Kristen Brand

Opinion: Why the Fae are the most Versatile Creatures in Urban Fantasy

If you told me that I could only read or write about one supernatural creature for the rest of my life, I would choose the fae. This isn’t me trying to trash talk werewolves or demons or anything. It’s just that the fae can fill their role just as well. They’re like the jack of all trades of urban fantasy.

Let’s take vampires. They’re alluring, dangerous creatures who drain their victims of blood. Kind of like the Leanan-Sidhe, a beautiful but deadly fae who inspires poets and artists but drains their life in the process.

Or do you like werewolves and shifters? Let me introduce the púca, a fairy who can transform into a horse, cat, hare, and other animals.

Listen to this Podcast: Inn Between

My podcast library isn’t very big (yet). I can fly through most novels in a couple of days and a comic in an afternoon, but podcasts, like TV shows, are more of a time commitment. So I tend to only listen to ones that I really, really like.

I really, really like Inn Between.

If you’ve never listened to it before, here’s the description from its website:

Inn Between is an audio drama podcast, a fantasy-adventure between adventures, wherein five heroes encounter monsters, magic, fighting, and friendship in the conveniently located Goblin’s Head Inn. There will be laughs. There will be bickering. There will be character development.
https://www.thegoblinshead.com/

There’s no shortage of stories about adventurers going on quests in epic fantasy settings, so let’s talk about what sets Inn Between apart. It actually skips the vast majority of the action scenes in the heroes’ quest. Instead, each episode starts when the heroes return to the inn to recuperate and react to what happened.

Basically, Inn Between focuses on the moments in between the action (See what they did there?), on character development and interaction—which I think is the best part of any story.

Vintage SciFi Month: Mysta of the Moon

It’s Vintage Sci-Fi Month again! For those of you not familiar with this not-a-challenge, it runs every January and is about reading vintage science fiction (or fantasy). “Vintage” is defined as being before 1979 or your birth year, whichever is easier.

I’ll be taking the chance to talk about one of my favorite vintage comic book heroines, Mysta of the Moon.

Mysta first appeared in 1945 in the pages of Planet Comics. I think Planet Comics is a super interesting piece of media and probably would have loved it if I’d been a kid in the 40s and 50s. Each issue contained new episodes of several serialized science fiction stories. There was The Lost World, a post-apocalyptic tale set on an Earth that’s been conquered by aliens, Gale Allen, who basically led an interstellar girl gang to beat up bad guys across space, several Flash Gordon-esque heroes, and that’s just scratching the surface.

I might talk about some of the others later, but I’ll start with Mysta because she’s my favorite and I have a soft spot for moon-based heroines.

2020 Accomplishments and 2021 Goals

First off, let me specify that this post is purely writing related. Looking at the big picture, I’m incredibly grateful to have made it through 2020 with my health and finances intact. I hope for the same in 2021.

Writing is a big stress-reliever for me and one that I definitely need right now. So for the moment at least, I’m going to push aside the dumpster fire that is current events and talk solely about writing and publishing.

Published in 2020

I’m proud to have published three books last year, a big accomplishment for me since I’ve averaged one per year until now. (I think the most I ever managed in the same year was two.)

The Dark and Otherworldly series was my first foray into publishing urban fantasy, which is a genre that I love to read. I’d actually written urban fantasy books before then, but that was back in my early days as an author, and they were horrible novels that will remained banished to the depths of my hard drive forever.

New Superhero Fiction (Nov and Dec 2020)

Here it is: the last superhero fiction roundup of 2020. This is just a small sample of the new superhero fiction released in the last two months and includes beginnings, continuations, and conclusions of different series. As usual, I haven’t read all of these books personally, so please look at the previews and reviews before purchasing.

This is, incredibly, my sixth superhero roundup this year! I put them out on a bimonthly schedule and (surprisingly) managed to be mostly on time. If you missed any, here’s a roundup of the roundups:

It was a lot of work, so I think next year I’ll be switching to a quarterly schedule and posting once every three months. We’ll see how it goes. In the meantime, check out these cool-sounding books!

Happy Holidays

Just a quick post to wish everyone a happy holiday season. I hope you’re able to have pleasant celebration whatever that looks like for you–alone or with family, together with friends or over the internet. And if you don’t celebrate, I hope you’re able to have a nice, relaxing day–maybe with a book and a hot cup of tea.

This year’s been a tough one, but I hope you’re able to find some joy this week, even if it’s just in the fact that 2020’s almost over.

If you’re looking (and able) to spread some peace and goodwill, may I point you to Humble Bundle’s Be the Change bundle, which supports the American Library Association and gets you a ton of awesome books and comics for a small donation.

Stay safe and warm out there, and here’s to a better New Year.

How I Outline a Novel

Warning: this post contains spoilers for The Cruelest Curse, the third book in my Dark and Otherworldly urban fantasy series. If you haven’t read it yet, skip this post and come back later.

Plotters versus Pantsers. It’s the eternal writer debate. Like Kirk versus Picard or Batman versus Superman. The question is this:

Is it better to plot out a novel before writing or discover the story as you go?

I’m definitely a plotter. If I don’t outline a novel before I start, I get stuck and don’t finish. (Looking at you, NaNoWriMos of the past.) But my outlines aren’t set in stone, and as I learn more about the characters and story while writing, I tend to take some detours.

Free Ebook Friday: Crown of Frost by Isabella August

Free ebooks are the best. They’re a great way for readers to try new series risk-free, and they help authors reach new audiences. But there’s just so many of them that it can be hard to find one you like.

Free ebook Friday spotlights a free ebook that I’ve personally read and enjoyed, and hopefully, it’ll help you find a good read. The posts come out on random Fridays, not weekly, and the books featured will probably be speculative fiction.

This week’s pick is:

Paranormal romance book cover showing a pale woman with blue eyes and lips surrounded by ice

Book Description

Wicked fae, shattered memories… and a dream that just won’t die.

Nightmares still plague Elaine, five years after her escape from the darkest realm in faerie. Elaine’s memories are scattered and torn, but one uneasy remnant haunts her dreams: a mysterious man with cold blue eyes. When Elaine’s nightmares return for her, so too does the man from her dreams. Tall, wicked, and cloaked in dark power, Liam claims that he’s come to protect Elaine… but he might be the most dangerous temptation of all.

The Cruelest Curse is out now!

Are you ready to go back to Otherworld one last time? Because the final book in the Dark and Otherworldly series is here! I’m so excited to share the conclusion of Leigh and Dredarion’s story with you.

A fabulous ending to a favorite series, and I’m already looking forward to rereading it!
One Book More Reviews

A thrilling conclusion to a trilogy that really captivated me.
Darkest Sins Blog

Magic, warfare, and romance collide in this action-packed conclusion to a spellbinding urban fantasy series.

Leigh Morgan defeated the magical, monstrous denizens of Otherworld. She survived the curse their queen put on her in revenge and wielded their most legendary weapon in battle. But the demonic forces invading Otherworld now are worse than anything she’s ever fought: powerful, cruel, and cannibalistic.

Leigh would return to the human world and leave the arrogant Others to rot except for one reason: Prince Dredarion Rath, the sly, sorcerous man who stole her heart. She’ll fight at his side to save his people even if it means joining forces with her former enemies. But when the worst happens and Leigh ends up cut off from Dredarion, injured and imprisoned, she’ll have to find a way to save the kingdom and the prince alone…or die trying.

Read the final installment in the Dark and Otherworldly series and get swept away in forbidden romance, epic battles, and deadly magic. The Cruelest Curse is a romantic fantasy novel that fans of the genre won’t want to miss. Buy now and return to Otherworld for one last adventure.

Buy Now

(While I try to give short refreshers of the events of previous books, you really need to read the first two novellas to understand this one, so if you’re a new reader, I recommend you start with Poison and Honey.)

It’s hard to believe this series is over. Thank you all for coming on this journey with me, and I hope you enjoy the final installment.

End of Autumn Recap Tag

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I’m officially transitioning from autumn to Christmas-mode. Goodbye pumpkins and autumn leaves, hello snowflakes and icicles.

At least in my head. I live in Florida, so it’s more like goodbye hot weather, hello slightly cooler weather, but I’ve got a snowy winter wonderland in my heart.

I found the End of Autumn Recap Tag at Fortunately, The Book. It’s originally from You Are What You Read and was made in 2019, but I’m usually late jumping on trends, so I’m not going to let that stop me.

Which book can you not stop thinking about?

Harrow the Ninth turned my brain into mush. Who was the Body? What are all the side characters from the last book doing? What’s going to happen to Gideon? To Harrow? What is going on????

I have questions, and I really hope Alecto the Ninth gives me answers.