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We Had To Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport by Deborah Hopkinson

With the same attention to detail and straightforward writing style readers have come to appreciate from her, Deborah Hopkinson looks at how the rescue operation of Jewish children from Nazi occupied Europe, known as the Kindertransport, was able to saved approximately 10,000 young people. In the first half of this fascinating history ,  Hopkinson details Hitler's rise to power and ties its impact into the lives of a number of Jewish families. Most people don't realize just how widespread anti-Semitic feelings were in 1930s Germany, but as Hitler became more popular, as his followers increased, many Jews who had believed themselves to be as German as their non-Jewish neighbors began to experience a definite change. For example, Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps for no reason, prohibitions were enacted so that Jews in civil service lost their jobs, Jews couldn't go to the movies or visit a park, Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend German s...
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The Secret

The Secret

Blog Tour: Looking for Dei by David A. Willson (Guest Post + Giveaway)


Title: Looking for Dei
Author: David A. Willson
Publisher: Seeker Press
Publication Date: March 22, 2018

Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Nara Dall has never liked secrets. Yet it seems that her life has been filled with them, from the ugly scar on her back to the strange powers she possesses. Her mysterious father refuses to say anything about her origins, and soon, she and her best friend must attend the announcement ceremony, in which youths are tested for a magical gift.

A gifted youth has not been announced in the poor village of Dimmitt for decades. When Nara uncovers the reason, she uses her own powers to make things right. The decision sets her on a path of danger, discovery, and a search for the divine. In the process, she learns the truth about herself and uncovers the biggest secret of all: the power of broken people.

About the Author: David A. Willson has worked as a restauranteur, peace officer, and now, author. Taught by his mother to read at a young age, he spent his childhood exploring magic, spaceships, and other dimensions. In his writing, he strives to bring those worlds to his readers. Much of his material is inspired by the “Great Land” of Alaska, which he has called home for over 30 years. He lives there with his wife, five children, and 2 dogs. He is passionate about technology, faith, and fiction—not necessarily in that order. Looking for Dei is Willson’s debut novel, set in a land where many more adventures will take place.


Guest Post: How to Make Magic Unique

This is such an important part of fantasy novels. You can do a lot of things wrong in a novel, but if you spark the imagination of the reader, taking them to a new world, you have won half the battle. Fantasy readers love the escape, we love the journey to an entirely new place. Traditional authors, especially when they write in a contemporary setting, can research existing culture, technology, and political climates in order to build their story. Fantasy authors don't have that luxury. This is a tall order, requiring us to construct a new world, inventing new systems of politics, religion, and culture. Then we have one other task: we write about magic, and we better do it well.

I think an essential part of a good magic system is that it has to make sense. It has to work. Just saying, 'abracadabra' isn't going to satisfy the astute readers who consume these types of stories. Having some training in math and science helps with this, allowing an author to think logically in developing a system that the reader can respect. It's also important to tie that system into the story, allowing its characteristics to be revealed gradually as the plot progresses. If you can be in the head of the protagonist as they discover the magic, exploring the system as the tale develops, it further increases the joy of the reader.

Not only should it make sense and follow consistent principles, but it needs to be personal. It needs to be an essential part of a person. Magic that is simply throwing some colored powder about and saying fancy words isn't personal. I like how J.K. Rowling used wands to make magic personal. I was thrilled with how Patrick Rothfuss used hard work and study to make magic personal. Best of all, I liked Tolkien's individual quest to defeat evil, and a magic that changed a person at a core level like the ring did to Bilbo.

I've often found myself applying the magic that I've read about to my own life, wondering as I commuted to work what it would be like to burn metal like Sanderson's Mistborn novels, or to have my very own shardblade. I've wondered what it would be like to have powers like Kelson in Katherine Kurtz' Deryni series or to be running from evil while I carried the One Ring.

Fantasy readers are a special lot, with incredible imaginations and a profound desire for adventure. They buy books that they hope will enchant them, and magic is a big part of that. We dare not disappoint!

Giveaway: 

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-Kristen ♥

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Book Blitz: The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox (Excerpt)

Title: The Witch of Willow Hall Author: Hester Fox Publisher: Graydon House Publication Date: October 2, 2018 Synopsis: Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she doesn’t even know it. New Oldbury, 1821 In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia, and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall. The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline. All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end… About the Author: Hester comes to writing from a background in museum work and historical archaeology. She loves the Gothic, the lurid, the dark...so long as the ending is a happy one....
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Book Blitz: Wings of Flesh and Bones by Cathrina Constantine (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Title: Wings of Flesh and Bones Author: Cathrina Constantine Publication Date: April 13, 2018 Synopsis: An Angel. A Witch. A Demon. And A Choice. Creatures from outer realms suck, as any gatekeeper worth their salt will tell you. Welcome to Rogan’s life, an orphaned seventeen-year-old who lives and trains with other misfits under her uncle’s roof, keeping Earth safe from non-human realm jumpers. Rogan’s biggest issue concerns her uncle’s short leash with her freedom—that is of course, until she’s taken by a notorious witch, and her life begins to unravel. Soon, the supernatural beauty discovers there’s a reason her uncle kept such a tight lock on her whereabouts, and that she has more than angel blood running through her veins.  Eighteen-year-old Max is an angel, and Rogan’s mentor and guardian. He’s well aware of her tenacious inability to obey orders, though he also knows she’s a fierce fighter. When he’s involved in a scheme that ultimately gets Rogan kidnapped, he must battl...
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Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker's Story by Joseph Bruchac, pictures by Liz Amini-Holmes

In 1929, when he was only 8 years old, Betoli was removed from his Native family and sent to the Navajo boarding school at Fort Defiance, Arizona, the very same place where Navajos had been held captive in the 1860s by the United States Army, after a forced long walk of 300 miles. At Fort Defiance, Betoli had his long, black hair cut short, was given the English name Chester, and forbidden to speak his native Navajo language. If children were caught speaking Navajo, their mouth would be washed out with yellow soap by a matron. Every year, Chester returned to his family during the summer and kept his native ways. Then, in 1941, when he was in tenth grade, the United States entered World War II. In 1942, the US Marine Corps visited the Reservation. They wanted men who could speak English and Navajo to develop a code for sending messages that the Japanese codebreakers couldn't figure out. Initially, only 29 Navajos, including Chester, were chosen out of the many who volunteered, formi...
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