Tag: reading

Winter Warrior (Winter Witch #3) COVER REVEAL!

After working on this book for many months, I am proud to present the cover art for my new adult reverse harem romantic high fantasy ‘Winter Warrior’, the third book in my Winter Witch series.

After a devastating betrayal plunges the kingdom of Atlantica into chaos, bone witch Tally finds herself stripped of her magical abilities and forced to flee the palace with Ash, Dover, and her new husband, the uncrowned king Ford. Desperate for allies to protect their people, they seek refuge in a neighbouring kingdom. But when the Midlenes queen offers Ford a deal to reclaim his throne, Tally’s world shatters.

With her magic gone and her family torn apart, Tally and Dover embark on a daring mission to stop the war. But when Tally’s plan to assassinate the barbarian Highlander king takes an unexpected turn, she is thrust into a dangerous game of deception and survival. Now captive in a hostile court, she must navigate treacherous politics and brutal violence to outsmart her enemies and save her kingdom.

As Tally faces her most critical challenge yet, she discovers unexpected truths about her past and her heart. With her family scattered across the continent, she must find the strength to confront her greatest enemy, and save her kingdom and her loved ones, no matter the cost.

**WINTER WARRIOR is the third book in the WINTER WITCH high fantasy series, and is a full-length, medium-burn why choose novel. This means the main character has several love interests and doesn’t choose between them. There are steamy scenes, super hot protective men, and there may or may not be a cliff-hanger.**

Artwork by the wonderful author and illustrator Katie Stewart of Magic Owl Design, an incredible Australian artist.

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Smashwords 13th Annual Read An Ebook Week

Read an Ebook Week 2022 with Lissa Bilyk on Smashwords

Read an Ebook Week 2022

The Smashwords 13th Annual Read an Ebook Week sale is now on!

From 6-12 March find a variety of discounted ebooks including my own:

🌌 The Edge of Darkness, a sci-fi about mutinous cyborgs set on a deep-space ship!

😈 Demon’s Blood, a YA paranormal about a teenage demon hunter vs a coven of blood magic witches!

💗 Lies For A Living, a trilogy of contemporary romance novellas between a BBW and a playboy celebrity set on London’s West End, also available in a box set!

➕ Plus 2 FREE short story collections!

All my books are 50% off or FREE!

Get them now at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/lissawrites

2021 Update

Hi kittens.

I know this blog has been pretty quiet recently.

I had a pretty rough 2020 – along with the rest of the world.

I was hospitalised twice and nearly died (not COVID related).

I went back to University for a post graduate course.

I continued to work full time at my day job.

I also wrote two novels, one during Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2020, and one during NaNoWriMo 2020.

They are nowhere near ready to be published.

In fact, the point of this blog post is to inform you that I will not be publishing anything in 2021.

I work full time, study part-time, and I have to focus on my health this year.

Writing is a hobby that can take a lot of out you, and publishing is for fun. If I didn’t care about the quality of my published product, I would just churn out my work without taking the time to self edit. But I do care, and it takes time, and a different sort of brain usage than writing a first draft.

I will still be sharing interesting posts on my Facebook page. Please give it a like to stay updated!

I will also be writing. I fully expect to take part in NaNoWriMo 2021, and I will track any other projects on the NaNoWriMo website as well. if you’re a Nano participant, please send me a friend request!

If you’d like to read my available books, please follow these links to the book pages so you can find a format of your choice:

The Edge of Darkness (Adult sci-fi stand-alone)
Tina Storm: Demon Hunter (Tina Storm: Demon hunter #0.5) (YA paranormal – series unfinished)
Demon’s Blood (Tina Storm: Demon Hunter #1) (YA paranormal – series unfinished)
Lies for a Living (Adult contemporary romance trilogy compiled as a stand alone)
The Archive of Lost Dreams (Middle Grade paranormal short story collection)

Happy New Year 2021!

NaNoWriMo Prep in October – Planning

I’ve been super busy this year producing work under a couple of different pen names, but I always find November’s NaNoWriMo to be a good writing exercise and time to produce something under my real name.

I’ve done NaNoWriMo every year since 2010. Two of the books I completed and self-published under NaNoWriMo were highly praised. The third is currently being looked at by a publisher. We’ll ignore the year my cat and computer both died and I lost half the novel I was writing. I still haven’t quite recovered from that and can’t bring myself to re-write the lost novel.

downloadMy advice? BACK IT UP.

But anyhow, it’s October again and time to start my NaNo prep.

A few months ago I won a pre-made book cover in a giveaway, and I decided to build a story around the cover.

I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do for NaNo 2014, but I pretty soon managed to settle on a character, figure out her goal, throw some obstacles in the way and develop a plot.

I’m a planner. If I don’t know what’s going to happen in the novel I sit there staring at the screen.

Conversely, if I know how the story’s going to end, I normally don’t feel the urge to complete it.

(Which is probably why I have so many unfinished novels.)

I’m planning my new novel using the three act plot structure.

Act 1 ‘Exposition’:

  1. Setup
  2. Inciting incident
  3. First turning point – where the hero accepts their new calling

Act 2 ‘Rising Action’:

  1. Obstacles and progress
  2. Mid-way point – a major setback
  3. More obstacles and higher stakes.
  4. Second turning point – what I call ‘the point of no return’.

Act 3 ‘Resolution’:

  1. Stand up and fight – the final push.
  2. Climax
  3. Resolution

This is the structure I’ll be following in writing my novel. Let’s hope I can stick to it!

My Top Five Favourite Non-Fantasy Books

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Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (contemporary YA)

Before I Fall

It was kind of a guilty pleasure to ride around in Sam’s head as she exerts her magical popular girl powers to terrify others. I loved watching her figure out the butterfly effect and how every action was linked and had a reaction.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano (YA dystopian)

Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1)

Wither was amazing. It made me cry. It make me laugh. I loved the pace and the plot and Rhine’s character. She’s a caring, manipulative, awesome heroine. She never gives up on what she wants, she never loses sight of it and she goes through a lot to reach her goal. She doesn’t need saving, she has goals that extend beyond becoming someone’s girlfriend. She’s realistic and probably one of my favourite heroines.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan (YA sci-fi)

Glow (Sky Chasers, #1)

Waverly is just like the coolest chick ever. I didn’t see as much selfishness in her as a lot of people tend to complain about YA heroines. She’s strong, selfless, and always puts others before herself. She puts her body on the line over and over again and her faith NEVER wavers… heh… Waverly… I made a funny.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (classic)

Wuthering Heights

I love this book because it’s not a romance. I love this book because the characters are all selfish and self-destructive, and completely ruin the lives of those they purport to love. It’s a story of two incredibly selfish people who can’t just love each other but have to hurt everyone around them as well. I think the destruction they cause from their actions is really cool. They’re like little hurricanes sweeping the secondary characters along for the ride. There’s so much drama confined in two houses on the Yorkshire moors that it leaves me wondering why doesn’t this book explode from sheer awesomeness.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (YA paranormal)

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1)

It’s not the story per say that makes this novel so good. It’s the clear writing, the immersion into Rose’s head (and occasionally, Lissa’s), and most importantly (to me), the politics of royalty and high school, the politics between the Moroi and their dhampirs schoolmates, and the whole relationship between Rose and Lissa. This is the best high school book I’ve read, because it goes in-depth into reputations and rumours, and the dirty business behind popularity.

August is the Book Birthday month for my first novel, The Edge of Darkness, a deep-space cyborg dystopian.
Please go here for your chance to win a paperback copy.
Ends September 30.