BLOOD DIVIDED Giveaway! Starting Jan. 25th.

To celebrate the release of BLOOD DIVIDED in paperback and its recent scoring of 7th place in the P&E reader's poll... along with, well, my birthday, I have set up this Goodreads.com Giveaway! It begins Jan. 25th.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Blood Divided

by Kevin James Breaux

Giveaway ends February 05, 2012.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I hope you all enter. Don't worry there is no spamming or information shared from these giveaways. That being said, if you would rather not wait, Amazon has BLOOD DIVIDED on sale RIGHT NOW!!!

Click this Amazon.com link. http://amzn.com/1937051242


Thanks all and good luck!

Kevin James Breaux
http://www.kevinbreaux.com/

Great new Soul Born review!!! Its... Wow!

"Soul Born is a fantastic page-turning beginning to Kevin Breaux’s fantasy trilogy."

There is a new review over at Bookspotcentral and wow... just wow.  I've read this one probably ten times already. I'm so impressed. I'm also extremly happy the reviewer, Douglas Cobb, enjoyed it so much. There was a lot of things I was trying to do with Soul Born... and well, he seemed to have realized much of it.

 http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/01/07/soul-born-by-kevin-breaux-review/

Check out the review and let me know what you think. Post some comments over on Bookspotcentral.

Thanks all,

Kevin James Breaux

http://www.kevinbreaux.com/

Excerpt from BLOOD DIVIDED book 2 of Soul Born Saga

Hi all,

Here is an excerpt from Blood Divided. It might feel a little out of context, but trust me it's an important part. This excerpt ties some aspects of Soul Born to Blood Divided and then also ties it to book three. Some small teasers here, no spoilers.

Note: Blood Divided takes place 20 years after Soul Born. So when in the excerpt in mentions 16 year ago, we are actually taking about 4 years after the end of the events of Soul Born. 

I hope you like this peek into what Opal has been doing.


***(please note, if you purchased or were gifted an early copy ((before Dec. 6th)) of Blood Divided on Kindle this flashback will be new to you. It was one of the late additions/corrections to the book, and is being updated into a new Kindle file soon. I kept the lead in to this part so you would know where it goes in the story.)

Page 70 of BLOOD DIVIDED - Book two of the Soul Born Saga

Khaos forcefully sheathed his sword before running after Cynthia through the brush. As he disappeared into the forest, Opal stood stunned her mind on one thing; power.


“I-I was powerful… I was powerful… I was powerful…”


Sixteen summers ago, Opal made a decision that would forever change her life and reshape the lives of all those she knew.

***

Standing on the shore of the small island of Velencia, Opal addressed her two oldest friends: Lorek, a former student of the High Council, trained by the archmage Dusk, and Willa, one of the first Illyian mages she had rescued way back when she still pregnant and called that dreaded land home.


Opal asked both of them to meet her on the coast of their new homeland so she could reveal her latest plan and show them the first step she was taking to see it to fruition.


Having saved seven adults and twelve children from persecution due to their magical powers over the past five years, Opal first explained they had finally reached a point in time when they needed to officially form a group. This New Guild, as she called it, would offer not only safe haven to its members, but also training for those who needed it or wished to develop their powers to protect themselves.


Both Lorek and Willa had been studying with Opal for a while, each overcoming the unfortunate circumstance of lacking absolute control over their powers when they were younger. When Opal became reacquainted with Lorek, months after the Mustaffa War, he had burns over sixty percent of his body, a result of trying to summon a fire spell of such magnitude it would cleanse Spire Anguish of its elven mage hunters. He had been in both physical and mental anguish. Such turmoil would have undone a weaker man, but Lorek’s determination was strong.


Willa could barely hold her shape. Her magic, which was tied to nature tighter than any other magic user Opal had met, had transformed the woman into some sort of monster, a walking-talking tree, her skin forever changed to a dark green tone, covered in hard patches like a lizard man’s scales. Able to elongate her limbs like ever-growing snakes, Willa often found herself trapped, “rooted,” to the ground by her feet. Opal taught her how to relax with a breathing exercise while concentrating on a child’s rhyme. It was something she used long ago to balance her mind and emotions. Panic, Opal taught both of them, was a mage’s worst enemy.


Gazing over her shoulder back at the two, Opal spotted Willa’s fingers wrapped around Megan’s and Nathan’s wrists, the thin green things wiggling like earthworms. The two scamps had a penchant for running off when not attended to, and Willa, with her abilities, made a great guardian.


Although Opal could not see Willa’s face through the shadows of her hood, she knew the woman was most likely practicing her breathing exercises; she was much better at holding her shape now—a great change from a summer ago, when she would have probably looked like a big, green octopus writhing on the beach.


“All this time… all those trips back and forth from that hateful continent of Illyia…” Opal paused. “I’ve often thought this one thing: What made the High Council so appealing to young mages? What did those old bastards truly have to offer?”


Lorek and Willa remained silent, like a pair of motionless statues, each covered from head to toe in thick, heavy, mage’s robes, hoods up, even now, when no one was around to see their deformities.


“What did they offer you, Lorek? You joined them when you were young?” she asked, facing away from them again, her eyes locked on the waves on the horizon.


“I had been disowned by my father after accidentally burning his farms; the High Council offered me a new home.”


“As I offer a home to those I rescue now.”


They could not see it, but Opal’s eyes where flashing blue and green; the magical energy she stored within her body was about to be released.


“Not that I’m complaining, Mistress Opal, but their home was more than a cabin in the woods… it was a huge fortress.”


“Exactly,” Opal answered.


With that Opal’s body began to glow brown, shimmering from head to toe. While raising her hands from her hips, a purple cloud of magical energy formed in the sky over distant waves.


“Wha-what is it?” Lorek asked, recalling the last time he saw Opal cast a spell over the ocean. “What do you see? Is it more slavers?”


“No, nothing on top of the water; something well beneath it.”


The island of Velencia began to shake. First, a small tremor crept across the top crust that few would have noticed, but for Willa, rooted into the ground as she was, it felt like being shoved. Taking several steps back, Willa led Opal’s children away from the beach to the tree line. She sensed a great change coming, in nature if in nothing else.


Opal magically lifted herself several feet from the ground as she performed her spell. Lorek could see Opal straining, the veins in her neck bulging all the way down to her shoulders. Lorek had witnessed her cast many spells, all effortlessly. Whatever she was doing, it must have been massive and that thought terrified him.


“Willa, perhaps we should move,” Lorek said, looking to his side, expecting to find her there, but she had already retreated back.


A more noticeable tremor shook the beach hard, knocking Lorek off his feet—now he understood why Opal was floating.


“Prepare yourselves,” Opal yelled.


The shaking grew stronger and stronger, filling their ears with a loud rumble that sounded as if the gods themselves were growling. Opal rose up further, the glow around her body intensifying until Lorek and Willa could no longer look at her without squinting.


Having to take his eyes off her, Lorek returned his gaze to the ocean, finally noticing something strange. A far distance off the coast, he thought he saw bubbling, like that of the hot springs that were hidden in the forests of the smallest island in the chain where they lived. Yet these bubbles did not look like they soothed; they were large and violently bursting on the surface of the ocean.


Casting a spell that would allow him to see further, Lorek could see fish by the dozens floating to the surface, seemingly dead.


“She’s killing fish?” Lorek said to Willa.


“No, she moving—”


Willa’s words were cut short as the rumbling of the land grew so loud that screams could not penetrate the sound. Drawing Opal’s children in tight, she tried to cover their eyes, with her tentacle-like fingers, but both Megan and Nathan wanted to see what was happening. They had been raised to never fear magic, especially that which was cast by their mother.


“Behold!” Opal screamed, the word lost in the thunderous noise.


Slowly, something dark pierced the water as it rose up from the depths of the ocean. Opal’s power intensified the spell and the purple clouds that hung over the ocean seemed to stretch and then sink into the water a moment, as the thing that was rising began to take shape. Flat on top, yet with jagged points outlining its shape, the land mass grew larger and larger, inch by inch, until a monolith was exposed.


“She moves the very world. Willa, she’s as powerful as the gods!” Lorek screamed.


Willa could fully sense it now; she knew what Opal was doing, yet wrapping her mind around it was difficult. Although she hardly heard her Lorek’s shouting, she felt the same way he did; for Opal to do what Willa assumed she was doing, she could not be human. The task would be impossible for humans.


Suddenly, the entire island of Velencia lurched, like a boat on rough seas. There was no doubting it now: everyone—man, woman, and child—would know something spectacular happened this day.


Fighting to stay balanced on their feet, Opal’s children eventually tipped over, one after the other. If Willa had not allowed her root-like toes to dig deep into the ground, she would have fallen over too.


“Just… a… little more,” Opal said between grunt-like exhales.


It was now apparent to all who witnessed it, by the height and shape of the giant rock formation, Opal had raised a small volcano from the ocean. Located off the shore of the island, too far to swim to, the thing was massive—tall enough that, during the dawn, it could cast a shadow long enough to reach the beach. As Opal dropped back down to her feet, the mountain of rock stopped moving and the quaking ceased. The glow that outlined her body decreased in brightness and begun to retract back into her; he spell was completed.


Standing up, Lorek shouted, not realizing his voice would be so loud now that the noise had died down. “You raised a damned volcano?”


Opal did not turn to answer him; she was having enough trouble just staying upright with the level of exhausting she was feeling.


“No longer a volcano… this is our new home, the headquarters of the New Guild.”


“Wha—”


“Opal, where is the water going?” Willa pointed, as the waves seemed to move in reverse, not crashing on the shore, but fleeing from it.


Opal had never seen such an occurrence, but Lorek had as a child, visiting his uncle’s home in one of Illyia’s many southern fishing villages. While staring at the sight, Lorek unearthed a long-forgotten memory, the details of the day a massive wave crashed down and flooded the entire fishing village rolling over him. He was only seven when it happened, and by some luck, one of the only survivors.


“Opal!” he screamed, finally getting her to look at him. “There’s going to be a huge wave coming.”


“Is this true, Willa?” Opal asked. This was one of the reasons she had Willa there: to interpret the reactions of nature.


Willa was already concentrating on the subtle vibrations the ocean made as the seawater churned. She could normally sense the waves, like a brushing motion caressing her rooted flesh. Now, that brushing was building up to a slapping sensation that warned her something was drastically wrong.


“The ocean has become violent.”


“Please, I’m warning you,” Lorek said backing up. “I’ve seen this before… the water goes away only to come back stronger… in a giant destructive wave. We must run now.”


It was already too late. When Opal faced the ocean again, the spray of incoming water was striking her face. A wave the size of the trees that once kept her father’s cabin secluded outside of Weiden’s Rise towered over her with a menacing roar. Although feeling like she had already pushed herself to her limits, Opal drew upon her magical power once more. She had to do something; her children were present.


Thrusting her hands out palms first, she erected a magical shield that was tall and long. The thick green force that emitted from her hands stretched out several feet to either side of her at first, but Lorek screams, of “More!” made her keep casting. Soon, the wall was reaching out at least twenty feet to each side.


Before the wave could impact the shield, Lorek used his magic to further stretch and reinforce it. Learned in few defensive spells, Lorek was proud to at least know this one. A shield spell was an important part of any battle mage’s skill book.


“Let me help you!”


When Lorek’s hand touched Opal’s bare shoulder he recoiled in pain, but his grip on her grew tighter. In all the excitement Opal had not lowered her normal defenses, still coated in a spell that sapped the power of any other mage who would make skin-on-skin contact with her. Lorek felt instantly ill, time slowing down, sounds growing silent, until all he heard was Opal’s voice in his head.
 
Feeling as if he had been punched in the gut, Lorek’s knees buckled and he dropped to the ground. Opal was siphoning his life force to make herself more powerful, but not enough that he would suffer any permanent damage.


Within the blink of his eye, the shield spell Opal was casting spread out with lighting speed, defending the island as far as the eye could see. When the wave landed, it struck the shield with enough force to shatter a stone wall, but Opal’s spell held. Her magic was mightier than mere stone.


“Opal you’re hurting him!” Willa screamed as one of her tentacles grew up from the ground beneath Lorek, wrapped itself around his leg, and pulled him free of the skin-on-skin contact with Opal.


The ocean drummed against the magical shield wall a moment, reaffirming to Opal that she had made a terrible oversight. Had Lorek not been there, had he not offered a warning, there would have been a disaster.


“Willa, I need you to help me. Can you merge into the ground and drill some holes out in the surf, so this extra water will funnel off?”


“I can.”


“Good, I don’t want to hold this shield all day.” Opal smirked.


“What of the damage to the rest of the island?” Willa asked full of concern.


“What damage?”


“The wave, it must have reached the harbor by now.”


“No, it didn’t. I wrapped the shield around the entire island,” Opal assured her.


“You couldn’t have…” Willa’s voice faded off.


“If you doubt me, please, follow it around; tell me your answer when your reach this very spot again.”


Opal stepped away from the shield; on this day she had accomplished two large goals. After some modifications inside the volcano, the New Guild would have a home, a fortress. That and looking at the massive stone peak, looming in the distance, Opal knew that all who witnessed its arrival today would soon learn it was the result of magic. Powerful magic.


Her magic.

***

“I was powerful.”


Slowly Opal faded away.

-------------------------------------------

Who is Khaos? Opal has been doing what? She has kids?  Exciting, right?

Learn all the answers when you read Blood Divided. The print copy of the book should be released within a month. Sorry about the delays.

 

 

Kevin James Breaux

http://www.kevinbreaux.com/



BLOOD DIVIDED is now available on Kindle

Are you curious what happened after Soul Born? Well get ready to find out by reading the events of the next generation.

Book 2 in the Soul Born Saga; Blood Divided.

There exists an ancient elven proverb, dating before the time of man. Life and death, like day and night, meet at a point where they blend into one. It is that brief moment when anything is possible.

There was a time when four sparks of life burned brighter than the sun itself. Megan was born with power, Lucien born with station. Autumn was born full of life, while Nathan was entwined with death.

Peace has come and gone… The conflicts of old have returned-rejuvenated and driven. This is the beginning of the end. The children of Karn have come of age, and now they will take part in shaping the fate of Illyia.

Will they join forces, or with blood will they be divided?

Click here to order: http://amzn.com/B006FDHTF0

NEWS: My publisher released Blood Divided early on Kindle. The print version of the book (which was delayed) should be ready mid-late December.


Kevin James Breaux
http://www.kevinbreaux.com/

Alert: Do not buy currrent Kindle version of Blood Divided! Bad upload from Publisher.

ALERT: If you see Blood Divided on Kindle this week. DO NOT BUY IT.

MY publisher uploaded an old file and it is full of bad formatting and does not have the map or the acknowledgments.
HUGE MISTAKE! But it's getting fixed ASAP.

Please wait until next week to purchase it. I will let everyone know when its fixed.

FYI- the printed version of the book should be available mid December.
Kevin James Breaux
www.kevinbreaux.com

Blood Divided Updates

Hi all,

Well it looks like BLOOD DIVIDED will be released at the very end of the month, similar to SOUL BORN's release last year. Except this year the Kindle version should be out the same time or maybe even a few days early.

In Oct. I held a Kindle copy give-away for Soul Born and had a nice response. The winners were gifted their books and all seemed very excited to read it. In the last year I have seen roughly 60-70 reviews for Soul Born and they have all averaged to about a 4/5. Good Reads alone has something like 53 ratings now. I remember when Soul Born first came out and I was dying for those first reviews and ratings. I remember thinking... Oh, if I can only reach 10 or 12 reviews! 

Thanks to all who did take the time to read and rate or review the book. I know how much time can be spent reading a book and crafting a good review so I very much appreciate it.

Blood Divided is going to feel a little different than Soul Born. As I have said in the past, it takes place many years after Soul Born and therefore its a new world.  While there is some mystery, and big questions, the roller coaster ride is a lot kinder in book two and more world building is added. Each of the three books in the series has a separate intent. HINT: Blood Divided will read like a classic traditional fairy tale... then suddenly will be turned on its side with my style of dark fantasy emerging.

Can you read Blood Divided without reading Soul Born? Possibly. But you will have some questions about Opal and some of the impact of what has happened to the characters from book one to book two will be missing.

Yeah... I think that impact is going to be a lot of fun for the lovers of Soul Born. :)

Kevin James Breaux
http://www.kevinbreaux.com/

Blood Divided Cast of Characters (the new ones)

Hi all,

With SOUL BORN's sequel, BLOOD DIVIDED, on the horizon I thought it would be fun to introduce part of the cast of characters… the new ones. You might even find a few spoilers.

New Characters in Blood Divided

Megan – Opal’s daughter. Twin.

She's Opal’s best and most powerful student. She has the ability to speak with animals, it’s her secret. I have always thought of Megan as a more balanced version of Opal. She has benefited from years of study and learned from her mother’s mistakes.

To play her I would pick Odette Yustman. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0951148/


Khaos – Opal’s son. Megan’s twin.

His given name is Nathan, but he hates that he was named after his father. He's a loner who has long acted as a guard to Opal’s students, but that all has changed recently when he met his new lover. Khaos feels he was meant for more important things, so he intends to take them.

To play him I would pick Eric Etebari. (Khaos looks like Karn, but clean shaven.) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262026/


Autumn – Tala’s daughter. Princess of Illyia. Twin.

The very picture of a fairy tale princess: beautiful, proper and polite. She is loved by all, especially the captain of the guard. Autumn enjoys her family and her station and would not do anything to risk them.

To play her I would pick Minka Kelly. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1310368/


Lucien – Tala’s son. Prince of Illyia. Autumn’s twin.

He is the stalwart and quiet other side of the coin. Duty and honor matter most to him. He's proud to be the prince of Illyia and takes his charge very seriously. Lucien has little time or desire for anything else.

To play him I would pick Zach Roerig. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1813534/


Vasche – Kel Tora’s Captain of the Guard.

He is the youngest soldier to reach rank of captain and youngest to be awarded with the tile of Captain of the Guard. He’s a skilled warrior who trains day and night with every weapon he can find. He’s strong and smart, handsome and kind, and has been in love with Autumn for many years.

To play him I would pick Joe Manganiello.(clean-shaven) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0542133/


What happened to Opal? Where is Tala?

You will see... and you may be surprised. Blood Divided takes place twenty years after Soul Born so it’s a new world, with new concerns. Until then, check out this new 5/5 Star Review for Soul Born, posted on Amazon.com. Click or read below:

------------

Soul Born Review, October 5, 2011

By David A Kramer This review is from: Soul Born (Paperback)

"Soul Born is a fast paced fantasy novel that will keep the reader turning pages and reading far too late into the night. Set in the land of Illyia, the novel tracks three main characters as they fight against an invading warlord who leaves a path of destruction across the land as he works towards his ultimate goal; the destruction of his creators.

The characters are wonderfully brought to life as we learn about them and their various motives throughout the story. Opal is a young mage filled with enormous, but raw magical potential and is being mentored by the mage high council. She is strong willed and will go to any lengths to attain her desires. The biggest of those desires being her deep love for a warrior. Karn is a fierce fighter determined to end the warlord's destruction of his beloved land. We meet him as he is being nursed back to health by his lover, Opal, after being badly wounded protecting civilians fleeing the warlord. His entire life as he knows it will be turned upside down by a young elf. Tala is an outcast from her elven tribe who has taken refuge in a human town. She meets and befriends Karn. As their relationship grows closer, she is forced to reveal a terrible secret; his true past.

The action keeps the story moving forward at a brisk pace while the slow unveiling of each character's full motives fuels the reader to keep turning pages. I love the shades of gray the characters are colored with. Opal is a great example of a character driven by her best desires and intentions, but capable of making terrible choices to attain them. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am eagerly awaiting the second book in the series."

------------------

Thanks all,

Kevin James Breaux

http://www.kevinbreaux.com/

What's up?

Hi all,

What's up in the SOUL BORN world? Just waiting on the release of BLOOD DIVIDED this Winter. Had a really good review of Soul Born the other week and I posted it on my author blog here:

http://kevinjamesbreaux.blogspot.com/2011/09/awesome-letter-from-soul-born-reader.html

I wrote a new book this year, one outside of the Soul Born series. It's a Viking Age fantasy-horror-thriller book. Should be talking more about it soon on my other sites. This book marks my 4th completed novel.

I should be returning to writing the third book in the Soul Born Saga soon. It's more than half way completed. I hope to finish it by Jan 2012. (soonish). And I am still expecting my publisher to release some more Soul Born Saga short stories. I wrote two of those this summer.

As soon as I know more I will post updates here. 

Thanks!

Kevin James Breaux
http://www.kevinbreaux.com/