OMG! I love mermaids and was so excited when I saw the Xpresso tour for Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner.
These are not the girlie girl mermaids of Splash, but vicious sea monster. I’m loving it more. đ
It sounds like a B movie and I LOVE those.
I feel the same way about B movie books, know what I mean?
I WANT!
And I will have it. “as I greedily rub my hands together”
Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner is FREE during the blitz.
Be sure and grab your copy.
Post includes: synopsis, author interview, guest post and excerpt…
Enter the giveaway for a signed copy of your very own.
I mean, check out that awesome banner.
Just wait until you see the bloodcurdling cover.
Anyone care to take a dip?
Add ME to your GOODREADS reading list here.
Publication date: September 18th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
A mermaidâs supernatural beauty serves one purpose: to lure a sailor to his death.
The Massacre is supposed to bring peace to Eriana Kwai. Every year, the island sends its warriors to battle these hostile sea demons. Every year, the warriors fail to return. Desperate for survival, the island must decide on a new strategy. Now, the fate of Eriana Kwai lies in the hands of twenty battle-trained girls and their resistance to a mermaidâs allure.
Eighteen-year-old Meela has already lost her brother to the Massacre, and she has lived with a secret thatâs haunted her since childhood. For any hope of survival, she must overcome the demons of her past and become a ruthless mermaid killer.
For the first time, Eriana Kwaiâs Massacre warriors are female, and Meela must fight for her peopleâs freedom on the Pacific Oceanâs deadliest battleground.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Give us the tweet-sized version of what Ice Massacre is about.
A teenage girl is sent to battle the hostile mermaids that are driving her people into poverty. A story of love, secrets, and ass-kicking.
What makes Ice Massacre unique?
First, I havenât seen a lot out there that portrays mermaids for what they really are: flesh-eating sea demons. But I think what also sets it apart is its almost entirely female cast. This island decides to send female warriors to kill the mermaids that plague them, because women donât fall victim to a mermaidâs supernatural allure. We end up with an all-female war on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Meela, an aboriginal girl whoâs never been away from the tiny island she calls home, also has a pretty unique journey of self-discovery. I donât want to reveal too much. But I think a lot of aspects make this story unconventional.
Whatâs your favourite thing about the book?
I love Meelaâs antagonists. Meelaâs a tough chick and she has a lot coming at her from all directions. Writing those opposing forces was so much fun.
Whatâs next for you as a writer?
The sequel! This is the first in a trilogy, and Iâm hard at work on book two: Ice Crypt.
GUEST POST
Finish your story: 3 Tips for Getting that Book Done
To make a ridiculous understatement, writing a book is hard. Few people actually finish the taskâwhether because they canât find the time, or they get stuck in a story rut, or they lose inspiration once they realize how difficult it is. Let me tell you, there is nothing more rewarding than a finished and published book! Here are three tips to help you get that story done.
1. Write down your dream and look at it daily
Writing down a goal is a magical thing. When you make it tangible, itâs like youâve transformed your dream into a prophecy.
Write âI am a bestselling authorâ (or whatever your goal is) on an index card. Look at it every day. Live it and believe it. Work at that dream every single day, even if only for twenty minutes.
Because I have a full-time job and hobbies, the only time I had to write Ice Massacre was between 6am and 7am. Iâm not a morning person, but by putting that index card over my alarm clock, I gave myself the motivation to leap out of bed and get to work on my dream. I promise you, itâs effective.
2. Understand that your first draft will suck
All right, Iâm going to be honest with you. The first draft of anything I write is like, the worst thing ever. Itâs like someone gave a chimpanzee a dictionary and a pen and wouldnât feed him until he scribbled out enough words to form a full-length novel.
The second draft, however, is better. The third and fourth are pretty darn good. My point is, donât be discouraged when your novel sucks after the first go-around. You canât possibly make a fantastic story in only one draftâyou need time to get to know the characters, to identify plot holes, to fix the fact that you used the word âsighedâ eighty times in one chapter. Personally, it takes me at least seven drafts to get a novel right.
3. Study the craft of writing
A common reason why writers get stuck is that they hit a roadblock in their story. Theyâve dug themselves into a plot hole, or they donât know where to go next. Iâve probably read a thousand blog posts about writing over the last few years. There are endless resources to help you learn the craft, and I recommend that you subscribe to a few writing blogs and read at least one post every day.
Here are a few of my favourites:
- http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/(She also has a podcast, which makes it easy to study writing while you’re doing other things!)
- http://terribleminds.com/ramble/blog/
- http://thewritepractice.com/
- http://writershelpingwriters.net/
- http://moodywriting.blogspot.com/
 *            *            *
Finishing your book comes down to working hard and believing in yourself. You donât need to be the best writer in the world in order to write a good bookâyou just need to have a story to share and the drive to write it!
Do you ever find it hard to finish a story? What tips and inspiration can you share?
EXCERPT
Somewhere on the Pacific Ocean
The young man aimed his crossbow at the water, ready to fire a bolt of solid iron at the first glimpse of flesh beneath the surface.
âSir,â he said, âshouldnât we have seen one by now?â
The captain turned his back to the salty wind, jaw tight. âThey know weâre here.â
âSo what are they doing?â
He followed the captainâs gaze. Blackness merged with the empty grey horizon in every direction. A long silence passed, filled only by gentle swells lapping against the ship.
The captain drew his own crossbow.
âForming a plan.â
All twenty men aboard the ship readied their weapons, reacting in a chain until the last man at the stern took steady aim at the waves.
âMake ready your iron, men,â shouted the captain. âWe have ripples approaching off the port side.â
A handful of places in the water puckered, as if something lingered just below the surface. The sea was too black to tell.
Then it happened. Fifty, maybe sixty sea demons burst from the water and slammed against the ship. The men wasted no time. They reacted with trained speed and agility as the demons thrust stones and jagged shells into the wood, both to break holes in the ship and to scale the sides. The men picked them off with bolts of iron and watched them fall one by one back into the sea.
But they were outnumbered. Soon the demons were upon the ship, pulling themselves across the deck with bony arms.
The young man had already shot a dozen and the water reddened with each passing second.
Slow scraping sounds threatened him from behind. He whirled around, crossbow ready. Burning eyes met his, and sharp teeth, bared to rip into his flesh. He gripped the trigger, felt the bow tightenâ
And the demon was gone. The young man stared into the wide gaze of a girl his own age. With a startled cry, he jerked his aim so the bolt barely missed her.
She held a black shell in her hand, sharp at the edges and ready to use as a club. But she didnât raise it. She just looked at him.
He lowered his crossbow.
Her blonde hair fell heavily over her shoulders, dripping beads of water down her naked chest and stomach, pooling where her torso joined her tail.
He blinked, but made no other motionâwhere her torso joined her tail. Scales faded into flesh like some sort of beautiful, green and tan sunset.
She pulled herself closer.
âStay back,â said the young man, unsure what prompted him to hesitate.
He looked into her eyesâemeralds surrounded by pearl whiteâwhere moments ago they had burned red. Her sharp teeth had retracted behind rosy lips. The seaweed-coloured flesh of her upper body was now olive and raised with goose bumps from the icy wind.
âHanu aii,â she whispered. Do not fear. She spoke his language.
He loosened his grip on the crossbow, studying her. She lifted a frail arm and pushed the hair from her eyes, then motioned him forwards.
His pulse quickened as he stared at the beautiful girl.
âHanu aii,â she said again, her voice resonating sweetly, as if she sang without singing.
Suddenly, he was kneeling in front of her, level with her luminous eyes. The sounds around him faded but for the soft purr in the base of her throat.
She reached up and held an icy hand to his cheek, not for a moment breaking eye contact. The hand slid behind his head and pulled his face towards hers, slowly but firmly. He inhaled her sweet breath.
âNo!â
He flinched. He turned to see the captain racing towards them, aiming his crossbow at the maiden.
The young man grasped the scene around him. The ship was empty. A few stray weapons and barrels bobbed serenely in the water. Blood soaked the deck in places, and even the main mast had a splatter across the bottom.
The captain fired wide. Before he could reload and aim again, the sea demon put a hand on the young manâs chin and pulled his gaze back to hers.
Her eyes blazed red. Her skin rippled into the rotten colour of seaweed. Her ears grew pointed and long like sprouting coral. She opened her mouth to reveal a row of deadly teeth.
The young man screamed.
The demon pulled him against her with more strength than three men combined, and they dove headfirst off the side of the ship.
They disappeared into the blood-red water.
AUTHOR BIO
Tiana Warner was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada. She enjoys riding her horse, Bailey, and collecting tea cups.
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