Dark Faerie Tales is pleased to have author Sandy Williams here today. The second novel in her McKenzie Lewis series, The Shattered Dark, was recently released on October 30, 2012. The Shadow Reader is the first book of the series. This series is filled with exciting tension and nonstop action. Read an excerpt of The Shattered Dark here. Want to know our thoughts on this series? Read Kiwi’s review for The Shadow Reader here. Read my review for The Shattered Dark below this post.
Today’s giveaway is provided by Penguin/Ace! One lucky winner will receive a copy of The Shattered Dark.
About Sandy:
Sandy graduated from Texas A&M University with a double major in political science and history. She thought about attending law school. Fortunately, before handing over her life’s savings, she realized case studies weren’t nearly as interesting as novels and decided to get an MA in Library Science instead. She worked as a librarian until her husband whisked her off to Londonon an extended business trip. She’s now back home in Texas, writing full-time, raising newborn twin boys, and squeezing in time to play geeky board and card games like Settlers of Catan, Dominion, and Runebound.
You can visit Sandy around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
Want to read more from Sandy Williams?
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Five Favorite Scenes from THE SHADOW READER
When I read a book, I often mark scenes that resonate with me. Those scenes impact me emotionally. Sometimes, they’re fight scenes that get my adrenaline pumping. Other times, it’s a first kiss that makes me smile. A good conversation with lots of banter can make me laugh out loud. I live for those scenes when I’m reading, and when I’m writing, I try to capture the same emotions
The scenes where I feel emotionally connected are the ones I love the most in the Shadow Reader novels as well. Below, I’ll list my top five favorite scenes from both books and tell you why I love them. In order to avoid big, huge spoilers, I’m speaking as vaguely as possible.
1. In the first chapter, McKenzie plans to jump from a window to a crane in order to escape Aren, who’s trying to capture her. Aren ends up grabbing her backpack, and McKenzie falls. She just manages to grab hold of an orange, plastic safety fence – the building is under construction – and Aren pulls her to safety. I love everything about this scene: the pacing, Aren’s grins, McKenzie’s thoughts. But this scene makes the top of my list because it’s THE scene, the one that started it all. It was stuck in my head for years. I had no clue what it would turn into, but without it, THE SHADOW READER would never have been written.
2. The wedding scene. If you’ve read the book, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t read it, you’ll know it as soon as you get there. The scene was completely unplanned. When I reached the moment where a, um, certain exchange needed to be made, it popped into my head. I think Taylor Swift is partially responsible. I listened to “Love Story” on death loop while I was writing this book (though, I consider it to be Kelia and Naito’s theme song, not McKenzie’s), and I love the opening lyrics:
See the lights
See the party, the ball gowns
See you make your way through the crowd
And say hello, little did I know
But everything fell into place, and the moment was perfect. I heart it so much, and love the line, “I’m not Cinderella at a ball.” And, now, I’m hoping to get a fairytale reference into all of the Shadow Reader novels. It’s fun!
3. The confrontation in chapter twenty. McKenzie learns something that turns her world upside down, and she loses it. I love, love, love the emotion in this scene. I love how the fae knows her – he sees something is wrong – and his world crashes down a little, too.
4. Aren’s words at the end of Chapter 26. Another confrontation scene! Another angry scene, too. It’s hard to talk about this scene without spoiling things (I hate spoiling my book! I think it’s much better if you don’t know what happens. 
), but Aren agrees to do something that he really, really, reallyreallyreally doesn’t want to do. He’s really pissed about it, but does it anyway. I love all the words he throws at McKenzie, and I think readers love them as well. This is one of the most liked quotes from the book on Goodreads. Yay!
5. Chapter 28. Page 281. Kyol’s first words to McKenzie when she joins him outside. They’re just five words, but they contain so much emotion it hurts. Those words echoed in my head from about the halfway point of the book, and it’s a scene I couldn’t wait to write, and one I absolutely hated writing. I don’t like my characters to hurt, and it’s clear that someone is.
I know I said I was only going to name my five favorite scenes, but I’m cheating and adding another. The ending. Oh, how I heart it!
THE SHATTERED DARK has a number of emotional scenes that I love just as much as these. There are confrontations and fights, choices and revelations. It’s a high action novel that culminates in a big battle with BIG consequences for McKenzie and her friends. It’s nearly impossible to talk about those scenes without spoilers.
For those of you who’ve read THE SHADOW READER, what were your favorite scenes? And I can’t wait to learn what your favorite scenes are from THE SHATTERED DARK.
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This giveaway is provided by Penguin/Ace
One lucky winner will receive a copy of The Shattered Dark by Sandy Williams
Available October 30, 2012 from Penguin/Ace
About this Book:
McKenzie Lewis has a gift. It allows her access to a world few have seen, and even fewer can comprehend. It’s her secret. And it exists in the shadows…
McKenzie was a normal college student, save for one little twist: she’s a shadow reader, someone who can both see the fae and track their movements between our world and the Realm. It’s a gift for which she has been called insane, one for which she has risked family and friends—and one that has now plunged her into a brutal civil war between the fae.
With the reign of the king and his vicious general at an end, McKenzie hoped to live a more normal life while exploring her new relationship with Aren, the rebel fae who has captured her heart. But when her best friend, Paige, disappears McKenzie knows her wish is, for now, just a dream. McKenzie is the only one who can rescue her friend, but if she’s not careful, her decisions could cost the lives of everyone she’s tried so hard to save.
Click HERE to read an excerpt
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