Genre: Fantasy
 Publisher: Creativia
 Publication Date: February 26, 2018
 Pages: 235
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Strafe Rocknus has suffered hard losses in his life, but now things are looking up for the college graduate.

He has a sizzling girlfriend, good friends and a bright career ahead of him. But one day, Strafe awakes in a mysterious cavern, discovers an ancient artifact, and unwittingly ignites a war that spans two worlds: his own, and one he never knew existed.

With the abyss of the unknown before him, Strafe enters the swirling darkness. Desperate, he must navigate a new and hostile world on the brink of catastrophe, and learn the truth of who he is, while facing a darkness with the power to destroy everything Strafe has ever cared about.

Soon, he will discover that his greatest strength comes from those he fights for.

 Genre: Fantasy
 Publisher: Creativia
 Publication Date: March 2, 2018
 Pages: 252
 Add to GoodReads

Strafe and his friends have become the most wanted fugitives in the world. They have no other choice but travel to Crotona, to convince Eternia’s leaders of their innocence before they are hunted down.

But first, they need to stop the Senti from gaining the powerful Guardian Key. Guided by a mysterious visitor in his dreams, Strafe and the group press on, despite the danger. But even with their new-found powers, will it be enough to take down their ruthless adversary?

As tensions in the realm reach a boiling point, lives are on the line at every moment. Strafe is getting closer to freeing his family and getting back home, but it will only come with great sacrifice. He will face the greatest challenges of his life, and fight against not only an enemy, but an ideal.

Strafe must rely on his friends and instincts to guide him. His fate is in his own hands... but he doesn't have to fight alone.

How do you deal with pain that nobody can see?

Strafe, Yessa, and Zixin have returned to Earth. Strafe believes he has found peace, but the battle to save his family has just begun.

Zixin’s nightmarish past has left him in a fragile mental and physical state. The scars of his past continue to haunt him. When Strafe sees the self-harm beginning, he knows he can’t save Zixin alone. A mysterious group offers help, but it doesn’t come without a sacrifice.

The abduction of Yessa's parents forces her to decide whether to stay with Strafe or go find them. She finds a possible solution to find her parents by joining the new Space Force branch of the military. She is torn between those she loves. Leaving could mean the end of her and Strafe.

Unknown to Strafe and Yessa, something has followed them back to Earth. It is hunting them. Its thirst for blood and death is abhorrent. It leaves no survivors in its wake.

It wants revenge.

Strafe will fight not only to save his family, but to stop this new hunter from taking everything away he cherishes.

The Venerate Saga continues!

Troy Dukart is the author of the Venerate Saga series (The Venerate Order, The Venerate Redemption, and the upcoming The Venerate Salvation. Troy grew up outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota: Twin Cities. Troy is recognized by Toastmasters International as an Advanced Communicator Silver and Advanced Leader Bronze. He's lived in Japan as well as California. He loves to travel. He currently lives in Minneapolis. Make sure to stop by his website and sign-up for the newsletter to stay in the know!

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Richard feels trapped in his hectic life of commitment and responsibility. From the daily mayhem of having young children, an exhausted wife and pushy in-laws who frequently outstay their welcome, Richard’s existence fills him with panic and resentment. The only place he can escape the dark cloud descending upon him is the bathroom, where he hides for hours on end, door locked, wondering how on earth he can escape.

Often staring out of his window, Richard enviously observes the tranquil life of Bill, his neighbour living in the bungalow across the road. From the outside, Bills world appears filled with comfort and peace. Yet underneath the apparent domestic bliss of both lives are lies, secrets, imperfections, sadness and suffering far greater than either could have imagined. Beneath the surface, a family tragedy has left Bill frozen in time and unable to move on. As he waits for a daughter who may never return, Bill watches Richards bustling family life and yearns for the joy it brings. As the two men watch each other from afar, it soon becomes apparent that other people’s lives are not always what they seem.

This was a tough read. As someone with agoraphobia, social phobia and depression, I know what it is like to become disillusioned about your life and lose hope. So many people spend all of their lives wishing they had it better or like someone else. Yet they only see the image projected out and not what that person deals with. This is definitely a "water your own grass" and "be kind to others, you do not know what battles they fight" book.

About Richard
I had the most trouble liking Richard, honestly. He was just utterly miserable about everything. He came off as selfish, self-absorbed. Which is what happens when someone is spending too much time in their head, wishing they had it better than they do. He often gazed upon his neighbour Bill and wished he had his peaceful life without two kids, annoying in-laws and his wife doting on him. But I struggled greatly to like Richard, personally.

About Bill
To everyone else, Bill had the life but Bill lived in a house filled with painful memories waiting for the inevitable phone call. He watches Richard's life and he envies Richard's domestic bliss of two kids, a loving wife and in-laws happy to visit every Sunday. My heart ached for Bill and his wife's story. For all of their losses.

Other Points
This deals with some pretty tough topics. Loss of a loved one, murder, suicide and depression. This could be a very triggering novel due to this. So I definitely warn you to proceed with caution.
At the time that I read this book, I, personally, was not in a good mental place so I found this an especially difficult book to read. Perhaps one day I will reread this book and find it a lot better than I did the first round.

M. Jonathan Lee is a nationally shortlisted author who was born Yorkshire where he still lives today with his wife, children and dog, Alfie.His debut novel, The Radio was shortlisted for The Novel Prize 2012. He has spoken in schools, colleges, prisons and universities about creative writing and storytelling and appeared at various literary festivals including Sheffield’s Off the Shelf and Doncaster’s Turn the Page festival.
His second novel, The Page was released in February 2015.
His much anticipated third novel, A Tiny Feeling of Fear was released in September 2015 and tells the story of a character struggling with mental illness. All profits from this novel are donated to charity to raise awareness of mental health issues. This was accompanied by the short film, Hidden which was directed by Simon Gamble and can be seen here.
In 2016, he signed for boutique publishers, Hideaway Fall and his fourth novel Broken Branches was released in July 2017, winning book of the month in Candis magazine for September.
He is a tireless campaigner for mental health awareness and writes his own column regularly for the Huffington Post. He has recently written for the Big Issue and spoken at length about his own personal struggle on the BBC and Radio Talk Europe. His fifth book, the critically acclaimed Drift Stumble Fall is released in Spring 2018.

Enter the Other World at your own risk…

What if you found out that you weren’t exactly…human?

Myah Sullivan is suddenly living that nightmare. There are Others in the world, dangerous, supernatural creatures that make her mind spin and cause her to question the reality she’s always known.

Oliver King is her savior, a vampire who tries to show her the way. Through her journey she learns far more than she ever thought she would about herself, and about the past. Soon, she discovers that there is so much more to meeting Oliver than mere happenstance.

Can Myah accept her new reality, or will she retreat into that normal, safe world she once thought was her own?

L: Who or what inspired your novel?
ML: In many ways, Blood Instincts is about accepting yourself, even if there are parts that you weren't aware of at first. I just thought that...well, what if the character found out one day that she was different from other people? What if it was a big secret, something fascinating yet dangerous? How would she cope with that newfound knowledge? And so, the second book of the Blood at First Sight Series was born.

L: What would you say is the genre of your novel?
ML: This is a paranormal romance/urban fantasy with a slightly futuristic angle.

L: Why did you pick this/these genre(s)?
ML: Are you kidding? I love paranormal anything! Sign me up! I think I was a goner for supernatural stories from childhood, when my grandma told us ghost stories by the campfire. But mainly, I really fell in love with the genre when I first read The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause at the age of thirteen. That seriously blew my mind, and I was hooked on paranormal romance, even if it was a YA story.

L: How did you develop your plot and characters?
ML: As with any book I write, I develop both during the writing process. Random scenes come to me, and the details just fill themselves in over time. I also write a major outline to help me along the way. When I'm done writing a novel or story, though, I work on a full character worksheet, defining even more about the individual, and I start to add in those elements wherever necessary.

L: Who or what inspired your protagonist?
ML: I've known a lot of family members who are extremely practical, and aren't so open-minded about life. You could say that Myah is a blend of all of them, with a touch of putting myself in her shoes.

L: Who or what inspired your antagonist?
ML: The unsavory characters and elements in the story just came from my imagination. I tried to create people or aspects that would be off-putting enough to the heroine, things that might deter her from delving into the new world she found.

L: What was the most difficult part to write in the book?
ML: I think when any awakening occurs for a character, whether it's redemption from past mistakes, or learning some strange things about yourself, it can be a challenge to convey it well enough so that anyone can grasp what you're trying to express.

L: What was your favourite part of your book to write?
ML: I don't want to give much away, but it was a lot of fun to bring new creatures into this part of the series, to describe them and imagine the wonder a character might experience.

L: Are you a full time or a part time writer? If part time, what do you do besides write?
ML: For now, I write part time. The rest of the time I am not only doing the business side of being an author, but I also host three blogs.

L: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
ML: I am from a small town in the Midwest, particularly a little spot in Indiana. I was raised in a Victorian era farmhouse, and was the youngest of three kids. Our parents thought it would be cute to give us all 'M' names. Needless to say, all of my teachers compared me to my siblings. I spent a big part of my teenage years trying to establish my identity. To form my own opinions and be...well, me. Pretty much from the age of nine, I knew that I wanted to be a writer; furthermore, that I wanted to get published. Not for fame or anything, but simply because I had all of these stories in my head that had to be put on paper. In college, I pursued a Creative Writing degree. I loved taking all the workshops and helping my fellow writers improve their work. Of course, so many of them, including my professors, taught me a lot too!

L: Who or what inspired you to be an author?
ML: I think some of it came from the fact that I'm a bibliophile. I all but consumed books as a child, and that continued on into adulthood. I knew I wanted to be close to literature in some way, either through writing books or owning a bookstore. Eventually, it just made sense to write.

L: What are you currently reading?
ML: This time I grabbed a book from my TBR pile, an older title and a novella collection by Nora Roberts. It's called Winner Takes All.

L: What are some of your favourite books or authors?
ML: I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward. Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires is a close second. I also have a weakness for any romantic magical tales, historical romance and most types of contemporary romance. Now and then, I find an indie author that is quite enjoyable.

L: What are your future projects, if any?
ML: OMG...there so many! Don't get me started on the nearly 125 works in progress I have going. Beyond the five series already established on the market, I have plans for six other series and many standalones. First and foremost, though, I am working on a romantic comedy novel which will be part one of a six-book series.

L: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
ML: Hang in there. I know the journey is tough, and it seems incredibly daunting. Persistence and perseverance has always been my motto, and I hope it helps you too!

L: What is your preferred method for readers to get in touch with you and your books?
ML: Readers can contact me through my website or blogs, private message on Facebook, send a tweet on Twitter, or tag me on Google+.

A mysterious elderly stranger offers Colin Brayton, a bookstore owner, the job of appraising old books at a desolate colonial plantation. While working on the books, Colin stumbles across a series of diaries written in the late 1770s by fourteen-year-old Kate Dibble that chronicle an alien visitation.
Colin attempts to navigate a delicate balance between solving the mystery of the diary and simmering tensions with the beautiful, but aloof caretaker, Madeline Prentice. The strained relationship reaches a boiling point as a thunderstorm descends over the desolate property and prevents them from leaving. A malicious winged being emerges from the storm and demands the presence of The Ancient One in three days. When the diary hints of a buried spaceship, Colin and Maddy must put aside their differences to find the ship for their safety, and solve the mystery of the diary that hints at who The Ancient One is before the being seals their fate.

Ever since he began writing at the age of 10 in the basement of his parent's home, Glenn has been winning awards. Glenn wrote a short story in high school about talking houses that earned him first place where he won a pocket dictionary. Later he wrote a conspiracy novel about a secret formula hidden inside of Rubik's cube. The novel went nowhere but only whetted Glenn's appetite to write more.
At Gallaudet, Glenn churned out countless short stories of horror and science fiction for the University newspaper, "The Buff and Blue." He went on to win the Mac Dougall Creative writing competition and the Lillian Gourley Rakon Creative Writing Awards.
Taking a stab at screenwriting while in college, his first script, "Wrath of the Dragon," was a finalist at the 1988 Nissan Focus Screenplay competition sponsored by Columbia Pictures.
His screenplay, "The Alien Diaries" was a finalist during Amazon's monthly screenwriting competition.