The Sky Ghosts series by Alexandra Engellmann (Blog tour and giveaway)

Fill this simple Google form to sign up for the giveaway. Five winners will receive the first two books of the Sky Ghosts series in any ebook format and have a chance to read the rest of the series for free. Giveaway ends on December 1^st.

Title: Sky Ghosts / Author: Alexandra Engellmann / Genre: Urban fantasy / Action / Romance

Sky Ghosts: All for One (Sky Ghosts #1)

Jane and Pain are Sky Ghosts – and they kill for a living. Highly trained bodyguards by day, they patrol the New York streets at night to keep the city safe from their enemies, Sky Beasts. One night they save two young men from their enemies’ blades and find themselves in the middle of a war. As they put their lives at stake to save their wards, the main mystery remains unsolved: why would the Beasts hunt two ordinary human boys?

Spellbinding and violent, Alexandra Engellmann’s Sky Ghosts series is exactly what Urban fantasy fans are looking for – a blend of action, humor, mystery, and a unique magic system.

“Sky Ghosts is a great mixture of sword-fighting, humor, wit, sexual tension, and “imperfect romance” that brilliantly lets the readers feel like the characters, while supernatural, are fairly ordinary people underneath it all.” – Joe Jackson, author of the Eve of Redemption series

Amazon / Goodreads

Sky Ghosts: Marco (Sky Ghosts #1.5)

It was hate at first sight. She broke chairs on his head, and in return he broke her bones. 

When Marco joined the New York Sky Ghosts Headquarters, he expected trouble. What he didn’t expect was a girl half his size that would turn his life into hell. They spilled too much of each other’s blood for any hope for reconciliation. How did it happen that they ended up spilling blood for each other on a daily basis?

“I laughed a lot while reading Marco. The silly teenage nature of him and Pain combined with their stubborn natures and violent streaks made for some suitably hilarious and cringe worthy scenes.” – Belart Wright, author of the Average Joe series

Amazon / Goodreads

     

Follow the author:

Amazon / Website / Patreon

Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

A few questions for indie author Alexandra Engellmann aka that author in the red dress.

If you don’t know (and you don’t) I’m Belart Wright, indie author extraordinaire of the glorious book Average Joe and the Extraordinaires.  Today I’m going to ask a good friend of mine: Alexandra Engellmann, indie author...Sky Ghost-inaire..?  Sorry, I tried to use her book title in her intro, but it doesn’t have the same ring as extraordinaire.  Unwarranted egotism from me aside, she’s one of my favorite people on the planet and super interesting besides all that and this interview will show a side of her that you all aren’t even ready for.  Let’s begin.

BW: First and foremost, who the hell are you?  The people deserve to know.  First describe yourself in five words, then elaborate on that.  Don’t lie, the internet knows!

AE: Okay, here are the first five words that come to my mind. I am a:
 

bookworm
artist
storyteller
thinker
nerd

The first means that whatever the world out there holds, I’d prefer spending my time reading whatever gem I’ve just discovered. 

The word ‘artist’ describes much more than just an occupation. I see the world as a piece of art, and I live to find beauty in little things around me.
 

I prefer ‘storyteller’ over ‘writer’, because the last is too big of a word. You can write about anything, but what I do is share stories about my characters, many of which come to life on their own by some weird glitch in my brain that prefers to be thinking about imaginary things rather than real.
I like to think a LOT about everything that happens to me. I think my writing is a way to avoid thinking too much and keep myself distracted from obsessing.
And lastly, nerding out is my profession, and I love it.

BW: Okay with that out of the way, I feel as if we all know you a little better, but still we can always dig a little deeper.  I’ve heard it said that all writers are narcissists.  We’re conceited enough to think we have something important to say that the world should hear.  Why should the world hear your voice?  What have you always wanted to share?

AE: I don’t think it’s my voice they should hear, but the characters’ voices. I think it’s more about giving a life to someone who’s persistently asking for it in your head, about giving them a chance to show who they are and who they can be. And on the other side, it’s about entertaining people with all kinds of emotions they can find in your book. So, I guess it’s emotions that I’m sharing with the world.

BW: Okay, I went a little deep with that last question so let’s lighten it up a little bit...with more psychological questions.  So Pain and Marco, my two favorite characters in the Sky Ghosts series, have a very interesting relationship.  It’s a friendship that goes beyond normal boundaries.  There’s a lot of unspoken feelings that get communicated through physical means rather than verbally.  In my opinion, that’s the best kind of relationship.  Why was this the method you chose for their relationship?  What type of relationship communication do you prefer?

AE: I don’t think there are any boundaries for friendship, and I’m one of those people who believe and respect friendship way more than love that’s often too complicated because of selfish emotions we people bring into it. The friendship between Pain and Marco is the only type I’ve ever had and will always prefer. I’m very open to whoever I meet and can easily share personal things with any stranger if I feel like it, or if the conversation is interesting. I hate formalities and limitations, and it’s often hard to stop myself from saying what’s on my mind. It entertains me how shocked people are sometimes by it, especially those who aren’t used to laughing at themselves. I’ve never really chosen anything for my characters, including their relationships, so that was how it naturally unfolded in my mind.

BW: Continuing from that last question: what type of sick person imagines a relationship like Pain and Marco’s?  They’re animals!

AE: Me, the animal :) Considering their lifestyle, it’s impossible for them not to bring a little extra blood into it.

BW: Last question...for now.  So your action scenes in Sky Ghosts: All For One and Sky Ghosts: Marco had a grounded reality to them even though they involved superhuman combatants.  I attributed this to your descriptive style and attention to detail.  The action was always bloody and intense so that clues me in that you may have an inner warrior in you.  So I’d like to know what are your top 3 fighting disciplines worldwide?  And what existing fighting styles match your favorite 3 fighters that we’ve met in Sky Ghosts?  If none exists, make ‘em up.

AE: That would be boxing for Marco, because he’s one of those who can kill with a single blow.
Krav Maga for the sisters, because they have to finish the fight quickly without giving the opponent the chance to get hold of them, and also because they’d go for the vulnerable points.
The third one would be Taekwondo, and that’s certainly Ryan’s style because of its emphasis on kicks, which someone as tall as him would make really powerful.

Well that's it for now folks.  Hope it was as fun for you as it was for me.  If you have more questions for Alexandra please go visit her at her website: www.engellmann.com or her twitter: https://twitter.com/engellmann or really anywhere you find her on these world wide interwebz.  She's good at responding.  You can find my own interview on her blog too.

Also check out her books via the links below.  Just click the picture link and it'll take you to each book's Amazon.com page.  Again, thanks for the read my glorious readers and til next time.

Book #1

Book #1.5

Indie Book Corner: Sky Ghosts: Marco, by Alexandra Engellmann

Beautiful Cover Art by the Author

The Quick and Dirty

+Humor
+Cutthroat Violence
+Plenty of Descriptive Action
+A Closer Look Into the Life of a Fan Favorite Character
+Pain and Marco's Brutiful (yeah I combined brutal and beautiful) Friendship Gets its Origin

He circled her slowly, pulling the stolen knife from his belt.

"Spice it up a lil' bit?" he gave her a serious look, and she showed her teeth.

"With pleasure," she purred, taking a knife two times bigger than Marco's from underneath her jacket.

 

Sky Ghosts: Marco is the newest entry into the Sky Ghost series and is a prequel starring the titular character, Marco.  Marco, as fans of the series will no doubt remember, is the mohawked badass from Sky Ghosts: All For One (which I also reviewed) with a penchant for breaking bones and having an encyclopedic knowledge of how to offend women with obscene commentary, but beyond all that he was a character many came to care for by the end of that story.  This book is strictly about how he came to join the Sky Ghost organization of New York.

Now in these reviews I like to avoid spoilers whenever possible so I typically avoid synopsis of the novel.  I like to instead go over the points about the story that I liked.  With that said, let's get started.

The book starts off with a mystery of sorts.  Just who is this Marco guy and why did the Ghosts find him in an alley, unconscious, and surrounded by the dead bodies of their enemies, the Beasts?  He appears to be just a teenager and yet this scene suggests that his combat skill is like that of a veteran.  Here we're introduced to a younger Pain, the main character of the first book in the series, Sky Ghosts: All For One.  Once Marco is conscious we get to the Ghost's headquarters and get to what the book is really about.

Offensive humor, bloodletting, bone breaking, and...pranks!?

So what this book really boils down to and why I like it so much is because it's just a fun side story.  It doesn't seek to be more than that.  There is no epic plot, only shades of a mystery surrounding this somewhat enigmatic character.  But more than that, we get a ton of humor and action as Marco tries to get accustomed to his new life and tries to get this offensive and violent girl out of his mind.

I laughed a lot while reading Marco.  The silly teenage nature of him and Pain combined with their stubborn natures and violent streaks made for some suitably hilarious and cringe worthy scenes.  For those who've read the first book in the series, their relationship is even more violent and volatile in this book.  The pranks they played on each other were pretty damn funny as well.  There was one red t-shirt that had me dying, mainly it was Marco's attitude while wearing the offensive garment that had me howling like mad.  You'll see what I mean once you read it.  Pain was so easy to rope into that one, I almost felt bad for her because Marco knew just how to push her buttons.

Beyond the laughs was the spectacle of action.  Alexandra continues to surprise me with her in-depth action scenes.  The details she uses to paint her picture give a nice mental picture of well choreographed and fluid action.  There was one epic fight in the training hall between Pain and Marco that was just a complete joy to behold.  That's slightly spoilery, but I want you to have something to really look forward to, especially for all you action junkies out there.  This was a buffet of violent theater and what's more, the stakes were actually very high.  I like when books can achieve that without, I don't know, the world being in danger from a nuclear bomb.

This was a pretty good entry into the Sky Ghosts series.  Their wasn't much revealed and so if you're the type who needs game changing, epicly plotted events in your stories to enjoy them then this isn't for you.  This is for people looking for intense action, some humor, and a look into one of the events and characters briefly mentioned in the first book.  I don't really have any negative points that I can think of.  I was a big fan of the first book as well and this book gave me what I wanted.  So in my opinion Sky Ghosts: Marco is a damn good time for fans of short stories with action and humor.  Check it out!

Buy For Your Kindle Today: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0128SO95I

Guest Post: 10 things you should know before you make your own book cover.

We all know the importance of a good book cover when it comes to attracting new readers.  Here below is author and designer (and good friend on mine) Alexandra Engellmann's take on the subject.

Sky Ghosts: All For One Cover History

"Since the day I published my book, I changed the cover 3 times. It ended when I gave up on the old idea and painted a completely different cover that, I believed, would be a much better start for a series. The number of reasons I wasn't satisfied with the old one was huge: it was very limiting for the series, the title and author's name were illegible, the illustration wasn't as intriguing as it could be, it brought genre confusion and didn't stand out among the others. These are only the most important reasons.
 
No matter if you're planning to make your own book cover or hire a designer, you should know typical mistakes that self-published authors make when choosing a cover for their book. And I'd like to explain them using my own example. So, here's the list of things you should know before you start working on your book cover ideas.

1. It has to be catchy. There's no way around it. This is your best chance to attract the reader, considering the amount of books out there. Yes, it has to be bright, colorful, stealing the customer's attention from everything else. And yes, it has to have a big, intriguing element that stands out on the thumbnail.

2. Big, readable title and author name. Yes, there is the book title link next to the cover on Amazon or other stores. But the book will also go on many promotional sites where there's just a thumbnail. Your name and title are your brand, and it has to be visible. If the name is too long, make sure it's at least legible on the newsletter-sized picture (about twice as big as the Amazon thumbnail).

3. Covers have genre, too. Make sure that if your potential reader sees your thumbnail, they can tell it's their genre. My old cover could easily be confused with a horror book. A book cover designer will do it right, but if you want to make your own book cover, make sure your cover ideas don't interfere with your genre.

4. The thumbnail is more important than the big picture. I can't stress this enough. Especially, with Goodreads and its teeny-tiny thumbnail the size of a postage stamp. If you have a big, bright, catchy element on the cover, with the right air of the genre to it, you'll have more potential readers from Goodreads. When I changed my cover to the latest one, I got 5-10 adds a day instead of 3. Right away.

5. Be careful with symbolism. If people will understand the symbolic meaning of your cover only after they read the book - this is not the right cover. It has to be intriguing on its own.

6. Don't overload the picture. I have two big elements - the figure and the wings. I wanted the cover to show that it's urban fantasy, but I didn't need a detailed New York background. The result? A simple, blurry, pale bridge behind the figure.

7. Don't overdo the title, either. If you have a catchy illustration, you don't need a catchy font. They shouldn't clash with each other. It's a very subtle balance between the title looking too plain for the beautiful art you have, and overbalancing it and ruining the whole picture. With my last cover, I didn't have the slightest idea of how the title should look. I experimented with the layout, fonts, and colors. In the end, it was a color glitch that gave me the title I loved. I just saw it and said "This is it".

This is what you should look for, the title that will look like it belongs on the illustration. If you're not sure, go to sleep, and take a look at it next day. You'll see :)

8. Forget about what you like. You're making a cover for the reader to like, so it has to fit in with the genre. Yes, I loved black, matte, velvet book covers. No, it wasn't the best idea for my book, at least not with this illustration. I had to get over my own taste and make something that all fantasy lovers would find interesting. Do I regret it? Not a little bit.

9. Now, this is something I'm not sure I have to mention, but avoid cliche covers at all costs. I don't know if people who make/buy covers a la man chest/gun/rose/money/wolf/add-your-own-object will read this post at all, but don't put everything you have in a book on your cover! Look at the books in your category on Amazon and pay attention to what cliche covers you should avoid. Find a few covers that you think are fantastic, and don't settle for anything less. No bad quality photo manipulation or art. No illegible pictures. No trashy covers. Otherwise, you'll forever be associated with trash books.

10. And the last one, that I think is very, very important: seek advice. Ask other people's opinion before you upload your new cover to Amazon. You need a fresh pair of eyes, or better, three. And it's not your mom's advice, even if she's an artist. I used Reddit for it. There are a few subreddits where you can post your cover and ask for constructive critique. Digital Painting and Art are just a couple of examples. You'll be surprised how many things others will notice on your cover and you'll actually agree with them."

I don't know about but I've learned a lot here!  Here's a link to Alexandra's blog for more content like this.

And of course you can download her book at http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Ghosts-All-Alexandra-Engellmann-ebook/dp/B00QQABR5U.

And here's a snippet of her next venture into the Sky Ghost universe, Sky Ghost: Marco.