#Books #EpicFantasy @GoddessFish

A fantastic read for the fantasy lovers.

Blood of Azure Series by Jonathan J. Michael, and its second book released in March in the Epic fantasy genre.

BLOOD OF AZURE SERIES

Four races with powers dictated by the seasons seek balance and prosperity. However, life instinctively primes itself for survival, and when one race commands the touch of death, all others fall in line. Tyranny plagues Azure as an immortal ruler governs the knowledge of the seasons and those wielding its power.

Four young protagonists, Stone, Jaymes, Goose, and Astor, each navigate their way to escape his shadow and reclaim their freedom. Simple ambitions for young souls. But little did they know, they would uncover the secrets the realm is built upon, and the unique talents they each carry. Their ignorance allows the knowledge of the seasons to escape into the world around them little by little, and with it, a power loosing anarchy upon the realm. A power most aren’t worthy of wielding. It is up to Stone and his companions to tame that power and reclaim the balance.

Four seasons to balance the land. Four sages to balance the life.

BLURB: SEASON OF SACRIFICE, BOOK 1

Courage is for the bold. It is not for Stone McLarin. He’s been in hiding for four seasons after being orphaned by the Taoiseach. He doesn’t care for the heroic antics of avenging his parent’s death or securing his freedom. He only desires one thing—to protect his sister’s life.

This proves challenging when his sister, Jaymes, possesses a rivaling power of decay to that of the tyrant ruler’s. She’s a threat to his dominance, and there will be no escaping his shadow.

When the Taoiseach manipulates his way into Jaymes’s life and steals her away, Stone has no choice but to follow. He must venture into the heart of the tyrant’s domain and figure out how to penetrate the impenetrable. And if he succeeds there, he will have to slay the most powerful man in Azure.

In a world ruled by decay, what chance does life stand?

Season of Sacrifice is part one of the Blood of Azure series—an epic fantasy full of grim encounters, heroic adventures, unique magic, and a captivating world to explore.

Author’s Note: Contains explicit language and some graphic descriptions.

BLURB: SEASON OF SUFFERING, BOOK 2

A villain in his own mind, Stone McLarin is labeled the hero for murdering a man.

Not only is Stone weighted down as a hero, but he’s idolized by the dominant religion, and he’s the sole protector of the knowledge of the ages. The pressure of the entire realm is on his shoulders.

Carib Reign, a shapeshifter building an army of immortals, plans to purge the Crimson Capital to find this hidden knowledge. His motive, to give the people of Azure the freedom they deserve.

With many adventures along the way, Stone will lead the charge to defend the Crimson Capital against the Immortal Army. Should he fail, anarchy is inevitable. Death for all Azure, a possibility.

Where there is life, death anticipates. But what if death is abandoned? Life will rebel.

Season of Suffering is part two of the Blood of Azure series—an epic fantasy with both light and dark hearts. You’ll experience many fantasy tropes, clashing swords, unique magic, fantastical beasts, and a wide range of Azure’s scenic terrain.

Author’s Note: Contains explicit language and some graphic descriptions.

SEASON OF SUFFERING – GOOSE

The foul beast plows through the underbrush, giving none of his obstacles a chance for survival. And I’m in line to be one of them. 

Its aroma swoops into my nostrils, and dizziness strikes momentarily. I cannot see straight. I don’t remember the last encounter being this severe. I suppose, like any living thing, we’re not all made alike. And this one reeks.

The Cryptid hardly acknowledges me as I wobble in place. He pushes off me as if I were a tree and he were trying to get some leverage to burst forward. His meaty claw shoves right through me and lashes at my lower shoulder. A loud sound curdles from my throat. It’s an odd feeling these days—to use my vocal cords.

The beast stops in its tracks and turns to face me.

“Friend.” I speak, hoping it understands this language.

Its dark eyes glaring. Its teeth baring. Its smell daunting. It stands rigid and unmoving. An apex predator. A long moment passes as we both maintain eye contact.

“No time. Friend.” It finally replies, then turns to leave.

“Wait! I can help. Are there more of you? In danger, I mean.”

It looks over its shoulder with a subtle nod. Teeth still baring. Aroma still daunting. But its eyes are sad.

“Let me help.”

“Run.” It turns and hurdles through the undergrowth in a rush, disappearing behind the wood giants.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jonathan J Michael was born and raised in the greater Seattle area in the scenic state of Washington. Jonathan is an advocate of science, nature, and exploration, which has a heavy influence in his debut series, Blood of Azure.

When I drive down the freeway, I often want to veer onto the backroads and head for the mountains. When I’m at an evening gathering, I’m eager to step outside and gaze at the stars. When I’m on a ferry, I’m at the guardrail staring into the depths wondering what kind of leviathans lurk below. I’m an explorer, and since I’m not on the next Crew Dragon headed for the ISS, fantasy novels let me have what I seek. I write to explore a world of wonder.

~ Jonathan

Balancing Life and Writing

Can anyone truly give fool-proof advice on balancing life and writing? The answer is, no. A strong, hard, no. And the logic behind this is simple—every writer has a different story. But maybe you can extract something pertinent from this post.

Writers who write for a living are to be envied for obvious reasons—they get to write all day—but I’m sure there are aspects of their lives to be dreaded as well, such as blood, sweat, and tears, for this is their life. (I still have a day job, so this is mere assumption.) However, writers who write on the side with the continuation of a day job, are no different. They, too, have facets of their lives to be envied and dreaded. It doesn’t matter how much or how often you get to do what you love; you must always maintain a balance.

Preset the coffee pot the night before. Wakeup before the rest of the household. Quickly grab that favorite coffee mug and pour the best part of your day into it. Then, sit down and get to work. Don’t open Facebook. Don’t look at KDP reports. Just open your current work-in-progress and get to typing. You have roughly one hour before the distractions take hold. Go.

That’s my daily routine as it pertains to writing. Almost every single day of my life. I get a few more hours on the weekends, but hardly without distraction. First tip, find your routine. Routine will provoke habit. Habits are hard to break.

Be self-aware and understand your limitations help you maintain your sanity. Probe them and manipulate occasionally, but not without reflection. You need to maintain your health above anything else. You don’t have to compete with writers pumping out 1,000 words a day or a book a month. You will read this over and over on a billion different blogs. Write as much as you have time for. Anything is better than nothing. And it is all worth it, even if it is solely to keep your mind active. Determine what you have time for, then try to find that routine. I’m capable of writing anywhere from 500 to 1,000 words in my one hour I have every morning. But some days, I don’t write at all. Some days, I’m enveloped in marketing related tasks. Other days, I’m wrapped up in editing, which is challenging to put a word count to. But, as long as it is working toward your success, then you’re doing it right.

Last tidbit I can offer—which I don’t practice myself but know can be a valuable solution to some—is using S.M.A.R.T. goals. You can find examples of this all over the internet, and it can apply to any goal in life, short-term or long-term.

Specific: I will write the first draft of a 150,000-word epic fantasy novel.

Measurable: I will write 700 words each day, 6 days a week, for a total of 4,200 words per week. If I don’t achieve my goal one day, I will do what I can to make it up the next day. If it comes to a late night on a weekend or writing on the seventh day, that is the consequence for not achieving my goal.

Achievable: I can achieve 700 words per day by spending one hour of my morning, every morning, dedicated to writing. I may have to sacrifice 20 minutes of sleep, 20 minutes of exercise, and 20 minutes of diddle-daddling (or whatever it may be).

Relevant: 700 words per day is relevant to completing the novel. But some days I may have to dedicate those 700 words to character development (brainstorming, which won’t be in the final product). Leave a grace period in the time-bound portion of your goal. You’ll need it.

Time-bound: 150,000 words total. 4,200 words per week. Approximately 36 weeks. We can push this to 40 weeks to allow time for the nuances of creation. And feel free to book your editor well in advance to hold yourself accountable.

Smart goals work for some, not for others. Routine works for some, not for others. Ultimately, you must find your own balance to life and writing, but I do believe all three of these—routine, self-awareness, and smart goals—can be part of the equation.

SOCIAL LINKS

Website: https://jonathanjmichael.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.j.michael.author

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan_j_michael/

~*~

This post is part of a tour. The tour dates can be found here: 

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2022/03/fs-nbtm-blood-of-azure-series-by.html

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

• a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4139

~*~

http://www.goddessfish.com