{Sage Blog Tour} Interview with Jamie Foley + Giveaway!

GUUUUUYS. I AM SO EXCITED!!! Like five-year-old-in-a-candy-store pumped. Why? Becaaaause…

Sage, book 3 of the Sentinel trilogy, has just released!!!

OKAY. SO. You’ve probably seen me talking about this trilogy on multiple occasions for months on end now. I first read Sentinel (book #1), last summer and instantly fell in love. I then proceeded to devour the prequel novella, Viper (though I believe it’s titled Vanguard now) and the second book, Arbiter. In which I wept once I was done because I had read all the books available and book #3 wouldn’t be out for a while.

BUT IT IS OUT NOW AND I HOPE TO DEVOUR IT POSTHASTE.

These books, guys! I can honestly say they’re some of the most unique stories I’ve ever read. I’ve never come across anything like them. They’re set in a apocalyptic-ish world based heavily on ours (as in, there are cell phones, cars, normal modern day stuff), but the catch is some people possess very unique special abilities. Throw in some military intrigue, a crazy awesome plot, snark for daaays, utterly complex and loveable characters, and…yeah. SIGN ME UP. I feel like my description isn’t even doing these books justice… The overall feel is so DIFFERENT. Truth be told, it almost has a Final Fantasy vibe (for my fellow nerds who have played those video games)—people with unique powers and fantasy elements thrown into a modern-like world. I DON’T KNOW. They’re just really epic books! YOU NEED TO READ THEM.

Buuut if I haven’t yet convinced you to stop everything you’re doing to go purchase them, stick around. Because I have more exciting news.

Jamie Foley, the author herself, is here today for the official Sage blog tour!

 

Jamie graciously allowed me to interrogate I mean, AHEM, interview her. She shares some positively fascinating tidbits about the story, her writing, and her own life. By the end you’re going to be clamoring for her stories. Trust me!

So enough from me! Let’s go started. (But do stick around to the very end, because I have even more fun for you. *grins*)

. . . JAMIE FOLEY. . .

Jamie Foley loves strategy games, home-grown berries, and Texas winters. She’s terrified of plot holes and red wasps.

Her husband is her manly cowboy astronaut muse. They live between Austin, TX and their family cattle ranch, where their hyperactive spawnling and wolfpack can run free.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads

 

. . . THE INTERVIEW . . .

 

The Sentinel trilogy is such a unique story. How did you come up with the idea for these novels? What was your inspiration?

Aw, thanks! It's hard to pinpoint one source for my inspiration, but the overall feel is probably based on a hodgepodge of Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and books by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker.

Several events in the story either come from my own experiences or those of people who are close to me. One character deals with a fatal illness—that's inspired by my little sister, who was 6 when she was diagnosed with leukemia (I was 12). She's a super-fit personal trainer now, but it impacted our family dramatically when I was growing up. We're so much stronger because of it.

An event in Arbiter brings up a cliche-feeling amnesia episode, but amnesia was anything but cliche for me. I was involved in a 10-car pile-up caused by a speeding 18-wheeler when I was writing that book—my car was the second one to be hit, and I shouldn't have walked away from it. I had a massive concussion and still suffer with memory issues to this day. 

The miscarriage that a character refers to in Sage is based on my personal experience. 

It's not all crazy awful stuff, though—the marriage relationship in Sage is based heavily on my own. Basically, I have the best hubby ever, and I have to keep pinching myself to remind myself that it's real. :)

 

Your delightful cast of characters is so colorful and complex. Do you have a favorite out of them? Who proved to be the most fun to write about?

They're complex, all right :P Sorvashti is probably my favorite overall, if I have to choose. Darien is fun to write because he's just covered in cheese. And Zekk's POV is always fun because he's so low-stress and slick.

I feel most connected with Jet. I wanted to go into the military when I was growing up, but my Korea-veteran grandfather forbade his first granddaughter from enlisting. I chose to respect his wishes. Jet lives out that path that I never got to take.

Jet is so stubborn, though. He was the biggest pain in the butt to write about, because when I'd be writing, he'd decide that he wanted to do something different than I'd planned. He didn't care about my outline. I had to change major parts of Arbiter and Sage because of him. *grumble*

 

In your stories, the characters have specific abilities called “Aether Gifts”. If you could have one of the gifts, which would it be and why?

I'd be an exorcist! I love MMA and trained in Krav Maga for a while (I need to get back into it). I think the exorcist gift goes best with that. It can throw people with other gifts off their game by stealing their aether.

 

What do you wish your readers to take away from the Sentinel trilogy? How do you hope they’ll feel after reading the finale?

I hope readers will realize that, in fiction or in real life, goodness and joy can come out of even the darkest situation. When a reader finishes the finale, I hope they'll be crammed full of happy feels.

And I hope they won't kill me for what I put the characters through to get to the happy ending. *innocent smile*

 

Which of the books in your series gave you the most joy to write? And which one was the most challenging?

The prequel novella, Vanguard, was my overall favorite to write because it was the shortest, and we get to see a mentor character (Jet) as a rookie. We also got to visit a different part of the world and different cultures within it.

Sage was difficult just because it was so long, but I think Arbiter was probably the most challenging because I was trying to avoid the sequel slump. It's just such a wild ride... I felt like I was balancing on the line between creating a terrible middle book and rubbing my reader's nerves raw.

 

Tell us a little bit about your writing process. What are your favorite and least favorite parts?

I'm a 'plotter' instead of a 'pantser,' which means I meticulously plan out my books before I write them. I first do a skeleton plot, then an outline, then a detailed outline for each chapter, and finally pre-writing before I actually write (these phases are explained in my non-fiction book, The Busy Mom's Guide to Writing, which comes out on March 30, 2018). 

My favorite part is probably tied between worldbuilding and pre-writing funny dialogue. My least favorite part of the writing process is—surprise!—editing, but I have the best alpha readers, beta readers, editors, and proofers ever.

 

What do you enjoy most about publishing? And what part do you find the most stressful?

Both questions have the same answer: reviews. A good review will make me giddy, but authors compare negative reviews to rat poison for a reason. One careless reviewer who doesn't realize their words are like daggers can agonize a writer for days, or longer. I have friends who've nearly stopped writing because of mean, ugly, vicious reviewers.

 

Which authors influence and inspire you the most? 

The authors who influence me most nowadays are my current favorite authors and friends: S.D. Grimm, Mary Weber, Nadine Brandes, and Sabaa Tahir.

 

Do you have more stories cooking up for us to look forward to? If so, can you give us some hints about these future novels?

Yes ma'am! I'm working on 2 new fantasy series—both will be epic fantasy. One is called Emberhawk, which is planned to be a 3-book series that will happen a couple thousand years before Sentinel. It will be more heavy on the romantic suspense side of things, involving elementals and tribes on the brink of war. You might even see an immortal character from The Sentinel Trilogy in it.

The other upcoming series is called Runes of Kona. It's planned as a 6-book series on another planet called Kona, and as you might have guessed, it involves rune magic. And royal bloodlines. And talking trees. And void dragons. hehe.

But since it will take me a while to get these new series out, I'm going to write a short story for The Sentinel Trilogy to tell Zekk's backstory—it will be available for free for my newsletter subscribers only (sign up at http://www.jamiesfoley.com/newsletter). That will come out in fall 2018.
I'm also planning a follow-up book to The Sentinel Trilogy called Sifter, which will tell the story of the children of the heroes 18 years after book 3: Sage. That's planned for release in 2019. :)

 

Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you would give all the aspiring writers out there?

Write because you love it, not for any other reason.

 

 

. . . About Sage . . .

Ancient elementals awaken, fracturing a dying world to its core.

Teravyn Aetherswift returns to the land of the living, but everything seems unfamiliar… including her little brother. Zekk offers help, but can an alluring Lynx be trusted?

Sorvashti finally has everything she ever wanted, so the last thing she wants to do is run after traitors. But she won’t leave Jet’s side—unless the horrifying truth about his mother tears them apart.

Darien is sick of being used and lied to. But if he stands up for what’s right, he’ll pay the price with his life… or the lives of those he loves.

Amazon | Signed Paperback | GoodReads

 

What’d I tell ya? Inspiring and fascinating, am I right? If you want even more fun, there is a whole group of fantastic bloggers featuring book spotlights, reviews, and more interviews! Do stop by and immerse in all the Sage fun!

 

. . . Blog Tour Schedule . . .

 Saturday, March 10^th

• Blog Tour Kickoff – Unicorn Quester

Monday, March 12^th

• Interview – Siren & Solider Book Reviews

Tuesday, March 13^th

• Book Review – The Left-Handed Typist

Wednesday, March 14^th

• Book Spotlight – Backing Books

Thursday, March 15^th

• Interview & Review – Lu’s Reviews

Friday, March 16^th

• Book Spotlight – Laura VanArendonk Baugh

Saturday, March 17^th

• Book Review – Lands Uncharted

Monday, March 19^th

• Interview – Musings of an Elf (You’re here! *waves*)

Tuesday, March 20^th

• Book Review – The Page Dreamer

• Book Spotlight – Gillian Bronte Adams

Wednesday, March 21^st

• Book Spotlight – A Little Southern Grace

Thursday, March 22^nd

• Interview – Unicorn Quester

Friday, March 23^rd

• Book Spotlight/Book Review – Liv F. Fisher

Saturday, March 24^th

• Blog Tour Wrap-Up – Unicorn Quester

. . . GIVEAWAY . . .

Before you dive into all those delicious links and head over to Amazon to snag yourself a copy of these books, I have one more bit of exciting news. Jamie Foley is featuring a GIVEAWAY! *throws confetti*

She’s generously giving away 3 (count ‘em, THREE) digital $10 Amazon gift cards!

Who doesn’t want an Amazon gift card? (To spend on books, obviously.) All you have to do is sign up for Jamie’s newsletter and you’ll be entered. Easy peasy.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

 

Whew! So much excitement. (Seriously, guys, I can’t even properly express how thrilled I am over this book's release!)

Huge thanks to Jamie for letting me interview her. And for writing these brilliant books! I can’t waaaait to dive into Sage! *dances*

 

TALK WITH ME!

The obvious question: HAVE YOU READ THESE BOOKS?! If so, are you as excited as I am that the finale has released? (And can we talk about that cover? *droools*) If you haven’t read any of them…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Off with you! And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

7th Blogoversary Celebration Day 2: A Thank You Letter and Part Two of the Q&A Vlog

HELLO AGAIN!!! It is day two of Musings of an Elf’s two-day 7th Blogoversary Celebration (say that 5 times fast) and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

(If you  missed it, don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post where I showed you guys my first ever blog post (and hid in a hole from embarrassment afterwards) and shared part 1 of the Q&A vlog.)

Today, March 14th, is Musings of an Elf’s official birthday. On this day 7 years ago, I hit publish on that first post and entered the great, wide, crazy, AMAZING world of blogging. And I’ve never looked back!

Yesterday I talked about how creating this blog really shaped me as a writer and brought out my passion for writing even more. But it’s not just the writing aspect of the blog that has helped me grow. It is also the community.

It is…YOU!

There aren’t enough words in the world to fully express my gratitude for each and every one of you. But you better believe I’m gonna try anyway!

For Musings of an Elf’s official birthday, I want to share a letter. A letter to you, my dear, treasured blog followers. My friends.

 

A THANK YOU LETTER

Dear Friends,

When I first started this little blog simply for a way to stretch my writing muscles and start growing an author’s platform, I had no idea…no clue of the joys that were to follow.

It started with the blog comments that put a smile on my face every time one appeared. It took some time, but as I wrote more posts, more began to pop up. Then I ventured out to those blogs, I discovered linkups, more blogs, writers and like-minded people. It amazed me how many people out there shared my interests. How many people loved the same books I did, how many wrote the same types of stories I wrote, how many understood the ups and downs of being an aspiring writer or merely just loving stories.

I soon discovered the blogging world was full of kind, passionate, beautiful people. And over time, these people became my people, my friends.

For years, I struggled with confidence, with thinking I was alone. I rarely showed my true self because I feared no one would understand, or just think I was plain weird.

But then, one by one, you each entered my life. Slowly but surely, I grew less fearful of sharing my passions. I learned that if I turned on my “fangirl mode”, you wouldn’t raise an eyebrow and judge, instead, you fangirl/boy-ed right along with me! I could talk excitedly about my beloved books, movies, and TV shows—embrace my full geekiness—and be welcomed for it.

Then, as I met more and more people like me, I decided to attempt sharing things about my writing—something that had before made me want to go hide under my bed forever. I started out talking about writing-related things, then I…*gulp* began to post snippets. I opened up about what my stories were about, introduced my characters to you, wrote more writing posts.

And do you know what you did for me? You encouraged me.

Every single one of you rained encouragement over this self-conscious writer. You took away my fear and shame, and instead motivated me, inspired me.

As time went on, I formed closer bonds, joined a beta group, actually had people read my entire stories and I got to read theirs. Before I knew it, I was a full-fledged writer. It wasn’t a hobby, it was a lifestyle, and one that brought me joy every single day.

My little blog morphed into a writing blog with the greatest support group I have ever had: YOU.

Because of you, I went from a self-conscious teenager who had dreams of being a writer but never did much about it and always felt alone in that aspect of my life, to someone with solid plans of pursuing my greatest passion and the most amazing writer friends cheering me on all the way.

And all I can say is…THANK YOU! Thank you for the endless encouragement, the accountability, the interest in my stories and drive to continue pursuing publishing them. Thank you for all the enthusiastic comments and sweet emails. Thank you for your posts and stories that bless me and make me smile and inspire me every single day.

The impact each and every one of you makes on my life has been phenomenal. It puts me in awe to think that, out of the billions of people in the world, God brought me to each of you. He truly is a loving God!

Thank you for being the beautiful human beings that you are. I love you all!

Sincerely,
Christine

NOW THEN. We aren’t quite done with the celebrations yet. It is time for part 2 of the Q&A vlog! (And, don’t worry, this one’s a bit shorter than yesterday’s. Heh.)

 

THE Q&A VLOG
(Part 2)

This starts right where I cut off the first part, but I apologize for the weird lighting. Filming took muuuch longer than I thought it would and I started losing sunlight. So things get a bit yellow as the video progresses. Sorry ‘bout that! Maybe one of these days I’ll learn how to actually make a professional video. (But I wouldn’t count on it…)

(Also, at the end I call my blog Musings of the Elf instead of Musings of an Elf because I’m a potato and apparently don’t know the name of my own blog???)

This video features what my favorite season is, the great mystery of why I’m nicknamed Lauriloth/Lauri, my favorite mythical creature (betcha can’t gueeeess *grins*), my thoughts on standalones vs. series, which five books I would save in a disaster, what my favorite The Legend of Zelda game is, and moooore! Lots of fun stuff! (Seriously, I love everyone’s questions!)

You can view the video on YouTube HERE if the embedded version isn’t working.

Before I go, I have one more exciting thing to share with you…

I AM OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR
REALM MAKERS 2018!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Yesterday I registered and…just. I can’t believe this is happening. Excitement doesn’t even cover what I’m feeling. If you’re going, TELL ME, because I want to meet you all!

 

Alrighty! That wraps it up. This has been so much fun!

Once more I have to mention what a blessing you all are to me. I do this blog because of YOU! You are all the best! *GROUP HUG*

Can’t wait for all the more blogging years to come!

 

TALK WITH ME!

Let’s chat blogging. What is your favorite thing about blogging? Do you have a special blogging memory? And, since this is a party, the question must be asked: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CAKE???

Thank you all for celebrating with me!

7th Blogoversary Celebration Day 1: #MyFirstPostRevisited Tag and Part One of the Q&A Vlog!

Happy Tuesday, my friends! Yes, I am posting on a Tuesday instead of Monday. That’s because this is a special week.

IT’S THE WEEK OF MUSINGS OF AN ELF’S 7TH BLOGOVERSARY.

Tomorrow (March 14th) is the official blogoversary date, thus I will be posting today and tomorrow! Because why celebrate one day when you can spread the party for TWO days?! Can we just pretend we’re all hanging out in a room full of party decorations and eating cake together? Yes? YES.

Today, to celebrate, I have two fun things going.

Thing #1: I’m doing the #MyFirstPostRevisited Tag in which I’ll be sharing my first ever post with you guys (O________O) and then hide in a hole from embarrassment. #FUN But since it is the 7th anniversary of when I created this blog and put up the first post, I thought now would be the perfect time to join the tag.

Thing #2: PART ONE OF MY Q&A VLOG! *trumpets and fanfare* But why am I splitting the video in two? You see, erm…remember how I said I didn’t want to make the vlog super long? Eheheheheh. WELL. A lot of you asked me questions! Annnd the full video ended up being 45 minutes long. O_O That’s literally the entire length of a full TV show, guys!!! And ain’t nobody want to watch me talk for 45 minutes. THUS I split the video in half and shall be sharing part 1 today and part 2 tomorrow (so if this one seems like it ends suddenly and the other one starts suddenly, that’s why). Yeeeah, I know, making short videos does not seem to be my forte. But HEY, don’t blame me. I had some 40 questions to answer.

Okay, okay, actually, I was THRILLED over all the questions and am so honored. I do apologize for the length of the videos though. I did answer the questions more or less in order if you want to skip around and find your question and not watch me babble on and on. *grins*

ALRIGHTY. All those disclaimers aside… LET’S GET TO THE CELEBRATING!

 

FIRST POST
REVISITED TAG

RULES 

 

• No cheating. You must highlight your first post. Not your second post, not one you love… the first post only.
• Link back to the person who tagged you (thank them if you feel like it or, if not, curse them with a plague of ladybugs). - Victoria @ Wanderer's Pen tagged me for this one. THANK YOU SO MUCH, TORI! Don’t worry, no ladybug curses for you. ;D
• Cut and paste your old post into a new post or reblog your own bad self. (Either way is fine, but NO editing.)
• Put the hashtag #MyFirstPostRevisited in your title.
• Tag five (5) other bloggers to take up this challenge.
• Notify your tags in the comment section of their blog (don’t just hope they notice a pingback somewhere in their spam).
• Feel free to cut and paste the badge to use in your post. – *points at pic below*
• Include “the rules” in your post.
• Completely silly rules that I’m making up as I type:
• Write your post while wolfing down your favorite dessert.
• Do 10 cartwheels after you hit “Publish.”

(Gotta love these rules!)

 

MY FIRST POST

Hello to all those reading this!^_^ My name is Lauriloth and this is my first-ish blog; ‘ish,’ because I started a blog about 3 or 4 years ago and never did a thing with it. But this one is all new and fresh and I -hope- to actually use it! ;)

My biggest obsessions are elves (fantasy elves of course, not Christmas Elves :/), fantasy, Lord of the Rings, writing, reading, and the piano. But most of all Jesus Christ! I have a completely beloved little grey poodle named Navi (who is most spoiled), and a laptop whom I call Larry to which I will be blogging from. My favorite color is pink and I love pizza (but who doesn’t?).

Writing (and reading) is my biggest past time and a major hobby of mine, so I thought making a blog might help improve any skills I might possess (if any) with writing. It might also strengthen my passion for it. So I think it is a win, win either way. Plus, blogging seems like tons of fun!^^

What will this blog be about? That is a good question…too bad it does not have an answer. All right, it sort of does. Basically this blog will be about whatever my insanely random mind thinks up to post. There might be some posts about my current interest, may it be a TV show, movie, song, book I have become obsessed with, or maybe just the color pink or a post about pencils (which I am both very fond of, just so you know). There will probably be plenty of things the Lord has shown me that I would like to share with others. As an avid reader, I am going to try to put up book reviews whenever I can; there will most likely be plenty of those. And you can count on lots of random musings from this elf.

So how does one end a blog post? How about with a question for you to think about or comment on? Questions are fun.

Why are pencils so fantastically fantastical?

(I have a thing for pencils…)

Well then.

The first thing that strikes me is the fact that it looks like a 10 year old wrote it when, in fact, I was 18. EIGHTEEN, GUYS! It’s so immature it’s just laughable. I don’t know what I was thinking at the time! (Especially with the pencil thing. Wow. I mean…yes, I adore pencils, but ya know.)

I’m still very much the same person in many respects though. Fantasy, elves, Lord of the Rings, writing, reading, pink, pizza—yep, all my favorite things! And my poodle Navi is still the love of my life. (Fun fact: She turned 11 last week!) I did retire my laptop Larry a few years ago though. The poor thing was getting pretty ancient. And my plans for this blog shifted over the years.

As you can see, the original plan was just to blog about…anything. Whatever popped into my head. But as my passion for writing grew it, erm, took over every aspect of my life and that’s almost solely what this blog is about. And I’m not even sorry. Bwahaha! Though I will throw out the occasional non-writerly/bookish post. Buuuut it’s pretty rare! *grins* (But seriously, some of my early posts were so random. o.o)

Hopefully things are a bit better quality around here. Though the maturity levels are questionable but HAHAHAHAHA! Who needs to be a mature adult? Not me, that’s for sure!

In all seriousness, it’s fascinating seeing how things have shifted and grown since my first post those 7 years ago. Notice how I said writing was a “past time” and “hobby” of mine. THINGS HAVE CHANGED. It is now LIFE. Thus this whole blog forming into a writing/book blog.

Really, a huge reason I decided to pursue writing as a full-on career is because of blogging. As the blog grew and I immersed into the writing community, my love for writing grew as well.

When I hit publish for that first post on March 14th, 2011, I had no idea the impact it’d make on my life. Musings of an Elf isn’t just a blog. It has shaped who I am today.

So yes, that first post (and the many posts following *cough*), were immature and embarrassing. But I don’t regret any of it.

TAGGING

Allison @ Allison's Well | Tracey @ Adventure Awaits | Skye @ Ink Castles | Deborah @ The Road of a Writer | Kate @ Story and Dark Chocolate  (If any of you have already done this tag, I apologize for my goldfish memory.)

With that done, on to the next section of the post. The first part of the Q&A vlog!

THE Q&A VLOG
(Part 1)

I had an absolute blast filming this and answering all of your brilliant questions. I’M SO EXCITED TO FINALLY SHARE IT! Just remember, this is PART ONE, so if I didn’t answer your question here, it should be in the next part.

In this part you’ll learn about my favorite books, who I’d want to meet if I could travel back in time, which of my characters I’d switch places with, if I prefer indie or traditional publishing, lots of fun Lord of the Rings questions (you guys know me so well), and many more fun tidbits!

(Also, I apologize that this one cuts off really suddenly. I tried to fix it, but couldn’t get it quite right so…yeah. Still veeery much learning this whole video editing thing.)

If the embedded video doesn’t work, you can watch the video on YouTube HERE.

Here’s the picture I mentioned that inspired the entire Colors of a Dragon Scale series: https://saimain.deviantart.com/art/Dream-About-Me-65462911

 

And thus concludes Day One of my two-day 7th blogoversary celebration.

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for more celebrations and Part Two of the vlog!

 

TALK WITH ME!

What do you think of my first post? Pretty entertaining, right? XD Did you enjoy the vlog? (Sorry for the length. Ahem.) Thank you all again so much for the questions. I’ll see you tomorrow with more blogoversary fun!

{Book Review} Grey Lore by Jean Knight Pace and Jacob Kennedy

Despite the perks of living with her rich aunt, Ella’s new life in Napper, Indiana, is pretty much tragically boring.

Until Ella starts hearing strange voices.

As rogue wolves begin to stalk the edges of town and a serial killer with a penchant for silver bullets draws closer, the city of Napper seems to wake up.

Ella, with her new friends, Sam and Sarah, might be able to find out what the strange occurrences mean. Except that they’re all being pulled in different directions by people who love them; and some who don’t.

Before they lose their way to the whispers they hear from the past, or the call to a future they’re not sure they want to create, the friends will need to confront who they really are and figure out what’s hiding in the silence of their sleepy little town.

AMAZON | GOODREADS | JEAN KNIGHT PACE'S BLOG | JACOB KENNEDY'S BLOG

When Jean Knight Pace contacted me and asked if I’d like to read this book for review and I read that intriguing blurb, I knew I couldn’t pass it up! While this wasn’t my favorite read, it was definitely a unique one! I can’t say I’ve ever read a book with this flavor and style before. And I do love finding original tales!

 

THE RUNDOWN

Grey Lore is a companion novel to Grey Stone (which I reviewed a while back, if you’re interested). While both can absolutely be standalones, I did very much enjoy all the many nods to Grey Stone in this book. But where Grey Stone is set far in the past during more primitive days, Grey Lore is a contemporary. Somewhat on the urban fantasy side of things…ish. (This book is really hard to explain, so bear with me!)

We start out with Ella, who just lost her mother and is moving in with her rather stiff aunt in a strange little town in Indiana. Napper is full of the rich—the citizens seemingly only interested in shallow things. But with the coming of wolves and some odd happenings, Ella begins to wonder if there is more to Napper than meets the eye.

Sam, too, has just moved into the little town. Though he and his dad, who sells vacuums for a living and barely scrapes by, don’t exactly fit in this ritzy streets of Napper. But when Sam meets Ella and a girl named Sarah, he finally feels like he has a home.

Just as things are starting to look brighter for the three oddball friends, dark plots and mysterious circumstances turn their world upside down.

An old woman in the woods who seemingly vanishes at will, wolves running rampant, talking animals, and a killer on the loose who always takes his victims’ teeth—Napper is anything but a boring little town in Indiana.

 

CHARACTERS

There were a number of characters in this novel. Often they seemed random, but eventually you see the connections which was a lot of fun. But the main focus was on Ella, Sam, and Sarah.

Unfortunately, I found the characters a little flat. Not too much. They did have some depth. But for some reason I just could not seem to connect to them as much as I would have liked to.

Ella did have a pretty interesting arc, but I never felt like her personality really jumped off the page. While Sam…I don’t know. At first he seemed like the type I’d love—the kind, broken boy who just wants some friends. But a few times he made some really dumb decisions that annoyed me. And, again, I couldn’t get a full grasp on his personality. Sarah was probably my favorite of the three. Which surprised me, because I didn’t much like her at first. But she ended up being much deeper than I expected. Sadly, she wasn’t “on screen” a whole lot. I would have loved more time inside her head!

The other characters I didn’t feel much for. As I said, there were a lot of them, and the book kind of jumps from one to the other so fast, I never really felt like I got to truly know any of them. Each scene was a bit too short for me to get a full grasp on each person…if that makes sense.

I don’t know. The characters weren’t bad. I didn’t hate any of them. I just didn’t really love any of them either. They were a bit mediocre. Though I will say, despite there being a ton of characters, I rarely got confused who was who. Kudos to the author for that!

Also, there’s a character named Zinnie and her cat who I did totally like. But that’s all I’m saying. *smile, smile*

 

OTHER THOUGHTS

- The narrative style was slightly omniscient. Which I think is the main reason I didn’t just love this book. It wasn’t fully omniscient. Each scene was in the point-of-view of one character, but it was a distant POV, and had a bit of a omniscient flavor. For basically the whole book I felt like I was being told a story instead of experiencing it. And that’s just not my thing. I want to be right in the thick of it, feeling everything the character is feeling. Instead, this story was more like watching the events from the sidelines. Kind of an interesting style, but not really my thing.

- Each scene was really short and there were a ton of POVs. Another problem I had with it and probably the big reason why I never really felt much for the characters. The scene jumps were so fast and frequent, I couldn’t get a feel for one person before we’re off to the next one. And instead of really experiencing the moments, it was more a series of a bunch of different quick moments all thrown together. Again, it was kind of an interesting style. It added a touch of uniqueness to the whole story—getting to see little snippets of each person (including antagonists) and slowly watching the whole picture come together. Like a bunch of little puzzle pieces that form a whole picture by the ending. I don’t think there was anything wrong with telling the story this way, I’m just picky and would have liked deeper, longer scenes instead of short bursts. I very much enjoyed the few scenes that did linger. They felt fuller and more in depth. And I think if the whole novel had been that way, I would have liked it a lot more. But the majority of the story was a progression of short scenes with not much deep POVs, making me a little indifferent to the whole thing.

- I will say, the writing was very good! Even though I wasn’t a fan of the style the story was told in (though I think that’s a personal thing, nothing against the authors at all), the sentence structures and wording choices were very beautiful. It was a smooth, pleasant read itself. I very much enjoyed the author’s choices of wording.

- It got a lot better halfway through. The first half was rather slow with not much going on. But once things picked up, I did get into the story a lot more!

- The small town was fun! As mentioned, Napper is full of the rich, but with dark secrets underneath. I’m a bit of a sucker for such things. I enjoyed the overall feel of the ritzy (but possibly sinister) town. What made it even more fun (or…creepy, but creepy is fun!), was the fact that a psychiatric institution is a major part of the town. People seem to accept that a ginormous insane asylum sits in the middle of their town. In fact, lots of joggers go there to run around the perfectly kept grounds. But what they do inside the institution well… *wriggles eyebrows* It was all very delightfully chilling.

- It’s a sort of Hansel and Gretel retelling. Which I found so unique and fun! It’s a very, very loose retelling. But there were absolutely some Hansel and Gretel threads woven throughout. There were also hints and mentions of other fairytales and folklore. In fact, folklore was a huge factor in the story. And that’s something I’m totally on top of!

- The whole thing is quirky and unexpected. That’s always a plus for me! I really don’t even know how to explain this story. The entire feel and events were unlike anything I’ve ever read. I never knew what to expect. Each page was a surprise, with a lot of great twists along the way. It’s a very original story!

 

CONTENT CAUTIONS

The story was fairly clean in that there was no language or sexual content. But it definitely had a gritty feel to it that I would be cautious of for younger readers.

There were a few mentions of alcohol, some characters accused of being drug addicts, and a fair amount of violence. Though, again, the story was told in a distant POV, so a lot of the violence was more mentions than the reader actually being there and experiencing it. Some of it was gruesome though, and there were definitely a few scenes of people being beat up and bloodied.

The whole flavor is rather dark and grungy. It’s by no means a lighthearted tale. So do keep that in mind.

 

CONCLUSION

This wasn’t my favorite story. The constant scene changes and multiple POVs threw me a bit. BUT, I’ll say again, that is a personal preference. I think it was a fun idea telling the story that way and having all the little puzzle pieces thrown together and slowly forming until we had the whole picture. The focus was more on the town’s secrets and each person being a player than the characters being the driving force. And since I’m all about characters, I didn’t click with it.

But, overall, it was an extremely unique story with lots of fun fantasy elements and a touch of the paranormal. The mystery of what was going on kept me intrigued and the writing really was beautiful.

If you like urban fantasy filled with wolves, folklore, secrets, quirky events, and a unique flavor, I’d absolutely say give this book a try!

 

TALK WITH ME!

Have you read Grey Lore? Does it intrigue you? Am I the only one who totally likes small, rich towns with dark secrets?? And have you ever read/know of any Hansel and Gretel retellings. Because now I want MORE!

NOTE: I received a free ebook copy from the author in exchange for a honest review.

P.S. Don’t forget I’ll be doing a Q&A vlog soon. If you haven’t yet, you can head over to THIS POST and ask me questions for the vlog! I’m hoping to film it tomorrow so now’s the time to ask those questions you’ve been dying to know about the crazy elf behind the blog. ;D