GFP Book Tour: At the Round Table & Giveaway with KH LeMoyne - Return of the Legacy

Welcome to Immortality and Beyond, my darker side. May I offer you a beverage? 

Oooh, so many options. I’ll have a tea and thank you so much for having me.

Thank you for taking time to chat with us today and now that we're all settled in my lair, I'm de-bite-fully glad you stopped in.

BK: Please tell us a little bit about your current release...

KH: Return of the Legacy is a fantasy romance and the first in the Portals of Destiny series. The series follows two families in their fight to protect the portals between magical worlds against an evil mage who will stop at nothing to absorb all the magical power in his path.

BK: What inspired this particular novel/book?

KH: I started on the Portals of Destiny many years ago. The historical embrace and rejection of magic over the centuries provided my framework for creating beings who fled to alternate magical worlds, the portals that secured those pathways, and an interlacing of Earth’s actual history. From there I researched magical elements, myth, and history, finally choosing the first of two families who would play the pivotal role in the series. Ironically, tarot cards gave me a visual idea for the four siblings from Tir Thar sought by the evil mage, Owain. The bloodline of the portal sentinels, the Makir and their partners, evolved from my consideration of other magical powers the series would require.

BK: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

KH: I’ve written on and off for years and finally realized that some people actually write for a living. What a thought. I decided to migrate from my career in information technology and commit to writing.

BK: How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

KH: I twist all the research I have and create new magical rules for a unique approach. I like to think that my characters will resonate with readers and that they’ll think, “Wow, I really didn’t see that coming.”

BK: What was the hardest thing about writing this story?

KH: I started outlining this series and drafted the first book years ago. When I finally sat down with the intent of submitting to an editor, I basically went through everything with a red pen and made this story work for the writer I am now. My writing style, the way I handle plot, mystery, characters, and romance have all evolved. Layering the sensory and mystical components in every scene and for every character was challenging as well, but a great deal of fun.

BK: What character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?

KH: That’s too hard, but I’d probably choose Logan MacKenzie. He’s the true fighter in this tale with the most to lose. He is determined to save everyone, which is truly impossible. He has sacrificed for years without thought to his own needs, making him a man worthy of success. In spite of his leadership and power, which would normally inspire competition in Briallen, she trusts him and grows under his friendship. Their connection offers him a reward for his efforts and offers her an alternative to the paths she’d envisioned. I’ll admit, it’s a close tie for me between these two, because Briallen’s a woman coming into her own confidence and power and I love to see that.

BK: Which was your favorite scene to write?

KH: That’s hard to say. I enjoyed writing the magical sequences but I’d have to say the several action scenes with Logan and Briallen were the most fun.

BK: Will this become a series? If so, what inspired it to be a series?

KH: This is a series. The full series arc encompasses five books, all culminating with a confrontation with the mage of Brennagmore, Owain. That said, there is a spin-off story, Dragon Rider’s Gift, released in April. I became attached to the dragon riders in Return of the Legacy and felt they deserved their own shorter story for their battle against the mage. Perhaps other magical beings will get their own spin-offs as well.

BK: Now for a little fun, and into your everyday life, What is a day in your life like?

KH: I write full-time so I’m up in the morning, take out the dog, grab breakfast, and then go through whatever administrative things need to be done. If I’m drafting a book, I try to get in three to five hours of writing in a day. The same goes for days of re-writes and editing. For me, that’s fun!

BK: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

KH: I like to read but I don’t get much time to do that. My TBR pile is huge and my Kindle has at least a hundred stories waiting as well. I also like to spend time with my family and when the weather is nicer, I enjoy gardening.

BK: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

KH: I’m fairly introverted. I used to think that was a norm for writers, but most of the female authors I’ve met are a quite social and full of energy. I guess I’m a throwback, but I do love meeting with writers and readers in small groups and online.

BK: What do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?

KH: I don’t have one favorite because I read a lot of different genres from urban fantasy to straight suspense thrillers. Lately, I’ve been sneaking time for bits of Patrick Rothfuss’s books and I’m hoping to get to the newer Pendergast novels by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.

BK: Please tell us one piece of advice you were given as an author that you carry with you when you write?

KH: Don’t expect the first draft you write to be your final story. Writing is about rewriting. I also think it helps to know that writing doesn’t get easier with each new book. But you do get more familiar with your own process from beginning to the end, which helps immeasurably.

BK: What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?

KH: Keep writing. If you enjoy creating stories, don’t let anything stop you. You can fix anything but an empty page.

BK: What are you currently working on?

KH: Dragon Rider’s Gift will be out in April. My third book in the Guardians of Eden series, Destiny’ Mark, will be out this summer. And Rewards of Valor, the second book in the Portals of Destiny, is targeted for early next year

BK: Where can readers connect with you?

KH:

Website – www.khlemoyne.com

facebook - http://www.facebook.com/kh.lemoyne

twitter – https://twitter.com/#!/khlemoyne or @khlemoyne

A former technology specialist, KH LeMoyne now writes romance fulltime with series in urban fantasy, high fantasy, and scifi/futuristic. She lives in Maryland with her wonderful husband and corgi. Much to her dismay, she rarely encounters supernatural beings other than on paper. Visit her website: http://www.khlemoyne.com/ or blog: http://fantasypoweredbylove.com/

Three magical dimensions…Two mystical bloodlines…One undeniable destiny.

Born a magical empath, Logan MacKenzie has spent his life protecting his family from discovery. Evil has found them anyway. What begins as Logan’s search for answers on Earth becomes a race for survival in the magical dimension of Loci.

The battle to save those he cares about will reveal his true lineage—the bloodline of the Makir, one half of a pair of sentinels chosen to guard the mystical portals between dimensions. The price of his acceptance: a love he never imagined possible and a heartbreaking choice.

Her family attacked, her home destroyed, and now stranded on Loci, Briallen of Tir Thar, descendant of a magical race, has only to summon the power within her to return to her own dimension—or so she had hoped. Unfortunately, her powers aren’t cooperating, and the sorcerer bent on her family’s destruction will stop at nothing to possess her.

Raised without knowledge of the portals, the Makir guardians, or her own destiny, Bri takes a leap of faith in an alliance with Logan. Embracing an uncertain power and accepting his goals as hers offers her the only way home. If they fail, the consequences of allowing the portals to fall to evil are unthinkable—the destruction of every magical dimension throughout space.


Excerpt:

It took several minutes for Logan’s pupils to adjust from sunlight to the interior of the cottage. Even so, it took several more minutes for Logan to interpret what he saw when he looked at the little girl. When he did, fear drove spikes through his muscles as he lunged across the room.

“No!”

A smoky glow, black and oily, clung to the girl’s face, seeping into her nostrils and the small crack between her lips. The black fabric quivered like a sick caress along her skin.

Without thinking, Logan tried to pull her to him. No clear plan of attack threaded through his thoughts, only the heart-pounding need to stop the evil infection from permeating the tiny body.

Instead, her body refused. A ton weight resisted his efforts to surround her with protection. The confused voices behind him rose as the child’s eyes snapped open. Red flames stared at him, a fierce, possessive force, hungry and angry at his interference.

Logan’s ring burned and glowed as he forced his hand to touch her face. His fingertips barely grazed her cheek when the child opened her mouth and roared. The hoarse projection of sound, a violent expulsion of energy, sent Logan flying backward across the room. His spine and head contacted with rock in a sharp, heavy crack that swept the air from his lungs. Body stunned but conscious, he turned his head as Bri dropped to her knees beside the twisting girl.

His mouth didn’t work to warn her.

Frozen, he could only watch while she strained to close the distance—two magnets repelling connection. The spikes of gold swirled in a fury around her, a merry-go-round of energy out of control, stronger than the blackness surrounding the girl. Tips of green and blue absorbed the fringes of the gold as a swath of bright red pulsed stronger and deeper within the core. She enclosed the girl in her arms and bent her face to the child’s neck. The variegated colors squeezed and pulsed. Each contraction of the womb around the girl forced the smoke to release and expel.

The evil struggled. The girl’s small limbs twitched with the battle. Bri held tighter. The colors around her brightened, clenched, and grew stronger.


What a tasty treat and the book sounds amazing KH. Now check out the giveaway, leave a comment for a chance to win, don't forget your email address so they have a way of contacting you and thank you for joining us in support of Goddess Fish Tours and Return of the Legacy.

Giveaway:

 $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour 

Follow the tour HERE for more chances to win.