Resistance

Resistance Audiobook Blog Tour

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After five years since publication, the first book of Jaye L. Knight’s fantasy series, Ilyon Chronicles, is now available on audiobook! Enjoy this epic adventure through the voice of narrator Lance Rasmussen. Find out more and listen to the sample below. And don’t forget to enter the giveaway! You can see the other tour posts here.

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you know I ADORE audiobooks. I do most of my reading via audiobook, so I am beyond excited that Resistance is now on Audible where I can convince my dad and brothers to FINALLY listen to it!

About the Book

“Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”

Could God ever love a half-blood all of society looks upon with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when a tragic loss shatters the only peace he’s ever known, his faith crumbles as the nagging doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the bloodstained past he longs to forget, but can never escape.

Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair lives every day under a dangerous pretense of loyalty. After her unique observation skills and perfect memory place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.

Following the emperor’s declaration to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, many lives are endangered. But there are those willing to risk everything to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and conflicts with society as they become part of the resistance.

Available now on Audible and iTunes!

(click on the Audible link above to listen to a preview)

Haven’t discovered the world of Ilyon yet? Find out more at the official Ilyon Chronicles website!

Book Sale!

Now is the perfect time to get into the series! Starting Friday, November 29th, all books from Ilyon Chronicles will be discounted. You can even get the prequel novella for free! So be sure to check them out on Amazon.

About the Author

Jaye L. Knight is an award-winning
author, homeschool graduate, and shameless tea addict with a passion for
Christian fantasy. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure,
Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in
the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been
penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of
Wisconsin.
You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Etsy.

About the Narrator

Lance Rasmussen is an audiobook narrator and actor based in Denver, CO. A
graduate with a BFA in Acting from Utah State University, and an MFA in
Acting from Louisiana State University, he now narrates and produces
audiobooks from his home studio while working at various regional
theaters across the country. More information can be found at www.lanceras.com. Follow him on Instagram at @LCRasmus.

 

 

Giveaway

Share in the excitement of the release and enter to win one
of 3 copies of the Resistance audiobook! Winners will receive a free download
code to use on Audible. Open internationally!

Don’t forget, next week I will be running a Black Friday – Cyber Monday sale on my Kindle ebooks on Amazon and on the paperbacks on my website!

Black Friday 2019 Sale Graphic

Half Blood Blog Tour

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I have been beyond excited the moment I heard Jaye L. Knight was going to be releasing a prequel novella to the Ilyon Chronicles. When she called for participants for a blog tour, I just about tripped over my laptop in my rush to sign up. After all, I was going to go all fan-girl over this book anyways, so I might as well do it as part of the official blog tour, right? 😉

The day has finally arrived, and Half Blood has been out for three whole days already! *squeal*

My Recommendation

Read the book. Seriously. Though, if you’ve already read Resistance and The King’s Scrolls, then you were probably sitting on your porch waiting for UPS to deliver your copy long before this blog post was written (or you got really impatient and went straight to the kindle version!). If you haven’t read any of the Ilyon Chronicles yet, then go do it. Right now. I’ll wait until you get back.

Half Blood has more violence and more intense scenes than Resistance and The King’s Scrolls, though even the tear-jerking scene in this book can’t compare with the heart-destroying scene in The King’s Scrolls. The violence is not gratuitous, and Jaye dwells more on its effects on Jace than on what is physically happening. While reading it, I sometimes got the sense that Jace didn’t want to dwell on or see what was happening or what he was doing, and thus the reader didn’t either. It was a technique that worked really well for showing how Jace clung to his humanity even when everyone else was doing their best to strip him of it.

The hardest part in this book is when Jace fears they may succeed.

Since this is a novella, the book is much, much shorter than Resistance or The King’s Scrolls. While I probably would’ve kept reading had this novella been a tome, I think the shorter length worked for this book. Too much more details of the violence would’ve been overwhelming, and too much of the hope and happiness at the end would’ve dragged and taken away from the beginning of Resistance.

I’d recommend reading this book after reading Resistance. Half Blood is a book written to satisfy the curiosity of fans and deepen their knowledge of one of the characters, and doesn’t serve as the sweeping introduction to the world of Ilyon the way that Resistance does.

*I was given an ARC copy of this book by the author in exchange for my honest review*

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About the Book

The gasps and murmuring grew. Though some were hardly more than whispers, clear words reached Jace’s ears—dangerous, monster, animal, soulless. He tried to back away from their accusing eyes, but the collar pulled hard against his throat and held him in place.

For all his years as a slave, Jace has known nothing but the hatred people hold for his mixed blood—one half human, the other half the blood of a race considered monsters. Always, he is the outsider and quickly learns it is better to keep to himself. But, when his volatile ryrik blood leads him to do the unthinkable, he is thrown into a world of violence and bloodshed.

Forced to become a gladiator, Jace finds more and more of his heart dying as his master works to break down his will not to become the monster everyone believes he is. When a stranger interferes with his master’s harsh punishment, Jace’s world is upended yet again. But with it comes the possibility of hope that has long since died. Could the man possibly hold the key to escaping the hopeless darkness that is Jace’s life? Is there such a thing as life beyond the cruelty of slavery?

See where Jace’s story all began . . .

Available on Amazon!

amazon-buy

goodreads

 Discover Ilyon in Resistance and The King’s Scrolls (if you haven’t already joined the awesomeness!)

IlyonChronicles

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About the Author

Jaye L. Knight is an award-winning author, homeschool graduate, and shameless tea addict with a passion for Christian fantasy. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Etsy, and on her new fiction forum where you can interact with other readers of the series.

Author Interview

In reading through the blog tour so far, I’ve realized everyone asked you this question, but here it is again: Half Blood is a tough book to read (though I enjoyed it. I might have a strange fascination with reading about main characters suffering). Was it tough to write? What was the hardest part?

I wouldn’t say it was overly tough to write. Perhaps that’s because I’ve known all along what kind life Jace lived, so it wasn’t new to me. The hardest part was probably making sure it all fit together and that the timeline of the story was accurate. I started this story at so many different points, and just kept going back further and further into Jace’s life, so in the end, I had to sort of connect the dots. I got a bit confusing at times, but I sorted it out. Suffering really shapes and defines characters, so while it’s a tough story, I’m glad to be able to share what shaped Jace to be who he is in the series.

I can imagine how difficult it must have been to fit it in with all the pieces of Jace’s backstory you’d already mentioned, and the ones you have planned for Samara’s Peril.

What’s your favorite part of the writing/publishing process? Drafting? Editing? Designing the cover (which turned out gorgeous, by the way)?

I have things I like about the entire process, but I’d have to say editing is my favorite part. On days where my imagination is really flowing, I LOVE writing, but most of the time editing and perfecting the story is easier and more enjoyable for me. I like knowing I have the whole story down on the computer. Blank pages and giant word goals are far too intimidating sometimes. I also do love designing covers, though I think with future books after Ilyon Chronicles, I will hand those reins over to someone else.

Writing and editing are tons of fun…when they are working right!

Now for my favorite question: If you could trade places with one of your characters for a day, which character and what day would you pick?

I think I’d probably trade places with Kyrin on one of the fun hunting days with Jace. After all, I’d love to hang out with him and meet the others out at camp. 🙂

That’s the same day and same person I’d pick to trade places with if I could hang out in Ilyon for a day! Though, I’d hate to think what poor Kyrin would think having to be me for a day, stuck in an office at a computer instead of traipsing around the forest with Jace. I’d definitely be getting the better end of that deal! 😉

Thanks so much for the interview, Jace, and best wishes on the release of Half Blood!

Giveaway

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Share in the excitement of the release and enter to win a themed giveaway pack! Prizes include an autographed copy of Half-Blood, a blue feather bookmark hand crafted by Jaye, a bronze sword pendant, and a $5 Amazon gift card! (Giveaway is open to US residents only. Cannot be shipped internationally.)
Please click this link to enter the giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more about Half Blood and more interviews with Jaye, check out the rest of the blog tour for Half Blood:

Schedule

Tuesday, July 14

Wednesday, July 15

Thursday, July 16

Friday, July 17 

Saturday, July 18 

Sunday, July 19 

Monday, July 20 

Tuesday, July 21 

Wednesday, July 22 

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Tag

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I’ve been tagged again! This time, Shantelle tagged me in the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award tag.

Here’s how this works:

  • Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
  • Put the award logo on your blog.
  • Answer the ten questions sent to you.
  • Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
  • Nominate ten blogs.

On to the questions! Shantelle came up with some really fun questions!

What genre have you read most of this year?

I’ve read mostly Christian YA fiction this year, especially speculative and indie titles. I just discovered a whole community of Christian YA authors, and I’m slowly working my way through all their books.

A few books you hope to read soon?

I’m currently reading Of the Coldblooded by Angie Brashear. How can you not want to read this book after looking at the cover?  Once I’m done with this book, I have a stack of books to read, and I haven’t decided which one to pick up next!

OtC - eBook Cover

Favorite book of the year?

Seriously? I have to pick one? And I have to remember all the books I’ve read this year? So far, I’ve read nearly one book a week, so it starts to add up after a while!

Since I have to pick, it would probably be Resistance by Jaye L. Knight. I read it in one day in January when I was home sick from work with a bad cold. I absolutely loved it and immediately began shoving the book at all my friends and family and ordering them to read it because it was amazing. Luckily for me, The King Scrolls (book 2) came out a month later, but now I’m stuck waiting with all the rest of you Ilyon fans!

What was your favorite blog post this year?

Probably the character chats I did for Dare‘s blog tour, especially the second one I did. I had a few of the early readers ask some great questions that really got the characters squirming!

Favorite Dessert?

Um, I have a confession. I have a sweet tooth. I love a lot of things, especially donuts, ice cream, and my dad’s homemade chocolate shakes.

Summer or Winter?

Winter. While I like warmth, I don’t like it when it gets too hot or humid, and I’m not a beach person. Give me three feet of snow and a pair of cross country skis any day!

One Goal You have?

Publish book 2 in my series The Blades of Acktar before the end of the year, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Do you enjoy fairy tales? Which ones do you like the most?

I love fairy tales! Beauty and the Beast was always my favorite. When I was little, my grandparents gave me a large, beautifully illustrated book of fairy tales (I still have it on a specially place on my shelf). I especially loved the book because the illustrations for Beauty and the Beast were on the cover, and Beauty and the Beast was the first story in the book.

Which Disney princess are you most like, and why?

After all my ramblings about Beauty and the Beast, it’s probably no surprise that it was also my favorite Disney movie growing up (Tangled wasn’t out yet!). I think I loved it so much because Belle is a lot like me. She loves to read, she adores her father, she isn’t impressed by the hunky guy with no brain, and she dreams of doing something important. She also had a horse, and I desperately wanted one at that time.

Though, I look nothing like her. She has brown hair and darker eyes, while I have curly blond hair.

Which Disney prince do you consider the most dashing?

Ha! I should have guessed this question was coming from the line of questioning. I’m going to have to go with two:

Flynn Rider, because, well, he’s Flynn Rider. He’s the perfect mix of adorably sweet and good looks beneath his bad boy exterior:

Li Shang from Mulan, because he is kind of the opposite of Flynn Rider. Shang is the straight-laced, by the books guy who finds out he needs to bend a little bit. And he is absolutely sweet when he stutters.

So what about you? How would you answer these questions?

RELEASE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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As you could tell by my spastic title, Dare officially releases today! Eeeep! Let the Party BEGIN!

To get everyone excited about the release, here’s the book trailer I posted to Youtube yesterday.

To celebrate the release, I’ve set the price of the ebook versions across all platforms to $0.99 for the first two weeks. After that, the price will go up to $2.99.

As an ebook, it is available on Amazon as of right now. I hope it get it up on Smashwords, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and basically anywhere you want to get an ebook as soon as possible.

Due to being a newbie and not knowing how long it takes Amazon to upload a print book, the paperback is still being processed by Amazon. I will let you know as soon as it goes live.

Today is also the start of the blog tour. Here is the schedule with lots of great posts for the next week:

Schedule

June 2

June 3

June 4

June 5

June 8

June 9

June 10 

This next week is going to be a blast! I hope you have as much fun on the blog tour and Facebook party as I have planning them. 🙂 I’m excited to finally share this book with you, and I hope you enjoy it!

For more celebration, I’m also holding a Grand Prize giveaway! (Due to the issues with shipping weapons internationally, this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only). You can enter the giveaway here:a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dare Grand Prize

Cover Reveal – Half Blood

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Instead of my Fiction Friday book spotlight, I have another cover reveal for you all. I’m super excited to reveal the cover for Jaye L. Knight’s novella Half Blood. I’m a huge Ilyon Chronicles fan, and I can’t wait until this prequel novella releases!

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About the Book

The gasps and murmuring grew. Though some were hardly more than whispers, clear words reached Jace’s ears—dangerous, monster, animal, soulless. He tried to back away from their accusing eyes, but the collar pulled hard against his throat and held him in place.

For all his years as a slave, Jace has known nothing but the hatred people hold for his mixed blood—one half human, the other half the blood of a race considered monsters. Always, he is the outsider and quickly learns it is better to keep to himself. But, when his volatile ryrik blood leads him to do the unthinkable, he is thrown into a world of violence and bloodshed.

Forced to become a gladiator, Jace finds more and more of his heart dying as his master works to break down his will not to become the monster everyone believes he is. When a stranger interferes with his master’s harsh punishment, Jace’s world is upended yet again. But with it comes the possibility of hope that has long since died. Could the man possibly hold the key to escaping the hopeless darkness that is Jace’s life? Is there such a thing as life beyond the cruelty of slavery?

See where Jace’s story all began . . .

Coming This Summer

goodreads

JayeAuthorPhoto

About the Author

Jaye L. Knight is an award-winning author, homeschool graduate, and shameless tea addict with a passion for Christian fantasy. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.

I don’t know about you, but I’m bouncing with anticipation for this book! Jace is my favorite character in the Ilyon Chronicles, and I’ve been dying to learn more about his backstory!

Giveaway

As part of a month long celebration for the one year publication anniversary of Resistance (Ilyon Chronicles – Book 1), Jaye is giving away several fun prizes! Enter for a chance to win using the form below! U.S. entries only please. a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you want to visit the other spots on the cover reveal, here’s a list of all the participating bloggers:

Participating Bloggers

A Writer’s Faith

Morgan Elizabeth Huneke

A Writer’s Heart

Thoughts and Rants

Written Rest

To Be A Person

Tialla’s Tellings

The American Anglophile

Knitted By God’s Plan

Elvish Pens, Fantastical Writings

Pencils Can Change The World

Crafty Booksheeps

Zerina Blossom’s Books

Ryebrynn’s Random Ramblings

Through the Realm of Dreams

Red Lettering

Leah’s Bookshelf

The Official Website of Brent King

Writings, Ramblings, and Reflections

Shattered Fractals

Flights from the Aerie

Rawls

The Pen of a Ready Writer

Scattered Journal Pages

Sutori no Hana

The Art of Storytelling

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Inspiration for Dare – World War II

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Only THREE WEEKS until Dare releases! Crazy how fast time flies when you have a book releasing!

To celebrate the book release, I’m going to look at a few of the things that inspired some of the themes or storyline in Dare. Dare is fantasy, so it isn’t directly based on any real history. But I’m a history buff. I like to explore the things I see in history in my own stories, even if I’m coming at them from a different direction.

One of my inspirations for the themes in Dare is World War II, specifically World War II as experienced by the Netherlands. About a year before I started writing Dare, I researched and wrote a nonfiction narrative about my great-grandparents’ life in the Netherlands and their immigration to Canada. My great-grandparents lived in the Netherlands during World War II, so I did a lot of research about what life was like in the Netherlands during that time.

World War II tore the Netherlands apart in many ways. Some people supported the Nazis. Some actively resisted in various ways, including forming the many groups that made up what is collectively known as the Dutch Resistance. Others didn’t like the Nazis, but felt they were the government God put over them and they should obey it. Neighbors were divided. Churches were divided. A person’s greatest enemies weren’t the Nazi occupiers, but their former friends, neighbors, and even fellow Christians who might turn them in. Thanks to the geography of the Netherlands, those on the run, whether Jews or Resistance members, had very few places to hide.

My great-grandparents were some of those that resisted. They were forced to flee their home to live in a different part of the Netherlands because of it. At the end of the war, the dyke protecting their home was bombed, and they lost everything they’d been forced to leave behind in the resulting flood. Because they chose to resist, they lost all their worldly possessions.

 Flooded Wieringermeer Polder where my great-grandparents lived.

If you’re interested in learning more about this time in history, Corrie ten Boom’s book The Hiding Place tells the story of her family. Another book that I highly recommend is Liz Tolsma’s Snow on the Tulips. While fiction, the book is based on a true story and very historically accurate. I’m also partial to it because it is set in Friesland, the province in the Netherlands where my great-grandparents spent part of the war.

Have you researched World War II? What do you find fascinating about it?

The King’s Scrolls Blog Tour: Author Interview & Book Review

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TKS Blog Tour Header

Today I welcome Jaye L. Knight as part of her blog tour for The King’s Scrolls, book two in the Ilyon Chronicles. Ever since I read Resistance, Jaye has become one of my favorite Christian Fantasy writers. Today is the last day of the blog tour, but you can find the rest of the posts on the tour here.

Jaye Author Photo

About the Author

Jaye L. Knight is a homeschool graduated indie author with a passion for writing Christian fantasy and clean new adult fiction. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Etsy.

Hi, Jaye! Welcome to The Pen of a Ready Writer. Let’s get things started with a fun question: Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings?

I’m a Lord of the Rings girl, most definitely. I adore the trilogy and The Hobbit (books and movies). I probably wouldn’t be writing fantasy if I had not gotten into LOTR. I’ve read a couple of the Narnia books, but I just never really got into them. *hides from Narnia fans* I do like the movies though . . .

*Gasp* The Narnian in me is heading off to cry in a corner…

Lord of the Rings girl. The Ilyon Chronicles is a huge series. Six epic fantasy novels! What gave you the idea for such an ambitious project?

Well, it sort of forced itself on me and demanded to be written. It started out as only three novels, but quickly outgrew them. The initial idea came while I was reading DragonQuest by Donita K. Paul. I had just read a scene where you discover one of the main characters is a half-blood. This wasn’t a new topic for me since I’d written about half-elves before, but they were always accepted by society. DragonQuest got me thinking, what if I wrote about a half-blood who wasn’t accepted by society? And taking that a step further, what if one half of his blood was a race everyone considered monsters and soulless? Talk about conflict. That’s how my character Jace came to be. The rest of the series grew around him. I have to give all the credit to God for that. I really have no idea how it morphed from one character into such an involved series of books.

I absolutely adore Jace! I wanted to give him a hug so badly in Resistance.

You dealt with a lot of weighty themes in Resistance: treatment of those who are different, persecution, forgiveness. Does The King’s Scrolls continue those themes or develop a few of its own?

I’d say those themes continue, though some aren’t as much a focus as they were in Resistance. Persecution is definitely still a major theme, though. Trust is a big part of The King’s Scrolls, specifically trusting God even when things don’t make sense and it seems like everything is going wrong. I’d say that is the central theme of this book—learning to trust that He has a plan even when it is impossible to understand.

I love how the theme plays out in the book!

One thing that really impressed me about Resistance and The King’s Scrolls is the quality of the writing, editing, and formatting. It is even more impressive because you’re an indie author who did all of that yourself! What made you decide to pursue indie publishing?

Well . . . impatience? *sheepish look* I was young and impatient to have my book in my hands when I first decided to self-publish. Plus, I had absolutely no idea how I’d get published otherwise, and wasn’t anywhere near ready for such a thing. But now, with the way indie publishing has exploded since then, I’ve come to love it. There are so many more resources available now than there were when 18-year-old me decided to first pursue it. I would have a hard time being convinced to try traditional publishing now.

Sounds like something a lot of us young writers can relate to! What is the hardest part of indie publishing?

Having to do absolutely everything. It’s a TON of work. Many times, I don’t even have enough time to write. It’s kind of hard to be an author if you’re not actually writing. 😛 It would be nice to have others doing certain work like formatting. Now, I could hire someone to do that, but I prefer to save the money and do it myself. The sheer amount of work can be overwhelming sometimes, but, in the end, it’s worth it.

Well, you’ve done a great job of it, and I can’t wait to read your next book! (Hint, hint! Please hurry!)

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

TKS CoverAbout the Book

Following the harrowing events that brought them to Landale Forest, Jace and Kyrin have settled comfortably into their new lives and the mission of protecting those under the emperor’s persecution. The fast approach of winter brings with it the anticipation of a quiet few months ahead. That is until the arrival of four mysterious, dragon-riding cretes who seek aid in a mission of great importance—not only to their own people, but to all followers of Elôm.

Hidden in the vast mining valley north of Valcré, a faithful crete has spent years sharing his knowledge with the destitute miners and their families and is known to possess what may be Arcacia’s last surviving copies of the King’s Scrolls—the Word of Elôm. Joining the cretes, those in Landale must find the crete teacher and bring him to safety, but it is a race against time. Should Daican’s men find him first, execution and the destruction of the Scrolls is certain.

When disaster strikes, all seems lost. Could Elôm have a plan even in the enemy’s triumph?

Available on Amazon!

Buy Now

My Recommendation

READ THIS BOOK! Seriously! Read it!

The King’s Scrolls pick up where Resistance left off, but it also introduces several new characters. I adored Timothy and the other crete characters. The Altair family dynamics play a much bigger role in this book, and we finally get to meet all of Kyrin and Kaden’s brothers. Liam is so sweet and Marcus…well, there’s nothing like the conflict of duty and family to tear a person apart. All the characters are well-crafted, which makes the events in the book more poignant.

I’ll admit it. I cried. There is one part of the book…but I can’t give that away. My advice is keep a box of Kleenex handy.

New characters, new tests, new adventures, and dragons! A book doesn’t get better than this!

TKS Giveaway

To top off all the excitement, Jaye is giving away this awesome prize!

Prize pack includes an autographed copy of The King’s Scrolls, a CD by Future World Music (some of Jaye’s favorite writing music), a dragon bookmark, a stone hawk pendant (much like the ones mentioned in the book), and a few packages of Twining’s Winter Spice tea to sip while you read! (Giveaway is open to US residents only. Cannot be shipped internationally.)

This is your last day to enter!
Click here to enter!