Showing posts with label Prophecy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prophecy. Show all posts

Friday, May 4, 2012

Summer Teen Reading Party with Rebecca Ryals Russell

The Teen Reading Party continues! Welcome to my guest today, Rebecca Ryals Russell, fabulous author of the Seraphym Wars Series. Check it out:

Rebecca Ryals Russell
Looking for Adventure, Romance, Paranormal mysteries in a Steampunk world filled with dragon-demons? The Seraphym Wars Series is what you need.

Beginning with the Prequel: Prophecy, discover the origins of the Prophecy and who is protecting it throughout the millennia until the seven holy children, the Vigorios, are called into service.

In Odessa, Book One, follow Myrna Ashlin Watts as she discovers who she is and why she was transported from Earth to Dracwald one night following the horrific murder of her beloved brother by three teens with red eyes. Fall in love with young orphaned Tien Nadia Sadayo who can speak with animals and understand them in return. Or be amazed by Brigid Saulwen Heulog’s ability to create weather on call as she rescues the Vigorios from one hazard after another. Or maybe you’ll fall in love with handsome, copper-haired mystery-man, Michael Clancy Branson, as he mentors Myrna while hiding a secret that would destroy their mission. Perhaps you lean more toward the shaggy, quiet Liam Fintanahuel Reilly who disappears on full moons but won’t tell anyone why. If not, then muscular, dark-skinned Conall Sean Wyman might pull your strings as he battles dragons determined to extract retribution for the murder of his family. Or lastly, there’s seductive & secretive Bartholomew who sets Myrna’s pulse racing whenever their paths cross.

Whichever character you fancy, you’ll love following their journey through the monster-infested forests, swamps, seas and savannahs as they struggle to survive while figuring out where they are headed and why. But Narciss, Ruler of Tartarus, home of condemned souls, has other plans for these teens and sends his three main henchmen, his Nefars, to locate them and kill them after learning their secrets. However, the Nefars each have their own agendas and quickly learn to watch their own backs in this dragon-eat-dragon world of Dracwald.

The remaining three Vigorios appear in Harpies, Book Two. Griffen Oisin Gilmore finds himself on a deserted beach far from his Outer Banks, SC home on Earth where he lives with his single mother, after being struck by lightning the night before. Led by a talkative little bird he begins a quest to locate two more teens he’s never seen before and lead them safely to an island he sees only in visions. Along the way angry, red-haired fire-bug Seth Tanguy Vritra joins the team followed by sad empathathic, Mercy Neave Hubert, who left home to live on the streets after her mother abandoned her. Together they journey down the Longslo River with a Burrowing Elf who is driven to join their quest. After hiring a strange boatman to guide them down the river Mercy begins seeing a muscular brown dragon following them. And soon the adventure turns dangerous until the group is focused more on survival than finishing their journey.


Load your Kindle with these books available on Amazon from Rebecca Ryals Russell:




All of the Seraphym Wars Series books are available as eBooks in any format by following these links. Odessa is also available in print.

Here are the links and topics detailing where I’ll be all month. Check them out and win PRIZES.
EXCERPTS AVAILABLE TO READ:
GIVEAWAY:
Comment on EACH of my postings (listed above with links) showing you read the posting. Commenters will acquire ONE point per comment. At the end, fill out the form on my blog, Under the Hat.
The prize? This lovely Phoenix medallion and a bag of swag including Odessa notepad, Seraphym Wars pen, Mind the Signs bookmark, coverart Postcards for each book in both series AND an eBook copy of my newest release: Harpies, Book Two Seraphym Wars Series.

Catch Rebecca at any of these links:


BIO:
Rebecca Ryals Russell writes MG and YA Dark Fantasy while living with her family in a Victorian house on five acres of North Florida countryside. She also runs a Vacation Rental Log House on the property: Florida Black Bear Cabin.
She is a fourth generation Floridian having lived all over the state. The daughter of an Elementary-school principal and school secretary, she always knew she was bound for the classroom and for fourteen years she taught Middle Grades, preferring English and Creative Writing. She had several students’ works published in anthologies as well as her own poetry, photography and stories.
Her main interests are her four teenaged and young adult children and Irish hubby of many years. She enjoys spending her time writing, drawing, going to movies, reading, discussing philosophy and politics with her college-aged son.
Be sure to check out the special interactive Middle Grade Reader website Tween Word Quest for tons of information about Stardust Warriors as well as the other projects Rebecca has in the works and Under the Hat for all of her other works.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Writer Chat Wednesday: Joanna Penn!

Joanna Penn, Author
Welcome to Writer Chat Wednesday where each week I get inside the mind of some of my favorite authors. This week I have a very special Writer Chat, via Skype, with British author Joanna Penn. If aren't yet familiar with Joanna's work, let me be the first to introduce you to this fabulous author. Eavesdrop on our Skype Chat which took place February 2, 2012:



Joanna Penn is the author the thriller Arkane series. Her first book in the series, is Pentacost.

Pentacost was released January 6, 2011. Joanna's most recent release is Prophecy.

You can view my full review of Prophecy here. And you can view my Goodreads review of Pentacost here.

If you are a writer and you aren't already a follower of Joanna's popular blog, The Creative Penn, then go check it out. Joanna provides some of the most consistently helpful advice for writers that you'll find anywhere.

Connect with Joanna!



Have you read Pentacost or Prophecy? If so, what did you think? 
Do you enjoy reading books in the thriller genre? Are there Indie authors you'd like read or see a chat with?


February "Show the Love For Readers Book Giveaway" going on now! Post a comment to any blog post OR sign up for the mailing list to enter. See this Post for complete details.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Book Review Friday: PROPHECY by Joanna Penn



Joanna Penn has done it again, and then some, with PROPHECY. Her character Morgan Sierra is back in page-turning (or on an e-reader, perhaps it's called button-clicking) read. If you have not yet read Joanna Penn's first book, Pentecost. An ARKANE Thriller., then buy that now and read it first. While you could read PROPHECY without having read Pentacost and still enjoy it, reading Pentacost first will enhance your enjoyment of Prophecy.

Morgan Sierra is still kicking butt and taking names as she and her partner Jake travel the world and unravel mysteries in order to stop a super-hot megalomaniac from starting Armageddon. If you're a fan of Dan Brown, then Joanna Penn is the author for you. Like Brown, Penn weaves information about religious art, icons and history with modern-day fears. The result is a face paced read, one that kept me up past my bedtime because I wanted to know what happens next.

Here are three things I really love about this book:

1. RECITATION OF FACTS TO A MINIMUM. Books like this one, where there is a significant amount of relevant facts for the reader to know, can so easily become a non-fiction textbook rather than a fiction story. As a reader, I don't want to become aware of the author and feel like in the middle of a story, the author has butted his/her head in and is giving me a recitation of facts (one of the reasons I don't read much historical fiction). In Penn's first book, while I enjoyed it quite a bit (I gave it 4 stars), there were times that the author spent a few too many paragraphs (in my opinion) reciting the wonderful facts she had learned from her research.
In PROPHECY, this doesn't happen. The reading is smooth, recitation kept to a minimum. There are plenty of wonderful facts thrown in but it is handled deftly. AND I LOVE learning about the various places this book takes me. I enjoy whizzing around the world with Morgan Sierra and learning about religious artifacts and iconography and the meanings behind them. Joanna Penn knows her stuff and in PROPHECY, author Penn allows her character to do the talking.

2. KICK-BUTT FEMALE PROTAGONIST. I don't think I'm alone when I say that I could go the rest of my life without reading another book with a wimpy female main character who is like the proverbial princess locked in the tower waiting to be rescued. Joanna Penn has created a wonderful character in Morgan Sierra, a character that can easily maintain a whole series of books. I really enjoyed learning more about Morgan in this second book of the Arkane series and I love that the author didn't tell us everything about her in Book 1. She's doling the information out book by book. And Ms. Penn created a character with plausible explanation for why she can go head to head with thugs and bad guys (where if I were to try to land a flat palmed thrust to a bad guy's face I'd end up with a broken wrist). Morgan Sierra's history continues to unfold for the reader and her background makes her abilities and actions believable. Morgan is sexy, smart and kicks butt. It's fun going for the ride with her.

3. COMMERCIAL FICTION THAT CAN ALSO PROVOKE THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION. I enjoy a book that's just a fun ride as much as the next person. But I also like a book that may inspire me to use my noodle, think about an issue, perhaps even enter into a lively debate with others based on the issues raised. Joanna Penn tackles the issue of religious extremism in this book and she does it very well. Why does someone strap a bomb to themselves and blow themselves and many others up in the name of God? The author is never preachy and again, the tendency of some authors is to start to lecture the reader when they address these kind of themes. Author Penn avoided this tendency and allowed the themes to unfold naturally and without instilling herself into the story as a lecturer. I enjoyed very much Penn's treatment of this complex and troubling topic -one so completely relevant to our current world situation.

Kudos to Joanna Penn. Looking forward to the next installment.



5 Hawks to PROPHECY by Joanna Penn!



I use the Hawk as a symbol because I like hawks and because there is a hawk named Boadicea in my novel Emily's House.





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