Angela Myron's Blog, page 8

Theme by Susan Soares

The only thing harder than lying about your life? Facing it.

Marissa tells lies.

To herself, about the fact that her brother abandoned her.

To her grandmother, when she says “everything’s fine.”

To the world when she pretends her mother is at home or working late. When she doesn’t tell them her mother is dead.

She doesn’t even question the wisdom of living in a world built on lies anymore—until she meets Brandon. Unlike Marissa, Brandon faces his grief head-on. As their relationship sweetens, Marissa realizes the value of letting someone in and not letting her grief destroy her. But when her past filled with denial catches up with her, Marissa is forced to tell Brandon her darkest secrets, or risk losing him.

The only thing harder than lying about her life? Facing it.

Themes I return to in my stories One theme I gravitate towards is loss. There is something so intense about loss. Bringing loss to the extreme of death is the ultimate state to write about. Greif is an extremely complex beast, and one that is different for everyone. The way the mind handles loss, the way the soul continues on, the way an individuals energy shifts, the way the world keeps moving on, it’s all related to the loss. This comes from a very deep and personal place for me. I’ve experienced loss on the very deepest level, and I use that grief to connect to my characters, my readers, and myself.

                Loss is also relatable. At some point or another you are going to lose someone. Whether it be your best friend, your boyfriend, a family member, a pet even, it’s a universal understanding that within life there is death. This is a fragile fiber that connects us all. Having a support system to deal with your loss is essential to one’s own fight.

                I find it fascinating how two totally different people can react to a similar loss. Having come from such a place I’m happy to say that I use my creativity to help me cope with my loss. And I hope others can find peace in their passions. 

Read An Excerpt from Susan's New Book! I held my breath as I ran past the cemetery. Stupid, I know. Regardless, it’s one of those idiotic things that stick with you from your childhood. Like fragments of your being that imprint themselves on your chemical makeup. It was my older brother, Marc, who had told me that once when we were in the backseat of Mom’s old hatchback and were driving past the Sacred Path Cemetery.

Marc poked me in my side. “Quick, hold your breath,” he said before taking in a puff of air and holding it in.

“What? Why?” I looked around from side to side.

He didn’t answer me. Instead he just kept motioning with his hands, pointing out the window, putting his hands around his neck like he was choking or something. Finally, when we turned left onto Harper Street he let out a big exhale.

“Oh man, now you’re toast.” He pointed at me and laughed. That maniacal laugh only older brothers know how to do. I was seven at the time, and Marc was ten. “You probably have a ghost inside you now.” He grinned like a devious villain.

“A ghost?” I said.

“You didn’t hold your breath while we drove past the cemetery. Again I state — you’re toast.” He began drumming on his lap with his hands.

I didn’t comprehend what he was telling me, but I knew I didn’t like it. Tears started forming in my eyes, and I knew I had to rely on my failsafe. “Mooommm,” I cried out, and immediately I felt Marc’s sweaty hand over my mouth.

“Yes, Marissa?” Mom’s sweet voice carried from the front of the car to the backseat.

“She’s fine, Mom. I got it.” Marc’s tone was of the dutiful son. He unclamped his hand from my face. “Listen,” he began, talking kind of slow. “You’ve got to remember this. I’m going to give you a life lesson here. Are you ready?”

His green eyes were sparkling, and I nodded my head in agreement.

“Okay.” He crouched down a bit so he was eye-level with me. “You must always, and I mean always, hold your breath when you drive past a cemetery. And if you’re walking past one, you must run — run and hold your breath until you’re clear. Otherwise, the spirits of the undead could invade your body. And you don’t want that to happen. Do you?” I almost couldn’t tell if the last part was a question or a statement.

“But I didn’t hold my breath back there, and all the times before. What if one’s in me right now?” I began pawing at my body.

Marc threw his head back and laughed. “Nah, you’re fine. Just be careful. Now that you know you have to do it, always do it. Understand?”

Again I shook my head. Marc gave me a thumbs-up, and I begged Mom to take Chester Street instead of Maple because I knew there was a big cemetery on Maple. Luckily she agreed.

So now, here I was ten years later, holding my breath as I ran past Sacred Path Cemetery. While I ran, my new sneakers — the ones I had to work double shifts on Saturdays for three weeks to get — started rubbing the back of my left heel, and I knew I’d have a blister the size of a quarter later on. It’s hard to keep your pace when you’re holding your breath. Luckily Sacred Path Cemetery isn’t that big. Just big enough. It’s just big enough. That’s what my grandmother said anyway. I was almost halfway through when I heard the clicking of the tips of my shoelace on the ground. My thoughts concentrated on what those tip things were called, anything to get my mind off the cemetery. Aglets, I remembered! My aglets were hitting the pavement, and I knew if I didn’t stop and retie that lace, then I would land flat on my face. Grace has never been a character trait of mine. My mother, yes, but not me. Marissa No-Grace McDonald should have been my legal name. How my mother came up with Scranton for my middle name I’ll never know.

About Susan Susan Soares grew up in a small town in Massachusetts, always dreaming of one day being an author. After numerous short stories, poems and plays, those dreams finally became a reality when her first book, My Zombie Ex-Boyfriends was published. (Featherweight Press, 2013) Her second book Heart on a String was just released in June 2014 by Astraea Press.

Susan received her MA in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University, and will be pursuing teaching soon. When she isn't writing Susan spends her time reading, experimenting with photography, planning her next Disney World vacation and chasing after her kids.

Susan loves to read YA fiction. Maybe it's because her inner sixteen-year-old still wants to be prom queen.
Links: Twitter |  YouTube | www.susansoares.com | Blog | Goodreads | Wattpad
Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Susan will be awarding a Life is all Good LOVE Tote to a randomly drawn winner (Life is all good tote on Zappos), a multi-heart turquoise charm bracelet (Western multi-heart turquoise bracelet on Zappos) to another randomly drawn winner, a signed copy of Heart on a String to one more randomly drawn winner and finally, a signed bookmark of Heart on a String to three randomly drawn winners. All prizes will be awarded via rafflecopter during the tour.

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  Goddessfish Promotions Blog
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Lost Locket of Lahari Scavenger Hunt!

Today I'm helping friends over at Patchwork Press celebrate their new anthology and the super-secret announcement of an upcoming anthology! 

But, here's the catch: we're not going to just tell you what it is, we're gonna make you hunt down the letters of the upcoming anthology's theme. And guess.

But first, more about this cool locket:
Forged with magic, the locket's mission is to find it's family. The anthology follows the locket from 1630s India to Spiritualist 1890s America, then to the roaring 20s in New York. Ever seeking it's roots--the family of the old jewelcrafter who forged it--the locket resurfaces in 1945 Manila, present day, then the 2020s.

Released this week by Patchwork Press, the Lost Locket of Lahari features authors Erica Crouch, Terra Harmony, Janna Jennings, Ruth Silver, and Kellie Sheridan. Pick up a copy here!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks


Without further ado, the authors of the locket:
Erica Crouch, The Empath Erica's novella The Empath in the Lost Locket anthology surrounds the spiritualist movement of the 1890s in America. Seances, ghost hunts, and more!

What did you enjoy most about writing this story?
Some of my favorite scenes to write of The Empath were the creepy scenes. I did a lot of research into spiritualism — looking into both the skeptics and those claiming to have supernatural abilities. I learned how to read palms, which is really cool, and I also learned a lot about tarot. I really enjoyed writing the scenes where Odessa reads someone’s fates, either in the cards or on their palm, and of course the séance scenes were fun to write. Anything that’s a bit dark is right up my alley.

Do you have any strange writing habits?
Too many. For this story in particular, I found myself writing and editing on the ground more than normal. (Is there a normal amount of time to be writing/editing on the ground?) Sometimes sitting at a desk or on the couch just doesn’t do it for me, so I’ll set my laptop on its side, lie down next to it, and start working. I don’t know if it works because it gives me a new perspective of what I’ve written, or if it shakes something loose in my brain, but it works. It looks weird (and is weird), but it works!

Do you have any themes that you return to again and again in your stories? Why?
I hadn’t even thought about it until now, but I think I continue to return to themes about fate and destiny in my writing. Some of my stories and characters assert that there is no such thing as fate and that we write our own path, while others are all about embracing what we are meant to do and become. I’ve always been interested in the idea of fate, and I guess I just like debating it out with myself across multiple books.
Terra Harmony, The Dreamer Terra's story of the Locket, called The Dreamer, is in the exciting world of 1920s New York. Yet it shows us both extremes of those living at the time--poverty and excess.

What was the hardest part of writing this story?
The hardest part about writing 'The Dreamer' was the time period – the 1920's. I have never written in this era before, and haven't read very many books from this era. To get in the mood, I watched The Great Gatsby (twice – because, well – Leonardo DiCaprio). I also watched plenty of 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries' (on Netflix – I highly recommend).
I definitely fell in love with the roaring '20s and look forward to writing more in this era!

What book do you wish you could have written?
My gosh – The Outlander series for sure! What I admire about Diana Gabaldon's books is the research effort that is evident within them. Military history and medical know-how combined with romance, action, and a touch of fantasy – these books are my all time favorites!
 
Three things I learned by writing from character Olivia's point of view.
Infatuation with one person can cause you to pass up a better thing. Keep your eyes, your heart, and your mind open.
Having goals will drive you, hopefully into a better situation – but you have to always consider the consequences of your actions.
Be true to who you really are, people tend to see through your acts anyway. Janna Jennings, The Confidant In Janna's novella, the locket takes us to 1945 Manilla and into some deep, rich history.

How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your story?
I’ve always had a fascination for the time period that Emma’s story takes place. World War II touched so many peoples lives in so many ways, the stories that come from those years seem endless. So the era of the story was easy. The only other requirement I had was a strong female character. I started looking at what kind of young women would have those characteristics under the circumstances of war, and found a surprising number of woman spies operating in a time where women were barely allowed to wear pants. Emma’s story began to take shape from there. 

What were your goals and intentions in this story, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
I wanted a story that would work well within the structure of the anthology, but with a distinct voice and flavor. A story that illuminate an important but little-known bit of history. I was very excited with how the short story turned out, especially since it was a point of view and genera I hadn’t worked in before.

Are there underrepresented groups or ideas featured if your book?
I think there is a lot written about the extermination of the Jewish people and the Nazi occupation during this time period. And that is how it should be, the atrocities should be brought to light.
Less is known about the war in the Pacific, in particular about the liberation of Manila, and the deplorable conditions the people and POW’s endured during the long years of occupation.
Even less is brought to light about women and their role in world wide conflict, from the Rosie’s that riveted their way through the war to Virginia Hall, the American spy who parachuted behind enemy lines in France to organize the resistance there, all with only one leg.

What book do you wish you could have written?
The Time Traveler’s Wife. I envy Audrey Niffeneger’s ability to not only keep the back and forth of time travel straight, but to write it in a way the reader can follow it too. 

Three things I learned from writing a story set in 1945 Manilla:
Chickory was often used as a coffee substitute when the war caused supplies to run low.
Manila has a strong Spanish heritage.
Monkey is palatable, but only just. Ruth Silver, The Adventurer Ruth's story takes us into a present day adventure where the locket reemerges! Now for some insight into Ruth's writing and dreams:

Do you have any strange writing habits (like standing on your head or writing in the shower)?
Well I’ve never tried standing on my head to write! I do however find myself thinking up new ideas before I fall asleep. I keep a notebook handy and jot them down so I don’t forget it.
 
Where is one place you want to visit that you haven't been before?
I would love to travel to Paris. The closest I’ve been is Paris in Las Vegas and it’s not quite the same thing.
 
What secret talents do you have?
Well, it’s not a huge secret but I used to be a professional photographer. I’d photograph weddings and ran my own business for a few years.
And finally, a Clue: That's it! To find the rest of the clues, meet us at Janna Jennings' blog tomorrow! And if you missed the first three posts, you can find them here:
Lost Locket of Lahari Scavenger Hunt on the PWP Blog
Playlists on Hannah Davies' blog
Moodboards on Erica Crouch's blog

Book 2 on Netgalley

It's coming soon! So soon, in fact, that it's already here if you're a book reviewer or blogger. Yes, advance reader's copies of Ennara and the Book of Shadows are now available on Netgalley! Go pick up your copy today. 

When strange accidents start happening around thirteen year-old necromancer Ennara and her friends, she must search for the mysterious stolen artifacts causing the attacks while learning the highest form of magic--the spells that could prevent the fruition of a terrible prophecy.


Ennara and the Book of Shadows on Netgalley

Extension by L.V. Pires

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon Gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

After having been cryogenically suspended for eighteen years, Oliver Conroy is brought back to life and given a second opportunity to live out his dreams. Velcron Technologies assures Oliver there’s nothing wrong with the procedure. Excited to find his family and finish his senior year at Sierra Vista High, Oliver ventures out into the new and very different world.

Across town, Colby Patterson, Sierra Vista’s star student, has just experienced his soul torn from his body and returned to its original owner, Oliver, leaving him empty, void of emotion, a psychopath, who is now determined to get his soul back using any means necessary.

When Oliver comes to realize he’s being pursued by Colby he must decide what to do. Can he defend himself against this soulless psychopath? Will he be able to bring himself to murder? And, if so, what will happen to his soul?

It’s a battle for the ultimate prize – ownership of the soul.

Enjoy an excerpt:

Colby woke on the cold floor. Only one of his eyes worked. The other was sealed shut. He pulled himself to sitting, feeling every inch of his body bruised and sore. An ache radiated inside of him like his ribs were broken. Blood dripped from a cut on his lip. He smeared it away with the back of his hand, then looked down at his arms and saw burn marks seared across his flesh. The same red marks covered his legs. Colby struggled to his feet and looked around to orientate himself.

He wasn’t in the room he had been brought to when he first arrived to Velcron. This room was a laboratory—a dimly lit one. The floor was smooth and polished, with a metal table was in the middle of the room. Silver chutes lined one wall, a metal door on the other. He hobbled to the door and tried the handle not really thinking it would work, but determined to escape. He had to get out.

He remembered the last thing Dr. Wang had said. Take him to the vaporization room. Colby turned around again and saw a shower on the far end of the room—the vaporization shower. He had heard about it before. It was used in prisons to execute criminals. A prisoner would be forced into the chamber and ultrasonic lasers would shoot out of the showerhead, vaporizing the victim into oblivion. Now, they were going to try to execute him without any just cause. He hadn’t even had a trial. There was no jury, no witnesses called forth to testify, no judge to hear his version of the truth. All of it was a set-up, to annihilate him and keep him quiet, but why?

About the Author:
Young Adult author L.V. Pires lives near Baltimore, Maryland.

She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Master’s in Education and the University of Maryland, College Park with a Bachelor's in English. She is currently working towards her MFA in Creative Writing at Spalding University.

Her work includes "The Portrait" (Gypsy Shadow Publishing), "Summer of Winged Creatures" (Saturday's Child Press) and EXTENSION (6/15/14, Crescent Moon Press).

Follow her at lisavpires.com.
Twitter at @lisavpires
www.facebook.com/lisavpires

Buy the book at Amazon.

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Lost Locket of Lahari Anthology

In a dusty, dilapidated stall tucked away in an alcove of a bustling Bazaar in India, a man with a rickety spine and a spindly beard bends over his work bench, forging a locket with accidental magic. There’s power in a wish, and there’s nothing he wants more than for his children to return home. The locket was intricately crafted, adorned with one dragonfly for each of his children—and the power to find them.

With the guidance of fate, the locket skips through time and journeys across oceans, traveling from person to person in a constant search for the souls whispered into its vessel. Centuries after the magical old man in the Bazaar became near-forgotten myth and whispered legend, the locket has fallen into the hands of those with echoes of the six dragonflies: the empath, the dreamer, the confidant, the adventurer, the dancer, and the mystery.

In the hands of its new owners, the power of the locket adapts, bending and remaking itself to answer need. While the locket never found the children of Lahari, it found the next best thing… Their spirits.

The five novellas of the Lost Locket of Lahari anthology pause a moment in time when the locket finds the ripples of its ancestry. From the Victorian-era to the Roaring Twenties, the 1940s to modern day and beyond, this anthology is a collection of stories as dynamic as the authors themselves.

Authors: Erica Crouch, Terra Harmony, Janna Jennings, Ruth Silver, Kellie Sheridan
Release Date: September 9th, 2014

Links: http://www.patchwork-press.com/books/the-lost-locket-of-lahari-anthology/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22012957-the-lost-locket-of-lahari-anthology

Now at Patchwork Press

Big news announcement! I'm the newest Author at Patchwork Press. It's pretty exciting. I've joined some amazing authors in their coalition, and that means I'm not indie in the sense of "I'm alone in the world of publishing" anymore. I've got peeps. (Well, in addition to my peeps at OCCRWA, YARWA, SCBWI, and my three critique groups...)

But seriously, you guys should check out their work. They're awesome! And I'm thrilled to be counted among Erica Crouch, Terra Harmony, Pauline C. Harris, Janna Jennings, Leigh Ann Kopans, Ruth Silver, and the wonderful Kellie Sheridan. 

The Role of MMORPGs

First off, this might come across as a rant, but it's not. Not really. But for some reason, I feel the need to explain my fantasy stories thus far. The action. The adventure. The monsters. The wands.

This is all coming about from the common feedback I get from my stories. Described as fast-paced, immersive, and adventure-filled, yet again and again references are made to one famous middle-grade/YA fantasy series. "It owes a lot to such-and-such series," reviewers say.

I'm here to say I don't owe anything to such-and-such series. Did I read it? Sure. Did I model my world off it? Absolutely not. Want to know what I did model my world off of? World of Warcraft. Global warming. And the power of the ancient sources of language.

So I'm here to say, once and finally:
Wands have been used by magic users for centuries and are used by magic-using classes in every MMORPG I've played. Same for swords. They play a minor role in my story, and I placed them there because druids today use wands and because spell casters in almost every game you'll play carry a wand. Not because wands were discussed at length in such-and-such series.Kids go to school. They go to school in almost every contemporary children's fiction book I've read, fantasy or not. Big difference between my book and such-and-such book? The school in my books is not the major setting. It is a very minor setting, unlike many middle-grade and YA books.
So what's gonna happen now? Who knows. Maybe I'll pull the wands, maybe I won't. But it's just a shame that for some readers, the fact that every wizard in the UK had a wand makes that series somehow the source of wand lore, even though it isn't. It taints every world since that has even mentioned the object in passing.

Sleeping in the Morgue by Jennifer Tressen

Paige Thorton, a sweet overachieving high school senior only has one month to come up with ten thousand dollars to pay for college, but her family mortuary has no business. Desperate to escape her little town and go to her dream school, she decides to take matters into her own hands and drum up some clients. 

Soon "accidents" begin happening to local residents. However when her boyfriend, Brock Harrington, the rookie hotshot cop begins to investigate things get hairy. Will Paige be able to pull it off in time or will she be doomed to forever sleep in the morgue?

The author will be giving away a  $25 Bath and Body Works gift certificate. Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Tour dates can be found here: Goddessfish Promotions Blog An Excerpt from the Book “So I heard you got a corpse the other day,” Brock said as he drove his large pick-up truck. “Old man? He’ll likely be one of the last, huh?”

Paige twiddled her fingers and tried to figure out how to answer the question. “Yeah, some old man. Not sure how he died....he just sort of...” 

Keep your cool. 

She held her breath and looked at Brock. 

“Old people just die. Happens all the time.” He chuckled. “Just not around here much anymore.” 

“Yeah, he just died,” Paige said. 

That was easy. No need for explanation. He just died. Why didn’t I think of that? It’s not like I killed him or anything. I just...helped him. Yeah, I helped him. There’s nothing wrong with helping people, right? 

“Any more ideas on how to make the cash?” 

Paige shook her head, “Your dad’s giving me a scholarship.”

“Oh is he?”

“Well, the town is. And it’s not official, so don’t quote me or anything; but he said he would. Three thousand dollars.” 

Still not enough. 

“That’s a good start.”

Paige nodded, still lost in her own thoughts. She was trying to avoid letting the guilt of what she had helped the kind old man do get to her. 

“I really wish I could pay for school for you--”

“Brock, don’t.”

“But my rookie salary is barely enough to cover the bills and put a couple bucks away for you know, ‘someday.’” 

“Brock...” She couldn’t help but smile. His sincerity was sweet. He would do anything for her and she knew that. But she didn’t want him to. She wanted to do this on her own, the best she could that is. About the Author Jennifer Tressen is a wife, mother and writer. A former actor, she spent nearly ten years in the entertainment industry appearing in commercials, print ads and television shows. It was her love of storytelling that pushed her to the other side of the camera and sent her to film school at Chapman University. Although she entered as a Cinematography major, Jennifer graduated with a degree in Screenwriting after a single required screenwriting class forever changed her path. She found a passion for writing she had forgotten in her childhood. Everything she learned about screenwriting and especially storytelling she attributes to her mentor, the late Blake Snyder. After several years of writing and editing for producers and other screenwriters her curiosity led her into writing novels. As a huge fan of Young Adult and New Adult literature this is where her pen tends to lead her. However, she does have plans to release a few middle grade fiction and adult novels in the future.

Jennifer attributes her love of reading and writing to her mother who always reminded her of the power of literacy. Besides telling her and her siblings that they could do anything they wanted if they knew how to read and write, she said, “You can go anywhere in a book. You can be anyone.”

Links: Jennifer's Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon | Barnes and Noble a Rafflecopter giveaway

Theme in Ignifer's Rise by Michael John Grist

In today's post, I asked author Michael John Grist  to tell us about the themes he returns to again and again in his stories, and why. Because theme is the heart of a story. It's where authors become philosophers, where we battle for our own existential stakes. What Michael John Grist said is good, really good. It'll make you want to read his book. The fate of the world is written in scars. In a bleak industrial city where marks in skin are a sentence to death, Sen is a child condemned. Cursed with mysterious scars carved by his own mother's hand, he leads a fearful hidden life in the city's last abbey. 

Then the King's brutal Adjunc attack, and Sen barely escapes with his life. Lost and alone in the city's dark hinterlands, he begins an exhilarating race to find the truth behind his scars. In stinking black sewers and the lava-buried ruins of an ancient civilization, he uncovers a truth far stranger than he ever imagined, laid out by his long-dead mother: an apocalypse god is rising, and only the legendary hero Saint Ignifer can stop it. 

But Saint Ignifer is dead. 

Revolution rocks the city. The blood of all castes runs in the streets. With a storm of new faith raging out from the barricades, Sen must embrace the terrible fate his mother wrote in his scars- in the volcano's caldera, at the end of the world- before the black jaws of the apocalypse descend. For the Rot is coming, and the Saint must rise. Self-sacrifice is the BIG ONE (for me, at least) If I ask you to think of the greatest story ever told, what comes to mind? Perhaps the epic of Gilgamesh? The labors of Hercules? Maybe something by Shakespeare even...

One that may certainly come to mind is the story of Jesus. Now, I'm not talking about this in a religious way, because I'm not really religious and have no agenda. Neither am I saying it is the greatest story ever, in the whole of the world. But I do think it is a truly great story, that has changed the world. And at it's core is the theme of self-sacrifice.

I cannot escape this theme in my fiction. It endlessly engages me, probably because it burrows deep down to something wonderful in our genetic code (uh, soul?). That of the desire to help others, to see others as an extension of the self.

In the story of Jesus, he did that for people he didn't even know. People that were different from him, people that hated him, even the people that were killing him. There is something deeply beautiful and powerful about that. This man (in the story at least) was able to see through all the differences between himself and others, and overcome them with forgiveness.

Wow. This kind of fellow-man/womanship has got to be one of the most laudable things about us humans. what drives someone to leap into the road and push someone out of the way of an oncoming bus, only to die themselves, even if they don't know the person they've just saved.

I'm talking about heroes/heroines. I love to explore what makes up these people's minds. I want to dig down to it and put it on display, blow it up and out so people will get to see it more, be moved (and maybe even influenced) by it more.

As a kid I read the British writer of heroic fiction, David Gemmell. The first book I read by him, and his best, is called simply 'Legend'. It tells the story of Druss, a famous aging axeman in a fantasy land, where a horde of barbarian tribesmen called the Nadir are sweeping down to attack a legendary fortress, on their way to destroy a civilization.

Druss goes to the fortress and he fights. He holds the line though he's old and in pain every step of the way. He leads even when he's dying, and excruciating poison seeps through his veins. Then in one of the most moving scenes, he comes back after he dies and fights again, as a ghost at the entrance to the fortress, because nothing will stop him from doing what he can to save who he can.

That is a hero. It's also what I've tried to put into my fantasy book, Ignifer's Rise. A boy named Sen is set on a path where he must raise an ancient hero, Saint Ignifer, to life, to fight off a coming apocalypse god. The Saint is just like Druss, a legend who laid down his life to save his city. Sen is just a boy, but he too must make self-sacrifices, and sacrifice even more than himself, to save the whole.

I wanted to ask difficult questions in this. Self-sacrifice is good, but is it ever alright to sacrifice others to save even more? How far is it possible to go before it stops being heroism and starts being villainy, reviled and hated? And even if it is reviled and hated, is it not still heroism if it worked? Is it not heroism to take on that massive burden of guilt, to save the world?

I love Ender's Game for this same reason. the only problem with Ender's Game is Ender takes on his built 
without knowing it. If he'd known it, then the choice to do so becomes much more powerful- in my view at least.

Self-sacrifice of heroes runs through many of my books and stories. I can't help but return to it, like some wannabe story geneticist, trying to get to the root of these acts and find out just what they are, and why they might be done. Does that fascinate you too? Then join me for the ride, and we'll explore these dizzy depths together. An Excerpt from Ignifer's Rise Avia fled through the ash-smothered streets of Aradabar, and the Rot's fiery black tongue swept close behind.

Moths and Butterflies thudded to ground around her, bursting on cobbled stone, their broad wings seared away by the Rot's ashen touch. Avia ran on, down burnlit streets through rushes of mounding dust, as agonized screams rang out from behind. 

They were all going to die.

Through breaks in the city's skyline of library towers she glimpsed the column of flame rising from the horizon, like a brilliant orange flower painted on the sky. The mountain was erupting; one last defense against the Rot, and soon Aradabar would be gone.

She sped down the narrow alleys of the outer bookyards, striding over bodies already half-buried in volcanic dust, holding her newborn son close. The wounds in his face were scabbing now, lines she had carved with her own hand that would save or damn them all. 

"Help us, please!" voices called from a burning hut. 

She glimpsed children trapped inside, hay-stuffed pillows tamped over their heads against falling rock. She couldn't help them, and ran on.

At a canal she came upon a thronging exodus of carriages and barges, filled with frantic denizens shouting to one another through the scalding ash. She slipped between their carriage wheels and ran across their jumbled barge decks. 

"Lady Avia!" a Man of Quartz called out, but she only pulled her hood tight about her head and continued, leaving them behind. 

"Where is King Seem?" he called after her. "Where is our King?"

Moments later, his cries joined the eruption's cacophony as the Rot found him.
About the Author Michael John Grist is a 34-year old British writer and ruins photographer who lives in Tokyo, Japan. He writes dark and surreal science fiction and fantasy, inspired by authors such as David Gemmell and Orson Scott Card.

In his free time he explores and photographs abandoned places around the world, such as ruined theme parks, military bases, underground bunkers, and ghost towns. These explores have drawn millions of visitors to his website:  michaeljohngrist.com, and often provide inspiration for his fiction.

You can buy Ignifer's Rise here on amazon.com or amazon.co.uk.  Sign up for his releases newsletterhere and, friend him on Facebook at  facebook.com/mjgwrites.

Michael will be awarding an autographed print copy of Ignifer's Rise to a randomly drawn winner. Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: Goddessfish Promotions Blog

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New Trailer for Ennara and the Fallen Druid

It's a tad late. (Only about a year.) But I had a lot of fun making it, and future trailers are forthcoming!