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An initiative to promote writers and their books (that’s you)!

Writers4Writers will congregate the third Monday of every month to promote 1-3 authors.

This month we’ll be celebrating the amazingly talented Laura Eno and Marian Allen.

Laura Eno is a prolific writer of  science fiction and fantasy. She creates imaginative alternate worlds and writes with heart. Yes, I’ve read some of her books and LOVED them. Check out her amazing back list here.

Marian Allen is a new writer to me, so I was super excited she was one of the two featured this week. Her book, Sage, The Fall of Onagros looks intriguing. You can read an excerpt here.

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RUMOR GONE WILD

Things have been a little crazy lately, but I’m starting to find some time to catch up on some stuff. There’s still family in town, sick relatives, and the end of the year, but I miss you guys so much that I had to find the time to check in.

Funny thing happened last week. A rumor went viral around my home town that Escapement was coming out as a movie. Gee, don’t you love those kind of rumors?

Okay, the rumor was justified. There was a promo poster for Escapement that a local theater put up in a ‘coming soon’ back-lit poster box. I received a lot of pm’s, emails, texts and phone calls.

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Writing Update

I’ve been working on a crazy new book for a genre outside my comfort zone, a historical western romance. It’s been fun and crazy. I’m at 24,000 words from about eight days of writing on it. I love a challenge and it’s allowed me to stretch myself as a writer.

Also, I’ve begun writing Pendulum. The book that people are on my case to produce has been the toughest to write. It took three days for me to write a mere 5000 words. I’m completely obsessed with the characters, world, and what is about to happen to them that I can’t sleep. The only problem is that I haven’t found any writing time. I hope I’ll get some done this week.

Don’t forget to shout out for Laura Eno and Marian Allen!!

Archaeologist David Alexander investigates the cave where his father disappeared and hurtles into another world, one filled with magic and bizarre creatures. The mad ravings in his father’s journals of icemen and dragons may not be fantasies after all.

Convinced his father may still be alive, David begins a treacherous journey to find him and discover a way home. Along the way, he encounters a few unlikely friends. A Dreean warrior, a beautiful thief and a satyr join him as he searches.

David’s arrival into this new world sets off an explosive chain reaction of events. Faced with powerful adversaries and few clues, he may not get the chance to rescue his father before disaster strikes, condemning both of them to death. Or worse.

Read Excerpt

Purchase at: KindleUS,  KindleUK, Nook, Smashwords, Kobo, Trade Paperback

 Add to your Goodreads

Laura Eno. Speculative Fiction wordsmith. The secret to her stories? Spread lies, blend in truths, add a pinch of snark and a dash of tears. Escape into her world. She left the porch light on so you could find your way down the rabbit hole.

Follow Me!
http://lauraeno.com/blog
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraEno
http://twitter.com/lauraeno

Knightfall tells the story of a young genius who is cast into another world after his experiment is sabotaged.  The world is immediately similar but different, with elements that he can recognize but at the same time seem out of place.

Looking back, this is exactly how I was feeling when I started to write the book.  I was 18 and had just moved away from home to study at University.  Manchester is a city similar to Birmingham (where I grew up) but at the same time different.  Buildings there are made with a differently coloured brick, accents and local colloquialisms seem off and strange, and I was making new friends who felt much the same as I did.  At fifteen, Ben was still considered a child at home (despite his intellect), but in his new world, fifteen is very much grown up.  Again, I was feeling that I had to play the grown up and fend for myself for the first time in my life, though I still felt very much a child inside.  Those first few days were both exciting and terrifying as I explored my new world, and I after reading through the opening chapters again, that is exactly how Ben was feeling.

Almost twenty years later, after losing my job, I found the incomplete story with its copious notes under the stairs.  Reading through, the world of Benjamin Knight still thrilled and excited me and pretty soon I jump straight back in.  My world view had changed a little, and some of the pieces needed a re-write before I finished the first book, but in the end it’s just what I imagined it would be all those years ago.  Seeing the cover for the first time was almost as exciting as holding my newborn daughter (but only almost Jessica, I promise!), as this world that had existed only in my head was finally realised and in my hands.  Now I can’t wait to get started on the computer every morning and see where Ben an his friends are going to take me today.

I hope any readers out there enjoyed my book, and if you contact me through my website or blog, I will do my best to get back to you asap.

Thanks

Rob Jackson-Lawrence

Knightfall blurb:

Lord of the Rings for the Call of Duty generation.

When his world changing experiment is sabotaged, fifteen year old genius Benjamin Knight is
cast into another world where an uneasy peace hangs in the balance. Saved from near death by a band of traders, he joins the Road Trains on their journey north as he struggles to understand what’s happened to him.

However, Ben soon realizes that everyone has their secrets and that no one is safe, especially when one man has the power to realize his ambitions.

Friends are lost, plots revealed and battles fought as the unlikely companions seek to prevent war.

Will appeal to fans of Anthony Horowitz, Suzanne Collins, Michael Grant, Garth Nix etc

Knightfall can be purchased at Amazon UK , US  and Canada. 

A fan of writing since he could first hold a crayon, R Jackson-Lawrence has had a tortuous path before reaching this point in his life.  In between working in a supermarket, care home and hospital, and having a family, it took nearly twenty years for his first book to be finished.  Weirder still, after only three months his second book is half done!

We are coming to the end of our A to Z challenge. Instead of doing each of the final letters I wanted to thank everyone for playing along with this month’s challenge.

I’ll be sharing a follow-up post later this week then I’ll be taking a blog break to catch-up on a few things. I’m going to go in my reading cave to finish up a few books that I promised to write back cover blurbs for because I don’t want to let my fellow writers down. Over the summer I’ll be posting once a week excluding when I’m at conferences and want to share some of the readers with you that I meet. Due to people’s chaotic schedules, I use summer to catch up on reading and writing reviews. I’m looking forward to reading some amazing stories from many of my blogging friends.

I greatly appreciate all of your support and I hope you’ve enjoyed the challenge. I encourage you to visit the brain behind it all, Arlee Bird at the A to Z challenge blog.  He is a dynamic individual that I totally find fascinating.

Did you participate in the challenge? Are you cutting back on blogging this summer? Have you read any great books lately?

A to Z will soon come to an end. Only three more letters! Today we are covering the letters U and V.
 
 

 U is for Uranium. In Escapement, Neuamrians are enslaved to work the mines in order to extract uranium to run the queen’s reactor on her ship. Energy resources are scarce since the war so Uranium is an important ore.
 
A by product of Uranium produces a florescent green beverage the saloon serves called Verillian juice. It is the alcoholic beverage of choice for most humans, slaves, and guards due to its availability in that territory.

Sorry guys, but my S post fell through. I was waiting on something cool to share, but it wasn’t ready in time. Just in case it comes in this week, I’m not going to share what it was.

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Tumultus

Tumultus is Latin for…

Does anyone know? No going to the internet and looking it up.

This word was utilized during the uprising to communicate between spies, rebels and anyone involved in the cause.

Also, the letter T is significant in Escapement, but I’m not going to share why. Perhaps someone who read it might share, but I’m not that nice.

The Neumarian uprising began on February 25th. Many humans, Neumarians and Kantians joined the fight. At this time, rebels function in secret. This allows the uprising an opportunity to organize and train rebels for the fight to free slaves.

The queen came into power after the government was allegedly brought down by Neumarians. As a scientist, she had insider knowledge on how to deal with the threat. Like any villain, there is more to her than just hatred for no reason. In Pendulum we’ll discover what drives her to hate the Neumarians and why she is obsessed with power.

During the war, the queen lost one eye, a hand, and a foot. She is constantly searching for new technology to better physical abilities, and experiments on Neumarians in order to develop her science.

As promised, I have a special guest today! I know you are going to LOVE her! Oh, an there is cake!!

A post-apocalyptic world, danger at every turn, enslaved people fighting for their freedom, and cake. Hello, my name is Heather Eustis-Fillion and I am a graduate from Le Cordon Bleu Baking and Patisserie program.  My joy of baking comes from the creation process. Being able to take an idea and shape it into something tangible. Much like writing, I feel each creation is its own story. When Ciara asked me to create a Neumarian dessert for her blog I leapt at the opportunity. This opportunity has allowed me to blend my two favorite activities; reading and baking.

Escapement for me is an intense, fast-past novel illustrating the endurance of the human spirit and the tenacity of the human heart. I felt an instant kinship to Princess Semara from the first page.  Turning sixteen is never easy. Add to that, rebelling against your mother, leading a revolution, and learning how to control a power, it’s a rough age.  Her stubbornness, love, and spark deeply influenced my creation. In honor of her birthday, I have created a cake I feel captures the fire she keeps inside. After all nothing says, “Happy Birthday” better than a cake.

 
 
Princess Semara’s Birthday Cake is a very simple creation. For me, I saw her with bold and bright flavors, like the spark inside of her. I did an orange cake, raspberry, black pepper jam filling, and a lemon cream cheese frosting. Since Bendar had access to fruits and other yummy options, I imagined this would be something he created.  I bake all of my creations from scratch. However I do know that not everyone is, shall we say, baking inclined. So below is a variation accessible to all. Perfect for the post-apocalyptic birthday party.
 
Cake:

1 box of yellow cake mix

2 tsp. of orange jello (for color)

Zest of 1 large orange

  Follow the directions on the box. Add the orange jello and orange zest in with the other ingredients and mix properly. (I choose to go with orange but feel free to get creative and use other flavors. For example, instead of orange, you could with lime. Substitute accordingly) Bake in oven until done.

Fillings can be whatever jam’s you choose to use. I made my own raspberry reduction and added black pepper as an undertone. Get creative!

Icing:

8 oz. cream cheese; room temperature (1 box)

8 oz. butter; room temperature (2 sticks)

16 oz. of powdered sugar

Lemon extract (to taste)

Cream the butter and cream cheese in mixer until smooth. Add extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar into the creamed butter and cream cheese until desired stiffness. (If the icing becomes too stiff, add a little milk to thin it out)

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.  Chef.h.eustace(at)gmail(dot)com
 
Thank you so much for being here today, Heather!! Oh my goodness, the cake is delicious!!! You are a talented chef!

Operation

In 2185, lasers are readily used for operations. Many of the Kantian procedures are cosmetic procedures designed to maintain a youthful and flawless appearance. Lasers are used to slice and repair skin with little to no pain.

Of course, for the Neumarian Population, operations are different. It is usually done in the back room of the saloon or hotel, with no more than a knife and some spirits to dull the pain.

Humans are cared for by Kantians, so most are provided necessary procedures at Kantian facilities. Due to the humans lesser intelligence and stamina, they are not granted elective procedures for their own protection.

SPECIAL GUEST TOMORROW!!! Stop by to see a Neumarian cake created by a pastry chef. It looks delicious!!!