Friday, November 11, 2011

Guest Post - David Rocklin

Imagine meeting someone that you really want to spend time with. You have exactly ten seconds to entice them to want to know more about you; wordlessly, you need to hint at greater depths, thrills and romance, a bit of sadness and a voice that would really speak to them if they'd just give you a chance. That's what it is to be a cover. It's one of the most fascinating and mysterious aspects of publishing to me. I watched my publisher really agonize over the right image; the one they choose was unbelievable serendipity given my novel's origins and inspiration (read here for a blog article on the strange meaning behind the cover of The Luminist: http://redroom.com/member/david-rocklin/blog/a-story-behind-an-image).
I'm a huge fan of e-readers (if the convenience factor means that more people turn to a book, I'm all for it), but I do fear we lose a little something by not holding a physical book in our hands. There's a social connection that can happen when we see someone reading. We look at that cover and think, I've heard of that. I should pick it up. Or, that looks interesting, I'm going to ask them about it. You don't have the same possibility of connection with the back of a device.


David is the author of:

The Luminist: A Novel
The Luminist by David Rocklin 
Paperback322 pages
Published October 11th 2011 by Hawthorne Books


From Good Reads:
Photography comprises the bright, tensile thread in the sweep of The Luminist,
drawing tight a narrative that shifts between the prejudices and passions of Victorian England and those of colonial Ceylon. It binds the destinies of Catherine Colebrook, the proper wife of a fading diplomat, who rebels against every convention to chase the romance of science through her lens, and Eligius, an Indian teenager thrust into servitude after his father is killed demanding native rights.
The Luminist is a weave of legend and history, science and art, politics and domesticity that are symphonic themes in the main title, the story of an enduring and forbidden friendship. Catherine and Eligius must each struggle with internal forces that inspire them and societal pressures that command them. Rocklin’s is a bold landscape, against which an intimate drama is poignantly played out. Just in this way, our minds recall in every detail the photo snapped at the moment of pain, while all the lovely scenes seem to run together.




Review of Two Moons of Sera - Pavarti K Tyler

Two Moons of Sera (No. 1)

Two Moons of Sera by Pavarti K Tyler
ebook Published 2011 by Fighting Monkey Press


Good Reads:
In a world where water and earth teem with life, Serafay is an anomaly. The result of genetic experiments on her mother's water-borne line Serafay will have to face the very people responsible to discover who she really is. But is she the only one? 


All the Fun of YA written for Adults 


Two Moons of Sera is a Fantasy/Romance and will be released in a serial format. The first volume is just shy of 20,000 words and will be priced at $0.99. Anyone who purchases it will receive all future volumes for free. However if you wait to get it until later, the price will go up with each addition.


My Review:

I LOVE this book! It is in serial form so you are left with missing information that comes gradually and, of course, cliffhangers. Since I am impatient this part is hard for me. However I fell into the story line hard and will definitely finish out the series. 
Sera is, I believe half Sualwet and half Erdlander. She lives with her Sualwet mother, Nilafay,  and is basically shunned by the  Sualwet community. Her mother lives on land with Sera as Sera can only be under water for a shorter time than Nilafay  Her mother goes scavenging for treasures which she brings back to Sera. These they use for their home and with these Sera also learns the Erdlander language. They have lived like this for 16 years, with Nilafay being Sera's only real company.
One day Sera is drying pages from a book her mother found when an Erdlander swiftly steals them away. Sera, not knowing what it was and surprised by the theft, goes after them. At first she tries to decide what the creature is. Then the creature speaks and she knows it is an Erdlander. This is the beginning of Sera realizing how lonely she is. She seeks out the Erdlander. Eventually she befriends him and learns his name is Torkek, or Tor. Tor at first speaks very little, learning more and more words from Sera. She learns he is also an anomaly and is living by himself. Exactly what he is we do not know yet. 
Much of this book is about Sera, her relationship with her mother and then with Tor. This allows us to get to know her and care about her. So when tragedy strikes and Sera needs to run away with Tor, we care deeply and feel her pain, confusion and terror. When the book ended on the cliff hangar I almost died. I have read and loved several series, (Sookie Stackhouse, Midnight Breed, Chicagoland Vampire, Fever, Darkness Within, House of Night to name a few). This is ranking up there with them for me. I cannot wait for the next book.


More information on Pavarti: http://www.fightingmonkeypress.com/


Read her blog: http://pavarti.blogspot.com/


If your a writer: http://www.novelpublicity.com


Follow Pavarti on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/PavartiKTyler?sk=wall


Tweet with her: http://twitter.com/#!/PavartiKTyler


See what she is reading on Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4741652.Pavarti_K_Tyler







Comments Always Welcome!

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