Happy Book Birthday, Surrogate Sea!!!

The day has finally arrived! Liliavaine's and Muirigan's adventures are open for the world to see now, so what are you waiting for? Go Snatch A Copy! First two links for paperback, last two for ebook. 

Danielle Shipley has a huuuuuge giveaway going on that you can read about on her blog (here, specifically), but here's this to take a look at!



There are a ton of ways to enter. 
-Each copy of a Wilderhark Tale that you buy, paperback or e-book, results in a 10-point entry.
-Buying any other copy of Danielle's work results in a 10-point entry. These include Inspired, One More Day, The Toll of Another Bell, and Legends and Lore. 
-A review of The Surrogate Sea on any reviewing interface - blog, Goodreads, Amazon - gives a 7-point-entry for each instance.
-Change your social media profile picture! This can be done on Twitter or Facebook most noticeably. Change it to The Surrogate Sea for launch week and get a 7-point entry.
-Share/Tweet about The Surrogate Sea's launch! One point for each time.
- Share/retweet any “Surrogate Sea”-related post Danielle tags with: *Share/RT for entry in #WilderharkTales6 giveaway!* = 1 for each time

Lastly, here's the schedule for this week.

Thursday, March 19th =

Jodi L. Milner, Author (Spotlight)

Tuesday, March 24th =

Book Marauder (Spotlight)

D. Lee Jortner (Author Interview)

The Flight Reflex (Guest Post)

Shout with Emaginette (Guest Post)

Wednesday, March 25th =

The Black Hound’s Daughter (Letter from Author to Character)

Laney McMann (Flash Fiction)

Rewan Tremethick (Author Interview)

Thursday, March 26th =

A Drip of Truth (Flash Fiction)

Dreaming Awake (Character Profile)

The Ink Caster (Character Interview)

Rie Sheridan Rose – The Bardabee Poet (Letter from Character to Author)

Friday, March 27th =

Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Flash Fiction)

The Feather and the Rose (Author Interview)

Scribbler’s Sojourn (Poem)

Saturday, March 28th =

Flame Writer (Character Interview)*****

Four Thousand Words (Author Interview)

YA Chit Chat (Character Profile)

Sunday, March 29th =

Mere Joyce (Spotlight)

The Parasite Guy (Character Profile)

Monday, March 30th =

Julie Antonovich Reece (Flash Fiction)

OriginiquEquanimity (Guest Post)

Ravenhart (Guest Post, Author Interview)

Have at it, and go get The Surrogate Sea!

BRT: ARC The Surrogate Sea by Danielle E. Shipley

Title: The Surrogate Sea

Author: Danielle E. Shipley

Number of Pages: e-book

Rating: 4/5

Release Date: MARCH 24, 2015 - NEXT TUESDAY!

Add it on Goodreads!

(An ARC was provided by the author for an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.)

My Goodreads review states that this novella, for me, can be described in one word: "unexpected." This still holds true. It isn't unexpected in a bad way. Another phrase I used was "benefit of the doubt."

Being completely honest, I didn't like this novella's conclusion. For all of the tales of true love that we've read in The Wilderhark Tales up until now, how this book ends does not feel like true love. That's why I'm sincerely hoping this turns out to be a Part-One-of-Two ordeal.

Everything else remains just as amazing as has come to be expected though. Each character has their own motivations, feelings, and methods of addressing conflict. Reading The Wilderhark Tales can be like reading a pop-up book: the characters are still leaping off the pages! 

The progression of the plot was steady and never felt too rushed or too slow. Especially considering Shipley's transitions from Liliavaine to Muirigan to Ionquin to Vesparya (and more at times), she did a beautiful job of keeping their stories separated and at the same time joined together, all the while keeping the perception of time well in place.

As for the plot's twists and turns, there are no shortage of twists throughout this novella! Unexpected, indeed. "Whoa," "Huh?," and "What!" were all uttered at least once during my reading. The Surrogate Sea's got it all - sibling rivalry and love, scorned love, playful banter, conflict and resolution. Not to mention we get to see all of the awesome cast introduced in The Sun's Rival! (*Gasp!* More Lumónd and Laraspur!)

Though, as I said before, the resolution didn't satisfy me. It might satisfy others, but it didn't work for me. The final pairing that much of the book focused on (not Muirigan's) doesn't settle well with me, and I'm sincerely hoping that I'm right that the tale of The Surrogate Sea isn't quite over.

Yet, even if it is, that doesn't change the fact that this was a deeply enjoyable read and inspired a myriad of feelings. This book is especially a good novella for moral debates. This is indeed one of the most investing books of the series.

In conclusion, Danielle Shipley's fantastic writing has struck again! 

Read The Surrogate Sea next Tuesday, and prepare for the blog tour starting on its release! Stop by Jodi L. Milner's blog (click!) for the beginning of the tour on the 24th. My own blog tour stop will be the following Saturday, so check back here then too!

By the way, have the link to Danielle's blog as well. She's got all of the other details! 

Lastly, The Sun's Rival is on sale for 99 cents for a limited time! Hurry! 

W3: Have An Ambient Day!

I just wanted to share this. (click!)

It's a website with music to set a mood. Not really music, but white noise. I know some people work much better in certain environments, and you can play at having that sort of environment with this mixer. 

You can select one you like and decide the frequency of some of the noises, how loud they are, and whether they sound at all. It's pretty neat! I don't normally like ambient stuff, but it can get me out of a slump, for sure.

Of course, this isn't only for writing. This can be used for anything! 

Have a good day, everyone!

Random Monday: Coffee

Last night after work I pulled into the Starbucks drive-thru at 9:57 PM - three minutes before they closed. As I pulled up to the window after ordering, I apologized. "I just got off work and hurried over here..."

"Hey, you've got time," the very-kind barista said. "When you need coffee, you need coffee, right?"

Right. 

I don't know about you, but when I wake up in the morning, I usually have two thoughts on my mind. One is, naturally, "Do I have time to write before I go to school today?" and the second is, "I need coffee."

I used to hate coffee. That probably comes from my dad drinking it black and me trying to conform to his tastes when I was younger, but I couldn't get past how bad black coffee tasted. (He's since started using creamer.)

It was around the time I went to visit one of my best friends that he took me through a Starbucks and got me a Gingerbread Latte. It was November. I took a sip. It was alright. The more sips I took, the more I liked it. (Yes, Phil, this is your fault. :P)

When I got back home, I went a little Starbucks-crazy. I became a member and earned my gold card in less than a month.

I have officially become a coffee-holic. My mornings have to involve coffee, or it turns out to be a sore day indeed. It's only gotten worse since my parents got a Keurig. I just find it amusing how, when I was younger, I very solemnly vowed to myself to never enjoy that adult drink.

And now here I am, typing this up with a mug of coffee. Starbucks Veranda Blend, if you were curious.

Are there any other coffee fiends out there reading this post? How do you take your coffee? Does it get your brain going or do you just enjoy the taste? 

Have a happy Monday, everyone, and enjoy the wonderful weather we've been having!

BRT: The Sun's Rival by Danielle E. Shipley

Title: The Sun's Rival

Author: Danielle E. Shipley

Number of Pages: e-book

Rating: Can I give this a 10/5?

Released: December 2, 2014

Summary

Next to the uncommon beauty of her sisters, Princess Laraspur feels invisible, until she learns the two most powerful kings in the world have their eyes fixed upon her. But the ensuing double-courtship goes horribly awry, requiring Laraspur to brave the secret perils of earth, sea, and sky, on a quest that will try the very essence of her being.

Review

"AHHH!!"

Right, then. That would be my author (Flame Writer) running around talking in tongues about this book. So, this is Ashley Vaandere talking, gonna try to scramble up a review from some of the notes she's got, while she continues to do her thing over there.

Character exploration: Phenomenal. Not a page goes by without a hint toward some development.

Plot progression: Wondrous. It never moves too fast or too slow and keeps the reader hanging on for more.

Plot twists: Scream-worthy. There aren't very many twists, but the ones that exist are scream-worthy.

Flame Writer says, "One of the early seeming 'plot twists' isn't much of a twist, but I don't think it was meant to be. Given the title of the book, the choice Laraspur makes seemed rather obvious. However, that happens near the beginning, so that choice isn't meant to be so much of a twist rather than the framework for an oncoming twist."

With that, this book focuses on Laraspur, one of the daughters of Edgwyn and Rosalba, and plants her in the middle of a story that Edgwyn told her when she was a little girl. With the help of her brother Ionquin she'll have to, as the blurb says, brave many perils on a time-defying quest.

"He was such a jerk!"

Yes, he was. She's referring to Laraspur's antagonist, not Ionquin. And yet, according to her notes, he is an interesting one. He's not an "Oh, I'm so evil!" kind of antagonist - he just seems kind of selfish and not used to being defied. So when that happens, he doesn't react in the best of ways.

Conflict and resolution are top notch, the quality of writing as entrancing as readers have come to expect, and Shipley shows once again how much of a wordsmith she is when it comes to Laraspur and Ionquin puzzling out the map for their quest. In addition to that, the sibling friendship between Laraspur and Ionquin is fantastic. 

"Shipley made a deal with an anarchwitch, I swear, to make these riddles so well," Flame Writer calms down enough to add.

The tension in this novella surpasses almost all of the others, perhaps with only the exception of The Seventh Spell. The Sun's Rival successfully tugs at the heartstrings (Flame Writer cried near the end), has absolutely AMAZING descriptions, builds up character and plot nicely, and concludes perhaps a little too quickly, but in the perfect way regardless. 

There's also at least one point in this novella when you'll glare very darkly at the page. Like so:

With that, Flame Writer will conclude.

Taking a deep breath, the author of Flame Writer and Ashley Vaandere's story lets out a screech: "READ ITTTTTT!!!!!!!"

She swears it's the best one of the series so far.

Only twelve days to the release of The Surrogate Sea, the sixth book of The Wilderhark Tales! Get ready! ARC review on next Thursday.

BRT: The Song Caster by Danielle E. Shipley

Title: The Song Caster

Author: Danielle E. Shipley

Number of Pages: e-book

Rating: 5/5

Released: June 24, 2014

Summary

The dull doom of impending marriage at his back and a reticent royal at his side, remarkable minstrel Gant-o’-the-Lute is off in search of adventure, and you can be sure he finds it – complete with much music, magicked maidens, and a dangerous power so great, Lute might for once find himself outmatched.

Review

Remember my little complaints regarding The Seventh Spell? They don't apply any longer. I doubted that I would have to worry for long! I admit upon starting this book I had my insecurities: I didn't know much about Gant-o'-the-Lute just yet, and I was not a fan of Benedeck in The Stone Kingdom.

As usual, however, my interests were captured and happily enslaved to the book's plot. Throughout this novella we learn a little more about the culture that is the world of the Wilderhark Tales, including some of the "myths" that pervade their culture and we get to witness another kingdom or two.

There are also cats. Lots and lots of cats. (The cat lady inside me squeals.)

The character exploration in this addition surpasses that of the previous books. In the first, Sula and Villem found themselves,  but when it came to their innermost traits, they didn't get into that as much. The same for Rosalba in The Stone Kingdom. The Seventh Spell spent much more time focusing on the major problem at hand (understandably). 

So to have a book that's perfectly paced while digging into the depths of the two protagonists is refreshing and fun to read! It ties up a loose end left behind from The Stone Kingdom and shows us so much more about Lute's conflicting desires - and, once again, love prevails over all in a wonderful twist.

Perhaps the one thing I'm unsure of in this addition is how a certain spell was cast in the first place. To prevent spoilers, all I'll say is that it's a spell Benedeck is sent to solve. Did Lute accidentally cast it?  I don't think it was ever confirmed. 

The only other thing I wondered about was Viralei's characterization - everyone else got plentiful development, but I didn't see as much from her, only a few tidbits about the culture of her kingdom. (I personally would love a book about her kingdom.)

Otherwise, I have no complaints about The Song Caster. Delicious plot twists, amazing characters, perfect pacing, a nice blend of conflict and resolution, in general a fantastic and worthy addition to The Wilderhark Tales.

***There is going to be another post today for The Sun's Rival! Stay tuned!!***

Writing World Wednesday: Discoveries During Editing

If I had made a Random Monday post, it would have been about me being on Spring Break, haha. Spring Break is why I didn't make a post. (I was lazy.)

~~~

This sort of relates back to a post I made a week or two ago about characters defying what their authors think is going to happen. I don't know about you, but when we're writing, the number of things that don't go as expected often reach the double-digits. Maybe even triple, if you're unlucky. 

That leaves a LOT to do during the editing process. The adaptations to fit the plot as it is after the first draft, the sentence structure, paragraphs, entire scenes changed or even deleted... Yeah, you know the drill. My point on this is:

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you subconsciously seem to pick up on how a plot might change? I know a couple of times during my editing process I'll come across something that very effectively foreshadows that happens in the future - something I hadn't anticipated during the initial writing.

Maybe it's the characters again, picking up on things we don't! Is this just me, or does this happen to some of you too? Are our characters picking up on our plot changes before we're even aware of them ourselves? If that's the case, they need to let us know earlier on!

(It is indeed 1 AM. And technically Thursday. But I am one of those people who continues to call it Wednesday until I go to bed.)