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!
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!
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?”
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.
Flidderbugs by Jonathan Gould
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Because everybody knows that the leaves on the Krephiloff Tree had three points. But they also had four points too.
Kriffle of the Triplifer tribe is preparing to take over his father’s position as leader of their tribe. He struggles to get to the Fleedenhall due to all the leaves clogging up his home. Leaves in his broth, leaves burying him at night while he sleeps, leaves everywhere! Kriffle knows he must win this debate and get elected so that his side of the Tree can use the Shears.
Kriffle knows the leaves on his side of the Tree have three points. In his frustration, he drags his protesting rival, Fargeeta of the Quadrigon tribe, over to his side of the tree. Fargeeta then takes him to her side, showing him the impossible: four-pointed leaves! But even after he finds out that the other side’s leaves have four points, he has a hard time getting anyone to listen to him, and so Kriffle and Fargeeta vow to get to the root of the issue.
Don’t let this cute story fool you – there’s much more going on under the surface. Gould does a wonderful job creating these characters that even children will love, and their parents can dig deeper for satirical layers reminiscent of Dr. Seuss – with less rhymes.
Leftover Shorts by Amy Neftzger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
No one saw the soft, white missile.
Leftover Shorts contains three very different short stories, all three of which are told with a different underlying theme.
The Marshmallow War was my favorite, extolling the experienced old-timer over the hardheaded, long-winded new-bloods. The “Fang of Five,” long-time researchers at Merryman Marshmallow Corporation, organize themselves to take on the department head and newer members of the development team. In the end, market shares were up over 500% and team members were down 4 people, including Mr. Department Head. Richly told, you may never look at a pink marshmallow the same way again.
Peripheral Witches deals with the tricks our minds can play on us if we let them. Miriam declares that fairy tales are bogus and is then haunted by witches for the rest of the afternoon. While entertaining, I feel this was the weakest of the three stories, though still well-written.
Parson’s Song is the last in the book. It tells the tale of Billy Parson, violin player and robber, who is born on the wrong side of midnight into a superstitious town. Filled with quick snapshots of poor Billy’s life and death, it was also loosely based on the legend of MacPherson’s Lament.
If you’re looking for some quick, entertaining reads, Leftover Shorts is the dish to pick up.
Today I have a different kind of book for you to consider. While I don’t actively seek memoirs to read, after talking to this great lady, I can’t wait to dive into this one. Here’s her blurb:
In “Letters of A Bipolar Mother,” Alyssa Reyans tells the story she’s never been able to tell her children: of how she lost them in a battle with her own mental illness. she shares with them – and the world – what the mind of a woman suffering bipolar depression looks like, how the darkness she battled on a daily basis almost won, and how, years later, she found the courage to claw her way out of the abyss.
Covering a span of five years, Alyssa Reyans shares both her pain and strength in a struggle against an incurable illness that many women today also share.
And now, here’s Alyssa!
I’m completely stealing this post from Splitter. This is EXCITING news!
I know a bunch of people want print copies and I cannot thank you enough for the support you have shown me.
The books are due to be released through Amazon on February 14th, but I just found out that I can make them available on CreateSpace (an Amazon company) NOW.
As a “Thank You” to the people who have given me that support, I am going to go ahead and offer them early through CreateSpace to my friends on Facebook and people that follow my blog and Twitter.
Plus, there is a discount code which can be used for both books on CreatSpace to receive $1.00 off each book: VZ3KMHHA
Direct links:
The Reluctant
The Willing
The list prices on the books are $8.99 and $9.99 respectively. Yes, they are less expensive than most trade paperbacks on the market and we did that on purpose. We make the same on them (without the discount coupon) as we do on the $2.99 eBooks.
If you were waiting for a print copy, there you go. Hope you enjoy!
Splitter (& Tricia)
Rook by J.C. Andrijeski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The clouds enveloped my mind, leaving nothing but silence.
Allie Taylor has spend 28 years thinking she was human and, despite being adopted, leading a normal life. She holds down a job as a waitress, working with her best friend, Cass, and has a good relationship with her brother, Jon. Even though she takes care of her mother ever since her father died, her life was more mundane than anything. Except for the drawings and images that she can’t get out of her mind. And the Mono Man, who she finds out is Revik, who has started to follow her around. And the beating she gives her ex, that she didn’t even know she was capable of…
Allie’s world, though similar to our own on the surface, hides a deep secret – the seers. A race of beings with mental powers so powerful that most are enslaved, the seers are feared by the mere humans – including Allie, even after she finds out she’s one of them. Now, she must fight for not only her life and that of her family, but also of the entire human race.
Andrijeski spins a marvelous tale, filled with action, excitement, good guys vs. bad guys, magic and beautiful prose. Allie’s world is familiar yet not, and her process of accepting who and what she is – with help from Revik, prostitutes, her brother and others – is a fascinating journey sure to please.
Today I have the pleasure of having Jim Galford, author of In Wilder Lands: The Fall of Eldvar here with me to do an interview, and he brought Feanne along with him!
For those of you who haven’t heard/read this wonderful book yet, In Wilder Lands is an epic fantasy novel that follows Estin, a wildling, as he endeavors to just be left alone, find shelter and food, and live to a nice old age. When he meets Feanne, she changes his whole outlook on life. For more, check out my review.
And now, because you don’t want to make her mad by forcing her to wait, here’s Feanne.
Tricia Kristufek 