The Initiation

First of all, thank you to everyone who attended the Facebook party last night! It was a ton of fun. The giveaways are still open until tonight, so if you missed it, but have facebook, you can go read what went on. I'll be posting the winners tomorrow morning.

Clara and Andrew paused at the doorway and shared a glance. She sighed.

"Do we have to do this?"

"Kendra's orders," said Andrew, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, I don't think it'll be that bad."

"Don't speak too soon." She shoved open the door and marched in, he a step behind her. They were confronted by a round table, around which six people sat: Robin, Robert, Arthur, Madeleine, Eric, and Jen.

"It's about time you two showed up," said Robin, rolling her eyes, earning a backhand from her brother.

"As though you're always timely," said Clara, as she and Andrew sat down in the two remaining empty seats. "So what do you want with the two of us, because we're rather busy with the whole get-rid-of-the-Dragon business."

"This won't take any of your time," said Jen, leaning forward. "Kendra has pulled all of us out of our stories and when you get back, you'll find that no time at all passed."

"Fair enough," said Andrew.

Clara narrowed her eyes at Jen. "You don't know you're a character. You think you're the author of your book."

Jen drew back and shrugged. "Well, she's informed me otherwise for the purpose of this post. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the information, to be honest, but since she'll be wiping my memory as soon as we leave, I don't think I have to do anything."

"O-kay." Clara shook her head. "So what does Kendra want you guys to talk to Andrew about? She's got my reckless rip-off and her family, and miss I-think-I-can-play-both-sides-of-the-fence. Look, Andrew and I are older characters than any of you."

Arthur shifted in his seat, casting a side-wise glance towards his cousin. "Uh, yeah, but we all somehow got published before you did."

"Oh," said Clara, leaning back in her seat and folding her arms over her chest. "So that's what this is all about."

"Yes," said Madeleine. "Kendra wants us, the main characters of her previously published works, to give you a few words of advice."

"What about the main characters from the short stories?" asked Clara, being difficult.

"Kendra decided to leave them out for simplicity's sake," explained Jen. "Just the six of us who had the greatest amount of POV in her four longer books."

"Okay, fine," said Clara. "What do we need to know about being published characters? How is it any different from being unpublished, aside from the fact that Kendra can't bother us anymore."

"At least until book three ," Andrew pointed out.

"I'm ignoring that fact for the moment," said Clara, waving him off. "Kendra's trying to negotiate me into a cameo for book two, but that is not in my contract. That aside, how is it different?"

"Believe me," said Eric, "it's very different."

"First of all," said Jen, "perhaps it has left Kendra's hands, but now you're in the hands of the readers - and perhaps you noticed it with the beta readers, but now it's going to be complete strangers. They're going to be bringing their own stories to your story, and it may change things, little things, mostly, but they'll be changes nonetheless."

"I get that, I read," said Clara, shaking her head. "It's the price of publication."

"Indeed," said Madeleine. "But the thing is, you've got to handle yourself with dignity - even when they're passing nasty judgement."

"Does dignity include paint on the nose?" Clara asked, innocently.

"CLARA!" Andrew kicked her under the table.

Madeleine waved her off. "Don't worry, I'm used to it from Samson. No, unless you're an artist, it does not include paint. It means don't make snide comments all the time and be nice. Something that Robin here is only just now figuring out."

"Actually, I think it's more Eric than anything else," said Robert, grinning. "He's been a good influence on her."

"Eric is a good character," said Jen, nodding. "No wonder he's the general favorite in Bookania."

"And that reminds me," said Eric, "for you, Andrew. Kendra wants me to warn you specifically about the fangirls."

Andrew's face paled under the freckles. "Fangirls?"

"Apparently, you've already picked up a few through the beta reading process," Eric explained, "and you're likely to only gather more. Now fangirls are are rather ... special creatures. Um, basically, be nice to them and hope they leave you alone."

"That sounds like girls in general," Andrew observed.

"Yes, but in this case, they think they have more liberties since you're fictional," said Eric. "They probably won't leave you alone."

"Looking forward to it," said Andrew, sighing.

"So why does he get fangirls and I don't?" asked Clara.

"Because female characters don't seem to get as many fangirls," said Robin, shrugging. "Unless you're part of an adorable couple, so I guess you'll get some second hand from Andrew. Like I have to pick up the leavings from Eric and Robert."

"Sounds fun. Now are we done?"

"I'll declare it so," said Jen. "I'm ready to forget this happened."

"Same here." Clara stood up and swept out of the room.

Interviews:
Morgan Elizabeth Huneke - Amber
The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls - Jill Anna
A Heart Redeemed - Me
Jaye L. Knight - Me
Reviews:
Dolls, Books, and Things That Matter
Sutori no Hana
Overactive Imagination - Group review with the Blogger's Younger sisters!


Free Books! Currently, the following books are free:

Sew, It’s a Quest: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G3ZFKG

Do You Take This Quest? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFDHFT4/

The Ankulen: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZAXWYM/

CinderEddy: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KZNW2TO

Saffron’s Big Plan: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HYS9W2/

Giveaways! I have two. The first is a rafflecopter giveaway with the prize being a signed physical copy of Water Princess, Fire Prince and a bottle of Citrus Bliss, which is a essential oil blend of about seven citruses and vanilla extract - and as readers of Water Princess, Fire Prince know, that's the smell of warm bathwater in Rizkaland.

The other prize is for the person who leaves the MOST comments during this tour, be they here on my blog, on my posts for the tour - including the countdown posts I was doing last week - or on the interviews and reviews and such on other blogs. (And yes, you can comment multiple times on the same post, but there must be someone else commenting between your comments, or you must be replying. And constructive comments, please. Don't be commenting just to be commenting, or I won't count it.) I'm not entirely certain what this giveaway's prize will be, but I'm kinda leaning towards a chance to Alpha read book two. If so, if there's a tie, then I'll award the prize to both people who tie.

a Rafflecopter giveaway