Author: Katie L. Carroll (Page 58 of 142)

Book Blast PALACE OF THE THREE CROSSES by Christina Weigand

September 25, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Today fellow MuseItUp author Christina Weigand stops by the share the 2nd anniversary of her YA fantasy novel PALACE OF THE THREE CROSSES. Let’s give her a big welcome!

palaceofthethreecrosses333x500 (1) PALACE OF THE THREE CROSSES blurb:

Brandan and Joachim have returned from the brink of Hell, but everyone questions if they are truly healed and one with Asha.

As each prince tries to readjust to life, they must face the funeral of their father and their missing mother.

They each take on the responsibility of ruling a country with new wives by their sides, but can they and the countries survive the trials that will ensue because of their choices?

Find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the MuseItUp bookstore.

Excerpt:

Outside the chapel, Waldrom, Brandan, and Joachim stood in a triangle. Waldrom laughed. “So nice to have you two in one place, makes my goal so much easier to achieve. Now I have both of you. Oh, did you know your mother rejoined me.”

Derdrom walked forward leading Lilia in chains.

“We could have been one happy family, but now, I have to kill the two of you along with Lilia. You brats have put me in disfavor with Sidramah, and the only way to regain his favor is to get rid of all three of you. I had hoped to spare at least one, but alas, that is now impossible. The only question is…who’s first? The time has come for a decision.”

Brandan stood beside Joachim, his face working with barely controlled rage. Brandan lunged toward Waldrom.

Waldrom sensed the presence of magic and glanced behind him. Rupert and Lukan stood behind him. He grabbed Lilia and pulled her close, placing his short sword at her throat. “I suggest you stop, or I will cut her throat,” he warned Brandan. To emphasize his point, he pressed the sword against her skin puncturing her flesh.

Brandan, with sword drawn, took another step.

“I wouldn’t do that, unless you want your mother’s corpse on your hands.”

Brandan advanced, as Waldrom muttered a spell to compel the king to keep moving and cut a little deeper drawing blood. He felt Lilia quivering in his arms.

A woman stepped out of the chapel, carrying a sword covered in blood. “Brandan, what are you doing? There’s a battle being fought. Why are you out here and not inside helping me?”

Waldrom glanced at the new arrival. He did not recognize her and turned his attention back to Brandan, who was still advancing. “Well, I see you’ve gone and made yourself right at home. You even found a strumpet to help warm the place up. I should have known you wouldn’t waste any time. Sorry to break up this little party, but it’s still my kingdom. I would greatly appreciate if you would all leave. But, since you won’t go, I’ll have to remove you myself. Where were we? I was deciding which of you to kill. I see, though, a few have been added to the numbers. All the more fun for me. Although it may be a little more painful for you, but that doesn’t matter. Should Lilia remain my first choice?”

* * * *

Magda grabbed Brandan’s arm. She recognized Waldrom and had as much against him as Brandan and her father. “Wait, Brandan, I will deal with this.”

She moved toward Waldrom, but a voice in her head cautioned her. “Don’t reveal yourself. This is not our battle. Walk away. Let Waldrom do what he will.” She glanced around. Whose voice did she hear? It sounded like Melvane, but he was nowhere in sight. Upon further consideration, she realized this wasn’t her battle. She had every reason to want Waldrom out of the way, and if she let him get rid of these humans and the Kningrad, then she could deal with him at my leisure.

The voice spoke again. “That is right, let Waldrom do what he may, and then we will take care of him.”

Magda dropped her sword arm. “Brandan I don’t know what’s going on here, but I don’t want any part of it.” She turned and walked back into the chapel. “Hurry up and finish out here. I’ve taken care of those in the chapel so we can begin the joining once you’ve ended things. we’ve a joining to conclude. I’ll be waiting.” She slammed the door behind her. Waldrom’s voice followed her into the echoing chamber of the chapel.

Waldrom laughed. “Brandan, I would say you haven’t made a very good choice. You should be grateful I am going to end your life so you don’t have to put up with her much longer. Now where was I?”

* * * *

Joachim wanted to run to Lilia, but his head whirled. Stars floated in front of his eyes, their motion making him sick with dizziness. He stepped up to stand beside Brandan. “Waldrom, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. First, you are seriously outnumbered. Second, what makes you think you can use Mother to blackmail us? Such childishness, using a woman to negotiate, instead of dealing on a man-to-man level. Let her go, and we will discuss your surrender. I don’t want to kill you.”

Brandan pushed Joachim aside. “You may not, brother, but I do. He will stop at nothing to destroy me, and I can’t let that happen.”

A group of Brandan’s personal guard came charging down the hall. Waldrom pushed the sword point a little further into Lilia’s throat. “I see you boys still don’t agree on anything. I suggest you stop the group of soldiers from attacking me. Rupert, I know you’re back there, trying to form a spell to stop me. That wouldn’t be a good idea either.”

The tableau unfolded before Joachim’s eyes. Waldrom, in the center of the circle holding Lilia with a short sword slicing her throat and Brandan, his long sword drawn, advancing on Waldrom. Rupert and Lukan stood motionless behind Waldrom. Lukan had his sword drawn. Conflicting voices rang in Joa’s head. “Kill them all. You don’t need them.” Other voices calling, “Joachim save them. They need you.”

Lukan yelled, “Sire, watch out behind you.”

Joachim started and turned as a Mantion rushed at him. He pulled his short sword from his scabbard and stood before the coming onslaught. As the attacker reached him, he swung his weapon cutting and angering the Mantion. The foe sliced at Joachim’s knees with his knife, leaving a gash in his thigh. When Joachim doubled over in pain, the Mantion leapt on his back and pummeled the king. Suddenly, the weight of the attacker lifted from his back. Joachim fearfully turned his head, expecting to see the Mantion standing over him ready to deliver the kill stroke.

About the Author:

Christina Weigand’s a writer, wife, and mother of three grown children and a middle school daughter. She is also Nana to three granddaughters. She lives with her husband and youngest daughter in Pennsylvania after a short sabbatical in the lovely state of Washington. She has three published YA Christian Fantasy novels; Palace of the Twelve Pillars: Book One, Palace of the Three Crosses: Book Two and Sanctuary of Nine Dragons: Book Three. She also has a woman’s Bible study Women of the Bible: A Study published. Through her writing she strives to share the Word of God and help people young and old to realize the love and mercy He has for everyone.

She is currently working on a series of fantasy books in which her dragons travel through the history of Christianity to protect and spread the Word of God and His children. The first draft of three of the books are finished, a fourth one is started with plans for a few more, although she is not sure which periods. She has also just started doing freelance writing and development for a new video game.

When she’s not writing she’s active in her local Church as a lector, Bible Study, and helping children develop a love for reading and writing. Jesus fills her home with love as she shares Him through her writing.

Find Christina on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and on her Amazon author page.

Use Your Words by Linda Budzinski Author of EM & EM

September 16, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Today’s guest blogger is yet another wonderful writer friend of mine I met at the Eastern PA SCBWI Poconos conference. (I’ve seriously met so many amazing writers there, and I haven’t even been for several years!) Join Linda Budzinski as she celebrates the release of her new YA contemporary EM & EM. Be sure to enter the giveaway!

Use Your Words

by Linda Budzinski

Dear Readers:

As writers and readers, we appreciate the immense power of words. They’re like a secret weapon—one we all possess and can use for good or for evil.

In EM & EM, Emily Slovkowski finds herself the victim of a single word: Slutkowski. After a GIF of her behaving badly at a party makes the rounds, her classmates taunt her with that word to the point that she allows it to define her.

Fortunately, in her new life under Witness Protection as Ember O’Malley, she makes friends who have new words for her—smart, funny, brave—words that allow her to see herself in a new light.

The words we use, the labels we apply to one another, matter.

My senior year in high school, I applied for a grant for college. I had to fill out an application, write an essay, and do an in-person interview. Partway through the interview, the very intimidating gentleman who was assessing my grant-worthiness pulled out my essay and said, “Your command of the English language is remarkable.”

I don’t remember what my essay was about, nor do I remember anything else about that interview, but I remember that moment as clearly as if it were yesterday. I have relived it in my mind many, many times since. Why? I’m not sure. I only know that it made a huge impression and is a big part of the reason I’m a writer today. I am sure that gentleman, if he is still alive, would not remember me. He would not remember his remark. But his words made a difference.

We hear a lot these days about the prevalence of bullying and the destructive power of cruel words. The good new is, encouraging words possess equal, and maybe even stronger, powers.

How are you using your words?

EM & EM blurb:

The last thing sixteen-year-old Emily Slovkowski wants is to move away from her home at the Jersey shore, gorgeous surfer boyfriend Zach, and her entire identity. But that’s kind of how Witness Protection works, and Em must prepare herself for an epic do-over as she starts a new life in the Midwest.

Even as she pines for sandy beaches and the night life of the shore, the newly-named Ember O’Malley finds herself making new friends, taking photos for the high school newspaper, and thinking an awful lot about the paper’s editor, an oddly cute cowboy named Charles.

When Em stumbles upon a shady beneath-the-bleachers exchange between one of the school’s football coaches and a student, she refuses to get involved. The last thing she needs is to be witness to another crime or call attention to herself. Besides, she finally has some real friends – well, real except for the fact that they don’t know a single thing about her – and she prefers to keep it that way until the trial.

But as her day in court approaches, Em begins piecing together what she saw that day beneath the bleachers. And, as her own past secrets start to catch up with her, Em needs to figure out who she really is – Em or Em.

Link to Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24980193-em-and-em

Purchase Links:

BAM | Chapters | Amazon | B&N | TBD |

About the Author:

Linda Acorn Budzinski decided in the second grade that she wanted to be a “Paperback Writer,” just like in the Beatles song. She majored in journalism in college and now works in marketing and communications. She spent 18 years at a trade association in the funeral service industry, where she discovered that funeral directors are some of the bravest and most compassionate people on earth. Linda lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Joe, and their chihuahua, Demitria. She has two step-daughters, Eris and Sarah. THE FUNERAL SINGER is her debut novel. She is represented by Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger Inc.

THE FUNERAL SINGER is Linda Budzinski’s first novel.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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September Ink Ripples: School Butterflies & Fall Leaves

September 14, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Second Monday of the months means a new #inkripples post!

I love the long, lazy days of summer. Wearing as little clothing as possible; going barefoot in the crunchy, dried out grass; running through every sprinkler you pass by. The summer just feels easy to me. The only thing that makes the end of summer okay is that it leads into my second favorite season: fall!

Apple picking (though sometimes this is an end-of-summer thing), limitless blue skies, jumping into piles of leaves, and that certain earthy smell that fall brings. Ahhh, fall is nice.

Then there’s that other thing that the end of summer brings: school! It’s been many years since I’ve been in school, but now that The Boy is in his second year of preschool (and the first year that he is starting in September…he was too young to start in September last year), I’m remembering about those beginning of school butterflies and that tiny bit of dread that the freedom of summer is over.

So lots of mixed feelings over here during this time of year. How are you all faring during the change of season from summer to fall?

Have you joined the #inkripples movement yet? Ripples in the Inkwell is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll(me!). On the second Monday of each month, we post on a particular topic. The idea is that we toss a word, idea, or image into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There’s no wrong way to do it and we’d love for you to participate (full details here). September is all about school and fall. Be sure to provide a link to your own #inkripple in the comments!

Loving My Soccer Shorts (That’s Stories, Not Clothing)

September 11, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

A fun little project I’ve been working on all year long is my Tales from the Field series, high school soccer short stories on the Lightning Quick Reads blog. I’ve featured a few of them here, and I think I’ll continue to do so. They’ve brought up a lot of fun memories of when I played high school soccer and have been really fun to write.

This month’s is a sort of follow-up to August’s tale, which is called “Paloma’s Night Out” and is the first half of the infamous prank night known to the players as Dog Day Eve. You don’t have to read this one to enjoy September’s tale, but it might be fun to check it out first.

September’s tale is called “Mac’s Ultimate Prank” and really gets into the prank they women’s soccer team is pulling. Here’s a teaser:

Tales from the Field: Mac’s Ultimate Prank by Katie L. Carroll

Central High women’s soccer team: schooling the boys’ team on the field since 2012. Now it’s time to school them off the field.

I mute the music and kill the lights on my mom’s SUV, packed full of my teammates, as we approach our rival school, Valley High. The speedometer hovers below 20 mph. A block away from the school, I park behind a beat-up sedan, also packed full of soccer players.

Malcolm, the captain of the boys’ team (yes, I said boys, not men…because no high school guy is actually a man), leans against his car, his dreadlocks peeking out from under a black winter hat. We’re all dressed in black to blend in with the October night. Megan and I slip out of the SUV to talk strategy with him.

“Mac. Megan,” he whispers in greeting, his breath puffing in the cold air. We’re not close enough to the school to be heard by anyone there, but we’re not taking any chances of talking loudly and disturbing the neighborhood. “You ladies ready for this?”

“We were born ready,” I say before Megan can answer. She’s our captain and the boss on the soccer field, but I’m in charge tonight.

The thing is every year the Central High women’s soccer team has a better record than the boys’ team. And it goes without saying (though I’m going to say it) that we look a helluva lot better out on the field than they do.

But there is one thing the boys’ team is better at than us: they always pull the best Dog Day Eve prank. So this year (my senior—and final—year), I’m determined to one up them by stealing Benji the Bulldog, Valley’s mascot. And I’ve come up with a brilliant plan…

You can check out the rest of the story at the Lightning Quick Reads blog! Enjoy!

Updates, Getting Back into the Writing Groove, and a Call for Guest Posts

September 9, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

First off, my guest blog schedule is pretty wide open for the fall, so I’m definitely looking for guest posts to come my way. If you have a book coming out or an older one you’d like to promote, I’d love to have you on the blog. I prefer a post with some original thoughts (though it could be a post that’s been posted elsewhere) as opposed to something purely promotional.

You don’t have to be published or even a writer to guest post either. I’d love some short, fun posts about anything to do with writing, reading, the creative process, or whatever interesting ideas you might have. Hit me up on my contact page if you’re interested or mention it the comments with an easy way to contact you!

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled post…

So technically it’s still summer (and it certainly feels like summer this week here in CT), but school’s already back in session and the air and earth are starting to get that fall feel and smell to it. That means my non-summer schedule has started and with it comes more writing time. Yay!

Though I certainly have enjoyed all the fun times we’ve been having this summer and all out outside time, I’m definitely looking forward to sinking my teeth back into my writing projects.

In particular I’ve been chomping at the bit to get back to revising my YA thriller. Even with beta reader feedback coming in (and those ever-present doubts are rearing up, making me questions my abilities to pull off what I’m trying to accomplish with this story), I’ve never been so excited about the thought of sending a piece of writing out. So I’m hoping to ride this wave of confidence to the finish line and get to submitting it soon.

After that I don’t have any set plans on what I’ll be working on next. It’s a freeing and exciting feeling. I love the prospect of starting something new (or possibly digging back into something I put away for awhile but may come back to soon). The world is wide open at this point for me.

So how was everyone’s summer? What are your plans for the fall?