.Blog Tour: #Giveaway #Excerpt: Indigo Awakening by @JordanDane

Welcome to my stop on the Indigo Awakening blog tour hosted by YA Bound.  Click HERE to see the rest of the blog tour schedule! 

 

Blog Tour Schedule

Indigo Awakening

 (The Hunted #1) 
 by Jordan Dane  

Release Date: 12/18/12 

Paperback/e-book 

304 pages 

 

Summary from Goodreads:  

Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.  Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares her.  A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all. 

 

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

 

Rayne Darby meets a mysterious runaway named Gabriel Stewart when she searches for her missing brother Lucas. As Gabriel sinks deeper into awakening psychic powers he doesn’t understand, he is forced to look for answers in a place he hadn’t expected to see again – the Stewart Estate – where he lived as a child. 

 

 

Excerpt – The Stewart Estate in the Bristol Mountains 

Dead leaves swirled at Gabriel's feet and whipped into the air, casting shadows as they moved under the dim light of a single lantern fixed to the stone wall outside the door. The littered front entrance, with its cobwebs and mounds of dust, told him things had changed from what he remembered of the grandeur of the estate. He felt the weight of isolation and an unshakable gloom. 

Now as he stood at a door he never thought he'd see again, he worked up his courage. Seeing this place through a kid's eyes, it had once looked huge and magical. Every room held a mystery. Every old storage trunk told a story. Being here again had tapped into a part of his childhood that would always be special. It surprised him that despite the years—and all that had happened—the place still felt the same. It hadn't changed much. 

He had been the one to change. He wasn't a kid who believed in magic anymore. 

When a spark of guilt kept him from knocking, he glanced over his shoulder at Rayne. She only shrugged and didn't push. She even forced a strained smile. She seemed to sense how hard it had been for him to come here. If his gut didn't feel like a pretzel, he would've kissed her. 

As he reached for the buzzer, the door moved on its own. It opened with a loud rusty creak. 

"Holy shitake!" Rayne cried out, and jumped. She grabbed him by the arm and wouldn't let go. 

The heavy wooden door with its ancient metal hinges inched open and sucked dried leaves into the gaping mouth of the mansion. Gabe stayed put. He stared into the darkness and waited to see who had opened the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jordan Dane Bio 

Bestselling, critically-acclaimed author Jordan Dane’s gritty romantic thrillers are ripped from the headlines with vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense novels to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag, naming her debut novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM as Best Books of 2008. She also pens young-adult novels for Harlequin Teen. Formerly an energy sales manager, she now writes full time. Jordan and her husband share their Texas residence with two cats of highborn lineage and two lucky rescue dogs. 

 

Social Media Links: 

Website  / Twitter  / Facebook  / Pinterest   

Thriller/Crime Fiction Blogs: 

The Kill Zone   

YA Blogs: 

ADR3NALIN3  / Fringe Dweller  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HarlequinTEEN prize pack, includes (US only): 
 

·         INDIGO AWAKENING by Jordan Dane 

·         ON A DARK WING by Jordan Dane 

·         IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS by Jordan Dane 

·         THE JULIET SPELL by Douglas Rees 

·         BELONGING by Karen Ann Hopkins (ARC) 

·         DANCERGIRL by Carol M. Tanzman 

·         2 Harlequin notebooks 

 

4 Infinity Bracelets: (US only) 

 

For anyone who has read an advance copy of INDIGO AWAKENING, you know that a silver infinity bracelet plays an important part in the story. Special bracelets will be given away on the virtual tour so the lucky winners will be part of Rafael’s street family. Rafe’s bracelet was in black leather, but I’ve added a white leather braid as my personal remembrance to you for being in MY family. 

 

-1 audio book of In the Arms of Stone Angels. Digital download only. (International)

 

 

 

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.Book Blast $100 #Giveaway: Silver White by Shawn Underhill

Silver-White by Shawn Underhill

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
~ Robert Frost

*Evie’s family has been holding out on her …

Big time.

On an unexpected visit to her grandparents’ house in New Hampshire’s secluded North Woods, the sixteen-year-old literally runs into the truth of the long-hidden family secrets, and finds herself thrust without warning into the clandestine world of the Great North Pack—a wild and exhilarating world of rugged beauty, heart-pounding adventures, and long nights running under a sea of stars … but as she’s set to discover, a world also fraught with potential dangers lurking in the shadows.


Praise
 "Simply put, this book was amazing. I've read more fantasy novels than than I can count, but this one is certainly one of the best. The heroine isn't some wishy-washy pansy that screams at everything, and the focus of the story isn't on some unbelievably beautiful teenage girl who suddenly becomes the biggest, baddest member of her species falling in love with some big, bad, sexy member of her newfound species. It's about a girl becoming something she never knew existed, finding her place within the pack family she values more than ever before, and an age-old feud that threatens everything she loves." ~Morgan

Purchase ~ just .99 cents

Amazon Kindle

Author Shawn Underhill

Shawn is a part-time writer from New Hampshire, where he spends his free time hiking in the mountains, camping, racing dirt bikes, or anything else that keeps him outdoors. Dogs are his very favorite people. He is also the author of the novel All Things Different.

Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter

BookBlast $100 Giveaway
$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 2/13/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


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.Book Blitz: #Giveaway Fighting To Survive by @RhiannonFrater

Fighting To Survive
by Rhiannon Frater

Goodreads

It’s time to clear the hotel.

The fort has grown crowded as survivors of the zombie apocalypse have found safety between its walls.  Winter is coming; soon it will be too cold to live in tents and other makeshift shelters.  The leaders of the survivors—Katie, Jenni, Juan, Travis, and Nerit—decide it’s time for an assault on the zombie-occupied hotel that looms over the town square.

A pitched battle in the banquet room is the start of a harrowing, room-by-room struggle from Reception to roof.  As the sun sets, the people of Ashley Oaks gather in the hotel’s rooftop ballroom and gazebo to celebrate their survival.  Gazing out over the beauty of the surrounding Texas countryside, it’s hard to believe that death and danger lurk around every corner.

The fort’s search and rescue teams have attracted unwanted attention from bandits who see the fort as competition for food . . . and as a ready source of women.  The first attacks are minor, but everyone knows there is worse to come.

And beyond the fort’s walls, the zombies shamble, moaning, eyes fastened hungrily upon the living.

Rhiannon Frater

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Rhiannon is currently represented by Hannah Gordon of the Foundry + Literary Media agency. You may contact her by sending an email to rhiannonfrater@gmail.com.

Author Links:Website

Goodreads

Facebook

Twitter

 

 

 

Women, Society and the Zombocalypse 

By 

Rhiannon Frater 

 

 

I honestly didn’t set out to write a feminist take on the zombocalypse when I started writing AS THE WORLD DIES as an online serial. I just wrote about the sort of people I that exist in my everyday life.  The characters all evolved naturally as I wrote, as did their complicated relationships and sometimes disastrous choices.  It was only later that I fully began to understand how ground-breaking having two female leads in the genre actually was. 

Admittedly, Jenni and Katie were born out of my desire to read a zombie story that was from a woman’s perspective. AS THE WORLD DIES was born as online serial in 2005. At that time zombie fiction was inundated with the lone gunman wandering across the zombie-infested lands. Women, children, and men who weren’t Rambo in disguise were merely zombie fodder.  The women played the roles of the love interest (who often died), the victims, and the zombies.  It became demoralizing to read over and over again stereotypes that bore no real resemblance to any of the women in my life.  So when the characters of Jenni and Katie invaded my mind one day at work, I wanted to write their story and share it with others.  

When I started the serial, I wanted to write about real men and women with flaws and strengths struggling to rebuild society in the zombie wastelands.  If history has shown us one thing, it’s that humans survive in communities. I didn’t want to create a world of alpha males and subservient women, or vice versa.  I wanted to write about real people dealing with real life issues while facing the undead hordes. I didn’t want to shy away from the difficulties of creating a new community. Differences of opinion, religion, culture, etc. were definitely going to cause problems at some point. Little did I realize that the issues my characters tackled in the online serial (which ran from 2005-2007) would become hotbed issues in 2012.  Religion, gay rights, and gender equality are all topics the people in the fort are forced to deal with while still dealing with bandits and zombies. 

 

STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS 

Oddly enough, I never thought about any of the females in my story as being “strong” or unusual. The positive feedback to the characters was definitely a reaction to all the stereotypical women in these kinds of books. People were genuinely surprised to read such positive portrayals. The readers weren’t surprised that the women were strong and competent; they were surprised to see an accurate portrayal of themselves, their wives, their girlfriends, mothers, and sisters. Quite a few male friends have told me that they loved how certain female characters reminded them strongly of the women they love.  Female fans have also shared how refreshing it was to see women doing the types of things they would do in the zombocalypse—like killing zombies.  

Jenni and Katie aren’t wonder women or superhuman like Alice in the Resident Evil films. They aren’t perfect either. Each has to deal with the aftermath of the destruction of their lives and they don’t always make the right choices.  But they aren’t afraid to fight for their own lives and those they love. They step up and take part in the planning of the new community and fight for the survival of everyone. 

 

THE REGULAR GUYS 

Though I get a lot of kudos for my female characters, I don’t feel that any of my male characters suffer from standing alongside competent women.  I didn’t want to resort to the alpha male stereotype with my male characters, but I also didn’t want to weaken them. Travis and Juan play vital roles in the story and are just regular men facing horrible circumstances.  They understand that to survive everyone has to work together and have their own strengths and weaknesses.  One of my greatest compliments was when someone told me that he could totally see himself hanging out with my male characters because they were just “dudes.”  

 

THE BIGOTS 

There are, of course, men that don’t like the women playing such a strong role. One of them, Shane, becomes a dangerous foe to Katie when she has to kill his brother after he becomes infected.  It’s in Shane and his cohort that we see a more dismissive attitude toward women and other people in general.  Shane and Phillip are great at entering the zombie-infested towns and salvaging for supplies and serve the community well, but their attitudes toward women, especially bisexual Katie, creates serious problems for the burgeoning society in FIGHTING TO SURVIVE.  Shane and Phillip challenge the rules of the new society with their behavior. One particularly upsetting scene between Shane and Katie immediately causes a rift among the people in the fort as people take sides in a “he said, she said” battle. 

 

FRIENDSHIPS 

One of the things that’s often missing in fiction, especially post-apocalyptic fiction, is the strong friendship bonds that exist among people.  Often the survivors are not really friends, but people thrown together that just barely get along.  In AS THE WORLD DIES, I enjoyed portraying various types of friendship bonds. There are best buddies, Juan and Travis, BFFs Ken and Lenore, and Jenni and Katie’s strong, sisterly friendship.   

Though people comment on all three friendships as being refreshing and similar to ones they share in their real lives, the one that stands out the most is the friendship between Jenni and Katie. Women are not often portrayed as being friends in fiction. In fact, a lot of heroines are often the only women in the book.  Jenni and Katie’s friendship was one of the things my editor at Tor really enjoyed. It’s so rare to see female best friends who love and support each other. Usually women are portrayed as rivals. Since I have close female friends in my life it felt only natural to have Jenni and Katie be close. 

 

In closing…I am very happy that readers embrace the characters and feel they are an honest, realistic version of people they have in their own lives.  I am also pleased that readers have enjoyed the dynamics of the new and growing society in the middle of the zombocalypse. 

 

The First Days Mass Market Paperbacks


          

                                                                        

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

• One copy of book 1 and one copy of book 2--the mass market releases.
• Open to US & Canadian addresses.
• Ends February 10th, 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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