Tag Archives: novels

Review: CRUEL BEAUTY by Rosamund Hodge

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When a book keeps me up all night, I have to blog about the story. I started reading CRUEL BEAUTY by Rosamund Hodge Friday evening and didn’t go to bed until 6am!

cruel-beauty-sml

Of course, I’ve always been a sucker for anything remotely BEAUTY AND THE BEAST with a twist. (Those that have beta read my BEAST know this to be true.) And this story delivers! Now, I’m usually one to stay away from tales that mention a demon. Yunno, cracking the door paranoia sort of thing. But this isn’t that kind of story to fear. No Heaven versus Hell with fallen angels stuff, but more internal good versus evil. The fact that Rosamund created Nyx Triskelion (this story’s Belle) with bitterness in her heart made the character more realistic. Darkness lives inside the Lord of Bargain’s ever changing castle (which reminds me of Hogwarts) and the magical turns will keep you flipping to the next page. And if you’re a fan of Greek mythology, Rosamund perfectly weaves the ancient gods into her eerily twisted tale.

But wait…there’s more! (Mhmm, I said that.)

I couldn’t get enough of Rosamund’s style. So on Saturday, I read her novella GILDED ASHES (CRUEL BEAUTY UNIVERSE BOOK 2). This is sort of a prequel to CRUEL BEAUTY, but only in the sense that it takes place in the same area before the time of Nyx Triskelion and the Lord of Bargain makes a cameo. This is it’s own twisted story based on CINDERELLA. Rosamund keeps true to her flawed characters and betrayal’s that leave you fuming.

GildedAshes_web

Now, I’m anticipating the release of her next novel CRIMSON BOUND. And you guessed it, another twisted fairytale retelling: LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. Give me!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

THE YEAR 2015

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Many folk make new year resolutions every year: shed more weight, spend more time with the family, get a better job, buy a house, find a better treatment for an illness, and on and on and on. These are important to all who make them and often are needed for improvements in the quality of their life. But for writer’s, resolutions tend to remain similar: write a manuscript (or write a better manuscript), find awesome critique partners, sign with an agent, get an amazing editor, have a book published (or get another book published), and so forth. But what if last years resolution wasn’t met?

Making the decision to do something and see it to fruition doesn’t always mean that it will occur in the timeframe one may wish. Does this mean a person should give up on that resolution? Of course not. Only ideas that are abandoned will certainly never see the light of day. Maybe the method someone uses works fine and just needs more time. Or maybe the person needs to find a new approach. For example, maybe a pantser decides to outline a plot this year or perhaps a writer reworks a query letter to take a completely different angle. Everyone should find what works best for them, even if it means changing things up a bit. With diligence and creativity, resolutions for 2015 can be accomplished.

Believe!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

#PITMAD, hosted by @Brenda Drake

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Don’t forget the quarterly pitch event with Brenda Drake is coming up this Thursday, December 4, 2014 on twitter under the hashtag #PitMad. If you are new to the game of writing, this is where you create a 140 character pitch for your FINISHED manuscript and tweet for agents to read. Things to remember:

  • Pitch submission time is 8am-8pm EDT (New York time)
  • You must fit the hashtag of #Pitmad within the 140 characters.
  • Include the category and genre in the 140 characters.
  • Change tweets up. (Twitter will remove identical ones thinking they are spam.)
  • DON’T FAVORITE TWEETS! This is for agents only. (If you want to support a friend, do it by retweeting.)
  • If you won’t be available this day, schedule tweets using Tweetdeck.
  • Only tweet once per thirty minutes so you don’t hog congest the feed.
  • Don’t tweet agents and editors directly unless they tweet you first.
  • Scammers can’t be controlled on an open pitch party. DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you submit from a favorite.

For additional tips, go to Brenda’s Drakes Pitmad page. As always, good luck!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

PITCH WARS: MEET THE AGENTS

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In case you’re wondering, PITCH WARS is a super cool contest hosted by the fabulous Brenda Drake. And, of course, it’s a writing contest. What else would I post? And what’s seriously special about this contest is writers will be selected for mentoring. That’s right, winners will get help polishing their ENTIRE manuscript to get it ready for the agent round.

Girls wanna have fun

Today Brenda posted the awesome lineup of agents that will be participating from agencies such as The Bent Agency, Dystel & Goderich, Sarah Jane Freymann, Park Literary, Writers House, Andrea Brown Literary, and—and more! So go check them out here.

The submission window is fast approaching…August 18th, 2014 to be exact. Get your fingers flying on those keyboards and finish that novel to submit. I know you can do it!

Good luck and happy writing!

P.D. Pabst
Writer and blogger of MG/YA fiction

 

SARA CROWE: Author of BONE JACK

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It’s true. I’m a sucker for great cover art. I’ll pass over a book without reading the blurb if the cover doesn’t lure me to pick up the novel. With a blackened figure of a young boy wearing antlers on his head , BONE JACK by Sara Crowe made me want to know in what type of world a boy would have them on his head.  Then I read there were ghosts in this story about a stag boy and I love ghosts!

BONE JACK

Synopsis:

Ash’s dad has returned from war. But he’s far from the hero Ash was expecting. He’s close to a breakdown, lost in a world of imaginary threats. Meanwhile, Ash’s best friend Mark is grieving and has drifted away into his own nightmares. Ash’s only escape is his lonely mountain running, training to be the stag boy in the annual Stag Chase.

But dark things are stirring. Ghostly hound boys prowl the high paths, and in the shadows a wild man watches. Ash begins to wonder if the sinister stories about the Stag Chase are true. Could Mark and Dad be haunted by more than just their pasts?

The first paragraph promised danger in the pages to come and I devoured the entire book. Therefore, I reached out to the author for a little Q and A. (Read full interview.)