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Wednesday 30 November 2011

Book of the Month: Family Magic by Patti Larsen

I've had the great honour of reviewing Family Magic (Book 1) from Patti Larsen's The Hayle Coven Series earlier this month, and I'll be honest I really didn't know what to expect from a paranormal young adult about a teenage half demon half witch. 

I'm 29, and although I dabble with the likes of Dan Brown, I'm a Rom-Com gal I read the likes of Katie Fforde, Marian Keyes, Madeline Wickham. I'm also a big fan of the Mills and Boon RIVA series (Harlequin Presents Extra in the U.S.) So I'm not the typical target audience. But I'm also a huge fan of the television series Charmed, and I loved Sabrina when I was younger. I fell in love with Harry Potter and read all seven books in seven weeks and I still remember every detail of the very first book I read for pleasure in high school, so I went in with an open mind. Until I opened the first page and realised it was in 1st person prose, I hate 1st person and dreaded reading the rest. 

I love Syd. Her sarcasm is witty and she's takes that typical teenage 'me against the rest of the world' attitude does the things you wish you had done at school. In fact, the one and only time I stood up to the school bully, she hit me and I hit my head off a radiator and blacked out. No, not Syd, She gives a party of people food poisoning. Fantastic! She has a rocky relationship with her parents that stems from her desire to be one of the 'normals' and the resentment she holds towards them. They made her part witch part demon. But when the cards are down and her family are in danger she knows exactly which path to follow. 

I read the whole novel cover to cover and to my surprise there was a sneak peak at Witch Hunt (book 2) in the back which left me aching for more and is out now! You can read my 5-Star review at Goodreads

5/5 - Recommended for a nostalgic trip down memory lane to the happiest days of your life!


Erin

Family Magic is Available for Kindle and other Digital Formats

Tuesday 1 November 2011

My Tool Kit - Shay Fabbro

Since I write scifi/fantasy, I MUST have a notebook with all of the information on my characters and planets. Now that I’m working on the last book in the trilogy, most of the information is in my head at this point. J

But it’s nice to have the info handy in case I need some little tidbit. My notebooks are full of all sorts of neat tidbits. One section I come back to over and over is the one full of potential character names. If I hear or see a name that seems particularly interesting, I write it down for future use. For me, naming characters can be challenging. It’s important to use names that fit the genre. I find it amusing when people read a portion of a fantasy book and complain that the names are weird. They wonder why the author doesn’t use names like Kate and George. ;) Honestly, would Lord of the Rings been as powerful if Frodo and Aragon had been called Fred and Carl? Readers of the fantasy genre want to be whisked away to a different world filled with strange creatures, magic, and names and places that are unfamiliar.
 
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The Legal Bit

All characters have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation to anyone baring the same name. They are not inspired by an individual known or unknown by the author and all incidents are pure invention.

The articles, excerpts, and other written work published under the pseudonym Erin Cawood are copyright protected by the author. Guest articles are published by arrangement and also copyright protected by the guest author.

Images of Erin Cawood are provided by Paul Miguel Photography.


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