Speakeasy by Elyse Douglas Book Tour, Guest Post + Giveaway! {Ends 7/1/22}

Review By LAWonder10:

Elyse Douglas is an exceptional writer! In the time travel novel ‘Speakeasy’, she did not disappoint.

Speakeasy is about a young woman who has upset her parents in her determination to fulfill her dream of becoming a successful singer. She loves the older blues and ballads, and although she often gets “gigs”, it is not enough to live on. Discouraged and undecided about what she should do, her life suddenly takes a turn one night by following a strange homeless person into the basement of the establishment she just performed in.

Although part of this story is predictable, there are so many “twists and turns” that it keeps the reader’s interest and anxious to discover what is on the next page.

This is a story many individuals will relate to. It is a story of the pre-World War era, before the Great Depression when so many changes n women’s roles and values began changing. Music and fashion were becoming bolder.

The characters are very realistic and the scenes are easily visualized. The Title and Book cover is great! They are very eye-appealing and “fitting”

SPOILER: The only negative I felt concerning the book, was the ending/ Unless it is a part of a series, although the ending was fairly solid, it left a lot of questions in the reader’s mind about extended relationships and the staying or returning in time travel. I felt it either needs a firmer ending or a sequel.

I offer a Four and a Half Stars rating.

This book was gifted me with no pressure for a positive review. This is my honest review.

10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer By Elyse Douglas

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” —Mark Twain

Tip One:

Close and lock your writing room door, turn off your cellphone and pretend you’re alone on a desert island. Willa Cather once said to her friends, “When I’m writing, don’t call me unless someone in my family has been murdered.”

Tip Two:

If you’re beginning a novel, do the marketing first: the blurb, the book description, and the book cover mockup. That allows the subconscious to do its work, and it does most of the work, anyway. Most writers, when they’re sufficiently “plugged in” just take dictation from the subconscious mind, if the proper groundwork has been laid in a disciplined way.

Tip Three:

Writing is a job, so that means writing at least five days a week in a professional and disciplined way. Set the work hours and the words you want to accomplish, whether it’s 1000 words, 2000 or 3000. Set goals that are comfortable and then stick by them until the day’s work is done.

Tip Four:

“I just sit at my typewriter and curse a bit.”—P. G. Wodehouse.

There will be days when you want to curse, scream, wring your hands and eat a pint of chocolate chip ice cream, while praying for inspiration. So, go ahead, do them all, then sit down and start writing… anything… anything and everything that comes crashing into your head. Keep writing until you’ve completed your allotted words for the day. The next day, read them over. You might be pleasantly surprised; maybe even impressed. If not, it’s okay. Put those pages in the novel junk yard. They might come in handy later.

Tip Five:

“But am I good enough? Why is writing so hard?” you say, swiping away a tear.

“All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.”

—F. Scott Fitzgerald

Another way to say it is, “Hard writing makes for easy reading.” Just keep going and, especially while writing your first draft, don’t be a harsh judge. That will come later.

Tip Six:

Read. Read. Read. Read! Everything. Novels, non-fiction, magazine articles, poems, and obituaries. Especially obituaries. They’re often written well, and they reveal the story of someone’s life succinctly and articulately. Many are inspiring, some are sad, some are funny, and some are fiercely dramatic… just as any good short story or novel should be.

Tip Seven

“A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world.”—Susan Sontag

To sit and watch the world drift by; to listen to lively conversation; to watch lovers whisper confidences; to hear the toot of car horns and smell fertilizer, gasoline, and a hedge of honeysuckle; to feel the hot sun, the chaos of falling snow in a snowstorm, and to watch children at play, or fighting over a ball. Who can say there’s nothing to write about? What writer can possibly complain about having writer’s block? The world awaits, and stories are lurking in shadows, on battlefields, on sunlit beaches and on moon-drenched fields.

Tip Eight

“To write is human, To edit is divine.” —Stephen King

Edit your own writing until you think it couldn’t be any more perfect, more inspired, and more enlightening. Then, find an excellent editor and proofreader, and begin to develop the virtue of humility.

You cannot consistently be the final editor of your writing.

Tip Nine:

If you’re a writer, you’ll write, because you have to. You can’t stop. If you do stop, you’ll soon start again.

The great writer William Faulkner said, “Nothing can destroy the good writer. The only thing that can alter the good writer is death.”

Tip Ten: Smile and enjoy the writing process or, as Anne Patchett says, “I will write my way into another life.”

And, finally, from Ray Bradbury, “Write what you love and love what you write.”

Elyse Douglas 2022