Gods of Chaos – It’s a cover reveal!

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

Gods of Chaos (Daughter of Chaos #2) by Jen McConnel

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

The gods of chaos cannot be trusted.

When DarlenaAgara declared to follow Red Magic last fall, she had no idea what she was getting into. Since then, however, she’s had a crash course in danger, deceit, and destruction. In an effort to gain an ally, Darlena heads to Scotland in search of another Red Witch, but she didn’t count on the new obstacles (and crazy gods) that await her.

Title: Gods of Chaos (Daughter of Chaos #2)
Publication date: March 31, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Jen McConnel

Jen McConnel now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn’t crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

(Winners will receive their book on release day)

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The Actuator 1.5: Borderlands Anthology – A delightful Fantasy/Sci-Fi Read

 I was approached recently by Curiosity Quills Press to see if I would like to review a copy of The Actuator 1.5: Borderlands Anthology in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not a huge fan of science fiction, but I do love fantasy and this anthology promised to deliver a little bit of both, so I thought, what the heck and asked for them to send it on.   I’m glad I did as all the stories are really good and there is something between these covers for all sci-fi/fantasy fans.  Here’s a bit about the book:

The Actuator 1.5: Borderlands Anthology

Genre(s): Anthology, Action & Adventure, Alternative History, Cyberpunk, Dark Fantasy, Fairy Tales & Myths, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Steampunk

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Date of Publication: September 11, 2014

Cover Artist: Michelle Johnson at Blue Sky Design

Description: When the Actuator breaks the earth into a patchwork of altered realities, the remaining Machine Monks begin looking for the Keys to put it back. In the meantime, everyone in the world has been transformed without knowing why. This collection tells about some of the people struggling to deal with the change.  Read more here.

MY REVIEW

It is difficult for me to pinpoint which story I liked the most. Each one was written very well and were quite entertaining, and I enjoyed them all.

There is a common theme that runs through this anthology, and each one of the authors tweaked their characters and their settings around that theme.  It actually seems like each of the stories play off of each other in an odd way, almost as if one can’t exist without the other. I do think some of the stories could have been expanded. Some felt flat. Some ended abruptly. A few left me thinking “huh?”, but overall, it was a good anthology.

Some of my favorite stories were:

Remembering Emily by Sarah Wolf.  I love the author’s voice and descriptions. Beautiful imagery here and the story is vibrant.

Stolen Orchid by Matthew Cox is one of the coolest cyberpunk stories I’ve ever read and it also played with my emotions.

The Austenation by Mara Valdarran was pure brilliance though I do think there could have been a bit more conflict. Jane Austen fans…you’re going to LOVE this one.

Escape by Patrick Burdine gave me the creepy willies.  Seriously, don’t read this right before you go to bed.   Not a good idea.

Halfway by Jay Wilburn. Ok, so this story freaked me out. There are clowns and peculiar lighting and odd people. There’s an Edward Scissorhands feel to the story, and it left me feeling numb. Well-written and freaky creepy.

Fifteen Seconds of Fame by Jason A. Anderson. A great story of one woman’s decision to defy the mob and help a little girl find her mom. Fast moving with an enjoyable, satisfying ending.

These are only 6 out of 20 amazing and unique stories.  While I liked some better than others, I am sure everyone who loves these genres will find something to enjoy.

I give four stars to this anthology.  Thank you Curiosity Quills Press for providing me with a free copy of this anthology in exchange for an honest review.

Find Online: Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

SKIN GAME by Jim Butcher – Wow, what a mind-blowing read!!

Title: Skin Game

ISBN: 0451464397 (ISBN13: 9780451464392)

The Dresden Files #15

Published: May 27, 2014

Publisher: ROC

********************

Wow, this has got to be my favorite book of 2014, which surprises the heck out of me as I really thought CRESS by Marissa Meyer would top my list.

I don’t even know what made me pick up this book. Maybe it was that Clint Eastwood-like cover, or it could have been

THE BLURB:

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day….

Because as Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it’s something awful.

He doesn’t know the half of it….

Mab has just traded Harry’s skills to pay off one of her debts. And now he must help a group of supernatural villains—led by one of Harry’s most dreaded and despised enemies, Nicodemus Archleone—to break into the highest-security vault in town so that they can then access the highest-security vault in the Nevernever.

It’s a smash-and-grab job to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure hoard in the supernatural world—which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the freaking Underworld and generally unpleasant character. Worse, Dresden suspects that there is another game afoot that no one is talking about. And he’s dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience. Especially Harry.

Dresden’s always been tricky, but he’s going to have to up his backstabbing game to survive this mess—assuming his own allies don’t end up killing him before his enemies get the chance….

—————-

But I don’t think it was that at all. I opened up the book and started reading, and I couldn’t put it down.  Terry Pratchett fans – this book totally rocks over Discworld and I LOVE Discworld.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I loved this book and I haven’t read any others in the series. Guess what.  I’m going back to the beginning and read them all because this author is that damn good.

I’m not going to give a review because this is one of these books, one of those series you have to read for yourself.  All I know is that I’m hooked.

What was your fave read of 2014?

 

The time the earth almost swallowed me

I was young, perhaps five or six years old. I was playing outside barefoot, the cool green grass beneath my feet, the sun in my hair. I’ve forgotten what I was playing with. It doesn’t really matter. I can tell you that terror wrapped its ugly hand around my throat as the ground started to shake. I screamed and took a step for home, but my little white house with its yellow shutters and windowsill flower boxes with red geraniums, fell into the mouth of the earth.

I screamed for my mom, but she never came. I was alone. I backed up onto the sidewalk. The cracks in the ground chased me. Fires sprang up all around me. The earth rumbled and grumbled like a hungry beast,  vibrating beneath my small legs. I started to cry. A sliver of earth shifted beneath me, jutting upward a piece of carpeted dirt. I looked down as the gap between my feet grew wider, its insides tumbling into an abyss.  Wider and wider it grew until I had nowhere to go. I fell in, screaming at the top of my lungs. Falling, falling into darkness.

And then Superboy came with Krypto, the Super Dog (do you remember them?) and rescued me.

They took me to a beautiful 2 story home with a really nice yard. My mom and dad were there, along with my brother and my dog, Gypsy.  All was okay. No one was hurt, yay Superboy and Krypto, my favorite heroes of all … that is until I discovered a plastic dinosaur that lived in my home that could make himself really big whenever anyone bullied me.

But that’s a story for another time.

****

The above was a recurring dream I had as a child. I don’t know why I dreamed of Superboy except he had a dog sidekick and who doesn’t like super dogs that fly?  I also think deep down I really like Superboy with his dark hair and blue eyes, but I digress

I’m not sure where the dream came from. I’ve never been in a real earthquake, but I know the thought of one scares the beejeebies out of me.  If I felt one in real life, I would completely freak out. To this day I am terrified of being swallowed by the earth. I can’t tell you how hard I prayed that I wouldn’t experience one when I visited San Francisco many years ago. A year almost to the day after I was there, an earthquake in San Francisco claimed 63 lives, most of them when the Oakland Bridge fell in on itself.

I know a lot of people say to me, “Well, you live in Florida. Look at all the hurricanes.”  Yes, this is true, we have horrible storms and hurricanes but there is a difference between them and earthquakes …. there usually is advanced warning with a hurricane and we can evacuate. There is no warning when the earth is going to shift. It’s like trying to run from a tsunami. Where are you going to go? I have a hollow feeling in my stomach just thinking about it.

I wonder how people in earthquake prone areas deal with the ground shaking.  Please let me know. Maybe I won’t be so fearful if I understand.

As to the recurring dream, did you have any as a child that stuck with you? If so, I’d love for you to share, too.

FIFTEEN by Jen Estes – a review

Curiosity Quills recently offered me the opportunity to read FIFTEEN by Jen Estes in exchange for an honest review.  After reading the back cover blurb, I decided to take a chance on it as the premise really captured my attention.

Fifteen, by Jen Estes

Genre:Contemporary Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Publisher:Curiosity Quills Press

Date of Release­­:January 15, 2015

Cover Artist:Conzpiracy Digital Arts

Goodreads

Description:

Legend has it if you die in your dreams, you die in real life. Fifteen-year-old Ashling Campbell knows that’s not true because when she closes her eyes each night, she doesn’t dream about public nudity or Prom dates. Instead, she’s catapulted to the front row of her future self’s execution – fifteen years from now – where monsters have taken control of her hometown and she, or rather, her 30-year-old counterpart, is their public enemy number one.

For three months and counting, it’s been the same dream… until an encounter with an antique dreamcatcher. Ash falls asleep to discover she’s no longer a mere spectator in these dreams – now she’s astral-projecting into the body of her future self. Each night, she goes on the run with a ragtag group of rebels – who have no idea she’s really a high school sophomore and not their noble warrior. She has to make it through each night so that she can wake up and find a way to change the future. For every action she does in the present day, she falls asleep to discover it had an equal impact fifteen years later. It’s up to her to manage her two worlds and make sure she’s still got a place in both.

My Review

I’m really torn over this book.  Part of me really, really loved it and the other part of me only liked it.

I thought the beginning started out kind of slow and I was wondering when the story would pick up. It didn’t take long before the first ‘dream’ sequence, and boy, did it catch my attention.  The monster in Ash’s dreams is wicked beyond wicked, and what happens to her during the dream is just too freaking weird and unsettling.

I’m really trying hard not to give spoilers away here but it’s difficult to talk about this book without giving something away.  Hmm, let’s talk characters.

There is this doctor in the book that is an oddly placed character.  Ash and her friend, Nadette’s, reaction to him seemed  too quick. They just went with him unknowing, unthinking, and it’s not like he was a young college kid, either. He’s an old guy, well, old to a couple of teen girls.  I thought this entire scene just unfolded way to easy. They were too trusting. Personally, I was kind of creeped out by the guy, the way he stood under a tree staring at the two girls, and yet they’re like “hey, baby.” It felt ‘off’ to me. It through my creep groove off.  However, I liked the character and I really enjoyed watching the way he helped Ash come to terms with her dreams.

Anyway, Ash’s relationships with Tate, Nadette and Skylar are all very typical teenager, and there is a strong YA voice when the three of them get together. I would have liked to have seen deeper characters, a little bit deeper POV with Ash and her feelings toward Tate. Don’t get me wrong. We know her relationship with him. We know how she feels about him. I just would have liked to have seen a bit deeper connection.

The settings are pretty typical – high school and college campuses. The scenes are easy to picture in my mind. The prose is fairly quick overall and engaging. The storyline and plot are easy to follow, but there are some twists and turns that are really quite nice.

There is a scene where Ash falls asleep in class that I would have liked to have seen developed a bit more. I think there would have been more reaction among the students. I really liked this first introduction into carrying things over from sleep to reality – one dimension to another. Very nicely done.

Bad thing is, I found myself wanting to get to the dreams instead of reading the story. At one point I found myself skimming because I thought it was taking too long to get to the dream scenes, which were becoming more and more intense and vivid. Ms. Estes knows how to write these villains and monsters, and even better, she knows how to weave them into reality. I can’t really say it’s the author’s fault I wanted to jump ahead. Then again, a slow enticement is much better than a WHAM! Know what I mean?

As for the end of the novel, Jen Estes knows how to end a book. I loved the twists and turns in the end and the last line was most excellent. It made me go “ooooo”. All I could think of is if I were Fifteen, everything she’d just been through would completely freak me out.

Overall, I wish there had been a tad more deep character development. Sometimes they felt flat to me and then in other spots, they were bopping all over the page. I didn’t like the ending with Tate and Nadette.  That really sucked and I would have liked to have seen a different ‘ending’ for them and Ash. Again, my preference and nothing the author did wrong.

Try as I might, it is really difficult to peg down score for this one.  It would be between a 3.75 and a 4.0. I think I’ll give a 4.0 because the creepy, wraithy kind of villain was just written so damn well. I could see him in all his ghoulishness.  At times, it was if he were standing right in front of me. *Shiver* And then to find out he’s really …

Nope, not going to tell you. You’re going to have to read the book to find out.

I give FIFTEEN 4 stars. It really does have a menacing, hair-raising storyline and I think most people who like edgy YA horror without going overboard, will love this novel. It is pretty intense for the most part, with a very interesting plot line.  I am happy to say this is the first book I’ve read in 2015.  Thank you Curiosity Quills Press and Jen Estes with starting out my year with a really enjoyable read.

About the Author

Jen Estes is the author of the Cat McDaniel Mystery Series and the forthcoming FIFTEEN (The Dreamwalker Diaries).

Born and raised in the Midwest, Jen had to choose between staring at corn or reading books. Corn husks just didn’t have the appeal of the Baby-Sitters Club, and so a bookworm was born. Reading later turned into writing and in 2011, Jen published her first novel. After releasing four books in the mystery genre, Jen finally gave in to the literary demands of her inner teenager with her YA debut, FIFTEEN (The Dreamwalker Diaries) with Curiosity Quills.  Jen lives in Illinois with her husband Nathan under the tyranny of their three cats: Wrigley, Ivy and Captain Moo.

She is an active member of the National Writers Union. When she isn’t writing, Jen enjoys sci-fi in all its mediums, attempting yoga, using her passport, watching baseball, and reading a good book. You can find Jen on the web at http://www.jenestes.com, on Tumblr as AuthorJenEstes and tweeting under @jenestesdotcom

Find Jen Estes Online:

Website | Facebook |Twitter| Goodreads

And the winner is …

Last week I ran a poll asking YA readers which method of reading they preferred: e-book or paper book.  The overwhelming response of you that voted was:

86.67% of you prefered paper books

and only

13.33% of you prefer e-book.

This is awesome information for a YA author to know and have in hand when looking at publishing contracts.  Despite the digital world, it seems most readers still prefer real books to hold in their hands.

And now, on to the super-duper prize giveaway …

One lucky person who voted in the poll has won their choice of either an e-book OR paperback copy of the YA anthology by J. Taylor Publishing – ONE MORE DAY.

And who is that lucky winner?  Why it’s

LAURA THOMAS!!!!

Whoo Hoo!  Congratulations, Laura and thank you so much for playing along. An e-mail has been sent to you with all the details.

Thank all of you for participating and playing along.  Keep coming back for more awesome giveaways going on throughout the year!!

Ok, so my dragon is a dog

Yep, you read the headline right. My dragon is a dog. Well, at least he acts like one in my current W.I.P. that happens to be the second installment of my Young Adult fantasy series, The Chronicles of Fallhollow.

I hadn’t planned for Mirith to take on doggish traits. I mean, he’s an Oppernicus for heaven’s sake.   They are very odd dragons. They don’t fly. They are quite stocky. They have a frill of feathers for  a mane, a beak-like an eagle, scales like a fish, and a tail like a lion’s, except with a pointed mace on the end.  Oh, and they don’t shoot fire. Instead, they curl their tails over their heads like a scorpion and shoot ice bolts.

But when Mirith is with his best bud, David, he is reduced to a puddle of goo. He rests his head on David’s knee and begs. He wags his tail when happy. He growls when mad. He struts around like he’s all that. And he tries to sit on the furniture, with not much luck because he’s bigger than the freaking couch.

And even though he gets into mischief, and is fiercely loyal in his protection of David, he really is a big, sweet, loveable baby who loves getting scratched behind the ears … if you can find them. But watch out. When he’s getting his lovin’, he purrs like a really big cat.

I’m sure his antics will delight young and old alike. He makes me smile, that’s for sure.

What/who is your favorite fictional pet? Snoopy? Hedwig? Pascal? Scooby Do? Falkor? I want to know.

 

YA Fans – which do you prefer ~ paper books or e-books? Take the Poll – Win a book!

With my own YA book coming out in 2016, I’m wondering, what do YA fans prefer:  paper books or ebooks? Take the poll and leave a comment explaining your preference.

As an added incentive to play along, I am giving away to one lucky winner, their choice of either a paperback or e-book copy of the YA anthology, ONE MORE DAY, which includes my short story, Dragon Flight.

All you have to do is click the Rafflecopter link and enter. Sadly, the contest is open to US residents only (shipping and all.)

Rafflecopter Link

Thank you all so much for participating and please feel free to share!

And now, onto the poll!!

2014 – what a freaking year!

I don’t know about you, but 2014 was a mixture of good and bad.

I spent much of the year on a personal level looking for a job.  9 months in and I finally landed one working for a real estate company in their property management division. Even though I bitched and moaned for the 1st 9 months that I kept going on interviews and kept getting turned down, I realize why I had to wait. This job is perfect. Low stress. Lovely people to work with. I’m pretty much my own boss as far as what I do, and I’m making the upper folks take notice of my work. From what I understand, they love me and the work I’m doing, and I couldn’t be more content. Thank you, God, for once again keeping your eye on me and knowing what was best.

As for my writing – well it’s been an awesome year. I had a short story, The Passion of Millie Hudson published by Hypothetical Press in their READING GLASSES anthology. What a great bunch of stories by some pretty fantastic authors, if you ask me.  If you like speculative fiction, this is an amazing collection of some kick-butt short stories and I’m thrilled to be part of the collection.

Available through Amazon

I also accomplished a lifetime dream – I got a publishing contract with Month9Books for my debut YA epic fantasy novel, IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON KING, the first installment in the  Chronicles of Fallhollow series. It is slated for release in 2016, and if 2015 goes by as fast as 2014, release day will be here before I can blink my eyes.

 

What does 2015 hold for me?

Writing, writing and more writing.  I am wrapping up the second book in the Chronicles of Fallhollow series and I am almost ready to send to my publisher.  The third and final installment has been started, but it’s a long way from being done.

This year will be a crazy ride as I’ll be preparing for In the Shadow of the Dragon King’s release. That means I’ll need to take a crash course in marketing. I need to come up with a plan to spread the word. I’ll guest blog, guest host, conduct live interviews, interact with YA readers however I can. Suggestions from all of you would be worth more than all the gold in the world. Anyone in the marketing business who would love to tag along for the ride and help me jump in and get my feet and legs wet, I’m open to suggestions.  Goal for 2015?  Are you ready?

I want at least 5000 people lined up, eager and ready to purchase Dragon King before it’s release. It can happen. All it takes is the dream, the determination and a can-do attitude. Dragon King WILL be #1 on the NY Times best-seller list. It, and it’s three siblings, WILL be made into films.  I won’t take no for an answer.

Now that you know my story, what was your biggest accomplishment in 2014? What is your biggest ‘gonna happen’ dream for 2015?