Jennifer Priester's Blog, page 11

Review of Pasha, From Animal Shelter to a Sheltered Life by: Inge H. Borg

This isn’t the best written review I have ever done, but here is my review of Pasha:

I really love how real and honest this book is about the shelter and rescue cats. I also love that there is also some stuff about rescue dogs. If I could have a cat and wasn’t sure where I wanted to get one from this book would definitely have encouraged me to choose a rescue center.

Interview with A.D. Elliott

What is your book’s name, genre, age level, and what is it about?

My book is called The Remarkables. It is the story of a teenage boy called Owen who discovers that he has a superpower. After his dad is kidnapped under mysterious circumstances, he joins up with the elderly woman who lives next door. On their journey to rescue Owen’s dad, he discovers that there was once a secret band of men and women during the Second World War who also had superpowers like Owen’s. They were called The Remarkables.

The book is geared towards a young adult audience, but I cannot see why older readers would not enjoy it also. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under the age of eleven or twelve though. There are only a couple of instances of mild cursing in the book, but the themes are probably less suited to a younger reader.

As for which genre it belongs to: I’m open to suggestions! There’s a bit of urban fantasy and sci-fi in there, superheroes, a couple of flashbacks into the past. It’d be great to hear where people think it slots into best!

Why did you write your book? Did anything specific inspire it?

The genesis of the story was with Owen’s power. I’m guilty of daydreaming a lot, and thought it would be really cool to be able to do what Owen does. At the time I didn’t really think about how he does what he does (which is sort of explained in the book), I just wished I had that ability! I then thought more about what other powers would be great to have, and the idea of a gang of empowered people started to form in my mind.  Whilst I love superheroes like Batman and the X-Men, I really liked the idea of seemingly ordinary people being able to do extraordinary things, without the Batmobile or the X-Jet and such.

Other parts of the book were inspired by a bit of travelling I did. The title, The Remarkables, is a mountain range in New Zealand (it’s the one you see the Beacons of Gondor being lit upon in The Return of the King), and the sheer majesty and strength that they have seemed to fit the idea I had for my group of characters.

One of the central concepts of the book is the idea that our world is part of a multiverse. I won’t go into too much detail as it would spoil the plot I think!

 Tell us a little about your books characters.

The main character is Owen Johnson. He’s sixteen and lives with his dad and brother, his mum dying eleven years earlier. I wanted Owen to be as normal a teenager as possible, and wanted to avoid him being overly popular or brilliant at everything, so that his superpower had more resonance. I’m also interested to see how an ordinary person can be affected by having such a thing as power thrust upon them, and that’s something I will explore more as the story continues.

Owen’s next-door neighbor is Mrs. Argyle, a woman who looks like she is in her late seventies, but rarely acts her age. Again I can’t go into too many details as it spoils the plot, but I get very angry with people who are ageist and dismiss the elderly, so I wanted a really strong character that is a bit advanced in years. In my experience it’s only in the fantasy genre where the old are given any respect (Gandalf and the Hogwarts teachers spring to mind) so I wanted someone in a contemporary setting to be respected.

Then there is Katie who has been Owen’s friend for many years. She’s headstrong and feisty but thinks the world on Owen, who in turn harbors a secret crush on her.

Other members of The Remarkables appear later on, including Mrs. Argyle’s brother and a guy called Clive. It was so much fun thinking up what powers they may have, and I tried to tie them into their personalities. Then there is an old wizard like man called Fafnir that they meet up with later. I’m a big fan of old English myths and legends, and there’s some loose links between Fafnir and certain old tales. They’re not integral to the main storyline, but they are there if people spot them. One of the other characters I’m fond of is a perpetually happy young woman called Ellie. Part of her backstory revolves around her losing an arm. I have so much respect and admiration for amputees, and I wanted to include a character whose perceived disability has much less effect on her life than on those around her.

The main protagonist at the start is a mysterious person known as Trilby, based on the trilby hat he wears. Part of the storyline is Owen and Mrs Argyle trying to figure out why Trilby is pursuing and seemingly attacking them wherever they hide. On the side-lines there are also the people that kidnap Owen’s dad.

 Do you have a favorite among your characters? If so, why are they your favorite?

Mrs. Argyle is a fun character to write. She seems to be grumpy, but she’s very soft at heart. Clive was a particular joy, as I plan to develop his character more in the next book and enjoyed planting the seeds of his complicated past in this book. When I read books that have more than one part, I really get a thrill when a tiny snippet of detail from an earlier book is shown to be important in a later one, and vice versa.

Number one character for me? It’s got to be Myrtle!

 Now tell us a little about yourself.

I’m in my early thirties and live slap bang in the middle of England. I used to write short stories when I was younger, but neglected to do so when I had to get a job! I live with my wife and my daughter, who will be one year old next month.

 If you haven’t answered this already, do you have a job besides writing?

I train people in hospitals on how to do certain clinical procedures. Prior to that I was a nurse in Emergency Medicine.

 Are you working on any new books? If so, tell us about them.

I’m busily working on a sequel to The Remarkables. I had intended the book to be a one off, but I enjoyed the concept and the characters so much I couldn’t leave them be. With the sequel there’s a lot more detail on the missions that were undertaken in the War. A lot of it is set in Brazil, which I was fortunate to visit and knew I had to write about the amazing places I had visited. It also explains more about the origins of the powers and the wider world.

 Do you do a lot of reading? And what are a few of your favorite books and authors?

I read all the time! I travel to work by train so having a Kindle was a godsend (my bag used to weigh a ton from all the books I stuffed into it). I have no favorite author to be honest, as I read most genres. A lot of books I return to over and over. Once a year I re-read The Lord of the Rings, as every time I read it I notice new little details. I really enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy, and admire Suzanne Collins immensely for the incredibly detailed world she created. I’ve just finished the latest book in CJ Sansom’s Shardlake series, which are all about a hunchback lawyer in the time of Henry VIII.

Thanks to Goodreads, I’ve also discovered lots of books by self-published authors, some of which are just as good if not better than traditional authors.

Currently your book is only available as and eBook on Amazon. Do you have any plans on making the book available anywhere besides Amazon?

At the moment it’s only available on Amazon, but in the next couple of months I plan to pop it up on Smashreads, Barnes and Noble and others.  The reason why it’s Amazon only at the moment, was because I entered it into the Kindle select promotion, to see if people want to borrow it for free.

 Do you have a website, a blog, or both?

I have a blog, but it’s in the early stages. I’m a bit neglectful of it at the moment, as most of my spare time is spent beavering away on the sequel to The Remarkables.

 What about social networking? Do you have any book or author fan sites?

I’m on twitter (@returnmyjedi) but it’s a bit neglected too! As soon as I have time, I will return to tweeting. I have no other sites, but am looking at options.

 Because there is a cow in your book, I would like to ask a few questions about this. First of all, why did you choose a cow? Second, do you feel the cow is an important character in your book? And third, if you know anything about cows in general, are there any interesting or little known facts about cows that you could share with us?

Myrtle was inspired by two other cows. The first inspiration is from the album cover to The Pink Floyd album, “Atom Heart Mother.” Originally Myrtle was a Friesian cow, but I changed this to a highland cattle as the plot developed.

The second inspiration was from a cow that I encountered whilst walking in a hilly part of the UK called the Peak District. I was walking along a rocky edge and there was this cow staring back at me. For some reason I had the impression that the intelligence behind its eyes that we as humans don’t credit animals as having. Myrtle isn’t really an integral character to the story, but I couldn’t see any reason why superpowers should be reserved for human like characters, as they so often are. I also drew inspiration from various mythologies, where humans were assisted by animals to achieve magical feats.

Cow facts? They can climb up stairs, but not down them (something to do with their knees). They only have one stomach, which has four compartments (as opposed to four separate stomachs). If you want to escape from a swamp or bog and you have a choice of a cow or a horse to ride on, choose the cow (they’re toes can spread and don’t sink like horses’ hooves do). Finally, cows have an incredibly strong sense of smell and can detect odors from up to six miles away (this might come in handy for Myrtle in the next book….)

 Before I wrap up, do you have any pets? If so, tell us about them.

I have two cats, a brother and sister called Sid and Nancy. They never shut up.

Is there anything else you would like to talk about or share with us?

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Without good people like you, we Indie authors would never flourish. Secondly, if anyone wants to suggest an animal to appear in book number two, let me know. I’ve got a spare slot and I’m toying with what kind of creature to include. I’ve got Myrtle, and there’s a bird that appears at the beginning. But if anyone has a favorite other animal, I’m willing to try and pop it in!

Best wishes to everyone

Andy

Review of “The Remarkables” by: A.D. Elliott

To start off with, this book is very fast paced. Throughout the book are some very funny moments. The humor is incorporated throughout the book much like in Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” and “Heroes of Olympus” series.

I like how most of the characters in the book have powers of some kind, although most have only one ability.

This isn’t a superhero story in the sense most people are used to. Although the heroes all have superpowers, they don’t have costumes or secret identities, and the goal is to simply save the boy, Owen’s, dad, though it does get bigger than that.

I really liked how the characters; including a cow in the book, are all very unique. Each character with powers has a different ability. Two of these characters, Mrs. Argyle, and Ken, reminded me of the benders in the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Legend of Korra” TV shows, except the way their abilities work are very different.

For anyone that has read a lot of comic books, such as: “Justice League” should easily be able to recognize and understand the idea of infinite Earths, as mentioned in the book. Unfortunately, because I am very familiar with this concept, I can’t say whether the explanations are easily understandable to anyone new to the idea.

The only problems I had with this book is that there appeared to be some minor typo’s and some words are spelled differently than what I am used to seeing, so although I’m not saying they are wrong, I did find it to be a little distracting.

Because my problems were so minor I never felt like they took anything away from the overall story.

If done right, I think this book would make a really good movie. It is so easy to imagine it as one while reading.

Interview with Tui Allen

What is your name, your books name, genre, age level, and what is it about?

 I’m Tui Allen and I’ve written a novel called Ripple -  A Dolphin Love Story. It’s an adult story though very suitable for teens. Ripple fits into the visionary fiction genre and has an environmental theme. It is also classed as an animal story and is often compared to Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Watership Down.

Ripple is the twenty million year old story of how one dolphin was inspired by love to an intellectual achievement that changed the universe.

The story is about music.

 Where can your book be purchased?

 My web site with further information is here:

www.tuiscope.co.nz

Ripple can be purchased here as an e-book:

http://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Dolphin-Love-Story-ebook/dp/B005O8J5YA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1333572377&sr=1-1

Or the identical story is here as a paperback print book:

http://www.amazon.com/Ripple-Life-that-Changed-Universe/dp/0473198738/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1366631730&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=ripple+tui

 Why did you write your book? Did anything specific inspire it?

I was inspired by the plight of the oceans and my fascination with cetaceans (whales and dolphins) I have voyaged in the South Pacific under sail and met these animals in their own world on their own terms. I had a strange mathematical experience when I was sailing that is reflected in Ripple. It was the seventies – long before satellite navigation. Our navigator left the boat and I had to take over his very mathematical role. I was only 21 at the time and I never liked maths but suddenly I had to calculate my way across a vast ocean to get us home  to NZ. In the story, Ripple also must study and use mathematics in the end, to find her own directions.

Tell us a little about your books characters.

Ripple is young female dolphin containing an ancient soul. She lived twenty million years ago. She is creative, intellectually brilliant and extremely athletic, but she is also nervous and irascible. Ripple falls in love with Cosmo, a warrior dolphin, scarred by tragedy. The story is narrated by a deity of the Hereafter who provides humor in places. There are many other dolphin characters, representing the rich family and intellectual life of dolphin society as I view it, an evil tentacled creature who is the incarnation of fear to Ripple, and one octopus called Squelch who is like a family pet. He has a subplot of his own. The only humans in the story are in the final chapter, which is set  in the future.

 Now tell us a little about yourself.

I live in New Zealand and have been a teacher, a web designer, a mother and a children’s author. I have done a lot of sailing and sport all my life including long-distance running, triathlons and cycling. I now focus mainly on cycling both on and off road around the beautiful countryside where I live. My two children are grown up.

 

 If you haven’t answered this already, do you have a job besides writing?

I still do a little web design but try to focus on writing now. I also help to run a mountain bike club but that is voluntary work.

Do you do a lot of reading? And what are a few of your favorite books and authors?

I’ve been a reader all my life. One of my favorite books is “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel but I also love “The Time Traveler’s Wife”  and many well-known long dead novelists, too numerous to list. I love Richard Bach’s books and philosophies. My favorite poet is Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whose work has been a big influence. Ripple has several parallels with the Ancient Mariner. I’ve always loved stories about animals and was impressed to hear how the story “Black Beauty” made the world a better place for horses.

 Have you written any other books, and are you writing any new ones? If so, tell us about them.

I wrote for children when my own children were young. Those books, stories and poetry were published by three different NZ publishers and some were sold internationally. I am now working on a second adult novel. It’s called Dolphin Melody and has a contemporary setting and more human characters than you will find in Ripple. There is a haunted painting in the story which is being portrayed as though it is one of the characters.

Do you have a website, a blog, or both? If so, what are they?

My website is www.tuiscope.co.nz and there is blog attached to it.

What about social networking? Do you have any book or author fan sites?

I’m active on Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook. I am an activist for dolphin and whale conservation. Much of the activism is online but I also attend marches and meetings for this cause.  I have author pages on Amazon and Goodreads. My Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/tui.allen.7

Have you met any real dolphins? If so, tell us about it.

I have certainly met real dolphins and also whales. I’ve come face-to-face with them in the middle of the ocean. It is an unforgettable experience and convinced me of their sentience, their spirituality and their intelligence.

 

Are there any little known or interesting dolphin facts that you could share with us?

Here are two very important ones that inspired the story of Ripple –

·         Dolphins evolved twenty million years ago before humans came down from the trees.
·         The dolphin brain has ten times the capacity of the human brain to process sound.

Before I wrap up, do you have any pets? If so tell us about them.

I have a gigantic cat called Phoebe. She’s a sumptuous tabby farm cat who exists to give love to her humans. I’ve always had cats and rode horses a lot in my teens and still do occasionally even now.

 And is there anything else you would like to talk about or share with us?

·         I’ve donated most of the earnings so far from Ripple to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. I hope the story will give everyone a greater respect and understanding for our planet’s wondrous ocean environment and the animals who inhabit it.
·         Ripple was chosen by the New Zealand Society of Authors to represent it’s literature at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair, in this country’s year as Country of Honour at the Fair.
·         Ripple has been listed as the number one book on the Goodreads Visionary Fiction list for months now and is also top book on several other Goodreads lists.
·         I am represented by the Richards Literary Agency, (this country’s top literary agency.)

Interview with Robin Donovan

What is your name, your books name, genre, age level, and what is it about?

I am the author of the Donna Leigh Mystery series, my name is Robin Leemann Donovan. The first book in this cozy mystery series is entitled Is It Still Murder Even If She Was a Bitch?

Although Donna Leigh, the protagonist of this comedic murder mystery is a menopausal business woman, I have been told that the book has been enjoyed by men and women of a wide age range. However, I would imagine that my primary target audience would be Women 45 – 64.

Menopausal and sardonic Donna Leigh owns an Omaha ad agency. Sleuthing keeps Donna’s toxic relationship with her murdered former colleague from landing her on the suspect list. Donna and her colorful colleagues hunt unrelentingly for clues, leaving a trail of unintentional destruction in their wake, even after Donna is threatened.

Tell us a little about your books characters.

Donna Leigh is my protagonist, a menopausal ad-agency owner/amateur sleuth. Babs & Peg are her two menopausal cohorts. When the three get together – something always happens.

The murder victim, Claire, a former colleague who was a self-satisfied bitch with a less than perfectly ethical approach to business.

Clovis Cordoba Seville is the former colleague who takes the world record in narcissism. Her mental process is fascinating as she manages to ensure that everything revolves around her – she projects her worst flaws onto Donna.

Other folks around the agency include: Donna’s business partners Liv and Donny, her good friend Kyle and various and sundry other staffers.

Last but not least are Donna’s husband Jon and their three rescue bulldogs. They are her comfort and her solace after some very difficult days.

Do you have a favorite among your characters?

Clovis is my favorite. She was added in as a joke, but she became almost the alter ego of Donna. Clovis is everything that Donna hates, she’s a person who puts herself above all else – and only works to ensure that she remains center stage. We all have those moments periodically – and Clovis is quick to point out any and every minor ego related infraction of Donna’s. She also projects a great deal of her own narcissistic insanity on Donna – and we’ve all met those people – what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

 Why did you write your book? Did anything specific inspire it?

I have been in the advertising business for over 30 years and I have met some incredible characters. The book was a chance to explore some of the more outrageous of those personalities and combine them with two of my favorite things: comedy and murder mysteries.

During the editing process, a few of my editors were concerned that some of my characters were too outrageous and not believable – my editors hailed from academia. Rest assured there has never been a person in the advertising industry who has not absolutely believed these are credible characters.

Now tell us a little about yourself.

I started out as a high school English teacher and felt very old very fast. After three years of teaching I got a job in an advertising agency and have never felt old since.

Most of my career was in the Northeast, but when an offer came to head the media department in the founding office of Bozell, I jumped at the chance and moved to Omaha. Living in Omaha has been an incredible experience. It has changed me from the fast paced, overly aggressive northeasterner that I was and given me a chance to stop and smell the roses – although some would tell you I’m kidding myself on that count!

Twelve years ago I was given the chance to be part of a group that bought the Bozell brand from IPG. It has been an amazing experience – never easy, but rewarding in so many ways.

Our active role in social media started me blogging and once I started writing there was no stopping me. I write for our company blog: Insights, I write a blog on menopause called Menologues, which is republished on Vibrant Nation and Alltop. A few years ago, we got a publisher as a client and I realized that all the pieces of the puzzle were in place and it was time to write my book.

When I’m not at work or writing, I spend time with my rescue bulldogs, ski, dance and I’m an avid reader. I also attend food and wine tastings fairly regularly.

Do you do a lot of reading? And what are a few of your favorite books and authors?

I love to read murder mysteries, both serious and humorous. In general, I love a well written book that reveals a secret. My favorite author is Dickens, but I love Jane Austen.

On the lighter side, I have the utmost respect for JK Rowling and Janet Evanovich. They both serve an important purpose – when my good friend lost her Mom, I sent her the first six Evanovich books – now she’s hooked.

 Where can your books be purchased?

Direct book purchase page on my publisher’s website: http://writelife.pinnaclecart.com/humor/is-it-still-murder-even-if-she-was-a-bitch/

Through my author’s website: www.rldonovan.com

The book can also be purchased at the 13th Street Mystery Bookstore – A Stitch in Crime, the Bookworm, Nebraska at the Market and Urban Abbey.

The book can also be purchased on:

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Still-Murder-Even-She-Bitch/dp/1608080382/ref=la_B009G5AKCS_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367857451&sr=1-1

AmazonKindle

http://www.amazon.com/Still-Murder-Even-Bitch-ebook/dp/B009B1AVZ8/ref=la_B009G5AKCS_1_1_title_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1367857572&sr=1-1

Barnes and Noble

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/is-it-still-murder-even-if-she-was-a-bitch-?store=allproducts&keyword=is+it+still+murder+even+if+she+was+a+bitch%3F+

Books a Million

http://www.booksamillion.com/search?id=5678577054418&query=is+it+still+murder+even+if+she+was+a+bitch%3F&where=Books&search.x=49&search.y=10&search=Search

Indie Bound

http://www.indiebound.org/hybrid?filter0=is+it+still+murder+even+if+she+was+a+bitch%3F&x=31&y=7

New Blog Posts and Schedule Begin this Friday night!

If you have recently been to my website, you may have noticed that I no longer have up a blog schedule of the posts I plan on making and when I plan on making them. The reason is because I now have a lot more I want to do with my blog. So what does this mean for my blog? Well, if you like the posts I was making before, such as my first post, there will be more like that, but I will also be doing the new things I mentioned such as interviewing authors and reviewing the occasional book on here, as well as making some other posts as well. This Friday night or Saturday morning, I will be posting the first author interview. Then because I don’t want to make them wait too long for the post, the next five author interviews will follow shortly. This is my expected blog post schedule:

1) May 10: Interview with Robin Donovan

2) May 17: Interview with Tui Allen

3) May 24: Two posts will be made. First will be my Review of A.D. Elliot’s book “The Remarkables” and second will be my interview with A.D. Elliott.

4) May 31: Interview with Inge H. Borg. If you want you can get to know her a little ahead of time by checking out her blog: http://ingehborg.blogspot.com/

5) June 7: Three posts will be made. First will be my review of the book, “Circling the Waggins”, second will be my review of the book, “Parade of Misfits”, and third will be my interview with the author of both these books, C.A. Wulff.

The next are not scheduled in anywhere yet.

6) A post from me about comic books, graphic novels, and manga’s.

7) A list of my favorite comic books, graphic novels, and manga’s.

8) An interview with an upcoming new manga author.

9) I am still undecided here, but I will probably be posting about some of the following things: writing short stories vs. long, how my characters were created, the advantages and disadvantages of fully developing characters, procrastination and how this helps me write better stories, and a blog post about horse riding.

Later on I also will have other author interviews and book reviews, which when I post them depends on when I get them to post, so this is why there isn’t too much of a definite schedule happening for my blog right now.

Author Interviews Coming Very Soon! (And other news too)

If you “like” my Jennifer Priester, A & M Moonlight Creations Facebook page, or follow me as animalsandmagic on Twitter than you may have already heard the news. I am about to start doing author interviews on my blog and an occasional book review as well. For the some of the authors I have recently interviewed, I previously reviewed some of their books which I will be sharing simultaneously on the same day as I post the interview.

These are the authors currently being interviewed for my blog. Some of which have gotten back to me already and their interviews are ready to go.

Cayr Ariel Wulff

Inge H. Borg

Robin Donovan

Bob Tarte

Tui Allen

Most of these authors have written animal books and were interviewed based on them. The first author interview that I will be posting is Cayr Ariel Wulff’s. This one will include my reviews of two of her books, “Circling the Waggins”, and the eBook exclusive, “Parade of Misfits”, but her interview includes her other books as well.

Each of my author interviews are based around both author themselves and their books, so each one will have slightly different questions.

In other news I have put up the interview schedule for my Mortal Realm Witch series characters on my website: http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com/whatsnew.html. I hope you will check it out, I think the interviews came out really well.

You can also check out a blog post about me and some of my pets on Inge H. Borg and PASHA the cat’s blog: http://ingehborg.blogspot.com/2013/04/rescued-animals-only-as-pets.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PashaFromAnimalShelterToAShelteredLife+%28PASHA%2C+From+Animal+Shelter+to+A+Sheltered+Life%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

 

Character Interviews with some of the Mortal Realm Witch Series Characters

I haven’t had a computer for a while so I wasn’t able to make my blog post when I was supposed to. I am rearranging my blog schedule so I don’t know what I will be posting next.

Today I found out that interviews with some of my characters will be going live soon on Joleen Naylor’s blog: http://joleennaylor.wordpress.com/

This is the schedule of which characters have been interviewed and when the interviews will be posted:

DWW – April 27th 2013

Trom – May 4th 2013

Trillman – May 11th 2013

Sampson – May 18th 2013

Turtle – May 25th 2013

Asantra – June 1st 2013

I will hopefully be able to add this schedule up on the Mortal Realm Witch website: http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com soon, but I am having some problems editing my site right now. Before I started having problems with it I was able to update the site so that all the book information for each book in the series, excluding the ebook exclusives (the information on these will be added when I get the chance but for now this information is only in the Meet the Characters section.) All books except books 1 and 2′s images are coming as soon as I have them to put up on the site.

I also updated the Meet the Characters Section: http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com/meettheauthor/meetthecharacters.html As it is with the books, the pictures will be put up as soon as I have them.

Unfinished Projects, Do We Ever Return? or How the Mortal Realm Witch Series Came to be

Currently my book series, Mortal Realm Witch, is expected to have 5 books in its main series, 3 series companions, 1-2 guidebooks, 1 free e-book story, 1 cheap e-book, and 1 comic book style video. The free story will also be available as a PDF and both the free story and the video will be featured in the extra’s section on http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com. You may know this information already but what you probably don’t know is that the Mortal Realm Witch series almost didn’t get written. The first story in Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic titled: Mortal Meets Magic may be the story that starts the series, but once it was nothing more than an unfinished project.

Mortal Meets Magic, originally titled, Mortal Realm Witch, was just a story I began writing one summer at my Grandma’s house. I was bored so I took out a sketch pad/notebook that I had. It was half blank space at top for drawings and the bottom half was lined for words. When I took it out I actually had no plans on writing a story. Along with that notebook I also took out a normal sketch pad. After spending some time trying to decide what to do I eventually chose to use the sketch pad and began drawing. The drawing became a girl and her cat. I then added a broom into the picture and made it so that the girl and the cat looked as if they were on the broom. I didn’t actually draw it very well so if I were to ever find that drawing I’m sure it would look different from what it was intended to.

After making the drawing, I thought I was done, but then I added some stars into the picture. Was I done this time? Well I was, with the drawing anyway. While looking at the drawing for a while then suddenly had an idea for a story based on the drawing. At the time many of my stories happened based off a drawing I did. Upon getting the idea I grabbed my sketchbook/notebook.

As I began writing I decided that the girl would be a witch and the cat, which was black, would be her familiar. Somewhere in the writing of the story I decided to change the cat to a Golden Retriever and just make black cats my witches favorite type of cat. The story was about halfway finished when I closed the sketch pad/notebook. The reason was that it was close to time to go home.

At home I unpacked all my stuff and put it away. I don’t know exactly where I put everything but after doing so I never thought about the story again.

A year later I was cleaning my room and found the sketch pad/notebook. I was just going to throw it away but instead, for some reason, I opened it and read what I had written. Although the illustrations on the top half weren’t very good, I really liked my story. At the time I had also found another story I had partially written, hated it, and threw it away. This one however I put aside after reading and that night I actually finished it.

Because of this one story I began coming up with ideas for others based off of it. By the time I was done…or thought I was done I had written enough stories for a whole book. Later more ideas began forming and before I knew it I had enough ideas for three books. This is when Mortal Realm Witch became a series and the first story got titled Mortal Meets Magic as Mortal Realm Witch was now the series name.

Mortal Realm Witch was going to be a 3 book series until I had a dream. In this dream was a character that reminded me of DWW, only I knew it wasn’t her. This character seemed to be a bit more adventurous and seemed to be the type of girl who ended up in trouble a lot. There was also a female wizard in this dream that appeared to be the friend of this new witch. This is when Book Four, The Adventures of DWW2 began to be written.

If you want to, you will get the chance to learn more about the dreams I had that helped me create this books and others of mine, which I actually consider the ones that get written this way to be my best books, when I publish my book with the working title of: Just Dreaming: Dreams I Had and the Stories They Created.

While I was working on Book Four, Three was being edited and ended up being almost long enough for two books. Because this would make the third book cost twice as much as the first two in the series, changes needed to be made. When I first wrote Book Three it was made into three big stories: The Familiar Stories, Time’s Up?, and Realms Unite? What I did to solve the length problem was to take The Familiar Stories and Time’s Up? out of Book Three and place them into their own book which would become Mortal Realm Witch’s first series companion: Tales of Familiars.

After solving this problem I returned to working on Book Four where I discovered a new problem; I couldn’t come up with an ending for the book! While considering my problem I did come up with a series ending but it in no way would fit into Book Four and no matter what I did I couldn’t get it to work. The reason was that Book Four wasn’t the end. There was still one more big story that needed to be told!

A little bit earlier while working on Book Four, I had also decided to make a Guidebook. The reason was that I introduce many Other Realm creatures throughout the series that would be impossible for me or anyone else to keep track of. Upon working on this I began creating some new creatures for the book as well as writing some stories featuring some of these creatures. Like Book Three I ran into the same length problem and split it into two parts; The Guidebook, and another series companion: Tales of Other Realm Creatures. The Guidebook would be titled: The Guide to Other Realm Creatures and will feature full color drawings of every creature in the Mortal Realm Witch series as well as some all new ones. In the book each creature will have a description that includes; appearances, abilities, habits, the world they come from, and a little more. It will either be one Guidebook or two depending on the cost to print the book and what I would have to sell it for. If it is still too expensive this way it may just be an e-book and not in print.

While working on Book Five I ended up writing something about Asantra’s past. Asantra is DWW2. I then realized that some people, including myself, may want to know more about the things I talk about, but I didn’t want to add the stories into Book Five because I felt it would distract too much from the main story that I was telling. Thinking about it this problem would also occur if I put it into Book Four. While thinking about Book Four I found some things that to me, would be interesting to expand upon regarding Asantra. I then decided to write a book about Asantra’s younger days. This book is called: Tales of Young Asantra and is the second companion book in the series, even though the idea and stories for Tales of Other Realm Creatures came first. The reason for this is the timeline in which the stories happen and where they best fit into the series.

Finally I had all the books that were going to be in the series, but then in creating my first bookmark featuring Trillman, I began thinking about bookmarks. I came up with an idea for a story featuring Air Raid the dragon from Dragon Familiar in Book One, and his witch Ally. My first thought was to make a second bookmark with a short comic strip on it, but what I came up with was a short comic which was too long to fit on a bookmark. Instead of becoming a bookmark I started creating a longer version of my idea, turning it into a full length short story. This story will be presented as a comic book style video.

Next I came up with a story about DWW, who is first in Book One, and is one of the only characters who appears in every book in the main series. I found a few errors in Book One and there are some things I wrote in Book Five that I felt needed some explanations so an origin story of DWW, called: Allura’s First Magical Discovery, was created.

Very recently I got the idea to let Sampson, the villain that first appears in Book One’s story: DWW on the Witches Council?, tell his story. This is an origin story of Sampson as well as his point of view from all the stories he is in where he explains what he did, how he did it, and why. This will be added as a bonus story in Book Five.

Lastly I came up with two stories about Trillman. The first of which is about how Trillman became a familiar. You may have read part of it previously on this blog. The story is part of what will be a cheap e-book featuring two stories about Trillman. The second story will be about what Trillman did between the events of Books One and Two where he isn’t heard from for a while. The e-book is currently being titled: Trillman’s stories.

So, this is how the Mortal Realm Witch series got created. It’s hard to believe sometimes that it was once an unfinished project. As you know not all projects are as lucky as Mortal Realm Witch, which got it’s chance to be finished.

Now I want to ask you, do you have any unfinished projects? If you do, what is it? And do you honestly feel you will ever return to the project and finish it?

Also if you have had an experience like mine, what were you doing and how long did it take you to return to and finish the project?

Familiars and Real Life Animal Teachers

In my books, The Mortal Realm Witch series, a familiar is first described as a talking animal that teaches their witch or warlock how to use magic. Later a familiar is described as a talking animal that teaches their magic user how to use magic in order to include magic users such as wizards, sorcerers, and sorceresses.

Although in my books the familiars do most of the teaching, they are not the only animals to do so. For example; in Book One of the Mortal Realm Witch series, Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic, in the story Wolf Magic, DWW discovers that by training the wolf pups she is learning more about herself. DWW learns that not only can she learn from familiars but regular animals as well. This is something that many people, especially pet owners, can identify with.

Many of us have learned something from out pets or animals friends or anipals. For those who haven’t yet that time may still come. I myself have learned things from animals, and not all were my pets. Some were animals I know and have met, while others are animals from books both real and fictional. For instance reading a book from an animals point of view that is told in a well researched and real way, can help humans to see their world and help them to understand that animal better. Sometimes animals can be better teachers of certain things than people. Some of these things are loyalty and forgiveness, something animals are often better at than humans.

Because animals make such good teachers many people feel inspired to write about the lives of their animals or animals they know and what they have taught them. Ten of these books are:

1) Oogy by: Larry Levin

2) Homer’s Odyssey by: Gwen Cooper

3) The Lost Dogs by: Jim Gorant

4) Huch by: Janet Elder

5) The Wonderful Thing About Pets by: Gary Burghoff

6) The Good Good Pig by: Sy Montgomery

7) Chosen by a Horse by: Susan Ruchards

8) Last Dog on the Hill by: Steve Duno

9) Dewey by: Vicki Myron

10) Travels With Max: How My Dog Unleashed My Life by: Jenet Bennett

Of course there are many others out there, and you can add some to the comments section if you want, but if I were to list them all on this blog post this post would go on forever as there are new ones being written all the time!

If you like any of the above books, or just like reading about animals you may enjoy this group on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/74638-all-about-animals

This group reads two books a month about animals of all kinds. The group members suggest a book each month, which can be fiction or nonfiction and can be about any animal, and then vote on which one they want to read, then the top two are chosen. The March reads are: Love Saves the Day by: Gwen Cooper, and One Good Dog by: Susan Wilson. If you are interested in either book or the group in general as you don’t have to read the books and can just join in the conversations about animals, please stop by. If you do and decide to join please introduce yourself to them and tell them how you learned about the group and who you learned it from. Once there also tell about your pets and add photos of them in the photo section.

Previous group reads, which can be talked about at any time no matter how much time has passed since the initial reading, have been:

Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, by: Luis Carlos Montalvan

Last Dog on the Hill: The Extraordinary Life of Lou, by: Steve Duno

The New Work of Dogs: Tending to Life, Love, and Family, by: Jon Katz

The Dogs of War: The Courage, Love, Loyalty of Military Working Dogs, by: Lisa Rognak

There’s a Bear in the Basement, by: Gay Louise Balliet

The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption, by: Jim Gorant

Lost and Found, by: Amy Shojai

Taming Me: A Memoir of a Clever Island Cat, by: Cathy Unruh

Greyfriars Bobby, by: Betty Kirkpatrick

The Elephant Whisperer, by: Lawrence Anthony

Saving Gracie: How One Dog Escaped the Shadowy World of American Puppy Mills, by: Carol Bradley

Pasha, From Animal Shelter to A Sheltered Life, by: Inge H. Borg

Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds (Story of Elsa #1), by: Joy Adamson

Then coming up for April will be:

A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All, by: Luke Dempsey, and

Merle’s Door: Lessons From a Freethinking Dog, by: Ted Kerasote

So, if you love animals come check out this group, I’m sure you will love it!

Also, stop by my A & M Moonlight Creations Facebook Page, as I am having A Golden Retriever month starting on Monday: https://www.facebook.com/AMMoonlightCreations

During the Month of March, this month, ever Monday I will be posting a photo of a Golden Retriever with some facts about the breed.