Review: Short Bus Hero

If this year has you stressed out and you want to escape into a novel where redemption and love triumph, set aside a few hours and sit down with ‘Short Bus Hero’ by Shannon Giglio. It’s a heartfelt yet unflinching story about Ally Forman, a young adult with Down Syndrome, and how she affects the world of those she loves with an out-of-the-blue lottery win.

Twenty-four-year-old Ally lives with her father, mother and brother. She has a job, a boyfriend, a circle of friends called the Cool People, and a guardian angel, who narrates the story. She also has an obsession with pro wrestler Stryker Nash, whose career has seen better days. But the literal luck of the draw—the ticket was a holiday gift from a relative—turns all their lives upside down. Ally’s mother, Lois, wants those millions to be set aside for Ally’s future, so she won’t have to worry about Ally’s care after she’s gone. But Ally has her own ideas, and they all revolve around getting Stryker Nash back into the ring. After Stryker is dumped by the wrestling circuit, the chance to grab some free cash and run feels like a perfect opportunity. He doesn’t know nothing gets past a sharp-eyed angel with a bag of tricks.

Sound a little crazy? Maybe. But Giglio grounds her fantastic story with realistic care: Ally isn’t an airbrushed personality. She has meltdowns, forgets about her own hygiene, and gets bullied at the grocery store where she works. Lois loves her daughter, but her own inner struggles manifest in hoarding. And Stryker? He has his own dark secret buried so deep, even an angel has to work hard to reveal it.


This review originally appeared on the Huffington Post.

Book Review: How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity

Fed up with your day job and ready to let your pet support you? Check out the latest from Quirk Books, HOW TO MAKE YOUR CAT AN INTERNET CELEBRITY by Patricia Carlin. This book is funny, entertaining and frighteningly subversive. Occasionally while reading, I’d say to myself, “Yeah, I could do that.” It’s a tip of the hat to Carlin, who makes this not only funny, but close enough to a Weird Success for Dummies book to sound totally plausible.

The Internet has conditioned us to take in information with cat pictures, and Carlin has taken advantage of that with lots of adorable kitty pictures (by apparent cat whisperer Dustin Fenstermacher) and fake profiles liberally sprinkled throughout the book. It covers everything from getting the best performance from your cat to what to do when your feline becomes a diva and wants to fire you. By the end, I was mentally ticking off my cat’s assets to see if she was Internet material. Uno the Inappropriate Cat already has a title (one of the recommended branding tips in the book) although filming her constantly is more effort than I can muster. But when Carlin suggested where to buy kitty props and costumes, I mumbled “That’s brilliant!” I suspect I’m smack in the middle of her target humor demographic or dangerously close to letting my cat host a pawdcast.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CAT AN INTERNET CELEBRITY is a fun read, especially if you love cats, the Internet and don't have a 401K for your retirement. If this whole writing thing doesn’t pan out, I’ll probably end up buying a good camera and some tiny funny hats. Uno, show me your best side! Um, Uno, that's a little close. Can you back up...wait...oh, forget it.

Book review: 100 Ghosts by Doogie Horner

The key to great humor is surprise, and 100 GHOSTS: A GALLERY OF HARMLESS HAUNTS is a fun little hardback that satisfies with plenty of clever visuals. While today’s movies and TV shows are jam-packed with enough frights to keep you changing your shorts for a month, this book opens with an introduction to some not-so-scary ghosts. If they go ‘bump’ in the night, it’s probably because they stubbed a ghostly toe. Each long-gone soul receives a graphic and title, from the expected moniker of a classic haunt to the whimsical ghost who just can’t give up performance art. 

I chuckled often while flipping through the book, a rare occurrence for me when it comes to humor. As a humor writer, I’m used to dissecting comedy and studying it, but 100 GHOSTS allowed me to just sit back and enjoy the show. I still can’t decide on my favorites. I relate to Shy Ghost, but my geeky side adores the Fantastic Four Ghosts, R2D2 Ghost and Giant Robot Ghost. In all honesty, though, I’m cursed with The Bad Chinese Food You Ate Before Bed Ghost. 

I love this book, and I can see it being perfect for kids who are afraid of ghosts or what’s under their bed; they could make up stories about each ghost and use the book to defeat their fears. Heck, that's probably how I'll use it myself from now on. 

It would also make a fun gift for anyone interested in the paranormal. It’s a quick read, so if you’re stuck in the van during a ghost hunt, take this with you. Hopefully you won’t spot Up In Your Grill Ghost when you look outside.

100 GHOSTS: A GALLERY OF HARMLESS HAUNTS is written by Doogie Horner (yes, I want to say Howser, too, I bet he gets that a lot) and published by Quirk Books.The book will be released on September 10. Pre-order it now, and spend some time perusing Horner's comedy at his website.

First Friday AW Review: From Weakling to Warrior by Jennifer Greenleaf and The Pantry Cleaner by Mysti Reutlinger

It’s a new year and a new beginning to AW First Fridays! Because it’s still resolution season, I’ve picked two nonfiction books to review: From Weakling to Warrior: A Bodybuilding Book by Jennifer Greenleaf, and The Pantry Cleaner: Chemical Free Cleaning by Mysti Reutlinger.

One focuses on fulfilling a dream for yourself and the other focuses on doing something healthy for your family.

I’ll admit it: I don’t know much about bodybuilding. But Greenleaf’s book is perfect for the novice bodybuilder, and includes checklists and instructions on nutrition, exercise, and maintenance. Much of the content is common sense, especially if you’ve been up and down the weight loss path like me. Eat the right things, cut out the junk, and remember above all else to warm up and stay flexible. I also learned that how warm you keep your house can affect your bodybuilding efforts, and proper form in your training is the key to everything. I was impressed at how the author underscores the importance of gathering all the information before making a decision to bodybuild, from the cost of supplements and trainers to how much time and organization will be involved in maintaining those impressive pecs. If you’re thinking about bodybuilding or know someone who wants to do it, get this book for them.

The Pantry Cleaner: Chemical Free Cleaning is an eye-opening book about the products you use every day, and how you get the same or better results with a few time-honored classics. Most cleaners have ingredients that not even a Harry Potter spell-caster could pronounce, and side effects including nausea, skin irritation and even impaired body organs. Reutlinger has included the Material Safety Data Sheets so you can see just how toxic some chemicals can be. Fortunately, the basic cleaning supply list is short and sweet, including ingredients you may already have, from olive oil to baking soda. I’ve used many of these ingredients and techniques myself, and they do work well. The diluted vinegar and newspaper approach for glass cleaning is effective, although I’ll add something so you can learn from my mistake: never do this to a car. Yeah. Not good.

I highly recommend The Pantry Cleaner for anyone committed to living a greener or less toxic life, and I hope that she’ll come out with a sequel soon.

Both books are available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle formats.

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Remember all those crazy stories you believed when you were a kid? How would your life change if you found out they were true? Young Jacob finds out that and more in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs’ debut novel with Quirk Books.

After an early peek into his innocent childhood and his granddad’s stories, we next see Jacob when he’s an unlikable, privileged teen. His rebellion against his life and his parents soon takes a backseat to the murder of his grandfather; the wild stories his grandfather told him when Jacob was little, plus the old man’s cryptic last request, haunt the teen's mind as apparent reality and fantasy fight for control. Riggs knows the troubled teen psyche well, because Jacob’s feelings and thoughts in therapy are spot on, and the “real” world the author builds is so convincing, you’re ready to believe the fantastic when it comes along.

What would normally be a solid paranormal coming-of-age story gets a mighty goose from the book’s gimmick: several real (albeit re-touched or bizarrely posed) photographs from historic collections depicting the characters and situations Jacob encounters. The old pictures have the fantastic element of a 19^th century circus: creepy, unsettling and you can’t look away. A floating girl, twins painted like clowns and connected via a ribbon, a man covered in bees: they connect you visually to the story and add an extra layer of weirdness so you feel just as fascinated and befuddled as Jacob does during his long journey to learn the truth and discover his purpose in life.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and it got the Pratchett treatment from me, i.e., I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading it. I simply could not put it down until I reached the end. It’s a great story that touches on the desire to be special in all of us, something we get to live out through Jacob. I highly recommend it for folks who enjoy a nicely paced, spooky Twilight Zone-style tale. I’m sure this will be the first of many adventures with these characters, so I’ll start catching some catnaps now, if I can just stop imagining those little clown kids. Shudder.

First Friday AW Review: Dustin Time by June Kramin

I haven’t read a romance in a long time, but when I heard about a time-traveling romance I was intrigued. So I downloaded Dustin Time by June Kramin late one night and opened it up to make sure the download worked. Four chapters later, I realized I was about to have a weekend devoted to reading about Kaitlyn and Dusty.

Dumping your boyfriend on your birthday? That’s no problem for Kaitlyn. Too bad she can’t follow through with that thought before she starts traveling more than Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap.

As she jumps through time, she creates different timelines with the man in her life, but what will scare her more: love, marriage and a baby carriage or ending up alone? While spinning through disastrous first dates to an ultimate sacrifice that may cost Kaitlyn her true love, she finally works out the reasons behind her dimension-hopping. Too bad time may not be on her side.

Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, Kramin expertly turned me on my ear. This was literally a story I could not put down. Plus, the plentiful love scenes were sexy without being X-rated.

You hear people say “I couldn’t put this book down!” That was the honest truth with this book. Every time I turned off my e-reader, ten minutes later I turned it back on. Dustin Time is an irresistible story of love with a neat sci-fi kick with a thoroughly satisfying ending. Thanks to June Kramin, I’m back on the romance bandwagon!

Dustin Time is published by Champagne Books, and is available in both ebook and print.

First Friday AW Review: Three Days to Dead by Kelly Meding

Ever worry about waking up dead some morning? It happened to Evy Stone, and she’s not pleased. She has 72 hours to figure out how she died, why she died, and who’s behind it. Good thing she has friends to rely on. Okay, acquaintances. And maybe a few dangerous strangers.

THREE DAYS TO DEAD by Kelly Meding is a pinball machine of a novel, knocking the reader upside the head and in a new direction with every plot twist. Action fills every corner as Evy fights supernatural forces inside and out, turning a city’s underworld of vampires, goblins, trolls and gargoyles on its flaming, slashed ear. The plot is so tight and tense that I finally let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding when Evy and her companion find a quiet haven to recuperate for a few hours. There’s literally no rest for the wicked or the innocent, however, and the final battle is so sharply written, I could see the fight scenes clearly in my mind.

This book is no light, fluffy fantasy read, but you’ll want to hang on while Kelly Meding slams you into every bell until your world tilts.

THREE DAYS TO DEAD is published by Dell Books and is available at Amazon. It’s the first in the Dreg City series. AS LIE THE DEAD (Book 2) is out in paperback, and ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD (Book 3) will be released this summer.

First Friday AW Book Review: Touched By An Alien and Alien Tango by Gini Koch

What would it take to get you out of jury duty? For Katherine “Kitty” Katt, it takes aliens and lots of ‘em. By the time she sorts the good from the bad, she’s involved in a twisty love triangle with two hot Alpha-Centurions, and she’s the only human brave enough to save the world from evil, soul-sucking creatures with just hairspray and an attitude.

TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN is the first in the Katherine Katt series, and it is packed with action in every sense of the word. The story is told in first-person, and a lot of the plot falls into place through dialogue. This was difficult for me to wrap my head around at first, since there were several characters interacting with Kitty. Within the first few pages, however, I found the groove and fell for the Tracy-Hepburn patter between Kitty and Jeff Martini, an alien operative so gorgeous he makes SETI a worthwhile investment. In between dispatching bad guys with pens, cars and salt, Kitty finds time to enjoy some of the steamiest sex scenes in science fiction. There’s enough action in elevators to make Steven Tyler proud.

In ALIEN TANGO, Kitty and company once again set out to save the world, and face such scares as bigotry, jealousy and the dreaded school reunion. They learn along the way that the worst enemies aren’t from outer space, and that even alien-hating weirdos hope to get probed by a hot extraterrestrial.

Funny, fast-paced and sexy, the ALIEN series is a fantastic read and would make an incredible action/comedy/romance movie. I’ve read both books twice now, and I can’t wait for the next installment, ALIEN IN THE FAMILY, coming in April. If you want to get lucky with your geek girl this Valentine’s Day, forget flowers. Buy her these books, then go find an elevator. You're welcome.

TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN and ALIEN TANGO are published by DAW Books, and are available at Amazon and other bookstores worldwide.

First Friday AW Book Review: A Reaper's Tale by Adam Slade

Today I’m introducing a new feature on my blog: on the first Friday of every month, I’ll review a book written by a fellow Absolute Write member. (Not familiar with Absolute Write? It’s an incredible writing forum for newbies and professionals of every imaginable genre. Check it out!)

And now, the First Friday AW Book Review.

When chatter about a book invokes the mantle of Pratchett I get all pointy, and not in the good way. In my eyes, writing humorous fantasy means you have a lot to live up to, so I was excited and a little worried when I purchased A REAPER’S TALE by Adam Slade. My concerns were unfounded, because Slade does an excellent job with the main character of Mal, a Grim Reaper with a rogue’s eye for bad girls and a wickedly British sense of humor. Mal’s task is to point souls along to their final reward, but when a reap goes awry and a soul becomes stuck inside him, the adventure begins.

The characters are vivid and well-developed. Mal’s circle of friends and colleagues, from his cat to a 1,000-year-old demon with a very dedicated boyfriend, are unusual and multi-faceted. I never wondered about a demon’s personal life before I read this, and I appreciated Slade’s deft touch with it. The settings and characters are reminiscent of Spider Robinson’s early work, including the secret bar filled with supernatural irregulars hiding behind the façade of a local pub. Mal’s humor and his views on death and humanity do remind me of Pratchett’s satire, but this isn’t the same Death you know from Discworld, not unless you caught him in his early, awkward years. Even though influences from the great fantasy humorists can be felt, this is a new world and the reader will have a blast racing through it with Mal and his unhappy cargo.

A REAPER’S TALE also spends some time in the Great Beyond, where we discover that angels and devils have a breakroom (sometimes the same one) and eternal love and regret can really be a pain in the ass. With soul-grabbing mercenaries, unexpected allies and a final judgment system only slightly better than the DMV, Slade takes the reader on a fast and funny ride. I was sad to let these characters go, and I hope the author returns to Mal’s world again and again. If you’re looking for a great read to slap onto that nice, shiny e-book reader, pick this one.

A REAPER’S TALE by Adam Slade is available through Lyrical Press and on Amazon.

Book Review and Giveaway: The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published

What’s better than one blog giving away a book? Two blogs giving away books! I’ve partnered up with friend and very funny fellow writer Stacey Graham (from Betwixt & Between) to review the latest must-have writing tool from Workman Publishing and help a couple of folks receive their very own free copy. Giveaway details are listed just after the review.

If someone had handed me a copy of THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry when I was sixteen, my professional writing career would be very different—and better—today. (For one thing, I would have known about the Internet and E-books back in the 1980s, ka-ching!)

I have been a writer for most of my life so far, and I’ve read a LOT of books on the subject. Usually, at some point during the book, I’ll find a passage or idea and call bullcrap on it. That didn’t happen with this book. Eckstut and Sterry covered every base I could think of, and added a few I didn’t know about.

Building platforms, getting an agent, working with editors, understanding contracts, untangling the web of ebooks, tackling marketing and publicity: it’s all here in clear, honest and often funny language. As a humor writer, it takes a lot to make me laugh out loud, and this book did it several times. The authors hooked me with an up-to-date social media section, including an interview with noted author and Master Tweeter Neil Gaiman conducted over Twitter.

As a multiple-year NaNoWriMo winner, I also loved seeing Chris Baty’s proposal for his book, NO PLOT? NO PROBLEM! The book even wraps up with the very proposal Eckstut and Sterry used, so you have two winning examples to use as blueprints.

The self-publishing section is comprehensive; the subject has its share of champions and foes in the publishing world, and I find my own opinion changing depending on the time of day. They explain the different types of self-pubbing, what to avoid, and how to sell successfully.I think one of the most important sections is the explanation between vanity presses and legitimate self-pubbing; if you don't know the difference, you must read it.

No matter what type of book you want to write and see published, this guide will help you through the process better than any combination of Scotch and prescription drugs.

And now for the best part! Winning your very own copy of THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED! There are several ways to enter:

1. Follow me @plaidearthworm and Stacey (@staceyigraham) on Twitter and mention the giveaway with a link back to our blogs, using the hashtag #GTBPgiveaway
2. Give both sites a "thumbs up" using StumbleUpon
3. Tell us on both blogs why you need this book in our comments section. Be sure to tell us if you are following us on Twitter - please leave your @ID and your email address so we are able to contact you if you win!
4. The winners will be chosen on November 2, 2010, by Random.org and announced on both sites.
   

Good luck to all of you!