Author Guest Post with Jonathan J Michael, Blood of Azure Series

Four races with powers dictated by the seasons seek balance and prosperity.

Welcome to the July 12th stop on the blog tour for the Blood of Azure Series by Jonathan J Michael by Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

Where Do Ideas Come From?

Where do ideas come from? Where would you like them to come from? I bet you can find them there. This question seems absurd, right? And I’d wager to say there isn’t one correct answer. But let’s pick this apart to see if we can come up with one.

Let me start by saying I’m not a qualified expert in anything psychological, neurological, or even astrological (if you trust in that sort of thing). I’m just a writer with ideas. And that’s why we’ll figure this out together.

What is an idea? An idea is a formulated thought intended to be articulated in this case. You must be able to express it. I can think about a butterfly, but unless I can clearly express its wispy bounce across the wind, or its vibrant yellow wings trimmed in a soft orange and contrasting black, the idea does nothing except maybe sooth my emotions. Oh, now we’re on to something. Emotions.

Emotions draw out passion. They drive us, whether we try to take a stoic approach or not. I get angry when I’m attacked. It gives me the idea to fight back. I’m happy when I receive a hug. It gives me the idea to reciprocate. Or maybe it’s your looney uncle hugging you, and in that case, you get the idea to throw him an elbow in the ribs because you know he’s going to finish it off with an awkward noogie if you let him get too close. These are simple ideas, but ideas, nonetheless. Emotion certainly sparks the thought plugs.

When it comes to writing fiction, emotions are good sources for ideas regarding character development. They can drive their deepest desires and their darkest moments. And occasionally you can describe scenery with emotional ideas, such as an angry tree with branches weeping like the brow of your old looney uncle, the lonely hermit in the woods.

Musings are another source of ideas. The heart of deep thought and inspiration. Which can literally come from anything. Let’s take something as simple as water, for example. This is about to get deep, so grab your space helmet and some oxygen. Water is blue. Why? In a glass, it’s clear. In a mud puddle, it’s brown. In a twilit sky it can be purple, indigo, or even orange. But from space (I bet you were wondering why you’d need that space helmet), it’s blue. The pale blue dot. Why is that? And is it a coincidence our sky is also blue? Is there a correlation there? Aha! Reflection. So, the water is blue because it reflects the blue sky. Or is it vice versa? The sky isn’t reflective, so it must be the former. But that still doesn’t answer why the sky is blue. You’ll have to confirm with a scientist, but it has something to do with the electrons in the hydrogen, oxygen, or nitrogen atoms and the visible wavelengths that refract off them, which is mostly blue. Thus, the water is blue because of our atmosphere. And here is my idea, after we’ve ventured into the depths of the mud puddles and to outer space, would water be a different color if we change the composition of our atmosphere? If we tweaked an electron in that nitrogen atom, could we have red skies and waters. I do think it’s possible, and thus we have the makings of a fictional terra-formed planet where we can start our journey exploring a new world with red waters.

Or…we can just look up and say, “Hey! Look at that awesome red planet. That’s a great idea for a new world to explore.” Lame, but efficient. I personally prefer musings to extract my ideas.

That’s all I have. Musings and emotions. They spark our thought plugs and inspire new worlds. Where do your ideas come from?

About the Books

Four races with powers dictated by the seasons seek balance and prosperity. However, life instinctively primes itself for survival, and when one race commands the touch of death, all others fall in line. Tyranny plagues Azure as an immortal ruler governs the knowledge of the seasons and those wielding its power.

Four young protagonists, Stone, Jaymes, Goose, and Astor, each navigate their way to escape his shadow and reclaim their freedom. Simple ambitions for young souls. But little did they know, they would uncover the secrets the realm is built upon, and the unique talents they each carry. Their ignorance allows the knowledge of the seasons to escape into the world around them little by little, and with it, a power loosing anarchy upon the realm. A power most aren’t worthy of wielding. It is up to Stone and his companions to tame that power and reclaim the balance.

Four seasons to balance the land. Four sages to balance the life.

Season of Sacrifice
Blood of Azure Book One
by Jonathan J Michael

Published 20 March 2021

Genre: Epic Fantasy
Page Count: 561
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Courage is for the bold. It is not for Stone McLarin. He’s been in hiding for four seasons after being orphaned by the Taoiseach. He doesn’t care for the heroic antics of avenging his parent’s death or securing his freedom. He only desires one thing—to protect his sister’s life.

This proves challenging when his sister, Jaymes, possesses a rivaling power of decay to that of the tyrant ruler’s. She’s a threat to his dominance, and there will be no escaping his shadow.

When the Taoiseach manipulates his way into Jaymes’s life and steals her away, Stone has no choice but to follow. He must venture into the heart of the tyrant’s domain and figure out how to penetrate the impenetrable. And if he succeeds there, he will have to slay the most powerful man in Azure.

In a world ruled by decay, what chance does life stand?

Season of Sacrifice is part one of the Blood of Azure series—an epic fantasy full of grim encounters, heroic adventures, unique magic, and a captivating world to explore.

Author’s Note: Contains explicit language and some graphic descriptions.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Season of Suffering
Blood of Azure Book Two
by Jonathan J Michael

Published 20 March 2022

Genre: Epic Fantasy
Page Count: 547
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

A villain in his own mind, Stone McLarin is labeled the hero for murdering a man.

Not only is Stone weighted down as a hero, but he’s idolized by the dominant religion, and he’s the sole protector of the knowledge of the ages. The pressure of the entire realm is on his shoulders.

Carib Reign, a shapeshifter building an army of immortals, plans to purge the Crimson Capital to find this hidden knowledge. His motive, to give the people of Azure the freedom they deserve.

With many adventures along the way, Stone will lead the charge to defend the Crimson Capital against the Immortal Army. Should he fail, anarchy is inevitable. Death for all Azure, a possibility.

Where there is life, death anticipates. But what if death is abandoned? Life will rebel.

Season of Suffering is part two of the Blood of Azure series—an epic fantasy with both light and dark hearts. You’ll experience many fantasy tropes, clashing swords, unique magic, fantastical beasts, and a wide range of Azure’s scenic terrain.

Author’s Note: Contains explicit language and some graphic descriptions.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Excerpt

The foul beast plows through the underbrush, giving none of his obstacles a chance for survival. And I’m in line to be one of them.

Its aroma swoops into my nostrils, and dizziness strikes momentarily. I cannot see straight. I don’t remember the last encounter being this severe. I suppose, like any living thing, we’re not all made alike. And this one reeks.

The Cryptid hardly acknowledges me as I wobble in place. He pushes off me as if I were a tree and he were trying to get some leverage to burst forward. His meaty claw shoves right through me and lashes at my lower shoulder. A loud sound curdles from my throat. It’s an odd feeling these days—to use my vocal cords.

The beast stops in its tracks and turns to face me.

“Friend.” I speak, hoping it understands this language.

Its dark eyes glaring. Its teeth baring. Its smell daunting. It stands rigid and unmoving. An apex predator. A long moment passes as we both maintain eye contact.

“No time. Friend.” It finally replies, then turns to leave.

“Wait! I can help. Are there more of you? In danger, I mean.”

It looks over its shoulder with a subtle nod. Teeth still baring. Aroma still daunting. But its eyes are sad.

“Let me help.”

“Run.” It turns and hurdles through the undergrowth in a rush, disappearing behind the wood giants.

About the Author

Jonathan J Michael was born and raised in the greater Seattle area in the scenic state of Washington. Jonathan is an advocate of science, nature, and exploration, which has a heavy influence in his debut series, Blood of Azure.

When I drive down the freeway, I often want to veer onto the backroads and head for the mountains. When I’m at an evening gathering, I’m eager to step outside and gaze at the stars. When I’m on a ferry, I’m at the guardrail staring into the depths wondering what kind of leviathans lurk below. I’m an explorer, and since I’m not on the next Crew Dragon headed for the ISS, fantasy novels let me have what I seek. I write to explore a world of wonder.

~ Jonathan

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