BLOG TOUR: The Warlock's Curse by M.K. Hobson - Guest Post + CONTEST!

Hi guys!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers...the place to be when the weather outside is frightful (-ly COLD!) and a warm fire plus a good read sounds immensely delightful.

Today, we're playing host once again (hey, it's the holidays....EVERYONE wants to stop by online the same as in person! ^_^) to a blog tour making it's way through the world wide web from Candace's Book Blog & CBB Promotions. (Hi, Candace!)  So far this week it's made appearances at Words Escape Me, Readingand Rising With the Sun, and Read My Breath Away; to check out the posts, just click on the links!  Rounding out the week is a stop on my little old blog and boy are you in for a treat.

Now, it's not the usual review type post because although it sounds REALLY good, by the time I caught wind of it, my reading schedule was booked solid.  BUT...there are other goodies to feast your eyes on and since I know how much you all LOVE suspense, I will keep rambling on and on and on and on and...what's that?  Oh, you don't REALLY like THAT much suspense?  Fine.  Be that way.  I'll just get right to it then.  (^_^)  Allow me to introduce formally, today's blog tour guest and book of choice...

Veneficas Americana, Book 3:

The Warlock's Curse

by

M.K. Hobson

THE YEAR IS 1910. Eighteen-year-old Will Edwards has landed a prestigious apprenticeship at Detroit’s Tesla Industries, the most advanced scientific research center in the United States. It’s a plum prize for a young man who dreams of a career in the new science of Otherwhere Engineering.

But his father doesn’t want him to go. And he won’t tell him why.

Determined to get there by any means necessary, Will finds unexpected support along the way. His old friend Jenny Hansen—daughter of a San Francisco timber baron—is eager to help him for reasons of her own. And so is his estranged brother Ben, who he hasn’t seen in over ten years.

But running away turns out to be the easy part. On the first full moon after his eighteenth birthday, Will is stricken by a powerful magic—a devastating curse laid upon his ancestors by the malevolent sangrimancer Aebedel Cowdray. Will must find a way to control the magic that possesses him—or the vengeful warlock’s spirit will destroy everything and everyone he loves.

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If you're a fan of her previous work (The Native Star or The Hidden Goddess), you may have a moment of deja vu as this book takes place in the same world as the others, just several odd years in the future, BUT the characters are all brand spanking new so newcomers (such as myself) will feel right at home.  In light of that information, even though it is a series (book 3 in fact), I've been told it can be read quite well as a stand alone title...hmm, we shall see as I'll be embarking on this adventure this coming Spring 2013.  In the mean time though, how's about we find out a little more about the author?  I think it sounds like a swell idea, let's do it.

It's always funny when you agree to a guest post because you never quite know what you'll get.  Sometimes suggestions for topics are asked for and other times it's by the seat of their pants; what you can count on however is a piece of interest that holds untold of surprises.  Take today's for example.  I’m a total opposite from her when it comes to what I read…BUT…that doesn’t mean there’s not something to glean from her words; in fact, I may be adding a book she mentioned to my wish list as we speak (Sister Carrie sounds interesting).  It’s the colorful world of reading we live in and I for one LOVE the variety out there and the “spice” each of us brings to the table.  So, without further ado, please join me in welcoming author M.K. Hobson….

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Historical fiction that's actually—historical!

by M.K. Hobson         

I have a shocking confession to make. I read hardly any contemporary fiction. A quick count reveals that, of the forty or so novels I read this past year, only about five were published in this decade. The rest were written in the early part of the 20th century, generally in the half decade between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II.

I always feel weird about admitting this, because at best it sounds merely snobby (like the insufferable hipster who complains Radiohead started to suck after 1995) and at worst, disloyal to my fellow writers. Shouldn't I be supporting the authors of today, instead of ones who have been dead a hundred years or more?

I guess my preference from older works of fiction springs from the fact that I don't just read books for the story. I am just as interested in reading them to get an understanding of the lifestyles and attitudes of the era. Moreover, I am absolutely in love with the writing style in these books. On every page one encounters words, idioms, figures of speech and sentence constructions that have long since passed out of modern fiction. I collect and admire these exquisite little turns of phrase, and use them in my own writing when I can—which probably explains why the language in my books sometimes seems out-of-date to modern readers.

Here are four of my "old favorites." I hope you'll consider one of them next time you're loading up your Kindle or Nook!

• Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie. Sister Carrie is the age-old story of a country girl who tries to make it in the big city. She ultimately achieves success as a famous actress—but not without "compromising her virtue" along the way. At the time this book was published, it was denounced by critics of the time as being immoral, because it was generally accepted that only heroines of spotless moral character were allowed to have a happy ending. 

• Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt. I love just about all of Sinclair Lewis' books, but Babbitt is one of my all-time favorites. It's a frequently hilarious satire of American culture, society, and behavior as it existed in 1922, but when you read it you'll be amazed at how little has changed between then and now.

• Gore Vidal, Burr. Published in 1973, this is the newest book on my list. Author Gore Vidal built his reputation on being an outspoken, ornery cuss. With Burr, he lived up to that reputation in spades, making Aaron Burr (often regarded by history as a self-serving hothead) the hero of the story. At the same time, he casts Burr's more-lauded contemporaries—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the ill-fated Alexander Hamilton—in an unflattering light. I was so delighted by Gore Vidal's subversive, iconoclastic depiction of the founding fathers—and ultimately, by the rest of his historical fiction—that I gave him a fangirl shout-out in The Warlock's Curse, using his first name for a family of Greek sangrimancers.

• Gertrude Atherton, Patience Sparhawk and Her Times. Gertrude Atherton also gets a fangirl shout-out in The Warlock's Curse—I gave her last name to the book's secondary love interest. She began writing to support herself and her children after the death of her husband in 1887, and while much of her financial success came from straight-ahead commercial potboilers, she also wrote several works of superior literary value, Patience Sparhawk being one. Like Sister Carrie, the book was considered scandalous in its time because of the sympathetic and pragmatic presentation of prostitution and the overall contempt for the institution of marriage. Just as importantly, it's a ripping good yarn—the last 20 pages had me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to Gina for having me, and I hope readers will suggest their favorite works of historical historical fiction in the comments below!

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About the author…

M.K. Hobson’s debut novel, The Native Star—the first book in her Veneficas Americana series—was nominated for a Nebula award in 2010. She lives in the first city in the United States incorporated west of the Rockies. The Warlock’s Curse is her third novel. You can find out more at her website, www.demimonde.com.

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Having fun so far?

GREAT…and I hope you take the author up on her CHALLENGE!  What books have you read (or hope to read) that fall under the historical historical category?  Perhaps I’ll find something else to add to my ever wobbling wish list.  

Special thanks to Candace of Candace's Book Blog & CBB Book Promotions for the opportunity to bring this tour to you as well as to author M.K. Hobson for her time and efforts on the guest post.  (THANKS ladies!)  For more information on this tour as well as those forthcoming, be sure to check out Candace's official site or follow along on Twitter.  Curious to reveal further secrets on this series?  Pay a visit to the official website.  To discover more about the author, her previous works and those yet to come, she can be found online at her blog, on GoodReads, over at Facebook and of course on Twitter.  This book (as well as the previous two) is available now in both print and ebook so no matter your reading preference you can check out this series in a format friendly to you.  (Yay PRINT BOOKS!  ^_^)

Now that our little party is in FULL swing, are you ready for even MORE fun?

You didn't think it was over did you?

Silly reader...I promised you LOADS of fun and I aim to deliver!

Thanks to the generosity of the promotion team, YOU my friend have the chance to win some VERY cool prizes and because they are such wonderful people, there's something for everyone....which means it's also open to INTERNATIONAL readers, woo-hoo!  Here's the scoop.....

The prize...

US ONLY

Prize package:  *SIGNED* copies of The Native Star, The Hidden Goddess and The Warlock's Curse as well as a swag pack of a Tesla Industries pin, magnets and a sticker

INTERNATIONAL

13 ebooks of The Warlock's Curse

How to enter...

...just fill out the RAFFLECOPTER form below and BAM!  You'll be in to win!  Contest ends December 30th, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Until next time…GOOD LUCK....and happy reading!