Tuesday 31 October 2017

FREE BOOK: Possession Is Nine Tenths of the Law - for All Hallows Read


All Hallows Read
Free Book
Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law

by Natasha Duncan-Drake & Sophie Duncan

As is our tradition at Halloween, Tasha and I are supporting All Hallows Read once again. The idea is that instead of candy we give out a free book. This makes giving over the internet much easier and promotes the joy of reading, so it's win/win!

Our book this year is called Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law and it has two spooky stories in it to tingle the spine:
  • Looking for Luticia by Natasha Duncan-Drake
    Lucy is the host of a successful ghost hunting TV show, but their latest location is going to be a lot more haunting than she or her crew have ever dealt with before.
  • Lost in the Dark by Sophie Duncan
    Evelyn Edness is a medium who works for the dead, helping them to move on from the limbo of an eternity as ghosts. Kate Grange has come to ask for her help.
It is free to download from Smashwords for all our trick or treating visitors. After Halloween it will be 99c so grab your copy TODAY while it is free. Just click below and you're away.

Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law

Happy Halloween!

Thursday 19 October 2017

Book Review - Kymiera: Season 1 by Steve Turnbull 4 out of 5 stars


KYMIERA: Season 1KYMIERA: Season 1 by Steve Turnbull
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'd write fanfic for this one!

Now, some folks might wonder what kind of endorsement it is wanting to write fanfic for a story, well, from me, it’s a good one. I’m a writer, and I judge books by how much the characters engage me, and whether a plot leaves me thinking about it - whether it inspires me. And Kymiera is one of those stories.

This story is written episodically, and I will warn would-be readers, be patient. It took me a couple of episodes to warm to the characters, but gradually, I found myself being sucked in. Now, I am not a big fan of dystopian futures like the Britain in which this is set, I started to read it because I was given a Kindle copy to review, but the characters overcame my initial hostility. Steve Turnbull manages to avoid stereotypes in the main, I have an issue with one character, but out of the many he creates to great success, I will forgive him for a single two dimensional villain. :) The story moves between quite a few people, and, moment by moment, Steve reveals their lives and their place in the plot. First I was interested, then intrigued and finally I found myself fully invested in what was happening to them all.

So, I loved the characters and the way the story twists and turns, wrapping around itself in loops that aren’t quite predictable. It picked up pace as the tension built, adding depths that I hadn’t originally expected, making me want to get to the end and find out what happened. So, why have I given the book 4 stars rather than 5? Well, the reason is the ending.

Kymiera is a story all about evolution: of characters, of their beliefs, of knowledge, and, even though this story is billed as Season 1, so I was expecting there to be plot points left for Season 2, there were two strands of this story for which, as a reader, I wanted satisfaction. Without giving anything away, one strand delivered, the second did not, which made me a bit grumpy when I had finished the story.

I could have overlooked the second strand not concluding how I wanted it to, after all, I don’t control the plot, but there was one more thing, the ending’s pace. The rest of the book is expertly handled, dropping in information, building climaxes and spinning plot lines around the characters and it kept me hooked from beginning to almost the end. However, after such brilliant build up, the galloping pace at the ultimate confrontation left me wanting to know more, and not in a good way. Certain things went unexplained, important characters’ points of view were skipped, or wrapped up with unsatisfactory single lines, sacrificed to the speed at which the last few pages played out. I wanted more.

On balance, though, I enjoyed this story, I loved the depth in the characters and their developments, and, as I said above, the whole world Steve has created has the breadth and dynamism that makes me want to write fanfic for it.

View all my reviews

Friday 6 October 2017

Free Fiction Friday - Looking for Luticia by Natasha Duncan-Drake


Free Fiction Friday


October is now upon us, which can only mean one thing, it's time for this month's Free Fiction Friday over at Wittegen Press. We've posted a new short story for our loyal readers to enjoy. This month it's really spooky.

These stories are exclusively for subscribers of our newsletter, but anyone can join and it's really easy.

It is completely free to become a member and all you need is a valid email address. Fill in the form at the bottom of this page and you’re done. Don't worry if you join after the 1st Friday, the password for the month will be included in the welcome email after you subscribe.

What we WILL DO for our subscribers:

  • Send you an email on the 1st Friday of the month to remind you about the short story and give you the password for the month as soon as the story goes live.
  • Send you information about new books, competitions and events, so you don’t miss anything.
  • Give you two Free eBooks just for joining.

What we WON’T DO to our subscribers:

  • Spam you with loads of random advertising.
  • Reveal your email adress to anyone else.

This Month's Short Story

Looking for Luticia
by Natasha Duncan-Drake
Genre: horror, paranormal
Length: ~7.5K wds

Description:
Lucy and her team have the most successful ghost hunting show on UK TV. They investigate, they debunk, and every now and then they catch the supernatural on camera. Their latest project is Darling Manor. This place has a locked room, which may or may not contain the embalmed remains of a dead relative, a very strange inheritance cycle, and more spooky stories than any house really needs.

Lucy and her team have moved in to find out the truth, but the creepy manor has Lucy on edge. Is it her imagination, or is there something to be afraid of? This could be the one investigation that is really dangerous. Will modern technology trump historic legend, or will the supernatural gain the upper hand?

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