Guest: Boone Brux on MEDIEVAL LIVING IN ALASKA GIVEAWAY!

KISS OF THE BETRAYER

Bringer and the Bane Book Two
Boone Brux

Genre: Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
ISBN: Print: 1620610353
E-book - 978-1620610350
Number of pages: 400
Word Count: 100,000

TO BUY: AMAZON  BARNES AND NOBLE


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Book Description:

For fifteen years Luc Le Daun has blamed himself for the death of the woman he loved. His secret guilt has led him into a life of danger, risking all and committing to none.

Killing Luc Le Daun has been all Jade Kendell has thought about for years. But when her plan goes awry and she's brought into the Bringers' fold, her own dark secret threatens to be revealed. Desire for a better life wars with a promise made long before she understood the ramifications.

In a deadly mission, Jade and Luc embark on a journey into the Shadow World. As they attempt the impossible, ignoring the attraction growing between them becomes harder to deny. The slightest misstep could mean the loss of their souls and give the Demon King exactly what he needs to open the Abyss of Souls and annihilate the Bringers. (Bewitching Book Tours)

Guest Post

Today, visiting us all the way from Alaska is Boone Brux, the author of KISS OF THE BETRAYER and SHIELD OF FIRE. For me camping is a three star hotel;  anyone who would live in the bush gets my admiration. Hell, I complain if my hotel doesn't have a bidet, Boone is thankful for a Styrofoam toilet seat. It's somewhat ironic to use today's technology to talk about, well, no technology.

But, think about all out fantasy novels, those stories take place in castles and where technology can be odd or non-existent. Living in the Alaskan Bush would be the perfect research for writing a convincing world like the one in Boone's Bringer and Bane fantasy series. Read on and welcome Boone, as she tells us why living in the Alaskan Bush is like living in the Medieval like world of Bringer and Bane.

Medieval Living in Alaska
by Boone Brux

I’m so excited to be here today. For those of you who don’t know me, I live in Alaska and spent sixteen years living in the bush. While writing Kiss of the Betrayer, I pondered how my life in rural Alaska was a lot like living in medieval times. Here are five facts to prove my point.

· Bathrooms—Many homes in the bush don’t have running water, especially in the more rural areas. Over the years I came to value the Styrofoam seat on our outhouse. I bet the luxury of Styrofoam would have made any drafty castle the “place to be” during the winter months.

· Food—A lot of the food in our freezer is caught or hunted. We’ve worked fishing nets to bring in wild Alaskan salmon when we lived in the bush. Even now that we live in civilized Anchorage, we make a point to fish for halibut, salmon, or go clamming. In September a large part of the work population takes off to go caribou and moose hunting. There’s nothing better than a juicy moose steak. We also made a lot of things from scratch because modern products were not readily available, especially beer. Berry picking is popular here as well. The tundra and many wooded areas in the more populated sections are thick with blueberries, salmonberries, and high bush cranberries. Picking berries is a huge social event. The woods of Alaska are full of mushrooms, rose hips, Fiddlehead Ferns, and even newly sprouted dandelions and wild onions. You just need to make sure you know what you’re picking. Stay away from the Devil’s Club.

· Heating—Though fireplaces are common in the lower forty-eight, up here many of the homes are heated with only wood. Unlike medieval homes, we now have huge wood burning boilers that are capable of heating large homes. Sure you have to go outside and feed it every few hours, but wood is cheap and plentiful here. Just as often you will find small homes and cabins that are only heated with a single woodstove. I love the smell and the ambiance, but dang, it can be a lot of work.

· Predators—A simple walk in the woods still holds many dangers, especially when the bears and moose have their young. You might as well kiss your butt goodbye if you get between a mama bear and her baby. For me, winter is a time of peaceful walking because all the big boys are asleep. Remember, moose are not like horses. They’ll just as soon trample you as let you pet them. Polar bears in the Arctic are not only predatory but smart. There were instances where the polar bear waited until somebody came out of their home. School buses don’t let the kids off if there isn’t someone to greet them at the door. This gets very tricky when the sun has set for a few months and there are no street lights or moon.

· Lack of civilization—When I lived in the Arctic, we would fly out and land on the tundra. To stand on a small mound and look out, knowing there was nothing more than the occasional cabin for thousands of square miles was a humbling thought. Alaska has a harsh beauty that can kill just as easily as it can amaze. In the Arctic, a tear in your clothes needs to be dealt with immediately as temperatures routinely drop to forty below. Life expectancy if you fall into the water is less than thirty minutes. Hypothermia sets in long before that.

· Darkness—In medieval times much of the year was spent in darkness. With candles being expensive, the cooking fire was the only source of light. Imagine the sun setting at four o’clock and there being no light until the sun rose again at ten in the morning. Thankfully electricity has found its way to the Arctic. When the sun goes down in November and rise until late January, there are days where there is no sun at all, not even a twilight on the horizon.

So there you have it, how living in Alaska can be like living in medieval times. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic holiday.

Wow!  Boone, Thanks for visiting us with this interesting look at medieval life in the Alaskan wildnerness. Great research opportunity! It's odd to think that even today there are places where everyday life is closer to those times than I would have imagined.  I applaud you for having lived through the experience. I think it would be really hard to live without electricity, flush toilets, and modern communication technology. But if I had had these things in the middle ages, I would have been branded a witch!

EXCERPT from KISS OF THE BETRAYER

http://bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com

Now that Jade had tried to kill Luc, doubts plagued her. She'd never stopped to consider what it meant to take another person’s life, never thought about the cost to her own soul. It had always been: It had to be done. Luc had to pay for his betrayal.

Rell thirsted for vengeance. With each cruel deed she seemed bent on performing, Jade volunteered in her place, hoping to slow her sister’s descent into the world of the Bane. For so long she’d fought to keep Rell rooted to humanity, but never once noticed her own slipping away.

A twig snapped, jolting Jade from her thoughts. She crouched and searched the forest. Nothing moved in the murky grayness. A shiver ran across her skin, the woods’ coolness suddenly feeling a lot less welcoming. Maybe the follower was Rell, or a deer. Jade didn’t dare call out in case someone or something else stalked her. Other creatures lurked in the forest, none of which she wished to encounter. She cursed herself for not keeping the knife she had used to stab Luc. Now her inability to stomach its feel seemed idiotic.

Another twig snapped. She spun and ran in the opposite direction. Footsteps thundered after her, closing fast. She broke through the trees and was halfway across the clearing when someone hit her full force, taking her to the ground. The breath burst from her body from the weight of the person landing on top of her. It took only a second to realize who the attacker was.

Luc.

Giveaway! 

ONE pdf copy of KISS OF THE BETRAYER   ENDS 12 AM 12/23/2012 INTERNATIONAL!

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Review on December 19

About the Author:

As a multi-published and an award winning author, Boone's writing drips with experiences from real life. Addicted to anything that might make a good story, she weaves tales that range from dark fantasy to humorous romance. Settled in the icy regions of Alaska with the love of her life and twin daughters, it's not uncommon to find her tapping away on her iPad on a windy beach or the barren tundra. Be warned, anyone and every event is fodder for one of Boone's novels.

www.boonebrux.com
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