Tuesday, April 5, 2016

BOOK SPOTLIGHT + GIVEAWAY: The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler

The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler
Page Count: 318 pages
Publisher: 47North
Publication Date: April 1st, 2016
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Hardback, Paperback
Amazon Buy Link: HERE
Barns and Noble: HERE
Synopsis: As usurper of the throne, the rule of King Severn Argentine’s is already highly contested. To keep his power, King Argentine rules with an iron fist and destroys any opposition. In a failed coup attempt the Duke of Kiskaddon loses his son as a permanent prisoner to the king to ensure his loyalty.

THE QUEEN’S POISONER follows the Duke’s young son Owen on his journey for redemption and revenge as he figures out how to survive the court of Kingfountain. In order to keep his head and gain the merciless king’s favor, Owen must delve deeper into the world of mystery and secrecy that surrounds him. Readers will be clamoring for the next installment of The Kingfountain Series.

Excerpt 1: Chapter 28
 The wild frenzied feeling of plummeting reminded him partway down that he should be terrified, but then the shock of cold water met his face and he plunged into its depths. His feet touched the bottom of the cistern. His hand still gripped hers.

Owen opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by a pile of treasure. He felt a huge burst of excitement in his ribs as he stared at the sword hilts, the jewels and necklaces. The Mortimer girl was tugging at his hand and trying to swim up, but he pulled back, not wanting to lose sight of the treasure.There was so much! But then he noticed something awry. There was a gap in the treasure, as if someone had dragged a rake through it. No, that wasn’t it. One of the chests appeared to have been dragged back towards the stairs. The dragging motion had cleared a path through the bounty and knocked other bits over.
His companion was yanking hard on his hand now, and when he looked up, he saw bubbles were coming out of her mouth, obscuring her face.
Owen wanted to stay down and figure out what had happened to the treasure, but they both needed to breathe. He pushed with his legs and they started towards the surface. As they moved through the water, a loud grinding noise filled his water-soaked ears.
When Owen’s face broke the surface, he gulped in a chest full of air to stop his lungs from burning. The Mortimer girl was spluttering and paddling on the waters.
“Owen! Did you hear that noise?”
Owen looked and saw they were farther away from stairs. In fact, they were gliding away from it at a fast pace.
“What’s wrong?” Owen asked, kicking around. The water was tugging them deeper into the dark cistern. 
GIVEAWAY

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Monday, April 4, 2016

Stacking the Shelves (3)

We missed last week, so this is going to look a little crazy. Plus it didn't help I was out thrift store shopping.

Em

The Society Of Steam: The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer
Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout 
My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison
This Glittering Word by T. Greenwood
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (won in a giveaway)
Smoke by Dab Vyleta (given from the publisher) 
AND 
Pooh Invents a New Game by A.A. Milne 
(found a great copy published 40 years ago for 30 cents. As a Pooh fan, I had to get to go with the rest) 




Mel

Nailbiter Vol. 3
Ghosted Vol. 1
Ghosted Vol. 2
Chew Vol. 2
Daredevil: Yellow
East of West Vol. 2
East of West Vol. 3
Long Walk to Valhalla

April Goals & Events | 2016

Em

This month I need to focus on spring cleaning, and looking for work. I have something like 6 crafting projects I am juggling too. Does this stop me from reading? Oh hecky poo no, but I need to plan this month out better.

Books I would like to read this month
Glory over Everything  by Kathleen Grissom
Relativity by Antonia Hayes
Queen of Hearts   by Colleen Oakes

Crafts I would like to finish 
Harry Potter House Bunny 
Teen Wolf Cross Stitch 

Mel

This month I want to take it easy. I don't want to overwhelm my self with a million things to do. I am just giving my self two books that I want to read this month and the rest will be what ever I feel like reading. I think I read better that way. If I set my self a list I am most likely won't be able to accomplish it.

This month I am also hoping to complete my Camp NaNoWriMo goals of the month. So it looks like a busy month as it is. There will also be 2 book events that I am hoping to go this year. The Los Angeles Festival of Books (April 9 & 10 2016) and YallWest (April 30th & May 1st) this year they both fall under the same month so that will be something interesting. There will also be a signing event for Ernest Cline in my area so I am really hoping to go to that. So many things to do this month so I am making my reading list short apart from comic books I am hoping to read this month.

Apart from that I am hoping to getting back into a creative routine of drawing and making graphics again. It's just been so long. Here is hoping for this being the month.

Books I would like to read this month
Cabin in the Woods: The Official Movie Novelization by Tim Lebbon
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

Ernest Cline Event info - Barnes & Noble, Huntington Beach, CA
Wednesday April 13, 2016 - 7:00 PM


What are your goals for the month? 

Friday, April 1, 2016

Camp NaNoWrimo | 2016

 

Here I go. Last year on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I began writing my first full story. I ended up not writing 50,000 words but I did ended up writing 35,000 words which I was happy with for being my first time really invested in the project.

This year I will be trying to write once again but it will be a different story than the year before. I am not abandoning my first story. I am just going to hold on it for a while until I really flesh it out and figure out where I want it to go. I am hoping that this year Camp NaNoWriMo will help me out with trying to flesh out this new story that I have in my head. I am setting a goal of writing 30,000 words this month. Hoping that I can accomplish at least that. I don't want to try something big. I just want to see if I can have a decent outline and flesh out where I want my story to go. This time I will be writing a Thriller compare to my Zombie Apocalypse story of last year.

Story Links
Pinterest Board
Camp NaNoWrimo Page

Current title: Fighting Back
Word Count Goal by the end of the month: 30,000 words

Goals for the end of this month
  • To have a complete outline of the story
  • Have finish my characters bio's
  • Have at least 2-5 chapters completed
Anyone else is trying Camp Nanowrimo this month? What are your plans? We can all do this and I wish everyone good luck.

March Wrap-up | 2016

Em

Over looking my finished reads of the month, I am behind on reviews! Looks like I got work to do after this. 
Beastly Manor  ★ ★ ★ ★
Dark Energy ★ ★ ★ 1/.2
We Are Robin ★ ★ ★ 
Cyborg Vol. 1 ★ ★ ★ 
The Island ★ ★ ★ ★

Mel

I read more books that I expected to read this month which is awesome. I am hoping to review every single book I read from now on. Here is hoping that I can accomplish that. Each book is link to the review I wrote. Have you guys read any of these books? And if you guys did what did you think of them?


I'll Give you the Sun : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Career of Evil : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Six of Crows : ★ ★ ★ ★
The Mighty Thor Vol. 1 : ★ ★ ★
Spider-Gwen Vol. 1 : Greatest Power : ★ ★ ★ ★
Uprooted : ★ ★ ★ ★
Nailbiter Vol. 1 Hardcover Edition (issues 1-10) : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Clockwork Angel: ★ ★ ★
Clockwork Prince : ★ ★ ★
Clockwork Princess: ★ ★ ★

What are some of the books you read this month?