Entering the witness relocation program after lawfully escaping a massive walled-in prison, teenage Merrill tries to fit into our society. Her background and decisions may not let her.
Welcome to the October 18th stop on the blog tour for Maz, Origin by T.L. Ford with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
My take on critique groups.
Critique groups are a fantastic tool to help you grow, learn, and improve your writing. They’re a place to find friends with similar interests.
You must give as much as take, though, which means reviewing things for other people, not just getting their information about your own writing. Reviewing other people’s writing is also a way to learn to improve your own skills.
How to do a writing critique:
1 – Ascertain the level of critique the author can handle. Are they a new author who will be crushed by even the gentlest of ‘you should probably fix this’ comments, or are they are a toughened critique veteran who just wants your input on errors and possibilities?
2 – Identify the type of critique the author is seeking. Do they want typos, grammar, formatting notes, or plot holes, logic, continuity, or word choice and flow, how clearly their vision is communicated?
3 – Determine and note the author’s strengths and what you liked best about their piece.
4 – Respectfully, keeping in mind #1 and #2 above, offer both the good and your suggestions, focusing on the work, not the author. The word “you” should not be part of the critique. “Page 3, paragraph 4, might be improved by …”
How to receive a writing critique:
1 – Thank the person for taking the time to review your work.
2 – Listen objectively. Don’t take it personally. Everyone sees things differently.
3 – Choose what you agree with or don’t agree with. It is your writing, not theirs. This is a hard one – you may feel the person offering the critique is more experienced, more knowledgeable, and a better judge than you. Go item by item and decide for yourself if the change is something you think improves your work.
4 – Apply changes for things you agree with. This is a grind, but your work improves.
5 – After the changes are done, reach out and thank the person again, briefly talking about things you did change. Don’t worry about explaining why you didn’t change something unless asked, and then “I liked my way better.” is a valid response as would be a more logical ‘argument’.
About the Book
Maz, Origin
by T. L. Ford
Published 20 Augsut 2022
Cattail.Nu, L.L.C.
Genre: Science Fiction
Page Count: 295
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Entering the witness relocation program after lawfully escaping a massive walled-in prison, teenage Merrill tries to fit into our society. Her background and decisions may not let her.
Maz, Origin is a story of growth and love, guilt and innocence, and changing goals. What is morally right and what is legally right? What’s legal for humans may not be for aliens…
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
Excerpt
“Play it again,” I said and James did. I listened. “They have vocal cords similar to ours, but I’ll bet we’re missing some of the pitches. We’ll probably sound flat when we speak their language. Have they sent anything in any of our languages?”
“No.”
“Any video?” Ron asked.
“No.”
“Maybe they’re waiting to see if there’s intelligent life on our planet?” I said.
“Not likely,” said James, putting his laptop away. “The transmission came in on our own satellite frequency bands. It was precise. They can pick up our own signals.”
“Then they know more about us than we do about them,” Ron observed.
James nodded. “If they’re hostile, it makes no sense to announce their knowledge.”
“Unless they’re trying to get inside our defenses,” Ron replied.
“You’re supposed to make me less paranoid, not more,” James said sourly.
About the Author
T. L. Ford is a programmer, writer, and artist. She spent most of her professional career supporting the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in southern Maryland. Her fantasy novels are heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons and by both playing and running live-action role-playing games (LARPs) at conventions. These books are designed to be fun, fast weekend reads, while her science fiction novels explore possibilities. She’s also created two art books, a thriller novella, and an interactive math iBook. She enjoys sailing, hiking, and spending time with her family.
Website | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads
Giveaway Alert!
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon or B&N gift card.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| Oct 4 | The Faerie Review | Oct 6 | Momma Says To Read or Not to Read |
| Oct 11 | The Avid Reader | Oct 13 | Sandra’s Book Club |
| Oct 18 | Westveil Publishing | Oct 20 | Fabulous and Brunette |
| Oct 25 | Literary Gold | Oct 27 | Hope. Dreams. Life… Love |
| Nov 1 | Archaeolibrarian | Nov 3 | Rogue’s Angels |
| Nov 8 | Gina Rae Mitchell | Nov 10 | All the Ups and Downs |
| Nov 15 | Author Deborah A. Bailey blog | Nov 17 | Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews |
| Nov 22 | Kit ‘N Kabookle | Nov 29 | FUONLYKNEW |
| Dec 1 | Sybrina’s Book Blog | Dec 6 | Wake Up Your Wild Side |
| Dec 8 | Beyond Romance | Dec 13 | Independent Authors |
| Dec 15 | Jerry’s Circumlocution | Dec 27 | Author C.A.Milson |
| Dec 29 | Bibliomanaic Aza | Jan 3 | Coffee and Wander Book Reviews |
| Jan 5 | Novels Alive | Jan 10 | Romance that’s ‘Out of this World’ |
| Jan 12 | Dawn’s Reading Nook | Jan 17 | BooksChatter |
| Jan 19 | Long and Short Reviews | Jan 24 | Welcome to My World of Dreams |
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Thanks for hosting!
Thanks for hosting!
Good morning! My question for you today is, if given the chance would you like to see this story made into a movie and if so, who is in your dream cast?
Interesting guest post and I enjoyed the excerpt, Maz, Origin sounds like a fantastic read for me and I like the cover!
Thanks for sharing it with me and have a wonderful day!
Sounds like a great read.
Bea – I think it would make a fantastic movie. My dream cast… I would like new actors and actresses so they get a chance at the big screen. Eva – Thank you! The cover is a mix of things, several from Smithsonian’s creative commons. Rita – I hope you take a chance and give it a read AND enjoy it. 🙂 Have a great night, everyone!
Great cover, this sounds pretty interesting.
Thank you!
Sounds like a good book. I like the cover and excerpt.
Thank you! What sort of things do you like reading?
I enjoyed reading the guest post & excerpt.