Review: Drowning In The Dark

When I read the massive Gods and Mortals collection a month or so ago, I came across the first novel in Pippa DaCosta's The Veil series. I liked the story a lot and wanted to see what it was all about. The answer? It's one of the most exciting, fun, kick-ass urban fantasy series' I've read. And I read a lot of urban fantasy. This is the kind of series you kick yourself for skipping out on. I've been speeding through all of the books (just started the fifth and final instalment today), and Drowning In The Dark is by far the darkest in the series, which is saying something. If you're looking for a new urban fantasy series that takes demons and puts them in the new light, trust me, this is what you're looking for. The world-building is unique, the characters are strong and complex, the action is wickedly intense, and the stories are freaking fantastic. Don't miss out on this one.

All these covers are absolutely gorgeous, and there's a bonus one inside the ebooks!

“I wasn’t demon enough to defeat my brother before. Things have changed.”

As the veil begins to fall, and the demons bleed through onto the streets of Boston, Muse knows the battle is lost before it’s even begun. 

To make matters worse, Adam and the Institute have captured Akil at a time when the city has never needed him more. Muse believes Akil’s incarceration is a ruse, because if he truly is at the mercy of the Institute, she must choose which side she’ll fight for. Human or demon? 

The princes are coming. Valenti, Muse’s immortal half-brother, leads the charge. The Institute is not ready, the people of Boston are not prepared, but one man is. Stefan knows what it will take to beat back the netherworld. Will his demon allow him the freedom to right his wrongs?

Muse’s loyalty will be tested. To save those she loves, she must give up that which she cherishes most. Her humanity.

The Mother of Destruction is about to go nuclear.

***
Our main character, Muse, just can't catch a break, and Drowning In The Dark is no exception to her ongoing struggles. The story kicks off at the speed of sound (as they usually do, a style that I love), and doesn't slow down even when the characters aren't fighting for their lives– and their humanity.

There's so much to talk about, but let's start with the world. I love stories that take their own twist on demon hierarchy, and the version DaCosta takes is one I haven't seen before. It's brutal, violent, and damages those who get to close to it.

Speaking of damaged, Muse is one of the strongest female characters in the genre. Having started from the very, very beginning, it was clear she'd been through hell– literally– and back. Watching her grow as a character into the powerful force she is now is nothing short of breathtaking, and she has never been stronger than she is in Drowning In The Dark. She's packed full of emotions and turmoil, doing what she can to protect those she loves, facing her fears, losing herself to darkness and drawing herself out when to be even stronger than before. I love strong female characters, but they are even more incredible when they're not Mary Sue's. Muse is an epic character, and I'm genuinely going to miss her when the series is over.

I'm also going to miss the side characters– Stefan, Akil, and Ryder. Ryder had a lot more character development, which is great because I love him. A stubborn, tough human you don't want to mess with, I genuinely wanted to know more about him. He better make it to the end! I like Akil a lot, though I don't agree with him as a romantic interest. Yes, he's helped Muse time and time again, and his development was thorough, but in my view, he's betrayed Muse's trust too many times. And Stefan? Stefan I love. I loved him the moment he entered the series, and will likely love him when it's over. He's battled his own demons– literally and figuratively– and has come so far. I find his relationship with Muse, while complicate to say the least, is more genuine and deserves to have its day.

The action is wicked. Muse has formidable enemies, and DaCosta knows her way around a magical action scene. Every battle is visceral and nail-biting, the kind of thing that keeps my eyes glued to the page and begging for more. I can only imagine what the final battle will be like, and I doubt I'll have any nails left when it's done.

There's so much to these books, genuine works of heart that are clearly loved by the author. I fell into them immediately, and will be buying the paperbacks as part of my newly restarted book collection. I could honestly go on on and on about all the things I loved about them, but we'd be heading to major spoiler territory and I don't want to do that. I want urban fantasy lovers to seek this series out, start from the prequel novella, and enjoy the same wild ride that I have. All of DaCosta's other books are now on my To-Be-Read List, and I can't wait to see how she rounds out Muse's adventures.

Amy

Weekly Recap

Last week was crazy for writing... And I loved every second of it. I got to release a new book, continue writing one that I love, played around in the new world for another new series, and planned ahead for future novels. I achieved all my goals, though they're not *really* complete...

• World building, histories, series outline, and plots for the Iron Gargoyle series

• Continue writing the sequel to Storm of the Gods 

• More promotions for Storm Born

• Begin promotions for Damnation's Door and book reviews/spotlights

Still, I'm glad I was able to get through everything, and tacking on some projects with approaching due dates. I swear, I live by my calendar. So while most of my goals are going to remain the same because I have to expand on them, I'm hoping to get a couple other things done:

• World building, histories, series outline, and plots for the Iron Gargoyle series

• Continue writing the sequel to Storm of the Gods 

• More promotions for Storm Born

• Begin promotions for Damnation's Door/Cursed series and book reviews/spotlights

• Quick edits for Dark Sky novellas, then send to Beta readers

• Continue to work on new website

Yup, all of that is on my plate this week, and it's going to be a short one for sure. Real Life catches up with you when you least expect it, so I think I'm only going to have time for promotions and editing/emailing. I do want to work on the second Areios Brothers novel, but I'm at a phase where I'm integrating some of the old novel into the new, and unfortunately I can't work on it away from my house. With my free time, I've been writing some of my other new series, Iron Gargoyle. I actually started the second chapter not too long ago, and I love it so far. 

But my priority is of course my new release!

A single night can change your life… for the worst.

It’s been a century since the last Centennial Storm, the calamitous phenomenon that covered the world in disasters– tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis, and dust storms– caused not by nature, but by alien creatures from another realm. The Stormkind.

Ava Reid tries not to think about that night, when she was caught in a hurricane and brought face to face with one of the Stormkind, the man with a dagger, and the agony she felt when he stabbed her with a crystal blade. Yet as she and the rest of Florida’s citizens begin to rebuild their lives, Ava can’t help but notice strange things happening around her. Things she seems to be causing. The gusts of wind and sudden floods attract the attentions of a mysterious stranger who leaves her clues, and the deadlier men following her.

It isn’t long before Ava is swept up into a wild conspiracy, led by a secret society that knows the truth about the Stormkind– and what their enemies have planned for the world she loves. If she wishes to protect her friends and her family, Ava must harness her strange new abilities and become part of the Stormkind society. Because if she loses control, there will be no force strong enough to stop her…

Buy it here:

Amazon Kindle | Paperback | Createspace | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Smashwords | iBookstore | BookLikes | NoiseTrade | Bublish |

Reviews:

Ramblings of an Awkward Anastasia | The Blonde Bookworm | We Said It | The Bookish Crypt | One Book Two | Boundless Book Reviews | 

Giveaways:

Goodreads | The Bookish Crypt |

***

It's so thrilling to have another standalone novel written and published. I love this feeling, and am eager to see it continue in the coming months. I've gotten great feedback on Storm Born so far, and couldn't be happier with the enthusiasm surrounding it, given how nervous I was about the release.

So I'll be riding the book-release-high for a while, though I'll have to bring attention to the other two major releases I have coming up this year. I decided to work with XPresso Book Tours and En Pointe to help me schedule book tours, reviews, and the like, since it takes a lot of time and I can only send so many emails in a day. I'm super excited about the blitzes and tours for Damnation's Door and the Cursed series, as well as for  Midnight Sky, the second Dark Sky novel. There are already a bunch of sign ups that anyone with a book blog or love of books can sign up for!

 Sign Ups:

Review Opportunity for the Cursed series

Book Blitz Sign up for Damnation's Door

Review Opportunity for Crimson Sky and Midnight Sky

***

I've also got a lot of editing coming my way. The edits for Midnight Sky should be back in the next few weeks (along with the cover!), and I need to prepare the Beta edits for Amber Sky and Smoke Sky, the two prequel novellas for the Dark Sky series. It will be interesting to see how the stories hold up, since I haven't looked at them since I finished my initial drafts last year. 

And that's what's going on! I'm really excited to continue with all these projects and improve as an author. Hopefully I can find a way to clear off most of that list! 

Cheers!

Amy

Review: Through The Dark

I recently finished a very, very long series, and usually this is when I go through all the books and review the series as a whole. I decided not to do that with The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken, because that would have taken up a ton of time, since there's a lot to talk about in those books. Don't get me wrong– they're awesome and should totally be read, since there are a lot of important messages that need to be addressed in the books, and I dare any reader not to fall in love with a certain charmer name Liam. That being said, I found that my favourite novellas were in Through The Dark, a collection of three novellas set after each primary book of The Darkest Minds. I'll go over all three of them briefly, but bear in mind that there will be spoilers in this review, not just because I'm talking about the novellas, but because I'll need to mention parts of the full length novels as well. If you don't want to be spoiled, let me tell you that The Darkest Minds are fantastic books with rich characters, complex problems, heart-aching romance, and twists layered on twists. With that in mind, check them out, and if you want to keep going, the spoiler warning starts now.

I love the concept of this cover! It's absolutely gorgeous!

Don't miss this breathtaking collection of stories set in the world of the New York Times best-selling Darkest Minds trilogy. Featuring ebook original novellas In Time and Sparks Rise, and a gripping, brand-new novella, Through the Dark is a must-have for fans of the Darkest Minds. This collection contains three novellas: In Time, Sparks Rise, and Beyond the Night, as well as a sneak peek at the first novel in Alexandra Bracken's new series,Passenger. 

IN TIME
Gabe's life has been devastated in the wake of the economic crash. The only option left for someone like him to escape his tragic past is to leave his small town behind and to attempt to become a skiptracer. This already almost-impossible task is made all the more difficult by his first "score,"a young girl who won't speak, but who changes his life in ways he could never imagine.

SPARKS RISE
Sam didn't think things could get worse at Thurmand rehabilitation camp. Then the Reds arrive. Everyone assumed the kids with firepower had been killed years ago. Instead they were taken away, brainwashed, and returned as terrifyingly effective guards. To her horror, Sam recognizes one of them: Lucas, the one spark of light in Sam's dark childhood. Lucas has a deadly secret--he beat the brutal training that turned his fellow Reds into mindless drones. When Sam defends herself against an attack by a vile PSF guard and faces a harrowing punishment, Lucas must risk everything to save her.

BEYOND THE NIGHT
The government-run "rehabilitation camps" have been shut down, but kids with Psi powers are anything but free. Sam would rather be on her own than put in the care of a foster family and given the "cure"--a dangerous procedure that unclaimed kids across the country are being forced to undergo. But there's more at stake than just her own safety. Sam once made someone a promise, and the time has come to fulfill it. Now that she's out of her camp, Mia only has one thought in her head: finding Lucas, her beloved older brother. 

***

Okay, so, In Time. While it was my least favourite of the three (don't read too much into that, since it was very well written and really intense), it definitely stood out on its own. The other two novellas tied into each other (more on that later), but In Time was its own entity with a new character, someone outside of The Darkest Minds universe as I knew it so far. It was interesting to follow the adventures of Gabe the skip tracer, a man who collected bounties to restart his life. At first, I didn't like Gabe. At all. I thought he was a bit of a whiny jerk. But that was clearly the point, because he was more than that. When he stumbled across a character I recognized, intending to take her in, I was pleasantly surprised at the way she wore his defences down. Little snippets and small scenes revealed his sympathy toward the poor kids, and by the end of the story, I was totally rooting for him. Which is probably why I thought the ending was such a cheap shot. While Gabe did reach the end of his arc, I felt like he could have grown a lot more. I would have loved to see him integrate with the main series characters (especially Vida), and I just couldn't see the justification behind his end. It seemed like shock value for the sake of shock value.

Speaking of shock value... Sparks Rise. Oh boy, do I have some stuff to say about this one. First off, I fell in love with it almost instantly. The two main characters, Lucas and Sam, were amazing. I've always liked Sam, and Lucas had a huge heart. There was a clear, deplorable villain, and the interaction that Sam and Lucas had melted me to the core. They were a spark of hope in a dim, brutal world where punishment literally leaves you treated like an animal. I loved Lucas's torment about continuing to search for his sister and his fight to keep his humanity, and the devotion and love he felt for Sam. His clashing priorities were realistic and held me to the very end. Which was also, another freaking cheap shot. The end was the kind of end that rips out your heart and stomps it to pieces. Honestly,  I was ready to declare Sparks Rise as my favourite The Darkest Minds of them all... until that happened. However...

Imagine my elation when I returned to Beyond The Night and found that we were with Sam again, and that she was keeping her promise to Lucas about finding his sister, Mia, and how they had the same end goal! I was thrilled by it, and really enjoyed the tension in their relationship. Mia was feisty, but I enjoyed her attitude, almost about as much as I enjoyed the return of my favourite characters, including a sweet Southern blond guy. Mia's last scene with Liam was incredible, a truly well written scene of understanding that ultimately lead to a dream being realized and begin its path to fruition. It was a damn good thing I read this because honestly, if Sparks Rise had been left off the way it was, I would not have been impressed.

Author Alexandra Bracken has a strong voice and a very original mind. I absolutely loved this universe and all its characters, and it was nice to have a collection of short stories to show just how expanded the world was. I highly recommend it to all lovers of dark urban fantasy, and those who like reading some truly harrowing struggles with their main characters. As long as you can handle some dark and depressing endings, believe me when I say this is the series for you.

Amy

Review: The Necromancer

When I think about how I was introduced to the Johannes Cabal novels by Jonathan L. Howard, I always have to laugh a little. The fourth novel was a Christmas gift from my best friend (who you might remember drew me some fan art for Crimson Sky not too long ago), and when I told her I had never heard of the Johannes Cabal books, she went through a mental check list: Supernatural monsters? Check. Dynamic brother duo? Check. Clever sarcasm and wit? Check. Zombies, vampires, necromancers, and werewolves? Check. Steampunk setting? Check. This could not have been more my style of book, and so I reacted instantly: I bought the first three books in the series and spent the last couple weeks enjoying absurd adventure after absurd adventure. Of the fours novels to date, the first book, The Necromancer is my favourite. Not to say that the other three books aren't great– they definitely are, and it was hard to choose between this one and the fourth one– but I decided to review a novel that wouldn't allow for lots of spoilers, since certain events and characters travel from one story to the next in unexpected ways. The Necromancer is definitely a novel for intelligent, thoughtful readers who like a bit of darkness in their protagonist. Okay, a lot of darkness, but what do you expect when the novel opens with your main character going to Hell to have a chat with Satan himself?

I love all the covers of these books! They're totally unique!

A charmingly gothic, fiendishly funny Faustian tale about a brilliant scientist who makes a deal with the Devil, twice.  
 
Johannes Cabal sold his soul years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. Now he wants it back. Amused and slightly bored, Satan proposes a little wager: Johannes has to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned forever. This time for real. Accepting the bargain, Jonathan is given one calendar year and a traveling carnival to complete his task. With little time to waste, Johannes raises a motley crew from the dead and enlists his brother, Horst, a charismatic vampire to help him run his nefarious road show, resulting in mayhem at every turn.

Right from the get-go, The Necromancer pulls the reader in by introducing an unconventional anti-hero, and one who doesn't have a soul. Say what you will about our "hero" Johannes Cabal (I certainly have), but there's no denying he's unique to paranormal fiction and horror. I can't imagine many people are calm and relaxed when they make yet another deal with the King of Hell, let alone morally content when they make a deal– Johannes can have his soul back, if he provides Satan with a hundred more in return. In one year.

How best to take advantage of vulnerable fools to get what he wants? A carnival of course!

I won't lie– the idea of a carnival surrounding a train literally comprised of and worked by fiends of Hell, is one of the most outrageous, inventive, insanely fun ideas I've read in years. The setting is perfect, the rides ghoulish, and the scenarios where souls are bartered truly creepy. I just wish I had been able to read more! The details are there, but Howard's writing style plays on the reader's imagination and psyche, allowing them to interpret the setting as they see fit.

As far as the characters, everyone is great (I admit that I have a soft spot for Bones, one of the first "helpers" enlisted by Johannes), but the most powerful characters are of course the two brothers– Johannes, the sarcastic and currently soulless brother, and his older sibling Horst, a charismatic vampire who has a bone to pick with Johannes. Both characters have their own endearments. I loved Johanne's deadpan remarks, and his ambition was a truly fascinating beast. Horst is all charm and, despite his initial feelings, dedication for his brother. To me, the strongest points in the story were the scenes where Johannes and Horst started bickering at one another. Truly great chemistry, which was why the end left me so bummed out.

My gut instinct is to recommend this book series to everyone I know... but that might not be the best thing to do. Some of the subject matter is pretty shocking, and while I promise that no one received anything they didn't deserve (mostly), there are a couple moments where readers might feel uncomfortable, especially since one of the characters they're supposed to be rooting for is a man who will literally murder for the sake of experimentation. That being said, I was addicted to The Necromancer, and feel that it would be best enjoyed by fans of Supernatural and Dexter, if they ever wondered what their characters would be like in the past, with classic wit, and a lot more Cthulu.

Yes, there are Cthulu references in this series. As if you needed another reason to read it.

Amy

Sunday Snippet: "... the best they could hope for now."

This has been one of those weeks where I realize that all my projects are about to pile on top of me in a ginormous heap. Yes, the dreaded editing phase is upon me. But more on that later. Right now, I'm happy to share the latest snippet from Crimson Sky for Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly blog hop where authors share news on their work and 8-10 sentences of their current work in progress. This week's snippet is still in chapter one of Crimson Sky, but I decided to move a little deeper into the chapter and the world where my main character, Claire, lives under the rule of a tyrant named Garnet. Not that it's what I would call ideal...

The colony resided at an intersection in the tunnels. Similar doors made of bolted iron blocked all four entrances, though air was able to filter through from the surface thanks to the vents constructed fifty feet above the floor. The air might have been fresh, but it tasted and smelled the same way everything down here did– thick, muggy, and a little sour, like old tar that coated the back of your throat. Whenever it rained or the heavy snows melted, some the colonists were selected to bolt the vents and doors shut so the water wouldn’t fill up the tunnels and drown us. They were opened gradually after the rains stopped, so other colonists could collect the water and boil it until it was drinkable or could be used for cleaning. To empty the worst of our sewage, we had to take the wastewater and chamber pots to a series of bolted dump-holes that had been drilled into the bottom of the tunnels outside the colony doors. It kept the colony relatively clean, though I couldn’t help but wonder what we would do when those dump-holes were filled.

Under the vents were lean-tos made of cloth and held up by metal posts. Garnet’s arrangement with the South Junkers gave us access to all the metal we needed, but building decent homes for the two hundred people that lived here never seemed to be on Garnet’s mind. Not once in the seven years since this colony’s creation had he thought about improving the lives of those he “protected.”

I didn’t know which was sadder– that he got away with it, or that the survivors simply assumed this was the best they could hope for now.

(P.S.: I added an extra sentence this week. I tried to find a place to cut it short, but couldn't find a good spot, and couldn't resist that last sentence. Sorry MODs!)

It's hard to believe that in just over two weeks, I'll have another brand new book in a brand new series out! I've been studiously signing up for book review sites and promotions, so I'm hoping it will be worth the time and effort. I'm of the belief that every little bit helps.

Which means I'm happy to announce that I have permission to write another short story for an anthology featuring characters from my Dark Sky series! I already have two prequel novellas planned for later in the year, and this one will be significantly shorter than those, but it will be a lot of fun to write a steampunk horror story for a publishing company I love working with. I've already had success with this in Avast, Ye Airships! so hopefully I can draw more interest to the whole Dark Sky series.

But it won't all be fun and games. Oh, no. I recently got the latest round of edits for Damnation's Door, the third and final book in the Cursed series, as well as the Beta edits for Midnight Sky, the sequel to Crimson Sky (there are soooo many!!). Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me, especially since I'm expecting the edits for my upcoming standalone novel, Storm Born, to come back in the next few weeks. And believe me, that will be a nightmare. 

But there have been positives this week! Namely, I finished my rough, rough draft of Storm of the Gods, the third novel in my Areios Brothers series, which I'm thinking of beginning to release next year. Maybe, because man oh man, does that series need even more work as a whole. Why does hindsight have to be 20/20 about things you love? Seriously, it will be the third time I've revamped crucial elements of the series as a whole. But that means I'm making it better, right? Right?

Anyway, I'm not going to think about that now. I'm going to prepare for my latest release, then edit my eyeballs out. I would have done this while having the extra chocolate bar in my room... but I might have already eaten it. Whoops. Not really sorry.

So that's what I've been up to lately! Remember to check out the other authors and blogs of Weekend Writing Warriors and leave them some well deserved love! If you're interested in reading Crimson Sky, it's still available for pre-order on Amazon, Kobo, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! I'm ready to start mine!

Amy

Progress Report (AKA Lots of Editing and Promo Sites)

Ever have one of those moments where you regret sending a bunch of projects out all at once and having them all come back at the same time when you're not ready to do that? Well, that's been the last couple of days for me. Don't get me wrong– I'm super excited to have the next batch of edits for Damnation's Door, the third and final Cursed novel, set for release in June, and I'm very happy about the return of the Beta edits for Midnight Sky, the second Dark Sky novel set for release in August, but both of them have a lot of work ahead, and I still have two short stories to write and submit, plus Storm Born to edit (multiple times), and release in May.

So I'm just a little busy right now.

That being said, I'm pretty sure I'll be wrapping up my current work in progress, the third Areios Brothers novel today or tomorrow, depending on the amount of work I have at my Real Job. The series is going to change again (not massively, but enough that I'll have a lot of editing to do when I come back to it), but they're needed changes that I know will make it better.

More exciting is knowing that in less than two weeks, Crimson Sky will be released!

I'm doing everything I can to make this a larger release than I have with my other novels, mostly by constantly emailing and signing up for reviewer mailing lists, most of which I've found here on Awesome Gang. I also recently signed up for BookWorks, which will hopefully be another big step forward. I have at least three lists of websites to check out/sign up for to expand my reader/reviewer reach, which means I need at least a single day to dedicate to promotion. Not what I like to do with my free time, but it's necessary, and at least I can do it while I'm watching Supernatural.

I've got a good feeling about Crimson Sky and the Dark Sky series in general. I've heard great things from reviewers and fellow authors, which is more encouraging than I can ever say (you know who you are, so thank you!). I even managed to snag a few pre-orders (which you can still get on Kindle, Kobo, Smashwords, Nook, and Goodreads), which is mega-awesome!

So while I have a ton of work ahead of me, I'm very, very eager to see where it all goes. It will be so nice to cross off so many projects within the next month or so. My To Do List is in a smaller notebook now, and I can't wait see it get smaller!

Hope everyone has a great week, and if you're in eastern Canada/USA, take care against all that insane snow and cold! Cheers!

Amy

Years In Review: 2015 Vs 2016

Well, 2015 is now behind us, and 2016 is taking it's place. I was extremely fortunate in my career last year. In addition to dozens of spotlights, blog hops, and interviews, I had short stories released and featured in various horror and steampunk anthologies:

Secret Suicide  in That Hoodoo, Voodoo, That You Do
Survivalism in The Dead Walk: Volume 2
Lost Sky in Avast, Ye Airships!
Dismantle in The Steam Chronicles
Hell To Pay in Legends of Sleepy Hollow: Original Tales of Terror From America's Spookiest Village

I was thrilled to be part of each one of these anthologies, and while I do have a couple more short stories that will be published by the hard workers at April Moon Books, it will now be very rare that I submit short stories to publishing companies. I discovered early on in the year that while I enjoy completing short works and the excitement on having them accepted, my true passion is writing full length novels on my own. That passion was apparent when I released my first full length novel, Path of the Horseman, back in March.

The Four Horseman are trapped in the world they desolated. Their only purpose now is to exist amongst the ruins. All of that changes with a small group of survivors... 

The seal was broken, and Hell was unleashed. Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death rode over the earth, creating a super-virus that turned humans into bloodthirsty monsters, opening a path for demons, decimating nearly all natural life, causing chaos and death throughout the world. 

Now that their duties have been preformed, the Four Horsemen have disbanded, reduced to human bodies and trapped in the world they destroyed. No longer the Horseman Pestilence, Avery wanders through the waste he created, slaying any undead monsters and demons that cross his path. But when Avery comes across a group of survivors looking for a safe haven, his priorities begin to change. Not that the demons are going to let him stand in the way of their plans. 

Avery ended the world once, and he refuses to see the demons end it again. But to protect the last of the living, he must seek the help of his brothers, all of whom are content with sitting back and watching the world burn…

I remember how nervous I was, submitting the book to different reviewers and hoping that the feedback would be positive. I mean, I thought I had written a good book, but how was I to know for sure? Thankfully, Path of the Horseman was well received, and I heard some truly amazing things about it.

Of course, I had another release in June: Demon's Daughter, the first novel in my very first series, Cursed. 

Wanted by law enforcement. Chased by drug cartels. Hunted by demons... 

Constance Ramirez has more than her share of problems when it comes to protecting her adopted sister, Andromeda. Especially since Andromeda isn’t fully human, and her strange powers are dangerous and out of control. 

But Constance will do anything to keep her safe, which won’t be easy with bounty hunters hired by the drug cartel she betrayed looking to capture her, and savage monsters seeking to take Andromeda for their own dark purposes. 

Being a big sister has never been so hard... Or so deadly.

If I was nervous about Path of the Horseman, my anxiety was tenfold for Demon's Daughter. It was a story that had been with me for years, and I wasn't sure if it would be as loved as Path of the Horseman. But I quickly learned that I was getting anxious over nothing. Readers will love what they love, and dislike what they dislike. I gained a little more confidence when I accepted that, and wasn't so anxious in December when I released the second novel in the Cursed trilogy, Dark Divinity.

Hell has risen. Heaven is descending. Sacrifices are made...

It’s been two months since Constance Ramirez’s adopted sister Andromeda was used as the Key to opening the Gates of Heaven and Hell. They escaped with their lives, but made countless enemies as a result.

Now that demons are beginning to weave into ordinary lives, their only hope is to find a way to close the Gates of Heaven and Hell before the angels and demons begin a war. Something that becomes only harder as one of Constance’s deadliest enemies resurfaces.

But as they struggle to stay alive and find the Gates, they learn that a huge sacrifice will be required if they succeed, and this time, Constance isn’t sure the cost will outweigh the reward...

I'm still kind of reeling with the fact that I released three full length books and five short stories in 2015. I mean... Wow. During the year, I learned a lot about myself as a writer, tendencies that I had and how to correct them, how to self-promote and establish good relationships with reviewers and designers, how to use social media and the benefits of giveaways, and how to plan out my year in terms of writing and releasing a novel.

I've planned almost all of 2016, and it will be a big year. Next month, I'll be releasing the first novel in my new steampunk horror series, Dark Sky.

They’re always watching. They’re always waiting. They’re always starving…

Ten years ago, the sky shattered and the Hellions emerged. No one was able to keep them from destroying the city of Westraven. Now that the bloodthirsty monsters rule the skies and have forced the few remaining humans underground, Claire Abernathy lives in a nightmare. She survives by using her skills as an engineer for a ruthless tyrant connected to her mother and father’s past failure.

Then Claire’s world is torn apart when her sister Abby is kidnapped by the Hellions, and Claire herself is taken by dangerous sky pirates known as marauders. But Claire will not be intimidated by them while her sister’s life hangs by a thread, and so she strikes a deal with them: If they help rescue Abby, she will fix their ship and give them the chance to take the revenge they desperately seek.

As Claire fights for her sister’s life, she begins to realize that the Hellions are not the only dangers she’ll face. Burdensome secrets and devastating betrayals threaten her at every turn, and if she loses herself to them, it won’t just be her life that is destroyed…

Crimson Sky is actually the idea I used for Lost Sky, and has been widely received so far. It's currently on pre-order on Kindle, Kobo, Goodreads, and Smashwords, and I'll be starting promotions and giveaways this month. 

But that's not the only project I have to be released this year. In May, I plan to release another standalone novel, Storm Born, which I wrote for 2015's NaNoWriMo. I'm excited to see what readers and reviewers will think of this bold novel, which has massive weather storms, supernatural warriors, and a wild mythology, so I hope the idea catches attention. 

Right on the heels of Storm Born, in June, will be Damnation's Door, the final Cursed novel. I'm currently in the editing phase, and I hope that long time readers will enjoy the last book as much as I enjoyed writing it. It'll be a little strange to have an entire book series over and complete, but by the time it happens, Dark Sky will have a lot more of my attention, as the second novel in the Dark Sky series, Midnight Sky, will be set for release in August, with two prequel novellas to follow in October and December. 

Releases aside, I'll be completing my Blood Moon series for the blog in a few months. I've had a lot of fun writing it, but I don't want to drag the series out when I have so much more going on. I'll be working on my Areios Brothers series, and likely preparing the first novel for a 2017 release. By the middle of this year, I'm hoping to return to another series that I love and has been changed over time, Agents of Limbo. I have no idea what I'll be doing for NaNoWriMo 2016, so I'll leave it open until then. 

So yes, I'll be busy this year. I'm hoping for more spotlights and a farther reach, which I think I can do since I've learned a lot about promoting, organizing, and marketing. It's a lot of work and I can't say that I love it, but writing is literally my life. I can't even begin to explain how much I love it and if I have to suffer through sending tons of emails and losing my mind over how to market properly, then I'll do it. 

And those are my plans for 2016. Yup, it'll be a busy one, and honestly, I can't wait to get started.

Amy

Review: V-Wars

One of the gifts I got for Christmas was the Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology by Theresa Bane. I haven't read it cover to cover yet, but the ideas inside it are astounding and horrific. As I was skimming it, my mind went back to an anthology I recently read by Jonathan Maberry, titled V-Wars. The book is filled with new and different kinds of vampires emerge from a single mutated virus, and each one has its own bloody story to tell. Similar to Max Brooks's World War Z, there are different stories, timelines and characters, though it all plays back to the main story of the book, and ultimately, the world. Vampire lovers like me will find this collection unique, exciting, and in some cases, unexpected.

I didn't notice the vampire bites on the lower part of the globe! Awesome!

When melting Artic ice releases a virus it triggers dormant genes from junk DNA. The genes that once created vampires. Now, all over the world, people are beginning to transform. To develop unnatural and unstoppable hungers. Are they still human? Or is there now a brand new link in the food chain?

The world is filled with vampire legend. Each culture with its own unique brand of blood-thirsty killer, but the stories aren't mere myth. Strange, savage, immensely powerful, and driven by a need to feed on human blood - vampires are returning.

V-Wars is the chronicle of the first vampire war. From the savage murders committed by the patient zero of the plague to full-out battles with vampire terrorist cells, these are the stories of the most terrifying war mankind has ever faced.

The vampire wars have begun. The world will scream. . . 

The collection begins with "Junk" by Maberry himself, the recollection of a down-on-his-luck artist who spends his time working at Starbucks and taking advantage of young women. Yup. That's where we're starting. He's not a great guy, but he does not deserve to have a monstrous vampire gene awaken inside him and turn him into a bloodthirsty monster. From there, the virus spreads to different corners of the American states, and even a little further than that. The strain even awakens genes for other monsters, such as demons and werewolves. It's a brewing supernatural war, and all that anyone can do is run, hide, and hope not to get eaten.

The authors each created a story, but the chapters of each story were split and placed in different sections of the book. For me, that was the major drawback. Some of the stories were really compelling and exciting, and I wanted to see how they would end. Maybe it's because I'm one of those readers who has to read everything in order, but I felt that splitting the stories and their chapters up was confusing and a little weird at some points. Granted, the timeline was important, but I think the anthology would have been stronger the stories were in one piece rather than thrown every which way.

That being said, the stories that were submitted were very, very strong. "Junk" is by far the most powerful, and perhaps the scariest, but I really enjoyed "The Stalking of Anna Lei," the story of a vampire desperate to save his sister from something decidedly not vampire, and "The Ballad of Big Charles," a tale about a big-hearted politician who comes out as being a werewolf. The main character in "The Stalking of Anna Lei" was funny and easy to relate to, and the conspiracies and traps in "The Ballad of Big Charles" led to some surprising twists, and gave a clear insight as to what people would think if a beloved politician declared himself to be a supernatural creature right before the re-election.

Every story was exceedingly well written, and what I loved most about them was the way different mythologies and cultures were brought into the story. They weren't chosen randomly, and the creatures not only fit into the story, they added unpredictable elements of horror and excitement to the anthology. By the end, all I could think of was how I wanted more.

I never really got the feeling that I was reading a supernatural war. I hoped there would be more stories about soldiers fighting on the front lines of a paranormal battle, but as a huge fan of all things vampire (Twilight doesn't count, we all know that), I found this to be a fun read, and would recommend it to those who enjoyed World War Z and other vampire fanatics like me. It's a nice reminder that while zombies can be scary, if vampires attack, we are so screwed.

Amy

Review: The Devil's Engine: Hellraisers

If I ever find myself needing inspiration for a horror story, one of my go-to authors is Alexander Gordon Smith. His work is explosive, exciting, creepy, and absolutely thrilling Not to mention gory as hell. I loved his Escape from Furnace series (and if you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?!), and he excels again with his new trilogy. The first book, The Devil's Engine: Hellraisers, is virtually nonstop action from start to finish, a wild, creative ride that leaves you breathless and desperate for more. Definitely a book to pick up if you haven't already.

Badass cover where you can almost feel the evilness of the Engine.

When a sixteen-year-old troublemaker named Marlow Green is trapped in a surreal firefight against nightmarish creatures in the middle of his New York City neighborhood, he unwittingly finds himself amid a squad of secret soldiers dedicated to battling the legions of the devil himself.

Powering this army of young misfits is an ancient machine from the darkest parts of history. Known as the devil’s engine, it can make any wish come true-as long as you are willing to put your life on the line. Promised powers beyond belief, and facing monstrous apparitions straight out of the netherworld, Marlow must decide if he’s going to submit to a demonic deal with the infernal machine that will enable him to join the crusade-if it doesn’t kill him first.

From the author of the Escape from Furnace series, here is the opening salvo in an explosive new horror trilogy about an ordinary American kid caught up in an invisible war against the very worst enemy imaginable.

The book starts from two very different perspectives– the first being Marlow's, as he makes it clear that he's a troublemaker with no direction, too busy drawing "rockets" on his principal's car hood. I admit, that made me laugh pretty hard. The other perspective is from the a young woman named Pan the Hellraisers, a group of men and women who have supernatural abilities they use to fight demons.

The abilities come from a messed up device called the Devil's Engine. I won't go into details about how it works, but suffice to say that the name should give you some hints. The rules, mythology, and world that have been created are exciting and unique. While it's not as deep as the Furnace series (yet anyway), the complexity is obvious. This is not a machine you tamper with lightly, and the consequences of doing so are alarmingly severe. I can't wait to learn more about the Engine in future novels.

The characters are fantastic. Marlow is a great lead, a young man whose identity struggles are realistic and understandable. He's not a stereotypical hero, but he's not a bad person. I genuinely enjoyed reading about his mistakes, and the lengths he went to make them right. He's not perfect, but who wants a Mary Sue?

Speaking of characters who know no bounds at getting the job done, Pan is awesome. Stone cold bitch to be sure, but she's seriously kick-ass. Tough as nails, but alarmingly vulnerable as the weight of their duty becomes heavier and heavier.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. As mentioned before, one of the things I love about Alexander Gordon Smith's work is the level of violence and gore. He's a master at painting vivid, bloody pictures that made even me cringe. And if you think he's going to take it easy on you when he describes the demons and the monstrosity in the final battle? Think again!

The Devil's Engine: Hellraisers is seriously badass. One of the wildest books I've read this year. I hated having to go to work and put it down. Once you start, you won't want to stop for anything. So pick it up and start reading it now. No contract with a machine from Hell required!

Amy

Weekly Recap (DARK DIVINITY releases tomorrow!)

Most important thing I got done last week was finish Storm Born and NaNoWriMo! The rough draft clocked in at over 98,000 words, a number that will likely increase when I get back to editing it (shouldn't be a long delay, but I need a break from it first). I didn't get all my goals completed, but I still count these as accomplishments:

• Complete Storm Born

• More promotion/review requests for Crimson Sky

• Set up blog tour dates for Dark Divinity

• Write and edit the next Blood Moon chapter

• Plan/start my entry for the Stephen King The Bazaar of Bad Dreams contest

This week will have some smaller goals, most of which I think I can get done within the next few days.

• Release Dark Divinity!

• Complete the next Blood Moon chapter

• More promotion/review requests for Crimson Sky

• Set up blog tour dates for Dark Divinity

• Complete my entry for the Stephen King The Bazaar of Bad Dreams contest

I'm super excited to have another book coming out tomorrow! I'm excited to start the giveaways and promos, and simply add another book to my bibliography! 

That's the news! I've done all the legwork so I'll be taking it easy on my release date tomorrow, especially since I think I'm getting a cold. Bleah. Anyway, I've been busy all morning with blogging/uploading, so now I'm finally going to start working on that list of mine. Hope everyone enjoys their week!

Amy