Guest Post: Author Catherine Banks

Reading and writing has always been a passion of mine. People told me it was “weird” to read so much or to write my own stories. Personally I think it is weird when I talk to people who are my age (late twenties) who haven’t read anything aside from the required reading from school. Reading transports you to a new place and to new people. It gives you the ability to experience a wide range of emotions and lets you connect with characters in ways that you might not be able to connect with from real people. I enjoy being teleported to a vast countryside where people have to travel days to reach destinations while fighting trolls and avoiding being cooked.  I also enjoy being teleported to a place where magic is everywhere and it’s weird to be “normal” or without magic. Writing gives me these same things except I get to decide what the story is about and what happens. I get to create a new world where werewolves exist alongside humans or where a human girl is raised by elves. I become one of the characters and I experience every emotion right along with them as I write down their story. Sometimes their story writes itself and if I had a plan for them, it is thrown out the window as I write a scene that grips my heart and frightens my character and myself as we experience it. Sometimes that scene changes the entire plan and I allow the character to write the story herself.

 

I self-published my books so that others could enjoy the stories I created and to be transported to a place not quite like ours. Some don’t like my stories and that’s okay, not everyone likes the same things, but others love my stories and enjoy reading about my characters’ journeys. That is why I self-published. I don’t need to be a famous bestseller. I don’t need my book made into a movie. I want to hear others say how much they loved a specific character and how they felt their pain in certain scenes and the love in others. Hearing the joy my books brings others makes me feel good inside.

 

Facts about me:

 

Favorite movie: Princess Bride (great book too)

Favorite ice cream: mint chocolate chip

Favorite place to read: outside

Married or single: married since 2007, but together since 2002

Children: Two: Erica born 2007 and Calvin born 2012

Tattoos: 4 and more to come!

 

Top 5 favorite adult series:

 

1. Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews

2. Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs

3. The Edge by Ilona Andrews

4. Warrior & Witch by Marie Brennan

5. Cassandra Palmer Series by Karen Chance

 

Top 5 favorite young adult series:

 

1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

2. Percy Jackson & The Olympians by Rick Riordan

3. Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver

4. The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce

5. Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross

 

About the Author:

 

 

I'm just your average nerdy bibliophile. I love books, video games, music and movies. In 2010 I self-published my first novel and now I have several titles under construction. I love fantasy and have an extreme love for werewolves. I spend my days off work writing one of my novels or with my husband, daughter, 3 dogs, horse and cat. I love writing stories and they seem to flow out of me constantly. I just want people to read my stories and enjoy them.

 

Contact me! I love talking with my fans!

 

Author's Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

Email

Review: Kiss of a Star (Artemis Lupine, #2) by Catherine Banks

Artemis’ life completely changed when she met Ares and learned of her true genetics. Achilles comes to her and her life is changed yet again as she learns more about herself and Ares’ past. Now nothing is simple and life is anything but calm. As she adjusts to her new life she learns that shedding a little blood is more than necessary and that she must do whatever she can to stay with her pack and her mate. Can she figure out a way to protect her pack and stand against the man hunting her? Or will treachery and deceit separate her from the first family she’s ever had?

OK so we've covered the fact that these covers are not my favorite. I'm starting to think it's the cartoon like qualities that turn me off, but that's just a guess. Either way, if there was ever a situation where you should NOT judge a book by it's cover, this series would be one of those times. Banks' books might not have covers to covet but the writing she puts behind those covers more than makes up for it. After the cliffhanger Banks left her readers with in Song of the Moon, I could not get this second installment open fast enough.

After meeting Achilles for all of five seconds in book one, though it might seem ridiculous, I instantly disliked him. I can't help it but I'd already decided that if a love triangle was created, that I was firmly on Team Ares. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, Achilles was not getting my vote. Artemis and Ares went through so much in Song of the Moon, that I began to wonder how this second installment would live up to all that excitement. But live up to and surpass it, it surely did. While the love triangle added an interesting twist of events, it was everything else that was happening in Artemis' new world that really took center stage. While the werewolves and their pack laws were gripping in book one, adding the sidhe characters and world only upped the ante left readers dying to know what Banks would come up with next. Most of you know Greek mythology has always had a special place in my heart, and Banks managed to hit this one on the head.

Like I said before, Banks draws her readers in and without even realizing how she's done it not to mention how quickly she manages it, but you become addicted. To the series, her characters and where she's going to take them and what all she's got planned to put them through. Kidnappings, fights and battles, bonding, murder attempts, pack hierarchies, royalty struggles...you name it and Banks is putting it on the table. Her characters do not rest and yet she never left me feeling overwhelmed with all that was going on, or even rolling my eyes and saying that enough is enough. Artemis and the rest of the gang are pushed to their limits, but it's always bordering the line of just enough, yet never crossing over. I simply can't get enough of Banks' writing and her series has me craving more!

I gave Kiss of a Star (Artemis Lupine, #2) 4 shamrocks!!!!