Title: Luminous
Author: Jasmine Angell
Series: The Psyne Series (#1)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Saga Ventures, LLC
Release Date: Aug 12 2013
Editions/Formats Available In: eBook
Blurb/Synopsis:
What would you do if the world you loved was taken from you forever?
...and what would you sacrifice to get it back?
Magical, Mythical, Mesmerizing…
A powerful race of beings lives and works among us and we don’t even know it. To us, they are known as mermaids, sirens and water nymphs, but they call themselves the Psyne. They have lived on Earth since ancient times, wield powerful magic and have only one weakness—love.
When Psyne suddenly start disappearing around the globe, the remaining aquatars are evacuated to their home world and a ban is placed on Earth. Ilauria, a devoted servant to the Psyne Council, can’t abide abandoning the missing eight, and with the help of her long-time friend, Shivan, and a subversive member of the Venvian Psyne named Adante, she embarks on a harrowing rescue mission to uncover who or what is powerful enough to subdue her kind.
What Ilauria discovers will cause her to question her loyalties, re-examine her dual nature, and will shake the very foundations of the truths her society holds dear.
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Jasmine was born in Tucson, Arizona, the oldest of two children. She spent her teen years living in Phoenix, Arizona and then attended the University of Arizona in Tucson where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing. She married and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where her husband attended graduate school at the University of Utah. There she adopted a love for the changing seasons, snowboarding and the beauty of the mountains.
She spent several years working on a literary novel but found her heart wasn’t in it. Finally she quit her day job to write full time and embraced her life-long love of fantasy fiction. She wrote Luminous, the first novel in the Psyne series (pronounced "sign") and followed it up with the sequel, Prism, due out the summer of 2014. With a third series novel in the works and no end in sight, Jasmine will be spending a great deal of time in the Psyne Universe over the next several years. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she loves to horseback ride, dance, make elaborate costumes just for the fun of it, and is always planning her next decadent tea party.
Author Links
Excerpts
Excerpt: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BAHREE
“Who are the Bahree?” Gavin asked.
“Shivan can tell you,” Adante said pointedly but the mentor didn’t react to her suggestive tone.
“They are a secret sect of Psyne whose identities are kept hidden from society,” Shivan said throwing a warning glance at Adante. “They are sanctioned by the Council to hunt down Psyne who’ve chosen to become human in order to stay with the one they love.”
“Defectors,” Adante said distastefully.
Shivan continued. “They bring them back to our home world—”
“Where they’re banned from our society, never to be seen or heard from again,” Adante finished.
“That’s kind of harsh,” Gavin said.
Adante saw Ilauria’s face blanch. The Council’s pet was no doubt like every other Psyne who were loyal to the Council, ignorant of detailed information about the Bahree.
“Oh that’s nothing,” Adante continued, eying Ilauria. “Before the defector is taken in front of the Council, the Bahree perform a conversion spell to restore her back to Psyne. You see, when a Psyne chooses to be permanently human, they are essentially denying the waters from whence they came and from that moment on, they have a deep rooted fear of the ocean. One drop of seawater on their human skin would feel like acid and the Bahree use this fact to cause the defector extreme pain, drenching them with ocean water during the transformation.”
Ilauria sat staring at Adante with an appalled look on her face.
“You didn’t know they did that, did you?” Adante asked her.
Ilauria didn’t answer but her stare intensified.
“All right, that’s enough talk about the Bahree,” Shivan said glaring at Adante.
“Defectors deserve far worse than torture,” Adante said.
“Is it so wrong for Psyne to want to experience their human side?” Ilauria asked.
Her question surprised Adante. “Absolutely,” she shot back.
“I think there are many Psyne who are curious about it but are afraid of what the Council will do to them if they act on it,” Ilauria said.
“Has the Fury’s poison fried your mind?” Adante asked. “Humans are barbaric, unpredictable creatures. How could any self-respecting Psyne love a human?”
You cling to your hatred so tightly, Ilauria said, shaking her head.
Why shouldn’t I? Their daily actions affirm exactly why they deserve my hate.
Shivan’s calm words interrupted their exchange. “Sit down, both of you.”
Adante looked at Shivan and didn’t realize she’d stood up. Ilauria glared at her from across the table but they both sat.
Adante grunted. The Council’s pet was so easily goaded.
“I apologize, Gavin,” Ilauria said. “It was rude to communicate that way in front of you.”
Gavin pressed his lips into an understanding smile. He looked like he knew better than to get in the middle of two women arguing.
Cajun Book Lover Interview for Luminous by Jasmine Angell
1. How did you come up with the idea for this book? Luminous is an adventure about three mermaids who go on a rescue mission to save their missing sisters but what they discover is much more than they bargained for. The story follows these mermaids as they experience first love, betrayal, loss, the importance of friendship and the true meaning of family. When I was a child, someone very important to me went missing and her death was difficult to deal with. Fantasy fiction is often an extended metaphor for real life and in Luminous, I wanted those missing mermaids to meet a much different end. It was my way of dealing with the pain of losing someone I loved, the pain I’ll always carry with me.
2. How many books do you have planned for this series? I get very attached to my characters and I’ve never understood how writers can write one book and then walk away from the characters forever. It’s unthinkable to me. So the sky is the limit! I hope to hit at least twenty books in the Psyne Series before I ever consider ending the series.
3. What do you enjoy the most about writing YA fantasy? I love the themes typically present in Young Adult fantasy: everything from first love, to coming-of-age, rebelling and of course, learning to embrace your own unique identity. The emotions are always so intense, so raw. I think that’s one reason why so many adults enjoy reading YA novels. I think the publishing industry views YA as exclusively for teenagers but I’ve found that the captivating themes that occur in our teen years can happen again in our twenties, thirties and so on. In point of fact, I didn’t experience a real teenage rebellion until I turned 30 years old. It was exhilarating!
4. What books have influenced your life the most? I grew up reading Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion series and those books solidified my love of writing. Nothing would be more fulfilling than to write a series that other readers adore as much as I love The Black Stallion series. I’ve always loved animals and as a kid I read a lot of adventure books about survival like Call of the Wild. I think life is all about survival, even in this modern age, many of us are fighting for the survival of our true identity and the survival of our dreams.
5. If you had to choose which writer would you consider a mentor? Laurell K. Hamilton. Best known for her Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series, she marches to the tune of her own drum and I admire that. When I was first struggling with writing my first novel, I read a passage Laurell included in the back of one of her Anita Blake books that detailed her journey to becoming a published author. In the Creative Writing Master’s program she attended, she was repeatedly discouraged from using her unique writing style and from writing about horror which was her first love. She had the tenacity of spirit and believed in her abilities enough to disregard such advice in order to become the New York Times Bestselling author she is today. For all those young writers out there, don’t get sucked into the negativity you might find directed your way. Keep writing, keep growing as a writer and above all, keep believing in yourself.
6. What is the last book you read? I read the adult paranormal romance entitled, Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Her Dark Hunter series combines Greek and Atlantean mythology in the most entertaining ways. I’ve never read anything like them before. Her creativity is phenomenal.
7. What is your favorite place to sit and write? Like the saying goes, “There is no place like home.” It’s familiar, it’s mine and it’s where I feel most comfortable. I enjoy writing late at night when the house is quiet, everyone is asleep and it’s just me and my characters.
8. What do you enjoy doing when you aren’t writing or reading? Besides raising kids, being with my family and spending time with my extraordinary friends, I also love creating costumes just for the fun of it, making decorative fondant cakes for birthdays, and planning themed Victorian tea parties. I’m an avid student of belly dance, I love snowboarding and riding horses even though I haven’t had much time to indulge in those activities lately. Free time seems to be on short supply!
9. What is the title of the next book in the Psyne Series? Prism is the title of the second book in the Psyne Series. I chose Prism as the title because a prism is an object used to disperse light into a spectrum, a band of colors as seen in a rainbow, and that image ties directly into the story. The overall theme of light and enlightenment in Luminous is essential to the series as a whole and will be carried over into the sequel. Look for it next May 2014!
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