The Portal's Choice by KD Pryor Blog Tour, Guest Post and Giveaway!

Title : The Portals Choice

Author : K D Pryor

Date Published: 5/6/2013

Genre : Young Adult Paranormal / Horror

Journal, just in case . . .

I didn’t ask to meet ghosts. Shoot, I was fine without them in my life. Uncle Craig and Hannah were nasty to me, but at least I knew how to handle living pains in the butt. Now I have to figure out how to open and close a portal between the human and spirit worlds. And I have to find and return a bunch of angry ghosts through the gateway and lock them on their side. I don’t know why the portal chose me to do this, a fifteen-year-old kid with no ghost busting experience. But it did. And if I want a ghost-free night’s sleep anytime soon, I’d better figure out how to get the job done. Because I’ve about had it with murderous ghouls and their unpleasant agendas.  “Signed Tallis Challinor”

When Tallis Challinor has to move a second time after the death of her parents, she hopes it is for good. She and her brother are ready to settle into a stable home situation with their Aunt Gabbie and her husband, Noreis. But what should have been a happy reunion is plagued with problems when Noreis opens a portal between the spirit and human worlds located in the basement of their house in New Hampshire. 

Tallis is a practical kid. She doesn’t believe that ghosts exist. But she can’t deny what she sees with her own eyes and the two ghosts Tallis meets at Thanksgiving in the basement of her aunt’s house are definitely not figments of her imagination, although she wishes they were. Tallis is unwittingly drawn into the portal’s energy when one of the ghosts fixates on her and forces her to assist in the release of three particularly nasty spirits. As a final blow, the portal chooses Tallis as a temporary gatekeeper and she finds herself charged with the duty of returning the very ghouls she’s set free, plus a few of their buddies, back to the spirit realm.  

As Tallis learns the secrets of the portal and begins to understand her newly acquired power, she formulates a plan to return the ghosts. Along the way, she receives help from many new friends who fill in the details about the identity of the escaped spirits, providing a possible motive for the outrageous actions of the escaped ghosts. Tallis must learn to trust herself and others as she taps into her inner courage to get the job done and save her town from the angry restless dead set. 

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K.D. Pryor

KD Pryor started life in Missouri, where she read lots of books, even sneaking them into baseball games to the irritation of her father. Kelley graduated with a degree in International and Comparative Studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After college and marriage to a great guy, she decided to pursue a law degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Her oldest son was born soon after law school, followed three years later by her daughter and a move to Kentucky. One more son, a move to Ohio and four years later, her family jumped on the opportunity to move to India. They lived in Bangalore, now Bengaluru, for four wonderfully chaotic years, traveling all over Asia, Australia and Europe. 

Now, settled in New Hampshire with her family and herd of cats (only three), she can often be found in her office, working on the next installment of “The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean” series, reading one of a dozen books she has started, and dreaming of her future travel destinations.

“The Portal’s Choice”, book one in “The Gatekeeper’s of Em’pyrean” series featuring Tallis Challinor, was released on May 6, 2013.

“The Inn of the Kindred Spirits”, a novella featuring protagonist Tallis Challinor, was released in November, 2013.

“The Forgotten Gate”, book two in “The Gatekeeper of Em’pyrean” series, is scheduled for release in 2014.

Website: www.KDPryor.com

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

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KDPryorbooks

Now for the Guest Post!!!

What are your must-haves and writing quirks?

Whenever I start a new writing project, I have a few personal rules I have to follow before the words can flow from fingertip to page, or keyboard. Assuming I have what I consider a great story idea, I can’t continue until I’ve pulled together some information about my characters and have a few necessities close by. I don’t like to stop and search once the writing is underway. But, once I’ve accomplished my prewriting preparations, writing is so much easier. The list is as follows:

1.     1 :  Names.  I love deciding on character names. I use a few different websites to find the perfect names to fit my characters. I think that the character name should in some way describe and define the person it is assigned to. In The Portal’s Choice there is an ancient spirit named Porteur who is the Folctoga, or Head Gatekeeper of the spirit world. In French, the name Porteur means Gatekeeper. Not only does the name fit what my character does, I also think Porteur has a rather regal sound to it, which is perfect for the character’s personality. (I do the same thing for the names of towns).

2.     2 : Family connections. In The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean series I have created the idea of hereditary gatekeepers who guard the portals between the human and spirit worlds. Because the gatekeeping duty passes along family lines, I find it useful to construct elaborate family trees for my main characters. I have some interesting connections mapped out in these genealogical charts. Delving into these relationships before I try to write about them helps me to present information about interconnected characters without confusion – I hope. Plus, I might use some of what I’ve done in future books. Who knows? 

3.     3 : Notes. I take lots of notes as I brainstorm story ideas. I don’t construct an outline per se, but I get a sense of the main story elements that I need to address and questions that I’ll have to answer. I also keep notes from my previous books to remind me what questions and situations I’ve left unresolved.

4.    4 :  A long chat with my husband. I have a great husband and he has some amazing insights into my books. Often, when I’ve finished all my other preparatory steps, I’ll still be unsure of a couple of things. That’s when I sit down with my husband and talk the entire thing out. He has a very logical yet creative brain and he often sees what I have missed. One of his suggestions, that I am putting into The Forgotten Gate, the next book in my series, was so simple yet so brilliant that I can’t believe I missed it. (I can’t tell you what it is – you’ll have to read the book). So, a big thanks to the guy I married.

5.    5 :  The little things that really count:

a.       Coffee or tea, although coffee is my favorite.

b.      My pillow to support my back and keep me sitting up straight. I don’t like neck aches and stiff shoulders although I use them as an excuse for a massage.

c.       My thesaurus for those times that the perfect word is hiding behind a corner in my brain.

d.      Colorful pens to jot down ideas as I write. I try to use different colors to keep the ideas with the right scene.

e.       A room heater for my office in New Hampshire. Once the snow starts to fall I can’t get warm enough. Just recently I realized that a heating pad is also helpful if my hands start to feel a bit numb.

f.        And finally, a little meditation time to get quiet before I start to write. I’m amazed at the ideas that pop into my head when I allow myself to sit still for 10 minutes.

That’s my list of pre-writing musts and things that I can’t do without. Now, back to my book…

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