The author contacted me via the site's contact form, requesting a review of his novel Werecats Emergent. The tale was pitched as a young adult urban fantasy. As that is a genre I am interested in and having never heard of werecats before, I took him up on his offer of an ARC in exchange for a review. Mark J. Engels gives urban fantasy fans a nice twist on werewolves. As the title of his novel indicates, he introduces us to werecats. I have never encountered a book featuring werecats before and found the idea compelling. Engles weaves a storyline jampacked with action and intrigue ..read more

In the latest entry of my book marketing series, I talk about landing my first joint U.S. and international featured deal with BookBub. I have landed international featured deals on two or three occasions. This is the first time I've landed a coveted U.S. featured deal. You can find my other marketing posts below: Email List Promo - What I've Experienced Social Media Promo - What I've Experienced Build your Newsletter list 101 Influencer Marketing Revisited: Email List Promo - What I've Experienced As I've stated previously, I'm not a book marketing maven. I'm just another so ..read more

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Frederick Radcliffe, a dragon masquerading as a human. Dr. Radcliffe makes his first appearance in Dragons Walk Among Us as, to all appearances, a slightly avuncular professor specializing in medieval history. Eventually, Allison discovers Radcliffe's secret. This enigmatic character reappears in The Blood of Faeries and continues his fraught relationship with Allison in The Wrath of Monsters. Where were you born? I was born a long time ago, far away from here.   What is your dream job? My current job as the Director of the U.N. Draconic ..read more

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Ms. Bergman, a recurring villain in The Allison Lee Chronicles. Ms. Bergman makes her first appearance in The Blood of Faeries as the lead interrogator charged with deciphering how Allison's hybrid physiology ticks. She takes special pleasure in terrorizing Allison. She appears in The Wrath of Monsters to happily traumatize Allison once again. Where were you born? Heh. I was born in the Ivory Coast. What? Surprised? Heh. My father was a foreign service officer. There's not much to say about it, really. We came back to the Un ..read more

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Jett, a reoccurring character in The Allison Lee Chronicles. Jett is a trickster who first appears in The Blood of Faeries, using magic to mesmerize Allison and inflame lustful desires. He makes another appearance in The Wrath of Monsters. When Allison encounters him, she doesn't know if she wants to bash his head or kiss him. Where were you born? I was born in a WWII bunker on Golden Shoal. My people had repurposed it as our base of operations. Golden Shoal is one of Singapore's many outlying islands. A very remote one. People aren't allowed to access ..read more

Today, on the blog, author Kevin R. Coleman discusses his thoughts on writing stories that include the classic science-fiction trope of artificial intelligence (AI). Of course, for better and worse, AI has been making waves in the news, writing community, and other creative spaces lately. It begs the question: when will science-fiction become science fact?   Writing about emergent AIs In my books, emergent AIs are important characters. Arising naturally in systems of sufficient complexity, they are not designed and are not constrained by any human-established rule ..read more

Street Team Sign Up Are you an avid reader? Do you love YA fantasy/urban fantasy? Do you enjoy supporting authors by leaving reviews? Are you a fan of The Allison Lee Chronicles? If you answered yes to one of these and want to join Allison's Street Team, message me stating you wish to sign up. The Wrath of Monsters releases on June 19, 2024, and I'll send out ARCs to the street team near the end of May. I want to sign up but haven't read the other books! No worries. I have you covered. Just let me know that you still need to read Dragons Walk Among Us or The Blood of Faeries ..read more

My younger son absolutely loves proclaiming every night as movie night. Now, if only he'd set aside time for reading without his parents nagging him…I guess that's why we know we're not living in a utopia! So, there are two conundrums…how can we find something to watch the entire family will enjoy, and what about reading time? Shows for the Fam Luckily, there are plenty of options out there, especially with streaming. Unfortunately, finding shows everyone can enjoy is a trial. For better or worse, our older son, a tween on the verge of being a teen, rarely will join the family for a movie ..read more

Pages2Screen Today, I bring you another post in my occasional series Pages2Screen, where I compare movies/series to the book or books they are based on. Wool to Silo When I saw Apple TV adapting Hugh Howey's Wool for the small screen, I was intrigued, to say the least. The trailers made the show look full of suspense and mystery. It had been several years since I read Wool, so even though I was familiar with the source material, it wasn't so fresh in my mind as to ruin the viewing experience. Wool Wool was a book I had a hard time getting into and finishing. When I ..read more

Have you read books recommended on #BookTok? I have. Some are great and others are more…well, meh. #BookTok books I've read The Hit Legends and Lattes is a book I first encountered being recommended in a Facebook fantasy and science fiction book group. Soon, I discovered the novel is considered a #BookTok phenomenon. At the time, I knew zilch about  #BookTok or TikTok other than if you went viral there, you could sell scads of books. So I did what any scribe would do. I got a copy to discover precisely what made the yarn astounding. First off, I listened to the audiobook, which is narra ..read more