The Nearer the Dawn

So, in an effort to get back into blogging and supporting other authors, I recently joined a new Facebook group for reviewers. I’m excited for the potential to meet new authors. I’m especially excited to read their stories.

Let me start off with the “cover blurb”, as I usually do –

We all wear masks of secrecy. Some are small and insignificant while others are dark and forbidden. We wear them to mislead and deceive. It is, after all, easier to live a lie than to expose ourselves to the world. Exposure would leave us vulnerable. Yet, the truth could set us free; we hope. The moment we truly abandon all forgeries and remove our veil is the only time we can fully accept our true identity.

For Nina Luther living a lie is life in its purest form. As a child, Nina knew she and her entire family were different. The mortals who surround her, fear the unknowingness of what they will become. Nina has no such fear. She is all too aware that her time here on Earth will be plagued by her heavenly gift to help others; she despises this. All Nina desires is to be an average high school senior, but cannot hide from her divine destiny.

While adapting to her family’s recent move to Savannah, Georgia, Nina falls hard for Chase James, a mysterious loner with a dark and demonic secret of his own. 

In this world there are saints and sinners. The difference between the two: every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. Who will be the last one standing? Will the demonic uprising on Earth mean the end for the mortal angel Nina? Or will she live to die another day?

 

So how did I feel about my first offering?

The Good – I love origin stories – as in all the different versions of how the world was created and all the gods and demons. J.P. Berry has a great twist on the classic, and I really enjoyed that.

The Bad – The story is predictable. You have the obligatory loner, the alpha bitch, the mouse, the jock, and the “freak” (or so she sees herself as). Beyond that, the characters just feel so one-dimensional that it’s hard to really life any of them.

The Ugly – Well, to be honest – everything except the origin story. The writing isn’t that good, and the grammar is horrible. I’m no Grammar Girl, so please take my opinion for what it is – an opinion. There were commas where there shouldn’t have been. There was an oddly placed em-dash or two. And at least one instance of tense change in a three-sentence section. Past tense to present then back to past. And the point of view used just didn’t work for me. First person is hard – I know; I don’t use it personally for that very reason. But beyond that, it was all tell and no show.

But what about the story, you ask? Well, it has so much potential that I could just cry. Like, I wanted to get into it so badly, but all the problems above just took me out of it and I couldn’t get into it at all. I’m literally on the fence with this one. Will I recommend it to others? No. But would I consider picking up the next book to see if (a) the author’s writing has improved and (2) how the story concludes? It’s entirely possible.

I suck at this…

Banse and I moved. In April. I still don’t have my desktop, or even a desk. I’m building a desk with bits and pieces from Ikea. Eventually. I have an empty bedroom (two actually), so one will be a guest room while the other is my writing hole. This picture will give you an idea, except I’m not so good on the dimensions. 

I already decided to swap room sides, so reverse that “l” and put the longbpiece on the side by my fingers. And, I decided shelving on the wall will be easier than free standing. Sturdier too, I hope. 

Anyway, I’m still working on the contemporary series. I’m developing my own little small town and my characters. I’m definitely leaning more sweet than steamy, by the way. But, without that space, time is snatched in pieces. Annoying. 

So, that’s an update. Still chugging along. At the laundromat right now with my bullet Journal and notepad.