Hiya guys, today we have Lou Hoffmann popping in with her new release Key of Behliseth, Lou chats about finding the right balance for all ages in YA books and there is a fantastic excerpt and giveaway. So guys I will leave you in Lou’s more than capable hands, just enjoy my review and click that Rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~

Key of Behliseth

(The Sun Child 01)

by

Lou Hoffmann

On his way to meet a fate he’d rather avoid, homeless gay teen Lucky steps through a wizard’s door and is caught up in a whirlwind quest and an ancient war. He tries to convince himself that his involvement with sword fights, magic, and interworld travel is a fluke, and that ice-breathing dragons and fire-breathing eagles don’t really exist. But with each passing hour, he remembers more about who he is and where he’s from, and with help, he begins to claim his power.

Lucky might someday rule a nation, but before he can do that, he must remember his true name, accept his destiny, and master his extraordinary abilities. Only then can he help to banish the evil that has invaded earth and find his way home—through a gateway to another world.

eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5395

Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5396

Balancing YA for All Ages

Hello! I’m Lou Hoffmann, and I am overjoyed to be here on the MM Good Book Reviews Blog celebrating the recent release of my novel, Key of Behliseth, and I even have been given this space to wax on about writing! Thank you MM Good and Pixie!

Key of Behliseth is a young adult fantasy novel, published by Harmony Ink, the YA branch of Dreamspinner Press, and it’s the first in a series called, The Sun Child Chronicles. Pixie has suggested I talk a bit about how to find the balance when writing a book that both teens and adults can relate to and enjoy. I’ll try, though there are just about as many viewpoints on this as there are writers, publishers, and readers.

I first will say that I’m not claiming to be the world’s foremost expert—many more people know a lot more about such things than I. I do know where I begin in writing YA, though, and that is with firm respect for teen readers, a genuine liking for people in the age group, and faith in the power of story to transcend the artificial boundaries we place between ourselves and others—whether they be based on age, gender, orientation, religion, ethnicity, or color. Humans of every kind have far more things in common than differences. So why shouldn’t a good book appeal to many different people?

I’ve heard it said that teens don’t want to read books with an adult point of view character. I disagree. YA literature should (really must) have a protagonist that is in the teens age group, but not because teens won’t understand it or won’t read it. It’s because if the main character is an adult (even an adult remembering what they did as a teen), it is outside the parameters of YA literature. Younger readers can empathize with adult characters, and if the book has diverse characters, it has appeal for a broader spectrum of readers, and stands a better chance of showing any reader a truth they can use. And everyone needs heroes, regardless of their age.

I believe it’s a mistake to attempt either spoon-feeding or avoiding emotional content of a story for teens. Not only do they understand it, they—like their older counterparts—need to see that they are not alone with their sorrow or fear, and that sorrow doesn’t eliminate joy, and fear is not the same as a lack of courage—just the opposite, in fact.. Likewise, I don’t spend much time spelling out broad social issues. They know about homelessness, working-class poverty, abuse, addiction, and illness. Sometimes young people are more in touch with issues than they’re overworked parents. A teen reader can glean subtext in a well-told tale just as an adult would. Finally, although a young POV character’s voice needs to be authentic—their thoughts and speech will reflect their social environment—that isn’t the same as dumbing down the narrative.

Humor can be tricky. Key of Behliseth involves a dark and horrid kind of ‘magic,’ and also an answering magic that partakes of light. Both are serious and carry meaning and danger, yet I slip humor in to mingle with both. Why? One reason is that I don’t view fiction as ‘made-up,’ so much as ‘real life, but more so!’ I find humor everywhere, and when things seem very dark, sometimes humor keeps me going. But in writing YA, it is important to find a balance in the way I use humor. I’m not sure I can describe how I judge what to leave in and what to cut, or where the dividing line lies, but in general, I want humor that isn’t based solely on banana peels and fart jokes, but also isn’t too dry, or (let’s call it by its name) too boring. Here’s a brief example of the way humor makes fantastical characters human. Thurlock is the ancient wizard, and Han the ultimate warrior, yet here they are nothing short of domestic, which is a light, somewhat humorous element to begin with. Lucky, the protagonist in Key of Behliseth is watching them, hiding, and this is a very tense time for him.

The two men stood together in the shade, speaking in low tones. Then Thurlock’s volume rose and, in a voice as smooth as tacks in a blender, he said something that caught Lucky’s attention because it included the word “boy” and ended with the word “stubborn.”

“Blood pressure, sir,” the younger man said, and he stepped off the porch in shiny boots that seemed altogether too hot for the day after Midsummer. He used one of those same boots to level the weeds in front of the door to a tool shed across the yard. While he worked the door open, he raised his voice and added, “Breathe.”

“My blood pressure is fine, Han.” Thurlock’s face went tomato red, and he crossed his arms in a huff, but Lucky could clearly see his chest rise and fall through several deep breaths.

So Lucky gets a tiny bit of relief because the situation is humorous, but it isn’t quite slapstick, and on the other hand it doesn’t deflate the tension for the reader. In fact, the next sentences, show Lucky something that turns the tension up a notch.

When Thurlock passed through the door to go back inside, he must have ducked, because Lucky knew with absolute certainty that the beam couldn’t really have arched itself up to let him pass.

Still a little humorous right? But it’s all a little crazy making for Lucky, and he doesn’t even want to believe his own eyes. Situational humor is something we can all appreciate.

When it comes to YA literature, the perennial debate is how much sex or romance should be included and how to present it. I’m going to leave that question completely aside, because I think that’s largely a different question than how to craft a novel that might appeal to readers of every age. I will say, I believe the YA age bracket is far too broad, stretched as it is from about age 12 to early twenties, depending on where the main character is in life rather than solely on age. Lately, the ‘New Adult’ category has begun to be embraced in the publishing world, breaking out older teens. I hope that takes root, as it adds common sense to the mix.

Down to brass tacks, writing a book that will appeal across the age spectrum requires the same skills that are needed for any good story. ‘Real,’ relatable, characters, a plot that keeps the reader interested, and language that doesn’t call too much attention to itself, while lending some depth and color. Truthfully, I approach writing a YA story the same way I approach any other, using the same skills, and not holding back. The YA works if the teen protagonist works, and all readers love a good story.

And, not least, if the author loved the writing—loved the characters and the places and the ups and downs—I think it shows! And yes, I truly loved writing Key of Behliseth, and I happily believe it will delight many different kinds of readers. And a story, any story, isn’t complete until a reader makes it their own. The author’s love makes it magic, but the reader sets it loose and lets it shine.

So, thank you MM Good Book Reviews, and Pixie, for letting me babble on your blog!

Happy reading to all.

Excerpt

Isa left her four Ethran servants to tend the boy until she could return and summoned her recent Earthborn recruits. She gathered them in the vast circular sanctum, the better to show them their insignificance, to inflame their need to serve the Demon Queen. She preferred dimness and shadow, but weaker, ordinary eyes needed light. With a dark word and a flick of thin, sharp fingers, she set a ring of torches burning behind them, blue and cold.

She stood tall in the center of the space, robed as always in blue. Acolytes surrounded her, all Earthborn and easily enslaved by magic. They numbered fifty-two, and huddled in kneeling quadrants of thirteen each. Not as many as she would have liked, but a fair number considering the limitations of time.

Mordred waited in the dark outside the circle, bearing a small stone dagger and a mirrored tray holding four large crystal goblets. Each cup contained a potion brewed of red elder, skullcap, bindweed, and rue. As Isa had taught him, Mordred had, in each cup, drowned a wolf spider and weighted it with moonstone and jet. The final ingredient, the one that would bind them to Mordred, and through him to her and to Mahl, would be added later, in ritual sacrifice.

Having earlier cast a glamour to mellow her voice and visage, Isa lifted her draped arms and bade the supplicants raise their eyes. She began to speak, preaching with a rhythm and flow designed to mesmerize. As eyes glazed in the audience, she blended her words into Dark Chant, low and guttural, sending shadows into their hearts to bleed them of heat.

The last syllables of the spell echoed into the vastness of the sanctum. From the slaves, no sound, no movement.

“Mordred,” she called, and all heads turned to follow him as he came forward, placed the tray at her feet, and went to one knee. He turned the knife and offered it. She took it and then pulled him to his feet, raising his hand to present him to the gathering.

“Here is your captain,” she said. All bowed their heads, and a slow smile of satisfaction twisted Mordred’s face. His eyes glittered in anticipation of new power.

After a moment, Isa instructed the Earthborns to stand in their places. “As is proper, your captain will fortify you with his own strength, through his own sacrifice.

“Behold his gift.”

He knelt again before her, and she drew the knife three inches down each of his forearms, turning the knife to slide under the skin and increase the flow of blood. The smile didn’t leave his face. He uttered no sound. He held his arms over the tray and let his blood, dark with the taint of Mahl, fall into the cups drip by drip.

Quietly, Isa said, “Sufficient.”

Mordred stood, bearing the tray, and waited while she instructed the supplicants.

Isa had named a leader for each quadrant of thirteen, a person with some small portion of magic underlying their greed. To each of these four, while his tarnished blood still flowed down his arms, Mordred entrusted a crystal goblet. They did not drink first, but passed the cup each among their twelve.

When all the others had partaken, the leaders took the cups again and drank, draining every drop of potion until stone and spider fell upon their pallid lips, a sorcerer’s kiss.

About

Lou Hoffmann, a mother and grandmother now, has carried on her love affair with books for more than half a century, and she hasn’t even made a dent in the list of books she’d love to read—partly because the list keeps growing as more and more fascinating tales are told in written form. She reads factual things—books about physics and stars and fractal chaos, but when she wants truth, she looks for it in quality fiction. Through all that time she’s written stories of her own, but she’s come to be a published author only as a johnnie-come-lately. Lou loves other kinds of beauty as well, including music and silence, laughter and tears, youth and age, sunshine and storms, forests and fields, rivers and seas. Proud to be a bisexual woman, she’s seen the world change and change back and change more in dozens of ways, and she has great hope for the freedom to love in the world the youth of today will create in the future. You can find Lou on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lou.hoffmann , or twitter @Lou_Hoffmann .

Giveaway!

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Review

Title: Key of Behliseth

Series: The Sun Child 01

Author: Lou Hoffman

Genre: High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, YA

Length: Novel (296pgs)

ISBN: 978-1-63216-248-9

Publisher: Harmony Ink (11^th September 2014) (Dreamspinner Press)

Heat Level: Nil

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4 – 4 ½ Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: On his way to meet a fate he’d rather avoid, homeless gay teen Lucky steps through a wizard’s door and is caught up in a whirlwind quest and an ancient war. He tries to convince himself that his involvement with sword fights, magic, and interworld travel is a fluke, and that ice-breathing dragons and fire-breathing eagles don’t really exist. But with each passing hour, he remembers more about who he is and where he’s from, and with help, he begins to claim his power.

1st Edition published as Beyond the Wizard’s Threshold by Marion Margaret Press, November 2010

Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5395

Review: Lucky discovers more than he bargained for when he meets an eccentric old man at his bus stop, just who is this old man who seems to know him? Lucky has no memory of his life before his twelfth birthday, now three years later he lives alone and works the most honest job he can struggling to support himself and his dog Maizie but everything is about to change when he meets the wizard Thrulock but first he has to remember. Discovering that there’s another world, magic and a family he has long forgotten is nearly too much for Lucky but bits and pieces are coming back to him, but will he remember in time or will the evil that has hunted him for years finally get it’s icy claws into him?

Key of Behliseth is a great YA story that is appealing to all ages; it has a fascinating storyline and some fantastic settings and characters. Lucky/Luccan has been alone for a year after the man who took him in died, he has managed to survive in an abandoned shed, cleaning to make a living but never knowing who he really is. When he meets Thurlock, Thurlock makes some stunning revelations and bits of Lucky’s past begin to come back to him but the most important bits are still missing, and with a powerful evil after him and a desperate need to return home Lucky has to remember.

This is a great fantasy story of a lost boy who is desperately needed to save his world, when we join Lucky he has no clue who is really is, all he has are a few items that he was found with and a need to survive. As we follow him through the story we see how he struggles to accept everything he is told, but we also feel his desperation at wanting to believe Thurlock. Lucky is thrust into a fight between good and evil, he stumbles in the dark trying to piece together his past as Thurlock and Han (the wizard’s warrior) will only give him limited information. It’s difficult to really give much information in this review as while Lucky is trying to discover who he is he also has the problem of the witch Isa trying to get her claws into him, plus there are other characters that though I’d love to mention them it might give too much away. There are plenty of hints that this story has more to come because as Lucky, Thurlock and Han struggle on Earth things are happening on Ethra and there’s a prophecy that we still have to uncover.

What I can tell you is that this is a journey of discovery for the fifteen year old Lucky, there is a pretty epic battle between good and evil and we meet an interesting array of characters that I can’t wait to know better. This is a story that has a long journey ahead of it as we have only scrapped the surface; it is the first step in reclaiming Lucky’s life and the beginning of what he is to face in the future. We are pulled in pretty quickly as we admire the fortitude that Lucky has, we become invested in discovering who Lucky is and we want him to succeed. The way this story is written is brilliant because while we are on Earth there is still a mysterious fantasy feel to it, everything that happens is hidden from human eyes, well except those humans who are corrupted by evil magic, so some settings really make you feel like you are no longer on Earth. Now this story doesn’t have any discovered love or secret crushes (except for Han’s) but as I said this journey has only just begun.

I recommend this to those who love fantasy YA, a brilliant storyline that has much more to offer, a young man who faces down evil even as he thinks it’s hopeless, fantastic supporting characters and an ending that could also be a beginning.