Literary Titan shows Bellocaro some love

 Check out Literary Titan's 5 Star Review of Bellocaro

Skye Moon has been trapped on a magical island in the Atlantic ocean called Sceadu. She was transported to the island one day against her will with no clue why or how to leave. Those that arrive on the island like this are called spellbound. They are trapped in this magical paranormal academy till the island decides they can leave.

When Skye does not return the popular boy Chad’s affections, she is shunned by most of the academy. This common scenario plays out all the time in schools with teenagers. The popular kid gets all their friends to ignore someone to get what they want. Teens will relate to many of the characters in this imaginative story.

Skye finds solace in her dreams of her dark-eyed boy, the one she calls Bellocaro. But in one such dream, Bellocaro says that he has put her in danger, and the vampire Nymir will track her down and kill her. To add to her precarious situation, the school’s headmistress has asked her to show around the new students, a family known as the Blues. Thatcher, Rane, Wes, and Alton have taken on the role of personal bodyguards to Skye whether she wants them to or not.

Author P.S. Meraux has written a new young adult vampire and werewolf story. This is not a retelling of other vampire stories, rather a fresh new take to draw in the next generation of paranormal readers. Bellocaro is an enchanting blend of a love story, action, and drama. The mystery of learning who the Blues are keeps Skye on her toes; while everyone else is mesmerized by their beauty, Skye picks up on the details that reveal their true paranormal identities.

The author has done a fantastic job building out the world of Sceadu and capturing the teenagers’ personalities that reside there. I could envision the groups all hanging out, and the characters, even non-human, teenagers are the same in this world, with their quirks and attitudes. The mystery of the brown-eyed boy with a mark on his hand will keep coming back to readers. Also, the drama of if the Blues family will capture Nymir -- will keep readers on edge.

Bellocaro is the first novel in the series and a fantastic start to this unpredictable storyline. With each mystery uncovered, new questions arise. Readers will be drawn into the fantasy world that seems too real at times and stay for the unforgettable paranormal characters whose personalities will keep them turning the pages to see what happens.

Pages: 467 | ASIN : B08L2M3QD2

Bellocaro receives the Literary Titan Book award!

Congratulations! We are proud to present you with our Literary Titan Book Award. Your book was recently reviewed through our Book Review Service, with that service your book is entered into our Literary Book Award competition. Your book deserves extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge your hard work, dedication, and writing talent. Start telling the world that you're an award winning author, because we will be!  YAY!

Royal Dragonfly Book Awards 2021

 

Excited to share another glowing accolade for Bellocaro. The novel received an honorable mention in the Young Adult category from the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards. It's always nice when literary experts, like the nice folks at Story Monsters, appreciate my writing style. That tells me I must be doing something right. Yay! 

In case you're not familiar with Story Monsters, you should check out their magazine, Story Monsters Ink. It's a great resource for teachers and librarians looking for new and exciting authors to introduce to their students. 

New Book Cover Reveal

Dugo's Coming Out Soon! 

After some back and forth with my editor and the artist working on the design for Dugo's book cover, we've tweaked the artwork. The new cover is more in keeping with the series in general and the storyline in particular.

Take a look at the revised cover for Dugo.  Book two in the Bellocaro Saga is coming out next month. The countdown is on. Yay!

Happy Reading,

P.S. Meraux

 

Kindle Book Awards Contest

 As an indie author, it's always nice to get feedback from fans of my books. It's also wonderful to have my efforts recognized by other literary professionals, which is why I'm so honored that Bellocaro was a semi-finalist in the 10th Annual Kindle Book Awards Contest!  Yay!

 

New Blog Tour for Bellocaro! Register for a chance to win!

 So excited about the upcoming blog tour for #Bellocaro #BookstoRead Check it out at a YA blog near you and register for a chance to win a free gift.

Here's a sneak peek:

Dugo's Concept Art!

It's simple and sweet and reflects the fact that new characters are showing up in Dugo, the next installment of the Bellocaro Saga. The cover art gives a hint as to the nature of one of them, but like many things in life and fiction — looks can be deceiving. An excerpt from the new novel will be posted here soon.

Happy Reading,

P.S. Meraux

About the cover...

As an indie author, I get a lot of writing advice, even more advice about marketing —especially the unsolicited kind from vendors trying to sell  their services. One bit of advice that I’d heard much about is creating/selecting a book cover.

 Readers shop with their eyes — I’ve heard this constantly.

They look for familiarity and yet simultaneously yearn for something different, enjoyable and engaging.  The design styles for different book genres were established long before I was born. The goal of the  cover is to get the reader to take a closer look, evoke interest, and hopefully produce a sale.

YA readers don’t actually like scantily clad figures on the cover, or exposed body parts— after all what if your mom walked in while you were reading it?

Thanks to Twilight, a hand holding an apple sends a clear message of temptation and vampire romance.  The key is to embrace the trend and give the reader a reason to open the book and keep turning pages.  The hand holding an apple trend was embraced by other authors like Michael Grant, Katherine Applegate, and Marissa Meyer — all took a bite of the apple theme for their covers.

Many experts say: ‘if your book reads like (book)... pick a similar cover.’

Let’s face it, Bellocaro’s cover feels familiar and there’s a good bit of logic behind that. While one shouldn’t just a book by its cover, we all do. Readers’ expectations are largely shaped by this cover image. And anyone who reads Bellocaro will see right away that I pay homage to Twilight; a book series I enjoyed, although truth be told, I liked the books more than the movies.

So when it came to selecting and purchasing the artwork for Bellocaro, I chose with care. I chose the familiar because I wanted to set readers' expectations.

For writers who are also YA readers like myself, setting up expectations about your book is viewed as a good marketing move. It shapes the reader's perception before they crack the spine, or read the first page. Once they do, they’ll be hooked on a different kind of life and death story.

Some of the most gratifying feedback I’ve received from readers:

—“Based on the cover, I thought it was going to be like Twilight, and there is a feeling like that, but boy, I  didn’t see that coming!”

Or

— “Wow, I noticed some similarities and thought I knew what was going to happen, I was so surprised and pleased I was wrong!”

Or

— “Holy Crap, (paraphrased for a PG audience) I didn’t see that coming, or that, or that.”

Some of my toughest critics are Twilight fans, who say seeing Bellocaro’s cover made them laugh and gave them a sense of nostalgia, taking them back a decade to when they first discovered the Cullen clan. After reading Bellocaro, they tracked me down on social media to tell me how much they enjoyed my book.

So while I understand some readers  or other authors may not approve of the choice of covers, contrary to what you may think, a great deal of thought did go into selecting it.

Happy reading.  

P.S. Meraux