Please help us
welcome Ema Volf, author of The Rapture of Avery Maye, to our blog today! She
is joining us as part of a new thing we’re doing where
we let the author take over our blog! And take over she did! Enjoy!
Ema carefully
climbed down the ladder into the darkness below. Crystals embedded into the
rock wall behind the ladder glowed brightly enough to illuminate her path, but
not enough to blind her. Upon reaching the bottom, she carefully placed her
feet on the stone floor. Behind her, she heard a man clear his throat, causing
her to yelp in surprise.
She turned
around to find a tall man with sun-tanned skin, bluish black hair, and
glittering ice blue eyes carrying something small in front of his stomach that
she couldn’t see in the dim light. She held her hand over her chest in a sad
attempt at calming her heart rate. “Good grief, Alec! What are you doing here?”
A grin
spread across his face. “Ruthi and MaryAnn told me that you were posting on
their blog today. They expressed a desire for my presence. How could I possibly
turn them down?”
“A desire
for your presence or a desire for you in general?”
He chuckled
to himself. “Does it matter?” He held out the object he had been carrying, a
hot cup of her favorite tea. “I brought this for you.”
Ema shook
her head, trying to hide her smile. She carefully took the cup from his hands. “Oh,
geez. Well, I guess you can stay.”
“Good!
Because I planned on it anyways!”
Ema sighed as
she walked past him. “I figured as much.” She crossed to a large, round table
that sat in the center of the room. In the center of the table rested a bowl
full of glowing crystals, like the ones that lined the walls. “I’m glad you
finally got around to building this table. It’s definitely going to come in
handy.”
“I’ll let
our guests in,” Alec said, opening one of three doors on the far side of the
room.
“What guests?
I thought I would just record this and broadcast it on YouTube or something ...”
“You could
do that … But Ruthi and MaryAnn clued Darian in on this little blog takeover,
too, and Darian decided to bring them here. Showoff.”
Ema sat her
cup of tea on the table and dropped into the nearest chair. Once seated, she
lifted the cup to her lips and took a small sip, while admiring the carvings
along the side of the table top. Wings and stars. Hmm, she thought. Fitting.
Within
moments, a man with shoulder-length brown hair and deep green eyes appeared
through a portal inside the small room on the other side of the door that Alec
held open. Several people appeared directly behind him. Ema recognized a few
faces, but many of them were new. They were all visitors of the R&M’s Fab
Book Reviews blog. They all piled into the large room.
“Hi, Darian.
I’m glad you could make it,” Ema greeted sweetly.
Darian
smiled at her, looking a bit more ragged than usual. Ema assumed it had to do
with Avery’s prolonged absence, so she didn’t comment. Instead, she patted the
table in front of the chair next to her.
“Come in.
Take a seat.” Alec gestured to the table. “Except that one!” he called, as a
woman attempted to sit in the chair on Ema’s other side. “That one is mine.”
Ema rolled
her eyes, as the woman quickly stood up and went to a different chair on the other
side of the table.
Alec quickly
sat in the chair the woman had vacated and leaned up against Ema, smiling
devilishly.
Ema tensed
up. “Alec, didn’t we have this talk about personal space?”
“We might
have. I seem to forget,” he teased, refusing to move back.
“Yeah, I’ll
bet you do.”
After the
last of the R&M guests entered the room, a sandy blond-haired man peeked in
from the door behind them.
“Come on in
Dillon.” Ema sighed, as she waved him in. “Is anyone else in there?”
“Krystle and
Darcie are in here,” Dillon replied.
“Oh, Lord
help us. Bring them too, but they better play nice.”
An
unnaturally pale woman with black hair and black eyes strode into the room.
Close behind her, a woman with light brown hair and dark eyes glared holes
through the back of the black-haired woman’s head.
Ema gestured
to the black-haired woman. “This is Darcie.” She gestured to the brown-haired
woman. “And this is Krystle. Pull up chairs and get yourselves settled. We
don’t have much time.”
Darian,
Dillon, Krystle, and Darcie quickly grabbed chairs near Avery and Alec.
After
inhaling a deep, cleansing breath, Ema smiled. “Hey, everyone!” she began. “Welcome
to Eirny! In case you didn’t notice, we are currently sitting underneath the
castle. My name is Ema Volf, and I was asked by the lovely ladies at R&M if
I wanted to do a guest blog! I more or less said, ‘Darn right I do!’ So here I
am! You might have heard of me, before this moment, or you might not have!
Either way, you’ve heard of me now, yes? Ha! Anyways, let me tell you more
about myself! I am the author of the book The Rapture of Avery Maye! It is the
first book in the series called Chronicles of Eirny! It’s a science-fantasy
novel written for the YA crowd, but really could be read by anyone! Heck, I’m
27 and LOVE kid, teen, and YA books!”
“Of course!”
Alec interrupted. “They’re amazing!”
Ema gave him
an awkward look. “Since when do you read? Avery is always the one reading to
you!”
“Hey! I read
that one book, that one time!”
“Right … So,
R&M readers, I would like to introduce you to several characters in my
book. They apparently enjoy stalking me until I go mad.”
“But you’re
not there quite yet, so I’d say we’re failing,” Alec teased.
“I’m pretty
close, I assure you,” she grumbled. “Anyways, I wasn’t expecting any of my
characters to be here. They like to surprise me like that. So I suppose I can
let them answer questions and chat for a bit. I think I’ll start with Dillon.”
Dillon gave
a shy smile and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He disliked crowds, but he
stayed out of support for Ema.
“I have to
say, Dillon, I was really impressed by you this book. You stepped up to the
plate and helped Xuna out in a major way. What made you decide to take on such
a major role in that situation? Many guys walk away from their own children.
You picked up half of the responsibility for another man’s child like it was no
big thing.”
“What else
could I do?” Dillon asked. “Her father is no longer capable. Xuna is my friend,
and I love her. I also love our daughter, even if she’s not technically mine.”
“So you’re
still not together?”
“I’m waiting
patiently, but I’m not sure now is the right time to discuss it with her, all
things considered.”
Ema nodded.
“Fair enough. Do you hold any resentment toward Felton, the baby’s father?”
“No. It
wasn’t his fault.”
Ema briefly
looked in Darcie’s direction just in time to see her look away from the table.
“Darcie, how does that make you feel?”
“Fan-freaking-tastic,”
Darcie growled. “It’s always nice to be reminded of your mistakes.”
“How are you
holding up without your brother?”
Darcie’s eye
twitched. “As well as can be expected. I don’t usually miss him, if that’s what
you’re asking. I don’t have to clean up his messes anymore. Now I just have to
deal with my own.”
Ema nodded.
“That definitely seems easier.”
“Indeed.”
“Are you
happier on Eirny than you were elsewhere?”
“Overall. I
don’t always know how to react to people. But I don’t think they know how to
react to me, either.”
“Perhaps if
you weren’t so prickly …” Krystle suggested.
“Yeah, like
you have any room to talk!” Darcie yelled.
Ema put a
hand up in each of their directions. “Alright enough!” she interrupted. “I think Ruthi from R&M had a question.
Go ahead Ruthi.”
Ruthi smiled
deviously from across the table. “Krystle, I wanted to ask you. You have had to
deal with the attraction between your best friend and the man you care about.”
Darian
cleared his throat, before speaking up. “I don’t think it’s really an
attraction anymore. She seems quite content now.”
“Oh hush,
Darian. You can’t be in denial forever. Or maybe you can. Either way. Krystle,” Ruthi glared at Darian for
interrupting, “how is that affecting your friendship?”
Krystle
visibly tensed at the question. “It’s not. We are still friends no matter
what.” She clenched her teeth. “And when she gets back from wherever she went
without telling us, I can show her exactly how good of friends we are. By smacking her upside her darn head for
leaving without telling us!” She slammed her hand down on the table top,
causing most of the people in the room to jump.
Ema
attempted to suppress a laugh. “I take it you’re a bit upset about Avery’s
absence?” she asked. “I’m sure she had a good reason.”
“There’s no
good reason why she couldn’t tell us! And I’ve had to listen to these two
obsess over where she is!” Krystle pointed to Darian and Alec.
“You sure
you aren’t worried about her, as well?”
“Of course I
am!” she yelled. “She just vanished without a trace!” Krystle covered her face
with her hands, attempting to calm down.
Ema peeked
at Alec beside her to find his jaw clenched and his eyes downcast. “I see,” she
said quietly. She then turned her attention to Darian, paying especially close
attention to his pale complexion and worry lines. “You seem to be affected by
this the most. Why?”
Darian
sighed, sadly. “Avery and I have a connection that none of the other characters
really understand. She keeps me tied to this world. Without her, everything
changes. I mean that literally. I can no longer see colors. I can hear you, but
you sound monotone and dull.”
“I thought
that was over once she arrived.”
“It was.
However, since she’s been gone, this curse has returned. My best guess is that
she went somewhere generally associated with death. Perhaps that distance
causes my body to believe that she is dead, when she really is not.”
“Right,”
Alec interjected. “Can we talk about something lighter please?”
“I have
another question!” Ruthi offered.
Ema nodded.
“Go ahead, Ruthi!”
“How did you
come up with the idea for this book?”
Ema smiled.
“Light enough, Alec?” she asked.
Alec nodded
in approval.
“Well, one
night I had a dream that I woke up in a place that appeared to be my childhood home.
Dreams that start with you waking up area always fun, anyways. But I walked
through my house and noticed something odd. There were people in my living room,
my kitchen, my parents’ room ... I didn’t know these people, at all. I told
them all to leave, but they wouldn’t go. I was so mad that I ran out the door
into my backyard. It looked the same as my old backyard. The pool was there. It
was nighttime and warm. I’m guessing it was summer in that dream. Anyways
everything looked the same, until I looked up. The sky looked very different.
The moon was there, and it looked normal. But, to the right, there was also a
giant planet that looked a lot like Jupiter. It was close enough that I could
even see the bands without a telescope. To the left, a diamond-shaped chunk of
earth that looked like a floating, tree-covered mountain was hanging over my
neighbor’s yard.”
“That must
have been pretty trippy,” Alec said.
“A little. I
wasn’t scared. In the dream, I felt more sad than scared. Anyways, one of my
friends came up behind me and told me that everyone in the house lived there. I
asked where we were, and he told me that we were on another planet. I woke up
and wrote that dream down in my dream journal. Oddly enough, I kept having more
dreams about the same place, but different parts of it. Eventually I decided to
just write it down. Naturally, I changed a few details, made up a history, and
added a cooler cast.” Ema winked at her characters sitting around her.
MaryAnn
cleared her throat. “Well, I know we could talk all day, but this post is
getting awfully long …”
“Oh,
MaryAnn! Always keeping us on track!” Ema laughed. “Alright! I think we can
wrap it up! Thank you all for joining us! Make sure to check out my book, The
Rapture of Avery Maye! It’s on sale now on Amazon, Smashwords, and CreateSpace!
I’m including the links below! And while you’re here, there are refreshments in
the garden! Pick your own! They taste way
better than anything you have on Earth, trust me!”
As Darian
led the R&M crowd back out through the portal, Alec rested his arm on Ema’s
shoulder.
Ema watched
him from the corner of her eye.
“So, Ema,”
he said. “I think you should write me into a romance novel.”
Ema laughed
and shook her head, before turning to the ladder on the wall and climbing out
of the room. Her laughter echoed around the room, as Alec watched her from
below.
About
the Author:
Ema lives in Northwest Arkansas with her husband, son, cat, two
dogs, chinchilla, and bird. She spends her days trying to balance the never-ending
work of a homemaker and the schedules of all members of her household while
remaining relatively sane.
An avid reader, what time she has to herself is usually spent buried in the
pages of a book. She enjoys nearly every genre, but particularly enjoys
paranormal fiction of all types and age ranges.
While she constantly has stories and characters rolling around in her head,
Avery called to her the loudest. After several months of conversing with Avery,
Ema decided to put pen to paper and let others visit Eirny and its beloved
residents.
AUTHOR LINKS:
BOOK LINKS:
Monique was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she currently resides with her husband.
