Saturday Author Spotlight: Blaine D. Arden #Interview #Giveaway

Happy New Years Eve!!!! It's funny how the Saturday Spotlights keep falling on special occasions. This New Years Eve we have the wonderful honor of spending it with author Blaine D. Arden. Blaine has written many wonderful stories such as; The Storyteller, Tales of the Forest Series, The Fifth Son, and so many more. We will take a look at all of Blaine's books and indulge in an interview. At the end there's of course a giveaway. So grab your coffee, wine, whatever and join us!!!

"Your Path is muddy, Kelnaht, but don't think avoiding the puddles will make it easier to travel."

Kelnaht, a cloud elf, is a truth seeker caught between love and faith when a murder committed ten days before Solstice reveals an illicit affair between two tree elves he desires more than he can admit. Kelnaht's former lover Ianys once betrayed him, and the shunned forester Taruif is not allowed to talk to anyone but the guide, their spiritual pathfinder.

When Taruif turns out to be the only witness to the crime, Kelnaht must suppress his forbidden feelings or face the ire of the elders. Ianys is terrified the tribe will blame Taruif for the crime, and despite their painful history, Kelnaht tries to keep his impulsive ex-lover from sacrificing his freedom for an impossible love. If Taruif and Ianys’ affair becomes known, Ianys will lose his daughter.

Kelnaht finds himself yearning to claim both Taruif and Ianys at the coming Solstice and turns to the guide, who gives him only cryptic advice. It is up to Kelnaht to prove Taruif’s innocence and find a path free of puddles and mud for all three of them.

Connor Smith works for Primrose, an organization tasked with monitoring and tracking aliens and alien technology. It's a job that doesn't know the meaning of "nine-to-five". It also doesn't leave much room for a social life, a complication that Connor hasn't minded, until now. At the prodding of his best friend, Connor reluctantly puts himself back in the dating pool, even though it means lying about his remarkable life.


Elsewhere, Noah Jones has led a remarkable life of his own. Stranded on Earth in 1648, Noah was forced to transform himself permanently into human form to survive. He soon learned that in doing so, he'd become effectively immortal, aging only at a glacial pace. Alone, with no way to contact his people or return home, Noah becomes a silent observer of human civilization—always in the world, but never of the world. Then, hundreds of years later, he sees a face in a crowd and instantly feels a connection that he thought he'd never feel again. But he's too late: Connor's already taken.


Destiny is not without a sense of humor, though, and the two men are pulled inexorably closer, snared by the same web of dangers and conspiracies. Worse, Primrose is now aware of Noah, and they aren't ones to leave an alien unrestrained. So while Connor struggles to understand the strange pull he feels toward Noah, forces without as well as within are working against them to keep them apart.

A prince without power

In a land where magic is commonplace, Prince Llyskel has none. He can’t command spells, he has never been taught to fight, and as the fifth son of the King, he will never rule. Everyone believes he’s a weakling, most of all himself.

Powerlessness is Llyskel’s problem—and his pleasure. In his secret fantasies, the prince dreams of nothing more than finding himself helpless at another man's hands… particularly the hands of Captain Ariv of the Guards.

Then Ariv makes Llyskel’s dream a reality, and as the powerless prince surrenders to the soldier’s desire, he finds his own true strength at last. But a web of royal politics is closing around Llyskel, threatening to tear him from his lover, and it will take all his newfound courage to escape…

Interview

Hey there, Blaine! It’s a treat to have you here today! It’s New Years Eve and you are officially Diverse Readers last spotlight of 2016! So, thank you for closing out the year with us!

I’m going to ask you a few questions, get to know you a bit, and find out what’s ahead for the coming year.

Hello, Meredith, and hello, visitors *waves*. It's good to be here, and I'm honoured to be your last spotlight guest of the year.

Let’s start off with one many people get asked today of all days. With 2016 ending what will you take away from this year?

And I think the most difficult question of all, to which I can only give a twofold answer. On a personal level, that my kids will land on their feet, and that our families are filled with open minded and supportive people.

Workwise, that I really shouldn’t plan a release during a holiday, but that I can, absolutely, write 3K a day without losing too much energy. On top of that, that meeting other writers/readers/artists /reviewers once a year, is very freeing and absolutely wonderful, and that it never feels like we haven't seen each other for a year. And last, but certainly least (in the sense that I'd rather forget all about it), that some vendors/publishers value money and saving their own skin over common decency, alas.

What’s your hope for 2017?

Again, twofold. On a personal level, for my family and friends to stay healthy, and for my kids to find their own paths in life.

As for work, to whack at least one first draft into shape per quarter and have them accepted by publishers (or publish ready, if I decide to self-publish them), to gain more readers, to have fun with my work, and to meet up with other writers/readers/artists/reviewers for a much needed reboot.

Your youth reads a lot like my own. What were some of your favorite childhood reads?

The worst thing about my annoyingly wonky memory is that I can't really remember most of the things I read during my youth. I'm not sure what I read under the age of ten, though I do remember reading and telling stories to my favourite doll. My early teens were filled with anything I could get my hands on in the library. Some of the books I do remember enjoying a lot are the Billie Bradley series (https://www.goodreads.com/series/45760-billie-bradley), the Motorclub Goldwing series (http://home.hccnet.nl/c.m.bossaert/dbGoldwing.htm), and the Euro-5 series by Bert Benson (https://www.goodreads.com/series/101452-euro-5). The latter two are both Dutch series, and I read the Billie Bradley books in Dutch as well. I didn't really start reading English until well into secondary school, and our local library only had a limited collections of English books.

You’re also a singer so tell us what type of music you sing and do you have a favorite?

You do like asking the tough questions, don't you? I'm not tied down by a single genre, if anything, I sing all over the place and have a very eclectic taste. I sing songs ranging from Eli Lieb to Adam Lambert, from Alanis Morissette to Linkin' Park, and Lifehouse to Mama Cass. Any song that touches my heart—and is within my range… mostly—may well end up on my repertoire. Two of my favourite songs to sing these past few months have been Disturbed's version of The Sound of Silence, and Incomplete by the Backstreet Boys.

If you had to step out of your comfort zone to write something what would you try?

A dark, psychological thriller of the kind that makes me afraid to fall asleep. On the other hand, trying my hand at an historical would be challenging as well, and I could at least still sleep while writing it. Of course, it's probably well known that I feel most comfortable with murder and abductions in fairytale-ish fantasy worlds, so, anything outside that would be out of my comfort zone, but yeah, those two genres would be something I'd like to try writing at some point.

What sort of books would you like to see more of in this genre/ community?

More fantasy for a start. There are some very good ones out there, but we so need more, and preferably fantasy worlds that don't adhere to our mostly outdated and often strict ideas of gender and sexuality. Also, more main characters who happen to be gay, asexual, or transgender, instead of their gender/sexuality being the focal point of the book.

Can you tell us what you’re currently working on?

I'm about half-way through the first draft of THE ADVENTURES OF SIX (working title), a sci-fi set in a shared world collection called Have Human, Will Travel. Wouter, my main character, ends up on a planet filled with frog-like aliens and killer plants by accident. He has to lead the frog aliens to safety to earn a trip home, despite knowing nothing about the planet or its inhabitants.

Once that first draft is finished, I'm going to be editing BLIND TRUST, a book I had planned to edit this year, and the last, but the one I keep pushing aside when new ideas hit me. This book is also the reason I decided to only edit finished first drafts next year.

BLIND TRUST is about a blind curse breaker's longstanding fight for acceptance that seems to pay off when a hardened detective recognises the depth of his abilities and asks him to help solve a series of unexplained deaths.

How can your fans follow your work? Facebook, Twitter, website?

All of the above: WEBSITE ,  TWITTER . FACEBOOK   FB AUTHOR PAGE   I can also be found at GOODREADS, and I now even have a (monthly) NEWSLETTER that interested readers can subscribe to.

Fast Fire Questions:

Favorite color? Purple

Day or night? Day

Pie or cake? Cake

Cat or dog? Dog (mostly because I'm allergic to cats)

Favorite band? Only one? Really? Toto, because I've loved them the longest ;)

Last person you called? A friend, setting up a crochet-date

Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate

Coffee or tea? Tea, but only the kind without any actual tea leaves in it. I'm a herbal tea drinker)

And with that, I wish you all a happy, healthy, and creative 2017. Thank you for having me as a guest, Meredith, it's been fun.

Okay, thank you, Blaine, for spending New Years Eve morning with us! I wish you a happy healthy 2017!!

Giveaway

Blaine will be gifting 3 people with 

A TRIAD IN THREE ACTS: The complete Forester Trilogy!

Simply fill out the rafflecopter below!

Thanks!

Happy New Year one and all and thank you, Blaine, for spending it with us!

a Rafflecopter giveaway