Spiritborne (Spirit's War, #1)

Spiritborne by K.V. Wilson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was introduced to this novel on a free platform and loved it so much, I purchased a copy from Amazon. K.V. Wilson keeps the reader hooked from the very beginning, both with conflict and heartbreak, and I would recommend it to readers across genres.



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Author Interview with Sue A. Hart

Author Interview with Sue A Hart

Sue Hart is finally delving into the world of publishing and I, for one, couldn't be more excited. Her first novel, Challenges, is set for release on June 20, 2018, and is now available for pre-order!

She is a fantastic writer who has helped many authors while on her own journey - myself included. I am happy that she took the time to answer a few questions about her writing process, the stories that readers have fallen in love with, and her future publication plans. You can look into all the books that are up-and-coming from Sue Hart at Amazon.
Q. Does writing energize or exhaust you? A. Energize to the point of obsession. I can be on one story, get an idea for another and write multiple chapters at one sitting until my discipline returns enough to go back to the other book. It isn't unusual for me to write both. I bore easily and creativity is never boring. But I am self-motivating too, so I tend to go with the book that I know I can complete quickly. Q. Have you ever gotten reader's block? A. I never have. Stories come to me with the plot. I see it as it develops. Then I see the characters and their part in presenting that plot. What they are like, what kind of antagonist (silly, stupid, mean, jealous), is the heroine sweet, serious, fun? But I do not like wimpy females. Not even for an antagonist. People who whine about their situation don't creat fans. People avoid them. Sad is different. There can be a solid reason for it that the character has to overcome. I believe my methos of storytelling can come from many directions. I recently asked this question to other writers and they told me how they found inspiration. It boils down to one thing. Imagination. I believe many are born with it. A child will tell you stories. Ask them questions and they will give you a plot. Q. Do you try to be more original or to deliver to readers what they want? A. Both. I have discovered what kind of characters the majority of readers like. I know they like to laugh, have an adventure, and get so involved with the book, they can't sleep. Women like romance, men like it too, especially from a male perspective. Flirting wins both, especially with comedy thrown in. The plot comes from my interest and the topic I believe has some depth. If I have to spend hours researching, like I have for a few of my books, I want to be interested in it. I write Romance genre with comedy, adventure, suspense and so forth. It depends on my research topic. Not everyone like the same thing, but most enjoy situation comedy, even enough to read a book they have doubts about. Q. What other authors are you friends with and how do they help you become a better writer? A. This is a great question. I have over 300 friends who are authors because of reading sites I've belonged to over the years. I'd say that twenty have freely advised me with specifics, while many others just encourage. I did not study writing, journalism, or anything similar in school. If I had, by the time I began writing, I would have forgotten most of it. I know how to tell a story--like it comes to me. What I was ignorant of was the structure. How to make a reader gobble up every word while hating to put it down. This kind of information was trickled down from many ideas from writers. But how many quthors had books that were read cover-to-cover hating to put it down? What's the key? Those are the people you listen to. I did, but also to Hollywood. They introduce the character in a scene which begins the plot. Page one. They don't tell you abou tit like you're blind, they show it. If a book narrates the first page or more, my mind won't cooperate. Put me in the middle of it with action going on and I'm entranced. So I write what I like. Q. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? A. This question fits into what I'm trying to do. My readers on Wattpad didn't want my stories to end. Not because they were 'cut off' but because they loved the characters. So, I decided to connect each book I write, even though they are all standalone novels. I will present the older characters briefly to let the reader see them and their family. Down the line, those children will grow up and get their own book decades down the line. My blurb will guide a reader as to the order of guest appearances. These will connect the books over decades and continents. Q. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? A. Hold on. After explaining my plans and how I write, you know it's a high number. Three are heading for publication in the next few months. One needs edits, and then it's going to publication. Two are half-finished. Four have the outlines and first ten chapters. I'm trying to have them all in publication by the end of 2019. Want to know more? Visit Sue A. Hart on her blog: Books, Authors and Me. Again, her novel is set for release on Amazon June 20, 2018! Over 200,000 readers on Wattpad have already fallen in love with this book and I recommend it. Sue has the amazing ability to suck you into the worlds that she creates until you are not only believing the story is happening like a movie in your head, you are crying and celebrating along with the characters. You can read a sample of this story, along with the comments from readers that loved it, here.

Casting Power (Cast from Power, Book One)

Casting Power

by Sasha Leigh

You can't deny who you are if it's who you are meant to be.

Noreena Fallyn has spent her whole life hiding her magical abilities, even from herself, by having her mother bind her form using her so-called 'gifts'. All she wants is to be normal. She wants friends, family, a career without having magic in her life. It consumes you like an addiction. If you start to use, you can't stop until your every motion revolves around that next hit. She's seen it.

When her mother decrees that Nora has until graduation to remain bound, Nora knows that time is running out. She immerses herself in figuring out ways to detach the 'her' from 'her magic', so much so that she doesn't see what is happening all around her. And by the time tragedy strikes, it's too late.

Thrust into a new world where magic makes you who you are, can Nora find a way to keep the normalcy she craves? Or is she destined to show everyone why she hates her power so much? Why her power scares her, and why, if they were smart, they would leave her alone. But the people in her new world aren't smart. They are even less ready for the truth that her mother had tried to hide for so long: she is the most powerful of them all.

Casting Power, the first novel in Cast from Power, is now available for free preview on Wattpad.com! If you aren't on Wattpad, try it out and discover brand a fantastic platform for sharing and discovering brand new novels from amazing immerging and well-established authors.

Time Crunching

I really want to thank everyone for being so patient. I am ALMOST done with editing Fate's Revenge. It is so hard to dedicate the time to do this as I am immersing myself back into the writing community - there are so many authors I haven't talked to in ages, not to mention all of the new and exciting books that I have missed out on over the last few years! It's hard to dedicate myself to just one task. I want to read, edit, promote, search the web... it's endless, really.

Unfortunately, I still work full time and the demands from this are getting larger as I just won an award for receiving the top mark in my designation for 2017, plus a stream of industry and company events that I am obligated to participate in (adulting can be a pain!) are pulling me in many, many directions. First and foremost - ALWAYS - the majority of my time is for my daughter. At nine-years-old, she still says, "I love you," and asks for kisses goodnight, so I don't want to miss the few years that I have left with that.

To be serious, though, I will be posting a pre-order date for Fate's Revenge soon. I am hoping this will now be weeks rather than months away as I am in the last ten chapters and then all that remains is the formatting :) The cover is done. I have read all the way to where I left off writing the final book, Fate's Escape so Fate's Disguise will be set to release shortly after Fate's Revenge while I finish the last half of Fate's Escape. I hope everyone is as excited as I am to 'finally' get the fourth instalment out into the world.

Cheers!

Sasha Leigh

... And I Am Back!!!

I will keep this short and to the point, but I am back at in the writing game, and it feels great. I tried over the last three years to get into Twisted Fate, but unfortunately for everyone who's been waiting for Fate's Revenge to come out, I was whacked upside the head with life. First, I put aside everything and started a new job. Within this post, I worked hard to obtain my CAIB designation, which I was able to obtain in just eight-and-a-half months while this usually takes two years for all four exams. Not only did I finish quicker than most, I earned the top mark for 2017 within my region, and I find out this month (hopefully) if I have earned the top Canadian mark for 2017.

​That is the fun stuff. Unfortunately, it hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows. In January of 2015, I moved across provinces to continue work as a claims adjuster; however, in October of 2015, everyone within my division was laid off. At that point, I didn't know if I should move back or stay, and what I should do if I did stay as I didn't think I really wanted to continue as an adjuster due to the long hours and the stress related to the job. My daughter was doing fantastic in the new school system, but I didn't want to take the time away from her on evenings and weekends, so I went and wrote the exam for a general insurance license, and a week level obtained my level two general insurance license. At this point, I started to work as an agent for a direct writer, but again I did not enjoy this. So I moved to a brokerage . . . It has been a lot of work, learning the different aspects of the new role and increasing my education, but I feel like I finally know what it is I like to do with my days, and it leaves time on evenings and weekends for not only my daughter (who is now nine-years-old!), but for writing.

​Again, this was sidelined, though. In the summer of 2016 my grandfather passed away and then in April of 2017, my father passed away during the time that my daughter and I were moving to be closer to my job yet again. To say that I tried to fill my time with anything but thinking​ would be an understatement. Now, within the past few months, my mum has been getting worse and worse. We travelled home for Christmas and she seemed to be in great spirits, but the medication she was on made her quite . . . loopy is the only word that comes to mind. We spent two weeks and finally it was time to come home. A few weeks later, we had to go back as she was hospitalized and a lot of scary diagnoses were made. That said, she is home again and tests are continuing, and there is nothing to do but wait - hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Cliché, I know, but it is true nonetheless.

​So while we were home and spending hours in the hospital, I started to reread the books in the Twisted Fate series. Not only did I remember what I loved about the story, I remembered how lost I became in my writing, and how much that can help during trying times. For anyone that has been waiting for the next installment, I apologize for the delay. I hope you can bear with me a little longer while I become reacquainted with the world of writing, and I promise that Fate's Revenge is soon to come.

​Cheers!

​Sasha Leigh

CONSUME BOOK REVIEW

Consume by Melissa Darnell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


First off (the one negative) I do not like is that Savannah tends to give up quite easily and seems to fight only when prompted to do so. However, I do enjoy the fact that she has a strong set of morals and sticks to her beliefs stubbornly. The fights with Tristan - the way they butt heads now that they can actually be together - was endearing, though I couldn't understand how a girl who wanted something so bad could set it aside so quickly. There wasn't enough effort on the characters' parts to hold onto what they seemed to want for so long. Sure, there is an adjustment period after the kind of change that was affected at the conclusion of the second novel, but really? Come one. I get wanting the mother/father approval and having danger to worry about every time you so much as blink, but that's when you stop pushing away the hot guy you drooled over for years. Don't push him away. (Just my opinion) I think that there was enough obstacles for the characters to overcome - there was some great action scenes - without having to keep the relationship on the cusp of togetherness as it had been in the previous installments.

Savannah's struggle for her friends and family to accept her and be okay with her i.e. not terrified of her throughout the first three novels was well-plotted and I enjoyed how the author tied this up. The end was somewhat predictable; however, I enjoyed the twists Darnell threw in and look forward to the upcoming adventures to see how things continue for other members of The Clann. I gave this book five stars because, despite my "issues", it is a great series and still one of the best books I have read in a long time.



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COVET BOOK REVIEW

Covet by Melissa Darnell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The second book picks up right where the first one leaves off. Within the first few chapters, I had tears in my eyes, which I assumed boded well for the rest of the story. The connection between reader and character(s) was well established, the flow was relatively fast-paced (necessary to remain immerse, IMO), problems we can all root for to be solved were developed . . . and then it just died off. At least, it did for me.

I found myself skimming through the pages even though nothing had really changed. Savannah continued to discover more about her new life as her whole world changed, the tension continued to build between her and Tristan, readers discovered more about her friends - and their other half's - and Savannah faced obstacles she only had herself to rely on to navigate out of. Maybe it was because it felt like Savannah didn't fight or because book one was so good - I couldn't help but notice the difference in formatting, either, which was a minor distraction.

By the end, though, I was able to fall back into the story. It was explosive. Because of the beginning and end, I would recommend this to friends and picked up the third novel to see exactly how Tristan and Savannah's story ends.



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