Fiction Friday:
Muse: 642 Things
Prompt: Pretend you are a tree, what are you thinking as they cut you down?

Yesterday was my last inspection.  They clicked their tongues at me and muttered something about today.  I’m sure they’ll be here any minute, they are rarely late.  Oh, I hear them now.  They’ve come from the direction of the barn, he must be ready.  I am okay with his decision, he’s never led me wrong before. I remember when his grandpappy planted me all those years ago.  I was such a stubborn seedling back then, but he never gave up on me.  I remember when his son learned about my anatomy and when he would lay beneath my branches and sing that cute song about the tiny spider.  They he too grew and had a son, a rambunctious little tyke.  Always in my branches and eating my fruit.  I’m glad he’s the one to do it, the last voice I’ll hear. The last memory I’ll make.  
Hello old friend.  Do not weep for me.  
I will be alright.
Ouch!
It is time.
Thank… you...

It’s time for another first! This week our review is of an audio book. All the details are below for how you can pick up the Audible file for Love Beyond Time. If you’re thinking you’ve heard this title before, you’re right! About two years ago I read the ebook and reviewed it but the author, Bethany Claire, was kind enough to provide audio copies for review. How could I pass up the chance!  [goodreads review | Audible review]

What a great story from all aspects! The writing was solid, the characters were detailed and well rounded and the setting (modern and past) were detailed and described enough to immerse you without bogging you down in details. The love story is realistic with the couple not instantly falling into bed with one another and just as one might expect, Bri attempts to shield her heart as long as she can in her unfamiliar surroundings.

Bri is a wonderfully spunky woman with a huge heart and the ability to fill a room with her laughter and determination. Once she lets herself go and accepts what her heart is telling her she opens up to her new world and fills the pages with her love for Eoin and his time. The magic is an after thought to the story and fits seamlessly into the intrigue and politics that make up the majority of the non-romance plot. The connections between the characters are real and heartfelt, the stable master to his horses, Eoin to his brother, and Bri to her mother, etc. All off this adds to the detailed and rich world created.

Audiobook Review:
The audiobook was wonderful! The voice actress for the used a variety of voices and accents making the entire listen more enjoyable and easy to understand who was speaking. Her Scottish accent was realistic and pleasant to listen to, while her male voices were a bit lackluster. A partnership of voice actor/actress would have better suited the story and the expository sections felt robotic compared to the life she gave the characters. The recording quality was great with no hum or distortion and made the entire focus on the story.

Fiction Friday 16:
Muse: 642 Things
Prompt: You wake up one morning to find your face plastered all over the city on “missing” posters.  Who posted the signs?  Where were you last seen?  What were you wearing?

Mandy bent down and touched her toes, clad in rubber trainers and itching to run.  She skipped to a telephone pole across the walk and used it for leverage to stretch her shoulders.  She placed her palms flat on the pole over a posted notice and stretched.  Her shoulder popped and she stood up straight to rub the joint.  The face on the missing posted stapled to the pole caught her attention and she stumbled backwards.  Her own visage stared back at her, smiling and happy in the sun.


Mandy Williams
Age 27
Missing two years
Contact Radclif Barns if found

Mandy looked around her frantically, no one was paying attention to her, all of them too busy this early in the morning.  She carefully pulled down the sign and skipped back up her steps.  She pulled out her cell phone and dialed as she went.
“Mandy, what’s wrong?”
“Sergeant Walker. Rad’s found me, and he knows my name.”

I’m so pleased to be able to share this review with you. I love discovering new authors and genre, and here's a great example of that. Trial Run was provided to me for a pre-release review and I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical. The genre is not one I frequent normally by Thomas Locke has made me a believer. Enjoy the review and if you missed Monday’s blog, make sure to catch Thomas’ interview for a free copy of his prequel; Double Edge. [goodreads review]

Trial Run follows three groups of people; Reese Clawson and her team in California, Trent and Shane in Santa Barbara, and Gabriella and her team in Europe. Each set of characters is expertly woven together to create an epic conspiracy that covers the globe. How do you fight an enemy you don’t know exists and add to that your inability to see them and you’re in for a wild tale.  

The descriptions of the locations were immersive and felt real and it was easy to walk through them with the characters and keep your bearings, even through the chaos as the story progressed. Specific props or details for key scenes were focused on carefully to impress the importance of an outfit or a dream sequence to the main story. The plot was engaging, twisting and turning at all the right moments that left you hanging at the end wishing you had the next book.

In a story with so many characters, it’s extremely important to have defining features to ease the reader’s ability to tell them apart, when the story begins this isn’t the case and the POV swapping makes it harder to discern. A few chapters in is where they all being to expand into their own personalities and their goals are revealed. Except for one pair; Shane and Trent. These two are definitely the outliers when it comes to motivation. Even with Trent being the only character to have a provided backstory, it didn’t give him a motivation for his actions later in the story. the other characters had some strange quirks too. Charlie is involved in a strange love triangle that doesn’t feel integral to the story, and Reese, though listed on the back cover synopsis as the main character, felt more like support than the whole point of the novel.

Welcome to part one of my two part series for the release of Thomas Locke's Trial Run! Below is an interview with Thomas where he talks about Trial Run and his process. You can also find a link to his prequel short story in the questions below. Check back Wednesday for my review of Trial Run!

Q: What reader did you have in mind when you were writing Trial Run?

Thomas Locke: I suspect there are a lot of readers out there like me, who love mainstream fiction in principle, but are dismayed by how dark it is becoming.
I love to read. I am happiest with a good book in my hands. And most of my purchases are mainstream fiction. Too often, however, I find myself skipping over bits that are just plain not necessary for a good story.
I wrote Trial Run for readers like me. Passionate about story, yearning for the thrill of a great tale, hoping for something that uplifts as well as ignites.
Here’s a video trailer for Trial Run.

Q: In Trial Run, you introduce several seemingly unrelated threads at the beginning of the story. By the end of the story, those threads have become woven together in an intricate tapestry. What’s your thought process behind this writing strategy?

Thomas Locke: This concept can best be summed up by the phrase you often hear a Hollywood producer say: “Where is the cut?”
By this, the producer means, what can you leave out of the script so that the audience must figure things out for themselves?
Instead of spoon-feeding the audience every item required to move to the climax, things are left unsaid. This sense of vacuum draws the audience into the action, and hurries them forward to the story’s close.

Q: Several settings in Trial Run (Santa Barbara, CA, the Italian/Swiss border site) depict real places. How do you select these real-life settings for your stories, and do you alter details of these places to suit your stories?

Thomas Locke: The core element of my placing a story is research. And the core element in my research is emotion. For many people, the ‘take’ that I finally use in the story does not jibe with what they like to see as valid for a particular setting, especially when that place is close to their heart and I have used a more negative perspective. But the facts have been carefully studied.

An example from Trial Run is Santa Barbara. For a lot of people who know and love California, this is their absolute favorite place in the SoCal region. And for good reason. It is a lovely town, one my wife and I really enjoy visiting.

For this story, I was granted an insider’s view into the University of California at Santa Barbara, or UCSB. And from the perspective of many students enrolled there, UCSB is filled with hyper-inflated SoCal egos.

The contrast I found between the students with money (and in SoCal, when I say they had money, I really mean they had money) and those who don’t is as sharp as anywhere I have ever been. The student who formed my core source and guide was on a scholarship. He was there to study. He was, to say the least, in a minority.

Everything I described about the school, the bicycle traffic and the events on the beach and the housing, are based on observation. But the perspective was based upon the humorous bafflement with which this student viewed many of his fellow classmates.

I personally love this aspect of building a story. The research at this emotional level grants me the opportunity to see the world through another person’s eyes and heart. Being trusted with this, time and again, is part of the miracle process that happens every time I start a new tale.

Q: I’ve heard there’s a free ebook prequel to Trial Run. How can I get a copy?

Thomas Locke: Double Edge, an ebook prequel to TRIAL RUN, by Thomas Locke
Thomas Locke: As I was writing the opening scenes of Trial Run, I found myself continually asking questions about what happened before that door opened and before the party started. I began sketching a sort of parallel story, laying out ideas that formed the story-before-the-story.

“Double Edge” is the result.
The publishers liked the short story prequel so much that they have asked me to write a complete novel based upon these concepts. This novel will form either book three or book four in the series.

You’ll find links on my website for downloading your free copy of “Double Edge” from your favorite online bookseller.

Q: Trial Run is book 1 in the three-volume Fault Lines series. Please give us a preview of what to expect in book 2.

Thomas Locke: This is a timely question, as I completed the first draft of book 2 on June 8. The working title is Flash Point.

In many respects, Flash Point is a true hybrid. By this I mean that the core themes are the same as in Trial Run. But everything is also very different. I had two key questions in mind when I started book two: How far can I take this? How much can I risk?

This whole concept of controlled out-of-body experiences opens up a completely new vista. I had to develop a new story framework for Trial Run, and everywhere I looked I found myself asking the same questions:

• Where does this take mankind?
  
• If this could actually happen, where do we go?
  
• Who are we as people?
  
• How would this remake us?
  
• These questions are first asked in Flash Point. Where we go from here depends mostly upon you, the reader.

Get to know Thomas Locke at these online outlets:
Website: http://tlocke.com/
Subscribe to Thomas’s e-newsletter and blog: http://eepurl.com/5cnH5
Receive Thomas’s latest blog posts via your feed reader: http://tlocke.com/blog/feed/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tlockebooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/thomas_locke
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tlockebooks
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/tlockebooks/

NEXT week, I can’t wait for next week! Monday I have a special blog post that will tie directly into Wednesday's book review. I really hope you’re going to like it. Until then, enjoy a bit of new fiction.

Happy Reading!
~Eliza

Fiction Friday 15:
Muse: 642 Things
Prompt: Your character has an unusual first date.  With whom, why, and how is the first strange?

Rachel was ready.  Her apartment was clean. The games all back in their boxes, the controller cables all wound up, and even her plushie collection was neatly lined up properly on the shelf. The guy coming over was going to love it, and considering she took the day off from raiding with her guild, he better.
*knock knock*
She checked her watch and smiled.  Five minutes early.  Good.  She liked punctuality.
“Coming!”

Their pizza was eaten, the candles were lit, and her date, Brad, was going on and on about some stock market price thingy.
“So you see why I couldn’t refuse the offer?”
“Sure…” Rachel said with a false smile.  “Are you ready to watch a film?”
“Sure, what are the choices?”
Rachel held up two options.
“Really?  Avengers and Monty Python?  Don’t you have anything… normal?”
Rachel seethed.  “Alright.”  She placed the DVDs back down and picked up the dishes to carry them into the kitchen.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh, nowhere, just cleaning up.”
“Can’t you do that later?”
“A dish slipped, landing against the sink a little harder harder than planned.  “Yes of course.  I know, why don’t we go out!”
“Great idea, get your coat!”
Brad slid his on and Rachel removed hers from the hook.  She followed behind him to the front door.  “Do you have everything?”
“Yes.  So what do you want to…”  His voice trailed off as he exited the apartment and walked down the hall.
Rachel closed the door and locked it, and hung her coat on the hook.  Brad’s muffled voice came through the door but she ignored it and popped Monty Python into her system and flopped onto the couch.  
“That’s the last blind date Dad is ever setting me up on.”
She put her feet up, grabbed the nearest plushie, and snuggled up for the film.

How did I miss that Sherrilyn Kenyon had an entire other series out there!? Blood Trinity is the first book in the Belador series by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love. I’m not sure how I missed them, but I’ll be adding all six books to my collection in the coming months. [goodreads review]

Evalle is an outcast among her people. As a mixed blood Belador she’s known as an Alterant. Her people see her as a demon waiting to be caged, always watching for her to slip up and show her true face. As a VIPER she is a soldier for her people and anyone else who would suffer the misfortune of running into a demon. As if demon hunting, being allergic to sunlight, and considered a pariah by her people wasn’t enough she’s also placed on the front line for a war she wants nothing to do with. But if she fails… Atlanta and the world may face the apocalypse.

Finally, another strong female character who isn’t overshadowed by a man trying to take care of her. Evalle’s dedication to her race and her position as a VIPER is unwavering, even in the face of her own peril, she does what is right for her people, even if they don’t think she’s one of them.  The love story revolves around her and her two friends, Tzader and Quinn, they are her family and their bond runs deep. The subplot love stories are a bit wishy-washy and refreshingly, not instant love - or even sex.  Unlike Kenyon’s Black Dagger series, Belador follows only one character through all of the books, Evalle. This minor difference allows the reader to connect with the characters on a much deeper level over the course of the multiple books.

The superb world building and cultures strengthen the interactions between all of the characters as each race’s differences are expressed. Another layer of realism is added when the gods are introduced. A mixture of real-world gods are mixed with new, fictional lore gods to create a believable set of figureheads.

As if all of this wasn’t entertaining enough, Evalle has a pet. An awesome and amazing pet that I won’t spoil for you because it was so cute and enjoyable to read their interactions and I can’t wait for more!

Then there’s monetization. Other authors have Patreon pages or ads on their site that help cover cost of books and site maintenance. But do I provide enough back to my readers to even be presumptuous enough to ask for money from them? Or sully my site with ads? I don’t know the answers to those questions.

Then there’s my plan for the future of my actual writing. In the last month I have submitted my work on Keeper’s to an agent while simultaneously submitting three of my short stories for a contest.  While I would be thrilled for either of these opportunities to become fruitful, I am not expecting it. I can’t get my hopes up, and lets face it… who catches a break on their first submissions.  What I’m more proud of, is that I did it at all. That is a huge accomplishment for me, and one I NEVER thought I would ever do.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday last weekend, and if you’re outside the states, I hope you went on an adventure!

Not much is really new for me, I’m pretty steady state here with Camp NaNoWriMo and a slew of book reviews (three this week!). Monday’s blog will be a more personal one, a stream of conscious, here’s what I’m thinking, kind of post.  So stay tuned for that. For now, I hope you enjoy my fiction doodle and never experience it yourself.

Happy Reading!
~Eliza

Fiction Friday 15:
Muse: 642 Things
Prompt: Think of a dramatic event and write it backwards.

She blinked.
The world was tumbling around her, tossing her, jarring her.
The sound was the first to go.
The high pitch screams, the crunch of glass and metal. The blaring of horns.
Her ears stopped ringing, the sound was sapped from around her, replaced by the smells of burning rubber and flesh.
A bright light invaded her sight and brought tears to her eyes.
Her heart beat faster and she knew something was wrong.
A hand gripped her wrist, latching on quickly where there was none before.
She must have been dreaming, the fields were glittering and she could smell the wheat.
The drive was long, and her brother was tired, they’d been gone for too long. 
Their peace had been broken.
Dad had called and what Dad wanted, Dad got.

This was a lucky find! Currently free on Amazon, Lovestruck in London by Rachel Schurig is a gateway book into the rest of her series. [goodreads review]

Lizzie Medina has always wanted to go to London, so when an opportunity to study Literature there comes up, she takes it.  Her and her best friend fly the miles, eat the food, and live in a quaint apartment over an Italian restaurant.  Lizzie is a good girl, following her parent’s wishes, studying hard, and even though they didn’t want her venturing off to London she stands strong.  But when Lizzie meets Thomas her family starts to worry.  Who is the actor, how serious is their relationship, and they begin to count down the time until her session is over and she’s back home.  Lizzie must decide what she’d rather have, her quiet Michigan life as a teacher, or something more… perhaps in London?

Lovestruck in London is well written, with fluid writing and believable characters.  Lizzie is the classic good girl who quickly gets swept up and lost in a new romance.  Thomas is an actor and the spotlight on his relationship with Lizzie could be their downfall, but Thomas isn’t like other actors and fame is not why he’s in the business.  Their romance was real and enjoyable to read with ups and downs, and even a few sideways steps.  I found myself laughing with them and then crying with them minutes later.  Their interaction with each other and their friends and family helped to further their character growth and very little of the book was fluff, everything had a purpose.  

The history about London and the description of the multiple landmarks that Lizzie visited gave the book another step toward believability and grounded the romance in reality.  Even when Lizzie and Thomas had their romantic struggles they were over real issues.  The supporting characters were all accounted for, the witty best friend, the catty vixen, and even the jealous classmates.  If you could think it, Lizzie encountered it, but not in a way that had the reader all over the place trying to keep minute details straight, it all flowed together into one enjoyable package.