The Seeds of Winter: Artilect War, Book One – A.W. Cross

Andrea and I have become friendly, exchanging a number of emails on a variety of topics.  She has a diverse background that has some parallels with mine.  One of the reasons, I guess, she asked me to beta read for her.

Amazon link; my review:

I initially read this when it was in beta. I purchased a copy, to support a fellow author, but also to reread and give a review from the published version.

This is a complex novel, covering a lot of different events from many different viewpoints. It’s a challenge the author has overcome, with wonderful style, as the story is engaging and easy to read, despite the complexity. It’s not easy to predict how the story unfolds, but as it unfolds, all the elements make sense.

I eagerly look forward to reading the rest of the series!

Full Dive – T M Rain

I’m big into scifi, probably 80% of my bookshelf over the years, so was excited to read “Full Dive.” As I title my review, I “Retained [the] sim[ulation] even after reading.”

Tom’s website.

Amazon link; my review:

I beta read for Mr Rain, then, because I loved his story so much, bought a dead-tree version to reread.

I found myself so immersed in the story, that, for several minutes after taking a break from reading, I saw my real world overlaid with the simulation he produced in my head. I don’t think I’ve been that immersed in a story for years, possibly decades, and can’t wait for his next novel so I can do the same.

Stolen Things – Stephen Parolini

Full disclosure, I used Steve as my development editor for my Contract Killer novel.

I was actually depressed for a while after I read it, thinking if he couldn’t get someone to take on that beautiful gem (he self published), how could I ever find anyone to take on my stories. Eventually, though, I settled on (or grasped upon) the lottery notion of success.

Website for the book.

Amazon link; my review:

When I started reading this book I expected it to be good, but planned on reading it slowly over several days. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, I wasn’t able to do so and wound up reading it in a single day. Now I’ll have to reread it several [times] so I can enjoy it longer.

I love the mystery and I particularly love that the mystery isn’t resolved. Berry is the most engaging 12 year old I’ve ever spent a few hours with and her imagination was very real to me.

Thank you Steve!

Latte Girl – Katia Rose

I’ve read a number of romance novels since I started beta reading through Goodreads.  Not something I’d likely ever pick up off the shelf, but that’s part of what I like about beta reading: exposure to new things.

Katia’s website.

Amazon link. My review there:

I started reading Latte Girl as a beta reader for Katia, but didn’t have time to finish before she published. I bought a copy, not just to support a fellow author, but because I wanted to finish and wanted the final version. I’ve read several romances now, and found Katia’s approach fresh and appealing. And her sex scenes are steamy! I like how her happily ever after doesn’t make everything perfect, and shows that Hailey and Jordon are starting a long road, but with support for each other.

Thank you Katia for a lovely story! I look forward to reading your next work!

Screenplay Editor – Lindsay Howard

Lindsay is a writer/director and does screenplay reviews.  I also picked her brains for some ideas I had and she was very helpful and encouraging in her feedback.  She’s shifted focus professionally and took down her website as she can’t devote as much time to screenplay review and beta reading that she once was able to, but did say to email her if you were interested.  As some Captcha encoding, remove the dashes, then add gmail at the end: howard-lindsay-25.

Screenplay Editor – Jennifer Heins

I was given Jennifer’s contact information from Jacque when I mentioned to Jacque my intention to do some screenplay work.  Jennifer gave me amazing, excellent advice on my murder mystery script; I feel the second draft is at least 10x better.  I decided to ask her input on my Contract Killer adaptation and she also gave excellent advice.

Jennifer also has an IMDB page.  I expect to use Jennifer’s services for a long time and encourage anyone else interested to contact her.  I’m told she’s interested in working with authors as a developmental editor, though haven’t worked with her in that capacity.  Given her level of feedback on the scripts I sent, I can only assume she’ll be great with that as well.

Editor – Jacque Hamilton

I first contacted Jacque (“Jackie,” for those like me, who keep hearing the French man’s name in their head), with her SoapBox Editorial Services, in May of ‘17 about a novel I considered a romance (at the time), but had been getting the feedback it violated too many tropes. Jacque looked at my synopsis and gave me excellent advice, without any expectation of anything more. Later, when I hit on the idea of a murder mystery, and recalled that was another area of her expertise, I worked professionally with her on my synopsis. Once I had my first draft done, she gave me excellent feedback.

Jacque also has experience in the world of movie making, even having an IMDB page.  She gives excellent advice on screenplays as well and I’ve used her in that exact capacity.

I have continued working with Jacque and have recommended her to several of my author friends.

Editor – Sharon Umbaugh

Sharon has impressive credentials, having worked at a big 5 publisher in manuscript acquisition and sales, not to mention manging an independent bookstore.  It’s for these reasons that I approached her to do line editing for my Contract Killer book.  She did excellent work and was helpful in answering my questions.  I have recommended her to several of my author friends.

Editor – Leanna O’Brien, Writing Radically

I have a fondness for strong female characters (SFCs) and wanted input on the quality of my characters and their story arcs, so sought someone who could give me that sort of input.  After perusing Leanna’s blog, I found her with strong opinions that felt similar to my goals.  I contacted her and was able to get onto her queue for review.

Her feedback helped me polish my SFCs and shore up a few weak spots.  She also read my other DoaCK stories with the same goal in mind.  She had other advice which I used, but my interest in working with her was strengthening my SFCs.

She also gave me input on a new SFC I developed, my dominatrix.  Her input was wide ranging and all valuable, so I recommend her for all your editing needs.