Month: July 2010

From A Child’s View

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I found myself thinking about book covers yesterday afternoon, as I visualised my unpublished books on the shelf of a book shop.  🙂

Whispering Caves isn’t finished yet, but I have always had an image in my mind that I associate with the cover.  However, Cat’s Eyes is finished and because of that, I concentrated on that cover more.

Later in the evening, out of boredom, I opened Photoshop and tried to put my thoughts into an image.  It was difficult!  When I went to bed several hours later, I had a cover that appealed to me, but there’s the big problem…

…I’m a lot older than the intended audience.

This morning, I left my warm bed and decided to research the covers of children’s books and I found From A Childs View: 30+ Creative Children’s Book Covers.

To me, some of the covers shown in the post look old fashioned (and perhaps they are).  The ones that appeal to my young heart are the ones with vibrant colours.  They stand out from the rest.  They scream “READ ME” and isn’t that what every author wants?

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but remember when preparing one that just about all readers do, so investing time into a brilliant cover is worth the effort.

Book Review: Want to Play?

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Want to Play?

Want to Play? by P.J. Tracy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Want to Play? (also published as “Monkeewrench”) is a mystery thriller written by mother/daughter team who use the pseudonym P J Tracy.

A group of five friends who compile gaming software soon discover that someone is using their latest game – Serial Killer Detective – as a basis for murder. When they report the discovery to the police, they quickly find themselves on the top of the suspect list.

I picked this book up as I flew out of the house to catch a train. I wanted something to read on the long trip and the book was on top of the pile. I didn’t have time to be choosy. To be honest, on the train when I looked at it more carefully, I didn’t expect much from it. So I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the book to the first page and the writing style snagged me straight away.

I liked the sense of humour and the colourful characters. I also liked the way the mystery unfolded – little by little, without making me get edgy because the next bit of information was too long in coming. I also enjoyed the thriller side of the story. Wondering what had happened in their past to make them the people I was reading about. Wondering what was around the next dark corner.

My only complaint about this book is that at one point I felt the crudeness was getting too much to handle. In some ways it felt sexist and I started to get annoyed, but then that side of things settled (or maybe I just stopped noticing) and I began to enjoy the story again.

I especially liked how the story didn’t get too technical or wasn’t too focused on the forensics side of things. In my opinion, there was a good balance of information given without it getting bogged down in facts and figures, which becomes boring.

Want to Play? is an interesting read and I recommend it to anyone who wants to be entertained, wants the pages to almost turn themselves, and experience a well thought out story with characters who put defined images of themselves into your imagination.