Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

A letter to authors from a rabid reader & reviewer

March 31, 2019

Dear authors,

I am writing you this letter because I love you and feel that you need a tiny bit of advice. Certainly not all of you, but some of you. Especially the newbies.

I am here to discuss your web presence and why it is important.

You may not know that I have been reading about a book a day for most of my life. I have long championed books and reading, and I was one of the first book bloggers out there. I started writing about books in the early 1980’s on CompuServe (if you’re old enough to remember that!) then discussed books in various chat rooms on AOL (waving at “Men with Minds”) then started my own website in 1994 using (the long defunct) GeoCities. I found it a great way to remember books I’d read and books I wanted to read.

A year or so later, a publicist (I think it was Miriam Parker from Time Warner, and I really, really wish I could remember the title of the first book I gave away!) reached out to me, asking me if I wanted to give away some of their books. I loved getting free books and figured other people would too so I jumped all over that. Oh, I was getting my free books from work, I was a bookseller for Borders. Another defunct company. We received galleys and one of the benefits of working there was getting a book allowance each month to purchase books. Plus a deep, dirty secret was that we were allowed to borrow books! Hardcover only, one at a time, and the book jacket was kept in the store to keep it pristine and help keep track of the books that were borrowed. But I digress.

In 1998, my husband bought me my own domain name and I started a book review site. It’s ridiculously easy and pretty cheap to buy a domain name; I use GoDaddy.Here we are, more than twenty years later, and I am proud to say that in addition to posting to thousands of reviews, I’ve also given away thousands of books. Yes, thousands. Sadly, I never really kept track of the books I gave away, an opportunity lost. But I do remember the very first book I reviewed for a professional, authoritative journal – Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook, for Library Journal.

Anyway, that’s enough background on how I ended up here. Now here is my two cents.

If you are a published author, if you have a book for sale anywhere, then you need a website. There is just no avoiding it. I am constantly amazed at how many authors don’t feel the need for one. Every month I give away a bunch of signed books in partnership with the International Thriller Writers organization (free membership for authors!) When I publicize those books, I like to include ways for readers to connect with the authors. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to, but especially today, here in 2019, there is just no excuse for not having a website and yet several times a year I can’t find a website for an author.

I don’t care if your day job is doctor, lawyer, or CIA chief, if you are selling books, you need a website. You don’t have to build it yourself! Here, contact xuni.com, they have been doing author websites since 1998! They are super easy to work with, really creative and professional and not only will they build you a website, they will take care of it for you. At, from what I understand, a very reasonable cost. Don’t like them? There are lots of others. Go to a few of your favorite authors websites and scroll down to the bottom. There you will usually find information on whoever built the site. If you can’t find it, ask me. I’m a librarian, I do research for a living and I’d be happy to help, gratis.

By the way, your website needs to look professional. You don’t have to spend a ton to make it look good but if you’re going to do this, do it right. I have seen some author websites that are truly awful. Even some NYT bestselling authors! I have even gently suggested that they might want to freshen up their web look. Not everyone takes my advice. So sad. Let’s face it, I am opinionated – hence the book reviews! Anyway…

Meet Loki. Yes, he is smiling. And reading on my iPad.

You also need a social media presence. At minimum, Twitter and the big, bad, evil empire itself, Facebook. You don’t have to link your personal FB page, you can build a Fan Page, it’s easy peasy. Here are directions courtesy of WikiHow. Once you have a fan page and Twitter feed, you don’t have to do a lot but you have to be there and check in once in a while. Instagram would be good, too. Post pictures of your book covers, author events, and your dog. Depending on the type of book you write, Pinterest. Have you been interviewed on TV? Then build yourself a YouTube channel. Have something to say? Say it on your blog or reddit or tumblr! This is not difficult or time consuming. I’ve even provided you with links! Just click and do it. Oh, and if you’ve published a book, you’re already on Goodreads so you might as well link to your page on your website.

If you’re not sure what authors should do or not do. go look. Here are a few that have great web presence: Lisa Scottoline; Chris Bohjalian; and just in case you think you have to be a NY Times bestselling author to have a strong web presence, check out Nancy J. Cohen, she has an amazing web presence. She could teach classes on it. In fact, she has! Which reminds me, if you belong to a writing organization like Mystery Writers of America, ITW or Romance Writers of America, etc. they often have great information on how to do all this stuff on their websites and at their conferences.

Which brings me to my next point.

If you do have a social media presence, or are in the process of creating one, please, please make sure you include links to your feeds on your website. Why do I have to Google the shit out of you to find your Twitter feed? That defeats the purpose! And just a bit of advice here, you may not want to create a FB or Twitter page based on your character’s name or book title. What happens when you branch out into something else? Be forward thinking, use your real name or your pseudonym. If you have to add “writer” or “author” or “books” to it to get that name, do so. Maybe shorten it up a bit by using initials, like Robyn Carr, or as I think of her, @RCarrWriter does.

Okay, I think that’s it. This stuff has been weighing on me for years. Years! Frankly, it amazes me that publishers aren’t forcing their authors into this stuff. The smart ones do. Oh, and if you’re self published, that is no excuse! It’s even more important for you to be out there and accessible to your readers. Will you get cranky hate mail? You may. Feel free to delete. Will you get into Twitter wars? With any luck, yes! Just remember that old adage, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Librarian at work (you can tell by the glasses)

Please, if you have any questions about any of this and don’t have a teenager to ask, I am here for you and happy to help. Librarian, remember? I am really good at finding information and happy to help you in any way I can. No, I won’t build you a website but short of that, ask me.

Thanks for reading; now go sell some books!

with love,

Stacy
your favorite BookBitch

PS: I cannot believe how many exclamation points I’ve used in this letter. Rant. Letter. Whatever. Just FYI, I loathe exclamation points. I feel that the words should be powerful enough on their own but apparently not here, not today. Moving on now…

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DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid

March 30, 2019

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From the publisher:

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup.

“I devoured Daisy Jones & The Six in a day, falling head over heels for it. Daisy and the band captured my heart.”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine book pick)

Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

This was a fun and nostalgic read for me. I kept thinking it must be loosely based on real people but I couldn’t figure that out. I grew up in roughly the same time line as this book and sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll was no joke and all of that abounds in this book. It is more or less a coming of age story for Daisy mostly, but is more about relationships. I really liked that the surprise ending a lot but no spoilers here other than to say I didn’t see it coming. Oh, the addendum of all the song lyrics was a nice touch.

The format of the book, for lack of a better word, is interview style. An oral history of sorts. Each character is quoted in response to questions, but we don’t know who is asking the questions or why until the end. So it reads in basically multiple first person, an interesting technique. It’s also a fast read, especially as I got deeper and deeper into it. It is a very compelling story and I really loved it! I can totally understand all the praise this unique book is getting. Highly recommended – and should be great for book groups.

3/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Ballantine Books (March 5, 2019). ISBN 978-1524798628. 368p.

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IN ANOTHER TIME by Jillian Cantor

March 29, 2019

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A beautifully written novel spanning both the period immediately prior to World War II and the period immediately after. It is a love story, and a brilliant piece describing the love of music, and also the love of reading and finding great books.

The action occurs in Germany, England, France, Austria and the United States. And the star crossed lovers are Hannah Ginsberg and Max Beissinger, both born in Germany. Max has inherited his father’s bookshop and enough money to be able to maintain a modest style of living while Hannah is a brilliant violin student with the inherent talent to become a major artist in the world of classical music. The book takes Max and Hannah from first meetings, through falling in love. It also begins in the period when Adolf Hitler rose to power and transformed Germany into a dictatorship with the mandate to expand via military conquest.

The stage is set; the action begins. First; Hannah is Jewish, Max is not and Hannah’s family finds it impossible to accept a union between the two. Second, Germany under the increasing power of the Nazi party begins to practice prejudice as national policy against several ethnic groups; among them: Jews. This beginning and also world events are unerringly the factors that guide the now and future actions of each of the couple.

Cantor utilizes alternating narratives by each of the principal characters in order to depict events in both the period involving Hitler’s rise and the time just after the end of World War II hostilities. This styling allows an excellent description of the emotions and feelings of Max and Hannah as well as descriptions of the events that occur. There is also a use of a concept of a wormhole (Black Space Hole) as a means of accelerated travel around the universe that had been discussed by Albert Einstein as well as having a place in many Science Fiction novels. What it does and how it affects Hannah and Max provides an interesting aspect and possibility for them is an important addition to events.

The novel and the styling used by the author insure an emotional appeal to the reader. The book must be finished in one sitting! It is impossible to put it down before finding out what happens to Max and Hannah; people who have become friends to those that read the book. An extremely well done work and one that will not leave memory for a long time.

3/19 Paul Lane

IN ANOTHER TIME by Jillian Cantor. Harper (March 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0062886231. 336p.

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THE VOLUNTEER by Salvatore Scibona

March 28, 2019

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The novel by Scibona is a difficult one to understand and really enjoy. The author utilizes an almost stream of consciousness writing style which I must indicate does not work for this novel.

It touches on four generations of men; their pathways through life and the horrors of the war in Vietnam as it affects one of them. Vollie Frade is met at a point where almost on a whim to escape a bad home situation enlists in the Marine Corps. This is just in time to be sent to Vietnam where he witnesses the horrors of that war. On a second tour he is captured in Cambodia where American forces are not supposed to be. He is held in horrible conditions in prison with two other men and becomes the only survivor to escape and return home. This imprisonment does affect him through the remainder of his life.

In a similarity to Winston Groom’s novel “Forrest Gump” major events around the world are depicted during the course of the story and integrated into the story line. Unfortunately, I found that I could not retain an interest in the book due to the myriad of shifts and characters introduced with little or no interconnection.

3/19 Paul Lane

THE VOLUNTEER by Salvatore Scibona. Penguin Press (March 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0525558521. 432p.

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THE PERFECT GIRLFRIEND by Karen Hamilton

March 27, 2019

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This is Hamilton’s first published book and it is an interesting and readable opener. Her aim is to tell the story of a young woman whose mind is warped due to a traumatic experience that happened to her when she was ten years old. The events are narrated by Juliette in their entirety and it is her thoughts and ideas that are featured in the story.

The book begins with a man that Juliette has been with for several months telling her that their affair is over and that she must leave the apartment they share. It is Juliette’s reaction to this decision by Nathan, the man she was living with, that begins the tale and establishes the direction of events. Juliette decides that this decision is the wrong one for Nathan and begins a plan to retake him. He is an airline pilot, and she goes as far as getting a job as a cabin attendant with the same airline he works for. Successful at this Juliette sets up meetings with Nathan, moves to get rid of the new girlfriend he is seeing, and manipulates events to make sure that she gets her way.

The picture of Juliette as a person with a God complex is quite well done by the author and very well paints her as someone that cannot come to grips with any situation in which she is not correct in her own actions. The reader is pointed towards the bad that other individuals do to her and how Juliette must work hard to turn the situation around to make sure she does get her way.

The novel makes for a compelling read with one detracting feature. The front piece outline indicates that there is a surprise ending in store for the reader. Sort of yes, but underwhelming over all and more than a minor detraction and does leave the reader more than a little unsatisfied.

3/19 Paul Lane

THE PERFECT GIRLFRIEND by Karen Hamilton. Graydon House; Original edition (March 26, 2019). ISBN 978-1525831508. 352p.

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I’LL BE WATCHING YOU by Courtney Evan Tate

March 27, 2019

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The author presents us with an interesting study in several areas. One is the relationship of a mother and her teen aged daughter, the second a portrait of a young girl struggling to find herself in the changing world of adolescence, and the final a study in the hold a pedophile could engender with their prey.

Emmy Fisher is a woman that is managing a bed and breakfast that has come down to her from family. The hotel is located in the beautiful sun drenched section of Florida known as the “Keys” She is divorced from her husband but retains a friendly relationship with him as both parents keep an eye on their daughter Leah. Leah has been raised living on the keys, and we enter her life during the summer between her high school sophomore year and her Junior year. Skye is her best friend,her own age and they have been attached almost since birth.

Tragedy occurs one evening when Leah decides to go for a swim after dark and drowns. Devastated, Emmy cannot cope with the loss, and looks in every nook and corner for memorabilia of her daughter. She does not expect to find evidence that Leah had been having an affair, and apparently with someone much older than her. When she does it devastates her as she tries to find out who it was that her daughter had been having the illicit affair it looks like she has taken part in.

Her ex-husband arrives from the area of the country he has been living in, and Skye begins her own effort to encounter her best friend’s secret lover. The novel is well written and leaves the reader with the very agreeable feeling of reading a good book, and certainly awaiting Tate’s next one. Certainly an excellent read.

3/19 Paul Lane

I’LL BE WATCHING YOU by Courtney Evan Tate. MIRA; Original edition (March 26, 2019). ISBN 978-0778351290. 336p.

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MY LOVELY WIFE by Samantha Downing

March 26, 2019

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From the publisher:

Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting…

Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.

We look like a normal couple. We’re your neighbors, the parents of your kid’s friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.

We all have our secrets to keeping a marriage alive.

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.

“The thriller we’re most excited to stay up with all night.”—Entertainment Weekly

“[A] dark, disturbing exploration of family, marriage and murderous compulsions”—The Washington Post

“You might want to read this one during the daytime.”—Woman’s Day

“A knockout…an effortless page turner.”—Publishers Weekly

This was a dark but super fun read. The comparison to Dexter (by Jeff Lindsay) is because Dexter is a serial killer that we can’t help but root for as he only kills other serial killers, people who need killing. The couple in this book are also serial killers, yes a married couple, but they are not killing people who need killing, they are killing for the fun of it. Super creepy. That is a hard thing to get around yet somehow Downing convinces us to root for them. It’s like magic. Or talent. Or both.

There are some excellent twists in the story for sure, and the ending was a real surprise for me. It was truly unputdownable, and sure to make my best books of the year list. I loved it! Oh, and librarians across the country loved it as well, it is the number one pick for the March Library Reads list.

3/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

MY LOVELY WIFE by Samantha Downing. Berkley (March 26, 2019). ISBN 978-0451491725. 384p.

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THE PERSIAN GAMBLE by Joel C. Rosenberg

March 24, 2019

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Joel C. Rosenberg has published many fictional novels involved with international spy craft. In a great many of these books it would appear that the author has sources that seem to be providing him with information about what is really going on behind the scenes in countries that are enemies of the United States. His latest novel turns on actions involving three countries that would like to see the U.S. destroyed while they take center stage in the world. These are Russia, North Korea and Iran. Marcus Ryker a protagonist utilized prior to this book by Mr. Rosenberg and a former member of the Secret Service is utilized to tell the story.

Setting the stage for the events described in the book Iran approaches North Korea to sell them high power nuclear bombs which can be used attached to missiles made by the Persians to attack both the U.S. and their ally Israel. Both countries, controlled by Russia,get permission from them to consummate the sale.
Marcus has been persuaded to supervise a visit to Russia on another matter does so also taking the opportunity to visit with Oleg Kraskin a double agent he runs. Kraskin convinces Marcus to bring him into the U.S. with the caveat that he is bringing a great deal of confidential information obtained from the Russian president who is Kraskin’s father in law. Before traveling with Ryker to safe haven Kraskin finds that he must foil a plot by the Russian president to hit the U.S. by bombing them in a preemptive strike. Kraskin shoots and kills his father in law, and also his assistant and convinces Marcus to smuggle him out of Russia. The Moscow Chief of Station, Jenny Morris, helps the two by piloting a plane with them as passengers.

The plot takes shape when the plane is shot down by Russians over Russian territory. Events unfolding make the novel another good read by Rosenberg. There is the hiding from and eluding the Russian military, overcoming the negative attitude of the U.S. that feels Marcus has aided and abetted the murders without notifying and receiving permission from his own government. To also complicate this very complex matter Jenny Morris is wounded when the plane is attacked.
The interactions between Russia, Iran and North Korea could very well be a real scenario between nations whose goals include destruction of their perceived enemies: the U.S. and Israel. An excellent book by Joel C. Rosenberg and one that will definitely entice the reader into an all night read plus keeping eyes out for the author’s next novel.

3/19 Paul Lane

THE PERSIAN GAMBLE by Joel C. Rosenberg. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (March 12, 2019). ISBN 978-1496406187. 448p.

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THE CHAOS FUNCTION by Jack Skillingstead

March 23, 2019

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The author has combined a great deal of action with an interesting scenario right out of the world of Science Fiction giving his readers a very engrossing novel.

The story begins with Olivia Nikitas, a very successful war correspondent, in the midst of covering the civil war in Syria. She is accompanied by Brian, an AID worker and the man that she has found love with. While they are covering a battle in Aleppo Brian is killed with Olivia dragging him back into a chamber in a building adjacent to the area they had been covering. In a reverie experienced by Olivia traumatized by Brian’s death conditions change and it looks like her lover was only wounded.

The Science Fiction part comes across when returning to the United States Olivia is kidnapped by a group claiming to be guardians of a machine that allows conditions in the world to be changed. And that is why she experiences the shift from Brian dying and than still alive but wounded. Olivia has received the power to operate the machine from the individual that had it but was killed during the same time and place that Brian died in. She learns that she is the first woman to have this power during the many centuries that it has been utilized.

Escaping from the group with the help of two of their members Olivia uses the benefits of the machine tied to her mental ability to use it to change conditions in the world. Unfortunately, the new conditions created by her allow the spread of a man made epidemic of smallpox which kills off millions around the world. She realizes that her desire to keep Brian alive has forced the spread of the disease to take effect due to conditions created by Olivia’s machinations of world conditions.

The combination of circumstances involving a great deal of action with an interesting twist will provide a fascinating experience for the reader making the awaiting of future books by Skillingstead a done deal.

3/19 Paul Lane

THE CHAOS FUNCTION by Jack Skillingstead. John Joseph Adams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (March 19, 2019). ISBN 978-1328526151. 304p.

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HOUSE ON FIRE by Bonnie Kistler

March 22, 2019

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Divorce lawyer Leigh Huyett and Pete Conley are in every sense a very happy married couple. Both have been married previously and divorced. Like many marriages that break up they have come to a settlement as to which of their children will live with them, and which will reside with the other couples formed by unions formed by their prior spouses. Leigh’s experiences handling divorces and witnessing remarriages has led her to the conclusion that a majority of these pairings also end in divorce. But somehow she and Pete are happy together.

Tragedy strikes without warning while Leigh and Pete are away on vacation. An auto accident occurs when Kip, left in charge, and who is Pete’s son and Chrissy, Leigh’s daughter were driving together to a party in celebration of Kip’s acceptance to Duke University. Their car runs off the road when swerving to avoid a collision. Kip escapes with minor injuries but Chrissy dies, due to a physical problem that is exacerbated by her hitting her head on the roof of the car due to the impact. Kip was driving, and accepts fault for the accident with everyone concerned being of the opinion that it was just that an accident.

The emotions experienced by Leigh and Pete are handled magnificently by Kistler. Both children are technically in the same family, but Chrissy was Leigh’s daughter with Kip Pete’s son. The anguish experienced by all is naturally more so towards their natural children. Suddenly a complication occurs when the state decides to bring Kip to justice trying him in court on a second degree manslaughter charge. The circumstances include Kip just turning 18; an adult in the eyes of the law which allows him to to be prosecuted in adult court. If found guilty he could be faced with up to 10 years of imprisonment in an adult prison.

The interplay of the extended family’s emotions becomes the driving force behind the action taking place. To indicate that it becomes impossible to put the book down does not do justice to the force of the writing. A very well done novel describing a terribly wrenching experience and obviously one that causes rifts and breakups between the characters does cause the reader to await Kistler’s next novel with a great deal of expectation.

3/19 Paul Lane

HOUSE ON FIRE by Bonnie Kistler. Atria Books (March 12, 2019). ISBN 978-1501198687. 416p.