New Release Spotlight: H.L. Burke's Middle Grade Fantasy Adventure "Cora and the Nurse Dragon"

I'm kicking off 2016's New Release Spotlights with a new title from fellow Clean Indie Reads author H.L. Burke. She is the author of a four part fantasy/romance series entitled "The Scholar and the Dragon" featuring the books Dragon's Curse, Dragon's Debt, Dragon's Rival, and Dragon's Bride as well as the YA/Fantasy Beggar Magic. Here’s her latest release, Cora and the Nurse Dragon.

 

Cora and the Nurse Dragon is a new middle grade fantasy adventure that follows the adventures of Cora Harrison in a world where dragons no longer live in nature but are a resource exploited by humans. Recommended for ages 9 and up. The book released January 31st and is available at the special price of 99 cents. 

The story:

Cora's a young girl with two dreams: to be a dragon jockey when she grows up and to own a pet dragon now. She constantly buys "egg packs" at the dragon emporium in hopes that one will hatch into a rare pet-sized dragon, but only gets short-lived mayflies. However, when an unexpected egg does develop into something new, Cora may be in over her head.

About the Author:

Born in a small town in north central  Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic. An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture. Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are. Her current projects are a young adult steampunk fantasy and an epic fantasy trilogy. 

Follow H.L. Burke

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Twitter

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New Release Spotlight: Marc Secchia's Fantasy Romance "Dragonlove," Book 2 in the Dragonfriend Series

For love that is tested in the crucible of fate must burn, or die...

Publication Date: August 15, 2015

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Series: Dragonfriend #2

When a woman loves a Dragon, that love will change the world.

Six years have passed since Hualiama and Grandion defied the Island-World’s most sacred law. They burned the heavens together as Rider and Dragon. For his crime, Grandion the Tourmaline Dragon suffered exile and imprisonment. The Dragons forced Hualiama to forget her past.

Now, the suns must set upon the age of the Ancient Dragons. Amaryllion Fireborn, last of his kind, bequeaths Hualiama an astonishing legacy. She is the Dragonfriend. Raised by Dragons. Burned by Dragon fire. Oath-bound to a Dragon. Crossing the Island-World in search of her Dragonlove, she will forge an indelible mark upon history.

As war between Dragons and Humans engulfs the Islands, Hualiama must unravel the secrets of her tragic past in order to confront an evil that threatens the very existence of the Dragonkind. For love that is tested in the crucible of fate must burn, or die.

Excerpt

There was no silence as profound as the space between Islands, no vault as large as the moons-lit sky, hoarding its treasury of stars, nor a loneliness as soul-shadowing as the loss of betrayal. This Hualiama knew as she piloted her Dragonship away from Fra’anior Cluster. She could not sleep. Instead, she searched the emptiness with the eyes of her heart, longing for a glimmer of moonlight upon gemstone scales, for a sign that all was not dust blown into the Cloudlands.

Flicker. Amaryllion. Masters Jo’el and Khoyal. The long-dead face of her Nuyallith tutor, his knowledge lodged in her mind, unforgettable. Sometimes, she felt as though she carried more ghosts than living flesh upon her diminutive frame. She yearned for her spirit to abandon what the ballads called her mortal coil, to roam the Island-World upon wings less substantial than the wind itself; faraway, flyaway, free.

If she listened with the ears of her sixth sense, tasting and experiencing the tides and times of the Island-World, could she not rediscover that bond she had felt between herself and the Tourmaline Dragon, and sing the melody of souls united by oaths stronger than death?

Softly, she poured her heart forth in tuneful lament:

O my Dragon, I search for thee,

My spirit flying far and free,

I call to thee, Grandion; I beg, I burn,

Wilt thou not hear?

Wind keened among the inner hawsers binding spirit to flesh, and flesh to bone. Lia felt a sense of straining, perhaps the Dragon fire of Flicker’s gift bound in the form of a Human. Her hands played upon the controls as in a dream, setting a south-westerly course for Erigar Island. The sails were fully deployed to gobble up a bellyful of the night breeze. The stove burned cheerfully. She topped it up with a few chips of dry jalkwood.

A dream seemed to creep over her, a darkness deeper even than the night.

A Dragon lay in his lair.

Nay, not a lair, but a cage of indestructible Dragon bone, bound with bands of magic-infused iron. The Dragon shifted restlessly, as if gripped by dreams of his own–or touched by hers. Anger had long since guttered into grief. Hope lay crushed beneath a burden of despair. The Dragon circled his cage one more time, dragging his steps, and no light of the Island-World entered his eyes. He was blind.

Pre-order on Amazon. Available August 15th.

About the Author

Marc Secchia is a South African-born author who lives and works in Ethiopia with his wife and 4 children, 2 dogs, a rabbit, and a variable number of marabou storks that roost on the acacia trees out back. On a good night there are also hyenas patrolling the back fence. When he's not writing about Africa Marc can be found travelling to remote locations. He thinks there's nothing better than standing on a mountaintop wondering what lies over the next horizon. Follow Marc on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest and visit his Website.

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Today's Guest Author: Dusty Lynn Holloway

I'm in the midst of a Pubslush campaign for my next novel Swim Season and need lots of help from friends, family, just about anyone who will give me a hand. This indie publishing business is hard - the hardest thing I've ever done. To relieve a little of the stress I've enlisted the help of several of my fellow authors who will answer a few questions I've come up with about high school and varsity sports, as well as publishing and marketing tips. They'll tell you a little about themselves and their latest project.  I'll visit their blogs and do the same. This helps all of us meet new readers, and helps my readers discover new books and writers they may not know of who have great stuff. Please take a moment to visit their links. And don't forget to visit my Pubslush page and see what's going on. No swimsuit required.

Today's Guest is Dusty Lynn Holloway

Dusty lives in California with her two children who keep her very busy. She has superpowers, but doesn't like to talk about them, frequently bemoans the fact that she doesn't have See's Candy stock, thinks taking care of yourself is a way of life and not just a fad, and tries to live each day with the motto that you only get one life to live, so live it well, and live it to the fullest.

As an avid watcher of movies and reader of books, she frequently considers herself a ninja (especially around spiders), wishes that the owners of the beach house she loves would just give her the keys already, and really wants the car Kit from Knight Rider to be tucked snugly in her garage. She doesn't think he'd mind being painted blue. She writes a fantasy romance series with a paranormal twist. Her titles are Dragon Dreams, Dragon Ties, and Dragon Light. Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Dusty, and thanks for helping me with the Swim Season Pubslush campaign. To get started I thought I'd ask you about high school and sports, since that's what my book is about, and then we'll move on to your writing and book projects.

Most of us have strong feelings about our high school experience. Was yours a yay or a nay? 

I had a different experience, I suppose. For most of high school I worked from home, and turned in assignments once a week. It worked better for me because I was able to avoid the noise that always was such a distraction to me in regular high school. Once I was able to eliminate that, my grades improved dramatically. 

Did you play sports in high school? If yes, which one(s) and how did it work out for you? If not, do you have children who play sports?

I didn't play anything in high school, but I have two children who love gymnastics. :)

I'm using Pubslush to help market and promote my next book. Do you have any key marketing tips for authors?

There is a lot of 'noise' in marketing. One of the best pieces of advice I have is to write well and keep at it. Often, for new writers, they are disappointed in slow (or completely absent!) sales of their first book, but book marketing is a build experience, and it often takes time. Many authors say that they started to see their sales take off only after publishing several books, and several years of hard work. 

Can you tell us about your latest project?

My latest project is a funny, time-travel Victorian romance called To Dance in the Shadows. It has a horse that thinks he's a dog, and is completely absurd, a man that everyone fears, and a women who, despite recent difficulties and pains, always tries to see the bright side of things, and always seems to find herself in trouble. Drake, Gwen and Paladin have been wonderful for me to bring to life, and I'm looking forward to people getting to know them in the near future. 

Where can we learn more about you and your books?

You can find me on quite a few social media sites. I look forward to connecting with everyone!  Thank you for inviting me to be a part of this blog, and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. :)

Follow Dusty Lynn:

Twitter

Facebook 

Pinterest page for my dragon series

Pinterest page for my Victorian time-travel romance

Amazon author page

Purchase Dusty Lynn's books:

Dragon Dreams 

Dragon Ties

 Dragon Light

About Dragon Dreams 

A prophecy of murder.

An elf hunted by dragons.

One man that risks everything to save her. 

Nachal is a human that should not be having prophetic Dragon Dreams. But he does. Every night he dreams of an elf running through flames, trying in vain to outrun the Rebel Dragon Obsidian. Every night he sees her fall. Sees her eyes close. Feels her heart as it slows, and then stops. Every night, through the connection of the dream, he dies with her. It's a spiral that he can't control, and it's slowly driving him insane. Auri is an elf raised by a powerful human king not of her own blood. Left behind by the mother who perished far from the elven isle El`dell, she seeks to forge her life among the humans. Her journey takes her to the land of her heritage. To a place that holds both a haunting betrayal, and a miracle that just might save her life. Together, they become embroiled in a conspiracy where destinies are intertwined, love is born in the fallout of ultimate sacrifice, and the only path to victory lies through the searing flames of dragon fire.

***Dragon Dreams is rated PG13 for thematic violence. There is no sex, swearing, or vain names. Recommended for readers 14 and up.