Orenda
by Ruth Silver
(Orenda #1)
Published by: Booktrope Publishing
Publication date: December 5th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Join forces with a parallel universe.
Dark forces, magical creatures, and the world Lil thought she knew collide when a dream transports her to the strange world of Orenda. Stunned and terrified, Lil comes face to face with her doppelganger, Willow, who possesses the ability to travel between the two worlds. Everything Lil knows logically says that Orenda can’t exist, but a small clue may be proof that it was more than an ordinary dream. With the threat of her sister in danger, Lil crosses dimensions but it may cost her even more than she bargained for.
A sword wielding girl, the eternal suit, and a parallel universe come together in this action-packed Young Adult fantasy adventure that will keep readers of all ages turning the pages.
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Excerpt
Willow scoffed at the idea, grabbed his arm, and pushed him down onto his knees, her hand tight behind his back. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Don’t touch me, creep.”
“Got it.” Bray winced, relieved when she let go of him. He rubbed his sore arm where she'd death-gripped him. “Who's Eilith?”
She stepped toward the stone door and bent down to examine the keyhole. “Of course, it's made of dead pixies!”
Bray watched, but he refused to approach her after what she'd done to him. “Dead pixies? As in fairies?” he asked, walking to the side window. He glanced outside to see the pink sun gradually setting.
“When silver touches pixies, they die. Their remains, in the form of dust, become a weapon that shields us from using our power. To answer your question earlier, no, pixies are not the same as fairies. It would do you well to learn that, should you ever come across one.”
“This isn’t funny, Lil.”
“I don't joke, and it’s Willow,” she said, correcting him. There was no hint of humor in her voice. “Pixies and fairies do not get along. Come over here,” she commanded him.
“No way.” Bray hesitated. “I'm not falling for that again.”
“Just do it.” Her voice held an urgency to it. “I saw you earlier at the door.” She gestured toward the lock. “You were able to touch it. You're not from here, which perhaps means your blood is immune to dead pixies.”
“The name's Bray, by the way,” he said as he hesitated before he approached the door. “What do you want me to do?”
“Bray.” She paused, giving him a putrid look. “Put your palm to the keyhole and I can handle the rest,” Willow said.
Bray did as instructed and pressed his palm to the lock. He masked his fear behind his eyes.
“Good, you're immune. Now, let's try this.” She moved to rest her hand on his.
“Is it working?”
Heavy footsteps erupted from just outside the chamber.
“Quick!” Willow pulled Bray away from the door. “Get back.” The door swung open and Bray stumbled backwards.
Bray glanced from Willow to the strange dark-haired woman looming over them in a black lace dress. Her fingernails were dark as night with a strange translucent appearance. Her lips were a deep fiery red, and her eyes held no hint of color or light. Her skin was incredibly pale. Had she ever been outside?
“What's going on?” Bray asked once he’d steadied his heartbeat.
“Silence!” the woman said. She held up her hand, making it impossible for Bray to speak again. He struggled to breathe. She not only sucked out his voice, but also the air from his lungs. After a moment, she lowered her hand and Bray fell to the stone floor, gasping. He didn't bother to get up again. “Come now. If you wish to live, you'll do as I tell you. Understand?” his tormentor said.
AUTHOR BIO:
Ruth Silver first began writing poetry as a teenager and reading heaps of fan fiction in her free time. She has written under three unique pseudo names and penned well over a hundred stories.
She attended Northern Illinois University in 2001 and graduated with a Bachelor's in Communication. While in college she spent much of her free time writing with friends she met online and penning her first novel, "Deuces are Wild", which she self-published in 2004. Her favorite class was Creative Writing senior year where she often handed in assignments longer than the professor required because she loved to write and always wanted to finish her stories.
Her love of writing, led her on an adventure in 2007 to Melbourne, Australia. Silver enjoys reading YA novels and sharing her favorite books with other readers. She runs her own book blog and also enjoys photography and traveling.
Author links:
- http://writeawaybliss.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/
writeawaybliss?_rdr - https://twitter.com/
writeawaybliss - https://www.goodreads.com/
author/show/7022586.Ruth_ Silver Blogging Tips and Advice for Writers
Make friends with authors. When they share your books, share theirs in return. Every single time.
Share indie and traditional published books. Don’t just focus on the mainstream.
Write reviews but be constructive. Never attack an author.
Share cover reveals, blog tours, book blitzes so you’ll have new content.
Join Triberr and connect your blog through Twitter or Facebook.
Always comment on people that leave a comment. If they’re taking the time to leave a message, thank them for stopping by.
Only use images that you have the copyright to use. Going to Google and saving an image and using it isn’t legal. It will get you into trouble and if you ask bloggers to share that image, it will get them in hot water as well.
Swearing in YA Fiction
Teens swear. I think it’s naive to write a YA novel and use “dang”, “heck”, “shut the front door”, unless you are catering to an audience that’s twelve and you’re looking to capture that tween market.
I don’t believe every words needs to be a swear word but I do feel like if it’s natural for the character to say, they shouldn’t avoid it either.
Reading the Shadow Falls series, I was constantly annoyed by constant use of polite words for swearing (heck or dang). There were so many I felt pulled out of the story like I could be sitting there counting them. That series happens to be one of my favorites but I felt like the amount of “polite swear words” made the book geared towards twelve and up, instead of fourteen or fifteen and up. Overall, I felt like using “polite swear words” were probably overused and instead using the actual word once or twice would have been better and made the same impact.
I also feel it depends on the novel, the characters, and the situation. Are they just cursing because they’re a teenager not getting their way or are they in the middle of a post-apocalyptic war and about to die? To me the scene is important and what feels right should be expressed, to a certain degree. I don’t believe you should be needing to drop any F-bombs in YA fiction but there are other times that “dang” just doesn’t feel appropriate either.
How to write a Book Review
Do your best not to rehash the entire plot. Unlike when we were kids and had to write book reviews for school, a book review should be focusing on the writing, not every plot detail.
So, don’t give away spoilers. No one wants to read your review to know what happens at the end of the book. Let someone else read it and be surprised (or not surprised if it’s predictable). Either way, it’s better to focus on other criteria.
These are a few things that I consider when writing a review for a book.
How was the book paced? Did it start fast and then drag? Was there not enough information in the beginning that made it difficult to understand?
Could you relate to the characters? Did you connect with them? Did you care if they died or would you care? Was there a character that really irritated you? Were they supposed to?
How was the writing style? Did it stay in present tense the entire novel or jump around? What about point of view? Was there head hopping?
Who would you recommend the novel to? Is the book appropriate for a specific age group? Be sure to include what age group if it’s young adult.
Tips for new writers
- Write like there’s no tomorrow. Keep writing. Make time for it every single day.
- Find a beta reader you trust that will help find any errors and inconsistencies.
- Read a lot. Read your genre. Read other genres that you love. The more you read, the more you’ll understand how to write
- Don’t be afraid to share your story for feedback. I taught a writing class with teens and very few were willing to share if their name was attached to the story. However, they were more open to the idea when I mixed the stories up and chose my three favorites. Don’t be embarrassed! At least you’re writing
Author Interview
What’s your favorite, go to, writing website?
YA Highway is a fantastic resouce for all writers. You don’t have to be just a YA writer to find it beneficial. Here’s the link:
http://www.yahighway.com/p/publishing-road-map.html
What inspired you to write Orenda?
I wanted to write a fantasy appropriate for middle grade as well as young adults. I loved the show Fringe and how they brought a parallel world into the mix. I wanted to do something similar and yet completely different with Fae, dragons, and magic.
In a few brief words, tell us how you market your novels?
I’m a huge believer in social media. I use Twitter and Facebook a lot. You can always find me on there. I’m also a book blogger, I run the website Write Away Bliss and Ravyn Rayne Reads. I connect those blogs to Triberr, which helps my posts get seen. I believe in both helping other indie authors and self-promoting. Aside from that, I create teasers, run promos and ask other blogs to help with those postings.
How can a new writer get published?
Get a publisher. Seriously. Write a great book, then query it to publishers and/or agents. You can self-publish but you’ve got to have it professionally edited, formatted properly (study similar books and look at text size/font/format), and market the crap out of it. Even then, you still won’t have all the resources of even a small press company. It’s tough, I’m not going to sugar coat it. I’ve done both and I would never go back to self-publishing or co-op publishing. Resources are key. There are connections you can’t get on your own.
What the heck is a Query letter?
It’s not a cover letter or a synopsis. It’s a selling point. You’ll start with a blurb that will entice the reader but not give them every detail about what your book is about. Overall, a query explains why the publisher/agent should read your novel. Often it compares your novel to two or three similar books that would be next to it on a bookshelf. You’ll also include word count, genre, and if you bring something special to the table that they agent/publisher should need to know (i.e. You’re a YA librarian and writing a YA novel). Check out that link above (YA Highway) for sample query letters, even if you’re not a YA writer.
Ten things I’ve learned since I started writing1. Build an author platform
2. Social media is key.
3. Read books daily (especially your genre or target market)
4. Write reviews for other books. Understand what you like and don’t as a writer.
5. Build a website or better yet a book blog
6. Create a Street Team. Recruit your fans
7. Attend author events
8. Don’t listen to every bit of advice you receive. Write for you. Otherwise you’ll make no one happy.
9. Keep a notebook handy near my bedside. As I’m tired and start to fall asleep, sometimes I get worthwhile ideas for where to take the next chapter. By morning I’ll forget it if I hadn’t written it down.
10. People will inevitably forget to tell you that they saw you dedicated the book to them.
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