Sunday, July 8, 2012

Kicking Off Michelle Levigne's The Chorillan Cycle Series

Today on our Cyber Launch Party Blog, we're celebrating the release of the first two books in Michelle Levigne's The Chorillan Cycle Series!

AZULI EYES by Michelle Levigne

The Chorillan Cycle: Book One

The colonists on Chorillan had secrets. Their mistake was hiding those secrets from the Scout Corps, especially when children were in danger.

The Present Era, Commonwealth Universe
Scout Captain Ian Fieran and his team are hunting Gen’gineers—genetic terrorists that decimate entire colonies in the name of “improving” the Human race. When the Scouts land on the planet Chorillan, they plunge into the midst of a deadly mystery. Children are vanishing into the wilderness, driven by a sudden sensory overload that strikes without any way of predicting who could be affected and when. The Azuli, mysterious, sentient creatures, are targeted for destruction. But are they friends, helping the children through the disease of Phase, or enemies, luring innocents away to their death?

Miranda Riallon, the daughter of a politically powerful family and a teacher, has been researching Phase, hoping for a cure. But will her discoveries come in time to help Ranny—the orphan she loves and hopes to adopt? And her own brother, who is missing?

When Ian and Miranda join forces on a desperate mission to unravel the mystery, they discover more than just a common cause to bind their hearts.

BUY THE BOOK ***  BUY IN KINDLE *** READ THE EXCERPT *** WATCH THE TRAILER


SCOUTS' PRIDE by Michelle Levigne

The Chorillan Cycle: Book Two

She was trained to be a hero among the active-duty Scouts. It’s all she knows. But will it be enough to finally bring justice and rescue for the Wildings on Chorillan?

The Present Era, Commonwealth Universe

For moons, the Azuli have been warning the Wildling outposts that danger is approaching. Now the outposts have completely vanished, and Scout Captain Ian Feiran can’t find any clue as to their whereabouts. He suspects officials in the Chorillan government—or even his wife’s wealthy brother and mother—of fueling the rising prejudice and hatred against the Wildings.

But the stakes are ratcheted even higher when his daughter, Kay’li, is at the right age to go through the pain and confusion of Phase…and risk becoming a Wildling. If he leaves Chorillan to save his daughter, everything he and his wife, Miranda, have worked so hard to establish will fail. Hundreds of Wildings might die every generation.

What Captain Fieran doesn’t count on is the passionate mission of a daughter, who is more like him than either of them could imagine.

Deadly secrets. A Scout Corps’ mission. Passion and justice. Fall into the world of the Chorillan Cycle.

BUY THE BOOK ***  BUY IN KINDLE *** READ THE EXCERPT *** WATCH THE TRAILER



A story addict since an early exposure to Dr. Seuss, award-winning author of over 30 novels and novellas, Michelle Levigne has been creating her own stories, heroes and adventures since junior high. She ventures into many sub-genres of science fiction, paranormal, romance and fantasy, including Greek mythology, Narnia spin-offs and her futuristic universe, the Commonwealth.

Michelle writes something for everyone! After all, since she likes to read all over the board, why not WRITE all over the board?

WEBSITE *** BLOG *** FACEBOOK

WIN - Leave Michelle a question today and your name goes in the hat for one of TWO PRIZES - an autographed copy of either SCOUTS' PRIDE or AZULI EYES.  Please leave your email address so Michelle can contact you if you are one of her two winners today!

15 comments:

  1. Good morning Michelle and super congrats on the release of your first two books in your Chorillan Cycle.

    These books are a spin-off from your Commonwealth Universe books, right? For those of us not familiar with your Commonwealth and Chorillan worlds can you tell us a bit about them? The video is a great intro to the series!

    Thanks for the giveaways and I hope your two new releases are huge sellers for you! Enjoy your launch party and best of luck with the new books!

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  2. Hi Michelle,

    Can you tell me what age your Chorillan Cycle books would be good for? My son is a huge science fiction lover and I'd love to find him some new summer reading material for his Kindle.

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    1. The Chorillan Cycle is basically family-friendly. Maybe age 10 and up. It depends on how mature a reader your son is - I read the Odyssey in 7th grade, so I can't really judge!!

      While there is a touch of romance, there's nothing to gross out the boys or shock the blue-haired grannies. There is military action, but nothing brutal or gratuitous or over the top. Think Star Wars and Classic Trek -- that level of violence, blood, and romance (although a LOT fewer instances of sucking face ...)

      Does that help?

      He might also like my Sunsinger books -- 10 YA books about a boy growing up on board a small starship. In fact, the boy, Bane Kern, is the great-grandfather of Captain Ian Fieran.

      Check out my web site or Writers Exchange for the books

      www.Mlevigne.com/sunsinger.htm
      www.writers-exchange.com

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  3. Right -- the Chorillan Cycle is part of the Commonwealth Universe.

    If you check my Commonwealth page on my web site -- www.Mlevigne.com/commonwealth.htm -- you get a very general overview of the span of history, including a list of current books and ones I plan/hope/wish to write someday. It needs updating, because I'm working with my publisher of most of the Commonwealth books, Writers Exchange, to start offering a SERIALIZED story that takes place during the Rebirth Era, which is a generation or two before the era in which the Chorillan Cycle takes place.

    Yeah, like that really clarifies anything?


    The serialized story is called VIRTUALLY DEAD, and deals with Khybor scientists who have been in cold sleep/suspended animation for centuries. They went into cold sleep when their colony was threatened with attack during the Downfall Wars -- approximately 600 years or so in the past. The only way the sentinel or defender of these scientists can make contact with the people who have come to re-settle their planet, and stop the rebuilding from destroying power feeds and killing the sleepers, is by reaching out and re-animating recently deceased bodies, to communicate .... well, that's my take on the whole zombie phenomenon going around lately.

    You'll just have to check out VIRTUALLY DEAD in a couple months, when Writers Exchange starts offering it every other month.

    Hopefully.

    But the Chorillan Cycle is mostly set on the colony world of Chorillan, where a race war seems to be building up. Thanks to the devastation of the Downfall Wars, the people of the Commonwealth are a little ... paranoid ... about mutations. And when children start getting hyper-sensitive, almost an allergic reaction to modern technology and synthetics, as well as being stronger and more in tune with nature, people are afraid mutations have arisen.

    In the past, mutants were considered non-humans. They were either made slaves, or sterilized, or destroyed outright.

    The battle is on to not only prove Phase isn't a mutation, but to protect the lives and futures of the Wildlings, the adults who went through Phase as children, and who seem to be chosen to protect their planet.

    AZULI EYES features Scout Captain Ian Fieran, who comes to Chorillan hunting Gen'gineers (genetic terrorists). He meets Miranda Riallon, a school teacher, who is hunting for a student who is going through Phase. When Ian learns about Phase, he joins the battle to protect the children and find the answers.

    SCOUTS' PRIDE is the story of their daughter, Kay'li, as she grows up in the Scout Corps, preparing for the ultimate assignment: returning to Chorillan as an adult and saving the Wildlings. Including her childhood friend, Lucas.

    COMING BOOKS:

    BY FIRE AND STARS
    The story of Lucas Aidan when he goes through Phase, surviving longer in the wilderness to become a legend -- and who becomes the rallying point for all Wildlings as the prejudice and fear against them grows stronger.

    CHORILLAN
    Kay'li returns home and joins forces with Lucas, teams of Scouts, and the Wildlings to solve generations-old mysteries and defeat the enemies who would destroy the planet.

    SILVER AZULI
    Lucas and Kay'li are married and expecting their first child. When a family summer exploration trip is sabotaged, it becomes first a struggle for survival, then the ultimate revelation and final answers in the mystery of Phase.

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  4. Love the sound of Azuli Eyes and was wondering if there were any books before this that I should read to get a feel for the universe you have written, or if I can jump straight in with this one?

    ilona

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    1. You can basically jump right in and start with the Chorillan books. While some of the books might be linked together -- such as the main character in one book being an ancestor or descendant of characters in other books -- you don't have to read them in any particular order. If you need to know something, such as Commonwealth history, there's always a character either explaining it outright -- such as giving lessons to a child -- or people making enough references (without falling into the ridiculous, "As you know, George ..." lame trick that some people still try to use) that you pick up what information you need to know.

      At least, I think so!

      For instance, HOVEN QUEST is essentially about producing a TV show on an alien world. The Hoveni are shapeshifters, considered mythical -- but the Hoveni are the ones PRODUCING the entertainment show, to try to make contact with other Hoveni who are living in hiding and don't realize that there are others out there. THE MERUK EPISODES, which tie into HOVEN QUEST, are ... well, the "episodes" of the TV show. But you don't have to read HOVEN QUEST before you read MERUK, and you don't need to read MERUK before you read HOVEN QUEST.

      And let me stop here and point out that HOVEN QUEST was a finalist for the EPIC Award, while THE MERUK EPISODES won the EPIC Award a year or two later, in the Anthology category.

      The short answer is, no you don't have to read the Commonwealth books in any specific order -- although if there is a series, I would recommend reading those -- such as the Sunsinger Books, the Chorillan Cycle, and the sister books of WIND WALKER and MOONBIRDS.

      If you feel lost and want to know how books relate to each other, you can refer to the Commonwealth page on my web site to get an idea of the history and where each story lies in the timeline: www.Mlevigne.com/commonwealth.htm

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  5. Wow Michelle, you have a lot of books in your commonwealth world. Do you write more science fiction than anything else? What is your favorite genre to write in and to read?

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    1. The coward's answer is that my favorite genre is the one I'm currently working in....

      I don't have a favorite, among the genres I do write in. Each one provides something I enjoy, so that I don't want to stop any of them!

      I "favor" stories that keep going, that give me more characters to write about, more adventures to follow. That's why it's a "universe" -- it just keeps going!

      I've mentioned this in other interviews and posts, but I had a handful of books that didn't have anything in common, other than they were SF stories. Then as I started revising and thinking up more stories, I realized that if I changed some details, borrowed details and histories and organizations from other books, I could link them together. I originally created the Commonwealth's history for a scene in the Sunsinger books (10 YA books about a boy growing up on a starship), where Lin, the captain, is filling in some gaps in Bain's education about ... well, Commonwealth history. And having that history verbalized gave me more of a framework for adapting other stories I had already roughed, or gave me ideas for more stories.

      So I have a lot of series going now:

      The Commonwealth Universe -- SF
      Neighborlee, Ohio -- fantasy
      Tabor Heights, Ohio -- Inspirational romance

      New starting in January of 2013 will be the Quarry Hall books, which are a "spinoff" from Tabor Heights, as readers have "met" members of Quarry Hall and the Arc Foundation in soe Tabor Heights books. It's women's fiction, with some danger, suspense, and mystery -- and a touch of the supernatural, as some of the girls encounter angelic and demonic activity.

      I'm also working on a steam punk series idea, which I characterize as Warehouse 13 meets Stargate meets Amelia Peabody meets Wild Wild West. Could be fun -- could be a mess!

      So maybe I lean heavily toward the "weird" but I don't write exclusively that -- SF, fantasy, and romance, with some women's fiction and suspense thrown in.

      That's the long answer, I think ....

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  6. Congratulations on the book! They sound good. How do you celebrate each new release?

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  7. Chocolate!


    Honestly, I'm usually so deep into a new project, I don't have time. But I really should do something to commemorate each release, because each new book is a victory.

    I try to talk about it on the various groups and loops I belong to, post about it on my blog and Facebook, and have a Cyber Launch like this. I used to have a rogue's gallery on my office wall -- printouts of all my cover art. Well, there are so many, I ran out of room!

    Sometimes I treat myself to some time off at a movie, or I'll let myself take the evening off and just read a book, instead of working. But nothing much beyond that for celebrating.

    Boring, huh?

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  8. Hey, people -- don't forget!

    If you want to be entered in the drawing for a print copy, you HAVE TO leave your EMAIL ADDRESS in the text of the comment!!!!!

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  9. I sincerely hope I am not too late to the website. For some reason it wasn't wanting to load for me all day, kept telling me bad getaway.

    I love the sound of both of these books, both sound like something that I haven ever read before. Thank you so much for sharing about them both! Your books that are coming out sound good as well.

    Is there any genre that you like writing the least or is harder for you? Is there any genre or theme that you wouldn't want to write?

    Thank you so much for the opportunity to win.

    tiffanykrepps@gmail.com

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    1. That is supposed to say haven't ever read before. So sorry for the double post.

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  10. Congratulations on your release!!

    The Chorillan Cycle Series does look very interesting. How did you come up with the concept & the name Chorillan?

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  11. THanks, everybody who attended the Cyber Launch Party and left messages.

    I'm only contacting the winners of the print copies, so if you don't hear from me, don't worry.

    Hope you're interested, and you check out my web site and my publishers, for more information on the books, and the entire Commonwealth Universe!!

    Michelle Levigne
    www.Mlevigne.com

    Writers Exchange -- www.Writers-Exchange.com

    OakTara Publishers -- www.OakTara.com

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