Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Crossways—Cover Reveal

I have a cover reveal for you all today! This is for The Crossways, book two of Time Captives by Morgan Elizabeth Huneke. I read and reviewed book one earlier this summer, and am really looking forward to reading book two.

Crossways

About the Book

“M’lady, it has been fairly well confirmed that the Redona was hidden away by the merfolk at the conclusion of the Great War instead of destroyed as was commanded. My brother has confirmed to me Joseph’s belief that it was concealed at the Crossways.”

Toarna pressed her fingertips together in thought. “It must be recovered and destroyed as was at first intended.”

Emily, Allan, Jill, and Joey have been reunited with their long lost ancestors. But with that reunion comes the true beginning of their quest: free the rightful king of Calhortz so that he may be restored to his throne. The Redona, the only object that can free him from his long imprisonment, is rumored to be concealed in The Crossways, a mountain across the sea which cannot be entered.

A slave since birth, Adriel’s resentment and hatred towards the strytes only grows as his family is continually ripped from him. He longs for the freedom the Time Captives are prophesied to bring, but he doubts their existence, just as he doubts God’s love. Circumstances in Calhortz are so dire. How could they ever improve?

Who can enter The Crossways? Will the king ever be freed? Or will the slaves of Calhortz lose all hope of freedom before it is even offered to them?

The Crossways is the second book of the Time Captives trilogy, a tale of faith, family, fantasy, and a fight for truth and freedom.

goodreads-badge-add-plus-d700d4d3e3c0b346066731ac07b7fe47

Release Date

The Crossways, Time Captives book 2, will be released on October 19th, 2015. Stay tuned on Morgan’s blog and Facebook page for more information and sneak peeks.

Free eBook

free

Haven’t yet begun your journey with the Time Captives? Book 1, Creighton Hill, is free on Kindle today only! Find it at Amazon.com!

About the Author

morganMorgan Elizabeth Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Her other interests include reading, playing the piano and violin, and politics. She is the author of Across the Stars and The Experiment.

You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest.

 

Make sure you also check out the other blogs participating in the cover reveal!

Friday, September 18, 2015

Birthday Surprise

So today is my birthday. I am now 27 . . . hey, wait, didn’t I just turn 21?!! What is this madness?! I think some evil overlord has come and stolen time from me. It has gone WAY too fast. But, anyway, I thought I’d do something special for my birthday. To celebrate, I’m going to give YOU, my faithful readers, a gift. :) So go ahead, open it up and see what’s inside.

happy-birthday-1423433-639x852

(Click)

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

A New Logo and Makeover

So I’ve been pretty absent for the last month and a half. Many of you know that I was up to my eyeballs in sewing projects last month. I had a buckskinners rendezvous I participated in last week with my brothers. We portray the colonial/Revolutionary War era. I already had all the clothing I needed, but my brothers pretty much each needed a full outfit. Not to mention I decided to make a dining fly for my tent. Yeah, I was busy. I plan to write more about that in a separate post though. I’ll just say that the rendezvous was a blast, and I have another one next week that I hope to attend as well.

Now, for the point of this point. Somewhere in the midst of the sewing craziness last month and early this month, I played around a little with Photoshop. For a while now, I’ve wanted a logo. Originally, I wanted to do something for Living Sword Publishing, but then I decided to make one for my pen name instead. After all, I used Jaye L. Knight for both writing and for my Etsy business. This is what I came up with. Ain’t he cute? ;) (And for those who have read Half-Blood, yes, he is the same sort of jay as Strune.) I’m very happy with how it turned out.

Of course, a new logo called for a makeover. As you can see, I’ve changed my blog a bit to incorporate it. I’ve also given my website a fresh makeover. I’m very excited to have my own logo. I think I shall have to go design some more business cards now. ;)

Friday, September 4, 2015

Water Princess, Fire Prince Blog Tour—Author Interview

I’m back again with another blog tour post for Kendra E. Ardnek’s new book, this time to share an interview with the author herself! But first, a bit about the book I see everyone raving about. :)

Water and Fire (1)

Book Description:

When the Lady Dragon does come,
Hold fast, do not fear, do not run.
Your Water Princess will fight,
Fire Prince will set all to right.
Each shall come from a Fall,
Their union will save you all.


Despite the fact that she's on track for competing in the Olympics, and he's practically raised his younger brothers since they lost their mom in a car accident, Clara Mandras and Andrew Stevenson are pretty much normal teens. They have normal hopes, normal dreams, and they live in a normal world.

All this is torn away from them when they are thrust into another world and declared Water Princess and Fire Prince. With no experience ruling a country, meeting each other for the first time, and being expected to fight the Lady Dragon – an evil sorceress plaguing the world of Rizkaland – Clara and Andrew are underprepared and inexperienced. Unless they learn to work together despite their standing opposition, Rizkaland's hope will be lost.

What is to come will change their lives forever.

Available on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Princess-Prince-Rizkaland-Legends-ebook/dp/B00YTQBTDI/

Add it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24022364-water-princess-fire-prince

Part 1’s first chapter: http://knittedbygodsplan.blogspot.com/2014/12/water-princess-chapter-1.html

Part 2’s first chapter: http://knittedbygodsplan.blogspot.com/2014/12/fire-prince-chapter-1.html

Snippet:

After several long minutes, the girl ran up to the side of the tub with a large towel and the announcement, “I’m ready! You can get out now!”

Clara sank down further. “Then leave the room.”

The girl frowned. “But if I leave, I can’t help you prepare for dinner, and if you’re late, what would Lady Roxanne say? She’d send me back to the village for certain! And the water must be getting cold – your toes are blue!”

Clara shifted, kicking one foot out of the water for a brief moment. It was actually a normal color – pretty amazing considering the fact that it had been submerged in an ice cold river, and then trudged down a mountain without shoes.

“Oh,” she said, realizing what the girl was talking about. “That’s fingernail polish. Or toenail in this case. My friends and I had a sleepover last night, and they insisted we paint our nails.”

“Oh.” The girl had to think about this for a little while. “So, are you going to get out or not? You’re starting to look like a gava, and that just won’t do.”

“A gava?”

“You don’t know what a gava is?” The girl sounded incredulous. “Well, it’s a type of fruit – but dried. Before it’s dried it’s called a primmon. And it gets all wrinkly.”

“So you mean a raisin?” Clara asked.

“A what?”

“Never mind. Okay, so you can’t leave the room, and I have to get out. Could you – could you at least turn your back?”

“If I turn my back, how can I hold the towel for you?” The girl let out a pitiful sigh. “Look, I’ll hold it really high and close my eyes.” And then, as she did so, she added in undertone, “Not that you have anything I’ve never seen before.”

Interview:

What was the first story you ever wrote?

Off the top of my head, I think it was a retelling of the Ugly Duckling when I was in preschool, but I can’t remember for certain. I started writing early

What inspired you to start writing?

My introduction to writing was not so much of an inspiration, as my mother would sit me down with pen and paper and help me commit the stories in my head to the written word. I still have a Paul Bunyan story and a gender-swapped Rumplestilskin in my desk somewhere.

What is the most interesting experience you’ve had while writing?

Hmmmm … I think I’ll go with when I was writing Clara and Andrew’s first kiss in the first draft. I was babysitting for my aunt at the time, and they had just gotten home and were fixing supper and watching a Barbie Movie (Princess Charm School, if I remember right), and my uncle was joking around about how I was getting so many romantic ideas from Barbie because I was writing Water Princess, Fire Prince at that moment, and I literally fell out of my chair laughing so hard because I had just written the line “You kissed me.”

I’m also easily amused.

If you could spend a day with any historical figure, who would it be and what would you like to do?

Ooh, I don’t know. I’m actually more curious about the cultures than the actual people, so I’m really pulling a blank. Possibly Noah. I’d like to hear a first-hand account of the pre-flood world.

Do you have a special spot or time you like to write?

Not really, I’ll write anywhere, and at any time. Most of my writing is done at on my computer under my loft bed, but that’s because that’s where my desk is.

What do you typically turn to for the most inspiration?

I’ll gather inspiration from anything and anywhere. However, I turn to my mom when I’m absolutely stuck. She usually has good ideas.

And, because I'm feeling random at the moment, what is your dream vacation? ;)

A trek across the USA where I get to meet all of my lovely internet friends.

Author Bio:

100_1992Kendra E. Ardnek loves fairy tales and twisting them in new and exciting ways.  She's been practicing her skills on her dozen plus cousins and siblings for years, "Finish your story, Kendra", is frequently heard at family gatherings.  Her sole life goal has always been to grow up and be an author of fantasy and children's tales that also glorify God and his Word. You can read more about her on her blog,knittedbygodsplan.blogspot.com.

Free Books!

31st-4th: Sew, It’s a Quest: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G3ZFKG

Do You Take This Quest? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFDHFT4/

1st – 5th: The Ankulen: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZAXWYM/

CinderEddy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KZNW2TO

Saffron’s Big Plan: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HYS9W2/

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Award for The King’s Scrolls

I have super exciting news this morning! The King’s Scrolls has won a GOLD medal in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards!!!

TKSAward

I had no idea if I was still in the contest or not, since finalists weren’t announced ahead of time, so to check last night and see that I’d won Gold was especially surprising and thrilling. I think it will take a while to sink in. ;) But I want to say thank you to all my wonderful readers for going on this journey with me! I couldn’t imagine when I first started publishing that I’d reach this point. Even just four years ago when I first started Ilyon Chronicles, I had no idea it would turn into what it has. It’s been incredible to see God work through all of this.

I also want to give a big congratulations to Nadine Brandes and Angie Brashear who also placed the the Christian Fantasy/Sci-Fi category!!

One more thing, also check out my earlier post from today as it features a title reveal for a fellow author. ;)

Kendra E. Ardnek Title Reveal

Today I have the pleasure of helping fellow author, Kendra E. Ardnek, reveal the title of the second book in her current series! And from what I hear, book one, Water Princess, Fire Prince, is spectacular. (This title reveal is part of the blog tour for said book.) So, without further ado, *cue dramatic voice and music* I give you, the title…

LDTD


Lady Dragon,
Tela Du

Two girls with one face
Two girls with twisted fate
One in purple, one in red
One shall speak the other’s death
Who shall win their final war?
Lady Dragon or Tela Du?

Amber, the Lady Dragon, has been promised fifty years ruling over Rizkaland, and it is time for her to claim it. Only one person stands in her way of ruling forever – the Tela Du, the girl who shall share her face.

The last thing Petra wants is to have to fight and kill the Lady Dragon. What she wants is to have a normal life, and to prove that she isn’t insane for remembering sisters that no one else can. Rizkaland has other ideas.

The Story Behind this Book:

Nearly ten years ago now, the first of the new Narnia movies released, and I got to see it in Theaters – actually, the last movie we got to see as a family. A friend of ours had also seen the movie, and had been converted to the Narnia fandom, and so as we were chatting about it, one of us had a brilliant idea – why don’t we make our own Narnia movie? We all loved acting, so it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

As the eldest of that threesome, and the most adamant about the plot, I took on the responsibility of writing the script, then titled “The Giraffe, The Witch, and the Tunnel Tube.” At first it resembled Narnia fairly closely, the changes we made were for casting or prop reasons – we didn’t have a lion costume, we did have giraffe. We didn’t have a wardrobe, we did have a tunnel.

After several fits and starts, my mother told me that I needed to put it away and rehash it so it resembled Narnia less, perhaps make it summer instead of winter, a dragon instead of a witch. So, I followed her advice and managed to turn out my first finished work of any great length. It was quickly followed by a second draft, after I decided that I wanted to make some changes to the ending. A third draft quickly followed when I decided I wanted love interests.

As I finished this third script, I realized that it was far too complicated a story for me to hope to perform at that time. And since it had changed so radically from Narnia by that point, I decided to take the plunge back into novel writing. Shortly before NaNo of ’10, I finished this draft at twenty thousand words, and was terribly proud of myself – though I knew it needed work. However, I now had other story ideas on my plate that were demanding my attention – Bookania and the Ankulen – and I knew I needed to write and publish Water Princess, Fire Prince first.

So I set aside again. Oh I worked on it, here and there and in snippets – one or two scenes especially – but for the most part, it largely sat at the back of my mind festering and boiling.

It’s changed a lot since I started writing it, and this draft that I’m writing now has changed even more. It’s a powerful story that has come with me through some of my darkest years. I’m so thrilled to finally be at the verge of sharing it.

Sneak Peak:

At last Amber came to the men working this farm, a father and his two sons, she guessed, of human stock. They’d suit her purposes just fine.

“Oh, good gentlemen!” she cried, filling her voice with pathos. “I’m so glad to have found you. Do these fields never end?”

The father straightened and regarded Amber critically. “Well,” he said, after several long moments, “I reckon I can say that there are days I wonder the same, though with this drought, they aren’t nearly enough. Who may you be, Miss? It isn’t often we see strangers around here, especially not ones dressed as fine as you.”

“Nor as pretty,” one of the sons commented.

Amber shot the boy an imperious glance. “I am married.” She’d already noticed the way they’d been staring at her while trying to look like they weren’t. She turned her attention back to the father. “I have traveled rather far from home, I fear,” she admitted. “Where I come from, there aren’t nearly as many colors, and the rim of this world curls away from me strangely.”

It took the man several seconds to process Amber’s speech. At length, he asked, “Did the Doorkeeper bring you to us?”

This question took Amber by surprise, and for a moment, she was rendered speechless, as her conversation with Laura echoed through her head. She quickly recovered herself, however, and shook her head. “No, I cannot say that she did.”

And it was true, Amber admitted bitterly to herself. For all the travels she made and grand stories she produced, Laura had never taken Amber anywhere. Amber had been forced to make her own escape both times her world fell.

“Well, perhaps she did and you just didn’t see her, I hear that she can be mighty sneaky at times.” The man shook his head. “But from the looks of your dress and jewels, I’m willing to say you were someone mighty important where you come from. A princess, maybe?”

“Queen.” Amber drew herself to her full stature.

“I see.” The man nodded. “Well, after our last few hard winters and scorching summers, we scarcely have enough to call a fitting meal for royalty, but you’re welcome to come stay at least the night with us before we send you to Loray to meet our own kings and queens. You said you were married, didn’t you?”

She nodded, “I am.”

“So your husband?”

“Accompanied me, but he lacks my ambition.”

“I see,” said the man. “Welcome along then, my dear – I mean, your highness. I don’t think I quite caught your name.”

“I don’t think I gave it to you,” she replied.

Author Bio:

100_1992Kendra E. Ardnek loves fairy tales and twisting them in new and exciting ways.  She's been practicing her skills on her dozen plus cousins and siblings for years, "Finish your story, Kendra", is frequently heard at family gatherings.  Her sole life goal has always been to grow up and be an author of fantasy and children's tales that also glorify God and his Word. You can read more about her on her blog,knittedbygodsplan.blogspot.com.

Free Books!

31st-4th: Sew, It’s a Quest: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G3ZFKG

Do You Take This Quest? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFDHFT4/

1st – 5th: The Ankulen: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZAXWYM/

CinderEddy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KZNW2TO

Saffron’s Big Plan: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HYS9W2/