Welcome back to the Come Marching Home blog tour! Today, we have an interview with two sets of siblings from the book; Ernst and Alfonse, and Franz and Ada! Don't forget to check out the official lineup and schedule! While you're doing that, be sure to take a look at the pre-order goodies!
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1. What’s the most embarrassing thing you ever did together?
Alfonse: *runs hand over face* You should probably take this.
Ernst: Well…there was that time when you were climbing a tree to impress a girl. I was supposed to stop her on the road and keep her occupied until you got ‘into position’ but instead you fell out of the tree and broke your arm.
Alfonse: Mom was mad.
Ernst: Secretly, she thought it was funny though.
2. If you had more funds/means than you do now, what would be the most extravagant thing you would buy/do?
Alfonse: I want my own car. But like, one of the speedsters. Sleek and maybe red.
Ernst: I’d like to travel. Kind of hard when a war is going on, but maybe someday I will. I’d love to take Ada to see some different places.
Alfonse: Of course you would.
3. What are some of your favorite holiday memories?
Ernst: The Midwinter Festival is always the best time of year. I remember how much fun we used to have as kids. The food, the parties, and the gifts.
Alfonse: I remember one year where we ate so much we fell asleep at the festival and had to be carried home. That was the year we got wooden swords.
Ernst: Which also injured you.
Alfonse: I’m just lucky to have a brother who is a healer, that’s all.
4. Thank you, Ernst and Alfonse. On to Franz and Ada! What is one bad habit you have that you think the other doesn't know about?
Franz: Ada chews her nails.
Ada: I do not!
Franz: You only say that because you thought I didn’t know about it!
Ada: Well, you never clean your room. It’s a disaster! And you always leave your socks in the bathroom.
Franz: I can’t take a bath with them on.
Ada: They smell terrible! 5. What is your favorite holiday food?
Ada: Apple torte. Really anything with apples. Our village has some of the best apples that the Seidels grow in their orchard.
Franz: Agreed. Though nothing really beats apple cider and caramel popcorn. We only ever really get that on the Midwinter Festival so it’s really special.
6. How would you describe your appearance? How about the appearance of your sibling?
Franz: *sighs* Ada is too pretty, I am always having to beat the village boys away to save my precious sister.
Ada: That is a lie, I would say I’m moderate. And I am only interested in Ernst anyway. The other boys know that. *Blushes*
Franz: Well, how would you describe me, then? Ruggedly handsome? A real catch?
Welcome to the Come Marching Home blog tour! Be sure to check out the giveaway goodies, the live release stream, and all the other blog tour stops! Find the full official post here.
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Cover
Review
Slight spoilers ahead
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As always, Hazel has given us epic, gut-wrenchingly difficult brotherly bonds, and an intriguing pseudo-historical fantasy world. This very much has WWII vibes, and does a great job of capturing the disjointedness of returning to the home front after being at the front lines.
One thing that contributed to my enjoyment was the cinematic pacing. All of the beats were in the right place, I had music going on in the back of my head the entire time, and the ending tied everything together. Books that follow this pacing normally annoy me, since I can see where everything is going. In this, however, I spent a majority of my time hurriedly swiping right and biting my nails (I'm surprised I have any left). There were a couple scenes that were reminiscent of the a Hallmark film, but they were well-done rather than...overabundant and...saccharine.
The triggering content, in my opinion, was balanced; enough detail to get a sense of the horrors of war, but not enough to be considered gory or over-descriptive for the average reader. It is likely stressful/detailed enough to turn off sensitive readers, however. So a forewarning there. There are flashbacks to battles, mentions of blood and dead bodies, and broken bones/other wounds are mentioned.
Hazel has a knack for writing stubborn characters. Very very stubborn characters. It made for a delightful clash of interests throughout. Also: no angst in regards to the love life of one of the main characters. Just. I was so happy. Sure there were problems, but they tackled them together and they didn't waste what time they had. Also, only one of the main characters had a love life to deal with, and it was a nice side-arc that didn't overshadow the entire story.
I feel like I have so much more to say...but this review is late in being posted and I WILL keep major spoilers out of my reviews! Though I may stop doing that soon, because everyone views different aspects of the story as spoilers and it is exhausting trying to write about a book without mentioning character-specific things...
Author Bio
Hazel B. West is the author of several novels including historical titles like On a Foreign Field, By Blood or By Bond; Wolfsblood,
a book about werewolves in Roman Britain and the Modern Tales of Na
Fianna series, which feature modern Irish warriors with swords and fast
sports cars and lots of faeries. Hailing from Purgatory (aka,
Florida) Hazel is an indie author, book wyrm, and coffee connoisseur.
She typically enjoys writing books with an unconventional flair,
probably with a bit of folklore and mythology, most definitely with a
lot of siblings or brothers-in-arms. When she’s not writing, she manages
an Etsy shop, drinks a lot of coffee, listens to music, haunts
conventions, or just holes up like an eldritch horror and binges her
favorite shows—for inspiration. If you meet this rare creature on the
street, she has been known to respond to the offer of coffee and old
bookstores. But it’s probably best you try to contact her online first.
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Come back on Thursday for a character interview! Also, don't forget to check out the pre-order swag pack!
I could have sworn I had this on auto-post, but nope...I did not even have it drafted...
One would think that quitting retail would help me not be so scatterbrained, but nope. Nope nope nope. I shall be coming back to fix the formatting and such, make it look more streamlined. Later. Even though the synopsis photo is making me chew at my hair and scream internally (IT NEEDS TO BE INSIDE THE MARGINS. But if it's smaller it's harder to read. 😫). (Plus reading the blurb is giving me a resurgence of feels from the book. ðŸ˜)
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Release Date: October 13th
Pre-Order Info
If you pre-order Come Marching Home or just order a copy of it by the end of October (extending because the paperback won’t be available for preorder), you can email the receipt of your purchase to sirwilliamssquire@gmail.com with your address and Hazel will send you a goodie pack!
Goodies:
-A bookmark
-A sticker with art by H.S.J. Williams @h.s.j._williams
-A playlist curated by Hazel
-And if you order the paperback, you will get a signed bookplate
Synopsis
Cover
Author Bio
Hazel B. West is the author of several novels including historical titles like On a Foreign Field, By Blood or By Bond; Wolfsblood, a book about werewolves in Roman Britain and the Modern Tales of Na Fianna series, which feature modern Irish warriors with swords and fast sports cars and lots of faeries.
Hailing from Purgatory (aka, Florida) Hazel is an indie author, book wyrm, and coffee connoisseur. She typically enjoys writing books with an unconventional flair, probably with a bit of folklore and mythology, most definitely with a lot of siblings or brothers-in-arms. When she’s not writing, she manages an Etsy shop, drinks a lot of coffee, listens to music, haunts conventions, or just holes up like an eldritch horror and binges her favorite shows—for inspiration. If you meet this rare creature on the street, she has been known to respond to the offer of coffee and old bookstores. But it’s probably best you try to contact her online first.
Guess what?! I finally wrote a thing. It’s been done for almost a month. But let’s say I waited until Fall weather made an appearance, and just ignore my terrible life-juggling skills, ‘kay? (Crud I just now realized I still have my winter theme from last year.)
I am also working on designing and monetizing a website for fairy tale retelling, so keep an eye out for that. (See? More specific than “I’m working on another blog”, so I’m making progress. :P) And writing for a Deadzone group, I might be doing that soon. Totally unrelated to the aforementioned website, but my brain is melting and I feel the need to jam everything I’m doing/going to be doing in one section.
Hurry, read the thing before I start rambling about my knitting projects!
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Part Thirteen
A day and a half later, Loki is well enough to attempt cleaning the house. Painstakingly, he goes through the rooms, one by one. He doesn’t leave, to try and find the woman or his brother. One reason was that, despite his rapid healing, and even with the aid of a few spells, he was still weak. He shudders to think of what would have happened had Thor not still retained a modicum of control. The other was that the woman had left her jacket. It had an inter dimensional pocket, and should she survive her encounter, she would likely return for it.
Stopping to rest every few hours, he manages to clean the house. Out of habit, he heads down into the basement. With a torch in hand [check previous parts, can’t recall if they use electricity or fire], he navigates the maze. At first, he goes along with his head lowered, eyes half closed.
As he nears the room, his head jerks up.
Is that...breathing?
He whispers a spell to enhance his hearing, lowers to a half-crouch, and readies a dagger. Both Thor and the woman Delilah are in the room; Delilah lay sprawled on the bed face-down, Thor is on the floor at the foot of the bed in a heap.
Loki scowls at the woman. While Thor undoubtedly gave her trouble, there was no need for her to toss him aside like that. He holds his fingers together and aims a spell at the air above the woman’s head.
An explosion sounds, and a few lights flicker about the room. Thor makes no move, though Delilah stirs.
She blearily looks around, then stalks over to Loki’s side, ignoring the illusion that he placed in the doorway.
In an instant, she’s at his side, hissing into his ear: “Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“You’ll have to be specific.”
Delilah’s fingers close around his throat. “That you’re from another @!#*& world.”
“Does that change anything?”
“Everything.” She winces and lowers herself to the floor—without relinquishing her hold on Loki’s neck. He awkwardly lowers himself to sit beside her. “Oh.” She releases her hold and runs her hands through her hair. “The rules of your world, the rules of this world—they’re fighting. I can neither cleanse nor kill your brother. Your magic won’t work much longer if you stay. I could help—provided you choose to remain here. Permanently. If you relinquish whatever—”
“Done.”
Delilah raises her brows.
A rueful smile tugs at his mouth. “Our family is dead, our home destroyed, and the universe is on track to be obliterated.”
“And you tried to drag that bedlam here.” She shakes her head. “I don’t like you.”
“Get in line.”
With a sigh, she leans back. “I need to rest. Maybe eat.”
“What blood do you require?” Loki stands and rubs his neck briefly.
She eyes him with disgust. “None. Do you have coconut water?”
“I could acquire some.” Before he leaves, he asks, “What artifacts are needed for the ritual?”
“What ritual?”
“Do you not need to perform a ritual to sever ties from my previous home?”
Delilah snorts. “I’m a vampire, not a Fae.” She yawns and uses the unconscious Thor as a pillow. Before he can object, Delilah raises a hand and points towards the ceiling. “My friend is upstairs. Go check on her.”
Yes, this book is released already, but the ebook is getting a new cover! And a hardcover!! Aaaaaaahhh look at it!
If you're a lover of fantasy, retellings, and heart-wrenching character development, give this book a read! Since I no longer know how to link to images or add text beneath an image with this new setup, here is the link.
I am happy to announce that there's finally a blurb and a cover for book three of the IDIA series! And also that I am hoping to be moving to a new blog; I'm getting tired of Google in general, and Blogger's various...let's call them quirks...are frustrating me to no end (I haven't looked at my old posts since the new update; I'm scared to see what's been done to them). Several times in the making of this post alone, I had to fight the urge to punch the computer screen.
Back to what you came here for:
You don't have to scroll to far down to see the cover, because I don't want to make you wait any longer than you already have. Drum-roll please, and then we shall commence.
Blurb
Albany and Brooklyn York are taking a much-deserved break from IDIA work and visiting their grandfather’s farm. But even far from the city, they find that they can’t quite escape their lives with IDIA—or FOE. When the twins find out that someone from FOE has set up shop in their neighborhood, they decide they need to find out what’s going on with FOE, once and for all. But when they learn of secrets that rock their world, will they still know who to trust?
Cover
Author
Just a college student trying to find out where her King is guiding her, while writing the stories of the people she creates, the worlds she wants to live in, and the adventures she dreams about. Also known as a mythical creature called an “author.”
How to Come Up With Story Ideas- I was going to simply tell you how to come up with a story idea, but we all know the saying. "Show, don't tell."
So, sure, I will explain the story generating process to you. However, I will also show you how I personally would go about coming up with a story idea from scratch.
6 Badass Disabled Warriors in History: Proof That You Can Write A Disabled Protagonist-Today I wanted to give a list of incredible disabled warriors throughout history. I'm doing this because one of the main things I hear when people consider writing a disabled character (or see one represented on-page or on-screen) is that it is "unrealistic" for disabled people to be heroes.
This is, of course, complete and utter garbage. Here's proof...
Nonlinear Character Arcs: What They Are, Why They're Epic, and How to Write Them-If you've been writing or reading for any amount of time, you've probably heard of the two main character arcs: the positive character arc and the negative character arc. Lots of great tips and articles from blogger and author Hannah Heath! I find her method of coming up with story ideas comparable to the Story a Week method, only it's not nearly as in-depth and time consuming. Which is a good thing; I developed 2 beginning-to-end ideas in less than a week. Now I just need to sit down and write them. :P
Belwood Publishing was started by a CampNano buddy, and she let me know that she was putting this together so I got to be a part of it! Yay!
(I wanted to save the cover for later in the post, cuz cover reveal! But there were no sale graphics that didn't include the cover, so...)
Be sure to pick up a copy when it's on sale for only $0.99! It'll be going up in price after July 5th.
Summary
Snow White - fair or foul?
What if Snow White wasn't a princess? What if her step-mother wasn't evil? What if the conflict wasn't propelled by magic, but by popularity?
Explore these questions and more in this collection of six Snow White retellings.
The Poet's Missing Daughter by Phoenix Xiao tells the tale of a missing girl and her step mother who has something supernatural to hide.
An elven sorceress faces an impossible choice between saving one life or many in Julian Barr's Kingdom of the Mirror;
A young girl fights monsters in the dark world of sleep in J. W. Atkinson's Snow White and the Silent Death;
A young beauty influencer finally reveals all regarding the machinations of her step mother in Mark Hood's Skin Deep;
In Marlene Simonette's The Many Failures of Evil, a halfling child must relive the painful memories of her past and fight for a family;
A mysterious message prompts a young woman to cross the line of right and wrong in Robyn Sarty's The Fruitful Heist.
Phoenix Xiao is the pen name of a young writer from the ever-green Pacific Northwest. Phoenix, as one might deduce from her chosen name, is a fan of both folklore and birds. There is no limit to the amount of love she carries in her heart of hearts for her avian friends. In fact, she loves birds so much that she is attending college for the purpose of learning how to look at birds for a living. A lot of her writing draws from folklore, particularly Chinese folklore, as long as her parents are willing to indulge her weirdly specific and occasionally inane questioning. She has no pets (not by choice) but does have a possibly unhealthy quantity of stuffed animals and a spider plant named Charlotte. When not writing, she can be found looking at birds, or tempting the carpal tunnel gods in other ways like drawing and crocheting.
Julian Barr is the author of the Ashes of Olympus and Tooth and Blade trilogies. He first fell in love with all things ancient and magical in childhood, when he staged the epic tale of the Emperor Claudius using sock puppets. After his PhD in Classics, he did a brief stint as a schoolteacher, hated being called ‘sir,’ and dived into storytelling. Although he remains open to the possibilities of sock puppet theatre, fantasy is his passion. He has published scholarly research on Roman medicine and the gastronomic habits of Centaurs but prefers to think of himself as an itinerant bard. Currently he is working to expand Kingdom of the Mirror into a series of novels for launch in 2021.
J.W. Atkinson finds the time to write between teaching and living in a house with his wife and four children. He entertains fans with weekly fiction on Patreon.
Mark Hood is an author living and working in the English county of Shropshire which allows him plenty of opportunity to stare out of the window at gorgeous scenery when he should be writing. Despite a background in science and technology, and his typically skeptical outlook on anything supernatural, he brings a life-long fascination with mythical creatures and ancient legends to his work. Find him online at: Website Instagram Facebook
Marlene Simonette is an absent-minded bookwyrm who favors the Fantasy genre. Good food, board games and character-wrangling are a few of her favorite things. Her love of roleplaying threads and webcomics often distract her from her WIPs, as does obsessing over precise word choice.
(And you're here on my site, so no need to include links on where to find me online, is there?)
Robyn Sarty is an avid fan of all things Disney, and loves stories with happy endings, where good triumphs over evil. She tries to incorporate these elements into all of her writing, but is easily distracted by sparkly things and glitter. She lives in rural Nova Scotia with her very own Prince Charming. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found baking cakes and trying to convince Charming that they need to adopt a puppy. Find her online at:
A series of 10 articles from Speculative Faith, covering ideas for Christian storytellers to use in their fiction. Topics are mostly Sci-Fi oriented, but there are plenty of Fantasy and Sci-Fi/Fantasy blends that are addressed.
I found several things that I'd like to incorporate into my own story worlds!
Just a plug for some comics that I thoroughly enjoy. I would buy The Princess and the Jester if it came in print; in addition to being a wholesome, nail-biting, fairytale-esque story, the art is gorgeous and perfect for a children's book.
And The Property of Hate is the first story I've read that I love despite not having a very clear plot (kind of like Alice in Wonderland, but a bit more coherent imo). It explores esoteric concepts (several aspects of being, thought, and lots of cool stuff), has great art, Hero, and RGB (both of whom are flat out awesome.)
If Only Words- If only words could match. If only gratitude could be expressed. Worthy of the sacrifice they made, for all of the rest. We may not all agree on the why and where’s, but we must agree that without them we wouldn’t be here. To enjoy the freedom that we have; a price so high has been paid. ...
A sweet Memorial Day tribute poem by KimGuardianWolf.
Ah, a content warning: Errance is tortured for around...70 years, and so he's pretty messed up. In later chapters, there is a paragraph per chapter that sums up where he's at mentally/spiritually (man did those paragraphs add to the atmosphere of the chapter.) Nothing is ever shown in too much detail since the POV charrie can't stand looking at them for too long, but there are points where some wounds and/or the smell of blood are mentioned, psychological tension is very much present, and he lashes out violently a few times.
Also, I am composing a majority of this post last-minute, and am on a device that doesn’t allow for linking. The links/images shall be updated/added/gifs properly formatted at most a few hours from this being posted (hopefully).
Summary
"It is said that Darkness is empty and whatever vanishes into its depths is lost forever. I know this better than anyone. For I have suffered here in the shadows, and there are none who might find me."
Seventy years. Seventy years the elven prince has been lost to the darkness, assumed dead by his people and endlessly broken for a book that connects to the hidden realm of his ancestors, a land untouched by evil.
And now a light in the shadows. A chance for freedom. But those willing to help him come from the unlikeliest of worlds.
The orphan girl, yearning for a loving family, and the boy who won't leave her side. A healer maiden given an unexpected chance for a life beyond narrowed expectations. A grieving creature flown far from home.
They all search for something and now their fates are tied to his. If their quest for life can pull him from the dark mire in which his soul drowns, then perhaps he can be saved.
Or else he will drag them all down to a fate worse than death.
The beginning of an epic saga, MOONSCRIPT is a journey of innocence, despair, and redemption.
Seven illustrations by the author exclusively included in the paperback edition!
Let’s stick with the characters for this particular review, shall we? I hate to skim over the wonderful description, tidbits that added to the atmosphere, the inclusion of very relatable emotions/feelings that are often neglected in fantasy adventures, and how organically we’re introduced to the world of Orim (THERE WEREN’T A TON OF NAME DROPS RIGHT OFF THE BAT AND I WAS NEVER CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT WHY WHEN OR WHERE.), but I’m writing this on around 5 hours of sleep, a full day, and a very short while until my assigned day of the blog tour (technically just a few hours away), SO let’s get to it.
(Idk if this actually contains spoilers or not, since I didn’t have time to share all the snippets that made me cry/lol. I’ll have to look it over when I’m rested and see what on earth I wrote. :P)
Characters
Rendar, the wonderfully quiet, regal, mysterious, and Earth-shattering character. I loved him right off the bat, such a graceful paradigm of power and meekness...with a glimmer of bad-*$$ attitude (oh my gosh I can feel him half-smiling at me, wondering what he ever did to deserve such an odd description well here you are sir you can’t tell me that you’re not deserving of it because speaking the truth in the darkness is definitely bad-*$$).
“... There are no coincidences in the craft of this world.”
Calmly ignoring the fact that he’d shocked his entire retinue [several times, might I add], the king held out the necklace.
Tellie stared. She couldn’t speak. Finally, she squeaked, “You can’t be serious!”
“Do not doubt, child.” ... “There is much you will not understand. But you’ve been called to this for a reason.” ... “Even when your path seems to lose all light, know that darkness cannot endure forever.”
Also, since I don’t have time to cover a couple wonderful side characters (in this specific case I’m thinking about Leoren, but there are many others I wish to mention—maybe I’ll update this later to include them), I shall instead share a quote of Rendar’s that I was echoing almost the entire time:
“Poor Leoren,” Rendar said, patting his arm. “Always troubled about so many things.”
Errance. *sobs*
I can’t call him a cinnamon roll; I feel like that would be too demeaning/familiar. (Am I the only one who sometimes feels like I’m intruding on a character’s life like a creeper?). I can, I think, call him a diamond.
The prince stared, the sight of death beginning to stain his heart just as the blood stained the elvish livery.
“Listen, human, I might be a plaything for demons, but I will not be toyed with by mere mortal scraps.”
For being so wounded, he was remarkably insolent.
And then he laughed.
The snippets don’t make much sense out of context, but...Idk, they make me happy seeing them in that order.
It’s also weird how much I related to him...I mean, I haven’t been tormented by demons for 70 years, but his brokenness...it’s something that, I think, we’ve all felt at one point or another, in differing amounts of severity.
I CRIED A LOT. There are many many blue highlights regarding his state of mind and the tension of his decisions.
Tellie, the wonderful heroine. Sweet, wounded, and determined to help heal the brokenness in the world around her—starting with Errance. She’s not ready to take on the world by any means, but she—well, she grows. She also doesn’t have to take on anything on her own. (I’m sorry I wanted to say more but I’m tired and my words are beginning to fail.)
I cried with her, I laughed with her, I laughed at her a couple of times (I’m horrid I know), and there were many times her thoughts echoed my own.
She never dreamed anything like this would happen to her—did such things really happen outside of stories?
She wouldn’t cry, she told herself. Crying never helped anything, it just gave headaches.
She’d always imagined having a dramatic speech in a storm, but it really wasn’t so wonderful after all. It was in fact, wet.
Kelm. Is. Adorable. Adventurous. And despite being flustered at a few things, he takes things very much in stride, is inventive, loves stories (I think I got most of the references the author slipped in there XD), and has a realistic/long-term view of things.
“Well, this is all splendid,” Kelm said. “But I have a question of my own now. Is this the privy bucket?”
“Is there a way to retract my wonderful idea?” Kelm asked in a squeak.
He also has a side-goal, which added to his adorableness determination and courage.
“Golly no!” ... “I don’t want Tellie to think of me as a brother!”
The Daisha (prepositions are important: “Make sure the ‘The’ is attached, I won’t respond otherwise.”). Majestic, furry, and fierce, and, uh, very, very hungry (“That’s a surprise,” Kelm muttered. ... “He means you’ve gotten fat,” Errance said.)
She’s Protective of Errance, to the point that she seems to be the embodiment of Errance’s fanbase. As a reader, who had already cried over the characters several times, I was exceedingly glad and for once didn’t feel like I wanted/had to crawl into the book in a futile effort to protect my darlings, because someone much more capable than myself was already there expressing all of my protectiveness.
She’s amazing.
“If any danger comes near my elf, why I’ll...curses! Curses! The most abysmal of curses on all who have hurt him! May their teeth fall out and may their wings wither! I shall tear them all to shreds!”
“Try to talk some sense into this obstinate creature! If he doesn’t get reasonable soon, I’m picking him up and carrying him back to camp—upside-down! See if I don’t!”
She doles out wisdom with as much force as her blunt advice/observations and blistering threats. This is the main bit of one such nugget of wisdom, because otherwise I’d be posting an entire scene that made me tear up:
“Freedom is terrifying.”
In conclusion:
Realistic characters, wonderful world, plot that has plenty of grip and foreshadowing (and oh my goodness I didn’t even get to the villainous characters, but I have quotes and thoughts on them as well)...
So prepare to have your heart stomped on (in a good way of course).
Also, I couldn’t help but imagine that the author might have hummed this to herself while her characters were being emotionally tried (because it sure felt like it :P):
Author Bio
From the beginning, H. S. J. Williams has loved stories and all the forms they take. Whether with word, art, or costume, she has always been fascinated with the magic of imagination. She lives in a real fantastical kingdom, the beautiful Pacific Northwest, with her very own array of animal friends and royally loving family. Williams taught Fantasy Illustration at MSOA. She may also be a part-time elf.
Episode 006: The Fruitful Heist and Renewal of Spirit—As ever, I’m not an expert, my intention is to be positive and helpful, and my opinions do not reflect the authors’ worth as people or as writers. Please ensure adequate sodium intake with this podcast.
I (and one of my Nano friends!) got featured on a podcast! This lovely lady, Sage Gordon Davis, is accepting first paragraphs, sentences, or the first line of stories from anyone willing to submit. She dissects them with a reader’s eye, telling what caught her fancy or what wasn’t her cup of tea.
Her podcast is great, take a look!
Today, we have a book spotlight: The New Emperor's Concerto!
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Summary
The year is 2228 and the world is on the cusp of World War Four. London
is rife with anarchists and secret plots. It looks like dark days are
coming for the British Empire. Darker than any that have been seen for
decades.
But luckily England has some help.
Sir Lysander is the King's Righteous Man-and all that entails. He's the
king's right hand, and a red one at that, the man who stands in the
shadows and does what needs to be done for the protection of his
country.
Eidolon is a phantom, the anarchist group Apophis's top retrieval
expert. They need something, he gets it, no matter the consequence. Even
though he'd secretly prefer to be in his flat with his cat and a good
book.
They've been butting heads for a while but in times like these,
loyalties are known to change and right now, any help is good help. They
just didn't count on being the only thing standing between England and
the start of the next world war.
Cover
Author Bio
I'm an Indie writer, book lover, coffee connoisseur and history buff and
folklorist. On a normal day you'll either find me reading, writing or
on Goodreads talking to other writers. Author of On a Foreign Field, The
Modern Tales of Na Fianna series and others.
Today, as part of the blog tour, we have an interview with Claire Banschbach!
----- Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
I feel like it happens rarely that I’ll find a book that just completely captures me and hits that bittersweet spot where you’re just so immersed in the story and simultaneously wishing it was all real but knowing it’s not. Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater was that for me the first time I read it.
What is your favorite childhood book/fairy tale?
We had a St George and the Dragon book (by Margaret Hodges) with the story adapted from Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queene. It was my favorite book because A) dragons, B) knights on epic quests, and C) amazing illustrations. It’s still a favorite to this day!
What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I feel like I’m a fairly boring writer! :D I will say that I’ve never cried while writing an emotional scene or character death. I usually like trying to wring emotion from words, so I’m always oddly eager to get those scenes to see if I can get them out on paper like they’re playing in my head. (I’m a monster, it’s fine.)
What was/is your favorite part, and your least favorite part, of the publishing journey?
My favorite part is usually the drafting process, where I’m discovering the story and the characters and being surprised by the twists and turns the story takes! Least favorite part is all the prep work to get everything set up and ready to go and then be brave enough to let your book baby out into the world. It’s one thing to just talk about it, but having people actually read it is something else! 😉
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
That it’s okay to be scared, but to try your best anyway. Change is scary, but you come out better for it. That everyone has something amazing about them. You just need to find your own magic.
Claire M. Banschbach is a native Texan and
would make an excellent hobbit if she wasn’t so tall. She’s an overall dork,
pizza addict, and fangirl. When not writing fantasy stories packed full of
adventure and snark, she works as a pediatric Physical Therapist where she
happily embraces the fact that she never actually has to grow up.
She writes New Adult/Adult fantasy as C.M.
Banschbach.
