Title: Surrender (The A'vean Chronicles : Volume 2)
Author: G.R. Thomas
Summary from Amazon.com:
Sophia Woodville's life is anything but ordinary. You can't be ordinary when you've discovered
you're an Earth-born Angel. Alone and suddenly powerless in the stinking heat of the Daimon
realm, Sophia has been betrayed by the one person she trusted most. She must find a way to escape and continue her quest to unravel the clues left for her eyes only, fighting the Zombie-like Rogues to preserve the prophecies of Enoch. Only then can the Fallen Angels return to their homeland and humanity be released from the grip of Yeqon and his evil horde.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Surrender-Avean-Chronicles-2-
Thomas/dp/0994506910/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1484549250&sr=8-1
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33146650-surrender
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Syracuse 212 BC
The stench of the narrow, dusty streets made Lucius wish for the battlefields more than ever. The smell of human waste rolled his stomach until the acid of bile lapped at the back of his throat. It mercilessly gnawed at him more than seeing the entrails of a dead soldier. His protracted reposting under General Marcellus was nothing short of mind-numbing. Running meaningless errands for that tyrant not only left his body lacking its former battle strength, but had driven him to the evils of too much wine and women for the lack of adventure. He grimaced with disgust at himself as he wiped strands of amber hair and sweat a third time from his brow with the back of his battle-scarred hand.
He smoothed down his well-kept tunic after a wind gust and re-adjusted his beloved sword across his waist. A gift for bravery, his thumb rolled across the top of the hilt as he made the last turn into the small cobbled street, barely two soldiers wide. The effort of dragging up his right leg with any semblance of dignity slowed him down considerably. The damn injury that saw his last battle a career-ending one. He resented this lameness and ground his teeth in an almost permanent scowl.
Barely twenty-five with a young family back on the outskirts of Rome, who were barely sustained on his paltry wage, the pressure to provide well for them was immense. He could envisage the look of shame in his late father's face when he stared into a looking glass during his morning ablutions.
This extra job though, bringing in the old rogue, Archimedes, would see an extra one hundred
Denari in his eager hands. Yet to lay eyes upon his two-year-old daughter, the monetary reward was all that pushed him to accept such menial tasks so far beneath a centurion of his standing. He growled to himself, but pushed on towards his destination. Lucius found the ramshackle frontage, stopping to rub his temples before he announced himself. Frustrated, he kicked out a stray dog, sniffing for a scrap of food. Headaches had plagued him of late. None of the poultices had worked, not even an entire night's worth of drinking could calm it.
He'd resorted to Vitriola recently, using far too much of his precious wage to acquire the addictive painkiller. It did work somewhat, but left him with nightmares of hellish proportions. Be sure and also pick up a copy of "Awaken," the first book in this incredible series.
SOME PEOPLE AREN'T DESTINED TO BE ORDINARY.
With a special gift held close to her heart, it was always going to be hard for Sophia Woodville tolive an ordinary life. As a 20 year old nursing grad, she thought she had her future all sorted.
However, destiny was about to intervene. Her secret was not so secret. The gift she possessed was just a hint of something far beyond her wildest imagination.
Sophia will be pulled, kicking and screaming, into an unseen, ancient world that challenges all that she thought to be true of herself, her family and the origins of humanity.
Original sin, forbidden love and her life in constant danger.
Will Sophia survive this dark twist of fate?
Will the devil be her saviour?
Will an Angel be her downfall?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Growing up in the burbs of Melbourne, Australia, in the 1970's, I had little in the way of technology to entertain me. I loved horses and books. When not riding my pinto pony I devoured fantasy books. I loved Enid Blyton with all the fairies and make believe. Over time, those fairies became darker as I delved into richer, more adult and scary fantasy and paranormal literature. These books mirrored a vivid dreamscape that comes almost nightly to me. Stories swirl about whilst I sleep, both delighting and frightening me. After a wonderful career as an I.C.U nurse and having an amazing family, I finally put pen to paper and began pulling out some of these stories. History and fantasy are what I love to read now, and especially when intertwined together. Anything that takes my mind away from the daily grind is fair game. I am a great fan of diverse and immensely talented authors, some of these being, Ken Follett, Phillipa Gregory, Tolkien, Julie Kagawa, Cassandra Clare, Amy Plum, Rochelle Maya Callen and the very talented Aussie author Matthew Riley. The list could really just go on forever.
Awaken is my debut novel, the first in a three book series.
Follow me on Instagram at grthomas2014 for regular updates on my current writing
AUTHOR LINKS:
Website: www.grthomasbooks.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/grthomas2014
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GIVEAWAY:
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Camille (http://www.instagram.com/cami_simply_reads)
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Julieanne (http://ephemeralwriting.wordpress.com)
January 28th:
Tracy (http://www.thepagesinbetween.com)
Sarah (http://www.transientdrifter.blogspot.com)
January 29th:
Sarah (http://www.sarahinzombieland.wordpress.com)
Blog Tour Organized by: Happy Lil Book Tours
1.) When it comes to writing do you consider yourself a plotter or a pantser (someone who just writes by the seat of their pants)?
I am a bit of both. I always plot out important milestones of the story but do a substantial amount of flying by the seat of my pants over a latte at my favourite cafe. I find a skeletal framework with a whole lot of room to move in between allows my mind to wander far. I have had some quite substantial changes occur by letting the story and characters take charge.
2.) When you started writing Awaken, were you already anticipating writing a sequel? If not, at which point did you decide you would need to write more than one book, and do you have plans for more in the series as well?
I always knew this would be a trilogy, with a very clear destination. I’ve had the ending written for a long time so I know exactly where I’m headed. I just have to fill in all the bits in between. This can sometimes make it tricky because I have so much swirling through my mind at once. I have to keep a clear focus on not trying to put too much in too soon. Balancing out the reveal of the story is key.
3.) My readers always love a chance to go behind the scenes with the characters. Can you share any background info that doesn't appear in the story? For example favorite color, style of music, celebrity crush, favorite food, etc. about any of your characters.
Background of a character, this is interesting. I had to have a good think on this. I’ll go with Ben because he’s is fairly under-represented in Awaken.
Ben was always a loner until Jaz came into his life. His words are few and to the point. He is keen on keeping his hands and mind busy with the least amount of intrusion by others. He loves to fix things. He picks up what is broken, works out how to fix it and then brings it back to life. He particularly likes motorbikes but also loves the complexity of repairing computers. Ben eats blandly. Food does not interest him. He is at home with an open can of beans and a piece of dry toast any day. Food to him is a means to an end, not a pleasure. Likewise, he is disinterested in fashion but plain and black suit him just fine. Jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket are all he needs. He is often found wandering the local forests, secretly he likes taking Sophia’s dog, Shadow for walks when she is at work. He doesn’t advertise the fact that he has a soft spot for animals. He works out....a lot. At least twice a day he lifts weights giving him an impressive appearance.
He does however like music, hard rock and heavy metal played loud to drone out his worries is not uncommonly heard through an open window at his home. Ben continues to prefer to keep to himself other than his friendship with Sophia and sister, Jaz. He socializes with them, does what they want to do, adapting himself to please them regardless of whether he’s interested in the activity or not. He has always been fiercely protective of them both and has been known to enthusiastically pick a fight to defend them, even for something as simple as a glance in their direction. His fuse is shorter than his calm demeanour infers.
4.) Which of your characters would you most love to spend a day with and what would you do on that day? I would love to spend a day with Brennan. He’s my favourite character. I adore his wit, his light hearted nature, he is the best friend that we always want. Brennan is an irrepressible gossip and people person so I think a night out around the town, taking in the nightlife would be hilarious with him. He’s a decent and respectful guy who would keep you feeling safe whilst blowing your mind with his total lack of modesty and perpetual clowning around.
5.) Was there anything that surprised you, or came out differently than you anticipated when you were writing Surrender?
Surprises did evolve whilst writing Surrender. The biggest was wrestling with a character that really wanted to write their own dialogue. It was quite a shock. Here I was thinking I was in charge, but every time I tried to write this character a certain way it was like they were screaming up at me from the computer screen to let them be themselves. Suffice to say, the character won.
6.) Do you have any writing rituals, favorite places/foods/music to accompany your writing?I have developed a ritual of writing daily at my local coffee shop. I love the white noise of the cafe sounds, I don’t mind all the coffee too. I find it hard to write at home because I see all the housework I’m supposed to be doing Ha Ha! I use post it notes too, a lot of them.
I’ll share a little of my writing inspiration. Awaken evolved from a dream I had many years ago where I was drowning in a flood and I was saved by an Angel. From there, the places I’ve visited both around the world and in my own back yard have been rich with characters and locations that appear vividly in both my books. In particular, I adore the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne and feature them in Awaken. I really wanted to highlight the beauty of this magical place that is only a short distance from where I live. Since I began writing, everyone and everything is potential writing fodder.
*Hosts were provided with a copy of the book for review purposes in exchange for their honest
reviews and opinions.*
