Constance Burris's Blog, page 5

Come Celebrate the GHOST HOPE Launch

 

The much-anticipated fourth and final book of The PSS Chronicles is here. And author Ripley Patton invites you to help her celebrate its launch June 15-21.

RAVE REVIEWS FOR THE BOOK AND THE SERIES

 

“Once again, Ripley Patton delivers. Ghost Hope is a great ending to a series with many a high.” – Author Sahar Sabati
“What a wonderfully satisfying ending to this series! I loved every word of it.” – Author Rachel Barnard
“A MUST read YA series that will leave you breathless in the end. This entire series is truly another hidden gem in the world of reading!” Dianne Bylo of Tome Tender Book Blog

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Buy It Now on AMAZON /KOBO /GOOGLE PLAY / BARNES AND NOBLES
And JOIN the GHOST HOPE Read-Along Facebook Group to read and discuss the book and series with other fans, plus have direct access to the author.
START THE SERIES IN JUNE ON THE CHEAP
Haven’t started the series yet? Grab the first book, Ghost Hand, FREE on all ebook venues. And don’t stop there. Ghost Hold (The PSS Chronicles Book 2) and Ghost Heart (The PSS Chronicles Book 3), are on sale for only 99 cents in June.
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
Win the complete series in signed paperback or ebook (Plus NINE other awesome YA books)?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

The Imp Series Books 1-4 by Debra Dunbar

The Bad

There were large swathes of passages where I was bored to death! Lordy, lordy. If I had been reading this instead of listening to the audiobook, I may not have been able to get as far as I did. 

And speaking of the audiobook, I think the narrator, Angela Rysk, may have had a cold during the first book. It was aggravating.

The Good 

None of the bad stopped me from getting addicted to the series. I listened to the first four books back to back to the detriment of my wallet. I have the fifth one but it’s slow going because the audiobook was not on sale, and I’m saving my audible credits for my summer road trips (Marlon James!!! I see you watching me).  

-The protagonist is in a 40 year-older woman’s body. (+1 diversity points).

-One of her best friends is a 50-year-old  werewolf. (+2 diversity parts).

Neutral: After gorging on four books straight, my thoughts were officially voiced by the narrator. It was very weird.

The Imp Series has a great example of a love triangle. Samantha Martin has her human/physical lover, and an angel/non-corporeal lover. There was brief jealousy noted between the human and the angel, but by the third novel, Samantha and all involved accepted the relationships. It was very well done! Octavia Butler would have been impressed. It was on of the many things that put this series on a whole new level for me. It was like a cotton candy filled with vitamin A, vitamin B, and the right amount of protein.

Speaking of the angel. He had no sex organs!!! Wha…. Yeah. I said it. No genitalia.

Mind Blown.

But oh my goodness. The sex scene between Samantha and her angel was still out of this world and Steamy. I read it twice!  (+10 for hawtness and diversity points). Interesting to note: there was no sex in the first book.

Characterization was steady and consistent. Samantha was an imp who loved causing trouble, drinking vodka, chilling with her human lover snuggling and eating hot wings.

World building

There are three levels/worlds: Aureu  for the angels (sp??); earth for the humans, vampires, and werewolves; and Hel for the elves and demons.

Species: Demons, Angels, Elves, Werewolves, Vampires (sprites and faries were breifly mentioned)

Demon subgroups: imps, lows, succubi, incubi, (more I can’t recall)

Angels: Gate Guardians, enforcers, (a few others I can’t recall. The sub groups are not as detailed as the demon world)

Elves: not too many details.  Book Five seems to talk about them a lot. They use humans as slaves. Not cool. This may change in later books.

Werewolves: are strongly controlled by the angels. Not cool. This may change in later books.

Vampires: so far they are the least interesting of the species. Book 2 spent a little time in their world.

Magic System

Very, very detailed and had something to do with converting energy.

She could change shape, repair herself, blow energy at people.

She could own and devour souls

drawback she couldn’t exist within inanimate objects. She couldn’t heal other living things very well.

If an angel detected her energy they could kick her out of earth or kill her, but she finds a way around this.

There weren’t too many down sides to her magic, but there were a few limitations.

There you have it. It isn’t a perfect series, but anyone that loves good world building and diversity in their fantasy would love the Imp Series by Debra Dunbar.

Upcoming Review : Dead of Night (Ghost & Magic Series) by M.R. Forbes

 

What’s Next?

I’m more than halfway through the first draft of Jade, which will bring the Everleaf Series to an end. I’ve been thinking about my next project and how I’m going to apply what I’ve learned so far to the next series. Here are some of my thoughts.

I’ve been told for indie authors, adult novels do better than Young Adult . I’ve also read that adults read more YA than teens. Which one is right? I don’t know. But I don’t really have another YA Fantasy in my catalog so this works for me.
Books in a series need to be released as close together as possible. Folks will forget about you real quick. Chalcedony: Book Two of the Everleaf Series had a decent reception, but I think if I had a pre-order link directly following the first book, Chalcedony would have done sooo much better.
I’ve been told covers (and titles to a lesser degree) need to resemble the best sellers in the genre. Originality in your cover may count against you.
Finally, study your genre.

What Am I Writing Next?

I’ve decided to take advantage of the fan base for Black Beauty and let Shemeya, Andre, and Ashley have their own books under the Urban Fantasy genre. So while I’ve been drafting Jade, I’ve been gorging on Urban Fantasy novels and 1950’s Pulp Fiction. Thankfully, the first books in most of the series are free or only 99 cents.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be doing book (or series) reviews on some of the best-selling books in Urban Fantasy for research. My favorite series so far is the Imp Series by Debra Dunbar (FYI, my favorite thing about the series is that it had an accompanying audiobook for $1.99 Score!!!). I’ll be posting a review soon.

Undercover: Season One

OhMyGosh. Stop what you’re doing… including reading this blog post and go watch Undercover. Seriously.

Undercover is like a cross between  The Colony and The Cosby Show, and bits of things I’ve never seen before. Whatever– just watch it. Now I’m about to give some spoilers and take a shot at explaining the plot.

The matriarch, Maya Cobbina played by Sophie Okonedo is a powerful smart inspiring, passionate lawyer.

She plays the role with passion. There are plenty of Shonda Rhimes and house of Cards monologs, but it never felt overdone. The writing  is EXCELLENT!

And then you have her husband. Dude is perfect. He stays home with the kids while the woman makes the bacon. This is my situation at the moment so it resonated with me.

It’s crazy your feeling for this family your feeling for this kids and then like Colony we discover one isn’t being honest with the other. but the betrayal in Undercover is soo much worse and dramatic than COLONY.

My  husband doesn’t usually binge watch tv with me. But the hubby stayed the entire time and watched Undercover. It helped that it was only six episodes.

Anyways, the show is definitely worth watching.

Keepin It 100

As in I finally hit a hundred reviews on Goodreads!

I don’t make nearly enough money to cover the expenses of self-publishing. But reviews make it all worth it. Yes, the good reviews make me feel super great, but the bad ones give me legitimacy. So even the bad ones count.. And as much as I love Goodreads, I need Amazon reviews also because that is where most people buy their books.

Speaking of reviews, if you’ve read Coal and haven’t left a review, get to it, and then send me the link so you can start reading Chalcedony. If you liked Coal, you will love Chalcedony. And even if you didn’t like Coal you will still love Chalcedony. Yes, it is that good.

Want a chance to win all Three Books of theEverleaf Series (Book #0-#2)? If so, I’m hosting a Goodreads giveaway…..

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Everleaf Series Box Set

by Constance Burris

Giveaway ends May 31, 2016.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

 

 

Book Signing Tomorrow

I’m late posting this.. ugh.

Tomorrow I’ll be at Hastings in Norman, Oklahoma from 6 to 8 PM. It’ll be me and a good selection of black authors around metro OKC. I have three (maybe four) proof copies of Chalcedony available. So first come first served. The official copies are on order but won’t be here in time for the book signing.

Chalcedony is Live (And On Sale For 0.99)

Chalcedony is unofficially officially released, it’s only 99cents for a limited, limited time.  Like only a couple of days. You can get your copy HERE!

If I haven’t read Coal, can I skip ahead to Chalcedony?

Absolutely!

Coal is a straight-forward action adventure, and everything you need to know is summarized in the first chapter of Chalcedony.

Should I read Chalcedony if I’ve only read Black Beauty?

Again, Absolutely!

Sean, Latreece, Andre and Ashley make cameos in Chalcedony. Plus, Jade: Book 3 of the Everleaf Series will feature Crazy Jade.

Action Vs. Motivation and other random thoughts

It’s that time again. I want to write about how slow and steady really does work and how  motivation is overrated. I also need to do some book reviews. And I need to tell you how Chalcedony is almost complete. You should totally follow me on AMAZON so when the book is ready Amazon will send you a link. I guess I can talk a little bit about it all

Action is more important than motivation

Chalcedony was hard. A lot of ways much harder to write than Coal. The key was pushing through it rather I felt motivated or not. Some days I could write 1000 words easy. Other days it would be  as struggle to hash out 50 words. Most days I wrote, but I had to be kind to myself on the days I didn’t. I wasted a lot of time on Facebook, watching Television (Amazon and Netflix have turned me into a TV show binge addict) and listening to audiobooks. I refuse to feel guilty on the days I simply chose to be in the moment with my family.

I am wondering if the time and effort I put into writing is worth what I’m giving up in terms of time.

The act of enjoying the good days and working through the bad applies so much to life. Some days I’m happy and ecstatic about my job, my marriage, life. And some days it’s all I can do to ‘pretend’ to smile. But I remind myself that happiness is a choice, and total lack of motivation is always short-lived. Action is so much more important than motivation.

Books I’ve read: Beautiful adventures in Prose and Fantasy.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor. The first book was so slow IMO, but over and over the book came up in conversation so I finally slogged through it and book 2 and book 3 were awesome and beautiful.

I tried to read some of the traditional YA recently released. Craptastic. Beautiful girls, doing dangerous things and being the best at everything and falling in love with the guy that is best at everything. ::BARF::  I don’t even understand. So I went back the modern classic YA authors Holly Black (The Darkest Part of the Forest) and Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices Trilogy). Holly Black killed it in the Diversity aspect of Darkest part of the Forest. Clare’s writing style of Infernal was sooo beautiful. She should have gotten mega awards for this book, but the diversity was not so great.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga  Wow! Such a great story with such great characters.  Book 2  felt was more filler than anything. It had lots of over explaining. But the uneven plot was so worth it to get to book three and read the awesomeness that was the ending. This series actually needs its own blogpost because the diversity, the action, the characters were off the chain.

Television I’ve watched

I hate Mondays, but Better Call Saul makes me look forward to them. I never got into Breaking Bad, but I love Saul. I love fantasy, particular YA fantasy because its full of action. Saul has an incredible amount of tension without being an action story. It’s full of dialogue but it balances it out with tension. Unlike say… Scandal which is dialogue heavy, and overly dramatic. Saul has so much tension that I feel like I’m watching a horror.

Random Movies: Stalking Oscar Isaac

I didn’t understand the hype around him Oscar Isaac  from Star Wars so I watched a couple of his movies on Amazon Prime.  Ex Machina was okay. I kept falling asleep. I don’t understand why the sex bots were Asian but the one bot to get away was not.The best scene was the dance scene.  Oscar has some moves.

However, I did enjoy MOJAVE . Two evil bad guys were the protags. The characters were so well written as horrible human beings that it was really hard for me to pick my favorite. But since they were equally good at being bad it didn’t really matter. But I will say the blonde in this movie was really Hot. –I’m filing him away as a potential character in a future book.

My son complains all the time that the good guys always win and the bad guy loses. Mojave was a really good example of how to get around that–just have all the guys be bad. I’m filing that away for a future book idea.

 

Hap and Leonard Season One

I heard about this show via NPR. The author Joe R. Lansdale was a natural story teller and my interest was piqued. I’m shallow. If you can’t tell by my reviews of Shadowhunters and StarCrossed. Well, Hap and Leonard was a (welcome) departure from all the bare-chested young men and skinny girls (I’ve been binging Teen Wolf. Ohemgee all of the eye candy).

Hap and Leonard is as gritty as you can get without being reality TV.

Let’s meet the characters, because really who cares about the plot.

HAP played by James Purefoy

He’s the protagonists and James does a good job in the role, but Hap is the most boring character. He’s the protagonists, he does what he needs to do, but everyone else has all of the personality and all of the good lines.

Leonard played by 

Leonard is Hap’s emotions personified. There is probably a writerly term for this but I can’t think of it.  Leonard is either really angry or really sad (well as sad as they’ll let him be and still be masculine). The point is, he feels all the things. He is hyper-masculine, black, and unapologetically gay. He is a wonderful diverse character, and Leonard is still groundbreaking (IMO) even though we’ve had a few examples of black, gay and kick ass characters on television already: Omar from the Wire and Lafayette from True Blood. I kinda got sad whenever Leonard wasn’t in a scene. Hap was cool and all but Leonard pulled my heart strings.

Trudie played by Christina Hendricks

Can’t even do Trudie. She switches her behind onto the show and instantly her and Leonard dislike each other and I didn’t like her either.  But by the last two episodes, I had to give Trudie props. For me she was the hero of the show. Like Fury Road, the hero and the protagonist were not the same person, and like Fury Road the heroes are the women.

Special Shout out to Angel played by Pollyanna McIntosh

She was part of the killing duo. (I’ll have to rewatch it to see, but I don’t even think she talked until second to last episodes). She popped onto the show in an American psycho, Christian Bale killing scene with blood and sex and plasticy leather. It was a really weird and out of place introduction. But really all of the scenes with the duo felt othered and out of place. This new York like couple in this rural hot sweaty rural town. Clearly the Yankee vs southerners type of dynamic. Once they entered the scene, the show began to feel like pulp fiction, brought on merely to cause tension. But I still enjoyed the show.

Once they entered the scene, the show began to feel like pulp fiction, brought on merely to cause tension and be dramatic. But I still enjoyed the show.

Anyway back to Angel. Like Trudie was the strongest of the protags, Pollyanna was the strongest of the antagonists/bad guys. She was a barely clothed, tall, killing machine straight out of a comic book (or pulp novel).

Random

I really want to gush about the last episode, but I don’t want to be spoilery. It was so good!

My husband said they did a good job highlighting male friendship.

Symbolism

North Vs. South, Yankees vs. Rednecks, Country vs. Techno, Hippies vs. Conservatives. Ironically though, the hippies are mostly the southerners.

American psycho meets One False Move (Staring Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton)

This takes place in the 80’s by the way.

There is a scene where the Yankees are trying to get information from the Rednecks. The Yankee decides to play some music. Country music is already in the record player. The bad guy dismisses the country music and starts playing and dancing to techno.

Shadowhunters: Season One

Blurb:

On her birthday, Clary Fray discovers a surprise concerning her life. The teenager is not who she thinks she is — she comes from a long line of human-angel hybrids, called Shadowhunters, who hunt demons. After her mother is kidnapped, Clary is thrust into the world of demon-hunting. Clary relies on mysterious Jace and fellow hunters Isabelle and Alec to help her navigate the dark world. While living in this new world among creatures like vampires and werewolves, Clary’s best friend Simon helps her uncover answers that could help her find her mother. The fantasy show is based on a series of young adult books by Cassandra Clare.

Can’t even lie.  I was expecting to hate this show. But nope. It brought the sexy. Like StarCrossed, I felt like an dirty old lady crushing over the supposed teenage actors. But thankfully, the characters were over the age of 18 in Shadowhunter, so i felt a lot less pervy watching it.

I was one of the unlucky few, who liked the books and went to theater to see the movie. It sucked donkey balls. OHEMGEE, the Jace in the movie sucked soooo baaad. I liked the show. I really enjoyed seeing the charcters come to life. I just finished The Clockwork Angel and i enjoyed hearing them refernce characters from the prequel.

Diversity. Its not most diverse show on Television, but it probably has some of the most sexy diverse actors on one television show. So i’m gonna list some of the sexy diverse actors on the show.

Isiah Mufasa  aka the Sexy dude from the Old Spice Comericals (see they brought the sexy)

He gets the bonus of being a Shadowhunter. the head of the Wearwolves, and a cop. We can’t have a paranormal show without a cop.

 

Jade Hassouné as a Seelie named Meliorn

POC with pointy ears.  You know how I go gaga over brown people with pointy ears. Squee. I’m totally stalking Jade on Instagram.

 

 

as the infamous Magnus Bane

I really only have one complaint: Magnus Bane played by Harry Shum Jr.  Magnus Bane is  supposed to be hundreds of years old, but he seems like the weakest character in the show. I dn’t think the actor is comfortable being bisexual. I’m hopoing Harry  grows into his role, though.

FYI: he’s much more bad ass in this picture than in the show.

Update: No Black Girl love on this show.  There two of any substance. One died early on, and the other was a one night stand dissed by Simon. ;-/