Author Scott Emerson has written an insightful review of the first book in my "STARLING" series, "Lifeline." The review appears on "Brain Nuggets: The Blog of Scott Emerson" @ http://scottemerson.wordpress.com. He hits the nail on the head when he describes what the teenage characters, Simon Laramie, Jaya Ceyes, Peter Arnold and Flower Wildwind are going through at Briarwood Public High School in the year 2045:
"Thrust into a high school environment of carefully controlled thought expression and mandatory school spirit, a small cadre of free-thinking students struggle to break the norm of “Work, Consume, Conform, Repeat.”
Go to Scott's website. It's a great blog to follow and to put in your bookmarks. Scott has a ton of interesting information about film, writing, fiction, horror/zombie genre, poetry and much more.
And be sure to check out the full review in which Scott mentions the upcoming December holiday giveaway of "Lifeline," Dec. 25-26. I'm working overtime right now to get "Lifeline" into the hands of teenagers and young adults who might be dealing with bullying issues and other issues relating to the advance of the digital age. I'm doing the giveaway in hopes that folks who've already downloaded the book will be able to tell teens/young adults about "The STARLNG Series" and share the first book with those in this age group (the books are written for ages 15 and up). I didn't have much money when I was a teen, so the giveaway is about increasing access to the first book, "Lifeline." Read all the details about the giveaway (how to get a copy) here on my previous blog post: http://www.theodorewebb.com/1/post/2012/12/tell-teens-free-download-lifeline-dec-23-24.html.
I'm very thankful to folks like Scott who have read or are reading "The STARLING Series" books. Authors Joseph Madia Jr., T.A. Woods and Michelle Bowser also have interesting perspectives on the first four "STARLING Series" books. You can check out their reviews on Amazon.com on the "Lifeline" page and on the book three "Colossus" page.
If you've already read "Lifeline" or were one of the 60+ folks who participated in the one-day November Thanksgiving promotion, then by all means add your thoughts to the conversation and write up your own review. It's easy to do on Amazon. You can easily post your thoughts to the Amazon pages of any of the four books: "Lifeline," "Crucible," "Colossus" and "Inferno." Just scroll down below the other reviews and click on the box "Write a customer review." You can also click the "Like" button at the top of each page. Right now, "Lifeline" has eight "likes" at the top of the page, and I know there are more people than that who downloaded it (I don't know, maybe 60 people downloaded it and didn't like it, so if that's the case, then maybe eight people are actually the only ones who like it, lol... We'll just keep repeating our Zen-like meditation: "Acceptance is the key... Acceptance is the key...")
All kidding aside, I can't believe it's only three days before Christmas Day. I'm hoping to have some time to write a blog post about this very special holiday and time of year, and all the things I'm thankful for (I'm thankful to my family, friends and readers...)
A friend, Phil Anderson of Spiral Spark, a technical consulting and web design provider, recently posted a call on Facebook that should motivate each of us. I thought what he said about the holiday season was wonderful, and I'd like to share. He's speaking about simple acts of kindness that we can all do, and these are so important during the holidays, when some folks may be feeling more alone than usual (none of us are ever alone, but we have to remind each other of this). Even something as simple as a phone call can make a huge difference. This is what he posted:
"I want everyone to reach out this season to someone you know who doesn't have much, or faces loneliness, or is not well off and do something to make their season better. A lot of people don't have anyone out there, let's realize how lucky we are and make a small sacrifice in the spirit of the season. A small token, card, present or invite to a dinner could mean the difference between full happiness and empty desolation. Thank You!"
