Around the Universe Book Tour – “Embracing the Flames” by Candace Knoebel

 

I’m thrilled to be hosting a stop on Cancace Knoebel’s book tour for her novel “Embracing the Flames”, organized and supported by Around the Universe tours.

First things first, I want to introduce you to Candace:

 

(isn’t that a fantastic picture?)

Candace Knoebel is the award-winning author of Born in Flames-a young adult fantasy trilogy. Published by 48fourteen in 2012, Born in Flames went on to win Turning the Pages Book of the Year award in February of 2013.

Candace Knoebel dreamed of being a dancer ever since she could remember. With a love of all things art, she saw herself moving to New York and pursuing her passion as an artist. But all that changed on October 10th, 2002 when she met the love of her life. Her dreams diverged and after marrying her high school sweetheart and having two beautiful children, she realized she missed her creative side. Through lunch breaks and late nights after putting her kids to bed, she built a world where she could escape the ever-pressing days of an eight to five Purgatory. Since then, she crawled out of Purgatory and has devoted her time to writing and sometimes heelying.

You can find Candace at her blog, on Facebook, on Twitter and at Goodreads.

Her new novel is “Embracing the Flames”, the second book in the “Born in Flames” trilogy:

 

The Stone of Immortality has always been kept under the watch of the Draconta. That is, until the betrayal of a Fate. Now everything is about to change.

Aurora Megalos accepted her destiny without blinking-even if it meant succumbing to her dragon side. Deemed the Progeny, she left the ordinary life she knew and has done everything in her power to learn the ways of her new realm and what it means to be part dragon. But when her mentor, Astral, suddenly disappears, she is forced to take the reins.

With war on the brink, she sets out on an epic journey to not only find her mentor, but to stop her Arch Enemy, Zordon, from obtaining the Stone of Immortality. But what she discovers about him along the way is far worse than she could’ve ever imagined. She will be tested and pushed to the limit. Lives will be lost, love will be questioned, and a battle will begin.

“Embracing the Flames” will be out a mere week from now – July 17th, so mark your calendars!

As we noted, this is the second book of a trilogy.  Want to know more about the first book?  Of course you do…

Red mirrored scales race up my arms as the haze of pain blurs my vision. My bones crack, breaking to realign. I scream. It is then that the realization of my unavoidable fate sinks in; I am of a dying race. I am dragon.

Aurora Megalos, orphaned and teetering on the edge of adulthood, thought finding her past would curb the sting of being an outcast. Having no memories of the time before she awoke on her foster mother’s doorstep, she yearns for the emptiness inside her to be filled. With her fellow orphaned best friend, Fenn, by her side, she has nothing to lose and everything to gain. But something powerful stirred within her that she couldn’t explain. Something wanted out.

In the dark of night, a crazed Seer, dubbed Mr.Creepy, erases everything she’s ever known with an impending prophecy. She now faces two paths. Return to her true home to protect a dying race against a growing evil, or stay hidden in the safety of our realm with a shot at a true love. With a vengeful Arch Enemy stopping at nothing to see her dead, she’s running out of time; a decision must be made. What would you choose?

You can find book 1, “Born in Flames” pretty much everywhere: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and at 48fourteen.com.

I’m sure you don’t want to wait another week for a peek at “Embracing the Flames”, so here’s something to whet your appetite, from the prologue to this great book…

I WAS CONCEALED IN A cloak of shadows as I crept down the
long and narrow corridor. Even the stars were hidden, veiled by a
swirling mass of clouds that churned outside the open-arched windows.
Something was wrong in the Hall of Knowledge. The lurking
shadows were proof of that.

I followed the sliver of light that peeked out from under the
only door at the end of the hall. The arctic bite of the stone floor sent
chills up my spine, goose bumps leaving their mark along my skin.
Voices drifted along the breeze coming through the windows
lining the ever-winding hallway. I was almost to the end. Fear coiled
itself around my composure. What was on the other side of that
door?

Shadows of the footsteps behind the door cast ghostly shapes
upon the floor as I inched forward. A pair of the pacing feet stopped
mid-stride and turned, now quickly moving towards the door. As the
steps neared, the shadows seemed to crawl closer and closer in my
direction, threatening to swallow me whole.
I nimbly took a step back into the cover of darkness as my
breath caught in my throat. My heart pounded behind my chest erratically.

Had I been heard?

The knob began to turn, and I squeezed my eyes as tight as
they would go, bracing myself for the terror that would surely come
if I were found. But the door didn’t open. Instead, the feet shuffled
hastily away.

I let the breath I had been holding out in a silent rush as my
heart began to steady itself. My shirtsleeve caught the beaded sweat
along my brow. Now or never, I told myself.

A few steps more and I stood right outside the door, my sleeve
now soaked with my fear. I put my back to the wall and mercilessly
pressed my ear up against it, straining to understand the awful
screeching of voices.

Now, if I hadn’t been possessed by the white light that always
seemed to save me in the nick of time, then I wouldn’t have been
able to make out what was being said. In fact, I would have doubled
over in pain from the sound of their voices. The sound of The Fates’
voices was like a metal rake grinding across another piece of metal.

And that’s how they liked it. The Ancients were the only race
able to understand them. A blessed curse, Astral always said. He was
one of the fifty, created specifically to write the Oraculuses of mortal
men. But Astral couldn’t help me now.

With heat building between my ear and the wall, I finally focused
in on a voice.

“What have you done?” asked one of the brothers.

“What needed to be done, Saeth. We are not to create from ourselves.
You have broken the decree.” His voice rose as he continued.

“How could you have given a piece of yourself? It’s repulsive and
offends everything we stand for. Do you not remember the fate of
our beloved fifth brother?”

“Castian, please,” said another brother, a voice lighter than the
previous two.l

“Not now, Arcadia,” said Castian.

A dry, monotonous voice cut in. “What’s done is done, Castian,
and cannot be changed, brother.”

“I agree with Maison,” said Saeth.

“Indeed, for then things would proceed in your favor,” said
Castian, his tone laced with scorn. “Your son cannot know that you
have sired him, for if he does, then everything we have created will
have been for nothing.”

“He’s right, Saeth. No one can know what you have done,” Arcadia
conceded. “The fate of the realms won’t hold up against what
Zordon has been prophesized to achieve. Astral has already begun
his Oraculus.”

Defeat poured out of Saeth’s voice when he replied. “What
must I do to correct this? You can’t expect me to undo what I have
done. We cannot interfere with the living, and breaking another rule
to erase my mistake won’t rectify the situation. Nor will sacrificing
me as we have done our fifth brother.”

“No,” Castian slowly dragged out his words, “it won’t. Maison,
go tell Astral to cease his duties,” he commanded.

“Castian, you can’t possibly…”

But Castian interrupted him. “I can and I will. Tell him to stop.
What’s written is written and will not be changed. That rule will remain
pure. But the unwritten will be given to another. One who will
be deemed Saeth’s son’s equal. One right to a wrong.”

“The soul ripped in half…that sounds like an excellent idea,”
Arcadia said in delight, clapping his hands.

“Who will this other be? And who will create this so called
equal,” sneered Saeth.

I felt my hand reach for the door, controlled by the spirit that
possessed me. I didn’t want to open it because I didn’t want them to
know that I was listening in, but what I wanted didn’t matter. This
wasn’t really me. I was seeing through another’s eyes.

The light crept out and up the walls as the door swung open
from the force of my hand. The four brothers looked over to me,
shock written on all of their faces as they slowly stood like statues
coming to life.

“I think I have a solution,” said the female spirit possessing
me, the voice of a thousand angels in one.

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