Giveaway Notice

There is a giveaway of Inheritance going on at Read Breathe Relax right now!

Here is the link:
http://www.readbreatherelax.com/inheritance-book-4-giveaway-eragon-series/

Guest Post: Richard Due

Gibbering Gnome Press Presents a Tale of Epic Fantasy

For Lily and Jasper Winter, the Moon Realm began with a single secret bedtime tale. As the children grew older, Uncle Ebb enthralled them with thrilling tales of the Dragondain riding horse-sized, catlike Rinn; mysterious tales of peerin-wielding lunamancers manipulating the magic that lies just beneath the surface of reality; exciting tales of flying dragons, swimming merfolk, stomping giants, and troublesome faeries. But as the magic of their childhood faded, so too did the tales. Eventually, they were just . . . good stories.

Or were they?

Now, nine years after it all began, Uncle Ebb is missing.

Lily and Jasper search for clues, but their uncle's mansion is full of distractions. A Tesla generator thrums in the basement. Prismatic electrimals flit around walls resembling underwater reefs. Then a most unexpected friend comes to their aid, leading them to a hidden room where they find a mysterious coin—the moon coin. Before the night is out, Lily is transported to the real Moon Realm. But the moons are in trouble. The Rinn of Barreth are under siege, and the lunamancers of Dain are beset by the very dragons they once loved. Most horrifying of all, the moon Darwyth has fallen to a villain named Wrengfoul, whose creeping evil now threatens to overshadow all the Realm.

Are Lily and Jasper too late to save the Moon Realm, or will they have enough time to write an ending of their own?

Featuring twenty-two stunning full-color illustrations by Carolyn Arcabascio. Volume One of the young adult fantasy adventure series The Moon Realm.



From Sketch to Chapter Art, an Illustrator at Work

For me, getting to work with Carolyn Arcabascio was a dream come true. On The Moon Coin, we worked from a master list of scene options, with Carolyn picking out scenes she liked and making sketches. For the prologue, Carolyn drafted three options. All three were great, but two in particular were spectacular. I first went with option 3 (one of my scene suggestions). I think we spent more time on this sketch and subsequent color drawing than on any other piece. But it never seemed right. At the eleventh hour, I asked Carolyn how hard she’d hit me if I suggested scrapping the thing and instead going with the pinky promise scene you see below (one of her scene suggestions). Carolyn responded: "There would be no hitting involved!" and told me it wouldn't be a problem. You sure can't ask for better than that.



From the Prologue: Bedtime Tales.


Richard: Did you make all these sketches in the same location, Carolyn?

Carolyn: Yes, I do all of my work at a drafting table that's situated in a little nook of my apartment in Acton, Massachusetts. There's a bookshelf to my right and a wall of "inspiration" to my left, where I hang prints of other artists' and illustrators' work. On either side of my drafting table are drawers of supplies, and stacks of sketchbooks and old paintings. The drafting table faces a window overlooking a quiet street and the woods beyond it.


From Chapter Two: A Coin of the Realm.


Richard: Do you use models when you're sketching?

Carolyn: I use a combination of models and photo references. If I need to work out the nuances of a character's posture and really understand the perspective of it, I'll ask whatever friend or family member is handy to pose for a sketch. Often, I'll get into the position myself or mimic the facial expression I want to portray in order to get the feel of it. And sometimes, if there's a character being portrayed multiple times across scenes, I'll make a rough model of their head out of clay so I'll have it to refer to.


From Chapter Four: To Barreth.


Richard: When drawing fantastical creatures, do you use bits and pieces of real animals for inspiration, or have you actually seen a wirtle and you're just not telling us? ;)

Carolyn: No wirtles native to Massachusetts, fortunately! When figuring out the look of fantastical creatures, I use photo references of different animals to understand the way the anatomy might work, and then combine features as I see fit and as the story calls for. To understand the wirtle's legs and paws, for example, I referred to a series of photographs of show dogs leaping over hurdles. The severely arched, scruffy back was influenced by photos of hyenas on the prowl. The bone-structure of the face ended up being something of a cross between a cow and a warthog, and I wanted the snout to be bare—kind of gross and raw-looking. Add it all up and, voila! We have a wirtle.

The Moon Coin, by Richard Due, is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the iBookstore for $2.99.

Click the pictures to enlarge them!


Thank you so much to Richard Due for putting together this guest post! You guys should keep your eyes open for a review of his book and an interview with Richard Due soon!

Book Review and Interview with Larissa Hinton

Today I am welcoming Larissa Hinton (Yeah, we have the same name, how awesome is that?) On my blog. I reviewed her book, Everblossom, and she was kind enough to allow me to interview her.

Title: Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology
Author: Larissa M. Hinton
Author Blog: A Three Way Tie
Page Count: 70
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
* This book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review

Description:

An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.

Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts . . . It changes.

The author who brought you Iwishacana/Acanawishi, now brings you a dash of everything from dark fantasy to the paranormal to romance. So prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed; you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective on what it all truly means.


Review:

When Larissa Hinton first emailed asking me to review Everblossom the description intrigued me immediately. I was really fond of the supernatural elements of many of the short stories and the vignette-esque style they were written in. The brevity of the passages makes it an extremely quick read.

The deliberate arrangements of the words of the poems were compelling as well. Whenever I read free verse, seeing the way the words are spread out on the page and the rhythm their position evokes can be as potent as the word choice.

I really enjoyed this anthology for its uniqueness and honesty. Each section makes you think, whether the writer addresses a topic directly or uses fantasy as a vessel.

Reviewing poetry is difficult for me because in my mind there are no “bad” poems. You can disagree with poems or hate them even (neither of which was true for me in this book) but as long as the author is speaking their truth and being honest in their writing, I do not think there can be “bad” poetry. With the short stories though, there were a few typos and tense inconsistencies that were a bit distracting. They were not enough to decrease my enjoyment of the anthology however.

I would recommend fans of anthologies, poetry and short stories, fantasy, and fans of Larissa Hinton’s, should definitely check it out! I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under the age of 13 though, since there are some themes that are best for slightly older readers.



Interview

Q. When did you first start writing?
I started writing at the ripe age of 12. At first, I wrote poems because of my lovely English teacher decided that we should write poems and from then on, I fell in love with poetry. The writing bug really bit me a year later when the movie of Nickelodeon movie, Clock Stoppers came out. I thought the movie was going to be horrible, so I decided that I would write a novel that would be better than the movie. Needless to say, my book wasn't as good as the move but I didn't care. I love writing and nothing else mattered. Thus my obsession with writing begun.



Q. Who is your favorite author? Why?
Now that's a tough question! I have to say, lately, that I have fallen in love with Andrea Cremer. I love the way she has recreated the werewolf myth and how she merged it with the vampire myth. It makes total since and I can't wait to read her next book, Blood Rose.


Q. What/Who has the biggest impact on your writing?
The biggest impact on my writing was my personal life. An event changed my life and my writing forever. When I wrote Angel Diaries, it was a completely different story then I normally wrote. It was dark, dreary, and something that was just so authentically me. And I loved it and so did my beta readers. They ate it up and I knew I had a bestseller on my hands. I actually got a trad pub contract on it, but I refused since they were not open for negotiations among some other reasons. But from then on, I knew I had it in me to write incredible stories and I haven't stopped writing since.


Q. What was your inspiration to put together this anthology?

Funny enough, there wasn't any inspiration at all! I know, such a bad answer for a writer, but I am telling the truth. You see, I was taking a Creative Writing class and for the first time ever, I had to write short stories. Before this point in my life, I never wrote a short story but I found something funny about it: I loved it. I was able to delve into the characters I loved, create new stories that would inspire bigger ideas, and it was a way to play with the inner thoughts that floated my mind. Even at one point, my professor told me that all of my novel ideas were really short stories. Granted, at that time, I did not appreciate him saying that, but some of my ideas were short stories. I just never knew it.

The poems in the anthology however, were inspired by mostly my personal life. And other times, by the urge to write it down. I don't think I could fully explain it properly, but when an idea hits me, it's like lightening and I'm alert and aware that a poem is in me that needs to be written. I've literally tried to go asleep with that feeling, but I couldn't. I had to write it down into poetic form. It doesn't happen so often (like once or twice a month) but when it happens, I have to write that poem down or I can't think straight.

Oh, and one of the poems, In Death You Speak, it was inspired by boredom in class. I was sitting in one of the English Literature classes listening to them drone on and on about something, so I wrote a poem instead of listening. ☺ I know. I'm horrible. A-soon-to-be English teacher not paying attention in an English classroom? Shocker.



Q. What books of yours should we be looking out for release next?
The next book I'm currently editing that you should look for is Iwishacana/Acanawishi.


Blurb
Where rules are meant to be broken
Anissa is constantly on the run from the police and can't seem to stay out of trouble.

Secrets are meant to be kept
Until Anissa hides Florence in her bedroom and her mother finds out. There's only one thing left to do: Send her to Juvenile Cop Camp to erase all of her crimes on her record.

And everything is not what it seems
There's only one problem: Anissa is innocent.
Welcome to Iwishacana.


I am hoping to have this book released before Christmas. So be for the look for it! In the mean time, you can check out the history of this lovely wishland in Everblossom!

Q. Are you a plotter or a panster?

I have to say I'm a plotter. I like to plan everything in the book before I set off and write it. And usually, for me, this takes years to do. It took me a year to plot out Angel Diaries and at the very last minute I changed the ending. Which doesn't happen very often. I knew the ending for Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology. As soon as I wrote it, I knew it felt right to have that as the ending story and I knew the right poem to match the overall tone of the story. I added an extra ending to Iwishacana/Acanawishi because it felt right to add that after I changed the plot in the series, therefore, I had to make it reconnect to the other books. Anyway, for the most part, I like to have the basics plotted out in my story and make up the rest on my own. I let the characters tell me what to write next and how it should play out.



Q. What is the most difficult thing about being a writer?

The hard part about writing is putting your idea on paper and making it come across right. Especially for a novel. It's a long journey from the first page until the last and to make sure it's projecting the idea from cover to cover from word to word is the most difficult part. As a writer, you have to be consistent, persistent, and have excellent time management to be able to complete a novel with style, grace and be sane. Seriously. Ask some writers if they haven't pulled their hair out over a story that just wouldn't translate from their brain onto the paper right. Ah, the makings of a novel.



Q. What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?

I know for me, the most rewarding thing about being a writer is getting back reviews from people who have bought and loved your book. And understood your ideas! I was really wondering about the poems I wrote called WSV (Words Speak Volumes). For the longest time I debated about publishing them in the first place since all they were was words written down a page telling a story in an odd way. I thought that maybe people just wouldn't get it. It warmed my heart that not only did people understand my poems, they loved them! I couldn't be more thrilled since my poems have never been out to see daylight (yes, I get the Emily Dickinson irony there)! Therefore, I'm always glad to receive somewhat of fan mail on how my writing has made people think in a whole new way once they read Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology.


Buy This Book!

Amazon
Smashwords

Follow Friday

Q: In light of 11.11.11 and Veteran’s Day tell us about your favorite solider and how he or she is saving the world. Fictional or real life.

A. Wow, that's a hard one, there are so many people and characters that do good in the world it is impossible to choose one. I guess I'll just have to do a broad statement and say that anyone who is willing to sacrifice so much to protect the people and values they love is a real hero in my book.

Review: Darkfall

Title: Darkfall
Author: Janice Hardy
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Page Count: 432 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
Check out my interview with the author HERE

Description:

War has come.

Nya’s the one who brought it. And the people love her for it.

With Baseer in shambles and Geveg now an impenetrable military stronghold, Nya and the Underground have fled to a safer location—without Tali. Nya is guilt-ridden over leaving her sister behind and vows to find her, but with the rebellion in full swing and refugees flooding the Three Territories, she fears she never will.

The Duke, desperate to reclaim the throne as his own, has rallied his powerful army. And they are on the move, destroying anyone who gets in the way.

To save her sister, her family, and her people, Nya needs to stay ahead of the Duke’s army and find a way to build one of her own. Past hurts must be healed, past wrongs must be righted, and Nya must decide: Is she merely a pawn in the rebellion, a symbol of hope—or is she ready to be a hero?

Review:

I will do my best to keep this spoiler free, so don’t worry if you haven’t read it yet.

Ah, the bittersweetness of ending a fantastic series. The final installment did not disappoint, and it had all the aspects of the other books that I enjoyed so well. There is the strong heroine first of all, and the well developed minor characters, the unique setting – I absolutely love the idea of a fantasy set in a tropical environment, and the whole moral aspect of the book where the Nya has to constantly make choices about how she should and should not use her unique powers.

I will say, that if you haven’t read the other books The Shifter and Blue Fire first, you should. The author goes back to re-explain some things, but I think someone who doesn’t already know the story would be very lost.

I loved the different twists and turns the plot had in the book, it was exciting and engaging, but didn’t feel forced, which is something that I’ve run into lately.

The great thing about this book is that it can be compared to other YA novels that are out there, but Janice Hardy always puts her own spin on things. Because, yes, Nya could be compared to Katniss very easily, and Tali to Prim, but they really are unique and altogether different though they share certain similarities (that wasn’t a spoiler by the way, those similarities could be gleaned from previous books as well). Plus, I like reading characters that in some ways resemble each other and see how different authors approach things – which segues me to my next topic: Danello.

What a breath of fresh air he is. After all the dark, mysterious, self-loathing, disturbed, picture perfect Abercrombie model love interests that have popped up on the YA scene lately, I can not tell you how great it is to have a down-to-earth, steady eddy fictional boy-friend for once. Not that I hate ALL characters who fit the former description, I do have my exceptions *cough* Jace *cough* I’m just saying it gets old after a while and it’s nice to have variety.

In conclusion, this series is great if you haven’t read it I highly recommend that you do. Yes, I can hear your groaning as you look and the looming mountain on your bedstand/GoodReads account that is your TBR pile, but seriously, it’s worth it.

Amazing Giveaway

Lea at LC's Adventures in Libraryland has reached 1000 followers! Big Congrats! As a thank you she is currently hosting a HUGE giveaway over at her blog, so you should definitely go check it out.

The Link Is HERE

Follow Friday

Above are two of my pooches posing with my Kindle, and a picture of yours truly in the secondish grade. I was a book worm even then, I think that may have been the year I read Black Beauty - or maybe it was the third grade- to be honest I don't really remember lol!