Tag Archives: book recommendation

Minutes Before Sunset Release Party ! ! !

1 May

Website Update:

7 p.m. Book Mavern’s Picks featured “Minutes Before Sunset” today. Special thanks Jhobell Kristyl, book reviewer and blogger. Click here to read.  

10 a.m.: ShannonAThompson.com has hit over 7,000 followers :D Thank you all for the tremendous support! 

After years of writing and reading, and being on ShannonAThompson.com for eight months, I am so excited that we are finally here! It’s absolutely breathtaking seeing my novel up on the internet, because I can finally share it, and I’ve been looking forward to it for so long :] Again, and I say this all of the time because I mean it, thank you for supporting me along this journey.

Published by AEC Stellar Publishing, Minutes Before Sunset is now available as an e-book for $6.99 (And there’s a 20% discount for the first week of sales! (It expires at midnight on 5/7/2013.) Just click here (or go to Smashwords) and use the discount code DM42Z. Please help spread the word on Facebook and Twitter :D I’d really appreciate it! And don’t forget there’s a surprise for you all (Yes, you all!) in my acknowledgements page. 

Here are other places you can buy Minutes Before Sunset:

Amazon: Kindle

Smashwords includes links for Kindle, ePub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others), PDF, RTF, LRF, Palm Doc, Plain Text Download, and Plain Text View.

I’ll be adding links periodically as I receive them ! But in case you’re just now coming to my site: I’ve added the Shan-002synopsis, the cover, and the first chapter below:

She was undoubtedly a shade, but I didn’t know her.

Eric Welborn isn’t completely human, but he isn’t the only shade in the small Midwest town of Hayworth. With one year left before his eighteenth birthday, Eric is destined to win a long-raging war for his kind. But then she happens. In the middle of the night, Eric meets a nameless shade, and she’s powerful—too powerful—and his beliefs are altered. The Dark has lied to him, and he’s determined to figure out exactly what lies were told, even if the secrets protect his survival.

…

He had gotten so close to me—and I couldn’t move—I couldn’t get away.

Jessica Taylor moves to Hayworth, and her only goal is to find more information on her deceased biological family. Her adoptive parents agree to help on one condition: perfect grades. And Jessica is distraught when she’s assigned as Eric’s class partner. He won’t help, let alone talk to her, but she’s determined to change him—even if it means revealing everything he’s strived to hide.

 The first chapter (for free) click this link: First Chapter Preview. 

And excited things have happened! I’ve received another author review:

“Creative and well written, ‘Minutes Before Sunset’ keeps the reader intrigued and anxious for the sequel. Love it!” – T.L. McCown, author of Shifting Sands.

While this was happening, I also did another interview with upcoming author, Amber Skye Forbes, and that can be read by clicking here.

It’s official. I’m dancing around the room with my fat cat, Bogart. He’s excited. (I can tell by his lack of begging for food.) I’ll be close to the computer (as usual but even more so) this week, so don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail or ask a question in the comments section. I’ll get back to you right away! If you’re interested in an interview or planning on reviewing Minutes Before Sunset, let me know! I will link them to all of my websites!

In the mean time, I hope you’re enjoying reading Minutes Before Sunset as much as I enjoyed writing it for everyone! 

~SAT

See? We're dance-hugging :]

See? We’re dance-hugging :]

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Relax & Read: The Unmemntioable by Erin Moure

8 Apr

23 days until the Minutes Before Sunset release!

April is National Poetry Month, so I thought I’d discuss a poetry collection today. So I read The Unmemntioable by Erin Moure for my Poetry Writing II class, and it is safe to say that I am in love. 9781770890046_p0_v1_s260x420

Moure’s poetry collection defies time along with persona. It’s the repercussions of identity within a family’s timeless love. As Barnes & Noble explains, “Moure’s poems, love is bound to a duty: to comprehend what it was that the immigrants would not speak of. Now they are dead; their children and grandchildren know but an anecdotal pastiche of Ukrainian history. On Saskatoon Mountain in Alberta where they settled.”

The history, along with the reflection from present day, is brought to life in the only life left to the known, knowing that the life is ultimately unknown. (Complicated, eh? But wonderful.) I have to admit that I also feel a connection within the mother-daughter relationship of the unknown. The speaker of the poems, Moure, is spreading her mother’s ashes in the Ukraine and is forced to wonder what exactly happened to her mother in order to understand who her mother really was, since her mother never spoke about it. (Considering how awful the Polish-Ukraine conflict was, this isn’t a surprise, but the contradiction this history caused is a thoughtful journey to take.)

Here are my favorite quotes:

“There are persons who can speak no more, whose very names have vanished. Yet a name excised from the verge where it once lived still casts its sound on all who sleep there and enters their throats.” (45)

“[Take me in your arms] a way of seeing then.” (15)

“Today I refuse to be pinned down to an identity. Right away, I want to betray it.” (19)

“That there is a before-speaking, that we did not always speak” (41)

“this was passed to writing and the content of a writing burned can no longer be handed back to memory, for writing abolishes memory and as what was written can no longer be passed down, it has no Author in the old sense: no ability to act as proxy to, to verify on behalf of.” (13)

“For if thought that exceeds what has yet been thought were not possible, the infinite would not be possible, and self/ itself or subjectivity its intermediary transcendence/ incendiarry.” (39)

Check it out here: The Unmemntioable by Erin Moure

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

~SAT

April 10: My Thoughts On: Young-Adult Fiction  

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Movie Mention: On the Road

29 Mar

Website Update: 1:00 a.m.: My Facebook Author Page hit 150 likes today! Thank you for making my Friday that much better. 

Yes. This movie is based off of Jack Kerouac’s book, On the Road, and, before I continue, I have to clarify how much of a fan I am of Kerouac. I first studied him in 2010. I read The Dharma Burns, Big Sur, Desolation Angels, Visions of Cody, Maggie Cassidy, The Subterraneans, and Dr. Sax–all under Ken Irby’s poetic eye–and I’ve been in envy of Kerouac’s philosophic and honest writing ever since. (If you’re interested, here’s a list of how to write prose like Kerouac himself.)

The wonderful Jack Kerouac

The wonderful Jack Kerouac

But–back to the movie.

I’ve been trying to get my hands on this Brazilian-French drama ever since it premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or in May, 2012, but I couldn’t–for the life of me–find it anywhere. Maybe it was just my experience, but it never came to theaters here (Kansas main theaters), and stores seem to always have to order it from somewhere else. However, after watching it, I think I know why.

On the Road is very controversial. If you don’t understand The Beat Generation (writers in the 1950′s who experimented with drugs and sex) I could see why the movie would come across as a giant party, rather than something truly challenging and real. In fact, many don’t even realize that On the Road is based on a true story, something that happened to Kerouac and his friend, Neal Cassady. I think these facts are really essential to seeing (and feeling) what the movie is truly about. But, nevertheless, my friend (who hasn’t read the book, but did have me to explain some things) loved it, and I did too.

Movie Cover. And, yes, Kristen Stewart is in it, but it's no reason to ignore the movie. I, personally, think she suited the role of "Mary Lou" very well.

Movie Cover. And, yes, Kristen Stewart is in it, but it’s no reason to ignore the movie. I, personally, think she suited the role of “Mary Lou” very well.

It was a beautiful adaptation of a such a striking traveler’s (and coming of age) tale. In the novel, Kerouac’s ability to discuss self-discovery within culture is magnificent–and so is the movie’s. Walter Salles did a wonderful job directing this film.

I really recommend both the book and the movie. (Book first, preferably, but it’s up to you.) It’s a great way to start the weekend. And, if you’re looking for a trip to take this summer, consider traveling On the Road (his map is available below) with Kerouac’s writing to guide the way.

Watch the trailer for the On the Road movie here.

~SAT

March 31: Writing Tips: Different Perspectives 

His map

His map

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Relax & Read: How to Write a Sentence

19 Mar

As told in my Back to School post, my NonFiction Writing I class assigned Stanley Fish’s How-To book, How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One. We just wrapped up this short (only 160 pages) book, and, although my class had some complaints about simplicity, I really enjoyed it.

From the beginning, Fish describes the sentence as a medium (like paint to the artist) and how writers need to love the sentence before they can master the sentence. When he states, ”I belong to the tribe of sentences watchers” I fell in love. I thought his honesty was relatable, and his task was courageous. As many writers like to believe they understand everything there is to writing, especially after practicing for years, no one does, and I think Fish acknowledges this very respectively. He doesn’t act as if he knows everything; instead, he opens up to forms upon forms upon styles that can be reviewed and studied, torn apart and understood.

This was the copy I bought, but it's often red and hardcover now.

This was the copy I bought, but it’s often red and hardcover now.

I really liked this, BECAUSE of his simplicity. I think, at least for me, I often get caught up in the complexity of language (meaning I’ve surpassed the basics, but I sometimes lose myself on complicating things too much.) Like an abstract artist, I may lose concentration on the overall piece, and Fish really grips reality when he discusses the relationships from word to word, sentence to sentence.

“This is what language does: organize the world into manageable, and in some sense artificial, units that can then be inhabited and manipulated.”

I really encourage others (and myself) to often return to the basics, because that is our foundation, and we need a strong foundation if we’re going to keep building up. You cannot neglect the support when it begins to topple. In other words, you cannot forget your basic structures, even if you’re working within complex ones.

On top of that, if you’re looking for some quick writing tips, Fish discusses first and last sentences towards the back of the book, and I think his insights are very useful.

So..if you’re in the bookstore, and you’re looking for a quick read to help improve writing, take a step backwards and relearn where you came from in the first place.

It will surely strike up that passion of our original love for our medium: the sentence,

~SAT

March 21: Publishing News: Synopsis & Cover Date Reveal

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Publishing News: Barnes & Noble: Paperback

4 Mar

On February 28th, I received a letter from Barnes & Noble! I’m excited to announce that you all (Yes, YOU ALL) requested my novel through their retailer enough that they will soon offer November Snow as a paperback. I couldn’t be more grateful and excited to continue following the dream! So I truly thank you. I would’ve thanked you on Thursday, but I already had posts up, and I didn’t want to post over them, especially Writing Tips: Involve Your Readers, because that contest is how I’m saying thank you. I guess this means I’ll have to find another contest to thank all of you with!

If you follow my Author Facebook page, then you’ve already read this news and seen this photo:

bandn

That creepy shadow behind me is, not only one of my biggest supporters, but he my father. :]

We had a great time going over the paperwork, (Who knew paperwork could be so much fun?), and I’ll keep you all informed as things move forward.

The most recent news is always found here :D I will like your Facebook page as well. Just send me a message!

The most recent news is always found here :D I will like your Facebook page as well. Just send me a message!

Again, thank you for all of your support! I couldn’t do this without you.

~SAT

P.S. I’m loving these questions & covers I’m receiving for Minutes Before Sunset. It’s going to be great :]

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November Snow: Unique Syntax and Diction

9 Feb

Today, I was going to record a video of reading my pieces from my Undergraduate Reading Series, but my camera isn’t working, so instead I’m answering a common question I’ve received from a few readers who’ve read November Snow.

I’ve gotten the permission from my recent emailer, but they wish to remain anonymous:

“I’m about halfway through your novel [November Snow] and I’ve noticed a couple grammatical faux pas. I was wondering if they are intentional to add to the story’s setting.” 

In response to this question, I’m posting two editorial reviews that critiqued this aspect of my debut novel:

Screen Shot 2013-02-08 at 8.45.16 PM

These can be found on Barnes & Noble.

Witty Industries, in their entire review, actually said, “Her technique can be used for educational purposes and for recreational learning…perhaps, a young reader, who’s studying the novel, can review the grammatical process, and be quizzed about what they found–all while being entertained. This book is a great learning tool for its audience.“ 

It is my hope that this feature of my novel adds to your enjoyment of November Snow. Maybe, if you want a writing prompt, try to brainstorm unique writing styles in order to enhance your characters’ voice. In my novel’s case, my characters are abandoned children, who live together in “flocks” as they attempt to survive a dystopian election. Many of them are uneducated. Through this, I thought their voices should also be uneducated, and I used syntax to enhance that.

How can your writing be enhanced from syntax and/or diction that is normally classified as abnormal?

Have a great Saturday!

Bogart and I hope you're having a great day!

Bogart and I hope you’re having a great day!

~SAT

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Website Wonders: Shelfari

10 Jan

Thanks for all the wonderful support for “November Snow” being available on Kindle now. I really appreciate it.

Aside from that, I’ve was really busy during that time and constantly on a computer, so my vision got a little blurry, and I had to force myself to take a little vacation. So if you’ve attempted to contact me, I’m a little late at responding, but I will soon! My vision is now back, and so am I.

During my Kindle-time, however, Amazon introduced me to Shelfari.com, a website which encourages readers to share what they have read, what they are currently reading, and what they want to read. This social site creates virtual bookshelves, and you can review, discuss, and recommend books to friends, readers, and authors alike. Joins groups of readers with the same interests, connect with your favorite authors, and find more reading/writing tips within the publishing industry. Screen Shot 2013-01-09 at 6.03.27 PM

I really like this site, because you can also add BOOK EXTRAS, which include your favorite characters, descriptions, vocabulary, and quotes. I think that’s a great thing to have when reading a novel, especially in Fantasy and Sci-FI.

So check out the site here.

And follow me here, so we can see what we’re all reading and socialize about our passion for reading/writing more!

~SAT

As an extra, here’s favorite quotes from “November Snow” Book Extras:

“These children are our future. We were children once. All of us were. Bad bloods are an evolution. They are a mutation, not a disease, and we will all have these special abilities one day. Are we going to kill all of our children then? Are we going to kill our future? Because that is what we are heading towards. A dead future” – Alex Henderson

“I truly loved her for the short period time that we had been together. I felt as if she was part of my destiny. To see that destiny leave was the most unexplainable feeling. It was also the worst.” -Daniel Wilson

 

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Relax & Read: The Host

21 Dec

Happy Doomsday.

I hope we’re all still alive, unlike the Mayan calendar predicted (which isn’t true if you’ve researched, but that’s not the point…Right?)

However, since the end of the world is supposedly today’s main event, I thought I would share a novel with that concept. tumblr_m3v4chx2xc1qm6yt5o1_250

“The Host” by Stephanie Meyer takes place on earth after we’re invaded by human hosts who, honestly, make the world a better place to live.

When Melanie is taken over, however, she rebels by staying within her body, and working with her “Wanderer” in order to survive. Strangely enough, her Wanderer begins fighting with her, and they work together in her body to save the human existence.

Read more about the novel here.

And the movie (which comes out in March) here.

~SAT

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Shannon Summary: Finished Finals

16 Dec

On Friday, I finished my finals at the University of Kansas.

I had a very rough semester, considering I am still grieving my roommate’s death in October, but I managed to get through my semester successfully, and I’m very proud of that.

Also, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my favorite required reads and films I saw during my classes, so here we go: (Click any of the titles to read more.)

Poetry:

The Mystery of the Hidden Driveway by Jennifer L. Knox

the new black by Evie Shockley

Films:

Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, Tay Garnett)

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Brick (2005)

Books:

Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

…

I’ll probably review most of these in the future individually, so I can give you more information without taking up your whole afternoon reading (Ha), but all of these are fantastic reads and films to entertain yourself with.

Have a great weekend and fantastic break if you’re a student,

~SAT

My friend, Brooke, and I on the first day of our Film Noir class.

My friend, Brooke, and I on the first day of our Film Noir class.

 

 

 

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Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

14 Dec

This morning a 20-year-old gunman murdered 27 people, including 20 children, in Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Keep the victims and their families in mind today as this unfortunate incident is, sadly, not the first.

Read more about the shooting here, and keep your eyes out for ways to help the families.

Also, in regards to school shootings, I think education is very important, and I like to do this through writing and reading as many of you know. Even though I personally believe we cannot logically understand the illogical (situations like this), I still think we can try and/or cope. 9781442433564_p0_v1_s260x420

I read Todd Strasser’s, Give a Boy a Gun, many years ago, and I found myself deeply moved by the severity of school violence he exposed. I really suggest this reading and/or Rachel’s Tears, which depicts the life of Columbine victim, Rachel Scott.

Please educate yourself, share these novels, and prevent the pain of more suffering by understanding as much as we can about these tragic circumstances.

And, remember, help the families if you are able to this holiday season,

~SAT

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