GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY
Backward Compatible
by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark
Backward Compatible is currently on tour with Bewitching Book Tours. The tour stops here today for a guest post from the authors and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
Not too long ago, in a town that, depending on your current location, is either not super far or actually quite close…
For George and Katie, it’s hate at first sight. What kind of person steals another person’s video game – at a midnight release – when it’s the Last. One. Left?
Of course, for gamer geeks home for break from college in the winter and with little else to do, their paths end up crossing again, both at the mall and online on Xbox Live. When they discover that the newest installment of Fatal Destiny includes a secret boss, they team up with a band of heroes – the hipster blogger, Jeff, who goes by Seynar; a strange man who is known only as Danger; George’s best friend, Lanyon, who refuses to take a hint when George and Katie may want some alone time; Lanyon’s nerdy preteen brother, who has nothing else to do; and an unlikely ally discovered through Katie’s best friend, Anna, a girl who is everything Katie hates, except when it’s Anna.
Striving to be the first group to achieve absolute victory, George and Katie also realize that maybe, just maybe, the other isn’t so bad after all.
Excerpt
“These graphics suck,” George says and I look back at the screen. We’re standing in the middle of the Estate, colorful orbs quivering ahead of us. We each have to choose our starting advantage. Waterfalls shimmer in the distance and the sunlight streams over multicolored stones in the courtyard.
“Amateurs,” Lanyon concurs. “I mean, they couldn’t have five waterfalls?”
“Your ironic wit is mind blowing, but choose your damn orbs,” I tell them. I consider. Magic, defense, offense, stealth, and charisma. I always go for magic as a black mage, but I wonder if a druid needs something else. Screw it. I need charisma in real life, too.
“Charisma?” Lanyon asks. “No one ever picks charisma.”
“We’re a party of a thief, druid, and a bard. We’re screwed regardless.”
“You two underestimate the mighty power of my lute,” George argues.
“Did you start with charisma?” Lanyon asks.
“Hell, no. I have charisma in spades. I started with stealth.”
“Great. A stealthy bard,” I sigh.
“She’s right,” Lanyon concedes. “We’re screwed.”
However, it actually isn’t bad at all at first. We power through the Estate and make it to the Yobanaria Dale with no resurrections and all at level ten. I’m impressed. George hasn’t actually fought anything, but he has some pretty awe-inspiring charm mastery already. I think I might have a serious crush. He seals the deal when he buffs my hailstorm spell without even being asked.
“Can you guys watch El Thiefelo? My mom wants me to eat supper,” Lanyon says.
“Yeah, we’ve got it,” I tell him. “The first boss is in the elven ruins anyway, so we should grind a bit. I think he’s a twelve.”
George and I explore the Dale, taking out bats and Joba spores. It’s fairly quiet, except for when we combo with his charms and my spells and he yells out, “Eat lute, bitch,” but it’s nice. We work well, almost inherently understanding each other. I’ve never been able to play this effectively with anyone. I try not to think about his eyes. Stupid boys, being cute and stuff.
By the time Lanyon comes back, we’re all at level 12, although Lanyon leveled up just by standing by a door while we played. Still, we are ready to take on Balsa the Proud. As a black mage, it took me about nine seconds. Trees don’t like fire. However, druids don’t have the same level of black magic and all elemental magic is weakened by the need to draw from the elements nearby. Sadly, trees seem to avoid storing fire runes in their villages. I expect this to be a little more challenging. It might even take fifteen seconds.
“First boss. Also known as the freebie bitch to sucker the young folks into a false sense of security,” Lanyon announces as he runs into the center of Balsa’s lair. The cinema plays and then, in a moment of pure absurdity, El Thiefelo is squished as Balsa steps on him.
“Can someone revive me?” Lanyon whines.
Praise for the Book
"This story is a reminder that we're all looking for our own HEA, with the weird that matches our own." ~ Page Princess
"It is everything that I have been wanting to read in a book and more." ~ Platypire Reviews
"Now that I have caught my breath and stopped laughing I will tell you that this book is awesome! I have been married to a gamer for almost 10 years now, so this book hit pretty close to home. I have experienced the midnight releases, the up for days at a time playing, and the quirky friends. Although Katie and George are the main characters in this geek romance, George's sidekick Lanyon adds that special little something to the whole story. This is probably my #1 book for this year. I have read a lot of amazing things, but Backward Compatible was so funny and so realistic that I just can't seem to stop talking about! This book is about people who I could easily come across in life; they aren't larger than life, and they carry connection to each other. Sure this book doesn't have any sex it, and no hand cuffs, or guys demanding that the female is his and making her say it. But it does have a real story, humor, friendship, team work and even a little bit of love all rolled into one. Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark made one heck of a team in writing this book, and I would love to see more from the two of them together! Backward Compatible is an awesome 5 stars, and if you want something that will make you laugh out loud more than once, this is the book for you." ~ Books, Coffee, and Wine
Book Links
Guest Post by the Authors
Fandoms
We love a lot of things, from books to movies to TV to games, but we are probably only obsessive about a few. Just as with Katie, George, and Lanyon, some seem to come up more than others. Here’s a little about our real passions in each!
Sarah: Books are easy for me. I love to read and I read a lot, but there isn’t really a Keats or Hemingway fandom (sadly, I say). So it would go to Harry Potter. I absolutely love The Mortal Instruments, but the movie left a bad taste in my mouth, and really, nothing beats Harry Potter in the way that I have never before and probably never will again experience that kind of energy and excitement before a book came out.
Pete: I like a lot of books, but I’m not really in any fandoms in particular. I am really into Bradbury and Shakespeare, for that’s worth. Maybe I’ll start my own Bradbury fandom. Who’s with me?
Sarah: Movies … well, I enjoy movies, but I have to admit I’m not really one for movie series. Yes, I go to midnight releases – usually for Harry Potter or something based on a book – but most of the time, even when they’re good, I’m disappointed. I do enjoy Monty Python, but I am not the one quoting it all the time. I think, if anything, it would be horror movies in general. I just love horror movies.
Pete: I do enjoy quoting Monty Python, but, I suppose, in the all too predictable fashion, my obsession is Star Wars. Even though Episode I sucks, with the exception of Darth Maul, II and III are not nearly as bad as people make them out to be. Although Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman are god awful. The originals are still where it’s at.
Sarah: Now, TV, I am such a dork. I love Supernatural and Chuck. I mean, I loved Chuck to an unreasonable level. I seem to always be in these fandoms of, like, five, though. I enjoyed Firefly but I admit I bought the series on DVD a year after it came out and was canceled. That’s mostly FOX’s fault, though, because I hadn’t even heard of it. I had heard of American Idol 9797947343743, of course. I also have a stupid addiction to bad reality TV and I love Jeopardy. This year, I finally caught up on Doctor Who, having last watched it when it was last on – when I was a small child. When I learned that my dad hadn’t stopped watching it but that it had stopped existing and I only had seven years to catch up on, not twenty, I was pretty excited. And I love Rory Williams almost as much as Chuck Bartowski. But really, I am all about Chuck Bartowski. And yes, I totally threw that in the book in mourning for the show.
Pete: Angel de la Muerte … I think I just like things with Adam Baldwin. I liked Chuck, but mostly for Casey. I love Firefly, and one of my favorite characters is Jayne. Now he’s showing up on The Last Ship. I probably won’t watch that, though. I think they need more ships. I really like Game of Thrones, Supernatural, The Walking Dead - although every other episode kind of sucks, and anything sci-fi, even if it’s terrible.
Sarah: Games, well, I have a thing for games. Final Fantasy has been a consistent letdown – and yet I keep buying them. Fallout: New Vegas was not so good, but I took personal days to play it. Skyrim is amazing. Persona is amazing. Dragon Age, Bioshock, Mass Effect, The Wolf Among Us, and really… games… are amazing. BUT I am beyond addicted to Borderlands. I’m starting to feel like I exist and game now only in the spaces between Borderlands games and DLC.
About the Authors
Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because learning is fun.
When Sarah isn't writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window.
She has written several books, most notably Bitter Fruits (an urban fantasy in the Eden’s Fall series) and the six-part New Adult contemporary Flowering series. Her most recent release is Primordial Dust, a YA fantasy.
When he is not writing, Pete tends to ignore everyone around him and obsess over sports.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win some great prizes.
