QUEEN'S ASCENSION
Blood Prophecy, #3
by Barb Jones
Date of Publication: August 17th 2020
Cover Artist: Steven J. Catizone
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: World Castle
ISBN: 9781953271013
ISBN: 9781953271020
ASIN: B08DKK66PM
Number of pages: 236 pages
Word Count: 86107 words
Tagline: Bloodshed. Heartbreak. Revelation.
BLURB
When the darkness was compelling and the heart knew no bounds, was there really a right choice? With Michael’s life hanging in the balance, Amber had a choice: save her star-fated love or keep on the crusade to unite the magical community.
For Amber, her fate was sealed even before her birth and it was her destiny to fight the great battle ahead of her. But, when it came to her heart -- her friends, her great love -- Amber’s torn. Not only was she the Queen, but she was a human in every sense of the word. She was vulnerable. And so the very people -- Chloe and Michael -- that gave her strength, quickly became her weakness. It wasn’t her fault she loved too much, was it?
Nevertheless, the Tall Dark Man had set a plan in motion that could threaten the very existence of the Blood Prophecy. Would he gather his dark forces and succeed in destroying Amber once and for all? Or, would she assemble her powerful friends and save the world?
Excerpt:
Malakai,
Seattle, Present Day
With the
betterment of both Michael and Rae, Malakai was glad that they were well and
fine; nevertheless, he needed some time to decompress. All the magical
commotions that had occurred were too overwhelming for him. He needed some sort
of release.
He enjoyed the
brisk jog in the park, as he cut through the sharp wind of the cold night. But
this did nothing to lift his spirits. He was happy that Amber’s smile finally
met her eyes. That was all he’d ever wanted for her: happiness, that’s it.
There was nothing more he could ask for—she was his priority. Yet, in the back
of his mind, as in his heart, he couldn’t help but believe the ancient legend
that he’d heard so long ago was the certifiable truth, as it was written in
Eschmun’s scroll.
…her fate is
tied to the true alpha of the wolves. A blood drinker will stand formidable,
but it is the nature of the child to call upon the true alpha and bring him to
the queen’s inner heart.
Could this be
the truth? he often wondered as he traveled the world collecting artifacts and
evidence supporting this notion. Yes, he’d crafted a reliquary, quite
accidentally, and people assumed it was to keep the magic insulated, away from
the humans. But that wasn’t the case, at least not for him. He so wanted to believe, just from the sheer
fact that it was said in the scroll. But Malakai was a man of logic, driven by
cold hard data. Although wanting to romanticize that his destiny was tied with
Amber’s, he needed confirmation. He wanted validation for the strong emotions
he was feeling.
***
Zaraquel,
Seattle, Present Day
Walking the
cemetery grounds as she so often did without the knowledge of her parents,
Zaraquel wandered at a leisurely pace. She whipped out her phone and checked
the time, which read midnight. Her brow quirked in confusion, as she had expected
Loquiel some time ago. With her long hair styled in two braids and her bright
red coat to keep her warm, she sat down on a bench.
She was elated
that her best friend, other than the one that was currently running late, was
alive and breathing. Rae had given Zaraquel a terrible fright, for she had
never known the death of someone close to her heart. She shook, not from the
cold, but from remembering the tragic vision she had of Rae’s demise.
A throaty growl
awoke her from her thoughts. She heard the fast footfalls of someone,
something, running toward her, and she put her fight training to use. Zaraquel
spun around, so much so that her wings unfurled. But that did not deter the
undead man from attacking her. His decaying flesh was a sight she instantly
wished she could unsee, but she had to fulfill her duty and protect the people,
which meant ridding the world of this monster.
She punched him
in the stomach as her father had taught her, but that did nothing to stop him
from throwing his fists at her. She dodged his poor attempts at aiming for her
and grabbed his arm, twisting him around so he fell to his knees. Her weight on
his back caused the corpse to fall to the ground. It growled in anger, shaking
its head savagely, as if it couldn’t wait to get back to its feet. Zaraquel,
however, had plans of her own. She stood briefly to step on his neck to keep
him from moving, and whispered a spell she’d learned from a book.
“Capite
obtruncato intestinisque extractis.”
She heard the
cracking of his bones, the stretching of his skin; with a pop! his head flew
off, gore spattering in every direction. His body went limp, as it was before
he had risen from the ground.
Zaraquel sighed
in frustration as she walked off, disappointed from another unnecessary and unjustified
kill. She continued to walk the grounds and felt a rush of warm wind, the kind
she felt every time Loquiel was near. She turned and there he was, right behind
her.
Author Info
Barb Jones was born in Hawaii, a place rich with culture and storytellers. As a little girl, scary tales about vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and witches were her favorite kind — much to her mother's dismay. Her love for the supernatural never went away, even after moving to Seattle, far from Hawaii's majestic beaches with unusual colors. Despite the unmatched beauty in Hawaii, Seattle stole Barb’s heart and it’s here where her stories took on a new form, in a book of her own: The Adventures of Little Arthur and Merlin the Magnificent.
Then, the idea for The Blood Prophecy came while she was sleeping. In a dream, Barb saw a unique storyline involving all the races and an epic battle of good versus evil. It was a modern-day plot with a three-thousand-year-old prophecy, The Blood Prophecy. Barb finished the first book in 2014, The Queen's Destiny. Two years later, she released The Queen's Enemy, and the third book in the series, The Queen's Ascension, arrives on August 17, 2020.
She is not only a paranormal thriller author but an IT professional and mother of two fantastic children. Today, she resides in Florida but is still a Seattle girl at heart.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with Barb Jones . . .
How would you describe you style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
I guess in one word, I would say relatable. My characters are created so that people could live “vicariously” through them. I mean, we all want a romantic relationship with that one true person we are meant to be with. Well, you see that in the relationships between Amber and Michael or Marcus and Chloe. Then, we see a friendship that can’t be broken between Amber and Chloe. It’s all there for us to imagine and relate to.
Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?
I would have to say writing comes naturally. I have always loved telling stories as a child in Hawaii, that the only thing that changed was I put pen to paper or write via the computer. I still do what I love and that’s creating stories and worlds that people can immerse themselves into.
What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?
It’s funny but my writing sometimes comes from dreams I have or I just need to relax and unwind my brain, as I like to say it. I work in IT as a Senior level Consultant and that can get very serious a lot of the time. So, writing is relaxing to me.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
Each of my characters has a special meaning to me. Especially the characters of the Blood Prophecy series. I allow these characters to naturally develop based on the emotions of the scenes. I mean, I may start them out one way, but as a scene moves along, the character may evolve into something I didn’t quite picture at first. When I need to make certain scenes like battle scenes, I have a unique process that I need to do. I’d like to share it so you can understand what I mean. For battles, I tend to close my eyes and imagine being the character in that fight. Sometimes, for some scenes, I will use my son’s sword, for example, and hold it while moving in different poses. I may record that just so I can watch it while writing. I guess that’s one of the reasons why “Nerf Wars” is popular in my house with the kids and their friends. Sometimes even the birthday parties I throw for them helps.
Do you have a character that you have been working on for a long time that still isn't quite ready, but fills you with excitement to work on the story?
All my characters have been created so far, but I have some new ones that I am planning for the fourth book that I just can’t wait to create. Including some for the next novella after Machiel, which will be Zaraquel. She is a unique child in the prophecy.
Have you found yourself bonding with any particular character(s)? If so which one(s)?
For me, I think I bonded somehow with all the characters. Each character in the books has a little bit of something from almost every person in my life. I mean, there’s a little something from my parents in the characters, from family, from friends. I think that’s why I relate to my characters. Sometimes I have friends from my high school or college days that tell me, “You know, so and so reminds me of me at _________”. It’s nice to hear and it’s the truth. I’ve created these characters that everyone can relate to in one way or another. I think that’s why I love the Blood Prophecy series so much.
Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
I do! But I can’t give that away. (laughs) It’s part of the next book I am thinking about in the series but it will give away a significant part of Queen’s Ascension, which is to be released on August 17, 2020. I don’t want to spoil it but this is one of my surprising characters. In fact, I will give a little hint….she was introduced in book 2 and had a role in book 3 (Queen’s Ascension) but her role will be bigger than ever in book 4. The hint is she’s named after my daughter Arianna.
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
I see a Book Four in the series, but it would be a twist. I don’t see it continuing from the third book. In fact, I see it in the future from the third book but the title, I am seriously considering, is “The Rise of the Hunter”. To me, that signifies that evil isn’t going to go away quietly but there will be some of the beloved characters involved but also, new characters. I imagined the first half of the book already and need to start putting “pen to paper” as I call it. I write as the thoughts come to me.
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
I would like to continue the Blood Prophecy series. I have Machiel’s novella to finish before submitting that, and then as fast as possible, I’d like to start on Blood Prophecy Four.
Have you ever felt that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?
You could say that I can’t control who we fall in or out of love with. I think the series taught me that. As some of my fans have pointed out, my series contains love, betrayal, honor, hate, you name it. I know we all want to have the perfect fairy tale, heck, I am waiting for mine. You never know what to expect when you meet people so my favorite saying that I tell people is “Expect the unexpected” and that saying pushes me to keep reaching for the unexpected, the unexperienced things in life.
If you could have dinner/dinner party with 7 fictional character, who would they be?
It would be a mixture of characters. I would have to say Payne and Jones from the series by Chris Kuzneski, Steve Berry’s Character Cotton Malone, Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Greg Isles’ character Penn Cage, Andrew Gross’ character Jay Erlich and finally, I would have to say Nimue from Camelot stories.
If you could spend one-week with 5 fictional character, who would they be and where would you spend that time?
Any of the ones above that would be at the dinner party. We would probably go to either any place in the UK or I would have to say, Japan. It would be fascinating to learn the histories and culture with this group.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
If I could spend a full year – it would be Scotland. The history there, the possible ghost stories, I feel that would be another incredible paranormal place for the series. I would put pen to paper and create a series based on Scotland. In fact, I’ve been planning to go there but had to reschedule it due to COVID 19. It’s targeted for 2021 but it may have to move again. My best friend and I have been planning and talking about this trip so I can start to write the series there.
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