Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bitten Shame: Guest Post

6:00 AM  Crossroad Reviews  2 comments







   Bitten Shame (Book 2 of the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy)

Jill Prescott returned from self-imposed seclusion to help save her best friend Devan’s life. Throwing herself into Devan’s problems and bringing an evil organization to its knees might just be the distraction she needs to keep living without the only man she’s ever loved. Her life changed forever when she was hired to spend a week with Doc Massey.
On the day she became a vampire her youthful innocence ended, but Doc’s love rescued her from being consumed by the darkness. The shadow of that former life continues to loom over her, keeping her from realizing her own self-worth. Running from her past only brings her closer to a destiny that is inextricably connected to what she is trying to escape…
Every gift has both a reward and a price, because All of it fits.....

Guest Post with Olivia Hardin! 

Things that really happened fast for me as an author.








 I mean, this was always a dream of mine, to be a writer. When I was in high school I was serious about it. I wrote all the time in spiral notebooks and then would sit on our family PC and type up all of that scribble scratch. To this day I still have a box at home with all of my 3.5” floppies, each one marked with a story title (even though I no longer have a PC that will read them.) I queried publishers, spent the little money I had from part-time jobs on books about how to write, how to query, how to pick character names, etc. I don’t even remember when I “forgot” that I wanted to be a writer. It just sort of drifted away. Maybe it was too many rejections. Maybe there was too much of “life” going on around me. Who knows? Then a few Christmases ago my boss bought me a kindle. *sighs* I love my kindle. It has opened up a huge new world of writers to me – Indie writers. When I read the story of one of those authors and her journey to self publishing, a little red blinking light started to go off in the back of my head. Then came the realization that I would be turning 35 that next year. Inside I began to panic. What happened to my aspirations of being a writer? I would soon be the big 3-5. Only five years to 40. OMG! So, I joined a writer’s group on facebook. I lurked in that group for a long time. Observing, following posts, soaking up all that was going on. I remember the first time I posted something on that site… I read and re-read and re-re-read that post over and over to be sure it didn’t sound stupid and that it was grammatically correct. It was like hitting that post button was going to propel me into a new galaxy or something. Boy, was I ever right. I can’t believe that just a year and 6 months later I am a twice published novelist. More than that, I’ve established a connection with some very special writers – these people, I believe, are now my life-long friends. I can’t imagine a day without hearing from them. And the most important thing I’ve been blessed to get out of this experience is the chance to connect with other “would-be” writers. It’s an honor to chat or message someone just starting out and give them a little push towards some dreams of their own. So where am I going? I have no idea. I’m just going to keep chasing these dreams. Because even if dreams get lost for a while, as soon as you find them you should never let them out of your sights again! ~Olivia


Bitten Shame is Available atBarnes & Noble ~~~ Smashwords

You can also get autographed paperbacks of both books from Olivia’s blog.

Olivia Hardin realized early on how strange she was to have complete movie-like character dreams as a child. Eventually she began putting those vivid dreams to paper and was rarely without her spiral notebooks full of those mental ramblings. Her forgotten vision of becoming an author was realized when she connected with a group of amazingly talented and fabulous writers who gave her lots of direction and encouragement. With a little extra push from family and friends, she hunkered down to get lost in the words. She's also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and is sometimes accused of being artistic, though she's generally too much of a perfectionist to appreciate her own work. A nativeTexasgirl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband Danny and their puppy Bonnie.
Connect with her Online





The Tablet Wars vs. PRINT!

5:30 AM  Crossroad Reviews  No comments


Ipad vs. Kindle vs. Nook vs. Goggle vs. the good old PRINT

Us as bloggers and well our kids as.........ya just kids.  We use these things all the time.  I know I use my iPad 2 every day and my kindle just as much.  What do you have and do you like it vs. a book in print.  

What are the pros and cons of having a tablet vs. a book in print.  

So for me it goes this way. 

With a print book I have to hold it is a way that I don't bend the binding. I have to make sure my hands are always clean. ect.  With my iPad if my hands had food on them that I didn't know. I can just wipe it off.  No stains.  I don't have to worry about breaking the binding and the book falling apart and its much easier to read a big book like Seraphina which I'm reading in print.  

So comment below on what you have and why you like it. 

And as always the NEW Links!  

Add to the list! 

And Follow everyone else! 





Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Seraphina

6:30 AM  Crossroad Reviews  No comments







Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2012
Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

 Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

 In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.


Editorial Reviews

Review

Christopher Paolini, New York Times bestselling author of Eragon:
"Beautifully written, well-rounded characters, and some of the most interesting dragons I've read in fantasy for a long while. An impressive debut novel; I can't wait to see what Rachel Hartman writes next."

 Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of the Temeraire series:
"A book worth hoarding, as glittering and silver-bright as dragon scales, with a heroine who insists on carving herself a place in your mind."

 Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of the Beka Cooper series:
"Seraphina is strong, complex, talented--she makes mistakes and struggles to trust, with good reason, and she fights to survive in a world that would tear her apart. I love this book!"

 Alison Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of Eon and Eona:
"A wonderful mix of thrilling story, fascinating characters, and unique dragonlore. I loved being in Seraphina's world!"

 Ellen Kushner, World Fantasy Award-winning author:
"Just when you thought there was nothing new to say about dragons, it turns out there is, and plenty! Rachel Hartman's rich invention never fails to impress--and to convince. It's smart and funny and original, and has characters I will follow to the ends of the earth."

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2012:
“In Hartman’s splendid prose debut, humans and dragons—who can take human form but not human feeling—have lived in uneasy peace for 40 years.

 The dragons could destroy the humans, but they are too fascinated by them. As musician Seraphina describes it, attempting to educate the princess, humans are like cockroaches to dragons, but interesting. As the anniversary of the treaty approaches, things fall apart: The crown prince has been murdered, anti-dragon sentiment is rising, and in the midst of it all, an awkward, gifted, observant girl unexpectedly becomes central to everything. Hartman has remixed her not-so-uncommon story and pseudo-Renaissance setting into something unexpected, in large part through Seraphina’s voice. By turns pedantic, lonely, scared, drily funny and fierce, Seraphina brings readers into her world and imparts details from the vast (a religion of saints, one of whom is heretical) to the minute (her music, in beautifully rendered detail). The wealth of detail never overwhelms, relayed as it is amid Seraphina’s personal journey; half-human and half-dragon, she is anathema to all and lives in fear. But her growing friendship with the princess and the princess’ betrothed, plus her unusual understanding of both humans and dragons, all lead to a poignant and powerful acceptance of herself.

 Dragon books are common enough, but this one is head and talons above the rest."

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, June 6, 2012:"In this complex, intrigue-laden fantasy, which establishes Hartman as an exciting new talent, readers are introduced to a world in which dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce, with dragons taking human form, dwelling among their former enemies, and abiding by a strict set of protocols. Sixteen-year-old Seraphina, assistant to the court composer, hides a secret that could have her ostracized or even killed: she’s half-dragon, against all rules and social codes. Along with the distinctive scales she keeps hidden, she has a mind filled with misshapen personalities whose nature she doesn’t quite grasp. As Seraphina navigates the complicated politics of a court where human-dragon relations are growing ever more fragile following a royal murder, she has to come to terms with her true nature and powers, the long-dormant memories her mother hid within her, and her growing affection for charming prince Lucian. There’s a lot to enjoy in Hartman’s debut, from the admirably resourceful heroine and intriguing spin on dragons to the intricately described medievalesque setting and emphasis on music and family."

Starred Review, Booklist, May 15, 2012:
"Hartman proves dragons are still fascinating in this impressive high fantasy. Equal parts political thriller, murder mystery, bittersweet romance, and coming-of-age story, this is an uncommonly good fantasy... An exciting new series to watch."

 Starred Review, The Horn Book Magazine, July/August 2012:“To the innovative concept and high action, add Seraphina’s tentative romance with Kiggs, rich language lively with humor and sprinkled with an entire psaltery of saints and an orchestra’s worth of medieval instruments, and a political conspiracy aimed at breaking the dragon-human truce, and what you have is an outstanding debut from author-to-watch Hartman.”

 Top 10 Kids' Indie Next List Pick, Summer 2012

About the Author

As a child, RACHEL HARTMAN played cello and lip-synched Mozart operas with her sisters. The famous Renaissance song "Mille Regretz" first moved Rachel to write a fantasy novel rooted in music, but her inspiration didn't end there. She wrote Seraphina while listening to medieval Italian polyphony, Breton bagpipe-rock, prog metal, Latin American baroque, and Irish sean nós.

 Rachel Hartman lives with her family in Vancouver BC. To learn more about her, visit her website at RachelHartmanBooks.com.


Product Details.............................
  • Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  • Hardcover: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (July 10, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0375866566
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375866562
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.5 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)


















This book starts out with the birth of our main character Seraphina.  A marvoulusly gifted musician.  Who's mother died in child birth and who's saint is a lie.  She grows up with her father telling her she can't do this or that. Not understanding why.  She does comply until she can't music always winning her over.  Then something changes.  Now she knows why she can't let her guard down!  

In a world filled with humans and dragons in saarantrai or human form.  A prince murdered with a missing head which makes it look like the dragons are to blame.  This book took me on a rollercoaster of action and a wonderful plot. 

As a lover of dragons this book called to me. So when I saw it on Awareness Pro I jumped at the chance to get an ARC!  And I was so happy when I won!  I myself have 5 tattoos of dragons and a dragon star (7 pointed star) and a dragon eye (triangle with lines connecting each point to the center) this book called to me.  

   
The only issues I had with this book were some of the words that were used.  With words like AUROCH. May people don't know what that is.  (if you do know WITHOUT LOOKING IT UP or seeing it here comment below with age) which this is a cow by the way.  The only reason I knew what this word was.  Was because it is used to describe runes in one of my pagan books.  The other issue was that it was WAY LONG! It took me almost a week to finish this book.  It wasn't really stagnant it was really good.  But I think some things could have been cut out for length.  That way it could have had a little more.  I wonder if this book is a series, because, if it is then I hope the next one has a little but more story to it. 

Well all in all I loved it!  








The Gaia Hypothesis

5:30 AM  Crossroad Reviews  No comments






The Gaia Hypothesis
In order to understand the nature of the All-Mother, we must first understand our own origins. Each of began our individual life as a single fertilized cell, or zygote. In the processs of its innumerable divisions and multiplications, that cell kept dividing up and redistributing the very same protoplasm. That protoplasm which now courses through all of the several trillion cells of your adult body is the very same substance which once coursed through the body of that original zygote. For when a cell reproduces, the mother cell does not remain intact, but actually becomes the two new daughter cells. And this is why, no matter how many times a cell fissions in the process of embryological development, all the daughter cells collectively continue to comprise but one single organism. We may imagine that, should our cells have consciousness akin to our own, they may very well fancy themselves to be independent entities living and dying in a world that to them would seem to be merely an inanimate environment. But we know them to be in fact minute components of the far vaster living beings that we ourselves are.
Over four billion years ago, life on Earth began, as do we all, with a single living cell containing a replicating molecule of DNA. From that point on that original cell, the first to develop the awesome capacity for reproduction, divided and redividied and subdivided its protoplasm into the myriads of plants and animals, including ourselvs, which now inhabit this third planet from the Sun.
But no matter how many times a cell fissions in the process of embryological development, all the daughter cells collectively continue to comprise but one single organism. All life on Earth comprises the body of single vast living being -- Mother Earth Herself. The Moon is Her radiant heart, and in the tides beat the pulse of Her blood. That protoplasm which coursed through the body of that first primeval ancestral cell is the very protoplasm which now courses through every cell of every living organism, plant or animal, of our planet. And the soul of our planetary biosphere is She whom we call Goddess!

- from the Green Egg

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

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7:24 AM  Crossroad Reviews  No comments

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