Hi everyone! To celebrate the 100th broadcast of the Lurking for Legends show, a bunch of wonderful authors including Richard H Stephens, Christie Stratos, David M Kelly and Jorge De Jesus and myself, read from one of my favorite works, The Importance of Being Earnest. It was loads of fun!
Enjoy! XO Maggie Lynn
Hi everyone! Make sure to join me tomorrow, Tuesday February 7th, to celebrate the 100th broadcast of the Lurking for Legends show. A bunch of wonderful authors including Richard H Stephens, Christie Stratos, David M Kelly and Jorge De Jesus and me, Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel, will be reading from one of my favorite works, The Importance of Being Earnest. I’ll be reading for the parts of Lady Bracknell (Aunt Augusta). It is going to be loads of fun and I hope you’ll tune in!
A message from the hosts of the broadcast:
Join Lurking For Legends once again as we entertain with a very special 100th episode! Thanks to all our viewers for your support and appreciation of our broadcast. Without you all, Lurking For Legends wouldn’t exist as a space to support authors and our quest to help readers connect with them.
We hope you enjoy this fun broadcast and will celebrate with us on Tuesday February 7th at 8pm EST! As always, bring your questions and comments!
Make sure to add it your calendar via the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/879769403270479/
Or tune in at my hosts Facebook pages at 8 PM
FB: https://tinyurl.com/CStratos
Please pray for those who no shelter tonight in the Northeast; whether they’re homeless or have no heat. It’s supposed to be below zero.
Animals need shelter, too, so make sure to check your car engine hoods to make sure no cats have gotten inside before turning them on. Any animals you have should be brought in for shelter. If it’s too cold for you outside, your animals will be too cold, too. Even my Malamute was cold and wanted come in after being outside for less than two minutes with me.
If anyone has nowhere to go, look up warming shelters in your area or call 211 for help finding one. Or contact your local social worker for your town. They will be able to help.
Here’s a list of warming shelters here in CT: https://connecticut.news12.com/warming-centers-open…
STAY SAFE! XO Maggie Lynn
Free for #cybermonday: It’s number two in Women’s #Fantasy today on Amazon ebooks!
TOP TEN FINALIST FOR BEST URBAN FANTASY 2019 – CAFFIENATED FANTASY AWARDS
Lost by the Fidem. Hunted by Xydon. Her family murdered… Only one power can save them all; the power of a herald Väktare and her Protectore.
When a mysterious stranger arrives at Shira Black’s motorcycle restoration shop, trying to kidnap her and knowing her true identity, all hell breaks loose… quite literally due to her curse. Her only hope to stay free and in turn alive, is to trust two brothers to find the last of her family. To survive, they must unite their powers to evade the demonic forces of evil looking to capture her soul. Before long, the heavens will split open and the legendary Golden Cuckoo of Toucson’s hatchling will be hers. People long dead will seemingly rise from their shadowy graves as secrets from the past are brought to light. But can Shira Hart resist the demands of the Tro Fidem? Or will her black magic curse kill those who are trying to help her and consume her soul at long last?
Väktare of All Realms series is an action-packed urban fantasy with a flare of humor that will keep the reader on the edge of his or her seats until the very last page. Between magic, dragons, wall walkers, and a sassy talking cat, one thing is for sure. The world will turn upside down and inside out before the Shira Hart’s story is at an end.
Make sure to grab your copy before it goes back to full price! https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08139WG5P/
Sometimes a project is so complex and close to your heart that it consumes all your time. The fourth installment of the Destiny in the Shadows series has been no exception.
Many of you have been asking what became of the series since there has been such a lag between books. I released a Christmas novella in 2020 from Dantenn’s POV to break the silence and many of you loved it. But still you demanded to know what became of Sierrenna. Or more affectionately known, Rain. *SPOILER ALERT* Plus her baby.
And I don’t blame you. I’ve missed them, too. You see, what exists on paper is truly real in an author’s head. I deal with the main characters every day to the extent they almost come to life. Sometimes the things I originally plot out at the beginning of a first draft are refused. I realize that the action I’d originally planned would not be something a character would do. Cain was originally supposed to be a villain, you know. And he said to screw that.
War Machine was no different from any of my other stories. My first concept is usually very different from the finished product. And my science fiction novels are more difficult for me to write because I am literally inventing a new, unseen world. I must explain every bit of their society, their cities and how their new technologies work. With my urban fantasy novels, they are all based in the now. The settings are simply the world we live in and need to be much less detailed in certain respects.
What was once one book quickly morphed into two the more I worked on it. And those two books rapidly each escalated to over 150K words. The original title Blood War became Warlord: Scorpius (part one of the original manuscripts). The second half became Blood War: Defiance or more precisely, book five. The story simply could not be told on one book.
Another spoiler: Plus Cain quickly took to demanding that he get chapters from his point of view and I agreed it was what the story needed What he resented was the long wait that it has been the journey from my mind to the page
2021-2022 has been an intense roller-coaster for me and my family. I have experienced many health challenges that impacted my ability to work with as much focus as need for this series. But with happiness, I can announce that both books are in the hands of my editor. In fact, I am now working on the book directly after them, so three books can be released in relatively quick succession.
They will be in your hands soon, as well as the first Sanctum of Hell series book: Helice. It was previously published as a weekly serial during the Covid-19 pandemic and has since been vastly expanded upon. Again, the finished product is very different from the original. Call me a perfectionist, but I do not stop until I see a story as perfect. And again, what was once a simple novel became a triad of epic books. Book two Del Muerta is largely complete.
I also am in the process of bringing a fan request to life upon request. Many of you wished to read Rain’s early backstory when she was in training as an assassin. That book will not be in your hands for a while, but I can tell you it will be in the next year or so, providing my health complies with my wishes.
Hopefully this summer will be a great one not only for you, my reader, but also a better one for me. I am sending my love and hugs.
Love, Author Maggie Lynn
170 million children are enslaved today. Will you listen?
Happy #Thanksgiving! In the spirit of my novels, I felt a highly advanced race of intelligent ninja GI Joe turkeys that ‘gobble’ humans up might be the better holiday card to suit my readers’ tastes.
Oop. And as a bonus…
Happy turkey day, folks.
I am #thankful for all of you
God bless you all.
Feel free to share! How, if ever, have you used this code? Comment below!
This book had such potential, but unfortunately fell disappointingly short. That said, I won’t trash it entirely. The novel kept me reading, even though at times I was scratching my head with the inconsistencies and sudden, impromptu twists. The story had intricate elements which were at best intriguing, but at many points did not cohesively mesh together.
My thoughts:
1 – Pacing issues. For 800 pages, perhaps the story would’ve gripped the audience more securely if things had been sped up. I do not know if the book was rushed in its editing period, but I felt as though at minimum 200 pages might have been trimmed down even further, if not removed entirely.
2 – When twists surfaced in the plot, I often felt they had not been properly set up for the reader. They came without warning and sometimes felt out of character for the person in question. Perhaps more foreshadowing would’ve aided the transitions and actions.
3 – The copious amount of swearing, and mostly at the beginning of the novel, felt as if it cheapened the writing. Having read Maas’ other works, I know how well she can write without resorting to that measure. They began to feel like a crutch to support the story, especially since about halfway through the book, less expletives were used by the characters. That character inconsistency there made it feel as if they were unnecessary and added only for shock effect.
Note: I’ve read and enjoyed many books where the characters swore (and far more copiously and colorfully than in this one), but it seemed natural for them to do so. The usages in this dialogue seemed unnecessary and forced.
4 – The allusions to banging everyone in the bathroom only added to that ‘cheapened’ effect. And considering everyone knows that Maas’ previous adult books have been loaded with sex scenes and pulled them off without devaluing the story or the characters (Rhysand and Feyre being deliciously sinful examples), it was disappointing.
When the two protagonists finally did get around to their love scene, all the other references to meaningless sex had already burned out the powerful effect of a good romance scene. It’d already weakened the moment to the point it didn’t stand out at all between the two of them and felt like more of the same we’d already read. It made the attraction less meaningful. In this sense, a double positive equalled a dismal double negative.
5 – Character issues. Much of the character building was lovely and very well done. The devastation of many of the events was very well expressed and brought sympathy for the characters. But again, things would often surface that did not feel consistent.
(SPOILER) Hunt, for example, as a trained soldier, was unrealistically unaware of his surroundings at times. When he was ambushed twice, it felt as though he deserved it for being so lax about monitoring the goings on around him. I’ve known soldiers, and they keep their eyes open so to speak. It was out of character for him and his skill set.
Pros:
When the novel finally did get to the climax, the story exploded. The last 150 pages were fantastic and kept my attention flawlessly. Everything was action packed and it leapt off the page. I only wish the beginning half or more of the novel matched it. The few glimmers of action in the beginning and middle act of the book were promising, but did not keep up the momentum. If they had, the story would’ve been outstanding. They felt like two different books entirely, but with the same characters.
I almost feel as if this book would’ve benefited from more time spent being edited and smoothed out. All the elements of a sizzling best seller were there, but the potential for it was seemingly unreached. Having read Maas’ other works, this novel could’ve surpassed them entirely. Unfortunately, it did not.
All I can hope is that these kind of issues will not plague the next in this series. Or the next book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series, A Court of Silver Flames, which is set to release next January.
Regretfully, 3 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
– Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel
If you enjoy Urban Fantasy action and romance series, you may instead enjoy:
Cursed Hart: Book 1 in the Vaktare of All Realms series, TOP TEN FINALIST FOR BEST URBAN FANTASY 2019 – CAFFIENATED FANTASY AWARDS. –
Best Selling Author Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel 