Review: The Witching Pen (Witching Pen Novellas #1) By Dianna Hardy + Interview

Title: The Witching Pen (Witching Pen Novellas #1)

Author: Dianna Hardy

Published: July 29th 2011

Published by: Bitten Fruit Books / Satin Smoke Press

Genre: PARANORMAL ROMANCE, DARK FANTASY & URBAN FANTASY

Ebook

Pages: 222

Goodreads Synopsis:

(Book One of The Witching Pen Novellas)

It's hard being the most powerful witch on the planet. It's even harder when you're a twenty-five year old virgin who'll lose all of that power the moment you sleep with someone ... that's why Elena's never slept with her best friend and flatmate, Karl, despite the true feelings they harbour for each other.

Elena's about to discover that there are even more difficult things in life to deal with. One of them comes in the form of a pen she discovers one day, a pen that allows anything she writes to come to pass...

Suddenly, it's not just her powers or her heart that's at stake, but her very soul, as a dream demon with a seductive pull uses the pen to try and turn her away from her reality, and from Karl.

But the pen is just the beginning. Everything Elena has believed in is a lie, and her world is about to fall apart...

(Book length: novella - over 37,000 words)

Excerpt from The Witching Pen

He bouldered his way into her room to find her sitting up, tangled in her sheets and tearing at air.

“Elena!”

Did she see him? She seemed to be looking at something...

“Elena! Wake up!”

The look on her face almost had him frozen to the spot, but his practical nature always bested him, and he grabbed her shoulders instead, trying to shake her into full alertness. The woman was rigid under his hands, so he tried a different approach. Collecting her into his arms, he planted a tender kiss on her forehead and rubbed her back, speaking softly, “Elena, honey, everything's all right. It's me – it's Karl.”

She was burning hot, her skin tacky with sweat, but she blinked.

Yes. We're getting somewhere.

“Elena, it's okay ... everything's okay...”

He rocked her in his arms, back and forth. “Wake up, baby. Wake up...”

She blinked again and turned her head. “K-Karl?”

“Yes, it's me … are you all right?”

She looked skittishly at her surroundings, then surrendered into his arms, her breaths coming out sharp and quick.

“What happened?”

“There was … something was here...”

He frowned at her open window. Did she mean that someone was actually in here?

As if reading his mind, she shook her head. “No. It was a like a dream … but it wasn't a dream.”

She paused and seemed unsure of what to say next.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don't know. I...”

She looked at him – looked right into his eyes with her own hazel ones. Up until now it hadn't even occurred to him that they were holding each other wearing not a hell of a lot, and he forced his mind away from the fact.

A slight smile touched her lips. “I like your eyes – I like that they're so blue...” And then her smile disappeared, she looked away and shuddered. His practical self won through yet again, and he used the opportunity to untangle her sheets and draw them up around her – for his sake more than hers. She shot him a grateful glance.

“It was a demon. I think he was in this room, or at least, his shadow was. He seeped into my mind as I was dreaming.”

“A demon?”

Nothing about Elena or the life she led should surprise him any more, but he'd never heard her mention demons at all in the past, so here he was, once again taken aback.

“I don't know much about them. There are text books and stuff, but my teachers never concentrated on the demon worlds so much … guess I'd better get researching.”

“A demon? I don't know what to say … how do you know it was a demon?”

“Instinct, I guess … and he looked kind of … demonic. Oh, God ...”

“What?”

“The pen … he said it was his gift to me.”

They both looked at the pen that sat atop her nightstand.

“Do you believe him?”

She shrugged. “I have no reason not to, I mean … the pen just appeared one day out of nowhere.”

“So you think he planted it for you to find?”

“I suppose he did, and I'd better find out why fast, because I don't think this was a one-off visit. Karl? Karl – what is it?”

Karl had stopped moving; he'd almost stopped breathing. A feeling of dread had sunk into the pit of his stomach. “Do you always sleep with your notebook open?”

“Yes, it's easier for me to write down dreams and stuff when half asleep.”

“Did you write down that?”

Elena looked once again at the notebook and spotted what she had obviously missed before. A strangled cry escaped her lips.

The plane's final engine failed, and the passengers screamed as it plummeted.

Interview with Dianna Hardy

1. What inspired you to write The Witching Pen?

There were two things: the first was that I just wanted to write a story about a boy and a girl who love each other, where their love had to overcome certain [paranormal] complications. Simple, right? But it was that simple. It’s amazing how a story (a plot, a series, a saga) grows out of simplicity. The second, was reading Heather Killough-Walden’s Big Bad Wolf series. Heather is someone who started off self-publishing (she’d now also commercially published), and it completely inspired me how possible it was to publish onto a huge platform like Amazon. I’d only just heard about being able to publish onto Kindle when I began writing The Witching Pen. I was a total newbie (still feel like one, to be honest!). Reading Heather’s book gave me the oomph I needed to just go ahead and do it.

2. When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

You want to be a lot of things when you’re a kid. I wanted to be an actress, a singer, a lawyer, and most importantly, super-duper famous (what kid doesn’t?). With regards to writing, I’ve been reading from a very early age (two or three), and I remember writing my first story (Little Miss Rainbow) when I was about eight. Did I “know” I wanted to write for a career then? Only as much as I knew I wanted to be everything else. I really knew I wanted to write as a career, when The Witching Pen series began to take off six months ago. There’s no way I could do anything else now – I am addicted and obsessed with writing.

3. What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?

Probably about two years old. There was a Portuguese character called Anita – the Anita Books, or something like that. I loved those. And yes, Portuguese was my first language. Can’t say I’m any good at reading or speaking it now though, lol.

4. What genre of books do you enjoy reading?

Contemporary romances and erotic romance, horror, paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance – they don’t have to be romances, but there has to be some kind of basic attraction between characters that develops into something special – whatever that is – to keep me interested. Even if it’s just special friendships. Strong relationships and characters in books are important to me.

5. What is your favorite book?

That is a completely impossible question for me to answer. I have no idea. I have a soft spot for A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

6. You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

At then moment, it’s J.R. Ward and Larissa Ione – I love the way they both use dialogue in their books. I also find Joss Whedon’s scriptwriting very inspirational.

7. If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?

OMG, what a good question! I’d go back to Arthurian times (which, even though mythological, I imagine to be somewhere in the 13th Century). Give me castles, dragons, magic, horses and swords – I’m there.

8. When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?

It really depends on the book and how intense the characters are. If the characters are easy-going, then writing them can also be; but if they’re intense, I need to take a breather every 1000 words or so.

9. The Demon Bride, the third book in The Witching Pen Novellas is due out August 31, 2012. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Phew! Where to start? This is one of those intense books with intense characters. It was a b***h to write, but I also loved every minute of it. What will you find in this book? Heaven, Hell, [my own brand of] angel mythology, Olds Gods, current Gods, love that’s tested in every way, you get new characters, an ending and a beginning.

10. Do you plan on writing more of The Witching Pen Novellas after The Demon Bride?

Yes, there will be a spin-off, full-length novel called The Last Dragon. It’s a spin-off because in this book, I am no longer concentrating on the romance between a couple, but on all the characters’ situations, how they relate to one another, and the plot in general. But it’ll still be hot, sexy, fast-paced and action-filled.

11. Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?

Write what you want to write, with no intention of anything other than your passion for doing so. When you’ve done that, then you can put your energy into seeing where you want to take it and how far it can go. One of the things I’ve learnt is that it’s impossible to know what other people are going to like reading. So write what you want to.

The Witching Pen Novellas are available in digital format, with the first trade paperback having been released in April. All info and buy links can be found on the series website The Witching Pen Novellas.

And thanks so much to Nancy for taking the time to read and review this series.

My Review:

The following review is my opinion and not a paid review. I was given a copy of The Witching Pen by the author Dianna Hardy for an honest review.

Elena is a very powerful witch who was told at a very young age by her mother that if she ever slept with anyone she would lose all of her powers. Her powers would go to the one she slept with. Elena did not want to put the responsibility of her powers on anyone that did not grow up with them and know how to handle them. Elena did not have a big problem with this because she never really had anyone she cared enough about to sleep with.

Elena lives with her best friend Karl, they have been bff's since early childhood. Karl and Elena have been in love with each other for a long time but because of their friendship they have hid these feelings from themselves and everyone else. Elena has probably hidden her feelings because of what her mother told her about not being able to sleep with anyone.

Elena finds a pen called The Witching Pen. She finds out that what ever she writes with this pen comes true. Elena is the only one besides Karl that can touch the pen. But what Karl writes with the pen does not come true.

I would like to thank Dianna Hardy for asking me to review The Witching Pen. I had wanted to read it for a long time. Image how I felt when I go that email I was ecstatic. The Witching Pen wasn't exactly as good as I thought it would be. It was a hell of a lot more than I ever imaged it to be. Dianna threw in just enough to keep you hanging on and wanting more. When I wasn't reading it, it stayed on my mine. I was like ok, ok I got to know what is happening now.

About the Author:

Dianna Hardy is a multi-genre author of paranormal things, dark things, poetic things, sexy things, taboo things, and sometimes funny things. She writes about witches, demons and angels. All info about her books can be found on her website Dianna Hardy

Look for Dianna Hardy on the web:

Web site - Dianna Hardy
Web site - The Witching Pen Novellas
Goodreads - Dianna Hardy
Goodreads - The Witching Pen (Witching Pen Novellas #1)
Facebook - Dianna Hardy
Twitter - Dianna Hardy

Purchase The Witching Pen:

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