Monday Muse: Shadow Slayer’s Seven Magic Words

I did a ton of research when I wrote SHADOW SLAYER (Shadow Series #2). Among the many things I researched were magic words. I wanted to create a magical world that felt and seemed real and had a feeling of history. What I discovered were magic words that had been used in literature for centuries. (Yes, this is when I spend way too much time reading cool stuff and not writing.) I do enjoy tangents. They are wonderful things and sometimes take me exactly where I need to be. And then again they sometimes lead me to wander off. And while deadlines and commitments and the real world are all fabulous things, I like to wander. I’m a fan.

Here’s a magic word that I found in my research and fell in love with––Ranokoli. It looks kind of odd in black and white, doesn’t it? For some reason it reminds me of pasta. I’d like some ranokoli with marinara sauce. Can’t you just see it on a menu? Ok, that aside, the real cool thing about this magic word is that it appeared in a story long ago written by Irving Bacheller (1859-1950) and he lived nearly 100 years. Back in the day, that was SO rare. So, that kinda got my attention. And then, I read this excerpt from Silas Strong by Irving Bacheller (1906):

The chief invited a great council and organized the Society of the Magic Word. Every member promised that whenever the greeting ‘Boneka’ were given him, he would smile and bow and answer, ‘Ranokoli.’ The greeting meant ‘Peace,’ and the answer, ‘I forgive.’ Then, one by one the law-giver called his councillors before him, and to each he said: ‘The Great Spirit is in this greeting. I defy you to hear it and keep a sober face.’ Then he said ‘Boneka,’ and the man would try to resist the influence of the spirit, but soon smiled in spite of himself, amid the laughter of the tring, and said ‘Ranokoli.’ Thereafter, when a quarrel arose between two people, and outsider, approaching, would greet them with the magic word, and immediately they would bow and smile and answer, ‘I forgive.’ 

This is the story behind one of the seven magic words in The Shadow Series. Roxie only gets to use the magic words one time. So, far in book 2 she’s used up four of the seven magic words. She still has to use Ranokoli : The Great Spirit of Forgiveness.

Email me with Roxie’s worst fear at the beginning of 13 on Halloween & your address and I’ll mail you Shadow Series Swag. (HINT: you’ll find it listed in the 13 on Halloween ebook which is free everywhere ) This giveaway is open internationally until 4/30  my email address is elliwrite (at) yahoo (dot) com

You can purchase Shadow Slayer here, here, and here.

We have a WINNER! And the mystery txt

A **BIG** congrats to the winner of this stop of the LUCKY LEPRECHAUN HOP Emily L.!

Here’s the ebooks she’s won:

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) by Laura A. H. Elliott

Undertow by Elle Chandou

The One by Heather Self

The Dark by Heather Self

The Misfit McCabe Series by LK Gardner-Griffie (3 ebooks in the series)

woohooo! What a great way to start the spring!

HAPPY SPRING BREAK! I’d love to know what you’re reading right now…any suggestions for a lazy day at the beach?

Ok..and now for something completely hilarious. I just got this random text from someone I don’t know. Here’s what it said. Can you make sense of it?

Hey do you envision the track wholly changing gears sonically with each decade or retaining some thread of the dead prez beat vibe throughout?

**googles dead prez beat vibe**

Monday Muse: Far and away & Moon Killers (Shadow Series #3) sneak peek!

Retreat

Sometimes you have to get away. From everything. From everyone. From the old thoughts. Find some new ones. That’s what I’m doing this week. Spending time away. My brother said something to me this week that inspired me: “We all have thoughts, not all of them are helpful” He said to recognize the ones that aren’t and pay attention to the ones that are. I hope this inspires you too. In this season before Lent I’m thinking about what I might give up or dedicate myself to. Are you looking to give something up in this season of Lent? Or, are you looking to dedicate yourself to something important instead?

Today on A Love for Lit, there is an excerpt from Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) and a bonus sneak peek from Moon Killers (Shadow Series #3) click here to check it out! Click here to download 13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) for free.

Give your muse a hug from me!

Monday Muse: The World of Moon Killers, Shadow Series book 3

Mayfield moon (Photo credit: Bill Collison)

I’m really excited to be writing Moon Killers the third book in the Shadow Series. The characters haven grown and changed, and deepened so much since book 1. I love writing this series because we meet Roxie O’Grady in book 1, 13 on Halloween, when she’s twelve and about to turn thirteen. She’s in eighth grade, the last year of middle school. Roxie isn’t the kind of eighth grader who has the feeling like she rules the middle school, though. Far from it. She’s trying desperately to get on the social map somehow. So, she throws her first ever birthday party and invites all the popular kids. They all come and give her a birthday gift that’s literally out of this world. I love this book because it takes a humorous, sometimes scary look at one girl’s quest for popularity––no matter what the cost.  In book 2, Shadow Slayer, Roxie is fourteen and finds the agony of fitting in at high school nothing compared to falling for the hottest guy at school and saving the world from the shadow onslaught. In book 3, Moon Killers, due out this spring, Roxie’s powers are growing as she learns to harness the power of killing the moon to help her battle the shadows that want to take over our world. In Moon Killers, the stakes are higher. Roxie is fifteen and life is getting more and more complicated. Pirates and Venice and explorers have been my inspiration for the third book in the series. 13 on Halloween is free here and Shadow Slayer is available here and here and here. Like audiobooks? You can give the stories a listen here and here and on iTunes too.

Welcome to Monday muse. Each Monday I hope to share a little bit about what’s been inspiring me. Lately, I’ve been inspired by the little things. Did you see the moon last night? OMG. Amazing. I saw the moon super early this morning, washed in a golden light. It’s hard to sleep when the moon is so beautiful. I went to our local farmer’s market last Friday and bought some tulips and fresh flowers for the house. It’s great to have the flowers everywhere. I love going to the farmer’s market but hadn’t been in so long, and while I was there I ran into a very dear friend I’ve been very inspired by the movies I’ve seen lately too. Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty have been the ones that stand out for me.

What’ s been inspiring you lately?

Shadow Slayer Tour: Laura Answers Readers’ Questions with a Q & A & Giveaways!

First a picture of my favorite ornament this year!

(Read to the end of the interview to enter the giveawayS!)

Where do you get your character names? Do they come natural or does it require a lot of thought? (Dana Mason)

I LOVE dreaming up character names. They are such an important part of the story and can have so much symbolism attached to them. For the Shadow Series the names of my characters came from a 2nd/3rd grade class where I was a volunteer. I taught kids how to read and it was so rewarding. The teacher was fabulous too. And so a lot of the names of the characters in 13 on Halloween and Shadow Slayer were inspired by the kids I got to know through my volunteer work. Roxie just introduced herself to me. I’ve never known a Roxanne. But, I really like that she has an X in her name. I think that’s cool:) Drew was originally called Andy in Shadow Slayer, but I didn’t like that name as much as Drew, so I switched it. Sometimes I write an entire story and switch out a name that doesn’t work for me any more after I’ve written and revised and put the polish on a story. Most of the times characters just come to me and their names are a part of them, so it doesn’t require very much thought. Great question Dana! Thanks for asking it and for joining the tour.

Do you do a lot of research before starting a book? (Giedre)

I do a certain amount of research for all my books. But some way more than others. For Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale, I delighted in the research of mariachi music. Mariachi music is folk music and so there really isn’t a lot written about its history, especially about female mariachis. But I was very lucky to find the history of Lydia Mendoza and so I based Esperanza’s character on the life of Lydia Mendoza. If you want to read a little bit about Lydia Mendoza click here.

For Transfer Student I did quite a lot of research about aliens. And extraterrestrials. What one might look like. There’s so much literature out there about about UFOs and I found one book in particular extremely helpful when I came up with the way Rethans appear and their world. I wanted to research a plausible parallel planet to earth and found this research fascinating. So I dove into the books and literally found it so fascinating, I almost didn’t write the book

For 13 on Halloween & Shadow Slayer I did a lot of research about luck and superstition and animal spirits. I also researched The Tempest.

In my current WIP, a WWII tale based on the real life survival of my family in Indonesia, I’m doing quite a bit of interviewing and reading historical documents, verifying prison camps and hellships. It’s all very fascinating.

So…as you can tell I LOVE research. And I love it so much that I might never write. This is the dilemma. How much time should a writer spend on research? Well, thankfully Dana Jo Napoli, a great YA writer, came to my rescue and gave me some great advice. She said first to give yourself a set timeframe in which to do your research and stick to it. You can’t research forever. (Wise woman, huh?) And second, you will always find information that conflicts. If you have two different bits of research to choose from when writing your story always pick the one that will let you write a better story, a more dramatic story. I tell you what, I think that advice is fabulous. It’s saved me from researching books and never writing them. Thank you Dana Jo Napoli!

Do you have a favourite SF series or movie that inspired you to write Transfer Student? (Jen Minkman)

Well, yes. Every series I ever watched from Star Trek to Lost in Space to The Jetsons to My Favorite Martian. I’ve always been drawn to the portrayal of aliens, perhaps because there isn’t a greater “outsider” than an alien. And I think aliens are a metaphor for growing up. We often feel like aliens in our own lives/bodies while we are just growing into them. We don’t recognize ourselves sometimes. And so, I love exploring the very literal instance of what people/societies would do when they are confronted by a person/species they don’t understand.

If you any free time … what do you do on said free time? What’s one thing you do to unwind? What’s one of your favorite guilty pleasures? (Veronica Huerta)

I love to play the piano. I haven’t played in years and am just back at it. I took lessons for eight years from the nuns at a local convent in Chicago. I think Sister Mary Carl and Sister Miriam Rose are looking down on me and smiling, even as I hit some wrong notes I love to cook/bake and I love to garden. I love to hike and ski too My favorite guilty pleasure is to go to movies and see a double feature and eat lots and lots of popcorn!

Who would you cast to play the lead in Winnemucca, a small town fairytale? (Suzy Turner)

I cast Emma Stone as Ginny. I love Emma and think she’d be fabulous. Anyhoo….here’s the rest of my Dream Cast: http://laurasmagicday.wordpress.com/winnemucca-trailer/ if you want to see who’s who in Winnemucca.

How did the story of Shadow Slayer. come to you? (Tara)

Great question. The story of Shadow Slayer evolved over a period of time. Originally the series was going to be the Teen Halloween Series, but I didn’t really think that title described what was happening in the series. So, I changed the name of the series to reflect the real drama of the books, the shadows. As I dove deeper into what a shadow really is, I came up with the plot of Shadow Slayer. I think it is fascinating to explore who we become and why. And the idea of “another us” out there wanting “in” on our lives. The constant struggle we all have between good vs. bad, our wants vs. our needs, our desires vs. our reality. These are all things I hope to explore in the series.

I hear that there’s four books in this series.. any idea if you plan to continue on with this series or any spin offs in the works? (Veronica Huerta)

There are four books in the series. Moon Killers, is book 3 and will be out in early 2013. Last Life is book 4 and is due out this summer. I wouldn’t rule out a spin-off, although I haven’t got that mapped out yet. Thanks for the suggestion! *grabs notebook and scribbles down ideas*

Thanks for all your wonderful questions! I had a fun time answering them  

Buy Laura’s books here.

Where will the tour be next? Click here for the schedule.

Enter the giveaway! What’s up for grabs? 4 ebook copies of Shadow Slayer!

Just tweet this post to enter to win! (tweet button is below) Easy. Peasy. Good luck Winners will be announced on Monday 12/17!

CONGRATS TO MEAGAN YESTERDAY’S WINNER

OF AN EBOOK COPY OF WINNEMUCCA, A SMALL-TOWN FAIRY TALE!

WANT MORE?

Click here to enter the tour giveaway today! The prizes include: 2 – $10 Amazon Gift Certificates 2 – paperback signed series copies of 13 on Halloween & Shadow Slayer 5 – ebook copies of Midnight Surrender, a paranormal romance anthology that includes a lost excerpt of Shadow Slayer.

Shadow Slayer Tour: Win a copy of the Shadow Slayer Audiobook & hear the playlist!

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) audiobook now available!

It’s Audio WEEKEND on the tour today! Woot! GiveawayS & yesterday’s winner are at the end of this post

“I loved the way this story was written, you can tell that Roxie has matured a bit since book one.  This was an action filled entertaining novel, I can’t wait to see what happens next!” -Bookworm Babblings, 5-star review

“This is a great series for young adults. Clean, fun, and super action-packed.” – Realms of an Open Mind, 4-star review

Shadow Slayer trailer reveal & more giveawayS (win a paperback of Shadow Slayer/Swag)

I’m so happy you’re part of the tour today. The fabulous blog The College Crawl is hosting Shadow Slayer, click here to check out her review! Also, it’s book trailer reveal day for Shadow Slayer on Laurasmagicday. I hope you enjoy it. Giveaways & yesterday’s winner are listed at the end of the post. Good luck!

Thanks for sharing in the reveal!

Do you need to know how to put a book trailer together, or do you want to try to make one for a class project? Click here to read an article I wrote on how to make your own book trailer. Happy trailering! Do you have a story about putting your trailer together? I’d love to hear about it.