Saturday, August 24, 2019

Review: Dear Grandchild, This Is Me

This isn't a typical book. In fact, it's more scrapbook than anything. With a beautiful cover, you can't help but want to open it right up. There are places to fill in lots of stories, when you were young, when you were a teenager, when you passed all these milestones. There's a section to write about your heritage. Places to write crazy stories to thrill the readers. There are blank pages to put pictures on, and stickers to mount them with. (Who doesn't love stickers?!?!) My favorite feature are the built in envelopes that allow you to write letters to be opened at certain times of need. There's an awesome map where you color all the places you've been. Slots for those favorite, secret family recipes. Crazy cool pages where you weigh in on major historical events. The last part of the book is for you to share your faith, as well as a "me then and now" page. It's actually the perfect book to give your grandkids. I highly recommend getting this, whether you've been a grandparent for years or you're just getting started.

I received this book through the publisher, but I was not required to post a positive review.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Cover Reveal and Guest Post with Kandi J Wyatt

Hold onto your hats! Long post ahead!

First, we'll start with the cover reveal and blurb. Pretty cool cover, yeah?

Cover DesignerAmalia Chitulescu

Kandi is doing a giveaway for those who pre-order the book on Amazon! http://bit.ly/preordergiveaway The link to the book itself is after the blurb.

Protect a mythical realm or his family?

Sixteen-year-old Franklin follows a Sasquatch through a portal to the realm of Shinwano and discovers a world full of mythical creatures he never expected to actually exist. Upon returning to Myrtle Beach, Oregon, he vows to protect the land, not realizing how difficult it will be to keep his promise, especially when a poacher, a NSA agent, and his friends are interested in the portal—and all for different reasons.

When the poacher threatens his family, Franklin must reconsider his vow to protect this new world to keep his family safe. The consequences of his decision reach further than just a rift in the space-time continuum.

Can Franklin live up to the trust placed on him and save this new world from an even greater danger?

Word count: 70,254

One reviewer said: Overall, I loved this book. A wonderful alternate world with such fantastic descriptions of the mythical creatures. I would love to go there myself.

Here's the link to this book! Link: https://books2read.com/mythcoastadventures3

Other books in the series:

An Unexpected Adventure: https://books2read.com/u/3yDLX6 


SUPER EXCITED TO HAVE KANDI DO A GUEST POST!

Bigfoot: Protector or Menace

The stories of bigfoot abound all across the world—not only in North America. I was first introduced to bigfoot when I moved to the Pacific Northwest as a third grader. No specific memory stands out to me, but I do remember vague stories as we trekked into the forests around Tacoma, Washington. It wasn’t until I was older and had moved to the Southern Oregon Coast that I really started to pay attention to the tales.

A trip to Eureka, California, almost twenty years ago, piqued my interest. We went off Highway 101 up to Willow Creek. The closer we drove to the settlement, the more signs we saw. By the time we arrived, we had to stop at the bigfoot museum. The little hole-in-the-wall stop was filled with newspaper clippings, footprint casts, and videos—some live and others news footage. The whole trip sparked my imagination.

Fast forward to 2016. I had an idea of a trilogy that I wanted to write which featured a different mythical creature for each book. A dragon and a unicorn had already been chosen for the first two books, but I was stumped as to what to feature in book three. That is until a student came up to me and said I should write a book about sasquatch. What he didn’t know was how perfect that would be for the Myth Coast Adventures trilogy. Yet, I had no idea of what the story should be, even after writing books one and two! What should I do? I did what I do when I don’t know something—I turned to google.


The amount of information out there on bigfoot is rather impressive. I learned that sasquatch and yeti are not the same creature. Yetis are larger, taller, and lighter colored than sasquatch. Youtube videos show encounters with bigfoot. All of the tales portray sasquatch as a large predator who wants to be left alone, but what if they’re actually trying to protect something? With that thought, the sanraksaka were born—the protectors of the portals. Imagine my surprise to discover a magnet in a tourist shop that says, “This forest protected by bigfoot.” I had to buy it! You can enter to win it at the release party on facebook on Tuesday, September 10. 



About Kandi: Even as a young girl, Kandi J Wyatt, had a knack for words. She loved to read them, even if it was on a shampoo bottle! By high school Kandi had learned to put words together on paper to create stories for those she loved. Nowadays, she writes for her kids, whether that's her own five or the hundreds of students she's been lucky to teach. When Kandi's not spinning words to create stories, she's using them to teach students about Spanish, life, and leadership.



You can find Kandi at these places:


Other books by Kandi J Wyatt: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE DRAGON BOOKS!!!!
Dragon Courage series
Dragon's Revenge: https://www.books2read.com/u/b5qvGb   
Dragon’s Cure: https://www.books2read.com/u/47kxJa   
Dragon’s Posterity: https://www.books2read.com/u/4DA8og 
Dragon’s Heritage: https://www.books2read.com/u/3neVN6 

Middle Grade Fantasy:
Journey from Skioria: https://www.books2read.com/u/4AwJee 

Biblical Retellings:
The One Who Sees Mehttps://www.books2read.com/u/mdrRlb  


I hope you've enjoyed the guest post, and please, leave a comment below on your thoughts for this cover! Can't wait to hear from you!

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Review: The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson

"Sophie desperately wants to get away from her stepmother's jealousy, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be Sophie's one chance at freedom—but can she trust another person to keep her safe? 

Gabe defied his parents Rose and Wilhelm by going to find Sophie, and now he believes they had a right to worry: the girl's inner and outer beauty has enchanted him. Though romance is impossible—she is his brother's future wife, and Gabe himself is betrothed to someone else—he promises himself he will see the mission through, no matter what. 

When the pair flee to the Cottage of the Seven, they find help—but also find their feelings for each other have grown. Now both must not only protect each other from the dangers around them—they must also protect their hearts."

I'm going to start with the fact that this has to be one of the most gorgeous covers ever designed, simply because I can't get past that! As for the actual story, 4.5 stars for the best non-magical retelling of Snow White ever written. Melanie does an incredible job of taking notorious villains with special powers and making them over into regular people who are just as evil. Which... to be honest... is a little frightening! I especially loved her "Cottage of the 7" which gave a depth of character to the seven men that is simply astounding. The story became so much deeper and more wonderful under her hands and she does a great job of adding God to the stories while keeping the original fairy-tale feel. Sophie was a wonderful character, but I may be even more impressed with Gabe and his transformation. One of the strangest, flattest princes became a wonderfully round character who grows as a person and in his faith. Definitely worth your time to pick this up!


Thursday, August 8, 2019

Review: Vow of Justice by Lynette Eason

Amazon blurb- FBI Special Agent Lincoln St. John is living his own personal nightmare. When the woman he loves, Allison Radcliffe, is killed, he devotes his life to tracking down the killers and making them pay for their crimes. He expected it to be a challenge. What he never expected was to find Allison very much alive shortly after her "murder." As his anger and hurt mix with relief, Linc isn't sure how he's supposed to feel. One thing he does know for sure: he and Allison will have to work together to stop a killer before she dies a second time--this time for good.

The Blue Justice series might just be my favorite yet. I've excitedly followed this series from the beginning and I'm sad to see it almost finished! Vow of Justice, though, is vying with Oath of Honor for favorite in the series. A change from the mostly PD themed series, we get to travel the intricacies of the FBI, especially of being a dead FBI agent. This time around, our bad guy is part of the Bratva, which I've totally been waiting for. The secondary character here is named Daria, incidentally that name of one of my closest friends. (Although she spells it Darya.) Allie had one of the most surprising plot twists I've ever read, and Linc just steals your heart. If you don't fall in love with them, then the problem is you. Of course, Chief Tabitha St. John makes her appearance, and she continues to be one of my favorite characters ever created by Lynette Eason. The twists and turns will have even the most well-read mystery reader gasping, and the revelation of the true bad guy, while not completely unpredictable after going through my recent Eason spell, was still horrific enough that it didn't matter. And then, you'll come to the epilogue and your eyes will bug right out of your head, and it will be the MOST perfect epilogue ever. (I say as someone who really judges a book by its epilogue more than its cover) It's a five star book, and I hope it just skyrocketed to the top of your TBR list.

I received this book from the publisher, but the opinions expressed are honestly my own.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Guest Post: Six Reasons to Retell a Fairytale with Kirsten Fichter

Hey, y'all! I'm so excited to have the author of Spindle Dreams, Kirsten Fichter, here to do a guest post today. I know you're glad to see something different here ;) Leave a comment below to get in touch with either Kirsten or myself, or to learn more about the Once Upon A Twist Tales. Or you can hop on over to Kirsten's blog

But, obviously, if you're reading this, it isn't to hear from me! So let's dive in~

Fairy tales, faerie tales, fairytales... it doesn't really matter how you spell it --
these little stories are coming out of the Dark Ages. They're no longer the
bedtime tales you read as a child. In the last few decades, we've seen a huge
sweep of retellings taking over the reading world. And I think it's amazing. 


But why are so many people turning to write a fairytale retelling? Why should
you, as a writer, consider retelling one of your own? 


1. Grimm and Lang did it first. 
-- Did you know that the original fairytales were not intended for children?
Oftentimes, the first editions of these stories were dark, gritty, grim, and kinda
bloody; they were tales for adults, believe it or not. When the Grimm Brothers
and Andrew Lang started collecting them in volumes, they actually rewrote
some of them to smooth out some questionable parts. Even though it is very
hard to find the first, original copy of many fairytales, many of the people that
we hold up as fairytale writers were merely retelling a story that they had come
to love. And if they can retell a fairytale, so can we. 


2. There are so many fairytales to choose from.
-- From Cinderella to Rumpelstiltskin to Little Red Riding Hood, there are an
infinite number of fairytales. The Grimm Brothers and Andrew Lang did not
hold a monopoly on fairytales; they actually missed quite a few in their collections
(see reason #3 below). But take a look at a complete list of fairytales sometime.
The list is basically a novel unto itself. No matter what kind of fairytale you want
to retell, you'll have a boatload of ones to choose from! 


3. Too many fairytales have been overlooked. 
-- Ever heard of The White Snake? Or Puddocky? Or The Iron Stove? Many
of these fairytales have never seen a retelling, or can only boast of one retelling,
because people have forgotten they exist. The forgotten fairytales are the perfect
opportunity for a retelling -- because no one's done it yet. These fairytales need
some love, too; and if you can retell them, you'll be a pioneer on the road to
bringing them back. 


4. Sadly, fairytales have too many plot holes. 
-- Why did Gothel want to steal a child and keep her hair long? Why did
Goldilocks go into the woods that day? Why was Thumbelina born so small?
If the shoe was a perfect fit, how did Cinderella lose it? Why did the children
follow the Pied Piper? This list of questions is endless. If there's one thing
fairytales did more often than not, it was failing to explain things. And as
someone retelling a story, you'll have loads of room to explain just why all
these things actually happened. 


5. Fairytales are super versatile. 
-- Have you ever imagined the Snow Queen in space? Rapunzel in the Old
West? A genderbent Sleeping Beauty? A Little Mermaid seeking to trade
her legs for a tail? Since they contain so many plot holes, fairytales can be
left up to interpret however one wants. For me, personally, my niche is retelling
them without magic. I stuck my Beauty and the Beast in a hot air balloon.
There are no rules to dictate how you retell a fairytale. As long as it works for
your plot, you can do whatever you want. 


6. Everyone loves fairytales. 
-- Have you ever met someone who doesn't love fairytales? (If you have,
don't tell me; I don't want to know.) Fairytales typically are a big part of a
child's life. Many of the books sold for juvenile audiences today are fairytales.
People enjoy being nostalgic and reliving moments of their childhood, and
what better way to do that as an adult than to give them a unique retelling
of their favorite fairytale? Kids, too, love to see new spins on tales they already
know. 

By now, I hope you can see the importance of retelling a fairytale. If you're
not a writer, or don't think you could ever write anything worth reading,
consider this a post on why you should support your local fairytale retelling
author friends. Retellings, folks, are really something you need to read.


* Here's the link to The Rose and the Balloon, the Beauty and the Beast in a hot air balloon retelling.  → The Rose and the Balloon on Amazon



AUTHOR BIO

Kirsten Fichter is a twenty-something Christian writer who loves being the wife to her favorite person ever, mommy to the most precious blessing, a piano enthusiast, a dragon buff, a serious bookworm, and an INFP synesthete. Fairytales have always fascinated her, and she has made it her goal to rewrite as many as possible and become known as the “Grimm Dickens” (i.e. mixing Grimm fairytales with a Dickens style). Spindle Dreams is her second published fairytale retelling. You can find out more about her on her blog, Lianne Taimenlore. 



BOOK SUMMARY
Marita Kadlec is the only daughter of Rohesia's poorest – and laziest – weaver. Her father prefers to spend his days gambling in the tavern, leaving the spinning up to Marita. She hates the family business because she's constantly pricking her finger on the spindle. She'd much rather be tinkering on an invention that she hasn't had the courage to show anyone yet. A special invention that will rid her of spinning for the rest of her life. 

Felix is a young nobleman plagued with the same nightmare – a giant machine, twisting and clanking, shrouded in fire, bent on pain and death. He's determined to find out what it means, no matter where the answers may lead him. 

This is Sleeping Beauty with a twist like you've never seen it before.

You'll be able to find Spindle Dreams on Amazon on August 9th, but until then, you can connect with Kirsten on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Goodreads.


Thanks for joining us today! Come back soon, and remember to add Spindle Dreams to your TBR List!

Friday, August 2, 2019

Blog Tour/Review: Spindle Dreams by Kirsten Fichter

Marita Kadlec is the only daughter of Rohesia's poorest – and laziest – weaver. Her father prefers to spend his days gambling in the tavern, leaving the spinning up to Marita. She hates the family business because she's constantly pricking her finger on the spindle. She'd much rather be tinkering on an invention that she hasn't had the courage to show anyone yet. A special invention that will rid her of spinning for the rest of her life. 

Felix is a young nobleman plagued with the same nightmare – a giant machine, twisting and clanking, shrouded in fire, bent on pain and death. He's determined to find out what it means, no matter where the answers may lead him. 

This is Sleeping Beauty with a twist like you've never seen it before.
 
     I'm nowhere near knowing where to start with this review. Perhaps, I'll start with saying that if you haven't read The Rose and The Balloon, you're missing out on a wonderful Beauty and the Beast retelling. I loved it. But somehow it can't compare. Spindle Dreams is beyond anything I expected from it. And I knew it was going to be lovely. (Side note: Of course, as always, there are perks to having read book one first, but you will be just fine if you jump into the series with Spindle Dreams.) First of all, let's start with how somehow Kirsten managed to write an enchanting fairytale with absolutely no enchantments. (Reminds me of the style of Melanie Dickerson, but shorter) And though it is a retelling all her own, snatches of the classic tale are thrown in and make you want to squeal in delight. What got me, though... Well, that would be the fact that every time I thought I had the story pegged- IT BLOOMING FLIPPED ON ME AND I WAS BEING SHOCKED!!!! The dynamics between all of the characters were absolutely spot on, and there's a heavy dose of humor, mostly caused by one of my favorite characters, Samson. And I swear if I don't get my sequel reasonably soon, I'll start flying hot air balloons and serving rose petal soup, because that epilogue got me GOOD, okay?
      Yes, sorry, was I ranting? What I meant to say was, "Wow, I loved this book. Five stars were earned, and I willingly bestow them."



I received an ARC of this book from the author, but the opinions expressed were honestly my own!

Thursday, August 1, 2019

SPINDLE DREAMS COVER REVEAL!!!!!!

(Yes, I am a little excited. Why do you ask?)

Spindle Dreams is Kirsten Fichter's newest fairytale book, and I am so in love! I can't wait for you to read it! Below you will see (A) the cover {DUH!!!} (B) The back of the book deal (C) Kirsten's picture and bio (D) Links to Kirsten's Facebook and Goodreads pages. {You should add Spindle Dreams to your Want To Read shelf... just sayin'}







{This gap is to build suspense ;)}






I love this cover, and I think her cover designer people are amazing!!!


Marita Kadlec is the only daughter of Rohesia's poorest – and laziest – weaver. Her father prefers to spend his days gambling in the tavern, leaving the spinning up to Marita. She hates the family business because she's constantly pricking her finger on the spindle. She'd much rather be tinkering on an invention that she hasn't had the courage to show anyone yet. A special invention that will rid her of spinning for the rest of her life.

Felix is a young nobleman plagued with the same nightmare – a giant machine, twisting and clanking, shrouded in fire, bent on pain and death. He's determined to find out what it means, no matter where the answers may lead him.

This is Sleeping Beauty with a twist like you've never seen it before.



Kirsten Fichter is a twenty-something Christian writer who loves being the wife to her favorite person ever, mommy to the most precious blessing, a piano enthusiast, a dragon buff, a serious bookworm, and an INFP synesthete. Fairytales have always fascinated her, and she has made it her goal to rewrite as many as possible and become known as the “Grimm Dickens” (i.e. mixing Grimm fairytales with a Dickens style). She is present in many online circles under the name “Kiri Liz” if you care about things like that. As you read this, she’ll be somewhere under a maple tree – trying very hard to finish the seventeen and half other stories she unwisely started all at once.