About the Book:
Skinshifters are a curse. The Asheken deadwalkers proved that fact when they used skinshifters to spy against the Sylvan races during the Second War of Ages. Now, after three centuries of peace, the deadwalkers have found a secret way back onto the Sylvan Continent and this time they seek not just to conquer their enemies, but to enslave them body and soul. When the Feliconas Clan suffers the deadwalkers’ first raid, one werecat—a skinshifter who has concealed her abilities—survives the massacre. Even as Katja struggles with her grief and guilt over her murdered kin, she must unite with other Sylvan refugees to defeat the deadwalkers before they can butcher and defile the other races. But can this skinshifter trust her newfound allies or will their secrets prove even more treacherous than her own?
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“As involved as it is vividly eloquent, Alycia Christine’s Skinshifter…is fueled by engagingly twisted fantasy elements, vivid imagery, appealing characters, rousing adventure and terse storytelling.” –Bestsellers World
“Action is well done, tension is wonderfully detailed and maintained throughout, and fantasy readers will find in Katja an appealing, believable character whose quest and concerns drive a story line that is vivid, accessible, and involving.” –D. Donovan, Senior eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
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Excerpt;
Skinshifter Novel
Excerpt #2: “This is Her Past…”
Katja felt bright blades of green grass
whipping wet past her furry flanks as she sprinted through their
midst. The sun overhead was bright with warmth emanating through the
thin clouds encircling its edge. She sniffed the rich air. It was
alive with scents of salty sea, silky sand, glossy grass, singing sea
birds, fresh fruits, and seedling sap. She looked over the escarpment
toward the sea. There was a storm closing fast over its boiling
waters. The wind howled and shrieked as it bore bulging black clouds
weeping angrily within its clutches. She ran for cover under a tree
and flinched back as a bolt of white fire singed a barrier at her
feet. The tree was struck to pieces by the lightning’s blow and her
only other choice was to dive for cover in an abandoned badger
burrow.
She lunged toward its safely just as
the sky’s white wrath attacked again and found herself in a small
cave with intricate symbols carved in a circle around its walls. As
she watched, the symbols began to glow with the same fire that she
had stepped through upon her entrance to Crown Canyon. The symbols
lifted themselves off the stone walls and began to spin in the air
around her, growing brighter and moving faster until they formed a
solid ring with her as their center.
Suddenly the ground beneath her shook
and an altar sprouted under her paws. A smooth green emerald
blossomed in its center. She picked up the stone and held it close as
the altar melted back into the floor and a voice called in the
shadows before her.
“This is your future.”
She saw herself reflected in the
stone’s silky surface, not as she was, but with a human’s head
attached to her werecat body, a segmented black tail curving up from
her backside, and a terrible fury haunting her glowing green eyes.
The dream’s image faded away to be replaced with the likeness of a
powerfully-built werewolf with azure-emerald eyes, standing fully
erect on his back paws, with a huge double-bladed war axe covered in
ancient runes held ready in his furry forepaws.
Next she knelt in a dark castle
corridor with grand buttresses looming over her. A red carpet marked
a path to a closed door. At her touch, the door creaked open to
reveal a red carpeted room beyond with a full-length mirror standing
in its ancient iron frame. Someone was inside the room with the
mirror, but the doorframe blocked the being from her view.
“This is her past,” called the
voice.
For a moment the mirror reflect only
blackness, then it seemed to be a window. Through its surface she
spied a midnight storm breaking over a castle by the sea. She felt
herself being sucked into the scene as a bolt of lightning struck a
section of the castle’s battlements. Two horses bearing cloaked
riders galloped wildly through the castle’s war-torn gates and out
onto the castle clearing toward the sanctuary of the forest far in
front of them.
Arrows arced from the unscathed section
of battlements and rained down upon the racing fugitives. Three
arrows struck one rider—a valet wearing the old royal Tyglesean
coat of arms—and sent him tumbling to his death as the other rider
wailed in anguish. The survivor’s hood snapped back in a gust of
wind and Katja spied a human female who resembled Lauraisha in all
features save nose shape, hair color, and eye hue.
“Arlis!” the female screamed as she
escaped with both horses into the sheltering edge of trees.
“Time grows short!” the dream-voice
called. “Come quickly before all is lost…”
*
Katja gasped awake. She wiped cold
sweat from her brow and sensed the human across the lake do the same.
Together they stared unseeing at their surroundings as the last
remnant of dream faded from their shared vision. Their minds’
magical bond lasted only a moment after consciousness, and then it
was as insubstantial as the mournful wind wailing just outside the
werecat’s new den.
About the Author:
Alycia Christine grew up near the dusty cotton fields of Lubbock, Texas. She fell in love with fantasy and science fiction stories when her father first read Gordon R. Dickson’s THE DRAGON AND THE GEORGE and Robert A. Heinlein’s HAVE SPACESUIT—WILL TRAVEL to her at age ten. Her love-affair with fiction deepened when Alycia took a creative writing course while attending Texas A&M University. After that class, she was hooked as a writer for life. Her subsequent B.S. degree in agricultural journalism not only helped to hone Alycia’s skills with a pen, but also with a camera. Today she uses her skills as a photographer to capture the beauty of the world around her and add additional perspective to her fiction and nonfiction writing. Find her at http://www.alyciachristine.
Website | Twitter @AlyciaCZS | Facebook
GIVEAWAY:
Four (4) special Book Bundles that contain a $25 gift card, an eBook copy of Skinshifter, and an eBook copy of The Dryad's Sacrifice (prelude novella) (INT)
Ends Oct. 14
Prizing is provided by the author, hosts are not responsible.
This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.
Thank you for these generous gifts!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting a tour stop!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed learning about the book. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt! This book sounds like a very interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI am going to love reading this. Your books have that great plot, and I thank you for the writings.
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