Crowvus Book Blog

 I love fantasy books, and I love adventure so, put those two genres together, and I get very excited! I was, therefore, delighted when I was offered the opportunity to review this book. The author sent me a copy in exchange for an honest review. The book can be purchased here. Summary Matthew is an average boy who doesn't realise his father is the Blademaster, a title given to one person capable of wielding the sword of the elements. This sword can metamorphosise, depending on what the Blademaster needs. The sword of wind can creating tornados, while the sword of water can manipulate (you guessed it!) water. When Matthew's father goes missing, and is presumed dead, Matthew is given a special book that can transport him to his father's native world. There, he finds out that he is the new Blademaster and begins a quest to seek out the evil Black Knights and hopes to find what happened to his father. Reviewing... The Plot I love stories about parallel worlds, and it's alw...

I honestly can’t remember what inspired me to write about Alexander the Great. I think it was probably the Horrible Histories song , but I could be wrong about that. I suddenly just wanted to know everything there was to know about him, and to put it into story form. I actually started the story before I knew much about him and his campaigns at all so, still in its first draft condition, the opening chapter of the book has some rather hilarious mistakes and inferences. By the second chapter, I had eased into the story a little more and, by the fourth chapter, the research was there to support it too. This story was unique among my historical fantasy because of the sheer quantity of research which I did for it. I devoured anything and everything I could find about Alexander the Great. There was a wonderful blog called The Second Achilles, and I spent hours poring over archived posts, reading as much as I could about different theories and stories about the great conqueror. The blog disa...

Anyone who writes is a writer but, in my humble opinion, you need to be published to be an author. This may be a contentious view to some, and I'm sorry if your offended. If it's any consolation, self-publishing counts. If fact, I'm writing this blog with self-publishing in mind. When you publish your own books, you have to be on top of everything. Not only are you writing the book, you organise the editing, you organise the marketing and publicity. And don't get me started on distribution! It is enough to drive the most sane person mad! So, to get all of this done, it's important to set yourself realistic goals. You could say you would get everything in a month, but you'll burn out pretty quick. If you have a book you'd like to publish, here is my calendar for publication. There are a couple of points to make first, however. 1) I work best under pressure. If you don't, add on a couple of months to the timeline! 2) If you'd like to try and get your b...

 This week for #HistFicThursdays, I'm delighted to be teaming up with  The Coffee Pot Book Club  to once again shine a spotlight on  Julia Ibbotson 's fabulous writing! Here is her fabulous book, The Rune Stone . So, let's meet the book... A haunting time-slip mystery of runes and romance When Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, finds a mysterious runic inscription on a Rune Stone in the graveyard of her husband’s village church, she unwittingly sets off a chain of circumstances that disturb their quiet lives in ways she never expected. She, once again, feels the echoes of the past resonate through time and into the present. Can she unlock the secrets of the runes in the life of the 6th century Lady Vivianne and in Viv’s own life? Again, lives of the past and present intertwine alarmingly as Viv desperately tries to save them both, without changing the course of history. For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay. Praise...

 Happy Monday! This week, we'll be sticking with the Science Fiction theme from last week. If you'd like to read up on my top tips for writing Science Fiction, they can be found here . At school this week, we have the Caithness Science Festival show all sorts of great things for the children. Kids love it! Talented presenters come and share cool facts in fun ways, and the classes can have a go at some really awesome experiments, or meet some funky animals. I love science, and I get a buzz from seeing the children enjoy science too. This can link into fiction, too, where science fiction can ignite children's imaginations of possible futures and new inventions. Today, I'll be sharing some top tips for writing stories on other planets. This is not something I've done much, partly because I know I will get drawn into a rabbit hole of research because it's just so fun. When I'm not being an author, or a primary teacher, I am a student at the Open University, stud...

© Christine Taylor  I wrote Death At Priest’s Acre for a callout by Quill and Crow , who were looking for stories to fill a “Bleak Midwinter” anthology. It wasn’t the right fit for them and, to be honest, the beginning and end needed a revisit which has been provided for this anthology. Beginnings and ends are very important in Gothic Horror: they are what tell you that whatever terrible happening has been taking place has successfully scarred the characters involved. If the events of the story aren’t enough to leave an indelible mark on the character, they aren’t going to be enough to leave a mark on the reader. Priest’s Acre was a completely new place to me, which popped into my head one day and I just loved the idea of writing the story of the vicar there. However, as I wrote it, I discovered that the priests who the place was named after were not, in fact, Christian priests at all, but from a time predating Christianity. Then, I knew that druidic magic would play a role in the...