Book Review: Bound For Love

Book Monday

Review

Bound For Love

by

A.R. McKinnon

A.R. McKinnon is a Canadian author of Erotic Romance who currently has 5 published books, all of which are on Amazon. Her time is occupied by doing all she can to getting stories of the characters in her head onto paper. Trust me, I feel your pain!

OK, how about the review? I enjoy a book that starts off and gets you into the story. You do not have to wait to start connecting with the characters, which is useful in my mind. From their first meeting, Grayson and Lucy are immediately attracted to one another. Love at First Sight? Or maybe Lust at First Sight.

Now, I cannot go into too much detail, don’t want to spoil the plot, but Lucy goes to lengths to be around Grayson. They eventually begin their relationship, which could be a wreck before it starts due to the secrets they both hold. But in the end, you will see.

Bound for Love is an erotic tale dealing with BDSM. There is a friend of Lucy involved in a poly relationship, book one of the series. The main focus is on the Dom/Sub relationship bundling between Grayson and Lucy. Grayson not only runs a successful fetish club, where he meets Lucy, but he is also a horse breeder.

From the start, I could feel the attraction pulling these two together, but there was also a tension from their pasts pulling at them. The writing was straight forward and kept an excellent pace. The book was an easy read and I moved right through it. If I am not connected or interested in a story, I tend to read slowly. That did not happen this time.

As every good writer should do, she brings a gambit of different emotions to the reader. From the strange beginning of their relationship all the way to its fulling end. I believe you will enjoy this one. I give it 4 ½ of 5.     🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2

 Bound For Love On Amazon

Author Home Page

Thank you for reading, I do book reviews or book-related topics on Monday, writing-related topics on Wednesday, and experiences related to me on Friday. Please subscribe for updates. Or follow me on Instagram  , Twitter or Goodreads

Galley Company - Great Lakes

 

Great Lake Naval Training Center

Galley Company

Been a while since I left off with my Navy time experiences. So, to pick up where I left off, I was driving back home to spend a little time with my family before I had to report to Great Lakes for Gas Turbine school.

I, for some reason, read my orders wrong and arrived a day early at Great Lakes. It was pretty late at night, about 11:00, and after I was done checking in, I was sent to what I thought was a holding company for a couple of days before I was sent to Gas Turbine school. I was wrong, I was sent to Galley Company. We were the runt labor for the Great Lakes Galley. Much like when we were in boot camp.

I did a mild protest and even showed my orders, which stated I was to be at Gas Turbine school on Monday. I was told, everyone comes here first. Galley company was no fun at all. Every morning up at 3 am to march over to the galley to eat. After we ate, we went to our perspective jobs. I did luck out and got a job in the bakeshop. We had to dish up deserts for people eating in the galley. It really was a pretty easy job and most fo the tie we were finished around 7:30 at night.

We also rotated days on and off. But, on our off days, we had to work around the barracks we lived in. The building we lived in was called Snipes Castle, all of the Engineering rates lived there. Slowly each different rating was having its own barracks built, but for now, most rates shared the old worn down building. This also happened to be where Galley Company was located as well.  

My three roommates and I did pretty much everything together at the time. One, Howard was going to Gas Turbine school with me. The other two were going to enginemen school. I have forgotten their names. I was in Galley company for 3 weeks before I started my Naval Engineering education. The first school we attended as called Peewees, or Propulsion Engineering Basics. It was straightforward.

My one roommate and I never took notes. Just before the first test, our instructor told both of us, you had better ace this, or you’re both in trouble. We both not only aced that test but the other 3 in the course. At the time, we had the highest average for that particular school, 100. That same guy did the same thing when he went to Enginemen school. He was a relatively smart guy, and I know he was going to do well in this Navy time.

On weekends we still had to work around the barracks. On one weekend we had a long list of things to get done. The Petty Officer in charge told us after handing out the work, that should keep you busy until 1600 (4:00pm) It was maybe 8:00 when he gave us the assignments.

So, 50 guys all started working against one another. I stepped up and took over. I broke the guys up into teams to do only one task. We had to move furniture into individual rooms and clean the empty rooms. The teams handled only one type of furniture or cleaned one specific thing. By doing this, we were finished by noon, 4 hours early. It was similar to the road scene in Cool Hand Luke. We were sent on Liberty early, I was a minor hero that day.

After we finished up the peewees course, all of us went our own separate ways to our individual schools. Howard and I went to building 837, the Gas Turbine BEQ (Bachelors Enlisted Quarters). More on that building coming up.

Galley company was a good deal of work, both on duty at the galley and off duty. We also began to learn about different functions of the Navy and of standing watches. I saw the last person from boot camp I recognized, several ladies from my sister company. I spoke to them a few times. The first meeting we spoke the longest. They wanted to know why I was just showing up at Great Lakes. They had been there a month when I got there. I was asked out by two different ladies from that group. I had to explain being married and couldn’t do that. They just wanted to spend time with a guy, but I remember how that ended in AT Land, so I turned them down. 

Editing - Writing Wednesday

 

Writing Wednesday

You have your book done, and now you need to have it edited. We all know that no matter how much we read over our book ourselves, we will miss something. We cannot be expected to be 100% accurate reviewing our own work. I know I swear I am right on spelling and grammar, but I continuously find errors.

There are different types of editing. 

Spelling/Grammar

When nearly all of us write the program, we are using will give us alerts for spelling or grammar corrections. There are also add on programs to take spelling and grammar to a new level. I personally use Word with the Grammarly plugin. Having a new set of eyes on the manuscript will help catch a majority of those errors as well. But, even these tools cannot catch everything. I find it strange how I can have a manuscript clean, not open it for a week, and then have a couple hundred issues again.

Spelling and grammar is essential to have as close to perfect as possible. There are times when you, the editor, and the reader will see things slightly differently. But, where there are blatant errors, it makes it impossible to follow the story.

Line & Copyediting

Line editing is when an editor examines your book on the sentence and paragraph level and address awkward or unclear writing, wordiness, redundancies, clichés, and weak dialogue. Hopefully, this will strengthen your book without requiring a full rewrite.

Copyediting is a line-by-line correction of your manuscript. The goal here is to make your writing clear and professional. This type will also include spelling and grammar correction.

 

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing is a thorough big-picture edit of your book that includes a written critique and extensive margin notes. You'll get a detailed editorial letter that addresses the strengths and weaknesses of your book. Also, structural issues will be discussed. You can also receive feedback on marketability. Some editors will include extensive feedback and suggestions inserted into the margins of your manuscript. Lots of coaching on craft and examples will be covered.

Many new authors should have this level of editing done to their book. This is the level I went with for my initial manuscript. I am HOPING that this will allow me to improve my follow on books and avoid going this route for each continuous book.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final polish of your book before it's published and is recommended only for previously copyedited manuscripts.

Depending on the level of editing, your turn around time can be a few weeks to several months. My developmental edit is scheduled for 3 ½ months. I have seen some editors give 4-5 month turn around times on the in-depth edits. After I am given 2 months to do the rewrite, I also submit my manuscript to have a final proofread/polish.

Editing is essential to have your finished book to be successful. I imagine we all can agree that when we read anything if there are errors, we find it hard to read. I personally will stop reading. I know a person who had a book of poems published, and they did their own editing, it showed.

Another person, I know who published a book written in a cumbersome backwoods style of dialogue. It was hard to read, and he told me his initial editor stepped down due to the writing style. The book is hard to read due to the poor language used (It is part of the setting). This was the writer's preference, but it hurt the book overall. The author openly admitted to me, "That editor didn't know a lick about how I write."

I know from my technical writing days, editing is essential. I did not like getting my first few projects back with red marks everywhere. But, I learned from it. When I receive my manuscript back, I know it will be a learning experience, if not very humbling.

Another aspect of editing is cost. I saw prices as low as a couple hundred dollars up to around $10,000. Price was important to me, and I ended up spending more than I originally planned. But, I did feel it was the right thing for me to do.

When Iw as looking for editors, I sent samples to several. Nearly all sent me feedback, but only one felt right. They were very personable to me, and the feedback I got just felt right. I know that sounds odd, but it just clicked. Getting a good fit on a personal level with your editor is essential. If you pick an editor based only on cost, it could turn into a bad experience. A good fit/feeling is also important.

My Noble Fight - Cover reveal

 

Book Monday

My Nobel Night

Cover Reveal

        Book Monday can be anything related to a book, reviews, recommendation, or, as we have today, a cover reveal. A cover reveal is a big deal for all new up and coming releases. It offers the public the first view of that particular book. It sets the hype for the story and let everyone know, something new is coming. 


        Without further ado, we have for you the cover reveal for an author friend of mine, C.R. Riley, for her latest release.

Book 3: MY NOBLE FIGHT

Prince Lorenzo & Violet Blanc

Pre Order ----- Sept 14 on Amazon

Releases ------ Oct 6

Blurb

        My life is not perfect, in fact, it is in a huge state of disrepair. I have no one to blame but myself for that. Well, I should blame the man who dragged me into this muddy life. He certainly helped dirty it up.

        It’s time for me to start over again and leave that life behind. Get as far away from him as I can. Take my daughter and escape before he ruins us both. She deserves so much better than the life we’re trapped in.

        But while I wait for the right time to present itself, I find myself distracted by one very fine Prince. My screwed-up life has no place for this man, who has decided to get his nose dirty. He doesn’t even understand how dire my situation is, or the danger he is inserting himself into. And while I might like to see where it all could go if things were different, there is no way I’d risk dragging him down with me. My life has no room for a Prince. We are from two different worlds, and I’d only taint him and his family.

        The problem I’m having, however, is the length he’s willing to go to prove me wrong. No matter how hard I try to warn him off, he refuses to listen to reason. The only way I see out is to do the unthinkable.

        This is my fight, and I’m not about to let him sidetrack me. It’s time to do what I have to do. I can only pray he forgives me one day. 

Be sure to check out the other two books in the series as well.


THE ROYALS Series by C.R. Riley ... All books in this series are stand-alone

Book 1: SUDDENLY ENTHRONED

King Antonio & Larkin Cross

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081YG7L6S 

Book 2: UNEXPECTED PRINCESS

Prince Esteban & Lady Winifred

Available on Amazon & #kindleunlimited: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0869C5L7W

SR Miller Stories

 

SR Miller Stories.

K049 Feb 87 to April 87

This is not my own story, but it was too funny not to pass along.  I will add some context to this for those not familiar with Navy boot camp. Having a “job” in your company is important. Most of us did not get a special job as a recruit. We were just there for the ride. The most crucial role was RCPO, Recruit Chief Petty Officer. He/She ran the company and gave us our commands during marching. 

Although some would disagree, the next most important job was guidon bearer. This person was typically the shortest in the company. This is done to help keep an even pace when marching. And, from my own experience, this person loves their job and does not want it taken. They carry the companies flag and lets everyone know who is coming down the sidewalk.

If you remember, this is the same young lady who gave us the Skittles Club story. 

I want to thank SR Miller for sharing her stories with me and allowing me to share with you. We all went through some exciting experiences at RTC Orlando. Some were a little more interesting than others.

 

Marching out of my shoe.

Our boots were a problem for lots of us from day one. I have flat feet, so blisters developed the first few days. I had heard horror stories of people getting set back and made to wait to join another company, so I just kept my blisters to myself. I loosened the laces on my boots to help with the pressure. Trying anything to ease the discomfort. So one day, we are marching to class, and I marched right out of my boot.

I just kept going, so next thing I know, my CC is yelling, “Company Halt!” He comes running up to the front, where I was looking at our feet and holding my boot.

“Miller!!!” “ Have you lost something !??!”

I, of course, start to cry, my go-to emotion. This continually baffles my poor CC.

“Miller!!! Why are you crying??? Stop!!!!!”

“Why am I holding your boot?”

“ Did you forget how to tie?? “

“What is the issue here??”

I hobble over out of the way of the company to put my boot back on. He catches me limping and starts yelling again for me to take off my sock. So I’m sitting on the sidewalk he’s holding my guidon flag, and I peel off my socks. I reveal about 10 huge blisters all in different stages of grossness. He yells some more at me then walks me, in my socks, over to sickbay. I’m bawling the whole time telling him I am fine and that I don’t want to get set back. He comes into the doctor with me, where they treated and lanced my poor feet.

They gave me a note to wear white socks and slip-on shower shoes, then my tennis shoes for two weeks. My CC took me afterward to get a root beer and a Butterfinger candy bar at the geedunk machines. Told me if I told anyone I’d be regretting it. Lol. I was worried he would take away my flag and told him so. He told me to shut up and not ask so many damn questions.

 

 

Dungaree Issue

On the day that we were issued our dungarees, we went into that building to stencil our name on everything we owned. I remember being paralyzed that I would do it on the wrong side of my shirt or make a mistake. Of course, the CCs know this, so they were yelling and telling us we were moving too slow, etc.

We all got done, and suddenly I hear this commotion. Our CCs have pulled a girl from our company out and were telling her how brilliant she was. That now, because of her brilliance, she no longer had a last name. She would for the rest of boot camp and forever in our memories be 3629. She had stenciled the last 4 of her SSN on everything she owned. It always made us laugh when the CCs would call her out. She was such a sweet girl.

 

 

Mail Call

My parents were wonderful while I was at boot camp. I got lots and lots of mail. They always harassed me about it, but I didn’t care. I would read my letters from my dad out loud to other recruits who didn’t get much mail. I had told my dad about some of them so he would ask about them. He would also tell them individually to keep their chin up and that he looked forward to meeting them at graduation. Right before Easter, I got a pretty big package.

My CCs yelled out to me, “Miller!!! What do you think this is? A college sorority?”

He made me open it up in front of everyone. When I did, it was full of yellow chick marshmallow Peeps enough for everyone, including my CCs. Lol.

He just looks at me with his mouth hanging open. He shook his head and said, “Well Miller, maybe it is a freaking sorority! I don’t know!!”

 He let me pass out the peeps, and we all got to eat them right then. Girls that hated peeps were so happy to have the treat!

 

Are You Comfy?

I tell my stories all the time. We had a unique situation. We were my male CCs first female company. And we were my lady CCs last company as a cc. They were friends in life, so they enjoyed each other. So they were having fun. And so we got to too. I was definitely like private Benjamin showing up. One time I took my CCs blanket and put it on top of my bed because I was cold. Good lord. I never heard the end of it. We’d be somewhere, and they would ask me, “Hey Miller? Is the temperature ok for you here? Too hot? Too cold? Never lived that one down. Lol

Publishing Types - Writing Wednesday

 

Writing Wednesday

Writers today have a far better shot at being published than writes of even ten years ago. Anyone can actually have their work published whenever they want through Amazon. Make an Amazon author account follow their instructions, and you will be published. That does not guarantee success, but it makes you a published author.

Self-publishing has changed the landscape of writing. It allows anyone to have their work available to the mass market. However, that does not mean it is worthy of actually being available. I know a person who wrote poems. This person through they were ready to be published, so their spouse went ahead and made sure they spent the money to get published.

At the time, I was not even considering becoming a writer, so I did not pay much attention to the process they undertook. From what I remember, it sounds like it was a vanity press that published the work for them. Jump to the end, the book was not good. There were numerous grammatical errors and just overall poor quality, it failed.

In the past, an author had to have a manuscript that was polished and ready to send to a publisher in hopes it would make the cut. If the publisher thought it was worthy, they would invest the time into editing, cover design, and marketing. That all cost substantial money and is why so few books were picked up to be published by the big publishing houses. Many famous authors were rejected by numerous publishers before they were finally picked up. 

Can you imagine a world without Gone With the Wind? Or without Stephen King? Or no Harry Potter? All of those authors were rejected numerous times before they were finally picked up for publishing. If those same authors were to publish today, they could do it themselves. Would their work be as well received today if they self-published? There is no way to know for sure, but they could be published.

Many of the books I have been reading recently have all been shelf published. Some are great, others should have stayed on the author's computer.

With all of that being said, there are two main publishing paths, self and traditional. In the Traditional path, the author takes their work and preps it to be sent out for review by publishers. Who, in turn, will review each submission and reject a majority of them. Those that are accepted will go through editing, revision, cover art design, formatting, and finally have a date set. At which time, both the author and publisher will begin to market the book. For this service, the author gives up a sizable chunk of the royalties for their book. In some cases, traditional publishers can even have sizable parts of the book rewritten to better fit the market they see for the book. The author will lose control of their work, but their work will be seen and sold.

Self-publishing, the author, is responsible for everything that happens to the book, editing, cover art, formatting, and marketing. Trust me, none of that is cheap either. Some authors will go for the cheap end of the entire process, and it shows. They might have a decent manuscript, but they go cheap on editing or cover art or formatting. It hurts their book. I have read a couple self-published titles recently and would have never found them had the author not posted in an authors group about their book. Their marketing was subpar.

Some self-published authors make a minimal effort on marketing for their book. This ends up only hurting them and their work. I know when I started to take serious look self-publishing, I was shocked at the amount of work that needs to be done by the author to make their book successful. Everything the author does to their book is essential, but Marketing will obviously make or break your book.

I know first hand being a totally unknown person in the writing world, just getting your name out there a task. Even when you are using Twitter and Instagram, there are so many people posting, it is hard to be seen at times. But, slowly, people are seeing.

An author who is picked up by a traditional publisher has a more manageable task ahead of them. The publisher will help out much with marketing, but the author is still expected to do some on their own as well. Nearly all publishers today want to know your Social media following when you submit your manuscript. This proves the author is known with the community, and there is a good shot at a built-in audience.

Both paths will get your book into the hands of the reader. Self Publishing requires a good deal of time and money on the author's part. Traditional frees up the author's money, but you lose freedom associated with your book. Neither is wrong, it all depends on the author. There are successful authors using both paths. You might start off self-publishing and then being accepted for a traditional publisher.  

As of now, I am planning to submit to publishers, but I am also working toward self-publishing. I know I have a massive pile of work to do, but if I want to make my book a success, it will be worth it. My plan is to be able to just be a writer. I have far too many ideas in my head to let then not see the light of day.

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Book Monday - Can't Fight The Feeling

 

Today in my reviewer's sights is a delightful book from Claire Hastings, "Can't Fight This Feeling." This is book #1 of the Indigo Royal Resort series. According to her author bio on Amazon, she is a walking, talking, awkward moment. I had to think about that for a moment. She might be in person, but her writing is very well done.

It is always hard to review a fiction book as to not give away too much fo the plot and thus ruin it for potential readers. But, What I can tell you will hopefully want to have you pick up a copy and give it a read. "Can't Fight This Feeling" is a friends to lovers book set in the US Virgin Islands. How can that setting not be any better?

Good things do come to those who wait. Drea and Kyle worked together for years and had grown very close, but neither acted on their impulses. I like how the story unfolds. You can see and feel how deeply those two have already fallen for one another but just not acted on it. And they even needed a couple of nudges to finally do what they should have sooner. At one point, I was laughing at Kyle because I did exactly what he did. He recovered, I didn't.

Along the way, you will have highs and lows. One tradition the owners have makes a person wonder, do all resorts do a similar thing? The characters are likable and believable. Even the guests remind us of people we have all run across at one time or another. 

The book was straightforward to read and kept me moving along. Just as every author should do, she brought the emotion, there is laughter and tears along the way, but in the end, it is all worth it.

Also, do not forget that Claire has book #2 in the series up for pre-sale on Amazon right now. 

BTW, 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Amazon Pre-Order

Refueling in the Rain

Military Friday

 

Today is Friday, and I am taking a break from the writing posts. Well, it is Navy day, so I am putting this one out there.

When I first reported to USS Scott DDG-995 as a new GSM3 out of Great Lakes, I was first assigned to MER1. The ship was in a short yard period, so it was a perfect time to learn her from top to bottom, fo'c'sle to fantail.

We wrapped up the yard time and started getting underway. During the yard time, I was also helping out the crew in the Oil Lab. So, when they needed a new guy in the oil lab, it was me. Mind you this was a good positive, I knew I needed the qualification for the move up. This also put me in a prime spot to get on the helo refueling crew. That was again a good qualification to have, and it paid extra each month too.

So, I had been going on deck to help fuel the helo for about 3 weeks. Petty Officer Holloway and I were in the hanger one afternoon, setting up to refuel. It was pouring rain outside too. We told the LSE (Landing Signalman Enlisted) we would never get a clean sample in the rain. He told us to do our best. Each time we refueled, we gave the pilot a sample for him to visually check for water. He did it by giving the bottle a swirl, and any water would be seen doing it. It was pretty neat to see, actually.

They call us out on deck to land the helo. Instantly we got soaked. I held the sample bottle upside down in a vain attempt to keep possible water out. It was really coming down. Then add in the chopper landing, and water was everywhere. Rain falling on us and prop wash kicking up water sideways and from below.

We start the pump, take a sample, the pilot says No. Holloway and I are doing all we can to get a clean sample. Second one. No again. We tell the guy on deck we can only do one more. Still, we try, but again, the pilot says, No.

The pilot stares out the window and us and give us a WTF motion. I look over at him and give him the cut it hand gesture. Telling a pilot that they cannot fly is the worst thing I think you can do. The LSE looks at me, his eyes wide as hell. Even the pilot did a double take. So, I give him the cut it again. The pilot does a facepalm and shakes his head, then sticks his index finger up and twirls it, pump away.

The LSE gives me an eye roll and points a finger at me. I tell the pump room to fire up. We stand there, pumping the chopper while it sits on the deck running. That is called hot pumping. We usually did not stay on deck for the take-off, but we were motioned to remain. I think they wanted us to enjoy the pelting spray as the helo took off.

We were soaked to the bone after that whole experience. Holloway and I get back in the hangar. We are met by the CHENG, Chief Engineer, who was instantly on me. I am 6’5,” and CHENG was like a foto shorter. It was kind of comical getting chewed out by him, but…

“Did you tell the pilot to kill it?”

“Yes, I did,” I say

“Why?”

“We gave him three samples, and he rejected all three. We can't do a 4th and have enough in the take for a full load.” I say.

Holloway nods.

“Don’t do that again, tell the air det to do it.”

Later that day, when we were toping the helo off again before putting it in the hangar, the pilot jumped my ass. I never did like that guy. He told me it is my job to get him clean fuel. It is hard at times to remember the chain of command. Human nature can kick in, but I held back. Sucked it up and gave him the proper “yer, sir.” I did explain my point, but he did not want to hear it.

I think it was 2 months later when the ship was going through certification for refueling helicopters, AvCert I believe it was called. I was the only crew member who had been through the aviation fuels school. Sitting in on one of our talks was the pilot. When asked his opinion of the fuel team and me, he gave us a glowing review. Pilots like to fly. When they are told NO, they tend to cry.

I did enjoy refueling our helo, even in all of the crazy situations we did it in. When looking at the attached picture, I was a member of the purple vest team. Each person on a flight deck is in a different color vest, so it is easy to recognize their function. Purple, fuel, red, damage control, brown, chain/chock, yellow, LSE.

The helo in the picture is the model we did refuel. And, we did work with HSL-32, our chopper was 135, the one shown was 137. And, that is either my old ship, USS Scott or USS Kidd in the picture.

Blog schedule - Yes, I need it.

 

Blog post schedule, yes, I have to schedule these. I had always envisioned this blog as multiple platforms, one to share my Navy experiences. Next, share life experiences. Finally, share my writing experiences. To do this, I need to set a schedule.

Going forward, I am going to do all I can to stick to this schedule. On Monday’s I am going to be writing about either review I have done or other book-specific related topics. This is the day that might not always have a post. It is hard to keep up with everything every day, but I am going to do my best, I promise.

Wednesday will be Writing Wednesday. These days I will cover my experiences as a new author. How I went from idea to book and the issues, I found along the way. This day will see the most activity and content. It also seems to be the day that many others post their content. So, I think it will be a good day and Writing Wednesday just sounds right.

The final day will be on Fridays. This will be Navy related experiences as well as tidbits about me growing up.

The goal going forward is to have new content all three days, but one might slip from time to time. Please subscribe to my blog so you can get updates. Also, comments are encouraged, so don’t be scared. Also, share with other people who you feel will fond this enjoyable.

ARC - Advanced Read Copy

 

Writing Wednesday

Today it is time to talk about something most people probably had no clue authors are involved with, marketing. In today’s self-publishing world, marketing is 100% on the shoulders of the author. Some ignore it hoping their book will be seen. That is not a recipe for success.

Many steps can be taken, I am going to cover one of those today its called an ARC, Advanced Reader Copy. This is a marketing step an author can take to get copies of their book into the hands of readers and influencers before it is released. Influencers are those who have blogs, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter accounts that primarily deal with books and book reviews.

The ARC is an excellent way for these people to read the book before release and brag it up for the author. This can be a video review, written review, and tweets. Authors will ask for people to do their ARC, and the goal is to have a mix of people with a large following as well as other authors.

One other goal of an ARC is to get reviews posted on Amazon on or as close to release day as possible. Review help sell books and also help those books increase their chance for visibility.

As a future published author, I have tried to become involved with the ARC process. Being new into the writing community, I am a total unknown. Being involved in social media is one of the easiest ways to get known, but even that limits your exposure. Doing ARCs for other authors is another way to gain this valuable exposure for not only myself but the author as well.

As the person doing the ARC, I do receive a copy of the book before it is published, and I am given a time frame to publish the ARC. Some authors will request the review be posted on certain outlets, while others will leave it up to the reviewer. I use all of my available outlets to publish my reviews, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and of course, Amazon.

Not only do new authors use ARCs, but all authors use them. An established author already has their name known, so their ARC is used more for generating press and hype for their books. Established authors need the hype as much as new authors.

The ARC is also the absolute final time the book will be read before it is published. There might be an issue that was missed by editors, proofreaders, and beta readers that is caught in the ARC. This will give the author time to fix that issue. Hopefully, that does not happen, but it can.

All of that takes time. Is it worth it? Yes, in the end, it is, not only for the author but for the reviewer, me. In the modern self-publishing landscape, exposure and hype are what drives us. In the future, I will be adding reviews here on my blog. Scheduling is a bear while keeping track of everything, but I am in this for the long haul.

Please subscribe to my blog and leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!

What's in a name?

 

Seriously, think about it, names, I am talking people's names. This came from a discussion of last names and the jobs these people had while in the Navy. Some combinations are rather humorous. The people who listed these do so under the rule of sea stories, these are all no shitters!

First, the Navy is divided into different groups, Seaman, Fireman, and Airmen. Seamen take care of the ship in general and do the driving. Firemen are the engineers. You guessed it Airmen take care of the aircraft. So, that will help out a little with the names.

Seman Cup and Seman Coffee

Seaman Samples – Several of these both men and women. A side story from camp on that one.

"My best Bootcamp story was with a nuke named samples. At medical, we are all lined up, getting called into medical by rank and name. A young female HM yells out at the top of her voice. I need a seaman sample, I need a seaman samples. Halfway thru yelling out his name, it dawned on her. She turned red & ran in the back. Our CC's Kemper & Greenly ran out the door, so we wouldn't see them laughing. Kemper tried to come back in to yell at us but gave up and left. He cycled the shit out of us for our military bearing later, told us also it was one of his funniest Navy moments."

Seaman Seaman – Later to become, Petty Officer Seaman

Airman Seaman

his one is not strange until it was time to work in the Galley for mess cranking duty, Seaman Cook.

A recruit named, Hurlbut, nicknamed Throw Ass.

Another bad combo, Seaman Staines – Again both men and women

Or this misfortunate IC2 Balls, or IC1 Ball. (IC=Interior Comminucationman)

There were various people with the last name Major, Lt. Major, Petty Officer Major.

Ensign Benson

Seman Butts, who was trying to strike the IC rating, so who became IC Butts.

Chief Dick, who was reported to be a very laid back type of guy.

And then the ever-popular young lady Seman Swallow. Yes, that is correct.

Seaman Recruit Hair, who failed an inspection because of his hair.

Back to another IC joke, IC3 Peters.

Petty Officer Officer, no, I did not stutter.

Captain Seman, I bet he did not like his family.

Seman Ondick, that was probably brutal in Bootcamp.

An instructor Petty Officer Vulva.

This young lady should have gone in as either Fireman or Airman, Seman Guzzler.

A confused sailor, Fireman Seaman.

Seman Fagg and Seman Seargent.

A sailor who was happy to make Petty Officer, Seaman Liss.

Seaman Trapp

A young lady with the maiden name of Boner, Seaman Boner.

A Naval Doctor, Dr. Clapp, who was a woman.

A Naval Dentist, Dr. Fingers.

An unfortunate set of watchstanders, Seaman Gay, and Seaman Small.

Petty Officer Petty and Petty Officer Sailor

Seaman Foureaux, which all sailors want to be 4-0(perfect)

Seman Siemen (the German spelling)

Petty officer Namer, with a nice story to add from that person, "At my second duty station, I had gotten married, and my last name became NAMER. I was a third-class and had been tasked with cleaning a passageway. As I was working, a Chief walked past me and turned to me and asked if I was a smartass. Totally stunned, I looked at him to see why he had asked me that. Well, guess there was a fold in my shirt, and all he could see was NAME on my stenciled shirt. And he said, "You are supposed to stencil your name on your shirt, not the word NAME." I looked down at my shirt, pulled the fold-out so he could see the "R" (LOL). He just grunted and walked on. (Geez.)

Just a few of the many names that in certain circumstances really have an impact. I know there are plenty more out there just waiting to be discovered. 

 

 

 

Intro to "In The Stars"

I started to write, and I was actually surprised how easy it was to get the story onto paper, well, the computer, but you know what I meant. Initially, I had to use Wordpad since I did not have Word on the laptop I was using. Then I switched to Open Office, which was OK for a while. Then, I broke down and added Office to my laptop. Then I added Grammarly, which was a big help. Word only does so much in grammar and spelling.

Once I was off and running, I really had no clue what I was doing. Hey, writing is easy, right? Not hardly. There are a good many rules to follow when developing a story. Most of those rules I followed pretty well, even though I did not realize I was doing it at the time.

Today I will introduce you to my story, "In The Stars". The basic plot is simple, girl meets boy, and they start to fall in love. Yes, it is that simple. Well….but, there are some issues with the basic flow of things. Without a little conflict, the story would be boring.

First off, Emily, Lana, Carrie, and Gene are active duty US Navy. The story was set in 1994, and the Navy had some sticky rules about fraternization, they still do. And when you have had issues in your past with men or women, you are not necessarily looking. Also, when sailors reach a particular time in the Navy, they make up their minds about what they want a career or return to civilian life. Those who pick career plan it out and work their butts off to make it happen.

I set the story when and where I did because I am familiar with the time and setting. It required little or no research so I could concentrate on characters and the story. So, we meet the main characters as they have begun to really settle in for the remainder of their Naval careers.

Yes, there are those thinking that setting would be boring. But, the characters are not any different from anyone else in other jobs, police, fireman, doctor, or nurse. They are all just as prone to all the same feelings as the rest of us. Having the setting fro the story is unique and should turn out to be interesting. I wanted people to enjoy the story and get a glimpse into the world of a US Navy sailor. In particular the enlisted US sailor.

Just forget their occupations, two people meet by a stroke of luck, or maybe bad luck. Neither realizes it, but they are on a collision course to the inevitable. I doubt any of you have ever had a simple straight forward path to true love. It is typically a hard road to travel. And so, “In The Stars” shows just one of those relationships.

Love stories are wonderful, no matter where or when they happen. The downside to the Navy is, they have duties and missions that can get in the way of the best-laid plans. And why not have a love story about two sailors? Even with the struggles of their jobs, they can work it out. Hey, you might get to love the phrase, “Long cruise Sailor?”

Stay tuned for more insight and teases.