CUTLASS Cover Reveal & GIVEAWAY!!

I have this friend who wrote a YA story about pirates and deadly stones and falling in love. And then she announced her decision to self-publish. I waited, impatiently, to see the cover. And you guys? It was worth the wait! 

Behold...

Blurb:

Notorious pirate Barren Reed has one thing on his mind: Revenge against the man who killed his father. So kidnapping his enemy's fiancé seems a perfect plan…until he actually does it. 



Larkin Lee is more than a pretty face and fiancé to a powerful man. Her fierce personality is enough to make any pirate want to push her overboard. 



But when the King of the Orient comes to Barren with a task—to find the Bloodstone, a powerful gem thought only to exist in legend, Barren sees another opportunity to destroy his enemy. Together, Barren, Larkin and a crew of pirates set off to find the stone, only to discover it caused the death of Barren’s own mother and Larkin’s, too. As his strongest allies turn into his greatest enemies, and the life of the girl he kidnapped becomes more important than he ever dreamed, Barren’s quest for revenge becomes a fight to save the Orient.

It'll release for your reading pleasure April 23, 2014. 

I mean, isn't this gorgeous?!

Add it to your list here: Goodreads 

Meet Ashley here: Website and here: Blog

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NATURE

If you peruse the About Me section of my blog, you'll notice I have this thing for nature. Mostly evergreens and water. And if you read my manuscript, DEADLY SPLENDOR, you'll see just how deep my love for all things nature really goes.

One day I'll share the circumstances in which I wrote DEADLY SPLENDOR, but for now I'd like to tell you about the threads woven through the story. Threads spun from my heart.

On the five acres I lived while writing this story were great evergreens. Some were clustered throughout the property and some were along the tree line of the forest beyond the fence. But one in particular caused me to write a story in which the folkloric females of Norse mythology, the Huldra, hid. In DEADLY SPLENDOR, my characters (who descended from these folkloric women) have the ability to change their skin to the color of bark. To hide high among its branches, completely concealed. I wish I had a picture of this gorgeous tree to show you, but so far pictures haven't done it justice. It sits by itself, completely dwarfing the very large nearby evergreens. And I can't seem to get far enough away from it to fit the whole tree into my camera lens. I do have one picture, though, of the forest's tree line a few winters ago.

Also, in DEADLY SPLENDOR you'll see rare plants used for healing and for hurting. You'll see dabs of history hailing the women who practiced holistic medicine in the days of the European Inquisitions. You'll almost feel the seaweed of the Puget Sound, and practically brush your legs along flailing ferns in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.   

I guess what I'm trying to say is, even in my fiction nature has a very important place in my heart. 

What about you? What do you find yourself drawn to? Wanting to read or write about?