Tag: Reviews

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 32

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Well, this is it. The last day of the Seventeen Skulls virtual book tour. It’s been quite a wild ride, from day one all the way to this final post. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ll have a retrospective look back on the tour at a future time. As for today, we’ll wrap things up, put a bow on it, and call it a tour.

Today’s lone stop sees us venturing over to Teatime and Books, where the tagline reads ‘all you need are books and tea.’ I don’t know about that, but I’m pleased and grateful to be featured on their pages.

Yes, I know I teased a week of double features. Yes, I know that hasn’t been the case on most of this week’s days. It’s one of those unfortunate “the best laid plans” things where not everything always unfolds the way we would like (or had been led to believe). Nonetheless, I hope it’s been an enjoyable experience for those of you who have followed along here. We’ve visited a ton of places I, quite frankly, never would have ventured otherwise, so my horizons have officially been expanded. Once or twice along the way it’s been a challenge to get the day’s post up in a timely fashion, but the streak held intact right to the final guns. I’ll talk more about it when I devote a post to looking back on the journey.

On the eve of the last weekend before classes resume for the fall, let me offer a gentle reminder that both Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: the Dark Side are both set to kick off once again. If you or someone you know is interested in one or both of these courses, registration is still open – just click the links above for more information. Hope to see some of you there!

This will be my last daily post for a while as I take some time to recover, reset, and digest the past month’s events. I’ll be back at it soon though, so don’t forget to subscribe at my contact page for updates and news sent directly to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 29

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s the beginning of a brand new week. Here in Canada, we collectively wait with bated breath for the federal election results. The polls close in a couple of hours, and then we see what shakes out. In book tour news, we’re down to just four days remaining and it’s back to business with not one, but two tour stops today.

First on the docket we’ve got the appropriately-named Insane Books, a busy little site that features a ton of books. Next we move on to The Book Dragon, which has given us a nice feature spot as well. Many thanks to our gracious hosts today, your interest and exposure are greatly appreciated.

Check back tomorrow when we’ll have two more tour stops, including two guest posts as well as a review of Seventeen Skulls. Good stuff!

That’s all for today, make sure you head over to my contact page and subscribe to have these posts delivered right to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 18

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Welcome once again, newcomer and regular reader alike, to the Seventeen Skulls official book tour. We’re eighteen days in now, chugging along toward our final date on the 23rd. We’ve got a whopping fifteen more stops to make in that time, so let’s get to it!

Today we’re off to Sylv.net, a Facebook page dedicated to book trailers, social media teasers, and various other book services. They’ve given Seventeen Skulls a nice feature today, so a tip of the hat to them for that. As I’ve done earlier in the tour with Facebook pages, I checked out their website and encountered difficulties in doing so. But their Facebook page looks and works just fine!

I don’t always remember to say so, but if you’ve read Seventeen Skulls (or Terror in High Water, or any of my work) I would greatly appreciate it if you’d take a few minutes and write a quick review. Whether on Amazon, or over at Goodreads, or even a copy & paste and do both, it means a lot. Other potential readers have a better chance of discovering and, subsequently, reading one or more of my books. Word of mouth has always been the best method of advertising for authors, and leaving reviews is essentially the digital version of that. So, thanks in advance (and a huge thank you to those who have already done so)!

As I’ve done once or twice during the tour, I wanted to pass on a little plug for Sheryl’s new release, The Nixies of McGillivray Lake. It’s an excellent young adult dark fantasy novel, the first of many we’ll see from her in the coming months and years.

That’s a wrap for today. Thanks as always for taking the time to stop by and visit. Feel free to wander around the site and check things out, and if you’re so inclined – as quite a few of you appear to be lately – you can go to my contact page and subscribe to have all the latest new and updates delivered right to your inbox. Until tomorrow, when we’re right back here with another tour update, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Last One of the Year

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Happy Solstice! The shortest day of the year is now behind us, onward to longer (and, before we know it, warmer) days! It’s the holiday season, and possibly my last post of this crazy whirlwind that has been 2020. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy, even if you’re in a place where travel restrictions and such have hampered your plans. As of today Ontario has gone into lock down for the next month, most other Canadian provinces are in various stages of restriction, and I understand there’s a new strain of COVID making its way through the UK and possibly into Australia. And of course America is reporting some frightening infection numbers. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a little way off still I think.

As for me, I’m recovering from entirely different health woes, having suffered some broken ribs about a week ago. It’s the second time in my life that I’ve damaged myself in this way, roughly twenty years between instances. It’s not any more pleasant this time around, I can tell you. Fortunately for me, the next couple of weeks will bring a light work schedule, which means more time to convalesce here at home.

The time off will give me a chance to put the finishing touches on my new Writing Horror: The Dark Side class, which debuts on January 25th. Meanwhile, Crafting the Short Story moves to its new time slot on Thursdays starting January 28th. It also switches to an eight-week course as noted in this previous post. I’m looking forward to getting back into the classroom – virtual though it may be – this new winter session.

In other news, I wrote a new story this weekend. One of those spur of the moment things where an idea occurred to me and I wrote it down as it was hatching. I guess it wasn’t so much the act of writing the story that was spur of the moment; I wanted to submit something to an open call but had nothing that really fit, so I did sit down with the intention of coming up with something. As for the story itself, I didn’t even have an inkling of what it would be before I started. Sometimes that’s how it works: a little spark of an idea turns into a story right before your astonished eyes. One of the things I tell my students involves a daily writing exercise which can spawn story ideas and, from time to time, actual stories.

Speaking of stories, keep an eye on this space in the new year for a new feature I plan to add to the site. I’ll be adding a section of free content including some stories and the like. For those who have already read some of my work and enjoy it, this is just a little something extra. For those who may not have read anything I’ve done yet, this is your chance to test the waters. Hopefully you’ll like what you see!

In case this is indeed my last post this year, let me thank you for spending some time here with me and my thoughts. Once again I end with the obligatory mention of my contact page, not only for yourself but any of your family and friends whom you think might enjoy what we do here. And what post would be complete without a gentle reminder than book reviews are the lifeline of all authors? Since it’s the season for giving and all, I would happily accept any and all reviews. Primarily and ideally for Terror in High Water, at any or all of here, here, or here. But any of the titles that have included my work would also be welcome. Finally, as always,

Be safe, talk soon!
-JP