Reviewed: August 11th, 2021 Released: June 20th, 2021 Genre: YA Fantasy
Four musicians vie for a coveted spot on the main stage at the prestigious Olive Branch Music and Arts Festival.
For as long as she can remember, Melly has only been good at one thing: making music. From the instant she got her fingers on a flute and tambourine, music had transformed her life and become a way for her to express the hidden desires of her heart. And like every artist in the realm, joining the illustrious Olive Branch Music and Arts Festival was her ultimate dream.
When Hakim encounters Melly singing in a grubby tavern, his world stops for the briefest of moments. For Hakim, it was as clear as the sky on a sunny day—her voice was what his band, Needlework, had been missing. On a whim, a deal is struck. Soon Melly finds herself whisked away with the band as they join the Olive Branch Festival for what promises to be one wild ride. Read More…
Reviewed: August 8th, 2021 Released: November 12th, 2019 Genre: Gay Fantasy Romance
Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident.
Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam’s pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the king’s wizard, Morgan of Shadows.
When Sam’s 14, he enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning the moniker Sam of Wilds.
At 15, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle – Knight Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed.
Naturally, it all goes to hell when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, Sam can’t control his magic, a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the king sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan’s boyfriend, all while Sam falls more in love with someone he can never have. Read More…
Today we meet historical novelist Daisy Wood, who joins me to talk about her historical novel Full Circle. Welcome Daisy and thank you for joining me to talk about your novel. To start us off, tell us about your book.
Daisy: My current book ‘Full Circle’ was published on January 30 2020, just as the world was going into lockdown. It is historical fiction, set in 1886, and concerns a family whose small estate called ‘The Willows’ nestles quietly just outside the town of Mere, in Wiltshire, close to the river Nader in the West Country of England. The estate’s main produce is the growing of Flax, but it also boasts a small Dairy Herd, Goats and Sheep, growing all of its own vegetables. It is, you might say, self-sufficient….and idyllic… but, it holds a secret from the past within is walls, that if revealed, could destroy the present family, and all they hold dear.
Helen: It sounds the dream location, deep in the English countryside. A beautiful estate and a long history hiding many secrets. Why did you choose such a simple cover when you could have chosen an idyllic country scene?
Daisy: I wanted a plain cover, as the story encompasses so many emotions, hate, avarice, vengeance and love. To express this in a cover would be impossible, so I graduated the colour to try and represent these emotions. The colour I chose is also symbolic of the main protagonist in many ways, including his eyes.
Helen: It sounds like a complex and twisted story in contrast to the simplicity of the cover What about the title? Are there any hidden meanings?
Daisy: The title is multi-faceted, ‘Full Circle’ portrays life’s cycle…what we start with…and then finally end with. The ring in itself represents the title, as its style is a never-ending Celtic vine, which depicts both the cycle of life and love itself. Our lives I believe are made up of many such circles, as likewise within the book these circles exist, one of kindness repaid, one of hate avenged, one of love rekindled.
Helen: Full Circle is a big book, not only in content but in length. Kudos to you Daisy, for completing such a challenging project. What made you write this book?
Daisy: I have always loved reading from an early age. I also had a passion for making up stories. I would get told off in ‘composition’ for not adhering to the word count. (Hence the length of my book.) I never knew when to stop…. I had this book inside me from the age of 20, which was when I started to write it, completing around 10 chapters on my works typewriter, as I would stay in at lunchtime to type what I had written, but then my life took a different path. I thought about it many times throughout my life, but it was many years later when both my parents had passed, while clearing out a cupboard, I found the typed and hand-written pages at the back, in the same brown envelope I had left them in. My Mum had kept it. It was then I decided, when I retired, I would finish the story. It took me three years to complete (including research) then two years to publish. I dedicated the book to my parents.
Helen: I am so glad your mother kept your manuscript. That is a wondeful trait in mothers, they keep everything. I’m sure my daughter will roll her eyes when she has to dig though all her stuff in the attic, whilst reminiscing over most of it, hopefully! What inspired you to write?
Daisy: My inspiration…that came from my love of reading. In my office books would be passed around like sweets at a children’s party, but it was one book that set me one my path. ‘Devil Water’ by Anya Seton. The story still resonates with me, and it set me to thinking that I would like to write one. Not on the scale of her book, but one that I had had in my head for a while. As I wrote each new chapter, I would let the other girls there read them, and comment. It was from that, the Italian part of the book came to life from a dear Italian friend that I worked with then, Marisa. I also put a dedication to her in the book.
Helen: You write historical fiction, what made you choose that genre?
Daisy: All my life I have had a love for History, how they lived, what their lives were like then. It fascinates me, and always will, but the 1700’s, especially the later part of that century, always drew me in. It was just after the start of the Industrial Revolution, in 1760, but where people still worked the land. Oh, it had its poverty, especially in the large towns, but nothing like the type people experienced when they migrated in their masses to the cities to work in the factories. I hope I have been able to convey some of this in my book, as I have tried to keep as true to the time as possible in my writing.
Helen: I would imagine that you had to spend a lot of time researching to make sure you reflected the era correctly?
Daisy: I did an immense amount of research on that era, most before I started to write, but quite a lot as ideas unfolded and took hold as I wrote. I wanted to try and depict to the best of my ability what life was like then. This included dress, food, education, birthing, the role of women, and the hierarchy of the servant household, as well as money, wages, and travel, but most importantly the language they spoke. Words were not abbreviated then, and being set in the West country I also looked to the dialect there of that time. There were also the customs of that era, in what was acceptable, and how to address people. I found a whole other world. All this is reflected in the Bibliography.
Helen: It sounds like you almost wrote another book! History is such fun but it can lead you down a rabbit hole! Who was your favourite character to write?
Daisy: That’s easy, Stewart, the main protagonist. He is such a complex character in many ways, with a quick temper. He also has an agile mind that can read situations quickly, and a very dry, roguish sense of humour. I really enjoyed developing him.
Helen: Tell us a little about your working process, do you prefer writing or editing?
Daisy: I’m afraid there is only one answer to that question – WRITING It took me forever to edit my book before I sent it to the publishers, you re-read so many times you get word-blindness, and even then, there are still some mistakes you miss.
Helen: Having completed your lifetime project, are you tempted to write another book?
Daisy: My current WIP follows on from my first book. I have introduced new characters, as well as expanding on some of the old ones. The theme throughout the second book still concentrates on the family, its values, and the bond that ties them together. It is that tight bond, which allows them to overcome the perils, resentment and hostility that surrounds them at every turn, especially when the arrival of a step-brother, threatens to destroy the stability they have fought so hard to achieve over the past two years of turmoil.
Helen: I think it’s wonderful that you are writing another book. You said you were retired, so I imagine you have the luxury of writing whenever you want to?
Daisy: Yes. For me that’s easy as I am retired and my time is virtually my own. There are times when I can sit in the morning and everything flows. Other times I find that early evening, when I can squirrel myself away to my room, and I have had jotted down many new thoughts, or characters who have spoken to me during the day, that I am at my most productive.
Helen: Sounds perfect! Most authors are prolific readers. Do you have a favourite author?
Daisy: I don’t have one. Every author is prolific in their own right, just as no two readers have the same story in their head after they have read a book. Each person’s interpretation is unique, just as each book is. That is why books will never fade. I read a book once by Carlos Ruez Zafon ‘Shadow of the Wind’ in which he talks of the ‘Cemetery of forgotten books’ I loved the idea of that.
Helen: Thank you so much for chatting with me today, I have enjoyed learning more abut you and your books. Just to finish, what advice would you give aspiring authors?
Daisy: There is only one thing I would say… ‘Never give up on your dream’ even when things around you seem so insurmountable, that is the time when you are at your most creative. For me, setbacks only made me strive harder for what I wanted. Don’t let anyone tell you ‘you can’t’ because ‘YOU CAN!!!
About the Author:
I have lived in London for most of my life, and started writing this book when I was 20, but then life took a different path and it was left. Many years later, after my parents passed, I found my work hidden at the back of a cupboard where it had lain for nearly 50 years – my Mum had kept it. Having time on my hands now, I decided to finish the story, which took two years to complete, never dreaming it would be published. I still seems surreal to me, and often I look at the book and ask myself, did I really write this!?
Reviewed: August 5th 2021 Released: April 12th, 2021 Genre: Dark Fantasy
Wait! What? The Grim Reaper’s real?
Emma lives a normal life, so normal that even her own mother has been known to accuse her of being boring.
That is until the Grim Reaper starts haunting her dreams, and then her normal life becomes anything but. Not only is she stalked by Blake, the wickedly handsome ‘Keeper of Souls’, whenever she sleeps, but a mysterious stranger follows her every move during the day.
Despite the danger, Emma finds herself inexplicably drawn to the scythe carrying reaper. Will loving him be the death of her? And just who is the stranger who lurks in the shadows? Read More…
Reviewed: August 4th 2021 Released: February 1st, 2021 Genre: Fairytale retelling
Every night, the wolf wailed his sorrow to the lonely moon. Every sunrise, her heart echoed his mournful call.
** Celine treads a worn path through the cursed wood to pray beneath the Hawthorn tree for her sister’s safe return. The trail is dangerous—her nightly pilgrimage is stalked by monsters who dwell in the murky shadows. One moonlit evening, the beasts come for her, yet instead of meeting death, Celine is saved by a fearsome wolf.
As Celine and her wolf develop an unlikely companionship, she begins to suspect the complex creature is more than he appears, and perhaps his fate is inexplicably tied to the kingdom’s curse.
When a handsome huntsman arrives intent on slaying her protector, Celine must face her fears to save her big bad wolf. Read More…
Reviewed: August 1st, 2021 Released: May 18th, 2021 Genre: Comtemporary Fantasy
Marcus Gideon awoke at the crossroads outside the border town of Armändis. Lost, with no memory of his past life, he was stabbed through the heart and left for dead. His life was saved by a blacksmith’s kindness who replaced his damaged heart with a mechanical, magical miracle—a clockwork heart. The gears clicked, the motor spun, and his heart started beating again, powered by his own magical energy.
Gideon was alive, but his savior was no ordinary blacksmith. Henry Botàn was a Magus, hiding out in Armändis to protect the weapons within his magical armory. The swords, spears, and other-worldly artifacts were potent, some cursed and even forbidden to wield. His responsibility was to protect these weapons from falling into the wrong hands, but he was old and past his prime. He needed an apprentice, and Marcus Gideon may be the one he waited for. As Gideon searches for clues to his past, he looks toward his future and his fate in Attlain as THE LAST MAGUS. Read More…
Climate is a hot topic on everyone lips at the moment, from the horrendous floods in Germany to the raging fires in Canada, the climate is not behaving as we expect. Even here in the UK the weather is more changeable than usual, (and you know how much we love talking about the weather!) veering from a scorching hot mini heatwaves to torrential rain from one day to the next. It feels like we have our own monsoon!
We all react differently to the weather and the changing seasons. We even had favourite seasons – when they used to be distinct and reliable.
When world building, the expectation is that the world will behave predictably dependent on how you set it up, how many suns or moons do you have? How does the planet rotate? How much water covers the surface? The pull and push on your world should follow scientific expectations, and if not then you need to have a good reason for it that you can explain to the reader.
My world evolved as I travelled through the story. Trees were my starting point. Trees are very important in my story and my world. They stand for hundreds of years, persistent guardians of history and lore, seeing everything around them and holding it close. I wanted that longevity and sense of continuation to reflect in the Sentinals as Guardians of Remargaren.
Because I had these long lived coniferous trees, I needed a cool temperate environment with plentiful water and rich soil. The forests and timber plantations of the Watches evolved, plentiful in the west of Vespiri and petering out as they reached the hotter borders of Terolia in the east, and the parched and arid deserts.
The deserts, and the lack of resources, especially water, drove the evolution of the Familes, and the need to travel where the resources could be found. Although as knowledge of how to find and hoard water grew over time and towns and cities took root, the inherent need to move around remains, and the nomadic Families of Terolia were born.
In Sentinals Justice, we travel north, to the icy wastes of Elothia. A harsh and cold environment where it never rains, it snows. Most of the time! Here people hunker down and hibernate for the winter, only poking their noses out in the spring. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but they have to live in the cold, and tend to group together in the cities, the land is too harsh to live off of.
As you can see below, even my covers are influenced by the environment the book is set in. Book Two – Sentinals Rising is currently in the AllAuthor cover competion, you can vote for it here. (Note if you can’t log in using facebook, it is quite easy to create a reader account, and then you can vote.)
The Sentinal Series
I’m hoping to finish book four in the Spring of 2022, where will be introduced to the mysterious Island Empire of Birtoli. The Sentinals don’t remember Birtoli being islands, it used to be joined to the mainland so what happened? Expect turquoise seas and white sands and plenty of adventure.
Just for a bit of fun I created a quiz to see where you would live in Remargaren. Complete the quiz and see which country you hail from. Let me know on twitter or Instagram, or on my facebook page using the hashtag #Sentinals.
They say not to judge a book by its cover but I need you to do just that. If you like the cover of my book, Sentinals Rising: Book Two of the Sentinal series, please vote for it in the Cover of the Month contest on AllAuthor.com!
The voting is really tight and every vote counts in the “Cover of the Month” contest on AllAuthor! I need as much support from you guys as possible. Please take a moment to vote for my book cover here:
Thank you!
Book Two of the Sentinal Series
Novella o.5: Sentinals Stirring (Free if you sign up to my newsletter.)
Fantasy author Katharine Ann Melton released her debut urban fantasy novel Behind The Mirage on October 12th, 2020, (the day after I released my first novel. Almost book twins! )Welcome Katharine, thank you for joining me to talk about your debut novel. Tell us about Behind The Mirage.
Katherine: My book is Urban Fantasy. It is about an assassin that is given the most important job of her life: enter modern day Greece and assassinate Zeus to stop him from destroying mankind. If that isn’t hard enough, she has to juggle an unwanted proposal from Oberon her king, the threat of war and the realization that Zeus was responsible for the death of her parents. When she crosses into the human realm, she realizes that she isn’t the only one hunting Zeus. She is quickly confronted with uneasy alliances, vengeful gods, unsolved murders and the occasional malevolent portal to another world.
Helen: How did you come up with the name of your book?
Katharine: The title of my book ‘Behind the Mirage’ started out as a different name. I started writing the book over 20 years ago and it went through so many changes. Character names, traits, locations. The original title is closely related to the final title, but I just didn’t like the original. To me, it felt like I didn’t put to much thought into it.
Helen: I love the cover, how did you come up with the design?
Katharine: Since the book’s location is Greece, I wanted to make sure it was presented in the cover so the reader will be automatically transported there. I wanted my main character on the cover, but I didn’t want her face to be shown because I want readers to create her features in their mind. The cover turned out better then I had ever imagined. I believe it really showcases what the book is about.
Helen: It truly is a lovely cover. What made you choose to write this novel?
Katharine: Writing has been a part of my life since I was very young. I am not really sure what made me start, I just had so many stories to tell in my head that I needed to get them on paper. I would start out by writing scenes, maybe write a sentence or two about just different things. My mom has kept everything I have ever written since I could write. It all started as a hobby, never thinking I would actually write a book. I used to write screenplays, and then I wanted to turn one of them into a novel and that’s how the book started out.
Helen: Congratulations on finishing and publishing the book. Which character did you enjoy writing the most?
Katharine: I of course enjoyed writing my main character because I wanted a strong female lead that knew how to handle herself in different situations. A personality that the readers could relate to. I also enjoyed writing Hades; God of the Underworld. He is very sarcastic, he only helps when it benefits him, self-assured, blunt. I enjoyed writing his personality.
Helen: The Greek gods and myths are a great source of ideas and characters, how else do you find ideas to write about?
Katharine: This varies. I have gotten ideas by just looking at an object and developing a story around it. I have ideas from reading other books too, and even tv shows.
Helen: Tell us a little about your working process, do you enjoy listening to music whilst you write?
Katharine: I do. It is a mix from pop, to old school hip hop, to classic rock. Sometimes I will listen to a song while I am writing a scene because it helps me to visualize the scene better. There are most times that I write with the tv on too.
Helen: Thank you for chatting with me today, it’s been great learning about your novel. If you didn’t write urban fantasy what genre would like to try and write?
Katharine: If I didn’t write Urban Fantasy, I would like to try writing horror or sci-fi. I have started working on other projects because I never run out of ideas for stories. One story is horror/sci-fi that I write when I have writers block in my current project. I also would like to write a thriller novel. I believe you can write whatever genre you want; don’t limit yourself to one.
About the Author:
I grew up in Northern California and moved to the Washington DC metro area about 13 years ago. When I am not searching for new locations for my books, I am spending time with my friends and family. My book Behind the Mirage is the first book in a new series.
Reviewed: July 20th, 2021 Released: February 27th, 2021 Genre: YA/NA Fantasy
Nineteen-year-old Aleria Edlind has always known that her fire would make her a valiant Lady Fayharrow, but when all that she loves burns to the ground, that spark inside must carry her through its ashes.
Firebrand is a YA fantasy romance that whisks readers off into a world of adventure, whimsy, and burning tension as Aleria collides with a group of fae warriors desperately searching for the cure to an ancient curse. When our spitfire heroine seems to be the key to unlocking those answers, she finds herself in a new land with new politics and a new man pretending not to steal glances in her direction.
Strap in for a magical tale with a little heat and a whole lot of heart as Brandi Gann weaves words as beautifully brassy and brazen as her protagonist. An entertaining, unassuming read to cozy up with at a time when we all need a little escape. Read More…
Helen Garraway 