Today I am so pleased to welcome the fabulous Rhys Ford back to Joyfully Jay. Rhys has come to talk to us about her latest release, Ink and Shadows. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Rhys a big welcome!
First, thank the blogs for having me on this Ink and Shadows tour! Thank you so so much! Secondly, this next part will be the same across the blogs but I wanted to give a bit of a soundbite about the whys of this book.
In the Beginning, there was urban fantasy. Okay to be fair, the urban fantasy genre didn’t exist when I began to read. Back then, it was pretty much either sci-fi or high fantasy. There were murmurs of urban fantasy—Mercedes Lackey’s elves / bard series, Gael Baudino’s Gossamer Axe, to name a few—but it caught and began gaining traction, a bastard stepchild of magic and an alternative universe.
Urban fantasy was always a playground for experimentation and I wanted to go off the rails a bit with Ink and Shadows. There had to be a solid footing in the contemporary world and the underbelly of humanity. Or rather, the expression of humanity. When I wrote this book, it was to explore the possibilities of personalities and okay, play around with the world.
I chose to write about the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Kismet, the human who changes their world, because I wanted to delve into their being a necessary part of humanity’s existence. Over the course of the tour, I’ll touch on the main characters and components of the Horsemen’s world.
I hope you all like Ink and Shadows, my foray past the shadows.
Oh! And as a giveaway! Enter to win Pestilence’s Horse! That’s right! A black pony of your very own! Comment below and be entered to win Mal’s iconic Dark Horse.
War
Oh War. War goes by the name of Ari, short for Ares… or maybe Aramis. No one asked. The best part of being War is that you’ve got the reputation of being aggressive so people don’t necessarily ask you questions like, why’d you choose that name. Okay, Death could ask since War’s been in and out of Death’s bed for as long as both of them have been Horsemen but Death would never inquire. And chances are, War already told him…because Death is who War turns to when the darkness gets too black.
Of course not many of the other Immortal Manifestations really interact with the Horsemen. They are the Harbingers, the Destroyers of Humanity and all of that rot…even though their actions are meant to bring humanity obstacles to overcome and thus grow.
On the surface, Ari comes across as a giant, puppy-shark. A bit playful, a lot dangerous and perhaps a mite bit unpredictable. In reality, War knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s been War for a very long time and the simplistic personality masks a strategic mind. He is the one who creates conflicts—sometimes seemingly insurmountable ones—but those conflicts are the mountains humanity must climb and conquer.
War isn’t just responsible for the battlefield. He’s also the Puppetmaster of movements. He is the whisper in one person’s ear to sit down and refuse to go to the back of the bus. He’s the voice echoing in the emptiness of one person’s heart to reach across the divide and try to save one person from tyranny. War is often the straw that breaks the raging camel’s back but humanity does not grow with just the stick, there must also be the carrot…the spark in someone’s heart to be better. That spark means the expansion of the collective soul.
And it’s a burden War carries on his very broad shoulders.
Blog Tour
July 2: Love Bytes: http://lovebytesreviews.com/
July 3: It’s About the Book: http://itsaboutthebook.com/
July 6: Sinfully Sexy: http://sinfullysexybooks.blogspot.com/
July 7: RELEASE DAY! WOOOOT
July 8: Prism Alliance: http://www.prismbookalliance.com/
July 9: Joyfully Jay: https://joyfullyjay.com/
July 10: GGR: http://www.ggr-review.com/
July 11: The Blogger Girls: http://thebloggergirls.com/
The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/
Blurb
Ink and Shadows
Kismet Andreas lives in fear of the shadows.
For the young tattoo artist, the shadows hold more than darkness. He is certain of his insanity because the dark holds creatures and crawling things only he can see—monsters who hunt out the weak to eat their minds and souls, leaving behind only empty husks and despair.
And if there’s one thing Kismet fears more than being hunted—it’s the madness left in its wake.
The shadowy Veil is Mal’s home. As Pestilence, he is the youngest—and most inexperienced—of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, immortal manifestations resurrected to serve—and cull—mankind. Invisible to all but the dead and insane, the Four exist between the Veil and the mortal world, bound to their nearly eternal fate. Feared by other immortals, the Horsemen live in near solitude but Mal longs to know more than Death, War and Famine.
Mal longs to be… more human. To interact with someone other than lunatics or the deceased.
When Kismet rescues Mal from a shadowy attack, Pestilence is suddenly thrust into a vicious war—where mankind is the prize, and the only one who has faith in Mal is the human the other Horsemen believe is destined to die.
Purchase Ink and Shadows at DSP Publications: http://www.dsppublications.com/books/ink-and-shadows-by-rhys-ford-135-b
Or Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ink-Shadows-Rhys-Ford-ebook/dp/B010OLTBJU/
As well as B&N and ARe.
Bio
About Rhys Ford
Rhys Ford was born and raised in Hawai’i then wandered off to see the world. After chewing through a pile of books, a lot of odd food, and a stray boyfriend or two, Rhys eventually landed in San Diego, which is a very nice place but seriously needs more rain.
Rhys admits to sharing the house with three cats of varying degrees of black fur and a ginger cairn terrorist. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird, a Toshiba laptop, and an overworked red coffee maker.
- My Blog: www.rhysford.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhys.ford.author
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhys_Ford
And at the Starbucks down the street. No really, they’re 24/7. And a drive-thru. It’s like heaven.
My books can be purchased, folded and first chapters read at Dreamspinner Press.
Giveaway
Rhys has brought a special giveaway of Pestilence’s Horse! That’s right! A black pony of your very own! Comment below and be entered to win Mal’s iconic Dark Horse. The contest ends on Monday, July 13th at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
What an enticing description of Ares.. or Ari, or War. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse are an all time favourite of mine. So awesome and so dangerous… But I must recognise you make them look really… apealing!!! 😉
I’m looking forward to reading Ink and Shadows. Already downloaded and waiting in my ebook!!!
susanaperez7140(at)gmai(dot)com
Can’t wait for more in this series. Thanks for this Rhys 🙂
Ari is my favorite in the book. He certainly has a way with words. I want more of this series.
ineztey@yahoo.com
i haven’t read it yet buuut it’s on my kindle books just waiting til i finish my current read. but i love Rhys’ books and i can’t wait to dive into this one 😀
I can’t get over how gorgeous the cover is on this one! It’s up next for me to read and I’m very excited!!!
Can’t wait to read this!
These insides into the characters and world of Ink and Shadows are whetting my appetite even more for this book. I have saved it for this weekend so I can read it in one go. Thank you Rhys for all of your tremendous reads.
Ari is certainly an interesting character. He is so “mean” but a good guy.
I’m still doing my happy dance from Tuesday 😀 You are all things wonderful and awesome and I adore your books – and your characters! Love, love, love them. So much appreciation for you!
How have I missed this series? I am jumping on it right away!
This is the first book in the series so you aren’t too far behind!
I started reading it last night. I’m already sad for Kismet. I’m only about 50 pages in, but I’m totally digging it.
Love the insight on Ari 😉 it’s easy to forget there is so much more to him when all your can see is that he is a huge arse! Lol Dunno that Kismet will ever appreciate the nuances of War!
Btw I do love him…his persistent courting of Death & the surprising patience he shows to Deaths rejection kinda makes me wanna give him a hug. Will be interesting to see what comes of the back & forth….because it is obvious that Death sooo badly wants to fall into Wars arms!
This is looking to be really interesting. I can’t wait to read this.
So much fun, you do the best blog hops 🙂
I bought the book but haven’t had time to read it. I’m sure that when I do I’ll love it. From everyone’s review, it is a very good read.
that’s an interesting view of war and has me intrigued
This was so good but now who knows when book two will ever come so I need a pony teddy to comfort my desolate nights waiting! Giddy up!
bibliophiloscifi(at)gmail(dot)com
I can’t wait til this weekend so I can read it. I know I’ll enjoy it. 🙂
Just started reading it last night. It sucks only reading a few hours after work each day, but I didn’t want to wait for the weekend. So far it’s good. 🙂
Please count me in. Thanks.
It must be hard coming up with something for each post. What a great job you do!
Great post! And how cute is Mal’s pony.
Congrats on your new release!
I can’t wait to start on this series! Thank you for the giveaway!
Gotta love War and Death as a couple. Thanks for the contest. Dejamew@centurylink.net
Oh, I love the description puppy-shark. He sounds so interesting. 🙂
waxapplelover (at) gmail (dot) com
Such a unique look at War. I can’t wait to meet them all “in person”!
This is on my TBB list, looking forward to reading it.
I love urban fantasy. I first read this intriguing new genre in 1984, with Charles de Lint’s Moonheart. It touched the Wiccan part of me, as well as the longtime fantasy and sci-fi reader, and is still one of the most meaningful books I’ve ever read. I’ve been a fan of your work since I read the Dirty series and Sinner’s Gin (I’m palpitating, waiting for Quinn’s story, BTW).
I know you’ll do an amazing job of bringing
an imaginative landscape to life, and I’m looking forward to reading this version of the Four Horsemen. Best of luck to you!
kshugrue(at)gmail(dot)com
Love the complexity you note here. I’m looking forward to reading I&S and meeting War! Thank you.
caroaz [at] ymail [dot] com