Wedding-Induced Blogging Hiatus

Hello all. Well, as I mentioned the other day, I am about to go on a blogging hiatus because of my wedding. Yes, I tie the knot in just 14 days and my family start arriving from the UK tomorrow, so I am going to be pretty flat out for about the next 5 weeks. I'll be popping online now and again to check for urgent messages, but blogging and other 'non-essential' activities will have to be on hold until things settle down.

Do please bear with me as I will be back in the swing of things again by mid-November.

In the meantime, don't forget that my latest release, Day-Walker, is now available from many online retailers, so I'd love it if you would check it out. More info HERE.

I also did some sketching today and thought I'd share the pic with you as a parting gift. Just click on the image to visit my DA page and see a larger view.

So, farewell for now, but I will be back again before you know it and will maybe have a couple of wedding photos to share with you all! ;)

Guest Blog - Julie Lynn Hayes and S. L. Danielson

Today I welcome, Julie Lynn Hayes and S. L. Danielson to talk about writing historical fiction and their new release, My Fair Vampire. Read on to the bottom for a sneak peak excerpt. Over to you, guys....

Writing an historical novel is different than writing a lot of other types of books because it involves things that actually happened, not just in the author’s head. Verifiable events and times which can be remembered or read about in history books. This requires more meticulous research into the era involves, and people’s lives at that time. Also, collaborating with another author is different from sitting down and writing whatever comes to mind. SL Danielson and I managed both feats in our first collaborative effort, My Fair Vampire. The research was relatively easy to do, especially made easier as we set the book in our own back yard—turn of the century St. Louis, Missouri, during the time of the Louisiana Exposition. Or you might know it by its more common name—the World’s Fair.

As for learning to write together, that came with trial and errors, but we seemed to fall into a definite rhythm of literary cooperation almost immediately, and in the process became the best of friends.

Follow Friday #26 / Book Blogger Hop #26

Find your favorite(s) author interview(s), guest post(s), book review(s), or bookish article(s) that ANOTHER BOOK BLOGGER featured on their site recently and tell us why you love it/them!

 I'd like to highlight THIS post by my friend and fellow author/blogger Julie Lynn Hayes. Julie has a wonderful new novella/short novel called My Fair Vampire coming out tomorrow and her post is an interview with her two leading men. This is a fun little interview and I can highly recommend the book too for anyone who likes M/M with a paranormal twist.

If you could pick one character in a book, movie or television show to swap places with, who would it be?

Well, I would like to be Meg in the Supernatural TV series - just so I can kiss Castiel in season 6! Is it wrong to lust after an angel?!

Lyndi Alexander - Guest Blog

Today, I welcome Lyndi Alexander to the blog. Over to you, Lyndi

Every Little Bit of Change, Changes Everything

Many of us read stories about epic quests, like The Lord of the Rings, where each being’s fate seems to affect the entire world as they know it, or international spy thrillers, where people juggle the end of the world like a grenade in their hands. We enjoy stories about how an entire nation’s slaves were freed or justice on a grand scale is done when a serial killer is caught. These are exciting stories, and sweep with a broad brush onto the page.

In my day job, I’m an attorney practicing in the area of family law. I have the privilege and opportunity to see so many dramatic stories come to light in court each day, probably none of them on as grand a scale as the examples above. But their importance and the changes that drama brings to life in that family is stunning, sometimes shocking, and always impacts the participants to the core.

The Rest Falls Away (Gardella Vampire Chronicles #1) by Colleen Gleason - Book Review

Title: The Rest Falls Away (Gardella Vampire Chronicles #1)

Author: Colleen Gleason

Publisher: Allison and Busby

Publication Date: 2008 (2007)

Pages: 445

Format: Paperback

Genre: Paranormal / Historical

Source: Bought Copy

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy of vampire slaying, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous, moonlit streets, Victoria's heart is torn between London's most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her enigmatic ally, Sebastian Vioget. And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make the choice between duty and love. (Goodreads Synopsis)



I picked up this book after having loved the Regency Draculia trilogy by the same author. This story was okay, but it failed to catch my attention the way Regency Draculia did.

The opening was very slow and rather clichéd and a few times I had to convince myself to keep reading. Unlike the Regency Draculia series, which was fresh and interesting, I read this feeling that I'd seen it all before in Buffy. Victoria's character never grew on me, the men were insipid and the plot was fairly predictable.

That said, the pace did pick up by the mid-way point and that kept me going to the end as by that point I did want to see how it would all play out.

I probably will still read the other books in this series, but unlike the Regency Draculia stories that I feel I could read again and still enjoy, the Gardella books will be ones I only want to read once.

In conclusion: This is not a bad story, but it was just lacking that spark of originality to make it stand out from the crowd. For those new to Gleason's work, I would recommend the Regency Draculia trilogy over this one.

World Without End by Ken Follett - Book Review

Title: World Without End

Author: Ken Follett

Publisher: Pan

Publication Date: 2008 (2007)

Pages: 1237

Format: Paperback

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Christmas Gift

In 1989 Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England centered on the building of a cathedral and many of the hundreds of lives it affected. Critics were overwhelmed—“it will hold you, fascinate you, surround you” (Chicago Tribune)—and readers everywhere hoped for a sequel.

World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroad of new ideas— about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race—the Black Death.  (Goodreads Synopsis)


Having loved The Pillars of the Earth back in September 2009, I was looking forward to reading the sequel.

The second book certainly does not disappoint, with beautifully interwoven story lines and strong characters transporting us back to medieval Kingsbridge. I was really drawn into the lives and struggles of the people of the town and priory and the world was so meticulously built by Follett that you almost felt you were there with them.

At over 1200 pages, this is no quick read, but the story is so compelling that I found myself reading a hundred pages at a time and barely noticing.

Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction. Since this book is set 200 years after its predecessor, there is no necessity to read Pillars first, but I would recommend it for two reasons.

1) While I loved this one, Pillars is the better book of the two
2) Events in Pillars are referred to loosely in this book and you might prefer to have that grounding in what has gone before.