What is this?

I finished the character sketches for Charleevale, and as promised, here they are:

Everybody, meet Calista and Kalor.

 

 

My camera is misbehaving today, so the pictures are a little fuzzy.

Also, last week, S.B. at Writing the Other, gave me the Blog on Fire award. thanks S.B.!

1. Are you a rutabaga? 

No. Maybe. I plead the 5th

2. Who is your current crush? 

Ian Somerhalder. Because he is made of awesome  (I seem to use that word a lot)

3. Upload a heartwarming picture that makes you smile.

they used to get along so well… then puberty struck

4. When was the last time you ate a vine-ripened tomato? 

Never. tomatoes creep me out. the seeds remind me of frog eggs. And I know why…. *shudder*

5. Name one habit that causes other people to plot your demise. 

Not listening seems to be a pretty popular response, so to go with something completely different, my sarcasm? People can never seem to be able to tell when I am kidding or not. Even my best friends. Even my family. Except my brother, because we’re mind-twins

6. What’s the weirdest, most disgusting job you’ve ever had to do? 

thankfully my jobs haven’t been too nasty, but I was a housekeeper at a retirement home for a while. there were a few unpleasant situations involved

7. Where da muffin top at? 

I ate it. First. Because that is the best part

8. What author introduced you to your genre?

tolkien

9. Describe yourself using obscure Latin words:

Certavi et Vici… totally copied S.B. here and went with my Irish clan motto, which also fits me

People who deserve this

Hmm…I don”t think I know anyone who hasn’t already received it.

Hektor… did you already get one? Whatever, I’m giving it to you.

YA Recommends–Time Travel!

With all the hoopla surrounding a recent WSJ article which Shall Not Be Named, I noticed there are a lot of adult readers who, for various reasons have avoided/shied away from YA. This is part of a series of posts where I recommend “gateway” novels– novels that will help  ease reluctant adult readers into the Behemoth known as the YA world.

In honor of the season 6 part 2 premier of Doctor Who, which aired last night, I give you time travel in YA!

*Happy nerd dance*

All synopses taken from Goodreads.

1. Timeless by Alexandra Monir

When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives.

2. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

3. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Gwyneth Shepherd’s sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era! Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon–the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

4. The Map of Time by Félix J. Palma

A Map of Time by Felix J. Palma. Set in Victorian London with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time is a page-turner that boasts a triple play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H.G. Wells is called upon to investigage purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence. What happens if we change history?

5. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Meg’s father mysteriously disappears after experimenting with the fifth dimension of time travel. Determined to rescue him, Meg and her friends must outwit the forces of evil on a heart-stopping journey through space and time.

6. The Ancient One by T.A. Barron

When Kate travels to Blade, Oregon, to spend a quiet vacation with her Aunt Melanie, she has no idea of the adventures that lie ahead. Blade, Oregon is home of the magical Lost Crater, in which a grove of giant readwood trees has remained untouched for thousands of years. Now the ancient grove has become the center of a major dispute between those who wish to save this rare sanctuary and the local loggers who see Lost Crater as their last hope to rejuvenate their dying mill town. Caught up in the struggle, Kate feels compelled to learn more and decides to follow a trail into the crater, which, as legend has it, was made by the ancient Halami people believed to have once lived in the region. But for Kate, what starts out as a day’s discovery soon turns intor a life’s journey. With the help of an ancient walking stick, Kate is thrust back in time five hundred years. Quickly befriended by a young Halami girl, Laioni, Kate learns that not much as changed in five centuries as she is caught in the middle of a battle for the same wilderness. Confronted by a myrid of strange and frightening creatures, including the trickster Kandeldandel and the evil Gashra, who is bend on destroying everything he cannot control, Kate must complete her quest and return to her own time. But to do so, she must not only discover the truth behind her own beliefs, but also unravel an ancient and wondrous riddle bearing the knowledge of life’s intricate and fragile balance.

The Spark That Ignited a Fire

What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?

The scope of Tolkien’s world-building has always amazed me. Particularly the Silmarillion. After reading through thousands of years of made-up history of various races, including mythos and origins, I was in complete awe. My mind was literally blown at the depth of detail that he went into. I loved the back story of the elves, and how all the races were created. I loved the tragic tales of the heroes of old. I loved the origins of the One Ring and Sauron. I even loved Gollum’s tale.

I knew that when I started writing my current wip, I wanted the world to be that vast, that all encompassing. I wanted to create my own mythos. I wanted to create countries with their own laws, histories, customs, and superstitions. I wanted to create heroes that my heroes could aspire to be. I wanted it all.

I don’t go into every book I write intending to have that much back story, but with TLF, since I was already creating a whole new set of gods and mythos, I though well why not? It’s a daunting and exciting process and I love doing it, even if sometimes trying to connect all the dots drives me nuts. Losing my sanity is worth it.

The Spark Blogfest– My Biggest Influence

Christine Tyler is hosting this Blogfest. Hop on over and check her and the other entrants out.

I liked the idea for this blogfest, because I like to talk about what inspires me on a fairly frequent basis. My inspirations are many, but I never actually thought about why I wrote or what that first spark was that set me off. Until now.

I was going to answer the question of what book made me realize I was doomed to be a writer, but I don’t think it was any one book. At least not one that I can remember.

However, I think being the daughter of my mother doomed me. She was one of the smartest, craziest, imaginative people I know.

She was convinced she had been abducted by aliens (or so she claimed. I’m not entirely certain she actually believed this or she just wanted others to believe it).

She convinced me that vampires were going to get me in my sleep if I didn’t cover my neck (I couldn’t sleep for weeks. WEEKS).

She also convinced me that those fence rock wall thingies were Attack Rocks, and if I let them out, they would well, ATTACK ME.

My brother has these two things to say about her, which I have to agree with:

We can’t be completely positive that anything she told us was true, or how much of those truths were fact and how much were fiction.

And, we were too young to fully appreciate her (I was kinda old enough).

I wouldn’t necessarily call her a liar, she just liked to tell stories. Lots of them. The more interesting and unbelievable, the better. And she was very convincing. VERY. Convincing.

Despite having an insane imagination, my mother didn’t write. Aside from telling my brother and I these wild stories, and knowing every single question on Jeopardy, she didn’t do anything with it. We will never fully know the depths of her imagination because for the most part, she kept it to herself.

I write because she didn’t.

I was conditioned from a very young age to be creative (and a huge nerd, but that’s besides the point). My mother not only opened me up to the past, present, and future of our own existence, but the limitless worlds beyond our own. She taught me to transcend the bounds of reality, to imagine worlds far greater, or far worse than the one we live in. Because of her, I spend my days pondering what was, what could have been, what will be. She challenged me to think, to explore, to create. Because of her, I was the girl with my nose stuck in a book.

Because of her I was a princess, a ghost hunter, a witch, a dragonrider, an Amazon queen, a healer, a broadway actress, a pirate, an explorer, a fairy godmother, a tiger, an astronaut, a bird, and an elf all before I hit puberty.

That is why I write. I mean, what else was I going to do with my crazy imagination?

Oh, and if you’re wondering where I got my artistic talent from, that was completely my father’s doing. Thanks dad!

Who, or what inspired you to pick up the pen?

YA Recommeds–Urban Fantasy

With all the hoopla surrounding a recent WSJ article which Shall Not Be Named, I noticed there are a lot of adult readers who, for various reasons have avoided/shied away from YA. This is part of a series of posts where I recommend “gateway” novels– novels that will help  ease reluctant adult readers into the Behemoth known as the YA world.

I meant to post this on Sunday, but between watching the Three Natural Disasters and cleaning up after them, it slipped my mind. Yesterday got swallowed up by reading Hush Hush, which I only started reading because I left the book I was reading at the house. Those girls can be pretty distracting. And destructive. And dirty.

Anyway, on to this weeks recommendations: urban fantasy.

All synopses taken from Goodreads.

1. White Cat (and Red Glove) by Holly Back

Synopsis of White Cat

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago. Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

2. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White 

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours, but still. Normal.
Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.
So much for normal.

3. Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Love can be a dangerous thing…

Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna’s tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.
But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she’s far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

4. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis of City of Bones

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder – much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing – not even a smear of blood – to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know….

5. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

This one is a little iffy. It’s sci-fi-ish, but I would still call it urban fantasy.

A year ago, Cal Thompson was a college freshman more interested in meeting girls and partying than in attending biology class. Now, after a fateful encounter with a mysterious woman named Morgan, biology has become, literally, Cal’s life.

Cal was infected by a parasite that has a truly horrifying effect on its host. Cal himself is a carrier, unchanged by the parasite, but he’s infected the girlfriends he’s had since Morgan. All three have turned into the ravening ghouls Cal calls Peeps. The rest of us know them as vampires. It’s Cal’s job to hunt them down before they can create more of their kind. . . .

 

Does anyone else have any recommendations?

Winner!

I have consulted the Random Powers That Be, and divined a winner.

Charleevale!

*throws glitter*

 

Charlee, if you want to e-mail me at cnicoll85 [at] hotmail [dot] com with your choice of color or b&w, head shot or full body (you can do one of each if you like), along with the descriptions of your character(s). Please be as descriptive as possible so I can accurately portray the characters–hair and eye color, hairstyle, skin tone, body type, clothing style, personality, genre, and anything else you can think that might help.

I’ll try to start on them this weekend, but I’m babysitting Hurricane, Tsunami, and little Squall so it might be a little to tough. Now excuse me, red gatorade just exploded all over the kitchen.

 

Walking Zombie

Does anyone else feel like that after they’ve stayed up all night, they’ve drunk a bottle of rum and sung at the top of their lungs? No? Just me?

I figured out some snazzy new tricks for CS5 last night (hence the lack of sleep), and I will now say prematurely that I will be the next digital art master. I can get pretty obsessive with my art. Sometimes staying up all night to work on it, then returning after roughly four hours sleep to finish it. I tend to be like this because the urge to draw usually doesn’t last very long, so I frantically get it all out while I can.

Anyways, today is the last day to enter my character sketch giveaway. Anyone can enter, and it’s really easy. The winner is chosen randomly, so its not like if I don’t agree with your comment, you’ll be disqualified or anything.

I’m excited about the prospect of drawing someone else’s characters. It’s a whole new and exciting frontier of unknown. A break from the monotony of the same old characters, the same old fan art.

So enter. Maybe you’ll win. And I promise I won’t be a walking zombie when I start them.

The Wonderland Giveaway Blogfest

This blogfest is hosted by Sylvia Ney at Writing in Wonderland.

You’re late.

Because you are late, you are going to have to suffer through me gushing over my favorite book characters. Also, I drank all the tea. Sorry.

There are some cookies left though. They’re a bit soggy. The March Hare flung his tea cup and it landed on the plate. You know how he gets. Well, I suppose you’re getting some tea after all. They’re not bad. Honestly.

Some characters stick with you long after you’ve finished the book. These characters may or may not be the main character, but oftentimes you will pick the book back up just to spend just a little more time with them. These characters are colorful, eccentric, funny, have a personality that you fully resonant with.

1. Lestat from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles

I don’t know what it is about him. He’s sometimes over the top dramatic and he’s extremely vain, but he is just so… so awesome. He goes headlong into situations with little regard for the consequences or other people, and he cares little for anyone but himself. Yet, he’s probably led one of the mos interesting lives. He was a nobleman, an actor, a Wolf Killer, a rock star,  fell in love with a six thousand year old delusional Egyptian queen, and had his body stolen.

2. Howl from Dianna Wynne Jone’s Howl’s Moving Castle

I like Howl for pretty much the same reasons I love Lestat. Plus, he’s flamboyant and eccentric. I love eccentric characters.

3. Peregrine Took from Tolkien’s LOTR

Hah. I bet you thought I was going to say Legolas. Nope, it was this curious little hobbit that captured my heart. His antics kept me entertained throughout the series, and I suppose it was his inquisitive nature that spoke to my younger self.

4. Helen from the Iliad

She was the face that launched a thousand ships. Her love brought down kings and destroyed cities. She was the original and perhaps ultimate cougar. I don’t care what you say, I’m fully convinced she left with Paris out of her own volition. I mean, Menelaus… what a bore.

5. Inigo Montoya from William Goldman’s the Princess Bride

“You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

That has to be one of the greatest lines ever. Inigo’s tenacity for revenge is second only to Edmond Dantes. He is less conniving and far more colorful than the latter. His sole purpose in life is to revenge his father’s death. A noble cause.

6. Deryn Sharp from Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series

Deryn is awesome. She is a midshipman with swagger. She is brash, fearless, and swears like a sailor (which she is). From pretending to shave to constantly taking on death-defying tasks, her struggles to hide her sex are just plain hilarious.

In sticking with the character theme,  my giveaway will be not one, but TWO character sketches of a character(s) of your choosing. You will need to specify whether or not you want black and white or color, full body or a head shot.You can do one of each if you like, just not together. That would be weird. And quite impossible.

Here are some examples:

These two are from my comic Cryer. The first one is Shaye Bridgewater. He is the MCs sidekick. The second one is Amelia Sullivan, who is the other MCs little sister. And, she just so happens to be a space pirate. I know, she doesn’t look very space-piratey, but that’s because I originally sketched her out so my boss’ daughter could have something to color (I colored this one), and didn’t have much time to get all creative with the clothing because you know, I was at work. Never underestimate the destructive capabilities of a bored 9 year old.

Another headshot. This is Kazunari from TLF, who is the actual MC, despite what some of the other characters seem to think. This was done with drawing markers, which you could request, if that is what you happen to like.

While I realize this might not be the best example of what I can do, considering I was 12 (or something like that) when I did it, but it’s cute, and it shows a full body sketch. This is Minako from Sailor Moon, btw.

To enter, please leave a comment naming your favorite book characters, and why by 11:59 EST Thursday, August 18, 2011. I will announce the winner on Friday.

YA Recommends–Steampunk

With all the hoopla surrounding a recent WSJ article which Shall Not Be Named, I noticed there are a lot of adult readers who, for various reasons have avoided/shied away from YA. This is part of a series of posts where I recommend “gateway” novels– novels that will help  ease reluctant adult readers into the Behemoth known as the YA world.

Steampunk! Need I say more?

I’m kind of in love with this genre. The worlds are so fun and imaginative, and I have a special affinity for clockwork. Plus, I really want an airship (just for future reference dad, if you’re reading this. No pressure though). I could be an air pirate and wear pantaloons! Ok, I’ll stop now.

All synopses taken from Goodreads.

1. Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

I am counting down the days until Goliath comes out. Here that September? Hurry up and get here!

Synopsis for Leviathan:

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

2. The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft’s epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Heretical—born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day.
Aoife Grayson’s family is unique, in the worst way—every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different.

3. The Girl in the Steel Corset

In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one except the “thing” inside her.
When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch…
Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she’s special, says she’s one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits. Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret.
Griffin’s investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help-and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.
But The Machinist wants to tear Griff’s little company of strays apart, and it isn’t long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she’s on, even if it seems no one believes her.

4. Native Star by M.K. Hobson

In the tradition of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, this brilliant first novel fuses history, fantasy, and romance. Prepare to be enchanted by M. K. Hobson’s captivating take on the Wild, Wild West.
The year is 1876. In the small Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine, the town witch, Emily Edwards, is being run out of business by an influx of mail-order patent magics. Attempting to solve her problem with a love spell, Emily only makes things worse. But before she can undo the damage, an enchanted artifact falls into her possession—and suddenly Emily must flee for her life, pursued by evil warlocks who want the object for themselves. Dreadnought Stanton, a warlock from New York City whose personality is as pompous and abrasive as his name, has been exiled to Lost Pine for mysterious reasons. Now he finds himself involuntarily allied with Emily in a race against time—and across the United States by horse, train, and biomechanical flying machine—in quest of the great Professor Mirabilis, who alone can unlock the secret of the coveted artifact. But along the way, Emily and Stanton will be forced to contend with the most powerful and unpredictable magic of all—the magic of the human heart.

5. Corsets and Clockwork by Various

Dark, urban fantasies come to life in the newest collection of Steampunk stories, Corsets & Clockwork. Young heroes and heroines battle evils with the help of supernatural or super-technological powers, each individual story perfectly balancing historical and fantastical elements. Throw in epic romances that transcend time, and this trendy, engrossing anthology is sure to become another hit for the fast-growing Steampunk genre!

This collection features some of the hottest writers in the teen genre, including: Ann Aguirre, Jaclyn Dolamore, Tessa Gratton, Frewin Jones, Caitlin Kittredge, Adrienne Kress, Lesley Livingston, Dru Pagliassotti, Dia Reeves, Michael Scott, Maria V. Snyder, Tiffany Trent, and Kiersten White.

6. Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow’s nest, being the ship’s eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there’d been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt’s always wanted; convinced he’s lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist’s granddaughter that he realizes that the man’s ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.

In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

7. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

Blog Love

I got two of these bad boys. The first came from the fabulous Tricia at TL Conway Writes Here. When we’re not discussing who would make the best End of the World companion, she blogs about the tribulations of writing and the woes of research. And she likes the Beatles. Which is very important.

The second came from the lovely  Lauren Waters. She writes about her adventures in self-publishing. You should check her out if you haven’t already. Plus, she called me eccentric. I like that.

Thanks to both of them!

“The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all – have bloggity-blog fun!”

 

1. Hektor Karl at After Troy

Hektor’s posts are always well written and thought provoking.

2. Sierra McConnell at Writer and the Resin Roommates

Sierra’s posts are quirky and fun, plus she has great ideas for character prompts and writing exercises.

3. Margo Lerwill at Urban Pyschopomp

Margo has excellent tips on world-building and editing. My mind is usually blown after reading one of her posts.

4. Claudie at Claudie A

Claudie is a science girl who writes epic fantasy. She writes about underrated female scientists and  her writing and editing adventures. Plus, her posts are full of cool stuff, like hot air balloons, maps, and strange micro-organisms.

5. Sommer Leigh at Tell Great Stories

Sommer is made of awesome. You should check out her College of Blogging Series, and she recently did a series on book cover art.