CHARACTER INTERVIEW wit' Kalen!!!

Folks, so I've been promising you all this feature on ETHOS.  Well, I'm still delivering.  Today, I've got the main star of ETHOS here with me.... Kalen!  

Click on the author's name below to visit her site...

 Desiree Finkbeiner 

Kish: So Kalen, it’s great to finally meet you.  I’m a longtime fan
[smiles].  Well, a fan for as long as I’ve been reading Ethos,
anyway.  You’re a career man, I’ve heard.  How long were you in the service?


Kalen: From the time of my coming of age. I was only a boy when I was called to the office of daghoon warrior, and training began immediately. I was taken from my home and placed in a military monastery, completely immersed  in  training  to recondition my thoughts and actions.  Everything I do is related to my duty as protector of our deepest magic, and there were times my training was so brutal that I was sent to  the healers to recover. During my military training, I also received  spiritual training from the elders to teach me how to harness my gifts to their full potential.




Kish:  What's the one thing you have always wanted to do but
didn't/couldn't/wouldn't?


Kalen: I always wanted to find love, but my station and calling forbid it.  As a consolation, I was allowed the special opportunity to become the companion of Lebion, my queen dragonfly. And though I’m sure it doesn’t compare to the connection shared between husband and wife, it is a very rare and special connection nonetheless. Lebion empowers me with a spiritual connection to the universe that few will ever find in mortal life.


Kish: Ok, Kalen, tell us the honest truth, when did you fall in love
with Bree? At first sight? Or did it take a while?


Kalen: It wasn’t until I studied her afterglow. I saw such purity and
strength that I felt immediately connected to her. But I fought it,
buried it, and resisted the temptation to love her. Then, when I
thought I had failed her, when I turned my back for only a moment and she fell into the hands of Ellette’s minions, I knew I couldn’t live my life without her.




Kish: Yikes!  I so hope Bree isn’t reading this right now, but how
many girlfriends did you have before her?  [Sorry Bree!  Honestly.
I’m a big fan of yours too.]


Kalen: As a very young boy, I remember having simple attractions…. crushes, I believe you call them… but they were innocent and never allowed to blossom. I was taken from the world of courtship and thrust into a military life early on. I’d never even kissed a fae… Brianna was my first and only love. Though, admittedly, I spent many nights dreaming of what it would be like to have a companion to love and hold. The elders told me it was even forbidden to dream of love, so I forced it from my mind… until Brianna entered my world. Forcing her from my mind would
be like stopping the beating of my own heart.




Kish: And in your relationship with Bree, how are you different with her than you are with your family and friends? Why do you think this is?


Kalen: My relationship to my parents was very formal, and before Brianna, the only female love I knew was that of my mother. I didn’t have many friends, other than the dragonflies, since my mission was very solitary. Most of my relationships have been with the elders and my training officers. As a daghoon, I was taught that relationships were dangerous, that they could endanger my mission, used against me. In spite of my lack of connection to others, I was still taught to have compassion on all forms of life. It was through the dragonflies and the animals of Earth that I learned to respect life in even the meekest form. But with Brianna, I have been opened to an entirely  new level of understanding about the universe and how love can empower its recipient. My greatest source of strength however, also seems to be my greatest weakness.

Kish: What parts of loving come easy for you? Hard?


Kalen: Love, in essence, was always easy to possess, so long as I did not  let it possess me. I am the master of my own heart, but I’ve learned that in loving an equal, one must give their heart to their companion.  So it was with Brianna, I’ve given my heart to her, and while it was  easy to give, it was also the hardest thing I’ve ever done… especially since I’ve been indoctrinated to deny myself of such a connection for so long.

Kish: If you were granted three wishes, what would you ask for?


Kalen: First, to wish for an end to the war so that all sentient beings may find peace. Second, a wish to an alliance between the worlds of Ethos and Earth, that we may comingle peaceably. And third, a wish for all beings to have their agency to choose for themselves, without evil constantly  trying to force its will on others… but then again, without opposition in life, would there even be a choice? Would there even be an understanding of love or peace?

Author Interview with Desiree Finkbeiner

Folks,

recently, I caught up with Author Desiree F. about her novel, Ethos.  She was super busy promoting this new book, BUT.....she still found the time to post a little info for her curious readers.  This is what she had to say about it (and herself)......

'Ethos' (Morningstar) is on Blog Tour right now!

Kish: Desiree, it’s great to meet you!  As you know, I am currently in the midst of your book, Ethos.  This interview is a ‘pre-chat’ prior to my book review, which will come once I finish reading.  But with my curiosity, I couldn’t wait to grab a few tid-bits about you and the book.  So, here we go!  I KNOW you already anticipated this question- Where did the title come from?

Desiree: I asked myself what I was trying to accomplish with the series, and the answer came. I’m trying to promote positive morals in a society that seems so complacent, even contemptuous when it comes to purity and self mastery. I aim to establish that morals are powerful, even though the media and modern society seems so eager to destroy sound principals. Thus, the name Ethos came to mind. It’s literally the moral code by which society governs itself, and without a strong 'ethos', society itself crumbles.  The subtitle, Morning Star, came from the final chapter in the book and represent hope for a bright future.

Kish: Wow!  Can I ask how you came up with the concept for Ethos?  Was it something that had been developing for a while in your brain?

Desiree: Most of it just came as inspiration while I wrote. Some of it came in dreams, and some of it came from my art. But the basic concept came to me as I lay in be recovering from a surgery. I was bored, so tired of stating at the same four walls, so I dreamed up the plot and characters, then started writing to keep myself sane during recovery.

Kish: So Desiree, you are a writer, as am I.  We all have those authors who we personally consider to be mentors, our kindred souls,
or even our heroes.  Who are the authors (known and/ or unknown) that have impacted you in such ways?

Desiree: My favorite authors have changed over the years and continue to change as new books come out and my perspectives change. Some select favorites: Frank Herbert, Anne Rice, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sophia Stewart… But scripture has influenced my writing more than anything.

Kish:  What are your favorite genre(s) to read for your own enjoyment in your downtime?

Desiree: To read, I prefer nonfiction, especially spiritual, political or historical topics. But when I do read fiction, I prefer fantasy, most any sub genre thereof. The best books are ones that leave me feeling enlightened and inspired. I try to steer clear from anything that contains erotic sexuality, extreme profanity or extremely dark/satanic content.

Kish: Do you write in only one type of genre?

Desiree: No. I done a lot of freelance non-fiction writing (especially product reviews etc), and some research articles on health and spirituality. But I revel in fantasy! It's my release and get away from the world. My favorite fantasy sub genres include: urban, epic, paranormal romance, steampunk, adventure and action/suspense.

Kish: This might be a bit of a mental stretch, but do you remember when you wrote your first story ever?  I remember my first story was
around four years old- that I can remember, anyway, so I know that we authors begin drafting pretty early.  How about you?

Desiree: I think, like you, it was as early as I could put ideas on paper. Though, most of my early stories in childhood were illustrated stories and comics. I’ve been writing and illustrating since grade school. My mother had kept dozens of my little books in her keepsake chest, and we got them out a few years ago to share a laugh. Though, in the beginning I was more interested in art and poetry, entering my work in shows and contests. I won certificates and awards all through grade school, middle school and high school but most of them were for my art.

I wrote my first middle-grade, fantasy chapter book at age 12, called ‘Trail Of Faith’. It was a high fantasy about four friends who were separated by a “saprin wind” (similar to a tornado, but it sucked each of them through a portal into other realms). The story was about their journey back to find one another. I had intended to seek publication for it back then, but I had written it on my father’s old Tandy1000 computer, with a DOS operating system, and lost the entire work when the system crashed. It was 30,000 words and I was devastated because I had not backed it up on a floppy.

Kish: Sounds good!  Desiree, thank you!  I look forward to the end of the novel!

Still around.....still churning away.....

Hello!  
If you've all thought that I fell OFF the face of the map, I haven't.  I've just been churning away at this novel, trying to get everything smoothed out below I even think about releasing it.  Patience, patience all.


Coming up, I've got a slew of New Titles to introduce you to.  Some of my author companions have been doing their homework on time, and have got new stuff on the market for you.

Great Giveaway Alert!!!!!!!!!


Hydra Publications, will be giving away TEN books for FREE!! Yes, free.  They will be available only on May 2nd and 3rd (a great Mother's Day special).
Visit Hydra Publications to view the titles...... clicking on the book cover takes you to Amazon.com, where you can download the e-book in Kindle format.


BTW, one of the books offered is 'Ethos' by Desiree Finkbeiner.  Ethos will be reviewed on KISH KNIGHT (right here) next week.  Stay posted.


Pssttt....check back with me for the book trailers tomorrow, Thursday, May 3rd!!!

Click here to check it out.....

I present to you... TASTE from Author Kate Evangelista!

As promised, here is your sneak peek into the very talented Kate Evangelista's 'TASTE'.  This trailer is debuting TODAY all across the blog world.  Lucky for you, you're right here and can check it out!!!


(Note: Folks, this isn't my book trailer; my trailer for 'GEEKS' will be coming out very shortly, though, so hang tight.)




Book Trailer Alert!!!!

Taste Excerpt

I mentally stomped on the intimidation their perfection brought into my mind and said, “Excuse me.”

The group froze, startled by my words. The girls had their brows raised and the boys stopped mid-speech, mouths agape. They stared at me with eyes the shade of onyx stones.

I smiled and gave them a little wave.

The boy a step ahead of the rest recovered first. His stunning features went from shocked surprise to intense interest. He reminded me of a hawk eyeing its prey. I gulped.

“A Day Student,” he said, his eyes insolent and excited.

Something about the way he said “Day Student” made my stomach flip. “Excuse me?”

They snickered. The boys looked at each other while the girls continued to stare, muffling their laughter by delicate hands. I seemed to be the butt of some joke. 

“You broke the rule.” The boy’s grin turned predatory.

The students formed a loose semi-circle in front of me. My gaze darted from face to face. Hunger filled their eyes. The image of lions about to chase down a gazelle came to mind. I mentally shook my head. I was in the mountains not the Serengeti for crying out loud.

I took a small step back and cleared my throat. “Can any of you give me a ride back to the dorms?”

The boy wagged his forefinger like a metronome. “Ah, that’s unfortunate for you.”

One of the girls pinched the bridge of her nose. “Eli, you can’t possibly—”

“It’s forbidden, Eli,” another boy interrupted, pronouncing the word “forbidden” like a curse.

The nervous murmur at the pit of my stomach grew louder. Six against one. Not good odds. Instinct told me to cut my losses and run. Bad enough I faced expulsion, now it seemed like weird, beautiful people who’d suddenly appeared on campus wanted to beat me up. No, scratch that. Judging from the way they studied me, beating me up wouldn’t satisfy them. Something more primal prowled behind their looks.

I definitely wasn’t going down without a fight. Years of self-defense and hand-to-hand combat classes had me prepared. While other children from rich and important families got bodyguards, I got defense training. But I think my father meant for my skills to go up against potential kidnappers, not against other students who may or may not be crazy. Oh God! Maybe I stepped into a parallel universe or something when I reentered Barinkoff.

“None of the students are supposed to be on campus,” I said. Then, realizing my mistake, I added, “Okay, I know I’m not supposed to be here either. If one of you gives me a ride back to the dorms, I won’t say anything about all this. Let’s pretend this never happened. I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me.”

“We’re not ordinary students,” Eli answered. “We’re the Night Students.”

He’d said “Night Students” like the words were capitalized. I didn’t know Barinkoff held classes at night. What was going on here?

Eli smiled with just one side of his mouth and said to the group, “She’s right, no one will have to know. We’re the only ones here. And it’s been so long, don’t you agree?”

The rest of them nodded reluctantly.

“What’s been so long?” I challenged. I fisted my hands, ready to put them up if any of them so much as twitched my way.

“Since the taste of real flesh passed through my lips,” Eli said. He came forward and took a whiff of me then laughed when I cringed.

“Flesh.” Yep, parallel universe.

“Yes,” he said. “And yours smells so fresh.”

Someone grabbed my shoulders from behind and yanked me back before I could wrap my mind around the meaning behind Eli’s words. In a blink, I found myself behind someone tall. Someone really tall. And quite broad. And very male.

I realized he wore the same clothes Eli and the other boys did. Not good. He was one of them. Although… I cocked my head, raking my gaze over him. He seemed born to wear the uniform, like he was the pattern everyone else was cut from. My eyes wandered to long, layered, blue-black hair tied at the nape by a silk ribbon. Even in dim light, his hair possessed a sheen akin to mercury.

I looked down. The boy’s long fingers were wrapped around my wrist like a cuff. His fevered touch felt hotter than human standards, hot enough to make me sweat like I was standing beside a radiator but not hot enough to burn.

“I must be mistaken, Eli,” the boy who held my arm said in a monotone. “Correct me. Did I hear you say you wanted to taste the flesh of this girl?”

A hush descended on us. It had the hairs at the back of my neck rising. How was it possible for the atmosphere to switch from threatening to dangerous? Unable to help myself, I peeked around the new guy’s bulk. Eli and his friends bowed. They all had their right hands on their chests.

“Demitri, I’m sure you misheard me,” Eli said.

So the guy standing between me and the person who said he’d wanted to taste me was named Demitri. I like the sound of his name. Demitri. So strong, yet rolls off the tongue. Definite yum factor.

“So, you imply I made a mistake?” Demitri demanded.

“No!” Eli lifted his gaze. “I did no such thing. I simply wanted to show the girl the consequences of breaking curfew.”

“Hey!” I yelled. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”

Demitri ignored my protest and continued to address Eli. “So, you threatened to taste her flesh.” His fingers tightened their grip around my wrist. “In the interest of investigating this matter further, I invoke the Silence.”

All six students gasped, passing surprised glances at one another.

Before I could ask about what was going on, Demitri yanked me down the hall toward the library. But why there? Oh, maybe we were getting my things. No, wait, he couldn’t have known about that. Everything was too confusing now.

Eli and the others didn’t try to stop us when we passed them. Demitri’s cold command must have carried power. Handsome and powerful, never a bad combination on a guy.

We reached the heavy double doors in seconds. He jerked one open effortlessly. I’d needed all my strength just to squeeze through that same door earlier. To him, the thick wood might as well have been cardboard. I raised an eyebrow and mentally listed the benefits of going to gym class.

“Why are we here?” I asked after my curiosity overpowered my worry. I’d almost forgotten how frightened I’d been right before Demitri showed up. I wasn’t above accepting help from strangers. Especially from gorgeous dark-haired strangers with hot hands and wide shoulders.

Demitri kept going, tugging me along, snaking his way deeper into the library. I had to take two steps for every stride his legs made. I tried to stay directly behind him, praying we didn’t slam into anything.

He stopped suddenly and I collided with him. It felt like slamming into a wall.

“Hey,” I said, momentarily stunned. “A little warning would be nice!”

He faced me, and I gasped. His eyes resembled a starless night, deep and endless. Their intensity drilled through me without pity, seeming to expose all my secrets. I felt naked and flustered beneath his gaze.

“You could have died back there,” he warned.

A lump of panic rebuilt itself in my throat.

NEW BOOK TRAILER AND EXCERPT coming on April 16th

Hey Everyone!!!

Here is the Cover Reveal for Kate Evangelista's novel 'Taste'.

(Don't you just love those graphics?)

Hang on for the 'Taste' book trailer and excerpt, being revealed tomorrow, April 16th.  They will be featured on several blogs online, and luckily for you, this little 'ol blog is one of them!!!


So check back right here tomorrow for a view into the novel 'Taste', as well as more on the author Kate Evangelista.


See YA here!!

Teaser from 'GFS: Geeks' (upcoming release!!!) [Time is drawing near..]

Tabitha….

‘How long do high school reputations follow you around?’ she wondered, approaching THE door.  Stopping just outside, she paused, thinking about her own reputation.

What was it again?

Geek.

Nerd.

Hopeless.

Class Salutatorian who’d almost gotten expelled.

Shaking her head, she wondered if that little nugget would make it onto her school transcript.  But yet even as she wondered about it, she admitted, way down in some deep dark part of herself, that what she’d done had been the most excitement she’d had in her entire life.  Even as clumsily as it had gone.

Ordinarily, she would have never, NEVER, have done a thing like that, but the sake of her school career, hence entire future, had depended on it.  As well as the sake of the Student Council’s future and reputation.

Inside her brain, Toi’s disdainful comments still stung.  “Are you planning to be a goof forever, or just until they expel us all?  Are you going to do it or not?”

“Someday,” she murmured now, even though Toi and the members of the Social Committee were nowhere in sight, “you’ll see that I’m more than just a goof.”  And it was true.  Hadn’t she gone through with it, like the rest of them?  Even though she had been frozen in fear until Duane Robles had screamed at her.

As she snapped back to reality, it occurred to her that she’d been standing outside the door for almost two full minutes.  Without further delay, she stepped into the crowded boys’ locker room and waited for something to happen.  

Look out...

for a Teaser from my upcoming novel 'Geeks'!

Why is it....

....that the best scenes write themselves in your brain at the WORST possible times?  I had this happen to me last night, coming off of my 2-year old niece's ALL day b-day party, finally collapsing into bed, exhausted, and discovering that the characters were talking!!!   Sighhhhh.....

Before that, it happened when I was driving from Kmart, after cramming in some last minute shopping, and racing to get back to the laundry before some anxious customer pulled my clothes out of the dryer.  Rounding a deep corner, was when it hit me!  That's how two of the main characters fall in love!!!!  'Okay fine, guys, I heard ya.'

But they wouldn't stop there....as I drove, those two lovebirds continued to harp on and on about their steamy lives....

Working....

...super hard to get this novel OUT de door!!!

I cannot WAIT to shove it (and a couple of other pals) out into the world.  I keep cajoling this little book, saying, 'the world is ready for you now.'  Hopefully, the sweet talking will be enough to get it going, to give confidence enough to be born.

Why am I awake?

Early morning........
working to make deadline and wondering WHICH book to work on right now.  Should I be good and continue as planned on Book 1 of the series that NEEDS to be released on April 1st?  Or can I steal this morning for another project......

Decisions, decisions.......

One thing is sure though......the April 1st deadline has GOT to be met!

Birth of a YA Horror junkie.....

As a kid, reading YA paranormal fiction (in those days, ghost stories and haunted doll stories) was where it all started.  This strange, unbridled love for the gruesome macabre.  (That and the fun of scaring yourself so badly, that you couldn't sleep without nightmares for at least three nights in a row!)  Back then, you didn't know what it was called, but you knew that you liked it.  And that you had to find more books like this somewhere: either on the small, lonely shelf in your teacher's classroom.  Or crammed in between the kiddie books on your cousin's bookshelf, wrongly discarded and forgotten.  Or even in a dusty box of books, with half of the covers ripped off, being tossed from your school library.  Those were the places where we unsung paranormal YA lit fans found our horror classics and got started.