Hey all, I’ve been a bit sick the last couple of days, so I haven’t gotten around to posting this like I’d meant to.
Second Star Books has their website up and running and May’s box is available to subscribe to now. You can find it here.
Since this is their first month in business quantities are limited. Enjoy!
So, this is a little late going out, but my review for The Night Dahlia was meant to be part of a blog tour. Until now, I haven’t had the chance to post up where the other stops on the tour can be found, so I wanted to fix that. Check these out and enjoy!
Mon. March 26 Books, Bones, & Buffy
Tues. March 27 From the Shadows
Wed. March 28 Just a World Away
Thurs. March 29 The Qwillery
Fri. March 30 Through Raspberry Colored Glasses
Mon. April 2 The BiblioSanctum
Tues. April 3 The Speculative Herald
Wed. April 4 Tympest Books
Thurs. April 5 Fantasy Book Critic
Fri. April 6 Horror Talk
I’m still chugging on trying to get reviews up soon. I’m mostly done with a couple of them and I’ve definitely got one going up Wednesday. I’ve got this. Sort of. I feel like I’m working my way into a better place, I may slip back again later, but for now I’m feeling good.
Anyway, I’m really excited, Curiosity Quill Press recently OKed me to review a number of their up coming novels. This is the publisher for Dead Jack and the Pandemonium Device, which I adored, and the second Dead Jack book is one of the ones I’ll be reviewing. I do still have some stuff from March to finish up and I’m looking to work on that more now that I’ve got a little more time off once in awhile.
On to other things. Second Star Books has announced their theme for May’s box. I’ll be posting more on that later, once they have their website up. I’m thinking I’m going to order a box, I’ve been talking about them enough I figure I should put my money where my mouth is. Plus, I mean, nifty candle.
That’s about it for now. If you like what I’m doing here comment or leave a like, I’m always looking to improve or just talk to people. Or, if you really like what I’m doing here, you can feed my caffeine addiction and buy me a coffee. You can leave a comment there too. Either way, enjoy!
Hi every one. You may remember last year, I reviewed the previous book in this series, Project Pandora. It left room for follow up books, so here’s the cover for the next Assassin Fall novel. Enjoy!
The Academy stole everything from Hades, their perfect assassin. Angry and leaving bodies in his wake, he finds two other ex-assassins doing the exact same thing.
Tyler and Shannon once killed for The Academy. Now they’re tracking and hunting down its scientists. So why is The Academy only after Hades?
Shannon will do whatever it takes to protect Tyler, even if it means teaming up with a former rival. While she seeks answers to her past, Tyler wants to learn the truth about the mysterious white room, which no one has ever seen except him.
As for Hades? He simply wants revenge.
They all need answers, even if it means returning to the organization where it all started.
Aden Polydoros grew up in Long Grove, Illinois, the youngest of three children. Aden’s family moved to Arizona when he was in second grade. As a kid, he spent much of his time exploring the desert near his home. When he wasn’t searching for snakes and lizards, he was raiding the bookshelves of the local library. As a teenager, Aden decided that he wanted to be a writer. He spent his free time writing short stories. He was encouraged by his English teacher to try his hand at writing a novel, which inspired him to begin PROJECT PANDORA. The YA thriller is set for publication with Entangled Publishing in Summer of 2017. He is represented by Mallory Brown of Triada US.
Alright, I’ve got a guest post for you today as part of the Coming Darkness blog tour. It’s about world building, which is always an awesome topic. Again, this is one of the early posts in a blog tour, check out the other stops on the tour. And, as always, enjoy!
I think world building is the best part of writing. Molding a world to fit a story is both creative, and challenging. The best way I know to talk about world building is to give you a little insight as to how I went about building the world in Coming Darkness.
When I started writing Coming Darkness, I was new to writing and still feeling my way around. I gave zero thought to world building, didn’t even know it existed! I was busy thinking about the characters and what they were doing and how they were feeling. I had plans to include supernatural beings, like vampires and angels, but I didn’t plan beyond that.
It wasn’t until I began to get deeper into the story that I started questioning the nature of those beings. I was unaware that those questions were my first steps into world building. Before then, I had been following pretty standard rules of paranormal fantasy. Vampires are undead. Werewolves are ruled by a male alpha. And so on. But I was finding that I wasn’t satisfied.
For instance, I wanted my vampires to have their own characteristics. I loved what Anne Rice created with The Vampire Chronicles. I also loved what White Wolf created with The Masquerade and what J. R. Ward created with The Black Dagger Brotherhood. So along those lines, I started thinking about specific characteristics and abilities my vampires could have. I wanted them to be an old, primal species—pre-human civilization. And that lead me to the idea of the elements fire, earth, air, and water. I separated my vampires into clans and the abilities of each clan fell into symbolic sync with the elemental name. Clan Earth can fast travel through earth. They have mastery over the body, and the ability to shape shift. Clan Air can fast travel through shadows. They have mastery over what senses perceive, and the ability to produce powerful pheromones that can beguile and seduce. Clan Water can fast travel through water. They have mastery over the mind, and the ability to charm. All the clans are descended from the first vampire clan: Clan Fire. They had red skin, all of the abilities of the other three clans, and the ability to walk in the sun.
The werewolves were re-imagined next. I was going to include them in the story for balance, but I was doing it reluctantly. I’ve never liked werewolves because of the hyper-masculine alpha pack leaders. So you can imagine how delighted I was when my werewolves presented themselves with a matriarchal social structure! Wonderful! They have alphas, but the matriarchs are stronger and could defeat one easily. I think I can thank hyenas for giving me the subliminal inspiration for that.
In all, I was happy with the beings I adapted, but I needed to tie them together. To be specific, I needed to tie their existence together because of the angels. What I was chafing at was a world where gods, angels, vampires, werewolves, etc. existed without a reason for them all to exist together. I needed to be able to explain not only how they came to be, but also how they shared existence on the planet.
Enter The Purge: The angels were sent to earth to clear it of Darkness and pave the way for humans. Creatures that posed the most threat to human life were killed off. Others, knowing they would soon succumb to forced extinction, used all of their magical and biological skill to live on in the form of hybrids. So all vampires, werewolves, etc. are human-other hybrids. Humans became the dominant life forms and the angels allowed the hybrids to live (for reasons) only if they kept their populations low and did not interfere with human development.
Probably the last big thing I did was change standard vampiric nature. I could see no way that angels would allow anything “undead” to exist. If I created a world in which the angels cleared the earth of serious and unnatural dangers to humans, undead would have been wiped out as soon as they appeared. That goes for zombies, and ghouls as well. In my universe, there are no dead men walkin’!
I did other things as my world took shape, and I will say I found that world building was as integral to the story as the motivations and actions of the characters. As both framework and universe, it supports the characters as they sort out their challenges, as well as providing challenges themselves. I love stories with rich worlds supporting them, and I’m tickled beyond belief that I created a world that is already planting seeds of different stories within it. I can’t wait to explore and see what comes next!
Happy Reading!
Coming Darkness
Archangel Lucifer lives a comfortable life of self-imposed exile with his vampire lover, Kai. When the other Archangels come to him with a problem — Heaven is gone and their Father is missing — he refuses to get involved because not only is it not his problem, but it’s probably some elaborate ruse they’ve cooked up to lure him back into the fold. When he’s personally attacked, he finds that he’s wrong on both counts. There are other powerful gods at work, gods who believe the current creation is flawed and must be destroyed.
Kai is thrown off balance when Lucifer disappears, and his life begins to spiral out of control. In the past, he never cared that he was looked down upon and called Lucifer’s pet. But with Lucifer absent, he’s left to navigate a world that doesn’t respect him. Since the only true currency is respect, he must gain it the only way his enemies will understand, through blood.
Purchase from Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D7MM5IM/
Author Bio –
They say it’s never too late to find and pursue your passion. Turns out they’re right. Although Susan loved to read, she didn’t start writing until she was in her late 40’s. A stint in grad school helped her hone her craft, and now she happily spends her days making up stories and figuring out how best to emotionally (and sometimes physically) torture her characters.
Social Media Links –
I have been way behind on everything lately and should have had this up earlier. But my post for this blog tour goes up tomorrow and I figured that I should share where you can find where the other stops on the tour are. It’s going to be a week long tour, so there should be a ton of nifty posts available. So, check it out and enjoy!
Alright all, we’re coming up on Authorite’s Spring Reads Week and I’m taking part. More importantly, a bunch of other bloggers are taking part. Given the sheer number of nifty books available for hosting, I’m expecting that this is going to be awesome. So, keep an eye out and enjoy!
I mentioned this back during the house keeping post this week, but I wanted to go a little more in on it and on Second Star Books itself. Reiterating things a little to start, just in case anyone missed it.
Second Star Books is opening shop come April and I figure it would be pretty cool to tell you all a little more about them. Each box contains a hard cover book from a debut YA author, that’s the focus of the box. Then there will also be a second book that is themed similarly to the first and an 8 oz. candle crafted to go with both books. Each box will also contain other related goodies.
I’m really excited by the idea of being introduced to a new author each month, especially given my tendency to lock into a set of authors and not really try anyone new. More than that, I dig that Second Star Books is going to donate a book for every box sold to kids in need. They will be working with both established literary charities and underprivileged schools. That’s something I definitely plan on throwing in behind Second Star for.
Really cool, right? This is where I tell you about the giveaway part. The folks behind Second Star Books are also super excited about the monthly box starting up and they want to share that with bookish types all over. Running until the box goes live on the first of April they have a giveaway, one lucky human will win a lifetime subscription to Second Star Books. That’s right, not a month free or an x month subscription free, but a lifetime subscription. If that sounds as awesome to you all as it does to me, I’ve got the link for you here.
Good luck!
Thought you all might be interested in this. I’m taking part in a blog tour for Jalal Ahmed’s novel The Legend of Horian and the Dycentian Blade, I’ll be hosting an excerpt on the 12th and here’s where you can find the other bloggers participating. Enjoy!
‘Long ago in the distant Kingdom of Dycentia, storytellers sang the legend of one of their own; a hero the likes of which were only born in forgotten lands, in forgotten times. This Dycentian’s name was Horian and although his life was cloaked in shadows, the secrets the storytellers sang have been passed down through the ages, known to only a select few and now preserved in these pages so that they may never be forgotten. The residents of today’s world can benefit from the lessons of bravery and duty in Horian’s quest. Few could have survived the soul-seething journey he undertook to access the most awesome weapon on the face of the earth. Few could be entrusted with the responsibility of wielding such a sovereignty seizing sword. However, it was only with the Dycentian Blade that Horian would literally govern the godly powers required to massacre the Mightiest and Most Malignant Monarch of Demons and Everything Foul, and to right the many wrongs that had been done.’
I’m super late with the review this week. This is unfortunate and I am sorry. It’s been a rough week and I’m having to deal with the side effects of plans not landing quite right.
That said, Halloween is still happening and I am still super excited to share this year’s run of Halloween reviews. So, where am I going with this? Last year’s run of reviews were all about nostalgia for me, the trilogy that made baby me quit mid-book out of fear.
How do I match up to that this year? This year I’m jumping into the World of Darkness. Well, more so than I already have. See, World of Darkness is a table top rpg set in a world very like our own, except the things that go bump in the night are very real and it would be very dangerous for a normal human to run into one of them. Depending on which rule books you’re using the player could be anything from a vanilla human stumbling into this hidden world and subsequently trying to dig deeper or escape it to one of the things that make the dark dangerous. Be a werewolf, or a vampire, or an embodiment of primordial nightmares, if you’re willing to do a little digging you can even be a hunter. Ultimately though, whatever you are, the challenge is to find what’s going on and to survive long enough to try and impact it.
At least that’s how it plays for my game group.
Given how much I enjoy the game and that I’d seen a few novels while looking for more source books, I figured I’d check them out. So, that’s what we’re doing for Halloween.
Given that the books I could find were pretty scattered, I’m going to be covering the ones available in The Essential World of Darkness omnibus. These are also all based on the old World of Darkness source books, so some of the things covered may be unfamiliar for me. That’s all part of the fun though.
That’s about it for right now. If you like what I’m doing, you can buy me a coffee or leave a comment. Enjoy!
