Hey Pat!
Thank you for joining me on this, I appreciate it.
I must apologise for the delay in our spotlight as I’ve been having
quite a difficult time recently. But, as promised I have abducted you today
{laughs} And we are going to have a swell session I believe.
I want to say Hi to my readers and
thank you for staying tuned and logging in today for our Spotlight with Author
P.L Blair. I hope you’ll join us after the spotlight and attend our further
interview on our 'Author2Author BC ‘Class of 2014’.
Let’s tell them a little about you…
P.L.
Blair mixes magic, murder and creatures from mythology and folklore in her Portals
series of fantasy/detective/romance novels, set in Corpus Christi, Texas –
where she lived for several years before moving to Sheridan, Wyo. A native of
Tyler, Texas, Blair has a background in newspaper work and still covers local
events for Sheridan Media when she isn't writing books about flesh-eating
pixies or Aztec gods. She is companion to two basset hounds, a long-haired
dachshund and a cat – all rescues – and enjoys doing research.
Here are some of
the sites you can find P.L at if you’d like to keep with any updates on her and
her work…
Visit Blair at:-
v Web
site.
v Facebook.
v Twitter.
v Goodreads.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Book Trailers.
Book Genre Categories:
Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Police Procedurals > Fantasy
Kindle eBooks > Crime, Thriller & Mystery > Mystery > Police
Procedurals
Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Urban > Paranormal
Romance
Paperback - £6.03/ $9.95.
Kindle Version: 202 pages.
Publisher: Studio See Publishing, LLC (12 April 2011).
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
ASIN: B004WDZSDK.
Paperback: 202 pages.
Publisher: Studio See (2007).ISBN-10: 0979697409/ISBN-13: 978-0979697401/ASIN: B005U7TYW8.
Your average Customer Review is 4.9 out of 5 stars.
And your Amazon Bestsellers Rank is #640,725 in Kindle Store.
Book Blurb:
ReviewsMagic and crime. Agatha Christie meets J.R.R. Tolkien in “Shadow Path,” the first book in the new Portals series by author P.L. Blair.An Ogre murdered with a rune-inscribed sword is just the beginning as Kat Morales, a very human detective on the Corpus Christi, Texas, police force, and her Elf partner Tevis McLeod follow a blood trail that leads to Pixies, necromancy and Magic of the Blackest kind ... to its climax in a stronghold Between worlds, where Tevis must duel spell for spell with a former lover who wants to see her old flame extinguished permanently.
5.0 out of 5 stars: Sheer magic
!
5 Oct 2012 by dragonfire, an Amazon Verified Purchase.
This review is from: Shadow Path
(Portals) (Kindle Edition).
I saw this book a couple months ago on a free download website and thought it might be a good read. Unfortunately I did not download it straight away and when I went back to find it it was no longer there and I could not remember the author or the title! As I knew what the storyline was basically I searched the Internet and found this, Shadow Path ! It is an absolutely brilliant book, Portals have been opened between two worlds, our world and the world of magic . Criminals are no longer confined to being human and the police force have integrated magical beings into their task force's to help deal with it . Enter Kat and Tevis, Kat is a human police officer and her partner Tevis is an elf . Together they work on cases, particularly where magic has been used . With other allies from the world of magic they eventually form a taskforce to root out the murderer of this tale, who once walked the Shadow Path and wishes revenge on Tevis. A very enjoyable read!
5.0 out of 5 stars: A magical
invasion of legendary creatures makes this a great read.
31 Oct 2011 by Mistress of The Dark Path "Suzie"
(The Otherworld).
This review is from: Shadow Path
(Portals) (Kindle Edition).
What happens when creatures of legend manage to come through portals to earth after being gone for many centuries? The story in Shadow Path begins a few years after magical portals opened, allowing such beings to come through from the "Otherworld". It isn't just humans anymore. Now you may find elves, sorcerers, Ogres, Pixies, and many others wandering around the streets. Not all of them are bad, but the ones that are have created quite a problem for law enforcement. Now they must adapt to magical races that can't be handled in the same way as humans.Kat Morales is one detective that has been partnered with an elf, Tevis Mcleod, who crossed over soon after the portals opened. Despite their working together for three months, there is a lot she still doesn't know about him. That all changes when his former lover comes to town and begins a slew of murders to draw him out. Now his past has come back to haunt him, and it will put his human partner at risk. Kat is no shrinking violet, though, and she is up for the challenge. Together, they will have to search for one of the most powerful black magic users either of their worlds has seen. It will be the most dangerous investigation of their careers and one they may not survive.This story proved to be a lot of fun to read. While it certainly has fantasy elements, I loved that the author put the setting in the modern world. Not only that, but she managed to conduct her world building in a way that felt very believable. All the necessary explanations are given, but done in a way that doesn't bog the reader down in details. Instead, it came in bursts as the information was needed. That allowed the story to keep moving quickly so people can stay engaged in the tale. The further I got into Shadow Path, the more entranced I became. This is one author that has no lack of imagination or creativity.There weren't many issues I found with the novel. I did see a few typos and awkward sentences, but they were not frequent. In fact, the story caught me in its grip so well, I hardly noticed the ones I saw. On the positive side of things, I loved the author's inclusion of cats and their possible mystical connotations. The further into the novel you go, the more they played a role I have not seen anyone use before. This put a welcome twist on an already great story. There are many other interesting elements which will delight the reader, but I don't want to spoil things too much. I can honestly say this is one book that I don't regret picking up. In fact, I implore the author to put her other books in the series out on Kindle as soon as possible so I can read them as well. Particularly the one that comes after Shadow Path.I highly recommend this novel to people who enjoy fantasy, police procedural, or suspense novels. There is a little something for everyone!
6 Mar 2013 by mountainmama "Shirley Hicks"
(Charleston, West Virginia, USA).
This review is from: Shadow Path
(Portals) (Kindle Edition).
Two cops in Corpus Christi are investigating a murder. Pretty routine - except one of the cops is an elf, and the murder victim is an ogre. It seems an ancient portal has opened and all the mythological creatures we read about as children are real, and they have crossed over into our world. Only some of them are a little different from what we pictured.A mix of Greek mythology, fairy tales, folklore, and fantasy with a twist, Shadow Path takes us on an adventure to the `Otherside' and the world in `Between', where the elf detective must fight a former lover to save our world. Thrilling and suspenseful, Ms. Blair has used her genius imagination to present a fabulous story. She has a talent for dialog and description, and puts the reader into the scene with her characters. Storytelling at its best!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spotlight shines on
Author, P.L Blair…
Ellie
So, P.L. Tell us who does your Book covers then hun?
P.L
The covers are by my wonderful publisher, Studio
See Publishing LLC, a small independent company based in Sheridan,
Wyo.
Ellie
And how many books are in your series?
P.L
Four, so far, and book 5 is in progress.
Ellie
Congrats on your success.
[Ellie Smiles}
Ellie
Stupid question but are you a LOTR (Lord of the Rings)
fan?
{P.L Laughs}
P.L
You bet! I love the books and the movies.
Ellie
Me too. I love ‘em. Just watched the second one of the
Hobbit, my god I didn’t realise there was so much in it, I don’t remember it
being that long!
{They both
laugh}
Ellie
So back to your book, Shadow
Path, I love how you jump straight into a scene.
Does it come easy to you when starting off a book or
project?
P.L
I'm a pantser – as in writing by the seat of my pants.
So I don't usually do a lot of agonizing over how to start a book. What's
happened so far – and admittedly, I think I've been lucky – is that a scene
pops into my mind. I write it – then I start trying to figure out the
backstory. Why, in Shadow Path,
for example, is the Ogre dead? Who killed him, and how, and why? That's when
the plot starts unfolding.
{Ellie Grins}
Ellie
And tell us about your character, Kat.
P.L
Kat is Hispanic, but – I'm getting a feeling lately –
there's a bit of Irish in her family tree as well. That wouldn't be uncommon,
in fact. Okay … By this, you can figure out that I don't spend a lot of time
beforehand on my characters' backstories. They come to me more or less fully
fleshed, and they reveal information about themselves over time. Back to Kat …
She comes from a fairly large family, mother and dad both Americans by birth.
Her dad is a retired Marine drill sergeant. An older brother killed himself
four years ago when the Portals opened and humans of this world realized that
all the creatures they had long dismissed as folklore and myth were real,
coming into the humans' world and bringing their magic with them. Kat has
handled it fairly well, even accepting an elf as her partner on the Corpus
Christi, Texas, police force. She also played D&D in her younger, pre-cop
days. At least one of her characters was Kathryn Half-elven, aka Kathryn the
Bard, daughter of a human mother and elf father.
Ellie
And about, Tevis?
P.L
Tevis is a younger son of the Laird Liege (equivalent
of a king) of the Silvermeres, a vast forest realm in the Realms of Magic. The
name by which he and his people call themselves is “Aalfar.” Tevis is young for
an Aalfar, only a few thousand years old. His people are ageless and – unless
they meet with accident or murder – undying. He loves humans and the human
world, and has been here nearly four years at the start of Shadow Path.
He has been with the Corpus Christi police – and Kat's partner – for only three
months at that time. Tevis devoutly hopes that he will never ascend to the
position of Laird Liege. The position would require him to “lead from behind,”
something he is too hands-on to do well. Once a student of wizardry, he now
shuns Magic because of an event that happened in his long-ago youth and that
still haunts him. I won't go into details here, because it is tied to the plot
of Shadow Path.
Ellie
Who is, Lieutenant James Cornelius Harley?
P.L
Harley is a cop, lieutenant in charge of the Corpus
Christi PD's detective squad – day shift. He's a native of Corpus Christi,
old-school, plain-spoken, smart – but he tends to hide his intelligence behind
a good ol' boy drawl. He frequently longs for the good old days before the
Portals opened, before creatures came from the Otherside and started committing
crimes using magic. He has a soft spot for Kat – nothing romantic, more like a
father or much older brother. He likes Tevis, but he's suspicious of Magic and
the beings who might wield it.
Ellie
What type of time setting are we looking at in your
books? Definitely seems modern day or some form of not so distant future.
P.L
The setting is some time in the not-too-distant
future, near enough that things are still recognizable, but I have purposely
left the time vague. I kind of have hopes that my books might be around for a
few years into the future, so I don't want to date them.
Ellie
What inspired you to bring all of these mythical
creatures together in such a modern time frame. I love the idea, that is why I
will continue to read your books.
P.L
That's always been one of my own personal fantasies –
That elves and wizards, dragons and pixies and all the other creatures of our
myths and folk tales really do exist … somewhere. And that one of these days
they just might crop up again in our world. And the more I've thought about it,
the more I've wondered how we humans would react, what the interactions might
be between nonmagical humans and creatures for whom magic comes as naturally as
breathing.
Ellie
And it’s set in Corpus Christi, Texas!
P.L
I love the area! Corpus is right on the water, lots of
opportunities for swimming, fishing, boating, sunbathing … The climate can be
hot as heck in July and August, but the winters tend to be milder overall. So
they get a lot of Winter Texans down there – people who live in the northern
states but who head South for the colder months. Winter Texan – aka “Snowbird”
- season generally extends from around November through March or April. There
is a large population in the area of Mexican-Americans, some naturalized, some
whose families have lived there for generations. There are also some folks
there illegally, and like any large city, Corpus has its share of criminals, a
drug culture … But what most people see, especially visitors, is a fairly
easy-going lifestyle, a mix of
American and Mexican/Spanish culture that's reflected in everything from architecture to the clothes people wear.
American and Mexican/Spanish culture that's reflected in everything from architecture to the clothes people wear.
Ellie
So I take it Tevis and Kat are partners in the series?
P.L
They are indeed partners, both of them detectives with
the Corpus Christi Police Department. I don't know about the precinct – I'm not
familiar enough to get into that.
Ellie
Are you a Pre-cycler?
{Ellie Laughs}
P.L
Actually … not much of one.
I do my share of recycling, but I tend to stay out of
other peoples' garbage containers. You never know what you're going to find in
one of those things …
{P.L
Laughs and Ellie smirks}
Ellie
Is it common knowledge that Ogres are attracted to
shiny objects?
What type of research (if any) did you find that out
on?
{Big grin on P.L’s face})
P.L
That's one of my little “embellishments.” I don't
stick strictly to “facts” about the beings of our myths and folklore. I play
with the idea that, in the thousand or so years that humans have been out of
contact with the beings from the Otherside of the Portals, we have forgotten
some things and exaggerated others. We do it with our own heroes all the time –
people like Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone, and they are people who are part of
recorded history! So … once I did a bit of basic research/ memory refreshing
about Ogres, I felt free to throw in some details that may, or may not, be
“true.”
Ellie
Well either-way it’s still cool, I would totally take
them for shiny object lovers, either them or Trolls to be honest! Tell us about
the ‘Otherside’ that you speak of.
P.L
The Realms of Magic – what humans call the Otherside –
is the kind of world ours might be if Magic rather than science had become the
dominant factor. I tend to think of Magic and Science as the extremes of the
same continuum, just based on different power sources. The Realms are more
primitive than our human world, more like medieval or even older periods of our
own culture, because in a world dominated by Magic, there is little need, and
not a lot of opportunity, to develop more and better … It isn't a perfect world
– something I'm exploring, and will be exploring, more in future books. It
certainly has its share of dangers. There also can be found in the Realms human
cultures and certain life forms (such as dinosaurs) that have been long extinct
in our own world. I explored that a little more in Stormcaller – book 2
in my series – although I've barely scratched the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was
cool, thanks so much for doing this, Pat. I hope you enjoy the spotlight. If
you could just go head over to the Author2Author Class of 2014 sofa and I’ll
meet you in a moment to continue our in depth chat about you and your work. I’m
so excited about this.
Thank you
for tuning in guys, once again it’s been a pleasure to be here and to be
accompanied by once again another fantastic Author from the Fantastical ReadsEvent. Unfortunately this event has ended now, but I can tell you it was a pretty awesome party! And i'm sorry if you missed it.
I’ll catch
you in a moment on the Author2Author BC Class of 2014.
#Live
#Love #Laugh
xXx
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