I’m on a Silver Pearl Blog Tour this week! Here are my stops:
(an interview)
Thank you so much for visiting my blog! Leave a comment with your email address here between March 18 and March 22 and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Silver Pearl from Less Than Three Press. Tell me what you’re thinking! Ask me anything! I’ll announce the winner on Saturday, March 23.
Here is Silver Pearl’s official blurb:
Standing in a meadow late at night, not really certain why, Joel is shocked when he encounters a unicorn—one that turns into a beautiful young man. Joel aches to be closer to the unicorn, but everyone knows unicorns only approach virgins. After a brutal attack that left him broken and afraid, Joel is no longer that.
Then hunters appear, determined to take down the unicorn, and Joel will have to overcome the horrors of his past in order to save his chance at a future.
Here is the excerpt:
Moonlight lay silver over the meadow, catching beads of dew in sparkles like tiny stars balanced on each blade of grass, except where the shadows of trees made soft patches of shade. A barred owl soared down from a tamarack tree, a silent glide low over the grass, and then stroked the luminous air to vanish into a fir tree.
The young man standing in the shadows followed the owl’s flight with his eyes. Otherwise he stood as motionless as the barely breathing trees, a silent sentinel, nude but for a quilt around his shoulders. Waiting. Nervous.
Joel wasn’t even sure what he waited for. He just knew that sometime tonight, the moonlight would be answered. He swallowed hard, heart racing, hands clenched. Part of him wanted to run back home.
Perhaps he was finally going crazy. There was no logic in hiking up to this clearing behind his house, naked, in the middle of the night, wrapped only in a quilt. Just an urge to do it, and a feeling that at last, finally, everything that had made him different, set him apart, would be explained. Tonight was the night he’d been waiting for. And fearing. Something would happen. He wasn’t sure—
Warm breath caressed his shoulder. He was no longer alone.
Do not move.
The words were in his mind, clear, forceful, not to be disobeyed. Terror filled him, the familiar terror, far too ingrained to be ignored. Invaded! His mind this time, not only his body!
Oh, God, why had he come here? Why hadn’t he run? He wanted to be left alone; he was all right when he was alone, safe, alone—he whirled around, bringing one arm up to shield his face, clutching the quilt closer with the other.
A unicorn stood behind him.
Loved the blurb! Please count me in. Thanks!!!
gisu29(at)gmail(dot)com
Please count me in,thank you.
cvsimpkins@msn.com
Loved the excerpt! I, as well, have been handed more than I can handle at times thus wanting to shield my heart and becoming sort of a recluse. I'm glad you are writing though.
I'd love to participate on your giveaway. Thanks!
~Rush~
taina1959@yahoo.com
Interesting…never heard about the unicorn and a virgin before. Either I don't know my unicorn lore or this is a fresh take on unicorns. Looks like a great book to read. Please count me for the giveaway.
Thanks
Karl
slats5663(at)shaw(dot)ca
Thank you! I've got to say, my publisher wrote this blurb. She told me I was free to rewrite it, but I told her that I honestly didn't think I could do anything to improve it. I loved it, too.
You're in! Thank you so much!
Oh, thank you. I hope you have found whatever it is that gives you strength, too.
Thank you so much!
According to good old Wikipedia,"…first mentioned by the ancient Greeks, it became the most important imaginary animal of the Middle Ages and Renaissance when it was commonly described as an extremely wild woodland creature, a symbol of purity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin. In the encyclopedias its horn was said to have the power to render poisoned water potable and to heal sickness."
I think the virgin thing is pretty well linked together with the unicorn myths, so I can't claim to have a fresh take on it. But it's sure been fun to play with.
Thank you for the wonderful opportunity! I love stories with mythical creatures. Have fun on the tour! 🙂
Cynthia
schan26.wisc@gmail.com
I love modern and magic stories! Thanks for the giveaway!
Elezbed
moon.s.hadow@hotmail.fr
Sounds like a really interesting concept – please count me in the giveaway!
Thank you. 🙂
Emily
emelia5042000(at)yahoo(dot)com
You're welcome! I love modern and magic combined, too, and how they make people think about what they think is real, if you know what I mean.
Thank you! It's exciting(and a bit humbling)to add my bit to myths that have been around so long. Oh, I'm having a wonderful time on my tour. Keep reading!
You're counted! Thanks. It took me a while to figure out this story, but it was fun to write.
Oooh~ sounds interesting. Please count me in too! 😀
Judi
arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com
This sounds interesting! Please count me in. Thanks!
Antonia
amaquilante@gmail.com
What this world needs is more unicorns! Thanks for being one to life.
Urb
brendurbanist at gmail dot com
How wonderfully unusual – a shifter Unicorn 😀 I am getting this book by hook or by crook (or by robbing the bank for the money 😉 )
ilona
felinewyvern at googlemail dot com
I haven't read any unicorn shifter stories, so this one sounds unique. Is the setting modern from the comments? Not a fantasy type setting like in some other stories by other Less Than Three authors?
BTW – should I be lucky enough to win, I'll be on vacation and will respond to any email when I return. Thanks for the giveaway!
strive4bst(At) yahoo(Dot) com
Okay, you're in! Thanks so much for dropping by.
You are most welcome!
You're very welcome. I totally agree. We most definitely need more unicorns!
Okay, you just gave me the image of sitting down to watch the news and seeing a bank robber being hauled away to prison, shouting, "I needed the money to buy Silver Pearl!" Now, the publicity would be nice, but I don't need it that badly, thanks!
I haven't read any other unicorn shifter stories, either, and neither had a wise friend I asked. She said it was probably because of the virginity thing. That just made me even more eager to broach the issue. Yes, the setting is modern — it takes place in Vermont, where I live and where most of my stories are set. Vermont is very good unicorn country — lots of woods and hidden meadows and mountains and streams. I made a video book trailer with all my own photographs of the area — there's a link to it on the sidebar to the right. I have written some traditional fantasy, but it's fun to set things in the "real" world and then throw something mythical into the picture.
Have a nice vacation!
A new take on the shifter genre. Can't wait to read it:-)
becker_randi@yahoo.com
Thanks! I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!
please count me in
sally
halliday.sally@yahoo.co.uk
You are in! Thank you!
This sounds like a wonderful fairy tale-esque story. So going on my TBR…. XD
ashley.vanburen[at]gmail[dot]com
Thanks! It's certainly romantic and has magic and all the stuff fairy tales do.
Very nice excerpt
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thanks so much!
I just had my daughter draw the lucky name, and the winner is… Cornelia!
I will send a copy right out to you!
Thanks so much to everyone who read my posts, and thanks to everyone who hosted me, and thanks to Less Than Three for setting it all up! It's been so much fun!