Blog Tour: Windrunner's Daughter by Bryony Pearce

Windrunner's Daughter
by Bryony Pearce
Genre: YA Sci-fi
Release Date: February 4th 2016
Xist Publishing

Summary from Goodreads:

A sabotaged colonization attempt leaves the last humans in the universe stranded on Mars. Braving a half-terraformed atmosphere, terrifying indigenous species, and a colony government that is openly hostile, a young girl named Wren must defy tradition to save her mother and perhaps, every human left.

It is forbidden for women to steal the wings that allow a select group of runners to carry messages and goods between colonies. It is forbidden to cross the wastes with a sand storm on the horizon and it is certainly forbidden to share the secrets of the windrunners with those who spend their entire lives in the biospheres.

But what choice does she have?

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Buy Links:

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Why I love science fiction and why I write it

By Bryony Pearce

When I was growing up there were two bookcases in the spare room full of my dad’s books. He had the full PERN series by Anne Macaffrey, Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Asimov’s Foundation and books by Ursula Le Guin, Peter Hamilton, Robert Silverberg, Roger Zelazny, Arthur C Clarke, Philip K Dick, Robert A Heinlein, Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven and many more. It was a treasure trove.

The ideas that these authors used set my imagination on fire. This wasn’t writing in a familiar setting, somehow these writers had created entire worlds, with their own civilisations, governments, natural laws, science and nature. They had invented technology that didn’t exist yet – and it made sense. They had explored what it would be like to meet aliens, to deal with life on another planet, or in space. This wasn’t just writing stories; this was universe-building. I was awestruck by their genius.

It wasn’t just the world-building that gripped me, it was the issues that these writers were dealing with. First contact with aliens: an analogy for how Western civilisations deal with other cultures. A robot revolution: man’s relationship with technology and ‘just because we can, doesn’t mean we should’. These books dealt with politics, gender issues, religion, racism. They worked through the possible ethics of new inventions, the things that could go wrong in the case of an outbreak, what we could do to prevent war, the list goes on. These books made me think in a way that I’d never been made to think before. I was in love.

When I came to write my own novels, I started in the world I knew, but added supernatural elements (Angel’s Fury). I was still learning, I wasn’t yet brave enough to try and do what my writing heroes had done – create a whole world from nothing. Once I had learned how to write, I began to teach myself how to put a world together.

My second book, The Weight of Souls was set in London, but with elements of Ancient Egypt. Phoenix Rising was set on a post-apocalyptic earth.

Then my imagination was caught by multi-universe theory and so I wrote a book, Wavefunction,  about a boy who can jump between worlds. In that book I was able to come up with a different, earth-related, world for every jump he made. I was able to consider what the earth would be like if we had completely destroyed the ozone layer. Ask myself what if the polar ice caps had completely melted? What if Christianity had never emerged? What if world war II had never happened? What if the Cuban Missile crisis had resulted in nuclear war?

I had a lot of fun. Science fiction had gripped me, just as it had when I was growing up.

My most recent novel, Windrunner’s Daughter, is finally set wholly on a different planet: Mars. I had as much fun doing the research as I did writing the story.

I researched the planet of Mars, its terrain, gravity, light levels, orbit, moons and so on, I researched terraforming – the possibilities and ethics and I used this to create challenges for my characters.

Story remains key. Character and plot still drive my novels, but now I am writing in the way I always hoped that I would when I was a teenager and in awe of my dad’s bookshelves. I am world building.

About the Author

I am an author of YA thrillers and science fiction.

Angel's Fury (winner of the Leeds Book Award and the Cheshire Schools Book Award),The Weight of Souls, published in 2013, Phoenix Rising, published 2015 (shortlisted for Cheshire Schools Book Award and Wirral Paperback of the Year), Phoenix Burning,March 2016, Windrunner's Daughter, February 2016 and Wavefunction, April 2016.

Read the first chapters here.

Author Links:

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

Book Tour Organized by:

YA Bound Book Tours

Guest Blogger: Tracey Wood

Blurb:

After almost losing her life in a vicious, bloody attack. Kat Shaw, a thirty-something, divorcee, discovers that there are such things as monsters. And the predator who attacked her is not human. She starts to develop unusual skills which have murderous consequences. And is an unwilling witness to multiple, brutal murders, seen through the eyes a killer. Thrown into a battle of Good vs. Evil, she falls in love with two men who are not what they seem. While her attacker stalks her and continues to murder the innocent. She has to find the inner strength to take on and fight the demons from hell. To protect her family and friends while also trying to save her own life.  

Excerpt:

I had set my alarm clock so I could get up early in the morning, to head off to the cottage. Turning off the light and lying down, I snuggled under the covers.
I was just nodding off when I heard ringing. I hit the alarm clock, but the noise didn’t stop. Blinking, it dawned on me that it wasn’t the clock, it was the phone. I jumped up and answered it before the machine did.
“Kat?” the voice on the other end said.
“Yes?” I didn’t recognize the voice. Who would be calling at this time of night?
“It’s me, Sam.”
“Oh, hi,” I said, my voice flat.
What does he want?“I was wondering, do you want to go out on Monday evening?”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so.” I tried to think of an excuse.
He went quiet, then asked, “Why not?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
As the words left my mouth, I realized I shouldn’t have said them. I should have thought of something better. I didn’t know what else to say.
“Oh, so that’s it? You don’t want to see me again, do you?” I could hear the attitude in his voice.
“No. I think we should call it a day.” The phone went quiet.
“Sam?”
“That’s about right, you bitch!”
I froze, stunned.
“You lead me on and then dump me, you whore.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My God, where was the caring man from earlier? The one who had given me his jacket.
I slammed the phone down. As I did, I could hear him shouting and swearing at me. I couldn’t believe my ears.
Wow! I certainly had a narrow escape with him. I’m glad I didn’t tell him in person.I was angry, annoyed that I hadn’t retaliated.
He was so nice. Who would have thought he could turn so nasty? Just wait until I get my hands on Jonathan. I’ll wring his bloody neck. What was he thinking, introducing me to a lunatic?I made sure all the windows and doors were locked and finally went to bed.
I dreamt about the man on the rock. It was different this time.
The nameless vision of masculine beauty watched the water bubble and swirl as it flowed past him. He turned his head in my direction and smiled. There was something wrong with his eyes. They were not the beautiful blue eyes I loved so much. They were yellow! He glanced back at the stream and my gaze followed his. I looked back to where he stood and took a step forward. He wasn’t there! My heart sank.Where had he gone?I scanned the area but he was nowhere to be seen. I heard a noise above me and saw a large bird flying high in the sky. It swooped toward the stream and took off into the woods. Where did he go? He was there one minute and gone the next. I had just plucked the courage up to speak to him and he’d disappeared.
Damn it!

In 2010, I started to write my very first book, Midnight Angel. My husband and youngest son wondered why I was writing it and what I aimed to achieve? At that point, I didn't really know, but I enjoyed myself and got those long dormant creative juices flowing. I tinkered with it on and off and even, at one point sent it to a publisher. Unfortunately, they turned out to be a self-publishing company, you know the sort. Have you written a book? We will publish it. Self-publishing is alright if you can afford to go down that route but their plans were an expense, I wasn't prepared to pay. So I sat on my book and revisited it every now and then.
After going through a serious illness I decided to send my manuscript to Soulmate Publishing in New York and low and behold, Debbie the Senior Editor liked it. I had to tinker with it and then resubmit it but in 2015 she sent me a contract. Wooohooo.

I have been working hard, setting up my website, editing my book and generally preparing for my release date. If I hadn't of been ill, I would probably still be sitting with my book on my computer. Reading it and re-reading it. So, in my opinion, everything does happen for a reason. I hope this give you, the reader, the push to follow your dreams. No matter what they are. Life really is too short. 

Bio:

Tracey A Wood has lives in Staffordshire, in the United Kingdom. She has been married for over thirty years and has two children. One of her boy’s lives at home due to being disable the other has flown the coup. She has three cats that are her babies, and she talks to them all of the time. Funny thing is they don’t answer back.

She loves snowboarding, skiing, jumping out of aeroplanes and bungee jumping. Well, that is when other people are doing them. She prefers to have her nose in a book or writing one. She also loves to people watch which her husband is always telling her to stop doing. She has a job that she enjoys and works full time. Although if she won the lottery, that might change! She has also got a very good imagination.

In 2014, she decided to take the bull by the horns and send her manuscript to Soul Mate Publishing. She feels so privileged to have her book published, as this is the first one that she has written. It has made her dream of being a published author a reality. Life really is too short to wait, you’ve got to go for it. She is still working full time and is also working on another book in her limited spare time.  Her favourite saying is ‘Everything happens for a reason’ which she also believes is true.

Her books are fast paced and centred on a female lead who finds an inner strength after being thrown into situations that are beyond her control.

Buy Link: US link: https://goo.gl/3Lk91d

UK link: https://goo.gl/e7L7DV

Website: http://traceywood.wix.com/tracey-a-wood

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TraceyAWood.Author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/traceya_wood

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Blog: http://tracey-a-wood.blogspot.com

Wordpress: http://traceyawoodblog.wordpress.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/tracey_a_wood

Review: The Woman on the Painted Horse by Angela Christina Archer

From Goodreads:
Alexandra Monroe is a slave smuggler, smuggling slaves north to Tennessee where they can live as free people. Her crime is sedition and her punishment, if caught, is death. The daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Montgomery, Alexandra lives a life not by her own accord, but a life she willingly accepts for her secret quest to save the lives of slaves. Her ultimate sacrifice is to marry the town's most eligible bachelor, Thomas Ludlow.

One afternoon, Alexandra comes face to face with handsome William Graysden. He captivates her, and her thoughts confuse her. Born a Creek Indian, not only is William forbidden because of his race, but also because Alexandra is a closely betrothed young woman. William and Alexandra fascinate one another, finding in each other a bond they don't wish to ignore. After a series of events; however, William is forced to face the choice to continue the dangerous pursuit of Alexandra's affections or forget about her.

As a sweet, level one heat level, romance novel, THE WOMAN ON THE PAINTED HORSE weaves through the social disparity in Deep South 1861. A time where blackmail, money, and greed could be more powerful than love. 

My Thoughts:
I have a real weak spot for historical fiction, but I haven't read much of it lately, so picking this one up and reading it was my choice completely. It's been on my kindle for quite a while, like many of the books I will be reading over this writing break I'm taking. I'm glad to get back to my favorite genre, and this book was a great way to return.
Set in the building civil war, Alexandra doesn't sympathize with her Alabama wealthy family roots. Instead, she loves the slave woman who raised her more than her own mother, and secretly smuggles slaves out of the state. While to the outside world, she's the well-bred daughter of a highly respected family, and her hand is being sought after by an even wealthier young man.
But Alexandra knows she can't live in a loveless marriage, despite how much her parents push the young man on her, turning a blind eyes to his less than savory characteristics. Instead, she falls in love with a Native American man, William, who is everything her intended lacks, but also everything she's not allowed to have.
Since I have my own Native American man who I love and married, I naturally felt connected with Alexandra's love and attraction to William. It saddened me to watch them struggle against not only her world, but his as well to be together. They were a couple who matched up brilliantly, although, their love didn't build up how I would have liked, rather they kind of jumped from avoiding one another to kissing in the blink of an eye. I wish there had been a little more sneaking around and love letters to really build up the connection.
But the story does do a wonderful job of expressing the horrors of slavery and prejudice in the Southern United States at that time. It's a time I'm truly glad I don't live in, and Alexandra did well to overcome the struggles she faced and continued to stand by her beliefs and not break and conform, which ultimately saved many lives. It's also a great story where the bad guy gets his in the end!

Blog Tour: Of Pens and Swords by Rena Rocford

Today I have the lovely Rena Rocford taking over my blog to talk about her new release Of Pens and Swords. Make sure you grab a copy, or add it to your goodreads TBR pile!

Thanks for letting me invade the blog today, Katie!

In today’s books, it’s really easy to find a book about a boy who goes on an adventure: Charlie of the chocolate factory fame, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker. The advent of girls doing things only started recently. When I was little I wanted to be a warrior, but there weren’t any woman warriors around me (no one even told me about Joan of Arc, so I thought she was just a legend when I first heard of her). There were no women in the roles of doing great things. Despite ample historical evidence, none of the movies showed women fighting. So my brother took that to mean girls couldn’t fight. I always got to “play” as the maid or the mother. There were no other roles for me in our make believe, because there were no roles for me in the adventures we saw. 

And this is just talking about genders. What about people of color? What about girls who want to be Cinderella, but they don’t have blue eyes and learn to hate their bodies because they can’t LOOK like Cinderella? Heavy stuff, but it’s this subtle biasing spoon fed to us through the media that warps the way we think and the way we view the world. And this is why I write all kinds of characters. We need them all so everyone can go on an adventure. 

I get asked about why I wrote about a girl with one hand. Why not something else? The book would have been good even if the character had both her hands, so why write about a girl without a hand? The answer is because the character doesn't have both hands. Sometimes life is crummy like that. We have plenty of books with perfect people, but this book is about a girl with one hand because that's what happened to her. This was her story. 

Of Pens and Swords

By Rena Rocford

Seventeen-year-old Cyra Berque wants two things in life: a date with Rochan and a chance to fence at the Olympics. But people with one hand don’t normally fence, and girls with big thighs don’t get the boy. Knowing that she wants to make the Olympics, Cyra’s coach sets her up with another coach, one who could take her all the way to the top, but the new coach costs more. Feeling her dreams slipping out of reach, Cyra agrees to tutor a ballerina with a rich father and a D minus in English. It’s triple the pay and triple the pain. The ballerina isn’t interested in passing classes―she wants Rochan, and she’s promised she’ll turn her D minus into a full-fledged F if Cyra doesn’t help her win the heart of Rochan.

Buy it now on Amazon!

When Rena Rocford isn’t taking over the world one book at a time, she can be found living out her mild-mannered life, wearing out dance shoes, raising a herd of pets, and enjoying her time with her family in beautiful Northern California.

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Review Tour: The Other Place by Elizabeth Roderick

The Other Place
Elizabeth Roderick
(Other Place #2)
Publication date: July 5th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult

Living in Justin Flaherty’s mind has never been easy. Unfortunately, things are about to get much worse…
At eighteen years old, most guys are chasing girls or dreams. Justin, on the other hand, wants to draw and be left alone. He’s been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but it’s more than that. He’s in tune with the Dark Energy that surrounds us all, and can see how it controls people’s actions. Sometimes, the Dark Energy will give him visions, to help him on the road to enlightenment.
When his mother hooks up with a Baptist preacher named David who believes Justin’s schizophrenia can be cured with prayer, Justin knows he has to get out—or risk involuntary commitment in a religious facility.
After a brush with incarceration, Justin takes off to San Francisco, where his drawings are not just noticed, but admired…
Justin’s bizarre and beautiful drawings create a stir in the art world. Meanwhile, he’s homeless, couch surfing, and trapped in a continuous battle with his mental illness. His salvation is a girl named Liria Czetski with a shady past. They’d met a year ago, and she’s appeared in his visions ever since. It turns out Liria has been sharing those visions, something that is a surprise to everyone but Justin…
When secrets surface, Justin is forced to realize that being a genius has a downside. Surrounded by people who want to exploit his talent, he must fight not only for his career and freedom, but perhaps for his life…

Goodreads / Amazon

My Thoughts:
The Other Place is a unique and fascinating story about a young man who has schizophrenia. It's told in first person, so it's fascinating to see how someone with his condition sees the world. The author expresses the difference between schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder clearly by showing us the inner thoughts of such a unique individual. Her research on the condition is clear.
You come to love the MC, Justin, as he works to balance himself, maintain a outward appearance of normality as he struggles with his family relations, especially with his mother who isn't coping with his extraordinary needs and intellect, and uses his art to express his feelings and use his gift as an outlet.
The story shows the difficulty Justin faces with his mother, and how she doesn't cope with his condition at all. But he does have wonderful people around him who help and support him. One of those is Mina, his girlfriend. The trouble begins when Rebekah, Justin's mother's boyfriend's daughter, develops a crush on him and goes into a jealous rage, and lies, causing trouble for Justin.
From there, Mina helps Justin escape so that his mother and her boyfriend don't have him committed. She takes him to San Fran where she lines him up with an art gallery, and he gets an art contract. He soon encounters a long lost friend, Liria, who has ended up caught in the wrong crowd. Justin helps her, and she starts to get her life back on course, until Liria's ex forces her way in to manipulate all of them.
This novel is like a young adult version of the movie Beautiful Mind. Justin struggles with interpersonal relationships, his brilliance, and being let down by people who should be his foundation, while others love him for his incredible mind. The only down side for me was how the Baptists come across as crazy religious fanatics, of the Westboro variety, in the first half of the book. I'm not Baptist, but I know most aren't like that, and I wish there was some kind of balance. Aside from that, this novel opened my mind and heart to the problems faced by those with this condition, and made me love them all the more for their courage.

Author Bio:
ELIZABETH RODERICK grew up as a barefoot ruffian on a fruit orchard near Yakima, in the eastern part of Washington State. After weathering the grunge revolution and devolution in Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon and Seattle, she recently moved to a small cluster of houses amidst the vineyards of California’s Central Coast.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and worked for many years as a paralegal and translator. She is a musician and songwriter, and has played in many bands, rocking some instruments she doesn’t even know the real names for, but mostly guitar, bass and keyboards.
Elizabeth writes novels for young adults and adults; short stories; and memoir which is way more interesting than it should be. Her stories are about love, death, gang warfare, and madness; her characters tend to be of the type that society generally shuns: addicts, convicts, and the mentally ill. She believes if people get to know these characters in stories and in real life, they’ll find them more likeable than they originally thought.
She applies Hunter S. Thompson’s Gonzo method to fiction writing. It often gets a little heavier than what she had in mind, but she chalks it up to forced consciousness expansion.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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Review: Who Is Mr. Plutin? by Rebecca Strong

From Goodreads:
Yesterday Vika Serkova was in New York, eating takeout alone in her closet-sized apartment. Today she wakes up with a wedding ring on her finger, next to a man who claims to be her husband. In a designer flat in St Petersburg, Russia. Huh?

Her new reality is full of surprises. She owns only stilettos but can’t take a step in them without falling. People around her seem to think she’s lived in Russia her entire life. Her daily routine includes thousand-dollar spa visits with caviar and Dom Pérignon. And her husband is a handsome oligarch who buys her jewelry without any occasion. This new Russian life seems to be as different from the old American life as two countries’ views on Crimea. 

Has reality blown a fuse? Vika won’t worry about it now that she is a living Cinderella story. At least not until her husband drops an ultimate bomb about why she’s forgotten everything, about the work she does with her father, and about her current assignment for the Russian President. The assignment, which, as she discovers a day later, sets her against her husband in a conspiracy big enough to cost them not only their Breguets but very possibly their lives. To save herself and the family she is beginning to remember Vika needs to fool them into defecting. A perfect plan but only if she can manage it with her Russian memory MIA and her opponents set on destroying each other even before Vika’s manicure dries.

Fun and fast-paced, WHO IS MR. PLUTIN? is set in modern day St. Petersburg, Russia where your chances in life are only as good as the car you drive, the clothes you wear, and the people you stay away from.

My Thoughts:
What a fantastic book! From the very first page I was completely hooked. Vika has such a wonderful voice, and as a reader, following her discovery of who she is after the hypnosis wiped her memories is mesmerizing. There are so many twists and turns, intrigues, complications, the book kept me turning page after page to find out what was going on.
Each character has their own agendas, and their personal twists and interactions with Vika are fantastic. Vika's conflict between her husband and father is truly a difficult one, and shows her strength and courage.
I loved this book so much that when it ended I literally said "no!" out loud, and flicked through for just a hint of more. I just Loved it!

Review: Die For Me by K.A. Last

From Goodreads:
“You are my breath. I exist because you are the only one worth existing for.”

Grace Tate has made a lot of mistakes, but despite them, her mission has always been clear: keep Hopetown Valley safe. Every step of the way she’s fought for what she believes in, even when it meant breaking the rules. Fighting is what Grace does, but when she gets injured in battle, she faces her toughest challenge yet—Heaven wants her back, and they’ll stop at nothing to get her there.

Seth knows what’s happening to Grace, and he will do anything to protect her, even if it means lying. Grace suspects he’s keeping something from her, but she hasn’t been completely honest with him either.

Everything comes to a head in the final installment of the Tate Chronicles. Will Grace and Seth find the happily-ever-after they so desperately crave, or will their secrets tear them apart forever?

My Thoughts:
I had the privilege of doing the proofread for this book. I was very eager, since I enjoyed the first two books, especially Fight For Me, and wanted to get my hands on the final installment.
I sped through this book in 2 days. Grace and Seth are together, but struggling to cope with the fall out from book 2. Worst of all, Grace is no longer healing.
So much happens in this book and I don't want to give out spoilers. I did guess who Grace was supposed to die for, but it still broke my heart when it all went down.
We see the return of many characters including Charlotte and Josh. My favorite character will always be Archer, and I love that he had a chance to heal his heart after losing Charlotte.
The end though... I didn't see it coming! Great twist.
I loved this series. It gave me a great escape and was well written. Not your typical vampire and angels story.