Forbidden Things: Book One - Dissident
by Nikki McCormack
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BLURB:
Ascard power can strengthen, heal and create. It also has great potential to destroy, enough to topple entire governments. Indigo’s country places strict limitations on the use of ascard so she must channel her talents into the healing arts or risk severe punishment. An orphan from a disgraced family, trapped by her father’s treason, Indigo struggles to reclaim her place in a society that has driven her into an abusive engagement.
Then a mysterious stranger from a neighboring country contacts her using ascard. He needs help escaping his prison so he can bring an end to his emperor's oppressive rule or die trying. His unshakable devotion to his cause and the passion hidden behind his cool arrogance move her to help him at the risk of being branded a traitor herself.
When the politics of society bring them together a second time, Indigo decides to use her growing powers to help him fight his war. If only she dared fight for her own future with such passion. Perhaps she can find the courage to do so by helping the man she has fallen for win his revolution. She might have exactly the power he needs to succeed.
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Excerpt One:
Her attention wandered to the fountain sprouting up in the center of a nearby courtyard, simple and elegant like a great stonework lily. A man stood by the fountain, watching water droplets falling with the shimmer of multicolored gems in the bright sunlight. Long silver hair hung to the middle of his back like a frozen waterfall. His smooth pale skin and unusual hair marked him as Lyran, but his regal bearing and rich attire didn’t befit a slave or merchant.
Curious. “Have you seen him before?”
Andrea turned, following her gaze. “Who?”
“The man beside the fountain.”
“There’s no one by the fountain.”
Andrea’s reply tugged at her awareness, but the silver-haired Lyran was turning toward them now. His pale eyes met hers and the air pressed from her lungs as if a corset were being pulled too tight. The buildings lurched and spun in her vision.
“Indigo?”
She sank to her knees. Andrea crouched down with her, her eyes wide and frightened. She held Indigo’s shoulders tight, her lips moving. Indigo heard only the pounding of blood in her ears.
INTERVIEW with the Author:
If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?
That’s a hard one. I think we all have people in our past we could have been kinder too, especially in those feisty teenage years. I would probably apologize to my mom for anytime I made life harder on her while growing up. Fortunately, she’s still very active in my life, so I can move on with that apology.
Sorry for any time my fits and dramas made your life harder, Mom. I love you.
If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?
There are so many options, but I brainstormed it with my husband and we decided that a Leprechaun would be best. Assuming it was a congenial relationship, I could have access to the gold stash and be able to put my books out to readers without having to charge for them. My husband would have someone to drink Guinness with.
How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?
With so many people publishing right now, I don’t know that you can ever be certain your writing is completely different from all the others in any genre. The best you can do is write the story you want to tell and let your own voice come through in the process. If you spend too much time fretting over whether it’s unique enough, you’ll never finish the book.
What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?
The best would probably be to write what you love rather than trying to write to whatever is popular at the time. It takes time to write a book and get it ready for publication. If you write to trends, the trends may have changed by the time you finish your project. If you write what you love, that passion will come through to your readers.
I’m not sure what the worst writing advice I’ve received is. Any advice can be bad if you take it too much to heart. At one point in school, a teacher told me that my stories didn’t have enough dialogue, so I jumped to the opposite end of the spectrum, writing stories that were almost entirely dialogue. I managed to balance it out eventually, but all advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Most writing rules really are just guidelines. They should be used as appropriate to the story you are trying to tell.
Are the experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I’ve borrowed bits and pieces of many people in my life and combined them with my own imagination to create the characters in this book. The events, however, are all fictional, based off dreams and the wild wanderings of my mind.
INTERVIEW with the Author:
If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?
That’s a hard one. I think we all have people in our past we could have been kinder too, especially in those feisty teenage years. I would probably apologize to my mom for anytime I made life harder on her while growing up. Fortunately, she’s still very active in my life, so I can move on with that apology.
Sorry for any time my fits and dramas made your life harder, Mom. I love you.
If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?
There are so many options, but I brainstormed it with my husband and we decided that a Leprechaun would be best. Assuming it was a congenial relationship, I could have access to the gold stash and be able to put my books out to readers without having to charge for them. My husband would have someone to drink Guinness with.
How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?
With so many people publishing right now, I don’t know that you can ever be certain your writing is completely different from all the others in any genre. The best you can do is write the story you want to tell and let your own voice come through in the process. If you spend too much time fretting over whether it’s unique enough, you’ll never finish the book.
What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?
The best would probably be to write what you love rather than trying to write to whatever is popular at the time. It takes time to write a book and get it ready for publication. If you write to trends, the trends may have changed by the time you finish your project. If you write what you love, that passion will come through to your readers.
I’m not sure what the worst writing advice I’ve received is. Any advice can be bad if you take it too much to heart. At one point in school, a teacher told me that my stories didn’t have enough dialogue, so I jumped to the opposite end of the spectrum, writing stories that were almost entirely dialogue. I managed to balance it out eventually, but all advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Most writing rules really are just guidelines. They should be used as appropriate to the story you are trying to tell.
Are the experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I’ve borrowed bits and pieces of many people in my life and combined them with my own imagination to create the characters in this book. The events, however, are all fictional, based off dreams and the wild wanderings of my mind.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Nikki started writing her first novel at the age of 12 (which is still tucked away in a briefcase in her office). Despite a successful short story publication with Cricket Magazine in 2007, she treated her writing addiction as a hobby until a drop in the economy left her with an abundance of free time to focus on making it her career.
Nikki lives in the magnificent Pacific Northwest tending to her awesome husband, two sweet horses, three manipulative cats, and a crazy dog. She’s a wine and tea fanatic who loves sitting on the ocean in her kayak surrounded by open water or hanging from a rope in a cave, embraced by darkness and the sound of dripping water. She also enjoys horseback riding, archery, PC gaming, dancing, good anime, etc. She studies Japanese and practices Iaido because she believes we should never stop learning.
Twitter handle: @Author_NikkiMc
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NikkiMcCormack
Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7437256.Nikki_McCormack
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
The author will award a $50 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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