Azalea Dabill's Blog, page 6
January 1, 2021
It’s Launch Day for Fantastic Journey! and other Giveaways
LINKS are live though they appear different colors.
The ocean of fantasy and speculative fiction is vast.
Have you wondered how to find the best fantasy adventures for yourself, your children, and your friends, teens to adults? Or where to hunt for the gems?
Dive into the sea of fantasy with us in Fantastic Journey – The Soul of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Adventure to find what you seek and more. On launch special $ 0.99 now. Please follow me on Amazon!
If you got the preorder, or got Fantastic Journey and are enjoying it, would you leave me your thoughts here, or email them to me at fantasticjourney.dynamospress@gmail.com? Thank you more than I can say!
If you’d like more About the book, and a secret bonus, see my book page here.
And Derek Murphy with CreativIndie posted my article about Fantastic Journey’s blog to book creation here.
Then come back and check out the giveaways I will be adding below over our launch.
Days of Giveaways
Day 1: Discover New YA Series for 2021!
Thank you for joining us, and have a good New Years!
Azalea Dabill
Crossover – Find the Eternal, the Adventure
December 22, 2020
I can hardly wait!
I'm so looking forward to time with family, Lord willing.
I'm also enjoying time with books, and currently reading Melanie Dickerson's A Peasant's Dream.
It is also only 10 days until my Goodreads giveaway for 2 print copies is over. If you'd like to enter, or pass it on to a friend, here's the link:
Goodreads Giveaway
Then comes launch January 1st!
I'm so looking forward to talking with those of you who can make it.
Have a wonderful Christmas!!
Azalea Dabill
Crossover - Find the Eternal, the Adventure
December 15, 2020
A Free Book Bundle and More
If you'd like a free book bundle to tide you over today thru Christmas till the New Year, or if you are interested in the $0.99 preorder, or you would simply like more information about the book - click here.
Start your Fantastic Journey into the wonderful world of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Adventure today.
And Merry Christmas!!
December 1, 2020
27 Author SIGNED Book Giveaway
Enter here:
Enter Fantasy Giveaway
And if you love print books as much as I do, don't forget to enter the Goodreads Giveaway:
Win your print book
November 19, 2020
New Events and Giveaways
It is time to begin new journeys.
Try a Fantastic Journey - The Soul of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy
You can find the $0.99 preorder here:
http://azaleadabill.com/wp/?page_id=1408
Here you can also sign-up to receive notice of a Ginormous 27 Author SIGNED Book Giveaway coming December 1st. I'm planning a Goodreads Giveaway as well, with autographed copies.
If you would like to join our Fantasy Adventure Review Team, you can do that here. Treasures await! https://forms.gle/GdDbSMomsgEhqo6y6
And add it to your TBR shelf, that way you'll get the updates for the Goodreads giveaway!
Enjoy the journey!
November 6, 2020
Author Lead Magnet Collaboration
I’m scheduled to release my book Fantastic Journey – The Soul of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Adventure the first week of January 2021, and I wanted to extend this author collaboration opportunity to you, if you’re an imaginative fiction author.
If you have a lead magnet this might help you get a lot of new subscribers. (For readers here, I won’t forget you either, but will be sure to share these upcoming special events soon.)
Authors, if you have a free lead magnet for subscribers that is a free fantasy or speculative fiction book, and you’d like to get it in front of 100s of potential new subscribers, please send your newsletter lead magnet link and a cover pic for one free novel of your choice to fantasticjourney.dynamospress@gmail.com.
Fiction adventure and battle scenes are great, but no romance above the “moderate” level. Which I don’t think will be a problem in our group here. 
October 29, 2020
Historically Rich
From historical fantasy to futuristic, from mermaids and medieval fiction to traditional adventures throughout time!
Don’t miss yours!
Only 3 days left on this giveaway!
Happy and blessed Harvest days to all,
Azalea Dabill ~ Crossover – Find the Eternal, the Adventure
September 26, 2020
Fantastic Journey Cover
Calling all imaginative fiction readers and speculative fiction and fantasy aficionados’!
I thought you might like to weigh in on the book cover for “Fantastic Journey – The Soul of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Adventure.”
My cover designer did a splendid job on both samples, but which do you like best?
A. journey4 – the cover with the ship between the two title words
B. journey3 – the cover with the ship forming the “A” in Fantastic
Then I can let my designer know which is your favorite, and we will finalize the cover!
Just reply in an email to me at fantasticjourney.dynamospress@gmail.com.
Your chance to apply to join a select group of readers on the Fantasy Adventure Team for reviewing the ARC for a signed print copy and other reading delights will be coming soon.
Thank you so much, and have a great week!
Azalea Dabill
Crossover – Find the Eternal, the Adventure
August 15, 2020
20 Author Fantasy Round Up
(Round up announcement.)
Few successful journeys begin alone.
The road to publication for Fantastic Journey is no exception.
This is a joint venture. The seventy authors and their inspiring adventures we explore are beacons of extraordinary story. Most of them are lights by contrast, guiding us to enchanting lands of danger in the ocean of fantasy. With them, we learn how to identify true gems and sell them not. How to discern enemies, friends, and endless possibilities with our inner eye: to touch and to taste the truths of life in all realms near and far.
-Fantastic Journey – The Soul of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Adventure
Of the 70 authors I approached, some quoted in Fantastic Journey and some I simply invited to a signed book giveaway coming in September – October to celebrate my book launch, twenty of these Imaginative Fiction writers have graciously joined us.
The gems these intrepid adventurers bring forth for our delight are:
How has fantasy or speculative fiction impacted your experience of the world?Why do you think fantasy adventure is important to us as human readers?In what ways are great fantasy and imaginative fiction vital to our future?
Here is the line-up for these authors’ fascinating answers to our Q and A Round Up. (Only some of each author’s works are listed beside their names. Once the Q and A begins, their answers will be posted on this blog, with links to their pages or websites, etc.)
RJ Anderson – No Ordinary Fairytale trilogy, the Flight and Flame trilogy, Swift
Kathleen Baldwin – The Stranje House series, A School for Unusual Girls
Morgan Busse – The Ravenwood Saga, Mark of the Raven
Chuck Black – Wars of the Realm series, Cloak of Light
CJ Brightley – The Lord of Dreams
Sigmund Brouwer – Merlin’s Immortals series, Martyr’s Fire
Patrick Carr – The Darkwater Saga, The Shock of Night
Serena Chase – The Eyes of Everia series, The Ryn
Katie Clark – the Enslaved trilogy, and The Rejected Princess
DM Cornish – The Monster Blood Tatoo series, Foundling
Azalea Dabill – the Falcon Chronicle, Falcon Heart
Melanie Dickerson – Fairy Tale Romance series, The Peasant’s Dream
EJ Fisch – The Ziva Payvan trilogy, the Ziva Payvan Legacy, and Fracture
Victoria Hanley – The Seer and the Sword
Kathrese McKee – Mardan’s Mark series, Pirate’s Wager, Mardan’s Mark
Sharon Hinck – The Sword of Lyric series, and The Dancing Realms, Hidden Current, Forsaken Island
Ashley Maker – Under the Trees
Rachel Neumeier – The Griffin Mage trilogy, and The Floating Islands
A. A. Radda – The Numin U’ia series, Numin U’ia
J.F. Rogers – The Ariboslia series, Astray
Jonathan Rogers – the Wilderking trilogy, The Bark of the Bog Owl
Anna Thayer – The Knight of Eldaran series, The Traitor’s Heir
Chris Walley – The Lamb Among the Stars series, The Shadow and Night, The Dark Foundations
KM Weiland – Storming, Dreamlander, Wayfarer
In my last newsletter, I mentioned “posting the Q and A’s soon.” I apologize that things were delayed. But as long as my launch team’s advice is a go, posting these generous Authors’ answers should begin regularly in the next two weeks!
Until then, here is a sneak peek into RJ Anderson’s wonderful introduction to the Q and A’s:
Q: How has fantasy or speculative fiction impacted your experience of the world?
A:
As a child, fantasy was hugely important to me as an escape from loneliness and the bullying I experienced at school. But for me the best fantasy stories were not just the ones that transported me to another world, but the ones that reminded me in some way of the Great Story found in the Bible. It meant a lot to me that the best fantasy books depicted the heroes’ sufferings and struggles not as senseless cruelty but as part of a greater Purpose, and affirmed that no matter how terrifying and even unconquerable the darkness might seem, light and truth would triumph in the end.
As an adult I no longer feel the need to retreat into fantasy worlds, but I still love to visit and explore them. Fantasy is one of the few genres left that celebrates the triumph of goodness over evil and insists that there is a real division between them — even if, as Solzhenitzyn reminded us, that line cuts through the heart of every human being and it’s important to remember that as well. A fantasy that pits sinless saints against irredeemable sinners can be just as false as a fantasy that pretends there’s no difference.
Q: Why do you think fantasy adventure is important to us as human readers?
A:
Good fantasy inspires us to dream of and seek after better things, and also to see our own everyday world with new eyes. I often think of C.S. Lewis’s quote about how he wrote the Narnia books to steal past the “watchful dragons” of people’s false and jaded notions about Christianity, and I think fantasy has tremendous potential to show us truth from unexpected angles and help us to understand ideas that we may struggle with or even outright resist in real life. So I try to find ways to bring that into my own storytelling.
Q: In what ways are great fantasy and imaginative fiction vital to our future?
A:
Our present world has a desperate hunger for love, happiness and purpose, and people are searching wildly in every direction to find it. But the shabby idols propped up by the entertainment industry and the muddy cisterns of modern “realistic” storytelling inevitably leave them feeling cheated. Many people these days are embarrassed to want happy endings, let alone believe in them, and I’ve heard a lot of snide remarks about the “toxicity” of stories that claim villains can be redeemed and not just beaten. But that just shows how far we’ve wandered from the truth of the gospel, which offers hope to every human heart.
I really believe that telling great imaginative stories that acknowledge we are fallen creatures who can’t save ourselves, but which also point us to One who is worthy and who can offer us the redemption we long for, will resonate with people in ways that no other stories can. But we have to learn how to tell those stories well enough that people who don’t already agree with us will listen, and that’s not a skill that can be learned overnight. If we want to see great fantasy stories being written in the next few decades, we don’t just need to support young authors and praise their efforts, we need to encourage them to seek out thoughtful criticism and use it to make their stories truer and richer and better. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, as Hebrews 12:11 reminds us, but the harvest it yields can’t be produced any other way.
This will be re-posted along with a bonus Q and A to a personal question I had about Knife, on the coming Q and A’s. Until next time!
Crossover – Find the Eternal, the Adventure
P.S. None of these launch things would be going as smoothly as they are without the help of my trusty assistant, Susana. Thank you, Susana!
July 18, 2020
July Jubilees
There’s a question about your favorite podcast, exciting news on several fronts, and a $20 book giveaway.
First for the exciting news.
Something funny happened. I quoted 70 authors of clean fantasy adventure in my book Fantastic Journey – The Soul of Imaginative Fiction and Clean Fantasy Adventure, coming out in September. And I asked – and guess what? I get to interview many of them on my blog! They said yes, they would love to do a short Q and A on fantasy and what it means to us as humans, and what it means to our future.
So far these authors will be joining us over the 9 week countdown until launch: RJ Anderson, Kathleen Baldwin, CJ Brightley, Morgan Busse, Patrick Carr, DM Cornish, Serena Chase, JF Rogers, Chuck Black, and the list is growing. Stay tuned to my blog or follow my Amazon Page here – author posts will be starting soon. (I’m sorry the links appear dim, I haven’t yet figured out how to get them a darker color by themselves. They are alive! LOL)
Many of the 70 authors are also going to be part of the massive clean fantasy adventure giveaway that will be happening during September launch week. We’re going to have so much fun!
But for now . . .
Here is the link for YA $20 Book Giveaway for July Jubilees. We are allowed to have little jubilees, aren’t we? Or maybe we must determinedly dare to secure them, in these days.
And then . . .
Three questions, one involving a bonus for you:
1. If you enjoy podcasts, what is your favorite podcast about fantasy? I’d love to know.
2. Which tentative title of my book do you like best? a. Fantastic Journey – The Soul of Imaginative Fiction and Clean Fantasy Adventure, or b. Fantastic Journey – The Soul of Clean Fantasy Adventure and Speculative Fiction?
3. Would you like to apply to join my advance reader team and give me helpful advice on any pesky problems your sharp eyes see? Could you help us 70 authors: A. spread the clean adventure giveaway to all our deserving fantasy readers B. be my first vital reviewers C. Then claim your special bonuses and my grateful thanks?
70 authors though we are, we can’t do it without you! Your support is essential to our goal to help a sometimes locked-in world discover new fantasy adventure, and christen a new book just arrived.
We appreciate you!
Email us at fantasticjourney.dynamospress@gmail.com for your application request to join us in our adventure!
Looking forward to talking more about great fantasy adventures during these summer days!
Thank you,
Azalea Dabill
Crossover – Find the Eternal, the Adventure
