The Raven's Quill

#3 is available for purchase and the links are included at the bottom of the post :)

Just in time for the planned February 10, 2014 release date … the cover of my debut novel!!

Big thank you to Kevin Lester & Colin F Barnes for the art & design.

Author Jeff Powell wakes up to find the impossible has happened. He is within his own novel—summoned into the fictional world of Feldall’s Keep by a spell he didn’t write. One the House enchantress hasn’t figured out how to reverse.

When the villain he’s been struggling to write reveals himself, unleashing waves of terror and chaos, Jeff must use more than his imagination to save the characters he created—and the woman he loves.

Trapped within a world of his own creation, he must step outside the bounds of his narrative to help his characters defeat an evil no one anticipated, even if he must sacrifice his greatest gift. In the end, he has to ask: are novels really fiction, or windows into other worlds?

Interested in first grab at Evensong at the sale price? Future promotions, news & announcements? Be sure to sign up for my newsletter!

This book started off really well. After all, there's nothing a Canadian appreciates like self-deprecating humour. But by the end, I almost choked on the bitter tone. It felt like the authors, Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson, adopted the same tone my mother uses when she's unhappy with something I've done, burying her criticism under a very thin veil of humour while very loudly getting the message across. It took a bit of the entertainment out of it. 

That being said, most of the book held onto the light comedic tone. I laughed aloud pretty often and would still offer it as a fun insight into the Great White North. 

Like most Nicholas Sparks books, this one begins, continues, and ends they way you would expect. No surprises, or twists. Now that I've started to read critically, I notice a lot of passive writing and redundant redundancies that could have used a heavy edit, but in spite of it all, in spite of the predictability and somewhat one-dimensional characters, the damned book still managed to get me choked up in the end. Damn you, Sparks!

I've read so many of Bill Bryson's histories and loved them all. I now know more about sewage, building materials, microscopic bugs and the year 1851 than I ever thought I would! 

Readers! Reviewers! I'm getting ready for my novel Evensong to be released in February 2014, so that means I'm looking for people to read it and help me spread the word. Interested? Send me a message! 

 

Not sure if you're interested? Here's the blurb: 

 

Author Jeff Powell wakes up to find the impossible has happened. He is within his own novel—summoned into the fictional world of Feldall’s Keep by a spell he didn't write. One the House enchantress hasn't figured out how to reverse.

 

When the villain he's been struggling to write reveals himself, unleashing waves of terror and chaos, Jeff must use more than his imagination to save the characters he created—and the woman he loves.

Trapped within a world of his own creation, he must step outside the bounds of his narrative to help his characters defeat an evil no one anticipated, even if he must sacrifice his greatest gift. In the end, he has to ask: are novels really fiction, or windows into other worlds?

As Wrath’s fiercest son, Logan carries the scars of fifty years spent in the most dreaded prison of the underworld, for a sin he’d kill to keep secret. Enduring decades of gruesome torture has left Logan feared by and detached from others, until a female Alexi’s blood resurrects his soul from death and, with it, the pleasures he’s been denied for so long.

Plagued by shame of her own, Calla is drawn to the ruthless demon, Logan, whose insatiable craving for her touch rouses buried passions and, for once, leaves her feeling desired.

A dark and dangerous evil has been reawakened, however, and when Calla is drawn too close to its breeding grounds, Logan vows to summon the violence of Wrath in order to keep her safe. First, though, Calla must save him from a past riddled with deceit and corruption … but only if she can accept the chilling consequences of unearthing his vilest skeleton.

I could not put this book down. Trust me, I tried. I had to go to work! But the Kindle stayed on until the last possible moment and snapped back on the second my day was over. I was sad when it ended, until I realised: this novel lingers. The sign of a great book! Even now, certain songs will come on the radio and I’ll have flashbacks to my favourite scenes, to the intense emotions that fly off the page and work into the heart until I felt what the characters felt. And the best part? I know that right now, possibly this minute, Keri’s hard at work on Book 3: Soul Enslaved, which tells Gavin’s story.  The series is far from over and I couldn’t be happier.

For more information about the book, check out the complete Blog Tour post at 

http://theravensquill.com/2013/11/21/keri-lakes-soul-resurrected-excerpt-soundtrack-review/

I've taken the plunged and registered myself officially as Raven's Quill Press. This is a pretty big leap for cautious, self-conscious me, so I'm pretty proud. My first act as business owner was to release a serial collection called Greylands. 

Greylands started out as a serial on my blog, The Ravens' Quill, where I posted the first chapter and invited other authors to come and play in my world. It quickly picked up a consistent group of talented writers and evolved into something I could never have planned: a full story arc with a vast array of characters and an ever-expanding dystopian world. 

Now I'm offering two free copies in the month of November for my fellow BookLikers! Didn't win this month? Don't despair! Now that I've figured out how to do it, I'm planning a massive giveaway for the month of December - maybe that perfect gift for the person in your life who likes conspiracies, thieves' dens, and survivor tales?