What's New in the Lair?
Giveaway winner announcement, book excerpt, and more!
Happy November, Book Monsters!
Hopefully this month is off going great for you so far. I just have a quick little newsletter today to announce the winner of my giveaway from my last newsletter and give a little bit of book news. First things first:
Congratulations to Ashley Hufft for winning a free copy of Booktober! Ashley, I’ll be in touch to get your info and get your prize sent out to you, asap. Be on the lookout for an email from me. Woohoo!
I told you I was doing some work on my earlier Tides books, just to the formatting mainly, but I’ve put in a fair amount of re-edits on Crystal Tide that I’m really happy about and I even posted a new teaser from that book from a scene I hadn’t thought about in a while. Here’s a look at now:
This scene happens right after a mega fight between Hermes and Poseidon. It explains a lot early on in the series about the evil that’s stirring Poseidon’s sea realm portals to Earth. Here’s a longer excerpt, for your reading pleasure:
************Excerpt from Crystal Tide, Tides of Atlantis Book #2**************
Poseidon’s disgust was clear on his face. He looked around the room at the shattered sculptures and torn paintings.
“What about all of this?” His hand swept out to indicate Hermes’ gallery. “Why do you have my son stealing artifacts?”
“Call it a side job,” Hermes said, being flippant.
Poseidon slammed his trident down.
“I’m running out of patience with you, messenger boy!”
Hermes winced. He hated being called that.
“It’s the stories,” he relented. “I’m collecting man’s past.”
“Why? Do you think of nothing but possessions, Hermes? You have the decadence of a whole pantheon at your fingertips. What do you want with the primitive scratchings of mankind?”
“I’m keeping the stories of the universe from being erased—entire cultures, nations, wiped from memory. I’m not as shallow as you think, Poseidon. Art is the story—past, present, future—it connects all of us. It can’t be lost or tampered with. Civilization would devolve into chaos. That’s what the under beings want. They can’t rule a conscious world, not for long. Free will has to go so the truth can’t survive. The story is how we all make sense. It’s the tie that binds; mankind’s path to the source. If that link dies, we all do.” He looked up at Poseidon. “I didn’t know you were seeking the life blood of Atlantis, but don’t you see how it’s all part of the same thing?”
He gave a slow shake of his head. When the sea god said nothing, he went on, pained.
“Why did none of us know how truly important the Fire Stone was, Poseidon? Beyond the soul of the universe being lost, the crystal could destroy the physical world in a twinkling, and that would be the ultimate end. Absolute.”
Poseidon nodded, looking away.
“It could cancel existence itself. The final apocalypse.”
“Even fragments of the stone are devastating in the wrong hands.”
“Well I know it,” Poseidon grumbled. “The Fire Stone can mean a god’s death.”
“It’s already happened.”
Poseidon’s eyes flashed to Hermes.
“A god has been killed?”
Hermes nodded.
“From a tiny culture no one ever even knew about. A mystic tribe deep in the Amazon, undiscovered.”
“So, the damage has been minimal?”
“If you consider a whole line of people being wiped from existence minimal. It’s like they never were. No history, no memories—centuries of descendents just completely erased, a vacuum left in their place.”
“Hermes, if they can find the gods asleep…”
“They need protection.”
Poseidon frowned after he said it.
“We are still working in the universe, you and I. We can’t babysit for their thousand year sleep. We could all have been destroyed by then.”
“Who then?” Hermes asked.
“Panacea is about. She can help us find my sons and the pieces of the Fire Stone.”
“Talk with your messenger, the serpent.”
“Krav?” Poseidon asked.
Hermes shook his head in a fake lament.
“We messengers never get any credit. Yes, Krav. I don’t know the nature of their relationship, but he is a friend of hers. If she’s already involved, she must want to help. Beyond her, I don’t know who else is left to ask.”
“We’ll make alliances where we can,” Poseidon frowned. “Our main hope lies with the kings. We must find all ten sons of Atlantis and their crystals from the Fire Stone to seal the Tides.”
“That isn’t all we have to worry about,” Hermes said. “They’re already out there, these reborn demons. They’re learning the humans’ hearts, their desires. In case you hadn’t noticed, we don’t have a lot of support down there these days. We’re not exactly rock stars on Earth anymore.”
Poseidon stroked his beard.
“I still say the kings are the answer. They’re human. They can work on Earth in ways we can’t. We just have to guide them.”
“And find them,” Hermes muttered.
“So I have your help?” Poseidon stepped closer to where Hermes sat on the floor and offered him his hand.
Hermes looked at him a moment, then took it. Poseidon pulled till they stood eye to eye. Their hands clasped as electricity shot through the air like lightning. An alliance was born.
For more bickering gods and fantasy world intrigues, you can get started reading the Tides of Atlantis series here .
Book Sale!
Take a look at this fabulous selection of books.
I have a few small quote posts I’ll be putting up in the Inspiration Den that I just haven’t gotten around to yet. I’m hoping to put together some more lists of my favorites for this season in the coming days too, so be sure to peek in on that part of our readers’ lair.
Well, that’s all from me, for now. I hope you have a terrific weekend. Feel free to leave me a comment or reply to this email with a “hi” or whatever. I always love hearing about what you have going on. And I especially love learning about any great books or shows you’ve come across.
Till next time, happy reading!
Amanda V Shane
Beautiful excerpt :-)