Friday, March 29, 2013

Cover Reveal for Kai Strand's New MG Novel, BEWARE OF THE WHITE


Today I'm happy to share fellow author Kai Strand's new middle grade fantasy adventure, Beware of the White, which will be released by Muse It Up Publishing on May 17th! 

About the book: 

As is tradition, Terra learns on the Saturday past her twelfth birthday that she is a Natures Spirit. It is her legacy to serve in the peaceful underground city of Concord. Learning she is named in a prophecy and being threatened by the leader of the death tribe…that part breaks tradition.

The Trepidus are the death janitors of the Underworld, responsible for delivering fatalities with a smile and cleaning up after themselves, until Blanco, recent leader of the Trepidus, decides the day of reckoning for his species is coming. He begins organizing the creatures and leads them toward an uprising. The prophecy says there is one person who can stop him. Terra.

With Spirit of Security, Frank, protecting her, Terra attempts to complete her training and discover her Spirit talents. Together, they go on a rogue investigation to learn how to defeat Blanco. In the end, it comes down to a battle of the minds. The future of Concord is at stake. Will Blanco, the older, more experienced being win? Or will Terra, the young, new Spirit earn back the peace of the city?

***

Readers will lose themselves in the rich Underworld city of Concord with its exotic creatures and beautiful landscape. They’ll root for Terra to succeed against Blanco who threatens the peaceful society. But when death is your business, can you be defeated?

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AND enjoy the beautiful COVER!!


--KSR Writer


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Win a Great Middle Grade Read for Boys!


Today I'm over visiting Suzanne de Montigny's blog, which features an interview with the main character from my middle grade novel ANIMAL ANDY, and if you leave a comment on her blog, you could win a free ebook copy! Stop on by!!  http://suzannesthoughtsfortheday.blogspot.com

--KSR Writer

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

THE MARK OF ABEL: A Truly Unique Paranormal Romance by Viola Ryan


If you're a fan of paranormal novels then you'll love the unique twist that author Viola Ryan writes into her book "The Mark of Abel," available from Muse It Up Publishing. Welcome, Viola!

When did you discover you had a “sense of fiction?”

I can’t remember when I started writing. I have piles of journals from when I was a kid, but my idea of a journal wasn’t just a diary. I wrote plays and short stories. I even wrote a movie script for a sequel to Indiana Jones. I was one of those kids who devoured the library. I could read well before I started school. The teachers didn’t know what to do with me.

What was your favorite book as a child? As an adult? How did those influence you as a writer?

As a child it was three books: The Wizard of Oz, which introduced me to fantasy; Alice and Wonderland, which introduced me to warped perspectives; and The Jungle Book, which introduced me to a wonderful world of language. As an adult, it’s super hard. Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten is at the top. I reread it when I need inspiration. So is Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. I also loved Alice Seibold’s The Lovely Bones. There are series I adore, like Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mystery, Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden, Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark, Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter, Gena Showalters Lords of the Underwolrd and Rebecca Zanetti’s Dark Protectors.

What inspired you to write this book?

Fallen angels are demons. Vampires are demons. According to math, if A=B and C=B than A=C. It surprised me that no one had thought to make fallen angels into vampires. There is a lot in paranormal already. There are even fallen angels, but nothing really reimagined the Judeo-Christian stories many of us grew up with. Mine are generic fallen angels. They are actually the Watchers/Grigori from Genesis. Jesus appears and I often lifted his dialogue right from the Gospels. For the heroine, I was watching a show on the Roman extermination of the Dacians in present-day Romania. That cried to be in a vampire novel. I wrote her past lives so I could include this.

How would you describe your writing process? What must you always have while writing?

I loosely plot out the entire book, using a lot of mind maps and asking myself “then what.” I create an index card for each scene. On it I list what needs to happen in the scene. Each day I start out with an index card. I tell my muse, as long as these things happen, you can play all you want. She often surprises me, but as long as we stick to the general plot lines, things aren’t too disorganized. One quirk I have is I always need to be chewing gum when I write or I can’t concentrate. When I am in the zone, I don’t like music on.

What has proven to be your most successful marketing tool?

So far this tour is going great. I don’t have the sales figures yet, but I’m doing well enough that my publisher is taking my book to print. It will be out before the fall. I sunk the majority of my marketing money into bookmarks and an ad at Bitten By Books. I think the most successful tool has been the blurb and reviews. People are sharing these all over the place.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?

What connects the readers to the book is character and how s/he grows. Conflict is important, but only in that it is the vehicle that changes the character. Characters change through action, not  talking or thinking.

Please provide a favorite excerpt from your book.

“What will happen to Eve?” Lucifer could still help her, somehow circumvent
God’s punishment or at least mitigate it. He would find a way to take it for her.

“They have been expelled from Eden. By the sweat of Adam’s brow shall he
get bread to eat. In pain shall Eve bring forth children.”

Eve in pain? He didn’t know what was worse. Eve in pain, or having Adam’s
children.

“So because they expect it, Eve must suffer. That is wrong.” The words were
directed at himself as much as they were to God. If only he had left Eve alone.

“Wrong.” Another power word, one that tasted similar to justice.

“That is not for you to determine.” God’s eyes swirled gold, and a pulsing
white aura surrounded him.

Lucifer recoiled and shielded his eyes.

Not for him to determine? That’s exactly what he’d done. He turned his back
on God and scratched his head. Wrong. Justice. These were words that made no
sense yesterday. Now they were power words.

Justice. Friend. Wrong. Strong words demanding strong action, even if that
action was against God.

He froze. Against God. Abba. His heavenly father. A voice inside him cried. A
louder voice spurred him on. He was the only one who could protect Eve. His heart
beat strong and steady. At his feet the Sword of Justice glinted in the firelight.

Justice.

Keeping Eve in Eden was definitely an act of justice.

In one smooth motion, he kicked up the sword, grabbed it, raised it above his
head, and plunged it through God’s back into his heart. He twisted the sword, and
God slid down into a crumpled heap at Lucifer’s feet.

“Now it is.” Lucifer held the sword above his head. It didn’t ignite. Who
cared? Justice had been served. Little did God know the sword he’d created would
be his death.

Eve appeared next to Lucifer. He couldn’t contain his joy. Now they would
fashion the universe how they wanted.

She touched the sword with one delicate finger. Blue flame consumed the hilt,
and he dropped it. Before it hit the ground, it disappeared.

“You are not ready for this.” Eve/God’s thoughts held a tinge of
disappointment.


Where can readers find you and your book?

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/violaryan 


Buy Links:
Holy Hell Tour 

Click here to enter the $50 Amazon gift card giveaway during Viola's book tour!






Thank you for sharing your fascinating journey and sense of fiction, Viola!! 

--KSR Writer







Wednesday, March 6, 2013

New Children's Story-A-Day Literary Initiative


The latest collection of short stories for kids ages 3-10 is now available from knowonder! The Volume 4 collection, featuring "Herman's Horrible Day," includes 31 fun, adventurous stories written by professional authors. There are stories about riddle-crazed merchants and toilet paper telescopes. Hippos with frogs in their throats and teachers with frogs in their pants! Mystery-solving detectives and daring hero-monsters! Fairies and swamp monsters, aliens and reindeer...a little something for everyone!

New Focus

Knowonder! has changed its focus in recent months. Instead of offering all free stories on the web site, www.knowonder.com, the publication is now publishing a physical collection of stories each month. Why?

Its mission is to eradicate illiteracy and improve education success through content that is affordable, accessible, and effective. In order to achieve that mission, knowonder! must product a product people will use. And its more difficult to obtain stories from a web site every day, especially when trying to tuck a child in at bedtime.

As a result, knowonder! has turned to physical books--and is seeing results. Parents and children are using the books to assist in their daily reading. Physical books are easier to use and engage children more, which is what reading is all about!

Literacy

The knowonder! Literacy Program is simply a daily reminder to read, education as to why it's important, and providing support materials to make it easier, more accessible, and more affordable.

Knowonder! offers a free collection of stories on its web site as well as more information and research on reading to children daily as well as additional resources and engaging articles for parents to use with their children.

For Authors

knowonder! is currently accepting story submissions for 2013! Visit the web site for the editorial calendar and submissions guidelines.

Visit www.knowonder.com today!

Click here to buy the Volume 4 Print Collection

Click here to buy the Volume 4 Kindle Collection

--KSR Writer