Bev

Bev Robitai currently works as a writer, book coach, and freelance photographer while travelling in New Zealand and Ontario in Canada. It's an itinerant lifestyle of year-round summer involving boats and motorhomes and a ski chalet. She writes mostly light crime fiction, sometimes based in the theatre and sometimes straying into post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Her novel Murder in the Second Row was launched in June 2010 in a historic theatre that was also used as the setting for Body on the Stage. A decade of backstage experience gave her the raw material for both books.

A stand-alone novel Eye for an Eye is the tale of a quest for justice, inspired by the actions of a real-life conman whose trail of victims made the author angry enough to imagine retribution - in some very inventive ways...

The Sunstrike novels are set in a post-apocalyptic present day world when a major solar storm has wiped out all electrical technology. They are optimistic survival adventures following normal people learning and adapting to difficult new circumstances.

Website: http://bevrobitai.co.nz
Twitter: @bevrobitai
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/bev-robitaille/a/972/450

http://letsbuybooks.weebly.com

Back to profile overview

Back to profile overview

acting    actors    adventure    american history    baby care    baby hygiene    bottlefeeding    breastfeeding    canada    carrington event    changing    cheat    christianity    colic    conman    cornish pirates    cornwall    crime    crying    defraud    director    doomsday    drama    easy self publishing    eotwaki    farm girl    farming    feeding    fitness    formatting and cover design    formatting ebook guide    formatting for createspace    formatting for kindle and smashwords    formatting your book    fraudster    friendship    ghost    gym    happy babies    historic    historical    historical fiction    homosexuality    how to self publish    how to use createspace    investment    liar    lighting    murder    mystery    nanny    naval battles    new mother    new zealand    newborn    parenting    passion    performance    post apocalypse no zombies    post apocalyptic    postapocalyptic    publishing ebooks    publishing your own books    reduce stress    reduce worries    rehearsal    relax your mind    religion sex politics    repression    revenge    romance    routines    rural life    sailing    sailing adventure    sailing thriller    seafaring    selfsufficiency    sexual freedom    smuggling    social history    solar flares    solar storm    solar storm teotwawki shtfapocalypse post apocalypse corornal mass ejection cme carrington event survival dec 21 2012    spirit    stage    stage crew    stammering    stress advice tips    stress and anxiety    stress and coping strategies    stress free life    stuttering    survival    survival adventure    survival in a dystopic world    survival science fiction    swearing    tall ships    technology    theater    theatre    toronto    traditional babycare    travel    weight loss    worries prioritising    worry less    yachting   

• Butcher of Dreams on Jan. 11, 2011
  
  It takes a gripping ebook (and my lack of an ereader) to keep me glued to my computer in this perfect summer sunshine when I could be at the beach. But for the last two days I’ve been too engrossed in the unfolding story of Lee Fairchild and her struggling New York theatre to spare a thought for the tempting waves lapping on golden sand just a couple of blocks away. No, I’ve been in a cold dark theatre being scared out of my wits – and loving it! This book keeps raising the level of suspense with consummate skill, teasing the reader and daring them to guess who the murderer might be. Like Lee, we’re unable to figure out who to trust. The people closest to her have so many secrets to hide we just can’t tell who’s responsible for the escalating weirdness, the blood-laced rituals, and violent deaths that threaten to bring the theatre to its knees. You northern folk, buy Butcher of Dreams and read it now. Those in the southern hemisphere, buy it and save it for next winter! Reviewed by Bev Robitai, author of Murder in the Second Row.
  
• Shadows in the Night on Jan. 23, 2011
  
  This is a fascinating tale, rich with period detail and written with great historical fluency. Evan Andrew knows his material and uses it to weave a compelling story of Julia and her change of circumstances. From a glittering life amid the bustle of the Royal Court, she leaves to live with a curmudgeonly great-uncle out in the country. She expects a quiet life, but is swept up into the danger and deceit of smugglers who operate along the south coast of England. There is romance too, and a difficult choice to make there. Immerse yourself in this intimate view of days gone by.
  
• The Spanish Woman on Feb. 10, 2011
  
  Wow, Evan Andrew really knows his historical background. The story is a little slow to start, but once we get into following the heroine's dramatic adventures it's absolutely rivetting. She shows astonishing presence of mind to cope with the rough treatment she gets when her ship is seized, and to strike up the right relationships with her captors to ensure her survival. Placed in an unthinkeable situation, she triumphs and we get a vivid glimpse into life in 17th century Turkey as a warm and genuine love story unfolds.
  
• Cripin Place on Feb. 10, 2011
  
  An extraordinarily honest, tell-all tale about the slow loss of ability that comes from living with Multiple Sclerosis - and yet it's a tale of inspiration, strength, and laugh-out-loud moments. David writes with that strong English sense of humour, finding ways to laugh at the most dire situations that would have others squirming with embarrassment. A highly entertaining book that deserves a wide audience - I recommend it.
  
• The Falling of Shadows on March 03, 2011
  
  I just read 'The falling of Shadows' and was very impressed. It has real depth and some fabulous writing - with the sort of characters that stay with you long after the book is finished. It’s a powerful contemporary family story told with genuine warmth, and I loved it. I hope Wren Harris puts more books on Smashwords soon – I’ll be first in line to download them.
  
• First Class Male on April 28, 2011
  
  The hero of this romance is indeed a first class male, which is refreshing in a genre where the heroes are often, at least at the start, domineering, truculent and aggressive. Alex Bentley is actually nice – a desirable male lead with integrity as well as good looks. He treats frustrated writer Rachel Clark with kindness and decency, never snarling or behaving badly as their relationship unfolds. Rachel is a lively and intelligent heroine, and she too behaves like a real person, not a limp flower at the mercy of her emotions. Given that two such smart, sensible people would have no trouble in getting together, it takes a strong plot to keep them apart, and Raven West provides this very convincingly. The stakes increase with each turn of the story, leading to a fully satisfying conclusion thanks to the cleverness and persistence of the characters. The writing style is clever too, there are repeated phrases and a symmetry in the characters’ actions which serve to lift First Class Male to well above average. You may feel that you know more about the US Postal service than you expected by the end of the book, but you’ll have enjoyed a strong and vibrant story about people who are well worth spending time with. Reviewed by Bev Robitai
  
• Undercover Reunion on Jan. 13, 2012
  
  It's great fun to find a book that seems to be written specially for ME! I was a devoted fan of The Man From Uncle and would dearly loved to have been one of their agents (I even had a membership card but an overzealous teacher confiscated it and lost it.)Raven West has tapped into the same desire that a million women of 'a certain age' must have had and has made it come true, and at a boring old school reunion, too! There are strong characters and plenty of action, so it held my interest all the way through. As a proofreader I found a few glitches, but they didn't detract from the story and I'm sure the author will have uploaded a corrected version by now. (Hint!) An easy read that ticks a lot of boxes for an entertaining crime novel.
  
• Shadows of Doubt on July 25, 2012
  
  I enjoyed Julia's adventures in Shadows in the Night and was delighted to find the sequel was even more fulfilling. Julia has men vying (in a courtly manner of course) for her affections, and is torn between the safe, slightly self-satisfied Stephen (and his appalling mamma) and the high-octane, high-risk French charmer Alain. The maid Smithers might not have agreed but I felt Julia made the right choice in the end!
  
• Overcoming Bears on Dec. 02, 2013
  
  Posted on behalf of Ken Christopherson. "I just finished reading "Overcoming Bears" by Willow Alber and had to write to tell you how enjoyable the read was. As a Canadian who has lived from coast to coast I was able to envision the locals that Willow describes in her work. I am currently living in Saskatchewan, right on the Montana border, so her comments on the Kalispell area were also easily recognizable. Her insights into generational family dynamics made the book hard to put down and illustrated that everyone has "bears" to overcome. I surely hope there is a sequel coming as there is a lot more of this story to be told. Please encourage Willow to keep up the good work."
  
• The Viking Space Princess Part 1: Skyla on April 24, 2014
  
  This is a very promising Part One, and I can't wait to find out what happens next. The story is powerfully set up with strong characters in a vividly-created setting - I love the Viking Maidens in full battle array! Why hasn't anyone done Viking Space women before?! Skyla has landed herself in a difficult and probably dangerous situation on board a spaceship she had only planned to visit briefly when it suddenly launches into battle mode. I'm hoping Part Two lets me know she survives!
  
• Georgina on May 05, 2014
  
  An inventive story that grabs you immediately. The setting is fresh and well-described, the characters strong and believable, the plot astonishing! Makes you wonder where these ideas come from! But I was very happy to be entertained by them.