Dragons are Real

BeachBoundBooks is pleased to be coordinating a Blog Tour for the charming children's book written by Valarie Budayr and illustrated by Michael Welply, Dragons are Real. The tour will run from May 9 - May 30, 2016

About the Book

Title: Dragons are Real | Author: Valarie Budayr | Illustrator: Michael Welply Publisher: Audrey Press | Publication Date: May 5, 2016 | Genre: Children's Picture Book Number of Pages: 32

Book Description:

What if I told you that all of the fairy tales, myths and legends that have been told about dragons over the years are WRONG? What if I told you that Dragons are indeed REAL and that they are different than you've ever imagined? Did you know that Dragons are the master of disguises? Did you know that they love sugar and sweets (at unacceptable levels) and will do anything for treats? Award winning author Valarie Budayr brings us this fairly true story based on her childhood friendship with a REAL live Dragon.

Take a look inside the book...

About the Author: Valarie Budayr

Award Winning and Best-selling author, Valarie Budayr inspires children and adults alike to experience their books through play, discovery, and adventure via engaging extension activities on her popular website, www.jumpintoabook.com.

Valarie is co-founder of Multi-cultural Children's Book Day , #ReadYourWorld, a celebration of diverse and cultural kid-lit shared with over 98 million people on January 27th. Her foundation puts hundreds of books into the hands of children in rural and intercity areas. www.multiculturalchildrensbookday.com
Valarie's other best-selling and award winning titles are: The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden, The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and A Year in the Secret Garden.

Twitter | Facebook (Audrey Press) | Facebook (Jump Into A Book) | Google+

 Pinterest | Goodreads | Website

About the Illustrator: Michael Welply

Michael Welply was born in London in 1948. The family moved to Winnipeg, Canada, in 1950. He studied art in Winnipeg and then in Paris, but his idea of living from the sales of his paintings is somewhat compromised by the lack of buyers. He started his career as an illustrator in 1977 in London. In 1981 he returned to live in France with his American wife and their two children. Since then he has worked for publishers in both Europe and North America. To date he has illustrated over 80 books and more than 100 covers, in a wide range of subjects extending from detailed non-fiction to juvenile and adult fiction in the realms of fantasy, mythology, science fiction and fairy tales.

Website

Blog Tour Giveaway

Prize: One winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card or $100 PayPal cash prize, winner's choice 
Giveaway ends: May 30, 11:59 pm, 2016 
Open to: Internationally 
How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, Valarie Budayr and is hosted and managed by Stacie from BeachBoundBooks. If you have any additional questions feel free to send an email to stacie@BeachBoundBooks.com.

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Cryptogram Chaos written by Linda Covella

BeachBoundBooks is pleased to be coordinating a Blog Tour for the middle grade virtual reality adventure Cryptogram Chaos written by Linda Covella. The tour will run from May 23 - June 13, 2016

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About the Book

 

Title: Cryptogram Chaos| Author: Linda Covella | Publisher: IngramSpark Publication Date: March 9, 2016 | Genre: Middle Grade Adventure | Number of Pages: 197 

Book Description:

What if you were 8, or 11, or 14, and you could race cars at 150 mph, bungee jump, fly, eat all the ice cream and candy you wanted, or become powerful avatars such as Robobug, Kulshedra the dragon, and Altai, the gryphon avatar? All this and more is possible in the ultimate virtual reality game The Cryptogram Connection created by 14-year-old computer whiz Cody Reynolds and his two classmates, Nicole Nash and Kerry McCorkle. To advance to different levels in the game, players must solve cryptograms, or secret codes. (Readers also get to solve the cryptograms.) They create their game to be used with the latest VR technology developed by local game manufacturer NuVision Games–a headset with biosensors that transmit signals to the brain, fooling it into tasting, hearing, feeling, seeing, and smelling what was programmed into the game. The games are as close to reality as reality itself. The game becomes every kids’ virtual dream, and Cody, Nicole, and Kerry, besides becoming national celebrities, make more money than they ever imagined. But The Cryptogram Connection turns into “cryptogram chaos” when an evil presence inhabits Zazar, the laser avatar and the most powerful, and takes control of the game. It’s up to the three partners to enter the game and fight Zazar to save the gamers from virtual—and real—disaster.

Take a look inside the book...

Cryptogram Connection: Level 1

Cryptogram Connection: Level 2

                                                        My Review

Cryptogram Chaos written by Linda Covella is a virtual reality adventure that is perfect for teens, young adults, and adults.  Cryptogram Chaos written by Linda Covella takes the reader inside a virtual reality game and the dangerous that lurk inside it. I enjoyed how the author included the puzzles in the book in such a way that allows the reader to try solving the puzzles themselves. I found the puzzles to be at a level that would be solvable by middle school students with out undue struggling. I also liked that the reader can just as easily skip the puzzles if he or she desires too. The back of the book has answers to all of the puzzles which is very nice as it allows the reader to know if they did it right or not. I found the book to be an interesting read though I feel like I would have enjoyed it more in middle school than I did now as an adult. I was provided with a free copy of Cryptogram Chaos written by Linda Covella for only my honest and unbiased review of the book.

Plated by Elana Karp & Suzanne Dumaine

Plated by Elana Karp & Suzanne Dumaine

The more than 125 inventive, repertoire-building recipes in Plated will help you cook and eat food you love without having to think so hard about it. Every dish here will work no matter how much (or little) time you have to cook, whether it’s quick dinner on a Monday for two or a backyard barbecue for a crowd.  The recipes are all rooted in a core technique—think One-Pan Roasted Chicken, Slow-Simmered Turkey Chili, or Cheesy Baked Penne—but can also be customized according to peak produce and just what you’re in the mood for. Step-by-step prep instructions and menu ideas take the stress out of cooking, so you know exactly what to do and when. Here, too, are ways for you to stretch these recipes, like basic marinades and spice rubs that can be used on almost anything, reinventions for leftovers, big-batch make-aheads, company-worthy feasts, and perfect sides. Plated is sure to become a well-loved, sauce-splattered staple in your kitchen.

About the Author

Founded in 2012, Plated is the premium cook-at-home delivery service whose mission is to help people cook more and live better. It seeks to restore—and redefine—cooking culture through the meals shipped nationwide each week.

Elana Karp earned her culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Suzanne Dumaine trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York, and was a recipe editor for Cooking Channel. They lead Plated’s culinary team, where they develop innovative, globally inspired recipes for the menus customers select from each week. The only thing either of them love more than cooking is teaching others to love it, too.

My Review

Plated by Elana Karp & Suzanne Dumaine is a very nice and simple cookbook that is perfect for people looking to prepare food for their family and friends. For the bigger meals the recipes have a step by step process outlined telling you the idea order for creating the meal in order to cut down on the stress involved. There are a ton of amazing and yet simple recipes in Plated by Elana Karp & Suzanne Dumaine. The recipes are all laid out in an easy to understand manner that makes them very easy to make and enjoy. Plated by Elana Karp & Suzanne Dumaine also has numerous short recipes for thing like sauces, dressing, and such. The dessert recipes are amazing there are these chocolate chip ice cream cups that are to DIE for. The best part of Plated by Elana Karp & Suzanne Dumaine is that all of the recipes call for ingredients that are easy to get at the store you do not need to make a trip to Whole Foods or a farmer's market unless you want to. I was sent a copy of Plated by Elana Karp & Suzanne Dumaine for free for only my honest and unbiased review of the book.

Title: Murder at Morningside Author: Sandra Bretting

Inside the Book:

Title: Murder at Morningside 

Author: Sandra Bretting 

Publisher: Lyrical Underground 

Genre: Mystery 

Format: Ecopy

Hat designer Missy DuBois opened her shop, Crowning Glory, along Louisiana’s Great River Road to cater to the sophisticated Southern bride. But bless her heart, who knew creating stylish wedding veils would lead to murder? Hired to craft a veil for a socialite getting married at Morningside Plantation means Missy can bask in the height of antebellum atmosphere. But when the bride is found dead in a women’s bathroom, Missy the milliner finds herself entangled in one unfashionable murder.

With the list of suspects thicker than the sweltering Louisiana heat, including a gaggle of bridesmaids shedding nary a tear and a family with no shortage of enemies, it seems anyone at the mansion may have done away with the bride-to-be. While Missy has Southern charm to spare, she’s going to need more than manners and a manicure to put a hat pin on this murderous affair . . .

 

Meet the Author

Sandra Bretting has served as a freelance feature writer for the Houston Chronicle since moving to Texas in 1996. She received a journalism degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and spent her early career in healthcare public relations at medical centers throughout Southern California. Other publications for which she’s written include the Los Angeles Times and Woman’s Day. Readers can visit her website at SandraBretting.com.

 

Tour Schedule

Tuesday, May 24 - Book featured at E-Romance News

Book featured at The Bookworm Lodge

Book featured at 3 Partners in Shopping

Wednesday, May 25 - Guest blogging at Books for Books

Book featured at Lisa's Louisiana Home

Thursday, May 26 - Book featured at Readsalot

Book featured at Fiction Zeal

Friday, May 27 - Book featured at Born to Read Books

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Monday, May 30 - Book featured at CBY Book Club

Tuesday, May 31 - Guest blogging at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Wednesday, June 1 - Guest blogging at TNBTA: Independence Through Performance

Thursday, June 2 - Book featured at Around the World in Books

Friday, June 3 - Book featured at Voodoo Princess

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Monday, June 6 - Book featured at I'm Shelf-ish

Tuesday, June 7 - Book featured at A Title Wave

Wednesday, June 8 - Book featured at Harmonious Publicity

Thursday, June 9 - Book featured at Authors and Readers Book Corner

Friday, June 10 - Interviewed at Deal Sharing Aunt

Book reviewed at Laura's Interests

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Monday, June 13 - Book reviewed at Live Love Books

Tuesday, June 14 - Guest blogging at Don't Judge, Read

Wednesday, June 15 - Book reviewed at Book Babble

Book featured at Stormy Vixen's Book Reviews

Thursday, June 16 - Book reviewed at DJ's Book Corner

Book featured at Celticlady's Reviews

Friday, June 17 - Book reviewed at Books are Love

Book reviewed at Storeybook Reviews

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The Torch Principle

Title: The Torch Principle

Author: Javier Ideami
Publisher: Sound of Touch
Pages: 404
Genre: Nonfiction/

Are you facing personal or professional challenges that require original and innovative solutions? Are you tired of the typical solutions that don’t produce lasting results? Would you like to find a better balance between your creative and your analytical muscles in order to empower your career, health and well-being?

The Torch principle (Creativity) is a unique book + online platform (torchprinciple.com) that empowers your creative muscles and helps you generate original solutions to your personal and professional challenges. Award winning creative director Javier Ideami brings you a book plus an online all in one platform to empower your career, health and well-being through radically enhancing your creativity.

• Learn multisensory brainstorming techniques.
• Generate unique solutions to your personal and professional challenges.
• Reach a better balance between your analytical and your creative muscles.
• Empower your career, health and well-being through creative thinking.
• Get access to an online platform (torchprinciple.com) with videos, tools and graphics that help you visualize and understand the content as well as exercise your creative muscles.

The Torch Principle gives you the background knowledge you need combined with specific exercises and techniques that can help you find solutions and ideas for the personal and professional challenges you face. It also helps you reach a better balance between your analytical and your creative muscles. This, in turn, benefits your career, health and well-being.

We all have challenges, personal and professional. Typical solutions often don’t last and can’t adapt to the complexity of the situation we face or are ineffective against the competition. That’s why you need truly innovative and original solutions. You need to diverge strongly before you converge onto those solutions. To diverge strongly you need strong creative muscles. The Torch Principle gives you exercises to train your creative muscles and the tools to produce ideas and solutions that can overcome complexity and competition. Solutions that last.

You need to read this book because:

• It will give you specific strategies and tools to generate more original and innovative ideas/solutions to your personal and professional challenges.
• It will help you find a better balance between your analytical and your creative muscles. This will benefit your career, health and well-being.
• You get much more than a book. You get access to an online platform with videos, software apps and graphics that will help you visualize and understand the content as well as exercise your creative muscles.

>>>Much more than a book, the torch principle gives you:

• An online platform with resources to complement the book.
• Dozens of videos and graphics to support the exercises and the content of the book.
• Software Apps to exercise your creative muscles.

Many of the principles of the book have been put in practice for years in the Springkite workshops that Ideami created in Silicon Valley, California, the epicenter of innovation. Now you can access this powerful mixture of knowledge and techniques to empower your thinking and generate more innovative solutions for your challenges.

About the Author

Javier Ideami is a multidisciplinary creative director, engineer, artist and entrepreneur. Javier is the founder of Ideami Studios and many other ventures all around the world, from Silicon Valley to the jungles of Bali. He has spoken at prestigious institutions, from Stanford University and UC Berkeley in California, to the United Nations FAO Headquarters, the financial center of London, the faculty of architecture of the University of Rome, the International Cultural Diplomacy Conference in Berlin and many others. He has received awards in areas as diverse as software engineering, music, filmmaking, photography, technology installations, etc. His central web is at ideami.com.

Review

This is my first time reading a paperback book that refers me to websites, videos, and online music that I was supposed to read, listen to, and watch alongside the readings from the book. I personally found this to be a bit confusing as it was a lot of information to take in from different sources. That said once I figured it all out the extra resources really made sense with the book. It was very helpful that the author wrote a how to read this book section as without it I would have had a lot more problems with understanding the extra resources. 
This is very much a book that must be read in order as each chapter builds off of the chapter before it. There were times that I had to go back and reread a chapter in order to understand the material. This is a book that is meant for high school students and up anyone with an education less than high school might have difficulty grasping the material as it is very in depth.  
This book has given me new insight into how to face my personal and professional challenges. I was sent a copy of this book for free for only my honest and unbiased review.

The God Wave by Patrick Hemstreet

Inside the Book:

Title: The God Wave 

Author: Patrick Hemstreet 

Release Date: May 17, 2016 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Genre: Thriller/Suspense 

Format: Ebook/Paperback/Hardcover/Audio

A team of neuroscientists uncover amazing new capabilities in the brain that may steer human evolution toward miraculous and deadly frontiers in this spectacular debut work of speculative science fiction—Limitless meets James Rollins—that combines spirituality and science in an inventive, mind-blowing fashion.

For decades, scientists have speculated about the untapped potential of the human brain. Now, neuroscientist Chuck Brenton has made an astonishing breakthrough. He has discovered the key—the crucial combination of practice and conditioning—to access the incredible power dormant in ninety percent of our brains. Applying his methods to test subjects, he has stimulated abilities that elevate brain function to seemingly “godlike” levels.

These extraordinary abilities can transform the world, replacing fear and suffering with tranquility and stability. But in an age of increasing militarization, corporate exploitation, and explosive technological discovery, a group of influential power brokers are determined to control Brenton’s new superbeings for their own manipulative ends—and their motives may be far from peaceful.

  

Meet the Author:

  Patrick Hemstreet is a novelist, neuroengineer, entrepreneur, patent-pending inventor, special-warfare-trained Navy medic, stand-up comic, and actor. He lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife and sons. The God Wave is his first novel.

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Tour Schedule

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Tuesday, May 17 - Book featured at Stormy Vixen's Book Reviews

Wednesday, May 18 - Book featured at Harmonious Publicity

Thursday, May 19 - Book featured at The Literary Nook

Friday, May 20 - Book reviewed at Blooming with Books

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Monday, May 23 - Book reviewed at Books for Books

Tuesday, May 24 - Book featured at The Dark Phantom

Wednesday, May 25 - Book featured at A Title Wave

Thursday, May 26 - Book featured at Chosen By You Book Club

Friday, May 27 - Book featured at Write and Take Flight

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Monday, May 30 - Book reviewed at Deco My Heart

Tuesday, May 31 - Book featured at Voodoo Princess

Wednesday, June 1 - Book featured at The Review From Here

Thursday, June 2 - Book featured at Literal Exposure

Friday, June 3 - Book reviewed at I'm Shelf-ish

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Monday, June 6 - Book featured at The Bookworm Lodge

Tuesday, June 7 - Book reviewed at Cover2Cover

Wednesday, June 8 - Book featured at Around the World in Books

Thursday, June 9 - Book reviewed at The Recipe Fairy

Friday, June 10 - Book reviewed at Deal Sharing Aunt

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My Review

The God Wave by Patrick Hemstreet has a slow start. This is a book that can be very interesting to people who posses a bit of background knowledge on the brain, psychology, or the science of the mind. The God Wave by Patrick Hemstreet is a scientific style science fiction, which I personally found a little bit boring in the beginning until I really got into it. The more I learned about the characters and what they were trying to do the more interested I got in the book. This is one of those books that makes you think and question what is truly possible. If you enjoy science based science fiction that you will truly enjoy this book; especially if you are the type of person who likes to push at the limits of reality and fiction. I was sent a free copy of The God Wave by Patrick Hemstreet for only my honest and unbiased review of The God Wave by Patrick Hemstreet .

The Apostates

The Apostates (The Apostates, #1) by Lars Teeney
New Megiddo has been born out of the ashes of America, an America that has sacrificed liberty for security. Ravaged by environmental disaster and shuttered off from the rest of the world by border fortress walls, and the strict dogma of spiritual leader, The Reverend Wilhelm Wainwright, the people take small comfort from the sermons the Reverend delivers straight to the people's minds via the [Virtue-Net]. However, the President John W. Schrubb Administration has been losing its grip on power. Murmurs and rumors of a resistance group of Apostates emanate from "Database" dens in the slums, financed by a mysterious source, are said to be scheming to free the people. Will the Apostates strike in time before the Born Again Gathering ushers in a state-induced Armageddon?

My Review:

The Apostates series caught my interest because of my love of all things science fiction. The Apostates series is very much a series that falls into the science fiction genre though they also have many elements of dystopian and post-apocalyptic. One of the science fiction elements that I found to be really cool was the Virtue Net; the populace are all fitted with internal Virtue Net devices. The Virtue Net allows each person to be tracked which in turn limits personal freedoms. Now while the Virtue Net is a completely evil concept it is still a very cool one that the author develops throughout the novel. 

The Apostates (The Apostates, #1) by Lars Teeney is a six hundred page book that is filled with many new and futuristic devices and technology like the Virtue Net. The author truly did an outstanding job with making this dystopian future seem not only realistic, but also understandable. The author went into great detail about everything, which really helped me to understand all of the technology.

Besides the technology and science fiction element the author truly created a whole world with how he delves into politics, religion, and rebellion. The rebellion part reminded me a little of the rebels in Star Wars which I though was awesome.

I won't spoil the plot for you by telling you all about the story line, but I will say that if you enjoy science fiction then you will enjoy this book.

The Apostates Book Two: Remnants by Lars Teeney

After the fall of the ruling Regime of New Megiddo, the John W. Schrubb Administration, the remnants of the country are fought over by the Republic of China Army, the Societatum Pentagram, ‘Database’ cartels, and independent city-states. Greta Sanchez, a former Apostate resistance commander who had sought refuge in West Europa is haunted by the nuclear annihilation of the old capital, New Megiddo City. In order to atone for her complicity in the destruction, she resolves to return to America to stop a new war. Greta sets out to track down her old comrades to reform the Apostates to meet new threats.

My Review:

The Apostates series caught my interest because of my love of all things science fiction. The Apostates series is very much a series that falls into the science fiction genre though they also have many elements of dystopian and post-apocalyptic. This is the second book in the series and takes place where book one left off. The Apostates managed to tear down the Regime, but that is all that they did. They left everything somewhat unfinished by not rebuilding and now the land is left vulnerable to new takeovers and invasions. This book is very much a post-apocalyptic book as the apocalyptic event has passed and is over and now it is time to try and putting everything back together. I found Greta to be my favorite character I liked how she realized that things needed to still be fixed and her initiative in tracking down the Apostates to reform them again to fix everything once more.

If you enjoyed The Apostates (The Apostates, #1) by Lars Teeney then you will absolutely love The Apostates Book Two: Remnants by Lars Teeney. The author stays true to his science fiction genre and yet he continues to move the story line forward. Often times sequels are not nearly as good as the originals, but I am happy to tell you that book two was just as good as book one. In fact I actually enjoyed book two more than book one. For me it was the fact that the rebellion succeeded, but they still need to fix everything. The author not only focused on the Apostates needed to fix everything again, but also on the threats that they faced from new enemies.

Biography

After going to an art school in San Francisco, racking up insane student loans and working for years as a freelance designer for the start-up culture, I became burnt out. I abandoned the Bay Area for the Pacific North-west, where I could hike and bike to my heart's content.

Although the idea for the book had been swimming around in my head and on random notebooks for 10 years, it wasn't until my mother got sick that I received a memento mori that put I fire under my sack to write The Apostates.

The Acrylic Painter: Tools and Techniques for the Most Versatile Medium

A complete course on acrylic painting for beginners and experienced artists that covers classic approaches and new innovations

Embraced for versatility, quick-drying properties, and non-toxicity, no medium offers a wider range of effects forcreating highly expressive art than acrylics. With its flexibility and ease of use, acrylic paint is a must-try for painters—no matter your skill level. 

Here noted artist and School of Visual Arts instructor James Van Patten draws from years of experience to show you how to use acrylics to achieve a variety of results—from watercolor-like transparency and the flatness of tempera and gouache to the buttery quality of oils. He presents an insider’s look at the most up-to-date tools, materials, and techniques used by top painters in the medium to produce highly expressive art. 

Van Patten offers guidance on materials, processes, balance, and composition, and focuses on effectively using color in painting. Replete with detailed step-by-step technical demonstrations and a catalog of inspiring works by notable past and contemporary artists, as well as the author himself and his students, The Acrylic Painter provides a complete, classic art instruction manual for painters of all abilities in one of today’s most popular types of paint.

About the Author

James Van Patten is a native of Seattle, Washington, where he graduated from the University of Washington in 1965 with a BA in art education with an emphasis on painting. He completed his MFA in 1968 in Painting with minors in both Art History and Printmaking from Michigan State University. He has taught painting (as well as other studio classes), and lectured in art history at the university level in the ensuing years on both coasts and in the Midwest. Presently, he is a professor of painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY. There he has taught the only course in acrylic techniques offered by SVA for over twenty years. He’s spent bulk of his career in the studio as a practicing artist, working primarily in acrylic paint on large-scale landscape paintings. OK Harris, New York, NY represented him exclusively for over thirty years, and for over a decade the Plus One Gallery of London has shown his work exclusively in England. His work is featured in collections throughout the United States and Europe.

My Review

So I have to say this is not the book I was hoping it would be, but I ended up being happy anyway. I thought this would be a guide book to painting with acrylics and instead it teaches you about acrylics. I have never been a big painter before so I was hoping for a DIY guide to everything. This book does a great job teaching you about which paints are better, what not to buy, and different painting styles. However it did not teach me how to paint them. There were some guides to getting started in different areas of painting like abstract, but noting concrete. Also if you have kids you might not want to leave this book lying around because there are a lot of pictures of paintings of naked people in this book. I was sent this book for free for only my honest and unbiased review. 

Woodwalker

 

Inside the Book:

Title: Woodwalker 

Author: Emily B. Martin 

Release Date: June 14, 2016 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Genre: Fantasy/Coming of Age 

Format: Ebook

“What on earth would I gain from that?” I asked him. “Risk my own neck by violating my banishment just to leave you? The sentence placed on me if I return is execution. If I’m entering the mountains again, I’d damn well better get something out of it.”

Exiled from the Silverwood and the people she loves, Mae has few illusions about ever returning to her home. But when she comes across three out-of-place strangers in her wanderings, she finds herself contemplating the unthinkable: risking death to help a deposed queen regain her throne.

And if anyone can help Mona Alastaire of Lumen Lake, it is a former Woodwalker—a ranger whose very being is intimately tied to the woods they are sworn to protect. Mae was once one of the best, and despite the potential of every tree limb to become the gibbet she’s hung from, she not only feels a duty to aide Mona and her brothers, but also to walk beneath her beloved trees once more.

A grand quest in the tradition of great epic fantasies, filled with adventure and the sharp wit—and tongue—of a unique hero, Woodwalker is the perfect novel to start your own journey into the realm of magical fiction.

 

Meet the Author:

I am an author, illustrator, and environmental educator.  My favorite genre to write is fantasy-adventure, while my favorite reads are usually detailed, thought-provoking historical fiction. Digital painting is my usual art medium, but I also love keeping watercolor journals and pencil sketchbooks. Writing and art aren't my only passions.  In fact, they're not even my official expertise (at least on paper).  In 2012, I earned my Master’s degree in Parks and Protected Area Management from Clemson University.  During the summer, I work as an interpretive park ranger with the National Park Service (with the hat and everything). I love to hike, camp, and backpack with my family, and while I call southern Appalachia home, I have a not-so-secret love affair with the Rocky Mountains.  I live in South Carolina with my husband and two daughters. I am represented by Valerie Noble of Donaghy Literary Agency.

 

 

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Tour Schedule

 ________

Tuesday, May 17 - Guest blogging at Books for Books

Wednesday, May 18 - Book featured at The Reading Queen

Thursday, May 19 - Book featured at A Title Wave

Friday, May 20 - Book featured at Bound 2 Escape

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Monday, May 23 - Book featured at The Literary Nook

Tuesday, May 24 - Book featured at The Dark Phantom

Wednesday, May 25 - Book featured at The Review From Here

Thursday, May 26 - Book featured at Write and Take Flight

Friday, May 27 - Book featured at Voodoo Princess

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Monday, May 30 - Guest blogging at Kindle and Me

Tuesday, May 31 - Book featured at The Bookworm Lodge

Wednesday, June 1 - Book featured at I'm Shelf-ish

Thursday, June 2 - Book reviewed at Natural Bri

Friday, June 3 - Book featured at CBY Book Club

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Monday, June 6 - Book reviewed at 100 Pages a Day

Tuesday, June 7 - Book featured at The Recipe Fairy

Wednesday, June 8 - Interviewed at Deal Sharing Aunt

Thursday, June 9 - Book featured at Harmonious Publicity

Friday, June 10 - Book featured at Book Cover Junkie

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It started with a sketch.

It usually starts with a sketch.

Before a word of Woodwalker ever manifested on a screen, my characters had already made their debuts in the pages of my sketchbook. In fact, the second sketch—one I can’t show you—was actually a rough illustration of the climax of the book. After that came pages and pages of character sketches, scene illustrations, and wardrobe design. I’ve storyboarded critical scenes and even diagrammed stage directions to figure out the physical relationships between my characters. Oh, and the kissing pictures—lots of romantic fluff. But I can’t show you those yet, either.

I’ve always considered myself an artist first and a writer second, despite the fact that I’ve been telling stories just as long as I’ve been drawing pictures. Maybe it was the fact that I felt more comfortable sharing my art than my writing as a teen. Maybe it was because I started doing freelance art and design years before I ever wrote professionally. Whatever the reason, I now see that the two go hand-in-hand for me. I can’t think of a single story I’ve written that I haven’t also illustrated, even if it was just doodles in the margins of my spiral-bound middle school novels.

But there’s a hitch—my art generally reflects what’s going on in my personal life. As a kid, this meant it was easy for an outsider to tell what book or movie I was currently obsessing over—the reams and reams of Legolas or Weasley twins or Eugenides or Aang made it blatantly obvious. But as I got older, that kind of all-consuming fervor was replaced with a more mild interest in the world around me. Books and movies didn’t incite the same level of fangirldom. My time and energy were commandeered by other, adultier things. I fell in love and got married—I drew wedding invitation designs and dress patterns. I completed my Master’s degree—I drew frazzled self-portraits. I became a mom—I drew comics about parenting, when I had the time.

My art production slowed to a trickle, with only a few meager sketches every couple of weeks. I became a ghost on DeviantArt, where I used to post finished digital pieces every week as an undergrad.

And then—Woodwalker. That initial scrabbled sketch above was the first crack in the dam. Then came the next sketch, and the next, and soon the dam burst altogether. In just a few weeks, I burned through the rest of a sketchbook that had taken me over a year to fill halfway. The next one I blazed through even faster.

And not only did the quantity of my art increase, but the quality improved as well. I took more risks and tried new techniques. Some I mastered, some utterly defeated me. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. The same currents of artistic creativity so prevalent in my childhood were running again, and that’s not the kind of thing I can just turn off. When my editor asked me to draw up some drafts for my cover art, I worked through the night—every time I lay down to go to sleep, the illustration filled my head, calling me to come back and change the composition here or tweak the bounce light there.

Art has had an undeniable effect on Woodwalker. Beyond just refining what my characters look like and what they’re wearing, it’s helped me dive deeper into their personalities. How does Mae, the protagonist, cope with her exile from her beloved Silverwood Mountains? Sketching her lonely campsites and menial labor helped me find out. How does Queen Mona keep herself and her brothers alive and hidden while fleeing the invasion of their country? Storyboarding their escape showed me. How has King Valien’s past affected his current desperation to hold onto his throne? Drawing snapshots of his childhood helped me get to know him better. Why is Colm so sad? Why is Arlen so angry? Sketching the world through their eyes helped me find out.

I’m on my third full sketchbook now since I started writing Woodwalker, and I have no plans to slow down. My art is every bit as essential to plotting and building my novels as my notes, outlines, and character profiles are. I’ve already met new characters and storyboarded new scenes for the companion novels and beyond. Eventually I will include a “spoiler” portfolio on my website, where I can post the majority of my sketches for people who have already read the books (including those kissing pictures). Perhaps even someday readers will draw some art of their own inspired by Woodwalker, and I hope they send me links when they do. In the meantime, I’m excited to share my work and connect readers a little more intimately with the characters and world of Woodwalker.