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Thursday 13 March 2014

Guest Post & Giveaway - Shadow Fire by Kimber Leigh Wheaton

About the author Kimber Leigh Wheaton

Kimber Leigh Wheaton is a YA/NA author with a soft spot for sweet romance and is a member of Romance Writers of America.

She is married to her soul mate, has a teenage son, and shares her home with three dogs and four cats. No, she doesn’t live on a farm, she just loves animals. Her house is filled with dragons, though she does lament that they are the porcelain, non-flying variety.

Kimber Leigh is addicted to romance, videogames, superheroes, villains, and chocolate—not necessarily in that order. (If she has to choose, she’ll take a chocolate covered superhero!)

Her debut novel, Shadow Fire, is the first book in The Light Chronicles series. Watch for book two, Stolen Moon, a standalone sequel, coming soon.

Author Links:

Guest Post - The Origin of Shadow Fire

They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Well, I am a video game addict. More specifically, I'm addicted to RPGs. I spend an inordinate amount of time immersed in one fantasy world or another. My characters would be right at home alongside the characters from Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, or The Legend of Zelda. I label Shadow Fire as a fantasy romance, but it is also an adventure. 

When the idea for Shadow Fire hit, it hit hard. One day I hadn’t written anything for several years, and the next I cranked out the first chapter in a couple of hours. I was obsessed. There was no plot mapping, no outline. Zane, Ashlyn, and Taranis were in my mind, and I needed to free them as quickly as possible or risk insanity. The first draft was written in four weeks. That was two years ago. While the plot and characters remain the same, the manuscript has undergone numerous revisions to reach the place it is today. I changed the beginning twice, then finally found what I liked on the third try.

Shadow Fire is my debut novel. I learned so much about writing during this journey. You can clearly see it if you compare the first manuscript with the published novel. It's an amazing difference. Fortunately, I love editing and revising. It's hard to say goodbye to your characters when that final revision is complete. Ashlyn, Zane, and Taranis have a cameo in Stolen Moon the second book in the Light Chronicles due out late summer 2014.

Shadow Fire
Series: Light Chronicles
Genre: YA Fantasy / Romance
Publisher: Astraea Press
Pages: 310
Language: English
Format: eBook
Release Date: February 24, 2014

Book Description:
Ashlyn – a free-spirited teenager whose peaceful life is shattered when the village elders honor her with a perilous quest to recover a stolen relic.

Zane – a jaded mercenary, torn by his undeniable desire for Ashlyn and the dark secret that could make her hate him forever.

Delistaire – a malevolent sorcerer driven by an insatiable lust for power.

All three are bound together by an ancient relic supposedly infused with the power of a Goddess.

Shadow Fire – adventure, passion, secrets, and betrayal

As Ashlyn and Zane race to stay one step ahead of the evil lurking in the shadows, their passions are ignited and their bond strengthens. But will they find the relic before Delistaire? Or has their entire quest been orchestrated from the very beginning by a madman in pursuit of ultimate power?
Each installment of The Light Chronicles is a standalone story.

Book Links:

Shadow Fire Excerpt

Every step I take is one step closer to death.

Hiking through the dense underbrush, I try to calm my frayed nerves and control the fear threatening to overwhelm me. Twigs and tendrils of ivy grab at my ankles as I continue to forge ahead, forcing me to wrench away from their skeletal grip. The sunlight is fading, signaling the end of another day, but this is no ordinary day.

A loud crack pierces the air. I freeze in my tracks, my breath catching in my throat. Whipping my head around, I try to locate the source of the sound. My heart pounds in my chest, the erratic rhythm painful. These woods are full of predators, some animal, some monster, but the worst… human. Taking a deep breath, I listen to the surrounding woods: birds chirp, insects hum, and small animals scurry about as if they have no care in the world.

Lungs burning, I force myself to continue walking. I didn't collapse three weeks ago when this whole fiasco started, and I won't give in now. My family needs me to be strong.

The trees become sparser as I approach the edge of the forest. My shoulders slump when I pass the tree house we used to play in so many years ago. Any other day when I'm this close to home after a long day of hunting, I'd smile, breathe a sigh of relief, and perhaps look forward to dinner. Today there will be no raucous family meal, no solace in entering the peaceful village, and nothing to smile about.

The villagers will be awaiting my return, skulking in the shadows, desperate to catch a glimpse of the walking dead girl.

I've dealt with the whispers and pointing for three weeks with my head held high, my anxiety hidden behind a mask of indifference. I don't want them to see me like this, trembling in fear, broken. They've taken everything I am, every hope, every dream I've had for the future and smashed them to pieces with little hope of salvation. The townsfolk of Verdane decided my fate and they chose death.

The elders told me being Chosen is an honor. Either they are ignorant or apathetic. Every five years for the last twenty, a teenage girl has been chosen by the town, via secret ballot, to undertake this dangerous quest, never to return. Perhaps if the elders had to forfeit their lives instead they wouldn't be so quick to label it an honor, they'd call it what it is… a sacrifice.


***Giveaway***

2 Gifted Kindle copies of Shadow Fire up for grabs.

Ends April 2nd (23:59 p.m. GMT)

International. Open to anyone who can receive gifted ebooks from amazon.com.

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