Caitlin Bush, Aspiring Writer

Name of book: For No More

Name of writer: Caitlin Maire

Aspiring or published: Aspiring

Book's genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Novel Excerpt:

I looked at my old window. I looked at my parents’ window. Then I gazed over at Lucifer’s window. Then the curtains opened to reveal a face.
Lucifer’s.

He just stared at me and I stared back. There was so much hate in his eyes. Especially on his bruised face. I laughed.

He started at me like I was an idiot. Then he sneered.

I paused in the middle of my laugh and stared. His eyes widened. I hissed and crossed my neck with a finger as in “you’re going to die.”

Fear entered his eyes and I walked away, pleased.

Now to find out where I can go. Yeah, nice start. I can see my vengeance now.

Me running at his palace with a pitchfork. I step on his flowers; I chip his paint laughing hysterically. Then guards come out and pull me away. I’m thrown in jail thinking I got him good. Vengeance is sweet. Payback’s a bitch.

I love it!

Tell us about your book.

When you do something wrong you get punished. Whether you ditch school, steal a candy bar, or commit a massacre. The latter is what Iceran Bernadette (Ice) did and a punishment is what he received. He was sentenced to a small town and forced to go to school to try to control his thirst for the kill, for the blood. Away from other other creature besides his brother. Will any emotion for these humans besides anger flare? Will he be able to control himself? He better, or a world he has no knowledge of might be meeting him dead on.

Why do you write?

I write because imagination is so much better than reality. Writing helps me deal with everyday life and calms my mood.

How has writing changed your life?

Writing leads me into the inner most thoughts of my mind. Writing has lead me to my true self and has basically changed my life. I would've given up on everything long ago if I didn't have my writing to help with life.

What's an interesting/embarrassing/funny fact about your story that you haven't shared...until now?

I am embarrassed to say that I first started this book when I was thirteen and had just finished Twilight. Although my book has changed greatly since, it still pegs me to think that what I despise gave me a broad idea.

What's the worst advice you've ever been given?

I have rarely asked for advice, but when I have it has been pretty good, I guess. 

~ Now it's time for the character to get the spotlight! In this section, the author chose any character from their novel and let them answer the following interview questions. ~

Character name: Daredian Zoltar

Major character

How do you feel about your creator?

She's iight. A pretty young thing. I'd probably flirt a little then be on my way. Nah, I'd want to be her buddy though, fersure.

Where's your favorite place to be and your favorite thing to do?

Ummm...out and partying. Who doesn't like to do that? FREAKS! That's who.

What keeps you going everyday?

Mmm...besides keeping my brother in check, wooing the ladies. Gotta keep them satisfied and wanting more.

The old lady down the street is rushing at you with an Uzi. What do you do?

Trip the bitch then walk away whistling.

What's something you've never told anyone about...until now?

Well, I kind of like humans. I know us creatures mostly find them revolting, and they are, but I still like them. I don't know, I guess I rather hang out with a revolting human than a stuck up fairy.

Potential readers can locate me on Facebook :)

Vivian Rising by Daniella Brodsky

The question "What am I going to do?" is simply too intense for Viv to answer with Grams dead on the other side of the door.

Vivian Skylar, food journalist and aspiring author, spent the majority of her life leaning on her grandmother's confidence and strength. After Viv's dad died and her mom decided abandonment was the answer, Grams became Viv's mother figure and best friend. That dependability, that love, puts Viv in a bad spot when Grams dies...the bad spot being the bathroom in Gram's hospital room. There, her attempts at coping with her grandmother's death isn't any easier.

It's not surprising that a neon, pigeon shaped that reads 'Pigeon Astrology' grabbed Viv's attention. What is surprising, definitely for a character who doubts the reliability of horoscopes, is that Viv would ring the apartment's second floor bell. The moment Astrologer Kavia explains Viv's horoscope, Vivian is hooked. Never has every corner of her soul been so bluntly spelled out.


In the beginning, her new dependency on Kavia's forecasts and guidance seem all good. Viv avoids getting on a train Kavia predicts will crash and meets a wonderful guy named Len. Soon, Len and her grow such a bond that when the stars tell Viv that Len and her are not meant to be, Viv is back asking the same question from page one.


What is she going to do? Should she finally take control of her life or should she keep depending on Kavia and her horoscopes?

Daniella Brodsky did a beautiful job with Vivian Rising. The writing style is clear and full of funny, yet insightful comparisons and thoughts. The narrative fits well with the qoutes/passages in the beginning of each chapter; in fact, some of them still make me smile when they come to mind. All the characters, even the ones that only made a few appearances, had a startling realisticness to them.

When I first started reading, I expected astrology to take the story over. Not that I would have minded. I'm not a big astrology junkie, nor do I believe all of it is the absolute truth, but I do enjoy reading about virgos. I also have a bad habit of searching the compatibility between me and any new guy I grow a serious crush on.

Daniella didn't let that happen, though. She made sure astrology was a back drop important to Vivian's development.

I enjoyed Len and Vivian's romance. Since I'm mostly a paranormal/fantasy reader, and much of the romance I've read in those genres often come across as over the top (I'm not big on romance), I found Len and Viv's growing love refreshingly complex and simple. I loved the odd gifts they left each other, the disagreements, the time they spent both apart and together. Not once did I roll my eyes.

Vivian Rising is a story about what it means to take charge, cope with grief, and live life -- all messages that none of us should miss out on.



Vivian Rising is available in Kindle!



Murder in Vein by Sue Ann Jaffarian

Gagged, beat up, and trapped in a forest. That's how readers meet the street savvy waitress Madison Rose, and it's as terrifying a start as it is interesting. When she thinks her biggest fear is the psycho that put her in that position, a dark figure with fangs emerges from the forest and rips her captor apart.

"We'll have to kill her," is the first thing he says and the last thing she hears that night.

When Madison comes to, she finds herself in a beautiful room. An elderly woman vaguely fills her in about what's going on. After Madison fixes herself up and eats, she goes to the kitchen and sees the elderly woman and the dark figure -- who is also elderly in appearance and no longer a dark figure -- drinking thick, red liquid.

Meet Dodie and Douglas: The first vampires introduced and definitely not the last.

However, Dodie and Doug are the least of Madison's concerns, though bloodsuckers certainly are. On the one side, there's wannabe vampires; on the other side, there's real vampires. Smack down in the middle, operating as the link, are cases of missing women. Had Doug not rescued Madison, she'd be another statistic.

Now it's up to Madison. Can she help the real vampires stop the fakes?


I finished "Murder in Vein" in about six hours, and that was during a busy day full of school work and studying. It had the right mix of comedy, seriousness, and adventure. Romance lingers in the background, but it never threatens to take over. Sue Ann Jaffarian adds a little more to the vampire's way of living and makes them neither too dark or too innocent. There's a respectable in-between.

Also available in Kindle!

Reviewed for Suspense Magazine by Tiffany T. Cole.

Son of Ereubus by J.S. Chancellor

In the expansive world Chancellor created, there are essentially two realms: Middengard, the human realm currently ruled by the demonic Ereubinians; Adoria, the angelic realm ruled by the winged (unless Braeden) Adorians. The Adorians and Ereubinians are practically at war with each other, and the humans of Middengard stand in the middle of this chaos.

At first we readers are tricked into thinking there is a firm line between humans, Adorians, and Ereubinians, and the three main characters -- Ariana, Michael, and Garren -- personally represent the conflicts of the place they belong to. Then Chancellor quickly avoids the easy route by blurring the lines.

The feisty, sarcastic Ariana, who is supposed to be human, surprises Garren with her strong, blue eyes. Not only can't he -- a person who is known for killing indiscriminately -- take her life, but he also can't take her soul. That makes her Adorian. Michael, who turns out to be her Adorian older brother, shoots her by mistake, and that's how Ariana ends up in the Adorian world she once believed with all her heart didn't exist.

Meanwhile, past the Ereubinian borders, Garren is feeling emotions he's never felt before, thanks to Ariana. This introduces one of the most complicating love stories I've had the pleasure of reading in a while. Chancellor has shown Garren's horrible crimes. Many of the Adorians, for various legit reasons, hate Garren with a passion. Yet Garren and Ariana -- most likely due to a prophecy and their past lives -- are steadily falling deeper in love.

Sometime's I'm for the relationship; other times, I find myself unforgiving of all the relationships Garren single-handedly destroyed with his merciless killing. Generally, I love that the romance never takes the story over, while also enhancing it and being of importance to the overall plot. Makes you wonder: is love something that must be deserved or is anyone 'allowed' to love?

The story ends similar to the first book of Lord of the Rings, in that there are many loose threads and much more at stake than when the story started.

In all, I really liked the story. I found the ending effective enough to make me excited for the next installment and the story itself interesting enough to keep me thinking about it when I had to put it down. I like my stories gritty, emotional, and clearly progressive. If the romance isn't complicated, I question its existence. Chancellor passed all of my tests (not that passing my tests really matters, since I'm just another opinionated reviewer).

Author J.S. Chancellor

Wolf's Cross by S.A. Swann

Maria is a kind, helpful girl who assists the lord in the neighboring fortress, so when a group of badly injured Teutonic knights arrive in her Polish village asking for medical help, it's not surprising that Maria is eager to give aid. That's how she meets Josef, a wolfjagger (wolf hunter), and all the consistent aspects of her life steadily fall apart.

While walking through the forest, a knights's personal servant attacks her. She survives, thanks to the intervention of the creepy, but alluring Darien. His intervention also leads to Maria seriously questioning the silver necklace around her neck: Why does her dad need her and her alone to never take the cross off? Why does Josef react so strongly when he sees it? And, most importantly, why does Darien insist she answer what she is?

Maria's a genuinely nice person, but that's not enough to stop her from being the creature wolfjaggers hunt.

If Maria chooses Darien, she can give in to her animalistic side and live the life always hidden from her. If she chooses Josef, she can stick with her human side, as well as rest assured that she will be treated kindly. But whether she chooses the wolfjagger or the wolf, the prey or the predator, goes much deeper than Maria's desires. Her decision has the power to ruin her life and the lives of those she loves the most.


In a time where vampire books are all over the place, Wolf's Cross is not only a refreshing break, but an intriguing view into the world of the werewolf.


Reviewed for Suspense Magazine by Tiffany T. Cole.

The News Where You Are by Catherine O' Flynn

"The News Where You Are" starts with a walk, a revelation, and a death. Six months later, Frank and Mo, his eight year old daughter, visit the building that Frank's father designed, the building that will soon be demolished. Frank takes a picture of Mo standing in front of the building in an effort to prove, if even just to himself, that the building will be remembered.

This pattern of Frank feeling the need to remember the forgotten appears in almost every interconnected plotline: Why does Frank's mom act the way she does? Will someone ever want to purchase Frank's house? Is there any value in Frank preventing the demolition of his dad's last building? But the biggest question of all, the question that Frank investigates the most, concerns the glamorous Paul, the silent Michael, and the comedic Cyril:

How does Michael's death connect to Paul's death, and where does Cyril fit in?

Though loss is the focus point, this story isn't particularly depressing or sappy. It reads like a snapshot collection of pictures that switch between the past and present. "The News Where You Are" is a novel that executes reality very well. The characters easily feel like people I could've passed up on the street yesterday.


There is as much to look forward to as there is to look back at, and "The News Where You Are" does a beautiful job reminding readers of that.


Reviewed for Suspense Magazine by Tiffany T. Cole.

God of Clocks by Alan Campbell

In the mystical, ancient city of Deepgate, deities and iron angels battle, while an opened portal to hell lets loose creatures that further destroy the land and its inhabitants. Sounds like the end...at least until Rachel Hael, Mina Greene, and Greene's dog, Basilis, set out to make sure Deepgate ends on a better note.

God of Clocks, the third installment in the Deepgate Codex series, starts with a gruesome glimpse into the boiling and draining of a demigod who refuses to die. While readers dwell on that, the cast of protagonists are introduced together before they seperate into two intermingling adventures. John Archer leads his group through hell. Simultaneously, in the hopes that his assistance will rid their world of the devious King Menoa, Rachel and Mina combine their assets to lead their group to the God of Clocks's castle.

Get ready for an adventure that combines realistic characters with inhuman creatures and comedy with serious situations, an adventure with paradoxes, angels, gods, and demons beautifully interwoven in a world like and unlike our own. When readers start to believe that everything will go right, that all the characters will participate, Alan Campbell proves them wrong.

I opened this book with the idea that I'd be reading a dark urban fantasy. The words hell, legions, creatures, and angels certainly calls for such an assumption. What with all the intricate worldbuilding and otherworld terminology, I learned the story was more fantasy than dark urban. That doesn't mean Alan fails to deliever, though!


Can you keep up with the God of Clocks? I hope so, because you'll regret it if you can't.


Reviewed for Suspense Magazine by Tiffany T. Cole.

The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind

Alex's day officially becomes odd when a pirate flag, a truck, and a beautiful girl suddenly relate to him. While waiting at the curb, the flag above the truck grabs his attention -- the girl, not so much; at least not until he learns the hard way that he should've been watching the scary man driving the truck. Alex pulled him and the mysterious girl back seconds before they could become roadkill. Had the police not approached, the man might have attempted to kill them again.

What a great, startling way to start a twenty-seventh birthday.

Jax, the girl Alex saved from the truck, adds to this confusion when she explains why she needs to talk to Alex. The Law of Nines, an important concept in Jax's world, states that threes -- pivotal spell numbers -- are a base component of nine. Twenty-seven is key because it's the third nine. Not only is Alex twenty-seven, but his last name is Rahl, making him a descendent of the once powerful House of Rahl.

That name and that age makes Alex a walking death signal for himself and everyone close to him. There's little to no safe place from the ruthless killers ready to take out anyone to get the answers that they want.


Can Alex, a struggling artist, and Jax, a girl more accustomed to a world with magic, save both of their worlds? Even when it seems impossible, this duo maintains a high amount of strength and intelligence. Terry Goodkind weaves a riveting story that proves the power of partnerships.


Reviewed by Tiffany T. Cole for Suspense Magazine.