Category: Midnight Child

Midnight Child, YA Indie Carnival

YA Indie Carnival: Cover Love

This week’s carnival topic is Cover Love. Can you judge a book by its…you know the old song and dance.

First off, I have a group of three to recommend. These are three awesome covers that turned out to be three awesome reads. I bought them for their covers, but recommend them for the story inside.

Second, are three books whose covers have driven me into a frenzy. I’ve gotta read’em.

Third, is a special sneak peek at the cover for Midnight Child, Book 3 of the Midnight Guardian series which debuts in February.

3 Covers to Love with Stories to Match

Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan
It’s the story of Jason who’s crushing on fellow bandmate Erin. Trying to impress her, he steals some magical instruments from the fairy realm. A lovable good guy, unexpected danger, and a concert that brings the house down…literally. Rock on!
Every Last Kiss by Courtney Cole
Long before the indie carnival pulled into town, I came across this book on Amazon. I was entranced by the cover and the story is equally intoxicating. Charmian, the handmaiden and confidant of Cleopatra, must sacrifice everything to set destiny straight just as she has done in every lifetime before and since.
The Reckoning by M. Leighton
This is a chilling and creative story. Carson’s transformation into a reaper and the drama and adventure that unfolds makes this a real page-turner.

Three Covers that Look Awesome…Can Hardly Wait to Read

Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie releases Christmas Eve The Blue Stocking Girl by Gwenn Wright coming soon Existence by Abbi Glines releases December 13th

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Midnight Child, Book 3, Midnight Guardian YA Series

Midnight Child, Midnight Guardian series, YA Indie Carnival

YA Indie Carnival: Fiction Pie

pie photoThis week at the YA Indie Carnival, the authors are serving up Fiction Pie and giving up their own special recipes for plotting great stories.

With Book #3 of the Midnight Guardian series currently in development, I’m often asked if this will be it…the final one. It’s been a fun series to write and I’m pleased to say that #3 will definitely not be the last one.

I had originally planned it to be a 6 book series. Well, that’s not exactly true. When I released Of Sun & Moon and people asked me how many there would be I would say 4 or 5. I didn’t fine tune the 6 until I began writing Whispering Evil. And although I have planned 6 books (taking the story to Drew’s second vox), Ann and Katie’s timelines have been plotted to the third vox (9 books) just in case I can’t let go.

My time traveling characters have certainly made plotting more complicated. Since Ann and Katie travel back in time, their reality isn’t linear like the other characters. I also quickly realized that not only did I need to keep track of them in time, but I also needed to keep track of them separately. They even have their own Excel spreadsheets with their trips, ages, physical description and emotional concerns at the time of their trip all matched up against points in the linear plot of the whole series. Whew!

Anywho, time travelers aside, here’s my basic no-bake recipe for a great plot:

  • 1 strong female mixed with a dash of special ability
  • 1-2 villains you love to hate
  • 1 bunch of friends, super and non
  • 2-4 interesting locales
  • pinch of mystery
  • stir in unexpected twists
  • season with drama to taste
  • Simmer with a heaping tablespoon of bad boy hottie until boiling and serve

Collect more fiction pie recipes from these other YA Indie Carnival Authors. BTW – My favorite non-fiction pie is banana creme.

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series 2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self 4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga 6. Darby Karchut, author of GRIFFIN RISING
7. Lexus Luke 8. PJ Hoover, Author of SOLSTICE, Blogging at ROOTS IN MYTH
9. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy 10. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
11. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed 12. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series
13. Courtney Cole, author of The Bloodstone Saga 14. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
15. Dani Snell’s Refracted Light Reviews 16. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
17. M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping 18. Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and The Vincent Boys
19. Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind 20. Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls
21. Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler 22. Nicole Williams, author of Eternal Eden, Falling Eden
23. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter 24. TG Ayer
25. Melissa Pearl, author of Golden Blood 26. YA Fantasy
Midnight Child, YA Indie Carnival

YA Indie Carnival: Gobble! Gobble! A Thanksgiving Story

This week the YA Indie Carnival is dishing up Thanksgiving stories. Since both sides of the family are headed over the river and through the woods to my house for the holiday, I have a full plate (pun totally intended). Therefore, I decided to post early and to share this “deleted scene” from Midnight Child which will be available in February 2012. It’s a sweet exchange between Keira Ryan and her father, August. It takes place on the Thanksgiving holiday between the end of Whispering Evil and the start of Midnight Child. I really hated cutting it, but had to sacrifice it for the overall pacing of the book. Oh well, at least you can enjoy it as an appetizer. Have a Happy Turkey Day and don’t forget to count your Blessings!

thanksgiving Bryna ButlerExplaining Thanksgiving

“So let me see if I’ve got this right.”

“Okay,” Keira said.

She was grinning a bit. Thanksgiving seemed like a perfectly simple concept, until she had to explain it to a guardian.  Unfortunately for her, her father spent most of his life on the other side of the barrier that separated the human world from the mogdoc threat. He was having some trouble understanding human traditions. Then again, for those like August Ryan, all human traditions were odd.

“The holiday consists an extravagant meal consisting of whole turkey with stale bread shoved inside and orange squash dessert topped with a white icy fluffing,” he grimaced. “That doesn’t sound appetizing.”

“Icy fluffing? You can’t be serious.”

“Right, you called it something else. I believe it was cold fluffing…no, cold whipping!”

“Cool Whip…close enough.” Keira smiled and jumped down from the kitchen countertop on which she was perched. “And, it’s totally awesome. There’s also sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecans, real mashed potatoes, and this sugary cranberry stuff that’s yum-delicious.  Before we dig in, we go around the table and talk about the things that we’re thankful for.”

“Like family?” August asked.

“Like family,” his daughter agreed.

Need a second course? Follow these links to Thanksgiving stories…

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series 2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self 4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga 6. Darby Karchut, author of GRIFFIN RISING
7. Lexus Luke 8. PJ Hoover, Author of SOLSTICE, Blogging at ROOTS IN MYTH
9. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy 10. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
11. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed 12. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series
13. Courtney Cole, author of The Bloodstone Saga 14. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
15. Dani Snell’s Refracted Light Reviews 16. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
17. M. Leighton, Blood Like Poison Series, Madly, The Reaping 18. Abbi Glines, author of Breathe and The Vincent Boys
19. Kimberly Kinrade, Bits of You & Pieces of Me, Forbidden Mind 20. Madeline Smoot, Missing, Summer Shorts, and The Girls
21. Cidney Swanson, author of Rippler 22. Nicole Williams, author of Eternal Eden, Falling Eden
23. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter 24. TG Ayer
25. Melissa Pearl, author of Golden Blood 26. YA Fantasy

Going on this week…

Laura A. H. Elliott Interview & Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale giveaway until November 24! Click here to read & enter.

Kimberly Kinrade, author of Forbidden Mind, is hosting an epic Paranormal Turkey Tour this Friday through Sunday! 3 days. 4 YA paranormal novels. 5 chances to win up to $200! Just go to http://KimberlyKinrade.com for details! Forbidden Mind was just awarded the 2011 Forward National Literature Award! Learn more about this YA paranormal thriller/romance here.

Melissa Pearl, YA author of Golden Blood has just started a new blog called YAlicious. It’s a blog to celebrate YA fiction and aimed at teens and readers of YA. Swing on by and check it out!
In preparation for December’s release of Guardians of the Cross, author T. R. Graves is sending out a coupon which will allow the most-recent edition Warriors of the Cross Click here to downloaded for FREE. Enter coupon LY87N good through 12/20/11.
Books I and II in The Raven Saga (Raven & December Moon) by Suzy Turner, are now available in paperback! Get your copy from Amazon now.The Valkyrie Novels, a series of 3 novels- Dead Radiance, Dead Embers and Dead Chaos, by T.G. Ayer will be published in 2012 by the amazing team at Evolved Publishing. See T.G. Ayer’s announcement here!

Midnight Child

Working on Book 3

Bryna Butler, authorI’ve been working on Book 3 which I call Midnight Child. It’s coming along really nicely and I expect to have it in publication in early 2012. There’s alot going into it, so it will likely be larger than the first two books.

Midnight Child will have more action. Keira starts her search for the true “human gift” and the mogdocs learn that Drew Hayes is her charge. Plus, there’s all the drama of senior year. It picks up a few weeks after Whispering Evil ends (fall of junior year) and continues through most of senior year.

Better get back to writing now. Talk to you soon.

Bryna

Midnight Child

Recon at the mouth of the serpent

serpent moundYesterday, I headed to The Great Serpent Mound in Adams County for some research. It will be an important locale for Book 3 in the Midnight Guardian series. Part of southern Ohio history, the mound was created by an early people in the likeness of an uncoiling snake with an egg near the snake’s mouth.

Scientists first believed that the Adena people of 800 BC – 100 AD built the effigy. Burial mounds located near the serpent were from that time period. However, more recently evidence was gathered that indicates the mound could have been built by the later Fort Ancient culture (1000-1550 AD), which had a nearby village.

My grandmother first took me to Serpent Mound as a little girl and I was always intrigued by it. Walking the trail, there are signs to point out how the serpent was laid out in conjunction with sunrise and moonrise, aligning with the solstices. At approximately 3 feet tall and over 1300 feet long, the mound is an amazement…considering that the bulldozer hadn’t yet been invented.

Of course, there are many fictional tales regarding the creation of Serpent Mound. There’s even one about it being built by the refugees of Atlantis. Hmmmm…