Dragons In the Enchanted Bookstore: Marsha A Moore

Thank you, Ciara, for inviting me to be your guest today. I know you and your readers love dragons. I have many who are special in my writing world. Here’s a glimpse of a couple:

The Ruling Dragons from Marsha A. Moore’s Enchanted Bookstore Legends

Dragon lovers will not be disappointed with the Enchanted Bookstore Legends, my epic fantasy romance. I love dragons and have included many types, ages, and sizes. The rule of the fantasy world of Dragonspeir is divided between the good Alliance, governed by the Imperial Dragon, a magnificent golden type, and the opposing Dark Realm, led by the Black Dragon. 

When my heroine, Adalyra McCauley opens an enchanted book she confronts a series of quests where she is expected to save Dragonspeir from destruction by the evil Black Dragon. In my latest release, Lost Volumes, the third book of the series, Lyra learns residents of Dragonspeir’s Alliance are suffering with a deadly plague at the hand s of the Black Dragon. She doesn’t heed the warnings of her fiancé, wizard Cullen Drake, to remain safe in her human world. After all, she’s the present Scribe—one of five strong women in her ancestry who possessed unique magic, each destined to protect the Alliance against the evil Black Dragon of the Dark Realm. With Cullen dependent upon Alliance power to maintain his immortality, the stakes are doubled for Lyra.

She puts herself at risk for the community afflicted by black magic. To find a cure, she and Cullen travel into the vile, lawless underworld of Terza to strike a bargain with an expert. Their efforts further enrage the Black Dragon, vowing to decimate the Alliance and avenge the murder of his heir. 

In order to overpower his efforts, Lyra must secure the three lost volumes of the Book of Dragonspeir. Written by the three earliest Scribes, each book contains energy. Possession of the entire set will enable overthrow of the Dark Realm. Following clues into dangerous lands, Lyra and Cullen seek those volumes. His assistants, Kenzo the tiger owl and Noba the pseudodragon, prove invaluable aids. Only if they succeed, will the Alliance be safe and Lyra reach closer to the immortality she needs to live a life with Cullen.

The Ruling Dragons of Dragonspeir

Black dragons, like the leader of the Dark Realm, always seek to lair in deep dark caves. Although small, they are vile, evil-tempered, and abusive. Their hearts are as dark as their slimy scales. They are obsessed with death and take comfort in the sickening-sweet aroma of drowned, rotting carcasses. During her bloodswear quest, Lyra held her stomach with the stench when she was required to sneak into the chambers of the heir to the Black Dragon and perform fascination on him. The current Black Dragon leader prefers his drake servants leave the prey they bring him in pools within his personal cave. The victims float for days or weeks before he eats them. The dark leader, like all black dragons, is grim and skeletal. His eyes lie deep in their sockets between two great horns that curve forward and down. The flesh of his face is partially deteriorated or burnt from his acidic drool.  His method of attack is spitting caustic acid. Lyra and Cullen, learned too well what that felt like in the first book, Seeking a Scribe.

Golden dragons are born leaders, being lawful, just and good. Their intelligence exceeds the other types, and their wisdom is sought after. Being good-natured, they help those who are kind and fair. The Imperial Leader helps train and guide my heroine, Lyra, along her quest. Golds are the most powerful and largest in size. The breath weapon of gold dragons is a cone of fire. Although they are cautious about entering a fight and dislike killing, once engaged, they will pour their entire being into the battle.

Physically, gold dragons are spectacular. Two prominent horns point backwards along their heads. The most obvious feature is probably the tentacle whiskers that sprout from the bottom of the gold dragon's jaw, giving the appearance of a sort of beard in both males and females.

Like his father before him, the present Imperial Dragon will serve the Alliance until either he dies or steps down.  Similar to most golds, he keeps his Alliance headquarters in a grand network of caves set in the rock plateau. His overlooks the Steppe of Ora, the wide plain which divides good and evil in Dragonspeir. His lair includes an elaborate gathering hall, a vast library, guest quarters, and his own personal chambers with cases of magical instruments and a glass-walled observatory to consult the stars. As one of the four Alliance Guardians, his area of expertise is magic powered by the air element, including mystical astronomy studies of the skies.

Read Seeking a Scribe, Heritage Avenged, and Lost Volumes of my Enchanted Bookstore Legends to learn more about these amazing creatures. 

Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Her creativity also spills into watercolor painting and drawing. After a move from Toledo to Tampa in 2008, she’s happily transforming into a Floridian, in love with the outdoors. Crazy about cycling, she usually passes the 1,000 mile mark yearly. She is learning kayaking and already addicted. She’s been a yoga enthusiast for over a decade and that spiritual quest helps her explore the mystical side of fantasy. She never has enough days spent at the beach, usually scribbling away at new stories with toes wiggling in the sand. Every day at the beach is magical!

You can find her here:

Website: http://MarshaAMoore.com 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarshaAMoore 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marshaamooreauthorpage 

Fantasy Faction staff page: http://fantasy-faction.com/staff-members?uid=38 

Goodreads author page http://www.goodreads.com/marshaamoore 

Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/100564214132835514192/posts 

Series Blurb: Enchanted Bookstore Legends 

The Enchanted Bookstore Legends are about Lyra McCauley, a woman destined to become one of five strong women in her family who possess unique magical abilities and serve as Scribes in Dragonspeir. The Scribes span a long history, dating from 1200 to present day. Each Scribe is expected to journey through Dragonspeir, both the good and evil factions, then draft a written account. Each book contains magic with vast implications. 

 Lyra was first introduced to Dragonspeir as a young girl, when she met the high sorcerer, Cullen Drake, through a gift of one of those enchanted books. Using its magic, he escorted her into the parallel world of Dragonspeir. Years later, she lost that volume and forgot the world and Cullen. These legends begin where he finds her again—she is thirty-five, standing in his enchanted bookstore, and Dragonspeir needs her.  

When Lyra reopens that enchanted book, she confronts a series of quests where she is expected to save the good Alliance from destruction by the evil Black Dragon. While learning about her role, Lyra and Cullen fall in love. He is 220 years old and kept alive by Dragonspeir magic. Cullen will die if Dragonspeir is taken over by the evil faction…Lyra becomes the Scribe.

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Author Interview: Christina Ow, Author of Star Bright

Today I am interviewing Rinah Lidonde, author of Star Bright under her pen name Christina Ow.

Rinah studies and resides in South Africa, but Kenya is her home country. She holds a Diploma in Law and is currently pursuing a BA in International Studies and Communications and Media Studies. Rinah is a last born child and a twin.

Rinah wrote her first manuscript in 2010. Besides writing, she is also passionate about singing, drawing and designing.

Rinah lives in her imagination and considers herself a very creative person.

Thanks for joining us today, Rinah. Can you tell us a bit about your books - what genre do you consider them to belong to?

All of them are romance, that’s the one thing they share. Then there are elements of thrill, suspense, crime, contemporary, fantasy and paranormal.

Wow, that’s a broad spectrum! I admit I’m not a fan of pure romance, but I do love a good romantic subplot. Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

           

My love for reading novels started a very long time, about when I was 10 or 11. I was in awe of how a person’s imagination could just take form and fill up pages. I loved the fact that I would read the words and watch it play out in my mind. Some of the books became way more interesting than watching TV!

I’m a person who lives in her head more than the outside world because off all the stories in my head.  So I figured maybe I should put down all the stories I had in my head on paper, and share them, see if everyone else loved them as much as I did.

I hear you. I’ve been reading since about 9 and read way more than I watch TV. Have you ever hated something you wrote?

Yes. I hate killing characters, but for the book, Love Forever After, to have some deep emotions and for the other characters to grow, it had to be done.

For Star Bright, it was writing Maria’s abuse. But I wanted the readers to say her happily ever after was long overdue. That they were happy for her and her new life and the new strong person she’d become.

Now you’ve got me worried I’m the only writer who has no problems doing terrible things to her characters. Eek! Tell us, how did you come up with the title?

I try to sum up the entire book in a handful of words.  In the beginning of Star Bright, Maria sees herself as a teen mother betrayed by the men in her life, but in the end she becomes more than she ever thought possible – a mother, a daughter, a friend and a wife, and I wanted the title to reflect that. Behind all the clouds of hardships that covered her, she was an emerging bright star.

They do say you should be able to sum up your book in 25 words or less before you even put pen to paper and it’s a brilliant way to identify your core theme which, in my experience, lends itself to the title. Are you working on anything now?

I just finished Fatal Jealousy. The title speaks for itself but the intrigue comes in when sibling rivalry between twins takes a fatal turn.  And a valentine’s special, Love Forever After, that is completely out of the norm of what valentine’s books are supposed to be. All I’m going to say about it is, husband, dead wife and baby, you’ll just have to read the book when it’s out!

  

And there is the Fate series. It’s a fantasy paranormal love story between two emotionally scarred individuals. One just happens to be Ashat, a werewolf, a man filled with vengeance and hate because of the slaughter of his family, and the other is Lee, a girl who lost everything including her family because of Ashat. To stay together they are faced with many personal challenges and an enemy who wants them both dead. And then as the series progresses, Lee finds out an entire history about herself that her mother had buried when someone from her past pays her a visit. I’ve finished the first two and currently writing the third.

Wow, that’s a lot of books! And fantasy paranormal – now that’s a little more down my alley. Who designs the covers for your books?

Viola Estrella! She works with 5 Prince Publishing, I just love her! Describing a picture you see in your head with words is the most difficult thing ever. I didn’t think she’d make sense of it until I saw the cover. I love it! It’s beautiful and the entire story is also in the cover! It’s incredible!

Now that’s what you want in a cover artist. Many authors have day jobs as well as their writing – are you one of them?

Yes and no. I am currently a student at Monash University South Africa, pursuing a double major BA in International Studies and Communication and Media Studies and a minor in Literature.

I’m also a fashion designer. In the midst of all of this, I’m prepping my fashion label. Hopefully by next year it will be up and running

And I thought I was busy…. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep writing and keep querying. It was a long year of querying and about twenty five rejections before Connie Kline said yes.

Very sound advice. Now, for a few non-writing questions to give us a little insight into who you are, if you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, whom would it be?

Delphine from Sherrilyn Kenyon’s book, Dream Warrior. She’s a bad ass and very crazy! Not every woman would take a heart from someone else to save the man they love!

Yikes! I haven’t read them but they are kind-of on my TBR list. She sounds like my kind of gal. If you were an animal what kind would you be?

A tiger. I don’t know why but since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to be a tiger!

Tigers are pretty cool, I don’t think anyone could argue with that. Thanks for joining us today, Rinah. If you’re interested in reading Star Bright, you can buy it here, or if you’d like to look Rinah up, you can find her at:

Facebook: http://facebook.com/ChristinaOw

Twitter: @christina_ow

Blog: http://www.christinaow.wordpress.com 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ChristinaOw  

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