Destiny's Fall Book Tour: Guest Post + excerpt

Destiny’s Fall
by Marie Bilodeau

Blurb: A broken tradition. A hunted child. A rebellion that threatens to topple the very fabric of the universe.

When Layela Delamores gives birth to her first child, the ether immediately rejects what should be its only heir. A wave of destruction sweeps the ether races and sparks Solaria’s ire and rebellion on Mirial. A new heir rises to take the throne of Mirial, one who wields tainted ether.

Unable to access the flow of ether, Layela is left with little choice but to flee Mirial, seeking answers that may no longer exist, prepared to sacrifice everything to free herself and her daughter from the clutches of the First Star.

Guest Post: 
Can you share how the world in the Destiny series came about and what your plans are for it? 

Looking back at how the world of Destiny came to be, I now realize that it was born out of a desire to redeem myself.

I had this plant, you see. It was a beautiful plant, all lush and happy and full of merry leaves. I received it as a gift on a Sunday. It was dead by Tuesday.

I’ve never had much of a green thumb. My cats stay alive because they pester me endlessly unless I feed them. But plants, well, they don’t speak. (Usually.)

I decided to explore plants a bit more in a book, and maybe learn how not to kill them. From that curiosity, Layela Delamores was born.

A thief and street urchin, Layela opens her flower shop in the opening scene of the first Destiny book. Some flowers are familiar to Earth, others are very different, such as the almost sentient booknots, the explosive pomboms and the glowing lacyle flowers.

Her flower shop is on Collar, a peculiar little planet with very little sun and plant life. Layela’s instincts were bang on – her hearty plants enchant the people of Collar. Her business might have even been a success if it hadn’t been in one of my books, especially since I suffer from the incessant need to blow things up.

I was soon introduced to Layela’s best friend, a Berganda named Josmere. And, in my continued quest for redemption, the Berganda materialized as a plant-like ether creature.

Layela took to the stars, to different worlds, never losing her love for plants and her nurturing spirit. I brought her to dead worlds, and she wanted nothing more than to revive them. Eventually, the world of Destiny bred the most powerful star: Mirial, the First Star, which fed all of plant life, but all of the ether creatures, as well.

All that from a desire to not kill a plant.

And did I redeem myself? Um, I don’t think so. But I’m cool with that. Discovering Destiny was well worth losing a few others plants along the journey. We’ll see if the third book in the series will help me find redemptio

An excerpt: 

Elsa sent soothing waves to the earth. The saplings, still so small and tiny, responded in turn. Be still, she comforted them. They grew still and quiet, and she hoped they would avoid detection.

She reached out to the plants surrounding the gardens—the elm tree to the right, the great oak to the left. The bluebells lining the ground, mixed in with buttercups. The Lacile flowers which glowed gently, hiding now from the sun. The grass all around them, the wildflowers peeking through between the blades, the roses and their thorns, the poofy orange plants whose names she could never recall, and the bushes that held tiny leaves and pink flowers when spring was fresh and new.

She called out to all of them in the sunlight, to take care of the gardens, to protect the sproutlings of the Berganda in these uncertain times, while their mothers fought for peace on Mirial. Wave after wave of hope and need left her and filled the plants. With her all-too-human eyes, she imagined the plants standing a bit taller, but she knew it was only her imagination; they gently swayed in the wind around her.

Her own mother had been able to communicate with the plants and bend their will to hers. Or seal them to her with friendship, she wasn’t certain. Her own mother would have stood by Layela and fought, even giving up her life for her and the Berganda. Elsa hid her forming plans deep in her heart.

She had never known her mother, but she intended to live up to her legacy. 

About the author: Marie Bilodeau is an Ottawa-based science-fiction and fantasy author. Her space fantasy novel, Destiny’s Blood, was a finalist in the Aurora Awards and won the Bronze Medal for Science-Fiction in the Foreword Book Awards. She is also the author of the Heirs of a Broken Land, a fantasy trilogy described as “fresh and exciting” by Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo award-winning author of WAKE. Her short stories have appeared in several magazines and anthologies, including the recent When the Hero Comes Home, edited by Ed Greenwood and Gabrielle Harbowy. 

Marie is also a professional storyteller who’s told adaptations of fairy tales and myths, as well as original stories, in venues across Canada. More at www.mariebilodeau.com.

GIVEAWAY:
Marie will give away a signed eBook copy of Destiny's Blood (the first book in the series) to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop, and an autographed set of Destiny's Blood and Destiny's Fall in print (US and Canada only) or eBook (International) to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. She'll also give an autographed set of books to the host with the most comments (excluding hers and the host's).

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: