Hi. This is Royal888 or Sarah Royal here. Thank you, KellyAnneBlount, for giving me the opportunity to post to your party. I really appreciate it that I am part of this party this August and feel very honoured. In this post I am doing reviews but also sharing some trivia about four authors who are the most humble. They hardly ever promote their own work and have time to help others. I chose these 4 authors because I have been following them on wattpad and social media for years. I have seen what they do for the community. They are very humble and dont talk about their achievements much. They are amazing active and kind authors worth knowing. So read on please to get to know them...If you skip at this point... Then thanks so much for reading this far...But please stay.... Please don't skip to the next post yet.
Before I start, please check out the media section of this chapter on the very top where you can see a video by Kelly Anne which is part of the #WhereIWrite set of videos by various authors on the Wattpad Youtube channel. I recommend all of those video and in particular Kelly Anne's one. I found it quite inspiring and useful.
Also I would like to announce an additional giveaway to the rafflecopter giveaway that you can find the link to on Kelly Anne's profile:
To enter, please check out Kelly Anne's book Snowed In and maybe check the first chapter or two to get a feel and then answer this question in the comments below: If Kelly Anne's book, Snowed In was to be turned into a Hallmark movie, who would you cast as Claudia and Colton, explain why... I will giveaway a one chapter comment on your book or give a dedication to anyone with the best answer. (More than one winner may be contacted via PM by 31st August :-)
Now Let's get the party started:
Today, I would like to post reviews of books by four writers who I call "The Storytelling American Queens of Wattpad" who have influenced me in many ways. I strongly recommend that you check these books out or if not these books, at least another book by these authors. It is worth it. In my book reviews I have also shared Trivia about these authors which they kindly shared with me.
I look at author queens in my mind... like Charlize Theron... She mesmerizes, shocks, entertains and makes us cry and laugh... So all hail the Wattpad Queens... I just thought I insert a trailer of the Huntsman movie here to get us into the theme :-)
The 4 American Queens of Storytelling on wattpad I like to present are;
Tamara Lush from Florida (Born in California)
Kelly Anne Blount from New York (Born in Wisconsin)
Amanda Cheairs from Texas (Born in Nevada)
Russelin K Close from Arizona (Born in Kentucky)
Now here are my reviews of books and the overview of these four queens:
Queen: Tamara Lush TamaraLush
Realm: Romance Genre
Chosen Book To Discuss: Uncovered
Writing Castle Location: Florida
Origins: Born in California
The first book I like to introduce to you is from the Florida based Author Tamara Lush called Uncovered. If you check out her about page on her website, you may read the following, and you may not think much of it: "She's married to an Italian and lives near a beach in Florida. During the day she is a journalist with The Associated Press...."
Now check out her book, "Uncovered" and read the blurb... Hm... So if you read carefully, you will know this book is a natural researched book... And wait for it... The best part is... This book is Tamara Lush's first ever book... As in this is her first ever book... This is a special book. This is a well-researched book. It has mafia in it, but it's not a typical girl meets mafia boss story. A reporter has a plane crash right at the doorstep of a man on the run from the mafia and sparks fly, but this is no typical story... Let Tamara Entertain you...Making you an offer you can't refuse...
Here is her teaser for her book Uncovered:
Fun facts about Tamara:
~She knows the grandson of Meyer Lansky
~ Donnie Brasco is a true story, and part of it happened near where she lives. She knows reporters who covered pieces of it.
~Some interpret her male character in Uncovered to be inspired by the author of the book, Gomorrah who is called Roberto Saviano. If he moved to America, he might have fallen for this girl in Tamara's story. He is a real-life Italian journalist who is on the run from the mafia. His book is a true story of Naples. Guess what? Tamara's male character is also from Naples.
~This book is her first ever book. It was in third person, and now the book on Wattpad is in first person. This book is very special and close to her heart because it is her first book.
~ Uncovered was first published traditionally by Boroughs, a U.S. romance publisher. It was previously titled Hot Shade and was published on e-book.
~Tamara can understand some Italian
~ She travels to Italy every year (so if any Italian fans want autograph maybe watch out for her Instagram pictures and then find her in Italy in holiday season)
~ She is an Associated Press reporter. She has coveted similar crime stories to the ones happening in her books as a reporter which is her day job.
~ She has two dogs with Italian names (Dino and Gigi)
~ She makes better pizza than her husband who is an Italian from Salerno near Naples.
~ Her favorite Italian drink is Espresso con Nutella - an espresso with a small spoonful of Nutella mixed in (I added this, so you take notes. Trust me ... ask Italians or those married to Italians on what to order when it comes to coffee, pizza, and gelato).
- Her latest book, Constant Craving is a finalist in the 2018 RITA awards.
Check out Tamara's book, Uncovered. See trailer:
Queen: Kelly Anne Blount KellyAnneBlount
Realm: Suspense and Thriller
Chosen Book To Discuss: Snowed In
Writing Castle Location: Asheville, NC
Origins: Born in Wisconsin
The second book I like to analyze in this party is by KellyAnneBlount. I fell in love with her book, Snowed In and wish to share my take on it with you but without giving spoilers. I hope you do check it out.
Well, this book is set in the United States. In a small town. I don't know why as I went through the book I got the feeling when I read the Heroes. The Heroes is tragic, and this book is a Christmas story. It's a feel-good Christmas Story. Basically, the similarity is, in Heroes, we are dealing with the return of a war Hero. The people look at him and another war veteran as heroes. They like their heroes. They clap for them when their pictures come on the cinema screen with their medals. But there is so much they don't know about them. If someone told them one committed a terrible crime and the other one didn't stop it years ago and heard it happen what would they say? Impossible. In Snowed in, we do deal with this town. They are proud of their Hero who was a cop. They don't like this image of their hero to be tainted. They have no idea that this hero was no hero in the house. They have no idea what he pushed onto his family. Now we get this girl, Claudia visiting the small town. She visits and falls in love with the actions, good deeds and pure heart of a stranger. She falls in love with his care that he shows her and nothing else. She sees this town who is not so welcoming to this guy. She is scratching her head, what's going on? Then she hears about the hero cop. The lesson for me in this book is, heroes are not always heroes to those they are meant to love. We need to see the difference. A hero is one who is a hero at home first and then outside.
Now I have tried not to give spoilers. There are plenty of beautiful moments in this book. It is what I describe as a Hallmark movie ready to be shown. You may look at my above description and ask... but is it happy? It is happy. I just didn't want to give spoilers so decided to focus on the theme of heroes here... Sorry. Can't tell you who is the hunk Claudia meets. He is worth the wait... Go meet him and read the book. Claudia visits a place that's not even home, but it is a reminder of home. It is where the family took vacations to over the years, and it's like she is looking for something there... A spirit of Christmas past perhaps? We like the feel of nostalgia but we all know when we look into the past we miss it and it's not a great feeling... It makes you feel like this girl is going back home this Christmas... But her home is elsewhere... She finds a home perhaps? Maybe the knight in shining armour she meets is going to build her a home, or she becomes his hero that he desperately needs. In the beginning, we feel this girl needs a hero, but then the situation is reversed in many ways... But not in ways we might expect or think.
The descriptions given to us by the author gives us a homely feel. It's like you are transferred to this peaceful small town... I did ask Kelly Anne if she could share some trivia about this book. I was going mad thinking this has got to be real. Part of this book feels very real. She must be inspired by places or objects or certain characters to build them up so well. It's a feel-good book. But feel good books are well researched. The feel-good book doesn't just magically appear. A lot of beauty is in this book. Don't miss it. I think I forgot to give you a warning. This book is by Kelly Anne... The Kelly Anne... one of the best suspense and thriller writers on Wattpad... if you read Captured, you can see the theme of unpredictable nature of the plot and also the secrets unraveling themselves. So this book is a Christmas treat for sure... Let's face it. How many times you see a suspense and thriller writer give you a Christmas book. It's a mash-up be thrilled and have a good Christmas read. The queen of thriller and suspense will make you come back for more... So Kelly Anne... Please update... SEQUEL is what my soul is asking for.
Kelly Anne loves holidays however she knows that holidays are not always joyous occasions for everyone. She wanted to share that experience in Snowed In. I would say she has achieved that aim. When I was reading the book, it was one of the first features of the characters that I noticed. She was all alone going somewhere she had a connection to. She talked of the previous Christmas occasions that she had spent there with family but seeing that this time she had no one, it did convey the feeling that her life had changed.
The character also emphasized for me how much life changes as we grow older. When you look back to when you were a child and compare how you spent your holidays back then, it is not comparable. This character is so relatable, and anyone can think of some occasions we feel like them. One may not realize what they are doing happens for the last time and won't repeat again... The feeling of nostalgia is powerful in the book.
The book has a mixture of themes and genres combined. Kelly Anne is, in fact, a huge fan of romance and thrillers, and she combined the two genres together. Read the book on Wattpad, people before its taken down. It's worth a read. Believe me.
Once you read the book, you would appreciate the following Trivia that Kelly Anne kindly shared with me:
She can always picture her books in her head like watching a movie at the cinema. This has helped her visualize the settings and scenes in "Snowed In" while she was writing the book.
She lives in the mountains of western North Carolina, where there are loads of idyllic cabins and quaint homes nestled into the Smokey Mountains (sounds so ... unique... Imagine living in Smokey mountains and read Kelly Anne's books). They definitely served as inspiration for the book.
When she is reading, she enjoys storylines where all is not as it appears. She thought this worked really well with one of the main characters in Snowed In.
She believes it is important to remember not to judge situations in which we don't have all the information. This is an important theme in Snowed In (I agree. Judging without knowing the facts must be rule one. It's easy to judge).
Queen: Amanda L. Cheairs acheairs
Realm: Poetry and Short Story
Chosen Book To Discuss: Kindred Spirit
Writing Castle Location: Texas
Origins: Born in Nevada
Amanda writes poetry and she warms your heart with her words. She can take you to the skies and back...
In her own words, she is a long-lasting Texan in the heat and the sun. She is tougher than she looks; "I grew up in Texas, and I feel at peace here." (Acheairs).
But of course in her world peace is never an option. Describing Amanda is hard.
Amanda Cheairs ... can be seen as a role model, mysterious poet, full-time writer, working mum, gold-hearted individual and caregiver to anyone who comes her way. She is from red-hot Texas. Sacrifice defines her.. Love has made her. She used to write short stories on Wattpad, but now it is poetry that she is kindly posting on Wattpad... Kindred Spirit is the name of the book... It's an anthology of poems Twitter style? Let's see if I can explain...
It is like an anthology of the Twitter poetry that she has been working on for years. She is selecting among the unpublished poetry and posting them in Kindred Spirit Anthology. In her own words, Kindred Spirit is a collection of her raw work. (so if it's raw... what's baked like? WINK WINK).
Amanda describes her poetry in an honest way; "What I feel I put. No edits, no changed words just as my heart feels it in that moment. When I write poetry I don't think, I just feel, so it really is the truest part of me." (Acheairs)
I asked Amanda why this poetry is called Twitter poetry when she introduces it to readers. She said that it is called Twitter Poetry because it originates from activities she has done in groups and the prompts she has followed on Twitter. Each one of the poems in the collection is meant to fit in a tweet with the hashtag she mentions in each chapter. Ideally, you don't go longer than what a tweet is when you follow prompts she has been, but occasionally some poets do and create an image with a poem in it. So welcome to the Twitter poetry scene if you are new like me. Amanda has been writing poems daily at times on Twitter in recent years and once a month she does try to participate in writing poetry live on it through Slamwords. It does sound like a rap battle to me. One from green mile.
So like in a rap battle someone just gives them a mic and says go... But in what form can they improvise poems on Twitter. I asked this from Amanda, and she said this; Twitter poetry can be in any form. You will find that some are Hiakus and some are 10-word poems. It just depends on the prompt and the prompt giver. Sometimes it is a word, and sometimes it is a feeling or sound or a picture. It's about the creation of something in a moment. No judgments just go for encouragement for writers to go for it. You do not have to be a poet to take part. All writers are welcome.
What is fascinating for a fan of poetry is the fact that Kindred Spirit is written over the course of 3-4 years. Therefore, the readers can get glimpses of the poetry that come from Amanda's heart from her happy days before she lost her father and also her dark days after the tragic loss in her life. She tragically lost her father in October 2016 just shortly before her birthday in November. The Rose on the cover of Kindred Spirit is for her father. I am seeing the contrast in this tribute to her father. Amanda is from Texas. The first image that comes to mind from Texas for me is desert and oil. A rose in a desert is contrasting. This represents Amanda's writing and her spirit. She is calculating and has a very analytical mind. Yet, she is very kind and supportive to many many authors I know. I ask her if this analytical mind is genetic and she does respond; "My father got his BS in Physics and Math with minors in Chemistry and Theology and his Masters and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. And he taught me to use science as a way to break down the world and really understand how things work. He wrote Science and Religion books and poetry as well."
I ask her to tell us if her father influenced her poetry writing. Here is her response; "When I was a little girl I would get sick, and my father would recite poetry to me. And in doing so, he helped me fall in love with it. By the age of 6 when he read me, Thoreau, I decided it was my future. I did stop sharing my poetry after my mother passed away when I was 17, and my Twitter poet friends actually encouraged me to share again, and my brother encouraged me to publish it. So yes, he did in many ways."
Check out Kindred Spirit. It's worth a try.
Amanda gave me 10 things about me for you all to read.
10 Things About Me
1. I had not self-published anything or been part of any self-publishing until my friend Qi (qdauthor) had recommended I get involved in a horror anthology (Vices & Virtues: An Anthology of the Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Dark Virtues) which was the vision of Trinity (trinityhanrahan) who was also one of Qi's friends. Qi felt it would help me with my grief and depression after losing my dad to get back into writing and it was a way to keep me honest having a deadline. She saw me sinking into depression and was trying to help me in any way she could. During the creation process though we lost Qi, but by opening the door, Trinity and I learned that not only we work well together, but we wanted to put an anthology together each year. Now completing the second year (Witching Hour Sinister Legends), we have not only created Witching Hour Anthologies (We have a charity edition Letting Hope Enter coming out in September before Witching Hour Sinister Legend comes out in October, but we have started working on Zodiac our 3rd edition. We also created Witching Hour Press which is a Dark Fiction Publisher. Because of her desire to help Qi introduced me to a business partner that has helped me get back to the world I loved but helped me find a way to get through the difficult days. I miss her daily but she is part of my journey still.
2. My short story for the charity anthology (Letting Hope Enter), Through Fog and Sound, has been in my head since early 2017. It is about how my son brought me out of a deep depression tied to my grief. Although most reading the teaser think it is a spiritual thing.
3. I wrote my first novel at 13 which was revised and edited over 20 years later for publication.
4. For my mother's funeral, I wrote a poem which was called November Rain which people thought I named after the Guns N' Roses song November Rain but it was written about my grief. November is when I was born, and rain was meant to symbolize tears. It was also the last poem I shared with people until my Twitter poet friends convinced me to share again 20 years later.
5. I am not known on Wattpad for my writing. In that area, I am often told I'm mysterious because I don't talk about it. I'm known for my commenting.
6. I share my poetry on Tablo, Inkitt, and Wattpad. My poetic way of acknowledging that I understand they are all unique sites in their way is the last 10 poems in Kindred Spirit on these sites are different. (The version of Kindred Spirit on these sites is a chapter book version of the full volume so you can find all 30 poems in it though.)
7. I have endured more darkness than I share with people, but if you read my poetry, you will get a glimpse of the best and worst moments of my life.
8. I prefer darker writing (Horror, Mystery, and Thriller) but it was actually a sweet Romance that started my career.
9. The person I talk to most often about my writing is Liz Durano (MorrighansMuse) because not only is she a fantastic friend she truly is a great writing buddy. She truly listens to and encourages me which is something that helps me get through dark moments and self-doubt.
10. My son Tristen reads everything I write; the good, the bad and the ugly; but my son Ethan is my sounding board, so he is the person I run my ideas by. He knows when I hold back and calls me on it. (Both are amazing writers, but Tristen is the one that plans to write Fantasy novels when he grows up. Ethan plans to create video games. Knowing my type of writing isn't their favorite genre makes their support mean so much more to me.)
Queen: Russelin K Close RKClose
Realm: Fantasy Genre
Chosen Book To Discuss: Red Night, Red Moon, Red Dream (Vampire Files Trilogy)
Writing Castle Location: Arizona
Origins: Born in Kentucky
An author who first hand can tell you about heroes is RKClose, a former ambassador, and Wattpad writer... She is the author of the Vampire Files Trilogy which is about a girl who accidentally crosses paths with a vampire who's on a quest for revenge.
Russelin has been working on her books for the last four years. Most of her writing revolves around Arizona, places she is familiar with, and places that she has visited. Book three in the Red series, called Red Dream, takes place in Europe which she has visited a couple times.
She lives with a hero, a dedicated fireman/paramedic in Arizona... She is a devoted working mother. She writes fantasy books, but there is so much about her that influence the perception of readers when they meet her characters... She is humble. She is not like other authors... Her work now is snippets on Wattpad. They used to be available on Wattpad, and I did vote for them in Wattys 2015 I think... Same year Katarina Tonks won for Omertà... I joined Twitter to just vote.. was it 2015? Yes, it was I believe... So if you check her profile and see snippets just know her work was free for a while on Wattpad. Her trilogy was offered a publishing contract, and she had to limit the stories on WP to snippets...
So I ask Russelin what the definition of a hero is? You live with one. How does it impact your writing and does that make your expectations of protagonists higher since her husband is a hero paramedic and fireman, working father who has two jobs and a dedicated husband to Russelin who writes for a living which is quite a tough job. Yet the family find time to take family vacations in neighbouring countries even Mexico. A road trip to Mexico is adventurous, and I hope Russelin does write about her trip in a book.
Russelin did not share anything about her husband voluntarily. Since I am her Facebook friend, I did see headlines that her husband was on the news helping as a paramedic delivering a baby in a medic truck and saving the mother and baby which is amazing. I really wanted to share this because it follows the theme of the article. Heroes are not heroes unless they are both heroes at home and outside the house.
Russelin is very humble and quiet. I was lucky enough that she agreed to share trivia about herself with me which I am inserting below:
Russelin only started writing seriously for the last four years. A lot happened quickly once she completed her first novel on Wattpad, Red Night. This was her first ever book on Wattpad.
A few months after completing the first rough draft of Red Night on Wattpad, she was featured under the Vampire category. This gave her the encouragement to participate in a publisher's Twitter pitch competition. Limitless Publishing liked her pitch, so she submitted her work and was offered a contract for the series that she was writing.
Since then she has been feeling like she was back in college because in her own words she didn't stop learning after that point and still she humbly says she has so far to go.
Limitless published her second book, Red Moon seven months after they released her first book, but the third and final story launched on July 13, 2018. She is excited to have the series completed, with the exception of a prequel novella she is planning to write in the next few months.
Her inspiration came from everywhere. Her own imagination is vivid, and she adds a little bit of herself into each and every character that she develops. She tends to write the type of books she loves to read. Her author inspirations are; Ann Rice, Karen Marie Moning, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris to name a few. Movies also inspire her.
In her own words, she does explain her views on the state of originality in books. "They say there are no original ideas anymore and in some ways that may be true but the beauty of writing, is that it's all unique. No two stories are exactly the same. Even fan fiction has someone else's signature in the storytelling. Find your voice and tell your story. Only you can."
I asked her if her husband inspired some of her characters including her hero's to be specific and she said yes. She explains what she thinks of her husband who is a paramedic-firefighter in a brief description:
"Greg has done some pretty impressive things to save others. He has never considered himself a hero and doesn't even bring up his profession much. He would never agree with that title. To him, he's merely doing his job to the best of his ability.
But he has delivered a baby in the back of a medic truck, brought patients back from the brink of death, held peoples hands when they couldn't be saved, and their spirits departed this world. He's been shot at for no reason, dealt with violent and sometimes dangerous patients. Yes, it's all part of his job but thank God for those who choose a profession that won't make them rich but does it to help others."
On developing characters inspired by her husband, she says this;
"When developing a strong male role model, there is no need to look too far when I see my husband making regular "dates" with our two daughters, or taking time off work to drive our eighteen-year-old son across the country so our son can spend the summer with family. And he celebrates my writing and encourages me to continue. He's a hero to his family if nothing else."
Russelin Close believes that "Inspiration can come from everywhere. It could be a grandparent and their gentle nature or even a cranky neighbor. All experiences and dreams can be fuel for stories. Even if someone is writing Sci-Fi, their characters, human or not, would need personalities. Every one of you might be someone's inspiration for a character. Be a good example."
As for the settings for her stories, Russelin admits that so far she has written about places she is familiar with, such as Phoenix, Arizona (location for book 1 & 2), and the third story takes place in the United Kingdom—London and a few lesser-known spots. She has lived most of her life in Southern Arizona, but she has traveled to Europe twice now. Traveling to just about anywhere is one of her favorite things to do. She will be traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 20Bookto50K conference. She didn't make it last year and is very excited to be going this year.
She feels that the best advice she can give to new writers is some that they've most likely heard a million times and will hear a million more— "Read, read, read, write, write, write, and never stop learning."
Her new series is in the pipeline, but it will be entirely self-published. Her next series is based on werewolf firefighters in Flagstaff, Arizona. The series is a direct inspiration from her husband. She says he doesn't howl at the moon, but he has inspired her. She is currently trying to meet a deadline for a novella to start that series off. Best of luck to Russelin.
To just get an idea of Russelin's books, I like to include her trailer of her book Red Night:
Thank you for reading my reviews of the authors and their books above. That's it from me.
Please take part in my giveaway at the beginning of the post and also comment below your favourite authors on wattpad and their books please so I add them to a reading list to maybe check out when I am free... I like to find new good books...
Thank you for having me. Thank you for reading. Check out my giveaway please as outlined in the rafflecopter:
Royal888 will giveaway a one chapter comment or dedication to three lucky winners!
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