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If you have followed my blog for a while you may remember when I did some fan art for Gillian Bronte Adams fantasy story, and I'm glad to say that today she is guest posting here! In case you have never heard of her here is a little bio, then ill hand it over to Gillian.
Bio: GILLIAN BRONTE ADAMS is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, coffee-loving speculative fiction author from the great state of Texas (America). During the day, she manages the equestrian program at a youth camp. But at night, she kicks off her boots and spurs, pulls out her trusty laptop, and transforms into a novelist. She is the author of Orphan’s Song, book one of the Songkeeper Chronicles, and Out of Darkness Rising. Visit Gillian online at her blog, Twitter, or Facebook page.

Today, we’re looking at the letter G.
G is for Gundhrold
They were coming.
Gundhrold peered into the moonless dark, feathered wings ruffling in the breeze. Distant howls sounded to the beat of thundering hooves and clinking armor. Distant, but rapidly approaching. Foul murderers. His claws dug into the bark of the limb, and dark sap bubbled out of the scratches. A fresh scent hovered around him, strange amidst the eerie screams borne upon the wind, and he studied the russet sap staining his claws like blood.
Writing the prologue of Orphan’s Song (book one) from a non-human perspective was both challenging and fun. Gundhrold is a griffin, which in our world is considered a mythical creature with the body and tawny colored fur of a lion, crowned with the head of an eagle and russet feathered wings. At the opening of
Orphan’s Song, he is already long past his prime, though he would never admit it. Particularly not to the peddler, Amos McElhenny.
In the world of Leira, griffins served the Songkeepers and Songlings as Protectors, and as such, they were ever hunted by the Takhran. It fell to the council of griffins to determine which individuals had received a partial gifting (Songlings) and which had received the full gifting (Songkeepers). In Songkeeper, we learn that one such decision led an angry young man named Rav—brother of the Songling Zahar—to betray the griffins to the Takhran, a deed which led to a horrible tragedy. Now as the last of his kind, the task of protecting the Songkeeper falls to Gundhrold alone.
“For centuries, my kind have served as Protectors for the Songkeepers and for anyone who showed promise of possessing their abilities—Songlings, we called them.” – Songkeeper
By the time the story begins, Gundhrold has lived long enough, traveled wide enough, and endured hardship enough to not suffer fools kindly. He is the king of acerbic wit. Although he is far from human in matters of social niceties, sarcasm is one human habit that he has completely mastered.


One of my favorite parts of writing is when you get to pit vastly different characters together in tough circumstances and see what hilarities ensue. As an author, it’s like having front row seats to a cage match—albeit, generally a comedic one. It’s time to kick back, settle in with a bowl of popcorn, and wait for the fists to fly.
Gundhrold was such a strong personality in and of himself that he needed an equally strong personality to butt heads with, and Amos … well, Amos was the perfect candidate. If you haven’t met Amos McElhenny yet, he’s a traveling peddler with a fierce temper and tongue to match. So—SPOILER ALERT—at the end of Orphan’s Song, throwing Amos and Gundhrold into a do or die mission together was just too good an opportunity to pass up. *evil chuckle*
Gundhrold’s head lowered until his massive beak was only inches away from Amos’s nose. “I am a son of the desert. This was once my home—the home of all my kind. I know every crag, every slope, every crick and hollow—”
Amos rolled his eyes. “Every blatherin’ speck o’ sand?”
“I know where I’m going. Don’t interfere.” The griffin padded off, broken wing still trailing the ground, leaving Amos racking his brain for a suitable insult for the … the … insufferable beast.
Needless to say, much hilarity (and fist throwing) ensued …
Gundhrold is fierce in battle. Not at all the sort to trifle with. But beneath his ferocity and rigid exterior, he hides a heart that beats with the truest affection for those under his care. He will fight to the death for those that he seeks to protect.
Gundhrold bared his teeth. This was death. This was the end. And he would meet it with all the fury in his soul and wake in Emhran’s land to greet the dawn.


Songkeeper Blurb: War ravages Leira and the Song has fallen silent.
Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.
Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran’s fortress. Legend speaks of a mythical spring buried within and the Songkeeper who will one day unleash it to achieve victory. Everyone believes Birdie is the one, but the elusive nature of the Song and rumors of other gifted individuals lead her to doubt her role. Unleashing the spring could defeat the Takhran once and for all, but can she truly be the Songkeeper when the Song no longer answers her call?

Check out the links below for a place to purchase the books.
Barnes and Nobles: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper


And before you leave, don’t forget to enter the giveaway! One lucky winner will take home a copy of Orphan’s Song,  Songkeeper, and a gorgeous handmade mug. Two lucky winners will take home copies of Songkeeper! Enter through the Rafflecopter below and be sure to visit www.gillianbronteadams.com to continue following the blog tour. You can earn new entries for each post that you visit along the way. Winners will be announced after April 15th.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you encountered a griffin in a fantasy book/movie before? What is your favorite type of mythological creature?



The book lived up to the cover, although the characters did not spend as much time in the desert as I had thought they would. The story was fast paced and connected with my emotions and allover I would rate it as even better than the first book, Orphan's Song. It is darker though, but in that darkness there is a faint hope. It is a Christian fantasy but none of the characters are actually 'Christian' instead there is Emhran, who is like God, and even that is all very subtle and in the background. Which is just how I like fantasy books, any book actually. It is telling the story and not being preachy about something other than the story. 


Songkeeper was a lot more violent than Orphan's Song and at times gruesome too, but not really any more than was necessary. They did go into the most evil place in the land though and that was quite horrible and at the beginning one character was tortured a little to try bend another character to the bad guys will.


The characters are the best bit though, especially Amos, Gundhrold and Migdon, Ky oh and Birdie too. I really liked how the 'voice' of the writing changed to be like the way Amos talks whenever we followed him, although it was still in third person. That also left no doubt when switching which character we were now following. The characters have a perfect amount of complexity relative to how much we see them in the story. 

There were funny moments, quite a few actually and usually involving my three favourite characters Amos, Gundhrold and Migdon. A few quotes for example:

 “Hurry, aye, but hurry where?" Amos halted midstride and spread his arms wide to encapsulate the view. The Vituain desert surrounded them, vast in its nothingness.”

Ky glared at the dwarf. He lunged for the bank, landing with the upper half of his body flat on at least partially dry ground. The edge sank beneath his weight and cold water crept up his shirt. By the time it reached his ribs, he was shivering. But he hung on, and between digging his elbows in and kicking his heals like a frog in a wallow, he managed to crawl clear of the muck and roll over on his back.
Migdon stooped over him, jaw jutting in a frown. "You could've just asked for help." 
Ky spat out a mouthful of mud and stayed where he was, gazing up at the ice blue sky of mid-morning.”



Why did the sand-blasted catbird have to be so seaswoggling
logical? It was downright infuriating.” ~Amos

I could go on with them, and on about the characters, but instead you should buy the book and go read it because it is one worth reading. (And buying so the author can write more.) I highly recommend it. The plot is not vastly complex but there is a lot to find out and you care about the characters. You really do, they are so alive ..... ah the irony of that statement. But as I said there is hope in the story and that makes it beautiful. 

Oh and I should say that I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review and this is that. Five full stars!

 Are you getting sick of posts about The Songkeeper  Chronicles yet? I promise the next one won't be.... but the one after that probably will! But this one is mostly about how I drew this fan Art anyway.

The scene is from the same place as this quote, quite near the very beginning of the book. I just liked that quote so much, and I wanted to draw a griffin, so I did. (I mean seriously who does not want to draw a griffin, if you can't have a live one of your own then a cool drawing is better than nothing!)

 “Hurry, aye, but hurry where?" Amos halted midstride and spread his arms wide to encapsulate the view. The Vituain desert surrounded them, vast in its nothingness.

~ Gillian Bronte Adams, Songkeeper


 I always start with a sketch, which is the trickiest part. I google pictures of people in the positions I want them in and even griffins, or if say I can't find a photo of a griffin. Apparently they are very hard to get a photograph of. A mixture of a lion and an eagle will also do. After lots of sketching and erasing, I scan the sketch into the computer and open Photoshop. This time I wanted a more watercolour or painted look so I picked a brush that looked a bit like a paint brush and most of the time I had the transparency of that brush around 20% but sometimes 9% for really light colours I only just wanted to see and another time 40% for the first layer on the rocks. Oh and 100% for the base of the background. 

 The base of the background is also the base colour of the Griffin. Because even though he had a lot of layers of colour there were still some places he was transparent. I made so many layers and changed colours slightly, lots and the fact that the brush was transparent allowed the colours to mix and blend. 


As with any drawing the most important part is the shading. The colours being lighter where the sun would hit and gradually darker in places where there should be more shade. While 'painting' the colour I thought constantly about where the sun was coming from. And of course when drawing you have the power to determine where the sun comes from, so make good use of the power! Don't forget to add actual shadows too.... and lots and lots of layers, don't be afraid to experiment moving the layers around trying different ones on top.

Though if you use a sketch like I do you better keep that as the top layer and on 'Multiply', because if it were set on normal.... then you could only see the sketch.... but the cool thing about the different effects you can have layers appearing on is you can just make all that white disappear completely. 


The skyline was not working so I added a bit of a coming sand storm which happens later in the book. I used the same brush to do that part but a different brush to add the more textured part of the sand, again with multiple layers of colour at different transparencies. 

The rocks were also described in the book so I put a few of them in. And then along came Amos. Again a different drawing than the griffin... probably a good thing too because I drew him about three times before I was happy... before Jane was happy.


Now to the inadvisability cloak part.... I just happened to paint his cloak last and I had to save a picture of it because it looked like he was wearing an invisibility cloak! See it has turned the colour of the sand... If only you could pull things out of drawings and into real life.... 


But since Amos did not actually have an invisibility cloak in the story, at least not that he told anyone about, I had to paint it too. I thought I was done but Jane informed me that you could not see his dirk, so I fixed that by making a slight bulge under his cloak and a bit of darker brown. So just letting you know there is a dirk under there.

 So here is the finished piece of art: Gundhrold and Amos hurrying across the desert.

“Hurry, aye, but hurry where?" 

Anticipation 

When I grow up I mean to be
A Lion large and fierce to see.
I’ll mew so loud that Cook in fright
Will give me all the cream in sight.
And anyone who dares to say
“Poor Puss” to me will rue the day.
Then having swallowed him I’ll creep
Into the Guest Room Bed to sleep. 
by Oliver Herford

 I learnt that poem many yeas ago and still remember it, I am not a cat but I am anticipating a few things. And that is what this post is about. I am also sure there are a few things I have forgotten but obviously I am not anticipating them much if I have forgotten them.

 The closest thing I am anticipating is the release of Songkeeper..... the second book in "The Songkeeper Chronicles" which will also be a trilogy. Check out the cover! I enjoyed book one but I have an ARC of Songkeeper and am halfway though it and it is even better, when I am finished I will post a review, and in a few days some more fan art because there are so many scenes I could draw. 

Secondly, Brotherband 6: The Ghostfaces by John Flanagan. When I first heard the title of this one I thought it was rather weird and not so nice sounding, but after reading the synopsis it makes sense. So here is that synopsis: When the brotherband crew are caught in a massive storm at sea, they're blown far off course, surviving only because they wash up on the shores of a land that isn't on any of Hal's maps. 

 They're being watched, but they don't know if the locals are friend or foe – until the brotherband spring into action to rescue two children from a marauding bear, earning the Herons the gratitude of the Mawagansett people. The peace is short-lived. The ruthless, warmongering Ghostface tribe are heading their way, and the Herons must help their new friends repel an invasion. 

 Among the nail-biting battles and heart-stopping action, one Heron must make an agonising decision that could change the brotherband forever. 

 John Flanagan writes his action packed books so well and they are filled with such Australian humour, our family just enjoys these stories so much.

A Time To Rise is probably the thing I wish would hurry up and be released sooner than all the rest, I need to read this book.... I really... really...do. I can't wait.. but alas I must.

JASON BOURNE 5; this one is quite different from the other things I am anticipating the release of, one, it is a movie, and two, I really don't know what to expect of it. I hope it is as epic as the previous movies ...... I am anticipating it but I don't necessarily  recommend it or the others movies before it to most of my readers.... they are really well done but really violent... But I do hope this movie is a good as the first few!


 Another thing I am anticipating is my birthday! Yes I know it is just over a month away but still it is my birthday! YAY!..... oh golly I am going to be so old......

And the last thing I can thing of is Austockphoto. It is a new stock photography gallery. Where you will be able to buy heaps of all Australian images from. I am a photographer for it! They are hoping to launch in the middle of the year sometime.

What are you anticipating? Books being released, movies, something else?

I completed this a while ago but it only just came to my attention that I had not posted it. It is another scene from Orphan's Song by Gillian Bronte Adams. Yes you should go read the book I reviewed it here. Especially since it is only 15 days until the next book "Songkeeper" comes out. And that one is good to.... Ah yes I am already reading it and drawing another character from it, well the Griffin anyway, because he is one of my favourites, we get to see a lot more of him in Songkeeper than in the first book. And you see a lot more of him than a shadow in my next drawing. Anyway here is the completed drawing, which I did in colour, regretting it all the while... until I had finished anyway.


Have you ever drawn any fan art?
Do you prefer this colour one to the one I drew of Ky?
And what about the texture over this one, like or not?

I can't believe I did not realize that the creature on the cover is a griffin and not a giant eagle. I rate Orphan Song at 4.5, there is nothing wrong with the book or content, but it just was not as amazing as some. 

 Anyway, Orphan's Song by Gillian Bronte Adams is book one of the Songkeeper Chronicles, and book two is being released soon so you can read this one now and you won't have long at all to wait for book two!


Who Will Keep the Song Alive?

Every generation has a Songkeeper – one chosen to keep the memory of the Song alive. And in every generation, there are those who seek to destroy the chosen one.

When Birdie's song draws the attention of a dangerous Khelari soldier, she is kidnapped and thrust into a world of ancient secrets and betrayals. Rescued by her old friend, traveling peddler Amos McElhenny, Birdie flees the clutches of her enemies in pursuit of the truth behind the Song’s power.
Ky is a street–wise thief and a member of the Underground—a group of orphans banded together to survive . . . and to fight the Khelari. Haunted by a tragic raid, Ky joins Birdie and Amos in hopes of a new life beyond the reach of the soldiers. But the enemy is closing in, and when Amos’ shadowed past threatens to undo them all, Birdie is forced to face the destiny that awaits her as the Songkeeper of Leira.


I have so much trouble deciding if I should start reviews with the good or the bad or in this case the not so good. I think I will start with that because then I can end on a positive note.

 Not so good: Orphan's Song is a fantasy book and they do a lot of traveling, but there IS NO MAP. Which I count a great fault in any book of this kind. They did a lot of traveling but although I was not confused a map would have improved this book so much.

 There were twists and surprises, except I was not surprised by them and I guessed them. I think most were guessable because the book was just a bit cliché. The prologue was very similar to so many other story beginnings or prologues I have read. The rest of the story was a little cliché too but saying that not overly so and not at all borrowed from other books, but just kinda what is expected.

There is no bad content whatsoever unless you count the bit of violence.... but I don't remember it being overly descriptive either.

Good and just totally amazing: Orphan's Song had me turning pages, it never dragged. There was a lot of mystery hanging around the story that was slowly revealed, but I knew just enough to keep me happy, (which I would not have known without the prologue so maybe that was good after all). There was quite a few hints of the interesting history of the world, but no info dumps.

 The world building was really well done (except no map.... how is that possible?) Even things like other unusual creatures the book would mention were done well. It would not describe them overly leaving mostly everything to the imagination, but it would tell enough. The magic or Song power or whatever was quite cool too.

And finally the characters! The thief Ky was very well developed and all the underground everything. And the back story of that which we learn parts of during the book is intriguing. As for Amos, I could picture him so well, he is not a character I will forget despite him falling into the grumpy won't tell you anything mentor category. Even the animals, the Griffin and George were rather good and also mysterious.

The very hidden analogy was lovely too, making the book allover special and just such an enjoyable read.

The ending felt right. Although it is a cliff hanger and I had been told by my sister how horrible it was it did not seem to bad. I guess I was expecting something a lot more worse. I know of a lot of other characters that have escaped out of the situation they are stuck in now so although it is a cliffhanger it is good and not all that bad, but I do want the next book. 

 I highly recommend that you read this book. And then pre-order the next one.


And because book photos........ are photos of books... 



As you can see I liked the little owl bookmark, so I had to make one for myself too... and I used it while reading this book!

So don't forget to enter into the bookmark giveaway if you have not already because this is the last day.

I am part of the Songkeeper Launch Team! Songkeeper is the second book in Gillian Bronte Adams Songkeeper Chronicles. And it is a really fun launch team because it is competitive and there are all these things we can do to get points. One of them is drawing fan art, and I really like drawing but don't do it often enough so this is a perfect excuse! I chose Ky Huntyr, because he is one of my favourite characters from Orphan Song, the first book. Actually I don't know who is my favourite I like a lot of them.

 I shall be doing a book review of Orphan Song shortly and then one of Songkeeper after that. They are both Fantasy, Christian Fiction, books.


And don't forget to enter into my giveaway if you have not already!

I got Out of Darkness Rising by Gillian Bronte Adams for Christmas. I had been wanting to read it for ages, and I was not disappointed by it, except maybe that is was so thin. I wanted it to last longer.


Darkness reigns unchallenged.

For the villagers on the accursed Island, life has only one meaning - death. Bound to the Island by the curse, the villagers suffer beneath the iron claw of the Serpent, daily breathing the poison of his breath and dying to appease his insatiable appetite.


When Marya’s parents are slain by the serpent for their belief in a legendary king, she becomes an outcast. Struggling to survive and avoid the vengeance of the Tribunal, Marya is torn between legend and the harsh reality of the Island. Yet when a forgotten promise springs to life, she cannot help wondering if the old stories might in fact be true. And if they are, will the promise prove stronger than the curse? 


 The back cover actually gives away a bit more of the story than I would like, but hopefully you will have forgotten it by the time you read this book. If you don't you will still be able to enjoy it immensely. The first sentence is rather good too. As are the cool dragon/serpent pictures inside. (which I did not take photos of...)


This story is an allegory of redemption. Out of Darkness Rising is a short read, sad, and hopeful and beautiful, the writing resounds with one of the world greatest truths. But it does not forget the story or plot. The characters are fairly relatable, although because of the shortness you only get to know them so much. The story, a retelling of the greatest rescue, is epic. But I must again say it felt over too soon, I wish it was longer. Another point to it would be that some of the writing actually reminded me a little of C.S. Lewis' writing. 

And the cover is seriously cool too, especially since it is a scene in the story, and because it just is. I do like it when it actually happens in the book though. And as it suggests, there are swords and a dragon in the book.
Have you read any of Gillian Bronte Adams' books?
She has only published two, but there are more coming!