Hero
by Alethea Kontis
Hardcover, 304 Pages
To be published October 1st, 2013 by Harcourt Books
Rough and tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she’s the only one of her sisters without any magic—until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world.
Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, “Did romance have to be part of the adventure?”
As in Enchanted, readers will revel in the fragments of fairy tales that embellish this action-packed story of adventure and, yes, romance.
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
Hardcover, 305 pagesPublished May 8, 2012
It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.
When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.
The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past – and hers?
Guest Post
MY AWESOME (extended) FAMILY
(or: Princess Alethea Has a Lot to Live Up To Part II continued from The Wonderings of One Person)
Nana, my Greek grandmother, was always traveling the world when we were little. She’d come back and tell us grand stories of Italy and Egypt while we took tea. She also wrote poetry.
Sotos, my Greek grandfather, I never got to meet. And I wish I had…he and his family escaped from Turkey during the Great Fire of Smyrna when he was just a baby, and as a teen he was part of the Greek Merchant Marine during the Nazi occupation of Greece…effectively making him a pirate during that time. (See more at Living a Goddess Life)
While I did not know my grandfather, I was lucky enough to know his brother, Xanthos. Uncle Xanthos loved that I was born in 1976, the year of the American bicentennial. Every time I visited he gave me a silver dollar or keychain or some other bicentennial trinket — after he died, my parents found the stash of bicentennial items he’d been storing and gave them all to me, because they knew he’d want me to have them. Uncle Xanthos was also an esteemed doll maker. Our family is always trying to increase our humble collection of his dolls, but some of them fetch as much as $200 on eBay.
Uncle Xanthos “signed” many of his dolls by etching or stamping an “X” in a circle on the backs of their necks. The predecessor of Xavier Roberts…and the X-Men.
My godfather, Nectar Rorris, introduced my parents. He owned many restaurants in downtown Burlington, Vermont, the most famous of which was Nectar’s, known for its french fries & gravy and live music. While he has since retired, the spinning Nectar’s sign has been deemed an historical landmark. His face can be seen on the cover of Phish’s second album “A Picture of Nectar” — Phish played regularly at Nectar’s before they hit it big.
The Greek priest that baptized me, Anthimos Panagiotopoulos, went on to become His Grace, Bishop Alexios of Atlanta and is now His Eminence, Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta. He was born on Christmas Day.
My Aunt Ernestine, married for a time to my Nana’s brother, was a vintage Hollywood stage and screen actress under the name Ernestine Mercer. She had cameos in just about every popular TV show in the 80s, as well as a few feature films. She had the most fun playing “Millie” for several years on The Young and The Restless. I loved Aunt Ernestine’s stories. She’d tell me about hopping the fence to swim in Bob (Redford)’s pool, and how I should come to LA so I could meet her friend Tony (Hopkins). I wish I had.
My Aunt Theda (Dr. Theda Kontis), my father’s sister, is an ENT and facial plastic surgeon in Baltimore who still teaches at John’s Hopkins. They call her in like Dr. House when they need a diagnostician and don’t know what to do. Aunt Theda visited us a lot when she went to Duke. She taught me things like anatomy and algebra when I was bored.
And I haven’t even mentioned my uncles…or my cousins…
So you see, I didn’t just have family members growing up. I had legends. I may have been destined for greatness, but only because my family set the bar SO HIGH.
And I’m still trying to live up to it.
Alethea Kontis
New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a goddess, a force of nature, and a mess. She’s known for screwing up the alphabet, scolding vampire hunters, turning garden gnomes into mad scientists, and making sense out of fairy tales.
Alethea is the co-author of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter Companion, and penned the AlphaOops series of picture books. Her short fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared in a myriad of anthologies and magazines. She has done multiple collaborations with Eisner winning artist J.K. Lee, includingThe Wonderland Alphabet and Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome. Her debut YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award in 2012 and was nominated for both the Andre Norton Award and the Audie Award in 2013.
Tour-Wide Giveaway
Sept 22 – Oct 17
Fairy Tale Gift Bundle: Signed copies of both Enchantment and Hero by Alethea Kontis plus swag!
Sept 22 – LAUNCH
Sept 23 – The Missing Piece – Althethea Kontis
– Video Rant on Debz Bookshelf
Sept 25 – Interview with Carina Olsen
– The Grandfather Pirate on Living a Goddess Life
– Meet the Inspiration Part I on The Wonderings of One Person
Sept 26 – Review on Shannon’s Blog
– Meet the Inspiration Part II on Bookmarks
Sept 30 — USA Today Happy Ever After interview
– Review of Enchantment on Colorimetry
Oct 1 – RELEASE DAY!
– “Release Day” at Waterworld Mermaids
– Review at Libraryof a Book Witch
– Interview & Review at Tressa’s Wishful Endings
– “The Big Idea” John Scalzi’s blog
– My Bookshelf on Mel’s Shelves
– Did You See? on Cu’s eBook Giveaways
Oct 3 – Hightlighting The Missing Piece on I Am a Reader, Not a Writer
– Review at Books for Kids
Oct 4 – Podcast with Bennet Pomeranz
– Review of Hero on Colorimetry
Oct 5 – Hero LAUNCH PARTY at One More Page Books in Arlington, VA
Oct 7 – Character interview with Saturday Woodcutter at I Smell Sheep
Oct 8 – “A Twist in the Tail” at A Backwards Story
– Review at JL Mbewe
Bookmarks 
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