P. J. Erickson

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Review of Myrddhin's Heir

1/21/2016

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MAGICALLY DONE
Who isn’t fascinated by stories of Merlin?  Mr. Chambers has found a unique and clever way to bring Merlin’s magic back to the modern world through a young boy. Gordon learns he is Merlin’s heir gradually in dreams, which occur over the years, until finally he meets the great wizard. I enjoyed this book immensely and only have a couple of quibbles. I thought the Star Trek dream sequence too long and it lost me so I skipped those pages and I wanted Gordon to meet Merlin much earlier than he did, just my personal preference. I would be very curious to see a review by a young person. I thought the passages about child behavior such as bullying were masterfully done and a great way to point a child’s attitude in the right direction about these things, as we all know that parents are the last to be listened to in these matters. Young and old alike really will enjoy this book. 

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Review of Into Dark Waters by Rebecca Reilly

1/11/2016

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​This book is a real page-turner. Setting a serial killer loose amongst a boatload of passengers headed for a cruise to Hawaii had me guessing without a clue, despite the undercover detective hot on the trail. Mystery junkies will love this book as will romance readers. The author artfully spices the action with marital strife, shipboard romance and desperate singles, all the while painting a vivid description of life on a cruise. I won this book in a contest and would not have chosen to buy it as I am not a fan of romance or cruises. My mistake, I would have missed a suspenseful and entertaining read. The romance is not explicit and the violence is not horrific, making this book a great choice for everyone. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Reilly’s work.
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BOOK REVIEW

11/13/2015

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Over our heads by James Sinclair
Unraveling the boggled mind.
I read the other reviews of this book and it appears to me that the reviewers had a strong knowledge of math and science. I don’t think this book is intended for them.  I have a background sadly lacking in either subject and although fascinated, I just can’t wrap my mind around those television shows about the universe. The idea of something without an end doesn’t compute in my brain. I’m the reader James Sinclair intended to reach with this book.  His simplified description of everything from the atom to the big bang, progressing from smallest to largest, is peppered with explanations relating to everyday life so that a nonscientific mind can put the subject into context and say, “Oh yeah, now I get it.” I did get it. Thank you James Sinclair. 

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BOOK REVIEW

11/11/2015

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One of my favorite things is reading a good book and I sneak the time to do so whenever possible. I don't usually read romance but I like to broaden my horizons once in a while. It's good to see what others are doing. So with that in mind, I  chose Bound by the Summer Prince by Mistral Dawn. First, let me say that I did not read the book description extension before purchasing this book, and as I said, I am not a fan of romance/erotica. I do like to read fantasy and Ms. Dawn expertly painted a vivid picture of the land of Fae.  The story line revolves around the growing bond between a human who accidentally finds herself in Fae, and an elf, soon to become king. I enjoyed this book, but would have liked it a lot more without so many scenes of explicit sex. I felt the plot could have moved a little faster and contain more action and I would have liked to see more depth and emotion layered into the characters. Perhaps that is a hallmark of the genre. That being said, fans of fantasy/erotica will love this book.

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Designing your book

6/15/2015

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As we move down the list, excitement builds. You've finished your book, polished it, what's next? Well, now it's time to make it look like a book. You can design and format your book yourself, but easy it's not, and time-consuming it is. However, the satisfaction you gain with the finished product can be immense. Your book can hold up with the best of them and you did it yourself. If you look at it with the eye of a perfectionist, no one will know it's not been professionally typeset. Take a look at books you own. What's in the front matter, the back matter? How do the pages line up? Do the chapters start on new pages? How far down the page? You'll need to take the time for a learning curve, and as always, you can find plenty of help online.
For purposes of this article I am referring to books written using MS Word.  Yes, you can typeset in Word, but as I said it's a nitpicky time-consuming job so take out your patience and polish it. There are many things to consider aside from the obvious ones such as book size. Obviously I'm talking about print books here. How do you get each page to have the same number of lines ending up level with each other? You need to learn how to use headers and footers, drop caps and the big one, eliminating too much white space in individual lines. Learn how to use Word's styles. That will save you a lot of time. Check the available online publishers like Createspace for tips and tricks.  Once you master the art of typesetting you can create your own template and each successive job will become easier and faster. Of course, by then you might have reached best seller status and have no need to ever do it again. I hope so. Good luck.

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The Writing Game

4/17/2015

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Following my train of thought from my last post, let's look at the first couple of  items on the list - writing and editing.  If you're a newbie, do you know how to structure a novel? Did you do your research for the content? So you've spent however long in your own private world putting out that first draft of your novel and loving every minute. Now what? Well, this might seem obnoxiously basic but, on the other hand, you might be so excited to finish you forget all about it. CREATE AT LEAST ONE BACKUP. Computer crashes happen when least expected, or theft, or fire, whatever, please don't lose all that work.
Remember, these posts are for authors who, through lack of funds, or for whatever other reason, have to do it all. Perhaps you have advanced degrees or a career in writing where you learned the ropes, but for those who weren't so lucky, here is the first sticking point.
You might dive right in to a rewrite, but let's say you're fairly satisfied with your manuscript. Now it's time to tidy it up. Editors are expensive, they're out of the question at the moment. You already did a spellcheck and grammar correction in Word or whatever program you are using, but your book is still not in any shape to be shown to anyone. Help is available out there. You need some editing software, either online or a stand-alone program. This might involve a little expense but certainly a lot less than an editor at this stage and you will be amazed how much your writing can improve by using one of these programs. These programs can point out:
- how many adverbs you used
- how many words and phrases you repeated
- how many clichés you used
- how much of your writing is "show" vs. "tell"
and much more.
So, okay. You've wrung your masterpiece through the wringer and come out the other end much improved, but this is just error editing. How about content editing? Now it's time to find out if there are any holes in your plot, mistimed scenes or glaring omissions. This too can be done for free or at a small cost by judicious use of the internet communities. You need some beta readers and they are everywhere. Do a Google search for readers, find a site you trust and you're almost ready to go. Before sending out your book, prepare a questionnaire to go with it and include any question you want answered about your story, such as:
- is my dialogue believable?
- is it boring?
- are there any parts you skipped?
- do I over inform?
These readers are invaluable, be sure to thank them. Make your corrections from the advice they offer and then re-edit.
These are only a couple of suggestions. Make sure your work is the best that it can be before proceeding to the next step.
See you next time.


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AUTHOR - Redefined

3/10/2015

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Don't you think the current definition of "author" needs some revision?  Most of us write because we love to, because we have to, among a myriad other reasons, but the job we love is only a minute fraction of what our calling involves. We Indie authors wear many hats and the workload can be overwhelming, depending upon how much of it you can delegate.

Let's suppose for a moment that you can't (and many of us can't for whatever reason) delegate any of it, then how much of your time is spent in the fun part of actually putting words down? Consider the following hats we have to wear:

             .  Writer
             .  Editor
             .  Cover designer
             .  Book designer
             .  Publisher
             .  Publicity agent
             .  Web designer
             .  Blogger
             .  Social media poster
             .  Marketer 

Now, let's say this is your first book and you can't afford or don't want to risk your hard earned money on delegating any of these chores and you're not an IT guru. The workload that must be waded through before you're ready to publish is overwhelming. There are fountains of information out there to help you, but do you have a year or two to read them all, and how do you decide?  Each item in the list contains numerous other chores that need to be done to complete your project. You are a lone star in a small galaxy, inside a super galaxy, zooming around to find your way home. Of course, if you just want to see your words in print you don't need to do any of this, but most of us at least want to sell a few books. Even traditionally published authors must promote their own work, travel to book signings, make podcasts etc.

Bottom line of all this is that you will only spend about a tenth of your time in the world you create with your writing, at least until you become rich enough to have someone else do it all for you. People who don't write probably don't spend any time considering this. If they think about it at all they will likely assume that you have a cushy life writing for a couple of hours a day and then spending the rest of your time with your feet up and they have no idea of the grit, determination and outright stubbornness it took to get your book in front of their face. Is there any other career that requires expertise in so many different areas? I was told once, a long time ago, "do one thing and do it right".  Would that I could.

So yes, I think "author" definitely needs to be redefined. We are all like single stars, our own one-person publishing house.








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    Indie author, member of the National Writers Association

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