On October 31, 2013, I released the e-book edition of
Ravensblood, an urban fantasy set in the Pacific Northwest and crowdfunded through Kickstarter. (Trade paperback edition released this spring.) It garnered many glowing reviews on Amazon:
"Couldn’t put it down. . . Once I was able to read this,
I couldn’t put it down. The writing style reminded me of early Andre
Norton (my all time favorite author) and Andre’s books had the same
effect – one becomes engaged in the plot and characters, and the
settings have enough color so that your mind can picture the scenes.
Hoping for a sequel! Or several…
""Unique and engaging. . . This story had the tone of the
later Harry Potter books but with obvious differences. It takes place
in the U.S. and all societies, muggle and magic alike, coexist aware of
one another. Of course, we don’t use muggle here. . .they are merely
Mundane. The book starts in a gripping fashion only taking breaks for
back story and character development, meaning you neither miss nor
misunderstand the action. If you know the quirks of Portland, it even
seems plausible. Scenery is excellent. Fantasy, warriors and mages with
modern realism. I loved this novel.
""Darkly entertaining and enjoyable read, , , It was very easy to become immersed in this story, due to a deeply
flawed but compelling character, Corwyn Ravenscroft. Definitely give
this author a chance, her storytelling will draw you in. Her style is
just a hint of Andre Norton, a dash of J. K. Rowling, and the tiniest
pinch of Anne Rice. The rest is her own unique stamp.
""Good story set in an intriguing world I enjoyed this story very much and was left hoping for a sequel. The
story is set in a world of magic which Shawna describes wonderfully. . .Shawna is able to paint descriptive pictures with enough detail to let
the reader create vivid images and yet keep a story moving at a nice
pace. . .As the end of the book drew near - the pace increased and the pages grew
fewer. I found myself staying up much too late wanting to finish and
wondering how Shawna could bring about a conclusion without leaving me
waiting for volume two. Fortunately there was indeed a satisfactory
conclusion allowing me to finally put the book down and drift off to
sleep. I was happy to not be left with a brief "to be continued" comment
but also thinking that there remained more of this interesting world to
explore and hoping for a follow on story.
"Ravensblood also received a positive review from the notoriously tough review site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and it won a gold medal in the 2014 Global E Book Awards in the category of contemporary fantasy. I feel like I have successfully proven that I can produce quality, riveting fiction; my debut novel
The Stolen Luck (Carina Press) won a silver medal in the 2013 Global E Book Awards in the category of original world fantasy and an 2014 Eppie in the fantasy romance category. I have also won two honorable mentions for my short fiction from Writers of the Future and have sold stories to e-zines and an anthology. I have a B.A. in English. Writing Option from Penn State University and have taken workshops and classes from Charles de Lint, David Farland, Donald Maass and Elizabeth Lyon, among others.
I see the
Ravensblood universe as one that can be returned to again and again. It already has its passionate devotees. One of my beta readers traveled here from France to take the
Ravensblood tour of Portland, One reader who bought the book when it first came out put aside the work she was doing on deadline to finish reading the novel. A supporter gave me the funds to pay the cover artist, and musicians among my support base did a custom arrangement of the music for the video trailer as well as editing the trailer itself. (Do check out the video, for the music if for no other reason. It's spine-tingling good.)
So where do you come in? I got a good start with the I first book, but I need to get more books out there to build a readership. Mostly, I need to pay my freelance editor in order to put out the sequel, because, to paraphrase an old axiom, any writer who acts as her own editor has a fool for a client. I will be using the some editor I did for
Ravensblood. Anything above what I need to pay the editor will go to promotional costs.
A little bit about the book that started it all:
In a life of impossible choices when sometimes death magic is the lesser
of the evils, can a dark mage save the world and his own soul? Corwyn
Ravenscroft. Raven. The last heir of an ancient family of dark mages, he
holds the secret to recreating the Ravensblood, a legendary magical
artifact of immense power.
Cassandra Greensdowne is a Guardian. Magical
law enforcement for the elected council— and Raven’s former apprentice
and lover. She is trying to live down her past. And then her past comes
to the door, asking for her help.
As a youth, Raven wanted to be a
Guardian but was rejected because of his ancestry. In his pride and his
anger, he had turned to William, the darkest and most powerful mage of
their time. William wants a return to the old ways, where the most
powerful mage was ruler absolute. But William would not be a True King
from the fairy tales. He would reign in blood and terror and darkest
magic.
Raven discovers that he does have a conscience. It’s rather
inconvenient.
He becomes a spy for the council that William wants to
overthrow, with Cassandra as his contact. Cass and Raven have a plan to
trap William outside his warded sanctuary. But William is one step ahead
of the game, with Raven’s life, his soul, and the Ravensblood all in
danger.
And about
Raven's Wing:
In
Ravensblood we saw Raven’s struggle
to escape the world of dark magic he’d committed to as a bitter young man. In Raven’s Wing he has to come to terms
with both his past and his ancestry and figure out his new place in the Three
Communities and among the people who enter his life. The task becomes more
difficult, of course, when he finds himself on the run, trying to find the
stolen Ravensblood in order to protect the Three Communities and beyond from
the dangers presented by this powerful artifact in the wrong hands, and at the
same time prove himself innocent of the theft.
Raven finds support in unlooked-for places, but he faces an unknown enemy who is cunning, ruthless and powerful.
The manuscript for
Raven's Wing is complete, needed only the deft hand of my talented editor before publication.
Teaser chapters are up here:
http://www.shawna-reppert.com/ravensblood-and-r...Depending on the level of contribution, supporters will get cool stuff to read,
Raven's Wing swag and the knowledge that the helped the early days of a compelling new urban fantasy 'verse.
If you can't contribute financially (and believe me, I understand broke), you can still be part of the magic by spreading the word via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, your own blog, etc. Every shout-out is greatly appreciated.