Guest Blogging

Hi, I’m Steven Moynier author of Alize in Wonderland and I’m your host for this stop in the Hunt.

If you would like to find out more about the Hunt, please click here - http://vfcscavengerhunt.weebly.com/

Somewhere on this page is a hidden number. Collect all the numbers from all the authors’ posts, and then add them up. Once you’ve added all the numbers, and if I am your last author, please head to the official website and click on the ENTER HERE page to find the entry form. Only entries will the correct number will qualify to win.

The author I’m pleased to be hosting for Virtual FantasyCon’s Blog Hop Hunt today is E.C. Jarvis, author of both Steampunk and Erotic Fantasy.

E.C. Jarvis is a British author working mainly in speculative and fantasy fiction genres. For the last thirteen years, Jarvis has been working her way through the ranks of the accountancy profession in various industries. During ten of those years she has also been writing.

Since two thousand and fifteen, she has independently published five books spanning two different genres and series. The Machine, The Pirate, and The War in The Blood and Destiny series - a steampunk adventure. Desire and Duty, and Lust and Lies in The Consort's Chronicles series - an erotic fantasy.

She was born in Surrey, England in 1982. She now resides in Hampshire, England with her daughter and husband.

Check out her work here

http://www.amazon.com/E.C.-Jarvis/e/B0154YOIGI

The Machine (Book one in The Blood and Destiny series)

Larissa Markus is a humble clerk in a clothing shop with a hidden past when she is swept off her feet by the charismatic Professor. Their whirlwind romance explodes in her face and leads her down a tumultuous path of adventure, intrigue, love and violence. Airships, pirates, corsets, torture, murder, and more a wait in the first novel of the Blood and Destiny Series from E.C. Jarvis. The Machine is an adult steampunk fantasy book. Possible triggers are present within the book including but not limited to sex, murder, torture, and violence.

The Pirate (Book two in The Blood and Destiny series)

Larissa’s new role as Captain of a pirate airship was never going to be simple. The mess of events that lead to her change of career don’t seem to be abating. Can she convince her crew to stick around through all the unusual and dangerous events? Or will she succumb to the mounting pressure and grief that others impose on her at every turn? The unravelling mysteries from her past mingle perilously with airships, fights, and explosions galore. 

The Pirate is book two of the Blood and Destiny Series, following on directly from the events of The Machine. 

The War (Book two in The Blood and Destiny series)

When your day begins with an escape from a volcanic eruption and a plane crash leaving you stranded in the desert, you’d be forgiven for giving up all hope. Larissa and Cid have survived the journey to the hostile land of Eptora, having experienced an incredible number of bizarre events. Can their luck hold out on the journey home? Larissa and Holt both believe each other dead, and with good reason. 

As she learns more unsettling details of her father’s past, and his devious plans for the future, Larissa once again finds herself in the middle of a mess. With two nations on the verge of a war fabricated for one reason, it’s up to the unlikely crew under Larissa’s command to put a stop to the inevitable. 

Fights, airships and explosions keep readers of this fast paced action adventure on their toes once more. 

The War is book three of the Blood and Destiny Series. 

Book One, The Machine, 
Book Two, The Pirate, 
Book Three, The War, 
Book Four, The Destiny (future release) 

**25**

Desire and Duty (Book one in The Consort’s Chronicles series)

Set in a fantasy world, Desire and Duty is the first erotic romance in The Consort’s Chronicles series. The Emperor of Kienia is expecting his wife to provide him with a son. After twelve months of waiting, he’s growing impatient and Lenora realises her life may be forfeit if she can’t make good on her purpose. What follows is a tale of passion, intrigue, and sexual awakening. 

In a world dominated by men, where a woman has only her body and her wits to rely on, Lenora will risk everything to protect her position and survive. 

(This book features M/M scenes)

Lust and Lies (Book two in The Consort’s Chronicles series)

Set in a fantasy world, Lust and Lies is the second book in The Consort’s Chronicles series. 

Lenora is standing on thin ice. Her illegitimate child is obviously not the Emperor’s daughter. Her dangerous affair with the handsome assassin is both her greatest joy and deadliest game. No matter how much she longs for a simple life, things just keep getting more complicated. To top it all off, the Emperor still wants a son. 

Lenora finds herself in a position of power and begins to uncover a mess of deception at the heart of the throne. Lenora will do whatever it takes to survive once more. This tale of passion, intrigue and sexual awakening continues leading into the third and final book in the series. 

Connect with E.C. Jarvis

Website

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads Author Page

Facebook Page

Twitter

Did you find the number? If you did, then click E.C. Jarvis’ link – www.ecjarvis.com/blog to continue Virtual FantasyCon’s Blog Hop Hunt.

On politics and voting in the 2016 election

I try fairly hard to leave politics at the door, but lately all I see is how Trump is amazing, no he's not he's a loudmouth, nuh uh he's going to build a wall, no he's going to tear this country apart! Well, that and Hillary is a crook, I mean the only main party candidate qualified to be president, I mean a brainless idiot who left classified emails on a private server, I mean the first female president you misogynist! As you can imagine, I am more or less thoroughly fed up with Republicans and Democrats alike. Look folks, I have been a registered Republican since I hit the big one eight and became eligible to vote. I didn't know what a Libertarian was at that time and, I have come to learn, how much closer I am to just right of center on the political spectrum than not. So I'm going to talk about my views on politics. I'm also going to talk to you about voting. Feel free to listen, or don't, that's on you.

Before I give you lot a brief overview on my political beliefs, as well as my basic reasoning, I want to address my biggest complaint with both main party candidates. At the beginning of their town hall meetings, the very first thing both mainstream candidates started doing was trashing the other mainstream candidate. Now we expect Trump to open his mouth and spew garbage, but even my Democratic friends are disappointed in Hillary bad mouthing Trump's kids. Hey, if you hate each other, that's fine, but leave the families out of it. Only, here's the thing... Neither side has figured that out. Trump has talked trash about Bill, Hillary has talked trash about Trump's wife and children. I expect the mud slinging to escalate even further. This isn't politics anymore: this is a really shitty soap opera, or even Reality TV: the Washingtonian edition.

So what do I believe? Wow, so many ways to answer this. Bearing in mind that I'm not about to cover everything, not to mention the fact that my ideas actually evolve as I research the facts for myself, let's look at some big issues on both side. First, LGBT rights: I believe everyone has the right to marry whom they will under the law and that ALL American citizens deserve the right to pursue happiness in any way they choose, so long as they do not infringe on the rights of other citizens in their pursuit. This is far more than just the LGBT community in that blanket belief, but it is the start. Religious groups tell us that gay marriage is wrong, yet they cannot actually tell us it is illegal. Why not? Religious groups claim that marriage is a spiritual affair and thus dictated by the church. However, the government defines marriage as a civil union between two adults. In fact, were we to change the name from gay marriage to a gay civil union, or even hand-fasting, I expect there would be less outrage from religious sorts. Disagree? Well how about you love your neighbor and try not to judge other people you sanctimonious p...person, you.

Or how about Abortion? Capital A on that on because it's a Big Button Issue. O.o There are people who say that Abortion is wrong, it is murder, regardless of the circumstances. My question for you is straight forward. If a woman is raped, who are you to tell that woman she should be forced to have that child? If carrying the child(ren) to term will more than likely result in the death of the mother or both the mother and the child, how should she not abort the fetus? What about a teenager who is the victim of statutory rape, or who succumbs to peer pressure, and ends up pregnant? What about those who cannot look after themselves, let alone a child? I grew up so poor that me and my family lived in a van. We lost everything shortly after my kid sister was born. Would I wish she'd never come about? No. I love her, glad she's with us. But having lived in a situation where we could only flush the toilet once a day because we couldn't afford gas to get to town to pump water into a tank just to flush it, where showers were a one a week thing, where kids were raped by adults and their parents were given that money they needed to survive... No, my kids will never know a life like that. Oh, and no... My parents never took money for me. Did stuff happen to me? I won't talk about it, don't even like thinking about it, and that's that. So yeah, on Abortion I stand pro-choice.

How about the Right, then? Let's start with guns. Look folks, do not let the media tell pull the wool over your eyes on this one. The guns that politicians are most desperately trying to ban are the ones used in the least number of crimes. In fact, statistically, hand guns are used to commit more violent crimes than all other gun types combined. This is true even after you eliminate criminal on criminal gun violence, which is the vast majority of crime committed with a gun present. Do the research, then the math, somebody has lied to you. So let's go further into it. The AR-15, or rather the Armalite model 15, was designed as a civilian use weapon. The talk you hear about this being a 'military' weapon is pure and utter rubbish. In point of fact, there are pistols with more stopping power than this particular weapon. If you convert one of those particular pistols into a rifle, which is actually quite doable, the get a rifle that is more deadly than the antiquated AR-15. It's amusing that there are pistols with higher capacity magazines than this rifle the media hates so much, not to mention that fact that almost every gun on the planet is semi-automatic. The president made a point of telling us about 'military grade semi-automatic' rifles available on the market. Wow, the lie in that! The military uses selective fire, which means either semi, three round, or fully automatic firing. The military uses one semi-auto rifle... and that's for snipers. But President Obama didn't get on the television to tell us the horrors of the fifty-cal Barrett stealth rifle with it's terrible semi-automatic evilness and it's ten round magazine. It's hilarious to me since this particular rifle has a confirmed kill at over a mile and a half (and that's when I looked at it two years ago)!

Here's a big one: The Death Penalty. I find it amusing that the Left tends to vilify the Right, stating that all they want to do is make money off of imprisoning criminals, yet they are opposed to killing off the worst criminal elements. Look, if we kill off the worst elements after a set amount of time is up for appeals then we will reduce the crimes. For some criminals, it's better to live in prison than out, as at least in prison they get three meals a day and the opportunity for an education. Some people quite literally kill to get into prison. However, if prisoners are going to have to face tougher punishment for their crimes, will it not help deter the crime itself? I know that there will be innocents who are caught in the cracks, but the more people who are sentenced to death as opposed to life in prison, the less prisoners living off the taxpayer. Is it possible I'm wrong in this? Quite! Unlike some, I admit to my failings.

So lets look back at the presidential candidates. It turns out we have two other possibilities, Johnson and Stein. The way Johnson's campaign is going, he could actually stand a chance to actually be president. I agree with his stance on legalizing marijuana and doing further research into it. I agree with quite a bit that he's said and done. Yes, Trump is a Republican this year and swears all those Democrats he supported over the years was just a wild coincidence. Yes, Hillary didn't really mean to let those soldiers in Benghazi die rather than deal with it, nor did she intend to leak sensitive information to her friends out of country via an unsecured personal email server. At least Johnson is actually talking about the issues, not going crazy slinging mud at his opponents. Hell, even his criticisms have been clean. And this has gotten long enough. I might respond to comments or edit more into this later, but I don't exactly have a large readership. Vote your conscience this year folks, whomever you support, and I will see you at the polls.

Where are you?

Hello! I know that you lot are wondering: What the heck is going on with Steve? Where is he? What is he doing? Aren't you? Ah, that's because I have the best readers. Worrying about me, I'm exceedingly touched. Okay, Erin might say I'm touched in the head, but touched is touched! I've been a wee bit busy living life, which is hilarious in its way. I've also been writing. I should be writing here more, though, and maybe I'll just have to make it up to you. I now declare this the month of excessive blogging! Not that I expect to beat my earlier combined blogs, but I have plenty of time to do so. 23 total since December and I want to say the first two or three months were the big ones! Well then, let's get to it.

As you all know, I have this habit of writing a little. It's not that I can't type fast (because I can), nor that I don't know what to write, I have an idea... I just hadn't been as active about it as I could have. Well, that's changed. I've got a double short story almost ready to go up, and I'm working on some other stuff. Like 25 other short stories. Okay, maybe not quite that many, but quite a hop! I'll tell you a little about each, just a general idea. Are you as excited as I am? I knew it!

So you already know about my short story in that zombie anthology, Once Upon A Zombietale, where I pitted "Alize" against her old antagonists, the people of Wonderland. To be fair, there was little violence. I gave her a gun and barely let her use it. She's tough. Well, that's not my only fantasy-thriller. Another notion I have, one I've been toying with again in recent times, is a mirror version of Earth where all the dark creatures of our imagination hold power. Not only do they live, they rule, and all humanity can do is survive... sometimes. Sometimes we die. It's one heck of a place and it makes even me wonder: Is that what happens to some of our missing people? Who knows.

Then there's my Institute set. The Culhanian Institute of Magic and Technology.  It's the modern day, magic is real, the supernatural exists, and magically animated corpses are assaulting the Institute! The only problem is, our hero is already dead. Still, for a ghost, he tells a lively story. This one is going up in the next few weeks, or it will as soon as I finish with editing. Then there's a dystopian Terra, a thousand years or so in the future. Humanity was all but destroyed by a weaponized virus and our young hero, a woman named Erin, is on a hunt to discover the history of her world. She takes us all along for the ride, though, which is awfully nice of her!

And then there's Captain Gabrial Scott, a young ship's captain who is forced to turn pirate. He doesn't have the temperament for it, alas, and becomes more of an anti-pirate. His enemy, Admiral Bruce Allen, is hunting him across the galaxy, and the pirate Christopher Alexander is just as determined to see young Captain Scott dead. It's a tough galaxy, and aside from a few loyal friends he is alone in the universe. I'm excited to see how he survives!

Short Story vs Novella vs Novel

Hello everybody, glad to see you again. So there's a few thoughts on indie-author work. What's the best thing to go for? Is it better to write a short story, or a novelette? Is a Novella the better deal? Or should you go right for the novel, giving your fans what they want: more story for their buck? I'm of two minds on the matter, and I'll be happy to tell you about it. After all, that's what I do!

So first, let's look at the monetary aspect. Writers want to get paid, whether they are indie or traditionally published. While the quality, and quantity, of your work should determine the price, that doesn't always happen. Personally, I'm of the mind that a short story should go for a dollar or two, same for a novelette. Novella should go for a bit more, say three to four, and a novel for five dollars. As it gets older, start lowering the price. So, after a year or so, cut that price back by a dollar! What do you think, are my price points reasonable for a self-published affair?

But that leads us to content. I like the idea of having a few short stories available, so people can get a taste of my writing style without having to go for the whole novel. Then again, there's kindle unlimited these days, so more pages mean I'll get paid more per viewing. Not sure how I feel about Kindle Unlimited, but it's a neat concept. I like the idea of a digital library, mind, but... yeah

So I've got a short story released, available as part of an anthology being released on the 1st. Maybe I'd better get my book done, huh? Eandyil Nathar made a guest appearance in my short, it's only fitting I get back to him. And my loyal fandom deserves to know I've not forgotten him. So, see you all soon!

A new adventure

I know, I make this sound like a sexy new book, or even a good action movie. We are now in Nebraska, hanging out with the Zombie Queen herself! That's got to be good for morale! We hit a few state capitals on our list, too. YAY Bucketlist! So, Kentucky down, West Virginia down, and Missouri down. We didn't go near Illinois capital for the obvious reasons, but we plan to eventually. First words we heard when we got here? Welcome home! So, yeah!

Plans from here are straightforward. Finish that book, job acquired, and selling tickets to see The Hobbit. Okay, that last one is a joke. Hobbit doesn't leave the dungeon. I mean, wait, what? Right, so we have the Burglar, we need a crazy old man for the Wizard. Casting starts with you. This is a short update, but that's life. Cheers, folks! We'll see you again, soon!