The
Kingdom Lights
By
Steven
VS
BLURB:
In
a world where cities float, airships sail the skies and mythical
creatures are summoned in a pinch, Celes Vale is distinctly average.
Living in the shadow of his talented cousin and his powerful aunt and
uncle, Celes is resigned to a future of soot, factories and well,
more soot.
But on the night of his twelfth birthday everything changes. A blinding light, a whispered voice and in an instant Celes becomes the first ordinary child in history to develop magic, sending him on a fast-track ticket to the greatest of the floating cities, Gardarel. Boasting grand, elegant buildings wrought from shimmering white stone, the entire city appears as though it has been built from light, and so it has come to be called the Kingdom Lights.
Though some welcome Celes, others want the dirt-ridden up-start off their city preferably head first. Nowhere is this clearer than in the attitude and actions of the beautiful and haughty Lady Ban and her sneering nephew, Marcus Blackwood. But Blackwood, with his gang of goons and unimaginative one-liners, is soon the least of Celes s problems.
With a little magic and a lot of detective work, Celes and his group of Scurriers and Wisps unravel the dark truth behind Lady Ban s prim, perfect smile an alliance to the villainous Wardens and the masked man who leads them. However, in his attempt to expose Lady Ban, Celes unwittingly stumbles onto an even darker conspiracy a plan that could lead to the complete destruction of Gardarel itself.
But on the night of his twelfth birthday everything changes. A blinding light, a whispered voice and in an instant Celes becomes the first ordinary child in history to develop magic, sending him on a fast-track ticket to the greatest of the floating cities, Gardarel. Boasting grand, elegant buildings wrought from shimmering white stone, the entire city appears as though it has been built from light, and so it has come to be called the Kingdom Lights.
Though some welcome Celes, others want the dirt-ridden up-start off their city preferably head first. Nowhere is this clearer than in the attitude and actions of the beautiful and haughty Lady Ban and her sneering nephew, Marcus Blackwood. But Blackwood, with his gang of goons and unimaginative one-liners, is soon the least of Celes s problems.
With a little magic and a lot of detective work, Celes and his group of Scurriers and Wisps unravel the dark truth behind Lady Ban s prim, perfect smile an alliance to the villainous Wardens and the masked man who leads them. However, in his attempt to expose Lady Ban, Celes unwittingly stumbles onto an even darker conspiracy a plan that could lead to the complete destruction of Gardarel itself.
EXCERPT:
Tidus
was crying. Tidus often cried and Zephyr wondered how best to cheer
his friend up this time.
“It
won’t be so bad. I mean, we’ll be in different schools, but maybe
your magic is just getting started.” That’s a good approach,
thought Zephyr. The tears ebbed and Zephyr thought he heard a
sniffle. “I’m sure it’s taking a bit longer…bit longer than
normal. But I bet… I bet when your magic does come, it’ll
be really strong!” he finished enthusiastically. Tidus howled. Oh
no, maybe it’s not working at all.
Barely
four foot tall, Zephyr was small even for a Wisp. Covering his entire
body was a thick robe that extended all the way over his head, upon
which it became a large furred cowl. Being made of a great deal of
spirit and magic, Zephyr’s face was rather hard to see and appeared
as no more than a haze; dark as midnight, punctuated by two large
silvery eyes that shone as bright as lighthouse beacons, hiding the
pale skin that lay beneath.
“You’re
just saying that,” sniffled Tidus, another Wisp with crackling eyes
of electric blue and a full year younger than Zephyr. “You’ll
go to the Anchor School in a few weeks then you’ll go to
the Lunar Academy next year and I’ll be…I’ll be…” He
hiccoughed, his whole body jolting. “I’ll be all on my own!”
“No,
no, no. We’ll still be friends!” he said, giving Tidus a small
pat. “And you’ll have so much fun at your new school, you won’t
even notice.”
Guest Post:
What would I tell a new
author?
The realities of what you
are getting into. This is an extremely competitive world you are
about to get into and it’s important you know what’s really up.
- Write because you have so much passion you think you might burn up.
Writing is a lonely endeavor and involve long hours of self-motivation. Your friends and family might think it’s cool for a while, but they’ll peter out after a while, and it’s up to you to keep on moving. You must have utter determination to keep going, because there will be a lot of time you are going to want to stop
- You’re not going to make any money.
A lot of people when they think of authors can only name the mega blockbusters like JK Rowling. The reality is that there is very little money in writing books, even if you make it to the coveted New York Times bestseller list. Don’t give up your day job yet, have writing augment your life, not become your life
- Being an author is no longer just about writing books.
Being an author is today just as much about self-promotion as it is about writing. Gone are the days when you wrote a book by candlelight and then sent it out into the world, and then that was it. Now you have to be your own super fan, constantly going out there, making sure people know who you are, what your book is about and so on. You’ve got to be willing to do it
- Writing is one of the most rewarding things you could possibly do.
When all is said and done, writing is a fantastic endeavor. There really is nothing quite like seeing the people, the world that you created out there in a real book, for all the world to see and read. I actually cried when I got my publishing contract, and when all is said and done, it was the single greatest moment of my life. So keep at it, I promise it’s worth it!
AUTHOR
INFORMATION:
A
resident of the sleepy coastal town of Bexhill, East Sussex, England.
Steven graduated in the summer of 2013 from the University of
Southampton with a Bachelor of Medicine Degree and a Master’s
Degree in Global Health from Sussex University – where he spent the
majority of his time in Shawcross writing this novel!
In
between writing and dreaming Steven is a medical doctor and has
worked at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire and the
Princess Royal where he fights the system with quirky lanyards.
Steven’s
debut novel steampunk fantasy TheKingdom Lights is
out on October 17th published by NeverlandPublishing.
Giveaway:
One randomly drawn commenter will receive a $50 Amazon/BN GC
One randomly drawn commenter will receive a $50 Amazon/BN GC
What I liked best about today's post was the Guest Post by the author. It was straightforward and honest.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteI appreciate his honest advice!
ReplyDeleteTrix, vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSteven