Zaree Muna would follow her brother Tasis anywhere, but she never imagined that path to lead where it has. After Tasis and his familiar fall under a magical sleep from which no one can wake them, she and her party prepare to face the mad king of Archai without him. They don’t expect the journey to lead to the Maker herself, who predicts three deaths will occur as the battle to save their world from Archai and a jealous god nears. Two of those deaths will be loved ones, and if things go wrong, the third death could spell the end of everything. But no one ever accused Zaree of being a coward, and as she and the others go into battle to save what Tasis has rebuilt, she is ready to laugh in the face of death. The thousand-year wait is over, and none of them will accept anything less than triumph.
*** Yldost placed one of their diminutive claws atop Firea’s hand and looked up at her adoringly. “[The Maker] would like you. You understand. I hope you meet her someday.” “Don’t we all meet her someday?” Jorget asked wryly. Yldost gave him a confused look. “I do not understand.” “He’s talking about death,” Zaree told them. “The assumption is that [the Maker] would also handle death.” Yldost gave a small snort. “Oh, no. [The Maker] creates. Her twin guides the creations to the next life with love and compassion when the time comes.” “What does happen after we die?” Jorget asked. The dragon looked at him, head cocked to the side, one eye ridge raised in what could only be amusement. “I’m sorry, but you will have to wait and find out for yourself.” “Another rule?” Zaree guessed as Jorget muttered something about the unfairness of it all. “Of course,” Yldost said. “If you knew what awaited you, it would spoil all of [Death’s] fun.” “You know, I’ve noticed that your family has an odd definition of the word fun,” Jorget pointed out grumpily. Yldost snickered as they moved back to their plate and took another bite of their breakfast. “No,” they finally said. “I’m quite certain it’s you. Because it’s very likely that dragons invented fun.”
0 Comments
IT'S FINALLY HERE! I am SO excited to announce that 'Magic Wept' by Andi Van is ready for my eyes to feast! This is book 2 in the 'Mages' Guild Trilogy' and I have been waiting SO LONG. No more waiting, let's let Andi get into it! Let's start with a synopsis. Synopsis
Someone get me a fainting couch, honestly. I'm so ready for this book! If anyone wants to do a read-along on release day, yeah. let's do it! Back to Andi, it's time for the Master behind the mind. A little bit about Andi Van
Okay okay, stop teasing me. Tell me more about Magic Wept! I want details, how did these characters come to be, where did the idea for the story come from. Most importantly... GIVE ME SOMETHING TO READ! A History of MagicOnce upon a time (the early 1990s), before the dawn of the internet as we know it, there was a BBS (that's "Bulletin Board System", and we had to use actual phone lines to dial into them via modem) in which I ran a role-playing group set in a mages' guild. My character's name was Trivintaie, and she was a redheaded mage with a penchant for mischief. Yes, she was THAT Triv. The same Triv that starts off the whole Mages' Guild Trilogy. When I decided to revive her and write the trilogy, I knew I couldn't make her the main character. Her time had passed, and too many other people had taken part in creating her guild for it to really be mine. So I set the trilogy a thousand years in the future and gave her world a new hero. What I didn't expect was that I'd pack it with such a diverse set of characters, most of which reflecting some part of the rainbow. It was completely unintentional, but once I realized it was happening, I was thrilled. One of my goals was to give young adults—and adults not quite so young—characters that maybe they could identify with in a way they might not have been able to before. So I'd like to introduce you all to some of the new characters in the second book of the trilogy, Magic Wept. But before that, I wanted to let you all know that there is indeed a giveaway. I will be randomly generating three winners on September 30th, all of whom will receive a plush purple cat (because nothing says magic like a K'yerin plushie—Tasis' familiar is just full of himself enough to agree with that sentiment) and an ebook copy of Magic Wept. You can enter the giveaway HERE! And now, on to the characters! Gisik isn’t seen much in Magic Wept, but he’s definitely talked about. While we already have an antagonist in the form of the mad king of Archai, Gisik, if we want to put it in gamer terms, is the boss. He’s the big bad guy. And while he doesn’t represent a portion of the rainbow like so many of the other characters, he does represent evil in the ultimate good-versus-evil scenario. Gisik is a dragon. The other dragons seem to want to do good things and be good to people. Gisik…well, not so much for him. This doesn’t make him less important than the good guys. He is in fact just as important, if only because his twisted personality gives the rest of their world a scale in which to measure against. There’s long been a question on whether we would know what ‘good’ actually was if we didn’t have ‘evil’ to show us the opposite side of the coin. I’ll admit it. There’s something really liberating about writing an evil, twisted character. And with that disturbing thought, let’s move on to the excerpt. “Your uncle, then,” Emlynn mused with a nod. “And he is—was—the black dragon?” “Yes,” the dragon said. They shoved the last of the apple slice they’d been holding into their mouth and began to lick at their fingers. “He was not kind. Mean. Greedy. He was angry our mother did not want him. He started a war to try to force her to his side.” Yldost sighed and shook their head. “He tried that before. His tricks were never the same but the results always were. He destroys. He is… chaos.” “What do you mean?” Kelwin asked, reaching out with his fork to spear a slice of apple, though instead of eating it he offered it to Yldost. The dragon trilled and pulled it free of the tines, munching happily. Jorget was pretty sure he’d never seen such an adorable thing in his entire life. Yldost chewed, but from the way the ridges above their eyes drew together, they were probably thinking. “Vashk is the sea,” they finally said. “I am the sky. Gisik is chaos.” “Wait, I think I get it,” Jorget said suddenly, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. “It’s kind of like the dragons are elementals. Vashk is the sea, specifically the Western Sea. I’m assuming you’re the Western Sky.” “The fault in your logic is that chaos does not have a location,” Emlynn pointed out softly. “It is intangible.” “Our siblings are like Vashk and I,” Yldost interjected. “Specific things. It is different for our elders. Our father is the void. Our mother is… life?” They thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, life. The elders… they are things that must be for magic to exist. Even chaos is necessary, but Gisik had grown warped.” “And what happens if he’s dead?” Tasis asked, moving to rest his chin in his hands as he watched the dragon step into the pie itself to find another large slice of apple. “Also, you should be eating all of the pie, not just the apples in the filling.” “The apples are the best part,” Yldost informed him. “And if Gisik did die, he will be reborn. Perhaps in the same form. Perhaps in another. That is how it works. The elders do not stay dead. They only change.” “That sounds familiar,” Kelwin murmured, and Jorget nodded in agreement. That sounded like what Vashk did to the guild members who’d been killed. Okay, so other than dancing in my seat, I'M READY TO READ! Who's with me?! Alright, reality time here. Go support this brilliant author with a fantastic series. I can't wait to see you back here and chat it over. Let's discuss in the comments below and on all other social media.
Happy reading! -E
Krampus Hates Christmas |
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Release Date: 1st Dec, 2016 | Synopsis: Karl Kringle hates the modern-day Christmas. He was born to be Krampus, but the Holiday Council refuses to let him help his brother Nick—aka Santa Claus—with the Naughty List until he finds his holiday spirit. To meet that challenge, he’s turned human and dumped in a strange apartment. Lewis Weatherby loves the holidays and always has. Not only do his parents own a pumpkin patch and tree farm, he’s also inherited a Christmas-themed shop. All he wants from Santa is the man of his dreams, and the Big Guy might’ve just delivered. Lewis’s new neighbor Karl is gorgeous, sweet, and has a fantastic sense of humor—if his jokes about being Krampus are any indication. Soon getting home is less important to Karl than what will happen when Lewis inevitably realizes the truth behind his jokes. He’s finally starting to understand the real joy of the season—now he just has to figure out how to hold on to it. |
Topics
All
Article
Blog
Book Club
Everyday Adventures
Fiction Friday
Giveaway
Guest
ImPROMPTu
Keeper's Conundrum
NaNoWriMo
News
Review
Silencingtheelephant
Stealth
The Society
Vlog
Wisdom
Archives
November 2018
September 2018
August 2018
April 2018
February 2018
January 2018
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013