Tag: reading
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Review: CLOAK OF WAR (Empress Game #2) by Rhonda Mason
Disclaimer: I attended the same graduate school program as the author and consider her a friend; however, I purchased my hardcopy version of this novel for full price. Often, middle books in a trilogy act as placeholders. Things happen, but mostly just to get the characters from point A (the…
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November Wrap-Up & December Goals
Even though I didn’t complete the full NaNoWriMo madness this month, I still got a lot done! November Wrap-up: I successfully wrote 30k words in 30 days for my mini-NaNo attempt! I’m now at 70k total words on book 4. Book reviews completed: Snowed by Maria Alexander (5 stars) Articles of…
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Steel Magic Featured at Library Journal
I had a bit of a SNAFU earlier this year with professional review sites, so I hadn’t been paying that much attention to them since the release of the second book in the Steel Empires series, Steel Magic. Therefore, I’m about half a year late in telling you all the…
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Author Interview with Sheri Queen
Today I’m taking a break from NaNoWriMo panic productivity to feature a new release from fellow urban fantasy author Sheri Queen! I haven’t read this novella yet, but so much about it intrigues me. It’s both an installment in a multi-author project and acts as an introduction to Queen’s own universe,…
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Review: FROM A HIGH TOWER by Mercedes Lackey
I was thrilled that Lackey once again broke the mold with this installment of the Elemental Masters series. Some things were the familiar, such as a modern (well, Victorian-era) retelling of a traditional fairy tale featuring a strong heroine with elemental magic powers. However, like in Blood Red before it, this…
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Review: NO TIME LIKE THE PAST (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #5) by Jodi Taylor
After devouring five books in this series, two things are fairly obvious to me at this point: Jodi Taylor is a hell of a researcher/historian. She has also embraced a major facet of writing time travel and run with it rather than fight against it — Once again, this novel…
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Review: CAPTAIN MARVEL Vol. 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue Deconnick
This was another book picked up by my husband in his quest for graphic novels about women heroes by women authors. I’m a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but I didn’t grow up on comic books, so I’ve been going into all the movies blind. I figured…
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Review: SNOWED by Maria Alexander
Disclaimer: The author and I share a publisher, and I helped proofread this novel before publication. If I had not been reading this novel on an expensive electronic device, I’d have thrown it across the room when I got to the ending. But not because it was a bad book.…
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October Wrap-Up & November Goals
This month I traveled to Delaware, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. I also attended three weddings in three weekends. Frankly, the fact that I managed to do anything during my “free time” besides curl up in a little ball and watch Netflix is pretty impressive. October Wrap-up: I wrote 15k words…
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Review: A TRAIL THROUGH TIME (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #4) by Jodi Taylor
It’s hard to be a fan of time travel stories without also acquiring some familiarity of the alternate universe trope along the way. Jodi Taylor switches up her world a bit as Max receives the full effect of her second chance. But there are still enough similarities to our original…
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Guest Post: Cara McKinnon on Alternate History
I’m pleased to host author Cara McKinnon today for a discussion on alternate history. And it’s a special occasion! Today marks the release date of the second novel in her Fay of Skye series, A Theft of Magic. I’m a huge fan of the alternate history version of Victorian England…
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Review: ESSENTIAL MAGIC (Fay of Skye #1) by Cara McKinnon
Disclaimer: The author and I attended the same graduate school program and participate in group promotional tours for our books. However, I purchased my hardcopy version of this novel for full price. For a person who doesn’t claim to be a “romance book” reader, I seem to keep lucking out…
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Review: A SYMPHONY OF ECHOES (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #2) by Jodi Taylor
There’s always a vague worry when picking up the second book in a series that it won’t quite measure up. That the first amazing novel was a flash-in-the-pan fluke, sucking up all of the author’s creativity and leaving only the dregs of inspiration for future installments. Luckily, I loved A…
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Con Report: DogCon 5
It’s kind of crazy to think that it’s been 5 years since I’ve been involved with Raw Dog Screaming Press. There are other dates to mark that anniversary that might be more “official,” such as the date my first book with them was announced (at DogCon 3), but I quietly…
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September Wrap-Up & October Goals
I know the month isn’t quite over, but I’m off to Broadkill Resort for DogCon V tomorrow, so let’s do this thing! September Wrap-up: Words were written in book 4! Specifically, 15k of them, so the goal was officially met. I’m in the swing of things now, and doing that thing…
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Review: HIDDEN DESIGN: THE PROPHECY by Tia Tormen & C.K. Stone
Sex sells. Everyone knows that. Marketing professionals especially know that. But does the inclusion of sex necessarily make something better? Erotica has become more mainstream in popular fiction within the past few years and can make any genre book more appealing to the right audience. In some cases, however, the…
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Review: A WIZARD’S FORGE (Woern Saga #1) by A.M. Justice
Disclaimer: I received a free ebook of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. It’s no surprise that I was drawn to this book immediately, considering it’s fusion of fantasy and science-fiction elements, it’s excellent world-building, and its awesome protagonist named Vic (short for Victoria). But…