Thursday, January 2, 2014

Guest Post & Giveaway: In Discretion by Reesa Herberth


The road goes on forever, and the party never ends, so today my blog tour finds me with you, the genial readers and bloggers of Pants Off Reviews.  I'm Reesa Herberthand I've brought presents!  (I find bribery is a great way to break the ice at parties.) 

I'm running a trivia contest throughout the tour, with a winner to be drawn from the entries on Friday, January 10, 2014.  I'll be giving away the winner's choice of any e-book in my backlist, plus a reading gift pack featuring books and treats!  The contest is open to U.S. and International entrants.  In the event that a winner outside the U.S. is chosen, a gift certificate to Riptide Publishing or Amazon will be substituted for the physical prize.  To enter, email me the answers to the following trivia questions (answers to all questions can be found in In Discretion):
  1. What is the name of Thanson Nez's father? 
  1. Who is Tynna? 
  1. What item did Thanson steal from Kazra the last time they saw one another? 

If you email me your answers to be entered in the drawing, I can state with 87.9% accuracy that you will NOT be offered as a sacrifice to Mighty Cthulu today. Aren't those great odds?  Now that you know a little about my sense of humourcan you guess how I spend my days?  Lucky for you, there's no need to guess, because I've got an interview just a little further down the page. 

We know you’re a romance writer. Do you have a day job? 
Yes. In an attempt to conquer all genres and mediums, I'm also a fantasy and science fiction writer, not to mention a fiber artist. Unless you mean the job that actually pays my bills, in which case, I work for a non-profit as the resident Office Goddess and Doer of All The Things. 

 Have you read any great books lately?  
Yes! I read and adored Amy Lane's holiday book from Riptide, Christmas Kitsch.  It hit all my holiday romance buttons- family rejection, issues of self-worth, created family- not to mention part of the proceeds were donated to help homeless LGBTQ teens and young adults. 

I'm currently in the process of devouring Jordan L. Hawk's Whybourne and Griffin series.  My lovely co-conspirator, Michelle Moore, practically bounced the entire time she was reading the first one, and then looked at me with giant puppy dog eyes until I bought it so we could talk about them.   

It's not really a book, but I'm also totally hooked (like the rest of the world, it seems- I'm a little slow) on Welcome to Night Vale.  Podcasts and audio books usually aren't my thing, but Cecil can talk to me about the Annual Parade of Hooded Figures and the alien lights hovering over the Arby's any day. I'm actually so enthralled that I decided to go visit my Mom, by pure coincidence around the same time the Night Vale Live tour is making a stop in her city. I think she's onto me. 

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?  

I'm an archetype junkie, so there's a spark of that at the heart of a lot of my characters, but most of them come directly from my juicy little brainpan.  That doesn't mean I don't borrow names, though.  In Discretion features the folded and spindled names of at least four friends, plus a weapon named after a fan.  And. Um. A zombie possibly based on my sister. But I totally apologized for that!

What are your daily must-stop blogs and websites?  

Twitter is where I do most of my "hanging out" online. Imgur is where I go when I need a laugh and/or a good sniffle. Every Tuesday, it's straight to my favourite webcomic, The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal. (Fangirl note: I've never seen someone draw emotions as beautifully as E.K. Weaver. Her art constantly takes my breath away. /fangirl) Sundays I get my PostSecret fix. I kept up with a lot of blogs before Google Reader died a miserable death, but now I'm more of an, "Oooo, shiny link!" girl. I love Chuck Wendig's blog, Terrible Minds. 

Speaking of online hangouts, where are yours? Where can your readers find you?  
As mentioned above, I spend way too much time hanging out on twitter (where you can find me as @reesah), and I'm easy to catch there.  On Facebook, I maintain a page for the Ylendrian Empire.  If you want to keep tabs on what we're writing, what music I'm using as a soundtrack, and what I've done this time, I'd highly recommend taking a gander at the old blog- Michelle and Reesa Write.  Drop us a comment, send a message on twitter, or post on the Ylendrian wall- we love hearing from fans, and try to answer each and every comment in a timely manner.  (Barring freak electro-magnetic storms, zombie plagues, and overactive spam filtering.)

What’s the best part of publishing your book, from start to finish? 
The covers! I can't deny that a book doesn't seem real to me until it has a cover, and we've really lucked out with ours.  The cover for In Discretion has everything I could ask for- tension, action, that great yin/yang balance of colour and light, and if you look closely, the artist worked the official Ylendrian Imperial seal into the art.  Not to mention Thanson and Kazra! 

Thanks again for having me today.  I'll be hanging around like forgotten dry cleaning, swinging by on the carousel now and then to answer comments and questions.  I've waved my hands and managed to conjure up an exclusive excerpt of your very own, but if you'd like to read a longer one and purchase In Discretion, you can do so here. 
***
Thanson scanned the bay, turning slowly and pulling out the details he’d missed before. There were bodies scattered around the floor, but few showed signs of the trauma expected from an explosion. Some of them seemed to be restrained, arms looped behind them, legs tied together. 
Kazra beat him to the question. “What the hell is going on here, Bannon? Do you really have people tied up? Were they saboteurs?” 
“Nobody’s clear on what caused the explosion, but we don’t think they’re to blame.” Bannon’s face stretched into something that tried to look sarcastic but melted into terror, head jerking toward the man they’d brought in. “Might want to get him tied up, too. If he’s got what the rest of them have, he’ll be trying to rip your face off in a few minutes.” Thanson felt a twinge of sympathy for Kazra, who did a slow assessment of the room, obviously at a loss for words. “What do they have?” 
Bannon shrugged, the sheen on his upper lip more evident. “Fever of some sort. Whether it’s delirium making them violent or something else is anyone’s guess.” 
“Isn’t there a station doctor here?” Thanson asked. Kazra and Bannon both turned to stare at him like the wall had suddenly decided to talk, and he shook his head, exasperated. “Someone with medical training?” It seemed a logical enough question. “Doc Spila hasn’t reported in, but she was down in the storage bay doing an inventory of supplies when the power first went off.” Bannon had answered him, but stared at Kazra, whose expression drew tighter. “Don’t know if she was on her way here when the hull blew or not.” 
“The storage bay is gone,” Kazra said. We’ll have to assume she isn’t going to make it here soon enough to oversee triage.” 
Or at all, Thanson guessed, but that seemed to be the line neither Bannon nor Kazra was keen to cross. Kazra met his eyes for a second, before putting Bannon back on the hot seat. “What about station command?” 
Bannon laughed, eyes wild. “You’re looking at it." 




About In Discretion: 
Thanson Nez thought his career as a Discretionary would take him to the stars, not strand him on a space station at the ass-end of the Empire. Thanks to his last client, he’s carrying a secret he can’t get rid of fast enough, but his oath to the guild means a swift, painful death if he shares it. Already desperate for help, he runs into yet more trouble: his ex, and an explosion that paralyzes the station moments after their uncomfortable reunion. 

Kazra Ferdow, Station 43’s communications officer, is almost as blindsided by the return of his first love as he is by the sudden loss of power and life support. The station is a floating graveyard in the making, and something is turning its inhabitants into savage killers. Fighting human monsters and damaged tech, Kazra and Thanson must put aside their past long enough to try to save everyone.

The more light they shine into dark corners, the more Thanson realizes how many people might die for the secrets locked in his head—and what he’s willing to sacrifice to make sure Kazra isn’t one of them. 

Reesa Herberth is the co-author (with Michelle Moore) of the Ylendrian Empire series.  She can often be found tweetingblogging, and messing around on Facebook when she should be writing.  Likewise, she is easily distracted by the sound of new email, and encourages you to contact her at ylendrianempire@gmail.com 

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