Jennifer Priester's Blog, page 6

Review of Cheetaka, Queen of the Giants by Gita V. Reddy

I really enjoyed this book. If I could give half stars I would have given it four and a half instead of just four stars. Anyway I found the story to be very fast paced and the characters enjoyable. I especially loved that the giants were friendly. Before this the only book I had ever read with a friendly giant in it was The BFG. Giants, especially friendly, don’t tend to be chosen too often to be main characters in books so this book also felt very unique to me. 
The only thing I didn’t like about the book, though I understood the reasons for it, was the fact that magic is banned in the land of the giants. Until that revelation I thought that living among the giants sounded like a lot of fun. The giants under Cheetaka’s rule obviously enjoy an overall peaceful existence and I really love the queen’s rule regarding the wild animals, but I know I would never enjoy living in a fantasy world where I couldn’t have magical powers. 
While I received an advanced copy of this book to review, it didn’t affect my chosen rating or review in any way. This was also the first book I had ever read of this author’s and I am definitely going to be reading more of them.

Cheetaka, Queen of Giants can be found and purchased as an eBook from Amazon, https://animalsandmagic.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=698&action=edit, Smashwords, or iTunes.

Meet My Character Blog Tour

This tour highlights a main character from one of the WIP (works in progress), recently published, or soon to be published works of authors tagged. Last week I was tagged in this event by Rita Lee Chapman. Her bio and links are as follows:

“Rita Lee Chapman was born in the UK and migrated to Australia in her  early twenties.  It was only when she retired that she wrote her first  novel Missing in Egypt a romantic travel mystery. Her second book Winston – a Horse’s Tale is for horse lovers from teenagers upwards.  Told by Winston himself it relates his life experiences in Australia, as well as those of other horses he meets along the way. Rita enjoys playing tennis, reading, swimming, walking and the theatre.

Website: www.ritaleechapman.com

Now it’s my turn to post.

1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?

The name of the character I am posting about today is Asantra. Though she might argue otherwise, Asantra is fictional.

2) When and where is the story set?

The story is set in present day and takes place in two places, the Other Realm and the Mortal Realm.

3) What should we know about him/her?

Asantra is basically a good hearted witch and human-wolf shape shifter who is just beginning to learn about mortals and their realm. Asantra is highly adventurous, a bit stubborn and can be short tempered. These qualities often lead her into trouble.

4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

Asantra’s problems really begin with a bad experience in the Mortal Realm that leaves her believing that she hates mortals when one she thought was a friend acts very differently towards her upon discovering she is a witch. Previously Asantra had really enjoyed her adventures in the Mortal Realm but after this experience she comes to believe that this is the way all mortals probably are. Things are only made worse when Asantra comes to the age when it’s time for her to live in and go to school in the Mortal Realm as she brings her attitude towards mortals with her and has a hard time getting along with them.

5) What is the personal goal of the character?

Asantra really doesn’t have any personal goals at this point in time. She isn’t a very goal oriented type of person. Her main goal is just to have fun, though for a while Asantra’s goal seems to be to disprove her mom’s theory that witches and mortals can live together peacefully.

6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

The title of this book will be Mortal Realm Witch: The Magical Adventures of DWW2. If you would like to find out more about it you can do so by visiting the Mortal Realm Witch Series website at http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com. Besides learning about the book you can meet Asantra and the other characters in the Meet the Characters section of the site and find a link to some character interviews, as well as read a story featuring her in the Extra’s section. You can also discover more about Asantra and the other characters by visiting my Goodreads group: Character Chat: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/113088-character-chat.

7) When can we expect the book to be published?

I am expecting to publish this one sometime in 2015, though there is always a small chance it could be released near the end of 2014. In the meantime anyone interested in discovering the stories before Asantra’s appearance can read any of the currently released books in the Mortal Realm Witch Series which include; Book One, Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic, which features Asantra’s mom as a young witch who is just learning how to use her newly discovered magical powers and learn responsibility in the process, and Book Two, Mortal Realm Witch: The Magic Continues, which feature the continuing adventures of DWW.

Book Three, Mortal Realm Witch: Realms Unite? and Tales of Familiars: The First Mortal Realm Witch Series Companion are due out this month so there is plenty of reading you can do prior to meeting Asantra if you desire to do so. Or if Asantra’s the only character you currently have interest in then you are in luck as each book in the Series can be read individually and you will still get a full story. However you won’t get to see the progress of the characters or main series storyline as easily.

To continue this blog tour I was supposed to tag anywhere from 1 to 5 authors, however I tried to recruit some and was met with no response. If any of you are authors and would like to continue this blog tour, here is what you would have to do:

1) You will answer the same 7 questions I did in this post.

2) You will be required to post 1 week after I did which would be July 14th.

3) As seen in the beginning of my post, you will need to include a short bio of the person who tagged you as well as a link back to their blog. You will also want to include an explanation of the tour as I did at top.

4) At the end of your post if you managed to tag other authors you would add their bio and link at this point. Since I couldn’t get anyone I wasn’t able to do this.

5) This should actually be before #4, but if you accept my tag, you will than attempt to tag up to five other authors and give them the rules of this tour. They will have to post one week after you do so if you accept my tag and post on the 14th, then the authors you tag will post on the 21st.

Will you consider yourself tagged and continue this tour?

 

 

 

All Authors Blog Blitz

Welcome to the second annual All Authors Blog Blitz. Those of you who followed my blog last year may remember this event. For anyone who doesn’t know, or doesn’t remember, the All Authors Blog Blitz is a yearly event in which authors are partnered up and are featured on each others blogs. This year the author featured on my blog is Devorah Fox. Likewise my post for this year is on her blog so be sure to check out my post about what makes being an author worth it: http://devorahfox.com/index.php/2014/06/all-authors-blog-blitz/, but first please read on and enjoy.

Devorah Fox is thrilled to be one of fifteen authors who will be reading from their work in the Third Annual Rockport Writers Roundup, Saturday, June 21, 2014 at the Estelle Stair Gallery in Rockport, Texas. Devorah will read from her novel, Naked Came the Sharks, a contemporary thriller set in the Texas Coastal Bend that she co-authored with Jed Donellie.

Here’s an excerpt. Holly Berry has returned to her hometown of Bonafides, Texas, to settle her father’s estate. Accompanied by her brother, Tres, she is trying to get information from the doctor who signed the death certificate.

*****

 

Just as Holly shrugged in defeat the door opened to reveal a shrunken, wrinkled man with uncombed white hair and a stubbly chin. His sleeveless undershirt was yellow with age and his faded twill shorts were ragged at the hem. A parrot missing most of its chest feathers perched on his shoulder. The man and the bird peered at the two callers.

“Sorry, I’m not seeing any new patients,” said the man. “Not seeing any old ones, neither.”

“Doctor Billy—Doctor Roberts,” Holly said, pushing her way into the dark, stuffy foyer. “I’m not here as a patient. I’m here about a patient. Clark Rivera.”

Oh, no, Tres thought, and felt suddenly chill despite the heat of the day.

“Open wide,” the bird said.

Frowning, Doctor Billy Bob studied his bare feet housed in foam rubber flip-flops, then gazed the ceiling. Holly described her father. Roberts thought some more. Finally he said, “Clark Rivera. He wasn’t no patient. He was dead.”

“Yessir. He was. You pronounced him.”

Roberts nodded. “Of a heart attack.”

“This won’t hurt a bit,” said the bird.

“You’re sure? You’re certain that’s what he died of?” Holly asked, twisting her hair.

“Course I’m sure. That’s what you told me.”

“Me?” Holly said. “I wasn’t there.”

“Were too.” Doctor Billy Bob pursed his lips and nodded.

“You must be confusing me with my brother.” Holly turned toward Tres.

The doc peered at Tres. “Well, I’ll be,” said the doctor. “Twins.”

“Not exactly, but it’s not important. So you didn’t examine my father?” Holly asked.

“Nothing to examine. Right, Doctor Roberts?” said Tres. It was hard to sound cool and casual with his heart in his throat.

Doctor Billy Bob shook his head. “Uh, right. Didn’t have to. He was dead. Nothin’ I could do for him.”

“Just a little stick, just a little stick,” said the bird.

“But the cause of death, weren’t you concerned about that?”

“Nothing to be concerned about. Right, Doctor Roberts?” Tres said.

“Uh, right. Man was dead. I pronounced him dead. Someone wanted to know what he died of, they should have asked the M. E.”

“It’ll be over in a minute,” said the bird.

“But a heart attack? What about the big wound in his head?” Holly asked.

“What wound?”

Holly tapped her own skull. “Here.”

The doctor squinted at Holly. “I don’t see no wound, girlie. You got a little scrape there but it certainly ain’t no big wound.”

“Not me,” Holly said. “My father. The dead man.”

“Didn’t see no wound there, neither,” Doctor Roberts said. “When I saw the man, he was laying on the floor in his home office room. I didn’t move him any. I just checked his heart and it wasn’t beating.”

“If the heart isn’t beating, you’ve had a heart attack. Right, Doctor Roberts?” asked Tres.

“Right.”

“Open wide,” said the bird.

“You’re sure you didn’t see where his skull was cracked?”

“Sure I’m sure.”

Holly propped her hands on her hips. “I don’t believe you. It was plain as day.”

Roberts made a face. “Hell, woman, the man was lying on his back.”

“And you didn’t even turn him over?”

“Open wide, honey, open wide,” said the bird.

“What for? He was dead. I could tell that without rolling him all around the floor.”

Holly groaned and threw her hands up in the air in frustration. She turned to go.

Roberts said, “Ma’am?”

“What?”

“Speaking of bumps on the head, that’s one you got there does look nasty. If I was you, I’d have a doctor look at that.”

“Open wide, honey, here I come,” the bird cried, and let out a cackle.

 

*****

 

Find Naked Came the Sharks in paperback, hardback, and ebook formats on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Came-Sharks-Jed-Donellie-ebook/dp/B00HFFBOW6 and

smashwords, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/390731:

 

Connect with Devorah:

 

email: devorahfox@aol.com

Website: http://devorahfox.com

Twitter: @devorah_fox   http://twitter.com/devorah_fox

FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/DevorahFoxAuthor

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DevorahFox

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2751371.Devorah_Fox

scribd.com: http://www.scribd.com/devorahfox

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/devorahfox

 

and look for Devorah’s newest release, The King’s Redress, Book Three in the epic fantasy series, The Bewildering Adventures of King Bewilliam, launching July 4, 2014.

Now that you have read this post, don’t forget to check out mine on Devorah’s blog: http://devorahfox.com/index.php/2014/06/all-authors-blog-blitz/

After Mortal Realm Witch

Recently I began working on the last stories that will be part of the Mortal Realm Witch series. The series will have six books as part of the main series storyline as well as two companions and a guidebook. While only the first two books, Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic, and Mortal Realm Witch: The Magic Continues, are out now, the next two, Tales of Familiars: The First Mortal Realm Witch Series Companion, and Mortal Realm Witch: Realms Unite? are due out by this summer. With half of the series almost out I really began thinking about what’s next.

I currently have many books in the works. Mortal Realm Witch: Realms Unite? features the characters from The Young Animals Psychics-one of the books I am currently working on. It would be easy to say this book should be published next. However, Book Four, Mortal Realm Witch: The Magical Adventures of DWW2 features some of the characters from yet another of my works in progress-Heroes United.

While both of the above mentioned books would be good releases since my readers will have already met many of the characters, it would also be nice to have more of a variety of books for a wider range of readers.

All books will be released at some point in time and current information about the books I have in progress can always be found here: http://www.jenniferpriester.com/availablebooks/intheworks.html

At this time I have decided to run a poll, which will be open for voting for a week, featuring every book I have that is far enough progressed to be considered for publication after I release the final Mortal Realm Witch book.

This poll does not include every book I am working on so if one of my other books interest you more than the ones in the poll you can add it either to the poll or in the comments. While the books I have listed in this poll are the ones that will be published first, this will help determine the order I work on and release the other books.

Take Our Poll

Books & Cooks 2014

As those of you who saw my previous post know, I attended this years Books & Cooks event at Madison Library as one of the authors. The event itself was pretty good and I recommend going in a following year if you ever get a chance. During the event I had a small table and display. This is actually not the smallest space I have ever had. Right behind me was the library’s section for books in the same age level as my own and yes I did borrow a lot of books from this section while I was there.

At this event I expected to see a lot of new authors. Before coming I also expected to see an author I knew from the previous days event. What I didn’t expect was that I would actually know two authors there and that the only two I knew would be my neighbors. Closer to the end of the event I went around to the other authors tables. It should come to no surprise to anyone that I found a book I wanted to get. The book was Bash and the Pirate Pig by: Burton W. Cole.

The day didn’t end with myself buying this book. I also got my picture taken with Burton twice as he liked what I was wearing. First this picture was taken:

This one just features myself in my Batman hoodie with Burton and his book.

Second was this one:

This one features much of the same thing only I am not wearing the hood and Burton is holding one of the promotion cards for my Mortal Realm Witch series. So far I think this was one of the strangest things I have had happen at an event, but it was also fun. Burton is a fun author and if you get a chance I definitely suggest checking out at least his Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Burton-W-Cole/136002170959. He really knows how to have fun with it.

Currently Burton has released two children’s books. Bash and the Pirate Pig can be found as a hardback print book or a Kindle book on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Bash-Pirate-Pig-Burton-Cole-ebook/dp/B00EV8YO2C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398494773&sr=8-2&keywords=Burton+Cole

The second book, Bash and the Chicken Coop Caper is also available in both editions from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bash-Chicken-Coop-Caper-Burton-ebook/dp/B00JPOZ6LA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398495450&sr=8-1&keywords=Burton+Cole

You can see more photos of myself on my Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennif....

I recently created albums for 2012-2013 events and 2014 events. Today I also added an album for events that I am attending in the future, so if you live in Ohio, have Facebook, and are interested, be sure to check that out as well.

And, as always, you can learn more about my books in the following places: The Mortal Realm Witch series:

http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com,

https://www.facebook.com/funwithcharacters,

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/113088-character-chat

More about myself and books in progress can be found at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Priester/347205725374070,

http://www.jenniferpriester.com,

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6607975.Jennifer_Priester,

AM Moonlight Creations on Pinterest,

Jennifer Priester on Google +,

and @animalsandmagic on Twitter.

 

 

 

Easter Bunny Contest Postponed, What’s Next, Books & Cooks

Due to lack of time to get the contest post edited in time for this week’s post, I have decided to postpone the contest until next year. While this is a long wait, next year I will post the contest early in the Easter season in order to give everyone enough time to vote for their favorite rabbit, as well as to give myself enough time to write you all the best story possible.

I have many new blog posts written and will begin scheduling them soon. Expect to see these new posts every weekend beginning either the Friday or Saturday after Easter. Until then I won’t be posting anything. Instead I will be getting my posts blog ready as they are currently written down on notebook paper.

Now, because this is a book related blog and my author blog,

I want to mention one last thing to everyone.

If you live in Ohio and are near the Madison library, I feel I should let you know that this Monday they are holding their annual Books & Cooks event. There will be several local authors there, as well as lot’s of food. To learn more about the event you can look it up on Madison library’s website, or if you would like to stop by and just need the event’s hours and/or the library’s address, you can visit my website, http://www.jenniferpriester.com, as I will be one of the authors attending.

A Bunch of Bunnies

Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted something and that this is a Saturday post rather than the Friday ones you have become used to. Things have been a bit busy lately and I haven’t had time to post or create any new scheduled ones. I promise that new and more fun posts are on the way along with more book reviews and other things besides these picture posts I have been making lately.

Anyway,  in honor of both spring and Easter I thought I would share some of my photo collages and photos featuring rabbits. And next week watch out for my second post featuring photos of rabbits that YOU will get to choose from to decide who will be the Easter bunny and have an exclusive short story written about them which I plan on writing and posting in the week following.

In this first collage we have my two Mini Rex rabbits Chibi and his sister Kojikaki. Kojikaki is currently my only rabbit.

In collage two we have my first rescue pet, Oreo as a baby, Oreo as an adult, and Oreo 2. Oreo remains my favorite of all the rabbits I have owned.

Collage three features wild baby bunnies that were found in our gardens carrot patch a few years back. I have pics of them from before their eyes were open, but have yet to make a collage with them.

And this final Photoshopped pic was once going to be used in a fund-raising calendar as the Easter photo. The calendar was never created so now I just share it with people occasionally. This pic features both Chibi the rabbit and Levi the horse. While in reality the two never met, I believe they would have gotten along really well.

  

Hard Treats No More-A Picture Story Featuring My Chihuahua, Taco

Many people give dogs hard treats to help their teeth. Once I did this with Taco until I discovered that my dog just isn’t like other dogs. This is the picture story of the day I finally gave up giving him hard treats. He does have and eats semi-hard treats, treats that are hard enough to minimally help his teeth but can be broken and chewed easily.

While that is a good thing, it is not the story. So, without further delay, here is our story.

First I gave Taco the treat and he spent a few moments observing it.

Next he began chewing on it a little.

A few seconds later he switches to chewing it on the other side of his mouth.

Then he quickly decides to return to chewing on the other side of his mouth again. He appeared to be enjoying the treat.

A little while later he switches sides again. This is the side he normally chews food and treats on though he is now missing one of his back teeth so it’s become a bit hard for him to do.

Taco now switches to using his front teeth and tongue in an attempt to get the treat softer. The mark by his eye is toothpaste that he hadn’t yet let me clean off. We often had toothpaste problems before I discovered the tiny toothbrush that I got from the vet, and can only find there, works best. Though I only learned this after buying and trying every small dog brush at the nearby petstores. We still make a mess with toothpaste sometimes but not nearly as much.

Having failed to soften the treat in a short period of time, the no longer than five minutes in which this photo session took place, Taco puts down the treat. He then looks at me with the camera and wonders why I am taking pictures of him.

Normally this next photo wouldn’t happen, but this time he decided to give the treat one more try.

He had to try it on both sides again and once again he attempted to soften it for a few seconds.

While he was softening the treat I grabbed a piece of dog food out of his bowl and placed it next to him to see what he would do. Curious of what I put there Taco almost immediately drops the treat to check it out.

I thought he would go back to eating the treat but he didn’t. Instead Taco ate the regular dog food. This is the same dog who buries treats in his bed and other various locations to dig up and eat when he is hungry instead of eating his dog food, so for him to do this his regular food had to interest him more.

The pictures end with the above image but what happened next is that Taco went over to his dog bowl to eat his food instead of the treat. Neither that day or the rest of the week, in which I allowed the treat to remain where it was, did Taco ever return to it. I eventually got rid of the old treat and gave him a fresh which he simply ignored and eventually I had to get rid of that one as well. Having a whole bag of those treats I later found a friend with a dog who would actually eat the treats and gave them away.

And that is when and why I eventually gave up giving my dog hard treats and just started brushing them more instead. I would eventually attempt to try dental spray with him, and still use it occasionally, where I would learn it’s easier to brush my dogs teeth than get him to open his mouth for the spray which he fights more than a bath.

Taco is definitely not the average dog.

If ever you want to know more about him you can see him in the Meet the Anipals section on http://www.jenniferpriester.com and/or for a photo gallery and videos, along with occasional updates from the life of Taco, you can visit his cuteness.com profile. The link to this can be found at the end

of his section on the above mentioned website.

What My First Dog Taught Me

Learning about dog breeds from the wrong sources often leads to breed prejudices sometimes leading to judging the breed before knowing the dog…

My first dog was not at all what I expected him to be. When I thought about a dog back then the first breeds that came to my mind were Golden Retrievers and Labradors. The    dog I got was neither. Instead of a large, friendly big breed dog what I got was a cute and fluffy Toy Poodle puppy.

You might think that because he was not what I expected to get that I would be disappointed but I wasn’t. In fact when I first saw him I was excited because he was my new puppy and at the time that’s all that mattered. However, throughout the years, while I was proud of the fact that I had my dog, I usually kept his breeding a secret.

Typically when people think of Poodle’s they think of them being girly dogs that are always perfectly groomed, and often wear clothes to match their owners or have their nails painted, and things like this. They don’t really think of them as dogs at all. I was one of these people who once thought that what you see of poodles in TV and Movies or read about in many books, is exactly what a poodle was. Even after owning one and discovering that poodles were just like any other dog, I knew what other people would think if they knew I had one of these dogs so aside from my closest friends, no one knew I had a Toy Poodle.  

CeJaye was a senior by the time I finally began to really see the dog I had. I started taking him out more for walks, often just me and him. Sometimes a friend and I would take him places where we would see people we knew, which previously would have been a bad thing but at this point I was willing to admit to my dog’s breeding after finally figuring out that the dog he was-the dog I owned-was more important than what breed he was and this was something worth showing off. For being a bit overprotective at home he was remarkably good with people on walks.

So a few years later, when I met the Chihuahua, Taco, another breed of which I learned about more through the myths of the breed as presented in media, because of what I learned from CeJaye it was easy for me to look past his breed and get to know the dog he was. Then because I got to know him I found it easy to get attached to the wacky little dog, and when he needed a home I knew he had to be mine.

Most recently I was evaluating what kind of dog I am looking for. I thought about personality, fur type, size, and reasons I wanted a dog among other things and was a bit surprised at what I discovered. As it turns out my perfect dog is a Toy Poodle. I definitely didn’t see that one coming. So, it looks like when the time comes I will be spending a lot of time watching the local animal shelters for a Toy Poodle.

Note: The Chihuahua Taco is still around and is currently performing his duties as my biggest source of inspiration. He is also in the running to become the mascot of my company A & M Moonlight Creations.

You can learn more about CeJaye and Taco at www.jenniferpriester.com in the Meet the Anipals section.

Answering My Own Crazy Questions

Last week I told you I would answer my questions for fun. Now here are my answers:

1) If you were to picture yourself as an animal what would you be and why?

I would be a wolf simply because wolves are my favorite animals and being one seems like it would be a lot of fun.

2) Do you play video games? If so what game is your favorite?

I play a lot of video games. My favorite is still Kingdom Hearts.

3) What fictional world would you love to be a part of and why?

I would live in the world of DC comics because most of my favorite superheroes are there.

4) If you were a superhero’s sidekick what superhero would you want to be partnered up with most?

Although, my favorite heroes remain Beast Boy and Krypto the Superdog, the superhero I would want to be partnered up with most is Superman.

5) If you were a smurf what would your name be?

Probably something like Distracted Smurf or Procrastinator Smurf.

6) Quick, name a book! What book did you think of first?

This took me several tries before I actually got a book title instead of a TV show title or words that make absolutely no sense, but eventually the book title of Scruffy came to mind.

7) What one food do you think you could never get tired of eating?

At the moment it seems as if I will never get tired of apples.

8) What’s one thing you wish somebody would invent?

Video games that are almost realistic but also have the option to be played like regular games if the player wanted to since some games could require a lot of movement otherwise. In these games the simulated characters are realistic in the sense that they make their own thoughts and actions while still having programmed limitations to keep them in character. Virtual pet games, such as those with dogs would allow for a real pet experience in a world that always changes like the real world almost. You could then have different experiences each day and every dog you own would have it’s own personality, keeping certain in game tasks from being overly repetitive. RPG’s, depending on the type, would allow you to almost literally use magic, the motions of the weapon used would feel real, and if there are other characters in your party, you can command them as you want only due to things listed above there is no telling whether they would listen or not. In most games, player’s actions would decide many factors in how the game works. Although many would also have a storyline to complete, others would be completely open ended leaving the player able to tell their own story.

9) Who is your favorite fictional character and what do you like about them?

I actually have too many favorite fictional characters to choose just one.

10) If you could have an animal character from either a book, TV show, or movie, which would you choose and why?

I would probably choose Comet from Sue Bentley’s Magic Ponies series. I think Comet would be fun to have because he is a talking pony with magical powers.