Firebolt by Adrienne Wood Review with Interview and Giveaway!

Dragonian: Firebolt (1)

by Adrienne Woods

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Published: Nov 2013

Pages: 288

Summary:  "Dragons. Right. Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales, and sixteen-year old Elena Watkins was no different.
Until the night a fairy tale killed her father.
Now Elena’s in a new world, and a new school. The cutest guy around may be an evil dragon, a Prince wants Elena’s heart, and a long dead sorcerer may be waking up to kill her. Oh. And the only way Elena’s going to graduate is on the back of a dragon of her own.
Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales. Now it’s time for Elena to believe – in herself"" 

 

Guest Post/Interview I was offered to share with you.

1. What do you write about? Tell us a little about your previously published works.

I love ya, fantasy, paranormal and women’s fiction. I also write in all those genre’s but under

different names. Firebolt is the first book I’m going to publish but more are going to follow it.

2. How do you handle bad reviews? One thing you need to develop in this industry is a thick skin.

I always read my reviews, good or bad. If it’s something I can learn from, I will always thank the

reader. If it’s something nasty, I just try to ignore it, and move on. Your opinion about my story is

your opinion. If you can’t tell me why you didn’t like it, then I can’t learn from it. I love any type of

feedback and almost never see them as good or bad. As long as a review can teach me something,

it’s good in my opinion. The one thing you need to keep in mind, is that not everyone is going to love

your novel. I know that there are readers out there that didn’t love Twilight or Fifty Shades and look

where they are today.

3. Tell us a little about your work in progress? I have The Dragonian Series, that I am trying my

best to get it out in the next two years. I have the Zodiac series which is a New Adult Paranormal

series. I am also trying to get the first book, Blaze, out next year. I have a mythology series about

Triton called the Watercress series. I will also try to release the first novel in that series by the end

of next year, maybe beginning of 2015. My women’s fiction, also for New Adults, will come out next

year as well. It’s part of the Pregnancy Diaries and is called The Ebb Tide.

4. Any advice for aspiring writers? Yes, I do. Never give up, always be grateful to those that want

to read your book, and always be thankful for all the people that keep you positive. There are some

that do it without any family support.

5. What is your personal writing process? Firebolt has nine drafts. First, if I can’t visualize a story

straight through the end, I don’t start with it. When I do start with it, it takes me about three weeks

to write the first draft. Then the first revising and editing begins. I give that to four beta readers.

They are part of the Dragonian team and they’ve been with me from the beginning. I take all four

of their advice on my story lay out, which scenes are boring, what works, and what I need more off.

Then I write a second draft. That goes to my writing group. They help me with all the nitty-gritty stuff

like grammar, sentence building, dialogue, awkward phrases, etc. When I’m done with that, I send

it out to two different beta readers, they let me know what they think of my novel. I do the changes

where I feel it’s needed and send it back to my writers group. When I’m happy with everything being

done perfectly I send it to my editor. She does her magic, and after she’s finished it goes to my two

proof readers and then it’s off to my publisher. It’s a lot of steps, but I couldn’t do this without my

teams help. They are really awesome people.

6. Who are a few authors you look up to? J.K. Rowling. Not just because she wrote Harry Potter,

but where she came from. Stefanie Meyer showed all of us that a mom staying at home can become

a writer too. These types of women people can relate too and they show us that becoming a

bestseller can happen to anyone, you just need to work hard at it.

7. What book are you reading now? Plenty. Because I’m a reviewer myself I do read a couple of

books at a time. At the moment I’m reading The Decending Darkness by Michael Chulsky. , The Lost

Voice by Allison Angius, Water's Edge, by Jane Riddell, and Deep Echoes, by Sean P. Wallace.

8. What do you find particularly challenging about writing? The revising and editing. I dislike

everything about it because sometimes you need to cut scenes that will fit better in a second novel,

or I have to delete really good sentences that I grew attached to. It’s hard for an author to delete

those.

9. If there was one message you could send to everybody who reads your books, what would it

be? Thank you for taking the time to read my novel. I appreciate it so much, words can’t explain how

much.

10. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book? Nothing, each

step, each decline, each obstacle made me stronger. So I wouldn’t change anything.

Thank you so much for having me.

Kind wishes,

Adrienne

Also, please see my interview from the original release day blitz here.

Review:  Where is the next book?! I want more.... Can you tell I enjoyed this? This was an interesting blend of medieval fantasy mixed with some more modern urban fantasy. Lots of Harry Potter-like qualities to this book. And a book any fan of the aforementioned series should check out!

I had so much fun reading this book. It wastes no time getting right into the story. Elena is constantly moving around with her dad. Always running from bold text: something. One particular night on the run they are suddenly attacked by dragons. Next thing Elena knows she is in another world and her father is dead. Great things are expected from her and she is thrust into the school of Dragonia. There she learns of magic, dragons, Dragonians and more.

Elena is your average, run-of-the-mill teenager. Clumsy, speaks her mind, average skills, etc. The one thing she excels at are riddles, which is amusing as she apparently doesn't like them. She is easy to relate to being she is not your over-the-top heroine. The book is first person as her. Her mind is an easy-going, comfortable place to sit back and enjoy the ride.

The world she has entered is very similar to our own. They have cars, museums, shopping centers, "cell" phones, etc. Yet theirs is better even than what we have. Plus they have Dragons. In fact, about half of Elena's new classmates are dragons in human form. She has a lot to learn in this school and she struggles through it all. Elena also uses an adorable phrase: "For the love of blueberries." This made me smile every time I read it.

The school really reminds me of Harry Potter. Not in the magic sense but the classes, friendships, mix of the regular word and the magical, etc. Subtle things. Aspects of Eragon, Lord of the Rings, and other stories are also evident.

I love the characters. Over flirtatious Brian, Prince Lucian, sweet Sammy, courageous Becky and the enigma...Blake. I so wanted more about him. Alas, I must wait for the next book.

This book was read almost entirely in one sitting. Very entertaining and well-paced. A great balance or story and action. A bit predictable so far though. Not necessarily a bad thing though, while how it is written. But I did want to jump in and shake a character with the truth of certain matters. Although some of these "truths" are yet to be told in this book so there is a chance I am wrong. This book is rich in its telling. Not just the current story but the very world it is in. Adrienne Woods really did create a whole new world, including a wonderful back-story.

Overall, a joy to read. One to re-read. While there are some grammar mistakes (especially lack of spacing between words), the story helps to compensate and overlook most of them. If you want Dragons, romance, action and friendship this is assuredly a must read for you! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour hosted by: