Monday, November 18, 2013

Moonless/Diamonds and Dust Release, New Members, and The 2013 Cheersfest "Roastee" Announcement!


Hello! It's Monday! That means a much-needed announcement must be made about two new fantasy releases! First, Jane Eyre meets Supernatural in Crystal Collier's Moonless, and River Fairchild's first book in the Jewels of Chandra series, Diamonds and Dust, has come (descriptions courtesy of Goodreads). Congratulations to you both!

http://www.amazon.com/Moonless-Crystal-Collier-ebook/dp/B00FADL0A6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384538629&sr=8-1&keywords=moonless
In the English society of 1768 where women are bred to marry, unattractive Alexia, just sixteen, believes she will end up alone. But on the county doorstep of a neighbor’s estate, she meets a man straight out of her nightmares, one whose blue eyes threaten to consume her whole world—especially later when she discovers him standing over her murdered host in the middle of the night.

Among the many things to change for her that evening are: her physical appearance—from ghastly to breathtaking, an epidemic of night terrors predicting the future, and the blue-eyed man’s unexpected infusion into her life. Not only do his appearances precede tragedies, but they are echoed by the arrival of ravenous, black-robed wraiths on moonless nights.

Unable to decide whether he is one of these monsters or protecting her from them, she uncovers what her father has been concealing: truths about her own identity, about the blue-eyed man, and about love. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with the man of her dreams and risk becoming one of the Soulless.


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Magic is real. So is betrayal.

Two heirs. A Kingdom of dust on a troubled world. One might resurrect it. One might destroy it all.

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.


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New members continue to file into the starship, it seems! There's plenty of room in here, so please, do make yourselves at home!

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I'm now turning the controls over to our 2013 "Cheersfest" host and valiant Knight of the Cosmic Table, Sir Mark (Madman) Koopmans!

*Shoves DPK away from the controls*

Aloha!

“Ever attended a Christmas party where you bump into the one person who was always there for you during the past year. You’d thank them for being such a RockStar, right?”

So began the inaugural CheersFest (aka AlexFest) when our Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh, was roasted and toasted in December 2012. Everyone (including A-Cav) had such a great time that we’ve decided to do it again.

(Tears really big envelope with a flourish…)

*drum roll*

Ladies and gentlemen . . .

The 2013 recipient of "CheersFest" is none other than ...


On his main blog, “Tossing It Out,” Lee describes himself, in part, “as a writer, speaker, entertainer, music lover, collector, husband, father, grandfather, friend, traveler, seeker of truth and wisdom.”

He majored in English while at the University of Tennessee, has blogged since 2008, and currently has six blogs that delve into his diverse mind.

The original brains behind the annual A to Z Challenge, Lee can be counted on to pay it forward and is a well-respected member of the blogging community.

Hosted again by Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, Stephen Tremp and The Ninja Captain himself, CheersFest 2.0 will go LIVE! Dec. 9, 2013.

In order to properly cheer (or roast) Lee, here are four questions for you to answer on CheersFest Day, but please keep the retorts short – (no longer than 20 words each):

· Why did Lee come up with the A-Z Challenge?

· If someone dreams about being a juggler, what does it mean?

· Is a post by Mr. Bird worth two in the bush?

· Who could play Lee in a documentary? (Living or dead.)


In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:

· Bird · Juggler · Challenge · Brown Jacket · Tossing

For Bonus Points:

· In +/- 40 words, make a caption for Lee’s Facebook picture! 

As usual, the Very Demanding Rules of CheersFest include:

· Join the Linky List *below*

· Have fun

· Post your 200 (total) word contribution ON Monday, Dec. 9, 2013.

· No, seriously. Have Fun!

 Two winners – chosen by Lee – will each win a prize:

· An autographed color photo of Arlee Bird appearing as the Court Wizard in the World of Fantasy Players. Also included in the first prize pack are an assortment of promotional materials from Lee’s show biz days with a personal letter and a brief history of his entertainment career.

· A personalized graphics design from Jeremy at Being Retro for the winner’s blog (Jeremy will design a header, badge, button, banner, or whatever might appeal to the winner). 

Ready to "roast" this Arlee bird? Sign up at the end of this post!

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Update: there's about 8K left for The Undead Road, and I should easily have that taken care of this week. Other than that, I aim to enjoy my last week of leave with my family and Boy 2. Here's to another fantastic week of writing adventures, my good friends!

What do you think of those new releases? How goes the NaNoing? Be honest - who's excited to roast the Arlee Bird next month?

I'm David, and "welcome to Dauntless ..."



To join the "roastfest" of Arlee Bird, please sign up below!

24 comments:

  1. I'm just happy I get to be on the other side of the roasting this year!!!
    Congratulations to Crystal and River.
    8000 more words - done deal, David!

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  2. I'm just happy I didn't crash your blog :-)

    ps: thanks for being a roaster and congrats to Crystal and River, also :-)

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  3. Congrats to Crystal and River on their books. I'll be following some of the blogs roasting Arlee. I've seen his name around a lot and am looking forward to learning more about him.

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  4. Thanks for the welcome, David :) NaNo has stalled (much like the plain my main character had been flying), but thanks for asking. Off to check out the links!!

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  5. These new books sound fantastic, and I'll definitely be checking out all of the Arlee roasters! So much fun.

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  6. Glad to hear NaNo is going well for you. I'm behind on the word count (I mostly blame having to work) but I think my narrator's voice is finally starting to come together. Hopefully it'll be easier and faster to write from here on out.

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  7. I haven't signed up to roast Lee yet, but I might. Have to check my traveling schedule.

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  8. I love the cover to Diamonds! And that's a great trailer for Divergent.

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  9. SO many good things to comment on here!!!!!

    I'll just say you rock, DPK. And stoked to co-host with you for the CheersFest. Lee will be so much fun!

    Now to go watch that trailer again...

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  10. Those books sound pretty interesting.

    The stories that other bloggers will come up with me should be interesting as well. How will the "brown jacket" enter into the stories?

    Thanks to all for the honor of being "roasted".

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  11. I will think about the Arlee Roast (as in participating). Right now I read those questions and word prompts and my mind Blanks. Maybe that will change and I will feel inspired:) If not, I will definitely read them. So glad that Arlee received this honor!!!

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  12. Sounds like a fun roast! And I'm really looking forward to both of those releases :)

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  13. I'm seeing these everywhere today which is awesome! I so want to read the book. I have only read the first book in the Divergent series. I'm hearing mixed reviews on the last book, so I'm not sure I want to read any further.

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  14. My goodness, so many amazing things happening. Thanks for the shout, David, and congrats River! 8k? Wahoo! Write, write, write!

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  15. Ah, congrats to Arlee! Sounds like fun. :)

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  16. Crystal and River's books look incredible. Can't wait to read both of them.

    Signed up to have a little fun with Arlee!

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  17. I really like the theme of the first book you mentioned - that mix of Jane Austen and ugly-duckling stuff always makes for a great plot:)

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  18. I'm so glad there's room- I don't want to be tossed into outer space, lol! =)

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  19. So nice to meet your newest members here! Looking forward to the Cheersfest for Lee.

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  20. The two new releases look awesome! I've seen Moonless all over the blogosphere. Arlee is an awesome blogger. I like his blog about dreams!

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  21. Great books featured. I loved River's story.

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  22. Both those books sound amazing, and look amazing, too--such stunning covers!

    Also, thanks for linking to my blog! :)

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  23. Wow, there's a lot of stuff packed into this post! Awesome books and some new (to me) blogs to look at!
    I need to make a calendar or something for all these events...
    :)

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  24. So jealous you're reading Altered! Oh right not in the post....I just like looking around people's blogs. Any who....ok...ok...um...Mark was here, that's cool. Oh and I got my copy of Moonless Saturday. Yay! River's book definitely has some high points and the cover is bright. Moonless has a beautiful cover too. Of course I'm excited about Divergent 2014. Arlee is definitely a great choice for Cheerfest. I'm going now, have a great day David and congrats on all that progress with your MS.

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