Welcome to the book tour for the YA fantasy Magical Beasts series by Geoffrey Saign! You'll get to take a peek inside with an excerpt, plus get to know the author better in this exclusive interview. Be sure to ask more questions in the comments section! Follow the tour for even more. Best of luck in the giveaway!
Samantha and Jake fight to save their poisoned parents, and instead find themselves in a battle to save the parallel magical world of KiraKu. The two teens discover they must defeat the Evil One—a diabolical master of deception—or their own world will fall too. Samantha must master the mysterious supernatural staff, WhipEye, and find out if she has what it takes to fulfill the prophecy of the true guardian. In a final battle, reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, the two teens will have to risk everything, or lose it all. For Fans of Fantastic Beasts, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings.
Winner Outstanding YA Fiction IAN BOTY
~ Magical Beasts is now in development for a major motion picture. ~
Read an excerpt:
Guardian The Quest, Book 2, Magical Beasts
A black belt in kung fu, Jake kicks at the woman’s side. She blocks his foot with her forearm. He slides in and chops at her neck.
With little effort she absorbs the hand blow with her arm, grabs his forearm, and jerks him down on top of me. Kneeling on his back, she keeps us immobile.
Her arm is already healing from Biggie’s whip, so like the hyena she’s a Lesser or Great One too. Originals don’t heal like that. That also explains her speed and strength. She and the hyena have to be working for Gorgon.
My vision blurs. I’m suffocating. From ground level I glimpse Biggie shoving the hyena sideways into a tree.
From behind her, the woman pulls out a thick silver band and slaps it onto Jake’s left wrist. She leans over him to stare at me, her slender face hard. “If you don’t find and deliver Drasine to the smugglers by tomorrow night, the silver band will explode and kill your boyfriend. Go to the Smuggler’s Oasis. Kert will tell you what to do.”
Stunned, now I know she’s working with Gorgon. “Forget you.” I punch at her face, but she grabs my wrist. Her eyes harden, and then she looks up.
Somehow the hyena got past Uncle Biggie and it’s charging us. The animal must be working with the woman. Her ride out of here.
The woman releases my wrist.
I croak, “You can’t do this.” I grab at her but her head is rising and my fingers curl around her swinging gold necklace. It breaks off in my hand as she morphs into a huge cheetah.
Kindle/KU/Paperback Series page * Audible * Bookbub * Goodreads—Magical Beasts Book 1—Guardian The Choice * Website
Describe your book in one sentence or fewer than 25 words.
Book 1; Two teens enter a deadly battle of good vs. evil when they must choose between saving a magical world or their poisoned parents.
For the Magical Beasts series; Two teens must unite a parallel magical world in time to fight a great evil.
What kind of research did you have to do for it?
There were three areas of research; wildlife, nature, and mythological creatures. All three have abundant representation in the MAGICAL BEASTS series. I have a background in biology and ecology, but I still had to look up a lot of wildlife animals to get the details correct. Since mythological creatures are also represented in the book, that took some research too. Both lines of research were equally fun and satisfying.
Which character was your favorite to write?
That depends on the book in the series. The main character, Sam/Samantha, obviously had to be my favorite to carry the series. Her wildlife expertise and love of all creatures and nature is the glue of the whole series. Her partner Jake had to be nearly as strong. But in each of the books I really loved writing some of the minor characters. In book 1, the ninja dragons were exciting—who wouldn’t love dragons that can morph into ninjas?; in book 2, the manticore Bard was fun to write, because he’s going on a journey to find himself; in book 3, the maniacal murderer called the Beister was one of the most surprising characters I’ve ever written; and in book 4 it would have to be the vampire bat Queen Valera—super-powerful and mysterious, and dangerous.
To which character did you relate the most?
Sam is the main character and she loves wildlife and nature and wants to protect it all. That’s straight out of my heart since I was about 6 years old.
What was one of your favorite scenes?
All my writing has thriller elements. So pacing, mood, and tension keeps building until the final battles at the end, which are some of my favorite scenes to write. Jake is a goofball, and the interplay between him and Sam was often humorous and also very fun to write. There are also a few scenes in each book where the main character is risking everything for her values and friends, and I always find those scenes very emotional and exciting to write.
Tell us about your other published works.
I have two Thriller series, both under movie contracts (as is Magical Beasts); the Jack Steel series, and the Alex Sight series. I also have a long background in self-awareness and wrote SMILE MORE STRESS LESS, a book I highly value in my own life.
On what are you currently working?
Right now I’m writing the pitch bible for the movie contract on MAGICAL BEASTS. The pitch bible/deck is a short synopsis of book 1, Guardian The Choice, and then synopses for each of 10 one hour shows for the first season. You provide summaries of the later books for seasons 2-4. Each book would represent one season on a streamer like Netflix. I am also releasing another JACK STEEL thriller in April. Add in marketing, and it keeps me busy.
What book and/or author changed your life?
Donald Stephenson, Tolkien, and Alistair Maclean and Ludlum. All had thriller elements in their writing, and sent my imagination soaring. That flavored my later writing and life in many ways, since I also sought out adventure in my own life.
When not writing, what can we find you doing?
I love to swim, sail, hike, cook, hang out with family and friends.
What is one skill you wish you had?
I always kind of wished I could play guitar and sing for fun. I tried. I gave up. lol
Geoffrey Saign will be awarding a $30 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSuper excited to be here! I'll stop back later to answer any questions or respond to comments!
ReplyDeleteSounds great.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview
ReplyDeleteWhat's the reading age range for this series?
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very good book.
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete