Hiya guys, we have Meraki P. Lyhne stopping by on the tour for her release Anchored In Stone, we have a great interview with Meraki, a fantastic excerpt and a brilliant giveaway so enjoy the post and click that rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~
Anchored in Stone
(Chronicles of an Earned 01)
by
Meraki P. Lyhne
The easiest heist in Alex Rhoden’s career is also the most dangerous of all.
As a child, Alex Rhoden’s talent as a thief was recognized by a rich art collector. He has since then been schooled and trained to become one of the best art thieves in the world. While on the easiest heist of his career he finds himself running with the artefact in his possession, followed by an unknown adversary. But they are not the only ones interested in the artefact—so is an ancient race of demigods called Earned. Cornered and out of options, Alex has to make a difficult decision that will turn his life upside down no matter what he chooses.
The young demigod, Kaleb, is reborn into servitude, but he is a freak amongst his own kind—the forbidden unity between an Earned and a witch. Other than finding himself, learning to control his powers, and balance high school as a senior, Kaleb must earn the trust of his pack and family. But Alex is in danger and the young demigod struggles to keep up.
Amazon | eXtasy
Interview
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Meraki P. Lyhne author of Anchored in Stone
Hi Meraki, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.
Trivial stuff, sure. I’m a Danish woman at 36. I’m a mom, a wife, a coffeeholic. I’m a black smith by trade, but I switched out the hammer and anvil for a keyboard to make the constant run of a character stop. It didn’t work out as well as planned because that just made room for more. When I moved into MM I made up this Pseudonym. That’s what the P. stands for. I’ve been published in Denmark and a publisher there once told me that readers can relate two genres pr. Author name. MM is so far from what I’ve written so far, so I made up Meraki to write MM.
Tell us about your book.
Well, this book, series, is about an art thief named Alex, and a demigod named Kaleb. Alex stumbles upon a world full of the supernatural, which he has always danced in the peripheral of. Other than having to figure all this out, he also learns a bit more about himself as these demigods can see one’s soul. The book has been about eight years coming. I had this idea where I wanted to play around with duality, and I thought I’d bring in other religions than the ones used most often. I Googled it a bit to see how solid the plot was and it all fell to pieces.
Last year I did a writing exercise and it all just blurted out. The main character stepped forward, and three months later I had the first draft. The plot that fell apart had me research this ancient Mesopotamian religion which then led to comparative religious theories of world religions, esoteric teaching, and so on. So this book is my accumulated knowledge put into a plot with a twist and a frame to focus it.
How difficult was it to get into the main character’s head?
He was surprisingly easy. They all were. I have about four POVs in this book—everything from a young demigod just awoken to this time, to the psychologically terrorized art thief, to a worried dad, to a sadist. It isn’t often characters step forward the way they did in this series.
Is this book a standalone or do you plan on visiting it again?
I’m writing the fifth, and plotting the sixth as we speak. The second, Two Sides of a Coin, will be out sometime early 2016. My editor is gobbling her way through the 106,000 words which is roughly what I aim every book in the series to be at.
Why did you choose to write M/M stories?
It was a dare. I chatted with a few author friends, and we were talking about how to evolve as authors. So far I had only written sci fi (space opera) and a crime thriller. I’d always had a gay character there, but I never wrote erotica and the homosexuality was never the focus, just a part of life. But each of us authors on the chat chose a genre we least of all could see ourselves writing in, and I chose gay sex, because…what would I know? I’d have to learn something new and learn to delve into different mindsets. That was the appealing challenge for me. I’ve read an MM fan fic once, and I loved it, so I began writing this book. 500 pages in I thought I’d better make it a series now that I knew the plot worked, and the world, mythology, characters, etc. were strong.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Everywhere and in everyone. I have a list of things I want to accomplish every day. Learn something new, make a stranger smile, and do better than yesterday. Learning something new always leads to inspiration…which like in this case can lead to a life-altering search for something that casts off the basis for the longest book series I’ve never even dared to dream of writing.
Excerpt
Alex made his way down the corridors, watching out for the guard. This one he found leafing through a magazine with his feet up and his back turned to the staircase. Alex stopped, breathed in deeply, and let it out slowly, reminding himself that a fat guard’s dumb luck was what caught his cat burglar mentor. No matter how carefully one builds a card house, a gust of wind can bring it all down.
So Alex took his time and focused all his expertise on getting past this guard as if he were from the agency itself. Finally in the basement, he made his way to the crate, pushed it open, and sought out the stone first. He found it and put it in a bag, which he in turn put in his thigh pocket, before stuffing another bag with whatever his pricey education had told him was worth the most on the black market.
Happy with his find, he turned, but something seemed to have a hold on the pocket with the stone in. He turned and found himself face to face with a big, mean-looking ghost. He gasped and clasped his left hand over his mouth to catch the scream he couldn’t stop, and clutched the stone with his right.
And then he ran. He didn’t even care if the guard saw him. He made it past the guard, who was nowhere in sight, and exited through the service entrance.
Alex didn’t stop until his body threatened to vomit out his heart. He stopped and by sheer exhaustion, his body chose to empty his stomach anyway. He took the stone out and stared at it. It felt almost as if fine electricity danced between it and where it touched his skin.
“What the hell did you have me steal, Mr. Henry?”
About Meraki
Meraki P. Lyhne is a Danish author with a love for the paranormal and space opera. She has been writing space opera since 2007, but paranormal erotic romance is a newer love. Closing the door to her writing-den, she delves into elaborate stories and research ancient religions, mythologies, and arts of the world to be inspired, so she can create new creatures of the paranormal.
Where to find the author:
Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter | Pinterest | Website
Giveaway!
Win a PDF copy of ‘Anchored in Stone’ by Meraki P. Lhyne!
(Just click the link below)
Meraki P. Lhyne Rafflecopter giveaway!
(Ends 6th March 2016)
Check out the other blogs on the blog tour
11-Jan: The Hat Party, MM Good Book Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
18-Jan: Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Molly Lolly, Happily Ever Chapter
25-Jan: Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Wake Up Your Wild Side, Love Bytes
1-Feb: Book Lovers 4Ever, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
8-Feb: A.M. Leibowitz, Cheekypee Reads and Reviews, BFD Book Blog
15-Feb: Boys on the Brink Reviews, Inked Rainbow Reads, Alpha Book Club
22-Feb: Prism Book Alliance, Divine Magazine, Bayou Book Junkie
29-Feb: Multitasking Mommas, Velvet Panic, Havan Fellows
Filed under: Author Giveaway, Blog Tour, Excerpt, eXtasy Books, Interview Tagged: Chronicles of an Earned series, eXtasy Books, Gay Paranormal Romance, GLBT Paranormal romance, GLBT Urban Fantasy, Meraki P. Lyhne