Book review: The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky by David Litwack

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Description:
After centuries of religiously motivated war, the world has been split in two. Now the Blessed Lands are ruled by pure faith, while in the Republic, reason is the guiding light—two different realms, kept apart and at peace by a treaty and an ocean.

Children of the Republic, Helena and Jason were inseparable in their youth, until fate sent them down different paths. Grief and duty sidetracked Helena’s plans, and Jason came to detest the hollowness of his ambitions.

These two damaged souls are reunited when a tiny boat from the Blessed Lands crashes onto the rocks near Helena’s home after an impossible journey across the forbidden ocean. On board is a single passenger, a nine-year-old girl named Kailani, who calls herself “the Daughter of the Sea and the Sky.” A new and perilous purpose binds Jason and Helena together again, as they vow to protect the lost innocent from the wrath of the authorities, no matter the risk to their future and freedom.

But is the mysterious child simply a troubled little girl longing to return home? Or is she a powerful prophet sent to unravel the fabric of a godless Republic, as the outlaw leader of an illegal religious sect would have them believe? Whatever the answer, it will change them all forever… and perhaps their world as well.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

End of Summer 99 Cent Sale!

Summer is almost over, so let's celebrate it with a big sale! During the next week, you can download my e-books for 99 cents or less on Amazon. Don't delay. Get your e-books before the sale ends on August 30!

99 CENTS (novels):

George and the Galactic Games	In the Hands of Children	Beyond New Eden	Keep Your Enemies Close	Gifted

FREE (short story):

Drive

99 CENTS (novellas and short stories):

Protect	Search	Transmissions	A House in the Woods

The Brothers (The Breeders 4)

I'm happy to announce the release of the fourth book of the Breeders series, The Brothers. I love the series so far, and I gave every book a 5-star (out of 5) rating. The Breeders was one of my favorite reads of 2013. You can also read my reviews of The Believers and The Benders.

“They tell me it’s for the good of humanity. That I’m saving our way of life with my body. They lie.”

Book Four in the award-winning, best-selling Breeders series.

Riley has survived madmen, deranged doctors, and false prophets. Her next task is uniting her family, which has been ripped apart by Nessa Vandewater, the Breeders’ enforcer. Her boyfriend Clay and brother Ethan are still missing. Only she can find them.

But on her way, Riley is stung by a scorpion. To ease her suffering, Auntie Bell shares the story of Riley’s mother, Janine, and how she escaped the Breeders.

Nearly twenty years in the past, Janine, an obedient Breeders girl, is nearing her seventeenth birthday, and the clock is ticking. She has two months to become pregnant, or she’ll be put out, sold into slavery ... or worse. When her doctor informs her she’s infertile, she’s devastated. But some doctors lie, and one in particular seems to want Janine for his own ...

You can purchase The Brothers from Amazon here.

Titles are hard

Believe it or not, coming up with the title of a story is one of the more difficult parts of the writing process for me. The point was driven home again recently when I finished writing a short story for an anthology that will be published later this year (more news on this exciting development as we near the launch date).

Like other authors, I have a working title in my head as I'm writing a story. In the case of the aforementioned short story, the working title was the wildly clever "Short Story for Anthology." Yes, my creativity astounds me too. The working title is just a name that I use to refer to the story because I have to call it something.

There are times when I think the working title will become the real title, as was the case with Beyond New Eden, whose working title was Adams and Eves. Eventually, I decided to change the name because Michael Grant released Eve and Adam a few months before my book became available, and some people had compared my prior novel to a Michael Grant book in the same genre. I didn't want to appear to be a Michael Grant copycat. (I'm not. And I read Eve and Adam. And it's nothing like Beyond New Eden.)

One-word titles tend to come easier to me. Gifted was the working title for the novel that now bears the same name. The same applies to Transmissions, although, truth be told, I really wanted to name that story something else but couldn't come up with a better title. The one-word name for my short story, "Drive," was more difficult to come up with, but once I did, the names for the next two installments in the series, "Protect" and "Search", came easily. I even know what the name of the fourth story in the series will be called, even though I haven't started writing it yet.

In addition to the recently finished short story, I'm working on a novel with an AI element to it. For most of the first draft, I called it The AI Novel. I have a better name for it now, and we'll see whether that sticks when I eventually publish the book.