Lani Lenore's Blog, page 9

A New Year…

So, it’s 2014 now. I’m not so sure I was ready. I think for the first time ever as the clock was ticking down last night, I sort of wanted to stop it. For some reason I wasn’t ready for a new year to begin and I don’t know why. Maybe because I thought I was just getting a handle on last year, or because it went by so fast, or even because I have some regret (??) which I don’t know how to recognize.

So now it is 2014 and while I’m not sure how I feel about that, I can’t exactly be disappointed with what I accomplished last year. I was brave with my writing and learned a lot of new things – had some good publishing and editing experiences. Now I’m trying to focus on what I want to accomplish this year, make some resolutions and get myself on track to my dreams.

One thing I know that I did well last year was that I really did move forward with my books. I brought several of my books to the published world, and while I can’t say I made a significant amount of money, it helped me feel better about my situation as far as how much time I spend writing vs other things I could be doing (like getting a ‘real’ job). So in that way I was satisfied. I haven’t given up on my dreams yet!  This kept me busy all year, and at least kept me out of the throes of depression over how I hadn’t been acknowledged. I gathered courage and I moved forward with my life. I’m proud of myself for that.

Okay so speaking of my books, of course you know that Forsaken Dreamscape is going to be released in February. I’m still working on it just a bit but I’m 90% done with my last edit, and after that I can set it up for preorder. (Again, I’ll talk about the preorder benefits once it’s actually available, but I’ll give you a hint and say that there are several benefits for you and for me, including a lower price.)

In the meantime, I’m gradually posting chapters of the new version on Wattpad as a preview. I think there are 4 chapters posted right now, so if you haven’t, go check that out. HERE

I know that this year has many new things in store for me and also a lot more work on my books, but I’m still feeling pretty good about it and I’m ready to do it again! I hope you’ll all be there with me as I continue on with the Nevermor trilogy and advance with my other works as well.

Thanks for a great 2013 full of support and love!

NaNo Fail…but New Announcements!

I regret to say that despite my efforts, I did not manage to complete NaNoWriMo this year. I was seriously lacking inspiration with no time to look for it and the next thing I knew, I had fallen behind in the word count and couldn’t seem to make it up.  In the end I wound up with 35K of the 50 for Nevermor book 3, but I’m not too disappointed with that. It gave me a good start (that actually surprised me when it hit the pages) and gave me some good perspective on some minor changes I need to make to book 2.

So, now once again I return to reading Forsaken Dreamscape and observing the book layout. It’s in good shape, but I need to be sure it’s right the first time, unlike I did with Nevermor when I felt I was updating the version every week because of typos. Lesson learned. I’ve already had a proof of the book printed (looks great on the outside, by the way) and I’m reviewing it. So far, so good.

I don’t have much time left to do what I need to!  In fact, there are only 2.5 months until the release on February 11, and even less for me since now I have to get ready to set it up for preorder! But I’m looking forward to it!

Okay, I have a few things to announce, so here we go!

I’ve started a preview of the new Forsaken Dreamscape on Wattpad. I’ve offered a couple of excepts here, but this is actually going to be the first few chapters from the beginning of the book. It currently includes the Prologue and Chapter One. I’m going to post a new chapter every couple of weeks until the preview is complete. It looks like I might be finished up with the preview chapters (5 or 6) by the end of January, which makes the timing great for the official release! Hopefully this is something you will look forward to. Read it here: http://www.wattpad.com/story/10305325-forsaken-dreamscape-nevermor-2

Special price on Nevermor (Book 1) for December – If you still haven’t gotten a copy of Nevermor, I’ve put the ebook versions on sale at $4.99 (formerly $6.99) The price will vary based on territory and currency. Also, Kindle is reaching to more countries all the time, so it might be available to you when it wasn’t before. (Note: If you go directly to look for the special price, note that it might take a day or two for it to show up on different sites, so you can just wait until it changes.)

Nevermor is now available with Kindle Matchbook – Okay this is an interesting thing. Kindle Matchbook allows readers who have purchased the PRINT version of the book to also acquire the Kindle version at a deep discount. So, if you have already purchased the print version of Nevermor, you can now get the Kindle version as well for 0.99 instead of full price!

Roses and Black Glass has been approved for PRINT! (finally) – It’s my fault that I dragged my feet on this, but I’ve finally given my attention back to it and got it finished! It is not available through Amazon yet (5-7 days hopefully) but you can order it directly through CreateSpace if you don’t want to wait: https://www.createspace.com/4465043

I think that’s it for now…but I’ll likely be back with more soon.

It’s been over a year since I started working with Nevermor, and though it has been a lot of hard work, I don’t think there is anything more rewarding than having my book in print on my own shelf, and knowing that others own it as well! It’s really a great feeling and I am still thankful to my fans who have been as excited as I am about these projects! Thanks so much to all of you. We still have a long way to go!

Forsaken Dreamscape – First Look – The Mermaid

Well, it’s a little over halfway through November, and I hate to admit that I’ve fallen a little behind in my work for NaNoWriMo – being my start to Nevermor Book 3. Even though I’m pretty much 10K behind schedule, I’m confident I can catch up if I put some effort into it. Even if I am unable to do this, I’ve still gotten a good start on book 3 with 24.6K words, and that will help give me some insight into what the future holds and how I can improve Forsaken Dreamscape to line up with it better.

But in the meantime, I have another Forsaken Dreamscape excerpt for you!

If you’ve read Nevermor, you no doubt remember the mermaids that were introduced.  The mermaids were always an important element in Peter Pan – at least to me – and I had to find some way to include them, which I did, of course. If they were nasty then, of course you might only imagine what has happened to them now.

If you read the Peter Pan version of Forsaken Dreamscape, you may remember that Wren’s encounter with the mermaid was one of the first major monster encounters in the new world, and as I was rewriting, I found that it was a section that I wasn’t happy with, but I wanted to be able to keep it in some way, because the exchange was somewhat important to to storyline.

The scene, in its old form, played out like a videogame to me – which was probably my mindframe at the time I started writing it. Wendy was alone, forced to cross a stretch of rocks across the lagoon.  There was involvement with a mermaid and the legendary crocodile (which of course does not exist in this version), so this is a section I had to rework completely and give it an entirely new idea. Because of how I had changed a portion of the story ahead of it, I believe I have given it a better flow this time around.

This is also the preview section that I have updated at the end of the print version of Nevermor. Enjoy!

—-

Wren found a place within the rocks, watching the fight clandestinely, listening to the clang of steel against stone as Rifter forced the crystalized abomination away from her.  She could hear their battle echoing off the walls, spiraling down through the cavern in all directions.  She held her breath but Rifter maneuvered carefully, letting the monster chase him into another branch of the cavern.  It gave no thought to following after him angrily.

I hope he will be alright.  But she did not quite doubt that.  Rifter had always been capable.

Even once the beast was out of sight, Wren kept herself hidden behind some taller stalagmites, but stayed away from the edge of the water.  This pool looked horribly menacing to her, not knowing what was down in it, and that was perhaps what frightened her most.  It was like staring into the dark, aware that it was full of living things – and possibly monsters – that could not be seen.  There could be any form of strange creature waiting to swallow her whole at the slightest whiff.

Shuddering, she tried not to think about what might be waiting for her.  Instead, she smoothed her dress around her legs and leaned back against a rock, trying to control her breathing.  Rifter would be back soon.  She trusted that.

The water hardly stirred here, sitting soundlessly between the rock pillars.  The air was cool against her skin, but so thick that she could feel it weighing her down.

The whole world is like this now – cloudy and hidden, deceptive and dark.  Would she remain untouched by this corruption if she stayed here?  She might have wondered, but she knew she had no choice.  This was her home, as it had always been.  All there was to do was find a way to deliver it.

“What are you doing here?”  Wren snapped up at the sound of the voice.  It was unfamiliar and had seemed to come from everywhere, until Wren finally realized that it was nowhere except inside her head.  It was soft and smooth, feminine, but Wren sensed a menacing note as it spoke to her.

Startled enough that she almost lost her footing, Wren peered through the ominous dark, finally glimpsing the one who had addressed her.  There, watching her from within the water, was a pale face, blue like a strangled corpse.  The top of the head was barely visible, but Wren could see the shining, silver eyes that reflected the light of the crystals, and she was able to deduce what it was.

A mermaid…  Wren was not a stranger to this sort of beast, though perhaps these beings were some of Nevermor’s original inhabitants, to her, these fish-tailed nymphs were as bad as the nightmares.

Slowly, the creature drifted closer, rising up from the water and wrapping herself around a rock.  Wren could see that the mermaid was quite different from what she remembered, and she could not think to call her anything other than a monster.

The mermaid was utterly thin and Wren was certain that she could make out all of her ribs beneath the tangled hair that hung around her.  The strands were as dry as seaweed, colored like blood and rust, spilling over her barnacle-covered breast and shoulders.  Her flesh was like cracked stone or peeling paint.  Her face had been beautiful once, perhaps, but no more.  Whatever youthful and lovely glow the mermaid had once possessed was gone.

Wren remembered seeing the mermaids for the first time.  She had been jealous of the way Rifter had looked at them, their faces and bodies so desirable, but that problem seemed to have been absolved with time – and this darkness.  There was nothing at all to envy now.

When Wren did not respond immediately to the posed question, the mermaid repeated herself.

“Speak to me, precious,” the voice urged.  “A rare treat such as you has not crossed me in a long time.”

Wren was not sure how to answer, caught up in her staring as she was.

It’s not polite to stare, she reminded herself now, but couldn’t keep from it.

The mermaid leered back at her, examining Wren from the spirals of her hair to the tips of her shoes.  She did not seem impressed.

“I know who you are,” the mermaid said snidely.  Wren knew better than to respond to this creature.  Rifter had warned her about them in the past.  Once, she had been hypnotized by their song and several had tried to drown her, but she’d not been aware that they could speak her language, even as telepathy.

“You are the Wren, aren’t you?  The Rifter’s whore,” the mermaid declared, splashing her fin around in the water.  “Much has been said about you.  You are not welcome here!”

Wren was surprised by those callous words, yet she couldn’t ignore them.  She had opened her mouth and spoken before she could remind herself not to.

“What do you mean?”

The mangled mermaid came down off the rock and swam closer, silently gliding through the water like a snake.  Wren lost sight of her for a moment until she reemerged, closer, but not near enough to be a threat.

“It has been said that a horrible demon will come, which will bring even more famine and decay to us here.  It’s said that this demon rules over even Rifter’s demon and will arrive in the disguise of a young woman.  It must be you!”

Rifter’s demon?  Wren was shocked at that – didn’t understand what it meant.  This was the first she’d heard of a demon.

The mermaid looked Wren up and down with hungry eyes, carefully examining her features.  This made her uncomfortable, as if she was a slab on a butcher’s block.  The cave was silent around them – even Rifter’s battle with the crystal beast had gone quiet in the distance.

“You think I am evil?” Wren asked in confusion.  “I had nothing to do with this!”

“Anything Rifter brings is evil,” the mermaid swore to her.  “He is possessed!  The Scourge is the only one who might kill the Rifter, and we pray for his return.  When the Rifter is dead, this curse will finally be lifted!”

“No, that can’t be true!” Wren declared, feeling a bit weak in the knees.  “The Scourge has done this!  He has twisted your thoughts!”

“You should not worry about this now,” the mermaid declared, rising from the water a bit, moving closer.  Wren instinctively stepped back.  “Look at you – standing there with your perfect skin and young body!  Your beautiful hair!  We mermaids were once the most beautiful, you know!  I will enjoy killing you just for that!”

“This is wrong!” Wren insisted. “Rifter would never hurt this world!”

“Enough of this!” the mermaid screeched in a horrible tone like scraping metal.  “Perhaps I have lost my voice, but I can still manage to kill you!”

The mermaid lurched forward in an attempt to pull herself up from the water and onto the cavern floor, but Wren got herself out of reached by moving farther up onto the raised area of the slope.

“Wait!” she protested, trying to think of a way to make her case.  “I’m not a demon!  Neither is Rifter!  It’s all a mistake!”

The mermaid released a shrill laugh, casting off the distraction, crawling rapidly from the muck to grab at the ends of Wren’s dress.

“You’re nothing but a nasty trick!  Join me for a swim, demon!  The water will cool you off!”

Before Wren could remember that she was supposed to be getting herself out of reach, the mer-creature managed to catch her gown, tugging violently to pull Wren closer.

“Stop!” she cried, clenching a pointed stalagmite with one hand while fighting for her gown with the other.  She kicked toward the mermaid’s face, making her lurch back, and finally the monster released her gown with a gracious rip as her claws slid through the cloth.

The mermaid, beached now but not seeming to care, crawled forward with more vigor than Wren had suspected her for, flipping her tail to spray Wren with the dark water.  The cold, rancid liquid splashed into Wren’s eyes and she realized that she was at the disadvantage – as she always seemed to be.  This mermaid planned to drown her or otherwise kill her some other way.  She had to think, but nothing would come and she was feeling desperate.  She could not take anymore.

“Rifter!” she screamed, letting her voice echo across the water and down through the tunnels, praying that help would come.

At the sound of his name, the mermaid before her looked up with a star of panic in her eye.

“He’s here?  You brought him here?  You wretched demon!  You have brought this upon us!”

Wren did not hear another word.  In an instant, Rifter was there, landing on top of the mermaid, gripping her neck.  He bent her upward and reached in, slitting her throat with one motion.

Wren flinched at the sight, not wanting to look, but this was not the first time she had seen him do something like this.  He had never given a second thought to killing, and she had come to understand his reasons a bit more over time, but she still could not get used to it.

“Rifter, you –!” she started with relief, but she did not manage another word.

His eyes flashed as he stared at the cascade of blood flowing out from the dying mermaid’s neck, and he didn’t even seem to recall that Wren was there as he opened his mouth of sharp teeth and ripped into the creature’s throat.

__

And there you have it! I hope this was enough to tide you over for a bit as I continue with NaNo and get ready for the next step in releasing Forsaken Dreamscape to you!

Forsaken Dreamscape Cover Art Revealed!

I’ve been promising this for a while, and it’s finally here!

A very important moment in the life of any book is when the cover is assigned, giving that first impression of what might be inside, setting the tone, presenting the genre and catching the eye.

I’ve been very particular about my cover art, and at least feel that I have a decent eye for it. So, when I once again got together with Omri Koresh, the artist I hired to do all three covers, I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. I was pretty specific, and of course he added his own touches, and voila! The Forsaken Dreamscape cover was born!

I’m very pleased with it and think it gives the perfect impression of Book 2 in the Nevermor Trilogy! So what do you think of it?

This cover depicts Wren, of course. You can post it around if you’d like, share it on your blog – whatever.

Now that I have shared the cover image, I’m going to work on setting up the first few chapters for a Wattpad preview, which should appear within the next few weeks. The new version is going to take the place of the old version of Forsaken Dreamscape, and if you are following that story you should get notifications. I’m going to post a chapter every couple of weeks until I decide to stop (Probably around 5 chaps), and then after that there should be a couple of months left before the release of the book, but it will hopefully be available for preorder after that. (More about that when it happens), but I want it up for preorder before Christmas if I can.

In related news, I’m also pleased to announce that Nevermor book 1 has gotten a makeover, not on the front but on it’s back cover and spine. It now shows the volume number on the spine, the back cover layout is better looking, the description is shorter, and there is also a preview of the other book covers laid out across the back. I think it looks much better, and I have Omri Koresh to thank for that as well! Forsaken Dreamscape will have this same layout with the volume number on the spine.

I also added a sneak peek at Forsaken Dreamscape in this printed version – an excerpt that I have not yet revealed! (Adding a few more pages also made the spine line up better.)

So! All that said and done, I hope you like it, and Happy Halloween!!

Nevermor – more retailers, more worldwide options

A few days ago, I decided to run a Google search for Nevermor just to see what came up. I know it seems like something I might have done before now, but I haven’t. I’m always afraid of what might pop up if I do. Anywho, I was looking for any blog reviews that I might not know about, but what I found instead was a surprise. Nevermor is actually being sold through more online retailers than I thought, and in more countries than I thought!

It might seem a bit odd for me not to know this stuff, but once I publish it through CreateSpace (which is what has happened because most of the instances I found were for the print book) I don’t exactly get informed of exactly where it will be available or who the partners are. Some of these might not be major retailers, but these are some of the listings I found. I might be able to look into it to find more, but for now, this is what I have.

This page will be updated as I find more, and I may link it back to the home page.

***Listings for online purchase of Nevermor print book***

Amazon listings in all countries should be carrying this book. I have only been throwing the links around for the US order page, but you should be able to find it on any Amazon page, however it is only available in English! If you wish to find it, try seeking ‘Lani Lenore’ instead of Nevermor. That tends to work better.

Australia

http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Nevermor-Lani-Lenore/9781482638400

http://www.angusrobertson.com.au/book/nevermor/41443224/

Book World – http://www.bookworld.com.au/book/nevermor/41443224/

Croatia

http://www.superbookshop.net/index.php?page=book&ean=9781482638400

South Africa

http://www.loot.co.za/product/lani-lenore-nevermor/fpln-2609-g000

http://www.wantitall.co.za/Lani-Lenore/Books/Author/Filter/p1

India

Book Adda – http://www.bookadda.com/books/nevermor-volume-1-lani-lenore-1482638401-9781482638400

New Zealand

The Nile – http://www.thenile.co.nz/books/Lani-Lenore/Nevermor/9781482638400/

***Helpful Hint – If you run your own search through your favorite retailer to see if they carry Nevermor, it helps to add my name to it. You’ll get a lot of weird results, and the search always wants to change ‘Nevermor’ to ‘Nevermore’. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there! Just search ‘Lani Lenore’ or ‘Nevermor Lani Lenore‘ to find it.***

NaNoWriMo 2013

It’ll be National Novel Writing Month again soon (November) and I don’t miss it if I can help it! The first time I tried it, I was unsure about the ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ approach, and my first attempt failed, but after discovering that I could plan ahead of time and pace myself in writing, I am now able to love NaNoWriMo, and I try to do it every year. After planning, I enjoy pushing myself to hit the wordcount everyday and finishing off with a good chunk of story!  (I rarely finish any novel during NaNo) Last year, I was working on Nevermor during NaNo. This year, I believe I’ll be adjusting Forsaken Dreamscape and starting Book 3 in the Nevermor trilogy!

I’m going to try not to let NaNo interfere too much with what I need to do for Nevermor and Forsaken Dreamscape, but it does mean I’ll be extra busy. I still intend to be active with the blog and keep you updated with news as I go along, but at the same time I need to get at least 50,000 words written during the month! It’s going to get a little hectic, but I’m up for it.

For those who are also doing NaNo this year, I welcome you to join me (L.C. Lenore), friend me, get some writing done, and even work to keep ahead of me if you want to.

–

In Nevermor news, I’m still trucking along with Forsaken Dreamscape and preparing it for publication! Even though I’ve already released a few of my books, it’s still exciting to have another book out for sale (and especially in print, which is my favorite thing!!). I’ve been more focused on the Nevermor series than any of my other works, but after this year I plan to focus on bringing a few of my other stories to the world, and maybe even write something new!

I have also been promising that Roses and Black Glass will be out in print, and I have a lot of that set up as well, but I haven’t managed to get the cover put together, which I find is the most difficult part. It’s great when I hire someone to do it for me, but when I’m preparing the file myself (with my crappy graphics programs) it never fails to annoy me seriously! But I’ll get there before too long I hope.

The World of Forsaken Dreamscape

Since I’ve already posted the official book description, I feel that it’s not too far off base for me to post this. Personally, I like my readers to be completely surprised, but I know people like information about projects. So! I wrote this out.

If you don’t want anything to be spoiled, then don’t read, but I don’t feel like I’ve spoiled anything major. The book is meant to portray the mystery.

The World of Forsaken Dreamscape

Years have passed, the seasons fade

A sacred world bleeds; dark decay…

I like to use foreshadowing and leads, and so you may have noticed that the end of Nevermor left things a bit incomplete.  I introduced a new element at the end: a strange, shadowy darkness coming toward the island over the sea of dreams.  What exactly is this ominous shadow? No one seemed to know at the time.  Maybe they still don’t, but that darkness didn’t go away, and now, four years later, it lingers in Nevermor.

Though Nevermor was never a particularly safe place to those who are weak and inexperienced, it is even more dangerous now.  It is certainly not what Wren is expecting when she is able to return 4 years later.

The island has been given to chaos. The sea is black, washing up bones and ship wreckage from the depths onto the gravel-like sand.  But it is not the beach alone. The different realms have been tainted by an unusual darkness, much like when the Scourge steps across the land, only on a world-wide scale. But does the Scourge have something to do with it? Many believe so, but others are unsure, believing that a different sort of evil has come upon them.

There are no more dreams in Nevermor. Only nightmares.

The whereabouts of the Rifter are unknown. Once the guardian of the realm, he has not been seen in years, and many think he is dead. Likewise, however, the Scourge has also failed to reemerge. The wolf pack has been disbanded, and those boys who were once linked to Rifter through the Vow are on their own. They have gone their own way and are living their own lives.  Time has taken over them, and they have begun to age. Only they know the truth about what happened, but their memories are fading by the day.  The world seems to be aware of the disruption, leading the other inhabitants of the world to lose hope that Nevermor will ever be what it was.

There is a prophecy in 4 verses that have been etched onto several large rocks on a cliff-face, and the people of Nevermor know those words. Many have given the words their own interpretations, but one thing seems clear: there is a demon in their midst, and soon events will lead to a war unlike the world has ever seen.

After waiting for years, Wren is able to return to Nevermor in order to face what it has become, to bring the pack together again and discover the source of the darkness so that it might be reversed.

—–

*Image above is not officially associated with the Nevermor trilogy*

Gothic Book Challenge – The Blackwood Cult

Now for my next book in the Gothic Book Challenge!

The Blackwood Cult – T.A. Waters

158 pgs

Published 1968

Come Home to Evil

Blackwood was Wendy Markham’s too-well-remembered upstate home town. A town of suspicions, squabbles, hatred and fear. A town, she recalled, that had even cast out poor Katy Campbell as a witch and forced her to live in a deserted church…

Yet Wendy went home again, called for by her family — into a nightmare more terrifying than her blackest memories.

For she finds a weird witchcult has taken over Blackwood. But is Katy Campbell really its leader? Wendy doubts this, but the grave words of a mysterious Dr. Nine increases her dread. SOMEONE is trying to kill her. Can it be either, both…or Todd Raymond, the one man she is forced to trust? At the bizarre church, horror closes in on Wendy when, tracked by a faceless killer, she knows she has no place to hide!

Overview:

Wendy Markham gets a mysterious letter from her aunt, urging her to come home from school in London for the sake of her uncle, but it is not entirely clear why. Wendy does as she is asked, hopping on a boat to travel back to New York. On the ship, she meets a somewhat eccentric young man named Todd, and as the ship gets closer to docking, she finds herself falling in love with him. But there are still truths to face.

Todd works for a mysterious man named Doctor Nine, who is highly educated but it seems his specialty is studying murder. Dr. Nine also seemed to know something of Blackwood and even of Wendy herself. He knows of her, and he knows her uncle.  He doesn’t know why she has been summoned to Blackwood, but he does give her an interesting bit of information:

Her father’s death may not have been an accident, and Katy Campbell might have been involved.

Wendy, orphaned as a young girl, found a kindred spirit in Katy Campbell, who had also lost both of her parents, but there were always whispers about Katy.  Many said she was a witch.  In fact, Wendy originally left Blackwood because of such whispers.  Now they say that Blackwood has been taken over by an unusual group called the Blackwood cult, and Katy may well be the leader of it.

Wendy doesn’t believe any of it. Katy may be strange, but she’s not a dangerous person. But when she arrives, she begins to wonder if her reason for being summoned home is more sinister than she thinks.

Review:

Out of the 27 Gothic books currently in my cache, I chose this one on a whim. I had meant to lay them all out, face down, read over the descriptions and then pick the ones that sounded the most appealing to read first without letting the covers influence me.  Well, after I finished Dark Over Acadia, I was getting ready for work one day, running late, and I realized that I didn’t have anything to read! So I sorted through a couple of books that were at the top of the box and wound up grabbing this one.

Completely random choice. And judging by the description, it was not one I would have chosen by that alone.

But that said, I enjoyed this book – mostly.

Plot: This book was short, so there was not really a lot of building. The introduction of the mystery was immediate. Wendy wonders why she has been called back home, and there is some worrying over her old friend, Katy, who others always claimed to be a witch. It is rumored that there is an entire witchcult in Blackwood now and that Katy is the leader of it, but after all that buildup and some hints of the reasons that Wendy fled from Blackwood in the first place, those things never actually came to light! I was very interested in knowing the events that happened in the past that drove Wendy away, and what exactly her friendship/relationship with Katy was like in the past, but they were only hinted to. That, to me, was a major letdown. I felt like the writer started off really well and then bailed on the story just to finish the book. OR maybe some of that information was cut in the original draft. No way to know, but I felt the story suffered for it.

In the end, this book – like the last – played out like a murder mystery once again instead of what I’d hoped. Though there was a lot of mystery about past events, the main plot centered around a ‘locked room’ murder, which could presumably only be done by someone who could walk through walls.

The book description was not quite accurate either. There was no witchcult, and no one was actually trying to kill Wendy until the end when she found some evidence that would mark the killer.  Her instance of fleeing for her life was very brief.

Setting: There are actually 2 houses and a small chapel in this story. Both houses are large and sprawling, and both seem to have a history – though briefly explored. One is the house Wendy grew up in; the other is Katy Campbell’s mysterious mansion. There were a few creepy instances within the houses, but I had to wait until nearly the end of the book before I really got what I wanted from the dark, ominous setting.

Writing: This book was written in third person. The writing was pretty good, had good pacing and I felt that the writer had control over the words. The characters were brought out well.  Once again, typos (did they not have editors in the 60s???) As the book went on, I think it had more and more mistakes.

Characters: Wendy Markham, the main character, was likeable. She certainly had more of a personality than the female lead in the last book I read. She seemed to have a past instead of being plopped down in the middle of the story for the sake of the plot. She had fears and concerns, relevant suspicions – except with Todd. At the beginning, she meets Todd, and he comes off as a bit strange. I was suspicious of him, but Wendy wasn’t at first. Then, suddenly a few days later, they’re in love! (Go figure) But as the story went on, these characters did have some chemistry and after a while I was on board. Wendy was not a bad character (the others were not quite mind-blowing, but they served their purpose) but her story was not explored as it could have been.

If this was a story that someone had asked me to read for them, I would have told them that they needed to edit, and they should have explored the past a bit more.

Rating: 3

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Hope you enjoyed the review. If you want to check out my own Gothic horror story, have a look at The People in the Rickety House, which is available as an ebook and in print!

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General Nevermor Update – October 2013

As a general update, I just finished reading through Forsaken Dreamscape and am preparing to do so again. Currently, it rests at a little over 143K – a bit shorter than Nevermor, but longer than it was in it’s first form. I’m getting together a few more sneak peeks and info, which will include revealing the cover, so get ready for that!!

It is currently my aim to release Forsaken Dreamscape on February 11, 2014. That’s a Tuesday, and is exactly 4 months away! Before that, however, I intend to offer Forsaken Dreamscape up for preorder, but that’s sort of a new thing and I haven’t read into it yet. I just know it’s possible. I’ll give more info on that when I get ready for it, but I have to finish it first. :p

I’m still preparing to submit Nevermor to Indie book contests. I’m currently waiting for some info, but it would be sooo nice to be able to say it won an award! It might get me some of the attention I need for this series (or at least would look great on the cover). So, I’m still busy. Very busy. But that said, a big thanks to those of you who have given me donations through the site!! I’ll be using that money to help with the costs for entering the contests.

In addition to all that, I’m gearing up for NaNoWriMo this year, during which I plan to start work on Book 3. It feels a bit strange to be starting book 3 when the second hasn’t even been released yet, but I feel the need to get going and get my thoughts together so I can make sure the books go together properly. Then I can continue working on it next year and rewrite if necessary. So, even though I’m going to be working on that, I won’t be posting information about book 3 until much later, after Forsaken Dreamscape has been released.

Oh, and if you’ve recently been looking to purchase the print version of Nevermor, you might have noticed that it is not available at this time through booksellers. That’s because I’m currently updating the files, but know that it will return soon, better than ever!

Gothic Book Challenge – Dark Over Acadia

For my first old Gothic book, I present to you…

Dark Over Acadia – Anne Talmage

Published 1971 – Read October 2013

239 pgs.

Description from book:

House of False Love…  Diana Latham came more than a thousand miles to Devereau House…to find her friend Lucy Devereau struck down by a terrible accident, imprisoned in her bed by paralysis that denied her movement, or even speech.  But was it an accident?  Or was it a horrible plot?  Lucy’s family seemed to accept the first, and when Diana questioned other possibilities, they refused to listen.  But the Devareau family carried a dark curse, one that they could not keep hidden; someone…or something…seemed determined to strike them down.  Soon Diana was drawn into the maelstrom of building terror…and it seemed as though her only escape would be through death!

Overview:

Diana Latham meets Lucy Devereau overseas while working with the Peace Corps, and they become best friends. A year ahead of time, Diana makes a plan to visit her friend Lucy for a summer at her family home – a rustic, plantation house in Louisiana – and is surprised on her arrival to find that Lucy has suffered a horrible accident in their time apart.  It seems that a statue fell over on her, crushed her spine and left her paralyzed except for a small bit of movement in her right hand. The family – Lucy’s seemingly decrepit father, the crow-like governess who raised her, an overly protective nurse, a handsome cousin and his secretary/lover – don’t seem to think anything is amiss, but after seeing her friend as a prisoner in a large iron bed and witnessing the look in her eyes, Diana is suddenly suspicious.

At her friend’s side, Diana and Lucy work out a secret code that allows them to communicate, based on the tapping of one finger, and Diana gets her first messages of warning and danger. She should leave the house. But she can’t bear to leave her friend – not before she knows exactly what happened to her.

With the aid of Lucy’s attractive but volatile brother Tony, Diana finds out that Lucy was in a small chapel behind the house when the incident occurred, kneeling before a statue when it fell over on her.  The event has never quite set well with Tony either, it seems, and Diana also learns that there seems to be some kind of curse on the Devareau family.  So many of the women die young, including Lucy and Tony’s mother.  Is Lucy subject to some curse?  What secrets does this family have to hide?  And most importantly, will Diana survive all the attempts that are made on her life – or did she simply imagine them?

Review:

I chose to read this one first because I had seen it mentioned previously on another blog, and that reviewer had thought favorably of it – or at least that’s what I had perceived until I looked again, and found they only liked the cover…

In the beginning, I was very excited about it.  It started out well, jumping right into the action with the main character driving toward her destination, meeting the reality of her friend’s condition. It certainly had me going for a bit, but as it went on, it was less and less impressive to me.

Plot: The overall plot was interesting in the beginning, but in the end, played out more like a murder mystery.  Even though there was introduction of a few supernatural elements – a curse and a seer – those things didn’t have as much impact as I might have liked. The main events mostly consisted of  the main character trying to see her friend but being thwarted by an overprotective nurse, her interacting with two potential love interests who were pretty boring, a not-so-creepy swamp rat, and a few boring attempts on her life.

The book was clean: There was no sex, no bad language,  not really much drama. Nah, there really wasn’t much flavor at all.

The peril consisted mostly of warnings, a bit of trouble from an unusual hermit, and a rather lame murder attempt with a pitchfork falling from a hayloft.

Writing:  The writing was not terrible. The story jumped right into the action and the setting was described well. Oddly, there were a few typos! But they weren’t so bad that I couldn’t read over them. It was written in third person, but really lacked the skill to make me feel close to the characters, which is really important even when writing in third.

Setting: In this type of story, the setting is as important as any other element. The ‘house’ is as much of a character as the female lead. In this story, the house was not so important. There was really very little emphasis on the house and more attention to the small chapel in the woods, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t very creepy.

Characters: The main character, Diana, was just sort of there – an instrument in solving the mystery of what happened to her friend as an outsider, but I couldn’t help but feel like she just didn’t have a personality. The author wrote her with a bit of snarky dialogue, there was a hint at an unfortunate childhood, but there wasn’t enough of here there for me to know her or like her.  She was also faced with a love triangle of sorts between two very different guys who she has only known for, oh, a day.  She had romantic interludes with both, but I really didn’t feel that she was into either of them that much.

All in all, it was just a little too tame for me. I was hoping for a haunting story full of twists, drama, memorable characters but I wasn’t really feeling it. Still, to say that I finished it says something.  I felt it was written more like a mystery than the dark, dangerous story I was looking for.

Rating: Ultimately, I give it 2.5 Stars

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Hope you enjoyed the review. If you want to check out my own Gothic horror story, have a look at The People in the Rickety House, which is available as an ebook and in print!

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo