Blog Archives
Chastity is Me
Life in the Chastity Zone follows a woman’s dashed fairytale life once her fiancé dumps her, and she’s thrown into the wild world of dating. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My inspiration came from real-life events. My fiancé unexpectedly dumped me. Instead of being devastated, I turned lemons into lemonade and wrote about it. Few of the characters are mergers of two or more men that I’ve met in my past. I must say that I’ve met unique men who left an unforgettable impression on me. I was a senior in high school when I encountered my first adventure with a man I secretly labeled Montana Man. He was tall, dark, and handsome, and I was terrified of flying. It didn’t help that I left on a Delta flight from one of the most dangerous airports because of its topography and weather conditions. I was scared to death. I can still picture him coming up to me in the airport, his smell, his aura, everything, and then those few little words that took me off guard, “I want to sit next to you on the plane.” He was, I’d say, “what dreams are made of,” except that he was a facade—the cover was beautiful, but the inside was a seedy, tainted nightmare. And so began my adventures, which later I put on paper.
Chase is an interesting and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Chastity is me. I learned a long time ago that it’s worth waiting and fighting for all good things. I wanted readers to see a character who has everything thrown at her but then decides to stick to her guns and fights. In the process, she may come out bruised, but she’s stronger—a survivor.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The one lesson and theme I hope everyone will see is that you can overcome any obstacle thrown your way if you fight hard enough. And never, ever let anyone tell you that your ideas and beliefs are crazy and ridiculous because that’s what makes us all so unique and special. Marriage is extraordinary, and waiting for the right man is worth it, even if you’re a thirty-year-old virgin.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
The next book I am working on is Nothing’s As It Seems, the sequel to Life in the Chastity Zone. Readers can expect to find out what happened to Grant, Vincent, and Jacques-Pierre. They can also expect to see Chastity dive into the working force and the struggles that come with being a woman in a man’s world. There are a lot of unexpected twists and turns in the next book. Can a decision from years ago hinder Chastity’s destiny, or will her blind trust in love lead to a day of reckoning? Find out the answers and more in Nothing’s As It Seems, coming very soon.
Author Links: Facebook | Instagram | Website
Life in the Chastity Zone
![Life in the Chastity Zone (Chastity Series Book 1) by [Holly Brandon]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41eMSpzHexL.jpg)
Life in the Chastity Zone by Holly Brandon follows Chastity “Chase” Morgan, who seemingly has it all lined up in front of her: a potential career as a brilliant female structural engineer, an architect fiancé, and a life full of promise. That is, until her fiancé sends her a cryptic text putting their relationship on hold and sending everything Chase holds dear into turmoil. She learns that he’s run off to Vegas and married another man, and to top it all off, she’s saved her virginity for Grant, her now ex—and she’s a 30-year-old virgin.
Chase seems to be hit with disaster after disaster. Her PhD is denied, sending her into a spiral. But her cousin Roxie is ready to lift her up and encourage her to get back into the dating world. As she cycles through a variety of eager men who would like to show her the ropes of a physical relationship, Chase struggles to balance student teaching and a normal life. Women from her teen years show up and complicate everything as they tear Chase down, but she fights through these troubles and attempts to get her life back on track.
I loved the sense of adventure that continued throughout this story. Chase embraces spontaneity, whether it be in the form of a date with a new man or a trip to Paris. Life in the Chastity Zone carries humor throughout the entire story, and author Holly Brandon does a great job of keeping Chase’s story light and fun even as she endures through tough times.
While I enjoyed the humorous tone that many of the characters brought to the table, I thought some, like Alison or Brent, seemed to be overexaggerated. However, the addition of these dramatic characters allowed the story to feel full of life and high stakes. I would have enjoyed more genuine connection within the story but enjoyed Chase’s adventures overall and I loved the developments of her story that followed her trip to Paris.
Life in the Chastity Zone takes readers on a whirlwind ride through Chase’s life and surrounds us with larger-than-life characters who introduce her to a life full of adventure and strange experiences. If you want to feel as if you could travel the world and fall in love a hundred times, this is the perfect book for you.
Pages: 461 | ASIN: B086WV8WGY
Looking For An Escape
Vale Born follows a young woman who discovers she’s half Fae as she sets out to find her missing friend and gets caught in the middle of a war. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I wanted to write a great fantasy adventure with epic world building and thrilling situations. I knew basically what I wanted to write, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to start. I was visiting my family ranch in San Diego when inspiration struck. In the hills far off to the east there is a grouping of cliff rocks that I grew up looking at, they always felt off-limits and forbidden. That was the start of it all, the question of what if I had always been drawn to that area for a reason? The idea that the rocks were alluring because there was a tear in the Vale germinated–a passage to another world, and only someone who was born near the Vale could pass through it. The whole story evolved from that point.
Lily is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind her character’s development?
It was important to me that Lily is a proactive protagonist, though she is displaced in a mystical world and seemingly stuck there, I wanted her to have agency. It was also important to me that she not be perfect, and on top of that she is dealing with her own issues of anxiety and PTSD. She gradually starts to face those issues rather than avoid them. As we join her on her adventure, we get to be there for her journey of healing and self-discovery as well.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I wanted there to be diverse magical creatures and for the story to feel very lush and vivid, but I still wanted it to be relatable to the human experience. There were several themes I wanted to include, while this book deals with loss and recovery from that, I wanted to explore what happens to a young person when they don’t take the path that they had always expected they would take, such as a specific career or college. She had always intended to become a horse veterinarian, yet when it came time to actually pursue that goal, she turned away from it, and didn’t move forward. I really wanted to dive into what Lily would be feeling at this point, as she is now twenty-one. Lily’s anxiety and PTSD stem from an event that changed the course of her life. She’s looking for an escape, which is another way for her to avoid moving forward. Instead of an escape, she finds her decisions are far more critical and involve more than just her as she’s confronted with life-and-death situations.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I just finished the first draft for the third book in the Vale Born series. I like to give a little breathing room after finishing a draft before editing begins, so while that simmers I’ll be working on a fantasy Christmas novella set with fellow author Laura L. Hohman. I’m looking forward to writing something different! We expect those to be released around Thanksgiving this year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Website | Instagram
She makes a deal with a lethally attractive male that could save them both, as she tracks down her friend…if it’s not too late.
She must grow past her trauma and learn what it means to be Vale Born, if she is going to survive the treacherous perils of Alternis.
Fans of Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses will love this lush and vivid adventure. Vale Born is the first in a New Adult fantasy novel series.
Vale Born
![Vale Born by [Lorin Petrazilka]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41hvnZ8VytL.jpg)
Vale Born is a thrilling YA fantasy book by Lorin Petrazilka. It follows the life of Lily, a young woman who discovers she is half-Fae after she passes through a portal to another realm. While her journey begins as a search for her recently missing friend Josie, it develops into much more than she had anticipated.
She meets different kinds of Fae, makes friends, falls in love, and even experiences shocking betrayals. At some point, she is even caught in a love triangle. But while living in this new realm is far from boring, it comes with dangers at every corner. Ultimately, Lily has to figure out who she really is and decide what home means to her.
If there is one thing that this book has going for it, it is its suspense factor. The author manages to keep us at the edge of our seats throughout the narrative. We are constantly wondering who means well and who doesn’t. Additionally, since the book is written in the first person from Lily’s perspective, we discover new information and revelations all through her perspective. This makes the narrative feel more like real life and also creates a sense of camaraderie between Lily and the reader. You can’t help but root for her and feel her loss more deeply. This is further intensified by the fact that Lily’s character is very well developed. You not only get a sense of her physical features but also of her personality and beliefs. It is the little idiosyncrasies that the author includes that make this character believable and relatable.
By the end of the book, you can clearly see the major themes that the author was trying to discuss in this narrative – love, family, belonging, and the importance of tenacity. The author also does a good job of tying the behaviors of the characters to their intentions in very realistic ways.
Moreover, her writing style is light yet informative – she tells you the most with as few words as possible. As such, there aren’t any long-winded paragraphs and the dialogue is clear and precise, making the book easy to read. Also, the author is great at infusing humor and quirkiness in the story, particularly through Lily’s personality.
Vale Born is a suspenseful new adult story that creatively combines romance with epic fantasy in a compelling way that makes this novel relentlessly entertaining.
Pages: 306 | ASIN: B08PS1XBB8
Larougo: Book Two of The Uluru Legacy Series
![Larougo: Book Two of The Uluru Legacy by [Anna J Walner]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31xXQCszS+S.jpg)
Larougo (The Uluru Legacy Series Book Two) by Anna J Walner is a suspenseful paranormal adult fiction book that continues the story of Amelia and Roan from Garkain, Book One of the series. After learning that Amelia is pregnant with triplets, she and Roan travel back to Australia from the United States for their joining ceremony. But there are many surprises waiting for them when they return home. The couple learns that they are expected to take on the role of leaders of a new Colony, combining the Colony of vampires currently led by Amelia’s grandfather with Roan’s pack of were-dingos. And Amelia’s mix of vampire and lycanthrope bloodlines mean that they don’t know quite what to expect during her pregnancy. With a group of hunters bent on exterminating all of them, will anyone survive?
Author Anna J Walner has created a unique story within a packed paranormal genre that will feel familiar but still creates its own imaginative world. I liked the setting of Australia for this paranormal series, and the unique aspect of were-dingos instead of the typical wolves, couple this with a deep level of intrigue baked into the story right from the beginning and you get what fans loved in book one, but taken to a new level. How Roan and Amelia navigate pack politics is riveting and will appeal to any reader who loves the drama that goes with intertwining desires among strong characters.
While I enjoyed the story line and the characters, I felt that there were a lot of descriptions in the book; there’s a scene about making online purchases and unpacking boxes, but once we’re pass this the pace of the novel really picks up.
Amelia is still an impassioned character with strong feeling about things and her reaction to the events around her elevates the melodrama whenever she’s in the scene to ensure things are always interesting. With a twist later on that really challenges her love, and who she loves more, readers are in for an emotional-rollercoaster.
Larougo is a thrilling paranormal romance novel that continues the riveting story from book one. If you have not read book one, Garkain, I highly suggest you do as the second book presses forward without summary. This is an emotionally charged shifter romance story that will leave you wanting more.
Pages: 227 | ASIN: B093LPV47C
Satanic Panic: A Homage to 1980’s B-Movie Horror
![Satanic Panic: A Homage to 1980's B-Movie Horror by [Daniel P Coughlin]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vu7HbYO0L.jpg)
As an homage to 80s B-movie horror, Satanic Panic has so much that the genre offers; sex, death, depravity, and a trio of neer-do-well stars that we follow into the breach.
In the first chapter, a flash-forward scene of terror unfolds which sets the tone for the rest of the book. Even within the next few chapters which introduce our characters, best friends Lance and Brock, then our leading-lady Brianna alongside her skater boyfriend Grady, those first few pages loom over all of their frat-house fueled follies.
For most of the story, sexual panic reigns supreme. Some horror stories are balanced between terror and sex, and this book certainly leans hard into the flesh. Each chapter poses a mental tug of war within the budding love triangle all peppered in-between with the killer’s point of view. These three friends are being stalked, yet the reader is the only audience to how much danger they are heading toward. The most important thing on the minds of Bianna, Brock, and Lance is what is in each other’s pants.
There is an aspect of the Giallo film genre here, in that we don’t see the stalker or who they are, and they fit the black-gloved killer mold to perfection.
Red herrings are used to good effect here. While we spend most of the book with three characters, we realize there has actually been a large cast, and characters, like a professor who is only mentioned for a page or two, are so unique and well portrayed they come back to us as people we met. So, very strong characterization all around.
While some of what goes through the mind of Brianna is incongruent; she is a strong-willed woman but only seems to focus on her looks while alone and thinks of nothing other than the men around her; it doesn’t weigh the pace down as the voice of each chapter is split between the three main characters, the killer, and sometimes the goofy boyfriend Grady who is kept in the dark when it comes to the sexcapades going on around him.
The college theme could be what lowers the stakes here in that there is nothing the characters are striving for beyond the bedroom and the next keg party. Had there been something more on the horizon for any of the teens here, it may have had more impact. And more panic, although the central theme is about trust. The actual Satanic Panic that hit our evening news shows was more of a question of who could a community trust than it was about Satan worship. Even within the pages of this homage to that era, the author makes clear it is more about who is doing evil things than why they are doing evil things.
We do get helpful insight as to how each person thinks but the real mystique lies in how our characters see one another. The dialogue and relations may seem outlandish at a glance, but getting to know each person they all fit and their dysfunction comes across as natural.
If you look for the sexiest story when perusing horror flicks in the bygone era, and want the horror version of a bodice-ripper then Satanic Panic fits the bill with four blazing inverted stars.
Pages: 271 | ASIN: B07RVKDCNF
Not Entirely Wicked
Whole Lot of Hullabaloo follows a college sophomore whose life gets turned upside down by a whirlwind of events he did not see coming. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Since I had graduated from college in 2007, I had noticed what I view as questionable trends in university life. It seemed like there was an increasingly censorious nature on college campuses. This is abetted by social and news media outlets wanting to push scandal stories without getting the facts and background on the situations, as well as campus administration, faculty and student governance moved by mob mentality, weak wills, or even spite. However, I didn’t want to write an overly somber story, so I tried to include the humorous tone of 1980s popular cinema, such as Steven Spielberg and John Hughes films, and 20th century English comedic authors like Kingsley Amis and Evelyn Waugh. I wrote and revised the novel in 2014, but set it aside until 2020 when I hired a new editor go over it and had it published myself.
The characters in your book were intriguing and well developed. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
It’s important for characters to have a life outside the pages of a story, especially in a novel. This means that though the story focuses on life in 2011-2012, it’s important to show that the characters have lived before the timeframe, and will live after the last page. I tried interweave minor details of the characters’ pasts that might point to the reason why they’re reacting in the current situation. Also, even though a number of characters act or think in ways that are suspect, or destructive, from my point-of-view, I tried to draw them as foolish, or capable of doing bad, but not entirely wicked. They may have zeal, and that is usually a good quality, but it’s for the wrong thing, or it’s taken too far. Conversely, for the more positive characters, even if they make the better choice in the end, it’s rather dull if they don’t stumble or express doubt along the way. I think even heroic characters should express cowardice at times, otherwise it can be hard for us to relate to them as readers.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
As mentioned above, campus culture, especially around topic of excessive judgment, thought conformity, and free speech. The notion that the university as it was intended to be is in a state of decline. T.S. Eliot in The Wasteland took the reader through a succession of images showing civilization in disrepair. I wanted to take the reader through a similarly nightmarish journey of contemporary academia from the eyes of the protagonist Troy Thomas (hence the subtitle) that sadly is all too real. However, on the positive note, I wanted to show the value of individuality and loyalty. I also highlight the importance of art (books, films, paintings, etc.) as a unifying factor. That’s why I include references to highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow materials.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Currently, I’m not working on a book, though I do have an idea that has been circulating in my mind. Though it’s not as firm so as to start sketching characters and an outlined plot. I don’t like getting involved in something then quitting mid-way due to lack of interest or other reasons. Outside of work, my time has been taken up by writing poetry and non-fiction articles, something I was involved in before I went into fiction. Also, as a supporter of 1980s culture and lover of science fiction, I’ve been serving as an advisor to an upcoming documentary on 1980s science fiction films, In Search of Tomorrow. Once it finishes and is released, I encourage all 1980s and sci-fi fans to check it out. It’s a bit of positivity in a sea of negativity.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
Darkly satiric, but touched with a nostalgia for 80s and early 90s pop culture, a tragic situation turns into a resounding comedic affirmation of individuality. Though inspired by twentieth century wits such as Kingsley Amis, Anthony Powell, and Evelyn Waugh, it’s a twenty first century piece of modern Americana: a timeless story conceived in a timely era.
Whole Lot of Hullabaloo: A Twenty-First Century Campus Phantasmagoria
![Whole Lot of Hullabaloo: A Twenty-First Century Campus Phantasmagoria by [Christopher Fried]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51qvu2FD5JL.jpg)
President Sam Castle dreams of making his third year in charge at Central Ohio University the best yet. But right off the bat, he’s hit by a flurry of events that threaten to sink his boat before it sails on its third voyage. His trials begin with his risky decision to take on a new faculty member laden with controversies. As he tries to defend his decision before the College Board of trustees, he feels relations fraying with his wife, who is away in Tokyo. He’s soon faced with another dicey situation that looks to mar his tenure. Ian, a free-spirited sophomore, dons a Halloween costume that lands him in hot water with the school’s black community and its outside allies. It seems Castle has to make an example out of the boy or risk ruining the school’s reputation. This is not the third year he envisaged. It’s left to be seen if Castle will come out of this in one piece and with the college still standing.
Christopher Fried’s Whole Lot of Hullabaloo is true to its name. It’s a journey into campus life marked by the raucous you’d expect in a relationship between pompous academics, politicking admins, exuberant youth, and the sometimes meddlesome outside world.
The emotional rollercoaster Fried takes readers on keeps things interesting. One moment you’re feeling sorry for someone, the next, you’re shaking your fists at another character’s action in righteous indignation. There’s also a nice dose of silliness that will make you chuckle from time to time.
I liked how Fried wraps his thoughts in an amusing tale. His serious themes shine through alright. But instead of weighing you down, they give you critical things to mull over.
The book touches on issues like some people using societal checks and balances to exert injustice and weaponizing public uproar for their selfish interests. Maybe this would be a lot harder if the public wasn’t so inclined to lynch reported culprits of social injustices without first doing its due diligence. But that’s just me thinking out loud.
Fried also addresses our tendency to lean into extremes. On the one hand, we can be so lax about social issues like racism that they go unchecked. On the other hand, we can blow them out of proportion and try to trace every societal ill to them somehow. Fried’s issue is with the latter.
Whole Lot of Hullabaloo is a quick and easy read that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.
Pages: 198 | ASIN: B08LBT4FB3
LITERARY TITAN 