Tag Archives: Fantasy

New Release: Into the Desert Wilds

Excerpts, New Release, , , , , ,

Today’s the day! Release day for Into the Desert Wilds! If you’ve been following along for the last few days, you can probably tell I’m a little excited. This has become one of my favorite series from a favorite new author.

Blurb:

Having survived the war near Altis, Estin and his family must make a new life in the desert lands near Corraith more than a thousand miles from home. Unlike Altis, these lands fully accept wildlings, giving hope for the future.

Starting to find her own life, Oria has no expectations of a future. She lives day to day tn this new land. What it means to be an adult is as elusive to her as safety had once been, after growing up watching her friends die.

Surely so far from the invasion by the Turessians, Corraith is safe from the horrors they have already seen elsewhere…

Excerpt:

The touch of the mists woke pain in every inch of my body, letting me know I was alive, but warning me that it could kill in an instant. Everything I had known could have and probably should have ended in that moment, with my mate and my children in my arms. I accepted that and let the mists close about me, their burning fingers tugging and tearing at me and likely the others.

The pain and sensation of being dragged away by what can only described as a hurricane made of flames was the last thing I thought I would ever feel again.

When I woke, I expected to be learning what the afterlife of my people looked like. To some small degree, I had looked forward to that, thinking on all those I had lost. It was an ending to all I had known, or so I thought.

Instead, I found myself face down in sand, with Feanne and Atall lying disheveled on the desert ground around me. Panic had taken me for a second, wondering not where we were or how we had gotten there, but instead trying to find Oria. The child appeared almost immediately, spitting sand as she crawled out from under a low drift several feet away.

Even as battered as we had been upon arrival in the desert, we had laughed hysterically at having survived at all.
Knowing that they had all lived another day had been enough for me and initially for Feanne. Her resilience to some things let her cope with the fear of being in unknown lands faster than I could, but it also allowed her to turn her attention elsewhere quickly.
I worried about where we would find shelter, what kind of food was to be found out here, and what might come after us. My eyes swept the horizon for threats that were not coming. I knew nothing of the place we now were, with its endless miles of sand, marred only by tall formations of stone that were so unlike anything I had seen before.

Feanne just trusted her instincts to warn her of dangers. The new scenery was nothing more than another day to her. Where I wondered whether we would starve or die from lack of water, Feanne immediately began complaining about the heat as she collected the kits, as though that were our only threat to worry about.I thought she was kidding, or trying to lighten the mood for all of us. Sadly, that appears not to be the case. Foxes may live in the desert, but a mountain fox surely does not belong there…and if that fox can talk, you will hear about it endlessly.

The only thing worse than putting a person in a land they cannot tolerate is taking a leader away from her people. I truly did not believe that Feanne’s mood was entirely about the climate, but I was willing to humor her in that.

I would tolerate nearly anything to see her and the children safe. Here, the worst we faced was the occasional missed meal and sand in one’s fur. That far outshone the appeal of a land where the walking dead could show up at your home at any moment to murder your family.

I may feel as though the sun is scalding my ears off as I write this, but at least we lived long enough for me to feel even that.

Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | CreateSpace

BONUS for those of you in Colorado!! Stop by and see Jim! Get an autograph!

On August 10th through 12th, Jim will be attending the Rocky Mountain Fur Con as a guest author. Signings and discussions are available. His second book, Into the Desert Wilds, will be released the first day of this convention and print copies will be on-hand for purchase, as will character art.

Related:

Darryl Taylor

Review: In Wilder Lands

Review: Into the Desert Wilds

Interview: Jim Galford and Feanne

Interview: Jim Galford

Interview: Oria from Into the Desert Wilds

Interview: Jim Galford

Interviews, , , , , , ,

Today I have author Jim Galford with me to talk about his second book, Into the Desert Wilds, which is due for release on the 10th (tomorrow!). I had the pleasure of reading it early, and let me tell you, if you like epic fantasy, DON’T miss out on this book! As you can probably tell from my review, I LOVED getting back into Estin’s world, seeing what he’s been up to and how he and his family tackle the new problems they are faced with. And if you haven’t read the first book, In Wilder Lands, yet, go check it out!

TK: The first book is told solely from Estin’s PoV. This time, we have two different PoVs – Estin and Oria. Was it hard to make them sound different?

JG: Honestly, no. In my mind, the story happens no different from how one might see a movie. Oria and Estin are most definitely different people, with their unique perspective. It’s a little harder to separate two male point-of-views, but very easy when you’re dealing with a teenage girl (Oria) and her father-ish person (Estin). Estin has more of a “always concerned about what might come of his decisions” feel, while Oria has a carefree viewpoint, where she mostly just thinks about the moment at hand. They’re different enough that the transitions were really easy.

Now, finding Oria’s mindset as an adult male writer was tricky, but making her different from Estin was easy. I had to double-check a lot with my wife to be sure that Oria didn’t come across as a man trying to write a woman’s perspective, which was a fear I had with this particular point-of-view.

Generally, I’m always looking for a new way to broaden my scope of writing and point-of-view is the most obvious. Next comes emotional viewpoint. Into the Desert Wilds pushed my area of expertise on both a little, but I’m hoping to push even farther in the next book.

Continue reading Interview: Jim Galford →

Review: Into The Desert Wilds

Reviews, , , , ,

Into The Desert Wilds
Into The Desert Wilds by Jim Galford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Freedom has its own confines, but you need to find them within yourself.

Estin and his family have survived the war in Altis, having been transported by the mists more than a thousand miles to the desert surrounding Corraith. Just when they thought they could start their lives over, disaster once again strikes the wildling family.

Continuing where In Wilder Lands ended, readers are treated not only to the returned narration of Estin, but also the fresh voice of Oria. Trying to find her place in this world where there is no pack and thus no need for a leader of one, Oria struggles to give meaning in her life.

The desert is a stark contrast to the wildling’s lush homeland, and as they struggle to adapt, they meet a variety of people and wildlings that alter the path they would have traveled. Most notably is Phaesys, a fennec fox wildling that captures and captivates Oria. The relationship between the two young wildlings grows throughout the book and is just as complicated as Estin and Feanne’s relationship.

The fierce protective nature and the need to fight to prove yourself that readers saw in Feanne is passed on to Oria, helping to shape the adult she will become. Estin’s knack for finding trouble is also present, and Oria seems to have inherited that as well. As the wildlings prepare once again to fight the Turessian intent on seeing Estin and his family destroyed, it will take all of these skill and more to put a stop to him and save their new home.

Just as in the first novel, here is no lack of humor, love, or confrontation in this sequel. Or tears, at least at the end. Blended into the struggle to survive and adapt is a complex story with many themes: growing up, learning to love, thinking for yourself instead of blindly doing what you’re told is right, and fighting for your beliefs, freedom, and most importantly, your family.

Galford’s has done it again, creating a beautiful, magical land different from Altis yet still filled with so many vivid details and complex personalities that the reader can’t help but follow in the character’s dusty footprints. Anyone looking for an epic fantasy should not pass this book by.

View all my reviews

FMB Blog Tour: The Legion of Nothing: Rebirth

Blog Tour, Excerpts, , , , ,

Welcome to The Legion of Nothing: Rebirth Blog Tour stop! Keep reading for some excerpts of the book and a Podcast by the author!

Title: The Legion of Nothing: Rebirth

Series: The Legion of Nothing, #1

Author: Jim Zoetewey

Genre: Young-Adult, Superhero,

Publisher: 1889 Labs

Ebook

Pages: 374

Purchase: Amazon |

Book Description:

“You may kill somebody today. We won’t think anything less of you for it.”

Nick Klein’s grandfather was the Rocket.

For three decades, the Rocket and his team were the Heroes League–a team of superheroes who fought criminals in the years after World War II.

But Nick and his friends have inherited more than their grandparents’ costumes and underground headquarters… they’ve inherited the League’s enemies and unfinished business.

In the 1960’s, Red Lightning betrayed everyone, creating an army of supervillains and years of chaos. The League never found out why.

Now, Nick and the New Heroes League will have no choice but to confront their past. Continue reading FMB Blog Tour: The Legion of Nothing: Rebirth →

Guest Post: Jeffrey Zweig II

Blog Tour, Guest Post, , , , , ,

I have a wonderful post about developing a character by Jeffrey Zweig II, author of The End Begins: The Nine. Be sure to see my other post for his blog tour as there’s a great excerpt in it. I’ve added this one to my TBR list – how about you?

Developing the Character – Cassarah Doneye Telmar

Thank you for having me Trish!

Developing a character can happen many different ways. It depends upon the author’s writing style. Do you start with the character and build the world around them? Or build the world and put a character in there? Do you start with a simple base for each and develop them simultaneously?

I normally start with the character – there is a characteristic or a trait that I like and I start there. I develop them separately at first, then I construct a world that fits that version. Then comes the simultaneous development. I’ll try to show my progressing for Cass in my post today. I’ll try to remain as specific as possible without being spoiler-riffic.

Cass was one of the few “original” characters that remained from the adoption of my story. Her backstory always made her the heart of the story, so I stuck with her as the main character because she has attachments to every important piece of the story. So I started with exiled sorceress in the “modern world”.

Her personality came second. How did she act at The Nine? How would she react to a new world? The character’s personality and train of thought has to come pretty early for her to be believable and somewhat predictable even if she is completely not so! I settled for a brainiac who would be a fish out of water, so she would be kind of cold and straightforward with some sass mixed in. I inevitably based Cass’s personality off of Emily Deschanel’s performance from the TV series Bones. I love that character and thought she was a perfect example of what I was looking for. Continue reading Guest Post: Jeffrey Zweig II →

Blog Tour: The End Begins: The Nine

Blog Tour, Excerpts, Guest Post, , , , , ,

Welcome to the Making Connections Blog Tour stop for The End Begins: The Nine! I have an excerpt for you as well as a guest post from author Jeffery Zweig II!  Also, don’t miss the guest post Jeffery did for me!

The End Begins: The Nine

Book One of the Trinity Trilogy

Genre: Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Alternate History
Published by: Self Published: Date: September 28, 2011

Can be found on: Amazon   Smashwords   Createspace

Blurb:

A young alchemist, Cassarah Telmar, thought training at the magic academy was what life was about, until she discovered it’s students powers were being stolen by the Coalition, an ambiguous corporation turned warmongering militia. Cass escapes their program and vows to bring them down.

The key lies on the young James Kesumare’s mind, who is responsible for destroying the gate technology that’s stranded the Coalition and forced them to survive in a backward parallel world. Cass wants nothing more than to destroy them and free her clan, but she’s too blind to see that the end begins for both the Coalition, and herself. She will have to chose between living under their thumb, or dying with freedom. Continue reading Blog Tour: The End Begins: The Nine →

Review: Chain Reaction

Reviews, , , , ,

Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction by T. C. Archer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Before I filed the report, I had a call to make to Dunning Asylum for the mentally insane and tell them to reserve a room for me.

Detective Jordan Pierce, former Chicago PD, hasn’t felt the same since he was attacked in an alley months ago. No longer able to stay awake in the daylight, he has strange abilities that he can’t explain. While trying to balance finding his attacker and his job as a security officer at the University of Chicago, he gets caught up in a murder investigation and finds out he’s not the only one able to do strange things.

Set during the Manhattan Project time of WW2, the book is full of tidbits of history incorporated into the paranormal story. Pierce’s “powers” and nature are slowly learned, though fairly easy to guess, as if the reader is learning about this side of the world with Pierce. The suspense/detective angle was done well, keeping readers on the edge of their seat for what would happen next. The side characters help solidify the world, revealing themselves through Pierce’s interaction with them.

There were several pieces of the story, though minor, that were not resolved, such as Andy’s role in all of this. Also, as this was the introduction to the Phantom League, there was a lot of hinting about other people with other powers that didn’t necessarily show up in the book, leaving readers to wonder about the “others” alongside Pierce.

Full of action, thrills, and potential, Chain Reaction drags readers into a world and time they only thought they knew.

View all my reviews

Guest Post: Kevin Anthony

Excerpts, Guest Post, , , , , ,

Today I have with me author Kevin Anthony talking about why he didn’t include vampires or werewolves in his Urban Fantasy series. Mad Moral is the first book and it’s currently free on Smashwords (link below). I admit, I grabbed a copy – the characters look interesting. So, for all you thriller/horror/urban fantasy lovers out there, check this one out!

No Vampires or Werewolves Allowed

The moment I started writing my Urban Fantasy novel Mad Moral I made the decision not to include any vampires or werewolves. I know vampires and werewolves play huge roles in many Urban Fantasy novels and many other genres and that’s the main reason I didn’t want to include them in Mad Moral.

I’m a big fan of vampires and werewolves, but I didn’t want to travel down a road that had been explored so many times. I decided to give a new set of beings time to shine in more humanizing roles, horror movie characters.

I’m aware the word “horror” instantly causes many to lose interest. My novel isn’t a horror, just inspired by the many elements and characters of horror movies. Continue reading Guest Post: Kevin Anthony →

Review: Shield

Reviews, , , , , , ,

Shield
Shield by J.C. Andrijeski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The world is insane in a way. All of us are insane.

Coming to terms with being the Bridge isn’t easy, especially when your husband won’t tell you all the rules – and keeps getting separated from you. As Allie tries to come to terms with both her new role as the Bridge and her feelings for Revik, she also must stop a war – if she can. Amidst all of this tension, the boy appears, claiming Allie belongs to him.

Continuing where Rook left off, the tension between Allie and Revik is hyped up in this book, a factor of how the Seer marriage works. And just as they get together to figure their feelings out, they are ripped apart once again. Allie does manage to learn more about being a Seer and a Bridge – both the “easy” way and the “hard” way. Along the way, Allie discovers the boy, and her world is shaken with her understanding of who he is.

Fast-paced, action-filled, and full of emotional rides, Shield is a worthy sequel to the Allie’s War series. Once again Andrijeski pulls you into the Seer’s world, twists your emotions on edge, and holds you there until the very end, leaving you with a shock strong enough to have you picking up the next book.

View all my reviews

New Release: Knight (Allie’s War #5)

New Release, , , , ,

Yeah! It’s here! Release day for the next book in JC Andrijeski’s Allie’s War series! Here’s the scoop:

Blurb:

“I thought the two of you were scary individually. Together, you’re worse. You know that…right? A lot worse, man…”

With several groups of hostile seers hot on their trail, Allie and Revik set up camp in New York, dragging the remnants of their seer alliance with them. Not long after they arrive, Allie coaxes Revik into helping her rob a bank to acquire a mysterious list of names…even as a human-killing virus strikes in San Francisco, and a lot of the people Allie cares about start to disappear. Fielding off attacks by the Lao Hu and the mysterious Shadow out of Argentina, Allie and Revik have to make impossible choices as they learn how to work together again. Before they can decide what to do, tragedy strikes their group, and they are forced to admit they might be outmatched.

Meanwhile, Allie’s brother, Jon, seems to be going through some pretty strange changes of his own, including being stuck in an odd partnering with Wreg, the ex-captain of the rebels, as he tries to find the humans on the list who are believed to be important in the coming Displacement. When Allie finds out she’s being stalked by the lead infiltrator of the Lao Hu, she has to decide whether to risk everything to save the people she loves in San Francisco, or go to war with  the enigmatic Shadow, who seems to want to bring the end of the world on his own terms, and doesn’t care how many humans he has to kill to do it…

Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Knight-Allies-Book-Five-ebook/dp/B008FKV59M/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/176844
Omnilit: http://www.omnilit.com/product-knightallie039swarbookfive-851709-140.html
Drivethru Fiction:
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/103479/Knight%3A-Allie%27s-War%2C-Book-Five

If you haven’t started this series yet, check out my review of Rook (Book 1). I’ll have the other books read and reviewed soon so I can find out what happens to Allie and Revik in this book!

Related:

Guest Post: JC Andrijeski