IN CONVERSATION WITH YA FANTASY AUTHOR ABBY ARTHUR feat. A TROVE OF GIVEAWAY GOODIES!

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Mabuhay, friends!

Welcome to the first of my advertising packages and this August, we have YA fantasy debut author, ABBY ARTHUR!

WHO IS ABBY?

Abby Arthur spends the majority of her time lost in an imaginary world of glowing magic and dastardly dragons. She started winning writing contests and getting published in newspapers when she was just sixteen. She loves giving readers an escape from reality and is constantly creating new stories. Her magic portal is located in small town Iowa, protected by herself, her husband, and their son. Her first book is Twins of Shadow.

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TWINS OF SHADOW BY ABBY ARTHUR

A crown prince and his twin brother are secretly skilled assassins…

…killing for a cause they both despise.

Bound to a dragon by a powerful spell, Tarrek and Albree are sent on their deadliest mission yet: Overcome an archangel, capture an innocent snake whisperer and smuggle him across foreign soil, alive. If they fail to comply with the spell’s demand, it will drive them to insanity. Yet a deadlier force commands their attention when an ice-wielding slave trader freezes several civilians in a local village, ensnaring Albree’s love interest in the process. Will the twins choose to complete their near-suicide mission or fight insanity to save innocent lives?

🌺 Available FREE in Mobi, ePub, and PDF at abbyathur.com when you join her VIP mailing list.

🌺 Get it on Amazon or for Amazon Kindle

🌺 Add to Goodreads

What’s your elevator pitch for Twins of Shadow?

Royal twin brothers face death and risk insanity while forced to help a dragon accomplish her evil schemes.

What is your unique spin on the YA fantasy genre expectations?

First, let me point out what the expectations are. 1) Take your reader to a different world. 2) Give them a hero, preferably unwitting. 3) Create a massive conflict. 4) Make sure there is magic and weapons and a chance to use them.

Although there’re more technical expectations we could list, I’ll focus on these above. My fantasy world is my bread and butter, as I think it is for any fantasy writer. No two people can create the same world with all the same characteristics. The special thing about the world I’ve created is that it has a long, deep history, and magic is woven into everything. Most of my stories take place in the modern times of this world. That means you will experience magic, but also modern technology we are familiar with, only, it’s powered by magical crystals.

Putting my spin on my heroes has become easier over the years. I have an arsenal of characters I’ve developed since I was young. (Tormented princes, evil princesses, ninjas in the wrong place at the wrong time.) What gives them my spin, is the way I’ve come to know their flaws and can now put them in situations where they face those flaws to defy the conflict.

That brings me to the massive conflict. I’m constantly writing stories faster than I can publish them. One of the things I love to start with is the massive conflict (the challenge the character has to face). Since I start this way, I’m able to make the challenge different for every story and special to each character. If she’s a warrior, of course I’ll give her battles to face, but I’ll take it deeper. What emotional challenge can I give my warrior? I’ll make my conflict pull on that too.

As for the magic and weapons. Gosh, those are just the icing on the cake! Once the previous things are established, I think my spin on magic and weapons sources from the character driving the story. Is he an assassin? Then the way he uses magic and his weapons will be different than a war hero that doesn’t have to hide.

How did you come up with such a high fantasy world but give it so much modern technology?

This goes back to when I was first envisioning the world. As a child, I saw the Lord of the Rings movies, and that was my first inspiration for my world. That said, my world started off as a medieval place. But as I grew up and got cell phones, loved music, and learned video games, I wanted to bring that into my world too. So I developed a way for magic to be used for their phones and music and every modern thing we might have that my characters also have. Therefore, my world is a thrilling place where the weapons are medieval swords enhanced by magic, but you can also see a rock concert and call your best friend on vacation three kingdoms away.

If your book could have a crossover with another series, which villain would you like to see your characters fight?

This is a beautiful question. I thought about it all day because there are many amazing villains out there, but I wanted to make sure they would be a dangerous match against my magic-wielding, shadow-walking assassins.

I first thought, Valentine from the Shadowhunter world by Cassandra Clare. (Because I absolutely love Cassie and her books). But I realized Albree might take Valentine out to fast with his “kill-as-a-shadow move” So…

I thought “The Commandant in an Ember in the Ashes!” Quickly followed by … “No, the twins would skin her too fast as well.” …. The Nightslayer, however. Now he could be fun!

But, alas! I’ve settled on Jafar from Aladdin.

He’s powerful, and dangerous. And in his genie form? He’d be a force to reckon with, and in a good position to take on my magically skilled characters. That’s a fight I’d love to see. I can’t honestly admit who’d win (against the genie form of Jafar, that is 😉).

Abby Arthur is giving away 17 YA Fantasy novels and a new eReader from Amazon – the Kindle Fire 7, over the course of the next 4 weeks.

YOU GET FOUR CHANCES TO WIN A PRIZE!

Every entrant will also receive a FREE eCopy of TWINS OF SHADOW.

So, what are the books, you ask?

GIVEAWAY #1

On August 7, a winner will be drawn for the current books in Sabaa Tahir’s AN EMBER IN THE ASHES series, which includes:

🌺 AN EMBER IN THE ASHES

🌺 A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT

🌺 A REAPER AT THE GATES

These will be HARDCOVER COPIES! With a total value of $60 US Dollars

GIVEAWAY #2

On August 14^th, Abby’s drawing a winner for 3 books from New York Times Best Selling Authors.

🌺 HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD by Sarah J Maas

🌺 A BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES by Suzanne Collins

🌺 CHAIN OF GOLD by Cassandra Clare

These will be HARDCOVER COPIES! With a total value of $80 US Dollars

GIVEAWAY #3

On August 21st, Abby’s drawing a winner for Holly Black’s series: FOLK OF THE AIR.

🌺 THE CRUEL PRINCE

🌺 THE WICKED KING

🌺 THE QUEEN OF NOTHING

These will be HARDCOVER COPIES! With a total value of $80 US Dollars

GRAND GIVEAWAY

On August 28^th, Abby’s giving away the grand prize, which includes the eReader and 8 eBooks at a $150 value:

🌺 A SONG OF WRATHS AND RUIN by Roseanne A Brown

🌺 THE KINGDOM OF BACK by Marie Lu

🌺 WICKED SAINTS by Emily A. Duncan

🌺 THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION by Kiersten White

🌺 CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi

🌺 SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo

🌺 AN E-BOOK OF YOUR CHOICE UPTO $15 USD

SORCERY OF THORNS by Margaret Rogerson

Note: The original giveaway included an e-copy of The Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling but after talking to the author, we agreed to replace the book with an ebook of the winner’s choice.