Weekend Roundup (1/30 - 2/3)

Hey everyone!
Here's what you may have missed on The Ink Puddle this week!

Monday: Review: Crossed by Ally Condie
Wednesday: Deleting Kindle Books
Friday: Review: The Lightforce Rebellion by Christopher Walker, Feature: Christopher Walker

And that's that for this week! The month of February is going to be an awesome one, we have so much in store for you guys. And was it just me or did Crissy do a stellar job with her first review/ interview with our blog? I can't wait to see what she's going to read and review next.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! Be safe and stay classy,

Feature Friday: Christopher Walker

Today, I’m really excited to say that we have Christopher Walker, author of The Lightforce Rebellion, here with us. Everyone, please welcome Chris…

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 
Hi, my name is Christopher Walker and I currently am a technical writer for a computer storage company up in Washington state. I'm a Star Wars fan, enjoy reading fantasy and sci-fi fiction, and this book represents my first step to becoming a full-time writer.

What is it like to self-publish your own book? 
It's empowering because I don't have to wait for a large publisher or agent to accept my work. Although my eventual plan is to publish a few of my novels through New York. So the upside is that it's very easy to do. But the down side is that it's, well, very easy to do. That's why if you've browsed around any of the major eBook retailers you'll see a glut of self-published novels with horrible cover art, and probably even worse writing. 

Where did you get the idea for Foronar, the world that Zach finds himself in for most of the story in The Lightforce Rebellion? 
The name just popped into my head. Not sure where it came from. But the world itself was based on a place some of my friends and I built up online in this virtual world called SW City (swcity.net). It's miles and miles of virtualized terrain we made while we were growing up in high school and college. SW City is a little more light-hearted and whimsy than Foronar, but some of the elements of SW City found their way into Foronar. 

There are obviously a lot of fantasy elements in your book, such as the races of cloud- and rock- people that inhabit Foronar. Where did you get the idea for these two unique races? 
The cloud people, the Cirrans, actually came fairly directly out of SW City from a race of cloud beings I had invented called Nimbusians. And those were based on a Nintendo character named Mallow. One of my friends from SW City also invented a counterpart race called the Submins who were very physically similar to Nimbusians. I toyed with using them, but eventually I ended up creating an entirely new race of volcanic beings and named them the Fyros, and they fit right in with the story I wanted to tell. 
And I justified using the fantasy characters by saying that the Cirrans the Fyros are both made out of the four basic greek elements of earth, air, fire, and water. The Cirrans are made out of air and water and the Fyros are made out of earth and fire.

You put a lot of detail into describing the worlds of Foronar in your book. Do you plan to write other stories set in this same world?   
I would certainly like to. I left the door open for more adventures, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can write another.

Your main character isn’t exactly the typical hero that is seen in most novels. What inspired you to create a character like Zach?
Zach is a 14 year old Kansas boy who is the protagonist of the story. Zach kind of came up out of combination of elements. I wanted to do a story about bullying, but there's also a bit of me in there at 14. For example, he's from Kansas. I'm from Kansas. He goes to my school. I went to my school. As an aside, I actually put in those demographic elements because I figured that I won't be writing too many stories set in the modern world and I wanted to do an homage to where I grew up while I had the chance. Hopefully I didn't make Zach a Mary Sue because I tried to give him characteristics that I didn’t have at that age. For example, I never would have gone through that door in the tree. 

The characters in your book are really fun to follow throughout the story. Do you have a favorite character from the book or one that you relate to more than the rest? 
Erika was really fun to write. I approached her with some trepidation because she's female and I'm not, and she's 14 and I'm not. And I think she turned really well! 

Do you have a certain process that you go through when you’re writing?
I plotted the story out ahead of time on note cards, using various methods like Dramatica and a few of Holly Lisle's tricks. I then used the note cards as a guideline while writing the story. I set a goal to write about 4000 words a week, because I figured I had four evenings a week that I could write. So I wrote 1000 words a day. By the end of it I was writing two days a week and 2000 words a day. 

Where do you do your best writing? 
I did a lot of it out on my balcony, and a lot of it on my couch. And only some of it on the new writing desk I bought. 

Are you working on anything new right now?
I'm noodling around an idea involving space Nazis. It'll be science fiction/fantasy, but not young adult. 

What do you do when you aren’t writing? 
I'm probably working, watching Survivor or some random movie, or playing a game with my friends. 

I’ve heard that you’re a fan of Star Wars. If you could be any character from Star Wars, who would you choose to be?
Well, I'll be playing a Jedi Consular in the new Star Wars MMORPG "The Old Republic". I wouldn't want to be any of the named characters. Their lives are much too harsh and exciting.

I’ve read that you are also working on a voice acting career, in addition to writing novels. Can you tell us a bit about what that’s like? 
Voice acting is great fun because you get to do all these crazy voices, and you really get to act. I actually play the lead in an audio drama you can find on Amazon and Audible called "Stitched Crosses" about a knight named Marcus who's become disillusioned with the Crusades. 

Has any of the work you’ve done as a voice actor inspired your writing at all?
So far they haven't crossed over, because typically I'm voicing someone else's writing. However, having multiple voices is very useful when reading your work aloud. And kind of fun.

Thanks for joining us today, Chris! I hope you guys enjoyed that interview. Be sure to check out Chris’s book, The Lightforce Rebellion. And, if you want to get a glimpse at the virtual world that was the basis for the world in book, give swcity.net a look. 

Review: The Lightforce Rebellion by Christopher Walker

“Zach Moran has never measured up. And when he runs through a mysterious door in order to escape a bully, he unwittingly finds himself trapped in the strange, yet familiar world of Foronar. The thief Soren has stolen the device that would allow Zach to travel back home. Now he sets out to recover it with the help of his newfound friends Sid and Walter, and a beautiful girl—Erika.
But Erika has a dark secret of her own. She is Soren's adopted daughter, tasked by the thief to lead Zach to him. For Zach is the key to Soren's own designs. Designs fit for him, and him alone. Now Zach must conquer his fears, face death, and stop Soren... or remain trapped forever.”

I first heard about The Lightforce Rebellion from my husband, who happens to be friends with the author. However, that was all the encouragement I needed to search for and immediately buy it from Amazon’s Kindle store – and I’m so glad that I did. This book is one that will keep you guessing until the very end. It’s full of characters that are well-developed, unique, and entertaining. Sid, for example, is one of the characters in the book who is incredibly entertaining. He is the kind of guy who, no matter what the situation is, will always be able to make you laugh. Throughout the entire book, Sid is constantly cracking jokes, even while he tries to help Zach, the main character, on his quest to save the world and get back home. Sid reminds me of that goofy uncle who doesn’t seem to have a serious bone in his body, and he immediately became one of my favorite characters because of that.

Not only that, but the characters themselves are ones that you can easily relate to, making them seem more like real people. Zach, for example, is nothing like the typical hero that you see in many other books. He is the small, younger brother-type character who you would not expect to see as a protagonist. In other words, he is just like everyone else, just your average kid. And yet, throughout the entire story, he is tasked with being a rather unlikely hero to save the unfamiliar world in which he finds himself. The Lightforce Rebellion – quite literally – transports you to an entirely different world, too. The book starts off in a town in Kansas, but most of the story takes place in a place called Foronar. This world, while similar to ours, has its differences, as well. For example, in Foronar cars have the ability to fly. Foronar is also home to some interesting creatures, such as Cirrans, who are made up of cloud matter, and Fyros, who are made of rock. If you enjoy books that have suspenseful, energetic, and well-crafted storylines, then The Lightforce Rebellion is the book for you.

I Rate This Book:

Being such an avid reader, I often run into the problem of being able to predict what is going to happen next in a book. With The Lightforce Rebellion, that was definitely not the case. The plot twists in this book were enough to keep me on my toes throughout the entire story and made it difficult for me to pin down who the good and bad guys were, which I really enjoyed. I was able to finish this book within a week because I could not seem to put it down. I, for one, can’t wait to read more from this author!

Chris, as he is known to his friends, was raised in Kansas and is deeply fascinated by history, philosophy, and how the development of our culture has affected our notions of fatherhood and growing up. He currently lives in Vancouver, WA in a third-floor apartment along with his Star Wars novel collection. He is also suffering from a horrible Minecraft addiction. Send an intervention team, please.

The Lightforce Rebellion is Christopher Walker’s first published work. It is currently available for Kindle and Nook e-readers, as well as on Smashwords.com.

Wondering on Wednesday: Deleting Kindle Books

For a while I was a bit confused on how Amazon worked. I mean, if I deleted something from my Kindle was it permanently gone forever? What about those books that I got for free that turned out to be awful and I really do want to get rid of? Today I hope to answer those questions for you and a few others.

When you delete a book using your Kindle device, the book is removed from your Kindle, but not from your library. Since Amazon uses a cloud system, it's as if you're going from carrying the book around everywhere you go to putting it back onto the bookshelf when you're finished reading.
To do this on your Kindle Touch or Fire, simply hold on the title or picture of the book and when the bubble comes up, press "Remove from Kindle". On your basic Kindle or K3 Keyboard, highlight the book you want to remove, right click the square and scroll down to "Remove from Device". This book will no longer show up on your Kindle.  They will continue to be in your archieved items, but still not technically on your e-reader taking up space.
This works the same way for apps or games.

When you want to actually delete a book that you never, ever want access to ever again, you have to go onto Amazon's website. From there, log in, go to My Account, scroll down to Manage Your Kindle. It will load to a page where you see the tons of books you have already downloaded and on the right side there will be an "Action" tab. Click that tab then press "Remove from Library". It will ask you if you're absolutely sure, because if you ever want access to it again you'll have to repurchase the item, and you can press Yes.

This works the same way for any apps, magazines or blogs you may have too. On the left of the page you can see a box that says "Your Kindle Library", and beneith it lists the types of data the Kindle can hold. Just click on what you want (magazines, blog, ect) and use the action tab to unsubscribe or remove the item from your device. Doing this means you will no longer be charged your monthly fees for your magazines or blogs you followed that you don't want to follow anymore, and obviously you won't get any more updates from that media.

So getting items off your Kindle isn't nearly as difficult as it may have seemed! Have you ever had any issues? do you have any questions? Also, keep the questions coming in because that's what Wednesday's are all about: helping you become more informed on the things you can do on your e-reader!

Until next time,

Review: Crossed by Ally Condie

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Cassia is finally going to find Ky.  After moving from work camp to work camp for months she is Society is moving her and a group of girls out to the Outer Provinces where Ky is…somewhere.  Ky has been in the Out Provinces for months watching young men, if you can call them that, die daily at the hand of the enemy or maybe it’s really at the hand of Society.  The Society is sticking noncitizens in the Outer Provinces to distract the enemy and keep them at bay.  But they’re running out of noncitizens and have resulted to shipping out boys as young as thirteen and now girls.  Which is how Cassia is moved to the Outer Provinces, but it’s too late, Ky has already left the camp.  She has two options, to stay and be killed by the rebels or to risk being caught and killed by society? Crossed is the sequel to the dystopian novel Matched, that will leave you dying for more.

I rate this book a

Something that I really liked about Crossed was that you get to see from Ky’s point of view as well as Cassia’s.  There’s also a slight game changer in the plot at the end of the book that really throws you for a loop and leaves you dying to know what will happen in the third/ final installment of the Matched series.  I didn’t quite enjoy this book as much as the first one.  The plot didn’t quite hold my attention as much as the first book because it didn’t twist and change throughout the entire book.

Ally Condie received a degree in English Teaching from Brigham Young University and spent a number of years teaching high school English in Utah and in upstate New York. She lives with her husband and three sons outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.   Learn more at matched-books.com
 

Weekend Roundup (1/23-1/26)

Hello, hello!
Here's what you may have missed this week on The Ink Puddle.

Monday: Review- Matched by Ally Condie, Being Human
Tuesday: Attention: Book Reviewer Wanted
Wednesday: Textbooks on E-Readers?
Thursday: Introducing... Our New Reviewer!

Ask and you shall receive, right? Meg and I didn't expect it to be nearly that easy to find a new reviewer. But we put the post up Tuesday and BAM! Here came Crissy. So everyone please welcome Crissy! If you want to know some more about her, we did an interview with her in our Thursday post, so make sure you check it out. I think you guys will come to find her just as awesome as we are. ;)
On the other side, acknowledging the fact that we did find someone so quickly, if you're someone who is interested but didn't get your notice in, feel free to contact us and we'll work something out. I don't see there being anything wrong with a group hosting this blog. It's much, much easier than one person managing everything, that's for sure!

Thank you for everyone giving me e-reader questions. Between my mini Kindle group I created at work and you guys here, the questions are flooding in. Keep them coming! That's what our Wednesdays are for, to cover your questions and how-tos about e-readers or anything else you might want to know the answer to.

On my last note, have you guys ever played In A Pickle? You can find at Walmart or any basic store for like $10. Basically, it's just awesome. You have cards 5 cards in your hand, 4 cards laid out on the table to play off of and every card you play has to be "in". Such as "There's a nun (card 1) in the haystack (2) in the supermarket (3) in the barn (4)". What?? It's just silly! Especially challenging people: in order for their card to work they have to explain the story in detail and then everyone votes if it can stay or not. So what should you do this weekend? Go play In A Pickle. Because it's awesome and you will laugh sooooo hard.

I hope you guys have a great weekend! We look forward to you guys seeing all of the fun things we have planned for next week.

Introducing... Our New Reviewer!

Wow! Wasn't that fast!
As you guys could see, we posted Tuesday that we were in need of another reviewer. That very morning we got an e-mail from Crissy. Neither Meg or I expected the process to go by nearly that quickly. But man are we happy to have her! Crissy actually went to high school with us and is someone I've been chinwagging endlessly about The Lying Game for the past month or so. So when she said she was interested, it was like it was meant to be!

Today we have put together a little interview so you can get to know a little about your new writer.

If you could be a superhero, which one would you be?
Rogue (X-Men)

What is your favorite book of ALL time? Why?
That's an incredibly hard question for me to answer! I've read so many over the years, it's hard to really pin down a favorite, let alone a favorite of ALL time. I guess, if I had to pick one, it would be The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks because, hopeless romantic that I am, I love any story that involves even the slightest bit of romance. And Sparks' books are always well-written, captivating, and chock full of romance. He's one of the authors that I count on to always have a good love story to read, even if, more often than not, the stories leave me shedding a tear or two at the end, as this one definitely did.

You're in college like the rest of us, what are you going for a degree in?
I'm currently pursuing a degree in Psychology, with a minor in English.

The best thing about reading a good book is__________.
The best thing about reading a good book is being able to step out of your own world and into the endless variety of worlds that fiction can provide.

Kindle or Nook?
Kindle.

Favorite vampire character of all time? (Book, movie, TV show, ect)
Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Angel)

Is there a specific quote you live by? If so, what?
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." -- Philippians 4:13 (ESV)

Best restaurant to eat out at?
Olive Garden. Hands down.

What has you most excited about joining The Ink Puddle team?
I'm really looking forward to reading some new books and experiencing some new authors.

So everyone, please give a warm welcome to Crissy! She will be doing her first review next week on The Lightforce Rebellion by Christopher Walker. So be sure to tune in and see what she has to say!