Fantasy Debut

Fantasy Debut Has Moved!

2009-11-01T15:01:00.003-05:00

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Comments Closed

2009-10-30T05:54:00.003-04:00

In case you have not noticed, I've closed this blog. :) My shiny new blog is at Debuts & Reviews. I keep putting up these posts to catch the attention of subscribers who have been absent, or who have not had a chance to check out this blog in a while.

Anyway, I've closed the comments because the only ones who comment here anymore are spammers, and I'd rather not have this old blog fill up with comment spam.

Important - Please Read

2009-10-19T18:36:00.000-04:00

After months of work, during which time you may have noticed a decrease in postings, I have finally finished preparing a new blog at my new domain.

Huh? What? New blog? Why a new blog? And what the heck took so long? Well, I was picky. I tried and discarded about 10 content management systems before I settled on WordPress. And then I had to find an appropriate template. Plus, I only worked on it every once in a while, on weekends, when I remembered that I had a new domain to set up.

Anyway. The new blog is called Debuts & Reviews. It's basically just like Fantasy Debut, except it's different. There's a post up over there explaining why I did this. But don't go over there yet.

Wow. This is kind of scary. I have almost 400 subscribers through Google Reader, and I'm working on 150 subscribers through Google FriendConnect. What if no one comes to my new blog?

(Shakes off moment of self-doubt.)

The rest of this post is for feed subscribers, Google Friend Connect Subscribers, and Blog Owners. Or, practically everyone.

Attention Feed Subscribers!

Before I moved into this new blog for good, I wanted to ask (implore, request, beg) any feed readers who subscribe to Fantasy Debut directly to a reader to re-subscribe through FeedBurner using this handy link. Simply click the blue button, select your feed reader of choice, and you're good to go. Oh! And come back here when you're done, because I've got more stuff for you to read.

When I redirect my feed to Debuts & Reviews in a day or so, I'll whisk you along with me, just as if we were riding a magic carpet through the interwebs over to the new blog. One day your feed will come from Fantasy Debut, and the next day it will come from Debuts & Reviews.

If you're an email subscriber, or if you originally subscribed through FeedBurner, then you're already on the magic carpet, so you don't have to do anything at all.

If you think subscribing by email would simply be the bee's knees (a cool bit of 20's slang I picked up from Barely Bewitched), then please enter your email address and click the button. This is also through Feedburner.

Attention, Google Friend Connect Subscribers!

If you prefer to subscribe through Google Friend Connect, please re-subscribe directly at Debuts & Reviews using the link below. Apparently, links from here won't work. I DID find a hack that would allow me to sweep you along on the magic carpet ride as well, but it relied on a hole in Blogger's programming. Were I a software developer for Blogger, I'd want to patch that hole. I'd hate for my hack to one day stop working. Besides, I didn't want my new blog to remain dependent on my old blog into perpetuity. Best to start off clean.

So click on over to the new blog, click the Join This Site button, and make my day.

Attention, Blog Owners!

And lastly, if you are a blog owner and are linking to Fantasy Debut, please, update your link to the following:

Blog name: Debuts & Reviews
Blog link: http://www.tianevitt.com/weblog/

If you really, really, really want to make my day, announce my blog change-of-address at your own blog. All bloggers who do so will be publicly thanked.

Ok, if you're still here, go ahead and take a peek at my new blog. There's a welcome post waiting for you. I've tried to recreate everthing I have here, but I still have a few items on my ToDo list. Do let me know what you think!

Review of BARELY BEWITCHED at Fantasy Literature

2009-10-18T21:01:00.000-04:00

Kat of Fantasy Literature obtained a copy of BARELY BEWITCHED by Kimberly Frost for me, and they just posted it today. I sped-read it--something I don't usually do--but I couldn't help myself!

Here's an excerpt, plucked out of the middle:

Tammy Jo's adventures force her to get to know Bryn better, and she grows more and more attracted to him. However, Zach is still her first love, and he shows no sign of having moved on. For a while, I was thinking I'd have to ding the author for lack of character growth in Zach, but I was happily incorrect. Bryn grows both darker and more appealing, displaying both a ruthless side and a caring one. I still prefer Zach, especially in light of his decision on the last few pages. Talk about a teaser! Zach (who is a deputy sheriff) is going to take a little trip, get some special combat training. And I can't wait for him to come back. (I do hope this doesn't mean an entire book will have to go by without him.)

Here are both of my reviews of Frost's Southern Witch series.

Debut Showcase Double Feature - Matters of the Blood and Blood Bargain

2009-10-14T06:00:00.002-04:00

This is the first time this situation has come up at Fantasy Debut. A novel--actually two--that we've covered here at Fantasy Debut has been re-released by another publisher. No wait. It's the same publisher. But now, that publisher (Juno Books) is an imprint of the larger Pocket Books, and they've re-released several of the original Juno Books urban fantasy titles. We have reviewed both of them here at Fantasy Debut. Here they are.

Blood Lines (series title)
by Maria Lima (website - blog)
Juno Books - 7.99
Mass Market Paperback

Matters of the Blood
Publisher's Page
Excerpt
Released September, 2009

Blurb:
Try being Keira Kelly. A member of a powerful paranormal family, Keira elected to stay among humans in the Texas Hill Country when the rest of the clan moved (lock, stock, nd grimoire) to Canada. But family duty means still having to keep an eye on cousin Marty--a genetic aberration who turn out 100% human, poor guy. And recently Keira's been having violent dreams--or are they visions?--featuring Marty as the victim of a vicious murder. Something sinister seems to be going on in little Rio Seco. Can Keira get to the bottom of it all while avoiding entanglement with former lover, Sheriff Carlton Larson? And what does she plan to do about the irresistable and enigmatic Adam Walker? When this old friends shows up as the new own of a local ranch and wants to get better acquainted, Keira is more than happy to be welcoming...until she suspects that Adam could be intimately connected to the dangerous doings in Rio Seco.

Read my review.

Blood Bargain
Publisher's Page
Excerpt
Released October, 2009

Blurb:

Keira Kelly has settled in with handsome Adam Walker, but happy-ever-after is not so easy when your vampire lover seems determined to deny his true nature. With Adam starving himself of blood and growing weak, Keira needs to work out how to persuade him to take care of himself, something she's finding difficult to do--even with the advice of her brother Tucker, a millennium-old ex-Viking shapeshifter. And people have started disappearing in the Rio Seco area, making Keira worry about what this could mean, both for her friends in Rio Seco and to the community she and Adam have been creating at the ranch. But her investigation only seems to bring more trouble, especially when a clue leads her to an abandoned cemetery that Keira knew well when she was younger...one that has always been extremely important to her magical family. Evil is definitely walking once again in the Texas Hill Country. Can Keira discover where the danger lies...before danger discovers her?

Read Raven's Review.

This Week's Debuts - October 13, 2009

2009-10-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

Shadowfae by Erica Hayes (website and blog)

Imagine a secret world veiled in fairy glamour and brimming with unearthly delights. A city swarming with half-mad fairies, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their song, and big green trolls bust heads at nightclubs. And once you’re in, there’s no escape…

Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade is forced to spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shapeshifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell’s minions. Then she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah—and doom the only man she’s ever loved to a lifetime in hell.

Looks like Jade has herself in quite a pickle. A good premise, but probably too dark and sexy for me. (Just an aside--Rajah (or Raja) is an Indian name. I have also known a woman named Raji and another named Raju. Makes me wonder if this novel absorbs Indian mythology, of which I admittedly know almost nothing.) The author's website has a short story prequel, an excerpt and a book trailer.

Servant of a Dark God by John D. Brown (website, blog and Twitter feed)
Reviewed here. Interview with John Brown here.

Young Talen lives in a world where the days of a person’s life can be harvested, bought, and stolen. Only the great Divines, who rule every land, and the human soul-eaters, dark ones who steal from man and beast and become twisted by their polluted draws, know the secrets of this power. This land’s Divine has gone missing and soul-eaters are found among Talen’s people.

The Clans muster a massive hunt, and Talen finds himself a target. Thinking his struggle is against both soul-eaters and their hunters, Talen actually has far larger problems. A being of awesome power has arisen, one whose diet consists of the days of man. Her Mothers once ranched human subjects like cattle. She has emerged to take back what is rightfully hers. Trapped in a web of lies and ancient secrets, Talen must struggle to identify his true enemy before the Mother finds the one whom she will transform into the lord of the human harvest.

This was a good book. Epic fantasy just as it should be, even if it was light on the romance. John keeps an interesting blog that I've been following for a couple of months now. He's also got a section for writers, teachers, a page on his short stories (with a few links) and "zing".

Mystery Reviewer. Plus Other Stuff.

2009-10-12T21:53:00.000-04:00

Up this week: a new guest reviewer! My guest has not only beta-read both of my own novels, but she's been following this blog from the start. When I read on her blog that she's been buying and reading some of the books I've showcased here, I asked her to be a guest reviewer. She has written two reviews for you. One will go up this week; the other will go up when a certain novel is released in paperback.

Also, don't think I've forgotten Raven, because I have one of her reviews, too! So wow, I like, don't even need to read anymore. Just kidding!

Might have a guest for Writer Wednesday this week. You'll know on Wednesday.

The pace of debut releases is picking back up, so I'll be doing weekly news posts rather than Debut Showcases. It's easier this way, and it frees up other days of the week for other stuff.

Discovery Showcase - The Second Hand Kid

2009-10-11T12:36:00.000-04:00

The Second Hand Kid
By Tom U Bean
Middle Grade Fantasy
This novel is unpublished.

Blurb:
This is a story of a boy called Jack Dent who is fascinated by an ancient antique and curiosity shop. He yearns to explore the rooms for his birthday present. Jack is the only child of Bill and Elsie Dent. A family with plenty of love, but little money. Several boys in his class spot Jack, and his mum entering a charity shop in search of bargains. That was the only cue the boys needed to ridicule Jack, and make his life a misery.

The keeper of the shop, Alfred Hopkins introduces Jack to a world of wonder. Jack’s virtuous and caring nature prompts Alfred to bestow talent and enlightenment upon him. Over the school year an everlasting relationship develops between Jack, and Fiona. They share an honesty, innocence and spirit that sets them apart from the humdrum of human existence.

Alfred requests a meeting with Fiona, and Jack, and draws their attention to the deterioration in the quality of life throughout the world. Life as we know it is in danger of falling into anarchy. He asks them to undergo a journey saturated with danger into the Underworld to correct the Urn of Malevolence, and the Urn of Benevolence to their rightful positions.

Prologue

The bus juddered to a stop at the junction. Cars, bikes, and taxis jostled for position. Pedestrians flowed cautiously across the road. Jack took little notice of the rush hour mayhem, his attention was focused on a towering sandstone building that wrapped itself around the wide corner. For several weeks He had been fascinated by the soaring edifice, now he was intrigued. Slightly crooked window frames guarded a multitude of secrets. Above the entrance a faded sign swayed in the wind. Ancient words on the board barely visible. The once pristine lettering worn, and nearly featureless. Jack squeezed his face to the misty bus window and was just able to decipher the words.

Alfred Hopkins keeper
Importer of antiques and curiosities

He continued his gaze when the bus eased itself away from the crossroad. Silhouettes of figures moved in the dim light behind the grimy windows, slowly shuffling too and fro, and occasionally crouching as though inspecting some interesting oddity. “If only I could persuade Dad to let me have a full day exploring, if only.”

Chapter One Alfred Hopkins

Jack was deep in thought when he entered the school playground. He wasn’t in any mood for listening. His mind was brimming over with inquisitiveness, and with double maths first, his chance of giving full concentration looked doubtful. He knew the penalty for day dreaming in Miss Carter’s Class. She would launch one of her scathing verbal attacks, and with open night and his birthday so close together he had better be on his best behaviour.

The metallic sound of the steel tips of Miss Carter’s heels clanking on the tiled corridor clattered through the hum of low conversation. Early morning chatter was converted into silent reading, and by the time she rounded the corner into the classroom silence greeted her. Jack reached into his desk for his reading book. A shabby piece of torn paper was stuck to the front cover. The scruffy writing exploded in his face. A SECOND HANDKID BUYS SECOND HAND CLOTHES ! A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed his feelings. Bentley, Hughes and Dodds were looking down, and smirking.

Miss Carter glared at Jack. “Your book should be on the desk. Silence is so important for the first few minutes, it places everyone in the right frame of mind for the rest of the day.”

Bentley saw his chance to intimidate Jack even further. “Miss, I saw him messing about in the cloakroom, moving trainers around. He smells Miss, I think it’s his clothes.”

The rest of the class couldn’t resist a collective grin. Jack was deeply hurt, but he didn’t allow Bentley the satisfaction of seeing the pain. Isolated, unwanted an outcast. He back pedalled into the comfort of his own mind insulating his feelings from further intimidation. He decided to feign illness when he arrived home. A few well timed coughs, and splutters should be enough to guarantee a day off school. No child, no open night, no bad report. He still might make it to the old shop to buy his birthday present.

Rest, and loneliness allowed Jack time to think about recent events. Bentley, Hughes and Dodds had never bothered with Jack until they spotted him, and his Mum hunting for bargains in a charity shop. They were rich, he was poor. Then the teasing started. He couldn’t understand why they were trying to make him so unpopular in class. He always felt uncomfortable when he was near them. He had an instinct like an animal. He could feel their falseness, it seemed to ooze out. Other children in the class seemed to be unaware of their deceit. Whatever they emitted was like a poison. He gave them a wide berth so as to stay pure, and not be sucked into their world of dishonesty, and greed.

On Friday evening he made his way down to the kitchen for a bite to eat. He downed a small bowl of soup, and a few fingers of bread.

“You seem to be on the mend Jack. A couple of hours watching a DVD might do you the world of good.,” said Dad pulling out a surprise packet from beneath his jumper.

The family snuggled into the lounge. One table lamp lit up the corner, the curtains were drawn and a couple of extra logs were placed on the burner. It was bliss. Happiness comes in the shape of a family. Jack relished the film then headed towards his bedroom looking forward to a peaceful sleep.

Remnants of an autumn storm were blowing away when Jack, climbed out of bed. He studied his reflection in the wardrobe mirror. His blonde hair was badly in need of a haircut. Hours of labouring in the summer with dad had toned up his muscles. Lean and muscular. Standing at five foot six he was taller than most boys of his age. He wondered if he would be as tall as Dad. His soft brown eyes stared back and smiled at the words he whispered, “happy birthday Jack Dent.” He wanted to leap out of his room, and launch himself in the direction of the old shop, but he waited.
The delicious smell of fried bacon drifted through the house.
“Happy birthday Jack,” shouted mum from the kitchen. “Do you feel up to breakfast? It’s your favourite.”
“I do feel a bit peckish Mum. To tell you the truth I’m famished.”

“I thought as much. There’s more than enough to go round; enough I’d say for second helpings, but you’d better be quick, you know what Dad’s like.”

Jack licked his lips. “Down in a minute mum, don’t let it go cold!”

The family settled down to a good tuck in. There was no conversation, eating food took priority over speaking words.

“A bit nippy outside Jack. Coat, hat and gloves weather,” said Dad warming his hands by the stove.
“Why can’t we go in the car ? ”

“Its old son, a bit like me A good service, and a few new parts should see it right; it will be too expensive this month though. Look on the bright side, a good walk will do us he world of good.”

Elsie eyed her husband suspiciously. “You did have the money. What have you done with it Bill? You’ve been gambling again. How many times must I tell you to stop. I know it’s only a few pounds, but we can’t afford it. From next Friday I want your wage in my hand the moment you walk in that door.”

Bill fumbled around for any excuse. He stared at Elsie, then nodded.

It was a brisk twenty minutes walk into town, there was a sneaky wind, and the sun didn’t have the strength to break through the thin veil of cloud. Jack, and Dad were well wrapped up with scarf, hat, gloves and coats. Their stroll was interrupted by the throbbing of a powerful engine poised at the traffic lights. Jack, saw Charles Bentley pressing his face against the window of his dad’s new sporty car. Bentley, managed to push his hand next to the window, then slyly fired a couple of fingers at Jack. When Dad turned, Bentley’s hand had transformed itself into a wave.

“Who’s that Jack?”
Jack gave a sigh, and mumbled out his name. “Charles Bentley, one of the boys in my class.”
.
“He seems a pleasant young m… .”

“What,! Pleasant. You don’t know him. He’s the pits. Always poking fun, and trying to make others look stupid.”

There was an uneasy silence between father and son.

“Nearly there Jack, just round the corner.”

Jack widened his stride and scrambled away.

“Just a minute, you don’t have any money.”

“No problem. Meet you in the shop.”

Jack pushed the door open and entered into a dusty entrance hall. Water coloured sunlight flowed through the stained glass windows reminding Jack of kaleidoscope patterns.

“Good morning young man, are you looking for something?”

In a corner sitting on a huge velvet chair, behind an even larger desk an old man slowly raised his head. A mane of long silver hair fell onto the keeper’s shoulders. The sparkling brightness of his blue eyes contrasted sharply with an ebony coloured complexion. His face thoughtful all knowing, and sharp; but there was a kindness, a gentle kindness that flowed outwards from the keeper. Calmness, purity and wisdom blended into an almost tangible force radiating over Jack. He could almost touch the aura. Jack vaguely remembered a similar experience when he’d entered an empty church. Clearing his mind of distant memories he stared into Alfred’s face. After a few heartbeats of silence he was ready to speak. “Sir, I’ve come to buy a present.”

“Step a bit closer. Let’s take a good look at you. It isn’t often I have the pleasure of someone so young visiting my old shop.”

“I see you’ve noticed my war accident. Unfortunately, I lost both my legs, though as they say, life goes on.”

Jack was still chatting to Alfred, when he noticed Dad leaving the betting office. Dad sauntered into the shop, and was flabbergasted by the size.

“I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure Mr …”

“Oh, I’m Mr Dent, Jack’s Dad, I’ve brought my son to have a good look round, and if anything catches his eye he can have it.”

“I see,” said Alfred, as he fumbled into his pockets to find some keys. “Well I hope you can find something of interest. Would you like a map? It is a vast building. It saves unnecessary leg work. And if you would like, your dad could stay here. There is plenty to read., and I have a wide range of refreshments free to my best customers. There is just one last thing Jack, the top floor is out of bounds unless…”
“Unless what sir?”

“All in good time,” replied Alfred.

Jack edged his way towards the solid oak door. He clicked open the latch and entered into a world of musty silence. The thick carpet muffled his footsteps along the corridor, the thick stone walls deadened the hum of traffic rattling past on the bypass overhead, the dim windows prevented any bright sunlight disturbing the mellow atmosphere in the ancient building. He was in a cocoon where time stood still. To his right was the entrance to a large oval shaped room. It was crammed with framed paintings. Some that small, you could tuck a few into your pocket, and still have room for a bag of sweets. Some that big, it would take two burly men to cart them off. They were beautifully painted. Colours vibrant, and full of life. Jack was attracted to one painting of a long green valley surrounded by steep hills. Perched on the highest hill was a castle. It guarded the entrance to a steep sided valley. Tall ramparts guarded by noble looking soldiers were assembled in battle formation. Their sharp features focused in a gaze peering northwards. On the tallest towers a mound of jagged rocks all but covered the catapults that would deliver them. Alert, and waiting the formidable force was in readiness for some hostile enemy, or something else. Jack continued his search checking every room on the second floor.

It was then that he spotted a leather pouch hiding under a grubby table. A gold ring held the contents of the pouch in place. Jack removed the ring, and tipped out several pounds, and a couple of fivers; he put the money back into the purse, then placed it firmly into his pocket. “Finders keepers, that will do nicely,” said Jack, before he continued his search. One final room remained on the second floor, a rectangular shaped room with a smoked glass door. He clicked open the door to reveal a multitude of boxes of various sizes. Jack rummaged through the first line of containers carefully opening them, and examining the contents. If nothing took his fancy he positioned the items neatly back into the box. He threw off a dusty sheet from a damaged wooden crate. A medieval castle poked its way through a loose covering of straw. The price £30. He checked the map and found a short cut to the reception.

Discovery Showcase Information

Here are the upcoming Discovery Showcases, in the order in which they may appear:

Rise of the Ancients - Annuna
Armageddon - The Battle of Darkening Skies
Interregnum

If you want to have the first chapter of your unpublished or self-published novel featured at Fantasy Debut as a Discovery Showcase, please read how to do so here.

My apologizes for the lengthy hiatus that this feature has been on. I tried to get in touch with two authors, but neither replied, so I have skipped those titles. I decided to move the Discovery Showcase to Sunday afternoon because I have better web traffic during this timeframe.

My thoughts:
Ordinarily, I would put my impressions here, but the author sent me this excerpt before I changed this feature to include my impressions, and I forgot to tell him that I now do this.

However, nothing prevents you from posting your thoughts, as the author has given his permission. Please leave constructive feedback only.

An Interview with John Brown!

2009-10-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

John Brown is the author of Servant of a Dark God, which I just reviewed on Tuesday. His site doubles as a blog, and he is a frequent poster. He has won the Writers of the Future contest, and has been published in Orson Scott Card's Intergalatic Medicine Show and Lady Churchhill's Rosebud Wristlet.

Q. Please briefly describe what Servant of a Dark God is about.

It's about a young man named Talen and young woman named Sugar who live in a world where humans are ranched by beings of immense power. Not for their flesh, but soul. Often we think of souls and spirits as insubstantial. But I thought, well, if souls exist, they're physical things. And there would probably be a food web based on them. So the core idea of the book started with that idea. Except it's not that straight-forward because if you were going to ranch intelligent creatures, you certainly wouldn't want them to know it. They'd be much easier to manage if they thought they were governing themselves. So the truth is hidden deep. And the human overseers are merciless in rooting out and destroying anyone who gets on the trail of the truth or tries to thwart their control. The problem in this story occurs when Sugar's family becomes the target of one of these hunts.

Q. Tell us a little about your inspiration for Servant of a Dark God.

Cows were the inspiration. I live up in the hinterlands of Utah. It's all ranch land for miles and miles. Now, I'm a city boy, so everything up here was new to me. And one day I was hiking up a canyon and came across a small herd of cattle on their summer range. The bull was bellowing. Being of supreme intelligence, I bellowed back because, hey, isn't it everyone's dream to talk to animals? We went back and forth a few times. I thought we were having a fine conversation until he began to charge through the willows at me. I suddenly realized I was telling him I was going to take one of his women. He had a slight size advantage on me, and because I'm not attracted to cow I hightailed it out of there. But I began to think: humans, cows, ranching--what if humans were ranched? So it was cows that gave me the idea.

Q. I loved how the entire family gets swept up in the story--no farm boy running off to go on an adventure. Instead, adventure comes to the farm! What was your inspiration for this particular twist and was it difficult to pull off?

I'm so glad that resonated with you. It was one of the more enjoyable parts of the story for me as well. Many moons ago my sister pointed out that many stories feature heroes with the Superman syndrome--they're single men, no attachments. That insight stuck with me. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with heroes out on their own. After all, in many situations a man or woman must leave safety to go face some danger to protect the family or group. They have to do it alone. But I knew when I began to write this I wanted to explore what would happen when family was in the thick of it.

And your question is interesting because there was indeed one tricky aspect to this. See, normally, if mom and dad are around, they will take the hero's role. Unless they're schmucks or disabled in some way. But the parents in this story are all strong. And I wanted it that way. I wanted to write about strong adults with good relationships with their kids. So I had to figure out a way to let these two young adults take the lead and act on their own. At the same time, I didn't want to just kill all the parents off immediately because they were interesting to me as well. So it was a balancing act.

Q. Please tell us about your favorite part of Servant of a Dark God.

It's going to sound stupid, but I enjoyed every scene and story line I've got in there. Some for one reason, some for others. You're making me choose my favorite child, darn it! I was sad to see some go that weren't really contributing to the story. One scene, where Talen was being chased by these drunk dogs, made it to the last edit, but Hartwell and Hague-Hill convinced me it wasn't doing anything for the story. So out it went. But let me see. If I had to choose, I would say, well, no, it's just too hard. Except, I did love writing the opening scenes with Hunger. He was such a lovely discovery.

Q. What about any parts that were difficult to write?

The beginning. I just couldn't figure out the right sequence for the chapters. In fact, the opening three chapters originally didn't come until page 40 or 50. All of the first drafts started with Sugar. And then I tried cutting back and forth between Talen and Sugar. But we realized that in both instances the structure was leading the reader to invest too much into Sugar too early. Hartwell came up with the current sequencing, and I am very pleased with it.

Q. Please tell us what's coming next and when--the paperback release? How about the second book, Curse of a Dark God? Do you have any plans for extending the series beyond a trilogy?

No plans right now to do more than three books. I know Tor decided against using "trilogy" precisely because they wanted to leave it open for more books in this world. So it's the Dark God Saga. And it's a rich world, I think, and could supply a lot of stories. But I know that I don't want to extend this story beyond three books. It's going to end on book three. I'm plotting that book right now, and I'm telling you, it will end there come heck or high water. That's not to say I won't write another book in this world or start another trilogy like Robin Hobb did with her Farseer books, but I have other projects I'm excited about and want to move to them when I'm done with Dark God's Glory.

As for the second book, Curse of a Dark God, it's slated for release a year after this one. That is if we finish on time. We're running a bit behind. I planned a 170k word book and it ended up at 230k words. That's a bit large and so we'll probably have to cut, which is going to change a lot of things. You can't just cut 60k words without changing core parts of the story. We'll see how long the story editing takes. But I hope we stay on track. And that would mean the paperback would come out a month or so before the release of book two next fall.

As for the story, I can tell you that the creatures ranching humans consider it a red alert when their human subjects rise up in rebellion. It's as dire as slave revolts are to slave owners. You're going to call out the big guns. Old enemies will band together to deal with the common threat. And so the problems for our characters only magnify in book two.

Q. Please tell us about your growth as a writer. Do you have any journeyman novels sitting in a closet, somewhere? Have you had any short fiction published?

I started out writing drek. Naturally, I didn't even think about writing professionally. Why would I? That was lofty dream stuff, and I was diddling in creative writing classes. Then I took a workshop from David Wolverton who was at that time the coordinating judge for the Writers of the Future contest. For the first time in my life I thought that maybe I could write for publication. Wolverton was so encouraging to all of us. So I submitted to the contest and, on the second try, won a quarterly first prize. That was back in 1997. It was my first publication. I sold a few other pieces of short fiction after that. My last sale was a reprint to Year's Best Fantasy 9 that came out this summer. It's about a golem who is a thief.

But my big problem in the early years, and there were quite a few years, was making time. My mind is like a furnace. If all I do is write a few hours every week or write like a madman for a few weeks and then take a long break, then I found what I'm really doing is spending all my time warming up the furnace. It makes it impossible to finish anything. I need consistent hours. I also didn't know how to deal with writer's block. I've since learned it's a gift. It's not a block at all. Once I saw those two issues for what they were, I was able to produce. It took me about five years from that point to make my sale. I don't have a journeyman novel in a trunk anywhere. All the early stuff, while there were some very nice parts, was broken on arrival. So it went into the trash.

Q. Please share with us the story of how Servant of a Dark God came to be published--how long did it take to write, about your agent search, and finally getting the call about the publication.

I did not get a call, dang it. I got an email instead. I also got an email when my fab agent, Caitlin Blasdell, indicated she'd like to talk about representing me. In fact, I remember wondering for a time, because I'm so used to face-to-face, if the whole thing was a hoax. Yeah, I'd talked to Caitlin on the phone. But almost all our communication was email. I guess I'm old school. I needed some flesh and blood to shake hands with and look in the eye. For a few weeks I started wondering if it really was Caitlin Blasdell I'd hooked up with or some poser who said she was Blasdell. How was I to know? I hadn't seen any office. And there ARE a lot of women out there, you know.

I still haven't been to New York. Haven't met Caitlin or Stacy Hague-Hill (who is the other editor working with David Hartwell on these books) in person. But that's just how this business works. However, I have had the chance to meet a bunch of other wonderful folks.

As for the breaking in. The novel took seven months to write. I took another month or so to edit. I think I took a whole month coming up with the query letter and synopsis. Then I submitted to the publishers who said they'd look at unsolicited stuff. I hadn't made any contacts with editors personally yet. Was planning on doing so. But I'm not one for waiting around. So I began to send queries out to fifty agents.

When I tell some people that, they look at me all weird. Fifty? Yes, fifty. Of course, I had an A, B, and C list and sent them out in batches. And I made sure to check all of them out for complaints etc. I know a lot of people say you don't need an agent. But the fact is they have more access than I do. A good one would know which editors to approach better than I. And that proved true in my case.

So of the fifty, eight never responded, thirty-three eventually passed (and almost all were very timely in their replies), but nine wanted to see more. Nine. But that was more than double the number that had asked for more with the first novel I wrote. I was very excited to hear from Caitlin. I was impressed with her resume, and have found her to be wonderful to work with. There were two other agents looking at the full manuscript when I signed with her (yes, I made sure both knew they weren't getting an exclusive before sending).

But we didn't submit immediately. Caitlin wanted me to make a few edits. And this is one of the reasons I was so interested in her. She'd been a senior editor at Avon. So she had more than a sales resume. And while some writers don't want that, I did. So I think we did two rounds of edits. And then in October of 2007 she began submitting. We had a lot of good response, then she told me Hartwell was interested. I was thrilled. Tor is such a great publisher and Hartwell knows his stuff. A few months later I signed a very nice three book deal with Tor. But remember, most of this was in email. So between notice of Tor's interest and receiving the actual contract I began to have those odd doubts about the Blasdell poser again. Why? I don't know. Maybe because pinching myself wasn't enough to convince me I wasn't dreaming. But I'm fairly convinced it's all real now :P

Q. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Two things. First, is just to say thanks, Tia. I appreciate the time and effort you make to highlight debut authors. I'm glad you reached out to me. Second, is to let anyone who reads the book know I'd love to hear the report of your experience with it. Come on over to johndbrown.com and contact me.

Writer (and Reader!) Wednesday - Peeves and Quirks

2009-10-07T06:15:00.003-04:00

I have a simple topic for Writer Wednesday today, and I'm hoping those of you who are readers only will add your opinion. We writers need all the help we can get!

First, as a reader (and all writers must be readers as well as writers), what are your pet peeves--things that writers do that annoy you? Is it grammar and punctuation? How about certain dialog techniques? Authorial pet phrases?

And if you are a writer, what are your writing quirks? Things you do unconsciously and know you must edit for afterward?

I'll post my own answers in the comments.

Servant of a Dark God By John Brown

2009-10-06T06:00:00.004-04:00

Servant of a Dark God (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by John D. Brown
Tor Books
Hardcover - $17.15 at Amazon! ($25.99 normally)

Note: This book releases on October 13. Tor provided a complementary ARC copy.

Servant of a Dark God by John Brown is one of those novels that I pick up with some reluctance, not really thinking it's for me, but then I end up enjoying it thoroughly.

Mr. Brown has taken a very different approach with Servant of a Dark God. This is an epic fantasy that does not involve epic journeys, recent calamities or long-term character arcs. It does involve long-term lies; the kind of lies that are told over such a long period of time that they are thought of as truths.

Servant of a Dark God begins in the point-of-view of Talen, a boy. He's probably younger than fifteen, but not by much. He has an older brother named Ke and an older sister named River. His father's name is Hogan. He has an Uncle Argoth, with a son named Nettle.

All are important.

In a nearby town, a family has been accused of slethery. Slethery is the illegal use of fire, which is one of the elements of life. All creatures have soul and fire. Fire may be thought of as the days of your life. Slethery is the use of fire that has been taken from another person, hence it's illegality. The accused family consists of Sparrow, a blacksmith, his wife Purity, their daughter Sugar and their blind son, Legs.

Definitely not your run-of-the-mill fantasy names. They're all easy to pronounce, and there's not an apostrophe in the bunch.

The story begins in Talon's point-of-view, and his is the most prevalent viewpoint. Other viewpoint characters are Sugar and Argoth.

And then we have Hunger, another viewpoint character. Hunger is a sort of a golom. He has been created out of rock, wood, dirt and plants. He even has flowers growing out of his shoulder, which makes him rather whimsical, even though he is often horrible. He's one of those villains who engages your sympathy. So half the time you are rooting him on, and the other half, you are saying, "Oh no! If he wins, then my favorite character is going to die!"

UPDATE: Just wanted to expand on Hunger. He is not the villain--you actually feel sorry for the poor creature. But he's no more a villain than Quasimodo was in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, or Lennie was in Of Mice and Men. The actual villain is much more chilling than Hunger.

The story is about the unraveling of old lies. It's also about families. Like Russell Kirkpatrick's Across the Face of the World, the families in this novel, for the most part, remain together. I enjoyed this very much, and it was one of the reasons I liked Kirkpatrick's novel as well. When the group is all family, it makes the lengths the characters will go through on each other's behalf all the greater.

One of the problems I had early on was Talon as the point-of-view character. He's a bit of a brat. He's all too willing to turn Sugar and Legs over to the authorities, even when he knows that they won't get fair treatment. He's part of an oppressed minority, and he's a bit hung up on that. I know this was necessary for his character development, but it did prevent my bonding with him at first. The opening chapter, especially, made him seem foolish and bratty. I was just wishing he would save a puppy or something. Anything to inspire some liking for him.

Fortunately, Sugar's point-of-view wasn't very far in, and she was able to carry me through until Talon grew up a bit.

The worldbuilding is incredible. John Brown doles out his backstory more-or-less evenly, but toward the end, the backstory got a bit heavy. This may have been because Mr. Brown ratcheted up the tension so high that I got impatient when backstory came up. But I had to pay attention, because there were secrets revealed, while leaving other secrets for the next novel.

I was afraid there would be a cliffhanger, but there wasn't. Servant of a Dark God is an unexpected novel, much like The Warded Man was, in that I expected one thing and got something very different. There was a satisfying--if sad--ending that looked toward book 2, leaving just enough unanswered questions to make me look forward to the next book.

~*~

On Thursday, I will post an interview with John Brown. It is one of the most enjoyable interviews I've had with an author in quite some time.

FTC to Monitor Bloggers?

2009-10-05T11:26:00.000-04:00

I suspect this bit of news may raise eyebrows in the blogging community:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.

It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, and the first time the rules have covered bloggers.

You can read the rest of this very short article here:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FTC-Bloggers-must-disclose-apf-468964868.html?x=0&.v=2

Most of the books I review here are provided by the publisher, but I have never received a dime for a review. Sometimes I disclose the fact that the book I am reviewing was provided by the publisher or author, but I often don't think to do so. It's an 11,000 fine per violation! Will I face a fine for being forgetful? Am I going to have to include some legal mumbo-jumbo on each review post?

I wonder if this new regulation will cover magazines, too. They're doing it for profit. I'm just doing it for the love of it.

This Week

2009-10-04T16:55:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the new subscribers who have signed up to follow Fantasy Debut recently. When I have a difficult time posting--as I have had recently--it's always a boost to my spirits when someone wants to subscribe anyway!

And ugh, am I still suffering from the stomach biopsies and twilight anesthesia of last week. I am forbidden to take ibuprofen, so of course a migraine reared its ugly head, and anything other than ibuprofen only makes the pain pull back a little. Plus, I cannot seem to digest meat. I've lost two pounds, which will look good at my Weight Watcher's weigh-in on Tuesday.

I have a review of Servant of a Dark God almost ready to post on Tuesday, plus I just sent an interview off to the author, John Brown. I am into the opening chapters of Slaves of the Shinar, which is an older debut. It has the advantage of featuring a grown man rather than a boy. I have enjoyed all the boy stories I've read recently--despite all my complaining--but it is good to get away from them for a while. And then I'll read Canticle.

Plus, I really want to get my hands on the sequel to Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost, which has another adorable cover and is called Barely Bewitched. It just came out on September 15th. I need a Zach fix. Plus, I read the blurb, and the idea of a "toxic spill of pixie dust" is just too funny!

Oh, Joy!

2009-10-02T14:13:00.000-04:00

Canticle by Ken Scholes has arrived in the mail! It's another debut graduate, since I reviewed Lamentation earlier this year. Canticle sure looks pretty on my shelf next to Lamentation.

I really need to read some actual debuts, these days. However, I have a review already written for Servant of a Dark God, which is a debut, and I'll go ahead and post it about a week before the October 13th release date. Canticle comes out on the same day, so it will be a busy week. Plus, I'm almost done with a non-debut (kind of) for Fantasy Literature, which I'll link up when it goes live.

Debut Graduate: The Other Lands

2009-10-01T06:02:00.000-04:00

The Other Lands (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by David Anthony Durham
Doubleday
Hardcover - $28 ($18 at Amazon!)

I first cracked the cover of The Other Lands with a great sense of anticipation, and from the first page to the last, David Anthony Durham did not disappoint.

The Other Lands continues the story of the three royal children of the Akaran family. They are Corinne, who is now queen, Dariel, who could have been king, but let the rule pass to Corinne, and Mena, the warrior princess. There are also several new characters, but it's difficult to introduce some of them without giving spoiling the plot.

Since Corinne resumed the Akaran rule of The Known Lands, the quota trade has continued, but the people have not resumed their dependence on mist, the drug that has kept the populace quiet and happy for hundreds of years. Since the people are sober, they are also restless. They object to sending their children off into an unknown slavery; and they object to crushing Akaran taxes. Corinne has resumed trade relations with the League, and in recompence for Dariel's burning of the League Platforms in the first novel, she has offered them certain lands that might have a warm place in the reader's heart. And they have most diabolical plans for those lands.

Right from the start, the League is up to something. They come to Corinne with a story of a captured spy, a situation that has been the ruination of their trade relationship with the people of the Other Lands. She asks Dariel to go with them to the Other Lands as her emissary. He reluctantly agrees, for they know he is the one who set fire to their platforms in Book 1. Both suspect treachery. Both are right.

Surprises await in the Other Lands, and they are not what you would expect.

In the meantime, Mena is ridding the world of foulthings, twisted creatures left behind by the Santoth after they came to the assistance of Aliver in Book 1. Each foulthing is worse than the last, until she finally tracks down the last one. And she finds a creature that is anything but foul. She forms a bond with the creature, whose nature may surprise you. Or, it may not.

And Corinne is up to more than simply ruling the Known World. She has been studying the Song of Elenet, and she has mastered its music. She begins to use it openly, and the people both love her and are terrified of her, with good reason. She is chilling, but lovable at the same time. As Mr. Durham managed with Hanish Mein, he has created an engaging villain in Corinne. Except I'm not sure she's the real villain. The League would be a candidate for that, or something else, altogether.

There are a couple of marked improvements over the first volume, Acacia. One, is dialog, which Mr. Durham now writes out rather than summarizes, for the most part. The other is Mr. Durham's use of cliffhanger chapter endings. It became very difficult to put the book down at the end of the chapter, or even at the end of a scene break. More than one time, I continued the reading session longer than I intended, for I simply didn't want to put it down. Most of the time, I only put it down when I got to Rialus chapters. But even then they were engaging, because Rialus continues to somehow find himself working with the enemy--despite his best intentions otherwise--so Rialus's point-of-view often gives a window into what the enemy is doing. It is a particularly masterful touch.

The only part that made me wince was a hint of a romantic threesome forming in book three. Nothing happened in this book, but I'm a bit leery about where this is heading. I was hoping for a great romance with this character, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind. In general, the romantic subplots in this novel are not strong. Dariel and Mena are both involved with characters that come across as weaker than themselves, but I understand that this is probably intentional. The best romance in this series so far took place in The War with the Mein, and it was between Corinne and her captor and enemy, Hanish Mein. The simultaneous love and hate between them made for some great tension. Since all these characters are so much larger than life, the possibility for a wonderful, self-sacrificing romance is there.

One part in particular made me smile. A while back--back when I first wrote to Mr. Durham about the possibility of getting an advance copy--Mr. Durham replied with something unexpected. After re-reading my multi-part review of Acacia: The War with the Mein, he decided he needed to tweak The Other Lands. He didn't tell me exactly what he had changed, just that my review had affected the story.

I recognized it as soon as I reached that part of the story. Which was very cool.

Doubleday did a fabulous job with the book itself, with maps on both inside covers, the inclusion of a synopsis of book one (no substitute for the original!), and an awesome cover.

Oh, and the ending. It will blow you away. Yes, it's a cliffhanger. But for me, it was still an ending that satisfied, mostly because it was completely unexpected. As was much of the rest of the story. This is now my favorite epic fantasy. I am very much looking forward to reading the next volume. But . I probably have a while to wait!

Here is my multi-part review of Acacia: The War with the Mein, plus some other stuff. Just scroll down.

Writer Wednesday - Setting

2009-09-30T06:00:00.001-04:00

This post was delayed by three weeks. Many apologizies.

For me, setting is a huge part of what brings wonder to a novel. Even a gritty novel could be tempered with a bit of wonder. Within the past year, the novel with the strongest sense of wonder for me was The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick. And that was mostly because of the setting on board a singular, mighty ship.

The first contemporary fantasy I ever read stuck with me through the years largely because of the wonderful setting of its very first scene. Imagine a tree as large as a redwood, with limbs that spread as broad as an oak. And then imagine, nestled in the arms of that tree, an inn:

It was getting harder to keep up the old inn. There was a lot of love rubbed into the warm finish of the wood, but even love and tallow couldn't hide the cracks and splits in the well-used tables or prevent a customer from sitting on an occasional splinter. The Inn of the Last Home was not fancy, not like some she'd heard about in Haven. It was comfortable. The living tree in which it was built wrapped its ancient arms around it lovingly, while the walls and fixtures were crafted around the boughs of the tree with such care as to make it impossible to tell where nature's work left off and man's work began. The bar seemed to ebb and flow like a polished wave around the living wood that supported it. The stained glass in the window panes cast welcoming flashes of vibrant color across the room.

From this, the second paragraph of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first volume of the Dragonlance Chronicles, the authors established a sense of wonder in their setting. And they didn't let up throughout the entire trilogy.

Upon the next page comes the reason for the tree being built in the inn:

The Inn of the Last Home was built high in the branches of a mighty vallenwood tree, as was every other building in Solace, with the exception of the blacksmith shop. The townspeople had decided to take to the trees during the terror and chaos following the Cataclysm. And thus Solace became a tree town, one of the few truly beautiful wonders left on Krynn.

Which is a lie. From Prayer's Eye Peak to Godshome and the Dark Queen's temple in Naraka, it's hard to find a trilogy with so many imaginative settings. Lots of people like to deride the Dragonlance Chronicles. Say what you will, but the authors did at least two things very well: they created lovable characters, and they created wonderful settings.

Other memorable settings come from novels I keep mentioning again and again. The forest in The Once and Future King. The cave in Clan of the Cave Bear. New York City at the end of the nineteenth century in The Gaslight Mysteries. The Shire, Rivendell and Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings. The Cliffs of Insanity in The Princess Bride.

One real-world sight that inspired me was the Luxor in Las Vegas. There is a light that shines from the top of the pyramid straight out into space. It's arrogant and it's so very American. The entire hotel inspired a setting in my epic fantasy, which I'll share in the comments.

Please share any settings that have inspired you and, if you wish, allow us to read some of the settings you have written. As ever, please place your comments and your excerpts in separate posts, and keep any excerpts to 300 words or fewer.

Twilight

2009-09-28T19:39:00.000-04:00

No, not the book. Are you kidding? Me, read a YA vampire novel? I haven't even watched the movie.

Twilight, as in the anesthesia. I'm still feeling the effects 10 hours later. Nothing serious, but the doc wanted to look inside my stomach. He saw some redness in there and took some biopsies. He wants me to take Zantac twice a day and come see him in two weeks, once the biopsy result are in.

To keep my daughter content during the afternoon while I recovered, I asked her, "Do you want to watch a Jane Austen movie?" She said, "Yes!" and immediately requested Northanger Abbey. I denied it because we just saw it two weeks ago, and because it is only two hours long. I needed more time than that. So she requested Emma, next.

The girl knows her Jane Austen. I'm raising her right.

However, say what you will of Emma, but it's kind of a snoozer for an eight year old girl. It wasn't keeping her attention so I said, "Let's watch Pride and Prejudice." She was agreeable. I held the two versions I have of the movie up (the BBC version and the Colin Firth version) and asked her which one she wanted to watch. She pointed to Colin.

So in it went. It kept her spellbound for four and a half hours. I snoozed during the early part of it, right up until she yelled something during Lizzy and Darcy's dance at Netherfield. I tried going to bed, but it was no use. I was awake.

And what did she ask for after the second and final volume had finished? Volume three!

On Murky Middles

2009-09-27T18:16:00.000-04:00

Middle volumes in a trilogy have got to be the most difficult volume to write. As an author, you have to keep upping the tension, while revealing secrets from the first book to satisfy your reader, while also establishing new secrets to keep your readers enthralled until the next book. All too often, the middle volumes fail to deliver and deserve the nickname, "Murky Middle".

When writing a middle volume, a debut author has a much more difficult job, in my opinion, than the established author. Once you've gotten through your first trilogy, we readers know you can deliver, so we're more likely to give you a break. Not so the first time. We've been burned before, you see. We are kind of expecting you to fail. Not that we want you to fail. But we're wondering if the first book was a fluke. So the first time you write a middle, you have a bigger job than once you are established. Consider it your Authorial Trial by Fire. And you thought getting published in the first place was your trial by fire. Hah!

When I consider reading a second volume, I first assess not only how much I liked the first volume, but also how much it stayed with me. Do I barely remember the plot after a year? If so, even if I liked the first volume, I probably won't move on to the second. Do I recall any points where the plot dragged, and where I struggled to get through it? If so, then I'm going to assume that these problems will be worse in the second volume. Am I still excited by the story? If so, I probably won't wait till the next novel comes out in paperback.

It's easy to get frustrated when reading a second volume. If I get the impression that as a reader, I'm just being strung along to fill the length of a book, I'm going to get frustrated. If the author keeps throwing complications in there, they had better make sense with the overarching plot, or I'm going to lose patience. A new character or two helps, because they add intrigue. However, too many new characters is overwhelming. I recently tried to read a middle where almost all the characters were new. I never finished the novel and probably won't ever finish the series.

I also get annoyed by series that goes on too long. I think three books is quite enough for one storyline, and four is pushing it. The only pentology (is that the right word?) I recall enjoying is Stephen Lawhead's Grail series. It worked because each book was about a different person in the Arthur cycle. However, even then, the final volume was difficult to get through. (Part of the problem was the subject matter. You know the Arthur cycle is not going to end well, so it's very difficult to paste a satisfying ending in there.)

What delights me about second volumes? I love it when the characters continue to grow. I love it when they meet new challenges, as long as I can see them fitting into the overall goal. I enjoys twists and turns in the plot, as long as it moves forward. I enjoy romantic complications. I enjoy it when the problem you thought you had in Book One becomes part of a much larger problem in Book Two.

And I kind of like cliffhangers. I know a lot of people hate them, but not me. Maybe I'm just into reader torture.

What are your thoughts on Murky Middles?

Debut Showcase: Queen of Hearts

2009-09-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

Queen of Hearts (Amazon USA - UK)
by Daniel Horman (Blog - Composer Website)
Prime Books
Trade Paperback

One question remains: Did it begin or end in theft? His mother, taken before memory, his father, disappeared in the Manor where Asriael rules, home of the Great Game, where lives are antes and countries divided by mere hands, where the deed to the Slants was bet and lost so many years ago. The underground wizards of the Slants had trained Renue in the high arts, as an expert in disguise, a deadly fighter, a daring card player.

His mission was to infiltrate the Manor and win back the deed so that Asriael's dark magic could finally be unraveled and the people freed. But inside the Manor, Renue meets a mysterious young woman called the Queen of Hearts who seems to hold the secrets to his parents' fate. When Asriael is murdered and the mission betrayed, Renue and the Queen must flee the Manor, the Black Thing on their trail. As the other great lords vie for power, amid chaos and war, Renue must protect the Queen while they search for an ancient magic to end the nightmare of Asriael's black revenge.

The author is also a composer and has a website to showcase his music. He had an interesting path to publication; after selling a short story to Fantasy Magazine, the publisher--who is also the publisher for Prime Books--commissioned a novel. And this is it. I liked this blurb--which I found at Amazon--better than the blurb on his site. I was not able to find this novel at Prime Books' website, but it is available at Amazon. The UK Amazon link shows this novel as unavailable.

The cover image was strangely hard to find, which is why you don't see one here.

Short Week

2009-09-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

It will be a short week for me, both here and at work, for I am off to take a short vacation. It's a visiting-family type of vacation. I expect walks on the beach, swims in the pools, and strolls through the buggy Florida woods, well armed with DEET. I will bring along The Other Lands if I have not finished it by Wednesday, which is when we are leaving. We'll be back by the weekend--I'm just not sure exactly when on the weekend.

I hope to return refreshed. This was not a relaxing summer, but things have improved. My child is settled in a new school situation. I had my eye doctor re-make the lenses of my glasses. They appear to have been ever-so-slightly tilted, which meant that I was looking at the world through a blur. Normally, when you wear progressive bifocals, the blur is supposed to be outside your field of vision. I had a blur right where I was looking. I was amazed at the difference once I got my new glasses. Still not like having young eyes again, but the headaches are gone.

When I get back, I'll have an announcement. Nothing agent related--unless I'm totally surprised in the next week (and thank those of you who wished me well in that regard). It's something that I've been working on lately, robbing me of the time to work on this blog like I used to.

I updated my policies, and until I catch up on my current reading stack, I'm not taking any more review copies. Sometimes publishers send them to me unsolicited--and I can't help that--but the rate at which they come have slowed to a trickle, for which I am grateful. I really do owe it to the authors whose novels I've already taken to attempt to get caught up.

The Other Lands - Opening Chapters

2009-09-18T05:41:00.003-04:00

I've been enjoying the opening chapters of The Other Lands, and got a chance to read some more last night. In fact, I suppose you could say that I'm not even in the opening chapters anymore.

Without giving anything away (hopefully), here's what the main characters are up to.

Corinne is being naughty. Very naughty. Remember how Acacia really didn't seem like a fantasy until pretty far in the book? Well, The Other Lands has magic right from the start. The interesting thing about Corinne is she sees nothing but virtue in what she does. She shivers the spine.

Mena's story is still developing. But I'm in the middle of an interesting chapter that contains a creature which can only be the one mentioned in the blurb. So that makes it all the harder to put down. Mena is my favorite character, except when Dariel is.

Dariel. Aah, Dariel. The League gets their revenge upon him for his destruction of their League Platform in Acacia. And it plunges Dariel right in the middle of an adventure. Except I don't know what that adventure is yet, because the chapter ended right at a cliffhanger!

Other occasional points-of-view include Rialus, who seems to have grown a spine.

The mighty Numrek have betrayed an interesting vulnerability.

And an uprising is in the works. But you know, I think Corinne will be able to handle then. Easily. Ruthlessly. Brutally. Frighteningly.

And those are my impressions so far.

In other news, I am sitting on my already-written review of Servant of a Dark God, because the publication date was pushed back and it's now too early to be posting reviews. So I have been busy, even though it may not look like it.

Oh. And I didn't have the flu after all. Thanks for all the well-wishes!

Outta Time!

2009-09-16T08:04:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I must put other things before this blog, so I was too busy to write my Writer Wednesday post last night. But I was busy in a good way! And then this morning, I didn't get up early enough to write it. I'm just glad I didn't have a guest! (Although if I had, I would have stayed up till midnight if necessary to get it posted.) I'm sneaking this post in at work, so I'd better go!
I really wish I could eek out an hour or two more a day, but I'd rather have my days too full than too empty--wouldn't you? ;)

Debut Showcase: The Choir Boats

2009-09-15T06:00:00.002-04:00

The Choir Boats: Volume One of Longing for Yount
(Amazon USA - Canada)
by Daniel A. Rabuzzi
ChiZine Publications
Prologue and First Five Chapters
Interior Illustrations
Trade Paperback

Blurb:
London, 1812 | Yount, Year of the Owl

What would you give to make good on the sins of your past? For merchant Barnabas McDoon, the answer is: everything.

When emissaries from a world called Yount offer Barnabas a chance to redeem himself, he accepts their price—to voyage to Yount with the key that only he can use to unlock the door to their prison. But bleak forces seek to stop him: Yount's jailer, a once-human wizard who craves his own salvation, kidnaps Barnabas's nephew. A fallen angel—a monstrous owl with eyes of fire—will unleash Hell if Yount is freed. And, meanwhile, Barnabas's niece, Sally, and a mysterious pauper named Maggie seek with dream-songs to wake the sleeping goddess who may be the only hope for Yount and Earth alike.

ChiZine is long known in Fantasy circles as a magazine, so it interested me to learn that they were now publishing books. The author had a nice book launch at WorldCon in Montreal, to which he was gracious enough to invite me, and which I would have been happy to accept had it been possible for me to go. This may appear to be another blend of Christian elements, but judging from the reviews I've read, probably not.

This Week

2009-09-13T17:54:00.001-04:00

I have an interview out, and I hope to post it sometime this week, plus a second interview I need to write in the next few days. I also have a review of Servant of a Dark God almost ready to go. I'll polish that up for tomorrow.

UPDATE! They pushed the release date of Servant of a Dark God back to October! Oh, well; I guess I'll be even more prepared by then.

This week, we'll do Writer Wednesday again. I don't have a Featured Writer, but I thought I'd do it on Setting, and use as an example an older series that I think many of you like, plus snippets from some other books. I do have another Featured Writer coming up, however--someone you've seen before. Plus, I really do think I ought to invite a male author to be a featured writer, sometime. Mustn't exclude the men.

Any suggestions?

9/11

2009-09-11T08:08:00.000-04:00

Via Colleen Lindsay:

Here is New York

Reading Frenzy

2009-09-10T21:17:00.000-04:00

I've been reading so much that I haven't had time to blog. Check out my Reading and Tweeting section on the left sidebar for my thoughts on Servant of a Dark God, which I just finished tonight. Review forthcoming, plus a Debut Showcase, which I have not done yet for that book.

I'm also jumping right back into The Other Lands because the opening chapters were really awesome.

Upcoming

2009-09-06T20:08:00.000-04:00

I probably won't do much except read and post about frivolous stuff this week. I'm in contact with another author about Writer Wednesday, but that probably won't happen this week.

I'm having trouble getting hold of authors to restart the Discovery Showcase. Two non-responses so far. I meant to contact the next author on the list last week, but I didn't get to it in time. I'll try again, but I'm wondering if some of these authors have given up on me.

I'm loving The Other Lands, but I'm also loving Servant of a Dark God by John Brown. Too many good novels! Oh, and did I mention that I'm sneaking in chapters of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice in there as well? I'll be covering Hobb at Fantasy Literature, but the other two I'll review here. I'll link my FanLit review when it is up.

I'm reading and tweeting on the following:
Servant of a Dark God
The Other Lands

If I get really excited and just have to post something that exceeds 140 characters, I'll post here as well.

In Which Tia Loses All Decorum *

2009-09-04T20:35:00.000-04:00

Today, I got two new things. One was a wide-screen monitor, which replaced the old-fashioned CRT monitor that died last night.

Ho hum.

The other was a package from Random House/Doubleday. Which I opened eagerly, to glimpse a book within. Which I eagerly ripped out of the package. Which, upon beholding the cover, I shrieked a most girlish, "Yay!" I do believe my feet even left the ground. Keep in mind that I am a matronly 43 years old.

My husband said something like, "Damn, you're more excited about that book than your new monitor." Well, of course. A monitor is useful, to be sure, but an anticipated novel is nothing but pure joy.

Which book could have caused such excitement?

Yes, it's The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham! Possibly the most eagerly awaited sequel for me since I started Fantasy Debut. Why am I so ridiculously excited about this novel? Well, for one, I had to wait for it for two years. Good things take time. And for another, in the past two years, it kind of grew on me in my memory. I liked it when I read it (link opens multiple posts), but as time went by, rather than forgetting it, I liked it even more. Plus, it's a major epic fantasy, the first one I covered at FD. I love epic fantasies, particularly when the author promises fewer than five novels in the series.

I also flatter myself into thinking that I helped discover the author as a fantasy novelist. A fantasy novelist, I might add, who went on to win the John W. Campbell Award this year.

Check out the shiny things that happen to the cover when you hold it just right to the light:

I'll be happily tweeting this novel as I read it using the hashtag #TheOtherLands. Since it comes out on the 15th, I should be able to have a review up on that day, barring life-changing emergencies.

* With apologizes to Colleen Lindsay of The Swivet, for my blatant theft of her signature verbiage.

Debut Showcase: Rosemary and Rue

2009-09-03T06:00:00.002-04:00

Rosemary and Rue (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Seanan McGuire
DAW
Mass Market Paperback
$7.99

The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas.

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery...before the curse catches up with her.

Dang. An urban fantasy that hits none of my many red flags. This one looks good. I might have to try it. The author also writes as Mira Grant, but it doesn't appear as if the books under that name have been released yet. She is also a singer and a songwriter.

Writer Wednesday - Your Favorite Characters

2009-09-02T06:13:00.000-04:00

We've discussed bonding with your own characters, and that's all well and good. And it's easy, because they are after all, your own darlings, begotten in your own head. What's more difficult is to get others to love your characters. Which you have to do pretty dang early in the story, or why would the reader read any further?

Here are a few of my favorite characters in literature, and why:

Ayla from Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. Ayla kept me reading the Earth's Children series four books in. After that, I lost interest mostly because everything that the author did right with Ayla, she did horribly wrong--at least for me--with Jondalar. But back to Ayla. Who could not feel sympathy for a five-year-old child that lost her entire family to a disaster, and then who was reluctantly adopted by a clan of neanderthals? And then right away, Ms. Auel set up this conflict between this young girl and a powerful young man (very young) of the tribe. It was a winning formula.

By contrast, Tom from Tom Sawyer is never a character you feel sorry for. Instead, you marvel at his audacity. He has chutzpah, he is never daunted, and he always has something handy in his pocket. He is the original MacGyver at twelve (or so) years of age. He doesn't hesitate to kiss the girl. He doesn't hesitate to throw a punch. He doesn't hesitate to take on his brutal schoolmaster. And that den of thieves? They never had a chance.

I could go on with a bunch of other favorites, but you get the idea. What are your favorite characters--from any genre--and more importantly, why?

Also, I'd like to do a post on building tension, but I think we should have an expert for that topic. What author can you recommend to me who is especially good at building tension?

Debut Showcase: Drawn Into Darkness

2009-09-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

Drawn into Darkness (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Annette McCleave
NAL/Signet Eclipse
Book Trailer
MM Paperback - $7.99

Blurb:
For centuries Lachlan MacGregor has battled demon thieves for the souls of the dead, carrying out his pledge to deliver them into Heaven or Hell. But his greatest challenge as a Soul Gatherer is now among the living.

Struggling to connect with her troubled teenage daughter Emily, artist Rachel Lewis turns to her enigmatic yet strangely compelling neighbor Lachlan for advice. As Lachlan soon discovers, the young girl has fallen victim to a seductive demon—a specter from the past using the unsuspecting women to fulfill an ancient prophesy and settle a hellish score with Lachlan himself.

In the race to save Emily and avert a disastrous power shift among the deities, Rachel and Lachlan forge an uncommon bond. But how can Lachlan tell the mortal woman he’s falling in love with that the next soul he’s been enlisted to gather—and deliver beyond—is her daughter’s?

I reviewed this novel a few weeks back and gave it an overall positive review, but it does tread a bit too close to Christian beliefs for comfort. Ms. McCleave won the 2008 Golden Heart for Best Paranormal Romance with this novel. The novel is a strange--and frankly, awkward--mixture of the sacred, profound and sexual. Nevertheless, I think the author could go far.

I've Been Interviewed!

2009-08-30T19:12:00.000-04:00

Harry Markov of Temple Library Reviews wrote some very insightful interview questions, which must have taken him a while to research. He also did one of his blog critiques, where he said some very nice things about me and Fantasy Debut. Times like these make blogging very rewarding. He calls this feature Reviewer Time.

Check it out!

Debut Showcase: The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

2009-08-28T06:00:00.003-04:00

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Leanna Renee Hieber
Dorchester Publishing/Leisure Books
Date of Publication 8/25/09 (UK: 1 Sep)
Excerpt

Blurb
What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…

This reminds me of Marissa Doyle's Bewitching Season, even down to the name of the heroine. No twin here, though. This looks pretty good. The blurb is almost perfectly enticing, because right away, I am dissatisfied with it, and want to learn more. If the book were in front of me, I'd be reading pages. So I guess it's an effective blurb! Her website has lots of extras, all conveniently located on a page called Extras.

You can let me know of an upcoming debut here.

Eye Strain

2009-08-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

I owe a few of you email responses, but due to eye strain (which is due to my new glasses), I avoided the computer last night and spent the evening in semidarkness. I'm going back to the eye doctor on Friday to see what can be done about these dratted glasses. In the meantime, please be patient. If I haven't answered your email, I will in the next day or so, or over the weekend at the latest.

Writer Wednesday - Researching for Fun and Profit

2009-08-26T05:47:00.000-04:00

For this week's Writer Wednesday, I thought I'd explore a topic that didn't require the posting of excerpts in order to draw out those of you who prefer not to post excerpts. Since I'm in the midst of writing a historical novel, I also thought I'd blatently use this blog in an attempt to discover all of your favorite research methods. Here are a few of mine.

I am a master of Google Search. If it's on the Internet, I can find it with my Googlebar. I'm really good at figuring out the perfect search term to get the info I need. Maybe it's because I just love research and the Googlebar was something I just adored from day one. Privacy concerns? Bah. It's worth the loss of privacy. :)

Wikipedia is also a wonderful resource, especially when the article you are looking at has lots of citations that you can explore as well. I found some great Rosie the Riveter sites through Wikipedia. One thing I love is plugging in a date and seeing all the information that appears. Want to know the major news stories in 1924? Just plug "1924" in your Googlebar, and Wikipedia will be the first entry that pops up. Click on it, and you will see a comprehensive listing of everything that happened in 1924, along with a bunch of internal links to stuff like film, literature, sports, television--you name it. It may not be a definitive source, but it is a comprehensive one.

But the problem with Google and Wikipedia is you have to know what you're looking for. You can get lucky and have one page lead to another and eventually to a gem, but it takes a lot of surfing to find those.

But what about when you don't know what you are looking for?

What I really want to do one day soon is spend an afternoon at a library looking through microfiche. Those of you who are younger may not have any clue how fun microfiche is. It's so cool, even if it's low-tech. Imagine a bunch of newspaper pages placed side by side, zipping by you in the viewer. Unless they've changed these viewers considerably, you actually use a dial to control how fast the pages fly by. It's so 1970! If they duplicated this with computers, it would take forever to load!

What am I looking for? Nothing in particular. I'll know it when I see it. I want to look at the microfiche for the local papers in the early 20s, and zip through them. I'm looking for culture, for atmosphere. I'm looking for things like ads (and prices!), for portraits, for fashion, for cars, for sports, for buildings, for anything that catches my eye. Newspapers are a slice of life from that particular day in time, and I just want to browse through them.

To this end, I love Shorpy Photo Archive. I look at Shorpy's photos every day. If you are a history lover, you will love it as well. At least a few time a week, they post a street scene from the 20s. These are invaluable to me. You can zoom in on the photos and examine them in detail. When they post scenes from the interior of drugstores, I can get the prices on common goods. A milkshake? Fifteen cents. They had soda subscriptions. Buy a card for a dollar and you can redeem it for ten sodas. That sort of stuff didn't make the history books.

Your turn! What are your favorite research sites and methods?

Debut Showcase: Night's Cold Kiss

2009-08-25T07:32:00.000-04:00

Night's Cold Kiss (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Tracey O'Hara (website - blog)
HarperCollins - 7.99
Release date: August 25, 2009
Excerpt

For centuries war raged between the humans and Aeternus vampires—until courageous efforts on both sides forged a fragile peace.

But the rogue Necrodreniacs will never be controlled—addicted as they are to the death-high . . . and bloody chaos.

Since witnessing the murder of her mother, Antoinette Petrescu has burned with fiery hatred for the vampire race—even for Christian Laroque, the noble, dangerously handsome Aeternus who rescued her. Now an elite Venator, Antoinette must reluctantly accept Christian's help to achieve her vengeance—even as he plots to use the beautiful, unsuspecting warrior as bait to draw out the bloodthirsty dreniacs.

This isn't my usual forte, but maybe Raven will want to read it. The cover art looks familiar, and I wonder if I recognize the artist. I'm thinking Chris McGrath, but I didn't see this cover in his portfolio. The author was a finalist in the Golden Hearts along with Kelly Gay and Annette McCleave.

If you know of an upcoming debut, please let me know about it using this form.

On Urban Fantasy

2009-08-24T20:56:00.000-04:00

I'm just not a fan of urban fantasy. I admit it.

Unless Charles deLint wrote it. I loved his urban fantasies of the 80s. But the definition has changed and it has left me sadly behind.

When I do debut showcases for urban fantasies, it's kind of like . . . work. I don't enjoy doing the research because I have no interest in reading most of these novels. There are rare exceptions, like Would-Be Witch. But like I said, they are rare.

What's more, I don't think a lot of my readers read urban fantasies. Such readers would not normally gravitate to this blog, because I review so few of such works. They'd find happier homes with SciFiGuy. Raven reviews some urban fantasy, but I don't think she's a true fan of the genre, either. (Raven, feel free to correct me, but you seem to be tired of snarky, kick-butt heroines.) She does like darker and gritter stuff than I do, which is why we complement each other so well here.

Therefore, if you read urban fantasies, please let me know you are out there. I may be interested in bringing another person on the Fantasy Debut team. And right away, I'd have a stack of urban fantasies to mail you. But there would be a price: I'd also be recruiting you to write my debut showcases for urban fantasies. Please let me know if you are interested by emailing me at tia dot nevitt at gmail dot com.

As for the rest of you, what do you think of urban fantasies? Love them? Hate them? Was a fan once, but no longer? Please share in the comments.

Sampling Books

2009-08-24T05:31:00.000-04:00

Lest you think I'm doing nothing whatsoever with this blog, I thought I'd put up a post about the two books I'm sampling.

Servant of a Dark God by John Brown. This novel opens with a squabble between siblings that quickly grows dangerous when young Talen flees up a tree, pursued by his massivly muscled brother Ke. Talen falls, Ke catches him, they both get in trouble, and Talen gets sent off to the neighboring town on a routine farm errand.

There, he runs into real trouble when villagers think he is under a form of possession. It seems that another family in town--who are of the same outcast race as Talen--have been accused of this form of possession and naturally, everyone of the same race is under suspicion.

It's an engaging start. I know some people are tired of farm boys as the main protagonist, but I have no problem with it. Until the industrial revolution, most people were farmers or in the employ of farmers. But what I'm really in the mood for is an epic fantasy with a female POV. Or a grown man. I'm tired of reading about boys.

Night of Knives by Ian C. Esslemont. This begins with a prologue in the point-of-view of some indeterminate human-like creature. The creature trudges through the desert, and stops to talk to another creature that is imprisoned at the base of an obelisk. When the imprisoned creature tries to escape, a bolt of magic descends the obelisk and knocks it senseless. They have a conversation about some change that is coming. I confess that I haven't gotten much further than the prologue. However, I have determined that the point-of-view character isn't a boy (or either of these creatures), but a grizzled, battle-weary veteran named Temper. A significant plus in its favor.

Okay, make that three books. I'm also sampling Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice. It's also quite engaging, as those of you who have read it would doubtless agree.

But it's also about a boy. I think I'm going to scream.

Speculative Fiction Reviewer's Database

2009-08-22T06:15:00.006-04:00

John has renewed the Speculative Fiction Reviewer's Database (which started life as the Link-Up Meme).

I don't want to just post it, because if I put it somewhere other than a post, it will constantly be refreshed in the search engines. In a post, it will get stale after six months. If I put it on my sidebar, it takes up the whole sidebar, and I don't want that. So I've put it in a widget at the bottom of the page. I put a link to it in the righthand sidebar, or you can jump to it here.

Thoughtful Thursday at FanLit

2009-08-20T12:34:00.002-04:00

Check out this week's Thoughtful Thursday at FanLit. This week's topic: things an author does that makes you stop reading. You'll need to log into Google FriendConnect to leave a comment. Just look for the link at the bottom of the page.

Genre Break - Gaslight Mysteries, Volumes Three through Six

2009-08-20T06:00:00.003-04:00

Every once in a while, the lure of the wonderful Gaslight Mysteries tempt me away from fantasy to the world of New York City during the waning years of the 19th century. The Gaslight Mysteries are written by Victoria Thompson. I reviewed volumes one through three a few months ago.

I wish Ms. Thompson would give the year that her novels take place. The only historical marker I have is Theodore Roosevelt's tenure as a Police Commissioner in New York City. According to his Wikipedia entry, those years were 1895 to 1897, so these novels take place during those years.

Murder on Washington Square is my favorite of the series so far. There's lots of character development for both Frank and Sarah, and their interest in each other becomes more evident. The romance still proceeds at a glacial pace, because, after all, once you have a Happily Ever After, it would be difficult to continue the story.

In Murder on Washington Square, Sarah's neighbor Nelson Ellsworth finds himself the suspect in the murder of a young woman whom he had been ready to marry. In previous volumes, Mrs. Ellsworth's favorite activity was sweeping her porch so she could keep track of the goings-on of her neighbors. But with reporters crowding her doorstep, looking for the scoop of Mr. Ellsworth, she's in hiding.

Sarah continues her tactic of detection-by-nosiness, although it's not as evident in this book. This dress features a cross-dresser, women who prefer their men married rather than single, and Sarah getting high on opium. Oh, and a kiss.

Murder on Mulberry Bend, by contrast, is my least favorite of the series so far. In this novel, a young woman from the Prodigal Son Mission is murdered in a park wearing Sarah's clothes. By coincidence, a man who helped her previous investigation lost his wife to a fever while she was volunteering at the same mission.

The story of a young woman murdered while wearing Sarah's clothes seemed to have so much potential, especially since Frank is finally beginning to get somewhere with his investigation of Sarah's husband's death. However, the author evidently didn't think of what I hoped for.

The mystery in this novel was very frustrating, and Frank is ordered to terminate the investigation, leaving Sarah much on her own. There are a host of suspects--all kinds of shady characters. It was darker in tone that most of Ms. Thompson's novels, and the progression of the romance between Frank and Sarah comes to a frustrating halt.

Still, it was an enjoyable tale with new characters who return in subsequent books.

In Murder on Marble Row, Ms Thompson is back in her groove with scintillating dialog and humorous situations. It also offers a return to high-society New York--or rather, it's steamy underbelly.

Mr. Gregory Van Dyke has been blown up in his office. Frank is given the job of solving the murder by Commissioner Roosevelt, himself. Mr. Van Dyke's heir, Creighton Van Dyke, is a prime suspect because of his association with "anarchists".

Sarah's mother--of all people--helps Sarah solve this murder. The situations they find themselves in are hilarious, especially when the two of them venture to New York's rough Lower East Side to visit the anarchists. Their stop in the First Street Saloon was especially fun, but it wasn't as fun as Frank Malloy taking the two of them to a chop suey joint for lunch.

Great fun. However, this novel was way too plot heavy with almost no character development.

Which is my only flaw in the series, itself. I read books like this for the characters, not the plots. Alexander McCall Smith is a master of writing character development stories under the guise of mysteries with his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Sure, the mysteries are fun and the whodunits are a blast to guess, but the characters are the true reason I keep coming back.

I have the rest of the books in the series except the last one, but I probably won't read them for another three months or so. I'd love to read them back-to-back, but all the fantasies on my self are calling my name, and I'd better not neglect them for long.

If you like historical mysteries, these are wonderful. If you don't, you might want to try them anyway and like me, discover a new addiction!

Writer Wednesday - Dialog

2009-08-19T05:41:00.000-04:00

The art of writing dialog is a tough skill to learn. We learn all the basics. We punctuate properly. We avoid excessive dialog tags. We avoid modifying our dialog tags with adverbs. We read it aloud to make sure it flows right. And we never make our characters give long speeches unless they have a damned good reason.

But still, we get told our dialog is stilted.

Joining us today as Featured Writer is Lisa Shearin, a master of witty dialog. She is the author of Magic Lost, Trouble Found, Armed and Magical and The Trouble with Demons. Her books have consistently been available on the shelves of bookstores everywhere since she was first published, and her books are notable for their laugh-out-loud dialog. It's a real treat to have here here today. She provided two excerpts from The Trouble with Demons to give us some discussion fodder. I had a really hard time choosing between them, but here it is:

~*~

Piaras wasn’t having a good day; yesterday had started off the same way and by last night, it had slid downhill into a cesspool. Today was showing all the signs doing the exact same thing.

There was no easy way to ask what I needed to ask. Sure, I could just come right out and say it; it was a simple enough question, but the words just refused to come out.

“You and Katelyn like each other, right?” Yeah, I know, it was the cowardly way in, but at least it was a related topic.

Now the kid was completely confused. “Yes, we do.”

“A lot?”

“Yes, a lot. Why do you ask?”

“The two of you haven’t . . . done anything about really liking each other, have you?”

Now he was confused and concerned. “Not yet. I . . . that is, we want to . . . we think . . . but . . .”

“But what?”

“Before I came to class, the archmagus and I had breakfast together.”

I pressed my lips together so wouldn’t snicker. Oh, I knew what was coming. Uncle Ryn had done the same for me. Any boy—or a couple of years later, any man—who wanted to see me socially had to go through The Talk. One of my hopeful suitors said going through The Talk was like being forced to walk through fire, except without the fun parts. You tried to get through it as quickly as possible and told yourself the pain would be over soon. To the best of my knowledge, Uncle Ryn had never actually laid hands on one of my suitors, but he’d always made it plain and clear what behavior he expected, and what actions would be taken if he was “disappointed” that the boy/man’s behavior fell short of those expectations. Needless to say, I didn’t date all that much.

Piaras was looking at me. “What?”

I swallowed a snort. “Nothing. Go on.”

Piaras glanced at the door; it was closed, but he lowered his voice anyway. “Archmagus Valerian said he would know if Katelyn and I . . . you know. Raine, I’d like to live long enough to graduate, or at least graduate in this form. He can’t really turn me into a squid, can he?”

“Is that what he told you?”

“And a couple of other things.”

“He can’t do it, at least not the squid part.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Piaras let out a relieved breath. “That’s good.” His look turned suspicious. “Why are you asking about me and Kat?”

I really didn’t want to come out and say this. “I need to find the Scythe of Nen. And by the way, you weren’t too far off the mark. It is a dagger.”

“What’s it look like?”

I told him what my dad had told me.

“Something that small won’t be easy to find,” Piaras noted.

“No, it’s won’t. And apparently a certain type of person is helpful for finding this kind of thing.”

Piaras’s eyes narrowed. I had a sinking feeling he’d figured out where I was going with this.

“What type of person?” he asked.

I winced. “Uh . . . a virgin type of person.”

His lips narrowed into a thin line to match his eyes. “And when you found out you needed a virgin, you immediately thought of me.”

“Not immediately.”

“What, so you had to wait two seconds?”

“More like five actually. Don’t feel bad about it.”

“You think I’m the only virgin on this island! How’s that supposed to make me feel?”

I grinned hopefully. “Special?”

Piaras gave me a look. You know the one.

I threw my arms up. “Okay, I’m sure there are other virgins on this island, but I don’t have time to find them. I was pretty sure you were qualified—”

Piaras glowered. “As a virgin.”

I held up a hand. “No, no.” I was just getting myself in deeper. “I knew you were qualified in other ways to help. Level headed, good in a fight, that kind of qualified.”

Piaras arched an eyebrow. “Nice try.”

I hung my head and sighed. “Kid, just help me out here, will you?”

Silence. I looked up. Piaras was grinning.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

I told him.

“One question,” he said when I’d finished.

“Shoot.”

“This virgin thing, does thinking about it count? Just because I haven’t done it doesn’t mean I don’t think about it.” He lowered his voice again. “A lot.”

~*~

As usual, please keep your excerpts to 300 words or fewer, and please put your excerpts and your critiques in separate posts.

And let's have some fun!

Debuts Wanted!

2009-08-17T12:04:00.000-04:00

I'm running low on Debut Showcases so I thought I'd post a reminder--you can always let me know about an upcoming novel using this form. I usually only showcase books that are published by major, traditional publishers, but I make exceptions if the publisher seems exceptional. For example, ChiZine has started publishing books, and I put one of their novels on my calendar.

So if you're a newly-signed author, please let me know about it! It helps me out tremendously because I don't have to do as much research, and therefore I can use the time to cover more stuff.

Next Writer Wednesday

2009-08-15T05:38:00.000-04:00

For our next Writer Wednesday, we'll have as featured writer someone whom several people have requested--Lisa Shearin! Our topic will be Dialog. She's given me a couple of great excerpts from The Trouble with Demons for me to choose from; the hardest part for me will be to actually make a choice!

I've Accepted . . .

2009-08-14T21:07:00.000-04:00

. . . a flatteringly repeated offer from Fantasy Literature to become a regular contributor to their site. We're still discussing my role, but I've decided that all of my "Debut Break" type reviews will be for FanLit, plus non-current ("Historical") debuts and probably my debut graduates beyond that first "graduate" novel (for example, third novels and beyond). I have a lot of authors I enjoy following, but they aren't debut authors anymore.

Of course, I'll post snippets of all my reviews here, with links to the full review. All science fiction and non-fantasy ("Genre Break") reviews will remain here. Most of my work for FanLit may well be behind-the-scenes (editing, coding, etc). And it will be extremely part time.

I enjoy Fantasy Debut too much to give it up, but I also think it would be fun to be part of a like-minded group of individuals. I like what FanLit has going, and it helps that they really wanted me on board. It's nice to be wanted!

Drawn into Darkness by Annette McCleave

2009-08-13T16:45:00.000-04:00

Drawn into Darkness by Annette McCleave

As you can tell by the cover, Drawn into Darkness is a paranormal romance. When I read the excerpt, I thought it was urban fantasy-ish. I used to be a bit fuzzy on the difference, but now it is absolutely clear to me. The first clue is the cover. Such covers aren't usually to be seen here at Fantasy Debut. Ab muscles abound. I usually go for arms and legs. And since I'm a product of the 80s, a little hair on a guy's chest is actually a nice thing.

Due to the cover, I never would have picked up this novel if I saw it in the store. Which means I'm probably pre-judging a lot of good books. I do wish romance publishers would stop making such embarrassing covers. However, I've figured out--so I'm slow--that these covers are kind of like a code. The lower the guy's pants, the steamier what is inside. These pants are only kind of low.

Before I go any further, a caveat. I don't really feel qualified to write this review. I read fantasy and mystery, and I feel qualified to review both genres. I haven't read romances since the 80s. So I'm just going to write what I think.

Lachlan McGregor is a soul gatherer. It's his job to grab a newly-dead soul and keep it safe until an agent of Heaven or Hell arrives to claim it. Problem is, Hell wants to claim all of them, and a soul-gatherer often has to fend off demons until the busy angels can arrive. The novel starts in Lachlan's point-of-view, and for the most part, the story focuses on him, because where he is, the action is. When the book starts, he habitually wears the disguise of a priest. This disguise sets the tone for the Christian aspects of the novel, which are partially Catholic in origin.

Rachel is a divorced mother of a fourteen year old named Emily, and she has her hands full. In the first scene of the book, Lachlan saves Emily from a bus accident. Ever since the bus crash, Emily has undergone a marked personality change. It turns out that Hell has a greater-than-usual interest in her, and they've sent one of their best lure demons to "lure" her into a spectacular death-suicide. And it turns out that this particular lure demon has a history with Lachlan.

Lachlan is a great dude, with a tortured past and rock-hard pecs from all the sword fighting he does to keep in shape and battle demons. The only problem I had with him is he was once a Scottish laird, which I'm starting to find a bit tiresome. Surely, there are lords of other nationalities who might be just as interesting. I liked him better than Rachel, who isn't even up to an argument with her daughter. I do feel for Rachel--having a rebellious teenager must be a horrible thing to go through. But she's just so danged weak. She doesn't even call the police when her daughter is dating a 22 year old man. I wanted to shake her. Part of the point of a novel is to have the character grow, and Rachel does grow, but it was hard for me to develop true sympathy for her--rather than just pity--when I found her actions so infuriating.

I don't mind a novel that draws on Christian themes as long as it is respectful. Ms. McCleave is respectful, but she imposes odd restrictions on the power of God that at times defied logic. For example, there's a Trinity Child, whom God creates every thousand years or so, and who can visit all three of the "planes", Heaven, Hell and Earth. However, God himself cannot visit Hell -- even though he created the child. Another logical problem was that God could not reverse a death mark, even though a certain resurrection is one of the basic tenants of the Christian--and Catholic--faith.

There are only two sex scenes in the novel, of which I was glad. We fantasy fans don't read for sex scenes. Even urban fantasies tend to keep sex scenes to a page or less. Fortunately, Ms. McCleave didn't give away any plot secrets in the midst of the sex scenes, so I was able to skip past them without feeling like I missed out on the story.

All in all, the pages just flew by and it was a nice way to spend a Saturday when I didn't feel well. The originality of this story might work well for lovers of urban fantasies who are tired of the usual mythologies.

This novel releases on September first. I'll link back to this review when I do the Debut Showcase, at which time I'll do my usual linkfest.

Writer Wednesday - Writer's Voice

2009-08-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

Today's topic -- by request -- is a writer's voice. Voice is an elusive thing. When submitting to agents and publishers, among their guidelines, you often read that they want "an engaging voice." But how do you achieve that?

Voice to a writer is like light is to an artist. For an artist, skill is one thing, but the paintings truly come alive in in how you see -- and reproduce -- the light on canvas. It can be taught, but only to an extent. It's really something that must grow. The same goes for writing. When I first started writing, my voice was obscured by whoever my favorite writer was at the moment. As time went on, I started sounding more and more like myself. Nowadays, my writing sounds like "me" no matter who I'm reading at the moment.

Nathalie Mallet will be joining us for today's discussion. Her novels, The Princes of the Golden Cage and The King's Daughters, feature the voice of Prince Amir. Here are her thoughts on a writer's voice:

Finding one's voice is a term that one hears frequently in writing courses. But although one may know about the elements that make up voice—diction, syntax, tone and dialogue—it does not guarantee success. The way I do it is to simply assume the voice of my protagonist. And usually the tone of the narration comes from whichever details of the main character’s personality speak the loudest to me. In Amir’s case, it was his overly careful nature and his strong desire to remain anonymous.

Here’s an excerpt from The Princes of the Golden cage that best exemplifies this:

Being noticed meant having your potential evaluated. Never a good thing when one lived caged with so many power-thirsty brothers. To say that you didn’t want to become the next Sultan, that surviving was enough for you, was useless, even if true. For many of my brothers, only dead princes posed no threat. I counted myself lucky for being of average size, for having the dark hair and brown eyes shared by most of my siblings. Because of this I could blend easily in their midst. With its high cheekbones, square chin and short well-groomed beard, my face was one of many alike—unremarkable. I cultivated every bit of this blandness. I slumped whenever I was with shorter brothers, tried to sound dull when with dimwitted ones, and mimicked the affectations of my high-ranking brothers when near them. Even in my choice of clothes, I was careful. Blue and green were the predominant color of the palace’s walls, and therefore of my kaftans. Even my name, Amir, was common. There was at least four or five other Princes Amir still alive—a real blessing.

I liked this excerpt because it really captured Prince Amir's personality.

Please join in with your own comments. Remember to keep any excerpts to 300 words. Please post replies and your own excerpts as separate comments, to make for easier reading.

Thank you for joining us, Nathalie!

Tomorrow and Beyond

2009-08-11T21:29:00.000-04:00

Don't forget that Nathalie Mallet will be joining us tomorrow for a discussion on Voice. My review of Drawn into Darkness will go up on Thursday evening. I could have put it up tonight, but I prefer to give my reviews at least 24 hours of "time on top". And the Writer Wednesday discussions often last well into Thursday. In fact, I may move them to Thursday because I usually don't plan anything for Friday. Something to think on.

I'm still not ready to start the Discovery Showcases again. Probably when the school year starts.

A Quick Congratulations

2009-08-11T10:08:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to David Anthony Durham, winner of the John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer! I loved his novel, Acacia, and I can't wait to read The Other Lands next month.

Upcoming and a Plea for Help

2009-08-09T06:57:00.000-04:00

This Wednesday, Nathalie Mallet is going to be joining us for Writer Wednesday for our next topic, which is Voice. When I sent her the email asking if she would join us, she wrote back and told me that she's been following the discussion from the beginning! How very cool! So anyway, I thought her voice with Amir in The Princes of the Golden Cage and The King's Daughters was very distinctive, and since I just read and loved The Kings Daughters, she was a natural choice.

I'm having Twitter problems, and I'm hoping one of you Twitter experts can set me straight. While I was reading Drawn into Darkness, I tweeted on it using the #drawnintodarkness hashtag. However, when you click on it, not all of my tweets to show up. Usually, only my first tweet and the latest tweet appears. This happens even when you click on one of my tweets in between! I'm mystified--can anyone offer advice?

For my next novel, it may be a Genre Break. I just got novels 4 through 9 in the Gaslight Mystery series, and I don't think I can resist!

New Widget - Reading and Tweeting

2009-08-07T20:08:00.003-04:00

I have a new widget in the upper left corner of my blog. It's called Reading and Tweeting. In it, via tagged Twitter tweets, I will capture my impression of novels as I read them. Hopefully, it will be fun.

No Discovery Showcase tomorrow. The Discovery Showcases will come back, but at the moment my weekends have been too active. My apologizes to all authors whose excerpts are in the queue.

Debut Showcase: Dunraven Road

2009-08-06T20:08:00.000-04:00

Dunraven Road (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
Caroline Barnard-Smith (Website - Blog)
Immanion Press
Trade Paperback

In the sleepy backwater of Dunraven Road, a group of hedonistic friends are trapped in a deadly prison of their own making. When Zach, their enigmatic leader, brings his long term plans to fruition and paves the way for a sadistic vampire cult, their fragile world begins to break apart. Fuelled by dangerous passions and an insatiable craving for the substance they call red, the group must decide whether to succumb to the sweet lure of the abyss, or stand and fight for their very survival.

Immanion Press is a small British publisher that seems to be doing interesting things, so I thought I'd go ahead and post this. It sounds like a creepy novel--not really my thing--but I don't usually go for dark novels, as most of you know. I wish I could get a better sense of the story from the blurb.

Writer Wednesday - Bonding with your Characters

2009-08-05T06:00:00.002-04:00

We all love to read books where we bond with the characters. Where we don't want the story to end, because the characters are so wonderful. I've watched The Princess Bride dozens of time because I loved the character Inigo Montoya. He stole the show from the Dread Pirate Wesley. Fezzik was great as well, and together, they just made the best duo. I didn't want the story to end. So I bought the novel, which was even better--and funnier!--than the movie. I've owned two copies of that novel and have read it multiple times.

Another character that I absolutely loved was Paksenarrion from The Deed of Paksenarrion. Paks had some interesting flaws. She was sometimes slow-witted, and she was completely asexual. But she was also completely likable. Elizabeth Moon put the reader so firmly in the character's head that before the end of the trilogy, you may be shedding tears over her.

But how do we, as writers, establish such lovable characters? I'm not sure I know the answer, but it makes sense to me that first, we must love our characters, ourselves. One thing I do to bond with my characters is write scenes that enable me to get to know my own characters. I consider these scenes disposable. I call them pilot scenes because they work like a pilot chute. A pilot chute is a tiny parachute that draws out the big parachute. A pilot scene draws out the larger story.

Here is a pilot scene for my WIP, which is a time travel historical. In this scene, the character--Mike--is walking around town, getting to know the 1920s. Ashley is his sister. They are from the present day.

Passing gentlemen tipped their hats--whatever they had, be it old derbies, cowboy hats or fedoras. They eyed him as they said good morning, and his hatless head started to feel naked. When he saw an store ahead of him, he decided to go in. The name of the store, F. W. Woolworth Co., looked familiar.

He found himself something that looked like a drug store. He wandered up and down aisles, his eyes leaping with fascination from one object to another. Toward the back of the store, he found inexpensive men's clothing. He picked out a fedora, took it to the counter, and paid for it. It was $3.50.

He settled it on its head as he walked out the door, as he had seen men do, and he resumed his stroll. He started wandering up and down random streets. It was impossible to get lost for long. Too far north, and you hit the trolley line. Too far south, and you reached a golf course. Too far east and west, you hit water. He wandered for hours, taking it all in, wondering if Ashley would worry, and smiling when the thought hit him that she would have surely called his cell phone by now.

Her company was never onerous, but he had not felt so free since he was a boy.

Not a lot of action, just introspection. I'm not sure if I'll keep it but for now, it's still in my manuscript.

How do you establish a bond with your characters? Please share in the comments. Please keep any excerpts to 300 words or fewer.

Debut Showcase: The Birthing House

2009-08-03T20:28:00.000-04:00

The Birthing House (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
By Christopher Ransom (US Website, UK Website)
UK Publisher: Little, Brown (Sphere) (Jan. 1, 2009)
USA Publisher: St. Martin's Press (Aug. 4, 2009)
Hardcover
Excerpt (pdf)

Sphere's Blurb:
When Conrad Harrison impulse-buys a big old house in Wisconsin, his wife Jo doesn't share his enthusiasm, reluctant at the idea of leaving their LA life - so Conrad is left to set up their new home as she ties up loose ends at work. But Conrad's new purchase is not all that it seems. Soon Conrad is hearing the ghostly wailing of a baby in the night, seeing blood on the floor and being haunted by a woman who looks exactly like Jo. With his wife away, Conrad becomes obsessed by the pregnant girl next door, Nadia, who claims to be a victim of the evil in the house. The crying leads him to a bricked-up body, and the mystery of the Birthing House unravels, pulling in Jo, Nadia and leading Conrad to a nightmarish conclusion...

Sphere sent me this book during the Spring Annual Book Rush, when I get more books than I can possibly read. Since things have slowed down, I am now sampling this novel. I actually like the US publisher's blurb better, so here it is:

It was expecting them.

Conrad and Joanna Harrison, a young couple from Los Angeles, attempt to save their marriage by leaving the pressures of the city to start anew in a quiet, rural setting. They buy a Victorian mansion that once served as a haven for unwed mothers, called a birthing house. One day when Joanna is away, the previous owner visits Conrad to bequeath a vital piece of the house’s historic heritage, a photo album that he claims “belongs to the house.” Thumbing through the old, sepia-colored photographs of midwives and fearful, unhappily pregnant girls in their starched, nineteenth-century dresses, Conrad is suddenly chilled to the bone: staring back at him with a countenance of hatred and rage is the image of his own wife….

Thus begins a story of possession, sexual obsession, and, ultimately, murder, as a centuries-old crime is reenacted in the present, turning Conrad and Joanna’s American dream into a relentless nightmare.

But what really makes it interesting to me is something I found on the author's US website:

Every haunted house tells the story of someone’s death. But what about the house where life has not ended, but only began? If death can be a traumatic event that opens doors to evil, what about that other traumatic event? The one that does not usher life out of this world, but into it?

Ok, this is different enough to intrigue me. Interesting that this didn't find its way in either blurb.

Home Improvements and Aching Feet

2009-08-02T16:16:00.000-04:00

Fortunately, my twisted ankle of last Monday healed up really quick. Ice and ibuprofen! It's just the thing. I needed it this weekend because we put up 1 bulletin board, 2 white boards, 1 set of window blinds and 1 ceiling fan. If you think this describes an office more than a home, well, you're half right.

I see that I have new subscribers via either Google Reader, Google FriendConnect or Feedburner. Welcome!

I have been a very bad reader lately because we've been so busy. I've very slowly been reading Dreamdark: Blackbringer and The Lace Reader, but I'm a bit more taken by Dreamdark. The author is Laini Taylor, and this book was published in 2007. The publisher sent to to me along with the next book in the series. It is about faery creatures way back in the days of what sounds like either the Roman Empire or the Holy Roman Empire (e.g. the Catholic church). Since it's written from a faery's point of view, the exact year is so far ambiguous. But the way the author superimposed the faery world over a historic timeframe intrigues me.

The winner of last week's giveaway of THE STARS BLUE YONDER was Megan of Eatontown, NJ. Congrats, Megan, and happy reading! I don't have any contests coming up, but Maria is giving away a cozy mystery right now at Bear Mountain Books.

We had a rousing discussion on our last Writer Wednesday, but I've been so busy this weekend with home improvements that I haven't gotten anyone on board as our Featured Writer! Any volunteers? The only requirements are to 1) be a writer and 2) be willing to co-host the discussion with me. You can do an opening essay like Kristy did, or not. If you're interested, please email me at tia dot nevitt at gmail dot com.

Debut Showcase: Dark Time

2009-07-30T19:57:00.000-04:00

Dark Time: Mortal Path Book 1 (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Dakota Banks (blog)
HarperCollins/Eos
MM Paperback - $7.99
Chapter One

Publisher's Blurb:

Dark Time is a new, sassy twist on supernatural thrillers—Lara Croft meets Elektra—an edge-of-your-seat, action-packed debut that fans of Vicki Pettersson and James Rollins won’t want to miss. In fact, Rollins himself raves, “THE MORTAL PATH is a novel to be savored for both its edge of suspense and the pure joy of its storytelling.”

Burned at the stake as a witch, Susannah Layton made a deal with a devil in return for revenge and immortality. Nearly 300 years later, she has killed more people for her demonic master than she can count, and only wants to be free.

But infernal contracts don’t have an easy “out” clause, and the only way Susannah—now Maliha—can retire without ending up in the deepest levels of hell is by saving one life for every one that she has taken. Her quest will take the former assassin from the fast-paced urban jungles of New York and Chicago to the wilds of Peru and Mongolia, from corporate espionage to raiding artifacts from secret places at great risk to her life.

This is the author's debut into fantasy, but she wrote six suspense novels under a different name. According to her website, she based this novel on ancient Sumarian myths. I find the premise interesting, and I like the idea of her having to save one life for each life she has taken. However, soul-selling as a plot device is a hard sell for me, for reasons of faith. (As a Christian I see a much easier "out" than this.) However, even if I could set that aside, I still think this might be too dark for me.

Writer Wednesday - The Dreaded Opening

2009-07-29T06:00:00.004-04:00

Openings! As readers, we love 'em. They suck us right into the story. As writers, we hate 'em because they're so hard to write! Well, we don't actually hate them, we love them too. Because, after all, we're readers as well.

If only we can get our own openings right!

Joining us as Featured Writer this week is Kristy Baxter, the recently-agented author of a YA/Contemporary Fantasy called Grim Light. Her agent is Marlene Stringer. I'm going to turn it over to Kristy as she gives us her take on openings. I am lucky enough to have Kristy as my critique partner, and I read an early draft of this novel. I only mention this because she refers to me quite a bit.

~*~

Openings
by Kristy Baxter

I love starting a new novel.

I hate starting a new novel.

On the one hand, you have this joyous new creation to begin, and you don't know what it'll look like when you're done...but you know the ride's going to be awesome and terrifying and awesome all over again.

But on the other hand...argh. Openings! That first sentence is so incredibly important that you could spend weeks trying to make it perfect. And then all you're doing is waiting in line as you imagine what fun that roller coaster will be.

For my most recently completed novel, Grim Light, I decided to dive right into the action. My heroine foresaw a sad event coming, and then a moment later she saw a boy who would be very important to her, although she didn't know it yet.

The problem, as Tia pointed out: the reader didn't have enough time to get to know my protagonist, even a little bit, before these things happened. I needed to develop a little bit of sympathy, give the reader at least a little bit more about my protagonist, before I enmeshed her in all this emotional turmoil.

I stared at my opening paragraph. I loved that paragraph! It had been there since the beginning, the one that started it all. Every time I got other ideas or tried to start other novels, I read that opening and was sucked back in. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized Tia was right. Who cares what happens to this girl if they don't know who she is?

And as much as writing a novel, a short story, or anything at all is a roller-coaster ride, it's also a tightrope walk. I wanted to give the reader interesting action, but I also wanted to give her a smidgen of character development. So I pulled on my sequined leotard and grabbed that long stick-thing for balancing, and I hopped on the tightrope.

In order to compromise, I made the first sentence foreshadow what was to come. Then I made my heroine happy, because if we see her happy then we know how hard that fall will be. And I made sure that fall came within the first page or so, in an effort not to bore the reader.

I won't deny that it was tough. I'd never imagined Grim Light opening any other way. But when I saw the end result, I was very satisfied. I felt like I knew my protagonist better, even after spending months in her head already.

How about you? How do you manage to walk the tightrope? Have your openings all been picture perfect? Did you start too soon, as many do, or start too late, as I did? And how does your opening shape your view of your protagonist or narrator?

~*~

It's Tia again. I'm blushing. Thanks, Kristy.

Personally, I start too soon, but I'm always prepared to delete with impunity. I'm also prepared to offer up one of my own openings for your critiquing pleasure. This is from a lighthearted spy fantasy, which I call a mashup of Jane Austen and James Bond.

I hurried up to the embassy as if I belonged there. A bakery coach had pulled up near the side entrance where the kitchen chimneys were, so I headed that way. I searched around for someone who looked like a butler. He soon emerged to direct the unloading. I went up to him and curtsied. I was careful to make it a quick bob, rather than the genteel swoop I had learned during my youth. It was difficult to unlearn what had once been drilled into me.

Kristy's take:
I like the pacing of your opening a lot. Most of your sentences are short and choppy, which conveys the urgency of the situation while staying true to how Tory [the protagonist] would think in that situation. The first sentence grabs you right off, because you wonder, "Why doesn't she belong there?" and that tension pulls you along. It also gives you a great idea of Tory's more analytical thought process.

The only thing I would change: sentences three through five are all roughly the same length, and while choppiness is great for that opening, you want to avoid establishing a lulling sort of rhythm. I would insert a longer sentence in there, or possibly combine parts of two sentences, just to avoid that. Read it aloud and you'll probably catch my meaning.

I guess I'll do that. What did you think? Feel brave enough to post your own opening for general feedback? Got any questions? Comment away!

Sampling Novels

2009-07-28T20:35:00.004-04:00

Here's just a few novels I've sampled lately:

Slaves of the Shinar. After an email conversation with the author, Justin Allen, he sent me a copy of his novel. I didn't get a chance to read it back when it came out in the summer of 2007. I have not read much so far--just the prologue. After I read it, I turned to my husband and said, "This guy breaks all the rules of novel openings, but I'm finding it riveting." A promising start!

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. The author's British publisher sent me this novel, and of all the novels I've started, I'm furthest along in this one. It's more a creepy ghost story than a fantasy, although I haven't seen any actual ghosts yet, but plenty what could be either magic or delirium. The website is rather fun; you get to hunt for links in the lace.

Drawn into Darkness by Annette McCleave. Oh my stars and garters, I'm reading a paranormal romance! It's been a while. The future cover--I have an ARC--features a man with abs. (Personally, I'm not an ab girl. I like arms.) The story inside SO does not reflect the cover; I was very surprised when I saw the cover. It's all about angels and demons and something called a Soul Gatherer, and I am pleased to see that it treated Christian elements with respect. So far.

And tempting me from my debut stack is books 4 through 10 of Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries! Must be good . . . must be good.

Which one do you think I ought to read next?

Debut Graduate - The King's Daughters by Nathalie Mallet

2009-07-27T06:00:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, when I read a book, it exceeds all my expectations. Nathalie Mallet achieved this with The King's Daughters. I enjoyed the ending so much that most of my nitpicky complaints that I had about it before that point have faded from my consciousness.

Which is just the way it's supposed to be.

I must admit that I didn't expect much from this book. This isn't to say that I did not enjoy reading The Princes of the Golden Cage. I did--immensely. And here's my review to prove it. But all too often, second novels in open-ended series like this become annoying. This novel had a couple of strikes against it. One is that the romance--which I didn't feel all that fired up about to begin with--seemed resolved. When a romance is resolved, the next book in the series often feels tacked on and unnecessary. That's why you end up with The Ever-Romance, a plot device that plagues the Mystery genre.

The other strike against it was that there were only two familiar characters from the first book--Amir and Eva. Now I understand that this was an asset to the book, not a flaw. By starting with a bunch of new characters, Ms. Mallet made it unnecessary to have read the first book to enjoy the second. Plus, she introduces some wonderful new characters.

But first, I suppose I ought to present you with the blurb.

Far to the north of the hot desert land of Telfar lies the frozen kingdom of Sorvinka . Prince Amir has traveled there, leaving his sultanate in the hands of his half-brother Erik as he seeks to ask the king, the father of the beautiful Princess Eva, for her hand in marriage.

But Sorvinka has grown dangerous during Princess Eva's absence, as she and Amir discover to their terror, when their force of guards and eunuchs is cut down by ruthless brigands. And upon their arrival, their welcome to Eva's family stronghold is as bitterly cold as the land itself.

Accustomed to the golden cage of his upbringing, Prince Amir must navigate his way through the strange and cold-blooded customs of the Sorvinkans, and somehow find the truth behind the kidnapping of the king's youngest daughter, the Princess Aurora, by the Sorvinkan’s traditional enemies, the neighboring Farrellians. But what can a stranger in a foreign land do?

With many apologies to Night Shade Books, I think the question at the end of this blurb weakens the blurb.

Oh, and I may as well get the one nitpick that I recall out of the way, and that is punctuation. This was also a problem in Princes. Ms. Mallet is Canadian and for the most part, the fact that English is her second language only enhances the novel. It is written in an exotic voice that works perfectly, filled with word choices that a native speaker might not make. But improperly punctuated questions continue to be a problem. We all make grammar mistakes, and usually that is the job of a copyeditor to catch them. I know that sometimes authors refuse to accept the input of a copyeditor. However, I have a hard time believe that such a new author would be so arrogant. In any case, I hope the next novel--which I'm greatly looking foward to--undergoes a more rigorous copyediting phase.

Back to the story. Amir and Eva's welcome at the Sorvinkan court is indeed, quite cold. Amir makes a terrible first imprssion, and seems to have absolutely no help from Eva, who is his fiance, and who lets him make some cringeworthy breeches of protocol. Eva, who had seemed so capable in Princes, because very princess-ly in this novel, which is OK because we didn't get to know enough about her in Princes for this to seem like a character inconsistency.

Eva became very annoying in this book. She did inexplicable things and left Amir hanging out to dry. I was going to count this as a flaw in the book . . . but it turns out that Ms. Mallet knew exactly what she was doing. And how she resolved it is one of the reasons I found the ending so satisfying.

One of the eunichs, Milo, becomes Amir's personal servant--indeed, Amir must make him his personal servant in order to keep him alive. Because the "cold welcome" to the court was actually achieved at the point of a sword. Milo has all the makings of a great sidekick. Another character, Diego, makes a great counterpart to Amir and Milo. Diego is a court dandy. One phrase from the novel sums up Diego perfectly: "He cringed so forcefully that one could've believe he had just sucked on a lemon."

As Ms. Mallet did with her first novel, she brings all the various plot threads together brilliantly. I can't think of anything left unexplained, except some new tidbits that she came up with toward the end for subsequent books. I recall in Princes that she did this almost to a fault. Here, it was just about perfect. She also brings in some Russian mythology and folklore into the story--some really strange stuff--weaves it brilliantly into the story.

She aimed the series squarely at an Eastern setting for the third book, and perhaps a Spanish for the fourth. I must admit that I can hardly wait.

In my opinion, you're not going to find such good entertainment for $7.99 anywhere else. If you like blends of mystery and fantasy, non-white protagonists, clashes of culture and open ended series, then this novel should be great fun. And the next book, Death in the Traveling City, intrigues by its very name!

~*~

Links!

Nathalie Mallet's Website and Blog

Amazon USA - UK (appears to be sold out) - Canada

Night Shade's Book Page and Interview with Nathalie

Additional Reviews at Grasping for the Wind and Graeme's Fantasy Review

Of Unanswered Emails and Twisted Ankles

2009-07-26T21:12:00.000-04:00

Yes, I twisted my ankle this afternoon, just sauntering casually across the kitchen. One minute I was fine, the next minute I was grabbing the counter. What the heck? This ankle is getting downright undependable--the same thing happened on the stairs about two weeks ago. I might have to get an X-ray or something.

And yes, I've been terrible about answering emails for the past week or so. I have a bunch of Gmail stars next to a bunch of emails, and because I promised to do some beta reading this weekend, it will be a few days before I get back to you. Sorry!

Tomorrow morning, I have another Debut Graduate for you and then I PROMISE I'll be getting back to debuts. I've been sampling books in my stack, including The Lace Reader, Dreamdark: Blackbringer, The Birthing House, and more. I'm looking for something a bit different, and I think all three qualifies.

I meant to have a Discovery Showcase on Saturday, but the author I had intended to showcase never answered my email asking for "official" permission. So I'm assuming I don't have permission, and I'm off to the next person in the list.

I was thinking of the next subject for Writer Wednesday, and I think "Openings" is something we all can identify with, because they're just so hard. So let's plan on that topic. I'll announce my next Featured Writer as soon as I know I can make it official.

Check back in tomorrow morning for my review of Nathalie Mallet's The King's Daughters!

The Stars Blue Yonder by Sandra McDonald

2009-07-23T06:01:00.000-04:00

When I write a review, I'm sometimes a bit in a quandary about how much I should give away. When does a tidbit stop being a tidbit and start being a spoiler? Fortunately, the blurb for The Stars Blue Yonder includes all the elements I want to write about, so I don't think I'll blunder into any spoilers. Here it is, straight from Tor:

Chief Terry Myell died and became a god. Now he’s back to life, careening around space and time at the behest of a voice that told him to save all of mankind. Helping and hindering this quest are his elderly wife, his young wife, grandchildren who haven’t been born yet, romantic rivals he hasn’t even met, a descendant from two thousand years in the future, and an alien nemesis who calls itself the Flying Doctor. Life in the military has never been so complicated.

Commander Jodenny Scott would agree. She’s seven months pregnant and trying to come to peace with her husband’s death. When Myell reappears with tales of time travel, she’s not sure what to believe.

But with an invading army bearing down on Earth’s last fleet of spaceships, there’s not much time for debate. When the dust clears Jodenny is stranded in an Australia she never imagined, and Myell’s more desperate than ever to rescue her—from aliens, from treachery, and from history itself.

Yay! I can write about the time travel! Because ultimately, that's what makes this book so deliciously fun.

I love time travel fiction. When Back to the Future came out, my husband and I must have seen it in the theater at least ten times. And many times after that on various forms of video. Now we have the boxed set.

Where to start? My friend and blog buddy Kimber An is going to think this is the answer to her book prayers. I'm not sure if she'll like the first book, but if she can get through the first and second, she'll flip out over the third. It features a pregnant heroine who is part of a happily married--if often separated--couple. And midway through the book--while she is unexpectedly centuries in the past--she finds herself acting as a midwife! Courtesy of her Digital Doula--yes, you read that right--she's an expert on childbirth. And darn it if those nineteenth century women have all kinds of crazy notions about pregnancy and giving birth.

Do you get the notion that this book is different yet? And, if I might use the same words as many reviewers before me, it is fresh, original and probably like nothing you've read in science fiction before.

Ok, I'd better get serious about this review.

It picks up right where The Stars Down Under left off. If you haven't read that novel before, I'm afraid the blurb above is a bit of a giveaway. But it really would not have been possible to write the blurb without giving away the fact that Terry is back. And he's not a god anymore. As it turns out, that was a Terry from a different timeline.

Kind of.

All those time travel rules you read about in other stories? Forget about them. Ms. McDonald has figured out a neat way around the problems of time travel in a totally plausable way. Well, plausable in a world that includes time travel.

Anyway, Terry is stuck in a time loop and is trying to find his way out. You feel for the guy. It's maddening, kind of like that loop in the movie Groundhog Day, except this look jumps him to different points in time. Always near Jodenny. Who sometimes doesn't even know who he is, or doesn't believe its him, depending on when he goes to.

And just when you reach the point where it is starting to get too maddening, he gets a bit of a break. Ms. McDonald really has great timing in this case.

Before I get carried away by too much gushing (or is it too late?), let me get some critiques out of the way. One of them is that a character keeps urging Terry on, but is unable to help him out with any specific instructions. He basically appears to Terry long enough to complain that he should have figured it all out by now. This is a plot device I've seen before--some sort of Seer who has knowledge that he cannot reveal to the reader because it would make the story end too quickly. Now in this case, I didn't want the story to end too quickly. But it was still a small annoyance.

Well, I guess it was only one critique. I can't remember the others, if I had any.

I'm already way over wordcount and I haven't even mentioned Sam Osherman. I'd better stop here.

This is a science fantasy novel with a great mythology, a fun plot and likable heroes and heroines. The pages just flew by. The end of the novel brings this storyline to a close, but leaves other questions unanswered, which might be answered in future books.

And when Kimber finds out what Terry and Jodenny names the baby, I do believe she will scream out loud.

Linkfest!

Sandra McDonald's Website and Blog

The novel at Tor

Heather's Author Supernova on Sandra McDonald at Galaxy Express (still in-process, so the link is to the site)

My reviews of The Outback Stars and The Stars Down Under

Amazon USA - UK - Canada

Giveaway - The Stars Blue Yonder

2009-07-23T06:00:00.003-04:00

Tor is giving away a copy of The Stars Blue Yonder by Sandra McDonald! To enter, please fill out this form. Please only enter once time.

Update: Contest closed!

Writer Wednesday - With Featured Writer Jennifer Estep!

2009-07-22T05:52:00.001-04:00

Welcome to our first Writer Wednesday, a comment chat that will last as long as we all care to stick around. Joining us today and tomorrow is the fabulous Jennifer Estep, author of Karma Girl (multi-part review), Hot Mama and Jinx. Each title links to my review of each novel, with all the usual links. Be warned, Jennifer is the victim of a cyber-attack, so don't visit her site at the moment.

Anyway, Jennifer's upcoming novel, Spider's Bite, is an urban fantasy featuring Gin, an assassin. Such a character fits right in with our first featured topic:

Unsavory Protagonists and Assorted Bad Guys

We'll let Jennifer begin with a short excerpt from Spider's Bite.

“You’re coming with me,” he said.

With his free hand, Caine reached inside his jacket pocket and drew out a pair of silver-stone handcuffs. He tossed them on the balcony between us. The metal clinked to a stop at my booted feet. “Put those on.”

“Handcuffs. Kinky. But I prefer to have a bit more freedom during sex. Don’t you?”

Caine jerked as though I’d yanked the gun out of his hands and shot him. His eyes flicked down my body, going to my breasts and thighs, before coming back to my face. Yeah, he was thinking about it. All the distraction I needed.

“There’s no need to bother with those because you aren’t taking me in, detective.”

“Where are you going to go?” Caine asked. “You’re trapped.”

I smiled. “Me? Trapped? Never.”

I turned, leapt up onto the balcony wall, and launched myself over the side into the darkness below.

Here are a few ground rules. Please limit any excerpts to 300 words. Yes, I know that isn't a lot, but that's 300 words, plus any introductory material you may write. So the result can be a very long comment. Even Jennifer's excerpt is way below that. We need to keep each excerpt short to keep the comments page from getting miles long (wishful thinking here, I know). Just include enough to give everyone an idea of just why the character is so bad. Tantalize us with your best stuff. Don't overwhelm us. I'll try to lead by example with the first comment.

UPDATE! Also, please offer a bit of commentary on one of the excerpts that is posted before yours. Make your commentary and your own excerpts separate posts. This will help when the comment thread starts getting long.

Keep any critiques constructive. I probably didn't have to say this because this is such a nice crowd, but it can't hurt.

And that's it! Jump right in with your excerpts and commentary. This should be fun!

Jennifer Estep - Featured Writer for Writer Wednesday!

2009-07-20T17:15:00.001-04:00

This is cool--Jennifer Estep has agreed to be our featured writer for Writer Wednesday. She wrote an upcoming novel that has the perfect character for our discussion on Unsavory Protagonists and Assorted Bad Guys--an assassin. She is also the author of three Bigtime novels, all which I've reviewed here. I'll give you the full info on Wednesday but if you can't wait, here's her website.

If you're a writer, please help me spread the word, and be sure to stop by on Wednesday!

Author Caleb Fox - How ZADAYI RED Came to be Born

2009-07-19T16:06:00.000-04:00

Presenting Caleb Fox, the author of Zadayi Red. Here, he discusses the publication of Zadayi Red, and has an unexpected conversation with one of his characters. Enjoy!

How ZADAYI RED Came to be Born

by caleb fox

Okay, you caught me—I’m not really a fantasy writer. I might have been, but you see, I lost track of the difference between fantasy and reality.

Here’s how it happened. My ancestors were Arkansas rednecks whose ancestors were redskins. Somehow I went to a good university and ended up as the movie critic of a big Los Angeles newspaper.

Now pay attention: At a party in posh Beverly Hills I was trading stories about mountain men and Indians with my buddy, who was a super-famous screenwriter (and here we are in true fantasyland). A publisher overheard us and said to me, “Are there enough of these stories for a book?”

“Sure.”

Since he handed me that contract, I’ve done nothing but write—stories, movies, TV, everything. I’m married to the best woman in the world, Sarita, and live in the other-worldly Canyonlands, populated entirely by Navajos and Mormons. From landscape to inhabitants, this is all the way into fantasy. Reality is a good place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.

Last week I was out walking and celebrating publication day of Zadayi Red, which the publisher Tor calls a fantasy. A buzzard landed on my shoulder (there’s a stomach churner). When he spoke my name, I knew he was no ordinary vulture.

“Why did you treat me that way?”

No question what he meant—why did I turn him into a spirit animal in the novel? One day he was soaring happily around the Land Beyond the Sky Arch and the next he was bound to an Indian woman of centuries ago.

“She needed a guide.”

“Cut the baloney. Why me?”

“Why not?”

He pecked my ear—ouch! Then he said, “You know what I mean. I’m an Immortal. I hate death. And you…”

So now we were down to it. I’d re-created him on Earth as a buzzard, and buzzards eat carrion. Talk about having death shoved down your throat.

I debated telling the truth. Though I lie for a living, I decided to risk it. “I though it would interesting—“

He made a threatening a-a-awk.

“—to see what would happen if an Immortal really, truly had an experience of mortality. Actually lived with mortals and went through their struggles along with them. Started rooting for them. Maybe even—“

I dared not say it.

His tone was indescribable. “Started liking a mortal? Sure, why not? Loving a mortal? Well, maybe a very special mortal, just a little bit.” He shrugged those glossy brown-black shoulders and cocked his red head. The interrogation wasn’t over.

I decided to go for it. “I meant, to find something beautiful in mortality. To fall in love with the whole process that governs it all, life on Earth.”

“Disgusting,” he said, and flew off.

This time he was the liar.

Characters like Buzzard are the fun. I’m writing book three of the series. Yes, fantasy. I don’t know where reality is anyway.

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

2009-07-18T07:25:00.000-04:00

I signed up for Book Blogger Appreciation Week and nominated many of my fellow bloggers for various awards. If you run a book blog, this is a must-join!

Winners of ZADAYI RED

2009-07-16T20:26:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to the following winners of Zadayi Red:

Jacqueline L. of Toronto
Brittany B. of Kentucky
David R. of California

Congratulations and happy reading!

More on Writer Wednesday

2009-07-16T13:48:00.002-04:00

I'm trying to refine my "Writer Wednesday" comment chat idea. (Or should it be "Writer's Wednesday"?) I came up with something called a Featured Writer, and I just invited someone to be that writer for our first week. My only problem . . . what should a Featured Writer do? At first, I thought it should be someone agented or published, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far because then I'd have to define "published" and what a pain that could be. So I'm just thinking about letting the concept evolve however it wants. For now, I'll just invite people who 1) I think will participate and 2) who I think have something to offer.

A. Gray thought of a good first subject--a story where the main character is not necessarily of sterling moral fiber. She also expanded it to include bad guys in general. I love my bad guys so I think that's a great topic.

Any other thoughts?

Several Things . . .

2009-07-15T21:01:00.000-04:00

A lot of writers turned up during the On Rape in Fantasy discussion. Therefore, we therefore decided to have a new weekly feature here at Fantasy Debut, and this one will be interactive. I'm going to call it Writer Wednesday. We'll have an open blog topic and we'll just hang out and discuss it in the comments for a day or so. So be sure to come back next Wednesday if you are a writer! I may even try to line up author guests.

~*~

The winners of The King's Daughters by Nathalie Mallet are:

Rabia of Bradford, Vt
Grace of Airy, Md
Deborah of Tewksbury, MA

Congratulations!

Tomorrow, I'll close out the Zadayi Red giveaway, so be sure to get your entries in.

~*~

I've kept the most exciting news for last. One of my friends has an agent!!! Her name is Kristin and you can read all the details at her blog. Kristin is my critique partner, so I've read the work in question, and its so exciting to have seen it grown and then finally attract an agent. A few months ago, she packed it up and sent it to me, and I went over it with my little red pen. I've read two of her novels, and she's read two of mine. Anyway, Grim Light is a wonderfully imaginative Young Adult novel that is entirely vampire-free. So yes, all you writers, agents are still taking on writers even in the midst of this recession. Take heart and keep submitting! And I'll be sure to follow my own advice!

On Rape in Fantasy

2009-07-14T06:00:00.005-04:00

Much has been said on the subject of rape in fantasy across the blogosphere. And yet, it keeps coming up in novel after novel. To some people, it must seem like fantasy authors have a sick obsession with a violent and depraved act. But I don't think it's that at all. I would like to offer a defense. Not for rape--heaven forbid! But a defense for authors choosing to include it in their novels.

It may seem strange to outsiders, but lovers of fantasy really do like to keep it realistic. We generally like gritty novels that tackle the problems of living in a non-modern age head-on. Even with systems of magic, we are picky. It must make sense. It must have rules that we can accept.

Long ago, Walter Scott wrote a popular novel called Ivanhoe. I loved Ivanhoe, but I don't think it would fly in today's world. Ivanhoe is full of long speeches and high-flown language that today's readers rarely tolerate. But at its heart is a terribly romantic story.

In Ivanhoe, there is a virtuous and beautiful "Jewess" named Rebecca. The dastardly and evil Brian de Bois-Guilbert (an unfortunate name for a villain--I have a hard time conjuring up dread for a guy named "Brian") abducts Rebecca. But he will not force her and she'd rather cast herself off of a tower than let him have her. Since he is a Templar, he is supposed to stay celibate. Therefore, later in the story, Rebecca gets blamed for his passion and is tried as a sorceress. In chapter "XXXIX" Brian approaches the doomed Rebecca in her tower room. He offers to fight as her champion in trial by combat if she will become his lover. After a long and speech-filled conversation, she refuses him and he departs.

In real life, he would have raped her. But Scott wrote the "escapist" novels of his day, and his villains had an interesting code of honor. He has no problem with having her accused of sorcery and coercing her into becoming his lover to avoid death by burning. But he will not rape her.

Scott was one of the most popular novelists of his time. Many credit him with inventing the historical novel.

Nowadays, grit and realism are popular. When we read a novel set in medieval times, we expect a well-researched escape into the past. And like it or not, the threat of rape was something every woman had to dread. Only a certain type of man will rape a woman, but how is she to know whom to trust? And once the rape did take place, it was shameful for the woman. Even as recently as the turn of this century, women were often blamed for the rape, because she supposedly "enticed" the man. (Rapes of ninety-year-old women--which I hear about with alarming frequency--would disprove this theory.) And it wasn't until well into this century that men lost the "right" to take their wives by force. To this day, there are lingering questions of if "no" ever means "yes"-- which makes no sense at all to women. No means no.

Therefore, when writing about times past, rape is--unfortunately--historically accurate.

Do I think the rapes are usually necessary to the plot? Probably not. If its a random act of violence, it probably could be avoided since we generally don't want purposeless violence of any sort in our novels. In The Deed of Paksenarrion, the rapes that took place toward the end were, unfortunately, necessary for the plot. I hated them. But without them, a great deal of impact would have been lost. And thank God Elizabeth Moon didn't go into any detail. And in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, a rape of a different sort takes place. I'm not completely convinced that its rape was necessary to the plot. But boy did it ever have an impact, so perhaps it was necessary after all.

I think authors should weigh the decision to include a rape in his or her novel very carefully. Many readers will hate it enough to avoid the author's works in the future. In fact, I think that goes for any type of torture. Not too long ago, I had to stop reading a novel because of too many stomach-turning torture scenes.

What are your thoughts? Does a rape in a novel put you off the author forever?

Review: Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox

2009-07-12T21:21:00.000-04:00

Zadayi Red (Amazon USA, UK, Canada)
by Caleb Fox
Tor Books
Hardcover
Excerpt

I think Caleb Fox has a brilliant future.

Zadayi Red is a fantasy novel based on a Cherokee legend. It starts with the tale of Sunoya, who is marked as a shaman at birth because her last two fingers on her left hand are webbed. She was bears another mark--a mark of doom--and according to tradition should have been killed at birth. Her mother concealed this mark and warned her never to reveal it.

She has a vision that the clan's most precious object--the Cape of Eagle Feathers--has become descecrated and powerless, rendering the clan deaf to the wisdom of the gods. To avert this calamity, Sunoya travels to the cave dwelling of Tsola, the Seer of the Galayi people. Together, they embark upon a journey to the spirit world to learn why this is going to happen. They learn that it was the fault of the Galayi, for they will start to kill each other. And when they do, the gods will turn away from them.

They also learn of a way they can earn another cape. It will require a hero.

Upon Sunoya's return, she right away gets caught up in an adventure, which leaves her as the adoptive mother of a newborn babe who might be that hero. His name is Dhazi, which means "hungry one." As Dhazi grows up, the focus gradually shifts to him. The task that he eventually must perform doesn't seem difficult on the surface, but when you add in almost constant assassination attempts, it gets considerably more exciting.

This novel is not like other novels you read every week. Even the voice of the novel is distinctive. Consider this excerpt:

Fear zinged tremolos through him, body and soul.
He looked around again. His eyes brought him nothing. I am in utter nothingness.
He put his hand on his heart like he would have put it on Awahi's zither. He wanted to stop the vibrations and end the sounds. They were terror aborning.

I loved "fear zinged tremolos". I could almost feel the shivers.

I do have one major critique. A violent act takes place toward the end of the novel that I thought completely out-of-place and perhaps even out-of-character. The main conflict was over. It was almost as this character got punished for doing something good. And it was senseless because the person who perpetuated the act seemed to me a character who might redeem himself. I don't want to say any more, but I was disappointed by that particular plotline.

This novel is not light reading, but neither is it particularly heavy. At first, I read it in small doses, and I even read another novel while I was reading this one (The Stars Blue Yonder which, it may surprise you, complemented this book quite well.) But I hope you don't think this a bad thing. It's not. Not ever book need be a can't-put-it-down thriller. This book inspires thought.

Kudos for not dragging out a torture scene--just about when I couldn't stand anymore, it was over. It didn't even take two pages. I must warn about a rape--some of my readers will never forgive me otherwise--but it does take place off-page.

The main villain--who is almost single-handedly responsible for all the killing that is going on--is deliciously evil and horribly cruel. No shades of gray there. And the author did a wonderful job with a mentally handicapped character. He turns out to be of great value to Dhazi, and a great friend. Well done and bravo for that, because all too often I've read about mentally handicapped characters portrayed as monsters.

This is a memorable book--one for the keeper shelf. It reminds me of Carole McDonnell's Wind Follower, which I reviewed almost two years ago. If you like delving into unfamiliar cultures and reading novels that seem wholly un-Western, then I recommend you give this one a try.

~*~

In an earlier post, I blogged about the opening chapters, so if you are curious, you might want to give it a read. You can also enter a contest to win a copy of Zadayi Red, complements of Tor.

Discovery Showcase - Tamar Black - Djinnx'd

2009-07-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Tamar Black - Djinnx'd
By Nicola Rhodes
Genre - Comic Fantasy
Lulu - Purchase Link

What would you wish for?

When Tamar found a dirty old bottle in the river and released an ancient and powerful Djinn, she decided to go for the big one, the ultimate wish to end all wishes. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Djinnx’d

...Or Jinxed by a Genie. Which is what happens to Tamar when she is cruelly tricked into taking the Genie’s place.

Good – in that she now has phenomenal cosmic power.
Bad – in that she is now the slave of the bottle for the next several eternities.

But eternity is cut short when she meets Denny. At first he seems to be just the latest in a long line of human masters, but it soon becomes apparent that Denny is no ordinary master when he declares his intention to set Tamar free from her bondage.

No matter what the cost.

He has no idea what he’s let himself in for. Witches, mermaids, houri’s, a homicidal djinn and a mad forest god with a superiority complex, and that’s not the half of it…

What can kill a Djinn? If Denny can’t answer this question in time it will all have been for nothing.

Author's note: Several paragraphs of this excerpt have been omitted in order to conform to the 2000 word limit.

~ Prologue ~

In the beginning, there was the word. Actually, there were two words. And the words were “System Ready” because it was.

And the programmers saw that it was good. Not as good as it could have been, because the bosses upstairs had only given them a week to build the program. So the universe was a bit of a rush job in the end, but deadlines were deadlines and it would just have to do. So they pushed “Enter” and the screen flashed up “Mainframe universal systems online”

And underneath that > “Which file?”

So, the programmers accessed the stellar matrix and switched on the stars. And the void was filled.

And the programmers saw that it was good.

So they switched on all systems and checked the files. There were files for all things that were and all things that would ever be. And there were some files for things that would never be, but this was dismissed as a system error. They could sort it out later. After all, it had been a rush job, and they could use the overtime.

And so, the planets spun and the stars burned. Mainframe was up and running. And the programmers saw that it was good.

So they left mainframe, which could pretty much run itself now anyway, and went home for their tea. After all it was Sunday and the bosses had temporarily vetoed the file for time and a half on weekends.

And it was on the weekends that some pretty interesting new files were created that the programmers completely missed. A good example of this was the ‘magic’ or ‘virtual reality’ files. By the time the programmers realised what had happened within mainframe, the error was too large to correct. Magic was an integral part of the system, which could not be shut down from within. And the paradox of course, was that once mainframe was up and running, the programmers who created it, were a part of the system, and always had been. So, when they tried to delete the files, the programmers found that they couldn’t do it. All that could be done now was to try to modify the files from within to minimise the problems for the future. Many subroutines were written to exercise some control over the many and various types of magic that had been created.

One of the worst type of magic files that had been created, were the Djinn files. In order to try to sort this one out the programmers demanded, and got, their time and a half weekend pay. Even management could see that they would have to back down on this one.

But, even so, the problem was only partly resolved in the end. However the programmers felt that they had it under control.

There were around twelve hundred Djinn files to be amended. That’s a lot of work in anyone’s book. So, it’s no wonder that they missed one.

In the beginning, there was the word. And the word was “Error”. And that explains a lot, doesn’t it?

~ Chapter One ~

Tamaria was bored. Picnics by the river with her sisters were a regular penance. Although it was hard to imagine anything else to do in ancient Greece on a hot sunny day, except go shopping which was what she wanted to be doing. Xanthe, who was a year older than herself, was dull and scholarly and always spent the whole day reading under a tree, leaving her to look after Lydia who was only four and usually fractious. What she really wanted was to be at the Agora with her friends, buying silks and jewellery and staring at young men, who would almost certainly not stare back. Tamaria was nineteen years old.

The sun was burning down on her head; the wine was warm and the food starting to smell bad.

Xanthe, as usual, had not touched a bite, she was not interested in food or indeed in anything but literature, nor was she interested in anyone who was not interested in literature. She liked to think of herself as an intellectual, not being aware that there is a great difference between intelligence and academia. In fact, Tamaria, who couldn’t have quoted Aristotle if you paid her, was actually far more intelligent than her sister, (who, nevertheless looked down on her) and had, in addition, a great store of natural cunning. And Lydia was starting to yell, because no one was taking any notice of her. Tamaria longed to slap her. Kids, she thought. Her head was aching and she longed for some peace. She made a decision. ‘Xan, watch Liddy for me. I won’t be long.’

Although her sister showed no sign of having heard, Tamaria nevertheless started to walk away, leaving Lydia howling unheeded in a muddy puddle.

Once the sound had faded away, Tamaria sat under a tree, slipped off her sandals and dangled her feet in the cool water. ‘Ahhh – OUCH!’ She jumped up. Something extremely solid and heavy had crashed into her ankle. ‘By Zeus!’ She cursed and then clapped her hand over her mouth and waited for the thunderbolt. Her mother had warned her about blasphemy, ‘You can’t be too careful,’ she had said, ‘seems like there’s a god behind every tree these days.’

When nothing happened to her, she said it again; then she bent over the water. Rather like Narcissus, she thought, although with, she had to admit, little chance of the same result. Her own face having what is charitably called an ‘unfortunate aspect’.

She fished out what turned out to be a large unusual looking bottle, (unusual to Tamaria that is). In the Far East, where it had come from, it was a perfectly ordinary oil bottle such as you would find a dozen of in every household. To Tamaria, however it was an interesting curiosity. She turned it over a few times, shook it and pulled out the cork.

BANG!!!! Actually, BANG!!!! Is a bit of an understatement when describing a noise that would make a nuclear explosion sound no louder than an Aerosmith concert, accompanied by the kind of special effect that would have George Lucas throwing in the towel and going into radio.

After the dust had settled and she had stopped seeing stars, Tamaria looked up and saw a…a…god? It had to be a god of course. Tamaria was basing this assumption on the manner of its arrival and the fact that it was twelve feet tall. Apart from that, anything less godlike was hard to imagine (although Tamaria had never actually seen a god). Mostly it just looked exceedingly odd. It had a large black shiny face with teeth like tombstones, a gap between the front ones large enough to see through to the back of its throat. It was wearing a small pointed beard with large black mustachios and enough bangles, earrings and chains to make Mr. T look underdressed. On its head, it appeared to have a large colourful bandage fastened with a large jewel. Its chest was bare, apparently because it was so large that it needed two togas just for its legs, despite this it had managed to find footwear that was much too large and had therefore curled up at the toes. Its first comment was; ‘A HA, HA, HA, HA, HAR!’ which was not calculated to be remotely soothing or encouraging.

Remembering her earlier blasphemy, Tamaria fell on her knees, trembling. The apparition was speaking. ‘O’ My Mistress,’ it was saying, bowing low as it did so. ‘I am Askphrit the Black and you have released me from my long imprisonment. My wish is your command - rats - I mean your wish is my command.’

‘I implore your forgiveness my Lord…sorry, what?’ Tamaria shook her head to clear it. Her ears were still ringing from the louder than BANG!!!! Evidently, she had misheard, what it was undoubtedly saying was. ‘COWER IMPUDENT MORTAL ...’ etc. etc.

The thing brought its face close to hers and repeated. ‘Your wish is my command.’

(Several paragraphs omitted)

‘It is?’

‘Yes.’

‘Really?’

‘Of course.’

‘Oh.’

‘By Allah!’

‘Who’s Allah?’

'Who’s..? look; you really don’t understand do you? Let me try to explain. I am a Djinn, Genie or Ifrit ...’

‘Well, which is it? And what are those anyway?’

‘Shut up.’

‘Sorry.’

‘As I was saying, I am a Djinn, sometimes known as a Genie or Ifrit. I am the slave of the bottle. You opened the bottle; therefore, you are now my mistress – until I have granted you three wishes. Then I will be free. They call me Askphrit the Black,’ he added, feeling sure that she had not been listening to him when he had told her this earlier.

'Why?' she asked.

Askphrit shrugged. ‘I don’t know, he admitted. ‘They just do – the other Djinn I mean.’

‘Other Djinn?’

(several paragraphs omitted)

‘So what are you?’

‘I told you, I am a Djinn, Genie or ...’

‘Yes, but what does that mean?’

The Djinn bit his lip. ‘It’s complicated, but what it means to you is that you can make any three wishes that you want and I will grant them for you. You have heard of magic, I take it? '

‘Anything?’

‘Yup.’

‘Anything at all?’

‘Yes!'

‘But only the gods have that power.’

‘There you go again. Look. It’s like I said, it’s complicated, but basically I have more power than all of your tin pot deities put together. I have the greatest power in the universe - under Allah.’

‘Gosh.’

‘I can boil the seas, change the seasons, blot out the sun ...’ said the Djinn, apparently quite carried away.

‘But only if my master or mistress wishes it,’ he ended sadly.

‘Gosh,’ again.

‘You see when the mortals turned up we were enslaved to prevent us from harming them or destroying the world or whatever. Now, you are the only beings capable of that, ‘your wish’ etc, etc’

‘Take your gods now,’ he carried on, ‘the only reason they exist at all is because you mortals believe in them and they can only do such damage, as you believe they can. Even mortals, it seems, need someone to blame.’

‘But if you were set free?’

‘Oh don’t worry about that. I won’t do any harm. I like mortals, everybody needs somebody to look down on and I like the world the way it is. But it would be nice to be my own boss for a while – change I mean.

‘So, three wishes,’ he carried on. ‘What’s it going to be then? Inexhaustible wealth? Great beauty? (Pointedly) True love?’

‘Um, about the smiting, can you really? Only I can think of a few people ...’ she trailed off thinking.

‘Oh yes. No problem, just point me in the right direction. Show me your enemies, sort of thing.’

‘So you can even smite gods?’

‘Well yes, but what’s the point? They’ll all be gone soon anyway, lack of belief. Still, if it’s what you really want.’

‘No,’ said Tamaria with what she fondly believed to be great shrewdness, ‘this is a big decision, three wishes. I mean this looks like the opportunity of a lifetime to me. I can see that this sort of thing wants a lot of thinking about. So can you just go back in the bottle or whatever, until I’m ready?’

Oh great. Thought the Djinn. Just what I need, another one trying to beat the system. Why do I always get them? This could take forever.

But, ‘of course O’ My Mistress, I am at your service,’ is what he actually said (abasement is in the Djinn Charter) and he turned to smoke and wafted back into the bottle.

Damn!

Discovery Showcase Information

Here are the upcoming Discovery Showcases, in the order in which they may appear:

Prophecy of Hope
The Heroes of Nightingale
Jack Dent The Second Hand Kid

If you want to have the first chapter of your unpublished or self-published novel featured at Fantasy Debut as a Discovery Showcase, please read how to do so here.

My Thoughts

I think this was a very fun idea and Ms. Rhodes has a great sense of humor. The blurb was great, and had me eagerly reading the excerpt. And I thought the prologue about the programmers was very well done. The entire excerpt left curious about the rest, so I think Ms. Rhodes has a solid hook and the start of what appears to be an engaging story.

However, frequent explanation points are not the mark of a professional, and references to modern-day things like nuclear blasts and Mr. T is considered "authorial intrusion," and is not something that modern-day authors can get away with without a significant track record.

I love the title, and I was able to read the entire excerpt without struggling. The author has a charming writing style and I'm only a blogger, but I think I see potential here. It is my belief that she would greatly benefit from reading articles like this one, and reading books like Stephen King's On Writing and Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel.

You may purchase Djinnx'd here.
Nicole Rhode's website is here.

What are your thoughts? Constructive comments are welcome.

Discovery Showcases Resume Tomorrow

2009-07-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

I'm slowly resuming my old blogging schedule, and this weekend I'll be working on two reviews and at least one interview. Also tomorrow, I will resume posting the Discovery Showcases, starting bright and early. The next one in the queue looks quite fun, and will include my own reaction. So be sure to stop back tomorrow for that and again on Sunday for my first review in about a month, I think.

Thanks for your patience during this slow period. Life does intrude from time to time, doesn't it? :)

Giveaway - Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox

2009-07-09T19:51:00.001-04:00

Tor is giving away three copies of Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox. The contest is open worldwide! Please only enter one time. I'll draw a winner a week from today.

UPDATE: Contest closed!

Debut Showcase: Zadayi Red

2009-07-07T20:29:00.000-04:00

Zadayi Red (Amazon USA, UK, Canada)
by Caleb Fox
Tor Books
Hardcover
Excerpt

Publisher's Blurb:
A young Shaman of the Galayi people has had a powerful and frightening vision: it is of the Eagle Feather Cape, the gift of the Thunderbird, which is worn by the Seer of the People to see the future and gain the guidance of the gods. The cape is torn and bloody, and it will no longer bring visions to the Seer of the People. But the Shaman's vision also tells her of the cure: a child will be born to the People, a hero who will restore the cape and return the goodwill of the gods to the People.

Dahzi may be that hero, if he can survive the hatred of his grandfather. He was born after his mother’s death, as she fled from her father’s anger. But Dahzi carries the hope of all of his People, along with the power to become a great Chief. He will be tested--by his family, by his people, and by the Gods.

I'm reading this novel and I have blogged on the opening chapters. So far, it's been great and I'm close to the end. It was slow going in the first half, but not in a bad way. It was slow going in the way a literary novel tends to be. And now, as I'm reading the closing chapters, it's quite gripping. As soon as I finish this post, I'm off to read again.

Tor sent me this novel, but it's one of those that I might have been tempted to buy whether I received the review copy or not.

Round Numbers

2009-07-07T06:00:00.008-04:00

Round numbers--we all love 'em. Would it be bragging to celebrate a few round number milestones? And even if it is, is that a bad thing?

Here are the round number milestones I've recently reached here at Fantasy Debut:

Google Reader: 300 (actually, 316 by now)
Blog Followers: 100
Twitter Followers: 100 (I'd put the widget up, but it keeps breaking my blog)
Feedburner Subscribers: 50 (+ or - 3 or so)

This is not a lot compared to some blogs, but for what I do here and for the time I am able to put into it, I'm pretty pleased. Thank you to everyone who keeps coming back here and making me feel all special!

The Debuts of June! (Just a bit late!)

2009-07-06T20:03:00.000-04:00

Most of June ended up being a hiatus, during which I missed many of the debuts that are on my calendar (which you can find in the left column). Therefore, here is a rundown of everything that I missed prior to this week.

Happy Release and Congratulations to all of these authors.

Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton (UK Release-Amazon link through US site)

An ice age strikes a chain of islands, and thousands come to seek sanctuary at the gates of Villjamur: a city of ancient spires and bridges, a place where banshees wail the deceased, cultists use forgotten technology for their own gain and where, further out, the dead have been seen walking across the tundra.

When the Emperor commits suicide, his elder daughter, Rika, is brought home to lead the Jamur Empire, but the sinister Chancellor plans to get rid of her and claim the throne for himself.

Meanwhile a senior investigator in the city inquisition must solve the high-profile and savage murder of a city politician, whilst battling evils within his own life, and a handsome and serial womanizer manipulates his way into the imperial residence with a hidden agenda.

When reports are received that tens of thousands of citizens are dying in a bizarre genocide on the northern islands of the Empire, members of the elite Night Guard are sent to investigate. It seems that, in this land under a red sun, the long winter is bringing more than just snow . . .

This one is coming out "soon" through Del Rey, but I'm not exactly sure when. Mixtures of fantasy and mystery always hold extra allure for me, so I'll put this one on my watch list.

Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia by Cindy Pon

On the day of her first betrothal meeting--and rejection--Ai Ling discovers a power welling deep within her. She can reach into other people’s spirits, hear their thoughts, see their dreams…and that’s just the beginning.

Ai Ling has been marked by the immortals; her destiny lies in the emperor’s palace, where a terrible evil has lived, stealing souls, for centuries. She must conquer this enemy and rescue her captive father, while mythical demons track her every step. And then she meets chen yong, a young man with a quest of his own, whose fate is intertwined with hers. Here is a heart-stopping, breathtaking tale for fans of action, fantasy, and romance--of anything with the making of legend.

This one came out in April, Raven knows of her through a friend. I find the Oriental setting quite intriguing. When I was in high school, I adored everything oriental, and I still have some oriental art that I acquired during that time.

Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliott

She is a healer, a storyteller, a warrior, and a queen without a throne. In the shadow of King Arthur's Britain, one woman knows the truth that could save a kingdom from the hands of a tyrant...

Ancient grudges, old wounds, and the quest for power rule in the newly widowed Queen Isolde's court. Hardly a generation after the downfall of Camelot, Isolde grieves for her slain husband, King Constantine, a man she secretly knows to have been murdered by the scheming Lord Marche -- the man who has just assumed his title as High King. Though her skills as a healer are renowned throughout the kingdom, in the wake of Con's death, accusations of witchcraft and sorcery threaten her freedom and her ability to bring Marche to justice. Burdened by their suspicion and her own grief, Isolde must conquer the court's distrust and superstition to protect her throne and the future of Britain.

One of her few allies is Trystan, a prisoner with a lonely and troubled past. Neither Saxon nor Briton, he is unmoved by the political scheming, rumors, and accusations swirling around the fair queen. Together they escape, and as their companionship turns from friendship to love, they must find a way to prove what they know to be true -- that Marche's deceptions threaten not only their lives but the sovereignty of the British kingdom.

In Twilight of Avalon, Anna Elliott returns to the roots of the legend of Trystan and Isolde to shape a very different story -- one based in the earliest written versions of the Arthurian tales -- a captivating epic brimming with historic authenticity, sweeping romance, and the powerful magic of legend.

We just had a lengthy comment discussion on Arthurian retellings a few posts down. While this isn't strictly an Arthurian retelling, it is also a story from Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.

Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland

Why me? Why now? That’s what Beaulac, Louisiana, detective Kara Gillian was asking herself when an angelic creature named Rhyzkahl unexpectedly appeared during a routine summoning. Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who’s already claimed the lives—and souls—of thirteen people? And should she? The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he’s back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore.

Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac’s small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head...

This sets off a few too many red flags for me to be interested in it, since I generally won't go near the demonic unless its clear they are the villain. And even then, I'm picky. Raven?

The Dog of the North by Tim Stretton
It is winter on the lawless steppes of Emmenrule when Lady Isola, traveling to the fortified city of Croad, is kidnapped by the dreaded Beauceron, the Dog of the North. It is Beauceron's life's ambition to capture Croad itself—whatever the cost—but what is the source of his obsession?

Meanwhile in Croad, Arren, a young man of talent but obscure birth, is taken under the wing of the city's ruler, Lord Thaume, and grows into a young knight of prowess and reputation. But as his fortunes rise, those of his childhood friend Eilla decline. Years later, Beauceron returns with Lady Isola to his home, the frozen city of Mettingloom, determined to raise an army to capture the city he loathes. In Croad, when Eilla is forced to work as a servant in Lord Thaume's household, Arren realizes that his love for her is more important than his prospects for advancement. They plan to elope, but Lord Thaume's jealous daughter Siedra is much more dangerous than Arren realizes.

This author self-published two previous novels set in this world. It's always interesting to see a self-published author later succeed, so we wish Mr. Stretton extra congratulations.

~*~

Please excuse the lack of cover art. I'm hoping you come here for the content, not the pictures.

Giveaway - The Kings Daughters by Nathalie Mallet

2009-07-05T19:41:00.005-04:00

Nathalie Mallet has offered to host a giveaway of her novel, The Kings Daughters, which is a sequel to her wonderful debut, The Princes of the Golden Cage (multi-part review here--start at bottom and work your way up).

Nathalie has three copies to give away, and she will send them anywhere in the world! One entry per person. I will close this contest next Monday. To enter, fill out this form, please.

~*~

The contest is closed now. Thank you.

Debut Graduate Review: Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre

2009-07-03T21:03:00.003-04:00

Blue Diablo (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Ann Aguirre (website, blog)
Publisher: Roc
Paperback: $6.99

Corine Solomon is a handler—when she touches an object she instantly knows its history and its future. Using her ability, she can find the missing—which is why people never stop trying to find her. Like her ex-boyfriend Chance, who needs Corine’s gift to find someone dear to them both. But the search proves dangerous as it leads them into a strange world of demons and sorcerers, ghosts and witchcraft, zombies—and black magic...

When Tia first asked me to read Blue Diablo, I warned her that I'd read Ann Aguirre's debut novel, Grimspace (which Tia reviewed here), and it didn't hook me the way I was hoping it would. So, to be honest, I started Blue Diablo anticipating that I might not like it.

Naturally, I enjoyed it and breezed right through it. Doesn't that always happen?

Blue Diablo is the first in a new series by Ann Aguirre. This series sits squarely in the urban fantasy camp, while Aguirre's previous series, which started with Grimspace, is science fiction.

I have to say my enjoyment of Blue Diablo was based on the characters, not the plot. The plot was serviceable, but I never really cared whether the characters located the missing person they were trying to find. I didn't care about her, and I sometimes felt the characters acted as if they weren't missing her all that much either, although the narration assured me they were.

But the characters themselves were fun. Corine Solomon isn't a snarky heroine (thank God), and she's not kickbutt, either. In fact, she's the least athletic of all the characters in the book. I can relate to that.

For the sake of the plot she has to work with her ex, Chance, and they spend the whole book bickering and learning things about each other that they didn't realize when they were a couple. It was a skillfully drawn relationship. Of course it had weak spots here and there, but overall this relationship was what kept me reading. It was just that much fun. I loved all the history these two people had and how it was reflected in their daily interactions.

The other thing I liked a lot about Blue Diablo was the sense of place. Blue Diablo was full of the little details that bring a setting to life. Aguirre says in the acknowledgments section that she did her best to capture the magic of living as an expatriate in Mexico City, and I thought she did a great job.

I love books where the setting is like another character in the story. You feel like you're there. You get the flavor of it. Too often I don't find this in urban fantasy, where the fantasy elements seem to take over and the setting doesn't get fleshed out. How do the rest of you feel about this? How important is it for you to get a sense of place when you're reading?

Ana and Thea Accept My Dare!

2009-06-27T07:17:00.001-04:00

When Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers dared me to read Ghost Story by Peter Straub, I decided to dare them right back. The natural choice was The Once and Future King by T. H. White. I knew it was a difficult read that becomes better and better the longer you read. Since it is a very thick book and is actually four books in one, I gave them an out: my dare would only involve them reading the first book, The Sword in the Stone.

I didn't expect my dare to be done in by Disney!

Disney made the first book into an animated movie in 1963. It is not one of their better films, although it does stick to the story. Disney re-releases their movies every once in a while, so new generations can see it, but they failed to release it during my childhood. Therefore, I read The Once and Future King in my 20s, untainted by outside influences. It led me to tackle the original Malory.

Read on for how Disney affected Ana and Thea's reading experience.

First Impressions:

Ana: I have to admit I knew close to nothing about The Once and Future King. I had seen it listed by some bloggers as one of their favourite books and I knew it was about King Arthur. In my defense, I am Brazilian, grew up in Brazil and only recently moved to England, so did grow up knowing about this Classic as most English speaking people probably did. When Tia dared us to read it, I was happy to comply: and I opened the book hoping to read a sweeping tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Tale and then to my complete surprise the story begins with a child Arthur who by the way, is called merely as Wart, and his tutoring lessons from (a very loopy) Merlyn in what can only be described as a quirky storytelling, let’s put it that way. To say I was taken aback is to put it mildly. I did eventually get used to the narrative and was able to enjoy the book.

Thea: I have to plead ignorance, like Ana. I had heard of The Once and Future King, but had never read it. Oh, I’ve read many takes on the Arthurian legend in both classic and modern literature, but never T.H. White’s version. Considering how many people cherish this book, I was eager to give it a go. And again, like Ana, I was expecting a sweeping Arthurian epic – something very somber and adult. Well, color me surprised! When I started reading “The Sword and the Stone” I was struck by how similar it was to the Disney film of the same title that I used to love when I was a child. A little Google searching revealed that the Disney film was in fact based on the beloved version written by T.H. White – which, I think, is cool.
Once I managed to wrap my head around the fact that this was a playful, almost parody-like, take on the origins of the Arthur myth, I was able to settle in a bit and enjoy the story. (Though, I will say that Ana and I both agreed to stop after “The Sword in the Stone” – so as to save ourselves the heartache that follows reading the entirety of the Arthurian tragedy.)

Review:

Ana: Basically, “The Sword and The Stone”, the first book in this series deals with the childhood of orphaned boy Wart (“The Wart was called the Wart because it more or less rhymed with Art, which was short for his real name”), growing up in his uncle’s stronghold, in ye olde England and his adventures and lessons when the magician Merlyn becomes his tutor.

Through a series of what we can call ‘magic-induced hands-on experiences’, Wart learns important lessons which will later (I am assuming) come in quite handy as Merlyn uses his magic to transform the kid, temporarily and subsequently, into a fish, an ant, a merlin, etc. He even gets to meet Robin Hood and Maid Marian until the very end of the book when, we all know what happens.

The thing is, I was caught off guard by:

The absence of any mention of King Arthur-y stuff like the fact that there was a sword in a stone somewhere waiting for the next King of England : the sword wasn’t mentioned until the last pages so if it wasn’t for the title of the story I wouldn’t know that the story was building up to it. Because this is such a well known tale, I expected a more grandiose build-up. It surprised me that when eventually, the Wart picks up Excalibur it was not even a big deal;

The narrative: the third person omniscient narrator who continuously interrupted the story to explain for example, the bucket loads of anachronisms in the story. Whereas part of me thought this actually really quirky and so unexpected and humorous as to make it fun, it also took me off the story completely.

I think there is clearly a case of reader’s expectation on my part that I am aware is not really fair to the book. I expected something but got another thing entirely – and it did not work for me. In all honesty, I was bored out of my mind with the bits where Wart was being some animal or another. Some of it was funny, some of it carried so much double meaning (did I notice a discourse about Communism, or is it just me???) that I thought the lesson was not only for the Wart but for the reader as well, and I really don’t like preaching.

Having said that: Merlyn was such a loopy character and I loved how he was getting younger instead of older as time went by. I also loved the adventure with Robin Hood and then, we have the Wart himself being all innocent and child-like and it was all very sweet. And if I am going to be completely honesty here, I did get some goosebumps at the end.

The real question though is this: am I going to read the rest of the books in the series? At this point in time….no. Firstly, it didn’t really grab me by the guts. Secondly: I don’t think I want to see that poor kid Wart going through all that (you know, incest, patricide, cheating wives, the works).

Thea: “The Sword in the Stone” was not at all what I was expecting – and I mean this in a generally good way. Young, innocent “Wart” (who is never called Arthur until the spine-tingling last line of the book) and his adventures make for a humorous, light-hearted read – and to be honest, this is something I always felt was missing with the dreary, depressing Aruthurian legend. We always read about Camelot, about the Round Table, about the incest, about the spiteful Mordred, about the betrayals of Guinevere and Lancelot, and about the sad demise of the King and his noble kingdom...it’s very heavy. It’s incredibly depressing.
At least, in “The Sword and the Stone”, we see Arthur’s whimsical youth before the weight of England is thrust upon his shoulders. That’s a very good thing, to see this respite granted the boy that would become legend.

I will agree with Ana, however, in that the way the story began and the nature of the narrative – with the numerous anachronisms and asides to the reader – completely threw me. Also jarring was the fact that I could not get the Disney cartoon out of my head whilst reading this book.

Arthur, Merlin and Archie

Perhaps this is, as Ana says, a problem because I am reading this book perhaps too late in life – I’ve already been spoiled by numerous imaginings, tellings, and interpretations of King Arthur, so I found myself comparing “The Sword in the Stone” to what notions and biases already existed in my head...and this isn’t really fair to the book. Ultimately, this is what detracted from my reading experience the most.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book; there were certain parts that had me giggling gleefully. For example, I loved Wart’s adventures as a merlin in the hawk armoire with their songs and tests of worthiness. I also loved Wart’s time as an ant, with the strange, groupthink sort of mechanical hierarchy they had – even though the concepts of communism were jarringly dated (Ana dude, it wasn’t just you!). Similarly, Wart’s adventures with the jealous (but generally well-intentioned) Kay taking on Morgane le Fey with Robin ‘ood (Robin Wood/Hood) and Maid Marian were awesome.

But, ultimately, did I find myself won over and enamoured with this classic? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Maybe it’s because I’m older and jaded. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t stop reconciling the sad tale of Arthur in my head with the young, naive, carefree Wart. I just cannot bring myself to reading the next three books in the saga, knowing how it will all end...and that’s just my bias (and my loss) as a reader.

Final Thoughts recommendations and Rating:

Ana: I suspect I read this book at a wrong moment in time – possibly at a wrong age too. Objectively speaking, I can see how this story is fascinating and creative. Even the narration of the story with its humorous asides is well done. It just….wasn’t for me. And I think I can hear Tia’s readers wishing me to Book Hell right now.

Thea: I always said we were going to Hades, dear Ana.

I agree with you. I liked “The Sword in the Stone” and I found myself enjoying the story. I also understand this book is a Classic and beloved by many – but it’s hard to shake that gloomy raincloud looming on the horizon for young Wart. I’m afraid I’ll prefer to end my quest for Camelot here, with King Arthur’s coronation, before the heartache sets in.

Rating:

Ana: 6 good. (I can’t really fault the book - this is clearly a case of “It’s not the book, it’s me”)
Thea: 6 Good, but again I agree with Ana – it’s so, totally me.

Thank you, Ana and Thea, for your brave attempts. The true magic of the book lies further within, but you do have to get by clunky language and occasional lecturing. It's been years since I read the story, and the lectures didn't stick with me. My favorite of the four books is The Ill-Made Knight, which is the third. White came out with a fifth book, The Book of Merlin, which is often sold as a separate book. I read it but I prefer the original ending, which takes place just before Arthur goes out and "faces his sins" in battle with Mordred.

They gave me an alternate book to read "one day," so I'll give them one too. For some reason, Silas Marner by George Eliot springs to mind. It is not a fantasy, but it's a magical little classic nevertheless. George Eliot was a woman who also wrote The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch. It's not very accessable at first, but I was hooked once Silas has his bag of gold stolen, and then finds something else that is very previous in front of his hearth--a little girl.

Status

2009-06-26T07:07:00.002-04:00

I still have way too many things to resolve before I can start blogging again (this post nonwithstanding). Our new endeavor of this week didn't work out, plus we now need to make some unexpected plans. However, my target re-start date of July 6th still seems reachable.

I'll be able to start with a bang, as one of my first authors wants to celebrate her second novel with a giveaway--and this one will be worldwide.

Recharging Those Blogging Energies

2009-06-23T05:47:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, even when you love something, you still have to step back from it for a while. To avoid burnout, the best thing to do is just do it. Take a break, that is.

I'll be back after the 4th of July weekend. Maybe before, but no later than the 5th or 6th. In the meantime, Raven might throw up a post or two, and my debut calendar works off the date, so it's always changing. I'll also be reading, so when I resume blogging, I should have reviews for you right away. And I'll be checking email, so if you leave comments or notify me of debuts, I'll see them.

Oh, and I usually post to my personal blog whether or not I post here.

Have a great 4th of July!

The Red Wolf Conspiracy Contest Winners

2009-06-19T20:13:00.003-04:00

Here are the winners of THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY!

Sue of Bronx, NY
Travis of Tulsa, OK
Tom of Spanaway, WA

Congratulations and happy reading!

I'll be back to my regular blog schedule next week, but since it's a holiday weekend, I won't restart the Discovery Showcase until the second weekend in July. Holiday weekends are abysmal for web traffic around here.

Tomorrow, I think I'll do something different. What will it be? I'm not sure yet. Stay tuned!

So Where's the Content?

2009-06-18T20:45:00.002-04:00

Now that I've attracted new readers with my recent contests, I admit to having a drout of content. I'm going to blame it on my husband and Clint Eastwood. Yes, we have been watching old Clint Eastwood movies.

(Be still my heart! I love the Hollywood tough guys! Yeah, he's my dad's age. So?)

We took advantage of a bit of prosperity to buy all the old Dirty Harry movies, which were unbelievably cheap at FYE. This was inspired by Gran Torino, which we also saw over the weekend. I'll get off my lazy butt and write up a review in the next few days.

I'll also try to get a book read this weekend.

The contest for Red Wolf Conspiracy ends tomorrow--probably tomorrow evening unless I get up really early tomorrow. I'm unpredictable that way, so you may as well get your entries in tonight.

In my homelife, we're starting something new and kind of scary on Monday. We're not sure it will work, but we're sure hoping and praying it will. I can't get specific, because there's certain things I just don't write about on my blog. But we sure could use all the prayers we could get, if you can spare a few. (We're all healthy, so it's nothing like that.) Thanks and please forgive any distraction next week as we all adjust.

The Warded Man Contest Winners

2009-06-17T20:25:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to the following winners of THE WARDED MAN, courtesy of Del Rey!

Kathryn of Richmond, VA
Adam of San Carlos, CA
Renee of Valleyford, WA

The winners have been notified. Happy reading! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Random Chatter

2009-06-16T19:57:00.003-04:00

The giveaway for The Warded Man ends tomorrow. If I don't close it out in the morning, you'll have until the evening to get your entries in. So if I oversleep, it's to your benefit.

I've had so many entries for these contests that Fantasy Debut is now officially costing me money. (Besides in book purchases.) My little contest entry forms come from JotForm, a very cool form service. Since I had over 100 entries this month, I had to fess up nine dollars for their premium service. I can do forms using html, but what a drag. I'd rather pay someone to format the emails nicely. Besides, it will also handle uploads, so I'm tempted to make a form for my Discovery Showcases. I'll probably continue the premium service next month because I have at least two more giveaways scheduled for July.

I've been Dared by the Book Smugglers, and my library copy is due in two weekends. Their book of choice has been something of a struggle for me, but that's why they call it a Dare. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I dared them right back with one of my favorite novels of all time, one you've seen me mention here quite a bit. I'm curious about what they'll think of it.

Speaking of the Book Smugglers, Raven and I have decided to shamelessly copy them and do a joint review. I hope this is ok with Ana and Thea; they will get full apologizies and a link. Now I just need to get with the author and snag us some advance copies.

Since I'm spending money already on this blog, I'm thinking about going even further and asking Ana and Thea who did their artwork. Whoever it is, it looks a lot like the style over at Mystery Robin as well. I'd love to have a skinny little waif represent me at the heading of my blog. I'm not sure what the waif would be doing. Besides reading, that is. Perhaps reclining on a classy chaise lounge, sipping champaigne?

And as long as I'm spending money, a subscription to Publisher's Marketplace would be just peachy.

As-I-Read-It: Zadayi Red

2009-06-15T05:52:00.000-04:00

Zadayi Red by Caleb Fox is an unusual novel that gets lots of props for sheer originality. It is based on a Cherokee legend. Other writers may write from the framepoint of Native Americans, but I've never read any in the fantasy genre. It seems like a natural fit.

(Click the cover for a larger view.)

Actually, I'm not even sure if this is written from the point of view of the Cherokees. The people are called the Galayi, so it may be a fictional world. A Google search for "Galayi" turned up foreign links and links to Caleb Fox's website.

I am now about one quarter through the book. So far, it is mostly told through the point-of-view of Sunoya, a medicine person of great power. She has a vision in which the Cape of Eagle Feathers--a powerful tool of communication with the gods--is desecrated and powerless. Sunoya takes a trip to the spirit world to learn why the cape becomes desecrated and what can be done to restore it, or prevent it.

Her task is unclear, because the gods don't give her exact instructions on what must be done. Instead, Sunoya is given a spirt guide to help her with her task. The spirit guide is not what you might expect. And he cannot tell Sunoya the future; instead, he can only tell her what must be done. It might seem like a plot device, but even if it is, it works. The point-of-view sometimes even switches to the spirit guide, who has a distinct personality.

The point-of-view sometimes switches to the villain, who is one of the better ones I've read in a long time. He's driven by ambition and pure, blind hatred, yet he thinks he's doing the right thing. He is cruel and he is fun to hate. By a single act, he can rob Sunoya of her spirit guide and doom her to death, and he has already indicated that he plans to do it if he gets a chance. So as you you read, you know this confrontation might be coming.

So far, there's enough here to keep me reading, and I've set aside all other books. I have some nitpicky critiques, but I like to keep those until the final review. Sometimes, but the time I get to the end of a book, I've forgotten about any critiques I may have had along the way. Or, what I think is a flaw is revealed to be a clever trick on the part of the author. Since I'd rather not look like an idiot, I'll just keep silent until I'm finished.

This book is not available in bookstores until July. Here are the Amazon pre-order links (USA, UK, Canada).

What do you think of that cover? I think it's awesome.

The Edge of the World Contest Winners!

2009-06-14T15:56:00.000-04:00

Here are the winners of The Edge of the World by Kevin J. Anderson.

Scott P. of Houston, TX
David W. of Hamden, NY
Amy S. of Nottingham, UK

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who entered!

Interview with Dru Pagliassotti at Fantasy Literature

2009-06-13T17:38:00.000-04:00

Here's an interview with Dru Pagliassotti over at Fantasy Literature.

Echo Chamber - Clockwork Heart

2009-06-13T10:26:00.000-04:00

Last year, Raven and I had a virtual arm-wrestling contest over Clockwork Heart, and she won. I sent her my review copy, which Juno Books had sent me. And then she proceeded to make me regret sending it to her by writing such a wonderful review.

So when I saw it in the used bookstore, I had to have it.

It is almost errie how much I agree with what Raven had to say almost point-for-point. The wordbuilding in this novel is wonderful. The characters are all fresh and original. And how can I, a computer programmer, resist a novel in which programmers of steam-powered computers get such a favorable treatment? I can't. Too many times, programmers are portrayed in a stereotypical way. Not here.

Punch-card binary programmers--now they were real computer programmers!

I'd go on and on, but it would be like an echo chamber. Go read Raven's review. Then, go get the book. It's a mass-market paperback, so it's not like it's expensive or anything. Plus, it's fabulous.

Link Love!

CLOCKWORK HEART (Amazon USA - Canada - UK)
by Dru Pagliassotti (website, magazine)
Juno Books
Mass Market Paperback
Excerpt

Giveaway - The Red Wolf Conspiracy!

2009-06-12T20:37:00.001-04:00

To continue our anniversary week at Fantasy Debut, here's one more contest! Once again, Del Rey has provided three copies of a debut novel to three lucky winners, this time for The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick.

This novel is a real treat. I reviewed it here.

Important! This contest is open in the United States and Canada.

I will draw the winners one week from today. One entry per person, please.

UPDATE! This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Another Contest Coming Tonight . . .

2009-06-12T05:42:00.000-04:00

. . . so be sure to stop back by!

New Contest Widget

2009-06-10T18:57:00.002-04:00

For you feed readers, my current contests now occupy a permanent (at least while a contest is ongoing) spot at the top of my blog, just under the blog title. This should keep the contests front and center. Eventually, I may get fancy with cover images, but for now, this serves the purpose.

Giveaway - The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

2009-06-10T18:55:00.002-04:00

In a continuing celebration of our blog anniversary, Del Rey has very generously offered to give away three copies of The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett!

UPDATE: I've reviewed The Warded Man here.

Important! This contest is open in the United States and Canada.

I will draw the winners one week from today. One entry per person, please. As in, please only enter this contest one time.

Update! This contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Top Referring Blogs

2009-06-10T06:00:00.001-04:00

These are the top ten referrers to Fantasy Debut over the life of this blog. Thanks for sending all the traffic over the years!

I've noticed that blogs that prominently display their blogroll tend to send the most traffic. That's why I like to keep my blogroll up near the top of my own blog. Hopefully, I'm also sending some good traffic elsewhere!

I'm still working out the details of a couple more giveaways; I hope to be able to post something later today.

Debut Showcase: Amazon Ink

2009-06-09T06:00:00.001-04:00

Amazon Ink (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Lori Devoti (website - blog)
Juno Books (Pocket Books)
Mass-Market Paperback, $7.99
Excerpt (pdf)

Publisher's Blurb:
It’s been ten years since Melanippe Saka left the Amazon tribe in order to create a normal life for her daughter, Harmony. True, running a tattoo parlor in Madison, Wisconsin while living with your Amazon warrior mother and priestess grandmother is not everyone’s idea of normal, but Mel thinks she’s succeeded at blending in as human.

Turns out she’s wrong. Someone knows all about her, someone who’s targeting young Amazon girls, and no way is Mel is going to let Harmony become tangled in this deadly web. With her mother love in overdrive, Ms. Melanippe Saka is quite a force . . . even when she’s facing a barrage of distractions—including a persistent detective whose interest in Mel goes beyond professional, a sexy tattoo artist with secrets of his own, and a seriously angry Amazon queen who views her as a prime suspect. To find answers, Mel will have to do the one thing she swore she’d never do: embrace her powers and admit that you can take the girl out of the tribe . . . but you can’t take the tribe out of the girl.

Ok, I'm not really into tattoos, so when I saw the "ink" in the title, I had my doubts. Then, I read the blurb. Now I'm reading it. I brought up this novel in the comments on the review just below this post. The whole mother/daughter storyline seems very fresh in a genre full of kick-ass snarky protagonists. If you're going to kick ass, then I can't imagine a better reason to do it than to protect your daughter. I'm really looking forward to getting into this one.

Scooper really enjoyed this novel.

Review: Sins & Shadows by Lyn Benedict

2009-06-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

Sins and Shadows (Amazon USA - UK - Canada)
by Lyn Benedict (this domain name is the victim of nasty domain squatter; don't visit)
Also known as Lane Robins (safe to visit)
Publisher: Ace
Special Feature
Paperback - 7.99

Sylvie Lightner is no ordinary P.I. She specializes in cases involving the unusual, in a world where magic is real—and where death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you.

But when an employee is murdered in front of her, Sylvie has had enough. After years of confounding the dark forces of the Magicus Mundi, she’s closing up shop—until a man claiming to be the God of Justice wants Sylvie to find his lost lover.

It took me longer than I expected to finish Sins & Shadows by Lyn Benedict. It wasn't the fault of the book; I just don't read as fast as I used to. No, let me rephrase. I read at the same speed, but I have less time to devote to reading.

I've now finished Sins & Shadows, so here goes. The book is very readable. It's also what I would consider light reading, despite the fact that there's a lot of death and destruction and the protagonist, Sylvie Lightner, is forced to ask herself whether she might be just as bad as the "monsters" (human or otherwise) that she kills.

I think the reason I still consider this book light reading, despite all the dark stuff, is that I never got very far into Sylvie's mind or emotions. She questions herself, but I didn't feel it with her. I wasn't emotionally engaged in her struggles, so the book ended up being a fun adventure novel, but not anything very deep.

One section of it was an exception, though. The exception consists of approximately three chapters where we get Sylvie trying to force her will on a certain god character. I can't identify the god because it would be a spoiler. Sylvie wants him to do something he needs to do, but the god doesn't want to, and the result is a very interesting three chapters where Lyn Benedict pulls us into the god's emotions from Sylvie's point of view. I realize that may not sound exciting, but trust me, it was. And there was action, too.

That particular god was the most interesting character, I felt. He had more shades of gray than the others, more internal struggles. The others, well, they served the plot.

One character I wasn't expecting put in an appearance: Lilith (I hope it's not a spoiler to mention her). So now I have to ask, is Lilith common in urban fantasy? I lauded Red-Headed Stepchild as original for including her, but maybe I was wrong. I haven't been reading urban fantasy long enough to pick up on all the tropes and cliches.

My final complaint has nothing to do with the quality of this particular book. The problem is I'm tired of kick-ass female protagonists who don't know when to keep their mouths shut. Sins & Shadows has one. So do a whole ton of other urban fantasy novels. I realize these are strong women, but I think it's possible to be a strong woman without necessarily kicking physical ass or mouthing off. It would be really nice to read about a different personality type. Or a man.

Fantasy Debut's Blog Anniversary!

2009-06-07T08:51:00.002-04:00

Fantasy Debut is two years old!!!

To celebrate, I'm throwing a party all week! And several generous publishers has agreed to be the life of the party by giving away books! I'm still arranging some of these giveaways, so be sure to check back all week.

Read on for the first giveaway!

Giveaway - The Edge of the World by Kevin Anderson!

2009-06-07T08:49:00.011-04:00

To help us celebrate our blog anniversary, Orbit Books has very generously offered to give away not one, not two, but three copies of The Edge of the Word by Kevin Anderson.

Important! This contest is open in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

UPDATE! I will draw the winners one week from today. One entry per person, please. As in, please only enter this contest one time.

CONTEST CLOSED! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Discovery Showcase Review - What Happened to the Indians

2009-06-06T09:45:00.000-04:00

My review of What Happened to the Indians by Terence Shannon is now up at Self-Publishing Review. To refresh your memory, here is the original Discovery Showcase.

My review was mostly positive, but with a fair number of critiques. I'll post a slightly different version of my review at Amazon as well.

Next week is going to be a busy blog week, so I will resume the Discovery Showcase program two Saturdays from today.