SNOW STORM by Mike Alger Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway! {Ends 6/2/23}

Review By LAWonder10:

This story of strange circumstances occurring in a TV meteorologist, Greg O’Brien, accumulates and then turns into a serious situation. Several individuals become involved in the situation and strive to assist him in solving the problem. Still, many do not believe it. How does he prove it to the officials?

This mystery has many points for discussion. It addresses criminals, friendships, courage, good vs evil, corruption, Christmas, and much more.

Along with a good Christmas message, and other goodwill. It also presents the difficulties sometimes involved in choosing the right.

I felt the story was somewhat tedious at times and slightly drawn out.. The story plot was good but I had difficulty connecting to the presentation.

The characters are described well and the situations are quite well portrayed. The Title can fit but it could have been chosen better. The Cover Image is not one that would attract “the browser”.

I listened to the audiobook.  The author is also the narrator. I really enjoy most of Mike Alger’s narrations, I feel he was not always really consistent with the character’s “voices” and one character’s “voice, I felt didn’t fit the character. Otherwise, he did a great job. I especially appreciate the sound effects he adds to his narrations.

I offer a Four Stars rating for the story and Four Stars rating for the narration.

This audiobook was gifted me with no pressure to post a positive review. This is my honest review.

It’s not often that a first-time author will quit his job in order to sit down to write the Great American Novel. Most are like I was… Employed full-time in another profession. In my case, a television
meteorologist. Trying to write a novel while working full-time can become an overwhelming task. And more than one writing career stopped long before the first work was completed, just because the task seems so monumental.

When I began writing Snow Storm, after thinking about the concept of the novel for about five years, I came home late one night (I work a swing shift) and pounded out the first chapter between the hours of midnight and 4 AM while my wife and children were sleeping. I sent the work to harsh critics (my mom and sisters), who unanimously said they loved it and encouraged me to keep going. Of course, after a while, I recognize that their feedback might not be as unbiased as I had hoped, and I found myself questioning whether I was just wasting my time.

I had the good fortune, however, to meet one of my own favorite authors, Dale Brown, who graciously offered to read my unfinished work, and promised honest feedback. To make a long story short, Dale enjoyed it very much, and decided to “berate, cajole, and shame me into finishing the book.“

But perhaps the best thing he did, apart from the encouragement, was to give me some very practical advice for writing. Dale told me to write one page a day… And then stop. And be disciplined about stopping. He said that you could write one page pretty quickly, but all the next day you’ll be thinking about that next page, and when you sit down to write that it will flow off the fingers very quickly. And then stop, and think about the next page during the next day. He said, do that for a couple of months, and almost without any effort, by the end of that time you will have 60 manuscript pages…about 15- 20,000 words. He said if you wanted to up that to two pages after that amount of time you can, but this wonderful advice made what at first appeared to be a metaphorical elephant edible if you do it one bite at a time. It’s advice I’ve given other new authors as well, and hopefully that Next Great American Novel will one day appear as a result.