THE CRYSTAL FACADE is the second installment of the "Rule of Otharia" trilogy.Royal Otharian twins Darius and Dyla Telkur have a big problem: they know too much. While fleeing from a telekinetic assassin in a failed coup to seize the Telkur throne, they defied a centuries old quarantine order and traveled to the strange planet called Earth where they made a shocking discovery that native Otharians are living and working on the forbidden planet. While there, the twins run afoul of a criminal overlord who bears a striking resemblance to their own beloved Grand Duke, the most powerful man on Otharia. Simply returning to their home world doesn't end the twins’ troubles, because there are people at home who know the secret too, a secret so powerful it could topple the hierarchy of the royalty itself.
When Dyla's dream visions of the London crime boss portend an imminent threat to her family, she has no choice but to secretly return to Earth and seek answers. Who is this crime boss, what’s his connection to Otharia and why does he look like the Grand Duke? What the twins don't realize is that they're walking into a conspiracy that involves a centuries old interplanetary diamond smuggling operation between the two planets. Crystals as they are called on Otharia fuel their PSI powers and controlling the flow of crystals is the ultimate power.
Assassins on both planets are on the move, and their target is the elimination of the Telkur twins. Everything is connected, but time is running out. Darius and Dyla must unravel the mystery and discover the identity of the malevolent mastermind trying to destroy them before Dyla's worst nightmare comes true.
About the Author:
Science fiction and fantasy author who started writing with co-author, 
David W Small in 2006. Writing with a co-author is challenging in itself, but when 1 author lives on the East Coast and 1 lives on the West Coast, the challenges are a bit more daunting, but because we live in an electronic world of email, Instant Messenger and Skype, the partnership is totally workable.They have 2 science fiction novels, "Quest for Nobility" and "Crystal Facade" of the RULE OF OTHARIA trilogy available for sale as well as two novellas "The Right Path" and "Path to War" in the DARK FUTURE series.
First, I’d like to share a little known fact about my co-author, David W Small. He’s my brother so we have the advantage of knowing each very well. We share a love of fantasy, science fiction and action adventure books. We’ve spent many years passing books back and forth to each other.
We started writing together in 2006 after we couldn’t find anything new to read. We thought perhaps we’ve try our hand at writing and our career was born. We both live on opposite coasts and our writing process has definitely evolved over the past four years. With email, Instant Messenger and Skype we are able to keep in touch to plot out the next scene, chapter, or action sequence. We’ve found through trial and error that what works the best for us is to do edits/additions in real time. We send chapters/scenes back and forth to each other for comments and changes. It’s always a wonderful surprise to see what kind of twist Dave has put on a chapter I’ve sent him especially when I thought I knew what was going to happen. That keeps our writing exciting for me.
I asked Dave what he would like to add and here are his thoughts:
Probably, number one is the flow of extemporaneous ideas when we chat through Instant Messenger. We are at our best when we 'talk' through ideas and scenes. The flow back and forth is almost electric; when we get going, it is like pistons firing, one idea after another and another.
One of the most important things is that both Deb and I have agreed to check our egos at the door. We tend to disagree a lot about different ideas and so we have to convince the other which idea is best. If you can’t justify it, it doesn’t get included and, of course, to quote Tom Hanks, "There's no crying in writing." I am probably the most argumentative person around and Deb balances that quite nicely. She is the best writing partner I could ever have.
Without a doubt though the most interesting and exciting part for me is when we finish a major edit and include it in the main file. It makes me realize that we are definitely making progress on our book.
Can you tell us about your novels?
Dave and I have written two full-length novels in our RULE OF OTHARIA series, Quest for Nobility and The Crystal Facade. The books revolve around royal Otharian twins, Darius and Dyla Telkur and their struggle to maintain control of the throne of Telkur. The reader delves into a world of PSI powers [telepathy, empathy, telekinesis], betrayal, intrigue and murder. There is an evil mastermind bent on eliminating the twins and, of course, there is a deliciously evil telekinetic assassin. There is also a connection back to Earth which Darius and Dyla uncover. To unravel the mystery, they must shift through the clues from the Arthurian legends of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.
We also have two novelettes in our DARK FUTURE series, Path to War and The Right Path. The stories are set in a bleak post-apocalyptic world where only the strongest survive. Food and water are scarce and gangs roam the streets preying on the weak. System cops try to keep the peace any way they can but it’s not always pretty.
How do you research the science in your science fiction?
Dave and I both like to have the science we use in our books grounded in reality. For example, in our Otharia books, we use “crystals” to enhance PSI power. We wanted these "crystals" to be something that people would recognize easily and so we chose to use diamonds as the model. Anyone who has purchased a diamond knows that diamonds are rated by 4Cs - cut, clarity, color, and carat. We enhanced the 4C rule and had the Otharians discover another intrinsic “C” within the nature of a diamond: conductivity, the 5th C. This 5th C is what fuels their PSI abilities. Every Otharian wears a personal crystal to strengthen their particular PSI ability and the largest 10K crystals open the Duchy portals for interplanetary travel.
What will your readers like about your work?
I think readers will enjoy our novels because we create fast moving action-packed stories. We strive to keep the reader turning the pages through tension, challenges and the conflicts our characters face.
What inspires your stories?
I get inspiration from many things from catching snippets of conversations during the day to reader comments on my blog and forums. It’s amazing how you can spin a story from one seemingly innocent comment.
Where can we find your novels?
In the US, my author page at Amazon is:
http://www.amazon.com/Debra-L-Martin/e/B003Q1WLXY
In the UK, my author page at Amazon is:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Debra%20L%20Martin
I blog at Two Ends of the Pen where I host author interviews, guest posts, and do book reviews. I also try to visible as much as possible on the internet and frequently comment on forums such as Kindleboads.com.
You can find me here:
Blog: http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/
Website: http://martinandsmall.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Debra.L.Martin.Author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dlmartin6
What is your current WIP?
Dave and I are actually working on two manuscripts at the moment. One is a new fantasy involving assassins, witches, twin girls and an ancient prophesy. We hope to finish this in 2011. The second project is another novelette in the DARK FUTURE series tentatively titled, Zia’s Path.
2 comments:
Thank you Dawn for hosting me today on my blog tour!
Deb
:)
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