The Qwillery

Melanie's Week in Review - 19 May 2012

2013-05-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

So this was a rather 'middling' week for me on the reading front. I read a few, bought a few. I didn't really feel like I accomplished that much....until of course, I started to write this post. On reflection I didn't do too bad after all.

I actually got back to reading The Scrivener's Tale by Fiona McIntosh. I haven't finished it as I wanted to but I have made good progress. Fingers crossed for next week.

I did finish The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton. It was Ok. It was 'quaint' and very young YA. I don't regret reading it but don't think I will continue on with the series. It was just a bit too predictable and the heroine a bit too perfect for a poor orphan girl living on the streets of London.

Once I finished this book I went back to those handy Kindle recommendations. I downloaded Double Blood by Connie Suttle. I had read her Blood Destiny series and thought by book 11 that I had read too many. I read the first book of the High Demon series and thought it was too much of a re-hash of the original series. Drawn by the low price and the fact that my Kindle recommendations have been pretty spot on recently I decided to download it. I was very disappointed as this new book was very similar to the others. In fact almost virtually the same plot.

Another disappointment in my reading week was Rising Darkness by Thea Harrison. I have read some of her other books and although there was quite a bit of action in this one I still found it a bit dull. I don't think I really gelled with the lead characters. Another series I don't think I will continue.

One book I did really enjoy was The Sword Edge Blond by Alex Bledsoe. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book, especially as the cover was a bit 1970's looking. Eddie LaCrosse, the hero of this series is a great one....hero that is. Damaged by a tragedy in his teens has shaped his life as a sword for hire. He is gruff and rough and totally heroic. I think Eddie is going to end up on my top ten fictional

boyfriend list soon. The added bonus was that it was so quick to read that I finished it by the time I got home from work. I liked it so much that I immediately bought Burn Me Deadly which I am partway through now. Eddie is even better in book two so far. If you like a medieval/fantasy murder mystery than I suggest you start this fantastic series.

I am ashamed to say I haven't had a chance to read any of my new books from the last two weeks and must get them reading them and stop buying new books! My job for next week I suppose. Until then Happy Reading!

Review: Dangerous Gifts by Gaie Sebold - May 18, 2013

2013-05-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dangerous Gifts
Author: Gaie Sebold
Series: Babylon Steel
Publisher: Solaris, January 29, 2013
Format: Trade Paperback and eBook, 448 pages
Price: $8.99 (print)
ISBN: 9781781080801 (print)
Review copy: Provided by Publisher

Babylon Steel, former avatar of the goddess of sex and war, currently owner of the Scarlet Lantern, the best brothel on Scalentine, city of portals, has been offered a job; as bodyguard to Enthemmerlee, the latest candidate for the Council of Incandress; and as spy for the Diplomatic Section, the barely-acknowledged government of Scalentine.

She doesn’t want it. Incandress is on the verge of civil war. Enthemmerlee represents the hopes or fears of a large portion of its population and is a prime target for assassination. And on Scalentine racial tensions and economic stresses are boiling up, with Babylon’s lover, Chief Bitternut, trying to keep the lid on.

But circumstances conspire to send her to Incandress. There, what with attempting to turn Enthemmerlee’s useless household guard into a disciplined fighting force, dodging the Moral Statutes, the unwilling presence of a very annoyed member of the Diplomatic Section and the need to keep both herself and her client alive, things become rather too interesting. And that’s before Babylon realises that the situation is far worse than she thought, and is driven to a choice that will have far-reaching consequences…

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Melanie's Thoughts:

Dangerous Gifts is the second book in the Babylon Steel series which takes our plucky heroine far away from her home and friends to Incandress in order to guard the new counselor Enthemmerlee. Tensions are mounting at home as humans create discord and shifters are being killed. No matter how much she would like to Babylon, finds she is unable to refuse the job despite wanting to stay at home to protect her friends and be with her boyfriend 'The Chief'. Political intrigues, shoddy soldiers plus a ban on anything sexy are big challenges for the former avatar of a god and owner of the best brothel in town.

Babylon herself, is an interesting character as she has quite the colourful past and an even more colourful job as a part time body guard, prostitute and brothel owner. Her sexual proclivities are quite subtle and it’s almost as if Babylon pops into the office to type a few memos rather than going to ‘service’ a few clients. I liked this about Sebold’s writing style as the book could have veered towards erotica. Instead, sex was almost incidental to the story rather than the focus. I wasn't totally convinced with Sebold's portrayal of Babylon as a protector or body guard but like the sex in the story, action and violence played second fiddle to character interaction. Character development, especially of Babylon appeared to take priority for Sebold in this story although sometimes at the expense of the plot.

The plot was fairly typical with Babylon given the task of protecting Enthemmerlee and figuring out who would want to see her dead. I actually guessed who the ‘baddy’ was quite early on but still enjoyed seeing how the plot would play out. I didn't feel I was stretched either with the plot or with the characters as the story just seemed to glide along.

I hadn't read Babylon Steel, the aptly named first book of the series, when I started Dangerous Gifts. Normally, I always try to read all the books in the series. I however, made two incorrect assumptions: 1) that the Sebold would, as many authors do, recount large parts of the plot of the previous book in the subsequent one 2) by reading reviews I could adequately get a picture of who the main characters were. Instead I was too excited about having a new book with an interesting cover so I dug in and read it. Even though I thought I had quite a good grasp of ‘who was who’ I still was a bit surprised at how much the plot of the first book played a part in the second. In retrospect, I should have put Dangerous Gifts down and and started from the first book. For the first few chapters I felt I was always reading in catch-up mode. There are many different races and species in Babylon’s world. I often lost track who had scales or a tail or who sprouted fur every full moon. I would then go back and re-read a chapter or two in order to figure this out which meant that it took me slightly longer to read than it would have normally. Despite this, Dangerous Gifts was a pretty quick, easy read. I don't think I missed out that much about Babylon or the other main characters not having read book 1.

I liked Dangerous Gifts although I am not sure I liked it enough to continue the series. If you like a quirky character in a fantasy setting then I recommend starting at book 1 of the Babylon Steel series.

Tales From Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman and Giveaway - May 17, 2013

2013-05-17T09:53:00.001-04:00

I am a huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft. I started reading his works when I was a preteen. If you're a fan too or just want to read a really entertaining MG series, you should be reading the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman. If you have Middle Schooler (and up) who loves the paranormal and things that are creepy, get these books! They are a lot of fun and the covers change from "normal" to "creepy."

To celebrate the recent publication of Teacher's Pest, Quirk Books is giving away Tales from Lovecraft Middle School 1 - 3 and a poster! You may enter to win below.

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School

Teacher's Pest
Tales from Lovecraft Middle School 3
Quirk Books, May 7, 2013
Hardcover and eBook, 176 pages

DON'T BE FOOLED by his friendly smile, his perfect manners, or his shiny red apple. Student council president Howard Mergler is actually a sinister bug-monster in disguise—and he's summoning swarms of roaches, wasps, fleas, and head lice into the corridors of Lovecraft Middle School! Twelve-year-old Robert Arthur is the only student who can stop him--but he'll need help from his best friends: the school bully, the school ghost, and an extremely courageous two-headed rat.

This third novel in the Lovecraft Middle School series begins right where Professor Gargoyle and The Slither Sisters ended—with more action, more adventure, and more outrageous monsters!

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

The Slither Sisters
Tales from Lovecraft Middle School 2
Quirk Books, January 15, 2013
Hardcover and eBook, 160 pages

This second novel in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series begins right where Professor Gargoyle ended. Seventh-grader Robert Arthur has discovered that two of his classmates are actually sinister snake-women in disguise. Even worse, his new middle school is full of “gates” to a terrifying alternate dimension – a haunted mansion full of strange spirits and monstrous beasts. For Robert to protect his teachers and classmates, he'll need to return to this haunted dimension with his best friends Glenn and Karina. Can they uncover the secrets of Lovecraft Middle School before it's too late?

The Slither Sisters features more bizarre beasts, more strange mysteries, and more adventure. It's perfect for readers ages 10 and up. Best of all, the cover features a state-of-the-art “morphing” photo portrait – so you can personally witness the sisters transforming into their slithering alter egos. You won't believe your eyes!

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Professor Gargoyle
Tales from Lovecraft Middle School 1
Quirk Books, September 25, 2012
Hardcover and eBook, 160 pages

Strange things are happening at Lovecraft Middle School. Rats are leaping from lockers. Students are disappearing. The school library is a labyrinth of secret corridors. And the science teacher is acting very peculiar – in fact, he just might be a monster-in-disguise. Twelve-year-old Robert Arthur knew that seventh grade was going to be weird, but this is ridiculous!

Professor Gargoyle (Volume I in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series) is full of bizarre beasts, strange mysteries, and nonstop adventure. It's perfect for readers ages 10 and up. Best of all, the cover features a state-of-the-art “morphing” photo portrait – so you can personally witness the professor transforming into a monster. You won't believe your eyes!

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Coming in September 2013

Substitute Creature
Tales from Lovecraft Middle School 4
Quirk Books, September 24, 2013
Hardcover and eBook, 176 pages

When a giant nor’easter dumps a blanket of snow on the village of Dunwich, Massachussetts, Robert Arthur and his friends find themselves marooned inside Lovecraft Middle School. The kids have no choice but to spend the night—while snacking on cafeteria food, sleeping on classroom floors, and facing off against a mysterious substitute teacher who may have a sinister secret.

The latest adventure in the Lovecraft Middle School series features more adventures, more outrageous monsters, and another terrifying lenticular cover!

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million

Head to the Lovecraft Middle School website for more information about the novels plus games, and more.

The Giveaway

What: One commenter will win Tales from Lovecraft Middle School 1, 2 and 3 plus a poster from Quirk Books. US ONLY

How: Log into and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59PM US Eastern Time on May 25, 2013. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 13 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules and duration are subject to change.*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview with Brian McClellan, author of Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage Trilogy 1) - May 16, 2013

2013-05-16T08:05:00.001-04:00

Please welcome Brian McClellan to The Qwillery as part of the 2013 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage Trilogy 1) was published on April 16, , 2013.

TQ: Welcome to The Qwillery. When and why did you start writing?

Brian: I entered a writing contest in the third grade. It was a two-page story about being kidnapped and escaping from my attacker. I ended up winning the class contest, but losing the grade-wide one.

In retrospect, that story may have freaked out my mother a little bit.

I didn't start writing as a real hobby until my mid-teens when I discovered internet forums and fanfiction and realized that lots of people were doing this kind of thing for fun.

TQ: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Brian: I'll sometimes play computer games while I'm writing. I'll play a turn-based strategy game or something else that can be easily stopped and I'll jump between writing and played over the course of the day. It helps me work my way through difficult scenes.

TQ: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Brian: A mix. I start a book with a very general outline and then plot my chapters as I go. I try to keep a detailed outline of the next four or five chapter from wherever I am in the book.

TQ: What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Brian: Making myself sit down and do it. If a scene is not flowing well, or I'm not sure what happens next, I get all tripped up over myself and give up for a week at a time. This can result in a lot of hair-pulling frustration, but I've also gotten some of my best ideas by mulling on the plot for a while.

TQ: Describe Promise of Blood (Powder Mage Trilogy 1) in 140 characters or less.

Brian: Promise of Blood is an epic fantasy where a magical world has advanced into the Industrial Age. The people rise, kings fall, and nations clash.

TQ: What inspired you to write Promise of Blood?

Brian: Several things. I wanted something different, but I still wanted to write "epic fantasy." I had already decided that I wanted to create a magic system around gunpowder, and then I saw the show Sharpe with Sean Bean and I fell in love with the idea of a Napoleonic epic fantasy.

TQ: What sort of research did you do for Promise of Blood?

Brian: Books. Lots of books. I spent tons of time on Wikipedia. One of my good friends is a gun enthusiast and I talked to him a lot about flintlock rifles and the development of gunpowder. In fact, the Hrusch Rifle in the book is named after him.

TQ: Who was the easiest character to write and why? The hardest and why?

Brian: The easiest character to write was Olem. His dialogue flowed well, and he has a relaxed approach to life that's not unlike my own.

The hardest character was probably Mihali. I had to walk a bit of a line with him: I wanted him to be over-the-top, but not in a way that the reader would find off-putting. And, as the reader will discover, there are things about him that make him very... strange.

TQ: Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Promise of Blood?

Brian: It's gotta be the climax. When [REDACTED] does that thing with the [REDACTED] and then [REDACTED] the [REDACTED], it was so much fun to write!

In all seriousness, though, Tamas gives a short speech near the beginning of the book where he talks about his intentions for the coup. It reveals a lot about him as a character and was a scene I had in mind from the very earliest iterations of the book.

TQ: What's next?

Brian: Well, book two of The Powder Mage Trilogy, The Crimson Campaign, is set to come out in February of 2014, followed by book three in September of the same year. Other than that I have a few projects I'm working on behind the scenes, but we'll see how quickly I can finish those.

TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Brian: No problem! Thank you for having me on.

The Powder Mage Trilogy

Promise of Blood
The Powder Mage Trilogy 1
Orbit, April 16, 2013
Hardcover and eBook, 560 pages

The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it.

It's a bloody business overthrowing a king...
Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.

It's up to a few...
Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.

But when gods are involved...
Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should...

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

The Crimson Campaign
The Powder Mage Trilogy 2
Orbit, February 18, 2014
Hardcover and eBook, 592 pages

About Brian

Brian lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, two dogs, a cat, and between 6,000 and 60,000 honey bees (depending on the time of year).

He began writing on Wheel of Time role playing websites at fifteen. Encouraged toward writing by his parents, he started working on short stories and novellas in his late teens. He went on to major in English with an emphasis on creative writing at Brigham Young University. It was here he met Brandon Sanderson, who encouraged Brian’s feeble attempts at plotting and characters more than he should have.

Brian continued to study writing not just as an art but as a business and was determined this would be his life-long career. He attended Orson Scott Card’s Literary Bootcamp in 2006. In 2008, he received honorable mention in the Writers of the Future Contest.

In November 2011, PROMISE OF BLOOD and two sequels sold at auction to Orbit Books. It is due out in April of 2013.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Google+ ~ The Powder Mage Trilogy FB Page

2013 Debut Author Challenge Update - May 15, 2013

2013-05-15T06:18:00.002-04:00

The Qwillery is pleased to announce the newest featured author for the 2013 Debut Author Challenge.

Thomas Van Essen

The Center of the World
Other Press, June 4, 2013
Trade Paperback and eBook, 384 pages
Alternative History

Alternating between nineteenth-century England and present-day New York, this is the story of renowned British painter J. M. W. Turner and his circle of patrons and lovers. It is also the story of Henry Leiden, a middle-aged family man with a troubled marriage and a dead-end job, who finds his life transformed by his discovery of Turner’s The Center of the World, a mesmerizing and unsettling painting of Helen of Troy that was thought to have been lost forever.

This painting has such devastating erotic power that it was kept hidden for almost two centuries, and was even said to have been destroyed...until Henry stumbles upon it in a secret compartment at his summer home in the Adirondacks. Though he knows it is an object of immense value, the thought of parting with it is unbearable: Henry is transfixed by its revelation of a whole other world, one of transcendent light, joy, and possibility.

Back in the nineteenth century, Turner struggles to create The Center of the World, his greatest painting, but a painting unlike anything he (or anyone else) has ever attempted. We meet his patron, Lord Egremont, an aristocrat in whose palatial home Turner talks freely about his art and his beliefs. We also meet Elizabeth Spencer, Egremont’s mistress and Turner’s muse, the model for his Helen. Meanwhile, in the present, Henry is relentlessly trailed by an unscrupulous art dealer determined to get his hands on the painting at any cost. Filled with sex, beauty, and love (of all kinds), this richly textured novel explores the intersection between art and eroticism.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Guest Blog by Danie Ware, author of Ecko Rising - May 14, 2013

2013-05-14T06:20:00.000-04:00

Please welcome Danie Ware to The Qwillery as part of the 2013 Debut Author Challenge Guest Blogs. Ecko Rising will be published on June 11, 2013 in the US by Titan Books.

Why I stopped writing, and how I started again: a blog post for anyone who's ever thrown in the towel.

You know how it goes: -

Put bum on seat; put fingers on keyboard (variations in choice of tools may apply).

But there comes a day when you don't. When your life catches you up and your day job becomes your career. When your family runs you ragged and you end each day worn out, nose in a wine glass. Maybe you get bored, or lack feedback, or just run out of steam... maybe you lose your confidence. Be it a sudden spasm of choice or a gradual slide into apathy, the day comes when you realise you've quit... and it bites at you like the Black Dog himself.

I wrote fantasy from a teenager, reams and years - wonder and pretentiousness that filled a forest of pages. Stories, songs, lexicons, characters, you-name-it - dear Gods, some of them even had apostrophes in their names. I'm a Literature graduate, for my sins, and somewhere in my head, I thought I was going to craft the Ultimate Masterpiece, going to write something that people would be studying in English fifty years hence...

Yeah, right.

A dream of that magnitude is ludicrous, unsustainable - I ran out of energy, and time. My life caught me up. I had a job, and a mortgage, and a baby. My imagination was a lost thing, buried under work and money and an inability to sleep.

And I quit. All of that massive creative ambition, and I stopped. I didn't even mean to. I lost my confidence, had no idea how to string sentences together. Don't get me wrong - I wanted to write, the urge never went away, but for eight years my imagination was a silent thing, forgotten and unvoiced. If you've ever been there, you know what a grey place that is.

But this is one story with a happy ending.

Today, Twitter is the homeplace of the author - published or self-published, #amwriting abounds. In 2008, there were only a few of us - twitter was not yet a celebrity playground, and the bonds between friends were strong. And somewhere between that, and attending the first SF Con I'd been to in more than a decade, there lurked an epiphany - that writing was not about some uber-worlds-shattering masterpiece, not about some lofty text that would be held up to scrutiny by teenagers in forthcoming years...

...it was about a little bit of what I'd once loved, for my friends.

In a tangled fit of courage and terror, I put a couple of hesitant chapters of what is now 'Ecko Rising' live on googlepages, and asked what people thought. And I’ve no shame in admitting that the positive reaction reduced me to tears - as if that long-walled-away part of myself was slowly unfolding back to life. The rest, as they say, is history. A dream finally come true – long after I’d given up on it.

I guess it comes to this...

'Put bum on seat; put fingers on keyboard' means write for yourself, everything else will come. Don't write for other people. Don't write to reinvent the world in your image. Don't set goals too high to reach, or you'll fall every time. Instead, write because you love it, write because you have to, write because you can. Write whatever burns in your imagination. Write what comes naturally to you, however strange it may seem. Write in your own voice, your own imagery. Blow traditions, blow previous examples, genre boundaries if you want to - it's yours to do with whatever the heck you please.

And when you have written enough, and you've realised that you can, put it out there - and let people see it. Let them help you.

Ecko is all about doing what's impossible.

Go for it.

About Ecko Rising

Ecko Rising
Ecko 1
Titan, Books June 11, 2013
Trade Paperback and eBook, 480 pages
US Debut

In a futuristic London where technological body modification is the norm, Ecko stands alone as a testament to the extreme capabilities of his society. Driven half mad by the systems running his body, Ecko is a criminal for hire. No job is too dangerous or insane.

When a mission goes wrong and Ecko finds himself catapulted across dimensions into a peaceful and unadvanced society living in fear of 'magic', he must confront his own percepions of reality and his place within it.

A thrilling debut, Ecko Rising explores the massive range of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, and the possible implications of pitting them against one another. Author Danie Ware creates an immersive and richly imagined world that readers will be eager to explore in the first book in this exciting new trilogy.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

About Danie

Ware is the publicist and event organiser for cult entertainment retailer Forbidden Planet. She has worked closely with a wide-range of genre authors and has been immersed in the science-fiction and fantasy community for the past decade. An early adopter of blogging, social media and a familiar face at conventions, she appears on panels as an expert on genre marketing and retailing. (Text from Bookish.)

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

The View From Monday - May 13, 2013

2013-05-13T11:12:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday. I hope that everyone had a very nice weekend. This is thankfully a light release week. I finished reading Generation V by M. L. Brennan over the weekend as well as Alien in the House by Gini Koch. I enjoyed them both. Review will be up soon.

May 13, 2013

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
How Beauty Loved the Beast (e)	Jax Garren	PNR - Tales of the Underlight 3

May 14, 2013

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
Gilead's Curse	Dan Abnett Nik VIncent	F - Warhammer
The Tyrant's Law	Daniel Abraham	F - The Dagger and the Coin 3
Albert of Adelaide (h2tp)	Howard Anderson	F
Nebula Awards Showcase 2013	Catherine Asaro (ed)	SF/F - Anthology
Shall We Gather: A Tor.Com Original	Alex Bledsoe	F
World War Z	Max Brooks	H - Movie Tie-In
The Zodiac Paradox	Christa Faust	SF - Fringe
Magician's End	Raymond E. Feist	F - Chaoswar Saga 3
Midnight's Kiss: Part 1 (e)	Donna Grant	PNR - Dark Warriors
Ruby's Ghost (e)	Shona Husk	PNR
Hearts of Iron (Kindle e)	Scott James Magner	F - A Foreworld SideQuest
Elves: The Omnibus	Graham McNeill	F - Warhammer
Jewelweed	David Rhodes	MR
The Human Division	John Scalzi	SF
The Healer	Antti Tuomainen	Th/Dys
Ha'penny (ri)	Jo Walton	M/AH

May 15, 2013

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Collected Stories of Carol Emshwiller: Vol. 2	Carol Emshwiller	MR/SF/Fab

May 16, 2013

TITLE	AUTHOR	SERIES
The Stranger's Shadow	Max Frei	UF - The Labyrinths of Echo 4
Paratexts: Introductions to Science Fiction and Fantasy	James Gunn	SF/F - Essays
Lovecraft and Influence: His Predecessors and Successors	Robert H. Waugh (ed)	Studies in Supernatural Literature

e - eBook
h2tp - Hardcover to Trade Paperback
ri - - reissue or reprint

AH - Alternate History
Dys - Dystopian
F - Fantasy
Fab - Fabulism
H - Horror
MR - Magical Realism
PNR - Paranormal Romance
SF - Science Fiction
Th - Thriller
UF - Urban Fantasy