Beneath the Canyons, Book 1 of Daughter of the Wildings, is now available at Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, OmniLit, Smashwords, CreateSpace, and DriveThruFiction. Coming soon to Barnes & Noble (which is once again being laggy with the updates). Update: Canyons is now live at Barnes & Noble! Still plugging away with final edits on Bad Hunting; in the meantime, here's a sneak peek inside the book, with Lainie and Silas on the trail of a killer: The next day, thunderheads started building up over the hills early in the day. Silas and Lainie still went on foot, leading the horses, as they continued looking for tracks. Being down in the washes when there might be rain upstream could be a deadly mistake, so they kept to higher ground as much as possible. The humidity made the heat even more oppressive, and the air was filled with a tension that only a thunderstorm could relieve. Rainbugs clicked and buzzed in the brush, heralding a chance of rain, their noise constant and maddening despite its welcome message. By late in the morning, the clouds over the hills towered high and white, nearly black on the bottom, and a curtain of gray gradually thickened across the highest hilltops in the range. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The wind coming down from the hills picked up, bringing a promising smell of rain. So far that morning, the search had been just as futile as the day before. Then, about mid-day, Silas paused and looked down into the wash they were following. "What's that?" Surprise that he had found something, and a touch of fear, jolted Lainie out of the haze of heat, frustration, and boredom she had sunk into. "What's what?" "I thought I saw -- wait here." He walked to the edge of the wash and pushed aside the thorny brush growing there, then started climbing down the sloping bank. "Be careful," Lainie called, nervously eyeing the storm up in the hills and thinking of the killer who could be lurking down in the creek bed. "I won't be but a moment," Silas called back as he disappeared into the wash. Lainie peered anxiously after him, but he was soon out of sight. Almost she wanted to go after him, so he wouldn't be alone down there and she wouldn't be alone up here, but there were the horses to consider -- Without warning, a cold, violent downdraft from the hills crashed into her, followed by a wall of dust. Dirt and sand swirled around her, blinding her, clogging her nose. Behind her, Mala and Abenar neighed in panic, the sound muted and torn apart by the wind rushing past her ears. In her anxiety about Silas, Lainie realized, she had forgotten to hold onto the horses' reins. She spun around and lunged to grab the reins before the horses could run away, and missed, and stumbled to the ground. She came up disoriented, with no idea which way she was facing or where the wash was. Even the sounds of the horses were lost in the roar of the wind. "Silas!" she tried to call out, but the wind stole her voice and blowing grit filled her mouth. She froze in place. Every child in the Wildings was taught that if you were lost in the wild, you should stay put so you could be found. Wandering around, especially in a blind panic, would only get you more lost. She couldn't be more than a few steps from where she had been and from where Silas had gone down into the wash, she told herself, trying to stay calm. The wind buffeted her side to side and front to back, but she fought it, trying to hold her ground. Even small steps would add up, taking her away from where Silas could easily find her. A pair of arms came around her from behind. Relief swept away her panic; Silas -- The grip of the arms tightened mercilessly around her, and the stink of old alcohol and long-unwashed body hit her nose. Terror surged inside her. Before she could fight back, a rope of glowing green power wrapped itself around her legs and arms, stinging her skin and nerves, and the cold edge of a knife blade pressed against her throat. At the touch of sharp metal on her skin, her cry died in her mouth. In her mind, she saw clearly the scene that Silas would find when the dust storm passed: her lying dead on the ground, her throat carved open, and no sign of the murderer who came and went like a spirit, without a trace. "Stay still and quiet, and I won't have to kill you," a male voice whispered harshly in her ear. Watch for Bad Hunting, coming soon!
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The physical world of Daughter of the Wildings was inspired by the landscapes of the western U.S., where I was born and raised and still live. From the surroundings I grew up in and live in, to scenes viewed from the car on family road trips, it's all familiar to me. I do my best to paint these landscapes in words in my books, but sometimes you can't show everything with words. There's a reason for the saying, A picture is worth a thousand words. So for those of you who aren't as familiar with these scenes, or if you are and still want a visualization, here is a collection of photos of landscapes and scenery that helped inspire Daughter of the Wildings. (Most of the photos are by my husband or myself; the old west town photos come from freeimages.com; photographers are credited on the images.) 1. Bitterbush Valley - Beneath the Canyons opens with Silas Vendine riding down into the Bitterbush Valley, a high grassland valley situated between hills in the east and mountains in the west. This view was inspired by the Verde Valley and Sunset Point, between Phoenix and Flagstaff, Arizona. 2. Canyons of the Great Sky Mountains - A large part of Beneath the Canyons involves Silas pursuing the nefarious Carden and his band of miners through the canyons running down from the Great Sky Mountains. A lot of people, when they think of canyons, probably think of the Grand Canyon, an enormous rift in the ground. But the kind of canyon I'm writing about here runs between mountain ridges, basically a long, steep valley that starts higher up in the mountains and opens out into the valley at the foot of the mountains. The Great Sky Mountains were inspired by the Santa Catalina range north of Tucson. If you load the map on this National Forest page, you can see these ravines, carved by streams and creeks, coming down from the mountains, flowing together into larger streams, and also the network of washes on the valley floor. My husband enjoys hiking in the Catalinas, so I'll turn the next gallery over to him: Down in the bottoms of these canyons, it's steeper and narrower than it looks from up high; take a look at this video of a flash flood in Bear Canyon to get an idea of what it's like when a lot of water is flowing. 3. The Bads - Book 2, Bad Hunting, takes us to the Bads, the lowest, hottest, driest part of the Wildings. This was inspired by the low Sonoran desert that I see out the car window every time we make the drive between Tucson and Phoenix on I-10. Not the most attractive desert scenery, but it has its own challenges and stark beauty. The hills in the distance in this photo are a model for the hills in the Bads where Silas and Lainie are hunting for a killer. 4. Washes - Bad Hunting also involves a hunt through a large network of washes, or creek beds, in the desert. These are usually dry, but can flood quickly when there's a large amount of rain. If you look at this watershed map of the Tucson area, you can see how extensive and complex these systems can be. On my street, there are two washes; one is fairly small and shallow at this point (in fact, it begins in my backyard!) but the other one is far enough advanced that it has a lot of vegetation growing along it and can flood pretty well when it's been raining a lot. The other day, I took my camera with me on my walk and took some pictures. You can see how hard it would be to be climbing in and out of these washes all day and trying to hunt someone through them, with all the thick (and thorny) vegetation! 5. Bentwood Valley, BC Crown Ranch - In Book 3, The Rancher's Daughter, we go north to the beautiful Bentwood Valley, in high country between pine-covered mountains. This area was inspired by some of the ranches you pass on I-17 just south of Flagstaff. (Of course, the BC Crown Ranch doesn't have any cars or trucks on it!) Silas and Lainie arrive in this area in early winter, so I feel fortunate that I was able to get some photos with snow remaining from a recent snowfall. (Which is why the color is funky; my camera metered for the snow and, zooming by on the freeway at 75 mph, I didn't have time to adjust the settings!) 6. Finally, here are some pictures to give you an idea of what the buildings in the towns look like. You can see the false fronts and covered wooden sidewalks. There's also a two-story hotel, with a bath house to the side. There's a saloon on the bottom floor, like the Bootjack and the Rusty Widow in Bitterbush Springs, saloons with rooms to rent on the upper floors. The physical setting is also very much like Bitterbush Springs, grassland with the hills behind the town.
Meet Lainie Banfrey from Beneath the Canyons (Daughter of the Wildings Book 1):
1. What is your full name? Is there anything significant about your name? My name's Lainie Banfrey. There's nothing significant about it; it's just a plain old name. But it's my name, and I like it. 2. How old are you? I'm 19 years old. 3. Tell us about your family. What do you like and not like about them? It's just me and my Pa, Burrett. He owns a big ranch in the Bitterbush Valley. My mama, Vera, died of a fever when I was six, and my older brother Blake got killed in a shootout just a few months ago. It didn't have nothin' to do with him, he was just minding his own business and some miners just started shooting things up, pissed off at a ranch hand who said something they didn't like. I really miss both of them a lot. Blake and I were real close, and it's hard to believe he's gone. I love my Pa and we get along pretty well, running the ranch together, but we don't agree on everything. He's real picky about what men I'm allowed to talk to - he's got his own idea about who I should marry, and that's just how it's going to be. And he don't want me using my magic power. Most Plain folks hate wizards, and he's no exception, but with him it's personal, you know? But he won't tell me why he hates them so much. And I want to be able to use my magic, but I know it's wrong, and I don't want to be someone my Pa will hate. So it makes me feel all torn up inside sometimes. I've also got my mare, Mala, and two cattlehounds, Bunky and Snoozer, and then there's Rat, he's a fat old orange-striped tabby tom with one ear. The other ear got chewed off by a rat, his first big catch when he was about five ninedays old. We've got a whole bunch of barn cats, but Rat's the one who decided I'd be his special person. 4. Who was your first kiss, and what did you think of it? I've never kissed anyone. My Pa is really protective and don't like me being alone with a man, and I think every man in the Valley knows if they try anything my Pa'll come after them with a shotgun. 5. What is your occupation? I've been working on our family's ranch almost since I could walk. I take care of the house and the cooking and cleaning, and also do a lot of the ranch work, mend fences, herd cattle, stuff like that. 6. What are your best and worst qualities? I'm a hard worker, and I always try to do the very best I can at whatever I do. I'm a good cook, and everyone says I ride herd on the cattle as good as any man. I also love my Pa and do my best to honor him and be a dutiful, obedient daughter, even when we don't agree on things. I guess I'm kind of stubborn sometimes, and sometimes I want to see things the way I want them to be instead of the way they really are. And sometimes I'm not very honest with my Pa. I don't lie to him outright, but sometimes I don't tell him everything because I also don't like arguing with him. I don't know if my magic power's a bad quality. I don't think it should be, but everyone says magic is wicked and evil, and I don't know, maybe it would make me bad whether I want it to or not. 7. What quality do you value most in a romantic partner? I want a man who's honest and a hard worker and who treats me good and with respect. If he wants to protect me, that's good, but I don't want to be treated like I'm stupid or fragile. It would be nice if he's nice-looking, though I'm not real picky about that, and if he's smart and fun to be with and talk to. And... I guess this is silly, but I'd like a man who makes me feel all tingly and glowy inside, a man like the heroes in the penny-thriller novels. None of the men around here are like that, especially the man my Pa has his eye on for me. He's a good man, just not very romantic and exciting. So I guess all that's okay for stories, but real life don't work that way. 8. What is your favorite thing to do? I love riding my horse Mala out on the range, and I like to cook, and read the penny-thrillers. Most of all, I like playing Dragon's Threes. I always win, too. :-D Men who've never played with me before can't believe it when they get beat by a girl! 9. What is your greatest fear? I'm afraid that because I've got magic power, that means I'll turn into a monster with no heart and no soul, like everyone says wizards are. I don't feel like a heartless monster, and I don't want to do no one any harm, but maybe using magic just makes you that way whether you want to be or not. 10. What is your most treasured possession? My horse Mala, and my certificate from the Bitterbush Springs town school - I went for the whole six years, starting when I was 9, and passed all the examinations - and the bird-in-a-cage quilt my mama made for me before she died. Have other questions? Feel free to ask them in the comments! Beneath the Canyons is available at Amazon.
Welcome to the third part of the Western With A Twist blog series, music! (Part 1 is books, Part 2 is movies and TV.) As we're gearing up for the launch of the Daughter of the Wildings series with Beneath the Canyons, enjoy some music that's western in spirit, style, or both, but with a twist.
Now, I'm not a country listener, but for the most part these aren't country songs. Rather, they have a sound reminscent of the west, spaghetti westerns, wide open spaces, an attitude of independence and individuality. To keep the post from being too long, I'm only posting YouTube videos for a few of the songs, and including links to the rest; there's also a Spotify playlist of the music down at the bottom. I've also put Amazon buy links for as many of these selections as I could find them for (not my affiliate links; that would have been too much work!) Enjoy!
The song that immediately comes to mind when talking about westerns and fantasy or supernatural themes is Ghost Riders in the Sky. This has been covered about a zillion times; here are three of them:
Johnny Cash, traditional country (Amazon) Outlaws, country rock (Amazon) Spiderbait, rock and this retro instrumental version from the 60's, by the Ramrods (with fan-made video): (Amazon)
The other "real" country song on this list is Ring of Fire. Of course, the original Johnny Cash version is classic (Amazon), but personally I prefer the cover by Social Distortion (Amazon):
The album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, by My Chemical Romance (one of the greatest rock albums ever made, if you ask me), makes up the bulk of the Daughter of the Wildings playlist. Set in a post-apocalyptic California, it's an in-your-face statement of individuality and independence. The whole album is excellent, but for the Western With A Twist theme I picked out Bulletproof Heart and Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back as being the most western in spirit. (Amazon)
The entire album The Joshua Tree by U2 (another one of the greatest rock albums ever made, IMNSHO) also celebrates the wide-open feel of the west, especially the songs Where the Streets Have No Name and In God's Country. (Amazon)
I picked two songs from the album Communique by Dire Straits for this list. Once Upon A Time In The West doesn't have a whole lot to do with the Old West, as far as I can tell, but it has a real spaghetti-western feel to the music, especially in Mark Knopfler's guitar playing. Angel of Mercy is a sweet and sexy country-flavored song that would be great to dance to. (Plus the lyrics mention catching a dragon; I know it's metaphorical, but still, dragons :D) (Amazon)
Peacemaker, by Green Day (Amazon), also has that spaghetti western feel, as does Kiseki no Umi, the theme song from the fantasy anime Record of Lodoss War. The show is about elves and the typical pseudo-European fantasy, but the beautiful theme song (by Yoko Kanno, the brilliant composer who also wrote the music for Cowboy Bebop and the theme songs for Ghost in the Shell) has a wide-open western sound.
Finally, probably the greatest Western With A Twist song of all time, and one of the greatest music videos of all time, the futuristic spaghetti western Knights of Cydonia, by Muse: (Amazon)
Stay tuned for Beneath the Canyons release news!
Introducing Silas Vendine from Daughter of the Wildings: 1. What is your full name? Is there anything significant about your name? The name I go by, the name I chose for myself, is Silas Vendine. My birth name is Siyavas Venedias. It's an Islander name, signifying that I'm descended from one of the powerful mage families that immigrated from the Islands to Granadaia a couple of centuries ago. 2. How old are you? I'm 32 years old. But I've done some pretty hard living the last five years or so and sometimes I feel a lot older! 3. Tell us about your family. What do you like and not like about them? My family and I parted ways years ago, before I came out to the Wildings. They disapprove of pretty much everything I believe in and stand for, and I feel the same way about them. If you want facts, the Venedias family is of pureblood Island descent, and is considered one of the elite of the elite mage families in Granadaia. My parents are both powerful mages, of course. My father retired from his seat on the Mage Council several years before I left Granadaia and was replaced by his younger brother. I'm the youngest of nine children, which is unusually large for mage families, and which probably explains a few things about me. 4. Who was your first kiss, and what did you think of it? I... don't remember. I was pretty young - 14? And I must have liked it because there've been a lot of kisses - and a lot more than that - since then. 5. What is your occupation? I'm a mage hunter, licensed by the ruling Mage Council in Granadaia to hunt for renegade mages in the Wildings. Since settlers began moving to the Wildings about forty years ago, there have also been mages coming out here in search of riches and power. There are even some who intend to establish their own kingdoms out here to try to rival Granadaia. The Mage Council considers these renegades a threat to their authority; I'm more concerned about the fact that their lawless schemes and ambitions threaten the freedom the Plain settlers have found here. It's an exciting job, and I'm pretty good at it - I've made a good living from bounties the last five years, and I'm still alive, so you can't ask for more than that. I like it out here in the Wildings. I've got no use for mage society in Granadaia and I prefer the wide-open land and freedom of the Wildings. And I feel like I'm making a difference and living up to my beliefs by protecting the Plain settlers here, even though they hate wizards. 6. What are your best and worst qualities? Not to sound boastful, but just stating facts, I'm a powerful mage, a good tracker and shooter, and I'm not afraid of dangerous people and situations. I also care about Plain (non-magical) people and I'm willing to fight to protect them even though they hate mages and would kill me if they could. My worst qualities? I said I'm not afraid; sometimes I'm a little too unafraid for my own good. Some people would describe me as cocky and arrogant. I love women, but I'm not especially good at relationships, which is okay because I don't have room in my life for that sort of thing anyway. And I always lose at cards. I don't know why. 7. What quality do you value most in a romantic partner? I like a woman who is smart and spirited - who can keep up with me. I don't mind some back talk or if she's the one who takes the lead in bed. If she's a good cook, that's a plus, as well. Physically, I like a woman with curves that give me something to hang on to, but the size of the curves is less important than if they're in the right places. 8. What is your favorite thing to do? I like traveling through the Wildings and seeing all the amazing landscapes out here - everything from deserts to pine-covered mountains. I like riding my horse, Abenar. I like a good fight against a renegade. I like a good tussle in bed with a spirited woman. I like playing Dragon's Threes, even though I always lose. 9. What is your greatest fear? Losing my freedom and my ability to use magic. 10. What is your most treasured possession? My freedom, my magical power, my horse, my gun, and my hat. A man can't concentrate properly without his hat. Have other questions? Feel free to ask them in the comments! September was all about finishing the first major revision of Daughter of the Wildings and working on the second revision of book 1, Beneath the Canyons. So far it's going well; I'm using a modified version of Holly Lisle's Seven-Day Crash Revision to fix what needs to be fixed and get it fixed fast. I should finish this revision on Tuesday (the 7th), then it's on to the last few editing rounds to fine-tune the writing and fix up mistakes. After that it's time to format and release the book! I'm hoping to be able to release a new book in the series about every two months. If my current pace holds, that should be doable. The official release date for Beneath the Canyons is November 10, though, barring any unforeseen problems, it could be as soon as the end of October. I've made the decision to put Beneath the Canyons exclusively on Amazon for the first 90 days.* I like to have my books available at all the major ebook outlets, but the truth is that my sales at the other stores just aren't enough to make up for the benefits and exposure I lose by not putting books in the 90-day exclusive Select program at Amazon. Once that 90-day stint is up, Canyons will go up at all the other stores, with the rest of the books to follow. (If book 2 is out before Canyons comes out of the Select program, it'll just go up on Amazon but not in Select, until Canyons's 90 days in Select are up. Then I'll put them both up at the other stores.) For up-to-date release information and special offers, be sure to sign up for my email alerts. In other September news, I finished the Clean Out Your eReader Summer Vacation challenge with 21 books, more than twice my original goal! Somehow, though, the number of books on my Kindle seems to have grown, not shrunk. So I've set myself a new, fun challenge - to read a book (that I already own on my Kindle) starting with every letter from A to Z (ok, X and Z might be kind of hard). Let's say, hm, by the end of the year. I'll do occasional Reading Round-up posts with the books from this challenge. I didn't make a lot of progress planning my next novel, but last night (late) my muse came out to play and I got a lot of good work done on developing some new story ideas. Check the Still to Come page for information on my upcoming projects! With National Novel Writing Month coming up in November, I'd like to have one of these ideas ready to write. And, onward. *Don't have a Kindle? Never fear! You can download the free Kindle reading app for PC, Mac, Android, and iPad/iPod/iPhone; read in the Amazon Cloud Reader, or, since my Kindle ebooks are sold without digital rights management (DRM), you can download free Calibre ebook management software to convert them into epub format for your Nook, Kobo, Sony, or iDevice.
Welcome to this stop on the Fall Into Romance Blog Hop, put on by Hops With Heart! I'm Kyra Halland, and I love fantasy in my romance and romance in my fantasy. Enjoy some magical falling in love moments from my stories, and be sure to enter the giveaways further down! I'm giving away an ebook Love and Magic 3-pack (containing my novels Urdaisunia, Chosen of Azara, and Sarya's Song) and there's also a grand prize giveaway sponsored by Hops With Heart for a $75 Amazon gift card! Also make sure you check out some of the other great blogs participating in the blog hop - the Linkup list is at the bottom of the post.
And now, on with the romance!
From Chosen of Azara, a wanderer named Sevry, whom Lucie has seen in mysterious visions, takes shelter at Lucie's father's house, and Lucie makes an astonishing discovery:
* * * Lucie moved into a foreign ballad that her mother, Rinata, had taught her. She had been told many times that she had the sweetest voice in the Lower Districts, and wasn’t shy about singing in front of people. She didn’t understand the words to this song, but she could feel the mixture of sadness and strength in them. The tune was in a minor mode, almost tragic except for a subtle thread of love and tenderness that ran through it. This was one of her best songs, and she wanted the man from her visions to hear her at her best. Not that she really cared what he thought of her, of course; she just wanted to put her best face forward for a guest. She sang, letting the feel of the music and the lilt of the language guide her singing. After a moment, she realized that another voice had joined hers, a fine baritone though somewhat rough from disuse; it was the stranger singing quietly along with her. He knew all the words, and pronounced them with more ease and certainty than Lucie did. Lucie’s fingers faltered on the strings. Flustered, her heart bursting with a wild mix of emotions, she managed to make it through the rest of the verses and the last chorus. “I’m sorry,” she stammered when the song was done. “I’m tired. Good night.” She fled the hall, clutching her lute in both hands, the stranger’s voice still echoing in her mind.
From The Lost Book of Anggird, after attempting to magically Heal Perarre's cold, Roric suffers the consequences, and comes to an uncomfortable realization:
* * * He slid down along the wall to sit on the floor next to the washstand, fists clenched in frustration, tears in his eyes. The pain was bad enough, but he hated the sickness, the shame, the feeling of helplessness that came along with it. He felt like he was trapped in that dark hour twenty years ago, shortly after coming to the University, when he had crouched in a hidden corner with the point of a stolen kitchen knife pressed against his throat, trying to will himself to plunge it in, to put an end to the memories and pain and shame and to make sure that no one would ever discover what he was. The life he had painstakingly built for himself since that day, the respect and reputation he had gained, all seemed to crumble away under the onslaught of misery that Healing brought upon him. Why had he done this to himself, just for the sake of temporarily relieving a simple head cold? Because her illness was his fault, that was why, a reproachful voice inside his head pointed out. It was disgraceful the way he had been overworking her. Had she really thought that he would dismiss her if she became ill? If he wasn’t careful, he would drive her away or wear her down completely before he even had a chance to begin the most important research he would ever do. And, in any case, what right did he have to interfere in his employee’s personal habits? What had he been thinking, to insist that she go swimming in the frigid waters of early spring? He had been born in a place where icy winds blew unhindered for three-fourths of the year. Though he couldn’t bear pain, tolerance of the cold was bred into every particle and sinew of his body. It had been stupid of him to assume that Miss Tabrano would have the same tolerance. He sat in misery, waiting for the pain to ebb away. As it faded, a memory of smooth, warm skin beneath his fingertips came unbidden into his mind, along with the realization that, regardless of pain, illness, and propriety, he had enjoyed having an excuse to touch her. More shame flooded through him — how could he have taken such advantage of Miss Tabrano in her illness? But he couldn’t bring himself to regret that brief moment of unexpected, unfamiliar pleasure. And that was more alarming than any amount of pain.
And finally, here's a sneak peek inside Beneath the Canyons, book 1 of my upcoming fantasy-western series Daughter of the Wildings. Lainie Banfrey can't help feeling a little smitten with Silas Vendine, the stranger in town, even though she knows he's probably trouble (please note, this is not the final edited version!):
* * * Lainie tied Mala to a post outside the mercantile and looked at the list she had written on a scrap of paper. It contained five or six things her father had meant to tell her to get the other day when he sent her to buy nails but had forgotten. Ever since Blake's death, he was distracted and forgetful, lost in anger and memories and grief. As she read the list, a shadow fell over the paper and she felt a presence beside her. She looked up to see Mr. Vendine standing there. A burst of excitement and shyness leaped up inside of her, and she tried, unsuccessfully, to keep from smiling. He tipped his brown, flat-brimmed leather hat to her. "Good morning, Miss Banfrey." She was being silly. She had only just met him; she couldn't be smitten with him already, and if she was, she was a fool. With an effort, she managed to respond with dignity. "Good morning, Mr. Vendine." "More errands for your father today?" "Yes, he always thinks of things he meant to tell me to get right when I've just made a trip to town." "I certainly hope you have a better day for it than you did the other day." "I hope so, too." Having someone to talk to about it, someone friendly who wasn't all wound up over the situation, made her words come spilling out in relief. "Once they've done some shooting, they usually calm down for a while before they start getting all riled up again." "They? The miners?" "All of them." Lainie waved a hand, encompassing the whole town. "The whole damn-fool lot of them." Suddenly she felt self-conscious of her own babbling. "Anyhow, Mr. Vendine, thank you for keeping watch over me the other day. If you'll excuse me --" He touched her shoulder as she turned to go into the store, stopping her. "If I could speak to you privately for a few moments, Miss Banfrey, I'd appreciate it. Maybe on your way home?" His voice and his handsome face and dark eyes were very serious. Not a trace of flirtation or even friendliness, though his manner was certainly polite. Although he had been so kind to her, she was suddenly afraid of what this stranger might have to say to her. He had a slightly dangerous air about him, as of a man who keeps his own secrets. Did he know about her power, how she had tried to protect herself with magic the other day? Or was there something else going on with him? The ranch hands had heard rumors he was a bounty hunter; did he think she knew something about a fugitive he was hunting? "Please," he said. "I mean you no harm. It's important." "It's a distance back to the ranch," she said. "Four leagues and some." "My horse could use some exercise. I'll saddle him up and meet you back here by the time you're done with your business." "My Pa don't want me riding out with men he don't know." "It won't take long. I just have a question or two I'd like to ask you." Just a question or two. There couldn't be any harm in that. Finally, she nodded. "All right, then." "Thank you. I'll be waiting here for you." He tipped his hat again, then walked away towards Mundy's Boarding House. Lainie watched him go for a moment, then went into the store.
Enter to win a Love and Magic eBook 3-pack (Urdaisunia, Chosen of Azara, and Sarya's Song) from Kyra Halland/Welcome to My Worlds! (One winner)
***Winner has been notified by email***
And the grand prize giveaway from Hops With Heart!
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Be sure to check out the other blogs in the Fall Into Romance Blog Hop, Sept. 19-22!
Welcome to the Meet My Character Blog Hop! First I want to thank Maron Anrow and Shari Sakurai for inviting me to participate this week. Maron Anrow grew up in California, came of age in the Midwest, and is now passing time in New Jersey. She lives with her husband, stepdaughter, and three awesome cats. Maron has a Ph.D. in social psychology and has published (under her real name) over 20 scientific articles since 2008. Laika in Lisan is her first novel, and it details the journey of Laika, a private tutor who is invited to study in the mysterious country of Lisan. While in Lisan, Laika struggles with moral ambiguity and a life-changing ethical dilemma. Meet My Character Blog Hop post | Website | Facebook | Goodreads Shari Sakurai was born in Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom. After completing secondary school she moved away from further education to work in administration. She is very interested in other countries’ cultures and mythology; in particular Japan. Japanese themes and influences can often be found in her work. Her debut novel Demon's Blood was released in ebook format on 25th January 2014. She has participated and won the National Novel Writing Month challenge for the past seven years. Meet My Character Blog Hop post | Website | Facebook | Goodreads And now, let's meet Silas Vendine, the hero of my upcoming Daughter of the Wildings series: 1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person? The name he goes by is Silas Vendine. He was born Siyavas Venedias, a member of an elite mage family of Island heritage, but he is estranged from his family, and going by an Islander name in the Wildings is a sure way to get yourself hanged as a wizard. Don't tell him this, but he's fictional. He thinks he's real. 2) When and where is the story set? Daughter of the Wildings is mostly set in the Wildings, a vast, mostly unsettled region roughly modeled after the American Wild West of the 1880s. The Wildings is being settled by Plain (non-magical) people who have fled from the mage-dominated society of Granadaia, the civilized land along the eastern coast of the continent. 3) What should we know about him? He grew up in an elite mage family in Granadaia, but he never fit in. When he was very young, he came to realize that the way Plain (unmagical) people were treated in Granadaia was wrong. As he grew up, he had the chance to read some books, smuggled into Granadaia, by foreign philosophers talking about natural equality and rights of all people regardless of their birth or station in life, and he found he believed in this. Now he works as a bounty hunter tracking down and stopping renegade mages who have rebelled against the ruling Mage Council and come to the Wildings to get rich and/or set up their own independent domains. He doesn't really care about enforcing the Mage Council's authority, though; his main concern is protecting the Plain settlers of the Wildings against these ruthless, lawless mages. He does this even though the Plain settlers hate wizards with a passion. 4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life? When he comes to the town of Bitterbush Springs, he meets a young woman named Lainie Banfrey, who appears to be Plain but is actually developing very strong magical powers. She wants to learn how to use her power, but is terrified of being turned into a heartless, soulless monster like she believes all wizards are. Untrained mages can be extremely dangerous to themselves and others around them, and the Mage Council's law requires Silas to either send her back to Granadaia for training or to Strip her of her power, which will leave her mindless and helpless. Or there's a third option - he could take her with him and train her himself, which would make both of them outlaws and renegades. At the same time, dangerous plots are in motion among the mages back in Granadaia, plots that threaten him, Lainie, and the freedom of the Wildings. 5) What is the personal goal of the character? His main goal is to protect Lainie. He also wants to protect the Plain people of the Wildings against mages who threaten their freedom and rights. The problem is that sometimes these two goals conflict. 6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it? The series is called Daughter of the Wildings. Follow the link to read teasers about the individual books and find links to excerpts, cover art reveals, and a playlist. 7) When can we expect the book to be published? Good question! I'm aiming for book 1, Beneath the Canyons, to be released later this fall. To be notified when it's released, sign up for my email alerts. Be sure to check out next weeks' stops on the Meet My Character Blog Hop:
Kyoko M is an author, a fangirl, and an avid book reader. Her debut novel, The Black Parade, made it through the first round of Amazon's 2013 Breakthrough Novel Contest. She participated and completed the 2011 National Novel Writing Month competition. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Lit degree from the University of Georgia, which gave her every valid excuse to devour book after book with a concentration in Greek mythology and Christian mythology. When not working feverishly on a manuscript (or two), she can be found buried under her Dashboard on Tumblr, or chatting with fellow nerds on Twitter, or curled up with a good Harry Dresden novel on a warm central Florida night. Like any author, she wants nothing more than to contribute something great to the best profession in the world, no matter how small. Website | Facebook | Goodreads Zoe Dawson is the alter ego of Karen Anders, award winning, multi-published author. Her writing journey started with poetry and branched out into fiction. With a couple of college English courses under her belt, she penned a historical, then moved onto contemporary romance fiction. Today, she is happy producing romantic suspense, romantic mystery, new adult, urban fantasy and paranormal novels. The words feed her soul and the happily ever afters feed her heart. Website | Facebook | Goodreads Lyn Johanson: A computer science major, Lyn C. Johanson decided to leave the cold world of code lines and pursue her passion for writing romance stories. Now, she mostly lives in the world she dreams up. Except when her husband and sons drag her back to reality—where she enjoys photography, dancing, and spending time with her family. Website | Facebook | Goodreads I seem to have found myself caught up into the Writing Process Blog Hop again, having been tagged last week by the lovely and talented Teshelle Combs, whom I've featured here a couple of times. My writing process hasn't changed much in the time since I did this before, but I figure it's time for a progress update. The first major revisions on books 1-3 of Daughter of the Wildings are done and out to the test readers, and I just started on book 4. It's taking a lot more rewriting than I thought it would. Not that the plots have changed so much, but some major issues with the magic are different, and also some character issues. Plus a lot of what I wrote was me just trying to figure out what happens next! I like to plan my stories in advance, but a lot of Daughter of the Wildings resisted any kind of advance outlining. So I'm cutting lots of stuff, and adding lots of stuff, and changing lots of stuff. Saturday I spent working out the money system a little more. The amount of money Silas and Lainie have is an important plot point at this point; they just got a big payout for services rendered to wealthy rancher Brin Coltor (one of my favorite supporting characters in the series), and it had to be enough to make taking on the job he hired them for worth the risk. On the other hand, there's something Silas wants to do that's going to cost even more than they have. Balancing the money in and money out to keep it all in proportion took some sitting down and calculating. I think I've finally got it figured out. So there's that, and since it's been a long time since I wrote anything new, I've decided to participate in July Camp NaNoWriMo (because I'm just not busy enough :P). My goal is 500 words a day for a total of 12,000 words for the month (not much, but should be doable on the heavy revising schedule I'm on), and my project is Tales of Azara, a set of short stories to go along with Chosen of Azara. Some readers have mentioned to me that they'd like more background on the characters in the novel and more stories from that world, so that's what this is for. And I'm doing COYER Summer Vacation! So when I'm not writing and revising, I'll be reading and reviewing. Should be enough to keep me out of trouble! This week's other stop on the Writing Process Blog Hop is Madhuri Blaylock; go check her out! Here's something fun - I've been tagged by Isabella Norse to play #LuckySeven Snippet. Here's how it works: In your current manuscript, go to page 7 (or 77), count seven lines down, and post the next seven lines. Then tag seven other writers to play along! So here's my seven lines, from The Rancher's Daughter (adjusted to make complete sentences) [note: Silas is left-handed. I don't know why; he just is]: * * * He itched to have it out with Storts, but getting in a gunfight with someone who appeared to be one of the town's wealthiest citizens was not a good way to lay low. And he didn't want Lainie to get caught in the middle of a shootout. He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, as much to keep his hand away from his gun as to comfort her. "Damn it." Lainie's voice was muffled by her arms. "He cheated! Everyone would have noticed if he'd played the Fire Dragon that early in the game! I would have noticed! How stupid does he think I am?" * * * Hm, who to tag now? How about T.F., D.A., M.H., A.L., Zoe, Lauren, and Mindy! (None of them know I'm tagging them; it'll be as much a surprise to them as it is to me!) |
AuthorI am Kyra Halland, author of tales of fantasy, heroism, and romance. Sign up for my email list
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