Books/Writing


Novel Magic goes Swashbuckling

Ah–the clash of steel on steel, the smell of battle, the blood, the tights! Like my featured author, J.B. Dane, I grew up on a steady diet of sword fights on castle stairs, sword fights in a merry woodland, sword fights on a Caribbean beach. A rapier is dandy, but a nice, solid claidheamh mòr is mighty fine, as well. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WANT SWORD FIGHTS! I just might have been a swashbuckler in a previous life because there […]


Novel Magic Falls in Love for the Second Time

Romance is in the air (along with the bats) in Sorchia’s Universe. We like a good tale of love–unrequited love, tragic love, love interrupted by zombies–whatever. But truth has a way of being stranger–and sometimes more tragic–than fiction. Contemporary Romance author J.L. Regen tells about the true-life love story that inspired her first romance novel. Love is Lovelier the Second Time Around by J.L. Regen I wrote Secret Desires, my contemporary romance novel, because I truly believe that love is […]


Novel Magic Reads Viking Runes with Laura Strickland 5 comments

Reading the Runes is near to our hearts here in Sorchia’s Universe–I wrote a whole book about it (Zoraida Grey and the Pictish Runes) so when fellow-author and Divinator Extraordinaire Laura Strickland told me about her new book The Shaman’s Bride, I had to get her into Novel Magic. Below, she tells a bit about Viking Runes–Where they come from–What they mean–and How they might influence the life of Lodvar Haraldsson. Watch for a Sorchia Review of The Shaman’s Bride–Coming […]


Sorchia Reviews Shadow House by Anna Downes

Alex and her two kids are running away from an abusive relationship. Pine Ridge is supposed to be a safe ecovillage, a place where she can settle in with like-minded people and provide a healthy way of life for her kids. But of course, it’s not. In parallel tales set in Australia, Anna Downes tells the story of two mothers: one who loses her son and the other who is trying desperately to save hers. Ok, you’ve got me when […]


Sorchia Reviews Silvers Hollow by Patrick R. Delaney

She can’t remember how she got to the train station in her hometown, but she remembers why she doesn’t want to be there. The place is haunted with bad memories which is why she hasn’t visited in years. She remembers her parents and their distant—even negligent treatment of her and her sister. She remembers how her father would sometimes take her sister into the basement. She remembers her sister begged for help. She remembers so many things that don’t quite […]


Getting the Most Mileage from Your Novel Magic Post 1 comment

So, you have a fantastic post filled with wit and wisdom. (I talk about how to write this fantastic post in How to Make Your Novel Magic Post Magically Delicious.) Your post has compelling content, vivid images, and it speaks to the souls of readers everywhere. How do you get the word out and make sure it doesn’t get lost amongst the hundreds of thousands of posts that hit the Internet each day? Here’s my best advice. These are important […]