Book Highlight - Dead Embers by T. G. Ayer

I recently finished reading Dead Embers by T. G. Ayer. It was the second book in the Valkyrie series and I thought it was even better than the first.

Ayer is a stunning writer. She knows how to paint a beautiful picture with her words... mix that with tense action, a solid mystery and an MC you can't helping cheering for and you have yourself a pretty solid story. I gave the book 4.5 stars. You can read my review here.

I thought it would be fun for you to get to know the MC - Bryn - a little better today. So Ayer has put together a character profile for me to share with you. I hope you enjoy it :)

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 Name:

BRYN (Brynhilde) HALBROOK, 17. Bryn hates her given name and hopes nobody will ever find out what a dorky real name she has. Little does she know the history behind the name and how it will rewrite her very future.

Description:

Green eyes, red hair and eventually a pair of hot red wings

Traits:

Bryn is a loner. She sees herself as a freak and is happy to navigate the outskirts of school society. She's stubborn, headstrong and lonely, but longs for friendship.

Food:

Ms. Custers fried chicken tops her list even when her appetite mysteriously disappears. Chocolate comes a close second. The Mead from Asgard soon becomes Bryn's favorite drink though she wonders at its power to intoxicate her senses.

Music:

Green Day and Linkin Park, with a secret love for Melody Gardot.

Favorite things:

Amber pendant given to her by her father. Golden leaf given to her by the Glasir tree. The rose-petal encrusted soap from the Asgard Baths.

Dislikes:

Hamburgers, menthol sweets, cigarette smoke, Astrid, Loki

Ambivalent about:

The sword of Brunhilde, the Eye of the Dragon. Freya. Bifrost (bridge of the gods)

Skills:

Bryn has always been able to see the strange golden glow around people around her. It's not until someone close to her dies that she realizes the meaning of the glow is Death.

Bryn also discovers that she is a skilled fighter - both hand to hand combat and weaponry, as a band of thugs soon find out when they try to attack her.

In Asgard, training and fighting come easy for Bryn, but soon a mysterious power begins to blossom within her when she fights. Will Bryn's own courage and strength win out, or will the berserker rage that threatens her eventually overcome her in the end?

Special place in her heart for:

Ms. Custer, Brody, Joshua, Sigrun, Njall, Thor, Fen, Steinn

Romance:

Aidan Lee - son of her fathers arch-enemy. It's instant attraction. The kind she has no control of. Hormones, chemistry, who knows but Aidan gets Bryn all hot and bothered from Day 1. The couple barely get a chance to get to know each other before they are thrown into a life-threatening mission on the hunt for Freya's necklace. Bryn battles her feelings for Aidan and the guilt she feels for having put his life in danger. Little does she know there is much more than one obstacle to her relationship with Aidan. Can she come to terms with who he really is? Or is there someone else who deserves her heart more?

Character:

Bryn is sensitive, though impulsive. She is caring but sometimes selfish - a result of not having people around her who truly care for her. she is very independent, often refusing the help offered to her. Will she learn that it takes far more strength to trust than it does to walk alone?

Accepting change is ones life is not easy, especially when part of that change is accepting the existence of a mythology as reality. Can Bryn successfully transition from normal teen to Valkyrie?

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You can find both these awesome books on Amazon...

Dead Radiance

Dead Embers

Screwing Up Babylon - New Release by C. M. Keller

 Babylon, one of the most powerful and notorious empires ever, is the last place Mark wants to go. But when he discovers his girlfriend Miranda has been kidnapped and given to the king as a concubine, he travels through the colors of time to rescue her. It won’t be easy, not when the Hanging Gardens are a trap, his life is the prize in a game, and time is a prison. It will take all Mark’s cunning, the help of his friends, and a crazed chimp to free Miranda. When he does, time itself begins to unravel, and a life must be sacrificed or no one will survive.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book and I loved it. You can see my review here.

Since the book has just come out, I invited C. M. Keller to visit YAlicious and tell us why she chose Babylon as her setting for the second book in her Screwing Up Time series.

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One of the joys of writing time travel is that all of history becomes your playground. No time or culture is off limits. Of course, the question then becomes what time period do you choose. And that’s the question Melissa posed for me when she asked me to write this blog post. Why Babylon?

I have to admit that Babylon has fascinated me for most of my life. My first contact with Babylon was the story of Esther—an ancient beauty pageant winner who almost ended up as a concubine. Then, I fell in love with the story of Scheherazade, a Persian woman who survives by cleverness and stories. When I was in school, I read about the Code of Hammurabi and the Hanging Gardens. Later as an adult, I taught the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Yale Museum of British Art’s paintings of Babylon captured my imagination.

When I began Screwing Up Babylon and discovered that Peter had kidnapped Miranda to use her to manipulate Mark, I knew where Peter would take her. Babylon. I actually tried to talk myself out of the location because I knew it would present several problems. One, the language—the people of Babylon speak Akkadian, and my main characters do not. So it would be a huge challenge to engage the reader in the plot when Mark and Miranda can’t understand what anyone around them is saying. My other concern was that the culture of Babylon was violent and life was cheap. I knew if I set the novel there, the story would be darker.

So I tried to think of other settings, but they weren’t right. This sequel had to take place in Babylon because Babylon itself was a character—what was going to happen in the story could only take place in Babylon. So I stopped trying to force the story to fit somewhere else. And when I did, the story wrote itself.

Hopefully, readers come away from the book not only with a better understanding of many sides of Babylon, both the exotic and the bleak, but also a greater appreciation of their own culture.

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I loved seeing Babylon through the eyes of Mark and Miranda. You captured the city beautifully and it was the perfect setting for Screwing Up Babylon. Thanks so much for your insights, Connie.

The first book in this series - Screwing Up Time - is currently only 99c on Amazon. If you'd like to pick up a copy and grab yourself a copy of Screwing Up Babylon, you can follow the link below.

Amazon.com

Betwixt by Melissa Pearl - New Release

As many of you may have already seen, Betwixt is now available for purchase!! Yay!!

In keeping with the new feel of this blog (check out post: It's Time To Make Some Changes), I thought I'd kick things off with Betwixt. Perfect timing, right :)

Rather than just giving you all the normal run down on Betwixt, which many have already seen, I am actually going to answer a question put forward by one of the blog readers instead.

How do you think your childhood influenced your writing, if at all?
"I was raised in a very happy home. We did travel a lot and live around the world and I was quite a shy child, so this did make it challenging for me. In saying that, it was also good for me to see so many different cultures and be pushed out of my comfort zone. 

When I look back, one thing that has influenced my writing hugely is the fact I became a very good observer. I would often stand quietly with my parents and brother just watching... always watching. I used to love studying people (I still do). This has helped my writing so much. I was able to see different cultures first hand, understand how people react to each other differently... understand that people are different. It gave me a healthy respect and I feel as though I can include so much of this in my writing.

I have witnessed pain, poverty, desperation, loud celebrations, mob mentality... I have heard so many different accents, watched how people greet and respond to each other in a myriad of ways.

I can bring all of these observations to the writing table and I think it helps me create rich, complex characters that people can relate to."

Thank you so much for submitting this question, Paddy.

Betwixt is filled with characters that have been made complex by the harsh realities of life. It is a story I hope touches the heart and gives everyone a glimpse of the power of unconditional love.

If you would like to purchase a copy, it is available through Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Smashwords. It will soon also be available on Barnes & Noble, Apple, Sony and Kobo.

For every copy sold, $1 is being donated to Love146 - an organisation fighting against child trafficking and exploitation.

It's Time To Make Some Changes

Over the past month, I've been thinking a lot about this blog. I ran the Author-fest throughout October and had so much fun with it. It made me realize how many amazing authors there are out there and how I want to get to know them better.

Having had a chat with Brenda, we think it is time to make some changes to our blog.

YAlicious is all about celebrating Young Adult books and movies. So it's time to start doing that a little more. From now on, we are going to dedicate this blog to book and movie reviews, author guests posts, blogger guest posts and chats about what author's are working on.

We want this to be a place of discussion and fun.

If you are an author, or know of an author you think would be good for this blog, please let us know in the comments section. This also applies to book bloggers. You guys read so many amazing books, we'd love to hear your favourites and find out what you think about writers as well.

We're also on the hunt for questions you want answered. As a reader or writer, what kinds of interview questions do you want to ask an author or book blogger?

Thank you so much to the followers we have and thank you in advance to all the wonderful guests we will having visiting our blog. We're so excited about these changes!!

Let the fun begin :)

PS - Posting times are going to shift as well. We will now be posting on a Monday and a Thursday. 

Author-fest - Meet Imogen Rose

October is rapidly coming to an end. I can't believe how fast it's flown by. Christmas will be here before we know it.

The Author-fest is coming to an end too. It has been SO much fun and I've felt very honoured to have some many cool writers on my site.

To wrap up the "fest", I'd like to introduce you to the final author, Imogen Rose. This lovely lady has seven books under her belt, including one that has been translated into German. Very cool.

Welcome to YAlicious, Imogen.

 When did you publish your first book?

The first one I published was PORTAL in January 2010.

What is the best lesson you've learned since starting out in the writing business?

I have learned that it’s not only about writing a book, but also about then presenting it to the world.

What are you currently working on?

I am working on the fifth book of the Portal Chronicles, and also translations (Japanese, German, French, and Spanish) of my current books.

What is your favourite part of the writing process?

I love the actual writing… the transfer of the story from my imagination onto paper.

What is your ultimate writing dream?

Having my stories made into TV series or movies.

Five Favourites:

TV Show- Right now, Homeland

Style of Music or Band- currently Imagine Dragons

Movie- Too many to choose from, but I really enjoyed the last MIB J

Book- 1984

Item of clothing - Valentino jacket

I've had Homeland recommended to me by a few people. I must check it out. Like you, I would LOVE to see my stories on screen.

If you'd like to connect with Imogen online, please follow the links below:

Twitter

Facebook

Amazon Author Page

Blog

Website

Friday Favourites - Top Five

Well - we're nearing the end of October, which also means the Author-fest has only one more week to go. I have SO enjoyed having all these awesome writers visit my site and share their thoughts on writing... as well as their five favourites.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the interviews as much as I have.

Today I thought it'd be fun to find out what your Top Five Favourites are. I'll post mine and please join in the fun by listing yours in the comments section.

Now - with all of these I have more than one, so I'm just choosing the first that pops into my head :)

Okay - here goes...

TV Show: Rookie Blue

Style of Music or Band: Taylor Swift
Movie: I'm a movie freak! I have about ten in my brain right now!! Among them is Footloose.
Book: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Item of clothing: My knee high Doc Martin boots.

Okay - you're turn :)

Author-fest - Meet Julia Crane

I'm very excited to have Julia Crane on my blog today. She has a long list of books under her name and continues to keep tapping them out. I have enjoyed getting to know her over the past few weeks.

It's a pleasure to have you, Julia.

 How many books have you published altogether?
I've published six books and one more is at the editor. 

What is the best lesson you've learned since starting out in the writing business?
Splurge on a good editor.

What are you currently working on?
I'm working on Freak of Nature and a co-written book that has yet to be named.

What is your favourite part of the writing process?
Getting ideas at random times. I always get ideas when i'm not trying to think about writing. Such as when cleaning the dishes or out on a walk.

Where is your favourite place to read?
I love having an iPhone with a Nook and Kindle app I can read anywhere. I would have to say my favorite place is the couch looking out at the ocean. 

Five Favourites...
TV Show: Bones
Style of Music or Band: Country - years of living in Tennesse
Movie: Brave Heart
Book: Fountain Head
Item of clothing: Winter hats that I never get to wear in Dubai.

I love getting ideas in random places too. When I'm out walking is a big one for me. Makes me want to go and get exercise. That can only be a good thing, right :)

If you'd like to connect with Julia on line, you can follow the links below...
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
Facebook

Julia also has a great Facebook Page that shares Nook deals. It's worth checking out :)
Nook Deals of the Day