Ashen City by Sara Baysinger - Cover Reveal

 Why another post so soon after the last one? Well I'm glad you asked. This is an even more special announcement. There's a book coming out soon and it's going to have a cover.

Well that didn't sound that exciting. Let's try again. 

Ashen City, the sequel to Sara Baysinger's fabulous book, Black Tiger, will be released on April 6th! But you don't have to wait until then for everything. Today, you will see the cover of the book in all its glory.

But first I'm going to tell you about Black Tiger.

It's dystopian, set in a future where disease has eliminated most of the world's population. There is just one large city.

Ember Carter is a farmer's daughter and wants to be a farmer herself. That seems impossible as all farming careers are given to boys and for several years everyone has been recruited to the Line of Defenders, even though there isn't a hint of war around. 

Amazingly, she is assigned the career of farmer, but that hope quickly disappears when she tries to save her best friend from the Defenders.

She is sent off to the city, charged with murdering a defender and being a rebel. The sentence is death. A horrible death at the Rebels circle. Only petty criminals get a quick death by a Black Tiger.

But we all know she can't die. Not in this part of the story. She gets out, she's only an 'guest' now. A guest with a lot of power. But she's also suspected by the chief and she can't leave.

This is where things get fun. There's two young men in the city. And they're both rather contradictory. One is a nice person, the kind of person it's easy to trust. Yet, he's the chief's best friend and thinks they can work with him to fix the problems in Ky.

The other is a thoroughly despicable person, then a somewhat nice, and almost too friendly person. He keeps Ember entertained and even talks about the religion that is long gone from the city. I start to think he's a Christian of sorts ,but then he's urging her to rebel. One minute he's a hero, the next despicable again. I love having my emotions jerked around like that.

Any way I love this books. It has some amazing dilemmas, terrifying moments, great themes and an answer to why God gives us free will. Also there's the exploration of a society where religion is gone. It's  not entirely gone though, some traces will always remain and people will always have a heart to look for purpose and something bigger than them. Always. And there is also mind control. 

Now onto Ashen City.

Make your choice, Ember Carter. And make it count.

Ember Carter has escaped the flames of death. But will she ever be free from Chief Titus? When the orchard goes up in smoke and her family turns up missing, Ember returns to Frankfort hoping to find her brother and father, and to get Titus to drop the death wish he has against her.

But Titus is always one step ahead. When Ember faces him head-on, she’s captured, only to receive another death sentence. But on her way to her execution, plans go a little askew, and Ember finds herself traveling to the one place no one dares travel: Louisville. If the outskirts of Ky were a ghost town, the ashen city is the borderline of hell itself, but it’s the one place Ember can find refuge from the people who want her dead. 

In the ashen city, Ember must learn that being a hero is more than doing what is right because she can, but doing it for the good of the people. And when plans take a turn for the worst, she must decide if it’s worth risking her life to save her country.

It sounds good to me. More avoidance of death.

And now the cover!!!

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Isn't that lovely. In a rather haunting way.

Now you can add Ashen City on Goodreads.

And Black Tiger as well.

And if I convinced you to read Black tiger it's on Amazon.

And if you want to be part of the book launch blog tour in April, there's a sign up form here. I heard there will be prizes.

And be sure to check out Sara's website.

I just found out a cool fact about Sara today. She grew up in the Andes Mountains in Equador. How cool is that?

Smashing & Dashing Characters of 2016 Awards #BookTag

So Cait @ Paper Fury has a character award book tag and I thought I'd try to do it despite being bad at remembering half of what I've read.


1. Most Relatable Character

Renna Faythe in Dare and Deny by Tricia Mingerink. In fact most quiet caring characters who get stuck in dangerous situations. The ones that start falling for 'the guy who thinks he isn't worthy' without realizing it. Kyrin Altair also fits this.


2. Most Pure and Precious Animal Companion

I wouldn't call her pure and precious, but I'm going with Punzel from Song of the Sword by Hope Ann. She's a fen-hopper, which is a winged cat that lives in the Shadowfen. She's a bit feisty and prefers the name of Shadow-wing. Anyway she does a good job of keeping Roinette company.

In the same book, the hero Evrard has a Messenger Falcon for a side kick. So two animal companions for the price of one.

3. Fiercest Fighter

Trap Merodach from The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock. He might not be the fiercest, but he's certainly skilled.


4. Most Amazing Sidekick

Solomon Hawke in A Time to Speak by Nadine Brades. Or Shad Alistaar in Deny. Or the other person I'll remember tomorrow.


5. One You're Surprised You Loved (Book or Character???)

A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Neitz. I don't read Sci-Fi. But I liked this. The main character Sandfly and the world were so far removed from what I know, that it was a little hard to get into, but once I did, it was fascinating. A~A²

6. Best Sassmaster
Knife, from Knife by R. J Andersen.

7. Best Anti-Hero
I'm not sure if he's technically an anti-hero but Rain Walker from Black Tiger by Sara Baysinger. I'm not quite sure what I think of him. At first he appears a total jerk and then he starts acting nicer, and just as I start o think he might be a good person he does something dreadful again. I like characters that jerk my emotions around like that.

8. Best Worst Villain to Hate

Pathetic villains usually mean pathetic heroes, which means forgettable books. That said there's a villain who isn't even worth hating in Safety Assured Leaving East of Medicetti by Trish Mercer. At one point I hoped he'd be redeemed, but he just got worse. He's miserable and has a terribly skewed worldview.


9. Truly Astounding Worst Ya Parents

I don't really read much YA and can't think of any.


10. Truly Astounding Best Ya Parents

Parvin's parents in a Time to Speak.


11. Toot Toot Best Ship of Them All

Best? There is no single best. But Amber and Granite in Lady Dragon, Tela Du by Kendra E. Ardnek. This is a very sad ship, because Amber has been the evil Lady Dragon for 3,000 years while Granite stayed good. He loves her, but hates what she does, and she pushed him away and won't listen to his advice. And they were so happy for the first 3,000 years. #Amberite (I almost choose the other main couple of this book #Reutra)


12. The Most in Need of Protection

Temperance, or Marie from the Virtues and Valor Series by Hallee Bridgeman. She gets tortured by Nazi's and almost dies of pneumonia. Also the series is fascinating. Eight overlapping novellas, each telling the story of a different person. And since they all go by code names and don't give personal details out, there's a lot to guess at through the books.

13. Most Boring As a Barnacle

Can't remember. I've come across a number of boring character, but they don't stick in my head. Why should they?


14. Best Little Royal

Not sure what this is supposed to mean, but Princess Lily in The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doue. A wonderful princess who does take her responsibilities seriously. And with 11 younger sisters there's a lot going on.

15. Very Surprised You're Still Alive

Aislyn from the 27th Protector series by Laura Campbell. This girl has many narrow escapes. Not that I actually thought she would die, but it's a miracle she hasn't. A very dangerous miracle in fact. A traitor. That's why she one of the few 27th protectors who's beaten the odds and lived.

16. Best at Horrible Decision Making (makes bad decisions)

Vrell in From Darkness Won by Jill Williamson. And Achan.

17. Cutest Dork 

Reuben Eaglechaser of Lady Dragon, Tela Du. He's the guy who alway checked in his wardrobe for Narnia, thinks he knows exactly what's going on when he ends up in a fantasy world, and rarely takes anything seriously. And the way he loves Petra is kind of dorky. 

18. Cleverest Little Hellion

Eva from The 27th Protector series. And  several other characters. They need to be clever. But Eva is younger, so 'little' fits her.

19. Most in Need of A Nap

I'm too tired to think of an answer.

20. Want to Read More About You

Most of the people I've just mentioned. Lady Firebird in Firebird by Kathy Tyers.

And that is that. I hope you all have a merry Christmas. God bless you.

Five books I'm thankful for: Black Friday Book Sale!

So it's the time of the year that people talk about giving thanks, we don't celebrate thanksgiving Day in Australia, it's not part of our history, but there is something to be thankful for everyday.
Among those things, great books make their way onto my list of blessings every year. It's hard to choose favorites and sometimes I have trouble remembering what I read when, but I went ahead and picked five books I read in 2016 or the end of 2015 and am thankful for.

1. The Bible: Yes, not a knew book, and it's an easy answer. But it's true. This is the book I am forever thankful for. Without God's guidance in my my life I would be so lost. It's hard to even think about what I could be like if not for God's grace.
2. Finding the Core of Your Story, by Jordan Smith: Non fiction, but as an author I'm realy grateful for this little book.
3. Captive of Raven Castle, by Jessica Greyson: This book help me understand what it would be like to discover you'd been lied to all your life.
4. Deny (also Dare), by Tricia Mingerink: A wonderful faith affirming book. Made me rethink my priorities and reminded me that the death of believers, isn't a tragedy for them.
5. Lady Dragon Tela Du, by Kendra E. Ardnek: I'm thankful for the friends ships I made while beta reading it. Especially my friendship whit Kendra. Shes's a great, encouraging author friend.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to another great year of reading!

Speaking of more reading, here's one more thing to be grateful for. Books on sale! In honor of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a group of independent Christian authors banded together to offer over seventy discounted books on Nov 25-28. There's literally something for everyone. Every single book listed on Indie Christian Books is on sale in one or more ways. Find discounted paperbacks, dozens of books offered with free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals and more. Even if you have a budget of $0, new reading material awaits you. Don't know what to pick? The fearless Indie Christian Books team created a quiz that will generate a book list perfect for you! Check it out!

What awesome reads of 2016 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2017?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as "Sold Out." This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks. Also, some of the authors this year chose to not sell their paperbacks directly through the site. Those books are also marked "Sold Out" but if you click them open, you'll find a link to the site where they are on sale and a discount code for you to use at check out.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good and Kendra E. Ardnek for their work organizing this sale, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

11 Things I love about Lady Dragon, Tela Du : Book Review

I'm back again with a review of Lady Dragon, Tela Du. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, head over to this post. Otherwise keep reading.

You may wonder why I have eleven thing in my list. There's no particular reason, I could easily group into more or less. In fact I did have nine.

It's as good as the first book

Or better. It doesn't suffer from any common second book problems. But then it's not exactly a second book, since Kendra has been working on it much longer. 

It touched on many of the same things, but in a fresh way. The relationships were handled differently, the pace was different and many locations were different. The world building wasn't repetitive of the first book. In fact it worked better because Kendra wasn't trying to explain everything. Anything necessary just came up naturally.

I certainly wasn't disappointed by the different characters. I may have liked a few in book one better than their counterparts, but overall they were better.

The Plot Twists

This book had at least 6 plot twist of significance and numerous smaller ones. I saw less than half of them coming. And I like that. I felt smart for what I did figure out, but the ones I didn’t is what made it really brilliant. Because they are telegraphed way back, in very subtle ways. Kendra is brilliant at this.

I also made the mistake of trying to make guesses based of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Yes, this book was inspired by that. But I knew there had been many major changes. Yet still I tried to use it as a pattern. Take my advice, don’t bother making too many predictions. You will never figure it out.

The Emotional Depth

You know how some books seem to change how you feel and you get so full of emotions that you almost burst. The books that you must talk about in some form. This is one of those books. I felt the situations almost as if I was there. It got me pondering deep things. What would it be like if someone else knew what I was thinking, what I have locked away in my heart? What would it be like to have great things asked of me? Things I almost certainly couldn’t do, but felt I couldn’t avoid. What if my life spun completely out of control? Would I still be able to trust God to help me through each day? Am I really trusting him to help me through life now?

Reuben

This is actually a kind of odd one, because though I can’t help liking him, the intensity of his feelings for Petra makes me a bit uncomfortable. an enthusiastic, irrepressible optimist. This often annoys Petra which makes me either annoyed or amused. He can be ridiculous at times, but under it he has his serious moments. I love those serious moments. They’re usually when Petra is worked up and needs sense talked into her.

Petra

She’s an uncommon protagonist. Not at all interested in risking her life to kill Amber. Well not until she has a personal reason to hate her. But people who are willing to risk their lives to make things better for others probably aren't as common as books would make you think.

She's also very smart and logical, has a very matter of fact way of speaking and won't put up with nonsense.

The World

Different colours of water; crazily coloured everything; telepathic, teleporting unicorns; doormats that also teleport you; three different castles; what more could you want? Well there is more, Ambers magical items for example. She has pocket sized stars that do everything from invisibility to changing winds and lots in between: a table that makes its own food; touch activated lights and doors, and much more. And we get a little peek into another world.

Ashna

Every book needs a sweet elf girl doesn’t it? Well maybe not, but we have one here. Ashna goes through a lot of hard things, and though she gets scared she’s not weepy. She’s very quiet and would never intentionally hurt anyone. She’s a contrast to other female characters who easily explode or and least get annoyed. But I think gentleness is common in Kendra's elves since they are weaker. Her gift is colour change and though it might seem a bit trivial she finds both valuable and caring uses for it.

Family

This isn't quite a book about family, but it's got a good bit in it. Parents appear a few times, and are referred to at others. There's lots of siblings and though they are actually not together for most of the book (instead we get pairs, one from each family), there is a certain closeness and loyalty shown. And in the end of the book, when they are together. It's very good. I can't say more than that.

Amber

The villain is always a valid reason for liking a book. I’d met Amber in the previous book, but now I get to see her side of the story. She’s not just some crazy lady who can turn into a dragon. She’s obsessed with the idea of ruling Rizkaland and won’t see what stands in her way. She thinks she knows exactly what she’s doing, but she can’t avoid her destiny. And under her callousness, there’s a slight sense of humour. Characters need a sense of humour.

I hated Amber in the first book, was glad she was going to die and didn’t care how. But somehow Kendra twisted be around so that I actually pitied her. I wished for her to change. Doing that with a villain is masterful

Granite

Amber’s husband. I feel so sorry for him. How could a good man still love his wife when she had been evil for so long? Yet he does. He tries to make her see what she is doing wrong.

He’s also at times quite a fun character. He and Reuben would make quite a pair.

The Themes

Trusting in God to make everything turn out all right. God has a plan even in the things that don’t make the least sense. Sometimes we wonder why he let things happen how they have. Wouldn’t it be so much better if Amber had never come to Rizkaland? Or sometimes we worry about the consequences of our choices. What if the thing we thought was right messed everything up?

But we need not worry. God is in control. If he puts us in a position he will guide us in filling it. I’ll share a couple of favourite lines that express this.

“If that is what You ask of us, then we shall take it one day at a time, as You guide us,” answered Reuben. “Stringing those days together, we’ll end up at the end eventually.”

It also deals with the balance between free will and predestination.

“But if the result is already determined, is it a choice?”

“Yes, it’s still a choice,” Laura answered. “Day after day, I choose to do the tasks set before me. Yes, even I have a choice.”

And once again, the important of commitment in relationships. I like to see love shown in it's best for rather than the selfish love we often see.


What I didn’t like so much
The structure just didn’t quite feel right. The point of highest tension was at the three quarter mark. After that it slowly dropped, getting down to almost nothing before jumping up pretty high just before the end. It’s not a big problem and my love of the character and a knowledge that something had to happen kept me reading, but it was a little slow.

There wasn’t enough room in the book for all of the characters to be fully developed. There was one couple in particular I would have like to see a little more of. But since that would have had to happen in the end part of the book it would have made the previous problem worse.

Summer disappointed me by being a better person that I’d expected. Which is an odd thing to complain about, but true. 

Content warning

This book was about at the edge of what I can stand as far as romance goes. That was partly because I was reading it aloud to my brothers and have a lower tolerance with them. There’s young married couples doing about what you would expect, kissing, falling asleep together, nothing more than that. And the description tends more towards the character’s emotions than physical sensations.

There's a bit of violence, with people getting stabbed or turned into ice. I'd say it's got less than Water Princess, Fire Prince. There's a bit of blood, but no gore.

So overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone with a taste for fantasy, tales of adventure and high callings, of sacrifice and love.

You can buy Lady Dragon, Tela Du as Kindle or paperback and Goodreads and find Kendra on her blog.  

My Writing Software

Hello readers, I hope you've all had a productive, blessed week. Except it hasn't been a week since I last posted. I'm not sure how regular my Friday posts will become, but that wasn't meant to just be a one off occurrence.

Anyway, today's topic is writing software. I don't use a heap of software, but I do have three favourites.

1. yWriter

 This is the program I actually write in. It's a little like Scrivener, from what I understand, though less powerful, easier to learn, and best of all, it's free.

The main reason I use it is because it breaks everything up into scenes. Since I often skip around with my writing, it's almost essential. If I were writing straight through it wouldn't be so useful, though being able to find things is always an advantage.

The biggest drawbacks are that it doesn't allow for much formatting and there's no automatic spell checker. There is a spell checker hiding in one of the menu, but I never remember it exists. On the other hand both those things could be considered advantages. There are less distractions while actually writing, and afterwards it's always an option to copy it in MS Word and tidy it up.

Other features include the ability to associate characters, locations and object with each scene.(A feature I sometimes use and sometimes don't.) Also you can mark what kind of scene it is, how long it takes, whether it belongs to the main plot or a sub-plot, what stage of writing it is in and a few other things. I never use that feature though. It takes too long to think about it. Lastly there is a word count feature, that tells me how much I've written that day and how fast I type. That is useful.

You can find it here.

2. Aeon Timeline

This one I only got recently. It's a timeline software designed especially for writers. I use it for plotting and figuring out backstory. It's useful to know exactly when things are happening and doing this also solidifies things, that I have a tendency to leave loose.

There a two basic views. timeline view, which shows all the event in order with their dates, and relationship view, which shows how each event connect with what they call entities. In the default fiction set up, these entities are: arcs, places, and characters. These can have various data entered, including birth and death dates.

Another very useful feature is the customizable calendar. That means anything from changing the names of the days and moths to Italian, to changing the length and number of anything. So it's perfect for fantasy and sci-fi, or for using any historical calendar.

Aeon Timeline isn't free, but it does have a twenty-five day trial and there was a discount offered with Camp NaNoWriMo. Once I'd tried it, I didn't want to try to manage without it and bought it pretty quickly instead of asking for it as a birthday present in a month. So be warned. It's a handy tool, but if you're to willing pay the $40 or so, don't try it.

3. My Family Tree by Chronoplex

I didn't initially get this for writing, and don't use it for everything, but it can be useful. Lady of Courage has a whole lot of interconnected noble families and the family tree just makes it so much easier to visualize. Many of the connections were actually formed while making the tree, because I like to be able to stick everyone in. And that's given me some interesting dynamics. 

It is by no means the only family tree program out there, or even the most powerful one. I know because I've tried a lot. But it has a good visual display and all the features that are necessary for the amount of detail needed for fiction.. It's easy to use, has a few cool features such as a tool for calculating how people are related and various reports. 

There is more than one viewing option and other options about who is shown. Another really handy feature is that you can add unrelated people and have more than one tree in the same file. That is particularly useful for writing.

While writing this I looked up to find the website for the software and discovered that a new version was released just two days ago. I've tried it and it has improved. So if you write or read books that have any kind of complex family in them, this might be useful. (The very first thing I ever made a family tree for was the Elsie Dinsmore books, and I haven't stopped, though I've never dealt with anything so big and complex since, even with my own family.) You can get it free here.

And that is that. In case anyone was wondering I am not getting paid for talking about any of these and all opinions expressed were my own. I hope this information will be useful to someone.

Lady Dragon, Tela Du Cover Reveal

Yes, we've finally come to the end of Bookania. There will not be any more until the next time. And I don't know when the next time will be. Instead I'm showing you the other thing Kendra had been working on: the cover for Lady Dragon, Tela Du, Book 2 of The Rizkaland Legends. The book I've been beta reading, the twisty book. I believe I've mentioned it before. It's good. Well what I've read so far has been and I'm pretty certain it will continue.

~About the book~

~~~

Two girls with one face

Two girls with twisted fate

One in purple, one in red

One shall speak the other’s death

Who shall win their final war?

Lady Dragon or Tela Du?

Amber, the Lady Dragon, has been promised a fifty-year reign over Rizkaland and nothing can stop her from claiming it. But when you've lived six thousand years, fifty is such a pitiful number. Only one person can keep her from making this reign permanent - the Tela Du, a girl who shall share Amber's face.

The last thing Petra wants is a magical world interrupting her plans for a normal life, let alone an ultimate battle against the Lady Dragon with only one prophesied survivor. She has her childhood best friend, Reuben, at her side, but she's not sure if he's more of a help or a hindrance right now. Though she'd much prefer to just return home and forget about this whole crazy affair, things change when she discovers that the world has surprising connections to her own family - including her sister who disappeared without a trace two years before. Still, Rizkaland can't possibly expect her to risk her very life, can it?

~~~

Well it seems that Rizkaland does ask it. And that matters are even more twisted than hinted at there. At three fifths through the book I have no idea how it's going to play out. But I'm sure she couldn't do it without Reuben. She needs his optimism to balance her and his love to calm her down. Even when he's the cause of the annoyance. Besides it would have been awkward if he hadn't been there. How could she explain that she went to a fantasy world without him, when he's the one who reads books about them?

And now we have another picture Kendra has a huge collection of pictures for the series. 

Let's see what she has to say about this one.

~~~
One of my blogging friends has a link-up known as “Quote Queste” where you write a bit of flash fiction based on a quote of her choice. I had already pinned this particular quote when she chose it one month, so I knew I had to write one with Laura and Petra. The scene did get into the book, though it played out a little bit differently.
~~~

~Interview~

I got to do a mini interview with Kendra, Petra and Amber. This was the question I put to them: If you could change one thing in your past what would it be?

Kendra: I'm not really sure. While there are a lot of things in my life that I regret, I'm not sure what elements I could change that wouldn't take away the things I don't regret. Maybe my dad not losing his job so many times... or no. I made a small business mistake in the early days of my publication that has cost me very dearly financially, and I wish very much that I could go back and fix it. 

Petra: Not have my sisters disappear and everyone else forget about them. And Reuben's brother, while I'm at it.

Amber: When you live six thousand years, you gain many regrets. There is no one thing that I wish I could change ... but in six thousand years, you also learn that it's pointless to worry over those changes. Instead you must learn to make the best of them for a better tomorrow.

             Or a worse tomorrow. Amber's view of better isn't the same as mine. What's better for her isn't always good for other people. She is an extremely interesting nuanced villain. And slightly insane. Also very dangerous. Among many other things, she has the ability to turn people into statues of ice. And it's summer time so they melt. But if that isn't quick enough she can always turn into a dragon and use fire. Yes, the Lady Dragon.

~The Cover~

Isn't it lovely? All purple and red and amber. Or is the background gold? I'm not completely certain myself. I think amber is a slightly darker, richer colour. On the other hand Amber's colour is red. And Petra's is purple as you can see below.

Actually that's Kendra and it's more of a blue. But Petra and Amber both look a bit like that, so it will work well enough. Except in my mind Petra looks like this pin. But she should have glasses. Reuben has glasses too. And so do I, despite the lack of them in my picture.

And just in case you were still unaware of exactly who Kendra is, we have this lovely bit of writing:

~~~

Kendra E. Ardnek is a homeschool graduate who picked up a pen at an early age and never put it down. The eldest of four, she makes her home in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her parents, younger siblings, giant herd of giraffes, and honor guard of nutcrackers. 
~~~

From what I understand the giraffes are in general, no bigger than the nutcrackers.

You can find Kendra at her blog and she also has an official website.

Lady Dragon, Tela Du will be coming in out in October I believe. That's two months. Which might sound like a while to wait but it will go very quickly. 

Meanwhile you can add it on Goodreads, preorder it on Amazon and if you haven't read Water Princess, Fire Prince yet, check it out. The ebook is free today. 

Also read the snippet below and the first chapter here.

The cover design was done by Kendra's cousin Benjamin Ingalls 
https://www.behance.net/BenjaminIngalls

~Snippet~

"We shall see if your words are true," said Laura, taking a step backward. The Hall rumbled, and from the floor where the Doorkeeper had stood rose a red table. Its top opened to reveal two knives, one with a blade of jade, the other of jasper.

"These are the only weapons that can pierce the immortality that shields your parents," Laura explained. "Step forth and take them up."

Amber let go of Granite's hand as they both instinctively stepped to opposite sides of the table, and did as Laura bid. Amber took the jade knife, Granite, the jasper.

"But before they can claim your parents lives, they must taste your blood, that your bond may be formed," Laura continued.

Amber gave a small gasp and glanced at Laura in a slight panic. "Blood magic? But you forbid my experimentation with this foul art!"

"Experimentation, yes, but this is no experiment," Laura answered, her voice suddenly heavy.

This is a very interesting snippet. It's actually from back thousands of years before when Amber was once good. Now she is immortal and is going to be killed. There's a connection there. I'm looking forward to finding out exactly how it ties together.

The Books I've Been Reading in 2016

I grabbed the Mid-year Book Freak Out tag from Shantelle H. The first half of the year has gone so quickly. The heading for finished handwritten first draft of Girl of the Rumours had turned into 30,000 words at about halfway. The other loose idea I had has become bigger and has the beginning of a draft. But this post is supposed to be about reading, not writing. So here it is.

Best Book You've Read So Far in 2016:

I can't answer this question. There;s so many good books. But Waking Beauty by Sarah E. Morin was a very deep thought provoking book. There's a lot about reality and escapism in there. And an unexpected allegory. It was certainly quite out of the ordinary. And the cover is beautiful.

Best Sequel You've Read So Far In 2016:

Deny by Tricia Mingerink. Despite the fact I didn't listen to it almost in one go like with the first book, I was not at all disappointed. It continued in the same high stakes, high faith, encouraging story.

New Release You Haven't Read Yet But Want To:

Defy by Tricia Mingerink. I'm waiting for it to come out in audio though. and then I'll probably wait some more, because I don't tend to buy books. But I do want to hear the next part of the story.

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year:

Lady Dragon, Tela Du, by Kendra E. Ardnek. Though I ought not care about the release so much since I'm a beta reader. What I' really waiting for is Kendra having the next part for us. And the cover reveal.

Biggest Disappointment This Year:

I really have nothing here. There have been books I haven't really liked, but they've been random books I picked up with no particular expectations.

Biggest Surprise:

Captive of Raven Castle by Jessica Greyson. I had hardly read the blurb.  So the beginning was very unexpected. The whole story had little bits I wasn't expecting. But it certainly was good. Quite thought provoking. It made me reconsider some things in my own story.

Favourite New Author of 2016:

Probably Tricia Mingerink. I didn't really read many books by new authors this year. At least not ones that stood out to me. But I did finally get to read a book by Nicole Sager. She was the first home-schooled author I heard about and probably the reason I'm writing now. But I hadn't actually read any of her book till recently. It wasn't as good some, but It was her first book and I was expecting that.

Newest Favourite Character:

Lady Rachel from Samara's Peril. And Elanor and King Balen. Also a lot of characters in Lady Dragon, Tela Du. And Shad and Jamie in Dare and Deny.

Book That Made You Cry This Year: 

I don't tend to cry while reading. I expect I have this year, but I don't remember what book caused it. I think Lady Dragon, Tela Du may have. It's an amazingly complex, emotional, unpredictable book. From what I've read so far I recommend it when it come out.

This really seems to fit that book. Not that it's got nonsense in it.

Book That Made You Happy:

Safety Assured Leaving East of Medicetti by Trish Mercer. Yes that is really the name. It's the fifth book in a series, that though I enjoy I'm not going to wholeheartedly recommend. I need to write a post about that. Anyway characters get a lot of the good and bad they deserve. And some of it is really fun. It almost overcomes the annoyance of the previous book leaving the characters in mortal danger.

Favourite Book To Film Adaption You Saw This Year:

Well, Risen is a very loose adaptation of a small portion of the Bible. Other than that I haven't seen anything.

Favourite Post You Have Done So Far This Year:

13 Things I've Learnt in a Year of Writing

Most Beautiful Book You've Bought So Far This Year:

Samara's Peril. The emotion and character trait thesaurus I got at the same time are extreme useful, but though they are somewhat pretty, I could not call them beautiful.

What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of This Year:

Well I need to read Song of the Sword by Hope Ann so I can review it. Other than that fiction isn't necessary. I want to finish The Conservative Revolution by Cori Bernardi. That will involve starting over because I've forgotten the little bit I have read. But it's only got seven chapters. Also I'd like to get as far as I can through The Institutes of Biblical Law by R. J. Rushdoony. It is thick and much denser than most of what I've read. But it's worthwhile.

Overall this year I've not read as much non-fiction as I intended. But I just grabbed a couple of history books from LibriVox.

And that is that. I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but if you want to grab this feel free. Let me know in the comments.

Beautiful People: Wil

It's time for the Beautiful People link up again. This time I'm going to interview Wil. He's made an appearance  before, here, for Kendra's Character encounters. That was quite a while ago though, and there's more to Wil than you can get out of one appearance. In fact you'll have to read the book when it's finished. So without further ado, here's the interview.

"Okay Wil, it's your turn to be interviewed for my readers."

He sighs, "Do I have to do this, mi'lady? I know I'm not the main character and I'd rather not tell everyone my secrets.

"Yes, we're doing this. Despite the fact you're not the focus of the story, you are one of my favourite characters. Anyway I won't tell Aydel, and I really doubt that the questions are about the stuff you don't want her to know"

"Who said Aydel was the one I'm keeping secrets from. It's Mim, you know that."

"Alright, Mim then, if you insist. I won't be telling anyone else in the book your answers. Now ont to the questions. Do you want to get married and/or have children? Why or why not?"

"Must I answer that?"

"Yes."

"Well then I really don't know. I'm not sure that I'd be any good. Women are hard to understand and easy to hurt. I don't wish someone like me on them."

"What is your weapon of choice?"

"I prefer the staff and the lasso. Blades can be too deadly, and are messy either way."

"What’s the nicest thing you’ve done for someone else, and why did you do it?"

"Not saying."

"Well, I will then. It's taking care of Elind and Mim. You tell them why."

"They needed me and no one else did."

"Have you ever been physically violent with someone, and what instigated it?"

"I have. I probably shouldn't have, but he was being foolish and had hurt someone."

"I'm not going to bother asking you to tell them who 'he' is. Are you a rule-follower or a rebel?"

"Neither. I don't conform societally, but neither do I try to change the rules. Laws exist for a good reason. Armed rebellion is wrong."

"Are you organized or messy?"

"Usually organized."

"What makes you feel loved, and who was the last person to make you feel that way?"

"Come on, you can't really expect me to answer that question."

"But I do."

"Well if you substitute valued for loved it would be easier. I like it when people actually listen, when they're interested in what I say. Most people just don't get the point and I wonder why I bother."

"What do you eat for breakfast?"

"About the same as everyone else."

"Have you ever lost someone close to you? What happened?"

Will grins.

"Therin decided to go exploring on his own. It took me a couple of hours to find him. He'd fallen in a stream and gotten all wet."

"You know that wasn't what I meant."

"Well it's the only answer you're getting."

"What’s your treat of choice?"

"Silence. people talk too much."

"We both know that's not entirely true. But that's the end of the questions so I'll leave you alone now."

Just so you know Wil has a fairly low opinion of himself, and he wasn't in the best spirits at the time of this interview. In fact he probably never will be in an interview. I know too much and questions can be awkward. Someday I'll have to post a snippet with him being his cheerful, courteous self.

So what do you all think of the gallant knight of my story? (Not that Wil is an actual knight, in fact he is quite insistent on that fact.) But that's a part he plays in my mind. 

10 Book Series I Read as a Child

Hello readers,

I though I'd tell you about the book series that influenced me growing up. I did tend to read in series a lot. Also I would read the same authors over and over again. I was always hesitant to read something knew nothing about.

1. Little House on the Prairie
   

I believe my mother first read these to us. I've always like any kind of pioneer story and this may have contributed to that. Later on I read the Rose years, and whichever of the Caroline years I was able to get from the library or borrow from friends.


2. Sugar Creek Gang

These would probably be called ' boys books'. There are very few girls who appear. It's all boys having adventures and getting into trouble. But the first one or two were required reading for school work. After that I didn't stop. I suspect some of my scenery and action is unintentionally inspired by these books. And in theory it would be a good resource for writing male characters. And they're good Christian books.


3. Swallows and Amazons
   

These books were written by Arthur Ransome. They have lots of sailing and children having imaginative adventures. And of course real adventures. I still like them. The children are resourceful, and mostly responsible. They respect their parents even though they're not around a lot.


4. The Famous Five

You're probably starting to see that I read a lot of adventure books. I like the simplicity of older books and the way children make their own fun. I realized pretty quickly that it was unrealistic for the same kids to all be having adventures, but I still liked them. I would like to imagine that if I found myself in a similar situation, I would know what to do.



5. Sisters in Time

Historical fiction about different girls through time. In the past a lot of my knowledge of American history came from these. The series is written by a lot of different authors and each book covers a year. I especially like how in most of the books the girl have a brother or a male cousin who was a main character. In a couple of books I think it was more his book than hers. Many of the characters are great role models, and many of them are more mature than kids these day. Even though I'm older than the 12 or 13 of the main characters I can still relate to their situations.


6. The Secret Seven
   

Yes, more Enid Blyton. I read a lot of her books back in the day. I have fond memories of some of the silly passwords of the Seven, the trouble they kept bumping into and the word 'delumptious'. And I liked how this series fitted in with their ever day lives. It wasn’t just about things that happened in the school holidays. Or like some other series of hers, a boarding school story. I actually like her boarding school storied though.


7. The Chronicles of Narnia

We read these as a family. Then we listen to the audio dramas as a family and watched the movies as a family. It's a series we all know and love and can reference. Narnia was the only fantasy I read when I was younger.


8. The Borrowers
   

This series is about the little people who live secretly in parts of old country houses. They are why you always loose small items, such as bobby pins paper clips. Those items have been borrowed. I think my imagination was stimulated by these books. For a time I was even friend with a few imaginary borrowers. And just think of the possibilities. If you were only a few inches tall how would you cook, what would you eat, what would you wear, how would you protect yourself? The questions are endless and one you have to ask in constructing any imaginary world.


9. The complete Elsie Dinsmore Classics

I used to love these books and the accompanying Mildred Keith books. They were a huge part of my life. I read them so many times and made a very detailed and complex family tree. (I could give a link to anyone who is interested.) Though I could still tell you exactly what the family connection between Lulu Raymond and Percy Landreth is, I'm rather tired of them now. I see some of the faults in the series that I didn't see when I was younger. And I've realized that her view of history isn't the only one out there. I still love a couple of Martha Finley's other little known books though.


10. The Silver Brumby Books
    

These are Australian classics about brumbies,wild horses. There are very few humans in these books, so it gives a picture of a completely different society, Families work differently with horses. Instead of the term father and mother, you have sire and dam. I made a bit of a family tree for this too. These books along with some others by Elyne Mitchell that do have humans, were one of the main things that made me consider writing Australian historical fiction instead of fantasy. The terrain is so amazing. There is lots of hiding from other horses and from the brumby hunters going on. And that would fit well with Girl of the Rumours.

So that's what I read. I also read a lot of standalone books, and probably a few other series that I've forgotten to mention. Is there anything here other people have loved? Or something you're surprised that I didn't read? Tell me.

MYSR: The Five Unnecessaries

Hi everyone, I have another book recommendation.

The Five Unnecessaries is book one of the 27th Protector series, by Laura Campbell. I found it simply amazing. It's a book that deseveres to be better known.

This book would appeal to those who like dystopian. It's not a traditional dystopian though. The main character doesn't live in that bad a place, and those that do... haven't realized it. But it is bad, scarily bad in that I can see our society slipping into this place. This is its blurb.

I am Aislyn. These are the sad facts of my world. Any child born in the Republic who is unscheduled, imperfect, or inconvenient is labeled an Unnecessary. Any pregnant woman, or Vessel, is targeted as an enemy of the state for harboring an Unnecessary. Their only hope is to be rescued by a Protector, one of 26 girls trained to infiltrate the Republic and get them safely back to the Territory. These girls are chosen because they are strong, smart, and heroic. They train for years in medicine, technology, physical agility, and espionage. They never choose girls like me. Except…they did. I am a threat and a risk because I don't comply with the rules and expectations. I am a target because the Republic is more determined than ever to destroy anyone who crosses the border. I think my trainer has a secret. I am the 27th Protector of the 188th generation, and I’m terrified I will fail.

So Aislyn trains, Eventually she passes her exams and it is time to go. Into the Republic, risking her life. She finds an Unnecessary to take back with her. She is caught. But the guard lets her go. And she doesn't know why.

This is not one of those books with a blatant Christian message, in fact there's not a single bible verse that I can remember. However what it does have is a powerful message about the sanctity of life, and about what we can do. Even if we feel powerless, God can use anyone to show his love. We just have to be alive enough to make a difference. To show the world that there are no unnecessaries.

It is a truly beautiful story, One that almost made me cry. (And that's not easy to do.) There are so many profound statements in it. And just the way things are described, it pulled me in and made me feel like I was really there. (Except for the occasionally editing mistake that distracted me.) The first line is one of those beautiful memorable ones. "Grey shouldn't be a color. It's a void."

It's realistic. Even gritty on occasion. The Republic is a decadent society and that does come into the story, but not to much. Just enough to show what it is like, but not enough that it would bother squeamish people. Though some of the medical stuff might, There's blood and people dying, Emergency c-sections and stuff like that.

Aislyn is a character I can relate to well. She isn't anyone special, despite having to do a very difficult job. And she has just as much trouble coping as anyone would. And the other characters, they vary a lot and there is great development. We don't get to know all 27 protectors, but the ones that do appear are wonderful.(Or not as is suitable) Brie is highly committed and caring with a tragic backstory, Tessa wants to be the best protector ever, Megan is the only person her father has left and Eva is so young and scatter brained. Then there is Eldrige, Commander Patterson, Collin and other trainers and the tech guys. And people in the republic.

A few of my favourite lines, just to give you an idea of  some of the characters and the writing.

Eva: "So 'yay' for incomprehensible circumstances that point out the incompetence of underdeveloped legislature. Candy?"

Patterson: "Never apologize for seeing beauty. In fact, you will need to, or you will likely go mad from everything else you have to deal with."

Eldridge: "My dear, I am slightly important or so I have been told. I'm technically running a county and an undercover operation to steal forsaken children, however unnecessary they are deemed to be. This does come with some competition for my time. But when you can track me down, Please do. Being in charge also gives one some clout to do things like choose 27th Protectors and talk to them when I want."

Cassidy: "I knew you were gonna be fun"

Brie: "Do you remember when I said that nothing could ever make me hate them more?" "I was wrong."

And I think that's enough. There's a sequel, The First Traitor. It's on my wishlist. Let me know what you think if you decide to check it out.

Samara's Peril Blog Tour: Review and Interview

Hey people,

Jaye L. Knight’s newest novel, Samara’s Peril, has been released! I got a chance to read the book for review and to interview Jaye. And she's doing a lovely giveaway. Don't forget to check that out below.

About the Book

Samara’s Peril is the third book in the Christian fantasy series, Ilyon Chronicles

When news arrives that Emperor Daican has been in contact with his chief war strategist, it signals potential doom for the country of Samara. Determined to intervene, the resistance in Landale, headed by Lady Anne, embark on a covert mission in hopes of unearthing further information. However, a shocking discovery leads to complications no one could have foreseen.

Armed with their newfound knowledge, they set out for Samara to warn the king. War is inevitable, and they must face two desperate battles—one on the walls of Samara’s great stronghold, and the other on the battlefield of Jace’s heart, where victory might only be achievable through great sacrifice.

Available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks!

Add to Goodreads

My review

Samara's Peril is excellently written as all Jaye's books are. She continues to tell a story of amazing faith through trials. But the struggles that are faced are not ignored either.

This book surprised me a lot. It went places I didn't expect it to go yet. This is the turning point of the series and certainly in Jace's life. The way Jaye went about bringing him to a place of stable faith is amazing, and there was great development of the other main characters. And even minor characters weren't dropped, but instead came up naturally. I didn't have any trouble with following what was going on.

Also there are some amazing new characters introduced. Some lovely, and others perfectly despicable. I am looking forward to seeing more of them. The King of Samara is such a contrast to Emperor Daican. A humble servant king.

There were some great interaction between Kyrin and her brothers. This book has family as a big part of it. It's lovely.

I don't think it's my favourite so far in the series, but I did have a great big smile on my face for several days after. Though it wasn't quite what I was expecting, the first part of the book especially was amazing. Not that the second part wasn't good, it was, but sometimes I like my ideas of what could have happened better than the author's.

Samara's Peril does have some mature themes, perhaps more than the previous books, but they are dealt with very gently. There is violence, but never without a reason for it to appear. It just shows how bad evil is and the reality of war. I think that there is actually somewhat less than the previous books, despite there being more fighting. Those people who hating kissing in books, might be annoyed. There is one kiss, rather impulsive and not in detail, but a source of surprising controversy. Also there are a few non descriptive sexual references.

If you love Resistance and the King's Scrolls you should read this continuation. I wish I could say you'll love it, but there have been mixed opinions.  If you haven't read them I would recommend them for about 16 up and you certainty need to begin with Resistance.

(I find it hard to write an interesting, sensible, and spoiler free review. It's hard to talk about it without going into specifics and that would give things away. Especially in this book.)

My Interview with Jaye

Me: Who was your favourite author as a child?

Jaye: My all-time favorite would have to be Jeanne Betancourt, author of the Pony Pals series. I was your typical horse crazy girl and most of the books I read were horse stories. Hers were always my favorite. Even now, I’m working on completing my collection of them because they were such a big part of my childhood.

Me: What was your favourite school subject?

Jaye: History. It was always the most enjoyable for me. I probably retained more of what I learned during our history lessons than I did from any other subject.

Me: I love history too. Learning about the past is the best way to understand the present.
What was the hardest part about writing Samara's Peril?

Jaye: Probably the intense emotion in it. It’s a very emotional and heavy book at times, and as a writer, you really try to put yourself in your characters’ heads. About the time I started the second half of the book, I went through a period of about a week and a half where I was having bad anxiety attacks and felt like Satan was really trying to sabotage the story. That was definitely the hardest part.

Me: That does sound very hard.
Do you ever cry while writing?

Not easily, but yes, sometimes. I actually cried several time while working on the death scene of a particular character in The King’s Scrolls.

Me: I can complete understand that. I'd almost be worried if you hadn't. It's the probably the saddest thing I've read of yours. (Almost because I didn't quite cry myself. Conflict is more likely to make me cry.)
Do you have any plans for books after the Ilyon Chronicles are finished?

Jaye: Too many. :P Yeah, I have quite a few projects floating around in my mind. The biggest question is always which one will be next. I think I’ve narrowed it down to one smaller project that seems to be demanding to be written. It’s a fairy tale retelling, which is something I never thought I’d get into, but the story just showed up and won’t leave me alone. After that, I have an assassin trilogy that has been on hold for several years now. Maybe it finally be time to get back at it.

Me: I love fairytale retellings.
How does the reality of being an author compare with your dreams?

Jaye: Well, it’s a lot more work than you dream it will be! A lot of the time, I’m so busy doing the work part of it that I feel like I don’t even have time to write. That can be frustrating. But, on the flip side, it is also pretty amazing. I’m still shocked when I find out about an award or get a message from a reader about how much they loved my book.

Me: I'm beginning to see how much work it is myself. Just basic life sometimes takes up a lot of time. Just writing this post took me a while. I really appreciate the time you have put into this blog tour.

About Jaye

Jaye L. Knight is an award-winning author, homeschool graduate, and shameless tea addict with a passion for Christian fantasy. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Etsy.

She is also one of the writers I look up to the most. She started this when she was younger than I am and has shown me how hard work and dedication can bring great improvement in one's writing.

Check out the rest of the stops on the blog tour at: http://jayelknight.blogspot.com/p/samaras-peril- blog-tour.html

Share in the excitement of the release and enter to win a themed giveaway pack! Prizes include an autographed copy of Samara’s Peril, a John 3:16 necklace by FaithWearDesigns, and a green wire dragon bookmark by Wirelings! (Giveaway is open to US residents only. Cannot be shipped internationally.)

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