A wonderful anthology that not only presents us with 15 unique and compelling short tales but also answers the eternal question asked of authors – where do you get your ideas from? At the start of each story Storm Constantine tells us what inspired her to write it, often including some personal history or anecdotes.

 

All the stories are enjoyable and I found myself reading two each night, but my favourites in the collection were “Kiss Booties Night Night”, “Colin’s Cough”, and “The Fool’s Path”. Part horror, plenty of fantasy and a generous dash of Goth culture, it makes me want to revisit Constantine’s novels.

 

 

https://www.silverdaggertours.com/

 

Welcome Readers! I glad you could join us, so let’s give a great big welcome to Fiona J.R. Tithenell who’s here today to tell us about The Prospero Chronicles and to give us some insight into what she edited out of the newest release – Stitches! Enjoy and don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY!

 

 

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ABOUT THE BOOKS

 

 

Splinters
The Prospero Chronicles Book 1
by Fiona J.R. Titchenell & Matt Carter
Genre: YA Horror, SciFi

 

Under normal circumstances, Ben and Mina would never have had reason to speak to each other. He’s an easy-going people person with a healthy skepticism about the paranormal; she’s a dangerously obsessive monster-hunter with a crippling fear of betrayal. But the small Northern California town of Prospero, with its rich history of cryptid sightings, miracles, and mysterious disappearances, has no normal circumstances to offer.

 

When Ben’s missing childhood friend, Haley Perkins, stumbles out of Prospero’s surrounding woods and right into her own funeral, Ben and Mina are forced to work together to uncover what happened to her. Different as they are, their unlikely friendship may be the only thing that can save the town, and possibly the world, from its insidious invaders.

“A snapping, crackling, popping homage to classic horror.” —Kirkus Reviews.

“Whip-smart dialogue... genuinely terrifying Splinters, the descriptions of which will have fans of monster films utterly enthralled... A promising series opener, this will satisfy those readers who like their scary stories to be as clever as they are chilling." —KQG, the Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books.

 

“The stakes are high. The action is intense." —Washington Independent Review of Books.

 

**********

 

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34202787-splinters

 

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/splinters-the-prospero-chronicles-book-1-by-fiona-j-r-titchenell-and-matt-carter

 

Riffle - https://www.rifflebooks.com/books/1031668

 

GBooks - https://books.google.com/books?id=r5HbDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=fiona+J.R.+Titchenell+Splinters&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWju_-kczfAhUICawKHRSBBaYQ6AEIKjAA

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Shards
The Prospero Chronicles Book 2

 

When autumn descends on Prospero, California, Ben hopes the normality of the new school year may offer a reprieve from the town’s paranormal horrors. Mina knows all too well that there are no reprieves and no normality to be had in Prospero, but even she can’t prepare for what the coming year holds.

 

On top of the vivid hallucinations that have plagued Mina since the attack on the Warehouse, and the brewing Splinter civil war that threatens all of humanity, inside the walls of Prospero High, Ben, Mina, and their expanding Network face a vicious campaign to destroy their friendship, and a mysterious assassin picking off human rebels – an assassin with powers like no Splinter they’ve fought before.

 

Ben and Mina’s one hope rests with a mysterious old man hiding in the woods outside of town; a living legend who may be able to teach them how to fight this dangerous new breed of Splinter. That is, assuming he doesn’t kill the pair of them himself.

“Titchenell and Carter hold nothing back in this solid sequel that thrills and expands on its predecessor. Aided by swift writing, relatable characters and unexpected scares, Shards is a chill-inducing delight.” —David Powers King, co-author of Woven.

 

“Maintaining the same level of popcorn-munching fun, Titchenell and Carter are taking The Prospero Chronicles in a promising direction.” —Joe Dell'Erb, Washington Independent Review of Books.

**********

 

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34202828-shards

 

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/shards-by-fiona-j-r-titchenell-and-matt-carter

 

Riffle - https://www.rifflebooks.com/books/1031669

 

GBooks - https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZHbDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=fiona+J.R.+Titchenell+Splinters&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWju_-kczfAhUICawKHRSBBaYQ6AEIMTAB

 

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Slivers
The Prospero Chronicles Book 3

Ben

Growing up is hard, and growing up in Prospero is even harder, but I think we manage. I mean, yeah, my friends and I spend more of our time fighting a race of shapeshifting aliens than we do hanging out, but we have our fun. We go to parties, help each other with our classes, maybe even fall in love… 

 

I’ve no illusions that we live ordinary lives, but they’re our lives, and I’m going to make sure we make the most of them whether the Splinters want us to or not.

 

Mina

The truce is temporary. We will not humor the Splinters forever. It's only until the Slivers can be stopped, until the army of Shards being planted among our classmates can be disassembled, until we get our hands on the thing I'd almost given up believing in.

 

The humanity test.

For the chance to know, once and for all, who can be trusted, some dealings with monsters must be excusable. Inevitable. Just like this feeling between Ben and me.

 

And that has to be temporary too.

**********

 

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34202866-slivers

 

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/slivers-by-fiona-j-r-titchenell

 

Riffle - https://www.rifflebooks.com/books/1031670

 

GBooks - https://books.google.com/books?id=ipHbDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1&dq=fiona+J.R.+Titchenell+Splinters&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWju_-kczfAhUICawKHRSBBaYQ6AEIODAC

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Stitches
The Prospero Chronicles Book 4
by Fiona J.R. Titchenell

 

This is Prospero’s darkest hour. The few remaining humans trapped within the quarantine zone are all but defenseless against the multiplying forces of the Sliver Queen, Locusta. With Ben missing, Aldo among the enemy ranks, and more steel plates than bones left in her body, Mina’s passing the hours drowning in morphine and throwing heavy objects at her guards. 

 

Stripped of her weapons, her gadgets, and the Network itself, she has just one card left, hidden somewhere under her oft-sutured skin. It might be powerful enough to complete her life’s work once and for all… or to reach the one person who could make her life into more than a means to an end. But playing it will cost everything she has, or everything she believes in.

 

The final chronicle of Prospero waits in these pages.

**********

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42648857-stitches

 

Riffle - https://www.rifflebooks.com/books/1031671

 

GBooks - https://books.google.com/books?id=0aF2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2&dq=fiona+J.R.+Titchenell+Splinters&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWju_-kczfAhUICawKHRSBBaYQ6AEISzAF

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

AVAILABLE in print or ebook

 

 

~Splinters~
**ebook only 99 cents!!**

 

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Splinters-Prospero-Chronicles-Book-1-ebook/dp/B06XS6GS3M

 

iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/splinters/id1203794781

 

B&N - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/splinters-f-j-r-titchenell/1120684596

 

GPlay - https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Matt_Carter_Splinters?id=r5HbDgAAQBAJ

 

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/splinters-16

 

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/701694

 

**********

~Shards~

 

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XTJMJPX

 

iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/shards/id1204969454

 

B&N - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shards-f-j-r-titchenell/1121794901

 

GPlay - https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=ZZHbDgAAQBAJ

 

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/shards-22

 

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/702706

 

 

**********

 

~Slivers~

 

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072336BCM

 

iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/slivers/id1204972231

 

B&N - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/slivers-fjr-titchenell/1125775358

 

GPlay - https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Matt_Carter_Slivers?id=ipHbDgAAQBAJ

 

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/slivers-1

 

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/702709

 

**********

 

 

~Stitches~

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K7JRHKY

 

iBooks - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/stitches/id1441378706

 

B&N - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stitches-fiona-jr-titchenell/1129822462

 

GPlay - https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Fiona_J_R_Titchenell_Stitches?id=0aF2DwAAQBAJ

 

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stitches-17

 

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/905216

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Welcome Fiona! I am glad you could join us today to tell readers about The Prospero Chronicles. Are you ready to share what you edited out of the final chronicle?

 

 

**********

 

What did you edit out of this book?

 

Stitches probably had the biggest transformation from inception to final draft of any project I’ve ever worked on. I mean, it was originally going to be two books with two authors, so yeah, the cutting room floor got pretty crowded.

 

Maybe I should start at the beginning. My husband-slash-coauthor and I originally plotted out The Prospero Chronicles as a five part series. We signed it with a small publisher who only offered a contract for the first three books, with an option for more at their discretion. Determined but inexperienced authors that we were at the time, we decided we’d face that hurdle when we came to it and proceeded to write the first three books exactly as we’d planned them, with a massive cliffhanger at the end of the third.

 

Well, it turned out not to matter whether the publisher would have wanted books four and five after all, because we split with them shortly before the planned release of book three. The veritable soap opera that led up to the schism could fill more than a few blog posts, full of fishy accounting, name-calling, blame-shifting, unanswered emails, and broken promises, but long story short, the series went dormant for a long time while the rights to the characters were in limbo.

We moved on to other projects. Landed other contracts. Various exciting things happened.

Eventually, our superhero of an agent won back the rights and gave us the go-ahead to republish and finish the series independently. We created our own editions of Splinters and Shards and published the already-written Slivers, but then we had to talk about the finishing part.

 

We tried. We refined our outlines. We tried again. Matt’s heart just wasn’t in it. He’d grown apart from the characters, become attached to new ones in other worlds, and the publishing battle had left a sour taste in his mouth.

 

I, on the other hand, couldn’t let it go. Not the way we’d left it.

We agreed to condense the two planned books into one goliath of a book that would still have been quicker to finish, and Matt tried once more. He tried because he knew what it meant to me, but as any writer knows, if you can’t get excited about your own story, you’ll never excite anyone else with it. All the good intentions in the world couldn’t reignite that spark.

 

So we agreed that I would do it alone. That meant another replotting, to trim the ending down further and gear it more toward my solo strengths.

Things that got pruned in the course of all that include but are not limited to:

Almost an entire book’s worth of Mina and her father globetrotting in search of the Splinters’ weakness.

 

A whole lot of a freshly traumatized Ben trying to figure out how to run a resistance in an occupied town without her.

 

Half a book with the perspective divided three ways instead of two, following a third character’s efforts to stay undercover among the villains.

 

A quest to kill a hive of weaponized parasites.

A mercenary who could turn people to stone.

Two deaths scenes for characters who ended up surviving.
An ending for a character who ended up dying instead.

 

Ultimately, I think the result was a much tighter, punchier finale than we would have had otherwise, but there were some threads that didn’t end up going quite where they were expected to. I actually got as far as approving the cover art for Stitches, found myself staring at this beautifully creepy image of what was supposed to be the big bad of the whole series, and realized that her part of the story had been almost completely sidelined.

 

That meant another round of heavy reworking, to give her more time on the scene instead of just behind it, and a closer relationship with the heroes. The trouble was, we’d already set her up to be so dangerous that it was seriously difficult to put her in a room with anyone and justify how they would walk away alive. Matt was still consulting and editing for the series, so I went to him and said, “I need a power loader scene.”

 

Because when in doubt, invoke the glory of Sigourney Weaver.

What we came up with didn’t look much like a power loader scene, but it was exactly what was needed to give the final confrontation the proper significance, and it became one of the stranger action scenes in a series full of gooey shapeshifter battles, so I’m really excited to share it.

********

 

Wow! That is fascinating! What do you think, readers?

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

$20 Amazon, An ebook copy of Some Side Effects May Occur by Fiona J.R. Titchenell

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

 

https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/the-prospero-chronicles-book-tour-and-giveaway

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

F.J.R. TITCHENELL is an author of young adult, sci-fi, and horror fiction, including Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of). She graduated from Cal State University Los Angeles with a B. A. in English in 2009 at the age of twenty. She currently lives in San Gabriel, California, with her husband, coauthor, and amazing partner in all things, Matt Carter, and their pet king snake, Mica.

Blog - https://fjrtitchenell.weebly.com/

 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FjrTitchenell

 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/FJR_Titchenell

 

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/FJRTitchenell

 

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/FionaJRTitchenellAndMattCarter

 

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4384865.F_J_R_Titchenell

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

https://www.silverdaggertours.com/

 

 

I’ve been a follower of Thorny Sterling’s blog for a long time now and I’m not quite sure why it took me so long to read Splinters. I’ve owned the book for months as well so I guess it’s a case of too many books and not enough time...once again.

 

But, better late than never, I did at last read Splinters and adored the book, which makes me wonder why I find it so much harder to write about the books I’ve loved than the books I had (one or more) issues with.

 

I fell hard and fast for Allan. From the moment he wakes up, bound to a plank and naked, he had my full attention as well as a large chunk of my heart, and my attachment to him only grew deeper as the story progressed. The same can be said for Duke. I loved his ‘cowboy in shining armour’ persona and the fact that he was exactly what Allan needed.

 

For the most part this is a charming love story about two men who are made for each other even if they meet under far from ideal circumstances. Dig a little bit deeper this is a book about living an honest life – about being who you are without shame or fear and being accepted as such. Allan’s androgyny is presented as a fact rather than something that needs to be explained or excused which is of course how it would be in real life – if real life wasn’t full of people who would deny others the right to be true to themselves. Because the author never felt the need to try and explain Allan’s androgyny, it never occurred to me to give it a second thought; the character was perfect as he was.

 

Splinters might have been too sweet, the love story too easy and perfect if it hadn’t been for the danger posed by Allan’s attacker. Although I had the ‘mystery’ figured out more or less from the start, the continued danger gave the love story an exciting edge.

 

I knew I loved the magic Thorny Sterling weaves with his words from reading his blog. If I had known how seductive they would be when applied to a love story, I would not have been able to resist this book for as long as I did. Reading Splinters was a joy and a pleasure – a wonderful escape from life with characters that even followed me to my dreams. I’m looking forward to whatever Thorny may decide to write next.

REVIEW PUBLISHED AT DA.

 

 

Waking up in a strange place isn’t a first for model and actor Allan Seville, but discovering himself alone and bound to a rough plank in the middle of an open Texas range certainly is. With no memory of who did this to him or why, panic sets in, until rescue comes riding up on a big, brown horse.

There’s more to Duke Walters than a handsome face and sexy drawl. In the arms of this rugged cowboy, Al discovers a peace and safety he never knew he needed, and now doesn’t want to be without.

But someone wants Al out of the way and drugging him during a movie junket in Houston is only the beginning. A world of differences may separate this cowboy and diva, but when danger strikes again, Duke might be the only one who can get them out alive.

Tags: 44,000 words, long novella, m/m romance, cowboy, modeling, actor, cross-dressing, femme, mistaken identity, mental illness, Texas, abduction, roofies or rohypnol

Dear Thorny Sterling,

A fellow reviewer alerted me about your book landing in DA submission folder and asked if I would be interested in reviewing it. When I glanced at the book, I remembered that I previously bought it as a gift for a friend who liked your blog posts. I have read a couple of your blog posts and I think once I participated in the online discussion where you commented as well, but this is the only communication I have ever had with you. I decided that I was curious enough to review your book.

I had a really hard time with it because for the most time I was wondering whether the book was supposed to be a parody of all the clichés we see in m/m romances or just a sweet romantic comedy with a somewhat clumsily included suspense plot. Sadly, after finishing the book I am almost sure that no, it was not supposed to be a parody. There was also an issue with characterization of one of the main characters which I feel extremely uncomfortable talking about mostly because as a straight woman I am not sure if I even should. But I am not sure how to talk about the book if I were to omit it.

I wonder if part of the problem was that what the writer was trying to write was a romantic comedy with Very Insta!Love setup (minutes is all it takes for Allan to notice Duke in a big way, 24 hours is all it takes for him to decide that he can’t live without Duke), but was also trying to find an unusual hook for it. Well, the story certainly started with a bang, when naked Allan wakes up in the middle of the ranch with no memory of anything and Duke finds him.

For a few minutes after he wakes up Allan is extremely upset. No wonder, right? I would be upset too, if somebody kidnapped me and violated me the way Alan was violated. However, after a couple of more minutes when he looks at Duke and Duke unties him and takes the splinters out of his ass, here we go. Allan’s attention is diverted towards how incredibly attracted he is to Duke and how very awesome he is. Let’s forget for a second the fact that I usually have trouble buying Insta!Love, it takes a lot to convince me of it, but what I had trouble buying even more is that a traumatized guy would completely forget about his trauma after he sees his rescuer because he is awesome. That’s all happening minutes after Allan regains consciousness mind you, *minutes*. Sorry, I could not buy it.

To be fair, Allan does not completely forget about what is happening to him later on (after his incredible attraction to Duke kicks in) – he is worried, he is nervous. But I still thought that his reaction was off as to how a person after trauma would react. I especially could not buy him not wanting to leave the ranch, until another bad thing happens and only then does he finally leave. I just cannot see it in my mind that in such a short time after a major trauma a person would pay attention to anybody’s attractiveness. I want to be very clear – I get that anything can happen in real life, it is just the writer did not convince me that Allan’s reaction made sense. It felt off, as if the love story needed to be meshed with suspense storyline and it did not happen in an organic way.

The suspense is not suspenseful at all, the suspect is mentioned in the beginning of the story and he ends up being the one who attacked Allan. I just did not feel that suspense storyline *fit* except to be an artificial reason to create tension and conflict between the guys. I think romantic comedy was the goal. I could be wrong.

And this brings me to Allan and his romance. Allan is a femme guy, and I am using the word “femme” because character uses this word. Allan also uses the word “androgynous” to describe himself. Here is the thing – Allan’s femininity is probably the only thing that is going to stick with me now that I’ve finished the book. After all, he repeats it many times. I suspect it was done on purpose because author was conveying a message that “femme gay men deserve respect”. This is a quote from the book. I think this is a great message, but I wished for more nuance and detail in Allan’s characterization. I mean that I wanted to know something else about the guy besides him being androgynous, being femme, whatever the best word is. I learned that he could stick his head in the clouds and decide that the guy who helped him after his assault is the one he wants after knowing him for a day (less actually I think). I suppose he is a nice guy based on how he talked to Duke and others, but besides that, I am not sure what I really know about him.

“I have the hands of a pianist of a painter. Really, all of me is this man’s foil. Where he’s hard masculinity, I’m sleek androgyny. He’s a few inches taller than me, but must outweigh me by close to a hundred pound of solid muscle. And I love the contrast between us. I’m a sucker for men like him.”

Duke also does not have a lot of depth for me as a character. He is Allan’s knight in shining armor, and he’s definitely a sweet guy as well. I am not sure he had much complexity beyond that.

I liked the resolution of suspense story on one hand, because so called villain of the piece was treated with compassion, but on the other hand some things bothered me because the guy was mentally ill. And I also wondered if what happened to him was possible in Texas, because I have no idea.

Grade C-

First of all, thanks again Sonia, for bringing this little gem of a book to my attention, along with Thorny's blog! :)

This is Thorny Sterling's debut novel, and I think he did a fantastic job with it! It was funny, sweet, and very sexy! I also thought the mystery/drama part of the story was done nicely, and the outcome surprised me.

The best part of the story for me was Allan Seville, and I liked him right from the start. Al is a well-known model and actor, he's out and proud, and most importantly, he's femme, something which sets him apart from your typical gay characters. At one point he said, and I quote...

Femme men like myself catch hell all the time for being ourselves, even from within the gay community.

...and frankly, I think that's quite sad. I, for one, am mesmerized by femme men, and I think Al has a lot of guts to stand up for himself and be whoever he wants to be regardless of society's view of him.

Now, Duke Walters, the other MC, is the opposite of Al. He's a cowboy, strong, beefy, kind of a bear–which, I gotta say, is not usually my cup of tea, since I prefer my men on the pretty/beautiful side; I do like rugged men at times, though–and he's the one who saves Al.

There was insta-love, because the MC's were drawn to each other right from the start, but I didn't mind it, because it worked for them. They were beyond adorable together, and their sex scenes were pretty steamy.

Thorny definitely has a new fan in me, and I'll keep an eye out for his upcoming novels–can't wait! :D