Monday, June 29, 2015

'Diary of a Minecraft Iron Golem & His Pig' by Christopher Craft


Blurb:

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a Minecraft Iron Golem? Or maybe the Pet Pig of an Iron Golem? What is the pig thinking? Find out today!

This Hilarious Adventure Series will crack you up!

In the first book of this Crazy Minecraft adventure series, you get to travel along with a Real Iron Golem and his Pet Pig! This Hilarious Adventure series will have you laughing so hard you may pee your pants!

This Iron Golem and his pet pig will have you screaming for more. You will be rooting them on in their CRAZY & Exciting Adventures! A great and fun read for all ages.

Diary of a Minecraft Iron Golem and his Pet Pig is an Epic Adventure and a must-read for any kid who loves Minecraft.

http://amzn.to/1SQKGAc

Author bio:

Christopher Craft loves gaming! He has played a ton of them. He loves letting his imagination run wild when he is building in Minecraft or defending against attacks in Clash of Clans.

Also when gaming he holds nothing back, just like in his adventures! So come along and immerse yourself in these epic adventures that will take you into realms only limited by your imagination.

All these amazing stories came about from things he would dream about and decided to share with the world. From Minecraft to Clash - From Angry Birds to League - there are no limits.

The Obsidian Knights Adventure Series will take you on a fantastical journey into realms with Intergalactic Dragons. Knights from an ancient order. Worlds formed before the foundations of time.The universe you know is not all that there is, as you will soon find out!

But even with your imagination...you can't get there without the Talisman!

Join Christopher Craft and all the Characters in their Amazing Adventures.

Minecraft Fan Fiction Parodies are one of his favorites! He has always wondered what they might try and tell us if they could. So come along and venture into galaxies and alternate game realities. Fit for all ages.

Grab a book or two and you will be hooked into the mind of Christopher Craft.

Friday, June 26, 2015

'Diary of a Minecraft Enderman's Apprentice' by Christopher Craft


Blurb:

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a Real Enderman's Apprentice? What it takes to become a Master Enderslayer? This Diary will take you on that journey!

In the first book of this Crazy Minecraft adventure series, you get to eavesdrop over the shoulder of an Enderman's Apprentice! Wow! This is the real diary of an actual Enderman's Apprentice. Take a peek at what is really going on when no one is watching. Learn how the apprentice really feels. 

Is it fun? Is it too hard to become a Master Enderman? Will he ever get a white cape?

Are Enderman really different from us? You'll be surprised at what you reveal in his secret diary.

Come grab a limited copy and discover today!

Diary of a of an Enderman's Apprentice is a must-read for any kid who loves Minecraft. Kids ages 7+ can't wait to experience these exciting Minecraft adventures! 
http://amzn.to/1e8J4T0
Get more of Christopher Craft's books here!

Author bio:

Christopher Craft loves gaming! He has played a ton of them. He loves letting his imagination run wild when he is building in Minecraft or defending against attacks in Clash of Clans.

Also when gaming he holds nothing back, just like in his adventures! So come along and immerse yourself in these epic adventures that will take you into realms only limited by your imagination.

All these amazing stories came about from things he would dream about and decided to share with the world. From Minecraft to Clash - From Angry Birds to League - there are no limits.

The Obsidian Knights Adventure Series will take you on a fantastical journey into realms with Intergalactic Dragons. Knights from an ancient order. Worlds formed before the foundations of time.The universe you know is not all that there is, as you will soon find out!

But even with your imagination...you can't get there without the Talisman!

Join Christopher Craft and all the Characters in their Amazing Adventures.

Minecraft Fan Fiction Parodies are one of his favorites! He has always wondered what they might try and tell us if they could. So come along and venture into galaxies and alternate game realities. Fit for all ages.

Grab a book or two and you will be hooked into the mind of Christopher Craft.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

'Magical Charms for Breakfast (Fairy Tales & Magical Adventures #1)' by Merriweather Hope


Blurb:

In bestselling author Merriweather Hope’s “Magical Charms for Breakfast,” All the kids in nine-year-old Stefan’s school have gone crazy for Magical Charms, the new cereal especially for kids they’ve been advertising on TV. Not only is Magical Charms colorful and pretty tasty—every box comes with its own unique surprise!

Stefan begs his mom to buy a box and can hardly wait to see what his prize is.

But unlike his friends, who get cool prizes like mini wands, teeny-tiny swords, and super-small unicorns, Stefan gets a boring miniature lamp that looks a lot like Aladdin’s, but can’t do anything special—or so Stefan thinks!

It isn’t until he accidentally wishes for something while holding the little lamp that Stefan realizes his prize is more than meets the eye.

A beautiful quirky girl - genie named Jinn lives inside, and she’s ready and willing to grant Stefan’s every wish! At first Stefan is ecstatic. How amazing it is to have everything he could possibly want right at his fingertips!

But he soon realizes that having a genie of his own just might be more trouble than it’s worth….

And then there’s the fact that Jinn has a mission from the Fairy Queen that she just can’t remember….

“Jinn, are you listening to me?”

“JINN! PAY ATTENTION! This is important!”

“Huh, what? Oh yeah. uhh. Sorry, Your Majesty,” said Jinn to the Fairy Queen as she sleepily rubbed her eyes. “A very important mission…don’t worry, you can count on me. Must…save…magic…” Jinn’s voice trailed off as her eyes grew heavy and gave way to sleep.

“JINN!” shouted the Fairy Queen “JINN! Remember the mission and focus on it!”

But it was no use, Jinn was fast asleep. The Fairy Queen shook her head in despair. But what choice did she have at this point? It was all up to Jinn now.

Click below to get your copy of “Magical Charms for Breakfast” to find out what happens next…

http://amzn.to/1KWjygH

Find more of Merriweather Hope's books on her Amazon Author page:

Friday, June 12, 2015

Review of 'Choose Your Own Death' by Marianna Shek


Choose Your Own Death

by Marianna Shek


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Goultown. The sort of place where kids could walk down the street in the middle of the night. Or accept sweets from strangers because strangers were just friends you hadn’t met yet. A place where grown-ups got tattoos of smiley faces and if kids graffitied, they were sure to do smiley faces too.

That was before the murders began. After Sally Ellerson drowns at the chocolate factory, you know there’s something weird going on. It’s time to take charge.

Choose Your Own Death is a path-picking adventure where every wrong turn unleashes an eldritch evil. If you don’t solve the mystery soon, the next death could be yours.

Read an excerpt:
Jessica draws back with a look of hurt in her eyes. You feel bad but instead of apologising, you slide open the drawer. Something leaps onto your face. Your cheeks are burning. You reach up and touch something smooth and hard as a nut.

One look at Jessica’s horrified expression and you start screaming, ‘Get it off! Get it off!’

You pinch at the nut-shaped creature and hurl it across the room with all your strength. Wisps of spun glass tangle in your hands. Angry welts appear where the fine threads touch your skin.

Thud. Shluuuuurrrrp.

It hits the wall and slides to the floor leaving a black smear on the paisley wallpaper. It looks like a prehistoric beetle, with golden pincers and bronze plates down the length of its body. For a moment, you think it’s over. You’ve killed it. Then, its spiny body rolls over and scuttles towards you. The others scream and leap out of the way. There’s no time for bug spray. You grab the scissors from the sewing kit and run towards the creature with a battle cry. There’s a loose nail in the floorboard.

‘Ooopfff!

You hold out your hands to break your fall. The scissors drive up into your stomach. As you lie there wheezing and gasping your last breath, you hear a reproachful voice.

‘Mummy doesn’t like it when you run with the good scissors.’

**My thoughts**

I absolutely ate up Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. I mean, what could be better than a book you can read again and again and have it be a different story almost every single time? My favorite took place at a creepy carnival funhouse.

I haven't seen these books in years, so was very excited to see the idea resurrected by a new author. It does follow the basic format. You're introduced to the storyline, make a grisly discovery, and then have to make a choice about what to do. Choose wisely, and your story continues. Choose the wrong path, and you find out about your demise. There seemed to be countless ways to die.

A few things in this version were different than the ones I remember. While most of the book is written in second-person, addressing the reader as "you," sometimes the characters do call you by name. The main character, yourself, is called Drew. I always liked it better where there was no name attached, because then I really felt like myself going through the adventures. Other readers are going to enjoy becoming this other character.

Another difference is that when you reach your death, you are referred back to the page where you made the deadly choice, instead of being sent back to the beginning. That struck me as a bit odd, because I would prefer to go back to the beginning and try to make better choices. Then again, after you have read the beginning a certain number of times, being referred back to that page does save you some time. 

I also thought that I remember the other books having much longer, varied paths throughout the story. With this one, the story gets longer and longer as you figure out which paths lead to certain death and avoid them in future readings.

So, while this book isn't exactly like those adventures that I so fondly remember from the 1980s, it is still a fun throwback that some kids are going to enjoy.


Buy links:


And now a word from the author... on the appeal of scary books for the middle grade reader.

No one can answer this question better than Anne Shirley. I’ve taken an extract from the movie script based on Lucy Montgomery’s book Anne of Green Gables. In this scene Anne and her best friend Diana are walking through the dark woods…

ANNE: There's supposed to be a white lady who walked along the riverbank by Mr. Hammond's sawmill, wringing her hands and wailing. The men never actually saw her.

DIANA: Oh, Anne, don't.

ANNE: Perhaps she is now accompanied by Mr. Hammond who is looking for his lunch. No, I shouldn't have said that. He may follow me here.

DIANA: Oh, Anne, I'm scared.

ANNE: So am I. Deliciously scared.

There lies the answer. Kids love being deliciously scared. Then somewhere between being a kid and being grown up lurks the horror genre. Horror films, horror games, horror books. This sort of fear is not delicious. It’s adrenaline pumping, it’s terrifying, it’s horrible!

There’s a line between enjoying macabre, gothic, dark humour and horror. Neil Gaiman is one. Stephen King is the other (although of course Stephen King writes for other genres as well). As a reader and a writer, I never wish to cross this line.


AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Marianna Shek is a writer, reader and ideal eater. She took a ridiculously arduous route to get there, dabbling in pharmacy before switching to animation and finally settling down as a writer. She has a wonderful day job as a researcher and producer. You can follow some of her crazy art and film projects at: www.theunreliablenarrator.com.au

She rambles specifically about books and creative writing at:
www.rockonkitty.com.au


https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13726368.Marianna_Shek

http://www.amazon.com/Marianna-Shek/e/B00VACIMCA

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/marianna-shek

Marianna Shek will be awarding 1 Choose Your Own Death book mark and 4 postcards by the illustrator Tara Brown (can be sent internationally) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and 1 Choose Your Own Death book mark and 4 postcards by the illustrator Tara Brown (can be sent internationally) to a randomly drawn host. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway