Sunday, May 25, 2014

Feature: K.N. Lee, author of Dark Prophet


.99 cent sale May 25-26


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Blurb


Book Two of the Best-Selling Novel, The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld

Not all vampires are created equal...

Koa is a half-blood vampire with not only the ability to fly, but survive in the sun's light. She will do anything to protect her mother, and break her curse. The demon, Bund, wants more than her mother's life. He wants something from Koa, a power that she doesn't even know she has, and will rip through as many humans as he can to get her to surrender.

Agent Koa Ryeo-won, and her boss, Halston, formed a crew of supernatural agents to stop Bund. But is a prophet, a temptress, a War-Breeder, a half-blood with an enchanted sword, and a few angels enough to stop what Bund has planned?

In the midst of a war between the humans of the mortal world, and the creatures of the Netherworld, Koa discovers the truth of her past. She finds herself torn between two men, and in the center of everything. Faced with all of her returned memories, Koa also finds herself more powerful than ever. Being a half-blood is hard enough, but what exactly is Koa's other half?

The truth can save...or destroy everything.

Will the Netherworld Division stand behind Koa once they learn her secret?

**Bonus Material**
Chapter 1 of K.N. Lee's young adult fantasy, Academia of the Beast!




Excerpt

Running, face set in determination and untamed rage, Halston reached for his infinity gun. Sweat dripped from his hair and forehead as he ran through the fire ravaged corridors of the Ivory Tower. Deafening shouts followed him.
The Wraith had been set loose and no one was safe, not even the vampire soldiers of the Royal Guard. Halston rarely paused. The sounds of crunched bones and muffled cries of pain filled the corridor, bouncing off what was left of the walls. Prisoners were awakened, thrilled to be free from their cells, but horrified to hear the screams of agony, and the howls of a monstrous creature with no loyalty.
Ahead, there was a pile of rubble. The exit was caved in. Halston looked up. With light emitted from the palm of his hand, he saw through the darkness. Stepping over dead bodies, bodies of Syths, his boot came down in a pile of slush. Someone had exploded and their guts were strewn about.
Halston grimaced.
“Help! Help!” A female soldier called from behind.
Halston looked over his shoulder, watched the armored woman struggling to free herself from fallen stones. The Wraith was not far behind.
Halston sighed inwardly. The soldier was wasting her breath. She was better off shutting up and pretending to be dead instead of drawing the creature’s attention.
Thundering footsteps echoed from afar, and Halston bent his knees, summoned a surge of power from deep within his gut, and took off into a burned out hole in the ceiling. He shot up to another level of the Ivory Tower, one that was dark and smelled of burning flesh. The fire had no effect on him. He landed in the center and ignited his angelic glow.
He held up his infinity gun and pushed a button that opened a lens. Through the lens he could see into the darkness of the hall. Eerie. Quiet. Only the soft echoes of the terror below made their way to his ultra-sensitive ears. Stone walls on either side stretched far down the hall. Steel doors were left sealed. Perhaps the prisoners were too afraid to speak, too afraid to even ask to be free.
Halston raised a brow. Good, at least some of them are clever, he thought.
The prisoners were certainly safer inside their cells than out and about. Halston walked softly, holding his gun ready. Every sense was heightened as he listened for danger. If he could only get to the vaults, where the Wraith had slept for centuries, and reset the gates, the Wraith would be called back and he would be free to follow Koa. If he could not stop the Wraith, then it would continue its massacre of the vampires and creatures in the Ivory Tower, and turn its attention to her scent.  It was the only way. Not even his infinity gun could stop that creature.
                “There he is!” A gruff male voice shouted from behind.
Infinity gun cocked, Halston swirled around, identified four armed enemy vampire soldiers in light armor, and pulled the trigger.
A blast, and then a shrill sound, filled the hall. The infinity bullet flew at full speed, hungry, needy, thrilled to be free to fulfill its craving. Like Koa’s Lyrinian sword, Halston’s infinity gun had a soul and a mind of its own.
Halston bent to his knees and watched as in seconds, the bullet shot through the heads of all four vampires like a heat missile. Silently, he watched, waited, as the infinity bullet, satisfied by the kill, reversed its course and returned to the gun. Halston held the gun ready and with a click, the bullet re-entered. Secure in its home, the bullet silenced.
Koa.
With each kill, Halston felt a little better that she was closer to freedom. Years had passed and Halston had kept his promise to her father, King Alsand. Many had been killed in the process. He would never forget the day he first laid eyes on the half-blood princess. Nor would he forget how his feelings had grown throughout the years serving as not only her protector, but her boss. He cringed. The screeching that came from afar filled his ears.
The walls and floors vibrated. Rocks and rumble popped and jumped as the Wraith trampled and destroyed everything below. Halston came to his feet and flew to the end of the hallway. He looked both ways at the fork and chose the hall with a door at the end. He flew to the door, opened it, and saw darkness and a staircase leading to the main floor where he could find the path to the vaults. What a maze the Ivory Tower was. Each floor looked the same.
Halston paused at the bottom of the staircase. The Wraith…saw him. It growled, like a dog.
Halston braced himself. Energy collected around his body as he saw the large eyes of something unnatural.
Halston stood near the main exit, prepared, waiting. He could not let that Wraith leave and go after Koa. Blood dripped from the ceiling and onto his forehead. Halston wiped it off and glanced up at the gore that was stuck to what was left of the ceiling.
Halston was calm, calmer than he should have been, but at least he knew that Koa was safe. That was all that mattered. He knew that Jax would protect Koa until he could return to her.
Halston didn’t reach for his infinity gun. It would not work against this beast. Even as the Wraith thundered down the corridor, Halston examined the damage that Koa had done with the vial that he had given her.
Stone and debris littered the carpet, along with the bodies of countless Syths and goblins that resembled vampire children.
He frowned at the ghastly sight. It was no secret that he never liked the nephilim, but it was his race of fallen angels that had created such abominations.
It was up to the fallen angels to get rid of their spawn.
First, Halston saw horns come from the raised gate at the far end of the corridor.
Halston clenched his jaw as he looked into those large oval-shaped, black, eyes.
The things I do for you, Koa. He thought of her face as he sent her away with Jax and his frown deepened. Jax better get her to the Gate safely.
Halston waited. He was patient, even as he was unsure of what he would do to stop the creature. The Wraith was furious, with puffs of smoke coming out of his slime covered nostrils.
Like a snake with legs, it had a scaly body and a head like a troll with a single horn at the top of his huge head. Ugly didn’t begin to describe the monstrosity before him.
Two bulging eyes caught sight of Halston, and the red veins of his eyeballs seemed to deepen and stretch as he charged towards the angel before him.
Halston’s rank as an angel meant nothing to the creature. Starved for who knows how long, the Wraith knew only that Halston might taste delicious...and that he stood in the way of his main target.
Halston lifted his arms and sent his body into the air. He hovered as the Wraith picked up speed. Halston held his arms out before him and with a push of air, he sent a powerful blast towards the creature.
The Wraith squealed as the shock of the cold air slapped it in the face. It fell to the ground and looked up at Halston with a perplexed look in its eyes. Like a rabid dog, it snarled and came to its stubby feet. With an ear-shattering screech, the Wraith leapt into the air, reaching for Halston with his sharp claws. Halston dove out of the way and sent another blast of air.
The blast sent the Wraith through a wall, and into another corridor. Halston growled and went after it, but paused when he heard robotic voices drifting to his ears from afar. Halston thought a moment. Scayors were coming. He glanced at the creature as if shook its head, trying to regain its senses and reached for his infinity gun.
“Put that away, Halston.”
Halston’s brows rose as he turned to see a little boy peeking over the rubble that was once the front door to the Ivory Tower. Halston flew over to him.
“Roderick? What are you doing here?” Halston was stunned. “You never leave your lab.”
Roderick put a finger to his lips. “Quiet down, loudmouth!” he whispered.
Halston landed on his feet. He ran his hands through his blonde hair and shook his head. “What are you doing?”
Roderick grinned. “I told you I wanted to be included in your little games.”
Halston glanced over his shoulders. The Wraith was looking through the hole that it had crashed through. Its eyes landed on them.  Two quads of Scayors entered the corridor. The tall creatures had black or silver metal covering every inch of their bodies. Halston cocked his infinity gun.
“Put that away!” Roderick ordered. “You know it won’t work on that thing.”
Halston furrowed his brows and secured his infinity gun in its holster. “Listen, I know what I’m doing.”
Roderick huffed and came to his feet. He barely reached Halston’s chest and had the face of a ten year old, but Halston knew all too well that looks can be deceiving. Roderick was none other than the Alchemist, the one who had helped him rescue Koa and break Jax out of this very prison only minutes ago.
“You know how to make a big mess. That is all.” Roderick narrowed his eyes up at Halston.
Halston began to protest, tell the Alchemist that he needed to go back to his lab and leave matters to the angels, when Roderick spoke quick words, threw two vials and vanished.
Halston looked around, mouth agape as the vials hit the floor. He fell back as a blast of light filled the corridor. As Halston landed with his back against the wall, he saw Roderick reappear behind the Scayors.
Whatever the boy had done, sent the Scayors into erratic chaos. Their bodies were electrified. Robotic screams filled the room as they writhed and trembled.
Roderick stood behind them, smiling.
Halston raised a brow. The boy looked evil standing there, enjoying what he liked to call games. Halston pushed himself off the wall and sent more air to the Wraith. The walls and floor vibrated with its intensity.
While the Scayors were convulsing, the Wraith didn’t seem to be affected. Halston closed his eyes and sent more energy into the force of air. The air tightened, collected energy, and turned blue. The instant it hit the Wraith, the creature let out a shrill cry and burst into tiny particles, swirled in circles, and faded into the air.
Halston went to his knees and tried to catch his breath. Lights flashed behind his eyelids as he willed the pounding headache to subside. He’d used a lot of power in such a short amount of time, even angels needed to use caution.
All Halston saw when he tried to calm his breathing was Koa’s little face. Those green eyes looked at him lovingly. The corners of her mouth lifted into that small smile that she only gave him.
He felt at peace, and when Halston opened his eyes Roderick was standing before him, his arms holding his red suspenders. Halston leaned to the side to look past the boy. The Scayors lay in a heap of what looked like scrap metal in a junkyard.
Halston lifted a brow and looked at the Alchemist.
Roderick grinned. “That was fun.” He dusted his hands and folded them behind him. “What’s next?”

Amazon






Interview
 

Can you give us an interesting fact about your book that isn't in the blurb?

 Like most of my books, Dark Prophet has many scenes that are from my dreams.

 

How did you choose your title?

 

The title was actually pretty hard to choose! I tried to find a way to encompass the theme. I ended up asking my beta reading squad and created a title that combined two of their ideas. Thanks buddies!

 

 

Did you self-publish or publish traditionally and why?

 

I decided to self-publish my first series for two reasons. One is that I wanted some credits to my name while I query agents and send proposals to publishers. The other is simply because I’m impatient. The idea of having my story live in a lonely file on my computer for months or years until I found the perfect publisher was horrifying. I’m pleased with my decision.

 

What do you consider the most important part of a good story?

 

The characters! Plot is crucial, but I simply fall in love with my characters. Koa, Halston, and Raven are like old friends to me. I truly enjoy coming up with their adventures.

What is your writing process?

 

My writing process usually begins with a dream, or the idea of a character. I start with a scene that grips my imagination and before I know it, the character takes over. I usually try to finish the story before I go back and change things. I used to obsess over every paragraph and could never get the end. The key is to get the story out, and then edit and revise later.

 

How long have you been writing?

 

I’ve been writing since I was a small child. I started writing short stories, and then books when I was in the second grade. I’d draw the pictures and bind it with cardboard wrapped with wallpaper. I still have a few saved.

 

What part of the writing process is the hardest for you?

 

The hardest part of the writing process for me is finally letting go and saying that the story is complete. I always have something that I want to change or elaborate on. It takes great courage to complete a story and let others read it.

 

What tips can you give on how to get through writers block?

 

I like to take a walk and listen to music. Sometimes changing the scenery can really help. I’ll go to a new location and just sit and write little stories about the people in the coffee shop, or someone that walks by. Before you know it, you’re inspired again, and writing is no longer so difficult. I’ll also light a candle or incense and just daydream about faraway places.

What kind of music do you like to listen to while you write?

 

I listen to Celtic music and movie soundtracks. Braveheart has an incredible soundtrack, as well as Inception and Dark Knight. They are very inspiring!

 

Who is your favorite author?

 

I don’t have just one! I love Stephen King, Tolkien, Anne Rice, and Terry Goodkind. My newest favorite is Brandon Sanderson.

 

Who is your favorite character from a book?

 

Halston from my series, The Chronicles of Koa! He is one amazing angel. He’s blonde, British, and Koa’s boss. Halston is an angel on the quest for redemption and has a difficult time choosing between duty and his love for a certain someone.

 

What is your favorite book?

 

My favorite book right now is Mistborn. It’s incredible! The Lord of the Rings is also a favorite of mine.

 

Read anything good lately?

 

I have most recently started Eisenhorn by, Dan Abnett. It is a fantastic sci-fi novel with such depth.

 

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

 

When I am not writing, I travel at every chance I get. I also study foreign languages, history, and traditional Asian cuisine. I also love art, so I paint and sketch as well.

 

What advice would you give an author just starting out?

 

I would tell any aspiring author to never give up. Find the courage to believe in your writing, and despite criticism, remember that you cannot please everyone, but if it is something you truly love to do, never stop.

 

Have you had anything else published?

 

Besides Netherworld and Dark Prophet, I’ve published a paranormal collection called Thicker Than Blood, as well as Empty Your Heart, Wicked Webs, and have stories in A World of Joy and A World of Worlds.

 

What's your next project?

 

I am working on the third book of the Chronicles of Koa series as well as a new series called Academia of the Beast. Sin-Reaper, my sci-fi/fantasy novel, will be released in June 2014.




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Author Bio
Amateur artist, traveling enthusiast, and wannabe rock star, K.N. Lee is an American author who resides in North Carolina. She enjoys writing fantasy, horror, and twisted short stories. She also writes poetry and does a great deal of promoting other authors on her websites. When she is not cooking traditional Asian meals for her friends, she travels the world and practices foreign languages.

Her works include, The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld, Dark Prophet, Wicked Webs, Empty Your Heart, and the paranormal collection of short stories, Thicker Than Blood. Her short fantasy story, The Last of the Jinn, is in the anthology, A World of Worlds and The Ticking Ring is in A World of Joy by ASMSG authors.

She lives with her two dogs, Raven and Loki.




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