Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Sol Invictus by Ben Gartner. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a great guest post from the author. There's also a tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!
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Title: Sol InvictusSeries: The Eye of Ra #2
Author: Ben Gartner
Publisher: Crescent Vista Press
Publication Date: February 2nd 2021
Print Length: 300 pages
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Adventure
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Siblings John and Sarah barely made it home last time, but in their next time traveling adventure the challenge really heats up. Surrounded by clashing cultures on the ancient Roman frontier, they must fulfill their quest to unite the emperor with his enemy, an Alemanni barbarian, or risk being stuck in time forever.
An action-packed fantasy full of sword fights, chariot chases, fearsome wild animals, and high mountain survival. For graduates of the Magic Tree House looking for a thrilling middle grade page-turner, read Sol Invictus, book two of The Eye of Ra series!
Goodreads * Amazon * Apple Books *
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EXCERPT:
John’s whole body shook. His irregular breathing created a feedback loop of anxious nerves. On one side of him, Lucas was now armed. On the other, a squad or regiment or whatever you call it of Roman soldiers pointed spears at them, and they looked very, very serious. John’s worrying spiraled and he couldn’t steady himself and—
If only he could trace the eye of Ra again. Why on Earth had he thought tracing it would be a good idea in the first place? What was he thinking?!
Then Sarah asked for him to hand it over. Of course! She would save them. She got them out of ancient Egypt. She’d save them again.
He couldn’t get the leather cord over his head, so Sarah leaned in close and put her finger on the pendant. With the loop still around his neck, their foreheads pressed together.
“We’re going to get out of here, Johnny,” she whispered.
“Get up!” the boy standing over him said again.
Given that he was one of the fighters about to face a lion, John assumed he was a venator and thus wasn’t trying to kill them, or the other people in the ring. They were supposed to work together to overcome the lion, right? In fact, this boy had offered to help them. John examined Sarah’s face—her single pointed look of determination as she traced the eye. Why was she reluctant to accept this boy’s help, to work together?
Sarah finished tracing the almond eye and moved to the line with the curlicue finish while mumbling to herself in some kind of mantra, “Please work, please work, please work.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ben Gartner is the award-winning author of The Eye of Ra adventure series for middle graders (ages 8-12). His books take readers for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something in the meantime. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys.
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GUEST POST:
- Who or what inspired you to write Sol Invictus?
Sol Invictus is book two in The Eye of Ra series. The first book, The Eye of Ra, came out last year in February 2020 and book two comes out this year February 2, 2021. Available everywhere books are sold, of course!
I start with that background in answer to your question because what inspired me to write Sol Invictus was primarily two things: 1. My kids, and 2. The success and fun of book one.
1. MY KIDS
I have two sons who helped me come up with the overall storyline and characters of book one. It was something we did for fun together while I was in between other writing projects. The more we dug in, the more I realized we had something unique and a book idea we thought would be a lot of fun to read. I then crafted the scenes, read them out loud and heard reactions (or lack thereof!) and tweaked accordingly. Pretty soon we had a whole book and we decided it would be fun to push it out into the world.
2. SUCCESS AND FUN
The Eye of Ra has been read by thousands and thousands of people around the world and it has been a ton of FUN to hear reactions and get fan mail. I love seeing it on public library and school library shelves perhaps most of all. It’s been unreal and a dream come true, no doubt. That made writing the sequel a no-brainer. And book three is in development right now. More will be revealed about the overarching series plot, about the real fate of John and Sarah, and how their actions will literally save the world.
This whole project has been pure joy: Getting to work with my kids and also put something out that total strangers actually enjoy too. That is what inspired me to write Sol Invictus. Can’t wait for the next!
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GIVEAWAY:
Ben Gartner will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteHow long was the writing process?
ReplyDeleteGood question. And sort of hard to answer. This one came rather quickly. It was probably about six months from inception until what was basically the final product. But of course longer than that for fine-tuning, beta reading, proofreading, the cover, etc etc. Thanks for asking and for reading!
DeleteGreat excerpt, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support on all these posts, Rita. :)
Deletesounds so good!
ReplyDeletemia2009(at)comcast(dot)net
I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteThanks for having me on your blog, Heather!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book. Congratulations on it's release.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly!
DeleteBen Gartner is a new author to me, but I look forward to reading this. I always love meeting new authors. Thanks to this blog for the introduction.
ReplyDeleteHappy to meet you too, Audrey. Hope you enjoy my books!
DeleteSounds like a great read. I love the cover.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Elena. I hope you enjoy it. :)
Deletesounds like a wonderful book
ReplyDeleteThank you, Wendy!
DeleteCongrats on the release of this book!! :)
ReplyDeleteWoot! Thank you, Doreen!
DeleteThis sounds really good, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it, Marisela. Thank you.
Deletesounds like a fun one
ReplyDeleteI like to think so too. ;) Thanks, Daniel.
DeleteI have grand daughters who would love this book!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the review.
Great! Can't wait to hear what they think! :)
DeleteSounds like a great book. I like the cover.
ReplyDeleteMe too. :) Thank you, Susan. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteSounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was going for. ;) heh
DeleteLooks like a wonderful adventure for middle grade kids.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa! I hope so. :)
DeleteI love the excerpt and think the book sounds great.
ReplyDeleteNice! Thank you, Sherry.
DeleteGreat excerpt!
ReplyDelete:)
Deletenice book cover and the book sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deb. :)
DeleteI like the cover. It has very nice artwork.
ReplyDeleteabfantom at yahoo dot com
Thanks, Ann, I agree. Anne Glenn (anneglenndesign.co.uk) does beautiful work.
DeleteGreat blog post- love finding new (to me) authors
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the adventures!
DeleteLooks like an interesting book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
Thank you!
DeleteAnd you're welcome! :)
Sounds like a very interesting story and the cover is good too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, David. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteThis sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteI hope it meets that expectation! ;)
DeleteHave a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, you too.
DeleteNice cover. It sounds like an interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diana. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteI like the cover! It sets the tone for the book!
ReplyDeleteYes! I love Anne Glenn's work. It was a fun collaboration.
DeleteI can't wait to get started on book 1!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Let me know what you think. :)
DeleteHave a wonderful day!
ReplyDelete:) You too!
DeleteGreat cover and very interesting tale for the little ones.
ReplyDeleteI know my own kids enjoyed it. I hope yours do too.
DeleteI enjoyed learning about this book. Thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThank you and good luck!
DeleteThis sounds really good, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your interest, Susan!
DeleteThe excerpt is interesting. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI need an interesting book to read right now and the plot of this one looks pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI hope it meets your expectations. :)
DeleteThis seems like an excellent read for the younger audience.
ReplyDeleteI hope so! That means a lot. Thank you.
DeleteThis sounds like a great fantasy adventure!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteSounds like a great read cant wait to read it
ReplyDeleteSuper! I can't wait to hear your input!
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