On Writing

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    Guest blog: Morgan Rhodes on Falling Kingdoms …

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    Morgan RhodesToday, I’m pleased to welcome epic fantasy young adult author Morgan Rhodes to my blog. She’s the author of Falling Kingdoms (and a whole bunch of other books as Michelle Rowen). Take it away, Morgan:
     
    FALLING KINGDOMS, YA, AND MORE
     
    Question: Hi, Morgan. Thanks for taking the time to guest blog. Please tell us about your new book, Falling Kingdoms.
     
    Morgan: Thanks for inviting me, Jennifer! 🙂 Falling Kingdoms is the first book in a YA high fantasy series from Penguin/Razorbill. It’s about four very different teen characters from neighboring kingdoms, both royals and commoners, who find their lives irrevocably intertwined in a time of war and magic.
     
    Question: What inspired you to write Falling Kingdoms? Is this your first time writing epic fantasy YA?

    Morgan: It is my first time writing epic fantasy — YA or otherwise! For some time, I’ve been wanting to tackle a story with a big world and multiple characters to really challenge myself as a writer. I definitely love fantasy, but I’ve written paranormal in the past so this was another fun challenge since the genres are definitely different. I’ve always loved both fantasy and gritty action movies and TV series, so my inspirations included A Game of Thrones, The Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, and Spartacus … to name only a few!

    Falling KingdomsQuestion: Will Falling Kingdoms be the start of a series? If so, how many books are planned? And what obstacles do you see the characters facing in future books?

    Morgan: It is the first book in a series. Four books are officially under contract and the second book, Rebel Spring, will be out December 2013, which picks up the story three weeks after the end of Falling Kingdoms.
     
    As far as obstacles … my characters face a lot of them! In this series there is war to deal with — both the literal kind and that of the heart. In book two, I introduce a couple new characters who shake things up in good ways and bad. And the characters readers have already met have a lot to juggle … and I can promise more twists that will hopefully have readers gasping in surprise.
     
    Question: What do you like about writing in the YA genre?

    Morgan: There’s something about writing teen characters that really appeals to me. Teens are falling in love for the first time in these books, they’re being betrayed for the first time, they’re finding out who they really are and what they believe in down deep. Their personalities are being forged by good experiences and bad, which will make them into the adults (villains or heroes) they’re soon to become.

    Question: You also write under the name Michelle Rowen. Please tell us about your various projects.

    Wicked KissMorgan: I do … and Michelle Rowen is quite prolific this year. I have several releases, including Wicked Kiss (out Feb 26 from Harlequin Teen), which is the sequel to Dark Kiss.
     
    I also tap into my funny side with my second Immortality Bites Mystery, Bled & Breakfast, out in June from Obsidian.
     
    Question: What are some of your favorite YA books?
     
    Answer: Some of my faves include both Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series. Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy. Lauren Oliver’s Delirium (but I haven’t read book two yet!!). And I can’t wait for June, which is when my friend Eve Silver has her YA debut with Rush, an amazingly exciting book I was lucky enough to read super early.
     
    Question: What’s next for you?
     
    Answer: I’m pretty excited to be included in Penguin Teen’s 2013 Breathless Reads Book Tour, which starts on Feb. 10. I’m on the “East Coast leg” of it, and will be visiting seven cities to promote Falling Kingdoms. Anyone interested in learning more can visit https://www.facebook.com/breathlessreads for more details about the other authors, locations, and dates!
     
    FALLING KINGDOMS GIVEAWAY
     
    Morgan is offering a print copy (unsigned) of Falling Kingdoms. The giveaway is open to those 13 and older, U.S. only, and will run through midnight, EST, Jan. 23. The winner will be announced here on my blog on Friday, Jan. 25.
     
    To enter, just leave a comment on this blog talking about a YA book that you are looking forward to.
     
    MORE ABOUT MORGAN
     
    Morgan Rhodes lives in Ontario, Canada. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess — the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous. Along with writing, Morgan enjoys photography, travel, and reality TV, and is an extremely picky yet voracious reader of all kinds of books. Under another pen name, she’s a nationally bestselling author of many paranormal novels. Falling Kingdoms is her first high fantasy.
     
    You can find Morgan online at Twitter, Facebook, and her website. Thanks so much for being here today, Morgan.
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    Reminder: Five Elemental Assassin e-books on sale through Jan. 21 …

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    Spider's RevengeJust a reminder that the e-books for the first five Elemental Assassin urban fantasy books — Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, Tangled Threads, and Spider’s Revenge— are currently on sale for $2.99 each.

    The sale is in effect at all the major e-book retailers — Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Kobo, iTunes, etc. The e-book sale will run through Monday, Jan. 21.

    Again, I think this is really cool, since folks who buy the e-books can get a complete story arc of my heroine, Gin Blanco, aka the assassin the Spider, taking on her nemesis. The story arc spans the first five books in the series.

    You can find the descriptions and covers for the various books on my Books at a Glance page (although please note that some of the descriptions do contain spoilers). Also, folks can check out the first chapter of each book on the Excerpts page of my website, along with several free short stories.

    Hope folks get a chance to check out the e-books. Happy reading!

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    And the title is …

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    So I can finally announce the title for the ninth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

    And the title is … Heart of Venom.

    I think it’s a cool title and fits in well with the others in the series, as well as the plot of the book. I can’t say a lot about the book just yet, but I will share that it focuses on Sophia and Jo-Jo and some of their backstory.

    As of right now, Heart of Venom is set to be released on Aug. 27 (it is a September book). The book is up for pre-order at Amazon. It should be available for pre-order at other booksellers soon.

    I’ll also be sharing the cover art and more as it becomes available.

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    New cover for Deadly Sting revealed …

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    Deadly StingI have some news to share — there has been a change in the cover art for Deadly Sting, the eighth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

    Originally, Deadly Sting was going to have a step-back cover, just like Widow’s Web did. You can check out this blog post that I did about the old step-back cover.

    But now, there will only be one cover for all of the Deadly Sting books — print and e-books. Basically, the new cover sort of combines the elements of the two old covers. The new and final cover art is shown at left.

    Also, here is the book description for Deadly Sting. As always, if you don’t want to be spoiled, you may want to skip reading the description:

    Red is definitely my color. Good thing, because in my line of work, I end up wearing it a lot.

    Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me — Gin Blanco, aka the Spider — it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’ priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.

    Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color.

    Deadly Sting will be released on March 26, 2013. The book is up for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million. You can read the first chapter here, although please note that this chapter has spoilers for Widow’s Web, so if you haven’t read that far in the series yet, you may want to avoid reading the chapter.

    Anyway, hope everyone enjoys seeing the new cover.