Tuesday, October 22, 2013

All Hallows Eve Indies Tour + Giveaway: Kristin R. Campbell


Today I'm super excited to be a part of the All Hallows Eve Indies Blog Tour, a tour pairing indie authors and bloggers together to bring you all sorts of fun (or scary!) interviews, guest posts, giveaways and more. I have the pleasure of welcoming paranormal young adult author Kristin R. Campbell to the blog to introduce us to Lexi, the protagonist of her Lunangelique series. She's also going to share an excerpt from the first book, and be sure to check out the bottom of the post for a chance to win a Kindle Fire!

As a way to get to know Lexi for those who haven't had a chance to read the books, I asked Kristin to please list for us the top 5 books sitting on Lexi's bookshelf:

LEXI'S BOOKSHELF

Top of her list would have to be Pride and Prejudice. Lexi is a romantic, but she also has pride and lots of prejudices like Elizabeth Bennet.

Second would be, and I know this is unusual for a teenage girl, but The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The book itself defines human weaknesses, something Lexi would want to rise above.

Third book on her list, a Renaissance Art compilations with full illustrations and history. Lexi loves art and paints herself. This would be a book that was frayed from use. A book she would have held on to since she was a child.

Katherine by Anya Seton would be the next book on her list. Readers will see why in the second book. The story is a historical fiction of the life of Katherine Swynford and the Duke of Lancaster set in 14th century England.

Fifth book, would be a more recently added book to her shelf; The Complete World of Greek Mythology. Self-explanatory.

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LUNANGELIQUE


For Alexis and Alex life has been great. They have loving parents, great friends and live a life every teenager dreams. However, they are adopted and Alexis struggles with wanting to know who their real parents are and not wanting to hurt her adopted parents. Then, a stunning guy moves across the street from them. One who has a secret past and seems to know things about Alexis. One who does mysterious things and leads her to other mysterious persons. One who pushes her to discover her extraordinary birth family and the truth between mythology and religion.

Excerpt:

He laughs at me like I have said the funniest joke in the world. I keep my face neutral, not wanting to show any emotions while he finally collects himself. “You are amusing. Aren’t you afraid? Why do you not fear me? Do you know what I have done to Kakabel? What I intend to do to you?”
 

I shrug my shoulders, wanting to appear as calm as possible. “I won’t be scared if I tell myself there is nothing to fear. You cannot hurt me because I will tell myself not to feel pain. I don’t know what you did to my art professor so I won’t know what you will do to me.” I play him with words because I know he won’t understand.
 

“Where are your wings?” he demands, angry now because I’m not giving anything away.
 

“What this?” I nod my chin to the necklace around my neck. He comes forward and yanks it off my neck. “Hey, I like that,” I whine like a spoiled child.
 

“Malachi,” he calls towards the other room. In a few seconds, Malachi is by his side. He takes Cole’s wings that Cerviel hands him and studies it before laughing. “I thought you would like that.” Malachi throws it on the floor and stomps on it. “Go back to Samson,” Cerviel orders him. Malachi is gone in the blink of an eye, leaving me alone with Cerviel again.
 

“That’s my necklace.” I pout. “There’s no reason to treat it that way.”
 

“It will hurt your lover,” he informs me with a malicious smile. “If you will not cooperate, then we will torture him.”
 

“How?” I challenge him.
 

“His wings,” he indicates to the necklace lying on the floor, “contains a link to him. They’re still connected even though they’re not attached. If you hurt one, then you hurt the other.”
 

“You’re insane.” I act like his notions are ridiculous.
 

“Want to test it out?” he picks it up and places his hands on either end like he’s about to twist it or break it in two.
 

“No!” I scream, terrified that what he says is true.
 

Games up. I lost this match. Sugar snaps!
 

“What are you?” he asks again patiently. He takes a chair and places it in front of me. Then, he sits down, folding his legs and hands as they rest on his leg. He’s acting like this is a normal conversation over tea with a friend.
 

“Can I have some water, please?” I’m trying to buy some time to get away.
 

“After you answer my questions,” he answers.
 

“Are you going to let me go after I do?”
 

“It depends on if I like your answers.” He smiles sweetly at me. “What are you?”
 

“A girl who is starting to get pissed off that you keep asking me that, like I’m a freaking alien or something!” I scream it at him. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm down when I feel a slap across my face. My eyes dart open and I glare at him angrily. I taste blood on the side of my mouth. He stares at the wound and I see a light bulb go off in his eyes. He grins wickedly at me and then produces a switch blade from his pocket.
 

“Let’s see how much of a pissed off girl you really can be,” he mocks me and then plunges the knife into my hand, impaling it into the arm of the chair I was gripping. My eyes bulge open in shock and horror and I want to scream, but I tell my nerves not to feel anything and my hand goes dead of feeling. I’m so glad right now that I’m a freak.
 

He watches my expression change with amusement and then looks lethal again when I don’t scream out. I drum the fingers of my other hand on the arm of the chair. Acting like I’m bored with this act.
 

“Where are your wings?” Cerviel demands of me.
 

“I don’t have any wings you freakin’ lunatic. I’m just a girl.” I start laughing because my hand not responding to being impaled is a pretty sure sign that I am not human. I feel psychotic in the moment. I think shock is setting in and I cannot control it. I just continue to laugh at him.
 

His face breaks out in uncontrolled angry grimace and then he pulls the knife out of my hand and plunges it into my chest. I feel it tear through the arteries of my heart. I’m so shocked he did it that I stop breathing, which ends my laughter.
 

“Go and find her brother,” I hear him bark at someone before I black out again.


• • • • • • • • • • 

KRISTIN R. CAMPBELL


I am currently an editor/publisher/trying to be a writer. My husband and I have two children, we both are prior military (how we met), and we've been married now for ten years after only knowing each other for 2.5 months! Against all odds!

I come from a military/divorced family and have lived in almost all corners and coasts of the United States; most of the time, all over Virginia. I went to fourteen schools growing up and four different colleges before finally graduating with a Bachelor in Criminal Justice. However, I have no interest in working in the field; I just like to study law.

I have travelled all over the beautiful blue-green waters of the Mediterranean. I've been to Crete, Sicily, and Spain, seen the beautiful Northern lights over Greenland and day tripped to Canada and Mexico. Sounds exciting but it was work. Literally.

Currently, I am working on the Lunangelique trilogy but take a break from it now and then to work on another mature, historical-fiction with religious undertones/fiction novel that will be titled Cain. I have so many more ideas for other books and I hope I will be able see them come to life one day.

I want to try and test my limits on writing, switching from first-person to third, researching for hours on end to get details right, and writing some novels just for fun, like Lunangelique has been. I love seeing the characters come to life. They literally tell me, "I don't want to be like that." And change the outcome of the story. It's fascinating. I didn't think writing would be like that. I have no control. The characters are the writers.


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BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY

Grand Prize is a Kindle 7" HD Fire and 100 books (mostly ebooks!). 2nd Place Prize is for a FUC (Furry United Coalition) t-shirt from Eve Langlais and 19 ebooks! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below by clicking below, and don't forget to follow along with the tour, the full list of participating blogs can be found HERE.

RAFFLECOPTER FORM

19 comments:

  1. I like Lexi's bookshelf, it has a nice variety of books, and you can never go wrong with P&P, CS Lewis and Greek mythology. That excerpt is intense! I'm really worried about Lexi now, and I definitely want to know what happens to her next. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I have never heard of that Lewis book, cool. Oh and so wanna read Katherine too

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  3. I too really like Lexi's bookshelf. especially that she's interested in Renaissance art, which is my favorite period too.
    Based on her last choice, I take it the book is based on Greek mythology, which is a huge plus in my opinion. I can't imagine not knowing who my parents are, but like Lexi, I'd be desperate to find out.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  4. I really love Lexi's bookshelf! P&P is an absolute must, so I'm glad to see that as #1!(: Thanks for sharing, Jenny!

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  5. I totally agree with her bookshelf - P&P is a must and I loved Renaissance too, but Victorian lit is my fave actually :)
    I have never heard of her book but it sounds really interesting. Thanks for sharing Jenny :)

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  6. I'm ashamed that I only know one book on Lexi's bookshelf. Yes, you guessed it, I only know Pride & Prejudice. Honestly though, I think any romantic loves that book. It's hard not to! ;)
    Thanks for sharing, Jenny. :)

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  7. I'm unfamiliar with The Screwtape Letters, though the title sounds familiar...I'm sure my more intellectual friends read it in high school or college. I was overdosing on steamy romances during that timeframe and had no time for more "literary" novels unless I was going to be tested on them. Eclectic reading list for this character, though!

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  8. I absolutely love this tour idea!! What a great way to discover some new indie authors!

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  9. Yes to Pride and Prejudice! It's my go-to book these days...like a palette cleanser after reading a bunch 'o garbage!

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  10. Thanks for joining us on the tour! :D

    Brandy

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  11. Never heard of this book before. I like stories where the characters are something "more" Thanks for sharing :)

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  12. Oh this sounds interesting! Now I want to know what she is as well! :)

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  13. Thanks for introducing me to this indie book, I am always on the hunt for a gem!

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  14. Pride and Prejudice--ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS THAT I'VE READ SO SO SO MANY TIMES AND IT NEVEEEEERRRR GETS OLD. Ok, sorry about all caps, but it's a really special book to me :) I like the writing in the excerpt--it's very flowing and smooth. "Games up. I lost this match. Sugar snaps!"--this rhymes lol. Love this line. The content sounds intense, heh. Thanks for sharing:) Yet another angel book on my radar now.

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  15. Katherine by Anya Seton is one of my most favorite books EVER so the fact that it's mentioned make me much more interested in this book! It sounds like an angel book though I'm a little afraid of angel books, they don't work for me real often. But it might be worth looking up...

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    1. @Candace, it's not just an angel book, I'll tell you that much.

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  16. Lexi and I have that Greek Mythology book in common. I love myths. :D Thanks for participating in the tour ladies!

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  17. Lexi sounds like a girl I could bond with if she has Pride & Prejudice on her shelf. Sounds like an intense story from the excerpt! Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway, Jenny! :)

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