fantasy

Blog Tour: School of Deaths by Christopher Mannino @CTMannino

school of deaths bannerI love a good school story. Partially because I believe it takes me back to the magical first time I read Harry Potter. Partially because I wish my high school experience could’ve been so ____ (fill in the blank with badass, adventurous, world-saving, ect.) So a school book about a female Death immediately caught my attention. School of Deaths is a YA Paranormal available now. The sequel, Sword of Deaths, will be released in June.

CoverSchoolofDeathsThirteen-year-old Suzie Sarnio always believed the Grim Reaper was a fairy tale image of a skeleton with a scythe. Now, forced to enter the College of Deaths, she finds herself training to bring souls from the Living World to the Hereafter. The task is demanding enough, but as the only female in the all-male College, she quickly becomes a target. Attacked by both classmates and strangers, Suzie is alone in a world where even her teachers want her to fail.

Scythes hungry for souls, Deaths who subjugate a race of mysterious magicians, and echoes of an ancient war with Dragons.

As her year progresses, Suzie suspects her presence isn’t an accident. She uncovers a plot to overthrow the World of Deaths. Now she must also discover the reason she’s been brought there: the first female Death in a million years.
BandW.ad.SofDeathsHere’s a short excerpt for you:

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Review: Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Winterspell is a YA fantasy standalone book inspired by the Nutcracker–but Legrand releases an epilogue this week! Sign up for her newsletter here to get the news on the release.WinterspellNew York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, her father abducted–by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets–and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed–if she leaves at all.

I had been waiting to read Winterspell during a cold snowy evening while wrapped in furry blankets and stacks of used hot chocolate mugs. Unfortunately, Colorado’s didn’t give me my snowfall soon enough. I DID, however, read this the same week I saw the Nutcracker ballet for the first time! (And, ahem…the Barbie Nutcracker version…)

And while I loved the beauty of the ballet, I prefer Winterspell’s storyline….(and the Barbie version…)

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Book Blitz and GIVEAWAY: Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner @tianawarner

Ice_Massacre_bannerNot only can you enter a rafflecopter giveaway for a signed copy here, but during this week Ice Massacre is FREE on Amazon. Major cheering over here.
Ice_Massacre(Instead of giving the official synopsis, I thought I’d give this instead 🙂 )

Give us the tweet-sized version of what Ice Massacre is about.

A teenage girl is sent to battle the hostile mermaids that are driving her people into poverty. A story of love, secrets, and ass-kicking.

What makes Ice Massacre unique?

First, I haven’t seen a lot out there that portrays mermaids for what they really are: flesh-eating sea demons. But I think what also sets it apart is its almost entirely female cast. This island decides to send female warriors to kill the mermaids that plague them, because women don’t fall victim to a mermaid’s supernatural allure. We end up with an all-female war on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Meela, an aboriginal girl who’s never been away from the tiny island she calls home, also has a pretty unique journey of self-discovery. I don’t want to reveal too much. But I think a lot of aspects make this story unconventional.

What’s your favorite thing about the book?

I love Meela’s antagonists. Meela’s a tough chick and she has a lot coming at her from all directions. Writing those opposing forces was so much fun.

 What’s next for you as a writer?

The sequel! This is the first in a trilogy, and I’m hard at work on book two: Ice Crypt.

Doesn’t this sound awesome? I love fantastic mermaid books, but I love how it’s not-your-average beauty with a tail. Warner also gave us some creativity-boosting tips:

Have you ever sat up in the middle of the night to write down a sudden stroke of inspiration? Or made a quick voice memo to yourself? Maybe jotted down a plot twist idea while you’re supposed to be working or studying?

For a lot of writers, creativity comes in waves. This is great if those waves are thrashing around like stormy seas, but at some point a writer is bound to hit a flat spot. And not the kind of flat spot that’s great for water skiing. This is the kind that leaves you stuck in the middle of the lake wondering how the heck you’re ever going to get back to shore.

Here are three tips to keep those creativity waves coming:

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Deep Philosophical Questions About Incarnate by @JodiMeadows

Incarnate

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Finally got around to reading Incarnate. Instead of adding to the many fantastic reviews out there this time, I’d thought I’d write about the thought-provoking questions the book brought up for me.

Incarnate‘s plotline is based on the idea of reincarnation. In Ana’s world, the same souls have been reincarnated over and over for 5,000 years, which leads to a lot of condiluted relationships. Your friend may become your mother who may become your lover in a span of a couple generations.

Each time a person is reborn they have a different body. Which means, you could be a different gender, fat, thin, tall, short—whatever. This makes me wonder how much our bodies are tied to our souls. How much does my gender influence my soul in real life?

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E: Extra Karou day! Dreams of Gods and Monsters GIVEAWAY #AtoZChallenge

Congratulations to the winner, SoSheri!
EE stands for ANOTHER DAY OF KAROU AND LAINI TAYLOR! What does that mean?? Presents! *giggles like a two-year old* I’m giving away a FREE ereader copy of Dreams of Gods and Monsters!!dreams_of_gods_and_monsters

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael’s brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz … something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?

Here’s how you can win your free ereader copy:

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