As an author, I am always curious about what motivates people to read. I’ve done posts before about how people choose books, about covers and colors and what you seek in a blurb, but this post poses a simpler question with perhaps an opportunity for more complex answers.
Why do you read?
Sometimes I read to learn, sometimes to go on an adventure in a far away place I will probably never get to in real life. Occasionally, I read because it is such a part of me. Whereas some people enjoy movies, music or the theatre, favourite sports or socialising with others, I like books. I love the feel of them, the scent of them, the way they make you feel like someone understands when no one else does.
Sometimes I read to improve my craft. There are so many reasons. I also love the feeling of finding a…
One of my advance reviews came in, and she gave The Magician’s Curse five stars! The review was posted yesterday on Facebook, Goodreads, and on the reviewer’s website, which you can find here. Sincere thanks, Megan!
The review:
You know you’re addicted to something when you cannot give it up no matter how are you try. The Magician’s Curse was very addicting. I couldn’t put it down. Herman sets out on her own to make a better life for herself. She didn’t expect to run into a magical man who had a curse placed on his family. In order to break that curse, Stephan must break the heart of his true love and possibly lose her forever. This heart breaking tale kept me riveted until the very last word. I’m still reeling from the deep emotions and revelations. Such an amazing book. There is more to come for Herman, Stephan, and Nina. I’m excited to know where this journey goes from here. ~ Megan Starkweather
When Herman Anderson leaves home to make a better life for herself, she doesn’t expect to meet a tall, dark stranger with whom she’ll fall hopelessly in love.
Charming and mysterious, Stephen Dagmar is a stage magician seeking an assistant. The moment he sets eyes on Herman, he knows she’s the one. He brings her home to his Victorian mansion where they embark upon an extravagant romance. Yet a shadow hangs over their love. Will the curse on his family end Stephen and Herman’s happily ever after, before it really begins?
Amidst lace and leather, innocence and debauchery, The Magician’s Curse begins the Gothic tale of The Great Dagmaru. Magic and romance await.
You can pre-order the Kindle version of The Magician’s Curse and have it automatically delivered to your device or app on June 27th by clicking the following links: Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon Australia, or Amazon where ever else you are in the world. You can also pre-order it through Kobo worldwide here. The paperback will be available on or close to June 27th.
With an old war raging between vampires and shifters, Ria must learn to refocus her life if she’s going to survive.
Her renegade fight was just the beginning. The queen is recruiting new soldiers. Ria’s going on vicious missions with her battle buddy. And her explosive abilities are malfunctioning at inopportune moments.
So now, Ria must forgo her selfish desires to compartmentalize her life, but what’s she to do when she can’t save everyone she wants to? One girl may not be capable of taking down an empire. Good thing Ria’s got help.
Coming May 9, 2017!
An Excerpt from Chapter Eleven:
Tahe whimpered beside me as I came awake with the hot fumes of barbequed meat and blood clogging my sense of smell. Her breath fast and shallow, her nails dipped into my forearm. “You awake, red.”
“Yeah.” A mallet pounded on my temples in a steady staccato, and I rubbed them as the cracked windshield came into view.
“Good.” Her breath caught. “Need some help.”
Terror strangled me when I turned to her. A piece of metal pinned her to the seat through her abdomen. I jumped back, hitting the door handle with my shoulder blades.
“Oh shit.”
Harris blinked at me from the passenger seat, dagger handle jutting out of his chest and blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. “You bitch.”
“Red.”
I jerked back to reality and the blood spreading through her top. I peered around quick, looking for the phantoms of Harris. Nothing but woods.
“Ain’t nothing to go off the deep end about. At least it ain’t wood.” Tahe took another shaky breath. “How far out the back is it?”
The metal came out clean on the other side. “A few inches.”
“Doable.” Wetness garbled her words.
“Okay. You need to stop talking unless it’s necessary. Let me see if I can pull it out the front.” A single hole of a few inches in diameter punctured the windshield on her side, and the metal looked like one of the posts off the guardrail. The end still had a flat wire where it connected to rail and left Tahe enough room to grab hold of it with one hand. I hoped there were no jagged pieces inside that would tear her further when I pulled it out, but if it did, I’d need something to stop the bleeding.
My door was crushed shut. “I’m going to see if there’s anything in the trunk to tend the wound once you’re free, but I have to break my window. Turn away so I don’t spray you.”
Pulling my sleeve taut against my elbow, I hit the glass three times before it shattered. A small chunk fell inside, but the rest remained intact with spider-line fractures that I pushed out.
The trunk didn’t have a whole lot of useful junk: just fluids, a jack, and a spare tire. Crap. I needed to call for help. My phone proved useless with its smashed screen. Double crap.
My giant savior it was then.
Bio: Alisha Costanzo is from a Syracuse suburb. She earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Central Oklahoma, where she currently teaches English. She’s the author of BLOOD PHOENIX: REBIRTH, BLOOD PHOENIX: CLAIMED, BLOOD PHOENIX: IMPRINTED, and LOVING RED, and co-editor of DISTORTED. UNDERWATER, and AFTER THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. She’s currently editing her new 2017 fire-themed anthology, writing about Ria’s father, and crafting her new YA novel for its 2018 release. In the meantime, she will continue to corrupt young minds, rant about the government, and daydream about her all around nasty creatures.
My new novel Ashes to Ashes comes out today! To celebrate the release, I’m putting it on sale for 99 cents for a limited time. Pick up your copy now
From tragedy came power. And from mishandled power came mystery.
After moving into a new gated community with her family, Natalie is ready to begin a peaceful year at Emerson High. A year complete with boy troubles, school dances, new friends… everything an average girl could expect.
Then she starts receiving notes warning her not to go to school November first. Notes in her day planner, on a piece of homework, on a homecoming ticket… The more notes she receives the more details she uncovers, and the clearer it becomes: words like peaceful and average are about the worst ones anyone could use to describe the year she’s about to have. Crazy? Maybe. Violent? Definitely. Heart-wrenching, mind-blowing, life-changing?
The “After the Happily Ever After” anthology is finally out! My story, “Alice on the Analyst’s Couch” and many more wonderful tales can be found in this beautiful book. The Kindle version is on sale until January 1st. Please click on the original post and read all about it, and pick up your copy today. 😀
This is lovely, little gobble-up-in-one-go novella. It is the second book this week that I have reviewed that is definitely out of my genre but it is also the second that I thoroughly enjoyed. This story is light and fluffy, not too sweet, slightly quirky.
Xavier and Jupiter are just very good friends who support one another although Xavier would like things to be a bit more serious. When Jupiter begins an internet relationship with Bob, Xavier is immediately suspicious and wants Jupiter to end it. He is worried for Jupiter and also for himself. This new relationship makes him realise just how much he cares for her.
The story takes a couple of unexpected turns before this romantic comedy ends as it should. The suppporting characters are unusual and memorable and the writing is fluid and assured.
A very nice, little break from longer, grittier novels.
I’ve discovered a talented young writer! I met Ainsworth through my fiction blog, and he’s just amazing. Won’t you please go visit him, read his work, give him some encouragement and a follow, too? Thank you!
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DISCLAIMER:Now, once again this is a work of ‘Fiction’. Now before you start reading I would like to give a Shout Out to Linda G. Hill! Thanks for providing me with a new perspective on how to make sense of these prompts! It is very much appreciated! 🙂
Once again, this post was inspired to me by ‘The Daily Post‘ October 17th Prompt – Urgent. Enjoy!
2:04AM: ‘FINALLY! I KNOW WHAT TO WRITE!’
‘URGENT!’ The word echoed through my mind. You know, the worst part wasn’t the word itself. Oh no, I had become accustomed to living my life with a degree of urgency. But, the reminder that every morning there is another outstanding bill, that is long overdue never failed to but a damper on my mood.
I always knew that being an adult wasn’t going to be easy, that’s what they all told me…
I’m giving this book four stars even though it pissed me off. For the first half of the book I didn’t really like Clementine, the main character, which made it hard to care about her. What gives the novel four stars is the compelling way it’s written.
Ms. Ream is an extremely talented storyteller. She pulled me through the tale until I couldn’t put it down. Until I began to feel angry because in the end, I was forced to care about a woman determined to end her life. I was mad at Clementine. The novel made me feel, which for me is the greatest compliment anyone can give to a writer.
Losing Clementine is not a lighthearted read. It’s a powerful one, about relationships and how deeply they can affect everything, right down to personality.
Do you ever read a poetic description of a facial expression in a novel, such as: “She looked at me as though I’d just vomited in her shoe,” and try the expression yourself, to see what it might have looked like?
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This is lovely, little gobble-up-in-one-go novella. It is the second book this week that I have reviewed that is definitely out of my genre but it is also the second that I thoroughly enjoyed. This story is light and fluffy, not too sweet, slightly quirky.
lindaghill.com 