THE INHERENT CHALLENGES OF THE BOOK TEASER

Other than the actual creative process of writing an actual novel, there are certain aspect of the writing for public consumption process that present an author with rather intense challenges that can inspire much gnashing of teeth and endless consternation. I have always found the book teaser to be the most ire-raising little literary device…made all the more so by the immense importance of its function. This synopsis on the jacket, back cover or retailer website (along with the graphic elements of the cover) represent the first impression opportunity for a novel and can inspire a prospective reader to make the decision to purchase or pass on a product…especially if the novel they are considering is written by an author with whom they are not familiar.


The fantasy genre, by its very nature is one that lends itself to an expansive writing style because it offers entire worlds, cultures and mythos to be explored along with complex plots and a large cast of characters. Therein lies the challenge for my fantasy series, Journey through the Land of Shades: the distillation of a coherent and compelling 400 character teaser (limit imposed by the publisher for posting on retailers sites) from what is likely to be a three thousand page plus, character and plot driven, culture and mythos rich epic fantasy series. As I struggled with this literary device for the upcoming release of the initial novel in the cycle, I winced at every word culled and every letter trimmed from my initial draft. Still, there is the essence of the challenge, to craft a brief description of the novel that succinctly capture’s the artistic soul of the work in a way that is intriguing.

Here is the end result…though still a character or two over the prescribed limit.






Journey through the Land of Shades






Islena Doraux was an extraordinary woman living an ordinary life. Daughter of the Tempest…this memory whispered at the edges of her consciousness; echoes that were the stuff of legend in a dozen worlds. An ancient nemesis would reach across the boundaries of our reality and draw Islena into an antiquated world in search of the Proclamations of Omnipotence and compel her on a Journey through the Land of Shades.

GUEST AUTHOR - FRANZ MCLAREN - CLARION OF DESTINY SERIES

The next featured author on my blog is fellow Smashwords Author Franz McLaren and the first volume of the Clarion of Destiny cycle, entitled Home Lost.

Here is the cover of his novel:

Here is a brief synopsis of his initial volume:

In “Home Lost”, Volume 1 of the the eight volume fantasy “Clarion of Destiny”, Leena receives the Garlan branch. From first contact her life is changed. After a solitary journey she returns home to find her village in ruins. Confused and alone Leena sets out to search for her family and to discover the reason that the Garlan branch has selected her.


You can learn more about Franz McLaren's epic fantasy series at this publisher portal:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/31034


I wish Franz the best with this project...the fantasy world can only benefit from a vast and varied library to choose from.

GUEST AUTHOR - NICKI J MARKUS - DRAGON'S HEART

My next guest author is Nicki J Markus and a fantasy e-book novella entitled Dragon's Heart; a story based loosely on Irish Celtic Mythology.

Here is the Novella's cover:

Here is a brief teaser for her novella:

"All her life, Laoise has longed for adventure and daydreamed her days away. But the time for dreaming is past. Deep in the bowels of the earth a dragon wakes and the fate of her people and the entire world now rests in Laoise’s hands. Can she and her guide, Bearach, complete their quest to the Underworld in time or will her first real adventure also be her last?"

Here is the link to Nicki's site:

http://www.nickijmarkus.org.uk/


Here is where you may follow Nicki on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicki-J-Markus/180320691995035

Here is where you can follow Nicki on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/NickiJMarkus


I hope everyone takes a moment to visit Nicki's site and I wish her the best of luck!

GUEST AUTHOR - JESS C. SCOTT - THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE

Since deciding to use this blog to help fellow fantasy authors, I've received a flood of requests to be featured. As I'm presently immersed in the pre-publication phase of my next novel (Journey Through the Land of Shades...first volume of a five part fantasy cylce), I can only get to a few of these per week.I believe that this concept of genre cross promotion has the potential to benefit everyone who participates...the more exposure for the artist and the genre, the better. My initial intention was to concentrate on epic high fantasy in this promotion...though I will make allowances for urban and youth fantasy. Due to time constraints, I cannot accept offerings from other genres...though this is hardly a proprietary idea and others should consider applying the same concept of reciprocal cross-promotion to their chosen areas.

Today's featured author is Jess C Scott and his novel entitled The Other Side of Life

Here is a synopsis of the novel:
Anya and Leticia are partners-in-crime who steal for a living. Their world turns upside down after a chance encounter with fellow rogue, Ithilnin—the enigmatic leader of an Elven band of thieves.


A scuffle to prove who’s “the better thief” transforms into more than Anya and Ithilnin ever bargained for. They retrieve the missing piece of an ancient poem, before getting caught in the secret dealings of a megacorporation. What they uncover threatens to alter the very essence of not just human life, but the other side as well.

Elven intrigue, cyberpunk action, and a deadly dose of danger come together in The Other Side of Life [Book #1 in the (Cyberpunk) Elven Trilogy].

GENRE: Urban Fantasy / Cyberpunk / YA with adult crossover appeal


Here is the link to Jess' website along with the places that his novel can be purchased.
 www.jessink.com/tosol.htm



1. LINK FOR The Other Side of Life PDF:

http://jesscscott.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/theothersideoflife_jesscscott.pdf



2. LINK FOR KINDLE, SONY, NOOK, KOBO OR OTHER:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/36639

I hope that visitor take the time to check out his site and I wish him well with his project.

GUEST AUTHOR - PATRICIA PUDDLE - VELVET BALL AND THE BROKEN FAIRY

The love of fantasy can be fostered in children from an early age...Inkheart and Harry Potter can chart a course through the imagination that can lead to Steven Erikson and Robert Jordan as an adult. The imagination of a child is a wonderful garden to cultivate.

To that end, here is a fantasy offering by Australian author...Patricia Puddle and her youth fantasy novel entitled, Velvet Ball and the Broken Fairy.

Here is the novel's cover:

Here is the Synopsis of Patricia's novel:
Synopsis:




Nine-year-old Velvet is sick of being teased at school and called a pixie just because she’s bald. Avoiding bullies on the school bus, she takes off into the woods. On her way home, she comes upon a fairy caught in the bow of a tree. The tiny doll-like creature claims to be Roseberry - Fairy of Crabtree Forest. Velvet doesn’t believe in fairies, but when Roseberry promises to grant her a wish, she takes a chance and wishes for golden curls. Just like Velvet thought, Roseberry's magic doesn’t work and when the fairy tries to fly away, she falls to the ground with a thump. Feeling sorry for the helpless little sprite, Velvet takes her home and hides her in her bedroom. But the fairy isn’t at all endearing, she’s rude, bad mannered and spoilt. All she's interested in is trying on Barbie clothes, dancing around the bedroom, and causing mischief. Velvet figures the fairy has no powers because she didn’t pay attention in Magic School. Roseberry's not interested in learning anything, she’d sooner play jokes and get Velvet into trouble. Velvet’s had enough and wishes the nasty little snot would just buzz off, but her heart breaks when Roseberry's kidnaped by a gang of bullies. They think the fairy's just a doll and use her as a football, catapult her into trees, and toss her around. When Roseberry's grabbed by the gang leader’s snotty-nosed baby sister, Velvet tries to save her, but before she has a chance, the toddler stuffs the fairy in her doll pram and wheels it indoors. Now Velvet has to break into the house without been seen by the crabby-looking woman in the kitchen, plus the boys are coming back up the garden path.


Here are key links to Patricia's blog and sites where this novel can be purchased:

Here’s my blog site:  http://trish-mollygumnut.blogspot.com/




Here’s the links to buy my book:



It’s available as a paperback with Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Velvet-Ball-Broken-Fairy-1/dp/1456387448/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293724495&sr=1-2-spell



As an eBook with Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Velvet+Ball+and+The+Broken+Fairy&x=19&y=17



With Smashwords as an eBook: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32393



As an eBook with Barnes and Noble NookBooks: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Velvet-Ball-and-The-Broken-fairy/Patricia-Puddle/e/2940011146060/?itm=1&USRI=velvet+ball+and+the+broken+fairy


I hope that everyone will take the time to visit Patricia's site and explore the fantasy world she's crafted....

GUEST AUTHOR - KRISS PERRASS RUNNING WATERS - 300 NIGHTS

When I consider the challenges that I’ve face over the last few years in the effort of writing for public consumption, it occurred to me that authors would benefit greatly from fostering a climate of community rather than competitiveness…that we could all benefit from the notion of mutually reciprocal cross-promotion. Every neophyte author is faced with the same slippery slope of roaring indifference when trying to spread the message of their craft to the reading public…challenges that can be disheartening to say the least.


To this end, I’ve decided that I would open the blog portion of my site to the concept of featuring the offerings of other fantasy authors who are more or less in the same situation as myself. Fantasy is a genre of immense creative and artistic potential and stunning beauty and those who love the world of the epic fantasy saga are ravenous consumers of the art. Thus, there is no need to take the me for myself approach to promotion and the community of fantasy author can benefit by spreading the gospel of the genre as it were…both their own works and the works of others.

The first work I would like to feature is not a fantasy novel, but rather a modern sci-fi...arguably a close cousin of the genre. The novel is entitled 300 Nights by author Kriss Perras.
 
 

 
 
Here is a link to the novel's site on barnes and noble
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/300-Nights/Kriss-Perras-Running-Waters/e/9780557824304/?itm=1&USRI=kriss+perras+running+waters
 
Here is a brief synopsis to the novel:
 
About the Book:


300 Nights is a cyberpunk science fiction novel where a society

controlled by genetic manipulation creates social classes based on

neural implants and gene bums. The biological superpower, the Basic

Protection Corporation, controls the key to human survival. Yet, the

Company stands idly by while a deadly space-born virus hurled down to

Earth during an apocalyptic meteor storm annihilates the human

population above ground. Exiled to the Earth’s womb, humanity now

faces the BPC-born threat of another race more powerful and genetically

superior to the Homo Sapien. Humanity hangs in the balance with their

defenders Benner, caught in the Demon’s Hole of the next generation

Mindbender, and Miranda only just discovering who she really is in a

gritty new world.



Hard Copy ISBN: 978-0-557-79969-5

eBook ISBN: 978-0-557-82430-4



Website:

novel.300-nights.com

    Hopefully, visitors will take the opportunity to visit Kriss' site and take a close look at 300 NIGHTS

FREE KINDLE FOR PC PROGRAM AND OTHER NEWS

Hello to all:

As my latest effort has been released as an e-book (a format that I am likely to use for the foreseeable future), I just wanted to let visitors know that Kindle has provided a free download of their kindle software that will allow readers to download kindle format books for their computer. This will provide full Kindle functionality on their computer, including bookmarking and one touch page turning that makes the Kindle such a joy to use.  This free download can be had at the following address:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

For fans looking to purchase Closures in Blood, they can do so through the Smashwords website. Be sure to select the mobi version when downloading the novel, so they can enjoy it with the Kindle for PC software.

On other matters, I am hard at work on editing the first novel in my fantasy series: Journey Through the Land of Shades. In addition to this preliminary editorial work, I'm writing the first draft of the fourth novel of this series...Wake of the ShadowCaster. Developing a living map and the cover concept for the first novel of the series has left my plate overflowing, but I've never been as delighted with the creative process as I am with this particular project. I will post more as I delve deeper into this world I've labored so mightily to create.

A few things I have discovered and am enjoying immensely:

Slash's new cd: FNF'NR
Blackmore's Night new cd: AUTUMN SKY
The Robert Jordan Novel: EYE OF THE WORLD