Category: Guest Posts

Contributions from other writers, usually, but not limited to book promotion or writing tips.

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Guest Files Guest Posts

Meet Damian Ward (the Blood Angel Series)

Greetings everyone and thanks for stopping by. Today I’ll be adding a special insert into my Character Files with the help of a guest consultant, a.k.a. author Nina Soden. Today we are going to get to know Damian from the Blood Angel Series.

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Before we delve into this character, let’s learn a bit about our guest consultant, Nina Soden. She has bachelor’s degrees in Theatre and Military Science making her great for this profiling position, but she’s not all work and no play. Nina has a love for all things art, including poetry, theatre, and film.

Learn more about Nina Soden here:  BLOG | AMAZON AUTHOR SITE

Without further ado, let’s see what this guy, Damian, is all about.

nomaleBasic Stats

Full Name: Damian Ward

Birth Date: May 24, 1993

Sex: Male

Height: 6’

Weight: 165 lbs. – Slender build with a chiseled face

Eye color: Silver/Grey

Hair color and length: Brown / Short

Language(s): English – Although he suffers from selective mutism due to a trauma he suffered as a young child.

Preferences

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Food: Steak

Favorite Book or Movie: Lord of the Rings (book and movie)

Favorite Music: Alternative

Favorite Pastime: Reading

Other likes: History

Biography:

As a young child Damian watched as his father’s life was brutally taken from him. Damian only survived because of his burning anger and growing hopes to one day seek revenge against the man—no, monster—that had killed his father. He struggled with selective mutism from that day forward, until he met Alee and learned a new form of communication. Their telepathic connection was only the beginning of Damian’s awakening. Soon he learned that his family’s bloodline held secrets that he never dreamed existed. With his new gift of transformation, Damian was able to see the world through new eyes with a new sense of purpose and strength. What he did with that power was devastating, but everyone makes mistakes—Damian learned from his. In Revenge, the soon to be released final installment of the Blood Angel Series, we learn that Damian, once Alee’s best friend, just might be her worst enemy and only person she can really trust.

Damian’s purpose in the Blood Angel Series

The Blood Angel Series focuses on Alee Moyer, a young girl who discovers there is more to life than anything she could have ever imagined. Having been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia at a young age she spends most of her childhood in and out of hospitals. However, soon after her father’s death she learns that her real affliction isn’t something that is covered in the medical books. She is the first surviving dhampir in history, part vampire and part witch, and her life is about to change forever. Damian, although he has his own struggles and challenges to overcome throughout his childhood, is thrown into Alee’s life mid high school and although they don’t know it at first they were born to be enemies that won’t be able to survive without each other.

How does Damian feel about his/her book peers?

Damian’s sole focus is revenge, until he meets Alee and starts to experience feelings he has never had before. He learns to open up, develops closer friendships, and even begins his transformation from a mere human to a powerful lycanthrope. Although Damian and Alee share a strong connection, it isn’t until it’s too late before he realizes that what he is feeling is love. His best friend, Kyle, quickly becomes his rival when Kyle and Alee start dating. Victoria, Damian’s twin sister, is the only one he can turn to as their world begins to change around them and the reality of what it means to be a lycanthrope settles in.

About the Blood Angel Series

Awaken (book 1):

Awaken is set in a world very much like our own, yet Atlanta isn’t just an ordinary city and Alee Moyer isn’t just an ordinary girl. Having barely survived her childhood it will take the death of her father for the truth of her true bloodline to come out. Even if it means losing her life, or at least her identity she won’t be able to escape her true destiny as the first surviving Dhampir in history. Surrounded by a new world where the horror films she grew up watching have become reality and the most unlikely characters have become her lifeline, Alee will struggle to find herself and her purpose.

Beginnings (book 2):

Having lost her family Alee has been thrown into a new life and new world. Camouflaged by the mundane happenings of a high school existence she would never have guessed what was happening below the surface in, “The Underground”. She’s a Dhampir, the first in history, but with that power also comes danger. Will Alee be able to survive her destiny or will it prove more powerful than she?

Revenge (book 3):

Having died in her father’s arms only to awaken in a pool of blood surrounded by the corpses of the mutilated, her true love among them, who could blame her for what she did next? Wouldn’t you seek REVENGE?

Part horror thriller – part tender romance and filled with magic and paranormal delights – the Blood Angel Series will leave readers wanting more!

Awaken (book 1): http://amzn.com/0985885300 | http://wp.me/P1Ft9W-4K

Beginnings (book 2): http://amzn.com/B00D3G7RWM | http://wp.me/P1Ft9W-7J

Revenge (book 3): http://wp.me/P1Ft9W-bR

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Well now, that was fascinating. I am very pleased with this special insert to the Character Files from the ToiBox. I think my guest consultant, author Nina Soden, did a wonderful job and I wish her all the best with Damian and all the other characters from the Blood Angel Series. Be sure to pick up your pre-order copy of Revenge today, before its release in late August.

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

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Books Guest Posts

Review: The Reader of Acheron

The Reader of Acheron Review

By Jaq D. Hawkins

Amazon

Traditional Fantasy as it should be. The story begins with a wizard’s apprentice learning his letters, but the mood soon turns dark as the reader is brought into a world where reading is forbidden and a collusion of renegade magicians is formed.

What I loved about this story is that it drew me in right away, instantly transported into a fantasy world where the parameters were clear even as I learned each detail of the world as I went along. This is a mark of well-written Fantasy fiction. It has all the testosterone-laced marks of the sword & sorcery genre; mercenaries, a runaway slave, renegades who hide their ability to recognise letters and that sort of mock-medieval feeling to the imaginary world.

I noted that it held my interest more than a better-known classic fantasy novel (big 6 published) that I’ve been reading at the same time. There is hope, we do have a new generation of Fantasy writers who can tell a story that is both intriguing and full of action. We just have to sift through the self-published slush pile to find these gems. I will be keeping an eye on Walter Rhein.

Rhein can write a good battle scene. Just enough description to make the movie play in your head. The book finishes on a note that leaves the door open for the inevitable sequel, but with an interesting world established, I may well have to read it. I can see this series developing as it goes along and look forward to reading more from this author.

This review has been posted to Amazon US and Amazon UK.

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image provided by author

If you enjoyed this review, why not check out more from Jaq D. Hawkins? See what she likes to read and learn about her own writing. Go ahead and click the images provided to add these books to your Amazon wish lists or purchase.

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

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Guest Posts

Writing/Poetry Promotion Tips by Lillian Brummet

Despite the global economic issues facing us today and the rising competition on the book promotion market, poetry is a growing market with an increasing readership. In the world of writing it is generally well known that poetry is one of the hardest genres to market, however there are a number of opportunities if one knows where to look.

Over the years I’ve noticed a growth in online radio programs that focus on poetry. Like print publications, each radio program will have a unique focus – some may accept poetic works according to the region, genre or topic. If you have access to the internet, all you need to do is do a search at each online radio station using key works such as poetry, poets, writing and the genre you write in (i.e. gardens, environment, social change, etc).

When you prepare the query there are several options to consider. First, how do you appeal to their audience? When does the radio show go live? How do listeners access the archived show? How do you plan on promoting the event if they decide to feature your work?

Depending on the radio program’s operations you might be calling in to a live show, or you might be recorded for a later date. Most radio shows will simply have a conversation over the telephone, so your location is not usually an issue, and this helps you reach a global audience. Some radio shows are Skype friendly (skype.com); Skype offers a way for people to have conversations using their computer and a headset – which is a budget-friendly option helping us avoid expensive long distance telephone charges. The host might want to interview you about the creation process, your experiences with poetry readings or the publication industry. They will likely need you to read at least one of your poems on air, be sure to choose poems that suit their audience.

The host may ask you to offer a pre-recorded MP3 file of your reading, and this is where you can have a lot of fun with having background music, or a variety of sounds from nature to industry – depending on your reading. When creating an MP3 file you can either use a recording of a live performance you did recently at a poetry café or something like that, or you can do a reading specifically for that radio show. Some radio shows will ask you to provide only one poem in MP3 format, others will want a longer performance. Be sure you have clarified what the host or program director requires from you.

Occasionally a radio host will be open to playing a 30 second promotional MP3 for your published book, magazine or website during one of their shows for free – all you have to do is ask. MP3 files that were created for radio shows are useful for websites as well, allowing visitors to a website to listen to the author reading their work in their own voice.

Online radio is only one option for a poet’s marketing plan. We can also consider online publications from e-zines to blogs that are often very willing to highlight a poet’s work. Be sure to offer those MP3’s to these sites as well, you never know what they might like to use. Another frugal and useful option is YouTube videos (youtube.com) where you can record yourself reading your work, or presenting it to a live audience. These videos are helpful for websites, publications and blogs to enrich the experience for their audience.

~ Lillian Brummet: Award-winning author, book marketing guru, owner of the award-winning Brummet’s Conscious Blog, and both the host and executive producer of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. (http://brummetmedia.ca/)

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