Mundie Moms

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder / 10th Anniversary Blog Tour: Guest Post / Giveaway



Hello and welcome to today's POISON STUDY 10th Anniversary blog tour stop.  Before there was Clary & Jace, or Edward & Bella, there was Valek & Yelena. I have loved this series since it first came out. It's one of my all time favorite series, and I'm so thrilled to be apart of the 10th anniversary celebration. Today I'm honored to share 1 of 2 guest posts being featured on the tour, from author Maria V. Snyder. First, in case you haven't picked up Poison Study, which I HIGHLY recommend that you do, here's a little bit about the book:

ABOUT THE BOOK



By: Maria V. Snyder
Published by: Mira
Released on: March 1st, 2007
Series: Study #1
Purchase it from: AmazonBarnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Books A Million, The Book Depository, Kobo, Indiebound
Add it to: Goodreads

Choose: A quick death . . . or slow poison.
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear. . . . 


GUEST POST 

Valek’s Tasting Notes
by: Maria V. Snyder


Butterfly’s Dust:  Mixed one teaspoon of Butterfly’s Dust with one teaspoon of honey and eight ounces of peach juice.  Yelena detected the poison easily when she gargled the drink.  She seems intelligent, but she took the food taster’s position without asking many questions.  Perhaps she’s afraid of the answers.  Time will tell -- it always does.


Tigtus:  Sprinkled a pinch of Tigtus onto one of Rand’s ham-and-egg concoctions.  Yelena’s sense of smell is excellent - much better than the dull-witted Oscove.  Will try a half dose next time and see just how good her nose is.  She doesn’t talk much, but her striking green eyes take in every detail and she listens closely to everything I say.  I wonder what pushed her to kill Reyad.  She’s attractive even after living in our dungeon for so long.  Perhaps Reyad raped her and she killed him.  A commendable action if that’s the case -- need to find out.


My Love:  Mixed one ounce of My Love in eight ounces of tea.  Hope I calculated the right dosage.  She’s thin and still weak from her stay in the dungeon.  Don’t want to kill her too soon -- too many mysteries surround her.  Her reaction to the poison was quick - she swayed like a stalk of wheat in a gust of wind.
Day one -- she’s still unconscious - dosage might have been too strong.  
Day two -- remains unconscious.  Perhaps I should have Margg take her to the infirmary -- medic can’t help -- she’ll either live or die so why am I even thinking about it?  Pure foolishness!
Day three - conscious and well!


Note:  Found Yelena being chased by Brazell’s goons.  No surprise there except that she gave them the slip with only a cut to show for it.  Must keep her close to me while Brazell’s here.  His need for revenge is predictable.  Her quick thinking is commendable.


Mint test:  Yelena’s palate is remarkable.  She has no trouble discerning the different tastes underneath the mint.  Commander’s impatience has ordered me to give her a test on all the poisons.  It’s unusual and dangerous -- but somehow I know she’ll pass.  She’s a survivor.


Poison test:  Used every poison I have and watched Yelena taste all the food and drinks with an uncomfortable feeling of unease.  If she fails, she’s back to the dungeon to await the noose.  A very unappealing prospect.  
Poison test results:  Yelena uncovers an attempt on her life without knowing it.  Rand, who she defended as her friend, has spiked the clean drink with Blackberry poison.  Her anger is directed at me.  I let her believe that I had tried to trick her.  No sense in letting her get too comfortable -- if she thinks I will be testing her, then she will be more diligent in tasting the Commander’s food.  This attempt on her life is another development that must be investigated.   Somehow I feel this will only lead to more trouble, and to more involvement with the food taster than is usually required -- so why am I looking forward to it?


ENTER TO WIN


10 winners to match 10 years!
  • Grand Prize is a signed hardcover first edition of Poison Study and Magic Study (both books).
  • 1st Place a signed hardcover first edition of Poison Study
  • 5 winners will get a signed cover flat of the original cover of Poison Study
  • 3 winners will get a signed original bookmark for Poison Study



About Maria
Maria V. Snyder changed from being a meteorologist to a novelist in 1995, when she began writing to keep her sanity while raising two children. Since then, she has published numerous freelance articles in magazines and newspapers, and teaches fiction-writing classes at the local college and area libraries. The classes give her the wonderful opportunity to encourage fellow writers, and to keep improving her craft.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maria always had a fascination with big storms. Dreaming of chasing tornados, Maria earned a bachelors of science degree in meteorology at Penn State University. But she discovered, much to her chagrin, that forecasting the weather wasn't one of her skills. In order to chase tornados you had to predict where they might form. Creating fantasy worlds where she has complete control of the weather was more agreeable to her.

Maria's research on food-tasting methods with an expert chocolate taster, her husband, turned out to be a delicious bonus while writing Poison Study.

Maria has a brown belt in Isshinryu Karate, and enjoys playing volleyball and the cello. Traveling in general and via cruise ship in particular are her biggest distractions from writing. Maria has traveled to Belize, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal.

Maria lives with her husband, son, daughter and yellow lab, Hazelnut, in Pennsylvania where she is at work on more LUNA novels. She is also pursuing a master's degree in writing popular fiction from Seton Hill University.

Readers are welcome to contact Maria at the following email address:maria@mariavsnyder.com.
Find Maria: Website/Blog/Facebook/Goodreads

Tour Schedule

Week One:
9/28/2015-Magical Urban Fantasy ReadsScavenger Hunt
9/29/2015- a GREAT readScavenger Hunt
9/30/2015- Seeing Double In NeverlandScavenger Hunt
10/1/2015- Two Chicks on BooksGuest Post
10/2/2015- Alice MarvelsScavenger Hunt


Week Two:
10/5/2015- FiktshunScavenger Hunt
10/6/2015- Read Now Sleep LaterScavenger Hunt
10/7/2015- Mundie MomsGuest Post
10/8/2015- Tales of the Ravenous ReaderScavenger Hunt
10/9/2015- ParajunkeeScavenger Hunt


Follow The Read-Along Schedule
October 4th-10th: Chapters 1-8
October 11th-17th: Chapters 9-17
October 18th-24th: Chapters 18-25
October 25th-31st: Chapters 26-32 and closing post



Shadowhunters TV Series: Weekly Wrap Up 10/3 - 10/-6




Happy Wednesday Shadowhunters! We're half way through the week, and there's been a lot of exciting posts from the cast & crew as they wrapped up filming! Normally I post one big weekly wrap up, but this week I'm splitting it up. Check out all the posts shared so far from the cast & crew. This weekend I'll be posting coverage from the cast & crew, and Cassie from NYC-Comic Con! 
































































There's a lot more pictures and videos the cast and crew have shared on Instagram this week. Be sure to follow them on Instagram & Twitter. Check ShadowhuntersTV.com, to stay up to date with their latest news about the TV series. Follow them on Twitter, and Facebook.

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