Tag: bbnya

Hayley Reese Chow is the author of Odriel’s Heirs, the 2020 winner of the Florida Author Project and fifth place finalist in the 2021 Book Blogger Novel of the Year Awards. She’s also the author of Into the Churn, a romantic YA sci-fi released by Whimsical Publishing in April 2023.

When not falling head over heels into fictional worlds, her hat collection includes mother, wife, engineer, reservist, fencer, ultramarathoner, triathlete, world traveler, book inhaler, and super nerd. Hayley currently dodges hurricanes in Florida with two small wild boys, her long-suffering husband, and her miniature ragehound.

To find Hayley’s other stories and see what she’s working on next, check out hayleyreesechow.com. You can also find her on Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram @HayleyReeseChow.

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Hazelhearth Hires Heroes – D.H. Willison

Oct 28, 2023Oct 26, 2023 ramblingmads

Welcome to Hazelhearth: our picturesque city is nestled in a tranquil corner of the empire. Fitness lovers enjoy vigorous nature walks in the surrounding forest (don’t forget your sword!) Foodies savor rich, robust walnut-based cuisine. Or visit the gnome quarter for a walk on the wild side! Local mines and orchards beckon with plentiful employment opportunities, while workers sleep safe knowing that stout city walls keep mythic monsters at bay. A select few may even be chosen for exciting quest opportunities.

The onslaught of subterranean hordes? Oh, that’s happening miles away. And the elves have it completely under control.

Inquire today at the Hazelhearth board of tourism, employment, and heroics!

How could Sam and Lee say no? Lee is bored to tears as a telegrapher. His only excitement in life is the revolutionary new board game he’s creating. And of course constant disruptions at work by Sam, whose high voltage experiments wreak havoc with nearby electric systems. These two best buddies… colleagues… acquaintances are ready to escape from 19th century America into a more exciting world!

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D.H. Willison is a reader, writer, game enthusiast and developer, engineer, and history buff. He’s lived or worked in over a dozen countries, learning different cultures, viewpoints, and attitudes, which have influenced his writing, contributing to one of his major themes: alternate and creative conflict resolution. The same situations can be viewed by different cultures quite differently. Sometimes it leads to conflict, sometimes to hilarity. Both make for a great story.

He’s also never missed a chance to visit historic sites, from castle dungeons, to catacombs, to the holds of tall ships, to the tunnels of the Maginot Line. It might be considered research, except for the minor fact that his tales are all set on the whimsical and terrifying world of Arvia. Where giant mythic monsters are often more easily overcome with empathy than explosions.

Subscribe to his newsletter for art, stories, and humorous articles (some of which are actually intended to be humorous).

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Hall of Bones – Tim Hardie

Oct 27, 2023Oct 26, 2023 ramblingmads

Rothgar, the son of the Reavesburg Clan Chief, has been groomed for a role supporting his elder brother, Jorik, in leading their kingdom when their father’s time finally comes to an end.

However, the rulers of their greatest rivals, the Vorund Clan, are in the grip of something older and far darker. Everything is about to change …

The first book in The Brotherhood of the Eagle series, Hall of Bones begins a tale of epic fantasy, magic and intrigue.

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Tim Hardie grew up in the seaside town of Southport during the 1970s and 1980s. This was before anyone had even heard of the internet and Dungeons & Dragons was cutting edge. Living in a house where every available wall was given over to bookshelves, he discovered fantasy writers like JRR Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, Ursula Le Guin, Alan Garner, Stephen Donaldson and Susan Cooper. Those stories led him into the science fiction worlds created by Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick, Arthur C Clarke and HP Lovecraft.

After training to become a lawyer Tim lived in London for three years before moving to Yorkshire in 1999, where he has worked ever since in a variety of legal, commercial, financial and management roles. His writing began as a hobby in his early twenties and has gradually grown into something else that now threatens to derail his promising career.

Tim writes epic fantasy that will appeal to fans of Joe Abercrombie, John Gwynne and Robin Hobb.

Twitter – @TimHardieAuthor

Facebook – @Tim.Hardie.Author.Public

Website – www.timhardieauthor.co.uk

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Glory Unbound – Deborah L. King

Oct 26, 2023Oct 26, 2023 ramblingmads

Shackled to a controlling boyfriend by gold bracelets locked on her wrists, will she ever learn to live on her own terms?

Chicago, 1984. Glory Bishop wishes to feel safe in love. Rescued by her unwanted fiancé from her abusive mother’s violence, the seventeen-year-old warily moves into his wealthy mom’s luxurious house to get away. Overwhelmed and confused by the kindness and grace her host shows, Glory struggles to know how to behave.

Blossoming in the new environment where she is treated like a princess, the scarred teenager finally starts to feel good about her life. But when her controlling intended crashes her senior prom, she’s mortified when he roughly drags her away from her drunken friends.

Can she accept an offer of freedom and independence, or will she fall further under his control?

Glory Unbound is the dramatic second book in the GLORY BISHOP women’s literary fiction series. If you like brave characters, tense twists and turns, and unwavering hope, then you’ll adore Deborah L. King’s powerful story of self-determination.

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THOUGH DEBORAH L. KING has been a writer and storyteller her whole life, publishing her first short story at seven years old, she took 32 years to complete the story of Glory Bishop. The novels were published as GLORY BISHOP and GLORY UNBOUND. The two-part story tells the coming-of-age of a Chicago teenager growing up in the 1980s. Deborah’s third novel, MARY NOT BROKEN is the prequel to GLORY BISHOP and tells the story of Glory’s mother. It is due out in 2023. Deborah enjoys cartoons, cooking, photography, and Classic Star Trek. Born and raised in Chicago, Deborah has managed to achieve all of her childhood dreams and still lives in the area with her husband and two youngest children. According to her daughter, she has “literally aced her life!”

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Fractured – Gordon G. Bowman

Oct 24, 2023Oct 19, 2023 ramblingmads

This year, the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the books that made it into Round Two with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title. BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.
If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

A mindbending YA urban fantasy/sci-fi thriller for readers of all ages.

A teenage girl stumbles out of an alley in Ottawa, concussed, with no memory of her life. On the run from sword-wielding operatives with inexplicable telepathic and telekinetic abilities, she soon discovers that she not only possesses the same abilities, but is extraordinarily skilled in martial arts.

Fleeing to Toronto to search for clues about her identity, she encounters others like her. She is given refuge at an international school for Telepaths, where she can learn to use her Abilities and stay hidden from the world of Typicals. They believe that she is from a shadowy organization that they only recently became aware of. They fear she may be a spy or an assassin, and that her amnesia may be either fake or intentional.

As fragments of her childhood return, Zoe begins to suspect that she may not like who she once was—and that who she is may literally cease to exist. She soon becomes swept up in events that are thousands of years in the making, and realizes that even more important than learning who she used to be is choosing who she wants to be.

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Gordon G. Bowman lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is a physics grad, a software developer, and a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy. Fractured, book one in the YA urban fantasy/sci-fi series Telepath, is his first novel. He wrote it slowly, over the span of seventeen years, for his daughters. These days, he writes much more consistently, and can be found at 5am every morning at his laptop with his cup of coffee.

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Debunked – Dito Abbott

Oct 23, 2023 ramblingmads

Sometimes adventure knocks. Other times, it kicks the door in.

“Dearest Alexandria and Ozymandias,

If you are reading this, I have perished. My demise likely involved some manner of spiked pit or curiously fanged beast, so it’s doubtful I suffered long. Do not try to find me—the path is too perilous, and I am lost to the mortal plane.  ”

When Alex and Ozzie read their grandfather’s latest “death” letter, they barely blink. Dying six times in two years has to be a record, even for an explorer as incompetent as Sir Quidby Forsythe III. 

Faster than you can say “kidnapped by a giant, glowing lizard,” the Forsythe twins are dragged into a world of ancient prophecies, sarcastic swords of legend, mutant slime beasts, and a growing awareness their grandfather might be the greatest explorer in history.

 With Skhaar the Annihilator hot on their trail, Ozzie and Alex must solve the mystery of Sir Quidby’s disappearance before they become the final victims of the Forsythe Curse.

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Dito (rhymes with “Cheetoh”) Abbott was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in Saudi Arabia, and sailed around the world with his family by the age of twenty-seven.

His debut YA Fantasy novel, Debunked, draws on his love for adventure, googly-eyed slime beasts, and sarcastic swords of legend.

Dito lives in Phoenix with his wife, two daughters, and an invisible dragon named Clyde.

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Death Mask – Eric J. Gates

Oct 22, 2023 ramblingmads

Zoe Davis, late-thirties, bookstore owner, now living with a new family in Albuquerque, NM.

Ordinary. Unremarkable.

So why are Special Ops elite soldiers trying to kill her?

Perhaps Zoe isn’t who she seems to be…

2021 Reader’s Favorite GOLD MEDAL AWARD winner

Readfree.ly ”The 50 Best Indie books of 2021″ Award (Nº 1 in Thriller category. Nº 3 overall)

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Award-winning author Eric J. Gates has had a curious life filled with the stuff of thriller novels. Writing Operating Systems for Supercomputers, cracking cryptographic codes under extreme pressure using only paper and pen, and teaching Cyberwarfare to spies are just a few of the moments he’s willing to recall. He is an ex-International Consultant who has travelled extensively worldwide, speaks several languages. His specialty, Information Technology Security, has brought him into contact with the Military and Intelligence communities on numerous occasions. He is also an expert martial artist, holding 14 black belt degrees in distinct disciplines. He has taught his skills to Police and Military personnel, as well as to the public. He now writes thriller novels, drawing on his experiences with the confidential and secret worlds that surround us.

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Dead Sexy – Cameo MacPherson

Oct 21, 2023Oct 18, 2023 ramblingmads

Taking a chance on love can be harder than hunting the undead.

Cassie Jones, the head of Jones’ Post-Mortem Tracking Agency, has been cursed with a capital “C.” Thanks to an unfortunate incident with an angry wizard, any guy she falls for is guaranteed to betray her. So when David MacDuff – the most mouthwatering man she’s ever had the misfortune to meet – hires her to track his recently deceased brother, Gideon, she knows she’s got to keep things strictly professional.

Yeah… like that’s going to happen. She should have stuck to hunting vampires after all.

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Author Bio

Cameo MacPherson is an author with a strange sense of reality. She honestly thinks it’s possible to write books, maintain an acting career, raise three children, and fight off an encroaching zombie horde all at the same time. (Although sometimes she does get the children and the zombies confused.) A graduate of St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania, Cameo is proud to have put her degree in Advertising/Communications to absolutely no use and hopes to continue doing so. She can be found on social media (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and BlueSky) @cameomacpherson

BBNYA Semi-finalists: Curse of the Fallen – H.C. Newell

Oct 20, 2023Oct 16, 2023 ramblingmads

Nerana is a sorceress born in a world where magic is forbidden. Outcast, exiled, and hunted since birth, she seeks to free herself of a curse that ties her to the Order of Saro who relentlessly hunt her down.

Her hope now lies in a legend from the time of the elves that speaks of the Trials of Blood, a test that promises salvation. Darkness gathers, and the hunters close in on their prey, but with little left to lose Nerana embarks on her perilous journey and soon learns that the path to redemption may prove more fatal than the Order itself.

But for Nerana, this is more than a quest for survival… it’s a promise of revenge.

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H.C. Newell is an American author of dark fantasy. She is best known for the Fallen Light fictional universe, in which her fantasy novels Curse of the Fallen, The Forbidden Realms, and The Banished are set.

In 2014, Newell started her first novel series, Forthwind, which was a young adult trilogy. As she grew as an author, she found her niche in adult fantasy, and created the Fallen Light universe. This six-part novel series took Newell over ten years to create. She published her debut novel “Curse of the Fallen” in April 2021.

Newell’s works have been compared by readers to authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Andrejz Sapkowski, and Robert Jordan among others. Newell lives in Nashville, TN with her husband.

Linktr.ee/hcnewell includes all website and social media links

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BBNYA Semi-finalists: Carved Amidst the Shadows – M.T. Fontaine

Oct 19, 2023Oct 18, 2023 ramblingmads

When the gods shaped the continent into five kingdoms to be ruled by their progeny, they did not account for the greed of men. When they created the Order from their god-blessed followers to mediate between realms, they neglected to plan against the hoarding of power. War between the royalists and the godly was inevitable.

Five centuries later, the borders between kingdoms are impenetrable. No branded-born Marked can cross them without burning to ash, except the Order’s Stewards. But a damaging new war has been prophesied, one that haunts the Order, one that will come to pass if Carved traitors roam free and brandless-born Flawed are left alive.

It starts with one girl that survives the impossible. Kaianne, the Carved. It takes shape through one prince with ambition. Andreiyes, the Marked. It hinges on one grieving man who is ready to give up hope. Rau, the Steward. Three people bound by fate – whether they like it or not.

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