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Monday, June 11, 2012

Blog Tour: "Telesa" Lani Wendt Young (Guest Post/Excerpt/Giveaway)

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Welcome to our Blog Tour stop on "Telesa" by Lani Wendt Young. Brought to you by Reading Addiction Book Tours. Here you can read, a guest post from the Author, the book's synopsis, the author's bio, an excerpt from"Telesa" and a chance to win a copy of "Telesa". 

 Practical Advice for Beginning Writers

As a writer who writes too many different things all the time – I am often asked: “Where do you find the time and the drive to write? How do you overcome writer’s ‘block’?”  Such questions are a puzzle to me and so my answer is 105km and 14 hrs long…
Three years ago, I had a crazy idea.  I wanted to put together a women’s team and run in a 105km relay that went around the main island of Samoa. It was crazy because at the time I couldn’t even run around the parking lot without stopping to gasp for breath. But I was determined. I convinced some other moms from my church to be crazy with me and we started training.
For 5 days a week over three months, we would meet at the crack of dawn to go for a 5k run. I use the term ‘run’ very loosely since, at first, we did more of a shuffle, which then accelerated to become a waddle, which then after a few weeks, became a jiggly, joggly sort of jog. Did I enjoy it? Hell no. I hated every minute of it. Many times, I only went because it was my turn to drive and pick the team up. Other times, I only went because the rest of the team was honking their car horn outside, waiting to pick me up.
But after 6 weeks, something strange happened. (No, I didn’t transform into a stunning athletic muscle machine. I wish.) I found myself waking up early on Saturday mornings…wanting to go for a run, itching and edgy for a run. Huh? By Wk 9, I was going for a run TWICE A DAY.  And when I got the flu and couldn’t train for a week? I was raving mad. As if someone had bought all the Diet Coke on the island, leaving me with nothing but coconuts to drink. By the time the Perimeter Relay came around, I was running twice a day, sometimes 6 days a week. But more significantly, the running had become as essential to me as eating. Sleeping. Brushing my teeth. I wouldn’t dream of going a work-day without it.  It took our team 14 hours to complete the relay, running from 2am to 5pm the next afternoon. Many times during that relay, I wanted to puke and die. But many times, I was also running on an exhilarating high as I gloried in feeling like  – I could run forever and never stop.
Writing is just like that. If you want to BE a writer, you don’t ‘find time’ in your busy schedule to write. You make time. You start with a goal. A crazy dream. ‘I want to write a romance. A best-selling thriller. A children’s book. A memoir about my grandmother...’ You set aside a time and a place every day that you are going to write. You start off small. Shuffling, waddling baby steps to get you building the consistent writing habit. You write anything and everything. Start a journal. A family newsletter. Write down those bedtime stories you tell your kids. Record your family history. Write long, chatty letters to friends. Start a blog AND THEN STICK TO IT.  The best thing I ever did for my writing career was to start a blog – it forced me to assert and accept responsibility for my writing. Your blog readers can be like that relay team of runners who force you to stick to your crazy dream by bugging you every day for your latest piece of writing. At first, it will be hard. You will probably hate it. Complain. Whinge and whine looking for excuses NOT to write. But if you keep at it, doggedly, persistently - you will hit that point where you can’t imagine a day, a moment, without writing. When you’re not writing, you will be thinking about it. If you have an unruly mob of children like me, you will dread the weekends because it means less writing time. ( And don’t even get me started on the horror of school holidays…aaargh!) You will write because you feel like you will die if you don’t. You will write because you are a writer. And that’s what writers do.
My 105km relay showed me that crazy, impossible dreams are possible.
A Very Sad Footnote to this Writing Story: Since the relay, my first book of narrative non-fiction ‘Pacific Tsunami Galu Afi’ was launched. My story ‘The Beast that Came from the Sea’ was professionally recorded for radio and broadcast in 54 countries. I have blogged 5 days a week. Completed a collection of short fiction, Afakasi Woman which won the Fiction Award in the 2011 International USP Press Competition. Finished the first two books in my urban fantasy YA fiction series TELESA . Written numerous children’s stories that are published in the NZ School Reading Curriculum. All while being the slave mother to five fabulous children. However, I have not been running anywhere. Not even in the parking lot. And it shows…

 YA Fantasy Romance 

Date Published: June 2012

Synopsis:
Leila returns to the land of her birth in search of family and instead discovers she is heir to a fiery elemental birthright...all while navigating through the drama of a new high school with the help of her new best friend "Simone daahling" - a boy with flawless makeup and the catwalk style of Kate Moss. She is introduced to the national sport of rugby and meets an irritating boy that would be much easier to hate if he didn't have chipped emerald eyes that are always laughing at her and a glorious golden smile. (The glistening, bronzed abs and Pacific warrior tattoos don't help either.) There's hate, love, jealousy, volcanoes and lots of delicious Samoan food in Leila's coming-of-age journey as she realizes that ancient Pacific myths of elemental spirit women Telesa, contain more truth than fiction. Secrets are revealed and things get blown up as Leila must choose between sisterhood and the boy she loves. Can their love stand against the Covenant Keeper? 

There are many different kinds of love. All of them require sacrifice. Who will give everything for the one they love?
 
A thriller-romance with a difference. If you enjoyed Twilight, then you will be enthralled by Telesa as it blends the richness (and humor) of Pacific mythology into a contemporary young adult love story that will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.

" Tired of vampires and werewolves? TELESA has a supernatural element but a unique one... Like Air Benders and X-Men combined. Way cool. The Telesa women are an environmental terrorist group that wield their elemental powers with a fierce beauty and devastating impact..."

 Buy Links

 
Author Bio
I  was born and raised in Samoa.  I went to university in the USA and New Zealand, studying English Literature, Women's Studies and  Education. Back in Samoa I worked as a secondary school English teacher for 7 years and did lots of writing in between for the local newspaper and for myself. My short fiction has been published in Samoa, NZ, Australia and the UK. My collection of short stories "Sleepless in Samoa" won the 2011 USP Press Fiction Award. I also write stories for children that are used in primary school reading programs. In 2009 I was commissioned by Hans Joe Keil to research and write the narrative non-fiction book 'Pacific Tsunami Galu Afi'. The book was funded by the Australian Govt Aid program and all book sale profits go back to tsunami survivors who were interviewed for the record. My book 'TELESA The Covenant Keeper' is the first in a YA urban fantasy series and  it was launched in Oct 2011.  I'm married to Darren Young (who is probably the most patient and most hottest man alive) and we have five children ranging in age from 4 to 16yrs. We are now based in New Zealand but get to go home to Samoa enough to keep me brown. (and broke.) I blog about the misadventures of a (slightly demented) Domestic Goddess over at Sleepless in Samoa.


A Piece from TELESA:The Covenant Keeper.   
 By Lani Wendt Young.

Nafanua regarded me with pity in her eyes. “Leila, this is a part of you. This is who you are. I’m sorry, your powers are not going to go away, no matter how much you may want them to.”
I was hostile. “How the hell do you know that?”
Nafanua did not speak. She stood and walked the few steps out the open front doors and down the verandah steps. I followed her, confused as to her intentions. Almost lazily, she beckoned with her right hand and out of a blank blue sky, thunder clapped loud enough to make me jump. Another hand flicked gracefully and white light jagged, crackled and hissed as lightning seared the ground beside her. I gripped the verandah rails for support, my mind struggling to accept what I was seeing. Nafanua spun in a soft circle and the lightning burned out a path around her. When the circle was complete she stopped and stepped out of the smoke, brushing a stray piece of cindered grass off her skirt. She looked straight at me.
“I know because I am telesā. And you are my daughter. I am matagi. Storm. Air. Wind. Lightning. You are fanua. Earth. Blessed with earth’s fire. And your gift is not going to go away, no matter what you do or where you live. It’s part of who you are and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can get the help you need to make sure that you don’t hurt anyone. Unless you want to that is.” She half smiled and walked slowly towards me. I slid to sit on the wooden step.
The morning sunlight danced over the garden and a blue kingfisher sat on the wood railing and regarded me with dark eyes. It was supposed to be another day in paradise. Yesterday I had kissed a beautiful boy that a girl like me could only dream about. Today, here I was, watching the woman who was my mother call down lightning from the sky and burn circles of fire in the grass.

 Make sure to check out these other fabulous sites too on the Blog Tour:
 June 4 - Bookishly Devoted - Guest Post/Giveaway/Excerpt 
June 5 - Tifferz Book Review - Guest Post / Excerpt
June 6 - Words I Write Crazy - REVIEW/Guest Post
June 6 - Reader Girls - REVIEW/GIveaway/Excerpt
June 7 - A Dream Withing a Dream - REVIEW/Giveaway
June 8 -Little Library Muse - Giveaway/Excerpt
June 11 - Booklovin Mama's - Guest Post/Giveaway/Excerpt
June 12 - The Story of a Girl - REVIEW/Giveaway/Excerpt
June 12 - Alway's YA At Heart - REVIEW/Guest Post/Giveaway/Excerpt
June 13 - Gothic Angel Book Reviews - REVIEW/Interview/Giveaway/Excerpt
June 13 - Feed My Need for a Good Read - Guest Post/Excerpt/Giveaway
June 14 - Paulette's Papers - REVIEW/Giveaway/Excerpt
June 14 - Masquerade Crew - Interview/Giveaway/Excerpt
June 15 - Falling Books - REVIEW/Giveaway

Now here's your chance to win a copy of "Telesa".  
Just fill out the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win.
 Good Luck to everyone.  =)  



a Rafflecopter giveaway

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I've heard of this book through the "Proud To Be Samoan" FB page & ever since then I've been itching at the fingertips to read it! Great post :) Fa'afetai lava (thank you in Samoan :p) for the giveaway!

Ana♥ Beach Bum Reads

Unknown said...

I heard about this book from the "Proud To Be Samoan" Facebook page and ever since then, I've been itching at the fingertips to get my hands on it! Great post! Fa'afetai lava (thank you in Samoan) for the giveaway!

Ana♥ Beach Bum Reads

Thanks so much for having me and my Telesa book on your blog!

milla said...

I absolutely loved reading The Covenant Keeper and am so excited to read When Water Burns. I used to love reading as a kid to my single adult years until I got married. Im a full time working Mom of 3 and found it hard to make time to read let alone think. LOL! The Covenant Keeper has reminded me why I used to love reading so much. I am able to get through my daily routine and chores with a smile because I know when my babies are asleep, Daniel & Leila are there waiting for me. Thank you Lani for sharing your talent with us. I love love love your books!

Leslie U said...

Would love a hard copy of this book :) Trying to read a lot more since I first found out about Lani :) and I haven't read a book since high school. Thanks in advance.

Leslie U said...

Would love a hard copy of this book :) Trying to read a lot more since I first found out about Lani :) and I haven't read a book since high school. Thanks in advance.

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