the past. David has a magic act and is a big time, good looking illusionist. When he sees Skye working her telekinesis mojo on the roulette table, he is drawn to her, though something about her also makes him apprehensive.

I loved the chemistry between these two characters. There is a lot of great, smoldering dialogue that really keeps you turning the pages as you wonder whether or not they will get together. The character development for the minor characters was strong and there were lots of turns and twists in the plot. I felt like the climax of the book where you find out what exactly is going on could have been tightened up and some description cut out, but maybe that's because I was so into the tale that I wanted to hurry up and find out if the bad guy gets what's coming to him or not.

This book is the third in a series, but I felt it was a great stand alone title. If anything, it made me want to go back and read the other two.

Click on the Amazon link to get your copy!

Shrouded in Illusion--Amazon

Shrouded in Illusion--Barnes and Noble

Author Bio:

 H.D. Thomson moved from Ontario, Canada as a teenager to the heat of Arizona where she graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in accounting. After working in the corporate world as an accountant, H.D. changed her focus to one of her passions-books. She owned and operated an online bookstore for several years and then started Bella Media Management. The company specializes in web sites, video trailers, ebook conversion and promotional resources for authors and small businesses. When she is not heading her company, she is following her first love-writing.

The Bridge of Deaths by M.C.V. Egan---Book Review

***I received this book as part of IO Book Tours in exchange for an honest review****

I like history. I don't want to marry it or anything, but I enjoy it and feel that yes, we do in fact learn from it. I like tales based on fact, too, and when I read the synopsis for The Bridge of Deaths by M.C.V. Egan, I was excited. Past life regressions, a brutal plane crash, soul mates---oh yeah, baby. This sounded great. But….well….the execution didn't come like I thought it would.

Here's the synopsis:

On August 15th 1939, at the brink of World War II, an English plane crashed and sunk in Danish waters. Five deaths were reported: two Standard Oil of New Jersey employees, a German Corporate Lawyer, an English member of Parliament, and a crew member for the airline. Here is a conceivable version of the events.

As you read the book, the author lets you know that this is a personal story for her and that she spent a great deal of time researching the events of August 15, 1939. It shows, too. The novel is full of factual information that pieces together a fictional story about Bill and Maggie. Bill is having dreams about the crash and we find out this because of past life regression. In an effort to help Bill, Maggie's job is to research history and see if they can make sense of anything.  There's a third character, Catalina, who has spent years researching the plane crash because her grandfather was killed in it.

I think this is a great idea for a book. The past life regression especially grabbed me, reminding me of the movie Dead Again. The relationship between Bill and Maggie as soul mates is strong and I liked their "chance" meeting in the book store.

For me though, this book wavered a little about what genre it wanted to be. At times, I felt like it was historical fiction with paranormal elements, and at others, it wanted to be a non-fiction written like a fictional book. While I liked the idea, the research details slowed the story line down, making it difficult for me to stay with the book.

If you are some that enjoys reading historical documents, particularly from the World War II era, then this will provide some intriguing reading.

Here is the link to the book on Amazon, as well as, the author's info!

 Amazon code The Bridge of Deaths

M.C.V.EGAN Online:

Website http://www.thebridgeofdeaths.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Bridge-of-Deaths/130675087014521

Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/M_C_V_Egan

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5004249.M_C_V_Egan

Video interview http://vimeo.com/44036673

Book Review and Interview with Nadja Notariani, author of The Third Fate

Today we welcome author Nadja Notariani, author of The Third Fate. I got the chance to interview Nadja and found her to be a charming gal with a great imagination! Read on to learn more about her and to read my review of her novel, The Third Fate. By the way, we are also doing a giveaway for her book, too. Be sure to leave a comment in order to be eligible!

Mary Ann: Thanks for chatting with us! I really enjoyed your book, The Third Fate.

Nadja: Thank you for having me today at All Things Writing!  I'm so glad to be here.

Your book, The Third Fate, takes place in Scotland. Have you ever been there? Do you consider yourself a world traveler?

I have never had the pleasure of visiting Scotland, but if I ever possess the good fortune to earn scads of cash at this writing gig...my sister and I have a 'What Happens On The Isles, Stays On The Isles' trip planned.  We plan to finish our grand tour in Scotland. 

As for being a world traveler...Don't I wish it!  World travel is, however, on my list of things to do before I depart this realm. 

Which was your favorite character to write? Why?

Gosh!  I'm not sure I had a favorite.  I liked each character for different reasons.  Cael for being sufficiently tortured yet still open to and craving the love that had always evaded him.  Paige for being so humble and sincere – for her fear at taking that leap.  Malcolm for being so single-minded once he set his course.  Pilar for grabbing hold of her hopes and dreams with both hands.  I got to pull all the things I admire, commend, or even loathe, into the mix of my characters.  Would they have been as fun to write without the tension of playing off one another?  I'm not sure!

I loved that the Fates were children! What prompted you to move out of the traditional view of the Fates and in a different direction?

Sheer chance – or accident, I assure you!  

We (my teen-aged son and his friends, myself, and my husband) were sitting around the kitchen table.  They were chatting it all up and I was working on my character profiles for The Third Fate.  Anyway, I broke into the conversation and asked if I should make the fates like the sirens, like old gnarled witches, or should I make them like...

“You should make them little kids!” one of my son's friends popped off with. 

I immediately agreed with the idea, and it was a settled matter. 

(They've all asked me to tell what my other option was... but I'm saving it for another story.  :)

The Third Fate has several sex scenes in it. Many writers struggle with writing those. How do you approach the sex scene? Are you ever worried about how it will read?

Sex scenes can be troubling to write!  Different characters would have different intimate habits – yet it's the same writer describing them all. 

I tend to write the sex based on the personalities I've crafted for the individual character.  Some people are more intense than others – and I try to carry that over to the bedroom.  I rely on my beta feedback to make sure the sensual scenes read sensually and the hot scenes read with some heat!  Mostly, I approach them with fun in mind.  I'm writing about practically perfect men – what's not to enjoy, right?

We talk a lot about the process of writing at All Things Writing, particularly the process of writing strong dialogue. Is it easy or hard to write great character interaction when your main character has such a strong accent as Cael does? It reminded me a lot of the characters in The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Do you have to work harder to make the dialogue sound natural?

Strong dialogue breathes life into a character.  But there has to be balance, a fitting of words to personality, turn of phrase to the speaker who utters them.  I tend toward very formal sounding speech when I write, and that worked within the framework of The Third Fate's ancient characters.  I have to be careful when writing something contemporary, though.

Cael's accent was a great deal of fun for me.  I've enjoyed Highlander novels for years – and hoped to one day write one.  Suddenly, I thought to myself, 'Why not combine my two loves right now and write a sexy vampire who is also a strapping Scot?'  It was a fun 'Eureka!' moment.  But I had doubts along the way, too.  Changing words as I wrote them to 'sound' Scottish was challenging.  I wanted to capture the 'feel' of a Highlander without stealing reader enjoyment at having to 'decipher' what the heck he was saying.  * I am so taking the comparison to Gabaldon's style of writing accents into her Outlander series characters as a compliment.  You've made my day! 

Thanks for being with us! I look forward to reading more of your work!

Again, I want to thank you for having me over today to talk about my writing process, characters, and The Third Fate.  It's been great! 

Vist me at http://nadjanotariani.blogspot.com/

The Third Fate Review

So I have to be honest: I'm not a "vampire" girl. I didn't get in to Twilight. I never really saw the point of the Vampire Diaries, and while I like True Blood, in the end I could take it or leave it. When I picked up Nadja Notariani's (try saying that name five times fast!) book, The Third Fate, I wasn't sure if it would be my cup of tea. After all, the male protagonist is…you guessed it…a vampire! However, he's a Scottish vampire with a sexy accent that gives him total bonus points! It was a little like reading a character who could have been in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.

 Of course, I would never let such a thing sway my opinion on a book though…at least, not much! So when I tell you that I really enjoyed the tale of The Third Fate, even with the vampire element, you know I mean it.

 Here's the low down on the story as printed on the book:

 Cautious and quiet by nature, Paige Kinnell watches life unfold from the sidelines, maintaining her simple existence as a shield to hide behind. But underneath her shy, careful ways, Paige senses a disconnect with the world around her, indulging instead her ever curious interest in the legend and lore of time nearly forgotten.

One chance encounter with an ancient of the undead begins an unraveling of reality as Paige knows it, leaving her to sort through dreams and enchantments, discovering along the way that one's Fate can be mere illusion, and that the consequences of opening her heart to another may cost dearly.

Cael Maccinnis, the handsome Highlander she's met, seems the answer to every unspoken longing of her heart, even as he awakens dark, secret desires buried within her soul. As strange and unnerving changes begin occurring in her mind and body, Paige has no choice but to face her life's unnatural turn and confront the frightening implications. For within Paige's past a secret lay dormant, hidden even from her. This truth, guarded well and wielded by the Fates themselves, becomes the catalyst invoking the power of The Third Fate.

 Nice, huh?

 I found this book to be a fast read with lyrical prose and vivid descriptions of its hero/heroine. Paige and Cael are definitely well developed characters who evolve and change as the story progresses.  In a book with paranormal elements that evolution is probably one of the most important things an author can do to keep the story moving forward. Unlike some novels where the two lovers never really learn anything about themselves, Notariani does a good job of avoiding this trap and investing the reader's interest in their fates.

 In case you haven't figured this out from the above interview questions, The Third Fate has some sex scenes in it that are fairly explicit. If this is not your thing, you either want to skip over those parts or skip this read. Sex scenes aren't the easiest thing to write, and it's hard to make the characters not sound cheesy or stilted when writing sex scene dialogue. However, the author manages to make everything sound natural and I didn’t flinch at anything.   

 My only criticism would be that I wanted to know more about a few of the villains in the book, especially Gwendolyn. She is a character with lots of "bad guy" potential that could have been explored a bit further. Like I said, this is a fast read. A few more action scenes with Gwendolyn would have kept the reader on their toes and rooting for Paige and Cael even more.

 Best part of this book: The Fates that control everyone's world are not your typical three sisters we see so often in mythology or other stories. They are kids! Makes total sense to me as I sometimes think that it has to be a child doling out the craziness in my life!

 Be sure and check out Nadja Notariani's book, The Third Fate. You can purchase your own copy at the following link:

Amazon