Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Exclusive Bewitching Book Tours Excerpt Nine While Nine by Stasia Morineaux




I’m walking through an immense library with shelves that tower over me, their height reaching clear to the glass ceiling where endless stars shine through the velvety black sky and into the room. Their light dances upon my hair, my skin.
At the end of the room is a gleaming bronze spiral staircase leading to another tome-packed level. Lifting the hem of my long skirt, I place my feet carefully on the filigree metal and make my assent using the bannister to guide my way.
Never before have I seen a library of this magnitude in person. Never have I walked among so many books in such an awe-inspiring environment. Everything is warm colors of mahogany, bronze, and amber. And the stars. If only the steps I’m climbing could get me closer to that rich sky with its infinite curtain of illuminations.
My sight falls to the books on the shelves, an endless supply of reading material, none duplicated. As I run my fingers delicately over their spines, I tilt my head to better read the titles printed in gold there. The farther down the aisle I progress, I notice every title is one that I’ve read over the course of my life so far. They are in order from my earliest years until what I had been indulging in just last night as I fell asleep.
As I begin to pull a volume from its home, a door at the end of the passage pulls my attention. The nearby lamp’s ambient light glinting off its curve urges me to come closer.
The nearer I move toward the massive structure, the fuzzier my head becomes until a burst across the plains of my mind seizes the entire landscape, and everything around me dissolves into nothing. No, not nothing. What remains is the rippling indigo sky and the whispering stars. And the enormous circular bronze door.
Filling the inner space, inset into it, is a series of interconnected and locking complicated shapes of darkly shining metal. Elongated swirls and curves . .  . No, they’re branches and vines and leaves. All of them winding and twisting as if in the wind, an effortless dance of intricate lock art. But rather than the leaves falling from the branches, they shift and fall into place. I can hear the metal sliding and turning smoothly through the mechanisms, and when one reaches the designated spot a lilting click resounds, almost musical in its tink of metal against metal.
A few minutes pass before the door eases open several inches, revealing a vault. Beyond the door is a singular glowing light in the pitch darkness.
The stars grow louder. How is it they can whisper? I don’t understand what it is they say. They speak too softly, and yet with an urgency.
 I stretch my hand toward the vault to widen the opening, so I can see what lies inside. Even though their language is beyond me, I know this is what the stars are telling me to do.
As the distance grows smaller from my fingers to the door, my mind grows hazy and yet somehow sharper at the same time. The odor of the forest— oak moss, birch, cedar, pepper, and a mere clue of honeysuckle— swirls around me. Is it coming from the vault?
Darkness descends all around. I hear hooves pounding the earth far-off behind me but approaching fast. The slightest hint of trees begins to fill in the dark horizon, moonlight starts to filter down through the fiery leaves and green of the pine needles.
I can almost distinguish the impending figures of multiple horses in the distance. They have riders on their backs, but I can’t make them out. Should I remain or flee? My heart is racing, beating in time to the pounding of the horses’ feet.
I turn to run; I’m blocked. Standing immediately in front of me is Gideon. No, it’s not him. This man’s face is similar in structure, as is his stance, but the hair and eyes and his attire are all wrong to be Gideon. His hair is not deftly groomed dark locks, but rather a roughly tamed mane of gold and honey. His eyes are not the midnight sky, but sunshine-warmed amber. His clothing is not from my world or time. He’s wearing what seems to be armor of leather and a metal that looks to be bronze. He has a bow harnessed across his back and a broadsword in his hand.
Before my brain has a chance to tell my feet to move, his hands are in my hair pulling me gently closer to him. I feel his hands at the back of my head. His breath whispers against my ear, “You need to remember.”



Nine While Nine
The Nine While Nine Legacy
Book One
Stasia Morineaux
                              
Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy/
Contemporary Fantasy/Dark Fantasy

Publisher: Parliament House Press

Date of Publication: July 24, 2018

ASIN:  B07F2HC1ZX

Number of pages: 314
Word Count: 123,799

Formats available: eBook, Paperback

Cover Artist: Shayne Leighton

Tagline: Something Dark Is On Its Way

Book Description:

Isabeau Finne’s perfect world utterly unravels when she meets Death's right-hand man one fateful night, spiraling her life into a world of chaos and the impossible.

Suddenly, she is no longer Isabeau and becomes part of the most secretive inner-workings of Death itself, as well as an otherworldly dominion of ancient magic.

Now beings—which we were taught as children were merely fictional creations of wildly whimsical minds—are edging their way into her world as well.

Buggans and Kobolds and Vargs…oh my!

She yearns for the simplicity of her old life—this one is full of dangers, unanswered questions, and cryptic dreams.

After one particularly anomalous dream in which she learns of the Nine While Nine Legacy, things become truly precarious.

Now, someone sees her as a risk…a threat…and wants to eliminate her.

Fortunately, she falls under the protection of Gideon—unless she leaves his territory—which is the one thing she wants the most…and wants the least.

Nine While Nine is a dark urban/contemporary fantasy—a modern dark faerie tale—replete with dark adventure, mysticism, a romantic sub-plot, light horror, world-building, and a new mythology. Isabeau is a seemingly ordinary young woman, living in modern-day suburbia. Until she discovers who she truly is: A Sióg O'Cailleach. A witch of the Fae.


Paperback Available at Parliament House Press




About the Author:

Stasia Morineaux grew up in Southern California, pursuing faeries in the garden and seeking spirits in the local graveyard with her cat Bartleby; they also spent countless nights hunting down things that went bump!

She now resides in Asheville, North Carolina with her hubster and kidlet, as well as with a bevy of creatures…both real and “imaginary”.

Mysterious dreams, copious hours of awesome music, and obscene amounts of coffee fuel her writing sessions of paranormal, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, the supernatural...and sometimes even a sprinkling of chick lit!

In her spare time she likes to relax on her balcony, feet kicked up, listening to the squirrels arguing with the crows in her woods.









Tour giveaway

10 Lucky winners will get an eBook of Nine While Nine

There is a GRAND PRIZE too!

A signed, personalized paperback of NINE WHILE NINE and a Deluxe Mystery Box ($100 value) filled with NINE WHILE NINE inspired goodies from Hemlock and Blackthorn House (Incense, Candles, Bath Soaks, Oils, Teas, and much more!)

Contest closes at midnight on July 24th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No comments: