Location: Australia
Member Since: Dec. 30, 2010
1 user has added this author as a favorite.

M L Sawyer


Biography

I started my first serious novel at 14, though at the time I didn't know it. It took me another 14 years to get it published and now the book launch is in March 2011.

I was born in Bendigo, Australia and I've always enjoyed writing though I actually work in the real estate industry.

I currently play basketball (just for fun), I'm 'retired' from taekwondo where I spent a good 6 out of my 10 years instructing in the art / sport and I also participate in traditional archery tournaments (though they're never serious).

Where to find M L Sawyer online

Website: http://www.mlsawyer.com.au
Twitter: michellelsawyer
Blog: http://www.sffworld.com/forums/blog.php?u=19768

Where to buy in print

http://www.equilibriumbooks.com/quest.htm

Books

Tallen    by M L Sawyer
Price: $3.99 USD. 85450 words. Published on November 30, 2011. Fiction.
(4.00 from 3 reviews)
Young Adult fantasy novel. Tallen is happy, her family is home and life is good even if she is starting to grow up. One night her existance is changed forever as she barely survives an atack on her home. She is then thrust into the real world where she is chosen for a quest that she wants no part of or to seek revenge on those who destroyed her life.
Daughter of a King    by M L Sawyer
Price: Free! 4520 words. Published on March 8, 2011. Fiction.
(4.00 from 2 reviews)
A short story about a Arnem, a young squire soon to be knight who is smitten by the princess. When she is kidnapped, he must go after her for without the princess in his world his life means nothing.
Quest of the Demon    by M L Sawyer
Price: $3.99 USD. 102450 words. Published on January 28, 2011. Fiction.
0.5 star(3.46 from 13 reviews)
Darci is a popular sixteen-year-old girl who plays basketball and lives in a country town. But her life is changed forever when she is accidentally transported to the land of Nahaba by Taslessian an apprentice wizard. Within hours of her arrival, both are thrust into a dangerous journey to the cave of Grisham the Great in the hope that he can send her home but not all is as it as it seems.

M L Sawyer’s tag cloud

adventure    demon    dragon    fantasy    hero    heroin    heroine    knight    m l sawyer    quest    reveng   

M L Sawyer's favorite authors on Smashwords


Smashwords book reviews by M L Sawyer

  • Aure, the Topaz on Jan. 09, 2011
    star star star
    This is a novel about a Priest (who is also a warrior / demon hunter), who gets involved with an Elf, her partner a Bard, a human teen who was raised by elves, and a wizard to protect an ancient gem. The world created by Rich Feitelberg is unlike any other I have read involving Elves. Here the Elves are split between basically the good Elves, that generally keep to themselves aside from the rare ones that live with humans, and the bad Elves that took over one of the human cities and remain there still, all sharing the philosophy that humans are only good if they are 'red and dead'. Though his ideas and some of his characters are rather unique, I found that there were areas in the novel that perhaps required a bit more work in weaving a story that the reader can see instead of having a reader wade through only the words on the page. Overall it was an interesting story and I would look forward to the next in the series, anticipating Rich's writing to mature as the tale continues.
  • The Kinshield Legacy on March 06, 2011
    star star star star
    I really like this story and would love to read more about Gavin and the challenges that lie ahead. K C May weaves a wonderful tail with complex characters that drew me into the story, not being able to put it down until I got to the end. Will definatly be looking for more from this writer. One for the watch lists!
  • Witness to Dust on March 17, 2011
    star star star star
    At first I thought this would be a standard warewoolf novel, nothing mind blowing. But then the story managed to reveal a unique twist on an old ledgend that I really enjoyed. Well done.
  • Witness to Dust on March 17, 2011
    star star star star
    At first I thought this would be a standard warewoolf novel, nothing mind blowing. But then the story managed to reveal a unique twist on an old ledgend that I really enjoyed. Well done.
  • Big Dragons Don't Cry on April 15, 2011
    star star star
    This novel is not primarily about Dragons and the main narrative is actually through the eyes of the cats. Tara, is the chosen one, a small kitten born in ‘the green’ a fabled place that city cats dream about and is part of their prophesized destiny. Along with Tara you have Phileas the water dragon alone in the swamp that he must protect and Serazina, the human girl who is afraid of her emotional and mental gift being discovered in a society that prizes only ‘the mind’. Throughout the three main tales, C. M Barrett portrays a definite sense of humans destroying the earth and how the animals are trying to bring back the balance. Should the humans fail, in the end of the quest, they will be destroyed. I get the sense that she has spent a lot of time around cats as she is able to clearly capture their idiosyncrasies with well written description and interaction. Where I felt this story fell a little short was in approximately the third quarter of the novel where the main moral of the story (I presume save the planet) continued perhaps a little too much. Despite that, the story was well written and I found no editing issues. It is a recommended read for people who have nothing against cats and even then it’s okay (I’m a dog person). A few parts of the story line came out of the left field but as a reader, that’s not a bad thing as it is very difficult to be unique.
  • Love Immortal on April 18, 2011
    star star star
    A young man is bought into hospital after a serious accident. He dies, causing one of the new nurses an unexplainable sadness. 10 minutes after he is pronounced dead, the heart monitor beeps and Colin comes back to life. The majority of this story is a love tale between the nurse Jewel and the young crash victim Colin who does not know that he is immortal. Drama ensues. Throw in an uncle who does not want to let Colin know about his unique heritage, a twilight like love tale, the Templar Knights and their mortal enemy the Obsidian Knights who will wipe out the ‘infidels’ at any cost… and you have yourself an interesting story. Though well written, this novel for me was a little too much romance, not enough fantasy. This type of impossible love has been done before and though enjoyable, I found that it dwelled a little too much upon the ‘will we make it or is our love fated to end in tragedy.’ The end might surprise, but then again, there aren’t too many outcomes available once you get into the tale. Recommended for romantics, but not so much for the fantasy lover.
  • Apocrypha Sequence: Inferno on May 03, 2011
    star star star star
    “Australia has been invaded by legendary monstrosities! With the Kraken's rise off the shores of Western Australia, an age of monsters is ushered in. When wits and heroics fail, a secret cabal of guardians will take drastic, devastating measures to protect everything they know and love. In the aftermath, when everything has turned to ash, hope will find a way.” The Apocrypha Sequence is a series of dark fantasy collections with interwoven themes and interconnected stories from Shane Jiraiya Cummings. I saw this on smashwords and thought I’d give it a go due to the Australian theme even though it’s not my usual type of read. Jiraiya (which means Young Thunder according to his authors bio), writes some interesting and unique stories here. So if you’re looking for something short, interesting and different with a post-apocalyptic theme; this is recommended for you. Of the short stories that were part of this amalgamation, I liked those relating to the phoenix the most. With this part of the compellation, you are initially confronted with a determined character chasing the phoenix across the charred ruins of Western Australia and from there, Jiraiya cleverly concocts an intriguing story that returns to the past to slowly enlighten the reader about the murder and magic filled passed before concluding the story in an unexpected way. Dark fantasy specialist. Recommended Australian short story read. Also reviewed on http://mlsawyer.weebly.com/blog.html
  • Traitor Blade on May 09, 2011
    star star star
    Traitor Blade, by Richard Crawford, is a novel that focuses mainly on Edouard. As the second son of the King’s brother, Edouard is a young man who is caught up in the political dramas of court, ill prepared for such a battlefield. Constantly in trouble with his father he tries to find his own way in life. Being a Knight is all he has ever wanted, but when Edouard leaves Chamfort to take part in the summer battles, he sets himself on a path of no return. Aside from Edouard, the story focuses on Mariette – widowed at the start of the novel she seeks to bring down those who murdered her husband. Her ‘games’ at court become serious when she meets Edouard. She is not sure if she can trust herself. To prove Edouard innocent she must break his heart, but if she does this, is she being true to herself? This is a reasonably well written story, with only a few issues that caught my notice. I picked up a few spelling errors as well as grammatical which detracted from the tale which was unfortunate. Also, I found that there was the occasional change to a minor character which, though useful to the telling of the story in some ways, upset the pace of the tale for me- but that’s just my opinion. Otherwise, it is a very good story with plenty of action, intrigue and drama. For those who like fantasy, Knights and honour, intrigues of court and a darkness that needs to be fought, I highly recommend this novel to you.
  • Time Watchers: The Greatest of These on May 15, 2011
    star star star star
    Time Watchers: The Greatest Of These by Julie Reilly is an eye-opening, no holds bared story that goes back to 7000bc. Robert, an anthropologist time traveller, spends six weeks with a small community. His initial contact is one of shock and violence before he takes the time to become accepted by those of the cave community – at least, by most of them. As if the dramas of day to day survival is not enough, Robert soon finds himself falling for Yana, a sixteen year old cave woman. Everything Robert has learnt tells him that this is wrong and cannot be allowed as Robert must return to his own time, for surly such love could have untold ramifications to the time line… I really enjoyed the first part of this novel. Julie takes you back to the Stone Age where the reader quickly becomes involved in the harsh reality that is survival. The characters are believable; lovable and hateable at times. You really root for them, you want them to succeed but as a reader, you are constantly surprised by what happens. This reads like a fantasy novel with a slight time travel sci-fi. Very enjoyable.
  • Rook: Allie's War, Book One on May 27, 2011
    star star star star
    Rook, Allie’s War: Book one by J C Andrijeski is an interesting tale. Set in an alternate reality future, this is a world that has grown up with two species – humans and seers. Seers have the ability to read minds among other things and their lives are strictly controlled by the government. Allie is a not so ordinary waitress – currently wearing a tracking bracelet for violence committed against her ex boyfriends new partner. She also has the uncanny ability to attract strange people, stalkers of all shapes and descriptions. From working in the diner she is soon transported into a world of intrigue, action and violence. The Seer world is completely different to what the majority of the human population has been lead to believe and even more shocking… she is one of them. I started reading this book and soon found that I could not put it down. The action is well written, the characters fairly unique in their personalities and the alternate world is portrayed in great detail. It has been some time since I have been dragged into a tale so fully that all I want to do is keep reading. A few downfalls for me though were the occasional long descriptions of the barrier and the alternate world of light. I found myself almost skipping through these at times to get back into the story. The very occasional word missing / grammatical issue made me pause in some points of the story but other than that it is a fantastic read. J C Andrijeski can be found at www.jcandrijeski.com and this book can be purchased from www.smashwords.com A highly recommended story well worth the purchase! To view this review and more http://mlsawyer.weebly.com/blog.html
  • Sword: Allie's War, Book Three on June 05, 2011
    star star star star
    Finally, Allie is free of Terrin, but in freeing her from that psychopaths less than gentle clutches Revik has reunited with parts of himself that he did not know were missing. Still married to Allie, he wants her to join him in his war against the humans that treat Seers so poorly, but Allie only wants to prevent it. Through this part of the overall story, Allie’s character changes – which is to be expected. Who wouldn’t change in the events that she has been forced to endure? But I felt that she herself had turned to her own dark side to reach her goals. As a reader, I’m not sure if I’m happy with Allie's character going that way, but as I only finished this novel moments ago, my thoughts might change. After being completely immersed in the first two novels, I found book three no different, again reading it in just a few days. The story is exciting, touching, heart wrenching and it does not end here. I will be looking with keen interest for book four! Also reviewed at http://mlsawyer.weebly.com/blog.html
  • Shield: Allie's War, Book Two on June 05, 2011
    star star star star star
    Shield, Allie’s War: Book two by J C Andrijeski is a story that follows on from the first novel. Allie is slowly trying to terms with her being a Seer and her apparent marriage to Revik while she barely manages to make her way through the intricacies of Seer law and culture. To reveal more might be considered a spoiler… Again I felt myself being drawn into the story of Allie and the amazing path her life has taken. The adventure, fear and suspense are addictive with the story itself quite unique and interesting. J C Andrijeski makes you feel for the characters, fear for them when they are in danger and let you burn with the want for revenge when they are wronged. I ended up reading this book in about 3 days and that in itself should recommend this novel to you. This novel is better than the first, but could not be without Rook - Allie’s War: book 1, as much of the world is created in that first tale. Also reviewed at http://mlsawyer.weebly.com/blog.html
  • State of Horror: Texas on June 12, 2011
    star star star star
    I heard of this through the sffworld website that I frequent so thought I’d give it a go. I’m not normally in to reading short stories but I have to say that I found this entertaining. The stories were short enough to fill in time where I had not much to spare, entertaining enough for me to read the lot in two days and unique enough for me to recommend it to others. Being horror stories, they weren’t as graphic as some, but still dark enough for you to get your chills. Can you imagine what it would be like to be temporarily blind in the middle of a zombie attack? Armand Rosamilia takes you there…