book trailer – Rosepoint Publishing

#ThrowbackThursday – The Dirty Parts of the Bible by Sam Torode

#ThrowbackThursday

Renee began the #ThrowbackThursday meme on her blog, “It’s Book Talk“ to share some of her old favorites as well as sharing books published over a year ago. Hopefully, you’ll find either a story or author that interests you and you’ll check them out. And, if you’d like to join the fun, you’re welcome to use Renee’s pic from her website. Just provide the link back to her please).

OMG, I can’t believe I’m just getting to this particular author and his book, The Dirty Parts of the Bible for a Throwback Thursday!

I previously mentioned it in an article I wrote regarding historical fiction. Sam Torode has written other stand-alone books, along with such co-authors as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oscar Wilde, and James Allen. I reviewed The Dirty Parts of the Bible on Goodreads. This novel was self-published in March 2010. Torode garnered an amazing 2,109 reviews of which more than 1,000 were five stars and was a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. Amazon classifies the novel as literary fiction, humor and satire, coming-of-age.

Originally posted April 27, 2016

Book Blurb:

The Dirty Parts of the Bible is a humorous adventure across America during the Great Depression–a rollicking tale of love and liquor, preachers and prostitutes, trains and treasure, sure to appeal to fans of O Brother Where Art Thou?, Water for Elephants, Mark Twain, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash.

Publishers Weekly says:
“While the title suggests a raunchy read, this rich and soulful novel is actually a rather well-done bildungsroman [coming-of-age story] steeped in wanderlust and whimsy that at times recalls The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and at others a tamer On the Road. The story begins in 1936 as 19-year-old Tobias is thumbing his way from Remus, Mich., to his uncle’s farm in Glen Rose, Tex., to find a hidden bag of money, after his father, a Baptist pastor, drunkenly slams his car into the church and is removed from the parsonage. The author does an excellent job in making well-charted territory (riding the rails; scavenged campfire meals under the stars) seem vibrant and new. Snippets of scripture, Southern spirituals, and folk ballads lend context and flavor to the text. Most impressive are the jangly dialogue and the characters’ distinctive voices, which are authentic and earthy but not remotely hoary. When Tobias finally arrives at his uncle’s, the surprises that await him are more than enough to keep his–and readers’–interests piqued.”

Continue reading “#ThrowbackThursday – The Dirty Parts of the Bible by Sam Torode”

Rosepoint #Reviews – February Recap

Can you believe it’s March already?! March always reminds me how this whole writing, reading, blogging, reviewing thing got started–with my grandfather, of course!

Well, Faith and Begorrah (and btw, Begorrah is a form of “By God” in Irish slang), sure reminds me of the beautiful, musical way he pronounced my name. I don’t ever remember him, however, using the term “Erin Go Bragh,” spelled variously and used in wildly different meanings. Erin, of course, is the Angelical assassination of Eireann, which translates to “Of Ireland.” (The Irish word for Ireland is Eire, so says Patrick Murphy, good Irish lad.)

Ireland 9 by gliterly.com My grandfather, another good Irish lad named Patrick, professed a few more colorful terms, such as “Blatherskite,” given him by his uncle following his kiss of the Blarney stone three times. Apparently, that bestowed him full right to blarney on as he wrote the stories I published for him. Ah, but I digress…

February? I only read and reviewed five books. I KNOW–embarrassing, right? Falling down on the job, no doubt due to my distraction with Bookstagram. However, I was successful in enlisting the aid of my hubby, that Associate Reviewer I call “the CE”, who managed three books of his own. And I did manage three Throwback Thursdays, highlighting authors D. W. Ulsterman, Rick Mofina, and Melissa Stevens (not to be confused with Melissa F Miller from yesterday).

Shadow of a Century by Jean Grainer for The Love of Ireland by Judy Leslie I’m looking forward to participating in Cathy‘s “Reading Ireland” challenge, as noted in Lynne’s Fictionophile March post. I already have a couple books for the challenge, one by Jean Grainger, Irish author, Shadow of a Century and another titled For the Love of Ireland by Judy Leslie. It’s a chance to get a couple titles off my TBR!

March hopes to see the coming of spring and also marks another of my birthdays. Gulp–and this one will be a biggee. I’ll toast with some Bailey’s Irish Cream! So what did I read and review in February? (click) Continue reading “Rosepoint #Reviews – February Recap”

#ThrowbackThursday – Author Oak Anderson – Book Review

#ThrowbackThursday on It's Book Life blog Renee began the Throwback Thursday meme on her blog, “It’s Book Talk” to share some of her old favorites as well as sharing books published over a year ago. Sounded like a good reason to join! My TT posts will not come from current ARCs or new releases. Means I’ll be going back over some of my oldies but goodies, my favorite authors, and some of my favorite stories from authors you might not have previously experienced. Hopefully, you’ll find either a story or author that interests you and you’ll check them out.

This week I am highlighting another terrific Amazon #1 bestselling author, Oak Anderson. Mr. Anderson came up with a unique premise; at least it certainly was to me back in 2014 when I read Take One With You. He has since released About Face: TOWY Episode #1 (Take One With You), a short story, May 1, 2015.

Originally posted July 29, 2014

Book Blurb: “Charlie and Sarah, two disaffected teens dealing with depression, meet in an online chatroom and soon hatch a plan to bring meaning to their lives by encouraging other despondent individuals to help eradicate the “scum of society”, such as pedophiles and rapists who have escaped justice. Anyone determined to commit suicide is urged to first kill someone who “got away with it” before taking their own life. Why not, they ask, “take one with you?”…. “Take One With You is a unique crime thriller/millennial love story that poses the question: If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, would you kill someone tonight? Someone who had done something terrible. Someone who deserved to die. If so, who would it be? If you wouldn’t go that far, what about your neighbor? Your friend? Your enemy? Who draws the line? Who decides who lives and who dies? And what if we all began to take justice into our own hands?” Continue reading “#ThrowbackThursday – Author Oak Anderson – Book Review”

Creating a Book Trailer–DIY Or Not?

My stated goal last year was to make a new book trailer. It didn’t happen. Looking at book trailers these days, most appear to have been professionally crafted; definitely not your standard home-grown variety. I tried creating a book trailer four years ago and had a great time with it–writing about it on this blog.

But things have changed a bit since I made that first book trailer. Even in that short span of time, the technology has gotten better, sources for free video clips have widened, and the bar has been raised considerably.

Video Editing Software

Back when I tried that first book trailer, I used Windows Movie Maker, the default Windows video editing software, to create “Cocos Island Treasure.” It’s a fairly basic program, keeping it simple from font choice to video to photo clips to audio. (I experimented with introducing a voice over in addition to music clip in “Lucky Joe.”) Other popular programs are Sony Vegas and iMovie. Sony Vegas was sold in May 2016 and now may be more expensive than before extended into Sony Pro and certainly more sophisticated than my level of expertise. iMovie was created by Apple and is the default video editing program for the Mac. The iMovie alternative for (PC) Windows 10 (and older) is the Movavi Video Editor. The latter currently runs $39.99. Yes, there are free trials.

Continue reading “Creating a Book Trailer–DIY Or Not?”

Book Trailers Are Way Too Much Fun!

Book Trailers Are Way Too Much Fun!

Book Trailers–I love them! Like Movie Trailers, they can take myriad forms and while many are professionally created by artisans who know their craft, many others are created by you and me on a PC with little more than Power Point, Movie Maker, or other program such as Animoto (the latter of which is limited to 30 seconds. Consensus steers towards the shorter trailers, usually 1-2 minutes.

When I began researching book trailers, most have the caveat that they are best left to the professional as a poorly produced trailer can illicit the opposite effect desired. I’ve seen many a really remarkable book trailer that catches the attention, fires the imagination, and stirs the desire to see, read, and know more! WOW is that hard to achieve! But beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder. Most artists love their work and it’s extremely difficult to step back and view your baby with an objective eye, or for that matter, even know how the current public taste runs. Award winning book trailers have been produced by middle schoolers–and that’s some pretty stiff competition!

Since we’re talking about a simple D-I-Y project, this article will focus on Power Point Presentations. Your subject matter will no doubt dictate your target audience and that narrows somewhat the target age. There are simple book trailers that merely include text along with a slide presentation. Other movie trailers include video, fireworks, and fast action. You may include your own narration with or without a sound track behind it that you’ll verify is free through public domain (cannot use copyrighted material) or that you’ve properly licensed.

You create a storyboard by using your own photos or video clips or those free (or licensed) you’ve gleaned from appropriate public domain. Edit each slide individually adding text and timing (approximately 4 seconds per slide–keeping your text to the minimum). You may include transitions between slides, artful effects, or graphics. View lots of book trailers–tons of them on YouTube–get some ideas, decide what will appeal for your book, style, and timing.

Convert the presentation to video format and upload to your host, either your website or YouTube. YouTube is arguably among the top ranked social media sites (depending which ranking list you prefer). As with the description of your books, you’ll need a brief but powerful book trailer description as well as appropriate keywords.