Review of Something Stirs

Something Stirs by Thomas Smith is a novel that follows fiction writer Ben Chalmers and his family as they move into a new house in the community of Pike’s Crossing. As Ben soon learns, mysterious happenings are afoot. Published by Taberah Press, this book will appeal to anyone interested in reading Christian horror, suspense, or thrillers.

Something Stirs will keep you turning, one page after the next, losing track of time and not caring. Keep in mind that because of the intense nature, you might not want to read this alone on a dark night.

Smith does a good job of developing his theme, and I liked the way how he addresses readers in an afterword. His characters are dynamic, which makes them believable. Also, the plot elements flow naturally.

Some of the characters struggled with the loss of a loved one. As my father is terminally ill, I readily identified with them. If you're looking for a suspenseful, fast-paced read, check out Something Stirs. *

And intense read, I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5. Just keep in mind, that if you don't like to read suspenseful/thrilling/scary stories, this may not be for you.




*Please note that I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my review. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Eyewall

H.W."Buzz" Bernard, a retired meterologist from The Weather Channel has writtien a new novel, Eyewall.
 Hurricane Janet is predicted to hit South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane. One lone meterologist in Atlanta sees something nobody else sees and predicts it will hit closer to St. Simon Island, Georgia. It's interesting to experience how one hurricane can affect so many different people.
Bernard introduces you to the characters one by one. He does an amazing job of weaving their lives together as the desperately fight for survival. People rise up as heroes risking their lives to save strangers. As a reader, I'd like to hope I'd reach out to others like this.
Bernard inreases the tension page after page. Don't plan on sleeping until you reach the last page. If you force yourself to put the book down and sleep, the story will intrude on your dreams.
I will surely view the next hurricane in a different light after reading Eyewall.

Contests

HOOK ME
ACFW Ohio is hosting the Hook Me contest

For published and unpublished authors

For more details, please visit http://www.acfwohio.com/hookmerules.htm

Please note that the Risen Contest is now closed.

*Also, later this week, I’ll post a review of Thomas Smith’s novel, Something Stirs. Stay tuned!

Interview with Author Thomas Smith

Heidi recently interviewed author Thomas Smith.

HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN?

I've written eight academic study guides, one book in a Women's Bible Study series, a coffee table book on Aiken, SC, and contributed to about 11 others. This is my first published novel. It's actually my sixth novel, but the first five were pretty bad, and I had the good sense not to send them out. I am currently at work on a new novel. The working title is Stranger.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO START WRITING? DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE A WRITER?

I think I was first hooked when Mrs. Cox (my third grade teacher) put my Christmas poem on the blackboard. In elementary school, that’s the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. And from that point on, I wrote everything from homemade comic books to really bad poetry and the five really bad novels we just talked about.

WHAT OBSTACLES HAVE YOU FACED AND OVERCOME ON THE PATH TO BECOMING A WRITER?

The biggest obstacles I have had to deal with were the ones I put in my own way. For example, for about six months early in my career I became dejected because the first seven things I wrote sold almost immediately. Then, I couldn't sell anything. Nothing. What I didn't realize until later was the first seven were a fluke. I just happened to hit the right publisher with the right things at the right time. But I didn't know a thing about market research or writing a good query letter. I just wrote stuff and sent it out. It took a pep talk from a writer friend of mine ("Write or don't write. Just make up your mind what you are going to do. And if you decide you're going to write, let me show you how to find out who is buying what and how to approach them." That was pretty much it.) to put me back on track. I had a lot to learn, and fortunately, I had friends who could teach me.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE ASPIRING WRITERS?

Write on a regular basis, learn about the publishing industry, and don't look for shortcuts. There is always a literary bandwagon out there just waiting for people to jump on it. And it may be fun in the short term, but in the long run, it is good writing, solid market research, and delivering quality work ON DEADLINE that puts you on an editor's good list. Editors are always looking for a good story, or in the case of non-fiction, good writing that is both accurate and entertaining...and delivered on deadline.

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS?
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Charles L. Grant, Dean Koontz, Mike Dellosso, Charles Dickens, Bob Simpson, Lester Dent, Bill Myers, Jon Jefferson, and Robert McCammon.

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR TIME WHEN YOU’RE NOT WRITING?
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Traveling with my wife, gem mining, playing with the praise team at my church (old guys can still rock!), reading, and helping beginning writers.

Readers can learn more about Thomas and his writing by visiting his Web sites: www.thomassmithonline.com or www.thomassmithonline.com

Interview with Author David Bond

Heidi recently interviewed author David Bond.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO START WRITING?

Several factors influenced my decision to take up the craft of writing. Not long after I lost my position in a ministry when the parent decided to eliminate this part of their nationwide ministry, which was in 2000, I more or less fell into writing. I had a short article published after joining an online critique support list, and within a few years, I started to take writing seriously. I don't think I thought of writing as a career back then, since I still hoped to land some other kind of job. But as a blind person, jobs aren't all that abundant. So writing began to occupy more of my thinking about what I could do, and at the same time, what I liked doing.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING WRITERS?

I think good writers are good readers. In 2000, after losing my job, I began reading books on tape, a program made available to blind people. I fell in love with reading, and I think this helped me as a writer.

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS?

Well, as I mentioned, I qualified for the audio reading program sponsored by the government. This meant that much of what I read was secular. But there are many fine authors who are not Christians, and I read a lot of historic fiction, and, yes, romance. I found I enjoyed romance novels when they involved 3-dimensional characters and story lines often with adventure or other elements providing plenty of tension and conflict. For example, Wilbur Smith and his "Courtneys of Africa" series, or C.S. Forester and his Horatio Hornblower series. Also, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, and Winston Graham's, "A Novel of Cornwall" series. I devoured the Christian author Gilbert Morris's early American historic fiction/romances, from the "House of Winslow" series, to his Revolutionary War series, the "Liberty Bell" series. Did I mention Richard S. Wheeler, or Richard Paul Evans? And of course, Louis L'Amour's countless westerns, including the Sackett series. One more, and I'll stop! Francine River's "Mark of the Lion" series. These are books and series etched into my brain because of the impact they had on me.

Lately, I've been intentionally reading more current works, which cover a very wide range, partially because I enjoy reading novels incorporating current improvements in writing style like showing and not telling, as well as a more consistent point of view from the novel's main characters.

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR TIME WHEN YOU’RE NOT WRITING?

I spend a lot of time writing! It's a creative outlet for me. It's as much work as it is fun. I don't have too many other activities I spend much time on, other than family matters as my wife and I raise our 15-year old son, and of course, reading.

CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING NOVEL?

My debut novel will be released in January, 2012, in e-book format, from Desert Breeze Publishing. I am contracted to write two sequels, so Book 2 is scheduled for an October, 2012 release, and Book 3, a July, 2013 release. The first book, The Attaché, is about a man who loses his sight in Iraq in 2004, not long after we began the so-called "Iraq War." The main character, Zach, comes home and must cope with blindness as well as managing a business he inherited but doesn't want. He used to love to climb his mountain located on the 300-acre property, and Zach decides he'll figure out a way to climb his mountain again. A new employee, Jessie, wants to help Zach cope with his situation, but she isn't really sure what to do. She took the job at Zach's company thinking she'd meet up with Zach's brother, a man she met briefly and believes she could love. But over the months, Zach and Jessie make some interesting discoveries about themselves, and fall in love.

Readers can learn more about David and his writing by visiting his Web site, http://authordavidbond.com/.

E-book Giveaway--Pursued

You've read the interview. Now how would you like to receive a e-copy of Lillian's book? :)

HOW TO ENTER
Post a comment related to Lillian's interview between now and August 2nd to be entered once daily into a random drawing to receive a free e-book copy of Pursued.*


*Please note slight change in entry rules (i.e., more chances to enter).

Interview with Author Lillian Duncan

Jackie recently interviewed author Lillian Duncan:



WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I'm from a small town in Ohio. We're located half-way between Columbus and Cleveland. When I say small I mean small. There's one traffic light. I love living in a town where I know the names of the people I see on a regular basis, like the store owner, the librarians, and the pharmacist. And in fact it’s one of the themes in Pursued.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING RELEASE.

PURSUED is a story near and dear to my heart. I wanted to write a story that showed some of the differences between "big-city" and "small-town" living, but in the end those differences are only superficial. The important thing is a person’s character not where they live or what they do for a job.

WHEN AND WHY DID YOU START WRITING?

I know this is going to sound a bit strange, but I've always "made up" stories in my head when I was bored. Very detailed stories with characters and problems and happy endings. After two very specific events, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. Oh, these are the stories I should be writing down so I started writing that day and I haven't stopped since.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING AND DID YOU EVER FEEL LIKE GIVING UP?

I started writing 16 years ago when I was 40. Yikes, that makes me so...never mind. And absolutely, I wanted to give up many, many times. And in fact, I did give up many times but I always started up again.

I don't know any writer who hasn't felt that way. The uncertainty of becoming a published writer can be frustrating and overwhelming at times to say the least. But if being a writer is your dream, you have to keep writing and waiting...and waiting...and.....

HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED?

PURSUED is my fourth book to be published, but the first with White Rose Publishing. But in many ways, I consider it to be my debut novel since it's my first book with what is considered a "traditional" publisher.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WRITE A BOOK?

That's a question I get asked quite often and it’s really hard question to answer. First, the story rumbles around in my head for awhile and then I might write a few chapters and stop. If the story goes away, I give up on in for the moment but will go back to it sometime in the future. But if the story stays with me and I can't get it off my mind, then I start writing it more seriously. At that point it may take 2-3 months to get the first draft written and then it can take forever to edit, revise, and polish.

WHAT DOES YOUR WRITING SCHEDULE LOOK LIKE?

I try to write every day even if it's only for 30 minutes or so. Most work days during the school year (my day job is a Speech Pathologist in a school) I write for an hour or so. I work part-time so on my non-work days, I will at least write for 3-4 hours at least two of the days I'm off work. In the summer, again, I try to work 3-4 hours most days but so far this summer, I’m working more like 6-8 hours each day.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS AN INTERESTING WRITING QUIRK YOU HAVE?

I think my quirk is the fact I don't have a quirk. I sit down at my computer and I write and write and write. I hear other writers complaining about how difficult the creative process is and I think I must be doing something wrong because I just sit down and the story comes to me one scene at a time.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR TITLE-PURSUED?

The original title was Just An Old Country Boy but that didn't sound very suspenseful so I changed it to Pursued. In the story, Reggie is being pursued by an unknown killer, by the hero, and by God, so it made sense to me as a title.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR HERO AND HEROINE?

My hero, Dylan, is a good old boy with a heart of gold who just wants to make life better for everyone around him. He's sweet and kind, but in a very manly way! Reggie can be a little difficult at times, but she has her reasons. You have to admire her for all she's overcome in her life.

IS THERE A MESSAGE IN YOUR NOVEL?

One of the messages I want people to get is to be open to learning from, developing relationships, and loving people who are different from ourselves. God made us different for a reason. And one of the reasons is it makes life a lot more interesting and fun!

I am, of course, a bookworm and my husband is an outdoorsy sort of man who likes to fish and garden and do other things that gets his hands dirty. In many ways, we are very opposite of each other, but together we have a wonderful and fun marriage.

WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SPECIAL TO YOU?

This book is about friendship. The kind of friendship where you put your life on hold to help someone in trouble. And that's what Jesus was talking about when He told us to love our neighbors--and our enemies. And since this book was about friendships, many of the secondary characters in the book were named after friends who were important to me in one way or another but died much too young.

IS THIS BOOK BASED ON SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW?

Absolutely not. I've never known anyone who was chased by killers.

WHAT BOOKS HAVE MOST INFLUENCED YOUR LIFE?

Dick and Jane, Curious George, Pippi Longstocking, and The Cat In The Hat to name a few. I wish I could give a list of profound literary books but the truth is the first books I ever read changed my life. They opened up a new world to me. They created a lifelong reader who loved books so much that she wanted to create her own.

WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK A MUST READ AND WHY?

If you love suspense or romance, then this is the book for you. The suspense plot will keep you reading past your bedtime and the romance will make you say "aaahhh."

DO YOU HAVE A PERSON YOU CONSIDER A MENTOR?

I don't have one specific person whom I consider a mentor but I do have several critique partners whom I go to for advice and help as well as encouragement and support. By the way I would love to have a mentor so if there are any writers out there wanting to mentor, look me up.

WHAT IS YOUR NEXT PROJECT?

I have another book coming out in the fall, DECEPTION. It's full of intrigue and action. Along with that I'm working on three other manuscripts in varying stages that will hopefully become books in the future including a sequel to PURSUED.

IF YOU COULD WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT PURSUED?

Nothing. I love the characters and the story. So much so that I’m working on a sequel to PURSUED right now.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT WRITING?

I spend time with my wonderful husband and our menagerie of animals. We have two dogs and four parrots so home can be a noisy place at times. In the summer, we like to camp Again, there's that outdoorsy thing I never would have tried without my husband's encouragement. In the winter, I'm on a bowling league--not that I'm any good at it, but it is fun. And last but not least, and I hate to admit it but I like to watch TV--especially the crime shows. Go figure!

WHAT DOES YOUR FAMILY THINK OF YOUR WRITING?

I’ve been blessed with a very encouraging and supportive family. My husband is an enabler (in a good way). He cooks and does most of the household chores so I can find the time to write. He's been such a wonderful gift from God for so many reasons.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU FIND PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING ABOUT WRITING?

I hate thinking up names for my characters. I once wrote a manuscript and as I was editing it, I realized I had used the name of the characters and actors from the old TV series Gunsmoke. I had Miss Kitty, Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake, and James Arness. But no Festus!

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR AND WHAT IS IT ABOUT THEIR WORK THAT REALLY STRIKES YOU?

I love most of the suspense writers but two of my favorites are Terri Blackstock and Brandilynn Collins. I love their books because they are all about the story and the suspense and yet they manage to weave in a spiritual lesson along the way without the reader feeling like they are being preached at.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART OF WRITING A BOOK?

I love writing and rewriting my book but...after about the eighth or ninth time, it's gets a bit tiring.

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM WRITING THIS BOOK?

I actually learned a lot from this book. It was the first book I had critiqued with the large critique group from ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). Critiquing is a very humbling process. In the beginning of the critiquing process, I thought the others didn't know what they were talking about. By the middle, I thought I should give up writing forever. By the end, I knew I was a much better writer than I'd been at the beginning. And the proof is that this became my debut novel with a traditional publisher.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHERS WHO WANT TO WRITE?
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Read as much as possible. Write as much as possible. Along with that, I’d say find a critique group. It makes all the difference. And never, ever give up your dream to be a writer.

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO SAY TO YOUR READERS?

I just want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to entertain them.

HOW CAN READERS CONTACT YOU?

My website is: www.lillianduncan.net

Book Reviews

Welcome,

Jackie and I look forward to reviewing all mystery, suspense, romantic suspense, and thriller novels. Please e-mail us if you're interested in having us review your book or interview you for our blog.

Thanks,
Heidi