Trenara never thought she would have to guide a student she loved to become a messiah, but it is the only way this second trial Starguider can salvage her world. Torn between her devotion to this child and the fate of her kind, Trenara struggles against accusations of murder, the onset of war, and the loss of her faith in gods who have turned their backs on her. The only people she can trust are war-ravaged heroes; the boy’s ancient trainer and a sea captain everyone thought was a ghost. Their only weapon, a ten-year-old who wakes one morning to find his childhood gone and his hands filled with a power he couldn't possibly understand—or control. Together they must destroy a psychotic enemy and a religious order that has been running the Imperium for a thousand years; a system they have all taken vows to protect.
“[Starsight] is one powerful and imaginative fantasy adventure novel with many nice touches...there is magic galore, and challenge galore; nothing comes easy. It's the first of a series, and it should do well if readers become aware of it.”
Piers Anthony
“Minnette Meador has begun reinventing and redefining the field by page 30 of STARSIGHT, and hasn’t stopped by the final sentence. But there’s more than just novel ideas going on, here; Meador also knows the unfakeable secret of keeping even newcomers turning the pages: care about your characters so much it becomes infectious. This is a Typhoid Mary of a book, from a writer to watch."
Spider Robinson, co-author with Robert A. Heinlein of VARIABLE STAR
Word Weavers releases its first Horror Anthology: Requiem for the Damned Volume One.
Death and Desire, the ultimate Valentines Day combination! Get your copy of this horror anthology of Wedding Night Terrors from Darkened Horizons today! Till Death Do We Part is available from Lulu.com now!
The Writer's Lair Books will release Cheryl Snell's first novel, Shiva's Arms, on September 30, 2007.
When Alice marries Ramesh, she is plunged into a battle of wills with her mother-in-law, until a family secret is revealed that costs the old woman everything. It is up to Alice to heal the rift between them, as Shiva’s Arms evolves into an exploration of freedom and duty, rootlessness and belonging, cultural identity and the meaning of home.
Strange noises seep from under the neighbor's apartment door. Something snickers, scampering beneath the subway platform. An eerie, low voice beckons from an alleyway. A nightclub screams with more than music.
Concrete Blood delivers twisted tales from the minds of talented authors: Eric Enck, Troy Barnes, Jennifer L. Miller, Cassandra Lee, Jordan Bobe, and Dave Rex. Together, they offer a one way ticket to the city's darkest secrets. Where fear and terror rule the glittering steel and the concrete runs with blood.
It's an anthology of great horror based on sound being implemented for the industry. It's being released by Magus press and features Eric Enck, John Dimes, and a slew of talent. If you order sound of horror you get Other Places...Other things free...
Also, Erick Enck's newest novel GHOST OF A CHANCE will be released on Halloween 2007, the cover is on his profile page at:
For a limited time, new Word Weavers can create, or have created for them, a one of a kind Word Weavers Trading Card. This will offer a unique promotional item for your book, as well as allow other authors a special way to show off your work at their own author events!!
"Weaving Webs of Words to Inspire, Enlighten, and Entertain!"
Word Weavers is a group for authors, poets, and anyone interested in literature to congregate, share ideas, and help promote one another. Here we profile other Word Weavers, post news and tid bits from our group, and offer our unique Word Weavers Trading Card program!
There is a lot of information here, so be sure to check it all out. You may message us for information on our featured author, book review and trading card programs, and guidelines for joining Word Weavers. Visit our Cafe Press store for Weaver Gear, and be sure to send us your excerpts, inspirational writing quotes and any writing jokes you may find!
Word Weavers is currently accepting submissions of short stories for genre specific anthologies. Please visit The Word Weavers Anthology Page, or Our Website, or The Group Page for more information, submission guidlines, deadlines and more!!
Congrats to ERIC ENCK our Word Weaver of the Year!!
Word Weavers
Life comes and goes for us all,
Through good times and bad,
Heroes rise and fall to save the day,
We simply share it with our thoughts,
We are the weavers of words,
Constructors of thoughts,
We may never serve in a war,
Protect and serve and keep us free,
But we have a respectful salute from our heart,
Share their plight with free thought,
We may never save a family from a fire,
But we can lift them up with our words of inspiration,
Who I'd like to meet: Other Gifted Weavers or Fans of the written Word.
This Week's Feature:
Jessica Lynne Gardner
As a Journalist, Horror/Dark Fantasy writer, business writer and poet, Jessica Lynne Gardner has pursued the art of writing in many forms and has a love for dark literature and all things gothic.
She grew up in a magical house in the suburbs of Baltimore with a menagerie of pets and caring grandparents. Her vivid imagination has gotten her into trouble more than once and her fear of the dark as well as her grandfather's creative influence encouraged the fantastical, weird, and frightening stories she would later pen.
Her stories have appeared in Darkened Horizons, Requiem for the Damned, Tome of Distant Realms, Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc’s Twisted Dreams Magazine and is slated to be in Sinister Landscapes, an upcoming gothic anthology compiled by Alan Draven. Her work will also appear in two upcoming collaborative projects: The Edward Ballister Project and Word Weaver’s 2008 Ladies of Horror. Her interview will appear in the premier of Southern Gravediggers Magazine along with Steve Niles, writer of 30 Days of Night, and other horror professionals.
Walking through old forest trails, traveling, swimming, belly dancing, martial arts and painting bring her much happiness when she finds the time to do them. An animal lover, she cares for a yellow nape Amazon, three cats, two parakeets and a bearded dragon.
She is a member of the International Order of Horror Professionals and Southern Horror Writer’s Association, and currently studies at a local college to obtain a degree in literature while writing a fantasy novel, horror/dark fantasy stories, working in public relations and doing freelance writing jobs.
Click on the covers below to purchase some of Jessica's published stories!
Darkened Horizons 3- “Not a Chance”
Til Death Do We Part- “A Real Woman”
Requiem For the Damned- “Amnesia Hospital”
Reverence of Rune- “A Moment” and “The End of Things”
Check out the Featured Author section above for a complete bio on Jessica.
The following is an excerpt from "The Widow's Curse" which will soon appear in Sinister Landscapes
In the middle of her prayer, she heard a scraping coming from the top of the second flight of stairs. It was odd that anyone should be there. The priests always left at sundown and they were the only ones allowed in the upper temple. Thinking it was a bat or another animal she continued to pray. The sound came again and this time she heard a laugh. She slowly began ascending the stairs, hoping that she was right in thinking that the Kami were merely superstition. Could it be because she didn’t follow the purification correctly?
She caught the first glimpse of the inner chamber and took a quick step back as she saw a fierce, long face. Gathering her courage she went back up and saw that it was just the Baku, the nightmare eater, mounted on the wall, its elephant snout curled under a pair of darkly rimmed white eyes. She listened for the sounds she’d heard before but everything was quiet. After some hesitation, she made it all the up to the elaborately housed shelves displaying the imperial regalia of Japan’s greatest families. There was a shining shield and ornate uniform; each adorned with the gold Chrysanthemum- the Imperial seal. She gasped as she examined the richness of the room and the smell of opium incense made her head swim. They were a juicy forbidden fruit that she could not tear her eyes from. She couldn’t believe she was witnessing the treasure of a shrine, the treasure the gods themselves lusted after.
A figure shifted in the shadows of the corner and froze. Was it a spirit? It bobbed to the side as if unsure what to do then sprung away and down the stairs, leaving dirty foot prints behind. Eiko, scorning herself for entering, ran back down to the mid-temple and quickly asked the Kami for forgiveness before leaving.
When she arrived back at the apartment, there was a trail of black footprints climbing the steps. She followed them to the third floor to room 303. Ms. Yamada? Now she knew how the strange rumors began. The bowl she’d placed there earlier was gone.
Each week we will be showcasing a new short bio and writing excerpt from a Young Author!
If you or someone you know is 18 years old or younger, and would like to be featured on Word Weavers, email James at:
sagelytreasures@cox.net
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Word Weavers Reviews
Word Weavers Reviews are here!!
Below you'll find the most recent Word Weavers Reviews! Be sure to let us know by email to weaversofwords@gmail.com (subject line: Review Request), if you'd like us to review your book!
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Poetry and Music
Brian Michael Tracy, Driving With Dante with Midnight Tea music CD (Midnight Tea Publishing, LLC)
44 pages, poetry, Book $10, CD $15
As far as I am concerned, good poetry touches the heart and inspires the mind. Mr. Tracy does this beautifully with his works included in DRIVING WITH DANTE. Through his works you feel the heat of the arsonist’s flames, the pain of loss through death and the heavy price of war. Alternately there is also wry humor and a tribute to the innocence of childhood. And the companion CD MIDNIGHT TEA is equally enjoyable. It seems only appropriate to blend music with poetry and it is done artfully in this compilation. The poetry is read succinctly and with emotion, while the musical performances are clean and stirring. Even if you have only a passing interest in poetry, Mr. Tracy is worth your time. You will find his words touch memories within you that you may not remember you had.
Review By: Cheri Chesley, Author of The Wild Queen and The Peasant Queen
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Do You Believe?
Mary Lynn Plaisance, The Land of Sha Bebe, Book I: In the Land of Sha Bebe (BeBs Publishing, 2004)
80 pages, folklore, $19.95 U.S.
Plaisance created a kind of Cajun muslin doll she calls Sha Bebe and copyrighted them in the 1990s. This is the first book of a trilogy about the dolls- a world she made up just for them. Part folklore and part fiction, the idea of both the dolls and the books is a charming one that is full of distinctly Cajun flavors.
This first volume is written in simple, sometimes repetitive sentences and has the feel of a bedtime story meant for young audiences. It is clearly introductory to a much richer and fuller story as presented in the second and third books. It is almost entirely one conversation between Emily, who is enduring a particularly stinging grief, and the Sha Bebe dolls that come to comfort her, Beau and Jolie. In it they tell her all about the land of Sha Bebe and teach her The Sha Bebe Waltz.
The book is accompanied by many photos of the dolls participating in various activities within their world which help one to visualize the explanations offered in the conversation. The dolls themselves are absolutely adorable.
I look forward to discovering their world more fully as I read the other volumes.
Review by: Sabne Raznik
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A Portrait of Terror
Daniel I. Russell, Shutterbug (Wild Child Publishing 2007)
82 pages, $4.75 U.S. (eBook)
What starts out as a visit to a reclusive professional photographer believed to be worthy of capturing the essence of an attractive, innocent fifteen year old girl quickly turns into a nightmare with a click and a whir of the camera. It is a nightmare that sets off a chain reaction of terror six years later when what has been forgotten and shelved into distant memory returns with a startling and brutal vengeance. No one is safe when the Shutterbug gets under your skin.
This story deceptively pulls the reader into not only a sleeping nightmare, but a waking one as well. As a young adult of twenty-one, newly graduated Jess Stevenson, both the story’s main victim and heroine, is ceaselessly taunted by a horrific tragedy she endured six years earlier. Though her assailant is jailed, disturbing events related to that long ago tragedy began to occur, yet Jess alone is convinced of the correlation. When she discovers her best friend dead and stuffed inside a moving box and then her wheelchair-bound father mysteriously missing from his home, Jess must face her fears and revisit the now long abandoned and dilapidated photography studio where it all began.
Do keep in mind that Daniel Russell is an English author, and as such, some words he uses in the story may appear misspelled or unfamiliar to American readers. Likewise, certain of his characters’ behaviors may seem odd to American readers. Having said that, the last twenty pages are a heart-pounding roller coaster ride of suspense the likes of which I have rarely had the privilege of experiencing. The beginning chapters of the story do a fine job of introducing the characters and setting the scene of events to come. There were a few spelling errors and words left out towards the middle of the story, though they were minor enough that a speed-reader could easily overlook them. Also, the writing towards the middle seemed rather rigid to the point that I started to lose interest, though only mildly. If more attention were paid to this area, I do believe Shutterbug could be compared to some of the top authors in the genre.
Review By: Dave Rex
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Paraworld Zero
Matthew Peterson, Paraworld Zero
ISBN # :978-1-59092-491-4 Price: $16.99
Paraworld Zero is a highly adventurous, magical tale about a boy named Simon Kent. An orphan, Simon Kent has struggled with how he fit in the world, even the universe. However, when a girl named Tonya appears out of nowhere, saving him from bullies intent on annihilation, Simon Kent's life changes drastically. Simon learns of parallel universes, similar to his own through Tonya. He also learns about magic. After an adventurous, daring escape from his home, Simon and Tonya are swept away to a parallel planet where they soon discover has no means of returning either of them home. While Simon recovers from their arrival it becomes apparent that this is a world of inequality and he feels they may be stranded for good. It takes a monumental effort as well as a catastrophic event to bring the world in to civility while Simon discovers his magical powers. Not only does the world of Pudo hold many firsts for Simon, such as his first dance and his first real friends, it also holds historical secrets. Will Simon ever return to his home? Will he ever discover who the strange woman in his dreams is? Or will he be forever stranded on a planet that serves giant spiders and maggots as main course dishes? There is only one way to find out!
Paraworld Zero held me in my seat from the first page. An exciting fast-paced adventure, chock full of magic and humor, the twists and turns kept me at the edge of my seat. It has been quoted that this book is a Harry Potter meets Star Wars style adventure and I am in thorough agreement! It is very rare that you don't guess the ending of the book until you get to the ending and that is what Paraworld Zero was like for me! Matthew Peterson delivered a formidable tale and followed through with amazing results. I for one am looking forward to the second book in this series. It cannot come out fast enough to satisfy my curiosity! While this book contains elements of Harry Potter and Star Wars it is still uniquely in a league of its own. Matthew Peterson has a delightful imagination and a wonderful sense of humor. I look forward to reading more of his books.
Review by: Mel McWilliams
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A World of Hope
Following Hope by Sabne Raznik is a 58 page softbound book printed by Xlibris with 46 pages of prose and photography where the photos are as good as the words they accompany (all credited to the artist taking them, of course).
Sabne'e words are visually stimulating to the point that they pull you in to walk along beside her as you traverse through her world. She brings emotion alive and you see what she see's as if you were there; almost to the point that you wish you had written it yourself.
Although there were a few poems I didn't care for, there were also
those that were so well written I actually had to stop to catch my breath and pull myself back to reality. This alone is, to me, what makes a poet.
Following Hope takes you through the city to the woods; love, loss and redemption. It confines itself to no one area of poetry and takes you on a thoughtful path through it's many layers to fulfillment, leaving out only gore. All is all it is a good read and we'll look forward to her sophomore edition.
Review By: Lexi Miller
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Poetry As Marriage Counseling?
Robert T. Sells, Words of Inspiration: A Collection of Poems…For the One You Love (Jones Publishing Network, 2005)
80 pages, christian poetry, $9.95 U.S./$12.95 Canada
Yes, so it claims to be. This is apparently the first in a series of Words of Inspiration volumes whose stated purpose is to help people improve various aspects of their life by reading and citing the poems therein. This one focuses on marriage.
The poems are written in an extremely simple, conversational style, as if scribbled somewhat hastily on any scraps of paper to be found at the time. This results in an informal feel that makes for quick, unchallenging reading. It also results in a redundancy that is sometimes painful.
Sells interweaves the special love that one is meant to have for one’s spouse with one’s love for God, almost- but not quite- as if they were one and the same love. The purpose given for the book is admirable, but it somehow falls short of it. Especially does the little sermon that closes the collection detract from the over-all affect. Perhaps if the work had gone through a few more rounds of revision? It can, however, ensure that one get a second date.
If you enjoy this particular genre, and an easy read, Sells may just be your cup of tea: sugary-sweet with a slight hint of mint.
This is the song that doesn't end; Yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it Not knowing what it was; And we'll continue singing it Forever just because :-)
As a Journalist, Horror/Dark Fantasy writer, business writer and poet, Jessica Lynne Gardner has pursued the art of writing in many forms and has a love for dark literature and all things gothic.
Walking through old forest trails, traveling, swimming, belly dancing, martial arts and painting bring her much happiness when she finds the time to do them. An animal lover, she cares for a yellow nape Amazon, three cats, two parakeets and a bearded dragon.
