Book Lovin' Mamas: Krista D. Ball

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Showing posts with label Krista D. Ball. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Guest Post - Author: Krista D. Ball

Today, we welcome, Krista D. Ball to our Blog. =)

A little bit about Krista D. Ball:

According to her mother, Krista D. Ball tells lies for a living. She is the author of several short stories, novellas, and novels. Krista incorporates as much historical information into her fiction as possible, mostly to justify her B.A. in British History.

Krista enjoys all aspects of the writing and publishing world, and has been a magazine intern, co-edited four RPG books, self-published several short stories and a novella series, and has been a slush reader for a small Canadian press. She has also written a non-fiction blogging guide and is currently writing a non-fiction historical book for authors called, "What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank."

Whenever she gets annoyed, she blows something up in her fiction. Regular readers of her work have commented that she must be annoyed a lot.

You can find Krista D. Ball:

Krista D. Ball talks about how she came up with Vikings in her book "Spirits Rising, below.

Paranormal fantasy and Vikings?

I’ll be the first one to admit that Vikings seem an unlikely choice for any contemporary fantasy story. After all, it’s been a long time since Vikings have roamed the earth. Vikings are the stuff of historical fantasy or historical romance. But contemporary fantasy?

I grew up in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, a place steeped in history. There’s thousands of years of history in the area, from the oldest North American burial site at L’Anse Amour burial site (circa 5500 BCE), to the more recent extinction of the Beothuk people. We even had some Viking visitors at one point.

The Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland is a wind-swept land where trees jut out of the ground on steep angle, unable to grow against the prevailing winds off the ocean. The highway winds its way along dozens of fishing villages. On a clear day, you can even see across the straits to Labrador.

For the people raised in the L’Anse aux Meadows area (pronounced locally as Lancin Meadows), they’d played on top of grassy mounds near the ocean. Since there were so many burial sites on the island, the locals just assumed it was yet more native sites and left them alone. No one poked at them. No one dug them up.

We Newfoundlanders are, by and large, a superstitious bunch. If you leave the dead alone, they’ll usually leave you alone.

Well, in the 1960s a pair of Norwegian and their teams came to Newfoundland. They were convinced that the Vikings landed in the area and, if they could prove it, it would signal the only known Norse site in North American outside of Greenland.

Well, they found a lot more than a few iron nails. They found an entire Viking village hidden in those mounds that the kids were playing on top!

Today, L’Anse Aux Meadows is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The original site of the Viking village has been buried to protect it, with a few buildings reconstructed just off to the side. Inside one of the sod longhouses, you can have a bowl of caribou stew while locals dressed as Vikings tell you the story of living in a harsh environment.

Newfoundland has a rich artistic heritage. We can all do something, be it woodcrafts, knit, sew, bake and cook traditional foods, sing, play an instrument, write, compose, or create pottery and ceramics. I wanted a way to ensure that I kept true to my own origins by writing about my home. So, I wrote about Vikings, Spirits, and Newfoundland.

I recently had the pleasure of reading and reviewing her book, "Spirits Rising". You can find my Review on "Spirits Rising", here. If you love reading about Spirits, Vikings and History, you will definitely enjoy this book. I hope to one day visit Newfoundland. Check out some interesting photos on Wikipedia.

XOXO,

FranJessca

You can Buy "Spirits Rising" at the following Stores: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords

Labels:Guest Post,Krista D. Ball,Spirits Rising,Vikings | 0 comments

Monday, January 30, 2012

Review - "Spirits Rising" by Krista D. Ball

Spirits Rising

(The Spirit Caller #1)

by: Krista D. Ball

Publishing Date: Jan 2012

Published by: Amazon Digital Services

Source: Provided by Author

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Buy: Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Description:

Rachel Mills has one wish in life: for the spirit world to shut up and leave her alone. She thought her move to a remote fishing village in Northern Newfoundland would help.
Population: Twenty. What could go wrong?
Instead of peace, however, she relocates to a land of superstitution, the air alive with the presence of others.
When a local teenager accidentally summons the spirits of the area, including those from a thousand-year-old Viking settlement, all supernatural breaks loose. As the spirits stalk her and each other, Rachel finds herself in over her head. With the help of Mrs. Saunders, her 93-year-old neighbour, Rachel has to put aside her own prejudices long enough to send the spirits back to rest, or risk being caught in the midst of a spirit war.

My Review:

I was contacted by Krista D. Ball through email to read and review her book, "Spirits Rising" which is the first book to the series "The Spirit Caller". I haven't read a book about Spirits before, so I jumped at the chance. I'm always looking for something new to read.

It's not a normal Genre I read...but I really enjoyed the world that Krista D. Ball created in this book. Rachel Mills is the main character and she is able to interact with spirits. Unfortunately sometimes the interaction is not the greatest experience ever. She thought moving to a population of 20, she wouldn't have to deal with the supernatural world anymore....but nothing ever goes as planned, does it?

She lives next to Mrs. Saunders who happens to be my favorite character in the book. She is quirky and funny and a down to earth 93 year old who I wouldn't mind living next to in real life because she would keep me entertained.

The best parts of the book was how every one came together during the crisis of the spirits. Rachel thought everyone hated her because they thought she dealt in "witchcraft". It's when a crisis happens, people come together. Having Vikings outside your lawn...I think I would've came out and helped out also.

So who caused the Spirits to be up and causing a racket...a young teenage boy...who just couldn't help himself. He had to find a spell on the web and try it out. He just couldn't watch tv or surf the web like a normal teenager could he. Geez!

Who I found annoying in the book was Jeremy. That boy...just never could get it that Rachel had feelings for him. Why did he already have a girlfriend and why couldn't she just forget about him. When he finally realized she liked him...he still acted clueless. Ugh!!! Ahh!!! Let me slap him for you, Rachel.

What was the only bad thing about the book...it was actually when Rachel had to deal with the issues of the Spirits, when someone else stole the thunder from her. She really didn't do much to cast out the spirits. She even tried to contact her Mom (who isn't her biological mother)...to find out what she could do.

I loved how the story all came together in the end though. You could also tell, Krista D. Ball did her research on Spirits and the Vikings.

I look forward to seeing what the next book is all about. I definitely enjoyed getting away from Vampires and Werewolves for a little bit. Thanks again, Krista D. Ball for contacting me. I look forward to reading more books from you...especially from this series.