Blog Book Tour | “Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact” by Melanie Abed an exciting #newbook for #MGLit readers who love Fantasy!

Posted Thursday, 8 January, 2015 by jorielov , , 11 Comments

Book Spotlight Banner created by Jorie in Canva

Why I love to host Book Spotlights for Children’s Lit:

Finding stories within the realm of Middle Grade is quite a happy exploration for me, as I have been happily entrenched in my local library’s catalogue for six years come May 2015! A seriously addictive hobby of mine has been to seek out wicked quality stories crafted for young minds whose innocent imaginations are thirsty for believable worlds, compelling characters, and heart-warming tales which seek to teach as much as they are to inspire! I grew up with a happy heart for learning and for expanding my knowledge as I read each new story that whet my palette of interest to soak inside, however, the offerings during the 1980s and the 1990s were a bit on the paltry side compared to the 2000s!

There has been such an explosion of options within Children’s Literature, that in part, I was inspired to create a special page dedicated to reading and wandering through this ocean of choices here on Jorie Loves A Story! Originally inspired to pick up from whence I had left off in order to root out a story or two my own nephew and nieces would appreciate reading, I would in turn discover a new niche of stories that suited my curiosities and enriched my reading joy by the manner in which the authors were penning entire worlds out of everyday lessons, life affirming restitutions, and a deeper love of giving back a measure of awe-inspiring narratives that could give a child (or an adult!) a widening breadth of literary delight!

Imagine then, my on-going quest to not only seek out stories inside general fiction releases but those of science fiction and fantasy as well! In fact, most of the stories I had selected to read for [2014] Sci Fi November were between Middle Grade and Young Adult — a fact, I had not even realised until I complied the final draft for the schedule! Anni Moon was an instant curiosity simply based on the premise — a world in which magic and the artful realm of fantasy merging together to give an intrepid reader (of any age) an adventure they would not soon forget!

By the time I realised a print edition was not available for this blog tour, I had nearly missed my chance to participate as the author was unavailable for an interview! I quickly came up with the secondary option of hosting an excerpt with a spotlight post to draw my readers & visitors alike to seeing a new release they might have either overlooked or not have stumbled across in their bookish travels! This reminds me of why I was so very excited about Portals, Passages, & Pathways and the upcoming new release of Calvin Sparks and the Crossing to Cambria (of which I will be featuring on the 11th of January); proving the point I am attracted to fantasy realms set in step for younger readers! And, who could forget my dedicated passion on behalf of the Leland Dragons? Surely not anyone who follows me in the twitterverse and who has seen my joyfully bookish tweets using the tag I created! (#LelandDragons)

Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, the 7th of January 2015, I suddenly realised my tour stop on the 8th was on fast approach and I hadn’t knitted together the press materials nor sorted out the excerpt which would run with my featured spotlight! Lo and behold, the publicist came through for me and I was able to receive the materials in the nick of time, however, what gave me a happy smile truly is realising I could ‘catch a preview’ of a book I dearly want to read in print! My ruminations on the chapters and pages I was able to read digitally follow shortly, as I am starting to accept limited electronic copies of stories (technically novella or short stories 20 pages or under; see my Review Policy) except to say, this particular sampler was 50 pages in length! I daresay, not even on a good day could I read so much on a digital screen!

I knew I couldn’t read even the first 20 pages in such a short time between Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon, but the pages I could consume I wanted to give my honest reflections! Making this my first spotlight post wherein I give a miniature glimpse into how my reactions start to generate as I read a story currently available in ebook editions, and hopefully soon in print books!

Acquired Book By: Although I was selected to participate on the blog tour for “Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact” there wasn’t a print copy of the novel available for me to receive for review purposes. Therefore, I originally elected to host a Book Spotlight for the blog tour whilst including a book excerpt or a few quotations from the novel itself. I learnt I could receive a complimentary chapter sampler (1-6) e-book PDF copy of “Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact” direct from the author Melanie Abed by requesting it off the author’s website by email. I was not obligated to post a review by doing so and I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Blog Book Tour | “Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact” by Melanie Abed an exciting #newbook for #MGLit readers who love Fantasy!Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact (Book Spotlight w/ Extract)
by Melanie Abed
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Hisham Abed
Source: Direct from Author

Anni doesn’t know about Elementals, Funk, Zephyrs, excited talking Bat-Rat creatures, and, least of all, Dragons. All that changes when her best friend, Lexi, is kidnapped and forces beyond Anni’s control trap her on a hidden, floating island in the Elemental world.

In a race against time, Anni sets out to save her friend. Along the way she finds allies among the Elementals, but she is also presented with a choice, one that might help save Lexi. If Anni agrees to an ancient, open-ended contract, will her sacrifice cost her more than she’s bargained for? Or will it land her in the middle of an age-old war between the humans, the Elementals, and the dreaded Fectus?

{ If this sounds wicked intriguing, visit the Author's Site in order to download the first six chapters of the novel by email! What a special treat! }

Genres: Children's Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Middle Grade



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

Series: Anni Moon, ,


Published by Oculus Print

on 7th October, 2014

Format: eBook

Pages: 17

[ Visit Ms. Abed’s site to find hidden pages of delight! ]

{ the characters of Anni Moon }

{ the Map of Moon Zephyr }

{ the Glossary Index of Terms found in the Stories }

About Melanie Abed

In kindergarten my life’s goal was to become a teacher who wore only pink and ate French fries all day long. Now that I’ve matured, my goal in life is to become a Miss Marple-Sherlockian-Jedi Knight—I’m totally serious, it’s a real thing.

I love stories, and I’ve had the privilege of working in Hollywood for over a decade in many different capacities, working with celebrities, directors (I’m married to one, plus he’s my illustrator), and a few executives (the head-honcho types that I can’t talk about because I signed confidentiality waivers). I’m not sure any of these people would have hired me if they knew I had a closet full of mint condition Star Wars toys…

However, the life of a freelancer is not for the faint of heart. I’ve kept myself busy with my extracurricular activities, from skydiving to scuba diving, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a degree in Fine Art, an M.A. in Psychology (with a focus in Neuroscience), and a few other things that I like to keep top secret. …Some people think I’m a spy, but I’ll never tell!

A notation on the illustrations by Hisham Abed:

Not since the illustrative additions I found included with Uncovering Cobbogoth, have I been this wicked happy to see illustrative elements threaded through a work of Children’s Lit! Cobbogoth was one level up from Anni Moon, as it was a young adult release, but evenso! I cannot even fathom what would await me whilst snuggled inside the full length of the novel! Leaping lizards, I love illustrators who have the keen ability to draw out the characters we sometimes as readers have trouble sorting out how to imagine! What a beautiful gift!

My ruminative thoughts on the digital chapter sampler of Anni Moon:

{ to help make this a bit more interactive, per character available
to see on the author’s site I’ve linked to the Character Sketch & biography page: ENJOY! }

On page 4, we are given a view of the Map which can become enlarged for easy reference on the author’s site which I linked for you to take a peek at, however, the beauty of the world Abed created is that the towne itself is circular in diameter around a lake! There’s even a teahouse next to a cafe yet the residences of where the townespeople live is adjacent to the downtown centerplex. A looming large castle is south of the downtown lake square, with mountains etching out of the southern & northern most points of the map! Topographically speaking, it is quite a diverse area to live and work, as the towne itself is situated in the (apparent) valley!

Full title listings for each chapter follow the map, before you reach Chapter 1 with the most auspiciously cute mouse-bat (his name is Brat) looking askance as if to say, “Why hallo, was I expecting you?” Love how this little creature’s personality was writ through the illustration! Chapter 1 begins on page 7 and I decided to read the first 10 pages for this reflective review of the sampler; thereby I altered the total pages in the book info to show this rather than to key in 50 pages for the total length of the sampler; the page counts I add in the book info help the UBB app I use to calculate total pages read per year.

In an ill attempt to delay the inevitable, Anni Moon (she says ‘egg’ in lieu of ‘drat!’) finds herself momentarily distracted by the mouse-bat who warmed my own heart on first sight — she ended up making a proper mess of the room in which she was awaiting to go to chores, when this curious little fellow bellowed out her name with staunch urgency! The manner in how we are given a few details of insight into Anni Moon’s life are reminiscent of Jane Eyre and Annie; from the second hand clothes to the impossible tasks necessary to complete.

She rooms with her best friend Lexi (who is one of the characters making this a Diverse Book to Read) but on this particular day, whilst started ghost white in shock from the bat-mouse outside (I did not find him to look like a rat!) she accidentally made a wreck of a start to the morning by colliding into a security guard whose distaste for castaway orphans ran quite thick! The room was soon in full disarray and the anger boiling out of the guard was at a tipping point, where who would come to Anni Moon’s rescue? The school’s counselor! I was not the only one shocked by that revelation! Anni Moon herself was betwixt and bet’ween in understanding what could possibly have caused this about-turn, as she was re-directed to the Headmistress’s rather than the kitchens for chore duties!

Properly confused upon arrival and finding an appointment wasn’t even scheduled, Anni Moon overhears her guardian speaking on behalf of where Lexi might have gone off too! Egbert Frode Moon (is a discernible man of a certain age) is not even a quarter of the man her previous guardian Mabel was to her and you can easily see why! His entire focus is not on the welfare of a child but on the running of an Academy! No, what I found quite delightful is how Brat (oh, I see ‘bat rat’, but he looks like a ‘mouse’!) has the tendency to rhyme as he speaks!

And, this dear hearts is as far as my sampler reading can extend! I read the whole exchange between Brat and Anni Moon — he’s her first Elemental to meet and I have a heap of curious thoughts running through my head! Such a bang-on start, I can only hope the pace and the ensuing adventure match the opening bits as this was such an enjoyable read! How lovely the author allowed this to be viewed by those interested in her stories!

Read an Excerpt of the Novel:

{ Jorie’s favourite exchange from Chapter 1 }

“Anni Moon. Anni Moon. Stop. Stop. I have a message for you.”

The small, hairy, vest-wearing creature closed its leathery
brown wings and plopped down on the grass beside her. He
clutched his chest, one paw covering a small, golden emblem
stitched onto his little red vest, as he panted and wheezed.

“Message?” Anni mumbled. “What! This is weird…you’re a
rat…no, a bat. And you’re talking to me?”

“For snozdoddles’ sake, Anni, of course I can speak.”

“Uh…” Feeling extremely dumb, not to mention a little bit
crazy, Anni said, “Okay so what’s your message?”

“It’s not my message,” said the creature, half-standing with
his palms pressed on his small kneecaps. He pulled himself upright
and said, “It’s your message. I’m Brat, First Order Elservice
Fleet. We are messengers of messages—no questions required.
Only a reply will suffice. I’m starting your message now.” He
pulled out a tiny whistle from inside his tiny vest and gave it a
squeak. “Your message is, ‘Dear Anni Moon. You are not to
leave Waterstone Academy for Girls under any circumstances.
No matter what happens, you are not to leave the school.’”

“What?”

Brat pulled out the tiny whistle again and gave it another
squeak. “Again, your message is, ‘Dear Anni Moon. You are not
to leave Waterstone Academy for Girls under any circumstances.
No matter what happens, you are not to leave the school.’”

“Huh?”

Brat shook his little head and raised his whistle once more.

“No, no.” Anni raised her hands. “Don’t say it again. I heard
you the first time…none of this makes sense. Where would I go?”

Brat’s eyebrows furrowed. He paced and mumbled to himself,
“I knew I should have listened to Avis Crumplehorn and
taken that course on human interaction.”

“Human?”

Brat looked up. “Yes. Yes, you are a human and I’m an Elemental.
Glad we got that straight. As I was saying, I’ve delivered
your message. Now, what’s your reply?”

“Er, I know I’m human. What’s an Elemental? And who’s
this message from?”

“Moppins! That’s classified information! And I couldn’t tell
you even if I wanted to.” Brat’s eyes widened with a look of
shock. “Besides, answering questions is not a part of my job title.
I’m no common scandaroon! Only your reply will suffice. You
are Anni Moon, twelve years old, at Waterstone Academy for
Girls—correct?”

“Thirteen…in a week. Why should I listen to some random
anonymous person I don’t even know, or you, a bat-rat thing
that calls itself an Elemental? Why is that classified, anyway?”

“Oh, moppins, not again,” Brat swayed. “I’m feeling moppletoppined.”

He put his hand to his head and shook it. He mumbled,

“Must be down to all the Funk.”

“Funk? What’s Funk?”

“Oh, no, never you mind. Back to business. Can you, Anni
Moon, please confirm that you successfully received your message
and that you’ll stay put?”

“Yeah, I got your message. What are you exactly?”

The creature stood proudly on its little feet. “Don’t you listen?
I told you. It’s your message, not mine. And I’m Brat, First
Order Elservice Fleet, messengers of messages.”

 

On my early perception of the writing style on behalf of Melanie Abed:

Abed draws you into reading her character, Anni Moon with a penchant for detailing the little bits of Anni Moon’s life at the Academy by giving out certain clues that would give the reader’s impression this is not a place you’d willingly want to live but rather were lucky you had a place in residence there instead of the alternative! She knits together little lessons for educational joy for children, such as how she created the name ‘Brat’ (presuming here) as a compound word sliced short for ‘bat rat’ as he is a sub-species of the two! She even found a way to make conversational speech a bit cheeky in places, such as when Brat and Anni Moon first get the chance to converse outside the Academy by the clock tower!

I would imagine the rest of the story keeps up this quick-step pace between action, clever dialogue, expansively descriptive narrative and an adventure lurking around the shadows where Anni Moon has to unravell a mystery!

As a personal aside, I found it quite cheekily serendipitous Ms. Abed created a personal self-descriptive tagline about her personality which mirrors my own self-declaration of ‘a Sherlockian-Steampunker Janeite’ on the level that we are both using well-known and attributed pop cultural references to paint a portrait of who we are without actually giving away pertinent or identifiable details! I oft-times refer to myself as the sole Jedi in my generation as a heap of my peers have sided with the Sith (I kid you not! One of the more disheartening revelations whilst conversing with those blokes in the science fiction sections of bookshoppes!) and as previously disclosed I grew up on the mysteries of Agatha Christie when I reviewed the first after canon for Hercules Poirot!

Miss Marple rocked my childhood with bang-on brilliant puzzles of suspense and a cunning clarity of observational sleuthing which goes to show you, I was  meant to be a Cosy Mystery & a Cosy Historical Mystery girl! I love a well plotted out mystery, but moreso than even that, I love the style in which Christie crafted her stories — she gave the reader such a vivid imaginative piece of literature, you simply can return to her stories as if no time has passed since your first reading without yearning to tick off a chart of how many times you’ve re-read them!

I generally use my own descriptive personality during Sci Fi November, but it fits me year-round quite a heap as I recently came to realise the lovely writers behind *Austen Authors* have re-envisioned the author group blog (austenauthors.com) with a full blow-out launch on the 24th of January! I’ve been happily conversing with Ms. Lathan, Ms. Jeffers, and Ms. West via the twitterverse since after the ball dropped in Times Square! Talk about a fanciful way to kick-off 2015! Thereby, I fully understood how Ms. Abed wanted to convey a passion of hers within a cheeky attribution that I could not help but smile into a smirk in seeing included with her biography!

I, too grew up on Star Wars, and to this day I cannot fathom why it is necessary in today’s era of motion pictures I have to constantly find myself saying, “No! No, seriously (with fingers making quotes in the air) “George Lucas’s Star Wars!” as apparently I’m one of the lone traditionists for both this film series and Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek! Now, I wonder if Ms. Abed has embraced The Film Director I Shall Not Name vision of the two? I shudder everytime I dare think of what he changed them into for this new generation,… especially considering it was Lucas who tipped my hat towards unearthing a passion for motion pictures (with a high concentration of physical special effects over CGI) and a pursuit of stagecraft that to this day has not yet left me!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

This blog tour is courtesy of:

Anni Moon Blog Tour via JKS Communications

Coming up next, I am hosting “The Way of Tea & Justice” on the 27th of February on behalf of JKS! Be sure to return as I delve into a heart-stirring real-life story on how tea and compassionate invention helped to create a peaceful resolution to women who feared they might not get a second chance to live past their dire circumstances. An empowering story of which touched my heart before the lovely hardback arrived by Post! I look forward to sharing my ruminations with you!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Find all the wicked happy stories

coming soon to Jorie Loves A Story:

Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva

{SOURCES: Cover art of  “Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact”, author photograph for Melanie Abed, author biography, book synopsis, and blog tour banner  were all provided by JKS Communications: A Literary Publicity Firm and used with permission. Permission was granted to post an excerpt from the Free Chapter Sampler downloaded from the author’s website via JKS Communications as well. Stories in the Spotlight Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. #KidsLitBlogHop badge created by Jorie in Canva.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2015.

KidsLitBlogHop(on 6th February, 2015)

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About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

read more >> | Visit my Story Vault of Book Reviews | Policies & Review Requests | Contact Jorie

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Posted Thursday, 8 January, 2015 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Childhood Friendship, Children's Literature, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Fantasy Fiction, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Juvenile Fiction, Middle Grade Novel, Orphans & Guardians, Sampler Chapters &/or Excerpt of Novel, Supernatural Fiction




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11 responses to “Blog Book Tour | “Anni Moon & the Elemental Artifact” by Melanie Abed an exciting #newbook for #MGLit readers who love Fantasy!

  1. Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews

    Wow! What a great post! I was really curious about this book too and was asked to review it. I couldn’t fit it in my schedule at the time, but maybe I need to revisit this one! Glad you joined us in the Kid Lit Blog Hop and I hope you’ll join us again!

    • Hallo, Hallo Renee!

      Thank you for finding me through the #KidLitBlogHop! I fell ill soon after I shared my links & I simply haven’t had the proper chance to duck back & visit the lovely blogs who joined in on it! I’m hoping I can re-visit after this weekend, as I’m happily soaking inside novels of adventure & Romance for Valentine’s Day! Migraines are such a bear at times! I was hoping someone might dart back and find me — as I wanted to start participating in the hop regularly! As soon as I found it, I felt a wicked lift of joy! I have been wanting to share my thoughts on Children’s Lit with readers (or writers!) who would appreciate the stories I’m finding, so this truly was a kismet moment when I found you guys!

      I am definitely going to join in each time it’s hosted!! And, I’ll be hopping along seeing what everyone else is contributing too!

      Now then! I didn’t even have the proper chance to let Ms Abed know this yet but her beautiful paperback copy of “Anni Moon” arrived by Post! I am going to be following this post up with a full-on review of the book itself! Be sure to keep an eye out for that review arriving in March! I was tickled to peaches you enjoyed this spotlight, excerpt, & my reflections from the Chapter Sampler! Chapter Samplers are new to me, as I am finding more authors are putting them out via Smashwords which simply rock as you can download an ePub to read on your computer. Ms Abed offered it through her site which worked just as lovely! Either way, samplers help me discover new authors esp if they release to ebook first!

      If you read & blog about “Anni Moon” due drop back and let me know, okay!? I’d love to compare notes & talk about the characters!!

      • Very sweet of you to say! :)

        I just came back from watching the newest Hallmark Channel film “All of my Heart” — I gave my heart to tweeting during the commercial breaks as it’s a distance from the tv to Twitter; but oh! What a wicked sweet memory! Discovered this lovely compliment on my return to blogging my Valentine’s weekend reviews!

        *blessed!

  2. Jorie, I enjoyed this, and it was a pleasure to read! I apologize for being so late to respond, I am in the middle of a hectic house move. Thank you for bring so much life to the discussion. I would love to send you an autographed/illustrated copy if you are interested – send me an address via email.
    Best wishes,
    Melanie

    • Hallo, Hallo Ms. Abed!

      :) I am thrilled to bits you enjoyed my post on behalf of your lovely novel! I had such a heap of joy in being able to introduce my readers to your story! :) I definitely understand your time constraints — moving is never easy, and oft-times is quite complicated. You happily captured my heart and imagination by Anni Moon! I truly loved what I was able to read in the sampler, but to be offered to receive this novel? You gave me such a special gift! I am full of gratitude, and will be PM’ing you! Blessings to you as you start to re-settle in your new home and area! I know how hard it is to get to the point where the transition fades away and the normalcy of your life can start to begin again. I’ll keep you in my thoughts!

    • Hallo, Hallo Ms Donna Marie!

      I’m so thankful you caught this post – as I had a feeling it might be one you’d be keen on reading ASAP! I was thankful to share an excerpt of the story with you (and everyone else!) as I was able to hand pick which portion I wanted to highlight! I hope you took the offer to receive the Chapter Sampler via the author’s site! Wait til you see the illustrations and read the first six chapters! I was only able to read Chapter 1 myself, but I know you read both digitally and print editions — thereby you’ll get to see a bit more into the story than I did!

      I truly loved the author’s voice!

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