Saturday, June 21, 2014

...Resonance Novella Review....

I should probably preface by saying that my opinion about this novella and all of Lindsey Fairleigh's stories might be a tad bias since LF and I write together on a regular basis, but....

I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. It has everything I enjoy reading in a story--a well thought out plot, intrigue, brooding characters, a strong female personality, and intricate world-building with equal parts research and imagination that I can only envy. As was the case with Echo Prophecy, the Lex and Marcus dynamic continues to develop and intensify, the flow of the story is seamless and fresh, and the characters are well developed.

Overall, this novella serves as a great interim until the next, full-length installment of the series is released later this summer. You'll feel Lex's frustration with Marcus, understand his reluctance to share too much, and be able to picture walking through the streets of Florence.

While I wouldn't say reading Echo Prophecy is absolutely necessary to read before this little bugger, I would definitely recommend it so that you can appreciate the tie ins and references.

If you read Echo Prophecy, you'll love Resonance. It's available NOW!

***


This ECHO TRILOGY novella takes place between ECHO PROPHECY and ECHO QUEEN (coming in September).

**WARNING**
This novella contains major spoilers from the novel, ECHO PROPHECY
It’s recommended that you read ECHO PROPHECY first, though it’s not required.

A week has passed since the confrontation with Set. Lex and Marcus have been biding their time in Florence, waiting for Set to make a move.


Just as they’re settling in to their new life together, an act of vandalism on one of Marcus’s most prized possessions reveals that their past—and future—is far more complex than they realized.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

...Writing is like Skittles...

A special thank you to Sylv Jenkins for hosting me as a guest blogger this fine Saturday! If you'd like to learn more about me, The Ending Series, the controversy surrounding our genre (or lack thereof), you might find this particular post interesting....

Writing stories is like eating Skittles, I want to taste the rainbow.
By Lindsey Pogue, Co-author of The Ending Series

Being a new-ish author, I feel like I’ve been treading water over the past few years, trying to navigate authorship-ism-ology to the best of my ability without drowning. There are plenty of things that are difficult about being an indie author, like marketing and book covers, editing and more marketing…If you want to produce high-quality work to the best of your ability, to get your work out there, gaining a loyal readership, then you’ve got to work hard at it. But that’s not necessarily the most difficult part of being an author.

Finding a niche is easy, for most people…
The most looming question of all is, which genre do I write for when I love reading them all? That might seem like an easy answer to some, but having a controversial series under my belt that’s gotten both rave and scathing reviews because it so delicately balances so many genres, has made me question where I stand as an author.

Other authors have told me to avidly read the genre I want to write so that it will make me a better writer, and so that I’ll understand what works well and all the key components to those types of stories. Well, I have seven bookshelves in my house chockfull of historical fiction, historical romance, contemporary romance, new adult, dystopian, science fiction, literary fiction, the list goes on. So, what do I do when my mind is a bottomless pit of possible story ideas that span the breadth of many genres? Yes, I’m fully aware this is a first-world problem, but it’s a problem for me nonetheless. I’m an author, I want to make my fans happy, just like all authors do.

YA? New Adult? Science-Fiction? Romance?
Until I actually started working on The Ending Series with my co-author and dear friend, Lindsey Fairleigh, I never saw myself writing science-fiction, let alone thought the first book I’d publish would ever be considered so; I never read science-fiction and had no interest in writing it. Obviously, things worked out much differently than expected.

Three years, three books, and six novellas later, LF and I are writing our fourth and final installment in our emotionally charged, post-apocalyptic world of The Ending. Perhaps it’s because of our series’s inability to “fit” in anywhere that I am so curious about my own personal writing future. People equally love and hate After The Ending. The feedback is all over the board—it’s too emotional for sci-fi, it’s too girly and the content too young to be adult fiction, but the themes are too adult for YA…see where I’m going with this?  
So, that poses the question I keep asking myself, what will I write next? Where will it fit in? Do I care? Yes, I care, but I know I shouldn’t let that stop me.

Writing stories is like eating Skittles, I want to taste the rainbow.
I’ve been writing all my life, completing my first YA manuscript when I was in high school. I was so proud of myself, thinking, oh yeah, this is my niche for sure! I’m gonna be a writer! Woot! Woot! Yeah, well, then my genre of choice changed, and I went completely off the path and ended up writing science fiction—romancey, new adult sci-fi, but sci-fi all the same. I still want to write them all—the fantastical and gritty real life—and just thinking about the possibilities gets my gears turning and revved up for my next writing adventure. Let me tell you, when your book doesn’t fit nicely into a package, you open yourself up to harsher reviews from people who were expecting one book but got another, and when it’s not cookie cutter, your book is much more difficult to market.

But, over the past year or so, I’ve realized something: nothing is black and white. There are tons of authors out there who write historical fiction and paranormal romance, erotica and thrillers. While it generally works out best if a story easily fits into a genre as I mentioned above, that won’t always be the case. So why have I been trying to box myself in? As far as I can tell, there is no single choice to be made if I want to be myself, to write what I’m passionate about.

So folks, apparently finding a niche in the writing world isn’t as easy for me as it is for other authors. But then, I’ve decided to give myself a break. I need to do what feels right. I don’t have to choose one single genre. I can be diverse as long as I can accept the can of worms that comes with it. After all, diversity is what makes good writers, right?

As long as there’s some romance, please.
Assuming that twenty years from now I’ve written stories across many genres and I’m still going strong, there’s one thing I know they’ll all have in common. Romance. YES! Nothing makes me happier than creating new brooding characters or jokesters or hotshots with cocky grins, and some of our fans most beloved characters are those very ones. This gives me hope and a strange sense of security that no matter what I decide to do, if they loved The Ending Series, people will enjoy all that comes next from LF and I as well.

If you’re interested in reading After The Ending and forming your own opinion on the matter, you’re in luck! It's currently on sale for 99 cents over on Amazon!


Thursday, June 12, 2014

...Legends, Lovers, Lives book synopsis and links...

Here are the books for the “Legends, Lovers and Lives” event! On June 14, 2014, all the books will be dropped to 99 cents! Click on the book covers to check out the books on Amazon.
Go back to the Facebook event to chat with the authors during the event.
Road to Shandara by Ken Lozito
Aaron Jace was just a normal college kid who’d never heard of a place called Shandara until he discovers two mystical swords among his deceased grandfather’s possessions. Now Jace will be pulled into a war that spans worlds where the deciding weapon is…him.

Angel of Mercy by Lisa Olsen
When Mercy wakes up in the hospital after a brutal stabbing, she has little recollection of the attack – only the blurred memories of a mysterious stranger with piercing blue eyes that haunts her dreams. Her savior turns out to be less than human, or is he more?


Blood Warrior by H.D. Gordon
When her home is attacked by murderous vampires, 17-year-old Alexa is forced to leave her mother for dead in order to save her sister. She soon learns that she is the last known member of an elite race of supernatural warriors, and is thrust into a world full of vampires and werewolves who all seem to regard her as some sort of savior.

Falling by J Bennett
When a stranger murders Maya’s boyfriend with a single touch, drags the college sophomore to an abandoned storage unit, and injects her with a DNA-altering serum, Maya prays for a savior. Instead, two young men claiming to be her half-brothers pull off a belated rescue. Now Maya is swiftly transforming into an “angel”, one of the scientifically-enhanced, energy-sucking creatures her brothers have spent their whole lives trying to destroy.

Shifty Magic by Judy Teel
Addison Kittner makes her living as a private investigator and bounty hunter. One night she comes across a girl about to be killed by three rogue vampires. Addison kicks some vamp butt and saves the girl. Just her luck, one the escaped vampires turns up dead the next morning, inspiring the vampire leaders to put pressure on her to solve the case or take the rap. As if that wasn’t bad enough, her ex-lover, werewolf FBI agent, Cooper Daine, gives her an offer she can’t refuse…a paycheck. Mixing business with lust is never a good idea, but neither is starving.

Wasteland by Lynn Rush
Bound by the blood contract his human mother signed four centuries ago, half-demon, David Sadler, must obey his demonic Master’s order to capture fifteen-year-old Jessica Hanks. But as he learns more about her, he realizes she may be the key to freedom from his dark enslavement.

Demonic Dora by Claire Chilton
Dora Carridine is trying to summon a demon, but she’s not very good at Latin and nothing ever works out the way she plans. Her life is fraught with weekly exorcisms and having to watch her father’s fire and brimstone TV show every Sunday. So, when Dora finally succeeds in summoning an incompetent demon lord, she’s absolutely delighted when all hell breaks loose.

Retribution by T.G. Ayer
Evie belongs to the Brotherhood Irin and together with all the other Angels of the world she is protector to humanity, protector against evil. But evil has found its way into the Brotherhood. Someone has murdered her guardian and Marcellus, the New Master makes demands of the warriors that go against all they stand for. Demands Evie just can’t carry out.

The Charge by Sharon Bayliss
When the King of the Texas Empire kidnaps Warren’s brother, Warren embarks into a still Wild West to save him. On his journey, he makes a discovery that changes his life forever–he and his brother are long-lost members of the Texas royal family and the King wants them both dead.

Moth by Daniel Arenson
Long ago the Earth stopped spinning leaving one half of the planet in the sunshine and the other half forever bathed in darkness. The humans split into two distinct races that believed the other to be a myth. The secret will soon be out as rumors and prejudice set the stage for war.

The Last Swordmage by Martin Hengst
After thirty years of loyal service to the Imperium, Royce just wanted to retire to a peaceful frontier town. His peace is short lived when he intervenes to save a young slave girl about to be executed for a crime she didn’t commit. The girl, Tiadaria seems to possess the same magic Royce has hidden all his life. Now he must teach her about her unique abilities before they both run out of time. An ancient menace is coming, and they have a thousand years of bloodthirsty vengeance to exact.

Outcast by Cheryl Matthynssens
Alador is a young man of mixed heritage who cannot fit into the worlds of his father or mother. His encounter with the blue dragon Renamaum ignites a powerful bond that may finally restore the pact between man and dragon.


After the Ending by Lindsey Pogue and Lindsey Farleigh
Dani O’Connor and Zoe Cartwright both survived the Virus and must now contend with the post-apocalyptic aftermath where strange new abilities begin to manifest. The two best friends are on opposite sides of the country when the Virus strikes. Now they must trust strangers, make sacrifices and even kill to find one another again.


Seduced by Lies by Karpov Kinrade
Rose and Derek have settled into married life and are enjoying their new jobs teaching paranormal kids. Everything seems idyllic, until paranormal teens start showing up dead in the local news, killed by what looks like a wolf attack. As Rose, Derek and their friends seek out the truth of these mysterious killings, a Bishop sent by the Pope arrives to undo everything they’ve worked so hard to build.

The Star Thief by Jamie Grey
At twenty-three, Renna Carrizal is the most notorious thief in the galaxy. There’s just one problem – she wants to get out of the business. After Renna rescues an injured boy on her final job, she finds herself on the run from the mob instead of enjoying retirement. She unwittingly becomes ensnared by MYTH, a top-secret galactic protection agency, who offer her a choice – either help them on their latest mission, or spend the rest of her life on a prison ship.

Vivatera by Candace Thomas
Not even Naomi’s prophetic dreams prepare her for the mysterious wanderer who appears just in time to snatch her from danger—nor the upheaval he brings in his wake. No knight in shining armor, Reynolds once risked Naomi’s life, and that dark secret again threatens it. When Naomi discovers the world of magic and of what she is capable, not even Reynolds can slow the fate barreling down upon them both.

Go back to the Facebook event to chat with the authors during the event.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

...Month of May Recap...

Howdy, All! 

So, I was just thinking...a dangerous past time, I know.

2014 is already HALF OVER! There's been so much going on--so much I feel like I'm not appreciating and taking in--and I need to stop and smell the roses. So, I figured, why not do so and share it all with you at the same time?

So, I've decided that at the end of every month, I will post a brief-ish recap of some of what's going on. I'll try not to make it too terribly boring.

My May Recap...

Coming off of a mad writing marathon month with Lindsey Fairleigh, I was finally able to focus on some other things, like...

I caught up on some CRAZY Game of Thrones episodes that almost made me pee my pants. Every episode is a surprise, and I LOVE IT! Where is it all going? I have my hopes and speculations, but then again, just when I think I know what's going to happen - BLAM! All my theories turn to dust.
                           
                            


I listened to a wonderful audiobook rendition of Jennifer Ashley's,  The Many Sins of Lord Cameron (book 3 in the series). I LOVED everything about this book! The story, the characters--who were witty, swoon-worthy, intelligent, intriguing, and not overly dramatic--and the narrator was also 100% right for the job. If you love historical fiction and unique story lines in your romances, you'll like this!
    


The Many Sins of Lord Cameron: Highland Pleasures, Book 3
On the Ending Series book front, After The Ending went live on Audible! And now, onto the production of Into The Fire! Thanks Natalie Duke for being so awesome!
 
After The Ending: The Ending Series, #1 | [Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue]


I published The Ending Beginnings: Clara, my second solo novella for The Ending Series, which was so very fun to write. It's probably a really different spin on Miss Clara's villainous ways than most Ending fans would expect...but that's the thrilling part of it all. I just hope everyone enjoys it! It's currently free in many places, but only for a limited time.


http://www.lindseypogue.com/#!beginnings/c1w4j


My dad was visiting from Hawaii. Yes, the beautiful Big Island. We had a great time with the family, and my grandma made her famous fried chicken and dumplings that we only get once a year when my dad is visiting :) At least I got my fix! Woot! Woot!

I'm still recovering from 3 days at the Napa Valley BottleRock festival this year. Although I did have fun and hung out with some great friends, I also had aching feet, too much sun, and too much dust in my nose by Sunday night at 10:00 (not to mention a little too much to drink, but...). Needless to say, despite hearing some great groups (Smashmouth, The Fray, The Cure, Heart, and more), I'm exhausted and glad it's over.



I think that's enough to reflect on and be thankful for, for now. I wouldn't want to bore you with silly cat stories and my excitement about finally having time to clean my house, do some yard work, and all that jazz, so I'll stop while I'm ahead.

If you want more information about all The Ending Beginnings novellas, would like to learn more about The Ending Series in general, or if you'd like to catch up on some Team Lindsey Q & A, feel free to visit my website!

Until next month!

Linds

Monday, June 2, 2014

...Clara is now AVAILABLE!...

The fifth novella in The Ending Beginningsthe prequel series to The Ending Series, is available to read on Barnes & NobleAmazon, & Kobo! THE FIRST CHAPTER IS AVAILABLE BELOW! 


Description:


The fifth novella in the prequel serial to The Ending Series.

A virus changed everything. This is how it began.

Clara's childhood was less than ideal, but thanks to her beloved fairy tales, she managed to survive. She also managed to hold onto the hope that, with a little hard work and determination, she would one day find her Prince Charming...her happily ever after. And for a little while, she thinks she has. But just as everything seems to be falling into place, a ghost from the past returns to haunt her.

The Ending Beginnings:
I - Carlos
II - Mandy
III - Vanessa
IV - Jake 
V - Clara
VI - Jake & Clara (June 2014)

1


Without taking her eyes from her book, Clara reached for her chocolate milk, which was sitting on the laminate cafeteria table beside her tattered backpack. Lips pursed around the straw and her feet bouncing with happy anticipation, she took two long pulls of the rich, cold liquid until her straw made a slurping sound, and she set the empty carton back down on the table. All of the other students were out in the quad, fussing about their homework or gushing about boys or complaining about the teachers they didn’t like, but Clara had better things to do. She ignored the ceaseless giggling and chatter as it trickled in through the open cafeteria doors and lost herself in her book.
“It was very late; yet the little mermaid could not take her eyes from the ship, or from the beautiful prince.” She read each line with more passion and longing than was probably natural for a thirteen-year-old girl, but she couldn’t help it. Fairy tales…Prince Charming…happily ever afters…she loved it all. “He is certainly sailing above,” she read softly. “He on whom my wishes depend, and in whose hands I should like to place the happiness of my life.”
Clara thought about Patrick, about his dreamy black hair and his light brown eyes, which always seemed to be saying more than his words ever did.
She sighed and kept reading. “I will venture all for him, and to win an immortal soul…”
Clara smiled as she devoured line after line, every word resonating in her soul, giving her hope that there was another life out there, a life different from the one she had with her mom—a better, easier life.
After another sigh, she stretched her legs out under the table, wiggling her toes in her holey converse and crossing her legs at the ankles, and settled in for a few more pages before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
“‘But if you take away my voice,’ said the little mermaid, ‘what is left for me?’ ‘Your beautiful form,’ said the witch. ‘Your graceful walk and your expressive eyes. Surely with these you can enchain a man’s heart.’”
Clara paused and wrinkled her nose. Your form? Your graceful walk? That didn’t seem right. It sounded too much like something her mom would say.
With a shrug, she pushed her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose and continued reading. The little mermaid was so passionate, so sure about the prince. Clara longed for the day when she felt that way for someone. Or rather, she longed for the day when someone felt that way about her
Daydreams of Patrick flitted into her mind, and she closed her eyes, imagining what it would feel like to run her hand over his spikey hair. He seemed so mysterious. He was popular and seemingly untouchable, so she guessed that had something to do with it. But there was also the way he looked at her sometimes, his gaze lingering a little too long and his mouth curving into that tiny smirk he seemed to reserve for her alone. Clara was pretty sure he thought about her…at least more than not at all.
And there was that one time at the bus stop, when they’d been waiting under the awning to stay out of the rain. She could never forget the feeling of his soft skin, still tanned from a summer of baseball games played under the afternoon sun, as his arm had brushed against hers. Although she’d been freezing all day because she’d forgotten a coat, it had only taken that one moment, that single, fleeting contact, for her incessant shivers to seem completely worth it.
Clara giggled. Maybe Patrick was her soul mate, her happily ever after; he just didn’t know it yet. But as quickly as the thought fluttered into her mind, it fluttered away.
“Men are pigs, Clara Bear.” Her mom’s voice was grating in her mind. “They’re only as good as the size of their wallet.” Like sand in a windstorm, all of Clara’s whimsical thoughts of her Prince Charming blew away. Her mom clearly didn’t believe fairy tales, but then again, Clara often thought her mom was just an uneducated hussy. At least, that’s what she’d heard other people say about her…when they weren’t saying worse things.
The older Clara was, the more she heard and the more she understood. Part of her knew thinking mean things about her own mom was wrong, but she couldn’t help it. Eye rolling and hateful thoughts had become the norm for Clara when she was around her mom.
“Love is for blind fools, Clara Bear, and blind fools deserve whatever comes to them.”
Clara wondered if her mom had ever been in love. From the sound of it, Clara thought probably not. She knew her own dad was nothing more than a handsome face passing through town; her mom had said as much herself.
Clara resituated herself on the bench of the lunch table. The sound of squeaky soles on the polished floor behind her drew her attention away from her book. Pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose, she looked over her shoulder at the cafeteria entrance. Patrick was heading her way.
“Hey,” he said, stopping at the end of the cafeteria table.
“Um…hey.” Clara smiled dumbly, her eyes darting to her beat-up lunch pail, the same Care Bears one she’d been forced to use since elementary school. She shoved it into her backpack.
“You working on Mrs. Larson’s homework already?” He hoisted his backpack up onto his shoulder and pointed to the open book lying on the table in front of Clara.
“Oh”—she held up the book of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales—“yeah. Just trying to get a head start on the book report.” Although it was partially true, she really loved fairy tales, even if these versions were darker than the ones she was familiar with.
Patrick smirked. “We still have, like, three weeks.”
Clara shrugged. She refused to tell him she had nothing else to do. “I think I might be going on vacation next week,” she lied. “I don’t want to fall behind.” Clara couldn’t bear for Patrick, the boy of her dreams, her very own Prince Charming—even if he didn’t know it yet—to learn how boring and lonely she was. “Have you started yet?”
He shook his head, his smirk turning into a smile. His eyes flicked down to her book. “Any of it any good?”
Clara couldn’t hold back the grin that engulfed her face. “The one I’m reading now is pretty good,” she said, not wanting to go so far as to admit she was enthralled with The Little Mermaid. “But I love fairy tales, so…”
Patrick eyed her for a moment, then took a step closer. “Cool. Maybe there’ll be a story in there that I’ll like.”
Clara wondered why he’d stopped to talk to her, but didn’t have the guts to ask. “Maybe.”
“So…where are you going on vacation?”
“Oh, umm, I’m not sure…somewhere with my mom’s boyfriend, I think.”
Snickering and cackling broke into the stillness of the cafeteria behind her, and Clara and Patrick both started. Her heart began to race. No. Please, she silently begged. Not now
Patrick peered over her head, his eyes narrowing. “What’s so funny?”
Clara squeezed her eyes shut, wishing Joanna Rossi, with her long black hair and crystal blue eyes, would just disappear already…forever. She was the most horrid girl at school and seemed to love torturing Clara more than anything else.
“She’s not going on vacation,” Joanna spat. “She’s such a liar.” Her voice grew closer with the sound of each footstep until she finally stepped around the lunch table and planted herself beside Patrick. She looped her arm through his, and her friends strutted up to the other end of the table to watch, like perched vultures waiting to pick away at what was left of Clara once Joanna was finished.
Why didn’t Patrick push Joanna away? Why wouldn’t he at least pull his arm out of hers? They weren’t together, were they?
Joanna’s eyes zeroed in on Clara. “You’re so pathetic. We all know your mom can’t afford to take you anywhere. She can’t even buy you new shoes.” Dropping Patrick’s arm, Joanna took a step forward and leaned down on the lunch table. “My mom said your mom sucked all the men in Bristow dry, so unless you’re moving somewhere else so she can find new rich men to suck dry, you’re full of crap.”
After another wave of boisterous laughter from her friends at the opposite end of the table, Joanna curled her lip and reached for Clara’s backpack. “Have you ever even gone on a vacation before?” As if she were holding a slimy worm, Joanna took the open flap of Clara’s pack between her fingers, pinky raised in disgust as she inspected the ratty state of the bag. Letting go, she wiped her hand on her pants.
“Yes, I have.” Clara snatched her backpack away from the evil witch, her skin flush as she scrambled to zip it up.
“Liar,” Joanna muttered.
Before Clara’s eyes began to blur with unshed tears, she grabbed her book, hugging it against her chest and left the remnants of her lunch on the table. “You’ll eat your words when I’m not here next week!” she screeched before running out of the cafeteria, down the hall, and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
The bathroom smelled of mold, soggy paper towels, and toilet water, but Clara didn’t mind. She couldn’t bear seeing Patrick again, not after he’d witnessed her utter humiliation.
Clara’s hands began shaking as her anger and embarrassment combined, resulting in the tears streaking down her cheeks. No one made her cry—not her mom, not her mom’s horrible boyfriends, not other students’ mean comments—and Clara hated that Joanna, of all people, had been the one to provoke the sudden onslaught.
Her horror quickly hardened into seething hatred. “Stupid bitch.”
But deep down, Clara knew it wasn’t just Joanna she was angry at. This was her mom’s fault. Bristow was one of the smallest cities in Oklahoma, so of course, everyone would know how horrible her mom was. No matter what her mom told herself and others, she wasn’t special or entitled to anything in any way—she was pathetic, and she was dragging Clara down with her.
If her mom had been normal, Clara knew she wouldn’t have to worry about stupid girls like Joanna; they’d have nothing to hold over her. Clara knew that, even though she was a little scrawny for her age and poor, she was pretty, or at least, she thought she could be if she tried. All she needed was a different past and newer clothes. If she had those things, she would be the one laughing at the others, she would be the one tormenting Joanna.
As Clara opened her book, she tilted it toward the dim, florescent light and began reading. With each word of hope, love, and happily ever after, she swore to herself that she would never ever be the butt of anyone’s jokes again. Ever.
And she’d do whatever was necessary to make sure of it.