Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Breaking the Schism by Laura Maisano




Blurb:

The trials are looming, but Makai spends his days watching the portals to Earth and filling his sketchbook with drawings of his muse—a strawberry-blonde beauty named Heather. Although breaking the Schism is illegal, taboo, and all sorts of wrong, temptation to escape responsibility pushes him to cross over and meet his crush.

Once just isn’t enough.

Every few days, Makai skips school, sneaking onto Earth to spend time with Heather. Could he stay with her? He’d have to leave his friends, his family…his world. Makai’s free to choose his future, but everyone expects brilliance from the Winged Councilman’s son. He can’t disappoint his father, especially when Father’s office seems to be caught in the whispers of conspiracy. Eventually the danger following the Councilman follows Makai, and even Earth isn’t far enough to run.

About the Author:

Laura writes because it’s her destiny! Okay, that may be overly dramatic, but she thinks there’s something to it. Her parents named her after the author who penned the Little House books—Laura Ingalls Wilder. From the moment she learned the origin of her name, she got the bug and knew she had to do the same. Aside from narrating the life and death struggles of her Barbies, she first tried to write a story in high school. The unfortunate melodrama felt like more of a Sailor Moon meets Justice League mash-up than a real book. She did coin her website from its universe (http://www.rayhastudios.com) and it provided lots of inspiration moving forward.



In college, Laura used visual arts for her creative outlet with a drawing minor, but she still wanted to write. Everyone knows you don’t make money as an author, so she did the prudent thing and got a literature degree with a technical writing certification. To actually get a tech writing job though, she had to go back for her Masters in Technical Writing. The classes she took for that degree opened her eyes to the mechanics of writing, and actually inspired her to work on fiction once again.

While she was getting that MA, Laura started dating her now-husband. They married in 2008, and he’s been her best friend and biggest supporter ever since. They honeymooned in Italy, where he lived as a teenager. It was nice to have a private tour guide who spoke the lingo.

In 2011, their daughter was born, who they plan to inflict their weirdness on full force. She already loves watching Idolm@ster 2, a Japanese video game with singing anime idols. They have to do something to keep out of the hundred-plus temperatures of Texas weather. You can check for updates at:

Review:

Breaking the Schism was more of an extended teaser than an actual book. It might appeal to the Young Adult audience to whom it’s aimed, but not to this reviewer. I hate cliff-hangers! Breaking the Schism introduces us to Makai, a young creature who is among the Winged people of Illirin. We learn that Illirin also has Legged, Tailed, Scaled and Seer people. As the son of the Winged Counselor, great things are expected of Makai, but he’s more interested in art than the military, business, or politics. And he’s interested Heather, in a girl who lives on Earth—in another dimension, forbidden territory, beyond the Schism.

We also hear rumors of some sort of conspiracy, that affects his father and puts their family in danger. Makai has to flee to Earth. He begins to make a life with Heather. Boom! Cliff-hanger. Not a book; an introduction. A beginning with no middle and no end. I found it to be extremely unsatisfying. The only reason I gave it any roses at all is that I realize a twelve year-old might not have the same objections I do.



Heat Rating:  G
Length:  58 Pages
Digital Price:  FREE

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.

Download the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.). That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to replace all of my books. If you have a Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so buying directly from the publisher can save you money.

Moving the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to Documents/Books directory on your e-reader. You can move the file by highlighting it and dragging it to the documents directory in you Kindle you want to move it to. Or right click on it, and then left click copy or move. Or hit Control/C for copy, Control/X for cut, and Control/V for paste.

Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

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