BLOG TOUR: Black Five, by J. Lynn Bailey

Hi, there 🙂 Welcome to a blog tour for Black Five, by J. Lynn Bailey! This tour is hosted by YA Bound Book Tours 🙂

Black Five

by J. Lynn Bailey 

Release Date: November 17^th, 2015

Poorhouse Publishing

400 pages

No one ever accused Penelope Jackson of being normal, nor did they suspect the dark secret she kept. A dangerous web of deceit and secrecy unravels when news of a stranger’s death puts Penn on a collision course with the very person she’s been hiding from her whole life. Her fragile world is shaken to its core with the sudden arrival of Vacavious and she soon discovers the bizarre and magical world surrounding her seemingly ordinary life.
No one is who they claim to be, including those closest to Penn. A mysterious security detail emerges from the shadows scrambling to protect her as powerful forces await the fall of her protective veil on her eighteenth birthday.
Penn prepares to fight against unseen evils before it’s too late. The world of Nighmerianotte and its population depends on her survival, for she is the Sanguine, the Black Five.

 You can find Black Five in hardcover format 🙂

AMAZON

You may be thinking that now I’ll babble about how awesome Bailey is (yes, I will, haha!) and how cool she was in sharing five facts about the book and backstage. AND YOU ARE WRONG. Bailey is indeed awesome and cool and I’m more than thankful for her presence here today, but she gave us SIX facts, mwahaha mwahaha!

Annelise, dear, just don’t.

Sorry. Ahem. I’ll just pass it up for Bailey and, you know, pretend that I’m normal there, in that little corner. Thanks so much again, Bailey!

6 Facts about BLACK FIVE

  1) Mason is a small town located just a one hundred miles south of the Oregon border. It’s nestled among the redwood trees, on California’s North Coast. The map, in the front of Black Five, is Mason, California. But what some people don’t know is that Mason is actually the town of Ferndale.

  2) I grew up in Fortuna, California (Lake Providence, in the book) right across the river from Ferndale.

  3) The Milk Can game is an actual tradition started in 1945. It takes place every September between our two towns. Many of the shenanigans mentioned in the book actually took place. And really, between Ferndale and Fortuna—we’re all really good friends. But come Milk Can time—it’s an all out war! Not really, but kinda. ( ;

  4) For a brief moment, my mother and I lived on Bunny Street in Santa Maria, CA. And maggots actually came out of our carpet! It was at that point my mother said, “We’re out of here!”

  5) I was raised by a single mother, a Marine. She’s tiny but she is mighty! I used the relationship with my mother and I to write the relationship between Penn and Jo. And that was easy to write because their love (our love) is so natural. When I wrote the letter from Penelope’s father, I wasn’t sure how to write that part because I wasn’t raised with a father. I used the love between my husband and my daughter (and the feelings as parent myself) to create that picture. Some parts were pretty tough to write—and hard to see the computer screen because of the snot that was slung!

  6) When I first wrote Black Five, Amy wasn’t included. I have a dear friend whose son was diagnosed with cancer at four years old. Five years later, a local girl was diagnosed with cancer at just three years old. That really affected me.  I wanted to demonstrate how precious life is, while raising awareness about childhood cancer. I wanted to show the sadness, the heartbreak because this awful disease is taking our children far too young. I am a HUGE supporter of St. Jude’s, St. Baldrick’s and Cookies for Kids Cancer and that is where my support and donations go, solely. I am happy to report that the young boy, now 11, is in remission and the little girl is cancer free.

 Isn’t this awesome and touching? I really need to start reading this book ❤

I’m a mother of two beautiful children and a wife to an adorably supportive husband. Seriously, he’s adorable and tall. Really tall; he’s my high school sweetheart. I’m also a mother of two fur children who are extremely needy, Leo and Vinni.

I live with my family in a small town tucked away in the redwood forest located on California’s northern coast.

I’m quite boring. But in case you’re wondering, you can see what my loves, my loathes and things you may not know about me by clicking the menu above.

Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

 That’s it, thanks for reading 🙂 Also, thanks to Bailey for being here and for YA Bound Book Tours for my spot on the tour!

BOOK TOUR: Traitor, by Nicole Conway (The Dragonrider Chronicles #3)

Hello, good morning! Welcome to the blog tour of the day, haha! And it’s a very special one from Chapter by Chapter, as we have the participation of a very special guest 😉 But for now, let me introduce the star of the hour: Traitor, third book in The Dragonrider Chronicles, by Nicole Conway ❤

Traitor

The Dragonrider Chronicles #3

by Nicole Conway

Release Date: May 10, 2016

Publisher: Month9Books ( ❤ )

Can anyone survive being lost in Luntharda?

No amount of training has prepared Jaevid Broadfeather for the frontlines of battle. Now facing the true horrors of war, with Luntharda looming on the horizon, Jaevid has begun to question everything he thought about his heritage. The only thing keeping him going is his oath to protect his dragonrider brothers. But in an instant, even that slips through Jaevid’s fingers as he steps from the safety of his dragon’s saddle into the depths of his mother’s wild homeland—the kingdom of the gray elves.

Stranded in Luntharda with his partner, Lieutenant Jace Rordin, Jaevid must finally confront the demons of his own past as he uncovers the truth about a war that began before he was ever born. Armed with a new appreciation for destiny, and flanked by his trusted friends, Jaevid moves to make the final strike against an enemy that has hidden in plain sight for far too long.

One kingdom’s traitor will become the world’s last hope.

You can find Traitor in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats 😀

Google Play | BAM | Chapters | Indies | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD | iBooks

JUST GUESS WHO IS HERE TODAY WITH US?! Annelise, dear, every time you say someone stopped over your blog in the middle of a book tour, it’s the author in digital flesh.

But it never makes the experience any less magical! ❤ Thanks so much to Nicole Conway for indulging me and stopping by! *–*

AND GUESS WHAT I ASKED HER TO DO?! Annelise, dear, you always ask the same thing to authors, so we already know that you asked her to tell you 5 interesting facts about her series and/or writing process.

But I always ask the same thing because I love learning backstage stories and fun facts about books! So let’s enjoy Nicole’s ride, okay? 🙂

5 Fun Bonus Facts about The Dragonrider Chronicles!

 1) It’s about the riders, not the dragons.

I understand that, being a fantasy series, people are interested in the dragons. Who wouldn’t be? But this story is and has always been about the riders, their lives, and their struggles.

 2) The two “champion” fighters from each side are both women.

Jaevid may be the main character, but he’s not the best fighter. With Beckah “Seraph” Derrick fighting alongside Icarus for Maldobar and Araxie, princess of the gray elves, remaining dominant over the other warriors from Luntharda – these ladies mean business!

 3) Jaevid is gray elf royalty.

Among the gray elves, royal bloodlines are traced through the mothers rather than the fathers, as is customary for human monarchies. Jaevid’s mother was a princess, sister to Erandur, the current King of Luntharda. Despite being an illegitimate child, since he was kept and raised by his birth mother, he would be able to retain his noble title of prince. Jaevid’s own mother could have held the title of queen if she had not been chosen as lapiloque. That sacred calling supersedes all royal duties and so the crown inevitably passed to her brother, instead.

 4) Jace is the only dragonrider to have been recruited from prison.

Yep, you read that right. He’s the ultimate rehabilitation story. After a rocky past as an orphan and a criminal, Jace was offered a place in the dragonrider’s academy because of his skill with the blade. It saved him from being hung, but even more so, it revealed that he wasn’t too far gone. Sile is the only one who knew about Jace’s questionable past, but agreed to keep it a secret since Jace was trying to turn over a new leaf and make a new life for himself as a dragonrider.

 5) Sile and Ulric were best friends.

Before his heinous act of stealing the god stone, Ulric was a very different man – and not so different from Jaevid. His memories are now skewed and it’s difficult to say just how much of his life he actually remembers. But one thing is certain, Sile still cares greatly for his friend. That is the reason he has found it so difficult to treat Jaevid as a student and not a family member – because Ulric was like a brother to him.

Am I the only one that just HAS TO read this series right now?! That was awesome, thanks so much, Nicole ❤ ❤

Nicole is the author of the children’s fantasy series, THE DRAGONRIDER CHRONICLES, about a young boy’s journey into manhood as he trains to become a dragonrider. She has completed the first two books in the series, and is now working on the third and final book.

Originally from a small town in North Alabama, Nicole moves frequently due to her husband’s career as a pilot for the United States Air Force. She received a B.A. in English with a concentration in Classics from Auburn University, and will soon attend graduate school.

 She has previously worked as a freelance and graphic artist for promotional companies, but has now embraced writing as a full-time occupation.

Nicole enjoys hiking, camping, shopping, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends. She also loves watching children’s movies and collecting books. She lives at home with her husband, two cats, and dog.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |Goodreads

FIVE INTERNATIONAL lucky winners will take home each a digital copy of Traitor (The Dragonrider Chronicles #3), by Nicole Conway!

To enter this awesome giveaway, just click here and good luck: GIVEAWAY!

That’s it, thanks for reading! Also, thank you Nicole for stopping by and thanks to Chapter by Chapter for my spot and making my guest post possible ❤

BLOG TOUR: Supernatural Freak, by Louisa Klein

Hi, there! Welcome to the blog tour for Supernatural Freak, by Louisa Klein! This one is on YA Bound Book Tours 🙂

Supernatural Freak
by Louisa Klein
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: January 30^th, 2013

When paranormal expert Robyn Wise is offered an outrageous sum of money to cure a boy who is turning into a dead tree, she’s very sceptical. A politician ready to pay that much to make his son stop growing branches instead of hair? Come on! She’s more likely to be abducted by aliens. This is a trap. Or much worse. And, of course, it’s much worse.

The child is turning into a dark portal, created by a powerful entity determined to absorb Fairyland’s power. This means that not only queen Titania and her court are in danger, but the very balance of the magic fluxes.

Robyn’d rather stick a pencil in her own eye but, to learn how to destroy the portal, she has to sneak into the Wizardry Council, a place full of wizards who are hiding something—though it’s certainly not their dislike of her.

There, she discovers a terrible secret that could help to overthrow Fairyland’s enemies for good, but puts her in the midst of an ancient and deadly war, and not as a bystander, but as the main target.

You can find Supernatural Freak in ebook format 🙂

Amazon │ Barnes & Noble

 And guess what? We have no one less than Louisa Klein here with us today! *–*

Thanks so much for indulging me and agreeing to tell us 5 curiosities about Supernatural Freak and its writing process! I pass the word to Louisa now ❤

 5 Curiosities? Uhm …

 1) In early 2009, I dreamt about a boy turning into a tree. The dream was kind of blurry and it left me with a lot of questions: who was the boy? What kind of spell was transforming him? The answers were that the boy was the son of a very powerful person, like a prominent politician, and that the tree was actually a dark portal. Still, I was clueless about the boy’s saviour. She came to me in another dream, a few weeks later. She wore old jeans and snickers, was skinny and didn’t look like much but God if she could fight! I had found my heroine.

2) I started writing Supernatural Freak right after I broke up with my long-term boyfriend. He insisted I wasn’t good enough to write a book and I was very eager to prove him wrong.

 3) My ex and I lived together. Once I broke up with him, I was homeless and could afford only to live in shared houses. I moved six times while I was writing the book, dragging around not only my regular luggage but what I called my ‘supernatural bag’, which was an old, huge satchel filled with notebooks and chaotic pieces of papers containing the first draft of my first book.

 4) I wrote the majority of the first part of Supernatural Freak in a Star Bucks, two blocks away where I was living. My favourite table was the one near the window, since I hate artificial light and said window was huge. After a while Linda, a mature waitress working there, started calling it my “writing table”. Whenever I showed up, she would wink at me and say: “Your writing table is free, love, hurry up!”. She ended up being my very first fan, she was the very first person who downloaded Supernatural Freak from Amazon … THANK YOU, LINDA!

 5) I am allergic to a number of substances and one of them is alcohol. I can drink only a very limited amount of it, like half a glass of wine, not more, or I get very sick. Nevertheless, when I finally finished Supernatural Freak, I was so excited that I invited my flatmates to the pub and ‘get drunk’. I mean, finishing my first book was the biggest accomplishment of my life, so screw my allergies! For once, I wanted to be like anyone else. That’s why I ordered a whole pint of beer which was, well, kind of daring. Reckless. OK, just plain crazy. What happened is that I drank the beer and then … Who knows. I have a blurry memory of me vomiting into the pub’s toilet and then nothing. All I know, is that I woke up in my bed the next, with the mother of all hangovers. I had to deal with a massive headache and sickness for over a day and with being teased by my flatmates for the rest of my life. I had become the joke of the house, my flatmates all being strong drinkers! Bottom line is: to celebrate the release of Supernatural Fog, I went to the cinema and drank a coke!

 I’m so incredible happy that you proved your ass of an ex wrong! I’m sure Supernatural Freak is awesome and you are awesome too, Louisa! I also can’t handle alcohol, I get awful stomachaches right after one single drop of it 😦 You’re not alone on the coke’s team, haha!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE TODAY ❤ I’m so happy and honored /o/

Faced with being alone in the middle of nowhere at night, the true Londoner doesn’t lose her head but takes a deep breath, smoothes her jacket, and goes in search of a bobby or a black cab. Only foreigners freak out in such circumstances. Londoners, on the other hand, being the most British of all British people, never ever freak out. Still, when you are a paranormal expert who’s in a deserted area of the Docks and are supposed to heal a werewolf with the aid of a shaman who hasn’t shown up, I’m afraid the only reasonable reaction is to…

“Run!” Mr Wilson growls, getting worryingly hirsute. He has a point. A skinny girl in her twenties is no match for a werewolf, and I don’t think that telling him I’m a dog person would make much of a difference. Trouble is that he’s standing between me and my car, so my only option is to run in the opposite direction. My feet sink into the sand of the Thames’ shore, the river a creepy black ribbon untouched by the full moon’s rays. It takes what looks like ages to cross the sand and reach the building site a hundred yards away. I should have never trusted that damn shaman. How could I have been so stupid? A long howl fills the air. My client has now fully transformed. In a second he will pick up my scent and hunt me down.

Louisa Klein lives in the UK but was born in Germany and brought up in Southern Europe by a German dad and an Italian and French mum, which made her a little confused at first. She has a degree in Medieval Studies and a postgraduate one in Marketing. She’s been working in publishing on and off since she was 17 and currently is a freelancer and an Urban Fantasy writer. At night she puts on a mask and fights British crime. She gets very little sleep.

Website│Twitter│Facebook│Goodreads

One lucky INTERNATIONAL winner will take home a digital copy of Supernatural Freak!

To enter, just click here and good luck: GIVEAWAY!

 That’s it, thanks for reading! Also, thanks to Louisa for being here today and to YA Bound Book Tours for my spot on this tour! 😀

BLOG TOUR: Pandora’s Mistake, by E. B. Black (Fate of Eros #0)

Hello, there! Welcome to a very rainy, windy and cold Wednesday! SUCH A BLESSING! I couldn’t stand another day full of dryness and heat 😦 Anyway, this post is dedicated to Pandora’s Mistake, the beginning of the Fate of Eros series, by E. B. Black! This tour is being hosted by Bewitching Book Tours!

Pandora’s Mistake

Fate Of Eros #0

By E.B. Black

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Release Date: March 10^th, 2013

100 pages

Cover Artist: Calista Taylor

Pandora was created to be the perfect woman. She has the beauty of Aphrodite, the intelligence of Athena, and the gentleness of Hera.

As the first and only woman to exist, Pandora is the center of attention everywhere. Men lust after her, even vow to start wars over her. She’s a good girl, so she keeps her distance.

The problem is Prometheus. He’s Pandora’s box. He’s ripped to shreds and killed every day as punishment from Zeus, but he never repents for being a bad boy.

Zeus has warned everyone to stay away from Prometheus, but she’s curious. He’s handsome and she desires him.

If she opens the box of her desire, it will unleash Prometheus’ inner demons.

Should she risking losing everything she cares about for one night of lust?

You can find Pandora’s Mistake in both ebook and paperback! OH, AND GUESS WHAT: the book is currently FREE on Amazon US!!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

 

As they neared the top, a shape came together in front of her. A man laid spread eagle and strapped in chains. His face was pleasing to her eyes, even scrunched up. His beard wasn’t scraggly like Epimetheus’ was and his muscles contorted with barely restrained power. She imagined what he would have looked like if he wasn’t covered in blood. Her stomach somersaulted at the beautiful image.

Every time he screamed, the fireball above their heads grew for a moment and illuminated his shadow. A giant raven sat upon his chest, pecking away at bare intestines. She had seen birds, but never a black one that was almost as large as she was.

It glanced over at Pandora. Its unfeeling eyes glowed white as if it had captured a tiny bit of sun inside its pupils. Green liquid leaked out the side of the raven’s mouth. It foamed at the mouth like it was rabid. Pandora bit her finger nails.

A river of blood pooled from Prometheus’ stomach where his intestines had been ripped to shreds. The raven bent down to peck more inside his belly. He devoured little bits of pink innards. Prometheus was dying or being eaten alive at least.

Pandora tugged on Epimetheus’ arm. “We should help him.”

Tears formed in Epimetheus’ eyes. “I’ve tried; we can’t.”

“Why not? He’ll die if we don’t do something.”

Pandora could barely breathe. She felt helpless and afraid.

The man screamed and Epimetheus wrapped his arms around Pandora, pinning her to the ground. Fire exploded around them and Epimetheus’ eyes rolled back in pain. The storm of fire above them had gotten so large that a piece of it had escaped and struck Epimetheus’ body.

They both stood when it was over. Blisters covered Epimetheus’ back where his clothes had burned away. She touched the damaged skin gently. He roared in response and she jumped back. The skin sewed itself together before her widened eyes.

She had seen Epimetheus attacked by a bear once. It had entered their cavern in the middle of the night. It had ripped his chest open, but he had regenerated in the same way.

“His name is Prometheus,” Epimetheus said. “He’s already died many times. Titans like us regenerate, but that doesn’t stop us from feeling pain.”

Their eyes met.

“Why is this man important to you?” Pandora asked.

“He’s my brother,” Epimetheus said. “Zeus chained him here to punish him.”

Pandora crossed her arms. “And you want me to feel sorry for him? He must have done something terrible if Zeus thought he deserved this.”

Epimetheus shook his head. “You have a lot to learn.”

He grabbed her hand and she clutched it tightly. Although Prometheus was restrained, the fire bursting from him was not. Pandora was scared her skin would melt. The crackling of the fire above their heads was deafening and the heat made her eyes feel dry.

Epimetheus read her mind. “It’s not as bad when he’s further from death.”

“I thought gods couldn’t die,” Pandora whispered.

“We can’t. Our souls do not travel to the Underworld like they do with humans. But our bodies can become so damaged that we black out for hours and lose our heartbeats until we are able to regenerate again. It’s a type of death, but not a permanent one.”

They were near the edge of the cliff, next to Prometheus. It overlooked the places they had traveled since they left the cave. Bright specks from campfires decorated the path. They glowed against the darkness like grounded stars.

“Prometheus suffers because of all those people who live down there,” Epimetheus said. “The reason they have warmth and food is why he’s being tortured, but none of them care anymore.”

Pandora’s chest constricted painfully. This couldn’t be true. Zeus had been such a kind god, explaining things to her slowly when she didn’t understand them. He wasn’t capable of this.

“Some of them cared at first,” Epimetheus said. “But when they tried to loosen his bonds, the crow would devour them instead. Unlike Prometheus, they wouldn’t be able to rise from the dead the next day. He begged them to stop, insisting that he could handle it, but I don’t like the way they flaunt their fires in front of him. They should be ashamed of what they have, rather than callous.

“Every time someone lights a fire, Prometheus dies a little faster that day. It’s why he usually dies at night-people light their campfires and the raven pecks harder. Prometheus gets upset from the pain and those bad feelings make the raven peck harder as well. He dies.

“If all of the humans were to put out their fires and vow to never use them again, Zeus might let him go, but they won’t. Prometheus says it’s because they die without fire, but I think it’s because they’re selfish.

“This is why, as my wife, you are never to light a fire. Fire is his curse, not our blessing.”

Pandora nodded her head, chewing her lip.

The raggedy pile of a Titan lying in front of them moaned. He had also shrunk himself. It was strange that he should care about making humans more comfortable when he was being tortured like this.

He spoke and his voice was hoarse. “Epimetheus, is that you?”

Prometheus cried out and the fire above their heads grew larger. Epimetheus pushed Pandora close to the ground just in case.

The fire died down and Epimetheus knelt next to his brother. The bitterness melted from his face and gentleness took its place as if he were gazing at a beloved pet or baby. He stroked Prometheus’ cheek and the fireballs burning above them calmed. “Shh! Don’t speak! You need to save your strength!”

“Please don’t be angry.” Prometheus’ eyes glowed with love in the light. “To see humanity, my creation, at peace, makes this suffering worth it. I’m glad Zeus chained me here. It allows me to witness all the good I’ve done.”

“Don’t speak that way,” Epimetheus said. “Nothing is worth seeing you like this.”

“Humanity is worth it,” Prometheus said. “The way their skin glows in the sun is the envy of the gods. They’re beautiful.”

Pandora looked down at her arms; the silver flecks in her skin shone in the firelight. Most of the time they weren’t visible, except when the sun was bright or she was near a campfire. She had heard once that humans had specks of gold in their skin, during a time when they could tell the future and walked among gods. Pandora wished she was from that time, rather than from the age of silver, where the wealth and gifts of Mount Olympus dwelled just beyond her reach. But humans had sunk to a new low ever since Zeus took over, which was why their skin had silver in it now. If only she knew the future, maybe she’d be able to understand her world a little better.

“Humans give the gods something to live for and take care of,” Prometheus continued. “They create and love like we do. They are not evil. It’s Zeus that is. Never trust anything Zeus gives you. It will lead to your downfall.”

Pandora’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. She had been a gift from Zeus to Epimetheus. Was he insinuating that she was untrustworthy? How dare he! He didn’t even know her!

Prometheus was sweating. His breathing grew heavier and he went into a seizure.

“It’s time! He’s dying again,” Epimetheus shouted.

Prometheus passed out and the inferno above their heads swirled like a tornado. Pandora shielded her face as ashes rained on her. She could feel her arm hair singeing.

“It’s getting dangerous-we need to go.” Epimetheus’ expression hardened as he wrapped his arms around Pandora. She clutched his chest and let him lead the way.

And it is with great honor that I tell you that Black agreed to stop by the blog! *–*

Thanks so much for being here, Black! And for indulging me and revealing 5 interesting facts about your novel! 😀 But enough chit chat and let’s see what Black has to say about Pandora’s Mistake! ❤

Five Interesting Things About My Novel, Pandora’s Mistake…

5)Pandora was the Eve (think Adam and Eve) of greek mythology. She was the first woman ever. Just like with Eve, the myths say that she was the downfall of man.

4)Pandora was the first human woman, but she wasn’t married to a human. Zeus gave her to a titan named Epimetheus. Most people who have heard of Pandora do not know her husband’s name. (Annelise: That’s very true, I didn’t know that! =O)

3)Zeus didn’t create man according to greek mythology. The titan, Prometheus, who also was the one who gave fire to humans, was the one who made men. He’s one of the characters in my book. He’s punished every day for these acts by a raven who pecks away at his liver.

2)Before the Olympians of greek mythology, there were the titans. They were the gods before any of the Olympians were born, but Zeus overthrew them and punished several of them. A lot of them still existed in the mythology and several of them are characters in my book, Pandora’s Mistake.

1)Pandora’s box wasn’t a box, it was a jar. That’s what the originally version says and I used that version in my book.

Awesome, right?! I can’t wait to devour my copy of Pandora’s Mistake!! 😀 Again, thanks so much for being here and indulging me, Black!!

E.B. Black is the annoying author who lives in the head of a nerdy housewife named Elizabeth. Elizabeth tries to live out her days by walking her dog, spending time with her husband, doing housework, and watching television, but E.B. Black makes her drop everything to type out weird fantasy stories. Elizabeth is asking anyone who read this to please send help.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

One lucky winner will take home a $10 Amazon Gift Card!

To enter the giveaway, just click this link and good luck: GIVEAWAY!

That’s it, thanks for reading! And, of course, thanks to Black for being here today and to Bewitching Book Tours for making this tour possible, haha!

BLOG TOUR: Starr Valentine, by Wende Dikec

Hello, there! Good afternoon and welcome to a blog tour hosted by Bewitching Book Tours! It’s my deepest honor and pleasure to introduce you to Starr Valentine, by Wende Dikec 😀

Starr Valentine

Wende Dikec

Genre: Young Adult/Sci-Fi

176 pages

Publisher: Inkspell Publishing

Release Date: March 10^th, 2016

Cover Artist: Najla Qamber (you get a free hug coupon for such a beautiful cover!)

What happens when the beautiful swan becomes the ugly duckling?

Starr Valentine has a perfect life in Middleton, Ohio. She was named captain of the cheer squad, her mother finally allowed her to get highlights, and the cutest boy in school asked her to homecoming. But everything comes crashing down when she finds out her parents are actually monarchs in exile from a mysterious planet called Vega. Starr doesn’t want to leave, but loves the idea of being a princess, and decides moving to an alien world might not be so bad. When she gets there, however, she discovers that something is terribly wrong.

Starr has always been the winner of the family, but now everyone is fawning over her chubby older sister, Astra. And everyone, even a handsome and annoying young duke named Julian, seems to hate her. That is when she realizes the awful truth. Astra is now the pretty one. Astra has all the friends. Astra gets all of the attention. And Starr Valentine, voted Miss Perfect, is now the ugly duckling. Her biggest fear is…will she be able to turn back into a swan, or is she doomed to be a loser forever?

You can find Starr Valentine in ebook format 🙂

Amazon | BN | Kobo | iTunes | ARe

 

We all met in the captain’s lounge just after the transport ship had safely landed. My father wore some sort of military uniform, and he was completely dashing, as always.

“Girls, you both look lovely.”

I smiled up at him. “So do you, Daddy,” I said, and he patted my cheek.

My mom fluttered up to us in a cacophony of lime green lace and feathers. A large gold medallion was pinned to her breast and she had on the crown she’d worn for the nightly news. She reached for our hands, tears swimming in her eyes.

“I have something for you,” she said, her voice trembling. Captain Augustus stood behind her, looking just as handsome as my father. He held open a wooden box. Inside were two small, yet perfect, tiaras.

I gasped. “Diamonds.”

“These are not your true crowns,” my mother explained. “Those went missing during the confusion when we were trying to escape. These are just a substitute until we can find something better.”

I couldn’t imagine something better. The tiaras seemed perfect. I leaned over slightly so my mom could slip it onto my head, glad I’d decided to wear my hair up in a French twist. The tiara was beautiful. I admired myself for a few minutes in the mirror before looking at Astra. She and my mother stood side by side, their hair a riot of dark curls, their dresses positively painful to the eyes, and I sighed. I really hoped they didn’t humiliate themselves too much at the ceremony. They looked like clowns from a circus performance.

My father, of course, didn’t seem to notice. He bowed and kissed my mother’s hand gallantly before linking it through his arm and leading her out the door. I could tell it was a very emotional moment for both of them. They were returning to the home they loved after being exiled for so many years. Even I could feel my throat tightening up.

Astra walked up and took my arm. “Are you ready?” she asked, and I nodded. It was time to face the music, or the Vegonians, as the case may be.

We stepped out into a warm, sultry evening on Vega. Lights had been set up all around the landing bay, and we followed my parents to an elevated platform near the ship. People waited as far as the eye could see, and as soon as my parents stepped up to the podium, the crowd roared.

I stood arm in arm with Astra, taking in the moment. The city of Celesta glittered in the light of the fading sun, just beyond the crowd of people assembled before us. It sparkled like it was made of glass. I could see what must have been the royal palace on one side of the city on top of a small hill, and it made me think of Aladdin’s castle, all gilt and white marble. I decided I could definitely get used to living there.

As I stared at the people in front of me, I started to notice something odd. The women here were not at all what I’d expected. Supposedly the most beautiful women in the universe, they all looked a lot like my mother and sister, with short, oddly shaped bodies and large behinds. They also dressed just like my mother and sister, in a riot of colors and patterns.

A quick assessment told me that I was the only pretty girl around, other than Maya, and definitely the best dressed. Maya had been forced by her parents to wear some sort of Vegonian monstrosity made out of a hot pink iridescent fabric. Torture. I, on the other hand, felt like an elegant swan dumped into the middle of a bunch of plump, gaudy, peacocks.

I heaved a sigh of relief. I’d been a little teeny tiny bit worried when I’d heard about how beautiful Vegonian women were. It was good to realize those rumors had been pure exaggeration. No one in this crowd could hold a candle to me.

Another quick look around told me that there wasn’t a single bad looking guy here. I was completely devoted to Adrian, of course, but I couldn’t help but admire and appreciate male beauty when I saw it. The boys were all works of art. It was as if I’d been dropped into a huge candy shop full of the most delicious boys I’d ever seen, and knew I could have my pick. Of course I would never cheat on Adrian, but it felt like a candy shop here, nonetheless.

My joy proved short-lived. None of the boys even looked at me. At first I thought that several of them stared at me, which made me happy, but soon realized it wasn’t me they stared at. They had their eyes locked on Astra with the same sort of enraptured expressions boys usually reserved for me.

A cold wave of shock crawled over my entire body. Boys never looked at Astra like that, especially when I stood right next to her. Something was very wrong here.

I smoothed my hair, which was perfect and didn’t need smoothing. I stuck out my chest and turned my body so they could see my best angle, but none of them even noticed me. Astra had suddenly become the center of attention.

My mother gave a very lovely and heartfelt speech, which I barely paid attention to. The crowd roared and screamed her name, but I hardly even heard it. People waved and cheered with tears streaming down their faces, but I felt numb to everything.

When we were introduced to various dignitaries, everyone said “lovely,” and “a vision,” when they met Astra. When they saw me, they looked a bit confused and then mumbled something boring like “nice to meet you.” Something very strange was going on, and I had to figure it out.

I searched the crowd for Adrian, but he was nowhere to be seen. One sexy, appreciative look from him might have been enough to restore some semblance of balance and order to my universe. But he wasn’t around and I’d been cast adrift in a sea of beautiful boys to whom I was invisible.

“Art thou okay, Princess Starr?” asked Captain Augustus. “Thou art pale.”

I blinked as I digested his words. The Vegonians spoke English, but a weird form of archaic Elizabethan English mixed with modern slang. The only people who had spoken like that on the transport ship were the captain and the crew. All of the Vegonians who been on Earth for the last fifteen years spoke standard, modern English, although I’d heard a few “thou’s” and “thee’s” begin to slip into the language of the older passengers, including my own parents.

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

As the captain bowed and turned away, I realized I wasn’t fine at all. I stared around at the sea of happy, glowing, faces, including those of my parents and my sister, and understood that suddenly, and without any explanation, I had become the outsider.

“Thou art in hell, Starr Valentine,” I murmured to myself.

AND GUESS WHAT?! Wende herself is here with us today! 😀

Thanks so much for agreeing to be here today, Wende! It’s a pleasure ❤ I asked Wende to tell us five fun facts about her book Starr Valentine and it’s writing process and she indulged me! Let’s see what she has to say about the matter? 😀

My young adult book Starr Valentine is the story of a beautiful, popular cheerleader who finds out her parents are aliens and she has to return to her home planet. When she gets there, she realizes the standard of beauty if very different, and she isn’t pretty anymore. Not good news for the vain and slightly vapid Starr.

Five Fun Facts about Starr Valentine:

1) The book was inspired by a chance encounter near a tennis court.

Tennis season had just started for the boys’ team, and I was standing around, waiting for my son’s practice to end. I noticed a woman standing nearby with two girls by her side. I didn’t know her, but she caught my attention because she was remarkable. She had on brightly colored clothing in several contrasting patterns, a head full of curly hair divided into what looked like random ponytails, and a self-confidence that exuded itself in her booming voice and glowing, happy face.

Next to her stood a young girl who looked just like her, the same colorful clothing, wild hair, and extremely curvy shape. She was smiling, just like her mother, the spring sunshine kissing her face as she lifted it to the sky. They both looked so happy, so completely at ease.

And then I noticed the other member of their little trio, a girl shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot as she eased away from the other two. I could feel her embarrassment, a palpable thing, as if she wanted to physically separate herself from them. She had on a very plain navy blue skirt and a white t-shirt. A very pretty girl, she looked extremely…normal next to the other two.

And then I heard the whisper of a story start to swirl around inside my brain. What if?

What if I was looking at a family? What if a mother had two daughters, one who looked just like her and one who was very different? What if the “different” daughter was beautiful and popular, and felt ashamed of her mother and her older sister?

What if? I really need those words in a tattoo.

 2) Starr Valentine was originally written as a short story called “So Pretty” that won third prize in Writers’ Journal Magazine’s annual science fiction contest.

I couldn’t get the image of the woman at the tennis courts out of my head. When I saw an advertisement for the Writers’ Journal contest, the “what if” started again. I thought, what if they are aliens? What if the way the mother looked is considered to be the epitome of beauty on that world? What if the girl who is pretty on earth, suddenly isn’t beautiful anymore?

 3) My son helped make Starr into a cheerleader.

I have three boys, and while I was writing Starr, my oldest son was the school’s mascot. That meant he spent a lot of time with the cheerleading squad – on the bus, at football games, and at practices. He would come home and share some of their discussions with me, and that led to the creation of several characters in the book. Having girls is a very different experience from having boys, and I don’t think I realized how different until I started writing Starr.

 4) I wrote Starr Valentine in ten weeks.

I already had the basis for the plot in my short story, but the rest of the book nearly flew onto the page. It was such fun to write, and sometimes I felt like I couldn’t type fast enough to keep up with the story that was taking place in my head.

 5) I learned about different standards of beauty because I lived it.

I studied Japanese and International Economics in college, and spent six year living abroad. I learned that different cultures can have very different ideas about beauty. In China, for example, tiny feet are treasured, but have you ever seen what a bound foot actually looks like? It’s terrible. And painful.

Interestingly enough, the reaction you probably had to the photo of the bound feet is very similar to the reaction I had from Japanese students when they saw my pierced ears. They often asked me to take my earrings out, and shivered in disgust when they saw the hole in my ear lobe. “How could you do that to yourself?”

Beauty. Sometimes it isn’t something that can be translated across cultures. Or, in the case of Starr Valentine, across galaxies.

 I’m officially shocked, haha! But Wende has a very valid point: beauty is nothing but a standart and that’s why it is so important for us to not care about other people’s opinion about our own looks 🙂 I wish 15-year-old-me had known this, haha!

Once again, thanks so much for being here today, Wende!! I can’t wait to read Starr Valentine! *–*

Wende Dikec has spent her life traveling the world, and collecting stories wherever she visited. She writes in several romance genres, and her books are quirky, light, and fun. Fluent in several languages and married to a man from Istanbul, Wende is a trekkie, a book hoarder, master of the Nespresso machine, and mother of three boys. A puppy named Capone is the most recent addition to her family, and she blogs about him as a way of maintaining what little sanity she has left.

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One lucky winner will get a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

All you have to do to participate on this giveaway is to subscribe to Wende’s newsletter here. The winner will be announced on June 1^st 😀 Good luck!

That’s it, thanks so much again to Wende for being on my post, thank you for reading this post and thanks to Bewitching Book Tours for my spot on this marvelous tour! 😀