The Architect by Jonathan Starrett — Book Review by Lou Allen (Christian Faith and Fiction)

Hi, everyone!

To those of you who read and commented on my short story “Puma Claw” last Monday on Havok’s site, thank you! I appreciate your support and your passion for battling horrible monsters (even the monsters inside us).

Here is a review on the Christian middle-grade book The Architect. I haven’t read the book or written the review, but Lou Allen of Christian Faith and Fiction has given a glimpse into this adventure story. Take it away.

The Architect by Jonathan Starrett is a Christian middle-grade book. The story combines historical, dystopian, superhero, mystery and suspense genres, and it releases on the 7th of February 2023. Reading Vlog: Description: “There’s a golden rule in Phantom City: “No one about when the Zeppelin is out.” But one night, twelve-year-old Charlie Crane comes face-to-face […]

The Architect by Jonathan Starrett — Book Review and Reading Vlog — Lou Allen – Christian Faith and Fiction

It’s Here!

Any readers of YA out there? Do you enjoy stories of love, monsters, and foreign countries?

Here is my short story “Puma Claw,” a tale set in Mexico and involves a troubled married couple and a shapeshifting menace.

It’s available for public viewing all day today. When today is gone, it’ll only be available to Havok Publishing members.

Enjoy! And feel free to comment on it. Your comments will help me increase my chances to be in Havok’s World Tour anthology.

Puma Claw by K.A. Ramstad

One More Christmas Story for the Holidays

Happy New Year, everyone!

How about one more Christmas treat before the holidays are over? Here is “When Angels Sing,” a story fitting for teens and adults, by Elizabeth McD. She also shares her inspiration for her tale.

Backstory on the inspiration for the story: One cold, cold evening earlier this month I stopped at a RedBox (movie rental kiosk) outside a grocery store. A young man was there with the Salvation Army singing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” as I walked up. During the course of my business he sang quite a […]

When Angels Sing–A Christmas Story — Creative Wending

Short Story Coming Soon…Written by Me

I have written a story filled with love, terror, and courage, and it’s friendly for teenagers and adults. It will be featured on Havok Publishing’s website, and it’s called “Puma Claw.”

It takes place in Mexico, and it involves a man on an emotional whirlwind as he searches for his missing wife. He then saves her from a ruthless shapeshifter. Guess what the shapeshifter changes into?

The story will be free for public viewing all day January 9. After that, you may only read it when you register as a Havok Publishing member. To learn more about Havok, click on the following button.

About Havok Publishing

The following link takes you to where you can sign up for membership, and then you may read my and others’ short stories anytime you want.

Havok Publishing Registration

A Christmas Book Review and Music

Merry Early Christmas, everyone!

I wrote a review on a sweet story called Nick, the Christmas Coyote. You can find it on Jennifer Hallmark’s blog “Off the Beaten Track,” where you can read other reviews written by me and others.

Nick, the Christmas Coyote Book Review

What are your favorite Christmas carols? For an extra festive treat, here’s a version of one of my favorites, an underrated carol called “Patapan.”

Steve Green’s Patapan

Writer and Reader Gift Guide 2022 (40+ Ideas!) by Kaley Kriesel

Are you scrambling to buy gifts for your family and friends? Kaley Kriesel has an extensive list of ideas, even last-minute ones and ones for non-readers and non-writers.

Kaley D. Kriesel's avatarThe Daydreamer

Hey warriors! Welcome or welcome back to Words! Today I have a bit of a Christmas-y post for you, since it’s coming so close (How is it December? Really?!). Gift shopping is probably one of the most exciting and difficult parts of the season, so I wanted to lend a hand to you all, at least for your writer and reader friends! This will be divided into two main sections and beyond that, divided by where you can get the items. Let’s dive in!

Readers

It’s sometimes hard to know what to get a reader, especially if you don’t read their genre or they read more than they talk. Often slightly introverted, usually rather curious, and almost always read something about that topic in a book, they tend to live in the clouds as often as they live on earth.

Etsy

View original post 1,256 more words

Black Friday Book Sale!

Hi, everyone. Want to fill up your Kindle app with new reads? There’s a Black Friday Book Sale happening online (even though Friday is over). Click on the button to see what’s available.

Black Friday Book Sale

I myself bought the following books. I know, I may look like those people who take a picture of their food and post on Twitter, saying, “Look what I had at the café.” But it gives you an idea of what the book sale has. 😉

A Dog Snatcher and an Exalted Dragon Warrior

Did you play “The Floor is Lava” last week? Another round of the game is coming next week. Keep an eye for it. 🙂

Remember Kandi J. Wyatt’s giveaway I announced two weeks ago? Congratulations to whoever won it! However, I made a mistake. Exalted and The Dog Snatcher weren’t books that were being given away, but they’re available on Amazon.

To learn more about these stories, check these links out.

Exalted
The Dog Snatcher

And here’s a fun story posted on Kandi’s blog. It’s a mashup of her characters from Exalted and Phyllis Wheeler’s characters from The Dog Snatcher. It was a collaboration of their creative powers plus that of fellow author K.A. Cummins.

A Fractured Tale: When Characters Meet

A Giveaway of Middle Grade and YA Books!

Need to fill up your bookshelf? Author Kandi J. Wyatt is hosting a giveaway of books on her site. It’s happening for three more days, so don’t delay in signing up! The following are the books in the giveaway.

(Fun fact: I had the honor of reading Vincent in Wonderland and To Slay a Curse before they were published.)

The giveaway also includes this dragon trinket box and this stuffed toy that looks like the dog in The Dog Snatcher.

Here’s the link. Click it!

Giveaway

“Tales of the Chawnsa Corps: Beginnings” by Joseph Ficor

Have you ever seen haiku intermingled in a story? Joseph Ficor demonstrates that in his “Tales of the Chawnsa Corps: Beginnings.”

This short story is fitting for a high school and adult audience, as it shows a character undergo a major operation to become a cyborg. It isn’t too graphic, though, and the story overall contains engaging emotion, a right amount of tension, and out-of-this-world battle action.

josephficor's avatarStarship Chi-Rho Studio

This is the first of an experimental series of stories written in the haibun style. Haibun is from medieval Japan in which a haiku was written after a section of prose. I learned of the style when I read an English translation of the book Oku no Hosomichi (“The Narrow Road to the Deep North”) by the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho.

I have taken more than my share of liberties in writing this style in this work, but I hope that you can enjoy it nonetheless.

The Kwanje Galaxy has been terrorized by the dreaded cyborg race, the Daregei, for centuries. The six-tentacled monsters of mysterious origin send their “harvest groups” to gather children to be converted to Daregei. The Kyasan Empire fears that they will be next. Their scientists have developed a desperate and bold plan to halt the monsters, but the individuals volunteering must forfeit humanity itself.

Beginnings

View original post 1,699 more words