Cover reveal for ‘The Compass Key’ by Charles E Yallowitz!

Debuting August 8th on Amazon Kindle!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Swords will clash and spells will fly in the newest adventure of young warrior Luke Callindor, Nyx the magic-flinging caster, and their friends.

With Sari captured by their enemies, the champions of Windemere are determined to get her back and destroy the Lich’s castle. Little do they realize, their battles in the Caster Swamp are only the beginning of this adventure. Trinity and her Chaos Elves have invaded the city of Gaia in search of a relic called the Compass Key. Rumored to be the key to rescuing Sari from a magical island, our heroes are in a race to find the mysterious relic.

Which side will claim the Compass Key? And, what will our heroes do when they’re faced with an enemy whose evil power overshadows anything they have ever faced?

About the Author:

Charles author photo B&WCharles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Blog: Legends of Windemere
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz

Read the Previous Volumes of Legends of Windemere!!!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen (CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE)
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen (CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE)
Cover by Jason Pedersen
Cover by Jason Pedersen (CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE)
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen (CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE)
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen (CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE)
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen (CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE)
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen (CLICK FOR AMAZON SITE)

Review of ‘Cupid’s Way’ and cover reveal mention

Cupid's Way

What another review? I hear you ask. Yes it certainly is and this time it’s a review of another writer friend of mine, the lovely Joanne Phillips. Joanne has been hugely successful since she took the plunge and self-published her first novel Can’t Live Without two years ago.

This novel, her fourth, is called Cupid’s Way and I highly recommend it. If you love an appealing hero and heroine, quirky, fun characters and a great plot, you’ll love this.

BUT before I share the review I just wanted to say that this Friday I’m doing my cover reveal for my new novel Reunion of the Heart, which I’m going to publish soon. I’ve got ten lovely bloggers who’ve kindly agreed to take part in the reveal. So watch this space…

Anyway here’s my review of Cupid’s Way:

Evie Stone is determined to save the Victorian terraced street her grandparents live in. But things get complicated when she meets the CEO of the developers, Michael Andrews. They’re immediately attracted to each other. Can Evie and Michael even have a relationship? And can Cupid’s Way be saved?

I thought this was a lovely, well told romance with a difference, the difference being the numerous memorable characters who populate Cupid’s Way, not least Evie’s grandparents. I thought the author portrayed all the characters so well, they were all unique and interesting. I especially liked the character of Evie’s grandmother who was funny and infuriating all at the same time.

The two main characters, Evie and Michael, were well drawn too and I found myself rooting for Evie especially all the way through – as you’re meant to but this never felt forced. I thought the opening was great and the story unfolded gradually, making me wonder how exactly things would turn out for the characters I liked so much.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a lighthearted romance.

Cupid’s Way is available from Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

Review of ‘Bound’ by Kate Sparkes

Bound

I’m very pleased to be sharing with you my review of Bound by Kate Sparkes. Kate is a writer friend of mine and fellow WIPpeteer for our WIPpet Wednesdays.

Anyway she recently published Bound, her debut novel, and seeing as it’s so fantastic, I wanted to share my review of it with you here. I just want to add before I do that it really is a stunning novel, hugely enjoyable and I highly recommend it. So here’s my review:

This story blew my mind – I loved it! I don’t read a huge amount of fantasy novels, but this certainly makes me want to read more.

It’s the story of Rowan Greenwood, a young woman who’s in love with the idea of magic and finds herself taken away from everything she knows and thrown into a dangerous world, where each day she faces may be her last. Having unknowingly saved the life of her one of her people’s worst enemies, Rowan finds herself powerless to help herself as she begins a journey. She doesn’t know where it will end.

I don’t want to say any more than that in case I give away the plot. But this novel was wonderful, so incredibly imaginative, with a plot that constantly twisted and turned and two main characters who I absolutely loved. Rowan especially was an endearing character, brave and selfless. Aren, although flawed, was an amazingly complex character. By the end of the story, I felt as if I knew both of them well.

The world that Sparkes has created is wonderfully colourful, memorable and vivid. I thought her descriptions were fantastic and they drew me right into the world. I liked the whole history to that world that she’s given us and it makes me realise that a lot of thought must have gone into depicting it. It’s certainly paid off – the countries that Rowan and Aren travel through are not to be soon forgotten.

I won’t forget this book for a long while and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Bound is available from Amazon.com, Amazon UK and Amazon.ca. For more info about the author you can visit her blog here.

The Butterfly Storm on Kindle Countdown!

The Butterfly Storm mark 2

Just a quick post to let you know that a good friend of mine and fellow writer Kate Frost has put her wonderful debut novel The Butterfly Storm on Kindle Countdown until next Saturday.

It’s available now on Amazon UK and Amazon.com. It’s the perfect summer read. Catch it while you can!

Cover reveal for ‘The Slayer Saga: Soulless’!

slayer saga soulless cover reveal

I’m pleased to be taking part in the cover reveal of my fellow indie author L. S. Engler as she promotes her soon-to-be-published novel The Slayer Saga: Soulless.  Here’s a little bit of info about the book:

The Slayer Saga: Soulless is the first book in a trilogy about a world that has been overrun by zombie-like creatures called Soulless.  The Slayer of the Soulless is a legendary figure who roams the earth, protecting the Untouched from these undead monsters.  There are a few safe havens in the world, but her latest visit to one reveals a dark plot to kill her and, suddenly, the safe havens are not so safe any more.
With a small band of survivors, she must find the elusive Queen, who floats over the land in a flying airship, seeking help and guidance about this new situation.  What the Slayer finds with the Queen, though, is an even bigger problem that may threaten the whole of humanity once and for all.
Described by one beta-reader as Buffy meets The Hobbit and by the author as Thundarr the Barbarian meets The Walking Dead, Soulless is a journey through a terrifying landscape of civilization on the brink of reinventing itself .
Here’s some more information about the author:
L. S. Engler has been writing for as long as she can remember and has previously published a collection of short stories entitled Bowlful of Bunnies The Slayer Saga: Soulless is her second book, first novel, and the start of a trilogy which will include books published in 2015 and 2016, as well. She blogs at lsengler.com and can be found on Twitter @lsengler
You may also be interested to learn more about the talented cover artist:
Ingrid Pomeroy is a mixed-media and digital collage artist who loves to work with anything old and beautiful.  She incorporates her passion for vintage photos, postcards, lace, buttons and ephemera into her art.

Ingrid has been featured in publications by Stampington & Company, including “Somerset Studio,” “Somerset Memories,” “Gallery,” “Home,” “Life,” “Apronology”, “Somerset Digital Studio”, “Green”, “Wedding,” and “Holidays & Celebrations.”  She has also been featured in “Shop, etc.”  Ingrid appeared in several episodes of HGTV’s show, “Curb Appeal,” designing and working with the families on decorative projects.

Ingrid sells her work in specialty shops in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay Areas and on http://www.anoriginalbyingrid.etsy.com.  Her work is also featured at the Oregon Shakespeare Tudor Guild in Ashland, Oregon, and Maribelle Chocolates in New York City and Kyoto, Japan.

 

That’s it from me.  Do keep an eye out for this author. 🙂

WIPpet Wednesday & call for cover reveal volunteers

Classroom

Welcome to the wonderful, weird world that is WIPpet Wednesday when we writers share our work. Today as well as sharing some of my writing with you, I wanted to ask if any of you would be willing to take part in my cover reveal for Reunion of the Heart.

I haven’t set a date for it as yet, I thought I’d see how many people would be willing to participate first. But it will be soon as I’m making the final touches to Reunion of the Heart and it won’t be long before I publish it. Yay!! I’m amazed, actually, that it’s come around so fast – I was expecting things to take a lot longer to prepare it for publication. But things have come along really well.

So anyway that’s that.  For my contribution to today’s WIPpet Wednesday, I’m being generous and sharing with you 30 sentences for the 30th July (see what I did there?  Genius!!).  OK so maybe not generous by some people’s standards… Anyway it’s another excerpt from my romance about a school teacher.

Before you ask, no I haven’t decided on a title yet.  It’s currently saved on my computer under the hugely original title of ‘school’.  I’m rubbish at thinking up titles for my novels and this one is no exception!  I’m completely stumped at the moment.

In the scene I’m sharing today, my teacher MC Rebecca has kept two of the boys in her class behind at school because they were messing around during the lesson.  They’re not too happy about being given a detention and Rebecca isn’t wildly thrilled at having to keep them there either…

As they’d been told, Daniel and Richard stayed behind at the end of the lesson.  As they were standing in front of Rebecca’s desk to learn their punishment, their faces were surly, their shoulders slumped.  Outside it was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was shining, the sky was blue – and it was a Friday.  Rebecca didn’t really want to be there herself, but it had to be done.  She couldn’t let this go; they needed to understand that rudeness and disrupting the class was unacceptable.

‘Daniel and Richard, I’ve decided in the next hour, you will both write me a two page essay on a book you’ve read which you enjoyed.’  She saw their scowls deepen and sighed inwardly.  This was going to be a long hour.  She watched as they took the paper she handed them and trudged back to their desks.

In spite of her better judgement, curiosity won out and Rebecca pulled out the piece of paper which she’d seized from Daniel from her desk drawer.  She glanced at him, hoping he hadn’t noticed her looking at it.  But Daniel’s head was bent in concentration over his writing.  Rebecca’s lips twitched as she read what was written on the piece of paper, and she had to purse her lips to stop herself smiling.   

It was a little poem about her – she assumed it was written by Daniel.  Not only did it rhyme perfectly, it had a clear rhythm as well.  It was cheeky, yet not offensive, although she did note the allusion to her looks.  But that didn’t bother her.  Rebecca knew what young men were like and she was aware that she wasn’t unattractive.  She stole another glance at Daniel; this time he was looking out of the window and while she had the chance, she quickly put the paper back in her drawer.

Looking at the clock, she saw that there was still ages to go until Daniel and Richard’s detention was up.  Resigned to her fate, Rebecca picked up the first in a large pile of exercise books to begin marking.  But the stories the year 8 pupils had written about their favourite weekends were engaging and often amusing.  She had to suppress a chuckle now and then.  Before she knew it, she looked at the clock and saw that the time was up.

‘All right then,’ she said to the two boys who were looking tired and fed up, ‘you can go.  Put the essays on my desk,’ she added as they approached, ‘and I’ll see you both tomorrow.  And I hope I won’t be seeing any of that misbehaviour again.’

Daniel and Richard shook their heads, clearly itching to be gone.  They turned to leave the room.  Then Rebecca thought.

Oh BTW I should say if you need to contact me re. the cover reveal my email address is: elaine (dot) jeremiah (at) gmail (dot) com

That’s it from me today.  If you’re reading this, but you’re not involved in WIPpet Wednesday and you think it’s something you’d like to get involved with, it’s easy to take part.  Just share on your blog anything you’ve been working on recently writing-wise.  Your excerpt should preferably relate in some way to the date.  Then once you’ve done your post, add your details here.

Thanks once more to K. L. Schwengel for hosting.

Call for volunteers for cover reveal for Reunion of the Heart!

cover reveal

Well this has certainly come around fast! I’m in the final stages of preparing to publish my second novel Reunion of the Heart.

To tell you a little bit more about it (without giving too much away!), it’s a romance and the story of a young woman who returns to her school for a reunion.  She finds that her life won’t be the same again…

I’m not gonna say any more about it because (obviously) I don’t want to give half the plot away.  But to cut to the chase, I need some volunteers to do the cover reveal for it.

I didn’t do one for my previous novel, The Inheritance.  To be honest I was learning the ropes – I still am but last year when I published it, I had no idea about cover reveals, so I simply shared the cover for it on Twitter.

This time around, having seen other people do it, I thought it would be a good way of generating some interest in my novel.

I’ve decided to do things differently in other ways too for the launch of Reunion of the Heart.  Last year when I published The Inheritance, I did a blog tour which I’ve decided I’m not going to do this time.  Organising and promoting the blog tour was a lot of work and while it was quite fun to do, I didn’t have a lot of people commenting on what I’d shared and it didn’t really seem to translate into sales.

So.  That was then and this is now.  I’m doing this cover reveal and I’m going to do some other promotions for Reunion of the Heart… Watch this space!

New novel coming soon…

Just a very short post to say that I’m getting to the final stages of preparation for publishing my next novel Reunion of the Heart.

There’s still a way to go yet, but watch this space.  Announcements to follow… 🙂

Struggling to keep it together

Depression

I’ve been working on character profiles for my WIP about a school teacher which I’ve been sharing with you. So while I’ve been doing that I haven’t been writing.

So I’m sharing with you something different today. It’s from a story I was working on some years ago, but never finished. It’s a highly personal tale – you could say it’s semi autobiographical. I would like to finish it one day and maybe publish it.

It’s about a girl of about 15 who’s struggling at school.  She has few friends and is very unhappy.  Then a new girl joins the school and she’s kind to my MC.  They become friends.  But unfortunately for my MC it doesn’t last.

I’m sharing with you 23 lines for the 23rd July:

I withdrew into myself, trying to talk to as few people as possible.  If Mum and Dad asked how I was, I put on a brave front, smiling and saying I was fine.  No one guessed how I was feeling.  At school, I tried to stay by myself as much as possible, not wanting to be seen.  At lunchtimes, I didn’t go out, I just stayed in the library, trying to absorb myself in a book, hoping that somehow a good story would make the pain go away.  Christine had been the only friend I had had in as long as I could remember, and now she was dead.  I couldn’t bear it.

   I stopped sleeping.  My nights were ones of restless tossing and turning, throwing the bed covers away from me, and then in turns gathering them towards me.  I was always very quiet, not wanting to wake my parents or Bryony.  Even so, Mum started to notice a change in me.  Whereas before I had answered her questions, be it monosyllabically, now I didn’t say anything.  When I went down to breakfast a couple of days after the announcement of Christine’s death, she was sitting at the breakfast table reading a newspaper.  Looking up at me with a serious expression on her face, she said,

   ‘There was something in the news this morning about a girl from your school who was killed in an accident.  It was Christine, wasn’t it?’

   I didn’t answer.  Mum sighed.

   ‘Kate, why didn’t you tell us?  Your dad and I wondered what was wrong with you.  Lately you haven’t been yourself.  We had no idea of what you were going through,’ she said, coming over to me and laying a hand on my shoulder.  ‘We want to help you in anyway we can,’ she added.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this so please comment. 🙂  And if you would like to take part in WIPpet Wednesday, all you have to do is post some of your writing (old or new) on your blog.  It should (ideally!) relate to the date.  Once you’ve posted it, add your details to this linky.

Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting.

Feeling misunderstood

Misunderstood

Hello one and all and welcome to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday here on my blog. Well technically it’s still Tuesday here, but I’m posting early again. 🙂 My apologies for being absent last week – though I did manage to comment on a few WIPpeteers’ posts, I didn’t do my own.

This was down to fatigue – I’m working quite hard at my day job and sometimes I just don’t have the energy for extras (for want of a better word), such as WIPpet Wednesday.

Anyway I read some good excerpts last week and I’m glad you’re all keeping up with your writing.  Which I am with mine, though not quite every day.  I did manage over 600 words on my WIP last night despite feeling shattered so I was happy with that.

For this week’s WIPpet,  I thought I’d share with you 11 sentences (9 for the day + 2 from 2014)  from my current WIP.  (I’m definitely gonna need to think of a title soon – I’ve done over 11,000 words now!) In this scene my MC Rebecca, a teacher, is talking with a colleague about the way her family and friends don’t seem to be able to understand the pressures of her new job:

‘That badly, eh?’ Jenny’s sympathetic tone forced Rebecca to be brighter.  She wasn’t going to have anyone feeling sorry for her.  That was one thing she wouldn’t be able to stand.

‘Actually no,’ she replied turning to Jenny and smiling with an effort.  ‘It’s just that teaching is a lot of hard work.  I knew it would be when I decided to train, but it’s made harder by my family and friends not really understanding that.’ She looked away again, remembering her spat with Michelle which she still hadn’t resolved.

Jenny was nodding.  ‘I completely understand.  When I first began teaching – well to be honest with you it led in part to the breakup of my marriage.’

If you would like to take part in WIPpet Wednesday, all you have to do is post an excerpt of your writing on your blog.  Only stipulation is that it must relate to the date in some way.  Then add your name here.

Thank you to the wonderful K. L. Schwengel for being our hostess with the mostess!