Please help me welcome Author Tracy E. Banghart to my blog today!
AUTHOR BIO:
Tracy E. Banghart is a cheesy movie–loving, fantasy football–playing (go Ravens!), globe-trotting Army wife who began “practicing” her craft at the age of five, when she wrote her first story. She loves visiting the international friends she met while pursuing her MA in Publishing and spends a portion of every summer at her family’s cabin in Canada, where she finds inspiration and lots of time to relax on the dock. She lives with her husband, son, two lazy dogs and one ornery cat. When not writing or spending time with her family, she is on a mission to bake the perfect cupcake.
BOOK 1
By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #1
Publication date: February 18th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal
Series: By Blood #1
Publication date: February 18th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal
Synopsis:
For 17-year-old Emma Wong, spending a summer in England should be a dream come true. Gorgeous scenery? Check. Lots of hot guys with accents? Yes, please.
Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.
But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom...and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.
Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.
By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.
Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.
But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom...and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.
Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.
By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.
Purchase:
BOOK 2
Moon Child by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #2
Publication date: August 16th 2013
Series: By Blood #2
Publication date: August 16th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal
Synopsis:
Before Emma's adventures in Oxford, her best friend Diana came face-to-face with a killer...
Diana Calvert is so over high school. Who cares if Olivia hates her? And David needs to forget about having a crush on her STAT. Even Emma’s crazy fashion choices can’t keep Diana entertained. All she can hope for is a dance scholarship to a college as far away as possible from too-small, too-boring, too-nothing-ever-happens New Freedom, PA.
Then Diana meets Nicholas Woodhaven. He’s pale, angry…yet weirdly charming. The more time they spend together, the more she wonders who – or what – he really is. Because he isn’t anything like the other guys she knows. Not with the whole only-going-out-at-night thing. And living with his creepy aunt. And not going to school.
Just when Diana thinks she’s got Nicholas all figured out, people in her small, nothing-ever-happens town start dying. She has to wonder – can she trust him? And even more alarming – could she be next?
A murder mystery with a paranormal twist, Moon Child is best read under the covers with a flashlight...if you dare!
Diana Calvert is so over high school. Who cares if Olivia hates her? And David needs to forget about having a crush on her STAT. Even Emma’s crazy fashion choices can’t keep Diana entertained. All she can hope for is a dance scholarship to a college as far away as possible from too-small, too-boring, too-nothing-ever-happens New Freedom, PA.
Then Diana meets Nicholas Woodhaven. He’s pale, angry…yet weirdly charming. The more time they spend together, the more she wonders who – or what – he really is. Because he isn’t anything like the other guys she knows. Not with the whole only-going-out-at-night thing. And living with his creepy aunt. And not going to school.
Just when Diana thinks she’s got Nicholas all figured out, people in her small, nothing-ever-happens town start dying. She has to wonder – can she trust him? And even more alarming – could she be next?
A murder mystery with a paranormal twist, Moon Child is best read under the covers with a flashlight...if you dare!
Purchase:
Author Links:
Why I Love YA
Ever since I was a teenager, young adult literature has been my favorite genre. I love the romance, the sense of adventure, the presence (usually) of a strong, engaging female heroine. But it's more than that. The number-one reason I love YA is that justice always prevails. Good wins, evil loses, period. Sure, there might be blood, tears, even death…but ultimately by the end the bad guy DOES pay. I read for entertainment, to take a little mental vacation, to be inspired or touched by one of these amazing female characters. I WANT a happy ending…. but even more important, I want a FAIR ending.
In real life, fair isn't always possible, and justice isn't always served. I was reminded of this recently, unfortunately, when dealing with a rental home dispute. It got to the point where I was having stress dreams about the issues…when I could sleep at all. I felt that both my integrity, as well as my infant son's health, were being threatened, and I HATED that sense of victimization and powerlessness. It's a feeling I recall often feeling in middle and high school. That was the time when I discovered that people could lie about me, and in a he-said she-said situation, there was literally NOTHING I could do to "prove" my side was correct. That was when I first experienced a sense of absolute impotence, KNOWING I was right and not being able to do a single thing to prove it. At some point, I think we all realize how much the way people treat us, and whether they believe us, comes down to our real - or perceived - character. And how easy it is for someone to influence that perception. (A great book that deals with this "perception" issue - If I Lie, by Corrine Jackson.) Which is all to say, I don't think I'm the only one who first experienced injustice in their teenage years.
The sad thing is, in real life those injustices aren't always made right. In the case of my current predicament, I discovered there is no viable option to bring the guilty party to justice. There is NOTHING I CAN DO. It's a horrible feeling. One that gives me a permanent sick feeling in my stomach and makes me want to ram my head against a wall. It also makes me want to lose myself in a book where the outcome will be very different and vastly more satisfying. Maybe The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab, or Hero's Crown by Robin McKinley. Those are great examples of books where the heroine suffers an injustice…and prevails in the end.
People read YA for many reasons, because there are many reasons to love the genre. But, for me, I love YA because bad guys always get their comeuppance, and strong characters always defy/exceed/blow away expectations. Even as a woman in my mid-30s, I sometimes need that reminder that some battles are worth fighting, and some girls (and boys) really can save the day.
Giveaway:
Grand prize giveaway
Prizes:
1) (US only) SIGNED paperback copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $20 Amazon, B&N or Smashwords gift card
2) (US & INTL) (2 winners) paperback copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $10 Amazon, B&N or Smashwords gift card
3) (US & INTL) (2 winners) E-copies of BY BLOOD & MOON CHILD + $5 Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords gift card
http://www.rafflecopter.
Please thank Tracy for joining us today! Please check out her links and her books. Good luck!
Keep Writing!
Jodie Pierce