Olga Godim's Blog, page 40
February 14, 2014
My bookish Valentine
Statistics says it all. Since I started reviewing books on GR 2 years ago, I accumulated 263 reviews. As I review most books I read (and finish), in the last 2 years, I’ve read roughly 130 books per year, one book per 3 days. I spend hours in my armchair with a book every day. I haven’t spent so much time with a guy in all my life. I guess this is my Valentine. I love you, Books.
February 9, 2014
Fantasy Character Interview #5
Today, I’d like to introduce to you Watcher, the main character of Audra Middleton’s eponymous fantasy novel.
1. Tell me a little about yourself—your name, profession, where you live, do you have a family, the usual.
My name is Watcher. I grew up in the forest, with a holy man for a guardian and a black bear for a pet. I have little memory of my mother and what I can recall about my father I wish I could forget. I spend most of my time in the trees. My gift allows me to meld with them and watch the world from their heights.
2. What happened to you, so you ended up in this crazy adventure the novel talks about?
Although I do not interact with most people, I did make friends with a lovely girl named Bonnie from a nearby village. Her parents arranged for her marriage to a man in another village, and so I had to leave my trees in order to rescue her. Except, as it turned out, she didn’t need to be rescued. In the end it was Benaiah and Goran who needed rescuing, and I did so splendidly.
3. Do you wish you had come out of the trees sooner and spent more time as part of society? 
Bonnie’s family is kind, but had I gone to live with them in the village as a child I would not have tolerated wearing clothing all the time, or being taught by some dull and unimaginative school teacher, and I certainly would never have allowed them to marry me off to some stranger in another village. So, no, I don’t think that would have worked out very well.
You can find Audra Middleton:
Her website
Buy Watcher here:
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Burst
Musing about love
I posted on WOTI today – my musings about different kinds of love and what happens, when they collide. If a girl loves a guy and loves her country, and those two can’t coincide, which one would she choose? Eriale, the protagonist of my novel Almost Adept faced just such a difficult choice.
February 6, 2014
Many faces of courage
Ceci Giltenan, a wonderful romance writer, dedicated February as the month of courage on her blog. Many of her friends and Ceci herself post about what they consider courageous, and reading those posts is fascinating. I also posted there my thoughts about courage. I think courage, as an abstract concept, often depends on the point of view or the social norm, which might be different in different societies.
My post was illustrated with examples from my novel Almost Adept. I guess I didn’t have enough courage to illustrate my ideas with real life cases. Or was it wisdom on my part to refrain from them?
February 4, 2014
Interview about Almost Adept
An interview with me on Paula Kennedy’s blog:
I talk about Almost Adept, and there is even a sample – the first chapter.
Thanks, Paula.
First draft finished!
I finished the first draft of a novel tonight – a sequel to Almost Adept. My tentative title for now is Adept Meddling, but it might change. The story features the same protagonist, Eriale, my favorite magician. She is older and wiser in this new novel and faces harder challenges. I’ll leave it for a few weeks and then come back for a revision or two.
I think I want to write one more story about Eriale, which will happen right after Almost Adept and a few years before Adept Meddling. Half the story is already floating in my head, asking to get out, but it might take me a while to write it. It has pirates in it. And a vendetta. A series is shaping up.
February 2, 2014
Fantasy Character Interview #4
My new guest is Lady Elizabeth Prudence White, the heroine of Linda Hays-Gibbs’s Paranormal Regency Romance “My Angel, My Light as Darkness Falls”.
1. Tell me a little about yourself—your name, profession, where you live, do you have a family, the usual.
I’m 18 and just had my first kiss at my first ball. I am a lady. I am not allowed to work and I can’t inherit from an estate, if it is entailed. My parents had a horrible accident and are dead. My twin brother, Michael David Densington White, the sixth Earl of White, is wonderful to me and he is all the family I have left. I have been sheltered all my life and I am so afraid of this war we are in with Napoleon.
2. What happened to you, so you ended up in this crazy adventure the novel talks about?
You want me to say how I ended up in my present disastrous predicament? First let me state, I am a lady and it’s really hard being sheltered and then all alone. Let me see? Well, clearly I had no idea about the war. I was horrified for my brother to just go into the army, since we are all alone in this world, but for him to really engage in the war? Oh my, I can’t fathom it. My mind still baulks at the very idea. [She cries and snuffles... takes a handkerchief out of her pocket and blows her nose gently, dabs at her eyes.]
I’m so very sorry, I apologize! I had to take a moment to control myself. You see I also had a proposal of marriage from a Duke that night at the ball! [Pru sighs and dabs again at her face.]
It was all so wonderful and then that man came into the ball and interrupted it with news that Napoleon had come at last. It was so quick. They all left and then… then… no word… nothing. Finally, I went to that horrible battlefield! I walked, can you believe everyone had left. There were no horses.
Oh, I know I should have stayed in England but I was so afraid. I begged my brother to bring me with him. There I was so close to the battle. I could hear the cannons and the gunfire. I shall never forget the horror. [Pru turns her head and makes a face filled with pain.]
Please forgive me. Anyway, I did find people to help me and this marvelously handsome man that later I locked in my closet and this ghost of my fiancé that plagued me night after night. Thankfully the handsome man held me in the night. You see I’m terribly afraid at night so I needed someone. I had an angel too and he helped with the vampire, ghost and witch but excuse me, I’m getting ahead of myself. I know… I know… it’s terribly confusing! Needless to say it was an adventure! An adventure of a lifetime and I did meet my husband after all was done, but you must read the story. I laughed, I cried and went a little insane, but I was so terribly sheltered you see, before all these things occurred. I like to think I did manage to grow up through it all. Thank you so much for asking.
3. Who held you in the night when you started screaming? 
Oh my! Well, he turned out to be a Frenchman Vampire that followed me from the battlefield, and the horrible vampire that made him, followed him too. If my brother hadn’t sent an angel to guard me, I shudder to think what might have happened. I didn’t know he was French or a vampire. You see, he didn’t speak! He would just hold me when I was screaming on the battlefield, and when I had nightmares after that. I mean, well I would wake up screaming and he would envelope me in his arms. It was oh so comforting. Then when my nightmares would cease he would leave.
Why did I lock him in the closet? Well, my husband to be came home, and I was in his castle uninvited. I was cleaning the windows up high, don’t you know? It was a mess, that castle and anyway, I fell on Pierre and he was unconscious, so I had to hide him! I’m sure you understand my problem.
You can find Linda Hays-Gibbs on:
Her website
Eternal Press
You can find all her books here:
January 26, 2014
Fantasy Character Interview #3
Today, my guest is Will Lesterall, the protagonist of Graeme Brown’s dark epic fantasy novella “The Pact.”
1. Tell me a little about yourself—your name, profession, where you live, do you have a family, the usual.
My name is Will Lesterall. I have ten winters. I’m the son of Ham Lesterall, the Lord of Fort Lesterall, and even though father is not a king, I’m called a prince – that’s because our castle is special. Fort Lesterall is the one place in the world where the Ogres and Trolls and Goblins – all the horrors of the mountains – are not allowed to come, thanks to the pact made by my ancestors 200 years ago.
My family is special, with many secrets. I wish I knew them – father told my older brother Robin some, to prepare him for his inheritance, but I think Robin is lying to me just to make me jealous. My sister Brittney likes to read books with her friend Rena, and she keeps lots of secrets from me too, but that’s just because she’s a girl. Grandpa Judd is always rude and inspects the serving women a lot, as if something is wrong with them, and if I try to ask him about the family secret he gets that fish-hook scowl on his face. Grandma Mae doesn’t speak at all, and she farts during dinner – but she can’t help it, father told me, so no one is allowed to acknowledge it. The only one who tells me anything is my Uncle Wood, but he doesn’t visit often because he’s away serving the King of Annon. When he does come to visit, he tells me stories of the world beyond the castle.
Then there’s Jony Tiller. She’s the head of all the servants in the castle, and she comes to tell me stories at night. She’s mysterious, and I wonder if she knows magic, but she won’t ever tell me. She reminds me of mother…
2. What happened to you, so you ended up in this crazy adventure the novel talks about?
We were celebrating two hundred years of safety when a messenger arrived from the Mountain Patrols bearing a red token – a sign that the Unborn creatures had declared war on us. I was afraid, and father was busy planning war, so I went to find my friend Jak Fuller – a stable hand – and his master sent us on a mission.
That mission changed everything…
3. What’s the best thing that happened to you? Ever? 
Oh, that’s easy. When I was eight I met Jak. No one knew we were friends, except Barrik, the Master of Stables. I was walking by Alyria’s Well and Jak was on an errand. He would have walked right past me, but I shouted at him, because I saw that he had a hole in both his shoes. He told me he was a stable hand, so the next day I showed up at the Stablehouse with brand new shoes – we have too many in the wardrobe.
That night, we became friends, and he showed me the secret passages, underground, into the groves – no one is allowed there, unless father gives them permission. We climbed the Northwood trees and looked at the mountains, and every time after that, we planned a trip to the world beyond the castle, a trip to find the Dwarf Men and the secrets of the world…
You can find Graeme Brown: on his website, his blog, or on twitter.
You can buy the book here.
January 20, 2014
Fantasy Character Interview #2
Today, my guest is Jem, the protagonist from J. Clarke’s novel “DragonZ Eye”. It is the first novel in the author’s fantasy adventure series for children, Dragon Freedom.
1. Tell me a little about yourself—your name, age, where you live, do you have a family, the usual.
Hello, my name is Jem. I am thirteen and I have a younger brother, Ray. He is always getting into trouble but he’s fun to be with. Don’t tell him I said that though! We live in the south of England with our Mum. Dad left us to live in America. We never see him. Mum works nights mostly, so she can be here when we are. We have a fairly normal life. Well we did.
2. What happened to you, so you ended up in this crazy adventure the novel talks about?
Mum persuaded us to go and spend the summer holidays at her Aunt’s house in France. It was that or go to a holiday camp. Yuck, I hate them. So anyway, we meet our rather eccentric Great Aunt Hortense, who is known as Ortie, and she sends us off on brand-new bikes before we have even gone into her house! We make some strange discoveries and before we know it we are trying to save the world! I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what happened.
3. If you could go back to the start of your holidays would you change anything? 
Phew, that’s a good question. Um. No, I guess I am proud to have the chance to do something, and I have learned loads in such a short time. Maybe I’d change one thing… no, not even being scared, its all part of the adventure. I just hope we can do what we need to in time.
The author’s Facebook page
You can buy the book at:
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com
January 12, 2014
Fantasy Character Interview #1
Today, I’m starting a new series – interviews with fantasy characters. I’d like to introduce to you Krish, a character from Terry W. Ervin’s novel Flank Hawk. It is the first novel in the First Civilization’s Legacy series. The novel’s genre is post-apocalyptic action-adventure fantasy.
1. Tell me a little about yourself—your name, profession, where you live, do you have a family, the usual.
My name is Krish, son of Thurmuan. My earned mercenary name is Flank Hawk. My family’s home outside of Pine Ridge in the Doran Confederacy was overrun by the forces of the Necromancer King. Now I live wherever my company under the flag of King Tobias camps in the field, as we fight.
I have a father, mother and a younger sister, Katchia. I saw them fleeing our home hours ahead of the coming onslaught of ogres and goblins. My older sister, a healer named Raina, was taken from us several years ago, under the guise of custom and law, by followers of Fendra Jolain, Goddess of Healing. We believe she is in the distant Vinchie Empire.
My older cousin Guzzy and I were farmhands who volunteered to serve in Lord Hingroar’s militia and fend off the annual crop disruption raids sent by the Necromancer King.
I now am a mercenary, serving in the forces of King Tobias of Keessee. I serve to see that my family survives and may one day return home.
2. What happened to you, so you ended up in this crazy adventure the novel talks about?
White Mule Company, my militia company, was overrun by the Necromancer King’s forces. An ogre slew Guzzy during our retreat. Road Toad, an experienced mercenary who’d fought alongside us, took me under his wing. From there I got caught up in a whirlwind of events until wounded Prince Reveron tasked me to find the fabled Colonel of the West. He thrust upon me the royal family’s malevolent Blood Sword to barter with the Colonel for a weapon to thwart the Necromancer King’s victory.
3. What is the worst enemy you’ve ever faced on the battlefield? 
I’ve faced ogres and goblins, sorcerers and necromancers, Stukas and Panzers—war machines resurrected from before First Civilization’s fall. I’ve even faced and stood to the hellcry of a bone golem, a creature built from the bones and sinews of a thousand men and in which beats the heart of a demon. But the worst enemies I’ve faced are zombies. When battling zombies, and they’re overrunning your company, they’re silent—except for the thumps of their fists and tearing with their rotting hands. The only sounds heard are the shouts of your company’s men, the cries of those caught, being pummeled to death or torn apart.
The absolute worst experience is coming face-to-face with an undead foe, one who only days before had been standing in the line next to you—had been a comrade, a friend.
Find the author at:
His website
His blog Up Around the Corner
Flankers – unofficial facebook fan page for readers of the First Civilization’s Legacy series
Buy the book here.
