Virtual Book Tour for Dragon Apocalypse by Josh Powell

Dragon Apocalypse

by Josh Powell

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GENRE: Humorous Epic Fantasy

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BLURB:

On their way to apprehend a temple thief, Gurken Stonebiter, a templerager of the temple of Durstin Firebeard, and Pellonia, a little, but infuriatingly clever, girl stumble onto a quest to save a town from an evil dragon. The dragon is demanding sacrifices of maidens, and the town is fresh out. Can they discover a way to sate the dragon's bloodlust and save the town?

Along the way, Gurken and Pellonia meet up with Maximina, a half under-elven woman that also happens to be a tad psychic, a ranger with a dash of necromantic ability, a smidgen of samurai training, and just enough time living as a rogue to acquire the ability to sneak up on and stab a foe in the back. Maximina is full of clever ideas on how to gain a tactical advantage over her foes, and on occasion they even work.

During their adventures, Gurken, Pellonia, and Maximina face a snarky unicorn, do battle with a terrible frost giant, contend with a rival adventuring party bent on their utter humiliation, and confront the end of the world in the form of an evil sorcerer and a teeming dragon horde. Can they save the world one more time?

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Excerpt :

“We’ve run out of maidens,” the mayor told the crowd in the morning, shaking his head sadly.  The mayor stood beside a wooden pole with chains and manacles attached to it.  The manacles were empty.  “I’m afraid that last night, the last maiden in the city, shall we say… disqualified herself. 

“Trollop!” said a voice in the crowd.

“In about five minutes, the dragon will be here and we’ll all be scorched and eaten alive.  Please, don’t panic.  There’s nothing to be done.”

The people in the crowd looked around at one another.

“Can’t we still pretend she’s a maiden?” said a voice in the crowd.

“A good idea, for sure,” said the mayor.  “But the dragon can tell these things, he’s got a unicorn with him.  I’m afraid we’re doomed.  Nothing to be done about it.”

“You can’t fool a unicorn,” someone in the crowd shouted.

“How about a male maiden? I’m sure we’ve plenty of those.  Roger here, for example.”

“Hey!  I’m not a maiden!”

“Sure, sure, we all believe that.”

“It’s no good anyway.  The dragon quite prefers that the maiden in question be a woman,” said the mayor.

“The dragon’s really quite particular,” another voice criticized.

“What about a young maiden?  I mean, technically, if we can just find someone young enough…” said someone in the crowd.  He turned and looked at Pellonia, as did the rest of the crowd.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

JOSH POWELL, wielder of the Sommerswerd, destroyer of the thread, expeditioner to Barrier Peaks, discoverer of his magic talent, and venturer into the Tomb of Horrors is known for having survived a harrowing adolescence full of danger and fantasy. He's gone on to write The Berserker and the Pedant and Dragon Apocalypse and is currently working on the yet to be named third book in the series.

He also spends some not inconsiderable amount of time wiggling his fingers over a keyboard as a software engineer.  He lives with his wife, Marianne, and two amazing children, Liam and Chloe, in sunny California, where winter is, most decidedly, never coming.

Website:

www.pedantpublishing.com

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0108J28XE

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/seasoup

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26492210-dragon-apocalypse

A Really Cool interview with  Josh Powell

As a kid did you write or make up stories?

I played a lot of dungeons and dragons.  I was often the Dungeon Master and created my own adventures. It was fun because it’s a shared storytelling experience and you get to throw situations at people and see how they would react.

One player played was a dwarven berserker and every encounter seemed to end with her being the only conscious person remaining.  All the monsters were killed and the rest of the party was unconscious.  It was hilarious. One of those encounters served as the inspiration for a scene in The Berserker and the Pedant.

Where does most of your Character inspiration come from?

Wow, great segue.  That was completely intentional, I swear. Most of my character inspiration for my fantasy novels comes from fantasy role-playing games or vampire role-playing. It is definitely not a novelization of the games or characters I’ve played, they more serve as the basis for the events or characters. Writing a book gives time to lend more depth and edit and make changes, whereas role playing is like writing a first draft because there is no edit phase and you can’t add in the “wouldn’t it be cool if” scenarios because it’s already played out.

Maximina Nobility is a great example of a character inspired from gaming. She isn’t based off of any one character, but off of a certain type of players tendency to try and game every rule to maximize the effectiveness of their character. I took that concept and delved deeper into what a real person who acted based on those concepts might be like.

Do some qualities of your characters come from real people?

Of course! I use the personality traits or quirks of people I know and work them into characters when appropriate. It helps bring a more lifelike semblance to them.

Do you read a lot?

I listen to audiobooks a lot these days, because I can do that while commuting to work and back.  I have two toddlers at home, so not a lot of “me time” to spend reading. I used to read voraciously, almost exclusively fantasy or sci-fi books.

What is your favorite genre?

There’s that segue again. We are in sync. Fantasy and sci-fi are my favorite genres. I didn’t really appreciate urban fantasy until I got started on The Dresden Files, and I love that series. I especially like twists and turns 

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GIVEAWAY 

Josh Powell will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host.

a Rafflecopter giveaway