Giveaways will be located at the at the end of the post.
Fast Updates:
Lost is available now online through these retailers and more:
Barnes&Noble – Amazon – Indiebound – Kodo – Waterstones
Before Amanda knew about the seven realms, she longed to know her mother. Now her inherited gift is the very thing she fears most, and even as she fights to keep her shadow magic at bay, she can feel it growing inside her…
In this sequel to Rise, a cryptic accusation sends Amanda on a search for the fragile link between herself and the haunting visions that afflict her. Unsure if the people she observes are the cause or the cure of all her troubles, she focuses on the two she feels the deepest connection with, the shy healer Emily and the brave Kiami, who can control humans with her song.
But there is a dark power determined to prevent them from understanding the truth, and as the teens get closer to unraveling the mystery, it becomes clear they will have to work together if they want to survive long enough to figure it out.
I have updated several website pages and have added a review page for Lost here: Reviews – Lost
I had the honor of being asked to participate in an author interview with Amy Miller. You can visit her awesome website here: MagicalWorldWeb to read the interview and learn about her publications. While you are taking a peek, be sure to check out the talented authors that she has interviewed in the past.
The book review directory posted an editorial review of Lost on 2/8/19. You can check out the website to read the full review here: Thebookreviewdirectory.com
readersfavorite.com will have “Rise” listed as an available prize for the monthly book giveaway. If your interested in winning some amazing books by great authors you can check out the monthly giveaway here: https://readersfavorite.com book giveaway
Upcoming Event Reminders:
Concealed Realms will have a booth at the Milwaukee Mighty Con on Saturday February 16th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Milwaukee Comic Con takes place at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Products Pavilion 640 S 84th St., West Allis, WI 53214. You can find out more by visiting this link:https://mightyconshows.com/show/milwaukee
I recently secured a spot at:
County Pop Culture Con, which takes place at the Lake County Fairgrounds Convention Center on May 25th from 3:00 to midnight! – Lake County Fairgrounds, 1060 E Peterson Rd, Grayslake, IL 60030 To learn more visit: County Pop Culture Con – Zurko Promotions
and also at the St. Louis Mighty con on Saturday, June 22nd – 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, June 23rd -10:00 to 5:00 p.m. Mighty Con St. Louis takes place at the St. Charles Convention Center, 1 Convention Center Plaza, Saint Charles, MO.
More Mighty con shows can be found here: mightyconshows.com
Monster Quotes:
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“The real world is where the monsters are.” – Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
“What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams.” -Werner Herzog
“We all have a Monster within; the difference is in degree, not in kind.” – Douglas Preston, The Monster of Florence
(“Yes, yes,” said the Beast, “my heart is good, but still I am a monster.”
Among mankind,” says Beauty, “there are many that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer you, just as you are, to those, who, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful heart.”) -Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
“A monster that refused, sometimes, to behave like a monster. When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?”- Kristen Cashore, Graceling
But perhaps the monsters needed to look out for each other every now and then.”-Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows
“She was a monster, but she was my monster.”-Jeanette Winterson, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
| “Mike Wazowski: You played dodgeball? I loved dodgeball! Of course, I was the ball.”-Monsters INC. Screenplay by- Andrew Stanton, Dan Gerson |
“Ludo: SMELL BAD!!!”- Labrinth 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson
“That truth is that monsters are real, and ghosts are real, too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win.”– Stephen King, Introduction to The Shining (Simon and Schuster edition, 2002)
Definition of a monster:
1: a legendary animal combining features of animal and human form or having the forms of various animals in combination, as a centaur, griffin, or sphinx.
2: any creature so ugly or monstrous as to frighten people.
3: any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.
4: anything unnatural or monstrous.
1: an animal of strange or terrifying shape
Monsters:
It’s no secret, Monster are everywhere and it’s not just kids that like them.
Although I read many genre’s, horror and fantasy books have always been my favorite. I grew up watching B horror movies for breakfast and reading Stephen King novels for lunch and dinner. I just couldn’t get enough of those fantastic frightening creatures.
What makes a monster, a monster?:
Wikipedia states that “the word ‘monster’ derives from Latin monstrum, an aberrant occurrence, usually biological, that was taken as a sign that something was wrong within the natural order.” So, by definition monsters are anything that is considered different or abnormal that could be perceived as frightening.
Monsters can be anything from chimerical beasts to people with no heads or exaggerated features. They can be man made like Frankenstein or folkloric in origin like Krampus. There are so many different types of monsters, it can be hard to keep track of them all.
Monsters have different classifications:
First, they are usually categorized as physical, metaphysical, or both and then sub categorized. Some of the sub types of monsters include, Alien, Historical, Human, Supernatural, Religious and/or mythological, Biological, and Natural.
Then the monsters are categorized yet again by why we fear them:
There can be a single factor or a combination of reasons for us to be frightened. Some of the more common attributes include, Malicious intent or willingness to do evil, Unknown motives, Instability, or Superior ability’s such as: Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Authority, Powers, Physical appearance, The unknown, and Distant presence.
A few examples of categorizing well known monsters:
Name = Dracula (Vampire)
Category = Physical
Sub Category = Supernatural
Fear = Superior ability’s – Speed, Authority, Powers, Physical appearance
Name = The Predator
Category = Physical
Sub Category = Biological, Alien
Fear = Malicious intent, Superior ability’s – Strength, Physical appearance
Name = Kraken (legendary sea monster)
Category = Physical
Sub Category = Mythological
Fear = Instability, Superior ability’s – Physical appearance, Strength
Some examples of categorizing monsters from Rise and Lost:
Name = Unicorn
Category = Physical
Sub Category = mythological
Fear = Physical appearance, the unknown
Name = Jacob
Category = Physical
Sub Category = Natural
Fear = Willingness to do evil, Superior ability – powers
Name = Fizzle
Category = physical
Sub Category = natural
Fear = Superior ability- speed
Name = Abaddon
Category =Both Physical and metaphysical
Sub Category = Supernatural
Fear = Malicious intent, Superior ability’s – Powers, Physical appearance
As you can see, I didn’t list all possible attribute’s of each monster, but even so, it is clear that they all fall under multiple categories and subcategory combinations that work together to create fear and/or helplessness within us. Alternately, it shows that some creatures that we do not traditionally think of as monstrous, Could also fit into the definition.
The term monster is a fairly broad and open ended one that can be used for any creature that has elements that we associate with fear, injury, or death. Humans tend to fear anything that they do not understand and its also part of human nature to want to rationalize things.
For instance, monster is often used to describe mythological beasts such as Bigfoot or Yeti’s and although there is little to no evidence that they ever existed in the real world, sightings have been plentiful. In reality the first Sasquatch sighting could very well have been nothing more than someones distorted vision of a grizzly bear shambling around in the woods at a distance.
Picture it in your mind as the bear catches a whiff of the onlooker and stands up on two legs in order to look bigger, just as the sun sneaks through the canopy of the forest, causing the witness to squint his eyes and turn away.
When the witness looks back in the direction of the supposed beast, the creature is nowhere to be found and the onlooker can conjure up only a vague description. In trying to make sense of what he thought he saw, the image in his memory becomes further distorted, taking on whatever familiar qualities seem the most plausible.
Not all monsters are big and bad and not all monsters are made up. There are natural creatures in the world that can be and often are classified as monstrous. The meaning of the word just changes slightly.
Even though Viruses, carnivorous plants, and parasites are things we encounter in everyday life, they often creep us out and insight fear. The behavior of these organisms is scene as grotesque and disturbs us in one way or another.
In a parasitic relationship for example, the host organism will often defend the creature that is using its body for survival. This behavior is instinctive for the organisms, just as fear of such manipulative situations is instinctive in humans.
Monsters are rather useful. At least, that is my opinion. Whether real (natural) or imagined (mythological), they not only incite fear but also curiosity within us.
Monsters, to be Continued – Part two: A Brief History of Monsters:
Monsters are as old as time or at least the idea of them is…
Learn more about Monsters:
britannica.com, mythology.net, allaboutunicorns.com
Monster movie lists:
Some friendly Monster movies: entertainment.time.com
Some not so friendly monster movies: IMDB.com
Giveaway-Kindle Edition
Phoenix Incandescent
By: AEM
Enter the giveaway here by clicking the link: Giveaway
View it here on Amazon by clicking the link: Phoenix Incandescent
Fresh out of college, Charlotte is running the Wayfarer’s Inn, a castle in the middle of farmland that gives humans the chance to vacation amongst mermaids, centaurs, elves, and dwarves. The guests don’t know that the magic is real, but Charlotte does. For now. She hasn’t developed powers like her father, so now she must either marry into the magical world or have her memory wiped and live on her own.
What’s a girl to do?
Her parents throw her a last chance ball to find a suitable husband within the magical world, but the dancing is interrupted. Join Charlotte and many magical characters, old and new, as she ditches the ball gown, picks up the quarterstaff, and begins a journey that will expose the secrets her family has kept from her.
Secrets that could kill.
You can also enter the giveaway here:
Updated Giveaway Link: https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/9616e5e87559aab9 -02/19
Giveaway-Kindle Edition
By M. Ainihi
Enter the giveaway here by clicking the link: Giveaway
View it here on Amazon by clicking the link: Rise
When Amanda Garrett stumbles across a strange artifact in the woods, she has no idea of the dangerous secret it holds. The teen soon discovers that she has unwittingly released Erol, an imprisoned jinni, and whether she likes it or not, they are bound together until death. Amanda’s life soon begins to spiral out of control and she finds herself orphaned, kidnapped, and thrust into a terrifying reality.
Rise is a fast-paced (standalone) introductory novel to an alternate world where mundane humans are oblivious to the existence of the realms that separate them from other magical races.
When she feels, the darkness closing in around her, Amanda is not sure if she can hold onto a single speck of light, and soon she comes to understand that some secrets are better left buried.
You can also enter the giveaway here:
Updated Giveaway Link: https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/cef2476019d07f4a –02/19
Check out these sites:
wordrefiner.com
Author HM Holton
learnfunfacts.com
bookreviewdirectory.com
isaacthorne.com
justsayinvo.com
www.audible.com
aquintillionwords.com
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