Pheonix Rising Series by Alexandra Christian - Spotlight and #Giveaway

Naked

Phoenix Rising Book 1

by Alexandra Christian

Genre: SF Romance

OUT OF THE STACKS

Librarian Phoebe Addison has lived her entire life within a seventy-five mile
radius of her small Louisiana town, but when she receives a strange medallion from her adventurous, off-world sister, reality tilts toward the bizarre. Everything Phoe thought she knew is…well, wrong. Dead wrong. But bone-numbing fear has no place in this brave new world—nor by the side of the dangerous, exquisite man who saves her life.

…AND INTO THE FIRE

Following the tragic slaughter of his family, operative Macijah “Cage” St.John understands evil in a way no man ever should. He traded happiness for a magnificent and terrible power, and fate isn’t done with him yet. He wasn’t looking for comfort. He didn’t need tenderness. But today he’ll play hero to a damsel in distress, and his quest will deliver him to the uncanny Martian colony of New London—and his heart to the demure Phoebe Addison. The bookish
beauty’s hidden talents and deep abiding love just might save Cage from himself.

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NeoGeisha 

Phoenix Rising Book 2

BACK...

Macijah "Cage" St. John' didn't want the spy life anymore. He would

have been thrilled to spend every morning lying in the field behind
Phoe's home in smalltown Louisiana watching the clouds roll by. But
his Miss Addison wanted to spread her wings, literally. So Cage accepted a mission that teamed him up with his lady love. If only he had trusted her.

TO THE FUTURE

Everything about being a spy was a million times more exciting, and scarier,
than the books she'd read in her former life as a librarian. When her  first mission with Cage turned into a colossal clusterf*ck because he withheld information and kept secrets, Phoebe's world narrowed into a long tunnel of betrayal. Captured by space pirates and delivered to a horrible fate, she wished the last words between them had been of love, because she was certain she would never see Cage St. John again.

In NeoGeisha, Alexandra Christian returns to the intriguing, post-apocalyptic world she created in Naked. Cage and Phoe continue to build their relationship, but not without complications. Romantic conflict and fast-paced action keep the pages turning, right down to the satisfying ending. ~ Nancy Northcott, Author of the Light Mage Wars series

NeoGeisha hit all my personal high points: wild adventure, sheet-scorching sex,
killer machines, thousands-to-two odds and a vampire shape-shitfting
James Bond in space. ~Vivien Jackson, Author of Wanted and Wired series

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In Absinthia

Phoenix
Rising Book 3

ALL INCLUSIVE VICTORIANA & STEAMPUNK

Interplanetary master spies, Macijah "Cage" St. John and Phoebe Addison
are forced to take vacation time, and she wants to go to Absinthia,
an off-world all inclusive interactive vacay planet set up as
Victorian London, but with all the future comforts. Cage doesn't do
down time, but their boss has other ideas, so begrudgingly, Cage
agrees to go to Absinthia. Within a day of their arrival, they get
embroiled in a Ripper copy cat series of murders complete with
séances, "altered" humans, kidnapping, and affairs of the
heart - their hearts, which will always belong to each other.

Goodreads

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Out of Ashes

Phoenix
Rising Book 4

THE LOVE YOU TAKE IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MAKE

Phoebe Addison and Macijah "Cage" St. John have so much going on
they can barely take a breath. Interplanetary master spies who generally drive their boss crazy, they are now trying to track down the person - is a skin walker a person? - who tried to kill him at their engagement party. Yeah, they were talked into returning to Louisiana so the whole town could show up and gawk at Cage. But they have bigger problems than usual when tracking an assassin. Secrets
that have been buried for too many years are about to be uncovered if Cage and Phoe can survive the people, vampires and "things" that are trying to kill them. And to top if off, Phoe has a secret she's sure will send Cage into a tailspin. But, as with everything they have lived through to be together, their love is the constant that is its own reward.

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Alexandra Christian is an author of mostly romance with a speculative slant. Her love of Stephen King and sweet tea has flavored her fiction with
a Southern Gothic sensibility that  reeks of Spanish moss and deep
fried eccentricity. As one-half of the writing team at Little Red Hen

Romance, she’s committed to bringing exciting stories and sapiosexual love monkeys to intelligent readers everywhere. Lexx also likes to keep her fingers in lots of different pies having written everything from sci fi and horror to Sherlock Holmes adventures. 

Her alter-ego, A.C. Thompson, is also the editor of the highly successful Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series of anthologies from Mocha Memoirs Press. A.C. will also pen several Shadow Council Archives novellas starring everyone’s favorite sidekick, Dr. John Watson, coming soon from Falstaff Books.

A self-proclaimed “Southern Belle from Hell,” Lexx is a native
South Carolinian who lives with an epileptic wiener dog and her
husband, author Tally Johnson. Her long-term aspirations are to one
day be a best-selling authoress and part-time pinup girl. She’s a
member of Romance Writers of America and Broad Universe—an
organization that supports female authors of speculative fiction. 

Website

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Running Out Of Space - Release Day Guest Post by author #S.J.Higbee

This is my stop during the blog tour for Running Out of Space by S.J. Higbee. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 11th till 31st October. You can check see the tour schedule here. 

For a limited time Running Out of Space will be only $0.99 on Amazon

I'm thrilled to feature a fellow 'Brit' author, S J Higbee on the Flight Deck today, and to be able to help celebrate her release day! Congratulations and wishing you many sales, Sarah!
(Replicator -  a celebratory drink is called for, I think!)

Now I think it's time you heard from Sarah Higbee herself. Over to you, Sarah -

Thank you so much Hywela for taking part in the blog tour for Running Out of Space and letting me loose on your blog to answer your question –
"I'd be interested to know if this was always intended to be a trilogy or just developed that way from the first book."

The inspiration for writing Running Out of Space came from listening to Regina Specktor’s song ‘Samson’ which I fell in love with the first time I heard it. I then vividly dreamt the opening sequence of the book, deciding it would make a great short story. That was my excuse for dropping the project I’d been working on and continuing with this one. However, a week and six chapters later I knew it would be a novel. And very quickly after that, I knew it would be a trilogy.

There were two main strands I wanted to explore. The first is Elizabeth’s personal journey where she is consumed by her longing to serve as an officer on her father’s ship, Shooting Star. Living at home and helping her alcoholic mother with her five younger brothers until she gets married and has a large family of her own fills her with horror. So when she is offered the opportunity to serve on her father’s ship, she is thrilled. However, it’s not turning out the way she’d hoped.

Throughout the first book, Elizabeth is constantly reacting to the changing circumstances around her – often with resourcefulness and courage, but she isn’t able to determine her own future. Right at the end of the book, however, she makes a life-changing choice that will hopefully lead her onto being able to take charge of her life.

The next part of her adventures happen in Dying For Space. This book had been thumping around in the back of my head for a while and more or less wrote itself. Breathing Space was the logical conclusion where all the main storylines that occur throughout the trilogy are tied up satisfactorily – apart from a couple of dangling plotlines I intend to pick up again in the spin-off series.

The second major strand is Elizabeth’s personal relationships. She falls in love with Wynn very fast – it is debatable whether she is running towards her chosen lover, or running away from her dysfunctional past. As she matures throughout the next couple of books, there is some resolution about the people in her life as she finally takes control and gets to lead the life she wants, rather than being constantly reactive.

There is also the spinoff series I have planned, where Elizabeth ends up being a P.I. in at least four murder mysteries which will also continue following her personal journey, as well as – hopefully – provide some entertaining whodunits. I’ve wanted to write a crime series set in space for a long time and sat down to plan out my protagonist when Himself looked up and said, ‘Why don’t you use Elizabeth?’ And the moment he said it – I realised it would work really well. As luck would have it, I hadn’t then completed Breathing Space so was able to just tweak some of the plotpoints in the second half of the book to set that up. I’m hoping to publish the sequel to Dying For Space, which is the sequel to Running Out of Space in December.

Thank you, Sarah, that was a fascinating insight into how the series developed. It seems the series grew naturally from events in the first book (unlike my own trilogy, which grew from a short story because I couldn't bear to say goodbye to my characters! 😉) I love the idea of a 'sequel to a sequel' too, and a  crime series set in space will, I'm sure, tick a lot of boxes for a lot of readers, including myself. It sounds like you have a wonderful series going here, and I wish you much success with it!

Now let's find out more about the first book!

Running Out of Space (The Sunblinded Trilogy#1)

By S.J. Higbee
Genre: Science Fiction
Age category: New Adult
Release Date: 11 October, 2017

Elizabeth Wright has yearned to serve on the space merchant ship Shooting Star for as long as she can remember – until one rash act changes everything…

I can’t recall whose idea it was. Just that me and my shipmates were sick of wading through yet another unjust punishment detail. So we decide to take ourselves off on a short jaunt to the lower reaches of Space Station Hawking to prove that fertile English girls can also deal with danger.

The consequences of that single expedition change the lives of all four of us, as well as that of the stranger who steps in to save us down in lawless Basement Level. Now I have more excitement and danger than I can handle, while confronting lethal shipboard politics, kidnapping, betrayal. And murder. 

You can find Running Out of Space on Goodreads

You can buy Running Out of Space for only $0.99 on Amazon!

About the Author:

Born the same year as the Russians launched Sputnik, I confidently expected that by the time I reached adulthood, the human race would have a pioneer colony on the Moon and be heading off towards Mars. So I was at a loss to know what to do once I realised the Final Frontier wasn’t an option and rather lost my head - I tried a lot of jobs I didn’t like and married a totally unsuitable man.

Now I've finally come to terms with the fact that I’ll never leave Earth, I have a lovely time writing science fiction and fantasy novels while teaching Creative Writing at Northbrook College in Worthing. I’ve had a number of short stories, articles and poems published – the most recent being my story ‘Miranda’s Tempest’ which appeared last year in Fox Spirit’s anthology Eve of War. I recently signed a publishing contract with Grimbold Publishing for my science fiction novel Netted, which is due to be released in 2019.

I live in Littlehampton on the English south coast with a wonderful husband and a ridiculous number of books. I can be
found online chatting about books at my book review blog https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/ and you’re very welcome to pop
onto my website www.sjhigbee.com and my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sjhigbeeauthor/

You can find and contact S.J. Higbee here:

- Website
- Blog
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads

 For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join

Review, Guest post and spotlight for 'Written In the Ashes'

Readers may be surprised to learn that, despite writing Science Fiction Romance, I have always had an interest in Ancient Egypt so I was delighted to have the chance to read and review 'Written in  the Ashes' by K Hollan Van Zandt and am delighted to welcome her to my blog today.

Written In the Ashes by K. Hollan Van Zandt
Publisher: Harper Collins (Sept. 27, 2016 Category: Historical Fiction, Tour Dates: October/November, 2016 ASIN:  B01CY3A8X4
Available in: ebook,  554Pages "

Written in the Ashes is one of those rare novels that sets 'history' afire, to bathe readers in the glow of a greater, hotter truth. Fans of The Mists of Avalon will find this romantic/alchemical/feminist/spiritual epic equally captivating."—Tom Robbins, bestselling author of Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. and Villa Incognito

In the bloody clash between Christians and pagans in fifth-century Alexandria, a servant girl becomes the last hope for preserving peace in this evocative and thrilling tale—a blend of history, adventure, religion, romance, and mysticism reminiscent of The Mists of Avalon. 

 After she is abducted from her home in the mountains of Sinai, Hannah is enslaved and taken to Alexandria, where she becomes the property of Alizar, an alchemist and pagan secretly working to preserve his culture. 

Revered for her beautiful singing voice, the young slave is invited to perform at the city's Great Library, where she becomes friends with the revered mathematician and philosopher, Hypatia, as well as other pagans who curate its magnificent collections. 

Determined to help them uphold pagan culture and traditions, Hannah embarks on a dangerous quest to unite the fractured pieces of the Emerald Tablet—the last hope to save the pagans and create peace. On this odyssey that leads her to the lost oracles of Delfi and Amun-Ra and to rediscovered ancient cities and rituals, Hannah will experience forbidden loves, painful betrayals, and poignant reunions. But her efforts may be in vain. Returning to Alexandria, Hannah finds a city engulfed in violence, even as her own romantic entanglements come to a head. Now, it's not only her future, but the fate of all Alexandria that is at stake.

MY REVIEW:
I found this an amazing book to read - not only for the story, which drew me in and kept me turning the pages, but for the wealth of description and history that was portrayed. I learnt far more about Ancient Egypt, with which I have always had a fascination, than I ever did from text books. Yes, some of the events in the book are romanticised, but the author does not balk at showing us the bloody and vicious side of the history of this period as well. I felt as if I had journeyed back in time. I liked the heroine, Hannah, the slave girl viciously snatched away from her home and father by the slave traders,  and the way she grew and developed as the story progressed. Not only was she beautiful and quick witted, with a lovely singing voice, but she became a strong and determined woman, like the fabled philosopher,  Hipatia, who, in this book, the author restores to her rightful place in history. Hipatia's conclusions from her research of Mary, the mother of Christ, was fascinating, and the tragic, wanton burning of the great library at Alexandria was vividly portrayed

The beautiful descriptions made me envisage the buildings and landscapes as if I were watching them in a film, and the romance is lightly and sensitively handled. I am full of admiration for the amount of research the author must have put in to make this historical account come alive. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a novel about ancient civilisations, which is told through a story that has realistic, easy to relate to characters, and plenty of action as well as a light smattering of romance.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Five Stars

EXCERPT

WRITTEN IN THE ASHES

K. HOLLAN VAN ZANDT

This excerpt is continued from StoreyBook Reviews on Oct 28^th.

When Alizar finally stepped back, there was an uproar of chatter, and then preparations for the ceremony began. The complex rituals alone lasted well into the night, for there were offerings to be made, goats to be slaughtered, joss sticks to be burned, precise rules to be followed.

Everyone was tired of sitting by the time the actual ceremony began. Their knees and low backs ached. Their bellies growled. Only Alizar and Gideon seemed unaffected by the demands of their bodies; the Nuapar were known for their ability to wait, poised like cats in alert stillness until the moment of attack.

Deep into the night, a long line of two dozen bare-chested men strode out from behind the walls in long white skirts and stood beside the golden barge, which had been hung with votive cups of silver and oasis fruits.

Then there was a commotion.

A regal woman of Egyptian descent appeared dressed in long striped robes of white and gold, her bare arms covered in bangles, her striking eyes belonging more to a falcon than a woman. Hannah gasped at her beauty and evident power, completely overcome with awe.

Alizar bowed, and the others followed.

“I am Queen Khamissa of Siwa,” said the woman. “Who addresses us?” Her eyes scanned the men before her. Alizar nodded to Hannah, who stepped forward.

Hannah knelt and bowed before the queen. “We have been sent by the Pythia at the Oracle of Delfi, and from Kolossofia Master Junkar on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, to collect the Emerald Tablet. We already possess the one broken half. Without the other, our city is falling into ruin.”

The queen nodded. “We remember the gift given long ago by the oracle of Amun-Ra to Alexander, son of Zeus. But you say it is broken? How?”

Hannah lifted her head. “We do not know, we were only told to seek the other half of the tablet here.”

The queen grew very still. “I have no knowledge of it.” She turned to Alizar. “Is this your question for the Oracle of Amun-Ra?”

“Let the girl pose it,” he said.

The Queen nodded.

Hannah cleared her throat, pleased she had been given permission to fulfill her quest. “In humility, I address the Oracle of Amun-Ra to hear my words. Our people and traditions are threatened by the growing power of the Christians. We have come in desperate times to beseech the oracle of the ancient god Amun-Ra to give us the location of the lost half of the Emerald Tablet.”

In the light of several hundred flickering candles, the queen and the hierophant, Omar-the-Goat, nodded. Then she stepped aside and he lifted his arms. The men behind him removed his long robes, revealing a white kilt beneath; his arms, chest and ankles were bare except for several large ornamental gold cuffs. Around his neck hung the perennial ankh strung on a dozen strands of rare turquoise beads.

Omar-the-Goat stared straight ahead, his empty white gaze never faltering as the devotees hoisted him up onto their shoulders and passed him into the barge. Then they took their places beside the gleaming golden boat and lifted it onto their shoulders. They spun to face the center of the temple, and then the hierophant began to recite a long list of prayers and invocations as the men who held the barge remained stiff in their places.

Then slowly, the hierophant rose to his feet, the golden ram horn headdress casting massive twin spiral shadows on the wall behind the barge. There was a gasp in the crowd as the people hid their eyes.

Each member of Alizar’s caravan knew the story: Alexander the Great had visited the Oracle of Amun-Ra, and the god had told him that he was the son of Zeus. When he returned from Siwa, he had coins minted with an image of his profile crowned in laurel leaves. He went on to conquer more territory than any general that came before, all in his early twenties. Some said that the oracle also predicted his death, which came shortly thereafter. The oracle had led Alexander to believe he was a god, and soon after the decree, he left the earth, immortalized as the most powerful youth ever to rule the empire. What had he seen in the temple of Amun-Ra? What had possessed him so powerfully after the ceremony that turned him from mortal man to immortal god?

Alizar stood patiently, his hands clasped before him as the golden barge began to sway. Omar-the-Goat, the last ceremonial hierophant of two thousand years, began to shudder and shake until his eyes closed, rolling back in his head. When his eyes opened again he was visibly, if only energetically, transformed. The old man was gone, his body occupied by the presence of the god, Amun-Ra. Whether he was acting, or the transformation was truly complete, the power that now emanated from his eyes was terrifying. The man-turned-god gestured demurely to the men, and slowly the barge began its journey.

Hannah watched the unfolding scene in awe.

Accompanied by twelve singing girls wielding incense trays, Amun-Ra, perched proudly in the golden barge, ordered it onward as though they were crossing a mighty ocean, but then the god would capriciously lift an arm, bark several commands, and the entire entourage would change direction as though caught in the current of some invisible stream.

This excerpt continues at  Our-Wolves-Den on Nov. 21^st.

Guest Post:

The New Women of Romance

Thanks so much for inviting me here, Hywela. I feel like my own journey of discovering my deep passion for romantic stories began with my love affair with your country, in the UK, with Jane Austen. I adored her powerful, high-strung, brilliant women who seemed to always find love in the end.

When I began writing my novel Written in the Ashes, I felt very strongly that I wanted to author a book of strong female characters. I love strong women, and have a legacy of strong women in my family.

The protagonist of my novel, Hannah, evolved quite a lot through the drafts of the book, as did her friendships with the other powerful women of the story, like Hypatia of Alexandria, who was the first female mathematician/scientist in history. As the writing progressed I gave her both more challenges and more gifts. In the final draft of the novel, she has significant fight scene that lets her find vindication and healing from a terrible injustice that happens to her in the first few pages of the book.

I wanted to create a narrative where powerful women of action discuss ideas, politics, culture and collaborate on the causes they believe in, like justice, and preserving the world’s knowledge for generations to come from the Great Library.

Hannah, while her heart is passionately entangled deciding between Julian, the spiritual master; or Gideon, the handsome but brash ship captain, must refocus herself on the importance of her quest: finding the Emerald Tablet to save the pagan (non-Christian) people of Alexandria, and the Great Library. This leads her on a wild adventure to consult the Oracles of Delfi in Greece, and Amun Ra in Egypt.

Hannah is an unusual kind of romantic female lead, one whose voice is her power, and her heart is her guide. During her story she goes from being a silenced slave, to finding her voice, strength and freedom.

To clarify what I mean, let me describe the 3 most common types feminine heroines in our books and movies as I see them:

THE COQUETTE- Often a weak second player to a male hero, or a seductress (think Bond girls), the coquette is a sex symbol who ultimately still needs to be rescued, even if she’s capable of kicking ass.

THE BADASS- This new breed of female heroines and superheroes are often in a war of some kind, fighting as men would fight. (Think Tomb Raider or The Hunger Games.) You could literally replace one of these women with a man and none of their dialogue or decisions would change. They are stand-in men. But this is still a step up from the victimized coquette, where women now have more power and equality.

THE MYSTIC- This is the fully realized female character who maintains a complete range of feminine and masculine qualities. She is wise, yet she learns lessons. She has strongly defined interests other than love and romance, yet she loves deeply and enjoys romance. She has serious respectable skills. She may be sexy but not at the expense of having a brain or true vulnerability. She may rescue other characters in the story, or not, but her presence is a force for healing, for awakening. She is a role model, and a winning friend.

I think one of the most powerful Mystic characters we have ever seen on screen is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. How does she save everyone in the story? Not with guns or by dropping bombs or even with magic spells. No, she succeeds by making friends, forging new relationships, forgiveness, and finding renewed faith in herself and her path. (And she even kicks a little ass while she’s at it.)

So keep an eye out for these new women of romance, the Mystics.

And if you’re not sure if a movie or book has a Mystic woman in it, you can use the Bechdel Test. It’s just 3 questions:

     *Are there at least 2 women in this story?

          *Do they talk to each other?

3        *About something other than a love interest?

I hope you’ll pick up a copy of Written in the Ashes, meet Hannah and join her quest, and make some new friends along the way!

Thank you for having me here as your guest.

Thank you, Kaia, that was fascinating! I think most of us aspire to creating the 'mystic' heroine, whether we realise it or not! Speaking personally I love creating (and reading about) a heroine who is strong enough to look after herself, but still feminine and sensitive. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us, and wishing you even more success in the future.

Praise for Written In the Ashes by K. Hollan Van Zandt

“In her captivating debut novel, Written in the Ashes, K. Hollan Van Zandt brings to life a fascinating and forgotten woman of history: Hypatia of Alexandria, who may have been one of the greatest female minds of all time. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk the streets of long ago Egypt, then look no further. You will be enthralled!”– Michelle Moran, international bestselling author of Nefertiti and Cleopatra’s Daughter 

 “Van Zandt’s vivid description of the Great Library instantly transported me to a lush fifth century Alexandria. Her lyrical writing style and breakneck storytelling kept me riveted to the very last page.”– Robin Maxwell bestselling author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and Signora da Vinci. 

 "Going back so far in time leaves an author with little written record to rely on for fact. The burning of the Great Library at Alexandria was a monumental loss to humanity. The facts of the matter aside, this novel was truly arresting and I had a hard time putting it down to get anything done. Ancient history fascinates me. Religion fascinates me. This book manages to tie both together in a story that resonates through time. The book was fascinating. The characters were well developed and I really didn't want to leave this world of ancient Alexandria. The imaginary, magical priests and the beautiful goddesses created by Ms. Van Zandt lent themselves to a mystical world that was quite believable within its context. As the story unfolded I was rooting for Hannah to fulfill her destiny and find peace with her past. I am looking forward to the next chapters in these characters lives."-Patty Woodland, Broken Teepee

About K. Hollan Van Zandt

Kaia Van Zandt is a celebrated author and teacher whose novel, Written in the Ashes, chronicles the events that led up to the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt. Kaia’s spiritual journey began at age 14 when she founded the youth division of the Humane Society of the United States. Then as a junior in high school, she traveled to the Earth Summit in Brazil, where she taught meditation, and was given the opportunity to work with world leaders on the challenges facing humanity and the planet today, an experience that profoundly influenced her work. She’s a graduate of Antioch University, where she focused on the intersection between the ancient Goddess traditions and modern culture. Her fascination with healing-both personally and collectively – led her to yoga. During her career she’s worked with thought leaders like Marci Shimoff and Deepak Chopra, actors like Ashley Judd, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Garry Shandling, as well as Sony ImageWorks, UCLA Medical, and the San Francisco 49ers. Her beloved writing mentor is bestselling novelist/humorist, Tom Robbins.

Website: www.kaiavanzandt.com

Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/Kaia-H-Van-Zandt-62326196268/?business_id=1527166044253916 Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaiaVanZandt Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaiavanzandt/?hl=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbpNRBX9k7z1bJndQ2a4Rgg

Purchase Written In the Ashes by K. Hollan Van Zandt

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Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Oct 6 Guest Post  & Giveaway Book Talk with Alana Oct 7 Review, Interview, Excerpt, & Giveaway Buried Under Books Oct 14 Excerpt & Giveaway Books, Books, & More Books Oct 17 Review Words And Peace Oct 19 Guest Post & Giveaway Deal Sharing Aunt Oct 20 Interview & Giveaway Lisa's Writopia Oct 21 Review & Interview 100 Pages A Day Oct 26 Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway The Musings of a Book Junkie Oct 27 Review & Excerpt StoreyBook Reviews Oct 28 Excerpt & Giveaway Bites Nov 8 Review Romance 'Out Of This World' Nov 16 Review, Guest Post, Excerpt, & Giveaway Infinite House of Books Nov 17 Interview JBronder Book Reviews Nov 18 Review Our-Wolves-Den Nov 21 Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 23 Review Fresh-scraped Vellum Nov 28 Review

For insider news and subscriber-only info, subscribe to my occasional Newsletter. I promise not to spam and your in-box will only see an email from me every 3 or 4 months or so - unless of course I have something really Newsworthy to share! http://madmimi.com/signups/196357/join Every new subscriber will get a FREEdownload of my fantasy novella 'Dancing With Fate' (If this doesn't arrive within two days just email me at hywelalyn@btinternet.com)

The Sharp End Of Lightning Blog tour and Guest post

Welcome  N R Bates. Always a thrill to welcome not only a fellow SF and fantasy author, but someone who shares a connection with my homeland of Wales.  As a SF/Fantasy romance writer I love 'world bulding' but often find that my worlds change and develop far beyond my original intentions, which adds depth and dimensions to the plot which I had not originally envisaged, so I just wondering what N R Bates' experiences are with his own "world building"?Let's hear from the author himself:

N R Bates: I share Lyn’s joy in the emergence of worlds and places that the characters of book inhabit and how they respond to events. In the human world of the book, I tried to imbue the world with an authenticity that would have some familiarity to the reader. In the parallel world of Oceanlight, I had early ideas of the ocean world my characters would inhabit. But as the stories emerged and matured, the world-building evolved organically, sometimes in surprising and unexpected directions in spite of my purposeful choices. As I wrote and revised the first two books of the series, I discovered new depths and detail to the other worlds, and in turn, the world-building added an important feedback and maturity to plot, narrative and character. The dimensions and granularity continues to unfold as I ponder the sequels to the first and second books of the Oceanlight series.

In imaging the ocean world of the tribe of Sea Sprites and the humans of the story who are at the core of the book, I first visualized each of the characters and the places they live. I imagined the spaces, the smells and sounds of the landscape, house and hospital that my main human character experienced. In the Seanest home of the Sea Sprites, I illustrated and laid out the architecture of their living and work spaces. I imagined walking with the characters, feeling the texture and colour of the walls, riding upon the back of their petrels, and finding refuge on floating seaweed. The world-building of the book, its depth and details, the reimagining of ocean ecology into a fictional tale, all had to become real to me so that I could bring authenticity to the worlds of my characters.

I also spent a lot of time thinking about the time-lines of characters in the parallel worlds, and avoiding the paradoxes of time-travel. I wrote mindful of our current understanding of the cosmology and physics of the universe, of time and infinite universes, and of each decision or action creating a different time-line. The illustration at the beginning of the book is part descriptor but also a puzzle for the interested reader to decipher.

At The Sharp End of Lightning by NR Bates:

Publisher: NR Bates (January 30, 2015) Category: Epic Fantasy, Magic Realism, Literary Fiction, Celtic Mythology, History Tour Date: May/June, 2015 Available in: Print & ebook, 239 Pages AT THE SHARP END OF LIGHTNING is the tale of family, of loss and sacrifice, of unexpected gifts and coping with disability and new abilities set against the backdrop of climate change occurring across parallel worlds. The intertwined worlds of Oceanlight and Earth are no longer hidden from view of each other. In one realm, Yalara Narika, a winged Sea Sprite, searches for her family and she encounters a deadly blue haze at sea. Escaping the poison makes her realize that her world, Oceanlight, is experiencing sudden and catastrophic environmental change. Meanwhile, in the safe suburban normality of North Wales, Einion Morgan Alban, a restless youth with haemophilia, is nearly murdered by a man in a white suit who intentionally shoves him off a cliff. If Yalara and Einion don’t uncover the connections between their worlds and near-deaths, it will have dire consequences for the worlds they live in. Book one of the OCEANLIGHT series.

Praise for 'At The Sharp End of Lightning' by NR Bates:

"What a fantastic book, the author takes you into another realm. I couldn't put the book down, a real page turner. Seeing as this is book 1 I can't wait for the next one to be written."-Scotialassie, Amazon.UK Reviewer "British author NR Bates makes his novel writing debut with AT THE SHARP END OF LIGHTNING, Book 1 of the OCEANLIGHT series. He has indeed written extensively which explains why his command of the medium is so secure: he has published more than one hundred and twenty scientific papers on ocean chemistry, climate change and ocean acidification as a Senior Scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and Professor of Ocean Biogeochemistry at the University of Southampton, UK. Bates' passion for the ocean and environmental sciences has proven a successful driving force in both his scientific mind and his fantasy creative mind. The result, as we read it here, is `true' Science Fiction fantasy! Bates opens his book with a map/diagram called The Interfaces - the meaning of which will be explained throughout the novel, but whose information offers hints and suggestions of codes to be solved. And at the end of his book he discusses Welsh history that informed this story as well as the biology and biogeochemistry of the Sargasso Sea, further influences. The author provides an outline of the story that assists the reader immensely: `The interwoven fantastical tale of family, of loss and sacrifice, of unexpected gifts and coping with disability and new abilities set against the backdrop of climate change occurring across parallel worlds. Bates' writing style can only be called `elegant' - he is unafraid to challenge the reader with a rich vocabulary that somehow enhances the characters we encounter. This is obvious form the opening paragraph:

 `As the streamer of lightning harmlessly discharged through her body into the palm of her hand, Yalara Narika noticed many things at once. There was fright and surprise as adrenaline raced through her body. The words "I'm alive" came to mind, accompanied by an overwhelming relief when the forked sharpness passed out of her. Then came the reflex response-- her call to Calymene, Mother Earth-- that she had despite her doubt. A hurried glance brought the reassuring thought "I'm still in the sky." Simultaneously, she returned to her search-- for the "lost"-- which was set against the immensity of the seas. And interwoven amongst these reactions were thoughts of that moment in the distant future, at the end of her life, when she'd fly up into the tumult, clad in a cuprous woven fabric, and upon the flash of electrica, her constituent parts would disassemble in an instantaneous coruscation of energy.' This is our first encounter with being struck by lightning. As with most fantasy/sci-fi books it takes a while to adjust to the strange names and the references to places of origin, but Bates' language makes that journey of discovery a rewarding one. He does offer a helpful Sprite Glossary and Human Glossary at books end. This is a strong debut, well worth the investment of mental energy." 

Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame & top 100 reviewer.

Ambitious and enchanting, At The Sharp End Of Lightning by author N R Bates proves a rich and original foray into the realms of fantasy fiction. Compelled by a commanding narrative that readily enthrals the imagination, the magical intrigue simmers throughout as Bates renders his fantasy world in rich hues. A world parallel to our own yet retaining a time worn familiarity that makes it feel immediately authentic. It’s an intricate, intrigue-laden telling, which plays to the best in this popular genre and it’s clear from the start that Bates is in his element.

 "There’s certainly much to enjoy here. From cleverly contrived and vibrant scenes to a captivating blend of magical mysticism, he ably manages to avoid prescriptive tropes whilst a certain descriptive economy and a tight word count brings a penetrating levity to his dialogue. Both timely and well observed, he notably avoids the trite mutterings of mediocre characterisation to create genuine depth and emotive resonance, which in turn ensures the reader becomes fully invested in the trials and tribulations of his characters. Beautifully written and undoubtedly the start of an exciting new series, At The Sharp End Of Lightning proves a fine example of fantasy fiction. Definitely deserving of a place on your bookshelf, it is recommended without reservation!"
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About NR Bates:

NR Bates was born in London, grew up in Wales, and lived in Canada and Bermuda. He shares his life with his wife, seven cats, one dog and the tropical wildlife of lizards, wolf spiders and ant colonies that seek out a better life indoors. He is an oceanographer and scientist, and has published more than one hundred and twenty scientific papers on ocean chemistry, climate change and ocean acidification. He is a Senior Scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and Professor of Ocean Biogeochemistry at the University of Southampton, UK. His novels focus on epic fantasy and magic realism, and inspired by his deep love of the ocean and environmental sciences.

Website: nrbates.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/NR-Bates/1536689869946441
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NRBatesAuthor

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Guest post on 'Women In Fiction' by Christian Brown, Author of Feast Of Fates

Please welcome Christian Brown to the Flightdeck, and enjoy an excerpt from his debut novel 'Feast Of Fates'. Christian has written a fascinating guestpost on 'Women In Fantasy', which you will find after the excerpt, and you can watch the brilliant trailer at the end of the post!

Feast of Fates
Four Feasts Till Darkness 
Book One
Christian A. Brown


Genre: Fantasy Romance

Date of Publication: September 9, 2014

ISBN: 978-1495907586
Number of pages: 540

Word Count: 212K

Book Description:

"Love is what binds us in brotherhood, blinds us from hate, and makes us soar with desire.”

Morigan lives a quiet life as the handmaiden to a fatherly old sorcerer named Thackery. But when she crosses paths with Caenith, a not wholly mortal man, her world changes forever. Their meeting sparks long buried magical powers deep within Morigan. As she attempts to understand her newfound abilities, unbidden visions begin to plague her--visions that show a devastating madness descending on one of the Immortal Kings who rules the land.

With Morigan growing more powerful each day, the leaders of the realm soon realize that this young woman could hold the key to their destruction. Suddenly, Morigan finds herself beset by enemies, and she must master her mysterious gifts if she is to survive.

Available at Amazon and Createspace

Feast of Fates, Excerpt

Menos was darker than usual: its clouds as black as the shadow of fear that haunted Mouse. The city
felt more menacing to her. She saw shadows in every corner, noticed the glint of every ruffian’s blade or slave’s chain as though they were all intended for her. The warning of Alastair played inside her skull on a loop of nightmare theater.

            A hand over her mouth startles her awake, and she twists for the dagger in her pillowcase until she recognizes the shadowy apparition atop her, who hisses at her to calm.

            “Alastair?” she gasps.

            The hand unclenches and the willowy shadow retreats to more of its own; she can only see the scruff of his red beard in the dark.
            “Get up, Mouse. Get dressed.”
            Her mentor sounds annoyed or confused; she is each, but finds her garments quickly enough anyway.

            “I don’t like good-byes, so let’s not call this that,” Alastair says with a sigh. “But it will be a parting, nonetheless. You need to go low. Lower than you’ve ever been before. A new name won’t be enough. You’ll need a new face. I don’t know how or who, but the sacred contract of our order has been broken. Your safety has been bought.”
            Mouse knows the who and how, and as she glances up from her boot-lacing to explain to her mentor her predicament, she sees that he is gone. Just empty shadows, echoing words, and the sound of her heartbeat drowning out all the rest.

            She expected the dead man and his icy master to emerge from the dim nooks and doorways of the buildings she passed at any instant. With a hand on her knives and a fury to her step, she swept down the sidewalk; no carriages for her today, as they were essentially cages on wheels—too easy to trap oneself in. With its sooty storefronts and their wrought-iron windows, its black streetlamps that rose about her like the bars of a prison, Menos was constricting itself around her, and she had to get out.
            You’ve survived worse than the nekromancer, she coached herself, though she wasn’t certain that was true. She hurried through the grimness of Menos, dodging pale faces and quickening her step with every sand. By the time she arrived at the fleshcrafter’s studio, she was sweating and stuck to her cloak. She looked down the desolate sidewalk and up the long sad face of the tall tower with its many broken or boarded-over windows. When she was sure she wasn’t being pursued by the phantoms that her paranoia had conjured, she pulled back a rusted door that did not cry out as it should have, given its appearance, but slid along well-formed grooves through the dust. She raced through the door and hauled it closed.

            It was dark and flickering with half-dead lights in the garbage-strewn hallway in which she stood. Mouse picked through the trash with her feet, tensing as she passed every dark alcove in the abandoned complex. Hives, these places were called, and used to house enormous numbers of lowborn folk under a single roof. In Menos, even the shabbiest roof was a desirable commodity, so the building’s ghostly vacancy meant that it likely was condemned by disease at one point. Soon the stairwell she sought appeared, and she tiptoed down it, careful not to slip on the stairs, which were slick with organic grunge.

            Couldn’t have picked a nicer studio, she cursed. I’ll be lucky if this fleshcrafter leaves me with half a lip to drink with. Lamentably, speed and discretion were her two goals in choosing where to have her face remodeled. Such stipulations cut the more promising fleshcrafters off the list and left her with the dregs. She hadn’t put much thought into what she would have done, or even if she would end up hideously disfigured. Monstrous disfigurement could even work in her favor, as she bore an uncanny resemblance to that crow-eviscerated woman whom she suspected was the object of the nekromancer’s dark desire. I’ll take ugly over dead. Over whatever he has in mind for me.

GUEST POST BY CHRISTIAN A BROWN

Women In Fantasy
Just a second, everyone put away the pitchforks and stop brandishing those Gertrude Stein books at me as if they can compel the misogynistic demon from my flesh. This isn’t a diatribe on feminism in literature–I wouldn’t dare to touch such a heavy subject without an array of facts at my disposal. As a fantasy writer, I don’t really deal in facts, as much as possibilities. What I would like to discuss is the portrayal of women in fantasy, what I like, and what I don’t like, what I think needs changing. I’d like to keep this dialog as uncontroversial as possible, and focus on how these characters are written, more than diving into the societal influences that make writers craft women in this manner. That’s psychology, and I’m not a psychologist. Okay, moving on, I’ll start with the stuff I can’t stand–expect hyperbole and potential cussing.

Women who are powerless. To me, nothing is more irritating than watching a female lead take a backseat to the action. I understand that characters need time to “grow” into their heroism, however, the foundations for that backbone should have been laid prior to that mettle being tested in a life-or-death situation. Otherwise, my suspension of disbelief is being tested. Even if a heroine is in a situation from which she cannot escape, she should always be thinking of escape, and not complacent with her miserable existence. At least that spark of free-will can be convincing impetus for a future act of daring. In the event that your heroine ends up chained in a basement, and awaiting the most wretched fate imaginable, she should be testing her chains, wondering who she can pounce on when they enter her cell, or looking for a rat bone to pick her irons. Whatever. She should be doing something, or sure that she will somehow live. That fire for life is what keeps me, as a reader hooked. When characters give up, so do I.

Women who are overly negative. As a man who writes some pretty snappy ladies, this can be a delicate act to balance. Cynicism is fine, particularly if that character has endured hardships. But when all she does is harp, or whine, or question her strength, that character becomes as unpleasant as the people in real life who do that. You know that friend that you have who calls you up to complain about her weight/ marriage/ job? Negative Nancy the sorceress, can have the same tone and repellence.  Negativity can serve a purpose, and a hero should always suffer moments of doubt. But the strongest people do so silently, or among their closest allies, and never often or vocally (unless they are giving a rousing speech against their injustice). Finding a balance with humor, can help to offset a character with a naturally acerbic demeanor. At least it gives the reader something else to focus on.

Women who need to be constantly saved (usually by an all-powerful figure). Similar to the first point, although I believe it deserves its own mention. Getting saved once by your beau, assuming our heroine has exhausted all of her resourcefulness, and is really, truly, screwed, is fine. Sometimes, despite everything, we just cannot extricate ourselves from a mess. We need help. Alright. Help arrives. Then, she trips and falls down a well in another ten pages. Shortly after calling for help and being rescued, she decides to go for a walk in the Forest of Ultimate Evil. Probably a bad idea, given the name, but this girl (I've demoted her from womanhood for her naiveté), doesn’t have the good sense God gave a toothpick. Don’t worry, here comes Damien Glorylocks–knight, and secret royal blood of a long forgotten dynasty–to save Clueless. From now on, we’ll just refer to my sample heroine by that name, as it tends to sum up a lot of decisions that writers place in the minds of their female leads.

Stupidity. Coming off that last point. How stupid can one character be? Okay, we all make dumb decisions. In fact, its necessary for characters to do one or two things in error, and thereafter grow from that experience. The key here is grow. Grow. As in, not do that stupid thing, or comparable act of stupidity again. If you’re on the 3rd arc of your trilogy and your character is still figuring out the fundamentals of how to control her dragon-blood, faery-magic, or whatever, then you have a problem. Similarly, if you’re deep into your story and Clueless still can’t figure out why the Dark Elves want her dead so badly, then you probably haven’t done a good enough job as a writer giving the reader–and potentially Clueless–information. Readers like to be in the know, and if your character is being kept in the dark, often treating your audience the same risks aliening them. So if these scenarios are occurring in your books, then your character (and audience) is not learning, they are not growing. And if you’ve watched one season of Honey Boo Boo, you’ve watched them all.

The only thrill in that entertainment is in watching the mediocrity unfold. We do not want our stories to be banal, we want them to be inspiring, and teaching of greatness. Mediocrity is for the real world, it has no place in fantasy.

Things I like. Here, we have a shorter list, as most of these things are self-explanatory.
Normal characters. By this I mean, they have no supreme, miracle, magic. No great hidden power. These women are just tough as nails, and have learned how to kick life in the balls. Almost universally, readers like these sorts of characters. Sure, later on in the story-line, that character may struggle to hang with their mystical friends, and as end-of-the-world events unfold, it takes a deft narrative hand to weave them through those troubles unscathed. Still, the value of a normal character in an otherwise epic fantasy cannot be understated, for they create a bridge between our world and the fantasy.

Women who make their own choices. Decisiveness. I love this trait in characters. As a storyteller, characters who do not waver with indecision, move the story forward at a steady pace. Otherwise, you can end up wasting pages on internal dialog, which can make a character seem weak, which then threatens to lose the reader.

Women who fight. I’m not saying that every heroine has to be a martial expert, but even a princess can have lessons in fencing, and if you make the heroine a blacksmith’s daughter, she would surely know how to swing a blade. Again, this cycles back to women being helpless, which I personally hate to read.

Witty, curious women. Witty, is not the same as bitchy–another fine line that can be crossed. And curiosity may have killed the cat, but it shouldn’t kill the heroine. A sense for questioning order, a rebellious spirit, and someone who can take the slings-and-arrows of life with the occasional laugh, all make for engaging characters.

I hope that my ramblings have been thought, and not anger, provoking. Do keep in mind that the above represents only my opinions, and there are as many ways to write characters as there are writers in the world. These are just my pet-peeves, and the pitfalls that I try to avoid.
Respectfully,
-C

Christian A. Brown has written
creatively since the age of six. After
spending most of his career in the health
and fitness industry, Brown quit his job
to care for his mother when she was
diagnosed with non-Hodgkins
lymphoma in 2010.
Having dabbled with the novel that
would eventually become Feast of Fates
for over a decade, Brown was finally
able to finish the project. His mother,
who was able to read a beginning
version of the novel before she passed
away, has since imbued the story with
deeper sentiments of loss, love, and
meaning. He is proud to now share the
finished product with the world.
http://christianadrianbrown.com
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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8422242.Christian_A_Brown