10 Spine-Chilling Reads for Halloween
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on October 30, 2018
The Season of the Witch has nearly reached its zenith, and if you’re anything like me that’s involved a lot of being curled up in a blanket, sipping bourbon and reading new and classic tales of spine-chilling horror. In honor of Halloween, here are 10 scary books that will leave you shivering. Not all of these are your traditional horror novels, so there is something for everyone that wants to add a little creepiness to their lives this weekend… And, remember, if you haven’t already – you can get weekly FREE books similar to these by signing up as a Hidden Gem reader. In The Darkness That’s Where I’ll Know You by Luke Smitherd Best-selling author Luke Smitherd follows the formula of his seminal work The Stone Man by presenting the reader with another conundrum in In the Darkness – in which a bartender wakes up to find himself inside… Read More >
Create the Perfect Writing Environment
By: Ginger | Posted on October 26, 2018
Creating and fostering the perfect writing environment can really help supercharge your productivity. Back in May, author and podcaster Andrew Mackay shared his 5 tips for fighting procrastination – and one really spoke to me. It was #4 – “Why aren’t you writing?” It led to me talking to a lot of fellow authors about how they get into the ‘flow’ of writing, and what helps and hinders putting pen to paper (or, more accurately, finger to keyboard.) One theme that seemed to come up time and time again was the ‘environment’ for writing – and it’s something that resonated with me. As the parent of three rambunctious kids – and the husband of an equally rambunctious wife – it’s not always easy to get into the ‘headspace’ of writing; and sometimes you have to ‘set the mood’ just like you might for a romantic date. What that mood is… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Lilian Monroe
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on October 23, 2018
It’s been a while since we last sat down with an author, so today we’re excited to share an interview with Lilian Monroe, author of a dozen successful romance books on Amazon and a rapidly up-and-coming romance writer. While she’s not (yet) in the New York Times bestseller lists, the pace and success of her writing have earned her an increasingly loyal following and hundreds of 5-star reviews, and we’re excited to think that this blog post will be one of those ‘you saw her here first’ milestones in the future. On Lilian Monroe’s Author Page on Amazon, she jokes about living in a “luxurious jungle treehouse” but that’s not necessarily so far from the truth. Canadian-born, Lilian has used writing as the opportunity to earn a living while traveling the world, with stints in Australia and other far-flung destinations, and currently a base of operations in beautiful Thailand. Lilian’s… Read More >
Making Magic Work In Your Novels
By: Gail Z. Martin | Posted on October 19, 2018
A convincing magic system can make or break a fantasy novel, and is often the best remembered aspect of the book or series. Growing up, I read a lot of Fantasy – from Piers Anthony’s Xanth and David Eddings’ Belgariad, to Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series or Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time – I remember these books most fondly because of the rich and diverse magic systems that their worlds were built on. But coming up with those sorts of systems and worlds from scratch is a daunting task that requires a lot of thought and planning, and that’s why we turned to Gail Martin for an article on the subject. Gail is a prolific novelist who is very experienced at coming up with complex and varied magic systems, having done so for many of her own books and series. Here are her tips on how to make magic work… Read More >
Recently Reviewed Top Thrillers
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on October 16, 2018
In the past few months, we’ve been lucky enough to share some fantastic thrillers with our subscribers. It’s always tough to narrow down a list to our favorites, which is why we make the list up from some of our reader favorites instead. Here are some of the suspense books that really jump-scared us all. And, remember, if you like the look of any of these, you can sign up to our program and receive as many books as you can read for FREE, in the hopes that you’ll leave an honest review of them on Amazon when you’re done. Crossing a Line by Mike Boshier British author Mike Boshier manages to paint a vividly realistic portrait of modern America in this fast-paced thriller in the Jack Reacher mold. The tough-as-nails hero, John Deacon, has everybody guessing when he ‘goes rogue’ and joins a menacing religious cult – but what’s his real… Read More >
The Undeserved Stigma of Self-Publishing
By: Ginger | Posted on October 12, 2018
Services like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing have provided a new generation of authors an amazing opportunity to be successful outside of the confines of ‘traditional publishing’ – yet there’s still a stigma about self-publishing. As more and more authors choose to spurn traditional publishers, many feel that this stigma is increasingly undeserved. As my writing career has become more successful, I’ve been more and more open to telling people about it. I’m now a writer full-time, and it’s pretty exciting to be able to support my family from book sales. And yet, when I talk to strangers about this, I still often get a strange reaction from them. “Oh, I’d like to write a book someday. But, y’know – like a real book.” I always like to ask: “What do you mean a real book?” “Oh, you know – from a publisher.” It’s funny, but almost a decade after Amazon… Read More >
Best Women’s Literature We’ve Recently Reviewed
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on October 9, 2018
Every day, Hidden Gems subscribers receive the opportunity to review hundreds of complimentary books spanning more than 15 genres – hopefully leaving an honest review on Amazon when they’re done. A regular feature on this blog is a periodic highlight of some true ‘Hidden Gems’ our subscribers discovered in various genres, and why you might want to check them out. Keep checking back for the latest lists, categorized by genre, and learn about some of the best books that we’ve sent out. Or, join our list of readers and help discover future gems yourself! The definition of women’s literature is hard to pin down – but it’s generally accepted as a distinct genre in fiction which explores the experience of being a woman through the socio-political context of the story’s era. As such, it has become one of the most important and compelling genres of fiction; as diverse as it is informative,… Read More >
Let Experiences and Emotions Fuel Your Writing
By: Stephen Bentley | Posted on October 5, 2018
As I mentioned in a previous article, the idea of writing what you know isn’t meant to be taken strictly literally and as today’s guest author Stephen Bentley puts it, the saying might be better expressed as “write what you feel”. Your experiences and emotions can be a great source of fuel for your imagination, and are the root of many great fiction novels. Learning to harness these experiences and draw from them is essential to authentic writing that draws the reader in to make them feel like they’re part of your story or world. ‘Write what you know’ is an old adage. Possibly older than me. I am now seventy-one years old. I started writing books three years ago. I guess another appropriate adage is ‘you are never too old to learn or to start.’ I have written an Amazon UK bestseller about my undercover cop days. I started… Read More >
Best Children’s Books We’ve Recently Reviewed
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on October 2, 2018
Every day, Hidden Gems subscribers receive the opportunity to review hundreds of complimentary books spanning more than 15 genres – hopefully leaving an honest review on Amazon when they’re done. A regular feature on this blog is a periodic highlight of some true ‘Hidden Gems’ our subscribers discovered in various genres, and why you might want to check them out. Keep checking back for the latest lists, categorized by genre, and learn about some of the best books that we’ve sent out. Or, join our list of readers and help discover future gems yourself! Children’s books help youngsters develop a love of reading that can help benefit them for the rest of their lives. Talk to anybody, and they’ll most likely be able to tell you their favorite childhood books (for me it was The Elephant and the Bad Baby, Tintin and Roald Dahl) and access to books has been… Read More >
