Had some new reviews this week, so though I would share a few.

The first is from the Book Plank and here is a snippet from it. ‘Marianne de Pierres really shows that she has some great skills when it comes down to both writing in an addictive way and creating an engaging environment…the sequel can’t come soon enough.’

On GoodReads, Austin Brooks says, ‘A wonderful escapist book with plenty of action. I would most definitely pick up the next book in de Pierres’ series…’

On Amazon, Sporadic Reviews says, ‘This book has great characters and character interactions, an interesting setting and world building, and so much possibility. And pretty much no one is who they seem at first glance, or at least everyone has secrets. Great ending too: satisfying, but leaves room for sequels.’

And Kath from GoodReads said, “Well that was Awesome!!! Wild West meets Murder Mystery meets Religious Mystics meets really great dialogue, with a huge slice of fantastic world building. This book also included a sprinkle of the Apocalypse and Romance. Well worth the price of admission!!”

So many things have been happening the last month or so. Peacemaker has been released, and I’ve been on blog tour and doing a bunch of podcast which will be online in the coming weeks. Last weekend I was in Charters Towers, Townsville, and Cairns delivering workshops on Blogs and Branding for the Queensland Writers Centre. I had a fantastic trip, met some great regional writers and managed to get lost driving around Townsville! I also had the opportunity to speak to local high school students and distance edication students as part of the iWrite programme for the Townsville Writers Centre. This a was a heap of fun. I shared the process I use to write stories with them, and they had lots of questions at the end.

I’m also talking with my site designer, Austin Designworks, about an upgrade for this website. So, I’m excited about that!! And there’s the PEACEMAKER game announcement. You can read the full press release here. Finally, I’d like to finish up with a shout out to the Cairns Writers who invited me to their Mother’s Day get together. Cheers ladies!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Peacemaker Makes a Novel Game:

West Australian creative entrepreneurs combine forces

Bestselling Australian science fiction author Marianne de Pierres announced today that Stirfire Studios has optioned her PEACEMAKER series for adaptation as an interactive game.  The novels are published by Angry Robot books.

De Pierres’ books include the award-winning Sentients of Orion, Parrish Plessis, and Night Creatures series. ‘I’m thrilled to be working with Stirfire Studios on this project. They combine creative flair with technical excellence and a passion for what they do. Their most recent game, Freedom Fall, has been a spectacular success.’

Stirfire Studios, created in 2010, has elevated the status of indie-game development in Western Australia. The Studio won the first ever Western Australian Screen Award and was shortlisted in the Australian Game Development Awards with their title Freedom Fall. Stirfire creates visually beautiful games with lush gameplay and exciting new twists on familiar elements.

Stirfire Studios director, Garth Pendergrast, says that the company has a strong vision for the Peacemaker game. ‘We want to create an interactive novel focusing on story and character, imagined with our trademark rich artwork but with no trade-off in the game play. While we are inspired by recent games in the genre, we are designing a new engine to help the player tell their own story.’

Publicity enquiries: reception@curtisbrown.com.au and Stirfire Studios