Hooray, a giveaway!

I want to start off the new year with good karma from book giving. With that in mind, enter for a chance to win a signed print copy of "The Zarder"!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Zarder

by Sara Jo Easton

Giveaway ends January 06, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Also, stay tuned; within the next few months, I will be announcing information about the second Onizard story, "The Speed of Wind". The Fire Queen has a new plan to hurt Senraeno, but she will have to deal with Idenno, a new Zarder and his Bond.

Spotlight On: Teltrena

Name: Teltrena

Aliases: Non-nature, Tel

Age: 11 (adult in Onizard years)

Race: Onizard (not recognized as a Child of Earth)

Sex: Female

Notable Things about Her:

* As a non-nature, she is forbidden to use her powers of healing. This essentially leaves her at the mercy of the other Onizards.

* She became a non-nature for failure to heal, a violation of the Code of Earth that governs all Children of Earth.

* She serves as the Sandleyr's messenger; lately, she has been spending a lot of time delivering messages to Lord Delbralfi. 

* She is secretly helping Jena and Senraeno. She was reluctant about it at first, but over time has become more rebellious against the Fire Queen.

Notable Quote:

 "My position in the Sandleyr does not define who I am. I do not work for [the Fire Queen] by choice, and I am doing the best I can to fight against her."

Spotlight On: The Fire Queen

Name: The Fire Queen

Aliases: Deybralfi (her hated true name), demon

Race: Onizard (Child of Fire)

Age: There's no safe way to ask that question.

Sex: Female

Notable Things About Her:

* She enjoys setting troublesome humans on fire and watching them burn. (!!!)

* She is quite curious about things she doesn't understand. She'll study an unusual human to find out why they're acting strange before setting them on fire. :/

* She has a "hideous scar" underneath her left eye that was not properly healed at the time it was created. 

* She would not hesitate to kill Jena if she knew the Zarder is alive.

Notable Quote:

"I cannot understand what makes her so cheerful, but I have to put a stop to it."

Operation E-Book Drop

I was given a choice today. I could either have five days of my book being listed for free on Amazon if I agree to make my eBook 100% exclusive to Amazon (including removing every quote and excerpt from my blog), or I could participate in Operation E-Book Drop and give soldiers who are deployed something to read.

The choice was obvious.

Operation E-Book Drop

My mother has a very special photograph she keeps close to her. It is of a man in a military uniform, his expression stern and proud as he stands in front of the American flag. His dark brown eyes are focused directly at the camera, and if you are not careful you can catch yourself staring directly back at him for a moment.  This is what I know of my grandfather. He may have died of a heart attack before I was born, but through his legacy I have learned the importance of the freedoms we should fight to have. I realize that one fantasy novel may not seem like much, but if it helps even one soldier I will be satisfied.

Hello, Goodreads readers!

I'm excited that I was approved for the Goodreads author program. This means I can now edit my own author page instead of waiting for a librarian to edit it for me. I'm in the process of updating everything right now, which is a fun process indeed.

For those of you who are seeing this blog because of Goodreads, if you use coupon code HM88M at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/109568 before January 3, you can get a free eBook of "The Zarder"!

Editing a new project is not fun...

...especially when my villainess has gotten more violent for a multitude of reasons, some of them more obvious than others. I'm not a fan of needless violence in stories, but in this case it's not needless, it's unavoidable; SPOILER ALERT the Fire Queen has injured hostages under her control, including Idenno, brother of Leyrkan Mekanni.END SPOILER The Fire Queen didn't have much time to display her true motivations in The Zarder, and in the project I am working on, she will. The other characters have no idea just how insane she really is, and they aren't going to be happy when they figure it out.

If all goes well, The Zarder will have a sequel some time next year. I just need to keep my villainess in line.

Spotlight On: Delbralfi

Name: Delbralfi

Aliases: Lord Delbralfi, Bral

Race: Onizard (Child of Fire)

Age: 10 (adult in Onizard years)

Sex: Male

Notable Things About Him:

* He hates the attention that comes from being the Fire Queen's son; he secretly plans to give up all power if he ever inherits it from her.


* As Jena's best friend, Delbralfi convinced her to stand outside his leyr when the invitations to the hatching occurred, indirectly making him responsible for the first human Bond.


* Delbralfi is the Bond of Deldenno, Senraeno's brother.


* He is committed to protecting the humans of the Sandleyr, though few realize it.


* Though slightly reclusive, he has never been shy. That is, until a non-nature named Teltrena entered his life.

Notable Quote:

Do you know how much her loss has tortured me? No, I suppose not. All Onizards are just the same, and all children are exactly like their parents. I’m a sadistic monster who only lives to kill. Go ahead and believe that if you want; I do not care if you judge me, for I know who I truly am. I can take insults to my character, but I will not take insults to hers for trusting me!

Let's see who's paying attention...

Use the coupon code WE27C at Smashwords before January 3 to get a free copy of The Zarder! I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!