Book Review: The Night Children

Book: The Night Children

Author:  Sarah Tsiang

Illustrator: Sami Suomalainen 

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Picture Book



Summary from Amazon: What happens when the sun goes down at the end of the day? When the streets are empty and kids are called home for dinner and put to bed, the world becomes a magical place. It’s only then that the night children emerge from the shadows, ready to play. In this evocative and lyrical picture book, it is the night children who rule, taking over the world that the day children have left behind. The mischievous night children frolic in the twilight, rummaging for treasures and scattering surprises, stealing slices of the moon and dancing on rooftops. Only when dawn breaks do they tuck themselves away. But if you look very closely, you might just catch a glimpse of them disappearing as you wake up. Were the night children ever really there, or did you dream them? Complemented by beautiful, glowing artwork, this poetic story about the allure of a world unknown and the parallels between imagination and reality will ignite the creative souls of children everywhere.

Review

This book had me awed from start to finish. I know this book is for children but I intend to get a copy for myself just so I can cuddle up and stare at the masterful drawings. The prose is also a lovely combination of storytelling and poetry. This is a must for children who will enjoy listening to the story of these mysterious night children that live among us unknowingly. Parents might actually get pulled into it themselves like I did. Trust me the cover is just a taste of the beauty within this book. I downloaded a copy for Adobe and I'm just jaw dropping over this. Get it.

I'll end this review with a line from this masterpiece: Wake up, little one, and find the house in it's foggy softness of not quite night and not quite dawn.

Rating: 5 Stars of Infinity

Purchase: Amazon, The Book Depository

P.S.: I kid you not I went straight to starting a story I had been muddling over a long time. This book really gets your creative juices going. I personally recommend it to every person on the planet.

Oh and I checked on Netgalley and the archive date for this book is not set. If you want to see what I'm talking about before you commit go right HERE. Love you all and see you on Friday.

Death To the Undead Cover Reveal

Today I will be sharing a new cover reveal in partnership with Xpresso Book Tours. Enjoy.

Death to the Undead
Pembroke Sinclair
(Life After the Undead, #2)
Publication date: February 16th 2016
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult, Zombies

The battle that began in Life After the Undead continues.
Zombies changed her life completely…
Tough teenager Krista escaped to the safety of Florida after her parents were killed by the zombie horde. She united with General Liet, a distant cousin, and moved with him to North Platte to help build a wall to keep the zombies in the West. Krista fell in love with Quinn, a survivor and fighter from the zombie-infested wildlands of the West, and together they freed the garrison at North Platte from the power-hungry Liet.
But zombies aren’t the only enemy they have to face…
Now, North Platte is free, but Liet was not the only one using the zombie apocalypse to control their people. Florida is ruled by five ruthless Families, who use intimidation and the threat of the zombie horde to coerce their populace. Krista and Quinn hatch a desperate plan to run guns into the state and help the people revolt. Krista and Quinn, labeled as rebels run for their lives when the Families attack North Platte. The Families want them captured, the zombies want to eat them, and other survivors want them dead. Caught in between powerful forces, they must survive long enough to devise a new plan and put it into action, all while trying to solidify their new relationship and trying not to self-destruct in the meantime.

Sequel to:

Add to Goodreads

Author Bio:
Pembroke Sinclair is a literary jack of all trades, playing her hand at multiple genres. She has written an eclectic mix of fiction ranging from horror to sci-fi and even some westerns. Born in Rock Springs, Wyoming--the home of 56 nationalities--it is no wonder Pembroke ended up so creatively diverse. Her fascination with the notions of good and evil, demons and angels, and how the lines blur have inspired her writing. Pembroke lives in Laramie, Wyoming, with her husband, two spirited boys, a black lab named Ryder, and a rescue kitty named Alia, who happens to be the sweetest, most adorable kitty in the world! She cannot say no to dessert, orange soda, or cinnamon. She loves rats and tatts and rock and roll and wants to be an alien queen when she grows up.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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The Undead Road Tour

Sorry folks no MishMash today but...

This week will be the start of The Undead Road Tour for David Powers King’s zombie novel. The ebook is on sale Jan 25-29th for .99 cents in the Kindle store. David has had a rough patch with recent unemployment but is still powering through with his new book and second novel (Woven was his first and co-written) along with seeking another job. As we all know writing is a tough biz and not always enough to pay the bills. So read on to find out more about this exciting book and about the awesome novelist. If you can buy a copy it would be appreciated but either way at the very least read through, leave a comment and share on social media to spread the word.

Title: The Undead Road: My Zombie Summer: Part One

Publisher: Dashboard Books / CreateSpace

Ebook Release: January 2st, 2016

Paperback: January 26th, 2016

Cover by Steven Novak

Edited by Reece Hanzon

Blurb:

Nothing brings the family together like a zombie apocalypse …

Fifteen-year-old Jeremy Barnes would rather watch a zombie movie than shoot a real one, but he has no choice if his family wants to survive the end of the world. Their plan? Drive across the infected United States to a cabin in the Colorado Rockies without a scratch, but their trip takes a complicated detour in the middle of Nebraska when they find Kaylynn, a girl who can handle a baseball bat better than Jeremy can hold a .45 Berretta. And when they stumble into a sanctuary, Jeremy soon learns that Kaylynn is stronger than she looks—a deadly secret lies inside her.

After the radio picks up a distress call from Kansas City about a possible cure, Jeremy’s parents go with a team to investigate. They never return. The only way to find their parents is for Jeremy and his sister Jewel to rely on a dangerous girl who might just turn on them at any moment.

Amazon

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Amazon.UK

Amazon.AU

CreateSpace

Kindle Store

Praise for The Undead Road:

"For me, zombie stories are never about the killing. They're about the survivors and how people deal with the apocalypse. To this undead end, David Powers King has come up with the most original spin on zombies I've ever read." - Michael Offutt, author of Slipstream and Oculus

Contest Details:

Visit davidpowersking.com and leave and comment and/or tweet about The Undead Road (at least once) for a chance to win a free ebook. One out of every 10 comments and tweets is a winner! Use the Twitter Button below to ensure the author will see your tweet. Thank you!

Twitter: "Nothing brings the family together like a #zombie #apocalypse..." #scifi #horror amzn.to/1RT8xly .99 cent #kindle! @DavidPowersKing

Blog tour hosts:

Alex Cavanaugh Jan 25th

Donna Hole Jan 25th

Chemist Ken Jan 26th

Elana Johnson Jan 26th

Nick Wilford Jan 26th

Susan Gourley Jan 27th

Tara Tyler Jan 27th

Kristin Smith Jan 27th

Lidy Wilks Jan 28th

Elizabeth Seckman Jan 28th

M.J. Fifield Jan 29th

Michael de Gesu Jan 29th

About the Author:

David Powers King was born in beautiful downtown Burbank, California where his love for film inspired him to be a writer. He is the co-author of the YA fantasy novel WOVEN, published by Scholastic. An avid fan of science fiction and fantasy, David also has a soft spot for zombies and the paranormal. He currently lives deep in the mountain West with his wife and three children.

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Cover Reveal: Clara's Return

Happy Friday everyone. Today I am back on the tour circuit helping fellow authors in the writing community promote their work. Today with the lovely help of Xpresso Book Tours I will be revealing the cover of an upcoming New Adult Novel. So peek on down below for the beauty and mystery that is Clara's Return.

Clara’s Return
Suzanna J. Linton
Publication date: May 13th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult

Clara, lost and disillusioned from a hard-fought war, hopes to discover some answers about her lineage and abilities in the quiet village of Bluebell, where she once lived before being sold into slavery. However, as she and the Captain of the Royal Guard make their journey, a new threat to the kingdom arises in the form of a traitor.
This new threat has been patiently brewing since the fall of the sorceror-king Marduk and careful plans are now coming to fruition. Emmerich’s struggles with his new role as king and his ever-present nightmares leave him feeling inadequate to the task. What he needs most is Clara.
But how can she help from so far away? And how can she help if she does not even know who she is?

Sequel to:

Add to Goodreads

Author Bio:
I began writing when I was a little girl, feeling as if I was filling up with worlds and ideas. I needed to share them before they poured out of my eyes and ears.
At first, I wrote poetry before moving to fiction. Growing up in rural South Carolina meant I had to find my own ways of entertaining myself. I could often be found either reading or scribbling away in a notebook. Not much has changed since then.

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Solo: A Song Parody by Me and Zack (the singer)

Yes folks I have expanded into the parody department.

No, don't turn away. Stop running this is good stuff I swear. While I am no Weird Al Yankovich (huge fan) I have written some lyrics of my own. Mostly original stuff and no I can't sing a note or put my lyrics to music.



Which is where freelancers come in. Let me introduce you to Zack David.

Zack David is a singer/songwriter with a fiverr page, zachdavidmusic. While he had a good page it was his video that really turned me to him. What can I say, he came off as an honest earnest guy willing to do the work and handled his vocals and guitar. So I decided to contact him and ordered a sample for the first minute. Boy did he deliver and early too. I intend to order the rest of the song in February (I live on a budget people and gotta save for the necessities) and would recommend him to anyone. As a freelancer myself we got to look out for each other.

Now back to the lyrics. I wrote them as a parody to Hello by Adele. I started in December but had been thinking about it for a while. Solo and Hello went so well together and a song dedicated to our dear Hans Solo was born.

Below will see the first minute of the song along with the lyrics. If you want to share this sample around feel free but do credit both Zach and myself. It's only fair folks and no I will never put a charge or limit of sharing on the sample. I'm a fan too and not everything fan related needs to be paid for. At least not the sample. Give people some wiggle room.

Now presenting...the lyrics.

Solo

Solo, it’s me, I saw you sitting there

And thought I’d take a seat.

Did you roll over in your sleep?

When you found out you were

Yet again in a cash grab trilogy?

Solo, is Chewbacca still hairy?

Just kidding I know Kashyyyk is not the place

Where razors sell at all or very well.

You were much younger in the old trilogy.

Thirty years from now my bones would start to creak.

Did the whole romance thing fail with Leia?

Because now she looks pretty pissed.

The moment we have all been waiting for...the music. Thanks again Zach you did great creating this file for me and I used the wav format.

Click for Music on Sound Cloud

So there you have it folks. What do you think? Either way I had fun doing this and do plan to start on my original lyrics in the future. For now though, I'll just enjoy this.

Monday MishMash: Week Two

Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme sharing your thoughts and happenings. You just grab a button and create your post. Sure I guess I write it differently from most but moving on....

1. I am pretty much dealing with freelance work right now. Put my own righting on the back burner a bit but I will be getting back on schedule as of today.

2. Started reading Perfected by Kate Jarvick Birch. I am enjoying this book so far and love when an author not only gives you a good MC but also awesome secondary characters.

3. Ordered two hardbacks last week and will order at least two to three more next month. Not from this week but I just love hardbacks. Will probably order a paperback this week.

4. Hoping this week there will be a free pass contest to the movies. Come on Wednesday, bring it.

5. Watched the rest of Dragons Race to the Edge: Season Two and that there is a new big bad in their mist. 5 Stars DreamWorks Animation and thanks for streaming it Netflix.

Well that's it for my second week of Monday MishMash. Thank you Kelly for creating this meme.

Book Review: The D'Evil Diaries by Tatum Flynn

Book: The D'Evil Diaries by Tatum Flynn, Illustrations by David Shephard

Source: Purchased paperback at The Book Depository

Genre: MG



Summary (on Book Depository): A hilarious, crackling, original debut about an unlucky demon, perfect for fans of Derek Landy and Eoin Colfer. Twelve-year-old Jinx is hopeless at being evil. Which is a bit of a problem when you're Lucifer's youngest son. But when Jinx runs away from Pandemonium, the walled city he's lived in all his life, he bumps into dead girl Tommy - who's been sent to Hell for accidentally feeding her nasty uncle to a circus lion - and unearths a conspiracy that could up-end the entire underworld. Cue shenanigans involving carnivorous carousel horses, death-trap-riddled libraries and hungry quicksand. Now the fate of the realm rests in the hands of its most unlikely demon and a girl who shouldn't be in Hell at all...

In a year of many books left unfinished (thanks a lot 2015) D'Evil Diaries was a book I could finish in an evening because of how engaging it was. Yes it is under 300 pages but that has nothing to do with the good writing and beautiful illustrations. Tatum and David collaborated to bring us a book that showed us a different side of hell and boy was it one 'hell of a ride'.

The novel starts with Jinx son of Lucifer who can't seem to do anything right in the evil department. Which is very bad for a demon. As his father gets more fed up with him and all other attempts at being evil fail...Jinx runs away and meets up with Tommy, a girl who should not be in hell. What ensues afterwards is a crazy adventure that brings to light a secret coup and puts the entire balance of good and evil in jeopardy.

I really enjoyed this book. You had an engaging story, wonderful illustrations, a main character that you could identify with at some point in your life, a mischievous girl that might remind you of a friend at some point in your life, hair raising adventure and the reminder that no matter how evil you might there is someone that you care about and if not even being evil, that is not necessarily a good thing. There are also secondary characters to love including Loiter who you have to get the book just to find the essence of this guy. How a lazy being can command a scene is shown in spades. While there was an issue of the book getting a bit cliched with the overly awkward boy and then this strong personality girl just happened to be named Tommy. Tatum made up for that quick with an attack of crazed 'horses' and the story quickly got back on it's amazing track. Plus it was nice to have strong characters no matter their gender being shown and not flung in your face. A strong female character is great but I don't want a 'Katniss' flung in my face. Nor a 'Gayle' either, it goes both ways. Tatum was able to balance the strength and weaknesses of her characters very well and any falter made was quickly made up for with engaging storytelling and a novel that flowed and kept you engaged from start to finish.

Rating: 4 Stars

Purchase: The Book Depository

Funny enough I met Tatum last year on Twitter via a hashtag dealing with refugees. After chatting with her I decided to check her twitter account, discovered she was a writer, checked out her website and saw a book I knew I had to buy. Plus she has Calvin as her Twitter avatar. Major cool points.

Today is the debut of the second book in the series and I couldn't be happier for her. Of course I pre-ordered my copy months ago and it has already been dispatched. Also late last year I bucked into the illustrator David on Twitter as well and he is a cool chap. Definitely a great artistic talent and the only illustrator I check on who is not doing Teenage Ninja Turtles. Priorities. Congrats to you both and thanks for helping to bring such an awesome book into the world. Oh and the publisher.



Tatum Flynn: Website, Twitter

David Shephard: Website, Twitter

Waiting on Wednesday: The Curiosity House

Waiting on Wednesday is held weekly by Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases bloggers are excited about. So without further ado here is my pick.

Book: Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Summary: The book is about, among other things: the strongest boy in the world, a talking cockatoo, a faulty mind reader, a beautiful bearded lady and a nervous magician, an old museum, and a shrunken head.

Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.

When the museum’s Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts. This sensational new series combines the unparalleled storytelling gifts of Lauren Oliver with the rich knowledge of the notorious relics collector H. C. Chester.

What you will find in this book:

    A rather attractive bearded lady

    Several scandalous murders

    A deliciously disgusting Amazonian shrunken head

    Four extraordinary children with equally extraordinary abilities

    A quite loquacious talking bird

What you will NOT find in this book:

    An accountant named Seymour

    A never-ending line at the post office

    Brussels sprouts (shudder)

    A lecture on finishing all your homework on time

    A sweet, gooey story for nice little girls and boys

Learn more about the series online at 

www.thecuriosityhouse.com

Purchase: The Book Depository, Amazon

I found out about this book at Lauren's website and then I read the story of how she got the idea. That was when I knew I had to purchase this book which is book one of a series with the second soon to be released. Unique MG's are a great find and I am excited to get my hands on this book.

Monday Mishmash: First Timer!

Hi this is my first time taking part in Monday Mishmash a weekly meme sharing your thoughts and happenings. You just grab a button and create your post. Sure I guess I write it differently from most but moving on....

1. Over the weekend I started doing a fan movie sketch for a Fantastic Four reboot. I know that sounds crazy or silly but I truly believe that this movie can be done right. All I will say right now is that my version has Fantastic 4 facing The Skrulls and Dr. Doom becomes a bit of an anti-hero but not so much so that it eliminates his villainous personality. More is coming but I am thinking of trying to pitch this thing through fan sites to see if I can get some creative juices pumping over at Fox. Seriously they need to get a hit, I mean Ant-Man made it. ANT-MAN! No, I don't care that it's a Marvel property, if Ant-Man can make it so can Fantastic Four with the right movie. There.


Oh and I shot the origin story in the head. None of that for half my fan movie. Time to go Deadpool fans on this property.

2. Yesterday I found out Dragons: Race to Edge has Season Two up and naturally I had to watch the first seven. How did I miss the email update on Friday? How! Loving it so far though.

3. So I started a MerryWeather retelling of her long before Sleeping Beauty. Yes I did. I am also thinking about a MG with Saint Nick being the bad guy. So....

4. I really should get to seeing Star Wars The Force Awakens.

5. Took a few days off ghostwriting. Monday will have be back in the saddle with plenty of time to spare thank goodness. At least I got #1 going during that time.

6. Happy to say Victoria Aveyard, author of The Red Queen series responded to a few of my tweets over the weekend. Collar pop.

                                           

So there you have it, my first MishMash. This meme aint half bad. Thanks Kelly Hashway for introducing me to this with your own cool posts. See you guys tomorrow, hugs!

IWSG: 2016 and Waiting on Wednesday

Happy 2016 everyone and welcome to another IWSG. I can happily say my insecurities still involve writing and health. Why am I happy? Because I know it could be worse. I could be crippled by my insecurities and personal issues but I am not. There are also no new epic disasters to report and that is always good. So I thank God for protecting me and wish you all a great day.

Waiting on Wednesday is held weekly by Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases bloggers are excited about. So without further ado here is my pick.

Book: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Release Date: March 3, 2016

Summary: Lorelai, crown princess and fugitive-at-large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. She'll have to be stronger, faster and master more magical power than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen. When the queen's huntsman - a dragon-shifting king - tracks down Lorelai, sparks fly between them. Can the king overcome his predator side - and can Irina's dark magic be defeated?

Purchase: The Book Depository, Amazon

So there you have it guys an IWSG and a WOW in one post. Stay smiling and good day.