Enter to win "Bloodmaiden (Second Edition)"!

I would like to announce that the Goodreads give-away for Bloodmaiden (Second Edition) is now underway! If you don't have a Goodreads account, it's sorta like Facebook for book-lovers. It's easy to join, and you can meet lots of fellow readers, review your favorite books, and enter to win new releases from your favorite authors!

To enter to win a copy of Bloodmaiden (I'm giving away three), just head to: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/83037-bloodmaiden

Thanks, and best to all who enter!

~ Christine

"Silent Hero" Re-vamped

Dear Readers of Silent Hero, Both New and Old,

As some of you know, I am in the process of re-vamping many of my self-published works. Most of these are those which were not on the market long, which I published hastily in my impatient youth, and which I now wish to see perfected before being re-released into the world. Thankfully, having been on the market a short time, hardly any copies were sold, which leaves me a broad audience hungry for fantasy and adventure upon their re-release. Currently, I’m working with the brilliant Kira Lerner to restore two of my series, The Gailean Quartet and The Legends of Surprisers; the goal is to complete both by the end of 2013.

That brings me to Silent Hero, my first and only fanfic, inspired by Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda game series. Even though it is merely a fanfic, I did want to do another read-through and address any issues I came across. And did I find some! Readers had spoken of minor plot holes; I am ashamed to have found several of these myself, from things like our heroes finding the Zora’s sapphire twice, to a couple of other moments which make one just stop and scratch their heads. Thus, I’ve read through, fixing these issues. While I am sorry to have found such problems, I am also glad too; it means I am learning much as an author and can begin to see and fix such problems for myself.

I’ve also sought to tighten up the writing a tad; I’ve been learning that, while one of my strengths is being a very visual writer, I can also tend to be too “flowery” with my language, I vice I’m working to improve upon and which I hope reflects in this newly edited version of Silent Hero.

Silent Hero is still a fan-based work; therefore, I see no need to pay to work with a professional editor like I’m currently doing with many of my original works. However, after reading through, there were certainly some small errors and plot holes which needed addressing, as well as some things which could use better explanations. Our heroes end up collecting Shards, Songs, and Stones, which makes things sort of convoluted. And while I wasn’t prepared for a complete overhaul, this again being a fan-based work, I at least wanted to explain what was going on better, such as what exactly our heroes were looking for and why, and how these things would help them.

Is the plot still convoluted? Honestly, from all I’ve learned from my editors thus far, I can say, “Yes!” And, was this an original work and not a fan-based one, I would seek to correct it. As it is, I’ve kept in all the hodge-podge stuff from several Zelda games, although, as said above, I’ve worked to make it make more sense.

Again, though I recognize the book as still being convoluted, my recognizing this is a good thing. It means I’m learning; I’m working on a book with my editor right now which, before her input, had a very confusing mythos with far too many rules. Now, the mythos is simpler, but better for it. As I said, Silent Hero is a fanfic, so I’ll let what is be, especially as many of the readers who enjoyed the book liked seeing all the different elements of the different games that I included. However, were this an original work set in an original world of mine, I would definitely improve upon the that aspect of the book.

I apologize to the thousands of fans who have already downloaded the book, both those of you who have enjoyed and those who haven’t. To those who enjoyed, you deserve something even better! To those of you who didn’t, I can’t guarantee you’ll like the book now, especially if you don’t like Midna and the bits of romance added in. Many of the changes I made were necessary, but small, and the overall story is still the same. However, like it or not, at least I’ve addressed some of the issues.

So, on then with the adventure, and enjoy reading! Oh, and enjoy the new cover too; I’ve learned a lot about cover art the past year or so as well and quite enjoyed the subtle but very impactful changes to Silent Hero’s cover.

Thanks again to all of my readers, fellow Zelda-fans included!

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

~ Christine E. Schulze

I am pleased to announce the release of my new album, "Stregoni Symphony," which features music from several of my fantasy and Christian fantasy books for middle graders and young adults.

I've released this album in the past; however, this version is updated with brand new art and contains a different line-up of songs, including a few new ones. Listeners may notice it is also missing quite a few of the older tracks; these will be included in my second album, "The Gailean Quartet," which is scheduled for CD release by the end of this year, along with the re-release of "The Prism of Ashlei" and "The Pool of Lorelei," the first two books in my YA fantasy series full of magic, mystery, misadventure, and music, "The Gailean Quaret."

Please feel free to check out the album, listen to bits of the songs, purchase a CD or download MP3s of your favorite songs at these locations:

Rmusic
http://www.rmusic.com/unsigned/stregoni_symphony.html

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Stregoni-Symphony-Inspired-Written-Christine/dp/B008GW41OK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341531042&sr=8-3&keywords=stregoni+symphony

Thanks again for listening and reading! God bless, and may you be inspired!

~ Christine E. Schulze

New Zazzle Stuff!

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be creating some new posters, tee-shirts, and what-have-you in honor of my recent and up-and-coming publications, including The Hero Chronicles and The Gailean Quartet. Feel free to check out what I have so far on Zazzle, and keep a look-out as I add new products!

Schulze's Zazzle:
http://www.zazzle.com/the_pirates_of_meleeon-228206387132886987

"Hero Chronicles" Goes Middle Grade

Sometimes it's hard to choose the correct age group for a book.

I recently re-released my series, The Hero Chronicles, as YA fantasy. However, I had been debating whether it might be better to label it "middle grade," and the consensus from reviewers has made me finally make that switch.

Getting poor reviews always sucks; however, it's often a means for an author to grow as well. I recently sent out a number of e-copies to Goodreads reviewers. Some loved the series. Others really didn't like the first book; most of these liked the rest of the series well enough, but a few didn't.

I've come to the conclusion that the reason some of my readers really didn't like the books was because they were expecting one thing and received another. From their reviews and talking to them, I've decided to call the series "middle grade" instead, to better target the correct readers.

I read an article that talks about the differences between YA and middle grade:
write4kids.com/feature6.html
The article did help greatly. It was still a hard call for me, as an author, but thankfully, that's where readers come in handy. The books' quirky humor, deep focus on friendship and inner growth, its more light-hearted dating relationships, short page lengths, fast pace, and their sometimes fairy-tale feel just make them a better fit for middle grade, despite the outside trials the characters have to deal with, the fact they are in their early teens instead of being tweens or younger, and the fact that themes like death are touched upon.

So, there you have it. Sometimes, the cookie just doesn't seem to crumble in the author's favor. I had honestly never had such a negative response from that number of reviewers; however, I've chosen to embrace it as a learning experience, and hopefully I've left my readers left confused.

If you're like me and you still can enjoy the world of fairy-tales, magic, middle grade humor in all its weirdness, coupled with an intriguing story and characters you're not soon to forget, The Hero Chronicles may be for you. Otherwise, feel free to checkout some of my true YA works such as Bloodmaiden. One of my reviewers, Lacey Lane, wasn't so keen on The Hero Chronicles but loved Bloodmaiden enough to give it five stars. Kudos to her for sticking out reading all those books.

As it is with many things, so it is with readers. The trick is attracting the right readers to the right book. To each his own.

"Lily in the Snow" Receives a 5-Star Rating and Review from Reader's Favorite

This is my third 5-star review with Reader's Favorite, the first being for my YA novel "Bloodmaiden," the second being for my YA manuscript "The Last Star." 

Woo-hoo! Feel free to read the review in full at this link: 


http://readersfavorite.com/review/5476

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