Set them Up For Success Not Failure

Source

I thought I’d share something about work today.

I remember that one of my New Year resolutions was to start working again? 

I can officially say that this resolution has a solid tick next to it now. Yipeee!

Every second Friday for eight weeks I pay a 5 hour visit to one of my clients (a world renowned chocolate maker ). During these visits I facilitate (or rather guide) an *RPL  session for 19 staff members who work the production line. I’m taking these learners through a Food and Beverage qualification which the client has initiated as part of their staff skills development plan.

I’m talking about them today because there is a certain lady in my class (Phumla) whose resilience amazes me. She’s was born somewhere in the fifties and has never had formal schooling. Any writing and reading skills she has are the result of self teaching. I watch her every Friday struggle through the sessions and I find this both heartbreaking and motivating. It breaks my heart that she has been put in a program without someone really assessing her learning needs. An immediate remedy would be to assign a mentor to help her through the program but despite my many requests none is forthcoming. I don’t think the coordinators appreciate how easy is it to extinguish that little flame of hope and desire some people have for learning if they have been out of school for a long time. Most become disheartened when they realize how much commitment goes into acquiring a new disciple (i.e. learning to learn). 

This is where I wish learning in the workplace was more about the people and less about the bottom line. As good as idea as it is, the reality is that most companies are just putting people through training for the tax  incentive.

Source

All that being said, I have never met someone that possesses more determination or fighting spirit as does Phumla. Away from our contact sessions, she finds it impossible to read and interpret the amount of content she has to cover. Yet every week she pitches up having resourcefully found her way through significant amounts of it (despite the fact that most is copied word for word from her learning material or additional resources). 

I’m afraid at the end she will not make it through the programme, not because she didn’t put everything she has in her work but because the system has failed her. Whatever diagnostic assessment was done that resulted in her attending this class had it wrong…..and sadly, the wheels of bureaucracy turn far too slowly to help this one diligent student. 

Why do we set people up for failure? This is the one time where truly one can see that in our good intentions we can do more harm than good.

I hope when the time comes I will be fit for the job in that I help her recognize the nuggets she has acquired by attending the program and put them to further use. Phumla is definite proof that learning is a lifelong and continuous process and we who are in the field have a responsibility. Our responsibility is to nurture the desire to grow and learn when we see it because for the Phumla’s of this world, this is a lifeline in a long barren stretch of road.

*RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning). This is basically a learning program where you are assessed based on previous work experience in order to formalize it into a qualification.

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Sabbaticals, Babies and Naija to SA

It’s a year and two months since I started this blog. 

It was the genesis of my blogging career and online life. 

However, I recently had to make some very tough decisions about it. I’ve been between the devil and the deep blue sea for the longest time and its just not working out. Many promises brocken, schedules unkept have to lead to wake up calls at some point. 

So the decision is to streamline my online life which is currently all over the place at the moment. I can’t keep up with my online social obligations.

So this is the plan:

1. Fabulosity Nouveau (this blog) will be going on sabbatical for a period of six months with the possibility of extending to a year. One of my New Year resolutions is to work harder this year towards my finances and the other is to be more physically present to engage more with the world around me. I’m finding it hard to do all that and maintain the same momentum with my online presence. As a result this blog suffers.
2. Deactivate my personal Facebook  account and only maintain the one for Fabulosity Reads. I have a lot to download here to ensure I do not lose precious information so it may take a couple of weeks but in that time i’d also like my friends to switch over. So if you are my friend at Wendy Ewurum on Facebook then please send me a friend invite on Fabulosity Reads or like my page FabulosityReads4U.
3. This also means cancelling my participation on the A-Z challenge this year. But this just cannot be helped.

Now on to other news:

I know there will be times when I’ll be tempted to come back here because there are just some things that don’t fit well in the book review blog and I promise to try to not cave in thereby confusing you all. Well except on maybe two occasions:

1. We are expecting a new arrival in the family soon so I’d love to introduce you to her when she finally makes the big entrance. This I definitely have to share with you.
2. A friend is going to the Beer Fest in Germany in June and I am sooooo jealous but despite this debilitating emotion I will share a post about her experience with pictures and events when she’s there. If only to drool over it all.

Long overdue feedback:

The last some of you heard from me was when you were wishing me well with my permanent move to Nigeria. Well it was as permanent as any sane person can make it. Three months later, on the day my visa expired I and the kids were on plane back home.

Don’t get me completely wrong. 

Nigeria would be great to visit for a very short holiday say two weeks but for anything longer I imagine you have to grow hair on your teeth to survive. Especially if you come from a progressive country. It was the hardest three months of my life and all can say is God Bless South Africa number one and number two I understand the Nigerians wonderlust now. 

None the less, the experience was a huge eye opener not to mention an exceedingly expensive experiment that has left my hubby so disappointed but I’m ever so glad I did it in my younger years if you call mid thirties young.Well compared to doing it at 45 years I suppose it is.

Thanks to Special People

I do want to thank my special blog friend Misha, Sochi Azuh and J.L Campbell whom I bitched and moaned on when I felt I was going to die of depression. I’ve never met any of them but that’s the wonderful thing about blogging, you don’t need a face to face experience with someone for them to care for you. 

I also published a number of very depressing posts at that time and my blog friends here always had a word of wisdom or encouraging advise. I’m thinking of the likes of Karen Gowen, Tirzah Goodwin, Kiru Taye, etc. All of you guys are very special to me. Thank you.

Au Revior

Anyway I think I’ve covered what I had to for now. Fabulosity Nouveau wishes you love, happiness and success for the rest of this year and may we see each other again soon. 

To follow me on my other blog please visit Fabulosityread.blogspot.com. I promise to follow back when you do.

Fabulosity Reads is a book review blog where I do author interviews, guest blogging and Giveaways as well. I’ve thinking of resurrecting my art and galleries page with a theatre feature since I’ll be visiting these frequently soon.

Thank you to all the blog friends and followers I’ve met through my blogging journey and who stuck by my craziness, supersized ego and bottomless insecurities. You made me feel extraordinary.  

All my love.

Wendy Ewurum

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Celebrating The Legend Of Victor Standish by Roland Yeomans

Roland Yeomans, master of the written word has done it again. If you haven’t read one of Roland’s books then you really are missing out on something phenomenal. His penmanship alone leaves a reader having learned something intrinsic about the craft. But enough of my babbling, let me tell you about his latest book.

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Think TRUE BLOOD meets THE DRESDEN FILES meets THE ARTFUL DODGER.

Beware French Quarter nights.

Every city has its secrets. New Orleans more than most.

To walk its streets is to move through history : Lasalle. Orleans. Galvez. Lafitte. A street map is part time capsule, part history lesson. And all Death. She is waiting in every shadow.

New Orleans is the most haunted city in America where Voodoo was big business, slavery even more so, and no government official or newspaper dares to tell the truth.

No one talks openly of the misty figures seen walking along iron-laced terraces, casting no shadow. Of the shapes seen rising from sewer grates. And no one willingly visits the crypt of Marie Laveau at midnight.

Into this strange world arrives the street orphan, Victor Standish, from Charon’s Greyhound. Charon has to keep up with the times …the End Times.

And the teen destined to be called the “Ulysses of the French Quarter” has come just in time for Hurricane Katrina, the End of All Things, and …the deadly love of the Victorian ghoul, Alice Wentworth.

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You can get your copy of The Legend Of Victor Standish on Amazon

Roland also has a fantastic contest going at his blog where if you post a review of it on Amazon, you get 5 entries to win an Amazon Kindle Fire, or a Stephen King autograph, or a JK Rowling autograph or dozens of other prizes. Now those are baggable prizes, for that check out: Roland Yeoman’s Promotional Prizes

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Nurture You Books Tourz: Key Of Solomon

 Today I am very happy to have  Cassiel Knight from Nurture 

Your Books Tourz for her blog tour stop. Key of Solomon is the first 

book in her Relic Defender Series.

You can visit her at her blog: http://cassielknight.wordpress.com/

for more details on the author and her books. 

Welcome Cassiel! 

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The other day, I was listening to a recording from the 2008 RWA Nationals about evoking emotions. The speaker said something that resonated with me. Not because I agreed with it (parts I definitely did) but because I thought it really spoke to why I write. The speaker said, basically, that people go to movies and read books not for special effects but for an emotional experience. And by emotional experience, she meant characters, not the excitement and thrills you get when things are blown up.

When I say I disagree, it’s not that I disagree with the workshop. It’s completely accurate for those who write character-driven stories. It’s more of the context of how she said it and not so much my interpretation. You see, when I craft a story, sure, I want it to be emotional but I want the special effects too. Same thing when I go to a movie. I want to feel awed, thrilled and amazed. Like watching Avatar. There was a message there. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. But what I loved about Avatar, what caused an emotional reaction in me, was the special effects – the world-building. When I thought about the message, I got it. I didn’t care and I wasn’t looking for it when I watched the movie. Nor is it what I look for when I’ve watched the movie for the 10th time.

Of course, I care about characters. I care what happens to them especially when I’m watching them deal with attacking monsters, transforming machines (call me a Transformers junkie), demons and other assorted menaces. The more action the better. I’ll take some emotion, but that’s not why I read books and watch movies. If you look at my movie collection, you’ll find 80% more action/adventure, alien and horror movies then you’ll find romance.

Not because I don’t like romance. Oh, I do. I love to watch two people find each other even as they battle whatever the writer throws at them. However, I’m happiest when the writers spend more time throwing things for the couple to fight versus slowing down to explore their emotions or find a deeper meaning in life.

I think that’s why Relic Defender: Key of Solomon was rejected as often as it was. Not because it wasn’t a good story or that I was a terrible writer (hey, I have proof I’ve grown as a writer hiding with the dust bunnies under my bed), but because it was more plot intensive than character-driven and romance, if anything, tends to be more character-driven. And that’s okay. It’s just not me.

A close friend of mine, author Susan Lute, writes more emotionally and character-driven romance and I admire her ability to craft stories that tug at the heart strings. She’s great at it; it seems to suit her even as she’s spreading her writer wings and wrote a paranormal romance about dragons. I haven’t read it but I suspect, even being paranormal, it’s still much more of an emotionally driven story than I write. Again, that’s great but it’s not me.

In fact, book 2 of the Relic Defender series, The Death Skull (you can read the first chapter by visiting (www.relicdefender.wordpress.com), is already starting out to be more action oriented than the first one. Sure, the characters have their issues and emotions which they’ll have to deal with – while they are fighting dictators, evil demons and a soul-sucking succubus.

This is why I write, read and watch movies. For the thrills, chills and explosions. Might make it harder for me to find a place shelved strictly under romance. I’m okay with that. And I’ll bet I find readers who are okay with that too.

How about you? Are you a character-driven or plot-driven reader?

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Lynda M. Martin: Book Tour

 Today Lynda M. Martin from Nurture Your BooksTourz 

chats to us about her book. This Bird Flew Away, is a

novel based on Linda’s life and experiences.

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Lynda On Life and Career

I currently live on the Gulf Coast of Florida with my husband, Jim, and two mastiff dogs, Elinore and Remy, a quiet life which I enjoy very much. I pass the time writing, of course, and also work helping the elderly stay in their own homes, providing care, companionship and assistance – very satisfying work. I do miss seeing my children and grandchildren as much as I would like as they are in Canada, but seeing as that is my only regret, I guess I’m quite lucky. 

This novel expresses much that I’ve learned over the years dealing with children as an outreach worker, as a mother and a foster mother, as well as my own turbulent youth. No telling about myself can be complete without exploring what was a passion for many years. In the movie, The Color Purple, the character portrayed by Oprah Winfrey says, “It’s a dangerous world for a girl child.” It certainly is, and the majority of you know this from first-hand experience. As to my writing career, This Bird Flew Away is my first major project in many years, and past novels were so long ago as to be irrelevant (or so I’ve been told by agents.) However, it will not be my last. I’ve done a lot of other writing over the years, articles mostly under various pen names and on a wide variety of subject matter ranging from professional business concerns (very dull) to child protection issues, animal welfare, politics, world events and a considerable amount of writing on writing.  If anyone is interested in a sampling of my non-fiction writing, they are welcome to visit my personal publishing at lmmartin.Com.

I love to write and I don’t much care about commercial success, a fact I’m sure my publisher rues, only that people read and gain something from my efforts. I imagine I will continue to write and will leave behind outlines and character sketches when I exit this world – and little else.

This Bird Flew Away

This novel is the story of Bria Jean Connelly who we first meet at “almost ten years old,” a neglected, spirited child, full of woe and heavy of heart, trying to make herself invisible while the Connelly clan gathers to bury the man who was her stepfather. Through the efforts of Jack, a young man she considers her best friend, we learn of the burden she carries, the secrets she has sworn to her mother she will keep, but cannot. This is the beginning of a life-long bond between the unlikely pair that will become Bria’s life-raft through the stormy seas of a childhood without a proper home or a real parent.

There are two first-person voices, Bria our heroine and Mary, who will eventually become her foster mother and give her the first real home she has known, which may be too little, too late. We never do hear from Jack, the controversial friend/guardian, but see him only through the eyes of our two female narrators.

This triangular relationship, fraught with emotion and perhaps eliciting discomfort in some, forms the foundation for Bria’s growing up over the twenty years we follow her. Whether or not you feel some understanding for what unfolds, or moral outrage, it is a story true to life.

As I’m often fond of quoting: What should be is rarely what is.

Inspiration For Writing This Bird Flew Away.

Reality inspired me to write the book, that is the reality of children’s lives as I’ve known them over the years. As previously stated, I grew fed up with popular media’s treatment of the issues surrounding child abuse, those twisted dark dramas, and even more fed up with those that pretend it doesn’t exist except for some isolated cases. 

It seems to me, that popular social myth takes precedence over reality far too much. Our politicians, our many pundits, our head-in-the-sky religious leaders speak of the family and family-life with reverence, expounding on an ideal that does not exist, has never existed and probably never will exist. 

This utopian view of family and childhood is so far removed from what goes on every day, on every street and in one out of three households. (Yes!) Like everyone else who has worked in child protection, I’ve seen too much to even listen.

Part of me prays, “May we please find reality somewhere between the extremities of drama and the fantasy of perfection,” because until we look at reality and accept it, we can do little to change it.

This Bird Flew Away is not a dark, sad book, it is an uplifting one that truly reflects the spirit of those girls I’ve known and their stories – not shocking, not depressing but simply true. These children go on being children no matter what occurs with them, accept their lot with a profound matter of fact attitude and go on. They still laugh, play, scheme and look forward to the future.

That’s what I wanted to portray.

Reception Has Been….

Wonderful! I’m so pleased. Recently, the novel was listed as a finalist in literary fiction by the National Independent Excellence Book Awards. Which tickled me greatly, as you might imagine.

My readers have been very kind, many taking the time to contact me and tell me how much they enjoyed the story, and often, to speak of their own episodes, some sharing long-held secrets for the first time. 

Reviews have, for the most part, been good, some excellent and one or two seem to have moral objections to the story – which has nothing to do with my writing and more to do with their preconceived notions of right and wrong. Or so I tell myself. So far, only one reviewer was unreservedly negative, again that moral thing and I have no problem with that. 

What I find very heartening is a growing audience for the book with the young adult crowd. Readers from twelve to eighteen seem to relate to Bria and her trials even though the book opens in the ‘60’s. And despite the fact that political correctness dictated the book be rated as eighteen years plus.

Of course, I’d like to see wider distribution. One of the problems in publishing with an independent press is the lack of traditional distribution and that most of the marketing is up to the author. As I’ve learned, I’m not great at marketing. It is difficult to attract attention with all the noise in the market place and the couple of million books out there.  Still, slowly, one copy after another, the book is finding readers.

What Readers Should Ideally Take Away.

My knee-jerk response is that readers come away with a better understanding of what being a survivor really encompasses, that they’re not all “ruined lives,” that most go on to heal, with scars and after-effects certainly, but heal all the same.

Also, perhaps some readers will expand their view of family, that families come in all shapes and sizes and all that is really important is the love that binds us together. 

Work In Progress.

There is a sequel to This Bird Flew Away, currently in draft form and in the hands of a few selected readers prior to revision and edit. (Any volunteers?)  This story finds Bria as a grown woman with a successful legal practice as a child advocate, sitting in her office on a normal working day when the phone rings. That phone call will take her far from her home and comfort zone and into a legal drama. And that’s all I’m going to say about Fly High, Fly Blind (my working title.)

Also, as something completely different, I’m working out the skeleton for a new novel. This will involve a heroine in her fifties, left by a husband to live on a much reduced budget, alone and damaged, who must remake herself and her life. Again, that’s all I have to say for the moment.

Wendy thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss these interesting points.

It was an absolute pleasure Lynda, I wish you every success with your book.

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Giving Up The Dream by J.L Campbell

Last Friday my bedtime read was J.L Campbell’s new self publication, Giving Up The Dream which is free on Smashwords for you to download and experience some really awesome writing.

Love, honour and obey. In a perfect life, these promises are easy to keep. When faced with spousal betrayal, idealistic oaths take a back seat. Justine Charles made the ultimate sacrifice for her dying husband. Will she rally after his death or be forced to give up a final chance at happiness?

 MY READING EXPERIENCE
Giving Up The Dream kept of my heart in my throat from beginning to end.  How many times I exclaimed in shock and wonder to myself  I cannot count. It was like watching a piece of detail about someone’s life that makes you want to look away but you can’t because the scene before you has you in its grips. Everytime I decided it can’t get worse better  then J.L adds another twist and I’m left thinking are these people for real. And the shocking thing is that they feel very real. I kept thinking oh please lord let not the spouse find this out. Can you imagine that, rooting for the philander (LOL).

I also found myself thinking that this could actually be any circle of married friends dealing with life’s difficulties in ways that are inexcusable to society but at times find acceptance the individual’s mind in times of hardship and darkness.

I absolutely loved it, the entire short story work is so scandalous and riveting you can’t put it down. I can’t wait for the novel, Distraction that this publication is a summary of. Great job J.L, this is fantastic writing.

EXTRA. EXTRA. READ ALL ABOU’ IT
There is even more on offer from J.L with Don’t Get Mad….Get Even. You can download it from Smashwords as well for a minimal cost of $.99c.

What choices do you have when you are abused, cheated on and left with a trail of broken promises? Don’t Get Mad…Get Even.  Take an inside look at Jamaican culture and lifestyle through a collection of award-winning stories. You will laugh, cry and commiserate with a compelling cast of characters, who conquer their challenges in unique ways.

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Chatting to Jenna Kay about Broken (The Seer Society)

On a very rare note I am featuring a book related interview today. I met Jenna on Facebook on my new Book Page which you will see on the sidebar to the left. On September 1st she released her second book and on becoming aware of that and because the plot intrigued me, I offered to help spread the word on these very promising books. I’ll hand the reigns over to Jenna now.

Jenna I have to ask you this because it fascinates me. Can you explain the Biblical theme which seems to be inferred to from the descriptions of your books? 

On every book this will be seen:  …what is unseen is eternal.  This is from 2Corinthians 4:18  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary,but what is unseen is eternal. This one verse is the basis of the Seer Society Series.  It’s about the unseen world around us and the Spiritual Warfare being fought every second of every day.

Christian oriented books tend to not have mass appeal as the ASSUMPTION made by most readers is that they are preachy, is this something you’ve encountered and how do you ensure mass appeal?

First and foremost let me tell you this – This book is far from preachy.  It’s kind of in between christian fiction and mainstream fiction, though the Seers in the books are Biblical.  It goes into a lot of heavy subjects that teenagers go through on a daily basis.  I believe christians and non-christians can get something out of these books. My goal is to get people thinking.

I see that Broken is the second of a series. Can you tell us about the first and the follow up in Broken.

Clarity, the first book in the series, is about a seventeen year-old girl that lives in a dead-end town and is ready to get her senior year over with.  She thinks everything is going normal in her life until she meets Sam, her guardian angel, and finds out that she’s a Seer.  The Seers in my series are not fortune tellers or soothsayers, but they are humans that can see angels and demons.  They have special powers given to them from God (also have Seer marks on their palms) and they fight alongside their angels against the evil in the world.  At the end of Clarity something life-changing happens and it follows into the second book, Broken.  In Broken the reader follows Clarity along this new path in life, a life that involves the real supernatural.  I can’t say too much about it because I don’t want to give it all away…Let’s just say that no matter what path you take in life there’s gonna be many bumps down the road.

What are you plans for this story as I see it is developing into a series namely the Seer Society?

Again, I don’t want to say too much, but I will say that there is a lot of heartache, hope, new friendships, new loves. . .new beginnings.  I know how the whole series is going to end and I’m so excited about it!  Of course I’ve got at least three more books to write before then. 😉  The reason I chose the Seer Society…it’s different and it’s my take on the big “what ifs” in the world.

What genres would you say your writing depicts and what led to this/these choices?

Well, I’m going to say YA fiction, with a little speculative thrown in there.  I write about real situations that teens go through, like drinking, cutting, sex, drugs, depression, etc.  And putting angels, demons, spiritual warfare, and Seers in the mix makes it interesting!  I’ve worked with the youth at my church and have been able to see and hear what they go through.  On listening to them I felt compelled to write for them.  I’d say that middle-schoolers would get a lot from my books, as well as teens, YA, and older (my Grandmother is 98 and loves my books…hey, don’t tell her I told you her age!).

There’s a launch Party in the works I know, can you tell us what you’ve got planned on and off line?

The launch party is just online for now, but I will be attending local festivals, such as Atlanta Write 2011 and Mule Camp in Gainesville, GA.  I’m a last minute kind of person so I’m sure between now and then I’ll be attending some others!  As for a physical launch party, that’s still in the works.

Last Question: where can we get hold of your books

You can get your copies at http://www.seersociety.com and I’ll send them to you signed.  Clarity is already on amazon in paperback and e-book forms, so Broken will follow shortly.  I’ll post on my facebook and twitter accounts as soon as they’re available.

Thank you Wendy for interviewing me.

It was an absolute pleasure Jenna, I have every confidence that your books will be a great success.

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BLOOD REACTION BOOK REVIEW

I’ve decided to remove most of my book reviews from this blog specifically because I kinda feel like they are getting lost in all my other stuff and I really want to have a dedicated space to learn and do interviews, blog tours for books and Give Aways.  I hope you, my dedicated posse’, will  follow my reviews and ventures on Fabulosity Reads in addition to Fabulosity Nouveau, my baby to be loved unto death and beyond.
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My latest read is DL. Atha’s Blood Reaction and I must say she has made my vamp fiction experience all the better. You will find my review on this fabulous book on Amazon, Good Reads, Bookblogs and Fabulosity Reads. Please visit the latter to orient yourself and stake your claim on the follow badge.

Buy this book

THE STORY
The author takes us to the bundus somewhere in rural America. A doctor living with her daughter finds herself involuntarily having a house guest of a supernatural kind. The vampire (Asa) forces the good doctor into bargaining her life away to save her daughter from the clutches of pure evil.

WHO’S WHO
There are two main characters:
• Annalice is a doctor left alone at home while her daughter is on holiday.
• Asa is a nomadic vampire angry at the world and intending to let anyone who crosses his path knows it.

THIS WAS HOT
• The beginning of the book I found quite impressive. In fact I absolutely loved it. The author doesn’t dilly dally. She is very quick to introduce the main characters and the plot and moves on to the crux of it without leaving out important details.
• The story is told as a first person narrative and I really like this because I felt it took away long explanations and she tells the story so well it’s like watching events unfold with the teller.
• The medical approach, I’ve read quite a number of vampire novels and not many make extensive use of medical backgrounds but it was used so well in Blood Reaction it complimented and gave credibility to the tale by merely highlighted the narrator’s expertise in the field.
• The doctor looks at her “infection” as a medical experiment”. I think this gave great insight into what  “happens” when one is being turned into a vampire, again not many books of this genre explain this in convincing detail.
• Her last thought which is towards her mother in the end is really quite shocking and intriguing.

NOT SO HOT
A number of gramma and spelling errors and repetitive use of specific words and phrases. I think a good thesaurus would be handy.
Lack of conflict/struggle to adjust in the end after she turns felt too convenient (in fact this reminded me too much of Bella’s change in Twilight which I felt was lack lustre). It does feel a little hurried considering that the entire story has been leading to this point.

OVERALL
I like this book, I really do. I read it in a day and although I’m left in the dark about how things end, I’m glad the author left us wondering because for a moment towards the end I was worried that a great story was going to have a mundane ending.
I noticed that that DL is very good at tying up lose ends, there’s never a thought or event left dangling, so the fact that the end has questions and we haven’t heard the conclusion of the detective’s involvement leaves me wondering whether the saga continues.
This is a great read that gives a lovely fresh angle to vampire fiction.

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The French Nocturne Book Review _ by Roland Yeomans

Hello friends and friends to be. I’ve been away for a while, still away in fact, sick as a dog but I’m long over due for a blog update and I thought the best thing would be putting up my FQN review  as it will have a couple of days exposure before I can update again. South Africa is sooooo cold right now it ridiculous. I think I’ve now caught an infection in my chest, its aflame……Please get a hold of an FQN copy, it’s well worthwhile.
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Buy this book.

THE STORY:

Sam McCord is the dark hero of this epic tale of death and destruction inNew Orleans by the cataclysmic Katrina. Katrina not only leaves a hurricane ravaged city behind but unleashes all sorts of supernatural enemies of man all out for his blood and soul.

WHO’S WHO:

There are two main characters:

• Sam McCord the conflicted hero.

• Father Renfield, Sam’s best friend and right hand man with vampire qualities.

THIS IS HOT:

• The complexity of the characters: I found the main characters well developed and the layers being peeled away as you get into it are definitely worth the time spent glued to the pages. Its one of those books where you simply have to know….. 

• The writing style is rich and you can’t help but be both amused and awed by the double entendres littered throughout or the sagacious reasoning of the protagonist. I think the writer is quite philosophical and poetic which is in my opinion adds depth.

• Suspense  – There are great scenes  and those really hold the audience in a grip. Like the scene where Sam meets the serpent (I loved me idea of a serpent that’s vulnerable, Rind). This scene is so tightly woven that when the Padre’ jumped in with a witty remark I felt like a coiled spring being sprung loose. Or the one moment when Marie Laveau exchanges eyes with her boa constrictor. I read this and thought this book is freak galore (in a good way). What goes on in Roland’s mind?

• Father Renfield’s past that leaves me feeling he is the most badly dealt by fate. He is a man of the cloth yes _ but at what cost? Which is a real contradiction because priesthood is a calling and that should be a blessing?
• I have a number of favorite quotes that will stay with me forever. 

This is one of them, not necessarily the most outstanding but very appealing to me: 

“Her female intuition told her that you became a worse husband in direct proportion to your becoming a better man. In the last years I must admit you have become something of a nauseating saint, a man with all the virtues I despise and none of the vices I admire.”

NOT SO HOT:

•  The gramma and spelling errors. A round of editing  would be very good for this book but mind you, this does not detract much from the great read that it is.

• I also would have liked more development around certain themes for example, like Rind and her species, she is central to who Sam has become but so is Elu and his mother and the question is how and why. I have the when as somewhere in the last 180 years.

• I thought Sam McCord indulges his own thoughts a tad bit much. 

OVERALL:

The idea of a bad hero is very exciting and quite fascinating to watch. The great conflict is between the natural pull of the dark side within our hero and his desire to believe in what he calls the great Mystery (God), who remains an elusive concept to a great extend. But as all of us are both good and evil, McCord can’t help but make sure that goodwill is done for those most vulnerable in society and this pits him against powerful government figures and the master of all, Day Star, who has illusions of being Lucifer himself. You can imagine what happens when you have a delusional all powerful.

 I can’t wait to see what happens in the next instalment (Croal Nights) which the author was kind enough to send my way.

If  you enjoy urban fantasy that is brimming o’er with dark vengeful supernaturals, then I think this book is a must read.

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Dreams of a Dark Warrior: Book Review

Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Blurb

From #1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole comes this gripping tale of a battle-maddenend warrior driven by revenge and the Valkyrie temptress who haunts his dreams.

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He vowed he’d come for her. . .

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Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlord Aidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and again into new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives—only an endless yearning.

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She awaits his return. . .

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When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier, she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive, intending retribution against all immortals, unaware that he belongs to their world.

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To sate a desire more powerful than death. . .

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Yet every reincarnation comes with a price, for Aidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself from Declan’s torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they once shared—even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love?

My Thoughts
This book gets a 4 star rating for entertainment value. I read it in 2.5 days and that for me is fast because not only am I not a fast reader like that but I have so much happing that reading is really a squeeze but one I opened this book I made sure I found the time. I love it when writers of this genre stretch their imagination to bring something different and thrilling to the table but still make it effortlessly believable, and this is what Kresley Cole does so well in Dreams of a dark warrior.
The story begins with a daughter of a god who is shut out of the “heavenly realm” Valhalla – oh I should mention that the moment you mention vikings in fiction, I am totally lost. I have loved stories about them since I was a little girl. Anyway, the girl, Reginleit a Valkyrie (aka maiden warrior)She falls for a mortal I Aiden, A North-man and also a Berserker – mortal with the spirit of a bear)or rather the mortal falls for her but as you can imagine, fate is against them from the beginning. It is a real adventure seeing all the different supernatural characters playing their part in this novel. You have every paranormal figure imagined featured here, from vampires to witches to demons. You name it, its there.

I don’t want to say much more or I’ll give it away. If you enjoy paranormal fantasy then this is a must read for you, note it for your 101 fantasy challenge.

What fantasy novel have you found gripping lately, why would you recommend it?

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