Synopsis "The tailor of Riga is a crime thriller story about a family that has been assassins for 70 generations. Dating back to the 19th century, the tale begins with the protagonist expressing his doubts over joining his assassin family and how it all started when he was only 17, drinking liquor, and was considering … Continue reading Book Review: The Tailor of Riga by Jonathan Harries
Book Description (Via Goodreads) This is the second story of Togas, daggers, and Magic – for lovers of Ancient Rome, Hardboiled detectives, and Urban Fantasy.A rich landlord finds tenants are abandoning his apartment buildings, spouting tales of horrific events and whispering that the old gods - the numina - came alive and cursed the buildings.Enter … Continue reading Book Review: In Numina by Assaph Mehr
Multiple Choice? Extended Response? Doesn't matterPhoto by Jessica Lewis on Pexels.com It's been a while, hasn't it? I know everyone's said it's been a hard year, but...it's been a hard year. And to explain where I'm at right now, let me back up a little bit. When I was a student, I was probably the … Continue reading This is a Test…
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com This post represents me getting back on my horse. I've thoroughly enjoyed my summer vacation (and become more proficient in games such as Rocket League and Overwatch in the process). Still, it's time to recenter as I enter the next phase of my current project. Darlings will be killed, and … Continue reading ALL OF THE HISTORY
Photo by Vlad Bagacian on Pexels.com Greetings once again! I'm in between drafts at the moment on my current project, and getting ready to ramp up production once again. In the meantime, I want to focus on what's become a critical part of my routine: the music. Now, my house doesn't have a dedicated office … Continue reading What I Listen To
Introduction From the Goodreads summary: One has magic in his veins that puts those he loves in danger, keeping him on the run. One is trying to secretly finish a quest before anyone catches up to her. One has been in hiding to keep the world safe. Kory has taken many precautions to make sure … Continue reading Book Review: The Three by Chesney Infalt
Introduction (Description from Goodreads) Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters. It starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin … Continue reading Book Review: Dark Matter
Once again, I climb the mountain...Photo by Jason Hogan on Unsplash Way back in November (which feels like years ago now), I posted my first ever blog about how I owned NaNoWriMo on my second try as I devised a system that worked pretty well. Like any first draft born from that event, mine needed a *lot* of … Continue reading NaNo Victory #2: What Worked for Me (Again)
Hanging on... Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash So it's been a little while. Life has been our own little ball of crisis mode within our house over the past six weeks. We've been far luckier than many: both of us still have paying jobs, albeit working from home is the very definition of organized chaos; we have … Continue reading Quarantine Update #3
Dickens began A Tale of Two Cities with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." That was week 2 of my family's shelter-in-place. We spent the overwhelming majority of it inside, although we at times forced the kids outside in the form of wagon rides and chasing each other around … Continue reading Quarantine Update #2 (Or, Absence Makes the Heart…)
This little bastard, eh? Here's a quick mid-hiatus update! First of all, everyone in my family is doing well. None of us have any health issues as of now, and we're blessed to only have upturned schedules and routines to worry about. We're stocked up, still working (from home), and ready to ride this out. … Continue reading Once in a Lifetime
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com If you haven't followed my social media accounts (Twitter: joedonnewrites, IG: authorjosephdonne), then I have some bad and good news for you. BAD NEWS: I'm taking a break from blogging for a little bit. The combination of work and family time leaves me with only a scant amount of creative … Continue reading Blogging Break: Time to Write!
Introduction This is a book that's right in my wheelhouse (historical fiction) using real people from the time period to tell the story. It's book one of The Sertorius Scrolls, telling the story from the perspective of Quintus Sertorius and, occasionally, his lifelong friend, Lucius Hirtuleius. Sertorius (It's common to refer to people by their … Continue reading 5-Star Book Review: The Man with Two Names by Vincent B. Davis II
Photo by Dilyara Garifullina on Unsplash I gotta be honest: I've been struggling again with a few bouts of Imposter Syndrome (which I've previously documented here). In my quest to read while I prepare to write once again, I've been experiencing some really, REALLY good fiction. I'll be reviewing them later on, but suffice it to say they've … Continue reading MORE CAKE!
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com As I write this, it is Super Bowl Sunday. Now, I have no dog in the fight (My Panthers are, in fact, in the midst of blowing up and starting all over again). However, I do love the hubbub that surrounds the event: The millions (billions?) of people watching, the … Continue reading Football in Fiction
Introduction You know the usual stereotypes about unicorns, right? Happy, sparkly, wholesome kids stuff right? Three things often synonymous with one another are sunshine, rainbows, and unicorn poop (even that seems to be held with awe and wonder) Well, dear reader, I am about to present to you a different take on unicorns. And centaurs. … Continue reading Book Review – Nav’Aria: The Pyre of Tarsin by K.J. Backer
I'm writing this post from my shiny new laptop! If you haven't seen it yet, here it is: I think I might name it Dellbert. Ha! This week has been something of a disaster. Both kids caught varying stages of the flu from their Grandma, which made the house more of a triage center. Thus, … Continue reading Be Someone’s Light Giver
The clock. It laughs at me. I usually aim to post new stuff each Sunday, but yesterday took so much energy out of me that I just had nothing left at the end of the night. Sorry! I have the day off today, and so I shall update you all on what is going on … Continue reading I’m Late! I’m Late! And Other Musings
Jimmy Valvano once famously said you should do three things every day: laugh, think, and have your emotions moved to tears. I can say without exaggeration that the latest book I've read made me do all three over the course of the finale to this YA science fantasy series. It gets a five-star review from … Continue reading Book Review: Battle for the Valley by C.R. Pugh
So at the time of this writing, it's been not quite two months since I conquered NaNoWriMo and added 50k in the first draft of my historical WIP. (You can read about that victory here.) What, you may be asking, is the deal with not adding to that project? For starters, December was an insanely … Continue reading What’s Working Right Now: Finding a Balance
It goes like this: I'm watching a movie I haven't seen in ages (in the most recent case: Home Alone), and I look up the cast on IMDB or Google (My wife and I do this constantly). I tend to zero in on actors I've heard of, or know I've seen in other films, but … Continue reading WAS
Show of hands: who here struggles with Imposter Syndrome? I struggle often with Imposter Syndrome. This occurs in other parts of my life too, where my penchant for self-deprecating humor takes a step into unnecessarily piling on. Some nagging part of my brain just does not like to take credit for the good things that … Continue reading My Battle with Imposter Syndrome
Last year, I decided sometime in early October to give it a try. My professional obligations always kept me from participating in the past, so when I realized I’d finally have the time to try it, I jumped in with both feet.50,000 words? In 30 days? Piece of cake!That’s what I thought at the time, … Continue reading NaNo is over. Here’s what worked for me
Introduction (from Goodreads.com) A young man is found dead in his bed, with a look of extreme agony on his face and strange tattoos all over his body. His distraught senator father suspects foul play, and knows who to call on. Enter Felix, a professional investigator. In the business of ferreting out dark information for … Continue reading Book Review: Murder in Absentia by Assaph Mehr