James L. Weaver's Blog, page 55
December 10, 2017
Holiday Blog Tour – The Incomparable Kate Foster
I cannot say enough about Kate Foster. Talented, award winning author, publisher, editor, and cheerleader extraordinaire. Kate took a chance on me with Poor Boy Road and I’ve learned so much from her along the way. Hopefully, you’ll get the privilege to meet her someday. When you do, be sure to tell her what a charming accent she has. She doesn’t think it’s charming. But it is.
For the holiday season, we at Lakewater Press thought it would be a good time to share who we are with a little holiday blog hop.
Between December 1 and the 24th we’ll share holiday interviews with our authors and the Lakewater Press staff. It’s an excellent opportunity for us to get to know each other a little better, and to give our readers a peek behind the scenes–or pages!
Perhaps you’ll even find a new blog to follow, or your next favorite book!
(Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for our holiday giveaway!!)
Today’s interviewee:
Name and LWP affiliation: Kate Foster, Editorial Director 
Blog URL: http://lakewaterpress.com/index.php/blog-2/
Where do you live? Gold Coast, Australia
What are your chances of having snow on Christmas Day? Well, absolutely zero if I stay home! Christmas is during the summer on this side of the world which means hot, humid, and delightful! Back in England, where I lived in the south east of the country until my mid-thirties, it snowed once on Christmas Day; otherwise it was cold, grey, and drizzly. L
Do you have any favorite holiday traditions? Christmas Day has changed a little for me since moving to Australia. It’s the same but different, and I’m pretty happy to embrace the new traditions we’re creating as a family. I mean, a lot is the same, like we always start the day opening the prezzies Father Christmas left in our stockings; then we pile into the lounge together in the hope he’s left more under the tree. My husband and I enjoy a cappuccino and a glass of Buck’s Fizz whilst the prezzie opening occurs. Breakfast is always pain au chocolat with strawberries and blueberries! But from then it has changed immensely, because during the next few hours whilst dinner is prepared and we chill, we phone England to wish the family merry Christmas and tend to have a swim because it’s usually so freaking hot! However, to answer the question a little more precisely, my favourite part of the day has to be the evening tree presents. My dad’s family always handed out a final flurry of quirky gifts in the evening when the sun had set, and it’s a tradition we don’t want to let go of.
Egg nog: Yes or No? No. It’s Buck’s Fizz for me!
Are you an artistic gift wrapper or a basic “paper & tape” warrior? Basic paper and tape, I’m afraid. But I’m a wrapping machine and it’s all about quantity not quality! I see the whole experience as a type of therapy: bottle of wine/beer, big pile of gifts, wrap and move, wrap and move.
Do you have any special holiday memories that include books? Are there any specific titles you remember? No specific holiday 
memories really, but I don’t believe I’ve had a Christmas go by when I haven’t received at least one book as a gift! My book haul each Christmas is impressive. The one title that definitely draws those Christmas smells and feels from the bank at any time of year is The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. There was some woodland close to my home in England and when it did snow or was freezing during those winter months, the whole place would ice over and sparkle and light up like Narnia.
What is your earliest book-related memory? The Enormous Turnip. I remember reading it over and over and over again but they are very distant memories, only snippets. A clearer memory is from when I was probably six and reading Enid Blyton behind my raised desk lid in class!
Do you write/work during the holidays? My kids have their big summer holiday over Christmas so I definitely don’t produce as much work then as during other times of year, but I always try to spend time on my own projects, as well as keeping in touch with the Lakewater team, networking, socialising with readers, and so much more. So, erm, yeah, I work!
Can you share what you’re working on now? Well, maybe … I am in the midst of reading and editing several titles Lakewater will be releasing next year. Some are sequels and some from new authors. We have spies, friends, blood, and love, to name some of the themes.
What are your goals for 2018? To continue bringing more incredibly entertaining titles to the hands of readers, and meeting and mingling with more amazing readers and authors every day.
Links to all the Lakewater Press participating blogs:
Enter the Lakewater Press giveaway for your chance to win a book of your choice (5 winners to be selected):
Holiday Blog Hop – The Talented Jodi Gallegos
I’m afraid I’m a bit behind the 8-ball here, but I can’t miss the blog hop tour stop for Jodi Gallegos. I can’t wait to meet this lady in person one of these days. Read on to find out why and don’t forget to scroll to the bottom to enter a chance to win some great Lakewater Press books!
For the holiday season, we at Lakewater Press thought it would be a good time to share who we are with a little holiday blog hop.
Between December 1 and the 24th we’ll share holiday interviews with our authors and the Lakewater Press staff. It’s an excellent opportunity for us to get to know each other a little better, and to give our readers a peek behind the scenes–or pages!
Perhaps you’ll even find a new blog to follow, or your next favorite book!
(Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for our holiday giveaway!!)
Today’s interviewee:
QUESTIONS:
Name and LWP affiliation: Jodi Gallegos Acquisitions & Marketing Assistant 
Your blog (url): Jodigallegos.com
Where do you live? Grand Junction, CO
What are your chances of having snow on Christmas Day? Pretty slim in my opinion, and based on my research (because I love to research!) my town has had only 18 Christmases with more than a trace amount of snow since 1893, and only 3 of those had more than an inch of accumulation. (*considers moving north*)
Do you have any favorite holiday traditions?
My husband, sons and I usually start the Christmas season on Thanksgiving night when we watch Christmas Vacation for the first of several times. We host a potluck for our extended family on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is all about relaxing (after the early morning wake-up call & present unwrapping)
Egg nog: Yes or No? Yes
Are you an artistic gift wrapper or a basic “paper & tape” warrior? Wrapping paper & tape. With my kids though, all my wrapping paper is superhero or Star Wars theme. We have very little feminine or “pretty” paper.
Do you have any special holiday memories that include books? Are there any specific titles you remember? I remember the glow of the Christmas lights on my very first Little House on the Prairie books. Several years later I remember the thrill of opening my first two Stephen King books: Cujo and Christine. They were all I’d asked for & it was so hard to decide which to read first (I settled on Christine).
What is your earliest book-related memory? I remember going to the book-mobile with my babysitter every week during summer. My best memories though, are of laying on the floor of my mom’s side of the bed reading her books (Clan of the Cave Bear & Flowers in the Attic). She never said anything about it. I like to think she was of the enlightened belief that as long as I was reading, it didn’t matter what.
Do you write/work during the holidays? I stay busy with my day job during the holidays. I don’t usually write or edit though. I take the slower pace of those few days to relax, read & watch movies.
Can you share what you’re working on now? I’m revising my YA light fantasy. I’m also working on a sequel to my NA romance that is releasing Dec 5th, 2017.
What are your goals for 2018? To have two new books ready for submission. Find at least one more top notch submission for Lakewater Press. Read lots. Vacation.
Links to all the Lakewater Press participating blogs:
Enter the Lakewater Press giveaway for your chance to win a book of your choice (5 winners to be selected):
December 6, 2017
Holiday Blog Hop Next Stop – A Little About Me!
It’s the next stop in the Lakewater Holiday Blog Hop and it’s my turn in the rotation. You can learn a little more about me, but if you scroll to the bottom you can have a chance to win some great Lakewater books. Enjoy.
For the holiday season, we at Lakewater Press thought it would be a good time to share who we are with a little holiday blog hop.
Between December 1 and the 24th we’ll share holiday interviews with our authors and the Lakewater Press staff. It’s an excellent opportunity for us to get to know each other a little better, and to give our readers a peek behind the scenes–or pages!
Perhaps you’ll even find a new blog to follow, or your next favorite book!
(Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for our holiday giveaway!!)
Today’s interviewee:
Name and LWP affiliation: James L. Weaver – LWP Author 
Your blog (url): www.jameslweaver.net
Where do you live? Olathe, Kansas – a suburb of Kansas City. The name means beautiful or fine, and Olathe served as a stopping point at the Oregon, California and Santa Fe Trails.
What are your chances of having snow on Christmas Day? As of now, “a wintry mix” is possible which means we’ll be sure to get a mix of rain or sleet to make the roads treacherous for traveling and embolden my desire to move to Phoenix.
Do you have any favorite holiday traditions? We have the holiday present opening tradition of going in order from youngest to oldest. The next person cannot go until the previous person has had ample time to unwrap, admire and thank the giver of the gift profusely. During big family gatherings, this can be an exhausting experience.
Egg nog: Yes or No? Dear Lord, a thousand times no. Step One of drinking egg nog? Throw the carton in the trash.
Are you an artistic gift wrapper or a basic “paper & tape” warrior? I am a warrior. As long as the paper covers the gift and there is so much tape that the opener can’t locate a seam to start the unwrapping process, I am happy.
Do you have any special holiday memories that include books? Are there any specific titles you remember? One of my favorite memories involves the Lord of the Rings books. One Christmas, we bought my dad a J.R.R. Tolkien calendar that had this really cool artwork from Lord of the Rings. I sat on my dad’s lap and he told me the stories of each one of the pictures.
What is your earliest book-related memory? Reading “The Hungry Thing” by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler when I was in kindergarten. We did a school play where I got the role of The Hungry Thing and asked for shmancakes and tickles and feetloaf and 
gollipops. I think the costume was just a bed sheet and a cardboard sign hung around my neck that said “Feed Me”.
Do you write/work during the holidays? I seem to have a hard time using my vacation throughout the year, so I usually take off work for the two weeks around Christmas and plan on getting quite a bit of writing done.
Can you share what you’re working on now? Right now, I’m working on Book 4 of the Jake Caldwell series. I’ve written a few chapters as I knew exactly how it would start, but was a little fuzzy on how it would end. I’m working on outlining the rest of it as we speak. I have the ending done (since you have to know where you’re going) and am plotting the middle to get me there. I don’t want to give too much away on the plot since it follows directly on the outcomes of Blackbird Road which is Book 3 of the Jake Caldwell series.
What are your goals for 2018? 2018 should be a great year! Blackbird Road will be released in early 2018 and Book 4 later in the year. Two books in one year will be pretty ambitious, but we’re going to do it! There’s also some potential fantastic news about my first self-published book Jack & Diane that I’m hoping to share. It’s been polished and revamped (and available on Amazon). I also plan to start outlining a book featuring Bear Parley, Jake’s best friend and everyone’s favorite character from the Jake Caldwell series. So, it should be a very busy writing year in the Weaver house!
Links to all the Lakewater Press participating blogs:
Enter the Lakewater Press giveaway for your chance to win a book of your choice (5 winners to be selected):
December 5, 2017
Blog Hop 2 – Emma Wicker
One of my favorite things about my books are the fantastic covers designed by the ultra talented Emma Wicker. Read below to find out a little bit about her and enter for your chance to win some Lakewater books!
For the holiday season, we at Lakewater Press thought it would be a good time to share who we are with a little holiday blog hop.
Between December 1 and the 24th we’ll share holiday interviews with our authors and the Lakewater Press staff. It’s an excellent opportunity for us to get to know each other a little better, and to give our readers a peek behind the scenes–or pages!
Perhaps you’ll even find a new blog to follow, or your next favorite book!
(Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for our holiday giveaway!!)
Today’s interviewee:
Name and LWP affiliation: Emma Wicker. A/NA acquisitions and creative director. 
Your blog (url): www.elwicker.com
Where do you live? On the US Star Ship Voyager.
What are your chances of having snow on Christmas Day? Slim, but not impossible.
Do you have any favorite holiday traditions? Yes! I love eating pigs in blankets on Christmas morning for breakfast.
Egg nog: Yes or No? I’ve never tried it! It’s not really a ‘thing’ here in Britain on the US Star Ship Voyager.
Are you an artistic gift wrapper or a basic “paper & tape” warrior? I try to be artistic, I really do. So… I would say I’m a failed artistic gift wrapper. The replicator does a great job, though.
Do you have any special holiday memories that include books? Are there any specific titles you remember
? I once got The Complete Works of Hans Christian Anderson for Christmas from my Aunt. That was cool. Might try a holo-novel this year.
What is your earliest book-related memory? Probably when I threw a tantrum because Bilbo wasn’t the main character in Lord of the Rings. I refused to read on when I discovered that. Stubborn.
Do you write/work during the holidays? Of course!
Can you share what you’re working on now? I don’t know. Do you have level 10 clearance?
What are your goals for 2018? I want to find a stunning romance for Lakewater Press. Something like Mia Sheridan – you know, grips your heart from start to finish and makes you ugly cry but cheer with happiness too. That’s a big goal of mine.
Links to all the Lakewater Press participating blogs:
Enter the Lakewater Press giveaway for your chance to win a book of your choice (5 winners to be selected):
October 25, 2016
Writing and the Walking Dead
SPOILER ALERT! If you’re some strange alien that hasn’t heard about The Walking Dead but plan to watch it, or are a fan who has been living under a rock for the past two days hasn’t been able to watch the most gruesome, gut-wrenching season premiere of any show in the history of television, STOP READING. Consider this your bloody sign leading to Terminus. You have been warned.
It’s been a little over 36 hours since the Season 7 Premiere of AMC’s The Walking Dead (TWD7) and, after careful reflection, I think I’m okay. I’m gonna make it. Though, I can’t say the same for the remaining members of Rick’s merry band of travelers who now have to live in Negan’s world.
For those of you who didn’t happen to peruse through social media following Negan’s crimson imitation of Babe Ruth to the skulls of two of our favorite characters, there seemed to be a split (no pun intended) in opinions. While one side cried out the gratuitous violence was just too much and many said they were done with the show altogether, the other side said it’s a show about zombies you morons, what do you expect and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
Initially, as I sat in my basement with my head swimming and stomach churning, I thought it was too much, maybe they had crossed a line. But, as a writer, after sitting back and thinking about TWD series and that bloody season premiere that had me squirming in my seat, I must now vehemently cry out to Robert Kirkman and crew – BRAVO! While some of you may disagree and have decided to walk away, let me tell you why I give TWD writers a standing ovation and how you might use this in your writing. True, this is a television show with great sets and outstanding actors, but they have to have something to act out, right? Enter the writers.
The chief complaint of TWD7 is the incredibly violent demise of Abraham and Glenn by Lucille, the barbed wire wrapped bat wielded by the new, deliciously badass Negan. Whack after whack after whack, blood flying, bloodied gray matter, stifled sobs of those in witness, it was absolutely horrifying. Just when you thought Negan would stop, he took another lick. And then another. But why? Wouldn’t one or two cracks be enough to get the point across that he killed our beloved Glenn and king of the one-liners Abraham?
The job of a writer is to tell a story, to engage the reader and immerse them in the world you’ve created. Author E.L. Doctorow said “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader – not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon”. Through the first six seasons of TWD, Sheriff Rick Grimes has shown he’s not a man to be trifled with, that he will defend his loyal subjects to the end and that if you messed with the bull, you were getting the horns. We got that when Rick, just after watching Abraham beaten to death, tells Negan “I’m going to kill you”. That’s the Rick we expect. But not the Rick that Negan wants. He wants Rick broken. In order for us to buy the tough to swallow fact that Rick was broken, we had to experience the brutality. A cut away shot of Negan bashing Glenn’s skull wouldn’t cut it – that would be the equivalent of being told the fact that it’s raining. No, to experience the feeling of being rained upon…whack…whack…bulging eye…whack…whack…whack.
That scene with Negan’s dripping red Lucille, the blood splatters across the faces of the gut-wrenched survivors, and the incredibly brilliant portrayal of charismatic Negan by Jeffrey Dean Morgan is something none of us will ever forget. You will remember where you were when you saw it. It’s not only an awesome job by all the actors involved and the direction and cinematography by Greg Nicotero, but it’s awesome writing. Without the writing, we never would have gotten the right delivery from the setup.
So, what’s the mean for you, dear writer? Are you telling your readers it’s raining or are you giving them the feeling that they are being rained upon? Is your manuscript littered with the tells, but no shows of “he saw”, “she realized” or “he felt”? With every scene you write, are you spewing weather conditions, what people wear and a literary landslide of inane motions to get your characters through the action to advance your plot? Or, are you throwing your readers in that world, immersing them with the richness of your story and characters, so that when they turn that last page and set the book down, they are left staring at those collection of pages thinking “Wow.” I know it’s what I strive for in my writing and I hope you are too. RIP Glenn and Abraham. We’ll leave a place open for you at the Sunday dinner table.
October 10, 2016
Book Review: Killer Potential – Solid YA Thriller
While pitching my novel Poor Boy Road in an online writing contest awhile back, I remember reading the Twitter pitches for my competition when one caught my eye. Long after I’d read the hundreds of other pitches, this one stuck with me. In 140 characters, the author made me want more. I always remembered the title and imagine my elation when I saw this intriguing premise in the published world.
Killer 
Potential is a new YA thriller from author Aften Brook Syzmanski. It follows seventeen-year-old Yvette Gibbs who is being held in a high security psych ward for a murder she’s not sure if she committed. Loved the premise from the outset – you had me at psych ward. The novel flips back and forth between Yvette’s disturbing past and her precarious current predicament all set against a sea of abuse, self-loathing, mistrust and mind-numbing pills to chase away the faces that haunt her.
Let me say, I absolutely loved the first half of this book. I devoured it. Syzmanski does a masterful job setting up Yvette’s backstory with a screwed up family and a revolving door of even more screwed up foster kids with disturbing stories that you know are all too real in today’s world. Yvette’s outlook on life is bleak and you cheer for her to rise above the shitty circumstances she’s thrown into. Szymanski is an excellent writer who paints a depressingly vivid picture of the world and people around her character.
The second half of the novel is still solid, but not quite as good as the first. The psych ward portions are 150% engaging, but the story of her past leading up to the big mystery reveal of “did she do the deed she’s imprisoned for” began to drag a bit for me and I found myself wishing for the resolution to come sooner rather than later. Ultimately, the connection between myself and Yvette that was established so well in the first half starts to shred in the second half, and her hair-brained scheme to bring her woes to conclusion were a little over the top and not as satisfying for me as I hoped for.
That said, there’s more than enough suspense to keep the reader engaged and her technique of popping between the past and present is masterfully done. Syzmanski’s portrayal of the abused foster kids coming in and out of Yvette’s life and the collection of loons in the psych ward is like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on steroids. The character of Marianne still gives me a disturbing chill. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you read the book.
All in all, Killer Potential is a very solid thriller that brings a spotlight to some important issues, and it is a worthy read from an author I look forward to seeing more from. Check it out.
September 16, 2016
Book Review: Butterfly Bones by Rebecca Carpenter
Butterfly Bones is the newest young adult offering from author Rebecca Carpenter. As a man in his mid-late forties, I’m not exactly the target audience. I am, however, a fan of good writing and storytelling, and Butterfly Bones delivers both.
The story revolves around the sharp-minded, but physically underdeveloped teenager Bethany Keatley whose osteogenesis imperfecta bone disease has made her so tiny and frail that she’s mistaken for a grade school student at her own high school. She’s labeled a freak, but spirits through the negativity with the knowledge that she’ll soon be out of her small town of Springs, Georgia and onto bigger and better things. Add in a scientist father who is so involved in his questionable research to find a cure for his daughter’s disease that he forgets she even exists at times, the hunky (yes, I used the word hunky) football star Jeremiah who is Bethany’s only friend and protector, and a deliciously evil clique of high school bitches led by the buxomly bullying Zoey and you have a well-developed cast of characters to spin this yarn of metamorphosis.
Carpenter does a marvelous job of weaving in the backstory of a dead mother and Bethany’s against the odds survival through a bequeathed diary. She pens a compelling narrative of Bethany’s father’s experiments to save his daughter and with each page turned, there’s an underlying rumbling that something wondrous or horrific is going to happen, but you have to turn the pages to find out which it will be. Throw in Bethany’s unrequited love of Jeremiah who has his own unresolved demons, and the escalating menace that is Zoey and her A-Club and you have a tale worth reading. Carpenter’s writing is crisp, the character development deep and the story’s pacing excellent.
I did find the ending of Butterfly Bones a bit clunky and rushed, and wish Carpenter would have spent less time jet-setting and more time smoothing out the rough edges that were completely missing from the first three-fourths of the book. That said, Carpenter ultimately ties up the story’s loose ends to a satisfying degree and, with the painful precision of a hip-bone injection of b. selene3 hormone, drives home the story’s tagline “When one alters the order of nature, it’s only a matter of time before nature screams for revenge”. Add Butterfly Bones to your coming reading list.
Note: I was provided an Advanced Reader Copy of Butterfly Bones in exchange for an honest review.
August 12, 2016
COVER REVEAL: WINELL ROAD BY KATE FOSTER
I’m very excited to be able to participate in the cover reveal for Winell Road, a middle grade book by author Kate Foster. It’s the first in the series and, having read Winell Road, I can tell you that even this adult will be buying anything else this lady writes.
Winell Road tells the story of Jack, a young lad living on the seemingly boring Winell Road, filled with neighbors who are weirder than his own parents. But Winell Road has a secret that few people know about and Jack’s about to uncover it.
This book is a combination of mystery, action and adventures and highly recommended for your middle grade readers and adults who like a well-written, well-paced tale that will keep you guessing through all the twists and turns.
For fans of Men in Black and Zac Power, this New Apple Award winning book will make you wonder just what in the heck is going on at Winell Road and then leave you wanting for more. You can pre-order Winell Road here: Winell Road by Kate Foster
June 26, 2016
The White Out Blizzard
The blank page and a blinking cursor. A million thoughts swirling about in your head and you have no idea where to start. You need something coherent, something logical. Your brain screams JUST WRITE SOMETHING, but that blank page acts like a white-out blizzard to your fingers as they hover over the keyboard, like they’re masking them so you can’t even see to type.
I wrote the outline to my third book in the Jake Caldwell series last week…or was it two weeks ago? Damn time marches quickly. It was just high level synopsis. Three-quarters of a page – the skeleton without any muscles, ligaments or tendons, but exciting and ripe with possibilities. I keep telling myself I’m going to start the more detailed development, but it’s summer and work has been crazy and the kids’ sports schedules have been insane and there’s the website I need to get up and trying to find bookstores to place Poor Boy Road and do I really want to dive in just now when the edits to the Poor Boy Road sequel Ares Road are due back from my beta readers later this week. Excuses suck, but I’ve got a million of them. I think the white out is just all those stupid excuses forming a big white cloud of noise.
So, my promise to myself and to you…my GOAL is to have a good portion of those muscles, tendons and ligaments of Blackbird Road in place by the end of this week. Everyone knows your chances of reaching a goal increase greatly if you actually write it down so there you go. Somebody famous said that once. Maybe Zig Ziglar. Anyway, it’s now written. I shall make it so.
And now I’ve accomplished my second goal which is to actually post something on my blog which has been neglected for far too long. My goal is to update it no less than every two weeks. Wow…two goals with one blog. Dare I throw in a third? Not yet, I’d better pace myself.
January 8, 2016
In the Blood – Book Review
Let me admit something right from the start – I’m not a huge reader of the fantasy genre. The genre authors of these epic tomes usually dump fifty million characters with weird names you can’t pronounce in the first two chapters who all have allegiances to some made up kingdoms and gods. There’s usually witches and wizards, dragons and ogres, vampires and werewolves, hybrids of all of these and some creatures that are conjured from the author’s imagination that I must then piece together from mediocre descriptions. I have to track and process all that which usually ends up with my head pounding. Now, I get that it’s a new world and we must be indoctrinated to the players and roles, but typically, it’s way more effort than I want to put in and unless the writing is superb, I don’t make it past chapter two or three. Some I’ve even deleted off my Kindle without slugging through the first chapter.
I finished the upcoming fantasy novel In the Blood by newcomer Robin L.
Martinez and did so quite rapidly once I received the eARC from Lakewater Press. Martinez does many of the things above that usually keep me from finishing such books, but her superb writing kept me going. Her writing flows like the blood of Oriabel Dominax, the Witch who uses her powers to secretly heal those who would burn her if they knew what she was. The writing makes you want more like Oriabel’s warrior sister Ottilde who longs to be free of the stone walls imprisoning her for killing a prince, and to be reunited with her sister by means other than the heartstone she wears around her neck that binds them together. Martinez’s writing throws you headlong into a war torn fantasy land where those who have, shall we say, extraordinary gifts must keep them well hidden if they don’t want to be burned at the ominous Witching Tree.
The scenes flow effortlessly together in a well-paced and engaging story of love, betrayal and the quest for power. In the Blood employs a wonderful and rich cast of characters. Though I could have done without the names and roles of some of the smaller players who are interjected and have little to do with the story, the main and supporting cast members in this saga are well-developed, engaging and by the end you cheer for them or vehemently want one of the novel’s fantasy creatures to rip their throats out and gorge on their bones. Kester, I’m talking to you, you loathsome, vile bastard.
In the spirit of honesty, I must admit that I am a fellow Lakewater Press author whose book drops the same day as Martinez’s In the Blood, but it was readily apparent within the first couple chapters why Lakewater signed Robin Martinez to their stable. She is an extremely talented writer who paints a scene and weaves a story with an enviable touch. In the Blood is an excellent read and I can’t wait for the next book in the saga to find out what happens to these characters I grew to love, admire and, oh yes, hate with every fiber of my existence.
