Interview with Maggie Platt for Kingdom Above the Cloud

Kingdom Above the Cloud (Tales from Adia, #1)

by Maggie Platt
Publisher: Ambassador International
Release Date: April 17th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Allegory

Synopsis:

What if the nine Fruit of the Spirit and the Seven Deadly Sins were locked in a battle for control?

Abandoned as infants, Tovi and her twin brother were raised by an eclectic tribe of warm, kind people in a treehouse village in the valley. After her brother’s sudden disappearance Tovi questions her life and her faith in an invisible King. Ignoring her best friend Silas’ advice, she decides to search for her brother in the kingdom on top of the mountain.

Above the cloud, the Council of Masters receives their orders. Tovi and her brother are the objectives. King Damien has a plan and Tovi is the key. The Council of Masters want her, but will she remain unscathed?

Amidst the glamour of the kingdom above the cloud Tovi is torn between her own dark desires and unanswered questions. It starts with a snake and a crown. When the ring is complete, will her life be over?

Can you briefly describe KINGDOM ABOVE THE CLOUD and its characters?

Kingdom Above the Cloud is the story of Tovi Tivka, a young woman living in the whimsical valley of Adia, where everyone lives in tree houses. She and her twin brother were raised by foster grandparents who took them in as infants. Meanwhile, evil King Damien, who rules his kingdom on the top of a nearby mountain, chooses several of his young, elite “masters” to play a game. Their goal is to use their talents (based loosely on the seven deadly sins) to draw someone from the valley up to the top of the mountain. Several of these masters set their sights on Tovi.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

Eryx is by far my favorite! He became a pet of mine sometime in the middle of writing this story. He was very minor at first. He is one of the “bad guys” who lives on the mountain, and he represents the sin of wrath. One day, I heard the song “A Bad Dream” by Keane and the lines, “I’m a man, I was born to hate,” and “I was fighting, but I just feel too tired to be fighting, guess I’m not the fighting kind,” hit me so hard. It knew in that moment that Eryx has lived a life of wrath, but he is exhausted, frustrated, and longing for something different. I’m not totally sure why he became so dear to me. Maybe it’s the hope he represents. He’s a “bad guy,” but he wants to be better. Adwin (the God character in the story) goes out of his way, time and time again, to draw Eryx in. I hope we can really see them connect in a sequel, but we’ll have to see where Eryx takes us in the story!

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

It really started with a daydream. What if there was a world full of characters who had mastered either a deadly sin or a fruit of the spirit? I started designing characters and imagining scenes, and it took on a life of its own. By the time I was done writing it, it was a deep dive into my Christian faith on a scale I never expected!

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

We All Need Saving by Jon McLaughlin was a song on constant repeat while I was writing. 

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

I've always pictured Silas (one of the main characters) as Zac Efron. But, not the Zac Efron of today… more like the shaggy-haired High School Musical Zac (I started writing the story in 2007!). For the rest of the characters, I’ve never had specific actors in mind. I think I’d like to see it with a bunch of unknowns!

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

A hammock strung between shady trees, with your favorite fruity beverage (whether that is juice, flavored water, or hard cider!). Tovi lives in a tree house, so sitting under or in a tree is ideal!

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish KINGDOM ABOVE THE CLOUD?

One of my recent favorites is the Story Peddler series by Lindsay Franklin. It’s another whimsical fantasy world with lots of allegory and spiritual themes.

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

The absolute hardest part for me was actually declaring it “finished.” I worked on it for over a decade on my own, rearranging, rewording, and revising. Then came the official editing process. I kept tweaking and tweaking and tweaking. Finally my editor told it was ready and we should stop! Thank goodness for her. Without her we’d probably still be editing!

What’s next for you?

I am working on the sequel! I’m hoping to have the first draft finished and submitted to my publisher by the end of the summer.

Maggie Platt is a writer, traveler, cancer survivor, and dreamer. Her greatest joys are being Auntie M to her amazing nieces and nephew and sitting with students and friends over cups of coffee and deep conversations. She works at her alma mater, Anderson University in Indiana, and she lives in a cozy little cottage nearby where students come to sit on her couch just to laugh, cry, and talk about life.

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A Letter from the Loveboat, Taipei's author

Loveboat, Taipei (Loveboat, Taipei #1)

by Abigail Hing Wen
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: January 7th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Travel, Asian Literature

Synopsis:

For fans of Crazy Rich Asians or Jane Austen Comedy of Manners, with a hint of La La Land

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.

Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?

A Letter From the Author

When I landed as a teen in Taipei for a summer of Mandarin immersion, I was completely unprepared for what lay ahead. Chien Tan wasn’t just a language and cultural program. It was the notorious LOVEBOAT, though until then, I’d never heard of it. A thousand Chinese-American kids of immigrants, who’d spent the past ten years studying hard to get into college and living by their traditional family rules—now dropped off in a foreign land with zero supervision. 

There was a lot of sneaking out into humid nights to go dancing. Eating the best street food on the planet. Dating and breaking up and making up. 

Even falling in love. 

Somehow in the midst of all that craziness, we still managed to absorb some language and culture, too. I made lifelong friendships who turned into a network around the United States (my future husband, as it would turn out, attended Loveboat in an earlier summer). In that summer that can never be replicated, I connected with parts of myself I hadn’t allowed myself to embrace before. 

I wrote LOVEBOAT, TAIPEI to capture some of that journey. 

This novel is a romp—a story of repressed teens gone wild, and of discovering one’s identity in all its facets. Between these pages live and breathe a cast of over thirty Asian Americans. Though they share a cultural heritage and are from similarly high-achieving families, they are individuals—some funny, some quiet, some timid, some outrageous. But they are all diverse, all talented and all flawed in their own ways: 

Eighteen-year-old Ever Wong is working towards becoming a doctor, but nurses a secret passion to dance. 

Rick Woo is the Yale-bound, child prodigy bane of her existence. 

Boy-crazy Sophie Ha turns out to have more to her than meets the eye. 

And under sexy Xavier Yeh’s shell is buried a shameful secret he’ll never admit. 

Writing their stories as they navigate their cultures and search for their place in the world was one of the most difficult, rewarding experiences of my life. I hope that I’ve done them justice and that you find a small measure of yourself in their stories, too.

Abigail was born in West Virginia to a family of immigrants: Her mother is from the Philippines and her father from Indonesia, and her grandparents emigrated to those countries from Fujian and Shandong provinces in China. 

Abigail grew up in Ohio and graduated from Harvard University and Columbia Law School. She worked in Washington DC for the Senate, as a law clerk for a federal judge. and now in Silicon Valley in venture capital and artificial intelligence. She also earned her Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. 

In her spare time, she enjoys long walks with her husband and two boys, and hanging out with friends and over 100 family members in the Bay Area. She loves music and dances to it when no one is watching.

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Release Day Blitz: Forbidden Nights (Seductive Nights #5) by Lauren Blakely

It's here! Lauren Blakely's FORBIDDEN NIGHTS, the fifth full-length novel from her New York Times Bestselling Erotic Romance Series, Seductive Nights, is releasing today! Lauren Blakely is well known for writing sexy, heartfelt and humorous contemporary romance as well as deeply emotional new adult stories --one commonality in all her books is the scorching hot sexy times. And FORBIDDEN NIGHTS is absolutely no different! Nate Harper and Casey Sullivan's story is sexy and will keep you asking for more! We can't wait for you to snuggle up with Nate Harper and Casey Sullivan in this fabulous, sexy novel. We have all the information on this book for you, but first, Lauren has an amazing giveaway for her readers!

Forbidden Nights (Seductive Nights #5)
by Lauren Blakely
Release Date: February 17th 2015

Synopsis:

A smoldering and sensual standalone romance novel in the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Seductive Nights Series by Lauren Blakely... 

Sinfully sexy hotel CEO Nate Harper knows exactly how to please a woman. He's equally skilled in keeping his heart safe from the kind of hurt his ex inflicted on him years ago. But one thing he's not so good at what-so-ever is getting his mind and all his dirty thoughts off the gorgeous, outgoing, and absolutely captivating Casey Sullivan, the new head of the Joy Delivered company.

They've been friends for years now, and Casey trusts Nate completely. So it makes perfect sense to her to ask him for hands-on guidance when she finds herself in need of some of his romantic expertise.

The trouble is, his heart may be signing up for more than it bargained for when he agrees to help her learn to abandon her need for control in the bedroom. Because as she experiences what it means to let go, he'll start to experience what it means to feel again...

But what happens when all those forbidden nights turn into a deeper connection that's much more than expected?

*FORBIDDEN NIGHTS is a standalone full-length novel in the bestselling SEDUCTIVE NIGHTS series following the love affair of Nate and Casey. You can read it on its own, but you would likely enjoy the other books too.*

Lauren Blakely does it again and brings readers more smoldering, sexy nights in her Seductive Nights Series with her newest novel, FORBIDDEN NIGHTS.

In Lauren Blakely’s newest Seductive Nights novel, Nate Harper knows exactly how to please a woman. And Casey Sullivan is convinced Nate is the one to give her some hands-on guidance. Lauren wants to deliver with some pleasure for her readers too -- so she’s offering an extra special Forbidden Getaway GIVEAWAY at a value of $500 with this novel!

Back by popular demand, Lauren Blakely has put together an extra special Forbidden Giveaway for her readers-The chance to win your very own Forbidden Night, Seductive Nights Style! This is your chance to create your own Forbidden Getaway! You'll have the opportunity to win a night at your favorite hotel and dinner at your favorite restaurant, and all you have to do to enter is take the Be Seduced Trivia Quiz about the Seductive Nights Series in the back of the novel! This is your chance to discover a Forbidden Night of your own!* Readers can access the quiz in the eBook version of FORBIDDEN NIGHTS, and will have until February 21st to enter the quiz. To be clear, the back of the FORBIDDEN NIGHTS eBook is the ONLY location with the link to the quiz.**

FORBIDDEN NIGHTS is the next novel in the Seductive Nights Series and can be read as a standalone.

* Forbidden Getaway giveaway is for a value of up to $500 only.

**Paperback only readers can contact Lauren Blakely directly about how to enter the contest. 

FORBIDDEN NIGHTS is a full-length, standalone erotic romance novel that follows the love affair of a new couple, Nate and Casey, and does not have a cliffhanger. It’s priced at $3.99 across all retailers.

Forbidden Nights

by Lauren Blakely

He threw the napkin on the table and reached for her hand. Her expression was one of complete surprise. “Dance with me.”

Her lips quirked up and she seemed to understand what he’d done. Given her an order. She nodded demurely and he led her to a small sliver of a dance floor, near where the woman with the microphone was singing a Billie Holiday number. He pulled Casey in close. She tensed briefly, as if unsure where to rest her hands, whether on his shoulders or waist. He planted them firmly on his shoulders, and wrapped his arms around her sexy, slim waist that fit perfectly in his hands.

“Just relax and let me lead,” he said, whispering in her ear, a waft of her tropical scent drifting by his nostrils. She shivered briefly against him, and that nearly did him in. He stayed strong, swaying gently, guiding her in slow, sensuous moves. “I’ll show you how to let go, but you have to trust me. And that’s where it starts. With trust. I’m not a Dom, you’re not my Sub—we’re not going to join a BDSM club, or sign a contract. But I can show you how good it will feel when you give up control.”

She breathed in sharply, as if acclimating to new air on a distant planet. “Why do men like a woman to give up control? What is it about the lack of control that men like so much?”

“It’s not that they like a lack of control. But a man wants a woman who gives herself to him. He wants a woman to melt into his arms, to get aroused from a kiss on the back of her neck,” he said, and traced a fingertip gently under her hair, watching her reaction as she drew in a breath. “It’s the hand on her arm.” He trailed his fingers down her bare skin to her elbow as he leaned in to whisper, “Or warm breath near her ear.” She gasped, and he kept going. “He wants a woman who’s so turned on, she’ll nearly beg for it. He wants her abandon. He wants to be the only one to make her feel that way.”

She parted her lips to speak, but he shushed her with his fingertip against them. God, he was so tempted to let her suck on his finger right now, to watch her simulate a blow job, to let her show him what she could do. But that would come later. He needed to kiss her first.

That is, after he teased her.

“At some point soon, some point very, very soon, I’m going to kiss you,” he said, watching the expression in her eyes shift to a heady kind of desire. Her fingers curved into his shoulders, holding on tightly to him. “You’re going to close your eyes,” he said, and then her lids fluttered closed. “And you’re not going to know when it’s coming. You’re going to want it. Your body is going to be crying out for a kiss,” he said, his voice husky and raw as her chest rose and fell, and she moved closer to him as they swayed. He cupped the back of her neck, watching her response to every touch, from the way her lips parted as he threaded his hands through her hair, to how she leaned back into him, almost relishing the way his fingers ran slowly through those soft, wavy strands. A sigh came next, a desperate needy sigh, and a barely-there arch of her back, her body seeking out more contact. “But I might not kiss you yet. I might run my hands down your arms,” he said, then did just that. “Or maybe I’ll stop telling you what I’m going to do.”

I'm so thrilled that the Seductive Nights erotic romance series is continuing with a new installment starring a new couple! This series has been such a joy to write since it started as a fan-driven series, with Julia and Clay, and then Jack and Michelle, and now this this new novel is about Nate and Casey. Readers requested that I write their story next, so I did! FORBIDDEN NIGHTS can be read without having read the earlier books. (Though, why wouldn't you want to meet the other couples?!) I can't wait to introduce readers to Nate Harper and Casey Sullivan. They’re a dynamic duo and many early readers are saying this is their favorite story yet! Nate knows exactly who, and what he wants, and is thrilled when the opportunity he’s dreamed about for years presents herself to him. Expect many steamy encounters between these two!

Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with heat, heart, and humor, and her books have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists. Like the heroine in FAR TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family, laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs. Her novels include Caught Up In Us, Pretending He’s Mine, Playing With Her Heart, and Trophy Husband. She also writes for young adults under the name Daisy Whitney.

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