Spotlight with Giveaway: Superior Vocal Health by David Aaron Katz

Superior Vocal Health ABOUT SUPERIOR VOCAL HEALTH

What you can expect from this book:

* Comprehensive A-Z list of healing herbs for the Voice Professional

* What herbs to use when and how to prepare each herb for use

* Specific Formulas for specific vocal issues such as tired and over used voice, mucus, sinus congestion, sore throat, and more…

* What drugs negatively affect the voice and natural alternatives to those drugs

* Foods to eat the affect the voice and vocal mechanism

* Sinus Care with cleansing guide and herbs

* What to do when natural solutions for the most pressing Performance and Presentation issues such as performance anxiety, clogged sinuses, chest congestion, mental clarity, and more

Whether you are a professional singer, speaker, teacher, lawyer, DJ, clergy, auctioneer, tour guide or sales person, caring for your voice is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do in your life.

This book is your complete and one stop guide to take care of your voice naturally without drugs.

Purchase Here

Superior Vocal Health

Add to Goodreads:

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David KatzABOUT DAVID AARON KATZ

David Aaron Katz is a professional Opera singer, Cantor, Nutritional Consultant, Herbalist, Head of the Vocal Faculty for the Bronx Defenders Training Academy and CEO of Superior Vocal Health.com. His life mission is to help Voice Professionals from around the world to learn how to heal, maintain and strengthen their voices naturally without chemical or drugs.

To find out more visit him at http://www.superiorvocalhealth.com

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Pump Up Your Book and David Aaron Katz are teaming up to give you a chance to win a some great prizes!

Here’s how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. If your blog isn’t set up to accept the form, we offer another way for you to participate by having people comment on your blog then directing them to where they can fill out the form to gain more entries.

This promotion will run from August 5 – October 31. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on November 1, 2013.

Everyone who participates in the Superior Vocal Health virtual book tour is eligible to enter and win.

Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour.

ENTER TO WIN!

Superior Vocal Health Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

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Wednesday, August 7 – Guest blogging at Icefairy’s Treasure Chest

Friday, August 9 – Interviewed at Review From Here

Monday, August 12 – Book featured at Plug Your Book

Tuesday, August 13 – Interviewed at Broowaha

Wednesday, August 14 – Book featured at Book Marketing Buzz

Friday, August 16 – Guest blogging at The Writer’s Life

Tuesday, August 20 – Guest blogging at Between the Covers

Wednesday, August 21 – Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn

Friday, August 23 – Guest blogging at Literal Exposure

Monday, August 26 – Interviewed at Straight from the Author’s Mouth

Tuesday, August 27 – Guest blogging at Litearily Speaking

Wednesday, August 28 – Interviewed at Beyond the Books

Thursday, August 29 – Guest blogging at The Story Behind the Book

Friday, August 30 – Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book

Wednesday, September 4 – Book reviewed at Book Him Danno

Monday, September 9 – Interviewed at As the Pages Turn

Friday, September 13 – Interviewed at Examiner

Wednesday, September 18 – Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz

Friday, September 20 – Interviewed at Review From Here

Tuesday, September 24 – Guest blogging at Redroom

Thursday, September 26 – Interviewed at The Writer’s Life

Friday, September 27 – Book featured at Bibliotica

Monday, September 30 – Book reviewed at Bibliotica

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Cover Reveal: Romancing the Million $$$ Ghost

I’m all about women supporting other women. I’m also, as you know, a voracious reader. When I have the opportunity to combine both of those things, I’m over the moon with giddyness and delight, so you can imagine how thrilled I am to take part in the cover reveal of a soon-to-be-available novel from a trio of awesome women, one of whom is a colleague of sorts. You see, Dorothy Thompson keeps me in reading material, as her company is one of the two (both women-run) that I receive review copies from.

More than that, though, I’m a sucker for a good ghost story, especially at this time of year. As the evenings get cooler (not the days, because I DO live in Texas) and the light gets thinner, I revel in spooky stories. I’m not sure if the walls between the worlds are really thinning, or if my imagination is just becoming more active, but I can’t wait to read the book this cover belongs to!

Romancing the Million $$$ Ghost Cover Reveal Banner

About the Book:
Eccentric tobacco tycoon Rodger Hawthorne III can have anything his heart desires except his dead wife, Sarah. Feeling responsible for the car crash that killed her twenty years earlier, he offers one million dollars to anyone who can find her spirit and bring it to him within one week or the money is forfeited. Six spiritually-challenged—but highly intuitive—women find his ad over the Internet and accept his challenge only to embark on a journey they didn’t quite expect that covers astral traveling, past life regressions and spiritual encounters of the unworldly kind. While this book is lightly based on a true story of a real man who is offering one million dollars to anyone who can prove that spirits exist, this story is purely fictional. Or is it?
Coming October 2013!

About the Authors:

HEIDE AW KAMINSKI is the mom of three very successful children, and she lives in southeast Michigan with her partner, her son and her stepson. She teaches English in a high school for juvenile delinquent boys, as well as co-directs the Sunday school program for an Interfaith Center. She is also the editor-in-chief for the Interfaith Center’s monthly 16-page newsletter. She is currently the author of five books, ADHD and ME , Get Smart Through Art, The Ability Gang (a novel for upper elementary readers), Von Riesiggross bis Klitzeklein (a German children’s book), and South of Eden (a not so serious novel about life in Heaven). She has also published stories in 15 anthologies, including Chicken Soup for the Divorced Soul.

Kaminski was born and raised in Germany, and after spending a year as an exchange student in the USA, she ended up marrying an American and has been a permanent resident in the U.S. since 1984, as well as a citizen of the U.S. since 2007. After dedicating many years to being there for her children first, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in English communications at the ripe age of 50 and her English teaching certificate two years later.

Romancing the Million $$$ Ghost sm

PAM RYAN is a writer and professional psychic from Northwestern Ohio. She is the mother of two and has been a widow for the last five years. Her writing career began back in high school where she wrote a column for the Sylvania Sentinel Newspaper in Sylvania, Ohio. Pam was also the first page editor of the high school newspaper as well as doing the public relations for the high school musicals At the University of Toledo she helped to create the Public Relations Department for the Department of Theatre and Speech, worked as a reporter for the college paper, The Collegian, and was assistant to the Public Relation Director of a local Toledo, Ohio, theatre group, Lynro Productions. After college Pam went to work for the United States Government and part of her duties were to write, and publisher a newspaper for the Migrant Opportunity Program in Phoenix, Arizona. Back in Ohio she lent her talents to the local Muscular Dystrophy Association, Make A Wish of Northwestern Ohio, worked on newsletters for Grace Lutheran Church and Christ the King Church, both in Toledo, and did public relations for the Parent Organization of Lake Elementary School. Pamela Ryan, as she is known professionally, began her professional psychic career in 1990. She presently does private readings and parties, and is also available at Lite the Way,Lambertville, Michigan, and The Healing Oasis in Clay Center, Ohio. Pam has recently completed classes and become a Certified Hypnotherapist and has completed the Master’s level for hypnotherapists. Publication is tentatively set for 2013, for her book, “My Dearest Children”, channeled by Mary Magdalene, and is presently working on a biography of world renowned journalist, Ruth Montgomery and a series of books about a fictional psychic medium. The first one is called, “The Macrame Cross”.

DOROTHY THOMPSON is the owner/founder of Pump Up Your Book, an innovative public relations firm specializing in online book promotion and social media marketing for authors. Pump Up Your Book was voted #1 in the Preditor’s and Editor’s Readers Poll in 2012. She is also the co-author/compiler of Romancing the Soul, an anthology which proves soul mates exist and has appeared in USA Today, Chicago Times and other publications. Dorothy loves the paranormal and is spatial clairsentient. She lives on the beautiful island of Chincoteague, Virginia.

Together, they make the writing team of Romancing the Million $$$ Ghost. Visit the official book blog at www.RomancingMillionDollarGhost.com or like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RomancingTheMillionDollarGhost.

Romancing the Million $$$ Ghost left

Heide, Pam & Dorothy are giving away these fabulous prizes!

  • One Halloween party kit (valued at $49) or Paypal Cash!
  • Two $25 Amazon Gift Cards or Paypal Cash!
  • One FREE psychic phone reading from one of the authors, Pam Ryan!
  • One Romancing the Million $$$ Ghost ebook gifted from Amazon Kindle Store!

Terms & Conditions:

  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive a Halloween Party Pack for 18, an eBook copy of Romancing the Million $$$ Ghost gifted via Amazon only, one psychic phone reading from Pam Ryan, and two winners will be chosen to receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards (or Paypal Cash)!
  • This giveaway begins September 2 and ends September 27.
  • Winner will be contacted via email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. EST September 27 2013.
  • Winner has 24 hours to reply.
  • Each blogger who participates in this promotion is eligible to win.
  • Visit each “stop” daily for more entries.

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Review: The Curse Giver by Dora Machado

The Curse Giver banner

Join Dora Machado, author of the fantasy novel, The Curse Giver, as she tours the blogosphere August 5 through October 25, 2013 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

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CurseGiver_Front Cover Final 1ABOUT THE CURSE GIVER

Lusielle’s bleak but orderly life as a remedy mixer is shattered when her husband betrays her and she is sentenced to die for a crime she didn’t commit. She’s on the pyre, about to be burned, when a stranger breaks through the crowd and rescues her from the flames.

Brennus, Lord of Laonia is the last of his line. He is caught in the grip of a mysterious curse that has murdered his kin, doomed his people and embittered his life. To defeat the curse, he must hunt a birthmark and kill the woman who bears it in the foulest of ways. Lusielle bears such a mark.

Stalked by intrigue and confounded by the forbidden passion flaring between them, predator and prey must come together to defeat not only the vile curse, but also the curse giver who has already conjured their ends.

PURCHASE AT:

amazonbarnes and noble

 

 

 

 

ADD BOOK ON GOODREADS:

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My Thoughts:

It’s been a while since I’ve read any real fantasy. I mean, yes, I’m slowly working my way through George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, but that world is reasonably similar to our own medieval history, with only a few ‘fantastic’ elements. I was in the mood for escapist reading this summer, however, so when the nice folks and Pump Up Your Book offered me the chance to read an epic fantasy novel, I jumped at the chance.

The problem with epic fantasy is that very often the fictional world feels as flat as a movie set, with no real depth or history. Dora Machado’s The Curse Giver, on the other hand, plunges us into a world so rich, and so well constructed, it feels almost as if we could step sideways into it. One of the early sections, particularly, when Lousielle and Bren are crossing the bog, had me squirming as much as if I was actually there with them avoiding creepy crawlies.

Her main characters are three dimensional, and Lousielle especially, was so smart and spunky that I wanted to be her best friend. Herb lore is something I’ve always been quietly interested in (witness the collection of herbals in my Word Lounge), so her affinity for plants and potions really drew me in.

Likewise, while Bren could have been Generic Quasi-medieval Noble #17, Machado made him complex and interesting (and gave him a great body, which we appreciate vicariously through Lousielle).

The other characters, good and evil alike, were, similarly, sketched with fine lines, not the broad strokes of generic fantasy.

I’ve read that Ms. Machado is bilingual, having grown up in the Dominican Republic, and I think some of the charm of The Curse Giver comes from her – probably unconscious – Spanish-influenced rhythms. It’s nothing you could point your finger to and say, “Look, that’s not typical English phrasing,” but a quiet undercurrent that makes the writing really SING.

(I am not bilingual, but I grew up in a New Jersey Neapolitan family where an Italian-English hybrid was the norm. As well, I’m a natural mimic, and my parents retired to Baja Sur, Mexico, about a decade ago, so those Latin-tinged rhythms are familiar to me.)

Overall, I thought The Curse Giver was a delicious read, and it’s compelled me to seek out more of Machado’s work. I think it’s an especially good choice for women who like epic fantasy, but have gotten out of the habit of reading it.

Goes well with… a mug of steaming chai and sharp cheddar melted on toasted rustic wheat bread.

 

The Curse Giver Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

————————————————————

Monday, August 5 – Book featured at Margay Leah Justice

Wednesday, August 7 – Interviewed at Review From Here

Friday, August 9 – Interviewed at Examiner

Monday, August 12 – Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking

Tuesday, August 13 – Interviewed at Straight from the Authors Mouth

Thursday, August 15 – Guest blogging at She Writes

Friday, August 16 – Interviewed at Beyond the Book

Monday, August 19 – Book reviewed and Trailer reveal at Miki’s Hope

Wednesday, August 21 – Guest blogging at Literal Exposure

Thursday, August 22 – Book featured at As the Pages Turn

Friday, August 23 – Interviewed at I’m Shelf-ish

Tuesday, August 27 – 1st chapter reveal at Examiner

Wednesday, August 28 – Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book

Thursday, August 29 – Book reviewed at moonlightreader

Friday, August 30 – Guest blogging at The Writer’s Life

Wednesday, September 4 – Guest blogging at Allvoices

Thursday, September 5 – Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz

Friday, September 6 – Book spotlight at Bibliotica

Monday, September 9 – Book reviewed at Bibliotica

Wednesday, September 11 – Book featured at Between the Covers

Friday, September 13 – Book reviewed at Must Read Faster

Monday, September 16 – Guest blogging at Review From Here

Tuesday, September 17 – Interviewed at Broowaha

Wednesday, September 18 – Guest blogging at Newsvine

Friday, September 20 – Book reviewed at Mom in Love with Fiction

Monday, September 23 – Guest bloggging at The Dark Phantom

Wednesday, September 25 – Book trailer reveal at Pump Up Your Book

Thursday, September 26 – Interviewed at As the Pages Turn

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Pump Up Your Book

Spotlight on: The CurseGiver by Dora Machado

The Curse Giver banner

Join Dora Machado, author of the fantasy novel, The Curse Giver, as she tours the blogosphere August 5 through October 25, 2013 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

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CurseGiver_Front Cover Final 1ABOUT THE CURSE GIVER

Lusielle’s bleak but orderly life as a remedy mixer is shattered when her husband betrays her and she is sentenced to die for a crime she didn’t commit. She’s on the pyre, about to be burned, when a stranger breaks through the crowd and rescues her from the flames.

Brennus, Lord of Laonia is the last of his line. He is caught in the grip of a mysterious curse that has murdered his kin, doomed his people and embittered his life. To defeat the curse, he must hunt a birthmark and kill the woman who bears it in the foulest of ways. Lusielle bears such a mark.

Stalked by intrigue and confounded by the forbidden passion flaring between them, predator and prey must come together to defeat not only the vile curse, but also the curse giver who has already conjured their ends.

PURCHASE AT:

amazonbarnes and noble

 

 

 

 

ADD BOOK ON GOODREADS:

goodreads

 

 

 

 

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doramachadoABOUT DORA MACHADO

Dora Machado is the award winning author of the Stonewiser series and her newest novel, The Curse Giver, coming this summer from Twilight Times Books. She is one of the few Latinas exploring her heritage and her world through the epic fantasy genre today. She holds a master’s degree in business administration and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Georgetown University. She was born in Michigan and grew up in the Dominican Republic, where she developed a bilingual fascination for writing, a love for history, and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime of straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to her stories. She enjoys long walks, traveling, and connecting with the amazing readers who share in her mind’s adventures. She lives in Florida with her indulging husband and three very opinionated cats.

You can visit her at www.doramachado.com

 

WATCH THE TRAILER!

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The Curse Giver Virtual Book Publicity Tour Schedule

————————————————————

Monday, August 5 – Book featured at Margay Leah Justice

Wednesday, August 7 – Interviewed at Review From Here

Friday, August 9 – Interviewed at Examiner

Monday, August 12 – Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking

Tuesday, August 13 – Interviewed at Straight from the Authors Mouth

Thursday, August 15 – Guest blogging at She Writes

Friday, August 16 – Interviewed at Beyond the Book

Monday, August 19 – Book reviewed and Trailer reveal at Miki’s Hope

Wednesday, August 21 – Guest blogging at Literal Exposure

Thursday, August 22 – Book featured at As the Pages Turn

Friday, August 23 – Interviewed at I’m Shelf-ish

Tuesday, August 27 – 1st chapter reveal at Examiner

Wednesday, August 28 – Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book

Thursday, August 29 – Book reviewed at moonlightreader

Friday, August 30 – Guest blogging at The Writer’s Life

Wednesday, September 4 – Guest blogging at Allvoices

Thursday, September 5 – Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz

Friday, September 6 – Book spotlight at Bibliotica

Monday, September 9 – Book reviewed at Bibliotica

Wednesday, September 11 – Book featured at Between the Covers

Friday, September 13 – Book reviewed at Must Read Faster

Monday, September 16 – Guest blogging at Review From Here

Tuesday, September 17 – Interviewed at Broowaha

Wednesday, September 18 – Guest blogging at Newsvine

Friday, September 20 – Book reviewed at Mom in Love with Fiction

Monday, September 23 – Guest bloggging at The Dark Phantom

Wednesday, September 25 – Book trailer reveal at Pump Up Your Book

Thursday, September 26 – Interviewed at As the Pages Turn

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Review: ExtraLife, Inc., by Kfir Luzzatto

ExtraLife, Inc.
Kfir Luzzatto

Product Description (via Amazon.com):

David Wolfson, a Jerusalem scientist, claims to have found the cure for cancer. He and his wife, Tamara, seek the help of Richard Lunz, a Tel Aviv attorney, to fight the powerful bureaucrats who want to appropriate David’s invention. Richard can’t resist the temptation to participate in what looks like the discovery of the century and it takes a first death to make him doubt that something in the project is not what it seems. And then other people die. Following clues that take him to Eastern Europe and to America, Richard finds more answers than he wished for. But he just can’t stop looking.

My Thoughts:

When Kfir Luzzatto asked me, in April, to read and review ExtraLife, Inc., I said yes, because it sounded like a really gripping read.

I was not disappointed, because in this novel Luzzatto gives us a medical and legal thriller that not only has great characters, but also looks at some crucial ethical issues: science vs. money is one of them, but another is the question of the line between professional ethics and scientific research.

Despite – or perhaps because of – the weighty themes, Luzzatto keeps the audience entertained. From the opening, where no names were used for over a page, and we, the reader, are a bit unsure what is happening, to the globe-spanning cat-and-mouse games; from the chilling knowledge that people are dying, to the book’s satisfying ending there is not one moment of dullness. The pacing allows us to become absorbed in the story with pauses to regroup, and at no point did I want to skip ahead or tune out.

To many, any book with “cancer” in the back-cover or flyleaf blurb may seem like it couldn’t possibly be entertaining, but ExtraLife, Inc. not only entertains, but provokes real thought.

Goes well with…
Chicken shawarma, Greek salad, and iced hibiscus tea.

Buy this book:
– At amazon.com using the link above.
– At smashwords.com

This review is based on a digital copy that was provided by the author. The published version may differ slightly in format and editing.

Review: STTNG: Cold Equations #3 – The Body Electric

Star Trek the Next Generation: Cold Equations – The Body Electric
by David Mack

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
AT THE CENTER OF THE GALAXY . . .

A planet-sized Machine of terrifying power and unfathomable purpose hurls entire star systems into a supermassive black hole. Wesley Crusher, now a full-fledged Traveler, knows the Machine must be stopped . . . but he has no idea how.

Wesley must enlist the aid of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew, who also fail to halt the unstoppable alien juggernaut’s destructive labors. But they soon divine the Machine’s true purpose—-a purpose that threatens to exterminate all life in the Milky Way Galaxy. With time running out, Picard realizes he knows of only one person who might be able to stop the Machine in time to avert a galactic catastrophe—-if only he had any idea how to find him. . . .

My Thoughts:
The conclusion of David Mack’s Cold Equations trilogy was sort of TNG meets Doomsday Machine with Androids on the Side and a serious callback to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Humanesque!Data, still searching for a way to resurrect Lal, tracks down a splinter group of the group of Artificial Intelligence coalition and has to choose between the guy we originally knew as Flint and the android girlfriend who is “the only woman he ever loved” while saving the universe from a planet-eating monster-machine.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the return of Data, even if Mr. Mack did choose a book I disliked as his jumping-off point, but his whole relationship seemed so contrived, and Data as he is presented in this book seems so over-the-top with the melodrama that I had a hard time willfully suspending enough disbelief to truly enjoy this last entry in the trilogy.

On the one hand, Mack’s story was a good story, but on the other hand, I just couldn’t get invested in the new characters, which was my problem with the trilogy as a whole.

In fact, I find myself more interested in the story of rainbow-haired Ensign Scagliotti (so obviously an homage to the actress from Warehouse 13 than in Data, Flint, or the AIs.

And yet, if I hadn’t read this trilogy, I’d have missed the return of a beloved character, and I do agree with the choice to have Data NOT return to active duty.

So, overall? Glad I read these books, but kind of wanted something more satisfying.

Goes well with…lemon meringue pie…doesn’t everything?

Review: Star Trek the Next Generation: Cold Equations #2: Silent Weapons, by David Mack

Star Trek the Next Generation: Cold Equations #2: Silent Weapons
David Mack

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
The second book in a new trilogy by the national bestselling author of Star Trek: Destiny!

Three years after the disastrous final Borg Invasion, a bitter cold war against the Typhon Pact has pushed Starfleet’s resources to the breaking point. Now the rise of a dangerous new technology threatens to destroy the Federation from within. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew answer a distress call, only to become targets in a deadly game of deception. To protect a vital diplomatic mission, they must find a way to identify the spies hiding in their midst, before it’s too late. But Worf soon realizes the crew’s every move has been predicted: Someone is using them as pawns. And the closer they get to exposing their enemy, the deeper they spiral into its trap….

My Thoughts:
I don’t know how often the second book in a trilogy is stronger than the first. Certainly it’s more likely that second books (like second movies) suffer from “middle of the story” syndrome. In the case of David Mack’s STTNG series Cold Equations, however, did not have that problem in any form. Instead, it’s a rollicking adventure that mixes politics and action in a really satisfying blend of plot and character.

I love that the Orions, whom we are used to seeing mainly as slavers and generally disreputable types are also the galaxy’s strongest defenders of personal privacy (reading this in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook, CT, school shootings was rather eerie), and have the only security system strong enough to host a meeting that involves not just the Federation President, but the leaders of at least one of the factions involved in the Typhon Pact.

As well, I like that this novel acknowledged the Typhon Pact series, which spans all of the modern era Trek series and also combines political intrigue with really lovely action, whether it’s on land or sea, or in space.

Is Data’s presence a bit contrived? Maybe a bit, but after all, the trilogy is about his return, so it would be weird for him to NOT be in the novel. Still, his new appearance and abilities are used well, and this new FullyEmotional!Data is one I wish we could get to know a bit better in a slower, gentler story…just so that we (well, I) are a bit more invested in THIS incarnation of the character.

Goes well with: espresso con panna and cinnamon rolls.

Review: Star Trek the Next Generation: Cold Equations #1 – The Persistence of Memory, by David Mack

Star Trek the Next Generation: Cold Equations #1 – The Persistence of Memory
David Mack

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
A BRAZEN HEIST Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew race to find out who has stolen Data’s android brother B-4—and for what sinister purpose.

A BROKEN PROMISE One desperate father risks all for the son he abandoned forty years ago—but is he ready to pay the price for redemption?

A DARING MISSION Against overwhelming odds, and with time running out, Commander Worf has only one chance to avert a disaster. But how high a price will he pay for victory?

My Thoughts:
By now, more than ten years after his on-screen death in Star Trek: Nemesis, fans have accepted that we’re unlikely to see Brent Spiner portray Data ever again. Nevertheless, the character has a couple of different resurrection stories, one that bridges the alternate timeline established by the 2009 film Star Trek (which film, I might add, made me love Captain Kirk again), using the Star Trek Online RPG (and tie-in novel) and the Countdown comics to bring the character back, looking essentially like the Data we know and love.

With this, part one of David Mack’s new STTNG trilogy, the android is back in a different way, though both involve the copy of the Data-matrix that was uploaded into B-4 in that last NextGen movie. While this novel explains how that happens – and why – a healthy chunk of it is really the story of Data’s “father,” Noonien Soong, told in first person, and spanning the time from before the android’s creation, to what happened after Soong’s supposed death in the episode “Brothers.”

In truth, I had to force myself to read those chunks, not because Mack is a bad writer (he’s actually pretty amazing) but because I’m just not all that interested in Soong. As well, I gathered fairly early on that these books were an indirect sequel to Jeffrey Lang’s offering from 2002, Immortal Coil, which, some of you may remember, didn’t impress me much. (I actually stopped reading this book to re-read that book, and found that I liked it a little more upon a third reading.)

Still, the Soong story informs the rest of the novel, and sets up a lot of information that the reader needs to have.

And ultimately, it paid off. I mean, yes, I would rather have had more time with Picard, et al, but Mack’s writing is so good that he made characters I’d never really cared much about sing on the page, while managing to stay essentially true to both TNG and TOS canon, and Mack’s version of Data (yes, this is a spoiler, of sorts, but did anyone look at the cover art and NOT expect him to be somehow resurrected?) feels credible. I would buy his dialogue coming from Brent Spiner’s lips.

Bottom line: If you haven’t read Jeffrey Lang’s Immortal Coil, do so before this, and now that the two remaining parts of the trilogy are also available, buy all three and read them in order, back-to-back-to-back. You’ll be glad you did.

Goes well with: Iced tea. And trail mix. Lots of trail mix. The kind with m&ms in it.

Review: Things to Come, by Walter Koenig

Things to Come
by Walter Koenig

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
The brand new graphic novel from one of the stars from the original Star Trek, Walter Koenig. Two species, one trying to cheat death, the other to become its master and, in between, a little child shall bleed them.

My Thoughts:
At least four times in the last twelve months I’ve said things like, “I’m so over post-apocalyptic stories,” but what I really meant was, “Oh, God, please no more zombie stories.” Fortunately, Walter Koenig’s Things to Come isn’t a zombie story, it’s a *vampire* story, which means I don’t have to retract anything I’ve said.

Late to the party (because I’m a casual fan, not a die-hard one), I only heard about this graphic novel about a week ago. I ordered it last Wednesday, it arrived on Friday, and I’d finished reading it before dinner time. On Saturday, as cold rain fell from the Texas skies, I re-read it, because I wanted to really understand it (I’m very verbal, so graphic novels take me longer to process).

On the surface, it’s a fairly standard post-apocalyptic survival tale, except with vampires instead of zombies. But that’s just the surface. Looking deeper, it addresses the horrible things we real-world, current-era humans are doing to our planet, and extrapolates possible (if exaggerated) repercussions.

As well, it looks at the classic battles of fear vs. courage, prejudice vs. tolerance, and even sustainability vs. conspicuous consumerism.

What I liked about it was that despite its dark tone, it had hopeful elements.

(I neglected to comment on Juan Baez’s art, but the drawings are compelling and serve the text perfectly. I’m looking forward to exploring more of his work.)

What I didn’t like? Four chapters (four individual books) bound into one volume was barely enough to whet my appetite.

As I tweeted to Mr. Koenig, “More, please?”

Goes well with: a shot of espresso and a dark chocolate & cherry brownie. Because a story this dark REQUIRES chocolate.

Mini-Review: The Authoritative Guide to Safer Sex

I’ve been happily married for almost eighteen years (which makes me sound ancient, I know, but I got married before I was actually born – it was this whole wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey thing…) so I don’t really need a guide to safer sex, especially since I own a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves which is probably the best guide to women’s health (sexual and otherwise) ever written for non-medical folk.

I also don’t have much use for dating sites, though I have no problem with them.

Nevertheless, when Kaitlin Moore asked me to check out her co-written Authoritative Guide to Safer Sex and maybe linked to it here, I said I’d check it out.

It’s an excellent guide to the basics of safer sex, and if you’re in the dating world, you should totally read it.

(And for a deeper understanding, check out Our Bodies, Ourselves, as well. It’s a classic.)

NOTE: Kaitlin asked me if I’d stick a link to the Guide on the blog. I will do so later this week, but I think everyone – male or female – is obligated to protect themselves, hence this post, which is unsolicited.