Curse of Time by Marjorie Mallon Blog Tour

 

Today I’m happy to take part in fellow author, friend and one of our Sister of the Fey’s, Blog Tour for the paperback release of her book The Curse of Time.

 

 

 

About Marje

I am a debut author who has been blogging for three years at my lovely blog home Kyrosmagica: https://mjmallon.com. My interests include writing, photography, poetry, and alternative therapies. I write Fantasy YA, middle grade fiction and micro poetry – haiku and Tanka. I love to read and have written over 100 reviews: https://mjmallon.com/2015/09/28/a-z-of-my-book-reviews/

My alter ego is MJ – Mary Jane from Spiderman. I love superheroes! I was born on the 17th of November in Lion City: Singapore, (a passionate Scorpio, with the Chinese Zodiac sign a lucky rabbit,) second child and only daughter to my proud parents Paula and Ronald. I grew up in a mountainous court in the Peak District in Hong Kong with my elder brother Donald. My parents dragged me away from my exotic childhood and my much loved dog Topsy to the frozen wastelands of Scotland. In bonnie Edinburgh I mastered Scottish country dancing, and a whole new Och Aye lingo.

As a teenager I travelled to many far-flung destinations to visit my abacus wielding wayfarer dad. It’s rumoured that I now live in the Venice of Cambridge, with my six foot hunk of a Rock God husband, and my two enchanted daughters. After such an upbringing my author’s mind has taken total leave of its senses! When I’m not writing, I eat exotic delicacies while belly dancing, or surf to the far reaches of the moon. To chill out, I practise Tai Chi. If the mood takes me I snorkel with mermaids, or sign up for idyllic holidays with the Chinese Unicorn, whose magnificent voice sings like a thousand wind chimes.

 

Books by M J Mallon:

The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone

 

Blurb:

Fifteen-year-old Amelina Scott lives in Cambridge with her dysfunctional family, a mysterious black cat, and an unusual girl who’s imprisoned within the mirrors located in her house. When an unexpected message arrives inviting her to visit the Crystal Cottage, she sets off on a forbidden pathway where she encounters Ryder, a charismatic, but perplexing stranger.

With the help of a magical paint set, and some crystal wizard stones she discovers the truth about a shocking curse that has destroyed her family’s happiness.

 

Title: The Curse of Time Book 1 – Bloodstone

Kindle Publication date: 27^th August 2017

Genre: YA/Paranormal Fantasy

Pages: 237

ASIN: B074CDJPY9

Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime

 

Intended Paperback Release date – April 2018 (Live now)

Genre: YA/Paranormal Fantasy

Pages: 240

ISBN: 9781999822439

Book Design: https://wendyannedarling.wordpress.com/

Photography Credit: Dr John C Taylor, OBE: http://www.johnctaylor.com/

Paperback includes additional material – two black and white illustrations by Artist – Carolina Russo. https://yesterdayafter.com/

Edited by: https://colleenchesebro.com

Buy Paperback Book Here

 

Unique Selling Point: Unique, Imaginative, ‘Charming, enchanting and richly layered this is purely delightful.’

 

Excerpt:

I crept on tiptoes into the house, slipping down the hallway. As I reached the stairway, my mother Eleanor spied me. ‘What are you wearing Amelina? Is that even a skirt? As for those tights, they’re ridiculous.’ I froze, her words piercing and chilling me to the bone. I drew in a breath of relief that my mum hadn’t noticed Ryder departing. It was easier if I said nothing in reply although that just fired her up more. She pursed her thin lips and scowled at me.

I knew I had stumbled upon a pit of fury as I watched Mum turn to face me. She exploded like a bomb and shrieked, ‘Get out of that horrible excuse for clothing right now and put on something decent. You’ve never worn the black trousers and top I bought you. Why don’t you ever wear them?’

I recoiled at her tirade. I had no intention of wearing those horrible trousers. I would appear like some sad old person on their way to a funeral. Yeah, it felt like a funeral in this wretched house but did she need to remind me? I had no intention of wearing those ugly, old lady clothes.

I stared as my dad, Mark, appeared in the hallway, clutching the wall for support and looking so frail and haggard that I wondered if he would collapse. He spoke in a paper-thin, rasping voice. ‘What are you and your mother shouting about?’

‘My choice of clothes, Dad,’ I replied, my voice softening.

Glaring at my mother, I stormed upstairs and slammed my bedroom door shut with an almighty bang. The sound seemed to reverberate throughout the house shaking the walls until they threatened to come crumbling down. Downstairs, I could hear a commotion, a ruckus blasted from the kitchen as my mum took her daily dose of temper out on her unfortunate pots and pans.

Every nerve ending in my body flooded with a multitude of emotions until I felt like a quivering mound of nervous, trembling jelly. Taking deep soothing breaths, I reached for my headphones to shut out this horrible, senseless world. I craved ear-piercing rock, a vault of high adrenalin noise. That would be sure to do the trick.

I turned up the sound and relaxed, lying in my bed. My thoughts returned to Ryder. What did I know about him? He had appeared as a stranger and then surprised me by coming to my rescue. He had scared those creepy boys off. I had to admit that I didn’t understand him or them either. His personality had switched. One moment he’d been all smiles and then boom, he’d changed, a scary intensity erupting out of those incredible eyes. I imagined his face staring at me again.  He had a mysterious power in him that much I could see, so much so, that even the ground beneath his feet responded to him.

I remembered that Ryder had introduced himself to me but hadn’t bothered to ask my name. I scratched my head in puzzlement. Yet he knew who I was. Somehow, he knew those boys’ names too. It struck me as strange and unsettling. But one thing I knew for sure I experienced a trickle of life flowing in my veins. This sensation had long been missing from my life.  It heralded an awakening, and I shivered in delight. I felt excited, confused, and more than a little scared. But I felt alive.

I experienced this magnetic pull of some hidden power that drew me towards him. With little difficulty, I realised he was a secret I would be wise to keep to myself. Mum and Dad would go mad if I mentioned that I’d met him down the river pathway. Hero or Prince, they wouldn’t understand. Besides, the possibility of keeping dark and mysterious secrets appealed to me. They were the best, most wicked kind.

 

 

 

The pre-release blog tour begins in April with my #ABRSC club pals, followed by a release tour with Neverland Blog Tours. (Jenny Marston is also a #ABRSC member!) http://neverlandblogtours.weebly.com/

 

Social Media:

Authors Website: https://mjmallon.com

Collaborative blog: https://sistersofthefey.wordpress.com

Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time

My Facebook Authors/Bloggers Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1829166787333493/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjmallonauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/

Tumblr: http://mjmallonauthor.tumblr.com/

 

Collaborations:

Carolina Russo has created two wonderful portraits of my characters which feature in my paperback which is due for release in April. Below you can see the full colour version of the images, please note the paperback images are in black and white.

 

 

Esme and The Creature

The above images are Copyright ©Carolina Russo: https://yesterdayafter.com

 

Fun facts about Marje:

1. I wish I could be wonder woman or MJ from Spiderman.
2. I adore crystals, alternative therapies, the unusual and the strange. I’m a qualified Aromatherapist, Reflexologist, (I no longer work as a therapist instead I devote my spare time to reading, writing, blogging and reviewing.)
3. Some say that I am a white witch…my blogging friends confer and have included me in the Sisters of The Fey, a writerly collaboration.
4. My husband can’t remember asking me to marry him and neither can I. He suspects I cast a spell on him!
5. I have travelled to many foreign destinations, including: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Rome, Venice, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Portugal. I would love the funds to travel some more!
6. I currently work as a receptionist in a massive building, home to twenty companies. In quiet moments I observe peoples’ mannerisms, listen to snippets of gossip and dream up new story ideas.
7. I love food! Asian food and anything spicy, yum…My mother is Malaysian and my father is Scottish so I grew up with a very varied diet.
8. My motto is to do what you love! Stay true to your heart’s desires, remain young at heart, and inspire others to do so, even if the odds are stacked against you like black-hearted shadows.
9. I studied Communication Studies at University, (marketing, media studies, public relations, etc.) My degree is coming in mighty handy now.
10. I love cats but don’t own one (my husband and daughter are allergic,) so I adopted a virtual black cat called Lily who looks like my black cat character Shadow in my book: https://mjmallon.com/2017/05/17/shadow-welcomes-lily-the-cat-to-kyrosmagica/
11. I have so many writing projects and so little time! I am a writing butterfly so this pains me greatly!
12. I am an original! I have been to every single Bloggers Bash until now. http://sachablack.co.uk/annual-bloggers-bash/
13. I have met the inventor of The Corpus Christi Chronopage clock – Dr John C Taylor, OBE who kindly gave me permission to use his images in my book. http://www.johnctaylor.com/the-chronophage/
14. I interview my fictional characters on my blog. Currently you can meet:

Shadow: https://mjmallon.com/2017/05/11/my-interview-with-shadow-a-black-cat-character-with-a-past/

Amelina: https://mjmallon.com/2017/08/20/mj-interviews-amelina-the-curse-of-time-bloodstone-sundayblogshare/

Ryder: https://mjmallon.com/2017/07/02/mj-interviews-ryder-the-curse-of-time-bloodstone/

The Creature: https://mjmallon.com/2018/02/20/mj-interviews-the-creature/Esme The Mirror Girl:https://mjmallon.com/2018/02/23/mj-interviews-esme-the-mirror-girl/

 

Finalist in Authorsdb Book Cover Contest

 

Winner of Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge no. 7 with my murderous flash – Mr Blamey: https://carrotranch.com/2017/12/19/winner-of-flash-fiction-contest-7/

 

 

Don’t forget to check out Marje’s new paperback Here

and Here for UK readers.