#AudioBookBlogTour “Pawn: The Strategy Series” by J.C. Ahern

Audiobook Blog Tour: Pawn by J.C. AhernPawn by J.C. Ahern

Author: J.C. Ahern

Narrator: Patricia Santomasso, Sean Patrick Hopkins

Length: 10 hours and 6 minutes

Series: The Strategy, Book 1

Publisher: Joni Ahern

Released: Dec. 19, 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Seventeen-year-old Rogue has always classified herself as socially awkward, preferring video games over a trip to the mall. When she wakes up in a forest, she finds that life as she knew it has changed forever, and she cannot remember how. In fact, she can’t remember the last six months at all. As she navigates this new world she soon discovers a talent for combat and survival she’d never had before. A handy ability in a world where humans compete in a game governed by rules she can’t remember.

Ronin, a talented 19-year-old, was wrenched from his Midwest home and forced to compete with a Skaki set. Despite the set’s repeated losses, Ronin has proven himself a powerful player, his sights set on surviving each match – no matter the cost. When a new pawn is added to his set to replace one they lost, Ronin begins to break out of the shell he built around himself and reexamines what he and the other humans have become.

J.C. Ahern was born and raised in the Midwest. From a young age she watched her older siblings playing videogames. She also developed a passion for reading and playing those same games herself. It wasn’t long before her immersion into the different worlds of Fantasy and Sci-fi that she was inspired to create her own worlds and write her own stories. She began her craft in the sixth grade and continued that passion into college where she graduated from Stephens College with a degree in Creative Writing. She went on to get a degree in Nursing, which led her to become a Nurse Practitioner. She now uses the experiences of her life and the things she has learned to enrich her stories to take her readers on flights for the imagination.

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Narrator Bio

A student of neuroscience and speech pathology, Sean Patrick Hopkins has translated his understanding of human behavior & vocal performance into a career in storytelling. His classical training and versatility with dialects has helped to create distinct and varied characters across many genres. In addition to narrating over 150 audiobooks, he has been seen and heard on film, television, video games, and stages in NYC & across the country. When not in the booth, you can find him buried in genealogy research, out exploring our National Parks, and raising an amazing daughter alongside his wife, fellow narrator Patricia Santomasso.

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Narrator Bio

Patricia has always been an avid reader and storyteller. In college she politely smiled hearing the age old question: what on earth are you going to do with a BA in English? Patricia pressed on, thinking what can’t you do? Realizing she should get some practical training to fall back on, she also pursued a degree in theater. After working for years on stages around the country (where she met her husband, narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins, doing a production of As You Like It) she has merged her two loves and happily tells stories for a living from the comfort of a booth. To date, she has recorded over 100 audiobooks. Patricia’s youthful voice and comic timing give heroines a warm relatability and her surprising dips into baritone make her male characters engaging and believable. Patricia and Sean have a sweet baby daughter Lyra Róisín, who isn’t much interested in hearing either one of them read to her.

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Top 10 List

Author J.C. Ahern’s Top Ten Inspirations
  1. J.R.R. Tolkien: so much respect for this man who made up several languages and created extensive histories and culture for Middle Earth. I can’t even come close to his genius, but want to!
  2. C.S. Lewis: the possibility of multiple worlds and people and talking animals all with a common beginning. His writing ranged from being able to write to the young and to the more age advanced.
  3. R.A. Salvatore: reading his multiple books taught me to write fight scenes. His style just drew my attention fully.
  4. Zelda Franchise: the only video game that I’ve played every installment of and still enjoy repeat playthroughs. Showed me how to make something that people will want to play, er, read over and over!
  5. Firefly (the series) and Star Wars: Got me into sci-fi in the first place!
  6. Anime: helped me figure out how to make likeable characters and give them a story arc.
  7. Childhood Cartoons: my first inspiration as a child.
  8. Multiple Videogames: helped me with the mechanics of the gameworld and were totally fun, which made me want to sort of make my own.
  9. Ancient Aliens: a long time favorite show of mine that I started watching after I published Pawn and gave me more ideas for the sequels.
  10. Friends and Family: these were the inspiration for several of my characters, though of course, different names and different characteristics.

Giveaway

Giveaway: Amazon Echo Dot

Pawn Giveaway: Amazon Echo Dot

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#Excerpt “Julian Fox: The Dream Guardian” by E.J. Miranda

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Julian Fox coverAbout the Book

Title: Julian Fox: The Dream Guardian

Author: E.J. Miranda

Genre: YA Fantasy

It is said that dreams are just that: only dreams. But believe me, this is not always true. Some dreams are as real as the dreamer.

Thanks to their dreams, dreamers can receive the special visit of eternal wisdom that has inspired the creativity of great inventors, scientists, musicians, and even writers throughout the ages.

This creative wisdom is not always the type that appears to the eager conscience. Sometimes, a Defiler, a destroyer of dreams, is the one who tries to appear before the dreamer. These creatures were once humans, but they allowed their pain and desire for revenge to take over and seek the same miserable fate for the one who dreams.

You must not fear — Dream Guardians, also known as Kelsdrant, will always protect the one who dreams, even with their own life. They are people of flesh and bone, just like you and me, or at least they are on Earth.

The following story is dedicated to the fun, extravagant, and enlightening life of Julian Fox, the Dream Guardian.

Be prepared, dear reader. It is time to dream, laugh, reflect, and even maybe cry.

Welcome to the Land of the Wise Dreams.

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Excerpt of Chapter 1: The Fox Family

There is no perfect family. This is a universal truth, but if the imagination of a pair of mischievous minds is added to reality, the result can be an explosive combination that shuts the door to normalcy.

Sonia and William’s marriage is an example of how patience can be extended to the absolute limits. After all, parental love can only tolerate so much nonsense from the ingenuity of their children, especially when they happen to be Julian and Nicholas Fox.

This outlandish story begins at the crazy end of a pleasant vacation. The two brothers, Julian and Nicholas, were enjoying the afternoon heat near the banks of the river that crossed their ranch. They lay in the shade of an enormous tree, listening to the torrent of water as if it were a magical lullaby.

Julian, the eldest, was twenty-one years old. He had just completed his university studies and the memories of experiences with his classmates were still fresh in his mind. Nicholas, the youngest and last of the two children, was twenty years old and he was still studying in college.

They stayed silent for several minutes with their eyes closed, hoping that a miracle would occur and the family vacation would continue for a while longer. But, resigned to returning home in just two days, they decided to make the most of nature’s sweetness.

Nicholas broke the peaceful silence to make an interesting proposal to his brother.

“Hey, Jul! What do you think about the idea of staying another week? We just convince Mom and that’s it. You know that Dad will take our side.”

A slight smile crossed Julian’s lips before he gave his opinion. “Sounds good to me Nico, but when you talk to Mom, even though I support you, I’d rather stay at a safe distance in case she decides to give you one of her maternal speeches about missing classes.”

Nicholas opened his eyes and sought some kind of solidarity in Julian’s face, but Julian was resting peacefully. Annoyed by this, Nicholas closed his eyes in surrender, and told his brother:

“You’re right, I would suffer an eternal telling-off. But, who could blame me? I think we’ve regained our sanity here. We’re almost like angels—no fighting, no insults, and no jokes or pranks.”

He quieted immediately, and bit his lip, feeling sorry for what he had said, but it was too late. Julian’s beautiful gray eyes had become large and full of rage.

Nicholas’s last remark felt like an unpunished mocking memory to Julian. His heart raced and started running towards the inevitable. He felt like demanding they forget about this shameful situation, and even more so, requiring a fair rematch to Nicholas’s last prank. Shrewdly, Julian cautioned self-control to his heart to avoid hinting its intentions to his recently condemned brother.  He mastered his instincts and decided to wait. The gray gems hid again, and a slight sideways smirk appeared on his lips, presaging the beginning of a new battle between the brothers.

Nicholas closed his eyes so Julian wouldn’t see the nervousness erupting in them. He knew he had awakened a sleeping monster and, from that moment on, he should be careful.

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Author Bio

E.J. Miranda is an avid reader, an enthusiastic traveler, and a passionate author. Her great sense of humor and love for nature have granted her a rebellious writing style: her approach describes the adventures of life, but in such a way that each reader can have an individual take on the matter. Her inspiration comes from her curiosity about other countries’ cultures and peculiarities. A few countries in particular which spark her curiosity are Colombia, Italy, Costa Rica, England, Belgium, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. Her favorite places to visit are historical sites and museums, locations that allow her to explore important and even overlooked details. She currently lives with her husband in Colombia, but frequently travels to Houston to visit her daughter and son. E.J. Miranda has a degree in tax accounting, but she prefers interacting with people to calculating their taxes. To learn more about her life and work, visit www.ejmiranda.com.

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