The randomly selected winner of a print copy of Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes is:
Heather K.
Congrats! You have until midnight, EST, Sunday, Jan. 27 to e-mail me or I will pick another winner.
Thanks again to Morgan for doing the guest post and to everyone who left a comment.
Today, 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: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!
Question: 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: 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.
Morgan: 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.Well, the holiday rush is over, and those bookstore gift cards have been getting a workout. I’ve been on a bit of a young adult reading kick lately, so today, I thought I’d share some of the YA books in my to-be-read pile. Note that the descriptions are from Goodreads:
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa: My name is Meghan Chase.
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.
This time, there will be no turning back.
My thoughts: This is the third book in Kagawa’s Iron Fey series, after The Iron King and The Iron Daughter. I’m looking forward to continuing with the series. One of the things that I like about these books is the magic of the traditional Fey as compared to the new Iron Fey.
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes: In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power–brutally transforming their subjects’ lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:
Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.
Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished–and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.
Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past–and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.
Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword…
The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?
My thoughts: This is the first book in Rhodes’s Falling Kingdom series. I love epic fantasy, and I’ve seen this book on several blogs. I’m looking forward to checking it out.
Also, Morgan (aka Michelle Rowen) will be doing a guest blog for my site later this month, so be on the lookout for that.
Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder: Hunted, Killed — Survived?
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.
Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.
War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible … again.
My thoughts: This is the second book in Snyder’s Healer young adult epic fantasy series, after Touch of Power. Again, I love epic fantasy, and I’m looking forward to seeing what new adventures are in store for Avry.
What’s in your TBR pile these days? What books are you looking forward to reading this year?
Some of you have seen this mentioned in the various guest blogs and interviews that I did for Venom, but I wanted to wait until after the blog tour was over to make the official announcement. I’ve got some excellent news to report — I’ve sold a young adult urban fantasy series! Huzzah!
It’s going to be called the Mythos Academy series, and the first book is titled Touch of Frost. Here’s what it’s about:
Gwen Frost is a 17-year-old Gypsy girl with the gift of psychometry — or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. Gwen can see everyone who’s ever touched an object — and she can feel their emotions too, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Gwen uses her magic to track down objects that other kids have lost like cell phones, wallets, and purses — for a price.
After a serious freakout with her magic and her mom’s death, Gwen gets shipped off to Mythos Academy, a school for the rich, privileged descendants of ancient warriors like Spartans, Amazons, Valkyries, and more. Gwen doesn’t know one end of the sword from the other, and she doesn’t fit in with the other kids. But when Jasmine Ashton, the most popular girl in school is murdered, and Gwen herself is attacked, Gwen decides to use her Gypsy gift to figure out who killed the other girl and why — and finds herself learning some secrets that just might kill her …
Basically, the book is kind of like Veronica Mars meets the movie 300. I’ve always loved mythology, and I thought it would be fun to write a YA book with that sort of backdrop. Since the books are for young adults, they aren’t quite as dark and gritty as my Elemental Assassin series, but I would say that the Mythos Academy books are for older teens. There is some drinking, violence, and sex in the books.
If you like my Elemental Assassin books, you might like the Mythos Academy books too. The voice is very similar, and both series feature the same things — a strong, sassy heroine, cool magic/world building, and a seriously nasty bad guy. Gwen’s love interest — a Spartan warrior named Logan Quinn — is just a little dreamier than Gin’s love interest is. LOL.
The deal is for three books, which will be published by Kensington. Touch of Frost, the first book, will be out in August 2011, while the second book, Kiss of Frost, will be out in December 2011.
So in 2011, I’ll have four books out — Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin #4) in May; Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1) in August; book 5 (Elemental Assassin series) in October; and Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy #2) in December. It’s going to be a busy year. 😉
The third book in the Mythos Academy series is untitled at this point. It should be out sometime in 2012, but of course, that could change. Ideally, I’d like to write at least four or five books in the series, but that will depend on sales, like everything else does.
Anyway, I’ll let you know when I get more details. And of course, I’ll be posting the covers, a FAQ, character info, and more here on the website as they become available and I find time to write them.
In the meantime, I’m doing the happy dance! 😉
In addition to finishing the revisions on Elemental Assassin #4, I’ve also written a young adult book. I’m calling it A Touch of Frost, and it focuses on Gwen Frost, a Gypsy girl with the gift of psychometry — or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it.
After her mom’s death, Gwen gets shipped off to Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors, like Spartans, Amazons, Valkyries, and more. When a student is murdered, Gwen decides to use her Gypsy gift to find out who killed the other girl and why. I’m pitching the book as Veronica Mars meets the movie 300 (but without Gerard Butler’s man-abs, unfortunately.)
I’m not sure what, if anything, will happen with this book. There’s always a chance that my agent could hate the book, or that she could submit it to editors and no one will buy it. That’s a very real threat these days, since editors/publishers are cutting back, just like everyone else is. It’s always a little scary being an author, since it’s not a secure job at all and so many things are out of your control. But it’s even more so now, given the crappy economy.
It seems to me like the young adult market is still heavily focused on vampires and werewolves these days, so I’m not sure where a mythology book like mine would fit in. I know that the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan has been wildly successful, so that gives me some hope.
Regardless, if nothing else, finishing A Touch of Frost has proved to me that I can write a young adult book. It’s not as easy as it looks. Especially after writing five Gin Blanco books. Let’s just say that I had to tone the sex, violence, and language way down from the Elemental Assassin series. But in some ways, Gwen Frost is just as kick-butt as Gin is. And hey, there’s a magic sword named Vic in the book. Because you can’t write a mythology book without having some kind of sword or magical weapon in there. 😉
Anyway, we shall see what happens …
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