I've come to the conclusion that teen fiction creates way too many unrealistic expectations about romance. I want to clear up some of these. If any of these ring true or false for you, or even if you just want to debate one or another or talk about it, comment down at the bottom or contact me directly through my contact form.

1. Men don't bring you flowers randomly. They might buy some for Valentine's Day, or your birthday, but very rarely do they think to buy you flowers on a random day, just to make your day a little brighter. 

2. Men don't write love letters or poetry to you like books and movies suggest. I don't think they realize how romantic we find it. Or maybe they just don't want to put the effort in. Or maybe it's just that they think we'll laugh at them. For any men reading this, we will not laugh at you. No matter how bad they poetry is, we will find it romantic and cute.

3. Men do want to have sex with you. I don't care if they say they can wait, or if they insist that it's not their top priority--they still think about it and they still want it from you. 

4. Men are not always the confident ones. If you like someone, you can't just wait for them to approach you, because more often than not, it won't happen. Perhaps most books portray the guy as being the strong, confident one that always approaches the girl, but I am trying to be realistic here...and guys can be just as shy as girls.

5. In real life, the bad boy is not actually the one you want to have in your life. The bad boy is the guy who drinks a lot, or does drugs, or hangs with the wrong crowd. Maybe it looks attractive, but it's not the situation you want to put yourself in. Bad boys like the ones from books don't exist. It's an unfortunate truth. 

6. Going off number five, if there is a bad boy, keep in mind that you probably can't change him, nor should you have to. If he has to change who he is, or if you have to change who you are to be with him, he's not the right guy for you.

7. One last thing that I think is really important, especially to girls that have not ever had a major relationship or even much affection from guys. Don't fall for the first guy who gives you compliments and attention. Be aware of the situation and make an informed decision. Just because a guy is showering you with compliment and love, or even just paying attention to you, does not mean that he is the one for you. He could be a total creep, or the two of you could be nothing alike, or worse. I know it's hard, especially if you've never been given a compliment in your life, to step back and assess the situation, but take it from someone who's been in the situation and knows people who have been in the situation; if you don't take that step back, you could end up in a much worse place than you are now.

Alright ladies, any comments, questions, suggestions? Comment below because I'm interested to hear. These are, of course, only my opinions based on my personal experiences, but I think most of them have at least some ring of truth to them. What do you think?

Title:  Apocalipstick
Author:  Lisa Acerbo
Published:  August 1st, 2013
Publisher:  Eternal Press
Word Count:  67,000
Genre:  Horror Paranormal Romance
Content Warning:  Contains non-graphic zombie gore
Recommended Age:  15+

Synopsis 

Jenna should be having the time of her life at college. Instead, her only desire is survival. She lives in a world gone insane after a virus kills most of the population. Being alive after the apocalypse is bad, but when the undead return, hungry for humans, times turn darker. For Jenna and a small group of survivors, the goal is to reach the High Point Inn. At the inn, Jenna develops feelings for Caleb, who, while exotic and intoxicating, is not quite human. Will this new utopia last?

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Apocalipstick from the author in exchange for an honest review, so that is what I will be doing today for my stop on her blog tour. My review will take the usual format, and for those of you who don't know, it follows a format like this: the good, the mediocre, the ugly, and a end summary. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible while still keeping it informative. I do not include ratings in my reviews.

The Good:

What I really enjoyed about this book was its take on vampires. I know they weren't technically vampires, but they were compared to them, and I liked the take on them. Acerbo brought a new spin on how they were created and I liked that they weren't made from a spell or anything magical as in most books/movies. I liked that the cause was a completely natural mutation due to the survival of a deadly disease. While biologically impossible, fictionally, it was interesting and fun to read about.

The Mediocre:

The romance in Apocalipstick was cliche and cheesy, with love triangles and all. I'll be honest--I can't stand love triangles, and while the one here might not have been totally traditional or lasted the whole book like most do, it was still hard for me to read through. Much of the romance was done in ways that I swear I'd read before, not in a plagiarizing way, but more in a 'I'm not really sure how to write this, so I'm going to pick how by reading everyone else's work.' I was able to look past the cheesy and cliche romance and the love triangle, though, due to my love of the chemistry between the characters with the relationships. Jenna and Caleb, though a little cheesy together, had chemistry that set them apart, and I really enjoyed them as separate characters and as a couple.

The Bad:

I felt that this book lacked an overall problem. Yes, there was the apocalypse, but that didn't get solved at the end, so that couldn't be this book's overall problem. One of the main problems for the book that lead to the climax that I could see wasn't introduced until a little over halfway through the book, so while I think it was the main problem (as it was the conflict that caused the climax) the book lacked direction for the first half.

Second, I cannot begin to describe to you how much I intensely disliked the ending. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. I don't want you guys not to read it. But seriously, there were two problems with the ending. The first part of it where she … could see better … was too predictable. I saw it coming from fifty pages away that it was going to happen to her, although based on the rest of the book and the explanations of the others, the ending with Jenna does not make any logical sense. Beyond that, there is a part in the end where she passes out. That, and the last sentence, left me with too much confusion. If there's a second one, then some curiosity is good because it'll make you want to read the second one. However, the confusion I was left with in reading the end wasn't curiosity; it was just confusion.

Summary:

Basically, it was a good book. It had its flaws. Despite the extensive grammar errors, the book itself was good. It lacked direction for about the first half, which left me wondering what was really the problem and what they were doing to solve this non-existent problem, but once the main problem made it into the picture, I was able to get into the book much better. I enjoyed the characters and the chemistry between characters, though the romance was a little cheesy and cliché. Finally, the ending was predictable, yet confusing, and probably should have explained more. It closed off all the other ends that I could think of, but left the reader (me) wondering what the heck had just happened. I enjoyed reading Apocalipstick, and would like to thank Lisa Acerbo for sending me a copy for review. Thanks, Lisa!

About the Author:

Born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, Lisa Acerbo has lived in Trumbull, Connecticut since 2001. After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in English Education and receiving a Master’s degree in Environmental Education from Southern Connecticut State University, she worked in a variety of educational positions.  Presently, Lisa works as a high school teacher and adjunct faculty for the University of Phoenix.

Lisa always loved to write and worked as an intern for the Connecticut Post when completing her degree at Southern Connecticut State University.  In addition to the Connecticut Post, her articles appeared in the Trumbull Patch and Hollywood Scriptwriter.  She occasionally dabbles in poetry and her poetry won first place in the Trumbull Arts Festival Literary Competition.

Lisa lives with her husband, Frank, two daughters, Dominique and Jessica, plus three cats and two horses.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Website

I am hosting Alexander Nader here today in honour of his Beasts of Burdin blog tour. I have asked him to compile a list of forms of media (books, television shows, plays, movies or anything else he could think of) which are among his favourites that contain demons or demon hunters. He was only able to come up with seven, so here is his sevens list:

* Exorcism of Emily Rose: I’m going to be completely honest with you guys here, I don’t watch a lot of horror movies. I think they rely too much on gore and not enough on suspense. It’s all show, no thrill. That being said, Exorcism of Emily Rose was probably the last enjoyable horror movie I watched. It was creepy in all the right ways, especially the part at the end when the girl keeps counting the names of the demons inside her. Yeah, you know the part I’m talking about. Oh, you haven’t seen it? Well, then I guess you can’t know what part I’m talking about then. Go watch it and we can talk about it later.

* Exorcist: Okay, let’s just get the exorcist movies out of the way right out of the gate. The Exorcist. It’s a classic. If you haven’t watched it or at the very least seen the scene of the girl spewing soup you’re not human. I think random scenes from this movie are ingrained in all small infants. I’m really surprised more kids’ first words aren’t “The power of Christ compels you”.

* Fallen: Denzel Washington plus demon equals pretty not-bad. Another truth: I’ve never actually watched this whole movie in one sitting. I think I’ve seen most of it in bits and pieces on TNT or whatever channel replays the crap out of movies, you know the one. Yeah, that one. So anyway what I’ve watched of this one is good and now I have the song ‘Time is on my side’ stuck in my head.

* Supernatural: You know this show. It’s spent like twenty-seven years on that network with all the beautiful young people doing whatever it is young beautiful people do. (Argue?) In reality I watched this show pretty religiously (Pun intended) for the first five-or-so seasons. I don’t remember when I quit watching, but I can definitely vouch for those first five seasons. It’s a good show of young beautiful people killing sometimes beautiful, sometimes hideous, demons, beautifully.

* It: Holy crap It scared the freaking heck out of me when I was a kid. (Feel free to replace crap, freaking, and heck with their four letter counterparts if so inclined, I would) I haven’t read the book, but the movie haunted my childhood and I didn’t even know there was a second tape (Yes, tape. Shut up.) until I was like 20. Demon clown, and I’m not even afraid of clowns. Well, other than Pennywise. Obviously.

* Sandman Slim: Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim book series is about a magician who escapes hell where he was made to fight demons like it was ancient Rome. It’s got a very noir detective feel, with some hellions sprinkled in for good measure. Good enough that I don’t really have anything witty to say about this one.

* Constantine: A Keanu Reeves movie where he doesn’t play a surfer-bro that doesn’t suck. I had really low expectations for this one and it really blew me away. It’s a good movie about a demon-hunter in a trench-coat. No, Keanu was not really an inspiration for my character Ty Burdin, but man, they could get along together pretty well I think.

There you have it. That’s my list. I really wish I had more books to add to it, but I haven’t really read many demon books. Feel free to drop a comment telling me what I missed.

Beasts of Burdin
by Alexander Nader
Release Date: February 10, 2014
Target Reader: Adult
Keywords: Urban Fantasy

Description
Demon hunter Ty Burdin hung up his guns, knife, trench coat and fedora a year ago. Bags packed, hands washed of all demon politics, he’s done. Forever.

In fact, to get far far away, he dragged Nora, his rockabilly secretary, from Miami to the Tennessee mountains where he’s lived a life of peace—if peace can be defined as drowning in scotch and taking private eye jobs to keep the lights on. Jobs for real people. Not demons.

No demons.

He’s retired from that. Remember?

Demon hunters aren’t a dime a dozen, though, and when Ty’s brother asks him for a favor—just one—what’s a brother to do? Agreeing to take down one hillbilly demon shouldn’t take that long. In. Decapitate. Out. Favor complete. Back to the office where Nora and his bottle of whiskey are waiting.

Unfortunately for Ty, staying retired doesn’t seem to be in the cards, and an avalanche of bad luck draws him right back to an agency he despises and the career that nearly cost him his sanity.

This time, Ty has no way out and will have to face his own demons just to survive.

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Alex lives in the tourist infested hills of east Tennessee with his amazing wife/muse and three superb children. He would tell you more about how awesome they are, but you probably wouldn’t believe him. When he’s not hanging out with them he’s making pizzas. When he’s not doing that he’s working at a bookstore and occasionally he jots a few words down. He’s a big fan of good music, good storytelling, and mixed martial arts. 

He once wrote a short story about pirates to his wife via text message that blossomed into a full length novel and never stopped after that.

Book Details:
Full Title: “The Seventh Spell (Book Three of The Wilderhark Tales)”
ISBN: 978-0-9891846-2-5
Genre: Young Adult Fairytale
Length: Novella (219 pages)
Release Date: February 5th, 2014 (so close, and yet so far!)
Future availability: Paperback (Amazon.com) and eBook (Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com)
Add “The Seventh Spell” to your Goodreads shelf today! [http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19181278-the-seventh-spell ]


Back of the book blurb:

A witch’s attempt to cast one spell too many
casts everyone touched by her previous spells into chaos.
Scattered throughout each other’s pasts, Sula and Edgwyn, Villem and Rosalba,
and the rest of magic’s affected have a single chance to break this last enchantment
before their “happily-ever-after”-s cease to have ever been.


The Seventh Spell
Book Three of The Wilderhark Tales

<> ~ <> ~ <>

An enchantress’s curse turns a spoiled royal into a beast;
A princess’s pricked finger places her under a hundred-year spell;
Bales of straw are spun as golden as the singing harp whisked down a giant beanstalk –
All within sight of Wilderhark, the forest that’s seen it all.
You’ve heard the stories –
of young men scaling rope-like braids to assist the tower-bound damsel;
of gorgeous gowns appearing just in time for a midnight ball;
of frog princes, and swan princes,
and princes saved from drowning by maidens of the sea.
Tales of magic. Tales of adventure. Most of all, tales of true love.

Once upon a time, you knew them as fairytales. Know them now as Wilderhark’s.

My review:I was fortunate enough to receive, once again, an advanced reader copy of Danielle’s newest installment in her Wilderhark Series, The Seventh Spell.  As such, I have most definitely promised her a review. For those of you who read my last review for Mystical High, I have veered away from star ratings in order to focus mostly on my opinions of what was good and bad about the book. This review will take my usual format of the good, the mediocre, and the ugly.

The Good:

Well, I can honestly tell you that there was a lot of good in this book. A lot. The characters, just as in The Stone Kingdom, were awesome. I loved every single one of them, and I loved even more that we met characters that were clearly from tales that we’ve heard of before, but we actually got to know them. Gant-o’-the-Lute was by far my favorite character in this one. His acrobatic skills along with his outgoing personality made for a very fun character to read about, especially during his rescue of the king, which I can’t tell you guys much about without revealing entirely too much.

As usual, Shipley’s writing style is phenomenal. To bring the characters and the story to life, she utilizes a touch of humor while still (somehow) retaining the seriousness of the situations. Much of the conversation is blown out of proportion in a way that, while completely inappropriate for our own time and place, feels very natural and perfect for the time and fairy-tale-like (I mean Wilderhark, of course) setting.

The Mediocre:

I do not have many things to say about mediocre-ness (is that even a word?). The one main thing that I felt was that, similar to what I said in my review of the first one, the book passed by entirely too fast. I could have used more adventure, more difficulty in Rosalba’s searches for the ones she is looking for. Why, Villem didn’t even really have to search. Gant-o’-the-Lute showed up to him and he did not even have to rescue Edgwyn from the castle or any other such adventurous item. I did quite enjoy the book, but I could have used so much more. As I understand it, this is a novella, along with the other two books in the series. I believe if Shipley elongated these books into novels, they would be much richer with adventure, tension, and even character emotion. But that’s just my opinion.

The Ugly:

I think my only big complaint about The Seventh Spell is that, despite the fact that the characters have aged somewhere around fifteen years (I know it says in the book, though I can’t quite remember the number) since The Stone Kingdom, they do not appear to act much older to me. That’s not to say that they never act any older, but for the most part, they appear to be the same age that they were in the last book.

Summary:

This last complaint, of course, is minor in the whole scheme of things, because Shipley’s The Seventh Spell was a fantastic book. A little too short (I just wish there was more!) but fantastic all the same. While there were many character viewpoints that could be considered confusing, Shipley brought everything together with her unique and humorous writing style, adding an element to a rather serious event that most authors would not think to add. It was a fun read, though as I’ve mentioned several times, I think these books would be better as longer works and perhaps the characters weren’t represented quite as they should have been. But I still highly recommend it. Even if you have not read the previous books (though I suggest those as well) you should read it. Seriously.

Mac Thorne’s time as a Changeling is coming to an end. 

It may have taken eighteen years, but Mac did finally manage to do what the Council wanted: she chose a teacher and renounced the in-between. 

There’s just one last step. She must say goodbye to her human. Forever. 

After being challenged in every way possible, Mac leaves what she thought would be the easiest task for the last possible moment. As midnight on July fourth draws near, though, she hasn’t found a way to give up Winn Thomas. 

Nor does she want to. 

With time running out, Mac stands at a literal crossroads. Choose Winn, and she’ll be stripped of the only family she’s ever known — vampires, dragons, and her favorite demon. Even her own mother. Accept her position on the Council and rule as an equal to her twelve peers, and she’ll forget Winn ever existed. 

Independence and freedom have never before been so limiting. 

In this final chapter of the 19th Year Trilogy, it’s time for Mac to decide. 

Responsibility? Or Love?

For her guest post here in honour of the release of the last book in the 19th year trilogy, Darkest Day, I asked Emi to talk a little about character development and her approach to it. Welcome to the Musings of a Fantasy Writer's Life, Emi! What is your approach to character development?

Oddly enough, I don't force a character to develop. I let them just go with whatever situations they are in and generally write what they tell me to write. Of course, my job, as the creator of these characters is to ensure that however they establish themselves, they remain consistent throughout the story and that, at some point in the story, they actually learn from their mistakes, they take chances and they grow.

This isn't done, though by forcing the character into a situation that will make them grow. No, it's more about taking whatever the normal situation is and integrating it into the life of the character. For Mac Thorne, the main character in Darkest Day, she told her own story but if she started to regress more than a normal 'human' might (and human standard was used here in order to connect with readers - who are human) then, I had to nudge her in a different direction.

And nudge I did. When needed. Which in Mac's case, wasn't as often as I expected to have to. See, her personality came through from the first words of the story in After Dark. From there, all it took was me putting the words to paper and forming sentences, then paragraphs, then scenes, then chapters, until the book finished. She was harder to deal with in personality than in development because she's one of the strongest young characters I've written and, from a reader perspective, in order to make her grow, I had to enlist help. Therein lies Winn Thomas - her perfect counterpart and one who help Mac grow. So you see, it's not just me that has to help a character build out who they are, it's other characters, too and developing them develops the main one.


Thanks for stopping by my blog today Emi, and thanks for the insight into your writing process.

Emi Gayle just wants to be young again. She lives vicariously through her youthful characters, while simultaneously acting as chief-Mom to her teenaged son and searching for a way to keep her two daughters from ever reaching the dreaded teen years. 

Ironically, those years were some of Emi's favorite times. She met the man of her dreams at 14, was engaged to him at 19, married him at 20 and she's still in love with him to this day. She'll never forget what it was like to fall in love at such a young age — emotions she wants everyone to feel.

I'm hosting Terri Rochenski here again today ti celebrate the re-release of her historical romance novel, Alone No More. Today, Terri is going to tell us what her ten favourite times of day are and why. And here she is:



My top ten favorite times of the day in no particular order:

1.     Waking up after a full UNINTERRUPTED night’s sleep completely refreshed. ‘Course, with a new 2 month old son that doesn’t happen too often!

2.     That first sip of tea. I always sigh in that ‘Ah’ moment whether it’s at 5am or 7am.

3.     When my household to-do list for the day is finished and I’m able to nab a few minutes to add a paragraph or two to my latest WIP. These rare times always gives me a huge sense of accomplishment.

4.     When the girls are in school and my baby boy falls asleep all warm & yummy on my chest, and I kick back on the couch to close my own eyes for a nap.

5.     Whenever it’s quiet. Pretty sure I don’t need to explain the WHY on this one!

6.     Those moments my girls snuggle on my lap or kiss me without being asked.

7.     Anytime the hubs hugs, kisses, or tells me he loves me is always a great time of day.

8.     Eating dinner as a family and discussing our days with each other – work and school. Definitely one of the most important times of day, something that draws a family tighter together.

9.     When the last, “Mommy!” floats down the stairs and all grows quiet for the night. Yeah. That’s a great time of day right there.

10.  Crawling into bed when it’s cold out, burrowing between the flannel sheets and sighing in relief.

Genre:  Romance / Historical
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
World Wide Release Date:  December 18, 2013



Book Blurb:

Dismissed from her job as a scullery maid and cast aside by her lover, pregnant Cara Morland has no choice but to return to her father’s farm. While lies of widowhood keep her from disgrace, Cara is faced with a local landowner’s unwanted attentions. Without the social status to do much more than avoid the vile man, she loses hope of ever finding happiness. 

A friendship based on mutual loneliness blossoms between Cara and James Elliot, a young farm hand hired by her father. He offers his protection, and one shared kiss reveals his heart, but propriety and her feigned grieving period hinders what they both desire.

When Cara’s stalker learns the truth of her circumstances, he gives her an ultimatum—submit to his possession or he’ll ruin her second chance at love with James.


Purchase links: AMAZON   /  The Wild Rose Press

Terri started writing stories in the 8th grade, when a little gnome whispered in her brain. Gundi’s Great Adventure never hit the best seller list, but it started a long love affair with storytelling.

Today she enjoys an escape to Middle Earth during the rare ‘me’ moments her three young children allow. When not playing toys, picking them back up, or kissing boo-boos, she can be found sprawled on the couch with a book or pencil in hand, and toothpicks propping her eyelids open.



Terri's social links:

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

J. Keller Ford is here today to give us her opinion on … you guessed it! Her opinion on the implications of a time freeze on the world. And here is J. Keller's wonderful response:

The idea of freezing time sounds like an amazing super power, doesn’t it?  I mean, if you’re in the middle of some awesome event, who wouldn’t want to hold on to that moment forever.  But what if you’re in the middle of a Cat 5 hurricane or a killer earthquake?  A home invasion?  Would you want to unfreeze time?  What would happen when time unfreezes? Would you try to change it, undo the event if you could?

Unfreezing time in either case could have unparallel effects on the people involved.  Let’s say you’re in a wonderful event.  You’ve just won the Pulitzer Prize for literature, or you’ve just received news your novel is being made into a movie and Peter Jackson is the Producer/Director.  Sqeeeee!! Right?  Of course, unfreezing that moment means you now have to deal with the reality of the situation.  Now you’re famous.  Now your life has changed in an immeasurable way, bringing with it new responsibilities, complications, expectations.  Did you prepare yourself for this kind of success?  Does it scare you?  Will the sudden fame launch you into a downward spiral of drugs, alcohol just so you can cope with the new life?  We see it all the time with people who have all of a sudden had a new event thrust upon them they weren’t quite ready for.

Or will you be able to accept the accolades and remain down-to-earth?  A simple person that something wonderful happened to, but it doesn’t change who you are?  Would you become a better person because of the experience? Would you embrace the change and see it as an incredible adventure?  Are we wired to act a certain way in these events or do we have a choice?

And what if the event that is frozen is a disaster in the making?  You look around you.   You know there is going to be mass devastation.  People you know and love may be injured or worse, die.  Would you unfreeze time if you had the power, or would you live in that scenario, day in, day out, knowing if you snapped your fingers, the loss would be horrendous?  Would you have the strength to deal with the consequences in that one decision?

Yes, having the power to freeze time would be way cool.  It’s the unfreezing of it that makes me wonder if I would have the inner strength, fortitude, and responsibility to deal with the consequences.  Would you?    

What if today never ends? 

What if everything about life—everything anyone hoped to be, to do, to experience—never happens? 

Whether sitting in a chair, driving down the road, in surgery, jumping off a cliff or flying … that’s where you’d be … forever. 

Unless … 

In One More Day, Erika Beebe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley and Anna Simpson join L.S. Murphy to give us their twists, surprising us with answers to two big questions, all from the perspective of characters under the age of eighteen. 

How do we restart time? 

How do we make everything go back to normal? 

The answers, in whatever the world—human, alien, medieval, fantasy or fairytale—could,maybe, happen today. 

Right now. 

What would you do if this happened … to you?

And now here's a little bit about J. Keller: 

J. Keller Ford is a quirky mother of four, grand-mother and scribbler of young adult fantasy tales. She has an insatiable appetite for magic, dragons, knights and faeries, and weaves at least one into every story she conceives. Her muse is a cranky old meadow gnome that follows her everywhere she goes and talks incessantly, feeding her ideas for stories 24/7.

When she’s not writing or blogging, the former Corporate Paralegal enjoys listening to smooth jazz, collecting seashells, swimming, bowling, riding roller coasters and reading. Jenny lives minutes from the beaches of the west coast of Florida with her husband of twenty years, her two sons and a pair of wacky cats and three silly dogs. The pets have trained her well.

Hey everyone! Today's a pretty great day. Why, you might ask? Because Danielle E. Shipley's new book is having its cover reveal today. Are you ready to see the cover for The Seventh Spell, the third instalment of the Wilderhark Tales? Yes? Okay great! There's just one more thing to do before I show it to you. It's time to introduce the author!

Aaaaannnddd….

Here she is:

Danielle E. Shipley’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself. ...Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: Packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who homeschooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing young adult novels, she’s probably blogging about it.

And now time for the beautiful and amazing cover…..

Book Details:
Full Title: “The Seventh Spell (Book Three of The Wilderhark Tales)”
ISBN: 978-0-9891846-2-5
Genre: Young Adult Fairytale
Length: Novella (219 pages)
Release Date: February 5th, 2014 (so close, and yet so far!)
Future availability: Paperback (Amazon.com) and eBook (Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com)
Add “The Seventh Spell” to your Goodreads shelf today! [http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19181278-the-seventh-spell ]




Back of the book blurb:

A witch’s attempt to cast one spell too many
casts everyone touched by her previous spells into chaos.
Scattered throughout each other’s pasts, Sula and Edgwyn, Villem and Rosalba,
and the rest of magic’s affected have a single chance to break this last enchantment
before their “happily-ever-after”-s cease to have ever been.


The Seventh Spell
Book Three of The Wilderhark Tales

<> ~ <> ~ <>

An enchantress’s curse turns a spoiled royal into a beast;
A princess’s pricked finger places her under a hundred-year spell;
Bales of straw are spun as golden as the singing harp whisked down a giant beanstalk –
All within sight of Wilderhark, the forest that’s seen it all.
You’ve heard the stories –
of young men scaling rope-like braids to assist the tower-bound damsel;
of gorgeous gowns appearing just in time for a midnight ball;
of frog princes, and swan princes,
and princes saved from drowning by maidens of the sea.
Tales of magic. Tales of adventure. Most of all, tales of true love.

Once upon a time, you knew them as fairytales. Know them now as Wilderhark’s.

Of course L. S. is here today to give us her thoughts on the worldwide implications of a time freeze. Here is her lovely response:

Honestly, if the world stopped, we’d all stop with it. It would be like a hiccup in time. Who’s to say that doesn’t happen all the time? Maybe it’s really 3013, not 2013, and we’ve been frozen for a thousand years?

Okay, now I’m creeping myself out. J
Seriously though, we’ve all experienced that moment of losing time. Like when I drive to the day job and I wonder how I got there so fast. Or like when I walk into the kitchen only to forget why I even went in there.

Sure, time keeps moving even if we want to stop it. But if it did stop, we’d stop along with it.

Unless of course, we’re the only ones who can restart it again.

The book:

What if today never ends? 

What if everything about life—everything anyone hoped to be, to do, to experience—never happens? 

Whether sitting in a chair, driving down the road, in surgery, jumping off a cliff or flying … that’s where you’d be … forever. 

Unless … 

In One More Day, Erika Beebe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley and Anna Simpson join L.S. Murphy to give us their twists, surprising us with answers to two big questions, all from the perspective of characters under the age of eighteen. 

How do we restart time? 

How do we make everything go back to normal? 

The answers, in whatever the world—human, alien, medieval, fantasy or fairytale—could,maybe, happen today. 

Right now. 

What would you do if this happened … to you?

And the author: 

L.S. Murphy lives in the Greater St. Louis area where she watches Cardinals baseball, reads every book she can find, and weaves tales for young adults and adults. When not doing all of the above, she tends to her menagerie of pets as well as her daughter and husband.

In honour of the release of One More Day, I'm hosting Kimberly, one of my fellow authors, at my blog today. First, here's a little about the book:

What if today never ends? 

What if everything about life—everything anyone hoped to be, to do, to experience—never happens? 

Whether sitting in a chair, driving down the road, in surgery, jumping off a cliff or flying … that’s where you’d be … forever. 

Unless … 

In One More Day, Erika Beebe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley and Anna Simpson join L.S. Murphy to give us their twists, surprising us with answers to two big questions, all from the perspective of characters under the age of eighteen. 

How do we restart time? 

How do we make everything go back to normal? 

The answers, in whatever the world—human, alien, medieval, fantasy or fairytale—could,maybe, happen today. 

Right now. 

What would you do if this happened … to you?



Now, I asked Kimberly ... you guessed it! I asked her what she felt the implications to the world freezing would be when it started up again. And she told me:

If our world were to fall into a “Sleepless Beauty” reflective time warp, this would imply that the President of the U.S. pricked his finger on a spindle (impressive, considering how outdated spindles are) and fell into a hundred year sleep, leaving the rest of the United States as living statues during that time.
Well, I would be lead to presume that with the U.S. in such an absolute state of vulnerability, other countries would attempt to usurp us. I mean, we wouldn’t be using our resources, so it would be perfectly logical. The real problem would be that EVERYONE would want in o the action, which would ensue World War III. In the end, we’d be broken up into miniature nations belonging to the other countries.
 
However, no one could physically enter the United States, lest they accidentally touched one of those cursed, and be sucked into the curse themselves. Therefore, they’d have to lie in patient wait for probably fifty years (the first fifty having been the time of warfare), and then when we at last emerged into the proper time again, besides having hair and clothes that would be seriously outdated, we’d have to unite as a nation and revolt against the countries that were trying to overthrow us.
 
This may seem difficult, as we’d all be part of different countries by this point, HOWEVER because we all spoke language as it was a hundred years before, we could use the old dialect to pass secret communications, and thus rebel against all those who had usurped us, and triumph in the end to once again emerge as the United States. Though we might change our name, to reflect our recent triumph, and our flag, as is privy to the history of the nation. Without a doubt, spindles would all be banished. 

Now, here's a little about Kimberly:

When Kimberly was younger, she was incredibly timid. She didn’t talk much because she was afraid of what others would think of her. Instead, she expressed herself through drawing. Eventually, art alone wasn’t enough. There were some things she couldn’t express with pencils, so she began talking, and when she did, she realized she had something to say. Now no one can get her to shut up! Worse, she's discovered she can put those words into writing to share what she has to say with even more people. 

Kimberly writes short stories and novels—usually fantasy fairytale retellings. Scattered within her works are things she loves: horses, fencing, archery, and so much more. With her friends, she writes fun fan-fiction that expands her creativity, (and shows what a nerd she is). 

Through writing, she has found confidence and freedom.