Blog Tour: (Interview + Excerpt) The Flight of the Griffin By C.M. Gray

I would like to welcome C. M. Gray to The Avid Reader today. Thanks for stopping by Chris. Please be sure and check out Chris's novel The Flight of the Griffin. I have a excerpt of The Flight of the Griffin for you to read. Oh and check out my interview with Chris.

Book Title: The Flight of the Griffin

Author: C.M.Gray

Genre: YA Fantasy

Published: April 16th 2012

Publisher: C.M. Gray

Kindle Edition:

Pages: 244

PURCHASE

The Flight of the Griffin

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BOOK DESCRIPTION

The Flight of the Griffin

Living in their old boat 'The Griffin' four young boys and their guide become the unlikely heroes at the end of time when a burglary sets them on the path to finish the 'Last great Spell' - a spell to stop the balance of the World tipping into Chaos...

They become Magician, Thief, Priest and Fighter when a magical book guides them upon a quest that pits them against magic, demons and 'The Hawk,' an evil hunter of men.

Join a race against time to find three crystal skulls that must be brought together, while all the forces of Chaos try everything to stop them!

EXCERPT

Demons are fought...

The crew watched nervously as a large dark shape about halfway down slowly came into view, the globes' dim light gradually exposing the demon's features. It was huge. Its head almost touched the ceiling and its massive shoulders were brushing the walls to either side, dragging plaster and old hangings down as it lumbered forward. It was completely black except for the deep red smouldering glow of its eyes, which were set above large flaring nostrils. Pardigan pushed through to join his friends. His first thought on getting a good look at the creature, was that it resembled the features of a giant bat freshly drawn from the worst of fevered nightmares. Wings could be seen above its shoulders, folded now, but flexing from time to time as it crunched along the bone-strewn corridor towards them.

REVIEWS: Goodreads reviews (31 on site for 4.36 average)

for The Flight of the Griffin

Carol Powney's review Jul 13, 2012 (5 Stars)
Read in June, 2012

This is one of the best magical quest adventure stories I've read in a long time. It has all the makings of a children's to teen's classic. Yet I as an adult enjoyed it immensely. I go as far as to put it on a par with the stories of Alan Garner and Philip Pullman......

Rachael (4 Stars)

In this fast paced magical journey of friendship, courage and adventure, we follow the young heroes in their quest to maintain the balance of good and evil.

Best suited to the Young Adult audience it is aimed at, but accessible to adults too, this is a well developed novel written with a lot of heart and creativity. With a full compliment of likeable heroes and detestable villains this book is sure to spark the imagination....

Helen Baggott (5 Stars)

It's been many decades since I was a Young Adult. Actually, I never was one - you were either a child or a teenager.

So when I read a novel written for the YA market, what do I think? Well I question what exactly makes a novel fit the category. It must contain certain elements that a reader will expect - imagination, intrigue and adventure. And don't forget the story.

There was a point, early in CM Gray's novel - The Flight of the Griffin - when I actually felt a shiver of excitement.

Ignite (5 Stars)

This YA Fantasy story is a classic Quest tale which involves 4 young lads and a boat. It's a lovely story but not in any sickly sweet meaning of the term. The boys' characters are really believable. They have their individual skills but have their faults too. A real touch of class is Mahra, a shape changer who spends so much time as a cat that when she is in girl form she is often to be found licking her hand! These youngsters are on the side of Order and battle to keep Chaos and Order in balanc

Steph Coleman (5 Stars)

I give this book 5 stars!! Once I started I didn't want to put it down until I had read the whole thing. First off we meet Paridigan who makes his living as a thief and lives on an abandoned boat (cool). He steals from the local merchant (which is okay apparently because the merchant is mean and unpleasant) and only later discovers that his ill gotten gains have more troublesome consequences than he'd ever imagined. What follows next is a nonstop adventure that hooked me. I thought the writing was beautiful and descriptive, and never felt too rushed. I could totally picture this book being made into a movie, because it feels like you ware watching one when you are reading it. Great read!

INTERVIEW

C.M. Gray

The Avid Reader: What inspired you to write The Flight of the Griffin?

C.M. Gray: I was inspired by several things. Firstly, it was a time when I finally decided to give up watching television and do something a little more creative with my spare time. Television was sucking the life out of me, much as it does to millions of people. One day, when the advertisements came on I couldn’t remember what program I had actually been watching, which was kind of scary to me. I also wanted to write a fantasy book that sent my characters of on a hectic quest. I love fantasy so wanted to come up with something original but I also wanted to write for a readership that was both adult and older kids, bit like the harry Potter books. J.K.Rawling has fans of al ages... I guess I was trying to follow her a bit too!

The Avid Reader: When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

C.M. Gray: I have always read a lot of books, since I was really young reading Enid Blyton. Through all the years discovering new writers and reading their whole list of works I kept hearing that ‘everyone has a book in them.’ I think for several years I was getting mentally prepared and then I had this moment of epiphany, turned off the TV and sat down to write. So what age? Pretty young, but didn’t get around to it until later in life.

The Avid Reader: What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?

C.M. Gray: I was probably five or six. My parents were big readers so it felt natural to progress from picture books and encyclopedias to stories. I read classics like Tom Sawyer and Teasure Island when I was about ten and was into Steven King when I was entering my teens. Tolkien hit me hard at about fourteen and set me on a life long love of fantasy, but I do read many genres.

The Avid Reader: What genre of books do you enjoy reading?

C.M. Gray: Obviously fantasy but I also love John Grisham lawyer/crime books. Adventure and true life. I spent a long time reading spiritual books, myths and legends and most of the religious texts. The only books I don’t like to read are Romance books... because they make nauseous :)

The Avid Reader: What is your favorite book?

C.M. Gray: It is a toss up between 'Of Mice and Men' and ‘Cannery Row’ both by John Steinbeck.

The Avid Reader: You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

C.M. Gray: After reading several thousand books, give or take, I picked up Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. It was a transforming moment as I started to read. By modern standards, he wrote back in the 1930’s and 40’s, Steinbeck had awful grammar; it’s as if he was rationing the commas and hyphens, but when you read a Steinbeck book you cannot really fault it. Everything is correct, not a word could be placed differently, scenes come alive and stories and lives unfold - the man was a genius. If you haven’t read a Steinbeck book, give it a go, treat yourself!

The Avid Reader: If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?

C.M. Gray: I love history. My first book ‘Shadowland’ is set in the Dark ages of Britain, a time when the Romans were leaving and the Saxons and Vikings were raiding. Scary times but I read up on this period so much I would love to travel back and see it for real... but just for a week or so. I would also like to travel back to a time before people. A time when dinosaurs roamed the earth... just to check it out then I would come back to right now. I think we live in amazing times. Huge changes are happening all over the world and we have a chance to make those changes positive rather than negative. It is a privilege to be alive during these times, tough, but a privilege all the same.

The Avid Reader: When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?

C.M. Gray: Sometimes I can write and the words just pour out for chapter after chapter. At other times I struggle to write a paragraph. It isn’t writers block, I don’t really suffer from that its just that certain ideas and concepts take a while to mature in my mind. I don’t write with any fixed plan so my characters can end up in a situation that take s a little time to get out. I’m currently in the final few chapters of the sequel to The Flight of the Griffin, it’s called Chaos Storm and has been a blast to write - but these final chapters are taking their time, but it’s going to be good!

The Avid Reader: Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

C.M. Gray: I have two dogs called Molly and Kipper and are brother and sister. We rescued them as pups earlier this year after they were abandoned, poor things.... They're a mixture of Catalan sheepdogs and... well, something else; I think their mum was a bit of a tart! They’re wonderful, especially as they stick with me as we walk through the woods. I wouldn’t enjoy them half as much if they ran off immediately and had to spend hours tracking them down like you have to with some dogs!

The Avid Reader: What is your "to die for", favorite food/foods to eat?

C.M. Gray: I spent several years living in Asia, in India, Thailand, The Philippines and Hong Kong so I love Asian food, the spicier the better. I also like to cook, especially Asian food. I eat fish and seafood, but not meat, which is a long story. Come around to my house, meet my dogs, I’ll cook you a curry and I’ll explain it all, washed down with a good bottle of Spanish wine, okay?

The Avid Reader: Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?

C.M. Gray: Yes, stop thinking about it and do it! You never know if it will be any good until you try. There is little or no money in it, so you have to do it for the love and fun of telling a story that nobody has told before. Be original, nobody wants a re-write of Harry Potter’s days at Hogwarts, and finally... get a really good editor. Don’t send your book out for the slaughter until it has been edited about a thousand times by somebody competent, somebody who isn’t you, your mum or your best friend!

Thanks so much for the invitation to be here today. I hope you will read The Flight of the Griffin and if you like it please write a review. In fact, any book you like be it mine or somebody else’s, please write reviews, us authors live for them!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Essex, England C.M.Gray has since been lucky enough to live and travel in many countries around the world. In fact he has lived more time outside of England than living there! Home now is just outside of Barcelona, Spain in a house in the middle of the forest with his Dutch born wife and two children.

C.M.Gray's writing is mostly fantasy and many of the experiences he has had in Asia, Africa and the Middle East come to life in his writing. The Flight of the Griffin follows the adventures of a group of young orphans as they battle demons and bandits on a magical quest to stop the world tipping into Chaos, while his second book, Shadowland blends fantasy with history as an old story teller takes his audience back to Britain's dark ages in a pre Arthurian legend.

CONTACT DETAILS

Be sure and check out all the other stops on the tour.

TOUR SCHEDULE

Dec. 1 - Stephen - (Guest Post/Excerpt/ Ebook Giveaway)

Dec. 2 - Brooke - The Cover Contessa - (guest post with ebook giveaway)

Dec. 3 - Sheri