In this dark fantasy, Janneke is the last child in a family of daughters and has been groomed to be the ‘male heir’, having been taught to hunt, track, and fight. When her village was burned to the ground she was the only survivor and was taken captive by the malicious goblin Lydian, who scars her for life, and who then sends her to work for his nephew Soren.

She then has to serve this monster who she is bonded to in the Permafrost. A brutal hunt begins for the beautiful white stag as Lydian and Soren compete for the throne of the next Goblin King. Janneke's humanity comes at the cost of becoming more attached and loyal to the goblin Soren, and as she has to learn to survive in the world she has been made to live in, learning truths about the past and about who she really is.

This is the first novel from a talented new author, Kara Barbieri, who brought it to life on WattPad; she has imagined a world called the Permafrost, heavily influenced by Nordic mythology, laden with dangerous monsters alongside the goblins, living in an unforgiving frozen landscape. Set to be the start of a series, ‘White Stag’ is both frightening and captivating.

*Frightening because of the amount of sheer brutality in the novel: there are plenty of references to rape, torture, mutilation, and abuse, as well as all the combat/fighting leading to bloodshed and descriptions of injuries and more. Janneke has been victim to unspeakable acts at the hands of Lydian, and we gradually learn about his true capabilities as the story goes on, making him just about the vilest character you can possibly ever read about. Soren, who she is bound to, is the unlikely antidote to this goblin villain, and ironically becomes the one to bring romance and emotion to her world, despite the ‘humanity’ leaving her life.

*That's your trigger warning, folks!

What I found most appealing about the book, is the journey that Janneke goes on, both physically and emotionally, which kept me captivated throughout; the hunt and the battles are relentless and test her constantly, and the relationship with Soren gradually changes. I've read some criticism of the relationship between her and Soren (I made the mistake of reading others' reviews, which I don't normally do), and I disagree that it would be unlikely that she would become attached to him, given that she is his charge and bound to him. I wasn't sure whether to attribute her feelings towards Soren to a sort of Stockholm syndrome or because she genuinely developed feelings for him because he seemed to care for her (he became more human as she lost her humanity). The dichotomy here is fascinating. They've been attached for some hundred years or so, and the intensity would undoubtedly bring some connection; why now though is more the question, but it makes for great reading.

Barbieri has set the stage for a series in a world that may trigger many readers but evokes images, not unlike the Game of Thrones and is for anyone who loves Viking or Nordic-inspired tales and mythology. I appreciated her sense of humor throughout the novel, and I know there is so much more to come from this bright light that is Kara Barbieri.

For those of you who like the urban fantasy writer Wen Spencer and her Elfhome universe, I've written a short story set in it. I love Wen Spencer and I adore her Elfhome series. Five Days of Elf is my first ever piece of fan-fiction. I have never written it before - never been tempted - but Elfhome got the better of me.

I wanted to post my story where other Elfhome fans were sure to find it but discovered, to my surprise, there is no such site, no place where the fans of this writer congregate. Not even her own website: it doesn't invite communication, just serves as an information dispensary.

The only place where I found a couple of Elfhome fan-fiction stories is Fanfiction.net, but the stories there are at least 2 years old. No new ones.  

So I posted my story on wattpad. It is based on the Elfhome universe, but the characters and the plot are my own. In this story, Lisa, a film school student from Vancouver, Canada, attends a local Shakespearean festival, when a gun-toting terrorist starts a shooting spree. She could've been killed, if not for a young man in a gray turban who risks his life stopping the shooter. But the turbaned guy turns out not what he seemed to be.

You could read the story Five Days of Elf here.

I made the cover myself and I'm happy with it. The girl does look the way I pictured Lisa while I wrote her story.

Hello all! This post will be about amazing books/series that I have read that are so, so amazing but have like no fanbase! We need to change that pronto! 

Under the Never Sky Trilogy by Veronica Rossi

This trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies of all time and I'll tell you why. I found this first book after looking at iBooks after I got my first iPhone two years ago. Here was the first book for like $2.99 and the cover was gorgeous. So, I bought it. This book has everything anybody could want. Dystopian world? Check. A kickass heroine? Check. Hot guy with family issues? Check. Amazing writing? Check. Fast-moving plot? Check. THE OTP OF ALL OTPS. Check. Seriously, this book had one of my first big book OTPs. I think that's why it hold such a special place in my heart. Perry (the main guy character) is one of my baes and will forever remain so. 

A Shade of Vampire Series by Bella Forrest

This series is the best. It's a very long series. I think we're up to like book 21 now. That being said, I haven't read all of it only up to like 11 or 12. But that doesn't make it any less amazing! Want a story with a sexy vampire? Yeah its a lot cliche but it's worth it. Yeah it's a love story between the girl and the main vampire like every vampire story ever. But...I don't know, it's hard to explain. It's almost a new take on things. There so, so many characters but you get to fall in love with (or hate) all of them! The POVs tends to switch at time but it gives you a well-rounded view of the story. Too long of a series for you? The first seven books tell the story of the two main characters. The next like 9 tell the story of two other characters, and so on. Love spin offs? Well there's A Shade of Kiev which is a direct spin off of like the sixth or seventh book. And then there's Shade of Dragon which I thought had nothing to do with the series but apprentlty I've heard it's going to tie in. It's a long series to read but a fun one at that. 

It all Started With an Apple by Ashley Winters

What happens when your best friend convinces you to throw an apple across the cafeteria to find out who you'll fall in love with? An amazing book that's what. This book started out as a story on Wattpad and it was one of the first things I ever read on there, I think that's why it has such a special place in my heart. This book is a great story about two kids falling in love (or do they?) and then there's a shocking plot twist that made my throw my phone across the room. The best part is this story is FREE on wattpad! However if you enjoy I would suggest buying it from the author! That's why I have a copy sitting on my shelf! (EDIT: apparently it's not being sold any longer :/) https://www.wattpad.com/story/2598009-it-all-started-with-an-apple

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

I've seen about zero hype about this series and it's kinda sad. I started reading this in 8th grade because my teacher made us read the first book for an assignment (he wasn't a very good teacher by school standards). It was amazing. I loved it and read the second on straight away. And then I went out and bought the rest of the series, or what was out at the moment. I haven't actually finished the series because I lot interest in it (not because it wasn't amazing, just because I started reading teen ya romance and like fantasy stuff). But if you want a story about a teenage spy then this novel is for you! Don't like romance? That's fine! This series has next to none! 

Sanctum by Sarah Fine

If you've been following my blog for forever and have read every post then you'll know I got the second and third book of this trilogy from a giveaway on Goodreads. Sadly I didn't win the first book and had to tract down a copy. This series really surprised me. I thought it wasn't going to be that great but it was really really good! I fell in love with the main guy character! The main chick got on my nerves at time but she was okay. And the side characters were life! Basically this series is about a girl ending up in Hell and working her way through it to find her friend who she doesn't think belongs there. Okay, it's a lot better then it seems and I recommend a try at least. It is (or was when I read it) available on Kindle Unlimited so try that! 

As some of you may know, I have a regency romance novella Fibs in the Family on wattpad. I haven't been doing anything with it, no promotion of any kind, didn't even look until today to see what is happening there. What I saw today was encouraging: my novella has passed 500 reads. At the moment, it's 507. I feel all warm inside. None of my fantasy stories ever did so well. Just shows that romance is really the most popular genre. I feel like celebrating. I have an idea for the next novella in the series, but so far, I have been procrastinating. I guess, I should start writing it.  

I'm still considering posting more of my original fiction on Wattpad. The two main drawbacks are getting cover images for all the stories and the fact that I'm having trouble getting my new account to work. I still can't figure out how a story could go from having six readers to just one without 'unpublishing' in between. Oh, well. The mysteries of the internet. I'm sure there's a 'secret' to how you get people to read your stories on Wattpad (apart from the advice the support page gives you). Surely it can't just be that the people who get many readers have many friends?

My sister tells me that she's posted her stories on G+ many times, but no one even reads them. When someone else among her circles (?) says he's maybe going to write a story some time everyone starts commenting that they would love to read it and buy it when it becomes available (or rather if it becomes available). I don't really get that. When I decide to read something it's because I think I'll enjoy reading it, not because I want to stay on the good side of someone I know. Or am I the weird one here? I mean, sure, if a very good friend asked me to beta read something she/he had written, I'd love to help out, but I think that's different.

Actually, I'm also wondering if I will get any more readers of these stories just because I post them on Wattpad as well as on my own site. Most people who come to my fan fiction (which is also my more 'adult') site, seem to be interested in fan fiction, not original fiction. They don't give any feedback there though. The only feedback I've had over the years have been on fan fiction archives like AO3. It's possible to leave comments on my wordpress homepage so I don't see why people don't. I've had that site for many more years than I've had my account on AO3. Nowadays, people can also 'like' posts and pages on my homepage. It's just that people don't seem to consider that option at all. Not that they have to. I'm just wondering.