The Last Star Receives 5-Star Review from Readers Favorite!

As some of you know, one of my next big steps--as soon as I am ready for it--will be seeking out an agent for my MG short novel, The Last Star. I decided to cross my fingers and send it off to Readers Favorite for a review. After all, the reviewers there liked Bloodmaiden well enough to give it five stars.

Lo and behold, another five-star review has just returned to me!

Here is what this reviewer has to say about my MG fantasy manuscript, The Last Star:

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The Last Star

Rating: 5.0 stars

Reviewed by Lynn F. for Readers Favorite

The Last Star by Christine E. Schulze is a fantasy short story geared towards teenagers and young adults. When the Shadows thought they had destroyed all the stars and plunged the world into darkness, they discovered one dimly lit star, a star better known as a backward star located in the NovaLight. Now the Shadows had magnificent powers, but they are a sorry lot, dark with no light shining through them at all. Sending forth an army of their own, they are out to get the last star and stuff her out. Escaping the NovaLight, Olette, the golden fox, heads to anyplace where she can escape the Shadows. Landing, she meets up with twin sisters, Celesse and Lianna, and four of their friends. Between these six and Olette, they come up with a plan to destroy the Shadows. With the six bringing forth their Stars, and Olette as the Blue star, they set out to destroy the Shadows the only way they know how by producing the brightest light possible.

This was quite an interesting fantasy that brings the reader to one conclusion: it’s a story of good versus evil. It reminded me a lot of the Star War series where Luke's father turns to the dark side as Darth Vadar. Here we find Ayanna’s father, a once powerful star, turned to the dark side and become a Shadow. Reading this book from a Christian’s point of view, what came to my mind is that we all fight a battle between good and evil. If we let the evil, the darkness, distinguish our light, then we are without any power; we are no better than the Shadows. Dark hearts are cold because they are devoid of good things like love and peace, like light has. The book is cleanly written, and I found it to have a very great moral to the story. As with Ayanna’s father, a truly repentant heart can have its light shine brightly again.

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Well, there's one small credit to look great when I'm sending out to agents! Thanks so much, Readers favorite, for a beautiful review!

~ Christine E. Schulze

Bloodmaiden Wins Honorable Mention in the 2011 Readers Favorite Awards

I am pleased to announce the awesome news that Bloodmaiden placed in the 2011 Readers Favorite Contest!

It was a Finalist in two categories. In the end of things, it ended up being a Finalist for Christian Fantasy and won an Honorable Mention for Children-Pre-teen. It also received a five-star review from Readers Favorite.

Thanks for everyone's support, God bless, and happy reading to all!

~ Christine E. Schulze

The Chronicles of the Mira: Ebook Give-away!

It's out at last!!!

And, of course, I am hosting a give-away. The print isn't out yet, so this will be for the ebook version. Three winners will receive an ecopy of the anthology!

To enter, simply:

1. Comment here! Tell me which you like best: fairies or elves. You can talk about your favorite type, a kind you made up, whatever!

2. Be sure to leave your email address! If you win, I want you to get your ebook.

* The contest will go on until the end of September.

And let the entering commence!

Golden Healer, Dark Enchantress: Enter to Win!

In honor of the very first blog tour for Golden Healer, Dark Enchantress, and its companion, Tears of a Vampire Prince, I am hosting a give away here on my own blog, as usual. Three winners will receive a paperback copy of both books.

All you need do this time to enter is:

1. Tell me what your favorite vampire or type of vampire is.

2. Leave your email address so I can send word to the winners.

And let the blogging and posting and winning begin!

~ Christine E. Schulze

Gailean Quartet Blog Tour Schedule

I just wanted to update everyone and let them know that the schedule for The Gailean Quartet tour is now officially set. Starting on June 27, you can check out the layout here:

Teen Book Scene Tour

Also, for those who wish to enter the giveaway accompanying the blog tour, you can start leaving your comments here:

Gailean Quartet giveaway

Thanks, enjoy, and again, God bless and best to all who enter!

~ Christine E. Schulze

New Blog for Writers-Exchange Authors

Hello, fellow readers and writers. I wanted to announce that Writers-Exchange has opened up a new blog for their authors, like myself. If you'd like to check out my writings about The Stregoni Sequence and other WEE-exclusive books, or check out other WEE authors, be sure to visit here:

http://www.writers-exchange.com/blog/archives/50

Thanks so much for the support, God bless, and happy reading to all!

~ Christine E. Schulze

Enter to win: BLOODMAIDEN, the end of the Bookish Snob Promotions Tour

Hello, and thank you to all who have joined the exciting blog tour for my YA Christian fantasy, Bloodmaiden, as well as to those just joining in!

I would especially like to thank Bels at Bookish Snob Promotions for setting up this brilliant tour, as well as all bloggers who allowed me to participate on their site. It was a fun and rewarding experience, and I look forward to future tours.

Now, for the final contest! I would like to offer three copies of Bloodmaiden for giveaway. The three winners will also see their names in an upcoming book of mine; they will be notified of the book's completion and will receive a free copy of the ebook and/or print book.

In order to enter the contest, all you have to do is comment below, telling me the following:

1. Your email address

2. Your favorite fantasy creature or race--who knows, if you win, you might see this creature or actually be one when I create your character.

3. Tell me the name you would like your character to have. It can be your real name or one you just really like.



* The contest will last from May 23rd through May 31st.

And that's it!

Thanks so much to everyone who participates; please comment below to enter!

~ Christine E. Schulze

The Gailean Quartet: First Official Blog Tour!

I am proud to say that I have secured my first blog tour for my magical, musical, young adult Christian fantasy series, The Gailean Quartet. Teen Book Scene is being awesome enough to run a three-week tour from me. The dates are June 27 – July 16, and you can follow along on their website once it gets started.

I'm writing this post though because, once the tour is over, I will be giving away a copy of the entire four-book collection in paperback copies. The winner will also be placed in one of my next books. If you would like to enter to win, this is the post to comment on!

ENTER TO WIN THE GAILEAN QUARTET BELOW!

Here's all you have to do to enter:Comment on this post; if you win, I will place you in a book, so tell me what your favorite fantasy creature is (fairy, elf, vampire, nymph, etc.) and why. Who knows; you might meet or even be such a creature in my book!

*In the post, be sure to include your email address so I can contact you!

Let the blog tour begin, and best to all who enter!

~ Christine E. Schulze

Vote for Golden Healer, Dark Enchantress

My ebook, Golden Healer, Dark Enchantress, has been nominated at Romance Reviews for best Fantasy Romance of 2010! Please stop by at the following link to vote for my book:
http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=230

Winners receive a free promotional package for their book!

Thanks and God bless to all contestants!

~ Christine E. Schulze

YAB Authors ForEVER

Hi, YA authors and readers! I've just created a blog where YA authors can promote their work through interviews, guest posts, character interviews, give aways, etc.

If you're an author in need of some promotion (who isn't, eh?) or just a nosy reader, please stop by:

http://www.yabauthorsforever.blogspot.com/

God bless, happy reading and writing, and may you be inspired!

~ Christine E. Schulze

Broken and Black Lace: the makings of

In order to complete the work begun with Bloodmaiden: a fantasy anthology, I've decided to create a trilogy of anthologies. The others will be called Broken and Black Lace. Filled with fantasy--some dark, some light--suspense, romance, horror, and adventure, these last two collections will be published with Rebecca J. Vickery, the publisher who published the Bloodmaiden anthology with her Victory Tales Press.

Here you'll find a collection of pictures, including coverart for the books, followed by my recent photo shoot to create the cover of Black Lace, the latest and last to be written into the three-book collection.

In some of the photos, you will notice artwork depicting ravens. Though I did not use any of the artwork depicted in the photos for my cover, I would still like to give credit to the inspiration of the artists, Karen Bondarchuk, Josh Rowan and Teresa Wang, and their collection entitled Evermore. Special thanks to Southwestern Illinois College's Schmidt Art Center for allowing us to shoot photos, especially around that darling little piano. Also, thanks to SWIC's theatre...even though they didn't know we were in there, filming away. ^_^

Thanks also to the lovely, red-headed Kayla, whom I like to call my "posing director and consultant"; my curly-headed sweetheart and photographer, Jonathan; and the most wonderfully cynical Phil, who seems to be in denial in his photo about his involvement with anything (perhaps because his sole purpose was to distract me and make me laugh while being photographed).

All that said, do enjoy the photos, and look for the books' release, hopefully in the next several months or so!

~ Christine E. Schulze

Silent Hero: a second go

Well, I re-read Silent Hero, and while I did find it to be not quite as awful as some made it out to be, it did need a read-through. As before, I didn't do as thorough a read-through as I would have for my original works, noting every comma, syllable, and vowel; however, I did need to make changes of things that didn't make sense. For example, the scene where Link and Midna meet Nayru and Midna mentions meeting Farore and Din earlier...yeah, only, that never happened...

Sigh. Just goes to show that if you're a serious author in other aspects, you can't just throw a fanfic out there like the rest of the world. Well, it at least makes sense now, even if people don't like it.

Re-reading was good for me too because it helped me figure out that there was more romance in it than I thought. While not a romance book, it does contain a romance story of sorts between Link and Midna. Probably another reason some readers were turned off; though, as ever with fan fiction, people will get very defensive, and what one loves, another will hate. Still, folks, it's just a story.

Well, there you have it. I am either brave or stupid, as only time will tell. For now, I bid readers enjoy "Silent Hero" as they may, and especially my other works as well.

Silent Hero: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, I've decided to remove Silent Hero from Smashwords for now. the book has already received more hype than I would have expected, and many fans seem upset that:

1. Someone would have the nerve to "officially" publish a Zelda fanfic

2. Someone would have the nerve to do this without really editing the work

That said, some think it's great while others think it's blah. But that's beside the point. I'm removing for these two reasons:

1. Don't want to get myself in trouble if there's too much negative hype

2. Being a regular, fanfic work, it really is unedited; I don't want readers thinking that's the quality of all my other, original, and very-much-edited books.

I may choose to re-release it once I've had time to sit down and edit. Or, I may not. For now though, you can still read it on sites like fanfiction, North Castle, webook, and evolitera; just don't expect to see it on Barnes & Noble again real soon, but...

Maybe someday. It was a nice challenge and experiment, at the least. And it DOES have that nifty new cover. ^_^