Tag: nonfiction

Categories
IWSG Virtual Book Tours

#IWSG June 2018 & Write with Fey #newrelease #giveaway

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Optional Monthly Question: What’s harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names?

For me, it’s definitely book titles. I have this whole obsession with names and their meanings and keep a list of possible names I could use at any time. Book titles, on the other hand, elude me. Even after I’ve settled on one, I never really feel it fits. At some point, I have to call the book something so people will know what they are getting. It’s not easy making that final decision.

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So, first off, this is going to be a long one, but for good reason. I’ll be back to my shorter posts next time, I promise.

Now, I’d like to congratulate Juneta Key on her member spotlight in the May newsletter. Not only is she a great blogger and writer, she’s constantly giving back to the community. A very well-deserved recognition.

Now, on to the personal updates. Please stick around for a special new release message at the end.

So, in case you missed it, I unpublished the first two books in the Eternal Curse Series (they are still available to anyone who asks for them). You can learn more about that at the link above. Needless to say, I have a lot of writing to do with that rewrite as well as finishing the first draft of my Sayings sequel, which I still don’t have a title for. I seriously thought I’d be on my 3rd or 4th draft by now, but as usual, my day job, which is convenient for writing, is also so stressful as of late, that it’s blocked all my creativity… Oh well, that’s life.

On a slightly fun note, I’m in position 56 on the IWSG blog hop list. When I started out, I was 181. All that means is that many people have come and gone, and likely come back again in the time I’ve participated in this blog and I’ve been sticking with it and moving up the ladder. Being part of this group is one of my greatest accomplishments. I’m sadly thinking of reducing my blog to once a month post, still being open to interviews and spotlights whenever someone needs to fill a spot or wants some free promo… We’ll see what happens.

In typical Toi Thomas fashion, I’ve taken on a project that’s probably too ambitious for the likes of me to pull off, but since I can’t stop the dreams from keeping me up at night, I’m going for it. I’m attempting to host a fan-fueled book fair in my local area sometime next year (or the year after 😉 ). I’ve created a cute little mascot named Carnie the Bookworm. Would you like to meet him?

Over at A Small Gang of Authors, we are hosting our first ever book cover contest. We’d love for you to head over, check it out, and vote in the comments. Thanks bunches!

NEW RELEASE & GIVEAWAY!
Catch the sparks you need to write, edit, publish, and market your book!
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Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication offers an
abundance of data in one handy book. From writing your novel to prepping for publication and beyond, you’ll find sparks on every page, including 100 bonus marketing tips. You’ll also discover how to write specific scenes and characters, adding depth to your work.
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•        Spark One: Being a Writer
•        Spark Two: Story Essentials
•        Spark Three: A Book’s Stepping Stones
•        Spark Four: How To
•        Spark Five: Character ER
•        Spark Six: Editing
•        Spark Seven: Publishing
•        Spark Eight: Marketing
•        Spark Nine: Writing About
•        Spark Ten: Final Inspiration
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With so much information, you’ll take notes, highlight, and flag pages to come back to again and again on your writing journey.
–
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AUTHOR BIO:
Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes Series, a unique concept blending romance, crimes, and disasters. She’s partnered with the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and runs their Goodreads book club. She’s also an editor for Dancing Lemur Press.
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Fey realized she wanted to write by watching her mother pursue publication. At the age of twelve, she started her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen. Fey lives in Florida and is always on the lookout for hurricanes.
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Chrys Fey’s Links:
Website / Blog / Amazon / Goodreads
Facebook / Twitter
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GIVEAWAY!
Open to all from June 4th 2018 – July 6th 2018
Click here to enter or use the form below.

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So, are you a whiz at book titles but struggle with character names or vice versa?
Would you ever unpublish a book? Does the idea of it terrify you?
What did you think of Carnie?
You gonna enter Chrys Fey’s giveaway?

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Beverly Stowe McClure,
Tyrean Martinson,
Tonja Drecker, and
Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #56).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse #Review: Sell Your Soul #business #book

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you’ve finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same. In this way, we’ll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us below.

from Bookfunnel via Facebook

Title: Sell Your Soul: How to Build Your Creative Career
Author: Russell Nohelty
Genre: Business, Nonfiction
Pages: NA
Reading Level: Adult
Content: Adult (business tactics, technical terms and practices)

I received a digital ARC of this book from the author because I’ve supported several of his Kickstarter campaigns and follow his creative business advice group and listen to his podcast from time to time. What can I say, I’m still having trouble getting into podcasts. In any case, I love this guy’s passion for his personal works and his indie press releases. I know I’ve learned so much from him already, so reading this book was a no brainer.

Initial thoughts- this book was great. It wasn’t too long, but it was a hefty length because it covers a lot of information. I like that, before the book dives deep into the how-tos of the creative business, the author explains the necessity of passion. Passion is the one thing I think, anyone who encounters Russell Nohelty, notices about him. He loves what he does and frequently reiterates that that has to be the number one reason a person decides to create something, whatever it is.

Then the book starts to dive into the how-to of business, but not just general stuff. Everything Nohelty discusses is directed specifically to creative people who want to make money with their creativity and break the stigma that all artists have to be starving. He speaks to the readers as if there’s a conversation happening. He’s quite frank and down to earth, but still concise and purposeful with his words. There are times when you can almost hear Russell yelling into the pages that yes, this is going to be hard, but it’s not impossible.

Nohelty is also upfront and honest about what has and hasn’t worked for him while leaving it to the reader to decide what they want to try because he or she might have a completely different experience. There are certain aspects of the book that feel like life hacks. They are literal step-by-steps of what he did, so why not try it yourself.

I feel like a large part of the book, when reading in between the lines, is about gearing the reader up to break out of their comfort zone. There are things he mentions in this book that I’ve thought about doing but just didn’t think that was the way things were done. Now I know that they can be the way, there are just so many people who are too afraid to try them. He also mentions a few things I never would have thought of, which I now realize is a reflection of the lack of confidence I sometimes have in my own work.

I don’t know that this is the greatest book ever written about the business of creativity, but it’s pretty darn good. I’d totally recommend it. Heck, that’s what I’m doing right now.

I give this book a 5.

Find this on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. Updated 9/3/2017

If you have a moment, I’d love for you to visit my CURIOUS QUESTIONS page and offer your two cents on the question being asked. Thanks bunches.

Please stop by and see what others have read. 😀


Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Books

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse #Review: Faith & Fandom Volume 2 #geek #Christian

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you’ve finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same. In this way, we’ll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us below.

Title: Faith & Fandom Volume 2: The Obligatory Sequel
Author: Hector Miray
Genre: Christian Nonfiction, Geek Culture
Pages: 95
Reading Level: Teen
Content: PG (reference to books, movies, and video games targeted to teen and adult audiences, religious principles)

I’ll admit that it took me some time to get into this book, but I’m glad I stuck with it. I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately shared it with a family member after finishing it. With that said, I did have a few issues concerning my reading experience and would like to explain what I liked and didn’t like, thus keeping this wonderful book from receiving a 5 star rating.

First, I loved the cover. It pulled me in from across the alley at the local Comic Con where I received it. The images and the title immediately had me curious about the content within, so imagine my disappointment with there were no images inside, at all. I’m no fool to the issue of copyright infringement, but for some reason, I at least expected to see some vague and rough sketches to accompany some of the featured stories, but there were none.

Second, I enjoyed the personal and carefree tone of the essays. Many of them include personal life experiences and moments of pure geekdom that I could totally relate to. Then when the author began to transition into making biblical connections, it didn’t feel forced or preachy. He was simply offering his opinions based on his personal faith-walk and experience as a geek and fanboy. However, there were times when comprehending the message was a little difficult. There was no stylized formatting to clearly separate what was personal opinion, media quotes, or scripture. Yes, Miray, used all correct punctuation, but since the essays are written in a conversational way, it was sometimes difficult to determine which part of the one-sided conversation you were reading. Plus, it bothered me that none of the paragraphs were indented, though, I got over it quickly by pretending I was reading blog posts, which are often times not indented.

Lastly, I liked that this was a short read that packed a lot of punch. Miray covers so many different fandoms in this volume, it makes me want to go back to see what he talked about in the first one. Since I acquired my copy at a live event, I got to speak with Miray who suggested that I start with whichever volume seemed to have more of the geek stuff I liked in it, thus I started with volume two.

Even though this was a short read, it did take me a while to get into it because of all the forwards. I’m used to reading one or two pages of forwards and I think this book had four pages of them. Also, I was a little annoyed that there were no page numbers to reference. Sometimes I like to gauge my progress as I’m reading to motivate myself to finish a book, but I couldn’t do that this time.

Overall, I really felt like this book was wonderful for those who love geek culture and who might be curious about Christian faith. Other books that claim to connect faith to pop culture in a fun and interesting way, to me, have fallen short, but this book does it right. Recommended to, as the description states “geek curious believer[s and] a faith curious fanboy[s and girls]” of all ages, though younger children may not get all the references.

I give this book a 4.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book or others in the series, try this link: Amazon

If you have a moment, I’d love for you to visit my CURIOUS QUESTIONS page and offer your two cents on the question being asked. Thanks bunches.

Please stop by and see what others have read. 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords