The Resistance Release Day Has Arrived!

It's here, it's here, it's here! I feel like a little kid on Christmas. :D After almost three years from the start of writing it through all the rewrites and editing, Resistance, the first book of Ilyon Chronicles as well as the first book under my new pen name, Jaye L. Knight, is now available for Kindle! I’ve been publishing for quite a few years now, and though I’ve released several books previous to this, this seems so much more “real” thanks to all the awesome people who have been and are a part of it. One of the things that makes it so exciting and special is the awesome blog tour my publicist has put together. You can see the schedule here on her blog: http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/p/resistance-blog-tour.html Make sure you check out all the awesome stops through the week.

 

And now, of course, here is the button to the Resistance Kindle book on Amazon ($3.99).

 

 

As far as the paperback, I am expecting my final proof copy on Wednesday. Well, I hope it will be the last. Since the first proof was almost perfect, I have high hopes. If I can approve it on Wednesday, it should be available by the end of the week. I’ll also put in an order for my own copies and start accepting orders for autographed books.

 

As part of the festivities for the blog tour, I’m also excited to share a fun, Resistance inspired giveaway! This was especially fun to put together. It includes an autographed paperback copy of Resistance, a wolf necklace handcrafted by me and inspired by my main character Jace, a Better Homes and Gardens “Warm Rustic Woods” candle, which I have dubbed the official candle of Ilyon Chronicles, and a leather wolf paw bookmark from Lodgepole Leathercraft. So make sure to enter using the form below! (U.S. residents only.)

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Resistance Cover Reveal + Giveaway

Today is a moment I’ve been anxiously awaiting for probably the last two years or so—the reveal of the cover for Resistance, the first book in my NA (New Adult) fantasy series, Ilyon Chronicles (published under my pen name Jaye L. Knight)! Seriously, it really has been that long. I started putting the cover together very shortly after I started writing the book almost three years ago. I was always very excited about it, and now I can finally show everyone!

This is personally my favorite cover I’ve ever put together so far. Between the forest background and the gold and black sword, it fits the story so perfectly. I certainly had fun tweaking it over the last couple of years. (I will be posting on my “behind the scenes” Ilyon Chronicles blog in a couple of days showing the transformation from the first test cover to the finished version.) And I’m quite excited about how it looks with the rest of the series. Yes, I do have all six covers put together, at least in temporary form, and I desperately wish I could share them all! Sadly, that will have to wait. But I can tell you that all six books will have the same torn paper at the top as well as the swirly border in the background to tie each of the six books together.

 

My main vision for the covers of this series was to have them be simple, but bold. That seems to be a trend with a lot of popular mainstream fantasy novels these days like Game of Thrones, and I thought it would work well with Ilyon Chronicles.

 

Below you can read the back cover text, and as an added bonus, I’m sharing a short excerpt from the book. Also, be sure to enter the giveaway for one of two of my handmade sword bookmarks inspired by the cover! And check out what others are saying on the blogs listed here.

 

The Kindle version of Resistance will release on May 20th. I will do my best to have the paperback ready at the same time, though it may get delayed depending on how the first proof copy turns out. (Cover colors can be tough to get to print just right.) To celebrate the release, there will be a week long blog tour May 20-27. It will include reviews, interviews, a giveaway, and more! Mark your calendars, and check the blog tour page in May for more information. Hope to see you there!

 

About the Book

“Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”

 

Could God ever love a half-blood all of society looks upon with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when a tragic loss shatters the only peace he’s ever known, his faith crumbles as the nagging doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the bloodstained past he longs to forget, but can never escape.

 

Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair and her twin brother live every day under a dangerous pretense of loyalty. After her unique observation skills and perfect memory place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.

 

Following the emperor’s declaration to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, many lives are endangered. But there are those willing to risk everything to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and conflicts with society as they become part of the resistance.

 

Excerpt

 

      Just when he lowered his guard enough to relax, a grating voice sent tension knotting across his shoulders.
      “Look what the excitement dragged into town.”
      Jace ground his teeth together and turned. He should never have stopped watching his back. Wrong move on his part.
      Flanked by two of his smug-faced friends, a red-haired young man smirked at him, his eyes harboring all sorts of ill will. Jace barely bit back a sharp retort, but the other man’s smirk only grew at his silence. He peered around Jace.
      “Rebekah, what are you doing with this . . .” He glanced back to Jace and turned up his wide nose. “. . . half-blood?”
      Jace balled his fists. Warmth seeped down his arms and into his muscles, pulsing with the preparation for a fight, but he fought to still it.
      Rebekah came to his side, her face set in a frown that looked entirely out of place. “Stop it, Morden.”
      He gave her a condescending little grin. “Why don’t you run along? We’ve got business here.” The grin stretched wider. “I’ll gladly come find you later.”
      Rebekah put her hands on her hips, glaring at him, and opened her mouth to speak, but Jace beat her to it.
      “A gentleman would treat a lady with more consideration.”
      Morden snorted. “And what would you know about that?”
      A blaze erupted inside that Jace struggled to contain. He breathed in hard, cursing the impulses he had to battle so often. He couldn’t let it take control of him. Not again.
      “Come on, Jace, we still have to find something for Kalli.” Rebekah’s soft voice quieted his growing agitation, and she tugged lightly on his stiff arm.
    His blood still burned hot in his veins, calling him to action, and was almost too strong to resist. He thought of Rayad who told him time and again to go to Elôm when he struggled like this. He forced himself to turn away from Morden and whispered silently, “Elôm, I need help.”
      But Morden, who must have caught the movement of his lips just before he turned completely, let out an incredulous laugh. “Are you praying?”
      Jace froze. His heart thundered.
      “Who could you be praying to? Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”
      An evil pang of doubt knifed through Jace’s heart, colder and more painful than the steel of any dagger, and robbed the breath from his lungs. His eyes settled on Rebekah’s face, but it was her pitying expression that caused the weak grip on his emotions to fail. Heat flared in his muscles. He spun around and smashed his fist into the side of Morden’s jaw, sending the man reeling. Regret followed, but it was too late. Morden’s friends caught him by the arms and steadied him as he shook his head to clear his vision.
      Jace dragged deep breaths into his tightened lungs and waited for Morden’s next move. Just walk away. The silent plea went out in desperation. If only it would just end here. But satisfaction lit Morden’s eyes, and his lip curled in a malicious sneer.

 

Copyright © 2014 by Jaye L. Knight

Giveaway
(U.S. residents only)

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Dreaming of Spring Jewelry Giveaway

If you missed the announcement last Saturday, I’m holding another jewelry giveaway on my second blog! I’m giving away two jewelry pieces from my Etsy shop. (EXCEPT for rings and the double strand necklaces. Sorry, these take a bit more to make and ship.) It runs through March 20th. You can read my original post here, or just enter using the form below. U.S. entries only please.

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“New Adult” Fiction

I just posted this on my Jaye L. Knight blog and thought I should put it up here too.

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Recently I posted on Facebook about my frustration with the young adult category for books. There's such a varying opinion on just what age range this is. I've always considered it 15-25 year olds. On another blog, I saw it classified as 12-17. YA and Teen seem to be used interchangeably. That presents a problem for me. Since I started writing Ilyon Chronicles, I've been calling it a YA series, but I consider it upper YA. I don’t want anyone to come along randomly and think it’s just another teen series, because it isn’t. Not that teens can’t read it, but only two of my quite a few point of view characters are in their teens at the start of the series. Everyone else is between 20 and late fifties. They’re all adults, or will be by the end of the series.

Now, I have read YA books with older characters, but I still balk at sticking Ilyon in the category. So what choice does that leave me? Let me introduce you to the “New Adult” (NA) category of fiction. I only just discovered this in the last few weeks. This category covers readers 18-25+ who are newly into adulthood. Definitely more what I was thinking for Ilyon. The category had me intrigued right away. However, after some research, I discovered that the vast majority of NA fiction is full of inappropriate material. It seems to be an excuse to write YA fiction and add all the R rated material that isn’t allowed in YA. With a stigma like this, I initially shied away from using the NA label. However, with a bit more thought and an email from a reader, I’ve given it more consideration. The fact that NA is filled with such books just presents the huge need for a clean, Godly alternative. That has been one of my biggest goals since I started publishing—to offer alternatives to what the world produces. The more I’ve thought about this, the more excited I’ve become. I feel like I’ve been given a mission to be a sort of pioneer in Christian NA fiction.

Some people wonder at the need for a category between YA and adult. If we’re in our twenties, why not just read adult fiction, right? We are adults after all. But I’ve always felt a need for something in between. I think it has to do with book style. I’ve always loved to read and write YA. It’s just different from adult fiction. I feel like NA presents a YA style book with older, more mature characters that we who are in our late teens and twenties can identify with better than, say, a 15 year old protagonist.
Another reason I love this new trend toward NA is it perfectly fits my growth as an author. As I’ve said, I love to write YA, but as I get older and mature, I naturally want to write about older, more mature characters. Yet, I don’t want to make the switch over to adult fiction. NA is the perfect middle ground for where I’m at. I can write more mature fiction, but still do it with a YA feel.

It will be interesting to see where NA goes in the future and whether or not it will be adopted by the Christian market. Either way, I’m quite excited about this new direction my writing is taking. After all, I’ve always gravitated toward doing things different from the norm.

Announcing Jaye L. Knight Etsy Shop

 

  The time has finally come to announce the opening of my new Etsy shop! I have always been interested in making jewelry, but I never pursued it until I recently had the idea to make and sell jewelry inspired by my books. So, for the last couple of months, I've been gathering supplies and creating designs to capture the essence of different characters or books. You can see a few of these designs below. Or click here to visit my shop and see them all.
   I've only just begun in this new endeavor, and hope to add new designs regularly. Especially if I can get a few sales to cover the cost of more supplies. I also have plenty more ideas for jewelry and accessories inspired by Ilyon Chronicles that I look forward to making once Resistance is published. Right now, I've got pieces inspired by both my Pirates & Faith series and Makilien.
   Have fun exploring my shop! And if you know anyone who loves jewelry, I'd love it if you send them my way. I hope my designs will appeal to a wide variety of people, not only fans of my books.

Introducing Jaye L. Knight

Here it is, the first of various announcements that will be coming in the next couple months. This is something I never, ever imagined myself doing. It came completely out of the blue one night and would not leave me alone. I have decided to write fantasy fiction under a new pen name. That’s right, besides being Molly Evangeline, I am also fantasy author Jaye L. Knight. It hasn’t been long since the name first came to me, but I’m already so absolutely in love with it that I don’t think I could get rid of it if I tried. I have no idea how it happened, but I’m pretty sure God is behind it. I’m just not sure of the reason yet. It was actually a lot like how I got the name Molly Evangeline. It was just there in my head and it stuck, feeling quite comfortable and fitting right from the start, which is crazy because it’s not a name I would have imagined using before.

I was quite iffy right at first whether or not this was a good idea, but I have a few reasons for deciding to go with it. For one, the fact that it just wouldn’t go away even after I tried to dismiss it is usually a sign to me that I should take something seriously. Like I said, I don’t know the reason, but it definitely seems that God was working behind it. It also feels like a fitting change. I published my first book at 18. I’m almost 25 now, and a lot has changed. That was seven years ago. I’ve matured, and my writing has matured. My stories have become much more serious since then. I didn’t even think about it until this new name showed up, but the name Molly Evangeline doesn’t seem to completely suit my writing anymore. At least not my fantasy writing. Jaye L. Knight, on the other hand, is delightfully suited to fantasy.

So, from this point forward, I intend to publish all my fantasy writing as Jaye L. Knight. This includes Ilyon Chronicles. Should I ever get around to writing more historical, I will probably still publish as Molly Evangeline, which has a more historical ring to it.

I’ve had a ridiculously fun time getting everything set up to use and establish this new name, including purchasing a new domain name and setting up a new website. I think one of the most incredibly awesome things about this, besides having a really cool name to use, is that I pretty much got to go nuts with the color blue, my favorite color. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at first, but then I randomly pulled out the forest image that is actually for the cover of Resistance, changed the hue to blue, and everything started coming together. I think this just might be the most fun I’ve ever had on a website. So, without further ado, allow me to unveil it to you. Just click on the picture and have fun exploring my new space. :)

I have also set up a new Facebook and Pinterest page under the new name.