Saturday, July 2, 2011

Claimed



Published April 2011

Available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Feedbooks and Smashwords

Jessica Tandy is coming back from a camping trip in Alaska, when she meets the tall, dark and handsome Flint Riverclaw. They chat in a bar during a rest stop, which eventuates into a one-night-stand, and ultimately changes the rest of her life. Why do Flint’s brown eyes occasionally glow turquoise, or he growls so much? Imaginations run wild, in this supernatural, romance novella.

23 comments:

Meandering Mind said...

First off, I am an Alaskan, so I do get rather sensitive about misrepresentation of Alaska and its people.

I started reading Claimed and only managed to get a few pages in before my frustration level skyrocketed. The inaccuracy's in describing Alaska Natives (looks, names, tribe name) completely kept me from being able to suspend my disbelief. Very few Alaskan Native men have long hair... long hair isn't a traditional thing up here. If you were going to find Alaskan Native males with long hair, it would be in the Southeast, and still unlikely. The average height of the males are 5'5"-5'8", depending on which native group they are from. Alaskan Natives don't have names like "Riverclaw." And you will find no tribe up here that even sounds like "Lokoti." I have no problem with you creating an imaginary tribe, but Alaskan Native languages sound nothing like "Lokoti," which makes it unbelievable. The way you describe your Alaska Natives makes them sound like Lower 48 Native Americans. The cultures, languages, and looks are incredibly different.

Please, PLEASE do research. Alaska Native cultures are so diverse and rich in heritage, they deserve fair representation.

K.R. Smith said...

Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees... but first, let's confirm first that Werewolves don't exist. Sure, there's an online Werewolf Community who wishes this wasn't true; but it is. So on this line of thinking, let's consider that a tribe of people who live in Alaska who have members who turn into Werewolves, don't exist either. Yes, they are made up or another word for this, is 'fiction'.

When you make up a fictitious tribe, you also make up a fictitious name for them. So you look up websites on Alaska where your science fiction/ fantasy is set such as http://www.Alaskastock.com/ as well as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska . You get a rough idea whereabouts in Alaska you'd like your fictitious tribe to 'live' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Interior Along this line of thinking, you look up Alaskan Native culture for this region http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Early_Indian_Languages_Alaska.jpg After studying this map as well as reading about Alaskan Natives on Alaskastock.com, you decide that the closest your make believe tribe is related to, would be Athabascan. Then you research these people who are diverse in culture, language and geography at http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=193

Some time ago, you read the book '500 Nations, An Illustrated History of North American Indians' by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. The quote by Albert Andrews on page 412; "A lot of our people were born and raised on this land in the Wallowa Valley, and the bones of ancestors also help tie you to that land, so you develop something beyond just simple ownership, you're part of it. When you get removed from that, it's like ripping something outside of you, taking your heart away. This is home to us, this is our place, this is where we were born and raised, this is where I knew my grandparents to be, this is where I want to raise my children."

This, as well as researching the Athabascan culture, you notice the connection to nature, land and animals both Native Americans and Native Alaskans share. This is accentuated with Alaska Native Story Telling and the emphasis on flora, fauna and the seasons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Native_Storytelling So on this reasoning, you come up with similarly related names such as Riverclaw, Wisetail, Elm, Shallow Water, Winter, Grey Sky. And since many tribes have an affinity to animals which appear on Native Alaskan Totem Poles, you make up a fictitious subspecies of Gray Wolf called the Lokoti Wolf that you name your Lokoti Tribe after, from reading about wolves in a book called, "In Denali, A Photographic Essay Of Denali National Park & Preserve Alaska" by Kim Heacox.

Although the references used are fact, let's just revisit another fact that Werewolves don't exist. Let's also reconfirm that the paranormal romance novella called 'Claimed' is fiction, just as the made up names of Lokoti and Riverclaw are. I also made up the town called Alma, in the Alaska Range. I also made up that the Lokoti Werewolves are just one of four breeds of Werewolves in the world, each with different physical characteristics when the shape shift from human to other. But a commonality they share, is they are generally tall and strong being predators with the infamous bloodlust. If they were small like a tundra shrew, then they wouldn't be very good at hunting human. Not unless they took lessons from Monty Python's Killer Bunny Rabbit, but it's made up too.

Oh, and did you notice that the Native Alaskan in the picture of Alaska Native Story Telling article had long hair? I also have a picture from the Athabascan page of a man in traditional costume, during a ceremony and he had long hair tied back in a pony tail. If this is so 'unlikely' and you're into statistics, maybe you could make a poll in the Alaska News of who's Native Alaskan and who has long hair? Or even, who gives a damn.

KT said...

Loved it, as usual with all your writing. I also agree with what you said to 'An Alaskan'. If you are creating a race of people/werewolves shouldn't they be different?? Isn't that what makes the book interesting?. Can't wait for next book so get cracking :-)

MeikkiBeibi said...

I just read the novella, wrote a review as well. Liked it lot, also made little fan art cover too. ;)
http://niinas-reading-and-reviewing.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-claimed-novella.html

BlondieNKF said...

I really enjoyed reading claimed. It was a great story and kept me interest through the entire book. I guess everyone is allowed their own opinion but I really dont understand how someone can not like a make believe story taking place in Alaska because there are parts that may not be true. This is not a travel guide where exact details are necessary. Its a story about werewolves who are make believe. Why cant the town or the appearance of the characters be make believe as well. Sorry but the comment above made me angry. This was a new spin on werewolves. Ive read many lycra stories and when an author can write with a fresh spin of the tale it is very refreshing.

GGCastillo said...

Started CLAIMED this afternoon, finished it less than an hour ago and came to this website looking for MORE!!! Excellent book, story, characters, etc. One word to An Alaskan: It's unfortunate you didn't continue reading to find that this book was entirely too short and would leave you wanting more ... regardless of your "cultural" insecurities. I'd love to read more about 'your'
Alaska and its people, so maybe you should write a book yourself. Until then, try reading and taking pleasure in this one without your Alaskan history book. That's not the main point of the story. You need to go a bit deeper in your heart and soul to find it and with your love of your heritage, I'm sure you can find it somewhere insode. Read on, my friend. You won't be sorry, but relax ... breath easy ... and enjoy the story line. I know you can do it! Ok, now to the author: Love you, Love you, Love you! What, When and Were is the next story?

Meandering Mind said...

To All:

I sent an email in apology to the author a bit back, but I realize it never made it to this post.

I was wrong to not give her book more of a chance. I think I just picked it up at the wrong time, a period in which I somehow kept picking up books that were dealing with Alaska somehow and doing it and its people an incredible injustice.

So... I will try her book out again to give it the fair chance it deserves.

So, again my apologies to the author for the misdirected frustration.

K.R. Smith said...

The email apology never reached the author. To be fair, maybe because it went to 'spam' along with Mr. Bam Bam Boo in Africa, telling me I've inherited millions of dollars if he could only get my personal details.

When I decided to publish 'Claimed', I knew there'd be positive and negative feedback. I replied to the negative comment to illustrate two points: yes research was done and that the tribe and its names are meant to be a work of fiction. If I had written that the town Barrow had twelve hours of daylight and darkness, twelve months a year; sure you can lecture about inaccuracy.

However, I don't endorse 'flaming' and encourage this matter to end. I've long since moved on with working on the other novels in the Circulate Series. The free ebook 'Claimed' has done what it's meant to do, put me in touch with readers who've enjoyed the story and want more.

Thanks to everyone though for commenting here or on my Circulate Series Facebook page.

Anonymous said...

What??? you mean werewolves aren't real? my gast has well and truly been flabbered by this shocking revelation...

ps loved Claimed, loved Scent, need to read more...

thanks Linda

K.R. Smith said...

Hi Linda :-)

Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm currently concocting more of the Lokoti Werewolves for you to read in Sororate. I'm hoping it'll be ready June this year.

Anonymous said...

love your book claimed hope to read more. should make it a series.

K.R. Smith said...

Thanks for reading and your comment :-)

There won't be a sequel to Claimed because it's in fact three chapters from the upcoming novel, Small Fry. However, in a later chapter, Flint, Jessica and a grown David pop up again.

If you'd like to read more about the Lokoti Werewolves, check out Scent and the SSIT Reports.

Anonymous said...

Very dissapointed to know that there will not be a sequal to claimed. You should really take into consideration of making a second book. I was sad to realize that I had come to the end of the book. Amazing! Really wish there was a sequal though....

Anonymous said...

I so enjoyed this book I've read it three time. It was a very good love story that really make the werewolf a romantic creature that you don't read or see in movies. I love it would like to read more books like this but longer.

Hopeless Romantic

K.R. Smith said...

Thanks so much! I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed 'Claimed'. If you'd like to read more of the Lokoti, check out 'Scent' and I think it'll be long enough for you, coz in paperback it's over 700 pages - LoL!

Anonymous said...

I just red Claimed and I really had a great time. The story is so charming, the characters interesting and I could not stop reading until the last word, even when it was 04:00 in the morning and my love already was catching zzzz for hours. Thanks for sharing this story and thanks for these great and very nice reading hours. As I am Dutch I am unknown with Alaskan ways of life and looks, but it did not bother me one moment and I did not ask myself once whether things would check out or not. Again, the story got me hooked from the first word till the last. I am looking forward to read more of your stories. Thanks again, you did a great job.
Greetz from a Dutch lady,
Dirkje

K.R. Smith said...

Hi Dirkje :-)

Cheers for reading and stopping by letting me know! I hope you enjoy the other novels in the series, as I tried to create a world readers could immerse themselves in. I'm thrilled to hear when readers could escape into my stories, which I escape to when I'm writing.

Anonymous said...

I loved this book!!!! Only thing I didn't like was that Jessica couldn't have another baby. And jay tavare would be a perfect flint ;)

K.R. Smith said...

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the story :-) I just 'googled' who Jay Tavare is and I can see why you can picture Flint as him. I must admit, I was picturing Rodney A. Grant when I wrote it. But that's the beauty of our imaginations, isn't it? The story becomes personal and people take away different things :-)

Jennifer said...

I really loved Claimed. I was really hoping there would be more books in the series around the characters. This book was so different from other books out there. There's great potential for this story line. I'm picky about the books I read. I typically wouldn't read something that was less than 100 pages but I am thrilled I read this one. Leaves me craving more of the story line though. I shall look into other works by the author. On the hunt for the next thing I want to read.

K.R. Smith said...

Hi Jennifer :-)

Thanks for reading and commenting. If you'd like to read more about the Lokoti Werewolves, I recommend reading Scent next then Sororate. I'm currently editing my next novel Small Fry for publication in March next year. Claimed fans will be pleased to know this is the novel that has the flashback which made up the short novella and chapter 20 has another flashback which you see an older Flint & Jessica as well as a grown David.

Christina said...

Will Chris' story be written? Or has it been written?

K.R. Smith said...

Hi Christina :-)

I actually hadn't thought about writing a story for Chris... she's more of side-line character as Jess's best friend. But she is mentioned again later on in the novel Small Fry.