What a busy week it has been indeed! It has been nothing but excitement all around Johannesburg as not one, not two but THREE South African independent authors released their new books this week.
Before we do anything else
The first thing I would like to do, though, before I get stuck into the happenings of Johannesburg is to say a HUGE –THANK YOU– to everyone involved in assisting me with releasing Kallista! It has had a GREAT reception this far and I am super happy that everyone has had positive feedback about the book so far! Thank you to Toni Cox, my #AuthoBestie who helped celebrate my release on Thursday, and also helped celebrate it from Friday afternoon to the wee hours of Saturday morning on a takeover event. Thank you Hanleigh Bradley for organising the takeover event on Author Friend’s with Benefits – it was an absolute blast and I love being a part of this amazing group.
Thanks to all my fans and supporters who have followed me through this wonderful writing journey, I continue to write because of amazing people like yourself.
I told you watch your back.
An itch that needs to be scratched.
A case that needs to be solved.
A mastermind killer on the loose.
A sister who wants answers.
Delve into the mind of The Butcher who has an itch that needs satisfying. The only way to satisfy it is to take another life. Follow Kallista, the middle child of the Metz family and younger sister of Tatum, while she pursues him, going over each case she thinks is related to him, trying to find out the truth.
Is she having a psychological break every time she sees the apparition of one of his victims, or is she actually seeing spirits that are trying to tell her what really happened?
The Butcher can’t get away with it again. His body count is getting too high. Sooner or later the odds won’t be in his favour and they’re not in Kallista’s either; but she’s too busy obsessing over him to see the obvious coming for her.
Death comes to those who do not see.
WIN! WIN! WIN!
For a chance to win an eCopy of Kallista, leave a review for Tatum on Goodreads and send me a screen shot. The review can be one line of what you think.
Congratulations Jo-Anne Joseph
The past few years I’ve been in survival mode, I’ve closed myself off to the world, Being shattered and abandoned by love, I now live and breathe pain, This isn’t living, but it is all I know, Until she appeared. Leah Williams is beautifully broken. Her fragments mirror my own. She enrages me. She stills me. We don’t make sense. We’re flawed and caustic. She could be the one who destroys me, But she’s the only one I want to let in. This isn’t the future either of us envisioned, But Destiny became the ultimate decider.
To buy it simply click here -> Destiny
Another amazing author who released this week was Jo-Anne Joseph. Congratulations to this amazing author. I am currently reading Siren by Jo-Anne and will be loading my review via my blog / newsletter as soon as I am done. So far I am thoroughly enjoying this story as it has a dark feel to it and you know how much I like dark stories.
Well Done Toni Cox
Love. How do you define it? Is it something tangible? Hormones, pheromones, testosterone? Or is it something more elusive? Is it something the brain decides? Does your body make the decisions for you? If you had asked Jasmin two years ago, she would not have been able to answer those questions. Now, however, she looked at the world differently … and not just because she was looking at a different world.
You can purchase the book here -> Jasmine in Love
I mentioned last week that Toni Cox was releasing the third instalment of her Elemental Short Stories books – Jasmine in Love – and having read it I can honestly say that it is amazing! I cannot believe how much she has grown as an author and she definitely rates as my favourite author of all time. I highly recommend this book which you can read as a stand alone or in the series and you will enjoy it either way.
Here is my review of Jasmine in Love
Firstly, let’s talk the cover. The thing I love most about Toni’s series is that while her main books have similar features in their covers (Hey Midnight!) the short stories have beautiful uniform covers. Each one is a different colour with different elements but it’s VERY clear they belong together (and they look so damn good on my shelf together, let me tell you!)
I cannot wait to have the entire set on my shelf so I can share a picture and show you just how beautiful they are together. But that’s a surprise for another day (Tick Tock Toni, write faster!)
The story itself is amazing, not simply because of its amazing plot and heart-warming lesson, but because with each short story Toni Cox takes herself to a new level as an author. Primarily a fantasy author, it simply astounds me that how easily she crosses into other genres, like in this case she crosses into Romance. She does it so effortlessly and seamlessly that you don’t even notice.
The plot itself was simply divine and raised the hair on my arms more than once. Not only is it an exciting plot that takes you further into the Elven world that Toni Cox has created, but like her other short stories, it carries an extremely important message about love. The book carried such a realistic approach to love from Jasmin’s perspective that I often found myself gasping or near tears because of how similar our situations were. Jasmin has experienced so much for such a young woman, and I have no doubt that any reader would find something within in themselves that they can use to relate to Jasmin. The beautiful part is the conclusion were Cox not only gives us a great view of what love should be, but how strong it can be and what obstacles it can transcend without falling into the unrealistic expectations categories that I so often find Romance books do.
Well Done Toni Cox! I cannot wait for Luke!
The Haps
So this week has been an extremely busy one for myself because I took part in Five Takeovers since Wednesday. I will be discussing takeovers in my group – Sian’s Little Nightmares – during Movie Monday this week. Takeovers are great for both Authors and Readers and I feel like not enough people know about them so I’m going to tell you about them!
Are you a reader? You should look out for posts where we announce we are doing a takeover? Why? Because you can WIN such great stuff and it’s so easy! I always give out books and giftcards at my takeovers! It’s so awesome! Each author gets an allocated time slot and literally takes the group over and tells you about themselves, their books and plays a few games where you can win some GREAT stuff! If you love to read, and are strapped for cash, this is a great way to meet new authors that you might just fall in love with. So don’t forget to attend these!
There is one takeover happening next Sunday the 25th. You are welcome to join us! Here is the link:
Coming up soon is A Viking Thing which is going to be happening on March 3rd. It is always a privilege to be a part of an Alter Ego’s event and having participated in so many, I have to say that the ladies have it down to an art form. I cannot wait for A Viking Thing. You can get tickets here:
Don’t forget that it’s a great opportunity to get your signed copy of Kallista as well as some free swag (author gifts like bookmarks etc) from me! Take a photo with me, post it and tag me and I will pick a lucky random person to win a $5 amazon gift card.
This week I will be posting the first teaser for The Culling! Are you excited? It’s coming out soon and I cannot wait to share it with the world! There are a total of seven releases that I have planned for this year and I am just so excited to share them, I don’t know which to write first, so I am having to be very strict with myself in terms of my writing and write one at a time.
Well that’s it for me for this Sunday nightmares.
Don’t forget to lock the doors!
Later
Sian B. Claven