Book Tour Review: Comfort of Fences

Hello fellow readers! Welcome to my stop on the tour for Comfort of Fences by Stacy Overman Morrison.

Title: Comfort of Fences

Author: Stacy Overman Morrison

Publisher: Telemachus Press

Published: October 17, 2013

Pages: 244

Format:  E-book

Source: Received from author in exchange

for an honest review

My Rating: 3 Stars

Synopsis:

Ruth is dying and her 52 year old daughter Denise has never paid a bill, lived on her own, or had a romantic relationship. Ruth knows she has been overprotective, but hoped that she would outlive her special-needs daughter. Metastasized cancer crushes that hope and forces Ruth to find a way to provide for Denise once she is dead. First Ruth turns to Social Security for Disability benefits. After tests, pokes and prods, doctors, nosy psychologists, and ill-furnished waiting rooms, the government declares Denise not eligible for benefits. Mad at the world and daring the government to arrest her so they will have to take care of her since they wouldn't her daughter, Ruth takes up smoking pot in the backyard. A few joints in, Ruth begins to realize her anger is self-directed. She doubts every decision she has ever made in raising her daughter that doctors, in the 1950s, labeled "retarded." Partially to coax her mother from the backyard and partially because Ruth will not speak of the past, Denise asks her mother to write down their history of which Denise has no memory. Trying to atone and explain how she could be so obtuse, Ruth agrees. Telling her story becomes an obsession for Ruth who sees the history as her only chance to leave a place for herself in the world since cancer is steadily eating away her physicality. While Ruth writes, Denise begins to pursue her own independence, despite the minor setbacks of a chopped off fingertip and chemo poisoning. She begins to make choices for herself and finally tells her mother pieces of her own truth: Denise stayed with her mother because she chose to, because she loved her mother more than any life she could make for herself. In claiming her own truth, Denise also chooses silence about the biggest secrets of all. Comfort of Fences explores the messy business of mothering. It is a story about the love between a devoted mother and her special daughter that exposes the irony that the people we love the most can also be the ones we underestimate the greatest.

Melissa's Musings:

Comfort of Fences is slow to start, but once it's up and running, you become involved and interested in the lives of the characters. 

Ruth is the glue of the story and her evolution throughout the book is the most interesting. I felt for her at first, because she seemed so stifled by her upbringing, and at the same time so naive. My opinion of her changed throughout the story as I personally don't agree with some of her choices, especially those involving Denise. 

This book is all about choices. It begins with Ruth's choice to pursue a romantic relationship with a man who turns out to have his own demons, that are ultimately too much for him. It follows Ruth through her life as she chooses to keep and raise a baby eventually on her own, after her parents try to interfere in a way that she doesn't like. 

The book deals with subjects that may be sensitive for some readers. It deals with alcoholism, mental disability, and cancer, to name a few. It is also what I would call heavy with religious elements. If any of those themes make you uncomfortable, I wouldn't recommend this book.

The format of the book is one that worked well for the story. When Ruth learns that she is dying of cancer, she decides to write down her story for her daughter, rather than try to explain it all to her. I think this was a nice touch, as it gives Denise a physical keepsake of her and her mother's lives together. Plus it ties the story together well.

As Ruth writes out the story, it the novel weaves in and out of the past and the present. As Ruth's battle with cancer becomes more serious, you get the sense of urgency in the telling of the story for Denise.

Of all the character's Georgia is my favorite. She's full of spontaneity and energy. But she also has a sadness to her that is so human. As happy and independent and carefree as she seems, she's just as weighed down by life as anyone else.

I felt that Denise's character was the most flat. She felt stifled, suffocated even. Both literally and figuratively. And maybe that was the point, as part of Ruth's evolution at the end of the novel is that she only hopes that Denise can see why she made the choices she made, and why she felt she had to stifle Denise. It was to protect her from all of the negativity in the world. I do understand where the development came from in terms of the story itself, but in terms of reality or real world application, I felt that the expectations for Denise were stereotypical, and that felt slightly demeaning in a way.

This book isn't without its flaws, but the overall story of friendship, and the demonstration that all the choices we make have an impact on the outcome of our lives are poignant themes that will stick with you after you finish this book.

Blog Tour Stop: Deep Connections by Rebecca Graf

Hello Fellow Readers!

Today I'm hosting a blog tour stop for the Premier Virtual Author Book Tours for Deep Connections by Rebecca Graf. My stop on the tour will feature an interview with Rebecca as well as my review of Deep Connections. 

Title: Deep Connections

Author: Rebecca L. Graf

Publisher: Silver Tongue Press

Published: August 7, 2012

Format: Paperback

Source: Received from author in exchange

for an honest review as part of a blog tour.

Synopsis:

Just as love appears, so does the darkness. With her heart reaching out for one man, Brenna finds herself the target of an unknown stalker. Who is he? What does he want? How far will he go for her? Death is an option. Brenna discovers more than she bargained for and learns that the stalker will kill for her. It all comes down to decisions, and no matter what she chooses it will demand sacrifice and someone's blood

Interview With Rebecca:

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Do you have any unusual talents or hobbies?

I am a pretty boring person. I love to read, write, and crochet. Watching movies with the family is fun, but other than that I’m pretty blah. J

 When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? 

For most of my life, I felt drawn to write but never felt that I could. In school, most teachers did not do more than read over my stories I submitted. They would go on about the talent of others. So, I assumed I couldn’t. Then I had some dreams that kept coming and preventing me from sleeping. A friend recommended just writing them to get them out of my system. It worked.

 Where did the inspiration for Deep Connections come from?

One of the dreams that was plaguing me was the foundation for Deep Connections. It wasn’t near as scary but more of a sweet romance. I began writing it just to sleep without dreams.

Deep Connections has been described by some readers as a romantic suspense thriller with paranormal elements. What made you decide to incorporate all of these elements into one story?

I never set out to do it. This was my first adult story I had written. It began as a sweet romance that developed from there. It all started with the kidnapping scene and developed from there. I will take no credit for it. It was all the characters who hijacked the story.

 Who is your favorite author?

Oh, I don’t think a true reader can have more than one. I love Tom Clancy, Amanda Quick, and many others. My list of favored authors grow every year as I meet new ones.

 Do you have writing routine? A special pen, a certain type of music, time limits?

Again, I am boring. I try to write a little every day. If I don’t get a couple of thousand words written a day, I don’t feel like I got much done. I do need to have a general quiet. I can write with noise in a coffee shop, but I cannot have a single bit of noise around me at home.

 Do you enjoy edits/rewrites, or not?

I used to not like them, but I have discovered that they can be the most fun part. A friend described my writing as a meal. I put the raw meat down in the first draft. From there, I season it, cook it, and then add the vegetables. I enjoy adding new scenes and adding a few lines here and there that change the entire story.

Do you do a lot of external research for your writing process? If so, what's the most interesting thing you've uncovered in your research?

In this series, I did not do much research. In the books I’m working on now there is a lot of research going into though not as much as I know many other authors go through for their material. It all depends on the story you are writing.

Which character  was your favorite to write and why?

Tahnee was my favorite. She was strong and wise. She was supposed to be a minor role, but she has taken on a whole new life. Tahnee has become someone I long to be.

How do you come up with your character names?

I went through a list of names and said them out loud. That is how I got most of them. For Tahnee, I did look up Native American names and then read them. The one that sounded the best got it. J

Please tell us a little bit about your journey to publication

As I was getting into the second or third draft, a friend said I had to publish it. As we went exploring, we did not like most of the options we found. I know I’ll get rejected by all the big traditional publishers. There are way too many writers out there to stand out. I don’t know anyone in the right position. I went toward the self-publishing route. That is when a friend and I decided to pull our knowledge with hers in editing and proofreading and mine in business to start our own publishing company. It was meant to be one to publish our works and maybe a few other people we knew. It exploded and we have 16 books coming out this year with only three or four being ours.

What is the hardest part of being a writer?

Not being able to get it all down immediately. As the muse speaks, I want to just write the whole story in one setting. That is just not possible. Time won’t allow for it. That gets so frustrating.

What is the main theme/feeling you're trying to portray in your work, or the main feeling you hope that readers will come away from the book with?

A sense of adventure. Life is an adventure that many of find in books. This is not a true story. It is not a story that doesn’t have flaws. It’s a story that can take the reader from this world and into another one that has adventure, romance, and a little scare here and there.

When you're not writing, what are your other hobbies/passions?

I read more than anything. Other than that, I crochet or watch movies.

 Are you working on any new projects?

Oh, I’m always working on projects. Dark Connections, the sequel, is about ready to go to the proofreader. I am writing three other stories that I hope will be out this year as well as the final in the Connections trilogy.

Quick Fire round:

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate

Rainy winter days or blazing hot summer days? Rainy winter days

Hard Copy or e-book? Hard copy

Favorite book? The Hunt for Red October

Last book you read? The Goddaughter

What's a quote that inspires you? You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. C. W. Lewis

What's your favorite comfort food? Ice cream

And now, I'll share my thoughts on Deep Connections.

Melissa's Musings:

My Rating: 2 Stars

Overall, I feel that the story itself has a lot of potential. But, there were several aspects that pulled me out of the story, and really detracted from the reading experience, which is why this has such a low rating.

One of the major drawbacks of the story is the writing style and use of language. The language is so stiff, and formal. It just doesn't flow well, and it doesn't sound natural. This story really could have used another round of editing. The language needs to be tightened in terms of unneccesary phrasing. At the same time, it needs to be loosened in terms of the formality of the language. If these changes were made, it would flow a lot better. Here's an example to demonstrate what I mean. This example stuck out in my reading just because it's so full of unneccessary filler and the phrasing is awkward:

"The beautiful, sunny weather that only increased her good mood was pulling her outside. Before getting dressed, some toast was devoured. As she left the kitchen, she noticed that her bowls had many cracks in them. Since it probably wouldn't be long before they broke or began to leak, it looked like some new dishes were in order. Nodding, she grabbed her purse."-Graf pg 46 (ARC copy)

I would say that at least half of this entire paragraph is completely unneccesary. The descriptions are almost too full. While I'm all for lots of detail, this much just feels forced.  Especially the sentence about the toast. No one would say this sentence aloud, it just doesn't sound right. There's also a lot of usage of nearly the exact same words or phrasings within just a few lines of each other, which can make the story drag a little.

These awkward phrasings don't just happen in non-speaking scenes. the stiffness and formality is present in times of dialogue as well.

Despite the stiffness of the language, one of the aspects of this book that I really enjoyed was the closeness of the Lightfoot family. You can tell that they all genuinely care for one another and they support each other, no matter what. It was nice to see them embrace Brenna so thoroughly as well, no matter how much she resists their attempts to include her.

Brenna, herself, is a slightly underdeveloped character, in my opinion. She has brief flashes of potential that could signal that she has some strength of character, but for the most part she seems more like a damsel in distress to me than anything. She just doesn't react the way I expect from a stronger character. She has flashes of anger about being controlled by Eaton or Slaton, but a lot of the time she's very passive. There's a scene in a cave where there's a fight going on between a wolf and her attacker, "The Creeper" Brenna doesn't react. She sits there watching, trying to get her clothes back on. She doesn't try to help, she just moves out of the way. I would think if someone were trying to attack me, and there was  a fight going on, I would try to help out the individuals that were on my side in any way possible rather than just standing there. Since this is book one of a trilogy, I'm really hoping that Brenna grows into her own and becomes a more capable character.

I'm always really curious to find out how authors pick names for their characters. And I've always really enjoyed characters with unique names. The names of some of the characters, Tahnee, Eaton, Slaton, Layford, they are all really unique, which is great. The only problem is, they are very similar sounding, which is confusing. Because of their similarity it's all too easy to confuse their personalities at times. And they're easy to mix up. There's one section on page 244 that really through me for a loop:

"Layton, his light fur rippling in the evening breeze, crested a hill and stopped cold."

It seems that the author combined Layford and Slaton and got Layton. Now, I realize that my copy is an uncorrected proof and that this mistake has likely been corrected in the finished copy, I'm simply using the example to illustrate my point that the names are too similar.

One thing that I wished there were more of was action. The story didn't really pick up until about halfway in, and even then it was more explanatory than action filled. If I'm guessing correctly though, there will be more action in the following books as most of the background has already been dealt with in this book. 

I also wish that the elements of lore and legend around Slaton and family's tribe were more thouroughly explained. Ms. Graf stated in the interview above that she didn't do as much research for this series, but I feel that it would have greatly benefitted if she had.

I have to admit ,I certainly could have done without the ability of Slaton and his family to turn in to wolves. It feels cliche. I  would have been perfectly satisfied with them having telepathic abilities without being able to turn into wolves. That way, you'd still have the supernatural element, without the overplayed aspect of the wolves. I was actually trying to ignore that element of it as I read, because I just didn't care for it, and just trying to focus on the telepathy, which is why I feel that ability would stand just fine on it's own.

Another element of this story that I appreciated is the romance between Slaton and Brenna. That does show through nicely, and the visions that they share are a nice accent to their romance. There's a bit of a love triangle for a while, with Slaton, Brenna and Eaton, but Brenna does eventually make her intentions clear, which is much better than having her stringing both of them along.

The good intentions of the story are clear, but the pull just isn't there with this one.

Black Lion Tours Presents: Witch in the Wind by Brenda M. Collins Excerpt and Review

Hello fellow readers!

Today I'm happy to be a part of the tour for Witch in the Wind by Brenda M. Collins. Read on for an excerpt and my review of this exciting book!

Brenda M. Collins'

Witch in the Wind

Everything happens in Bandit Creek when witches, warlocks and canine familiars slip through the portal from the magical world called THE OTHERLAND.

When murder strikes in Bandit Creek, and the victims aren’t who they seemed, powerful guardian warlock, Marcus Egan, is sent from The Otherland to investigate. What he doesn’t expect to find is Avalon Gwynn, the grieving daughter of the victims, who has no idea she’s an extraordinary, hereditary witch. And Avy’s pent up magical abilities have just been set free in the mortal world.

Can Marcus catch a killer while making sure Avy doesn’t bring Crow Mountain crashing down on the town—destroying Bandit Creek for the second time?

This is a sweet paranormal novella of approximately 50,000 words written for an adult audience but also suitable for young adult readers.

Website | Twitter | Amazon | Smashwords | Kindle

  

Enjoy an Excerpt

Everything happens in Bandit Creek when WITCHES, WARLOCKS, and CANINE FAMILIARS slip the portal from THE OTHERLAND

(Excerpt from Chapter 2)

Marcus debated if he should fade into the background. In his line of work, his talent for making even another witch’s eye look past him without registering his presence was useful.

He felt another power surge. “What the—

The woman wasn't the magic source. Fierce, dark eyes locked on him, not in a friendly, or mortal, way. And the beast already knew Marcus was there. What the hell is a familiar doing here? Familiars couldn’t be summoned. They appeared only when gifted by a more powerful spirit in times of great danger. There hadn’t been such a creature around The Otherland for centuries. So who sent this one to the mortal world, he wondered. And why?

Pushing away from the wall, Marcus wandered over to the reception desk. By habit, he moved with quiet steps, yet the young woman seemed to sense his approach and turned in his direction. She pulled the cap from her head, pushed loose wisps of hair from her forehead, and looked up at him.

His breath stopped in his throat and his mouth watered. The little nymph was more than the usual pretty combination of golden blond hair and flawless fair skin. Her electric blue eyes, even smudged with fatigue, jolted his gut in a way he hadn’t felt since his teens, when his magical energy was working overtime along with his hormones.

He smiled and managed to keep his stance casual as he kept one eye on the familiar and one on the woman. She seemed startled for a second but then returned his smile with a brilliant one of her own. The familiar didn’t. He bared his teeth and growled.

“I mean you no harm.” He didn’t want the familiar to blow his cover so he stood completely still as he spoke to it directly.

To the woman he said, “Is he always afraid of strangers?”

The familiar rumbled again as if insulted.

“Only you as far as I know,” she replied. Her voice, a rich alto, wrapped around him like a siren’s song. “He was fine with me, and the sheriff, yesterday.”

He blinked trying to regain some control of his brain. “What’s his name?” He eased his hand, very slowly, towards the familiar murmuring reassurances that only the magical beast would understand.

“I don’t know really. I found him last night with no collar.” She shrugged and a light flush colored her cheeks. “I’ve been calling him Busby. You know, after the big furry hats the guards at Buckingham Palace wear. When I first saw him on my porch, that’s what he reminded me of.”

That answers one question, Marcus thought. He’s here to protect this woman. But does she know that? With his hand dangerously close to the familiar’s mouth, he let the beast scent the strength of his power. Warlocks were a level above most magical creatures, having been bred for generations as warriors. Of course, that didn’t mean the familiar wasn’t as strong, or even stronger. No one knew how familiars travelled from witch to witch and many assumed they were from the spirit realm.

Finally, the creature eased back on his haunches.

“Busby’s giving me a reprieve.” He very slowly withdrew his hand. To the familiar he said, “Giving me a chance, aren’t you, Busby. But you let me know who’s got the teeth when it comes to this woman.” He stepped back.

My Review:

4 Stars

This book is fantastic. It's paced well, and the romance between the two main characters Marcus and Avy is  perfect. It goes at just the right speed, not too fast so as to be insta-love, but not so slow that you're wondering if they're even worth reading about. 

The blending of the real and magical worlds is excellent. I really enjoyed the separation of the non-magical world from The Otherland. There was just enough information to keep you hooked and wondering about The Otherland, but not so much as to overwhelm you. The book does a great job of incorporating the rules of Wicca, especially it's main covenant "And harm to none." I really liked that the book took them time to lay out these rules and to continue to follow and mention them throughout. A lot of times in books that deal with witchcraft, the setup can be so quick that the rules like these are forgotten or passed over, but it shows that the author took her time in planning to incoroporate the Wiccan elements.

One thing that always sticks out  for me is an author's use of color in their descriptions. I'm not sure why, but this is a particular detail that I tend to gravitate toward. There are great mentions of color in this story as well. Particularly in the descriptions of auras and the characters eyes. People from The Otherland have unique eye colors that they have to hide when they are trying to pass as human, and the descriptions of these unique eye colors are excellent.

This story is actually part of a much larger series, but it works very well as a standalone story. Personally, I'm not quite interested in the rest of the series just the storyline for these particular characters. I can't wait to see what comes next for them.

This is an action packed story and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes stories with well written romance and witchcraft.

Meet the Author

Brenda M. Collins has wanted to write romance since she was twelve years old. At the age of twenty, she spoke to an editor in Toronto, Canada, who expressed an interest in her story; however, she soon realized it takes more than an idea to be an author. She joined a number of writing groups to learn about ‘the craft’ and completed two mystery manuscripts. To help her fellow writers develop strong business skills, Brenda has published articles, and delivered workshops to hundreds of writers, on career planning, professional networking and presentation skills. Her most recent article, entitled How to Improve your Presentations, is in the 2013 Writer’s Market (Brewer, R.L., ed. F&W Media Inc. p. 153).

Brenda’s debut novel, WITCH IN THE WIND, starts with a murder, but comes to life with witches, warlocks, a canine familiar and a magical dimension called The Otherland. For upcoming titles in The Otherland Chronicles, and other stories, keep an eye on Brenda’s website www.brendamcollins.com and follow her on Twitter.