Hank Quense Discusses the Importance of Scene Settings @hanque99 #WriteTip #Fantasy #Humor

Why choosing your setting is important

A setting for a new story is one of the earliest attributes I assign. I need the setting on order to develop the rest of the story design elements. More about the story design elements later. There are two separate types of setting in a story. One is the overall setting such as a Medieval kingdom or Victorian London or an alien planet. The second type of setting is a subset of the overall setting and this second tip is used in scenes. Thus, scenes set in Victorian London could include a private men’s club, a private home, the docks on the Thames, and the London Bridge. All of these are readily identified as part of the London overall setting. It is an essential requirement of the story that the scene settings be consistent with the overall setting. For instance, if the scene on London Bridge includes modern automobiles, the reader will have a difficult time suspending belief.

In other words, choosing a setting limits what the writer can do and it also limits the characters. Likewise, a character in the Medieval kingdom setting can’t use Kung Fu to disarm an opponent. Using Victorian London as the story setting will require research in order to write convincingly about it. However, since no one is alive who lived during that era, the author has a bit of leeway in describing the setting. That’s not true if the writer uses a modern setting. If the writer gets the details wrong, some readers will call him on the mistakes.

I live outside New York City and I love to visit Central Park. I’ve used the Park as a scene setting in a few stories. In one story, the climax took place in the Park at a spot that includes Cleopatria’s Needle, an Egyptian obelisk. The story called for characters to be dropped off on the east side of the Park (5th Avenue) and go through the Park to get to the obelisk. To ensure accuracy, I went to the Park and walked the route my characters would take. I also took pictures to ensure I wrote the details correctly.

If you haven’t been to Central Park, don’t try to use it in a scene, it’s unique. In similar fashion, don’t write about San Francisco’s Chinatown unless you’ve been there and are familiar with the area.

I’ve written a number of scenes in a fantasy city called Dun Hythe. I picture the seaport as resembling Quebec City. This city has two parts called the Lower and Upper towns. The Lower Town is along the St. Laurence River and extends back a few hundred yards. The Upper Town is atop a rock palisade a hundred feet or more high. My Dun Hythe is constructed similarly and I have photos to took while in Quebec so I get the details correct.

Do you enjoy untypical coming-of-age stories? Well, you won’t find one more untypical than Moxie’s Problem. Moxie is an obnoxious, teen-age princess who has never been outside her father’s castle. Until now. The real world is quite different and she struggles to come to grips with reality. The story takes place against a backdrop of Camelot. But it isn’t the Camelot of legends. It’s Camelot in a parallel universe. So, all bets are off!

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Fantasy, Sci-fi

Rating – G

More details about the author

Connect with Hank Quense through Facebook & Twitter

Website http://hank-quense.com/wp/

LICHGATES: Grimoire Saga Book One by @TheSMBoyce #AmReading #Fantasy #GoodReads

The king returned to his throne and bellowed his next words so that they reverberated off the walls of the cavernous hall.

“Stand and accept what you were born to be, my son.”

“Never.”

“Like I said, it’s not a choice.”

Carden reached toward him and clenched his hand into a fist. Braeden’s stomach tightened, as if his father had reached into his gut and squeezed. He curled over himself, stifling the agonizing yell in his throat.

The king twisted his hand and opened his palm, where sparks snapped and fizzled. Braeden’s muscles tore at the movement. Popping noises surged along his biceps and neck. His veins chilled and slowed. He unconsciously stood at a twitch of Carden’s finger. Braeden’s grip on his form was slipping. Smoke escaped his pores. Organs shifted. He screamed in pain until a heavy weight fell on his chest and closed his throat.

“Screams are for the weak,” Carden said.

The weight eased off Braeden’s lungs, letting him sink back to the floor as the internal tearing and popping stopped. The staggering numbness returned. His cuffs twisted as he moved, and searing fire coursed through his veins. Tremors pulsed through him.

Carden scowled from his chair, and the green lizard from earlier peered from the shadows beside the throne. Its outline blurred for a moment, but returned to normal so quickly that Braeden questioned what he’d seen.

It flickered again, more prominently this time.

Dark lines melted around its face. It grew taller, its skin stretching and pouring into the space around it. In a matter of seconds, the lizard filled the massive hall as it transformed into a dragon.

Braeden’s mouth went dry.

The dragon reared its head above the stunned hall and roared. The creature’s tail landed squarely on Carden’s chest, sending him flying into a support column by the main entry. The pillar crumbled on top of the king, burying him, and the dome it supported shattered. The dragon thrashed its wings against the walls by the thrones. Chunks of black marble pummeled downward, cracking the polished floor. Glass rained down on the cloaked subjects. A stampede began for the door.

A new, shriller roar echoed through the great hall, shooting chills through Braeden’s body. A red dragon with a long black stripe down its spine stood over Kara, baring its thick teeth. One dragon was bad enough, but two would be unstoppable. He tried to stand, to run, to possibly escape and at minimum find cover, but one of the spikes shifted and lodged into his bone. The pain buckled his knees.

Another patch in the ceiling crumbled. Pebbles and thick shards of painted glass showered to the floor. What yakona remained fled. Braeden grit his teeth, forced himself to his feet, and staggered to the edge of the hall.

Two thick claws engulfed him, pulling him into the air and pressing the spikes deeper into his hands with a single, deft motion. He cried out as the throbbing agony pulsed through his arms. Shimmering green scales blotted out the sky. The red dragon appeared in the air beside them, Kara tucked away in its claws.

The familiar weight of his father’s control returned on Braeden’s chest. Hatred coursed through his mind like a fever. He turned to the floor. Carden lay trapped beneath the rubble, a shredded look of fury consuming his gray face, and Braeden lost himself to the final ounces of his father’s remaining energy.

Kill the dragon, he was told. Rip it apart. Return.

He writhed, consumed by his father’s commands, but the green dragon clutched him tighter until the pain of the poisoned cuffs outweighed even his father’s will. He dangled in the dragon’s claws and watched the Stele recede from sight.

“The writing is flawless. The kingdoms and surrounding landscapes breathtaking. The Grimoire is a piece of imaginative genius that bedazzles from the moment Kara falls into the land of Ourea. – Nikki Jefford, author of the Spellbound Trilogy

Spring 2013 Rankings

#6 Kindle Store | #1 Science Fiction & Fantasy | #1 Epic Fantasy | #1 Sword & Sorcery | #1 Teens

Now an international Amazon bestseller. Fans of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Eragon will enjoy this contemporary remix of the classic epic fantasy genre.

—————-

Kara Magari is about to discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things: Ourea.

Kara, a college student still reeling from her mother’s recent death, has no idea the hidden world of Ourea even exists until a freak storm traps her in a sunken library. With nothing to do, she opens an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly becomes its master, which means Kara now wields the cursed book’s untamed power. Discovered by Ourea’s royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a generations-old conflict – a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of chilling creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn’t trust anyone… but she’s being hunted and can’t survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a native soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though she doesn’t know it, her growing attraction to him may just be her undoing.

For twelve years, Braeden Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. Though he begins to care for this human girl, there is something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.

Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.

—————-

Novels in the Grimoire Saga:

Lichgates (#1)

Treason (#2)

Heritage (#3) – Available Fall 2013

Illusion (#4) – Available Fall 2014

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Fantasy

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

 Connect with SM Boyce on Facebook & Twitter & Pinterest

#TimeTravel & More with @PMPillon's THE REALITY MASTER (Vol.1) #SciFi #YA

ARRIVAL

On a cool and clear night, a sheer and towering cliff awaited its approaching moment to become the temporary abode of a celestial interloper. It stood stoic, unimpressed by the clamorous sea imperiously fulminating with an incessant barrage of waves against its base. A stone’s throw away was the exit point of an effluent stream, a capillary of the fecund land mass it flowed through. With the aid of a clear sky and a full moon, a distant horizon was visible in every direction; ocean filling the entire sight in one, verdant and untrammeled panoplies of mountain forest in another. A hundred miles of this California Big Sur coast and its regions to the east were in virtually pristine condition, more than two hundred thousand acres with relatively few human inhabitants.
Inland, the luminescence of moon and stars bestowed an unfettered. evergreen view of redwoods, maples, pines, firs and oaks. Flying about the natural paradise were raucous jays, crows, magpies and woodpeckers. Invisible in the shimmering light, a sonorous ocean air swept in from the west, rustling the trees; a natural refrain emanating from their dancing, undulating branches and leaves, increasing and decreasing in compliance with the invading force. The wind’s voice eerily equivocated, fluctuating back and forth from a bare whisper to an angry, frightening ululation of dominant abandon; now gradually quieting, at last dying, only to be reborn and assiduously grow unto a mature and bellowing rage. Animals added their sounds to the holistic cacophony: a bark, a howl, a burst through bushes, crackling twigs and branches stepped on or dragged. The stars were in full bloom, complimenting the moon to illuminate the peaks, the canyons, and all within.
One of the star lights was moving, and as it came nearer the earth, it grew in size until was clear that it was not a star but a far smaller, soaring, perhaps piloted, object. As it came into the atmosphere, it developed color – an orange tint. A few hundred feet from the ground, it stopped and remained in place for more than an hour. Finally, a smaller light emerged from it, and the larger light rose again until it disappeared. The new light was purposeful, changing directions as it descended. It floated down and meandered among the trees as though surveying the scenery, until eventually it traveled westward, following a gushing stream to its merger with the ocean. Hovering above the beach, the light hesitated, then floated into a crack on a shrubbery-laden boulder that was lodged partway up the cliff next to the stream, as though perching there for a view of magnificent sunsets. The object continued to glow for some minutes, its light gradually diminishing and finally extinguishing completely. Someone who saw it at close range would describe it as small and round, and maybe add that it looked for all the world to be nothing more than an ordinary stone.

His celestial companion was waiting for him

Precariously climbing a sea-side cliff near Big Sur, ten-year-old Joey Blake was as yet unaware that near his grasp was an object, so odd, mysterious and alien to earth that it would change his life forever and the lives of countless others in the next few astonishing days. Reaching up as far as he could for a handhold it was just there; it had subconsciously lured him, occupied his mind, and made him find it. It was like he was meant to see and discover this object of unimaginable power … the power to change reality.

Time travel and more

This young adult series of sci-fi fantasy novels begins with The Reality Master and continues through four other exciting and amazing stories about time travel and mysterious alien devices. Joey and the reader will face dangerous shadowy criminal organizations, agents of the NSA, bizarre travelers from other times and even renegade California bikers and scar-faced walking dead.

- Vol 1 The Reality Master
- Vol 2 Threat To The World
- Vol 3 Travel Beyond
- Vol 4 Missions Through Time
- Vol 5 The Return Home

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy, Young adult

Rating – G

More details about the author

Connect with PM Pillon on Facebook & Twitter

The House by Sebastiana Randone #Fantasy #Historical #Fiction

ONCE UPON OUR time, there existed an abundant, sagacious old wood, where misshapen time gambolled capriciously within the hidden furrows of memory.

In the distance of this abundant wood roamed a young woman, whose disheveled state painted a dramatic image of distress.  For the torn black silky night gown that hung precariously on her slight frame, told immediately, that this excursion was not deliberate in nature.

As she continued on a pathway, that to a willing visitor would have delighted, her confusion was made evident by erratic movement. With dark probing eyes darting to and fro upon the foreign landscape, she held onto her arms tightly as coarse scrub scratched against her weary body.

A plethora of wispy ferns surrounded the path, the gossamer foliage of which glistened through cylindrical shafts of light. But with shadows in pursuit, the busy wood sang in a cacophony of scurrying birds, warning of night’s entrance. Gazing up, she saw a remote and distant sky, the blue horizon so unfathomable, that it could have been a faraway sea.

Thus resignedly, with legs heavily fatigued, she sallied forth, like a somnambulist along an unchartered route. With only time, illusive as the mist of a fleeting lover, by her side.

From afar, suddenly a figure appeared. The desire for illumination prompted the desperate woman to cry out, but her voice would not travel. Again she tried and again, but to no avail. It was as if she was trapped within a nightmare, where fear itself had intervened and stymied all chance for salvation.

Jumping up and down, frantically waving her arms about, she attempted to attract the young man’s attention, only to fail, for he continued in the opposite direction. While a mass of thorny, impenetrable scrub prevented her from following him. So helpless she remained, observing the surreal character drift along.

Appareled in historical costume from a period long gone, and resembling a character from a Georgian novel, he wore a bright burgundy velvet coat, the colour of which was intensified by a contrasting pearly satin brocaded waistcoat. With a cravat wrapped up to the chin, tight cream britches, and black riding boots, he radiated a physical beauty that defied gender. Tall and svelte, his fair long hair framed eyes that emulated a clear blue sky.

But completely oblivious to her pleas, he continued on, with his concentrated focus, much to the desperate woman’s chagrin, looking forward.

Shaking her head in silent despair, breathlessly she watched on, as the ethereal figure floated further, and further away, until disappearing completely into the arcane forest.

The House is an adult fairy tale rich in mystery and intrigue.

Here is a tale of a woman so absorbed with historical novels that her own reality ceases to offer any hope of romance and beauty.

Until one day this dreamy idealist finds herself in a mysterious forest. How she arrived there is unknown. Soon she encounters a dilapidated house, within whose ancient walls magical rooms that transport to parallel worlds lie in wait.  There she is transmigrated to 18th century England, where our heroine interacts with an odd mix of characters whose dysfunctional lives become immediately apparent.

Her first tribulation involves a nefarious lord, an archetype of the monstrous characters one encounters in fairy tales. The ramification from this confrontation sets the tone for the narrative.

A magic portal finally enables escape from the austere Georgian dwelling. She is then spirited back to the enigmatic house, and a journey to Regency London follows, where a large cast of eccentric identities present themselves.

Late one night, following a long stay in Florence, a young, heart-broken poet arrives. His introduction to the beautiful time traveller offers promise of restoration and love. But there are several more obstacles ahead before her destiny in this curious adventure is made apparent.

In the end an unexpected twist is revealed. But like all good fairy tales, this surprising conclusion is pleasing, even though the means of getting there are dark, and at times sinister.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Createspace

Genre - Historical, Fantasy, Romance

Rating - PG-16

More details about the author

Connect with Sebastiana Randone on Facebook & Twitter

S.M. Boyce on Inspiration, Writing & Relaxing @TheSMBoyce #Fantasy #GoodReads #TBR

Location and life experiences can really influence writing, can you tell us where you grew up and where you live now?
I split my young-adulthood between Central Maryland and Tallahassee, Florida. Starkly different places. I now live just outside of Washington D.C.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Life. Earth has so many incredible places, people, and creatures that it keeps me busy. Everywhere I go, I daydream about the people I see and wonder what their lives are like. That alone gets me tons of stories, but I also love to find beautiful and crazy pictures.

Do you plan to publish more books?
Yes! I have so many more stories to tell. I’m finishing up the Grimoire Saga and then I have a spin-off series that will tell the stories of some of the Grimoire Saga characters. After that, I’ve got other fun stuff planned for readers—including urban fantasy fairytales and even paranormal horror.

What else do you do to make money, other than write?
I own an online Marketing Maven and Virtual Assistant company called Montee Marketing. It’s loads of fun, and I help both entrepreneurs and authors establish powerful online presences and websites. I love it!

What other jobs have you had in your life?
Quite a few, actually. Diamond sales, software testing, management, retail (I sold candles!). But writing, marketing, and coaching are my favorite jobs. I love what I do.

When you are not writing, how do you like to relax?
I like to watch ghost shows. My current favorite is Paranormal Witness. Whenever I watch TV or a movie at home, I also like to wire wrap pendants. Some are even for sale in my store.

How do you feel about social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter? Are they a good thing?
I think they are because I can connect with fans. They allow us authors to truly meet and greet our fanbase on an international level—it’s astounding and I love it. Twitter is my favorite, but I think that both of them are excellent tools for any author to use. As long as they are used wisely, they can be a great asset.

“The writing is flawless. The kingdoms and surrounding landscapes breathtaking. The Grimoire is a piece of imaginative genius that bedazzles from the moment Kara falls into the land of Ourea. – Nikki Jefford, author of the Spellbound Trilogy

Spring 2013 Rankings

#6 Kindle Store | #1 Science Fiction & Fantasy | #1 Epic Fantasy | #1 Sword & Sorcery | #1 Teens

Now an international Amazon bestseller. Fans of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Eragon will enjoy this contemporary remix of the classic epic fantasy genre.

—————-

Kara Magari is about to discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things: Ourea.

Kara, a college student still reeling from her mother’s recent death, has no idea the hidden world of Ourea even exists until a freak storm traps her in a sunken library. With nothing to do, she opens an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly becomes its master, which means Kara now wields the cursed book’s untamed power. 

Discovered by Ourea’s royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a generations-old conflict – a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of chilling creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn’t trust anyone… but she’s being hunted and can’t survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a native soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though she doesn’t know it, her growing attraction to him may just be her undoing.

For twelve years, Braeden Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. Though he begins to care for this human girl, there is something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.

Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.

—————-

Novels in the Grimoire Saga:

Lichgates (#1)

Treason (#2)

Heritage (#3) – Available Fall 2013

Illusion (#4) – Available Fall 2014

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Fantasy

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

 Connect with SM Boyce on Facebook & Twitter & Pinterest

The Soul of the World (Legends of Amun Ra #2) by @jg_silverman #SciFi #Fantasy #MustRead

Kem dives to the ground in desperation, covering his head and neck from the rocks raining down. I didn’t see that coming. I thought I was quiet, he thinks.

The announcement of Cadmus’ elimination booms over the intercom. Well, at least I don’t have to worry about a vengeful brother.

The dust and debris settle from the crumbled wall. Find Kesi. Kem trots towards the end of the path. Before he gets there, he sees a shadow along the wall.

Dio turns the corner and spots him. She’s already throwing blue spheres before he knows what happened.

Kem hits the floor hard, dodging the first two. Dio hurls more at him.

His heart beats like a jackhammer in his chest. He is covered in dirt and sand. Kem swerves left, then right, ducking from a shot aimed at his head. He looks back at Dio, who walks with determination, shooting at him. Will she not let up a little? Got to slow her down.

Buy Here

Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy

Rating – PG-13+

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Joshua Silverman on Facebook & Twitter

Website www.legendsofamunra.com; www.joshuagsilverman.com

The Curse Giver by Dora Machado @DoraMachado #Fantasy #PNR #GoodReads

Chapter Eleven

THE MAN CRAMMED IN THE COFFIN with Lusielle wasn’t much for words. Talking to a toad would have bettered her chances to learn something pertinent, let alone helpful. A toad would have been more forthcoming and less irritating as well.

She didn’t give a hoot about highborn and their bloody quarrels. After all, the highborn had been plotting against each other for centuries. But if she was going to escape with her life, if she was going to survive her plight, she needed to understand what the Lord of Laonia wanted and why. Her life depended on her wits.

“Word in the kingdom is that Laonians are warmongers,” she said.

A snort. “That’s what Riva would like for you to believe.”

“He’s sent away a lot of able men and women to repel Laonian raids.”

“Have you considered it could be the other way around?”

“Why would we want to attack you?”

“I’m not having this discussion with you.”

How wrong he was. “We’ve heard rumors of a few little skirmishes at the river borders over the years,” Lusielle said.

The man’s body tensed in the darkness. “Skirmishes?”

“King Riva always wins.”

“Ha!”

“Ha?”

“Do you always believe everything that Riva says?”

“Nobody challenges King Riva and lives.”

“Riva rules over a bunch of fools.”

“The kingdom’s cemeteries are seeded with his opponents’ tombstones.”

“He’s a man, not a god,” the lord said.

“And yet he can’t be defeated.”

“Of course he can be defeated. My father defeated him in battle twice, thirty years ago and then again twenty years ago. And less than two years ago, I repelled a full scale invasion at the Narrows.”

“You did?”

“The tyrant can be defeated. Laonia has seen to that.”

Lusielle was hard pressed to believe what the lord was saying, and yet she had to admit that some of what he said made sense. There had been rumors. Thousands of troops had never returned from the river borders. Sons and daughters forsook their mothers for good. Husbands and wives went missing en masse. Food had grown scarce. Even horses had been difficult to find.

Had the king managed to conceal a major defeat from his subjects? Was the Lord of Laonia telling the truth?

She had never heard anyone else speak ill of King Riva, let alone challenge him openly. Everyone she knew was afraid of Riva. Not even the kingdom’s highborn dared to call the king a tyrant aloud.

The Lord of Laonia might be short of words and quick to anger, but these days, a man had to be very brave to speak as he did.

Award-Winning Finalist in the fantasy category of The 2013 USA Best Book Awards, sponsored by USA Book News

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Fantasy/Dark Fantasy

Rating – PG-18

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Dora Machado on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.doramachado.com/

#Author Joshua Silverman & Researching Greek Mythology @jg_silverman #fantasy #mustread

Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it?

The Soul of the World is the second book of the Legends of Amun Ra universe. It continues where book one, The Emerald Tablet, left off. Soul is about Leoros’ struggling to deal with his emotions after the end of The Emerald Tablet. It’s also about the other survivors, who must face the consequences of their actions.

How much research was involved on Ancient Greece and Egyptian Mythology?

Tons. I've always read a lot of history, given that it has been a huge hobby of mine. But I became much more involved when I started writing the series. You have a certain amount of freedom as a writer, but that doesn't mean you can write whatever you want. It has to make sense for not just the story itself, but the world you are creating. I probably ended up reading about 20 books or more for research. I use about 3-5 consistently for reference. Those 5 books are right next to my bed at all times full of notes, highlights, and page markers.

What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?

I kind of joke that if you can’t write a novel, then you shouldn’t be an author (assuming you want to write for a profession and not a hobby). To me, the writing is the easiest part – it only gets more difficult from there. Getting a publisher is ten times harder than writing your manuscript. Selling your book is ten times harder still. One only needs to go to a used bookstore to see how many authors got published but failed to sell. You don’t see the best books on used bookshelves.

What marketing works for you?

Facebook and conventions. I meet so many people at shows that the face-to-face interaction is invaluable.

How do you feel about social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter? Are they a good thing?

Personally I don’t think Twitter is all it’s cracked up to be. It’s become a ‘follow me and I’ll follow you’ platform where authors spam their books more than convey meaningful information.

It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign?

We do a fair amount of social media. I’ve done TV and radio interviews. But, because we’re in science-fiction and fantasy genre, I go to a lot of comic book conventions (even though a lot of them don’t read non-illustrated books by definition).

How often do you write? And when do you write?

I aim for 1,000 words per day. But sometimes, with a busy schedule and lots of traveling, I don’t always hit that quota. So I have a 1,000 words per day or 7,000 words per week rule. If I miss a day (or four), I have to make up those words on the weekend.

How did you develop your writing?

As uncomplicated as it sounds, I read a lot and I wrote a lot. That’s the only real way to do it.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Mostly historical events or myths.

Have you met any people in the industry who have really helped you?

Yes, tons of people. Networking is very important. Sometimes, the best information is a closely guarded secret and you have to know the right people to find the right deals.

How do you think people perceive writers?

Probably that we lounge around all day in our pajamas when really we’re stressing over not having a clever enough idea, writer’s block, or even finding time to write in the first place.

How do you feel about self-publishing?

I think for the most part, self-published authors tend to sacrifice quality for cost. They don’t think spending a few thousand dollars on a good editor is worth it, hoping their friend, who was an English major, is good enough. Or they buy stock photo images for their book covers instead of something custom. It’s one of the reasons self-published authors rarely make more than $500 a year by selling their books. On the other hand, if you want to publish your book just to say you’ve published something and not try to make it a career or business, then self-publishing is a great, cost effective way to accomplish that.

The ancient powers lost to Potara have returned. The Brotherhood of the Black Rose rises to bring Thoth into disorder. And, while the Brotherhood reclaims their power, chaos reigns among the survivors. Six individuals have emerged from the aftermath struggling for control over their lives and a divided land. Kem and Shirin, who abolished the five thousand year reign of the Amun Priests, rule from the golden throne of the Oracle’s Chair in the Hall of the Nine. Dio and Axios struggle to piece together a resistance worthy to challenge the ancient magic which resides in the Great Temple of Amun, and Leoros and Atlantia try to remain true to their hearts and their cause despite tragedy.

But when the Book of Breathings is discovered, the path to immortality is revealed. Leoros and Kem race to capture the Soul of the World unaware of the challenges awaiting them. This time, the gods themselves will intervene.

In a tale where boys become men and girls become women, where treachery and deception are around every corner, and where primeval mysticism finds its way back from the grave, victory is reserved for neither the good nor the evil, but the powerful.

Buy Here

Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy

Rating – PG-13+

More details about the author

Connect with Joshua Silverman on Facebook & Twitter

Website www.legendsofamunra.com; www.joshuagsilverman.com

#Author David Litwack on the Best Answer for Self-Doubt @DavidLitwack #AmWriting #AmReading

Tell us a bit about your family.

I’ve been lucky to be married to my best friend for going on 38 years. We have two sons, one recently married, and the other soon to be.

How do you work through self-doubts and fear?

If you define yourself by what other people think, you probably shouldn’t be a writer. At best, you’ll write watered down stories that offend no one and lack a distinct voice. At worst, you’ll never finish anything. The best answer to self-doubt—be true to yourself.

What scares you the most?

Spending a year on a novel and discovering the basic structure is flawed, then having to rip it apart and throw away some darlings.

What makes you happiest?

Finding the perfect word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, scene. Re-reading the prior day’s writing and thinking—that’s better than I thought it was.

What’s your greatest character strength?

Persistence. I need to rewrite a lot to make it good.

What’s your weakest character trait?

Procrastination. Sometimes I’ll do anything rather than write.

Why do you write?

It’s a character flaw. People in my head keep insisting I tell their story.

Have you always enjoyed writing?

I had a wonderful English teacher in seventh grade who taught me to love to read. That was the start. Then when I was sixteen, this girl who was the editor of a daily camp newsletter convinced me to write something. When it was printed the next day with my byline, I was hooked.

What motivates you to write?

I hope readers feel something special when reading my books, so special that it changes them for the better. Or at least makes them pause and think.

What writing are you most proud of?

Hopefully, I’m continuously improving, so I’m usually most proud of my latest work.

Do you have any advice for writers?

Justice Louis Brandeis once said: “There is no great writing, only great rewriting.” The process of producing a novel is a lot more about hard work than inspiration.

If you love it, keep writing and never give up. It won’t be easy, but it will be fulfilling. If you don’t love it, find something easier to do.

WINNER: 

Readers' Favorite Book 2013 Bronze Award Winner, 

Drama Category -Fiction

A Tragic Warrior Lost in Two Worlds...

The war in Iraq ended for Lieutenant Freddie Williams when an IED explosion left his mind and body shattered. Once he was a skilled gamer and expert in virtual warfare. Now he's a broken warrior, emerging from a medically induced coma to discover he's inhabiting two separate realities. The first is his waking world of pain, family trials, and remorse--and slow rehabilitation through the tender care of Becky, his physical therapist. The second is a dark fantasy realm of quests, demons, and magic that Freddie enters when he sleeps.

In his dreams he is Frederick, Prince of Stormwind, who must make sense of his horrific visions in order to save his embattled kingdom from the monstrous Horde. His only solace awaits him in the royal gardens, where the gentle words of the beautiful gardener, Rebecca, calm the storms in his soul. While in the conscious world, the severely wounded vet faces a strangely similar and equally perilous mission--a journey along a dark road haunted by demons of guilt and memory--and letting patient, loving Becky into his damaged and shuttered heart may be his only way back from Hell.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with David Litwack on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.davidlitwack.com

Storm Without End (Requiem for the Rift King) by RJ Blain @RJ_Blain #MustRead #Fantasy

Kalen’s throne is his saddle, his crown is the dirt on his brow, and his right to rule is sealed in the blood that stains his hand. Few know the truth about the one-armed Rift King, and he prefers it that way. When people get too close to him, they either betray him or die. The Rift he rules cares nothing for the weak. More often than not, even the strong fail to survive.

When he’s abducted, his disappearance threatens to destroy his home, his people, and start a hopeless and bloody war. There are many who desire his death, and few who hope for his survival. With peace in the Six Kingdoms quickly crumbling, it falls on him to try to stop the conflict swiftly taking the entire continent by storm.

But something even more terrifying than the machinations of men has returned to the lands: The skreed. They haven’t been seen for a thousand years, and even the true power of the Rift King might not be enough to save his people — and the world — from destruction.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Fantasy

Rating – PG - 13

More details about the author

Connect with RJ Blain on Facebook and Twitter

Author Interview – Dora Machado @DoraMachado

What books have influenced your life the most?

I’m one of those people who think that the human mind is influenced by every contact and every read, no matter how casual or light. As a young woman growing up in the Dominican Republic, I was exposed to many different influences. I thrived on young adult novels from Louisa May Alcott. I loved Enid Blyton and blazed through The Famous Five, The Seven Secrets and The Malory Towers series. I think I wanted to be a student at Malory Towers as much as my kids wanted to go to school at Hogwarts!

But, talk about being a hybrid of many worlds! At the same time I was reading Louisa May Alcott and Enid Blyton, I was also reading the Latin American classics. Books such as A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosas, and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende left lasting impressions. I also tapped into my parents’ wonderful library, enjoying the Russians (I favored Tolstoy), the French (Victor Hugo), the Germans (Eric Maria Remarque), the Spanish (Jose Maria Gironella), and the Americans (Hemingway, always Hemingway).

Later, when I came to the States, I discovered fantasy and was dazzled by J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen Donaldson, Frank Herbert, Robert Jordan, and George R.R. Martin, way before he became popular, I should add. I also fell in love with commercial fiction. Diana Gabaldon, Bernard Cornwell and Anne Rice are some of my all-time favorites.

Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

We don’t have to be magical to be strong. We just have to believe in ourselves.

Do you do another job except for writing?

Not anymore! These days I’m lucky enough to write full time and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general?

Writing for me is a natural fit. Yes, the hours are long and the obsession can take a toll, but I love all of it, and therefore I thrive on it. I think the most challenging aspect of writing a novel has to do with the time and dedication required and the tough choices you have to make in order to get it done.  To be honest, sometimes I think that my biggest challenge is the part that comes after writing the books. I love my readers. There’s nothing that I enjoy more than meeting them and hearing from them. I can talk about my books until after the cows come home. But self-promotion? Yikes. It just doesn’t come naturally to me.

What genre would you place your books into?

Like the Stonewiser series, The Curse Giver falls into the fantasy genre and fits well in the subcategories of epic fantasy, dark fantasy and fantasy romance.

When or where do you get your best writing ideas?

The shower, definitively the shower. Maybe it’s because I can’t sing, so instead, I think. Seriously, I think that after a long night writing, a hot shower relaxes the body, clears the mind and allows the stories to flow. I also get a lot of ideas in my dreams when I’m asleep. Driving is good too. In fact, I have a pen and pad always ready in my car. The scribbles are really hard to read, and so that you know, I only update my notes during long red lights.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people, or are they totally from your imagination?

My characters belong to my imagination, and yet my imaginary worlds feel very real to me.

Besides books, what else do you write?  Do you write for publications?

I keep up with my newsletter http://doramachado.com/newsletter.php. and my blog http://www.doramachado.com/blog/and, occasionally, I guest post on other sites. I have a regular gig on Wednesdays at http://murderby4.blogspot.com/, a wonderful community that has been selected by Writer’s Digest Magazine as one of the best top 100 websites for writers several years in a row. Come by and check us out.  I have also written short stories for anthologies. But whenever possible, I spend my time writing novels.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

It was an awesome feeling and I celebrated with more writing, by finishing my second book.

How do you think book publishing has changed over the years?

I think the book publishing industry has been through some cataclysmic changes in the last few years. Just look at how the rise of Amazon has completely changed the field. The advent of the e-book, the decline of the bookstore, the growth explosion of the self-publishing industry, these are only a few of the elements that have contributed to reshape the industry. From the technical innovations that have reshaped the industry, to our attitudes about reading, writing and publishing, to the shifts in how we read, buy and promote books, I’m blown away every day by how fast and thoroughly the industry is channeling change.

What is your favorite quality about yourself?

Hmm. I think I’m really hard-working.

What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

I’m always a little leery of giving anyone advice because writing is a highly individual process and people write for all kinds of different reasons. Writing for me is a craft but also an indulgence and an adventure. But I think questions are the aspiring writer’s best friend. Why do you want to write? What do you want to accomplish when you write? What are you willing to give up in order to write?  If you can answer some of these questions, then you can begin to set a path for yourself. If you are a true writer—whether you publish your stories or not—you will always write.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

I’m currently working on several different projects, including a contemporary dark fantasy with a Latin twist and another standalone fantasy romance that takes place in the world of The Curse Giver. It’s not a sequel, not exactly, but rather a related novel. It’s currently called The Soul Chaser.  Also, the Stonewiser series is coming out in audiobook. The first book of the trilogy, Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, is already available at http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Stonewiser-Audiobook/B00F52CJIY/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1379186069&sr=1-1. Take a listen. It’s good, old-fashioned storytelling at its very best.

Thank you for this interview, Dora.  Can you tell us where we can find you on the web?

To learn more about me and my novels, you can visit my website at www.doramachado.com or contact me at Dora@doramachado.com. You can also read my blog at http://www.doramachado.com/blog/, sign up for my newsletter at http://doramachado.com/newsletter.php, and follow me on Facebook and Twitter. For a free excerpt of The Curse Giver, go to  http://twilighttimesbooks.com/TheCurseGiver_ch1.html or you can catch the book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv8WFYpdqQo&feature=youtu.be

Thanks again for introducing me to your wonderful readers.

Lusielle's bleak but orderly life as a remedy mixer is shattered when she is sentenced to die for a crime she didn't commit. She's on the pyre, about to be burned, when a stranger breaks through the crowd and rescues her from the flames. Brennus, Lord of Laonia is the last of his line. He is caught in the grip of a mysterious curse that has murdered his kin, doomed his people and embittered his life. To defeat the curse, he must hunt a birthmark and kill the woman who bears it in the foulest of ways. Lusielle bears such a mark. Stalked by intrigue and confounded by the forbidden passion flaring between them, predator and prey must come together to defeat not only the vile curse, but also the curse giver who has already conjured their demise.

Award-Winning Finalist in the fantasy category of The 2013 USA Best Book Awards, sponsored by USA Book News

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Fantasy/Dark Fantasy

Rating – PG-18

More details about the author

Connect with Dora Machado on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.doramachado.com/

a Rafflecopter giveaway