Not So Fast, Kriston...Book Two Update

I have yet to make a public announcement about the progress and release date of book two in The Legends of Elyndia series. But I have been asked by most everyone I know in person and have had many messages from eager readers that want to know when they can expect book two.  

For the last year I confidently answered that Transcended would be published in April of 2014, one year after Awakened. But today I regretfully inform you that Transcended will not be published in April as I had hoped.

As far as progress this is where I’m at. I did finish the manuscript. I finished it and sent to my most wonderful editor. Well this where things have now changed direction. First I have to say I feel extremely lucky to have connected with my editor, Kara. She really knows her stuff. She lets me know when something is great, and even more important she lets me know when things are not great. As hard as it was to hear, at first, she let me know that Transcended is just not ready yet. Since then I have really examined my writing and asked myself some hard questions. As much as I hate to say it, at this time I have not done justice to Jade and Gabriel or their story.

As a writer there is nothing better than getting a message from a new reader telling me how much they loved the story and how excited they are to read the next book. These messages are what pushed me to the finish line, but they are also the same messages that are making take my time and find a way to make the story the best it can be. You, the reader, deserve it, and so does Jade.

So as of now I do not have a definite publication date. I am spending every spare moment I have on Transcended tweaking the text and examining the plot. At this time I am hoping to only have to push things back by a few months. Please trust that the delay will be worth the wait.

****For the most up to date information on the progress of Transcended sign up for my newsletter***

Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Jill at The Breaking Spine. It is a weekly meme and anyone can join in.

Hardcover, 304 pages 
Expected publication: May 27th 2014 by Greenwillow Book

Add it on Goodreads

The Cabinet of Curiosities: 40 Tales Brief & Sinister
A collection of forty eerie, mysterious, intriguing, and very short short stories presented by the cabinet’s esteemed curators, otherwise known as acclaimed authors Stefan Bachmann, Katherine Catmull, Claire LeGrand, and Emma Trevayne. Perfect for fans of Alvin Schwartz and anyone who relishes a good creepy read-alone or read-aloud story. Features an introduction and commentary by the curators, and illustrations and decorations throughout.

The Cabinet of Curiosities is a collection of entertaining short stories by Stefan Bachmann, Claire Legrand, Emma Trevayne, and Katherine Catmull. The book was introduced to me when I attended Wordstock, a book festival in Portland Or. The creation of the eagerly anticipated book is quite unique and I was lucky enough to attend a panel with the authors and hear how these great tales came to life.

It all started when two, or maybe it was three, of the authors (I cannot remember which two, it was either Stefan and Claire, or Stefan and Emma. I guess I can rule out ever being an investigative reporter) decided they wanted to start a web site where they would each post a brand new short story every month. They decided they would like a fourth author to contribute and without a question they wanted Katherine Catmull to join them as curators.

Luckily for us readers an evil genius along the way decided that these stories would make a great collection to print and the book was born. These stories can all be read for free on the web site at http://enterthecabinet.com/. But I encourage buying the book. I mean look at that cover!

(If I knew where to find a gif of someone really freaking out this is where I would put it)

These stories are intended for a middle grade audience, but do not let that sway you. While at the conference the authors each read one of their stories out loud for us to hear. Let me tell you, they are intriguing, creative, original, and full of awesome. 

Where The Writer Writes

Where the magic happens.

This post was originally posted on Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews blog (which is an awesome blog and worth checking out) during my blog tour. I thought I would share it here for those of you that missed it.

Ahhh, the life of an author, picture this…the carefree author, sitting outside at a sidewalk café, dressed in a floor-length bohemian skirt and cotton blouse with long flowing sleeves, sipping a latte from a porcelain mug. She wears a faint smile as the words flow organically across the page, weaving together a one of a kind story with beautiful prose and poetry.

Then there is reality; the life of the shut-in writer. When I write I need total seclusion. I go as far as writing in a near dark room. But lets back up a bit, and I will take you through my ritual.

I start with inserting coffee intravenously. It seems to be the most efficient way to take in the maximum amount of caffeine possible. If that is not available I will settle for Starbucks, or even a plain glass of water. But I drink a lot when write.

Now this is going to sound strange, but I write best in the dark. If even a sliver of sunlight finds its way through a crack I shudder in fear and screech like Gollum, “it burns”. But seriously, I turn off my overhead lighting and click on two strategically placed lamps for the optimal mood lighting. I think it helps me feel hidden away from the world.

There are two things that are absolute essentials when I write. First up, my iPod. I am easily distracted and my house can be noisy. My husband loves to tinker and he never has anything less than two to four projects going on at any given time, and all of his hobbies are loud. In fact, I think his favorite hobby is seeing how much noise he can actually make. I guess it goes without saying, but we never get invited to any neighborhood parties. I am lucky enough to have an office all to myself, and it is dedicated solely for the purpose of my writing. That being said, my office is located directly in the center of the house and there is no escaping the outside distractions, so on go the headphones.

I always listen to music when I write. I have certain songs that I listen to, to help create certain moods or characters, but the stand by is the Tron Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk. I’m not usually a techno fan, but the soundtrack is mellow and none of the songs have any words, so after a while it just kind of blends into the background and tunes out the hubby.

The second most important thing I keep at my desk is a stack 3x5 index cards. I cannot write my first draft without them. I have used so many cards over the years; if I laid them flat they would rival the Great Wall of China. When I write, my thoughts are messy and all over the place. So when an idea pops into my head I grab a card, write the random idea in frenzy, set it aside and move on. That way when I have time, I can organize them into coherent thoughts and place them accordingly in my story.

Last but not least, is my furry little writing companion, Blue. He is a miniature Australian Shepherd and he never leaves my side. When I am writing he lies at my feet and takes a nap. If I do not bring him in my office with me, he will sit directly outside my office door and wait until I do.

And that’s it. After the mood is set, the drink is in hand, and the distractions are tuned out, I can immerse myself into worlds full of myth and magic and mold my story into life. 

It's the 3rd Annual Young Adult Faries and Fantasy Giveaway Hop!

This is one of my favorite hops of the year and this year it is extra special to me. That is because I can finally give away a book that I wrote myself!!! It is young adult, fantasy, and has faeries! I could not have picked a better book hop to be a part of.

Prize #1, open to US residents only ~ One paper back copy of Awakened, book one in The Legends Of Elyndia series.

Prize #2, open to US and International residents ~ An e-copy of Awakened.

Can fighting for the right side be the wrong thing to do?

Draven, the tyrant ruler of Elyndia for the last one thousand years, searches for the one who can fulfill his prophecy.

The Paladins, an elite band of warriors sworn to protect their way of life at all cost, search for the one with the ability to bring their world crumbling down.

An innocent girl, tormented by demons only she can see, lives on the brink of insanity and longs for a life of peace.

When seventeen-year-old Jade Rosenberg reads from an antique book, she has no idea she just read an incantation awaking her inherited power. But when opposing—and equally terrifying—groups invade her home, she learns she is descended from an enchanted realm and a member of a powerful race thought to have been hunted to extinction. 

Ripped from her world, Jade is forced to seek refuge from those who want her dead.  She is given one of two options and the time has come for her to make a choice: assassinate their sworn enemy…

Or sacrifice her soul.

~You must be 13 years old or older to enter. 

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Just Finished Reading...Breaking Glass

Breaking Glass by Lisa Amositz

Down load a free sample at Amazon
Add to Goodreads


On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he's not sure whether they're real or if he's losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.

My thoughts~

Breaking Glass is a well written and well crafted story and I can recommend the read.

Jeremy Glass is a very likable character that I easily connected with. He definitely receives his fare share of obstacles and I could not help but cheer and worry for him at the same time. We get a good mix of what he has to deal with in his personal life and his social life with his best friend Ryan and Ryan's girlfriend Susannah.

The story has an interesting structure where we get to keep up on the current events with the very important back story weaved in, in a "then and now" type alternating scenes.

What is fun about this read is that it is not only a mystery for the protagonist, but we are left in the dark trying to discover the twists and turns along with him. The ending was not what I was expecting, which is a good thing, and Susannah does takes a turn that I would've liked to have seen gone the other way, but over all it is a great story and I enjoyed reading it.

For more on Lisa Amowitz you can visit her blog.

Breaking Glass was provided to my my Spencer in exchange for an honest review.

The Crazy Ones

The Crazy Ones

Original

“

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

”

Guess what I just watched. Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher. This passage is from an old Apple advertising campaign and highlighted in the movie. I love it. People always ask me where do I find my inpiration. Well...from stuff like this for one. 

The film highlights the major moments in the life of Steve Jobs. It shows us the good and the bad and who Steve Jobs was at work and at home. If you are a fan of the man behind the Mac, this movie is a must see. 

passage copied from Wikipedia

The Master's Blog Tour and $20 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Good day everyone! Today is my stop on The Master's Book blog tour. I have not read this book yet, but it sounds wonderful. I definitely will not let this story slip by. Check the excerpt below and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

The Master's Book by Philip Coleman 
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing 
Genre: Upper MG or lower YA Mystery/Thriller
Age: 12+
Publication Date: March 15th, 2013
Page Count: 236

Book can be found at: GoodReads | Amazon

Sean moves to Brussels to a house that is a crime scene... 
In 1482 Mary, the last Duchess of Burgundy, lies on her deathbed in a castle in Flanders. She is only 25. In her final moments she makes a wish that, 500 years later, will threaten the lives of a boy and a girl living in Brussels. 
The Master’s Book is the story of Sean, an Irish teenager, just arrived in Brussels to a house that is also a crime scene. Together with Stephanie, his classmate, he finds an illuminated manuscript, only for it to be stolen almost at once. 
Where did this manuscript come from? Who was it originally made for? Is there a connection with the beautiful tomb Sean has seen in Bruges? Above all, why does someone want this book so badly that they are prepared to kill for it? 
Part thriller and part paper-chase, this book is aimed at boys and girls of twelve and over.

Back in the basement, I cleared the shelves and moved them, as usual. Not for the first time, I cringed when they made a scraping sound on the floor. I went straight to the innermost chamber and opened the airtight cabinet. It took a few minutes to get the folders out of the way.

I’d barely finished when I jumped at a noise behind me. Maeve stood there in the doorway with her arms crossed, staring.

Damn.

The game was really up now. Well, at least Stephanie wouldn’t be able to blame me when the folks found out.

Maeve’s big, round eyes wandered around the narrow room. “So this is what’s behind the shelves.”

“Stay out of this, Maeve. If you say anything to the folks, you’re dead.”

“Why would I do that? I’ve known about this since last Saturday and I haven’t told Mammy and Daddy.”

I almost dropped the folder that was in my hand. “You what? How did you find out?”

“I wanted to hear what you and Stephanie were talking about, so I listened at the door of your room. Then I came down here myself the next morning and tried to unscrew the shelves, but I couldn’t move them on my own. I tried again on Monday, but I still couldn’t move them.”

All that time worrying about keeping Mam and Dad from finding out, and my nosy little sister was watching the whole time. Typical. Just bloody typical.

“So it was you who kept leaving the stool in the way?” I asked, recovering from the shock.

“Yeah, I had to stand on it to reach some of the screws. What are you doing in here now anyway? What’s in that cabinet?”

“There’s a safe at the back of it. Look, here.” I carefully arranged the folders in stacks on the floor. “It’s just that we can’t figure out the combination. We’ve tried de Meulenaer’s date of birth, but that doesn’t work.”

“How did you find that out?”

“We looked at the Internet, of course.”

“Well, maybe there was other stuff about him on the Internet that might have given you a clue.”

“Nah. There was hardly anything in English. There was something about a book he wrote, about some woman called Marie de Bourgogne.”

Maeve pulled at her ear, a habit of hers when she was thinking hard. “Well, Marie could be French for ‘Mary’. There’s a girl in my class called Mary Alcock, and Monsieur Hubert calls her ‘Marie’.”

“You mean your French teacher?”

“Who else? What’s Bourgogne though? Mary of Bourgogne?”

And then there was that “ping” in my brain. Our visit to Bruges. How could I have been so dense?

“It’s Burgundy,” I cried excitedly. “Of course. Mary of Burgundy. Remember when we visited her tomb, and Dad was talking about her?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Maeve pulled on her ear again.

“It doesn’t get us any nearer to finding out the combination, all the same.”

“Well, maybe if this guy was interested enough in Mary to write a book about her, he came up with a combination that had something to do with her. What about her birthday? Have you thought of that?”

“Meh, it’s worth a try, I suppose. Come on up to my room, and we’ll have a look. We needn’t put all this stuff away, but we’d better put the shelves back.”

Back upstairs I typed “Mary of Burgundy” into Google. It recognised the name when I’d only got as far as “Mary of B—”. Maeve crouched beside me and stared at the screen as the results page loaded.

This time we got tons of stuff in English, starting with a long Wikipedia article. Luckily, her birthday was on the first line: the thirteenth of February, fourteen fifty-seven. I didn’t bother reading any more.

“Can we go now?” I said.

“Just a minute,” said Maeve, scribbling frantically on a piece of paper.

“How long does it take you to write out one date?”

“Finished.”

She scrunched up the paper and shoved it into a pocket in the front of her skirt. We closed the screen and headed back downstairs. This time, she called out the date to me while I punched it on the number buttons of the safe, making things a bit faster.

13021457. I got the error message again. Another one of Maeve’s crackpot ideas. Still, I’d better try out all the combinations. So I went through the same rigmarole of different formats, with and without zeroes.

In a way I almost felt pleased when none of them worked. I turned back to Maeve. “So much for that notion. It wasn’t such a great idea after all.”

“Don’t give up just yet. Try the date she died.”

“Why would anyone pick the date someone died? Besides, you didn’t write it down.”

“Yes, I did. It was on the first line of the article.”

I sighed, annoyed at Mauve for thinking of checking the other important dates. “All right then. Read it out.”

“Two-seven-zero-three-one-four-eight-two.”

“Nah, it doesn’t work,” I said when I got another error message.

“Maybe try just the year.”

I did that. I waited for the error message to pop up, but instead the safe whirred a little bit longer than before. The door popped open.

It couldn’t really be that simple, could it?

Author bio 
Philip Coleman has worked as a biologist for most of his life—in Ireland, Belgium and now in Switzerland. Having been an avid reader all his life, he took up writing only in 2006. This is his first published novel. He drew his inspiration for the story from the period he spent working for the EU in Brussels. He has a grown-up son and daughter (who were roughly the same ages as Sean and Maeve during the time in Brussels but otherwise aren’t a bit like them at all!). He now lives in France. 

Author Sites:
Website |  Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads





Today's stop was brought to you by Candace at CCB Book Promotions

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The Inspiration For Awakened

 This article was originally posted during my blog tour last spring and appeared on Bookish Comforts book blog.

 I am often asked where my inspiration comes from. My answer is usually... everywhere. People, music, movies, something I see in nature or some times an idea organically pops into my little brain and I just run with it.

But I do have a story on how I came up with the idea for my first story in the Legends of Elyndia series and I am here today to share it with you.

The Inspiration for Awakened

Inspiration comes from many places. It can be found in nature, movies, people we meet and from the books we read. It can also come quite literally from an actual event. It was one summer day when I witnessed a gesture as innocent as a father passing a precious family heirloom to his only son that brings us to what we are talking about today, my debut novel, Awakened, book one in the Legends of Elyndia series.

A few years back my father-in-law decided that it was time to share an important gift with my husband. It was something that was passed down to him from his father and was very dear to him. He pulled out an oblong box with contents unknown to us at the time. From the box he pulled out an object wrapped delicately in a baby blue cloth and tied closed with a thick white string. After untying the string and carefully unwrapping the object, he placed it in my husband’s eagerly waiting hands. It was an antique knife with a curved blade and tattered copper sheath. When the knife was handed to my husband he held it with great respect, as it was obvious that it was very old. Not long after he held it, my husband carefully pulled the sheath from the blade and held the knife out in front of him for everyone in the room to see. As he was holding the knife I pictured a wave of powerful magic wash across the room as if the beholder just awakened an ability they never knew they had.

From that moment, I began writing a middle grade story in honor of my son. It was about a young boy that finds a magical knife and gets transported to ancient Egypt. I worked on that story and outlined it from start to finish over a three-month period. Then one day I just could not stand it any longer, and shared the story with my son. I knew for sure he would love it. After I explained the story he looked me in the eye and said…nothing. He then shrugged his shoulders and went back to his Gameboy. I asked him what he thought and he said it sounded boring and didn’t think kids would like it. So I scrapped it.

Before I started working on the middle grade book, I was working on an epic fantasy, but that story was just was not coming together for me either. So what did I do? I took a few of my favorite elements from the epic fantasy, combined them with the magical qualities I gave my knife in the middle grade story, and Awakened was born.