FRIDAY FIND | Zombie Apocalypse! | Stephen Jones | FOLLOW US!

This is a 'mosaic novel' set in the near-future, when a desperate and ever-more controlling UK government decides to restore a sense of national pride with a New Festival of Britain. However, controversial plans to build on the site of an old church in South London releases a centuries-old plague that turns its victims into flesh-hungry ghouls whose bite or scratch passes the contagion on to others. Even worse, the virus may also have a supernatural origin with the power to revive the dead. Despite the attempts of the police, the military and those in power to understand and contain the infection commonly referred to as 'The Death', it soon sweeps across London, transforming everyone who comes into contact with it. With the city - and the country - falling into chaos, even a drastic attempt at a 'Final Solution' to eradicate the outbreak at its source fails to prevent it from spreading to Europe and then quickly throughout the rest of the world. Soon there is no more news coming out of Britain ...and it is up to those survivors in other countries to confront the flesh-eating invaders within their midst.

Will humanity triumph over a world-wide zombie plague, or will the walking dead ultimately inherit the Earth? Told through various disparate and overlapping eye-witness accounts, through texts, e-mails, blogs, letters, diaries, transcripts, official reports and other forms of communication, a picture builds up of a world plunged into chaos - where the dead attack the living, and only one of them can be the ultimate victor. Written by some of the biggest and best-known names in horror and science fiction, these interconnected narratives create a unique vision of the End of the World brought about by a plague that may have its origins in both science and the occult.

Due out in England 14th October 2010 SBN-13: 978-1849013031 

To join in with the Friday Find, please click the picture below!

What's your Friday Find?Sassy:)
 =========================== FRIDAY FUN!===========================
It's Twitter Follow-Friday (@Sassy_Brit) {Please let me know your twitter name in the comments below so I can find you easily - AND follow you back -- THANK YOU!) 
and Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday! Hosted by Crazy For Books and Parajunkie.com

If anyone is popping over from Blogger Hops and Follow Friday please may I take this opportunity to welcome your to Alternative-Read, I hope you enjoy your stay and most importantly  - if you decide to follow - THANK YOU! 
I aim to get back to you all eventually over the next couple of days, some weeks I'm quicker than others, but I will be there to follow you back - eventually! (If I'm not already!)   Why you are here, why not enter one of our free giveaways?  
  Have fun, and have a great weekend!
  Sassy :)

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

Aug 4th (GA ends) - AC Katt's *Shattered Glass* giveaway!(x2copies+more for USA residents

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
*Need help?* Contact me!

REVIEW: The Naked Millionaire | David Taylor | Capstone Publishing Ltd | Entrepreneurship

Title: The Naked Millionaire
The Ultimate Fast Track Guide to Wealth, Freedom & Fulfilment
Author David Taylor
Publisher: Capstone Publishing Ltd
Genre: Self-help / Entrepreneurship / Business
ISBN: 9781907312434
Reviewer: Sassy Brit
Alternative-Read.com

For those of you who know me, you'll understand how very excited books like these get me. Business books about entrepreneurship give me a buzz. It's because they are fun and motivating, as opposed to boring, dull monotone lectures one can hardly stay awake through. The Naked Millionaire is a different way of approaching the entrepreneur mindset with bold statements that allegedly WILL help you achieve your goal IF you take action and do the exercises within this book. Okay, that's nothing new in itself, but to first see a change in your life you have got to make the change to become a different person. The Naked Millionaire is apparently a fast track guide to wealth, freedom and fulfilment and we are told if we take his advice and do what is asked of us we WILL become millionaires. David Taylor, that is quite a big claim, nevertheless, who can mock it until they try it, huh?

With author David Taylor at your side as your mentor you will be empowered as you learn from both his successes and his mistakes, so you can reach your goals quicker without making the same mistakes he did. The tone of The Naked Millionaire is authoritative, commanding, yet funny and quite humble at times. He talks about starting a business, networking, changing your behaviour so it is more positive and designing a global brand.

I do like the way it is cleverly structured into four different set reading methods called "journeys" ranging from reading the usual way from beginning to end, to jumping around in a different order, reading only what amounts to 'detailed summaries' for those too impatient to read the entire book and want to get to the basic facts so they can get on with becoming millionaires. Do I sound a bit cynical? Maybe I am, but as much as I want to believe this works and I'm open-minded enough to believe in the law of attraction, it is not such a fast track system to actually do what is requested in the book, even though there is a fast track way of reading it.

Oh well, at least you don't have to go to work naked.

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

Aug 4th (GA ends) - AC Katt's *Shattered Glass* giveaway!(x2copies+more for USA residents

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
*Need help?* Contact me!

☠ Affiliate Author Chat and Promo Day! ☠

I am pleased to announce that next THURSDAY will be our first
Alternative-Read.com
☠ Affiliate Author Chat and Promo Day! ☠

From 5th August, Thursdays in our Yahoo group are only for our ☠Affiliate Authors☠ to promote their books - all day long. We are not stopping anyone from chatting, but will ask non-affiliate authors to refrain from posting their own promos on Thursdays. 

If you'd like to find out more about becoming an affiliate author, and the other perks available for a whole year's membership, please contact Sassy.Brit@gmail.com for more information.

Briefly, you will  be able to :

• post to the blog (release day promo/book excerpt etc)
• be advertised on both the blog and main AR site as an affiliate author
• have a prominent link on both AR sites, which link back to yours
• you banner displayed here: http://www.alternative-read.com/affiliateauthors.htm
  
• your own forum
• your own affiliate author page on the Alternative-Read.com Website
• and of course, EXCLUSIVE Affiliate Author use of the AR Yahoo group on Thursdays. (With 500+ members and counting). Chat and promote every Thursday. No need to book a chat slot - just come and join in with other affiliate authors.

Click to join An_Alternative_Read
• We understand the first few Thursdays may not be exclusive immediately, as this will take time to spread the word. We hope this does not cause anyone any inconvenience, but we do feel that Thursdays will highlight specific authors in a way of which posts will not get so lost. Fridays through to Wednesdays will remain exactly the same as they always have been. If you have any queries or concerns, please do get in touch.
  

We are very excited about this new venture and hope you will consider joining us. 

Thank you,

Sassy
:)

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

Aug 4th (GA ends) - AC Katt's *Shattered Glass* giveaway!(x2copies+more for USA residents

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
*Need help?* Contact me!

REVIEW: Switched On | Sahar Hashemi | Captstone Publishing Ltd | Entrepreneurship

Title: Switched On
Author Sahar Hashemi
Publisher: Capstone Publishing Ltd
(A Wiley Company)
Publish date: April 2010
ISBN: 9781906465834
Genre: Self-help / Entrepreneurship
Reviewer: Sassy Brit
Alternative-Read.com


Sahar Hashemi shares her insights and knowledge on how to use the entrepreneur mindset within a company as an employee. She uses her own entrepreneurial business success with the "Coffee Republic" and “Skinny Candy” as examples of her experience, along with the views of other successful entrepreneurs. Hashemi's 8 habits of a "Switched On" mindset (the habits of an entrepreneur) are about behavioural change and adopting new habits to inspire the reader to get motivated, creative and above all persist by taking action. The key word here, as always in success, is "action." She looks at how being "Switched On" within a large organisation can help one step away from the usual barriers, and avoid the "that’s how we’ve always done it" mentality in order to achieve success. Yet it is done in a way where one will still be seen as a team player while dumping he bureaucratic baggage of large compartmentalised corporations. True light bulb moments.

I loved this book in that the advice given can be "switched on" and is eminently actionable, by anyone, in any organisation at any level. And there is nothing to prevent the lone entrepreneur getting some great tips from this book either. Of course there is a level of engagement and emotional involvement required to not just read the book but act upon what is read.

I must add that Hashemi's 8 habits are like a British version of Covey's* book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People of which there is now an 8th habit, but with less of the unnecessary spiritual guff. Everything learned can be used within a large organisation and by going that extra mile in a new, fun way which reignites one's enthusiasm for the job, can't be bad. This is one of those self-help books which excited me. So, if like me, entrepreneur books switch you on, I highly recommend acquiring "Switched On”. Unless of course, all the lights are on but nobody's home.

*By the way, I do like Covey's work, too.  But that's another review. :) 

While we are on the subject of Covey -- check out Lucille's review of Everyday Greatness!

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

 Aug 4th (GA ends) - AC Katt's *Shattered Glass* giveaway!(x2copies+more for USAresidents)

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

 

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!

*Need help?* Contact me!

REVIEW: Turkish Delight | Special Investigations Agency | Rosemary Laurey | Ellora's Cave

Title: Turkish Delight | Special Investigations Agency
Author: Rosemary Laurey
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Romantica/Erotica/Paranormal
Publication Date: December 2009
ISBN: 9781419926006
Length: Novella
Format: eBook
Reviewer: WitchGiggles
Alternative-Read.com


A simple weekend assignment investigating for the agency turns into a trip of being in the wrong place at the wrong time-especially for Nur Aydan's moroii heart. She thought she'd learned that life lesson, but Michael seemed to have more pull on those strings than she liked.

Michael may have been a "simple" teacher, but he knew there was more to Nur than what she let him see. The question was when he found out would he run, scorn her or feel she's contaminated him?

This is a good read for it's length but I wish the author had taken it further and explored not only the characters, but the terrorists and their plot to a greater extent, thus making it an even better read. While there is plenty of great sex,l ots of action and some mystery, I
am left with questions I know won't be answered in future segments- or will they?

TEASER TUESDAY | INTERVIEW | Giveaway | AC Katt

 Click here to read the review

This week's Teaser Tuesday;

Memories, like shattered glass sparkle in the sun
Razors to the heart they are, each and every one

Song: “Razors to the Heart”—Just Liam, Liam O’Shea

Shattered Glass
AC Katt
Captiva Press
e-Book Pg 32

Dear Readers, 

I am pleased to welcome author, AC Katt, along for the Teaser Tuesday ride. I've combined a tease from AC Katt's book, which really moved me - with this interview / giveaway. 

Thanks for joining us here on AR, and for donating two eBooks (+more if you live in the USA!)  

AK: You're welcome, I'm happy to be here.

SB: So, to begin, can you tell us about how you started writing? 

AK: I read at least one book a day.  My husband was not overjoyed with my book bill, so he challenged me to write one, so I did.

SB: What made you decide to write gay/GLBT fiction? 

AK: Our GLBT population is the only population left in the United States who are citizens without the rights guaranteed citizens by the constitution, including equal treatment under the law.  Not allowing gays to marry, have children, insure their partners is denying them equality that the law guarantees straight citizens.  I do my small bit to point this out.

SB: Please share with our readers a brief synopsis of your latest releaseShattered Glass. 

AK: Milo Stamis leader and lyricist of the mega band, Shattered Glass must meet with former band mate and lover Liam O'Shea to write one last song to help a friend.  Can they overcome the lies that separated them, and the stalker who wants Liam dead?

SB:  You certainly seem to know what the gritty side of the music scene it like. Did you do much music industry research for Shattered Glass, or is it a subject you knew quite a lot about already?

AK: I did a lot of research.
 

SB: I loved the character Liam. At the beginning he was so needy and vulnerable I wanted to protect him myself. Do you have a favourite member of the band and why?

AK: I related to Sam, sensible, focused and loyal.

SB: Do you have an office with a desk or work on a laptop anywhere you like? 

AK: I have an office with a desk, a lazyboy chair and a laptop.

SB: What is on your desk, Wednesday?

AK: My lazy boy chair has a reference book shelf next to it and a floor lamp on one side.  A credenza sits on the other side with a place for my computer.

SB: What is your writing schedule like? 

AK: When the muse comes, I write like hell, until he leaves.

SB: Ha! Love it! As an author, what is a typical day for you? 

AK: I get up and read my e-mail and do my promotion.  I settle in to write at about 1:00 pm and then write until about 9:00 pm with a break for supper.

SB: Have you written in any other genre?

AK: Yes, my first novel was a SciFi Menage 

and my second was a light BDSM.

SB: Oh, I must look into those! Please share one helpful tip for aspiring writers. 

AK: Keep writing.

SB: What is the last book you read? 

AK: Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

SB: What are you reading now? 

AK: The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski

UK COVER

USA COVER

SB: Which book are you dying to read next?

AK: The next one I see on the shelf

SB: Thank you. The Lost Throne looks like a case for my Friday Finds! What are you working on right now? 

AK: A rewrite of my first novel, The Sarran Plague.

SB: Where can we find more about you on the Internet? 

AK: www.ackatt.com, www.ackattsamatteroftrust.com, www.shattered-glass.com, ackattsjournal@blogspot.com, ackattsnips@blogspot.com, www.thesarrans@blogspot.com,  www.thesarrans.com.

SB: Thanks! Well, as this interview draws to a close, what one question would you have liked me to ask you that I didn’t? And what is your answer? 

AK: I think you covered it all!

SB: Thanks so much for being such a good sport.  And for adding to my TBR list.

AK: You are very welcome.  That you for your gracious interview.

SB: You are welcome! 

*****GIVEAWAY - TWO COPIES OF SHATTERED GLASS*****

If you'd like to read a copy of AC Katt's Shattered Glass, you've come to the right place,  because Alternative-Read.com have been given two ebook copies to give away as prizes. 

For a chance of winning please:

• just follow this blog publicly
• add your email address in the comments section.  
• leave a comment for the AC Katt, too!

Since the prize is an ebook there are no country restrictions therefore the

giveaway is open to all,
*but*
if a winner lives in the US, they will also get a t-shirt and notebook sent to them! 

This giveaway is only open for one week starting today! So next Tuesday (3rd of August up to midnight) is the last day you can enter and the winners will be announced the following day - 4th August 2010. 

Good luck!  

AC KattTeas

Author of The Sarran Plague, A Matter of Trust and Shattered Glass

 

Teaser Tuesday, a blog meme hosted by MizB on Should Be Reading.

A weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

What's your Teaser Tuesday?
Sassy
:)

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
*Need help?* Contact me!

The Last Living Slut WINNERS are...

Good morning!

Before I announce the winners of The Last Living Slut giveaway, I must thank both Roxana Shirazi and Shawn Smith her publicity guy for donating not one, but two copies of this great book!

I'm reading it now and it's certainly an eye-opener! 

(In more ways than one ;)

 Thanks to everyone who entered - Good luck!

So without further ado, the two winning names are... 

randomly selected...

Debbie (Twoofakind)

 

and

 

shotgun_messiah

 

I will be in contact immediately - please reply ASAP - 
THANKS for the follow and for entering.

Congratulations!  Enjoy!

Sassy:)

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
*Need help?* Contact me!

REVIEW: New Urban Farmer | Celia Brooks Brown | Gardening

Title: New Urban Farmer
Author: Celia Brooks Brown
Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd
Publish Date: March 2010
Genre: Non-Fiction / Gardening / allotments / self-sufficiency
ISBN: 978-1844008179
Reviewer: Sassy Brit
Alternative-Read.com

Eliminate food miles and grow your own!

This book couldn't have come at a better time for me. My husband and I recently expressed an interest in having an allotment, and we had just started to clear the garden and try it out there. So although we don't have an allotment as such, the main idea of this book is still the same for what we need. We are growing fruit and vegetables in order to be more organic and economically  aware. Top that with eliminating food miles and supporting sustainability and this book has been our bible lately!

In a way it is a less formal "how to" book than I am used to, but written with plenty of good advice as though this is Celia Brooks Brown's diary about her North London allotment, which is great to read and check to see if you are doing the right things at the right time of the month. Not much on pests and disease control, but then that is not really what this book is about, and if that is what you are looking for there are other books that go into depth on that side of things.

I really like the additional features like the index at the beginning of each month which quickly pinpoint:
1) what is suitable to grow indoors or under glass
2) outdoors direct in the soil,
3) in containers,
4) the harvesting month and
5) recipes and other information and their corresponding page numbers

Incidentally, the inclusion of recipes in this book is something I found particularly pleasing. I've grown fruit and veg before on a smaller scale than at present, but it's not always just 'how' to grow that I need, it’s after harvesting when you get too much it's what to do with so much excess where I need help!

Finally, I do like the way Celia Brooks Brown reuses materials to keep expenses down. I've saved so much money by supplementing expensive items for my own versions, this book has been a blessing in disguise. Whether you are growing fruit and veg at home or you own an allotment, this is definitely a fun book for you! 

SASSY NOTE:

Since I wrote this, I have now got a garden of strawberries, blackcurrants, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli and rhubarb! I will have to add some pictures soon. :) The strawberries, blackcurrants and tomatoes are in full swing - but the rest is still growing.

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

July 26th (GA ends) - Roxana Shirazi's - *The Last Living Slut* giveaway!

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
*Need help?* Contact me!

INTERVIEW: With Paul Michel | Houdini Pie

Interview with Paul Michel, author of Houdini Pie
Conducted by Sassy Brit


SB: What would you say is the best reason to recommend someone to read Houdini Pie?

PM:  That's a hard question for a writer--of course we want everyone to read our works just like we want everyone to love our kids.  But if I can rely a little on what others have told me I'd say because it's "a book you don't read every day--" a remarkable story that you just couldn't make up, entertaining characters, a "good read," and at some level (hopefully) an oblique nod to our own current economic and social circumstances, which, not unlike the 1930s, create both desperation and extreme responses.  Also, because I said "please."

SB: What served as the primary inspiration for the book?

PM:  I was Googling something; I don't even remember what, and I stumbled on a 1996 article from the LA Times about the historical treasure hunt.  It seemed to me at the time about the zaniest thing I'd ever heard--uniquely American, perhaps uniquely southern-Californian.  I began reading as much as I could find out about it, including on a trip to Los Angeles to peruse newspaper archives.  Soon I was hooked--I knew I needed to write something about it.  A novel gave me the flexibility to stay true to the outlines of the historical tale and let my imagination fill in the rest.

SB: Your mother was raised in a big Irish family, the Cullinans, in (mostly) Cambridge , Ohio in the 1920s and ‘30s. There were eleven children, one of whom died in infancy. Is this where you got the idea to bring Halley's little sister, Sarah, into the story? A very sad part of the book.

PM: I hadn't made that connection consciously, but who knows what motivates a writer in the attics and basements of his imagination?  I did a great deal of period reading, from 1910 through the Depression, to get a sense of the popular imagination.  I wanted a special bond between Hal and Vera, and there was no way to ignore the impact of the Influenza, so...

SB: Do you have a funny tale to tell our AR readers with regard to the research you made for this book?

PM: I don't know if it's funny or simply disturbing, but I did discover early on that any investigation into the mythology of Lizard People was going to rub up against a modern-day fringe cult obsession, sort of like the "Chariots of the Gods" craze of the 1970s, about how the world is ruled by alien lizards who morph into humans and pursue an epic intergalactic struggle between "blues" and "grays"--different lizard types, I guess; it all spins off into a whacko, paranoid anti-Semetic, xenophobic sort of conspiracy muddle, but apparently its inventors have gotten thousands of people to go along with it.  I mentioned to a writer friend how I needed to be careful to steer clear of the whole weird mess, and she remarked casually something like, "oh yeah, the blue and gray lizards, my brother is into that stuff."  So I guess it's not just Internet babble.  So far no one has shown up at my door with a long scaly tail demanding a retraction.  So far.

SB: Ha! So blasé! Of course, we have a couple of those living nextdoor. Lizard people, huh? You never know when they are going to turn up.  

So, did the real mining engineer, G Warren Shufelt actually find the buried gold of the Lizard people with his "subterranean sonar"?

PM: The "real" story according to the Times is that the shaft was closed suddenly by the City due to water intrusion, and that Shufelt disappeared and never was heard from again.  Actually he turned up a few years later trying to peddle his X-Ray machine to the LA Police to use in missing person cases--the Times even ran a story in their Sunday magazine about it.  But I didn't think I needed to "go there."

SB: Are the tunnels closed off to the public by the government or were you able to visit them to research Houdini Pie?

PM:  There are in fact "famous" tunnels here and there in LA that figure in fact and folklore about bootleggers, organized crime, subterranean communities and so on, but they're not related to the Shufelt story.  The neighborhood where the real dig happened is very much changed from what it was in the '30s.  So no, I didn't go underground.

SB: Oh, such a shame! 

Right, what can you tell our readers about crystal radios?

PM: They were a huge fad all during the first half of the 20th century.  They didn't need power to run--the crystals were passive receivers, and once you had one you could make the radio from bits and pieces of household stuff--an oatmeal box, for example, was a popular core for winding a coil.  Even after amplification came in during the '20s, crystal sets were an awful lot cheaper to own.  They stayed popular through and well beyond the Depression--I remember making them in the 1960s.

SB: In addition to being an author, you are also a musician. Can you please explain what instrument(s) you play and the music you like?

PM: Mostly I play fiddle, mandolin and guitar--I grew up playing rock 'n' roll and fold music, and gravitated gradually to all sorts of traditional music, mostly old-time Appalachian fiddle tunes and songs, Piedmont blues, bluegrass, that sort of thing.  I lived in Ireland for a while, playing dance music in County Clare.  For about ten years I performed Croatian and Bosnian music here in Seattle.  These days I play in a bluegrass band, an Irish Ceilidh band and in a string band for square dances. 

SB: WOW! You definitely are musical. 

What are your future writing goals and aspirations?

PM: I'm just now finishing up a "final first draft" for my agent of a novel provisionally called "The GEM of Egypt," about both a mid-19th century murder and 20th century strip mining, both in rural eastern Ohio.  I have plans for another novel to follow, but I'd like to step back into short story writing for a while.  I've got a collection I might try to market, or perhaps set the whole marketing thing aside for a while and just write!

SB: Sounds fun! 

As this interview draws to a close what one question would you have liked me to ask you? Please share your answer.

PM:  Gee, that itself is a good question.  I suppose if I were interviewing the writer of Houdini Pie I might be curious about how the writer did or didn't follow the first-novelist trend of writing essentially autobiographically.  Most debut novels I read seem to me thinly disguised, if disguised at all, stories about their authors.  And my answer would be that perhaps I got that out of my system through years of writing short fiction--there really isn't anything overtly autobiographical at all in the novel, except perhaps on some subconscious, metaphorical level of which I'm completely unaware. 

SB: Fabulous! Great answer. Where can our readers find you?

PM: In the flesh in Seattle, and digitally at www.paulmichel.com, where I blog infrequently.  Also on Facebook, as Paul Michel.  

SB: There are quite a few Paul Michel's so I added your link. 

Any final parting words of encouragement for any aspiring writers?

PM:  Yes:  the story is the boss; you're just the scribe.  Get your ego out of the way and let it be told. 

SB: Fantastic. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. It's been an absolute pleasure to meet with you and read your work. Good luck with The Gem of Egypt!

PM:  And thanks to you!

Have you got an Author Interview to Share? Add it here! This Linky will last a whole month - so feel free to come back and add more author interviews.

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
============
Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
===========

July 26th (GA ends) - Roxana Shirazi's - *The Last Living Slut* giveaway!

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
*Need help?* Contact me!

REVIEW: Witchfinder: Dawn of the Demontide | William Hussey | Young Adult for Boys

Title: Witchfinder: Dawn of the Demontide
Author: William Hussey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publish Date: March 2010
Genre: Young adult / Books for Boys / Fantasy / Horror
ISBN: 978-0192731906
Format: ARC
Reviewer: Sassy Brit
Alternative-Read.com

Beginning twenty-five years after the sacrifice of a small boy in Hobarron's Hollow to vanquish evil and hold back the Demontide - there's now a new sacrifice on the menu. A new boy on the chopping block!

Fifteen year-old Jake Harker is a horror comics fan, thanks to his dad Adam, who also has a keen interest in things that go bump in the night. Not surprising really, when his mum and dad both work at the Hobarron Institute that is run by the creepy Dr. Gordon Holmwood. Who knows what sort of mischief goes on in there?

When Jake witnesses the murder of Olivia by a circus ringmaster and then later his mother's death, evil threatens to take over his life and control him. On top of that someone has kidnapped and drugged his father, and the only one who can save him is Jake. No pressure!
What happened to the murdered girl and the events that spring from it all coalesce into a wonderful, satisfying conclusion, and I cannot wait for the next two books in the trilogy to come out! Fantastic!

I just couldn't put this book down, and was pleased to get hold of the ARC version of this since I collect them. I appreciate there may be typos and missing pictures, but for me that is part of the fun! I do miss out on the absolutely fabulous cover that is on the book in the shops though! A small price to pay.


Hussey is definitely one to look out for. If you like Darren Shan and Anthony Horowitz type YA fantasy books for boys then you will love, love, love this!

Direct Links to Giveaways!
JULY 2010 - Please welcome VIVIANE BRENTANOS our Author in the Spotlight!
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Giveaways are open to all unless otherwise stated!
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July 26th (GA ends) - Roxana Shirazi's - *The Last Living Slut* giveaway!

Aug 3rd (GA ends) - Ali Atwood's *Celestial Heat* giveaway!

Aug 5th (GA ends) - Carol Gambill's *Once Wild* or Serranto's Redemption!

Four [4] free eBooks when you join the *AR Yahoo group*!
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