Free Books – Load up your E-Reader for Christmas

Do you love exploring?

Imagine all the worlds out there waiting for you…

Actually, you don’t have to do the hard work of imagining them yourself. Authors that have done that for you — by creating amazing worlds that you can explore. Imagine that!

WIN!

With 49 free books on offer and a chance to win a $25 gift card, you’re bound to find something you love to read over Christmas — military thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, dragon riders, paranormal, sword, sorcery & archery. There’s even a unicorn lurking on one of the covers in the background, and a zombie staring out of another.

Three New Zealand authors feature in this promotion, too.

So, if you like your kiwi military thrillers gritty and dark, check out Into The Darkness by Lee Murray. For humorous sword and sorcery, try The Secret Child by A.J. Ponder. Also check out Teyla Branton’s The Change, a paranormal urban fantasy with an intriguing cover. And plenty more!

You might even find one of my dragons lurking there! It could even be a bronze one who’s lost his rider…

Click here or click the image below to try your free books and WIN, because if you receive a gift card or not, it’s still a WIN with your e-reader full of books for the holiday break.

18 November 201818 November 2018

Check Out the Photos – NZ Launch – Riders of Fire

Riders of Fire Launch Photos

We had a great Riders of Fire launch today, with archery, sword fighting, dragon crafts, a treasure hunt and medieval costumes. It was wonderful to see everyone having fun and really cool to share Dragons’ Realm with them.

Giant John led us in archery.The target?

Well, here he is. I don’t know what he did to deserve that role…But he performed admirably! Even though archers big…

… and archers small, took shots at him.

Luckily his body armour didn’t get pierced!

And the winner of the archery contest?

Well, here’s why Isaac did so well. Arrow nocked, sighted… and fired…… with great trajectory and even better facial expression!Our local journalist came long to interview the teens who’d read the book!

There were dragonets…

…and a definite cosplay winner!

Company of the Dragons sent Tara and ‘Fluffy’ to fight the people…

Giant John just couldn’t resist the challenge.

The sword fighting was intense …

So was the book signing!

The treasure hunt was made possible courtesy of Ava Fairhall…

…who created an oversized map of Dragons’ Realm in brilliant colour…

…which even teens wanted for their bedroom walls! (I’ll post about the map-making journey soon!)

Ava hid 5 tiny, -well-disguised treasure chests on the map… which kept everyone busy. The winner had a keen eye and a fast pen, skills needed by every dragon rider!

More winners…

Kids made their own dragon wings and flappable dragons…

…even big kids! I mean, who doesn’t want to be a dragon, right?

We had a blast. The whole community pulled together to make this happen—from my fantastic cover artist, Christian, in the Philippines, to my family, the archers and human target, our sword fighters, map maker, editors, critique partners and caterer! A big THANK YOU to everyone who made this launch possible. A special thank you to my business partner, A.J. Ponder, my teen beta readers Ash, Lisa and Denika, and all of my readers and reviewers! Without you, none of this would be possible.

To all of my readers: enjoy your adventures with Riders of Fire!

Ezaara & Dragon Hero, with Dragon Rift & Dragon Strike in 2019.

Don’t miss out. Join my reader’s group here, for my free Riders of Fire stories, Silver Dragon & Bronze Dragon, coming soon. Thanks again for being part of this wonderful, supportive community.

14 November 2018

4 More Sleeps to Go! Riders of Fire Launch!

The books! The books are here! So exciting!

Riders of Fire have landed!

Imagine my surprise when I got home from work and found nine boxes and a poster roll sitting in my porch among the muddy gardening gumboots!

So I opened a box and Dragon Hero leapt out, roaring! Well, okay Maazini wasn’t roaring, but maybe I was! By the way, this blog post is brought you courtesy of the exclamation mark! Oops, there goes another one!

Not one to let her twin brother have all the fun, Ezaara thought she’d get in the action, too!

Yes! they’re home at last! So, why all the raving and exclamation marks?

It’s been nine and a half years since I started this series. Years of plotting planning and scheming to bring these babies into the world. Don’t panic, you won’t have to wait years for Dragon Rift, book 3 in the Riders of Fire series. It should be out in the first quarter of 2019.

Ezaara and Dragon Hero will be the guests of honour at the Riders of Fire book launch in Wellington, New Zealand (yes, that’s Middle Earth) this Saturday. We’ve hired a bowling green to host you (yes, you’re really the guests of honour, not the books) so everyone can have a turn at archery and sword fighting. Hopefully, no foam swords will be harmed in the launching of these books!

Here’s the bowling green, just waiting for us! Come and brighten up the green with your favourite costumes, archery and sword fighting skills. We will have a few extra costumes for people to try.

With only 4 more sleeps to go, I thought I’d share an article from the Brooklyn Tattler, our local magazine. (It’s actually 3 sleeps here in NZ, but 4 in the USA—I missed posting this yesterday).

For those keen on seeing the map snippets, I’ll be posting one later today in the ‘3 sleeps to go’ post.

Have fun and see you on Saturday, if not in person, then afterwards, online!

4 November 2018

Chatting with Sherri – dragons!

Today, Sunday, at 3pm New Zealand time, or Saturday 7pm Californian time yesterday, I’ll be on air with Sherri Rabinowitz on her show on Chatting with Sherri, hosted at BlogTalk Radio.

It like being a time-traveller, speaking on radio today and knowing that people in America will be hearing us yesterday! Yeah, we kiwis always laugh at the confusion that our timezone creates in the rest of the world! Luckily, when you visit Sherri’s site, your local time shows so you’ll know when to tune in. Pop over and try it!

Sherri and I haven’t caught up for while, so we’ll be discussing all things dragons, including Ezaara and Dragon Hero, the new books in my young adult Riders of Fire Series, and why people like dragons.

You may even discover the crazy hobby I had that inspired me to write about dragons, a hobby that took me to Switzerland, where I met Kurt.

Enjoy the show and I’ll enjoy chatting with Sherri!

9 October 201810 October 2018

Ezaara – Riders of Fire, Book 1 is here

Ezaara

In Lush Valley, it’s a crime to even talk about dragons…

When Ezaara meets Zaarusha the Dragon Queen, she’s swept up in a blaze of emotion and they imprint, forming a deep bond. But she must give up her home, her family and everything she knows to become the new Queen’s Rider. Ignorant and unprepared, how can she possibly succeed?

Luckily, she has a dragon master — although rumors say that with help like his, maybe she’d be better off with the enemy.

Plunged into a world of cutthroat politics and traitors in every shadow, who can Ezaara trust as Commander Zens and his army of bestial tharuks march closer, destroying villages and enslaving the people of Dragons’ Realm?

What personal price must Ezaara and her Dragon Master pay to save their people?

Do you love heart-pounding adventure, true love and dragons? Start your adventure today! Pre-order on Amazon, now, at a special price!

The special price of 99 cents is only valid until 18 October 2018. Afterwards, Ezaara will be listed at $US 3.99. Click this link to start your dragon riding adventure!

Then scroll down to get my free short story, Silver Dragon.

Ezaara has been a long time coming.

Nine years ago, I decided to write a book. When I began, the only thing I could see was the edge of a dragon’s multicolored wingtip. So I had to start asking questions.

Who does the wingtip belong to?

A dragon, Zaarusha, the Queen of Dragons’ Realm.

Who is seeing the wingtip?

A teenage girl, Ezaara, who isn’t even sure if dragons exist.

Where is she?

In a clearing in a forest.

What happens next?

She imprints with the dragon, forming a deep and everlasting bond. Ezaara is ripped out of her life in the sleepy backwater of Lush Valley, where it’s a crime to even talk about dragons, and plunged into a world of danger, deception and adventure.

Why does the dragon choose her?

Her mother has a dark and terrible secret that she’s hidden from Ezaara and her twin brother, Tomaaz. A secret that defines who they are. A secret that rips their family apart, throwing them into the jaws of malevolent enemies.

A secret that spawns the series, Riders of Fire.

Book 1: Ezaara
Book 2: Dragon Hero — 8 November 2018
Book 3: Dragon Rift — early 2019
Book 4: Dragon Strike — mid 2019

Riders of Fire Novellas, coming in 2019:

Book 5: Dragon Healer
Book 6: Dragon Mage
Book 7: Dragon Calls

Stay tuned, because I’ll be giving away a free short story, Silver Dragon. You can sign up to receive your copy here.

Fans of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Riders of Pern and Christopher Paolini’s The Inheritance Cycle will love Riders of Fire.