Laurisa White Reyes's Blog, page 105

BOOK BLITZ: THE BROKEN - DESTINY by Carlyle Labuschagne

Title: The Broken Destiny: A Broken Novel Book two Author: Carlyle Labuschagne
Genre: Dystopian. Science- Fiction. YA
Release Date: November 2014
Publishers: Hallowed Ink Press


Blurb: "You cannot know what light is if you have not experienced darkness" Ava and her people have been exiled to the planet Poseidon for reasons she can't fathom. Upon meeting a boy from a different sector, her life turns into a beautiful chaos. She begins to feel things she isn't allowed to, thus motivating her to find out the truth about why her kind are so different, and why the Council are so interested in her. Once her mind is freed, with it comes a terrible power that could either save her kind, or destroy them all. But Ava is not the perfect heroine. She will become what she hates to save the ones she loves, and the cost of such a burden is deadly at best. Carlyle Labuschagne is a South African award winning author working her way into the hearts of international readers with her first two books in the Broken Trilogy. Her first young adult dystopian novel "The Broken Destiny" reached top 3 in its YA debut Category. The Sequel Evanescent won YATR literary award for best Sci-Fi book 2013. Her become a published author prgramme for students launched Feb 2014. She is not only an author, but works as a marketing manager by day. She holds a diploma in creative writing through the writing school at College SA. Carlyle loves to swim, fights for the trees, and is a food lover who is driven by her passion for life. Carlyle also writes for IU e-magazine India, an inspirational non-profit magazine that aims at inspiring the world through words. The drive behind her author career is healing through words. Carlyle is also the founder of the first annual book drive – Help Build A Library in Africa Project. And hopes to launch her very own Indie book festival in Johannesburg March 2015. “My goal as an author is to touch people’s lives, and help others love their differences and one another.”Author Links: Goodreads * Amazon * Twitter * Web * Blog Buy Links: Amazon
PrologueAll my life, I had searched for something; something I thought I ought to be. I felt like I was living someone else’s life, waiting for the awakening of my own. I felt like an empty shell burning for life. That was, until the day I lay dying in the prince’s chambers. I could no longer feel the pain from the tear in my gut. The only sensation left was a hollowed-out feeling that I had made a huge mistake in assuming that taking my own life, would have stopped the ancestors’ spirit from raging out. I had given up. I didn’t want to see myself killing the ones I loved.I was the Chosen One, but I threw it all away for what I thought would save a life. Could you end a life to save a life? I did, and I have regretted it ever since. I realized then that things like me were not meant to exist.What had been missing my whole life? It was I. To find myself, I had to lose myself in the worst possible way. The consequences of my actions became the legend of ‘The Broken’.Excerpt two: Chapter One Oh, Star I wasn’t sure why they called us ‘The Broken’, but what I did know for certain was that we were different from the other ‘human’ inhabitants of this planet. We were the third generation of our kind, with a huge―some would say, cursed―destiny. We are also the last of our kind, a dying race. I used to believe that the reason we were exiled to Planet Poseidon was because we were a lot different from the humans on Earth. They tell us at assembly every morning that we are what survived of Earth because of those differences. Global warming, war and evil undertakings were said to have contributed to Earth’s destruction in the late twentieth century. Greed stripped Earth of its ‘magic’ and caused the planet to turn on itself. A way of getting rid of the ‘virus’, so to speak. Did I buy into those lies anymore - No. I believed that there was a lot more to the story behind our origins and our extradition to a long forgotten sector within the Titan galaxy was no accident. I could feel it in the cold burn of my legs as I walked the hollow halls of our institutions, and I could see it on the eerie motionless faces of my peers every day. Little by little, small things started changing and I started believing in the signs my mother wrote about in her secret journals.A haunting feeling stared back at me as I looked upon my reflection in the monitor every morning, clearly remembering as a young child my iris were a lot bluer. At first I thought it was the effect of the changeover from mirror to monitor. I used to think that maybe the mirror was the lie. That it was evil and that that was the reason it had been outlawed. But so many new laws had been put into place over the last few years, I was beginning to doubt our perfect Utopia really existed, that beneath the surface something deceivingly dark was brewing, and the nightmares my biological mother wrote about were real events the council had stripped from her memories. Keeping it on paper was the only way she could decipher real memories from the planet ones.Excerpt 3My mother has me in some kind of arranged marriage, to the chief’s idiotic son of all people. I don’t want that. But it’s my duty. I have to. ” She said staring into the ground. “You don’t have to anything!” I shouted defensively. “No one can force you into a life you don’t want.”My heart was racing, as my feet hit the wooden platform of the bridge. But the look on Maya’s face made me calm my anger and consider my words carefully, because the truth was that people did make me do things I didn’t want to.Maya didn’t speak for a moment. From her facial expressions, I could tell she was having a fascinating debate in her own head. My eyes fell on the small stream. Only, the stream was no longer gentle.“What do you suppose this means, then?” I asked Maya as I stopped to look over the edge of the bridge, my hands grasping the rail firmly as I peered all the way down the shallow canyon. By the look on her face, I knew I wasn’t imagining things and that she was concerned, not excited to have the planet alive again. Surely this would mean the cycle of autumn is finally over? She stood motionless on the overpass. We were both looking down on what used to be the tiny stream that snaked through the pebbles and disappeared over the ridge among the rocks and into the valley.Maya grabbed my right arm tightly and tugged me away with such force that I almost fell over my own feet. Our footfalls clattered loudly over the bridge, as it slowly swayed beneath us.  “Slow down, will you?” I yelled at her in frustration. “What’s going on, Maya?” The urgency in my voice momentarily startled us both.“The prophecy,” she said distantly, keeping her eyes straight ahead.“What?” I snapped.But all she would say over and over again was: “It’s too soon! Too soon. Something’s wrong.”I heard a loud thud. The bridge suddenly swayed dramatically and I looked down, trying to figure out what could have caused the sudden erratic motion. I noticed Maya extracting a sharp object from her boot. She was crouching down, baring her teeth like a wild cat. I tried to turn, but a sharp sting shot through my thigh. I looked down to see a long, red splinter protruding from my skin.Maya shrieked and came at me, a thin dagger gripped tightly in her hand. She came hard and fast. I stood frozen in shock. What is she doing?My vision blurred and I started feeling dizzy. Maya yelled for me to get down, but I was frozen with fear. Suddenly, she ran around me and up on to the railing. She came crashing down―not on me as I had expected, but on something behind me. I staggered and fell on my hands and knees, barely feeling the hard wood as it pressed against my trembling palms and bony knees.There was shouting. The bridge continued to sway beneath me, making it hard for me to clear my head…to get away. I managed to turn my neck just in time to see two dark figures climbing over the railing, reaching for me. Four powerful, dark hands clamped down on my arms and legs and lifted me off my feet. I heard Maya scream my name, but I was limp and couldn’t move.As I was hurled away, unable to struggle, I could make out Maya’s form standing over the body of one of our attackers. She struck out at the two remaining assailants who were dragging me away. Another sudden shudder shook the bridge. I could hear the sound of weapons and fists flying around me. I dropped to the floor, suddenly free. By now I was completely numb. I didn’t feel the thud. It should have hit me full on. Instead, I tasted dust and then copper; blood.Maya stood over me and yelled for someone called Enoch. I looked up at her as my vision faintly perceived two Zulu warriors grabbing her. I shouted for her safety, but the words got stuck in my throat, and I was lifted to my feet once more as they tore her off me. Maya screamed and fought her way out of our attackers’ claws. I heard an object slice through the air, passing over my head with a soft whistle. A dull thump and a soft growl followed, before the hands let me go.This time I didn’t hit the ground. I kept on falling. I could barely hear the water over the shouting and after what felt like an immense force, I was underwater being overpowered by the cold.Crystal blue eyes floated towards me like shooting stars, and I allowed myself to surrender to the darkness. Goodreads * Facebook * Web * Twitter

BLOG TOUR: ENDISNGER by Jay Kristoff

ENDSINGER: LOTUS WAR, BOOK IIIJay KristoffSt. Martin's PressAges 10+Available November 25th
With Stormdancer, Jay Kristoff came roaring onto the fantasy scene—he has been praised as “the master of unique and intense plots and huge twists” (USAToday.com), while critics raved about the novel, calling it “[A] fast-paced, fantastical adventure [that] is sharp as a Shogun's sword.” (The LA Times).  And with healthy sales in hardcover and electronic—fueled by Jay’s inventive, enthusiastic, and relentless promotion on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and the blogosphere—we know readers are hungry for the finale to his wildly inventive Lotus War saga.
As civil war sweeps across the Shima Imperium, the Lotus Guild unleashes their deadliest creation—a mechanical goliath, intended to unite the shattered Empire under a yoke of fear. Yukiko and Buruu are forced to take leadership of the rebellion, gathering new allies and old friends. But the ghosts of Buruu’s past stand between them and the army they need, and Kin’s betrayal has destroyed all trust among their allies. When a new foe joins the war, it will be all the pair can do to muster the strength to fight, let alone win. And as the earth splits asunder, as armies destroy each other for rule over an empire of lifeless ash and the final secret about blood lotus is revealed, the people of Shima will learn one last, horrifying truth.  An exciting, vivid conclusion to a critically acclaimed series, Endsinger is sure to have fans racing through the pages to savor every last revelation.

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY!

The author of THE AWAKENING is giving away a copy of her book through Goodreads. Check it out!


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Goodreads Book Giveaway The Awakening by Dorine White Giveaway ends December 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

BOOK REVIEW: THE REPLACEMENT

THE REPLACEMENT
Brennah Yovanoff
Penguin
Ages 12+

Many high school students feel like outsiders, but in this dark fantasy Mackie Doyle has better reason than most to be alienated. Mackie is a changeling, a fairy child exchanged for a stolen human baby. Everyone knows it, though no one will acknowledge it, for fear of upsetting a deal the town made long ago. What, after all, is one baby taken every seven years, in exchange for continued economic prosperity? "Everyone else's unemployment skyrockets, and their tech plants go bankrupt and their dairy farms fail, but not ours," says Mackie's sister, Emma, one of the few who will acknowledge the town's secrets. Mackie, however--sickened by iron, terrified that his neighbors will turn on him--has paid a terrible price, as has Tate Stewart, who is traumatized by the loss of her baby sister, the latest stolen child. Eventually, the two teenagers join forces in an attempt to overturn the town's intolerable status quo. Debut novelist Yovanoff offers well-developed characters, a fascinating take on the Fairy Court, and an exciting story line.
MY REVIEW:

I'd heard great things about this book, and it's been on my TBR list for ages. I finally got around to listening to it via Audible, but my response to it was luke warm. The premise is a good one, a town where every seven years a human infant is replaced with an otherworldly creature so the human can be sacrificed to a rather self-absorbed demonness.
While the potential is definitely there, I felt the story didn't quite reach that potential. However, I did enjoy the odd, creepy creatures who live underground. They alone made the book worth reading. And I think it borders on horror, but not quite, so it is a good selection for teen readers who enjoy stories by Darren Shan or James Dashner.


CONTENT RATING:

Profanity:  High
Violence:  High
Sexuality:  Moderate

COVER REVEAL: THE AWAKENING by Dorine White

Skyrocket Press is proud to reveal the cover its next book release, THE AWAKENING by Dorine White! Coming in December 2014!


Nightmares really do come true, and for fifteen-year-old Kyler Birkwood, they are just beginning. Raised on a farm by his Aunt Martha, Kyler has no clue about the magical heritage swimming through his blood. When he discovers evidence of a mythical creature, a terrifying beast thought only to exist in fairy tales, his safe world shatters.
Left at a school of magic to hunt for clues, he is overwhelmed and disbelieved. As loved ones begin disappearing and Orcs roam the land, Kyler must undergo a journey that takes him from the High Courts of the King to the unknown forests of the East. His magic just awakening, Kyler is the lone hope for a world that will not listen.

BOOK LAUNCH: MARTIAN GOODS & OTHER STORIES

It's here! It's finally here!

Today is the official launch date of MARTIAN GOODS & OTHER STORIES by Noelle Campbell. MG is the debut full-length book release of my new publishing company, Skyrocket Press. So I am very, very excited!
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MARTIAN GOODS & OTHER STORIES
Noelle Cambpell
Skyrocket Press
Adult - Sci/Fi

On a barren world where air is priceless and women are bought and sold, one man longs for love, but is she worth the price?
In this collection of short stories by science fiction author Noelle Campbell, Mars is the new frontier where men stake their claims for a new life. But some commodities are harder to come by than others--including women, who are often willing to sacrifice everything to escape an Earth that is no longer free.


Join our Mailing List: http://www.skyrocketpress.com/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23481519-martian-goods-other-stories?from_search=true

Purchase links:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P04GVQS
Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/martian-goods-other-stories-noelle-campbell/1120673381?ean=2940150694590



Excerpt:





VAN GOGH 2

T he room was functionally square and sterile. The absence of smell made the whiteness of the walls, drawers, and tables bearable. The doctor sat alone on his elevated chair, his back turned toward the screen that flashed the results of the daily test.“I told you not to do it,” his wife’s voice said. He could almost feel her warm breath on his ear as she spoke in hard, angry tones. His own breath was coming quicker. He could see his chest rise and fall as he looked down at his hands in his lap.He thought he saw the dark, red fabric of her dress in the corner of his eye and turned slightly to avoid the sight of it. She had loved red. She always looked good in red, but it was so distracting, like her breath. “Are you listening to me?” she asked.He shook his head in a tight, shivering motion, careful not to look away from his hands or shift his head to where he had seen the red of her dress.“I told you I didn’t want to be here. You knew that Mars would never really be home to me. I told you before I got sick that I wanted to go home.”His brow furrowed, and he covered his ears.“That isn’t going to work.” Her voice pierced through his cupped hands without even a muffled echo. “You made me promise I would never leave you. So this is your fault.”Removing his hands from his lap had left him nothing on which to focus. The dark shadow of red in the corner of his eye grew larger and more distracting. His breath came in gasps, the blood pounding in his ears behind his wife’s voice.“Do you know what the worst part of this is,” she started again, “outside of the fact that you essentially killed your entire family and made yourself mentally ill?” Her voice bore into his brain. It was never shrill. Still the same alto-esque woman’s voice that carried emotion in careful, measured tones he wished weren’t quite so…convincing. “—is that you kept on resurrecting them only to kill them again. That was all you were doing with the clones: killing us over and over again.”He squeezed his palms over his ears until his fingernails dug into the flesh behind them.“What did you tell them when they asked you where your wife was?”He stopped breathing for just a moment, and then renewed it in a gasp. “I said I killed you.” His voice echoed in his head, and the baritone rumbled through the room.“Excuse me, Doctor?” a voice, not here, asked. It was muffled, but he swiveled toward it, his eyes falling on his android medical assistant. It had a face, even if it was generic. It had eyes, a nose, mouth, and ears. Its chin rounded the oval shape of its head. There was no hair, no further attempts to make it look more like a human. “I didn’t understand the direction.”The doctor looked beyond the android to the table stocked with equipment: laser scalpel, forceps, tweezers, sample containers, clippers, blades, cloning kits. Everything he needed and more.“Scalpel,” he said and the droid carefully handed it to him.He turned it on, adjusting the length and width of the blade.“Don’t you dare,” his wife’s voice said. “Thomas Aegis Miller, don’t you dare cut me again!”The doctor swiveled in his chair, facing the corpse lying prone on the table. There was a deep red stain on the fabric beneath it that kept drawing his eyes to the spot. A thin red line circumscribed her forehead.“I’m sorry, Jane,” he whispered, holding up the scalpel.“No matter how many times you bring me back here and cut me open, it won’t change anything.”He shook his head, the laser still hovering over her face.“You can cut me a million times, but you will never stop my voice!”He shook his head harder.“Do you need assistance, Dr. Miller?” the android asked, coming closer to help.Thomas Miller spun on his chair and struck out at it, letting the laser slice through its head. Circuits sputtered as part of it fell away. A moment later, the droid fell to the floor, non-functional.“That didn’t solve anything,” his wife’s voice said.Thomas shook his head again, sobbing.“You make a mess of everything. Who is going to clean this up now? Hmm? I hope you don’t expect me to do it. This isn’t my home. I told you I want to go home.”Thomas grabbed his left ear with one hand, bending it away from his head, and started to slice it free with the scalpel in his other hand. There was pain, but it was a relief, a reminder that he was alive, even if he was going insane with the voice of his dead wife constantly in his ears. Having no ears at all should solve that problem. There was no blood left behind as the laser cauterized the wound.“What do you think you are doing?”He looked at the severed ear in his hand.“Who do you think you are? Pablo Picasso?” his wife asked.He let go of the ear, and it fell to the floor with a muffled thud beside the android. Disappointed he could still hear, but especially that he could still hear his wife’s voice, he grasped his other ear, ground his teeth, and steeled himself as he shouted, “It was Vincent Van Gogh!” 

BOOK REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL MOON - A CHILD'S PRAYER

BEAUTIFUL MOON: A CHILD'S PRAYER
Tonya Bolden, Illustrated by Jennifer Lyons
Abrams
Picture Book

A young boy wakes. He has forgotten to say his prayers. Outside his window, a beautiful harvest moon illuminates the city around him and its many inhabitants. As the moon slowly makes its way across the heavens, the boy offers a simple prayer for the homeless, the hungry, and others.
Critically acclaimed author Tonya Bolden teams up with award‑winning illustrator Eric Velasquez to create a richly painted and emotionally complex book that celebrates prayer and kindness while recognizing the diversity of the world around us.
REVIEW:
This is a beautifully illustrated story of hope and compassion. A little boy says his nightly prayer on behalf of those in need. The text is simple and straightforward, and yet touches the heart in a way that is at the same time both personal and universal. The illustrations are deep and rich, evoking the tenderest of emotions.
Though it is about prayer, there is no specific mention of religion. This is therefore accessible to those of all faiths, or even to those who simply desire a better world, a world of peace.
 

MARTIAN GOODS & OTHER STORIES AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE!

The official release date for MARTIAN GOODS & OTHER STORIES by Noelle Campbell is Monday, November 3rd - but as of today it is now available for KINDLE !!!


Stay tuned on Monday for links to NOOK, paperback & an awesome giveaway!!!

CONTACT BLOG BLITZ!!! & TRAILER!

Title: ContactAuthor: Laurisa White Reyes       Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy Publisher: Hallowed Ink Press Blurb: It takes only half a second…  …Like those commercials where a crash test dummy rockets forward at high speed and slams into a wall.…In that instant, every thought in Emma Lynn Walsh’s head collides with mine—every thought, memory, hope, disappointment and dream.…I open my eyes to see Dr. Walsh peering at me, a puzzled expression on her face.“Let—go—of—me,” I order though clenched teeth.Mira wants to die. She’s attempted suicide twice already, and failed. Every time she comes in contact with another person, skin to skin, that person’s psyche uploads into hers. While her psychologist considers this a gift, for Mira, it’s a curse from which she cannot escape.To make matters worse, Mira’s father is being investigated in the deaths of several volunteer test subjects of a miracle drug. Shortly after Mira’s mother starts asking questions, she ends up in a coma. Although her father claims it was an accident, thanks to her “condition” Mira knows the truth…but proving it just might get her killed! Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20707931-contact After earning her B.A. in English in 1995, Laurisa White Reyes spent many years writing for newspapers and magazines before gathering enough courage to live her dream of writing novels. Contact is her third published book. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in creative writing, is a book editor for Hamilton Springs/Xchyler Press, and is the Editor-in-chief of Middle Shelf Magazine. She lives in Southern California with her husband and five children.
Links: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5244611.Laurisa_White_ReyesAmazon: http://www.amazon.com/Laurisa-White-Reyes/e/B006IL8HUK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1Twitter: https://twitter.com/lwreyesBlog: http://laurisareyes.blogspot.comWeb: http://www.laurisawhitereyes.com
Buy Link:Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L4RYEZ0
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HOW TO EMBED FONTS IN A WORD DOC

I have been working feverishly on publishing Skyrocket Press's debut full-length book, a short story collection called MARTIAN GOODS & OTHER STORIES by Noelle Campbell. I feel exultant that I've learned how to do so many things in regards to formatting and publishing, but I was stuck with the fact that my fonts always reverted back to Times New Roman when the document was published. Well, thanks to youtube, I found the solution.  Here is a simple video explaining how to keep fonts the way I want them: