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Mark of Bletsian

I’m #writingabook: Mark of Bletsian No.2

Greetings Dear Reader,

Life is hard. Things happen and all your plans go out the window. This year has been rough for me and my family and I’ve had to shift my focus so much away from my writing. Long story short, I’m still processing grief and change but I’m also moving forward with life.

I’m happy to report I’ve made the slightest bit of progress with this project, so this won’t be a long post. I previously mentioned in another post that I lost a lot of the research I used for the original series and some that I’d done for this rewrite. I’m happy to announce that, I think, I’ve finally recreated all that research. While these aren’t words towards a novel word count, it’s the stuff I need to be able to move forward.

At this point, I’m tightening up my outlines and filling in the gaps of changes from the old series to the new, plus I’m developing subplots and characters that weren’t really in the original series, though the ideas were there. I hoped I would be further along than I am, but at least I’m no longer at a standstill. Maybe I’ll be ready to start adding to a novel word count by December.

Before I go, I want to talk about the one thing I’ve already mentioned that will be different in this rewrite. The mark of blessing. The main character has many names but the one his mother gave him is Bletsian, which is Greek for blessing. In the original series, I never explored the meaning or origins of the word blessing any further than to say that’s where the MC’s name came from. In the new series; however, I will highlight characters throughout time who have been given a special mark to indicate they have a significant blessing over their lives; which of course, my MC will be one of those people.

That’s all I have for now. I hope life doesn’t shift again for me anytime soon. I’d like to be settled for a while and simply write.

BTW- I now have Public/Free content over at Patreon every month, so please check it out. This is what I do instead of a traditional newsletter.

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

Categories
Mark of Bletsian

I’m #writingabook: Mark of Bletsian No.1

Greetings Dear Reader,

Welcome to my journey of personal growth, self-expression, and a complete and total rewrite of my Eternal Curse Series. So, before I dive further into this, I want to clear out any haters lurking about. This rewrite, like the original, is based on a Judeo-Christian worldview but is not Christian fiction.

I want to be clear when I state that I have no problems with Christian fiction, it just so happens that what I’m writing isn’t that. I have actually drawn knowledge and inspiration from many tales and histories stemming from all three major monotheistic religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, as well as other various cultures, polytheistic religions, and some lesser-known mythologies. My aim, here, is to tell a great story but to also be true to myself. I know what I like in a good story and am not afraid to blend my many influences to achieve the results I want. I am creating a world of fiction, inspired by a dream, based on a Biblical foundation and a bunch of other stuff.

While most people who read paranormal fiction are used to reading about angels, demons, and other related content without any reference to religion or spirituality, but I will be including those elements in my story. I will not be trying to hide a message of faith in my story, I’ll just be telling a story that happens to include characters dealing with spiritual struggles. While I think it makes for a great story, this will clearly not appeal to some, and that is okay. I’m just stating here and now, that if my characters talk about and or actually engage in prayer, it’s because that’s just their reality.

Outside of my monthly IWSG posts, I plan to provide weekly updates on how this process is going. Today, I’m starting with 5,787 (1,000 just added) words of clarified terms, characters names, locations, biblical research, and more as I start this process. I had started updating my Patreon community on this project a while back but abandoned it when I hit a wall. Moving forward, this is where I’ll be tracking my progress, even if it’s just a handful of words or ideas. I will reserve any special excerpts I want to share with the Patreon community, but otherwise, this blog will be focusing on the development of this series. So, to round things out today, this first day of a new journey, I thought I’d explain why the series is being rewritten and why the series name is changing, and what it means.

First, I absolutely love my original Eternal Curse Series and all its flaws. I have reread the books (the two published ones and the third unfinished one) and still really enjoy the overall story and the individual characters. The main reason this series is getting a rewrite is that I grew so much as a writer between the first and third books that I was struggling to maintain the same voice I’d started the series with. My voice had changed. Plus, there were so many aspects of the story that I wanted to change for clarity and to fill in the gaps.

The original series’ name was a reflection of the struggle many of the characters lived. I’d written about characters that were clearly cursed and yet, they had chosen to do good or be good despite their curses. The story is ultimately inspirational, but it’s also very dark- not afraid to touch on a few hard topics. For the rewrite, I wanted to focus on the many character’s, especially the main character’s, choice to be a blessing despite their circumstances. I even go so far as to introduce a mark of blessing to the overall theme, but I’ll explain more about that later.

BTW- I’ve posted my public/FREE monthly update over at Patreon so please check it out. It has a really cool video that I’m not posting anywhere else… And, I posted a channel update on YouTube. Check it out.

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

Categories
Books

#Review: Penryn & the End of Days Trilogy #paranormal #YA

Goodreads

Title:  Angelfall

Series: Penryn & the End of Days #1

Author: Susan Ee

Genre: Paranormal, YA

Pages: 288

Reading Level: Teen

Content: PG-13 (adult situations and content, violence, some gore, doom, mature themes)

So the fact that I’m really into the whole angels and demons thing really helped me get passed my issues with YA fiction and really appreciate this story, which in many ways reads like a Dystopia. Penryan is, typically, nothing special to look at and small, but when she encounters a wounded angel, everything changes. Those who took the angel down have taken her younger sister. Her crazy mother, who may not be as crazy as we all think, remains hidden in the shadows, unable to offer aid. The simple human girl, Penryan, and the beautiful wounded angel, Raffe, must team up in order to survive.

I hope my tone doesn’t exude sarcasm. Despite my personal misdealings with YA fiction, this is a really good story. It even caught me off guard a few times, throwing in an element of terror I hadn’t expected and truly appreciated.  The whole idea of angel fall takes on a new meaning at the end of the story when a twist is thrown at you. Raffe kinda gets what he’s been after this whole time, but it’s a greater curse than he could have imagined … but then there’s still Penryan, the human girl who can wield his sword.

I have to read the next book.

This is definitely geared towards teen readers, but anyone who appreciates dark themes and or a non-religious take on angels and demons will enjoy this story.

I give this book a 4.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a Kindle copy of this book, try this link: Amazon

Get a print copy with free international shipping at this link: Book Depository.

Goodreads

Title:  World After

Series: Penryn & the End of Days #2

Author: Susan Ee

Genre: Paranormal, YA

Pages: 320

Reading Level: Teen

Content: PG-13 (adult situations and content, violence, gore, doom, mature and dark themes)

Unlike most, I liked this one more than the first.

Yes, the pace of this book is slower, but that’s part of why I like it. We actually get to take some time to understand certain characters and connect more with Penryn. The only thing I wish there would have been more of this book was Raffe, but I accept the substitution of mother and sister. In the first book we really didn’t get to know Pen’s family and in this book we do. I like that.

In book one, I feel like we got to see inside the world of the angels, but in book two we get the see the human ‘world after’ the arrival of the angels much better. Plus, there are layers to the story of why the angels are really here and figuring that out is important.

Even though Pen keeps reminding us that she’s just a teenager, we all know her youth and innocents are gone. By the end of this book, I think she finally realizes it too. And for all those who want action in their books, let me just point out that in book one Pen picked up the angel sword and in book two she actually uses it. Yaaasss!

Family gets the spotlight in this book and romance is put on the back burner, but not too far away.

End of Days, here I come.

I give this book a 5.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a Kindle copy of this book, try this link: Amazon

Get a print copy with free international shipping at this link: Book Depository.

Goodreads

Title:  End of Days

Series: Penryn & the End of Days #3

Author: Susan Ee

Genre: Paranormal, YA

Pages: 344

Reading Level: Teen

Content: PG-13 (adult situations and content, violence, gore, doom, sensuality, mature and dark themes)

I sigh with relief at the finale of this series. It’s everything I wanted.

Pen and Raffe are united, and the kick-butt team they’ve been from the start. They are still battling against the world, and in some ways each other, but they never stop fighting. She is humanity and he is angel-kind. At some point they will have to choose “us” or “them” and the suspense is almost unbearable, especially since their relationship finally gets a bit physical. There’s really no turning back from that, and yet, they still have choices to make.

Poor Paige seems to be destined to suffer, but perhaps her destiny is more than pain. As I read this book, I kept wondering if the price of her life and her destiny was worth the cost. It’s not an easy question to answer, but rather or not I’d be willing to pay it, her mom would surely make sure her baby has what she needs. I really like that crazy lady, but wouldn’t want to be on her bad side.

The scene where the people realize their own injustices and accept their true humanity- it really gets to me.

Meeting the Watchers was nice. I almost felt sorry for Beliel, almost, but his role was critical to the whole struggle.

I thought the final battle would last longer, but I’m kinda glad it didn’t. The doctor ended up saving lives after all.

Oh and Pooky Bear. He’s so confused by the end, but remains safe in Penryn’s hands. Perhaps, that’s where he belongs now. Not a white lace and church bells happy ending, but a happy ending humanity can live with.

Man, was this a good series!

I give this book a 5.

This review has been posted to GoodReads.

If you’d like to obtain a Kindle copy of this book, try this link: Amazon

Get a print copy with free international shipping at this link: Book Depository.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords