Title: A Draw of Kings
Series: The Staff and the Sword, #3
Author: Patrick W. Carr
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: February 18, 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure
Tour hosted by: Chapter by Chapter
SUMMARY
Their journey to Merakh should have made Errol and his companions heroes of the realm. Instead, much is changed on their return. In the wake of the king’s death, Duke Weir is ruling the country–and his intentions are to marry Adora to bring an heir.
With Errol and the others imprisoned and the identity of the rightful heir to the throne still hidden in secrecy, Illustra is on the verge of civil war–and at growing risk from the armies of Merakh and Morgol.
A dangerous mission to free Errol succeeds, but the dangers facing the kingdom are mounting with every passing moment. The barrier has fallen, ferals are swarming toward the land, and their enemies draw near. Will the revelation of Illustra’s next true king come in time or will all be lost?
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GUEST POST
“MUSES AND MONSTERS” by Patrick W. Carr
Muses:
My pastor’s sermons: I’m not sure if he’d be complimented by this, but a lot of times when one of my pastors says something, it sparks a really, cool, weird idea. I whip out my pen and scribble notes in my church bulleting, frantic that I might let an idea slip away. It’s a little embarrassing that it’s not exactly about the sermon.
My music: It’s almost ridiculous how I try to find just the right music to set the mood for my writing. What works one day may not work the next or it might work every day for a month. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Usually, lyrics are a no-no, but if I’m listening to Enya sing in Gaelic that usually works pretty well. Probably because I don’t speak Gaelic.
Walking in the Woods: Yes, I enjoy the pastoral beauty of the forest. But swirling around me are imaginary characters darting about on missions of intrigue, fighting for their lives against mysterious foes, or running from black-clad assassins. My imagination turns our local park into a very crowded place. I’m surprised there’s room for all those people.
Coffee and Chocolate: I’ve tried to cut down, but every time I do it has an adverse impact on my writing. I love coffee shops. There’s enough ambient noise to make it comfortable, but not so much as to be disturbing. In addition, I know the noise has nothing to do with me, so I can just ignore it.
Monsters:
Spider Solitaire. I hate that game! Every time I get to a rough spot in my writing, it calls to me. “Paaaatriiiick. Just play me for a little while. You’ll be able to write better afterward. I promise.” Yeah, right. I am so going to delete that game off my laptop. Someday.
Life. It is amazing how many different interruptions there are to writing. Many of them are of my own making, of course. That’s one of the reasons I really like Starbuck’s. There’s ambient noise there, but unlike home, I know it’s got nothing to do with me so I’m free to ignore it. I wish they wouldn’t make it so cold. I like to be warm and cozy when I write.
Self-doubt. The surprising thing about this is that it seems to happen just as often as ever. At this point in time, I have two books on Amazon, each with over 100 five star reviews and I still get monster bouts of insecurity about my writing. I hit a bad patch a couple of days ago when I got stumped on the direction of my new book and I wondered if I was ever going to be able to write my way out of it. In addition to the self-doubt I have periods where I intensely dislike my own writing. After I discovered that pretty much everyone I know goes through that, I felt better. The mood passes.
Which kind of leads me to the conclusion, sort of. The muses and the monsters will always be there, but you have to push through them both. Euphoria is a lot of fun, but in the end what makes really good writing is persistence. You just have to keep going.
EXCERPT
To read the first forty pages of A Draw of Kings by Patrick W. Carr, click here.
Patrick Carr was born on an Air Force base in West Germany at the height of the cold war. He has been told this was not his fault. As an Air Force brat, he experienced a change in locale every three years until his father retired to Tennessee. Patrick saw more of the world on his own through a varied and somewhat eclectic education and work history. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1984 and has worked as a draftsman at a nuclear plant, did design work for the Air Force, worked for a printing company, and consulted as an engineer. Patrick’s day gig for the last five years has been teaching high school math in Nashville, TN. He currently makes his home in Nashville with his wonderfully patient wife, Mary, and four sons he thinks are amazing: Patrick, Connor, Daniel, and Ethan. Sometime in the future he would like to be a jazz pianist. Patrick thinks writing about himself in the third person is kind of weird.
GIVEAWAY
For a chance to win all three books in Patrick W. Carr’s The Staff and the Sword series, complete the below rafflecopter. There will be two winners. Open to US and Canada residents only.
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2 comments:
so exciting this looks like a great series to read thanks for the chance to win.
This looks great! Thanks for sharing!
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