Dark Fairytales Part Three - Godric's Gift

 

 

We have finally come to the end of an era. It seems that I have been writing about Tay and his friends for a lifetime, and I have loved every moment. I allowed my imagination to take flight, and it even surprised me at times. 

All that being said, there were moments when I honestly thought that I would never get to the end of Gray's book after suffering severe autistic burnout over Covid. I would like to say that my literary juices are flowing again, but sadly it's still a struggle. That's not to say the struggle isn't worth it and there will surely be more books coming your way, although sadly not involving Tay and his friends whose stories are now told.

The third and final book in the trilogy, Godric's Gift, was released on Friday 13th and I sincerely apologise that I wasn't around to give it the kick-off it deserves. Unfortunately. I recovering from Covid and I'm still pretty poorly. I can only say a huge thank you to Silver Dagger Tours for making sure that this momentous occasion didn't pass by entirely. They have set up an amazing blog tour with all kinds of surprises and treats from reviews, to teasers, excerpts, and a Rafflecopter draw for a gift voucher. 

Gray, of course, isn't happy because he just loves to be the center of attention at all times. Of course, he is now getting his wish in way he never envisaged, but is uniquely suited to. 

Oh. and if you were wondering why Godric the Great, became Gray...it's because it rhymes with Tay of course - although I don't think Tay ever actually caught on.

*****

Tay's best friend, Cale always told him fairy-tales were dark, but they all have happy endings, right?

Willow’s Way

Dark Fairytale Book 1

by Cheryl Headford

Genre: LGBTQ YA Epic Fantasy 

Cale always told Tay that fairy tales were dark. But they always have happy endings, right?

Taylor Preston is a normal sixteen-year-old whose biggest worries are his GCSE exams. He’s right in the middle of them, but he has a summer of fun with his parents to look forward to after. Or not.

Despite their promise to spend the summer focusing on their one and only son, Tay’s parents, Local Authority specialist foster carers, take on one more special case.

Willow’s arrival throws more than Tay’s summer into chaos. Suddenly, his best friend is possessed by a demon, his parents aren’t his parents after all, and he’s literally living a nightmare in a fairy tale world that as dark as anything Cale ever warned him about. All he has is Willow and a burning desire to save his friend before he succumbs to the demon and Willow kills him.

 

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Tay’s Trials

Dark Fairytale Book 2 

Tay is trying to settle into his new life with a group of strangers who call themselves his family. Even Willow has deserted him. Then he meets Wisp, and things look up – until a shadow assassin attempts to kill him, Cale traps his shadow in a gem and the only way to save him appears to be a mad wizard.

What can possibly top all that? Meeting a hundred-thousand-year-old king and his dragon friend, the very dragon on whom the entire city is built.

 

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Godric’s Gift

Dark Fairytale Book 3 

Tay had thought that fighting demons was the hardest thing he’d have to do, but what came after was so much harder.

No one thought Tay was ready to face his possessed brother and the demon army at his back, and that included Tay himself. Gray, however, thought different and, as usual, Gray got his way. But if Tay thought the demons were the hardest thing he’d have to face, he would soon find himself dead wrong.

From determining ownership of the land formerly occupied by the demons to a world that had been without a High King for so long they weren’t sure they needed one, every day brought new problems, and then there was the magic that was not so slowly leaking out of the world. Tay’s life got more complicated every day.

When Gray stepped up with the answers, it only made things a whole lot worse.

 

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Cheryl was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.

Cheryl has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.

Later in life, Cheryl became the storyteller for a re enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.

It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.

In present times, Cheryl lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son, dog, bearded dragon and three cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close. She’s never been happier since she was made redundant and is able to devote herself entirely to her twin loves of writing and art, with a healthy smattering of magic and mayhem

 

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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$10 Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nameless by Elle Pepper

Purchase Link

Available from 25th December 2024

Now Avaiilable for Pre Order

Blurb

Captain Tyrell Hanson, or "Tyrell" to his crew, is known as a loose canon, and a force of nature. Now it's up to him and a hand-picked but untested crew to save the last ship made at Luna Colony-- and the fledgling government that sent him. On their way to finish their retrofit, Tyrell's crew finds a ship so desperate to escape its captain destroys the ship with only a cryptic warning about the...

Captain Tyrell Hanson, or "Tyrell" to his crew, is known as a loose canon, and a force of nature. Now it's up to him and a hand-picked but untested crew to save the last ship made at Luna Colony-- and the fledgling government that sent him. On their way to finish their retrofit, Tyrell's crew finds a ship so desperate to escape its captain destroys the ship with only a cryptic warning about the Nameless. With the Ground Patrol seeking to destroy the last survivor of the ship that exploded; a Unit; stripped of all human rights, the young man flees the terror of the Nameless with only a fairytale in his memory. In the midst of all this, a plot to destroy Tyrell's ship is uncovered. When the dust settles, a pilot is nearly dead, another-- a friend is accused of her attempted murder, and the captain must fight to save his oldest friend from a plot twenty years in the making. With danger on every side and a sacrifice that makes everyone uneasy, the captain finds the answers of the Nameless in the dreams of the dying, and of all things, an old children's story. Racing against time, he must give the Nameless back her name, her steel, and her purpose or watch the galaxy destroyed by a child. But secrets kept too long had marred everything, and the world, for this small crew, will never be the same.

The Agony of Joy by Red Haircrow

 TITLE: The Agony of Joy

AUTHOR: Red Haircrow

PUBLISHER: JMS Books

LENGTH: 337 pages

RELEASE DATE:  29^th June 2024

BLURB:

Former model-turned-actor Adrian Lee can barely list age range 23–29 on his résumé anymore, nor stand his life of empty social events and appearances, meaningless roles, and casual partners. When he meets Alexander Skizetsky by clever arrangement of his agent, the enigmatic yet infinitely attractive Russian kindles a little light of hope in his aching heart. Yet even the beginnings of a friendship and love beyond his wildest dreams cannot stop a life spiralling out of control.

The long estrangement from his devout Irish Catholic parents and family and the dark secrets they all share combine to drive Adrian to the brink of despair, though Alexander becomes determined to stay by his side. After locking away his own memories of betrayal and loss, Lexx had decided never to love again, but something in Adrian spurs the noblest intentions in his formerly jaded heart.

Returning in pilgrimage to Alexander’s homeland, on a journey of rebirth, revelation and redemption, can they escape the ghosts of their pasts to find true love together?

NOTE: This book contains references to childhood sexual assault that might disturb some readers.

REVIEW:

This book is extremely visual. One of the author’s greatest strengths lies in their ability to describe surroundings in vivid detail. From a small appartment, to entire cities, the characters’ world is drawn in vivid colour and it is easy to picture everything alongside the characters themselves.

Another strength is the characterisation. Each character has a unique voice and a unique viewpoint, and although that viewpoint is often awkward or flawed it is always authentic and coherent to the character. Whilst this is undoubtedly a romance first, it is also a travel guide, clearly showing the author’s love for the places they talk about and the things that can be found within the locations.

The romance itself is by no means straightforward. To say that both the characters are flawed would be an understatement for sure and this leads to a flawed and sometimes broken relationship. They stumble from one problem to the next, not always dealing with things in a neat and logical way. For the most part, this is absolutely authentic to the characters and the result of skillful storytelling, although I have to admit there were a few times when there was a certain awkwardness about the writing that was noticeable whilst not being distracting from the story. For example, the first meeting between Adrian and Lexx felt a little contrived.

I can’t honestly say that I immediately warmed to Lexx. He came across as an arrogant, rich bully. However, it didn’t take long for him to grow on me and I was soon rooting for the pair of them, even when it felt like there was no chance of a future for them.

There are some shocking moments that I honestly did not expect, but on the whole, the story is a sweet, if rocky romance between two men who are somewhat set in their ways and not really in the market for longterm love. To see their relationship deepen and blossom, even when all the petals were plucked off and they had to start again, was truly a joy.

I can absolutely recommend this book to anyone who likes their romance protagonists to have to work hard for their happy endings, especially if you are a visual reader, who likes to have the characters’ world filled with detail and colour.

RATING: 4

BUY LINKS: 

JMS Books

Amazon  

An Apology

 

This post is a multi-purpose one. First, it is an apology and explanation to my fans and friends who certainly deserve one after the way I simply dropped off the face of the earth. Secondly, it is a line in the sand, me saying, "Enough is enough, it's time to be brave and rejoin the world again". Thirdly, it's a declaration of intent, and finally, it's a plea for help, something I have not historically been very good at asking for.

During the first few weeks of the Covid epidemic, I had a breakdown of sorts. I believe it was autistic burnout (If you don't know what that is, here is a good article, or for something shorter and sweeter you can look at the National Autistic Society) although it was never officially diagnosed.

Before lockdown, I was already struggling with life, particularly the demands of promoting and marketing my work. I don't take to such things naturally and I was becoming more and more stressed out. When lockdown hit, I broke. I won't go too deeply into what happened. Needless to say, there was a lot of bleach involved (not drinking it thankfully. Suicidal thoughts have never been able to intrude into the crazy, but usually pretty optimistic jumble in my head), I slept a lot and I worried my family.

I was diagnosed with anxiety in the middle of lockdown and I spent all my time either writing or gaming without emerging from my blankie for anything else other than bleaching the shopping, furniture, my hands, etc when I had to.

Since then, I have not been able to pull things all the way back. I lost most of my coping skills and became more and more withdrawn. I don't know quite how to explain it, but I became more autistic than I have ever been. I became almost pathologically afraid of social media and I haven't been able to do anything at all. At one point, I was afraid that if I so much as opened Facebook, everyone would know and would try to pull me back in, something that terrified me so much I had nightmares about it.

Trust me, if I had been able to post, comment, publish etc, I would have. I wanted to, but I was paralyzed by fear. At no point did I mean the slightest disrespect to my friends and fans, and I know you deserved at least a few words of explanation, but I didn't have it in me to give then.

Right now, my hands are shaking writing this post, because I'm nowhere near back where I  should be. However, I can't hide forever and as patient and understanding as my publishers have been, they are businesses and they deserve my effort as much as you do. Therefore, I am back, albeit in a diminished capacity.

I would like to thank my publishers, especially eXtasy who have been waiting for the third book in the Dark Fairytales series for almost three years. I promise you all that it is finally finished and all I have left to do is go through it and check that all the plot holes are closed and loose ends tied up. The manuscript will be submitted very soon and hopefully, the book will be out this year.

Anyone who has ever read my blog, or seen any of my social media, will know how much in love I am with my Enigma series, with my darling former slave, Silver, and his devoted boyfriend, River. I expanded the initial two books, to three, which my dear friend Red Haircrow published for me on Smashwords through their own publishing company Flying with RedHaircrow. Sadly, we had to take them down and they are no longer available, but the good news is that the trilogy is now a five-part series which I intend to submit in the next couple of days, so hopefully that will be something to look forward to if anyone is prepared to pick them up. I truly hope so, as they are undoubtedly the best series I have ever written.

And now the plea for help. I can't cope with the marketing/promotion. I know that. It broke me once and I know it will break me again if I try to pick it up. I need help. At the very least I need to have an in-depth consultation with someone to formulate a plan for the future, and ideally, I need someone who can give me ongoing support and/or advice. I don't have a lot of money but I have some and I'm not asking for anything for nothing. What I''m hoping for are ideas and suggestions.

In the meantime, I won't be starting up my newsletter, but I will be making an effort to post on at least one social medium every day and to this blog once a fortnight. It's not much, but it's a start. I hope you forgive me and I will try my best not to let you down again.

For the first two books in the Dark Fairytales series check out eXtasy Publishing

Willow's Way

Tay's Trials