Get me to 100+ followers, and I'll host Hard back copy (hopefully signed) of Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Dear blog followers:
I am astounded and excited by the amount of traffic on my page. I never anticipated this kind of response. To show my eternal gratitude, once I reach 100+ followers on GFC, I will host a giveaway of a hard back copy of Insurgent by Veronica Roth (the second book in the Divergent series). If my schedule allows, I'll be attending the Dark Days tour on Monday, and get the copy signed by Veronica.

Thanks again guys, you made this happen!

Tune in on Monday for an International Giveaway of a signed copy of Shawn Keenan's awesome book, The Intern's Tale!

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.






 My third selection for Breaking the Spine is a book that is also going on the Dark Days Tour coming to my town in the beginning of July, Insignia by S.J. Kincaid.

Amazon Book Description (Publication Date: July 10th, 2012):

More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible.

Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible—a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test and if he passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War III. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted—friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters—but what will it cost him?

Gripping and provocative, S. J. Kincaid’s futuristic thrill ride of a debut crackles with memorable characters, tremendous wit, and a vision of the future that asks startling, timely questions about the melding of humanity and technology.

What I am Worried About: Ender's game/ trilogy and the Shadow books that came after as companion novels are one of my all time favorite books. Because these books were so well done and this one sounds so familiar to that series, I'm worried that it won't live up. There was one review that compared the two, which I was very appreciative for, that said this book did well in the comparison between the two and he had just read the Ender books recently.

Why I am excited: I always love school/training books with a sci fi twist, so I'm excited to see what this author brings to the table. And hope to meet this author when he comes to my town!

Only a few more days to enter my international giveaway for Ingrid Ricks' book Hippie Boy: The Intern's Tale!

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Curmudgeon's Corner: Rant on the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy

Warning: this particular post is for mature audiences only. Contains some references to sex, and of course is about the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E. L. James, which in itself should give it an R rating. ;-)

Where do I even start? This set of books really doesn't need an introduction. Everyone knows about them.

Everyone was talking about this book, so I figured three things.
1. I'm a reviewer, so I better know what books people are talking about
2. These books are heavily based on the Twilight series (yes, that is where the YA connection comes in), and started as a fanfic. The names of Bella and Edward were changed to Anastasia and Christian of course, to protect the innocent... or something.
3. I knew it would be a really fun opportunity to bash a set of books.

I'll be honest. I enjoyed the ride... to an extent. I actually read the first one cover to cover, took a deep breath and started the second. By the third, I was heavily skimming.

I'll post links to all of my reviews, but by the third review, I was hitting my stride.
Fifty Shades of Grey Amazon Review
Fifty Shades Darker Amazon Review

Just to briefly recap. My first review gave a bonus star (total of 3 out of 5) because this book is either hated or loved-- there are no neutral opinions. That takes skill-- maybe not literary skill, but a skill nonetheless. The second review talked about how these books could lead to a drinking game because it seems like the author got tired of writing and just used cut and paste. Hey, if I could do that and make as much money as she did, I would! And now for the third, which I post below...

Fifty Shades Freed Amazon Review:
Holy crap! I. Am. Done. (If this doesn't sound familiar after three books, it should)
I am freed. Yes, pun fully intended. This Fifty Shades journey is finally over, and I am greatly relieved.

This is by far the worst book of the three. Ana and Christian get married, I think, in the beginning of the book, but it is so poorly written and shifts in time between past and present so quickly that it's hard to tell. Whether it's dream or real initially, I barely cared.

Do these characters ever work? Supposedly Ana is good at her job, but she's never there because she's having sex with Christian all the time or emailing him about the sex they are going to have. Do they have anything in common, actually? This was never clear. We know that Ana is into fixing broken people, so I guess that's why they are together. But I wonder how long she's going to put up with his nonsense and overbearing attitude.

The spark of interest I had from the development of supporting characters in the second book has vanished in the start of the third, since unfortunately, the first half is fully focused on the two most boring characters-- Christian and Ana. My skimming reached an all time high. The one high point, for me, was the moment with Leila. Then we are back the Ana/Christian fest. Too bad.

Did anyone else notice that this was likely one long fan fic and split into three books to garner more money? James is undoubtedly rich at this point from the sheer number of ratings/reviews by people. There are short, sloppy chapters pasted on the beginning and end of second book and again in the third. I would have preferred these to be left off to at least pretend to build some suspense. But after the one page ending of the second book, I knew who the bad guy was. Big disappointment.

And what about the continued repetitive phrasing? If I hear "Fifty," "Holy *^&%," "Oh" in italics, "Oh my," in italics, you catch my drift, I.Am.Going.To.Lose.It. (Yes, I'm tired of the staccato phrasing as well).

The ending was cheesy and a little disturbing (SPOILER ALERT: was anyone else really disturbed when Ana and Christian lick the Popsicle off of their son's hands in the same way they've done countless times to each other??). But it's done, and I got through it all.

Now, I can gleefully talk about how awful it is in gory detail with all of my friends. Yes, that is why I gave the first review the bonus star.

How do you feel about this trilogy? Do you love it or hate it, and why?

Writer's Cramp and a Cannibal's New Shoes

I highly recommend any potential writers out there to join www.writing.com and try out the Writer's Cramp. This is a forum to enter a Writer's contest every 24 hours, get creative and follow a given prompt, and get fast feedback from the judges, as well as other people following and reading the entries. Just keep your stories under 1000 words! It's really fun and gets you to think out of the box. Plus, if you win, you get a major ego boost.

One of my recent favorite prompts was: Write about a cannibal's new shoes. 

And this was my entry. Enjoy!

Beauty and the Shoe
 She knew she only had herself to blame. Sitting in front of her mirror, she ran a brush down burnished chestnut hair. Elyse turned her head left, then right. The delicate oval shape to her face only accentuated her loveliness. Long, thick lashes rimmed wide blue eyes. She was slim, but fit, and had the perfect amount of curve to her body. She was beautiful, and that’s what she asked for, she thought bitterly. But what a price to pay.

She remembered the moment as if it were yesterday. She had been poking around different antique shops one Saturday in the middle of fall. The wind had just started to pick up, and swirled a tornado of color in the streets—red, yellow and brown. If she hadn’t been in such a bad mood, she would have been delighted by the sight; autumn was her favorite time of year. But as it stood, she could only think of Josh’s kind but quick letdown. “I only think of you as a friend,” he had said, when she expressed her interest. She wasn’t surprised but still disappointed. She had let herself believe that this time, things would be different.

The sign outside of the store said “Mr. Upton’s Unique Gifts and Collectibles.” She had never seen it before although she had perused antiques on this street many times before. Several dolls with their painted smiles sat on different shelves. An ancient, dark violin sat in the corner. A set of china decorated with blue violets with one of the cups chipped on the edge was on display. Then in the corner, a faint gleam caught her eye. It was one of those old-timey oil lamps that looked as if a genie would come out of it and grant three wishes. She stood closer to it. A distorted reflection stared back at her. She had always struggled with her weight and gazing at her already wide face being stretched out even further was almost too much to bear. She snatched the lamp from the shelf and stalked to the cashier.

She supposed the man standing there was Mr. Upton. He was small, had creepy smile, and long beaked nose. “This all for you? Good choice. Hope you get what you are looking for,” he said as he rang her up. What a strange comment, she had thought at the time. She was buying the thing, right? Before she changed her mind, she grabbed the bag and almost ran out of the store.

That fateful night, she sat by the mirror, knowing that the reason Josh had turned her down was what she saw in the mirror. Stringy hair that couldn’t be tamed, crooked teeth, and just too much flesh everywhere. She took the lamp out of the bag, laughed to herself, and rubbed the surface. Much to her surprise, a green cloud floated out of the lamp. It was a genie.

“You get one wish,” said the floating green man. “But beware, there is always a price with magic.”

She couldn’t believe this. But she took her chance while she had it. “I want to be beautiful. I don’t care what the price is.”

The genie nodded and disappeared.

She looked back at the mirror. She looked the same. Must have been some sort of odd hallucination. Maybe she had been out of the sun too long. Suppressing her disappointment, she brushed her teeth and headed to bed.

The next morning, she felt different. She ran to the mirror. She was beautiful, just like she had asked.

Yes, that had been exciting, she thought, as she continued to brush her hair. Initially, she did think that it was worth it until she realized what the price was. She had to eat human flesh daily to maintain her beauty. That was the only way. What made things worse is that she craved fresh human meat. Every time that she had gone too long without eating, she started to drool around people—the worst was when it was someone she was dating. She had… eaten a couple of them.

But tonight had to be different. Josh had noticed her finally and was taking her out on their first date. She noticed that one thing that helped was getting the most uncomfortable shoes possible. If she was worried about the pain in her feet, she didn’t have time to think about how hungry she was.

She had found the most amazing shiny red stilletos. Hot, 6 inch heels that made her feet feel like a nightmare. She found a slinky red number that delineated every curve in her body. She was going to give him a night he’d never forget.

Josh picked her up and marveled at her outfit. “You look… amazing,” he stuttered.

The date was going perfectly with Josh hanging on her every word until gorgeous Liana, his ex-girlfriend stopped by the table. After Liana put one well manicured hand on Josh’s arm, he was a goner. He had enough manners to finish the date with Elyse, but he was very distracted the rest of the night.

Elyse had had enough. She had spent too much time and energy on this ridiculous man. When she took him back to her apartment that night, she was going to slip on a pair of comfortable slippers. And boy, was she hungry.

Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you check out the Cramp. Would love to know about your experiences!

P.S. I won this Cramp :-)

50+ Followers, THANKS!

I've been blogging for a little over a week and have accumulated more than 50 followers, thanks so much guys! I'm so excited for where this blog is going. I may not have as much time for daily updates as I did during my vacation, as I am starting my pediatric gastroenterology fellowship tomorrow, but I will definitely still be updating my reviews and rants.

I've loved reading your blogs, posts, and basically just meeting great like-minded people. Thanks for all of your support, and I can't wait to continue on our journey.

I have a great list of new upcoming authors that are going to do giveaways and interviews with Ensconced in YA, so stay posted!

Less than a week to go for my first giveaway of Hippie Boy: A Girl's Story by Ingrid Ricks!!!
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