09.07.10
Posted in Reading, Writing at 3:22 pm by Jess
Yes, folks, somehow it crept up on me. Today is release day for NOCTURNAL!
If you haven’t grabbed your copy yet, you can find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, etc, etc, etc. I do hope you all love Arnold and Sara’s story in SPARK OF TEMPTATION!
Now, I know a lot of the visitors to my blog are also looking forward to some of the awesome urban fantasy and paranormal books being released today–NO MERCY by Sherrilyn Kenyon, FIRELIGHT by Sophie Jordan, and DUST by Joan Francis Turner, just to name a few–but let’s take a moment to get serious and talk about your safety.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that survival guides aren’t for everyone. Boy scouts and camping/hunting enthusiasts are the usual crowd for those sorts of books, right?
Even if you don’t think survival guides are for you, I do encourage you to read on as I am bringing an important book to your attention. I do care about your safety and well being! Which is why I’m bringing up that I’m sharing a release day with the fabulous Chuck Sambuchino of Guide to Literary Agents fame. He’s provided us with an essential step-by-step guide that no one with a lawn should be without–How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack: Defend Yourself When the Lawn Warriors Strike (And They Will).
If you haven’t taken any preventative measures to protect yourself from the common garden gnome, then you need this book.
Be sure to swing by Guide to Literary Agents to congratulate Chuck on his release! And pick up your copies of our books today!
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09.04.10
Posted in Contests & Giveaways at 3:51 pm by Jess
Courtesy of Random.org–the winner of the NOCTURNAL giveaway is….
DOVILE!
Congratulations, Dovile! I’ll be contacting you by email shortly. If the winner does not respond to me within 72 hours, another winner will be chosen.
Thank you everyone for entering! Check back soon–my next giveaway will be for an ARC of TAKEN BY THE OTHERS!
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09.02.10
Posted in Reading at 12:36 pm by Jess
Title: WARRIOR SOUL (The Memoir of a Navy SEAL)
Author: Chuck Pfarrer
Funny story, but I never would have read this book if people at my second job hadn’t started calling each other “Chuck” around the office. It became a thing—“Hey, Chuck, I need _____!” “Chuck, can you get this for me?” “Chuck!”
Turns out that this book is behind that silly bit of office shennanigans. It’s the memoir of a Navy SEAL, and Chuck Pfarrer pulls no punches as he tells the tale of how he graduated from a surfer dude to one bad-ass mo-fo. It made the rounds at the office, and I finally got a chance to get my hands on it about a month ago.
It took me a while to get through this book. At times, it was a difficult read. I’m not familiar with a lot of the military jargon or abbreviations that were used throughout Mr. Pfarrer’s story. That didn’t make it any less compelling, it just meant that instead of devouring it in a week or two as I usually do with books these days, it took me over a month because I was side-checking definitions or looking things up on the internet.
Chuck talks about most everything as candidly as can be expected—though, of course, there are some points where he has to be vague because of state secrets. You can’t expect him to go into detail about what he learned about terrorist tactics, blowing up buildings and ships, etc. That in no way detracts from the action or flair for dramatic detail he goes into when he does specifically recall certain incidents, such as his last mission—jumping out of an in-flight Boeing 727 so military air traffic control can test if a free falling SEAL team can be detected on radar. By the end of the first chapter, your heart will be in your mouth and you’ll quickly find yourself sucked into the story of how Chuck worked his way from being a military brat who moved around the country with his family to arriving as a “surfer hippie dude” at the toughest military school in the country. He graduates the Staunton Military Academy only to go on to CSU Northridge to study psychology, of all things.
Then, the fateful moment. He decides that his life was boring and, to spice things up, he should join the Navy to become a SEAL.
You follow his story of how he worked up the ranks, the training he went through, and then, finally, to some of the missions he carried out during his time as a SEAL. Chuck is very blunt about his own personal faults, his observations of people and operations, and does a good job at expressing his opinions by for the most part showing his actions instead of telling you how he felt about what was going on. You get a real feel for some of the places he’s been, the people he met, and the conditions he had to endure. He makes no apologies for his mistakes, though he does recognize them and makes no effort to soften them when he reveals some of his infidelities.
I’ve never read anything quite like this before. It’s an excellent book, and a very heartfelt story. You find yourself caught up in the suspense and drama of the moment as shells fall around, the search is on for snipers, and would-be terrorists are caught before they can bomb a ship. You curse at the slow-turning wheels of diplomacy as terrorists get away with murder, grip the edge of your seat as you wait for a rescue that might not come, and possibly shed a tear as the last remaining mark of Chuck’s military service is taken away.
For someone who doesn’t read memoir, this book really hit a note with me. As I mentioned, I haven’t read anything like it before. Honestly? I think it is the first memoir I’ve ever read. Chuck’s story gave me a lot to think about, and really drove home what it must be like for some of our country’s finest to be enlisted. This is a fabulous story, and I highly recommend it.
5/5
As a side note: If you would like to do something to help our enlisted men and women of the various branches of the military (send letters, cards or care packages, volunteer, etc), you can help by contacting the non-profit group Defenders of Freedom.
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Posted in Contests & Giveaways at 12:53 am by Jess
The giveaway ends Friday, September 2nd, at midnight PST!
I’ve made it super easy to win. All you have to do is leave a comment to be entered, and it’s even open internationally. How ’bout them apples?!
In other news, yo. I’ve been quiet, eh? Taking a break since finishing book 3 and turning it over to my editor. Been nice to relax a bit this week. Still a little frazzled around the edges, but I’m not in the frantic “GO-GO-GO-MOVE-MOVE-MOVE”-mode anymore. Got some reading done–finished a couple books so far. Only 10 pages left on WARRIOR SOUL, which I will review–I don’t want this book to end!! It’s been quite a roller-coaster ride of a read. Haven’t quite decided what to read next. UF? Horror? High fantasy? Sci-fi? Hrm… decisions, decisions…
I also finally got to get my first taste of True Blood! I’ve only seen four episodes so far, but the show is very engaging, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen. Eagerly awaiting my next NetFlix shipment!
What about you guys? What’re you reading/watching?
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08.25.10
Posted in Contests & Giveaways at 12:55 pm by Jess
Freakin’ love ‘em. I brought Shia, Chaz and Royce out to play over at the Book Faery’s blog for the Battle of the Sexies. You can win a copy of HUNTED BY THE OTHERS! Tori is doing giveaways all month long on her blog–a new one every day for the month of August–so go check ‘em out!
Noticed a couple other cool giveaways I wanted to point out while I’m at it. Tyhitia is hosting a giveaway of Tatiana Caldwell’s SAY MY NAME. Haven’t heard of Tatiana’s work before now, but it’s a great guest post and looks like an awesome book!
Also, I am VERY (!!!!!1!!!!1!!!!ELEVENTY-ONE!!!1!!) excited about Tynga’s giveaway of Karen Marie Moning’s SHADOWFEVER, the fifth book in the Fever series! I’ve been meaning to post a review of the previous four books and haven’t quite gotten around to it yet. Will do that soon.
In this spirit of the internet, I’m going to hold a giveaway of my own! Who wants a copy of NOCTURNAL, eh? Leave a comment by Friday, September 3rd, to be entered! I’ll announce winner(s) on the blog on Saturday, September 4. Number of copies given away will depend on the number of entries.
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08.20.10
Posted in Writing at 1:22 am by Jess
Natasha’s been a busy girl! *g* You know that review she did of HUNTED that I posted about yesterday? Seems she read both books in a marathon session to get reviews of both books done ASAP.
Curious what she thinks of TAKEN BY THE OTHERS? Go check it out! No spoilers, I promise.
Can I just put it out there how excited I am for this book to come out? I’m sure every author goes through this with their books, but let me tell you what the upcoming release of TAKEN means to me:
HUNTED was my first published novel, so I can see progress in my writing style in TAKEN (as well as #3, DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS, but that’s getting a bit ahead of myself…). From the reviewers who took a chance on me from the start (Judi, Abigail, Tyhitia, and the rest–you know who you are!) to those who are newly discovering my books every day (hi Tori, Tynga, and Sullivan! *g*), it makes me immensely proud every time I hear about how much they enjoyed my work. I’m thrilled to share Shia’s story, more so to see what others think of her “growing pains” as she learns more about the Others. Of course, there’s a great deal more depth to her relationships with Chaz and Royce in this next book, as well as a fresh look through her eyes at this new world she’s living in. I’d like to hope that those who go on to read it see that, too, and continue to see it in the books to come.
I’m very, very excited to share this new story with everyone, and though I know the wait for most on the official book release is long (AUGH, January 4, 2011?!), I do hope you find it worthwhile. My goal is to entertain–and if I’ve lived up to that, like any author, I always love to hear about it. Some of those reviews made some very tough days for me pass a little easier. I may not always say anything about them, but it doesn’t mean I don’t notice or care.
Thanks again to Natasha, and all the other reviewers who have and will post reviews of my work. Your input and the word of mouth you spread has led to many wonderful people picking up HUNTED, inviting me to do guest posts and interviews, and even sending me fan mail. Though it may not seem as much, your time and effort in spreading the word really has been invaluable. It means the world to me. Thank you.
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08.19.10
Posted in Writing at 12:56 pm by Jess
Hot off the press, the fabulous Sullivan McPig weighed in on HUNTED BY THE OTHERS:
I love this book. It’s well written, has a great, fast-paced storyline and tons of cool characters. I really like the world Haines created, which, even though comparable with lots of other Urban Fantasy worlds, is still unique by small details Haines added to it. Shiarra is a character I can relate to: she has her fears and doubts about herself and the people/creatures around her, but where in some books these fears are often unrealistic or not explained, Haines gives enough background and insight in Shiarra’s mind that you share her fears which for me lead to a deeper involvement in the story. Which leads me to the one negative thing I could say about this book: I’m eager for more, but the release of book 2 – Taken by the Others (January 2011)- is much too far away in my opinion!
Also, the lovely Natasha of Wicked Little Pixie fame (hope those computer woes are over soon!) had some nice things to say about HUNTED BY THE OTHERS:
Hunted By Others is the first book in Jess Haines H & W Investigation Series and while I expected to enjoy it, I didn’t think it would turn into a five hour cover to cover marathon! I love when I get so involved in a book that time seems to fly by and it totally did while I was reading.
Right from the start I was drawn in, especially since Shiarra has all sorts of issues with Others. The Others came out of the “closet” right after 9/11 and while most of the population is okay with them, some are still pretty nervous around them, Shiarra included. The timing of the Others coming out made a lot of sense, they came out just after 9/11..the Weres to help find victims of the WTC attacks and vamps/mages to help with the financial impact 9/11 had. That alone made it a little bit more realistic to me as not many books deal with what people think of all these paranormal creatures coming out into the open. Shiarra has a hefty dose of fear that most of us would have, especially when she finds out her ex-boyfriend is a Were. Of course he chose the worst possible time to come out to her and she was scared to death.
Speaking of that ex, Chaz is a great character but I could feel all sorts of sexual tension between Alec Royce (vampire) right from Shiarra and his first meeting. I can’t wait to read more about how their relationship or lack there of turns out. There are a bunch of great characters in the book, even a magical belt…where can I get me one of those?
Thank you, guys, your reviews were great and very much appreciated!
You can also check out a guest post by me on the subject of editing over at Dawn Chartier’s blog. Thanks for having me, Dawn!
I’m almost done with WARRIOR SOUL, and will post a review on it soon. What’re the rest of you up to this week? Read any good books lately?
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08.17.10
Posted in Reading at 1:00 pm by Jess
I’m in the middle of WARRIOR SOUL by Chuck Pfarrer (pg 239 of 382).
This is the memoir of a Navy SEAL. This book is AMAZING.
I’ll do a full review when I finish it. So far it’s just… wow. Highly recommend it.
What are you reading?
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08.16.10
Posted in Writing at 11:48 pm by Jess
These are the kinds of reviews I love to stumble across! Courtesy of Sam’s Book Blog on my first book, HUNTED BY THE OTHERS:
What a great start to a new series! I was hooked with this book from the beginning. Shiarra is a private investigator that is in a bit over her head. She is a human dealing with vampires, mages, and werewolfs…all considered to be Others with supernatural talents and abilities. And they all seem to want something from her except that she is unsure as to what, and all she knows for sure is that it can’t be good. Shiarra is a great main character and her adventures were fun to read about. She comes across realistically, a bit unsure of herself but willing to put herself out there for those that she cares about. I enjoyed the secondary characters as well which I thought really helped to make the story even better. Her ex-boyfriend is a werewolf, she gets help from a mage, and her partner is a normal human. It made for an interesting cast of characters in my opinion. The plot itself was fast paced and I was instantly caught within the story. I literally flew through this book and couldn’t read it fast enough which meant staying up extra late to read it. I’m excited to read more of Shiarra’s adventures and am looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.
Bottom Line: For me this would be a must read for any urban fantasy fan!
Thank you, Sam! This is exactly the kind of review that gives this author warm fuzzy-bunny feelings. You totally made my day. <3
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08.13.10
Posted in Reading at 12:45 pm by Jess
Have any hot plans?
If not, I suggest you download Barnes & Noble’s free Nook software, and get busy downloading some awesome free reads (I can’t vouch for how long these will stay free, so click on ‘em ASAP!):
– Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison
– The Time Traveler’s Wife by Scott William Carter
– Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Steve Hockensmith
There are more, but those are just a few choice tidbits that should keep you busy for a while. Me? I’ll be working tonight–but as soon as I get home, I’m immersing myself in some horror movies to get into the spirit of things. Tee hee…
So, what are your Friday the 13th plans?
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