Review excerpts for you:
Poppet
Greta
Janus
Showing posts with label Gathering of Rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gathering of Rain. Show all posts
Monday, July 30, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Flash Friday: 'They're coming...'
Varelie screamed and bolted from her warm bed into her father’s lap. He
was snatched from sleep in the armchair nearby first by her scream and then
awakened fully by her frantic struggles.
‘Varelie, hush, love,’ he murmured, wrapping her into his warmth. ‘A
dream, sweet...’
‘It’s burning!’ she shouted in her high-pitched tones, squirming away
from the embrace. ‘Daddy, it will all burn!’
Dante stared at his daughter.
‘They’re coming!’ she screamed.
There was a crash in the outer chamber...and a loud cackle. Every atom
of Dante’s blood froze in terror.
‘Hide,’ Varelie whispered in his ear.
It was already too late for that. He rose swiftly and set her down.
Pushing her back towards the bed, he said: ‘You must hide, Varelie, right now.
Quick, under!’ He drew his sword as she slid out of sight. ‘Quiet now, hear?’
Dante drew breath. ‘Sweetheart, when you can do so safely, run...’
And then it was too late for that also.
They came.
From Gathering of Rain, available free right now! Find it here on Smashwords
Monday, March 5, 2012
Gathering of Rain FREE during ebook week!
Gathering of Rain Free during eBook Week (4-10 March) on
Smashwords! Your code is REW75 and your links is http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29882
Volume I of Tales from the Path of Shades
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Flash Friday: Excerpt
A screech tore through the town of Farinwood. Rain surged up in his bed as the reverberations shivered over his skin. The echoes of his dream- a fair girl crying out her name, ‘Mitrill, my name is Mitrill’- caused momentary confusion, and then he knew where and when he was. Night in Farinwood.
Here it was a child on the hunt. And not alone.
And then, like crystal shattering in the ensuing dead silence, a woman sobbing as if her heart had been ripped from her body.
Aaru, how could the men on the streets be expected to stop this? One was father to that screeching child. One was husband to the woman trapped in hopeless grief.
Anger was then heat and resolve. Rain left his bed, snatched his cloak up for warmth and doused the smoking lamp on the small table under the window. A moment later he snapped his fingers for the tiny flame that danced upon his palm. A sorcerer’s trick. And, on this world that despised even a sunset as too much magic, a noose slung over a branch. He needed to be ever careful; vigilantism was alive and well on Valaris and continually on the prowl for magic-users, a mindset that would lead to confrontation. Infinity would win by default- men would kill each other while she laughed from the sidelines.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Summer/Winter promo on Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29882 Gathering of Rain
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30761 House of Valla
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32759 Darak Fallen
Available for $2 for the month of July
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30761 House of Valla
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32759 Darak Fallen
Available for $2 for the month of July
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
It's official! Gathering of Rain in Paperback soon!
Friends, I simply have to share the news! Gathering of Rain has been picked up by Night Publishing and will launch July/Aug!
Watch this space for updates and links.
*dances a jig of joy*
Elaina
Watch this space for updates and links.
*dances a jig of joy*
Elaina
Friday, April 1, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
I need your support, friends!
For one week 26 March to 02 April my three eBooks on Smashwords will be available for free. If you have a Smashwords account, please hurry over and download copies- and know I appreciate it!
Enter these codes to ‘purchase’ the free versions:
Gathering of Rain: UN47S
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29882
House of Valla: AD64G
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30761
Darak Fallen: MF96V
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32759
A short paragraph review after would be simply brilliant!
If you don’t have a Smashwords account (and I recommend you do so- great downloads available!) please download the free samples at the above links. Thanks!
Thanks and regards...and know I’ll return the favour anytime!
Elaina
Enter these codes to ‘purchase’ the free versions:
Gathering of Rain: UN47S
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29882
House of Valla: AD64G
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30761
Darak Fallen: MF96V
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32759
A short paragraph review after would be simply brilliant!
If you don’t have a Smashwords account (and I recommend you do so- great downloads available!) please download the free samples at the above links. Thanks!
Thanks and regards...and know I’ll return the favour anytime!
Elaina
Monday, March 7, 2011
E-Book week discount: Gathering of Rain now $2!
Easy to download in multiple formats...and its real easy (and free) to create an account on Smashwords, too, if you don't already have one! Go on!
Coupon code for discount: RAE75
Two worlds on the brink of destruction. Both will burn. Connecting their shared fate is a linked past, a magical thread of light, and a tear in the fabric of space. Rain travels to Farinwood to find the magician Aven. He isn’t prepared for what he actually finds: the Maghdim Medaillon, the magical disc that creates a thread of light between two realms. Rain is gathered to fulfil his destiny…
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
First review for G0fR...and it's a good one!
Hello, readers! This is the first published review for Gathering of Rain...and it's real good! Author Poppet of Exploits and Seithe fame (see my book reviews if you don't know her *shame on you*) has written a glowing review...and I take this opportunity to thank her with every appreciation:
Ta, Poppet!
Gathering of Rain, book review
Posted by Poppet
Firstly let me apologise for the fact that there was no blog entry yesterday.
Today I have such a well hidden surprise for you I can’t wait to tell you about it. I’d like to introduce you to Elaina Davidson. She is a writer I’ve known for about two years, and she’s just one of those kind lovely people you instantly like. In a book review swap with her I agreed to read her Nookbook, Gathering of Rain.
I’m going to be completely brutal here. I’ve done my time reading fantasy, and it got to the point where each book I bought with the fantasy genre lable became much of a muchness, they became tedious, boring and predictable. After reading four books in a row by different authors that were virtually identical to one another – that was me, done. I never wanted to read another fantasy again – because quite frankly by that point, they were all utter rubbish not worthy of my money or my time.
I think we all started reading fantasy with Tolkien. I read the Lord of the Rings when it was still one book (not three), and that sort of set a precedent for every fantasy book thereafter – everyone was copying Tolkien’s style and ideas – simply everyone. And this is pretty much what you expect when you pick up fantasy – even the Edding’s brothers smack of Tolkien (and I know that’s going to annoy some people).
So imagine my utter delight when I picked up Gathering of Rain, expecting another mindless carbon copy of fantasy, and it was different. I don’t even know how to explain this book to you, or where to begin with the gushing praise.
Rain, is a person (not a weather phenomenon), and the first few chapters of this novel give no indication that it’s going to be an original fantasy completely different to all the others you’ve ever read. If anything, the first few chapters smack of dark fantasy with sinister and evil undertones. And I read it dutifully, while the characters were being introduced.
I’m an author too, I know we have to do this, in the first few chapters we have to a) introduce you to the characters, b) create the environment and location and give you a great feeling for it, and c) introduce a motivation for you to keep reading.
Davidson hits all three perfectly on the mark, and once she’s accomplished her obligatory author duty she shunts you straight into her imagination, her make believe world, she states the stakes (which are high – death to all humans NOW, that’s a reason to motivate anyone), she then gives you a *global* view of the world in the book, and the different clans, and sets about to conquer you along with the evil about to annihilate Valaris.
I think the reason why this book is so brilliant, is because despite being fantasy, this is a thriller. Davidson just knows how to suck you in to care about the main characters, (and there’s a certain side of your psyche who would just love to meet these people face to face because they’re the new fantasy supermodels of the next millennium). The races she’s *invented*, are naturally glorious. They sound beautiful to behold and I envy her imagination and how amazing she made the planet and immortals of Valaris and the surrounds (other dimensions and planets, such as Ardosia) sound.
This book climbs from page one (and you don’t even realise it). The tension mounts from the first chapter and doesn’t stop climbing. I have never ever read such convincing writing that I felt a part of the action in the middle of a death storm on the high seas (while written in the third person – bloody brilliant!) – I was glued to my computer reading this book (and I’m not a fan of fantasy). Davidson makes you feel the desperation, the heat, the loss, the frustration.
Now I must warn you, this book is the first of a series. And you WILL desperately (upon pain and death to the author if necessary) require the sequel the second you finish Book 1. I’m enthralled with this planet, with the sentient beings and the evil evil evil Or Darak who completely annihilate Ardosia in a matter of hours. And I do actually wish we weren’t living in such fickle times (readers are fickle – they shy away from long thick books) because I would have loved this to be presented in its entirety the way Lord of the Rings was in its original form. (Instead of split up into a series of books)
Davidson is a brilliant author who manages to give you familiarity in every *fantasy* setting. The common denominators with our own existence makes this realm immediately familiar and accessible. You relate to to the world and the people. There are still the party animals who like to come out at night and get piss drunk and gamble and flirt the night away. There’s a place which reminds of Ibetha and Mykonos. There’s a place which reminds us of cloudy moist Britain. And there’s desert and everything else in between. This place is familiar – but not.
At the same time Davidson simultaneously taps into profound (and I do truly mean phenomenally profound) concepts and lays bare human potential and motivation. She takes the complicated, strips it down for you, and re-presents it to you as something you a) recognise and b) understand now that it’s been made simple for you. These are amazing truths and observations which she’s woven into the story, and it’s this level of the writing which truly blows me away (and has made me a fan forever).
I don’t particularly want to tell you what it’s about – because I feel like I’ll ruin the journey for you. Instead I’m simply pasting the blurb here for you. But trust me, from an *I don’t really like fantasy* reader, I rate this book 25 out of 10. Yes, it really really is that good. This is more than a story, it’s genius writing, and Davidson gave me a gift I’ll treasure and read again and again, because she uses vocabulary with such ease that I don’t think she repeats a word more than once. Her grasp on the English language is glorious. Yet not once is it stilted or difficult to read. It just flows, faster and faster and faster until you’re swept up, gripped, breathless, and desperate to read on to get to the resolution.
Two worlds on the brink of destruction. Both will burn. Connecting their shared fate is a linked past, a magical thread of light, and a tear in the fabric of space. Rain travels to Farinwood to find the magician Aven. He isn’t prepared for what he actually finds: the Maghdim Medaillon, the magical disc that creates a thread of light between two realms. Rain is gathered to fulfil his destiny…
In a time now passed beyond memory, a man whispered over a golden disc as he set it into a vice. He lifted an engraving tool to mark the first glyph. He murmured the words of an ancient enchantment, a repeated rhythm, until it was perfect, and then whispered some more as he polished. It took time, many months, and he rushed nothing. Spoke of it to no one. Only when the time was right would he reveal his handiwork.
He possessed the tools and skills to achieve his goal, as well as the voice that was impetus and creation. To infuse inanimate gold, to gift atoms sensitivity, to compel unassailable eternity, required tone, repetition and emotion. Imperative was emotion, for it determined the ultimate nature of the infused device. If fashioned in anger, the consequence was an instrument capable of confusion; indifference led to instability, hate to darkness, mockery to deception, egotism to arrogance, and love to illumination and enlightenment. He intended only love.
The Supreme Wisdom- the Maghdim Medaillon- of the Valleur was made tangible and it was beautiful. On the day he laid it in a protective casket, he thought: I am done now. The future is secure.
He was wrong.
Each chapter has an introduction, and this is the one I loved most:
Get it! Read it! You cannot ignore this book (despite its cover which really doesn’t give you a feel for the treasure inside the pages) – this book has a way of making you examine, yourself. It’s a truly superb read.
Ta, Poppet!
Gathering of Rain, book review
Posted by Poppet
Firstly let me apologise for the fact that there was no blog entry yesterday.
Today I have such a well hidden surprise for you I can’t wait to tell you about it. I’d like to introduce you to Elaina Davidson. She is a writer I’ve known for about two years, and she’s just one of those kind lovely people you instantly like. In a book review swap with her I agreed to read her Nookbook, Gathering of Rain.
Book Review, Gathering of Rain
by Elaina Davidson
I’m going to be completely brutal here. I’ve done my time reading fantasy, and it got to the point where each book I bought with the fantasy genre lable became much of a muchness, they became tedious, boring and predictable. After reading four books in a row by different authors that were virtually identical to one another – that was me, done. I never wanted to read another fantasy again – because quite frankly by that point, they were all utter rubbish not worthy of my money or my time.
I think we all started reading fantasy with Tolkien. I read the Lord of the Rings when it was still one book (not three), and that sort of set a precedent for every fantasy book thereafter – everyone was copying Tolkien’s style and ideas – simply everyone. And this is pretty much what you expect when you pick up fantasy – even the Edding’s brothers smack of Tolkien (and I know that’s going to annoy some people).
So imagine my utter delight when I picked up Gathering of Rain, expecting another mindless carbon copy of fantasy, and it was different. I don’t even know how to explain this book to you, or where to begin with the gushing praise.
Rain, is a person (not a weather phenomenon), and the first few chapters of this novel give no indication that it’s going to be an original fantasy completely different to all the others you’ve ever read. If anything, the first few chapters smack of dark fantasy with sinister and evil undertones. And I read it dutifully, while the characters were being introduced.
I’m an author too, I know we have to do this, in the first few chapters we have to a) introduce you to the characters, b) create the environment and location and give you a great feeling for it, and c) introduce a motivation for you to keep reading.
Davidson hits all three perfectly on the mark, and once she’s accomplished her obligatory author duty she shunts you straight into her imagination, her make believe world, she states the stakes (which are high – death to all humans NOW, that’s a reason to motivate anyone), she then gives you a *global* view of the world in the book, and the different clans, and sets about to conquer you along with the evil about to annihilate Valaris.
I think the reason why this book is so brilliant, is because despite being fantasy, this is a thriller. Davidson just knows how to suck you in to care about the main characters, (and there’s a certain side of your psyche who would just love to meet these people face to face because they’re the new fantasy supermodels of the next millennium). The races she’s *invented*, are naturally glorious. They sound beautiful to behold and I envy her imagination and how amazing she made the planet and immortals of Valaris and the surrounds (other dimensions and planets, such as Ardosia) sound.
This book climbs from page one (and you don’t even realise it). The tension mounts from the first chapter and doesn’t stop climbing. I have never ever read such convincing writing that I felt a part of the action in the middle of a death storm on the high seas (while written in the third person – bloody brilliant!) – I was glued to my computer reading this book (and I’m not a fan of fantasy). Davidson makes you feel the desperation, the heat, the loss, the frustration.
Now I must warn you, this book is the first of a series. And you WILL desperately (upon pain and death to the author if necessary) require the sequel the second you finish Book 1. I’m enthralled with this planet, with the sentient beings and the evil evil evil Or Darak who completely annihilate Ardosia in a matter of hours. And I do actually wish we weren’t living in such fickle times (readers are fickle – they shy away from long thick books) because I would have loved this to be presented in its entirety the way Lord of the Rings was in its original form. (Instead of split up into a series of books)
Davidson is a brilliant author who manages to give you familiarity in every *fantasy* setting. The common denominators with our own existence makes this realm immediately familiar and accessible. You relate to to the world and the people. There are still the party animals who like to come out at night and get piss drunk and gamble and flirt the night away. There’s a place which reminds of Ibetha and Mykonos. There’s a place which reminds us of cloudy moist Britain. And there’s desert and everything else in between. This place is familiar – but not.
At the same time Davidson simultaneously taps into profound (and I do truly mean phenomenally profound) concepts and lays bare human potential and motivation. She takes the complicated, strips it down for you, and re-presents it to you as something you a) recognise and b) understand now that it’s been made simple for you. These are amazing truths and observations which she’s woven into the story, and it’s this level of the writing which truly blows me away (and has made me a fan forever).
I don’t particularly want to tell you what it’s about – because I feel like I’ll ruin the journey for you. Instead I’m simply pasting the blurb here for you. But trust me, from an *I don’t really like fantasy* reader, I rate this book 25 out of 10. Yes, it really really is that good. This is more than a story, it’s genius writing, and Davidson gave me a gift I’ll treasure and read again and again, because she uses vocabulary with such ease that I don’t think she repeats a word more than once. Her grasp on the English language is glorious. Yet not once is it stilted or difficult to read. It just flows, faster and faster and faster until you’re swept up, gripped, breathless, and desperate to read on to get to the resolution.
Two worlds on the brink of destruction. Both will burn. Connecting their shared fate is a linked past, a magical thread of light, and a tear in the fabric of space. Rain travels to Farinwood to find the magician Aven. He isn’t prepared for what he actually finds: the Maghdim Medaillon, the magical disc that creates a thread of light between two realms. Rain is gathered to fulfil his destiny…
Prologue
In a time now passed beyond memory, a man whispered over a golden disc as he set it into a vice. He lifted an engraving tool to mark the first glyph. He murmured the words of an ancient enchantment, a repeated rhythm, until it was perfect, and then whispered some more as he polished. It took time, many months, and he rushed nothing. Spoke of it to no one. Only when the time was right would he reveal his handiwork.
He possessed the tools and skills to achieve his goal, as well as the voice that was impetus and creation. To infuse inanimate gold, to gift atoms sensitivity, to compel unassailable eternity, required tone, repetition and emotion. Imperative was emotion, for it determined the ultimate nature of the infused device. If fashioned in anger, the consequence was an instrument capable of confusion; indifference led to instability, hate to darkness, mockery to deception, egotism to arrogance, and love to illumination and enlightenment. He intended only love.
The Supreme Wisdom- the Maghdim Medaillon- of the Valleur was made tangible and it was beautiful. On the day he laid it in a protective casket, he thought: I am done now. The future is secure.
He was wrong.
Each chapter has an introduction, and this is the one I loved most:
There is an obstacle in the mind known as denial. It is able to prevent knowledge entering. But it can also force the mind to move sideways onto a divergent path.
Beware the divergent Path
- The ancient Oracles
Get it! Read it! You cannot ignore this book (despite its cover which really doesn’t give you a feel for the treasure inside the pages) – this book has a way of making you examine, yourself. It’s a truly superb read.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
BLURB CONTEST!
A complete copy of Gathering of Rain (eBook) FREE for the best blurb!
This writer needs fresh minds to structure an attractive paragraph!
The winning blurb will be used to market Rain across varied sites, with an acknowledgement. And will appear on the paperback version!
or
and download the free sample (yes, this will drive download numbers up- always great- but not the main purpose!) and have a read.
Listed below are a few concepts found in Gathering of Rain to help you:
Rain of the Mantle
Guardians of the Dome
Maghdim Medaillon
Ruby of Enlightenment
Infinity, the dara-witch
Margus, the Darak Or
Great Dividing Forest
Otherworld, Rift, Arcana, Lost Race, Soltakin, Epic, Seers and Sorcerers, Swords…
Post a link to Rain’s blurb below or email your entry to davidsonelaina@gmail.com
Guardians of the Dome
Maghdim Medaillon
Ruby of Enlightenment
Infinity, the dara-witch
Margus, the Darak Or
Great Dividing Forest
Otherworld, Rift, Arcana, Lost Race, Soltakin, Epic, Seers and Sorcerers, Swords…
Post a link to Rain’s blurb below or email your entry to davidsonelaina@gmail.com
Remember to tell me where to send your FREE copy of Gathering of Rain!
Deadline: 20 December
Thanks!
Thanks!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Gathering of Rain - the eBook!
I took the plunge, friends, and uploaded Gathering of Rain as an eBook on Smashwords. It's available in multiple digital formats...and I'd LOVE your feedback!
Have a look here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29882
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Marketing...argh!
This is a pamphlet for local distribution...what do you think?
Must keep plugging........
Monday, October 4, 2010
First Four
Covers for the first four Tales from the Path of Shades. They may change again, but meanwhile I had fun playing with them!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Synopsis
I am posting a rather lengthy synopsis on The Synopsis Page. Would love feedback.
It is a work in progress and I'm also reworking Gathering of Rain into two volumes, each standalone- the synopsis, therefore, will change if I'm happy with what I achieve...will post updates...
It is a work in progress and I'm also reworking Gathering of Rain into two volumes, each standalone- the synopsis, therefore, will change if I'm happy with what I achieve...will post updates...
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