Weekend Review - Elizabeth Loraine - Katrina: The Beginning - RoyalBlood Chronicles - Book 1

Today's Weekend Review is featuring Elizabeth Loraine and her first Royal Blood Chronicles book, Katrina: The Beginning. 

First, a little about Elizabeth:

I grew up in a small, Northern Minnesotan town, married my high school sweetheart, had two beautiful children, and as soon as we could we moved to a warmer climate. I have worked with my husband building and decorating custom homes for years. 

After loving every kind of vampire book, movie and series since I was a child, I decided that I wanted to know more. I can write a book I thought, how hard can that be? Well....it wasn't as easy as I thought, but I stuck to it, and finished my first book Royal Blood Chronicles Book One in August 2009. I now have ten books in the series and am about to release book three of my new series Phantom Lives. 

I want to reach all audiences, and let my stories be told. I love to give you characters you can relate to and multi-leveled plots, but also a simple, sweet, romance you can relax into. 

When not world building, I love to cook and work in my garden. Gardening and cooking always lead to new book ideas. I guess it’s because both are so relaxing to me.

A little more with Elizabeth:

What inspired you to write your first book? 

I really just could not find something I wanted to read. Everything in the YA aisle was a copy of things already out there, same theme, kids with powers in high school. I wanted to know more. Where had they been, what had they seen and been involved with throughout history? If I couldn’t find it, I was determined to write it, and Royal Blood Chronicles was born. Now ten in the series.

What do you think is more important: Characters or Plot? 

Oh I love a good plot, but a great plot is nothing if the reader doesn’t care what happens to the characters and can’t relate to them.

What book do you wish you had written? 

I wish Lord of the Rings was mine. I love those epic fantasy stories.

If you could cast your main character(s) in a Hollywood adaption of your book, who would land the rolls? 

I think I’d like someone new to play the lead roles.

Do you write an outline before you write a book? 

No, I never outline. I start with a simple idea and the lead character and start to write.

What do you like to do when you aren't writing? 

I love to cook, garden, and travel. Spending time with family is always top of my list.

What is a talent you have that no one knows?

Few know that I play the flute.

What is one tip you'd give to up & coming authors? 

Write, everyday. Even if it’s just a few lines. Ask questions, other writers welcome them, at least I do. This isn’t easy and when I started I didn’t have anyone to ask. Now there are plenty of groups to join and authors to ask about writing, publishing and everything else.

If you could spend the day with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why? 

My dad. I miss him so much.

What's next for you? 

Always writing. New stories, new genres. It’s not what I do, it’s who I am. I have to tell my stories.

Available books:

The Royal Blood Chronicles:

Katrina: The Beginning

The Protectors

The Dark Prince

Cain the Quest

Bloodline

Legacy

Redemption

Destiny and Sabine

Quinn, a Watchers Story

Marcella – Vampire Mage

Julius – the Coven

  

Phantom Lives

Collier

Power

Shifter Chronicle 

Green River 

Adult Romance Novels

Corporate Ties

Western Escape

Pathogen Series

Pathogen

Mutations

Factions.

Here's some ways you can find out more about Elizabeth and her books!

Elizabeth Loraine

Author central

Royal Blood Chronicles on Facebook

Goodreads

Twitter

And now, my review for Katrina: The Beginning

I will start off by saying that this book has a great premise and theme. The potential for The Royal Blood Chronicles to be the next great YA series is all there. 

The cover is absolutely gorgeous. Great use of color and contrast. I know we aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover but the cover made me want to read what was behind it. 

But unfortunately that's where the positives start to end. 

For a YA novel, there are a few too many sexual references, insinuations, content. This may just be me, but when I see YA, I see ages 12-18 unless otherwise noted by the author. If there's mature content, I want to see that in the description or have it classified as New Adult. My 11-year-old likes to read YA so if it's classified that way, I expect it to be 'clean'. If it has more mature content, I want to see in the blurb or description that it's recommended for 16+. But that could only be my over protective 'mommy senses' kicking in. 

The dialogue both internal and verbal caters strictly to teenagers.  

For being historically based, the continuity is all over the place. It was impossible to gauge what time period this book takes place when there are references as far back as the 1400's and as modern as the 2000's. The language, social norms, world events, speech, etc were simply all over the place. 

The author did a great job giving vampire genre lovers a new take on the legend, but fails to explain further than just notifying the reader of how it is before very quickly moving on. 

I noticed quite a few issues with eBook formatting, grammar, punctuation, dialogue, and strange POV switches, and this book is a second edition. 

The pacing dragged so slow in places that I was tempted to give up reading all together, and so fast in others that I had to turn back a few pages to be sure I didn't miss anything.  

That's a lot of problems for a second edition, first-out-a large-series, book. There is SO much potential here and I feel like the author has a great idea going, but either hurried through writing it and the subsequent novels in the series, or lacked any professional editing or proof reading before publishing. 

I give Katrina: The Beginning 2.5 out of 5 stars. With corrections, it has the potential to be a 5 star book. 

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Weekend Review - The Place We Went To Yesterday - Lisa Mauro

Weekend Review is a brand new series of posts that I am starting up. Each weekend, I will post a new review of a book I've just read, with some Q&A with the author. 

I have sporadically reviewed for my fellow authors before but wanting to do more (partially in hopes that someone would return the favor), I decided to post on Facebook that I was looking to do some reviews to post on my blog. I had over 50 responses in about an hour, before I started informing people that I could no longer take requests. 50 books is A LOT of reading!

The thing about my post is that I didn't make it specific on genre, style, length, etc. I wanted to read everything, even those that were out of my 'comfort zone'. I didn't interview any of the authors for spots on my list, it was a first come, first serve basis. Some of them are brand new authors, some are seasoned veterans, some are self-published, some traditionally, some have representation, editors, marketers, cover designers, some are doing everything all by themselves. 

I have no idea if what I am about to read is even going to be good. For the most part, I haven't read the blurbs and/or reviews on any of the books. I just open them up and start reading, with as open of a mind as I can muster. I tend to review as I read. A private one for the author, with more details. Things I think they could have fixed/done differently, mistakes I found, formatting issues, things I loved etc. Then when I've finished the book, I write the 'public review' which you will see below. That review gets posted to Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.





For this debut series post, I will be sharing my review of The Place We Went To Yesterday, the debut novel of author Lisa Mauro.

First off, a little about Lisa:

Lisa Mauro is a novelist, blogger, and pharmaceutical consultant. She is the Secretary of the Board of The Women Fiction Writers Association. The Place We Went to Yesterday is her first novel, published by Heartless Press. She lives in Boston, MA with her better half, Brian, and an obnoxiously cute kitten, Harper.

And here's my review of The Place We Went To Yesterday:

4 out of 5 stars

The Place We Went To Yesterday is a powerful story that brings the traumatic affects of abuse, neglect, low self-esteem, and poverty to the spotlight.

As seen through the eyes of young Ella, the reader begins a journey that starts in the Baruch Houses of New York City and follows get through the foster care system, life in a group home, and the struggle to pull herself from the cycle if poverty.

The Place We Went To Yesterday is a great read, appropriate for teens and adults. The perseverance and survival of the main character when all odds are literally stacked against her, makes a great inspirational read. It is also a great illustration that you can be better than the situation you were born into. I would recommend this title for ages 16 & up due to the small amount of mature language and situations.

I give this debut novel from Lisa Mauro a solid 4 out of 5 stars. She is definitely an author to watch out for , and I expect to see more great books from her. I do not know this author personally, and was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.

And now, to get to know Lisa a little better:




What books have most influenced your life?


I’m a big fan of Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates and Margaret Atwood. I take a lot of inspiration from their strong, female-driven stories. I think Plath’s voice, in particular, is exceptional. I also get inspiration from memoirs and non-fiction. Writers like Jeannette Walls (The Glass Castle), Azadeh Moaveni (Lipstick Jihad) and Nancy Venable Raine (After Silence: Rape & My Journey Back) have been influential in my life in both a general way but also as I’ve developed my own writing style.


What do you think is more important: Characters or Plot?

Characters.  Definitely characters.  If you can create deep characters, it really doesn’t matter what the story line is.  Your readers will connect and will lose themselves in whatever the plot is.  I’ve seen authors that put so much effort into the plot but completely forget to develop the characters and it’s always noticeable.


What book do you wish you had written?

Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted.  Not only was it a wonderful read with relatable characters, the movie was well-cast.


If you could cast your main character(s) in a Hollywood adaption of your book, who would land the roles?

I think America Ferrera would make an amazing Ella, although she’d probably turn it down for being typecast.  But when I think of strong Latina women, she always makes my short list.  And since we are dreaming, I think Selena Gomez would make a great Lara.  It would be strange to see, though, because she’s such an A-lister.  I think seeing her in a small, but powerful role, would be interesting.


What is your least favorite part of the writing/publishing/marketing process?

I am absolutely terrible at self-promotion.  I’m naturally a very extroverted person and I’m supremely proud of my work, but ask me to talk about it and I suddenly clam up.  I realize that it’s necessary, though, so I force myself to do it.

What do you like to do when you aren't writing? 

When I’m not writing, I’m either reading or practicing vocals for the band Love Songs for Arsonists. I have a lengthy read/review list chock-full of indie authors.  If I’m not doing either of those two things, I’m probably watching 30 Rock on repeat or, when the weather is more cooperative than it has been lately, out shooting photographs.


Is there a message in your novel that you want the reader to grasp?

If I had to summarize it in one sentence, it would be: Education is the key to breaking the poverty cycle.  Of course it’s no guarantee of future success, but I do honestly believe that education provides a broader world-view and can spark the kind of change people need to turn their lives around.


What is one tip you'd give to up & coming authors?

Hire an editor.  Seriously.  Spend the money. I can’t tell you how many novels I read that have such potential and are completely ruined by a lack of editing.  You can have a wonderful plot and well-developed characters, but it means nothing if a reader has to stumble over poor grammar.


If you could spend the day with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

My mother.  She passed away a few years ago from breast cancer and I miss her every single day. Despite having spent much of my teenage years being angry and rebellious, we managed to fix our relationship before she passed away and I’m so grateful for that. But, I’d love to have a chance to sit down with her and talk about my work and how far I’ve come.  I like to think that she would be proud.  Writing has always been something I was passionate about, but it took me a long time to produce something I felt was worth sharing. 

What's next for you?


I’m working on the sequel to The Place We Went to Yesterday.  I wrote it as a stand-alone book, but when it was done, I realized that it had so much more potential.  And the fan base I’ve built is really insistent on knowing what happens to her.  I’m also working on an as-yet-unnamed novel that is very different.  It’s women’s fiction and deals with some sensitive issues around assault and the unraveling of a marriage.  And somewhere in there, I’m working with Love Songs for Arsonists on re-recording and releasing our album as an acoustic version.





Here are some great ways to connect with Lisa:

Facebook
Lisa Mauro Website
Twitter
Goodreads
The Place We Went To Yesterday Facebook

Get The Place We Went To Yesterday HERE


I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 


Stay tuned next weekend for the next installment of Weekend Review!

Guest Posts!

I was invited to do a guest post on some fellow author's blogs. One interviewed me (a first for me as an author!) and the other asked for a post about really any topic I could think of. So I wrote a post about writing through tragedy and hard times. I don't know why I never posted the link here on my blog for everyone to be able to find them but better late than never! So here they are:




Matt Ewens - Author Interview




Alana Munro - Guest Post



Warning: Some portions of the the guest post on Alana's Blog may cause some tears so have the tissues handy!