Cover share #SPFBO #SpooktasticReads
20 October 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2018, #Spooktasticreads, Phil Parker, The Knight's Protocol Trilogy, Wyrd and Wonder
Image credit: Photo by Mark Tegethoff on Unsplash
Today, I’m really pleased to be sharing with you some book covers. The Bastard of Fairyland by Phil Parker is one of my books for the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off. I haven’t read this book yet but it will be coming up on my read list shortly. The author has recently had his covers reworked and has posted about it here. I figured this would make a great time to highlight this series as part of Wyrd and Wonder’s #Spooktasticreads because this is dark urban fantasy which I love and I think it fits perfectly for this time of the year. Plus, I’m all about the cover love. So, without further ado check out the covers (with info re the book below):
He’s Robin Goodfellow to those he knows. Puck to those he’ll kill. He’s lived among humans for centuries, they think he’s a demon. The teenagers he’s forced to protect, despise him.
The Fae may have banished him, to live among humanity where isolation has made him bitter, where he’s been persecuted because of his sexuality. But now they want him back. They’ve declared war on the humans and Robin is vital to their success, so long as he’s prepared to release Puck.
The Bastard from Fairyland is a dark, urban fantasy. It’s where A Midsummer Night’s Dream meets Game of Thrones.
#SPFBO 2018, Batch 3 books 4-6
As mentioned in my post here as part of the SPFBO competition I’ll be randomly choosing six books per month for the next five months, I will then aim to check out at least the first 30% of each book during that month. I’ll post information about the first three books chosen at the start of the month and then about the remaining three during the mid way point with a conclusion around the end of the month about which books will be going forward or which will be eliminated. The conclusion for my first and second month’s reading can be found here and here. Ultimately, the aim is to choose one book from the thirty I’ve been assigned – that chosen one will then be my finalist.
Books 4-6 in my third batch of books are as follows:
Dark of Winter by Christopher Percy
The people of Sumner are odd. Their village, far to the north where the weather is worst, is lost to a world of snow and ice and freezing death. No one trusts Sumner. No one goes there.
Until now.
King Fialsun’s soldiers are battle weary. They have spent years carving an empire that starts from the south and rises up like an inexorable branch, twisting east and west and now to new territories in the north.
Despite growing dissent, Fialsun’s power remains absolute and his might infinite. But one village remains outside from his sovereignty: Sumner.
Fialsun sends one hundred of his soldier veterans to find and to decimate the village. To bring an end to its stigma and to quash the dreaded infamy of its most lethal warrior: Threecuts.
But strange events have been unfolding in Sumner. A girl has gone missing and warriors deem they have captured a creature from mythology. All the evidence leads to the conclusion that an ancient evil is coming.
In one night the fate of Sumner will be decided. If the King’s soldiers do not reach them first, then the creatures of the Dark of Winter will.
twitter: darkofwinterbk
Website : http://www.christopherpercy.co.uk
How to go to Hell in 10,000 Easy Steps by Douglas Todd
Valerie wants to sell her soul. But it seems like Hell doesn’t want it, which is a real disappointment.
Actually, Hell is having some serious problems, and it looks like Valerie is going to get ensnared in them whether she likes it or not. Along the way, she’ll meet a lot of colorful and interesting people, most of whom are immortal, many of whom aren’t very nice, some of whom would like to see her dead.
She’ll also experience some truly horrifying things because, no matter how nice some of the people in it are, when it comes right down to it, Hell just isn’t a very pleasant place.
Forsaken Kingdom by JR Rasmussen
At his kingdom’s darkest hour, the lost heir returns. A pity he can’t remember who he is …
To save his people and the forbidden magic they’re sworn to defend, Wardin Rath surrenders his birthright and his past. For seven years he’s held at the court of his deadliest enemy, oblivious to all he’s lost. Until one day, the spell that stole his memories begins to crack.
On the heels of a harrowing escape, Wardin’s quest for answers leads him to the last magistery, where he studied magic as a boy. But he’ll find no safe haven there—or anywhere. Plagued by threats and suspicion, hunted relentlessly by the king who will stop at nothing to crush him, Wardin is soon battling for his life, his home, and the survival of magic itself.
And this time, the enemy will take no prisoners.
#SPFBO Interview with Andrew Einspruch, author of Purple Haze
13 October 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2018, Andrew Einspruch, Purple Haze
Today I’m pleased to welcome to my blog Andrew Einspruch, author of Purple Haze. Purple Haze was one of the books I rolled forward from the first month of the competition (you can check out the first chapter here) and my update for the first month of SPFBO reading is here.
Hi Andrew, thanks for agreeing to take part in an interview.
I was checking out your social media places earlier. You’ve already got an impressive amount of books under your belt. Your author page mentions a number of books for primary age readers and I think Purple Haze is your debut (into the fantasy YA market). How did the two compare in terms of challenges??
My publishing career has had two distinct phases. Starting in the mid-90s and going up to a few years ago, I had traditionally published around 120 children’s books, mainly for primary-aged readers in the education market. These books were done, for the most part, to publisher specification. The challenge there was to make the reading interesting, while still meeting all the criteria they wanted the book to meet—the number of words per spread, trying to get a particular set of words used in the book, making sure the difficulty level was right, and avoiding taboo subjects and references that would make the book unsellable to conservative US book buyers. Plus, I’d end up writing on topics I knew nothing about, like Christmas Island red crabs or the quirks of Australia’s different state and federal proportional voting systems, so there was a lot of research involved.
This year starts a new phase: publishing novels. You’re right that The Purple Haze is my debut into the world of humorous YA fantasy. The challenges are very different. First, there are all the words. The Purple Haze, book one in the Western Lands and All That Really Matters series, is around 125,000 words long. That compares to the primary readers I wrote that might be 1,000, 2,000 or 3,000 words long. The next challenge is telling a story that’s engaging and fun, and to realise that if you want the character to be at a particular place facing a particular problem, you have to write your way there, write it, and then write your way out of it. Then there’s the matter of the lack of boundaries. A text that needs to be 1,500 words long on the first indigenous Australian to start in an NBA game and which uses a set number of “-ing” words has a lot of boundaries. With my novels, all that went out the window. I had to learn the discipline of putting a story together, and meeting even modest word count goals to make sure things marched forward and didn’t bog down..
Purple Haze has a decidedly amusing feel and I’m thinking it’s going to subvert a few tropes and maybe be a bit tongue in cheek?? Humour can be tricky in books, not to mention some people are mood readers! What made you take the choice to go down that particular route?
The reason I made the choice to go down the route of humour is… (I hope you’re sitting down for this… ) that’s what came out.
I trod the boards as a comic for years, doing improv comedy and also sketch comedy in a show with my wife. My hope and intention is that my books bring a smile and make people feel uplifted and better. The world needs more of that right now.
Reading the first chapter of your book I’d say it comes across as though you enjoyed yourself writing Purple Haze, how important is that do you think to the success of the book?
I’m loving writing this series. It is definitely fun to do! And yes, I do believe this affects the success of the book because an audience will feel it. If it is fun for me to write, then it will be fun to read. The vibe will be upbeat, and people will pick that up.
I understand that you run an animal sanctuary along with your wife and daughter? I checked out your blog of course which is fascinating but could you share with readers how this all began?
Photo used with permission
Our farm animal sanctuary, A Place of Peace, is the largest in Australia, with around 460 souls (mainly cows, sheep, horses, goats, dogs, cats, and geese) who’ve found a forever home with us. It is the boots on the ground, compassionate action arm of our charity, the Deep Peace Trust (deeppeacetrust.com). My wife, Billie Dean, and I have done rescue or animal care in one form or another since we’ve been together, starting with a puppy we took sight-unseen from a pound in the late 1980’s. My wife is an animal psychic and has a huge, wonderful, open heart, which makes it difficult to say “no” to animals who call to her for help. Sadly, there’s an infinite supply of animals in the world who need help, and we can only do so much. Our sanctuary is basically full, so we put our energy into education, to help people get a closer connection to animals and nature, and to foster the understanding that we won’t have peace on the planet until we expand our circle of compassion to the non-humans who share the earth with us.
Do you have any amusing stories about the sanctuary?
Every animal here is an individual, with a history and a personality. They love their families, and unlike most farm animals, get to live with them for their entire lives. So yes, lots of stories.
For example, the first sheep we ever took on was Sarah. She came to us from a farmer. Her mother had died, and he couldn’t raise a poddy. Sarah was brought up in the house and loved it when I played piano. She’d come up close and sit at my feet like a dog. She adored classical music.
When Sarah started living outside, she chose a life among the goats, and was most offended if you asked her to hang out with other sheep. She thinks of herself as a goat, not a sheep, because that’s who she was raised with. But her fondness for the house remains — every night she comes to the kitchen door where we sneak her a treat.
Photo used with permission
Sometimes, the animals just surprise you with what they’ll do, and if you’re lucky, you can catch it on camera.
A kitten eating a banana? Sure: https://youtu.be/33ZcXms6jy8
A goat kid climbing a tree? You bet:
How have your experiences played into your writing?
I like to think I have a great empathy for all species, and can treasure their similarities and differences. Animals feature prominently as equals in the Western Lands and All That Really Matters series, and that willingness to include other species in the action and decisions of the fiction world stems from my interactions with them in our world.
What do you hope for in terms of the future – both in writing and the sanctuary?
I’m at the start of my novel writing career, and my hope is my books will find their home in the world and lots and lots of people will read and enjoy them.
As for the sanctuary, in the short term, my focus is helping the animals here make it through the worst drought in living memory (https://chuffed.org/project/drought2018). In the long run, we’d like to have have a green, verdant, peaceful place for the animals to live out their lives in happiness, and for everyone, everywhere to treat animals as the feeling, sentient beings they are.
Andrew, thank you so much for taking part. I love the sound of your sanctuary and the way you look after, respect and treat the animals and I can’t wait to finish your book.
All the best with the SPFBO.
For more information about Andrew check out the following links.
Email: andrew@wildpureheart.com
Web: https://wildpureheart.com
https://andreweinspruch.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/einspruch
Facebook: http://facebook.com/wildpureheart
http://facebook.com/andreweinspruch
#SPFBO4 Interview with Suzanne Rogerson, author of The Lost Sentinel #1 in the Silent Sea Chronicles
6 October 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #1 Silent Sea Chronicles, #SPFBO 2018, Interview with the Vampire, Suzanne Rogerson, The Lost Sentinel
Today I’m pleased to welcome to my blog Suzanne Rogerson, author of The Lost Sentinel #1 in the Silent Sea Chronicles.
As you may be aware if you’re following the SPFBO competition or my updates I’ve recently cut a further five books and unfortunately The Lost Sentinel was part of that second round of cuts. However, as I’ve mentioned previously I don’t just see the SPFBO as a competition with only one winner. I like to think that all the authors who enter the competition are winners, maybe not for the elusive No.1 spot, but in bringing awareness to their own books and to the huge self published market that’s out there. I think you all deserve a massive round of applause simply for putting your books forward. (N.B. – Suzanne’s books are currently on sale worldwide and the links for further information are below).
Anyway, enough of all my chatter. Let’s move on to the interview with the wonderful and rather lovely Suzanne:
Hi Suzanne, welcome to my blog, I’d like to start by asking if you could share with readers a little bit about yourself and your book/s.
Hi Lynn. Thanks for having me over for an interview.
I’m an author of epic and heroic fantasy and I’ve been self-publishing for almost three years. I first discovered my love of fantasy when I read a page of Druss the Legend over my husband’s shoulder way back in my teens. It was at a time when I knew I wanted to write but couldn’t decide which genre to try. Thanks to David Gemmell, and my husband, I’ve been obsessed with the fantasy genre ever since!
My debut was Visions of Zarua published in 2015.
This year I’ve entered The Lost Sentinel into SPFBO, which is my second fantasy novel and Book 1 in the Silent Sea Chronicles.
The Lost Sentinel is set on the magical island of Kalaya, which is dying as the connection between the people and their magic fades through ignorance and distrust. We follow three main characters;
Tei is a young woman forced to leave home when her magic is discovered. She flees to the mountains to join the other exiles and takes up their cause to find their dying Sentinel’s replacement. This person is the key to saving the magic, but mysterious Masked Riders are determined to thwart them.
Brogan is a newly appointed Assembly member who would rather be back on his farm than making decisions about Kalaya and its magical community. From the start he realises the Assembly, the ruling body on the island, is corrupt and he’s forced to face some difficult choices when he discovers compromising facts about his past.
We also follow Farrell, a pirate hunting sea commander of a race who were forced from their home when magic-hating invaders attempted to annihilate them. They have made a new life on a barren island dubbed Stone Haven, but their existence is harsh and when they hear of a magical island across the sea the temptation proves too much for the desperate people.
The three storylines come together over the course of the first two books – The Sentinel’s Reign (No.2) is out now.
I think I read on your author’s page that you started writing stories at age 12. Have any of your characters or storylines survived and fed into your published works??
Yes, I did complete a whole novel when I was 12 in 6 old excise books that I have tucked away in the bottom of the wardrobe.
The story was about a 15-year-old girl forced to move home and leave everything she loved behind – so that part of the story is very much like Tei’s situation in The Lost Sentinel. There are also elements of heroism and sacrifice in my first novel that are predominant in The Lost Sentinel.
You published your first book in 2015. What lessons did that teach you in terms of publishing Lost Sentinel and has your writing process evolved over the three years since?
When I first self-published I had no contacts in the blogging community and hadn’t considered sending out ARC’s to reviewers. Visions of Zarua disappeared until I did a blog tour 7 months later.
I learnt to be more organised with The Lost Sentinel. I sent out early ARC’s, arranged a big blog tour, 99p pre-order, giveaways etc. I made sure there was as much buzz as I could create around publication day. However, it was so stressful I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again.
With my third book this year, I sent out ARC’s and had a low key unofficial blog tour around the release date. It was much less stressful, but I think the book sales may have suffered as a result. I also hadn’t banked on a prolonged heat wave and the World Cup happening around my publication date. Terrible timing!
The last few years have shown me that I can achieve it all by myself, but if I want to keep my sanity and sell books then I may need to get some help with the promotional side of the business.
My writing process has definitely changed as well. I format the document as I go along using saved setting in Word’s style menu. This has saved me days of work adjusting the text.
I’ve also used excel spreadsheets to plan my chapters and scenes so I have a clear idea of the various story threads and the timelines.
Such a lot of time and effort goes into publishing a book. I think readers are often blissfully unaware of the ins and outs. Would you say that writing has been everything you had hoped? What aspects of being an author do you really enjoy for example and what aspects are not as good?
Writing and publishing my own books has been much better than I could have imagined. I’ve reached readers all over the world and there’s nothing as gratifying as reading reviews from complete strangers who’ve really connected with my work. That’s the best aspect of it for me. I love the writing and creating side (and I’m also a self confessed editing addict), but when someone says they’re in love with one of my characters, or that they couldn’t read through their tears, that means everything to me.
The hardest part is waiting. Waiting for those sales and reviews to come in, and trying not to be disheartened when things are slow. The competition for a reader’s time and money is immense and being part of SPFBO this year has shown me just how good the competition is. Sometimes that makes it hard to keep up the enthusiasm. Just yesterday I was feeling low about my writing career, but then I opened my latest W.I.P, Book 3 in the Silent Sea Chronicles, and realised I couldn’t wait to carry on the journey with these wonderful characters who no longer just exist inside my head. I know I have people eagerly awaiting my next book so I refuse to give up on the dream just yet.
What next? After you finish the Silent Sea Chronicles do you have something else in mind? Will you stay in the same world but maybe take on a different character’s story?
After the Silent Sea Chronicles (SSC) trilogy is complete, hopefully sometime in 2019, I have a couple of ideas I want to follow up on.
One is to write a prequel for the SSC, which will focus on pivotal moments in the history of the people and the magical islands. In particular how the island of Stone Haven lost its magic and the near annihilation of Farrell’s people before their escape across the sea.
The next book I hope to finish is a standalone and will be another heroic fantasy. I started it during Nanowrimo a few years ago and it’s still waiting for an end. The characters have been calling to me so I’m really excited about continuing with it. Plus as one of the main characters is an apothecary, I’ve bought myself an online Herbal Mastery course. I love a bit of research and I love plants so that should be really interesting.
I’m also thinking of publishing a short story anthology at some point next year. So I have plenty to keep me busy.
That sounds great. So many plans in the pipeline. How do you find time to relax or have fun? Or has writing become a thing that you never switch off from??
I hardly ever switch off from writing and the many tasks involved in self-publishing and marketing my books. Sometimes it’s exhausting!
But I am still at my happiest when I’m writing, so I don’t regret the path I’ve chosen.
My favourite way to relax is watching films and reading books, or going for walks, though we don’t find as much time for that now the kids are getting older. I keep hoping to get a dog one day, but it’s a two against two vote in this house.
Finally, to conclude on a slightly different note can you tell readers:
What’s the last book you read. What book are you reading currently. What book do you plan after that one is completed?
Funnily enough my answers will be SPFBO related as I’ve picked up a few of this year’s contenders and have pledged to myself to read them over the coming months. I’ve recently finished The Exercise of Vital Powers by Ian Gregoire. This was an almost from Kitty’s group in 2017. It was a very entertaining read and I’m looking forward to the sequel.
I’m currently reading Game Bird by Aidan R Walsh. I’m really enjoying this and wish I had more time to just sit and be totally immersed in the story.
Not SFPBO related but I won a first edition signed hardback copy of City of Lies by Sam Hawke. I’m just a few pages in, but I already feel as though I’m going to love it.
I plan to read another SPFBO book after these two and I have a couple from your group Lynn, which are high up on the list to read. So I may go for either A Wizard’s Forge by A.M Justice or High Barrens by Alice Sabo.
It’s been great to be a part of SPFBO this year and I wish the remaining authors good luck in the competition.
Thanks very much for agreeing to feature me, Lynn.
Suzanne, thank you so much for taking part in my interview and the competition. It’s been a pleasure chatting to you. I think there’s some excellent advice for others amongst these answers and a lovely shout out for the books you’ve read and plan to read. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the best with the Silent Sea Chronicles.
I’d also like to share with readers that Suzanne’s books are currently on sale worldwide. Check out the links below for information:
Visions of Zarua – Standalone epic fantasy
#SPFBO 2018 : Batch 3, Books 1-3
As mentioned in my post here as part of the SPFBO competition I’ll be randomly choosing six books per month for the next five months, I will then aim to check out at least the first 30% of each book during that month. I’ll post information about the first three books chosen at the start of the month and then about the remaining three during the mid way point with a conclusion around the end of the month about which books will be going forward or which will be eliminated. The conclusion for my first and second month’s reading can be found here and here. Ultimately, the aim is to choose one book from the thirty I’ve been assigned – that chosen one will then be my finalist.
Books 1-3 in my third batch of books are as follows:
1. Sworn to the Night (The Wisdom’s Grave Trilogy #1) by Craig Schaefer
Marie Reinhart is an NYPD detective on the trail of a serial killer. When she sleeps, though, she dreams of other lives; she dreams of being a knight, in strange wars and strange worlds. On the other side of the city, Nessa Roth is a college professor trapped in a loveless marriage, an unwilling prop in a political dynasty. She’s also a fledgling witch, weaving poppets and tiny spells behind closed doors.
When Marie’s case draws her into Nessa’s path, sparks fly. What comes next is more than a furtive whirlwind affair; it’s the first pebbles of an avalanche. Nessa and Marie are the victims of a curse that has pursued them across countless lifetimes; a doom designed to trap them in a twisted living fairy tale, with their romance fated to end in misery and death.
They aren’t going out without a fight. As they race to uncover the truth, forces are in motion across the country. In Las Vegas, a professional thief is sent on a deadly heist. In a Detroit back alley, witches gather under the guidance of a mysterious woman in red. Just outside New York, an abandoned zoo becomes the hunting-ground for servants of a savage and alien king. The occult underground is taking sides and forming lines of battle. Time is running out, and Nessa and Marie have one chance to save themselves, break the curse, and demand justice.
This time, they’re writing their own ending.
- Goodread’s author page
- Website: http://www.craigschaeferbooks.com/
- Twitter: craig_schaefer
2. 
A Wizard’s Forge (The Woern Saga, #1) by A.M. Justice
Scholar. Slave. Warrior. Wizard.
Victoria believes she’ll live a scholar’s quiet life until the tyrant Lornk Korng rips away everything she knows and loves. Forging herself into a warrior known as Vic the Blade, she strikes fear into her enemies, but she cannot escape Lornk’s obsession. A legendary power may be her only chance to destroy him, if it doesn’t kill her first.
Fans of dark fantasy will love this gritty tale of empowerment and revenge in a setting that echoes the classic science fiction/fantasy blends of McCaffrey and Herbert.
- Goodread’s author page
- Website: http://www.amjusticeauthor.com
- Twitter: AMJusticeWrites
3. 
Light Dawning by Ty Arthur
Once known as the City on the Hill and revered far and wide for its independence and boundless opportunity, Cestia has become home only to the damned. Surviving under the brutal occupation of a southern empire for three long years, the oppressed populace has lost hope of liberation, turning instead towards an increasingly desperate rebellion willing to commit any atrocity for a chance at freedom.
As total war approaches, four lost souls trapped behind Cestia’s walls are on a collision course with fate, destined to either save the city or see it utterly destroyed while calling on forces beyond mankind’s comprehension. For good or ill, the light of a new day is about to dawn
- Goodread’s author page
- Website: https://tyarthur.wordpress.com/
- Twitter: @xfiruath
Books and travelling with Lynn 