Running Toward Illumia - by Angel Leya

I'm happy to host Angel Leya's blog tour for the Running Toward Illumia series! Her book one of four is free. Check out her magical, engaging writing style. Over to you, Angel...

Hi, I’m Angel Leya, and I write clean young adult stories with (at least) a touch of magic and romance. My latest story is Running Toward Illumia, Astrea’s tale of finding herself while running from the one thing she wants most: To find her sense of belonging.

Astrea’s lived in the Mist all her life, and she loves it there. In fact, she’d do just about anything to feel like she fits in with her Rudan people, even hunt a unicorn to feed her starving tribe.

Illumia is the first city beyond the Mist, just past the Dragon Range. Astrea’s come up with 10 reasons to never go to Illumia. I’ll let her tell you more.

Top 10 Reasons NOT to Travel to Illumia

 

10. They don’t have fog.
Who needs sunshine? I’m a Mist girl. Great for concealing movement, comfortable like an old blanket, and you never have to worry about dry skin. 

9. They don’t all have red hair.
That’s why this tribe is here, despite being sent to the fog to die. And why we call ourselves the Rudan, rather than the Banned.
Wish my hair was redder. And I could use a few more freckles. But I’m one of the Rudan, I swear. I’d be dead if I wasn’t.

8. They’re weak.
Fog weeds out the weak. And if the fog doesn’t, the Lynx, ogres, or Rudan will. Illumians live the easy life. They have no reason to be strong.

7. They’re not very welcoming.
The Rudan take in anyone who can survive the fog. Illumians kicked us out (or at least my parents, but children of the Banned are no less welcome).

6. Illumians are idiots.
Everyone says so.

5. Big government.
I know all five of my council members, and they earned their spot. Like Seneca, first huntress—my mentor. Illumians probably have no idea who runs their council.

4. The journey’s dangerous.
Even if you can navigate the fog, streams filled with flesh-eating fish, and ogre-infested swamps, there’s the dragon range. There’s one pass, guarded by Illumians. The rest is mountain. Treacherous, dragon-housing mountains. No other way around it. Going to Illumia is a fool’s errand.

3. My family’s not there.
If you think getting one person into Illumia is hard, try five. Two brothers, plus Mamaa and Pawpaw.
Course, the whole tribe’s basically family. I’d want to take them all.
Except maybe Mavin. He’s a jerk. (Kidding. Sort of.)

2. I can never come back.
Going to Illumia is a one-way trip. Illumians and dragons ensure that.

1. I don’t want to.
Do I need any other reason?

***

Thanks for reading! If you’d like more, click for an excerpt from Banned, Part 1 of Running Toward Illumia.

Get all 4 parts of Running Toward Illumia today:

1.    Banned (free!)
2.    Lost (On Sale for 99¢ through 2/15/18)
3.    Drenched (On Sale for 99¢ through 2/15/18)
4.    Marked (On Sale for 99¢ through 2/15/18)

Earth to Centauri - by Kumar L

It is my pleasure to host Kumar's blog tour for The Earth to Centauri series (released December 2017)! Be sure to check out his fascinating book trailer here.

Earth to Centauri - Alien Hunt

The year is 2118. The First Journey from Earth into interstellar space has been successful, but the explosive secret carried aboard Voyager 1 will have grave consequences.

As Captain Anara and her crew returns to Earth aboard their faster than light spaceship Antariskh, civil war breaks out on the world they have just left behind. A cryptic message warns her of the dispatch of mercenaries to Earth. Their mission - unknown but deadly. She may have just days to prevent unimaginable carnage on Earth and stop the outbreak of interstellar war.

Her crew and the National Investigation Agency or NIA, engage in the greatest undercover search for the mercenaries in the streets of the megacity. As they race against time to uncover the plot, a traitor is unmasked and Anara herself comes under suspicion. She must use every ounce of her resourcefulness to protect 30 million people and one unique innocent life.

Immerse yourself in an edge of the seat thriller on a realistic future Earth and geek out on the technology just a few decades away from today.

Released in December 2017

Book II is coming soon!

Read the prequel Earth to Centauri - The First Journey

The Timelost - Human vs Alien

A pilot stranded on a faraway planet, timelost. An alien seeking symbiosis.

Visceral alien battles, planetary wars. Experience the adventure...along with edge-of-the-seat SF audio in this Star Wars meets Alien thriller.

In 2014, I started sequencing original SFF to audio using the Booktrack free studio tool, and it offered up a unique, creative experience. I was amazed at how the placement of some well-crafted audio, synced by word, sentence or paragraph could make a story come alive—in the same way a soundtrack makes a movie come alive. To date, I have produced a few dozen, text-and-audio renditions of my stories, drawing on the wide variety of sound clips from the Booktrack audio library.

The Timelost, my most recent production, is a gritty, dystopian foray into the macabre.

The world-building was intense, as I tried to incorporate elements of ‘galactic empire’, the theme of ‘a few struggling against many’, and extraordinary alien adversaries. I also wanted to develop the concept that an ordinary person, the pilot Miko, when plunged into a hostile, colonized, or uncolonized world with chilling advanced alien technology, could become a hero. And not just by circumstance.

The movie Prometheus, even though I had seen it after writing The Timelost, deeply moved me and confirmed my fascination with a SciFi, man-vs-alien conflict. Human and alien genesis theories intertwine as the characters scramble to survive many bizarre and unexpected hostile encounters. The story took on overtones of fantasy horror as it gained momentum, with elements not dissimilar to the Cthulhu mythos a la Lovecraft and the imaginative works of R.E. Howard.


I invite you to enter Miko’s distorted world in The Timelost. The Booktrack text-and-audio based format thrusts the reader into the terrifying unknown of planets of deep space...

Read on Booktrack
Read on Amazon

Dragon of Skar + more...

This month's tale, for all Conan enthusiasts: the dark exploration which picks up where the film “Conan the Barbarian” left off, The Dragon of Skar...
 

“Highly recommended for those of you who are looking for a good adventure, this is highly enjoyable (And this is coming from a girl, mind you). Intense and action-filled with a perfect audio to top it off. Pure genius!”

Enjoy it with a soundtrack here.

Check out fellow author Lincoln Cole's new techno-thriller, Crispr.

A ton of giveaways this month, including "Grinneth" (Fantasy-Adventure), "Touched by the Tithys"  (Fantasy-SF), "Denibus Ar" (Archaeology mystery), and many others by various authors. Scroll down and click any of the image links below.

For those of you who signed up for the free ARC, The Timelost, many thanks! The story is finished. ARC's are available. Sign up for a free review copy here.

Happy reading!

Temple of Vitus Xmas Giveaway

Many free books this month...

 

Adventure and mayhem strike in The Temple of Vitus,

 

Shipwrecked on the coast of an unknown land, Risgan the Relic Retriever stumbles upon a mysterious cult in the ruin of ancient temple grounds. An odd but alluring acolyte takes him under her wing...He gambles with his life...and quite possibly the love of his life....

“Once again Chris Turner delivers. This perfect combination of well-placed audio with an awesome adventure story...”

Enjoy it with a soundtrack here.

Other giveaways include "Land of Maja" (Action-Fantasy), The Movie Maker (near future SF), Flowerfly (YA SF), Beastslayer (Sword and Sorcery), and many others by various authors. Scroll down and click any of the image links below.

For those of you who signed up for the free ARC, The Timelost, many thanks! The story is in its final phases and will be available in mid-January. Sign up for free ARC copies here.

 

Happy reading!