The Artful Blitz

The Artful Blitz

By Wilbert StantonSeries: Shadows of the City #1

Published by: Curiosity Quills Press

Publication date: May 27th 2014

Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult
Posted By Quirah

Synopsis:

New York City, 2025: Everything is changed. The city that never sleeps is now a land of death and decay. A rampant virus has taken over and the survivors have become carriers, quarantined from the rest of the world.

Twist and Dodger grew up in the streets, the sewers and underground tunnels – their playground. They aren’t heroes. They just like attention; and stealing meds from the rich and giving them to the poor is their golden ticket.

On their latest raid, they unknowingly steal a cure that puts them square between the ailing Emperor of Manhattan and the war hungry Governor of Brooklyn and forces them on a quest into the darkest shadows of their putrefying world.

Wilbert Stanton was born and raised in New York City. From an early age, Wilbert decided he would either write books or take over the world; everything else was just a precursor to his end game.

Along the way, he has studied Psychology, English, and Computer Science. He’s held jobs in a wide range of fields and met people from all walks of life. Wilbert is constantly learning and growing as a person, in order to solidify his dreams.

 In the end world domination was a bit tedious, so he decided to focus on writing books.

His to Claim Blitz

His to Claim #1: No Strings 

By Opal Carew

Published by: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication date: June 3rd 2014

Genres: Erotica, Romance

Synopsis:

Rafe is a rock musician by night and head of a multi-million dollar family business during the day. Melanie is his former assistant, a wallflower who’s harbored a secret crush on him for years. Someone he’d never even consider sleeping with. But when Melanie decides to leave behind her shy exterior and live out her own sexy bucket list, the two of them are thrown together in a whirlwind affair that pushes both their boundaries.

His to Claim: Part 1 is the first installment in the scintillating erotic serial novel His to Claim, later to be made available as a complete book featuring special bonus material. Don't miss the other chapters of Opal Carew’s six-part serial out Summer 2014.  She’s his to claim–he just doesn't know it.

Opal Carew is the author of Total Abandon, Pleasure Bound, Twin Fantasies and other erotic romance novels. She also writes as Elizabeth Batten-Carew. “So why do I like writing erotic romance?” she asks. “I like being able to push beyond traditional boundaries.” Opal loves crystals, dragons, feathers, cats, pink hair, the occult and all that glitters. While she writes, she listens to inspirational music, lights candles and keeps crystals near. Before devoting herself to her passion as a writer, Opal spent 15 years as a software analyst, and she has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo. She lives with her husband and two sons in Ontario, Canada.

Hot Ride Giveaway

Here is where all our giveaways will be posted.


We're currently hosting a giveaway for the author Opal Carew. This is the first in Opal's popular "Ready to Ride" Series! It hit New York Times within the Box Set "Riding Desire" This giveaway is opened internationally. It will be opened until July 4, 2014. 

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School Stress

When you hear school what do you think of? 

Adults might think of good memories, crazy experiences, and falling in love. 

Kids? Not so much. 

Times have changed, and the pressures kids are under now are awful. College expenses have risen and so have the requirements. Money's becoming extremely tight while prices are rising. School is also a place of attempting to fit in. Sadly, for some, they don't. 

With the pressures of tests, homeworks, fitting in, etc... Kids are losing their minds! Stress is invading on there lives and it's awful! I'm speaking from personal experience! The end of the year only gets tough. 

Exam after exam. 

I think schools need to reevaluate the way things are run in order to add more activities for students to look forward to in all the darkness of the day. 

~ Brooke

Quilliant Writing 101: Characters - Names (Pt. 1)

      After or maybe even before you begin planning your story (a topic to be), you will need characters. The key to this is to either keep very few and very elaborated characters, or quite a lot and very few main ones. The characters are the glue of the story, without them the plot would have no purpose or be able to move forward. But to create a perfect and original character, you need to find the perfect balance between good and bad things about this character.

      First and foremost, a name is important as it gives your character an identity, do they use their real name or be called by their surname? If one of your characters is mysterious then perhaps think about not even naming them? Either leave it as 'the man' or 'she' or maybe even give them a quirky nickname such as the 'know-it-all'. Please realise that picking the simple names can in some cases do no favours. Don't pick a name because it's your favourite actress or something, think carefully. Use your friends' and family's names or maybe even people you know to help decide names for these characters. For example, I have a friend named Elle-Leigh, and one of my characters in a story of mine is named Elleigh, but she prefers to be called Lee. 

      Do you see how this works?

      But what if your character is of a different nationality? Then that's great but it needs a lot of research. For example, a French character will need a French name which is pretty straight forward, for example: 'Laurent Levesque'. It's simple and French, fitting perfectly but be careful: some nationalities have name laws. Such as the Russians, who take their father's forename to be a part of their middle name or in this case, a patronymic name. Say if I was half Russian due to my dad, and say he was called Marc, then my name could be Chloe Marcovna Tolstaia.

      You can learn about Russian names and how they work at the following website: http://lisahayden.com/lch/Russian%20Names.pdf

      Names could also give away a bit about their personality? For example, Mrs Green could be envious because Green symbolises envy. Or John Smith could be simple as his name represents simplicity. The names of your characters are just as important as the development of them. 

      Next part: Characters - Appearance (Pt. 2)

              – Chloe. xo

Tangled Review

Tangled BY Emma Chase (QUIRAH)

This was just hands down an amazing book.

Drew?

Drew, is amazing. He's arrogant, funny, and just plain honest.

“I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW THIS, but lots of guys have a thing for Ariel. You know, from The Little Mermaid? I’ve never been into her myself, but I can understand the attraction: she fills out her shells nicely, she’s a redhead, and she spends most of the movie unable to speak. 

In light of this, I’m not too disturbed about the semi I’m sporting while watching Beauty and the Beast—part of the homework Erin gave me. I like Belle. She’s hot. Well…for a cartoon, anyway. She reminds me of Kate. She’s resourceful. Smart. And she doesn’t take any shit from the Beast or that douchebag with the freakishly large arms. 

I stare at the television as Belle bends over to feed a bird. Then I lean forward, hoping for a nice cleavage shot… 

I’m going to hell, aren’t I?” 

Drew is himself throughout the whole book. He may fall in love but he doesn't just go soft. He starts being extremely romantic, yet he's still a guy with guy thoughs.

AND LET'S NOT FORGET FRIGGING HILARIOUS

Kate

She's fierce yet still vulnerable, and Drew has a way of getting under her skin.

“Well, then we’re a perfect fit, ’cause you’re a first-class bitch most of the time.”

Fire dances in her eyes as she raises her half-filled glass.

“Don’t you fucking dare. You throw that drink at me, I’m not responsible for what I do after.”

I’ll give you a minute to guess what she does...” 

Drew and Kate are my favorite type of fiction couple. Hilarious, the same yet so different, and just amazing to read about.

“At the same moment, Kate and I drop our beverages and make a mad dash for the door. In the lobby, she pushes the elevator button furiously while I head for the stairs. Genius that I am, I figure I can take them three at a time. I’m almost six-feet—long legs. The only problem with this, of course, is that my office is on the fortieth floor.

Idiot.”

Man, I can't even express how great this book was. From the humor to the heartbreak

4.99/5.0

-Thurs, April 10, 2014