Football season, schmootball season! Don't people realize that fall is also book release season? I'm thrilled to pieces to get to host another one of this season's awesome new books on the blog today. What do you get when you cross Supernatural with Jane Eyre? You get the killer paranormal historical romance "Moonless" by fellow author (and fellow cheese fiend!) Crystal Collier. Crystal was kind enough to share the top ten fantasy novels that most influenced her writing, so be sure to check them out at the end! I think I found a few new titles to add to my reading list ;-)
This book only released this week and critics are pouring love for this story already, calling it "...powerful, compelling, packed with soul," and that it "...transports us to a time of elegance and mixes in supernatural splendor that gives goosebumps." Are you hooked yet?
From the book cover:
So what are you waiting for? It might be cold outside, but this is just the thing to warm you back up so go grab yourself a copy, turn down the football, and treat yourself to a romantic fantasy unlike any you've ever read!
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Top Ten Fantasy Books that Have Influenced Crystal's Writing
10. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White: It's rare I read a book with so much personality packed into its pages. I aspire to write a book with this much spunk.
9. Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck: Foreign backdrops, a new culture, even some historical content, I LOVED this book. Colleen tutored me in character relationships.
8. The Magicians Nephew by C.S. Lewis: This book set my mind on fire with cross-world travel an the importance of world building--especially in the real world.
7. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare: If you want to know how to get 'er done as far as plot goes, you can't have a better pattern. Action takes a front seat. And the dialog? Whew!
6. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle: Again cross-world travel, but the importance of familial relationships really shines through.
5. Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: A whole education on taking classic fairytales and molding your own world out of it. I still marvel about the mechanics of the Enchanted Forest.
4. Unenchanted by Chanda Hahn: A clever meshing of the Grimms tales and the real world, I adored how Chanda built relationships.
3. My Friend the Monster by Clyde Robert Bulla: The first story I ever read where a monster could be a good guy, this story left a lasting impression.
2. Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin: Comedy meets fantasy. This series was my own brand of cheese merged with my first reading love.
1. The Windrose Chronicles by Barbara Hambly: Merge fantasy, technology and complex world building with an anti-hero, and you've got magic. This was the first time I saw THE bad guy (no questions asked) suddenly become the hero. Seriously, such a powerful transition that it's the only entire series I've read twice.
Crystal Collier, author of MOONLESS, is a former composer/writer for Black Diamond Productions. She can be found practicing her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, three littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. You can find her on her blog and Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.
