M9B Two for Thursday Book Blitz – Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel and Predator by Janice Gable Bashman with Giveaway #T4T

Hello and welcome to this week’s Two for Thursday Book Blitz #T4T
presented by Month9books/Tantrum Books!

 

Today, we will be showcasing two titles that may tickle your fancy,
and we’ll share what readers have to say about these titles!

You just might find your next read!

This week, #T4T presents to you:

Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel and
Predator by Janice Gable Bashman!

 

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

 

 

Witches must choose the path they will follow, and Darlena Agara is no exception. She’s been putting it off long enough, and in her case, ignoring it has not made it go away. In a moment of frustration, Darlena chooses to follow Red Magic, figuring she had outsmarted the powers that be, since there’s no such thing as Red Magic. But alas, Darlena’s wrong (again) and she becomes a newly declared Red Witch. 

Her friends are shocked and her parents horrified by the choice Darlena has made. As a Red Witch, she now governs one third of the world’s chaos. She is the walking personification of pandemonium, turmoil, and bedlam, just as the patrons of Red Magic would have it to be. 

But Darlena believes there must be more to Red Magic than chaos and destruction, and she sets out on a journey to achieve balance. Only doing so puts her at odds with the dark goddess Hecate, who simply will not allow Darlena to quit. She encourages Darlena to embrace who and what she is and to leave good magic to the good witches. If only Darlena could, life would be simple, and she would not be the Daughter of Chaos. 

DAUGHTER OF CHAOS is the first in a YA paranormal trilogy.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:
“At the beginning, this novel is reminiscent of other popular fantasy novels like the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling and the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, but it quickly takes on a life of its own that will appeal to science fiction, fantasy, and young adult fans alike. Darlena’s struggles mirror issues that many teens face, making her a relate-able and likable main character. This is a title with wide appeal that will fly off the shelves.” – Voya Magazine

“Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel is a refreshing twist to the YA paranormal genre!” – Dianne, Tome Tender

“Witches and Greek gods! This seriously couldn't get any better.” – Kelly Hashway, Author

Jen McConnel now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The hunt is on! Sixteen-year-old Bree Sunderland must inject herself with an untested version of her father’s gene therapy to become a werewolf in order to stop a corrupt group of mercenaries from creating a team of unstoppable lycanthrope soldiers. 

When Bree went with her scientist father to Ireland, she thought it would be a vacation to study bog bodies. She never expected to fall in love with a mysterious young Irishman and certainly never expected to become the kind of monster her father said only existed in nightmares. Dr. Sunderland discovers that lycanthropy was not a supernatural curse but rather a genetic mutation. When they return home, her dad continues his research, but the military wants to turn that research into a bio weapons program and rogue soldiers want to steal the research to turn themselves into unstoppable killing machines. 

Bree’s boyfriend Liam surprises her with a visit to the United States, but there are darker surprises in store for both of them. As evil forces hunt those she loves, Bree must become an even more dangerous hunter to save them all. 

Bree will become the thing she hates, to protect those she loves! 

'Predator' gives the werewolf legend a couple of new spins by introducing the Benandanti (an actual folkloric belief that certain families of Italy and Livonia were werewolves who fought against evil), as well as a modern scientific approach to mutation and the science of transgenics.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

WHAT READER’S ARE SAYING:

“Predator is a fast-paced, creepy page-turner! Bashman had me at the opening sentence and she's still got me. I want more!” – Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling Author, The Rules


“Every twist and fascinating revelation fell into place smoothly, with an ending that will leave readers wanting more. With this kind of originality on the page, it is exciting to speculate at the surprises Bashman will unveil next.” – Suspense Magazine

“Predator" by Janice Gable Bashman is clean-teen fiction at it's best. It's smart, scary and suspenseful. The main character Bree is a super positive role model for teen girls--no mater what shape she takes” – Jennifer, Author

Janice Gable Bashman is the Bram Stoker nominated author of Wanted Undead or Alive and Predator. She is managing editor of the The Big Thrill (International Thriller Writers’ ezine). Janice lives with her family in the Philadelphia area, where she at work on her next novel. Visit her at janicegablebashman.com.

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Exercise and editing, a great combo and here is why...

Today I went for a run. It's been a while since the last time I've done that. Usually, I practice karate or take walks, but today I ran. It was invigorating, even though I'm sorely out of practice. What does this have to do with editing?

Well, a lot actually. First off, exercise is an energizer, particularly helpful if you're going to be something sedentary and tedious (like editing). It's also a mood booster, so you'll feel good and that might help motivate you to get to work (cheerfully). And of course, it's good for your body. So you can stay healthy, not only fit, but well (As in not sick as often, and who wants to edit when they're sick? Not me.).

So, I ran today, and now it's time to edit.

I'm feeling good.
I'm motivated.
I'm energized.

What have you done today? Answer in the comments...

Talk about writing excuses...

I just spent three hours translating an article about the NBA on Duolingo from Spanish to English. Sigh...

The good news is that before I got caught up in the translations I wrapped up my third round of edits for Fight for Valor! (Plus, I suppose I learned a lot of neat sports terms en Español).

So, yeah, soon.  :-)

I'm likely to post this for pre-order on Amazon this weekend. I want to look at it once more, but I think I've pretty much extracted and eliminated all the errors.  I'm still a bit worried about the romantic scenes. I don't take them very far, but they're there, and I'm rather self-conscious about them. I want to clean them up, so to speak, but then again, they aren't that bad, and one of the major interactions is during one. I'm afraid the whole conversation would fall flat without the cuddling and canoodling.

The Three Qualities of a Good Poem

So, I've had a brief urge to write and share poetry this week. Now, I'd like to talk about what I like in a good poem.

I think it really comes down to a few elements. One, the poem needs to have a good cadence. Two, the poem needs to resonate with me on a personal level. And three, the poem needs to evoke an emotion. Poetry doesn't need to rhyme to be good, although I do dig a good rhyme. Anyway, on the occasion that I do review poetry, these are the things I look for.

1. Cadence
Think of poetry as a form of musical expression. There may or may not be tunes associated with the words, but they should lend themselves to be spoken in a certain rhythm. I think some of the best poetry does this almost without the reader noticing that they are falling into a pattern. The best poetry is written such that the reader is pulled in and almost feels the beat in their heart. It's satisfying on a primal level. This is something The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe, does very well.

This is the copy of The Raven that I own on my Kindle. It's perpetually free, so I hope you grab a copy. When I was in middle school, I memorized it for English class. Of course, now I only remember the tag line, but it was pretty fun learning and reciting it.



2. Resonance
Besides being musical and lending itself to a rhythm, poetry needs to resonate with the reader on a personal level. By this, I mean that the poem needs to be relatable. The poetry I like most is that which focuses on things I'm familiar with, like nature, people, and animals. If I can picture what's described in the poem, the words come alive. That doesn't mean the poem must be exactly related to my experiences. After all, poetry is a window, not into my soul, but the poet's. A good poem draws the window. A lasting poem does it in such a way that time has no meaning. On that note, sometimes poetry is disguised as something else, a play, for example.

Here's one that's pretty good, The Tempest by William Shakespeare. So what resonated with me? The insults of course. No one throws a good insult in quite as elegant a fashion as Shakespeare. And the way the words flow, jabs and all, definitely qualify as poetic, in my opinion. To be completely honest, I haven't actually read The Tempest, but I did attend the play last year. So, I guess that qualifies as having been read to. :-)



And yes, he also wrote actual poetry. Here's a link to Shakespeare Poetry on Amazon.

3. Emotion
This is the vital link. In both of the previous examples, though I didn't mention it, emotion is a key
player. In The Raven, a growing sense of dread permeates the poem. In The Tempest, humor is the main player, but there's also a touch of romance. A good poem evokes the intended emotions: fear, love, betrayal, dread, laughter. Flowery words or no, rhyme or no, without some element of emotion, a poem is just a jumble of words on a page. Even a simple haiku can do this. In fact, haiku, with it's limits, forces the poet to pack everything that makes a poem good into a tiny package.

Here's a link to some  Haiku on Amazon. I really wanted to recommend a collection called Tennessee Haiku by Charles Hooper, which I picked up on Smashwords, but I can't seem to find it. I have, however, found a Charles Hooper on Amazon, who just might be the same guy. So, check out Charles Hooper's books and let me know what you think. And here's a link to free poetry on Smashwords.

To end, I'd like to feature the work of an author I've interacted with before. You may remember Augustine Sam from an interview I did with him some time back. Anyway, he has a lovely book of poetry that I think does well in all three of these categories.



I'd love to hear what kind of poetry you enjoy. Let me know in the comments.