Critique Groups
Often when an author is asked what advice to give a new author, the reply is – find a critique group.
And while it is great advice, in all honesty, finding the lost city of Atlantis might be easier. Personally, I have been through – at least – 6 critique groups. One of them I was a member for a day – possibly two. The moderator’s requirements for what constituted a critique were more demanding than an advanced level English course.
But I lucked out when I clicked a link for the group I am in now. Is it a great critique group – no. What??? It has become very quiet, with few members putting up chapters to be critiqued and only certain individuals doing the critiquing.
So why do I think it’s a great group? Because of the writer friends I have made. The networking that has occurred which is so valuable in any industry. Amber, owner of this blog, and I are in the same critique group. She promotes her books on my blog and I am here at hers.
I have several friends, from that group, who I go to for critiques or beta reads who are not still active in the group. One friend, her son was 2 when we started working together and he is now a freshman in high school.
The critique group has evolved beyond just the limits of critiquing, it is more of an “author’s group”, who occasionally do critiques.
So, start your search for either an in-person or an online critique group, but know it will most likely be a long search. But well worth it in the end.
Blurb
What do dragons, knights and romance have in common? Grab a copy of multi-published author Daryl Devore’s medieval fantasy romance – The Last Dragon and discover the answer.
A sorcerer craving dominance merged with a dragon, the power overwhelmed him causing him to split into three dragons. Demora ruled thought, but was lost in time. Yidithe offered protection, shining like the light of the sun. Ayrradex craved chaos, revelling in destroying souls.
Many knights died, attempting to slay the devil beast. One knight, Prince Hawkyns, did not fear death. He’d lost everything. Away on a mission when Ayrradex attacked his father’s kingdom, Penrythe, Hawkyns returned to find his noble father – feeble and defeated. His wise mother – crazed. His beautiful wife and unborn child – dead. Only a pile of ashes remained for him to bury. He knelt before his King and vowed to slay the devil-beast or be slain.
Derry was born with powers that terrified her parents. They delivered her to a nunnery to be raised in secret. Jathe, a wise sorceress, discovered the young girl and trained her to one day use the secret hidden in her soul.
Legends spoken around campfires hinted the sole way to destroy Ayrradex was when the hearts of a knight and a golden dragon became one. But after a vicious battle with Ayrradex, the golden dragon was thought to be dead.
Can Prince Hawkyns’s bravery and Derry’s powers end the reign of the devil-beast’s terror?
Buy Links
Amazon – ebook – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QPW4CVF
Amazon – print – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QRVJ59P
Books2read – universal link – ebook – https://books2read.com/The-Last-Dragon
Books2read –universal link – print – https://books2read.com/The-Last-Dragon-
BookSprout – https://booksprout.co/book/69199/the-last-dragon
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.ca/daryldevore2013/the-last-dragon/
Excerpt
A mischievous smile crossed the monk’s serene face. “Those who witnessed yer arrival say ye fell from the sky. Like a fallen angel.”
Hawkyns raised his brow. “I am not an angel. Nor a demon. I am a mortal. I cannot fly. How is this possible? Some evil magick?”
A chill settled on his bones. Had he been cursed? A man pure of heart cannot fly. Only one cursed by an evilness. He dropped to his knees before the monk. “Father, please, am I cursed?”
Father Jacobus placed a hand under Hawkyns’ chin and lifted it. With a tilt of his head, he indicated Hawkyns return to his place on the bench. “From the marks on yer clothing, I would suspect a dragon grabbed ye but lost its grip. It may have been settling to drop ye into its lair which is why the fall did not kill ye.”
A frown crossed the abbot’s brow. “Although I know of no lair near here.” He crossed himself and looked heaven. “I pray daily that no dragon ever returns here again. The evilness and pain they cause. Such sadness.”
Snatches of memories raced through Hawkyns’ mind. He had killed a dragon. A fire-breather. According to the legends, not the one he hunted, but a child of that one. He had placed his belongings on the shore and swam in the river to cleanse himself from the kill. Then there was pain.
The final vision was the one haunting him. Heating his loins.
The angel’s face with bright, compassionate eyes the colour of the emeralds in his mother’s crown, and with skin the colour of honey and lips begging to be kissed.
He shook himself. It was wrong. Evil. A sin to lust after an angel, something so holy.
More so with his wife’s death only five seasons past.
“I saw… an angel. She placed her hands on me. The pain vanished.”
The abbot raised his hand to pause their conversation. He walked to a monk who waited nearby, spoke to him then returned. He settled himself on the bench. “No, my son, I am sorry, truly sorry, but ye did not see an angel.”
Bio and Social Media
Two writers in one. Daryl Devoré writes hot romances with sexy heroes and strong heroines and sweet romances with little to no heat. She has several published books available on Amazon in ebook or print book and available at other book retailers via Books2Read.
Daryl (@daryldevore) lives in an old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and 2 cats. Daryl loves to take long walks on her quiet country road or snowshoe across the back acres, and in the summer, kayak along the St. Lawrence River. She has touched a moon rock, a mammoth, and a meteorite. She’s been deep in the ocean in a submarine, flown high over Niagara Falls in a helicopter, and used the ladies room in a royal palace. Life’s an adventure and Daryl’s having fun living it.
Thanks for letting me stop by and talk about our critique group and my latest – The Last Dragon.
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