I am so excited to be hosting the next stop along the Elemental by Shauna Granger Blog Tour! For this stop along the tour Shauna is sharing an excerpt from Earth (Elemental, #1). Don't forget to enter the giveaway and then click on the banner to check out other stops along the tour!
Earth (Elemental, #1)
by Shauna Granger
Published: May 1st, 2011
Available: Amazon
Synopsis:
Shayna and her two best friends have the abilities to manipulate and control the four elements, earth, air, water and fire. While learning to hone their growing powers, they discover a new and malicious presence in their sleepy beach town. Someone is performing blood magic and threatens to expose their small magical community. So far only small animals have been slaughtered, but then the nightmares start.
Shayna suffers nightmares of being chased and sacrificed only to wake up bloodied and bruised. She thinks her magical blood is the ultimate target for the final blood rite. When an innocent girl, Tracy, is kidnapped Shayna knows it's only a ploy to draw her out; she can't let someone die because of her.
Excerpts for Earth (Elemental, #1)
I reached in my locker to grab my French book when it hit me; a sudden wave of dread. I dropped my book to the ground, fingers trembling and my mouth went dry.
“Shay?” Jodi asked hesitantly.
“Tracy,” I whispered almost too quiet for even me to hear.
“What?” Steven asked, placing his hand on my shoulder to shake me, but in my state the simple touch opened our channel in a flood. In an instant he knew what I knew and all the color drained from his face. I dropped everything, forgetting to shut my locker, and took off at a dead run, racing to the school parking lot.
“Steven, what the—” Before Jodi could finish her question Steven had grabbed her by the wrist and took off after me, pulling her along behind him.
“Something’s going to happen to Tracy if we don’t get out there!” Steven tried to explain in a rush as we rounded the office building and skidded to a halt on the asphalt of the parking lot, searching desperately for Tracy. Unfortunately the bell had only rung a few minutes ago so the parking lot was still full of cars, making it very difficult to figure out where we should be looking. Finally, after what seemed like too long, Steven pointed off to the right, “There’s Nick’s truck.” Again I took off like a shot, only to be hindered by the impatient line of cars that snaked through the aisles.
We weaved in and out, dodging between parked cars, trying to get closer to the truck. I felt like I was slogging through quicksand and the faster I went the harder it was to get to the truck. The mounting dread turned into pure panic when I saw Tracy’s black curly hair over the roof of the car next to the truck.
“Shay! What’s gonna happen?” I heard Jodi call behind me but I didn’t stop to explain.
“She doesn’t know,” Steven said helpfully. “She just knows something’s gonna happen.” He sounded like I would have if I could’ve forced myself to speak, but I was concentrating all of my energy on getting to Tracy. Suddenly, when we were still ten cars away from them, I heard Nick’s voice carry back to me.
“Just get in the goddamn truck!” Didn’t he know any other way to say that? Red colored the edges of my vision, tinting everything around Nick and Tracy. “Now damnit!” Nick yelled, grabbing her upper left arm and jerking her towards the truck and shoving her hard. She hit the side of the truck with her right shoulder and I could see her grimace of pain. I stopped short, knowing even with his broken collarbone, none of the three of us stood a chance against Nick.
I spread my fingers wide with my hands down at my sides, set my feet hip-width apart and drove my energy down past the asphalt into the ground. Steven and Jodi came up on either side of me, each placing a hand on one of my shoulders, lending their energy to me. This was no time for secrecy.
As I reached looking for the dormant fault lines beneath Nick I could still hear him yelling at her and calling her names, apparently no longer worried if people heard him treating her this way, the arrogant bastard. I took my anger and directed it to fuel my need, finally finding a wire-thin fault line. I grabbed hold of it, forcing the flow of my energy into it, guiding it to the place that Nick stood next to his truck.
I heard the crack and crumble of the asphalt as the fault line swelled with power, having gained enough control to keep the ground from shaking to give myself away. Inch by inch it came closer to Nick, opening a jagged line in the asphalt as it neared him.
“You just don’t listen!” Nick yelled, inches from Tracy’s face, and grabbed her collar and shook her roughly.
“That’s enough!” an unfamiliar, rough voice called out at him. I reigned in my energy, holding the fault line at bay just feet away from my target to look for the source of the voice. Ian came striding through the parking lot. The anger in his face and swelling of his shoulders made me wonder if he was just going to pick up and throw the cars that were in his way.
Other books in the Elemental Series:
Release Date: 10/31/11
Summary :
It was a rough start to the school year
for Shayna and her friends, Jodi and Steven, but thankfully summer break is
near. Trying to sort out her feelings for the new guy in town, Shayna agrees to
let Jensen join her on a group date with her friends. While out they end up at
a local coffee house where their classmate, social outcast Jeremy McCormick, is
humiliated by his baseball star brother. When Jeremy runs away from the jeering
crowd, Shayna and Jodi hear the unmistakable sound of a thousand wings chasing
after him, but no one else seems to hear them. These are not like any air
elementals that Shayna or Jodi have ever encountered before and they fear Jeremy
has gotten himself tangled up in something too dangerous for him to handle. But
when Shayna tries to help Jeremy control his magical abilities she realizes it
might be the biggest mistake of her life.
Release Date: 06/19/12
Summary:
Shayna's first surfing session of the summer is interrupted by the screams of a
mother who has lost her little boy in the water. Without regard to her own
safety, Shayna swims out, rescues the boy, but must escape the clutches of
something far worse than she could have ever imagined – mermaids.
Compelled to answer the sirens' call, the boys of Shayna's town are drawn to
the sea, but when they return are afflicted by an unknown illness, a sickness
which is draining them of their life force. Unable to tell anyone about the
mermaids, Shayna and her friends are forced to solve the mystery before it's
too late, and in doing so, Shayna will finally have to face the full force of
her powers. Whether she’s ready or not, she will have to face her true nature.
About the Author
I don't do well talking about myself. So
as basics go, I have recently self-published the first two books in my Elemental
Series, Earth and Air, Young Adult Urban Fantasy novels. Look for the third
installment, Water, coming in 2012!
I have been working on the Elemental Series for the last four years and plan
for it to be a 5 book series. It was a hard decision to self-publish but it's
been an exciting and terrifying ride.
You can find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shauna-...
And to my readers (or fans of my covers), I have beautiful bookmarks that I
would love to share with you. If you'd like one, drop me a note with your
contact info and I'd be happy to send you one!
Goodreads:
Blog:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Thank you, Shauna for stopping by and sharing a look at Earth (Elemental, #1) with us!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Synopsis:
Emma Michaels is the author of the ‘A Sense of Truth’ and ‘Society of Feathers’ series. Her goal with her latest YA novel 'Owlet' is to give others what she did not have growing up; a strong female protagonist with asthma. While her previous aspiration was to be a lady knight she realized that not being able to run more than a few feet might become a hindrance so turned to writing instead. Her day jobs include being a cover artist, marketing consultant and silk screen designer.
Blackwood
Hanging by a Thread 
Shakespeare on Toast
