Category: Miscellaneous

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Ark of the Apocalypse by Tobin Marks

Hi, everyone!

I am very excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for ARK OF THE APOCALYPSE (The Magellan II Chronicles Book #1) by Tobin Marks.

Below you will find a book description, my book review and an about the author section. This is a captivating first book in a new post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy series. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Earth is on the verge of becoming a dead planet.

The polar ice caps melted long ago, and it’s been decades since the last raindrop fell. Ocean levels rise a dozen meters, and forest fires rage on a global scale. Eleven billion people dying of thirst wage water wars against each other as extinction looms.

Humanity needs a new planet. As Earth deteriorates, the nation states desperately work together to build a mechanism for recolonization. And so the Magellan II is born, the first starship capable of interstellar travel.

The future of the human race is tasked to ten thousand colonists-now homeless but for the vastness of space and the decks of Magellan II. A distant planet offers hope of survival, but it’s a strange, watery world inhabited by giant reptiles.

Humanity is starting over, but survival isn’t guaranteed.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56496136-ark-of-the-apocalypse?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=EW8bqdgCkR&rank=1

The Ark of the Apocalypse

By Tobin Marks

  • Amazon link: http://mybook.to/ArkApocalypse
  • Genre:  Post apocalyptic fantasy
  • Print length: 426 pages
  • Age range: This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers 16+
  • Trigger warnings: No
  • Amazon Rating: 5 stars
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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

ARK OF THE APOCALYPSE (The Magellan II Chronicles Book #1) by Mark Tobin is a captivating first book in a new post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy series.

No one is listening to the warnings that the Earth is warming. The planet is on fire, the ice caps have evaporated, and governments are willing to go to war over scarce natural resources for their overpopulated nations.

Humanity needs a new planet. Magellan II is the first starship capable of interstellar space travel and will become the hope for humans to recolonize. The colonists are on a journey to a distant lush planet with the hope of starting anew, but survival is not guaranteed.

This story pulls you in and begins with familiar themes from the present and then weaves them into a story that extrapolates the warnings of today into a post-apocalyptic world seamlessly. The author has populated the story with characters that could walk right off the page and his worldbuilding is easily visualized. I was completely engrossed as I followed the two lineages of the Yanbeyeva family over decades, on earth and on the new world of Aqueous. This is an action-packed tale that I was unable to put down as I was completely immersed in the story. I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes me in the next book in this series.

I can highly recommend this first book in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy!

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About the Author

Marks is a world traveler who grew up in a household of rocket scientists. As a boy he had a front row seat observing many NASA and NOAA projects. He writes science fiction novels from his home in north west Baja, and you can usually find him on Twitter @tobinmarks.

Feature Post: Lay All Your Books On Me: Here We Go Again Author Event

Hi, everyone!

I had such a great time at the Lay All Your Books On Me: Here We Go Again Author Event at the Cleveland Renaissance! As you can see the dates are wrong on the signage, but that is because last years event ran smack into a pandemic and the great organizers, Connie Shingleton Miconi and Krista Venero and the volunteers, worked on the second attempt this year and it was a SMASH!

First, I received a swag bag full of gifts from the authors for having a VIP ticket. Then, I got to meet so many great authors and the after party was fun with people dancing, taking photos and just sitting around chatting.

This is the list of authors attending the event and the actual date of the event with a group photo of all the authors below:

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The first part of the day was spent meeting and talking to all the authors and matching author names from their books with their faces. I was very excited to finally meet one particular author who I have been on-line friends with for almost ten years and then I also met many new authors who I hope are new friends going into the future.

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First table in the door and an author I won a book from on-line before the event was Ginnie Conquest. I enjoyed meeting her, reading her romance and becoming better acquainted at the after party. I hope her writing dream job comes true for her!

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Next, I got to meet in person Hope Daniels and Alicia Dawn. If you like paranormal romance, check them out. They are fun to talk to and I am looking forward to digging into their books.

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Next, I have to say I was surprised to find out that two authors, one I wanted to read and one I have read, are one in the same person! Shhhh…. Don’t tell anyone but, Phoebe Alexander with her smokin’ hot and sexy erotic romances and Christian cozy mystery writer K.L. Montgomery look amazing alike. 🙂

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My next featured author I have been reading for some time. Who doesn’t love a HOT Navy SEAL, intrigue, romance and suspense? And I completely did not realize at first who I was meeting and talking to. Sometimes I am a little slow on the uptake……but Cat Johnson was so great to meet! (And Cat, when you next talk to J.M., she can tell you I showed her all of your books I have on my Kindle.)

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Last, but definitely not least is my on-line and now in-person author friend J.M. Madden! (Fangirl moment!) I have been reading Jennifer’s books since her first “Lost and Found” series book was published. The characters are all memorable, especially John, and the books are some of my all time favorites. It was a meeting postponed for a year, but it was worth the wait!

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Door prizes, DJ, dancing, snacks and a bar at the after party where everyone relaxed and got to reconnect. (Sorry, I was too busy talking to take more pictures.)

This was a fun event where I got to meet some great new-to-me authors, besides favorites and I hope more events come to Cleveland soon!

A New Feature on Avonna Loves Genres

Hi, everyone!

Today I am excited to “Welcome” and share the news that my friend Elise Cooper will be sharing some of her wonderful author interviews on Avonna Loves Genres!

I know you will find them as entertaining and informative as my Feature Blog Posts and Book Reviews. I hope with Elise’s help to add this as a once weekly Author Interview blog post.

Below you will find Elise’s Biography.

Elise’s Bio

Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

WELCOME ELISE!

Book Review: The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE WOMAN WHO SMASHED CODES: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by Jason Fagone is a literary nonfiction WWII biography novel which brings to light the major contributions of the amazing female half of a married couple who both invented many aspects of the modern science of cryptology.

Elizebeth Smith wanted a job in literature. She is hired by an eccentric millionaire who brings the best minds of 1916 together on a large farm outside of Chicago and tells them to be the best they can be. Elizebeth becomes disillusioned with the project she was hired to work on, but she is intrigued with the young man, William Freidman she meets who is helping with the project.

The two get married and begin working together on breaking coded messages that are brought to them from various government and law enforcement agencies. They soon build a reputation and are instrumental in building the strategic texts for codebreaking that they and others use throughout WWI, Prohibition and WWII while William is in the Army and Elizebeth works for the Coast Guard.

While history hails William’s accomplishments of being a groundbreaker and innovator in cryptology and at breaking the Japanese version of Enigma, there is little praise given to Elizebeth’s own contributions from breaking Prohibition gangsters’ codes to breaking the Enigma code German spies were using all over South America.

This book brings Elizebeth’s accomplishments and contributions to light. Mr. Fagone brings Elizebeth to life from her professional publications and personal writings. I was truly amazed by how her and her husband’s brains worked to decode so many secret code systems without using mathematics or having the use of the just being invented computer. The only problem I had with the book was the inclusion of some codes that were used and/or broken by the duo because while I know some would work to solve the puzzles, it just interrupted the flow of the story for me.  Otherwise, Elizebeth’s personality comes alive in this story and her story just leads you to wonder how many other brilliant women have been overlooked by history.

I recommend this literary nonfiction WWII biography of a brilliant mind and woman!

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Author Bio

I’ve written about science, sports, and culture for Wired, GQ, Men’s Journal, Esquire, NewYorker.com, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, Philadelphia, and the 2011 edition of The Best American Sports Writing. A few years ago, I wrote a book called “Horsemen of the Esophagus,” about competitive eating and the American dream. For the last three years, I’ve been working on my next book, “Ingenious,” which will be published this November. It’s about inventors and cars. I live outside of Philadelphia with my wife and daughter.

Feature Post and Audiobook Review: Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo by Jo Koy

Audiobook Description

A stunning, hilarious memoir displaying Koy’s “wide-ranging comedic talent and abundant wells of perseverance” (Kirkus Reviews, starred). Mixed Plate illuminates the burning drive and unique humor that make Jo Koy one of today’s most successful comedians.

Well guys, here it is – my story. A funny, sad, at times pathetic but also kick-ass tale of how a half-Filipino, half-white kid whose mom thought (and still thinks) his career goal was to become a clown became a success. Not an overnight success, because that would have made for a really short listen, but an All-American success who could give my immigrant mom the kind of life she hoped for when she came to this country, and my son the kind of life I wished I’d had as a kid. With all the details of what it felt like to get the doors closed in my face, to grind it out on the road with my arsenal of dick jokes, and how my career finally took off once I embraced the craziness of my family, which I always thought was uniquely Filipino but turns out, is as universal as it gets.

In this book, I’ll take you behind the mic, behind the curtain – okay, way behind it. From growing up with a mom who made me dance like Michael Jackson at the Knights of Columbus, to some real dark stuff, the stuff we don’t talk about often enough as immigrants. Mental health, poverty, drinking. And show you the path to my American Dream. Which was paved with a lot of failure, department store raffle tickets to win free color televisions, bad jokes, old VHS tapes, a motorcycle my mom probably still hates, the only college final I aced (wasn’t math), and getting my first laugh on stage. 

In this book, I get serious about my funny. And I want to make you laugh a little while I do it. I’m like Hawaii’s favorite lunch – the mixed plate. Little bit of this, a little bit of that. My book Mixed Plate is, too. 

Jo Koy (Author, Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher)

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RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

MIXED PLATE: Chronicles of an All-American Combo by Jo Koy is the comedian’s autobiography and is written and narrated by himself. I knew the minute this came out, I had to listen to it on Audible.  I normally prefer to read rather than listen to a book, but Jo Koy is such a fantastic storyteller so I really believe this is the best way to get all the nuances of the autobiography. (And besides, I love hearing him imitate his mother!)

I knew the basics of his life from watching his stand-up, but in this autobiography he shares deeper and more intimate memories and stories. His stories are emotionally raw and starkly give you the picture of his family’s early disfunction and poverty. His willingness to hustle and work hard to make his dream of being a stand-up comedian come true was inspiring, especially with all the racism in the system as he was trying to break in.

If you are not familiar with this “mixed plate”, half Filipino/half white comedian, you need to read this book, listen to this Audible and/or watch his Netflix specials. His is truly a story of the immigrant dream of “making it” in America and not only making it himself but also sharing and raising his whole family up with him.

I am so glad I listened to this great autobiography on Audible and I highly recommend it!

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About the Author

Jo Koy is a comedian, actor, writer, and podcast host who sells out arenas around the world by telling real stories about his life, his family, and finding his way in the entertainment industry. He has multiple hit comedy specials on Netflix, and his unique brand of humor has been featured on Comedy Central, The Tonight Show, and Chelsea Lately. In 2018, Jo received the “Stand-Up Comedian of the Year” award at the legendary Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, and the previous year he reached number-one on the Billboard Charts for his standup album, “Live from Seattle.” In 2019 in Honolulu, Jo broke the record for the most tickets sold by a single artist at 23,000 with his eleven sold-out shows at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, inspiring the mayor to proclaim November 24 “Jo Koy Day.” Jo currently lives in Los Angeles with his son, Joe Jr., who inspires him to be a better performer, father, and man every single day.

Feature Post and Book Review: King Robin by R.A. Moss

KING ROBIN

  • Publisher : Beck and Branch Publishers (February 8, 2021)
  • Publication date : February 8, 2021

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for a new action adventure retelling of a well known legend – KING ROBIN by M.A. Moss.

Below you will find a book description, my book review and an about the author section. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Robin Hood meets Game of Thrones:
“He robbed the rich and gave to the poor… until he became king.”
In this adult-rated, action packed saga, the beloved rogue of Sherwood Forest triumphs over the ruthless Prince John and takes the throne – only to become a tyrant himself.

Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Little John, King Richard and the legend’s other characters are complex figures alive with raw passions, dark impulses and ribald humor.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53591397-king-robin

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

KING ROBIN by R.A. Moss is a new fictional retelling of the legend of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. This retelling of the legend gives the reader an overview of his entire life with an alternative version of his life in later years as he becomes the King of England.

Robert Webber grew up and lives with his mother and grandfather is a cottage outside of Nottingham. He has been the recipient of a good education and the family has lived a comfortable life, due to a secret, that is not so secret, but is never discussed. Anna Webber has raised her son to believe in honor and fairness to all no matter their station in life.

When he becomes of age, he accompanies the local baron to London to petition the King. He is awed by the city and Prince Richard, but he will also learn of the treachery and back-stabbing in the royal court. As he follows the prince he learns of the imperfections of humans, no matter the rank.

When Richard goes on Crusade, Robert is situated in a position by Richard to be the moral conscious to offset his younger brother, John’s cruel intentions. This begins the legend and gathering of the Merry Men and his alias as Robin Hood.

I enjoyed this retelling of the legend. The author’s writing pulled me into the life of Robert Webber with all the action, intrigue and the realistic character arc from idealistic youth to becoming the ruler he fought against. He did a good job of bringing the Merry Men together and made them more realistic and human, also. I liked the portrayal of Marion as a female with as much influence, power and courage as any of Robin’s men, but I had a big problem with the inserted explicit scenes of oral sex. I felt they were unnecessary, too frequent and for that time in history not probable. This story is an excellent read as a morality tale of the corruption that power brings and should focus on that, not gratuitous sex scenes disguised as romance.

This is an enjoyable action adventure retelling of a legend with a morality tale woven into the story.

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About the Author

I earned my keep as a writer long before penning KING ROBIN, a journey into a new genre which I’m excited to share. Under my birth name, I’ve authored four novels in other genres that earned accolades from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today. Along with being a presenter at book festivals and author conferences in Arkansas, California, Ohio and Wisconsin, my work has been featured nationwide on TV, radio and publications in print and on the web.