Monday, May 23, 2016

Espionage Blog Tour Recap

And that's a wrap! Thanks to all of you who helped to make this tour a success! Thanks for the kind words about my book and for helping to spread the word. You guys are awesome.

In case you missed anything, here's a recap of the tour.

Reviews

"I kept flipping pages to figure out how everything would finally resolve. The characters were all great and I especially like the friendship that developed between Vannie and Kyle." --Claire M. Banschbach

"Espionage is a story of faith, family, trust, forgiveness and resourcefulness. Vannie and Kyle are both great characters, as are their surrounding family and friends. The plot is tight and cohesive, and since there are fewer characters, they all seem far better developed." --Kendra E. Ardnek

"Morgan is a very talented young author, and her writing is great! (Actually, it’s kinda weird calling her “young” since she’s older then me, but she’s definitely younger then a lot of other authors… I’m just gonna get back to the review now.) The first time I read one of her books, I was quite impressed, and it has only improved since then!" --Alyssa

"The characters were great. I loved Vannie and her two little sisters, Kate and Mandie (and the fact that I share a name with Mandie of course was a plus). And Kyle. Kyle was so sweet. As for Kermit, well, not so much, and you’ll see why....I enjoyed the plot a lot. I can’t say too much for fear of giving it away, but basically, it’s very scheme-y and action-y and dastardly. You’ll just have to read it to find out more!" --Amanda Beguerie

"The characters are well-written, and the setting is perfect as the land of Briznom faces great challenges from the country of Calhortz. There's the perfect combination of danger, adventure, and fun as well. Many were the times I laughed, sighed, gripped the manuscript in suspense, and cheered the heroes on." --Katelyn S.

Author Interviews


Character Interviews


Character Spotlights


Guest Posts


Bonus Features Posts


And now the giveaway winners!

1st Prize Winner (signed copy of Espionage)--Sally P.
2nd Prize Winner (eBook of Espionage)--Natasha H.
3rd Prize Winner (eBook of Espionage, which has undergone changes since ARC)--Amanda B.

Congratulations! I'll be emailing you for the information I need to get you your prizes.

Again, thank you to everyone who participated in the tour! Now to get ready for election day tomorrow...Vote Loudermilk!

Friday, May 20, 2016

Espionage Trivia

Espionage was inspired by a dream involving Spock.

I started writing Espionage just days after having said dream, but didn’t focus on it until the next summer when I wrote it in a matter of months.

The deer hunting information comes from longtime family friend Congressman Barry Loudermilk. I asked him all about it during a turkey shoot fundraiser for his congressional campaign. It was freezing cold.

Vannie gets her name from a writer friend. I had realized that while I liked the name Savannah, I had yet to give it to a character, so I gave it to Vannie. The omission of the “h” was intended to be corrected. Our baby name book has it without an h, which is sort of why I left it off the first time I wrote it, but I intended to add it in. I never did.

The original inspiration for Vannie and her sisters was my sisters and me.

Vannie’s doubtfulness that Kate and Mandie are playing chess by the real rules comes partially from my sisters’ game of The Game of Life wherein they called exemption cards “expleta cards.” That’s the memory it always conjures up for me, though it’s also a reflection on the fact that our childhood chess games were very likely not played by the rules.

When Espionage became my top writing priority, I gave myself a goal of writing two notebook paper pages a day. I mostly stuck to it, resulting in a finished book within about 2½ months.

I learned the term “bolus” when I was near Vannie’s age and studied the digestive system. I’ve never forgotten it, which is probably why I put it into Vannie’s vocabulary.

I actually gagged myself as a part of my story research.

Espionage is the first book I’ve written in 1st person since The Day of the Awful Lillian when I was nine. The Day of the Awful Lillian was pretty awful, so I’m glad to redeem my 1st person writing reputation with Espionage.

The girl on the front cover is a girl from church. I made the dress and another friend took the picture.

I’d wanted for a while to draw pictures for the chapter headers, but decided against it because drawing is a lot of work. So instead I changed my mind last minute and drew them all in 2½ days.

Espionage has probably required the least major changes of all my books to date, and is the only one for which I had a fairly complete vision from the start that stayed essentially the same.


“Sir Roland has invited us to visit for the Autumn Feast.”

“Do we have to go, Papa? I couldn’t feast with the most crooked politician in all of Briznom.”

As the daughter of a Briznomian vassal lord, Vannie Cumberland has spent her childhood immersed in the world of politics. Relations between Briznom and the neighboring country of Calhortz are strained due to the tyrannical rule of the strytes. A proposed alliance could calm relations between the two countries, but would come at the cost of Briznom’s freedom.

When her father’s political archenemy invites them to the Autumn Feast, Vannie uncovers an evil scheme endangering the life of someone close to her. Personal enmity comes to a dangerous head as Vannie struggles to expose the corruption and stop the alliance. Time is running out.

Events are becoming too big for her to handle. Will Sir Roland’s son help or will things finally spiral out of control?


Buy Now


http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28689406-espionage

Find the rest of the blog tour here. 

Giveaway

Join in the excitement of Espionage and enter to win a special prize! The first prize winner will receive a signed copy of Espionage. The second and third prize winners will receive an eCopy of Espionage in the eBook format of his/her choice. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Espionage Inspirations

I always enjoy seeing where other authors get their inspiration from. It’s neat to be able to put the pieces together and see what shaped a book. I can’t promise many sources of inspiration for Espionage, but I’ll see what I can come up with.

The primary inspiration for Espionage was a dream. You can read all about it here.

I can’t separate the opening scene from The Hunger Games. Something about a girl hunting in the woods with a bow and arrows. And, come to think of it, the involvement of the father is important to both. (I’m talking book here, I don’t recall the movies ever mentioning that Katniss went hunting with her father.)

My own Time Captives was definitely inspiration. Set in the same world at the same time with the promise of tying in to the third book.

Vannie, Kate, and Mandie were partially inspired by me and my sisters.

Vannie’s tendency to modify statements with a “Well,” comes from the Doctor of Doctor Who.

The chapter header pictures were inspired by the Caroline Little House books.



“Sir Roland has invited us to visit for the Autumn Feast.”

“Do we have to go, Papa? I couldn’t feast with the most crooked politician in all of Briznom.”

As the daughter of a Briznomian vassal lord, Vannie Cumberland has spent her childhood immersed in the world of politics. Relations between Briznom and the neighboring country of Calhortz are strained due to the tyrannical rule of the strytes. A proposed alliance could calm relations between the two countries, but would come at the cost of Briznom’s freedom.

When her father’s political archenemy invites them to the Autumn Feast, Vannie uncovers an evil scheme endangering the life of someone close to her. Personal enmity comes to a dangerous head as Vannie struggles to expose the corruption and stop the alliance. Time is running out.

Events are becoming too big for her to handle. Will Sir Roland’s son help or will things finally spiral out of control?


Buy Now




Giveaway

Join in the excitement of Espionage and enter to win a special prize! The first prize winner will receive a signed copy of Espionage. The second and third prize winners will receive an eCopy of Espionage in the eBook format of his/her choice. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Interview with Jaye L. Knight

Samara's Peril is here! It's no secret I LOVE the Ilyon Chronicles, so no surprise that I'm super excited to tell you that book three is now available! It's the best so far, in my opinion, the book that contains Jace's backstory, further Jayrin developments, and it's just awesome. You can read my full review here.

Right now, I have an interview with the very awesome author, Jaye L. Knight.

Morgan: Hi, Jaye! What have you been up to since your last visit?
Jaye: Lots of writing and editing. ;) Mostly editing it feels like. And making jewelry. Yeah. I’m in the process of figuring out how to actually have a life in the midst of business. :P But the biggest thing that’s been happening recently (besides getting Samara’s Peril ready to publish) is helping my brother gut the house he just bought. It’s over 110 years old, so it’s been a lot of work, but we’re pretty excited to see how it turns out. Plus I’m going to be moving in and renting from him, so it means big changes for me as well.

How is Samara’s Peril different from the previous Ilyon books? This is kind of the pivotal book in the series. A lot of unanswered questions are finally addressed, and the way it ends sets up the rest of the series. My characters go through a lot of change that really affects who they are going forward as well.

What is the most significant thing you learned while writing Samara’s Peril?
Probably that life can be really hard, but you have to hold on to hope and keep moving forward anyway. Samara’s Peril was a really emotional book, and I struggled with some pretty severe anxiety in the midst of writing it. It was really hard, but I had to just have faith it would turn out and keep going.

If readers only take away one thing from this book, what do you hope it is?
That no matter how broken and unworthy we may be, God still loves us more than anything we could imagine. He would never turn away any who seek Him.

What is your favorite Jayrin moment to date? (Or published moment to date, if you have to avoid spoilers. ;) )
Well, there’s the obvious moment in Samara’s Peril. Everyone will know exactly what moment that is when they read it. But, besides that, I just love the cute subtle moments. I think one of my all-time favorites is the first time Kyrin saw Jace smile in Resistance. That moment has always been special to me.
I loved the obvious moment in Samara's Peril. Especially how they reacted later on. :D It was all so sweet.

When news arrives that Emperor Daican has been in contact with his chief war strategist, it signals potential doom for the country of Samara. Determined to intervene, the resistance in Landale, headed by Lady Anne, embark on a covert mission in hopes of unearthing further information. However, a shocking discovery leads to complications no one could have foreseen.

Armed with their newfound knowledge, they set out for Samara to warn the king. War is inevitable, and they must face two desperate battles—one on the walls of Samara’s great stronghold, and the other on the battlefield of Jace’s heart, where victory might only be achievable through great sacrifice.


Available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks!


Haven’t discovered the world of Ilyon yet? Find out more at the official Ilyon Chronicles website!
 
About the Author
Jaye L. Knight is an award-winning author, homeschool graduate, and shameless tea addict with a passion for Christian fantasy. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Etsy.

Shameless backward plug:
To all you fellow Ilyon fans, my sister and I made Tyra plushies that we have for sale on Etsy. :) Go check them out.








Giveaway
Share in the excitement of the release and enter to win a themed giveaway pack! Prizes include an autographed copy of Samara’s Peril, a John 3:16 necklace by FaithWearDesigns, and a green wire dragon bookmark by Wirelings! (Giveaway is open to US residents only. Cannot be shipped internationally.)

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