FFBC: The Edge of Forever + Huge Giveaway!




The Edge of Forever
by Melissa E. Hurst
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: June 2nd 2015
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Synopsis:

In 2013: Sixteen-year-old Alora is having blackouts. Each time she wakes up in a different place with no idea of how she got there. The one thing she is certain of? Someone is following her.

In 2146: Seventeen-year-old Bridger is one of a small number of people born with the ability to travel to the past. While on a routine school time trip, he sees the last person he expected—his dead father. The strangest part is that, according to the Department of Temporal Affairs, his father was never assigned to be in that time. Bridger’s even more stunned when he learns that his by-the-book father was there to break the most important rule of time travel—to prevent someone’s murder.

And that someone is named Alora.

Determined to discover why his father wanted to help a “ghost,” Bridger illegally shifts to 2013 and, along with Alora, races to solve the mystery surrounding her past and her connection to his father before the DTA finds him. If he can stop Alora’s death without altering the timeline, maybe he can save his father too.


It’s impossible to pick a favorite book, but A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle is one I love and it is the one that made me want to become a writer.


The Walking Dead



Guardians of the Galaxy



This changes all the time, but currently I’m loving Taylor Swift’s latest song, Bad Blood.



Chocolate


Atlantis, Caprica (well before the Cylons destroyed it), and Hogwarts


Captain America!



It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default. – JK Rowling 


The Avengers. I love them, especially Black Widow.



Stephen King. I devoured his books while I was in high school.


Readers are awesome! They’re intelligent, kind, and more empathetic to others. And since I was a reader long before I was a writer, I’m thrilled to say that you are my people.


Hello Melissa! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.


The Edge of Forever is the second book I’ve written. I’ve been a lifelong fan of science-fiction and fantasy, and after I shelved my first book, I knew I wanted to write something else that would be considered speculative fiction. The Edge of Forever combines my love of futuristic science-fiction with weird things that take place in a contemporary setting.


Alora was a lot of fun to write because she has such a sarcastic voice. Her view of everyone and the town she grew up in is heavily influenced by the fact that she didn’t really have friends growing up and she doesn’t feel like she fits in. She definitely has opinions, but she keeps them to herself and goes along with what everybody else wants because she hates confrontation, which is a trait she learned from her Aunt Grace, who raised her. But this changes over the course of the book.


The Edge of Forever was the second book I wrote. After shelving my first book in early 2011, it took me a little while before I figure out what I wanted to write next. I was driving one day, and heard the song IF I DIE YOUNG by The Band Perry on the radio. I was also thinking about an old time travel movie called SOMEWHERE IN TIME. In that weird way that writers’ brains work, I twisted those ideas together and came up with this: What if a boy went back in time to save the life of a girl who was supposed to die? Later, I realized that my story shared a few elements with an old STAR TREK episode (CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER). I decided to name my story THE EDGE OF FOREVER as a nod to the series.


This is from a scene when Bridger realizes that he is going to be stuck in the past for a while. “After Grace deposits me in my room, I collapse on the bed. The fact that I’m an idiot keeps racing through my mind. It’s like I’m trying to see how many stupid things I can do today. Travel illegally to the past? Check. Shoot my professor and a high-ranking DTA official? Check. Agree to socialize with some ghosts? Check.”


I loved writing the scene in which Bridger has to quickly shift to 2013 in the yard behind the bed and breakfast, and two older guests (who happen to be ghost hunters) see him appear and think he is a ghost.


Probably If I Die Young because it’s the song that inspired the book.



From the beginning, I pictured AnnaSophia Robb as Alora, and Josh Hutcherson as Bridger.



Maybe have a few donuts or chocolate chip cookies since Alora loves them. 


I’m working on the sequel to The Edge of Forever, and I’m also brainstorming my next project.


Thank you so much for everything, Melissa!


Follow the The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurst Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.



Melissa lives in the southern US with her husband and three kids. She writes YA science fiction and fantasy, which means she considers watching Star Trek and Firefly as research. She dreams of traveling around the world and maybe finding Atlantis one day. You can usually find her with a book in one hand and a Dr. Pepper in the other. Or consuming lots of chocolate.

THE EDGE OF FOREVER is her debut novel.


Win a stack of books which includes a paperback of Arclight by Josin L. McQuein, a paperback of Avalon by Midnee Arnett, a paperback of Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee, an ARC of Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch and an ARC of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard + a signed copy of THE EDGE OF FOREVER and swag (US Only)






FFBC: Siren's Fury by Mary Weber + Giveaway!


Siren's Fury (The Storm Siren Trilogy #2)
by Mary Weber
Publisher: Thomas Nelson / HarperCollins
Release Date: June 2nd 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
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Synopsis:

"I thrust my hand toward the sky as my voice begs the Elemental inside me to waken and rise. But it's no use. The curse I've spent my entire life abhorring—the thing I trained so hard to control—no longer exists."

Nym has saved Faelen only to discover that Draewulf stole everything she valued. Now he’s destroyed her Elemental storm-summoning ability as well.

When Nym sneaks off with a host of delegates to Bron, Lord Myles offers her the chance for a new kind of power and the whispered hope that it may do more than simply defeat the monster she loathes. But the secrets the Bron people have kept concealed, along with the horrors Draewulf has developed, may require more than simply harnessing a darker ability.

They may require who she is.

Set against the stark metallic backdrop of the Bron kingdom, Nym is faced with the chance to change the future.

Or was that Draewulf’s plan for her all along?




Hello Mary! We are super excited to have you again in our FFBC tours.

Hey guys, thanks for hosting me!! I love your posts (and your crazy-sweet kindness)!!!!


Ooh yes. Okay, so Siren’s Fury picks up where Storm Siren left off – with Draewulf having just stolen “something” from Nym. :0) Except the shapeshifting jerk isn’t finished, and just as Nym’s releasing her fury on him – he steals something else that’s hers as well…her Elemental ability. 

Now powerless to control the skies, Nym travels with her sassy Luminescent friend, Rasha, and Lord Myles to the industrial city of Bron to find a way to put an end to Draewulf’s terror. As the heads of state scramble for control, Nym is navigating Bron’s metallic world in search of a weapon to replace the power she lost – a weapon Lord Myles can provide if she’s willing to sacrifice her very soul. 

Also? Prepare for wraiths. ;0)


Sure! Nym is a seventeen-year-old girl who technically shouldn’t exist. She’s an Elemental, which, up until her birth was something only males could be – and even then those males were killed early on. So here she is with a barely-controllable ability to manipulate the weather and a huge heart for compassion and courage. She also has a serious bit of attitude, partly due to the fact that she’s spent her life as a slave. However, in book 2 (Siren’s Fury) she’s finally become a hero. Which comes with its own set of expectations and pressure – and the poor girl feels utterly unprepared for it.


I picture it as pretty much the opposite of the Faelen kingdom. Barren, dry, and nearly drained of all resources (which is a large part of why they’ve been going to war), aside from the metal they mine from the ground. What they lack resource-wise, however, they more than make up for in their engineering savvy and technological advancements.

Here’s a pic of the map my dad sketched for it.



Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing? I think like most people I find inspiration everywhere – music, conversations with my kids and hubs and friends, books (omg have you guys read Marie Rutkoski’s Winner’s Crime?!), movies and shows (seriously – the Last Airbender cartoons are life), and the beautiful area in which I’m blessed to live. It all soaks in beneath the skin and stirs a desire to want to write better, funnier, and more raw and scenic. 

As far as coming up with the story for Siren’s Fury, it wasn’t until I altered the ending for Storm Siren (that last page), that I knew where I wanted the story to go. Annnnd then I did what all stuck writers do (*laughs*) – I dragged my sister out for lunch and hashed it over with her. She’s kind of the best at being like, “Yeah, that’s been overdone so it’d be lame, but you know what could be interesting…?” 


Ahhh! Can I plead silence due to spoilers?! But how about this – I’ll offer one involving the boy Kel (because he’s my new favorite). ;0) 

(Nym) “I stare at this boy who is the strangest small person I have ever met in my entire seventeen years. And burst into laughter. ‘No. I most definitely am not spying on him so I can have babies with him. I simply . . . want to ensure he’s feeling all right. He’s been ill and—’

(Kel) ‘Then why’s your face turning redder than the carpet?’

(Nym) ‘I am not turning red.’”

;0)


Ooh Chapter 19. Because spiders. 


Katy Perry’s DARK HORSE



Oh fun! Okay, for Nym I think maybe Willa Holland (love that girl!), for Rasha – Freida Pinto, for Myles…I’m undecided. :0) But for Eogan – imagine Idris Elba & Yuya Matsushita combined in a clone.

Es hot, yes? ;0)


*laughs* Ummmm…

1. Turn off your cell phone and put on your pjs.

2. Turn on Perry’s Dark Horse and, when the beat drops, let your hair down and belt that song out like nobody’s business.

3. Have a cheese plate handy (cuz CHEESE) with warm pita bread, fruit, nuts, and a drizzle of honey (not that I’m into food or anything *coughs*).

4. Curl up under your best down comforter and commence reading.

5. Remind yourself giant spiders aren’t real.


Okay so I have this $40 espresso machine that seriously makes THE BEST lattes. After dropping the kids at school, and before heading to my writing desk, I whip one of those babies up. Then I check my email, Facebook, and Instagram. *sips latte*



This is usually followed by deciding I need another latte. Which is then followed by another round of checking my email. Followed by the thought that, “I wonder if I should take a shower / stare out the window / bake something / pay bills / anything to distract my very distractable self?”

*sips latte*

And then…then I sit down and write.

Well…unless I’m stuck on a plot point. In which case all bets are off and I’m raiding the fridge like there’s no tomorrow. ;0)


I have two bests actually. One is the quiet time spent writing. There’s something very refreshing and soul-connecting about creating in private. However, the second is stepping out of that quiet space and having the opportunity to connect with other authors and readers via online, in person, school visits, etc. I LOVE the incredible people I’ve met through this process – and they inspire me so very much.

As far as the worst thing? Oh gosh…let me think. I guess I’d say the pressure that comes with sending out something you’ve created in your private space for public inspection (and hopefully enjoyment). :0) As a writer who’s obsessed with reading, I am my own worst critic and I want to honor others’ time and money in a way that, when they pick up my stories, they walk away feeling better for having read them.

In regards to the blogging community, I spent nearly four years as a book blogger and I absolutely adore (and respect) the friends therein and the amazing amount of time they spend giving back to authors. They have an enormous piece of my heart and gratitude. <3


I’m currently finishing up edits on Book 3 in the trilogy! After that… I’m working on a super secret duology that I cannot WAIT to talk about. Eep!!


Thank you so much for everything, Mary!

Thank YOU!! Seriously - I adore you ladies to the moon and back. <3 Have a fantastic Wednesday!!!


Follow the Siren's Fury by Mary Weber Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.




Mary Weber is a ridiculously uncoordinated girl plotting to take over make-believe worlds through books, handstands, and imaginary throwing knives. In her spare time, she feeds unicorns, sings 80’s hairband songs to her three muggle children, and ogles her husband who looks strikingly like Wolverine. They live in California, which is perfect for stalking L.A. bands, Joss Whedon, and the ocean. Her debut YA fantasy novel, STORM SIREN, is available now in bookstores and online, and SIREN'S FURY (book 2 in the trilogy) will be out June, 2015 from TN HarperCollins.


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