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.

Editor – Stephen Parolini, The Novel Doctor

When I was still writing my first novel, I did a bunch of research to find an editor I felt would be a good fit for my story goals.  I came across Stephen Parolini, whose website is http://www.noveldoctor.com/

Reading his blog posts, I felt he would understand what I was trying to do with my story, so contacted him to get his professional opinion on whether my writing had potential or not.  He responded that it was impossible to have an opinion on an unfinished novel, as so many people fail to finish, or if they do, their ending collapses.  I took his advice to heart, and focused on completing my story.

Fast forward… I’ve finished, then started to query.  A couple of months later, with no manuscript requests, I started to think that maybe I need a developmental editor and remembered Steve.  I contacted him, he looked over my first few pages, and put me on his queue (which was substantial; beware editors who aren’t busy!).  His feedback was incredibly detailed and even when he was picking my story apart, he managed to do so in such a way that I felt inspired, rather than put down.

I feel sure my story is 10x better than it was before I got his input.  Plus, his feedback gave me the confidence to consider myself a ‘real’ writer.  I can’t recommend Steve enough as a patient guy able to give constructive criticism.