Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Fantasy Fling in Avenue E


...with a touch of Sci-fi to start.

How would you like a free read today? (Or two? Maybe 3 if you're a winner.)



Read the rest on LightningQuickReads! (And other amazing, free, short stories.)


Ready for the chance to win an awesome book?

Two weeks ago Kurt D. Springs shared with us PROMISE OF MERCY, along with two truths and a lie. Those who guessed the lie correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win a print book and bookmark!  

Kurt's Game:

1. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Math, a Master of Liberal Arts in Anthropology and Archaeology, a Master of Literature in Archaeology, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology.
2. Both of his parents are retired research chemists.
3. He's never published in Archaeology.

THE LIE: #3. Kurt was recently published in a multi contributor monograph in the British Archaeology Reports International series called Landscape and Identity: Archaeology and Human Geography. He is pleased to be one of seven authors in this peer reviewed work.

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Congrats, Tara! 

And now for this week's feature... 

Have you met Misha Gericke? I've known her for years, enjoyed her blogging, and even critiqued for her. (She's definitely one of my favorite Aussie authors.) Her fantasy world is fascinating and her protagonists' struggle? Super awesome. 

Recently she got the rights back for her first book, and with the release of her second one, she's put out book 1 again. I admit it, I geek out about one of her characters, and I'm a rather calm person when it comes to the literary world, so you know he's pretty awesome. Meet Gawain!


About the books:

The Vanished Knight

The entity living inside Callan’s soul orphaned her at age eleven. By the time she’s sixteen, it’s ensured her being shunted from one foster family to another.

Her thirteenth foster assignment should be routine. Except... it's not. A psycho in medieval armor kidnaps her and she ends up in a magical world. There, she accidentally discovers a secret her parents had kept until the day they died.

Both actually came from this magical world, but left before Callan was born. To cover their tracks, they’d lied about everything. Even who they really were.

Driven to find out where she comes from, Callan’s trapped in a race for life and death. Walking away isn’t an option, but if she stays too long, the entity will find its next victim.

In this world where secrets are sacrosanct and grudges are remembered, finding the truth will be near impossible. Especially when Callan has her own homicidal little secret to deal with.

One with a taste for destroying her life.


The Heir’s Choice

After discovering her parents had kept a whole world secret, Callan races to discover her past. Not easy to do with an increasingly agitated entity living in her soul.

Get your copy HERE.
Misha gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win BOTH eBooks.

You have until Tuesday, August 4 at 1 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on August 5.

TRUTH OR LIE

1) Misha is theoretically able to speak four languages and understand at least three more well enough to find her way home if she got dropped in the middle of countries speaking them. 
2) Through her mother's side, her family is possibly the only one in existence to have two State Heads on two sides of the same war in their genes. One's Paul Kruger, the other is Queen Victoria. (The Anglo Boer War.)
3) She owns two cats. 
So sleuths, which is the lie? Are you a sci-fi or fantasy reader? Geeked out over any books or characters lately?

55 comments:

  1. I love that teaser, Crystal! I'll totally head over and read the rest!

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  2. Wow, you got me with the teaser, Crystal. Bookmarked, I know what to read over my lunch break. :-) And congratulations Misha!

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  3. Strong, enticing writing on your part, Crystal. Go you! I brought you some Pepperjack. Hope you like it, and please forgive the chocolate-smudges on it.

    I'm going for simple with Misha's quiz: #3.

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  4. Hey Crystal:)

    Your story sounds great and I'm very happy for Misha on her (re)releases:)

    If I had to guess, and I guess I am, I'm going with #3 (as that sounds so "normal" that it sticks out like a sore thumb :)

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  5. Great read Crystal... makes me think about some decisions xox

    I hope all is well with yoh family and have a great week ♡

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  6. Oooo, cool teaser, Crystal. I'll head over and read, for sure. Super congrats to Misha. She is one really cool Aussie author.

    Hmm. # 3 for me. Misha is just the person to really have the first 2 as truth.

    Hugs and I hope all is well with you.

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  7. This is the second blog today I've seen Ms. Gericke's books in, and now I'm genuinely curious. ^_^ I'm guessing #2 is the lie.

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  8. Sure, when I say I'm born on the moon I'm crazy, but when you say it you're applauded for your writing. (Well done, though!)

    Also, easy. It's #3. Why? Because it's a simple fact that humans don't own cats. If there are two cats in her household, it's because they own her.

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  9. I figured I'd finger the lie easy-peasy this time, and for exactly the reason those smarty pants Beer for the Shower already gave. Anyone who shares a home with felines knows it's impossible to OWN them. They own US. So I'll also guess #3 is the lie. (Maybe Misha actually lives with THREE cats...?)

    Gotta admit. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of an "entity" living inside of a soul... but I'm intrigued.

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  10. Congrats to Misha! Loved the teaser from her book! As for the lie, hmm... I know she has cats, but I can't remember how many. I think one might be true. Maybe two is the lie, although it'd be a very awesome truth.

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  11. Great to see Misha here! Hmmm...maybe one is the lie. I hope two isn't. That would be awesome!

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  12. Awesome story, Crystal. And I'm more of a fantasy fan than science fiction, but I like them both.

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  13. Fun story! And I'm going to go along with most everyone else and guess that #3 is the lie. I think Susan is right; Misha has three cats.

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  14. Will have to check out the Quick Reads site. Nice to see Misha here! Hope you can grab a nap one of these days! :)

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  15. I don't remember Misha mentioning cats, so I'll say the third one is the lie.

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  16. Misha has made a splash with her releases! Facts #1 and #2 are very cool, so I want them to be true. I think Misha has a different number of cats.

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  17. Great story, and terrific ending, Crystal. I’m not a huge sci-fi or fantasy reader. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the genres, but they need to be high profile to break through the psychological thriller/mystery wall I’ve built around myself. The fantasy and science fiction I do read tends to be literary-centric like Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant or Mandel’s Station Eleven.

    Congratulations to Misha on her releases!

    VR Barkowski

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  18. Ooo. Great short, Crystal. Very intriguing.

    Major congrats to Misha! I'll guess #2 is the lie.

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  19. I need to start playing around with shorter pieces! I think it would be good for me...give me a chance to brush up my sci-fi skills. :)

    Ooh, I hope Misha is multilingual! Let's go with the oridinary one for the lie - #3.

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  20. I'll guess #1, but wish #3 was the truth!

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  21. I have to go with the beer guys, it's #3, no one owns cats.

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  22. Hi Misha, Hmm, that's a tough one. I'm going with #1, though I love Pat's answer. It's so true.

    Crystal, loved your .0012. Great writing. I really liked the Mercedes hover;)

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  23. Holy cow! That teaser is great! :D

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  24. Love the covers. I'm going with #3. :D

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  25. I've been reading so much about Misha's books. How amazing they look and sound! Great to have you back in the swing, Crystal! Hope little bub is great! :-)

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  26. Congrats to Tara. Crystal? Just send me the address and I'll get a copy to her.

    Believe me, science fiction is a lot more fun to write.

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  27. I enjoyed your short this month! Really great!

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  28. Congrats to Tara for the win! Misha's new covers sure look great! Have a lovely day, Crystal! :)

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  29. This is hard, because I think #1 is the lie. Congrats to Tara. I will take a look at the rest of .0012 Degrees.

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  30. no way! woohoo! i haven't won anything in a while, thanks Crystal and Kurt!
    and .0012 sounds exciting - nice job Crystal!
    and yay for Misha!!

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  31. I don't read too much sci-fi. I lean more toward fantasy.

    I'm going with #3 as the lie simply because there's a typo "own" instead of "owns." :P

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  32. I like your free read! You have such a great writing style.

    I'm guessing #2 is the lie.

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  33. What a great teaser! Your story immediately pulled me in.

    Great to see Misha! Congrats to her on getting her rights back! I'm gonna say #1 is the lie...

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  34. I have a sneaking suspicion that she doesn't own two cats! >_<

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  35. Great teaser! :) I'm going to go with the cats, simply because I want the other two to be true.

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  36. Sounds like a great read. I'll go with #3 (like the crowd).

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  37. I love the teaser you shared! My guess is the lie is #3, since it seems most obvious.

    I prefer softer sci-fi, though I'll read hard sci-fi if it's written well and the story interests me. It's kind of ironic, since I was introduced to sci-fi through Isaac Asimov, and he was very much a hard sci-fi writer.

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  38. hmmm well I hope #3 is true since I believe cats are the best lol so I'll say #1 is the lie :)

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  39. Number 3 might be the lie. Maybe she has 3 cats.

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  40. I've been seeing Misha all over the blogosphere. SO happy that she got her rights back and is putting out her two books together!

    I do love me some good SF and Fantasy, and before I got buried under an avalanche of book revisions, I was thoroughly enjoying the SAVING MARS series.

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  41. I can never figure out which one is the lie, though I think it'd be cool to have royalty in my family; then I'd get to wear a tiara. :) And your story about Deacon looked really cool; he sounds a lot more courageous than I am, especially when it comes to making risky moves.

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  42. Hmmm... this is tricky! I am going to say #3 is the lie! I have been seeing Misha around this week and her books sound like such fun. I love fantasy!

    Your story is awesome! Thanks for the chance to read it and to read more. :)
    ~Jess

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  43. Those books sounds like intriguing reads.
    I venture to say #2 is a lie. She looks like she loves 2 cats and I'm willing to bet that she has linguistic ability and can speak four languages and can understand more.

    Hugs,
    JB

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  44. I enjoyed reading your excerpt! I'm not a big sci-fi/fantasy reader, except for kids. I especially love a good fairy tale retelling!
    I'm guessing #3 for the lie.

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  45. I like the beginning of your .0012 story, Crystal! :) Great start. Best wishes to Misha on her books too (I've known her for years via blogging too.)

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  46. I'm terrible at this, but it's so fun! I'll say #1 is the lie.

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  47. I think the lie is #3. Cats own people.

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  48. The Vanquished Knight looks pretty darn cool! I dig anything with Arthurian in it:)

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  49. I love the tease for your short story.
    #3 is the lie.

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  50. Ooh lovely prose temptations!

    Number 3 is definitely the lie.

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  51. YAY for 6 cats :) haha. Love cats. And I say #1 is the lie. Also I'm with you, I'm so not a jewelry person...it drives me nuts. I hate feeling like there's something around my neck.

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  52. The books look great. I love gorgeous tough heroines.

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Hit me with your cheese!