Dead Trees - By Eli Constant

My mind is wandering down crazy paths today! I'm so close to finishing the editing for my alter ego's novella, and all I want to do is write the prologue for Dreamland. I have it all sketched out, and I'm eager to jump in! Maybe I"ll get that started today once I hit my editing goals. Sounds like a plan to me!

So, recently I was gifted the audio book Dead Tress by +Pamela Lorence. She saw my review on That Ghoul Ava, and highly recommended +Eli Constant's book. Pamela also does the narration for Dead Trees and it is superb!

Dead Trees was definitely not what I expected from an apocalyptic story. It opens six months after the disintegration of society, although we do get bits and pieces of information that fill in what happen during that time. Most of the book is told in Elise's POV, but there are a few scenes that aren't, and I'll call those guest POV's because it's not the norm. This is Elise's story.

As a mother, I related to Elise on a lot of levels. Not the kick-ass warrior part, but the mommy part. (I've already faced the fact that I would be a goner in the first 48 hours of an apocalypse if Buffy or the Winchesters don't come save me,) Elise is smart and willing to do what it takes to not only protect herself, but her two daughters. Now, as a mother, as soon as I found out she had a toddler in the car, my stress level shot through the roof. There were some very tense scenes that I ended up sitting in my car after the drive home just to listen to them. I had to know what happened!

The monsters in this book, or maybe I should say beasties, were so well done that I actually had nightmares about them. Yay for my over active imagination!

Pamela Lorence did an awesome job bringing Elise to life, and there were a few times I actually teared up while listening. I immediately bought book 2 for my kindle once I finished, which I've already started. Let me tell ya, book 2 starts out super creepy. It might take me a little while to get through this one since I have to find the time to read, but maybe I can catch some downtime this weekend. It is the calm before the NaNoWriMo storm.

So there's my Dead Trees review, and an audible review of a full five stars will accompany it. I may take the rest of the week off blogging while I wrap up the novella. Unless something else exciting comes up, I will catch you guys next week!

Next on a very special That Ghoul Ava - T.W. Brown

Got my coffee, got my music, got my dreams of going full-time author... I think I'm set.

Yesterday was an excellent, and I mean excellent editing day! I think it may have been a record because I finished up three scenes. However, this is a stand alone novella, and much different than trying to keep track of all the characters and plot lines for The Phoenix Curse. Hopefully I'm learning though. At the pace I'm going, the romance novella Thief should be sent to my editor before the end of the month, and then Katlynn Rose will be born! Dat exciting!

Also, romance with a happy ending is such a refreshing change of pace than the desolation of humanity and death.

Kinda like the difference between That Ghoul Ava and the Dead series by +Todd Brown (I totally just figured out how to do that, BTW.) Dead is a very dark, very gritty, very curl-up-in-a-fetal-position-and-cry set of books, while That Ghoul Ava is the polar opposite. Ava is fun and funny, a light read full of comedy and references. Glorious, glorious references that make me feel a part of something bigger. Man, do I love it when I get a reference.

Anyway, Next on a very special That Ghoul Ava was just as great as the preceding novels. It was a bit more serious that the others, but still managed to make me laugh out loud in parts. Ava (and the reader) gets to learn a little bit more about the history of ghouldom and just how awesome Ava could become, but everything isn't all flowers and butterflies. Ava is forced to make a life(unlife)-impacting decision with some pretty serious consequences either way. I can not wait for the next book! Hell, I was so excited for this one, I couldn't wait for the audio book to come out, so I snagged the e-book.

The mythology and lore is excellent in this series, and I really need someone out there to make a dedicated beastiary for Ava's world. Seriously, if you enjoy some light-hearted, supernatural fun, grab Ava's first adventure and give it a shot. It's reasonably priced, and well worth the time/money invested to see if you like it.

And there is my un-spoilory review. Do we like unspoilory reviews, or should I start going straight up... "OMG THIS HAPPENED AND I WAS LIKE WOW, AND THEN THIS HAPPENED AND IT WAS ALL... WOAH DUDE!!!" ?

I don't know. I'll think on. I hate getting spoiled to things, so I want to spare people that. I was a full season behind on the Walking Dead and I still haven't finished Breaking Bad, so for a while there, I was tip-toeing through reddit and Facebook like it was a minefield. Still got spoiled.

For now though, it's time to get some egg-rolls, listen to another chapter of Dead Trees, and enjoy the upcoming weekend, free from the 8 to 5 workday problems. Enjoy your word of the day, cuz that's what I'm going to be doing alllllllll weekend!

re·lax·a·tion

rēˌlakˈseiSH(ə)n/

noun

1. 1.

   the state of being free from tension and anxiety.

Rise of the King - R.A. Salvatore

So, one of my most-beloved stories just released another book on September 30th, Rise of the King by R.A. Salvatore. Highly anticipated!!

The stories of the Companions of the Hall, and pretty much every other character Salvatore has created in this world, are tots my favsies. And I'm talking of ALL my favsies. Yes, I love A Song of Ice and Fire, and Wheel of Time, but nothing has touched my heart like Drizzt Do'Urden, and the wide cast of characters that has passed through his life. If you follow my blog, you're probably well aware of that fact since I tend to gush every time there's a new release.

Well, gushing might be somewhat limited today at least.

Now, a couple months ago, I blogged about how I felt about the e-book pricing war. (If you care to read it, it's here.) And in that post, I stated there were very few e-books that I would spend over $10 on. At the time I wrote that post, Drizzt came to mind, as well as Winds of Winter. Those might have been the only ones I would have broke the bank on.

Turns out I was wrong. I was very surprised to find that on the day of release, the kindle version of Rise of the King was still set at $15.49!

Nope!

Call me cheap, whatever, but nope. The hardcover is only $2 more, and I'm much more willing to pay a higher price for a physical copy, but an e-book? And I love my Drizzt, I really do, but I'm also aware that the price has to drop eventually. So I looked at the page with disappointment, ranted with my husband a little bit (because he loves Drizzt stories as much as I do) and we both decided we would wait.

Until I remembered I had audible credits... (insert cheesy grin here)

So instead of reading an over priced e-book, I got to listen to the talented Victor Bevine narrate yet another stellar performance. He does such a wonderful job that I know which character is speaking without having to be told, and he makes the action scenes so intense! If you like fantasy/audio books, I recommend grabbing Homeland or The Crystal Shard. I don't see how anyone could be disappointed in the stories and performance.

And now the spoiler free review.

It was... okay. The book wasn't bad by any means, and there were some very stand-out action scenes that I enjoyed, but this book was pretty much all set-up. A slew of new characters get introduced, and we find out where everyone is, and what's going on, but not much beyond that. It's actually what I would expect from a mid-series book, so now I'm dying for the next release!

If you love Drizzt and Co., this is definitely a must read, but if you are riding the fandom fence (and it kills me to say this) a thorough synopsis might do just as well for you. And a diagram. Hell, I think I need a diagram of all the new names being tossed around. And a map. Anyone got a map?

Not the best review I've ever given. If I could ever get back onto Goodreads, I will leave my spoilery review there, but unfortunately, with the little time I have, Goodreads is one of the things that fell behind. I'll be back there someday, I promise.

Next review will be on the new Ava book, and then Dead Trees! See? I'm trying.

I've also got my NaNoWriMo month all planned out, and the edits for my novella are coming along nicely, for me anyway. I still struggle with that. I may have started an origin story for one of the Phoenix Curse characters and... well... first drafts come along A LOT quicker than editing.

Anyone want a little more background on Seth??

So much to do and so little time... And Dreamland is simmering on the burner.

I better get to it!