Katie Hamstead's Blog, page 45

Review: Wilde's Army by Krystal Wade

From Goodreads:
“Hello, Katriona.”

Those two words spark fear in Katriona Wilde and give way to an unlikely partnership with Perth, the man she’s been traded to marry for a favor. Saving her true love and protector Arland, her family, and their soldiers keeps her motivated, but the at-odds duo soon realizes trust is something that comes and goes with each breath of Encardia’s rotting, stagnant air. The moment when concern for her missing sister spirals out of control, all thoughts of trust are pushed aside and she finds herself trapped by the daemon tricks Perth warned her of. 

However, rescuing those she loves is only half the problem. 

Kate still must get to Willow Falls, unite her clashing people, and form an army prepared to fight in order to defeat Darkness. When so many she’s grown fond of die along the journey, her ability to play by the gods’ rules is tested. 

How will she make allies when the world appears stacked against her? And will she still be Katriona Wilde, the girl with fire?

My Thoughts:
The story continues right from where book 1 left off, and follows Kate and the band to the Falls. Along the way, Kate learns about those around her and herself, as well as strengthening her powers.
The story is definitely interesting, and has me thinking about it while I'm not reading. I think though the internal dialogue gets a bit excessive and repetitive, which prevents me from really loving it like I want to.
I love how her sister, Brit's character developed and I'm looking forward to finding out what she does to contribute to the grand scheme.

Review: Wilde's Fire by Krystal Wade

From Goodreads:
“There is no pain in this death, only peace, knowing I am going to die with the one I love the most.”—Katriona Wilde.

Katriona Wilde has never wondered what it would feel like to have everything she’s ever known and loved ripped away, but she is about to find out. When she inadvertently leads her sister and best friend through a portal into a world she’s dreamed of for six years, she finds herself faced with more than just the frightening creatures in front of her.

Kate’s forced to accept a new truth: her entire life has been a lie, and those closest to her have betrayed her. What’s worse, she has no control over her new future, and it’s full of magic and horrors from which nightmares are made.

Will Kate discover and learn to control who she really is in time to save the ones she loves, or will all be lost?

My Thoughts:
This was a fun read. The world sucked me in an kept me interested. Kate Wilde comes to life on the pages, while her story takes unexpected twists and turns.
The only reason I'm giving four instead of five stars is I felt the first part was a little slow for my taste, and conversations stopped too abruptly for no reason.
But the second half really picks up the pace, and motivated me to start reading book 2 (Wilde's Army) right away.
A fun read for fantasy lovers, and a fabulous debut novel!

Teaser Tuesday #2

All these are for Book 1 of Stacey Nash's Collective Series: Forget Me Not

Writer Momma #Bloghop

I'm so late posting this, but here it is! I know I'm not supposed to answer all the questions, but I really don't have much to say. So, here goes

How do you make time to write?I rely on bed time. All the time. Once the kid is sleeping, I get working. there's also preschool hours which I used as much as possible.
How does your spouse feel about your writing?He's pretty indifferent, I think. He likes that it brings in an extra income and I can stay at home, but he's not terribly interested in what I write. He's a real man's man, and I write pretty girly stuff.
What are the common questions or comments you get about being a writing mom?How do I find the time is a big one. Sometimes I hear people say I'm more focused on my writing than my kid, and that really hurts. My kid, soon to be kids, come first, even with deadlines. 
Where is the strangest place or circumstance where you've found time to get some writing done?Ahhh....  I scrawled on scrap paper by firelight while camping. That's about as strange as I've got.
How much time a week do you spend writing? How quickly do you write books?I used to be very quick, but nowadays I don't have anywhere near the free time that I used to with my kid not napping anymore. As a result, writing has come right down to here and there, and where I could easily write a novel in a month, I take several now.
What impact (if any) do you hope to have on your children by being an author? Would you want your children to follow in your footsteps?I hope they develop a love for reading and learning though my example. If they want to follow in my footsteps, sure, but mostly I want them to see that as long as they put their mind to it, they can accomplish whatever dreams they have.
How old will your children have to be before you let them read your books (if ever)?Mid teens, at least. They can be a little mature.
What tips or words of wisdom do you have to share?If it's important to you, you'll make it work. Sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day, and that's okay. As long as you're doing your best, then that's what counts.

Dark Quest Author: L. Jagi Lamplighter

L. Jagi Lamplighter is the author of  the YA fantasy: The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin. She is also the author of the Prospero’s Daughter series: Prospero Lost, Prospero In Hell, and Prospero Regained. She has published numerous articles on Japanese animation and appears in several short story anthologies, including Best Of Dreams Of Decadence, No Longer Dreams, Coliseum Morpheuon, Bad-Ass Faeries Anthologies (where she is also an assistant editor) and the Science Fiction Book Club’s Don’t Open This Book.
When not writing, she switches to her secret identity as wife and stay-home mom in Centreville, VA, where she lives with her dashing husband, author John C. Wright, and their four darling children, Orville, Ping-Ping Eve, Roland Wilbur, and Justinian Oberon.
Her website is: http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/  Her blog is at: http://arhyalon.livejournal.com/On Twitter: @lampwright4
Read the first four chapters of The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin for free: http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/chapter-one-the-treacherous-art-of-making-friends/
The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Unexpected-Enlightenment-Rachel-Griffin/dp/1937051870


1.     Tell us how you came to be an Author with Dark Quest.A friend of mine works for Dark Quest and has enjoyed other of my works. When she realized that my current series was up for grabs, she invited me to submit it.
2.     What do you enjoy most about being a DQ Author?The people I get to work with. They’re a great bunch.
3.     What have your experiences been like working toward being published?I wrote a long answer to that question some years back called A Writer’s Odysses. It is posted permanently on my blog, so that when people ask me about the experience of getting published I can refer them to it. You can find it here: http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/about/a-writers-odyssey/But, the short version is: it took a tremendous amount of patience. There was a 17 year gap between writing my first book and having the book reach print. In the meantime, I rewrote the series six times.What was finally publishes was much better than what I started with. Infinitely better.
4.     What would you have done differently?Not really sure. I wish I could have been published sooner, but I don’t see how it could have come about. It took a long time for me to become any good. If I had been published earlier, the finished book would have not been as good.They say it takes a million words to become a writer. I don’t now about that, but I threw out over 1000 pages during the period when I was waiting to be published. That is at least, 250,000 words, and I have no question that I—and my readers—are better for it.I wish I could have developed into a good writer more quickly, but that, alas, was not up to me.Nowadays, things are quite different. People can go right to publishing independently. When I started, all legitimate authors eschewed small presses. Now they laud them and independent publishing. I am pretty sure that if I had started writing fifteen years later, I would have given up on getting published by a large house and would have gone the small press or independent route right away. I am very glad that did not happen, because if it had, it would have been an early version of my book that reached readers, and I would never have learned all that I know today.
5.     How has your book been marketed?Marketed? That’s rather a fancy term for a small press. I’m not even sure my big press books have been “marketed”.

So far, I’ve found that the best publicity currently available is to bring one’s book to the notice of someone with a large following and get them to post about it.In 2013, I did everything I possibly could to spread word. It didn’t amount to much. I tried guest blog appearances. I got a few nice comments on my articles, but very few sales.In 2014, the members of the Evil League of Evil Authors* posted about the books on their blogs. This sold ten times as many books as I had managed to sell by myself the year before.
*The Evil League of Evil Authors is a group of authors who were tired of being called names by a second group of authors, and so decided to just embrace the name-calling. It has been the greatest move of my husband’s career to date. The League includes John C. Wright (my husband) Larry Correia—author of the bestselling Monster Hunter Nation series, Sarah A. Hoyt, Vox Day, and Brad Torgensen. There are other members and many other auxiliary members, but those are the big ones.
6.     Any advice on how to better market a book?No, but I would be delightfully open to hearing such advice, should anyone have some!
7.     Last question; If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go, when would it be, and what would you be wearing?Interesting question. I probably would chose Ireland, Wales, or Scotland. I love that area of the world. And I would dress in an Inverness cloak with those long half capes over the shoulders. Maybe with a walking staff.A more likely trip would be returning to China. I once spent two weeks wandering around in China not able to talk to anyone but just enjoying strange experience of not really having to worry about anything for a change. The only person I could speak to was my 17 year old daughter. What a wonderful and strange land!

(If anyone would like to read the blogs I kept during my trip, I have been told that they are very amusing. You can read my China Posts here: http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/works/nonfiction/china-posts/


 Rachel Griffin has one small goal: she wants to learn every secret of the universe. Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, located in New York's Hudson Highlands, but hidden from all mortal eyes by the arts of the Wise, seems the perfect place to pursue her goal safely---until she stumbles upon a secret world within the secret world, one even the wizards are not wise to.  Rushing in where Warlocks fear to tread, fearless young Rachel finds herself in the heart of horror,  How could she have imagined so much could go wrong in the first week of school?  Deeper mysteries await her, including breathtaking vistas of truth older than magic itself.  Curiosity can kill a cat, but nothing can quell Rachel Griffin! 



Before coming to Roanoke Academy, Rachel Griffin had been an obedient girl--but it is hard to obey the rules when the world is in danger and no one will listen.

Now, she's eavesdropping on Wisecraft Agents and breaking a great many regulations. Because if the adults will not believe her, then it is up to Rachel and her friends--crazy, orphan-boy Sigfried the Dragonslayer and Nastasia, the Princess of Magical Australia--to stop the insidious Mortimer Egg from destroying the world.

But first, she must survive truth spells, fights with her brother, detention, Alchemy experiments, talking to elves, and conjuring class. Oh, and the Raven with blood-red eyes continues to watch her. It is said to be the omen of the Doom of Worlds. Will her attempts to save her world bring the Raven's wrath down upon her?

And as if that is not bad enough, someone has just turned the boy she likes into a sheep.

Dark Quest/Palamino Introduction

Another month, another feature!

From Dark Quest's Website:
Dark Quest, LLC was originally formed to promote the explorations of medieval reenactment through silversmithing, leatherworking, and various other crafts. In 2001, the corporation spawned off a new division responsible for game development. Since the majority of the staff previously involved with the company were long time gamers, this was an obvious evolution in the grand scheme of things. Little did the designers know that this gaming hobby would expand into such a growing business. The balance kept shifting over the years; the more staff we add the more we found an imbalance. In 2008, Dark Quest Books was brought into existence to handle fiction products spawned from our roleplaying game settings. There is some overlap between Dark Quest Games staff and Dark Quest Books, but for the most part they operate seperately.

How to submit HERE.

Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh Turns Two--What I've Learned

Yes, believe it or not, it's been two years since I released my debut novel, the first in the Kiya Trilogy, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh.

To celebrate, I'm hosting a party on Facebook with guest authors, giveaways, facts, edited out scenes or scenes I never included and from another character's perspective and so on. To join in, click HERE.

Two years! Wow. I've learned a lot since Kiya's release. Here are some of them:

Writing. Yes, thanks to great editors, like Mary Harris who edited all three Kiya books, as well as fantastic Critique Partner's and Beta readers, my writing has improved enormously. I'm far from perfect, but I've learned essentials like show vs tell, passive voice, improved grammar and so forth. When I dig up old manuscripts for edits, I'm surprised by the development I've gone through.

A Thick Skin. You know what they say, haters are gonna hate. At first those nasty reviewers really hurt me, and I fell for the rookie mistake of reading them. Bad idea, unless you enjoy crying and self doubt. Over time though, I learned to keep things in perspective. Bad reviews make my positive reviews look legitimate, which they are, but without bad reviews people believe the five star love is fake. So although some are just downright mean and there's no other way to say it, most reviews are positive and come from people who genuinely love the book. It's a learning curve, and I'm getting there.


Promotion Is A Beast. A necessary evil in the writing world is promoting your book. The trouble is how to balance too much or too little. I'm terrified of spamming people, so I'm probably more on the too little side. What I do tend to do is find ways to help others and join in so people are exposed to me, thus become exposed to my books. Unfortunately though, promoting often sucks my creative spirit and I long for the times when I could write raw, unadulterated stories from my heart without stressing over keeping the promoting rolling.

Being an Author can be a 24/7 Job. Once a book is live, it's live all the time. Websites don't shut down  for the night. This means sometimes I can be up late promoting a sale, or up early sharing a new release. There's no time frames for inspiration either, which is hard when you;re a mother and wife as well, both of which are also full time jobs that don't have a financial pay off. Finding time is a conscious decision, and I get a little peeved when people say to me "I'd write a book if I could find some time" like I somehow miraculously have abundant spare time between the chores, potty accidents, preschool, showering the hubby with love, doing my church duties, being pregnant and all that implies, and trying to fit in some sleep. So often my "author time" is early morning or late at night, when it's quiet enough because everyone else is sleeping.

Kiya's Release Saved Us. No joke. When Kiya first released, my husband was without work. Within a few months, we were close to losing our home because we couldn't pay the mortgage with the meager income of my part time office job. Then, the Kiya royalties started coming through and they were just enough to cover our mortgage. As time passed, we wracked up debts to get us by, so when my hubby did get a job, my royalties moved to paying off those debts. Now it goes toward prenatal bills/insurance. The Kiya Trilogy has literally saved us with the financial benefits of the extra income. I couldn't be more grateful.

So there you have it. Do you have any questions for me? Leave the in the comments and one commenter will win 2 of my ebooks of their choice.

Teaser Tuesday #1

Raided my blog archives for these. Enjoy!

Anaiah Press Feature End and #GIVEAWAY!

A huge thank you to everyone who jumped in to make this Anaiah Press feature a success. To all the authors, editors, and staff from Anaiah, a special thank you. And everyone who followed along, and especially commented, I love you! Please come back for May's feature to meet more amazing people.

Some quick stats:
Most popular Author post: Linda Brendle
Most popular Staff post: Kara Leigh Miller
Most popular post overall: Kara Leigh Miller
Countries where the most visitors came from: 
1. United States
2. Russia
3. Germany

Now, for the big event, the GIVEAWAY!!!

It's a little different this month. For all those who have commented throughout the month you have already won a prize! To enter, comment below on what you enjoyed about the feature month and what you learned. Winners are first come first served. Here are the prizes! (ebooks unless otherwise stated)
 First chapter critique by Kara Leigh Miller
First 5 pages critique by Laura Maisano
First chapter critique by Tara Creel
Query letter & first 5 pages critique by Molly Zenk
Synopsis and/or author bio critique (includes 30 minute phone / Skype session) by Ami Hendrickson
Donna L. Martin -- Either a 2000 word PB critique OR first ten pages critique of a MG/YA

GRIT OF BERTH AND STONE (YA fantasy) by Lisa Dunn & a first 5 pages critique
Signed copy of 1000 STOLEN MOMENTS (Adult military romance) by Connie Ann Michael & swag
MOMMY'S LITTLE WORDLINGS (Picture book) by Linh Nguyen-Ng
DANGEROUS LOVE (Adult romantic suspense) by Jody Holford & Kara Leigh Miller
TESS IN BOOTS (Adult contemporary romance) by Courtney Rice Gager
AGING GRACEFULLY WITH THE 23rd PSALM (Inspirational / devotional) by Dr. Sharon King
REVENGE (Adult romantic suspense) by Paula Rose
THE LAST STORED (YA fantasy) by Sonia Poynter
BRICKS (YA contemporary) by John Davidson and swag
Ebook ARC of ALL FOR LOVE (Adult romantic suspense) by Susanne Matthews

Looking For Teasers

Send me your book teasers! I'd like to start a Teaser Tuesday series, so need all your favorite quotes! From your book, a friend's book, or your favorite author's book, as long as I have permission to post and share, I want it!
So send me your TEASERS!


As incentive, here's my dog, Addy!!! Labs rock! Hope, the malamute, passed :-( We now have another black lab mix named Toby! But Addy is definitely my dog, while Toby is the hubby's and kid's.