Blog tour: To Dance in Liradon (Guest post & Amazing Giveaways)

Dear friends,

Have you ever wondered how a typical day in an author’s life looks like? This is your chance.

Author Adrienne Clarke has agreed to pull back the curtains of her life, allowing us to take a peek. Not only that, she would also like to introduce us to her novel, To Dance in Liradon.

Get to know the author and her book, and leave a comment for a chance to win one of the amazing prizes Adrienne brought along. She will be awarding winner's choice of a Kindle touch, Nook Simple Touch, or a $100 Apple gift card, and one crystal Faerie necklace similar to what Brigid wore to the Faerie ball to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Follow the tour to increase your chances of winning. The more you comment, the higher your chances. Good luck to you. You can find the tour dates HERE.

 Adrienne, welcome to Novel Moments. It’s so great to have you here today. How does your day look like?

A Typical Day in the Life of Adrienne Clarke, Author

6:00 am

Answer emails and try to decide what writing project I’m going to tackle: Revisions on work-in-progress? Or start outlining the new novel I spent all night thinking about? Wait! Is it garbage day? Whatever happens – do not forget to TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE. MUST GET RID OF DIAPERS!

7:15 am

Panic because I forgot to go grocery shopping and my daughter will be having a jam sandwich for lunch – again.

8:00 am

Cajole my nine-year old of bed and try to convince my two-year old that she really does need to take off her Tinkerbell pajamas.

8:20 am

Frantically pick raisins out of the raisin bread because daughter number one has decided raisins are “totally gross.” Explain yet again why I will not buy chocolate chip Pop Tarts.

8:30 am

Chase my youngest daughter around the house so I can get her ready for daycare before her sister is late for school – again.

9:00 am

Both girls are gone! I heave a huge sigh of relief and make an enormous cup of coffee.

9:30 am

Write like a madwoman for as long as I can. On a good day I can go for about 2.5 – 3 hours. On a bad day I’m distracted by EVERYTHING. If I’m convinced the muse is gone for the day I fret about all the other things I should be doing: Social networking, blogging, laundry, grocery shopping......

12:30 pm

Inhale a bagel and more coffee and worry about the muse. Where has she gone? And more importantly – when will she be back?

1:00 pm

Revise. Revise. Revise.

2:00 pm

I forgot to take out the garbage. Another week of smelly diapers in the garage.

3:00 pm

Send out query letters to agents, editors, and everyone else I’m trying to get to read my work.

4:00 pm

Make a stab at catching up on a flood of tweets, emails, status updates etc. while feeling faintly resentful that I could and should be writing.

4:30 pm

Writing day over! Time to silence the imaginary people inside my head and rejoin the real world.

To Dance in Liradon

by Adrienne Clarke

 

BLURB

 

Seventeen-year-old Brigid O'Flynn is an outcast. A chance encounter with the Faerie Queen left her tainted in the eyes of the villagers, who blame the Faerie for the village’s missing women and children. Desperate to win the village’s acceptance, Brigid agrees to marry her childhood friend: Serious, hardworking, Connell Mackenna. But when Connell disappears before their wedding, Brigid's hopes are shattered. Blamed for her fiancé’s death, Brigid fears she will suffer the same fate as the other village outcasts, the mysterious Willow Women. Lured into Faerie by their inhuman lovers, and cast out weak and broken, the Willow Women spend their lives searching for the way back into Faerie. When Connell suddenly reappears, Brigid is overjoyed, but everything is not as it seems. Consumed by his desire for beauty and celebration, Connell abandons his responsibilities, and Brigid soon finds herself drawn into a passionate, dangerous world of two.

When Brigid discovers the truth behind Connell's transformation she’s forced to choose between two men and two worlds. Brigid’s struggle leads her into glittering, ruthless Faerie, where she must rescue her true love from a terrible sacrifice or lose him forever.

EXCERPT

Brigid allowed herself to be dragged to the edge of the circle before she raised her right foot and kicked backwards as hard as she could. Midir released his hold long enough for her to remove the horseshoe from her bodice. When he tried to seize her again, she shoved him away, the object gripped firmly in her hand.

Midir stumbled backwards, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. A desperate, keening sound rose up from the circle before it broke apart and every Faerie man and woman rushed towards her. Long slender arms grabbed hold of each of her limbs, and Brigid felt certain they intended to tear her to pieces. A violet-eyed woman sat on top of Brigid’s chest, crushing the air from her lungs. Brigid watched the beauty leak from her face until it was a hollow masque of rage.

“Release her!” the Faerie Queen screamed.

Whining like disappointed children, the Faerie reluctantly retreated, and Brigid rose shakily to her feet.

The Faerie Queen’s eyes flashed cruelly. “If you want him, come and claim him!”

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links

I think I became a writer because the world inside my head was so real and vivid, sometimes more so than the outside world. In some sense I have lived parallel lives, present in my real and imaginary lives in different ways. Because much of my childhood was spent searching for faeries or reading about them, it is natural that my work encompasses fairy tale themes and other magical elements. In the words of Tennessee Williams, forget reality, give me magic!
 

Adrienne has previously published short stories in The Storyteller, Beginnings Magazine, New Plains Review, and in the e-zines A Fly in Amber, Grim Graffiti, Les Bonnes Fees, The Altruist, The Devilfish Review, and Rose Red Review. Her short story, Falling was awarded second place in the 2008 Alice Munro short fiction contest. To Dance in Liradon is her first published novel.

An avid reader of fairy tales and other magical stories, a thread of the mysterious or unexpected runs through all of her work. When she’s not writing Adrienne can be found searching for faeries along with her daughters Callista and Juliet.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.adrienneclarkewriter.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/ToDanceInLiradon

Goodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6436251.Adrienne_Clarke

Twitter: https://twitter.com/clarkeadrienne

Purchase Links:

Amazon: US: http://www.amazon.com/To-Dance-in-Liradon-ebook/dp/B009F94I3W/ref=la_B009HWWMT4_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349915685&sr=1-1

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/To-Dance-in-Liradon-ebook/dp/B009F94I3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1349972228&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-dance-in-liradon-adrienne-clarke/1112975145?ean=2940015710045

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/To-Dance-in-Liradon/book-J5YVsQBAyU26uuplRq4VrQ/page1.html?s=KS-iLsIhp0GoqVUvE-QpvA&r=1"