Today our guest is author Julia Hughes who wrote yesterday’s book “The Griffin’s Boy” here is a link to it if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4oS
1) Where is your home town?
London, the most beautiful city in the world.
2) How long have you been writing?
Always, and I’ve always enjoyed writing, but … around six years or so, something clicked. I realised that the books I most enjoy reading are those that allow me as a reader to fill in the gaps. As a fledgling author, I tended to paint the entire picture, but now, I have enough confidence in my stories to allow my readers’ imagination to take flight.
3) Why did you decide to write The Griffin’s Boy?
In “The Griffin Cryer”, my main character, Frankie, is in a hopeless place. Her brother, Michael, is in a coma. He shows no signs of recovery, and has had to be resuscitated several times. Frankie’s estranged father has already given his consent for medical staff to allow his son to die. Frankie’s mum begins to express her doubts that they are doing the right thing in keeping Michael artificially alive. Frankie feels suffocated by her mum’s over-protectiveness, and alienated from her peers at school. When she accidentally summons the griffin and his rider into this world, Frankie is forced out of her own misery. She’s determined to help griffin and rider back to their own world. Then she becomes aware that she can also help her brother back into this world. I wanted to write a story for young adults, and I know that often teenagers can feel very alone, and even powerless. But this isn’t the case, if you believe in yourself, you can change your own world; even something as small as taking up a new hobby, or learning a new art or craft can make a difference. Originally, the griffin and his rider served to illustrate the premise that out of the blue, something very special can happen in anyone’s life. But the griffin was awfully mischievous, and his rider was fantastically proud, and really quite arrogant (as befits someone who rides a griffin), and even while I was sketching out “The Griffin Cryer”, I knew I had to write their story.
4) Can you tell us more about the training a Griffin and his Rider would expect to get?
I put this question to Griffin Master Romulus. His response was “work hard and study, and who knows – maybe you’ll be selected as one of my recruits and discover for yourself what makes a griffin rider.”
5) How long is the training and what are their roles afterwards?
Again, Griffin Master Romulus answered: “Once a recruit is selected, training will continue until they can demonstrate their ability to patrol and protect both as a team, and individually.”
6) Where and when is the book set?
“The Griffin’s Boy” is set a few years before “The Griffin Cryer”, and takes place on Ella-Earth. Set in a parallel universe, Ella-Earth is our world’s twin, except evolution has taken a different path, and mythical beasts exist.
7) Can you explain ley lines in more detail?
Ley lines are another name for the telluric currents that criss-cross both this world, and our twin, Ella-Earth. They’re invisible to the human eye, but our ancestors were aware of them, and built many monuments along these ley lines to mark them, the most famous example being Stonehenge. In our world, birds and other animals use them to navigate. In Ella-Earth, they are used as conduits by spirits, both good and bad. Ley lines are visible to griffins, who are the sworn enemies of demons and bad spirits; and so griffins are the natural guardians of ley lines.
8) For those who haven’t read The Griffin Cryer how does it link to The Griffin’s Boy?
There are hints in “The Griffin Cryer” that the mysterious rider summoned by Frankie has no right to be a griffin rider. Once in a single generation, a person is born with the talent to cry down or summons griffins. However, it’s unheard of for a nameless nobody to be invited to join the elite Griffin Riders. I knew that Balkind’s rider must have achieved something very special for Romulus to select him as a recruit. This is his story.
9) Do you intend to write any more adventures for the Griffin Rider?
One of the Guardians of the Stones is still missing, as is his crystal. I’m certain there are still stories to be told. In particular, Samara is a strong character, and I’ve a feeling sparks will definitely fly when she meets Frankie.
10) Where can readers find out more about you and your writing?
Drop by my site anytime: JuliaHughes.co.uk, or visit my Amazon author page, it’s been a delight to meet with your readers, and I hope to stay in touch!
Find a copy of this book from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Hurrah! This is the first in the Becoming Anorak Nid series by Alix B macey. Perfect for 8+ children + reluctant readers. Nid avoids water at all costs – in whatever form it takes; puddles, ice-bergs, baths, even spit – do you? In the face of all this, for goodness sake don’t spill the beans, but Nid has a job to do – will he be able to pull it off though? Purposefully, with a touch of mysterious silence, lurking in the corner of Mr. Busy’s bumble sale – underneath holey socks, smelly jumpers and odd knickers, is the magical answer to all of Nid’s bonkers thinking – that could change his life forever… Joined by his astonishing mute ant friend, Sile Ant – who for obvious reasons has no speaking part (quite odd in a book really?), Nid heads off on one of the most challenging adventures he will ever have to undertake –ever, in the whole world of England. 
Whoopee! Phew..the story thankfully continues in this, the 2nd in the exciting fictional children’s adventure “Becoming Anorak Nid” Series by Alix. B Macey.
Explosions, sabotage, caves, deadly warnings and a dangerous red-haired man. Imagine The Hardy Boys meet Tom Sawyer. Add a layer of teen angst and excitement plus a mysterious group trying to stop a new dam while stirring up racial tensions. That’s STEPS INTO DARKNESS, the next book in the Shakertown Adventure Series by Ben Woodard. Fourteen-year-old Tom Wallace again makes plans to escape the small town in the 1923 Kentucky countryside. The town that won’t let him forget his past, when a horrific event changes his mind. He teams with his cousin Will and young FBI agent Rick Sweeney to try to solve a perplexing mystery. Attempts on the boys’ lives and a bewildering list of suspects keep them on edge and confused. An old man gives them a clue that leads to a false accusation and embarrassment until they discover the real villain, and then wish they hadn’t. STEPS INTO DARKNESS is a fun, page-turning thriller with a hint of romance that delivers adventure and mystery while exploring the fears of a teen living with a frightful memory. 
Rhyllann Jones’s geeky cousin Wren is convinced an ancient diary can lead them to the mythical treasure of Bad King John, last seen 900 years ago. Trouble is, “The Brotherhood” will stop at nothing to get to it first. Even more dangerous in Rhyllann’s eyes is Detective Inspector Crombie. This father of four daughters knows Rhyllann is lying, and is certain Wren is a master manipulator. Crombie is determined to keep the boys safe at any costs. This leads “The Brotherhood” to take desperate action to learn the secrets Wren keeps, plunging Crombie and Rhyllann into a race against time across the wild Cornish moors. “But the treasure is guarded. He who wishes to enter the secret chamber must first ensure he knows of the Celtic rites and mysteries. No other hand is permitted to touch Caliburn, sacred sword of the Celtic Nations.” The Celtic Cousin Adventures continue with A Ripple in Time, a time travelling fantasy, and An Explosive Time in which Crombie makes a comeback, along with a surprising guest star. 
Fifteen-year-old Therese watches her parents die. While in a coma, she meets the twin sons of Hades—Hypnos, the god of sleep, and Thanatos, the god of death. She thinks she’s manipulating a dream, not kissing the god of death and totally rocking his world. Than makes a deal with Hades and goes as a mortal to the Upperworld to try and win Therese’s heart, but not all the gods are happy. Some give her gifts. Others try to kill her. The deal requires Therese to avenge the death of her parents. With the help of Than’s fierce and exotic sisters, the Furies, she finds herself in an arena face to face with the murderer, and only one will survive. 
The Jack prophesied: If the king loses his head, then the Queen with a Bleeding Heart would rule the Red Court until Time ceased to move forward. When a second carried on for infinity, every creature in Wonderland would tip their Hat to the misfit girl with a Boy’s name (or was it a boy with a Girl’s name?) who’d end the Reign of Terror. However, it all hinged on the One-Eyed Hare being able to convince an uninspirable Heir that the impossible was indeed possible—like stopping time—and that Love was worth a Beheading. Heads would Roll,Hearts would Break…In the end, would it matter who Reigned? 
For Kaeden Parish, life in Solace has always followed certain rules—everything makes sense, everything can be planned for, and everything is as it seems. Unfortunately, the secret harbored by his gorgeous, albeit guarded girlfriend is about to shatter all of that. After a successful attack on his life opens his eyes to a world of war, shadows, and supernatural creatures—a world he didn’t plan for—Kaeden finds himself resembling the sort of monster he has always feared. As he desperately struggles to resist a new temptation, danger draws ever nearer, threatening the ones he loves most. A prophecy tells of a final battle and great destruction, and Kaeden must decide which side he is on, a choice that could mean the end of the world. In Book 1 of the Solace Series, P.K. Gallagher pulls readers into a realm where good and evil are at war, and the outcome of it all rests on one young man’s decision to either go and live…or stay and die. This is where Parish begins. 
Sixteen-year-old Michelle is a product of the Institute’s eugenics program, where people are bred like livestock. One doctor decides which kids get to grow up, and which disappear. Only Culls walk into the slum outside Institute walls, and they never come back. Michelle has survived every purge, and she’s about to win a luxurious life as a breeder. Then the doctor banishes her brother Seth and her boyfriend Brian, and she risks everything to find them in the cutthroat slum. She’s in trouble until handsome Dillon stakes a claim to her. Michelle is mortified, because Norms are practically animals. But the doctor is using the missing boys in a twisted plan and she needs Dillon’s help to stop him. Michelle and her friends must find Seth and Brian, but a plague is spreading, the doctor is after her and Dillon isn’t thrilled to help her find her lost boyfriend. 
Leah Vindral is suffocating–trapped in her own skin. In a land where magic is feared, magic saved her from death … but it came with a terrible price. Marked forever, she is shunned and isolated by those she loves most. Brimming with bitter rage at those who abandoned her, Leah flees from her childhood home only to be swept into an impending war: Mora, a wicked witch, has been imprisoned for years, waiting like a spider in the folds of her web for the chance to regain the powers once stripped from her. It is there, while she waits, that she learns of a strange young girl … a girl who can speak to unicorns. Now Leah must save the country that shuns her, for if Mora returns to power, all will be lost. But can Leah, who is so frightened and confused herself, find the strength to save them all?
One September evening, around twilight, Francesca Shaunessy calls out for her dog to come to heel – however instead of a black Labrador, a dragon like beast emerges from the mists surrounding the twelfth century church and graveyard, followed closely by his rider. Frankie is astounded to discover she has an unexpected gift: She is a “Griffin Cryer”. Balkind is the sweetest most loveable griffin ever. Unfortunately his rider is the rudest man in this world or any other. Despite problems at school, and a complicated home life, Frankie feels compelled to help the Rider and his griffin return home to Ella-Earth. In doing so, Frankie escapes her own emotional prison, and becomes aware that there’s a chance that she can help her comatose twin brother back into this world. 
When fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau is pulled from the crumpled remains of his mother’s car, no one can explain why he was driving or why the police can’t find his mother’s body. A beautiful and mysterious neighbour offers to use her unique abilities to help him find his mom. But in exchange she requires Jacob to train as a Soulkeeper, a protector of human souls. He agrees to her demands, desperate for any clue to the mystery of his mother’s disappearance. But soon Jacob finds himself trapped in a web of half-truths, and questions her motives for helping him. 
Ever since her sixteenth birthday, strange things keep happening to Seraphina Parrish. The Lady in Black… burns Sera’s memories. Unexplainable premonitions… catapult her to other cities. The Grungy Gang… wants to kill her. And a beautiful, mysterious boy… stalks her. But when Sera moves to Chicago, and her aunt reveals their family connection to a centuries old, secret society, she is immediately thrust into an unbelievable fantasy world, leading her on a quest to unravel the mysteries that plague her. In the end, their meanings crash into an epic struggle of loyalty and betrayal, and she’ll be forced to choose between the boy who has stolen her heart and the thing she desires most. Wander Dust is the breath-taking fantasy that will catapult you through a story of time, adventure, and love. 
Rosie Amber 