DUST AUG 13th

DUST is the third book in the EMBER series. And it is coming out really soon! I know. That was really fast after Obsidian. I had a lot of help with this book, in inspiration from God (actually, He wrote it; I just typed). For this reason, it has been my favorite book writing experience, and I hope everyone else enjoys it too.

Here are some of the main theme songs God showed me for the book. They fit very precisely!

Love is the Strongest Flame. Man, this song is awesome. You've got to listen to it. We know that God is love. This song depicts exactly the sort of representation that magic is supposed to give in the Ember Series; it's also jut a great song with lots of passion. Listen!

Another great song about love. This will be inspiration for a particular scene. You might guess it after reading. But don't wait to listen to it. Listen now! You will be blessed.

This song is SO ____'s theme song for this book. Haha, sorry. I can't tell you who, it will give too much away, but man... it's such a great, real song straight from God's heart. Listen to it, to prep you for DUST!


COVER TIME!!!

What do you think? It is all glowy! I like this one.

Niftilly (yes, that's a word. means nifty). Ah-hem. Niftilly: the epilogue of the second book, is the prologue of the third book, DUST. Sort of.
Here it is:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Prologue:

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

He asked me again. I felt scraping dirt in my throat.

He asked: “Who are you?”

“I don’t know!” I shouted out. I hadn’t known or thought I possessed such a strong voice. But I shouted, as my body came up tall. Strong. I was strong. I shouted strong. That was who I was. “I don’t know. I don’t know,” I kept telling him.

Till I saw a flash of fear in his eyes, at my response.

And I thought: he fears me. This is what I need. Strength. I’ll just--

But then he brought the flat-side of his weapon to the back of my head.

And all I could remember before my world went black was that I knew it was called a sword. I only didn’t know how.

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Actually, that's just a PART to the prologue, but I don't want to give away too much.

Here is the playlist on youtube: DUST PLAYLIST


It is REALLY long (125 songs), but these are literally all the songs I listened to to inspire me for DUST. God was really generous, I guess. Lol. :)

And that's about it. Dust is really good, so read it. You will love it. It will make you happy.

I hope that you have a blessed week/month/day, and if you haven't read it yet, please check out my last post on Grace and Worry.

Hurray for DUST!!! AUGUST 13TH!!!

Weight, Playlist, and Release

It's been a while since any updates. I thought I'd start off this post with something that's been on my heart.

People are hearing (and seeing) things everywhere about weight/health. The weight of women, and men, and where it should be, etc. In fact, I probably shouldn't even combine the two issues, weight and health, since the second part doesn't seem to be the main focus anyways.

I'm sure everyone has read a lot concerning these issues. I'd just like to share a couple verses, and pictures, to offer a different perspective than what you might be used to.

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."" -1 Samuel 16:7

This is a verse pertaining to God's choice for King. (it ended up being David, the boy who fought Goliath, though this was before that. I guess God was good at seeing into the heart in that case!) Point: outward appearance... not so important. Not even for a King. If it's not important to God for the king who is LEADING His people, then who does need it.

On the other hand, we all long to be beautiful. Men also long to have a heroic appearance. God isn't against that! Consider these words by Jesus:

"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:28-34

This paints a better picture, doesn't it? It is not that we shouldn't long to be attractive. God Himself is gloriously beautiful, and we are made in His image. There is an entire book in the Bible, Song of Solomon, devoted to beauty, love, and desirability--even down to exact descriptions of the human form. 
But God longs that we seek His righteousness (aka: Jesus) then He'll take care of making us beautiful. He did that at the start, didn't He! He made us after all. 

Lastly I would like to show a few pictures of the ideals of beauty that have been set in the past (perhaps when people were less self-controlling, and more humble in the sight of greater powers*).

 Note: these images are pulled from the wikipedia page on Ancient Greek Sculptures, to give a fair and varied selection. 

 Please click on the last image for a larger size. It is especially pointed since these women are the "muses" of the culture. Believed to be daughters of Zeus and inspiration for all the arts, they would also be considered highly desirable. Perhaps you've heard of Nymphs? That is their other name. 

Now, I am not saying that people long ago had it any more right than we do now. And I'm certainly not saying that gods exist! I'm trying to point out that humans are wavering, and as strong the push is for you to look a certain way now, let's just rest and be ourselves, and chase God's righteousness instead. In this way, we can be sure that God will make us as lovely as He makes the flowers; as glorious as He is Himself. 

We all come in different shapes and sizes. For anyone who has read my books, you'll know about Ellia, Adelle, and Evelyn. They are all beautiful and seen that way by their respective loves, but they are certainly not the same size, height, or shape. I have noted in my book, that Evelyn is softer, shorter, and "not able to be held up by vines for climbing". :) Cyric's pretty good at picking Ellia up (er... because he's like a lieutenant wearing metal armor all day...) but she's no light-weight! She is tall, and strong enough to fight with two swords. Luffie, her hyppo-sized chimera couldn't carry two of her, so that should be a clue. Adelle's, never really even spoken of (aka, doesn't matter, Dmitri thinks she's pretty cause he loves her).

For anyone who is wondering about the nature of these sculptures, take a look at some of the dudes. It's clear we're in the "idealistic" realm. 

 I hope this has been uplifting. I really don't think that weight is something we should concern ourselves with (in fact, I know it isn't, since Jesus said it). But there is a lot of stuff out there saying: you're bad if you're fat. I'm saying: they don't even know what fat is. God made us; seek Him and let Him make you perfect. 


There is a beauty in a woman, the devil envies
A smile to her lips, he can't divine
A sway within her walk, he can't distract from 
a softness to her touch, he can't prescribe

Of all things made, girl is the loveliest to stare at 
As God made mountains, oceans, he has pieced her fair as well 
So walk knowing your body is of God's perfection
Revealed for man to see their want for Christ


Second Topic!

Or maybe, I will start with the third... just to be difficult. :P

The release of Fallen Warrior is SET. It will come out July 4th. As many of you know, it has been finished for a while. I am actually recording it for AUDIO BOOK just now, that is how I am editing through it for a final. I'm hoping this will help me spot all the tiniest of spelling errors, and I have also heard it helps with phrasing. Either way, the written form of FALLEN WARRIOR will definitely be out the 4th. And with it at least a sampling of the audio, until we figure out how to sell it. I hope that everyone is excited about this. Fallen Warrior is my favorite book that I have written, and that is not easy for me to say. It is MASSIVE. 250,000 words. Think Harry Potter seven, lol.

Now lastly. 

Here is the promised playlist. Did I already post this here? I am not sure, but please listen to prepare for the July 4th release. It will help you to guess what will happen! 

FALLEN WARRIOR PLAYLIST

 That's all for now. Everyone have a God-blessed week/month/year. Jesus is coming soon!!!

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*This is not to say that greek gods exist; and certainly not to say that God isn't the One and Only True God. It's just the point of logic, that in the past, societies were based more on higher governing powers, outside of their control. 

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Dust and Ember $2.99

So, wow. In the last post I told everyone how I hadn't started a word of the third book in the EMBER series, (tentatively named "Dust"). But now a week or two later, I'm pleased to let you all know I'm 30,000 words in! It's very exciting; the story is just taking off! Thank you all for support and prayers. I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter.

For anyone interested to know a little about Dust, here is the setting...

EMBER UNDERWATER!

....

....

...

Lol. Not really, I'm just kidding! April Fools!

Heh, heh, heh.

But the picture IS nice right? It's drawn by fallencrypt on deviantart. Check him out.

This is really the place (as any of you who have read Obsidian might have guessed):

 

But maybe looking a little bit more like this:

If you catch my drift.

I should probably warn anyone uber-interested in ancient history, that this book won't focus on names and dates, so much as feel and environment. I did get a chance to go to "this place" when I was younger, so I hope that the story is true to the country.


And lets see. On top of that, has anyone ever read The Mark of the Lion Trilogy?
It is written by Francine Rivers, she was a well-known romance author at the time she began the story. She wrote it because she had recently become a Christian, and she wanted to share her faith with others. So she told a story about it. Anyways, it's VERY good, and REALLY romantic. I read it when I was 15 and it had a big impact on my life. If you like ancient history, or pretty much if you like just plain reading. Check it out. The set has just gotten new covers:



Finally, I thought for music-lovers, everyone might enjoy the playlist I'm listening to while writing Dust. It's not THE playlist, final, or anything; it's just the songs inspiring me right now while I write.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH686HQQmBR5K53kIiD5mDxDfQ7lbWZ1X

I hope that you all have a blessed day, whenever it is that you read this.

One final, I guess sort of important, but less exciting note is that EMBER is going to be going up in price. From its current 99 cents to $2.99 like OBSIDIAN. The main reason for this is written about in a prior post. With e-books, 99 cents equals 33 cents. and 2.99 equals 2 bucks, so it's a really big percentage change. I hope you can all still enjoy Ember. It's like 600 pages, so you're still getting a lot of bang for your dollar. If there is a big drop in buyers, I will probably set it back to 99 cents, though. Because I would rather more people got a chance to read it. And please, always let me know if you can't afford the price, and I'll look into getting you a free copy.

EMBER will be available at 99 cents, for the NEXT THREE DAYS, so get it while cheap-er if you're reading this!

Peace be with everyone as we enter into spring, and just remember this is how HE feels about you:

My Little Obsidian

So lately, my niece is very fond of My Little Pony. Anyone else a fan? I guess adults are called bronies or something. I don't understand why. But the release of Obsidian since February has been a Great Success! We have sold over 1,ooo copies already. Ember is selling over 2,000 each month. I am so happy and grateful for the all the feedback! I wish I could ask everyone personally who their favorite character is. That is my favorite question to ask.
I wish I could post each review, and thank every person that has commented, because I am so grateful to them. (even the bad ones!)
But that would fill this blog post very long, and everyone can go to amazon and goodreads to read those.
I thought, to celebrate Obsidian's success, in honor of my niece, I will show you all my sister's (aka, my agent, website runner, and editor specialist) my sister's self-made EMBER Series My Little Ponies.

So without further ado...

My little Obsidian:



You can probably guess, this is Evelyn. Isn't she pretty? I love the forest in the back. I want to live there.



Dum-dum-da-dah! Ikovos! He is so cute as a pony. Don't worry if you think he looks too clean-cut. All he needs to do is shake off those glasses and get his hair a little wet and he'll be a model of pearl and silver excitement!

 Now comes the funny part...

This is Jaden.

And this is what Jaden THINKS he looks like... 

Yup, that's our Jaden. I think particularly with all the success of Obsidian, all your wonderful feedback and support, he is feeling especially awesome. I'd say he considers Ember's success 90% percent the cause of his great hair, but that's for another story... 

I'll try to write a new post soon about what's coming in the future. Of course the Fallen Trilogy has the last to come out. And it is all finished! And it is amazing, if I do say so myself. The characters really pulled through in the last book. I love them. Fallen Warrior will be out soon I hope. 

As for those of you wondering about the THIRD TO THE EMBER SERIES, I have to tell you honestly that I haven't penned a single word. But I do know the story! It's going to be great (and a LOT happier than Obsidian, for those of you that have read it). It'll be full of magic, and light. It is tentatively called, "Dust" and likely that is what I'll refer to it as in future posts. 

I hope you all are having a good new year. Grace to you in 2013. You will be in my prayers. And I'd be remiss not to say that I hope you all think of Jesus this year, if you haven't before, and find a church to visit and celebrate His love for you. There isn't anything good that comes to you that isn't from Him. If you love stories, especially love stories, as I do, then I hope you will always remember that they are telling the secret of His love for you. Jaden, Evelyn, and Ikovos, all learned love from the one who loves us the most. So praise Him this Easter, because He is alive, and He loves you. 

Thank you everyone again. Happy Easter!

Love Sworn is here! *UPDATE*

*UPDATE*

Love Sworn Reviews!

Hey, I just wanted to show everyone some of the reviews we've gotten on Love Sworn. We've sold 50+ copies in the first month! Two of these reviews are from amazon. One is from my website. If you like what you hear, please read the book!

Review #1:
5.0 out of 5 stars "Best book in years" August 23, 2012
By Avid Reader
(Amazon Verified Purchase) I have to admit I am a sucker for a beauty and the beast story any day of the week. But this one really out shines any of the others I have read. I LOVE the charaters. They are so real I was constantly waiting to see what was going to come out of their mouths next. It was tightly written, which is a rare thing these days. And I loved that the author stuck to the story structure of the well know story but at the same time made it her own. She knows her stuff!I laughed the through the whole book, but found it touching too. I would recomend this as a delicious read for all ages.

Review #2:
5.0 out of 5 stars "Best Epilogue Ever" September 14, 2012
By Scott R.
(Amazon Verified Purchase) Disclaimer: This review is very similar to another one I just wrote because, hey, it's Beauty and the Beast. We know how it starts, we know how it ends. It's the getting there that's the fun part.

So, in my search for new werewolf novels (my favorite genre) to read, I discovered that Beauty and the Beast came up with werewolves in it.

Well, this is a fun book. A riveting book. The characters, including and especially the supporting cast, were amazing. Tight plot, great dialogue. I will admit I really hated Dmitri at the beginning, but I guess you're supposed to. And I even got to experience the story without that awful "Be My Guest" song in my head.

And like I said, it has the best epilogue ever.

Review #3:
Love sworn is just another of an exceptional book written by Tess Williams! I have been following her since Ember and i get so excited every time i see that a new book is coming out! I cant wait for this december for Obsidian!!! Thank you Tess Williams and keep up the great work!

 

(now continue reading below to find out where to get the book)

 

*UPDATE END*

 

Alright. So Love Sworn is OUT as of today, August 23rd, 2012.

Synopsis: An enchanted castle, a self-absorbed rich boy, a painful curse, and the quiet heart of a beautiful girl... Can a monster fall in love? Love Sworn is a modern day retelling of the classic story, Beauty and the Beast, with a werewolf twist.

How's that sound? I'm going to keep these post short and sweet, so you can get on to reading Love Sworn.

If you want a E-BOOK of Love Sworn visit smashwords, barnes & noble, or amazon. The price is $.99

If you want a PAPERBACK version of Love Sworn, please visit lulu. The price is $13.99.

FYI: If you don't have a Nook or Kindle, etc., you can go to smashwords and download the book (for $.99) in many types of files, so don't think you need an e-reader. You can also download a Nook or Kindle program for your computer, for free, from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

RECAP:

-Love Sworn e-book: $.99
-Love Sworn paperback: $13.99
-As long as you have access to a computer, you can read Love Sworn on Smashwords, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.

Positive Report: Love Sworn already sold 2 copies yesterday (before it was even "officially" out). Awesome, right?

Look at that face? That's Max.  He wants you to start reading about him. So go, go read the book. Then let me know what you think. Here on blogger, or in an e-mail. Oh, and don't forget to check out the new Love Sworn page, on my website.

Bye Bye.

Love Sworn, OSC, and Sly 4

Love Sworn. That's the topic up first. It is OFFICIALLY coming out. The OFFICIAL date is August 23rd, 2012. Yup that like a few weeks away. Yup, that's part of why I've been so busy.

Here is the cover. Read the snippet on the back if you like.

Pretty soon, we'll have a page up on the website just for Love Sworn. Then you can read more about it. Until then, I hope you'll be looking forward to it! It's going to be available as an e-book, for the usually $.99. And also on lulu.com, in paperback (price yet to be determined, but between $10-15).

Now, for OSC. Here he is...

Wait, no... that's just the cover for one of his most famous (or, um... most famous, right?) novels: Ender's Game. Here he is...

Er... not actually. This is just a page from the newishly made comic book for Ender's Game, depicting two stars of the story (Ender Wiggin and "Bean"). Don't be dissuaded by Bean's size. He's a tough one. Awesome artwork, right? Now, if only someone would do a massively large drawing of the "giant" that Ender, er, um... well, I better not say. It'll ruin the story. But Mr. Card, if you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about (hopefully?) Please convince the creators of the Ender's Game film to star the giant in the main poster. And have Drew Struzan do it. The guy that painted this:

And this. And these:

Wow. Those posters never fail to impress. Click Drew's name above. Check out his site. You won't be disappointed.

Now, back to Mr. OSC, here he...

No. Nope. That's Asa Butterfield. Aka, "Ender". What do you think? He's gotta be bossing, if he's going to be Ender. Because Ender Wiggin ...spoiler, spoiler, spoiler... (don't try to click that by that way, cuz I just typed "spoiler" three times and it would be really annoying if your wanted to read it and it didn't do anything)

This is Asa from Hugo. He looks pretty serious, doesn't he? We rented the movie just to see him; it was a little strange (about making movies) but that's okay. Asa was awesome. Ender's Game could be a great film.

So long as... 

Aw. There he is. Mr. Card. That's my favorite pick of him, and he is just so great. He's got to be one of my biggest inspirations. It's not just his stories and the passion and full-heartedness with which he writes his words (his characters are SO cool), it's also the sort of blogging his does, the way he goes about doing his book signings and the way he teaches other writers.

On that note, I've brought up Mr. Card, more overly to complain. You see, Mr. Card lives in Greensboro, NC. Where do I live? Greensboro, NC.
Where do I go see my movies? Regal Grande Theatre at Friendly Avenue.
Where does Mr. Card oft see his movies (at least according to his blog, hatrack)? Regal Grande Cinemas at Friendly Avenue.
And where do I go all the time to read and write? The Barnes & Noble at Friendly Avenue.
And yet, yet, when Mr. OSC came for a showing there not two weeks ago, I couldn't make it. NO! I didn't make it.
He was coming for a signing of his new book, Earth Unaware. Which I haven't read yet (so, I know, you're thinking, why am I complaining, it's not as if I should have shown up not having read the book). Still, I'm positive it's going to be great.

Right now, I'm reading (cough cough, listening to*) Speaker for the Dead. The sequel to Ender's Game. *Though I found out recently that he actually wrote Ender's Game, as more of a PREQUEL to Speaker for the Dead. In other words, Speaker for the Dead, was perhaps the original story in his head.
At any rate, the story certainly reflects that. It's rich, and fully absorbing, also sad enough to make you cry and cry and cry (for seemingly no reason...)

Reminds me of a little, awesome movie my family and I just recently watched called: Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below or  Hoshi o ou kodomo in it's original title. It's a Japanese film by Makoto Shinkai. And perhaps these still-frames will give you an idea of just how beautiful the film is...







If you like Hayao Miyazaki movies, then you're sure to like this. But fair warning, it's pretty scary, and (as previously alluded to), very sad. It deals a lot with death (actually, that's kind of the theme of the whole movie. But it's good! Check it out!


Speaker for the Dead, reminds me of just how great a character Ender Wiggin really is. I think in today's culture, a lot of people are seeing strong men as ones who don't feel strongly, or never get lonely. Ender's character really opposes that. I can't wait to see Ender's Game, even if there's a slim chance it'll be as good as the book. It's still exciting!

And lastly, on OSC, in case you've already known everything I've said (having read the very popular Ender's Game, etc, as many have), then do yourself a favor and read this book next:


Enchantment. I liked it (loved it!) every bit as much as Ender's Game. It's just a touch darker though. But I'll never forget the main character. He's referred to as "Ivan" through most the book, but I continue to think of him as "Vanya". The name he's introduced with.

Enchantment is a sort of Sleeping Beauty retelling. It's an excellent story. Very romantic!







Alright, and that's about it. I meant to blog about Sly Cooper 4 as well, but I'll save that for another time. (I'll do a expose' on him!) The man (er... raccoon) behind the mask.

Ah, shucks, I'll at least post this:



So cool...







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 23rd! Mark the date.

Next time: Obsidian news, reviews, (sly 4 :D) and... ORIGAMI YODA! (because THIS just came out today...



And I need time to read it...

May the Force be with you!

EDIT* In other news... The Secret of the Forune Wookie isn't really out until the 7th. WHY CRUEL WORLD!?! And yes, before you ask, I DID drive all the way to the bookstore and plan a whole hour's worth of busy schedule time to peruse it. Thus I was stuck.... staring blankely off into space... or rather at the Barnes and Noble sign which read: "The Secret of the Fortune Wookie" out August 7th, pre-order your copy today.
 Well, I don't want to pre-order it, Barnes & Noble. I want to order it. And I want to get it like a taco at Taco Bell: right away. And now I've REALLY deviated into rambling. This is why I should be reading. About origami star wars characters... (*heavy sigh, as I slowly saunter off)

Coming Soon

Alright, so even with all the announcements there have been about Obsidian (the second to Ember), coming in December this year, I'm actually going to be releasing a book before then. For SUMMER!

Here it is:

Love Sworn is a re-telling of the classic story of Beauty & the Beast. I wrote it a few years ago, but I never released it (or tried to get it picked up by an agent) since there had been so many "Beauty and the Beast" remakes coming out then.

But now since I've got my website up I decided: "hey, it's awesome. Let's just go for it."

I'm not sure how much I should say about the story.

Let's see.... it's set in the modern day (arizona), but I wouldn't say that that plays a very huge role. (as far as setting).

There aren't any talking clocks and pots (as with the Disney version). But ... er... let's just say, here's a couple pics of two of the main characters:



His name is Lensan.



And her's is Verlaine.

Also, from the cover I imagine you could guess "wolves" play a big part.

Yes, that's because, well... hmm... check the tag at the end of this post if you're really curious for a spoiler. Otherwise I'm not going to say. Then again, once my sister writes the synopsis for me (and you, and everyone) to read, she'll probably mention it.

So... werewolf-ism is involved.

That's all I'm saying.

The two MAIN main character's names are: Adelle & Dmitri.

They share the cover, and SPEAKING of that! That cover was painted with water colors by my awesome sister. I drew it. It's not finished up completely yet, but while you're here, if you don't mind helping me out, I'm trying to decide on the final cover between:

...this... and...

...this. Oh, the conundrums presented by a single button on Photoshop. I should never have clicked that "auto-tone". Pfft. Anyhow, which do you like better? You could leave a comment to let me know. The first is the original medium colors. The second is adjusted, but the cooler tones might match the theme of the book better, I don't know... give your oppinion!

Lastly for today, here is the playlist (working) for the book. Most of the songs belong to Dmitri (as you will see) cause he's just cool like that.

(General)

Crack The Shutters - Snow Patrol

Transformation - Beauty and the Beast

When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge

House of Wolves - My Chemical Romance

 (Both)

White Lines & Red Lights - Between The Trees

Against All Odds - Mariah Carey & Westlife

Somewhere Only We Know - Keane

Only One - Yellowcard

 (Adelle)

Everytime We Touch [Candlelight Mix] - Cascada

(Dmitri)

Everything - Buck Cherry

Prozak - Dexter Freebish

The Widow - Mars Volta

Do You Love Me - The Contours

Reverse This Curse - Escape The Fate

Sugar Daddy - Jackson 5

Your Smiling Face - James Taylor

Use Somebody - Kings Of Leon

U Can’t Touch This - M.C. Hammer

Is This Love - Bob Marley

Let Me Be Your Wings - Thumbelina

You Got It - Roy Orbison

Crazy For This Girl - Evan & Jaron

Please Don’t Leave Me - Pink

Until The Day I Die - Story Of The Year

Hurt - Nine Inch Nails

One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey [Feat. Boyz II Men]

Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough - Patti Smith & Don Henley

Something - Across the Universe

Creep - Muse

Yup so that's it. More announcements should be coming soon (including the exact release date). Listen to a few of those songs, and don't forget to comment! Happy Independence week by the way!

Obsidian... and Mummies... and Gypsies

If you've been to the "coming soon" page you know that Obsidian is almost finished up, entering into the editing process and will be out for sale 12.18.12; this year! So... I thought I'd post some sneak peaks for it. NOT actual chapters or anything; too soon for that. :) But playlist, pics, a few videos. Me and my sister have an argument going on about what Jaden looks like (he's the male lead for Ember/Obsidian in case you didn't know), so if you've read the books, have a look, and let me know which team you're on. He always comes in the form of a youtube vid, yay for music! So without further ado...

The PLAYLIST...

Who Knew - Pink
Bright Lights - Matchbox Twenty
Come In Closer - Blue October
Look After You - The Fray
Miserable At Best - Mayday Parade
Heartless - The Fray
Please Don't Leave Me - Pink
Evelyn - Hurts
Already In - Jon McLaughlin


Most of the first book's playlist songs belong to Evelyn (i.e., they're from her point of view), so I decided this "sneak-peak " playlist for Obsidian, would be a few of Jaden's songs. "Who Knew" starts from the end of Ember (book 1) to the start of Obsidian. It's sort of a "between the books" song. "Come in Closer" by Blue October, encompasses a lot of the feel of Obsidian.  "Please Don't Leave Me" by Pink & "Heartless" by The Fray (yes, it's a Kanye West cover, if you were wondering) are both the main songs for Jaden in Obsidian. Where I'd say he's most "at" if that makes sense. Yeah, doesn't sound good, does it? He'll be okay.

As far as the "Evelyn" song by Hurts. I'm not usually into the name, actual-name, song thing. But this one just fits so perfect. Here, listen:

And so...

On to the Jaden's appearance issue.

This is what my sister believes he looks like:

Yes, the main boy of course. No doubt you've seen this video? I told her that maybe if I were drawing Jaden or something I could possibly use him as a model (not really), but to me, he doesn't have enough... er... depth or something. I don't know. Jaden-ness.

On that note, here are my picks:

A mix between that, and...

...that. She's even less crazy about the second, than the first. And no, Jaden would probably never be caught dead in that hat that Enrique is wearing, and yet: it's something about his movements -- and Jon McLaughlin's (who's an awesome artist by the way--listen to all his songs!). They're deliberate movements; passionate, but controlled. That's all Jaden to me. It's more about what's going on inside them then their looks. Though the looks fit too! Especially if you could mix them together.

I picture Jaden darker skinned, and somewhat foreign. My sister suggested "gypsy" and I'd say that's the right term. Gypsy is actual just another name for Romani people who live in parts of Europe, and they're actually traceable back to India, or close to it, in southern Asia. Insteresting hunh? yeah, I just found that out. Of course most people know about Gypsies for themselves. Think of Jaden like that!

And if you've read Ember, please leave a comment mentioning which one you'd say fits best! Or do you have your own suggestions? Sadly, I still haven't found an Evelyn.

Here's the closest:



Haha. Yeah, sure, it's Evelyn from "The Mummy". Now you're really not going to believe me that I don't have a name thing. Still...

And that's about it. I'ma get back to work editing, so you can look forward to reading. Thanks for stopping by!

P.S.

I wonder...

Does that mean...

Jaden????

Er...

No. :)

Though he is cute!

Go watch The Mummy!

Every day.

Review In!

A super-awesome reader/reviewer on Goodreads, Shauna of Ireland, has written a review for Fallen Kingdom! Read it below, and after that make sure to check out her other reviews. She reads lots of books. She's also just recently gone off to Spain for a few months to teach english, so show her some support by leaving a comment on her goodreads page, or just keep her in your prayers.

Alright, without further ado, here's the review... (haha, that rhymes) (I'm so witty) (not really) (oh, just ignore me, it's not like I'm a writer or anything... o_O...)

(oh, and p.s., there is one uber-minor spoiler, but you'll be forwarned)
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I felt the knife shake in my grip and I steadied it.
I gathered together all the deaths and pain that I knew to call on.
I drew upon Kraehe, and I drew upon Luffie, and I drew upon Tobias.

This is a murderer, I chanted to myself.

This is a murderer and I do not know him.

Oh, my traitorous heart.

Damn you, Tess Williams. Why couldn't you have just killed off Cyric before Ellia had the chance to infect me with all the feelings?!

What a roller coaster of emotions…I actually cried. Tears. For Cyric!! Not something I could have ever imagined myself doing after finishing book one.

Fallen Kingdom opens on a battle field, jumping right back into the thick of things. Ellia and Cyric each remain on opposing sides of the war, both doing their damnedest not to let their thoughts stray to the other.

Of course, this separation couldn't go on forever, because then where would our story be?
So when Ellia sacrifices herself by sending a wounded fellow warrior off on her chimera (spoiler)[and let me just say, I love that more time is being given to the granted animals throughout this book (un-spoiler)] she is taken captive (yes, again. that's gotta smart) and transported back to Akadia, and back to Cyric.

I loved Ellia's bravado, her fighting spirit. She's really come into her own this installment.

I did not love listening to stupid Cyric's stupid rationalizations for all the stupid stupid stupid things he does. Idiot. (No, that's a lie, I really love to hate that boy.)

It's all right though, because Ellia has a plan to regain her freedom. After all, she is a Ciralli warrior. Able to easily out-skill any of their best fighters, even kill them, to free herself.
Except Cyric's her designated keeper, and there's a big difference in turning your mind away from someone who was once your friend, and galvanizing yourself to kill them.

I felt my fists coiling with rage. I would have killed them--I would have killed anyone that Lox had left me with, I’d already determined to. I’d been in battles. I knew how to kill evil men. But why had it been Cyric?

With book one fresh in my mind, I had no such compunction. What matter that it's Cyric, Elia? Kill him, kill or at the very least maim him!!

She doesn't, of course. And as time went on I would, more often than not, find myself smiling stupidly at their exchanges. Though in my defense, much of this was for all the moxy our heroine was displaying.

Weren’t battles still waging? Weren’t people still dying? And wasn’t I on the opposite side of Cyric? Yet at the same time, I had never felt more sure of who I was and what I was doing.

...I’d seen who he was; now everything he did, every way he responded made me more sure that he was not evil. That he had only convinced himself to be, that he was confused, and scared. This was Cyric Dracla. He was my best friend. I knew him. He’d been mine from the moment I’d seen him, I’d decided this.
I’d let him go because deaths and wars and betrayal made all of that not matter. And here I was with the same dilemma, yet I felt certain that it was not right to abandon him anymore.

Somehow, someway, (I still don't know when or how she did it) Ellia won me over to her way of thinking. That is one loyal and determined friend.

At the end of the first book I scoffed, 'There is no way that boy could ever redeem himself in my eyes', but now I say 'Redeem yourself, Cyric! Redeem yourself!! You can do it!!!'

Tess Williams has managed that rare feat of creating a sequel even better than the first, so if you haven't read Fallen Prince yet- I am officially giving you the all clear.

Bring on book three!

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*
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AND... that's all folks. Have a great week!