Modern Bard Challenge Stories

Hello Everyone!

You might remember that I mentioned starting a new blog just for short stories before, and I've been having a good time with it. Recently I got a couple friends together and decided to do challenge stories, and results of our first challenge are going to be posted on my other blog, Modern Bard, all this week. I really hope you'll all stop by and take a look and follow the blog if you haven't already done so.

On the same topic, I'm also looking for other writers who are interested in taking part in writing challenges. The next one I'll be sending out in June, so let me know if you would like to join in! You can find out more about that here.

Hope everyone is ready for summer. I hate it, but it's a good excuse to stay inside and get reading and writing done which is definitely what I plan on doing.

Hope to see you all at Modern Bard this week!

Slainte, Hazel

A CASE OF POISONS RELEASE PARTY!!!!!

Finally it's the release day for A Case of Poisons! I've been really excited about sharing this book with everyone, and I hope you will all be able to get a copy and enjoy the book as well =) Today I've got lots of fun things planned for you to celebrate the release, including behind the scenes about the writing process of A Case of Poisons and a special character interview with Tobias and Scamp.

My friend and fellow-writer, Mara, is also helping me celebrate the release by posting an excerpt from the book on her blog, so check that out here: http://667bakerstreet.blogspot.com/2013/06/book-feature-case-of-poisons.html

But first, let's do the "door prizes"

***GIVEAWAY DETAILS!***

To celebrate the release, I'm doing a couple giveaways. There's still the one from Goodreads for two signed paperback copies, but just for the release, I'm also giving away an e-book copy, and a poster with the lovely cover art on it to two lucky winners. This is what you have to do to win:

Leave me a comment, and put your email address in it. If you don't want to display your email to everyone, email it to me here: sirwilliamssquire@gmail.com But please give me your email address, otherwise I won't be able to contact you to tell you you won!

The giveaway will run for a week, and anyone who comments on this post and leaves their email in that time, will be added to the drawing. Next Monday, I'll be announcing the winners here on my blog, and then I'll also be emailing the winners. The e-book winner will receive thier e-book in any form they want from Smashwords, and the winner of the poster, will need to supply their mailing address to me through email so I can send it to you =) Very easy, and very fun.

Book, poster and bookmarks, all awesome giveaway prizes!

Purchase Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Case-Poisons-Anthony-Maxwell-Mystery/dp/1482701464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370140412&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Case+of+Poisons+hazel+west (Note: the Amazon paperback is not yet available, but it will be within a couple days!)

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Case-Poisons-Anthony-Maxwell-ebook/dp/B00D50GS8U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370236497&sr=1-1&keywords=a+case+of+poisons

Createspace (paperback): https://www.createspace.com/4196823

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/321076

*Don't Forget!!*

There's still time to donate to help me promote "A Case of Poisons" so I can afford a book tour and advertisement to make the release even more awesome =) If you like what you see here, please go to my Indiegogo campaign page and consider parting with a bit of spangle to help me and Anthony.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/new-action-packed-steampunk-mystery-series/x/3259500

Remember! It's not just benefiting me, if you donate, you will get something in return, weather it be e-book, signed paperback, or other fun stuff. There's also a chance to name a character in the next book, so do check it out!

Now for even more fun stuff:

Behind the Scenes of writing A Case of Poisons

The Story

Usually after I publish a book, I write a “reasons for writing this” post, but since I didn’t have any real reasons for writing A Case of Poisons like I did for On a Foreign Field or By Blood or By Bond—it was more of just a fun book all the way round—I’m going to give you a little “Behind the Scenes” instead.

If I were pressed at all to give a reason for starting the Anthony Maxwell series, it would be because I have always wanted to write a mystery novel. I’ve always loved mysteries, and last summer, about this time, actually, I came up with the idea for a mystery novel where the villain uses strange, fabricated poisons to kill people. That was all I had, (there was also something to do with a mysterious moor at night, but you’ll have to wait for Book Five to see that) and Anthony didn’t really come along until later. Eventually I did find a name for him, but it was one night at about 4 in the morning when he finally came to me and said “We are writing the beginning of my story now” and as the dutiful writer, I went along with it and wrote about half of the first chapter in my note book:

Official first page of Anthony ever!

And that was all I had for a while. The first chapter. I spent all summer mulling over the villain’s exact motives while I wrote By Blood or By Bond and its backstories, wondering even what decade I wanted A Case of Poisons to be set in. I actually originally had thoughts on the villain being involved in the Crimean War, but that was putting everything a little earlier than I really wanted it. I wanted Anthony in the London of Sherlock Holmes. I love steampunk set in that time period, and couldn’t resist making this book a steampunk. I didn’t do it because it’s “the thing” now (besides, I was a steampunk fan before it really became “the thing” in the last few years or so) I did it because I love steampunk. And there’s the possibility of airships, which *spoiler*, you will see in Book Four. I could go into the story of how this would not be the first time I’ve written steampunk, or about airships, but I think I’m going to have to wait for that story until the release of Book Four as it will make a lot more sense to everyone then.

Despite that, I also wanted to have the option of playing around with pre WWI plots and such later in the series. Because... I just might take advantage of that.

So pretty much, that was how the story was conceived. It took a lot of sweat, coffee, (and more coffee) to get it the way it is now, but that was how, as is hopefully obvious, it all began (to quote Anthony)

The official case all mapped out

The Characters

Sir Anthony Maxwell

Writing a Victorian mystery novel, I pretty much figured that people would compare it to Sherlock Holmes. I would, if I was picking it up for the first time. So initially I was a bit worried that Anthony would come across too much like Holmes, since I am a diehard Sherlockian and I already felt I was being influenced by Doyle. I don’t really know why, because, truthfully, Anthony had that all covered himself, and he certainly isn’t like Holmes. There might be a few similarities that Sherlockians will spot, but I assure you, they were not done intentionally, (and if they were, you’ll likely know) and there’s only so far you can go into writing a Victorian mystery novel set in London without emulating Doyle a bit.

But no, I would not say Anthony is much like Holmes at all. Nor would I say that Tobias and Scamp are anything like a Watson. Truthfully, the Anthony series is like if you took Holmes and crossed it with Prisoner of Zenda or other swashbucklers of the same era. In fact, there are actually some similarities to Prisoner of Zenda. I did somewhat base Tobias off of a supporting character from it. It’s definitely both mystery and adventure series, and I felt I needed somewhat of an action hero to lead it. 

Anthony came to me as himself, and he, thankfully, ended up being just who I had in mind to play lead role. Tobias and Scamp came soon after, and I really didn’t have any trouble pinning their personalities down either. Why the trio instead of the traditional hero detective/sidekick? Well, pretty much for that reason. I have always loved trios, and I really like having the guy-guy-girl trio, particularly if they all act like brothers and sister, which is definitely the relationship Anthony, Tobias and Scamp share. Scamp is the kind of girl who can be “one of the guys” and Tobias and Anthony know that, thus, they don’t worry about her any more than they worry about each other. Scamp, in turn, never tries to be better than them because she’s not one of those kick-butt-and-take-names heroines who I never care for. They all watch each other’s backs and hold no genderal biases between each other. This is the kind of relationship I love to read about, but, frankly, never really get to because in everyone else’s books, it always ends in a love triangle. Well, sorry to disappoint love triangle fanatics, but there will be absolutely no romantic interest between my trio. I’m not saying there won’t be outside romantic interests later *hint hint*, but certainly not between these three.

Now for a little bit about the other characters you meet in the series. I’ll start off with Archie and his urchins. I adore urchins, and I really don’t think anyone should write a Victorian story without including urchins. Archie wasn’t based off anyone in particular, but I love him. He’s smart, and proud, but he will do anything to protect the younger children he keeps under his wing. I loved writing his somewhat father-son relationship with Anthony, because Archie is so stubborn, he doesn’t like to accept help from anyone, but Anthony takes care of him anyway. He’s definitely one of my favorite characters in the series.

And then there’s Inspector Garrett. No, he’s not really like Lestrade, in fact, I kind of shamelessly based him off of Inspector Japp from Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Anthony likes to pretend he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but Garrett is actually a lot smarter than he gives him credit for, and Garrett is always there when he needs him, acting as brute force if nothing else. The second book is going to be really fun because you get to see the two match wits as a wager to see who can solve the case first!

And that was just a little sneak peak into the characters you have to look forward to by reading A Case of Poisons. I wish I could talk about the villain, but that would be telling too much ;-)

The Steampunk

As I said, I wanted this to be a steampunk. A Case of Poisons does not feature as many steampunk inventions as the series will in later books, but I did take liberties with the technology of the time to create a steampunk feel to the story.

First off, we have the contraptions, which are motorcars that are used more widely than horse drawn cabs in my book. I based them off of actual Victorian cars, and crossed them between the sportier-looking ones from the 20s and 30s. Some are steam powered and others are electric (go green, right?) There were actually both in the Victorian era. The Electrobat was the first electric car. I would post a picture of my contraptions, but I tried to draw one and it just didn't turn out, so unfortunately, you'll just have to use your imagination. 

The weapons were really fun to come up with. I love designing weapons, and some of the ones you will see in A Case of Poisons and likely in future Anthony Maxwell books as well, are as follows:

The Eagle’s Claw: This is a small curved blade that is folded into a mechanism that can attach to the palm of one’s hand. When the release button is pressed, the blade pops out. It’s used mostly in street fighting and such other dirty work as that.

Eagle's Claw blueprint 

The Broadsman’s Barker: Typically a gambler’s weapon (broadsman is Victorian slang for ‘card sharp’) Tobias carries one of these. It’s a small, thin pistol that is attached to a mechanism that is worn on the wrist so that the pistol can be hidden up one’s sleeve. You can either have a Manuel release in which you shake the pistol from the mechanism into your hand, or an automatic one where you hide a release button in the palm of your glove (of course this is the kind Tobs has).

Suicide Pistol: This is my favorite. It’s a pistol that you can reverse the barrel of so that it is pointing behind you. Perfect for when you have an enemy with a gun to the back of your head!

And then of course Anthony has his boots with the secret sheathes for his shortsticks which, when he clicks the heels together the shortsticks pop up.

Shortsticks

But the technology isn’t the only thing that can be advanced in steampunk either. You can also go the scientific rout, which leads us to:

The Poisons

Okay, I’m not going to lie, this was my favorite part of researching this book. I’ve never been a fan of science, medicine (apart from historical cures), or microbiology, but I have always found toxicology a fascinating subject—no, don’t run away yet! It’s because poisons can be hidden, they’re subtle, and leave less trace of the murderer than a stab wound or gun shot. I’ve always enjoyed poisoning mysteries more because it left more to figure out. Without giving too much away about the story, the poisons I chose to use were, for one, all organic, taken from animals that were certainly not indigenous to Britain.

All the poisons I use in the book are portrayed accurately. I got them all from my new favorite writing reference book Book of Poisons which is an actual legitimate Writer’s Digest book. See, they know what we need. It classes everything so wonderfully it was very easy to find exactly what I needed.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go into a lot of the poisons as much as I wanted nor did I get to use all that I had on my little list (cue evil laughter) but there might be another book with poisons in it later (in fact, it’s most likely), so I hope to have more time with them then ;-)

The Things One Finds Out When Writing Mysteries

I always like to say that I learned about pretty much everything by reading Trixie Belden and Sherlock Holmes, certainly more than I did in school anyway. I never actually realized why this was before I started writing mysteries myself. (Okay, I actually realized why when I watched Castle and saw all the weird stuff he knew from researching) but I never really applied that until I set out to write my own. Think of all the random knowledge that has popped up in the Sherlock Holmes stories that has helped him solve a case: The lion’s mane jellyfish, the KKK, the Australian hunting cry, how to measure how tall a tree is from its shadow—to name only a few off the top of my head. I learned a ton reading those books, and that’s because there is no accounting for what you may have to research when going into writing a mystery. Without giving too much away, here are some of the random things I had to research for A Case of Poisons:

Poisons, of course, but I had to do deep research into symptoms of poisons, particularly that of the brown recluse spider as you will see why when you read the book.

Ancient British royalty.

Ancient Egyptian history and rebellion.

And a bunch of other numerous things I never foresaw when I started the book. I can’t wait to see what the next one brings.

Some Fun Facts (mostly) Relating to A Case of Poisons

This you probably already know, but I’ll say it again: A Case of Poisons is my first official mystery novel. I never even wrote an old mystery novel in my years of young writerhood (I refuse to acknowledge certain stories from when I was 11 that really were not mysteries at all even if I termed them that at the time)

A Case of Poisons is my first published novel in the First Person, and actually only my second written novel in first person perspective, but now you will be seeing a lot more of it as it’s quite addicting.

Writing First Person is addicting.

Though I had the idea for the villain first, he took me forever to figure out while Anthony just came strolling along.

I really had no character building to do on Anthony at all. Once he decided to talk to me, he came as a whole package.

The ‘side-kick’ villain in this story (you’ll have to read it to find out more about this subject) was actually the original conceived villain for the piece in its very very early days.

I came up with the term ‘shortsticks’ and the fighting style to use them when I stole my brother’s friction rod after he had finished the science experiment it belonged to.

I could not sit down to write or read this story without a cup of coffee. I’m drinking one as I write this.

My music inspiration for writing this was the soundtracks for the new Sherlock Holmes movies. They were really perfect.

Anthony Maxwell has seven planned novels, and probably will have more.

The actor I would choose to play Anthony would be Jonas Armstrong (Robin from BBC’s Robin Hood)—Random Robin Hood Fun Fact: I actually liked Guy better

Also, not only a fun fact, but a reason to buy the book: there is a sneak peak of the first chapter of Book Two in the back of the book. Both the Paperback and the E-book, so you e-book readers should thank me ;-P
~~~

And now I'd like to introduce Tobias and Scamp who have agreed to do an interview for your benefit today!

Interview with Tobias and Scamp

Hazel: For readers who don’t know you, why don’t you two introduce yourselves?

Tobias: I’m Tobias Farley, ex-broadsman thanks to an incident that I will talk about later. I’m also a champion charmer, but unfortunately my prowess is not used in this story nearly enough, Hazel.

Scamp: I’m Scamp—you’ll have to read the book to find out my real name—I was a street lass for most of my life until I met Anthony. I also have a Gypsy heritage through my Grandmother. And, as you probably know, we are Anthony’s partners.

Hazel: What’s it like working with a private detective?

Tobias: Sometimes exciting, sometimes tedious, all the time unexpected, and on rare occasions terribly dangerous as “The Case of Poisons” will tell you.

Tobias and Scamp in for their interview

Scamp: I find it always invigorating, though sometimes Anthony will leave us in the dark and that is quite annoying. It’s not that he means to, it’s just that when he starts really thinking and is at the end of the case, he just dashes off without a care in the world but to solve it. He always makes sure to clear things up once the villain is apprehended, though.

Hazel: What was the first case you all worked together?

Tobias: I believe Scamp worked a case or two with Anthony before I came along, but the first case we all worked as partners, well, it wasn’t exactly the greatest achievement of our career. In the early days, Scamp and I didn’t really get along…

Scamp: I had never had any brothers, but I instantly knew that Tobias was exactly like the annoying brother I had never been graced with. We never agreed on anything back then. In fact, this case actually changed that.

Hazel: How was that?

Tobias: During a part of the case—it was a string of jewelry thefts where the thief would send small children down the chimneys of houses to unlock the doors for the others to get in—we were waiting up on the rooftop of a rich house that Anthony suspected would be the next target. It was in the middle of the night, raining, and we were all freezing.

Scamp: Unfortunately, Anthony had miscalculated, and the house that was actually getting robbed that night was the next one over. So we were sitting there freezing, trying to hide behind the chimney of the house when we realized we weren’t even in the right place. That was when Tobias got the brilliant idea to jump over to the other roof to apprehend the thieves.

Tobias: Admittedly not one of my greater moments. As everyone can probably guess, I didn’t really make it, and I was hanging from the eves two storeys above the ground, with wet, freezing hands that were slipping more and more by the second. Anthony and Scamp quickly made the decision that they would split up: he to chase after the thieves who had taken flight as soon as I had jumped over, and Scamp to help me.

Scamp: He was not happy about that at all, especially when I was able to jump to the other roof without a problem—I had been doing it all my life, after all, with much shorter legs than I have now. I hauled him back up just as he was slipping and ever since, he was eternally grateful to me for it, though he forgets sometimes.

Tobias: So that’s the story, and we did apprehend the thieves in the end, so I suppose it all worked out for the best.

Hazel: Tell everyone how you met Anthony.

Tobias: I met Anthony when I was being attacked by four bruisers from a local gambling house where I used to sharp cards. It can probably be assumed that I don’t do that anymore. He saved me lots of broken bones that day, and once I had found out what he did, I decided that I might as well join him.

Scamp: I met Anthony when I tried to pick his pocket. Then he had the gall to invite me to dinner. I thought he was just another no-good cad that London had far too many of, and I was all set to teach him a lesson his grandchildren wouldn’t forget, but he turned out to be a very kind—if somewhat naïve—fellow, and I decided I liked him enough to stick around. It was a favour, really. He needed someone to look after him if he was going to make a habit of inviting ladies to tea. Others might not hesitate.

Hazel: What do you think is the success of your partnership?

Tobias: Ultimately, our friendship and undying loyalty to each other. I know it sounds fantastic, but we would all gladly take a bullet for one another. I think it all partly comes down to the fact that none of us ever really had a family. Anthony mostly just had his Aunt, never any siblings. I left to “seek my fortune” when I was thirteen and was just a rash chap without any meaning to my life and too few real friends, and Scamp’s family died when she was very young, leaving her to live on the streets to fend for herself. We are a motley crew who doesn’t really fit in any one place, and I think that’s what attracted us to each other. Because we never fit in with anyone else, we fit in with each other and became a family of our own. The three of us are brothers and sister in everything but blood. We even have extended family; Archie is kind of an adopted son to Anthony, Inspector Garrett and Doctor Reynolds are sort of like cousins, and of course Mrs Hutchings looks after us all. I love this family more than any I was born into.

Scamp: I second Tobias heartily on everything. Apart from our tight friendship, there’s also the fact that we all bring a different skill to the table when we work. There is no squabbling over rolls when we are solving a case, we all know our parts instantly and we all count on the other to get his part done. We’ve had great success in that apart from a couple of our first cases.

Hazel: Before you leave, why don’t you tell readers a little about why they should invest in the Anthony Maxwell series?

Tobias: Hazel, you are shameless, making your characters promote your books for you! But as for why readers would enjoy the books, well, there’s me, of course. I’m dashing, blond, and single, I might add.

Scamp: Not necessarily what Hazel meant, I think, Tobias. Apart from my colleague’s own self-promotion, there are definitely some better reasons why you should all get into the series. For the first part, Anthony is a very engaging narrator. He might drink too much coffee, but he’s a good fellow. There are many misadventures in this book, and certainly more to look forward to in later books as well. There’s all the good stuff, chase scenes, fight scenes, even torture…

Hazel: But not true love (Sorry guys, The Princess Bride is way after your time)

Tobias: And this one has lots of poisons. And urchins, and also mummies *shudder*.

Scamp: And if that’s not reasons enough, well, let us know how we can try harder.

Hazel: Thanks so much for giving us time out of your busy schedule to interview you two!

Tobias: My pleasure! Though I’m quite looking forward to the vacation you promised before you start writing the next one.

Scamp: Likewise. But it was a pleasure to be invited to speak on your blog! Until the next book, then!

~~~

If you missed the character interview with Anthony Maxwell on Mara's blog, check it out here now!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to be part of the release! Don't forget to leave your email in the comments below to enter the giveaway! =D

COVER REVEAL!!! Anthony Maxwell Book One: A Case of Poisons

Well, it's finally here! The cover reveal for "A Case of Poisons" and without further ado, here it is!

A huge shout out to Jessica Gilliland, a fellow indie author, for doing the lovely cover art! Go check out her website and books! You can also find her on Goodreads

So I was hoping to announce the beginning of my Kicktarter campaign at the same time as the cover reveal, but stupid Amazon account is taking FOREVER to verify, so I still don't have the Kickstarter set up, which means my book tour is just going to get bumped back even more. The release date is still June 3rd though! And there's other things to look forward too this month!

First of all, Mara at 667B Baker Street is going to be interviewing Anthony on her blog

And then on the 28th, A Case of Poisons is going to be featured on Aside from Writing for Indie Author Month.

And then of course today's giveaway! Anyone who comments from now until saturday at 12 AM will receive a signed bookmark if they so wish. Just leave me your email address, so I can then email you for your mailing address and I will send off a bookmark to you. (US only this time, I'm afraid, but for the Kickstarter, I'm shipping international, so you will still have the chance to get one, you'll just have to pledge money first!)

Here's a picture of the bookmarks:

Of course I will keep up with the Tuesday Snippets as well, and don't forget to follow Anthony Maxwell on Facebook which you can do by clicking his picture on the left of the blog, so that you can get updates on all the stuff that is going on with the Anthony Maxwell series. I'm very excited about the release of the first book. I hope you will all enjoy it!

I'm also going to get up a giveaway for the actual novel soon too, and I'll let you know when I get that done. I'm hoping to have several fun things going this month in preparation for the release date. Just got my proof copy Wednesday and it looks awesome! A little more editing, and everything will be a go.

If you haven't already, don't forget to add A Case of Poisons to your Goodreads shelf!

Come back on Tuesday for the next snippet!

Slainte, Hazel

Books of Note-- October Reads

Some of the best books I read this month! And there were so many, it's hard to choose which were my favorites! Oh yes, and I've also added a section where I say what I think about the book cover in my reviewing format.

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Review

Thoughts on the Overall Book: I'll admit that originally, I was a bit wary of how this book was going to be. I LOVED "Scorpio Races" and I was afraid from the description of this book that Maggie Stiefvater would revert back to some of her older stories like Lament and Ballad which I was not a fan of. But I really really ended up enjoying this book more and more as it went along. There were just so many plot twists and unexpected things that I couldn't stop reading because I just had to know how it ended. There are very few books that can leave me guessing throughout and with this one, I really had no clue where each page would lead me. I think it was another really amazing unique, never-before-seen kind of book like "Scorpio Races" was.

Cover--Yae or Nay: I honestly thought the cover was a bit odd, and if I hadn't been anticipating this book, it's not the kind of thing I would normally pick up, but once you read the book, you understand the picture. I do like the oil paint look to how the raven is done, and the cover is pearly which is kind of cool. I'm really not a fan of white though. I don't know why, I like off white, but bright white just looks too sterile to me or something. So while I didn't dislike it, it's not my favorite either. I Liked the cover for "Scorpio Races" better.

Characters: I'll talk about Blue first because I don't have as much to say about her. While I wasn't a huge fan of her name (I'm with Gansey, let's call her Jane) her character was really great. It's funny because I thought she was going to be the main character, but she turned out to almost be more of a supporting character while Gansey took lead role. Perhaps this was why she didn't have The Attitude like some girls (and girls from some of Maggie's other books) have had. She was smart, she was likable, and I liked how she was friends with the guys while not being all "I'm better than you all because I'm a girl" or "I'm just going to play all these guys 'cause they're hot". In fact, there wasn't that much romance at all which I was very happy about but I'll get to that more later.

As for the guys, I am a huge fan of quirky groups, and these four are definitely quirky. Gansey was a great hero type guy. I loved how he was an eccentric scholar type person (I can relate) I also really LOVED how he took care of his friends. The brotherly relationship between the four here was epic for a modern YA book. You don't usually see that, and there were some parts that I won't mention because of spoilers that just made me happy. I also like how, though he's so confident, he's still kind of awkward socially like a typical scholar. Adam was probably my favorite character in the book though. He was just sweet and troubled and I love those kinds of characters. And I also liked how he was too proud to accept charity, because that's always a hard thing to do. Ronan isn't normally who I would class as a likable character, but I do see where he came from, and you can't blame him either because of his past. Grief can ruin a person and I do like to see tortured characters in books because I think a lot of times characters get washed out and too 'un-real' almost. And Ronan had his moments where I had to cheer for him too. Noah, I liked for reasons I can't say because of spoilers, but I thought he was a pretty cool character ;-)

Writing Style: I have always liked Maggie's writing style, even for some of her books I didn't like as much. This book was really awesome, and I think the only one of hers that has not been in first person. But it's one that I don't think could be in first person either because you hop characters too much. I really loved how she added Welsh folk lore into it. This book was weird, but it was a good weird. I love stories about ghosts and faeries and ghost hunting (or whatever you would really term this) and I love it even more if it's mixed with history and folk lore. And of course it has to be British history, because it wouldn't be right otherwise. I also loved, as I mentioned before, the fact that there was no unnecessary romance involved. There was a little bit of crushing as a side plot, but since Blue is actually a sensible heroine, she didn't let that get in the way. This book could have turned into another Twilight but it didn't, thankfully. This book almost felt like an Indiana Jones adventure looking for the sleeping Welsh king, Owain Glendower, and it was more adventure than anything else even though it was definitely a character driven story.

Problems/What bothered me: For story I didn't really have any problems. The ending surprised me, a lot actually since it was way far away from what I was expecting, but I didn't have any problems with it. The only thing I could mark was that there was more strong language than I think should be in a YA book, but then some YA books are just like that and if I like a story and characters enough I can bleep out the language in my head. (Oh, and on a technical side- I found several typos of a type I know all too well: where you start to write one thing but then change it to another and you forget to delete the first part?)

Conclusion: 5 stars. I throughly enjoyed it. I don't usually rates books with this much language over four stars, but I had to factor in the total uniqueness of this as well, so I made an exception in this case. Perhaps still not quite as good as "Scorpio Races" but a huge surprise to me. I really can't wait to see what she does with the sequel. As long as Maggie keeps doing whatever she has been doing for the last couple books, I think we're good.

Recommended Audience: Older teens because of language mostly but there are other themes that might bother people like abuse, a little darkness and maybe a little creepiness if you creep out easily. I'm probably not a good judge of that because I don't. I'm a "that was weird" kind of person. I can't really compare this book to any others, but if you like modern/historical fantasy (see I can't even class it) or are a Maggie Stiefvater fan, I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

(Also read my friend Mara's review here: http://667bakerstreet.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-raven-boys-review-maggie-stiefvater.html )

Seventeen-year-old Althea is the sole support of her entire family, and she must marry well. But there are few wealthy suitors--or suitors of any kind--in their small Yorkshire town of Lesser Hoo. Then, the young and attractive (and very rich) Lord Boring arrives, and Althea sets her plans in motion. There's only one problem; his friend and business manager Mr. Fredericks keeps getting in the way. And, as it turns out, Fredericks has his own set of plans . . . This witty take on the classic Regency--Patrice Kindl's first novel in a decade--is like literary champagne!




Review

Thoughts on the Overall Book: Okay, I really just simply enjoyed this book! When I read a "girly" book this is the kind I like. A quirky heroine, lots of good humor, and a lovely supporting cast, both with people you love and those who can be quite tiresome but are fun to read about anyway.

Cover-- Yae or Nay: Yes, I like the cover, it looks kind of whimsical and I love the font of the title as well. Though if I had seen this without knowing what the story was about, I might have thought it was a medieval story, just because I don't normally expect castles to feature in Empire novels, but once you read the description, you're obviously told differently.

Characters: Althea, is a wonderful protagonist, and well casted for the first person. I love her slightly sarcastic English humor and her descriptions of things and the other characters. Her step sisters are quite droll ladies, one with the infatuation for quotes about death and the other always flirting and trying to steal every man before he can even get to know Althea. I also love how Althea is always saying what she means even if she doesn't mean it. (Well, of course we know she does, even though she shouldn't have spoken in the first place). Lord Boring wasn't too bad. He's just kind of mediocre, and I actually felt rather sorry for him being stuck under the thumb of his mother all the time. My favorite character though, was Mr. Fredericks. I adore characters like him and he was hilarious with his sardonic attitude.

Writing Style: Very Austinian in style and a light and easy read. Definitely the kind of thing one can enjoy after a long day.

Problems/What bothered me: I had no problems with this book, it was just a simple story and very enjoyable.

Conclusion: 5 stars. I loved this story, and I really hope the author writes some more about this time period because she has a good knack for it.

Recommended Audience: Any age would enjoy this book. There's nothing content wise and appropriate for any age, though it's definitely a girl read.

(You can also read Mara's review here: http://667bakerstreet.blogspot.com/2012/09/keeping-castle-review-patrice-kindl.html )

When Peter's parents are killed, he is sent to an orphanage in Warsaw, Poland. But Peter is Volksdeutscher-of German blood. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he looks just like the boy on the Hitler Youth poster. The Nazis decide he is racially valuable. Indeed, a prominent German family is pleased to adopt such a fine Aryan specimen into their household. But despite his new "family," Peter feels like a foreigner-an ausländer-and he is forming his own ideas about what he sees and what he's told. He doesn't want to be a Nazi. So he takes a risk-the most dangerous one he could possibly choose in 1942 Berlin...




Review

Thoughts on the Overall Book: This was a very well-written historical fiction story, well researched and exciting. While it might have had some slow parts, I liked the fact that it seemed like a real story, more than actual fiction. The author did a wonderful job portraying what life was like back in the Nazi occupation and this book even went to extremes that I hadn't really heard about before, but, as explained in the author's note, were completely accurate. For me this book was actually very eye-opening as to how truly fanatic Nazi supporters were.

Cover--Yae or Nay: I do like the cover for this book, that and the title is what made me pull it off the shelf. Though it makes it look more like an action thriller which it really wasn't. Only the last part of the book really had that kind of feeling to it whereas the rest of it, while not boring, didn't really have a lot of action in it. But it definitely looks like a WWII novel.

Characters: Peter's a good protagonist, as well as Anna. At some points you wanted to smack them over the head for their stupidity, but that was another thing that led to this book being like a real story. They were real, flawed characters. I loved the idea of a character (Peter) who was a privileged Aryan even though he was Polish instead of fully German, being idolized by the Nazis because of his 'perfect' complexion. I also liked how, at first, Peter seems flattered though a little overwhelmed by his position, but then when he sees what the Nazis are really capable of, he decides he doesn't want to be part of that anymore. I also really loved how the plot went into the underground as well, helping the Jews to escape occupied Germany.

Writing Style: I haven't read any of Paul Dowswell's books yet besides this one, but I know I'll like them now because his writing style truly is very very good. You can definitely tell all the research that went into this story down to every little detail. In fact it's so detailed that the reader automatically knows he is not making anything up. He is a truly amazing Historical writer.

Problems/What bothered me: Nothing truly bothered me. I think "Auslander" is a good look into life in Nazi Germany. I can't complain about the book because it was presented in a historical way.

Conclusion: 4 stars. This was a really good book, and I'm only rating it four because it's not one of my favorite books I have read, though I'm not marking it down for anything but personal preference. If I was going on historical accuracy alone, I would give it five stars.

Recommended Audience: Probably older teens and adults. It's not as brutal as it could have been, but, as can be expected, there are themes that young readers might find disturbing (it goes into torture/execution methods, medical experimentation and the horrors of the camps--though that's only mentioned somewhat in passing. It also talks about what they would do to the mentally ill people, which is rather hard to swallow.) Any fans of good historical fiction would enjoy this book though.
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On another note, I apologize that I have not been updating my blog very much lately, I'm neck deep in writing "By Blood or By Bond" and I have also entered Anthony Maxwell's book (Now entitled "A Case of Poisons" ) Into NaNoWriMo this year! I'm totally excited because this is my first year of doing it, and I am deturmined to write the full 50,000 words of Anthony's story during the month. Anthony will be very pleased too. If you want to follow the updates, keep checking his Facebook account. Or if you too, are entering NaNo you can look me up as "theartfulscribbler" 

And in case you didn't know (because I can't remember if I put this up yet or not) I also started a Twitter account where you can check all my quick updates or shared links on a daily basis @artfulscribber

Last announcement: I have posted my excerpt for "By Blood or By Bond" on Createspace too now! And I would really appriciate some feedback if you would like to read it and answer the questions there. I would be much obliged. https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1112073

I'd also like to let you know (I lied about the last announcement) that I am still planning on getting both "Freedom Come All Ye" and "Ballad of the Highwayman" formatted for e-books before Christmas this year. I will keep you updated on all that as well.

I'll hopefully be posting another article of some kind soon.

Slainte, Hazel