Guest Author: Martha Wells and Aaron de Orive

DeOrive Wells-Blade SingerI am excited to welcome authors Martha Wells and Aaron de Orive, who are here to share with us their novel, Blade Singer.

Sure, Manny Boreaux wanted to escape his real world problems. But being trapped in the body of a goblin pickpocket wasn’t what he had in mind. Still, it’s kind of cool to be able to move like a spider monkey and go invisible. Unless you happen to work for an evil witch and her vicious gang of cutthroats. If they find out who he really is, they’ll turn him into minced pies!

Can Manny fool his fellow thieves long enough to find some allies? Can he thwart the witch’s scheme to assassinate a young king and ignite a terrible war? And will he ever find a way home?

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away two $25 Gift Cards to Amazon or B&N.
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Supporting Characters

Supporting characters are just as important as the protagonist in middle grade fiction. After all, where would Bilbo Baggins be without Gandalf or the dwarves? It’s hard to imagine Harry Potter without picturing him next to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. And Oz simply would not have been the same without the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. Blade Singer is certainly no exception. Our protagonist, Manny Boreaux, teams up with a colorful and memorable trio of supporting characters: Etienne the Cavalier, Adriana the Cat Burglar, and Gaudulfus the Dwarf.

Etienne the Elf Swordsman is the first character Manny meets in the Realm of Avalon. Considered the finest blade in the land, Etienne is everything a cavalier should be: courageous, cocky, dashing, and a tad overconfident. But despite his amazing skill, he cannot seem to get his enchanted crystal blade, Amechanteur, to awaken. This denies him the opportunity to become a legendary Blade Singer, the very definition of a true hero. Eager to engage in swordplay, Etienne is also leery of responsibility. When he meets Manny, Etienne finds himself at a crossroads, deciding whether to step into a position of leadership among the King’s Royal Cavaliers or continue on his path as a carefree and quarrelsome duelist.

Adriana the Cat Burglar is the second character Manny encounters. She’s the mentor and guardian of Remy, the goblin pickpocket inside whose body Manny finds himself trapped. Fiercely competitive and suspicious of everyone, Adriana has made a name for herself as the only human in a band of notorious Sidhe thieves known as the Hands of Shadow. Once she discovers what has happened to Remy, the loyal Adriana pledges to find a way to reverse the body switch before the leader of the Hands, a terrifying witch named Morrigan, discovers what has happened and eliminates them both.

Gaudulfus the Dwarf is the closest friend and staunchest ally of Etienne. Determined to see his elf friend achieve his full potential, Gaudulfus convinces Etienne to aid the bizarre goblin boy claiming to hail from another world. Taking an instant liking to Manny, Gaudulfus uses his considerable strength and resilience to protect Manny from the deadly Redcaps, the assassins and servants of Morrigan. A warrior renowned for both his great appetite and his good humor, Gaudulfus soon becomes the sort of champion Manny desperately needs if he is to survive his harrowing ordeal and return home safely.

And as LeVar Burton was fond of saying on Reading Rainbow: “But you don’t have to take my word for it.”
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Meet Aaron de Orive!

A graduate of the University of Texas’ film program, Aaron de Orive began his professional writing career in the video game industry, serving as a lead or senior writer on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. He is also the creator of the fantasy role-playing game SHARD: World of the False Dawn. Blade Singer is his first novel. Aaron lives in Austin with his wife, daughter, and two very spoiled terriers.

Contact Info: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | GoodReads | Amazon

Want to purchase Aaron’s novels?
SHARD RPG Basic Compendium
Blade Singer
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Meet Martha Wells!

Martha Wells is the author of a number of fantasy novels, including The Cloud Roads, The Siren Depths, The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer. Her YA fantasy, Emilie and the Hollow World, was published by Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry in April 2013, and the sequel, Emilie and the Sky World, was released in March 2014. Two collections of Books of the Raksura novellas will be published in September 2014 and Fall 2015. She has had short stories in Black Gate, Realms of Fantasy, Stargate Magazine, and Lightspeed Magazine, and in the anthologies Elemental, The Year’s Best Fantasy #7, Tales of the Emerald Serpent and The Other Half of the Sky. She has essays in the nonfiction anthologies Farscape Forever, Mapping the World of Harry Potter, and Chicks Unravel Time. She has also written media-tie-in novels, Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary and Stargate Atlantis: Entanglement, and a Star Wars novel, Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge.

Martha WellsContact Info: Website | Blog | Twitter | Google+ | GoodReads | Amazon | Tumblr

Want to purchase Martha’s novels?
Razor’s Edge: Star Wars
Blade Singer

Fall of Ile-Rien
The Wizard Hunters
The Ships of Air
The Gate of Gods

Emilie
Emilie and the Hollow World
Emilie and the Sky World

Books of the Raksura
Stories of the Raksura: Volume One
Stories of the Raksura: Volume Two (Apr 7, 2015)
The Cloud Roads
The Serpent Sea
The Siren Depths
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Contest Time!

Thank you Author for taking the time to stop by Literary Escapism!

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About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

3 Comments

  1. I love this guest post! Supporting characters really are very important and can make a story so much better! Thank you for hosting a tour stop!

  2. Blade Singer sounds wonderful and I’m looking forward to reading it. I love interesting supporting characters, and this books seems to have a lot of great ones.

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