cinematic romance. heart-pounding adventure.
Hi lovelies.
As promised, the second Tina Storm short story, Take The Stage By Storm (see what I did there? LOL) is available for the rest of October exclusively on Smashwords.
Also, look at this PRETTY PRETTY cover!
This story is 2500 words long and you can enjoy it with a cuppa taking a break. Nice and easy! Make sure you read the first story beforehand, though. Enjoy!
Foreign Cover Friday is a weekly meme hosted by The Reading Fever, where foreign covers of the books we know and love are spotlighted and discussed. To join, either pick your favourite foreign cover, or pick many foreign covers, and start discussing!
Continuing on with my Night Huntress theme, this week we’re looking at book 3 in the series, At Grave’s End.
It shouldbe the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield’s life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she’s successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat’s worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover’s finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.
As if that wasn’t enough, a woman from Bones’s past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat’s about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she’s learned as a special agent won’t help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave.
This English-language version demonstrates the most awkward pose ever and proves just how flexible Cat it. The red text stands out with good contrast and I LOVE. THOSE. BOOTS. And her coat. It makes me want to become a half-vampire just so I can wear those clothes. The background it awesome – I love winter-looking things – and the white glow around Cat makes her stand out at the focus of the cover. It’s probably one of my favourite covers from the whole series.
The Russian cover on the left is nice – with that white text, it gives a real Soviet feel. By that I mean cold and bleak. Ha. Ha ha. I think the cover on the right is a reprint for the UK version.
Russian translation: On The Brink Of The Grave
These are the covers for the French, Indonesian, and Italian versions. The French have done it again. This cover is just gorgeous. It’s just so pretty to see Cat and bones just standing there gazing at each other wearing heavy coats, and that background with what looks like a church steeple is sublime and the colour palette is wonderful and oh man, I gotta stop crushing on this cover. The Indonesian cover fails, which is a pity, because the previous two were really handsome. The model isn’t suitable for Cat, I don’t know what the raven is doing there, and I just don’t like it. The Italian cover is more suitable to a gothic romance and the model lacks Cat’s distinctive red hair, and it’s just kind of bland.
Translation
French: Cold as a tomb (Huntress of the night, # 3)
Indonesian: Revenge of the Goddess (At Grave’s End)
Italian: The Edge of Night (Night Huntress, # 3)
This German cover is pretty! I love purple! Cat’s make up is weird and her hair is all wrong! But I don’t care because it’s purple! And it delivers its genre quite effectively because of the city in the background (urban fantasy). And it’s PURPLE!
Translation: Companion of the Twilight: A Novel
(and I just want to add that if any Twilight fans started reading these books – better vampires, hot sex – they’d probably faint)
This is the unabridged audiobook. I’m not sure how I feel about this. It’s got the oomph factor, but it’s just all explosion-looking (the top left corner) and Cat’s skin looks fake, not luminescent. The text is pretty, but I don’t think I’d even bother to pick it up. It doesn’t appeal to me.
What are your thoughts?
Which covers do you like? Which do you hate?
Check back at The Reading Fever for her Foreign Cover Friday!
There’s a reason Princess Kidagakash from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Disney’s 41st animated feature film, was never recognised as an official Disney Princess. Her film falls just outside of the Renaissance. Fantasia, Dinosaur, and The Emperor’s New Groove came before it, and all four films performed less than expected at the box office. Kida misses out on being a Disney Princess, despite being a Disney princess, because her film isn’t a musical and didn’t gross enough at the box office (despite bringing in $186M). I have several theories why it didn’t fare as well as Disney hoped, despite mixed critic reviews and becoming a cult favourite: it was Disney’s first sci-fi, it had a beta male lead (not alpha like Aladdin, Tarzan or Hercules), it looks at first glance at a re-hash of Pocahontas (explorers travel to a ‘new world’ and meet a primitive yet harmonious society), kids who attended the Renaissance films were growing up (I was 14 and not interested in ‘kids’ films’ anymore, interestingly enough: I was too busy going to see films like Moulin Rouge!, and A Knight’s Tale,) but most importantly, it was up against a number of very high-grossing films through the year. The top ten highest-grossing films of 2001 in the US were: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; Monsters, Inc.; Shrek; Ocean’s Eleven; Pearl Harbour; The Mummy Returns; Jurassic Park III; Planet of the Apes; and Hannibal. Atlantis never even stood a chance.
So, poor Atlantis. Poor Princess Kida. Sure, she’s in the very first part of the film, when Atlantis sinks (a mere 8500 years before the film proper takes place: don’t even get me ranting on that longevity thing). She re-appears sometime later as a ancient yet youthful-looking woman whom, apparently, her father thinks she will magically learn some lesson once he dies and she takes the throne. I mean, she’s eight thousand, five hundred years old, right? What is she going to learn that hasn’t already been learned? And then she spends most of her time in some kind of crystal-induced trance…
Kida gets to spend some time developing a relationship with beta male linguistics professor Milo Thatch (awesomely voiced by Michael J Fox). For some reason, the ability to read their own language was lost when Atlantis sunk, and now Kida is totes dependant on Milo to teach her about her own history, the knowledge of which she sadly, also lacks. So: an advanced civilisation has effectively been rendered primitive and therefore unthreatening. LOL – they can’t even read!
Ahem.
Kida is curious, intelligent, and strong-willed, but she also has a softened heart and is willing to change the dying ways of her people. She is also depicted as a warrior princess, which I think is totally cool. When she and Milo rediscover the hidden crystal that powers Atlantis and gives the Atlanteans their longevity, and are betrayed by the dick leading the expedition for profit, not scientific discovery, she fights back. A bit. She gets in a good kick before she is overpowered, and then with Milo threatened, she obliges her captors.
It’s then that the crystal decides to take charge of her or possess her or something, and she’s pretty much rendered as a glorious glowy crystal being but unfortunately also totally helpless and easily kidnapped… because we all know all powerful beings are easily trapped in small boxes. She’s got nothing to do but sit there and look pretty and be in danger and be rescued by the mercenaries and Milo until… a volcano explodes. Then she snaps into actions and saves everyone’s lives.
Look, I like Kida, for the most part. I hate the time she spends passive and helpless, but I recognise it’s so that Milo can have a chance at being a hero by rescuing her, thus proving he’s not actually a beta male and is worthy of her love. Yeah, ‘cause that’s how the real world works #sarcasm. Kida can’t save herself from being kidnapped because she needs to be rescued, even though she’s totally kick-ass and powerful, but she can save the city once she’s been rescued from a fate she could totally have saved herself from if the writers weren’t so keen on writing Milo rescuing her. (Does anyone else’s head hurt?)
Oh, by the way, did I mention there is a serious lack of face nomming in this film? Disappointing. Here’s a piece of artwork I found especially for my readers who have come to expect face nomming at the end of every Disney post.
Hi lovelies.
As promised, the first Tina Storm short story, The Calm Before The Storm (see what I did there? LOL) is available for the rest of October exclusively on Smashwords.
Also, look at the PRETTY PRETTY cover!
I’m toying with releasing all five short stories as exclusives on Smashwords for a limited time instead of the first four as originally planned. Then I can at some point put all five into the short story collection with the four other paranormal/urban fantasy short stories I’ve got ready. Once I get some feedback I’ll make a decision. You can help in making the decision by providing feedback! See? It’s a win-win situation.
Go and read the story now. It’s only 1500 words. It won’t be a waste of your time. And if it is, it’s not much of your time.
Can you tell I’m a little giddy about this?
Foreign Cover Friday is a weekly meme hosted by The Reading Fever, where foreign covers of the books we know and love are spotlighted and discussed. To join, either pick your favourite foreign cover, or pick many foreign covers, and start discussing!
A few weeks ago I did the Foreign Cover Friday of the first book in the Night Huntress series, Halfway To The Grave. This week we have its sequel, One Foot In The Grave.
You can run from the grave, but you can’t hide . . .
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.
Being around him awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline kick of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head—wanted: dead or half-alive—means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard she tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever . . . and that Bones won’t let her get away again.
This is the standard English-language cover. I love it. Cat’s showing plenty of leg as she sits astride a motorbike that might be badass-looking but I don’t know because I know nothing about motorcycles. I like the addition of the bat before the full moon. And the orange text fits very well with the colour scheme. It’s nice.
These are the covers for the French, Turkish and Polish editions. They’ve generally stuck with the orange theme. I like the French cover because it’s got who I assume to be Bones standing there with a naked chest. Rawr. The composition of the Turkish edition is nice as well, the Cat in front of the text. And the Polish version is gorgeous with its blood-red letters and its darker tone.
Translation
French: One foot in the grave (Huntress of the night, # 2)
Turkish: A single foot in the grave
Polish: One foot in the grave (Night Huntress, # 2)
This is the German cover. Isn’t it lovely? If you’ll recall, the German cover of Book 1 had a red wash: this one has a blue wash. The model, however, is incorrect. Cat has red hair. I like how the city works together with the text – it reminds you it’s an urban fantasy.
Translation: Kiss of the Night
This is the Indonesian cover. It’s very… green. It shows some gravestones, a glimpse of Cat in the upper corner, but not much else to comment on its genre. The Indonesian cover of Book 1 was very orange. I guess they’re after a complete contrast.
Translation: Google translates this to something along the lines of ‘Meeting Back’ or ‘A Meeting Returns’. I’m not really sure what it says.
This is the Italian version. it has a very Gothic feel to it, all shades of grey with a non-committal model standing in for whom I guess must be a Cat with black hair. The translation is also pretty kick ass, but I’m not sure I’d pick this up in a bookstore, even if I had read Book 1.
Translation: The Queen of the Night
This is the English audiobook cover but I’m including it because it’s GORGEOUS. I mean… wow. Also, there’s a REALLY naughty chapter in this book (the infamous Chapter 32) so I wonder how the reader delivers that part… let’s just say STEAMING.
What are your thoughts?
Which covers do you like? Which do you hate?
Check back at The Reading Fever for her Foreign Cover Friday!
Lissa Bilyk