#MMBBR Showcase: The Sword Chronicles: Child of the Empire by Michaelbrent Collings @mbcollings

THE SWORD CHRONICLES: CHILD OF THE EMPIRE

She is a Dog - one of the many children and teens across the empire of Ansborn who have been sentenced to fight in the arenas. There they fight in battle after battle until they die for the sport of the people of Ansborn - an empire built atop the peaks of five mountains.

But one day she picks up a knife... and everything changes.

She discovers she is a Greater Gift - one of a handful of magic users with powers so great they have only two choices: to join the Empire as one of its premier assassins, or die as a threat to the Empire itself.

She is no longer a Dog. Now, she is Sword. And she will soon realize that in this Empire, not all is what it seems. Good and evil collide, and she can never be sure whom to trust - not even herself.

She holds life in her hands for some. Brings death by her blade to others.

She is a killer.
She is a savior.

She is Sword.

 

Michaelbrent Collings is an internationally-bestselling author, one of the top indie horror writers in the US, and an international bestseller in 40+ countries. He is also a produced screenwriter who works in Hollyweird, though he has never "done lunch" or engaged the services of a waxer.

He is also a multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominee, and his bestsellers include The Colony Saga, Strangers, Darkbound, Apparition, The Haunted, The Loon, and the YA fantasy series The Billy Saga.

He hopes someday to develop superpowers, and maybe get a cool robot arm.

Michaelbrent has a wife and several kids, all of whom are much better looking than he is (though he admits that's a low bar to set), and much MUCH cooler than he is (also a low bar).

He also has a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings and can be followed on Twitter through his username @mbcollings. 

Sign up at http://eepurl.com/VHuvX for advance notice of MbC's new releases, sales, and freebies. You will also be kept safe when the Glorious Revolution begins! MWA-hahahahaha!

Q.  What inspires your writing?

A.  My children’s need to eat. I keep trying to get them to quit, but then they whine and are all like, “Why can’t we eat” and “My tummy hurts” and “I’m calling Social Services.” Whiners.

Q.  What is your favorite thing about being a writer?

A.  That I get to share my dreams with others. And maybe make their lives a bit better in the process.

Q.  What is the toughest part of being a writer?

A.  The fact that I’m aware of the possibility that my dreams will become part of others’ lives. It’s a huge responsibility, and scary. I’m not one of those “artists” who say basically, “I write wherever my art takes me, regardless of what others think.” I believe artists have a responsibility not simply to tell a “good story,” but to tell stories that will do the world some good.

Q.  If you could not be writer, what would you do/be?

A.  Dead.

Q.  What would the story of your life be entitled?

A.  That One Guy Who Was Fairly Boring. Also, Bald.

Q.  What is your favorite book of all time?

A.  Hmmm… probably Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card or From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz. Depends on my mood.

Q.  Which character from ANY book are you most like?

A.  When the main character goes into a store and notices there are people in it… one of those people is me.

Q.  What character from all of your book are you most like?

A.  Geez. Probably Ken. He’s the main character from my series The Colony Saga. Just a regular guy – not super-powered, not possessed of any unusual qualities, other than that he deeply loves his family and is willing to do whatever is necessary for them.

Q.  Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?

A.  Hah! Probably The Chronicles of Narnia. But only after Aslan wins the fight. I’m not interested in battling evil animals and White Queens and whatnot. I’d probably hide in the beaver den.

Q.  What is your favorite season?

A.  WINTER!

Q.  What inspired your book cover(s)?  Or what is your favorite book cover and why?

A.  My favorite cover is probably the one for This Darkness Light. It’s simple, vaguely creepy, and strangely beautiful to my eyes. Love the color scheme, too.

Q.  Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.

A.  Not on a book tour, but I was at a comic con and this guy came up and starting thumbing through one of my books with a strange intensity. Finally he asked, “Is the font different in this book than in your others?” “Uhhhh… no,” I answered. “Hmmm,” he said. And walked away. A moment later another guy came and said he was the first guy’s friend. And further said the only reason guy #1 had come to the con was to ask me that particular question. Weird, to say the least. And it definitely had me looking over my shoulder when I went to the bathroom.

Q.  Are you working on something new?

A.  Always.

Q.  Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?

A.   Hi! There’s a werewolf behind you! … Made you look!