Tag: ebook

Beloved by Toni Morrison Book Review

Posted on by michaelcsahd
Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved by Toni Morrison
My rating (on Goodreads): 4 out of 5 stars

They say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” and that definitely applies to Beloved! When I first saw the book, I thought, “Oh crap! A romance novel.” I was way off. In spite of its ambiguous cover, Beloved is actually a ghost story, resulting from the desperate actions of Sethe, an escaped female slave.

Readers may debate whether Sethe makes good decisions; however, regardless of right or wrong, her actions come back to haunt her, literally. I don’t want to give away the story to prospective readers, but I will say that this book isn’t for everyone. Filled with dream sequences, flashbacks, and memories Beloved flip flops through time in a manner reminiscent of William Faulkner or Virginia Woolf. Love it or hate it, don’t skip reading it.

On a side note: the movie is horrible. No Hollywood flick could ever encompass the grittiness and raw emotion captured by the book. But don’t take my word for it: Read it, watch it, rate it! Let me know what you think.

View all my reviews

~ Michael C. Sahd

Some Little Tidbits Of Knowledge

Posted on by michaelcsahd
NASA Ames Research Center

Today, 24 copies of “Assassin Marked” arrived in the mail. The paper copy turned out very nice. Looking the book over, my wife and I discussed the idea of turning the story into a graphic novel. I think it would be a very cool graphic novel; unfortunately, I am definitely not capable of illustrating anything myself. Finding someone to do the cover was well-nigh impossible. So maybe someday.

In “Assassin Marked, ” the locations are backdrops and not fully elaborated on in the story; however, in the DuFonte Chronicles setting, Arbona and Penelope are advanced O’Neill Cylinders. Gerard K. O’Neill, an American physicist, proposed the design of these Cylinders, as conceptualized below.

 

NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Ames Research Center
 

Image by Rick Guidice NASA Ames Research Center —  http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/70sArt/art.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=617874

If you’ve read “Assassin Marked,” would you be interested in seeing it in a graphic novel form? If so, let me know in the comments below. As always, your input is appreciated!

~ Michael C. Sahd

Library Part Two

Posted on by michaelcsahd

So I returned to the library, and I found the second book to the Septimus Heap series. Evidently, it was only available on OverDrive. This is an app one can download and then check out e-books from your local library with. Outstanding!

However, my true intent in going to the library was to talk to someone there about doing a book signing. They were excited about doing one; however, to be perfectly honest, I feel silly doing one at the library . . . but I will. I do intend to do one at my brother-in-law’s comic shop Jomio and Rueliete’s Cards and Comics.

Assassin Marked

#SaturdaySwag

Don’t forget to share the story with your friends.

Don’t forget to follow this blog.

Don’t forget to breathe.

I had meant to get this post out earlier, but I hadn’t made it home all day. Now I am here, and I’m still going to do my #SaturdaySwag post even though it’s technically Sunday.

~ Michael C. Sahd

Inspiration in the Most Unlikely Places

Posted on by michaelcsahd

 

Many writers will share that real life experiences inspire the tales they tell. Many, myself included, scoff (or have scoffed) at such a statement; telling themselves, “My life isn’t nearly so interesting.” What I have learned, however, is that this is rarely the case. Experiences take place daily, and though they may be mundane to you, they won’t be after “enhancing” them.

Just the other day, I took a trip to the local library to find the second book to the Septimus Heap series. I, of course, found Angie Sage’s books fairly quickly, and although they had many of her books, the one I wanted was not on the shelf. Naturally, I asked the librarians to see if it was checked out. It wasn’t.

I informed the lady at the counter that I had looked and it wasn’t there; she responded by telling me to look around, because people don’t always put them back in the right place. A little disheartened, I went back to look again (I had already looked around the nearby shelves, duh). After not finding it, I went back to the librarians for help. Instead of helping, they shrugged and said it could be anywhere. I left, rather annoyed by their lack of help.

However, the librarians were interesting characters, and a version of this scene has already inserted into my next story with Damian. I have changed many of the details and spiced it up a bit, but the entire scene is inspired by this short interaction.

Your experience doesn’t need to be Hollywood material. Just the smallest interaction, large enough to catch your attention, but not much more than that, can turn into a scene in your book. Take notes, make a voice memo, or just tell someone about it, and you will be able to get it down on paper. Embellishing the experience into an interesting scene is what makes you a writer.
And no . . . I still have not found the second book to the Septimus Heap series.

Septimus Heap, Book Two: Flyte by [Sage, Angie]

Assassin Marked Completed

Posted on by michaelcsahd

After a late night of last-minute editing and fussing with Amazon Direct Publishing, my first short story is published.

Assassin Marked
by Michael C. Sahd
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Assassin Marked tells a story of a man and his lover who work for the mafia in a futuristic setting. I believe it is an interesting read.

Although I have overcome a great hurdle, my nerves are twisting into a ghastly knot, much like a pile of unraveled yarn. The pressure to provide more stories to the public weighs heavy on my mind. The last thing I want to do is provide this one story and then not release anything again until years later.

Assassin Marked, which I began to write almost ten years ago, had sat complete and edited for almost a year now (maybe more). I’m really hoping that future stories will come more quickly.

Yet I’m not done with Damian. Already, work has begun on a larger story involving the assassin, and the addition of some new individuals.

Meanwhile, Balanced Tipped faces a serious revision, but I’m confident that I will turn it in to my editor, Laura Pruett, very soon. Incidentally, if any of you reading this article are in need of an editor, click on the link I provided. I know of no better editor than her.

Keep checking back here for more information on published works.