Jennifer Loiske was going to come in and talk to me today, but it seems she's busy wrestling with a storyline, so she's sent Shannon and Ian instead. Now bear with us because Shannon is a bit upset, I'm sure Ian will calm her down though.
“I can’t believe she did
it again,” A young girl said to her twin brother.
“Did what?” The boy
asked without lifting his gaze from the phone he was playing with.
“This,” the girl waved
her hand in the air, “Made us do all the hard work.”
The boy laughed. “She is
busy trying to save our father, you know. Researching the ancient ways of magic
and doing her best to find a loophole from the agreement signed with our
father’s blood.” He glanced at her, “Give her some credit, will you.”
The girl crossed her
arms and huffed. “Fine.”
“Hey,” the boy touched
her cheek gently, “we’ll be fine. Besides, you like chatting with people.
Especially with the readers.”
She offered him a
careful smile. He nodded encouragingly. The light crept into her eyes. He was
right. She did enjoy meeting new people. And after all, chatting was way better
than fighting.
“Okay, here goes,” she
grinned and started. “My name is Shannon McLean and this,” she pointed at the
boy, “is my twin brother, Ian. We are the main characters in McLean Twins
series by Jennifer Loiske. It’s a paranormal series for teen and young adult
readers and its success has surprised us all. Yep, Ian and me, too. The plot is unpredictable, the suspense makes
the readers bite their nails off, and the magical part…what can I say? Couple
of months ago I didn’t believe magic existed but now, now I can do wonders just
by snapping my fingers.” Ian punched her lightly.
“But it’s
true!” Shannon grinned, “we’ve harnessed the forgotten magic and we’re literally
learning new things
every day. Sometimes,” she swallowed, “sometimes I’m afraid what will happen
when we reach the full potential of our magic.”
“Really?” Ian was
surprised.
Shannon nodded. “In this
series, anything is possible. And truth be told, I’m not sure if Jennifer even
knows how this series is gonna end. Anyway,” Shannon went on before Ian could
notice how scared she really was, “here are a couple of excerpts from BLACK
DIAMOND, Book One in McLean Twins series, and from, DEMON’S TOUCH, Book Two in
McLean Twins series. I hope you’ll enjoy them. Oh, and like Ian said, Jennifer
is currently writing the final part, BLACK COVEN, so stay tuned. The ride will
get pretty wild before the story ends.”
An Excerpt from BLACK DIAMOND:
She stared at the forest
for a long time but there was no more light. Not even a dim one. Oh my God, she
thought. Maybe they were hikers and had been captured by Connor or Robert, or
even by some more horrifying person. She felt hot tears burning her eyes. She
wanted to run into the forest and help them, but what could she do? She would
only get herself hurt or worse and she had no idea how to help those poor
people.
“I'll
go there tomorrow,” she whispered. “I promise. Just hang on in there.” She
heard a quiet voice behind her door and froze. “Who is it?”
“Lily,”
a quiet voice whispered. “Please, let me in.”
Shannon
moved the bureau away and opened the door. Lily stood there holding a bag in
her hands. She slipped into the room and glanced around. When she decided it
was safe she opened the bag and showed its contents to Shannon. The bag was
full of food. Not nicely packed food but messy food that looked similar to what
had been served at dinner.
Shannon
gasped. “Ew! You cleaned my food! Why did you do it?”
Lily
shrugged. “I don't want him to hurt you.”
“Who?
Who would hurt me? Connor? Robert?” Shannon asked, stunned.
Lily
looked out of the window and shivered. She couldn't answer and Shannon didn't
want to press her.
“Thank
you,” Shannon said and smiled.
Lily
smiled, too. Shyly. “You can't throw it away. They'll know and they'll make you
eat it.”
“But
it's poisoned!” Shannon yelled.
“No,
it's not.” Lily took some of the food out of the bag. Slowly, she put it in her
mouth and ate it. “You see. It's not poisoned. It's just food, and if you don't
eat you'll lose your strength.”
“So?”
Shannon didn't care anymore.
“Then
they'll get you, too.” Lily was obviously scared that she had said too much.
Shannon
touched Lily's narrow shoulders. “Is that what happened to you?”
Lily
shook her head and sniffed. “No. I came here of my own free will. Whatever
happens to me is my own fault.”
“I
came here willingly, too.”
“Yes.
But you didn't know. I did and I still came.” Lily looked at Shannon's wide
eyes. “None of this is your fault. He shouldn't have allowed you to come. He
shouldn't.”
Shannon
was confused. She had no idea what Lily was talking about but it made her more
scared than ever. This place was seriously bad and these people, including her
dad, were wacky. And that was putting it nicely. And yet somehow she felt sorry
for them. Well, not for Robert, but for Lily and Simon, and maybe a little bit
for Connor, too. She wanted to run away. To leave and never come back, but she
knew she couldn't. She literally couldn't, and if she ever found a way to
escape she wasn't sure that she would. There had to be a way to help them.
There had to!
She
took Lily's hands in hers. “I'll help you. Whatever it takes, I'll help you.
You have my word.”
“No!
You don't understand! There’s no way to help me or the others. We’re in this
because we wanted to be! Help yourself and run!” Lily said desperately.
“No,
you're not. Maybe you were at first, but you can't seriously say that this is
what you want. Can you?”
Lily
looked at her sadly and shook her head. “No. But I'm in too deep. Nothing can
save me. Trust me.”
She
showed her palms and Shannon saw the locks move again. She touched one of them
and in that second it changed into a black diamond.
Lily
gasped sharply. They both stared at her palms. Lily's eyes got wider. “Oh no!
You're the one! Your life is in danger here! You need to run away. Now, before
he finds out about this!”
“What
do you mean? I'm not going anywhere!” said Shannon stubbornly.
The
black diamond seemed to spin round, and the lock on the other hand seemed to
change shape into a black skull.
Lily screamed. And then
came the wind.
An Excerpt from DEMON’S TOUCH:
Simon narrowed his eyes.
They had to be joking. He could feel the magic all over him, and if he could
feel it, they should, too. The place practically seeped magic. He shook his
head and opened his mouth, a sharp opinion of what he thought about their
empty-head, we-don’t-know-anything-about-magic game on his tongue. Right next
to where Shannon and Ian sat was a small path that led straight into the woods.
Behind the trees he could see a roof, and somehow he just knew it was Elowen’s
house. He closed his mouth and stared at Shannon. She should’ve sensed at least
something, but no. She just whined and leaned on her brother, looking
completely clueless. Simon shook his head again. “I can’t understand why you
don’t see it. This place is like the freaking center of earth magic!”
Shannon
and Ian looked at him like he had lost his mind.
Simon
cursed. “Elowen must’ve put some kind of shield around the house. Look, I can
see that you’re both tired. I am, too. But please, trust me on this.”
Shannon
formed a questioning ‘o’ with her mouth and frowned.
“A
spell,” Simon snapped.
“Huh?”
Shannon looked at him as if she’d heard the word ‘spell’ for the first time in
her life.
A vein
throbbed on Simon’s temple and he muttered something that very much sounded
like a curse. He inhaled slowly before nailing Shannon with his intense,
demanding gaze. “A spell would be nice now. Shannon, why don’t you, I don’t
know, like ask the wind to blow a bit harder or just wish the house here. Maybe
it’ll clear your mind and open your eyes.”
Shannon
blinked.
Simon
gritted his teeth. Right then, right there, Shannon didn’t look the least bit
like a crazy-talented teen witch but exactly what she was: a thirteen-year-old
little girl. He knelt down in front of her. “Shannon, something weird is
happening in here. Something that for some reason has no impact on me, but
obviously does something to you. It makes you weak and insecure, and so out of
yourself. You need to snap out of it.”
“But-”
He
took her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. “Humor me, okay?”
“Okay,”
Shannon breathed and reached for Ian’s hand.
A dim
light glowed from their hands when they touched each other, and they felt the
familiar recognition as the magic flowed between them, entwining around their
fingers and absorbing power from their bond.
“Are
you ready?” Shannon asked.
Ian
nodded.
Shannon
turned to Simon. “Simon, don’t look. I’m not sure if my magic is good for you.”
Simon
did as she asked, turning his eyes away from their glowing hands. Although he
didn’t believe Shannon could ever hurt him. Not even by accident.
Shannon
smiled hesitantly. “I’m not sure what to do.”
“Trust
yourself,” Simon encouraged. “You have a natural talent and this spell should
be child’s play for you.”
“True.”
Ian smiled wickedly. “And if something goes wrong, I’ve got your back.”
“Thanks,”
Shannon said dryly. “Okay, here we go.”
“Air,
clear our minds. Earth, open our eyes. Water, restore our strength. Fire, light
our path. What was hidden is no more. What was locked is now open. Reveal your
secrets and show us what we’re looking for.”
Not
the best spell she’d ever made, she had to admit that, but it didn’t seem to
matter. A light wind started to blow, bending the trees and opening the
thickets. The path next to them became visible to them all and the fog in
Shannon’s mind vanished completely. She wanted to rub her eyes. Finally, she
could see what Simon had seen the whole time. The miracle Elowen had so
skillfully hidden from the mundane world. Her jaw dropped open.
“No
way!”
Ian
inhaled sharply, too, before laughing out loud.
Shannon
took a step forward, hesitated, and stepped back. There was a huge white house
surrounded by a high stone wall in the middle of the woods.
“Shall
we go in?” Shannon asked.
“Sure.”
Ian shrugged but none of them made a move towards the house.
They
scanned the sight in front of them, their gaze stopping on a black iron gate,
which looked as if no one had passed through it in years. Maybe it’s just
another one of Elowen’s tricks, Shannon thought, examining the gate closely, as
why would Elowen have sent them there if they could not enter? Surely it was
just a gate and they were being paranoid, as nothing indicated danger. And yet
there was something so out of the ordinary in the place that all of her
instincts were urging her to leave. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the
details.
The
gate was skillfully made, its metal bars tied into all kinds of Celtic knots,
and its sides decorated by nature with ivy and other climbers that spread from
the gate onto the wall. It looked ancient and Shannon wouldn’t have been
surprised if someone claimed it had been made by elves hundreds of years ago.
At that point she was ready to believe anything. The gate also looked very
closed, with no keyhole visible anywhere, and she sure wasn’t gonna climb over
the wall. She was staring at the gate, wondering if she should make another
spell, when suddenly they heard a grating noise.
The
gate opened slowly, revealing a beautiful, well-taken care of garden with
flowering cherry trees and tulips. In the center of the yard was a wild black
horse, and astride it was a boy who looked like a fairy prince.
That's great you two. Thanks so much for coming in. Why don't you go off to your studies whilst I give the readers the relevant links and info on Jennifer. Good luck!
Well that went all right in the end - now where was I? oh right - yes, information on Jennifer:
Jennifer
Loiske lives in Finland in Naantali, which is a small sunny town on the
southwest coast. She is a Teen/YA paranormal fiction author, with four exciting
series available worldwide. McLean
Twins series for teen readers, Immortal Blood series for mature young adult
readers, Blood Hunters series, also for mature young adults, which is a follow
up for Immortal Blood series and is created by the readers’ requests, and The
Shape Shifter series for anyone age 16 and up.
Jennifer’s stories are full of creatures of the night. Vampires, demons,
witches, shape shifters…but even if they are mostly fiction you can find a hint
of a truth in every story. Jennifer loves to research so every time she gets an
idea of a new story she does a crazy Google session looking for places, old
myths, names, folklores, magical items…anything that could spice up her story
and make it more real for the readers. Jennifer is also part of Authors For
Charity, an international author alliance, and team member in Epilepsy FI
magazine. She has a soft spot for people in need and anything furry.
In her
spare time you can find her roaming in the woods with her two dogs or walking
on a beach road, headphones on, a focused expression on her face, whilst her
mind is developing wild plots which will make her readers to bite their nails
off.
If you want to keep up with her latest news click on these links:
And the links so that you can get these great books:
For Black Diamond go to http://authl.it/1ax
For Demon's Touch go to http://authl.it/2mf
Thanks to Jennifer for sending Shannon and Ian along today - it was interesting - I hope you get your plotline sorted.
And as always, thank you to my readers for joining us here.
Marie
