10 December 2010

Sister Hoods - Book Review

Sister Hoods by P.L. Blair
ISBN Number: 978-0-9796974-4-9
Genre: Fantasy/Suspense
Publisher: Studio See
Sister Hoods starts with a robbery carried out by Nymphs and Satyrs, an attempt to stop developments on a magical forest, the Woodlands. Detectives Kat and her partner Tevis get involved in their capacity as officers of the law, but soon their role is changed dramatically. The rest of their elite team (Wizard Arvandus, his nephew—a half lovetalker—Gairth, the Djinn Achmed, and a Hobgoblin who calls himself Jorge Ramirez) who monitor and fight magical crimes get involved as well in this race against time to save the magical land, to let a sleeping wyvern be. An awakened wyvern is not a good thing. First it goes through a random killing spree, and then it feeds until it gorges itself on food; humans.
P.L. Blair did it again.
She’d created this otherworldly world of magic, wizards, spells, enchanted devices and locations. There were fantastically beautiful creatures with the power to turn their allure into a deadly weapon, example, unicorns and Nymphs to name a couple.
The characters are amazing, even the secondary ones. I felt an instantaneous liking to one such character (a secondary one,) Elaine Todd. She stood out and I’m still not sure of the reason. Perhaps she reminded me of someone I know or maybe her strong personality was something that impressed me! This shows Ms. Blair’s solid grip on human nature.
Achmed the Djinn came through in a touching scene, one that showed a clear character development. That scene warmed my heart, made me change my mind about Achmed’s coldness.This is a book that can be read by adults and teens, even smaller kids if they can handle the big words. It would be a pity for any to miss this world.
A great job indeed

06 December 2010

Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies by Karina Fabian

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, by Karina Fabian, takes place 30 years in the future when causes unknown make people to rise from the grave. Unlike the dystopic tales like Zombieland, Fabian's world has taken measures to curtail the spread of disease. The result: zombies are pests and nuisances--and who better to take care of such things than an exterminator?
Neeta Lyffe is a professional exterminator down on her luck when a zombie she sets on fire stumbles onto a lawyer's back porch. Desperate for money, she agrees to host a reality TV show where she'll train apprentice exterminators in a show that crosses the worst of The Apprentice with Survivor with Night of the Living Dead. Can she keep her bills paid, her ratings up, and her plebes alive and still retain her sanity?
Now, here are the Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies ((In no particular order, from the home office of Karina Fabian, author of Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator)

10. They're the next big trend! Forget your sparkly vampires--maggoty zombies are the hot literary trope in the fantasy horror world!
…okay, this is really a lame reason to write about them. Write what you enjoy and what's in your heart--make the trend; don't follow it. However, this is the first time I actually was part of the current, and it's a new experience for me. Wonder if it will mean much sales-wise.
9. Need to incorporate all five senses? Zombie stench makes that easy!
8. There's so much uncharted territory. Let's face it--if you have to add glitter to your vampires to make them new, the genre's been done. Zombies are still wide open. Really--see the guts?
7. No more pressure to put in that sex scene to bump ratings
6. You can abuse them freely. They're dead. You can whack off their heads without remorse. Or, if you choose to go for the legs and leave them crawling and groaning "flesh wound!" it's funny. Bonus--the ASPCA doesn't care about them!
5. Body humor! No one can lend you a hand with that better than a zombie! (From Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator: " He moved in to cover her while she checked out some zombie spoor: dried skin, a rotting finger, what looked like part of a nose. Must have been some sneeze. ")
4. Easy to write dialogue for.
3. What a literary device. In Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, I use zombies as a foil to attack some of the finer aspects of society--conspiracy theorist, radical ecologists, activists, etc. It was a lot of fun to point at these groups with a rotting finger.
2. When you've explored all aspects of life, what's left? Oh, wait!
1. To prove you have the braaaiiiins for it!
Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator is available from Damnation Books here. Want to learn more about your favorite apprentice, catch up on all the episodes, and learn more about the strong, sincere and totally hot Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator? Visit The Zombie Death EXTREME website here:  http://www.zombiedeathextreme.com/index.php.
About Karina Fabian:
From zombie exterminators to dragon detectives to nuns in space, Karina Fabian's universes make readers laugh, cry and think. Winner of the 2007 EPPIE Award for best sci-fi and the 2010 INDIE Award for best fantasy, she lets her characters take her where they will and is never disappointed. Karina Fabian is married to Colonel Robert Fabian. They and their four kids call home wherever the Air Force sends them. Learn more at www.fabianspace.com