All posts by tricia kristufek

Review: Telesa – The Covenant Keeper

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Telesa - The Covenant Keeper
Telesa – The Covenant Keeper by Lani Wendt Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful – and so terrible in my life.”

Leila is searching for a place to belong after her father’s death. Against his final wish, she travels to Samoa to try to find out about her mother, who her father had told her was dead.

After she arrives on the island, she settles into her routine, but a fire builds inside of her that she can’t explain. Even as she adjusts to her knew school – and the God-like boy, Daniel – she gets throwing for a loop again – her mother is alive. Now, she needs to find answers to the cause of the flames. Answers only her mother can give her.

Trying to quench her inner fire, but thoughts of Daniel feed the flames, so she agrees to move in with her mother to find out how to control this power. But even as she learns to control herself as a telesa, she finds out why her mother’s name brings fear to the locals and must decide between her mother’s ways and her own.

Full of Samoan culture, Telesa: The Covenant Keeper is a tale of accepting who you are and standing up for what you believe in.

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Guest Post: Melynda Fleury

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Today’s post is a little bitter-sweet. My pal Jenn brought this to my attention, and I felt like I should post it also. While not really a “guest post,” I hope you will read on to see the strength of this woman and what challenges she has overcome. I’m sure there’s a lesson in there, somewhere…

Melynda from Crazy World lost her eyesight.  We’re very good friends and her loss broke my heart. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please go here:

Continue reading Guest Post: Melynda Fleury →

Guest Post: JC Andrijeski

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Today I have the pleasure of having JC Andrijeski, author of the Allie’s War series, here to talk about character creation. JC’s writing flows along, her characters taking on a life of their own – and now we know why! She’s in the middle of a blog tour and kindly let me join in the fun! While I’ve only read the first book in her series so far, I can say I was hooked and can’t wait to read the rest of them!

So go grab your coffee and see this post through to the end (it’s a bit long but totally worth it). Leave a comment if you write your characters this way also, or if you don’t, what do you do instead. Now, here’s JC! Continue reading Guest Post: JC Andrijeski →

The Kiss of Distraction

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His body was molded to hers as he held her wrists, one above her head and one at her side, so she couldn’t draw her knives. His hair was sweaty from their wrestling – her to get her knives, him to prevent it – and it spiraled his hair into bronze clumps that he tried to get out of his eyes by angrily shaking his head. His face was close enough for her to feel his breath puff against her skin. He had her up against a wall, quite literally, and her options for getting out were dwindling, so she did the only thing he wouldn’t see coming.

She kissed him. Continue reading The Kiss of Distraction →

Kaytali

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I ran.

The stretch and pull of my muscles reminds me that I am alive. My feet make soft thuds on the ground, crunching leaves without snapping twigs. Faster. Further. Run. Driven by the need to find her wherever she may be, my mind replays the last moment I saw her…

running, slashing, running, falling

…running from the field filled with green and grey and red. So much red.

Red covers my toes as they fly over the ground. Jump, my mind screams. Up and over a fallen body, crumpled in the red and green, lying still, so still, not getting up…

I turn my mind off, tune out the what if and the maybe and speed towards her body, now entering the trees, sword still in her hand, which relieves me.

A crack and I fall, my legs stumbling, falling, trying to keep myself upright. Red splatters me now, my back leg refusing to stretch and pull, stretch and pull, so I curl it up close to my body.

I reel on.

Blog Tag – I’m It!

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I got tagged by my pal Jenn over at indiesupporter.com. This little game is to find out a little more about me and my chosen victims, I mean, friends. So here we go!

Rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create ten new questions to    ask the people that you have tagged.

3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them! Continue reading Blog Tag – I’m It! →

Status Update: Editing Schedule

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So, it’s been a while since I’ve done an update, so I feel it’s about time.

I’ve had a lot of work going on with Splitter for his books and blog tour, but my role in that is mostly done until he gets his next draft done. The few other projects I’ve gotten in between then and now are done, with the exception of the sci-fi piece. The sci-fi piece has a lot of potential, but it does need revised a fair bit before I’d call it shelf-worthy. I will probably need a few beta readers for it as well, so if anyone is interested please let me know.

So, I’m in the market for a few new pieces to work on in the upcoming months. Depending on the length, I would ideally like to take on another 2-3 projects for March/early April. I work mostly with Indies, and in any genre, though I prefer fantasy and paranormal.

For more information,  please see my services page.

Guest Interview: Tiny

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Today I’m happy to announce our guest is from two of the books I’ve edited in the past year, The Reluctant and The Willing, by C.S. Splitter. Though he was unable to make it himself – I hear he’s busy with a blog tour – Splitter has been kind enough to send Tiny in his place. While these books follow Tom Crayder around, Tiny has been making a name for himself in them as well. He comes up with interesting ways to help Tom in some sticky situations and is always good for a laugh.

I hear he has a cult following online, too.

So, with that, here’s Tiny!

Continue reading Guest Interview: Tiny →

Review: Grace Awakening

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Grace Awakening
Grace Awakening by Shawn L. Bird
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Just another band geek in a plaid shirt to pass in the halls. Until the music started.

Grace is in grade 10 when she meets Ben Butler, who is two years older than her and convinced he’s loved her forever. After they meet, Grace is the target of mysterious attempts on her life, has frequent trips to the hospital to have some secret medicine, and overhears her mother talking to her aunt about her in a strange fashion. Her parents and even her friends seem torn between liking and disliking Ben, but ultimately Grace decides for herself if she loves him or not.

While filled with Greek mythology references and mysterious attacks, not much happens in this book other than Grace deciding she loves Ben. Much like Grace, the reader is left confused, wondering what is going on and who this girl is in the fight between the gods. Things are set in motion that we never see the resolution to, presumably because they are in book two.

Grace Awakening sets the stage for the (ultimate) conclusion in the war between the gods that want to save Grace and the ones that want her dead. Full of music and poetry, the characters are all painted differently with realistic qualities, yet leaves the reader asking, “Who -is- Grace?”

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Review: Two Moons of Sera

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Two Moons of Sera
Two Moons of Sera by Pavarti K Tyler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mother told me: No, the Moon is made of nothing but broken dreams; its color is the blood she’s seen spilt.

Serafay is a child born of two world yet belonging to none. Raised in isolation by her mother, she thought she was content in her quiet life by the sea. Her mother, a Sualwet (water people) who was experimented on by the Erdlanders (land people), would go out and forage, bringing Sera back books and other trinkets as well as news about the war between the two races. Safe in her cove, Sera didn’t know she was missing anything.

Until she saw Tor.

As they become friends, Sera’s world is torn apart and she is forced to rely on the very people who tortured her mother for her survival.

Told in serial format, Two Moons of Sera drags you into a world similar yet unlike our own, filled with war, love and friendship. With a lush world and full characters, Tyler creates a stunning start to her serial.

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