New Release: "Failing Gravity," by: Jordan S. Keller

 Hi everyone. Today I am featuring Jordan S. Keller's new released book "Failing Gravity." Check out the sneak peek below and purchase your copy today. Make sure to read to the bottom for a special giveaway to enter. Happy reading everyone :).

The Journey so Far with a Sneak Peek to Enjoy!

 Hello friends!

Can you believe it is nearly June? That means that I am about to embark on my fifty-first year around our sun. Usually my birthday gives me anxiety, as I kind’ve hate getting older. I don’t quite look my age, but I know it’s going to catch up to me soon, and I’m not sure how I’ll handle that! I wanted to be that elegant older woman who just accepted it, and allowed herself to age gracefully, but for whatever reason, I could not do so. This year, I’m going to embrace it. Besides, to be honest, I didn’t think I’d make it this long.

I think I’d like to go camping for my birthday, but it is entirely too hot. But, I think I’d prefer experiences this year. I’ve had some crazy experiences in my life, but not enough of THOSE SORTS of experiences. I’ve partied with rock stars, I’ve helped people give birth to new babies, I’ve rescued animals, I’ve fostered children, I’ve written books etc.... but I haven’t explored the world enough. I have been to Australia and I’ve technically been to New Zealand, and I’ve traveled across a few states and spent a wonderful month in Colorado. Ultimately, though, I want to visit Canada to see my husband’s home, because, shockingly enough, despite being together for nearly twenty years, I’ve never been. I want to see the Northern Lights and camp out underneath them and I want to see Ireland. Anything else will be a bonus for me. Oh, and I want to move to Maine. My bucket list is rather small. It’s there.

Anyway, I’m rambling a bit. Today I wanted to share with all of you a small excerpt from my book “The Fae Chronicles; Battle for the Underworld”. But first, I should set the scene. Atlas and Nessa had just married in a beautiful ceremony. But as soon as their vows were spoken, their wedding had been crashed by the Dark Fae, led by their head necromancer, Almu, who cursed the joyful couple, bringing darkness to what should have been the happiest day of their lives.

****

Amidst their jubilant celebrations loomed the shadow of the threats from the Dark Fae, Atlas and Nessa sought refuge and comfort in their room located in the farthest corner of the castle, leaving the grand party held in their honor early to sort out their swirling thoughts and emotions that cast a heaviness over their beautiful day. The joy of their vows to one another now felt heavy, with the fears that a harbinger of darkness that would soon encroach upon their newfound happiness. The unseen ominous presence, now a constant shadow to their joy.

The King and Queen visited them later in the evening, after bidding the last guest farewell. The event had grown quickly sullen after the bride and groom departed, with guests murmuring over their fears of the threats, and exchanging ideas about what they could and should do with the uninvited Dark Fae, some suggesting that they should just stay out of it and let nature take it's course, while others wanted a full out war. But the King and Queen knew that in the castle, with it's many guards, vast armies and strong magics to protect them, they knew that Atlas and Nessa's best course of action that they could take would be to just stay inside, where they would remain safe. As Queen Esta sat and explained this to the couple, Nessa began to cry.

"I came here looking for freedom, and now I've lost it again.", Nessa cried. Atlas's heart grew heavier with each tear that trickled down her cheek, this is not the life he had wanted to give her. As he thought about the hard life she had left behind and all the promises he had made to her, his anger bubbled over. His serene green eyes that usually held so much warmth, turned to stormy gray pools filled with tempestuous emotion. He felt his fists clenching  instinctively, uncontrollably, his knuckles turning white under pressure, as icy tendrils of anger coiled around his heart. He began to pace back and forth, seeming to forget everyone around him as his mind began to spiral.

"Atlas?", Nessa grew nervous, as she recognized the danger all too well. Realizing that what his reaction was scaring the woman he loved even more than she already was, he turned his anger inward toward himself. He never wanted her to feel afraid again, and here he was, scaring her. His body seemed to move without him, surging itself forward and punching a nearby wall hard enough to splinter wood and send echoes reverberating throughout the castle —a visceral act breaking free from the chains of civility, forged by the sorrow and regret of causing so much fear. Everyone stood in stunned silence, before the guards burst into the room, ready to protect them from intrusion.

The King held his hand up to them, reassured them that everything was fine and dismissed them back into the hallway.

"Atlas," The King finally broke the silence, as he watched the blood trickle from Atlas's knuckles onto the stone floor below them, "I understand your concern, your fear, the duty you feel. I feel it, too," the King places a gentle hand on Atlas's shoulder, "You are one of my oldest friends. I trusted you with the woman I love, I need you to trust me with yours now. Not as your king, but as the boy who wandered into my Father's court many years ago, and became my closest and dearest friend. We will do everything to protect Nessa and you. I promise." Atlas felt his body collapse into the arms of the King, his childhood friend, who pushed aside the formalities of the throne to hold him as he cried.

As Atlas pulled away he just nodded in thanks, before turning to his concerned wife and pulling her into his arms. The storms in his eyes had given way to the calm, this was the Atlas she knew and trusted.

****

Thank you for taking time to read my little excerpt, and I hope that if you haven't checked out our Beyond the Realms anthology, you will soon. So many talented authors in one place! You can find it on preorder for 99 pennies or you can get the paperback now HERE! 

A Cover Reveal for You to Enjoy!

Hello friends!

I have some pretty exciting news! This past week, Katie Jenkins-Merical through Storyteller Publisher 22, LLC, released the next cover reveal for another YA fantasy anthology that I'm a part of! This one is the ”Ties of Friendship” boxed set. I think it is absolutely lovely and I'm very excited to be a part of it, along with some very talented authors! <3 My featured story is the ”Shadows of Willow's Creek," which I've talked about a bit, and have shared some of the characters for. But I also helped Jenna D. Morrison with her story: ”The Return" due to battling cancer, as most of you know by now, and her medication really got in the way with her being able to complete her idea. We weren't even sure that she would make it long enough to complete it.

There will be a pre-order link available soon for those of you who are interested! I'm including a list below so everyone can see which authors are involved!

Featured Authors & Stories:

• Orcus Pursued by: Cassie Greutman

• How to raise the dead (and then put them back) by: R.C. Barnes

• Shadows of Willow’s Creek by: Joli Campbell

• The Return by: Jenna D. Morrison & Joli Campbell

• Bonds of Friendship & Forbidden Friendship by: International Bestselling Author K.M. Jenkins

COVER REVEAL!

Lives Disasters & a Character Spotlight

Hello everyone!

I hope that this has been a fantastic week, so far, for all of you. Without getting into it, ours has been a rough one. While normally I’m not an open book, because of the people involved and the sensitivity of the situations; I cannot get into it. I will, however say that these are the events that I often process through my writing. So, do not worry about me. I won’t hold on to anything unhealthily. I will, however, impart some advice. Let the people in your lives know you love them. Put aside any fears you may have, or anger you may hold on to, to let them know they are important to you, and that you will be there for them. I know regret from my personal experiences, and some of them can be hard to live with.

Now, on to the lighter side of things. I thought I’d do another character highlight from "The Fae Chronicles". I’d like to introduce all of you to King Kniall. He was loosely inspired by the famous former legendary high king of Ireland. Kniall of the Nine Hostages, who I, along with millions of other people across the globe have way, deep, deep down in my family tree. He ruled the ancient center of Ireland from A.D. 379 to A.D. 405. There are many wild legends about him, however, he was reportedly so wildly virile that he was blessed with 12 strapping sons. As I had mentioned, the King Kniall from my story was only loosely based on him, however, and they are quite different.

King Kniall is married to Queen Vesta, and sadly they could never have children. He is a kind, strong, wise and benevolent king who rules over not just his own kingdom. But all the realms surrounding it, from Oceana to Oighear. His only wish is to keep the people safe and see them thrive. Unfortunately, in the snow realms of Oighear and Ifreann, there is great tension that has arisen due to what their leaders view as archaic rules set on the lords and ladies of the various realms, and these tensions have caused a rise in violence, which ultimately cut of trade to those areas. Of course this does nothing to strengthen ties between the regions and only feeds into the desires of the cruel Lord Kai, of Ifreann, to take over as the new king. While King Kniall regrets this decision, he feels that this is the only way to keep the other realms safe from the cruelty of Lord Kai.

Character Spotlight from "The Fae Chronicles"

Hello Readers!

Today I thought I’d introduce some of you to Aynne, a character from “The Fae Chronicles.” Despite not playing a huge role in the book itself, she’s still very important, especially to Cian. She will play a more central role in what I hope is to become a bit of a series for me. I loved writing this story, after all. I quickly grew to love the characters and created back stories for most of them to where I cried when some of them died. I know, weird because I wrote it, but still. Sometimes, as a writer, you get very attached to the characters you create. I can be quite protective of them even, and I get mad at myself when I have to let something terrible happen to one of them. But, I suspect if I just wrote rainbows and sunshine, it’d be a terribly boring plot!

That said, let me introduce you to Aynne. She’s a wallflower that prefers to be in the background of everything. She’s shy and elusive, even to the point of being antisocial. But she’s also very empathetic, kind, artistic, intelligent, and well read. She has experienced significant loss and tragedy in her life, losing both of her parents in battle where they fought alongside Cian’s father, Atlas, a man that they trusted, considered a friend and would have followed into battle anywhere. Because of this, she understands Cian’s grief on a much more deeply personal level than most of his peers can. Despite Cian being unaware of their connection, he had always felt drawn to Aynne, who shows up for him just as he is feeling lost in mourning and needs someone who understands his pain. Unfortunately, she cannot save him from falling to the darkness, but she just might be strong enough to pull him out.

From Chapter 7:

“I lost both of my parents, too. When I was a little girl. We never really knew what happened to them, but they were heading to the Unseelie courts to help organize a diplomatic meeting between the King and Lord Kai, but according to the northern kingdom, they never made it. Their bodies were found within our borders. My mother still carried me in her womb. It was your father who cut me out and saved me. He placed me in the care of the King’s sage. He saved my life and gave me a suitable home.”

Something stirred in Cian. “My father did that?”

“Yes. The sage had adopted me and raised me as her own. She once told me about your father, who she said briefly considered taking me in himself, but knew the sage had always wanted a child of her own, so he brought me to her instead. She said you were born two days later. Losing your father was a heavy one, as is the loss of your mother.”

Cian looked into her eyes, feeling that familiar drop of falling into them, like he did when he was still just a schoolboy. In them, he found a connection, a tether that can only bind two people who have experienced substantial loss, and before he had time to realize what he was doing, he held his hand out to her, beckoning her to come to him.

To know if she succeeds or not, you will have to pick up a copy of our anthology "Beyond the Realms" which my story is featured in right now. You can preorder a copy in ebook format for 99 cents or if you can't wait the paperback is now available. Grab your chosen copy by this link here: https://books2read.com/u/4XkyqN.