Benjamin Sobieck

This is a very positive look at Wattpad by folks who have been VERY successful using it. The trouble is, for those of us who are not Millennials or Generation X, we've probably never heard of it, and type of traditional fiction we might want to share on it might not appeal to its younger readers, who seem to prefer romance, paranormal stuff, and fan fiction. Also, most of the 65 million (and growing) users are female, which might not bode well for the noir short story I would like to post. On the other hand, out of 65 million, surely there must be caring soul out there who might actually read and comment on my work. It seems worth a try, and its certainly easy enough to do.

This book provides examples of Wattpad authors who have gone on the make actual money from their writing, being published conventionally or seeing their work adapted for television. I'm certainly convinced that some people in a position to help writers are keeping an eye out for Wattpad stars. On the other hand, being commissioned to write a 500-word story for Coca Cola may not be your idea of success. In any case, this is a quick read and so far as I can tell a good introduction to a thoroughly modern way to share your work with a potentially sympathetic community of readers.… (mais)

Chase Baker and the Vikings' Secret (Chase Baker #5) by Benjamin Sobieck (Author), Vincent Zandri (Author), and Andrew B. Wehrien (narrator) is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary. It is an adventure, action, and has a touch of fantasy in it. It reminds me a bit of a Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones type book but with more of a personal feel. Chase Baker is asked to assist a Chinese journalist in going into the deep mountains but the journalist is keeping secrets that could get them all killed. There are Nazi snipers, mythical creatures, the elements themselves working against them. It is an action packed and suspense filled adventure that was very entertaining and satisfying! Will definitely read more of these books! The narrator was perfect for this story, I couldn't picture a different voice for this. Excellent.… (mais)

So, this one is kinda of really awesome. It's a unique collection. It consists of all 6 of the first Author's Lab Collaborations, along with some really COOL additions from the contributing authors. It's really hard to go into detail about ALL the extras, but I will say, that they are as unique as the authors themselves.

Complete with G-Man's Chrome Balls story, these digital shorts really make for some FANTASTIC reading. Some will have you laughing til you cry, and others, well, they may be so serious. That is what I love about these shorts. You NEVER know what you will be reading and each one will be so completely different from the one before it. Justice Rules and Cleansing Eden have some sneak peaks in there as well, and both of those are full length eBooks that you will SO want to read the whole thing!

If you haven't guessed it yet, yes. This is most definitely FIVE stars and two thumbs up and EVERYTHING in between! These authors ROCK and you will be hooked on these things instantly! If you haven't ever read any of the Collaborations before, you could start right here, right now, with Six Pack. You will get the first 6 installments along with all the awesome bonuses. Great job, everyone!… (mais)

Okay, the first mystery for me about this book was its title. CLEANSING EDEN. What did it mean? What kind of crime story has a title like that?

The story begins with two anonymous people -- a younger man and an older man -- burying a body. Turns out to be a dead celebrity. Right up front, you learn that the older man has an agenda. He wants to kill all the celebrities that are warping young people and, in his opinion, stealing their identities. He calls them pedophiles. I don't think that word means what he thinks it means to paraphrase a character from another story, but I digress.

Here's the thing. The older man enlists the younger man's complicity and assistance in his plan to kill celebrities and, in return, keeps him high and easily manipulated on a drug product he created called Bluegrasse (with an "e" at the end to give it more class).

So ... they do their thing. Kill one celebrity. Two celebrities. Then, the media gets interested. That's when we meet ...

June Routledge. The intrepid reporter for Ce!eb News. Possibly the most annoyingly named celebrity news program in the history of fiction.

And, though June aspires to do real journalism, she has to pay the bills, so she's working at Ce!eb for her most irritating boss, Jim. So when the news breaks about the celebrity killings, June jumps on the chance to get the scoop and be the proverbial Lois Lane of celebrity journalists, as it were.

Now ... things get a bit interesting when an attempt is made on the life of Celebrity #3. Because, let's just say it gets into matters of fault and things like contributory negligence, assumption of risk and how to fix the blame when someone who sets events into motion has no intent to harm. That's it. :)

Naturally, the suspense ratchets up when the cops get involved and Captain Benjamin Escalate is not only questioning the younger man, but eyeing June with suspicion. Imagine!

Read the entire review at: http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2011/06/cleansing-eden-great-novel-of-suspense.h...… (mais)