SERIES PROMOTION
ISBN: 978-1490341651
ASIN: B00AJY6PEW
Series: Glimpsing Stars
Publisher: Self/Indie
Pages/File Size: 184pages/2722KB
Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book
Release Date: 5th December 2012
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In a world ravaged by a nuclear holocaust, Vika Cannon knows there are no guarantees: no guarantees of safety, no guarantees that your neighbor is not actually a spy for the government, and no guarantees you’ll be allowed to emigrate to a new life in Asia.
New Amana (as the North and South American continents are now called) is dying. Food and water are scarce, and people suffering from radiation-caused mutations—the Nukeheads—are the new class of homeless. To control the conditions, the government operates under a totalitarian regime.
Every resident of New Amana has only one purpose. Females must produce healthy progeny using Husbands the Match Clinic assigns. Unhealthy children are carted away to Asylums to be experimented on. Parents incapable of producing healthy progeny are put to death in gas chambers.
When Vika Cannon is assigned a Husband shortly after her twentieth birthday, she expects him to be complacent and obedient. But Shale Underwood has a secret. He is a member of the Radicals, the terrorist group intent on overthrowing the government. And Shale has information about Vika’s baby sister, Ceres, long since banished to the Asylums.
As she learns more about the Rads’s plan, Vika finds herself drawn to Shale in ways she’d never imagined. When freedom calls in the way of a healthy pregnancy, will she betray her government and risk death for Shale and Ceres?
New Amana (as the North and South American continents are now called) is dying. Food and water are scarce, and people suffering from radiation-caused mutations—the Nukeheads—are the new class of homeless. To control the conditions, the government operates under a totalitarian regime.
Every resident of New Amana has only one purpose. Females must produce healthy progeny using Husbands the Match Clinic assigns. Unhealthy children are carted away to Asylums to be experimented on. Parents incapable of producing healthy progeny are put to death in gas chambers.
When Vika Cannon is assigned a Husband shortly after her twentieth birthday, she expects him to be complacent and obedient. But Shale Underwood has a secret. He is a member of the Radicals, the terrorist group intent on overthrowing the government. And Shale has information about Vika’s baby sister, Ceres, long since banished to the Asylums.
As she learns more about the Rads’s plan, Vika finds herself drawn to Shale in ways she’d never imagined. When freedom calls in the way of a healthy pregnancy, will she betray her government and risk death for Shale and Ceres?
ASIN: B00E788R7Y
Series: Glimpsing Stars
Publisher: Self/Indie
Pages/File Size: 30 pages/172KB
Formats Available: E-Book
Release Date: 30th July 2013
***This novella is meant to be read after Bk#1. This novella also featured in the Darkest Worlds Anthology.***
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Loyalty. Obedience. Patriotism.
Moon Stewart has no doubt that the New Amanian way of life is the right way. The only way. But was there ever a time when she felt differently?
In this companion novella to the dystopian bestseller World of Shell and Bone, the secrets of Moon's past are revealed, giving readers a glimpse into the mind of their favorite antagonist.
ASIN: B00H6TQK5C
Series: Glimpsing Stars
Publisher: Self/Indie
Pages/File Size: 211pages, 395KB
Formats Available: E-Book
Release Date: 5th December 2013
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Three weeks on a ship to China as a stowaway. Backbreaking labor in paddy fields. A one-room shack for a house.
Vika Cannon will endure anything if it means giving her unborn child and her sister Ceres a chance to grow up. The Great Land may be fraught with dangers of its own, but it’s still safer than the grim Asylums and stinging acid rains of their poisoned home. The brutal conditions seem a small price to pay…especially with Shale Underwood to come home to.
But when a local cell of New Amanian Radicals is captured, Vika knows it’s only a matter of time before her true identity is revealed. In order to survive, she must immerse herself in an underground society where masked strangers revel in the spoils of illicit power.
A mistake now could result in her unmasking—and the obliteration of everything Vika holds dear. As the net around her cinches tighter, she begins to understand that nothing in life is free.
What will Vika trade for her family’s safety?
PURCHASE LINKS
MY REVIEW
ISBN: 978-1490341651
ASIN: B00AJY6PEW
Series: Glimpsing Stars
Publisher: Self/Indie
Pages/File Size: 184pages/2722KB
Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book
Release Date: 5th December 2012
BLURB from Goodreads
In a world ravaged by a nuclear holocaust, Vika Cannon knows there are no guarantees: no guarantees of safety, no guarantees that your neighbor is not actually a spy for the government, and no guarantees you’ll be allowed to emigrate to a new life in Asia.
New Amana (as the North and South American continents are now called) is dying. Food and water are scarce, and people suffering from radiation-caused mutations—the Nukeheads—are the new class of homeless. To control the conditions, the government operates under a totalitarian regime.
Every resident of New Amana has only one purpose. Females must produce healthy progeny using Husbands the Match Clinic assigns. Unhealthy children are carted away to Asylums to be experimented on. Parents incapable of producing healthy progeny are put to death in gas chambers.
When Vika Cannon is assigned a Husband shortly after her twentieth birthday, she expects him to be complacent and obedient. But Shale Underwood has a secret. He is a member of the Radicals, the terrorist group intent on overthrowing the government. And Shale has information about Vika’s baby sister, Ceres, long since banished to the Asylums.
As she learns more about the Rads’s plan, Vika finds herself drawn to Shale in ways she’d never imagined. When freedom calls in the way of a healthy pregnancy, will she betray her government and risk death for Shale and Ceres?
INITIAL THOUGHTS
So first of all I should totally admit I messed up and read Moon which is 1.5 in the Glimpsing Stars Series first. But on a good note it definitely did not spoil my enjoyment of Bk#1 as Moon concentrates on "Moon" as the main character, whereas in World Of Shell And Bone the main characters are really the Cannon family.
So as I had read Moon previously I had an inkling I was going to love this book too! As I knew I already enjoyed S.K. Falls writing style, I will say my expectations were even higher for this book. when I started reading it I really hated it every single time I had to put it down! In fact I even took my kindle to read in the college car park whilst waiting to pick my daughter up! I was totally hooked.
MY REVIEW
I purchased this title in e-book format from Amazon.co.uk after I finished reading Moon in the Darkest Worlds Anthology. So the cover features a woman, presumably Vika in a gorgeous dress holding a bird cage. I think the bird cage could be there to represent how people are literally in cages, in that if they step out of line they can be sent to be gassed. Also women are the rulers of society. It's a total role reversal of our present day society. Men are more considered homemakers and somewhat second class citizens.
Would the cover alone make me want to read the book? Being totally truthful no. The cover would maybe make me want to learn more about the book. Though it's the blurb that would totally sell me the book.
The book is set in a place called New Amana, which is plainly dying daily. The air is at times un-breathable, the rain burns the skin like acid. It is a society ruled by "higher ups" who decide who can have a place on a ship to a healthier place to live and who will stay behind and die. The members of this society have certain duties they have to take care of. The womens role if to bear healthy children to re-populate New Amana. Men are cast in a supportive role, obviously they have to perform to get the women pregnant when they are "Matched" but after a child is born the women can send the man away, and take another to be matched with for her second child etc. When first matched a couple has a certain amount of tries over 6 months, but the rules can be changed however and whenever the govvernment of women wish it to.
So the main character of this book is Vika Canon, daughter of the very important Mathilde Canon. Mathilde Canon is so determined to play by the rules to earn her place on a ship to china she even "sold out" her own daughter Ceres, when it became apparent she was less than perfect, when she began having fits. Ceres is sent away to an Asylum, to be "experimented on" for the wider good of humanity. When Ceres is taken away all traces of her are removed from Vika's home and Mathilde insists that Ceres never be spoken of again. It's literally as if she never ever existed. But Vika remembers her beautiful sister. Mathilde continually puts great pressure on her only remaining daughter to be a perfect example of societies rules. When Vika is "matched" to the male named Shale her mother again puts pressure on them to deliver the goods so to speak.
So as in most dystopian societies there are the conformers and the non-conformers, called Rads in this book. The Rads want to rescue the children who were sent to the asylums to be experimented on, as news has leaked out that they are being hurt and abused. Vika hears this news and decides she must rescue her sister Ceres, the beautiful, carefree child she has never forgotten despite her mothers attempts. Vika also has a brother who ends up rebelling against his mother and her governments regime.
I really could go on and on forever about this book, I thoroughly immersed myself into this book ad the societies culture as I was reading the book. I was hanging on every word of the book. The book starts at what I'd say was a medium pace and then as you learn the background you need to know, the pace picks up and you, the reader want to figuratively run along faster with it. I couldn't wait to know more and more. I felt Vika's frustration with the social order within New Amana, I felt her broken hearted disappointment when she realises who gave up her sister to be sent to the Asylum. You also feel her desperation and deep need to find Ceres and try to put right all the wrongs that have been done to her in the name of improving humanity. I enjoyed reading about the trials and tribulations Vika goes through, the hard times, dangerous situations and the occasional lucky break she manages to get. When I got to the very end and Vika looks up at a male, wondering if her eyes are telling her the truth about whom she is seeing, I really wanted to flick to the next page on my kindle and see a certain males name but the book just stops short of revealing the males name.I know who I really want it to be, and I'm highly anticipating the next book.
So did I enjoy the book? I loved reading this fantastically well thought out dystopian delight! Would I recommend the book? I would highly recommend this book & series. Would I read another book in this series? I have already read Moon, though I read it in the wrong order I loved it. and I am earnestly looking forward to reading Bk#2 Would I read other books by this Author? I would certainly take a closer look at any books by S.K. Falls after reading World Of Shell and Bone.
What is your name, where
were you born and where do you live now?
My name is Sandhya (pronounced San-dee-ya), and I write under the name S.K. Falls. I was born in India (hey, that rhymes). I live near Charleston, South Carolina in the U.S. now.
(It's a beautiful name,my name is Sandra, even though I use my middle name Jean and add a z for my blogging!)
When did you first consider yourself as a "writer"?
Hmm, probably when my first novel was published. That was December 2012, when World of Shell and Bone came out. Many a glass of champagne was had by all! (And by all I mean me and the drinking-aged members of my family.)
How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
Writing a book takes me about two full months of writing five days a week. But editing takes me about another month or two, and that’s with me editing even on the weekends! Editing, by far, is the hardest part of my job. I completely envy authors who adore the editing process.
What can we expect from you in the future? More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
Land of Masks and Moonlight, which came out on December 9th, was the second and last book in the Glimpsing Stars series. The series is dystopian romance, and I think I’m done with the genre for now. I’m currently working on a contemporary fiction novel (while my agent shops my other contemporary novel—gulp!).
If you had to choose to be one of your characters in your book/books which would you be? and why?
Wow, this is such an interesting question, and one I’ve never been asked. Hmm, if I had to choose to be a character from the Glimpsing Stars series (which, actually, would be most unfortunate!), I’d probably want to be Elara. I love that she has this totally tragic backstory and is yet a complete and total (glamorous!) bad-ass chick. :)
Would you ever ask a reviewer to change their review if it was not all positive about your book/books?
No, this is not something I think any author should ever do.
Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the title?
I’m horrible at choosing titles, so I wait until the entire book is done to do it. :)
Do you decide on character traits (i.e. shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?
When it comes to my protagonist, most definitely before I begin. I like to get a really good idea of the main character before any words make it onto the page. And actually, that’s usually what comes to me first, before anything else—a vision of the main character and a situation she’s in.
Do you basic plot/plan for your book, before you actually begin writing it out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story?
I am a plotter for sure. I don’t like extremely intricate plots because I feel like they take all the fun out of actually writing the story. I do, however, like to have an idea of the major events in the story, as well as the beginning and end.
Which format of book do you prefer, ebook,hardback, or paperback?
I love, love, love e-books for fiction. But when it comes to non-fiction, I have to have a hard copy. Don’t ask me why—the weird inner workings of my brain are best left alone. ;)
New Amana (as the North and South American continents are now called) is dying. Food and water are scarce, and people suffering from radiation-caused mutations—the Nukeheads—are the new class of homeless. To control the conditions, the government operates under a totalitarian regime.
Every resident of New Amana has only one purpose. Females must produce healthy progeny using Husbands the Match Clinic assigns. Unhealthy children are carted away to Asylums to be experimented on. Parents incapable of producing healthy progeny are put to death in gas chambers.
When Vika Cannon is assigned a Husband shortly after her twentieth birthday, she expects him to be complacent and obedient. But Shale Underwood has a secret. He is a member of the Radicals, the terrorist group intent on overthrowing the government. And Shale has information about Vika’s baby sister, Ceres, long since banished to the Asylums.
As she learns more about the Rads’s plan, Vika finds herself drawn to Shale in ways she’d never imagined. When freedom calls in the way of a healthy pregnancy, will she betray her government and risk death for Shale and Ceres?
INITIAL THOUGHTS
So first of all I should totally admit I messed up and read Moon which is 1.5 in the Glimpsing Stars Series first. But on a good note it definitely did not spoil my enjoyment of Bk#1 as Moon concentrates on "Moon" as the main character, whereas in World Of Shell And Bone the main characters are really the Cannon family.
So as I had read Moon previously I had an inkling I was going to love this book too! As I knew I already enjoyed S.K. Falls writing style, I will say my expectations were even higher for this book. when I started reading it I really hated it every single time I had to put it down! In fact I even took my kindle to read in the college car park whilst waiting to pick my daughter up! I was totally hooked.
MY REVIEW
I purchased this title in e-book format from Amazon.co.uk after I finished reading Moon in the Darkest Worlds Anthology. So the cover features a woman, presumably Vika in a gorgeous dress holding a bird cage. I think the bird cage could be there to represent how people are literally in cages, in that if they step out of line they can be sent to be gassed. Also women are the rulers of society. It's a total role reversal of our present day society. Men are more considered homemakers and somewhat second class citizens.
Would the cover alone make me want to read the book? Being totally truthful no. The cover would maybe make me want to learn more about the book. Though it's the blurb that would totally sell me the book.
The book is set in a place called New Amana, which is plainly dying daily. The air is at times un-breathable, the rain burns the skin like acid. It is a society ruled by "higher ups" who decide who can have a place on a ship to a healthier place to live and who will stay behind and die. The members of this society have certain duties they have to take care of. The womens role if to bear healthy children to re-populate New Amana. Men are cast in a supportive role, obviously they have to perform to get the women pregnant when they are "Matched" but after a child is born the women can send the man away, and take another to be matched with for her second child etc. When first matched a couple has a certain amount of tries over 6 months, but the rules can be changed however and whenever the govvernment of women wish it to.
So the main character of this book is Vika Canon, daughter of the very important Mathilde Canon. Mathilde Canon is so determined to play by the rules to earn her place on a ship to china she even "sold out" her own daughter Ceres, when it became apparent she was less than perfect, when she began having fits. Ceres is sent away to an Asylum, to be "experimented on" for the wider good of humanity. When Ceres is taken away all traces of her are removed from Vika's home and Mathilde insists that Ceres never be spoken of again. It's literally as if she never ever existed. But Vika remembers her beautiful sister. Mathilde continually puts great pressure on her only remaining daughter to be a perfect example of societies rules. When Vika is "matched" to the male named Shale her mother again puts pressure on them to deliver the goods so to speak.
So as in most dystopian societies there are the conformers and the non-conformers, called Rads in this book. The Rads want to rescue the children who were sent to the asylums to be experimented on, as news has leaked out that they are being hurt and abused. Vika hears this news and decides she must rescue her sister Ceres, the beautiful, carefree child she has never forgotten despite her mothers attempts. Vika also has a brother who ends up rebelling against his mother and her governments regime.
I really could go on and on forever about this book, I thoroughly immersed myself into this book ad the societies culture as I was reading the book. I was hanging on every word of the book. The book starts at what I'd say was a medium pace and then as you learn the background you need to know, the pace picks up and you, the reader want to figuratively run along faster with it. I couldn't wait to know more and more. I felt Vika's frustration with the social order within New Amana, I felt her broken hearted disappointment when she realises who gave up her sister to be sent to the Asylum. You also feel her desperation and deep need to find Ceres and try to put right all the wrongs that have been done to her in the name of improving humanity. I enjoyed reading about the trials and tribulations Vika goes through, the hard times, dangerous situations and the occasional lucky break she manages to get. When I got to the very end and Vika looks up at a male, wondering if her eyes are telling her the truth about whom she is seeing, I really wanted to flick to the next page on my kindle and see a certain males name but the book just stops short of revealing the males name.I know who I really want it to be, and I'm highly anticipating the next book.
So did I enjoy the book? I loved reading this fantastically well thought out dystopian delight! Would I recommend the book? I would highly recommend this book & series. Would I read another book in this series? I have already read Moon, though I read it in the wrong order I loved it. and I am earnestly looking forward to reading Bk#2 Would I read other books by this Author? I would certainly take a closer look at any books by S.K. Falls after reading World Of Shell and Bone.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
What is your name, where
were you born and where do you live now? My name is Sandhya (pronounced San-dee-ya), and I write under the name S.K. Falls. I was born in India (hey, that rhymes). I live near Charleston, South Carolina in the U.S. now.
(It's a beautiful name,my name is Sandra, even though I use my middle name Jean and add a z for my blogging!)
When did you first consider yourself as a "writer"?
Hmm, probably when my first novel was published. That was December 2012, when World of Shell and Bone came out. Many a glass of champagne was had by all! (And by all I mean me and the drinking-aged members of my family.)
How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
Writing a book takes me about two full months of writing five days a week. But editing takes me about another month or two, and that’s with me editing even on the weekends! Editing, by far, is the hardest part of my job. I completely envy authors who adore the editing process.
What can we expect from you in the future? More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
Land of Masks and Moonlight, which came out on December 9th, was the second and last book in the Glimpsing Stars series. The series is dystopian romance, and I think I’m done with the genre for now. I’m currently working on a contemporary fiction novel (while my agent shops my other contemporary novel—gulp!).
If you had to choose to be one of your characters in your book/books which would you be? and why?
Wow, this is such an interesting question, and one I’ve never been asked. Hmm, if I had to choose to be a character from the Glimpsing Stars series (which, actually, would be most unfortunate!), I’d probably want to be Elara. I love that she has this totally tragic backstory and is yet a complete and total (glamorous!) bad-ass chick. :)
Would you ever ask a reviewer to change their review if it was not all positive about your book/books?
No, this is not something I think any author should ever do.
Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the title?
I’m horrible at choosing titles, so I wait until the entire book is done to do it. :)
Do you decide on character traits (i.e. shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?
When it comes to my protagonist, most definitely before I begin. I like to get a really good idea of the main character before any words make it onto the page. And actually, that’s usually what comes to me first, before anything else—a vision of the main character and a situation she’s in.
Do you basic plot/plan for your book, before you actually begin writing it out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story?
I am a plotter for sure. I don’t like extremely intricate plots because I feel like they take all the fun out of actually writing the story. I do, however, like to have an idea of the major events in the story, as well as the beginning and end.
Which format of book do you prefer, ebook,hardback, or paperback?
I love, love, love e-books for fiction. But when it comes to non-fiction, I have to have a hard copy. Don’t ask me why—the weird inner workings of my brain are best left alone. ;)
(I totally agree a hard copy is easier to flick through when you want a certain section! Plus you can't beat the feel and smell of an actual hard copy book!)
What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
I am currently reading The Book Thief and looooving it. I’m a bit afraid of how it’s going to end, though. Fingers crossed it’s hopeful, if not happy.
Where can readers follow you?
Your Web Site? www.skfalls.com
Your Facebook Page? www.facebook.com/authorskfalls
Your Goodreads Author Page? www.goodreads.com/skfalls
Your Twitter Details? www.twitter.com/skfallssc
What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
I am currently reading The Book Thief and looooving it. I’m a bit afraid of how it’s going to end, though. Fingers crossed it’s hopeful, if not happy.
Where can readers follow you?
Your Web Site? www.skfalls.com
Your Facebook Page? www.facebook.com/authorskfalls
Your Goodreads Author Page? www.goodreads.com/skfalls
Your Twitter Details? www.twitter.com/skfallssc
I'm so glad you liked it. :) Thank you for such a fabulous spotlight!
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