Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Book Tour & Guest Blog With Simon Driscoll - Orphan Dani: The Dragons' Bane Chronicles





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Book Genre:    Tween Fantasy Adventure
Publisher:     AZ Publishing Services
Release Date:     June 15, 2015
Buy Link(s):    http://grendelmen.com/  
- Paperback Amazon

Book Description:

Dani is a young orphan girl, living on the streets of a medium-sized border town. Her only friend in the world is a dragon. At fourteen years of age, she should be starting her apprenticeship, but all her schooling has come from a dragon. The same day he promises she can some day become a dragon herself, a Mage finally comes looking for her. But is he there to help her, or control her?




Why Do We Write Genres?

Why do we use Genres?
Some people have a hard time understanding why the publishing industry insists on labeling every book with a genre. There are many to choose from and so many novels that cross genres, such as a love story set in the old west. Is that Historical Fiction, Western, or Romance?
There are two answers, and I’ll give the easy one first. Bookstores, including online sellers like Amazon, want to help readers find the types of books they like by allowing them to browse in certain categories. There is a shelf for Westerns, a shelf for Historical Fiction, and a shelf for Romance. Without a category, the physical bookstore won’t know where to put it, unless you are already a famous bestselling novelist, and then it goes in a big pile where the customers can see it as they walk in. For the rest of us, we need to understand our genre to make the bookstore’s job easier.
Now for the more important answer, and the reason why the easy answer exists at all. If the book is mislabeled as to its genre, then people looking for a Western, who pick up a Romance novel set in the old west are probably going to be very disappointed, if not outraged, and never recommend that book to their friends. Why? Because a Romance novel focuses on the love story, or love life, usually of a woman, and is often told from that woman’s point of view. There are certain keywords and phrases that Romance readers are looking for.
On the other hand, people who read Westerns want to read about the conflict between the sheriff and the outlaw, or the rancher and the cattle rustler. Sure, the main character may have a love interest, and the good guy always gets the right girl at the end, if he isn’t already married. But the focus of the novel isn’t about how they fell in love. It’s about a world where usually the person with the fastest draw makes the law, and how unexpected people stand up to the outlaw, etc.
Think of it like a menu. At any decent restaurant, the menu is broken up into at least three sections. There are appetizers, entrees, and desserts. If a dessert is placed in the appetizers menu, less people are going to order it. Or if a fine dining establishment puts lemonade on their wine list, even if it is hard lemonade, it’s in the wrong spot, and people looking for wine usually won’t order the hard lemonade.
The genre isn’t just about putting your book on a certain shelf. It’s about giving the reader what they want in terms of content, message, and length. No one is going to read a Children’s novel if it’s 1500 pages. But some Science Fiction writers hit that length, as well as some Epic Fantasy authors. Most publishers would encourage that author to break it up into five books, or at least a trilogy.
I’ve said it before, but it’s so important that I’ll say it again. New authors can’t break the rules unless they understand the reasons why the rules exist in the first place. When they do, they only sell books if they are also a good salesman. Personally, I want my readers to be the salesmen by telling their friends how much they enjoyed the book.  




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Author Bio: Simon Driscoll has published several books, including the Dragons’ Bane Chronicles, and the Warriors & Watchmen series. Writing is his passion, as well as his hobby. He studied creative writing in college to learn the mechanics of written stories. He has been influenced in his writing by great authors such as Sir Isaac Asimov, Terry Brooks, and Orson Scott Card, to name only a few.
Simon has been a student of the scriptures all his life, and feels passionately about helping others understand them better. The most difficult aspect of scriptures to comprehend is prophecy. That is why Simon has combined his passions for writing and the scriptures to create a fictional account of the fulfillment of End Times Prophecies. The first book in the Warrior and Watchmen Series was published in 2015.

Website:    http://grendelmen.com/
Blog:        http://driscoll.grendelmen.com/
Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/Driscoll.Books/
Twitter:    https://twitter.com/AuthorSDriscoll
Pinterest:    https://www.pinterest.com/driscoll0924/
Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10654758.Simon_Driscoll
Amazon:    http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Driscoll/e/B00ZYKDBZ2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1467414313&sr=8-1

Excerpt:

Smooth stones shifted beneath my feet as I limped toward the dragon’s cave. Anger buzzed in my head with no outlet. Two miles of walking on a sprained ankle hadn’t helped my mood, or the injury. In addition to the ankle, which continued to complain with every step, my left eye felt swollen from a recent blow. The blow itself didn’t bother me so much. Instead, I was concerned by why she hit me and how I got away.

Two miles south lay Barrington, a village sandwiched between the kingdom of Puji and the mountains of Goldoon. Almost five thousand people lived in the village, including the families who had taken me in. Every winter for the past six years one family or another had taken me in as a housekeeper or cook, and shared what little food they had with me; rarely enough to truly satisfy me, or them. Eventually they would start to resent having me there. Thus every year, around the start of spring, I would find some reason to leave.

This year, the reason had reached out and grabbed me by the throat, literally. There was no real love for me there, and hadn’t been since my nanny died almost six years ago. Why should they care about a little orphan girl?

The cave before me wasn’t the adventure others might see. I wasn’t here in a vain attempt to gain treasure or impress someone with my bravery. No one else in the village knew there was a dragon nearby. For me, this was my one escape from the cruelty of the world. The only place left where someone showed me kindness instead of hatred and violence.

The last few feet were the trickiest of all and my injured ankle gave out. I scraped my hand on the cliff in a failed attempt to stop my fall.

“Cortiban’s bones!” The curse escaped my lips. Frustration boiled over and I had to close my eyes to contain the anger. Pulling myself up by grabbing the face of the cliff before me, I put all my anger to the task of overcoming the pain. I kept my eyes shut as I limped through the protective magic hiding the mouth of the cave. If someone watched as I entered, they would see me walk through solid rock. A protective spell hid everything inside. Now the magic hid me as well.


Thursday, November 10, 2016

The After War by Brandon Zenner



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Book Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian. Can fit in Thriller, Literary, and Science Fiction (not so much on the sci-fi part, but I know Dystopian is usually categorized under Sci-Fi).
Publisher: Brandon Zenner
Release Date: October 20, 2016
BuyLink(s):https://www.amazon.com/After-War-Complete-Novel-ebook/dp/B01JMS9CA4/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Book Description:
Two years have passed since mankind faced extinction. 

Brain Rhodes and his cousin, Steven, are leaving the protection of their underground bunker for the first time, after a cataclysmic war and unrelenting disease ravaged the earth. 
On the other side of the North American continent, young Simon Kalispell is leaving the safety and seclusion of his cabin deep in the woods, traveling with his aging canine companion, Winston. 

For individual reasons, these men are traveling east, where the fragmented lives of a small number of survivors will soon be decided by the choices of a corrupt few. 

Simon Kalispell and Brian Rhodes are not yet aware, but the strength that resides inside them will soon be tested, and destiny will call for their fates to be forever intertwined.




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Author Bio:
Brandon Zenner is an American fiction writer and an Amazon best selling author. His short fiction has been published in both print and online publications, the first being submitted when he was 19 years old. THE EXPERIMENT OF DREAMS, his debut eBook thriller, has reached Amazon's best seller list many times. His second novel, WHISKEY DEVILS, was released in early 2016. THE AFTER WAR, a dystopian thriller, was released in fall 2016. His genres of choice are thrillers, crime, dystopian, and science fiction.

Author Links -
Website http://www.BrandonZenner.com
Blog https://brandonzennerblog.wordpress.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/brandon.zenner/
Twitter https://twitter.com/SlapstickII
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-zenner-28781598?trk=hp-identity-name
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7908718.Brandon_Zenner
​Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Zenner/e/B00IQVO1UK