Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 27

Cover Art Reveal | Back in Blue – G. R. Matthews with Excerpt

This post was supposed to go up yesterday, but I realized I scheduled it to drop at the wrong time, and I’m also heavily medicated after a pretty rough surgery. The two elements combined and, instead of fixing the time this post was supposed to drop, I accidentally deleted it, and then I got really, really tired and spent the entire day sleeping.

So, it’s a day late. I AM SO SORRY, G.R. MATTHEWS!

Anyway, onward with the fantastic cover art reveal.

About the Book

Corin Hayes is back and he’s not happy about it.

In the corporation owned cities at the bottom of the ocean, life can be a struggle. The rich have it all, the poor have little but the air in their lungs and even that is owned by someone else. When war erupts between the corporations, Hayes finds himself caught in the middle of it all. Back in the navy and sent on missions which utilise the destructive power of his Fish-Suit, his life is in danger every moment.

An old comrade and a young recruit stand beside him as the submarines set sail and Hayes faces up to the truth of war. 
Nowhere is safe and death is a single mistake away. However, the biggest threat may not come from the enemy across the ocean, but from the traitors and spies embedded in his own military. If Corin wants to survive the war, he must find the traitor and end their life before all is lost. 

Links
Facebook 
Twitter
Goodreads
Website

Buy Links
Corin Hayes Back In Blue
Corin Hayes Omnibus
Forbidden List Trilogy
Outlaw Mountain (Free)

Words from the Author

Corin is a broken hero… actually, he isn’t a hero, he’s just a bit of wreck who tries to do the right thing even when it is wrong. This little excerpt of Book 3 – Three Times The Trouble – might give a clear insight into his psyche.

“You got a death wish?” the leader said.

“So my psychologist told me,” I answered. I stared him right back, noting that even his eyebrows had developed visible muscles. My heart was hammering in my chest and I could feel everything south of my belt retreating back to safety. “She also said that I am sucker for a hard luck case, have no sense of my own safety, and an occasional paladin complex, and no I’ve no idea what the last one meant either. Now, my beer, the lady and the child. I don’t know what you’ve got against her, and I don’t too much care. What I do care about is my beer and the fact that three grown men,” I could afford to be generous as the phrase ‘small dicked, drugged up, brain dead, school yard bullies’ which I wanted to use would probably not endear me to them, “are terrifying a small child. You have business with her, fine, but don’t drag the child into it.”

“Last chance,” he said in return. “Fuck off.” I swung the basket right at his head.

Each book can be read as a standalone, including this one, but there are little clues in each that give a wider view of the story and the world. A discerning reader might notice those and link them all together. A true fan, and there are few (I’d love more… hint hint… anyone…. oh, come on) might spot the links between the Corin Hayes and Forbidden List series – between the Scifi and the fantasy set in far-flung past of the far east.

Now that the Omnibus of the Books 1 to 3 is available readers should be able to catch up quite quickly and get ready for book 4 which is due for release on 30th April 2019 – that’s this month!

And as long as I’m flinging covers around, check out this gorgeous cover for the Corin Hayes Omnibus!

Excerpt

Corin Hayes 4: Back In Blue by G R Matthews

CHAPTER ONE

I
saw them first. Which just goes to prove my luck isn’t always bad. Occasionally
the gods smile upon me instead of spending their idle moments pissing on my
parade.

Two
heavy set men wearing the dark blue uniform of the Navy. The boys in blue who
put their lives on the line keeping us safe from the myriad threats which
loomed in the dark ocean beyond the domes. That one or two, at least in my
experience, enjoyed blowing the shit out of things and generally hurting people
was often glossed over. In truth, if you ever went into battle, you’d be glad
to have those bastards by your side. It would be a damn sight safer than
fighting them.

Right
now, I wasn’t so sure so I did a smart one-eighty and headed in the opposite
direction. Handily, this was back towards Tom’s bar and my two favourite
things. Beer and whiskey. And quiet. Privacy. The simple pleasure of being
alone. Actually, my five favourite things. Makes me wonder why I don’t live
there, though I reckon Tom, the barman and owner, has a no sleeping rule. If
you’re too drunk to stay awake, go home or collapse in a gutter somewhere. Just
don’t sleep in the bar. You might find your credit line is cut off.

“Hayes.”
My name was shouted down the corridor in a tone that brooked no argument. I
didn’t argue, I ran. Always play to your strengths. That’s my motto, if I had
one that is. I didn’t but it would do for now.

As
is typical of the kind-hearted and generous people of the boxes they started
shouting and pointing. Those ahead of me stepped aside, allowing my escape, but
pointed and called out to those chasing me. Helping both sides but committing
to none. By far the safest choice, to make no choice whatsoever. I could have
cursed them, but I’d done the same. Amongst the crowd were a few people I knew.
Not friends exactly, more like human beings I’d once nodded to in a corridor.
Some even wore half-apologetic faces while they shouted to the Navy boys that I
was, in fact, running away.

I
had a destination in mind, but I needed a few corners to lose my pursuers.
Running in a box, the hastily built, leaking, and best of all, cheap
residential additions to the domes of the early city, was never the best plan.
I mean, sure if you wanted to get some distance between you and the thug with
the knife, run. Generally, however, running just got you noticed and down here,
on the less exclusive levels of the box, it was better to be anonymous and
hidden.

The
Navy boys knew where I lived, so it didn’t matter too much. Distance was my
friend right now. I could slow and hide when I’d gained a few corridors, twists
and turns on them. I could hear the heavy footfalls of my two chasers amongst
the shouts. They weren’t being subtle and I noticed the mood of the crowd turn
against them. You don’t piss off a box crowd, they’ll turn on you in a
heartbeat. Once riled, they act as one and the results aren’t pretty.

Security
did police the boxes but it was far simpler to shut the bulkheads and stop the
oxygen. Lethargy and the sharp spike of a carbon dioxide headache usually
quelled a nascent riot. Of course, by then, the one who had been the target of
the crowd’s displeasure was already dead and strangely the cameras never got a
good look at the people responsible.

A
Fish-Suit demands a lot of lung power to operate. QxyQuid, the oxygen rich gel
which kept me alive out in the deep, took one hell of an effort to drag down
into my lungs and even more to expel it. I could run for years. Not fast, but
stamina was not a problem. The small child who stepped out into my path was.

The
corridor’s walls, ceiling and inhabitants all wheeled about in my vision as the
floor handily broke my fall. I didn’t stop to count the bruises, there’d be
time enough for that later and another bruise was nothing new to me. Scrambling
to my feet, I checked on the little lad.

“You
all right?”

“Fuck
you, mister,” the scruffy little urchin responded without anger. The added
exclamation mark of a raised middle finger was, in my opinion, not needed.

“Yeah,
you’re fine.” His parents must be so proud.

I
got moving again, hurrying through the crowd to the next corner. A glance over
my shoulder and I saw the two buzz cuts forcing their way through the people.
I’m not a big man, my shoulders aren’t broad and my arms are not bulging with
steroids, so moving through the people of the box, all of them doing their best
to stay out of trouble, wasn’t too hard. For the two mountains of men following
it was tougher and the insults I heard being hurled against them were growing
louder.

Ahead,
the shopping district of this box came into view. Here there would be camera’s,
bouncers and shoppers. Everyone going about their daily business of making a
living and staying alive. The shop I wanted was at the back, down a side
corridor which did not deserve that lofty status. It was dark, damp and the
sickly odour of rot pervaded the air. If you came down here it was for reasons
you kept to yourself.

“Hi,
Frank,” I gasped as I staggered in through the door.

“Hi,
Corin,” the proprietor of the shadiest shop in the box greeted me.

“I
need,” and had to pause to hawk out the globule of runners flem from my
burning throat, “to hide.”

“Not
here to buy?” Frank said.

“I’ll
buy something later,” I said, ducking my head out of the door and checking
the corridor. The flicker of the sign above the door gave the whole scene a
putrid green glow.

“What
are you after? Have a new lady friend?” Frank’s eyes darted to the other
customer in the shop, a tall figure who shifted down the racks of manufactured
goods picking up an item, a box, a can, a spray, examined at it for a moment
and put it back.

“Listen,
Frank,” I said, coming back into the shop and giving the man behind the
counter my best smile, “I’ve been a good customer over the years. Any
chance you can let me hide out in the back room for a few minutes.”

“Corin,
you ran up debts and never paid on time. Remember when the boys had to visit,
just to get a down payment on your tab?”

I
winced a little and rubbed my ribs. The fractures had healed nicely but working
a Fish-Suit with broken ribs was anything but enjoyable. I’d had to work to pay
Frank back, the other option was a painful death at the hands of Frank’s boys.
“My debt’s cleared.”

“True,”
Frank said, “but I’m trying to keep you from sinking back into that sorry
state of affairs. A public service, you might say.”

“And
I appreciate it,” I said, moving up to the counter and whispered,
“but right now there’s two big bruisers who want to have a chat with
me.”

“Ain’t
my problem.” Frank shrugged.

“They’ll
be talking with their fists, Frank.”

“So
what?”

“You’ll
lose my custom and my winning smile might be damaged forever,” I answered,
showing him more of my teeth.

“What
did you do to them?”

“I
didn’t do anything to them,” I protested.

“Then
why are they after you, Corin? Did you open your big mouth again?”

“I
don’t even know them.”

“Then
how do you know they’re after you?”

“They
shouted my name.” I threw my hands in the air, turning around and checking
the door again. “Come on, Frank. For all those times I saved your
life.”

“Corin,”
Frank said, shaking his head, “helping me out of a moon-pool during our
brief military service does not count as saving my life.”

“You’d
never have made it out otherwise,” I said, giving him the most honest stare
I could manage.

“It
was your fault I broke my arm,” Frank pointed out, an edge of irritation
creeping into his voice.

Sadly,
that was true and if I recalled correctly, it might also have contributed to
his scrubbing out of the Fish-Suit programme and military in general. Looking
at cause and consequence logically, it could also be the reason he now owned
and operated the “One Eyed Monster”, a private shop offering the
latest in lotions, potions, pills and outfits for the more discerning customer.
The sex toys were legal, the drugs he sold under the counter weren’t. They’d
got me into debt and a lot of trouble.

“Frank,”
I pleaded.

“Who…”
Frank began and stopped. We both heard the trudge of heavy feet and curses as
someone came down the corridor. The stink and rubbish were a warning system
which worked both ways. It kept the people who had no business here away, and
it warned Frank that anyone coming into the shop was a determined soul. I saw
his gaze flick down to the screen which undoubtedly showed the camera feed from
outside. “The fucking Navy?”

“Yeah,”
I confessed. “Sorry.”

“I
should let them beat the living shit out of you,” Frank snarled.

“It’d
make a mess of your shop,” I helpfully pointed out.

“Get
in the back and don’t touch anything,” Frank said in exasperation.

I
had to turn sideways to squeeze through the little door he swung open into the
back room. His boys were sat in chairs where the upholstery was frayed and the
cushions sagged, both were focused on the screen in front of them. Holding tiny
looking controllers in their big meaty hands they appeared to be playing an old
video game which involved going around a track in a small cart. Watching them
for a moment, I shook my head. The one on the left had missed the rocket
pick-up, sacrificing firepower for speed. His brother was sure to get it and
being behind would have the perfect shot. It was not a sound tactical move.

Along
the walls were shelves stacked with plastic boxes all mysteriously labelled in
some sort of code which must have made sense to Frank and the boys but was
nonsense to me. There were no other chairs and I settled for leaning against
the wall. The room was sound-proofed, strange wedges of foam stuck out from the
wall with the door. Probably to make sure that nothing in here was picked up
outside, but it worked the other way too. I had no idea what was going on in
the shop.

“Got
ya,” the one on the right said in a deep voice which rumbled through the
floor.

“Bastard,”
replied the one on the left, in good humour, I thought. “Another
game.”

“Might
as well,” said the one on the left.

I
stayed quiet and they seemed happy to ignore me. It was safer that way.

On
lap two of three in the next race, the door opened again and Frank stepped in.

“You’re in a world of trouble, Hayes,” he said.

Nonfiction Review | A False Report – T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong

About the Book

On August 11, 2008, eighteen-year-old Marie
reported that a masked man broke into her apartment near Seattle, Washington,
and raped her, but within days police and even those closest to Marie became
suspicious of her story. The police swiftly pivoted and began investigating
her. Confronted with inconsistencies in her story and the doubts of others,
Marie broke down and said her story was a lie. Police charged her with false
reporting. One of her best friends created a web page branding her a liar.



More than two years later, Colorado detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to
investigate a case of sexual assault. Describing the crime to her husband that
night–the attacker’s calm and practiced demeanor, which led the victim to
surmise “he’s done this before”–Galbraith learned that the case bore
an eerie resemblance to a rape that had taken place months earlier in a nearby
town. She joined forces with the detective on that case, Edna Hendershot, and
the two soon realized they were dealing with a serial rapist: a man who
photographed his victims, threatening to release the images online, and whose
calculated steps to erase all physical evidence suggested he might be a soldier
or a cop. Through meticulous police work the detectives would eventually
connect the rapist to other attacks in Colorado–and beyond.



Based on investigative files and extensive interviews with the
principals, An Unbelievable Story is a serpentine tale of
doubt, lies, and a hunt for justice, unveiling the disturbing reality of how
sexual assault is investigated today–and the long history of skepticism toward
rape victims. 

304
pages (hardcover)

Published by Crown Publishing
Published on February 6, 2018
Buy the book

This book was a
library loan. Yay libraries!

—

Every
once in a while, I run across a book that totally derails my plans. I wanted to
review an SPFBO book today, but I ran across this book and devoured it in two days.
It left me reeling. It left me gaping. It left me altered in some ways. I decided
to move things around a bit so I could review this book today. This is, quite frankly,
one of those rare books that I think should be mandatory reading. Period.

A False Report is written by two Pulitzer Prize winning journalists. There are two epilogues in the book, one by each author. The second one talks a bit about how these two journalists came to be working together. Both of them discovered that they were not the only people writing a story about this particular criminal and the crimes he committed. Instead of walking away from the stories, they ended up working together to write a 12,000 word article, and then ultimately, this book.

Now,
that’s important, because the ways each state dealt with this criminal is so
completely different, and these two journalists did a huge service to readers
by getting really in depth with how each state dealt with these victims. It
really paints a stark, almost haunting picture for readers of how the different
ways of dealing with victims can be so incredibly important.

Basically, what happens is, this guy named Mark O’Leary had rape fantasies, starting out as a boy, triggered by Star Wars Episode VI (yeah, really.). At the age of five, he starts fantasizing about tying women up and raping them. He suppresses these urges for a long time, but when he gets into his middle twenties or thereabouts, these fantasies become urges. Long story short, he ends up in Washington state. He stalks this 18-year-old, and breaks into her house. He ties her up, and rapes her. For HOURS.

He was ex-military, and he knew enough about crime reporting to cover his tracks, which made tracking him down very hard. The woman, who goes by the name of Marie in the book, reports this crime to the Lynwood Police Department. She goes to the hospital, and gets a rape kit done. Now, where this side of the story takes a twist is, ultimately the police decide that she’s lying. She filed a false report. She is actually charged with filing a false report, has to go to court for it and everything else.

Now, Mark moves to Colorado (after raping a few women in that manner in Washington state). In Colorado, he starts up again. He stalks women, breaks into their houses, ties them up, and rapes them. The police in Colorado, all believe the victims. They treat the cases like crimes (because they are). Ultimately, the police in different Colorado cities end up working together to find this guy (whereas in Washington they don’t even really communicate, nor do they believe the victim.). Colorado PD end up tracking down the serial rapist and putting him away.

Now,
this is about two years after Marie’s rape, and the charges filed against her.
The police in Colorado end up finding a bunch of pictures Mark took while he
was raping these women. They see Marie in one of them, contact the police in
charge of her case, and ask if they have any crimes reported of this nature by
someone named (insert victim’s name here). They were shocked to discover that
the woman had reported a crime, but was, in fact, charged with submitting a
false report.

Now,
this might seem like a lot of spoilers, but it’s really not. What I want to do
here is establish how different these cases were handled, and how dramatically
that impacted each case. The authors do an incredible job of detailing the
crimes without going overboard. They keep the privacy of the woman intact, and
they handle this tough topic in a very delicate way. That being said, the
difference between how Washington and Colorado handled the victims is
staggering, anger-inducing, and very stark.

Washington basically ruined Marie’s life, and while they tried to make amends after they figured out the truth of things, money doesn’t really give a person their friends back, or their lives, or independence, or anything else. When compared with how the victims were handled in Colorado, the way Marie was handled made me almost vibrate with righteous indignation on her behalf.

The
authors don’t just talk about these cases, but they draw on them to show the
historical precedent for why so many people have a hard time believing victims,
how rape kits were created and why, and how female victims in rape are often
treated in today’s age, along with other “false reports” that have been filed,
and ultimately proven to be true.

It’s a hard book to read because the topic matter is not easy, and the criminal is pure evil. He’s vicious in a way I never imagined someone being. However, it’s so important, not just to learn about these cases and the women involved, but because there really needs to be a dialogue about this topic. We need to examine how we treat victims, and why, and we need to, as a society, work toward change. It shows us why it is so important to believe victims, and what happens when we don’t.

The
writing is incredibly, compulsively readable. I ended up listening to an
audiobook which was absolutely fantastic. The narrator was superb, and made
listening to this story even more gripping.

I
will admit that this book has haunted me a bit. I can’t seem to really get it
out of my mind. The message is so important. The women are so strong in the
face of the tragedy that fell on them. And Marie… I just can’t even imagine
what she went through, to be first victimized by this horrible criminal, and
then victimized again by the police department she was supposed to trust.

As
with most important things, this book will make you uncomfortable, but it’s so
incredibly important.

And, I’ll give you this small spoiler. The rapist was sentenced with 327 ½ years in prison, right where he belongs. There are very few people I think are pure evil. This guy is absolutely one who falls into that camp.

5/5
stars

On Allegations and Ed McDonald

Dear Reader,

I am having a really hard time writing this, mostly because I just have so many thoughts. So many. Just piles and piles of thoughts.

Let me start by saying this. This SFF community is really that — a community, despite the fact that we are spread out across the globe. We pull together. We boost each other up. Sometimes we tear each other down.

With the rise of #METOO, we are now seeing victims come forward and tell their stories. It is a social change, wherein people who have long been voiceless are now given a voice. It is too late in coming, but it is here now and it is so important to foster this movement. To give victims safe spaces to speak, to listen, to give the gift of safety, and of being believed. It’s also important to investigate, find the facts, and allow justice to take it’s course.

I’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to all the people in the community who make an effort to be just that — safe spaces for people to turn to when they need someone to turn to.

This week has been a test for the community. A time for us to band together, and a trial for us to see ourselves through. It has been a search for answers to a riddle that didn’t quite make sense.

I want to say thank you to the people in the community who put themselves out there to be safe spaces, and people who continue to do so, people who are protectors and defenders. You are needed. You are valued. I also want to thank the concerned members of the community who investigated this specific issue and gave the facts to all of us swept up in this, and concerned by it.

This is not a small matter. The internet is huge and wonderful, but it is also dangerous. Not everything is what it seems to be. We often forget that there are real people on the other side of that screen, with real lives, and real families and real friends. We forget that we aren’t talking to paper cutouts, but flesh and blood humans who have passions and who strive, just like you and I.

The internet is a place where people can be built up, and then destroyed in an instant. We must be careful. We must be vigilant. Sometimes the line between “the problem” and “the solution” is blurry, gray, and hard to discern. This was, in many ways, a case of that — blurred lines. People taking advantage. Too many voices and so much chaos.

This week has been a wakeup call, of sorts, at least to me. Things are not what they seem. It is important to get the story, investigate and validate the facts. It is important to allow time for proper action to be taken. Sometimes on the internet, we forget that it is “innocent until proven guilty” and not “guilty until proven innocent.”

I, along with other science fiction and fantasy blogs, have been presented by the facts of what happened involving Ed McDonald. We have seen hard evidence, and have combed through it. We have asked questions, and we have received answers.

—————————————————-

I myself have now seen irrefutable evidence that the allegations against Ed McDonald have been falsified. 

I am now aware that Ed McDonald has been targeted for online harassment and abuse, and there is also irrefutable evidence of this. The evidence proves beyond all doubt that one or two individuals have utilized multiple social accounts with the express purpose of spreading malicious rhetoric against Ed McDonald, and making it appear that ‘reports’ are coming from numerous sources, where in fact they all come from a single source. This source has never met Ed McDonald.

It is now very clear that Ed McDonald has been exposed to a long and malicious campaign by someone who has abused the trust and confidence of people, over and over.

— In light of this, it is asked that members of the Fantasy community:

*Do not name the individuals behind the allegations – even if you suspect who they are. The individuals do not deserve any further attention. Their names have not been mentioned here on purpose.

*Do not pursue the individual(s) behind the allegations. Do not cause them any distress. Doing so may impact pending legal action.

*Welcome Ed McDonald as a member of the community. Any further harassment will not be tolerated.

— To prevent gossip, the following overview has been provided to summarise these events:

*A number of social media accounts across multiple platforms have been linked to either one, or at most two, individuals behind the allegations.

*These accounts use different personas (including names, real world locations and background information).

*These accounts have pretended to be different individuals to spread falsified allegations in open and closed groups, and in private chats.

*These accounts have made comments in support of posts made by each other, as well as shares and likes.

*At least one account is in a position of authority in a public internet forum. This authority was abused throughout this case, and ultimately Ed McDonald was banned from the forum after he tried to defend himself against the allegations.

Every person who has suffered abuse has the right to tell their story, to believed, cared for, and their allegations investigated. When demonstrably false reports are made it undermines the victims of true abuse, it tarnishes them, corrodes our belief in the due process of law. It must not. It cannot be allowed to. We must stand with those who have suffered and support them through it all.

As readers, and writers, we love our stories – our fictional stories of good and evil, right and wrong, heroes and dragons. This is not one of those stories, there is little to love here, but the truth has prevailed. I have seen it.

I stand with Ed McDonald.

Sincerely,

Sarah Chorn

#SPFBO Finalist | Out of Nowhere – Patrick LeClerc

About the Book

An urban fantasy, pacy, funny and compelling to
the last page…



Healer Sean Danet is immortal—a fact he has
cloaked for centuries, behind army lines and now a paramedic’s uniform. Having
forgotten most of his distant past, he has finally found peace—and love.



But there are some things you cannot escape,
however much distance you put behind you.



When Sean heals the wrong man, he uncovers a
lethal enemy who holds all the cards. And this time he can’t run. It’s time to
stand and fight, for himself, for his friends, for the woman he loves. It’s
time, finally, for Sean to face his past—and choose a future.



A story of love, of battle—and of facing your
true self when there’s nowhere left to hide.

220 pages (paperback)
Published on August 2012
Buy the Book

This book is an SPFBO finalist.

—

Out of Nowhere is a book that I really
struggled with. I’ll just say that up front. There are some very good qualities
here, but I think the stuff that bothered me outweighed the positive qualities
and in the end, the whole thing kind of left me scratching my head.

LeClerc
is a great writer. He has a knack for knowing how to use his words to the
fullest effect. He has great timing. The plot never felt like it dragged or wandered.
Out of Nowhere starts exciting,
throwing readers right into the thick of the action, and it never really lets
up after that.

This
is also one of those books where the author’s hands-on experience is really
felt throughout the work. All those little details are there, all the medical
and personal experiences that only someone who has actually worked in the field
would know of. I loved that. It really gave the world and the story itself a
sense of realness that it otherwise would have lacked. I mean, yeah, people can
do research and fill in gaps, but hands-on experience and knowhow is always best,
and it shows.

The plot is interesting, and there are twists and turns that kept me wanting to know more. Mostly, I really felt like the world building was solid. The magic felt natural, and the main character had a knowledgeability about him that made his personal story arc believable and captivating. This is the first book in a series, and there is plenty here for LeClerc to grow and expand on.

Now,
for my caveats.

I
try really hard not to read reviews of books until after I post mine. However,
I have eyes and they tend to see things no matter how hard I tell them not to,
so I believe a lot of these issues have been mentioned by other reviewers.

Women are objectified. There are some racist and homophobic comments throughout the book that are, to put it bluntly, offensive. This all made me seriously question whether or not I actually wanted to finish the book. It also made parts of it incredibly uncomfortable to read. Maybe this was a stylistic choice, or realism from the author’s experiences, or what have you, but a lot of this stuff really put me off and left me wondering why it needed to be there at all.

I
feel terrible saying that, but it’s true.

There’s also a bit of some insta-love going on between our protagonist and a woman he meets which had me questioning the plausibility of it all. I also had a hard time believing the antagonist’s motivations.

In the end, I really enjoyed this book. It had a good premise, lively dialogue, a unique plot that isn’t really seen other places. I enjoyed it… but there is that stuff I mentioned above that left me with a bit of a sour taste. That being said, LeClerc has a promising career ahead of him.

SPFBO rating: 4/10 stars

#Nocabal #Nogiveaway

In case you haven’t noticed, there is no giveaway. I do not have a book in this contest. Ten authors are not giving away ten books to one lucky winner, who will also win a #nocabal shirt. Three runners-up will also not win all ten books in ebook format.

Nope. Nothing to see here.

If you want to enter (or not) go here.

This contest is open until March 30.

Changing Directions

I’ve had a lot going on recently, and it’s made me re-evaluate the direction of my website. Now, before you panic, this actually isn’t a bad thing for anyone, but it absolutely will impact how this website functions, and what you can look for on here.

If you’ve noticed I’ve been quiet recently, it’s because I’ve been doing some deep thinking about my website and it’s purpose… and releasing my first book, which turns out, takes a lot of time.

Now, to be honest with you, it’s the release of Seraphina’s Lament that has brought me to this point, this decision of mine. That, and the fact that every person I edit for is an indie author. I also judge for the SPFBO, and interacting with all these indie authors, indie books, and releasing an indie book myself, I have a new perspective and appreciation for how hard it is to get a voice for your work in a world that usually overlooks indie in favor of traditional publishing.

And thinking about that, I realized that there really are enough blogs out there reviewing traditionally published books, but very few dedicated to the indie scene.

Along with that, I also have my own book out now, and I’m diligently working on book two in that series, called An Elegy for Hope, and I want to talk about my progress with that, various other writerly and editorial nuggets and things that really don’t matter to anyone but myself (I’d also really enjoy being able to come to my site and dump down a bunch of interesting historical things I learn through all my research into Stalinism).

Right now, I don’t really have a place to be personal like that. For example, did you know I’m giving away one signed copy of my book? I also had a book launch where I sold every single book I brought, and had a line of people waiting to buy a copy. That was awesome… but I have literally nowhere to talk about that but facebook and Twitter right now, which is fine but social media is hard. Voices get drowned out. I also did an interview with a few other editors on Michael R. Fletcher’s blog (wherein the fact that I was on a muscle relaxer is pretty obvious, but it is what it is.)

So, here’s what I’m doing.

Bookworm Blues is going to be a mixture of my author/more personal meanderings which you may or may not care about, and still reviews, but probably less often just because writing and editing suck up a lot of my time. My reviews, however, are going to be open to indie and small press authors now. They will get priority.

The thing is, I am an indie author, and I very often feel like I’m screaming into the void about my book. I expected that, but it’s still how I feel. If I can use some of the weight of this established website to shine a light on indie and small press authors, I should do that. I want someone to scream into the void about my book, so I’m going to try to be that person screaming into the void for all those other amazing self-published books that get drowned out, and really shouldn’t be.

There are also a million reasons why people self-publish, and it very rarely has to do with the quality of the work (I self-published, for example, because my book was very poorly managed by a terrible agent and it therefore got burned on the traditional marketplace. I also love the control I get from self-publishing that I very much didn’t have in that particular situation. My decision had nothing to do with my quality or ability as an author, and I doubt anyone else’s does, either). I’ve been more impressed recently by self-published books than traditionally published, to be honest with you. The indie scene is vibrant and alive and full of absolutely amazing books and intoxicating diversity and that deserves attention.

You’ll get some traditionally published books reviewed here as well, and probably some nonfiction book reviews (because I read an absolute BOATLOAD of historical nonfiction when I’m writing The Bloodlands books. Turns out setting up a communist government system ala Stalin in a secondary world is pretty complex). But mostly, Bookworm Blues is going to change. You can expect my personal writing/editing ramblings, and reviews of indie and small press SFF books, and the occasional trad and nonfiction book thrown in when I feel like it.

I will be making the changes on this website to reflect that over the upcoming few days… and eventually, I swear to god, I will figure out how the hell I get the comments to display BELOW the blog post instead of above.

So… with that in mind, I’m open for review queries (Indie books get priority, and remember turnaround may be slow because I’m pretty busy). I’m also open for editing clients (and I’ve had some clients reschedule so I’m really, really needing more right now), and go buy my book.

#SPFBO Finalist | Symphony of the Wind – Steve McKinnon

About the Book

A bounty hunter with a death wish. A girl with
fearsome powers. A kingdom on the brink of destruction.



Serena dreams of leaving her harsh desert home
behind in her very own airship. But when an assassin’s knife meant for Serena
kills her friend instead, the rebellious orphan ventures into the corrupt heart
of Dalthea to discover who put a price on her head. With each new turn, she
edges closer to uncovering the awful truth… And the mystical powers brewing
deep within her.



After his fiancée’s death, soldier-turned-bounty
hunter Tyson Gallows is eager to sacrifice his life in the line of duty. When a
foreign enemy assassinates a high-ranking official, he vows to bring them to
justice. On the hunt for a killer, Gallows exposes a sinister plot that proves
his fiancée’s death was no accident.



Driven by revenge, Serena and Gallows must join
forces to take down the conspiracy before the kingdom falls to ruin.



Symphony of the Wind is the first book in a
gritty epic fantasy trilogy. If you like hardened heroes, steampunk airships,
and dark magic and monsters, then you’ll love Steven McKinnon’s visceral
adventure.

660 pages (paperback)
Published on May 4, 2018
Author’s webpage
Buy the book

This
is a finalist for the SPFBO.

—

Symphony of the Wind is one of those books that is
impossible to pin down. It’s funny, but it’s serious. It’s steampunk, but it’s
not. It’s got some sort of post-apocalyptic vibe, but it’s not that. It’s
military but…

You
get what I’m driving at, right?

I tend to really love books that don’t quite fit anywhere (Hell, I kind of wrote one.). There’s something that really appeals to me about being neither one thing, nor another, but managing to straddle a bunch of lines quite gracefully. McKinnon manages that quite well with this book. It’s not quite one thing, it’s absolutely not another. Symphony of the Wind is its own animal.

It
took me a little time to get into this book, but once things got going, they
really moved at a fast clip. There’s a lot of action in this book. There are
chases, and battles, and a ton of things happening all the time. The action,
however, is so well done. I have to admit, I tend to zone out during battle or fight
scenes. It’s not that I don’t like them or appreciate them, but I have a hard
time knowing the difference between (insert this thrust with a fancy name here)
and (insert that blocking move with a fancy name here).

McKinnon
managed to get me to remain engaged in these scenes, these fights and battles
and this relentless sequence of action. Somehow, he humanized it, and made it
relatable and interesting.

There’s
a lot to poke at in this book, but I’m really reluctant to say anything too
specific about it. The reason is, I think discovery is half the fun, and I
really don’t want to give anything away. I will say that the world building was
really well done. Other than a section or two that felt like an info dump, the
world itself was introduced to readers at a nice pace throughout the novel. Essentially
there was a large bomb that killed thousands of people, and now Dalthea is a
chaotic mix of people all trying to survive. Into this tense stew, are a
handful of characters.

I
really loved the character development as much as I loved the world building.
There are two main characters that are followed throughout the book, Serena and
Tyson Gallows. However, there is quite a wide range of individuals readers will
be introduced to. What amazed me about the characters is how nearly all of them
managed to be well-rounded, thoughtfully developed, and had their own unique
voices, no matter how long they were on stage. It was incredibly engaging, and
no small accomplishment for McKinnon to write each individual as an individual.
This made each storyline, no matter how back burner it may be, feel important
to me.

The
plot is fast paced, as I mentioned above, and the writing was flowing and easy
to engage with. This is the first book in a series, but I found the ending to nicely
tie things up, with enough left dangling for next books in the series. While
there will be a wait for future books, I don’t think you should wait to enjoy
this one.

Symphony of the Wind was a book that really
surprised me. Not quite one thing, not another, this book stands as a work all
its own, refusing to bend to genre norms or modern-day fantasy conventions.
Characters that leap off the page, and a plot that refuses to quit just make
the 660 pages of this book pass in a blink. Fantastic writing is the cherry on
top of the sundae. Is it perfect? No. But it’s damn close.

And
perfect is boring.

4/5
stars

(SPFBO
rating of 8/10)

The Book of M – Peng Shepherd

About the Book

Set in a dangerous near future world, The
Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people
caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones
they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have
not only on the heart, but on the world itself.



One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a
man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the
first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a
strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their
memories.



Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting
so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels
almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.



Knowing that the more she forgets, the more
dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the
time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory
disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable
world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged
on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the
shadowless.



As they journey, each searches for answers: for
Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force
growing in the south that may hold the cure.

485 pages (hardcover)
Published on June 5, 2018
Author’s webpage
Buy the book

This book was a library loan.
Yay libraries!

—

The Book of M caught my attention because of the
gorgeous cover. I’ve seen it around, and I wanted to find out more. So, for
everyone who says “covers don’t sell books” – I beg to differ.

This
is a dystopian novel, but a different kind of dystopian than I’ve ever really
read before. Yeah, there has been a lot of death, more empty houses than full
houses, and an overwhelming ominous atmosphere, and a sense that life is hard.
That’s all pretty typical for dystopian novels. What isn’t typical is basically
everything else.

Shepherd
has a way with writing that I just absolutely fell in love with. Her prose was
lyrical and quite poetic at times, but pumped full of information as well. The
world really came to life, and so did the characters. They jumped off the page
until I felt their emotions almost as intensely as though they were my own.

This
really worked in the book’s favor. In very short order, The Book of M stopped being a book, and started being an experience
that I was living through. Events unfold at a nice clip, never too long of a
gap between this thing and the next, but just long enough for the reader to
really be able to absorb what had just happened, before what is about to happen,
happens.

That’s
terribly written. I hope it makes sense.

The
Forgetting is absolutely brilliant, and the entire idea of it, the loss of
shadows, the way it impacted people and societies, and the domino effect of it
all was just stunning. It was one of those hooks that was so ingenious I had to
just sit back and appreciate it for a while. And it wasn’t just something that
happened, but Shepherd took readers through it in intimate detail, from how it
impacted the single person, and how that ripple spread out and impacted
families, neighborhoods, towns, and then globally.

It
was just…wow.

However,
what really gripped me about this book was the relationships. Ory and Max were
fantastic characters to follow this saga through. Their relationship changes
almost as soon as the book starts, and most of the book is then spent with them
trying to find each other again. Max records her story, and the things she
undergoes, the reasons she does what she does. Ory leaves everything behind to
find her. The exploration of love, and family, bonds and memory were touching
and intimate, but also poignant.

Shepherd
does a wonderful job at bringing numerous voices to life, each one as
fleshed-out as the last. The world building was also incredibly well done, and
as Ory and Max travel across an America that is strange to me, it all somehow
makes sense. Some of the stories aren’t clearly entwined until the ending, but
what an ending that is.

There
is a logic to all of this, the precise execution, the incredibly almost surreal
world that readers are exposed to through the travels of the characters, and
the way it is revealed to readers. It’s not like anything I’ve ever really read
before, and must have taken incredible imagination to think of it all, and to
dream up the way shadows impact everything. Then overlaying all that with these
incredible personal relationships and memorable, individual voices, was just
the icing on the cake.

If
you can’t tell, I loved everything about this book. The ending left me reeling.
The journey to get there was unforgettable. Reading this book is not an
experience I will forget anytime soon.

What
an absolutely stunning debut.

5/5
stars

Seraphina’s Lament Release!

This absolutely incredible cover was created by Pen Astridge and everyone should hire her because she’s amazing.

If you’ve followed me over the years, you’ll notice that the past year or so I’ve been slower with posting here, and in general, I’ve been posting less. There are a few reasons for that. First, I started editing a few years ago, and when I edit I don’t generally read books in the genre I’m editing so I don’t mentally cross streams. Secondly, I’ve been writing a book.

Seraphina’s Lament started out about two years ago. I ended up going to the library one day and checked out a ton of books on Russian history. It happens that the first book I read was about the Holodomor, which was a genocide in Ukraine that is largely still not recognized or known by the western world. In 1932-1933, Stalin passed a bunch of policies as part of one of his five-year plans which transformed Ukraine. The result was anywhere between 3-10 million people ended up starving to death and dying in other, horrible ways.

No one was ever brought to justice for this crime. There was no happy ending, and the fact that almost everyone who I say “Holodomor” to looks at me like I just appeared from nowhere and have tentacles for eyes or something, is horrible (“Holo-what?”). This is something we should know about. This was a tragedy, a crime against humanity, and it should be widely recognized as such.

Anyway.

I read these books and I was transfixed. Then I started reading about the events that led up to the Holodomor, and I was equally engrossed. I didn’t know much about that area of the world and its history.

And the plot for Seraphina’s Lament unfolded in my mind.

I wrote my first draft (which was terrible) and then submitted it to agents. My book ended up ultimately getting derailed by absolutely horrible management by an “agent.” I figured that this book was burned on the traditional marketplace so I should just let it go. However, the story never really stopped circling in my mind. I realized that yes, Seraphina’s Lament might be burned on the traditional marketplace, but there is always self-publishing. So, when all the doors seemed closed to me, I decided to punch a hole in the wall and blaze my own trail.

Anyway, two years and a lot of drama later, Seraphina’s Lament finally hits the marketplace today. Currently, I’m just keeping it on Amazon. It’s in Kindle, paperback, and Kindle Unlimited. (I should also add that I’ve told Amazon to link the pages for the Kindle and paperback books and they haven’t, so right now the Kindle version is on one page and the paperback is on another and I’m just sick of arguing with Amazon about it so I’m going to see if it miraculously fixes itself over the next day or so.)

If enough people complain about this being Amazon only, I will send it wide in a few months.

So, long story short, that’s why I’ve been slow with my reviews recently.

Now, I’ll list all the nitty gritty details of my book, including where you can buy it, and where you can find other interviews, reviews, and articles I’ve written.

I’ve got stuff scheduled on various websites all week, and reviews still coming in, so I’ll update these links as things appear. Later tonight I’ll probably make a page for all this information rather than a blog post, but this will suffice for now.

About the Book

The world is dying. 

The Sunset Lands are broken, torn apart by a war of ideology paid for with the lives of the peasants. Drought holds the east as famine ravages the farmlands. In the west, borders slam shut in the face of waves of refugees, dooming all of those trying to flee to slow starvation, or a future in forced labor camps. There is no salvation.

In the city of Lord’s Reach, Seraphina, a slave with unique talents, sets in motion a series of events that will change everything. In a fight for the soul of the nation, everyone is a player. But something ominous is calling people to Lord’s Reach and the very nature of magic itself is changing. Paths will converge, the battle for the Sunset Lands has shifted, and now humanity itself is at stake. 

First, you must break before you can become.

Buy the book 

Reviews

Novel Notions
Clay Sanger
Bibliotropic
The Irresponsible Reviewer
Three Crows Magazine
The Write Sisters
Lukasz from FBC on Goodreads
Michael Baker

Interviews

The Irresponsible Reviewer
Michael Baker

Guest Posts

Things I Geeked Out About While Writing Seraphina’s Lament
Stalin, Communism and Fantasy
On Building A Secondary World from Real World History
On Dark Books and Lyrical Prose

#SPFBO 2018 Finalist | We Ride the Storm – Devin Madson

About the Book

War built the Kisian Empire and war will tear
it down. And as an empire falls, three warriors rise.



Caught in a foreign war, Captain Rah e’Torin and
his exiled warriors will have to fight or die. Their honour code is all they
have left until orders from within stress them to breaking point, and the very
bonds that hold them together will be ripped apart.



Cassandra wants the voice in her head to go
away. Willing to do anything for peace, the ageing whore takes an assassination
contract that promises answers, only the true price may be everyone and
everything she knows.



A prisoner in her own castle, Princess Miko
doesn’t dream of freedom but of the power to fight for her empire. As the
daughter of a traitor the path to redemption could as easily tear it, and her
family, asunder.



As an empire dies they will have to ride the
storm or drown in its blood.

444 pages (paperback)
Published on June 7, 2018
Author’s webpage
Buy the book

This is an SPFBO finalist.

—

We Ride the Storm is an SPFBO finalist. Also, I need to say
at the start that I loved this book so much it’s almost ridiculous. There’s
only really one complaint I have about the book itself and it’s so minimal I’m
not even sure I should list it. I don’t know if it’s worth the time to write it
out.

First of all, this
book is told through three different perspectives, all of which are first
person. Now, this is my little tiny complaint. Until I got really into the
book, the perspectives sort of blended. Each chapter is featuring a different
character, so that made it a bit easier, but, for example, when chapter three
started, I was briefly confused as to who I was reading about.

That being said,
chapters one through three were really the only parts of the book where I had
to catch up on who was being featured in which chapter, and that might have
only been because I was really tired when I started this book out, so take this
minor negative for what it’s worth. Is it really confusing? Probably not. Was I
tired when I started this book and does that impact how well I process what I
read? Probably.

It takes some time
to get into this book. There’s a lot of setup in these first few chapters, a
lot of exposition so readers will be prepared for what comes next. However, the
setup is all necessary to understand and appreciate what comes next. I will
also say, there’s a lot of information packed into this book and it’s all given
to readers in really interesting ways. Yes, there’s exposition, but I never
felt like I was reading a textbook, or any less than completely engrossed and
entertained.

We Ride the Storm never quits. You start it out with a group
of people collecting heads (Be still, my grimdark heart) and this really
interesting religion involving said heads. Then it goes to a prostitute/thief
in a city, and then to a noble character. At first, none of these threads seem
to be related in any way at all. It takes until you’ve visited each character
about two times that you start seeing how these various storylines intersect. I
loved how strong all the characters were, and how all their different personalities
and desires ended up mixing together to strengthen the story while never
diminishing their individuality.

Around the middle
of the book I felt like I was constantly having some sort of heart attack due
to all the plot twists, revelations, deaths and other happenings to characters
you least expect it to happen to. It was quite amazing to me how Madson didn’t
just keep things going, but she kept it complex, and full of surprises.

This book,
friends, is absolutely relentless and I couldn’t get enough.

The writing was
stunning as well. I love authors that can mix some lyrical, almost poetic
writing with some heavy, dark plots and Madson does that so well. She uses
words the same way a chef might use a knife. They are tools. She thrusts into
her readers so deftly you almost don’t realize that you’re cut until it’s too
late. The flowing style balanced out some of the darker moments. There were a
number of points where I re-read passages just so I could absorb how Madson wrote
it.

We Ride the Storm is dark fantasy done right. There’s a lot going
on, and it never stops. It’s also beautiful, and deep, with characters that
jump off the page. This book really surprised me. I expected to like it. I didn’t
expect to love it.

I noticed recently
that Madson has been signed on with an agent, and good. She deserves it. She
deserves to be gobbled up by some major publisher. I expect to see this series
in bookstores soon. Mark my words, Madson is going places, and if this book is
any clue, she’s going to be an author worth watching.

Devin Madson is going
places.

5/5 stars

(SPFBO score:
9/10)