READING AND WRITING

Yolanda Renée © 2016

I can't resist the colors.

Hi, everyone. I'm at a bit of a standstill when it comes to the NANO challenge, due to other issues popping up, but I'm not giving up. I hope during this last week I'll make good progress, although making 50,000 may not be possible, the story is coming together.

I hope you'll check out Patrick Hatt's guest post over at the WEP blog. He's giving advice on writing. It's great stuff!

Today I'm posting on the Parallels Blog about "Challenging Yourself!" Please visit.

While on a break this week I read Christine Rains first book in her Totem series,

Dark Dawning. 

I loved it. 

Christine is one of my favorite authors. This time she took me back to Alaska with her Polar Bear shifters. 

Ametta Dorn is a sexy, headstrong designer with big plans, and Lucky Osberg is a handsome firefighter with a desire to alter those plans, but a killer is on the loose and family is the target.

It's an exciting journey through the wilds of Alaska with Ametta and Lucky and a host of shifters. Christine weaves her tale of the paranormal and romantic suspense with mystical native lore that only adds to the adventure. 

A page-turning mystery that does not disappoint.

***

Blurb for Dark Dawning

It’s a dark day when someone murders one of their own.

Shifters across Alaska are going missing. When up and coming interior designer Ametta Dorn rescues the gorgeous Kodiak shifter Lucky Osberg, she comes into the crosshairs of two relentless hunters. While Lucky sets his sights on wooing her, the killers seek to not only capture her in her powerful polar bear form but to also take her skin.

To prevent her murder and the deaths of other shifters, she must work with Lucky to track down and stop these merciless hunters. After all, their enemy’s plan for shifter skins is something much more terrifying than collecting mere trophies.

     Silent Whispers

It’s not only the dead who whisper upon the wind.

An ancient totem pole has gone missing, and its pieces are scattered across Alaska. Restoring the seven totem tokens may be the only way to save every shifter in the world.

Kinley Dorn, a geeky architect with a heart of gold and a polar bear shifter, jumps at the opportunity to help her family find the lost pieces. Their idea of “helping” involves staying indoors to research online. Work leads Kinley to sexy lynx shifter Ransom Averill. He coaxes her away from the safety behind her computer and into the path of a rampaging giant. Terrifying as the monster might be, she must brave its mountain because the owl totem is calling to her through silent whispers.

                     Cloak of Snow

No one messes with Saskia Dorn’s family and gets away with it.

The same murderous shifters who had hunted her sister have attempted to steal a magical totem pole. Since the pieces are scattered across Alaska, Saskia, a polar bear shifter, takes her search to the tundra for any signs of the lost totems.

Instead she finds Sedge, the latest reincarnation of the old Inuit Bear god, who just happens to be the man who broke her heart.

They come across a small native village tormented by the Jinxioc, evil gnomes with an appetite for human flesh. Sedge declares he will rid the people of the menace, believing a totem token is nearby affecting the devils’ behavior. At his side, Saskia battles to save the tribesmen, but it could mean sacrificing herself.

Have you finished NANO, are you almost there? 

Is turkey on your menu this week, and did you heed Pat's writing advice?

Are you a Christine Rains fan?

Either way, it's a great weekend to curl up with a good book and the

Totem Series might just be it!

Happy Reading

&

Happy Thanksgiving!

GROUND ZERO

The Murder & Obsession Tour Continues

Today you'll find me at:

Couples Counseling - Stuart R West

But before that there was

Need Some Intrigue - Michael Di Gesu

Alaska: Why it Speaks to Me - Denise C. Covey

Here TODAY!

We have Michael Abayomi

Author of Ground Zero

1. As a writer of fantasy the IWSG anthology was a perfect fit, did you find the challenge easy?

I’ve got to admit, I had experienced what you could call a light-bulb moment, when I heard about the IWSG anthology. And as fate would have it, I was already working on a story that fitted its alternative history theme at the time. So it was a no-brainer really, adapting that story to the short story format and submitting it as my entry. That said, I’ve spent many hours trying to perfect that story ever since, so I wouldn’t exactly call the challenge “easy.”

 2. Where did the idea for Ground Zero come from?

Several places, but I guess the genesis of the whole thing started after I read Man in the High Castle by Philips K. Dick. This was the first time I was captivated by an alternative version of reality where a key moment in history had played out quite differently from the version we are presently stuck in. My other sources of inspiration include the graphic-novel, Watchmen, as well as two of my favorite video game series, Fallout and Half-Life.

 3. What is it about an altered universe that you appreciate?

Just the possibility. Traditional science fiction has us looking forward, at a future that is more often than not different from our present society. Alternative history on the other hand has us looking backwards. It explores the possibility of how changes in the past would have affected society today. And therein lies its appeal, its attempt at answering the question, “What if…?”

 4. Please tell us about your epic fantasy series, Guardians & The Lost Paradise.

Guardians & The Lost Paradise is a 6-part series that was published over the course of 6 months in 2012. The books themselves took the better part of 6 years to write. The project was inspired by my love for fantasy, even though it also explores some real-life themes, like the loss of a loved one and how that can affect ones outlook on the world. The first book in the series is available for free on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and WattPad.

Ground Zero

Michael Abayomi

Tagline:

     The ruins of New York City might not be as deserted as they seem.

Blurb:

 Thirty years after a nuclear bomb devastates much of the Eastern United States, the survivors are still struggling to deal with the aftermath. Elijah is one of them, a man simply doing his part in the effort to rebuild from what's left. He is also a man on a mission, one that has been fueling what others might see as a morbid obsession with corpses. But he is secretly on a search for answers, a search that has taken him to Ground Zero, the very heart of the irradiated wasteland known as the Red Zone

Michael Abayomi was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He fell in love with the art of storytelling after reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. His books include Neuro, The Morning Star, and the epic fantasy series, Guardians & The Lost Paradise.

Website/Blog

Twitter

Thank you, Michael!

Ground Zero is very though provoking especially since I live in Ground Zero.