12/17/13: Top Ten Tuesday: Writer Newbies

This meme is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. 

December 17: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2013

On this topic I could write a million authors, but I'll just do my favorite new ones of this year.

• Huntley Fitzpatrick
• Huntley wrote one of favorite books this year, My Life Next Door. I'm ad so excited to read her next few books when they come out!
• Kevis Hendrikson
• He is definitely a new author for me this year. I appreciated getting the chance to read his books this year.
• Marie Lu
• OoOoOo, probably my favorite dystopian author this year. Her books blew me away.
• Lauren Kate
• I'm still reading her series, Fallen, and I don't know what I think of them yet. I think I'm leaning towards three stars, but I don't know, maybe she'll surprise me!
• Madeleine Roux
• I really loved falling into her zombie novels, Allison Hewitt is Trapped and Sadie Walker is Stranded, and really must read her Asylum novel.

• Rainbow Rowell
• I think she'll be on everyone's list this year. Quite the breakthrough writer. 

• John Green
• I DO NOT REGRET A THING. These books were so good and I love what John does with his brother and everything about it is wonderful and happy.
• Tahereh Mafi
• I think these books were so very unique. Shatter Me and Unravel Me just blew me away. 
• Cassandra Clare
• Ha. Hahaha. See John Green.
• Tamera Ireland Stone
• I also enjoyed divulging my self in her books. I liked that romantic and timey wimey feel they had. 

~Monty

10/17/13: An Interview with Kevis Hendrickson; Author of Rogue Hunter: Dark Space

Hey guys!

I interviewed Kevis Hendrickson, author of Rogue Hunter: Dark Space! 

I did a review on his book a while back which you can find HERE :)!

1. When did you decide you wanted to write?

• That’s a great question. When I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be a storyteller. I was heavily involved in the arts as a youngster (writing, music, drawing, the theatre, etc.). Telling stories came quite naturally to me and I spent most of my formative years writing and drawing stories based on some action-adventure oriented theme or comic book characters. However, it was clear to me when I entered my teens that I was going to be a hybrid artist and that my writing would be at the center of my career.

2.      What was your inspiration for Zyra?

• Zyra Zanr was born at a time when I was becoming fascinated with writing about female characters. My love for Norse mythology and the Germanic warrior goddesses known as Valkyries also played a big part in her creation. As it goes, I was sitting in art class one day when I had the idea to draw a female character who was part Clint-Eastwood, part Luke Skywalker, and part Valkyrie. Following with the Eastwood theme, it only seemed obvious that she would be a space cop, even if the roguish sort. When I was done scribbling, I had a really cool drawing of this beautiful, but tough-as-nails female blonde bounty hunter from the future who wore what was a cross between a superhero’s mask and a biker’s helmet. I instantly fell in love. However, I didn’t explore this character any further and simply tossed the drawing into my sock drawer. It would be years before I ever took up the cause of reviving my female bounty hunter or writing her stories, but that’s pretty much how Zyra came into being.

3.      How many books do you plan on having in this series?

• As someone who grew up reading comic books, it’s interesting for me to see the new trend in publishing where it’s almost mandatory for authors to write series due to the popularity of series. In my case, serial adventures is part of my DNA. Furthermore, Rogue Hunter was originally conceived as a trilogy of books. But as I worked on the sequel, I quickly realized that the storyline was way too big to be told in just 3 books. This is one of the major reasons I chose to pull the first Rogue Hunter novel from the market and reboot the entire series. I’ve since adopted a comic book/television series model toward writing the novels (rather than a film-inspired one) and expect that there will be no less than a dozen books in the series when its done.

4.      Do you have any plans for another book?

• I certainly do. The third book in the Rogue Hunter series is currently being written and should be published sometime next year. I’ve also got a sequel to a middle grade fantasy book that I hope to release soon as well.

5.      What's your favorite movie?

• The Empire Strikes Back. Hands down, it’s the greatest movie ever made!

6.      What's your favorite book?

• I can’t think of another book that I love more than J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. It’s probably the most ambitious book ever written by a human being. The best part is, it ultimately gave birth to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

7.      What are some authors you look up to?

• Although I write Speculative Fiction, my favorite authors aren’t from the genre or necessarily authors either. My stable of favorite writers generally come out of the past: Homer, Shakespeare, and of course, Tolkien. But if I had to pick contemporary writers whose work I most admire, it would probably have to be George Lucas, J. Michael Straczynski, Stan Lee, and Alfred Hitchcock. I take my inspiration from all walks of life, and in general, anyone who is the best at what they do, but these writers have influenced the kind of stuff I write more than anyone else.

See you guys on the flip-side! 

~Monty

Rogue Hunter: Dark Space by Kevin Hendrickson

Rogue Hunter: Dark Space

Cover: Could use some work, maybe switch over to illustrations. I do like the photography though-- perfetct representation of one of the main characters, Zyra.

Author: Kevis Hendrickson

Genre: Action and Adventure, Adult, Sci-fi

Goodreads Blurb:

Shortly after her trial on New Venus, Zyra Zanr is captured by a team of rival bounty hunters and brought aboard their ship, the Lilith. They intend to take her to the planet Sojo, home of a powerful crime boss who nurses a grievance against her. Zyra fears for her life, knowing death awaits her at the end of the journey. A series of intense confrontations between Zyra and her captors lead to her horrifying torture.

Drugged, beaten, and near death, Zyra escapes her cell and is pursued. The enemy will stop at nothing to recapture her. Enraged by the abuse she has suffered, Zyra decides to turn the table on the Lilith's crew and show them why she is the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy.

Published/ing: October 1st, 2013

Rating: 3.5/5

Review: 

This book was really interesting. Let's start with setting.

I liked that sort-of Star Trek feel to the novel. I liked the "new universe" and the star-ships and all the terms used. It all correlated well. 

Moving on to characters:

I adored the character revealing throughout the book. Kevis really took the time to reveal a detail about the character so bye the end, we have a illustrative view of the personality of each character. 

The only problem I had with the characters was their physical descriptions. I sometimes had trouble seeing the characters in my head. Otherwise, development and personality was exceptional.

I had not read the first book when I picked up this one, but I felt as if I had. I think the author did an exceptional job of explaining what was going on and who was who, even though I myself went into it with no knowledge of the world at all. I liked the whole "everyone's a villain" theme. They are all bounty hunters and they all have and do kill daily. I liked Zyra Zanr, our main girl, and at first, we can only see her as an animal. A killing machine. But in those few moments, we see the true human shining through. 

I thought that was just exceptional. 

The book really kept me intrigued and on my feet. What will happen next? Who's going do die? And will the ship blow?

Wait to go Mr. Hendrickson!   

Future News: 

The next book is set to be published in 2014. 

Overall it was an exceptional book, despite a few flaws. I definitely want to go back and read the first one and then son read the next one. 

I'll see you guys tomorrow!

~Monty

(7 days)