Hope. Dreams. Life... Love: Songs of Autumn

Songs Of Autumn

by Lauren Sevier

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GENRE: YA Fantasy

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BLURB:

What if your entire life you knew the exact day you were going to die?

Liz does.

Magick in the Kingdom of Aegis has almost run out. When that happens, the seasons will stop changing, the tides will cease to turn, and the sun will no longer be able to rise and set. The only way to save the lives of her people is if Liz agrees to be a blood sacrifice in a brutal ceremony that will take her life.

The problem is… Liz isn't ready to go.

With the help of a mischievous wanna-be soldier, Matioch Steele, Liz dares to take her fate into her own hands. Defying a blood-thirsty sorcerer, her desperate flight teaches her how to truly live while Mat finds out what's worth dying for. Each other.

Love, Death, Magick, and Mystery come together to weave one girl's epic tale of self-discovery.

Her song will echo within us all.

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EXCERPT

The sunset over the bay was the most beautiful Liz had ever seen, but perhaps it's because she knew it would be the last. It set the sky aflame, burning deep into her memory. She wore pearls in her hair and a crown adorned with so many shimmering diamonds it appeared to be made from seawater and starlight itself. Every inch of her porcelain skin had been cleansed and massaged with lavender oil. An extravagant lamb, headed for slaughter.

The silk and lace of her wedding gown clung to the curves of her body and flowed like water around her as she moved. Her figure, too curvy to be considered fashionable, was squeezed into an acceptable shape by a corset inlaid with whale bones. Never had she been more radiant, her flame-like hair mirroring the sunset outside.

A woman at the peak of her life, never more ready to begin, and it was her ending.

“Tell me again,” She said firmly, adjusting the pins near her left ear.

“Your highness, it doesn’t matter how-

“Tell me again.” She snapped, turning piercing blue eyes on Priestess Elba whose words fell away in an instant. Her breath hitched and her eyes fell to the mosaic beneath her feet.

“You’ll walk down the front steps of the palace to a boat waiting at the edge of the water. Your parents will walk behind you and all the people of Silver City will be there to witness your descent.”

Liz closed her eyes tight, imagining it in her mind, biting her lower lip hard enough that she worried she would break the skin. If she prepared herself now, perhaps she could retain some dignity in these final moments.

A Word With the Author

1.Did you always want to be an author? No. For the majority of my life, and still to this day, I aspire to become a mermaid. Until then, however, writing will just have to do. Honestly, for a large part of my life I didn’t aspire to become an author because I was working under the assumption that it was impossible. I’ve always loved literature, reading, writing, story structure, poems, plays, etc. But, the idea that I could create something all my own seemed outlandish. It wasn’t until 2012 when I finished my first manuscript and wrote ‘The End’ for the first time that it hit me. I could do it. Once I realized it wasn’t impossible, there was really no stopping me from that point on.

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book. Songs Of Autumn is going to be my debut publication. It’s the first in a planned six book series with a sequel series already planned and several companion novellas in various stages of outlining. So far it’s going great! Readers and reviewers have really been connecting with the characters and I didn’t realize how satisfying that would be. Songs Of Autumn will be officially released 11.21.2020 and is available to pre-order platform wide now! The Audiobook is also currently in production and we’re shooting for release on Audible close to publication date for the book for any blind or visually impaired readers. Or busy working moms, like me.

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in? I have a ton of authors in the YA Fantasy genre that I respect but honestly, Leigh Bardugo has really run away with my heart. Her Six Of Crows duology is smart, twisted, and beautifully broken. The character development still astounds me and I’m particular to character driven stories. I’ve read nearly everything she’s written and while I like her writing style in general and she’s clearly very talented, those books are my favorite by far. I have a soft spot for misanthropes and anti-heroes though and I haven’t read a well written anti-hero since Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. That is, until Leigh Bardugo blessed us with the criminal we love to love and love to hate in Kaz Brekker.

4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst? The best part of being an author is the work. It can get overwhelming (especially when deadlines are looming) but the act of creation in itself is empowering. Getting lost in the plot, finding the perfect place for a line that wouldn’t let you sleep at 2 am, a realization about a scene you wrote that didn’t make sense in draft one but is now the lynch pin that holds the whole thing together in the final draft, weeping with the villain because you know why they’re bad even if no one else does. It makes me feel the most alive when I write.

The worst part is the doubt and indecision that comes along with it. For most of my life, I let imposter syndrome and self-doubt tell me that I wasn’t good enough to publish a book… so why even try? Will anyone like my book? What if they don’t? In the end the doubt and indecision didn’t matter, because I realized that I can’t control other people’s opinions or tastes and the only people who ever really suffer from imposter syndrome are writers who aren’t imposters. The feeling that I’m not a real author or my book isn’t valuable stems from a deep love and care for my reader’s enjoyment and a desire to make my story the best it can be. And that’s exactly what real authors do.

5.What are you working on now? I work on a few projects at a time, actually. So I’m deep into developmental edits for Book #2 in the Songs Series titled ‘Songs Of Winter’ and I’m actually really excited about a new project I’m Co-Authoring with my friend A.Smith, titled ‘Guns and Smoke’. It’s a Dystopian Western Romance, set a couple of decades after the end of the world in the American Mid-West. It’s about two characters who are thrown together on a dangerous adventure running from bounty hunters and past traumas who figure out that life should be about more than just surviving. We’re shooting for a 2022 publication date as we’re still writing it, but the way it’s going I’m hoping it’ll be available sooner than that.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Lauren Sevier lives a simple life in small town Walker, Louisiana with her family and two mischievous dogs. She’s a proud firefighter wife and mother to her miracle son, born through IVF after an eight-year battle with infertility. She works full-time for a non-profit hospital in Cardiology caring for the elderly and low-income families all over the state of Louisiana in satellite and outreach clinics. Writing and being in the service of helping others are her two passions in life.

She started writing song lyrics and poems on the front porch swing of her family home nestled amidst a 200-year-old pecan tree orchard that was once part of a Civil War plantation. She’s inspired the most by Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and JK Rowling. Her background in Theatre introduced her to classic British literature, playwrights, and poets from a very young age. This helped her to understand story concepts, dramatization, and character development the way Shakespeare once did, as an actor.

Now her biggest inspiration for writing is her son who, like all children, learns by example. Lauren is determined to set a specific example for him; to live simply, work hard, and to never stop chasing her dreams. Because, one day, you just might catch them.

Links to Socials/Book

UBL: https://books2read.com/u/3LDDkJ

Website: www.laurensevier.com

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/laurensevier

Twitter: www.twitter.com/laurensevier

Instagram: www.instagram.com/laurensevier

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorlaurensevier

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49204479-songs-of-autumn

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Songs-Autumn-Book-1-ebook/dp/B082MRDZXN

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/songs-of-autumn-lauren-sevier/1136242243

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