Dragons of Lore Book Blast: GREAT DEALS ON BOOKS TODAY!



Check out some awesome books featuring dragons! Many are discounted, or free. Buy or download the ones you like, and spread the word.

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Descendant by Nichole Giles, Young Adult
Discounted to $0.99
Buy on Amazon.com

Seventeen-year-old Abigail Johnson is Gifted.

Blessed—or cursed—with Sight and Healing, Abby lives an unsettled life, moving from place to place and staying one step ahead of the darkness that hunts her. When she arrives in Jackson, Wyoming, she is desperate to maintain the illusion of normalcy, but she is plagued with visions of past lives mixed with frightening glimpses of her future. Then she meets Kye, a mysterious boy who seems so achingly familiar that Abby is drawn to him like he’s a missing piece of her own soul.

Before Abby can discover the reason for her feelings toward Kye, the darkness catches up to her and she is forced to flee again. But this time she’s not just running. She is fighting back with Kye at her side, and it’s not just Abby’s life at stake.

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The Sapphire Flute by Karen E Hoover, Young Adult
Discounted to $0.99:
Buy on Amazon.com
Buy from Barnes and Nobel

Or Get it FREE on Smashwords.com

Rasann is a world in dire need. The net of magic that has held her together for eons is eroding and the magi can’t patch it fast enough to prevent disaster. Volcanoes spew, waters rise, famine and flood and desolation threaten the world as they desperately await the coming of the Wolfchild to heal their home.

Three women begin quests for identity and freedom from the ties that have held them: Ember, from her overbearing and prejudice mother; Kayla, from the rigidity of the caste that has oppressed her family; C’Tan, from her dark and evil master, the Guardian S’Kotos. One will discover she is the first white mage born in three millennia, another will become guardian to the a keystone, the sapphire flute, and throughout it all the third will try to destroy them both.

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Trusted by Krista Wayment, Middle Grade

Get it FREE on Amazon.com

Renick, the fifth son of a dragon breeder, crashes into an unexpected adventure that challenges everything he thought he knew about dragons, history, and himself.

Stranded in the massive Helath forest, Renick meets two other passengers: Thane, a noble training to be a dragon knight, and Lainey, the orphaned niece of a healer. Together they survive an attack by vicious wolves, rescue a baby dragon with a broken wing, and escape from a band of dragon hunters as they make a perilous climb into the mountains. What they discover there will change everything.

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The Dreamstone by Mikey Brooks, Middle Grade

Buy it on Amazon.com

“There is a world inside our own, but we can’t see it when we are awake—only when we sleep. It is then we find ourselves in Dreams.”

When Parker’s mom is dreamnapped by the wicked Mab, it is up to him and Kaelyn to save her. When they return to Dreams, they discover Mab isn’t their only problem. Gladamyr has lost his powers and the only way to get them back is to become what he fears the most—a nightmare.

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Alvor by Laura Bingham, Upper Middle Grade

Buy it on Amazon.com

Adarae jolted as the feeling surged through her. She looked carefully at not one, but two little faces and felt the warm power within them. No one suspected it could be two, but the strength pulsing from them was undeniable. They stared back into her eyes.

Fifteen-year-old Erin and her twin brother, Bain, had never seen the secluded cabin in the woods by their home. Upon entering, they discover a magical world where pegasi, dragons and fairies are a reality.

The siblings soon find themselves with super-human powers, being taught the art of magic and sword play by mystical beings. It isn't long before they are struck with a realization they are training to become elves.

Faced with the decision to leave the life they have always known for a world of fantasy, Erin and Bain confront certain demons that threaten to tear them apart.

Alvor is a spellbinding blend of magic and mystery, enchantment and fairy tale, that asks the age-old question: Do you believe in magic?

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Wings of Light by Laura Bingham, Upper Middle Grade

Buy on Amazon.com

Sixteen-year-old Erin and her twin brother, Bain, have recently become immortal elves - but the search for their mother has just begun. With new information that their mother may be alive, Erin desperately seeks to bring her back home. But when old enemies threaten her quest, Erin must turn to new friends for help and learn that some magic is better left unexplored.

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Awakening by Christy Dorrity, Young Adult

Get it FREE on Amazon.com

. . . because some Celtic stories won’t be contained in myth.

A little magic has always run in sixteen-year-old McKayla McCleery's family—at least that’s what she’s been told. McKayla’s eccentric Aunt Avril travels the world as a clairvoyant for the FBI, and her mother can make amazing delicacies out of the most basic of ingredients. But McKayla doesn't think for a second that the magic is real—it’s just good storytelling. Besides, McKayla doesn’t need magic. She recently moved to beautiful Star Valley, Wyoming, and already she has an amazing best friend, a solo in her upcoming ballet recital, and the gorgeous guy in her physics class keeps looking her way.

When an unexpected fascination with Irish dance leads McKayla to seek instruction from the mute, crippled, janitor at her high school, she learns that her family is not the only one with unexplained abilities.

After Aunt Avril comes to Star Valley in pursuit of a supernatural killer, people begin disappearing, and the lives of those McKayla holds most dear are threatened. When the janitor reveals that an ancient curse, known as a geis, has awakened powers that defy explanation, McKayla is forced to come to terms with what is real and what is fantasy.

A thrilling first novel, Awakening is a gripping contemporary fantasy, based in Celtic mythology that is rife with magic, romance, and mystery.

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The Crystal Bridge by Charlie Pulsipher, Young Adult

Discounted to $0.99
Buy on Amazon.com

The Egg followed Kaden home from the hospital. This glowing shell only he can see transports him across the emptiness between universes to distant worlds, but he’s afraid to use it. This strange Egg may have saved Kaden’s life once or twice, but it failed to save anyone else he cares about.

Aren’s sight reaches deep into the souls around her, seeing more than she wants in her friends and teachers at school. When she turns her gaze on Kaden, his Egg responds by sending them spiraling across space and time to a world where dragons, elves, dwarves, and peculiar gods dwell. Separated, lost, and alone in a hostile world on the brink of war, these teens must come to grips with their unique gifts if they ever want to see Earth again.

Back home, a biotechnology company tinkers with the science of reality, hoping to cure death itself by any means. But their work and the intrusion into the void have awakened something shadowy and powerful, a being imprisoned there for millennia. This dark being intends to break free and devour everything and everyone it touches. Infinite universes are in danger. Kaden and Aren must decide if they can save more than themselves. Can they save us all?

Happy Birthday to Me (and Some Celebrating)

They say it's my birthday. Da-na-na-na-na. It's your birthday too...

Wait. Maybe not. But we can pretend, right? I'm pretty good at sharing, usually. Why not? You can take that extra year and I'll keep the party. Sound good? Deal then.

Anyway, I had a post all ready for today, and then I realized that, ahem, today is a day I should be celebrating. Because I feel like it. And because most years I try to skip right over this day and not make a big deal about it and blah blah. But not this year. This year I'm already giving away prizes and gifts and doing fun things to celebrate (it's not too late to enter!) so I figure I might as well go all the way.

Virtual cookies all around! Party hats and all that jazz.
 No gifts required.

However, if you absolutely insist ... if you must offer a gift, read my book and then leave a review. Help spread the word on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, Shelfari, and Book Depository.

In the current market, reviews are one of the most effective helps you can offer to a new author. Two sentences is all we need, and those same sentences can be copied and pasted in each different venue. And what I want most for the coming year is to grow and expand my career. So yeah. Two sentences, five minutes. That's all. And if you do it by the end of today, July 9th, 2013, YOU get presents. 

*clinks glass with a butter knife*

 Regardless of the previous paragraph in which I contradict myself by saying no gifts, and then telling you what you can give me, I want to make a virtual Dr. Pepper toast.

Thank you! Thanks for reading and for continuing to come back here and see what I have to say and for giving me a reason to keep writing and keep blogging and just altogether keep on going down this path. I *heart* you all to the moon and back, and I can't wait to see what this next year brings!

What I Have in Common with Catherine Fisher, Author of "Incarceron"

(follow up to my Spread the Awesome post)

Okay, so do you all remember this ten-star review post? Yeah. Well, part of the deal was that I had to contact the author and let her know I was posting said review. Which I did. I also asked if I could interview her.

But here’s the thing. Catherine Fisher lives in England, and I don’t actually know her. Yes, I do know lots and lots of authors. Just not her. But that was the deal when I agreed to participate in this review-deal, so…I tracked her down. Well, sort of. She “isn’t on email”—whatever that means—so I tracked down either her agent or personal assistant (in case you’re wondering, I’m thinking agent) who very kindly forwarded on my post information, as well as interview questions.

So, while the original post is over two-weeks old, Catherine and I have done the long-drawn-out version of an overseas interview. So, here it is. I give you my interview with Catherine Fisher. (See if you can guess how many things we have in common, just from this short Q&A.)

NG: Hi Catherine! Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I know you’re busy, but inquiring minds want to know more about you. So tell me, what were you doing when the idea for Incarceron first occurred to you?

CF: Looking at Piranesi’s engravings of ‘Imaginary Prisons’. I thought “what if…?”

NG: Ahh. So art inspires art. I love that. How long did it take for this story to develop into characters and a plot?

CF: At least a year. Much of the plot is worked out in the first draft.

NG: That’s actually quick for such a complex story. Very cool. What is your writing process? For instance, do you outline? Or are you more of a free-writer? Or something else entirely?

CF: I don’t plan very much but just start the story and see where it leads. It’s a difficult but interesting way to work.

NG: I totally get that, since my process is similar. I’m wondering, how long were you a writer before you found an agent or got published?

CF: I wrote three novels before getting one published, though I was publishing poetry.

NG: Excellent. What kind of education or training did you have at that time?

CF: A degree in English, but no creative writing courses or anything like that.

NG: Well, that’s more than I had when I got started. I hope it’s not too personal to ask this question, but everyone is dying to know. How many rejections did you gather before you got your first book deal? And what did you do with those rejections?

CF: Three novels which were all rejected. One I eventually re-wrote as BELIN’S HILL. The others are still in the attic.

NG: Got it. You aren’t going to tell us how many. That’s okay, it’s encouraging to know even the best of us have to try and fail before we succeed.What advice would you give other authors who are striving to be published in today’s competitive market?

CF: Write your own thing and don’t try to second guess the market. Believe in your work, but if good advice comes along, consider it.

NG: Thanks for the advice. We would all do well to follow it. And now for the most important questions, the ones foremost on the minds of my readers. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?


CF: Mint or chocolate.

NG: Nice. Once again, chocolate rules the world of creativity. Now, who is your favorite author?

CF: Alan Garner. A brilliant fantasy writer.

NG: I have never read his stuff, but now I’m going to have to go find something by him and read it. Thanks for the recommendation. Now, what is your most favorite thing to do when you’re not writing?

CF: Read, walk, listen to music. I like opera and ballet too – watching, that is.

NG: A woman after my own heart. If you were an animal, what kind would you be and why?

CF: Fox. Clever, trustworthy. Always the outsider.

NG: The outsider, huh? I suppose that’s fitting. Writing is a very solitary work, so that makes sense. Do you prefer diamonds or pearls?

CF: Diamonds.

NG: So you’re a sparkler of a woman and author, then. Nice! Name one or two power snacks that keep you going as you write.

CF: Chocolate and opera.

NG: Opera? Seriously, that is probably the most original answer I’ve had to that question. Excellent! Especially since this week I’ve been listening to Phantom of the Opera to get me in the writing mood. I realize it’s not exactly opera. But still.

Catherine, thank you so, so much for taking the time to do this interview. I’m honored to be so privileged. From your answers, I can see that we have several things in common. I wish you the best of luck with sales for Incarceron and it’s sequel, Sapphique.

To learn more about Catherine Fisher and her works, click here.

To purchase your copy of Incarceron click here.

To pre-order the sequel, Sapphique, click here.