Saturday, September 21, 2013

GIVEAWAY/GUEST POST: "The Storytellers" - Laura Elliott

*Rafflecopter Giveaway at the Bottom!*

*Welcome*
to the
Blog Tour
for 
"The Storytellers"

By Laura Elliott


Synopsis:

Four storytellers
One ancient demon
No way out…
Four women who call themselves The Storytellers have gathered one hot August evening to tell tales, as they have for years. But on this night, they unknowingly evoke the powers of an ancient Mayan idol that breathes real life into their stories. The Mayan idol isn’t the only ancient being awakened. A power-hungry demon is determined to see the women fail and become enslaved to him forever.
Now the women’s lives depend on surviving each other’s stories, defeating the demon and solving a centuries-old mystery.
If they survive until The End untold wealth is theirs. But some stories have a life of their own…









10 Secrets About The Storytellers:

Djucu nuts appear as lucky charms in The Storytellers and are considered lucky charms in the Caribbean. The nuts grow in tall trees deep in the Venezuelan jungles then float down waterways and into the Caribbean Sea and onto the beaches of Aruba & Curaçao. 

My dad called the islands just off the northern coast of Venezuela the “A-B-C islands.” This is how I first learned about Curaçao. Ever since I heard Dad talk about the islands they captured my imagination and is one of the reasons why I chose the island of Curaçao as one of the settings of The Storytellers. (A-B-C Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao)

I visited Venezuela as a teenager and my experiences there influenced a few of the settings in The Storytellers and also influence my writing in general.

Dr. Alexandra Abernathy’s story line about archeology is loosely base upon some of the experiences my daughter had while she was on archeological digs in Israel and Jordan.

Because of my love of jade, I wanted to use jade as an important part of the cursed treasure in The Storytellers. In Central America The Mayans and Aztecs prized jadite jade. The name jade comes from the Spanish “piedra de ijada” -- literally “stone of the pain in the side.” Early Spanish explorers gave it this name after they saw natives holding pieces of the stone to their sides to cure their aches and pains.

I wrote The Storytellers years ago and put it in a drawer and never thought I’d ever publish the story. It was only after some friends asked if I had ever written anything for adults that I was prompted to dig out the manuscript.

I set part of the novel in Georgia because I’ve had a wonderful time on book tours there and I used to love to look at the beautiful red soil out my window every year when we’d road trip from Chicago to Florida when I was a little girl. I remember one time we drive through the eye of a hurricane just outside of Stone Mountain, GA, a place we’d always overnight on the drive down.

The name of the mysterious character, Dr. Yuri Knorozov, is a nod to the Soviet linguist of the same name, (Nov. 19 1922-March 31, 1999) an epigrapher and ethnographer who is renowned for his decipherment of the Maya script. 

Logograms make up the Mayan language and they captivate me. Each script is a little work of art. 

One of the hardest parts of the novel for me to write concerned the naming and powers of the four idols at the heart of the story: Escrito holds the power of the writer, which we know as the power of the truth; Bailador, the power of the dancer, which holds the power of falling in love; Pintador, the power of the painter, which embodies the power of perception; and lastly Músico, the power of music, which transcends time and space and holds the power of emotion.

To read an excerpt of The Storytellers and check out the dream cast click here.


About the Author:
I love writing about enchanted road trips, cursed storytellers, shadow worlds, and alien romance while eating lots of popcorn. After twenty-plus years as a freelance graphic designer/animator with clients including E! Entertainment Television and The Los Angeles Times, I left the real world behind and followed my heart into the world of fiction. Little known fun facts––I can’t kill a spider but would gladly kill the tomato-plant eating gophers in my yard if I could get my hands on them, I wouldn’t mind dying in a vat of salted carmel ice cream from Portland’s Salt & Straw, next on my dream list is a trip to Indonesia, I daydream of doing stand-up comedy when I’m not completely terrified of it. 



*Giveaway!


3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the giveaway chance. This sounds like a really interesting story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sounds great!! cant wait to read storytellers. and your life sounds so interesting!! I hope that soon you get to Indonesia and stand up comic! sure you be a great one!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Brianna, thanks for hosting The Storytellers on your awesome blog. *waves* Thanks for your kind words Marcy and teresa :D Here's hoping I get over my shyness and give stand up a try. I'll keep ya posted!

    ReplyDelete

I absolutely love getting comments and I would love to hear your feedback!

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