Author Shout-Out: A E Bennett

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Welcome to an author shout-out post! For more information see this thread. Check out my book spotlights index and my shout-outs page for more indie authors to read from!

A E Bennett currently has two books out. I worked with her for a book spotlight post on her fantasy book, Gathering of the Four. She was kind enough to send me an e-copy of the book to read when I was feeling unwell. She has just released her debut romance book which is set in the same world as Gathering of the Four but it can be read separately. Here is some more information about her books:

Gathering of the Four: Book One of the Serrulata Saga

"In the Realm, every citizen knows their place."

Leora of Mae is a young woman orphaned at birth and raised on a remote farm. As a wielder of Xanthcraft, her abilities set her apart from her adoptive family and the other villagers.

Shortly before her twentieth birthday, she learns of her family’s plot to sell her into servitude. Fearing for her life, she flees from the only home she’s ever known—defying societal conventions and breaking the edicts of the Realm.

As she runs, Leora meets Roland Shallowbrook, a traveler on the Thieves’ Road; Lady Aurora Verte, daughter of a powerful member of the gentry; and the White Rider Leopold, a soldier with a secret.

Together, this found family will have to band together to survive.

Set in the distant future during the return of the Hale-Bopp comet, Gathering of the Four is the first book in The Serrulata Saga.

Yours and Mine: A Serrulata Saga Romance Novella (The Serrulata Saga)

She told a lie. He confirmed it. Now they’re secretly betrothed against their families’ wishes…

Lady Octavia Dorchester is the most desired young lady in the Realm. Now that she has twenty years behind her, society has deemed her ready to marry. Although she’s not enthusiastic, she promises to act like a proper lady and look for a good husband—just like her powerful father Lord Roman Dorchester wants.

Lord Gerald Verte has been painfully shy his entire life. He’s never been comfortable in society and lives in the shadow of his older brother, the imposing Lord Tristian Verte. Despite his desires to remain indoors and away from people, he promises his older brother that he won’t shame the family name, no matter how much his anxiety threatens to overwhelm him.

After sharing a dance at a ball held in Octavia’s honor, both she and Gerald know what no one else believes—it’s love at first sight.

When their respective family members object to the match, Octavia lies about their betrothal and Gerald corroborates her story. Raising the ire of both Lords Dorchester and Verte, Octavia and Gerald are torn apart and kept from one another until tragedy strikes.

This high-heat romance with a guaranteed HEA is a prequel to Gathering of the Four: Book One of the Serrulata Saga but can be read as a standalone.

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Author Shout-Out: Sheila Sellinger

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Welcome to an author shout-out post! For more information see this thread. Check out my book spotlights index and my shout-outs page for more indie authors to read from!

Sheila Sellinger is a Christian author who writes primarily adventure romance and biblical fiction. Sheila also writes on Vocal where she shares short stories about animals, as well as mystery/thriller stories. These are free to read and a great way to support a writer!

Here is some of her work:

Jessie's Life Song

Jessie's Song brings together Jessie and Kevin in a non-stop adventure as Kevin does everything he can to protect Jessie from her psychopath ex-husband, Randy, who is bent on her demise.

The Cuddle Puddle: A Picture and Poetry Book

The Cuddle Puddle contains a collection of kitten photographs and poetry that is perfect for the entire family. Many of the kittens featured were once part of a rescue and now have loving forever homes. We hope you find them a cute as we do.

Achsa's Misadventure

If you don't know the story of Balaam's talking donkey, you're in for both a treat and an education.
Follow Achsa, Balaam's donkey, as she beings her adventure to see King Balak, and then see how her adventure turns into a misadventure as events lead her from one terrifying experience to the next.

Sheila's stories on Kindle Vella, where the first 3 episodes are free to read:

Desperate Passions

Synopsis:

This is the story of four very different people in the Old West; James (the sheriff), Sarah (the teacher), Dillan (the wanderer), and Jenny (Dillan's sister) who find their lives suddenly entangled and forever changed by one another.

Letters in the Wind

Synopsis:

This is the fictional diary of an American Christian soldier in Iraq during the year 2003 when the US invaded the country with the support of Britain, Australia, Poland, Spain, and Denmark. The invasion lasted from March 20 to May 1, but troops remained until December 2011. Follow our soldier as he travels this adventure. Take a look inside his life and thoughts.

Support me via Ko-Fi- here you can join my Ko-Fi exclusive book club, request content, join our Discord server and more!

A Look At... Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Illustrated by Tom de Freston

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Title: Julia and the Shark
Author: Philipp Dettmer
Illustrator: Tom de Freston
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction / Mental Health
Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

Synopsis:

'Days before lockdown there was a fire in my studio that destroyed twelve years worth of work. From the burnt out husk I rescued burnt frames, bags of ash, fragments of destroyed artworks. Much of the artwork for Julia and the Shark was made using these materials, as an act of mourning, transformation and repair. It reflects the central message of the book, that even in the deepest darkness there is always the light of hope.' - Tom de Freston

A Look At... Immune by Philipp Dettmer

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Title: Immune

Author: Philipp Dettmer

Genre: Non-Fiction Science

Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

Synopsis:

You wake up and feel a tickle in your throat. Your head hurts. You're mildly annoyed as you get the kids ready for school and dress for work yourself. Meanwhile, an utterly epic war is being fought, just below your skin. Millions are fighting and dying for you to be able to complain as you drink your cup of tea and head out the door.

So what, exactly, IS your immune system?

A Look At... XOXO by Axie Oh

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Title: XOXO

Author: Axie Oh

Genre: YA Romance

Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

Synopsis:

Jenny's never had much time for boys, K-pop, or really anything besides her dream of being a professional cellist. But when she finds herself falling for a K-pop idol, she has to decide whether their love is worth the risk. 

Indie Showcase #1 Books for Free or 99p/99 cents

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Authors work really hard, pouring all of themselves into creating their passion projects and achieving their dreams. One thing that I want to do is to help authors to reach a wider audience and make more sales. Something very important for all authors, is receiving reviews. Reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Waterstones and other shop websites help authors to find even more readers. Sometimes authors will run deals such as offering their book for free or for a cheaper price so that readers can access their books and review them for others to find. In these indie showcase posts I am going to share some of these books. Please check out any books that you are interested in and leave reviews online!

If you are an author and you would like a dedicated post for your book, please check out my contact page for information on my paid spotlight posts. 

Keisha and The Rise of the Legacy (The Inferno Verse Book 1)

Currently free on Kindle

A Look At... The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant

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Title:  The Hatmakers

Author: Tamzin Merchant

Illustrator: Paola Escobar

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

Synopsis:

The first adventure in a spellbinding new magical world.

Cordelia comes from a long line of magical milliners, who weave alchemy and enchantment into every hat. In Cordelia's world, Making - crafting items such as hats, cloaks, watches, boots and gloves from magical ingredients - is a rare and ancient skill, and only a few special Maker families remain.

When Cordelia's father Prospero and his ship, the Jolly Bonnet, are lost at sea during a mission to collect hat ingredients, Cordelia is determined to find him. But Uncle Tiberius and Aunt Ariadne have no time to help the littlest Hatmaker, for an ancient rivalry between the Maker families is threatening to surface. Worse, someone seems to be using Maker magic to start a war.

It's up to Cordelia to find out who, and why...

My thoughts:

I have the hardback of this book and it is beautiful! This is an adventure story following magical hatmakers, it sounds very cool and I am really interested to see where it goes. The added mystery element makes this book even more intriguing and it feels like it will be a fast read.

A Look At... The Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deepwoods: Book 1 of the Twig Saga by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

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Title: The Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deepwoods: Book 1 of the Twig Saga

Author: Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

Synopsis:

Abandoned at birth in the perilous Deepwoods, Twig Verginix is brought up by a family of woodtrolls. One cold night, Twig does what no woodtroll has ever done before - he strays from the path.

So begins a heart-stopping adventure that will take Twig through a nightmare world of fearsome goblins, bloodthirsty beasts and flesh-eating trees. Can he discover the truth about his past?

Beyond the Deepwoods is the first book of the Twig Saga - second trilogy in The Edge Chronicles, the internationally best-selling fantasy series, which has featured on the UK and the New York Times best-seller lists and sold more than 3 million copies. There are now 13 titles and four trilogies in the series, but each book is a stand-alone adventure, so you can read The Edge Chronicles in any order you choose.

My thoughts:

This is another book that is on my TBR. It is technically the fourth book in the series overall but it is book 1 in a series following a character called Twig. The synopsis intrigued me. This book sounds quite different to other middle grade books and I have heard good things about it.

Who Are We Without Fear? A Discussion on Supergirl, Anxiety & Being Our True Selves

 Warning, this post contains spoilers for the last ever episode of Supergirl

After a very emotional last ever episode of Supergirl, I was left with this thought: who are we without fear? 

At the end of this episode, we find Kara embracing her true self, a self that contains both her identity as Kara and her previous secret identity as Supergirl. Kara says how she is supposed to be the strongest person on the planet but she feels that she is the weakest because she is too afraid to embrace her whole identity. After an uplifting conversation with Lena Luthor, we see Kara cast aside her glasses, the barrier that has protected her superpowered alter-ego for all of these years. She reveals her true identity with the biggest smile.

I have dealt with anxiety for so much of my life. I have tried to do the things I am anxious about regardless. But being so filled with fear does affect how I feel on a daily basis. After watching this episode of Supergirl, I felt like I had a sudden realisation. I am terrified of teaching. I have taught children and adults, each time I have been anxious beforehand. Sometimes the lesson has gone well and other times I've been left with this heavy fear. But you know what? I am a good teacher. I did well in my teaching qualification and received great feedback. Even more importantly, when I teach, I feel fulfilled, like I am using this innate ability and it makes me happy. Yet, my anxiety tells me to 'run away', the fight or flight response that is unnecessarily set off when you have an anxiety disorder. This episode of Supergirl made me think; if I were to scrape away my fear, what would I do? Who would I be? What is my true self? And part of that is being a teacher. I want to be a teacher. I was meant to teach. I fully believe that. I help my students to learn and empower them to be who they are and for me, that is one of the greatest things that I can do.

So, going forward, I am going to aim to be more like Kara, even though I am afraid, of so many things, I will look beyond the anxiety and see my true self-- Who I am, without fear.

Support me via Ko-Fi- here you can join my Ko-Fi exclusive book club, request content, join our Discord server and more!

A Look At... The Book of Stolen Dreams by David Farr

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Title: The Book of Stolen Dreams

Author: David Farr

Genre: Middlegrade Fantasy

Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

Synopsis:

An exhilarating, awe-inspiring debut from a master storyteller writing for children for the first time, perfect for fans of Philip Pullman, Katherine Rundell and Eva Ibbotson.

When Rachel and Robert are passed a stolen book by their librarian father, they have to go on the run and protect it at all costs. With their father captured and everyone hunting for the Book, they must uncover its secrets and track down the final, missing page. But the cruel and calculating Charles Malstain is on their trail.

When the children discover the astonishing, magical truth about the Book, they resolve to do everything in their power to stop it falling into his hands. For if it does, he could rule forever. Step inside the pages of an immortal adventure and discover a truly unforgettable journey of wonder, courage and magic...

My thoughts:

Firstly, I have a hardback copy of this book and it is absolutely stunning. Secondly, I really like when books have a story about books. I have a few of these kind of books on my TBR. This book sounds really interesting and I can't wait to get to it.