Cassandra Page's Blog, page 33

Cover reveal: ‘Fight For Me’ by K. A. Last

Before we kick off this cover reveal, I wanted to say a few words. *grabs mic* I’ve actually already Fight For Me; you see, Kim is not only a talented writer and graphic designer. She’s also one of my fellow Aussie Owned bloggers, and so I was lucky enough to be asked to beta this book last month. I haven’t posted a review yet, as I wanted to wait till closer to the release date. But this book has game (girlfriend!) and another delicious plot twist.

Just so you know.

Now, enjoy this gorgeous cover!

Fight For Me by K.A. Last 

(The Tate Chronicles #2)

Publication date: January 17th 2014

Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

“How can I fight for you when I don’t know what I’m fighting for?”When Grace Tate became one of the fallen to protect a vampire, it got her into more trouble than she’d bargained for. She’s angry at Charlotte for hiding the truth, and with Josh living in the city and Seth missing, life is harder than ever.It’s about to get a lot harder…

Grace doesn’t want to leave Hopetown Valley, but when Josh ignores her calls she decides to go and search for him. She doesn’t expect to run into Seth as well.

When she reaches the city, Grace learns that Charlotte is the most hunted vampire in Wide Island. The city vamps want her blood, and the angels are after her soul. Grace gets caught in the crossfire of a battle she never wanted, but to win one war, she has to fight another.

Torn between the one she gave up everything for, and the one who sacrificed everything for her, Grace has to face Charlotte, and the past, if she wants to fight for her future. But how can she fight for someone who doesn’t want to fight for her?

Every choice Grace makes becomes a battle, and in every battle someone has to die.

Add Fight For Me on Goodreads.
Enter to win an ebook of Fight For Me, Fall For Me (book 1)

or a Fight For Me ribbon bookmark!

K. A. Last was born in Subiaco, Western Australia, and moved to Sydney with her parents and older brother when she was eight. Artistic and creative by nature, she studied Graphic Design and graduated with an Advanced Diploma. After marrying her high school sweetheart, she concentrated on her career before settling into family life. Blessed with a vivid imagination, she began writing to let off creative steam, and fell in love with it. She now resides in a peaceful, leafy suburb north of Sydney with her husband, their two children, and a rabbit named Twitch.

You can find her at her website, or on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or on Amazon.

The waiting game

Cassandra Page:

On Tuesday over at Aussie Owned and Read, I wrote about the various writing-related ways I distract myself from going crazy while I wait for writing-related things. :)

Originally posted on Aussie Writers:

I’m an impatient person. (I will pause here while you express shock at this statement… WHY AREN’T YOU EXPRESSING SHOCK?) I’ve always been that way, and it’s something I’ve had to learn to manage over the years. So, as I’m sure you can imagine, writing and publishing books is a special kind of torture for me.

The publishing industry is a slow-moving beast. Even if you disregard how long it takes me to draft a novel in the first place—I’m jealous of you speedy NaNoWriMo types—so much of publishing is waiting. Waiting for beta feedback. Waiting for responses to queries. Waiting for edits, and covers, and publication dates. And now Isla’s Inheritance has finally been released into the wild, I’ve discovered a new thing to wait for: reviews.

It’s possible to be waiting for all these things AT THE SAME TIME. If you’re a writer, you have probably discovered this…

View original 378 more words

‘Isla’s Oath’ excerpt (and other things)

It’s been just over a month since Isla’s Inheritance was released, and it’s received some lovely reviews, especially on Amazon and Goodreads. If you’ve left a review, I LOVE YOUR FACE! To say thank you, I’m going to share an excerpt from the start of the sequel, Isla’s Oath. Because I know Dominic has some fans out there. ;)

A couple of admin things first, though.

If you’re a book blogger and are looking for some young adult urban fantasy to review, Isla’s Inheritance is now on NetGalley.

Also, [INSERT OBLIGATORY LINK TO AMAZON PURCHASE PAGE HERE]. That’s for the ebook. There’s still no word on the paperback (I know a bunch of people are holding out for papery goodness). When I know, you’ll know.

Isla’s Oath is on track for its 22 January release date. I’m proofing the galley now (well, not right this second — but when I’m finished writing this!).

Disclaimer: this excerpt is from an unedited proof and may differ from the final, published version.

The others were halfway to the sand. I followed them down the dunes, trying not to look too hard at the rock pool, suspended high above the waterline due to the retreating tide. Empty. At least Mako wasn’t lurking in there, watching. My gaze drifted out to the vivid blue ocean. Was that a shape, out beyond the waves? A watching face? It vanished with the next swell, and I chided myself for paranoia. But I wasn’t sure—despite Jack’s reassuring words about the sirens’ oath—that I wanted to go into the water. Visions of sentient sharks flashed behind my eyes.

Ryan spread his towel high up the beach, placing his sketchbook carefully in the centre. He started a fresh one every year. The pages on this one still sat flat and didn’t have little smudges of lead on their edges from twelve months of handling.

Gazing at the rolling waves as though mesmerised, Sarah shed her tank top, shorts and shoes, placing them in a messy pile. Her emerald swimsuit stood out like a jewel in the bright sun, bringing out the flecks of green in her eyes. I hesitated, feeling my ears burn with embarrassment, before doing the same.

Dominic stared at me, eyes wide and mouth agape. I hid a smile behind my hand, pleased he didn’t give my taller cousin more than a passing glance. Scarlet flashed in his aura. Did it represent what I thought it did? I turned my face away to hide the blush that warmed my cheeks.

Sarah squirted a generous amount of sunscreen into her palm before offering the bottle to the rest of us. Ryan and I, with painful experience to urge us on, took similar portions and made sure we didn’t miss an inch of exposed skin—although Ryan was careful not to get too much on his fingers so he didn’t smear his sketchbook.

That was going to make for an uncomfortable sunburn if he wasn’t vigilant.

Dominic hesitated. He’d removed his T-shirt and thrown it down on the pile with the rest of our clothes. “I want to work on my tan a little.” His skin already gleamed golden brown.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Sarah said, one hand on her hip. “We’re not going to baby you if you get burned.”

“I won’t!” he protested, offended.

I squeezed some more sunscreen into my palm and, before Dominic guessed what I was about to do, splatted it onto his bare chest. He squeaked and drew a breath to object. When I started to rub the white lotion across his chest, he smiled and held his arms out. His skin was warm and smooth under my fingers. I glanced up; he was gazing down at me, eyes hot.

My stomach fluttered.

“Lucky bastard,” Ryan muttered.

Seven Characters That Deserve Their Own Series

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme by The Broke and the Bookish, and you guys should definitely join in. So there. :p This week’s theme is “Top Ten Characters You Wish Would Get Their OWN Book (minor or just maybe a semi main character you wish a book was from their POV)”. As usual, I’m drafting this post late on a Monday so I may not get to ten. Let’s see….

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter). Because she’s smart, brave and compassionate. I’d love to see where her wizarding career took her after Hogwarts and Voldemorte. Not babies but other things.

Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter). Yeah, I know, I know. But Luna was so quirky and sweet. You just know that while Hermione would be founding a wizarding university Luna would be taming herself a cute shoulder dragon or something. (I also would love to see Hagrid’s boyhood tale.)

Smeagol (Lord of the Rings). Before he ended up as Gollum and came to a sticky (well, fiery) end, Smeagol was a hobbit-like creature. It’d be a sad story, sure, but it’d be great to see from his perspective how he ended up where he did.

Simon Lewis (The Mortal Instruments). I’ve only read the first trilogy so I don’t know if Simon gets some airtime later on, but I’d love to see more of his story, separate from Clary and Jace. A geek-turned-vampire? Awesome!

The Companions (Heralds of Valdemar).  Companions are intelligent white horses with preternatural abilities that bond with their Heralds to help them protect the kingdom. It’s more or less stated outright as the series progresses that they are reincarnated Heralds. I’d love to see a story that reveals all, from a Companion’s point of view.

Morpheus (Splintered). Once the trilogy is done and we see how Alyssa’s story plays out, it’d be awesome to see a little more from Morpheus, the netherling who has been manipulating her all her life. Because he’s the archetypal bad guy with a heart of gold. And wings.

Karen Murphy (The Dresden Files). I’ve only read (ok, listened to) the first two books in this series, but I really want Karen Murphy to have her own book. A tough cop who looks like a china doll and can kick the crap out of supers? I like it. Plus I’d love to see her take Harry to task for trying to “protect” her, but that’s another story entirely.

Ok, that’s me done! So tell me: who am I forgetting?

NaNoWriMo musings, and a pep talk

Confession: when I first heard of NaNoWriMo, I was quietly horrified. (NaNoWriMo, if you’re wondering, is National Novel-Writing Month, a challenge where participants attempt to write 50k words during the month of November.) This was years ago, before I’d even started Isla’s Inheritance, the first novel I successfully completed.

There’s no doubt that jealousy was a factor—at the time, none of my ideas had progressed beyond random thought bubbles, and I had deep-seated doubts about my own ability to sit down and actually write a novel.

Past Cass was very insecure.

But the other factor for me was a fundamental misunderstanding about the point of NaNoWriMo. I hadn’t really internalised the fact that first drafts are generally, well, not very good, and so I objected that the results of these month-long word sprints couldn’t possibly be edited to be publishable in that time. (Most NaNoWriMo participants realise this too, although there are some that just send off their completed draft to an agent or agents on 1 December. If you’re thinking along those lines, DO NOT DO THIS!)

These days I think NaNoWriMo is largely a good thing.

For people that participate, there’s no doubt that it demands a certain level of discipline. Don’t feel inspired? Tough. Butt in the chair, fingers on the keyboard. Can’t write today? You’ll have to write twice as much tomorrow to catch up. It’s a great way to beat procrastination. And for some people that motivation, the fact they’re being held accountable in public (on the NaNo website and by any friends they’ve told), can be just what they need.

Also, even as a non-NaNoWriMo participant (NoNoWriMo?), I’ve found the flurry of moral support among the writing community on social media both heartening and inspirational.

If you’re wondering why I say NaNoWriMo is only largely a good thing, rather than unequivocally, the reason is that the kind of frenzied writing required for NaNo isn’t going to be for everyone. For those people, I expect the best way to benefit from NaNoWriMo is to make the daily or weekly writing goal a habit, so that at the end of November you can keep it going once the pressure drops off. It doesn’t even need to be the 1667 words a day that NaNoWriMo demands. Even if you write 500 words a day, you’ll have a 90k word novel in less than six months.

And then you can start editing. ;)

Even though I understand it better, I still don’t do NaNoWriMo. Sadly, being a single parent that works full time means I can’t find the hours a day that this sort of writing would require. But these days I’m jealous of those that can take part. I do have a minimum word goal but it’s a paltry 2000 words per week—which means it would take me almost a year to write that 90k word novel. (I often write more than this in a week, mind you; that’s just the least I’ll accept from myself.)

To those doing NaNoWriMo who may be struggling, remember: if you don’t get to 50k by 30 November—if you get 40k or 25k or 5k—you haven’t “failed”. You’ve started a novel. Keep writing.

Go, you good things.

The top ten books I want to re-read

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is the top ten books I want to re-read — except my TBR pile is teetering so high that if I don’t take evasive action it will fall and crush me dead. So I probably never will! Sob. Also, a note: some of these (ok, most) are part of one series or another. So really I want to re-read the whole series.

My kingdom for eternal life and a TARDIS!

 

 

 

 

 

The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May is the first book in the Saga of the Exiles. I loved what May did with the time travel in this, and I had such a crush on Aiken Drum.

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett is one of the fabulous Discworld books. I’d love to re-read the whole series, but I chose this rather than the first book, The Color of Magic, because I love Granny Weatherwax.

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey is the first in the Dragonriders of Pern series. I’ve read this series so many times it’d be like revisiting old friends: Lessa, Menolly, Masterharper Robinton, Jaxom, Ruth…

 

 

 

 

 

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein was something of a gateway drug for me, the book I regarded as the transition between kids books and adult fantasy.

Dragonclaw by Kate Forsyth was another big deal book to me, the first fantasy I ever read by an Australian writer. It’s also the first one I ever read where witches featured heavily, and I love it.

Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey is definitely another one I want to re-read (although I have read the trilogy at least three times now). It’s epic fantasy with a heady dose of S&M, and some pretty brutal politics.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams  is one I re-read periodically (although I am way overdue) because laughter is good for the soul.

 

 

 

 

 

Dragoncharm by Graham Edwards is the first book in the unfortunately named Ultimate Dragon Saga, a trilogy where the characters are all dragons. I don’t remember much of it (I haven’t read it in 15 years), but I do remember that I enjoyed it. And the premise is so intruiging!

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice is the book that made me fall in love with vampires, back before they sparkled. Aah, Louis, I will always have a soft spot for you. (Once I read The Vampire Lestat I had a new favourite, though.)

Angel of Ruin by Kim Wilkins is the first book I read about angels, and I loved it! Historical fantasy usually isn’t my thing, but this one is great. Very dark.

Review: ‘Storm Front’ by Jim Butcher

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations.

Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.

No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he’s the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things — and most of them don’t play well with humans. That’s where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a — well, whatever.

There’s just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that’s when things start to get… interesting.

Magic. It can get a guy killed.

Harry Dresden is an interesting character. Unlike Atticus in Kevin Hearne’s Hounded, Harry has flaws that make him complex and interesting, even if he’s frustrating at times. As an example, Harry has a terminal case of chivalry (other characters accuse him of being chauvanistic and I think they may be right). This lets the females around him play him, or gets him in trouble even when said females aren’t actually asking him to defend them at all. Sometimes I found that annoying — for example, when he refused to tell the female detective what he knew about the murders because it would “put her in danger”, I wanted to bang his head against a concrete wall. But to Harry’s credit, he does seem to realise by the end of the book what an epic mistake this was.

The thing I did like about Harry was that he wasn’t a musclebound action hero-type. In fact, in Storm Front he’s at the losing end of several fights that make it clear that he’s the tall, weedy variety of nerd that spends a lot of time studying. Which makes sense, if you’re a wizard. He’s very self-aware, to the point where he’s self-depreciating at times. But there’s no false modesty or rampant ego here; he knows what he’s capable of and is confident in his skills, but also admits his flaws.

I have a vague feeling I’ve read Storm Front before, but it was long enough ago (and I’m getting old and forgetful enough) that I couldn’t remember most of the plot. Instead, I had a feeling for two thirds of the book that I knew where the whodunnit plotline was going, and alternated between suspecting I’d read it before and wondering whether the plot was just very predictable. I’m coming down on the “I’ve read it before” side of the fence, though. Regardless, the story carries you along to the point where I resented when real life intruded. So there’s that.

The side characters are — with the exception of the Big Bad at the end — all painted in shades of grey. Some of them lean toward quite dark grey, like the mob boss and the brothel-owning vampire — but there is still something sympathetic about them.

Storm Front — and I assume the rest of the series — can be summed up as a magical noir detective novel. Four stars.

Haunting Halloween Hop: the scary thing

Today I’m taking part in the Aussie Owned and Read Haunting Halloween Hop. (Yes, it’s 31 October here already, Northern Hemisphere. Nyah nyah!) The basic idea is that you post about something that scares you. I’m kinda sorta double-dipping on this one, because last week I blogged at AOR about the opening scene in Isla’s Inheritance, and the scary seance that inspired it.

(Yes, I used to do seances for fun. I don’t anymore. I’d like to write a book about Emma, the girl who runs the seance for Isla and Dominic, and what mischief might befall her as a result. It’s on my to do list.)

ANYWAY, moving on. There are a couple of answers to the “what scares me” question. I’m actually choosing to write the slightly less scary one, because the more scary one (something happening to my child) is so paralysing that I can’t even. The slightly less scary one is still pretty scary, though, and it’s been a fear I’ve had since my high school social science classes, when they taught us about nuclear weapons and the silent killer that is radiation poisoning.

I hate the idea of the invisible, creeping thing — the nuclear poison, toxic gas or virus on a droplet in the air. Something so tiny that you can’t see it to run away; something that can kill you. Or turn you into a zombie. Years ago, I saw a movie in the cinema (Outbreak, maybe?) that had a scene where someone with a deadly virus didn’t know it yet. They went to the movies and sneezed, and then the camera tracked the little droplet of air over the crowd and infected others.

I nearly hid under my seat.

As I bet you can imagine, the current ebola outbreak has made me very nervous. Even though I know intellectually that ebola is not very contagious — rating below the common cold, measles and HIV for infectivity — there’s not a chance you could get me in a room with someone who had it, even if I was in one of those full-body bubble suit things.

Maybe one day I’ll write a book to exorcise these fears, get them on the page. Probably not, because I want to be able to sleep at night…!

To visit the other blogs in the hop (or to register your own post), click here. Or leave a comment. What’s the thing that scares you?

‘Isla’s Oath’ blurbiness

YOU GUYS! Isla’s Oath, the second book in the Isla’s Inheritance trilogy, now has its very own page on Goodreads. Feel free to go and add it to your “to read” shelf. You know, if you want to.

*stares at you*

The copy edits are back with TMP and the book is on track for a January 2015 release. Between now and then I get the super-giddy joy of another cover reveal too. I can’t wait to share this one with you!

Australia is a long way from the Old World and its fae denizens … but not far enough.

Isla is determined to understand her heritage and control her new abilities, but concealing them from those close to her proves difficult. Convincing the local fae she isn’t a threat despite her mixed blood is harder still. When the dazzling Everest arrives with a retinue of servants, Isla gets her first glimpse of why her mother’s people are hated … and feared.

But Isla isn’t the only one with something to hide. Someone she trusts is concealing a dangerous secret. She must seek the truth and stop Everest from killing to get what he wants: Isla’s oath.

Top Six Halloween Reads

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is my top books (or movies) to get you in the mood for Halloween. If you say so… *evil grin* My selection is mostly ghost stories, but there are other greeblies thrown in there for good measure. They’re listed in no particular order other than the one I thought of them in. And there are six rather than ten, because that’s how I roll. (Pretend it’s 100th of the beast, rounded down, if that helps get you in the mood to be spookified!)

(Note: While my own book, Isla’s Inheritance, opens with a Halloween party, I have valiantly resisted adding it to my list. I’m not that shameless. Not quite.)

Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson

A year ago Hurricane Josephine swept through Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind nothing but death and destruction — and taking the life of Dovey’s best friend, Carly. Since that night, Dovey has been in a medicated haze, numb to everything around her.

But recently she’s started to believe she’s seeing things that can’t be real … including Carly at their favorite cafe. Determined to learn the truth, Dovey stops taking her pills. And the world that opens up to her is unlike anything she could have imagined.

As Dovey slips deeper into the shadowy corners of Savannah — where the dark and horrifying secrets lurk — she learns that the storm that destroyed her city and stole her friend was much more than a force of nature. And now the sinister beings truly responsible are out to finish what they started.

Dovey’s running out of time and torn between two paths. Will she trust her childhood friend Baker, who can’t see the threatening darkness but promises to never give up on Dovey and Carly? Or will she plot with the sexy stranger, Isaac, who offers all the answers — for a price? Soon Dovey realizes that the danger closing in has little to do with Carly … and everything to do with Dovey herself.

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig

Miriam Black knows when you will die.

She’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, and suicides.

But when Miriam hitches a ride with Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be murdered while he calls her name. Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim.

No matter what she does she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try.

 

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

Yet she spares Cas’s life.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

The Memory Game by Sharon Sant

‘If there is a hell, I think maybe this is it.’

Weeks after fifteen-year-old David is killed by a speeding driver, he’s still hanging around and he doesn’t know why. The only person who can see and hear him is the girl he spent his schooldays bullying.

Bethany is the most hated girl at school. She hides away, alone with her secrets until, one day, the ghost of a boy killed in a hit-and-run starts to haunt her.

Together, they find that the end is only the beginning…

 

 

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Count Dracula sleeps in a lordly tomb in the vaults beneath his desolate castle, scarlet-fresh blood on his mocking, sensuous lips. He has been dead for centuries, and yet he may never die…

Here begins the story of an evil ages old and forever new. It is the story of those who feed a diabolic and insatiable craving into the veins of their victims, into the men and women from whose body they draw their only sustenance. This is Bram Stoker’s chilling classic, a novel of exquisite power and hypnotic fascination.

 

 

 

 

Pleasant dreams and happy reading!