Turkey Comes to Trin Carl's Blog

Here is another expat blog, aysulove.com This woman is writing from Turkey. She has a montage of beautiful city pictures of Turkey in her cover page and she has a post called Ex-Pats the TV show.  I like how she describes herself in her blog A married girl married and living in Turkey for 3 years, sadness to happiness. Here you will hear about the struggles and high points of living in another culture, learning the new ways to cook, speak, make friends along with many more.  Now I really thought I heard it all when it comes to reality shows but here we go folks another show to add to your list.  She posts a link of where you can find the show on her page aysulove.com/2014/01/19/ex-pats-the-tv-show-2/ .

Here is another Blog from Turkey called Post Cards from Istanbul.  But the actual site can be found at pointwhitedrive.wordpress.com and the writer has a cloud list of words related to Turkey.  One phrase  caught my mind Night Life in Istanbul.  Okay readers, what do we think we'll find here? Yes, of course clubs and more clubs  One of the clubs called Quick China looks very modern and romantic, dark and cavernous.

Shear Luck Review #thursdaytreat #amreading

Title: Shear Luck

[on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Author: B.Sue Seabury [Goodreads]
Genres: Romance

Length: 200 pages
Year: 2017
Stars: 5/5
Will appeal to: anyone who likes romance and/or a good laugh.


Blurb:It’s sheer luck when the Queen of Coiffure books the wrong flight and meets Mr. Mane Attraction.

Kandi is all set to open the hottest hair salon in West Hollywood. The only thing she needs is a teensy bit of cash to cover the rent. Should be no harder than trimming up split ends with all the investors headed to the First Annual Hairstravaganza in Juno Beach, Florida.


**Amazon Synopsis https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0722Y3XQX/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Review:
In this light romantic comedy, author Seabury tells the story from the points of view of main characters Mario and Kandi. As a reader I was initially concerned that the dual narrative would leave little room for minor characters to react to the ongoing plot sequences, but Seabury did a fine job including the support system of both Mario and Kandi, whether it was a mom or dad joining in on the banter, or a friend who was forming an opinion on these potential love birds.

I felt Shear Luck was particularly strong in the area of character development. The plot line shared with readers what can go wrong; both in the air and in the airport.

I'm often hesitant to read romance because some plot sequences are so cliché and I can often predict the ending even if the author tries to throw in a twist. This wasn't the case with this novel.

The general premise centers around Kandi's encounter with Mario. Don't judge a book by its cover. Kandi's attraction to Mario is evident and her inner thoughts towards him are hilarious. "That nice man turned out nuts." She pictures Mario in a future ad for her salon: "Hair down, shirt off a must."

Mario's initial reaction towards Kandi is also filled with both wit and sarcasm, "I ask her what hair product she uses, huge mistake." The fact that Kandi is in the business of Hair and Beauty and Mario is clueless makes the interaction between them worth remembering.

In Shear Luck, Sue Seabury has written a delightful romance and I would certainly read this again.

Readers, if you read any romance novels lately, let me know in the comments below.

Interview with Author Sue Seabury

I'm excited to i inform readers that I will be posting an author's interview once a month. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers in the world of Young Adult books.

This month I'm interviewing Sue Seabury.
Sue likes exotic travel, good food, and great conversation. Since she doesn't often get to enjoy any of these things, she makes up stories about them. Find her book on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Sue-Seabury/e/B00AOLIBTM

And onto the Interview....


Sue, do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books?


I’m no expert, but marketing is marketing. Give away something people want cheap or free.


I noticed that a few of your books are quite affordable. I especially like the cover art for Miss Understanding which features the Eiffel Tower. This reminded me of my travels to France in both 2011 and 2012. Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying
process?


Yes. I believe everyone judges a book by its cover, no matter what they say.


As far as marketing goes, did you find yourself making any marketing mistakes or is there anything you would avoid in future?


I suppose I made them in not doing more research into how to market. I plan to correct that.


Do you use a PR agency?


I do not, but I would consider. As an introvert, marketing is automatically not my forte.


What advice would you give to your younger self?

Ignore negativity. It reflects on that person, not you.


Bloggers, this is all the time we have today. You can get in touch with Sue on Facebook or Twitter. Sue is also releasing her novel "Bite Me" for free on instaFreebie. Claim your copy today!

Suzanne Van Rooyen comes to Trin Carl's Blog

I'm excited to inform that I will be posting interviews throughout the month. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers.

This month I'm interviewing Suzanne Van Rooyen.

Suzanne is the author of YA novels THE OTHER ME and I HEART ROBOT, and the Rainbow Award winning SCARDUST. Her work can be found Amazon or her blog suzannevanrooyen.com .

A tattooed storyteller from South Africa, Suzanne currently lives in Finland where she finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When she grows up, she wants to be an elf – until then, she spends her time (when not writing) rock climbing, buying far too many books, and entertaining her shiba inu, Lego.

Which writers inspire you?

So many! I think Neil Gaiman has been one of my biggest inspirations not least for how he manages to weave humor into his stories no matter how dark they are. Maggie Stiefvater is another inspiration. Her prose is always so poetic yet accessible without becoming overly purple, and she has this ability to make the magical seem so real.
Author Suzanne Van Rooyen (above) Interesting, I've heard recommendations of Neil Gaiman's work by many readers and I am hoping to pick up one of his novels soon. I myself love humor writing and enjoy works by Janet Evanovich, Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling.

How much research do you do?

It depends on the book and what the story requires. I usually end up doing a lot more research than might be evident on the final page, but I think it’s a good thing for the author to know a lot about their subject material even if they only include a small portion of it in the story.

How often do you write and do you have a special time during the day to write?

I try to write every day but life doesn’t always let me. I aim to write at least 3-4 days a week in 2-3 hour chunks. Mornings work best for me, but I also enjoy writing at night – just depends on what I’m working on. Some stories need sunshine, others need shadows ;)

Where do the your ideas come from?

A variety of places: from song lyrics, artworks, movies or TV series, other books, real life, a snippet of overheard conversation. Anything can trigger a story seed.
I love the fact that real life inspires your writing as well. Most of my own writing comes from my real life adventures, some of which are so off the wall I wonder how I even made it out of bed the next day.

What is your favourite motivational phrase?

Writing is rewriting!

Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

Neil Gaiman. His words have had such an indelible effect on my own, I would love to meet the man behind my favorite books.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing as far as content?

Getting started. There is nothing more intimidating than a blank page. I don’t enjoy drafting – I find it rather stressful actually. I much prefer the revision and editing process when I already have something to work with and can shape the story into the form I really want

What do you do for fun?

I enjoy reading, gaming, taking long walks with my dog, Lego, and rock climbing. I find physical exercise to be a great cure for writer’s block or writer’s angst in general, so whenever I start feeling stressed out I always try to get my heart rate up.

Bloggers, this is all the time we have today. You can get in touch with Suzanne on twitter or facebook.  Suzanne is also doing a raffle give away for a $50 Amazon Gift card and a paperback copy of A Hold on Me, Of Scions and Men, Gyre and Scardust, enter the link for your chance to win. I’m wondering what other people think about whether I should do a giveaway and what that giveaway should be. Tell me what you think in the comments below.

Are you wishing to write something?

I hope to someday write something worth plagiarizing.  -Unknown Author

A Bit of Blog with my Tea

I'm reading more blogs.  Let's see this one caught my attention because it has a cartoon picture of a woman flying with an umbrella. How Mary-Poppins-like. its called quintessentially-English This writer has a blog post about reminiscing on the Friends show while she's in England. Obviously she's feeling a bit homesick but I give her credit she'd been in  England for Ten Years. 

Moving forward. Here's a blog from an expat in Norway called meganstarr.com she writes a post called 8 things to love about Minsk.  Here's a flashback from the blog listed above where the previous writer was talking about her love of the show Friends and I recall an episode in Friends where the character Phoebe was in love with a man who worked in Minsk. How coincidental! Anyway, this blog has many lovely pictures of Norway and great pictures of the people if I might add.