P.T. Michelle's Blog, page 17

Ravens

Why did you feature ravens in your BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS series?

I’ve always been fascinated by ravens, by their perception in society and the fact they’ve been depicted in old drawings and stories since the beginning of time.

In researching ravens, I fell in love with their duality; every culture has a mythology about ravens. Some associate ravens with evil, believing them to be a witch in another form, others believe them to be the devil’s minions. Then there are the cultures that feature the raven either as the creator of their world or as having had a hand in it’s creation like creating the sun or finding water. Other cultures see ravens as tricksters with the talent to predict the future and the ability to bring messages to the gods. Ravens were also considered birds of war by some, who watched the ravens and used that knowledge to help predict a battle’s outcome.

While ravens feature in just about every culture, their roles spanning from one extreme or the other, one aspect is definitely true in every culture; their presence is never innocuous. It always means “something”!

And this is why I choose ravens. They have such a rich and varied mythology. I wanted to put my own spin on it in BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS.

Raven Facts: Wiley, Smart, Opportunistic, Loyal, Territorial, Playful and Affectionate

Ravens can solve complex problems, like figuring out how to add rocks to a deep jar in order to raise the water level so they could get to the meat floating in the water. Ravens are called “wolf birds” for a reason. They’ve been known to lead wolves to injured (potential) prey so that they can also share in the feeding. Ravens have worked together as a team. One pulls on the dog’s tail and gets the dog to chase after him, while the other raven raids the dog’s bowl for kibble.
Ravens mate for life and hold funerals for their dead.
Ravens can mimic human speech and other bird calls.
Ravens can live in extreme temperatures from the tundra to the desert.
The oldest raven in the wild lived to be 17. The oldest raven in captivity lived to be 44. He was a Tower of London raven.

Ravens in Action

How to tell a raven from a crow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guBwMUAWAJI&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Ravens are much bigger than crows. Here you can see a raven and a crow side by side to see the difference in their sizes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZyBNWVD70w&feature=related  (around 2:38-2:40)



Ravens can be very playful and gentle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAj_SkR8lJY&feature=channel&list=UL

Ravens can talk in various voices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GusdG_SSWw&feature=relmfu  AND http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA9KTw07Ax0&feature=relmfu

Here’s the next guest post I did for the BKoD blog tour. This one features parkour!

PARKOUR IN LUCID



In the second book in my BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS series, LUCID, the main character, Nara, meets a guy named Drystan and soon discovers among other things that he has a unique talent. He’s really good at parkour.  What is parkour?

Here’s how Drystan explains it to Nara…

“Parkour is perceived as constant movement using natural motion. The technique is very physical, but it’s a way of evaluating and perceiving your environment around you in a strategic way, where you don’t let your mind or physical barriers stop you. ”  ~ Drystan in LUCID

When Nara asks Drystan why he wants to teach her parkour, he says that it’s all part of him helping her learn self-defense.

“…Defensively, if you can think at least two steps ahead of your pursuer, then your chances of getting away are much greater.” ~ Drystan in LUCID

And just like Drystan tells Nara that showing her parkour would be far easier than explaining it, I thought I’d share some visual examples with you.

PARKOUR

You know that opening chase scene in the 2006 remake of Casino Royale (with Daniel Craig)? See here: (it starts at 5.02  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJubOZLpp4A . That’s parkour being used in the movies.

Here’s a very well known traceur (the term for a parkour practitioner) in action, Damien Walters, doing all his great moves. Check them out and be entertained with his amazing flexibility!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMsdCsNz7L4

SLACKLINE

In LUCID, Drystan takes Nara up on the slackline to teach her to learn to control her balance, since learning parkour starts with controlling one’s balance.  Do you remember the guy in the white toga/dress doing crazy bounces on a thin piece of line on stage during Madonna’s Super Bowl performance this past year? That was Andy Lewis on a slackline. He’s the world champion in his unusual sport.  Here are a couple examples of tricklining (tricks/flips) done on a slackline.

Mike Payton on the slackline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ycT_RBZ0tg&feature=player_embedded

Andy Lewis, Mike Payton and others on the Conan show doing the slackline:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hxC_T9UnmA

THE HISTORY OF PARKOUR

If you’re curious about the history of parkour (where it came from and how it has evolved over time), here are a couple of links with all the deets! http://www.parkourgenerations.com/article/parkour-history and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour

I hope you found learning a bit more about parkour and slacklining interesting and that it has made you curious about LUCID!

For those who didn’t get a chance to see the guest posts I did for the BKoD blog tour, I’ll be posting them here and on my FB page. I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about the BKoD world!

1) LUCID – 95% of LUCID was written in a B&N cafe.

2) LUCID – Ravens really do hold funerals for their dead.

3) LUCID – When I first began brainstorming LUCID’s storyline, I thought it would be a novella. Haha, it turned into a 100K (328 page) novel! Needless to say I added a LOT more depth to the story.

4) LUCID – Freddie/Erik and Cordelia are family names.

5) BKoD – My best friend pierced my ears the same way Lainey pierced Nara’s.








6) BKoD – Farmville REALLY is a town in Virginia. So is Barboursville.



7) BKoD – Nara and Ethan’s hometown is modeled after Charlottesville, Virginia.




8) BKoD/LUCID – Nara’s name is pronounced Nara (like car), and yes, her name came from the character Inara from Joss Whedon’s awesome show Firefly.




9) BKoD – The original working title of BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS was FATE, which I decided to change to a title that had many layers of meaning related to the story.

10) BKoD – I was told that I should shelve BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS and write another book. I’m so glad I trusted my gut and didn’t give up on publishing it!

For all you Kobo lovers, BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS & LUCID are now available on KOBO!

And right now Brightest Kind of Darkness is just $.99! (down from $2.99) and Lucid is $3.99 (down from $4.99). Grab them while you can get both full length novels for less than $5!

And here are the winners of the BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS blog tour! Congratulations!! I’ve already emailed most of you. Just need a couple more to respond to claim your prizes, so check the list below and get in contact with Dani. Thank you all for participating in the tour. I hope you enjoyed the guest posts, where you learned a lot more about Ethan, Nara and the BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS world, and where we also revealed the BKoD book trailer!

If you didn’t win, BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS is currently $0.99 (down from $2.99) and LUCID is  $3.99 (down from $4.99), so grab these two full-length novels for less than $5 while they’re on sale!

WINNERS!

___________

DeeDee G.  – Grand Prize Winner

Lauren M. – signed copy of BKoD

Crystal C. – signed copy of Lucid

Mamabunny – signed copy of BKoD

____________

Deanna B. -  ebook

Rhonda L. -  ebook

Rachel Danae -  ebook

Allison P. -  ebook

Mona C. -  ebook

Lindy Teresa -  ebook

Kimberly S. -  ebook

Simina -  ebook

Kelly M.  -  ebook

Sara Viti -  ebook

And a huge thank you to Dani at RLR for hosting the blog tour and some of the prizes as well!

Hi everyone! In cased you missed it during the blog tour, we shared the reveal of BKoD’s book trailer. Here ’tis!

Also, speaking of the blog tour…you’re still able to enter to win prizes for a little bit longer. Here’s the page with all the tour stops where you can 1) Learn more detail about the BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS world and 2) Enter to win!

Good luck!

P.T.

Click PLAY to find out some of the prizes on the tour!

Below you will find the blog tour schedule for Brightest Kind of Darkness  and  Lucid .   The tour will run from September 24-28, 2012.

This book tour will include:

- Reviews for both BKoD and Lucid

- Some mind-blowingly awesome guest posts

- giveaway opportunities for readers to win both BKoD and Lucid.

P.T. Michelle’s Brightest Kind of Darkness

Tour Schedule

September 24th

Confessions of a Bookaholic – Review (Lucid)

Nothing Better Than a Book – Review (BKoD)

Jelly Loves Books – Review (BKoD)

Deea’s Journal – Review (Lucid)

Some Like it Paranormal – Featured Post (Random Trivia about the BKoD series)

Beauty & the Bookshelf – Excerpt

The Bookish Babe – Review (Lucid)

Better Read Than Dead – Review (BKoD)

Hope, Faith & Books – Review (BKoD)

I’m a Book Shark – Featured Post (All about Parkour)

Literary Getaway – Review (BKoD)

September 25th

The Bookish Brunette – Featured Post (Ethan & Nara character interview)

A Buckeye Girl Reads – Review (BKoD)

I Read Indie – Review (Lucid)

Readers Live A Thousand Lives – Review (BKoD)

Vendea’s Dream World of Books – Review (BKoD)

Seeing Night Reviews – Review (Lucid)

Fictional Distraction – Review (Lucid)

Creative Reads – Review (BKoD)

K-Books – Review (Lucid)

A Book Vacation – Featured Post (Ravens)

Stories of My Life – Excerpt

Winter Haven Books - Review (Lucid)

September 26th

Mundie Moms – Review (BKoD)

I Heart YA Books – Review (Lucid)

Serenity’s Lovely Reads – Review (Lucid)

Book Nerd – Review (BKoD)

Simply Infatuated – Review (BKoD) + Excerpt

Books Over Boys – Featured Post (Playlist)

Step Into Fiction – Review (Lucid)

Nomalicious Reads – Review (Lucid)

Reader’s Antidote – Review (BKoD)

Primrose Musings – Featured Post (BKoD: The Movie)

Panda Reads – Review (BKoD)

September 27th

Kindle Fever – Review (Lucid)

Always YA at Heart – Review (Lucid)

A Dream Within A Dream – Review (BKoD & Lucid)

Rampant Readers – Review (BKoD)

Book Briefs – Featured Post (Top 10: Little known facts about Nara)

Michelle Chew Writes – Review (BKoD)

Into the Hall of Books – Review (Lucid)

Book Passion for Life – Excerpt

Rhi Reading – Featured Post  (Building a World)

Shortie Says – Featured Post (How Dreams Can Inspire…)

Jean BookNerd – Review (Lucid)

September 28th

Refracted Light Book Reviews – Featured Post (The RL girls discuss Ethan & Drystan)

Once Upon a Twilight – Review (BKoD)

Vamps and Stuff – Review (BKoD)

Young Adult BookReviews – Review (Lucid)

Sparkles and Lightning – Review (Lucid)

Books With Bite – Featured Post (Top 10: Little known facts about Ethan)

Little Hyuts – Review (Lucid)

Books 4 Juliet – Review (BKoD)

Rants ‘N Scribbles – Review (BKoD)

The YA Sisterhood – Excerpt

Random Acts of Books – Review (BKoD)

A huge THANK YOU to RLR Tours for doing a phenomenal job hosting this blog tour!

Hi everyone!

If you look in the sidebar on the right of my blog, you’ll see Feedburner reads that I have ZERO subscribers. *sigh*. Yep, you all disappeared. Hopefully you’ll still get this blog post. Apparently Feedburner is possibly going the way of Google Friends Connect (GFC) (read: closing), so before you drop off completely, please subscribe to my Newsletter if you haven’t already. Being on my newsletter will be the one ABSOLUTE way to guarantee you’ll find out as soon as I release a book, or if there’s a big event going on I think you might want to know about and/or participate in. There is also a way to subscribe to my blog in the sidebar under SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL section so feel free to use that, but I’ll feel better and more in control if you’re on my NEWSLETTER because I won’t drop you!

Click the graphic or link below to fill out the sign up form for my newsletter.

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Big SALE, LUCID in print, awards & nomination!

SALE!

I wanted to let you all know that BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS is currently $0.99! Also, book 2, LUCID is currently on SALE for $3.99! If you enjoyed the BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS books, please let your reader friends know about this eBook sale.

LUCID in print! It’s coming!

AWARD!

LUCID was awarded GraveTells’ reviewer top pic!

NOMINATION!

YAY! I’ve been nominated in the Top 25 Indie Authors You Should Know and Read event! http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/bookish_evie/top-25-indie-authors-you-should-know-and-read

Making the top 25 list at the end of September will be based on votes, so PLEASE go and LIKE. You can also comment and repost if you want. Also, at the end of the event when the top 25 authors are announced, prizes will be given out.

When you click on the link above, just scroll down and you’ll see all the authors who’ve been suggested. That’s where you LIKE.

LUCID is up for Readers Choice Award at the GRAVE TELLS blog for August. If you loved LUCID, please hop over and vote.

Also, if you haven’t voted for your favorite Indie YA books, please take a moment to vote here as well. BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS and LUCID are on the list!