Hello, lovelies!! It gives me great pleasure today to host Emily-Jane Hills Orford and her new book, “Beauty in the Beast,” here on FAB!! For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $10 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Emily-Jane and to increase your chances of winning!!
Thanks for stopping by!! Wishing you all lots of good luck in this fabulous giveaway!!
Beauty in the
Beast
by Emily-Jane Hills Orford
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GENRE: Fantasy / Science Fiction
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BLURB:
Priya, a name that suggests beautiful. Amell, a name that suggests all powerful. One is a beautiful young lady; the other a beast. Their paths have crossed before, only Priya doesn’t remember Amell from her past. Or does she? And what does it all mean? The Amell she meets is part beast. So are the others at Castle Mutasim. Is she one of them, too? How can this be? What manner of creature would experiment on other living creatures, to mutate them into something bizarre and, sometimes, downright dangerous? Priya has to know. She wants to know. And she wants to make things right.
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EXCERPT ONE:
“Amell,” she screamed. “Amell. Help me.”
She was pinned in a hunk of metal, the world around her growing darker by the minute. And it was cold. Bitter. Bone-chilling. A soft tongue licked her cheek. Whines and a warm breath slipped into her ear. Bear. Her three-year-old mutt, a Border Collie-Black Lab mix. Black and white. Full of love and mischief. Her strength in a time of need. Like right now.
She had rescued Bear. A puppy tossed in a dumpster. Left to die. The two were inseparable. Now, she was failing Bear. And they would die.
One final scream, “Amell.”
“I’m so sorry, Bear,” she whispered.
As she slipped into oblivion, she felt a fog of confusion slither through her brain. Who is Amell?
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GUEST POST:
Writing This Book Has Taught Me…
I have always loved fairy tales. What’s there not to like? It’s not the happily-ever-after, living your life with your loved one for eternity that attracts me. Rather, it’s the power of good overcoming evil and that, even inside a beast, a monster, there has to be something beautiful. I believe we all have a bit of the beast in us, but we also have the potential to reveal our inner beauty. As I wrote this story, I learned to accept my own inner beauty and that of those around me, even those I didn’t really like.
Of all the fairy tales, I think “Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite. The beast in the original story is a recluse who tries valiantly to live up to his beastly outer appearance, until Bel finds something beautiful deeper within is visual persona. Bel, of course, is the beauty, both visually and within, and only she has the power to bring out the true beauty in those around her. How? By being kind, thoughtful and caring. Perhaps I always knew the importance of these traits, but it never hurts to learn them again. I’d like to think that writing my version, writing “Beauty in the Beast,” helped me learn once again how to be kind, thoughtful and caring.
Beasts exist – they must. Why else would they appear in folktales, literature, and artwork around the world, in all cultures. I focused my attention on two ‘beasts’ whose stories and legends, and random sightings, have fascinated humans for centuries. The First Nations (aboriginals of Canada) have many ‘beastly’ stories. Along the west coast of British Columbia, many totem pole villages, past and present, feature totems of the mystical creature they call D’Sonoqua, or wild woman of the forest. D’Sonoqua’s story is not so different from the evil witch in Hansel and Greta; she’s also not so different from the random sightings of a beast-like creature that haunts the west coast forests, the Sasquatch.
Are these creatures real? I think they are. They’ve been sighted, but never captured on film nor ensnared in traps. These creatures are shy, recluse, just like the beast in the original “Beauty and the Beast” story. Were these creatures created in a lab? By some alien super-intelligent being? An experiment on mutating humans with other living creatures? And, for what purpose? I learned a lot in my research on these creatures and the myths that surround them.
The what if’s always drive me forward. It’s these same type of what if’s that my young writing students always expounded on. If the young can write with abandoned creative energy, why can’t I? This is something else I learn with every new work of fiction I write. Fantasy and Science Fiction are new genres in my writing sphere, but there’s so much fun to write when I abandoned all reserves I might have previously incorporated into my plots.
What has writing this book really taught me? Lots. Every writing project is a learning curve. This book has clearly taught me that I can write about just about anything, in just about any genre. All I have to do is let my imagination take flight, like Priya, the main character in my story.
“Priya stepped back, blending into the blackness of night. Spreading her arms, she felt the feathers surge forth giving her wings. Taking off, she soared mere feet above where she had left Roderick. He only glanced once, waved, then he, too, faded into the night. She soared higher, in broader circles, then took off into the night sky over the forest, seeking her feathered friends and a night of reckless abandon. Seeking the beauty embedded deep within every living creature. The beauty within the beast.”
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AUTHOR BIO:
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Emily-Jane Hills Orford is a country writer, living just outside the tiny community of North Gower, Ontario, near the nation’s capital. With degrees in art history, music and Canadian studies, the retired music teacher enjoys the quiet nature of her country home and the inspiration of working at her antique Jane Austen-style spinet desk, feeling quite complete as she writes and stares out the large picture window at the birds and the forest. She writes in several genres, including creative nonfiction, memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction.
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CONNECT WITH EMILY-JANE:
Website:
Email:
http://emilyjanebooks.ca/contact.php
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/realpeoplestories
Twitter:
BookBub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/emily-jane-hills-orford
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1732544.Emily_Jane_Hills_Orford
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60537696-beauty-in-the-beast
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon
US Kindle eBook:
Amazon
US Paperback:
Amazon
CA Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.ca/Beauty-Beast-Emily-Jane-Hills-Orford-ebook/dp/B09TH1T6J6
Amazon
CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Beauty-Beast-Emily-Jane-Hills-Orford/dp/1952020204
Barnes
and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes
and Noble Paperback:
Book
Depository Paperback:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Beauty-Beast-Emily-Jane-Hills-Orford/9781952020209
Books-A-Million
Paperback:
https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Beauty-Beast/Emily-Jane-Hills-Orford/9781952020209
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Emily-Jane will be awarding a $10 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner’s Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those fabulous community outreach projects and awesome giveaways on here**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Emily-Jane ~ Good morning!! Welcome back to FAB!! It is so great to have you here again!! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour!! :)
ReplyDeleteHello Ally - Thank you so much for hosting me. It's always great to have the opportunity to reach out to my readers and talk about my writing.
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHello Rita - I hope you do have the opportunity to read the book. I know I had a lot of fun writing it.
ReplyDeletenice cover
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteThank you. It was a pleasure being featured on Fabulous and Brunette.
ReplyDelete