Intisar Khanani's Blog, page 8
July 28, 2016
Book Signing: River City Book Bash this Saturday!
I’m excited to be signing books at the River City Book Bash this Saturday, July 30, at the Newport Aquarium, just across the river from Cincinnati. Pop by to say hello, grab some swag, and check out all the authors who will be there with me! (And buy a signed book while you’re at it!) VIP ticket holders can come by at 11 am, and it’s open to the general public from 1-3 pm. You can stop by the Facebook group to find out more about the participating authors and buy VIP tickets if you’re interested.
Here’s to a fun books, authors, and swag!
July 21, 2016
How Things Went: The #MakeMeRead Challenge
On July 9th, excited to start the #MakeMeRead Readathon, I reached for my Kindle and did not find it.
Just take a moment to let the horror sink in.
Okay, I admit it’s not at all that horrific given what’s happening in the world today, but I did have a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach as I pawed through my laptop case and found bookmarks and wires and a random ziploc bag, but No Kindle. Despite the immediate realization that I had planned very badly for this Readathon, I still managed to read the top-voted novel of the #MakeMeRead challenge. The Kindle has yet to be found (gulp), so y’all please send finding vibes at me because it hasn’t turned up at home or the other places I’ve traveled yet…
And so, sitting in a dark motel room in the Smokies and squinting at a far-too-bright computer screen while my kids slept, I had the pleasure of reading Spindle by W.R. Gingell–a Sleeping Beauty retelling, only when Poly is woken 300 years later, it’s hard to explain that she’s not actually the princess. Or figure out why someone’s trying to kill her and the mage who woke her… This story had an almost dreamy quality to it, and while you (and Poly) figure out the villain early on, just how things will come together, and what exactly the curse is doing to Poly and why, will keep you guessing. I could have wished for a slightly stronger conclusion to the curse itself, but the story as a whole had a lovely (and humorous) climax. This was another enjoyable read from Gingell, though I’d recommend starting with Masque if you haven’t tried her yet (and it’s free, so why wouldn’t you?). 
July 20, 2016
Cover Reveal: Flare by Rabia Gale
As many of you know, I quite enjoy the stories of Rabia Gale. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to take part in the cover reveal for next release, Flare. Without further ado, I’m turning it over to Rabia…
Thank you so much for having me on your blog today!
I’m delighted to reveal the cover for my upcoming release, Flare, Book Two of The Sunless World, an epic fantasy series with a steampunk flavor.
Rafe and Isabella are back
The mages of old saved their world, but left it in eternal darkness. Now it’s time to bring back the light.
After two years of training his magical gifts, Rafe returns home to a land wracked by war. Desperate states struggle to protect their resources of luminous quartz. Magic pulses and earthquakes devastate a world on the brink of extinction.
Rafe’s old enemy Karzov has gathered a band of prodigies obedient to his will. He seeks the power of the ancient mages for an audacious and sinister purpose. It’s up to Rafe and his ally, Isabella, to stop himóand undo the mistakes of the past to put their world right again.
Flare will be out in September 2016!
The Sunless World series
“Quartz: The Sunless World introduces a rich and credible backdrop to the adventures of her characters, with a deadly political mire underlying the bright colours of high society.” – By Rite of Word Reviews
“This story is fast, fascinating and highly recommended.” – Amazon.com review
The Sunless World series begins with Quartz (Book One) and Flux (A Sunless World Novel).
About the Author
I create weird worlds full of magic and machines, and write characters who are called on to be heroes. I’m fascinated by light and darkness, transformation, and things that fly. Giant squid and space dragons appear in my workóyou have been warned!
A native of Pakistan, I now reside in Northern Virginia, where I read, write, doodle, avoid housework, and homeschool my children.
Find me online: Website | Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter
June 27, 2016
The Make Me Read It Readathon!
I am really excited to be taking part in the Make Me Read It Readathon this year–because, as the name implies, y’all get to decide which of the books on my TBR list I need to read next…
Here’s the skinny:
The Readathon is hosted by Ely at Tea & Titles and Val at The Innocent Smiley
It takes place from July 9th to July 16th (but I might cheat and keep reading a bit past that!)
Before the week of reckoning, you post a poll featuring your TBR, and your friends/fellow readers vote on what books you read during the readathon!
The books with the most votes win. I am not averse to flipping coins should the situation call for it, though.
June 25, 2016
Happy Book Birthday & Mini Review: The First Chill of Autumn by W. R. Gingell
You’ve probably heard me rave about a couple of W.R. Gingell’s books that I’ve had the opportunity to read, so I’m really excited to help celebrate Gingell’s newest release, The First Chill of Autumn. I reviewed the first in this series, Twelve Days of Faerie, here and pretty much recommend it to everyone and their cat / dog / favorite stuffy. I enjoyed the rest of the series as well (review of this book below!) but that first book is an utter gem.
And now I’m going to let Gingell tell you a little more about this lovely new novella….
The First Chill of Autumn is a tale of adventure, treachery, love, and death. Beautiful Fae. Deadly dragons. Shifting loyalties and shifty motives. And two young twins at the centre of an invasion that has already happened.
Dion ferch Alawn and her trusty companions will fight, fly, and sneak their way through countries and kingdoms to save the world.
The First Chill of Autumn is the third book in the Shards of a Broken Sword trilogy. All the books can be read as standalones, but they do build upon each other, so don’t forget to check out Twelve Days of Faery (only 99c on all platforms for the month of June–buy it! Buy it now! Yes, this is Intisar butting in, but you really need this lovely gem of a story in your life) and Fire in the Blood.
Llassar is an occupied country– but nobody seems to know it.
Fae began to filter slowly into the land shortly after the birth of the crown princess, Dion ferch Alawn, supposedly fleeing a dark threat in Faery known as the Guardians. But that was fifteen years ago, and now there isn’t a town in Llassar that isn’t populated by or under the control of the Fae.
Smaller, weaker, and less talented at magic, Llassarians are quickly finding out that there’s no fighting the invasion that crept in so quietly and politely. Even the castle isn’t free of Fae: those closest to the king and queen are faery advisors.
When Dion ferch Alawn returns from a carefully sanitised tour of Outer Llassar, the most exciting thing she expects from the near future is the present her twin sister Aerwn promised for their seventeenth birthday.
Then her carriage breaks down, and Dion gets a taste of what the real Llassar has become: desperate, enslaved, and ripe for rebellion. Getting home safely is just the first problem she faces: the real struggle begins when Dion returns to the castle. Her new knowledge is inconvenient and unwelcome– to declare it, treason.
My Review:
This final installment has a very different pace from the first two books in the Shards of a Broken Sword trilogy. Rather than jumping right into the thick of things, The First Chill of Autumn starts early on, introducing us to our heroine when she’s a child, and letting us grow with Dion, recognizing the signs of wrongness around her long before her eyes are opened to it.
Dion is an interesting character, and I really enjoyed watching her grow. She’s not brave and strong and tough–or rather, she is, but in her own quiet way. She stammers when she’s nervous and she’s prone to fainting when she receives a shock (though not in a melodramatic way so much as an embarrassing one), and yet she’s lived with the prophecy that she’s expected to die since she was a child, and she’s quite all right with it. She knows what’s expected of her, and she intends to do it. What a refreshing sort of hero, both strong and weak, steady and uncertain.
Overall, the story was slower in pace than I expected, but featured a unique heroine and delved into some intriguing questions. There were at least a couple twists at the end I didn’t quite see coming, which is always a pleasure to experience. While I didn’t love this story in the way that I did Twelve Days of Faerie, I definitely enjoyed it and am glad I read it. I highly recommend this series to lovers of fairy tales, unusual heroines, and stories that subvert the usual tropes.
Find it here:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/First-Chill-Au...
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-f...
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-...
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebo...
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
About the Author
W.R. Gingell is a Tasmanian author who lives in a house with a green door. She loves to rewrite fairytales with a twist or two–and a murder or three–and original fantasy where dragons, enchantresses, and other magical creatures abound. Occasionally she will also dip her toes into the waters of SciFi.
W.R. spends her time reading, drinking an inordinate amount of tea, and slouching in front of the fire to write. Like Peter Pan, she never really grew up, and is still occasionally to be found climbing trees.
June 23, 2016
Writing and the Creator’s Curse…
This may explain why even after five rounds of revision I am never quite happy with the story I’m working on…
Also, the writer’s expression in the last frame… Perfect.
Source: Writing Memes : Photo
June 16, 2016
Author / Character Interview with MG Fantasy Author Alina Sayre
This week marks the book birthday of Alina Sayre’s third book in her middle grade fantasy series The Voyages of the Legend, The Illuminator Rising. Alina has her covers created by that Mistress of Design, Jenny of Seedlings Design Studio, who has also designed the covers for all of my longer books. So lets just take a moment and revel in this cover, why don’t we?
Synopsis:
Driven from their home island of Rhynlyr, Ellie and her friends must solve a riddle to find the survivors of the Vestigia Roi. But instead of a safe haven, they discover a hopeless band of refugees paralyzed by fear. Strengthened by new allies and new gifts, the crew of the
Legend faces dangers like never before. Can they escape being shot out of the sky, falling over the Edge of the world, or being engulfed by urken armies long enough to rally the Vestigia Roi? And can they rekindle a fire from the ashes of the One Kingdom before Draaken takes over the world?
Talk about high stakes! I’m really excited today to invite Alina on the blog for an author / character interview with someone from The Illuminator Rising. I found myself chuckling as I read through this–enjoy!
Book Name: The Illuminator Rising, Book 3 of The Voyages of the Legend
Author Name: Alina Sayre
Character Name: Korrina
Website: www.alinasayre.com
To start us off, can you, Alina, sum up your novel in a tweet?
13-year-old Ellie and her friends on the flying ship Legend must rally a hopeless nation to fight the evil Draaken and reclaim their home.
So, how did you two meet and how long ago was it?
A: This is Korrina’s and my first book together. We met near the beginning of my writing process for The Illuminator Rising a little over a year ago. She was busily attacking my main character’s best friend, Jariel.
K: Hey! I thought she was mapepo—demon spawn. And she fight very good.
What was your first impression of each other?
A: I had a lot of fun meeting this tough, spicy warrior woman with a penchant for airship raids. The Common Tongue may not be her first language, but she certainly speaks her mind. However, I have to apologize in advance for her bad manners.
K: Who say manners bad? I not like this writer. She talk too much.
What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened between you two?
K: She almost make me dance. I hate dance. Fighting better.
A: Korrina swore at some of my other characters. Luckily, it happened in another language and off-screen.
Alina, what do you feel the worst about doing to Korrina?
A: I can’t decide: deciding she’d be injured by a wild boar, or setting her up in a ballroom. Mwahaha.
Korrina, if you could say just one thing to Alina, what would it be?
K: You not know nothing about fight. You sit, write words. I teach you fight. *gestures with javelin*
If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you each do?
A: I’d probably take a leisurely hike, then curl up with a good book and some tea.
K: Target practice. I good with bow; javelin too.
Do you think you two will meet again in the future?
A: I think it’s likely. Korrina may be prickly and opinionated, but I have a feeling that at least one of my other characters would object strongly to her removal.
K: I stay a while. I not like writer, but like people from Legend.
Korrina, what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to someone? Why?
K: *grins wickedly* *brandishes javelin*
Alina, what what does Korrina do that annoys you the most?
A: Korrina has a real knack for learning languages, but at the beginning of The Illuminator Rising she brushes off education and won’t cooperate with her teacher. I wish she’d take her talent and intelligence more seriously.
K: I smart! I not like people give me orders. Like you.
Alina, what have you read in the last few months that you really enjoyed?
A: Besides a really great short story called “The Bone Knife,” you mean? 
June 13, 2016
The Halfway Point – 2016 Writing Resolutions Revisited!
Back in January, I pushed myself to set four writing resolutions for the year. I invited you all to egg me if I didn’t meet the first of those resolutions, so I’m really, really, really happy to report that no eggs are required. Here’s where things stand…
Publish Memories of Ash (finally!) – Yes! May 30th marked the release of Memories of Ash and I’m one happy little camper. Thank you so much to all the amazing readers, and writers of reviews, for giving Tomi such a warm welcome! If you haven’t nabbed your copy yet, it’s available at most retailers, and Sunbolt (Book 1) is just 99 cents.
Share two original short stories with my newsletter subscribers – In January / February I released Dragon Slayer Number Nine to my newsletter subscribers. It was a very short storybut lots of fun to write and share. If you missed it, it’s now available as a free download to all new subscribers. Short story number two is still in the works. (But oh, I like that cover…)
Revise the first installment in Rae’s story – This is on the calendar for the fall. I’m really excited to jump back into Rae’s story. I’m actually, very tentatively, considering just solidifying her whole story into one mega-huge book, but I haven’t committed to it yet. We’ll see how revision goes first! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out my free short story, The Bone Knife, featuring (you guessed it!) Rae.
Complete a first draft of Sunbolt Book 3 – I have eight chapters! Four of which will probably be summarily tossed out, but it’s a start.
May 30, 2016
Memories of Ash Release & Photo Contest!
I can’t believe it is finally release day! I am so thrilled to share Memories of Ash with all of you!
This book has been a long time coming, as you all know very, very well, so my fearless author assistant Kate Tilton and I have put together a Book Birthday Bonanazafest. (That’s a real word. Really it is.)
Book: Check out Memories of Ash on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple. It’s gotten some awesome early reviews on Goodreads as well!
Birthday: We’ve got two amazing giveaways to celebrate the release! There’s a multi-author e-book giveaway with titles from some of my favorite indie and small press authors, and both giveaways include Kindle Fires. So. Much. Awesomeness.
Bonanzafest: Are you all ready for more awesomeness? I am so excited to share with you the amazing photo contest Kate and I cooked up to celebrate this release…
The rules are simple but before we get into that let’s talk about the prize….
The prize starts out with some exclusive author swag: signed bookmarks and book cards, a handmade tile coaster made with a book page from Sunbolt, and a bookish keychain.
Then we add in a 6″ x 9″ physical print of this gorgeous Hitomi artwork by Grace Fong (of which we gave digital versions to those of you who pre-ordered Memories of Ash).
AND THEN we top it off with a $25 Amazon or B&N gift card!
Plus we will pick two runner-ups to win some cool book swag as well.
And how can you enter this awesome contest? I thought you’d never ask
May 24, 2016
Join me Thursday to talk Diversity and SFF!
This Thursday I’ll be joining Kate Tilton as a special guest on #K8chat to talk Diversity and Science Fiction / Fantasy. I am so excited for the conversation! It should be an hour of absolute fun (some geekiness may be involved), and I’m hoping y’all can join me!
Nope, blue people do not qualify as “diverse.” Nor do elves or dwarves if they’re either rainbow or white…
The low down:
Date: Thursday, May 26
Time: 9 pm EST
Where: On Twitter, using the #K8chat hashtag.
If you haven’t done a Twitter party before, check out Kate’s page on the ins and outs of participating (including how to keep track of party-related tweets).
See you there!
