I'm S.M. Boyce, a fantasy and paranormal fiction writer who also dabbles in contemporary fiction and comedy. I have a B.A. in Creative Writing which, naturally, qualifies me to be pompous and serve you french fries.

I update my blog (smboyce.blogspot.com) a few times each week so that you have something funny (or at least sarcastic) to wake you up in the morning. 

Website: http://smboyce.com
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• thesmboyce: "Boyce does such a wonderful job at creating [her] world that at times I forgot it wasn't real." http://t.co/CpM8cA6j
• thesmboyce: "Adventure, intrigue, and a little bit of romance. This story has it all...this trilogy has the beginnings of an epic." http://t.co/fbU8RHtd
• thesmboyce: "The Grimoire: Lichgates is on my top five favorite books I have read this year and possibly in recent years." http://t.co/HvLabfx5
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Chris James
Latest book: The Second Internet Cafe, Part 1: The Dimension Researcher. Published on September 27, 2011.
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• The Forever Girl on Feb. 28, 2012
  
  THE SHORT VERSION: For those of you who like vampires, monsters, new creatures you’ve never heard of, and the occasional adult situation, you’re in for a treat. Rebecca Hamilton (@inkmuse) just released her debut novel, The Forever Girl, on February 1, 2012. She was kind enough to send me a release copy. The Forever Girl is a thrilling tale and I loved every minute of reading it. I was pulled into a fantastic world full of interesting creatures, sexy heroes, strong-willed heroines, and plenty of the paranormal. There were ghosts, vampires, and a host of never-before-seen creatures that made me want to learn more about Hamilton’s world. It was a suspenseful read, and I can promise you that I will be reading every single book in this series. You should definitely check out The Forever Girl and put Hamilton on your list of up-and-coming authors to keep an eye on. THE DETAILS The novel is about a young woman named Sophia who is tortured with an incessant buzzing in her mind that she cannot control and does not understand. Then, in an effort to silence this noise forever, she discovers a family curse that dates back hundreds of years – and is thrown into an underworld she wished she could forget. Sophia’s family has skeletons alright…but not all of them are in their graves. VOICE/HUMOR: This is a 1st person novel, so it’s inherent that you’re going to get closer to the narrator in this style. Still, Hamilton gives us a fresh voice when it comes to Sophia, and we get fantastic moments of character with snippets like, “Arguing with her would be like blowing out a light bulb.” These bits keep us laughing through the less-climactic moments, and carries the story along nicely. CHARACTERS: There’s a dynamic to Hamilton’s characters that I admire. Even the villains are dynamic; while you don’t particularly like them (my response to the Mother was “that bitch be crazy”), you do sympathize for their flaws and the weaknesses which brought them to their current state. You wish that they’d chosen a different road, because otherwise, they would be fairly normal and maybe even likable. Sophia herself is a strong character who is unafraid to be alone, and that strength carries through the novel. You believe her religious choice, because she finds resolution and calm in it despite the hatred with which others wrongfully accost her. BACKSTORY: I’m sure you all know that I’m a finicky snit and it’s hard to make me happy in the literary sense, especially when it comes to pacing and backstory. However, Rebecca knows how to finesse backstory into the novel with subtle threads that the reader barely notices. She tells us about Sophia’s relationship with her father and her mother in a single paragraph when she sees a charm that sparks a flashback. That’s all I need: that little detail to get me to the next development. That subtly and that depth is hard to master, but Hamilton’s got it. TRANSITIONS Hamilton has a knack for pulling you into the next scene even though you want to go to bed. Whether it’s movement from one break to the next or from one chapter to the next, you’re pulled along and you don’t want to stop reading. She leaves you with suspenseful zingers like this one: “That whole thing with Mr. Petrenko—that was long over with, right? I’d only found his body. I hadn’t killed the man. No matter what anyone thought.” Yeah. Try stopping after that. She has a knack for building suspense, even though there isn’t much action in the first half of the book; it’s a nice balance between direct action and suspenseful plot building. So in the first few chapters, while our character is only moving from the restaurant to the police station to a shop, I was hooked and didn’t want to stop reading. THE ENDING I won’t tell you what happens, but I will tell you that the sense of resolution was very strong. It left me with a smile on my face. I really think you should give this novel a read. It's original, funny, and beautiful. Rebecca Hamilton is on my list of must-read authors and FG is definitely a new favorite.
  
• Dark Mercy (Preternaturals Shorts) on April 19, 2012
  
  THE SHORT VERSION: Dark Mercy is a short work of paranormal vampire fiction that can easily be read in one sitting. It's sexy, dangerous, thrilling, and while the word "dark" is used a lot, it fits too. I really enjoyed reading this, but beware that it's rated R and is full of, well, sinful pleasantries. Dude, even I felt kind of like I needed a confession after reading the sex scene. The characters were flawed and realistic, the story magical and real, and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) themes had me thinking about the book long after I finished. This is on my favorites shelf and I'll be reading the rest in this series. THE DETAILS: So Dark Mercy actually starts with what I thought was a bit of a spoiler. Winters has this disclaimer in her Acknowledgements: [quote]Dark Mercy is the beginning of Hadrian and Angeline's story, not the end. Their HEA will happen later in their own full-length novel. This story is important both for the overall series and for this couple, but it's not their HEA. Just a mild disclaimer so no one goes in with false expectations of this story.[/quote] Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I had to Google "HEA." For those who also don't know, it stands for "happily ever after." Huh, I thought. Spoiler much? We know from the get-go that there is no lovey-dovey resolution to the story. We're almost guaranteed a cliff hanger. This disappointed me at first, but now that I've read it, I have to say that it adds to the end. I want to see how any couple can survive this sort of, er, tension. It makes me even more curious to read on, knowing that this isn't the end of their story. So even though it was off-putting at first, the "spoiler" actually left me completely surprised at the end. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. I love that. The narration switches between our two main characters: Hadrian and Angeline. We see sex, vulgar language, sin, demons...it's all there, so be prepared. Still, it's great to hear their contrasting voices and to see the way they effect each other. Through them, we see life, death, lust, and the hope for redemption; it's wonderful. I really enjoyed the way the story was balanced between them, and I think it would have been weak without the vacillating perspectives. The themes Winters slips into the story are also wonderful, but I won't hit you over the head with them. There are also moments of wonderfully vivid imagery, where I could hear and taste this paranormal world Winters talked about in Dark Mercy. You're transported from place to place, and each setting was crystal clear. I settled right in and never once questioned Winters' style or voice. Winters' take on the vampire world wasn't entirely new, but both the look into the death/transformation and the way she described the taste of blood was. She describes drinking blood as being able to taste emotions, rather than literal taste. I thought that was great. You also get an insight into the other paranormal creatures of the Preternaturals series, from cyclers to witches to other magical creatures about which we can only speculate. All in all, this was a great read. I slipped right into the story and didn't leave until I ran out of words to read. I definitely recommend you pick this book up -- as long as you're okay with a bit of sin and a naughty sex scene. I think the depth of the rest of the story will outweigh this for anyone made uncomfortable by lightly described sex in novels, but it's going to be your call in the end.
  
• Vaempires: Revolution on April 29, 2012
  
  THE SHORT VERSION Vaempires: Revolution is the first in an intensely original series by Thomas Winship. Elements from multiple genres are blended together: fantasy, vampire fiction, scifi. It's a cool read with a lot of violence, but it's also a coming of age about two rather bad-ass vampires. You get two perspectives for a broad view of the overall story, but because of the cliffhanger ending, it reads more like an introduction than a full novel. Still, I very much enjoyed it and will be tagging along for the rest of the series. THE DETAILS You're introduced to a lot very quickly in this novel, and you have to keep up. It's action-driven and fast-paced, and I recommend re-reading the synopsis first before diving in if it's been a while. The book's blurb gives you an inkling of what's going on that the first chapter throws you into without warning. We have two main characters: Daniel and Cassandra. Daniel is the son of the Head Royal Guard, and Cassie is the princess. They live in an era thousands of years in the future, after atomic bombs cause a great Devastation and the world is handed over to be ruled by vampires. What's incredibly neat—besides the fact that this is a scifi vampire novel with freaking vampire zombies—is that we see a constant state of evolution. We're shown how vampires evolved beyond humans, and then we see another vampire race called vaempires (note the extra "e"), which have evolved to hunt vampires. It's all very fun and complex. There are actually very few central characters, and it helps focus the novel onto its central purpose of showing us this advanced war and the subsequent destruction as the vaempires (again, note the extra "e") attack the vampire cities around the world. The characters we do experience—namely Daniel and Cassie—are further explored because of this isolation. It's amazing to see them come into their own and respond to the chaos and death, but it's even more endearing to see their love for each other. It's the driving force of the novel, and I believe the driving force of life. Their love was very well done and their motivations very well supported. This is a violent book. Just throwing that out there for anyone who's squeamish. I am a little, won't lie, but I managed to skim the gory bits without losing too much of the story. Some images are still kind of sticking to my brain and I wish they wouldn't, but it's nothing that will keep me up tonight. I often read this before bed and it didn't give me any sort of bad dreams. More exciting, really, because of all the action. I love me some good action scenes. Winship's style is very detailed, and the action scenes specific. We get play-by-plays of what's going on, which isn't my personal preference for writing action scenes. Still, you see each motion and are given the full scope of the fight scenes, which makes Daniel seem even more bad ass. He was trained to be a killer, even if he'd never had to kill before the attack, and he's been trained to protect Cassie because she's a royal. Only, that's not the only reason he wants her safe. Cassie is just awesome. I wanted more of her voice because of her strength and unyielding will to survive and protect her people, and sometimes sped through Daniel's perspectives just to get back to her. That could also be because I'm a chick and just better related to women. Not sure. The ending wasn't my thing, just because I wanted more resolution. I felt like Daniel's character went backwards, instead of maturing, and I kind of bit my lip when I realized I only had a page left and it wasn't enough space to resolve anything. There was also a moment when the conflict climaxed and it seemed that resolution was imminent, but then the rug was yanked from under us. I kinda sat back and thought, damn, that's no fun. It still isn't going to stop me from reading the rest of the series, nor does it ruin the overall story. Bottom line: this is a cool book. If you like vampires, fantasy, or hell, even scifi, I think you'll like this. It's an interesting blend of something new and refreshing, and I think it would make the coolest video game in a long time. Seriously, read it and tell me that wouldn't kick ass as a multiplayer -or- an individual campaign game! It rocks.
  
• Five on April 30, 2012
  
  THE SHORT VERSION I fully admit that I stayed up until 6 a.m. reading the last 60% of this book. I tore through it quickly, in only two days, so it’s a fast and light read. Five has humor, spunk, and a thrilling imagination to it. Bits of the story were left unraveled at the end…bits that could have used explaining…but since it’s the first in a series, I’d imagine we find that out later. While our main character’s spunk made me love her, her resolve can be shaky and she occasionally acted in ways I thought were out of character. However, this book is full of sarcasm, quips, sexy men, and a political power play that adds an intriguing twist. THE DETAILS I’m honestly not entirely sure where to start with Five. The Story itself is interesting because Rich has woven together two distinct worlds: ours, and the magical, hidden realm of Faeresia. While I’m not personally a huge fan of the name, her descriptions were delightful and imaginative and her creatures were vivid and real. Our MC, Rayla, is a sassy girl that runs away from home to persue her dreams. She wants to be an artist, and she’s actually really good. Her future is everything to her, and no one is going to take that from her. Well, that is, until several beautiful men start courting her. And by courting, I mean they’re trying to kidnap her in the night because they’re actually magical beings called fae, and she’s the key to making them more powerful. Unstoppable, actually. Scary. Too bad they’re all drop-dead gorgeous. That’s a little distracting. So the characters are pretty well done. Though the men were initially a little bit stereotypical (“latin lover” and “jungle warrior”), they are unique and their personalities develop over the course of the book. Rayla and her best friend, Cassie, are a hoot. There’s a ton of snark and humor that kept me glued to their development, and I loved the side stories that played within the book. The villains are, on the whole, also unique. And, damn it, they’re sexy too. There’s an entire political undertone to Five that makes it more than chick lit and team-whoever reading. We discover why Rayla’s being pursued, and why she’s unique to anyone else that has also had to endure this strange courting process. We learn how some of the men want to use her, and we’re constantly wondering if any of them actually care. I started to lose a little of my fervor when Rayla actually discovers a bit of the fae world for herself (I don’t consider that a spoiler, because it’s vague and come on, you knew it was going to happen). Point is, things felt like they were unraveling. All this choice she was given throughout the story suddenly doesn’t matter, and as much as she fights everything, no one listens. For someone so powerful, she becomes weak. The pacing was pretty good, and any editing issues were minor and mostly unnoticeable while reading. The voice itself was strong and vivid on the whole, with just a few dramatic or flowery bits, and I just loved the imagination of the fae world, the trolls, and the magical beings. Styx is probably my favorite creature, and Zach my favorite character. The ending was slightly off, though, and I’m not wholly sure why. I can’t really discuss it without spoilers, so I reserved those for the toggle below. But in general terms, it left me a tad confused. Granted, this is part of a series, and you can thankfully dive right into the sequel since it’s available now. But in terms of Five as its own book, there could have been more resolution. Rayla, who previously was hell-bent in her conviction, had what I thought was a sudden change of heart that really made no sense to me. I did stay up until 6 a.m. reading it, so I dunno. Maybe I was delusional and sleep deprived, but even as I reflect on it today, I wanted more answers to wrap up the first book before we dive into the new tension introduced at the end to start off book 2. A few nitpicking details aside, this is a good book. I mean, 4 stars and all. There were some plot developments that confused me, or led me astray in a way that was never explained or corrected. But there were several more moments where I laughed out loud, and the characters Rich builds are fun and very sexy. If you’re a fan of a bit of sexual tension, power plays, self discovery, and a look into the magical, I think you’ll enjoy this.
  
• Vaempires: White Christmas on May 01, 2012
  
  I really enjoyed this novella. It gives us an insight into the characters from Vaempires: Revolution and explores both the lovers and main characters of the primary book as well as the underlying tensions that fuel the primary conflict later on. Winship has a talent for adorable or lighthearted scenes that made me chuckle. I was often laughing to myself or grinning while I read, just because it was cute or I could relate to Daniel's character. Even though one of my favorite parts of Vaempires: Revolution was Cassie's voice, I didn't mind not looking through her eyes in this novella. Part of that comes from the fact that this is a quick read and the other part stems from the fact that White Christmas only explores Daniel's love for the princess, so her input isn't really needed. It works. The ending was good. It had a HEA effect, one that was expected and necessary to keep the reader happy, I think, but the tensions building through this novella and the dramatic irony sprinkled throughout makes it more than just a HEA. All in all, awesome. BUT you have to read Vaempires: Revolution first to really appreciate it. No cheating.