Thought for the day:
“There
are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a
favorite book.” ~M. Proust~
A gift for my writer friends:
Here
are some links I think you will find valuable – three great ones this week.
If
you want to know how to avoid automatic rejection from agents and editors,
click HERE.
For
a post on generating ideas, click HERE.
Click HERE for a post that is something of an
idea factory.
For my wonderful giveaway, the winner is Jess@Fairday’s
Blog! (Cue the trumpets!) Jess is involved with an interesting blog. You might want to take a
look. Check it out by clicking HERE.
Jess, expect an email from me. As soon as I hear from you, I will send your
information to the publicist, who will be getting your copy of Deadweather and Sunrise to you.
Last year, a woman in one of my
critique groups, Susan Britton, mentioned she was thinking of “doing something”
with a book of hers, The Treekeepers, that had gone out of print, the rights reverting to her. I
borrowed a copy from her and found it to be quite wonderful. Last week I asked
her about it, and she told me the book is now available as a Kindle book, so I
thought I would tell you about it. Susan generously offered to give away a Kindle copy
to a winner here this week. So stayed tuned for a chance to win this wonderful
fantasy.
Bird is an
orphan. Life is a struggle for her, but then it is for everyone in the town of
Graynok since the evil Lord Rendarren had conquered it. Those who could had
fled, leaving only the poorest behind. Bird helped care for tiny Piper, whose
mother was a beggar. Now Piper was sick with cat’s fever and would surely die.
Bird, at great risk to herself, goes at night in search of Farwender, the only
person she believed might help. When she finds Farwender, he has a strange
animal with the head of a lion and a tail that is a venomous snake. It’s a chimera
named Ally, and he accompanies Bird and Farwender, who also takes a kitten
named Finder and a small crystal vial with a golden liquid. It is a magical elixir
called Thalasse and more rare than gold or diamonds.
Thalasse had
once been available for anyone. It came from a magical tree, but that tree had
been destroyed by Lord Rendarren. Farwender takes Bird with him when he returns
to the barren hills. There she will live with a woman named Soladin who has
other orphans living with her. It is there Bird discovers she is the Opener
Child, long prophesied as the one would can open the locket which holds the one
Thalasse tree seed left in the world. With this gift comes great risk to Bird
and great responsibility.
“The
children waited silently in the brush until long after the hoofbeats died away.
Bird and Stoke kept holding hands. Finally the orphans felt safe enough to head
down into the canyon to see what was left of their home. Night had fallen, and
a round moon pushed its belly up from behind the hills. The fires were still
busy, finishing their work.”
 |
| Susan McGee Britton |
Bird and the
other orphans begin the journey of their life with Ally at their sides. Their
task is to take the Thalasse seed to a place where it can be safely grown. They
must protect it from Lord Rendarren. It is a long, dangerous, and arduous
journey, but these brave children are willing to take on the forces of evil for
the greater good.
I’ve said a
few times on this blog that I don’t really like fantasy, but I keep finding
fantasy books I like! This is one of my favorite books, not just fantasy books,
but over-all favorites. The characters and story became very real for me as I’m
sure they will for you. This is a winner and one of you can be the winner
of the ebook.
You can have
a chance to win Kindle copy of TheTreekeepers. If you are not yet a follower, please become one and tell me
that. I will put your name in twice. If you are already a follower, thank you
very much, let me know and I will put your name in twice. You can receive extra
chances by linking to this post on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other
social media and tell me you are doing that.
Don’t forget to stop by Shannon Messenger’s
wonderful blog for more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday links. Click HERE to find it.
On
the book giveaway, this is for U.S. only. Sorry, but it would be too expensive
for me to send books out of the country. But please leave a comment. I’d love
to hear from you. Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on the
title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments section
on the bottom. Also, if you haven’t signed up by email, please do. Just look in
the upper right-hand corner of this page, pop your email address in, and you
will receive an email each time I put up a new post. Your information will not
be shared with anyone.
