Please welcome Jamie Marchang author of The Kronicles of Korthlundia
Jamie Marchant will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
The Kronicles of Korthlundia
by Jamie Marchant
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GENRE: Epic Fantasy
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INTERVIEW:
1. What or who inspired you to start writing?
I never remember wanting to be anything other than a writer. My older sister was biggest influence on this. I started writing little stories about the man from Mars for her when I was about six. It was also from her that I learned my love of fantasy and storytelling. She would tell me and my younger sister fairy tales. She told a wide variety, but my favorite was always “The Prince and the Glass Hill.” This lesser known tale involves three magical horses made out of bronze, silver, and gold. When I become a mother, I passed this story on to my son. One day it occurred to me that this tale could be so much more than a children’s story, and I began to turn it into my first novel. By the time I was finished, the five-page children’s story had become a nearly 600 pages novel meant for adults. I published it as The Goddess’s Choice. Although The Goddess’s Choiceis complete on its own, the characters let me know that their story wasn’t done. The Kronicles of Korthlundiais now three books long, and I’m working on the fourth volume in the series. In addition, there is a fourth novel included in the box set, The Ghost in Exile, that tells the story of one of the side characters in the main series. Each novel can be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel, but they provide greater richness and depth if read together.
2. What expertise did you bring to your writing?
Because it is extremely difficult to earn a living as a writer, I knew I’d likely need a day job. I wanted one that would cater to my love of stories and writing, so I pursued a PhD in literature. I now teach at the college level. This education in the classics grounded me in the structure of storytelling. By studying the greatest writers to ever live, I learned how to create deeper characters and richer plots of my own. While some may claim that my novels bear little resemblance to Shakespeare or Chaucer, it is from them and others that I learned to create characters that truly live on the page.
3. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?
I studied karate for a while. I started to train because of the beauty of the movements, but also to learn how to fight so I could better write the fight scenes in my novels. In The Goddess’s Choice, Robrek fights mostly with a staff, and there is a scene in which he kills someone with it. As I was learning how to use a staff myself, I asked my sensei about the best way to kill someone with it. Without asking me why I wanted to know or even a brief pause, he described how to do it for me. If you want to know what his answer was, read The Goddess’s Choice. Everything I know about fighting I learned from him.
4. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
As stated above, I’m presently working on the fourth novel in The Kronicles of Korthlundia, which I believe will complete the series. I also have ideas for at least two other side novels involving characters from the series. Eventually, I also want to get back to the other series I started with The Bull Riding Witchand finish that story.
5. If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?
Truthfully, I would never want to be a character in one of my stories. I tend to be a cruel author and put my characters through a lot of pain and heartache. I have often thought that if my characters could come alive they’d want revenge on me for what I’ve put them through. While conflict and pain build great stories, I’d rather live a peaceful life than an epic tale.
6. Can you give us a sneak peek into this series?
One reader left a review that I think sums the series up well: “Filled with love and sorrow, fierce loyalty that will bring you to tears and the crudest of betrayals, tenderness and a cruelty that will leave your jaw on the floor and too shocked to believe what you just read!” My novels are character driven. Samantha and Robrek are dear to me. They grow throughout the series. The naïve princess at the beginning of The Goddess’s Choiceis a much different person than the mature queen who fights to say her people in The Shattered Throne. If you come into my world, you will come to love them. I also give you some villains you will love to hate.
7. Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?
Yes, I have belonged to a critique group for the past 15 years. We call ourselves the Robrek Steele Conspiracy. I know so much to these people. They help by keeping me on task, allowing me to bounce ideas off of them, encouraging me, and giving me invaluable feedback without which my novels wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as they are. I have grown tremendously as a writer because of my association with these people. They have my eternal gratitude. I don’t know where I’d be without them.
8. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
The best advice I got was to go Indie. I once had a negative view of self-published books, and I had my first two books published by traditional small presses. The publisher did very little to help me promote my books, and I sold very few copies. By going independent, I not only keep a much larger share of the purchase price, I gained the ability to control the marketing and promoting of my work. The second best piece of advice I got was to hire a professional cover designer. Everyone says you can’t judge a book by its cover, but everyone does judge a book by its cover. After going independent and getting my covers redesigned, I sold more copies of my books in the first three months than I had in the previous five years. I’m trying to think of bad advice that I received, but nothing comes to mind. Perhaps I just forgot all the bad advice.
9. Do you outline your books or just start writing?
I have always been what they call a pantser. I avoid outlining and write by the seat of my pants. I allow the story to grow in my mind and on the page as it wants to. I know outlining works well for some, but for me outlining my novels is about as useful as trying to control my son’s life. My son is every bit as stubborn as I am (and my mother claimed I was the most stubborn of her eight children), and no matter what plans I had for him, he ended up choosing his own path. I taught him and guided him the best I could, but the decisions were ultimately his own. My books are nearly as much living creatures (and as stubborn) as my son is. I guide them, but in the end, they make the decisions about the direction they take. Fortunately, I’m very happy both with how my son and my novels turned out, so the process works for me.
10. Who is your favorite character in the series. Can you tell us why?
This is such a difficult question because there are so many of my characters that I absolutely love. It’s almost like asking a mother who her favorite child is. But if you’re going to make me choose, it would probably be Brigitta, who is introduced in The Ghost in Exileand places a role in The Shattered Throne. Brigitta has a hard life and is rescued from being a sex slave near the beginning of The Ghost in Exile. But she refuses to remain a victim. She insists on being taught to fight and takes control of her own life. She is the only woman strong enough to make a fit mate for the assassin Darhour. But she is also a mother and this softer side remains. A lot of me went into her making. I like to think of myself as a strong and independent woman, but I love my son to the depths of my being.
BLURB:
“Magic, love, hate, torture, heroes, and a story that will never stop blowing your mind!” Cheree~For Love of Books
The three volumes of The Kronicles of Korthlundia plus The Ghost in Exile: A Korthlundian Kronicle brought together for one low price. In addition to the novels, the collection features several bonus short stories, previously available only to members of my readers’ club.
The Goddess’s Choice--In a world where the corrupt church hides the truth about magic, the fate of the joined kingdom falls on the shoulders of two young people from opposite ends of the social hierarchy.
Crown Princess Samantha’s life begins to fall apart when she starts seeing strange colors around her potential suitors. She fears that she’s going insane--or worse that she’s defying the Goddess’s will. Robrek is a lowly farm boy with incredible magical powers. He has been biding his time waiting to get revenge on those who call him a demon.
Thrown together by chance, they must overcome their differences to fight their common enemy Duke Argblutal, who, with dark magic, is slowly poisoning the king’s mind and turning him against his own daughter. Time is running out for those chosen by the Goddess to prevent the power mad duke from usurping the throne and plunging the joined kingdoms into civil war.
The Soul Stone-- A match made by the goddess is threatened by an Ancient Evil.
As Samantha and Robrek prepare for their marriage and coronation, they are met with opposition on all sides. Not all believe that the peasant sorcerer is worthy to be king, and the young couple must perform delicate political maneuvers to prevent the joined kingdoms from breaking apart.
As the church splits over opposition to their union, an unseen force is poised to release an ancient evil that was last defeated a thousand years ago. When the Soul Stone is broken free of its bonds, all life in its path succumbs to its power. How much will the new royal couple have to sacrifice to free the joined kingdoms of its evil?
The Ghost in Exile—A special Kronicle outside of the series that tells the story of Darhour. The novel takes place at the same time as The Soul Stone. The Ghost is going to hell. Not even the goddess can forgive his sins: assassin, oath-breaker, traitor (an affair with the queen earned him that title). No one can ever learn the princess is his daughter. To keep this secret, he flees to the land that turned him from a simple stable groom into an infamous killer.
His mission now? To find evildoers and take them to hell with him. But when an impulsive act of heroism saddles him with a damsel who refuses to be distressed, her resilience forces him to question why he really ran from his daughter.
The Shattered Throne-- Queen Samantha’s spirit brightens as the festival of renewal approaches. The Ancient Evil that drained life from the land has been destroyed, and life is returning to the joined kingdoms. The birth of her heir gives her even more reason to celebrate. But a coup orchestrated by the unlikely alliance between a freedom-loving count and a fanatical church shatters both her plans and the ancient throne itself.
With her infant daughter missing and death and destruction spreading, Samantha finds herself faced with an impossible choice: save her daughter or her people. Already torn between a mother’s love and her duties as a queen, Samantha learns that an even greater danger threatens: the goddess herself is fading. What sacrifices will Samantha have to make to stop an evil god from taking Sulis’s place?
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EXCERPT:
He returned to the horses, loaded the supplies on Wild Thing, and rode in silence to the abandoned stable. Robbie led the horse inside. When he lit the lantern he kept there, he let out a whistle of amazement. The horse was a bronze-colored mare that looked more like it was forged out of metal than living flesh! But the horse’s impossible color wasn’t the only thing that struck Robbie. Sores spotted the beast’s body; puss and blood oozed from under the saddle. The horse’s coat was matted with dried blood. Her ribs stood out in stark detail. How could anyone neglect a horse so badly? “Where could you have come from, girl?” Robbie could feel a wail building up inside the horse, so he hurried to take the armor and other equipment off her back, unsaddled her, and removed her harness.
“I don’t think you’re a demon. But I don’t know what you are. By the look of the armor you must have been some knight’s lady. But what happened to him? Sores like these don’t form overnight. If he’s still alive, he obviously doesn’t deserve a lady like you. So how about it? Will you be my lady?” He paused at the sound of his own words. Milady. “I had a lady once. For one day, that is. My brother didn’t approve—I’m sure he wouldn’t approve of you, either.”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Jamie began writing stories about the man from Mars when she was six, and she never remembers wanting to be anything other than a writer. Everyone told her she needed a back up plan, so she pursued a Ph.D. in American literature, which she received in 1998. She started teaching writing and literature at Auburn University. One day in the midst of writing a piece of literary criticism, she realized she’d put her true passion on the backburner and neglected her muse. The literary article went into the trash, and she began the book that was to become The Goddess’s Choice, which was published in April 2012. Her other novels include The Soul Stone, The Ghost in Exile, The Shattered Throne, and The Bull Riding Witch. In addition, she has published a novella, Demons in the Big Easy, and a collection of short stories, Blood Cursed and Other Tales of the Fantastic. Her short fiction has also appeared in the anthologies Urban Fantasy, Of Dragons & Magic: Tales of the Lost Worlds, and Waiting for a Kiss. She claims she writes about the fantastic . . . and the tortured soul. Her poor characters have hard lives. She lives in Auburn, Alabama, with her husband and five cats, which (or so she’s been told) officially makes her a cat lady. She still teaches writing and literature at Auburn University. She is the mother of a grown son.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082S5J8RR
Email: jamie-marchant@jamie-marchant.com
Website/Blog: http://jamie-marchant.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Marchant-Author/164706710298768
Twitter: @JamieMarchantSF
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Jamie Marchant will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
RAFFLECOPTER:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3274
