S.G. Rogers ~ Day 13 of 365 Days of Great Authors and Giveaways!

Who is S.G. Rogers?

In her former lives, S.G. Rogers was a lawyer and an actress, but she’s now grown up and settled down as an author. Drawn to fantasy literature, she’s lived in some of the most magical places in America, including La Jolla, California, Asheville, North Carolina, and currently Savannah, Georgia. She resides with her son, husband, and two hairless cats—which look and act quite a bit like dragons. When she’s not writing, she enjoys practicing martial arts.

1) What genres are your favorites to read? How about to write in? 

 I love young adult fantasy. For some reason, the wonderment of youth seems to be most accurately reflected in YA fantasy…although I’m proof you don’t have to be a teen to enjoy it. Because I love to read it, that’s the genre I’m most often drawn to. Nevertheless, I like to write romantic fantasy occasionally, for its snappy dialogue and romantic tension.

2) Who is one of your favorite characters that you have written? Please tell us about him/her and what book they are in. 

 Oddly enough, it’s often a minor character that makes me laugh. In the Yden series, Fred has the best lines of dialogue. He’s a boy who starts out as a bully but has a HUGE character arc. Fred is often unintentionally funny and endearing, although you wouldn’t believe that if you just read the first part of The Last Great Wizard of Yden.

3) For those who have not read your work yet, what book would you recommend starting with? 

If you like YA fantasy, read The Last Great Wizard of Yden. If romantic fantasy is your favorite, try The Magical Misperception of Meridian (February 2012, MuseItUp Publishing) or Clash of Wills (February 2012, The Wild Rose Press).

4) Where can readers find and connect with you on the web? 

My blog and Facebook

5) What is one thing that you could not live without?

Tab diet soda. It’s probably a part of my DNA by now. I drink it instead of coffee for breakfast. Mmm.

Book Spotlight:


The Last Great Wizard of Yden

After his father is kidnapped, sixteen-year-old Jon stumbles across a closely guarded family secret–one that will challenge everything he has ever believed about his father and himself. A magical ring his father leaves behind unlocks a portal to another dimension, but in using it, Jon unwittingly unchains the forces of evil. A crisis develops when a malevolent wizard transports to Earth to kidnap Jon’s would-be girlfriend. With the help of some unlikely schoolmates, and a warrior princess from Yden, Jon embarks on a dangerous quest to free his friend and his father from the most vicious wizard the magical world has ever known. In the end, Jon will be forced to fight for his life as he attempts to rescue the last great wizard of Yden.

Excerpt:

One moment Jon was sitting at his drafting table. In the next, he was sprawled in the middle of a dirt road, having fallen painfully on his behind. His wrist was still tingling, as if he’d stuck his finger in a light socket, and his nostrils burned with the unmistakable scent of ozone.

“Get out of the way!” a man yelled.

A wooden cart, pulled by a team of enormous horses, was bearing down on him. Jon rolled to the side as the cart rumbled past, its wheels barely clearing his head. The driver dragged the team to a halt. “I should report you to the cygards,” he snarled.

Before Jon realized what was happening, the driver’s arm recoiled and he let loose a bullwhip. The popper cracked mere centimeters from Jon’s face. As he scrambled to his feet, the cart moved on, raising a cloud of dust in its wake. Jon stumbled backward, coughing, but then the tail of a strange animal snaked around his waist. The beast resembled a stocky horse, but it had stubby horns and hard ridges where the mane should be. The tail was reminiscent of a small elephant’s trunk. Jon shuddered and twisted out of the animal’s reach.

A plump woman hurried toward him, parcel in hand. “You there! Step away from my puleden!”

Puleden?

“S-sorry,” Jon stammered.

When the extraordinary creature wrapped its muscular tail around the woman’s parcel, Jon gaped in amazement.

“What’re you looking at, vagrant?” the woman snapped.

Without waiting for an answer, the woman unhitched her puleden from a rough-hewn post and led it away. Jon narrowly avoided the road apple the animal left in its wake.

As he took in his surroundings, his mind refused to accept what his eyes were showing him. Somehow he’d traveled instantaneously to a village plucked straight from the pages of a medieval storybook. People were shopping at a busy open-air marketplace nearby, which consisted of rustic wooden stalls, booths, and tents. No cars were on the road, nor could Jon see any modern machinery of any kind. Women were clothed in long, coarsely woven dresses, while men wore cloth shirts and trousers with hide vests. Everyone over a certain age seemed to be wearing a hat of one sort or another. The vendors at the food booths wore the same kind of two-cornered hat oddly similar in shape to ones Jon had seen at fast-food joints.

When a light rain began to moisten his skin, Jon focused his attention upward. To his astonishment he saw not one but two suns in between the streaky, gray clouds. One was nearly overhead and the other, much smaller sun was on the horizon. The realization he was no longer on Earth began to sink in.

I’m on Yden.

Giveaway!!

S.G. Rogers is offering one lucky winner an e-copy of her book The Last Great Wizard of Yden in either pdf or epub format! To enter, please simply fill out he Rafflecopter form and be sure to include your email address so that I may notify you if you are the lucky winner!  Contest ends Midnight, Jan. 21st.

Good Luck, Everyone!



a Rafflecopter giveaway