The Otherborn by Anna Silver: Review, Interview & Giveaway!!

Otherborn
(Otherborn, #1)
by Anna Silver
Published: April 4, 2013
Published by: Sapphire Star Publishing
Formats: Paperback, eBook ~ 300 pages

Book Blurb:
London and her teenage friends live in a reprocessed world.
Confined within Capital City’s concrete walls, London has done the impossible and the illegal. She’s created something New- a song. But her mentor, club owner Pauly, is not impressed. Since the historic Energy Crisis forced everyone behind walls generations ago, the Tycoons have ensured there is truly nothing new allowed under the sun. Pauly warns London to keep her song to herself, if she knows what’s good for her.
What he doesn’t know is that London is keeping an even bigger secret: she dreams. And she’s not alone. London’s band-mates and friends have begun dreaming as well, seeing themselves in “night pictures” as beings from another world. As Otherborn, they must piece together the story of their astral avatars, the Others, in order to save their world from a dreamless, hopeless future.
When Pauly is murdered and an Otherborn goes missing, London realizes someone is hunting them down. Escaping along the Outroads, they brave the deserted Houselands with only their dreams to guide them. Can they find their friend before the assassin finds them? Will being Otherborn save their lives, or destroy them?

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When a song is dangerous and ideas are forbidden, what do you live for? London has the ability to create something new and is told by her friend Pauly, to never let anyone else know. The world lives in the past. No new aspirations for the future. But why? And why doesn't anyone dream anymore? I had to know the answers to these questions. Then when London reveals that she is able to dream and that her band mates also started to dream I knew there was something big happening. From the first few pages I was hooked. I had to know what happened to this world and what the Energy Crisis had to do with everything. There were just so many questions in my head that I could not put this book down.

London is a great protagonist. She is not one to whine or sigh at the circumstances in front of her. She is a rule breaker and a character that is enigmatic and real. Her reactions were true to the plot and she is well rounded; she cared for her friends and is compassionate, but she never let anyone push her around. However, just like a real person, she is flawed and rushes into action without thinking things out first. Not to mention she is supremely stubborn. But London has a purpose and she is going to fulfill it no matter what. The other characters are well crafted too. I found myself immersed into their band of rebels and dreamers and I cared about each of them as well, which is a great feat for an author: to create characters that are likeable and genuine and are not just names on paper. And when one of them ended up dead, I was just stunned.

There are so many things that Otherborn bring to the table. The novel is dystopian so there is the whole semi-apocalypse that put them in the situation they are in, but there was more to it, almost a Sci-Fi theme that ran through the plot as well. The world in which they live is completely controlled by the Tycoons and the landscape is harsh. People are starving and living in squalor and gangs are running rampant (there is even a gang that rides around in old Ice Cream Trucks!) And Ms. Silver is brilliant at describing everything from the stink in the polluted air to the giddy feelings from the first twinges of love. I was able to see the world vividly and feel the oppressed nature of their lives.

The Otherborn, the dreamers, the ones that believe they are from another world. Why else would they have the ability to dream when others can't? The Otherborn band (literally they are a band) together and use the astral planes. I can't really go on about the whole astral realm as it is too much to explain in a review, but Ms. Silver does a great job walking you through the whole idea. What I didn't like was the lack of planning - like I said before - from London. They threw themselves into some pretty dicey situations that could have been avoided, but that is what makes the whole story exciting and infuriating at the same time!

Overall, I would recommend this book to both dystopian and science fiction lovers. There is a tiny bit of romance so those who are looking for a full blown love story this isn't it. I love that it isn't though, sometimes a book needs to be about friendship and how actions have consequences both in the present and the future and that not everyone is who they seem. I can not say enough how much I loved this book and even though there were some points that I was confused about, I found my way again. Now, there is a cliffhanger and the last exchanges with the characters have left me not only longing for the next book, but intrigued about where Ms. Silver is going to be taking us. A must read!!

FTC Advisory: I was given a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. No backroom deals or whispered promises were made.

1. First, a quickie: give us the genre of your book/series and tagline in 30 words or less.
OTHERBORN is YA dystopian/sci-fi In a reprocessed world, London and her friends must dream their way to a New hope.

2. What gave you the idea to write a Young Adult series?
We didn’t have YA when I was growing up per say. But I always imagined writing characters who were “coming of age”. Then, as an adult, I began reading YA with my daughters. And I still pictured all my characters in that age range. YA is great because there are things you can write for that audience that it’s much harder to write for adults. Kids and teens are much more open-minded and imaginative. They’ll accept things in the work that an adult might struggle with. Plausibility means something totally different when you write YA. So, any book idea I’ve had, I’ve always fitted to YA characters and the YA audience.

3. What inspired you to write the book/series, specifically?
Two things blended together to inspire OTHERBORN. First, my research on the Otherkin subculture, people who relate more closely to being nonhuman than human. These people believe they were or are actually nonhuman beings, i.e. fae, vampires, elves, shapeshifters, etc. Some express having vivid memories of past lives as these different beings. It’s really fascinating. The second was my research on dreaming. Our culture doesn’t give dreaming the powerful, transformational position it deserves, but many other cultures, past and present, view dreaming as an integral, extremely important part of their lives. There’s a wonderful author on the subject, Robert Moss, who talked about shamans meeting in the astral realm to help one another regardless of what place or time they lived in.

4. How did you come up with the title of your first book in the series?
Originally, my title was a little different. It was OTHERKIN, which I pulled from my research on the Otherkin subculture. But after I’d made my deal and was working with my publisher on production, I discovered quite serendipitously that another YA book by the same title would be coming out before mine. I decided then to switch titles and I came up with three alternatives and ran a survey online to see which one was most liked. OTHERBORN won out and I truly feel it is a better fit than my original title. As a side note, I befriended the author of that other book, OTHERKIN, the fabulous Nina Berry, and I highly recommend her series. It’s quite good and very different from mine.


5. Are experiences in the books based on people you know, or events in your own life or are they completely organic?
Nothing in OTHERBORN is based entirely on anything or anyone in my life. That said, I do pull from some things. For example, Kim is sort of my comic relief throughout the book. He’s a little less serious and little more goofy than the other characters. And that aspect of him reminds me of my husband, who is a complete goof and the comic relief around our house. So, probably I pulled from that experience to flesh Kim out, without even realizing it. Also, Capital City is actually Houston after it’s been walled. I’m from Houston and still live in the area and certain things in Capital City are loosely based on real Houston landmarks. The Ten is Interstate 10. The tunnels are a dystopian version of downtown’s actual tunnel system which many people don’t know about. Things like that. Of course, oil and gas is BIG business here, so that fits in with the Tycoons too.

6. What is the hardest part of writing?
Starting. Once that flow kicks in, it’s easy. But forcing yourself to sit down and start can be a daily challenge. Also, in OTHERBORN and its sequel, I encountered difficulty mid-plot. I’m a pantser, which means I don’t plot everything out ahead of time, I write it as I go along. So, I encountered that middle of the novel quagmire where you suddenly aren’t certain how you’re going to get from where you are to where you need to be at the end.

7. Which character is your favorite? Will you miss them the most when the series ends?
Si’dah is actually my favorite character and I will miss her the most when the series is over. I loved writing in her voice, which had a rhythm entirely different from the rest of the novel. It inspired the voice of my next project considerably. So, even though I’ll miss Si’dah when she’s gone, I’ll still have the character from my other series inspired by her to write in.

8. Tell us a little bit about your cover art. Who designed it? Why did you go with that particular image/artwork?
An artist named Roser designed the cover. She was someone my publishing company had worked with before and I really liked the covers she did most. Her work is typically more fantasy oriented, but I believed she could bring our vision to life beautifully. And she did. We batted some ideas around, but the one that gave us all goosebumps was this mirror image idea. Where you see London on one side, but her reflection is revealing Si’dah. It’s a little creepy, but I think it should be. It’s a dark story in a lot of ways, and I always felt these kids, as well as my readers, should find their Otherborn a little unsettling.

9. What books have most influenced your life most?
There are so many! Okay, I’m just going to run some titles off in no particular order. These are books that changed the way I looked at writing or even at the world: The Last Unicorn, A Wrinkle In Time, The Handmaid’s Tale, Mists of Avalon, Lord of the Rings, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Youth In Revolt, Wuthering Heights, The Alchemist…to name a few.

10. If you could be a supernatural, what kind would you be and why?
Well, I’m Wiccan. So, I would be a witch of some kind. Preferably one who lives in a dark, secluded forest and has psychic oracular powers. The “Witch of the Wood” archetype has been a powerful and influential one for me since I was a very little girl.


11. Do you have any unique talents or hobbies?
I’m also an artist! I do oil paintings and I craft Fairy Houses. I love art, it’s as important to me as writing. But my art is very personal, so it plays a different role in my life than my writing career.

12. How can readers contact you or find out more about your books?
First and foremost, visit my fabulous website! www.annasilverauthor.com You’ll find my contact info there, email, as well as a newsletter you can sign up for, and my blog. Also, all my announcements and info on my work is there too. Next to that, you can find me on Twitter (@saysannasilver) and on my author page on facebook (www.facebook.com/authorannasilver ). I have a goodreads author page too (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6862122.Anna_Silver ), and a pinterest account (http://pinterest.com/AnnaSilver/ ). Links to all of these and more are on my site!

13. What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?
This is a wonderful question! I wished more people asked it. The absolute best thing you can do for an author is leave a review. Goodreads and Amazon are the two main places for this, but some authors might also like one on another site and you can check with them if you’re not sure. Aside from that, blog about the work. Host a giveaway. Tweet it, facebook it, anything to help spread the word. Smell press authors like myself absolutely depend on social media and the love of our readers to grow our careers. Truly, big press authors do too. Never, never think that an author doesn’t need your review or help!

14. Do you have any tips for readers or advice for other writers trying to get published?
I always tell aspiring authors to cultivate persistence. It is the single most important thing they can do to further their own success. After that, get out and mingle. Which is hard. We writers are often introverts, but conferences and signings and other events are great ways to get discovered and learn more about your craft. And finally, keep writing. When you finish one thing and are submitting it, don’t wait around for that glorious acceptance letter you just know is coming. Start writing the next thing.

Anna Silver is an author and artist living in the greater Houston area with her family, pets, and overactive imagination. Her art has been featured in the Houston gallery Las Manos Magicas. She studied English Writing & Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University. She's freelanced for private clients and small publications like the Hill Country Current. OTHERBORN is her first published novel. She is represented by Rebecca Podos and Nicole LaBombard of Rees Literary Agency.

Website  -  Facebook  -  Twitter  -  Goodreads  -  Pinterest

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Cover Reveal: Branded

Branded

(A Sinners Series #1)

by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki

Cover design: www.maeidesign.com
Cover Model: Talia Haugdahl

Full Wrap Cover

Twenty years ago the Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. He created the Hole where sinners are branded according to their sins and might survive a few years. At best.
Now LUST wraps around my neck like blue fingers strangling me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit and now the Hole is my new home.

Darkness. Death. Violence. Pain.

Now every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t die. I won’t let them win.The Hole can’t keep me. The Hole can’t break me.
I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter.
My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

I’m buried six feet under, and no one hears my screams.
The rope chafes as I loop it around my neck. I pull down on it, making sure the knot is secure. It seems sturdy enough.
My legs shake. My heart beats heavy in my throat. Sweat pours down my back.
Death and I glare at each other through my tears.
I take one last look at the crystal chandelier, the foyer outlined with mirrors, and the flawless decorations. No photographs adorn the walls. No happy memories here.
I’m ready to go. On the count of three.
I inhale, preparing myself for the finality of it all. Dropping my hands, a glimmer catches my eye. It’s my ring, the last precious gift my father gave me. I twist it around to read the inscription. Picturing his face forces me to reconsider my choice. He’d be heartbroken if he could see me now.
A door slams in the hallway, almost causing me to lose my balance. My thoughts already muddled, I stand, waiting with the rope around my neck. Voices I don’t recognize creep through the walls.
Curiosity overshadows my current thoughts. It’s late at night, and this is a secure building in High Society. No one disturbs the peace here—ever. I tug on the noose and pull it back over my head.
Peering through the eyehole in our doorway, I see a large group of armed guards banging on my neighbors’ door. A heated conversation ensues, and my neighbors point toward my family’s home.
It hits me. I’ve been accused and they’re here to arrest me.
My father would want me to run, and in that split second, I decide to listen to his voice within me. Flinging myself forward in fear, I scramble up the marble staircase and into my brother’s old bedroom. The door is partially covered, but it exists. Pushing his dresser aside, my fingers claw at the opening. Breathing hard, I lodge myself against it. Nothing. I step back and kick it with all my strength. The wood splinters open, and my foot gets caught. I wrench it backward, scraping my calf, but adrenaline pushes me forward. The voices at the front door shout my name.
On hands and knees, I squeeze through the jagged opening. My brother left through this passage, and now it’s my escape too. Cobwebs entangle my face, hands, and hair. At the end, I feel for the knob, twisting it clockwise. It swings open, creaking from disuse. I sprint into the hallway and smash through the large fire escape doors at the end. A burst of cool air strikes me in the face as I jump down the ladder.
Reaching the fifth floor, I knock on a friend’s window. The lights flicker on, and I see the curtains move, but no one answers. I bang on the window harder.
“Let me in! Please!” I say, but the lights darken. They know I’ve been accused and refuse to help me. Fear and adrenaline rush through my veins as I keep running, knocking on more windows along the way. No one has mercy. They all know what happens to sinners.
Another flight of stairs passes in a blur when I hear the guards’ heavy footfalls from above. I can’t hide, but I don’t want to go without trying.
Help me, Daddy. I need your strength now.
My previous desolation evolves into a will to survive. I have to keep running, but I tremble and gasp for air. I steel my nerves and force my body to keep moving. In a matter of minutes, my legs cramp and my chest burns. I plunge to the ground, scraping my knee and elbow. A moan escapes from my chest.
Gotta keep going.
“Stop!” Their voices bounce off the buildings. “Lexi Hamilton, surrender yourself,” they command. They’re gaining on me.
I resist the urge to glance back, running into what I assume is an alley. I’m far from our high-rise in High Society as I plunge into a poorer section of the city where the streets all look the same and the darkness prevents me from recognizing anything. I’m lost.
My first instinct is to leap into a dumpster, but I retain enough sense to stay still. I crouch and peek around it, watching them dash by. The abhorrent smell soon leaves me vomiting until nothing remains in my stomach. Desperation overtakes me, as I know my retching was anything but silent. My last few seconds tick away before they find me. Everyone knows about their special means of tracking sinners.
I push myself to my feet and look left, right, and left again. Their batons click against their black, leather belts, and their boots stomp the cement on both sides of me. I shrink into myself. Their heavy steps mock my fear, growing closer and closer until I know I’m trapped.
Never did I imagine they’d come for me. Never did I imagine all those nights I heard them dragging someone else away that I’d join them.
“You’re a sinner,” they say. “Time to leave our society.”

For the entire First Chapter go to the Authors' website here!

Abi Ketner Is a registered nurse with a passion for novels, the beaches of St. John, and her Philadelphia Phillies. A talented singer, Abi loves to go running and spend lots of time with her family. She currently resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her husband, triplet daughters and two very spoiled dogs.

Melissa Kalicicki received her bachelor’s degree from Millersville University in 2003. She married, had two boys and currently lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Aside from reading and writing, her interests include running and mixed martial arts. She also remains an avid Cleveland sports fan.

Abi and Missy met in the summer of 1999 at college orientation and have been best friends ever since. After college, they added jobs, husbands and kids to their lives, but they still found time for their friendship. Instead of hanging out on weekends, they went to dinner once a month and reviewed books. What started out as an enjoyable hobby has now become an incredible adventure.

Twitter - Website/Blog - Facebook - Goodreads (Abi) & (Missy)

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The Breeders by Katie French Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!

The Breeders
(Breeders, #1)
by Katie French
Published on August 1, 2012
Format: eBook ~276 pages
Tour Host: Kismet Book Tours
Genre: YA Dystopian

Book Blurb:
Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches-- moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything- the local war lords, the remaining factories, the fuel. They have unchecked power in this lawless society. And they're hunting Riley.

When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family and hands her mother over to the Breeders, Riley and her eight-year-old brother, Ethan, hiding in a shelter, are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. The problem is Clay thinks Riley is a bender-- a genderless mutation, neither male nor female. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom?

The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico-- escaping the Riders who use human sacrifice to appease their Good Mother, various men scrambling for luck, and a deranged lone survivor of a plague. When Riley is shot and forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother—a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out.

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“When the Breeders come for ya, there ain't no escape. They strap ya to a bed and all ya hear is the thud of your heart and the cries of your friends as they wheel ya down to hell. Then the doctors come. You squeeze your eyes shut and pray you can forget. But ya never do.” 

The Breeders sucks you in to a world that has been ravaged by a poison that made girls a rarity. In order to "save" the human race, so called doctors kidnap girls and inseminate them in order to give birth to more girls. But girls aren't the only ones who are being taken. Young boys are being taken by a group called Riders that torture them in the name of the Great Mother. If you can't handle violence of both the bloody and sexual types, then this book may not be for you. The Breeders is an emotional roller coaster from beginning to end.

The setting is in New Mexico and the Wild West has reemerged after the near decimation of the human race. While I can picture everything in my head, I kept having to tell myself that this is the future and not the actual Wild West. The government is not spoken of, only Sheriffs and corrupt law men - so what happened to the make this new reality. While I do like the book and was able to figure out what had happened, the back story could have been fleshed out and then some things would make more sense.

The main character, Riley, is a girl who will stop at nothing to get her family back. While I found her to be believable in this setting, I found her a little too stubborn for her own good and because of that some people who she wanted to save were left behind because of her impetuousness. However, she is fiercely protective and fights with every ounce of strength that she has. Clay, her sort-of savior, is interesting. He is also protective and always tries to do the right thing, but his past and his guilt are his motivators.

There are some truly evil people in The Breeders and the author Katie French writes their characters so well that I wanted to take a gun and shoot them too. She is great at writing vivid scenes and is able to bring the story to life. I found The Breeders to be a very suspenseful and captivating book. The plot is set at an extremely fast pace and is a quick, but emotionally draining read. I will say that their could have been more editing done, but for the most part I was able to read over the typos and grammatical errors because the story went so quickly. There is non-stop action and Riley can't seem to catch a break as she is thrown from one terrifying scenario to the next. I did find the small bit of romance a nice touch. I like that it is not the theme of the book, but a sweet addition in the midst of everything.

I am a huge fan of Dystopian novels and The Breeders is one that I would recommend to people who want something that will keep them on their toes. There will be a sequel, but there isn't any real news on that front yet. The ending could have let it be a stand alone, but because of who Riley is, I feel that there will be many more injustices for her to fight. Just don't read it before bed like I did because my heart was racing so much that I couldn't fall asleep.

FTC Advisory: I was given a copy of this book from the author for an honest review as part of a blog tour. No backroom deals or whispered promises were made.

 Nessa: A Breeders Story

FREE on Smashwords - Just click on the picture!!

Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher.
In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. Though her social life suffered, her love for literature thrived. She studied English at Eastern Michigan University, where she veered from writing and earned an education degree. She spent nine years teaching high school English.
Currently she is a school counselor, doing a job that is both one of the hardest things she’s ever done and the most rewarding. In her free time she writes, reads great books and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is a contributor and co-creator of Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to erasing the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional publishing. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children.

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After the Fear Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway!

After the Fear
by Rosanne Rivers
Publication Date: January 19, 2013
Published by Immortal Ink Publishing
Formats: eBook, Paperback ~314 pages
Tour Host: Rebecca Hamilton

Book Blurb:
You have not attended a Demonstration this month.

In Sola’s city, everyone obeys the rules. Stay away from the trigger cameras and regularly update your Debtbook, and you just might survive. But having to watch the way criminals are dealt with—murdered by Demonstrators in the Stadium—is a law Sola tries to avoid. When a charming Demonstrator kisses her at a party, however, she’s thrust into the Stadium and forced into the very role she despises.

Armed with only natural resourcefulness and a caring nature, Sola narrowly survives her first bout. Her small success means she’s whisked off to a training camp, where she discovers a world beyond the trigger cameras and monitoring—a world where falling in love with a killer doesn’t seem so terrible.

Yet life as a Demonstrator has no peace. Sola must train her way through twenty-five more Demonstrations before she can return home to her father. At the end of each battle, only one survivor remains.

Sola could face anyone in the Stadium . . . even a loved one.

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I don't even know where to start - After the Fear is a fantastic debut novel by Rosanne Rivers and it blew me away. Sola is an incredibly strong heroine who lives in a world where the motto is "Kill or be Killed." Set in a dystopian society (the former United Kingdom), the citizens must help pay off the national debt by participating in demonstrations. These demonstrations bring in money. What are the demonstrations? Well, they are a sort of Gladiator battles where a trained Demonstrator fights to criminals to the death. Sola is forced into training as a Demonstrator and must win 25 fights to gain her freedom.

Sola isn't some girly-girl (despite her fainting); she is a hardened, tough, and fierce girl who never gives up. I love that Sola isn't some sniveling girl - she fights and she fights well. She also has another side to her; she has compassion, something that is sorely missing in this society full of killers. Dylan- the Demonstrator that she kissed is a 'eh' kind of guy, but Coral was the perfect mean girl. She made me want to kill her myself. I love when an author can build characters that I want to hug, kiss, or in Coral's case: throttle.

While I can see some similarities to the popular series The Hunger Games, this is not a knock-off. After the Fear is about a world that has been turned into a big-brother state fighting to stave off more debt. This is a reality that doesn't seem so far off these days. Add in the social media outlets and the Debtbooks that are issued to everyone to keep up on their Demonstration status, and you have a society who is always kept in fear of being chosen to die. I found the world that Ms. Rivers built to be believable, too believable in some cases.

The book is written beautifully and where some YA novels are lacking in their descriptiveness, Ms. Rivers doesn't shy away from complicated and eloquent prose. The way she develops emotions and brings truths to the surface is masterful. Even the horribly violent scenes (of which there are many) are written in a way that makes you think you are there, which might be a good or bad thing depending on how strong your stomach is. Ms. Rivers elicits such fear and horror in her writing and builds it and works it so it thickens and you feel it slowly creeping up; and with a novel like After the Fear, it would not be the same book without the mist of fear that surrounds you.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading After the Fear. It is one of the best dystopian novels I have ever read and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre. The characters are complex and engaging as is the the plot. Note that is not for the faint of heart and is extremely violent and gory, but if you an take it, you will not be disappointed! 

FTC Advisory: I was given a copy of this book from the author for an honest review as part of a blog tour. No backroom deals or whispered promises were made.

Rosanne lives in Birmingham, UK and considers it one of her favourite cities, second only to Rome. She delights in writing for children and young adults and hopes to bring readers to an unfamiliar yet alluring setting. Rosanne was inspired to write when she read the Harry Potter books, and at age fourteen, she wrote romance fanfiction on just about every pairing you could dream up from the HP series. She currently lives with her partner and two bunny rabbits and is working on a fantasy YA with a twist.

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Pulse Book Blitz

PULSE
by HJ Daly 
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Blitz Host: Lady Amber's Tours

Book Blurb:Esa is a street girl living in a post apocalyptic world. A world that left her with nothing except the physical and mental scars that drive her to the person she is becoming.

Whilst searching for shelter, she encounters a creature known as a spinner who pulls her onto a perilous path. Now with a horde of goblins close on their heels, they must work together and enter the magical realm in search of answers. Why can she sense magic and why is a powerful sorcerer determined to end her life?

This is an exciting story of power, friendship and secrets. Secrets that threaten to rip Esa’s world apart.
Pulse is aimed towards the young adult market. For those seeking adventure and magic with a futuristic edge. Most fantasy novels tend to hide the magical worlds or show as historic here I have tried to blend the worlds together.

Amazon

Excerpt 1

“Oh, girlie, you really shouldn’t have said that.” His beady red eyes greedily took in the girl and seeing no real threat he lunged forward. His sword scraped the wall where moments earlier Esa had stood. Pushing from the wall, she twisted to the side and drove her dagger deep into the goblin’s extended arm. A yowl filled the room and he swung his sword blindly in her direction. In one fluid movement she dropped to the floor and kicked her leg out. Boot hit shin and he fell to the floor grabbing his leg.
“No one calls me girlie.” Standing over him she turned the dagger around in her hand, bringing the hilt down on the base of his skull. “Night, night.” Wiping the blood from her blade on her jeans, she turned her attention to Rootu.


Excerpt 2

Thomas stopped as he reached the wooden door. It stood slightly ajar and he could see Esa nestled in the corner, her back to him. He stifled a gasp as he caught sight of her skin. At the bottom of her ribs he clearly saw an old knife wound, across her shoulder blades were a number of what looked like cigarette burns, and line upon line of marks like wires. Some old, silvery in the light and others still red and puckered. The skin had attempted to grow over large gashes through the years, but nothing could hide the evidence of a brutal attack. What drew his attention was the huge scar that started at her waist and snaked its way up her spine and eventually wrapped itself around her neck.

 HJ has always loved books and read at every opportunity. At first reading with her own children and then at schools in a hope of capturing the hearts and minds of the young. Writing became a natural progression for her when her children attended full time education and she had a little free time.
It wasn’t always about writing though, during her teens, HJ stepped up her Latin American dancing and travelled Europe competing.

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A Minor Magic Blog Tour: Review & Excerpt

A Minor Magic
by Justin R. Macumber
Publication Date: November 15, 2012
Published by: Crescent Moon Press
Genre: YA Dystopian/Fantasy
Formats Available: eBook, Paperback ~265 pages
Tour Host: Lady Amber's Tours

Book Blurb:
Over the course of a single night, mystical fires tore through the sky and reduced most of Earth to ash. Ten years later magical fire burns again, but this time it’s in the hands of a young girl named Skylar. Exiled from her adoptive home, Skylar must now struggle through ruined lands and religious zealots who believe she’s an agent of the Devil. An even greater threat exists in the form of shadowy sorcerers from another world who covet her blood. Along her journey, she meets a motley band of outcasts who not only know the secret of what happened to Earth, but also of Skylar’s true origin. Will Skylar be able to accept this fantastical truth? But more importantly, can her powers and raging heart be tamed in time to stop those who once burned the world and now seek total domination?

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"There was a dreadful power inside her, a power she didn't understand or want, but it was there like a snake in the dark."

This is a book that will definitely get your blood pumping and quick. Immediately we are thrust into the future where the earth has been nearly decimated by something called The Burning. Skylar is beside herself because she has just killed her dog with fire that came from her hands. He was lunging to attack her and she put her hands up to try and cover herself and the next thing she knows Buster is now dead. I don't like that in the first chapter a dog dies, but we clearly get to see just how Skylar feels by gaining this "power". Not only is she completely confused, she has been kicked out of the only home she has really known and called a child of the Devil. Within the next few hours, she is almost kidnapped and raped by really gross men and then finds herself in Graceland mansion by just wishing it so. Then she is kidnapped by religious zealots and almost burned as a witch on a pyre! This girl is seriously having a bad day.

But Skylar's journey does not end there. She is saved by a small group of people who know more than anyone about what The Burning really was and how it relates to what is happening to her now. When Skylar finally learns about what she is and where the powers come from, she accepts her role in stride. She is scared, battered, and almost broken, but she still carries on. Skylar is a great female character. She is innocent, but isn't stupid. Even when things look terribly grim, she looks to herself for the strength to get through it, not someone else. I wish all literary girls would do this, but not all of them have magic inside them. The other characters are well written too. I like that Nathan, the son of the evil Preacher, has varied emotions to what happens between him and his father.

I am very impressed by the author's ability to build a world that is both apocalyptic and fantastical. I loved that there was so much thought put into the landscape of A Minor Magic and how each of the characters related to it and how it affected their fate. I also really like how the author is able to draw a believable conclusion to how society would act to the disaster. The writing is exciting and the story is gripping. I could not put this book down; there wasn't any place that let up on the action enough to let me stop reading. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next in A Broken Magic. This book is for fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Lord of the Rings. <-- A weird combo, but a great one!

FTC Advisory: I was given a copy of this book from the author for an honest review as part of a blog tour. No backroom deals or whispered promises were made.

Skylar's eyes filled with a flickering blue light as ghostly flames jetted from her palms, and her screams were lost over the roaring of the blaze. Instinctively, she shook her hands, slapped them against her legs, and then clapped them together to try and extinguish the fire. As her hands touched, the flames vanished. To her astonishment her skin wasn't burned. It wasn't even warm. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for Buster. The dog was a smoking ruin at her feet, one more pile of burnt remains in a world already covered in ash. Her heart broke as she stared down at him. Oh god, she thought. What's happened? What have I done?

"Oh my Lord, girl," a man said behind her. "What did you do?"

Skylar whirled around, her eyes widening in guilt even though she didn't understand what had happened, or how. "Henry, he jumped at me! I don't know why he did it, and I tried to stop him, but..." She fell silent, her thoughts too scrambled to know what more to say. Buster was a dog she'd loved and cared for ever since coming to live on the farm years ago, and without warning, he had attacked her. When she'd held her hands up to ward him off, blue fire had erupted from them and consumed him as though it was a living, ravenous thing. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before, and she couldn't rightly explain what she didn't understand.

Justin R. Macumber is the author of HAYWIRE and A MINOR MAGIC. When not hard at work on his next story he hosts the popular Dead Robots' Society podcast, which is a podcast made by writers for writers. He and his lovely wife live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex along with a rampaging pack of dogs and cats that they think of as their children. He is also a co-host on The Hollywood Outsider, a weekly podcast about movies and television. Currently he is working on two novels - the horror story STILL WATER, and the sequel to A MINOR MAGIC entitled A BROKEN MAGIC.

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