Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Cover Reveal & #Giveaway: Emily Wibberly's Sacrificed: The Last Oracle #ya #fantasy

Check out the cover reveal for the first book in Emily Wibberley's YA Fantasy series hosted by Itching for Books. Continue below for the awesome cover and enter the international giveaway.





Series: The Last Oracle #1
Release date: February 15th 2015
Publisher: Wibbs Ink

SYNOPSIS VIA GOODREADS:
Most people would give anything to see the future.
Fifteen-year-old Clio would give anything to be blind to it.
-----
Fifteen-year-old Clio has spent her entire life serving her mother, the Oracle of Sheehan, and she’s hated every moment of it. She wants nothing to do with a life of servitude to the heartless deities and their bloody errands.

But when her mother and sisters are murdered by the King’s advisor, Mannix, Clio is left alone and heir to a power she never wanted and doesn’t understand. On the run from Mannix, Clio must race to the very place where Oracles are absolutely forbidden. If she’s found out, she will be sacrificed atop the pyramid of Morek. 

Her survival depends on Riece, an enemy warrior whose parents were murdered by an Oracle. Despite the growing feelings between them, Clio knows that if he finds out what she really is, he won’t hesitate to kill her.

But the visions she keeps having of Mannix bringing a barbarian army into Sheehan torture her conscience. She alone has the strength and foresight to stop him, but only if she can embrace her destiny and sacrifice everything.


ADD ON GOODREADS


EXCERPT


The slaver forced her on her feet and back to the group. Her mind was a blank. Somehow her legs moved her forward, but Clio didn’t feel connected to them anymore. She trudged through the throng of people who had witnessed and cheered for her sister’s death, and rage slowly filled the emptiness. Rage at these people, at Morek, but most of all, rage at Mannix. He consumed her thoughts. 

She would escape, and he would pay for this. 

They were led around the pyramid and stopped at its entrance. Warriors stood guard, but these warriors bore no resemblance to the ones in Sheehan. These men truly looked like the warriors of the sun deity. They wore pure gold breastplates over the traditional leather gear of the Sheehan warriors. Glistening cloaks of different colored feathers flapped in the breeze, signaling their rank. But what drew Clio’s attention most were their weapons of black obsidian. 

One of the girls up front spoke up. “Is this the way to the temple?” 

A warrior answered, “The temple? No, you are to be taken into the pyramid.” 

Clio could feel panic stirring in each girl — each girl except the bald one before her. She just looked up at the pyramid’s façade with an expression of fatal resolution, as if she already knew this was to be their final destination. 

“No, I think you are mistaken. We are here to become temple maidens.” Fear pitched the girl’s voice higher and higher. 

The warrior laughed. “We don’t have temple maidens in Morek, slave. The Priest doesn’t allow women in his Temple. You are here as a sacrifice.” There was no more discussion. One by one the girls were marched into the gaping maw of the pyramid, a path that only had one ending — amongst those rotting bodies at its base.





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emily WibberleySeven Things about Me:

1. I graduated from Princeton University in June 2014 with a bunch of people who are a lot smarter than I am.

2. I’m just starting out so I’m not “the best-selling author” of anything, but…

3. I did once stand in line to meet Joss Whedon at a comic book signing when I was in middle school and got him to autograph a Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster for me.

4. I was the flute section leader in my high school’s marching band.

5. Besides YA, some of my favorite reading material comes from Jane Austen and the Preacher comic book series. I also like to spend my free time playing video games like The Last of Us.

6. I have two rescue German Shepherds. One is really sweet and the other thinks he’s a NAVY SEAL and that every cat, skateboarder and motorcyclist is a terrorist.

7. L + R = J.



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Monday, December 29, 2014

Book release - False Gods by L.R. Trovillion #ya #horses

We're celebrating the release of False Gods by L.R. Trovillion, a lovely ya contemporary... and there's horses! Plus, buying this supports a good cause! See below for details. BTW, I already bought this book and am reading now. It's awesome, easily 4+ stars on my tough scale. I'll be reviewing here shortly.



Hippolyta Books announces the release of False Gods--a Young Adult novel by L. R. Trovillion--available on Amazon in print and ebook.  All proceeds from sales during the months of December and January are being donated to the Glenelg United Methodist Youth Program (www.glenelgumc.org)  



They say there’s no harm in trying.  Or is there?

Cory Iverson has her sights set on riding in the prestigious Washington International Horse Show—a tall order for even the most experienced competitors.  Problem is, she doesn’t even own a horse.  But there’s an even bigger problem: she’s a quitter.  Not a casual quitter, but a hard-core, serial, when-the-going-gets-tough quitter.  This all starts to change, however, when the opportunity arises to rescue the perfect horse from slaughter and work with an experienced trainer who has the means to get her there.  If she stays the course.

But Cory discovers the road to qualifying for Washington is littered with roadblocks when she finds herself surrounded by problems outside her control: prescription painkillers appear in her mother’s purse; her ballerina sister wastes away before her eyes; her boyfriend is keeping secrets from her; and her normally opinionated trainer becomes strangely evasive. Worst of all, the horse show world proves to be full of dangers, including an unscrupulous trainer headed for the same show who will stop at nothing to win, including killing. 

Unless Cory quits.

About the author:
L. R. Trovillion’s love of the written word began at the early age of ten when she penned her first mystery “novel.”  Since then she’s pursued degrees in Russian language and literature and has earned a living as a translator, teacher, reporter, and editor.  When not writing, she’s at work training and showing her horses or caring for her Maryland farm which she shares with her husband, daughter, and two dogs who think they run the place. Visit her website at www.lrtrovillion.com


Friday, December 26, 2014

Release Day: #TheCharm by Jojo Debrazza #ya #paranormal

It's the Release Day for The Charm by Jojo Debrazza!!! 

Help us celebrate by reading about the book and the author. Please share with everyone you know! 


About The Charm:


Extraordinary powers come with a price.


Fifteen year old Luca has the charm, a gift he inherited from his mum. Charmers can control minds, but they abide by a code—to only use the power for good, and only with the person’s permission. Luca knows breaking the code is wrong, and his mum would kill him if he tried!

But when a rogue charmer uses the power for criminal means, the Restorative government jumps in. Luca’s mum is imprisoned and the Register for Charmers is announced. The media creates a frenzy of fear and suspicion against charmers.

Believing the family is in peril, and wishing to keep Luca’s gift a secret, Luca’s dad takes them to stay with a friend in the country. Here, Luca meets Fee, a computer genius who can hack into anything. Fee introduces Luca to an underground rebellion group of internet hackers who have their own issues with the Restoratives and their own way of protesting.

Fearful of how the Restoratives are treating his mum in prison and concerned about their motives for creating the Register of Charmers, Luca must make an impossible choice—break the rules and use his gift or stand by and watch as the power is abused. 

Book Details:

Title: The Charm
Author Name: Jojo Debrazza
ISBN-13: 978-1-68009-066-6
Price: $2.99
Genre: Young Adult, YA Dystopian, Urban Fantasy
Keywords/Search tags: control minds, mind power, internet hackers
Hashtags: #TheCharm
Publisher:  Musa Publishing, LLC  http://www.musapublishing.com/

Purchase Your Copy:

Musa Publishing, LLC:

Amazon:  Link Coming Soon

About the Author:

Jojo Debrazza is a writer of young adult and children’s fiction. The Charm is her debut YA novella. 

Jojo has a vivid imagination and likes to make up stories. Her friends call it lying but she calls it writing. She lives mainly in a dream world with her partner and a house full of small furry animals. It’s a carefree happy place where everything is bright and fluffy.

Jojo’s other passion is football (soccer). As well as playing and helping to run a club she works as a football development officer in Cambridgeshire, England.

Find Jojo on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jojodebrazza


~ Amber M. ~ 
Promotions Specialist and Media Contact at Musa Publishing amber.musa.ps@gmail.com
Owner of Sapphyria’s Book Promotions saphsbookblog@gmail.com

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Blog tour & giveaway - Michelle Reed's Missing in Atman #ya #paranormal #fantasy


Today I'm participating in a blog tour with my interview of Michelle E. Reed, author of the Life A.D. series, with book two, M.I.A.:Missing in Atman available now. First, some book and author information.

Link to Goodreads:

Purchase Links:

Read through to the bottom for a giveaway, five winners will be drawn Jan 16, 2015 and receive a digital copy of Life AD 2: M.I.A.: Missing in Atman by Michelle E. Reed (Int accepted)


ABOUT LIFE AD 2: M.I.A.: MISSING IN ATMAN

Title: Life AD 2: M.I.A.: Missing in Atman
Publication date: December 16, 2014
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Michelle E. Reed

Dez is finally hitting her afterlife stride. She hasn’t missed a meeting or session in forty-two days, and she’s put the adventures and danger of her first days at Atman behind her. Life after death is becoming tolerable, yet nothing is quite what she’d hoped. Confusion over her feelings for Charlie, residual resentment over losing Hannah, and a continuous stream of unwanted assignments leave Dez restless and argumentative.

In a missed encounter with Crosby, her prying gaze lands upon a single entry in the datebook on his unoccupied desk. These few, hastily scribbled words reveal an enormous secret he’s keeping from her. Possessed by a painful sense of betrayal, she once again sneaks off to Atman City, determined to find answers to an unresolved piece of her life.

It begins as all their adventures do, but as light falls into darkness, a stop in an unfamiliar neighborhood sets forth a chaotic series of events. Dez will have to fight for her very existence, and will face painful, irreparable loss in an afterlife teeming with demons wielding ancient powers.

In M.I.A.: Missing in Atman, the second book in the Atman City series, Michelle E. Reed continues the story of Dez Donnelly, pushing her to her limits and surprising readers at every twist and turn of the vast world that is Atman.

Death was only the beginning.


ABOUT MICHELLE E REED:

Michelle was born in a small Midwestern town, to which she has returned to raise her own family. Her imagination and love of literature were fueled by a childhood of late nights, hidden under the covers and reading by flashlight. She is a passionate adoption advocate who lives in Wisconsin with her husband, son, and their yellow lab, Sully.


Connect with the Author:  Website | Twitter | Facebook Goodreads

  


And now for the interview - enjoy the insight behind the story!

1. Where/how did you come up with the idea for your story? Did it suddenly pop into your head or were you brainstorming?
Thank you so much for hosting me during the M.I.A.: Missing in Atman blog tour!

The first glimmer of what would become my Atman City series came to me during a flight to Los Angeles in 2006. I was listening to a favorite song I’d heard many times before, about a man who is facing the loss of a loved one. In the song, he’s haunted by their memory and lingering presence. The idea of an afterlife crossroads came to my mind, and I got a vivid image of the train station in my head. To me, the departed soul in the song wasn’t leaving this life because he wasn’t ready. It got me thinking about an afterlife where unprepared souls became stuck in a limbo of sorts until they came to accept their deaths.

By the time the flight landed, I had the basic idea for Life, A.D. (book one) in mind, and the idea stuck with me for a couple of years until I finally had the courage to sit down and write a novel.

2. Did you start with the main character, the world, or the overarching concept?
I started with the train station, where souls would either get their ticket to move on in the afterlife, or find out they were “flagged” and unable to leave.

Then Dez came to me. I saw her death vividly, just as I did the station. I knew the book would open with her final moments. I could see the location on the side of a rural road, and could envision the car crash that took her life.

From there, I knew it was going to be a YA story, and I started focusing on the rules of the world and how things would be different for teens versus adults. That’s when I got the idea for Atman City, where the adults would go as they waited on their tickets to move on. It’s this glimmering jewel of a place full of potential and adventure, but strictly off-limits to underage souls.

3. Panster or Plotter? Or in between?
I’m totally a pantser. I wish I could plot. I would love to be able to outline. But I write like I’m watching a movie in my mind, moment by moment, scene by scene. I just let the characters tell me what happens next. Whether they want to or not, well, that’s another matter…

Although I have to say, I am a stickler for detail. Part of my revision process is making sure everything is consistent to the world I’ve created.

So it’s not all just no-rules craziness when I write.

4. Are you a fan of writing contests?
I think writing contests from legitimate sources can be a great way for new writers to get exposure. While not a writing contest, exactly, I did get my publication offer from Month9Books from what started as a four sentence pitch on their Facebook page, which they were allowing from unagented writers for a short period of time.

5. What do you like best about your mc?
I love Dez’s stubbornness. She never takes the easy way, and never follows the rules without a good reason. She questions authority and always stays true to herself. It can be pretty frustrating for those around her, but she has strength and courage that they can’t help but admire.

6. What do you like best about your main antagonist?
Hoo, boy…well, there’s a new antagonist in town (two, actually) in M.I.A.: Missing in Atman, and it’s hard to find anything to like about him/them. I would say that their history and where they come from are pretty amazing, and…yeah, still not likeable. They’re pretty much terrifying and awful. But, if any readers can find anything to like, drop me a line. :)

7. Anything else you'd like to share about your journey or your book launch including links or ways people can help spread the word?
I just want to thank the fans of the series for their support, and encourage you to follow along with the blog tour.

You can find the tour schedule at http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/

Or keep up with the latest on Twitter: @Michelle_E_Reed, Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6967794.Michelle_E_Reed
and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMichelleEReed

Thanks to Michelle for providing us this look into her story. Now for the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, December 22, 2014

Book review - Sarah Negovetich's Rite of Rejection #ya #dystopian

I’m a huge fan of dystopians and a big fan of agent Sarah Negovetich. I’ve been following her self-publishing process and absorbing everything I can since I may go that route. For those reasons, I definitely wanted to read Rite of Rejection – in addition to finding out why she, as an agent, decided self-pub was the best route.


http://www.sarahnegovetich.com/p/author.html 
I had read the first chapter when I posted the cover reveal on my blog and almost decided that I wouldn’t read the book. It was clear why self-pub was the right path (and this is not in any way denigrating to Sarah or any other self-pubbed author). Rite of Rejection is a dystopian, and that sub-genre is fading and the first chapter added nothing new.

Rebecca is 16 and has to go through her Acceptance ceremony to determine if she can remain in this 18th century style society or be abandoned to the PIT with other deviants. If she stays, she’ll be married and have babies and hem skirts. Yeah, give me the PIT! Of course that’s what happens, and once there, she meets the boy who’d made her tongue-tied when he showed interest in dancing with her.

The PIT is a nasty place. But I’d just read E by Kate Wrath and boy, she can create a gritty, nasty world. The PIT probably suffered in comparison.

Rebecca joins up with a group determined to escape and she goes along with the plans, helping a bit here and there. I won’t give away any spoilers, but of course things don’t go as planned.

Here’s where I found my biggest objection to the story. People are rejected and put into the PIT because they’re possible criminals, sexual deviants, or worst of all, might have the skills to overthrow the regime. The group suspects Rebecca got tossed in because of her good grades in English class, therefore she might be a good rabble-rouser. Great. Except she would have been completely satisfied in the stifling Victorian society. And double except that in no place in the book is it ever shown that she has great speaking skills. She can’t convince people to help their rebellion. And in the end, when she has the perfect opportunity to become exactly what the rulers feared, she passes the baton to other people whom one of her group convinced to get involved.

Now I know a lot of people dislike the ending. To me, the end was the best part of the book. The best emotional scene, leaving the reader to guess, choose what will happen next. I guess I have the same sadistic streak Sarah has, I’ve written short stories with the same type of ending. I loved it!

Overall, Rite of Rejection is technically well written (okay, the editor in me would have added a few dozen commas and scrapped some clichés) but I never once groaned or thought to put the book down. It’s a good story, I don’t regret buying it when maybe I could have begged a review copy. I would have loved to see Rebecca have more emotional impact (I notice this more because that’s one of my own failings). The story does make you wonder what path our world could take to end up in this place – awesome! The ending is great.


It can’t compare to Hunger Games, which is what us dystopian fans want more of. But it’s  well-written book, worth reading, and I would challenge anyone to identify what’s great about the ending – for them. I would give Rite of Rejection 3 stars as worth reading, but just not stellar. I'd give it a 3.5 if review systems accepted that!

Friday, December 19, 2014

#M9BFridayReveals - Ch1 & Giveaway of Suzanne van Rooyen's I Heart Robot

I loved this cover reveal - totally enamored by the first chapter! And please check out my second post for today - here.

M9B-Friday-Reveal
Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!
This week, we are revealing the first chapter for

I Heart Robot by Suzanne van Rooyen

presented by Month9Books!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
I Heart Robot
Sixteen-year-old Tyri wants to be a musician and wants to be with someone who won’t belittle her musical aspirations.
Q-I-99 aka ‘Quinn’ lives in a scrap metal sanctuary with other rogue droids. While some use violence to make their voices heard, demanding equal rights for AI enhanced robots, Quinn just wants a moment on stage with his violin to show the humans that androids like him have more to offer than their processing power.
Tyri and Quinn’s worlds collide when they’re accepted by the Baldur Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. As the rift between robots and humans deepens, Tyri and Quinn’s love of music brings them closer together, making Tyri question where her loyalties lie and Quinn question his place in the world. With the city on the brink of civil war, Tyri and Quinn make a shocking discovery that turns their world inside out. Will their passion for music be enough to hold them together while everything else crumbles down around them, or will the truth of who they are tear them apart?
add to goodreads
Title: I Heart Robot
Publication date: March 31, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Suzanne van Rooyen
Chapter-by-Chapter-header---Excerpt

Tyri

If today were a song, it'd be a dirge in b-flat minor. The androids cluster around the coffin, their false eyes brimming with mimetic tears. They were made to protect and serve their human masters, to entertain and care for us. Now, just one generation later, we toss them in the trash like nothing more than broken toasters.
The androids huddle in a semicircle, four adults and a child droid with synthetic curls. They all look so human; their grief real even if their tears aren't. The two male-droids are even good looking in that chiseled, adboard model kind of way. They're a little too perfect. With their machine strength, they lower the cardboard box into the dirt and the child droid begins to sing. His exquisite voice shatters like crystal in my ears, heartbreaking.
Asrid and I shouldn't be here—the only two humans amongst the machines—but I loved Nana. I loved her before I knew better than to feel anything for a robot. It doesn't matter how attached you get. A robot can never love you back, regardless of how human their advanced AI might make them seem.
“Why're they burying it anyway?” Asrid mutters beside me. My friend doesn't wear black to the funeral, refusing to acknowledge the passing of my nanamaton, an android that always seemed more like a mom and less like an automated child-minder.
“Should be sending it to the scrap heap. Isn't this against regulation?” Asrid's face scrunches up in a frown, marring her impeccable makeup. She’s a peacock amongst ravens, and I’m a scruffy crow.
“Nana was like a mother to me. I'll miss her.” Tears prick the corners of my eyes as the coffin disappears into the earth, and the droid keens a eulogy.
“I know you will, T.” Asrid gives me a one-armed hug.
Svartkyrka Cemetery is losing the battle to weeds. Human tombstones from back when there was real estate for corpses lie in crumbling ruin covered in pigeon poop. No one gets buried anymore—there's no space and, anyway, it's unsanitary.
“Can we go now?” Asrid hops between feet to fight off the chill. Autumn has shuffled closer to winter, the copper and russet leaves crunching beneath our shoes. The leaves look like scabs, a carpet of dried blood spilling into the open earth. Fitting for my nanamaton's funeral, but robots can’t bleed.
“Sure, we can go.”
Asrid wends her way toward the parking lot as I approach the grave. Nana loved yellow anemones, said they were like sunshine on a stick.
“Hope there’s sunshine where you are now, Nana.” I drop a single flower into the ground and wipe away the tear snailing down my cheek. Why Nana chose to permanently shut down and scramble her acuitron brain, I can only guess. Perhaps living in a world controlled by groups like the People Against Robot Autonomy, PARA for short, became too much for her.
“Sorry for your loss,” the child droid says in a tinkling voice.
“Thank you for letting me know,” I say.
“She would've wanted you to be here.” The other nanamaton, gray haired and huddled in a trench coat, doesn't meet my gaze.
I stuff my mitten-covered hands into the pockets of my jacket and hunch my shoulders against the chill. You'd think the universe might have had the courtesy to rain given the sullen occasion, but the sun perches in an acid blue sky.
“Tyri, you coming?” Asrid shouts from the gate, remembering too late that we're supposed to be stealthy. Government regulation stipulates cremation for humans and scrap heaps for robots. If the authorities discover us committing metal and electronics to the earth instead of recycling, Asrid and I will be fined. The robots will be decommissioned on the spot.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper to the androids before turning away. Their artificial gaze follows me, boring into my back sharp as a laser.
“Botspit, I'm hungry. I could gnaw on a droid. Where're we going to lunch?” Asrid ignores the dead and grieving as if none of it exists.
“I think I'll just go home.”
“Come on, T. I know she was your Nana but she was just a robot, you know.”
Just a robot! Nana changed my diapers. My first day of kindergarten, Nana held my hand. When I came home from school, Nana made me cocoa and sat helping me with homework. Nana cooked my favourite dumpling dinner every Wednesday and made me double-chocolate birthday cake. Nana taught me how to tie my shoelaces and braid my hair. The day I turned sixteen, Mom decided we didn't need Nana anymore. She should've been decommissioned then, but Nana disappeared the day before Mom's M-Tech buddies came to kill her core and reprocess her parts.
“She was more than that to me,” I say.
“Ah, you're adorable.” Asrid casts nervous glances across the lot. Satisfied no policemen lurk behind the bushes, she slips her arm through mine and drags me through the gate. The wrought iron is warped and daubed with rust. Marble angels stand sentinel, broken and stained by time. One misses a nose, and the other has lost a wing.
“You didn't say anything about my new bug.” Asrid pouts when we reach her vehicle. The hoverbug is neon pink, matching her shoes, handbag, and the ribbons holding up her blond hair. The 'E' badge that stands for Engel Motors looks more like a spastic frog than the angel it's supposed to represent.
“Is it meant to smell like cherries?” Even the plush interior is unicorn puke pink. I put on my sunglasses in case all that color stains my eyes.
“Yes, in fact.” Asrid flicks a switch and the engine purrs. “Slipstream Waffles.” She assumes that monotone voice she always uses when addressing machines.
The last thing I want is to sit on sticky vinyl in a noisy waffle house, indulging in sugar and calories served by permanently smiling droids on roller-skates.
“Take me home to Vinterberg.”
“Tyri, don't annoy me.”
“Sassa, Don't patronize me.” I give her the glare she knows better than to argue with.
“Vinterberg,” I say again and Asrid heaves a melodramatic sigh.
“Be boring. Going home to make love to your violin?”
“Why ask when you know the answer?” Nana's coffin lowering into the ground replays in my mind to a soundtrack in b-flat minor.
“How does Rurik put up with being the other love of your life?”
It's my turn to sigh. Rurik doesn't really put up with it or even understand why I love music so much. But then, I don't understand why he gets so hung up on politics, and I definitely don't understand why he didn't show up for Nana's funeral when he knows how much she meant to me.
“We manage.” I stare out the tinted windows at the darkened scenery whipping past.
The hoverbug takes the quickest route, zipping along the street ways that skirt the chaotic center of Baldur. The jungle of concrete and steel thins out into a tree-shrouded suburb studded with modest brick homes. Rurik calls my redbrick bungalow quaint, and it is, complete with flower boxes and a patch of green lawn out back. It’s nothing at all like his dad's slick penthouse, all glass and chrome with a panoramic view of the city. The funny thing is, Rurik used to live right next-door till his mom had the affair and his dad became a workaholic, transforming the family business into an automotive empire.
The hoverbug slows and lands in my driveway.
“I'll call you later,” I say before disembarking.
“You heard anything yet?”
“No, but tomorrow is the last day so I'll hear soon.” I'm trying not to think about why it's taking so long to hear back after my audition for the Baldur Junior Philharmonic Orchestra.
“You'll get in T. I'm sure of it. You're brilliant.”
Asrid's words make me smile despite the morbidity of the day. She waves and the hoverbug zooms off, leaving me in the rustling-leave calm of Vinterberg.
I press my thumb to the access pad and the front door hisses open. Mom's at work like always. Taking off my coat and shoes, I whistle for Glitch. She pads into the hallway, her face lopsided from sleep. She stretches and sits down with a decisive humph as if to say, 'Well, human, I'm here. Now, worship me.' And I do.
“Hey my Glitchy girl.” I fold my cyborg Shiba Inu into my arms and sweep her off the floor. Her mechatronic back leg sticks out straight and stiff, the rest of her soft and warm. She licks my ear, one paw on my forehead.
“Good afternoon, Tyri. Would you like some refreshments?” Miles whirs out of the kitchen into the hallway. He's nothing like Nana, just a bipedal mass of electronics and metal with assorted appendages capable of mundane tasks. He doesn't even have eyes, only a flashing array of lights. Despite Mom designing a new generation of androids for M-Tech, we can't afford the new model housebot. Maybe it's better this way. I don't feel much for our bot, but I dubbed him Miles. It seemed to fit.
“Would you like some refreshments?” he repeats.
“Tea and a sandwich.” I carry Glitch into my bedroom at the back of the house. Glitch leaps from my arms, landing on the bed where she curls up in a knot of black, white, and tan fur amongst my pillows.
Still in my black lace skirt and corset, I stretch and flex my fingers. Twisting the cricks from my neck and rolling my shoulders, I ease out the graveyard tension. My violin lies in a bed of blue velvet, waiting for my touch. With the strings in tune and the bow sufficiently taut, the instrument nestles against my jaw as if I was born with a gap there just for the violin. It completes me.
I warm-up my fingers, letting them trip over the strings as my bow arcs and glides. Then I'm ready to play: Beethoven's Kreutzer violin sonata in A major, Nana's favorite. Glitch's ears twitch back and forth. She raises her head to howl but thinks better of it, yawning and curling back into sleep.
The frenzied opening of the sonata segues into a melancholy tune and in the brief moment of calm, my moby warbles at me. I have mail. I try to ignore the distraction and play through the screeching reminder of an unread message, but it might be the one I've been anticipating.
Vibrating in my hand, the moby blinks at me: One unread email. Subject: BPO audition.
“This is it, Glitchy.”
She raises her head as I sit beside her. One hand buried in her fur, I open the email. The words blur together, pixelate and run like wet ink across the screen. Disbelief makes my vision swim. I have to read the message several times over to make sure I haven't misunderstood.
“Codes! I got in.” Blood warms my cheeks as I whisk Glitch into my arms, spinning her around before squeezing her to my chest. She does not approve and scratches at me until I drop her back on the bed. Miles enters with a tray of tea and neat triangular sandwiches.
“Miles, I got in! I'm going to play for the junior BPO. This is amazing.” I'm jumping up and down.
Miles flashes orange. “Could not compute. Please restate.”
“I'm going to play for the best junior orchestra in the country. This could be my chance to break into the scene, to meet all the right people, and make an impression!” My one chance to escape the life already planned for me by Mom. The last thing I want to be is a robot technician.
Miles keeps flashing orange. “Apologies, Tyri. Could not compute, but registering joy.” His visual array flashes green. “Happy birthday!” He says in his clipped metallic voice before leaving the room.
I clutch the moby and read the email another ten times before calling Mom. I reach her voicemail, and my joy tones down a notch. I don't want to talk to another machine, so I hang up and call Rurik instead.
“Hey, Tyri. Now's not a good time. Can I call you back later?”
“I got in,” I say.
“To the orchestra?”
“Yes!”
“That's great.” He doesn't sound half as happy as I am.
“Thanks, I'm so excited, but kind of scared too—”
“T, I'm just in the middle of something. I'll call you back in a bit, okay?” He hangs up, leaving me babbling into silence.
Deflated, I slump onto the floor and rest my head on the bed. Glitch shuffles over to give me another ear wash, delicately nibbling around my earrings. I should've known Rurik would be busy getting ready to go to Osholm University. Getting a scholarship to the most prestigious school in all of Skandia is way more impressive than scoring a desk in the Baldur Junior Orchestra. Still, I received better acknowledgment from the housebot than my boyfriend. I call Asrid.
“Hey T, what's up?” Asrid answers with Sara's high-pitched giggle in the background.
“I got in!”
“That's awesome, except I guess that means more practicing and less time with your friends, huh?” Asrid sounds genuinely put out, as if she’d even notice my absence when Sara's around. Codes, isn't there someone who could just be happy for me? Maybe Mom’s right, and I am being selfish wanting the “Bohemian non-existence” when I could have a “sensible and society-assisting” career in robotics.
“Sorry, I . . . thought you'd like to know.”
“I'm happy for you, Tyri. I know it's a big deal to you. Congrats. Seriously, you deserve this considering how hard you practice,” Asrid says, and Sara shouts congratulations in the background.
“Thanks, Sassa.”
“Hey, our food arrived. Chat later?”
“Sure.” I hang up and reach for my violin. Nana would've understood. She would've danced around the living room with me. She probably would've baked me a cake and thrown a party. Determined not to cry, I skip the second movement of Beethoven's sonata and barrel straight into the jaunty third. The notes warp under my fingers, and the tune slides into b-flat minor.
Two days until the first rehearsal. Maybe I’ll be able to do something different with my life; something that makes me happy instead of just useful.
Chapter-by-Chapter-header---About-the-Author
Suzanne van Rooyen
Suzanne is a tattooed storyteller from South Africa. She currently lives in Finland and finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When not writing, she teaches dance and music to middle schoolers and entertains her shiba inu, Lego. Suzanne is represented by Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Agency.
Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Chapter-by-Chapter-header---Giveaway
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Release day! Disenchanted by Leigh Goff #ya #fantasy


Welcome to the Release Day Blast for Disenchanted,
a new YA Fantasy novel by 
Leigh Goff


About Disenchanted:

A dark curse, a forbidden love.

Orphaned sixteen-year-old Sophie Goodchild is an outcast among the ordinaries and her coven, but not because she’s untalented. Descended from a powerful Wethersfield witch, her spellcasting gift is awkwardly emerging, but that’s the least of her worries. The boy she’s forbidden to fall for, a descendant of the man who condemned her ancestor to hang, carries a dark secret that could destroy them both unless Sophie learns how to tap into the mysterious power of her diamond bloodcharm. 

Suspenseful, dark, romantic, and brimming with old magic, Disenchanted captures the intrigue of New England’s witchlore.

Book Details:

Title: Disenchanted
Author Name: Leigh Goff
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Musa Publishing, LLC http://www.musapublishing.com/
ISBN: 978-1-68009-045-1
Release Date: 12/19/2014

Read an Excerpt:

I sat, soaking wet, shaking from the adrenaline. Whoever he was, he rescued me from the would-be thief who bore the symbol of the Leos, a breath-saving nickname I gave Judge Mather’s Law Enforcement Organization. I strained to see, but the rain drops clinging to my long eyelashes blurred my vision. I wiped them away as my heart settled to an even pace.

With his back to me, he watched the thief disappear into the stormy night. He ran his hands through his thick, wavy, wet hair. His broad shoulders relaxed before he turned to offer me assistance. He extended his long arm to help me to my feet. I hesitated for a second, unsure of him, but as he reached for me, our fingers brushed together. A shock of electricity bolted through my hand. I froze as I caught the surprised reaction on his face, telling me he felt it, too. His fingers clasped firmly around mine and, with no effort, he pulled me to my feet. Unsteady, I pressed my hands against his firm muscled chest that showed through the drenched white shirt. A dizzy, swirly sensation swept through my head as if I were on a merry-go-round spinning around at one hundred miles per hour.

He had to be six feet tall.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a smooth British accent. His deep voice vibrated with tension, sending warm chills inside me.

I balanced myself and brushed my wet hair behind my ears, swallowing hard. A British accent that could make a girl melt if the girl didn’t have alarm bells going off in her head. There were no Brits currently living in our small part of Wethersfield, which meant he had to be one of them. My wide eyes flitted around, looking for a clue to make sense of why the statuesque Mather boy with his soaking wet shirt and black tailored pants left the comfort of his father’s manor house to brave the storm.

He stepped closer, breaching the already slim gap between us and forcing my eyes up. The streetlight illuminated his handsome features. His ivory complexion, dappled with raindrops and a shadow of thick stubble, revealed a hint of blush as if it were wintertime and the cold air had plucked at his cheeks.

I followed the perfect straight line of his nose to his brooding, dark eyes full of mystery. His eyes wandered over the details of my face and settled on my own, waiting for me to reply. A warm, wet breeze swirled up from behind him and wrapped his alluring scent around me; clean, floral and woodsy and thoroughly masculine. I inhaled again and again, unable to exhale. With all the plants and flowers I had smelled in my lifetime, he smelled better than any, alone or in combination. I wavered slightly, side to side, feeling dazed. I gulped a mouthful of air, trying not to breathe him in. What was wrong with me? I shook myself out of the stupor.

“Did you know that man?” he asked.

“Did you?” I said in an accusatory tone, but at that moment, I didn’t care about the attacker.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He drew back like I was crazy for suggesting anything.

He was the enemy. Say something, I thought. “What…what are you doing out here anyway?”

He furrowed his eyebrows inward. “Saving you, obviously.”

I threw my hands on my hips, shocked by the irony. A Mather helping a Greensmith? Hell was freezing over somewhere beneath our feet and every kind of farm animal was sprouting wings to fly. “That’s impossible.”

“And why is that?”

“Because…because you’re a Mather,” I said, not meaning to sound disgusted, but I struggled to contain my feelings. Fact was, the Mathers had Greensmith blood on their hands, as well as my coven’s blood. Through Wethersfield’s history, they were known as witch-hunters and with each generation, they changed only to appear more politically correct, but their intentions remained unchanged.

Add Disenchanted to your Goodreads Shelf:


Purchase Your Copy at Musa Publishing:


About the Author:


I love writing young adult fiction with elements of magic and romance because it's also what I like to read. Born and raised on the East Coast, I now live in Maryland, where I enjoy the area's great history and culture.

I am a graduate of the University of Maryland, University College and a member of the Maryland Writers' Association and Romance Writers of America. I am also an approved artist with the Maryland State Arts Council. My debut novel, Disenchanted, was inspired by the Wethersfield witches of Connecticut and will be released by Musa Publishing in December 2014.


For review copies or to arrange an interview, blog visit, or event with the author please click the Sapphyria's Book Promotions banner or you may contact her at saphsbookblog@gmail.com

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Cover reveal - Greta and the Glass Kingdom by Chloe Jacobs #ya #fantasy


This sounds like a ton of fun! Here's a bit about the first book in the series:


Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles #1)
Release Date: 12/11/12
Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
While trying to save her brother from a witch’s fire four years ago, Greta was thrown in herself, falling through a portal to Mylena, a dangerous world where humans are the enemy and every ogre, ghoul, and goblin has a dark side that comes out with the eclipse.

To survive, Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young goblin king, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her will to escape.

But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. An ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal, and with the next eclipse mere days away, every bloodthirsty creature in the realm is after her—including Isaac. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back...


Here's the cover and a blurb for book two!

Greta and the Glass Kingdom (Mylena Chronicles #2)
Release Date: February 2015
Entangled Teen

Summary from Goodreads:
The sequel to the Hansel & Gretel retelling Greta and the Goblin King ups the stakes of danger and romance. As conflict surges across Mylena, the tough Greta struggles to save those she loves.

Against all odds, Greta and the Goblin King miraculously survived the battle against the evil Agramon. Greta should be happy to be alive and ready to claim her place in Mylena by Isaac's side. Yet nothing is the way she thought it would be. The battle against Agramon left a dark magick inside Greta that will eventually kill her. Isaac hasn't been the same since he almost went Lost. And there are whispers of a rebellion brewing throughout Mylena...

Determined to save Mylena from a bitter civil war, they travel to the mysterious Glass Kingdom to form an uneasy alliance with the deadly Faerie race. But when an unexpected disaster tears Greta and Isaac apart, she must make the journey on her own. Along the way, she discovers a conspiracy stretching back to events she never thought she would have to revisit, betrayal from allies whose loyalty she never questioned, and an enemy vying to control all of Mylena.

Follow Greta into unexpected romance, explosive secrets, and shocking betrayals that will leave her and all of Mylena forever changed in the stunning second installment of The Mylena Chronicles.

About the Author
Chloe Jacobs is a native of nowhere and everywhere, having jumped around to practically every Province of Canada before finally settling in Ontario where she has now been living for a respectable number of years. Her husband and son are the two best people in the entire world, but they also make her wish she'd at least gotten a female cat. No such luck. And although the day job keeps her busy, she carves out as much time as possible to write. Bringing new characters to life and finding out what makes them tick and how badly she can make them suffer is one of her greatest pleasures, almost better than chocolate and fuzzy pink bunny slippers.

Author Links:
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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Cover reveal - Dream Weavers by C.C. Ravanera #fantasy

 

Title: Dreamweavers
Author: C.C. Ravanera
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: January 29, 2015
Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing

beautiful teen girl portrait with windy hair

Synopsis
Anima thrives in a parallel world where she harvests human dreams, but she has a secret. She longs for something more. She wants to be a part of it all and not just a visitor in another body.
Something within her is changing, something she can't explain.....no longer is she comfortable in her own skin. When she suddenly discovers a way to have it all she soon finds out that nothing is as it seems. Everything she's ever known is changing. One things for certain, she's in over her head. Thrust into a reality where she's killing people, fighting for her very existence and meeting the angel of death. She soon finds out her entire existence has been a lie and she is the only one who can change it. They call her the savior, but she's just Anima, how can she save everyone when she is unsure if she can save herself?
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Beautiful girl freezing outdoor, autumn, cold, blue
Excerpt
I couldn’t stop a teardrop from falling from my eyes. His face crumpled, and he enveloped me in his arms as we sobbed into one another. “I know what you’re doing. I’m not stupid,” he scolded me, his voice thick with tears. “You’re leaving me.” “Oh, Dmitri, I am so sorry but I have to do this,” I said to him, tightening my hold on him. “I want you safe. I — I love you so much! I don’t want to see you get hurt because of me.” “Idiot! You are already hurting me,” he said, trying to say it in a teasing manner but failing miserably. “I love you too, Anima. I have loved you all my life,” he confessed then rained kisses all over my face. Gently, I cupped his face between my hands and kissed him softly on his lips. The kiss tasted salty from our tears, yet bittersweet with the emotion we both poured into it. My first kiss… and my last… from my beloved Dmitri. I felt my heart bleed when I ended it. I gently wiped away the tears from his cheeks. “Take care, my love,” I whispered to him. “Be safe. I will come back for you.” He turned his face to kiss my palm. His eyes begged at me. “You promise?” I knew if I’d had a soul of my own I would have pledged it to him at that moment of time. “I promise,” I said to him in earnest. “Now go. Felicia and Claude will keep you safe.” Holding onto his hand, I gently pushed him towards the portal. I watched as with tears falling down his face he mouthed ”I love you”’ one last time and ghosted through. Then finally, I felt him let go when he crossed over.   dreamweavers meme 5   Author Bio CC Ravanera C.C. hailed from the Philippines but now lives in England with her husband and two young boys. She works as a full-time nurse and absolutely enjoys it. When she’s not working she spends the rest of her time running around the house with the boys and spending quality time with her husband. In her spare time (whew!) she writes her books and dreams of becoming a ‘proper author’. She’s addicted to coffee and chocolates. She loves reading books and waking up to the sound of birds early in the morning.

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