Now available is the historical fantasy novel Seven Will Out: A Renaissance Revel by author JoAnn Spears.

Amazon

The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule for a Q&A about her newest novel.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’ve always enjoyed reading a good story, and wanted to be able to write one ever since I read about Jo March doing so in Little Women, back when I was in the third grade. I lacked the confidence to write fiction as a younger woman, and the time to do it as a two-job single mother. By the time I semi-retired at around 50, both the time and the confidence to start authoring were finally there.

What was your first book/story published?

My first book, Six of One, a comedy novel about Henry VIII’s six wives, debuted in early November, 2011.

What inspired you to write Seven Will Out?

Seven Will Out is the sequel to Six of One. It takes the Tudor story to the next generation and introduces some Shakespeare history as well. Obviously, I am a big fan of Tudor history.

What character in Seven Will Out is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Harald Press; 342 pages; $14.99; Buy Link

Do you have any bad reading habits?

One of my bad reading habits is a reading a book and later noticing it's either book two or three of a series. Like most readers, I would rather begin with book one. However, that sometimes isn't the case with me as either agree to review a title based on the genre, the author's name, or cover art without paying any attention to see if it is part of a series or not.

For Christian's Hope, book three in the Return to Northkill series, by Ervin R. Stutzman, I had signed up to review the book based on the cover art alone. I only noticed it was book three  after I had already read several chapters.

Set in the 1760s, the novel centers on Christian Hochstetler, a young man who has spent the last seven years in captivity during the French and Indian War. During this time, he had lived among the Native Americans.

Now he has returned to his family's home to try and live a normal Amish life. After living with Shawnee Indians, farming along side his Amish father is a little predictable. As Christian struggles with his future in the Amish community as well as faith, he falls in love with Orpha Rupp.

Avon Inspire; 272 pages; $12.99; Buy Link

I'm kicking off a brand new month with reviews for "A Sister's Wish" and "An Amish Family Christmas," both written by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Shelley Shepard Gray.

Yes, many of blog readers will probably recognize her name as I have been a fan of the author's titles for several years now.  "A Sister's Wish" is the third installment of the "Charmed Amish Life" series. Like the other two books in the series, this is a love story. I remember reading the first book, A Son's Vow, but I don't remember if I have read the sequel, A Daughter's Dream.

Set in Charm, Ohio, the story centers on a young Amish woman named Amelia, the youngest daughter of the Kingsinger family, who gets mixed up with Simon Hochstetler, who has just returned to town. Amelia is a sweet and kind girl, so it isn't too shocking that her family wants to protect her from Simon and his wild past.

Final Thoughts: The novel opens up with a neat two-page illustrated map of Charm, Ohio. The prologue begins thirteen years in the past when Simon original left home. After that, the book jumps to the present day, focusing on the love story between a grownup Simon and Amelia.

Similar to her other works, Shelley Shepard Gray uses a fast-paced narrative with short chapters to keep the readers interested in the story. However, I didn't get really interested into the novel until around chapter 5 or 6; then I just flew through the pages. Overall, A Sister's Wish is a nicely written third installment of the Amish series.

Now available from Ruby Blaze Publishing is the fantasy novel Time: the Immortal Divide, book three in The Chronicles of Fate and Choice Trilogy by author K.S. Turner

Paperback: 978-0-9562242-9-3 eBook: 978-0-9562242-7-9

The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule for a Q&A about her debut novel.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

I’ve always loved stories; from those bedtime readings as a child to weaving fantastic imaginings in the mundane every day things. But, I always thought I would be an illustrator or designer. One day, I wrote a short piece to go alongside some illustrations I’d drawn. That is when I realized that writing depicted the stories in my head better than any other art medium I’d tried. That was the point; I knew, without doubt, using the written word for my storytelling was the right path. The stories were always there – I just had to discover THE medium.

What was your first book/story published?

The first thing ever published was my first novel in the Chronicles of Fate and Choice trilogy, titled Before the Gods. It’s an epic fantasy tale about the birth of humanity, Earth magic, freewill and freedom.

What inspired you to write The Chronicles of Fate and Choice trilogy?

I wanted to embark on the biggest fantasy story that I could imagine. I decided that it had to start at the very beginning of humanity and finish on the potential end of everything. I wanted to take some of the biggest questions we have in life, such as why are we here, and how did we get here, and craft something fantastically fantasy fiction.

What character in The Chronicles of Fate and Choice is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Well, as much as I would like to say all, or none, of them, I have to admit that I am most like the character, Tachra. Tachra is the protagonist in all three novels. We share the same deeply questioning nature, honesty, strength, passion, and desire to do the best possible, while trying to overcome a multitude of personal flaws and obstacles.

Least like me, I definitely want to say is the character Shursa, as I don’t like his traits at all. Shursa is from a race of beings called the Shaa-kutu; the beautiful, highly evolved race responsible for designing humans. But, unlike his fellow Shaa-kutu, Shursa is so power-hungry and selfish that he is prepared to betray his brothers. I don’t like him at all. No, no, no. He is everything I would never want to be.

What is your favorite part in The Chronicles of Fate and Choice?

Not Rated; 842 mins; $9.98; Mill Creek Ent.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Yeah, you would have to be to be living under a rock not to know that today is Halloween, especially with all the horror marathons on the cable channels. Typically, I always watch a few of these flicks ever year, but I haven't had the time this month as I've been busy watching the Pretty Dead: 10 Horror Flims, the 2-disc DVD that was recently released from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Many of you have probably have heard of Mill Creek Entertainment as the company has released similar horror DVDs in the past. The 10 films on this release were filmed on low-budgets, all of which have already been released separately to DVD or VOD over the last few years.

The films are:

The Sacred (2009, but listed as released in 2011 on the DVD) - The film involves a group of film students traveling to remote area to work on a Native American Folklore thesis. However, they aren't aware that the land is haunted.


Bunnyman - (2010; released in 2011) - Also known as the The Bunnyman Massacre, this low-budget slasher is the first in a series of films about a serial killer who dress in a bunny costume. (No, I'm not joking!)


The Lights - (2009) - A group of friends travel to the middle-of-nowhere to watch a meteor shower.


Backwater (2013) - Don't get confused with the Japanese film of the same name. This is a low-budget tale about a couple on a secluded getaway, where there just happens to be a killer nearby.

Dark Horse; 80 pages; $10.99; Amazon

I thought the perfect way to end this year's Halloween event would be for me to feature something from my favorite television from the late 1990s - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a supernatural series that I was obsessed with throughout my teenage years. By obsessed, I mean I had posters of Sarah Michelle Gellar taped to my bedroom wall; I owned every Buffy tie-in novel and read them until the pages were practically worn out; and I recorded every episode on my VHS recorder (Remember those?). So I guess you can say that I was a big Buffy fan. By the time the series ended in 2003, I was out of my Buffy phase, though I did purchase the series on DVD (as well as the spinoff series, Angel) several years later.

Arriving in bookstores tomorrow from Dark Horse Comis is the graphic novel (well, a comic book), titled Buffy: The High School Years - Glutton For Punishment. Executive produced by Joss Whedon, the novel is written by Kel McDonald and illustrated by Yishan Li.

As you can guess by the title, the graphic novel is set during Buffy's high school years or more specifically it's set during season one of the series, where Buffy has just moved to Sunnydale and has befriended fellow classmates Willow (aka the nerd) and Xander (aka the geek). 

"Glutton For Punishment" centers on Buffy and Xander taking an extra-curricular cooking class. At first it looks like a quick way to make an A, but things quickly change on the first day of class when the cooking teacher, Ms. Miller, goes missing and is replaced by the very strict Mr. Blake. All the students try to bake the perfect dessert, but Mr. Blake's taste buds seem to be from another planet as nothing will satisfy his hunger.

This year's hit animated film Disney/Pixar's Finding Dory will be arriving on Blu-ray and DVD on November 15th, but it's already available to purchase on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere (DMA) with over two hours of bonus features & extras.

Directed by Andrew Stanton, Finding Dory take place a year later after the events that occurred in 2003's Finding Nemo. The forgetful Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) suddenly has a childhood flashback about her parents, leading her to make the decision to venture out into the ocean to search for them. There is only one problem - Dory keeps forgetting she has short-term memory loss!

Nemo and his father Marlin decide to join Dory in her quest to find her parents, which leads them to the Marine Life Institute. They have to find a way to get into the institute after Dory is taken there for quarantine.

While inside the institute, Dory befriends an octopus named Hank who might know the whereabouts of her parents

Special Features/Bonus Extras are: