April 9, 2013

Moonset Blog Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway



Moonset (Legacy of Moonset #1)
Author: Scott Tracey
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: April 8, 2013
Publisher: Flux

Book Links: AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | FLUX


Description:

Moonset, a coven of such promise . . . Until they turned to the darkness.After the terrorist witch coven known as Moonset was destroyed fifteen years ago—during a secret war against the witch Congress—five children were left behind, saddled with a legacy of darkness. Sixteen-year-old Justin Daggett, son of a powerful Moonset warlock, has been raised alongside the other orphans by the witch Congress, who fear the children will one day continue the destruction their parents started.

A deadly assault by a wraith, claiming to work for Moonset’s most dangerous disciple, Cullen Bridger, forces the five teens to be evacuated to Carrow Mill. But when dark magic wreaks havoc in their new hometown, Justin and his siblings are immediately suspected. Justin sets out to discover if someone is trying to frame the Moonset orphans . . . or if Bridger has finally come out of hiding to reclaim the legacy of Moonset. He learns there are secrets in Carrow Mill connected to Moonset’s origins, and keeping the orphans safe isn’t the only reason the Congress relocated them . . .
  




Top 10 Most Influential Books and Why



The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
The epitome of my childhood favorite, I read this book so many times the library had to replace the checkout card in the back because I'd signed it out so many times. I love the idea of secret places known only to a couple of people. I like secrets in general, I guess. But the friendship, and the way the garden helps fix the problems the kids have even as they're bringing the garden back to life...it's a fantastic story.

Circle of Magic: School of Wizardry - Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald
The first time I really remember getting consumed by a book, and desperate for the rest of the series, of course it was a series about magic. I wound up with the book entirely by accident, too, because it was one of the Scholastic books in some sort of package I had ordered. I hadn't even known I was getting it at the time. But I was obsessed with the series when I found it, and when a friend got the last book before I did, I wound up disappearing during his birthday party to sit in his bedroom and devour the last book.

Master of Murder - Christopher Pike
Aka the book that reminded me I wanted to be a writer. When I was a pre-teen, I devoured everything Christopher Pike had to offer. And the concept behind Master of Murder thrilled me, because it was about a young author, and the crazy shenanigans that he got himself into instead of writing the final volume of his best selling series.

Fear Street - the Cheerleader trilogy - R.L. Stine
Like Pike, I devoured everything Fear Street, and I was surprisingly captivated by the Cheerleader trilogy. Fear Street never had a problem killing characters, but it was especially brutal when one of the POV characters was killed early on in one of the books. It was one of the first times I remembered realizing you could kill your characters and the book would still be okay.

Nathan's Run - John Gilstrap
This is the novel of a young teenager on the run from the police after killing one of the guards at the juvenile detention facility he was being kept at. It follows Nathan's "run" through encounters with a radio deejay who starts out against this boy, but through Nathan's phone calls, she comes to understand his side, and helps unravel the real story behind his crime.
This is a book about personalities, and there's an almost defeated loneliness following Nathan around as he keeps on the move. This is one of those books that really stuck with me just because I empathized so much with the main character, and wanted to see him get a happily ever after.

On Writing - Stephen King
I read this one in college, and it the thing that started me writing again. I mean, it's Stephen King giving advice and telling stories from his life. Of course it goes on the list of most influential books. :)

Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings
This was my very first foray into adult sci-fi/fantasy, and I remember being obsessed in the seventh grade. The problem was that the fourth book in the series was checked out of my local library FOREVER. So by the time I got the chance to read it, I had to go back and start all over again. But up until this point I'd only read realistic (ish) thriller/horror YA novels (Pike and Stine), and getting immersed into an entire fantasy world was a novel change.

The Wheel of Time series - Robert Jordan (and later Brandon Sanderson)
The second major adult sci-fi/fantasy series I got into, and arguably one of the largest. I started reading this series back in...1996 or 1997? And the final volume just came out late last year. That's a long time to be invested in a series, but it was a compelling monomyth that made me start to realize just how broadly you could research and adapt culture into your stories. Jordan's world takes influences from the Old Testament all the way to ancient Japanese social customs, all set towards a cataclysmic ending and rebirth.

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
I was bored with my life and wanted to try something new, and I'd put off trying to write for publication for years, so I finally decided that I was going to write a novel and see how it went. I was curious to see if I could actually FINISH a novel (I often started and fell apart partway through). Right about the time I got serious into my book, I read City of Bones, and was instantly hooked. There was a market for the paranormal stories I liked! It reinvigorated me and kept me going when I might have dropped the ball (and given up).

The Dresden Files series - Jim Butcher
Basically the epitome of what I want to write. Jim Butcher manages to write witty, sarcastic characters coupled with imaginative interpretations of old legends in a modern setting. The whole thing is fantastic. It's urban fantasy done right, and I hope I can one day write half as well as this.


Thanks for stopping by and sharing your top influential books with us Scott!


Scott Tracey is a YA author who lived on a Greyhound for a month, wrote his illustrated autobiography at the age of six, and barely survived Catholic school (and definitely not for the reasons you might think).

He is the author of WITCH EYES, chosen as one of Amazon’s Best LGBT Books of 2011, as well as an ALA Popular Paperback in the Forbidden Romance category. The final book in the WITCH EYES trilogy, PHANTOM EYES, will be released in the fall of 2013.

He is also the author of MOONSET, a new series which will be released April 8, 2013, as well as a contributor to the SHADOWHUNTERS & DOWNWORLDERS anthology, edited by Cassandra Clare.

His career highlights include: accidentally tripping a panic alarm which led to nearly being shot by the police; attacked in a drive-thru window by a woman wielding a baked potato, and once moving cross country for a job only to quit on the second day.

His gifts can be used for good or evil, but rather than picking a side, he strives for BOTH (in alternating capacity) for his own amusement. 

LINKS:


Grand Prize: (5) copies of Moonset - US only!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow the entire tour! 

Week One

Mar. 25th - Me, My Shelf and I - Guest Post
Mar. 26th - Book Brats - Interview
Mar. 26th - In the Best Worlds - Review
Mar. 27th - Once Upon a Twilight - Guest Post
Mar. 28th - BookHounds YA - Interview
Mar. 29th - WinterHaven Books - Review
Mar. 30th - The Book Cellar - Guest Post
Mar. 31st - Magical Urban Fantasy Reads - Review

Week Two

Apr. 1st - I Am A Reader, Not A Writer - Interview
Apr. 2nd - TSK, TSK, What to read? - Guest Post
Apr. 2nd - Paranormal Book Club - Review
Apr. 3rd - YA Reads - Review
Apr. 4th - A Book and a Latte - Interview
Apr. 5th - Fade Into Fantasy - Guest Post
Apr. 6th - In the Next Room - Interview
Apr. 7th - DforDarla's Definite Reads - Review

Week Three

Apr. 8th - Tynga's Reviews - Interview
Apr. 8th - Bibliojunkies - Review
Apr. 9th - A Dream Within A Dream - Guest Post
Apr. 9th - BookPics - Review
Apr. 10th - JeanBookNerd - Interview
Apr. 11th - Short and Sweet Reviews - Guest Post
Apr. 12th - Reader Girls - Guest Post
Apr. 13th - Unabridged Bookshelf - Review
Apr. 14th - Fiktshun - Interview



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