NEW
RELEASE and EXCERPT
Liminal Lights
by J.
M. Bogart
Liminal Lights, the first book in a new YA trilogy by J. M. Bogart, is currently on
tour with Enchanted Book Promotions. The tour stops here today for an excerpt. Please be sure
to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
What if faerie magic is real?
Nadia discovers an ancient truth hidden by Liminals, coveted by Shadow
Monsters, and protected by humans.
Somewhere, between faerie legends and story books, lies the truth to
magic. It grows in children, matures, and is eventually captured by Liminal
beings. These small, faerie-like creatures harvest and manipulate it, crafting
it into the talents and skills inherent in humans. The rest, they keep for
themselves in an effort to sustain their own life forces.
The human race is evolving, forcing Bean, Pritt, and Tissa to find new
ways of harvesting human magic to save their own kind. Nadia’s power, found in
her talent as an artist, is the last hope for these Liminal beings who find
themselves caught between light and shadow. Liminals aren’t the only ones after
her magic, so are the creatures who lurk under the bed, hide in the darkness,
and go bump in the night.
This is the first book of a trilogy.
Excerpt
Pressing my nose
against the cold glass of the window, I watch her coax the images to life,
creating magic from nothing more than her imagination. She shifts on the bed,
allowing the light to briefly illuminate her unfinished drawing. Its vibrant
essence is exposed for a fleeting moment before her calm demeanour changes, and
she viciously attacks the page with the wrong end of her pencil. I place the
palm of my hand on the window allowing desperation to wash over me. I will her
to stop the destruction, but I am too small for her to notice. The sketch is
obliterated; only the scattered shavings of a brief moment in time remain in
its place. Her magic fades, and once again I am left with nothing.
Silly mortal,
doesn’t she know that every time she scrubs the page clean, another opportunity
is lost?
A flickering light
distracts me from the task of watching over my charge. Carefully, I skip across
the ledge and peer around the corner in an attempt to discover what took away
my attention. Of course, it’s only Pritt, up to his usual mischief. I wonder
what dreams he plans to bestow on the boy who lives two windows over and
breathe a sigh of relief when he whizzes past in a blur of blue-green light,
bypassing my window altogether.
I return my gaze to
the bedroom to find the girl has disappeared from view. I check the moonstar,
note the time, and realize she must be preparing for sleep. Finally, I might be
able to get some work done. Watching and waiting are tedious but necessary
work, especially now that time is critical. Any minute now the world could
tilt, shifting the shadows, and leaving my kind to drown in the dark.
Featured Review
I read Liminal Lights as a beta reader for Jennifer, we met on Authonomy. I liked her
book (without really knowing her at the time) and just started reading it while
providing some editorial suggestions. It was already pretty polished at that
stage.
Liminal Lights is the story of
fairy-like creatures (but they're not fairies) who harvest a small amount of
human magic in exchange for remolding it into something we can use. The
Liminals do this in a friendly way, which they believe to be beneficial for
both themselves and the humans involved. But there is a problem, the Liminals
are running out of magic, they're pinning their hopes of survival on the coming
of magical age of the one child, Nadia. Bean is Nadia's guardian, but she
doesn't even know the child's name. The dark ones, the shadow creatures, have
also noticed Nadia, and would think nothing of ripping the magic away leaving
her a husk of herself. Will Bean be able to convince this child of magic that
she's a friend and only wants to help, or is interacting with the humans more
than Bean is capable of?
I thought this was a
book that middle grade children and young adults would enjoy, I certainly did.
About the Author
J. M. Bogart believes
there’s a spark of magic in every person, regardless of age or background. Her
upper Middle Grade novels are written with bright and imaginative youth in
mind. She hopes to provide fun and appropriate content combined with
challenging language and concepts for readers drifting in those precocious
middle years.
J. M. also writes women's fiction as Jennifer Bogart. Her titles include:
Remember Newvember, Reflections,
and Money, Masks & Madness.
Ms. Bogart spends her days writing, editing, and caring for her very busy
family. She used to dream of the day when Mary Poppins would swoop in to help
with the children, but now that they are older she wishes those chaotic days
filled with giggles and sunshine hadn't disappeared quite so fast.
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