My Soul to Keep (Rise of the Fallen)
by Sean Hayden.
Author’s Website: http://shaydenfl.wordpress.com/
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Keep-Rise-Fallen-ebook/dp/B0080N68AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336360810&sr=8-1

Reviewer received this book in ARC form from the author.

Blurb:

A YA Paranormal Romance novel
Ever have one of those bad ideas just pop into your head? You know the ones. They seem like a great idea at the time, but if you had stopped to think about it a moment…
I’m talking about those ideas where you just seize the moment and do what your heart tells you to. Then, after the dust settles and you get bandaged up, your parents say, “What the hell were you thinking?”
“But, Dad, I wasn’t!”
I had one of those moments.
I guess if you want to be technical, I had a whole chain of those moments leading up to the big bang moment. The problem was I didn’t have anyone standing around saying, “What the hell were you thinking?”
The moral of this story?
There are several.
First, stores don’t sell black candles for a reason. They’re bad news. If you happen to come across one in the mall that sells questionable items…walk away. Trust me on this one. Black candles are bad.
Second, always know what you want out of life. Coasting along, not caring about anything will get you into trouble. Maybe more than you can handle.
Lastly, if someone offers to grant you your fondest wish, wish for something you really, truly want. Wish for something that will make the world a better place or you a better person. Never ever wish to be a monster…

Review by J. A. Campbell
Connor is a fairly typical teen. He loves video games and hates math, so what possesses him to make a wish, written in blood and burned over a black candle? Maybe the math homework drove him to it. Connor’s wish propels him into a world he had no idea existed and turns his ideas of who the good guys and bad guys are upside down. You might think the Fallen are demons and the Chosen are angels, which, mostly they are, but the angels aren’t necessarily the good guys and the demons aren’t necessarily the bad ones. Fallen, Clarisse befriends Connor and teaches him about his new powers (from his wish). A new girl, Jessica, moves to the area and seems to like him. Before, Connor couldn’t find a girl interested in him to save his life, now he has two beautiful girls hanging out with him, and crazy cool powers. Oh, and he gets his first, very unexpected kiss ever—what could go wrong?

This is a very fast paced story full of adventure, love, heartbreak, and strange powers. I really enjoyed Mr. Hayden’s clean writing and compelling characters. Connor is a very well told main character full of real teen insecurities and strengths. You really feel Connor’s emotions, are happy when he’s happy and torn up when he’s hurt. The story stands alone, but the ending hooks you in and leaves you anxious for the next book. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves YA Urban Fantasy with a nice touch of romance.

Is now available

I will get my website updated this weekend, but until then you can go to this link and find all the places you can buy my Into the West novels. http://quakeme.wordpress.com/electric-shorts/into-the-west/

https://www.omnilit.com/product-westwardhome-788403-234.html

Show Dog – The Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred
By Josh Dean
Amazon
Author’s Website
Reviewer received this book from publisher.

Book blurb from cover jacket

Every weekend, for nearly fifty weeks each year, tens of thousands of Americans pack up their SUVs and minivans with crates and dryers and treats and shampoos and hairsprays and plush toys and fan out for some of the two-thousand-plus dog shows held annually across the United States. More than two million pedigreed dogs, and exponentially more humans who handle and care for them, will take part in these events—for the most part happily—and the world that has grown up to support them is massive and vibrant, and almost impossible to imagine unless you’ve seen it in person.

By spending a year alongside rising star Jack, a champion Australian shepherd, and his canine and human friends, magazine journalist Josh Dean yanks back the curtain on the dog show world, providing not just a hilarious and often touching portrait of a colorful subculture only slightly exaggerated in the film Best in Show, but also a revealing look at our love affair with the world’s most doted-upon and tinkered-with animal species, examining the colossal array of dog types and humans who love them.

The book follows Jack as he matures over the course of a year, from still-improving adolescent to seasoned adult show dog. We get to know him and the people around him—his owner, his handler, his breeder—to experience what it’s like to own a show dog and to train one. And we come to appreciate him for what he is, a lovable and intelligent house pet—albeit one with a highly unusual occupation.

Along the way, Dean takes a close look at the eccentric and fascinating world of breeders and dog show fanciers—exploring the history and science of purebred dog breeding and the evolution of canine perfection via dog show culture, with that pursuit’s many related peculiarities: judging, training, naming, promoting, hairstyling, kennel-owning, RV-driving, hotel-finding, treat-selecting, and more.

Review
As the blurb says this is a true story following an Australian Shepherd from a newbie to a champion AKC (American Kennel Club) conformation show dog. Jack, as he’s known to his people, or Grand Champion Wyndstar’s Honorable Mention as the AKC knows him, is a stunning blue merle (look at the cover pic) with a lot of presence and personality. He was bred to be a show dog, but by a strange twist of fate, he was bought by a woman who wanted a pet first, and possibly a show dog second. The breeder took some convincing but finally decided to sell Jack to his human. The rest, as they say, is history.

Briefly, the American Kennel Club is a dog registry that recognizes purebred dog breeds and sets the standard for what they feel that breed is supposed to be, from appearance to temperament. AKC conformation shows are designed to judge and showcase the best of the best for breeding and prestige purposes. Many breeds also have their own specific registry along with American Kennel Club recognition. A quick note on Aussies, or Australian Shepard’s—they are actually a dog created for herding and working purposes in the American west.

Mr. Dean deftly tells the story of Jack as he goes from an untried puppy to a champion conformation dog. He followed this dog’s story for just over a year, attending shows, and getting to know the owner, Jack’s handler, and many other personalities in the show world. He also weaves in history of both the AKC, dog shows, the Aussie breed, and many other things in the story, to give a very vivid picture of the show world for both dogs and people. It’s very clear that Jack is first a pet and companion, and second a champion show dog, and that he loves every minute of it. Mr. Dean also gives a very candid look as a newbie outsider (him) turns into a newbie insider and learns the ropes of the very strange world of showing dogs. Not only do we get to follow Jack’s story in detail but we hear about many of the other top dogs in the circuit. We also learn about some of the controversies and find out that “Aussie people” are a lot saner than many other breeds as well as getting a good look at how professional handlers do their jobs. And really… poodles? LOL. He does touch on the hows and whys of poodle showing as well.

Over all I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and highly entertaining. Show Dog did a very good job of introducing me to a world that I only vaguely understood before. My only complaint was that I didn’t feel he did enough wrap up with Jack at the end. I would have liked to see a little more recap on all his accomplishments since the book was about him.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Aussies, the conformation world, or dogs in general.

Oh, lookie… more cover art… more purple and black… *love* And you know what that means right? Right! Westward, Home the last Into the West short should be out soon. I’m working on proofs right now. (Well, actually right now I’m typing this post, but then I’ll be doing proofs)

As many of you know, I went to Anomaly Con, Denver’s only Steampunk convention recently. One of the things I did was sit in on author panels. I had a great time and learned a lot of things and wanted to share some of it with you, my lovely readers.

There were several successful authors at the con, including the highly successful Kevin J. Anderson. One of the panels was the business of being an author. The biggest thing I took away from that is that I’m doing things at least sort of right. LOL. Despite not having an agent yet, etc, my attitude is at least where it should be. I treat writing like a job, even though I have a full time job. I get up and work on writing stuff before work, and my weekends are full of writing, editing, etc. It is a rare day indeed, when I’m not working on writing stuff or plotting or whatever. So if you’re going to be a successful author, treat it like a job, cause it is one.

The other panel I took a lot away from was the “free for all” where several authors were given a minute to answer a question thrown out to everyone. Many of the questions were just “fun” questions like where’s the strangest place you’ve had an idea for a story, things like that. The question that entertained me the most was “what genre do you think is dead and what do you think could be done to fix it?” I didn’t take exact notes so my answers will be paraphrased of course. The caveat to that question was… besides vampires.

The most humorous answer was political biographies. The answer on how to fix it… kill the protagonist. Someone said they thought fantasy was dead but then along comes G.R.R. Martin and his Song of Ice and Fire series. Other people mentioned spicing up Star Wars by killing main characters (this begins with the Yuuzhan Vong invasion in the extended universe). There were other things mentioned but one of the solutions to “fixing” genres was genre mashups, and it was hypothesized that perhaps it isn’t a specific genre that is dead, but more the idea of a pure genre that is dead and the old definitions don’t work well anymore. For example, Steampunk is fantasy, history, alternate history, sometimes western, etc. One of the authors, David Boop, writes weird westerns, so something like Wild Wild West, the old TV show. Kevin J. Anderson’s Captain Nemo got rejected something like 16 times before it was accepted because it’s alternate history, and Steampunkish and mainstream publishers didn’t know what to do with it. These days the stories that cross genres are becoming more and more popular. Although Cyberpunk was one of the genres mentioned as dead, and they didn’t have an idea how to fix that one. They also mentioned zombies, and I wanted to tell them to go read Rusty Fisher’s books, but it wasn’t quite the time. LOL. Many of the books I’ve read recently seem to be mashups. Things like Ms. Novek’s Temeraire series about a dragon during the Napoleonic wars. I even think that Urban Fantasy started out as a genre mashup. So what’s the next big mashup? Ideas anyone? I’m hoping for contemporary horse fantasy. LOL.