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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Scribbus Mac Doodle

Hello one and all! It's been a crazy, crazy autumn, and every time I feel as though I'm gathering myself together, something else falls apart (sometimes literally, as we had a washing machine die and a transmission go out on a car in just three weeks here). That being said, I'm inching my way through my fifth manuscript. Woo hoo! I'm sticking with my usual release schedule, so those of you who enjoy my books can look forward to the fifth book in The Gateway Chronicles, The Scroll in the fall of 2013. In other news, I attended the Austin Book Festival in Austin, Texas this past weekend and had a blast! I sold out of copies of book 1 by halfway through the first day and book 2 by halfway through the second day. It was great to get out and meet some new potential readers, as well as many of the people employed by my publishing house. My publisher is very positive about the future possibilities for my books, so we'll see how everything plays out! And finally, I have a new laptop now! It's a brand new Mac, and I have named him (yes, him) Scribbus Mac Doodle. Scribbus and I will go on many adventures together, first of which will be the completion of The Scroll. From there, the sky's the limit!

If you haven't purchased your copy of The Enchanted yet, you should do so now! Just click on the image at the left to be directed to my publisher's website, or contact me at kbhoyle@yahoo.com about getting a signed copy or signed bookplate to go in your copy.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Enchanted Prologue Excerpt

As a special treat, since we are now just two days from release day for The Enchanted, I wanted to share an excerpt from the prologue. I hope it gets you even more excited to read book 4!

Prologue
After They Found Him


The flashing lights of the ambulance, police cars, and fire department
vehicles danced before Darcy’s eyes in a kaleidoscope of colors, distracting
her from the questions she was supposed to be answering.
“What were you doing out in the woods alone?” It was the third—maybe
the fourth—time the officer had asked her.
“I wasn’t alone.” Although Darcy moved her lips, it felt as though some
other person answered for her. She was a disembodied spirit floating above
it all, watching. “I was with Sam.”
The medics had Colin strapped to a stretcher, an IV drip trailing out of his
arm, oxygen flowing in through his nostrils.
“What were you and your friend doing out in the woods alone?”
The ambulance doors closed. The siren wailed and gravel flew as the
boxy ambulance accelerated out of the parking lot. Darcy watched,
mesmerized, as a fire truck and two police cars followed the taillights.
“Miss!”

Darcy blinked. “Sorry.”
“What were you and your friend doing out in the woods alone?” he
repeated and tapped his pencil on his notepad as he shifted his weight from
one foot to the other.
“Hiking. It’s a camp. We like to hike here.” She glanced over at Sam,
who was being interrogated by a different, older officer. She was twisting
her fingers and looked close to tears.
“On the last morning of camp?” the officer asked. “On a trail that doesn’t
go anywhere?”
“Sir, Sam and I were just trying to get in one more hike before we had to
leave. We didn’t know the trail was a dead-end . . . or what we would find.”
Darcy looked down, hoping he wouldn’t detect her white lie. She couldn’t
tell him the truth. That she and Sam had been looking for evidence of a
magic gateway to a dark and horrific world. That she’d suspected the trail
as being where Colin disappeared. She would be strapped to a stretcher like
Colin, only she’d be headed for the loony bin to have her head examined.
The officer scribbled some notes on his pad of paper. “Tell me again
exactly what happened. You were hiking down the path, and then . . .” He
raised his eyebrows.
Darcy took a deep breath and spoke in a slow monotone. They’d already
told the whole thing to the paramedics and the fire department officials.
“Sam noticed a body lying on the trail, so we ran to it, and it was Colin—”
“And you recognized him because you’re friends with him?”
Darcy hesitated. “Not—not exactly . . . but we know him.”
The officer’s pencil scratched the paper. “Continue.”
“I checked to see if he was breathing, and I felt his pulse—”
“And he was breathing when you found him, correct?”
“Yes.” Darcy was annoyed. “I already told the paramedics. He didn’t stop
breathing until just before you arrived. The camp medic performed CPR.”
“Sergeant!” Another officer climbed out of a squad car and waved his
arms at a middle-aged policeman with a handlebar mustache. “We reached
the parents. We have them on the phone.”
“I’ll take it in the truck,” the sergeant said in a thick “Yooper” accent, as
it was called in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. “Let’s wrap this up,
boys!” He waved his hand in a rolling motion and climbed into a massive
police SUV as the other officer handed him the cell phone.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Awesome Student Review

In honor of The Enchanted coming out in less than a week, I thought I'd publish a review of the first three books that was sent to me by a new student of mine. For those of you who still haven't read my books, perhaps this will encourage you to check them out! ;o) Anyhow, this student was incredibly gracious and sweet in her review of my books, and she gave me permission to publish her e-mail (with spoilers edited out) on my blog. Enjoy!


OH MY GOODNESS!!! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME??????? AAHHHHHH!

I'm having an experience you may be tired of hearing about...but I just finished The White Thread and I don't think I can stand to wait for The Enchanted to come out!!!

When I first picked up The Six, I was not sure I would not enjoy it, due to all the parallels to The Chronicles of Narnia. But I soon fell in love with the Gateway Chronicles because our writing styles are so similar and I just loved the Six themselves. Darcy, of course, is so much like me. Her attitudes towards family time and extroverted Sam are almost parallel to mine under similar circumstances. Sam, on the other hand, annoyed me, but after she stuck up for Darcy like she did, I liked her a whole lot. Amelia...well, she was kind of snobbish. But she really is great, because she cares about Sam, and keeps Darcy level-headed. As for the boys, I just swoon every time I read about Perry. He's always doing something cute. But he just really needs something to deepen his character. And Lewis is just awesome. Especially in The White Thread. He's so sweet and a definite gentleman. Well, as for Dean...frankly, I'd like to get to know him better. Right now he's just kind of standoffish and unkind. I'd like to see him be better friends with Darcy.

And another character I just have grown to love is Tellius. *sigh* I love those characters with deep, emotional scars no one can see. In The Six, I didn't think much about Tellius, until the end, when I thought it was cute that he went to Darcy's bedside in the infirmary. In The Oracle I liked him more, and he did cute things again like awkwardly saying he was glad Darcy was safe. But in The White Thread, oh my goodness. Darcy can't deny it. He's so right for her. Tellius rocks. I love him. Team Tellius all the way!

So, I began The Six when we visited Alabama the first time and you presented me with it. I read it steadily in the days to follow, but, due to school and moving and stress in general, I unfortunately did not finish it until the second time we came to Alabama. Then I began The Oracle, but restarted it and finished it just this week. It was so good. Yahto Veli is another great character that I just love, because he cares so much about Darcy, but I think the fact that it was Yahto who came around in the end is what really got to me. And yeah, I started The White Thread yesterday and finished possibly half an hour ago. SO GOOD!!!! I cried again. 
And poor Colin! As creepy as he is, I genuinely feel bad for him, and I hope he's okay.

I feel as though I don't have a right to love the books so much, considering I just got here, I barely know you, and the books have been around a couple years. But I hope you consider me a fan, and I hope we'll be able to chat more in the future, as I love to write and have loved to since I can remember. I think you are amazing in the feat you have accomplished! Writing is hard work!!! Thank you for your amazing novels. ;)

Your new student and ENORMOUS fan.

Blog Tour Info!

It's that time again! Blog Tour! Book 4 of The Gateway Chronicles, The Enchanted is set to be released on Thursday, and in the week leading up to it, we have several blog stops set up for you. I hope you visit and enjoy!



10/13- sherrygomes.com

10/14-Kid Who Reads

10/15- msbookqueen.com

10/16- paperbookprincess.blogspot.com/

10/17- Girl-Who-Reads.com

10/18- oakenbookcase.com

10/19- jacitamati.blogspot.com/