Cover Reveal - Brave

Happy Saturday! EEP! Today, I have a cover reveal for you from the awesomeness that's Carlyle Labuschagne. I hope you enjoy it!

Brave is a short story prequel to The Broken Novels written from Rion's point of view on the life-altering events that led up to the discovery of The Chosen One. 

Rion must choose between love and his long awaited destiny to fulfill his role in a prophecy that is said to save a dying race and ultimately rescue life as we know it from a dark curse that threatens to eclipse all creation. . 

This story will be free to my readers on whattpad and will release in stages over the next few weeks. You can find my whattpad profile here. 
Brave releases February 28 2015

Connect with me on twitter. facebook . goodreads or youtube. You can find out more about me and my dramatic craziness on my website. Carlyle is an South African award wining author, with a flair for mixing genres and adding loads of drama to every story she creates. For now she is happy to take over the world and convert non Sci-fi believers.
Her goal as an author is to touch people's lives, and help others love their differences and one another by delivering strong messages of faith, love and hope within every outrageous world she writes about.

"I love to swim, fight for the trees, and am a food lover who is driven by my passion for life. I dream that one day my stories will change the lives of countless teenagers and have them obsess over the world literacy can offer them instead of worrying about fitting in. Never sacrifice who you are, its in the dark times that the light comes to life."

Carlyle used writing as a healing tool and that is why she started her very own writers support event - SAIR bookfestival.  "To be a helping hand for those who strive to become full times writers, editors, bloggers, readers and cover artists - its a crazy world out there you dont have to go it alone!" 

What do you think? Sounds interesting, eh?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

New Release - Fractured Glass

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today is the day you've all been waiting for! Fractured Glass is officially for sale over at Amazon. $2.99 get it here. I know, I know, you can barely contain your excitement! *grin* But I have some awesomeness for you all today I can barely contain. Hold on to your horses and let's get going!

First of all, if you buy the book, please go to the Facebook release party here and enter your order information on the relevant post for a shot at a $100 gift card, courtesy of the authors.

Next, if you haven't entered to win a paperback, pop on over to Goodreads and do that here.

For the special on the blog today, I have some of the characters for you to get to know!

Calix is dark and sexy. He’s a product of cross-fractal species breeding, and no one knows his true age. There’s one thing everyone knows: Diego is insanely jealous of Calix spending time with Sloan. Everyone wonders what it is the man is truly after, but he’s not talking, and he has possession of Sloan in the fractal universe.

Diego is a seventeen-year-old who is adopted. His parents are workaholics, but he enjoys the freedom they give him so he can browse the internet, geek out over science, and spend every free moment at the Glass sisters’ house, studying the advanced science and mathematics their mother teaches them.. He has a deep crush on Sloan, and he happens to be a technology wizard.

Harley and Sloan Glass are sixteen-year-old twin sisters with the ability to traverse what are known as fractals. Harley is a soccer player and loves dancing, hanging with her sister, and running. Sloan plays guitar and enjoys school, spending time with her mother, and reading books. Both girls are excellent students and are homeschooled.  

 

Elba is ageless and comes from a realm deep within the fractal universe. No one really knows why she’s offering to help the Glass family, but the sisters have their suspicions Elba isn’t what she seems. Darkness follows her. She’s a mystery they’re all determined to unravel.

Yurit is a wise and elder gnome from the realm of Spirit. He’s part of the council protecting the fractals; a group of folks banded together to put an end to tyranny. Able to see the future, he knows a guardian needs to be found, but is hesitant to pass that amount of power to a single person. He’s short, sweet, and loves his daughter, Heema, very much.

Now that you've met a few of the awesome characters, let's get on to information about the book, shall we? 

Title: Fractured Glass: A Novel Anthology

Author(s): Tia Silverthorne Bach, Jo Michaels, Casey L. Bond, Kelly Risser, N. L. Greene

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction (paranormal, horror, fantasy, magic, romance)

Length (print): 325 pages

Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $2.99  ~  Paperback $14.99

Synopsis:

What if other worlds existed alongside your own? What if you could travel through them and truly escape reality?

Sloan and Harley Glass were born moments apart; but, despite their differences, the sixteen-year-old twins couldn’t be closer. They’ve held their tongues each and every time their mother has uprooted them—often moving across the country with little notice. They’ve learned to accept change. But what is Mom running from?

They discover they’re travelers—half-descendants of those who can traverse an entire universe of parallel worlds known as fractals. When the past catches up, Harley is kidnapped and taken to one of those distant worlds. Now, Sloan must garner her courage and find a way to rescue her sister. Traversing the worlds isn’t the hard part; it’s surviving the elements and the creatures lying in wait to destroy everything in their path.

Will the Glass sisters be able to save the fractal worlds from the kidnapper, or will everything fracture and crumble around them?

What are you waiting for? Go get yours! Now!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo 

Fractured Glass Preorder Available NOW - Plus UtopYA Con 2015 Tickets on Sale

How amazing is it that it's Black Friday already? Happy shopping, everyone! Guess what's available for you to buy? *grin* Sit on back, relax, and let's get to it.

I can't help but think how amazingly appropriate it is that pre-orders for Fractured Glass and tickets to UtopYA Con 2015 go on sale the same day.

Why?

Because the ladies I wrote Fractured Glass with (Tia Silverthorne Bach, Casey L. Bond, Kelly Risser, and N. L. Greene) attended UtopYA in 2014, and will return in 2015. Our novel was conceived at the con, and we're so freaking excited to be bringing it into the world at last.

PRE-ORDER FRACTURED GLASS NOW!!!

Fractured Glass is a YA Sci-Fi Novel Anthology unlike any other. It was written by 5 different authors who came together to give you 1 amazing story.

 Blurb - 

What if other worlds existed alongside your own? What if you could travel through them and truly escape reality?

 

Sloan and Harley Glass were born moments apart; but, despite their differences, the sixteen-year-old twins couldn’t be closer. They’ve held their tongues each and every time their mother has uprooted them—often moving across the country with little notice. They’ve learned to accept change. But what is Mom running from?

 

They discover they’re travelers—half-descendants of those who can traverse an entire universe of parallel worlds known as fractals. When the past catches up, Harley is kidnapped and taken to one of those distant worlds. Now, Sloan must garner her courage and find a way to rescue her sister. Traversing the worlds isn’t the hard part; it’s surviving the elements and the creatures lying in wait to destroy everything in their path.

Will the Glass sisters be able to save the fractal worlds from the kidnapper, or will everything fracture and crumble around them?

Pre-Order Link

~ Amazon ~ 

Find the authors' Facebook pages here...

Jo Michaels ~ Tia Silverthorne Bach ~ Casey L. Bond ~ Kelly Risser ~ N.L. Greene

 Get to know the characters...

Sloan and Harley Glass

Harley and Sloan Glass are sixteen-year-old twin sisters with the ability to traverse what are known as fractals. Harley is a soccer player and loves dancing, hanging with her sister, and running. Sloan plays guitar and enjoys school, her mother, and reading books. Both girls are excellent students and are home schooled.

Are you excited about this YA novel anthology yet?? Well, here's the link again:

Amazon Kindle $2.99

Pre-order it, and you'll get it delivered to your device automatically the day before Christmas!

What else can you get today?

TICKETS TO UTOPYA CON!

Grab them via the link above. It'll take you to the Eventbrite page.

You deserve these gifts. Get them for yourself.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Happy Thanksgiving 2015!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Yeah, I'm a day early, but I have stuff coming tomorrow! *grin* I do hope you all took a moment to check out my post (and the posts of others) from the No Blog Left Behind Thanksgiving Giveaway Hop I posted on Monday. If you missed it, get on over there. Lots of great stuff to win!

But, today is about me telling you:

And wishing you well for the holidays. Tomorrow, I have some really, REALLY awesome stuff to share with you all. A couple of very important items go on sale that day, but you'll have to come check out the post to find out more. I know you will, because you're by far the most awesome blog followers in the Universe.

In the meantime, enter to win a copy of Fractured Glass (along with an awesome bookmark - see below) over on Goodreads.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Fractured Glass

by Jo Michaels

Giveaway ends December 31, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

With this bookmark:

Front            ~             Back

So, happy Thanksgiving, again!

What are you thankful for this year?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Fractured Glass - Pre-order Signup Form and Goodreads Giveaway

Happy Friday, everyone! Wow. What a crazy week it was, huh? Well, I have a little something that just might brighten your day. Not only are we taking signups for folks willing to help us announce the awesomeness that's releasing for pre-order around Thanksgiving, we're also giving away a couple copies of the book over on Goodreads (INTERNATIONALLY). So, get your clicking fingers ready and let's get into it!

First up, a little information about the book:

Expected Release Date: December 24, 2014
Pre-orders: November 28, 2014
Title: Fractured Glass - A Novel Anthology
Author(s): Tia Silverthorne Bach, Jo Michaels, Casey L. Bond, Kelly Risser, and N. L. Greene
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction with five sub-genres (paranormal, horror, fantasy, magic, and romance)
Length: ~100k words

Synopsis:
What if other worlds existed alongside your own? What if you could travel through them and truly escape reality?

Sloan and Harley Glass were born moments apart; but, despite their differences, the sixteen-year-old twins couldn’t be closer. They’ve held their tongues each and every time their mother has uprooted them—often moving across the country with little notice. They’ve learned to accept change. But what is Mom running from?

They discover they’re travelers—half-descendants of those who can traverse an entire universe of parallel worlds known as fractals. When the past catches up, Harley is kidnapped and taken to one of those distant worlds. Now, Sloan must garner her courage and find a way to rescue her sister. Traversing the worlds isn’t the hard part; it’s surviving the elements and the creatures lying in wait to destroy everything in their path.

Will the Glass sisters be able to save the fractal worlds from the kidnapper, or will everything fracture and crumble around them?

Sign up to help us out here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15qWiXB2UT85p-L7y-FqdUBrarbtMawKtAebZunf48CU/viewform

Now, I know you're ready for the Goodreads giveaway entry form, right? Yeah! Okay, here ya go:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Fractured Glass

by Jo Michaels

Giveaway ends December 31, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

It's not live yet, because they haven't approved it. But it will be. So add it to your shelf and, when it goes live, enter to win it!

What do you think? Would you like to help us out?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Book Review - The Fly House

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Squee! Boy, do I have a book review for you today. I found myself guffawing over this one, and I'm excited to introduce you to this awesome Indie author. This title will go into my Indie Fever Reading Challenge list, because I've never read a book by Misty before, and am thrilled to now say I have. Anyway, before I get to it, here's my review recap (notice changes to the list):

Misty Provencher The Fly House  REVIEW BELOW
Elle Todd The Elect REVIEW HERE
Molly Taggart Off Target REVIEW HERE
Gloria Piper Finnegan's Quest REVIEW HERE
Skylar Hamilton Burris The Strange Marriage of Anne de Bourgh REVIEW HERE
Tamar Hela Feast Island REVIEW HERE
Rebecca Trogner The Last Keeper's Daughter REVIEW HERE
Scott Marlowe The Five Elements REVIEW HERE
L.K. Evans Keepers of Arden: The Brothers Volume 1 REVIEW HERE
Sarah Mäkelä The Witch Who Cried Wolf REVIEW HERE
Felicia Tatum Masked Encounters REVIEW HERE
David T Griffith The Bestiarum Vocabulum REVIEW HERE
Thaddeus White Sir Edric's Temple REVIEW HERE
Heather Topham Wood The Memory Witch REVIEW HERE
N. L. Greene Illusions Begin REVIEW HERE
J. A. Huss Tragic REVIEW HERE
Pauline Creeden Sanctuary REVIEW HERE
Casey Bond Reap REVIEW HERE 
Casey Bond Devil Creek REVIEW HERE
S. G. Daniels The Druid's Doorway REVIEW HERE
Peprah Boasiako The Hitman WILL NOT REVIEW
C. S. Janey Surrender To You Amazon Kindle $2.99
Morgan Wylie Silent Orchids Amazon Kindle **FREE** ~
Laura Howard The Forgotten Ones Amazon Kindle $0.99 ~
Christina Marie Morales Ambience Amazon Kindle $2.99

A little about the book up for review today:

Title: The Fly House
Author: Misty Provencher
Genre: NA Science Fiction
Length (print): 472 Pages
Buy Link: Amazon Kindle $3.99

Synopsis:
The Earth’s atmosphere is swiss cheese. To avoid the oncoming oxygen crisis, black-sheep heiress, Maeve Aypotu, has been chemically suspended in one of the Archive’s plush, underground, multi-million dollar chambers. Scientists claim they can patch everything up in about 15 years, so, just to be safe, the Archive programmed the chambers to open in 17 years.

And then, everything on Earth went wrong.

Up on the surface, Pluto has taken control of the planet, scorching away all signs of human civilization and reconstructing the environment to suit the Plutian’s lucrative dragon trade. Humans are now laborers, using survival and repopulation as currency among their Houses.

The Archivers, finally emerging from their chambers, are entering into a whole new world. Learning to trust this new community of humans may need to start small—with the fusion of one powerful Rha and one bad ass black sheep—if a damaged race ever hopes to regain control of their alien Earth. 

***Contains adult material***

Now that you know what the book is about, let me get into a few things.

*Will not appear in review elsewhere. Before I read the book, I was completely enchanted with the cover. Dragons? Yes, please! But, once I'd completed the novel, the cover made a lot more sense. I won't go into that here, but you'll love the subtleties once you're done and take another look.*

Time to get into my review!

I snagged this book during a Facebook party where the author was doing some insane promotion. Sad to say, I have a huge TBR list because of my one-click finger obsession. But, I was making a review list, tossed this title into the hat, and was thrilled when it ended up clutched between my fingers. I dove in with gusto and consumed the book in a little over 24 hours. Let's move on to why.

From a Reader's Perspective:
I'm always honest in my reviews, and I have to say, the first chapter of this novel had me wondering how I was going to comprehend what I was about to read. It was difficult to understand without the new language on Earth, and there were few definitions of terms. Needless to say, I was worried the whole book would be written in the same style.

Not so.

After that first chapter, the story really took hold and the language/writing became smoother. Pacing was off the charts perfect, because I had a hard time putting the book down. There aren't long passages of world description, it comes out organically, so I didn't find myself skimming. Score one for the author. But, I got enough to really picture the future Earth I was reading about, with many things being left to my own imagination (which I love).

Character development also is done over the course of the novel, and I was delighted to find I'd want to be BFFs with the main character, Maeve. She's tough, damaged, and demands a man win the right to be with her (much like the dragons). It's probably why Diem, the love interest, was so drawn to her in the first place. He trains dragons. Enough said. One of my favorite characters was the Plutian overseer of the Fly House. His references to human body parts left me with tears leaking from my eyes. I will forever after use the term: pain berries.

Once you read it, you'll understand.

I was able to go back and read chapter one again (and understand it) after I finished the book. So, there's that!

From an Editor's Perspective:
Commas! Eep! I found a bunch of places where commas should've been and weren't, or shouldn't have been and were. It caused me to stumble more than once. Word confusions: metal vs. meddle, seating vs. sitting, woman vs. women, etc... And one big confusion in the story where Diem has been off flying for a while, then returns and wonders why his dragon didn't detect Maeve earlier.

Rating:
1 Star for characters I loved and were complex
1 Star for world building without infodumping
1 Star for pacing and plot
1 Star for making me laugh out loud more than once
-1 Star for editing
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars! Recommended for those over 18 years of age, who love a good sci-fi novel.

Have you read it? What did you think? If you haven't, do you plan to?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo