The Twins of Devonshire and the Curse of the Widow
Welcome to the sixth day
of The Twins of Devonshire and the Curse of the Widow blog
tour. It will run until August 17th and will feature excerpts and new author
interviews each day. But first, here is the obligatory blurb about the novel to
settle you into this strange world:
A plague has covered the land, a single word on the lips of the
frightened masses: the Widow. Washing a wave of terror over the countryside and
then disappearing like a thief in the night, the Widow holds a kingdom in the
palm of her hand. The eyes of Chaos have settled on Prima Terra and heroes must
rise. Xeno Lobo, enigmatic and cryptic, hunts the Widow, seeking an object
taken from him years before. Will he be able to stem the tide of violence and
horror that sweeps the land?
A few questions for the author:
How did you come up with
the title of your book or series?
The title is borrowed
from the plot and the characters. The series is actually part of much larger
epic fantasy story line that I have been working on for a very long time. It
follows characters who have been removed from one dimension and inserted into
another with no knowledge of their past.
Tell us a little bit
about your cover art. Who designed it? Why did you go with that particular
image/artwork?
The cover is actually a
photo taken by my brother while he was visiting Europe a few years back.
Who is your favorite
character from your book and why? How about your least favorite
character? What makes them less appealing to you?
I have to admit that I
don't have characters who are my least favorite, especially in a story this
short. I generally try to write characters in which I am invested. Otherwise,
the whole process becomes tedious, like going to lunch with someone you don't
like. There are clearly heroes and villains, and I have a tendency to like and
write characters who blur that line.
Here be an excerpt for your enjoyment:
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The
halls of the Tower of Darkness were bathed in shadow. The narrow corridors
were draped with murals and texts older than time. A minuscule window that
lined these pathways was stained in black glass.
The
tower rose high into the skies, higher than the greatest reaches of the
frozen clouds that circled it. As the citadel neared the stars above, it
became progressively smaller and smaller until only one room remained: the
Widow’s chamber.
The room
was situated with only a throne of obsidian and a cold steel table on which
an iridescent orb resided. Beside the throne lay the slumbering were-beast
and the pearl whelp that resided atop her throne of death.
She
moved about the room like a dancer amidst a song, her head tilted back and
golden hair spilling over her shoulders like a waterfall. Her arms reached
out into nothingness and a hum echoed in the dim chambers as she made her
way.
The
spinning stopped as she neared the orb and in one movement, she brought her
head over it. Her hair spilled over the sides of it. She muttered to herself
incoherently. As she pulled back, the orb had gone from a swirling mass of
indistinguishable colors to pitch black, the change extraordinary.
“Mighty
orb of darkness, what do you see?” she called into the darkness. The orb
imploded upon itself, the darkness reverberating within the shadow until it
stilled.
A voice
emanated from it, a dark voice that boomed from wall to wall. “A force
approaches. A man bound to the Light, a servant of the enemy of the Towers of
Darkness.”
“Enemy
of the Towers of Darkness, how enjoyable,” she cooed.
Her
voice was elegant.
The
voice came again, as monotone as it had previously been. “The servant brings
a second, and soon a third. These forces align against your reign, against
the reign of the Towers of Darkness.”
“Karian,
the Widow, fears no mortal, especially enemies of the darkness,” she laughed
at the orb manically. She danced about the room again, the were-beast lifting
its head as its master gallivanted like a child to a tune that had ensnared
her soul.
She
danced and danced until she came to a stop abruptly, her hair tossed across
the face. Her brow was furrowed, lost in thought, her finger raised in
question. “Who is this servant of the Light? Has he, she, a name?”
“The
name that slices through the darkness is Xeno Lobo. He has defeated the
Nighen, your carrier of death to the south, in Me’lein,” returned the
voice.
“Xeno
Lobo,” she whispered to herself, her eyes closed. Her left hand began to
glow, the darkness swirling about her and then in a blink of an eye, a sword
materialized.
The
blade was etched in shadow and death, the hilt carved from human bone. The
guard was a gnarled, twisted form of a shadow woman. She spun the sword with
the practiced hand of a swordswoman and slammed it into the stone of her
fortress. Splintering the rock, she turned back to the orb, chest heaving.
“Xeno
Lobo.”
“Yes,
they speak of Xeno Lobo. The caretaker of the crest of Devon,” replied the
voice without inflection, without care.
She
looked across her room and saw the twinkling jewel crest that rested upon her
throne, the golden chain sparkling in the moonlight. The sight of it drove
her mad, swinging and striking the walls with her blade. The whelp rose from
its perch, searching back into the darkness.
It
screamed the whole way.
“But I
took that damnable thing from him once. Why does he wish for more pain, more
regret?” she queried madly.
“I do
not know, Mistress Karian, but I do know that he comes here for that crest.
You are the bearer of his pain and regret.”
She
calmed, the sword vanishing from her grasp. The darkness embraced her once
again. Her body fell to the cold floor, hair spilled about her face. She
remained there, cackling madly as the shadows encircled her.
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Bio:
A psychologist, author, editor, philosopher, martial artist, and skeptic, he
has published several novels and currently has many in print, including: The
End of the World Playlist, Bitten, The Journey, The
Ocean and the Hourglass, The Path of the Fallen, The
Portent, and Cerulean Dreams. Follow him on Twitter
(@AuthorDanOBrien) or visit his blog http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com. He recently started a consultation business.
You can find more information about it here: http://www.amalgamconsulting.com/.
All
of his books are only 99 cents on Kindle right now!
Download The
Twins of Devonshire and the Curse of the Widow for free on Kindle from
8/13 until 8/17!
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you like to win a Kindle Fire?
Visit http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com/ and follow the blog for a chance to win a Kindle Fire!
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