No singing this week, kids. Sorry. However, I have three poems for you this time!
The first one today, "Song Of The Twisted Tree", is the one poem I had the most fun writing! My mother once told me that, if she ever owned a Bed & Breakfast, she would want to name it "The Twisted Tree" and have a sign by the door that read "Beware of the nuts!". Of course I had to write a song for it, and since my brain spends 95% of its time in a world of fantasy, I based it in the same, and it came out completely ridicules and fun! The tune I put it to is "O'Sullivans March", a traditional Irish song. The link will take you to a YouTube Video. In case you want to sing along, you should know that there is a "musical interlude" starting from 1:51 and lasting until 3:18 on the video where my song does not fit in. My little brothers and sisters just love to sing the song along with me, and they dance during the "interlude". They think it's a hoot!
Now, this short little poem is meant for summoning a dragon. If you speak it, the dragon nearest you will hear it and answer your call.
This summons must ONLY be used when you have no other choice. It isn't a "come to my tea-party" invitation. It is a "help me, help me, help me" sort of thing that the dragons take very seriously. I wrote it a long time ago when I was just a little kid, and it has changed a lot since then, and it still changes when I need it to. It's a very flexible poem. So, keep it in your pocket and use it wisely.
This song next song, "The Dragon's Breath", is a completely different pace from the other two. It is slow and sad.
I wrote it for the dragons in my books. The horrible things that I put my poor babies through sometimes require a soft, sad song to sooth them afterward. It actually goes to a song call "The Dragons Breath" composed by David Arkenstone. I took the liberty of putting together a video with my "lyrics" going to Arkenstone's music. Perhaps one day I will actually sing it for you, but, until then, you'll just have to keep your fingers crossed. Enjoy the video:
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I am so excited that the third book in the Heroes of Ravenford series is out! I reviewed the first two books a while back, as you might recall (The Ruins on Stone Hill & The Serpent Cult).
I am going to make this review sweet and simple, since you can read everything about the world and the writing skill in my other two reviews. Author: F.P. Spirit Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery Rating: 5/6 stars Synopsis: With the Serpent Cult vanquished, Ravenford is now safe. Or is it? A new threat comes to light that could endanger not just the town, but the entire continent of Thac. Once again our young Heroes must venture forth, this time to find an ancient monolith, hidden somewhere in the depths of the mysterious Darkwoods, far to the west of Ravenford. But first, they must deal with the arrogant Sir Fafnar and the Duke of Dunwynn. The Heroes have been accused of attacking a Dunwynn soldier. They must either prove their innocence, or be banished from Ravenford forever. Join our young Heroes and their new allies, as they face political exile, encounter strange mysteries, and confront grave dangers on their search for the Darkwoods Monolith. Will they be able to find it in time? Even so, what will be waiting for them there? Can they stop the Serpent Cult from gaining the secrets of the great Golem Thrall Master, or will the whole world be plunged into peril at the hands of the murderous cult? The Beginning: The Dark Monolith picks up the story right where the second book left off. There is some recapping to refresh the reader's memory, but then it swings right back into the story and the action, and it does so very smoothly. The Bottom Line: As with his last two books, author F.P. Spirit has not disappointed me with The Dark Monolith. Each book in the series has consecutively gotten better (something which I applaud the author for), and I have to say that The Dark Monolith is my favorite in the series thus far! Besides being packed with clean, fun adventure, great battles, and our beloved heroes who are full of sarcasm and wit, there is a lot more mystery, puzzle solving, and brain teasers presented in The Dark Monolith. I found myself trying to unravel the mysteries right along with the heroes. There is also a bit of a love triangle going on between a few of the character. Some of the shenanigans and conversations between the love sick peep had me laughing out loud more than once. As in the last two books, there are some brilliant plot twists. One of them in particular took me completely by surprise (an occurrence that rarely happens to this girl). However, unlike in the last two books, The Dark Monolith left me hanging off the edge of a cliff. As I read the last sentence, I started crying and hyperventilating... okay, not really. But, telling you that I was flustered at the author for leaving me hanging precariously, in the dark, at the end of the book just lacks the desperate expression I am searching for in this instance. I am pretty sure my favorite fictional people are about to die, and the author leaves me in the dark!? What in the blue blazes am I supposed to do with my life until the next book? (Other than finish writing my book...? Der, der, der...) Needless to say, I am DYING for the next book to come out.
Cons: There were a couple of mild cuss words (p*ss & d*amn) that were used in context and are easily skipped over. There was also a scene where a Succubus, a nude female demon, tries to seduce a few of the heroes, and there was a brief part where one of the characters walk to the river and find, much to his embarrassment, that the ladies are bathing. Neither scene was very graphic, but it is something that I would not really want my brothers to read. However, the demon is clearly depicted as a bad, bad guy, and is killed later on, and the dude who accidentally walked in on female bath time quickly bolted. Lesson learned.
As I said before, this book is my favorite in the series thus far and I can hardly wait for the next one to come out. I suspect that there will be a lot of dragons involved in it, and you know how much I LOVE dragons! ![]() Good Monday to all of you reading this! I am very pleased to introduce another author to you today: Lindsey Loucks works as a school librarian in rural Kansas. When she's not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she's dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she'll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to re-energize. She's been with her significant other for almost two decades. I met Lindsey at a local book signing where we exchanged cards and talked with each other about our books. I have her first book (which I need to write a review on), and I hope to purchase her second book soon! Without further ado, I present paranormal author, Lindsey R. Loucks! I am so happy that you were able to join me today! Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Do you have pets? Family? Imaginary unicorn friend? Lindsey Loucks - Hey, there! I’m Lindsey R. Loucks, and I write to keep my sanity (HA!). I’m also a school librarian in rural Kansas. There isn’t a lot to do out here but tell myself stories, listen to the voices in my head, read, and play hide and seek with my cat. I’m not complaining, though. Throw me an M&M or five hundred, and I’m a happy camper! I love M&M’s! So don’t count on my sharing too many of them… *wink, wink* Do you write for a particular genre, or do you cross genres? If so, what is your favorite genre to write for? Lindsey Loucks - Bring on the creepy genres! I love to write paranormal, horror, and dark fantasy because I love to be scared! I usually throw in a dash or more of romance because I’m a sucker for a good love story. However, I’ve recently begun a contemporary without any ghosts or zombies in it. It kind of feels strange to write without those things, but this story does still have an element of suspense to it. After all, humans can be just as terrifying as monsters. Tell me about it. I have “family” that often remind me of trolls. Like the troll on the 2nd season of the BBC Merlin. Where do you find inspiration? Lindsey Loucks - Everywhere I look! My most recent finished novel, which is a paranormal science fiction book, was inspired by a person walking their dog. It was a normal, everyday occurrence, but my imagination dial must have been cranked to eleven that day. Wow! Isn’t it cool how our brains can just randomly take normal stuff and twist it into something cool? Unless it is at 3AM and you are trying to sleep… then it's irritating, not cool. Do you listen to music or watch TV whilst you write? Do you do anything unusual while you write? Lindsey Loucks - I wish I was cool enough to listen to music while I write, but I’m not. I have to have complete silence. I also place tape over my eyebrows. Why? Because I’ll pluck them out while in deep thought. There was one time I went to my hairdresser who looked at me in horror and asked, “What…happened?” Yep. So now I use tape! Oh my goodness! Hahahaha! I tend to pick my nails when in deep thought. Not chew on them. Just pick them. I have torn them to the quick so many times, I’ve lost count. Most authors like to read, what have you recently finished reading? Lindsey Loucks - I’m a voracious reader, hence the whole librarian thing, and I genuinely get stressed out about all the great books I may never get a chance to read! I recently read Revival by Stephen King, and I’m nearly finished with Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Wait for Me. My reading tastes are all over the place! I start freaking out when I think about the list of books I need to read. Never mind the ones I WANT to read. What is your latest book or series? Any forthcoming books? Lindsey Loucks - I’ll be getting the rights back on my Grave Winner series soon and will repackage them for re-release. Meanwhile, I’m obsessively checking my email, waiting for word from my agent since he’s currently shopping my paranormal science fiction novel to publishers. I have so many stories running through my head that I can’t possibly stop writing now! Oh cool! Yay! When your agent finds a publisher for your Grave Winner series, I will have to have you back for another interview! So many aspiring authors are overwhelmed with how to snag an agent and whatnot. Are your characters ever based on real people? Lindsey Loucks - Yes, a lot more than I realized, too! But I pick and choose personality traits from several people and squish them all together to make someone new. I haven’t based anyone totally off a real person. Yet. I haven’t either. I keep auditioning a few people I dislike for bad guy parts in my stories though. Have you ever used a person you don’t/didn’t like as a character then killed them off? Lindsey Loucks - I haven’t. Hmm… (evil cackle goes here). Tempting idea, eh? Hehehe… Is there any advice you would pass on to those authors who are still just starting out? Do's and don'ts? Lindsey Loucks - Read everything you can get your hands on and don’t stop writing! Excellent advice, Lindsey! A writer never stops writing (unless their inspiration dies a horrible death). Thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with me for this interview! I had a blast! Unfortunately, though, I forgot to bring the M&Ms for us to fight over. Snap! For my readers, I would really, REALLY appreciate it if you followed Lindsey Loucks on Facebook and/or Twitter and shared this blog post with your friends! No. Really! SHARE IT! Besides that, thank you all for reading and I hope you have an awesome Monday! As always, my big, scaly, dragon friends will be hanging around to see if you tell your friends about this awesome interview... Web: LindseyRLoucks.com Facebook: Come "like" Lindsey's Facebook page! Twitter: Follow Lindsey R Loucks on Twitter! Lindsey's Books on Amazon! (Amazon Links) ![]() I am really happy to introduce fantasy author and artist, Shannon Pemrick! Shannon Pemrick was born in 1991 in a small city in the Southwestern corner of New Hampshire where she was raised with her younger sister. Thanks to her limitless imagination, she spent most of her days daydreaming about the impossible in hopes it could one day be possible. This imagination sparked a love of the arts that eventually lead her down the road to writing where she discovered her first book idea. F.P. Spirit suggested that I send Shannon a friend request on Facebook, because he greatly admires her work and he thought that she and I needed to get together and read each other’s books (which we do, and haven’t done, because all we’ve done is basically say “how-do-you-do”). As soon as Shannon’s status updates started showing up on my Facebook newsfeed, I felt like she was a part of my family. No. Seriously. She has the same sense of humor that all my family members have. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I haven’t decided yet. But it has definitely made me laugh more than once! So, without further snickers on my part, I am very pleased to present Shannon Pemrick! Thank you so much for joining me today Shannon! I am really excited about this. Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Do you have pets? Family? Shannon Pemrick - I'm from the northeast part of the United States where I live with my fiancée, three cats, and a dog who thinks she's a cat…a very large cat. My family is also in the area and I try to find whatever time I can to see them since family is very important to me. I'm an avid gamer (I play a lot of videogames) and I love animals. I'm particularly fond of horses, wolves and butterflies. I'm also an artist. I would be an avid gamer if I took the time to be such. However, I spend too much time on the internet READING about all these different games than actually downloading or buying any of them to play. Tell us a little about your writing. When did you start writing, and why? Shannon Pemrick - Writing wasn't something I thought I'd ever do. I was more into the visual arts and my reading and writing skills had always been subpar since I was a child. But one day I got an itch to write a fanfiction (fantasized story using characters from a favorite book, tv series, etc…) and while it wasn't all that great, it sparked an interest and I continued. Later, when I was in high school I attempted to write my own book but it died rather quickly. I didn't make another attempt until I was assigned a project in my senior year of high school that sparked the Experimental Heart trilogy. Do you write for a particular genre, or do you cross genres? If so, what is your favorite genre to write for? Shannon Pemrick - My current genre is a cross genre of Sci-Fi and Fantasy but I have several book ideas waiting to be touched that are straight Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Are you a planner or a “pantser” – do you plan out your books meticulously or do you write by the seat of your pants? Shannon Pemrick - I am definitely a planner. I write out outlines/timelines and plot out main events for my books and then place in minor events. I will deviate from the initial plan or add in more ideas as I go to improve my initial idea (like I've done with my trilogy), but in order for me to make a complete book, I have to plan it out from start to finish first. Some of the best books and successful authors I know were planners! Unfortunately, that does not seem to be a skill I have. Planning? What is that? Is it contagious? OMG, keep it away from me! Well then... where do you find inspiration? Shannon Pemrick - Everywhere. They're in my dreams, in my conversations, random thoughts in my head, and in the world around me. Do you listen to music or watch TV whilst you write? Do you do anything unusual while your write? Shannon Pemrick - I typically work best in silence but I will listen to music if I need some really nice inspiration. I can't have a TV on while I'm writing or I'll do more watching than writing. TV is my bane. I can write during some shows, but notoriously, if I don’t have my headphones in, I will start typing what the people are saying on TV. Tim Conway drawl in a fantasy story = bad thing. *Facepalm* Is there a message conveyed within your writing? Shannon Pemrick - I believe all authors have some sort of message even if they don't realize it. Most of my messages happen to be about self worth and accepting being unique. Messages about celebrating how unique we are seems to be growing in popularity. I think our culture is hungry for that. Most authors like to read, what have you recently finished reading? Shannon Pemrick - I haven't done a lot of reading lately. I've been rather caught up in my own writing and balancing a few other large life events. But the last three books I read (read them around the same time) were The Search for Mrs. Claus by Courtney Daisey, The Serpent Cult by F.P. Spirit, and A Week in New York by Louise Bay. The only one I actually enjoyed was The Serpent Cult. The Serpent Cult ROCKS! Oh… did I just blurt that out loud? Well, it’s the truth. Can you name your favorite traditionally published author? Shannon Pemrick - Garth Nix. I love his work. And your favorite indie/self-published author? Shannon Pemrick - F.P. Spirit. He figured out how to make this YA hater to like his work. YA hater? *takes a step back from you - hides my book* You frighten me, oh great wizard... But, Mr. Spirit does have a way about his books, doesn't he? We can fangirl over them together, if you want. *wink* Research can be important in world-building, how much do you need to do for your books? Shannon Pemrick - It really depends on the subject, but I like to make sure I'm as thorough as possible in my research because I want to make sure all aspects of my books are believable. My current trilogy needed quite a bit of research when it came to military and weapons. But because the world and natural laws for that trilogy is all made up, most of it came from my head and all I had to do was make it all feel believable even if it was only a tiny bit. Military is my bane in research. I come from a family of proud veterans and, sadly, I never understand a word they say when they talk about military stuff. It’s one of those things that I need to SEE it in order to understand. Do you self-edit? If so why is that the case? Shannon Pemrick - Yes, I do. I'm not a professional editor and I can't rely on myself to catch all errors but going through the book before my editor does really help catch the silly mistakes and save me a bit of embarrassment. It also gives me time to look over my work to catch any inconsistencies or spots I want to elaborate on. Self-Proof-Reading is very important in any form of writing. That importance only grows when it comes to one’s own novel though. Do you believe a book suffers without being professionally edited? Shannon Pemrick - Yes. There is only so much an author can catch before their brain corrects the mistakes automatically without the author realizing it. A professional editor not only brings in fresh eyes but also fresh opinions and…well…professional editing skills. They'll know more about editing than anyone else. AHA! So that is my problem: my brain has auto-correct. I knew auto-correct had issues. Apparently it has taken over my mind! *grabs aluminium foil - wraps around head* What was your experience with getting your book published? How did you start out? Did you have help? Shannon Pemrick - I tried for a year to be traditionally published. After getting rejection letter after rejection letter I became discouraged and thought I'd never be published. Then I found some information about self publishing and did as much research as I could before pursuing that route. Do I regret going this route? No. This route may be hard, but I'm happier than I would have been with a big publisher breathing down my neck telling me what to do. Yep. People still kind of snort at the “self-publishing” publishing idea, but I always tell them that I am happier with it because I am my own boss and I get more money. I’d like to see a Trad-publisher fork out 70% royalty! So, sort these into order of importance: Great characters; great world-building; solid plot; technically perfect. Can you explain why you chose this order? Shannon Pemrick - 1. Great World-building 2. Great Characters 3. Solid Plot 4. Technically perfect. I chose this way to line them up because even though you can have the greatest plot idea, in the end, if your world is bland and your characters suck, the plot isn't going to matter. I love how everyone always puts “Technically Perfect” at the bottom. I think it is because, if we get the others right, perfection comes a little more naturally. If you could change anything in an existing book, or series, of yours, what would it be? Shannon Pemrick - Funny you should ask because this year Experimental Heart: Pieces will be getting a small makeover. I put a lot of work into this book but didn't have the resources I have now and have found many problems that would benefit from being fixed (Plot holes, unneeded content, etc…). Am I ashamed to admit this? Nope, not at all. Personally I feel all books deserve a chance to be gone over and fixed after publication, regardless if they're written by indies or traditional published authors. Once the changes are done, the book name will be condensed down to Pieces, matching how the rest of the books in the trilogy will appear. That is the glorious part I love about independently publishing with CreateSpace: there is so much more freedom to go in and “fix” things later without a huge rig-a-ma-ro… What is your latest book or series? Any forthcoming books? My latest book is Experimental Heart: Pieces (soon to be Pieces), which is book one in the Experimental Heart Trilogy. Secrets, is the next book in the trilogy to come out this year, and the third book (Surrendered) is planned on coming out the end of this year to the beginning of next year. I'm also currently working on a fantasy that may become a series, a romance, and a few spin-offs for my current trilogy. Cool beans! Lots of plans: that’s good! Tell us a little about the world of your latest or favorite book or series. Shannon Pemrick - My current running trilogy is Experimental Heart. Pieces, is the first in the trilogy that came out November 2013 and, Secrets, the second in the trilogy, is expected to come out this spring. The world of these books is called Lumaraeon and is a world that has been devastated by war and currently trying to rebuild to its former glory but is under threat of another devastating war driven by the tyrant Zarda who believes he is the only one worthy of running Lumaraeon and holds himself to a god status. Lumaraeon itself, while struggling with this impending war, is a lush land with diverse creatures. The main races of the land are Humans, Nu Humans, and Elves. Dragons, Dwarves and Wogrons also live in this land but are far fewer in numbers and most prefer to keep to themselves. There were other races in the past but they were wiped out by either wars or Lumaraeon's volatile nature before it was stabilized by the gods. The land itself is beautiful and diverse with snowy mountains in the North, vast deserts, meadows, and wastelands in the West and beautiful oceans in the South and East. The land's natural laws are governed by the elements, which can be harness by gifted individuals, spiritual plane, which can be access by certain chosen individuals, and the gods who all posses unique abilities that can help the mortal races when needed. If it has dragons and elves, you know it has got to be a smoking awesome world! Introduce us to some of your characters. What do you like about them? Shannon Pemrick - The main two characters for my trilogy are Eira and Raikidan. Eira is a human war experiment of an advanced human race called Nu Human and former assassin with psychotic tendencies due to her gruesome past and lacks certain emotional understanding. Raikidan is a dragon that follows Eira around like a lost puppy. He's overprotective and lacks understanding of human culture and human nature as well as lacks understanding of the concept of personal space. The differences in these two create an interesting relationship that is rather volatile to begin with but becomes strong over time as the two realize they're more similar than they first believed. There are also many support characters in this trilogy but the main two that stick by Eira and Raikidan's side the most are Ryoko and Rylan. Ryoko and Rylan are also war experiments that have stuck with Eira since they met in the military. Ryoko is a Wogron (type of werewolf that doesn't go back to a human state but still carries some human-like traits both physically and mentally) and Nu Human hybrid and is a brute class (very strong melee fighter). She's one of the strongest out there and is one of the few female brutes in existences. She is also incredibly beautiful having most desired traits from their society but Ryoko lacks confidence because of it. She finds that her worth is superficial and doesn't believe people can see past her looks to understand the real her. This is where she connects with Eira. The two understand each other in this way and they try to help one another in only ways that they can. This has created an unbreakable bond that sometimes makes it look like they're arguing when they're just talking. Rylan is a wolf-dog and human hybrid experiment that was an early attempt at creating shapeshifting experiments. He's an excellent shot making him a prime choice for a sniping position in the military and had ice elemental abilities that he's not proud of. Despite his good looks and nice personality, he lacks self esteem and wishes to be more normal than most people around him. Much of this is attributed to his animal DNA. But this esteem doesn't stop him from looking out for Eira much like an older brother would creating an impeccable bond that most don't understand. I have a particular fondness for all of these characters because of their dynamics. They're all different from each other but it's their differences that bring them together and created a type of kinship that can't be explained or understood by most. Awww… I love them all already! Random note: You apparently like “R” names, huh? *snickers to self* Do you have a favorite character? Why? Shannon Pemrick - I love all my characters but I do have a particular fondness for Eira and Shva'sika. Many would roll their eyes at an author for picking their main character as a favorite but I can't help it. Eira is so complicated and misunderstood even by herself. She doesn't realize how amazing she is and can only see her dark past. She struggles with seeing how she could possibly move beyond that and create a future for herself. But even while she struggles to like herself she still finds a reason to continue living even if she doesn't understand it herself. She's a strong woman that won't take crap from anyone and will be brutally honest when others would rather lie or sugarcoat a situation. She believes honest truths, while painful sometimes, are better to hear in the end than a half truth or a lie because they hurt less in the long run. She's the kind of person that goes through issues real people have to face and she's the kind of woman some people wish they could be. Even with her past and her abrasive nature, I just have to pick her as one of my favorite characters. Shva'sika is another character that I love to pieces. She doesn't get a whole lot of face time in the first book of the trilogy but when she does get more later on, she's not someone you can hate. She's an Elvin woman who has lost her entire family but doesn't let her loneliness drag her down to cause her to be bitter. She is charismatic and has a big heart. She'd give you the shirt of her back without question. She doesn't let her beauty cloud her judgment and cause vanity or pride and she isn't the type of person you can just boss around. As big as her heart is, she won't be walked on. Such strong characters are so easy to make favorites of. And, just a note, I don’t think it’s weird for you to pick your main character as a favorite. I can't exactly say the same for my main character, though. He is… well… special in my eyes. *glares at Keegan, who glares back* Ahem! Anyway… do you have a character you hate/dislike? Why? Shannon Pemrick - As much as I want others to have a character they hate and want dead, I don't have one. I know the histories of all my characters. I know what made them who they are. So it's impossible for me to really hate them. Even Zarda, as evil as he is, is so good at being twisted and evil, that I can't really hate him. I totally understand you there. I think I’d actually feel guilty for hating my baddies. I mean, I MADE them that way. What kind of person would I be if I hated them?! Well, anyway. Are your characters ever based on real people? Shannon Pemrick - My characters aren't based on a single person but many of them do have traits from several people I know or have met. I believe this helps them feel more three dimensional. I think all authors with well fleshed characters find that many of their characters have traits from real people, though not always from anyone specific. It is just the way our imagination works to make things real! Have you ever used a person you don’t/didn’t like as a character then killed them off? Shannon Pemrick - While my more hated characters may deserve death (or may die), none of them have been based off someone that I've hated in life. Like my other loved characters, hated characters have personalities that are taken from multiple people. What formats are your books available in (E-book, print, large print, audio)? Are you intending to expand these and if not, what is the reason? Shannon Pemrick - My books are available in e-book, hardcover, and paperback format. I'd like to get it into an audio format at some point as well because I know how useful that format is first hand as well as translated into other languages at some point. Would you give a fun/silly fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book? Shannon Pemrick - I'm a poor organizer except when it comes to my books. They have to be planned out while the rest of my life is a total chaotic mess. Well, I am glad to know I'm not alone. I am of the opinion that chaos does do something wonderful for the twisted author mind… Is there any advice you would pass on to those authors who are still just starting out? Do's and don'ts? Shannon Pemrick - My first advice is to never give up no matter how hard it seems. There will always be hurdles and people telling you no, but that doesn't mean they're right and that doesn't mean the hurdles are too big to get over. My next piece of advice is to make sure your book is sound before publishing. Make sure the book has had other (trusted) eyes on it and make sure you have a professional editor look it over. Also, don't skimp on a cover because that draws a reader in. Actually, just don't skimp on anything. Self publishing can get expensive, but the worst thing you could do is to publish prematurely and get the title most Indies dread…"Amateur". My last piece of advice will sound a bit harsh to some but I feel it's necessary. Grow thick skin. As an author, I know a piece of work is your baby and you don't want it being torn apart, but if you plan to publish you need to understand that you will get criticism. If you can't handle that, then hide your baby from the world until you can. No one wants to deal with an author who can't handle honest critique and can't accept that not everyone will enjoy their work. Please, make sure you can handle this before you let the world see the precious piece of work you worked so hard on creating. Amen! Publishing is not for the faint of heart! Well, thank you so very much for joining me today, Shannon. This was a TON of fun, and I am glad to have gotten to know you just a little better! For the rest of you out there, I would ask that you please give Shannon’s books and social media a look-see! And, if you find the time, please leave a nice comment below? There will be a dragon at every exit who will kindly inquire if you have done any of those things… Web: Check out Shannon's website! Facebook: Follow Shannon on Facebook! Twitter: Follow Shannon on Twitter! Shannon's Book: Amazon - http://getBook.at/EHPieces Barnes and Nobles - http://goo.gl/335WDj Toadstool Bookshop - http://goo.gl/wXPs74 iBooks: http://goo.gl/PXQYJG Page Foundry: http://goo.gl/v18i7S Scribd: http://goo.gl/GVMxEQ
![]() Hello everyone! Happy Monday! Today I am really excited to introduce to you another Independent Published author, one who is local to my area. During the summer, an acquaintance between the two of us contacted me and informed me that this author was going to be having a book signing at one of our local museums. I made a special point of going to introduce myself, since he was only the third Indie Author I’d heard about in my area at the time. After meeting him, it did not take me long to figure out that we both had similar tastes in geekisms. However, I am getting a little ahead of myself. Without further ado, I am pleased to introduce author Dakota Kemp! Yay! Mr. Kemp, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Please tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Do you have pets? Family? Dakota Kemp - I’m a twenty-four year old graduate student at Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, OK. I’m a colossal geek who loves good science fiction and fantasy, and I spend most of my time stargazing, playing sports, reading, writing, and spending time with my friends and family. I get absurdly excited about good stories, and I love storytelling in any genre, whether in literature, in film, in video games, or even a good ol’ fashioned campfire tale. I have two lovely sisters (Kaitlin and Emilie) and an older brother (Kaleb), and all three do their best to keep me humble. Hey, what are siblings for? Well... not that I would know. I'm the oldest in my sibling group and I make sure that my little siblings keep my ego well fed AND groomed. *wink* So, tell us a little about your writing: when did you start writing, and why? Dakota Kemp - I started writing when I was about fourteen – mostly variations on the King Arthur legends – but eventually decided it was too time consuming and difficult for my delicate teenage disposition. That period of writing resulted in the early ideas and groundwork for the first novel I ever completed, The Arrival, so I like to think back on my early writing forays as much needed experience for my current writing attempts. It was about eight years later during my junior year of college that I started seriously considering picking up writing again. I’d always wanted to write a novel, and in the summer preceding my senior year and much of the first semester, I wrote my debut novel, The Arrival. My own childhood inspired much, if not most, of the story in my own novel. My novel had to go through a lot of malicious editing though, because I wrote the story during my "delicate teenage" years. *gags, shudders* Yeah. Ugly things that were not supposed to be there appeared in that story. Well, anyway. Moving on! Do you write for a particular genre, or do you cross genres? If so, what is your favorite genre to write for? Dakota Kemp - I definitely cross genres. I’m interested in far too many topics, ideas, people, and theories to pigeonhole myself in a specific category. That being said, most of what I write is science fiction and fantasy, though I have written various short works that fall more in the mystery, drama, or non-fiction categories. I have two books available at the moment – The Arrival, which is an epic, medieval fantasy, and Goddess, which is an action/adventure/romance science fiction novella. Crossing genres are so much fun! It really just allows the imagination to go “BWAH! Lalalalalalalala! FruitLoopsTrippleDippedInDoubleWanka! Whoohoo!” Ahem. Oookay... sorry about that. So, are you a planner or a “pantser” – do you plan out your books meticulously or do you write by the seat of your pants? Dakota Kemp - A little of both, I suppose. I definitely lay down an in-depth, meticulous plan before actually beginning the writing stage, but I don’t shy away from opportune tangents or good ideas that strike me in the middle of a scene or chapter. Sure, those intuitive, lightning strike moments of inspiration may not fit well into the overall scheme, but then again, they might be the perfect touch I was searching for to bring out that special something in a character, scene, or plotline. I can always go back and remove the bits that don’t make sense or distract from the overall flow of a scene or plot. That’s what editing is for, after all. Aha! So you are a schemer. Schemers are tricky folk who lay out a beautiful plan, then randomly begin to erase little bits of it when nobody is looking, thereby causing extreme chaos and mayhem! *squints at Dakota* I have my eye on you... Well then... what do you write, and why? What do you enjoy about what you write? Dakota Kemp - I write a little of everything. My two published works are firmly in the fantasy and science fiction categories respectively, but I enjoy frequently branching out to crime dramas, mysteries, non-fiction, and, yes, on great occasion, even romance. Though, of course, I try to incorporate many elements into any story I write, regardless of the ‘main category’ in which a work is written. You really do dabble in a little of all the dark arts, don’t you? Non-fiction? *shudders* You must be a powerful word-sorcerer indeed, to manipulate such intangible stuff as non-fiction. Where do you find inspiration for all of this? Dakota Kemp - I’m not sure I can satisfactorily answer that. Sometimes inspiration comes from stories I’ve enjoyed myself. Sometimes it comes from music or research or a random experience walking down the street. One time it even came from a warning label. Occasionally stuff just pops out at you, ya know? Yep. The world is FULL of "writing prompts". Even ugly ones. I saw a curling iron once that had a warning label which read “For External Use Only”. Upon reading that, my brain went to places that no mind should venture. Needless to say, my brain returned disturbed... Ahem. What is the most difficult part of writing for you and what is the easiest part? Dakota Kemp - The hardest part is easily marketing, but that’s pretty self-explanatory. I’d much rather be writing, reading, playing with a bouncy ball, stabbing myself in the eye with a pencil, anythingbesides marketing, but as a self-published author, the marketing of your work falls to you and you alone. It’s a part of being an author that took some getting used to. Picking the easiest part is like asking which is softer – cement or asphalt. Both are hard, and hard pretty much explains every part of the writing and self-publishing process. At the end of the day, though, when you’re looking at a true-blue, printed-and-bound hardcopy of your book, it’s all worth it. What I’m trying to say is that there isn’t an easy part, but just as hard can be used to describe writing and self-publishing, so can fulfilling. Truer words have never been said… okay, well, maybe they have. But yours are really, really true. Do you listen to music or watch TV whilst you write? Do you do anything unusual while your write? Dakota Kemp - I listen to music – generally soundtracks from movies or video games that match the mood of the scenes I’m writing. The soundtracks from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age, and Skyrim get lots of playing time. Without doubt, however, my primary music for writing is a classical/epic music orchestra and choir group called Two Steps from Hell. They produce the best music in the world – bar none – and there is no better music for getting me in the writing zone. The music from Two Steps from Hell is awesome! Audiomachine is hard to beat though. But, when in doubt, always listen to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy music (it's my all time favorite). So, is there a message conveyed within your writing? Dakota Kemp - To a certain extent. There is a great quote from one of my favorite books, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, in which a storyteller named Wit says: “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon. Too often, we forget that.” In a nutshell, this is how I feel about conveying messages in my writing. That being said, I often try to show the diversity of life and of morals by portraying everything from the most selfless, faultless of qualities to the most base, revolting aspects of existence. I’ve always felt it important to explore every facet of life, not just the parts with which I agree or feel comfortable. Of course, I do love to champion the values and themes I was raised to believe in, such as love, courage, friendship, hope, forgiveness, perseverance, justice, personal sacrifice etc., but to ignore the viewpoints, experiences, and activities with which I don’t agree would be to disregard a large portion of the imperfect, mistake-ridden, rollercoaster ride called life. I absolutely agree with you. Because of the “imperfections” of life, there is always room for improvement. If you take those same imperfections away from a story and characters, what is there left to improve? Most authors like to read, what have you recently finished reading? Dakota Kemp - I recently finished several books. One was Cryptonomicon by Neal Stevenson, which covered a number of mind-blowing concepts and delivered some of the most scathing, humorous writing I’ve ever read. In the non-fiction department, I recently completed The Mask of Command by John Keagan, which is a serious study of some of the most influential commanders in military history. My job as a book reviewer also keeps me pretty busy as well, and I’ve finished a few novels for my employers in the past several weeks. Now THERE is a job - Book Reviewer. I don’t know if it pays well, but it has got to be enjoyable: raising the saber of criticism above the trembling masses and belting out a loud battle cry "THIS... BOOK... WAS... AWESOME!" and then getting paid for it. Unbelievable power in the palm of your hands. Ahem. Well, back onto topic: can you name your favorite traditionally published author? Dakota Kemp - Brandon Sanderson – no question. There is no other author in the world that I can say – without doubt – I will read every single book they ever publish. Brandon Sanderson gets that honor. Specifically, if you love fantasy, try out the first book of his Stormlight Archive, The Way of Kings. Or, if you’re looking for a book that isn’t a 400,000 word monstrosity, you can’t go wrong with his Mistborn Trilogy. Sweet! *scribbles down note on “To Read” list* And who is your favorite indie/self-published author? Dakota Kemp - Would it be too narcissistic of me to say Dakota Kemp? Even if it would be, I’m going to say it anyway. Of course, it’s pretty tough to beat out Kathryn J. Fogleman! I hear she’s got a second Tales of Wovlen coming out soon… That is the rumor I’ve heard as well *whistles innocently*. However, I must back up and say that I do not think it is narcissistic of you to take pride in your hard work. I believe there are better words to describe it: gratification, satisfaction, conceit, egotism… Anyway… Research can be important in world-building, how much do you need to do for your books? Dakota Kemp - It depends on the book, honestly. Most of my stories take place in fictional worlds that I created from scratch, so I think it’s probably fair to say that I do much more research than the average writer to make certain that my worlds, cultures, peoples, characters, etc. appear realistic. That being said, I’m still creating my own worlds, which means I have the option to make stuff up or ignore reality if I feel like it. That is the reason I love fantasy so much. I can input stuff that I know and stuff that I learn, but the rest of it I leave for the imagination to gnaw on. Do you self-edit? If so why is that the case? Dakota Kemp - Certainly. I do as many as ten edits of my final manuscript myself before even sending the draft to my editors and beta readers. Editing and altering your prose to get just the right wording or feel is as much a part of writing as the actual transfer from thought to page of the first draft. My sentiments exactly. So, do you believe a book suffers without being professionally edited, then? Dakota Kemp - Absolutely. Now, I’m not saying a book can’t be good without professional editing, but I am saying that 95% percent of the time, that is the case. In addition to writing, I am a professional book reviewer for the Self-Publishing Review, and I see so many books that would have benefitted greatly from a professional line edit. If there is anything I’ve learned as both a self-publisher and a book reviewer, it’s that appearance matters. It is beyond vital that a self-published work appear as professional as a traditionally published book. Otherwise, it will not succeed. That being said, I do not pay for professional editing – but there is a reason for this. I have professional friends who do this for me. My mother is an English teacher, and my old literature professor from college is gracious enough to aid me in editing my work – sometimes she does as many as three or four read-throughs of my manuscripts. Needless to say, she is a lifesaver, and, in my opinion, one of the greatest individuals on the face of the planet. The point here is that professional editing is key. Don’t skimp on it. Get it done. If you cannot afford it, find someone knowledgeable about grammar, sentence structure, and flow willing to do a thorough critique. Put simply: Meticulous, expert editing is non-negotiable. I feel much the same way. Of course, there will always be the Nazi’s out there that will find SOMETHING wrong. But if indie authors wish to have a good reputation among the masses, then pro editing is a key part of building that good rep. What was your experience with getting your book published? How did you start out? Did you have help? Dakota Kemp - I started out by applying to agents and publishing houses. However, it wasn’t long before I realized that the traditional publishing industry is incredibly exclusive. Being a good writer and storyteller just isn’t enough. You have to know people. The right people. If you don’t, you have next to no chance of being picked up. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning. I sent queries and applications to over seventy agents and publishing houses, and I never found a single person willing to read my manuscript. I’m an impatient person, and I quickly tired of the gatekeeping game. Luckily, I have great mentors, and when I announced that I was going the self-publishing route, they were more than willing to help out. Dr. Gaydosik, my literature professor, was instrumental in helping me get my manuscript for The Arrival ready for print. I personally had no hope of ever becoming a published author. I felt like I could blow up a sun and not get a traditional publisher or agent to look my way, and all the “vanity” publishing companies charged an arm and a leg just for printing (they still do)! Thank God a couple of local authors pointed me to CreateSpace. Did/do you find marketing difficult? What strategy do you use, if any? Dakota Kemp - Marketing is difficult, but it’s essential. Self-publishing is playing the long game, building a base of readers and fans slowly over time. Keep putting out solid work, making it visible and accessible, and you’ll see a gradual increase in readership and interest. I make sure to appear occasionally at book signings to promote my work, spread the word about my books on my website and on social media, and on great occasion set up promotions on Kindle Nation Daily or Bookbub. Marketing is my worst nightmare… and I didn’t even know I had a worse nightmare until I started having to market my book! Sort these into order of importance: Great characters, great world-building, solid plot, technically perfect. Can you explain why you chose this order? Dakota Kemp - The only one I can definitively put ahead of any of the others is: great characters. All those others are incredibly important, but characters are what people grow attached to and identify with. Without that connection, a great story is meaningless. A fact of life: people want to relate to people. People do NOT want to relate to trolls. Yes. That was random. Do not worry, the first one is free. If you have more than one published work, which book or series was your favorite to create? Dakota Kemp - Seriously, Fogleman? That’s like asking me to choose between my children…if I had any…which I don’t. But in all sincerity, I’ve had good days and bad days on every project, but I’ve felt the same about them all at the end – proud to show off to the world, relieved to be finished, terrified of a crushingly negative response by my readers, and utterly exhausted and just ready to pass out for awhile. Pretty much exactly like parenthood, right? Yeah. Just by having to help raise my siblings, I'd say that "parenting" and "authoring" are almost the same thing: teething, growing pains, sleepless nights, sad days, happy memories… diapers… minus the smell. Wouldn't give it up for the world! If you could change anything in an existing book, or series, of yours, what would it be? Dakota Kemp - Mostly it would be nitpicky things. There’s an old saying that a novel can be best described as a long piece of prose with something wrong with it. There have always been and will always be small things I feel I can improve upon in my novels, no matter how long I nitpick at them. But there comes a time when you’ve got to release it and move on. I eventually get around to that, but it’s never easy. Ugh. Yeah. There have been several times lately where I have looked at The Dragons Son, groaned, then closed my eyes and forced myself to walk away. It is a FIRST book for a reason, after all. Well, what is your latest book or series? Any forthcoming books? Dakota Kemp - Both The Arrival and Goddess came out this past year. The Arrival is the first book in my Ascension fantasy series, which I’ve projected to encompass four novels. Goddess is the first in The Shrike Chronicles, a series of science fiction novellas (short novels). At the moment, I’m working on two different projects. One is a steampunk/sword-and-sorcery novel, and the other is the second installment in The Shrike Chronicles. Both are coming along well, and I’m estimating that I’ll have them both published around July or August, perhaps sooner. YAY! You must let me know, so that I can buy signed copies. Is there any project you started and are just completely stuck on? (No, don’t tell me… let me guess… *wink, wink*) Dakota Kemp - Oh, yes. Too many to count, which is when I set aside that project for a week or a month or a year and I work on something else. Then, when I come back to said project, I’m usually bursting with enthusiasm to get on with the story! If I were paid for my unfinished stories, I would be bloody rich right now. I could afford my own Batmobile. *heavy sigh* Tell us a little about the world of your latest or favorite book or series. Dakota Kemp - The Arrival takes place in the medieval fantasy world of Vrold. It’s a world filled with magic and adventure and myths and all kinds of extraordinary creatures. I drew inspiration for the world of Vrold from all my favorite mythologies (Norse, Greek, Egyptian, Hebrew, Mesopotamian, etc.) and from the King Arthur legends. Vrold is really like a giant melting pot into which all the best fantasy creatures, races, monsters, and magics have been poured. I've enjoyed reading and learning about mythology since I was a child, and I have a lot of fun seeing how people twist it into stories, such as you have done in The Arrival. So, would you introduce us to some of your characters? What do you like about them? Dakota Kemp - The Arrival has many characters – certainly too many for me to go over in detail here – but the some of the main protagonists include a determined sorceress who is playing detective to unravel the mysteries behind a destructive war, an excitable history teacher turned investigator, a conflicted mercenary who is at some times brutal and at others kind, and a peasant boy bent on adventure. Sounds like the perfect mixture of people for an explosion of grandeur! Do you have a favorite character among the many in your book? Why? Dakota Kemp - My favorite character in The Arrival is probably Jarwulf. There is just something incredibly fun in writing about a character who resides in the moral gray area – both in the readers’ minds and his own. A mercenary is the perfect place to explore the concepts of morality because ethical dilemmas crop up so often and in such extreme circumstances. I have been working on a character in my second book who is "morally challenged" as well. It has been a lot of fun to write him, but he has also been really hard to work with because he can be so mean and unpredictable. Do you have a character you hate/dislike? Why? Dakota Kemp - Not exactly – not really for their qualities, anyway. Korrigan might get on my nerves in real life, though. People who never stop talking drive me crazy. And people who are cheery about everything? Yep, being around Korrigan would likely be like banging my head on a desk all day. Other than that, there were certainly characters about whom I had a tough time writing, because they were just difficult to write. They didn’t flow as easily as others. Those characters who don’t move with the flow are really aggravating *glares at Keegan, hero of The Dragons Son*. Are your characters ever based on real people? Dakota Kemp - Not entirely. Often I put certain attributes from people I know into characters, but I rarely make carbon copies. For instance, Barlgruuf talks, laughs, gestures, smiles, and does everything else imaginable very loudly – just like my friend David Schoenhals. Is Barlgruuf just like David? Nope. For one, Barlgruuf’s morals are about fifty times looser than David’s. But is Barlgruuf loud because David is loud? Absolutely. I specifically based that part of Barlgruuf on my friend. Have you ever used a person you don’t/didn’t like as a character then killed them off? Dakota Kemp - I haven’t…yet. Can’t say I haven’t considered it. My youngest sister, Emilie, who hates gerunds in English grammar, has often pushed for me to name a character Gerund – then, kill him off in the most gruesome way possible. People, though? You know, I can definitely see myself going that far… I agree with your sister. Kill off those nasty gerunds! Make them evil minions of darkness that talk funny (ending every word in “ing”) and then kill them in horrible ways. Anyway, back to the interview: what formats are your books available in (E-book, print, large print, audio)? Are you intending to expand these? Dakota Kemp - Both The Arrival and Goddess are available in paperback and on kindle as an e-book on amazon.com. I don’t have any audio or large print versions out unfortunately. Getting an audio book released would take some doing, but it’s definitely a good idea. Yes. Audiobook = good idea. Give us a fun/silly fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book. Dakota Kemp - When I’m at a point in my life that I have the time, I often spend as much as fifteen hours a week stargazing. I can spend hours and hours outside looking at the stars on a clear night. It’s as much of a time for me to reflect and think as it is for me to take part in an enjoyable activity. I love laying out on the hay bales with my sister and watching the stars together – very few things are better than that. I need to put it into a book... hmmmm.... Is there any advice you would pass on to those authors who are still just starting out? Do's and don'ts? Dakota Kemp - DO keep writing. Write when you’re on top of the world and write when you feel like everyone hates your books and would rather use them as fuel in the winter. There are going to be days in both categories. Don’t give up. It’s worth it. If it were easy to write a book, then it wouldn’t be worth doing. DON’T think you can edit your manuscript once or twice and have it ready for publication. Pour over that sucker about fifty thousand times until you’re absolutely sick of it and never want to see it again. Then, send it out to a bunch of people who know how to write and have them look over it. Then, you read it over a few more times. Would you rather set the manuscript on fire than read it one more time? Now it’s ready to publish. That is excellent advice… advice that I must (reluctantly) put into use very soon on my second book. *cringes at the thought* Well, thank you so much for allowing me to interview you, Mr. Kemp! I have thoroughly enjoyed it! For the rest of you reading this, I and Dakota would GREATLY appreciate it if you shared this interview with your friends, checked out Dakota Kemp’s books, and perhaps left a comment. I have a few sweet dragons at the “exit” button with really big teeth who will inquire whether you’ve showed this to your friends… Where you can find Dakota: Web: www.dakotakemp.wordpress.com Dakota’s Books: The Arrival, Goddess ![]() Today, I am very pleased to introduce to you author Jessica L. Elliott! For as long as she can remember, Jessica L. Elliott has been telling stories. As soon as she could grasp a pencil she began writing those stories down. Reading fueled her imagination, as did spending time with her five younger brothers and sisters. Everything was an adventure, something to be treasured and stories were her first love. Jessica began seriously writing in high school and continued into college while attending Emporia State University where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She wrote and released her first novel, Charming Academy, in August of 2011. Jessica currently lives in southwest Kansas with her husband, young son and daughter. Jessica and I met at a local library book signing in December 2014. I was very impressed with her books, which are fairytales for girls AND boys to enjoy! However, I think I will let her tell you more about them. So, without further ado, I welcome Jessica L. Elliot! Thank you so much for joining me today, Mrs. Elliott. Would you please tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Do you have pets? Your family? Imaginary unicorn friend? Jessica L. Elliott - I’m currently living in Southwest Kansas. I grew up in a suburb of Wichita, so it’s been a bit of an adjustment coming to such a small town, but I LOVE it! I’m happily married to my very own Prince Charming and we have two and two-thirds children (one’s coming in March!). We have a dog named Georgia who sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out, but she’s just too dang cute to stay too mad at. Imaginary unicorn? Not currently, but it seems that my muse takes a different form with each book I write. At one point I had a rather feisty dragon and the last book had a snarling beast muse. Yikes! This muse has been far gentler, but has yet to show herself to me. Ah, the aMUSEment that a single muse can give us: priceless. Okay, bad pun. Congratulations on the wee bun in the oven, by the way! How exciting! So, tell us a little about your writing. When did you start writing, and why? Jessica L. Elliott -Mommy says I started writing as soon as I could hold a pencil and I was telling stories before that. Serious writing began more in college and then, realizing that all-nighters and student teaching were a bad mix, it took the backseat until graduation. Then I started in again and my first book was published in 2011. Why do I write? Why wouldn’t I? I have so many stories bubbling in my head that I have to release them somehow or I might explode! Tell me about it! All the little barbarians banging around in my noggin tend to keep me up at night if I don’t filter out a few of them each day. However, I have found that a cookie or two helps to shut them up. Now then, do you write for a particular genre, or do you cross genres? If so, what is your favorite genre to write for? Jessica L. Elliott - I love to write for children/young adult. I guess it’s because I’m still a child myself (don’t let this nearly 30 year-old body fool you!). Currently I’m finishing up a fairy tale series geared towards making them a little less girly. That’s a long story that I’ll tell another day. Childhood is the best. I wanted to be a “grown-up” so bad when I was younger… Sigh… anyway, on with the interview: are you a planner or a “pantser” – do you plan out your books meticulously or do you write by the seat of your pants? Jessica L. Elliott - Oh heavens! I tried planning once, but I have these people called characters who take my plans, shred them like so much old newspaper and make their own plans. So really I just write as the story comes. Some things are planned out, mostly because you kind of have to when writing a series. But even there my characters have sometimes changed things up on me, just to be frustrating I’m sure. Once again, I SO totally understand how you feel. Those characters have minds of their own. What do you write, and why? What do you enjoy about what you write? Jessica L. Elliott - I write whatever comes to me because I have stories that need to be told. Currently that’s fairy tale retellings. What I love most about it is that I can take the stories I loved as a kid and change them up in a way that makes them interesting not only to other hopelessly romantic girls like me, but also interesting to boys. At least, that’s the goal. That is so awesome! There is finally another series, other than Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (and my own book), that my brothers AND sisters can get hooked on! Yay! So, Jessica, where do you find inspiration? Jessica L. Elliott - I find inspiration pretty much everywhere! One of my best scenes (unfortunately I lost it in a computer death) was written after watching the fog roll in one dark night. Spooky scene and I wish like heck I’d backed my writing up! OH! Those computer crashes are the worst! I have had that happen to me way. TOO. often. It just makes me want to hack those stinking transistorized tormentors (aka Computers) up with my sword! Whoof. Okay, so what is the most difficult part of writing for you and what is the easiest part? Jessica L. Elliott - The hardest part of writing is finding the time! With two toddlers and a dog vying for my time, it can be hard to set aside time to sit and write. Sometimes, even when I have set the time aside, I find that my muse is being obnoxiously silent. I can only take looking at a blank page so long before I’ll set it aside again and go on to something else. The easiest part is getting ideas of stories to write. While I’ve been finishing the fairy tale series (just two books to go!), I’ve gotten ideas for about ten more stories. I write down the most pertinent details and usually set that aside so I can finish what I’m working on. Sometimes though I do some freewriting, just to get the ideas solidified a little more. You and I sound very much alike in this aspect, although my siblings have finally all grown out of toddler-hood (which I often wondered if they would). And now, I am curious, do you listen to music or watch TV whilst you write? Or do you need to lock yourself away? Jessica L. Elliott - I usually listen to instrumental music while writing. Very rarely do I listen to anything with lyrics, because then I focus on singing along with the music instead of writing. And I never watch TV while writing because I wouldn’t get any writing done. I get sucked into stories (even visual ones) very easily! Once again, I totally relate with you! That TV has incredible, overpowering, magnetic forces. Is there a message conveyed within your writing? Jessica L. Elliott - I think all arts, whether written, visual, or performed, have some kind of message even if the creator didn’t “intend” on a message. The most important message in my stories right now is that you can overcome obstacles to reach “happily ever after”. It sometimes takes a long time, but it can happen if you keep believing in yourself and working for it! Stories of perseverance are really hard to find, and particularly when combined with “happily ever after”. I am glad that your stories draw on that! So, most authors like to read. What have you recently finished reading? Jessica L. Elliott - I love to read and currently I’ve been reading a lot of children’s books because I love to read to my kiddos. But, sometimes we read things that normally wouldn’t be considered “children’s” literature. Right now we’re finishing the first part of Lord of the Rings together. EEH! I love Lord of the Rings! I am an insane Tolkienite… I better stop while I am ahead. But, thinking of Tolkien (who was a brilliant author), can you name your favorite traditionally published author? Jessica L. Elliott - I have so many, but probably J. R. R. Tolkien. The fact that he could build a world, create realistic languages and write such compelling stories is amazing to me! *Grabs you in a big hug* You’re my new favorite person! Tee-hee… okay, and who would be your favorite indie/self-published author? Jessica L. Elliott - Um, me? Just kidding! I really love Fiona Deal and can’t wait to get her next book! I haven’t had a chance to read Deal’s works yet. *looks at the mile high “To-Read” list and cringes* Ahem, well, anyway. Research can be important in world-building, how much do you need to do for your books? Jessica L. Elliott - Depends on the story. The nice thing in fairy tales is I can kind of make stuff up as I need to. But there have been other areas where I did a fair amount of research (such as sword-fighting terminology and heraldry) so that if an expert happened to pick my book up he wouldn’t immediately facepalm and think me stupid. Oh yeah. The eternal fear of every author is that smarter-than-average reader will pick up the book and go “Clearly… this author has no idea what she is talking about.” Now, I remember talking to you about this before, but I must ask for the audience’s sake: Do you self-edit? If so why is that the case? Jessica L. Elliott - I do self-edit. There are two reasons. One, I’m cheap! Two, I have a very highly developed sense of grammar and spelling. I rarely make mistakes (note I said rarely and not never!) and when I do, I usually catch them pretty quickly. I envy you. I am a complete failure at self-editing. On that note, do you believe a book suffers without being professionally edited? Jessica L. Elliott - I think that depends on the person editing. If my husband were writing and trying to edit, it would definitely suffer! Love him dearly, but he can’t spell worth anything and sometimes his grammar is off. I think a person can self-edit, but they have to be willing to take the time to go through the book not just once, but several times. Or, in my case, go through it 15 times and then send it to an editor only to find out that your book needed a therapist (and it’s author too). Ahem! What was your experience with getting your book published? How did you start out? Did you have help? Jessica L. Elliott - It was kind of a baptism by fire thing. I had no clue really going into it how to get started. I sent out some queries to traditional publishers and didn’t get any bites at all. After a while, I got tired of waiting for someone else to decide my writing was worth reading. I went through CreateSpace and that was how I started. My biggest help was my husband who helped in formatting and getting things set up. But neither of us had any experience and it was a challenge getting things off the ground. *Waves my “Go CreateSpace!” flag* I just love CreateSpace. It makes life so much simpler. So now, the killer question: did you find marketing difficult? What strategy do you use, if any? Jessica L. Elliott - I still find marketing difficult! I’m not much of a salesman and I didn’t want to be the “annoying author friend”, so I tried a few different approaches. Most of my strategy has been using my Facebook page to promote and share different aspects of my writing life. I try not to just bash people over the head with my books, but also share blog articles that are totally unrelated, pictures and other little things in hopes that it will get shared again. Right now I’m trying a 52 Week Writing Challenge to see if I can a) get other people writing too and b) spread the word about my books without being obnoxious. What a fantastic idea! I may have to borrow it sometime. I love to encourage others to write, and promoting my book mercilessly is just not my style. Well, would you please sort these into order of importance: Great characters; great world-building; solid plot; technically perfect. Can you explain why you chose this order? Jessica L. Elliott - Great characters, solid plot, great world-building and technically perfect. It’s amazing how forgiving people will be of a few (not a ton, but a few) errors when your characters and story are so captivating that they hardly notice them. Characters that readers can relate to are what really sell a story and having a great plot holds the reader in. World-building is important in that you want your readers to have a general sense of where they are and being technically perfect is important in keeping the grammar Nazis off your back. But I think the two most important are great characters and a solid plot. Ugh. I’ve given up on being technically perfect. Let the Nazis eat me! Again, I envy your Ninja grammar skills. If you have more than one published work, which book or series was your favorite to create? Jessica L. Elliott - My most recently published book, Becoming Prince Charming, was definitely my favorite. I’ve loved creating my entire fairy tale series, but this last book has been my very best writing to date. I enjoyed delving more deeply into the story of “Beauty and the Beast” and looking at it from different angles. Trying to show how the beast and Kaelen were the same, and yet not, was a great challenge and I enjoyed every minute of it! I love Beauty and the Beast stories! I can’t wait to read it and explore those different angles with you! If you could change anything in an existing book, or series, of yours, what would it be? Jessica L. Elliott - I plan on going back through Charming Academy and doing a little cleaning up. Things that I thought at the time were important have turned out to be obsolete and there are a few things I need to clarify to make better sense in later books. I think really if I could totally redo it, I would write the entire series first and then start publishing. But one of the beautiful things about being self-published is I can go back and tweak without totally freaking people out. Isn’t that glorious? I have a big Sci-Fi series I am working on now that has me considering the option to wait to publish until I have finished writing all, or nearly all, the books. But CreateSpace is so flexible when it comes to changing things around that I am still on the fence about it. *Waves my “Go CreateSpace!” flag again* What is your latest book or series? Any forthcoming books? Jessica L. Elliott - The latest book is the fourth in the Charming Academy series, Becoming Prince Charming. I’m currently working on the fifth book, The Ultimate Prince Charming and will immediately delve into the sixth. Hopefully I can have both books written before my new baby arrives and then it will just be a matter of editing and releasing! But both of those should come out this year. Yay! How exciting! I wish you great inspiration and speed and lots of free time for writing with (purely for selfish reasons… I want ALL of your books on my shelf!) Is there any project you started and are just completely stuck on? Jessica L. Elliott - I am the queen of unfinished projects! I have an entire file folder devoted to “Abandoned Manuscripts”. Eventually I’ll go back to them and either decide they really are rubbish and toss them out, or I’ll try to work out the kinks and get back into them. Once again, I find common ground with you! I have more unfinished manuscripts than published books! Tell us a little about the world of your latest or favorite book or series. Jessica L. Elliott - My current series takes place in Sanalbereth, which is supposed to be a past version of Earth. It has fairies, dragons, witches, pirates, and of course Prince Charmings trying desperately to figure out where their princesses have gone. Ooh! How exciting! An earth with dragons: sounds like my kind of place! And now, I just have to ask if you would introduce us to some of your awesome characters? What do you like about them? Jessica L. Elliott - I love my princes. There are five that each have their own stories: Adrian, Jacobi, Kaelen, George and Lucian. Each has such an interesting personality and I’ve enjoyed journeying with them on their quests. Well, Adrian didn’t travel much, but you’ll have to read his story to find out why. Their princesses are fun as well and have given me opportunities to really look into different aspects of femininity and how it comes out in different ways. For example, Allegra is very headstrong and it’s probably no wonder that she had a quest of her own. Clarissa, on the other hand, is shy and gentle and had to overcome a lot of difficulties before her prince came to her rescue. Yay! I love it when authors draw out the differences in femininity! Real life is comprised of tough girls AND gentle girls (and then there are the ones like me who are… whoo: something else), and not enough authors draw on that. It seems like, in too many books, that the female characters are all one way or the other. I applaud you for marking the difference! Do you have a favorite character? Why? Jessica L. Elliott - Don’t tell the others, because they might revolt and kill me, but Lucian has always been my favorite character. His was the first story I told, though it will be the last that I write. He is the very embodiment of everything I think a man really should be, including tall and handsome. He stands up for others, takes time away from his own quest to help those in need (which is how I sneak him into each of the books) and is just a generally good guy. GASP! You are the first author I have met that actually said she had a favorite! Don’t worry: I won’t breathe a word of it to the others. *wink* Now, do you have a character you hate/dislike? Why? Jessica L. Elliott - I hate Nathan! I hate him a lot. I can’t reveal a lot of the why right now because it would spoil my next book. But be looking for The Ultimate Prince Charming when I release it. Then you will understand just why I hate this guy sooooooooo much! I also hate Esmé and you can read Becoming Prince Charming to find out why she’s such a nasty piece of work. YES! I love characters that I can hate! It sounds like an oxymoron, but it is true! *grins* Now, are your characters ever based on real people? Jessica L. Elliott - Yes and no. I do sometimes take aspects of real people and put them into characters. And I did put two cameos in Prince Charming’s Search based on my mother-in-law and her sister. But I try to usually avoid completely basing a character off of someone else. I see. I haven’t even attempted to go there with any of my characters. I’m afraid that my friends would notice it and get big heads, or my enemies would read it and higher better assassins. Ahem. Anyway, back onto topic: have you ever used (or been tempted to use) a person you don’t/didn’t like as a character then kill them off? Jessica L. Elliott - Hahahaha, oh so very tempting! I’ve toyed with putting an evil English teacher in a book just for that very purpose, but in the end, it’s not worth allowing her any more power in my life. And the idea of her becoming famous through me kind of makes me want to puke. Bwahahahaha! Exactly! So, what formats are your books available in (E-book, print, large print, audio)? Are you intending to expand these and if not, what is the reason? Jessica L. Elliott - Right now all of my books are available in print and a couple are available in E-book. Once I finish writing the series and do my final walk-through of each of the books, my sweetheart and I will get them all formatted into E-book. If I get some interest in having large print out, I might do that. But some of my books are so big as it is that I don’t want to make them ginormous! And eventually I would like to do audiobooks, but that’s going to be a ways down the road, so don’t hold your breath. *Exhales the breath I was holding* Aw drat! Well, hopefully audiobooks will be sooner down the road rather than later. My siblings LOVE audiobooks. Give a fun/silly fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book. Jessica L. Elliott - If you read Finding Prince Charming you will find that Allegra is deathly afraid of frogs. This may seem like the wimpiest phobia in the world, but that is actually based off one of my two phobias. I try to put a little of myself in each of the books, so there’s the tidbit from that one. The others? Well, I’m not telling today. A phobia of frogs? Oh my. A few of my characters would have far too much fun torturing Allegra. It’s a good thing they aren’t in the same book together! Is there any advice you would pass on to those authors who are still just starting out? Do's and don'ts? Jessica L. Elliott - DON’T QUIT!!! No matter what anyone tells you, don’t give up. It’s not easy writing a story and getting it perfected the way you want it. It’s even harder to take that precious bundle and put it out there for the whole world to see. But it’s worth it! It hasn’t been an easy road, and I’m not exactly swimming in cash, but the joy of having readers tell me that they love my stories is worth all the rough spots! So keep writing, keep creating and just keep on keeping on! Such GREAT advice, Mrs. Elliot! Thank you so much for sharing that! Well, that is all for today. Thank you so much, Jessica, for allowing me to interigat… I mean, interview you! I had a really great time! For the rest of you out there, here is Jessica L. Elliott’s information. You NEED to check her books out. And, if you liked this interview, please say so in the comment section below! There will be a dragon at every exit who will inquire, politely, if you have left a comment. Thank you so much for joining us! Till next time! Web: www.JessicaLElliott.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/JessicaLElliottAuthor Twitter: @Jess_L_Elliott Jessica's Books: www.JessicaLElliott.com/books Jessica L. Elliot's first 4 books!![]() For my first author interview of the month, I am super-duper excited to introduce to you today one of my favorite Indie Published authors, Frank P. Spirit! Frank and I met via a readers/writers group on Facebook. If I remember correctly, he asked me who helped with the editing of my book. I gave him my editor’s contact information and we pretty much hit it off from there! Honestly, I think between the two of us we could take over the world… BUT, that is another story entirely. Mr. Spirit, I am so please to have you as my first author this month! Would you please tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Do you have pets? Family? Imaginary unicorn friend? F.P. Spirit - I am from New Jersey, the Jersey Shore in fact. And no, I’ve never seen those TV shows, “The Jersey Shore” or “The Sopranos” before you ask. I live with my very understanding wife, and the two coolest teens anyone could ask for. Why is my wife understanding? Well, she married me. Why are my teens so cool? They put up with my wife and me without too much of a fuss. Seriously though, I have a wonderful family. My life mostly revolves around them. Other than that, I have a job which I really like, and a group of wacky, creative, fun friends. Awesome family and wacky friends: what more could a person want in life? Other than a cookie? So, let’s talk a little about your writing. When did you start writing, and why? F.P. Spirit - As I said, I really like my job. Still, I’ve been doing the same thing for over 30 years now. That’s a long time to do any one thing! I needed another creative outlet. My boys and I began roleplaying with our friends a few years back. They are very creative, even having their own worlds developed from years of doing so themselves. My friend, Tim, had created the world of Thac for just this purpose. When we started up, we created characters, backgrounds, family histories, and stories about them. There was a lot of sharing of those over the space of the last few years. There ended up being so much after a while that I decided to see if I could weave these all together into a novel. Three years later, with much encouragement and support from my friends and family, the Heroes of Ravenford were born! Role Plays are pretty much the bomb! But I must say, until now, the thought had never occurred to me of turning one into a book… Hmmm. *puts thought on the shelf for later consideration* Well, I am sure our audience would like to know if you write for a particular genre, or do you cross genres? If so, what is your favorite genre to write for? F.P. Spirit - I write basically sword and sorcery type fantasy. I’ve always loved fantasy and sci-fi. It is fun and exciting to escape to different worlds and realities, to go to places where we could never visit and do things we could never do in real life! *Unfurls my "Fantasy Rocks" flag and begins singing "We are the Champions"* Ahem... anyway. Are you a planner or a “pantser” – do you plan out your books meticulously or do you write by the seat of your pants? F.P. Spirit - Planner. I outline my books before writing them out. I have a lot of stories about these characters and worlds amassed. If I didn’t plan it out, I wouldn’t be sure how to fit it all together. A planner, huh? Excellent. You can be the brains of the operation when we take over the world... Moving on now! What is the most difficult part of writing for you and what is the easiest part? F.P. Spirit - The most difficult part of writing for me is balancing out all the characters. I have quite a few in my novels and keeping it even is always a challenge. The easiest part is writing Seth and Donnie. I always can count on Seth to be sarcastic and Donnie to rush in headlong, d*mn the torpedoes! Oof! Juggling all the different characters is proving to be a challenge for me as well. However, you have WAY more characters than I do and are very skilled at keeping them all involved, so I 've been taking notes as I've been reading your books. Well, do you listen to music or watch TV whilst you write? Do you do anything unusual while your write? F.P. Spirit - Oh, this will get me in trouble! I need quiet when I write. Sometimes I lash out when I’m in the middle of an important scene and somebody turns on the TV or something. That is why I set up a room upstairs where I can go hole myself up. It’s not fair to anyone else in the house to expect them to keep silent just because of the obsessive writer in the house!! Yes. OWD: obsessive writer disorder. My poor siblings have taken the brunt of my OWD more than once. So, is there a message conveyed within your writing? F.P. Spirit - Compassion, tolerance, teamwork and doing the right thing. That is what the Heroes learn as the story unfolds. It’s what causes everyone to band together behind them. I love reading stories about teamwork... and elves… which your book has both of in plenty. Speaking of reading, most authors like to read, what have you recently finished reading? F.P. Spirit - I am currently reading The Vision Stone, Book 3 in Natasha House’s Jade series. It is a great series, so creative and descriptive. The way she portrays characters and her world makes you feel like you are there. I so love her style. I have read Natasha’s books as well! I totally understand where you are coming from. Her characters and story are very cool and so unique. Can you name your favorite traditionally published author? F.P. Spirit - David Eddings, hands down. His fantasy series the Belgariad and Mallorean are by far my favorites. I love the depth of his characters, and especially the way they interact. They are not your typical iconic fantasy characters. They are real characters with flaws and the like. And they are constantly “busting each other’s chops”. They are a very entertaining read no matter what the characters are doing. I always admired that, and try to emulate it in my own books. David Eddings, huh? *scribbles note down on To-Read list* And now, to play devils advocate, who is your favorite indie/self-published author? *smiles deviously* F.P. Spirit - You’re getting me in trouble again! I can’t name just one. I have three I like for different reasons: Natasha House for her lush, inventive style and worlds, Shannon Pemrick for her awesome characters who I’ve come to know almost as well as my own, and yourself, Kathryn, for your Tales of the Wovlen, the first in a creative series that has so much potential – I am so waiting for your second book! *Blushes* Yeah. I’m waiting on my second book too… *glares at my uncooperative characters before shouting “Go play in the street, kids!”*. Ahem! Now then, where were we? Oh yes: Research can be important in world-building, how much do you need to do for your books? F.P. Spirit - A lot. I have been labeled as writing classic fantasy. Well in fantasy books with spells and monsters and fantastical places it is too easy to say “oh that’s magical so of course it works.” I don’t buy that and don’t expect my readers to either. I believe it should all make sense, that there should be some basic principles behind magic and the like. So I go to great pains to explain it all. Even visualizations are important. I mean, I could just say, Glolindir cast a ball of fire spell. Boring! That is why I describe things as if the reader is watching what is happening: Glo reached into a bag at his waist and pulled out a pinch of sulfur. He began to move his arms in an intricate pattern, making a wide arc ending with his palms faced outward in front of him. A single word passed his lips, “Augue”, a small, bright red ball of light appearing between his palms. It hung there pulsing for a split second, then shot away up toward the top of the tower. The angry red ball streaked toward its target and in less than a second it traversed the distance to the catwalks above. As it reached its target, the ball suddenly expanded, now ten times its original size. It hung there for a fraction of a second longer, and then exploded! Bright red light flooded the top of the tower accompanied by the whooshing sound of the expanding flames. That is what I like to do, paint a picture with words for the reader. Fiiiire… wait, what? You paint? Sorry. I got distracted by the fire ball exploding. I like fire. Fire is my friend. And this scene in the book was just awesome... Okay, back on target… so, Frank, do you self-edit? If so, why is that the case? F.P. Spirit - I do a double, or sometimes triple pass myself. Then I pass it off to my “alpha” reader. She catches stuff I don’t see and sets me straight if I goof on continuity issues and the like. Once done, I send the draft out to a few beta readers to get their opinions. When all is said and done, I send it to my great editor/cover artist, Melinda Tipton Martin. I tried self-editing my first book and… well… *gives Melinda a virtual squeeze hug* I love you Melinda!! On the same topic, do you believe a book suffers without being professionally edited? F.P. Spirit - Yes. I do. A good pro editor will point out things that an untrained person will not see. Another writer is also good, but they need some experience with editing at the very least. How true that is! I didn’t even realize my issues had issues in my book until Melinda got a hold of it. So, I am curious, what was your experience with getting your book published? How did you start out? Did you have help? F.P. Spirit - It was a disaster the first time through. The cover was amateurish, it was too long and there were lots of grammatical mistakes and run on sentences. I lucked out by connecting with Natasha House and her Robot Review club. I met a few other folks there, and that led me to Melinda. She reedited my book, I cut it in two, and got a great pro cover done. Now, book one is doing pretty well on Amazon. It has been in the top 10 a few times in Fantasy > Sword and Sorcery. Top 10?! Man, that is awesome! Did you find marketing difficult? What strategy do you use, if any? F.P. Spirit - It is the worst! I’ve tried ads at a few different places, and also some free giveaways through KDP select. I also joined Clean Indie Reads last month and Tamie Dearen gave a great presentation on how to use Twitter for ads. I’ve been doing that ever since and it has worked pretty well for me. Ugh. I missed that class… drat! So, sort these into order of importance: Great characters; great world-building; solid plot; technically perfect. Can you explain why you chose this order? (Yes I know they all are important…) F.P. Spirit - Great characters, solid plot, world building, technical perfect. The characters are the most important. Without interesting characters to identify with, no plot is going to keep a reader’s interest for long. With great characters, you now need a plot to lead them through. Even if the reader likes your characters, without a strong plot, they are not going to read an entire novel. Worlds paint the background for the characters and the plot. Without a solid built world for the characters to live in, the plot will eventually break down at some point. I would have flipped the first two around and said solid plot THEN great characters. But I see your point there! Now, if you could change anything in an existing book, or series, of yours, what would it be? F.P. Spirit - The Ruins on Stone Hill, Book One of the Heroes of Ravenford. I got tagged a few times for not having strong female characters. If I were to rewrite it, I would probably have changed one of the character’s genders. How does Glolinda sound instead of Glolindir? Seriously, I gave thought to changing Delgron to a female warrior similar to Alana from the end of book two. Alana is a really big part of book 3 by the way. Glolinda? No. No way. I wouldn’t have the fictional crush that I have now if that were the case! (elves are my weakness. Note to Mom: find me an elf, and I might get married) Anyway, speaking of book 3… What is your latest book or series? Any forthcoming books? F.P. Spirit - My current series is Heroes of Ravenford. The first two books are The Ruins on Stone Hill and The Serpent Cult. The third book, The Dark Monolith, is scheduled to be released in 2015. It takes up where book two left off. Just when our heroes think it is safe, dark things start rearing their heads again. It looks like the Serpent Cult was not vanquished after all. The cult is still very much around and is after the works of the great Golem Thrall Master, purported to be hidden in an ancient monolith in the Darkwoods far to the west. But first, our heroes must clear their good names, for the Duke of Dunwynn has accused them of a crime that could have them banished or worse. Get ready for an epic battle between Lloyd and Sir Fafnar, the haughty Lieutenant from the City of Dunwynn. Add some new and mysterious allies, with secrets of their own. Mix that with a long journey, dangerous monsters and treacherous traps and you have a wild ride that leads our heroes far away from the town of Ravenford on a mission that could affect all of Thac. AHG! The excitement is about to kill me! I am totally rooting for Lloyd in the fight! *screams “BUST ‘EM UP BRO!” and waves a little “Go Lloyd” flag* Okay: pull myself back together. Tell us a little about the world your series, Heroes of Ravenford, is set in. F.P. Spirit - This story is set in the fictional world of Arinthar, on the island continent of Thac. Arinthar is a world of magic. It is populated by a combination of humans, mystical races and monsters, all of whom uneasily coexist together in this world. Arinthar has survived many ages and numerous wars over the millennium, the last being the Thrall Wars nearly 100 years ago. The world has experienced an unusual period of quiet since then, but recent events have indicated this may be coming to an end. The end of peace... I love it! Mwahahahaha! *chokes… coughs… gags* Ahem… okay. So, please introduce our audience to some of your characters. What do you like about them? F.P. Spirit - Lloyd is the tall, red armored Spiritblade from Penwick who wields his fiery swords like a whirlwind. Tough as he seems, he is a very caring guy who would give his life to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Glolindir is the blonde haired elven wizard from the hidden City of Cairthrellon. He is still new to the uses of magic in the "outside" world, and makes many mistakes. However, he learns and grows as the series unfolds, trying to help his friends and prove that people of different races can work together. Seth is the mysterious, dark clothed halfling who may very well be an assassin, his knives only slightly sharper than his acid wit. He is always verbally jabbing his friends, but Seth will go to the ends of Thac to protect them if he must. Aksel is the serious little gnome cleric whose healing hands are only matched by his love for all living things. He is wise and strategic minded, the role of leader falling squarely on his small shoulders. It is a heavy burden though, and it is sometimes difficult for Aksel to carry the burden. Elladan is the always effervescent white clad bard whose good looks and sylvan voice are only rivaled by his skills with musical spells. The consummate showman, Elladan lives to perform. But when he meets the Heroes, Elladan stands by their side through peril after peril, helping however he can. *Giggles like a fangirl* I love all of them! But, I think Glolindir is my favorite. Do you have a favorite character? *smiles deviously again* F.P. Spirit - You’re getting me in trouble again. I cannot pick a favorite main character. They are all far two special to me in their own ways. However, I can pick a favorite support character. Ruka, hands down. The sarcastic teen appears to be a female copy of Seth at first, but we quickly find out there is far more to the fifteen year old than meets the eye. She is butt kicking in a fight, not someone you want to p*ss off, as Donnie soon finds out in book three. An excellent reminder: don’t cross a sarcastic chick. Bad things WILL happen to you. Do you have a character you hate/dislike? Why? F.P. Spirit - Sir Fafnar. I think that was obvious. He is the ultimate pompous politician, trying to worm his way up the ladder in the Dunwynn chain of command. He is also quite obviously after the hand of the Lady Andrella. Fafnar is very easy to hate for all his intolerance and arrogance. He is the perfect foil for the Heroes as well because he is not someone they can just take out in battle. He is a noble of Dunwynn and has as much right to be in Ravenford as they do. Political men and stuffy noblemen always make me snarl like a dragon. I will gladly lend a dragon out to the heroes to scorch the pompus windbag, simply for the pleasure of watching (though I have a sneaking suspicion that they will have a dragon friend of their own soon...)! Anyway, back onto the subject: Are your characters ever based on real people? F.P. Spirit - Funny question. My sons developed both Lloyd and Seth. They put a lot of their own personalities into those characters. So yes, I guess those two are loosely based on my sons. Aha! That explains the great personalities those two characters have! And, have you ever used a person you don’t/didn’t like as a character then killed them off? *Laughs like a wicked witch* F.P. Spirit - Not yet. Debating on Fafnar though. Wink. Wink. Do it. Like I said, I’ll lend you and the Heroes a dragon if y’all need it… What formats are your books available in (E-book, print, large print, audio)? Are you intending to expand these and if not, what is the reason? F.P. Spirit - Ebook, and paperback. Audio would be fun. I have a friend who does voices (Matt, are your ears ringing?) I would love to have him read my book aloud. GASP! That would be totally awesome! If you do it, I hope to be one of your first customers for the audio version! *grins* Well, thank you so much for lending some of your valuable time, Mr. Spirit, and answering my questions. I had a blast! Oh… I had popcorn, by the way… did you want some popcorn? I eated it all, but… it’s the thought that counts, right? For the rest of you reading this, thank you for visiting, and please feel free to leave a comment below! There is a dragon at every exit who will ask quite politely if you have left a comment… after that, you should totally go look F.P. Spirit and his books up! Here is the information: Web: http://fpspirit.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeroesOfRavenford Twitter: https://twitter.com/FP_Spirit F.P. Spirit’s Books on Amazon: http://bit.ly/FPSpiritAmz Book 1 - The Ruins on Stone Hill Author: F.P. Spirit Genre: Fantasy/RPG/YA Rating: 6/6 stars Synopsis: Magic is Easy or so Glolindir thought, until he came face to face with his first live monster. Casting spells was not so simple with death breathing down his neck. His story might have ended there if not for three gifted youths: Seth, the mysterious halfling with the moves of an assassin; Lloyd, the spiritblade whose fiery swords are whirlwind-fast; and Aksel, the gnome whose very touch can heal. Yet that was just the beginning of their adventures, for dark shadows loom over the little town of Ravenford. The townsfolk quickly turn to these newcomers, who may indeed be their only hope. From the old ruined keep southwest of town to hidden caves in the western hills, through dark tunnels, secret passages, concealed rooms and magical mirrors, they must face mythical monsters, evil creatures, and dark wizards, each more perilous than the last. Can they rise to the challenge and become the Heroes that the people of Ravenford so sorely need? The Beginning: Through a caravan raid by orcs, you are introduced to the main characters, the Heroes, right off the bat. I like that a lot. There was no waiting around to learn about the book heroes and the story started on a roll. It wasn't a bang, but it was a roll, and I walked away from the first chapter with a very good sense of who each of the characters were, and I stepped into the second chapter already liking them and eager to go on an adventure with them. The Characters: The characters were very well fleshed out and very easy to relate to on a number of levels (I even have a fictional crush on one of them... oops. Did I just think that out loud??). Each one had his own clear-cut, colorful personality which fit him, they each had a different history, and each one filled a very important role in their "team". So often, a group of characters come together and someone gets left out because they don't exactly fit in. NOT the case with this bunch. They each fall into their own role very smoothly and easily and no one is ever left out. I like that a lot. The only thing that bugged me about the characters was this: each one of the characters seemed to be without family ties. Glo, the elf, has had a falling out with his dad. Lloyd, the warrior, seems to have been close to his family, but he also seems to have distanced himself from them. Aksel and Seth, the gnome and halfling, seem to have no family at all. I understand that heroes have family issues, or no family at all. My own hero in my own book has that problem. And, I also understand that this seems to be what draws all the heroes together in this book: that need for a family. But, for me personally as a reader, I like to see a few of the characters who are close to their family and are on good terms with their family, even if they are miles away from them. They just add something to a story. Anyway, that is just a petty little thing that sorta bugs me, but is not a threat to my relationship with this book. I can live with it. All the heroes are male, and I was very happy that all of them (excepting Seth, who is just... special.) are the perfect example of manly chivalry (*pokes my character* Keegan, you should take lessons from them). I personally like manly characters who take chivalry seriously. The brief female appearances in the book were refreshing, for me. They brought in a touch of humor as they embarrass the heroes periodically with their flirtatious nature, and they just made the book all the more light-hearted and pleasant with their entrances. Plus, they were realistic. I tire of the macho women in fantasy. It's refreshing to find some who are just like real real girls: silly, funny, and cute. The Plot: The general plan is for the Heroes to establish a firm reputation in the town of Ravenford and live out their combined dream, which is to use their special gifts and powers to help others (or get rich...*cough* Seth *cough*). They do this by completing quests and gathering items and artifacts (any online gamers reading this?). The plot thickens when the heroes not only establish a good reputation as monster-slayers, but also stumble across a potentially nasty and mysterious plot, setting the story up for book two quite smoothly. The World: Thac, the world in this story... I just can't get enough of it! It is well built, seems to have a solid history, and is very colorful. All the fun is located mainly around one town on the map (which I would like to someday see a map of the town, along with the surrounding country... someday...). Each of the characters originally came from completely different ends of the map. So, even though everything is happening in one little bitty area, you are aware that there is a bigger world around the heroes. This is nice, because it allows for surprises and it also promises more stories later. There is just one thing I should warn some of my readers about before they step into this world: the theologies. There is a polytheism system to Thac (polytheism = belief in or worship of more than one god), but yet most of the people in Thac seem to just pick out ONE of the gods and worship that single one. The different gods are only referred to periodically and the fact is not pushed. The different gods mentioned are just a part of the story that help the reader connect the dots to different characters and their powers. The fact that this was in the book did not disturb me at all, particularly since I have to deal with polytheism beliefs in real life anyway and have seen how they've shaped cultures and people throughout history (for better or worse). The Writing: F.P. Spirit's writing style is colorful, descriptive, and smooth. I keep using the world "colorful", don't I? Well, that is the only word I can find to describe the imagination of the world and characters. They are not the bland little pawns on a little map, running around in a town full of zombies, all smashed together on black and white paper in a book. There is personality! Flare! Uniqueness! There is color! Read it for yourself if you don't believe me... I also like how Mr. Spirit is able to transition moods quite easily in his writing. He is also very descriptive in explaining the fantasy elements and magic in the story, but not so much as to weigh down the mind with a bunch of useless information. I must warn that there was an instance, at the end, where one of the characters used a semi-cuss word, "jack**s", to describe a bad person that they had to deal with. This disappointed me a little, because, up until that point, no bad language had been used. However, it would not keep me from reading this book to my siblings and it did not mess up the story. The Ending: The end left the reader and characters with another mystery to unravel, which built the interest for a second book. However it wrapped things up nicely and left the reader with a satisfied, happy feeling that all was right with the world. The Bottom Line: This is a nice, deep, rich fantasy that any Dungeons and Dragons or Lord of the Rings fan will like. It is a clean, well written book. It was easy to read, the flow of the story was smooth, and the characters were enjoyable and easy to relate to. The plot was strong, and the whole thing was very refreshing to read, setting it apart from all the smut ridden fantasy out there on the market today. This book is sitting right next to The Lord of the Rings as my favorite book, and I will certainly recommend it to any fantasy lovers out there! Book 2 - The Serpent Cult Author: F.P. Spirit
Genre: Fantasy/RPG/YA Rating: 5/6 stars Synopsis: The Heroes have returned to Ravenford, where a new threat looms on the horizon. The Serpent Cult is on the rise, and they have targeted Ravenford. Who are these cultists and what are they after? Before the Heroes can find out, they are sent away on another mission. Ships have been disappearing off the coast and rumors abound. Why did the Lucky Coin sink? Was there really a sea monster? Is the Cape Marlin Lighthouse actually deserted? And who are the three sisters and what is their secret? Are they somehow involved in all of this? Once again join Glolindir, Aksel, Seth, Lloyd, and Elladan as they follow a twisted trail of intrigue and danger. It is a path on which they will face armies of monsters, horrifying demons, fearsome dragons, deadly assassins, evil mages, and, perhaps worst of all, diplomatic officials. Can the Heroes overcome these obstacles or will the town of Ravenford suffer a fate worse than death? The Beginning: The first chapter does a lot of recapping, and it does so from the townspeople point of view, which was an interesting twist, I thought. It starts off right where book one left off, with the heroes walking into town after completing a successful mission, and the people are very excited to see them. However, the recapping does not take long, and once again you are with the heroes as they try to unravel the mystery they discovered at the end of book one. But mystery leads to mystery, and by chapter three, you and the heroes are beginning to realize that there is a desperate situation unfolding. You are left asking a lot of questions and turning the pages to find out what happens. The Characters: The characters have done a little maturing in this book as compared to when they started out in book one (and a certain romantic relationship seems to be moving along rather nicely). More of their pasts are revealed to the reader, which satisfies a lot of questions regarding the heroes. Also, a few new characters have been introduced! Some of them absolutely irritated me with their mysterious nature and I am DYING to learn more about them. Another elf has been added as well; a romantic, charming, swashbuckling, very ornery elf who is an artist and adds a little more adult-ish humor to the book (and needs a good spanking, in my opinion... I really like him *grins*). To top it off, a tangible mini-antagonist has been added to the story as well. He needs to be fed to a dragon. *snarls at the Dunwynn cronies* Overall, these new characters add a lot more flavor and spice to the story and I just love how the story is unfolding with them. The Plot: Smooth and flowing with a lot of mystery and action. Once the heroes get an idea of who is behind all the dastardly plotting, the story begins rolling faster and faster, taking short pauses to mix in humor and fun before charging on to a great battle at the end. The Writing: In this story, a new group of characters are brought in who are literally racist; they don't like non-human species of people. Mr. Spirit does an excellent job of expressing the pain of such insensitivity by looking at it from our heroes point of view. It really stings when you meet someone who does not like your favorite heroes, just because they aren't human. It stings even worse when you see your hero's heart bleeding on the paper from the insults. (ouch... ouch... sniff, sniff... ouch) The story flow, though, is perfect. Again, I commend F.P. Spirit on smoothly transitioning his moods, keeping the story rolling, and including ALL of the characters. I also just have to add that my dragons are most impressed with Calipherous. He was well written and is as regal as any in the dragon race. I can't wait to meet him again! Cons: It was slightly disappointing to count 2 cuss words (p*ss) in this book, which is why I have made this a 5 star review and not a 6 star. However, the cuss words are easily skipped over (or marked out). There is also some mild adult humor as well, but it isn't anything horrible and it is quite brief. It does add a nice level of amusement for the adults to silently snicker about, but for children, like my siblings (2 boys & 2 girls, ages 8-15), they don't get the joke and they are left in the dark (or, in my brother's case, they get it all TOO well). The Ending: It was all too soon. I reached the last chapter and was like "Wha...? NOOOO! It can't be the end! WHAT HAPPENS?!?!" Needless to say, it ended on somewhat of a cliff hanger. Not one of those cliff hangers where you are running to the edge of the cliff screaming "I HATE AUTHORS!!" but one of those cliff hangers that leave you drooling and snarling for the next book. However, by the end, the day was won, many of the mysteries were solved, and our heroes are mostly intact. Note, I said MOSTLY. The Bottom Line: Just like the first book, The Serpent Cult is a great read, crammed full of great characters, a pinch of mystery, and a load of fun! It is a very refreshing read compared to so many of the fantasy stories out there that carry so much garbage. This book is a promise to me that The Heroes of Ravenford will be one of my favorite series! The DRAGONS IN OUR MIDST series is, by far, one of my most favorite. It seriously ranks up there by Lord or the Rings. Bryan Davis, the author, awes me with his talent in making a labyrinth out of his plots while inputting a deep spiritual message throughout the story. One review has already voiced my thoughts perfectly: "... a contemporary fantasy story that inspires young people to dig deep within to find their God-given strengths and use them to overcome any obstacle. It’s a perfect blend of fantasy and science fiction with a Christian message."
These books are clean, intense, and fast paced, and the plot is brilliant! I would recommend these books to anyone - Christians and secular people alike. There are four books in the series: RAISING DRAGONS, THE CANDLESTONE, CIRCLES OF SEVEN, and TEARS OF A DRAGON. They are available in paperback, kindle, or audiobook. They are excellent in any format. Just pick one and get involved! This is an Amazon Affiliate Link. |
Kathryn FoglemanAuthor of the fantasy series, Tales of the Wovlen, Kathryn spends a great deal of time in the world of her imagination, having tea with fire breathing dragons, writing books on flying space ships, and practicing her mad scientist laugh with gusto. However, on occasion,she returns to this world just to play with her dog and blog about her fun. My BookGrab a Button!![]() Archives
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