Here are my covers with the BRAND NEW LETTERING!
Thank you to Sharon Brownlie for her lovely work on the new wording on my book covers. Lilith and Fateless looked dull and tired and not very eye catching at all. It is amazing what a big difference wording, font and colour can do. Thank you very much and I urge others to seek her help. Very friendly, quick service. I had input at every stage! Thank you again! Here are my covers with the BRAND NEW LETTERING! Below you can check out the covers with their old, boring wording. It amazes me how new, better wording can change the whole cover! I Love it.
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I have been extremely lucky in recent months. One reason is due to meeting a very kind man from Norway over a year ago. So in November 2016, I decided to do something HUGE with my life. I come from a very small city in England, never even owned a passport until I was 30 years old and believed the best place I would see in my life is a very popular seaside location called Skegness (Which we little Englanders often refer to as Skegvegas). It has casinos...I mean the 2p slot machines where you can win little plastic toys and whack'a'mole for tokens. It has restaurants....I prefer the Chippy with salt an vinegar though, and those dinky doughnuts...warm...dinky...doughnuts. It has the nightlife!...maybe a few places with some good music, cheap alcohol and a 'dodge the creepy perv in the corner' vibe. But I love the place.... Until I made the huge decision to move to Norway, to do something I would never have done before. I thought I was destined to stay in England forever. I hated the thought of flying, admittedly I have now cried twice on the plane (There was a fuel leak! that was legitimate fear!), I also had the hard task of being the one who didn't know too much of the language and the culture. I didn't want those things to stop me. Separating from my partner after spending only a week or 2 together, every few months was becoming painful. And so I did it! I moved! and the experiences have been crazy and I want to share a few of my favourites. Many of the things I have seen here will be going in to my new writing project Jade Sorrows. I'm surrounded by amazing scenery and inspiration. These are some of the first things I saw once I was settled in my new home. Coming in time for Christmas was pure perfection. It is a huge family celebration for my partner's family. It will stick with me for the rest of my life no matter where it takes me. I have never seen such beauty before. And then there is Oslo and all the wonderful sights around it. It is rich in culture, full of so many different types of people and beautiful to see. My next project will feature mountains, wintry seasons, vast oceans and rough terrain in which to travel. Everything I see here fuels the imagination and the desire to write has started to come back after a long dry spell. I guess it is true when they say a change of scenery can change a person and how they see the world. After spending all my life in England and never being happy, I truly believe that I am a very different person in Norway.
Check back for more Norwegian inspirations and snippets of my writing. I can't wait to share my new projects with you. Since completing my 2016 reading challenge of 50 books (I wish I had time for more!) I want to share with you some of my list and the books I recommend to anyone stopping by. I also very much enjoy discussion of books and perhaps you could suggest some awesome reads for me? As always there is a comment section below if you would like to share your thoughts on my list and perhaps send me a list of your own fantastic reads this year. I encourage Facebook/ Page links too! So here we go...... Let me introduce to you the Stage Dive series. Do you see those delicious covers? Wow. These covers, admittedly, lured me in and I bought the first book, Lick by Kylie Scott. It was so good I immediately bought Play (which remains my favourite). I personally recommend the first 2 books in this series because I fell in love with the Heroes and feel the plot and characters are far stronger. I would suggest reading them in order as they are the members of the same band and many times the plots and people overlap, but not so much if you accidently stumble on the 3rd or 4th. This leads me smoothly to...
The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas is probably one of the highlights of my year and I can barely stop talking about them. They are by no means perfect; the first book is very young and uncertain but a good introduction of character and plot. Then from the second book through to the fifth I could not stop reading. There was something about the characters that made you want to take care of them and the action doesnt stop, leaving you biting your nails for the next chapter. Every single cliffhanger is unbearable! BUT I won't babble about them. There is a more in depth review of them on my blog that you are welcome to read.
Lastly I will share a few books I enjoyed. Ones that you may like to read and try out for yourself (the Pucked series is pretty good, though Pucked Over is the one I loved the most). I hope you enjoyed the selection and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and which gems you found this year. Adding to my To-read list has become an addiction I am not ashamed of.
Thank you for stopping by. God of the Darklands is my epic fantasy WIP about Gods, Gifted mortals, Elementals and monstrous creatures. Below is the first chapter. Tell me what you think so far.....
‘In the beginning we were but a thought, a fantasy, a vision, of our true Creator, the Es Soulla, and breathed in to life, in to being.’ - Ameris, Scroll of Beginnings 1 Wrapped from head to toe in black, he became a shadow, showing only his shimmering storm-grey eyes, flashing every time a crack of lightening ravaged the grim sky. His skin ran pale, almost as grey as his irises, visible in the narrow strip of his dark mask. He pulled his cloak tight across a lean, muscled body, stopping it from flapping wildly in the wind and lowered his hood against the storm. He could smell the rotting odour of decomposing bodies and old sweat. Unwashed bodies had a sickeningly sweet smell that hung on the air, invaded the nostrils and seemed to seep in to his very pores. It was a smell he had become accustomed to over the passing months and, in truth, in all his years living in Aria it was not the worst smell he had come across. The dark clad man lowered in to a crouch and moved in a predatory crawl to the edge of the steep hillside. Darkland demons thundered far below him on a beaten trail leading away from the town of Dirra in to The Plains, their deformed, monstrous bodies encased in metal armour. A town, he thought coldly, they had devastated and destroyed. He had watched them burn poorly made huts with flickering torches, forcing families out on to the streets where they were cut down with no remorse. The men were slaughtered, children torn apart, the women raped and tormented before they were slain. The bloodbath had not lasted long. No more than a few hours. From bloodcurdling screams to heavy silence. He knew none had been left alive, there was no need to search Dirra for survivors, but he would wait until the armoured demons were a safe distance away and do what was required of him. Keeping to the shadows, the dark man walked steadily down the hill and disappeared through the smoke and fire. He checked every house, every throat of every corpse still intact, even some that were not. Once satisfied none had survived to tell the grisly tale he moved fast to pick up the stinking trail of the deformed monsters. The demons had already destroyed Meresa and Throm, and before them they had slaughtered the people of Corus and Midere. Soon all the border towns would be nothing but blackened, poisoned land. The demons would make their way to the Citadel of Morenna and the Humans, as diminished as they were, would fall easily. The demons were easy to find. The odour they left in their wake could be smelled for miles. The dark man followed them to a camp where they were resting after battle, where they feasted on the limbs of men. He watched as one tore the fingers from a hand it had brought with it from the slaughters. Blood spurted in a bright red stream across its face and a forked tongue greedily flicked out to lap it up, not wasting a single drop. Disgusted, he turned away and found a place nearby to wait. He was not allowed to end their pitiful lives, and nor did he care to expend the effort to do so. He would follow his orders, and that was all. He would watch and wait until he found survivors. That was his only mission. Finding a damp patch of grass beneath a shelter of fallen rocks, he rested, sighing at his seemingly meaningless task. In the three seasons he had been following the beasts they had left none alive. They were careful, thorough, and lusted for the slaughter. Sighing once more, he stared up at the roiling sky. Watching the way the lightening travelled across the purple-blue clouds, brightening the land in rapid bursts, and then leaving it in murky darkness. He longed to follow the storm, to chase the wind wherever it may lead. He wished for it to take him far from this poor, barren land. A place where there were lush green forests, the hum of animal life and the silken skin of women. Elf women. He preferred their willowy bodies, rich scented hair and strange coloured eyes, but in this moment he would settle for a hardened Tiberian woman, or a brash speaking Alac-Narian. Any woman to love for a few hours, to pass away the long, dark nights. The dark man closed his eyes and filled his mind with memories of the many women he had lain with over the years. He breathed in the spices of perfume and soap, remembered the feel of satin clothes slipping through his fingers as they fell to the floor. He was so immersed in his dream he nearly missed the delicate thud outside his shelter.Most would not have heard it. He did not stir. This was a sound familiar to him and he felt a small, uncommon smile twitch at the corners of his lips. “One day I will care enough to ask how you always seem to find me, Nikira.” His voice was soft, with only a slight growl at the edge of his words. “Come. Stay here with me. The night is much too cold for you to be running around alone.” Thank you for reading. If you wish to comment you can do so via the comments option or go to the contact form on the 'Contact Me!' page at the top of my website. Hope you enjoyed this piece. This is the finalized and edited opening chapter of my book Myst of Aria, the first novel in an epic-fantasy trilogy I am currently working on! I really hope you like it and would appreciate any comments/opinions. ENJOY! Wrapped from head to toe, he became a shadow, showing only his shimmering storm-grey eyes, flashing every time a crack of lightening ravaged the grim sky. His skin ran pale, almost as grey as his irises, visible in the narrow strip of his dark mask. He pulled his black cloak tight across a lean, muscled body, stopping it from flapping wildly in the wind and lowered his hood against the storm. He could smell the rotting odour of decomposing bodies and old sweat. Unwashed bodies had a sickeningly sweet smell that hung on the air, invaded the nostrils and seemed to seep in to his very pores. It was a smell he had become accustomed to over the passing months and, in truth, in all his years living in Aria it was not the worst smell he had come across. The darkly clad man lowered in to a crouch and moved in a predatory crawl to the edge of the steep hillside. Armoured demons thundered far below him on a beaten trail leading away from the town of Dirra in to The Plains. A town, he thought coldly, they had devastated and destroyed. He had watched them burn poorly made huts with flickering torches, forcing families out on to the streets where they were cut down with no remorse. The men were slaughtered, children torn apart, the women raped and tortured and slain. The bloodbath had not lasted long. No more than a few hours. From bloodcurdling screams to heavy silence. He knew none had been left alive, there was no need to search Dirra for survivors, but he would wait until the armoured demons were a safe distance away and do what was required of him. Keeping to the shadows, the dark man walked steadily down the hill and disappeared through the smoke and fire. He checked every house, every throat of every corpse still intact, even some that were not. Once satisfied none had survived to tell the grisly tale he moved fast to pick up the stinking trail of the deformed monsters. The demons had already destroyed Meresa and Throm, and before them they had slaughtered the people of Corus and Midere. Soon all the border towns would be nothing but blackened, poisoned land. The demons would make their way to the Citadel of Morenna and the Humans, as diminished as they were, would fall. The demons were easy to find. The odour they left in their wake could be smelled for miles. The dark man followed them to a camp where they were resting after battle, where they feasted on the limbs of men. He watched as one tore the fingers from a hand it had brought with it from the slaughters. Blood spurted in a bright red stream across its face and a forked tongue greedily flicked out to lap it up, not wasting a single drop. Disgusted, he turned away and found a place nearby to wait. He was not allowed to end their pitiful lives, and nor did he care to expend the effort to do so. He would follow his orders, and that was all. He would watch and wait until he found survivors. That was his only mission. Finding a damp patch of grass beneath a shelter of fallen rocks, he rested, sighing at his seemingly meaningless task. In the three seasons he had been following the beasts they had left none alive. They were careful, thorough, and lusted for the slaughter. Sighing once more, he stared up at the roiling sky. Watching the way the lightening travelled across the purple-blue clouds, brightening the land in rapid bursts, and then leaving it in murky darkness. He longed to follow the storm, to chase the wind wherever it may lead. He wished for it to take him far from this poor, barren land. To a place where there were lush green forests, the hum of animal life and the silken skin of women. Elf women. He preferred their willowy bodies, rich scented hair and strange coloured eyes, but in this moment he would settle for a hardened Tiberian woman, or a brash speaking Alac-Narian. Any woman to love for a few hours, to pass away the long, dark nights. The dark man closed his eyes and filled his mind with memories of the many women he had lain with over the years. He breathed in the spices of perfume and soap, remembered the feel of satin clothes falling to the floor. He was so immersed in his dream he nearly missed the delicate thud outside his shelter. Most would not have heard it. He did not stir. This was a sound familiar to him and he felt a small, uncommon smile twitch at the corners of his lips. “One day I will care enough to ask how you always seem to find me, Nikira,” he said. His voice was soft, with only a slight growl at the edge of his words. “Come. Stay here with me. The night is much too cold for you to be running around alone.” I am pleased to announce the winners of the Rafflecopter for a FREE ebook copy of LILITH, my debut novel and the 1st book in the Twin Soul Series! Due to the amazing response I decided to give away 3 copies instead of 2! I have had a great time and thank you for supporting me. I hope for those who didnt win today, if Lilith sparked your interest, that you may still go on to buy and read it. Every review means so much to me and it would be awesome if you could spare some time to write a few words about it. Now to introduce the winners.... Well done to KIM STAPF. EMILY GUIDO and MELISSA BENSON You will find an e-mail from me soon (check your junk incase) with your copy of LILITH. I hope you enjoy it and thank you so much for your support throughout the competition. As promised I am running a giveaway to celebrate reaching my goal of 200 Likes on my Facebook Author Page www.facebook.com/twinsoulnovels The competition is International and the Prizes are 2 Ebook copies of my debut novel Lilith, Book 1 in the Twin Soul Novels. Read further for the description and 1st chapter. You can also Click on the Homepage link at the top of my website page to read some of the reviews I have recieved for Lilith. Read on for more... After a traumatic event suffered at a young age, Annette Anderson believes she has been cursed with the 'Sight'. The ability to see the Hellworlds and demon souls drove her in to a world of sin and sex, attracting the unwanted attention of the Underground. After months of torture, the She-demon, Lilith, attempted to take Annette's body and drive out her human soul. Unexpectedly, Annette's soul fought back, trapping Lilith and leaving them to reside together on a shaky truce. Along with the help of Michael Daltry, a detective with the Metropolitan Police and Rowan, a demon ordered to protect them, Annette and Lilith must work together to uncover the reasons behind a spate of grisly murders that has hit the the busy city of London. If they fail, it will truly be Hell on Earth! Chapter 1 Silently, I moved through the dark sidelines of the club, barely noticed by the crowds of people who danced long in to the night. Scented skin, rich perfume and the undertone of wine drifted on the air. I breathed it in, drinking in sexual desires, glimpsing dark fantasies and shivered against them, wanting them. How I envied them. Envied the way they moved; chins held high, exuding confidence, certain nothing terrible could ever happen. I envied the way they laughed, the way they embraced, the way they trusted. Women, in short dresses, tight skirts and low tops, encouraged men to watch, to whistle, to pant with need. Never wondering, never caring that maybe, just maybe, the one they beckoned with those salacious smiles and inviting eyes could be the one who took everything from them, who could end their lives. They were ignorant. Oblivious to what lurked in the shadows, oblivious to the monsters that waited for them in the murky darkness. They were oblivious to me. Yet it was I who would give up everything to be like them. I would give up everything to fall in love, to dance with a man and not fear his intentions, to laugh carelessly, to…to be human! Instead I was forced to walk the edges of this world, to look in, but never be a part of it. Turning away from the dancing throng, I followed the unlit seating area and pressed against the countertop of the bar, gripping the solid wood to steady myself. I ordered a drink and gulped it down in seconds, relishing in the warmth of the Brandy as it spread through my body and soothed my nerves. For a moment it chased away the fears. People frequented clubs like Pandora to drink their life’s problems away, to forget their responsibilities for a night. Why should I be any different? Well…sure mine were the kind of problems no human could even imagine comprehending, but I still had problems. Ones that, like any other, would be waiting for me in the morning, but for now I was here, among those who were here for the same reason. To forget. I called the Barman over to fill my glass and knocked it back, exhaling sharply as it burned the back of my throat. It instantly sent my head swirling with calming cloudiness. Pushing away from the counter, I moved through the multitudes of intoxicated people and stepped on to the dance floor at the centre, joining a horde of heated bodies writhing against one another in the tiny space. They smelled of sweat, of trepidation and excitement. I closed my eyes and inhaled. It was a heady mixture, one to get drunk on. Blood tasted like chocolate on the tip of my tongue. Flicking it over my pulsing lips with my tongue, I allowed my body to sway to the beat of the music. Throwing back my head, the vibrations of the speakers poured over me like syrup, perspiration clung to my skin, dampening my hair. I was a kitten surrounded by catnip. Human bodies intoxicated me, their proximity called to the part of me I kept hidden. A darkness. A monster. Before realizing it, power spilled from my body in scorching waves, calling to those closest to me. Reaching hands found their way on to my body, caressing. Men and women pressed against me hungrily as the music consumed Pandora. They touched me, they wanted me. Lips brushed against mine. Teeth scraped my throat. An arm curved around my waist. The thing residing inside of me, the thing that gave me this unwanted power poured in to my consciousness and took control. It chose its victim. It chose a man who cupped my chin and pulled me close to bite at my lips, who snuggled against me as if he could crawl inside of me. The darkness wanted him. I wanted him. I almost…almost…let my demon have him. I could. He would not care. He would beg me to take him, to ride his body until he screamed in pain. He wanted me to tear at his throat, to drink down his blood. He wanted me to rip the flesh from his bones as he cried out in pleasure and pain. He wanted this as much as I did. I felt my teeth sink in to his lip, felt the soft skin split and a drop of blood slipped in to my mouth, the metallic sweetness called a moan from my throat. I froze. Shock and disgust pulled me from this hypnotic state. I called my power in so quickly I staggered back with the force of it. I stumbled away from the man, his eyes confused, but not afraid. Thank God he was not afraid. The others had moved away, unaware of being under my spell. I backed away from the dance floor and sagged against the bar, taking deep, ragged breaths. I gulped down glasses of brandy, trying desperately to fight the memory of the man’s body against mine, his blood in my mouth. “You might want to slow down a bit, miss.” My head snapped up, meeting the dark chocolate eyes of the young Barman who filled my glass with another shot despite his warning. He smiled apologetically and I followed the movement with my eyes, admiring the way his lips twitched at the corners of his mouth, the way the dimple deepened in his left cheek. "Miss?” His mouth moved deliciously when he spoke. “Maybe I should call you a taxi?” I frowned up at him, head swimming with alcohol. “What?” I cringed at my throaty voice, the musical sound of it, the way it softened the young man’s eyes. “I think you have had enough for one night,” he said. “Where do you live?” “Live?” The Barman grinned and his looks became boyishly handsome. His unblemished skin was naturally tanned, his blonde hair sprinkled with golden highlights. “Let’s start slowly. What is your name?” “My name?” I cursed inwardly at my befuddled brain. “Annette. Annette Anderson.” “Good. I am Todd. Now let’s think about getting you a taxi home,” he said. “Can you remember where you live?” I glanced up at him under dark, heavy eyelashes. “Yes.” I like to help people, its who I am and what my mum made me in to. Its great to help....but why???
For me its to see that look on someones face, the gratitude and appreciation. It's the emotion in their eyes when words fail them. Every time I see it, hear the words, something so profound happens inside me. This huge swell in the pit of my stomach tells me I have done something good, something right, something that has made another happy. And I am telling you that feeling is addictive, almost addictive as chocolate and I do not say that lightly, but every time I help someone, I want to help more. I encourage the younger members of my family to do kind things, because the world needs it! It is lacking and dying. Currently my partner and I are entering in to the challenging world of fostering and I know the journey will be rough, I know its going to be hard but the purity of it is that I can help many people at once. One door closed when I found it would be difficult for me to have children naturally, but many doors opened that I would never have seen. Do I believe everyone has a plan in this world? I am not sure. Do I believe things happen for a reason? maybe, but if this is what I am meant to do with my life then I will follow the path and see where it leads. Have you ever felt this way? What experiences have given you a feeling of elation, that has rewarded you? So for the last several weeks I have been experiencing a set of nightmares, overly vivid and disturbing, which wake me up at the early hours of the night. The nightmares consist of a tactical team searching an old abandoned building in a Post-apocalyptic time, with deadly zombies and me holding a large plastic spoon. Yep, crazy undead things running around, my team are heavily armed with grenades, guns and daggers and I am stood holding a plastic spoon. I don’t mind this however…
In the nightmare my team are protecting a Lab Researcher who must collect blood samples etc (yes my dreams are really this vivid and involved and I often write them down as quick as possible…great writing material) We enter a very blood stained, dark, underground basement of sorts and while the Researcher is taking her samples I am ordered to fight off the crazy Undead dogs that keep trying to attack us. By this time the Researcher and I are somehow alone and cut off from the military team. Going back to why I dont mind being armed with a big plastic spoon. This weapon, in my nightmare, is crazy-awesome! No matter how many undead dogs I kill this thing never breaks. I stab them in the head, in the heart, even creating a nice little pile and still the spoon refuses to break. I have by now convinced myself all I need in any apocalyptic situation is this freaking spoon! I always wake when the Researcher asks me to take her further down the steps in to the dark basement. I can not seem to handle the curtain of darkness that begins halfway down the steps and a terrible fear comes over me. The steps are bloodstained and rusty, and I know there is something waiting for me…and at this point I am not sure how my plastic spoon is going to hold up. All I know is that I am terrified, and this is how I wake up….to darkness. I have heard dreams and nightmares tell us alot about ourselves and how we are feeling deep down where we do not really want to go. My dreams are a huge part of my writing, and story telling. In fact many of my dreams as a child have gone in to the Twin Soul Novel series. I had a dark mind even as a child! I believe it is a large part of why I wanted to become a writer. I needed a place to put these dreams or I think I would have gone crazy. So, tell me about your dreams, and how they have influenced you. Have they changed your life? are they the reason you became an artist? do you believe they hold some special message for you? |
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