A picture says more than a thousand words. Recommend books using pictures and hashtags to tell us what you liked and didn’t like about it.
A few days ago, Mind Scrambler was released, but I thought we would focus on #PictaBook today.
#Pictabook is part of the #Love series from JMS Books. It’s a series of nine books where the characters find love online. In the call, it was said that the characters should use a social media platform – real or made up.
I made one up.
PictaBook is like Goodreads, except you don’t write reviews. All you can do is post an image and describe the story with hashtags. All hashtags appear on your profile and are clickable (much like shelves on Goodreads).
The snippet I’m sharing today is from when Jules has managed to convince Nix to download an app that will read books to him, and they’ve picked a really short one – Scary Gary. And yet, Nix is reluctant to give it a try.
Excerpt:
Steeling himself, he put in the earbuds and opened the reading app. Half an hour, he could endure half an hour of reading. Maybe.
Why had he agreed to do this? Why did he care if he disappointed Jules or not? He was doing this to impress Kyle, but he could do that with a few bogus reviews. He didn’t need to torture himself.
Fuck it. It was half an hour of his life. He could give Jules half an hour. The poor bastard was probably some old ogre who was all alone in the world. He opened PictaBook and went to Jules’ profile. It didn’t say where he lived, how old he was, or what he did for a living. He tapped the private message icon.
SexyDoornail69: How old are you?
He looked at his username and grinned. Sexy Doornail—Kyle would understand who he was. Once he had a review or two, he’d find Kyle and follow him. But first, he needed a review, so he closed PictaBook and opened the reading app.
The voice—a male voice with a neutral accent—read about a guy hiding in an alley to escape his own shadow. Nix snorted, but continued to listen as he reached for his tools. He slowed so he wouldn’t miss anything when the guy started to fight his shadow. He was losing, and soon he was dying. Nix held his breath as the voice read the paragraph.
“Nix!”
Nix jumped as Logan waved his hand in his face.
“What are you doing? I’ve called your name several times.” Logan looked around the bedroom. “Hey, it’s coming along nicely.”
Nix almost dropped the phone in his haste to pause the reading, and Logan frowned.
“What are you listening to? Is it porn?” He laughed. “My God, you’re blushing.” His laugh grew louder. “Phoenix Ford is blushing. Can’t be porn then.” He shook his head. “Is it a Beethoven symphony or something?”
“It’s nothing. A thing Jules wanted me to listen to.”
Logan crossed his arms over his chest. “And who is Jules? Last night’s hook up?”
“I didn’t have a last night hook up.” Nix put a piece of the flooring next to the previous one and reached for the hammer to knock it into place. “I left with you, remember?”
“I do, but you’ve been known to run away on booty calls before.”
Nix shrugged, pursed his lips, and grabbed the next plank. “True, but I didn’t.”
“So you’re going out tonight?”
He’d told Jules he was going out, but in all honesty, he wasn’t in the mood. “Yeah.”
“On a date?”
He shot Logan a glare. “No.”
“So… not meeting up with Jules?”
“No.” He didn’t know where Jules lived.
“See, now you’re making me all curious. You’re never tight-lipped about anything, but here I’ve been talking to you for minutes, and I still have no idea who Jules is or what you were listening to.”
“It’s a book, okay? I’m listening to a book.”
Logan turned serious and nodded. “Great. I’m glad.”
“It’s nothing, and I’ve only listened for a couple of minutes, so I don’t know what it’s about.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re… reading. It’s awesome, Nix.”
“I’m not reading, I’m listening. Jules helped me set up a reading app that reads books to me.”
Logan smiled, not his usual mischievous smile, but a softer one. “It’s still reading, Nix. And if this Jules guy—it’s a guy right—helped you set it up, great.”
Nix had assumed he was a guy, but what if Jules was a girl? Nah, the boner worthy hashtag couldn’t be a woman. “I’m not sure. We’ve only talked online. I assumed he was a guy, but maybe not.” But he had to be.
“Doesn’t matter. You reached out, and they helped you set up the app.” He shrugged. “Their job is done.”
Nix didn’t explain that Jules wasn’t some tech support for the app, or whatever Logan envisioned him to be. There was no reason to tell him they were both reading the same book. “It’s to show Kyle, I’m not stupid.”
Logan groaned. “Fuck Kyle—”
“I already did, and I want to do it again.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “And here I thought you were developing as a human being.”
Nix snorted. “Clearly not.”
“No, clearly not.” Logan crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t get it, dude. The guy is making you question your self-worth, he’s mean, he laughs at you in public, and you still want to go back.”
Pre-order at JMS Books (20% off)
Jules Rose leads a quiet life working as a librarian. He’s happy to spend his spare time reading books and talking to his homicidal cat. What more could he wish for? But when his cozy Friday night is shattered by a friend request on his book community app, politeness gives him little choice but to accept. Jules doesn’t want to talk to anyone, but he can’t be rude. Besides, if he had to talk about something, books is the topic he’d pick.
Phoenix Ford is dyslexic and avoids everything that has to do with the written word, but when the colleague he’s trying to impress calls him stupid, he decides to convince the other man, he’s mistaken. All he needs is the right book to make him look smart, a perfect balance between intelligent and short. And who better to ask for help than a guy who loves books so much, he labeled one boner-worthy on a book app?
When Jules finds out Phoenix never has read a book from start to finish, he’s on a mission. He will find the right book, the book that will make Phoenix fall in love — with reading. Phoenix’s plan might have been to listen to the book Jules picked for him to impress his colleague, but that was before he got to know him. Talking about books is a sure way to Jules’ heart, but is it enough for him to agree to go on a date?
Ofelia Grand 