Thank you Andy for allowing me to visit your blog today to talk about Challenging Fate and to give away a copy of the eBook!
I really enjoyed all the work that was put into Challenging Fate. At times I found it hard to include everything I wanted to and stay within the constraints that I had to work with, and there were a few. One of those constraints was the word count. It was difficult to figure out where to end the story, but I contented myself with the realization that wherever I ended it, I would always have the opportunity to continue the story at a later date if I decided to.
If you’ve followed the blog tour, then you’ll know that the main character, Cyan, has had a bit of a rough time up until now. If you haven’t, then check out the excerpts at the other blogs that I have visited up to this point!!
I thought it might be interesting to get some thoughts from Cyan up until this point in the story as each of the excerpts kind of go in order in the story, so we’re going to interview Cyan. I figure one question for each of the excerpts.
Me: Thank you for joining us on Andy’s blog Cyan.
Cyan: Thank you for bringing me along.
Me: I hate bringing up painful memories, but in the story, there is a part of the story where you are bound and thrown into a lake, yet you didn’t drown. What were your thoughts when you hit the water?
Cyan: You mean besides the complete and utter betrayal? *sigh* I hadn’t done anything wrong and was so tired of being an outcast, it was almost a relief, but at the same time I didn’t want to die. I was conflicted between welcoming the water closing over my head to being relieved when it never did. That was when I knew that I would do whatever I had to in order to survive.
Me: Thank you Cyan. When I visited over at Cia’s blog, I was kind of cruel and ended the excerpt with your father’s verbal reaction to your shifting for the first time. Had you really never heard such expletives from him?
Cyan: No, never. My father had always been very mild mannered. I’d barely ever even heard him raise his voice when I was growing up. Hearing him curse like that was terrifying and I instantly knew that something had gone very very wrong. I almost didn’t even want to know what kind of dragon I had turned into. *Voice drops to a whisper* Not if it had caused such a reaction in him.
Me: I know this is difficult to talk about Cyan, and I appreciate you being willing to talk about it. Last question. When we visited MA Church’s blog, we got to see a fight between you and one of your childhood friends. Would you have done anything different had you known it was Silas when he first attacked you?
Cyan: I have thought about that day countless times and wondered if I could have done anything different. I don’t see what I could have done. I didn’t fight back, even when Silas was hurt, it wasn’t from me fighting back, I was simply trying to get away. What I did was my only chance to get away. I had thought they’d pull back before they hit the canopy of trees. So now, short of letting them kill me, there was nothing I could have, or would have done differently.
Me: Thank you so much for joining us Cyan.
Cyan: Thank you for having me. Maybe next time you could pick some easier questions, or maybe you could even invite Ryder to join me. That could be fun. *Cyan smiles and walks away*
Blog: http://reneestevens.blogspot.com/
GayAuthors: Renee Stevens
Twitter: @Renee_Stevens
Facebook: Renee Stevens
Now for the giveaway! Leave a comment on this blog, and your email, to enter for a chance to win a copy of my eBook! Comments can be left through Monday, August 26th, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday in the Wednesday Briefs post. All commenters will also be entered for a chance to win either a $10 Amazon gift card or a $10 Gay Authors Gift Voucher to be given away at the end of the month on my own blog, Nature of the Heart!
Blurb:
Cyan waited years to discover what dragon spirit the fates gifted him with. He anticipated his first flight, his parents at his side, as he launched himself into the sky for the first time. Best of all, one day he’d find his mate and spend the rest of his life with someone by his side. Unfortunately for him, things didn’t go exactly as he’d always planned.
Excerpt:
Cyan traipsed through the forest, eager to explore the cottage he’d spotted from the sky. How he’d missed it when he’d picked this area as his new home he didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it. When he’d first come here, he had picked a cave to call home until he could build something more permanent but if the cottage was uninhabited he would claim it for his own. Despite the pain of the attack that had forced him to leave his home behind, he was cautiously optimistic that things were finally beginning to look up.
He approached the cottage cautiously, wishing that he had dared approach from the sky. He would have, but if the cottage was occupied he didn’t want whoever lived there to know that a dragon was in the vicinity. There were those out there who would hunt him and after killing him, would use his scales and heavy skin to create their own armor. On second thought, maybe that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. It would have taken the decision of whether to live or die out of his hands. He was nearly at the door when a scream ripped through the air and made him jump back in alarm even as something inside him called out for him to answer.
Cyan dashed back to the tree line and was trying to decide a course of action when he heard it again. Whether someone was hurt or being hurt he didn’t know, but obviously the cottage was not as deserted as he’d hoped. He crept towards one of the few windows adorning the outside walls and peered over the windowsill, recoiling in shock at the scene inside and forcing himself not to puke.
A man was curled naked into a fetal position on the stone floor, one ankle shackled with a heavy chain to a bolt in the middle of the room. There was no doubt he was injured and the source of the agonized screams; angry burns were already starting to blister across his chest and arms. Another man, his floor length robe gaping open to reveal a pasty white bare chest, stood over him.
Cyan studied the robed man, trying to figure out what was going on. The fire poker, still red from being in the coals, clutched in the robed man’s hand had Cyan’s dragon roaring from his depths. Cyan’s hands clutched at his stomach as pain exploded inside him. It felt as though sharp claws were slashing against his insides. It wasn’t until Cyan looked at the man’s other hand before he realized what had his dragon in such an uproar.
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All commenters will be entered to not only win a copy of Challenging Fate, but also entered to win one of two gift cards that I will be giving away on my own blog at the end of the month. Don’t forget to visit my blog for an extra chance to win the gift cards!
August 31st: Nature of the Heart Amazon Gift Card & GayAuthors.org Gift Voucher Giveaway
Bio:
Renee Stevens resides in Wyoming with her husband, and while they have no two-legged kids, they have plenty of the four legged variety. With three canines and three felines, her life is never boring. When not sitting in front of her laptop working on her next story, Renee prefers to escape to the great outdoors.
Renee began writing in her early teens but didn’t get serious about being an author until her mid-twenties. Since then she has written a number of stories, most of which can be found online for free. She hopes to e-publish a few more of her works in the very near future.
While she does have some modern pieces, her favorite characters to work with are shifters and vampires. When not writing, camping, or refereeing the critters, Renee spends her time as a Moderator and the Anthology Coordinator over at GayAuthors.org
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