Author: Diamante Lavendar
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: YA Fantasy Adventure
Publisher: Shelf Published
Release Date: Jan 9 2014
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
The Secrets of Yashire: Emerging from the Shadows is a young adult fantasy adventure that occurs within the framework of a young girl's subconscious mind. The main character, Brianna, finds herself thrown into a world called Yashire where she is forced to deal with circumstances that are threatening Yashire's existence.
Against her will, she is sent on a journey to restore unconditional love back to the land while also contending with the evil force in the land, Zolan.
Brianna is sent on her mission by Libban, Keeper of the Land. Along the way, Brianna travels with the mystical tiger, Angelos; a huge, whitish-tan tiger with thick black stripes who sings only the purest songs of love, and the wondrous little one-eyed bird named Abiba. During the journey, Brianna is also preparing to meet her soulmate-the one she longs to be with and the one who will bring complete healing back into her life.
Together they travel through fantastic lands filled with magical creatures that could only exist in the wildest of imaginations. Through her treacherous brushes with danger and heartwarming experiences of love and acceptance, Brianna discovers many things.
It is here, amidst the powers and phantasms of the mind that Brianna receives life lessons and virtues to help her. Will one of her greatest triumphs be achieved as she learns to believe in herself? For only then can she truly see all of the wondrous things that life has to offer.
Guest Post
My Publishing Journey or How I Became a Published Author…
After my daughter died, I felt the need to write The Secrets of
Yashire. At first it began as a slightly
different story. It was called The
Secrets of Yashire and it was written twenty five years ago. I wrote it, found an agent and the agent
found a publisher. I wish I could tell
you that it was smooth sailing with a happy ending. I thought I had accomplished my goal. Alas, I was wrong.
It only took a short while to find my agent. He seemed like a nice person and I felt that
I could trust him. I was wrong about
both assessments. He ended up taking me
on a horrible journey. After accepting
me as a client, he waited a few short months and then informed me that he had
found a publisher, to his surprise, “in his own back yard”. I was ecstatic! I felt my luck was through the roof! But then I began having problems.
The publisher just couldn't seem to come up with a decent
cover no matter how much I insisted on having it changed. Then they required a large sum of money from
me to go forward with the publishing.
After having The Secrets of Yashire (original version) published, the
whole project was put on hold because of a lawsuit with the company. I found out later that the agent was also the
publisher and that they had scammed a large number of authors. The case went to court and the authors
won. Luckily I got my rights back. But I was again at square one with the entire
process. Needless to say, I gave up for
quite a while because the whole experience was heartbreaking, especially since
I wrote the book in my daughter's memory.
My immediate family prompted me for years to continue. Finally I did. It was a very slow process and after what I'd
experienced, I was afraid to go the traditional publishing route again. So I wrote the story and rewrote it. I contacted some subsidy publishing houses
but was uncertain of how I wanted to go forward with the project. Finally, as fate would have it, approximately
twenty years later, I got in touch with an editor who had worked with a large
number of successful authors and I hired her to edit my book. She was well versed in self-publishing and
knew a large number of people that worked with different aspects of the
process, so I decided to go that route to publish The Secrets of Yashire. And that's how I published my story! (The short version!)
Even after experiencing endless circles in the process and
disappointments, I am very glad that I persevered! It was definitely worth my time to continue
to move forward even if it was at a very slow rate. If you have a dream of being a writer, my best
advice is to keep trying no matter how many roadblocks you encounter. Because eventually, what is meant to be will
be! And you will finally succeed in
making your dreams happen!
Diamante Lavendar has been in love with reading since she was a child. She spent many hours listening to her mother read to her when she was young. As she grew older, she enjoyed reading novels of all genres: horror, fantasy and some romance to name a few.
She began writing in college and published some poetry in anthologies over the years. After her kids were older, she wrote as a form of self-expression and decided she wanted to share her stories with others.
Most of her writing is very personal and stems from her own experiences and those of her family and friends. She writes to encourage hope and possibility to those who read her stories.
Diamante believes that everyone should try to leave their own positive mark in the world, to make it a better place for all. Writing is the way that she is attempting to leave her mark—one story at a time.
Places to find Diamante
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