May 30, 2012

Summer Teen Reading Party! Welcome Rebecca Ryals Russell, author of ODESSA, PROPHECY and HARPIES

Welcome Rebecca! Today author Rebecca Ryals Russell is offering an excerpt to her next book from her Seraphym Wars series, HARPIES, following ODESSA and PROPHECY (see details at end.)

* Chris Verstraete is also appearing today at Rebecca's blog so check it out! Talking about dogs and the latest story!

** AND---check the prizes being offered at the TEEN SUMMER READING PARTY!*

CONTEST: Be sure to comment at Rebecca's blog to be entered in her contest. See details here.

About the book:

HARPIES follows 15-year-old Griffen as he discovers why he has been transported from his home on the Outer Banks of South Carolina on Earth to a desolate beach somewhere on a foreign planet.

Accompanied by a talking bird, Griffen begins a quest to fulfill his role in a prophecy and find his way home. Joined by 12-year-old Seth, a strange fire-bug, and 14-year-old Mercy, a runaway with Empathic skills, Griffen learns to control his new ability to pull lightning from the sky at will—especially while battling demon-dragons and sea monsters who want them all dead. The trio, accompanied by an oddball Burrowing Elf, transport downriver toward an island Griffen keeps seeing in visions. Narciss has other plans for the three intrepid Vigorios, however, and Griffen discovers a brave side he never suspected he had—unless he was playing video games. But this turns out to be no game.

**Here's a Chapter Two excerpt from HARPIES:

I woke stiff, sore and damp.

The last thing I remembered was the ocean lapping up my legs as the tide came in. But I no longer lay in the water or even near the water. Coarse dune grass poked through my shirt itching the skin on my chest. Dry sand scratched my legs, arms and cheek. I blinked several times to clear the sleep-webs from my eyes. Nothing felt broken or even bruised as I curled one leg up then the other and examined my arms.

I sat up. Had I been struck by lightning last night? Did I fall asleep on the beach and dream the storm? Why hadn’t Mom come looking for me? She’d never let me sleep on the beach all night--she’d be too worried.

The leaden sky promised rain. Normally turquoise, the sea had turned a deep shade of gray—reflecting the dark sky. I looked down at the grass. I’d never seen this kind of grass before. It was coarse and grayish, like the sky and ocean. I plucked a blade examining it closely. Definitely not like the grass on my dunes at home.

The dunes at home. The thought startled me. Where was I if not home? Where was I sitting and how did I get there?

“Dracwald, Griffen Oisin Gilmore. More particularly, the Province of Toterra along the Planora Coast. Welcome,” a small shrill voice chirped into my ear.

I leapt to my feet and spun around. I was alone as far as I could see. Not another soul nor house existed. Where were the cottages lining the Outer Banks island in South Carolina where I lived?

Into my other ear the same shrill voice said, “You’re not looking in the right place.”
My head jerked up, gaze scouring the sky.

“I’m here,” the voice chirped into my right ear then instantly, “No, here,” into my other ear. My head flew back and forth until my eyes twirled in their sockets making me dizzy. I plopped onto the grass waiting to regain my equilibrium. A slight pressure settled on my shoulder. I jumped, my head whipping around.

A tiny gray bird about the size of a wren with plain, solid gray feathers sat preening. “Camouflage.” I glanced back at the oppressive sky, “For a mirage. How droll.”

“Indeed,” the mirage twittered.

I startled and the bird fluttered up then landed on my other shoulder. I spun my head, struggling to see him.

“Say something again.” I gaped, eyes wide.

“Better get a move-on or trouble will find you,” the bird obliged.



About ODESSA:
Myrna Ashlin Watts graduated from High School in Jacksonville, Fl just in time to find herself transported to a bizarre and primal planet corrupted by demon-dragons. And they want her DEAD. Her problem is she has been recruited to kill them, too.

Eighteen-year-old Myrna is drawn into the middle of an epic battle between Seraphym and Demons. Reluctantly, and knowing it is her only way to get back home, she agrees to lead, battling dragons and monsters while crossing swamps and mountains, forests and seas. She wrangles with the old inner demons when three very different men join her quest—a seasoned demon/dragon-slayer who irritates but beguiles her, a tender and sweet mentor in whom she trusts completely and a roguishly handsome Scientist who sets her senses aflame. How is she expected to lead the others and keep everyone safe with so much inner turmoil?

Will love and lust, jealousy, greed, deceit and distrust break the delicate tie that binds these teen warriors called The Vigorios? Can a troupe of teens help the Seraphym finally defeat the massive empire of evil dominated for eons by the demon-dragons of Dracwald?

About PROPHECY (77 pgs.):

Many millennia ago Laud asked for a volunteer to live on the planet of Dracwald and guard the Prophecy of Solsyl. Jeremiah Holyfield, immortal member of the Conscientia volunteered and for many years lives as the Reverend in a small village. The Prophecy of Solsyl tells of the demise of Narciss, the demon dragon who rules Tartarus. When Narciss learns of its existence he declares he will not stop hunting the Guardian until he has the Prophecy in his possession. When Reverend Jeremiah Holyfield’s village is burned to the ground by Narciss, he must traverse half the planet of Dracwald to protect the Prophecy of Solsyl. Along the way he discovers the value of friendship, forgiveness and love.