This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.
This book is the 2nd in the series but I read it without reading the first.
Jumping straight in at the action was very exciting. Signal is on the run with Eric and out to clear her name. There is a touch of romance but Eric is a serial killer which would make anyone put there guard up.
It was a fun read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Here is the low down on what I posted on Ko-Fi last month, so you don’t miss out!
In this post I introduce my Camp NaNo project and goals.
I share my first chapter of Sky Heart. This has only been self edited and needs to go through professional edits but I thought it’d be fun to share a little of my work in progress.
I shared how I was progressing towards my NaNo goal, what has gone well and what I still need to work on.
It’s free to follow me on Ko-Fi and be sure you don’t miss out on my latest news, or any freebies. You can buy me a virtual cuppa or merchandise from my shop, including a signed copy of my book.
[Kofi]
My birthday was back in November and my online writer friends clubbed together and got me an Amazon voucher. I didn’t spend it right away. I wasn’t sure if I might get books for Christmas. Plus my book Wishlist is insane so I took my time narrowing down my choices.
This post includes affiliate links. Check out my Affiliate Disclosure page for more info.
Here’s what I got:
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
The Weavers by Ania Whiteley
World for the Broken by Elexis Bell
And The Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando
PREORDER: When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes
The Rural Setting Theasarus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
The Urban Setting Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
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[kofi]
Detective Fleet is on a cold case following the discovery of a body that is missing boy Ben from over 20y ago. The story is split between Ben and Fleet’s point of view, giving insight into what happened back then and now.
I don’t usually read this genre but I really enjoyed it. Every chapter unravelled more clues, it was fast-paced, with chapters ending in a way that left you needing to read more.
The body is found at a private school and during the investigation more bodies turn up. This amps up the feeling of danger and urgency. We all the twists and turns I didn’t see the ending coming but it is was brilliant. I loved how it linked back to the hiding place.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Buy The Hiding Place on Amazon
[kofi]
If you enjoyed this, you will like:
Published to YouTube on 15th February 2022
New Moon (working title)
This project is set in the same low fantasy world of The Soul Heart Series. In fact, for readers of Ocean Heart they may recognise the main character, Denny.
This story is a prequel. It’s set in the 90s, back when Denny was a teen herself. It will cover how she became friends with Gwyn, started her Sparkle Cake business, and the highs and lows as a new mum.
Preparation
I feel more prepared now I have created a title, cover, and blurb. Of course these are all just a work in progress, so could change but it helps me feel more focused.
I’ve started writing an outline. I intended for this to be a novella but I already have a sneaky suspicion this could become a full length novel.
I’ve also made a spreadsheet to help me track my word count. If this works successfully, I will look at making a version available to my followers on Ko-Fi.
The Goal
I’m going to aim for the big Five-O (50,000 words). If I don’t make it, I will still have made progress, but if I do, it’d make me so happy.
I’ve been struggling with motivation because Sky Heart is on hold until I can afford the professional services I need to move it forward. I’ve also been bummed out with all the germs (sick kids) ruining September, and fracturing my ankle ruining October.
I really want to get back into the habit of writing again. My ultimate goal for November is this: To write!
Are you doing NaNoWriMo? What’s your project, goal, and how do you prepare?
[kofi]
If you enjoyed this, you will like:
Thank you so much for agreeing to an interview about your debut fantasy novel.
Tell me about your beautiful book cover?
The beautiful artwork was illustrated by Yu-Hsuan Tseng who I happened to find online. I came across her wonderful art from a graphic design website and fell in love with the colours and imagery that she used. The style felt the right vibe for what I was imagining for The Waterfall Warrior. I got in touch with her and she was very happy to create my front cover. I was hugely honoured as it can be hard to find the right image for your work that captures what was originally in your mind, but not in this case. Yu-Hsuan Tseng listened to my ideas and with her talent and unique style she made the most perfect artwork I could ask for.
The Waterfall Warrior is book 1 in the Wilcroft Chronicles, how many books do you anticipate in the series?
I plan to do two more. When I came to write the first one I always had a trilogy in mind. It’s exciting because now the first book is out there, people can find out about this world and these characters I have created. I have lots of ideas for what’s to come. I know how it all ends, but there’s a lot of exciting things to happen before that.
Can you introduce the main characters, Hannah and Callum:
Hannah Barrington is a twenty-five year old woman who works at a hotel. She roams Epping Forest whenever she is feeling depressed. It brings comfort to her as she has fond memories of staying there with her grandparents and siblings when she was little. One day she comes across a waterfall which seems out of place; she walks through and finds a portal that transports her to a different world called Therrhain. Hannah befriends a Warrior there called Fay. To get Hannah back they must go to Wilcroft University to meet a woman named Carol Wells, but first Hannah and Fay must unveil the secret of the ancient prophecy before Therrhain is destroyed.
Callum Barrington is Hannah’s youngest sibling. He’s currently a student at university in Manchester. He also deals with mental illness. There’s a young man named Elliott Heartwood that he can see through his mirror, and in the early chapters Callum isn’t quite sure if he’s real or if his mind is playing tricks on him.
Is the Epping Forest in your book based on the real Epping Forest? Why did you choose this location for your fantasy book?
Yes and no. It’s real in the sense that in the story Hannah is walking through the actual Epping Forest, but I have added things that aren’t there in real life, such as the house that her grandparents lived in. I chose this location because I needed a forest that was out in the middle of nowhere but also close enough you could travel there from London, and also because Hannah needed somewhere to go that gave off a childlike and magical atmosphere.
The book includes your main characters facing mental health issues. Is mental health something that’s important to you?
Most definitely. Over the last few years I have been very open about myself having mental health problems. I also used to be a care worker before I became a writer, so I have worked with a lot of people who also have had mental health issues. I think it’s an important theme to put into stories, especially when it’s not the main plot device; the character just so happens to have these issues, but they also are shown to still live a life and have other qualities to them.
What advice do you have for anyone that may be struggling with similar issues to your main characters.
I’m not sure I am the right person to give advice, but I guess all I would suggest is to talk, and not be ashamed of the difficult emotions you are facing. From personal experience when I talked about it I felt better for it.
Can you share a short snippet from The Waterfall Warrior?
Walking through the forest brought back so many memories. It seemed smaller than it had when I was a child. I remembered the time I had fallen over a branch, the one that was still sticking out menacingly between the trees. It had made me fall and cut my knee. I had cried for hours. I used to play there with Chloe, Laura and Callum. They were my only friends back then. It was a time in my life before I realised you could have friends that were not part of your family. We used to use sticks as swords and playfight with each other. We even made dens with blankets. There was a house there that looked as though it was about to collapse. It used to belong to my grandparents, Grumbles and Numbles I called them for some strange reason. Back then I used to think this forest was their garden. When I passed this area, I could almost smell the cooked dinner that my grandmother used to make. It had always tasted as good as it smelt. My mouth was watering. The memory cheered me up but not for long. I was now further into the forest. I wasn’t very familiar with this part. We were told to never cross this point when we were kids, or we would be in “very serious trouble”. It was hard to believe it now, as this part of the woods felt very innocent and peaceful compared with the rest. The ground was flatter, there were no stones to graze your knees if you fell, and no hills to climb and fall down. I came across the stump of a tree. It was right in the middle, all by itself. Lines of trees standing tall on either side of it, squashed together like sardines. I went and sat down on the stump. Without even a thought I broke down and cried for about ten minutes. I didn’t understand why I suddenly felt so upset. I was feeling low, but I didn’t think I was as bad as all that. Then something startled me. The strangest, but most beautiful sound. Someone was singing.
Where can readers connect with you and discover more about your books?
The best place to do that would be at my book launch. It’s being held at Bristol’s Waterstones on September 28th at 7pm. I will be talking about the book, and there will be readings by two actors who narrated the audiobook edition of The Waterfall Warrior, which is also out soon. I will be signing copies of the book. It’s a free event but you still need to claim a ticket by visiting Waterstones website and going to the event section.
[kofi]
If you enjoyed this you will like:
Behind the Book: Chasing Sunrise by Emily Mah
Behind the Book: Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten
Thank you Emily for agreeing to a Behind the Book interview about your YA Urban Fantasy book, Chasing Sunrise.
This is book 1 in a trilogy. What can readers look forward to in this vampire series?
Very few vampires, actually, but the series will explain why there are so few. You’ll also learn the origin of vampires and how they fit into Judeo-Christian mythology. These books also set up a world where I plan to write a lot of urban fantasy/paranormal romance, so I hope people like the world-building too!
Can you introduce the MC, Liana?
Liana was a nerdy, quiet, high-achieving, prep-school attending girl who had a weakness for a guy who told her he needed her. Unfortunately, what he needed was her blood, and the way she let him drain her makes her face a lot of uncomfortable truths about herself. She realizes that if she wants to be the strong, independent woman she always thought she was, she has to make hard choices. And when her father is killed and she is left an orphan, the hard choices start coming at her fast.
Can you introduce the love interest, Corban?
He’s more of a cypher to begin with. When he meets Liana he’s very hostile to her, but he also asks her a lot of questions that don’t quite make sense. Despite their rough first meeting, she comes to believe he’s one of the only people she can trust with her deepest, darkest secret. She figures out who he is by the middle of the book. Suffice it to say, it’s complicated.
What drew you to writing a YA novel about vampires?
The one common thread in my romances is making good guys sexy. It really bothers me how many male leads are abusive, narcissistic, reckless, and even criminal, and vampire stories tend to be some of the most extreme in this regard. There’s a lot in these books about what it takes for love to last a lifetime, and selfish, obsessive vampire behaviors aren’t it. While I don’t believe in preaching to anyone, especially young people, nor in writing propaganda, I do think as a writer that it is my job to be honest and to ask hard questions. The YA audience is more than capable of grappling with those.
Who do you think would enjoy your series?
I think if you like, say, Tamar Sloan or Ilona Andrews or Carrie Vaughn, you’ll probably like these books. They’re meant to be a fun ride with a few heavy topics laced in there. But first and foremost, they should be fun!
The book is set in a boarding school, what was your school life like?
Only the first chapter is in a boarding school. I did go to a boarding school for two years of high school, but it was the United World College, which is an unusual boarding school. It’s international, most of the kids are on scholarship, and the curriculum is the International Baccalaureate. So, it’s not much like Liana’s boarding school. Before going to boarding school I went to the public high school in Los Alamos, New Mexico, one of the big rivals to Taos High School, where Liana ends up as a total fish out of water.
Can you share a short snippet of the story?
I sat on a patch of dead grass beside Aunt Cassie’s house as the sun rose. My skin already tingled as if I’d rubbed it with heat cream. Even though it was winter and the temperature below freezing, my jacket lay on the ground behind me, leaving my arms bare. With a deep breath of clean, chilled air, I braced myself for the full force of the oncoming pain.
The desert around me was quiet, and I was glad for that. It seemed that every animal I could think of that lived out here was poisonous in some way. Scorpions, rattlesnakes, various types of spiders—and I wasn’t an outdoorsy person to begin with. I found myself taken in by the stillness of it all, though. There were no birds chirping, or leaves rustling in the wind, no distant sound of cars whooshing down the road, or buzz of an errant porch light attracting insects.
There was just the broad, flat Taos Valley with its deep, jagged line of canyon in the distance, and beyond that were the mountains, their sharp angles softened with a layer of evergreen trees. Now the sky was turning a deep, vivid pink with wispy clouds looking like they’d caught fire.
I felt more than saw the sunrise. One moment my skin burned with an annoying tingle, and the next it felt like I was laid out atop a hot griddle with molten metal poured over me. I was certain that my flesh was being incinerated this time, but I’d thought that last time and the time before. Clenching my teeth and holding my breath, I waited for the sensation to break. It had before, so it had to this time. Still I gripped my small gold cross pendant and prayed to any deity who would listen. I begged, mentally, for forgiveness for my weakness. Please, give me another chance, another day.
Tears leaked from my eyes, and that was the first sign I had that the pain was abating. Their cool tracks down my cheeks quenched the fire and that sensation spread across my face and down over the rest of my body.
And then it was all over, the external pain at least. It was just me, the silent desert, and the yawning chasm of emptiness I felt inside. Tears didn’t ease that pain though. It was bottomless.
Chasing Sunrise by Emily Mah
Where can readers go to find out more about you and your books?
The buy link for the book is: https://books2read.com/Chasing-Sunrise
My social media:
Website: emilymah.com
Twitter: twitter.com/emilymah
Instagram: instagram.com/emilymahauthor
Facebook: facebook.com/emilymahauthor
The below are affiliate links. Read Affiliate Disclosure page for more info.
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Book Review: Sorceress of Truth by J D Groom
Behind the Book: Sorceress of Truth by J D Groom
Book Review: Wiccan Romance: Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron
Behind the Book: Wiccan Romance: Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron
[kofi]
The MC, Ashley, has moved to a new town, Emerald, for a fresh start, with her dad and his new girlfriend. Can she out run her past?
The girl friend works at Ashley’s new school and introduced her to Lucas, a boy in her year group. Ashley settles into her new school quickly as she already has made friends.
Ashley’s auntie has been counseling her to help with behaviour issues that got so out of hand that Ashley was lucky to only have community service.
Ashley is the main character. She went off the rails and is now trying to get her life back on track. She’s very self-involved.
Roxanne is the villain. She is the bad girl from Ashley’s past. Together they had wild parties and commit crimes.
Lucas is the lad that Ashley was introduced to before moving to Emerald. He makes sure she settles into school and has a good new group of friends like Chloe.
Her dad and his girlfriend are really nice. Ashley is struggling with her dad’s new relationship and how she fits in. This was the catalyst for her bad behavior and although she working on changing, she’s still not okay.
This book felt like a book 2. I really wanted to see Ashley go wild and hit rock bottom but the story starts after that, once the dust has settled. Except, Ashley hasn’t really processed what happened.
Ashley integrates into her new school with ease. Her new house is in a nice neighbourhood and next door to one of her new friends. Everything is going good until the burglaries start.
Someone is breaking into homes and stealing peoples jewellery. Ashley can’t help but think her past is catching up with her. When someone she loves gets hurt she decides its time to take responsibility for her mistakes. She runs away from home, back to her old town.
There were a few occasions I felt the story was too safe, and the author could have dug deeper into Ashley’s emotions and upped the stakes. It is a quick easy read.
The story has a satisfying ending with no loose ends. Although it is part of a series you can read it as a standalone. Overall it is a good story about taking responsibility for you actions and forgiveness.
The book deals with or touches on the following topics; moving house & starting a new school, death of a parent, parent remarrying, a new baby to the family, going wild (stealing, drinking, drugs, sleeping around), miscarriage, gun crime, running away/homelessness, and needing therapy.
Below are affiliate links. You can learn more about this on my Affiliate Disclosure page.
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Book Review: And the Stars were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando
Book Review: The Practice Boyfriend by Cristina Benjamin
Book Review: Out of my League by Sarah Sutton
Book Review: If the Broom Fits by Sarah Sutton
[kofi]
I’m really excited to be involved in this event, especially as so many incredible indie authors are taking part. This year, I’m one of those authors.
I am streaming live to my YouTube channel. Join me on Tues, 15 June at 8pm (GMT+1), where I will be joined by these awesome Indie Authors to chat about why we love being Indie.
The line up includes:
? Romantic Suspense author Cassidy Reyne: https://www.cassidyreyne.com/
? Worldbuilding & World Destroying author Angeline Trevena: https://angelinetrevena.co.uk/
? Contemporary Fantasy author J D Groom (Jodie): https://jodiegroom.wordpress.com/
? And, of course myself, Ally Aldridge: http://lde.tuq.mybluehost.me/
It’s live, so you can join in by asking questions or sharing your thoughts. We can’t wait to see you there.
Here’s the link. Make sure you hit that notification bell so you know when we go live: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TG1203XOADs
You may also want to add the FB event to your calendar so your don’t forget: fb://event/?id=1401390906894506
To find out more about Indie Author Week UK, please visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IndieAuthorWeekUK/
They have a ton of incredible events going on. If you can’t make a live, look out for the replay.
[kofi]
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