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Thank you!

The King’s Scrolls Cover Reveal

Today we're delighted to be a part of the cover reveal of the soon-to-be released book, The King's Scrolls (Ilyon Chronicles - Book Two). Look for it in early 2015!

About the Book

Following the harrowing events that brought them to Landale Forest, Jace and Kyrin have settled comfortably into their new lives and the mission of protecting those under the emperor’s persecution. The fast approach of winter brings with it the anticipation of a quiet few months ahead. That is until the arrival of four mysterious, dragon-riding cretes who seek aid in a mission of great importance—not only to their own people, but to all followers of Elôm.

Hidden in the vast mining valley north of Valcré, a faithful crete has spent years sharing his knowledge with the destitute miners and their families and is known to possess what may be Arcacia’s last surviving copies of the King’s Scrolls—the Word of Elôm. Joining the cretes, those in Landale must find the crete teacher and bring him to safety, but it is a race against time. Should Daican’s men find him first, execution and the destruction of the Scrolls is certain.

When disaster strikes, all seems lost. Could Elôm have a plan even in the enemy’s triumph?

About the Author

Jaye L. Knight is a homeschool graduated indie author with a passion for writing Christian fantasy and clean new adult fiction. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

Giveaway

To celebrate her revealing of the cover, Jaye is giving away one of her handcrafted quill pen necklaces and a $5 Amazon gift card! Enter for a chance to win using the form below! U.S. entries only please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt

The other younger crete took a swig of his coffee and set his eyes past her. Kyrin peeked over her shoulder at Kaden who, of course, was staring at the dragon. The female creature stared back in mutual interest.

“Go ahead,” the crete said suddenly. “You can touch her. She loves attention, and she’ll only attack if I tell her to.” A sly glint sparkled in his spring-green eyes.

Besides Jace, Kyrin had never seen anyone with such bright and colorful eyes as these cretes.

Kaden looked at him, his brows rising. “You can do that?”

The crete nodded. “Dragons are highly intelligent. You can teach them almost any command. Storm here is young, but she learns fast.”

Kyrin smiled at the delight in her brother’s eyes as he stepped closer to the dragon and ran his hand over her bluish-gray neck scales. A grin split his face.

“She’s so smooth. Kyrin, come and feel it.”

Kyrin stepped to his side and laid her hand on the dragon. The scales were indeed very smooth, reminding her of the polished marble stair-railings in Auréa Palace, but they weren’t cold. Warmth radiated through them. The dragon, still watching them, let out a little rumble, almost like a giant cat’s purr.

“I told you she liked attention,” the crete said, grinning.

Kyrin chuckled and glanced at Jace to see if he wanted to touch the dragon, but he made no move to come closer. This certainly had more to do with the crete than the dragon. He was very fond of any type of animal. She faced the crete again.

“So they can breathe fire?”

“For short bursts, but that’s usually all it takes to deter any threat.”

“That’s incredible,” Kaden breathed.

While he continued admiring Storm, Kyrin observed the dragon’s rider. He appeared to be in his early to mid-twenties—about ten years younger than Captain Darq—though his exact age was impossible to guess. Cretes were said to mature faster than humans, so he could be anywhere from seventeen to twenty-five. He too wore a sleeveless jerkin. Brown tattoos, a little darker than his skin, marked both shoulders. Darq and the other cretes had them as well, but Kyrin hadn’t taken a good look at them until now. This man’s were a complicated pattern of spirals and dots, but the shape of a fox stood out in the center of his right shoulder.

Though she tried to be discreet, he must have caught her studying him and suddenly extended his hand to her. “I’m Talas, by the way. Talas Folkan of the Fox Clan.”

To see the other blogs participating and to visit the author's blog, click here.

Book Review: Made in the USA by Alisa Jordheim

Made in the USA: The Sex Trafficking of America's Children by Alisa Jordheim

Trafficking is a difficult subject to address. How do you find the balance of showing enough but not too much—of describing the violence without being gratuitous? Made in the USA does exactly that.

The passion of Jordheim and those who helped create the book is evident. The sections each give facts and figures, backed by research and quotes. Each of the five stories presented shows a different side of trafficking. Every mention of a victim or survivor is filled with respect and love.

And all of it is heartbreaking. I recommend keeping a box of tissues beside you as you read. I had to take breaks between each story.

The facts are explained well, the quotes from those working to stop trafficking, those involved in it, and those used by it help give it a personal feel, and the five main stories bring it to life. It’s not something I want to think about or imagine, but it’s happening. Because of that, this book is so important and needed.

The stories are graphic. The violence isn’t sugar-coated, but it’s also not gratuitous. Some of the more explicit content is heavily implied but not shown—it’s very well done. By the end of each section, after all the facts, stories, and quotes, the reader is left with both a strong sense of injustice and a feeling of hope for the future. These girls and boys got away. Others can, too.

This is a cause I’ve cared about for many years, since I first learned it was happening. I knew there was trafficking in America, but this book showed how prevalent it actually is. It gave me a renewed desire to help. As someone who wanted to get involved but didn’t know how, I appreciate the list of resources at the end of the book.

This is an excellent book, a difficult read, and it includes stories that need to be heard. Jordheim is helping bright to light a subject that has been too much in the dark.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.

Want to learn more?

Justice Society - Alisa Jordheim's anti-trafficking organization

Made in the USA -- Amazon

Alisa Jordheim - Twitter

A New Resource

The website itself may not be new, but it's new to me. Maybe it's new to you, too!

I'm always on the lookout for quality artwork and fonts to use on covers and in book layouts. That's exactly what Creative Market offers. They have fonts, photos, graphics, templates, illustrations, fonts, web themes, and Photoshop add-ons (brushes, actions, layer styles, &c.).

The prices are reasonable, and the use license is generous - the purchase of one license gives you (but only you, of course) access to the item for as many commercial or personal projects as you'd like.

Here are some products I've been eyeing...

$80 $60 (until November 1st)

The designs here would work well in a book layout! Only $5!

This one is very fun! $19

By the way, I should tell you I enjoyed the site so much that I signed up as a partner - all links included here and in future posts are affiliate.

Enjoy!

Book Review: If One Falls

If One Falls by Elaine H. Baldwin

One of my favorite parts of the book is the way Esa and Wynn's friendship develops and grows slowly throughout the book. There was never a jarring point of “now we’re friends” as there sometimes is in stories like this. Rather, as they realized they were friends, so did the reader. It happened bit by bit – as it would in real life. The author did this beautifully.

The evil characters throughout the book are clearly bad - all bad. There seemed to be something missing, for me. In my experience, people are complex. I didn’t see the motivation behind their actions. Maybe that’s something book two will dive into more, but I was hoping for some insight within book one.

The character development of both Esa and Wynn is excellent. They both grow realistically throughout the book. It was interesting to see their ways of speaking (mainly using contractions or not) change as they entered different circumstances, too. 

As a small note, I love Pax!

Some of the secondary characters were more 2D than they could be. With the main story told from Esa and Wynn’s perspectives, that’s natural, but I did feel their characters could have been developed more. By the end of the book I knew a lot about Wynn and Esa, but very little about many other characters.

I really enjoyed the periodic reveals of characters' pasts (particularly Wynn’s) and the slow disclosing of magical elements throughout the story. 

The grammar could use another pair of eyes. In addition, the use of diction within dialog was sometimes distracting. I’m not opposed to making dialog unique like this – in fact, it’s often a very good thing – but sometimes it felt like too much. A distinctive phrase here and there goes a long way.

The ending, while it does lead into book two, felt anticlimactic to me. I was left with a feeling of “wait, what?” It seemed a little rushed, especially since the rest of the book progressed steadily (not too slow, but savoring in the right moments). There is also a point (I’m being vague here in an effort to avoid spoilers) where I had to blink and reread, and I still wasn’t sure I believed it.

The sadder parts in the book were written well. I really felt for the characters as they dealt with what sometimes seemed like struggle after struggle. The emotions they feel are universal, and I appreciate the way the author handled them.

If One Falls has a lot of potential. The plot is one I haven’t seen done often, and I appreciate the focus on friendship, rather than romance. The book could use another round of edits, though, and the ending could come to a more satisfying close.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Rivershore's overall winner, Lydia F.!

She is the winner of 30% off any Rivershore service (or 5% off one, 10% off another, and 15% off a third), $30 in gift cards, and all five of Jansina's ebooks (plus a bonus surprise)!

Here are her winning entries:

Thank you to everyone who participated in and shared about the giveaway!

Giveaway: Two Days Left!

Two days left to enter the Book Lovers' Giveaways!

Many entries can be done with a simple Twitter, Facebook, blog, or Pinterest post. I finished this entire post (worth 12 entries!) in just a little over an hour.

Even better? One person could win all three giveaways - a combined total of 30% off, $30 in gift cards, and all five of my ebooks (plus a sneak peek at my WIP, since I don't have a sixth book to give)!

The more you do, the better chance you have of winning, but even just one entry could get you a prize (that's the beauty of raffles).

Medium

3. Write to an author whose books you enjoy: I wrote to Kathryn Elizabeth Jones, author of Conquering your Goliaths (among others), to let her know how much I enjoyed her audiobook.

4. Write a book review: I reviewed Reasons My Kid Is Crying by Greg Pembroke.

Read my review here.

5. Check out an indie author whose books you haven't read yet: I got an ebook version of David Bergsland's newest, Designing ePUBs With InDesign.

6. Organize your bookshelf.

My newly-organized (little) shelf of books:

Expert

1. Create a new cover for a book you love. I picked Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

2. Paint a scene from a book. Anne's unpleasant hair-dying experience from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. "She said it would be a beautiful, raven black!"

(I'm not an artist, so I "cheated" with Photoshop and stock photos. Feel free to do the same!)

Original artwork by Morgan LaRue

3. Rewrite a famous book scene: Lucy discovering Narnia in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

Lucy stepped into the cold, wishing she had thought to bring her coat. But how would I have known? I certainly didn't expect it to be winter here when I was just playing in the warm sun! The door she'd gone through was the same one she had come out of an hour before, wasn't it?

Her curiosity grew as her eyes focused upon a man with furry legs. I would give my left shoe to have a snowsuit like his! Maybe he'd accept it, too, since he didn't seem to have any shoes of his own.

Are those...hooves?

4. Draw a character who interests you: Foehn from Toxic by Vicki V. Lucas.

(Again, I "cheated.")

(Yes, it's thilly.)

5. Create a "movie" poster based on a book: When It Rains by C.M. Stewart isn't yet released, but I've had a chance to get to know her characters and her writing style, and I know it will be wonderful!

6. Write a newspaper article about a book you loved or hated. Treat it like a news release.

Debut author makes a big splash! Monster by Mirriam Neal arrived in online stores everywhere on June 30th, 2013. Already a fan favorite with at least one award to its name, this is sure to be a classic. Get your copy today! Just $3.99 on the Kindle.

8. Are there any author signings happening in your area? On September 7th, there is a book signing for Nathan Johnson's book, Legendary Locals of Pine City. I hadn't heard of this book or author before, but I'm intrigued!

9. Act out a scene from your favorite book - on your own or with friends. I acted out a scene from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night when I was in England. Yes, this was years ago. It still counts! (The same goes for you, of course.)

(That's me on the far right, playing Viola.)

I have just two entries left! (Go on a book tour and create a fort with your books.) I can't promise they'll be done before the giveaways end, but they will be done soon!