Forbidden Things: Dissident (+$50 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Dissident

Author: Nikki McCormack

Series: Forbidden Things #1

Pages: 395

Date Published: 2015

Publisher: Elysium Books

Format: Paperback

Genre: Fantasy/ Sci Fi 

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:
Ascard power can strengthen, heal and create. It also has great potential to destroy, enough to topple entire governments. Indigo’s country places strict limitations on the use of ascard so she must channel her talents into the healing arts or risk severe punishment. An orphan from a disgraced family, trapped by her father’s treason, Indigo struggles to reclaim her place in a society that has driven her into an abusive engagement.

Then a mysterious stranger from a neighboring country contacts her using ascard. He needs help escaping his prison so he can bring an end to his emperor's oppressive rule or die trying. His unshakable devotion to his cause and the passion hidden behind his cool arrogance move her to help him at the risk of being branded a traitor herself.

When the politics of society bring them together a second time, Indigo decides to use her growing powers to help him fight his war. If only she dared fight for her own future with such passion. Perhaps she can find the courage to do so by helping the man she has fallen for win his revolution. She might have exactly the power he needs to succeed.

~Interview with Nikki!~

Hi Nikki! Welcome to the blog today, and I'm thrilled to have you here! Your new book Dissident is absolutely beautiful and I'm thrilled to get to host it! Let's start this interview off right though...the real, nitty-gritty, must have questions like...

Do you have any tattoos? Where? When did you get it/them? Where are they on your body? :) 
I have five tattoos. The oldest is a cat paw on my leg where one of my cats dug her claws in to demand some cuddles the day before she died. I have a dragonfly with a flourished flight path on my right wrist and hand. Another dragonfly on my right shoulder blade with a flourished flight path around the black rose I got to remind me never to give up on my writing. The most recent is a half back tattoo with blue roses and black roots that trail down around the front. It is an amalgamation representing the lead protagonists in Dissident and another of my novels.

Is your life anything like it was two years ago?
Yes and no. While my goals haven’t changed much, my life has. Last year I moved from the country into the city, which was a major transition that came right before the release of my debut novel, The Girl and the Clockwork Cat. The move and the release of my first book were both major events that have had significant impact on my life and both events have helped me focus more on my writing.

How long have you been writing?
I was about twelve when I read Meredith Ann Pierce’s book, Birth of the Firebringer and was inspired to try writing a book of my own. When I told my teacher at the time that I was writing a book, he was very enthusiastic and encouraging. From that point forward, I was hooked.

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?
First, I would say read a lot. When you find books you like, figure out what made them good and learn from that. There are endless resources on the internet nowadays telling you how to write. There is a lot of conflicting advice. The best you can do is keep reading and writing. Practice really does help and writing what you love will make your work richer.

Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.
The main character, Indigo, wants to get free of the position her father’s treason and her ability to control ascard power have locked her into. One of the greatest obstacles she faces is her own fear. She fears her own power because the society she grew up in strictly limits the use of such power on the grounds that it can be extremely dangerous. She also fears what will happen to her if she tries to escape her engagement to her abusive fiancé when that engagement is the only thing allowing her to hold a respectable status after her father was put to death for treason.

~Try an Excerpt!~

Her attention wandered to the fountain sprouting up in the center of a nearby courtyard, simple and elegant like a great stonework lily. A man stood by the fountain, watching water droplets falling with the shimmer of multicolored gems in the bright sunlight. Long silver hair hung to the middle of his back like a frozen waterfall. His smooth pale skin and unusual hair marked him as Lyran, but his regal bearing and rich attire didn’t befit a slave or merchant.

Curious. “Have you seen him before?”

Andrea turned, following her gaze. “Who?”

“The man beside the fountain.”

“There’s no one by the fountain.”

Andrea’s reply tugged at her awareness, but the silver-haired Lyran was turning toward them now. His pale eyes met hers and the air pressed from her lungs as if a corset were being pulled too tight. The buildings lurched and spun in her vision.

“Indigo?”

She sank to her knees. Andrea crouched down with her, her eyes wide and frightened. She held Indigo’s shoulders tight, her lips moving. Indigo heard only the pounding of blood in her ears.

~Meet Nikki!~

Nikki started writing her first novel at the age of 12 (which is still tucked away in a briefcase in her office). Despite a successful short story publication with Cricket Magazine in 2007, she treated her writing addiction as a hobby until a drop in the economy left her with an abundance of free time to focus on making it her career.

Nikki lives in the magnificent Pacific Northwest tending to her awesome husband, two sweet horses, three manipulative cats, and a crazy dog. She’s a wine and tea fanatic who loves sitting on the ocean in her kayak surrounded by open water or hanging from a rope in a cave, embraced by darkness and the sound of dripping water. She also enjoys horseback riding, archery, PC gaming, dancing, good anime, etc. She studies Japanese and practices Iaido because she believes we should never stop learning.

 Nikki will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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