About the Book
A thousand years in the future, wars and portal failures disturb the fringes of the galaxy. On Terra, twenty-two year old Violet Hunter seems an ordinary student of the Space Academy, who dreams of exploring unknown planets. She applies to serve as the pawn of one of the twelve Grand Masters, although her hidden talent of empathy makes her ineligible. Violet has defied the prohibition against psychics for half her life. Why should she stop now?
Isolation is the penalty for a Grand Master’s great power because their touch is deadly to a normal person. The Grand Master with the griffin avatar selected the girl with the star-shaped birthmark in spite of her father’s dire prophesy. He is suspicious about his disobedient pawn, yet he cannot deny the success of her missions to strange planets where she finds more than he expected.
Violet seeks the truth about the mysterious Grand Masters. Who or what are they? Do they threaten or benefit civilization? While searching for answers, Violet does the unthinkable. She makes a bargain with her obnoxious Grand Master and challenges him to meet her face to face, risking her secret to discover his purpose. She plunges into an impossible love and a world of intrigues. The vicious conflicts propel her into flight from a terrible enemy and a desperate search for allies to save her new found love.
Buy it on Amazon
Author Interview
Be completely honest: how much of your main character is really you?
My protagonist, Violet, may resemble a younger me as a recent university graduate about thirty years ago. She enters a new life, a little naïve and sensitive about her weaknesses. Violet loves a challenge and she persists in following her goal despite setbacks. As a published author, I have demonstrated similar characteristics in completing the novels. Of course, I have never flown a spacecraft to another planet, but I enjoy driving a zippy car and visiting different environments. Nor have I used a sword, except in youthful fights with my brother. But, I have fired a rifle and used a laser pointer to play with the cats.Look to your left, what's there?
My computer mouse. I’m partially ambidextrous and switch hands to reduce wear.Why did you write your book?
The initial idea for the Grand Master’s Pawn rose from my frugal attempt to combine several short stories into a full-length novel. Violet, the Pawn, travels on missions to different planets on the orders of her Grand Master. Two short stories and skimpy notes about a dragon became three of her missions. She meets weird aliens, gains powers and eventually confronts the Grand Master. When the characters came alive, I found their story extended into a trilogy. Grand Master’s Pawn is the first Book.Why did you choose to go indie?
I enjoy the independence. When I discovered how easy it is to self-publish, I made the effort to convert my handwritten novel into digital form. My first science fiction romance novel, The Lady is Blue, was published on April 30, 2014.What's the worst part about being an indie author?
Bad reviews are always painful!What's the best part about being an indie author?
When you learn that a reader loves your book.What social media works best for you from a marketing standpoint?
I’m not sure. My blog allows me to give more detail, which is satisfying for me and useful for potential readers. I am acquiring twitter followers, while Facebook groups are valuable for social connections and learning from the experience of other authors.What is the hardest part about publishing (to include writing, editing, marketing, branding, etc)
Editing and marketing are the hardest parts for me. The Grand Master’s Pawn, in particular, required a lot of world building and complex interactions among Violet’s peers, the aliens and humans she meets in her travels, and the Grand Masters. So the editing took a few months to complete. Marketing is always hard, since it is difficult to know what really works.What advice would you give your younger self?
Hang in there! Everything works for the best. Introduce your experiences into your stories.What advice would you give to other writers?
Write the story that blossoms in your imagination, finish the story, edit and publish the book!About the Author
Check her out on the below websites:
No comments:
Post a Comment