I haven’t updated in a while, and today feels like a good day to do that. I’ve been working hard on getting Dark Shores together. The first draft is done and now I’m working on a rewrite. There are some great things happening for Nessa, and some not so great things (but great for the reader!). Dark Shores, the third book in my Black Depths series is going to be full of adventure and very fast moving. Look for it March 28th!

Meanwhile, I’m reading a lot, and should have some reviews up for you soon. My reading list is over a hundred books long right now. I’ve set my Goodreads goal this year at 40 books, and the app is telling me I’m currently one book behind. Good thing I booked a vacation to Vancouver in April then!

I’ve got a few more reviews for Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch on Amazon. Thanks to everyone who put the time in to let me and others know what you think of my book. Reviews are always welcome, even bad ones as that’s one of the best ways to improve.

I’ve started a few new regular type features on the blog, mainly the picture quotes, which I’ve been having fun making. Do you have a favourite quote from Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch? If you do, let me know, and maybe I will feature it.

Meanwhile, here’s a special bit of book spine poetry I composed for a contest a while back, and forget to enter. Oh well.

A tree grows in Brooklyn, in falling snow. Inside, the girl at midnight entwined the mist in the mirror, and the birds rained down.

Happy Reading.

J. E. Hunter

J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, will be release March 28th, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series will be release by the end of 2016.

It was abandoned because…

Quote from Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch – The Beginning

I have a goal to be frugal this year. And I’m hoping that goal will spur my creativity. One of the first projects I’ve done is to make my own bookmarks. If you’ve been reading my posts for awhile, you will have seen the Bookmark Shadowbox post I did last year. Well, I happen to love bookmarks, but at 3-5 dollars a pop, I can’t afford them in my new frugal life.

Step 3 – Glueing and Taping

First glue the pictures to the cardboard to keep them in black. Then cover with a single piece of packing tape, making care to carry the tape over the edge of the bookmark. Press the tape firmly to the bookmark. Flip the bookmark over and tape the other side so that the bookmark is fully encapsulated in the tape.

Today I thought I would talk a bit about what I’ve been doing lately: colouring.

I bought this new colouring book, Lost Ocean. I thought it was a great idea to use it to get in the mood for working on my sea-themed Black Depths series. Instead, I’ve been colouring in bed while listening to season two of Serial.

It’s been fun.

What I didn’t realize about this book is that there are hidden objects, so as a bonus to colouring, you get to look for things like diamond rings, potion bottles, keys, and magic lamps. Here are a couple pictures of my book so far. It’s taking me about an hour to colour a whole page. Maybe even longer depending how many colours I choose to use. By that time, my hands pretty sore, but my mind has had a nice, long break. And then I’m ready to write, or go to sleep, or both.

Who’s getting the bouquet? Who’s giving it?

Let’s just say that the new MTV series, The Shannara Chronicles, has brought back my love of all things Shannara. It’s been a long time since I lost myself in the world of elfstones. I received my first Shannara book as a gift from my mom one Christmas in high school. I remember the colour of the book (maroon), the picture of Shea and Flick on the cover, and the sword. But honestly, I don’t remember much of the story.

I do, however, remember loving it. I remember reading every Shannara book I could get my hands on. Since those days, there have been many more Shannara books published, and, as all things do, my brief obsession passed and I moved on to other books.

But this series! I mean, yes, there are some cheesy parts, some parts that make me go, “Really? That’s the best your graphics department could do?” But there are other parts that make me go, “Yes! This is why I loved Eretria.” Of the things I do remember about these books, that character is one of them.

A few months back I took a stack of old books that I was done with (i.e. never saw myself reading them again, and had already loaned them to everyone I knew who would be interested in reading them), and exchanged them for new ones. Of these, I picked up a copy of the First King of Shannara. This is one of the Shannara books I never got around to reading the first time I lost myself in the world of Terry Brooks. I’d almost forgotten about it hidden away on my basement bookshelves. But the first episode of the series reminded me, and well, now it is on my bedside impatiently waiting to be read.

But I wanted to know how closely the MTV series followed the books, so I found myself at the bookstore browsing the fandangled new copies of “The Elfstones of Shannara”, which is Book 2 of the original series and where the television series is starting up. The second book probably makes a better show because of its strong female characters. Let’s admit it, there still aren’t a lot of fantasy series that have characters as strong as both Amberle and Eretria, and the dynamic of those two is just hilarious in the show.

It may be that because I don’t remember much of the original book series, that the television series is that much better for me (because usually I dislike book/movie/television transition. But, browsing through Elfstones and reading all the good parts, I thought the television show was following the book quiet closely.

Now, would I recommend you read the books if you’re watching the television show and have never picked up a paper copy of the Shannara books in your life? You bet – especially if you love to read like I do. Shannara is a beautiful, well thought out world. And it happens to transition to TV well too.

Which fish are you? What is your life like? How does the water feel/smell/taste? What are you doing today?

Two Options from the picture below today:

1) Pick a candle, who is it burning for?

2) Who lit these candles, write about that person.