blog – Page 4 – Immersive fantasy fiction

‘Soren’ on trial in a UK school

One of my current projects is a children’s version of my upcoming novel ‘The Shield of Soren’. This book is one of the tales in the Light and Shadow Chronicles series and the protagonist is a mischievous 10-year-old boy – Soren Nitaya. Due to this, I decided to have a separate edition of the story aimed at children aged 9-12. This book is entitled simply ‘Soren’ and is written under the name ‘Danielle Cain.’

As a primary school teacher, I am lucky enough to have a wonderfully creative and engaged class of children right under my nose! I am currently trialling the book with my class and we are three quarters through. The children do not know that I wrote the book as I wanted their honest feedback and didn’t want them to suck up to teacher!

Well, the feedback from the kids so far has been AMAZING! They absolutely LOVE the story and are thoroughly engaged with the characters. Some comments so far include:

I love the way that Danielle Cain describes things. It makes you feel like you are there in the book.

The book is so good because when the characters are sad, I feel sad too, and when they are happy, it makes me feel happy.

It is the funniest and saddest book I’ve ever read at the same time!

I asked them to rank the class books we have read over the past two years and, aside from one or two die-hard Collins fans, this was the unanimous result:

Soren
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
The BFG by Roald Dahl

So, as you can imagine, there is a huge grin on my face right now! I’ve even had some of the children writing letters to the author to ask questions and tell her how much they are enjoying it! I cannot wait for the day when we finish the book and I tell them the truth.

I have been editing as I go along, making changes here and there, listening to their comments, adding more of the characters they love, cutting short the parts that drag, and all of this is down to the children and their comments. When the book is finally ready, I plan to give each child a free copy so they can see the dedication in the front to all of them. I feel so lucky to have this amazing opportunity to test-run a book. It is perfect market research right at my fingertips!

On top of all of this, my headteacher and another local head (who is very influential in the area) are very enthusiastic about my writing and thrilled about the prospect of having a children’s author working in their school. I have completed all sorts of lessons and activities based around the book, and so I have decided to put all of my plans and resources together and release a teacher’s guide and lesson pack to go with the book. I can then sell this to schools and teachers!

I am really hoping this will be a huge opportunity for me and who knows, maybe I’ll even get one of the big kids’ publishers interested. It’s all taking off!

Here are some examples of the children’s work based around Soren:

May 4, 2015May 4, 2015 by dmcain84

Cover reveal for S.E. Rise – Simmering

simmeringbanner

About the Book

Title: Simmering

Author: S.E. Rise

Genre: Erotic Romance

Who would you rather find in your bedroom, a steamy hose-wielding fireman or a dangerously obsessed ex-boyfriend? What if you found both? Romance writer Allison Fairchild is growing frustrated with her first attempt at Erotica until she reads a well-timed magazine article. What working man makes the best lover? The article sparks an idea and her eyes are irresistibly drawn to the top-ranked firemen just across the street. It might be coincidence or driven by fate but it is all the motivation she needs.

Ali has herself assigned to a firehouse and is committed to doing her job; getting incredible sex stories from actual firefighters and, in the process, try not to become one. At least that’s her intention until she meets the Captain, a by-the-rules professional with an enticing off-duty wild streak. Ali and the Captain put their wills to the test to resist the chemistry heating up between them. But unbeknownst to Ali, her cheating ex-boyfriend has set his eyes upon her again and if he can’t have her, no one can.

Author Bio

Erotic and Horror author, S.E.Rise attended Austin Peay University on a track scholarship. Later in life, he became a Captain of an ALS Ambulance in 1996. On his off time, he enjoys salmon fishing and strives to do the impossible. He now lives in Alaska with his wife and children but in 2007, he published his first novel and continues to write gripping and enticing stories which leave readers breathless.

Links

Website: http://seriseauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/S.E.RisewriterEroticThriller

Apr 29, 2015Apr 29, 2015 by dmcain84

Blog Tour Hosting for Harmony Kent’s ‘Finding Katie’

Hello and thanks for stopping by! I would like to thank my host for today for letting me invade their space. And a big thanks also to 4Wills Publishing for setting up this blog tour for me. For my previous tour stops, please check out the 4Wills current events page.

I am so excited to be able to share my book trailer video with you today for my latest book, Finding Katie.

Kate thought she had things under control. Thought she knew where her life was headed. Seems this new psych nurse has other plans. Whatever, first of all Kate has to survive the trip home to grab some things.

Excerpt from Chapter Three:

MY PALMS feel sticky with sweat by the time we pull up outside my house. We haven’t spoken the whole ride over here. The nurse’s little Ford Fiesta is in bad need of a clean, both inside and out. It’s good to be in the fresh air again. Still, I hang my head while I trudge up the immaculate walkway behind Melanie. Not a weed or bit of grit or fluff in sight.

The knock isn’t answered. Seventeen, and I still don’t have my own key. I shuffle my feet, and hunch my shoulders against the chill.

‘Cooey.’ Mrs Batty, my neighbour, trots up the path and waves some keys in her hand. Her dark-brown tights are laddered, and her skirt hem is all uneven. ‘Hello, dear. Are you feeling better? Your mum left keys with me. She had to go to work.’

Melanie steps forward and takes the keys. ‘Thank you. We’ll bring them over to you when we’re done here.’

Mrs Batty frowns at the obvious dismissal, but at least she leaves without a fuss. Her loose slippers flop and flap when she shuffles away. Nosy old bat. She’s the last person on the planet I’d want in my business.

The house is its usual spotless self. It sparkles more than the hospital. Mother probably spent hours cleaning all the blood up.

Book Blurb:

I killed someone, you see. I killed the girl, who used to be me.

I’m Kate … Kate Charlesworth. I’m seventeen, and self-harming. This time I cut too deep, and I’m in hospital. I hadn’t meant for it to be so bad—it just sort of happened. I needed a lot of distraction that day.

You’ve had bad days, right? Days it hurts too much to think. Days you just wanna stay in bed. Days when the world needs to go away for a while. Right?

What do you do when you’ve hit rock bottom? When there’s nowhere left to turn?

This one little mistake lands me back on a psych unit—the last place I wanna be. Only this time, the nurse I end up with isn’t content to stick on a band-aid and send me home. She wants me to face my demons. But to do that, I’ll have to face who I am … who I used to be … I’ll have to find Katie.

PREORDER HERE

Author Bio:

Harmony Kent is famous for her laughter, and has made quite the name for herself … she’s also, um, a writer … and fairly well known for that too. She lives in rural Cornwall with her ever-present sense of humour and quirky neighbours. She is single and not admitting to her age.

Here are ten things she thinks you ought to know about her …