Clockwork Igni
Christina Bauer
(Angelbound Origins, #9)
Publication date: September 21st 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
As Queen of Antrum, I rule an underground realm of demon hunters who love finding new caves. Hey, it’s boring down here; I’m glad they all have a hobby. Per usual, I try to act interested about their latest discovery, but all I hear is blah blah blah new cavern blah blah blah Forbidden Tombs blah blah blah massive bronze pyramids blah blah blah creepy ticking sounds. It’s a little odd, but I’m not worried.
My bad.
Suddenly, the Forbidden Tombs burst through the ground in my home realm of Purgatory. Bronze pyramids smash through abandoned buildings and highways, making rush hour a nightmare. Even worse, the metal structures attract tiny lightning bolts called igni, which are my very special supernatural buddies. Within minutes, every last igni gets stolen away.
Now. I’m. Pissed.
Whoever hides inside those pyramids? Time to dust off your mummies and shine up your sarcophagi. Because my husband, Lincoln, and I are breaking in and kicking ass.
Angelbound Origins
In which Myla Lewis kicks ass and takes names. Nuff said.
1. Angelbound
2. Scala
3. Acca
4. Thrax
5. The Dark Lands
6. The Brutal Time
7. Armageddon
8. Quasi Redux
9. Clockwork Igni
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play
Talking with the author, Christina Bauer:
What
Draws To Writing YA Fantasy
As part of the launch
tour for my new book, CLOCKWORK IGNI, the lovely folks at Dawn’s Reading Nook asked
me to write about what drew me into YA fantasy stories. The answer is goofy but
true…
I write my stories to
change the world.
If I wanted to haul in
a ton of cash, I’d go back to working full time in high-tech marketing. But I’m
a hippie at heart, and I truly do believe in the psychological power of stories.
Here’s my logic and plan.
The Software in
Your Head
Experts believe that
when we’re born, our brains come pre-loaded with a kind of ‘software’ to
run our lives, what Carl Jung calls archetypes. These symbols tell us what it
means to be a mother, father, sister, leader, you name it. Therefore, a
powerful story at the right moment can activate a new set of skills or
approaches in either a single person or an entire society. All of which leads
me to…
Female Leadership
Energy
Now, female leadership
energy can be expressed through either a man or a woman. That said, female
leadership energy has some unique qualities, such as community, cleverness, and
channeling the soul. Community means that leadership happens
through consensus. Cleverness refers to using brains over
brawn to settle disputes. Channeling the soul refers to the
fact that you act in a certain way because it is consistent with your inner
beliefs, not only as a means to an end. The goddesses Isis and Athena have tales that exemplify this.
By contrast, male
leadership energy (which again can be expressed through a man or a woman) is
often characterized by solo action, brute force, and a mentality that the ‘ends
justify the means.’ On a mythic level, think about Zeus and his thunderbolt: he
acts alone, there is nothing clever about blasting someone with a thunderbolt,
and the peace he brings justifies his heavy hand. Male leadership energy works
well in stories where a society is under threat (by a giant or whatnot) and
needs to be protected. When the big bad is about to crash in your skull,
there’s no time for building consensus.
On the other hand,
female leadership energy works well when the core of society must be reimagined
in order to become sustainable going forward. Isis’s story (from ancient Egypt) encapsulates this
concept perfectly: Isis must find a way to restore the power of her lost
husband Osiris in order to avoid a cosmic imbalance in the heavens and related
havoc.
KEY FACT: Guess who
channeled female leadership energy? Why, the founders of the United States, of
course. Their ideal was to become a gentleman… as in gentle plus a
man. Our country was built on consensus, cleverness, and acting from a true
altruistic place.
Today, our culture is a
little top-heavy with male leadership energy. As women and other groups rise to
share an equal voice, those who have only known male leadership assume all
women channel that same method. We don’t. At all. In fact,
females channeling a male leadership style tend not to do well, but that’s a
post for another day.
Suffice it to say that
I believe it’s absolutely CRITICAL to tell compelling stories with both men and
women channeling the tenets of female leadership energy. There’s no better
place to start than with young adults and tales of fantasy. At least, that’s my
story and I’m sticking to it.
In other words, this
isn’t a race to grab Zeus’s thunderbolt and blast everyone else to Hades. This
is a collaborative effort to build a sustainable community.
But if you don’t have
any reference for what that’s like, what do you do? Hopefully, you read one of
my books and start to imagine on an unconscious level what it means to be a
kickass chick… or just as important, a true gentleman.
Author Bio:
Christina Bauer thinks that fantasy books are like bacon: they just make life better. All of which is why she writes romance novels that feature demons, dragons, wizards, witches, elves, elementals, and a bunch of random stuff that she brainstorms while riding the Boston T. Oh, and she includes lots of humor and kick-ass chicks, too.
Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.
Be the first to know about new releases from Christina by signing up for her newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/CBupdates
GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hosted by:
No comments:
Post a Comment