1,000 Character Writing Prompts by Bryan Cohen

I have been looking for a book with good character writing prompts for awhile now.  After searching unsuccessfully, I think I've finally found it.  Cohen's clever ideas and detailed descriptions are a valuable tool for authors everywhere, regardless of genre.

I have not read through all of the prompts because I am curious to save some for a rainy day as a surprise to myself, but the ones I did read were original and thought-provoking.  Personally, I think that the fantasy/sci-fi genre could be represented a little more, but as Cohen challenges in the introduction, these prompts are to be used as a launching pad for greater things.  I plan on using some of them and changing one or two details and turning them into something different, something new.

In short, here is what I really like about the book:

• Prompts are detailed, but short and concise enough that they leave much up to the imagination
• Each section is organized by character type, which allows for ease of browsing
• Many types of characters are represented from all different genres
• Prompts induce thoughts on character motivation, background, and personality
• Many prompts are relatable for authors to work with.  They include familiar themes, and are not so foreign that the writer does not know what to do with them.

Overall, I think the book is an excellent resource for writers and coupled with a good story line would create indelible plots and an unforgettable cast of characters.

I received this free copy in exchange for my review from Story Cartel.

The Memory Lights by K. M. Weiland

In Victorian London, a pickpocket and his accomplice Mary confiscate valuables from tourists and street goers.  Mary is haunted by the memory of the lights, but a memory that she cannot recall.  Through another act of chicanery, she works to unravel the mystery behind the memory lights.

I was really very surprised after reading this short story by K. M. Weiland.  She drew the readers into the story immediately, which is crucial in a short story since space is limited.  In record time she managed to capture my attention, give me enough details to understand the story, and develop her characters using intriguing external and internal dialogue.  I was impressed that Weiland was able to tie together such a fast paced tale in 28 pages.  I would definitely recommend The Memory Lights to those who love historical fiction and to those who appreciate layered characters as well.  It was worth reading for the sake of seeing Mary change over the course of the story.  Also, I was a fan of the mystery that kept me turning pages until the very end.  That said, well done, Ms. Weiland!

I received a free copy of this story from Story Cartel in exchange for my review.

City on Fire by Tracy L. Higley

A Jewish girl named Ariella is the victim of the sacking of Jerusalem.  She is sold into the slave trade in Rome, but she escapes by taking the place of a gladiator.  She trains with the troupe, hoping always to gain her freedom truly and return to the home that she lost.

Cato is a struggling winemaker who moved to the city of Pompeii to escape his political career.  He feels like he can make a new start in a new city, until he comes face to face with the city’s highest and most influential politician: Gnaeus Ngidius Maius.  He gets pulled into a political struggle in order to thwart the man’s plans to ensnare the city in his already encompassing lies.

I am not going to lie: I was extremely disappointed in this book.  I strongly disliked it, but I have reasons for saying so.  To start off, I thought it was very poorly written.  Tracy Higley has been a writer I enjoyed in the past, but now I can not say so.  After reading three of her other books, I have come to the conclusion that she either does not realize that her ideas are very similar or that she enjoys writing the same story over and over again.  This book follows virtually the same plotline as the other three did.  I won’t go into this, but essentially I was very disappointed to find that only names and settings had changed.

As a writer, I have noticed that I tend to be a little more on the critical side of other people’s writing, so here is the beef I have to pick with this book: the characters are too one-dimensional.  I feel like they all suffer from monomania, the unreasonable pursuit of one idea or goal.  I was able to see right through them, and even though I didn’t actually finish the book, I think I have a pretty good idea of exactly how the book was going to end.  The protagonists were too goody two-shoes and they didn’t have enough character flaw.  The antagonist was unrealistically focused on only one thing, and it was a silly thing at that.  As I pictured the book in my mind, I found a rather cheesy attempt at a story rather than the dramatic history that the author intended.  I am aware that I am being extremely jaded because I just came off of reading Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, which has phenomenal character development and excellent writing style.

I would recommend the book nonetheless to anyone who doesn’t mind airplane books that have the same plot and characters.  I know that the book ends up happy in the end, with good overcoming evil and the bad guy being defeated, and I know there are people who are into those kinds of books.  As for me, I prefer something with a little deeper of a message and a plot that delves past the topsoil layer of literature.

I was provided with a free copy of this book from BookSneeze.com in exchange for my review.

So Shines the Night by Tracy L. Higley

Daria is running from a dark past.  She is trying to make a living by becoming a teacher after her tutoring position fell through.  However, in the days of Rome, a woman is not accepted to schools and they were frowned upon if they were independent.  Fortunately, Lucas Christopulous offers her a position as a Persian tutor.  She goes with him to Ephesus in the hopes of starting fresh.  However, Lucas has a murky past to hide from as well, and as Daria continues to grow closer to him, she uncovers terrible secrets that could very well change all she knows about life and truth.

So Shines the Night by Tracy L. Higley is part of her Wonders of the Ancient World series.  Each book focuses on a different landmark, and this particular one centered around the Temple of Artemis.  I have mixed feelings regarding the book.  While I still enjoy Higley’s books, they are growing a little predictable which takes some of the joy out of reading them.  Immediately I was able to determine a rough idea of how the plot would work out simply based on the other two books I’ve read by the same author.  This one was written better than the others, which shows growth in the author’s writing style, and for that I was glad.

I love historical fiction and I was enthralled by Higley’s other books, so I eagerly picked this one up.  However, I feel like there wasn’t as much historical focus in So Shines the Night as there was in the other books.  I don’t mean to simply compare the author’s books to each other, but because they are in a series, they go somewhat together in my mind.  I was really hoping that Artemis’ temple would have more detail included.  Instead of being described like I thought, the book more focused on the character development (which is definitely not a bad thing).  I think I was expecting something a little different which caused my perception to be different.  Overall, it was still a good book that I would recommend to those who enjoy historical fiction, historical romances, or ancient adventures/mysteries, but if you have already read Isle of Shadows or Garden of Madness then I warn you it is similar.

Thanks to BookSneeze.com for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for my review.

The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah Ladd

The year is 1814; the setting, Darbury England.  Amelia Barrett is a capable woman.  She is strong-willed, determined, and keen to keep the promise she made to her friend Katherine shortly before her death: to raise the woman’s baby.  She takes the task seriously and even takes steps to secure the child’s future by proposing to its father, a sea captain named Captain Sterling.  Together, they plan to raise the baby.  However, the child goes missing and only a ransom note is left hinting at her whereabouts.  Amelia and Captain Sterling must listen to God and give up personal control in order to succeed in finding the one thing they both love the most.

As a historical fiction, The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah Ladd caught my attention right away.  I knew from the first few pages that it was going to be a good book, and I was right.  It was a fairly easy read and kept the story clipping along at a good pace, so I read through it pretty fast.  I thought the plot was good, but it could have been a little more complex.  I was able to predict what would happen, but there were a few little twists thrown in here and there that kept me on my toes.  Overall I was pleased with the development of some characters and the consistency of some.  There were some great lessons in forgiveness and mercy shown by one of the characters towards another, and that made me happy.  The bad guy was also very well done.  I can’t say too much without giving the plot away, but in my opinion they had a good motivation that drove them.  I recommend the book to those who like historical romances.  Although I feel it didn’t have a lot of historical references aside from the time period it was set in, the author did a good enough job of convincing the reader of the setting.  It was a happy ending, but I have a sense that there will be a sequel coming in the future.  (No spoilers, I promise.)

Thanks to BookSneeze.com for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for my review.

A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr

In the backwater village of Callowford, roustabout Errol Stone is enlisted by a church messenger arriving with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills.  Eager for coin, Errol agrees to what he thinks will be an easy task, but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins.  Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he’s joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.  Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom’s dynasty nears it end and the selection of the new king begins--but in secret and shadow.  As danger mounts, Errol must leave behind the stains and griefs of the past, learn to fight, and discover who is hunting him and his companions and how far they will go to stop the reading of the stones.

Phenomenal.  That is the only word I can think of to describe A Cast of Stones.  Right from the first chapter I was hooked, and it wasn’t long before danger and intrigue ran rife throughout the plotline.  There was never a boring chapter of this book.  Boring paragraphs, yes, but that was the extent of it.  Patrick Carr did an amazing job of developing his characters.  They were so real that I could live through them.  I appreciated his advanced vocabulary and sentence structures, and the plotline was so thick that I practically had to shovel my way out.  That wasn’t a bad thing however, it just means that there was so much dimension to the story that I can hardly believe it’s a first novel.  Carr included mountains of description, and it’s obvious he has developed his fantasy world to the point that the reader begins to believe it’s real.  I believe it takes a talented author to do that.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about the book was the relationship of government and church.  The kingdom of Illustra where the story takes place is very similar to a medieval style society.  They have a king, nobles, peasants, knights, and all of the Arthurian type of characteristics, while still managing to seem human.  God has a presence among the lives of those in the book, but Carr developed it in a way that wasn’t so blatant as other Christian books can be.  The relationship worked naturally within the novel, and the message was just as clear as if it was set on Earth.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy or medieval fiction, or those who love getting wrapped up in a good story.  A Cast of Stones was quite the adventure story with hardly a dull moment, and I must say I couldn’t put it down for more than 12 hours at a time.  It is not an airplane book, as I would call it, for the characters and plot were not shallow or one sided.  They had many dimensions, and I found myself racing to untangle the plot before they could.  I won’t say anything to spoil the reading experience for anyone else, but being an author myself, I appreciate the ending.  As a reader, however, I am holding my breath waiting for the next book to come out.

Thanks to Bethany House Publishing for a free copy of the book in exchange for my review.

Right Where I Belong by Krista McGee

Natalia Lopez wants nothing to do with love.  After seeing her father divorce his fourth wife, she has had enough.  She moves from Spain to Florida with her stepmother to finish school and maybe start a life away from the influences of her rich and overbearing parents.  She only plans to stay long enough to help her stepmother adjust and overcome depression, but she senses God calling her to stay and wait.  Natalia makes new friends who share her faith and care about her, and pretty soon she realizes that maybe God has placed her right where she belongs.


This book came at a very convenient time in my life.  I’ve had it for a couple of months now waiting to be read, but I didn’t actually get to it until now.  However, once I started it, I couldn’t put it down.  Many of the things that Natalia was experiencing were very relatable to me and some things in particular are relevant currently.  I was very pleased with the character development that occurred throughout the book, in major and minor characters.  Natalia’s relationship with God is inspiring, and it speaks to the reader.  The plot moved along at a nice pace and it was engaging to the very end.  I would be comfortable saying that Right Where I Belong is my favorite out of Krista McGee’s books so far.  I appreciate that the story moved away from stardom and television shows (as the previous books have focused on) and was centered around an ordinary girl who was dealing with change.  This made the story more relatable but still enjoyable.  Plus, there was a little bit of Spanish and Puerto Rican culture thrown in, which I was a huge fan of.  Having read her other two works, I can see her development as a writer manifested in each new episode back in Tampa.  (I appreciated how we were able to reconnect with some previous characters.)  I would definitely recommend this book to any teenager or above who likes fiction about teenage life or about growing in their faith.  It’s definitely on the top of my lists for this year.
Thanks to Booksneeze.com for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for a review.