Once Upon a Time...

Every now and then I am reminded that my adventure with TWCS Publishing House is still quite new, and once upon a time, not so long ago, I was laboring away as a self-pub author, begging, borrowing, and stealing help wherever I could get it. Many of you who purchased my books before I signed with TWCS know that I had three students working on cover design for me. What you may not know is that they finished the cover for book 4 before I signed with TWCS, which nullified my need for the cover they had created for me as we changed the covers entirely. I thought perhaps some of you might be interested to see the original cover for book 4, however, because the girls did an excellent job of bringing to life my description of an item from the book: Tellius's coronation crown. I believe I described it something like this when I explained it to them. "It's like, sorta, a cross between an Olympic victory crown with olive leaves and a medieval-type simple crown with a single point in the center. It should be gold, and the leaves should touch top and bottom. Simple, but rich-looking. No jewels." And from those scattered thoughts, they created something pretty much exactly like I pictured it in my brain:

It's a beautiful picture, and hopefully it fits what you imagined when you read the coronation scene. I'm glad, however, that I didn't decide to have the crown on the cover of the official version of book 4. As The Enchanted came together, it became a much darker story than I once envisioned it, and the coronation sequence figured in less prominently. Still, though, I love having this image saved on my computer, and I thought it was high time to share it with all of you! 

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.

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/

Book 4 Back Cover!

Oh BOY how the time flies! Book 4 has been available for pre-order for some time now, and I hadn't even gotten around to posting about it. In my defense, my three-year-old was quite sick two weeks ago, then I was sick last week, and now my husband is sick (all of us with different illnesses, which is odd), so I've been a tad distracted. At long last, however, I am announcing that, YES, you can now pre-order The Enchanted. Just click on the cover image in the sidebar to go to my publisher's website and pre-order a paperback. Or, if you prefer, you can also pre-order on itunes by following the link at the end of this post. And as a little treat, here is the back cover excerpt:


Enchantments are powerful—the most powerful magic we have,” Rubidius said. “They can change the nature and composition of animate and inanimate things alike, and they can foil the plans of the most determined foes.”

“What do enchantments have to do with me?” Darcy whispered.

“Everything.”

Darcy Pennington’s course was plotted out for her long before she ever stepped foot in Alitheia, but Colin Mackaby seems determined to hamper and confuse the way as much as he can. Darcy begins to suspect that it is not Colin working against her, but a malevolent force working through him—a force seeking to hasten Darcy’s transformation into one of the very creatures she is supposed to fight. Darcy is finally willing to follow the prophesied path, even agreeing to her much-resisted marriage to Tellius, but soon after she returns to Alitheia, everything spirals out of her control. A painful rejection almost pushes her over the edge, and when she demands answers from Rubidius, he provides her only with more painful secrets she must keep from the others. In the meantime, Darcy and her friends finally set out to confront one of Tselloch’s gateways, fulfilling—so they think—the great prophecy of the Six. But when faced with practicing their magic against Tselloch’s evil power, nothing turns out as expected.

Enchantments protect them as sorcery attacks them, and Colin Mackaby dogs their every step along the way. In the minds of the Alitheians, if Darcy cannot repair the breach that has formed between herself and Tellius, nothing will turn out as it was foretold. Darcy wonders, in the end, if there is any hope at all for her, or for Alitheia.

 http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-enchanted/id561164270?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

News on Books 3 and 4...

Real Quick...

Book 3 of The Gateway Chronicles, The White Thread is NOW available for sale! Just click on the icon on the left to order paperback or Kindle versions from TWCS. I'm so excited about the 4 and 5-Star reviews this book is garnering in the Young Adult reading community! Purchase it now to read it before this fall and the release of book 4! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15768609-the-white-thread

And I also have the cover reveal for Book 4 of The Gateway Chronicles, The Enchanted and its release date: October 18, 2012. Add it now on Goodreads! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15834466-the-enchanted

Week 8: The Next Big Thing

This week I'm participating in a Work in Progress blog hop! Since book 3 is complete and coming out this Thursday, I thought I would look ahead to book four for this post. Enjoy...

What is the working title of your book? 

The Enchanted (Book 4 of The Gateway Chronicles) 

Where did the idea for your book come from? 

It's difficult to answer this just in terms of this book since it is the fourth book of the series, but the idea for the series sprang out of my experiences at summer camp as a child and young adult. I wanted to write a fantasy series as a sort of homage to all the good times I had there. As to why I chose to write a long series in which the characters have a year-long adventure in another world in each book, I wanted to give my readers books and characters they could grow with. I patterned this aspect after Harry Potter, as I think Rowling brilliantly provided that experience. But also, being an admirer of The Chronicles of Narnia my whole life, I also wanted my books to have that same through-the-wardrobe feel to them. I commonly tell people that my books are like Harry Potter meets Narnia at summer camp.

What genre does your book fall under? 

Young Adult Fantasy

Which actors would you choose to play the characters in your book? 

I have such a looong list of characters now that it would be impossible to choose actors for all of them, but let me see... I'd love to see Max Irons as Yahto Veli. He's not an actor, but Ryan Lochte is a dead ringer for Tellius (once Tellius is all grown up in the series). Diane Kruger could play Voitto Vesa. I'd love to choose actors for the six teenagers who make up my main cast of characters, but I'm too unfamiliar with young Hollywood to think of anyone right now.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

Plagued by doubts about her future, Darcy Pennington must begin to unravel the mysteries of her oracle if she is to save Alitheia and reconcile her relationship with Tellius, the king she is intended to marry.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

The Enchanted will be released by The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House.

How long did it take to write your first draft of your manuscript? 

It took me about twelve and a half weeks.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 

As I've already mentioned above, it definitely has the flavor of Narnia and Harry Potter. Readers will also find a taste of more traditional fantasy like The Chronicles of Prydain and The Lord of the Rings, as well. It is also similar somewhat to the Inheritance Cycle.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? 

Again, as I already mentioned, my camp experiences played a huge role in my inspiration. I was also just plain ready to write something that I could be serious about publishing, and I thought the time was right for this sort of novel in the young adult market.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? 

If you enjoy stories that are more than surface deep, then my books are for you. Riddles, oracles, plot twists, and hidden literary devices abound in this book and the rest of the series, creating an experience where the reader is trying to unravel the mystery and figure out the double meanings throughout. I've written more in an English tradition than an American tradition, so if you are an Anglophile of any sort, that should also interest you!

Next Up... 

 Ross Boone   www.rawspoon.com
Jessica Marie Brooks  http://marie-the-reader.blogspot.com
Jamie Harper  http://www.brownpaperandstrings.com
Dennis Hoyle  http://www.bellwethergames.com (For a post on a board game in progress!) 
S. B. Scrillum  www.halanea.blogspot.com