Shout out to Indies

We here at The Paperback Princesses often receive emails from Indie authors requesting reviews and are blessed with free book copies. Often we are unable to get to so many titles before our mass market published books take over our TBR shelves. That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of great reads though! We want to give back to those Indie authors and are declaring EVERY SECOND SUNDAY our SHOUT OUT TO INDIES MEME. For those of fellow bloggers, please feel free to add our meme to your regular schedule. We only ask that you quote and link back to us as a courtesy. For all of you Indie authors, we invite you to contact us at the contact link to your top left. We will select 1 - 3 titles (each time we post) that sound interesting. Lastly, for you readers, this is a bit of a test so please do comment and let us know what you think. We will also be offering up giveaway copies whenever we can! So without further ado, here are this week's picks -

Published October 22nd

In a world comprised of three rival kingdoms as different from each other as the families that rule them, Emariya Warren is unique in being a daughter of not one but two of the ruling families.

Sixteen years ago, Emariya narrowly escaped dying on their cold estate floor beside her mother. Now, after learning her father has been captured, Emariya makes the desperate decision to follow in her mother's ill-fated footsteps and journey to marry the prince of a rival land, Torian Ahlen. But when Emariya discovers the secrets of the three families and an ominous prophecy warning the three bloodlines must never be combined, she begins to fear the handsome prince waiting for her may desire more than to steal her heart.

We asked Kelly why she decided to write for the YA market and this is what she told us:

I wish I could say that I chose to write a young adult series because I am young at heart. Unfortunately, most days I feel much older than I am. The characters for Cornerstone, and the books in the rest of the series jumped into my head as young adults. Admittedly in the medieval era young adults were much more mature than the young adults of today due to necessity, but the fact didn’t change that my characters had to face coming of age type of issues. I still don’t really feel like it was a conscious choice though, it was more a matter of following my characters on the journey they wanted to take.

However, I am thrilled that I did write a young adult book. Many of the books I’ve enjoyed the most over the last several years have been young adult titles, and I am a great example of just how broad the appeal of the young adult genre is. My Grandmother and her neighbors in her retirement village love Cornerstone, and I love Cornerstone and my friends twelve year old daughter loves Cornerstone. It is incredibly exciting to write a book and craft characters that have the ability to appeal to so many different age groups. My own daughter wants to read it in a few years (she’s nine now) and as a parent, that makes me really aware of the type of content that goes into books, especially young adult books.

 

I’d have to say that was the only factor that I really did target especially for the younger portion of the young adult audience. One of the only full length scenes I cut during my writing process was a more mature, adult oriented scene that I ran by some adult critique partners with children. Their feelings were unanimous that the content would have kept them from allowing their teens to read it. I truly tried to keep the swearing and the mature content to a minimum, but I’ve agonized over it. In Cornerstone we have two characters that are betrothed, and that leads to adult situations that I hope I am able to handle tastefully going forward to keep the series both realistic (or as realistic as fantasy can be) as well as broadly appropriate for even the younger fans. While I don’t personally mind more mature content in young adult books, it wasn’t how I wanted to write mine and the story itself didn’t require it.

Thank you so much Kelly for joining us.  If you'd like to contact Kelly or find out more about Cornerstone try the following:

http://www.facebook.com/KellyWalkerAuthor

 

http://kellywalkerwrites.blogspot.com/p/welcome.html
 

Our second Shout Out title this week is:

 

Here is what Kathy has to tellus about her book: Passion and Pain (Dancers and Divas #1)

FAME meets GOSSIP GIRL is this new Dancers and Divas book series. Passion and Pain- Book 1 – is the beginning of the story of street dancer Elena and her best friend, the cheeky and mischievous Sebastien, as they enter Montacrue Performing Arts School, New York. They will experience love, lust, betrayal, friendship, doubt, hope and anxiety. They will laugh, cry and have their heart broken all while auditioning and training to reach their dreams!

As one reviewer said:

“I think we can all relate to the emotional turmoil and ecstasy of the experiences that happen in our teens, especially when the characters are so believable and lovable. I feel like I know them! “

As Martha Graham once said “Dance – the body says what words cannot.” Hence, here are 3 dance choreographies that inspired some part of the novel – mostly the complex relationships!

This first one to me feels like Elena’s relationship with Jay. You may recognize it from So You think You Can Dance. Elena’s inability to let him go and her actions as a consequence lead her down a path that could destroy her. It also clearly expresses Frankie’s downhill spiral as she seeks happiness in all the wrong places.

The second one is in regards to Sebastien’s unrequited feelings for Elena. I think every reader is hoping Sebastien finds some happiness in the end.

The third one reminds me of a unique and special romance that develops between characters (don’t want to spoil it). It is intimate and compassionate and so beautiful that when I wrote it, I watched this piece repeatedly as inspiration.

Kathy has a special free Kindle promotion today, November 4th.  Check out the link below if you're interesed.

http://www.amazon.com/Passion-Pain-Dancers-Divas-ebook/dp/B009D4PNME