Mistborn: Secret History, by Brandon Sanderson

Not more than five minutes ago, I finished the Secret History and I have no words incredible enough to describe how I feel right now. I'm attempting to get my awe, my sadness, and my mind-blown emotions down on paper before they fade and realize I'm not able to do so. The words simply don't exist.

So Secret History is not a novella you can just pick up and start reading. This is a companion novella to the whole Mistborn series, specifically for the original trilogy, although it contains minor spoilers through the second trilogy up to the Bands of Mourning. The novella covers a unique perspective through the original Mistborn timeline that gave us the answers to some lingering mysteries, and brought back ALL the emotions I experienced during that one late night/early morning obsessive reading session that left me sobbing in a fetal position gasping for breath.

These books are good, people. I can't stress that enough. I absolutely love Sanderson's work, and I feel a deep connection to his characters. I didn't start reading his works until last year, so that is such a short time to become such a dedicated fangirl, but it's happened.

And now there's a void inside me I'm struggling to fill.

I need another book to devour... STAT!!!

Bands of Mourning, By Brandon Sanderson

Happy Wednesday morning, everyone! I've got a new review for yet another Sanderson novel. I promise I'm not obsessed. I'm only looking to get through his cosmere novels so I can move on to something else. I have already finished Secret History, so that review will be next. I have two other cosmere novellas, and then I think I'm done. See? Not obsessed. Right? I don't know. If I am, I don't care. I just love these books!

Bands of Mourning is the third novel in the Wax and Wayne Mistborn series, so you wouldn't be able to just pick up this book and start reading. You need to start from the beginning, and by that, I mean the VERY beginning, with the original Mistborn series. I oo'd and aw'd over these books too, and if you need a refresher, the review is here.

This is the follow-up book to Shadows of Self that was released late last year. I did a bit of reading on Sanderson's website and found that he started writing Shadows of Self while he was mired in the depths of finishing up the Wheel of Time series. He didn't actually finish Shadows of Self then, and when he turned back to the manuscript, Sanderson said he found it difficult getting back into it. In order to get back into the Mistborn flow, he churned out Bands of Morning first, THEN turned back to Shadows of Self.

Interesting. I know that doesn't really have anything to do with the book review, but I find it fascinating that Sanderson is able to do that. After reading both books, it also makes sense considering the tone Bands of Mourning started off with. Shadows of Self ended dark, though I absolutely love SOS and it might be one of my favorite Mistborn books altogether, Bands of Mourning was a lighter, refreshing change of pace.

BOM introduced a new, lovable character, has some great character development for a couple of established characters, and of course it had Wayne. Wayne is spectacular. There is a scene in this book that had me laughing out loud. Sanderson has a way of crafting words that you could really visualize what was going on, and it was very memorable. Probably one of the best scenes I've ever read from Sanderson that wasn't an epic battle scene.

One last thing about the Bands of Mourning audiobook. Once again, the novel is narrated by Michael Kramer, who always does an excellent, excellent job. I think Sanderson and Kramer make an excellent team, just like RA Salvatore and Victor Bevine. Kramer is well aware of Sanderson's world and has a great connection with all the characters. His enthusiasm for the series makes his performance absolutely brilliant. I think, even if you don't love fantasy, listening to Michael Kramer narrate these books is an experience worth it in its own. The man does a good job.

There is one more Wax and Wayne novel to follow this up, so it was a good segue from Shadows of Self to the new book. I am not sure if it has a release date, or even if Sanderson has even started writing it yet, so I might be waiting a while. Knowing that comes with its own sort of depression. I've turned to Robin Hobb and the Farseer Trilogy to fill the void, and if I'm looking for not being depressed I may have made a mistake. Oh well. I hear those books are good.

Now that that's out of the way, I am continuing to work on The Walk manuscript. This thing is out of control, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have basically finished 50k words a month for the past four months straight.

I'm dying here, people.

But, if I want to be a writer this is what I have to do, right? I'll keep at it, and will definitely have the book finished in March. Originally, I thought I would have The Walk finished within three months, but that's not going to happen. I didn't know there was so much story to tell. My plan was to edit it and work on publication before April, but it's obviously not enough time. Once I finish the manuscript for The Walk, I'm going to jump straight into Dreamland so I can make sure to get it on the shelves by late summer or early fall. Dreamland - Part Two isn't going to be anywhere near as big as the monster I'm working on now, so I should have the first draft fully written within a couple months.

So, time to get back at it. Next review will be for Secret History. Thank you all for dropping by, and happy reading!

The Android's Dream, by John Scalzi

Okay, second book read of the year, second review going up! ... (We're just not going to talk about the fact I'm three books behind since I've already started book five of the year with only one review up... And I told myself this year was going to be different.)

So, The Android's Dream, by John Scalzi, a book and author I knew absolutely nothing about when I picked it up. In fact, the reason I grabbed this book was because it was on a tremendous sale on Audible and was narrated by Will Wheaton. I think at the time I had grabbed this, I had never heard Will Wheaton narrate a book before and wanted to see how he did. That was where my interest lied instead of the book itself, but hey, I'm always up for a good sci-fi read.

Not to mention with the recent releases of the movies like Her and Ex Machina, I was totally feeling the android/robot vibe.

So when the very first line of the book starts out like this...

Dirk Moeller didn't know if he could fart his way into a major diplomatic incident, but he was ready to find out.

I simply had no idea what I was getting myself into.

For starters, this book is NOT about androids or any philosophical argument about their dreams, either...  although there is a pretty cool AI in the book, it doesn't focus on that.

This book is about sheep.

What?

Yeah, you heard me. Sheep. Blue ones to be exact, but that's not really important right now.

I mean, when you look at the cover, it makes sense, but I was thinking more of the 'dream' part of the title which you can only get to by going to sleep, which is achieved by counting sheep. I did not read the synopsis. Silly me.

However, do not think I was in anyway disappointed. This book was actually a very fun read. The first chapter pretty much sets the tone, so if you test that out and aren't picking up what Scalzi is laying down, then you haven't lost much time. It is very creative, and no, the entire book isn't one big fart joke. That first sentence might be a bit misleading.

Now, aside from the storyline and the brilliant tie up at the end, I enjoyed the sci-fi look at things from a 2007 perspective, (the year this book was published.) It's funny, because that's right about the time smart phones broke out, and it's amazing how on the money Scalzi got that one with his 'communicators', but some other things were pretty off the mark and funny to read about.

There were some issues. I'm not a big fan of info dumps, and Scalzi actually uses that intentionally as one of his lead in techniques. It's done with skill, but I felt it was a little jarring once we jumped back into present time. That's just the way it is with all info dumps, though. Like I said. Not a fan.

Also, I really enjoyed Will Wheaton's narration for the most part. His excitement for the story really showed in his performance and it was contagious. Sometimes there was an issue being able to tell one human male apart from another human male, and one alien male apart from another alien male of the same breed, which made it confusing at times wondering who was actually talking as the voices didn't vary much, but that was the only flaw I could nitpick on. (hello run-on sentence, but who's nitpicking now? Oh... right...)

I'd give both narration and story a solid four stars and highly recommend this book. I said it before and I'll say it again. The book was a super fun read.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm already behind on my reviews, but all the books I've read this year so far have been fantastic. Up next for review is Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson.

P.S. My manuscript is killing me y'all. I'll update more on that with the next post.

Until then, happy reading!!

Warbreaker, By Brandon Sanderson

Yay! Very happy to throw the first review of the year out there. I'm already off to a good start.

So, as a Sanderson book started last year, finished last year, and started this year, I think I need to add him to my ever-growing list of favorite authors. Once I find an author I really like, I tend to binge read a lot of their books, and with the discovery of the Cosmere, I pretty much had a whole year of catching up. I believe Warbreaker was the last Cosmere novel that I had left to read.

What's the Cosmere you ask? To put it simply, it's a universe Sanderson has created that a lot of his books take place in. They do not cross storylines, although IIRC, I read somewhere that one day they will, but for now, they are all separate stories that don't even take place on the same planet. There is a reading order to them, I believe, which I totally ignored. I didn't even know what the Cosmere was when I picked up Stormlight Archives: Way of Kings, which probably should have been the last book I read instead of the first. Reason is, there IS a crossover with a character (not storyline) that may have been more thrilling to read had I read Warbreaker first.

C'est la vie.

But I'm over it. That being said, I'll probably reread some of the more important scenes from Stormlight Archives eventually, just to refresh my memory on that one certain character since I know so much more about them now.

So, on we go. Review time. I'm going to start with the bad since it's a small nitpicky part. I did my normal half read/half listen of the book, and even though the narrator of Warbreaker was pretty decent, I was totally not in love with the Bill & Ted voice he attached to one of the characters. It was over done, imo, and forced me to the text during that character's scenes. Some people might like it, though, so that was just me. Like I said, a nitpicky detail.

As far as the book itself? Well, Warbreaker was AWESOME! Oh man, total 5 stars. One of the best "Sanderson Avalanches" I've read so far, and I think one of my favorite Sanderson books altogether, just under Stormlight and Shadows of Self.

If you've ever read a Sanderson book, Warbreaker is going to feel quite familiar starting out. The story starts slow, wrapping you up in the world building while you get to know the characters and the magic system. This system deals with 'breaths' and characters awakening objects to do their bidding. The political intrigue in the book was very captivating, and he does an excellent job of just giving enough information to draw you in and misdirect you... several times. It was beautiful!

Technically speaking, I don't feel that there were any loose ends left open that weren't obviously intentional, and honestly (fan girl that I am) I can't put my fingers on any flaws that I think should have been done differently, (like I did with Elantris). It's just remarkable storytelling and one of Sanderson's best.

Another reason why I absolutely loved reading this book was what Sanderson offered to the other writers out there. The full book is posted on his website, chapter by chapter, with annotations (much like a director's commentary) at the end of every chapter. Even as a writer myself, I can't come up with the words to convey how amazing this is for those of us struggling to better ourselves. Reading another writer's process and thoughts on a scene at this level is a tremendous help to how I view my own writing, and even confirmation for some techniques I already use. Granted, I am nowhere near Sanderson's level and might never be, but we never stop learning. Ever, and I appreciate what Sanderson has done with his book. You can find the book and his annotations here.

Because of this, Warbreaker wasn't just a book for me, it was an event in my life and career that I can always look back on.

As glowing as this review is, keep in mind that it's high fantasy, and that genre doesn't appeal to everyone. However, if you're already a Sanderson fan, or even Salvatore or Jordan, this is an absolute must read!

MY Books

Unofficial year in review, part three!

And to clear up any confusion on my post titles, I'd like to take a look back at what I actually wrote/published last year, as opposed to what I read.

I think the biggest news was my release of Dreamland - Part One that came out last fall, the beginning of the second book in The Phoenix Curse saga, and the fourth installment overall. 

There was a recent giveaway of paperbacks (provided by Lulu) last month, sent out to five lucky winners. I think this particular paperback is beautiful, and I really like the cover better than my ebook cover. I will eventually get the book to print at Createspace and the Lulu paperback will be going away, but until then, you can pick it up from here. I know I have a few fans out there that prefer holding a book over a tablet, and understandably so. A tablet or phone just doesn't compare to the smell, the feel, the weight of a real book. 

Also printed last year was the compilation of After: The Complete Book One. Of course, I want to stress again that if you already own all three parts separately there is NO NEW CONTENT in the compilation. It's just for convenience and for new readers to pick up. After - Part One continues to be free so those new to the series can try it out before they invest any money. I would just like to point out that if you are one of those people that want to continue reading and haven't purchased yet, buying the complete book one will save you a whole dollar rather than all three parts separate. Neat, huh? If you haven't guessed by now, there will be a compilation of Dreamland once it's all said and done, probably with an additional savings in there as well, but that'll be a while. Probably late 2017, early 2018. 

Now, I do want to point out to the collectors, do not buy the hardback directly from Amazon. They have jacked up the price quite a bit. You can get the same book from Lulu at 30% off, and I mean THE SAME BOOK. If you buy it from Amazon, they're going to get it from Lulu first, and then ship it to you. I love Amazon, but it is what it is. Buy smart, save some money to spend on more books.

Are you interested in a signed copy? We can work something out. Shoot an email over to drjpublishing@gmail.com and we'll see what we can come up with.

Now, the flop. DRJ Publishing published a romance novel by Katlynn Rose, Thief, early last year that sold one copy on Amazon. It is, however, free on Smashwords, iBooks, B&N, and several copies have been downloaded across those platforms, but it only has one lonely review. Such a sad story (and I mean the book's release, not the actual book). It is an indulgent romance (not erotica), and an introduction to a few characters that will evolve into a series once I get around to it. That might be a few years out still since I have so many other things on my plate right now. I do, however, really like the cover.

If you are actually one of the few that read it and enjoyed it, please drop by and leave a review! It needs it! Amazon will also price match to the free cost since it's available elsewhere on the internet for no mula. This book has not made it to print yet.

Okay, I think that wraps up the publications for last year, so what's next for 2016?

First up will be Dreamland - Part Two. You can expect the fifth installment to be out in the fall, or at least somewhere close to that. Barring any huge life disruption, I see no reason (this early in the year of course) that I wouldn't be able to meet this deadline. Excited?!?

My second project is The Walk, a sci-fi, apocalyptic tale of the fall of society due to the widespread loss of electricity. This was my NaNo project for 2015, a story that had been bumping around in my head for a few years. I had no idea where it would take me, but I have written on it solidly since November, 2000 words most days, 50k word target hit in November/December, and I'm still going strong. I plan to finish it up this month, then start on the editing. I have a timeline set out already that I will stick to, shelving the project if it takes me past my start date for Dreamland, so no worries there. 

I may not have The Walk published by the end of the year, but I will have it finished. I haven't decided if I'm going to indie publish it yet or not. I might hold out to see what might become of it if I explore other avenues. This is extremely scary for me, but a brand new adventure in my writing career!

I think that wraps up this post. Will be back tomorrow with my Warbreaker review!

Books

This is my unofficial year in a review, part two. Today we'll go over my one actual resolution; books.

In 2014, I read 30 books. Last year, I thought I could beat that number and hit a total of 35 read for the year. I did not make it. I didn't even make 30 books, and the number of reviews I actually got posted were lacking. I promise to try to do better this year.

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

Not this time, Yoda! See, I love books. They're a passion for me and a hobby for me, but in the end, they're still just a hobby. If anything is going to take a back seat to my day job and writing, it's books. I can't always say it's easy to get 2000 words down a day, and that's what I struggle to do before I turn to anything else. Some days, words come easier than others and I have more free time. But some days... I'm past my bedtime getting those words in.

So the best I can promise is a try.

I'm going with 25 this year. I think that's a reasonable number, and what I entered into Goodreads. I also make it a point to always review indie novels, but I'll try to get a few more traditional reviews up this year as well.

Lightsong

I actually just finished Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson last night, (and totally just got distracted for 10 minutes looking at fan art while trying to find a link for that title. This is why blogging is hard for me.) To start the year off on the right foot, this is the first review I'll post.

And I'll copy it to Goodreads.

AND I'll copy it to Amazon.

I can do this! Review will just be posted later. This is not where I meant this tangent to go!

Okay, so, books I read in 2015. Here is the complete list of the 22 books I read last year, in the order I read them. I am severely disappointed in myself, BTW. That number should have been higher. I really intend to read more in 2016.

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson (my review)
Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson (my review)
Scorch Trials - James Dashner (my review)
The Death Cure - James Dashner (my review)
Mistborn: The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson (my review)
Darkness of the Womb - Richard B. Knight (my review)
Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson (my review)
Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson (my review)
Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf - R.A. Salvatore (my review)
Mastic - Eli Constant (my review)
Demons: A Hunter's Novel - Felicite Lilly
Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
The Pendulum: Legacy of the Celtic Brooch - Tarah Scott
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - George R.R. Martin
Archmage - R.A. Salvatore
The Good Girl - Mary Kubica
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
Shadows of Self - Brandon Sanderson
Elantris - Brandon Sanderson
His Brother's Wife - Mary Ellen Boyd (my review)
The Emperor's Soul - Brandon Sanderson

Looks like Sanderson wins 2016 by a landslide! That was me discovering the wonderful thing call the cosmere. Hours of awesome reading and experiencing the "Sanderson Avalanche." I also see a horrible trend in my reviews. At least I started the year off with good intentions!

I would also like to point out that even though this post might be lite on word count, it took forever getting all those links together!

And because I'm writing this post at home on Sunday, schedule to post early AM on Tuesday, I cannot ignore my mommy duties. It is time to go play Super Mario Wii U with the 4 year old.

Ugh..

Have YOU ever played Super Mario Wii U with a 4yo? Please, keep me in your thoughts... This is going to be a struggle...

That Time Of Year Again Already??

Wow. Just like that, we're through another year. At least this past year was much calmer than the previous. We didn't buy a new house, new car, new hip. I think it was pretty average as years go. Let's review...

So, I didn't really set out a lot of goals for myself. There was a vague lose weight/work out goal I set, so I'd like to talk about that one first.

As for a lot of people, I struggled with weight loss for the past decade, and I've never been one to work out on a regular basis. Even when I was thin, I was skinny fat. Now, I don't want to sound like a spokes person or anything, but last year for Christmas, I got myself a fitbit. It was a little Flex that did nothing but track steps, but when I linked the app to MyFitnessPal, something clicked inside my brain.

I had always thought the way to lose weight before was limiting myself to 1200 cals a day, or a 20 carbs a day keto diet, both of which worked for me for short periods of time, but strongly restricted my eating habits. I think my longest jaunt on one of those diets was maybe 3 months. All the weight I lost, I gained right back after I fell off the wagon. Sad days.

The fitbit app was the first I'd come across that measures all your daily calories. Based on age/weight/height/gender, it showed me how many calories I'd burn on a day, even if I laid in bed all day long. Apparently my body burns around 1400 cals a day if I didn't move a single muscle. For some reason, seeing that against the calories I was consuming, it helped me finally realize the whole Calories In vs Calories Out. Of course I'd heard that phrase before, it seemed reasonable, but I had never actually seen it in action. I started eating 1500 cals a day even though I was only burning 1700/1800 a day (I did not work out,) and the weight slowly started coming off.

And then I understood.

Face Gains! Left 2014 Christmas Eve,
Right, 2015 Christmas Eve.
Total lost 30lbs.

Now, I haven't dropped a ton of weight, but 30 lbs in a year isn't bad. I didn't put a lot of restrictions on my diet other than calories, so I was able to stick with it. For the past few months, I've only been maintaining my current weight due to the holidays. I wasn't planning on really chowing down until Thanksgiving, but then my son brought back one hell of a haul on Halloween. I figured one Butterfinger wouldn't be horrible, but no... I unleashed the dogs of war on that candy dish... NOM NOM NOM. Worked off those extra lbs by Thanksgiving, and then... Well, yeah. It was Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I'm back on track now and pretty much have been through December. It's been a long process, but that time was going to pass anyway. My health needed it. I'm hoping that once I get closer to my goal weight, my blood pressure will sink back to normal levels without the need of medication, since even my new medication is messing with me.

Also, one very important thing I want to point out about my journey and my take on dieting. It was my journey, and your mileage will vary. Every diet plan out there technically will help a person lose weight, but you have to find the right one that fits you.We are all different people, and we can't all approach things the same way.

So, new resolution for this upcoming year? Lose more weight/work out more. I am working out now. I actually started jogging in October and now that it's colder, working out with Jillian Micheals 30 day Shred. Oh so fun those are, (not) but I rarely miss a day. I hate it while I'm in the middle of it, but love the changes I can visibly see in such a short time. My goal is just to keep that up. Also, the whole burning more calories a day so I can eat more food is not a bad thing either!

Now, I honestly didn't think my little tangent was going to take up so much space. I have more things I want to talk about and review from last year, but not sure I want to have what happened to Martin happen to me. I also don't have near as much to talk about as Martin, but I think it's worth splitting these up in a few posts for the week.

I shall return!

His Brother's Wife, by Mary Ellen Boyd

Happy hello from the middle of the holiday season! We've almost done it! One more year down. (insert spectacular firework display here.)

Everyone feeling festive now? Good! Just have to keep that spirit going for a few more days.

I've read a lot of books this year that I haven't gone back and reviewed, (shame on me) but today I'd like to take a moment to blog about His Brother's Wife, by Mary Ellen Boyd. This book was a little different for me, as it was outside my normal selected genre, so it took a bit for me to get through it. I'm normally all about the big explosive, magical battles in fantasy, or the creepy crawly things hiding under my bed in horror. This book had neither of those things. It was simple a really nice story.

I don't want to give the impression that this book was inferior in anyway to what I typically read. It was just very different and I'm glad I took the time with it that I did. I am not a historian, so I can't really vouch for the accuracy or the details of the time period the book was set in, but I found it fascinating. One thing I'm really grateful to the author for, is that she did not try to force the dialog into old fashioned speech. It was simple, modern speech that was consistent, and did not take away from the story. I've read some historical books that tried old english dialog, and when it fails, it totally breaks the story rhythm and pulls me out of the book. That was not an issue here.

I really felt for the main characters, especially Hannah. Her situation was so sad and dire at the beginning of the book. The mystery is spun out slowly and is well paced. The resolution at the end of the book was satisfying and watching Hannah's character blossom was rewarding as well.

I downloaded the book from Audible, and it was narrated by the lovely Pamela Lorence, who did a wonderful job bringing Hannah to life.

Solid romance with a little bit of mystery, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Now, what have I been up to lately since NaNo? Well, still NaNo. I currently have a manuscript of over 100k words from my NaNo this year, a smashing cover ready to go, and still probably another 50k words left to finish up the story. I originally thought it would be done by the end of December, but I also didn't think I would need so many words. Hitting my goal of 100k words was accomplished, but now I have to adjust my time line to account for the rest of the story! So lets say January. Three months to write, three months to edit, allocate that same time frame for The Phoenix Curse, and that means you'll see both The Walk and Dreamland - Part Two next year!

The more I write, the more comfortable I am with assessing my capabilities and my limitations. If I can't finish first draft of The Walk by the end of January, I'll have to turn my attention to Dreamland. Getting the next installment of The Phoenix Curse out next year still remains my top priority. I'm looking at another September/October release for that one. Hold me to it!

The end of 2015 is just a few days away. Whatever your plans my be come Thursday night, remember to have lots of fun and stay safe!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Dreamland Paperback Giveaway!

Hello, everyone!

It's just as the title says. I have 5 paperback copies of Dreamland - Part One that are ready to give away. These are limited editions and will be out of print soon as I'm moving to a different size book. The giveaway is running for a whole month, so this could be a late Christmas gift. Also, the cover isn't exactly right in the giveaway promo, but I'll get a picture up of the actual books once I'm at home.

After Thanksgiving, I will work on getting another giveaway started of the digital kind, one that will be available before Christmas.

The holiday season has started. Have a yummy yummy Thanksgiving!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dreamland - Part One

by D.R. Johnson

Giveaway ends December 23, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

That Ol' Zombie Twist

Zombies are undead creatures, typically depicted as mindless, reanimated human corpses with a hunger for human flesh. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore (Haitian French:zombi, Haitian Creole: zonbi) where a zombie is a dead body animated by magic. Modern depictions of zombies do not necessarily involve magic but invoke other methods such as a virus.

Taken from Wiki, but not like it was necessary. We all know what a zombie is by now, considering their huge surge in popularity lately. (The Walking Dead returns this Sunday,y'all, OMG!) Also, it's a pretty good depiction of me Monday morning. HAHA! AMIRITE? ... No? ... Okay, I'll stop.

Lame jokes aside. we've always had a steady stream of zombie movies to satisfy our cravings, but their popularity seems to have exploded in the past decade with movies hitting the mainstream like Zombieland and World War Z, and of course, the aforementioned The Walking Dead. There's also a new show on CW called iZombie, which looks... interesting. I'll have to check that out. (No, seriously. CW shows are like crack to me, I watch them all.) Even the premiere of the ELEVENTH season of Supernatural had a pretty hardcore zombie vibe going on and a pop culture shoutout to 28 Days Later. (Told you I watch them all.)

So, a little over three years ago, I joked about writing a zombie story because they're "so hawt right now." I wrote a blurb and slept on it for six months, because at the time I had never actually written a book. Those who have been following me since the beginning know this story already. That's when I stumbled upon NaNoWriMo, challenged myself to complete it, and BAM! The rest is history.

I knew at the time I couldn't just write about the undead walking the earth, searching for brains to eat. So many before me have already done that, not to mention much better than I ever could, so I had to do something a little different. Also, when I have nightmares, they aren't about zombies. Zombies can give me a jump scare, but I'm not terrified to my core thinking about them. They're mythical/magical creatures that don't really exist, so I needed something that could actually mess with my head. (My nightmares are about spiders, btw.)

So my "zombie" was born, but they aren't technically zombies. The only time I use the word zombie in-world to describe them, the MC is taken aback by it. The people you get to know in my world all have their pet names for the "zombies." Ali calls them freaks, Joss calls them dead-brains. The people at the hotel call them red-eyes and demons, but my favorite is rager because it pops up in my spell check every time I use it. We'll just go with that for simplicity here on out.

Ragers aren't dead. They are very much alive, fast and strong, and they are hard to kill. They heal quickly from wounds and need very little to eat and drink to sustain themselves. They have a very high tolerance to extreme temperatures, and they hate humans. This is what drives them to attack people, not their hunger.

The saving grace? They're mindless. Aside from the rage they feel when exposed to a human, not much else is functioning upstairs. Like most other zombies, they're drawn to noises and lights, but don't do much once there. They have the physical capability to open doors and other things, but they don't know how. It is very possible for someone to sneak past them as long as the ragers aren't alerted to their presence. However, it's dangerous to even try if it isn't absolutely necessary. The ragers scream when they become enraged, calling all other ragers in the vicinity to them. HINT: This usually does not turn out well for any humans involved!

As far as appearance goes, they're normally very thin and lean, and just like the undead zombies, these guys smell, too. I mean, it's been five years since shit went down, how do you think you'd smell without a bath after all that time? And if they can't open doors, they're sure not operating their belt buckles when nature calls. I mean, even though they're bodies run so efficiently, a little excess does need to be relieved every now and then.

Another characteristic is their hair. They have none. It all fell out after they turned, or is in the process of. What ever caused this issue did not, however, affect the finger and toe nails. Those are still working as originally intended. Their most defining physical characteristic is their eyes. The irises to be exact. After the ragers recover from their damning sickness, their irises turn blood red.

With all these odd changes to their bodies, although some for the better, most for the worse, it's almost as if they are the result of an experiment gone wrong... eh?

So those are my zombies, but my book isn't about them. My book is about my characters. About Ali and Joss, and how they're coping (or not) in this new world. After all, Ali fell victim to the same sickness that turns most humans into ragers, yet she came out fine... better even... than before she was bitten. Hrm...

So if you haven't yet, you can get the first book in The Phoenix Curse for free here; After - Part One. Check it out, see if you like it! If you do, I recommend grabbing the complete book one, rather than picking them up separately, although there's no difference in the text. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it, and remember, there is more to come!

DREAMLAND - Part One is here!

Finally, it's here! Currently, Dreamland - Part One is available on Amazon and Smashwords. It will be a short wait until the book is available for iBooks and Barnes and Noble through Smashwords, but I will keep everyone updated.

I've also already got a paperback from Lulu on the way. I will work on one for Createspace for those that are starting a collection, but the price point is so much cheaper on Lulu. I don't want my books to cost my readers an arm and a leg just because they want a physical copy. If things work out well there, I might be able to get the three parts of After available through Lulu as well. After; The Complete Book One is already available there in hardback.

Okay, enough of all that. Is everyone ready?!?!?!?

One question...

Are you ready?

Coming October 2015

Close One!

Whew!!! Just got the manuscript sent over to my last editor! With two hours to spare before vacation! CRAZY! I'm glad I was able to finish it this week so I could fully enjoy myself while we go on a little road trip.

So glad to have another installment of The Phoenix Curse ready to publish soon!

Guess I better get to work on that cover, eh?

SO EXCITED!!!!

Writing is Beautiful

I am extremely happy right now, although frazzled and getting dangerously close to burnoutville.

But guys.... guys.... My fully revised manuscript will be finished by Friday and ready for the editors. Half has already been printed and turned in.

I just *gasp* needed a little break. 

I'll leave you with this, a vision of how writing can be beautiful, spoilers removed, of course. 

For The Watch

Okay, here's the deal. A long time ago I had a conversation with myself on whether or not I would go full 'fangirl' on my blog, and I decided it would be in my best interest to avoid that happening. I also decided to keep my blog to book reviews instead of TV show/Movie stuff, but I think I'll be stepping outside those boundaries in this post. At least it won't be too much of a stretch since this will touch on the books as well as the show.

I'm talking Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire here, people. Thar be spoilers ahead!

But real quick before that, I'll get the Dreamland update out of the way, just in case you aren't interested in yet another post about Jon Snow. (EF YOU OLLY! amirite?)

So the rewrites are going exceptionally well. I think changing up my formatting schedule has helped that. I left a lot of notes to myself to correct things while I was writing my first draft and that list of honey do's is almost completed! I actually think I still have a good chance to finish today and then dig in on the polishing for my beta reader as early as tomorrow. That's a huge step done in the completion of the book. You will definitely have the first part of Dreamland in your hands before the end of the year!

Okay, so on to my rambles, and I will warn everyone again, this will contain show/book spoilers.

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

There, that should do it.

So the hype for the Game of Thrones season 5 finale was strong. I had my expectations up, although not as high as they were at the end of season 4. Then, I was so deflated with the lack of a certain character's reemergence, but a glimmer of hope still remained for season 5. When I saw the title of episode 10, Mother's Mercy, the hype started to build again. Like so many other book-readers out there, we were almost positive that Mother's Mercy was pointing towards that same certain character that did not appear.

And then Daniel Portman, the actor that plays Podrick Payne, was quoted as saying that episode 10 would 'break the internet!'

Hype train, full steam ahead!

So I watched Hardhome (S5E8) and kept my silence... well, I had too cuz it was so hard to breath after watching that episode. Thank you D&D for showing us what actually happened at Hardhome instead of hearing it from some news reports. 

After The Dance with Dragons (S5E9) I remained mute... well, because I was crying tears of sadness for Shireen and then awesomeness for Dany... Guys, that episode was a fucking rollercoaster for my emotions.

Then came Mother's Mercy (S5E10), the episode that was supposed to end all episodes. 

And it didn't... or so I thought, but I'll get to that in a moment.

The hype and expectations were so high for me for this episode, that I couldn't help being a little disappointed. My definition of 'breaking the internet' would have needed something to shock book readers AS WELL as show watchers. I needed LSH to be in that episode, or the confirmation that Azor Ahai was reborn... something... anything! But we got "For the watch!" which I knew was coming, yet hated seeing it. Jon was my favorite book character and out of all the tragedy that happened in those books, the only scene to make me shed a tear was the one prior to him getting shish-kabobed, although that was cut from the show. (which was fine with me, it didn't fit into the show storyline.)

So I hopped on reddit to see the reaction threads in r/gameofthrones, and I giggled as I scrolled through them all. (We do that cuz we're a bunch of assholes.) 

Then it began... my internet began to break in a way I never considered.

You see, A Dance with Dragons released in 2011. I've known that Jon has been dead/not dead for the past four years, and for some reason, I've been okay with that. He obviously isn't going to stay dead! He can't. HE JUST CAN'T, PEOPLE!! My belief in this has been unwaveringly firm, at least until the aftermath of Mother's Mercy hit.

Don't get me wrong, I still firmly believe Jon is not gone for good. I believe Mel will rez him, that he is the champion of the light, (Azor Ahai if you will) and although he might be a bit darker as was Dondarrion, he'll still be Jon Snow.

But it's hard to be still that little voice inside me going "what if?"

Because Kit Harrington in his interviews is saying, "Oh yeah, Jon is dead. Deader than a door nail. Now I can explore more possibilities." (that is not verbatim, duh.) As well as D&D saying he's dead. Well, of course he's dead. He's just going to be revived again so he can do his grand thing, whatever that may be. 

But.... What if?

Oh shut up, little voice. 

So my internet has been broken since the morning after "For the Watch." The only thing that comes up in the search engine is Game of Thrones related. I can't stay away from westeros.com, watchersonthewall.com, the wiki's, the subreddits.... I swear I'll be rereading the books by the end of summer. I am completely and totally obsessed at this point. I need the next book, Martin!!! NEED! I haven't felt this taut with anticipation since the ending of book 7 of wheel of time... and then Jordan smacked us in the face with Crossroads of Twilight. Don't do that Martin. Give us what we want!

So in my broken internet, there are a lot of odd theories out there. Man do I love pulling out the tinfoil and settling down with some crazy-ass theory. I've read R+L=D and B+A=J... lolno. And my favorite nutty theory is Lyanna is still alive and happy as a certain Septa traveling with the Golden Company. What??? No... And.. omg... Drogo+Dany=Tyrion, the time traveling fetus. BWAHAHAH! I love this stuff...

So here's some of my thoughts, but I am always, and I mean ALWAYS open to reading other's thoughts and theories.

• Lyanna is dead... but why is she the only woman to have a statue in the crypts?
• Lemora is probably the Mad Maid, although part of me really wants her to be Ashara Dayne.
• God would I love it if Daario was Euron, but I doubt that's even possible.
• Coldhands is not Benjen, I'm sorry. I don't think we've seen the last of Benjen, but I also don't think he's alive anymore.
• Varys is a mermaid? ROFL! I can't even comment on that one. He is also a HE... And not Illyrio's wife.
• Aegon is a Blackfyre, but he doesn't know it, and Jon Connington definitely doesn't know it.
• Bran is never leaving that cave physically again.
• Jaime will kill Cersei, after she tries to make use of the wildfire the Mad King left behind.
• HR=HS. Man, do I love love love this theory! The chances of it being true are pretty slim, but Howland Reed has to come into play at some point in a big way in the next book/season.
• Tywin Lannister was sterile. 
• Roose Bolton is not a vampire.

But my main theory, one so prevalent it might as well be cannon now, is R+L=J. The only thing I'd like to add on this is the promise me, Ned. I have read a lot of theories, and I know I can't be the only one out there to think this, but I also haven't read this anywhere yet.

Lyanna wasn't begging Ned to promise her to raise Jon and keep him safe. That was something that Ned would have done on his own. She was, instead, begging Ned to tell Jon who he really was, and I don't just mean a Targ. Rhaegar was consumed with the three heads of the dragon, and he firmly believed that the heads were his offspring, and that one of his offspring would be the Prince that was Promised. It stands to reason that Lyanna, a young, impressionable girl that is in love with this immaculate prince, would have also fallen in love with his passion.

This is the promise that Ned made to her, and the broken promise he laments in the black cells. He never told Jon what his destiny was/is, that she believed him to be the Prince that was Promised.

There is more, there is always more, but I think that's enough for today. I will add, that I am looking forward to any and all surprises that Martin is going to throw at us. Prove us all wrong! Muwah!

Unhooking my mind from Martin's world has been difficult, but it's time to get to the editing station. Everyone remember to have a safe and wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

Mastic, by Eli Constant

So this post should have been up yesterday. I had intended to write it, but there was one scene I was toying with that I thought I was so close to being finished with. I told myself I would give my blog a little lovin' as soon as that scene was done. If I let myself get distracted, it would never be finished. I've been struggling with it for four days now!

And I did it. I finally finished it, but I never actually got around to the blog. Sorry about that! 

I'm here now, and today we're going to talk about Mastic, by Eli Constant.

This book was an original, dark fantasy. (my favorite genre.) Lots of mystery involving a type of supernatural being that I've never read about before. In fact, I would actually love to explore the lore behind them... or him, as it was very intriguing.

The story set up was great, and although there were some parts that made me wonder why we were being told about certain things, it all came back around in the end. There didn't seem to be anything left open ended, (ya know, except that one thing that was intentionally left open ended that makes me hope for a second book.) 

One part was a little confusing when half the book was 3rd person and then switched to 1st person for a good portion, then back to 3rd person again. I was listening to the book on audible, so I'm not sure if there was something actually written in the book that made this make more sense, but it did throw me off at first.

Speaking of audible, Pamela Lawrence did an excellent job narrating the book. Her character voices were consistent to where I knew who was speaking before the dialog tags were read. She can really put emotion into the characters too, make you feel for their situation.

Overall, I think it was a decent read and the book is really well reviewed. If you're looking for something with a little romance (not graphic) and an original story, you might want to give this a try. Wasn't my favorite book from Constant, (I loved Dead Trees) but still a good book. Also, the cover art is beautiful. 

Now, that gets me caught up a little bit. I'm still two reviews behind and halfway through another book! Weee!! So hard to keep up.

In Dreamland news, I'm super happy with how the rewrites are going this time around. Hard not to start trying to polish, but I had a lot of cleaning up to do with the first couple of chapters. At least half of that is done now. I still have a lot of work to go, but I'm excited! I never feel this good when facing edits, so this is an improvement! 

Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf, By R.A. Salvatore

Happy Tuesday morning! Time to get back to it and get some of these reviews out of the way before I forget them. I'm getting behind!

There are a couple things I'd like to get out of the way before I jump into the review. May has been a very busy month for me, hence the lack of posts. My husband and I celebrated our 7th anniversary, my eldest son graduated high school, and my daughter now has her first car. It has been somewhat hectic! The astonishing thing was that I actually found the time to finish the Dreamland - Part One manuscript in the midst of all that! Yes, you heard me! First draft is DONE!

*does Snoopy dance*

The rewrites are already underway, but this is the area where is difficult for me to gauge a timeline. I can think I'm on track and then end up having to rewrite a full two scenes or some such. I still think I'll be able to be done before summer is over, though. Then the editing and polishing stage can begin and that doesn't take near as long. Hopefully my estimated release date of late this year is accurate! I think it might be!

Now on to the review.

Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf was more exciting than the last installment, Rise of the King. As I stated in the review for Rise, it was mostly setup, and a lot of what was set up came to fruition in Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf. DO YOU LIKE DRAGONS?? I like dragons, and we get some very satisfying and unique scenes here. The waging war is huge in scope, involving a lot of towns I've been familiar with for decades. Things don't end up well for a lot of them, and it was a very emotional read.

There was a distance in the books from some of the characters, especially the humans. Mainly because we don't know them as all the old humans we knew have been dead for centuries, and a lot of the dwarves were just names or acquaintances before. We spend just as much time in those perspectives as we do our Companions of the Hall. 

Sept 1st Release!

This stories's scope was vast and covered a world changing event. One that needed to be told and was a very satisfying to read. That being said, I do miss the single adventures of the Companions. The smaller ones, where only those directly involved matter. I hope the next book in the Drizzt saga takes us back there. I do think the artwork that's up on Amazon now is stunning.

Hopefully, some loose ends finally get tied up in this next trilogy, plus I am missing Artemis! What the heck has he been up too? I think I'm looking forward to this next set of books more than I did this last trilogy due to how much I love the underdark. I can't wait for them to get the chaos they think they want! With the way Salvatore can deliver a truly satisfying scene, I'm sure I won't be disappointed. 

Okay, one review down, two more to go. Told you I was behind! I'll try to get those up quickly before I get to caught up in the rewrites and my brain turns to mush.

Have a wonderful week!