Children and Young Adult Author | Official Website
When he picked up that shiny stone from the small stream, nine-year-old Jake Howell would not have believed that it would trigger America’s first gold rush and that he would become one of the world’s richest and most admired men.
To order Charles A Reap, Jr.’s novel on Amazon click here.
Book blogger, Anie took time out of her busy schedule to talk with me about her blog Diary of a Wannabe Writer.
As a writer and a book reviewer, Anie believes it’s all about the books. Some of her favorite genres are urban fantasy and high fantasy.
It’s thanks to people like Anie that authors have a credible venue where they can receive authentic reviews on their work. Thanks, Anie!
Now that I’ve introduced you to Anie, let’s get to know her a little better.
Thank you for having me.
One day, when I was in a really bad place I was browsing YouTube and accidentally stumbled onto a BookTube video. This lead me down the rabbit hole that is the internet of books.
Soon after I discovered bookstagram and blogs that were dedicated to books (my favorite). I was blown away, by how many people read and love books as much (or more) than I do and like the same stuff.
Those people who work so hard on sharing booklove pulled me out of the funk and helped me rediscover my love for books. Before that I hadn’t picked up a book in months. I’ve been reading ever since.
After a few months of just observing, I opened my own blog. I wanted to be part of that world, even if only in a small way, and Diary of a Wannabe Writer was born. 🙂
Diary of a Wannabe Writer is my little piece of the internet where it’s all about books. I talk about books I’ve read, books I want to read, make random lists of my favorites and write about my writing journey.
I wish.:)
I’ve been blogging for a little over 3 years.
Before blogging, I posted reviews on Goodreads, so I don’t know the exact number, but it’s well over 400.
I review anything that sparks my interest, mostly urban fantasy, high fantasy, sci-fi, sometimes romance and anything with a paranormal element to it.
For me, it’s very hard to review a book I love, that is special to me because it’s hard to put those feelings into words.
I’m currently reviewing The Connely Curse by Velez, A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab & Angelbound (special edition) by Christina Bauer.
The whole blogging experience is very rewarding, but a few things stand out: like meeting people all over the world who like the same things as me, finding new books and genres that I would otherwise never pick up and read, and seeing people love the books I’ve recommended (that’s the best feeling :)).
Have fun with it, don’t take it too seriously.
That I love to talk about anything bookish with fellow book lovers, so just message me anywhere if you like to geek out over books.
Hopefully, book love.
I don’t think there is just one thing that makes a good story.
It has to be like some kind of magical blend of great characters, cool setting, amazing storyline & something else – but it’s one of those things, you know when you see it.:)
I rate similarly to Goodreads, from 1 to 5 ?.
?Hated it
?? don’t like it
???It was just OK, something missing
????I liked
?????LOVE IT, a new favorite
I focus on how the book makes me feel as to opposed to the characteristics of it. I can explain that better with an example, let’s take Twilight.
When reviewing it I could write about the dysfunctional relationship between Bella and Edward, the faults with Edward’s nature and the borderline parental neglect with regard to Bella, but to be perfectly honest, when I read the book I didn’t think about any of that.
I was so into the story that the world just melted away. And it’s been years since I’ve read it, but the story is still with me—that is a good book for me.
So when I’m reviewing a book I try to keep that in mind, how the book made me feel, if it pulled me into its world, if the story/ characters jumped out of the page and if the story stayed with me.
Other elements like story development and characters are important too, but those are not the things that stay with you, that affect you. And when I review the story, those are the things I’m looking for.
Wow, that’s a hard question. Harry Potter of course, after countless re-reads its still one of my favorites.
Relentless Series by Karen Lynch, Penryn & the End of Days Series by Susan Ee, anything by V.E Schwabb (she is absolutely amazing).
Rick Riordan & Christina Bauer. Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I love fairytale retellings, Ready Player One and so many more. It’s very hard to just pick a few.:)
I love Marvel movies, I’ve been a fan ever since the first Iron Man. I’ve watched that movie like a million times.
As for TV shows, I have this habit of quitting the show in the middle of the season and never wanting it to watch again.
Regardless of that, I love Friends (watched it so many times I have every episode memorized), The Big Bang Theory, Lucifer (first season), Scorpion (first season), Arrow & Flash (both just the first season—can you see a pattern here ? 🙂
Most of the time I’m reading. 🙂
I also love to write and make up new stories, spend time with my niece, watch Netflix and waste lots of time on social media.
All you have to do is send me an email with info about the book and if the story sounds like something I would enjoy I’m happy to review it.
I have a blog [http://diaryofawannabewriter.blogspot.com/], bookstagram [@aniesbooks] & Twitter [@anie_1027].
Thank you so much!
Author Ariel Bernstein’s Latest Book Is Now Available On Amazon!
Warren and Dragon are setting out on their most unspooky, totally normal, not-scary-at-all adventure yet…their first sleepover!
Warren is a seven-year-old boy and Dragon is part stuffed animal, part fierce dragon, part best friend–depending on what part you believe most. And Michael is their new friend and next-door neighbor.
When Michael invites them over to go “camping” in his basement, the dynamic duo don’t know whether they’re more excited or nervous about it. This is their very first sleepover. EVER.
Sure, Michael promised there would be not one but two desserts to look forward to. But he also said he wants to swap–gulp–scary stories.
Warren can think of nothing more embarrassing than calling his parents to pick him up early from a sleepover, but how is he supposed to fall asleep in a dark basement full of mysterious and unfamiliar noises?
Today I have the pleasure of interviewing children’s author Keith Fechtman.
When you visit Keith’s Facebook page, you’ll see a slogan at the top that reads, “Change your life: One book at a time.”
This positive attitude is how Keith approaches life. Whether it be National Milkshake day or Christmas, each day holds new experiences and should be celebrated. Through his books, he hopes to uplift people and inform them about dyslexia.
Keith lives in Indiana with his family.
Now that I’ve introduced you to Keith, let’s get to know him a little better.
Thank you for having me.
My father wrote a book when I was younger, but it was never published because of the difficulty 30 years ago with getting a publisher. I wanted to follow in his footsteps but take it one step farther.
No—I wish!
Since I was a kid
3
Children’s
Making sure kids will enjoy it
3 books with illustrations
From friends and family around us
Kids reactions and running into old acquaintances that now have kids
Struggles as a kid with reading, writing, and spelling
Make sure your stories are meaningful, inspirational or impact society
My goal is to educate those that might not know that they have Dyslexia or some form of it.
Challenges and how you can overcome them
Donald Miller—Building a Story Brand, Work Inspired—Aron Ain, Hank Zipzer—Henry Winkler
Rocky and Star Wars
Gym, Running, Kid’s Events, Date Nights with Wife
Not really—never got it launched—still a dream of mine since most local authors go unknown for years. I just need the funds to get it going.
Play the Dad
First see if he is ok, then ask him how he got his name, next find out why he got the tattoo?
The Doylestown Book Shop is the second stop on my Independent Book Store tour. To bring an awareness of how vital these places are, I’m interviewing the great folks who manage them.
The Doylestown Book Shop, in downtown Doylestown, PA, is owned and operated by Glenda Childs.
She employs a wonderful staff, all dedicated to bringing their customers an alternative to the ordinary. They carry an extensive inventory of new and nearly new books from classic literature to current bestsellers.
A few weeks ago, Glenda and I took some time to chat about her book shop and what inspired her to open it.
Thank you for having me.
I have loved reading and books since I was a little girl. I worked in education for many years before I purchased the Doylestown Bookshop, which was a good segue into bookselling. I especially love the way the bookstore is a part of the community.
We opened the Doylestown Bookshop in 1998. We thought a bookstore would do well there and wanted to offer this community-centered business to the local residents.
Mostly, running an independent bookstore is about being a part of the community, understanding their literary needs, bringing books into their lives through author events, school visits, and book celebrations. We belong to the American Booksellers Association, a great resource for training and industry knowledge.
Yes, but it appears we have settled into a place where a certain percentage of all book sales goes to online, e-books and brick and mortar stores. We try very hard to focus on offering the best customer service and providing a unique shopping experience in our stores that might make us different.
In addition to offering a unique shopping experience and wonderful customer service, we work hard to generate off-site sales through events, book fairs, book talks. We are fortunate to live in a community that supports our bookstores.
Spacious locations, knowledgeable, kind booksellers, curated inventory based on community needs. And our staff picks walls!
Children’s books sell well, as do adult fiction, biography, and history.
Yes! We have Independent Bookstore Day in April, we do sidewalk sales in January and July.
Yes! This is an important part of our business, not just for sales, but for our mission statement as well. We want to bring educational experiences to the community and author signings do this.
Authors must write from their heart and experience, but also know who their audience is. Self-published authors also need to understand the importance of marketing their book and generating interest in their work. Joining writing groups might help with some of this.
Here is an interesting fact: The Berenstain Bears authors, Jan and Stan Berenstain were former Doylestown residents. Their son has continued writing these much-loved books.
Many years ago the Doylestown Bookshop became the official provider of Berenstain Bears books. They listed us on their website, have a large selection in our store and we ship Berenstain Bears books all over the world!
My two favorite books over the last couple of years have been A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. It is very hard to choose favorite books or authors as it is always changing!
Yes! Krisy Paredes is our marketing and events manager. We have another staff member who manages our website.
It is important that we have a consistent social media presence to help promote books and events. Our website is an indie commerce website where customers can learn about upcoming events and purchase books.
http://www.doylestownbookshop.com/
Stacey Garrity is a busy mom who loves books. She discovered her passion for reading as a small child and has been a bookworm ever since.
In 2015, after years of posting reviews on public sites, she started her blog Whispering Stories. Under Stacey’s careful and creative administration the blog is flourishing.
Since its inception four years ago, Whispering Stories has become very influential in the book reviewing world, garnering recognition from several organizations.
It has Professional Reader status through Net Galley, won the Top 50 Fiction Blogs Award and was a Nominee for the 2019 Best Book Blog.
WAY TO GO, STACEY!!
Stacey lives in Manchester (UK) with her family.
Now that I’ve introduced you to Stacey, let’s get to know her a little better.
Thank you for having me.
I can’t say anything inspired me to become a blogger. This might sound crazy but until I became one I’d never actually read a blog page but knew they were massive business.
I’d had a big love for reading for many years and I always understood how much work went into writing a book, for that reason I always left a review for the books I’d read on Amazon and Goodreads.
It hit me one day, why not write these reviews on my own site as well, so I started a blog.
My hubby is a computer programmer. He taught me basic HTML, helped me set up a page, drew the header, and sorted out the domain.
The rest as they say is history.
Whispering Stories is primarily a book blog with a team of reviewers. As of today, there are fourteen of us reviewing books.
The blog began in February 2015 and it was just me. At first, I was going to be the sole reviewer but after a few months in authors, publishers, and tour companies overwhelmed me asking me to review for them so I put a call out for others to join me.
The reviewers are all amazing and I wouldn’t run the blog without them.
We also have a sideline of reviewing places of interest and holidays, called ‘Whispering Wanders’. It started out as a separate blog but running two blogs was hard work so it became a category on this one.
I wouldn’t say that blogging is my full-time profession (although my hubby says I run it like a business – Lots of paperwork, spreadsheets, diary, etc.). I don’t actually work.
I used to do some freelance, but that has dried up recently. Unfortunately, I had to give up work around twelve years ago due to my youngest son, now aged thirteen.
He was born with a very rare illness called X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia. Which basically means he is immune deficient.
From around nine months old, he spent a long time in a hospital far from home. His health was exceptionally poor and no-one could work out why. He’d get infection after infection and even some antibiotics wouldn’t work.
After numerous tests we eventually got his diagnosis. Twice a week, he has to have immunoglobulins infused into his leg over a period of time to give him a partial immune system.
He gets sick a lot. He’s had numerous hospital stays and has regular checks on his health.
Because of his illness I had to give up my job as a telecoms manager and become a carer.
Who would want to employ someone who had to take every other week off to spend time in the hospital with their child? My middle son is also autistic, so he needs me too.
Just over four years, I started in February 2015.
I had to get my calculator out to work it out as the books are put in different categories on the blog. As of 28th April 2019 we have reviewed 1,396 books.
We cover most genres including non-fiction and children’s books. It would be easier to tell you what we don’t cover – religious, medical, self-help, biography, memoirs.
Good question. Novella’s can sometimes be hard, especially when they are very short as you don’t want to give the plot away but you also have little to go on, so the reviews can be really short.
I would say the most challenging aspect isn’t a genre it’s the five star books. If you find a book is okay, or not great you have lots to work with, what you did like, what you didn’t like. What worked or didn’t, characters you did and didn’t like.
When you absolutely love a book and it is flawless, I sometimes find that I’m lost for words. I just want to say – ‘READ THIS BOOK IT IS AMAZING’ but as a reviewer I have to say far more than that which can be hard sometimes.
At this moment in time, I have just reviewed Love and Other Things by Louise Leverett and A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher.
I’m about to choose my next book. I’m actually on a strange week where I have nothing booked in so it’s a free choice of what to read.
I’m also re-reading The Mortal Instruments series as there are new spin-off series being released, and it has been years since I last read them. I can’t remember everything that happened so decided to re-read them.
Ummm, I’m not sure. Possibly a combination of things – My reviews have been mentioned in and on the cover of numerous books.
I have met (physically and online) lots of fabulous authors and bloggers.
I’ve attended lots of author and blogger events.
I have made some wonderful friends in the reviewers that review for the blog.
I have also had the pleasure of helping lots of authors too and had some lovely thank you’s from them.
I also think that just having access to lots and lots of superb books is also rewarding.
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
Don’t expect to get hundreds of views on your blog straight away, it takes time to build an audience.
Make sure you check spellings and grammar on your posts.
You can become a blogger at any age – Don’t think it’s only for younger people.
Remember it is your blog, your platform and you can write what you want on it. You will never please everyone, so just be yourself.
My dad once gave me a piece of advice when I was growing up, no-one is ever above you and no-one is ever below you.
In other words, don’t look down your nose at someone and don’t let someone look down their nose at you.
Because of this I’m as genuine as they come. Some people don’t like that about me, others appreciate it. I don’t hide who I am. If you don’t like me, then that’s fine, I’m not expecting everyone to.
My family (hubby and kids) come first and everyone else comes second.
I’m not that great at chit-chatting with people I don‘t know as the left side of my brain works slightly slower than it should (I have epilepsy), and sometimes I find it hard to work out what to say or I say the wrong thing and people look at me like I’m not right in the head.
On a lighter note, I live in Manchester, UK and have three children, all boys, (well one is an adult in his twenties now). I home educate my younger two, (mainly because of their health issues). I also have two pet rats called Chilli and Lime.
I always put 100% effort into everything I do, including reviewing and working on the blog.
Just that reading is good for you. It opens doors in your imagination and takes you to places you most likely never even knew you could visit. Books are good for the body and soul.
It would depend on what genre I was thinking about.
Thrillers have to have great characters, both good and bad. The pace has to move at a faster speed than most other books.
I prefer short snappy chapters and lots of red herrings thrown in. Also don’t expose the big reveal too late or let it slip too early.
Romance has to have likeable characters. I’m not much of a will-they-won’t-they kind of person, nor a love triangle.
I also don’t particularly like books that are like movies, a misunderstanding causes a couple to fall a part then ten chapters later they realise it was all a mistake and get back together again.
I find these scenes unrealistic and have been written in one way or another hundreds of times. I like lots of humour in my romance novels.
Novellas have to be fast paced the whole way through, not linger on character development too much and have a plot that can wrap up quickly.
1-5 stars
5 – Masterpiece – We loved it. Would happily read over and over again.
4 – Outstanding – Thoroughly enjoyed the book, didn’t want to put it down
3 – Good – We enjoyed the book, even with a few minor flaws or sections we didn’t like.
2 – OK – Generally these are the books that we found ok but nothing special.
1 – Not for Me – These were the books we didn’t enjoy.
The review has to be spoiler free. You rate the book not the author. So the review is about the plot, setting, characters, etc.
Oh Gosh this is a hard one for me as I love so many authors. Specifically on books and authors who I have read repeatedly.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – I’ve read this book three time.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – I think I’ve read this book at least six times
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon – Read this one three times and seen the stage play.
I’ve also read Marie Lu’s, Cassandra Clare’s, Veronica Roth’s, Carole Matthews, J K Rowling’s, Roald Dahl’s and Enid Blyton’s books many times too.
A few modern day authors who books I love are – Ali McNamara, Terry Tyler, Kierney Scott, M J Lee, C J Tudor and Janet Evanovich. This is only a few of a vast list. I could go on for a long time.
This is where I will show my age.
Movies:
It’s a Wonderful Life, Back to the Future, ET, Goonies, Gremlins, Terminator, Top Gun, Die Hard, Dirty Dancing. Scrooged, Pretty Woman, Shaun of the Dead, Harry Potter Movies, all of the Avengers Movies (we watched the last one, Endgame, on Friday).
TV Shows:
Two and a Half Men, ER, The BlackList, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Derry Girls, The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Little Sheldon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House, Agents of Shield.
Probably still pottering around the house, reading a book or educating my sons. That or food shopping. On the weekends you can find me zoning out from the world in Costa Coffee – I lead an exciting life.
By following this link https://whisperingstories.com/review-policy/ and reading our review policy. At the bottom of the page it will tell you who to contact and how to request a review.
We run a weekly interview slot called ‘The Writing Life of:’. This is posted every Thursday on the blog. It fills up really quickly for the year though. In fact I have one space left available this year, and that is in December.
I’m honoured that so many authors want to be interviewed on the blog.
I’m also just starting a new interview segment for those who have already been interviewed on The Writing Life of: to see where they are now and what is new in their lives and with their writing.
This is for authors who interviewed over a year ago on our original interview slots.
You can find us in numerous places
Blog – https://whisperingstories.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/storywhispers (come and give us a follow, we follow all authors back)
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/whisperingstoriesblog
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.co.uk/storywhispers/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whisperingstoriesblog/
