ABNA Second Round Reviews!!!

Okay! As expected, I did not make the cut in this round, but my reviews were posted much faster than anticipated, so that's good! My whole reason for entering the contest this year was to try and make it to this round, and get some feedback from the Amazon Vine Reviewers who worked so hard over the past few weeks to judge this crazy round. And now, for your reading enjoyment, here they both are!  You can find 'em after the jump.

Book Review: Benevolence by Cynthia Holz

I want to start off by saying that I won this book recently in a Goodreads giveaway and, apart from an interesting blurb on the back, I really didn't know what to expect.


I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much I truly enjoyed reading this book! I was drawn into the lives of Dr. Ben Wasserman, and his wife, Renata Moon, right from the start. Ben is an organ transplant psychiatrist and Renata is a psychologist, but for two people who've devoted their careers to an ability and necessity built on communication with relative strangers, their own marriage is slowly falling apart due to their inability to communicate effectively with one another.



Add in Ben's widowed mother, Molly, who's allowed a man from her past back into her life, and you have a recipe for awkwardness and misunderstandings, overshadowed by deep secrets on all sides.



And yet, despite the frustration of watching from the inside as people struggle to keep their deepest feelings from those they love the most, I found myself caring very much about each and every one of them. Holz has created characters who are as real as they are flawed, and each one is painfully honest - not with one another, nor with themselves, but with me, the reader. So attached to these people was I that, when I turned a page to find myself suddenly at the end, a genuine sadness came over me and I was reluctant to let them go.



There is a sense of smoothness and heartbreaking fluidity in Holz's writing style as she breathes life into these characters, and the people who inhabit their daily lives. Spellbound by their decent into darker places, we watch - equally entranced - as they find those tiny moments to breathe for; a bit of magic, to bring back the light.
 
 
5 stars
Benevolence
Cynthia Holz

More Updates - On Everything

Wow...a lot has been happening lately!  Or, maybe I should say, a lot has come up, and will happen later.  Because I still feel as though I'm not moving in any direction at all...just kind of standing and preparing to move.

If that makes any sense!

I can't decide where to begin, so I'll just ramble off some of the stuff that's been going on since my last post.

Holy crap - I made it!

I just found out that I made it through the first round (Pitch) and into the second (Excerpt) of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award!

I think I might still be in shock.

Carving The Light on Kindle!

I'd made CTL available on Kindle after I originally published it last year.  But this morning, I uploaded a better, stronger, faster version that I'm hoping will fare better.  It has fewer mistakes, anyway!  :)

Enjoy!

S.A.M.

Carving The Light - (Hypothetical) Casting Call

What if Carving The Light was made into a movie?  Who would you cast? 

That's the question posed on the ABNA message boards and, coincidentally, a subject which has come up a few times between some of my friends/readers and I since the book was first published.

There have been MANY suggestions, some of which I agree with, and some of which I do not.  And, truth be told, I had very specific and completely different people in mind while I was writing it.  But let's face it, even if it ever were to be brought to life as a film, I would have NO say as to who got approached to star in it, so this is really my only chance to make my wishes heard.

So here it is, take it or leave it.  What follows is my first choices for who I think should play the main roles in the big screen adaptation of my book, Carving The Light.

Ebon Pitch - First Draft

When young Ebon Black turns 21 years of age, he will inherit his deceased father's fortune, which would make him The Richest Of Them All. The current holder of that title, Malachite Vert, is determined that Ebon should not live to see his 21st birthday, and hatches a plan to get rid of him. He also happens to be Ebon's stepfather.




Ebon survives the attempt on his life, but loses his memory in the process. He awakens to find that he's been rescued by seven young women known as Dryads, the Keepers of the Trees. They are Joc, Weepy, Cranky, Sleazy, Nerdy, Needy and Pam.



In this new twist on a classic tale, it's a race against the clock as Ebon and the seven Dryads must work together to gain Ebon his memory back, find out if he can woo Pam, and return him home in time to claim his rightful place in society.



EBON BLACK AND THE SEVEN DRYADS is suitable for readers young and less-young; introducing them to an unforgettable cast of characters, some unexpected turns, and a moral for a modern age. The manuscript is complete at 20000 words.