JA Gee

Books

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Smashwords book reviews by JA Gee

  • Freelance Writing Guide: What to Expect in Your First Year as a Freelance Writer on Oct. 26, 2012

    Freelance Writing Guide by Christine Rice is written in a self-help book format, with the objective being helping other writers find a niche in the freelance writing world. The book isn’t very long, which works well for the topic, because there’s only so much you can say about becoming a freelance writer. The rest is up to the writer; practice, write, submission, repeat. The chapters in the book are succinct, Rice’s writing style is very on point and direct, without using terms that might be over a first-time writer’s head. She’s obviously been in the world of freelance writing for some time, because her experience shows in being able to convey her ideas without getting lost or sounding convoluted. It’s sort of a what to expect when you’re writing, in my opinion. She details out the process, but then also takes a turn and tells the readers what they can expect as they start to submit their works to different publications, whether it’s online at Yahoo or to a magazine. She deals with the idea of rejection, which all of us writers, I’m sure, have dealt with at some point, with grace and acceptance, and I’m confident this will help anyone reading this book deal a little better with that horrible word, “no” we will so often hear. Rice lists several avenues in which to attempt to find a career in freelance writing, which is very useful and none of which should be difficult to get into, and in my opinion that will only build the reader’s confidence in their own ability to pursue this career path. In conclusion, as far as self-help style of books go, I find this one five of five stars. It’s written very well, it’s the perfect length and it provides just enough information for the reader without drowning them in useless detail that they’ll end up learning for themselves anyway. If you’re looking for a career in freelance writing, I highly suggest you pick up this book asap!
  • Linehan's Trip on Nov. 16, 2012

    Linehan's Trip is a short story by Bryan Murphy. It's set in the year 2019, and tells the short tale of a man traveling to Padania to meet with FIFA officials. Being that it's a short story, I don't want to give away too much, because this short story is worth the read, especially if you are a fan of football. The main character is well fleshed out for being such a short story, which shows extreme talent on the author's part. He's not the best guy, a guy concerned about women and money, but from the first page you definitely feel like you know him. The thing that threw me off on a personal note, was that the story was told in present tense, which I've always had a bit of trouble with. However, that's a personal preference and should, in no way, dissuade you from downloading this story. My only critique was that being someone separate from sport and the workings of that industry, a lot of the story went over my head. I think the author's expanded idea in his novella using these characters and this subject matter, will be wonderfully enjoyable. Murphy definitely has a lot of talent and skill when it comes to writing, and that comes across in the short pages. If you download the book, you also get a preview chapter of his next novella, "Goodbye, Padania" where you can see an introduction to more characters and more of the world. I'm giving this short story 4 out of 5 stars, and definitely looking forward to seeing that world expanded.
  • 3 Through History: Love in the Time of Republicans on Dec. 26, 2012

    I was fairly confident that I'd love this book the moment I started looking into it. I'm a history addict, and even though this book isn't quite what I'd consider "contemporary lit" it's closer to the category than most books I've been reading lately, and I was excited for the shift. Well I wasn't disappointed, I can tell you that much. From a technical standpoint, the book is very well told. Often when a book is being told from two different view points, the characters can become muddled or interchangeable, but Fischman handles both characters with great care. The writing is very well done, tight and the prose is detailed enough to wrap you in his world, but not so full of unnecessary information that you get lost in the paragraphs and forget where you are. The book was also funny at times, which was a delightful surprise. It's not what I'd consider a comedy, but there's enough small smiles and little chuckles in there to keep you going. I read the book fast, and it's not a small book by any means, but I couldn't put it down. It was a nice treat during the hectic holiday season, and I would absolutely pick something up from Fischman again. This book is getting a very well deserved five of five stars!
  • The Slayer and the Sphinx on March 07, 2013

    The Slayer and the Sphinx is a nice story, short, listed as a novel but the length would make me consider it a novella. It took me less than a day to read, the pacing quick and the prose very easy to get into and flowed really well. The style reminds me of the classic children’s stories, not patronizing to the young readers, but not above their heads. For the first in this series, I found it to be pretty well done. I liked the characters, they were strong, well fleshed out and there was enough foreshadowing to keep you interested until the next book comes out. My critiques are that first and foremost, the chapters are often too short. There were plenty of times where the chapters could have been combined into one, and scene breaks could have been used. It was a little jarring to switch chapters after just a few paragraphs. Also the formatting for the kindle made it difficult to read. Now, being a self-pub author I know how difficult formatting can be for kindle, and the bonus is on the device you can adjust a lot of the formatting for yourself. However, I did have trouble as there didn’t seem to be page breaks used and the chapters were just jammed together which took away from the aesthetics of the book. I imagine in the paperback version that isn’t an issue, since I know formatting is very different between the two, but some adjustments could be made. I also didn’t like the use of as scene breaks. It was a little rough and distracting. Again, these are superficial things, so it shouldn’t take enjoyment out of reading the book itself. I’m giving the book a three stars, and I definitely think that Bolander is on to something with this book. I would definitely read his other works, and keep my eye out as this series continues.
  • Hound Dog (Vol. 4 of the Savannah Rossi Chronicles) on March 12, 2013

    Now, I’ll preface this by saying that Erotica is not my typical cup of tea. I realize the appeal of it, and definitely understand the popularity, but given a choice, it’s not a genre I read. Usually I find it plot-less and the circumstances so far out there, or not true enough to reality that I can’t connect with the story; and connecting is a big thing for me, no matter what I’m reading. Bearing that in mind, I actually thought this one was very well done. It had all of the typical “erotica” trademarks, the language, the situations, the detailed descriptions of both actions and character. Hound Dog is actually a short novella, so I wasn’t sure I was going to get anything out of it, or that I wasn’t going to see any character development or depth, but I did. I was pleasantly surprised. Being that the book is short, I’m not going to really give away any plot or action spoilers, but I will say that if this is your preferred genre, or if you’re looking to maybe get your feet wet with this type of fiction, this would be a great series to start with. It has awesome characters, a continuing plot-line, and while the book is very much erotica, there’s also enough connective text to make it entertaining as well. For this novella, a definite five of five stars!