What inspired Soul Quest?

Soul Quest was inspired by a really weird dream. My hubby is a night owl and loves to stay up late watching the History Channel. I had this dream about a little boy standing in the middle of mirrored room. The little boy looked just like my son when he was 3 years old. He had cute chubby cheeks, curly blond ringlets and beautiful hazel green eyes. Anyway, the little boy was watching images flicker on the mirrored walls in the room. They showed images from historical disasters such as Hitler's dictatorship, Martin Luther King Jr. and Kennedy's shootings... you get the gist. Anyway, it had a major impact on me. The next day I asked my husband what he was watching on TV the night before. He said it was a special episode on the History Channel dedicated to the worst events in history. He acknowledged all of the above mentioned tragedies were part of the episode. I suppose as a mother the dream was symbolic of the wrath of the world posing a threat against my children. Anyway, I decided to turn it into a positive thing. So... my little boy became Hala, the Great Spirit, a being as old as time itself who resembles a child, and the quest for justice against evil began. Since I work with teenagers it was only natural that they become the heroes in the plot. The basis of the book is good verses evil but I tried to weave into the underlying tone that life is about choices, good and bad. What kind of choices will you make?

Meet my MC, Liv...

Do you remember how horrified you were about the idea of attending high school? I remember ticking off those last miserable days of my summer vacation following my eighth grade year. Maybe you don’t, maybe you were one of 'those people.' You know who I’m talking about, people like Melissa Small, the distinguished District Attorney, Larry Small’s daughter, popular, gorgeous... and absolutely terrifying to someone like me, Liv Glyn. No, I am far from measuring up to the standards required to make Melissa’s crowd. I’m not even close. I’m just a simple man’s daughter, mostly tolerated by my peers with average looks. If this isn’t depressing enough for you, stay tuned, it gets worse. I was commanded with Spirit at birth by the Great Spirit, Hala. I know, it sounds crazy but it’s true. If you think it's difficult being a teenager, try being a teenager who was born destined to save the world from soul sucking Daevas and their mutant progeny Aengels. There are four of us. My companions of Spirit are Laith, Brayan and Meena. Melissa Small is Laith’s step sister and she is always meddling where she doesn’t belong, further complicating our lives. To make matters even worse, my best friend Jedd is apparently aware of things that are typically undetectable to ordinary humans. So, I have to lie to Jedd, the boy who has been my constant standby since the third grade, to shield him from the horrible and very dangerous truth. Did I mention that I think I’m falling in love with him? The term awkward doesn’t even begin to cover it, trust me. Welcome to the mess that is my life.

Free Sample Uploads on Smashwords!

Free sample uploads of Soul Quest are available in several applications on the Smashwords website.
Click the Smashwords link (to your right) to get your free preview!

500 Words

I thought this was really cool and wanted to share it with my followers. Tara Maya (the author of The Unfinished Song, Book One, Initiate) allows authors to share a 500 word excerpt from their book on her blog. Go to the link below to see how it works.

http://taramayastales2.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html

Main Character Game

How well do you know your favorite Young Adult MC? Lets play a fun game and find out! Here's how it works...

1 - Think of a question about your favorite main character (it could be a MC you've written or one created by someone else. Post one would look something like this...

What is your MC's greatest strength?

2 - The second poster would answer the first poster's question..
(Label the name of the book and the character's name in front of your answer)

Soul Quest, Liv, honest and diplomatic

Then, the second poster would ask his or her own question...

What is your MC's super power? Or... If your MC could have a super power what would it be?

...And so the game continues! Sound like fun?

What are you reading?

Feel free to tell us about books in the YA Science Fiction and Fantasy genre you have found especially compelling. You may share a brief synopsis about the book and/or offer specific details for locating the book/author (author’s blog/website, where we can purchase a copy of the book). Please interject your opinion about a book if you have read it.

What I’m reading…

I am currently reading Amanda Hocking's, My Blood Approves Series. I just finished the first book and have already delved into the second, Fate. It's a fast paced and emotionally riveting story about a girl, Alice Bonham who falls in love with a vampire... sort of. The problem is, while she is drawn to Jack (hunky vampire number one) she finds herself more painfully attracted to his brother Peter (hunky vampire number two). The plot has lots of twists and turns and easily kept me on the edge of my seat. I felt myself getting caught up in the emotional ups and downs of Alice, Jack and Peter. Book two is proving to be equally entertaining, twisted, infuriating, exhilerating and endearing. You can find Amanda Hocking's books on Amazon Kindle. http://amandahocking.blogspot.com

Update: Just finished Flutter and Wisdom and I'm looking forward to Amanda's next installment. Alice continues to try and find her place in life through out both books and by the end of Wisdom she begins to figure things out. Warning, both books will send you on yet another emotional roller coaster, but that's just the way I like it!

This week's read will be, The Angel and the Brown - eyed Boy and Tales from Earth's End by Sandy Nathan. It's about a futuristic holocaust where the survival of two worlds depend on a 16 year old boy and an angelic girl. Hmmm, sounds pretty cool, huh? I don't know if Sandy has a website or blog but I did see her book cover displayed on the Kindle Homepage... right next to my cover (blush). You can use the link at the bottom of this site to get to the Kindle Homepage. Once you're there just click on her cover art and you will go straight to her amazon page.