BIR 200 Day #4- Author Guest Post & Signed ARC Giveaway

Today we're excited to have author Laura Kreitzer, author of Shadow of The Sun, with us today. I've recently read and reviewed her debut book and it's a favorite adult book of mine. It's full of great mythology, action, romance and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the books in her Timeless series.

Shadow of the Sun

by Laura Kreitzer

Publisher: iUniverse

Publication Date: February 22, 2010

http://laurakreitzer.com/

The Story: Gabriella's past is a mystery, but that never stopped her from achieving her goals. As a supernatural specialist, and far more intelligent than anyone her age, she has always been ignored by her peers. Because of the isolation she has always felt, she put her life and soul into her job. Being a supernatural specialist hasn't given her the divine intervention she always longed for, until one day a shipment arrives from Italy containing three dead bodies with an uncanny ability to regenerate. Gabriella is frightened and intrigued, but not as scared as she becomes when a dark creature attacks her. As the bodies come back to life, the plot takes an unexpected twist that you won't see coming. The supernatural world only begins to unfold before her as angels appear, her dreams start to haunt her, and the very past she has forgotten comes back with startling clarity. Romance blooms, escape plans are made, an assassin is out to kill her, and death is only around the corner. But what is more terrifying than all of it is the fact she is the chosen one, the Illuminator, the one who will save them all.

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Today we are honored with a guest post from Laura-

Angel History

At the beginning of time there was a planet called Celeste. There were two beings that lived on this planet: Gods and Umás. Both of these beings had amazing magical powers and strengths, yet they never intermingled or mixed together because the Gods thought of the Umás as inferior.

Around 500,000 B.C. (just to use references that us humans can relate to), the Umás and Gods began to mix and have children. The Guardian Spirits were born of the two.

200,000 B.C. the Umás and Gods had a horrible falling out due to the Gods still believing they were better than the Umás. Instead of their death, those Gods who still cared for and loved the Umás sent them to a planet called Earth.

Their children, the Guardian Spirits, on the other hand, were left in a sort of limbo. The Gods loved them very much, but couldn’t stand to see the Umás’ faces in the Guardian Spirits’ and soon made a sort of heaven for them—the Ethereal Eternity around 50,000 B.C. They gave them free reign over many worlds they created. This was a mistake because soon they began to mate and have children with what the Gods considered inferior races on other planets. The only reason I say this is a mistake is because it caused a horrible chain reaction.

One of the Celestial Gods, Devil (Lucifer, Hades, etc), as you might call him today, became jealous of a Guardian Spirit’s relationship around 20,000 B.C. Devil had fallen deeply in love with the beautiful Guardian Spirit woman that another *inferior* was courting. He became wrathful and ripped a hole through the fabric of the Universe and straight to Earth where the Umás were. The peaceful life of the Umás was destroyed as Devil’s wrath crept into their souls. Some people relate this event to when Eve ate the apple.

The Guardian Spirits, with the help of the Gods, began to build an army—the Empyrean Guard. They were able to travel through the hole that was ripped through the worlds and find Devil. What the Guardian Spirits didn’t realize was that the Devil had begun to impregnate several of the Umás and turned his children, called Demons, against the Guardian Spirits. He did just as the other Celestial Gods did and made a world for his children called the Perpetual Inferno.

“The Demons lived in fire and reveled in it. They also began to build an army of Phantoms to fight the Empyrean Guard. There was a war on Earth and, for the Gods and Devil to protect their worlds, they closed them up and built portals between their worlds. Umás who had special abilities were called Angels, able to travel between Earth and the Ethereal Eternity. But many Phantoms convinced some of these special Umás to join their side. We call them The Fallen.

This was called the Covetous War because the Devil coveted, causing the war. After seven thousand years there was a stalemate between the two destructive worlds after almost all of the Umás on Earth were killed. There were few who survived and, through the years, they forgot the battles of old as they grew and changed into the humans the world knows now. The Empyrean Guard and Phantoms haven’t been on Earth in thousands of years.

Angels who fought and lost their lives on Earth were gifted with the Timeless Oblivion, the place between. They are called the Archangels who are messengers for those Angels that still live on Earth.

Several of The Fallen, who were living in limbo between Earth and the Perpetual Inferno, called the Abyss, asked for forgiveness of their transgressions five thousand years ago. The Celestial Gods gave them a second chance by giving them a human life. The Archangels watched over the once Fallen, and now humans. The original Fallen have all died a natural, human death and passed on to the many heavens, or hells, that exist after being judged on how they lived their human lives. But the many generations of children left behind still held some of their magical abilities The Fallen had once possessed.

In the Angel’s time of need (or as we called ourselves the Senzo Tempo: timeless), the Archangels broke the rules and helped them become immortal once again. They would never die a natural, human death and would never be judged like the Celestial Gods had demanded. The Archangels were sent back to the Timeless Oblivion.

The Celestial Gods never changed these new Angels back into humans because they were good and protected the humans, the ancestors of the Umás who they once loved.

Click the links below to see the history, an estimated timeline of events, and an Angel chart that Laura uses for her series:

http://www.laurakreitzer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/angelchart2.pdf

http://www.laurakreitzer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/angelchart1.pdf

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Thank you to Laura, we have a SIGNED ARC of Shadow Of The Sun we're giving away. Please fill out the form below to enter.