Twisted Kingdom

Welcome to our second edition of the Author of the Month! This month will feature Ms. Kelley Armstrong, creator of the paranormal/fantasy Women of the Otherworld series!

I both admire Ms. Armstrong as an author and as a person. As an author, because the Women of the Otherwold series is awesome. In my opinion, many factors make this series stand out from all the other fantasy/paranormal series featuring paranormal creatures. First is her world building. Ms. Armstrong has kept it simple as all her novels take place in our present time and in the world that we know. There are werewolves, vampires, witches, sorcerers, demons, necromancers and all these people want to remain hidden and pass as normal humans. However, what really makes the world building unique is all the characteristics and details that make her paranormal creatures different than what we know. For example: Ms. Armstrong's vampires have no problem dealing with sunlight and they are mortal (as in they eventually die, although they do live much longer than normal humans) and so on. So these details really make a difference.

There's also the theme of the series, i.e. the Women of the Otherworld. Ms. Armstrong has chosen to write this series in the first-person point of view of female characters. Each novel follow one female character and her adventures... and with her good writing style, Ms. Armstrong is able to pull it off. Even a reader like me, who doesn't usually enjoy the first-person POV, has no problem in this case. All in all, Ms. Armstrong is able to combine humor, little romance, adventures and action well and provide awesome books.

So far, there are 6 books and 1 novella out and her next book is due for May 1st, in hardcover. Here is the chronological order:

- Bitten with Elena, a werewolf, as narrator
- Stolen with Elena, a werewolf, as narrator
- Dime Store of Magic with Paige, a witch, as narrator
- Industrical Magic with Pagie, a witch, as narrator
- Haunted with Eve, a ghost (also witch/half-demon), as narrator
- Chaotic (the novella part of Dates from Hell anthology) with Hope, a half-demon, as narrator
- Broken with Elena, a werewolf, as narrator
- No Humans Involved with Jaime, a necromancer, as narrator - due out on May 1st!

I've also said that I admired Ms. Armstrong as a person. That is because I am amazed of her generosity towards her fans. First, her website is updated on the first of every month. It sounds a bit stupid and simple, but I think it's nice of her. Let us know what she's been up and what is coming so fans are aware of what's happening. Secondly, if you are fans of her books, you'll want to go to her website for the online novella that she's been writing over the years for free. Those are very good and interesting and provides a more detailed background to the series. Also, more recently, is this offer: Return of Hardcover Celebration!

Again, you can go to her website for more details, but here's the short story. Her first book, Bitten, was first published in hardcover. Then, the following books of the series were published in paperback format only. I guess that now that Ms. Armstrong has become more popular and has gained more readership, the publishers have decided to come back to the hardcover format and so, No Humans Involved is going to be first released in hardcover. Ms. Armstrong knows that this format change does not suit everyone, but the decision was not up to her. So to compensate, Ms. Armstrong has offered to give a thank-you Otherworld goodie bag to those who will buy No Humans Involved before May 15th! All the readers have to do is send her your receipts where it's indicated that you have bought the book before May 15th and Ms. Armstrong will send you a goodie bag at her cost with no restriction (i.e. doesn't matter in which country you live)! Isn't that awesome and so generous of her!?!? I know that in the past year, there's been a lot of discussion about authors' behaviors and it's been mostly negative... but I think it's important to highlight the good action of authors as well and this is really something generous from Ms. Armstrong.

Anyway, I'm going to stop gushing and announce the TK TBR Challenge. Simply put, I'm challenging my fellow ladies here at TK to read a book by Kelley Armstrong and to review it. It doesn't matter which book of the series it is, as I know that Kailana hasn't started the series while Ames has already read the first two. So just read one, any of them! LOL :) The challenge is extended to fellow bloggers as well :) If you've read this series and like it, you're welcome to guest review a book :) If you've never read this series and is still hesitant after my post, come back during this month and read the reviews I and others will be posting! :)