Thursday, April 4, 2019

Guest Post by Tally Adams



Shadow Pact by Tally Adams – Blog Post

I learned at a young age my imaginary friends weren't like everyone else's. Mine didn't go away as I got older, for example, and they were always running around in the back of my mind in 'what if' scenarios. In my preteens, I learned to channel them into words and gave them delightful tales to get them out of my head for a while. By the time I was 11, I'd begun to enter adult writing competitions and managed to win a few. Stories of adventure and overcoming all odds held my attention, and I started reading about heroes in mythology. (How can a person ever go wrong with Hercules?) Before long, I couldn't get enough! I spent the next few years reading everything I could find on mythology from all over the world.
Then, sometime in my teen years, I discovered Johanna Lindsey and her Fabio-laden book covers. For a while, mythology was all but forgotten as I disappeared into romance. It didn't take long to realize different writers had very different takes on what makes a good romance. Some of them had the classic wilting-flower heroine, while others portrayed women who were adventurous and daring. Eventually, I found Laurell Hamilton and realized both of my passions could exist in a single story. From there, Shadow Pact was off and running.
I would soon learn, however, that finding a publisher who was willing to tackle a new no-name writer was far more challenging than writing. Since my imaginary friends were already stirring and the next book was coming together in my head, I decided to self-publish Shadow Pact and move on in the series.
Before I knew it, Amazon wasn't able to keep up with the orders and I found myself needing to produce faster than the print-on-demand model could offer. After a little thought (okay, a lot of thought), I decided to find a small print press in Dallas and have a number of copies made. Brown Books came up on my search for phone numbers and I called them to place an order for distribution. I explained what I needed and why and was told by the receptionist there was someone I needed to talk to. That's when Tom Reale (President of Brown Books) got on the phone. I rattled off my situation and asked for a price on a print run. He started to laugh and said, "I'm not a print press. I'm a publisher, and I want to see this book." The next thing I knew, Brown Books had taken me under their wing and Shadow Pact was released nationally, reaching far more readers than I'd ever dared to hope. Now, with the backing of a terrific team, Shadow Pact is gaining in popularity and starting to carve a place for the rest of the Immortal Romance Series. For anyone who loves adventure, a dab of magic and a dose of romance, check out Shadow Pact!   


Reviews and blurbs for Shadow Pact

Shadow Pact is a dark fantasy about Emily's quest to find her missing sister Amber, which embroils her in an ongoing supernatural conflict between vampires and werewolves. The handsome vampire-werewolf hybrid William rescues Emily from a dire situation, but far greater dangers await - a sinister vampire queen, a blood-crazed Coven, a werewolf king greedy for power, and more. Exciting to the very end, Shadow Pact is a ‘must-read’ for connoisseurs of the genre, highly recommended.”
-          Midwest Book Review




Tally Adams lives in Texas with her husband and four children (and one big, fat English bulldog). She's been writing all her life, realizing at a young age the characters just swirl around maddeningly in her head if she doesn't put them on paper. She began participating in adult writing competitions before she even hit her teens. Years later, she worked as a nurse and continued to write. Finally, she decided to move forward into the world of publication and share her imaginary friends with the world.

Website URL: https://www.tallyadams.com/
Blog URL: https://www.tallyadams.com/blog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tallyadams618



Sunday, March 31, 2019

An Unexpected Escapade by Kandi J. Wyatt






Genre: Middle Grade, Adventure, Fantasy
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The Opinions expressed here are my own.

The only fantasy animal besides dragons I would love to find are unicorns. I remember as a child when my sisters and I would play pretend outside and make up stories, we would have dragons and unicorns. Kandi Wyatt has taken us from dragons into the world of unicorns. In actuality, the unicorn entered the human world. Ana and Daisy become very close to the unicorn. They understand that the unicorn wants to go home. They need to find a way to help it, while making sure that those who would like the unicorn for unsavory reasons are kept at bay. Add into all of this Ana’s parents being hospitalized and you have a set of teens who definitely are in over their head. The feeling of being overwhelmed will ring true with middle school age children. Before anyone says anything about how this would be a great read for girls let me set the record straight. When we do narrative writing in my classroom it is often the boys who write unicorns into their stories. I think both boys and girls will enjoy this story. Since my students already enjoy Kandi’s dragon series  I am sure they will love her new Myth Coast Adventure Series.

Friday, March 29, 2019

An Unexpected Adventure by Kandi J. Wyatt



Genre: Middle Grade, Adventure, Fantasy
Source: I purchased a copy. The Opinions expressed here are my own.

Kandi J. Wyatt is one of my favorite authors. There are many reasons for this. One she writes books that my students want to read. I teach middle school and finding books for this in-between group of teens is often difficult. Another reason she is one of my favorites is because no matter what she writes, it is so realistic I have to do some research.  The premise of this story is that four teens are searching for thundereggs on a beach when they find a dragon’s egg.   I immediately had to look up thundereggs to see if they were real, and if so, what they were. My husband and I spent thirty minutes researching thundereggs. We realized we had actually seen these things at shows, but never knew they were called thundereggs.  I loved the trust relationship Kandi built between the kids and their science teacher. Believe it or not, a lot of students will trust their teachers with secrets than they would their own parents. For me this was very true to life.  I love the worlds Kandi creates with dragons. She is one of the best when it comes to this subject matter. It makes everyone who reads her books want their own dragon. In this story the kids have a dilemma. They are trying to protect the dragon from those in higher positions.  The interactions between the kids and the dragon, and with each other develop throughout the story. There is something there that every child who reads this will be able to relate to.  Like all of her other books this is a great beginning to a new series. I am looking forward to the second one which comes out April 9th.