Chaotic Ninja

Welcome to Episode 28 of  Conversations over Milk & Cookies  hosted by Kindle Ninja.  Hi, Kindle Ninja here. You know, the ninja who occasionally stalks authors and invites them to Conversations over Milk & Cookies.  What is this madness, you ask? It's my way of supporting  authors & publishers! We interact with them everyday, directly through tweets, or indirectly through re-tweets, but we don't really know much about them. Their personalities really don't shine through in 140 characters.  Here, we'll see the funny side, silly side, dark side, and all other sides that these wonderful authors don't let show.  Today, I'm having a conversation with Madeleine Holly-Rosing , writer and creator of the Boston Metaphysical Society   Web Comic. Madeleine  is  running a  Kickstarter  campaign to print the 6th and final chapter of  Boston Metaphysical Society through November 6th. It's a great chance to g...

Been playing catch up with reading and reviewing. I’m 33 books behind schedule. Goodreads said so.  Why should I care about what Goodreads say? You see, I joined the 2015 Reading Challenge and pledged to read 80 books, which translates to 6.66 books per month (I’m glad I’m not superstitious).   Easy peasy, right?  No.  It’s September and I’m still struggling to get halfway through the challenge. I’m still convinced I could do it, but I’m going to need a strategy of some sort.   I realised that I could probably pull this one off by reading all the short stories and novellas on my TBR list. It’s not cheating. Just slightly devious planning. The Memory Man by Helen Smith Two women, memory loss, a dead man, and a psychic. Everything else are fragments. This is a bizarre story that I quite frankly did not get the first time I read it. So I had to read it again. I like to believe I got it the second time around. Or probably not. It’s like the movie...

Reviewing a collection of short stories is always tricky; more so if they are written by different authors. The chance of liking all the stories is slim, though not impossible. There’s probably 2 to 3 remarkable stories and a few mediocre ones, and the rest, forgettable. I believe this one was done right. Nonlocal Science Fiction Issue #1 is a 10-story strong collection that’s perhaps the closest you’ll get to having that “dream” sci-fi short story anthology. It’s evident that it had gone through a stringent selection process. The stories are a wonderful mix of hardcore sci-fi, old-school, offbeat, edgy, and weirdly good speculative fiction. Though my personal favorite is Shoot The Devil by Nicholas Rossis, I enjoyed reading the other stories. It’s one of those collections where the good stories outnumber the not-so-good ones. It’s a fantastic start with a lot of  sci-fi promise.  ★★★ ★  4/5   # In January 2015, I had a conversation ov...

Everything’s better with bacon. Immersed is steampunk wrapped in bacon. That’s how good this novella is. There’s a new badass heroine in 1850s Chicago and she’s not to be messed with. Melusine Doré  slays monsters and beasts for a living and does so without breaking a sweat. The rough and tough exterior conceals a past that defines her present. She’s unbreakable. Or is she? Rival monster-hunter Levi Cannon seems a worthy opponent but a profitable offer forces them to work side by side; an opportunity that has some dire repercussions. The chemistry between Melusine and Levi is unmistakable – from the playful banters to the accidental contacts to the sexual tension. They’re quite a pair. Author Katie Hayoz has this incredible knack for perfectly timed plot twists. She knows how to tease and knows when to astonish. Immersed is steampunk with soul.  ★★★ ★ ★  5/5  

From the moment the first chapter of “ Names of the Dead ” ended, I knew Connor Montrose was going to be one hell of a character. Defiant, head-strong, and driven by vengeance. He’s an exceptionally written character with the swagger of a CIA operative and the fighting chops of a killing machine. From there, it’s hard to tell if he’s the good guy. The narrative style is frantic and restless, but never confusing. This is magnified by the reader’s access to Montrose’s state of mind. The inner dialogues not only make us privy to Montrose’s innermost thoughts, they also make us feel that we’re part of this intricate web of lies and deceit. It’s as immersive as playing a first person shooter – pumping bullets, maiming enemies, and leaving a trail of dead bodies as location shifts from Rome to Zurich to Paris to Tehran. Add the involvement of abbreviated agencies in double cross and conspiracies, then you have a sensational international thriller in your hand. Author Mark Le...

Reviewing The Girl Who Broke The Rules  by Marnie Riches   is hard. Let me explain. All the elements I love in a crime thriller are masterfully depicted against the backdrop of the seedy underbelly of Amsterdam. The suspense is relentless; the characters unyielding. Shifting timelines and switching points of view offer reprieve from the most gruesome depiction of madness and perversion. The feverish storytelling never lets up and the palpable sense of danger and menace lingers like a shadow with a scythe. Then there’s Georgina McKenzie. George. The feisty and sometimes irreverent heroine who brings emotional turmoil to an already besieged Chief Inspector Paul van den Bergen, who’s at his breaking point. For a heroine, she’s not all that likeable. Therein lies the rub. It’s difficult to reconcile the fact that I love this sequel so much, but have a hard time “liking” George.  But liking a main character is never a rule to enjoying a twist...

So I was in a reading funk. It was so bad that according to Goodreads, I'm 28   books behind schedule  of my 80-book target for 2015.  Amazon is largely to blame. Because when your 60+ reviews are unceremoniously and unfairly pulled, you are gutted and you lose your street cred (if I ever had one, to begin with).  And you lose your review mojo . Then beta reading happened.  A few days ago, a brilliant author asked me "When are you gonna beta read for me?" Just so you know, I'm not a beta reader * . I've been invited by wonderful authors in the past, but I respectfully declined because I feel that I lack the necessary skills to beta read. Besides, w hen you read deliberately to find errors, it just sucks all the fun in reading.  But this author isn't strict. All she wanted was a male perspective.  Easy peasy. The reading part, that is. The critiquing, not so much. I found myself asking these questions before writing...