Inkshares – Page 2 – The Warbler Books

Monkey Business – Landon Crutcher

July 10, 2016 No Comments

I enjoy a good laugh as much as the next person, but I rarely find myself seeking out books in the humor category, opting instead for more “serious fare.” I don’t know why. I loved Lamb, had an exceedingly good time with Asteroid Made of Dragons, and have a leather bound and much loved collection of Douglas Adams’s famous Hitchhiker’s Guide series. And those are off the top of my head. Point is, I probably ought to laugh more. So when I spoke to Landon Crutcher about his debut novel— the first to be published by Inkshares’s Quill imprint — I decided it was past time for me to read a book that’d make me laugh. And laugh I did. Monkey Business is just like Landon described it in our chat: a zany, shenanigans-filled Will Ferrell-style comedy on paper. I was of two minds when I initially heard that description, as

Featured Author: Kelsey Rae Barthel

July 6, 2016 No Comments

Note: at the time this interview was conducted, Beyond the Code was not yet published. The book is now available on Amazon. After an unplanned hiatus, we’re back with another featured author! Kelsey Rae Barthel’s book Beyond the Code caught my attention long before we’d been put in touch by a mutual contact. Her book will be published by Quill, Inkshares’s light-publishing imprint. Follow along with Beyond the Code on Twitter and Facebook. About Beyond the Code: As a Knight, Luna had always believed in the Knights code of honour and the Hand Council that governed them. That believe costs her dearly when Damon Lexus orders the death of Luna’s master to cover up her strong arming other Knights into her service through black mail and murder. In her search for justice for her fallen master she discovers that the Hand Council had been corrupted. That they were allowing masters like Lexus to steal

Ageless Spoilercast — Interviewing Paul Inman

June 30, 2016 No Comments

After reading and reviewing Paul Inman’s Ageless, I had the pleasurable opportunity to directly ask him several things about the novel. Our conversation meandered a bit, so I hope you’ll stick with it for its (rather lengthy) entirety. Enjoy!

Ageless – Paul Inman

June 17, 2016 1 Comment

We often try to classify writing by its elemental genre, the thing at the heart of the text that drives or emotional attachment to the story. These aren’t things like “fantasy,” “science fiction,” or “slipstream”; rather, it’s mystery, adventure, wonder, horror, relationship, and the like that connect us, on a human level, to what we read. At a first glance, Ageless seems to be a combination of mystery and wonder: we have the big “what if” of wonder— what if a person aged so slowly that they were essentially immortal?— and the puzzle-piece arrangement of our leap into the story, immediately eliciting questions of “how” that start off a mystery. But as Ageless progresses, it becomes clear that it is a character-driven story, unfolding across generations, and dealing with fundamental questions of love and loss, and the limits of human kindness and cruelty. It is a book about relationships. It’s

Featured Author: Scott Carss

June 14, 2016 No Comments

At 17 years old, Scott Carss has to be the youngest author I’ve met in the Inkshares community. His story, The Adventures of MONOMAN, turned heads when it first hit the site, demonstrating a clever wit with its simple pitch that offers a new perspective on a classic super-villain trope: the dramatic monologue. His participation in the recent Draftshares event earned him an interview on this blog. Read about Scott and his approach to the craft, then head over to the page for The Adventures of MONOMAN to stay up to date on Scott’s work. About The Adventures of MONOMAN: Gordon Anyen is your average everyday college student-except he’s not at all-because at night he roams the streets of a lonely southern Florida city as MONOMAN, a hero with the ability to force others to monologue. What he lacks in skill he makes up for in determination; which he will need if he’s to survive when a

Author Interview: Landon Crutcher

June 11, 2016 1 Comment

We’ve cooked up something really special for you this time, friend. Landon Crutcher, author of Monkey Business, the first book published under Inkshares’s Quill imprint, chatted with me about his book, the Quill experience, and more in our very first audio interview. Give it a listen below, then check out Monkey Business on Inkshares or Amazon. You’ll have to pardon our several mentions of things you can’t see, dear reader. We tried to make this one a video interview, but technology got in the way. Enjoy!

Draftshares: Fantasy & Historical

June 3, 2016 No Comments

Today’s the last day of The Warbler’s Draftshares coverage, after which we’ll be back to our scheduled programming. For now, these great Fantasy and Historical Fiction drafts ought to sate your thirst for book reviews. Makhaira: (Fantasy) Once a generation, a dragon slayer is sent off to save his people. None have returned. Now it’s Balfour’s turn. The Edge of the World: (Fantasy) A pirate captain abandons his crew to explore the edge of the world. Clockwork Charlie: (Dark Fantasy) Charlie just wants to work on cars in peace. Until a stranger arrives with news about her father’s death. He says she has a Gift, and she’s needed in a war that’s been hidden from the world for ages. Charlene has to find the truth-and make a choice. Electric Messiah – Lore of the Aos Sí: (Historical Fantasy) We were told it was man that was cast out of the garden of Eden. As mankind hurtles into the

Draftshares: Mystery, Thriller, and Horror

June 2, 2016 No Comments

Today’s a two-fer, friend! We’re continuing our Draftshares coverage with Mystery, Thriller, and Horror drafts that are worth a gander. Take a look! A Cup for the Dead: (Mystery) The Great War is over and young widow Hattie Moncrieffe hopes Paris will help her forget. But when an Egyptian curse strikes, can Hattie outwit a cunning murderer while persuading the police she’s not guilty? The Darkest Places: (Horror) The discovery of an ancient artifact buried deep beneath the sands of Cairo brings three individuals together in a race against time to stop an eldritch evil from awakening. Detective Diaries: (Mystery) Amani Marshall is searching for her father’s killer in a crime-filled city known as Rochester as a rookie detective; however, she ends up training under a veteran detective called Carbine that is following a murder mystery around Twilight District. Off the Grid: (Thriller) A case of mistaken identity forces an office drone to go

Draftshares: Young Adult Fiction

June 2, 2016 No Comments

Draftshares continues with YA novels as today’s focus. Take a look at these drafts and, as always, help out by offering feedback! Project Human: I, Robot meets Divergent meets Real Steel as a rogue android prototype joins forces with a human girl in a brewing political war. First in a YA speculative fiction/dystopian duology set in the year 2120. Sparked: What happens when mean girls get superpowers and have to save the world? The Artist and the Automaton: The fate of an automaton-inhabited utopia for artists ties to an unsuspecting, frustrated young woman and her mouthy assistant. At the same time, their tale is told to a young girl whose future ties to the story itself. Star Light, Star Bright: A falling mech. A comet. A thief wielding lightning. A team of teens with attitude. A dragon’s fury. A destiny that was never yours to have… Moving’s fun, right? The Sally Forth Intrigue: Janie’s a ghost, stuck quoting GHOSTBUSTERS, and

Draftshares: Humor, Nonfiction, Other

May 31, 2016 No Comments

For the next batch of noteworthy drafts, we turn to the humor and nonfiction genres. Take a look, and offer feedback if you can! So You Might Be a Vampire: (Humor) Nobody told Bob when he became a vampire he’d have to keep his shitty job. He’s average looking, not rich, not pale and blood is a drug, not a food. There are over 101 ways to suck at being a vampire, and Bob is living proof. Presenting Complaints: (Humor) A disastrously run NHS hospital is threatened with takeover by an amoral private health concern. Dr Tom Rysarian – shallow, selfish, and monumentally lazy – becomes embroiled in a last-ditch effort to save his place of work from privatization. Try not to fall off the Long Gray Line: An autobiography by David Howard on “[his]” progression from Plebe to graduate at West Point.” Holding Their Ground: (Romance) When no one is watching, history repeats

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