BooksChatter: ☀ℚ Soldiers of the Craft: The Rebirth: Soldiers of the Craft [1]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Soldiers of the Craft: The Rebirth, a Urban Fantasy by K.E. Moody (14 December 2015, Booktrope Editions, 314 pages).

This is the first book in the Soldiers of the Craft series.

PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below, as well as a promotional Q&A with author K.E. Moody. Read the full Prologue and the first seven chapters with Amazon Look Inside.

Author K.E. Moody will be awarding an ebook copy of Soldiers of the Craft to one of our readers, and a paperback copy to a randomly drawn winner in the US via Rafflecopter during the tour.

Synopsis | Teaser | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway

Synopsis

On her 25th birthday, strange and unexplainable things are happening to simple coffee shop owner, Deandra Sullivan…or rather, she’s making the strange and unexplainable happen around her. Deandra is scared, confused, and feeling completely alone until she meets mysterious Donovan Walters, who carries a secret that is the same as hers…they are Witches.

While Donovan takes Deandra under his wing (and into his bed) to teach her about who and what she is, they discover an unavoidable tether between them. Along the way, something is tugging at Deandra’s instincts that danger is coming, and she and Donovan are tasked to find, recruit, and protect other Witches like herself.

Follow Deandra as she finds herself, and her powers, in this sexy Urban Fantasy novel by new author, K. E. Moody.

Teaser: Excerpt

Prologue

SOPHIA WAS COLD AND FRIGHTENED. She sat crouched in the corner with her arms wrapped around her legs, covered in the loose dirt of a prison cell she shared with cockroaches and rats. The place reeked of urine and feces, both animal and human. She was not alone in this dark place. There were several women and men lined up in their own cells behind iron bars. Some possessed the means to escape if they wanted, but to do so would surely mean the death of their entire family.

      She could hear the soft sobs from some captives echoing throughout the prison, and quiet prayers to the Virgin Mary being repeated over and over by others. As if that was going to save any of them.
      Trier, Germany was becoming known for its horrific Witch hunts and ultimately the dreadful and loathsome executions. If one was accused, they were convicted… Witch or not.
      There was a small window in each cell, barely big enough to allow some light in, but big enough to allow in all the sounds and smells of death from countless men, women, and even children. Death by fire.
      Sophia’s time had come. Her execution was tomorrow. While she had the power to simply grab hold of the iron bars and turn them to ash, she ran many risks with that option. It was human nature to save one’s self, but it was a Witch’s nature to save the race. If a Witch were to manifest any of their powers, they would put all others at risk and the resulting dangers would be tremendous. Some Witches could fight back quite violently and wipe out an entire village should they choose, but the Soldiers of the Craft would step in and stop it immediately. Protect all, not just one. If Sophia turned the bars that detained her from her husband, Andreas, and her two young children, Ava and Erich, to charred ash, she could put them in harm’s way. Not only with the townsfolk, but the Soldiers that watched over the Witches to keep their secrets safe.
      A breeze came in through the bars of her cell and the dust on the ground began to swirl around. Sophia’s arms prickled with goose bumps. She knew it was Andreas’ apparition and he was taking a huge risk sending it. He appeared before her in his ethereal state and with such sad eyes. His beautiful aquamarine eyes had always drawn her to him. And now those lovely eyes were filled with tears that could not be wiped away by her caress.
      “Sophia. Please, please I beg of you,” he whispered with a desperate hiss. “You must get out and we must leave. I cannot bear a life without you. I cannot let those ignorant fools hurt you… kill you. I… cannot.” He finished on a choked sob.
      “Andreas,” her voice cracked, “you know there is no other way. You must protect our children. Keep them safe.” Sophia pleaded as she felt her own tears begin to sting her eyes and slowly drip down her cheeks. “Leave here when I am gone. The townsfolk will simply believe you fled out of grief.”
      She watched in horror as Andreas began to squeeze his eyes shut and throw his hands out, palms up, and bring his chin to his chest. Instantly, he was there in the cell with her, no longer a vision, but the man, her husband himself. She shook her head violently while holding her damp cheeks. All it would take is a guard to come by and all would be lost. He ignored her silent plea and pulled her off the ground and up into his strong arms. She felt him shudder while he silently cried into her long, dark hair. She smelled his woodsy scent as he was breathed in her scent of vanilla and citrus. They’d known this unique scent of one another for the past 15 years, since she turned the age of 25.

      She reached around him, rested her face on his broad chest, and wept. She loved him so much. The hysteria of Trier was maddening and was ultimately going to tear them apart. They had instantly fallen in love the day they met and married only weeks later. It was as if it were written in the stars as their fate. But who could’ve imagined such a cruel way to end something so perfect and so beautiful?
      He tried again, whispering in her ear, “Please Sophia. You must. For our children, for us, God help me, for me. You know I will feel you leave me and I don’t know how to control myself.” He pulled back and searched her eyes, “You must, Sophia. Please come with me, we will leave. Let the guards find the ash. We will be but long gone before that time comes.”
      “Andreas, the Soldiers will come after us for committing treason. They will destroy all of us,” she hissed out of frustration with her situation. “I am but one person. You have to save yourself and the lives of our children. If anything, let our legacy live on. Do not let that die with me.”
      At these words, Andreas fell to his knees, defeated, and knelt before her, wrapping his arms tightly around her lower waist. As quietly as possible, he sobbed inconsolably into her small belly, staining her dirty dress with his tears. A rush of grief and sorrow robbed her of her own strength as she came to the realization that he was now mourning the loss of his one true and only love. His wife. This was goodbye. She began to breathe hard and quickly as she too knew she was losing the love of her life and her two beautiful children she cherished. She was willing to give her life for all three in a way too gruesome to be truly prepared for. She reached for him to stand in front of her. They brushed each other’s tears away and kissed what they knew was their final kiss. A kiss goodbye. Forever.
      Andreas squeezed his eyes shut, tears falling from the ends of his lashes, and he put his arms out. The air around him swirled and faded from real, to ethereal, to nothing. He was gone. Sophia was alone in her desolate cell once more to await her death in the morning. She was numb with grief.

Soldiers of the Craft: The Rebirth
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Author Q&A

Where did you get the idea to write Soldiers of the Craft?

"I was sleeping and had a dream that I was with a group of friends running a way from something that was chasing us in a cemetery at night. We couldn’t get out until I grabbed the iron bars and they disintegrated…I woke up and thought, “Wouldn’t that be awesome?!”"

Who is your favorite character in Soldiers of the Craft? And why?

"I love Farrell…he’s an a**hole and yet I know, as a reader, there’s something mysterious and possibly wonderful about him that hasn’t yet been discovered or revealed."

If Soldiers of the Craft gets made into a movie, who would you like to see play Deandra and Donovan?

"When I originally pictured Donovan, it was Paul Walker. Deandra was Jennifer Connelly."

What’s the most discouraging thing that happened while trying to write/publish, and how did you get over it?

"The most discouraging thing that happened while going through the writing/publishing process was realizing how LONG I’d made my book and how much fat I needed to trim. I personally edited it at least 20 times before handing it over to my editor to clean up from there."

Where are we most likely to find you writing?

"You’ll most likely find me in a local coffee shop with my ear buds in, sipping on a salted caramel mocha."

Do you listen to music while writing, or do you need silence?

"Have to have music playing and I love “Blood Stream” on Pandora. It’s my favorite station when writing."

About the Author

Kathryn Moody has been writing for years, but Soldiers of the Craft is her first published piece. While her typical blog entries have centered mostly around satirical stories, she decided to try her hand at fiction as a personal means to creatively let loose. Kathryn (or “Kathy”) and her daughter, Farrah, live in Central Washington and travel back to the west side of the Cascades often to visit family and friends.

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Giveaway

Enter to win one (1) ebook copy of Soldiers of the Craft. Open internationally.
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Enter to win a paperback copy of Soldiers of the Craft (US only).

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