Lucia's Fantasy World earns Literary Titan Gold Medal

 Lucia's Fantasy World, author Donan Berg's second fantasy novel, newly published, has been awarded The Literary Titan Book Awards Gold Medal. The Gold Medal is awarded to books that Literary Titan finds have astounded and amazed them with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters and original ideas.

Previously, Lucia's Fantasy World earned a five star review from Literary Titan. They are an organization of professional editors, writers, and professors that have a passion for the written word.

The review said Lucia's Fantasy World is a captivating story about a courageous and caring young girl.

It continues by saying: "Berg's excellent use of description plays a big part in the book . . . ."

The review concludes with: "Lucia's Fantasy World, by Donan Berg, is a magical story that will take you on a fascinating adventure with Lucia. Filled with child-like imagination, friendship, adventure, magic, and sorcery this book is the perfect fantasy book for middle aged children who are looking for imaginative coming of age adventure."

The complete ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐review can be read at https://literarytitan.com/2022/06/07/lucias-fantasy-world/

Available in paperback and e-book with the e-book on Amazon's KindleUnlimited.

As reported elsewhere on this blog, Author Donan Berg's debut fantasy, Find the Girl, A Fantasy World, has been a #No1 most popular book for four hundred twelve (440) days.

Inspiration by Donan Berg

After three months, Author Donan Berg's "Inspiration" still trending as the most popular inspirational story at AuthorsDen

To read it free click here: Inspiration by Donan Berg . Thank you for your read. All reads help advance Donan's story to be the most popular of all stories. Last check showed it at number six; number one is within reach.

While there, check out Donan Berg's A Body To Bones, at last check, the most popular novel at AuthorsDen. For romance fans there's Aisle Two Romance, chapter one listed under articles.

Again, thank you to all.

Week of Reading Contrasts

A simple truth: Reading always teaches. What it teaches is a separate inquiry.

This week the pages of two books filled my brain.  Both were book club selections.

The first, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, surpassed the first obstacle of "Oh, here's another book dealing with World War II." Spoiler alert: The hype that this was a "love story" between a French blind girl and a young German Hitler youth doesn't pan out.

The back-and-forth juxtaposition of their two lives transcends. The rich detail of their lives driven home by strong verbs. The horrors of war sketched without becoming all consuming. What is captivating is the inner drives and obstacles of multiple characters brought together by a jewel that strings out the novel's suspense.

The second, Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea, mounted page-after-page of disappointment for its tale of Mexican illegals on a "quest" to recruit men who had crossed the border to return to a Mexican village to protect it against banditos. Billed as a comedy, there was an absence of laughs and many attempts to use crude, boorish, and bathroom references to create humor.

The plot was shallow. Clichés abounded. There were stereotypical characters.

Better one read The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande for a better factual and emotional understanding of illegal immigration along the United States southern border.

Explore New Writing

Merry Christmas

Wishing all, individually and collectively, the merriest 2016 Christmas ever.

I filled a lull to engage in reading aspiring novel writers outside the stream of those for whom I get paid to do freelance editing.

The novel picked up today, women's fiction, stopped me cold in the first few pages.

This book and writer, who shall remain anonymous, hit me with the following two sentences:

1.  "Anne spent the next year was in a blur of creative frenzy."

Obviously the word "was" should be deleted as one simple grammar cure.

Even then the narrative presentation smacks of dullness. I think I know what is meant. You may get a greater understanding if I reveal Anne is a portrait painter.

Would you say "blur" is the right word? Blur can be defined as "obscure," "haze,"

"stain," "cloud," and "dim."

Rather than "spent" would you be more impressed if Anne "unleashed" a frenzy of creative talent?

2.  "Inside the warmth and happy mood lighting welcomed them, and they ...."

Are you dangling with me? If you read further, the scene starts as two people walk into and begin a conversation in a bar. You might rearrange the words to state: "Warm lighting and a happy mood welcomed ___ and ___ ." That may not be true. It could be "____ and ____, in a happy mood, were welcomed by the bar's warmth." "Happy mood" could be expanded to tilt one's understanding in another direction: "Joyous voices, interrupted by song and laughter, greeted _____ and _____."

No matter what you decide, isn't the fact that you had to delay your reading to grasp an understanding of what the words were crafted to mean annoying?

Still, it's no reason to avoid new writers. Pick up one of their books or download a digital copy. The hunt for hidden treasure is always exciting.

Again, Merry Christmas. 

New 2015 A Body To Bones novel reviews at Amazon.com

Four new 2015 reviews for Donan Berg's A Body To Bones, First Skeleton Series Mystery, have been posted at Amazon.com. One was quoted in its entirety by this blog on April 1, 2015. The first one below is the one reproduced earlier. Snippets of three others follow. You are invited to read all in full at Amazon.com.

Karsun, April 1, 2015:

"A Body To Bones by Donan Berg . . . immediately drew me in.

"I loved this from the start . . ."

Grady Harp, March 15, 2015:

"Donan writes with the skill of a practiced artist, retaining some of the special Irish flavor that flows in his system. He creates characters about whom we care and with whom we can easily identify despite the rigor of mystery that surrounds them. His use of his little town newspaper headlines and stories adds a clever and credible aspect to his writing.

"Donan has his pen so polished that he leaves us with the need to read more of his work. He is a find."

bertiejf, April 14, 2015:

"I enjoy a good mystery and this is a good mystery.

"This is a good story well paced with some very good twists."

Joy Fox, April 18, 2015:

"If you enjoy mysteries, this book if for you.

"This is a well-crafted book, with likeable characters and a well thought out plot."

Donan Berg Skeleton Series Mystery Reviews

On the backcover of the newly released murder/mystery novel, Baby Bones, Third Skeleton Series Mystery, is the following:

Praise for Donan Berg's Skeleton Mystery Series.

A Body To Bones, First Skeleton Series Mystery

"I found myself quickly drawn into this book. Author Donan Berg (creates) interesting mix of mystery, suspense, hidden secrets, sin, deception and intrigue to weave a book that is well worth the price and in fact is a book which I so readily recommend that I would strongly suggest purchasing it for gifting." - S.P. national online reviewer

"Donan Brg writes a nice, clear, consistently readable prose, and he manages to create a winning character in Sarah Hamilton." - Writer's Digest judge

"Excellent. Greatly enjoyable book, well written and filled with intrigue, suspense and drama. Five Stars." -
L.C., national online reviewer.

The Bones Dance Foxtrot, Second Skeleton Series Mystery

"Five Stars. If you enjoy a good mystery with twists, turns, false leads, a little gambling, betrayal, clues left in the unlikeliest of places and a hidden stash of bank loot, then pick up a copy of The Bones Dance Foxtrot." - Featheredquill Book Review

"Clues eventually fit together in clever and significant ways." - National reviewer

Baby Bones

Baby Bones, Third Skeleton Series Mystery, continues author Donan Berg's showcase of winning characters in Sheriff Jonas McHugh, Deputy Bonnie Walsh, and VP Melanie Stark. The absorbing, fast-paced, satisfying major mystery surrounds a female skeleton buried with baby bones. Fears abound: the coroner scared of abortion vigilantes, Jonas anxious for re-election, and Bonnie alarmed for the safety of young daughter, Cindy. The addictive tale spins with an elaborate web of unsuspected turns sprung with gusto.

About the Author

Having landed twice in the winner's circle of the Fifth Annual Dixie Kane Memorial Contest, Donan Berg earns a claim to accolades of entertaining mystery, heartwarming romance. He's also authored Abbey Burning Love, a 387-page small city murder mystery/romance e-book and Bubbling Conflict and Other Stories, where the lead story highlights the never-ending sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

Find Baby Bones and Abbey Burning Love e-book downloads for all major e-readers at http://www.dotdonbooks.com/ and http://www.abodytobones.com/ . Also at both websites are trade paperback copies of A Body To Bones and The Bones Dance Foxtrot. If none are at your neighborhood library, make a patron request. E-mail Author Donan Berg at mystery@abodytobones.com and get answers to your questions and obtain an author autograph with your purchase.

Writing Reviews - Ultimate Catch-22

Any budding or independent author encourages, even relishes, a glowing review. Multiple steps are taken to gather the desired reviews. Following the searchlight of major online book retailers, booksellers open up digital space for customers to post reviews. For writers this is both a positive and a negative.

The negative is that if you tick off any individual they can go online and anonymously cue a review that has no words, only the lowest star rating possible. Is this a review that is helpful? For the writer, no. For a potential reader, more than likely it has an impact, especially to the casual online site visitor who reads only the summary star rating. Thus, any vindictive review lowers dramatically the star score of any book with limited reviews. In fact, this technique has been encouraged by those with a chip on their shoulder wishing to damage a writer in any way possible and, going after their work, is the greatest personal insult.

The positive is that savy online book buyers respond only to well written reviews and discount blank reviews as well as other blatantly scandalous and obviously vindictive verbiage.

What about the community of writers?

While generalizations are hard and can be misleading, personal experience offers several insights.

Writers use Twitter, for example, to request reviews. Often if you ask for a copy of the work, reserving the right not to promise a positive review, you won't receive the work to be reviewed. Then again, if you receive the work, read it completely, and send it back to the author with a less than raving review, even with notation of spelling errors, gaps in logic, and dangling syntax, the review recipient will brand you a (put in the vile words you imagine) and disassociate from you in every way possible. They wish to retaliate by stabbing the reviewer with all negativity they can, if its merely one less follower, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, iTunes, or whatever links are out there in cyberspace.

It also works in reverse. If you're an author asking for reviews you either get ignored or have to expend hours summarizing your novel with faint hope that the person asking has ever desired to spend the time to do a creditable job.

Yes, there are exceptions. And this is not a reference to the writer who gets a review and creates a push-quote that completely undercuts the true meaning of the honest initial review. Example: original review sentence says, "This was an interesting novel if one can live with no discernible plot." The push-quote says, "This was an interesting novel." And the example doesn't go so far as some review notations that say: "Interesting" "Unparalleled" "Amazing." Ever read movie ads lately?

What can be the answer? Really? It's simple. If a writer, ask for reviews and assume the reviewer represents your potential readers. You'd treat any reader with respect. Treat the reviewer with like respect. If a great review, good. If not, it's your chance to improve your writing. Isn't that better than an aging manuscript with digital computer cobwebs that in a decade will be cyber junk?

If a reviewer, give honest grades with detailed reasons for how you compiled your end opinion.

If an author, have you ever considered that a reviewer has family and friends who buy books or may later recommend an author who impressed by initially exhibiting honesty and common courtesy. Moreover, any successful author writes more than one novel.

In the end, for readers and writers, reviews are not an open door to flim-flam.

A Body To Bones, First Skeleton Series Mystery

Author Donan Berg has written novel reviews without charge to the author. He also reviews manuscripts for a minimal fee. Four of his novels are available at http://www.dotdonbooks.com/ and other major online retailers.

Profit in the Whimsy Market

With all the New Year attention focused on the rising stock market, perhaps now is a good time to evaluate stocks that should be on the Big Board. To be specifically clear, what follows is not investing advice. No brokers were hurt or are expected to be hurt in the creation of the following whimsy related to the United States Stock Market. If a chord is struck, i.e., you wagered on the New York Giants at 100-1 before they became the Super Bowl Champs, definitely don't rely on the material herein. You have your own ground game to destiny.

Here's the past and present stock movements worth considering:

Recreational boats dipped after new wave surge.

Prunes declined after the grape market dried up.

Escalators climbed steadily up.

Pencils lost a few points.

Snow shovels scrapped bottom.

Writing paper last month was stationary; toilet paper touched bottom.

Cola slipped into a bear market.

Helium soared; balloon prices remained inflated.

Rubberbands stretched to reach new limits, then snapped.

Light switches were off.

Axes cut into tree futures.

Sun stocks entered day low, then peaked at midday.

Arrows pierced expected target.

Weights in heavy trading were up; feathers down.

Mining equipment hit rock bottom; diapers remained unchanged..


Author Donan Berg has four published novels: A Body To Bones, First Skeleton Series Mystery; The Bones Dance Foxtrot, Second Skeleton Series Mystery; Baby Bones, Third Skeleton Series Mystery, and Abbey Burning Love. Visit him here or at http://www.abodytobones.com/ . May your personal fortunes be increasing, not only in terms of money, but in love, family, and cherished values. Check out previous Author Donan Berg blog posts that include quotes, book reviews, and writing advice. Southwest Georgia Regional Library System (Bainbridge, Colquitt, Donalsonville, GA) became the latest known library to shelve Donan Berg's debut mystery novel A Body To Bones.





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Bookshelf Reading Browse

A Sunday New York Times writer this week rued the loss of books from home bookshelves as a result of the electronic revolution. Books were to be one way to obtain an insight into the personality of the holder.

What would a filled bookshelf say about you? It caused me to consider my latest books read, not to evaluate my personality, but to examine the vibes I may be spreading by reading in public.

Here's the three books in no particular order.

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Copyright 2006.

This memoir of a divorced woman traces her personal journey across Italy, India and Indonesia. The three Is are a nice point although the text refers more to Bali as the final stopping point. The reader will never know the specifics of the failed marriage that provided the sendoff for Ms. Gilbert, although referring to it often, refuses to tell the reader. Thus, the critical point of why this memoir is nothing more than a travelogue remains vital and unanswered. There are multiple holes in the narrative. Ms. Gilbert late in the book mentions about coming home for the Christmas holidays and then drops the reference.

That the book was made into a recent movie of the same name and already shows up on my cable TV free-movie selections suggests it wasn't a box office hit. Why? Can't say since I've not viewed it.

I doubt the average reader will gain much useful relationship advice. Going to an idyllic Pacific island could be a fantasy. However, be apprised that the locals will be out to drain every resource the visitor brings by every available tactic, including creating guilt to a hurting psyche.

Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber. Copyright 2010.

The prolific output of romance writer Debbie Macomber hangs several character sketches on the clothesline of a cancer victim's one year delayed letter to her pediatric doctor husband offering three women for him to create a new romantic life with. Adding bulk, if not focused on the husband, are the stories of two females selected to be marriage candidates.

Be prepared for repeated references to how depressed the husband is, which borders on on being off-putting even if considered necessary to refocus the reader after a voyage into the relationships of the two women not selected. That shouldn't be a game spoiler for this is a romance with its required happy ending. I'll not tell you who, but it should be obvious early.

Romance genre readers will find this a good read, others probably not so.

"D" Is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton. Copyright 1987.

Yes, this is an early novel in Ms. Grafton's march to touch every one of the 26 alphabet letters that she is soon to complete. The use of the word "Deadbeat" is a stretch. With a deadbeat being defined as one who tries to evade paying for things.does not match the victim. There is another D word that better describes the victim: "Drunk." He's often referred to as one and his drinking is a driving force in the story's events.

In 1987, this novel probably pushed the sexual envelope of genre mystery novels, although not the pacesetter for literary novel writers such as John Updike written approximately two decades previous. That the PI is named Kinsey Millhone, at least the first name, may be an inside joke on the sex researchers who issued a 1960s decade report.

This novel is a classic mystery where suspects are multiplied and then ruled out. With a few humorous moments, the pace moves with steadiness. The heaviness is in the abundant metaphors and casting eyes always at the weather which rarely changes.

Greed, murder and false piety constantly stirred by Ms. Grafton creates the desired and expected turmoil. One will always ask why the PI didn't consider modes of travel other than a taxi in an urban area.

Your comment always welcomed.

Donan Berg is an offer of novels A Body To Bones, The Bones Dance Foxtrot, Abbey Burning Love, Baby Bones.  Baby Bones  His debut novel named his website home at http://www.abodytobones.com/ .