Mr. Breeze is back; so is Michael Ryan and Rover, the magical dog.
MR. BREEZE fans can rejoice. REVELATION, Morrie Richfield’s much-anticipated sequel to his novel MR. BREEZE, has arrived. Readers new to the strange but inspiring tale of a super being and his attempt to set mankind on a straight and moral path for its very survival can immerse themselves in what critics and readers alike are calling an “inspirational fantasy” with important lessons for all of us.
In MR. BREEZE, published in 2011, Richfield introduced readers to Zackary, aka Zack, aka Mr. Breeze, an ancient being who claimed to be mankind’s creator and who still exerts a powerful force on the human race and its very existence. Zack appeared on earth as a powerful man who did miraculous deeds. He chose journalist Michael Ryan to tell his story in a book that, he hoped, would show mankind how to stop its self-destructive ways and bring paradise on earth. With man’s fate hanging in the balance, Zack disappeared, leaving humans to their fate and Michael wondering what his role really is.
REVELATION moves the action two years into the future. The situation looks bleak. Mankind has slipped back into its old, destructive ways and Michael has become a dissolute recluse. There are people who view Michael as a savior and others who see him as a threat to be eliminated.
Along this strange trip, Michael meets new friends and reunites with old companions, the most significant of which is Rover, an abused dog whom Zack endowed with superpowers. Rover becomes Zack’s messenger to Michael, as Michael tries to get Zack’s original message out to the world: If mankind doesn’t straighten out, he will destroy the human race.
Richfield plays down the description of REVELATION as an “inspirational fantasy.” He calls it a “self-help book, a textbook, a reality series on paper. It is what we see when we look in the mirror.”
If MR. BREEZE focused on Zack and his message, REVELATION focuses on Michael, following his struggle to understand his role in Zack’s master plan and to find his soul, Richfield says. “Michael’s final revelation is that we just don’t learn. Without the threat of destruction, we go back to our old ways. Our time is almost up and we need to do something. We need to show Mr. Breeze the human race deserves a chance to continue to exist.”
Morrie Richfield lives in Pennsylvania with his two sons, his dogs and his cat. He is working on his next novel, and he still dreams that someday the world will be a better place for all of us to live.
Kaleidoscope Summer: Book One of the Serenity Cove Series
by Rita Garcia
Inspirational Romance Fiction
Reviewed by Susan Keefe
Serenity Cove is a small town where everyone knows each other, the same families have lived there for generations and skeletons are settled nicely into cupboards.
Therefore, when Samantha and her hearing dog Goldie arrive spectacularly in town, she soon becomes the centre of attention, especially when people discover her identity.
Samantha, who became deaf at 15 years of age, is a beautiful, capable, independent woman and soon romance is in the air as she captures the heart of police chief Logan Delatorre. She makes some good friends, especially Logan’s sister Mandy, however, in towns like this, there are always unusual characters and mischief-makers.
We follow her on her rollercoaster journey of discovery, sharing her emotions as she discovers her roots and, with her faith in God, comes to terms with her discoveries.
Anybody who has lived in a small village or community can immediately emphasise with Serenity Cove, its very real characters and the life this book portrays.
A lovely story, which captivated me from page one and kept me guessing throughout with its twists and turns.
Meradeth’s never been a big fan of talking about herself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about her:
She’s a Northern California girl, but now lives and teaches anthropology in Montana. When she’s not writing, she’s sequencing dead people’s DNA. For fun! She’s been writing since she was 11 years old. It’s her hobby, her passion, and she’s so happy to get to share her work!
If she could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because she’s terrified of heights.
About the Book:
“They are everywhere, can be anyone, and are always the last person you’d expect.” When Tom stumbles across his grandfather’s journal, he’s convinced the old man was crazier than he thought. The book contains references to beings called the Sary, immortals who are assigned to save humans on the verge of suicide. They certainly aren’t allowed to fall in love with mortals. Which the journal claims Tom’s grandfather did, resulting in his expulsion from the Sary. As strange as the journal seems, Tom can’t get the stories out of his head; especially when he finds the photo of his grandfather’s wings.
Tom’s only distraction is Ari, the girl he studies with for their chemistry class.
Ari has one goal when she arrives in town: see how much Tom knows about the Sary and neutralize the situation. This isn’t a normal job, but protecting the secrecy of the Sary is vital. If Tom is a threat to exposing the Sary to the public, fate has a way of taking care of the situation, usually ending with the mortal’s death. While Ari spends time with Tom, he becomes more than just an assignment, but how far can a relationship go when she can’t tell him who she really is? When she finds out just how much Tom actually knows about the Sary, Ari is forced to choose between her wings, and her heart.
THE CHEMISTRY OF FATE is a companion to COLORS LIKE MEMORIES and is set before the latter takes place. It is geared toward an upper YA, or New Adult audience.
Q: Tell us why readers should buy THE CHEMISTRY OF FATE.
A: I think you should pickup a copy of Chemistry if you happen to enjoy a star-crossed love, a little flying, magic, and thinking about the secrets we all keep. Especially if you happen to like secrets that can be deadly!
Q: What makes a good paranormal romance?
A: For me, the characters come first. Can you identify with them, and do you root for them? Of course, a story that catches hold of you and doesn’t let go is just as important!
Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?
A: I honestly would love to know! I don’t have too many regular writing days, I’ll admit. Most of the time, I’m trying to eek in a few hours here and there, often in the evenings after a full day of teaching at the university.
Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?
A: When someone reads my stories. Mostly when they enjoy them and have a good time getting lost in my world, but I’m pretty happy with just reading them, too!
Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?
A: The best advice would have to be that you can’t please everyone. Make as many people happy as you can, but don’t sweat it if that’s not everyone—because it never will be! I tell myself this all the time when reading reviews (though I’ll be honest that it doesn’t always work!)
Dilruba Z. Ara was born in Bangladesh. Nurtured on Greek mythology by her father, and hearing Indian fairy tales as bedtime stories from her mother, Dilruba had her first story published when she was eight years old. While in university at the age of twenty, she met and married her husband, a Swedish Air Force officer, and moved to Sweden, where she obtained degrees in English, Swedish, Classical Arabic and linguistics. She now teaches Swedish and English in Sweden. An accomplished, exhibited artist, her paintings have been used as the covers for the Bangladeshi, Greek, and U.S. editions of A LIST OF OFFENCES.
The oppression of girls in the name of family honor.
What themes do you like to explore in your writing?
Family values, human relationships.
How long did it take you to complete the novel?
Five years
Are you disciplined? Describe a typical writing day
I am disciplined when I embark on a project. Since I work full-time as a teacher, I only write during evenings when the house is quiet. When I write I go offline, and usually work for hours before taking a break. Once there is a flow, I stay with it.
What did you find most challenging about writing this book?
Combining the beauty of the landscape with Daria’s horrible suffering.
What do you love most about being an author?
The power to create something where I am free to give words to thoughts beyond reality.
Did you go with a traditional publisher, small press, or did you self-publish? What was the process like and are you happy with your decision?
I had sent the finished manuscript to a few literary agents in the USA. Within a few days, three of them called back. I chose the most passionate one ‒ Doris Michaels. She loved the book, and sent it out to quite a few publishers in the USA, all of whom found it very beautiful, relevant, etc., but too slow-paced. I had worked very hard with each word, so I did not want to cut it down to fit their demands. In the end, I took it to The University Press Ltd, the leading publishing house in Bangladesh, and met the publisher myself. Upon reading the letters from various US editors, he took the manuscript from me and asked me to wait, outside the closed door. After about three hours he reappeared, with a contract. That was how it started. Then it was sold to Spain and Greece. In parts of South America it even hit the top ten list, along with The Kite Runner and A ThousandSplendid Suns. Even though only a few English copies were available, the book was reviewed in different newspapers and magazines, including The Chattahoochee Review. A review of it can even be read on the homepage of the Law Faculty at Ecuador University. Although I have been pleased with all this attention, at the same time I have been concerned that the English version had not been available to general readers outside Bangladesh. Hence, I decided to have my rights back. My publisher is a kind man, and understood me. Now I have published it independently.
Twenty-five years have passed since a savage killer terrorized California, massacring three ordinary families before disappearing without a trace.
The haunted child who was the only surviving victim of his rampage is now wanted by the FBI for brutal crimes of her own, and Special Agent Matthew Roarke is on an interstate manhunt for her, despite his conflicted sympathies for her history and motives.
But when his search for her unearths evidence of new family slayings, the dangerous woman Roarke seeks – and wants – may be his only hope of preventing another bloodbath.
This novel was a hell of a ride. Sokoloff has a gift for creating engrossing plots and heart-racing thrillers. I read the first book in the series, Huntress Moon, and although I loved that first instalment, this second one was even better.
First of all, the whole thing about the female serial killer–actually, a vigilante–is quite compelling, especially because our protagonist, Roarke, develops torn, conflicting feelings toward her. And we can’t help but do the same! Sokoloff has done her research well and she incorporates lots of information about the mind of the serial killer. She does this skillfully, however, without including long information dumps like some other authors do. Roarke is a sympathetic hero with a high sense of honor and justice. There are lots of twists and turns, yet the story evolves organically, with the right balance of quiet moments between the thrills. Lots of atmosphere, lots of interesting setups.
If you haven’t read Sokoloff’s novels yet, I highly recommend you do. She’s one of my favorite authors these days and her stories never disappoint. One more thing, although Moon Blood is the 2nd one in the series, it holds well as a stand-alone book, as the author incorporates bits of backstory here and there to quickly draw readers right into the central plot of the series. In sum, if you’re a fan of suspense and thrillers, I strongly recommend you pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.
It’s a thrill to have here Alexandra Sokoloff as my guest today, not only because her books are awesome, but because she happens to be one of my favorite writers. Needless to say, I’ve read all of her books.
Alexandra is the Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Black Quill award-nominated author of multiple supernatural thrillers, and the Top Ten Amazon bestselling Huntress/FBI thriller series (Huntress Moon, Blood Moon), which has also been nominated for a Thriller Award for Best E Book Original Novel.
The New York Times Book Review has called her a “daughter of Mary Shelley,” and her books “some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre.”
As a screenwriter, Alexandra she has sold original horror and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. She has also written two non-fiction writing workbooks: SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS (highly recommended, by the way!) and WRITING LOVE, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog, and has served on the Board of Directors of the WGA, west and the Board of the Mystery Writers of America.
Q: Hi there, Alexandra. Thanks for stopping by The Dark Phantom. Tell us why readers should buy BLOOD MOON.
A: If you’re at all interested in unusual psychological crime thrillers, this one will probably grab you. The main character is an FBI agent who is on the trail of what looks like a female serial killer, which Agent Roarke knows very well doesn’t occur in real life. So there’s a real psychological mystery about who this female killer is and why she does what she does. Readers find their expectations challenged and their sympathies conflicted, just as Roarke does.
Q: What makes a good thriller?
A: I think different people are looking for different things in thrillers. There’s such a wide variety of experiences and sensations available from different books in the genre. Personally I am bored senseless by car chases and gun battles and international intrigue. What I love in a thriller is nail-biting suspense and psychological game playing and sexual tension and mystery and moral dilemmas and twists. So that’s the kind of thing I write, of course!
Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?
A: I start by seven or eight a.m. and write for seven or eight hours a day, much more if I’m on an intense deadline. Some of those hours are business, of course. But I’m a full-time writer, I treat it like a job because it IS my job. One thing that is not like a regular job is that I change clothes a lot during the day. Some days I am quite dressed up. I need to entertain myself some way other than eating!
Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?
A: Without question, having readers read my books and experience the world and the characters just as if they’re caught up in a film. And then being able to dialogue with them about the story and characters and their experience of the story. It’s such an intimate relationship. Incomparable.
Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?
A: For aspiring authors, “Find a small room in a big city and sit down at your desk in front of the window. When you stand up ten years later, you will be a writer.” That’s from Saroyan.
And for authors in general, “E-publish.” It’s more complicated than that, of course, but you asked for the best advice!
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Book II of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers
Twenty-five years have passed since a savage killer terrorized California, massacring three ordinary families before disappearing without a trace.
The haunted child who was the only surviving victim of his rampage is now wanted by the FBI for brutal crimes of her own, and Special Agent Matthew Roarke is on an interstate manhunt for her, despite his conflicted sympathies for her history and motives.
But when his search for her unearths evidence of new family slayings, the dangerous woman Roarke seeks – and wants – may be his only hope of preventing another bloodbath.
Mark All is the author of paranormal thrillersThe Spellcaster’s Grimoire and Mystic Witch, published by ImaJinn Books in trade paperback and eBook formats. He has won two international writing awards and contributed to Computer Legends, Lies & Lore.
Mystic Witch received a 5 Star review from the Paranormal Romance Guild, and 3½ stars (out of 4½ possible stars) from RT Book Reviews.
Mark is a full-time author after a career as an instructional systems designer at a Fortune 16 company. Prior to his work in computer-based training, he held jobs ranging from gravedigger to FM radio announcer to professional rock guitarist.
Mark presents writing workshops and taught his “Planning Your Novel” course at the Spruill Center for the Arts.
He earned a Masters degree in computer-based education and a Bachelor of Music cum laude.
Yes, I do think people are born with varying amounts of talent. But more important is the amount of desire to write, which determines how much you’re willing to put in the time to master the craft. I recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers for great insight into succeeding at any endeavour and inspiration to make it happen. My college classical guitar instructor said everyone must master technique, and then you’d see how good a guitarist you are. So if you master your craft, not just prose, but story structure, characterization, and the like, you’ll be writing publishable books. They might not be as good as Stephen King or Nora Roberts or Jonathan Franzen, but there are many levels of success.
What was your inspiration for The Spellcaster’s Grimoire?
The “ancient, eldritch tome” is a trope that always gave me chill bumps, and I wanted to write about a lost book of magic for years. I love stories about a hidden or forgotten artifact that holds mystic powers both great and terrible. It can be a metaphor for the power of the unconscious mind, or our latent potential, and engenders stories about personal growth, which seems like magic—because it really is.
What themes do you like to explore in your writing?
Personal growth and self-fulfillment. I think all stories are models of human problem-solving, and fulfilling your potential in response to a crisis is the ultimate challenge.
How long did it take you to complete the novel?
Hard to say, because there are lapses of down-time while the editor reviews it and then revisions for the editor, then proof-reading the galley. Usually it takes me a month or two to plot the novel, maybe three to write it, and another two or three months to do at least a couple of revisions and proof. Let’s throw in some down time to deal with life events, and say nine months. Then you may need to do querying, submissions, and marketing—during which time you’re working on the next novel!
Are you disciplined? Describe a typical writing day.
I usually write in the mornings when I’m fresh, maybe three hours, before lunch. Somewhere in there I’ll break for a walk for exercise. In the afternoon I might revise a previous work, keep in touch with social networking, do errands, or get in my guitar practice or record original music.
What did you find most challenging about writing this book?
Coming up with an interesting and workable concept is always the most challenging for me. You can have lots of exciting ideas, and you can use story structure to turn anything into a book, but you need to do something different, something that hasn’t been done before, put a new spin on your premise.
What do you love most about being an author?
Hearing people discuss my book and argue about the characters, the way I do with books I’ve enjoyed. That to me is success, that people enjoyed the book and care about the characters.
Did you go with a traditional publisher, small press, or did you self publish? What was the process like and are you happy with your decision?
For my previous book, Mystic Witch, I queried a number of agents and came close, but didn’t quite snag one. I tried the only major publisher I could determine accepted non-agented queries. At the time, I was becoming aware that there are a number of great small presses out there, so I decided to give that a try before giving up and moving on to the next book. I hadn’t queried many before ImaJinn Books signed me to a two book contract. At a time when major publishers are signing fewer new authors, it’s wonderful to have small presses like ImaJinn that are putting out quality books to provide choices for readers tired of the big name authors who publish the same book over and over.
Bestselling witchcraft author Trish Sinclair has a shameful secret: she’s a lousy spellcaster, and the spells in her books belong to others. So when a dying warlock entrusts her with an ancient and powerful grimoire, she runs for her life from his murderer, psychotic witch Kate Cavanaugh. Kate pursues Trish relentlessly to obtain the grimoire, which holds spells to command the fearsome power of a magic crystal hidden in town—and Kate is determined to have that power.
When the town coven refuses to help Trish protect the grimoire, she is forced to turn to cynical warlock Aidan McCarthy, who has a secret agenda of his own, and Rain Devereaux, a novice witch whose spellcasting abilities are even worse than Trish’s. As Kate unleashes the elemental might of tornados and ice storms on the trio, they desperately struggle to defeat her.
But Kate is too powerful, and she manages to steal the grimoire and unearth the crystal. Trish knows Kate will use the stone’s power to exact her deadly revenge on Aidan and the town coven unless Trish can manifest her latent magical abilities to save them.
Foreword Best Book of the Year Winner, 2011 Global eBooks Awards Winner, National Best Books Award Finalist and EPPIE Finalist! Currently required reading at Loyola College, Kent University and Claremont University.
