William L. Stuart

author of The Gemstone Chronicles Series

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Dragon Dreams by Dusty Lynn Holloway – My Review!!

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Dragon Dreams – My review!!

Dragon Dreams Cover

 

It’s hard to believe 2017 is almost here. That means my final review for 2016 will be for Dragon Dreams (The Chronicles of Shadow and Light Book 1) by Dusty Lynn Holloway. Read on to find out what I thought about this fantasy novel!

Synopsis (from the author): A prophecy of murder.

An elf hunted by dragons.

One man who risks everything to save her.

Nachal is a human that should not be having prophetic Dragon Dreams. But he does. Every night he dreams of an elf running through flames, trying in vain to outrun the Rebel Dragon Obsidian. Every night he sees her fall. Sees her eyes close. Feels her heart as it slows, and then stops. Every night, through the connection of the dream, he dies with her. It’s a spiral that he can’t control, and it’s slowly driving him insane.

Auri is an elf raised by a powerful human king not of her own blood. Left behind by the mother who perished far from the elven isle El`dell, she seeks to forge her life among the humans. Her journey takes her to the land of her heritage. To a place that holds both a haunting betrayal, and a miracle that just might save her life.

Together, they become embroiled in a conspiracy where destinies are intertwined, love is born in the fallout of ultimate sacrifice, and the only path to victory lies through the searing flames of dragon fire.

What I liked: Dragon Dreams has all the fantasy elements! Dragons, elves, a grumpy dwarf, romance, an epic quest, and the fate of a world in the balance make the story entertaining. I enjoy Nachal’s tormented character, Auri’s character is an interesting blend of human-raised elf and heroine-to-be, and the dwarf is the perfect foil to Nachal. Add Liran the Watcher (another elf) to the mix and the plot thickens. All this against the backdrop of the looming war with Obsidian and his forces. Plenty to keep me reading!

What I didn’t like: Dragon Dreams dragged in places, and the romantic interaction between Auri and Liran, and Auri and Nachal muddies the story. I think a little more backstory could help the book, too.

Overall impression: Dragon Dreams is a good start to the Chronicles of Shadow and Light series. Good characters, an interesting plot, a couple of surprise revelations, and the beginning of an epic adventure makes this a book to read!

My rating: 4 Stars

Connect with the author:

Interested in reading Dragon Dreams or the rest of the Chronicles of Shadow and Light? Find out more about the series and Dusty Lynn Holloway on her Amazon Author page or her blog! And don’t forget to leave a review when you finish!

Connect with me:

Thanks for spending part of your 2016 with me. I hope my reviews helped readers find new authors and books. I’ll continue in 2017, so stay tuned (and subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a post). If you are so inclined, find me on the socials and let’s connect! I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+, Pinterest, and Tumblr. Or just email me at bill@williamlstuart.com! Happy New Year!!!

The Guardian’s Angel by Lorrie Farrelly – My Review!!

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The Guardian’s Angel – My Review!

Angel

 

Recently, a friend challenged me to read outside my normal favorite genres. Having read a couple of Lorrie Farrelly’s books, I accepted the challenge and picked up The Guardian’s Angel. Read on for my thoughts!

Synopsis (from the author): When nobody knows what to do with a troubled, damaged kid, it’s time to call Elizabeth Driscoll. A wary, vulnerable, unusually intuitive young woman, Libby has a knack for helping children that others have given up on.

Certainly nobody knows what to do with Tommy Madden, least of all his fiercely devoted guardian, Seattle Police Detective J.D. McCammon. McCammon believes the autistic little boy witnessed a double murder: his mother and his father, the city’s District Attorney. J.D. is determined to help and protect Tommy at all costs, and somehow, find a way to communicate with him.

When Tommy’s life is threatened by the corrupt organization that killed his parents, J.D. and Libby take him on a desperate and dangerous flight to safety. They must place their trust in one another to escape a relentless evil that threatens not only their lives, but that of the child they’ve both come to love.

On the run, Libby and J.D. are tested to the limits of their courage and resolve. They discover an intimate and mystifying bond that will either drive them apart, or become their greatest source of strength and passion.

What I liked: The Guardian’s Angel drew me in from the start. Libby’s trauma from an attack and the unexpected mental interaction between her and JD sets the tone for the story. With Tommy’s safety at risk, Libby and JD embark on a dangerous mission to save him. But enough, no spoilers from me. The ending is satisfying and the sacrifices made by all tie the tale together nicely. This book has romance, intrigue, suspense, and enough action to keep the pages turning.

What I didn’t like: About my only criticism of the book is the constant indecision of both Libby and JD to accept their feelings about each other. It frustrated me a reader for the characters to vacillate as long as they did.

Overall Impression: The Guardian’s Angel is well written, full of compelling characters with plenty of angst to go around, suspense, intrigue, and sacrifice. I recommend this book to romance and chick-lit aficionados. I would also recommend it to anyone who simply likes a good read!

My Rating: 5 Stars

Connect with the author:

Have you read The Guardian’s Angel? What about any of Lorrie Farrelly’s books? If so, please consider leaving a review. Reviews mean the world to authors as it lets them know what readers like or dislike about their work! Want to know more about Lorrie and her work, find them on her Amazon Author Page or her website.

Speaking of like (or dislike), please consider leaving a comment about this review. It’s always nice to know whether I helped someone find something new to read.

Connect with me:

Connect with me on the socials, too. I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+, and Tumblr. You can also email me at bill@williamlstuart.com. Don’t miss a post either. Subscribe to the blog! I’m happy to meet new friends!

Suwanee Fest 2016 – A Great Weekend – Even With the Rain!!

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Sorry I’m a little bit behind on my posts. Been a crazy couple of weeks! And the crazy weeks started with Suwanee Fest 2016!

Suwanee Fest? What’s Suwanee Fest? Well, as many of you know, I live just north of Atlanta, GA in Buford, GA. Just south of Buford is Suwanee, GA, Suwanee is a small city of about 18,000 people. Every year, the city hosts Suwanee Fest. The event website refers to the festival as “Two days of family, friends, food, and fun!” I can attest to the fact it was all of that!

Saturday:

There was a ton of entertainment (including my favorite Who’s Bad – The Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute Band), great food, almost too many amazing exhibitors to count, and The Gemstone Chronicles!

Yep, I was there with books in hand to meet and greet new friends and readers of the series. And it was a blast! Not only did I sell a few books, but I also met so many awesome people. I talked about gemstones for hours, referred a few to my favorite gem hunting spot (Gold n’ Gems Grubbin’), and got to spend a couple of hours with my brother John and my niece Aidia. Overall, not a bad way to spend a Saturday! Below is the picture of my booth before the fun began.

Suwanee Fest Booth

Book interest was at an all-time high, and my editor extraordinaire Abby (who doubles as the City of Suwanee Public Information Officer) tried to stop by a few times to say hello. Every time she tried to stop by, though, I was interacting with new friends! Like I said, not a bad way to spend a Saturday!!

Sunday:

Unfortunately, Sunday was not the best day. Despite the great entertainment, the rains came and wouldn’t go away! Nonetheless, The Gemstone Chronicles staffed the booth in hopes of meeting more new friends. Alas, it wasn’t to be as the rains kept visitors away. On the plus side, though, John came by (and helped me pack up during one of the few breaks in the rain) and I had the chance to talk with Abby for a few minutes.

Suwanee Fest 2016 was a great event and I hope to attend again next year! If I met you, sold you a book (or 4), gave you a gemstone, or simply talked about gemstones, thanks for stopping by the booth! I truly appreciate each and every person who took time out of their celebration to visit with me and buy a book. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! If we did interact, and you have my contact information, give me a shout and let me know.

Connect with me:

In case you didn’t pick up a card or a bookmark, you can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+, or Tumblr. You can also email me here at bill@williamlstuart.com!

Point Of No Return by Diana J. Febry – My Review!!

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Point Of No Return – My review!!

Point-Of-No-Return-Cover-PS

My last review dealt with Sasquatches, and this time I visit an English cozy mystery, Point Of No Return by Diana J. Febry. Mysteries are not normally my genre of choice, but I do like to branch out occasionally. Read on to find out my thoughts!

Synopsis (from the author): The significance of the noose left hanging outside James Palmer’s barn is obvious to everyone in the village. When threats turn to violence DCI Peter Hatherall has to unmask a master of disguise determined to have their revenge.

What I liked: Diana Febry’s characters are colleagues, friends, and something more. Since this isn’t the first book with Peter Hatherall and Fiona, I didn’t have the backstory of those two, but it made no difference. I could easily relate to them. The story, involving a suicide victim, a gentleman farmer (Palmer) and his wife, and the mysterious Emma, moves along nicely most of the time. The tale flows from the death of Digby (the suicide) to escalating and more frequent attacks on the farm from persons unknown. Peter Hatherall and Fiona follow the clues along twisty paths. But, can they solve the mystery before the stalker kills Palmer?

What I didn’t like: Despite the pace of the story overall, there were a couple of slow spots. Additionally, I thought Daoma and Gordon’s parts were overplayed.

Overall impression: Point of No Return by Diana J. Febry was a nice cozy mystery. Nicely written, with good pace, interesting characters, and plenty of twists to keep the reader interested, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries!

My rating: 4.5 Stars (rounded to 5)

Connect with the author:

Find out more about Diana J. Febry at her Amazon Author page or at her website. If you read Point Of No Return or any of Diana J. Febry’s other books, please consider leaving a review. I know Diana would be most appreciative!!

Connect with me:

Like the review? Dislike the review? Please feel free to leave comments, email me at bill@williamlstuart.com, or find me on social media. I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+, and Tumblr. I look forward to hearing from you!

Promos, Book Sales, and an Audiobook!!

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I have been posting information about my promos and marketing efforts and promised I would provide some updates on results. I mentioned in an earlier post about two opportunities that I decided to try. Here are the results!

Promos Carnelian Cover

ebookdiscovery: I submitted my first book to ebookdiscovery.com and it was featured in their Read & Review Club ezine on July 14th. They limited the downloads to 50. The goal of this promotion was to get the book into readers’ hands and generate some reviews. I have received a few new reviews (now up to 25 for The Carnelian with a 4.3 average Star rating on Amazon), and I am waiting on the stats to see how many copies were downloaded and perhaps where the reviews were posted.

My second promotional effort was at ereadernewstdoday.com. I ran a special price of $0.99 for the first two weeks of August to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of The Carnelian and ran a promo at ENT for August 7th. The results were quite nice! For the month of August on Amazon, I sold a total of 84 books, which is about 4 times my normal sales. Most of them were The Carnelian during the special price, but I sold the others at full price. A very big thank you to all you readers out there who bought the books!! Below is the breakdown of my August Amazon sales:

  •  The Carnelian – 67 downloads
  • The Amethyst – 7 downloads
  • The Emerald –  6 downloads
  • The Ruby – 4 downloads

The buzz generated in August has carried over into September, too! As of September 4, I have sold additional copies of both The Amethyst and The Emerald.

ENT was a great promo for me, and I will use them again in the future!

Another opportunity for me will be Book Barbarian. This service focuses on fantasy and science fiction books, and my promo will run on September 10, 2015. The Carnelian will be on sale for that one day for $1.49 (half price), so we will see how well it does! I will provide an update after the promotion runs.

And some exciting news to share, too! I decided to explore audiobooks (as I mentioned in my post about what I have gleaned from the Atlanta Writers Club) and have found a producer for The Carnelian! I will have the first 15 minute segment by September 7th and should have the entire book by mid-October. Stay tuned for more updates!

Finally, if you recall from my shameless self promotion post, I have evidence that at least 2 people saw the magnet sign on the back of my truck and bought books because of it! I thought that was very cool!!

Connect with me:

As always, you can connect with me on social media at Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Goodreads, Tumblr, or just email me at bill@williamlstuart.com. If you don’t want to miss a post, please subscribe to the blog!

 

 

The Gemstone Chronicles – Born 3 Years Ago!!

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The Gemstone Chronicles – 3 years old!!

3 Years Ago

It’s sometimes hard to believe, but almost 3 years ago, I published the first book of The Gemstone Chronicles! That’s right, The Carnelian was published on August 12, 2012. What a day it was! I remember the excitement, happiness, and sense of accomplishment that accompanied hitting the publish button on Amazon. Just as clearly, I remember how nervous I was. I mean, here I was, a person who never really had a goal of becoming a writer and now I was about to put my first novel out there for public consumption. What if it flopped? How will I handle bad reviews? These and many other questions floated through my mind as I uploaded the manuscript. As I celebrate that event from 3 years ago, I wanted to give you readers an update on how things have gone!

Let me start by saying that I doubt I will ever be able to retire from the proceeds of book sales. Remember, too, that I didn’t write the books to become a bestselling author (although if it happens, I’m fine with it). I wrote the books as stories for my two amazing grandchildren, so any financial gains from them are simply a bonus. However, if I look at how much I spent to have a cover designed, and how much I paid my awesome editor, and then compare it to the book sales (for all four of the books in the series), I’ve just about broken even. Not bad!

In addition to The Carnelian, I also published Book Two: The Amethyst, Book Three: The Emerald, and Book Four: The Ruby. I’ve made a few changes to the covers, and made some edits to the manuscripts based on feedback from my readers. Such is the advantage of being a self-published author – I have complete control over my content.

I have learned to do better marketing, made some amazing friends (both authors and readers), and have grown my social media presence. I’ve always enjoyed reading and now post reviews for most of the books I read – something I never did until I became an author and realized the importance of doing reviews. I joined the Atlanta Writers Club and have learned a ton just from listening to the guest speakers. I’ve been fortunate to attend literary festivals, book signings, and was recently recognized by a reader (which was very cool and totally unexpected). I also started this blog at about the same time and I hope it continues to entertain readers. I even tried my hand at a book trailer!

That’s has what has been going on with me and my books for the last 3 years. I’m working on a new book (though it is going slowly). It will be completely different from The Gemstone Chronicles. Stay tuned for updates as it progresses.

Connect with me:

What was your favorite part of The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian? Which character did you like best? You can comment here, or find me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Goodreads, or simply email me at bill@williamlstuart.com.

Oh, and to celebrate the events from 3 years ago and to give deep and heartfelt thanks to those of you who have read the book (and thanks in advance to those who will), The Carnelian is on sale for $0.99 from August 1 – August 15, 2015! Get your copy and consider leaving a review. I love to know what you are thinking!!