by Geoffrey Saign
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: YA Fantasy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Samantha and Jake fight to save their poisoned parents, and instead find themselves in a battle to save the parallel magical world of KiraKu. The two teens discover they must defeat the Evil One—a diabolical master of deception—or their own world will fall too. Samantha must master the mysterious supernatural staff, WhipEye, and find out if she has what it takes to fulfill the prophecy of the true guardian. In a final battle, reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, the two teens will have to risk everything, or lose it all. For Fans of Fantastic Beasts, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings.
Winner Outstanding YA Fiction IAN BOTY
~ Magical Beasts is now in development for a major motion picture. ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Guardian The Quest, Book 2, Magical Beasts
A black belt in kung fu, Jake kicks at the woman’s side. She blocks his foot with her forearm. He slides in and chops at her neck.
With little effort she absorbs the hand blow with her arm, grabs his forearm, and jerks him down on top of me. Kneeling on his back, she keeps us immobile.
Her arm is already healing from Biggie’s whip, so like the hyena she’s a Lesser or Great One too. Originals don’t heal like that. That also explains her speed and strength. She and the hyena have to be working for Gorgon.
My vision blurs. I’m suffocating. From ground level I glimpse Biggie shoving the hyena sideways into a tree.
From behind her, the woman pulls out a thick silver band and slaps it onto Jake’s left wrist. She leans over him to stare at me, her slender face hard. “If you don’t find and deliver Drasine to the smugglers by tomorrow night, the silver band will explode and kill your boyfriend. Go to the Smuggler’s Oasis. Kert will tell you what to do.”
Stunned, now I know she’s working with Gorgon. “Forget you.” I punch at her face, but she grabs my wrist. Her eyes harden, and then she looks up.
Somehow the hyena got past Uncle Biggie and it’s charging us. The animal must be working with the woman. Her ride out of here.
The woman releases my wrist.
I croak, “You can’t do this.” I grab at her but her head is rising and my fingers curl around her swinging gold necklace. It breaks off in my hand as she morphs into a huge cheetah.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Interview 1. What is the first book that made you cry?
One of my early YA fantasy books, in a battle near the end, all the main characters are risking their lives for their loved ones and romantic interests, and every time I read that battle scene it brought tears to my eyes.
2. How long, on average, does it take you to write a book? Well, if you look at the average, the first great draft takes 1-2 months—but part of the ‘2 month’ time frame is often getting ‘stuck’ in the beginning with character and story arcs. Once I have those ironed out, at least vaguely, the rest of the book just comes to me.
After the first major draft, I reread it 3-10 times for editing. Then Beta readers read it and give me feedback, and I edit some more. Then I put it in a PDF format and read it again—seeing it in a different format helps me catch errors and plot points. Then I have it formatted for print, and edit it again. Then I have review readers read it and give me feedback for mostly a few grammar catches, and make one more round of changes. That whole process might take 3-4 months, but chunks of that time are waiting for others to read it or format it.
3. How do you select the names of your characters? Usually just by intuition—they just come to me. The only thing I check for in the series and each particular book is to make sure I don’t have two names beginning with the same sounds, like James and Jerry, or Don and Damon, etc. That’s just to make it easier for the reader to remember who is who, because I write out of a number of POVs in many of my books.
4. What are your top 5 favorite movies?
I love many genres, so it’s hard to pick ‘favorites’ or a top 5. If I love a movie, it’s in the top. I always want a happy ending. The character can go through hell and back, but it’s meaningless if it’s not a happy ending—kind of like real life. Humor, romance, adventure/action, tension, suspense. I like all those ingredients in any movie. Top movies for me are ones I’ve seen more than once, usually many times. I don’t like horror or gruesome violence, and I avoid cynical, depressing movies.
Some movies I have loved; Salmon Fishing on the Yemen; Avengers Infinity Wars, Wonder Woman (the 1st one with Gal Gadot), Lord of the Rings series, Avatar, Groundhog Day, The Matrix, Ant Man, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Edge of Tomorrow, Silver Linings Playbook, Guardians of the Galaxy, A life on Our Planet, As Good As It Gets, Mission Impossible-Fallout
5. If you were the last person on Earth, what would you do?
Enjoy life. Go for a swim, hike, watch wildlife. Cook good meals. Journal. What I do now. 😊
6. Tell us 10 fun facts about yourself!
· I lived off Bondi Beach in Australia for 6 months.
· I’ve sailed all over the South Pacific.
· I studied whales for 6 weeks on the 144’ 3-masted topsail schooner Regina Maris.
· Two of my favorite beaches to swim at are in Minnesota, even though I’ve been on a number of ‘Top 10’ beaches in the world.
· When I was 6 years old, I used to go to a neighbor lady’s for lunch, because she would make me sandwiches that my mom refused to; saltine crackers with salami, butter, peanut butter, cheese, and jam.
· I spent a lot of my youth in the woods, looking for wildlife. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen was when I lifted a piece of plywood off the ground, and found several hundred garter snakes beneath it.
· I’ve broken my leg, my arm, fingers, toes, and had many stitches for many accidents. Thankfully most of that is in the past!
· I used to drive an 850 Norton with a black Velorex sidecar. That was great fun! I no longer drive motorcycles because I like all my body parts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Geoffrey Saign’s love of wildlife led him to write the award-winning fantasy series, Magical Beasts. He often experiences the magic of nature and wildlife while hiking and swimming. He has a degree in biology and has assisted in field research on hummingbirds and humpback whales. Geoff loves to sail big boats, hike, and cook—and he infuses all of his writing with his passion for nature. As a swimmer he considers himself fortunate to live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota. See what he’s up to at https://geoffreysaign.net/magical-beasts
Book 1--FREE April 12-18; Book 2--99c April 12-16
Kindle/KU/Paperback Series page
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZR6VDJ8
Audible
https://www.audible.com/pd/Guardian-The-Choice-Audiobook/B081PVPNLN
Bookbub
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/geoffrey-saign
Goodreads—Magical Beasts Book 1—Guardian The Choice
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50094484-guardian
Website
https://geoffreysaign.net/magical-beasts-fantasy-book-series/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Geoffrey Saign will be awarding a $30 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteExcited to be here! I'll stop by later to respond to comments or questions!
ReplyDeleteHappy to host! :)
DeleteSounds very interesting, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSounds great.
ReplyDeleteIf you give it a try, I hope you enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very good book.
ReplyDelete