Book Tour Stop/Giveaway: SOULSLAYERS by Colin Sephton

 

Discover the world of author Colin Sephton with his new book, SOULSLAYERS, The Chronicles of the Charon series. Make sure to check out the tour wide giveaway as the author is  awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. The tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions and make sure to check out all the tour stops HERE as the more you comment on the tour posts, the better you have in chance to win the giveaway. 

Interview with Colin Sephton

Tell us about your latest book, who are the main characters and what we can expect when we pick it up.

My latest book is Soulslayers, the final book of a trilogy – The Chronicles of the Charon. It follows on from the previous books, Timeslayers and Shadowslayers. It follows Ignatius and Indigo who are secret agents for an organisation called the Union Jacks. Their role is to help protect the British Empire. Along the way they encounter the Charon, seven deadly, merciless immortals, demons from limbo.

Encountering such beings and being involved in cosmic quests takes its toll on the two protagonists. They find themselves struggling mentally to come to terms with the complex nature of the cosmos and their newfound supernatural powers obtained through their prior encounters. They are sent on an adventure in search of the Flaming Celestial Pearl. In doing so, they must travel to Tibet in an airship. Pursued by fanatical knights sworn to protect the relic, they must reluctantly call upon the Charon, once more and defend themselves from air pirates, mountain beasts and elementals. Discovering the correct path through the mountains, Indigo realises her soul may never be the same again!

 

Taking the story from a concept to a published book is a long and involved process. How does that usually work for you?

It usually takes me about one full year. I will start with an idea and make a few notes, old style with pencil and notebook. These can be anything from just one word, a name I like or whole pages of text. This will then inform me of the research I may need to do around a particular subject. My novels are a blend of fantasy, steampunk, esoteric knowledge, philosophy (metaphysics) and the latest theories from the world of quantum physics. I like to try and weave all of this together. Basically, they are all my interests. I am usually working on a book all the time, thinking, looking for new ideas, no matter where I go. I will then start to use all of this to write whole chapters in a notebook. I can carry this around with me, taking notes when I get inspiration.

I then transfer this to Word using my laptop and develop ideas further. If it is complex I will create a spreadsheet in Excel. I can then see all the links throughout a long plot and can move things around and add in to improve them. Sometimes I have a scene in my head without any idea of where I can use it, so I get it written, then it takes some planning to be able to use it.

After that I mostly work on an iPad. It gives me the flexibility to be able to work anywhere – coffee shops, hotel rooms, even the beach. It’s so small to carry around with me. Then I will do the final edit and move around whole chapters on my laptop. I find that process difficult on an iPad.

 

Which of your books would you recommend for readers to choose first if they’re new to you and your books?

As it is a Trilogy, you need to start at the beginning with Timeslayers. I think each book makes sense on its own, but really you start at the beginning.

 

We are very curious about your writing process.  What is a typical writing day like for you?

I wouldn’t say I have a typical day. Every day is different. But as long as I have my notebook, iPad or laptop with me I can write anywhere, whenever and often do. It’s whenever the mood takes me, or I have a flash of inspiration. But I am also always reading and researching topics I find intriguing that may or may not find their way into my writing.

 

What trope have you not written yet but want to?

I don’t have anything that is a burning desire to write about, but I do have an idea in the back of my mind about an archaeological find. I think this may find its way into my writing at some time in the future. But I’m not saying anything more.

 

How do you approach character development in your stories? Do you have any specific techniques or methods that you find particularly effective?

I am an artist, so often I develop a character in my mind through my artwork. You can see some of my artwork on my website (sephtonart.com) When I was younger, I didn’t want to keep portraying other people’s characters or superheroes. That’s how I learned to draw, but I wanted my own characters. So many of those that appear in my books started life in a sketchpad decades ago! I found this made it easier to describe them for my novels. But that’s not always the case.

 

What do you believe sets your writing apart from others in your genre, and why should readers choose to read your books?

I believe my books are different as I don’t think they fit neatly into a specific genre. Yes, they are fantasy, but that’s a whole range of things. I think I have something for everyone – fantasy, darkness, the supernatural, ancient knowledge and a slow burn romance that may not be a romance at all! It could just be that because these two protagonists are the only ones to experience these events, they have been thrown together, rather than truly love each other!

Overall, my books mix myth, science, and human struggle into a single tale that can feel both ancient and modern.

 

Can you discuss any upcoming projects or books that you're currently working on? What can readers expect from your future works?

I am currently working on a series of short stories. They involve the same two characters, Ignatius and Indigo, but they take place before, during and after the trilogy. The stories have allowed me to develop the two characters and their back story more. I enjoy the short story format as it means I can write about more topics that didn’t find their way into my main trilogy.

 

SOULSLAYERS

By Colin Sephton

Steampunk Fantasy

Ignatius and Indigo find themselves struggling mentally to come to terms with the complex nature of the cosmos and their newfound supernatural powers obtained through their prior encounters with gods and demons. In their quest for another relic from the Creation, they are aided by the secretive thirteenth Chapter of the Union Jacks. In search of the secret of the Flaming Celestial Pearl, they must travel to Tibet in the great airship, HM Spirit of the Empire.

 

Pursued by fanatical knights sworn to protect the relic, they must reluctantly call upon the Charon, the seven merciless demons from the underworld to assist them. Piecing together the map that will lead them to a fabled city hidden deep within the Himalayas, they must defend themselves from air pirates, a previous foe from Oxford, mountain beasts and elementals.

 

Discovering the correct path through the mountains, Indigo realises her soul may never be the same again. Regardless, they enter the Great Void where using the Sword of Wisdom, they discover the truth about the cosmos.

 

 Excerpt Two:

 

An icy chill ran down her spine. She took hold of the sword and her whole being was filled with a warmth like she had never felt before. Her arms tingled and she grew lightheaded as a myriad of stories and knowledge began to run through her mind. She thought her head would explode; she couldn’t keep up. The Sword of Wisdom had chosen to divulge the knowledge it had absorbed from Manjushri, knowledge that originated from the Librarian’s bookcases beneath the Administorium in Oxford. Ignatius stood by, not knowing what was happening.

 

Indigo began to glow with an aura that constantly changed colour at lightning speed. Indigo began to cry, then laugh, then sob again, then horror showed on her face, then she laughed again. She could feel her heart racing, pounding in her chest and she thought it would give way. Tears continued to flow and eventually she fell to the floor, exhausted but strangely invigorated. Composing herself, she looked at Atman then Adonai with contempt.

 

“I hate you both! You need to see to it that I don’t send you back to Limbo permanently, given my powers here seem to outweigh yours.”

 

Darshan, who was always the gentlest towards Ignatius and Indigo, placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Indigo grabbed it and threw her aside with remarkable strength.

 

“Leave me be, you demon whore! After this, whatever this quest is all about, I want nothing to do with any of you, even if that means through my own demise.”

 

She looked around, finding Ignatius to see if he took that to mean him also, although even she wasn’t sure if it did.

 

Enter to win a $10 Amazon/BN GC

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Colin was born in Coventry and worked in the automotive industry for over twenty years before becoming an Engineering teacher. Obtaining his first library card at the age of thirteen, he became an avid reader of Fantasy and the mysteries of the Universe. He has an inbuilt curiosity for lost knowledge and ancient texts that may help to unlock the secrets of consciousness and the universe. Living in Oxford for many years, he has now moved back to his home county of Warwickshire where he enjoys creating and working with his wife on their garden in which he writes and entertains their two grandsons. He has always been an artist and writer and is inspired by the worlds created by Robert E Howard and Michael Moorcock, with the artwork of Frank Frazetta. 

Connect with Colin on Instagram at @timeslayers or @sephtonart

Find Colin’s website here: colinsephton.com

Release Blitz: The Journeyman's Trial by Lisabet Sarai

 

If she builds it, will they come? The Journeyman’s Trial by @LisabetSarai #Steampunk #Erotica #Victorian #NewRelease

The wait is over! The Journeyman’s Trial, Book 2 of Lisabet Sarai’s steam punk erotica saga The Toymaker’s Guild, is available now at all your favorite book stores. Funny, suspenseful, romantic and outrageously sexy!

Blurb

If she builds it, will they come?

Technically brilliant and thoroughly wanton, Gillian Smith has found her vocation: designing innovative erotic devices for the Toymakers Guild. Lust is a lubricant to creativity at Randerley Hall. But what happens when two Toymakers fall in love?

The Guild’s tribe of talented, uninhibited engineers has embraced Gillian as one of their own. Edward Thorne, the perverse genius who founded the Guild, undertakes to train her in the skills she’ll need as a journeyman, from practical mind-reading to transcendental orgasms.

As Gillian labours to impress the charismatic Master, her enigmatic fellow journeyman Rafe both entices and frustrates her. Their passion seems to go beyond mere appetite, but in Randerley’s promiscuous and permissive environment, does love make any sense?

When the Toymakers receive a commission to equip London’s most exclusive brothel with the latest sexual technology, Gillian has the chance to demonstrate her formidable abilities as well as to help Rafe exorcise the demons of his past. She doesn’t realize she’ll be forced to choose between Rafe and her future in the Guild.

If you like intelligent, lusty women and kinky steam punk sex toys, pick up a copy of The Journeyman’s Trial.

The Journeyman’s Trial Buy Links

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/618-the-journeymans-trial-the-toymakers-guild-book-2/

Amazon  US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MQV4Y86

Amazon CA – https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09MQV4Y86

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MQV4Y86

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1118032

Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-journeymans-trial-lisabet-sarai/1140567579?ean=2940165096259

Kobo –  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-journeyman-s-trial-the-toymakers-guild-book-2

Add on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59740783-the-journeyman-s-trial

Special deal! Get The Pornographer’s Apprentice, The Toymakers Guild Book 1, for only 99 cents during the tour!  Buy links here:

https://www.lisabetsarai.com/pornographersapprenticebook.html

Rave Reviews for The Toymakers Guild Book 1

There are many more plot points, but I don't want to spoil your enjoyment of this book. It has varied and steamy sex scenes that will take your breath away, a plucky heroine who doesn't always come out on top (ahem), but who always prevails in her quest to be accepted as a Toymaker.  ~ Fiona McGier, Goodreads

With thoughtfully written characters, hot sex scenes, and a well-paced and interesting plot, the Toymaker's Apprentice leaves you asking only one question....when is the next book in the series coming out? ~ The Phantom Tollbooth, Amazon

[A] fast paced, hilarious, and thoroughly entertaining story as Gillian gets intimate with the staff and technology, only to find that there is a plot against the Guild that she takes on to save the day. I can’t wait to read what happens in the next book! ~ Arthur Royo, Amazon

Excerpt  (PG, Holiday-themed)

Christmas at Randerley was a more sedate affair than Gillian had expected, partly because the Master had invited the entire household. As the apprentices and journeymen gathered around the gaily decked tree on Christmas morning, they were joined by Henderson the butler, Mrs Jones from the kitchen, her scullery boy Jim, Pete Murphy, and a compactly built young woman with a crown of ash-blond braids, wearing a grey uniform with a white collar and apron. Gillian had assumed that the steam-powered robots that hurtled up and down Randerley’s corridors handled all the cleaning, but perhaps this girl was responsible for the more complicated aspects of domestic management.

The Master, with his characteristic discernment, noticed Gillian’s curiosity. He gestured at the young and rather pretty stranger. “I gather you’ve not met Emily. She joined us a few weeks ago.”

Given that Gillian had spent the bulk of her time over the last month working in the laboratory, her failure to notice the new maid was not that surprising. She gave the young woman a warm smile. “I’m pleased to meet you, Emily. I’m Gillian Smith.”

 Emily’s eyes focused intently on Gillian’s face. After a short pause, she nodded and returned the smile, but not the greeting. Gillian glanced at the Master.

“Emily comes from a village west of here,” he commented. “A childhood fever left her unable to hear, and she’s quite reluctant to speak. However, she can understand what we say by reading our lips.”

A deaf-mute servant! That was certainly convenient for protecting Randerley’s secrets! Gillian’s initial sympathy for the maid quickly transformed into admiration as the girl circulated among the Guild and household members with a tray of eggnog. Emily moved with quiet grace, a self-assured presence that made her a delight to watch. Very likely she knew that she was fortunate to have found work here. Gillian did not doubt that the Master paid her generously.

Rafe sidled up and slipped an arm around Gillian’s waist, distracting her from Emily’s trim figure. He planted a quick, nutmeg-flavoured kiss on her lips, but somewhat to Gillian’s regret did not take further liberties. More quickly than she would have liked, he released her. Slipping his hand into his trousers pocket, he extracted a box about three inches long and half as deep, wrapped in brown paper and tied with green twine.

He offered her the diminutive parcel. “Happy Christmas to you, Jill.”

“Oh, Rafe! That’s very sweet of you, but really, you should not have gone to the trouble.”  Guilty embarrassment made her blush. In fact, she’d been so focused on her work that the question of Christmas gifts had never even entered her mind.

She shifted the package from one hand to the other. It was unexpectedly heavy. What could it be? She hoped he hadn’t spent a lot of money on her. Thankfully, the box was the wrong shape for a ring. Last night she’d told him she loved him. The declaration had been sincere, but still, she couldn’t possibly accept a ring as a gift, given the implications.

“Open it,” he urged.

Gillian glanced around the drawing room. Everyone seemed engrossed in their own conversations, sipping their eggnog and nibbling the gingerbread fingers Mrs. Jones had provided. The Master sat on the chaise near the tree, Amelia at his right hand and Roderick on the left. Both of them half-turned toward him as if to catch some words of wisdom. Jia was ensconced in one of the wingback chairs by the fire, with Ian perched on one arm, Tug on the other, and Archie on the ottoman by her feet. Lucy gestured dramatically as she related some funny story to Pete Murphy and Emily. The groundskeeper chuckled, while the tidy little maid nodded and smiled.

No one was paying any heed to her and Rafe.

With a touch of trepidation, she pulled on the end of the twine. The bow came loose and the paper unfolded, revealing a box of unvarnished wood. She turned it over several times, as Rafe grinned. “What is it?” she asked finally.

“Check the front panel,” he told her. Sure enough, there was a barely visible depression near the bottom edge on one side. She centred her thumb in the dent and pushed away from her. The thin wooden sheet slid upward along a pair of grooves. Nestled in the soft red wool lining was a miniature hourglass.

She extracted the instrument and cradled it in her palm, a bit puzzled. “It’s lovely,” she told him. The sand inside was white as the snow outside. “Thank you.”

“I made it especially for you. Blew the glass and brazed the enclosure.”

“You made it? Oh my!” She examined the item with more care, noting a few minor imperfections that marked it as handmade. A comfortable warmth settled in her chest and her residual guilt evaporated. “Your versatility continues to amaze me, Rafe. But why?”

“I wanted to give you a Christmas gift.”

“No, I mean, why an hourglass?”

Taking the artefact from her, he turned it on its end and placed it on a nearby occasional table. Sand flowed smoothly from the top orb to the bottom through the narrow waist. “To continue your lessons in patience,” he told her, arching an eyebrow. “For instance, I won’t touch you again until all the sand has collected in the bottom.”

Gillian burst into laughter. “That’s hardly a lesson,” she countered. “I doubt it will take more than a minute to empty the top chamber.”

“Well, that depends.” He lifted the device, fiddled with a tiny thumbscrew between the two globes, then set it down again. The flow of sand slowed to the point that it was almost imperceptible. “Now what do you think?” he asked. “Can you wait until the sand runs out?”

Gillian gazed into his dark eyes, full of love and challenge. “You rogue!” She licked her lips. “Can you?”

She yearned to grab him, despite their very public situation. She wanted to drag his mouth to hers and run her hands along his muscled back, down to his firm buttocks. He could tease her, could pretend he’d mastered his own lust, but now she knew better.

About the Author

Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

 

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, Pinterest, BookBub and  Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

 

Giveaway

Lisabet is giving away a $25 book store gift certificate to one reader during her tour. Contest ends on January 13, 2022.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release blitz organised by Writer Marketing Services.