Kyrosmagica Publishing – The Magical Home of Books, Writing, Photography and Inspiration
Thank you so much to Pete for celebrating the launch of my 2nd book, Golden Healer in The Curse of Time series with this fabulous guest post
I’m chatting book series… pitfalls, things to do and not to do…
Do find out more at source: Guest Post: Marjorie Mallon | beetleypete
Thank you to fellow fantasy author Aurora Alexander for this author spotlight. and do check out Aurora’s blog while you are there!
Do read it at source: https://wp.me/p5QlYv-3T3
In the mystical realm of Jyndari, a relationship blossoms between two unsuspecting yet kindred souls.
Ayla, a Light-loving Guardian of Childfey, hides more than a few secrets-ones which isolate and set her apart from the rest. Yet Ayla’s veiled confidences entice one who lurks in the shadows. Silent and watchful, this dangerous presence knows all too well the secrets she wishes kept hidden.
The Darkness-revering Fey bids his time, waiting for the ideal moment to step away from the shadows and reveal himself to Ayla. But doing so will irrevocably alter the course of their lives … and shatter both their worlds.
Brimming with magic and mystery, beauty and enchantment, Dark Fey, The Reviled is a fantasy like no other; one that is an adventure for both mind and spirit.
My review
This is so me! I loved it from word go… I loved its take on dark and light winged creatures. I listened to The Reviled on audible. It’s an enthralling dark fantasy tale which would appeal to young adults and some older readers too. Friendship and a blossoming love interest at the beginning between Ayla and her suitor Marden capture the readers attention.
Ayla is a fae of the light, she is empathic, clairvoyant and can perceive truth from lies. The whisperings of a mysterious dark fey visitor begin – Gairynzvl. He is frightening as all dark fey are to the fae of the light (they steal young ones from the nursery and change them from light fae to dark.) In time Ayla’s impression of Gairynzvl’s intentions change, she realises his actions are not what she expects.
The pacing is slower in some parts, with a fair amount of detail describing the two Fey but during the battle scene the pace is fast and engrossing.
There is a developing love triangle, with a struggle for the three to escape the feared Centurion of The Reviled dark clutches.
This is for you if you like tales which are emotional, heartfelt and mystical with light and dark aspects. It is a beautifully expressed story, with passionate and descriptive writing. The final scenes are so emotionally charged that they will stay with me for a long while. I would definitely like to read more from this author.
My rating an easy 5 stars!
I featured Cynthia Morgan recently on my blog:
Observe blue, fine trains
Bright and low in the night sky
Dazzling hours
Heaven sparkling its light
Creating magic and joy
I hope you enjoyed my tanka for this week’s Ekphrastic Photoprompt for Colleen Chesebro’s poetry challenge.
I’ve a fair amount of news! I would like to share that my YA fantasy Bloodstone is in The AllAuthor cover competition! I’d love it if you could vote for it. It is doing really well and at the last count was at #23 in the voting ranks. I’m hoping with your help it will go through to the next round.
Thrilled with these two new 5 star reviews of Bloodstone. Thank you so much to Helen Pryke and Denise Finn for reading and reviewing!
Helen Pryke https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4176712706/
A big thank you to Sally Cronin who has featured her review of my poetry book, Lockdown Innit Poems About Absurdity in her Smorgasbord Book Reviews Rewind. Do pop over to her blog to read her review:
Smorgasbord Book Reviews Rewind – #Poetry Lockdown Innit by M.J. Mallon
Thank you so much to Camilla Downs for featuring me at her blog Meeting the Authors – Friday with Friends – blog post. I am talking about embracing change!
Find out more at source on Camilla’s lovely blog: Friday with Friends: Embracing Change – M.J. Mallon | Meet The Authors
MJ’s Review
8 Steps To Side Characters is part of Sacha Black’s many writing craft books – other titles include: 13 steps to Evil, 10 steps to Hero, and the Anatomy Of Prose.
Thank you so much for an ARC copy of 8 steps to side characters which I freely give my review and opinion of.
Sacha Black’s writing style is engaging, humourous, clear and informative. I definitely learnt a lot about writing side characters and also discovered how important these pesky folk are!
I had some laugh out loud moments. Here’s an example:
“If you don’t layer your conflict, and you only have world ending levels of conflict at every opportunity, it’s like electrocuting your readers over and over again.”
Yes, this had me in chortles.
Also, there are many light bulb moments too.
“It’s a misnomer that to create big universal feelings you have to describe giant emotions. It’s actually the small, unique and intangible things about our loved ones that create that effect.”
And…
“One thing all readers share in common is a heartfelt solidarity for a character going through shit times.”
“Just because you craft characters to be one way for the majority of the time, say, kind and tolerant, doesn’t mean they have to be that way or feel that way for the entire story.”
I read this on my kindle and highlighted lots of passages to refer to later.
At the end of each step she summarises all the important ideas that she has mentioned. There are also Questions to consider. Plus she makes it all really clear with real examples from film, and books (with spoiler warnings for well known books.)
Recommendation: Read this! Highly recommended – a must read and one to refer back to. 5 stars.
INSTAGRAM / YOUTUBE TIPS SERIES
She’s been sharing a tip a day from the book in a IGTV / Youtube video series. If you’d like to watch the tips or share the series, you can by visiting her on instagram or YouTube:
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sachablackauthor/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCmGEeUxCRW5ZVxwJ_mEunw
Join Sacha on launch day, 29th July, in her Facebook group for a live Q&A session. If you have any questions about writing, publishing, marketing, her books, unicorns or anything in between, hit her up on sachablack@sachablack.co.uk and let her know, or drop it in the Facebook group/event page here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebelauthors/
Event: https://fb.me/e/GVZcAjmm
As part of the launch week, Sacha will be interviewing nine authors all about their side characters, their favorite side characters from books and films as well as their tips for creating better characters. And She’ll be doing that all LIVE on instagram every night at 8pm from the 30th July to the 8th August.
Buying Links:
Universal purchase link textbook: books2read.com/sidecharacters
Universal purchase link workbook: books2read.com/sideworkbook
Impressive! Or what…
Thank you so much to Sally for this lovely update featuring reviews for Balroop, Jacquie and myself. Do pop over to see Sally’s update – link below.
Oh and while I am here, just to let you know you can request a review copy of my YA Fantasy Bloodstone via Book Sirens: https://booksirens.com/book/H4SI6L4/Q9PZX3A
and for those who are on Netgalley: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/230784
Thank you so much to Stacey for this wonderful feature on her blog.
This week I am thrilled to be interviewing author M. J. Mallon, who will be sharing with us details of her writing life, telling us all about her new book ‘Bloodstone‘, which was released on 23rd June 2021 and answering a few fun questions too.
Source: The Writing Life of: M. J. Mallon – Whispering Stories
Thank you so much to Beaton for this wonderful review of Bloodstone and pictures of the Grasshopper! Love it!
Source: Of Bloodstone: The Curse Of Time Book 1 Review – Becoming The Muse
And for his wonderful blog tour post which you can read here: https://becomingthemuse.net/2021/07/21/book-blog-tour-bloodstone-mjmallon/
Thank you so much to James Cudney for this wonderful book alert for my release of Bloodstone. Do pop over to see the blog post at source.
Source: Book Alert: Bloodstone (Curse of Time #1) by M. J. Mallon – This Is My Truth Now
To download a free copy via Book Sirens click this link: https://booksirens.com/book/H4SI6L4/Q9PZX3A