Showing posts with label Thin Air. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thin Air. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 April 2012

Friendly Fire Blog Tour, Excerpt #5




I don't know if you remember, but I took part in the awesome Thin Air blog tour last year. I adored the book and couldn't wait for Friendly Fire. And now... it's here! Yess! And we have an oh-so-temping extract to read today!

Oh, and before we start, I must tell you about the awesome Blog Tour Grand Prize Giveaway! It's this gorgeous necklace!


To enter, comment on any of the blog tour posts!
Your comment is an entry for the grand prize giveaway!
The winner will be selected via random.org and
announced on These Paper Worlds
(But US/Canada Only!)

Now, enjoy the excerpt...

“I can’t leave you here,” I explained.

His gray eyes pierced mine defiantly. “Why not?”

“Because that awful man might come back and hurt you,” I said. “Besides, you’re cold, and I’m guessing you’re probably hungry as well.”

The boy’s lower lip trembled slightly, his eyes returning to his pants.

I continued cautiously, not knowing what might cause his temper to flare again. “I was once just as you are—when I first became human.”

His eyes grew large as he looked up at me. “How did you know?” he asked, softly.

“I can see what you were. You’ll gain that ability, too—in time.” I bent closer. “How long have you been here, on this plane of existence?”

“About three months,” he answered, tremulously. Tears moistened his eyes but he quickly blinked them away. “I think it’s been three months. It seems much longer, somehow.”

I stood up. “You must come with me, then,” I said, beckoning him with my hand. “We must care for our own, and I can’t let you starve on the street.”
“Were you…a salamander?” His eyes were beseeching now as they gazed up at me. He looked every bit the frightened, lonely child that he was.

“No, I was a sylphid, but it makes no difference.” I reached down and took his hand. It was cold and clammy. “Let me get you washed and fed. I’m sure I can find some clean clothes for you, too. You’ll see. You’ll feel so much better after you’ve freshened up and eaten something.”

Slowly, he rose to his feet. He was small, barely coming to my shoulder, and fine-boned. Without another word, he began to accompany me up the street, casting an occasional glance in my direction. We walked along Broadway, pausing at the corner of Prince Street for oncoming traffic before crossing.

“So, tell me, who helped you when you first arrived?” I couldn’t imagine Rose Quartz or Ignis leaving such a young, newly-transmuted individual to fend for themselves on the streets of New York City.

“Someone named Petris. A gnome, I think,” he answered. “He gave me these clothes, and some money.” He scowled as he studied the sidewalk. “It was all gone in a matter of a few days,” he added, shoving his hands into his pockets for warmth as he hunched against the night air. “I’ve been begging for money ever since.”

“I don’t know him,” I said. I suddenly realized I also didn’t know what to call this boy. “Have you a name?” I asked.

“I was called Calora,” he replied, with a hint of a smile. “Now, I go by Ashen. Ashen Blaise. But people usually just call me Ash.”

“I like that name,” I said. “I’m Alice Ayre. It’s nice to meet you, Ash.”

His eyes flitted to me. “Nice to meet you,” he muttered, before looking away again.


Previous Stop on the Friendly Fire Blog Tour: Everything To Do With Books
Next Stop on the Friendly Fire Blog Tour: Book Briefs
See all the stops: These Paper Worlds


I loved this extract!  I can't wait to read it!
All of you, hope you enjoyed this! Check out Thin Air and Friendly Fire on Goodreads! And check out Lynn's Blog, Site, Facebook and Twitter account! Oh, and thanks to the amazing tour hosts at These Paper Worlds

Friday, 20 April 2012

Friendly Fire Blog Tour: The Mythology Behind the Books


I don't know if you remember, but I took part in the awesome Thin Air blog tour last year.  I adored the book and couldn't wait for Friendly Fire.  And now... it's here!  Yess!  And the lovely author Lynn Seresin is here to tell us all about the mythology in the two books!

Oh, and before we start, I must tell you about the awesome Blog Tour Grand Prize Giveaway!  It's this gorgeous necklace!


To enter, comment on any of the blog tour posts!
Your comment is an entry for the grand prize giveaway!
The winner will be selected via random.org and
announced on These Paper Worlds
(But US/Canada Only!)


Thin Air (Thin Air Saga, #1)

The Mythology behind THIN AIR and FRIENDLY FIRE:

The mythology behind THIN AIR and FRIENDLY FIRE is rooted in a time when men of learning struggled to understand what made up the world around them. Without the benefit of scientific equipment, they could only apply their limited understanding to their direct observations of nature.

The idea of four elements comprising the natural and material world—earth, fire, wind, and air—dates back to the ancient Greeks. It was their belief that all matter, living and inanimate, was comprised of some combination of these four building blocks. However, it took a learned man from the Renaissance to bestow “personalities” to the elements. It is his elaboration on ancient tradition that my books—and any other books about elementals—owe their origin.

Paracelsus (1493-1541), born Phillippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, was a Swiss-born physician, botantist, alchemist, astrologer, and occultist. He devised the notion that each of the elements could be personified by a group of beings, as real in substance as humans, but essentially invisible to the naked eye. He classified the four elements as follows:

Friendly Fire (Thin Air Saga, #2)Gnomes – Earth elementals. Their ruler is Gob.

Undines – Water elementals (this includes nymphs and mermaids). Their ruler is

Sylphs – Air elementals. Their ruler is Paralda.

Salamanders – Fire elementals. Their ruler is Djin

It is important to remember that these mythological beings are not represented by the tangible aspect of the element they belong to. For instance, the wetness of water, or the searing heat of fire can’t be identified as an undine or salamander, respectively. Rather, they are the “spiritual” non-physical essence of the element, made up of a ubiquitous substance called ether. They are present when we encounter water or fire; without them, these elements wouldn’t exist. They embody their element, but they can’t be physically experienced the way any of the four elements can. It’s a difficult concept to get your mind around. It helped me to think of these beings as protectors of their element.

Anything else you read in either THIN AIR or FRIENDLY FIRE is an embellishment from my own imagination. I haven’t read anything to suggest that elementals can transmute from their ethereal state to a physical, human one. I made that up. But I loved the idea of this sort of alternate society living right under our noses, made up of beings that, for whatever reason, chose to take on a human form and live among us. While I don’t believe in elementals, I think it would be amazing if they existed.

Previous Stop on the Friendly Fire Blog Tour: Everything To Do With Books
Next Stop on the Friendly Fire Blog Tour: Book Briefs
See all the stops: These Paper Worlds

Thank you so much for stopping by Lynn!
All of you, hope you enjoyed this!  Check out Thin Air and Friendly Fire on Goodreads!  And check out Lynn's Blog, Site, Facebook and Twitter account!  Oh, and thanks to the amazing tour hosts at These Paper Worlds!  Keep an eye out - the tour will be stopping by here again soon! :D

Monday, 17 October 2011

Thin Air Blog Tour: Review of Thin Air by Lynn Seresin


Before I start this review, here are some links for if you want to see more about Thin Air:

And, for a grand finale of this blog tour, there will be the Grand Prize.  The winner shall receive a signed, paperback copy of Thin Air and a pair of specially made earrings! 
To win, you have to find the red letters.  Not all the blogs will have one, but they will pop up, and when they do, the letter will be in bold and will be red.  It should look like this:
"This is how the blog tour post should look like. Then there's a bunch of content here, and somewhere in the middle, the blogger will just bold and put in red their letter."
You need to write them down, as these letters should make up two words.  So just collect them all, and fill out this Form
Now, my review....


Series: Air, Book One
Publisher: Self
Format: Kindle
Published: 2nd August 2011
Number of Pages: 437
Book: For Review From Author*
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Mythical, Magic, Fairy Tale, Paranormal, Dark Romance, Action, YA
Recommended Age: 14+
Contains: Strong Violence, Death, Sex (not adult fiction sex, but stronger than some YA), Mild Swearing, Alcohol References
No Drug References
Author's Blog: No Blog, But Here's Her Twitter: @lynnsere

May Contain Mild Spoilers (Though No More Given In the Full Version of the Synopsis)

Synopsis From Goodreads:
Alice Ayre is no ordinary teenager. She took her first name from a statue in Central Park, pulled her name out of the air (literally), got her clothing from a homeless woman who had once been a gnome, and she's actually almost a thousand years old. In fact, the only "ordinary" thing about Alice is that she's hopelessly in love.

                                                                   Review:
Aeris is a sylphid, a spirit of the air.  She is considered especially beautiful, even for her fair kind, and is desired by all the sylphs, even King Paralda himself.  But none of them are of any interest to her.  Until Aeris does the forbidden: she falls in love with a human called Daniel.  All she longs for is to have the chance to be with him, but as a sylphid, that is impossible.  So Aeries makes the only choice that seems bearable for her, even though it has been banned by Paralda.  She chooses to be transmuted – transformed into a flesh-and-blood human.  Changing her name to Alice Ayre, she sets out to find her love.  The worst she was expecting was that she would have to compete with Daniel’s current girlfriend.  Instead, her past catches up with her.  And it will not let go, will not go away, until…
I expected an airy-fairy tale when I picked Thin Air up.  That was not what I got.  Sure, there were fairy beings.  But there were also humans.  There was the worst of humanity – assault, death – and the best – love, hope, friendship.  Altogether, this combination of magic and realism was outstanding – above and beyond anything I expected.  It had the beauty of faeries and a gritty realism that almost made everything one-hundred-per-cent believable.
Aeris was rather proud, although she loved her friend Tempesta, her home and her sister spirits.  And she really did love what she was – being at one with the air.  She was so full of life, of passion, so strong.  Once human, Alice Ayre became less proud and more vulnerable.  Some of her reactions to human things were really cute and funny!  Although, some of them were totally cringe worthy.  She was really naïve, yet really mature at the same time.  I can’t wait to see where her character goes.  The one thing I hope for?  That she may be more sure in herself, more confident in her strength.  She was just a little damsel-in-distress at times…  Which was unnecessary, ‘cause she was stronger than she thought she was… 
Daniel Field was a sweetie, artistic, a musician.  He was really nice to Alice, even when she made big blunders.  And he was the cutest!  I mean, he had a collection of pigs.  And he named them.  How adorable?  I love him.  He was strong, sweet, accepting, darn adorable.  The dream boyfriend.  The only thing he may lack: witty sarcasm!   Which is made up for by…
Dante Sinclair, who was wonderful.  He was warm, fun, sweet and great.  And he was in the theatre program at NYU, “studying to be a drama queen”.  Plus: such a sweetie!  He was hilarious, slightly snarky and eccentric.  And my own personal favourite!     Dante rocks!
The rest of the characters were wonderful, a wide variety of personalities.  Shane, Dante’s wonderful boyfriend, who had a snake called Lady Gag-Gag (he and Dante were the cutest!).  Wren, who was blind and got “feelings” that were never wrong.  Her boyfriend, Nicky, who was a real sweetie.  The rich Giovanni Accello, jolly, kind and an aspiring jeweller.  Delilah, Daniel’s girlfriend, who was cold, evil, possessive and plain horrible (in my opinion).  And another favourite of mine, who wasn’t in it much at all: Terra, an air spirit who helped Alice out at the beginning.  I loved him, and would really, really like to see more of him in the next book… (hint, hint).
What was amazing about this book was the world Seresin created.  All the different beings were intriguing.  The sylphids and sylphs of the air.  The undine of the water.  The gnomes of the earth.  The salamanders of the fire.  Flower spirits.  Forest spirits.  For them, there was no death, no pain, no hunger.  They were practically immortal. And, of course, the whole seeing-the-world-through-a-spirit’s-eyes was fascinating.  Aeris had no idea what pain was, or hunger.  She had no clue about anything.  I mean, she didn’t know what a statue was. 
This was a great read.  It was addictive and new: wonderful.  I may not have been a big fan of the violence, but – while it shocked me at times – it was needed in an odd way.  Alice had to see the bad side to get the most from the good side, if that makes any sense.  Horrible, yes.  But Alice just had to know – how horrible humans can be, I mean.
As for the writing… it was beautiful, lyrical and so Alice.  I was entranced by its style, actually stunned.  From the way this lady writes, this book should be sitting on a shelf at Waterstones, if you ask me.  She even made love-at-first-sight work!  Which is, as many of us know, an impressive, impressive success.  Still not 100% convinced by the sex scene... it didn't really seem to fit, in my opinion...  And, while some twists were rather obvious, others took me completely by surprise.  ‘Though, I gotta say, not entirely convinced by the justice in the book…
Even so, I can’t wait to see what Lynn brings out next – especially if it has Dante and Alice and Daniel in it!  (And maybe Terra?)  I loved the airy-fairy side to the story: the romance, the characters.  The humanity was shown at its best, its worst.  It was completely new and different.  I can’t wait for Friendly Fire!

Star Rating:
4 Out of 5



Previous stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: Silver Thistles
Next stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: Words That Fly
To see all taking part in the Thin Air Blog Tour, Go to The Magic Attic


Read this book if you liked:
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen


Challenges It's Taking Part In:
Happy Reading
Megan
* This book was received from author in exchange for an honest review

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Thin Air Blog Tour: Author Interview


Before I hand over to Lynn, I'd like to say how nice it is to have her here!  Also, if you want to see more about Thin Air, go to any of these links:

And, for a grand finale of this blog tour, there will be the Grand Prize.  The winner shall receive a signed, paperback copy of Thin Air and a pair of specially made earrings! 
To win, you have to find the red letters.  Not all the blogs will have one, but they will pop up, and when they do, the letter will be in bold and will be red.  It should look like this:
"This is how the blog tour post should look like. Then there's a bunch of content here, and somewhere in the middle, the blogger will just bold and put in red their letter."
You need to write them down, as these letters should make up two words.  So just collect them all, and fill out this Form
Now I've said all that, I'll hand over to Lynn, with her 10 Little-Know Facts...

 
When did you first realise that you wanted to be an author?
I started writing and illustrating my own books as soon as I was able to string written words into sentences. I actually have a number of my early literary efforts. My first book, written when I was about six or seven, was titled “The Fairy of the Sea”. I also wrote a book when I was a little older called “The Prism of True” about a little girl who looks through a prism and when she takes it away, discovers herself in a magical world. They’re pretty hilarious! I wrote poetry and short stories throughout my school years and majored in English as an undergraduate at NYU. I guess you could say writing’s been a lifelong interest, but I only started making money at it when I became a freelance children’s book writer.

The world you created, the mythology used, was just incredible and completely new to me.  There were so many wonderful new creatures.  Can you give us a couple of examples of which were inspired by folklore and which you came up with yourself?
The four classifications of elemental beings—sylphs, undines, gnomes, and salamanders—are based on an existing mythology dating back to the fifteenth century. The general look of sylphs (and sylphids) remains pretty close to the source material, as does the physical description of gnomes, undines, and salamanders. The rulers of each realm—Gob, Paralda, and Djin—are documented as well. I’m pretty sure the idea of an elemental becoming human through Gob’s magic is my own invention, however. Gob, the gnome king (and source of the word “goblin”) does hold dominion over earth and flesh, but he isn’t bestowed with any special transmutational powers in the literature as far as I know.

I loved all of the characters you created, but do you have a favourite and why?
I feel particularly close to Alice. No big surprise; she is the main character. But I think she embodies many of the qualities—and conflicts—that teenagers of every generation experience. She’s mature (one thousand years mature!) on one level, and incredibly naive and childlike on another. She desperately wants to fit in and be accepted, but she’s unsure how society works and is often terrified of making a mistake. And she doesn’t fully understand herself, or her powers. Aren’t teenagers a lot like that? Mature one moment, childish the next. Pining for acceptance while struggling to embrace adulthood. Alice is very much caught between two worlds, and I think that sums up the adolescent experience beautifully.

If you could be any elemental from your world, which would you be?  An air spirit, earth, water…?
Definitely an air spirit. They’re beautiful and they can fly! How cool is that?

If Thin Air was made into a film, do you have any actors or actresses in mind to play your characters?
I visualize Daniel as looking like Kevin Zegers (courtesy of a blogger who selected Kevin as the face of Daniel in her “Book Boyfriend” post). He’s absolutely gorgeous! As for Alice, I’m torn between two choices—Amanda Seyfried and Mia Wasikowska. Each has the kind of ethereal, delicate beauty that would suit Alice perfectly. I’m not sure who’d I choose to play Wren, Nicky, Giovanni, or Shane, but I’d definitely want Adam Lambert to play Dante. After all, he was the inspiration for the character of Dante!

The RoadThin Air is a faerie-type novel, but what is your favourite genre to read about? 
Lately, my reading time is limited (when I’m reading, I can’t be writing), so I read YA almost exclusively as a way of keeping a pace with the market. I’ve always been a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan, so I tend to gravitate toward paranormal romances (with and without vampires!) and dystopian fantasies. I love to be drawn into worlds different than my own, and nothing accomplishes that better than a well-written fantasy book. The last “adult” book I read was “The Road”, by Cormac McCarthy. Very dark and post-apocalyptic. It was astonishing!!!

What is your favourite book of all time and why?
I’m not sure how to answer that one, since I like different books for different reasons. I guess I’d have to say “Charlotte’s Web” if I was forced to choose. As a child, I re-read it so many times I could recite the first chapter by heart. And I cried my eyes out every time I came to the part where Charlotte dies.


Do you have any strange writing habits?  Do you need a song, a special pen…?
I write on my laptop in a room tucked away in the corner of my house, away from distractions. I prefer silence, although I can write with music or even the TV on, if I’m really caught up in a scene. Generally, two of our pets keep me company—Dudley, our black Lab, and Layla, who’s a 4.5 pound teacup Chihuahua. She curls up and sleeps beside me.

What are you planning on doing next?  Do you see many more books in this series or do you think you’ll move away from this topic and onto a new world?
I’m working on the next book in the Thin Air saga—“Friendly Fire”. The first chapter is published as a teaser at the back of “Thin Air”. I’ve always envisioned the series as consisting of four books—one for each element. The future of the series obviously depends on how well “Thin Air” and “Friendly Fire” are received. I’m also working on another series—a trilogy involving witchcraft and time travel. I’m about two-thirds of the way through the first draft of the first book in that series. However, I set it aside to write “Friendly Fire” when I decided to self-publish “Thin Air.”

Can you give the readers a quick description of Thin Air before you go?  A feel of the story, the world, the beings…
Imagine “The Little Mermaid” set in contemporary society, featuring an air spirit rather than a mermaid in the title role, and lots of tattoos and piercings. Now cross that with some spicy love scenes, a touch a gritty realism, and a Greenwich Village setting, and you’ll get a feel for “Thin Air”.  I like to characterize it as a modern-day fairytale for young adults ages 15 and up with just enough whimsy to make it magical, and just enough realism to make it relevant.


Well, it's been a pleasure to have you, Lynn, and I'll most certainly be looking forward to Friendly Fire

Previous stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: The Awesome Magic Attic
Next stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: Everything To Do With Books
To see all taking part in the Thin Air Blog Tour, Go to The Magic Attic
Happy Reading
Megan


Saturday, 8 October 2011

Thin Air Blog Tour: 10 Little-Known Facts About THIN AIR and Me (Lynn Seresin, Its Author)


Before I hand over to Lynn, I'd like to say how nice it is to have her here!  Also, if you want to see more about Thin Air, go to any of these links:

And, for a grand finale of this blog tour, there will be the Grand Prize.  The winner shall receive a signed, paperback copy of Thin Air and a pair of specially made earrings! 
To win, you have to find the red letters.  Not all the blogs will have one, but they will pop up, and when they do, the letter will be in bold and will be red.  It should look like this:
"This is how the blog tour post should look like. Then there's a bunch of content here, and somewhere in the middle, the blogger will just bold and put in red their letter."
You need to write them down, as these letters should make up two words.  So just collect them all, and fill out this Form
Now I've said all that, I'll hand over to Lynn, with her 10 Little-Know Facts...
 


(1)
I earned a teaching degree about five years ago. Though I never officially had my own classroom, I worked as a substitute elementary school teacher for a year and student-taught in a kindergarten classroom. The kids were so adorable!

(2)
After leaving a career in children’s publishing, I earned a Masters in Psychology and worked in a psychiatric day-treatment program with chronic schizophrenics. It was the hardest and most rewarding job I’ve ever had.

(3)
THIN AIR almost didn’t get published. It actually sat in my computer for over a year before I decided to self-publish it. I’m really glad I did. Overall, the reactions to my book have been very positive and heart-warming.

(4)
I actually lifted the characters of Dante, Shane, Wren, and Nicky from another novel I’d written that I had decided against publishing. I really liked the characters, though, and I didn’t want to waste them!

(5)
My first book, written and illustrated when I was six years old, was called “The Fairy of the Sea”. I still have it. I guess even then I was drawn to the fey and winged beings!

(6)
The face of Alice on the front cover of THIN AIR belongs to my beautiful, sixteen-year- old daughter, Chloe.

(7)
Chloe is actually a brunette with hazel eyes. We changed her hair color to blonde and gave her blue eyes in Photoshop to match Alice’s coloring.

(8)
In addition to an assortment of flowers and two hummingbirds, I have eight tattoos of butterflies on my body, one of which looks a lot like the butterfly on the cover of THIN AIR.

(9)
I grew up in New York City’s Greenwich Village and actually attended NYU as an undergraduate (for a BA in English) and graduate (for a MA in Psychology) student.

(10) All of the restaurants and stores mentioned in THIN AIR are based on actual locales (in
some cases, the names were slightly altered), except for Gladiolus. The tiny boutique where
Alice gets her tarot read by Minerva is completely fictitious.
Previous stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: Inklings Read
Next stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: The Life of Fiction
To see all taking part in the Thin Air Blog Tour, Go to The Magic Attic
Happy Reading
Megan

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Upcoming Thin Air Blog Tour


From October 3rd to 31st, Sundays not included, the blog tour of Thin Air by Lynn Seresin will take place.  There will be lots of cool things, from giveaways to interviews, guest posts to reviews.
And, as a grand finale of sorts, there will be the Grand Prize.  The winner shall receive a signed, paperback copy of Thin Air and a pair of specially made earrings!


To win, you have to find the red letters.  Not all the blogs will have one, but they will pop up, and when they do, the letter will be in bold and will be red.  It should look like this:

"This is how the blog tour post should look like. Then there's a bunch of content here, and somewhere in the middle, the blogger will just bold and put in red their letter."

You need to write them down, as these letters should make up two words.  So just collect them all, and fill out this Form

I'll be taking part in this tour three times, but to see who else is and when, go to the host blog, The Magic Attic.

Good luck everyone, and enjoy! :D
Happy Reading
Megan