Book Review: Living the Good Death by Scott Baron

This book was my 2018 November Book Cover of the Month.

Spoiler Free Summary:  Living the Good Death by Scott Baron is about a young woman who truly believe she’s death. While the mental institution profiting off her “illness” wants to keep her around, she’s trying to get back to the spiritual world so she can get back to work. Then she meets a man. As her relationships in this world grow more powerful, she’s forced to decide if she really is crazy or not. Will she let go of her delusions to accept the life that’s opening up before her, or will she reject this world for a chance to return to the next.

Character:  The main character was solid. She’s proactive. She’s sympathetic. She’s a clever character with the right amount of vulnerability and sass. But I had some issues with the male love interest. He’s a single father, and he takes up this toxic relationship with a woman who may (and certainly appears to be) suicidal and unhinged. He’s doing this just when he’s about to get his daughter back after his own break. Personally, I could never reconcile that character issue. It didn’t make the book horrible by any means, but I kept getting frustrated with his arc because I couldn’t believe a man in his position would seek a relationship. Especially with a woman whom he had to work so hard just to date.

Exposition: This was great. Most of the plot unfolded naturally, and I really enjoyed the use of the scene (more on that) and the nature of the characters. It let what’s already a shorter book go by that much faster.

Worldbuilding: This is probably my favorite part of this book. The clever part of this was how you saw enough of one world to make it believable without ruining the suspense of finding out if the main character was crazy or really Death.

Dialogue: This is where the sass of the main character really paid off. The dialogue was crisp and witty, just like I like it. The entertaining dialogue and comedy of the story sometimes clashed with the serious arc of the male love interest (see above).

Description:  I was happy with the description here. It wasn’t as visceral as it could have been, but for a story of this sort, I thought it was appropriate. The most visual description is in the character, which is what I tend to want.

Overall:  Even though some of the character decisions weren’t something I could swallow, this story has a lot of charm and humor. It’s a fast read with some pretty solid chuckle moments. If you want a quick read and you have a darker sense of humor, this might be right up your ally.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Preorder Bob’s Greatest Mistake!

Greetings All,

I have a few announcements regarding The Journals of Bob Drifter.

The first is that Bob’s Greatest Mistake, the part of Bob’s story is officially available for preorder for only 99 cents. It will remain at that price from today until May 15. It goes live May 1. Once the sale ends, this book will go to its regular $2.99 price.

Once more I want you all to understand this is not a sequel. If you want Bob’s whole story in one fantastic swoop, just click straight to the first link I gave you above. However, if you’re just looking to try a part of the story, you can always try Part One, or even this part.

Speaking of Part One,  that book will be free from April 26-30 in celebration of Part Two’s upcoming release. So you can essentially get 2/3 of Bob’s story for 99 cents on those days.

I’m excited to get another title live on my digital bookshelf, and getting this story out means I can turn my full attention to Repressed and The Power of Words. Both of those books are very close to being ready, and I’m hard at work to keep everything on schedule.

I hope you’re all as motivated as I am by how things are moving. If you haven’t tried Bob’s story, this is a great opportunity. Bob was my first published book, and he’ll always have a special place in my heart. I hope he earns a place in yours as well.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Bob is back! The 2nd Edition of Bob Drifter is live!

Greetings all,

I’m thrilled to announce the that second edition of The Journals of Bob Drifter is live! After two more editorial passes, two different design runs, a huge lesson in publishing a digital book (which I’ll blog about tomorrow), and a brief wait, my book is back on the digital shelf.  The buy page for the book on my website (linked above) has been updated for the second edition (the audio book won’t change (that was already solid). The paperback SHOULD be out today or tomorrow (I get to look at the printed proof today).  Here’s the link to the Amazon 99 cent buy page.

To celebrate, I have Bob at 99 cents during the month of November. Can you all help me get Bob’s story off to a great start?

A reminder: This is not a sequel! I did an editorial pass, and now I can set the price, which helped. I’ve explained this, but I don’t want anyone to feel ripped off because they bought a book they’ve already read.

For those interested in knowing, there are so many ways to help an indie author get more visibility. This is a perfect opportunity to mention those things. I hope those of you reading this take a few moments to do any of these things. It really helps a writer out.

1. Buy the book. Sales always help. It’s a customer’s way of showing support so much more than it is an author’s way to make money.
2. Read the book. I’ve had a lot of personal friends buy my books. They’re not readers. They love me, and want to support me, so they buy my books, which is great! The next step up is to read it. Now if you’re in the first few chapters and it doesn’t hook you, don’t force yourself to do anything you don’t enjoy, but I always tell people that the biggest thing anyone can do for an indie author is to buy, read, and enjoy the book.
3. Leave a rating. This takes less than a second, and some people really rely on these ratings. Don’t be afraid of leaving a one-star rating, but I hope you feel Bob or Caught is worthy of a five-star rating.
4. Leave a review. This is absolutely essential to indie authors, especially on Amazon. The book’s visibility on Amazon is directly related to the sales and number of reviews. This is why some, less ethical, authors by fake reviews (I don’t). The review doesn’t have to be as detailed as one of mine or long. It can be a simple sentence. As long as there’s a text review, you’re helping. Amazon has some strict rules on these. Goodreads is another great place to leave a rating and review. I’m a big fan of Goodreads as it’s the only social media I’m aware of that is just for reading. If you do both, that’s really some next-level support.
5. Recommend this book to readers you know. Word of mouth is still the best marketing strategy. Most of my favorite books and authors were recommended to me. The only author I take credit for “discovering” is Peter V. Brett, who I discovered  while reading an anthology. If you know someone who reads, and you think they’ll like an authors (my) book, let them know about it.
6. You can always like and share posts about sales and new books as well.

All stock art from Pixabay.com.

So those are just some ways to support an author. Please don’t consider this a “direction.” I’ve had a few people ask what they can do, so I thought this post at this time was appropriate. At the end of the day, all any writer wants is for people to buy, read, and enjoy his stories. Many of you have already done that. I can’t thank you all enough for the support you’ve already given. I hope those who haven’t had a chance to read Bob choose today to give it a try.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

A 4-Star review for Bob!

I just wanted to share a new review for The Journals of Bob Drifter that just posted. I don’t care how many reviews, good or bad, I get; I’m always happy to see them. I’m honored when someone takes the time to read and review my book. If you’re curious about what was said, head on over here and have a  look!

Thanks for reading,

Matt