Special Trilogy Virtual Tour
Special Trilogy Virtual Tour
Authors:
Jackie Gamber and H. David Blalock
Featured Books:
Jackie Gamber’s Leland Dragon Series
H. David Blalock’s Angelkiller Triad
About Jackie Gamber: As an award winning author, Jackie writes stories ranging from ultra-short to novel-length, varieties of which have appeared in anthologies such as Tales of Fantasy and Dragons Composed, as well as numerous periodical publications, including Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, The Binnacle, Mindflights Magazine, Necrotic Tissue, and Shroud. She is the author of the fantasy novel Redheart and Sela, and writing an alternate history time travel novel. She blogs professionally for English Tea Store.com, where she reviews classic science fiction and fantasy novels and pairs them with the ideal tea-sipping companion.
Jackie is a member of the professional organizations Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers Association. She was named honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Award, and received a 2008 Darrell Award for best short story by a Mid-South author. She is the winner of the 2009 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction for her story The Freak Museum, a post-apocalyptic tale that looks closely at perceptions and outward appearances and how they affect the way we see ourselves. Jackie Gamber was co-founder and Executive Editor of Meadowhawk Press, a speculative fiction publisher based in Memphis. One of their novels, Terminal Mind by David Walton, won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award in 2009. Jackie also edited the award winning benefit anthology, Touched By Wonder. She has been a guest lecturer at Memphis Options High Schools, and is a speaker at writers’ conferences from Michigan to Florida. Jackie is also the visionary behind the MidSouthCon Writers’ Conference, helping writers connect since 2008.
Jackie Gamber’s Redheart Book Synopsis: Enter the lands of Leland Province, where dragon and human societies have long dwelled side by side. Superstitions rise sharply, as a severe drought strips the land of its bounty, providing fertile ground for the darker ambitions of Fordon Blackclaw, Dragon Council Leader, who seeks to subdue humans or wipe them off the face of the land.
As the shadow of danger creeps across Leland Province, a young dragon named Kallon Redheart, who has turned his back on dragons and humans alike, comes into an unexpected friendship. Riza Diantus is a young woman whose dreams can no longer be contained by the narrow confines of her village, and when she finds herself in peril, Kallon is the only one with the power to save her. Yet to do so means he must confront his past, and embrace a future he stopped believing in.
A tale of friendship, courage, and ultimate destiny, Redheart invites readers to a wondrous journey through the Leland Dragon Series.
About H. David Blalock: Born in San Antonio, Texas, David spent the majority of his formative years in Jacksonville, Florida. At the age of 16, his family moved to the Panama Canal Zone where David finished school and entered employment with the Department of Defense as a Powerhouse Electrician.
Hiring into the FAA, he returned with his wife and two daughters to the States and settled briefly in Gulfport, MS. A few years later, he moved to Memphis, TN, as an Air Traffic Controller for the Memphis ARTCC. There he remained until his retirement.
David’s writing has appeared in numerous anthologies, magazines, webzines, and writer’s sites. His work continues to appear on a regular basis through multiple publishing houses.
H, David Blalock’s Angelkiller Book Synopsis: Why do bad things happen to good people? Simple. In the ancient war between the Angels of Light and Darkness, the Dark won. Now it is the job of an undercover force simply known as The Army to rectify that.
Using every tool available, The Army has worked to liberate our world from The Enemy for thousands of years, slowly and painfully lifting Mankind out of the dark. On the front of the great Conflict are the Angelkillers, veterans of the fight with centuries of experience.
Jonah Mason is an Angelkiller, and his cell is targeted as part of plot to unseat a very powerful Minion of The Enemy. Mason and his troop are drawn into a battle that stretches from real-time to virtual reality and back. The Conflict is about to expand into cyberspace, and if Mason is unable to stop it, The Enemy will have gained dominion over yet another realm
Author Links:
Jackie Gamber
Website: www.jackiegamber.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jackie-Gamber-Story-Artist/334783969938507
Twitter: @jackiegamber
H. David Blalock
Website: http://thrankeep.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Writer.HDavidBlalock
Twitter: @Hdavidblalock
Tour Schedule and Activities
9/8 SpecMusicMuse Review
9/8 The Rage Circus Vs. The Soulless Void Multi-Blogger Interview Part 1
9/8 Horror Tree Guest Post (Blalock)
9/8 Elizabeth Delana Rosa ~Book Lover & Creator of Worlds~ Guest Post (Gamber)
9/9 Jorie Loves a Story Guest Post (About Gamber)
9/9 I Smell Sheep Interactive Thread with Jackie and Dave
9/9 Armand Rosamilia, Horror Author Guest Post (Blalock)
9/10 The Southern Belle from Hell Art of the Angelkiller Triad (Blalock)
9/10 Bee’s Knees Review Guest Post (Gamber)
9/10 Blog of Sheila Deeth Guest Post (Gamber)
9/10 The Official Writing Blog of Deedee Davies Multi-Blogger Interview Part 2
9/10 Seers, Seraphs, Immortals & More Jackie Gamber Interviews H. David Blalock
9/11 Seers, Seraphs, Immortals & More H. David Blalock Interviews Jackie Gamber
9/11 Workaday Reads Guest Post (Gamber)
9/12 Vampires, Witches, & Me, Oh My! Guest Post (Gamber)
9/12 Trip Through My Mind Multi-Blogger Interview Part 3
9/12 Beauty In Ruins Guest Post (Blalock)
9/13 Jess Resides Here Review
9/14 Willow’s Author Love Guest Post (Blalock)
9/14 Fantastical Musings Multi-Blogger Interview Part 4
9/14 Jorie Loves a Story Guest Post (Gamber)
Tour Page URL: http://www.tomorrowcomesmedia.com/trilogy-tour-featuring-jackie-gamber-and-h-david-blalock/
Tour Badge Html: http://www.tomorrowcomesmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/TrilogyTourBadge.jpg
Amazon Links for Redheart, the First Book of Jackie Gamber’s Leland Dragon Series:
Kindle Version: http://www.amazon.com/Redheart-Leland-Dragon-Jackie-Gamber-ebook/dp/B004VFNJIA
Print Version: http://www.amazon.com/Redheart-Leland-Dragon-Jackie-Gamber/dp/0983108676
Amazon Links for Angelkiller, the First Book of H. David Blalock’s Angelkiller Triad:
Kindle Version: http://www.amazon.com/Angelkiller-Triad-Book-1-ebook/dp/B006CR84AI
Print Version: http://www.amazon.com/Angelkiller-H-David-Blalock/dp/0983740232
Got Paperback?
All three anthologies, now in paperback at both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble!
Hero’s Best Friend: An Anthology of Animal Companions
A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court
A Chimerical World: Tales of the Unseelie Court
If you’re a fan of animal stories, a fan of faeries, or just a fan of science fiction, fantasy, and horror short stories in general, you will love these. Enjoy! 🙂
SpecMusicMuse Review—The God Killers by John F. Allen
The God Killers by John F. Allen brings Urban to Urban Fantasy. Set in both Chicago and New Orleans, Allen manages to breathe supernatural life to both cities in a believable manner without sacrificing the real world “feel” of the actual cities.
That being said, while the overall story was great; a good blend of action, character depth and complexity, and some pretty cool plot twists; it was a mixed bag for me in some specific parts. Some parts I loved. Other parts almost disrupted my suspension of disbelief.
Ivory Blaque, the main character, has a depth and complexity in her character that’s rarely found in the Urban Fantasy/Supernatural Romance subgenres. The only other character I’m aware of that can even compare, when it comes to character depth, would be Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville. But when it comes to sheer attitude and ass-kicking ability, Ivory has them all beat.
The absolute best scene in the novel is the Wild West style duel between Ivory and Johnny. In that scene Allen shows his ability to take a classic (and often clichéd) trope and give it a twist that would make Joss Whedon applaud.
But then there was those moments when POV got broken, like when the God Killers got referred to as the God Killers before
Ivory would have known that’s what they were called. And then there was the nightclub scene when the short black woman was suddenly, a paragraph or two later, a tall black woman. Last but not least, it also felt as if Allen continued the story onward after this novel should have ended, and the last “cliffhanger” chapter would’ve been better off being the first chapter to the upcoming (I hope) second novel.
But in spite of the small, but glaring, nitpicks, I still enjoyed reading The God Killers and find Ivory Blaque to be a fascinating character who I would love to read more of.
Best to read while listening to: A little Midnight Syndicate (for all those vampires), some Metallica and Megadeth (for all those werewolves), with a little hip hip (preferably Ice T and some Ice Cube…actually, there’s only Ice T and Ice Cube, all the rest are Vanilla Ice-wannabee posers), and good old-fashioned Jazz. Oh yeah, definitely Jazz. And toss in a Detective Noir soundtrack and a dash of Aeon Flux theme songs for Ivory.
SpecMusicMuse Review – Burning the Middle Ground by L. Andrew Cooper
With Burning the Middle Ground, the debut novel by L. Andrew Cooper, you will see (okay, read) the author’s strengths and weaknesses all in one. Set in a small town called Kenning, Georgia (and I believe, the word, Kenning, is purposeful, considering what the novel is about), it opens up with a small girl murdering her parents and then committing suicide just as her brother, Brian McCullough, finds her. Flash forward five years later, a journalist named Ronald Glassner arrives in town to write a biography about the tragedy that made the town, and Brian, so famous. Little does Ronald know what he’s getting into….
Cooper nails characterization and dialogue in a way few authors can manage. Ronald is by far the most interesting and roguishly lovable character I’ve read about in a while, and every other character in the story is memorable, even minor characters. You can also tell that Cooper did his research on alchemy and Hermetic magic as well as some Christian mysticism (and, where needed, just made it up).
The story falls short when it comes to overall plot, however. The middle section, which focuses on the chief antagonists, going as far back as before the start of the novel even, dragged the story out. While there were interesting bits and pieces, the interesting (and relevant) parts could’ve easily been handled through the regular plot narrative via segments of dialogue (which does appear later in the last third of the book, ironically, making the middle section almost obsolete) or even a few brief flashbacks by characters being interacted with (which, again ironically, pops up here or there in the final third—especially the scenes involving Jeanne). It was like the tension and suspense was building up and up, and then, instead of the necessary small drop, it instead suddenly dropped all the way through the floor, never rebuilding for the next hundred or so pages. That in itself would’ve been a story-killer if his characters weren’t so gosh-darn fun to read about (especially Ronald, who pretty much stole the entire show).
As Horror goes, I didn’t find Burning the Middle Ground as scary as I had hoped, and even as Dark Fantasy it didn’t seem to come to fruition for me (probably because I’m an old-school Dark Fantasy fan and thus expect the antagonist(s) to be more supernatural and antihero-ish). But there were elements that made the novel worth reading, and the ending appears to segue into either a trilogy or series. If so, then one can certainly view this novel as the “setting up” portion of a larger, more epic, tale. If so, I look forward to seeing Cooper come closer to his full potential with each new addition.
Best to read while listening to: Old fashioned church music—no, seriously. With perhaps a bit of Christian Rock tossed in with some King Diamond and Slayer. And a touch of AC/DC (“Highway to Hell” comes to mind).
*Ahem!* Dislaimer over thar —>
Yeah, to the side of your screem.
SpecMusicMuse Review – Remnants of Life: Legends of Darkness by Georgia L. Jones
Samantha dies in a car crash only to find herself in a new body, as a vampire, but not your typical blood-sucking monster, but as Samoda, a spiritform warrior serving Nuem. While discovering the wonders of her new life, she struggles with the memories of her former life and the loved ones she left behind, and all while having to put a stop to an evil monster bent on world domination—and reconciling her newfound passions for her bonded hotty vamp soulmate, Drake.
While Legends of Darkness, the first novel in the Remnants of Life series, would likely be classified as a paranormal romance (even though it’s official genre is Urban Fantasy, the lines tend to blur with those two subgenres), there’s plenty of action, drama, and intrigue as well. As far as the romance elements go, I’ll admit that I’m not an avid romance reader. However, I do know that romantic tension is the name of the game for that genre; therefore, I’ll consider the fact that I spent almost half the book wanting to shout “OMG! Will you two just freakin’ do it already!” to mean that the romance elements between Samoda and Drake are a rip-roaring success. There were enough complications and twists to keep things interesting but not so much as to leave me confused.
The first-person POV, however, felt jarring. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it was because the protagonist, Samoda, did way too much thinking (wow, did I just say that?). Then there was one chapter where everything was suddenly inside the head of one of the antagonists. That threw me off temporarily, but then I got over it. (“OMG! When the hell are they gonna’ do it!” *turnpageturnpageturnpage*)
I’ve never been a big fan of the Twilight-ish “vamps are now good” craze, but I do tolerate them much more than the “Christian! TM!” alternatives (which amounted to little more than promoting Nephilim breeding—you’d think folks never read the Old Testament anymore). And this one was a little less Twilight-ish than most (and also involving a character who is of age—oh wait, Twilight was set in the Midwest, so nevermind). And besides, Vlad Tepes features in the plot, so any poking at my usual pet peeves is easily forgiven.
And it had dragons. Dragons are always a plus.
And combat. And blood. And gore. And (finally!) sex.
Everything a growing boy needs.
And still growing…
And growing….
OMG! I think I have a vampire fetish….
Best to read while listening to: a little Classic Rock, a dash of epic fantasy soundtracks (especially for the big battles), and…nah, screw the Twilight soundtrack.
And now to end this review with the following disclosure, thanks to those idiots at the FTC, which I shall officially dub as the I CAN’T BELIEVE I HAVE TO WRITE THIS BS IN MY BLOG POSTS segment:
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for review from First Rule Publicity from the author as part of a virtual book tour. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
SpecMusicMuse Review: Embers by Laura Bickle
Embers is a story about Anya Kalinczyk, an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, a rare psychic medium known as a lantern (e.g. she basically can “eat” ghosts), who helps out a paranormal investigating team, and has a salamander familiar named Sparky. She and her friends must track down and stop a supernatural arsonist who is setting fires all over Detroit as part of an ancient ritual (which will be completed by Devil’s Night) to summon Sirrush, an ancient and extremely powerful fire elemental, to leave all of Detroit in ashes.
This book has it all: action, mystery, romance, tragedy—all wrapped up in an urban fantasy package with a meaningful plot twist. Characterization is deep and powerful. But as hot as Anya is (in more ways than one), I have to admit that Sparky’s little antics stole the show. He’s one of the most independent, headstrong, and entertaining sidekicks I’ve ever read.
All-in-all, Embers is a well written tale.
Best to read while listening to: anything from Midnight Syndicate, or underground rap, punk, and metal. Not the popular stuff, the underground stuff.
SpecMusicMuse Review: The Exodus Gate by Stephen Zimmer
Nephilim, a One World Government, events of apocalyptic proportions. Just another “Christian End Times” fiction, you say? Well, not exactly.
In The Exodus Gate, Stephen Zimmer begins a seven-book epic (and secular) saga that combines the myths of Judeao-Christian, Babylonian/Sumerian, and Assyrian apocalyptic texts with an added dash of his own epic dark fantasy twist (and possibly an esoteric sprinkle or two of gnosticism), and weaves a tale that rivals The Lord of the Rings in its scope and The Stand in its characterization depth.
Being the first in the Rising Dawn Saga, this book’s primary purpose is to set up the overall world and introduce the large cast of characters (with the main character being Benedict Darwin), each with their own agendas and sometimes even secrets (I, personally, am already rooting for Erishkegal, but that’s just me). But there is still plenty of well-paced action and plot to keep you reading. The main downside I had was the sheer size of the book. It’s only half the size of The Stand, and I wanted More! Dammit! More!
Some readers might be put off by the size of the book, and if you don’t know it’s basically a large chapter in a grand sweeping saga then you also might feel lost near the end. But the characters will grow on you, especially the An-Ki–Zimmer’s unique take on the werewolf myth–loyal and honorable servants of Adonai.
Overall, it’s a fine start to what promises to be an awesome saga that will keep you reading for days (in between a nap or two, of course).
And besides, Erishkegal is awesome!
Best read while listening to: Epica, Megadeth, Enya, pretty much anything epic or mythological in sound.
About
Scott M. Sandridge’s first short story, “Treecutter,” was published in The Sword Review in July 2005. Since then, he’s gone on to publish more short stories, and write reviews for Tangent Online, Withersin, and The Fix. He has also been a columnist for the Double-Edged Publishing webzines, a Submissions Editor for Ray Gun Revival, and the Managing Editor of Fear and Trembling. He is currently an editor for Seventh Star Press and Loconeal Publishing.
His flash fiction story, “Sleep Paralysis”, was a Top Ten Finisher in the 2008 P&E Readers Poll for Best Short Story – Horror.
His short stories have appeared in various online magazines and print anthologies, including Silver Blade, Every Day Fiction, Morpheus Tales: Dark Sorcery Special Edition, and anthologies from Pill Hill Press, Wicked East Press, and Seventh Star Press.
The Silverblade Prophecy at Amzon.com
Scott M. Sandridge 