Dear Reader,
Thank you
very much for joining me for Over the Mountain and Back blog tour. The story of
Over the Mountain and Back began over twenty years ago when I was fourteen
years old and decided to write a novel as an anniversary gift for my parents.
It was going to be a fantasy adventure about a boy named Peter and a girl named
Lara set in a magical country, Transadonia. I remember writing studiously on
the pages of an ornate notebook I had acquired especially for the occasion.
Back then computers were not yet widely used, so I had to pay extra care to my
handwriting. A year later, Over the Mountain and Back was completed, or at
least I had thought so at the time. Needless to say my parents were very
surprised with their anniversary gift.
Years passed;
I finished high school and went on to college. Lara’s and Peter’s story faded
from my mind, replaced by the hustles and bustles of everyday life. Then, one
day – the day that happened to be my thirtieth birthday, my parents presented
me with a gift: it was oblong in shape and wrapped in shiny paper. After I
opened the wrapping, I was stunned to find the long forgotten story I had
written all those years ago.
Long story
short, after two years of extensive work, I rewrote and expanded Over the
Mountain and Back into a novel of 95,000 words. For me it had been an exciting
journey to be reunited with my old friends: Lara and Peter, Forest Witch
Ramona, Chancellor Libra, Bookbrownies, and, of course, Carnelion, among the
many others.
I hope that
you will join Lara and Peter on their adventure in Transadonia.
If you would
like to find out more about my books, please stop by website:
www.marieastor.com.
Regards,
Marie Astor
Books by
Marie Astor:
For Young
Adults:
Over the
Mountain and Back – a fantasy adventure novel
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Mountain-Back-Adventure-ebook/dp/B008WF1Y78/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1348537570&sr=1-6
Kindle link:
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Mountain-Back-Adventure-ebook/dp/B008WF1Y78/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1348527276&sr=1-6
For Adults:
To Catch a
Bad Guy – romantic suspense
http://www.amazon.com/To-Catch-Bad-Guy-ebook/dp/B008W1L5IA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1348537512&sr=8-5&keywords=marie+astor
This Tangled
Thing Called Love – a contemporary romance about overcoming one’s inhibitions,
learning to tango, and finding one’s true love match.
http://www.amazon.com/This-Tangled-Thing-Called-ebook/dp/B0078IPNCW/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1337972977&sr=1-3
Lucky Charm –
a humorous contemporary romance about love, luck and friendship.
http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Charm-Contemporary-Romance-ebook/dp/B005BZL3L4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336842915&sr=8-1
On the Rim of
Love – a contemporary romance about the unexpected power of love.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Rim-Love-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B005TOWI7K/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
A Dress in a
Window – a collection of short stories about love, coincidences, and fate.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Dress-Window-ebook/dp/B004E112TO/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Social Media
Links:
Website:
http://www.marieastor.com/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/marieastorcollection
GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4665230.Marie_Astor
Twitter:
@marieastor
Blurb:
With his father gone missing and his mother losing her grip on reality,
Peter Bailey’s life is no picnic. Peter’s gray existence changes unexpectedly
after he takes his new snowboard for a ride in the mountains of Colorado and is
stunned to find himself in Transadonia – a hidden world
that coexists alongside with the Earth.
Lara Grover never listened to her elders, so warnings like “do not
talk to strangers” mean nothing to her. When a boy from an unknown world saves
her from an avalanche with the aid of a snow dragon, Lara is not stunned in the
least. Instead, she joins Peter on his quest to help him realize the purpose
behind his arrival to Transadonia.
Together, Lara and Peter embark on an adventure filled with perils,
trickery, betrayals, and unexpected alliances.
Excerpt:
The children walked quietly along
the tracks. Once they left the clamor of the busy train station, the scenery
changed to luscious woods that lined the tracks on one side and a gleaming
silver streak of the river on the other. Here, in the valley, winter was almost
over; the snow had melted completely despite it being the middle of January.
The trees were dressed in coats of green leaves, and a carpet of springy, green
grass covered the ground. They walked silently for some time, trying to go as
fast as they could, mindful of the long distance they had to cover. Ethan kept
up for as long as he could, but soon he began to feel tired and started to
complain.
“Could we stop for some rest?” he
asked peevishly.
“We have to keep going,” said Lara,
“or we won’t make it to your uncle’s house in time, and I’ll have to tell him
why we missed the train in the first place. Would you like that?”
Ethan did not answer and continued
to shuffle his feet defiantly with a sullen expression on his face. But they
did take a short break after all. Peter found that he still had some of the
mushrooms that the Viglians had given him, and although it wasn’t much of a
meal, it helped them quell their hunger. The children were on the lookout for a
place where they could get a bite to eat, but there was none, so they kept on
walking.
“We are getting close,” announced
Lara as they passed by the next train station.
The scenery began to change, and
while thick woods still continued on the left side of the tracks, on the far
right the children spotted a string of brightly colored houses. The small,
cheerful houses were of all colors imaginable: bright yellow, green, blue, and
even red. Each house was complemented by a blossoming garden and was encircled
with a neat fence. A sign read,
Welcome
to the Town of Migdad.
This part of the country was
mostly rural with intermixed stretches of farmland.
“Perhaps we could find something to
eat over there!” exclaimed Ethan, pointing in the direction of the town. By
now, Ethan had forgotten everything about his previous lapse and was back to
his old self; to be fair, however, it should be noted that his little short
legs were exhausted from walking, and his stomach was grumbling with hunger.
“Very well,” said Lara. “I suppose
we could look for a place to eat, but we are not straying too far from the
road.”
As the children walked towards the
town, they saw an inn sign not too far from the road. Ethan was the first to
notice it and quickly ran up the inn’s steps.
“Not so fast, Ethan!” called Lara.
“Wait for us.”
The inn was painted a bright green
color and was surrounded by a neat fence. A big, lettered sign on the front
porch read Inn & Restaurant;
underneath the sign, Dinner Served Daily,
was hand-written in white chalk.
Do you like fantasy novels? If so, maybe The Silver Sphere by Michael Dadich is exactly what you've been waiting on.
