Blog Tour: Stone of Darkness

Today we have the brilliant author Resa Nelson on the blog for her blog tour of Book 3 in the Dragonslayer series. Fantasy is something we both love, so this fits perfectly on the blog. So, without further delay, let's get the interview started!

~~~~~~~~~~

Describe your series? What genre would you classify it into?

I guess it’s epic fantasy, but I also blend genres.  I strive to write page turners, because I don’t want my readers to get bored.  There’s usually some type of mystery going on, and sometimes it leans toward the mystery/thriller genre.  My books can get pretty dark, so I also strive to throw in as much humor as possible to give my books some balance.

How did you come up with the idea for the series? 

Many years ago I was propositioned by a co-worker (a married man with two young children).  Like a lot of writers, I write to work through my problems.  So I wrote a short story about a female blacksmith who makes swords for dragonslayers.  When a new dragonslayer propositions her, she doesn’t know what to do because if she doesn’t keep his weapons in good working order then his inability to fight dragons can place all her friends and neighbours at risk.  When the story was published there was a huge reader response, which made me think about turning it into a novel.  It took me 8 years to figure out how to do that.  And once I started writing the novel, I realized the story and the world I had created were much bigger than I’d first imagined.  So by the time I finished writing Book 1, I pretty much had the whole series in my head.

I am a Blogger, and I am pissed #3

I've written two posts on this topic previously, and both of them have been received just as I had hoped for. I've had most authors agree, and I hope accept some of these 'mistakes' they make while interacting with bloggers. Both the previous posts resulted in a lot of comments and discussions here on the blog, as well as on a number of Facebook author groups. I was actually surprised to see how receptive these posts have been. Don't get me wrong, I did get a few reactions I had expected in the beginning. A few authors argued that I had no right to point these out, or that bloggers were worse or at least just as guilty. I had a couple of authors post counter arguments to my points in the previous two posts, and I loved that. They were gracious and did not try to bash me. Each post was extremely respectful. For all of this, I am extremely grateful.

If you'd like to take a look at the previous two posts, head over to check out post number one and post number two. And to read the author reactions to my posts, check out the replies by author Natalie Star to post one and author Tara Chevrestt to post two. With that out of the way, let's get to the third and final post in the series.

11. Twitter: There are tons of authors and bloggers on twitter. But, there is a dearth of authors (and bloggers) who treat twitter for what it is, a NETWORKING tool. Most just consider it a marketing platform. This makes them do things which get on my nerves sometimes! All I see is links, links and more links! And then there are other things. First, I will not check DMs on twitter as I mostly get spam there. And don’t even get me started on auto-DMs! If I do somehow stumble onto your DM and I see a link requesting me to check out your book on Amazon, subscribe to your blog, or ‘Like’ your author page on Facebook, I will delete it without doing any of those things. I might even unfollow you and, if you still don’t get the message, I might just go ahead and block you. Using the @mention feature is just the same, so doing that does not get you off the hook. Want me to consider your book or your links? Want me to do an interview or feature you on my blog?  Then talk to me, get to know me better, interact with me, comment on my content, if you like something RT it. And, after you do all this, go read point number one again in post number one (Read the Review Policy).

Review: Dark Awakening

Dark Awakening [Cursed in Darkness #3]
By Natalie Hancock

Cursed in Darkness Series:
Eternal Darkness #1 - See my review
Dark Shadows #2 - See my review
Dark Awakening #3

From Goodreads:

In the hundred acres of land, more security and more people are watching Layla’s back now that everyone knows who she is. Layla wants to find the person responsible for the attacks made at her, just like everyone else, but when an attack happens to someone other than her, she and Nikalye are the only ones who know the truth. They are determined to find the culprit once and for all, before someone else is seriously injured.

Layla wishes she could tell Shade everything. He knows something is not right more than he can make her gasp with pleasure by just saying her name, but she cannot tell him—she will not risk putting him in danger any more than she has. She continuously fights for survival to keep herself and those around her alive, but when more things sinister arrive in the hundred acres of land and the culprit is revealed, the situation turns from bad to deadly.

Will Layla be able to survive?

Buy on: Amazon

Oh my soul!! Dark Awakening is by far (for me personally) the best book in the series! I have no words, totally dumbstruck. Just when you think you have it all figured out, Natalie throws this major curve ball – like ‘in your face’. Brilliant writing and a brilliant story line.