Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Blog Tour + #Giveaway: Rune’s Folly by Garen Glazier @GarenGlazier @XpressoTours


Rune’s Folly
Garen Glazier
Publication date: February 5th 2019
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Young Adult

By day, Tansy McCoy is a florist making charmed bouquets for the citizens of Junonia, capital of the Kingdom of Terranmar. By night, she’s an assassin and the keeper of the Dangerous Garden where deadly blooms grow. Together with the town tailor, butcher, baker, and metalsmith (just don’t call her a candlestick maker), she is part of the Guild, a secret group of spell-wielding thieves and mercenaries. Their task: consolidate all that remains of the realm’s fading magic under the ruthless King Zeno’s control.

Impetuous loner Tansy chafes under her Guild demands. She longs to quit her town and trade and head for the hills. Unfortunately, King Zeno has other plans. He wants to marry off his daughter to Terranmar’s famously reclusive wizard, Rune Hallows, and he’s willing to have the Guild kidnap him to make it happen. Fail to deliver the wizard and the consequences will be swift and deadly.

Reluctant but determined, Tansy sets out on the long journey to faraway Wentletrap and Rune’s desolate tower by the sea. To get there she must cross a swamp full of sinister surprises, battle a werewolf, and outrace a bloodthirsty band of revenants, while she wrestles with her own magical powers that seem to be expanding in unpredictable ways.

But reaching Rune’s tower is only the beginning. When Tansy learns the real reason behind the king’s contest, she’ll need to decide whether to give in to the growing forces of magic ready to reclaim Terranmar or embrace her newfound powers to save the kingdom.



Interview with Author Garen Glazier


As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

Definitely Baba Yaga, the witch from Slavic folklore. She’s clever and mercurial and full of dark magic which all makes her a little scary and intimidating, but she’s not without mercy.

How many hours a day do you put into your writing?

Usually about 2-3 hours after the kids are asleep and the house is quiet. It helps that I’m a night owl – I do my best thinking after dark.

Do you read your book reviews? If yes, do they affect what you write in the future?

I do read them! I know many authors don’t, but I find the positive reviews inspiring and the negative ones help me learn to be a better writer. If there is something that keeps showing up over multiple reviews I’ll certainly take a much closer look at that aspect of my writing in the future.

Writing’s a tough gig. Criticism is part of the deal, but I try to approach it with an open heart and a healthy dose of self-respect. I do the best work I can do, and I don’t stop until I’m proud, but there’s always room for improvement.

Do you leave hidden messages in your books that only a few people will find?

Actually in RUNE’S FOLLY the scones Tansy brings to Rune’s tower are a secret nod to my best friend who is a baker and the first reader of the manuscript.

There is also a lot of underlying symbolism throughout the story, some obvious and some much more subtle. And in all my writing names hold a lot of power. They almost always have some kind of hidden meaning that foreshadows the character’s future.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in RUNE’S FOLLY?

RUNE’S FOLLY is really the story of two characters. First, there’s Tansy McCoy. She’s a little snarky and prickly. She’s haunted by feelings she can’t quite explain. But she’s also smart and loyal and good at what she does: growing and using poisonous plants. She shares the spotlight with Rune Hallows, a wizard with the ability to conjure ghosts. He’s brash, sarcastic, and not a little self-important, but hiding behind his witty quips and good looks is a broken heart.

And then there’s the Guild. When the Kingdom of Terranmar was a kingdom of magic, the Guild was an elite but secret group tasked with carrying out special missions for the Crown. Now in the days of the Great Fade, when magic is rare and the kingdom a shadow of its former self, the Guild, like all good things in Terranmar, has deteriorated. They’re not much more than a group of ambitious hustlers with a modicum of magic at their disposal running dubious jobs for a selfish king.

Besides Tansy there are four members of the Guild: Mallo, the ringleader and a shady sort of necromancer; Stap, the newest member with a suspicious taste for blood; Cava, part-dwarf and fully badass lady metalsmith; and Bert, a shifter that can bake a mean cookie.

Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future

Currently I’m working on the sequel to RUNE’S FOLLY. There’s not too much I can tell you about it that won’t contain spoilers, but in book two Tansy and Co. will spend a lot more time in the Otherworld.

Do you allow yourself a certain number of hours to write or do you write as long as the words come?

I usually try to hit a quota of words for the day that will shift depending on my schedule and how close I am to a publication deadline, but sometimes if it just feels like pulling teeth I’ll stop where I am and come back to it the next day. That pause is usually enough to get me back on track. I’m a firm believer that my subconscious works on my writing problems in the background of my daily tasks and even, or especially, when I’m asleep.

Do you have a certain number of words or pages you write per day?

I aim for 1,000 – 1,500 words which is about 3-5 pages per day. Any more than that and, unless I’m on a real streak, I notice the quality of my writing declines with each passing page.

What inspires you to write?

Two things: first, I’m always trying to make my younger self proud. I know she’d be happy to look into the future and see her name on the cover of a book. And second, my daughters. I want them to see their mom working toward her dreams so that they’ll feel empowered to do the same.



Would you rather

Read fiction or non-fiction?
Fiction.

Read series or stand-alone?
Stand-alone.

Read Science fiction or horror?
Horror.

Read Stephen King or Dean Koontz?
Koontz.

Read the book or watch the movie?
Book! (obvs 😊)

Read an ebook or paperback?
Paperback.

Be trapped alone for one month in a library with no computer or a room with a computer and Wi-Fi only?
Library!

Do a cross-country book store tour or blog tour online?
Blog tours are fun and efficient, but I do love to travel and meet fellow book lovers face-to-face.




Author Bio:

I have always called Seattle home and find the perpetual gloom to be a wonderful writing ally. I like coffee shops, bookstores, dancing in my living room and singing in my car. The opening scene of Up makes me cry. Three Amigos makes me laugh. Fashion magazines, croissants, and long, long baths are my guilty pleasures. They might occur separately or together. I prefer boxing classes to yoga, and I get some of my best ideas when I'm running. I loved school and spent more time than one really should getting a business degree in marketing and a master's in art history. In an ideal world I'd go to bed at 2am and wake up at 10am. I've never been an early bird, and I feel strongly that alarm clocks kill dreams.

Learn more at garenglazier.com.





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2 comments:

Giselle said...

Thanks for being on the tour! :)

garenwritesfantasy said...

Thanks for hosting me!