Write a Blockbuster and Get it Published - Lee Weatherly and Helen Corner

This is going to be slightly different from my normal book reviews as this is a non-fiction book and I wouldn't call myself an expert in non-fiction. I'm afraid it's going to be quite short because I loved this book!

Write a Blockbuster and Get it Published is a book that gives you great advice about both the writing and publishing process.

Blockbuster shocked me in how easy it was to read. Usually books like this are full of jargon and it makes you nervous, but not this book. It was so easy to understand, even if you don't know what all these literary terms mean, making it accessible to everyone.

It was crammed with great tips and I particularly liked the 10 things to Remember at the end of each chapter. It's a brilliant way to sum up and drive the points home. It's also a good reference point to read back on when you need some advice or you're stuck. I have a feeling I'm going to pick this book up over and over again just to read specific parts I might need help on.

Most importantly it reminded me that I don't know everything about writing. No one does. It's a craft you never stop learning.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will pick it up again and again. I recommend it for anyone who's written anything.

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Movellian / ZA Ready

Contact me with any questions or chatter here: molly.looby@hotmail.com

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

A Spoiler Free Bit About The Book

The man and the boy journey along the road, headed south, trying everything they can to stay alive in the grey surroundings left by the apocalypse. 

My Review

Before I start, I don't think I fully 'got' this book. I think I was reading far too shallow and if I'd gone deeper I would've enjoyed the whole thing a lot more. I understand why this book is so famous and acclaimed but it wasn't for me.

I loved how the two characters were simply 'the man' and 'the boy' and how they could've been anyone. It set the sad tone for the book. Though they could've been anyone, I found it surprisingly easy to get to know the two characters.

The Road was just full of the most beautiful descriptions but they just went over my head. It seemed too much and it was too heavy. I really struggled to picture anything because of the amount of description. Saying this though, the sentences flowed altogether in the most magnificent way. But because of the repetitiveness of the book I felt like I'd read the same description over and over. I'm sure it's meant to feel like that but I didn't enjoy the sensation, I just got bored.

Not enough was going on for my taste. I don't need action jam packed into every page but I do need a bit of something. I was thrilled every time they spoke but even then I wasn't sure what was going on and who was speaking because there are no paragraph breaks. I know it's supposed to be ambiguous but it was really difficult for me to follow at all.

I suppose I just didn't get on with the style at all.

I must also mention that this is the first book I've read all the way through on the Kindle and I didn't like it. I want to see the pages and know how far I am through by looking, rather than the percentage at the bottom. I like turning pages and physically progressing. I can't believe how much I struggled with the Kindle but it just really isn't for me.

After everything, the ending was so powerful and brilliant it brought a tear to my eye even though I'm pretty sure I missed the point to the whole novel.

Evaluation

Plot - 9/10 - there was nothing wrong with the idea at all

Way Plot Was Pursued - 7/10 - I felt a little more could've happened

Characters - 7/10 - it was hard to work out who was doing what

Style - 7/10 - just because I didn't get on with it doesn't make it bad

Pace - 8/10 - the pace was okay, sped up towards the end

Would I recommend it? No. I would end up putting someone off by trying to explain it and I don't want to do that.

Would I look up the author? No. I didn't get on with his style enough.

The Road is a book I would've enjoyed much more had I analysed every sentence. It's a book to study rather than read.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor / Ghostwriter / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com

Chancing the Truth is almost here . . .

I think it's about time we all got ridiculously excited about Chancing the Truth, the third book in my Immorality of Immortality trilogy!

Check out my blurb:

We'll never be free. Only the end can release us.

Forget Adelina, Stephan's the real god of this castle. You disobey and you're plunged into hell and there's nothing you can do about it.

Unless of course Stephan goes too far. Unless of course you're given something to live for. Unless of course you're strong enough to fight.

I wasn't a year ago.

I am now.

I am Felix Hesper and I am in control.

Through the eyes of Felix, Damien and Lilya, the newest addition to the Senate, Chancing the Truth takes you on a journey of survival to the heart wrenching finale of the Immorality of Immortality trilogy.

I'm struggling to squeal about it without giving anything away but trust me, you will love Chancing the Truth. It is my absolutely favourite of the Immorality of Immortality books for good reason. 

I adored writing Chancing the Truth back in 2012. By the end of it I was well surpassing 1,000 words a day with total ease. I think this was probably the easiest thing I've ever written. The story just burst out of me like I had no choice.

This trilogy taught me almost everything I know about writing and has been the single most incredible experience of my life and I have no idea how to cope now it's over. Felix Hesper and Damien Avery have been with me for four and a half years and I don't really know how to say goodbye to them. At least I don't have to for a while. As long as people are still reading about them they'll still be around. And as if I could ever stop them chattering away in my head.

I must take this opportunity to thank my amazing friends Anna and Dave for getting together with me seven times to read Chancing the Truth  from cover to cover. We overcame some weird sentence structure, some irrelevance, some down right confusion and clichés and I couldn't have done it without their support!

I cannot wait to release Chancing the Truth and our new narrator Lilya on all of you! I'm dying to know what everyone thinks!

So to celebrate, I've re-released books one and two, Playing with Reality and Gambling a Fairytale on Kindle so they're now 77p and affordable to all (who have a Kindle or the Kindle app!)

PWR: http://bit.ly/PWRKindle

 GAF: http://bit.ly/GAFKindle

The only thing left to do is a final proofread and convert this bad boy to print and digital format.

We have never been closer . . .

To make sure you don't miss a single thing, 'like' the Immorality of Immortality trilogy on Facebook! http://on.fb.me/1cpMwEc

"Life is unexplainable and unexpected – especially when you can’t take anymore. This is my story, and I’d like to end with agony."

This is really happening!

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Movellian / ZA Ready

Contact me about anything writing, books, vampires or zombies here: molly.looby@hotmail.com

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

First I'd like to thank my friend Sophie for lending me the book otherwise who knows how long it would've taken me to read this!

A Spoiler Free Bit About The Book

Socially awkward Charlie writes a series of letters as he tries to navigate high school, new friends and family conflict while all the while trying to "participate" though his natural instincts are to simply watch and listen. Charlie tries to navigate triumph, failure, friendship, sexuality, honesty, right and wrong while keeping a level head and a heart full of hopes.

My Review

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the most perfect coming of age story I've ever read. There was so much beauty in this book I'm surprised the pages can contain it.

I was thrust straight into Wallflower by Charlie's sweet innocent voice. In mere sentences I felt like I knew him and I grew to love him more with each passing page. His letters are aimed at you, the reader, and so Charlie is speaking right to you, making it impossible to resist his friendship. The letters are so easy to read, like diaries are, so I struggled to put this book down to go to bed and to get back to work. If I'd picked this book up in the morning of a day off it would've been finished in one sitting.

I must say, I was in the book with Charlie, following him every step of the way. The other characters were all delightfully different, each having a series of good and bad points that came through to me as the reader, regardless of how Charlie viewed them which was fantastic. They were all very real people with very real problems and that made it even easier to read.

Chbosky fills Wallflower with brilliant observations that land straight in your heart and make you think about the world you inhabit.  Certain phrases made my head ring and my heart swell like: "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." Every now and then when I stop working for a moment, this sentence just takes hold of me and it's all I can think of. That  is powerful writing.

I've got nothing bad to say because I loved this book. I read 3/4 of it in one sitting without even realising. And I would read it again.

Evaluation

Plot - 7/10 - high school's been done

Way Plot Was Pursued - 10/10 - but it's never been done like this

Characters - 10/10 - authentic and real

Style - 10/10 - the letters were honest and perfect

Pace - 10/10 - couldn't put it down

Would I recommend it? - Yes. For anyone in or out of high school.

Would I look up the author? - Yes, but sadly he mostly writes screenplays.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was poignant, bitter-sweet, deep, moving and nostalgic. What can I say? I adored every single page.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor / Ghostwriter / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com