Book Review of Invaded: The Darkest Day

My review of Rosalie Skinner's Book 5 in her Chronicles of Caleath

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This is a fast paced novel trapping the reader in a full-on experience of the power and intensity that dark magic has, especially on the immortal Caleath as he battles with forces of evil.

In his mission to rescue the  Kentorian princess, Corrine, and to save the planet Allorn from invaders, Caleath is thrust back into the deadly game. Caleath becomes Tag in order to hide his identity. When exposed, he suffers great physical pain from his enemies, but his impossible struggle to contain the vengeful warrior, Wrath, within himself, ignites a bloodlust he abhors and threatens to destroy his last feeble grip on innocence and compassion.

 Ms Skinner’s beautiful writing and vivid imagination delivers an amazing other world filled with such memorable characters as Merkatt, the dragon Queen;  Tallowbrand, the ghost archmarge; and the dreaded dark lord, Cassius, who wears a cloak that absorbs light and power. We also welcome back Caleath’s loyal friends, among them Penwryt the wizard; Gwilt; Raul; Etham; Jenna, the young witch bethrothed to Spider with the mismatched eyes; and Joel a young wizard. Ms Skinner skilfully uses violent Nature as the atmospheric backdrop to the violence in this story, so that Nature is almost a character in itself.

 Strap yourself in for another exhilarating, fabulous adventure in a fantasy world like no other, teeming with vibrant life. You’ll keep coming back for more of this series The Chronicles of Caleath.

 

Suzanne de Montigny -The Shadow of the Unicorn

I’m delighted to welcome to my garden, children’s writer, and fellow MuseItUp author, 

Suzanne de Montigny

During Children’s Book Week 13^th– 19^th May, Suzanne is offering her novel free, via Mother, Daughter and Sons Book Review.  

Cover Designer: Marion Sipe

The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy 

                        
 Click here for Free Download  

Now Suzanne, allow us a peak inside an author’s imagination.

What is the most interesting thing about you that has helped you grow as a writer?

I guess it’s that I’m perseverant. When I get bitten by something, I simply can’t let it go until I’ve got it right. To give you an idea, I learned to play the violin with my children when they began Suzuki. This soon turned to fiddling. Because I have a big music background and advanced quickly, I also got nasty tendonitis in two places. Didn’t stop me. I carried on right through the tendonitis – until I injured my shoulder sleeping on small European beds. Have I stopped? No, but I’m going on for physio twice a week.

If a reader you know could enter your books and become one of the  characters, which one do you think that would most likely be? 

I think it depends on who they are. A girl might like to be one of the unicorn twins Jemmi or Cassi. A boy might prefer Azaria since he’s the hero. I can’t imagine that anyone would be Darius because he suffers so much and has to face difficult destiny of terrible loneliness. But what is more likely to happen is that a person enters my story out of the blue. I’ll be sitting around writing, then there they are, talking and doing things without ever being invited in. They totally take over. It can be anyone from one of the neighbours, to one of my husband’s employees, to someone I hated while growing up

Why is your book unique.

Haha! I had a review a couple of months back that said The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy was one of the strangest books they’d ever read, but that they liked it. I mean, what can possibly be stranger than unicorns, dinosaurs, and humans all at the same time, plus an asteroid? But it works and quite well. So far all my reviews have been 4s and 5s.

With no limitations at all – a blank page

a)     Where would you live for the duration of writing your next novel.  Why?

Ew, I love this question! I oftentimes dream of this very thing. Hmm, let’s see. Okay, New York – right across from Central Park. I went to New York a couple of years ago and fell in love with the place. It had changed dramatically since I had been nearly 30 years earlier. And now that I’ve seen The Great Gatsby, I’m even more in love with it. I can just see myself stepping out for lunch in one of those Kosher restaurants, eating matza balls, that sort of thing. But I’m not sure I could stay out of the museums…oh, and did I mention Carnegie Hall? Oh dear, I feel a story coming on.

b)    What hazardous situation would you place yourself in for the sake of researching your story? 

Well, you’ll probably think I’m a sissy, but I’m not sure I’d put myself in any hazardous situation. But I’d like to spend time in Cape Breton, in Canada because I have a novel screaming to get out that takes place there, plus everyone I know who’s from Cape Breton longs for ‘down home’, so it must be a great place. I just love my country, Canada. There’s so much natural beauty here and cool air.

c)     Who would you have as your most challenging villain

I think Ishmael in The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy is as nasty as it gets. He’s totally possessed with that little hard substance called gold and will get it no matter what, but at the same time, you understand his thinking because we all have a bit of Ishmael in us since we live in a materialistic society. Fortunately, people are more aware now of animal rights today and aren’t ready to knock off an animal as easily as fifty years ago just for its horn.

 If you could live any time in history, which one would you chose to be the writer you really want to be. Would this era be much different from your writing experience now?

Definitely the 1800s, but it would be tough on me since I’m used to social media and word processors. When I was going to university, no one had computers yet. I wrote everything out by hand. I’d have my rough draft, my first good draft, then my second good draft. It definitely limits me not having technology. People say that writing by hand frees up your mind. Not so with me. Since I play piano, I can type almost as fast as I think. Writing by hand is difficult for me because it really slows me down, not to mention my hand writing is really awful. I can’t begin to tell you how many teachers couldn’t make out a note I sent to them.

 Who is your target audience?

My target audience is kids 9 – 12, but I have a fairly big audience with adults too because of the nature of the book. It’s a book that teaches. I do school visits. I had one last week, and three this week. They’re fun to do since I was a teacher for over 20 years and am very comfortable with kids. Afterward, I post the pictures on my FB page and my website so the kids can see themselves the minute they get home from school.

Thank you Suzanne, I wish you much success with your enchanting Middle Graders novel.

            Thanks, Wendy. It was a pleasure.

Watch the book trailer video of The Legend of the Unicorn: Legacy.

If you miss out on the free book,

The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy

is available from

MuseItUp Publishing

Kobo.

Amazon

Half of all Suzanne's proceeds goes to the

Third World Eye Care Society. 

Six Five Star Reviews

cover designer Tiger Matthews

 

I just popped over to Amazon to check on my short story Happiness Guaranteed.
 What a lovely surprise to find six 5 star reviews. And these reviews are so beautifully written they took my breath away. I'd love to share them with everyone I know and thank Edith, Laurel, Rosalie, Michelle, Lin and Rochelle from the bottom of my heart. 

These heartwarming reviews are here on Amazon Kindle.             

.Happiness Guaranteed on Sale

My sci fi short story  Happiness Guaranteed is On Sale for Limited time at MuseItUp

Bianca, a beautiful Epicurean Supremo from a privileged futuristic society has a flaw which, if discovered and reported to the Rulers, will threaten her life and that of the man she loves. Unable to pinpoint the cause she tries to hide her anxiety until an ingenious birthday present from her husband provides a respite. Now, on her thirty-third birthday, her primitive behaviour and thought patterns return; stronger and more dangerous.

Excerpt:
Bianca’s bed swayed in gentle rhythm with her floating condominium. Smiling, she opened her eyes and reached across the white expanse for Derek. He wasn’t there. Damn. She’d overslept; very out of character. What if he noticed? No. He’ll return soon and find me on the balcony exactly where he expects me to be, especially today.

She rolled onto her back, stealing a few extra minutes in bed and glanced up at the domed ceiling high above her: Derek’s masterpiece. The wide, stained glass panels let shafts of coloured light sprinkle life into her sterile world. She watched the lazy sunbeams paint murals on the milky walls. They tinselled the buckles on the two pairs of shoes and spotlighted the confusion of clothes on a moulded chair.

Flinging back the covers, she stretched, letting the sun energize her skin. “What a glorious morning,” she murmured. Only Penthouse Dwellers, like Derek and herself attained this privilege. According to Derek, sunlight symbolized their status. For a moment she revelled in true contentment.

An image of her grandfather snuck into her mind. He’d told her of a time when sunlight shone on everyone, but he’d been a storyteller, a bad influence. On her seventh birthday her parents forbade her to visit him any more, and placed him out-of-bounds. Years later she heard he’d died.

Her happiness shrivelled. “Unimportant.” She scowled, jumped out of bed and slipped into clear, tensile slippers. A filigree tunic lay on the floor where she let it fall the night before. She picked it up, grabbed yesterday’s clothes off the chair, hurried to the primping room and dropped them all down the trash-chute. “There!” She stabbed her finger on the Restyle button.
With her fingertips, she massaged her cheeks and studied herself in the mirror. Thirty-three, today. No obvious flaws, not yet, apart from that one little glitch Derek inadvertently fixed last birthday.

'Happiness Guaranteed' has a COVER!

Cover artist: Tiger Matthews.

The concept is absolutely fantastic. Thank you Tiger!

Bianca, a beautiful Epicurean Supremo from a privileged futuristic society has a flaw which, if discovered and reported to the Rulers, will threaten her life and that of the man she loves. Unable to pinpoint the cause, she tries to hide her anxiety until an ingenious birthday present from her husband provides a respite. Now, on her thirty-third birthday, her primitive behaviour and thought patterns return; stronger and more dangerous.

Due for release December 2nd 2011

From MuseItUp Publishing Happiness Guaranteed

Meet author Rebecca Ryals Russell

Welcome to my blog, Rebecca.

Rebecca Ryals Russell writes MG and YA Dark Fantasy and Horror while living with her family in a Victorian house on five acres of North Florida countryside. She also runs a Vacation Rental Log House on the property: Florida Black Bear Cabin.  http://flablackbearcabin.com

She is a fourth generation Floridian. She was born in Gainesville, grew up in Sunrise, lived in Orlando and Jacksonville before moving outside Lake City to care for ailing parents.

The daughter of an Elementary-school principal and secretary, for fourteen years she taught Middle Grades, preferring English and Creative Writing. She had several students’ works published in anthologies as well as her own poetry, photography and stories. Her main interests are her four children ages 22, 19, 16, 11 and Irish hubby of 35 years. She enjoys spending her time writing, drawing, going to movies, reading, discussing philosophy with her 17-year-old son.

Can you tell us a little about your latest release from MuseItUp Publishing.

My newest book is a Novella in the YA series Seraphym Wars. Prophecy is free-standing and can be read at any point, but should be read early in the series as it explains the origin of the Prophecy of Solsyl which the Vigorios (teen demon-hunting warriors) must fulfil. It has about 70 pages.

     Where did the germ of an idea come from for this book?

This particular book came about as a way of explaining the need for the Vigorios and the Prophecy. The idea for the series was born from an observation of the increasing levels of evil in the world. All of the evil in either of my series (Seraphym Wars and Stardust Warriors for MG) comes directly from actual news accounts.

How did you choose your setting? Have you woven your own environment into your story?

I wanted the world of the series to be the home planet of the Demon-Dragons, so I had to build a world that is infected by their evil. But I also wanted readers to be able to identify with the world. So I loosely based Dracwald on Earth.

Who is your favourite character in your novel?

I think my favourite character in Prophecy is the blue Wren named Shadow because he’s smart, popular and a smart-alec. He lightens the story.

How many drafts did it take before you felt satisfied to submit this novel for publication?

Because Prophecy is the second book in a series, the publisher, MuseItUp Publishing, has first rights. I think I revised Prophecy three times before being satisfied with it. The first book in the series, Odessa, however, was revised six or seven times before getting ‘right’ and even now I’d like to go back and work on issues I see in it.

What's the one thing you hope your readers will take away with them, after finishing Prophecy?

I hope readers want to pick up Odessa and see where this Prophecy of Solsyl takes the Vigorios and just who the Vigorios are, anyway.

 If,  by chance, you became trapped inside one of your stories, would you try to escape to your real world?

Absolutely. I have no desire to live on Dracwald and endure the suffering the people are put through by Narciss, Ruler of Tartarus, and his Demon Legio. There are monsters living in every forest, lake, sea, swamp. The evil has seeped into the mountains, ground, water where the dragons live, making the land and animals toxic.

Do you have a daily writing routine?

I try to keep to routine, but with a family and Vacation Rental business, it’s difficult. I usually check my email first thing, do some Twittering and marketing on blogs then try to do some writing. On some days I can write as much as 5,000 words—other days none. If no writing continues for too long I get frustrated and stop everything else in order to write for a whole day. But since Odessa and Zarena and now Prophecy came out, I have less and less time to write due to all of the marketing required.

 Whom do you most admire?

I have eternal admiration for my soul-mate husband. I met him six months after his arrival in the US from Ireland at age nineteen. We dated for six months then married—much to everyone’s shock and surprise. We’ve been married thirty-five years this year and are as much in love and respect as the day we met. My husband has an amazing nature for patience and tolerance, seeing/analysing a situation and thinking through to the best solution. He’s driven in his work as an Advertising Executive and everyone at work respects his judgement as well. He’s been an awesome Daddy and will be a terrific Grandpa when the time is right. It was he who insisted I quit teaching and ‘write that book you’ve always wanted to’. And the dedication in each of the books states just that.

When you aren’t writing, what do you enjoy most?

Every Tuesday night my young adult daughter and I have a standing ‘movie date’. We look forward to it all week, planning what we’ll see. We live in a tiny town with a very, very old theatre that has six small screens, so our choices are sometimes limited to yuk or nothing. On those nights we do an in-home movie and popcorn—but it’s not the same.

 What's the most important thing you would like readers to know about you as an author?

I would like readers to know how much I care about them as readers. I write my books with teens and young adults in mind the whole time—trying to create characters they could relate to and enjoy getting to know. I also LOVE meeting and talking to my readers/fans. I’m one of those authors who answers emails and questions about my books.
Middle Graders can contact me through an Interactive website I created just for them. See the list at the end.

 Apart from ‘never give up’ what advice as a writer would you give to someone who takes their writing seriously?

Don’t wait to get your work ‘out there’. My High School senior son is an incredible writer—better than I ever will be. But he has no self-confidence and thinks his stuff is bad. So he won’t blog or post any of his writing on forums or try to sell it to ezines. I keep telling him it’s a mistake to wait. If you have a talent for writing as a young person, take advantage of that youth and get your work in front of the public. If you are truly gifted, you’ll be discovered and can have a long, full writing career. I deeply regret not starting on this route until I retired from a career in teaching and mothering.

It's been lovely chatting with you Rebecca. Thank you for allowing us into your world. I wish you much writing success.

May we read your book blurb for Prophesy, please?

Prophecy (Seraphym Wars YA series)

For centuries the residents of Solsyl lived in peace and harmony with the planet. Then the dragon-demons arrived, causing the Great Shuddering. Majikals from everywhere scurried to find shelter from the evil while humans hid. Laud regretted his rash decision of exiling the demons on Solsyl and asked one of his advisors, a member of The Conscientia, to protect his people. Jeremiah Holyfield agreed to leave the peaceful world of Revrum Natura for a life of constant strife and fear on the newly renamed planet of Dracwald. But Narciss, ruler of Tartarus and King of the demons, desperately wants what Jeremiah has sworn to protect—a Prophecy of Narciss’s future doom. And Narciss refuses to take no for an answer. But Jeremiah discovers allies along his path and even true love, which he never dreamed possible.

But forever is a long time to protect something without ever letting down one’s guard.

This sounds like an exciting, though troubling time with plenty of strange characters to entertain your readers.LINKS

Under the Hat

http://rryalsrussell.com

Tween Word Quest

http://tweenwordquest.com

Teen Word Factory

http://teenwordfactory.com

Odessa

http://seraphymwarsodessa.blogspot.com

Prophecy

http://seraphymwarsprophecy.blogspot.com

Flyte Publishing

http://rebeccaryalsrussell.com

FACEBOOK

Personal

http://facebook.com/rebeccaryalsrussell

Author Page

http://facebook.com/yellowhatwriter

Balls of a Hairy Goat! It's Launch Day for EXILED AUTUMN's PERIL

Today Rosalie Skinner's fabulous fantasy series Chronicles of Caleath,Book One is released by MuseItUp Publishing. It is my pleaure and priviledge to share in her special day.

Welcome to my blog Rosalie, I am just as excited about the release of the first book in your eight book series as you are. I have read book one Exiled: Autumn's Peril, from your Chronicles of Caleath and loved it. This one comes out in September from MuseItUp Publishing and Book Two through to Book Eight are released every month after that. Is that right?

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for your enthusiasm and support. Yes, after book one is released in September, each month there will be another snippet of the chronicles available. Each book is novel size. No short stories here. J

Wow! That is fantastic.

 What prompted you to start this story about Caleath?

 I have always been an avid reader of Fantasy. So when the local library ran out of new books to read and my favourite authors took too long between releases, my friend and I decided to create our own. That was many years ago and from those early plots and characters Caleath and Nasith remain. Otherwise there isn’t much from those days.

Why did you choose the fantasy genre to tell his story?

Caleath’s story is a mix of fantasy and science fiction, mainly because they are genres I have read and loved since childhood. For a moment in time, probably while ink was drying on the first chapter, for the first time, I believed writing fantasy meant I wouldn’t need much research. The illusion didn’t last long and research became part of the joy of creating the story, rather than a chore.

Caleath has been exiled from his home planet and is hunted by assassins. Can you tell us how this came about and why he is trying so desperately to find a way home?

Without introducing too many spoilers, you mean? ;)

On his home world, Caleath was obsessed with Virtual Reality games. His determination to become the ultimate Game Master blinded him to the risks he took. When competitions have whole galaxies as their audience, the mistake of publically humiliating the son of a powerful magnate sealed Caleath’s fate.

Now his struggle to survive on a strange planet is made more difficult as assassins, sent by the same magnate’s son, try to kill him.

There is no secret to how I took inspiration from Survivor and Big Brother, as each move of Caleath’s adventure becomes compulsive viewing for the same audience he once entertained in Virtual Reality.

Only this time it’s life and death... and he is desperate to find a way home and wreak vengeance on man who arranged his exile.

Ah, now I see the connection with Big Brother. That hadn’t struck me before. 

Did you write the story from beginning to end? If not, how did you write it?

Yes, the plot flowed from beginning to end. There are times I try to plan plot arcs but truth be told, when the muse is on fire, there isn’t time to plan. During the second or third edit the plot becomes more polished, but at the time of writing, it is each character’s motives and choices that push the story. The outcome is determined well before the draft is written. All else depends on how the characters behave when faced with decisions.

What do you like about writing?

I love being transported to another world. Being part of the lives and struggles of my characters, seeing their journeys come to fulfilment... placing different obstacles in their path, twisting fate and bringing strands of different lives together through adversity and trial, to find their strengths, see them grow and achieve an outcome, in a satisfying manner... that’s what I love. When others read and enjoy Caleath’s tale, well, that is the most satisfying thing of all.

What don't you like about writing?

That it is an obsession I cannot control. If I am writing... doing anything else is frustrating. Life gets in the way. There is no writing for five minutes at a time. When I write, I am obsessed. Until the scene or the chapter is complete, nothing intrudes. Thankfully I have a very supportive family. There are times though when they wonder at my sanity. 

Is there anything about the writing process that you found surprising?

LOL. What a great question. I will admit that I was surprised how difficult the art of writing is to master. Today I feel I am beginning to understand the most basic of writing skills, but each day I find there is more I don’t know, more to learn. The act of penning a story, getting a manuscript down, is the easy part. It did come as a surprise, to discover that. Everything after waiting for the ink to dry is difficult.

Yes, I know what you mean. It’s surprising how much you actually learn once you get started. Are any story lines based on things that have happened to you or you have heard about?

There are so many of the story lines that are influenced by life’s experiences. Not only my own, but experiences I have witnessed and shared. The rest are things I have experienced, studied, watched, and heard about, but having said that, liberal amounts of imagination have been applied.

What advice would you have for other authors?

Keep reading, keep writing, keep learning and keep an open mind. Don’t ever give up. Complete your manuscript before you worry about the fine details. They will shine with the polish you apply during edits.

What are you passionate about?

Family, life, love and being a source of positive energy. Oh, yeah, and writing. LOL. I am passionate about my books and the support and energy of those people who have helped me get them to where they are today!

Where can we get to know you better?

Come and visit my blog at Ramblings from Lady Rosalie or you can contact me through the official Chronicles of Caleath website. I have an author page at Museitup Publishing too.

From today you can purchase Exiled: Autumn’s Peril here.

This is a very exciting day, Rosalie. Congratulations on the launch of your Chronicles of Caleath with this beautiful Book One.

Thank you so much for being my guest today.

Wendy it has been a pleasure. Thanks for having me here.

Just one more thing :) Would you favour us with a short excerpt, please Rosalie?

From Exiled: Autumn’s Peril...  

 My pleasure... a short excerpt from Exiled: Autumn’s Peril...

Despite his determination, sleep overwhelmed him but offered no peace of mind. Scrutinized by the sightless eyes of drowned men, panic plagued his dreams. Hungry for vengeance and corrupted by the stench of watery decay, their angry spirits sought to destroy his sanity.

In his vision, strands of hair washed like seaweed across the disintegrating flesh of dead sailors. Tides of marine scavengers reduced humanity to bare bone and memory. Ghostly accusations spread on the current to drown him in guilt. Lifeless skulls and partially devoured corpses of the recently drowned whispered curses. They laid the blame for their demise on his shoulders. Fleshless fingers reached through the depths to draw him into Death’s grasp while parasitic wraiths gnawed at his soul and his lungs filled with the fetor of a carnivore’s breath.

Caleath woke from the nightmare. Daylight drove barbs into his eyes, forcing him to blink before he could focus on the muzzle of a salivating wolf.

Fangs gleamed inches from his face and amber eyes regarded him without blinking.

Hunger, thirst, and the will to survive overcame any fear a wolf might evoke. Terror dissolved before a snarl. Caleath lifted an arm to fend off the creature’s curious approach. #
And now we await Book Two which comes out next month.
Dear readers, Stay right here! YOU are invited to join Rosalie's Launch Party,  by way of these comments, and have a chance to win a copy of Exiled Autumn's Peril. Winner will be chosen on 9th September.
Best leave an email address or check back on the 9th.
Anyone who entered the competition on Rosalie's blog, during the week, just leave your code number in the comments, here, to claim your prizes.
Now we'll start the cyber party in the comments. Good Aussie food and drink and banter. All for FUN. Come back during the day to continue the fun.
LET THE PARTY BEGIN