Even death can’t stop one determined hermit.

After surviving a horrific attack by a dark fae, Theodora Edwards is happy to put the magical world of Fairie firmly in the past-until she learns the reason behind the abrupt disappearance of Farranen, the guardian of the gate. Unfortunately, her improvised rescue attempt ends in death-her death. As if surviving death isn’t weird enough, her magic takes on a life of its own and starts creating flawed ghosts. While struggling to control her magic, she’s forced to deal with a deadly band of pixies, amorous advances from the intimidating dark prince, and political upheaval in Fairie that’s left the entire realm in chaos.

Born and raised on the beautiful Canadian prairies, Everlyn prefers to spend her time outdoors with her family kayaking, skating, fishing, and hunting. She loves reading and writing about vampires, witches, fae and zombies that get to find their own version of happily ever after.

Avis: It’s my pleasure to welcome Everlyn C. Thompson to Your Next Favorite Author. Her paranormal/fantasy/romance novels are a romp through her imagination of the world of fairies, vampires, and lands filled with magic. 

Hi Everlyn! I’m so happy to have you on my blog, and I’m sure readers are excited to hear more about you as an author and what goes on behind the books you write. Here’s our first question:

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Everlyn: I do write under a pseudonym to keep my personal life private. 

Avis: That makes perfect sense. I know many authors who do this. Privacy is important, and keeping your professional and personal life separate is not easy to do otherwise! Here’s a question that is geared toward your approach to writing:

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Everlyn: I like to be original and write for myself. And there are so many different readers out there, that I’d never be able to give them all what they want.

Avis: So True, and good philosophy! We can’t please all people all the time, but I’m sure readers of your genre find a lot to love about your books and your writing style. Our next question is one I’m always curious about:

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

Everlyn: My best friend is an editor who dabbles in writing, so we meet once a month to talk about our WIPs and keep each other motivated. 

Avis: You are so lucky to be best friends with an editor! I love getting together with my writer friends and talking about writing, and it’s so true that to stay motivated and on track is to discuss your works and your ideas with friends and other writers! 

Your series The Grave Reaping Series has two books completed and a third on the way. The next question deals with writing books in a series:

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?

Everlyn: I like to keep my stories limited to nice, neat series, where all the loose ends are neatly tied up at the end, and then I move on to another series that has no connection to the first. 

Avis: I like nice tidy endings, but I notice in your individual books you leave room for the next book to continue, which I also love! 

It’s been so interesting to get to know more about you and your writing, and I was very excited to read Grave Reaping Shrew! I thoroughly enjoyed the second book in your series, and I look forward to book three!             Readers can find links to Everlyn’s socials below, and to buy links for this and all of her wonderful books! 

Avis: It’s my pleasure to welcome Everlyn C. Thompson to Your Next Favorite Author. Her paranormal/fantasy/romance novels are a romp through her imagination of the world of fairies, vampires, and lands filled with magic. 

Hi Everlyn! I’m so happy to have you on my blog, and I’m sure readers are excited to hear more about you as an author and what goes on behind the books you write. Here’s our first question:

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Everlyn: I do write under a pseudonym to keep my personal life private. 

Avis: That makes perfect sense. I know many authors who do this. Privacy is important, and keeping your professional and personal life separate is not easy to do otherwise! Here’s a question that is geared toward your approach to writing:

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Everlyn: I like to be original and write for myself. And there are so many different readers out there, that I’d never be able to give them all what they want.

Avis: So true, and good philosophy! We can’t please all people all the time, but I’m sure readers of your genre find a lot to love about your books and your writing style. Our next question is one I’m always curious about:

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

Everlyn: My best friend is an editor who dabbles in writing, so we meet once a month to talk about our WIPs and keep each other motivated. 

Avis: You are so lucky to be best friends with an editor! I love getting together with my writer friends and talking about writing, and it’s so true that to stay motivated and on track is to discuss your works and your ideas with friends and other writers! 

Your series The Grave Reaping Series has two books completed and a third on the way. The next question deals with writing books in a series:

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?

Everlyn: I like to keep my stories limited to nice, neat series, where all the loose ends are neatly tied up at the end, and then I move on to another series that has no connection to the first. 

Avis: I like nice tidy endings, but I notice in your individual books you leave room for the next book to continue, which I also love! 

It’s been so interesting to get to know more about you and your writing, and I was very excited to read Grave Reaping Shrew! I thoroughly enjoyed the second book in your series, and I look forward to book three!             

Readers can find links to Everlyn’s socials below, and to buy links for this and all of her wonderful books.

https://everlyncthompson.com

Instagram  

Goodreads  

Facebook  

TikTok 

Buy links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Review by Avis M. Adams:

Everlyn C. Thompson’s Grave Reaping Shrew, Book 2 in the Grave Reaper Series, takes us back to the land of fae where Theo and her shapeshifter, Dog go in search of her guardian and answers to questions like who killed her vampire husband?

            Sound like a mouthful of adventure? Hang on to your hats because this book does “pass Go” and does “collect $200.” This not-stop paranormal adventure brings together beings that don’t usually rub shoulders, vampires, faeries, shapeshifters, and brings them together to fight the evil Faerie Queen we met in book one of the Grave Reaper Series.

            Theo accidentally receives faerie magic in Book One, and she’s still learning to control it with embarrassing and deadly consequences. When her ex-husband disappears and it looks like murder, she goes in search and is attacked and killed, but her magic, and the fact that she’d been bitten by a vampire herself, keeps her alive, and now she not only can’t control her faerie magic, but she must learn how being a vampire is going to affects her. The problem is that the folks who should know this answer don’t, and they’ve only heard of one other case like Theo’s. That person died.

Theo pushes on, though, because no one messes with her guardian and gets away with. Our saucy heroin must contend with Leif, the Dark Prince, who wouldn’t mind sampling Theo’s magic, and her guardian, Farranan, who left her heartbroken and alone. Ozzy the vampire/detective sent to work on her ex-husband’s disappearance, is as baffled by her magic and vampire blood keeping her alive as anyone else, but Theo has other people/fae to worry about.

Readers will fall in love with Theo as she talks smack to creatures, warriors, and royalty in this paranormal world. Thompson adds a level of humor that lifts the dark magic off the page and keeps us turning the pages as we root for Theo against all odds. Will she save her guardian? Will he reciprocate her feelings? Will she finally succumb to death, or will she morph into a creature with more power than ever seen before?

Thompson leaves readers biting their nails to find the answers to these questions and more. This action-packed series is on a roll and will appeal to paranormal/romance readers and those just looking for a strong female character who won’t take no for an answer and finds out the hard way how to answer the calling of her heart. This is a five-star read.

By Avis M. Adams

A mash-up of three children’s book classics tells Alice, Wendy, and Dorothy’s story if one were to become a psychiatrist, another a cowgirl, and another a detective. McElrath’s imagination is on fire.

When she was seven years old, young Alice Liddell went gathering mushrooms in the woods. After finding several beneath an ancient oak, she popped one into her mouth.

An hour later, a large, anthropomorphic rabbit came along, wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch, complaining about being late for some appointment. Alice later remembered following it down a dark hole…

Thus, Alice began learning early on about the psychoactive effects of particular plants and fungi. Now, 40 years later, psychiatrist Dr. Alice Liddell-Dodgson takes on two nine-year old patients who have had remarkably similar experiences. One is the daughter of a London investment banker. The other is being raised by her aunt and uncle on a wheat farm in rural Kansas.

Wendy Moira Angela Darling and Dorothy Gale are as different as two young girls can be, but they – as well as Dr. Liddell-Dodgson – have all experienced what she terms as ‘delusional psychosis.’ After a year of ‘Doctor Alice’s’ treatment and counseling, Wendy and Dorothy have accepted that their experiences in ‘Neverland’ and the ‘Kingdom of Oz’ were nothing more than visions, the product of extreme physical and emotional trauma – little different from Dr. Liddell-Dodgson’s own girlhood delusions of ‘Wonderland.’

But were they delusions?

What are the odd slippers Dorothy was found wearing the morning after a cyclone? Where did they come from and why does she refuse to take them off? And why does Wendy’s mother speak so strangely about old Celtic folk legends? What do they have to do with a buccaneer ancestor and a Lost Cause of two centuries ago?

Even Dr. Alice, a woman who has dedicated her life to science, finds herself confronting disturbing reminders of a manic-depressive haberdasher and a dangerously psychopathic monarch with a fetish for decapitation . . .

K.J. McElrath started writing professionally for search engine optimization firms in 2006, and thus has written about everything from insurance and litigation to diet pills and lingerie. His first published work of contemporary fiction was Tamanous Cooley, a modern-day take on Dante’s The Inferno with a Native American twist. 

Mr. McElrath is also a composer of numerous works for orchestra and winds as well as incidental music for theater and the score for a stage musical, The Adventures of Dex Dixon, by Pacific Northwest playwright and screenwriter Steve Coker. He is known for his witty song lyrics in the style of masters such as Ira Gershwin, Al Dubin, Johnny Mercer, et. al. Several sets of Mr. McElrath’s song lyrics appear in The Loves of Natalie Greenbaum, an LGBT romance series set during the Big Band Era and the Second World War.

Avis: Welcome to a new edition of Your Next Favorite Author! I’d like you to meet Kevin, K.J. McElrath, a friend of mine since graduate school, and a multi-talented musician, singer, performer, and author! He’s gifted, and I’m happy to introduce his latest work today, Three Lost Girls, the surprising story of three girls from the pages of our favorite children’s classics! 

            Shall we begin? Here’s our first question.

Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

Kevin: Only when the plot doesn’t hold my interest, or I don’t care about the characters.

Avis: Sounds like you move on to the next novel like I do! So, you probably haven’t had reader’s block! Our next question is about names:

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Kevin: I’ve actually done that. I still self-publish some graphic novellas and comics under a pseudonym. 

Avis: Cool! You really are talented! Now I want to know the pseudonym! How about this question?

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

Kevin: Depends. Most fiction, no – but non-fiction topics such as history, politics and society and science, I think detachment would be very helpful.

Avis: Good point! Non-fiction allows one to remain detached to a certain extent. Great answer! Here’s the next question.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

Kevin: There’s my former spouse, Athena – she reads or listens to my material and always has helpful feedback. She is also a merciless editor. There is also a gentleman in Florida who writes under the name Staten Rall, with whom I share an interest in 19th-Century U.S. history.

Avis: Finding a merciless editor is a gift! Having other writers in our lives improves out own writing by leaps and bounds. Our next question always interests me.

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?

Kevin: I tend to favor book series. It gives me more opportunities to explore the characters, how they grow and change over time and respond to historical events and trends. Even when I do different series with different characters, most of my stories take place in the same ‘universe,’ and occasionally, these characters meet and interact briefly.

Avis: I can see that playing out in Three Lost girls. The historical facts you include really peak the reader’s interest. Ready for our last question?

If you could tell your younger writing-self anything, what would 

it be?

Kevin: Stick to writing what you know. Don’t try to tell a love story when your 17. Life experience is necessary in order to write a convincing narrative. Also, if you’re setting your story in a different time period and/or place, be prepared to do a whale of a lot of research. Even if you change historical events and geographic locations (as Mark Twain did), it’s good to ‘know the rules’ so you can break them convincingly.

Avis: LOL! What great advice! These are words of wisdom that every writer could ascribe to! 

            It’s been great getting to know more about you as a writer and published author, and I look forward to seeing the next installment of this series! Yes readers, there are two more books that follow Alice, Wendy, and Dorothy on more adventures through the early to mid-20^th century!

            For more information about K.J. McElrath see his social links below and check out my review of Three Lost Girls below!

Kevin’s Social Links!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/891979061341607

https://www.instagram.com/kjmcelrathauthor/

https://kjmcelrath.com 
https://3lostgirls.com

Amazon: Three Lost Girls

The Review of Three Lost Girls, by Avis M. Adams

            KJ McElrath is releasing another novel, and this one is a mash-up of Through the Looking Glass, The Wizard of Oz, and Peter Pan. McElrath uses his prodigious knowledge of history and historical events to infuse this mash-up with influences of the early 20^th century to the 1930 and 40s, and it works. 

            McElrath fans will revel in identifying the “Easter Eggs” he plants as the story unfolds. There is always a subtext to twist what our heroes know and understand, and there is always an exploration of economy, class, and gender roles and identity as the story progresses, so even though this could be considered a historical novel and retelling of these classics, it is also very current in its discussions. 

            New readers to McElrath might get lost in the long windup in chapters one and three, but hang with the story because once McElrath pitches the ball, the game is on, and this book becomes a fast paced and very enjoyable read.

            So let me back up a bit. Have you’ve ever wondered what happened to Alice to make her follow that white rabbit, or if Wendy’s flight with the fairies and Pan captured your imagination? Have you wondered how Wendy or Dorothy fared after their return from Neverland or Oz? Did you ever wonder how they resolved what happened to them?

            McElrath grapples with those questions and more and brings in a much older Alice as the guide and therapist to counsel Wendy and Dorothy. We meet psychiatrist Dr. Alice Liddell Dodgson in her practice at The Liddell-Dodgson Asylum for Juveniles in 1905. Wendy is her patient and Dorothy’s case has come to her attention. Dr. Liddell-Dodgson is well poised to help the girls deal with all of their issues, and the good doctor, as a trained scientist, will use her experiences and knowledge to bring both girls back from the trauma of their fantastic experiences, Alice begins in 1905 shortly after the inception of the talking cure in 1895, and continues her work with the girls into the 1940s. 

            The book moves between three points of view, Alice, Wendy, and Dorothy, and we see the experiences and the retelling of these favorite children’s tales retold through the eyes of Alice, a scientist, and Wendy and Dorothy as prepubescent children. By the end of the book, two young women have come to terms with their supernatural experiences in an interesting and unexpected way. 

            To say that this book is entertaining is an understatement. Readers won’t be able to put the book down, and the wonderful references to each of these time-honored tales raises the reading pleasure. I highly recommend this novel but be prepared to wade through the first several chapters. I promise, it’s worth the wait! This is a well-crafted and highly entertaining book, and I give it four stars.

Interwoven fates. Otherworldly mates. Destiny awaits.

Wielding a trio of enchanted Elven weapons to battle a dark wizard and a legion of diabolical dwarves, Tristan is faced with the impossible choice between saving the woman he loves or defending his endangered kingdom. Inexplicably compelled to remain in the sacred forest where he hears the voice of her heart, the heir to the throne of Cornwall incurs the wrath and scorn of his army when he decides to hunt for his captive mate.

Her verdant magic greatly enhanced by the mystical Morgane la Fée, Issylte must summon a coalition of Naiad nymphs and celestial fairies to destroy a nascent evil as she fights to reclaim her rightful crown. 

When the Black Widow Queen unites with a malignant menace and a ghost from Tristan’s haunted past, the Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight must ally with a triad of shapeshifting warrior tribes to defeat a Viking Trident and defend their trinity of Celtic kingdoms.

Enthralled with legends of medieval knights and ladies, dark fairy tales and fantasies about Druids, wizards and magic, Jennifer Ivy Walker always dreamed of becoming a writer. She fell in love with French in junior high school, continuing her study of the language throughout college, eventually becoming a high school teacher and college professor of French.

As a high school teacher, she took her students every year to the annual French competition, where they performed a play she had written, “Yseult la Belle et Tristan la Bête”–an imaginative blend of the medieval French legend of “Tristan et Yseult” and the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”, enhanced with fantasy elements of a Celtic fairy and a wicked witch.

“The Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight”—book 3 and the conclusion of “The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven” trilogy–is a blend of her love for Celtic legends, the romantic French language, and epic fantasy. It is a paranormal fated mates adaptation of the medieval legend of “Tristan et Yseult” (Tristan and Isolde), interwoven with Arthurian myth, dark fairy tales from the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande, and otherworldly elements such as Avalonian Elves, Druids, forest fairies, and magic. 

Explore her realm of Medieval French Fantasy. She hopes her novels will enchant you.

Avis: Welcome to another edition of “Your New Favorite Author.” Today we welcome back my colleague and friend, Jennifer Ivy Walker, whom I shall refer to as Ivy if that’s okay. I’m so happy to talk with you again and hear more about your writing process and other things behind the scenes of your writing life. 

The release of The Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight, book three of her The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven Trilogy, lands on the summer solstice. How magical and appropriate for your fantasy/romance! 

My first question is one I grapple with myself. So, let’s begin!

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Ivy: Yes, I considered a pseudonym because I have just written three contemporary steamy romances, which is quite different from my usual genre of Medieval French Fantasy. But I decided not to use a nom de plume and keep my name so that I might build a larger reader base.

Avis: I totally agree with using one name for all your writing. It makes good sense because authors are part of this business of promoting their books and generating sales, right? Great answer!

            I always love knowing more about my favorite authors and who they hang out with, and my next question gets to the heart of that.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?  

Ivy: I’m friends with several authors, including Laura Strickland, whose steamy medieval romances are to die for, and Mary Morgan, whose Scottish heroes are sexy, scandalous, and swoon worthy! Both have inspired me to write passionate paranormal romance and medieval fantasy. But, unlike their works, my novels all have a uniquely French flair.

Avis: What great writers to have for inspiration and friends! You do have that wonderful French flair that sets you apart! It’s what draws me into your novels. I just love it! Writing a series is such a challenge, and my next question deals with that idea.

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? 

Ivy: My first three books, including this summer solstice new release, The Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight, are a continuing story which unfolds throughout The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven trilogy. 

            I recently realized that it’s often preferred to have stand-alone novels, so that’s what I plan to write in the future.

For example, my novel, Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle (to be released November 15^th), is a spinoff story of my trilogy but a separate novel in its own right. I also plan to write a new series based on the characters and themes introduced in my trilogy, but each one will be a standalone novel, and my three contemporary romance novels are all separate, unique works.

Avis: Wow! That’s such good news for all your fans. I can’t wait to read more books in your unique themes in this world you’ve so masterfully created. I look forward to reading them all!

            For more information on Jennifer Ivy Walker and her novels, check out her social links below, and please scroll down to read my review of The Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight, her wonderful third book in the The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven Trilogy  releasing today!

Jennifer Ivy Walker’s Socials:

Website:  https://jenniferivywalker.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22671046.Jennifer_Ivy_Walker

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-emerald-fairy-and-the-dragon-knight-the-wild-rose-and-the-sea-raven-book-3-by-jennifer-ivy-walker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferIvyWalker

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/bohemienneivy

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jenniferivywalkerauthor/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenniferivywalker

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Emerald-Fairy-Dragon-Knight-Raven-ebook/dp/B0C28XRHR2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WC4MNXW6LNY2&keywords=the+emerald+fairy+and+the+dragon+knight+jennifer+ivy+walker&qid=1683425307&sprefix=the+emerald+fairy%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-emerald-fairy-and-the-dragon-knight-jennifer-ivy-walker/1143179531?ean=2940161094518

Website:  https://jenniferivywalker.com/

Review by Avis M. Adams

Jennifer Ivy Walker’s The Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight, Book 3 of the Wild Rose and the Sea Raven Trilogy, is the perfect grand finale to a tour force reimagining of the Tristan and Isolde legend. Walker takes this story of forbidden love and turns it into a story that conquers all the forces that would try to destroy it.

This novel picks up where book two left us, with Isolde and Tristan preparing to win back their rightful kingdoms of Cromwell, Lyonesse, and the Emerald Isle, and complete their quest to stop the evil warlock Voldurk, thwart Queen Morag, and destroy La Fée Des Ombres, Malfleur. A tall order for any young couple starting marriage and a family; however, where magic is involved, do our lovers stand a chance? In this paranormal, fantasy, they certainly do.

The love our heroes Tristan and Isolde share transcends the world of mere mortals and with their network of support from the lands of elves and fairies, they call upon every resource, human and supernatural to fight their war against evil.

With their childhood kingdoms at stake, along with their reputations, Tristan as King Mark’s heir, and Isolde as her father’s heir, their mission is one to reclaim their honor and their kingdoms. But this war against the mighty sorcerer Voldurk, evil stepmother Queen Morag, and the sinister, dark-fairy Malfleur, seems ill-fated and doomed to fail. 

Walker masterfully develops the conflict between the forces of good against evil and leaves us with nail-biting tension. She develops villains we love to hate and battle scenes that keep us on the edge of our seats. Can Tristan survive his clash with the mighty sorcerer? Can Isolde survive her stepmother’s will to kill her and rule in her stead? 

Walker presents her rendition of this legend, recreating a form of storytelling that originated from an oral tradition, the ways of expressing prowess and emotion through repetition of titles and terms of endearment. She expertly weaves this style into the characterization of our heroes and shows Tristan and Isolde as we’ve never seen them before, victorious in the fight for their love.

Jennifer Ivy Walker delivers a historical/paranormal/romance triumph in The Emerald Fairy and the Dragon Knight. Fans and readers of magic and myth will love this grand finale and third book in The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven Trilogy, a five-star read.

On the turbulent high seas, an archeologist must protect a historic shipwreck from treasure hunters—not fall for one.

Bio:

D. V. Stone is an award-winning, multi-genre, traditionally and independently published author. She writes books people want to read. Whether romance or fantasy, contemporary or mid-grade, her stories are about the importance of friends and family. About overcoming obstacles while often with humor. Around the Fire is a popular weekly blog where she introduces both established and new authors giving an insider’s look into their lives and books as well as tidbits about her own life. D. V. is also a bi-monthly contributor to Still Moments Magazine sharing beloved recipes.

Now retired, she is a full-time author and incorporates her life experiences into her books. After a varied career as a former Emergency Medical Technician, the proprietor of a coffee shop, and a small restaurant/ice cream stand. The years following were as a manager in an animal emergency hospital, and her last position in a human medical office.

When not behind the wheel of 2Hoots—a 41-foot long 13.2 feet high 5th Wheel camper, she rambles around town in Northern New Jersey in a white Camaro. She also loves travel and history.

D.V. is a wife to an amazing husband, mother to one son, and not your average grandma to three beautiful grands. A woman of faith, she believes and trusts in God.

“My greatest pleasures are spending time outside with friends and family, cooking over the open fire, sipping a glass of wine, and reading.”

Hali, her rescue dog, always reminds her to let readers know, “Woof, woof.” (Loosely translated as support your local animal rescue).”

https://www.dvstoneauthor.com/

Buy at this book at Amazon or wherever books are sold!

Review by Avis M. Adams:

D.V. Stone’s “Sea Hunter” is part of The Mortar & Pestle Series. All the books are stand-alone and by different authors. In “Sea Hunter,” a historical, paranormal romance set in WWII, Stone gives us Zahra Corbin, Ph.D., and underwater archeologist as our hero in search of artifacts for Corbin University. Zahra is sailing home on a ship when she encounters Mr. Wrong, Hugh. In the war, she danced and sang in the USO, and Hugh thought that made her easy. When she differs with him, he tosses her overboard, and Zahra has her first glimpse of Davey Jones’ Locker, and a bright light that might be the long-lost Sea Wraith, rich in archeological artifacts.

An experienced diver, Sarah realizes hypothermia is setting in, but Jack Alexander sees something go overboard and motors over to check it out. He finds Zahra and pulls her from the clutches of the deep. Zahra regains consciousness and on his boat Freya, and the sparks are immediate. Zahra is thankful, but when she learns he really is a pirate, She doesn’t want anything to do with him.

            Fast forward a couple weeks to the halls of Corbin University of History and Archeology where Zahra teaches. Her College Dean, Malcomb Armitage, informs her that she has been chosen for an underwater archeology project to recover the Sea Wraith, but her little toss in the drink episode has left her with PTSD and a feeling of drowning that incapacitates her, but Malcomb persuades her to overcome her fears. She regrets her decision when she finds she is working with a rich entrepreneur and antique seeker, Gilbert Carter, a man she despises.

Then she learns she’s also working with her rescuer, Jack Alexander, because he owns the missing piece of the map, so she’s in the frying pan without a spatula. Little does Jack or Zahra know that Carter hired Nicklaus Roth to infiltrate the group as Jack’s first mate and inform him of Jack and Zahra’s movements. Carter also calls Hugh Turnbull, the tough who tossed Zahra in the drink when she rebuffed his amorous advances. Hugh is Carter’s strong arm and gopher and will be Carter’s second in command as he follows Jack and Zahra and the students from CUHA on their search of the Sea Wraith. When Jack hires Nick, little does he know, he has a rat in his wheelhouse, and thus Stone has set up her novel with multiple twists and lots of tension in the first two chapters!

            Zahra is a woman of her time, but she is singularly independent with a fair streak a mile wide, and she just wants to do what’s right, but as they closer to finding the treasures of the Sea Wraith, can she convert Jack, the man she can’t seem to keep her hands off of? To be fair, he can’t keep his hands off her either, and every time they meet, the tension is thick, and their encounters steamy. 

            Stone melds, mystery, mystique, history, romance, and adventure in the rollicking tale of love and treachery on the high seas, and in the middle of it all is the mystical pestle calling out to both Jack and Zahra. This is a wonderful tale of love and betrayal with villains you’ll love to hate, and couples who would love to love, but—well—it’s complicated! This is a five-star read, and a page turner to the very end.  

And furthermore:

The Pestle is used in each of the seven stories in this series, and the magical vessel comes complete with this folklore:

“A wisp of smoke, a swirl of promise, a breath of destiny…a message within the Mortar & Pestle for those who want to believe.

Throughout time people have sought their heart’s desire. But true love is often elusive.

Carved with ancient Norse runes, the Mortar & Pestle shows paths to happily-ever-afters.

Once you capture the Mortar & Pestle’s scent of magic, you’ll want to read all seven individual romances.”

She gave “skeleton in the closet” a whole new meaning.

Who wanted Lissa Charney dead? The list was as long as your arm….but which one actually killed her? The last thing Mermaid Swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik expected to find when she opened the closet door was nasty competitor Lissa Charney’s battered corpse nailed to the wall. When Holly’s colleague is wrongly arrested for Lissa’s murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth sticks her nose everywhere it doesn’t belong to sniff out the real killer. Nothing turns out the way she thinks it will as Holly matches wits with a heartless killer hellbent for revenge. 

Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author, Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries. 

She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect. 

Website: www.authorsusieblack.com

E-mail: mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com

Hi readers! Welcome to YNFA with Susie Black, cozy mystery author of Death by Pins and Needles. 

Avis: This is your second visit to YNFA, and I’m so glad you’re back with another gripping cozy for us to devour! Your second book in the Swimsuit Series follows Holly Schlivnik once again, as she defies the authorities and solves yet another mystery at the California Apparel Mart! Here’s our first question:

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

SUSIE: Accurately and realistically writing male characters. Fortunately, I have two experts-a husband and a grown son- who I can and do consult regarding male personality traits, how a male character would approach, handle, or react to a situation versus a female etc.

Avis: You are so lucky to have willing family to help you fine tune your male characters! That’s worth so much to a writer! I have trouble with my male characters too, and the male members of my crit groups call me out when I get it wrong! 😊

Here’s our next question:

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

 SUSIE: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. In my opinion, this book and The Diary of Anne Frank should be required reading for every young woman coming of age. 

Avis: Two thought-provoking and powerful reads. Thanks for these choices, and I know how hard it is to choose just ONE! Both titles are excellent. Our next question:

How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking 

care of the reader? 

SUSIE: By delivering to the reader what I promise to. I do this by not leaving the reader hanging at the end, and by giving the reader all the information they need to figure out whodunit on their own. But I make them work for it by throwing in enough red herrings to twist the story into a surprise as to who the killer is. So far, no one has told me they figured out whodunit! 

Avis: Good answer! I know I’ve never figured it out, and I really tried on this one! It will surprise readers, for sure! Next:

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

SUSIE: I think that some aspiring writers do not understand the importance of writing what they know or do not do sufficient research on a topic and their writing lacks the authenticity that readers demand. 

Avis: Amen, sister! Readers are savvy, and they will point out the gaps if the research isn’t thorough! Good call! Next:

What is your writing Kryptonite? 

SUSIE: Overusing certain words. 

Avis: I must ditto you on this one, sister! Next question:

Have you ever gotten writer’s block?

SUSIE: No, not yet…One way I’ve avoided it is by allowing the characters to take the story from the middle to the end. Of course, if I don’t like what they have done, they know I can change it. Or, if I absolutely HATE what they did, they know I can either write them out of the story or kill them off…so they are highly motivated to do a fabulous job.

Avis: LOL! Way to manage your characters! Characters do drive the story, so way to let them keep you in writing mode! Next question:

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym? 

SUSIE: Susie Black is my pseudonym. When I chose to write under one, I had to select one I could remember. LOL My real middle name is Susan and Black is the English translation from the German of Schwartz, my legal surname.

Avis: Very interesting! All I know is it’s working well for you and looks great on your covers. 😊 Next question:

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

SUSIE: I have four contracted and completed, but unpublished books that will all be published in 2023. I have one half-finished book that should have been completed a long time ago but keeps getting pushed to the back of the line. I am determined to complete and submit it to my editor before 2023 is over. 

Avis: Wow, Susie! That’s a library! You’ll fill a shelf at the bookstore before you know it! Congratulations, and such good news for us because you give us such great stories! Next question:

What does literary success look like to you?

SUSIE: When a reader says, “I could not put your book down. I stayed up all night reading it because I simply had to find out what happened next.” 

Avis: Another great answer because we are nothing without our readers, and if they love your stories that much, it truly is success! Last question:

What’s the best way to market your books? 

SUSIE: Because I find it impossible to quantify success with most marketing ploys, my knee-jerk reaction to this question was to throw in the towel and hire someone who knows how to do it. But I have found that doing guest spots on podcasts and blogs, and Facebook book clubs are some of the most effective ways to introduce myself and my books to a widespread audience of captive listeners. 

Avis: Marketing is difficult to say the least, but I like your ideas and might borrow the FB book club idea! That’s a good one!

Thank you so much for joining us again on YNFA, Susie! I can’t wait to see what you have coming next, but in the meantime, readers, make sure you pick up a copy of Susie Black’s Death by Pins and Needles. Also, check out Susie’s socials below, and for more details on the book, please read my review of this five-star cozy from award-winner, Susie Black!

Review by Avis M. Adams

Susie Black is at it again! Her newest release in the Holly Swimsuit Mystery series, Death by Pins and Needles, takes us back to the California Apparel Mart with Holly Schlivnik, the Yentas, Queenie, and the world of swimsuit fashion for another murder mystery, one that only Holly can solve.

Holly Schlivnik and the Yentas join forces to withstand the competitive backstabbing that takes place at the California Apparel Mart. Enter Lissa (same as Melissa but leave off the Muh) Charney. Luck seems to follow Lissa as she moves from a successful job in sales for Barely There Swimwear to showroom manager with Royal Swimwear, so why does everyone hate her? Hmmm.

When our hero, Holly, gets stuck in a marketing meeting, she has to rush back to the Mart for a late Friday afternoon meeting with “her majesty” Sue Ellen MaGee, a hard to please buyer. But Holly can’t find her keys to the office. When she goes in search of Lissa who has a spare, Holly finds something that makes her laugh hysterically. Yes, Holly has inherited her nana’s fear of death, and she overcompensates with nervous laughter, so when she finds Lissa’s bloody corpse, she does just that. 

When she finishes laughing, she calls 911. The police follow the clues, which leads them to former showroom manager, newly reinvented multi-line independent sales rep and mother of two, Joan Binder. Joan travels the roads in search of a sale. Where once she worked from a desk, she now works out her car and cheap hotel rooms. Demotion doesn’t begin to cover what Lissa has done to Joan. 

The police see motive written all over this woman, and the blood on her coveralls doesn’t help. When the police arrest Joan, Holly knows they have the wrong person, and she won’t let Joan take the fall for a murder she knows Joan didn’t commit.

Holly goes on the hunt, but along the way she picks up enemies like lint on a mohair jacket. She can handle; hate mail, which don’t frighten her but provide clues, and she proves Joan’s innocence, which means the cops have to search harder for their perp. Holly has really stuck her chutzpah in it now.

Our hero goes through a long list of haters who all have cause to snuff the cold-hearted Lissa, like Eileen, head of her own company, who fell in love with Lissa, but Lissa spurned her. Ah ha, your say. But then there is the handsome recipient of her love, Rez Javadi, or Bobby as he likes to be called, an immigrant who is in danger of losing his green card. He fears deportation, and Lissa refused to marry him to help out. 

Intriguing so far? This delightful cozy follows the intrepid Ms. Holly Schlevnik as she forges her way from clue to clue, against the wishes of LAPD homicide detective “AJ” Yakamura, and Holly does so with all the flair and humor that Suzie Black brings to her all her novels. 

Black has crafted another gem with Death by Pins and Needles. Fans will adore this fast-paced frolic through death, and readers new to Black will delight in her mastery with the cozy mystery genre. Death by Pins and Needles reads like a stand-alone novel but beware because you’ll want to read the first one, Death by Sample Size, too!

Be prepared to read into the night, as Holly Schlivnik’s search for the murderer takes her to dark warehouses and dark, bankrupt businesses to solve the mystery of who murdered Lissa Charney. This is a riveting five-star read!

Sometimes there’s no going back.

Allison Lee wilts under the bright light of celebrity after being exposed as a shape-shifting monster. She’d rather be behind the camera than in front of it. Being under the tooth and claw of her monstrous mother is even less enjoyable. All she desires is for everything to go back to the way things were before she discovered her true nature. 

But, after she accidentally kills a mysterious man sent to kidnap her, she realizes piecing her old life back together is one gnarly jigsaw puzzle. When Allison’s sometimes boyfriend Haji goes missing, Allison and her squad suspect his unhealthy interest in magic led to his disappearance. Their quest to find Haji brings them face-to-face with beings thought long ago extinct whose agenda remains an enigma.

DAN RICE pens the young adult urban fantasy series The Allison Lee Chronicles in the wee hours of the morning. The series kicks off with his award-winning debut, Dragons Walk Among Us, which Kirkus Reviews calls, “An inspirational and socially relevant fantasy.”

Avis: Welcome, Dan Rice, to Your Next Favorite Author! I’m so happy to meet another YA fiction author from the Pacific Northwest! First, I have to say, I love your cover! It gives reader’s an idea of what’s inside the book, which is why we’re here! 

Let’s begin, shall we? My first question is one I’ve been warned not to ask, but out of all the questions I sent to you, you were brave enough to tackle! Here it is:

Do you believe in writer’s block? 

Dan: I don’t suffer from writer’s block. Do I believe in it? After a fashion, I suppose. In most cases, I suspect what people call writer’s block is a lack of planning. To write a novel, you must juggle the plot, subplots, and a whole cast of characters at once. Trying to make everything up as you write the draft leads to a greater cognitive load. I think people get overwhelmed by the minutia they need to keep track of, become frustrated, and eventually give up. They call this writer’s block. I believe the remedy for this is upfront planning. I wrote extensively about my planning process for Author News Daily https://authornewsdaily.com/planning-to-streamline-your-writing-process/.

Avis: Good answer, and I encourage people to check out Dan’s link to a really great article! Here’s another question that gets some great responses:

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Dan: Writing energizes me! It’s the best time of the day! On a typical weekday, I’m at the computer by five a.m. when everyone else in the household is still asleep. I never have a hard time leaping out of bed to write. Often, I’m awake before my alarm. Even on the weekend, I usually arrive at the computer by six a.m.

Why is writing so energizing? It’s so much fun stringing together stray thoughts into a plot and characters. When I first started writing, I didn’t enjoy editing one bit. Now, I find the editing process one of the most rewarding aspects of writing. It’s incredible how much your story can improve when you take the time to cut away the excess words, tighten up the plot, refine the characters, and plug all the plot holes. It still astounds me!

That’s not to say everything about being an author is rainbows and unicorns. Marketing is a tough nut to crack and is essential if you want anyone to read your book. While it’s not exhausting, it takes a bite out of my precious writing time. For the busy author, time is priceless.

Avis: Another great answer! No wonder you have so many books out! I too like the wee hours of the morning to write. And I agree, marketing takes precious time away from the writing! I really appreciate your comments about revision as well. Turning revision into fun is totally key! Here’s a question that many readers and aspiring writers wonder about:

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Dan: The one I fell into was not editing nearly enough. After I finished my first novel-length rough draft, I told my writing group’s resident writer my work wasn’t good enough to spend time editing. He told me I should edit it anyway to complete the entire novel writing process from planning, drafting, and finally editing. I followed his advice half-heartedly and was soon working on a different project. What a foolish lad I was! I have subsequently discovered that it is during the editing process, which can take as long as writing the rough draft, that life is breathed into the story.

Another problem that impacts aspiring authors is lack of focus. At least, based on what I read on Twitter, it is. Many people proudly proclaim to be working on multiple projects at once. I think this is a recipe for not accomplishing much. Writing a novel requires concentration and long-term commitment. In my mind, juggling multiple writing projects is the antithesis of this. Now, a full-time fiction writer might be able to pull off numerous projects at once successfully, but even then, it’s an uphill battle leading to projects that drag on and on and on. For example, how long has George R.R. Martin been working on Winds of Winter? A decade? I contend that his many authorial commitments are slowing down his writing process, and he is a full-time author.

Avis: Wow! These are excellent pieces of advice from an author who is producing good results! It’s sometimes difficult to listen to the wisdom and advice of more experienced writers, but it sounds like you did eventually, and now at the wonderful books you have to show for your hard work!

            Thank you, Dan, for joining us today, and giving a bit of insight to you and your writing process! Please check out Dan Rice’s social media links, and his other books! And don’t forget to scroll down for my five-star review of his latest work, The Blood of Faeries, releasing from The Wild Rose Press February 

Review by Avis M. Adams

Dan Rice’s The Blood of Faeries: The Allison Lee Chronicles Volume 2, is a YA fantasy, action/adventure that brings to the stage dragons, faeries, skaags, and magic. Rice continues the saga of Allison Lee. Set in the Pacific Northwest with environmental and social undertones, Rice picks up thus story after the battles in which she finds out what she is and that her perfect mother is the reason why. They are both skaags—monsters.

Allison’s new life requires a protection crew and has attracted the media who now know she’s a skaag, a shapeshifter capable of morphing into an alligator, eel abomination. Hence, Allison’s new nickname, monster girl. Her fan base has made her something of an idol but the haters, and yes there are many, have turned her into something to fear. What Allison wants to avoid at all costs is a “one-way trip to a lock-up on a military base.” 

            Her biggest problem is how to return to “normal.” She’d really like to go to school, hang out with her best friend Dalia, and she’d like her teen life back please. Fat chance any of that will happen with her protection detail trying to save her from “the crazies” who want her dead. Rice makes sure she knows in the first couple chapters, though, that she can’t trust her own bodyguard who lets in an assassin, Timmy the little kid next door who takes seemingly innocent selfies with her to post on Monsterspotting.com destroying her anonymity, and then there’s Haji. He’s the boy she locked lips with, the boy she hoped she could trust.

Allison and her friends slip through the surveillance, on their way to a protest march about the environment, but when Haji badgers Allison to agree to an interview with a podcaster keen to host a monster on his show, she gets angry. No. Pissed is more like it, and when the “sleeper” within her threatens to wake, she begins to fear herself and what she is capable of, i.e., murder, mayhem, and general chaos on a grand and epic scale.

Then Haji disappears, and Allison has a very bad feeling. Haji’s increased interest in magic has led him to some of the sketchiest places in Seattle because in this world it is well known that heroin enhances the capabilities of magicians, and Haji would do anything to impress Allison with his magical skills to win her back. Allison and Dalia enlist a creature they can trust, Mauve, a dragon hidden in human form, to join their team and rescue Haji, but what they encounter proves to be too much even for Mauve.

Dan Rice develops a strong female protagonist in Allison, and her sense of loyalty to her friends gets her in and out of trouble. She would never hurt her friends by transforming into a skaag, and her decision never to kill again is becoming harder to resist, but will she have to in order to save humanity?  She grapples with these internal struggles as she tries to save Haji from the evil scientists who have found a way to enhance human abilities and form a magical army to fight the monsters. How are they doing this, you ask? By using the blood of faeries. 

Rice’s masterful plot twists and action scenes will keep you reading as you root for Allison and her friends in what seems at times a lost battle for the lives of her friends. Magic, dragons, skaags, and technology straight out of the best science fiction has to offer are the fuel that launch this novel in page turning overdrive.

            Dan Rice’s novel is a force of magical creatures against evil, but it’s up to Allison to figure out what is real, what is illusion, and how can she manage and control the powers within her own body. This paranormal, fantasy, adventure takes on the environment, the establishment, and any form of authority to show a strong female hero at work to make the world a better place.

            Until the next time.

            Dan Rice’s The Blood of Faeries: The Allison Lee Chronicles Volume 2 is a five-star page turner that will captivate your imagination.

To discover more about Dan’s writing and keep tabs on his upcoming releases, join his newsletter: https://www.danscifi.com/newsletter.

Dan’s social media links:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanSciFi
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRiceWrites
• BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/dan-rice
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danricewrites/
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@danricewrites
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPLHTWSP
• Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-blood-of-faeries-the-allison-lee-chronicles-book-2-by-dan-rice
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64682970-the-blood-of-faeries
• Author’s web site: https://www.danscifi.com

Review by Avis M. Adams

Dan Rice’s The Blood of Faeries: The Allison Lee Chronicles Volume 2, is a YA fantasy, action/adventure that brings to the stage dragons, faeries, skaags, and magic. Rice continues the saga of Allison Lee. Set in the Pacific Northwest with environmental and social undertones, Rice picks up thus story after the battles in which she finds out what she is and that her perfect mother is the reason why. They are both skaags—monsters.

Allison’s new life requires a protection crew and has attracted the media who now know she’s a skaag, a shapeshifter capable of morphing into an alligator, eel abomination. Hence, Allison’s new nickname, monster girl. Her fan base has made her something of an idol but the haters, and yes there are many, have turned her into something to fear. What Allison wants to avoid at all costs is a “one-way trip to a lock-up on a military base.”

            Her biggest problem is how to return to “normal.” She’d really like to go to school, hang out with her best friend Dalia, and she’d like her teen life back please. Fat chance any of that will happen with her protection detail trying to save her from “the crazies” who want her dead. Rice makes sure she knows in the first couple chapters, though, that she can’t trust her own bodyguard who lets in an assassin, Timmy the little kid next door who takes seemingly innocent selfies with her to post on Monsterspotting.com destroying her anonymity, and then there’s Haji. He’s the boy she locked lips with, the boy she hoped she could trust.

Allison and her friends slip through the surveillance, on their way to a protest march about the environment, but when Haji badgers Allison to agree to an interview with a podcaster keen to host a monster on his show, she gets angry. No. Pissed is more like it, and when the “sleeper” within her threatens to wake, she begins to fear herself and what she is capable of, i.e., murder, mayhem, and general chaos on a grand and epic scale.

Then Haji disappears, and Allison has a very bad feeling. Haji’s increased interest in magic has led him to some of the sketchiest places in Seattle because in this world it is well known that heroin enhances the capabilities of magicians, and Haji would do anything to impress Allison with his magical skills to win her back. Allison and Dalia enlist a creature they can trust, Mauve, a dragon hidden in human form, to join their team and rescue Haji, but what they encounter proves to be too much even for Mauve.

Dan Rice develops a strong female protagonist in Allison, and her sense of loyalty to her friends gets her in and out of trouble. She would never hurt her friends by transforming into a skaag, and her decision never to kill again is becoming harder to resist, but will she have to in order to save humanity?  She grapples with these internal struggles as she tries to save Haji from the evil scientists who have found a way to enhance human abilities and form a magical army to fight the monsters. How are they doing this, you ask? By using the blood of faeries. 

Rice’s masterful plot twists and action scenes will keep you reading as you root for Allison and her friends in what seems at times a lost battle for the lives of her friends. Magic, dragons, skaags, and technology straight out of the best science fiction has to offer are the fuel that launch this novel in page turning overdrive.

            Dan Rice’s novel is a force of magical creatures against evil, but it’s up to Allison to figure out what is real, what is illusion, and how can she manage and control the powers within her own body. This paranormal, fantasy, adventure takes on the environment, the establishment, and any form of authority to show a strong female hero at work to make the world a better place.

            Until the next time.

            Dan Rice’s The Blood of Faeries: The Allison Lee Chronicles Volume 2 is a five-star page turner that will captivate your imagination.

Mirror, mirror, on the lake. Reveal the path the queen will take.

Hunted by the Black Widow Queen, Issylte–a healer with the verdant magic of the forest–must flee Avalon with the two finest knights in the Celtic realm, both wrongly accused of treason. The trio travels to Bretagne, where Issylte heals a critically injured wolf and obtains fiercely loyal, shapeshifting allies.

In mystical Brocéliande, Issylte becomes a warrior priestess of the Tribe of Dana and otherworldly mate of the Blue Knight of Cornwall, discovering with Tristan a passion that transcends all bounds. When she becomes the Lady of the Mirrored Lake, sworn to defend the sacred waters of the Goddess, Issylte must undertake a perilous quest to discover what priceless object lies hidden in its murky depths.

As a nascent evil emerges in a fetid cave, Issylte and Tristan must face a diabolical trio that threatens their lives, their love, and their kingdoms.

Enchanted. Enflamed. Entwined. Can their passion and power prevail?

Bio:

Enthralled with legends of medieval knights and ladies, dark fairy tales and fantasies about Druids, wizards and magic, Jennifer Ivy Walker always dreamed of becoming a writer. She fell in love with French in junior high school, continuing her study of the language throughout college, eventually becoming a high school teacher and college professor of French.

As a high school teacher, she took her students every year to the annual French competition, where they performed a play she had written, “Yseult la Belle et Tristan la Bête”–an imaginative blend of the medieval French legend of “Tristan et Yseult” and the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”, enhanced with fantasy elements of a Celtic fairy and a wicked witch.

“The Lady of the Mirrored Lake”—book 2 of “The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven” trilogy–is a blend of her love for medieval legends, the romantic French language, and paranormal fantasy. It is a paranormal fantasy adaptation of the medieval legend of “Tristan et Yseult” (Tristan and Isolde), interwoven with Arthurian myth, dark fairy tales from the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande, and otherworldly elements such as Avalonian Elves, Druids, forest fairies and magic. 

Explore her realm of Medieval French Fantasy. She hopes her novels will enchant you.

Avis: I’m so excited to welcome Jennifer Ivy Walker my blog today! Can I call you Ivy? Thanks! I’m so excited for you upcoming release! I had the privilege of reading The Lady of the Mirrored Lake, and I have to say, you keep the story alive and exciting! So please tell us a little bit about your second novel by answering our first question.

This is book 2 in the Wild Rose and the Sea Raven series. 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? 

Ivy: The Lady of the Mirrored Lake, my new release, is book 2 of The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven trilogy. Although each book does have its own conclusion (not a cliffhanger), the stories are sequential because it is a trilogy, like “The Lord of the Rings”. 

Avis: Readers are going to love this series! I can’t wait for book 3! Here’s our next question:

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book? 

Ivy: This trilogy is based on the medieval legend of Tristan et Yseult (Tristan and Isolde), but I also incorporated a lot of Arthurian myth, which I researched in French. I read several books in French containing dark tales from the enchanted Forest of Brocéliande—birthplace of Merlin, Lancelot, and the Lady of the Lake Viviane—which I wove into my trilogy as well.  For example, I researched the legend of the Gallizenae priestesses, which inspired my shapeshifting Mélusines– mermaid sea dragon warriors. I also researched the French legends regarding Avalon and decided to make the real archipelago of les Sept-Îles—a group of islands off the northwestern coast of France in the English Channel–the realm of my Avalonian Elves.

Avis: This sounds like fun, not research! But I love to research too! Your research really paid off for your second novel because it is filled with all of those wonderful mythical creatures! I love it. Our next questions is:

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? 

Ivy: A mermaid!  I have lived by the sea my entire life—from my childhood spent growing up along the southern coast of Maine to the beaches of Florida where I walk for miles each evening, all year long. The ocean is my soul, and I have always had a deep, spiritual connection to it and all its creatures.

Avis: I envy you your long walks along the beach! I can see how a mermaid would appeal to you. Your love of nature and the natural world are also reflected in your novels. It was wonderful to learn more about you as a writer and what influences your characters and books! We’ll see you for book 4 soon, I hope! Please scroll to the bottom of the blog for my review of Ivy’s new release!

Here are links to Ivy’s socials!

Goodreads Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22671046.Jennifer_Ivy_Walker

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-lady-of-the-mirrored-lake-the-wild-rose-and-the-sea-raven-book-2-by-jennifer-ivy-walker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferIvyWalker

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/bohemienneivy

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jenniferivywalkerauthor/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenniferivywalker

Author web site: https://jenniferivywalker.com/

Review by Avis M. Adams

The Lady of the Mirrored Lake, by Jennifer Ivy Walker continues the saga of Tristan and Issylte, and their famous love affair. Walker weaves the French language through her story like a master and embellishes her retelling with the same flourish that we found in her first novel, The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven.

We pick up our lovers on their way to Lancelot’s chateau La Joyeuse Garde. While there, Issylte, renamed the Lady Opale to maintain her disguise from her evil stepmother. We are introduced the next family of characters who will inspire and unwittingly become instruments of evil for Voldurk and The Black Widow Queen, Morag, Issylte’s wicked stepmother, as they try to capture and kill Issylte.

Issylte’s power grows as she is indoctrinated as a member of the Tribe of Dana and the Lady of the Mirrored Lake. She travers the dangerous landscape of magical portals that takes her from one location to another and allows her to fight alongside Tristan to save the one’s she loves as well as herself.

Once the pair are joined through a tribal ceremony of the Dana tribe, their love is consummated every separation they must endure to save their friends or fight off their enemies is painful and a trial they can hardly endure. Every reunion is a celebration of sexual joy. Steam rolls off the pages between Tristan and Issylte, and the sparks are much hotter than the first installment of Walker’s series. 

Walker takes this famous story and makes it her own. This book carries on the magical tale of two lovers who must fight against all odds to be together. She leaves us drooling for more as she sets the scene in this novel for the final installment to be released sometime in spring 2023. I highly recommend this wonderful read and give it five stars!

Twin sisters on a perilous journey to remove an ancient curse . . .

Clara and Angelica Grace have never met ghosts. They’ve never sailed on a tall ship, ridden wild unicorns, or fought with magical weapons. Instead, the teenage twins have a wretched existence, ignored by their troubled parents in a rundown home and tormented by the town’s snobs.

Everything turns topsy-turvy all of a sudden when discovery of an ancestor’s hidden journal with an odd key to an unknown door leads them into an entirely different realm.The girls go on a thrilling oceanic voyage to search for mysterious whales, train with a seasoned warrior, and are befriended by a wise Master. But all is not a bouquet of lovely lilies…they are hunted by a cunning warlock and must rid themselves of The Warlock’s Curse.

Bio:

Fascinated by the works of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, C.B. Oresky began writing her own fantasy novel, The Warlock’s Curse, after dreaming of being whisked off to an alien realm. Besides her debut novel, she has seen four of her short stories published in a small, national literary press: Conceit Magazine. When she’s not writing, she can be found wandering through the woods, dancing flamenco, or planting flowers in her garden. She currently lives in a small town in Connecticut with her bodybuilder husband, their exceptionally naughty Scottish terrier and Siamese cat, ten chickens, Mr. Tiggy the hedgehog, and a yard filled with majestic flowers.

Avis: Hi Caryn! I’m so glad you have joined us for today’s blog post! I love middle grade stories that feature strong female characters, and your book does just that, with twins Angelica and Clara! What a great read! But let’s get to the interview because I know readers want to get to know more about you. Let’s begin with our first question:

Do you believe in writer’s block? 

Caryn: I most certainly believe in writer’s block. There are just those times (hopefully short) when one finds oneself stuck and unable to write anything new.

Avis: I agree. For me it’s usually when something happens in my life that throws me off center. The next question is:

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Caryn: Writing energizes me. I love to have ideas and words just flow through me. For additional inspiration I often write in my favorite bookstore, slurping down a frozen drink after settling down in a comfy armchair.

Avis: I love the image of sitting in a bookstore writing! For me it would be a hot cup of black coffee. 😊 Here’s our last questions:

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Caryn: I never considered writing under a pseudonym. Instead, I used the initials of my first and middle name, followed by my last name…as did my favorite authors: J.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis. I like to think big!

Avis: Always good to think big! I like it! It’s been such a pleasure to get to know more about you! I know people will love your new novel, The Warlock’s Curse. For more information check out Caryn Oresky’s social media links below, and don’t forget to scroll to the bottom for my five-star review!

Social media links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-warlocks-curse-cb-oresky/1141875759?ean=9781509242887

www.facebook.com\thewarlockscurse

www.twitter.com\@cbOresky

http://www.tiktok.com\@cbOresky

www.instagram.com\thewarlockscurse

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22747540.C_B_Oresky

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/c-b-oresky

Web site link: www.cbOresky.com

REVIEW:

            C.B. Oresky’s The Warlock’s Curse takes twins Angelica and Clara Grace to a land far away beyond our one mooned planet to a place where drogans roam the skies and Foulmouth, the One True Master, rules, or does he?

            Angelica and Clara may look alike, but their personalities and temperaments are opposites. Outgoing and brave, Angelica talks the timid Clara into the adventure of their lives to escape the doldrums of their existence at Seacrest, a rundown mansion on the New England coast town of Coldport. Rumored to be haunted, the dilapidated mansion creaks and moans as if alive. It’s rotting porch and leaky roof cause shame for the girls and stress for the parents, who can’t afford to live any place besides this house built over a century ago by their distant grandfather Claudius Grace, a sea-captain believed lost at sea. 

Picked on by the Fabulous Five, an all-girl gang of bullies, the sisters long for better times and the family riches that were lost by their relatives. If they could only help their parents, maybe the fighting would stop, and they could live normal lives with nice clothes and an occasional vacation away from the dreadful Seacrest.

Oresky builds a world of ghosts and magic, or gems and swords that possess power beyond imagination, and portals that transport the girls to a world of reconciliation and great danger. They meet Urtleby, the famous warrior general who turns the tides of war; Foulmouth, the warlock who has cast the spell that ruined Angelica and Grace’s family fortunes; Aomar, an enlightened being that aids them; and they meet their distant ancestor, Claudius Grace, who wants nothing more than to defeat the evil warlock and return his family to the status it once knew. 

Angelica and Clara may be opposites in temperament and bravery, but they work together to overcome evil in this daring adventure that will take readers to fantastical realms, where dreams are worth fighting for and reaching for the stars is not impossible. 

C.B. Oresky’s The Warlock’s Curse provides hours of reading escape for children and adults alike. This book earns five-stars for creativity and magical adventure. 

by Avis M. Adams

 

Sun, sand… and secrets

Blurb: Jessica Stratton’s long-cherished dream of opening her own Folk Art gallery in an idyllic Cape Cod setting finally comes true. However, her start-up is anything but smooth sailing. 

            Her ten-year marriage hits the rocks and when the hunk next door – a brooding ecologist on a mission to save the planet – proves too irresistible to ignore, she’s got to relearn the rules of the dating game while figuring out how to run a successful boutique. 

            Unfortunately, someone’s far too interested in an 19^th century example of advertising art in her collection and will go to any means – legal or illegal – to acquire it. 

            Maybe the planet isn’t the only thing that needs saving…

Bio: Corinne LaBalme lives in France and loves everything about it… except eating snails. Her articles about European fashion, food and fun destinations have appeared in The New York Times Travel section, Diversion, La Belle France and France Revisited. Her favorite place to write? Any Parisian café with a good croissant connection…  

            The setting for Summer People is founded on childhood memories of vacations on Cape Cod and based on my mother’s (very real) house in Brewster. 

            However, the romantic hero of Summer People — Rick Martell — is the kind of guy who exists only in our sweetest & beachiest dreams…. sigh! 

Avis: Welcome to another interview Corinne! I’m so happy to see you again and hear more about your latest wonderful book Summer People! Let’s begin with this question:

Did you find Summer People easier or more difficult to write than French Ghost and why?

Corinne—Both Summer People and French Ghost sprang to life organically. What’s been much harder to write is the second book in the Paris Ghost-Writer Series. Too much backstory from Book One? Too little? Hopefully, thanks to a great editor, that question has been resolved and French Toast should be in print by the end of 2022. But then… there’s Book Three…

Avis: Yay! Book Three? I’m so excited to read more in the Paris Ghost Writer Series! But we want to learn more about Summer People. Our next questions is:

What was the hardest scene for you to write in Summer People?

Corinne: The picnic scene on the Truro beach was definitely the hardest to write. The reader already knows that Rick and Jessica are attracted to each other… so why can’t THEY figure it out? Yes, yes… they’ve both been burned before. Too bad there’s no soothing aloe lotion for bruised souls.

Avis: That picnic scene was a great scene, but you handled the tension and attraction so well! What about this question:

I loved the idea of dualling antique stores between Max and Jessica. Did you have a reason for setting this up as a major element in the story, and what was that reason?

Corinne: Oddly enough, this romance didn’t take its first-draft shape around a pair of lovers-to-be. The genesis for Summer People is a hunk of fantasy real estate and the people came second. Therefore, Wilder House is just as big a part of the book as Rick and Jessica. (Frankly, I’ve always thought that the brooding presence of Thornfield Hall and Manderly push Jane Eyre and Rebecca into similarly tricksy ménage à trois territory.) Those houses, alas, burned right down to the ground. Jessica, thank goodness, has installed 21^stcentury fire alarms.  

Avis: I love it when the setting becomes as much a character as the characters! That cute Victorian house is well described, and I wish I could have visited it! Thank you so much for participating in another interview and giving more insight into your latest publication, Summer People!

If readers want more information on Corinne LaBalme and her books, see the links below, and please check out the review that follows the links! Until next time. read on!

Twitter: @corinnelabalme

Website:  https://corinnelabalme.com/

Buy Links: 

• https://www.amazon.com/Summer-People-Corinne-Labalme/dp/1509243275/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1658155757&sr=8-1
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61449367-summer-people?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=VMK07ykgHK&rank=1

Review: Summer People, Corinne LaBalme’s latest novella, introduces Jessica Stratton who finds her fairy tale marriage to a New York socialite Maxwell Stratton is nothing but a sham, just as she is opening her summer project. Wilder House Antiques in Cape Cod has been a dream for years, a place to showcase her Americana antique collection in a house she prefers to her New York City townhouse.

            LaBalme takes us from New York City and the hustle and bustle of Stratton Gallery Antiques to the beachside town of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Jessica loves everything about Cape Cod, the beautiful Victorian house she bought and renovated, the beach, the small laid-back community, but for her new neighbour, Cape Cod is perfect. 

Rick Martell is attractive, but also overbearing. Her realtor friend, Nancy, talks him into helping Jessica, and he regrets meeting Jessica from their first meeting, when she beats him with a fireplace iron because she thinks he’s broken into her house and crashing on her floor. Then when he tries to help her move the heavy and cumbersome Hiawatha statue into her house, he is so offended, since he has indigenous ancestry and storms out. 

Jessica is grateful for Rick’s help but unsure how to mend the bridges she keeps burning with him. LaBalme creates a perfect storm for Jessica when Eddie Winthrop returns after years in Europe. He steps into Jessica’s role as Max’s right hand person at the Stratton ‘Gallery and allows Jessica to embark on her dream of creating her own antique store in Cape Cod, but the blessing turns on our hero and becomes a curse in more ways than one. 

LaBalme sets up a suspenseful story of one woman’s journey to independence and selfhood. Jessica learns she is the tough, smart woman her friends think she is, and that she can make her dreams come true. The mystery comes in a grand finale that will surprise and delight readers. This is a quick summer read, but it is a book for all seasons! It is sure to satisfy romance readers everywhere and is definitely deserves five-stars. 

By Avis M. Adams

Can she help a lost soul, jumpstart her love life, and dispatch her nagging mother’s spirit?

Marni Legend is about to publish her thirteenth novel. Gus Zuckerman has been hanging around since his death in nineteen-ninety-five. With her deadline looming and her recently deceased mother refusing to move on, can Marni dispatch both spirits and still have time for romance?

Armed with sarcasm and a warped sense of humor, her innate ability to stumble into awkward situations lands Marni in the midst of a car theft ring. As her circle of friends becomes populated with felons and possible murderers, the lines blur around whom she can trust.

Juggling a hot new beau with one hand and rekindling an old flame with the other, she may need to put on the brakes with one. Should she pick the probable criminal who may know Gus’s fate or play it safe with the sweetheart from her past? She’ll need more than her special abilities and quick wit to navigate the twists and turns of this paranormal mystery.

BIO: Terry Segan resides in Nevada. The beach is her happy place, but any opportunity to travel soothes her gypsy soul. The stories conjured by her imagination while riding backseat on her husband’s motorcycle can be found throughout the pages of her paranormal mysteries

Avis: Welcome back Terry! I’m so glad you agreed to join us again and talk about your second novel, Spirit in Tow! Your paranormal premise is intriguing in this one and so creative! Marnie is such a strong female protagonist and a sassy, risktaker! Let’s start this interview, shall we? Here’s the first question:

Did you find your second book easier or more difficult to write than your first?

Terry: I found the second book easier because I’d learned so much from both the writing process and the publishing process of my first book. Since I grew up on Long Island (pronounced Lon Giland by natives), I found it easy to channel my inner sarcastic klutz when fleshing out Marni’s character. My first book, Precious Treasure, had a more serious tone, while Spirit in Tow leans more toward humor and light-hearted banter with a little bit of danger thrown in.

Avis: I noticed the lighter tone, and that’s what I found so appealing! The banter between Marnie and Gus is hilarious at times! I’m so happy to hear this is book one of a series, which leads me the next question:

How do you see the storyline progressing in this series? 

Terry: Marni will continue to be a klutz and find herself in sticky situations—it’s part of her charm. While I love the town of Northport where she has settled, not all the stories will take place there. You see, Marni loves to travel, and some of her adventures will take her to other cities and states. Besides, I’m sure the residents of Northport would welcome a breather once in a while. There will also be recurring characters but not in every book. This way, the reader never knows who will pop up—dead or alive.

Avis: Hmm. A protagonist who loves to travel? Sounds like an author I know! LOL! It sounds like you scope out settings for your stories as you travel, combining two passions! Brilliant! Which leads us to our next question:

What was your hardest character to develop?

Terry: I’d have to say her blast from the past, Kendall Kramer. He needed to be a sweet memory while also being a viable candidate to rekindle Marni’s love life. I prefer writing quirky characters (my head is filled with them—don’t venture there alone), but Kendall needed to be more mild-mannered. When I write, I’m a pantser and don’t use an outline. So I struggled with composing his personality and whether he’d end up changing in a phone booth and wearing a cape whenever Marni got into trouble. I believe he turned out okay for the role he plays.

Avis: Kendall turned out perfect! He was a surprise character to me, and I enjoyed the role he played in the story! Well done! I really enjoyed this novel, and I really look forward to the next adventures of Marni Legend! Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy release day schedule to give us a look into your writing world! It’s been fun, and until next time! I’d also like to thank all the readers checking in. For a review of Spriti in Tow, and make sure to get your copy! Terry’s social media links, website, and buy links can be found below!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Tow-Marni-Legend-Book-ebook/dp/B0B372WLF7

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spirit-in-tow-terry-segan/1141622246

Author Website: https://terrysegan.com/

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/AuthorTerrySegan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrysegan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeganTerry

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Terry-Segan/e/B087YQGXMD

Review

Terry Segan’s second novel, Spirit in Tow, Book One in the Marni Legend series, takes us beyond the grave with strong willed and clever Marni Legend. Segan creates a world where ghosts who have unfinished business visit those who have special abilities to see and hear the dead, and author Marni Legend is one such person. Marni inherited this family trait from her mother, and her grandmother taught her everything she knows about helping the troubled spirits who find her for help. 

            Segan wastes no time in introducing Marni to the dearly departed Gus, a local tow-truck driver turned miscreant who died in 1995. However, Gus’s problems are a stark departure from the usual finding of lost deposit box keys or locating where the savings bonds were hidden. Marni embarks on a journey into a darker realm, to solve Gus’s murder and soon finds herself embroiled in the world of crime and deception. 

Segan’s introduction of Marni’s family happens at the funeral of her mother. An event made all the more dramatic by a sister-dynamic that is explosive at best. To make matters worse the family is notified that their mother’s remains might not be buried with their father’s. Next thing Marni knows, her mom has returned with definite opinions on how to handle the situation.

Segan’s masterful handling of all these unruly characters unfolds a story of intrigue, suspense, and deadly consequences for Marni as she sleuths her way into a ring of car-jackers who will not stand for nosey writers asking too many questions or showing up in places where she doesn’t belong. 

This gripping story will have you reading into the night to find out “who dunnit,” and Segan keeps the suspense going, teasing us with juicy tidbits of information until the final satisfying page. 

I look forward to the next adventures of Marni Legend. She’s one sassy character who won’t rest until she’s found all the answers helped her latest spirit cross over. This book is a five star read.

by Avis M. Adams