ELIZA'S IMAGINARY ADVENTURES
  • Home
  • Fiction Blog
  • Etsy Blog
  • Library
  • About Eliza

It’s Finally Here! - Magic Triumphed w/ Andi Van

3/10/2019

0 Comments

 
I am SO ready for this! If you’re just joining our program, Andi Van’s Mages Guild Trilogy is one of my favorites and the third book is finally out! PICK UP this series if you havn’t yet. Andi’s writing is witty, imaginative, and filled with characters of all types with at least one that everyone will relate to. Okay, okay, let’s get into it...
Harmony Ink
Dreamspinner Press
​Amazon
Picture
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.

Picture
Social media info:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DefiantAndi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/defiantandi
“Write me a story with a dragon.”
You never think that a single sentence could change things so drastically. Or at least I don’t. But in 2007, when I decided to participate in this thing I’d heard of called NaNoWriMo, that’s exactly what my grandmother told me when I called her to tell her I had no idea what kind of story to write.
So I wrote her a story with a dragon. That was in 2007, mind you, and the original iteration of Tasis’ story was only one book long and badly written in places. Especially the ending. The ending was horrible. But I was lucky enough to have a chance to fix that, to expand my fictional world into an entire universe.
And hey... I wrote a story with a dragon for you. I hope you like it.
You can follow along with the blog tour at http://andivan.com/magic-triumphed-blog-tour. Since the dragons are what started this whole mess (both in reality and in the story), it’s the dragons I’ll be talking about for most of the tour. Keep your eyes peeled for a random giveaway or two!
​I’ve talked about the Maker, now let’s talk about Death. Death is the Maker’s twin sister. She looks exactly like the Maker (Eastern-based, serpent-like dragon with a mane). But while the Maker is pure white, Death is pure black. And while the Maker’s humanoid form is a pale human, Death’s human form is extremely dark. And while their appearances, like their purposes, are on opposite sides of the same coin, their personalities are very similar. There’s a comic/story about Life sending Death countless gifts, and that’s kind of what inspired the two. The Maker and Death love each other very much, and Death is just as sweet and loving as her twin sister - unless you do something to hurt the Maker. I didn’t get to show as much of her as I would have liked. But again, it wouldn’t have fit, much like a lot of other things I wanted to squeeze in. But over the last few days I’ve been mulling another trilogy, this one starting off with Reikos, so if I decide to do another trilogy set in this world it’s quite likely Death will show up again. (Clearly I am not as done with Tasis and company as I’d thought I was.)
The excerpt I’ve included is changed slightly to prevent spoilers. :)
***
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.”

Andi Van is a foul-mouthed troublemaker who lives near San Diego with a baseball bat that’s forever being used for things other than baseball, and a fondness for rum and caffeine (though not necessarily together).
Andi is fluent in three languages (English, sarcasm, and profanity), and takes pride in a highly developed—if somewhat bizarre—sense of humor.
Picture
0 Comments

Welcome Andi Van! - Magic Wept

9/15/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
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

Picture
Harmony Ink Press
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Jorget has no surname, no blood kin, and no hope of using his magical ability while he remains at Archai Castle, where the mad king reigns. With magic still outlawed, every experiment he performs could cost him his life. So when his mentor, the royal priest Denekk, is ordered to send Jorget on a journey to find a magical weapon, the young man jumps at the chance to prove himself. What he doesn’t realize is that things are never as simple as they seem.
Kelwin Tiovolk has settled into life in the Mages’ Guild of the Dragon’s Claw with his beloved, guild leader Tasis Kadara. But when word arrives that the king is searching for something to destroy the guild, he knows he has to leave behind the comfort of his new home to save what Tasis worked so hard to rebuild.
With enemies around every corner, Jorget and Kelwin need to pull off a miracle in order to save the guild. Luckily, they’re more than ready to stand strong together and keep what’s precious to them safe.
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

Picture
twitter @DefiantAndi
​Facebook /defiantandi
Andi Van is a foul-mouthed troublemaker who lives near San Diego with a baseball bat that’s forever being used for things other than baseball, and a fondness for rum and caffeine (though not necessarily together).
Andi is fluent in three languages (English, sarcasm, and profanity), and takes pride in a highly developed—if somewhat bizarre—sense of humor.
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 Magic

Once 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.
Picture
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

1 Comment

Krampus Hates Christmas - Release Day!

12/1/2016

0 Comments

 
I told you I had something good... well here it is! It's release day for "Krampus Hates Christmas" by Andi Van and they are here to talk holidays, Krampus, and heXmas with us! Grab something warm to drink, pick up a copy of "Krampus Hates Christmas", and be prepared to be captivated by Andi's characters. Happy Holidays and happy reading!
Picture

Krampus Hates Christmas
By: Andi Van

​Krampus has been released to the world. I am half excited, half terrified. I love this story a lot. Want to know my secret behind the plot, though?

I hate Christmas.
Yes, seriously.

People who know me, or have read my posts on Facebook or Twitter during this time of the year are aware of that. I've been told it's kind of funny that someone who hates Christmas seems to write a lot of holiday-based stories. My answer is always that if they read the story, they'll see that I've left the worst of the commercialism out. It's always about family and spending time with your loved ones. That's the holiday I grew up with, not this chaos of people declaring that there's a war on Christmas because Starbucks uses a red cup and where I feel like I'm going to be shanked every time I tell someone "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas".

So when the call for submission for this year's Dreamspinner Press Advent Calendar came out, it was perfect. The theme was "Bah Humbug", which suited me perfectly. And I even had an idea of where I'd start.

A few years back, my brother had been telling me about Krampus. This is before the really bad horror movie came out, so I hadn't really heard of him. But a demonic creature who kidnapped the naughty children? I was all over that idea, and we made him the mascot for heXmas (which is what we celebrate instead of Christmas - imagine a real-world version of Jack Skellington's Christmas). At the time, I'd considered a story about an 18-year-old being naughty just so Krampus would take him away. I never really liked the concept, so it got shoved in the corner with the rest of the unused plot bunnies.

But what if Krampus was actually this really nice guy? What if he was just irritated because Santa Claus shouldn't be having to deal with both the nice and the naughty kids?

What if he just hates all the commercial BS and the greed involved with the modern holiday experience?
What if, deep down, he actually loves the holiday itself?

So what I ended up with was a beast-like man who has to regain his holiday spirit in order to help make Santa's life easier. He has no idea how he's going to manage it, but luckily for him love shows the way.

And maybe, just maybe, Krampus will learn to love Christmas.

Whatever you may or may not celebrate this time of year, I wish you all a joyous December and a prosperous New Year. May this season surprise you with new, wonderful stories.
Dreamspinner Press | All Romance eBooks
Amazon | B&N
Picture
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.
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Tweets by @ElizaLeone3

    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


    Picture

    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


Copyright © 2013-2018 Eliza's Imaginary Adventures LLC | Privacy
Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from _Matt_T_, billknock, naiaraback1, FateDenied, mitch98000, www.wbayer.com - www.facebook.com/wbayercom, d_vdm, namnguyen.jpg, Ryan Dickey, martinak15, blgrssby, Leimenide, Masa__Israel, Boris Thaser, dolbinator1000, Anne Worner, Matias Carreño, dwilkows, 3 0 d a g a r m e d a n a l h u s, Catface27, gminguzzi, Street matt, n_sapiens, giopuo, garryknight, mattk1979
  • Home
  • Fiction Blog
  • Etsy Blog
  • Library
  • About Eliza