Showing posts with label blog tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog tour. Show all posts

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Blog Tour ~ Author Guest Post


Welcome to this stop on the Persistence of Vision blog tour. Book 1 of Interchron is a debut New Adult Book. Today we welcome author Liesel K. Hill.
Liesel can be found @ the following: Blog, FacebookTwitter, Goodreads



The Science of Interchron

While Persistence of Vision and the Interchron series at large aren’t hard-core science fiction, I do base the plot on scientific principles.

Before realizing that writing was my calling, I was studying science in school. (I hated the science major’s life. I was always off in my own head making up stories. Imagine that! :D) I was continually fascinated by the information I came across. How things work, how everything in the universe fits together—I just love to think about stuff like that. I knew I wanted to write a story that had to do with weird science, and what better than Quantum Mechanics? It’s the hardest stuff to understand and the weirdest stuff to learn about.

(Word of advice: unless you love, love, LOVE math equations, don’t go into quantum mechanics. Fascinating? Yes, but also headache-inducing!)

Because I’m also a hopeless romantic, I came up with Maggie’s storyline before introducing much science into it. I really liked the story, but I felt like it was incomplete. My final semester of college, I took a literary science fiction class. I don’t remember which story it was (really wish I did) but we talked a bit about collectives. I started thinking about choice and the moment someone makes the decision to pull away from a collective. I liked the idea of a character that does this. Once I linked him to the rest of the story, everything just fell right into place. I had my plot!

In the same literary science fiction class, I first heard the term “persistence of vision.” It means when something is no longer there, but you continue to see it. In the book, I have Karl describe it using the example of staring at the sun and then shutting your eyes and seeing an after-image. That’s a great example, and this is a true scientific phenomenon that physicists encounter. It’s a universal truth that everything we encounter, everything we observe in our lives leaves an impression upon us, even if it’s a fleeting one.

I got most of the way through the writing of the book but still didn’t have a title. It wasn’t until I started going back through my science notes, looking for inspiration, that I came across the term again…and realized it was perfect! That was exactly what happened to Maggie and her memories of Marcus. The title was born!

If you want to know more about quantum physics without getting yourself neck-deep in equations and college workshops, I would suggest the book, Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum. You still have to stop every so often and think about what’s being said, but they explain it in every day English and it’s fascinating! :D

Thanks so much for hosting me here today. Have a great day and make sure to brush up on your particle physics before reading my book. Just kidding. Mostly. ;D


Goodreads: In a world where collective hives are enslaving the population and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper, and independent 21st Century woman, must find the strength to preserve the freedom of the future, but without the aid of her memories.

After experiencing a traumatic time loss, Maggie is plagued by a barrage of images she can't explain. When she's attacked by a creep with a spider's web tattoo, she is saved by Marcus, a man she's never met, but somehow remembers. He tells her that both he and her creepy attacker are from a future in which individuals are being murdered by collectives, and Marcus is part of the rebellion. The collectives have acquired time travel and they plan to enslave the human race throughout all of history. The flashes Maggie has been seeing are echoes of lost memories, and the information buried deep within them is instrumental in defeating the collective hives.

In order to preserve the individuality of mankind, Maggie must try to re-discover stolen memories, re-kindle friendships she has no recollection of, and wade through her feelings for the mysterious Marcus, all while dodging the tattooed assassins the collectives keep sending her way.

If Maggie can't fill the holes in her memory and find the answers to stop the collectives, the world both in her time and in all ages past and future will be doomed to enslavement in the grey, mediocre collectives. As the danger swirls around her and the collectives close in, Maggie realizes she must make a choice: stand out or fade away...



Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Blog Tour ~ Author Guest Post/Giveaway ~S.A. Archer

Elves Are Awesome

I have loved elves since I was a kid, and not just because they have cool-looking ears. Elves in popular culture and in myths have always been idealized with beauty and grace, not to mention kick-ass fighting skills. The depiction of the elves, especially Legolas Greenleaf, in the Lord of the Rings books and movies, demonstrates all of those qualities. Even the darker version of elves, like Drizzt Do’Urden, the drow hero of several novels for Dungeons and Dragons’ Forgotten Realms campaign setting, spark huge fan followings. Now readers of urban fantasy and paranormal romance are beginning to get a taste of what traditional fantasy fans have always known, with stories ranging from Lauren K Hamilton’s seductive Merry Gentry series to the YA adventures of Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series.
Elves possess more than beauty and talent in battle. They are the very embodiment of magic. This is especially true for the Sidhe, the noble elves of Celtic mythology. Elves have been credited with magic over almost everything, including the elements, healing, crafts, animals, and even emotions. The legends of the Sidhe in Ireland exulted the more powerful of these elves to the status of deities.
One of the more celebrated of the Sidhe was Lugh, who was worshipped as the god of the sun. He was renowned for his skill in battle, his expertise in craftsmanship, and his leadership in both peace and in war. Because of his skill and dedication to his people, Lugh became known as the Champion of the Sidhe. Even among the Seelie (light) Court, he was known as The Shining One. As a hero among the talented and powerful Sidhe, there were few that could cross purposes with Lugh and win.
The Champion of the Sidhe mini-series follows Lugh in the urban fantasy world of The Sidhe saga. Used to being the hero, Lugh’s heart and pride are decimated when a disaster befalls his people, forcing him from the home he loved in the magical realm known as the Mounds, into to the contemporary world of modern day Ireland. Because of the disaster Lugh’s magic is beginning to Fade, a potentially fatal condition from which he and all of the fey from the Mounds are suffering. Because the fey are weakened, predators such as vampires and human wizards swoop in and start picking them off. Lugh’s self-appointed mission is to restore the magic of the fey and defend his people from extinction.
The first story in the Champion of the Sidhe series is “End of the World,” and it can be downloaded for free from Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. The Kindle and PDF versions are free from Smashwords.
Giveaway Details:
We are giving away stories 1-5 of the Champion of the Sidhe series. Please leave a comment with a valid email address. 
*Since these are e-books this is open to everyone.
*Must be 13 or older to enter
*following not required but always appreciated
*Author will send out stories 1&2 now and send out 3-5 as they become available
*Giveaway ends on 2/28/12

Monday, February 13, 2012

Blog Tour ~ End of the World ~ Review

End of the World (Champion of the Sidhe #1)
by S.A. Archer
published by Ravynheart Publishing

Summary:The day Lugh, Champion of the Sidhe, has long fought for finally manifests; all Sidhe unified under one Court. No more Light versus Dark. No more wars. Brothers, one and all. But on the day that should be celebrated as their greatest triumph, treachery brings his world crashing down, literally. Now if he can’t find a way to stop it no fey will survive.

My Thoughts: S.A. Archer has created a mini series told in a collection of short stories. The story is told from three POVs; The Seelie, The Unseelie, and The Outcasts.

Champion of the Sidhe     Rise of the Unseelie      Touched
End of the World                Aftershock                       Cursed
Champion of the Fey          Scars of Silver                 Addicted


The three series can be read separately from each other but for optimal effect the author suggests the following reading order (there will be a total of 5 stories in each series).

End of the World, Aftershock, Cursed, Champion of the Fey, Addicted, Scars of Silver


**I enjoyed this story of how the All Mother died causing the Mounds to collapse and Lugh finding out there may be a way to save the Fey.

Rating: 4 I think this is going to be better as a whole
Come back tomorrow to find out how to get your own copy of End of the World and enter for a chance to win stories 2-5 of Champion of the Sidhe. Also, S.A. Archer will have a guest post on why Elves are Awesome.