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Review of Tears of War


Tears of War by A.D. Trosper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Galdrilene’s Dragonriders are back and so are the Shadow Riders. The conflict heats up in this second book of the Dragon’s Call series by A.D. Trosper. The scope of the story blossoms from just the first eight riders to a brewing world war, as the riders must go to back to their homes to convince the nations that not all dragons are black and magic does not cause insanity. Game of Thrones in its scope, Tears of War shows us more about the world the riders must deal with and the kind of enemies they have. I cringe at the power of the Shadow Riders and found myself seriously worried for a few of my favorite characters. With a name like Tears of War, you know bad things are going to happen and if your eyes are dry at the end, you must have skipped a few chapters. A great read, and I eagerly look forward to the next one in the series.

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Tales of the Archer: A New Release is on the Horizon!

My next book is just about to be released into the wild! And I couldn’t be more excited.  You can preorder it here.

I used to think I only had one story to tell and that was Dreamwalker. But then I joined a wonderful group of flash fiction writers a few years back and discovered that perhaps I had a lot more plot bunnies in the warren of my mind than I’d originally given myself credit for.

I published Son of Anubis first, a novella that was written as a challenge between friends.  And then I screwed my courage to the sticking point and published Quest of the Dreamwalker.

Now I’m working on the sequel to Dreamwalker, a hefty book called Chasing the Legend. But it seems I’m a girl who likes challenges. Continue reading “Tales of the Archer: A New Release is on the Horizon!”

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It All Started With A Dying Earth…

Although most of what you, my readers, see from me is fantasy, I had an equal love for science fiction growing up. I literally cut my teeth on the original Star Trek. Asimov’s Foundation series was canon in my family (though I myself never actually finished it).  I read The Hobbit at 9 or 10 years old and then I moved on to The Forgotten Planet. I can still remember the precise glow of the lamp on my bureau as I read past bedtime most nights. I can’t recall how many science fiction anthologies I’ve read, and Omni Magazine was my first mail order subscription. Some of those short stories remain in my head to this day, snippets of interesting questions and faraway places. And though I can remember neither their authors nor their titles, their content and poignant juxtapositions have stayed. I tried to find some of them once but they are lost to the mists of time at this point.  

When I really look back, my favorite authors over the years wrote works that spanned the science fiction and fantasy genres: C.J. Cherryh, Ursula K. LeGuin, Anne McCaffrey. And it seems I will be following in their footsteps. Today, I published my first short story, a science fiction story. A story about the endings of worlds and new beginnings. I call it “Mi Carino” and it’s darker than my usual fare, so be warned.

You can get it from Amazon here, but it’s also available on other sites like KOBO, Nook and iTunes.

I hope you like it.  I hope to be writing more soon. It seems what I thought was a “one-story hobby” has evolved. It has mutated. It has grown, and now I can’t wait to discover what new worlds await me in my stories and I hope you will join me.

 

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Review: Unveiled by A.D. Trosper

Unveiled by A.D. Trosper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A.D. Trosper “unveils” another engrossing and delightful story. (See what I did there.)

I have enjoyed other books by this author and I am always struck by the ease with which Ms. Trosper creates her worlds. Her language is unadorned and straightforward. The prose itself quickly slips into the background as the setting she creates fills your imagination. The world-within-worlds reality of Unveiled is truly fascinating and I can’t wait to see what further lands are explored in the sequel(s) to this book.

Moreover, Trosper manages to put us smack dab inside the heroine’s head and never lets it slip. Jo, short for Josephine, is an ordinary if extremely stubborn young woman who has never suspected anything supernatural about her life. But when her mother dies, she discovers just how wrong she was. From her unusual parentage to her decision to join the ranks of Reapers (guides who help souls to the appropriate afterlife), she has to embrace a new worldview which she does with a only a smidge of kicking and a good dollop of sarcastic snark. She is tough and vulnerable at the same time; you can’t help but love her. As for her counterpart and reluctant partner-in-crime Caius, he has a Darcy-like haughtiness that just begs for a comeuppance. The two mains play well off each other, with a great deal of enjoyable spark. I bet their relationship will bear further watching.

Trosper’s mix of angels, demons, and older gods is fun and fresh. If you love paranormal romances with a strong sense of snark and humanity, Unveiled should definitely be on your TBR list.

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Release Day and Falling in Love

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Well, folks, Quest of the Dreamwalker is officially out today, and I’m so excited. Like kid-on-Christmas excited. It feels surreal to think that I can call myself an author. I know my novella, Son of Anubis, came out in January, but this one has more emotion attached to it. It’s bigger. More official. And as my publisher quipped, I now have a book “list.”

But in a way, I feel as if I just sent another kid off to college. Honestly. Cara’s story has been hanging around in my desk drawer for decades. I often used to read it, tweaking the language or the dialogue, adding descriptions and re-routing the plot by just a hair. I loved playing with that story. It was like my hobby.

No, it was more than that. It was my touchstone, reminding me that I am more than my daily existence. That my quiet uneventful life does not define the real me. That I have something greater to strive for.

And now…

Now, it is done. Truly and finally “fini.” No more playing with it. No more smoothing of edges. No more honing of arcs.

Happy as I am, I already know I will miss it.

But only for a while. Because life goes on, right? What feels new and odd now, soon becomes normal again. And we adjust.

So tonight I will drink a toast to Cara, Khoury, Falin and Archer, whisper a “Look, Mom, no hands” to the air, and pack away the hundreds of pages of marked up words that are now obsolete.

And then I will take out one of the handful of other manuscripts that need my attention and I will fall in love all over again.

Because isn’t that really why we’re here? To fall in love as often as humanly possible in any way we can.

And that’s how I want to live. Falling in love, every damn day.

 

-Stacy B.

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Look for Quest of the Dreamwalker, ebook or softcover, on Amazon.

For a free sneak peak of the first two chapters, check out my BHC Author page here.

 

 

 

 

 

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Teaser Tuesday – excerpt #3 from Quest of the Dreamwalker

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It’s Tuesday!   Time for an excerpt from Quest of the Dreamwalker.

Foresthaven is a dangerous place, especially for those who don’t belong there.

 

 

In the last few years, he’d found a sense of stability as Khoury’s second. But, Khoury was changing. Archer paused, wrapping his large hand around a sapling as he brooded. He could say the Keep had changed Khoury, but it had started before that. Why else would they be in that dingy inn alone instead of with the Swords? Then again, Archer thought, maybe it’s just the threat of Sidonius.

His blood boiled with a vengeful longing to meet Sidonius head on with a blade. But Khoury was in a cautious mood. Archer knew he wouldn’t move on the sorcerer until they had more information. They needed to get to Iolair and talk with Wallace’s sorcerer. But at this rate Archer feared they’d never get there.

He shook the sapling with angry futility, staring at the way his hand wrapped around it. Then he had an idea. What Bradan and Cara needed was help with fatigue. He looked around, this time actually seeing his surroundings, and found himself standing in a grove of a dozen slender saplings, all of them the perfect size for walking sticks. Selecting his first target, straight and slender enough for Cara’s tiny hand, the Northerner drew his sword. It was large even for a man his size and would make short work of the young plant. Winding up, he swung with all his pent up frustration and felt the metal edge bite into the woody flesh.

 A banshee shriek erupted in the glade, rising to a painful wail that lanced his ears. Looking for the source, he saw nothing. The pain of the noise hurried his next chop, sending a sliver of wood into the air. The tree was tougher than it looked.

The wailing reverberated through his bones and rattled his teeth. Resting his sword against his leg, he covered both ears with his hands and scanned the glade again but there was nothing. A headache throbbed behind his eyes and he bent over with the pain. That’s when he saw the blood-red sap oozing from the cut. Only then did he remember Falin’s warning. Continue reading “Teaser Tuesday – excerpt #3 from Quest of the Dreamwalker”

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Teaser Tuesday – excerpt #2 from Quest of the Dreamwalker

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Its Tuesday!   Time for another teaser from Quest of the Dreamwalker.

This epic fantasy is now available for preorder on Amazon.   Get your ebook today, only $3.99 until October 8th.

 

 

The sparse foam dissipated quickly from Captain Khoury’s ale as he struggled to remember the last time a death had truly touched him. Today he’d been furious with that bastard Ranceforth and his cowardly tactics, but he felt no grief for those who’d died on the battlefield. Years of service as a Sword had numbed him to such losses, yet he found his apathy unsettling. When had he become a stone-cold killer?

He drank the quiet ale, letting the cool liquid soothe his roughened throat. The lull of day’s end washed away his irritation until only the clenched muscles of his jaw hinted at his inner discontent. He leaned heavy elbows on the small table in the corner, watching his lieutenant sort coins with sure fingers.

An uncommon mercenary, Violet Meade was as good with money as she was with a blade. The coins slid and clinked on the polished wood surface without interruption even as she glanced at the wound on the side of his head. Continue reading “Teaser Tuesday – excerpt #2 from Quest of the Dreamwalker”

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Teaser Tuesday – an excerpt from Quest of the Dreamwalker

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My new book, Quest of the Dreamwalker is now available as an ebook preorder on Amazon.

So to give you a little taste of what’s between the pages, I wanted to share this excerpt.

 

 

When she opened her eyes, Father stood before her. Reith Carter’s death had restored the old man’s power. His face was fleshed out, his hands smooth, his height restored. And there was a dangerous gleam in his eye.

“What mischief have you done, girl?”

She shrank back in the chair, the book sliding from her lap as he leaned down with a cruel smile. She didn’t need her gift to tell her Father was not himself. Sometimes the ritual did this. He would become another man for a time, often a violent one. And at such times, she feared him with good reason.

“What have I done?” she protested, stalling for time as her heart pounded like the wings of a bird against the cage of her ribs.

“Do you deny consorting with prisoners?” Continue reading “Teaser Tuesday – an excerpt from Quest of the Dreamwalker”