"Jacob felt as though he’d been punched in the face and chest simultaneously. The wind was knocked out of him, and he fell to the floor. Bright flashes of light burst through the room, and he closed his eyes, trying to block them out. His blood was on fire, burning every inch of him as it coursed through his veins. He rolled onto his side, his body convulsing in pain as he gagged, trying to get enough air. His muscles cramped, and tremors ran through his body.
He heard hundreds of sounds all at once and was no longer able to focus on just one. They were so loud, they pulsated in his brain like a migraine. Opening his eyes, he gasped as the bright lights flashed again, alternating with blackness. Thousands of people moved through the room at once. His body was on sensory overload. Even the temperature seemed to be fluctuating.
He heard hundreds of sounds all at once and was no longer able to focus on just one. They were so loud, they pulsated in his brain like a migraine. Opening his eyes, he gasped as the bright lights flashed again, alternating with blackness. Thousands of people moved through the room at once. His body was on sensory overload. Even the temperature seemed to be fluctuating.
He tried to stand and right himself, but barely managed to lift his head. The walls around him would not stop spinning. He struggled to stay conscious, almost failing several times. The thought kept entering his mind that he had to remain alert—he couldn’t let the Lorkon win." -Excerpt from The Key of Kileyna
The Key of Kileyna is a captivating tale of a young man named Jacob and his journey through a different world to recover a magical key that was stolen by the evil Lorkon. But the Lorkon are not the only evil beings Jacob has to worry about. Along the journey, Jacob is faced with many trials both physically and mentally. With the help of new friends and his own bravery and determination , Jacob is able to press on through each trial and reach the Lorkon castle.
The Key of Kileyna is Book One of the Kilenya Series, which is targeted towards young adults, but as a grown woman I thoroughly enjoyed the book and can not wait to read more of the series. Readers will be on the edge of their seat wondering how Jacob and his comrades are ever going to get out of the messes they find themselves in. The author, Andrea Pearson, does a wonderful job helping the reader jump into the new world with Jacob, by including wonderful details and descriptions of each character, place, and situation. The Key of Kileyna was a very easy read, contained no fowl language, and included age appropriate interactions among characters. I highly recommend this book for young people interested in action filled science fiction adventures!
After reading The Key of Kileyna, I had a couple questions for the author, Andrea Pearson. I put together a short interview to help my readers learn a little more about Andrea and her book. Check out what she had to say:
Kelsey: What or Who inspired you to decide to write a book/series for Young Adults?
Andrea: My younger brother! I told him the ideas I had, and he told me I'd better write them down and make a series of it. He was 12 when I started getting things together. He was 18 by the time The Key of Kilenya (Kilenya Series 1) came out, but loved it just the same.
Kelsey: Are any of your characters based off of real life people? If so, who? And why did you choose that person?
Andrea: The Fat Lady is based off of a character from the movie Matilda. Though the Fat Lady is a nice person, and the character from the movie isn't. I choose that woman because of her gruff exterior and very abrupt mannerisms. I loosely based a lot of my characters off of people I know - mix and matches of my siblings and friends. It's much easier to use real people, since you'll know your characters better.
Kelsey: There are so many unique names and places in your book, how did you come up with them?
Andrea: On a lot of the names, I'm not sure, actually. It took a while to get the story written, and the names had been in my head for a long time. For some names, I used baby name websites, found ones I liked, and either used them as they were or changed them somewhat.
Kelsey: What do you think "makes" a good book?
Andrea: There are a lot of things, and it really depends on the reader. For some, if the book is cleanly written (not a lot of typos or grammatical errors), then it's a good book. For others, they don't care about the grammar just so long as the story is compelling and the pacing is good. For me and many
readers, both are important. If a book has too many errors, I put it down in frustration, and if the story isn't going anywhere, I won't finish it.
Kelsey: If you could give one Tip For Successful Book Writing, what would it be?
Andrea: Learn to self edit! And don't over edit or you'll remove yourself from the writing. I did that at one point (you can ask my editor. We had to go back several versions in my manuscript to find the right one). There's a fine line, and it took me a while to learn it. It's different for everyone. Also, learn as much as possible about the publishing world, read a lot, and let your imagination flow! Every kind of writing requires imagination. Except maybe computer science books. Those are a little difficult to get through.
You can connect with Andrea Pearson and learn more about the Kileyna Series by visiting the following sites online:
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrea-Pearson/307996157738
Blog: http://andreapearsonbooks.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/andreapearson2
Andrea Pearson's Website: http://www.kilenyaseries.com
Interested in reading The Key to Kilenya? You can purchase print version for $12.99 as well as the eBook version for $1.99, on Amazon!
Andrea Pearson would like to give 5 of my readers a FREE eBook of The Key of Kilenya, all you have to do is enter using the Rafflecopter form below!
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Thank you for reading dear followers and Good Luck!
As a YA, I loved Tamora Pierce's Alanna (The Lioness Rampant) series. If they had been out, it would be Harry Potter. :)
ReplyDeleteI commented on andrea's blog post "Rough Draft #1 - Kilenya Anthology"
ReplyDeleteSmall world. Turns out the girl I work with knew the author!
ReplyDeleteOh, and as a young adult, my favorite series was the Thoroughbred series started by Joanna Campbell. I got the first book in 2nd grade and the last one for my 18th birthday. Starting in 6th grade, the Harry Potter series was also another favorite.
ReplyDeleteWOW, it is a small world! AND The Thoroughbred Series by Joanna Campbell was my favorite too! I didn't get my first until 5th or 6th grade though. I would save my money from my birthday and Christmas or any holiday for that matter, to buy more TB books! I think I ended up with about 70 plus the Special Editions!
DeleteThere are 72 total books in the series, plus 14 in the Ashleigh series, and maybe 5 in the Special Editions? I have all of them and this just makes me want to go back to my parents house and dig out the tote that has all of those books in it.
ReplyDelete