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Sunday, August 25, 2013

GINNIE WEST ADVENTURES SERIES GIVEAWAY


Welcome to the Best of Summer 2013 Kid Lit Giveaway Hop


Each of the following BLOGS in the linky list are hosting their own prizes. Feel free to click on each link,check out their blogs and enter to win prizes at each of them.

I am giving away a set of my e-books with their brand new covers  as well as printed copies of my first two books with their original covers. Same great story, just different covers. For details, click on Rafflecopter below: 





a Rafflecopter giveaway 






Tuesday, August 20, 2013

King's Artesan by Cas Peace

Today, I am happy to welcome Cas Peace to my blog. She is the author of a YA trilogy: King's Envoy, King's Champion and King's Artesan as well as a non-fiction book: For the Love of Daisy.  We are celebrating the release of her book: King's Artesan. Take it away, Cas:

First I would like to thank Monique for inviting me on to her blog. I hope everyone enjoys the following post. 

WHAT IS AN ARTESAN?

The fundamental premise behind my Artesans of Albia series is that a section of my world’s populace, drawn from five separate races, is born with a certain talent. One manifestation of this talent is the ability to learn how to control your inner life force – an energy I call “metaforce.” Once I established this premise, I found I needed a vehicle through which metaforce could be channeled. It had to be something every living thing possessed, but also something unique to each individual.

I experimented with various terms until I hit on the word “matrix.” The matrix would be akin to the psyche, and it would be a thing of ephemeral, mystical beauty. In my world, it can only be seen by another practitioner of the craft, and is an intricate, four-dimensional pattern consisting of whorls, spirals, helixes, colors, and emotions. The more skilled the practitioner, the more complex their matrix becomes.

Having decided these things, the series title became obvious. It just had to be “Masters of the Matrix.” Brilliant title, I thought – I love it! (Can you see where this is going?)

I wrote happily on, oblivious to the slap in the face that was coming my way. Sometimes I just hate the film industry…. Ok, of course, you know it was the release of the Matrix films. I spat feathers when the first one came out – how dare they ruin all my careful planning, not to mention a perfectly good series title? Not fair! For a while I toyed with the idea of keeping the title – maybe I could capitalize on the connection? Thankfully, I thought better of it. Can you imagine how mad someone would be if they bought one of my books by mistake, thinking it was related to the films? And I could just imagine what agents or publishers would say….

Anyway, now I had a problem. The people in my world who exhibit this talent are not magicians or wizards in any sense of the word. Their powers owe more to Druidical beliefs, or that of Wicca, than to characters like Gandalf or Merlin. I knew I had to find a unique name for them, a term that reflected their knowledge, their artistry.

One of the best-loved books in my writers’ arsenal is my Roget’s Thesaurus. It was a 21st birthday present from two great-aunts. They are both gone now – my 21st birthday was a long, LONG, time ago – but I still frequent my Thesaurus. So when I exhausted all the obvious and immediate terms I could think of for my talented people, I dug through its many permutations and suggestions until I whittled all the possibilities down to two words. Artist, and Artisan.

Both these words carried elements (pun intended) of the skills my people possess, but both were too ordinary. I rejected them, but it wasn’t long until I realized there was nothing else. I had already decided against coining a brand new word. I wanted potential readers to at least have an inkling of what the term might mean. Eventually, in desperation, I tried altering the word artisan by exchanging the “i” for an “e.” It looked good to me, and so I decided to keep it.

In my fantasy series, Artesans who have learned to harness their metaforce are able to influence, or even control the four elements, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. There is a fifth element – Spirit – considered by many to be a myth. The story opens with one of the main characters, Taran Elijah. He was born to the Artesan craft, yet is struggling to achieve his potential. He is driven and desperate, and makes some rash choices. His actions lead to some pretty serious consequences for his village and his friends. Yet they also lead to the uncovering of a potentially lethal plot. King’s Artesan, the latest in the series to be published, sees Taran in dire straits. Not only is he in danger of his life, but so are the lives of every Artesan everywhere.

King’s Artesan is the culmination of this first trilogy in the triple-trilogy Artesans of Albia series.

Cas,

Thanks for stopping by. I am sure you will find lots of new readers. :)

Laugh lots ... love much ...write on! :) 



Author website: http://www.caspeace.com/

Book Links:



Watch the King's Envoy book trailer:
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Children's Writer's Blog Hop



 If you are new to my blog, welcome! Take a look around and have fun with what you find.  I was invited to be a part of a blog hop for writers of children's books. A blog hop helps people find new and exciting blogs connects people all over the world. If you're following the tour you most likely came from Mikey Brooks blog at: Written By Mikey

Children's literature encompasses a lot of ages. I write middle-grade (ages 9-14) and am trying my hand a picture books (ages 2-9). I also have a Young Adult series that crosses over into New Adult territory (the books for people who have graduated from high school and are starting to navigate the adult world. So on this hop you might find someone who writes picture books or someone who writes for teens. That's what makes blog hops so fun. 

We were asked to answer 4 simple questions. I hope you find my answers insightful. I also invite you to check out the stops on this blog hop so we can help you discover many  new and talented writers. 

1. What are you working on right now? I am finishing up the 4th book in my middle grade series. It is called: Being West is Best: A Ginnie West Adventure.

Here is my blurb:

Twelve year old BFFs, Ginnie West and Tillie Taylor, are matchmaking geniuses. Together, they maneuvered Ginnie’s widower-dad into proposing to Tillie’s divorcee-mom. Sweet!

Certain they are well on their way to sisterhood, each girl is floored when Tillie’s lousy-excuse-for-a-father puts in an appearance after a six year absence. Ginnie's job will be to kick Tillie’s father to the curb or “Operation: Secret Sisters” may have to be renamed:  “Operation: Not Gonna Happen.”

If that's not bad enough, the biggest bully in seventh grade comes over often and wishes he could call the Wests’ farmhouse home. When the bully's abusive dad shows up as well, Ginnie thinks it's time to change her family's motto from "When you're here, you're family" to "There's no more room at the Wests’."

I am hoping to launch it in the next few weeks or early fall. I am also working on my first non-fiction book with my good friend, Mikey Brooks, as well as a fun picture book, due out in November 2013.

2. How does it differ from other works in its genre? Being West is Best: A Ginnie West Adventure is a ‘slice of life’ family drama that deals with everyday life in a meaningful way. Although neither Ginnie or Tillie come from a traditional family of a mom, a dad, and kids--their families work well together as the girls try to figure out how life  

3. Why do you write what you do? Having been a foster parent to many children for over 12 years, I write books that empower kids to deal with the sometimes tough reality of life in an positive way. Life can be messy, and it can be hard, but I like to show that it can also be rewarding and uplifting. Good friends, good family, trying new things, standing up for what you believe, as well as for the people you care about most is very important.

4. How does your writing process work? I tend to be a ‘pantser’—a writer who is not overly detailed in my plotting. However, I do believe my story benefits from having some idea where each chapter begins and ends. Even so, I love it when occasionally my characters hi-jack my chapters and I discover something about them, or a new way to look at one of their arcs that sends myself and my readers on a journey that I haven’t previously thought of.

Due to some technical difficulties and some family drama—I didn’t ask more authors to participate in this blog hop as I had intended. If that changes—I will be posting links to their sites for next week and will let you know.

Laugh lots … love much … write on! J