Non-Stop Reads: 09/16/13

Monday, September 16, 2013

Slow Burn: Zero Day, Book 1 by Bobby Adair

A new flu strain has been spreading across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Disturbing news footage is flooding the cable news channels. People are worried. People are frightened. But Zed Zane is oblivious.

Zed needs to borrow rent money from his parents. He gets up Sunday morning, drinks enough tequila to stifle his pride and heads to his mom’s house for a lunch of begging, again.

But something is wrong. There’s blood in the foyer. His mother’s corpse is on the living room floor. Zed’s stepdad, Dan is wild with crazy-eyed violence and attacks Zed when he comes into the house. They struggle into the kitchen. Dan’s yellow teeth tear at Zed’s arm but Zed grabs a knife and stabs Dan, thirty-seven times, or so the police later say.

With infection burning in his blood, Zed is arrested for murder but the world is falling apart and he soon finds himself back on the street, fighting for his life among the infected who would kill him and the normal people, who fear him.

Buy Now @ Amazon @ Smashwords

Genre – Horror

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Connect with Bobby Adair on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.bobbyadair.com/

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10 Tips Becoming a Better Writer by: Ana Fawkes

Read a lot of books. Anyone wants to be a writer, they have to read.

Write a lot. I know that probably sounds silly, but it’s true. A writer must write all the time. You can write something just for fun, write in a journal, write poetry, write a random sentence, write something you’ve seen throughout the day, anything that will help you calm a better writer.

Become more visual. As mentioned above, write about something you’ve seen during the day. This will help you become more visual. See things that other people may not see… Or find things that can pertain to your writing.

Pick a genre that you love and stick to it. There are so many markets in writing right now and there constantly seems to be one that’s a bestseller and one that doesn’t sell… But then a few months later those roles reverse. Find the genre that you love and that you are most comfortable writing… And then try to master it.

Make time to write even if you don’t have it. Writers can not procrastinate in any way shape or form.

When you pick your genre… Read everything you possibly can with in that genre. Read good books, read bad books, and find out what makes the good books work… And what makes the bad ones not work.

Get off Facebook… And all the other social media sites. Now I’m not saying to close your account down, but a writer must focus on writing, reading, and becoming a better writer.

Learn to accept rejection. Face it, everyone is going to get rejected. Learn to deal with it and move on, the faster the better.

Make yourself comfortable as a writer. Find your place that you enjoy to write and find a way to write their. Be comfortable, clear your mind, and write.

Finally… Just to make sure… WRITE. I know I mentioned it above, feel you cannot write anymore find a way to push yourself that little bit extra. That extra five minutes at night, getting up five minutes early in the morning, or turning off your favorite television show for five minutes, it will all add up to make you a better writer.

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Genre - New Adult Romance

Rating – PG13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Ana W. Fawkes on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://anafawkes.com/

Guest Post by Jim Musgrave

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Becoming a Published Author

by Jim Musgrave

1. Most of the real work is promoting yourself.

2. Readers enjoy hearing about an author’s struggles with writing and with life.

3. A reader is often a frustrated author.

4. A reader is often as “alone” as the author and wants to make a connection.

5. Your commercial “brand” is important. Branding has less to do with image than it has to do with the quality the readers expect from your work. See my blog post.

6. You can’t be afraid to change genres.

7. If you do something out of the ordinary, then you must spin it into a positive. See my blog on this topic.

8. If you decide to self-publish, then you must understand that you must be as good as or better than the “big publishers.”

9. Social networking is an edge only if you use it correctly.

10. A good publicist is worth his/her weight in gold (unless he/she is a contestant on “The Biggest Loser”).