Tag Archives: Recommended Reading

#FridayFantasy – #BehindtheScenes with #DarkFey Standing In Shadows

05 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by in Dark Fey, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy

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Dark Fey: Standing in Shadows, book two of the Dark Fey Trilogy, delves deeper into the mystery and suspense of the tale initiated in book one: The Reviled. In book two, readers discover the history behind the main character, Gairynzvl, in greater detail as they learn about the harrowing life he endured among the Reviled of the Uunglarda, as well as the terrors of The Integration; the process of intentional cruelty and neglect designed to twist childfey into Dark Ones.  Although Standing in Shadows reaches deeper into the shadows, it never strays entirely out of the Light, relating a tale of both fear and hope as readers share Gairynzvl’s challenges to return into a restored life.

Although certainly darker than book one, Standing in Shadows does not incorporate this level of horror simply for the sake of it. One does not need to open the pages of a book to discover the unthinkable, as the darkness typically embodied in fantasy genre stories by some terrifying being or creature is very much alive in our own reality and this is the underlying motivation for the darkness woven into Dark Fey.  Standing in Shadows was inspired in great part by the terrifying, yet true-life events of the Lord’s Resistance Army or LRA, a rebel militant group in Uganda that has for over 20 years abducted children from their homes; forcing them to commit horrifying acts of violence against each other and their own people. These children suffer a very real Integration and, like the childfey of Jyndari, they endure violence, starvation, multiple rapes and beatings at the hands of truly sadistic overlords.  This is how the Reviled came to life and became the horrifyingly cruel beings depicted in Dark Fey.

However dark, Standing in Shadows also gives readers the opportunity to explore the vibrant realm of Jyndari more fully. The action slows down and more time is spent among its many detailed characters.  There are accounts of distant lands and exotic wildlife; readers join the villagers of Hwyndarin in a night of celebration and exquisitely described traditional music; and the characters even get time to enjoy an exhilarating, heart-pounding sporting event, but through it all, Gairynzvl’s purpose remains and the reasons why he wants to return into the dark realm of The Uunglarda are ultimately exposed.

Winner of 2016 Readers Favorite 5-Star Review & Recommendation

Gairynzvl risked everything to escape his captivity in the darkness. Now, despite the dangers involved and the very great risk of sparking full-scale war with the Reviled, Gairynzvl has an irrepressible need to go back into the darkness to rescue as many of the childfey trapped there as he can find.   The success of his plan hinges upon the unique skills and magic of everyone who chooses to join his band of Liberators, and it will require a level of dependence upon each other for which few of them are prepared.  Their actions will test all their limits, could easily divide loyalties, and will shake the foundations of everything The Fey of The Light have accepted as truth for thousands of years.

Based in part on the true-life events of the Lord’s Resistance Army or LRA, a rebel militant group in Uganda that commonly abducts children and forces them to commit horrifying acts of violence against each other and their own people, Standing in Shadows reaches deeper into the darkness, but never strays entirely out of the Light.  Relating a tale of both fear and hope.

The story of Dark Fey is set in a fantasy realm of Jyndari, a world of beauty, magic, Light and Darkness. It is peopled by Feyfolk, winged beings the size of any human who are born with gifts of telepathy, empathy and sometimes magic. It relates how the Power of Hope, Acceptance and Forgiveness can change the world, if you take Positive Action to create Change through doing what is Right.

The only way to achieve Peace is to become Peace.

The Reviled: http://mybook.to/thereviled
Standing In Shadows: http://mybook.to/standinginshadows
Breaking Into The Light: http://mybook.to/BreakingLight

Discover More About Dark Fey at its Official Website

 

~Morgan~

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For More Information on the LRA visit Unicef: http://www.unicef.org/newsline/02pr06lra.htm

So This is What Eternity Looks Like – Into Eternity #5Star #BookReview

09 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by in Authors Books Reviews & Interviews

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“So this is what Eternity looks like.”  I felt the jaded disappointment in those words.  I understood the sensation of wonder and the longing that could never be fulfilled.  Although these words are spoken by a supporting character that only comes into the story in the second book of the series, they carry the sentiment of the entire trilogy.

Into Eternity took me on the final leg of a journey I never expected and could not have anticipated.  It swept me off into lands unknown that were hauntingly familiar. As the dystopian landscape unfolded before me with horrifying clarity, the poignancy of this Vampire-Introspective-SciFi-Mindbender became all too clear and, like the masterfully developed characters that drew me into their tale, I experienced their terror, bitterness, and skeptical hope right along with them through page after page of plot twists that kept me guessing, literally, right up to the closing chapter.

Richard M. Ankers has woven a unique and unforgettable saga through the voices and lives of those we typically fear or despise; altering our own perceptions right along with the characters of this brilliantly penned epic.

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Queen Serena and her allies have fled the Nordic massacre, taking Princess Linka with them. For Jean, it’s heartbreak; for Merryweather and the abandoned Aurora, far worse. Not even the return of a broken Prince Grella and a dramatic escape from an obliterated Hvit softens the blow of their loss. Tempers flare and the pursuit resumes.

Leaving the Arctic ice behind, Jean and the others must reconcile with both current and past deaths, as they close in on the Baltic home of the hated Duke Gorgon. Here, their enemies gather and confrontation is inevitable.

Under Merryweather’s frustrating tutelage, Jean marches from one infuriating revelation to another, but as the lies unravel and the truth unfurls, he discovers the Britannian is not the fool he’s taken him for. The enigmatic Merryweather appears the key to the greatest mystery of all. But will he ever show his true colors?

In the stunning climax to The Eternals Series, a brooding Jean must do what he’s never done before: place his trust in others. For only at the end of all things, as the sun dies and Shangri-La falls, will Jean know what it means to step Into Eternity.

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Discover the Extraordinary Trilogy here

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~Morgan~

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WOW! – #DarkFey Breaking Into The Light’s First #Review

27 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in Dark Fey

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I was Overjoyed to receive Breaking Into The Light’s first review yesterday. Simple, straight to the point and entirely thrilling after all the heart and soul I’ve poured into the series.

“WOW!  The end of the Epilogue blew me away. I’m usually the one in the family who always figures out the plot twists, but I totally didn’t see that coming!”

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Breaking into the Light relates the inspiration of Hope and the power of forgiveness through a tale that is brutally beautiful.

The Reviled are the enemy; merciless, untrustworthy.  They embody brutality and devastation.  The Fey of the Light have lived with these truths for millennia.  Daring to think otherwise invites tragedy.

Gairynzvl was a Reviled Fey and lived the riotous life of all Dark Ones; yet now he is rescuing younglings from the darkness.  The actions taken by him and his band of Liberators are fulfilling Ancient Prophecies and proving long-accepted beliefs to be inaccurate. Those who have lived in the Light all their lives, who enjoyed the luxuries of abundance, are suddenly faced with unavoidable questions.

How is Peace achieved?  Can Light unite with Darkness?

Will the Fey of the Light sacrifice everything to achieve that which seems impossible or will they turn their heads and ignore the shadows weeping all around them?

Breaking Into The Light

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~Morgan~

#AwardWinning #Epic #YA #Fantasy #99Cents #Sale

14 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by in Dark Fey, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy

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Ayla has an especially rare combination of magical gifts: empathic telepathy, discernment, and the gift of healing.  Gairynzvl was abducted by The Reviled at the age of seven and suffered the intentionally cruel process of neglect, abuse and deprivation designed to turn childfey from the Light.  Now, fifteen years later, he is a Dark One. He comes in shadows and silence; lingering near Ayla and trying to communicate with her.

Through her extraordinary gifts she listens to him when no others will; she touches his pain and cannot turn aside from helping him, but the conflict with The Reviled that unfolds is vicious and exceedingly costly, pushing them to their limits and forcing them to grow beyond them.

Dark Fey The Reviled is an epic fantasy filled with suspense, mystery, action, magic and romance. It shares the inspiration of positive hope; the resilience of love, and the power of forgiveness through a tale that is rich with beauty and horror alike.

Now ONLY 99 Cents!

Don’t pass up this chance 🙂

With Book Three set to release in the Autumn of 2017 and a pending MOVIE Deal in the making, (I am SOOOOOOOO excited about that!!!), Discover what makes the Dark Fey series so different.

Dark Fey The Reviled on Amazon 

Thank You for your kind support and any shares/reblogs. They are MOST Appreciated 😉

All Things (Dark) Fey Official Website

~Morgan~

Dark and Delicious – #BookReview

02 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in Dark Fey

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Hours of love and passion, energy and commitment, concentration and effort fill the pages of our most enticing reads and very often we turn the pages without giving much thought into what it took to create that which we are enjoying.  We immerse ourselves in the alternate reality and lose track of time and place as the story sweeps us away from our own troubles or concerns; though frequently through drawing us into others, either imaginary or history.  Yet we who love words find little else so satisfying or gratifying as those beautiful pages of ink and typeset.  Whether we are the reader or the writer, the pleasure is undeniable and, hopefully, inescapable!

So when an author whose writing we admire and thoroughly enjoy takes time out of their busy schedule to read our own words, the honour is entirely REAL, though often indescribable. And (I know, I know, it’s grammatically incorrect to begin a sentence with AND) when that master of spellcasting (because in my opinion writing is indeed a form of magic, the result of which is spellcasting, though that is probably another post entirely) then reviews our work with language that is satisfying and gratifying the pleasure is similarly undeniable and inescapable.

Richard M. Ankers recently honoured me by not only purchasing a copy of the second book in my Dark Fey Trilogy, Standing In Shadows, but he announced that honour on his blog through this post The Fey Have Arrived.  

Now Richard has done something even more marvelous.  He’s written a 5-Star review of Standing In Shadows, which is something I know he does not do very often.  I am beyond honoured, delighted, excited…though I would have to search my thesaurus for quite a while in order to define exactly how I am feeling. Suffice it to say that the smile hasn’t left my face yet and its been hours since I’ve read his review.  Thus, I had to take a moment (or perhaps twenty) to share this honour with you.

” Cynthia Morgan demonstrates a complete mastery of the dark fairytale she has created drawing us the reader into this second book in the world of The Fey. The feeling of authenticity is quite literally spellbinding from the new take on the genre to even the pronunciation’s of the character’s names.

Gairynzvl, Standing in Shadows’ dark antihero, is a man on a mission, a loner by nature, who must seek out the help of others.

Centred around saving the childfey, Gairynzvl must enter The Uunglarda to save them, the home of The Reviled – they aren’t too nice at all. Ayla, the protector of the light and would-be love interest, and others, must join forces to aid him in both entering and escaping a realm few would dare tread.

Never less than compelling and with a decided darkness throughout, Standing in Shadows is a book any Fantasy aficionado would relish. Sufficiently sprinkled with delicious descriptions and a sprinkling of romance, the final line leaves us salivating with its ominous undertones.

More, we shout! We want more!”

You can look at the review here

I want to say Thank You Richard, for your amazing support and for advocating and sharing Dark Fey.  It means more than I can articulate, even with my wealth of words.

Thank You.

~Morgan~

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#FridayFeyDay – A Few Little Knowns – #Author #Interview

09 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by in Dark Fey, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy

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Fellow Author and Creative Spirit Uvi Poznansky Recently paid me the honour of talking with me about the ‘little knowns’ of Dark Fey, no only what inspired the tale, butwhat makes the characters unique and what message the story relates.

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What Inspired you to write Dark Fey?  Many have asked me to explain to them what Dark Fey is about and how it was inspired.  The original inspiration for the story came to me through a vivid dream, which I could not stop thinking about days afterward.  As I thought about it, the characters stepped out of the shadows of the dream and demanded my full attention, so I finally sat down and wrote out the entire scene as I saw it in my mind, which is now Chapter Six of The Reviled.(which you can preview in its entirety here)

Tell us about your characters and what makes them unique?  First and foremost, the Feyfolk of Jyndari (which includes the Fey of the Uunglarda) are winged beings the size of any human, rather than ‘tinkerbells’.  Each Fey is born with an inherent gift, something that comes naturally to them that they must learn to hone and use responsibly.  Many Fey are telepathic; they can read the thoughts of others and can project their thoughts into another’s mind if that Fey is also telepathic.  Some are Empathic; they can read and often feel the emotions of others.  Fewer have a gift of Discernment.  These Fey are able to mentally connect with another and gain an intimate understanding of the other; knowing them as well as they know themselves.  A rare few are Dream Walkers who can enter another’s mind through dreams or nightmares.  With these gifts, the Fey of Jyndari have a unique way of communicating with each other on a non-verbal, often far more intimate level than we humans do; however, because of this these gifts also require strict moderation.  Fey are taught from a very early age not to ‘read’ or ‘delve’ without permission and doing so is considered an offense against privacy.

Many, though not all Fey, are also born with a gift of magic unique to them.  Some are spell-casters; some are able to manipulate the forces of nature; some have exceptional speed or strength, and others are able to bend light.

What point of view did you write Dark Fey from and why?  In nearly all my writing I utilize an omniscient third person POV. It’s simply how I’ve always written and, because I tend to focus on the emotional connection between characters, it’s often a better way to relate their state of being. I didn’t really give it much thought when I began writing Dark Fey; yet as the story progressed, it has become an emotionally charged tale and the all-knowing perspective has allowed me to share those emotions with my readers in a powerful way that draws them into the story.  Additionally, the gifts the Fey of Jyndari utilize in their communication with each other is based as much upon emotional understanding as verbal comprehension, and being able to share these emotions with the reader brings the tale to life in a far more vivid manner (at least, I think so.)

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What is Dark Fey all about?

The story of Dark Fey is set in a mystical realm of my own creation called Jyndari, but the message is relative to our own reality.  It is a fantasy, a romance and a tale of suspense and mystery, but the moral undertone is inescapable.  That being: the Power of Hope, Acceptance and Forgiveness can change the world, if you take Positive Action to Create Change through doing what is Right.  As Evondair says in the third book of the trilogy: “The only way to achieve Peace is to become Peace.”

This message came partially as a result of learning about the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) in Uganda, where militant rebels have been abducting children for over 20 years, integrating them into their army through abuse and cruelty, and forcing them to endure lives of violence.  I was moved to my very spirit by such a horrifying truth and chose this medium to share a similar story. However, unlike our own reality where this atrocity continues even today, the Fey of Jyndari choose to change their world by taking Positive Action through Sacrifice, Acceptance and Forgiveness.

It is my greatest hope to be able to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sales of Dark Fey to UNICEF’s work in Uganda where they actively rehabilitate the children affected by the LRA.

 

Thanks Ever so much Uvi! Please do be sure to stop by Uvi’s blog to check out her books AND artwork!

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~Morgan~

#FridayFeyDay – A Beautiful View of #DarkFey – #BookReview

02 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by in Dark Fey, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy

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Fellow Author KJ Simmill recently paid me the honour of reading and reviewing Dark Fey:  The Reviled.  Her review is beautiful and honours me even more, thus, I simply had to share it with all of you.

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Ayla knows all the stories of The Reviled, the Dark Ones. She was raised in the temples due to her own unique capabilities and spent years learning all there was to know about these Dark Fey. They are terrifying creatures, the darkness to their light. Hiding in the shadows, stealing childfey and forcing them through the transformation into one of their own kind. Then one fateful day she feels a presence, a figure cloaked in the shadows watching her through the darkness. She believes him to be one of the Reviled, but her fleeting impressions from him intrigue her. She knows to reveal her suspicions would see her returned to the temples and losing the freedom she had waiting so long to obtain. But her stalker is relentless, his presence encroaching more and more until he reveals the truth of his desire. All he needs is the opportunity to step through the shadows into her world and the course of their lives will be forever altered.

The Reviled is a beautifully written tale wrought with magic, intrigue, and danger. Cynthia A. Morgan adopts a wonderfully descriptive tone leaving lasting impressions of all she describes. She creates an imaginative world complete with lore, beautiful scenes, and interesting characters all enhanced by a well-developed plot. As the first book in a trilogy it also serves to set a scene for the next book, which promises to be every bit as gripping as this one.

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Intrigued by this hint of the story?  Here’s a snippet to spark your interest a wee bit more: the scene where Ayla and her ‘stalker’ (Gairynzvl) finally meet:

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Dark Fey The Reviled has gained over 50 reviews with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.0 available stars.  Find The Reviled and read even more reviews HERE 

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Thank You  KJ Simmill

 

~Morgan~