Category Archives: friends and family

Jolene Dawe–The Fairy Queen of Spencer’s Butte, review

Posted by Juli D. Revezzo on

In the interest of open communication let me say no, this review has nothing to do with the fact that Jolene Dawe’s hosted me in the past and soon will again. I’ve had this book on my pile since she (interest again) sent it to me at Christmas but with all that’s happened this year I just didn’t have a chance to get around to it. Jolene, bless her heart, has the patience of a …well, you know. Truth is,  I’ve known Jolene a long time. She’s my friend, but also my #1 writing buddy. So, I heard all about this collection from the time of its inception. Please do not let that sway your judgement….I wouldn’t say this if it wasn’t true:

HOLY SMOKES, THIS LADY CAN WRITE!!!

Her book(s) are one of a handful that I’d gladly shove in front of anyone whether they like to read or not. One of those writers who I Wish. She’d. Write. Faster. Darn it. (Speaking of darning…she knits too)…

*Hides friendship bracelet* Yes, well, judge me if you will, I love Jolene’s work and she’s never handed me anything that would make me change that view. I loved her last collection, I love her short stories that have been published (*Cough* here and here), even ones that haven’t (and why they haven’t been is a damned crying shame).

She’s one of my best buds, and darn it, an influence on my work. There, I said it, and truthfully. :) See the italics above.

But I digress…. ahem, my official review for The Fairy Queen then, goes thusly…
What can I say about Jolene’s new book? The Fairy Queen of Spencer’s Butte , being currently available for Kindle and paperback, and pdf, is her latest collection of tales of magic and mystic wonder fueled by the landscape around Eugene, Oregon, of which she is clearly fond. But this is no mere travelogue. In these tales, she twists reality to create a stage for the mythic side of nature. Each story tells of an underground (quite literally in some cases) community of faeries, werecats, werefolk of all species, dryads and trolls making their lives among the mortal community of the area.

I enjoyed them all, but I think the standouts among the collection were “The Elk King” about a young woman who, finding herself lost in the woods, happens upon a ruffian who offers her rest, and a place to spend a long dark night. Nine months later, the woman realizes her baby is the Elk King’s son and that discovery leads to true love, and a little insanity.

(Remember a while back when I reviewed Snow White and the Huntsman? This is the character I had in mind when I saw the scene with the magical elk).

“Crown her With Poppies” is a dragon tale of a different sort, a love story between two different peoples that results in war, and sorry.

The title story, “The Fairy Queen of Spencer’s Butte”, tells of a young woman who is saved after a vicious rape and tended to by the Fairy Queen and her people. From them, the woman learns—well, I’m not going to tell you.

One of these fine days I’m going to get her on my blog (if I have to send the guards out after her, I will. ;) )
In the meantime, you’ll have to read this wonderful collection yourself to discover all its secrets. Highly recommended for lovers of fantasy and myth. Do check Jolene‘s work out. I think you’ll enjoy it.  I hope you do… and I hope you like them as much as I do.

(No, I don’t usually post book reviews over here, but  like I said, trying to get Jolene over here. ;) So, I put it here to give her more views, and hopefully link back and forth and *pokepoke* to entice her so I don’t have to send the guards out after her–oh, all right. Maybe I’ll send the cute ones. ;) Anyway, I hope you’ll give her book a try sometime.

If you’d like to know more about Jolene Dawe and her wonderful works, see her site:  The Saturated Page.

Tuesday Teaser–Tam Linsey

Posted by Juli D. Revezzo on

This is  a new friend. *waves to Tam* I think her book looks awesome. See what you think?

The Botanicaust
by Tam Linsey
Blurb:

After genetically altered weeds devastate Earth’s croplands, much of humanity turns to cannibalism to survive. Dr. Tula Macoby believes photosynthetic skin can save the human race, and her people single-mindedly embark on a mission to convert the cannibals roaming what’s left of Earth. But when Levi, a peaceful stranger, refuses alteration, Tula doesn’t think the only options should be conversion or death.

Levi Kraybill, a devout member of the Old Order, left his Holdout farmland to seek a cure for his terminally ill son. Genetic manipulation is a sin, but Levi will do almost anything for the life of his child. When he’s captured, he’s sure he’s damned, and his only escape will be death.

Tula’s superiors schedule Levi’s euthanization, and she risks everything to set the innocent man free. Now she and Levi are outlaws with her people, and she’s an abomination with his. Can they find sanctuary in a cannibal wasteland?

Excerpt:

[This is just after Awnia, a captive cannibal, is taken to euthanization. Levi has yet to learn Tula's language.]

The shuffle of feet alerted him to a visitor, and at first he thought perhaps an angel had come to give him comfort. Her yellow robe, the first real clothing he had seen since being taken captive, swished around her ankles as she paused before the sleeping child’s cage.

After a few moments, she turned to approach his cage, and he recognized the woman, Tula. Not an angel. A Blattvolk, even if she had donned clothing. She grasped the bars with both hands and, with a sigh, pressed her green, tear-stained cheeks against the metal. Her whispered words sounded desperate.

Rising on unsteady legs, he pointed to Awnia’s empty cage. “Awnia?” This woman seemed to be an advocate for the young mother.

Without warning, the Blattvolk erupted into a fresh bout of tears.

Uncontrollable empathy washed over Levi. “Don’t cry.” His voice cracked. The words could have been for himself as easily as the Blattvolk. She shuddered with another sob.

He strode forward with more strength than he knew he had and wrapped his hands over hers where she clung to the bars. Her fingers were as cold as the metal. A shiny pink patch of skin on her right arm contrasted sharply with the jade hue of her skin, like a small piece of humanity peeking out at him from beneath her Blattvolk exterior. “Tula, don’t cry,” he whispered, afraid of his own voice.

At the sound of her name, she hiccoughed and met his gaze. This time he was struck by the humanity in her pale blue eyes. “Tula,” she repeated.

She searched his eyes, and he knew what she wanted. It was such a small thing, really. Taking a sharp breath, he said, “Levi.”

“Levi.” A smile rivaling a clear sunrise broke out on her face.

He hoped he hadn’t just let in the devil.

But Tula’s face was not one of temptation or evil or atrocity. Her skin might be green, but her eyes were human, and she needed compassion. Awnia had been taken away, and this woman seemed as upset about it as Levi was.

“Are they going to kill her?”

She seemed to understand the question, because she nodded. Pulling a hand from beneath his, she wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve, then put her palm over his knuckles and beseeched him with her grief-reddened eyes. Her words sounded so much like “must eat,” that when she indicated his untouched canister he understood.

Now that he had talked to her, he’d opened a whole range of action he’d sworn not to take. But eating the food here had not changed Awnia. It had not sealed her damnation. And if he had any hope of convincing this woman to let him go, he had to maintain his strength.

In a moment of divine intuition, he felt God might want him to survive.

At Tula’s urging, he swallowed the tepid fluid in the canister and grimaced. His body recognized it as food, but his mouth protested every drop passing over his tongue. She made a face and nodded as if she agreed about the taste. Then she pulled a closed fist out of her pocket.

“Dessert,” she said, holding out her hand. On her palm was a clear nougat the size of his thumbnail.

The bland drink he’d swallowed churned in his gut. Was this the agent to change him forever? She called it dessert, the finish to a meal. Would it also be the end of him?

He searched her eyes again, and detected no guile there. His insides calmed, and he knew she meant no harm. To get out of here, he was going to have to trust her. And convince her to trust him.

Taking the nougat between thumb and forefinger he sniffed it before touching a tentative tongue to the surface. Sweet. It was indeed dessert. “Thank you.” He put the lozenge into his mouth and allowed the sugars to dissolve. The candy tasted like hope.

Read more about Botanicaust at Tam’s site: http://tamlinsey.com/

The Kindle book  is available at Amazon and also in other ebook formats via Smashwords. The paperback is available at Createspace.

Final Cat Crimes promo post

Posted by Juli D. Revezzo on

I’m wrapping up my book four for Dark Things II: Cat Crimes today, over at my friend and mentor Kathy Carmichael’s blog. If you have a chance, do drop by.
http://www.kathycarmichael.com/please-welcome-todays-guest-j-d-revezzo/

Thanks to everyone who supported our little charity piece with the profusion of blog dates. Tis truly appreciated!

Juli

Aside from writing…reading. Or, the care and feeding of authors

Posted by Juli D. Revezzo on
image from Antique Images blog

image from Antique Images blog

…or maybe next to writing, I’ve been reading a lot this week. I  added these new research tomes to the pile I thought some of you might find useful or interesting:

How to be a Writer in the E-age and Keep Your Sanity  by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Anne R. Allen and Sarina DesForges (available at Amazon here) (One hint that they give that I absolutely agree with, speaking of Twitter buttons but it in my book, it applies to any image: “Think twice before you get an animated one, though–they’re cute, but they slow down load time.” Lawds, YES!!! They’re absolutely right. I wish more people would dispel this bit of wisdom.

Ahem, sorry. Webmistress halo slipped in there. Readjusting the reader halo in five, four, three, two… I also picked up  one called Haunted Objects by Christopher Balzano and Tim Weisberg (Why yes, haunted. Ghosts.)  It’s got, just on flipping through, lots of creepy pictures, not to mention the creepy baby doll on the cover. I won’t post it here for fear of scaring you all away. ;) You can see it at Amazon, (click the authors’ names) if you’re really curious.

And just for fun, a book called Deception by one Lee Nichols.

I know what you’re thinking. Nightmares ahoy! >:)

We’ll see… Remember I couldn’t make it through one of Kelley Armstrong‘s because it scared the …cookies out of me. LOL Yes, it’s true.

Hopefully this experiment will just be fodder for good fiction. :) My characters are turning into quite the little amateur ghost hunters so, let’s hope I can make it through these. And yes, that’s a teaser for the next book to come after we release The Artist’s Inheritance. *rubs hands gleefully* No release date on #2 as yet, but the draft is plugging along. Hopefully before the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted.

So lots of reading yes, hopefully it won’t result in many nightmares. *shudder*

My little brother would’ve been proud. Yep, he loved all things ghost… I can hear him laughing at me now. *snigger* Lil bugger. So what are you reading this week?

Marsha A. Moore: Mermagic: How to change a merman into a human

Posted by Juli D. Revezzo on

hearts by KatussiaGood morning, my friends! Do excuse the hearts and flowers, everywhere. My minions are trying to butter me up. They say tomorrow’s something called Valentine’s day though…I don’t remember ever hearing about this holiday before. What? Oh, it has something to do with love? What do I need with winning anyone’s heart? Everyone instantly loves me, don’t they?

Why are they laughing at me? Don’t mind them, my dear. Oh, yes. I’m getting ahead of myself. Today  I have a treat for you. We’ve an expert in another kind of magical being here (I must say I’m intrigued. I thought I was the pinnacle of magical humanoids ;) ). Ahem,  our guest today is the talented fantasy romance author, and our dear friend, Marsha A. Moore, and she’s dropped by the castle  to tell us a little about mermaid magic.

Marsha dear, you have the mic.

Mermagic: How to change a merman into a human
by Marsha A. Moore

Lots of folks ask me about mermagic, especially how mermaids or mermen are transformed into humans and vice versa. I’ll share a few of their secrets, as revealed to me by my heroine in the Ciel’s Legacy series. Her name is Ciel and in the first book, Tears on a Tranquil Lake, she was surprised to find herself transformed into a mermaid. She received an offer to change back, but declined. Years later, she finally meets the man of her dreams, a pirate named Alvaro, when he is moments away from dying with a knife lodged in his back—not the best timing. In order to save him, she moves fast and turns him into a merman using the magic “kiss of life.” Worse luck for Ciel, Alvaro thinks he wants to become human again. She’s told me many times mermen are no easier to understand than men. Like any woman, she tries her best to please him, hoping he’ll eventually see how nice she really is and drop his wild idea. Ciel knows the process is rarely done and requires great talents in mermagic. Although well-trained and talented, she’s uncertain whether she can perform what is required.

And what exactly would Ciel need to do to meet Alvaro’s wishes? Only two people know the procedure—the Silver Merman and the greatest Vodoun Mambo in the land, Teega. Read the following excerpt from Tortuga Treasure: Ciel’s Legacy to find out what they tell Ciel and her friend Sesi must be done.

Teega stared at Alvaro, her gaze piercing him. “Ain’t et enough she saved yer life?”
He shivered and bowed his head. “With yer respect, Mambo, I be very grateful, but…”
“Dat brogue—ye be a pirate en disguise,” she snapped. “Yer wantin’ Teega to help ye, ye black-hearted fool? Ye’ll cause me sweet Ciel a peck o’ trouble.” She clenched her teeth and leaned forward, glaring at him. A slight flush of rage showed even against her dark complexion.
I wrapped my fingers in hers. “It’s alright. He’s caused me no harm. Please.”
“Wot be yer name?” she demanded of him. “Give me yer hand.” She held both his hand and mine, closed her eyes, and hummed softly.
Her eyes opened. “I will help ye. I feel through Ciel wot she reads en her soul. Dat be enough.” The vodou in her voice dripped over my mind, calm and soothing.
“Wot ye must do es to honor an’ bring together his past, present, an’ the moment he were turned. First, gain the weapon which tried to take his life. Second, borrow the magic conch horn after et es used to welcome him ento the merfolk community. An hardest of all, find an item dat show connection to his human family. Bring dese things together to the spot ye turned him. Once ye return, Mambo will guide ye.” She let go of our hands, reclined into her rocker, eyelids lowered, and resumed humming. Was this to steady her own fears? Did she see dangers ahead she didn’t tell?
I gulped. “How can I find all those? The Silver Merman isn’t likely to give up his conch. And I have no idea how to get the others. How will he even know…”
“Why is getting something from the past the most difficult?” Sesi asked.
Teega nodded to me. “Ciel can tell ye.”
I turned to Alvaro. Certain of the answer I’d get, I asked, “What’s your name?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but didn’t answer. His eyes opened wide with bewilderment. “Don’t know.” He ran a hand along his brow. “Why don’t I?”
“Alvaro, you were turned into a merperson like me, rather than born as one like my friends. Surviving that close a call with death, your memory becomes shadowy. It’s scary, having no past.” I took hold of his hand to show my empathy.
“Alvaro,” he repeated. Although outwardly he looked unaffected, his soul trembled against my hand and his black eyes clung to me.

Tortuga Treasure: Ciel’s Legacy – Blurb:
When Ciel first looks into Alvaro’s eyes she finds love. Bad timing. In the next instant he’s fatally stabbed in the back by one of his pirate mates. Her girlfriends warn her it will only bring on a heap of trouble to save him. Unable to resist, she gives him the gift of a new life as one of her kind—a merman.

Will their love encourage him to embrace life as a merman? Can love survive if he wishes to return to human form? Either way, her friends speak true. No matter how much mermagic and dark vodou Ciel and her friends cast, blood-thirsty buccaneers chase them across the Caribbean until Alvaro finally decides.

Warning: This book contains a magical cock-a-too, lecherous scurvy pirate dogs, hoodoo healers, the mark of the evil Black Spot, plenty of dark Haitian vodou, and passionate encounters on tropical beaches.
Genre: Fantasy romance
Purchase links:
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Tortuga-Treasure-Legacy-Tranquil-ebook/dp/B0070OIMVI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327592130&sr=8-1

Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/127433

MuseItUp Publishing
http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=293&category_id=69&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Author Bio:

author Marsha A. Moore.

Author Marsha A. Moore

Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Her creativity also spills into watercolor painting and drawing. After a move from Toledo to Tampa in 2008, she’s happily transforming into a Floridian, in love with the outdoors. Crazy about cycling, she usually passes the 1,000 mile mark yearly. She is learning kayaking and already addicted. She’s been a yoga enthusiast for over a decade and that spiritual quest helps her explore the mystical side of fantasy. She never has enough days spent at the beach, usually scribbling away at new stories with toes wiggling in the sand. Every day at the beach is magical!
Website: http://MarshaAMoore.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarshaAMoore
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marshaamooreauthorpage
Fantasy Faction staff page: http://fantasy-faction.com/staff-members?uid=38
Goodreads author page http://www.goodreads.com/marshaamoore
Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/100564214132835514192/posts
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/marsha-a-moore/2b/8/aa9

Mermen do sound wonderful. Do you happen to have Alvaro’s number? I think I wouldn’t mind dating–I mean meeting, him. *laughs* Thanks for being with us today, Marsha. We always look forward to it when you grace our humble little abode. You are welcome here, anytime, my girl. I’m sorry I have to keep apologizing for my staff. Good minions are so hard to find! However, we want to wish you all the best of luck with Tortuga Treasure! It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it, folks?