Review - The Full Moon Rises

I am very happy to share a new review of my latest release, The Full Moon Rises (A Howl in the Night, Book 2).

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The Full Moon Rises

Courtney Rene

By Jeffrey Ross 

5 stars out of 5

The Full Moon Rises: A howl In the Night Book 2 by Courtney Rene continues the dramatic life of Abby, a nearly seventeen-year-old shapeshifter who tries to balance her wolf and human “selves.”

This unique coming-of-age narrative details Abby’s struggles with her own special nature and the patriarchal wolf clan to which she belongs-- and climaxes as she confronts the wolf-destroying group The Hunterz.

A successful strain of feminism persists in this second book of the Howling as strong-willed Abby exerts her emerging personality and successfully defines her relationships with humans and shapeshifters.

I only hope a third book is in the works for this gritty, naturalistic, and enticing series.

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Very nice review, eh?  Thank you, Mr. Ross!  Woo hoo.  Now this leaves me with a quandary...several actually.  One, how soon can I start book three, as I have several projects I'm currently working on; and two, how to finish up the series with action, excitement, and all that comes with it, but not make it too busy and overwhelming and stupid.  I will have to let you know what I decide.  

First up to finish though is my current WIP with a working title of Possessions.  I am almost done with the edit.  Almost...but if you know me at all, you know I am a huge procrastinator when it comes to editing. 

Creative Adventures

Being a writer I am always interested in the arts and creative side of other.  I have found that people who have one avenue of artistic ability sometimes have others as well.  I can’t tell you how many people I know that are writers that are also drawing artist as well.  I don’t know if that is due to drawing out their scenes, or the idea that maybe comics/anime would be a good idea to look into.  There are also people that play an instrument that can also write their own music, and/or design album covers.  I mean, wow right?

Well, I can’t draw to save my life.  You need a stick figure?  I’m your girl.  I suck at drawing.  That is not me being coy, I really can’t draw…at all.    

I do make lamp work beads.  But that’s more just for fun and a stress relieving activity.  I sell them now and then on ebay just to clear out when I get too many.  Lately, my grandson has been playing with the ones in my office.  I guess they could be fun to use as marbles or whatever.  Regardless, they aren’t all that creative to me. 

I used to play the flute.  I can still dash off a relatively decent Joy to the World, but that’s about it.  I can hardly read music anymore. Yes, I know that is really sad, but that’s what happens when you stop using something.  You lose it. I still have that flute…maybe I should hunt it down and see what I can accomplish.  Or not…

Lately, though, I have taken back up my painting.  I like to do landscapes (again, I can’t draw), and I had always used acrylics in the past.  This year, I wanted to try my hand at oil painting.  I am pleasantly surprised to say that I don’t completely suck at it.  It is way more work, more clean up, more mess, and more money, but it is actually really fun for me.  Shocked me too, I know.  No, I am not a Picasso…yet.  But I am getting better each time I have an hour to get it all out and paint.  I am still trying to learn the knife.  I swear that sucker is for right-handed people and is lefty adverse, but I am not giving up.  I will tackle that problem, one mountain at a time.  Where is Bob Ross when you need him?  What I wouldn’t give to go to one of his classes just for learning that damn knife. 

Thankfully, you can find him on line.  You have to love the internet.

Why am I painting when I am supposed to be editing?  Well, you will be happy to know that I am almost through the first harsh edit of my next book.  It’s different, and not my usual YA paranormal stuff.  I am not sure what to do with it as of yet, but it’s almost done.   Then I will get back to my next YA Paranormal.  It’s written, but it also needs a good edit.  I have a few in the bank apparently, which is great, as I really am enjoying my painting right now. 

Have a great week! 

David Bowie’s 100 Must Read Books:

David Bowie Passed away after a significant battle with cancer.  I’m sure you know this.  It’s all the talk wherever you look, but as most people are talking about it, I wanted to do something different.  I don’t want to talk about his death.  Instead I want to talk about how great he was in life.  But that is being over done as well.  But then, I came upon this list.  Being an author, I thought it perfect. 

A new version of the exhibition:  David Bowie Is,  opens this week at the Art Gallery of Ontario, where a list of his top 100 must-read books, is provided.  It is said to give a fascinating insight into the mind of the influential musician and style icon.  Blah blah blah.  He loved to read.  These are some of his favorites.  Anyone that reads like we do, will know that we aren’t fascinating in our reader list, we just like to read anything and everything.  However, the list is pretty awesome…just saying. 

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Here you go:  David Bowie’s 100 Must Read Books:

The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby (2008)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz (2007)
The Coast of Utopia (trilogy), Tom Stoppard (2007)
Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875-1945, Jon Savage (2007)
Fingersmith, Sarah Waters (2002)
The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens (2001)
Mr Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, Lawrence Weschler (1997)
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1890-1924, Orlando Figes (1997)
The Insult, Rupert Thomson (1996)
Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon (1995)
The Bird Artist, Howard Norman (1994)
Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir, Anatole Broyard (1993)
Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective, Arthur C Danto (1992)
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, Camille Paglia (1990)
David Bomberg, Richard Cork (1988)
Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom, Peter Guralnick (1986)
The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin (1986)
Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd (1985)
Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music, Gerri Hirshey (1984)
Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter (1984)
Money, Martin Amis (1984)
White Noise, Don DeLillo (1984)
Flaubert's Parrot, Julian Barnes (1984)
The Life and Times of Little Richard, Charles White (1984)
A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn (1980)
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole (1980)
Interviews with Francis Bacon, David Sylvester (1980)
Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler (1980)
Earthly Powers, Anthony Burgess (1980)
Raw, a "graphix magazine" (1980-91)
Viz, magazine (1979 –)
The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels (1979)
Metropolitan Life, Fran Lebowitz (1978)
In Between the Sheets, Ian McEwan (1978)
Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, ed Malcolm Cowley (1977)
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes (1976)
Tales of Beatnik Glory, Ed Saunders (1975)
Mystery Train, Greil Marcus (1975)
Selected Poems, Frank O'Hara (1974)
Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s, Otto Friedrich (1972)
n Bluebeard's Castle: Some Notes Towards the Re-definition of Culture, George Steiner (1971) Octobriana and the Russian Underground, Peter Sadecky (1971)
The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, Charlie Gillett(1970)
The Quest for Christa T, Christa Wolf (1968)
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock, Nik Cohn (1968)
The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov (1967)
Journey into the Whirlwind, Eugenia Ginzburg (1967)
Last Exit to Brooklyn, Hubert Selby Jr (1966)
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (1965)
City of Night, John Rechy (1965)
Herzog, Saul Bellow (1964)
Puckoon, Spike Milligan (1963)
The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford (1963)
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea, Yukio Mishima (1963)
The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin (1963)
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess (1962)
Inside the Whale and Other Essays, George Orwell (1962)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark (1961)
Private Eye, magazine (1961 –)
On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious, Douglas Harding (1961)
Silence: Lectures and Writing, John Cage (1961)
Strange People, Frank Edwards (1961)
The Divided Self, RD Laing (1960)
All the Emperor's Horses, David Kidd (1960)
Billy Liar, Keith Waterhouse (1959)
The Leopard, Giuseppe di Lampedusa (1958)
On the Road, Jack Kerouac (1957)
The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard (1957)
Room at the Top, John Braine (1957)
A Grave for a Dolphin, Alberto Denti di Pirajno (1956)
The Outsider, Colin Wilson (1956)
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell (1949)
The Street, Ann Petry (1946)
Black Boy, Richard Wright (1945)

Farewell my Goblin King - Good luck on your next journey