I escaped from prison once. Dug my way out with a stick and my bare hands. Emerged on the other side, sweaty and victorious, and threw my head back to revel in the free air. A second later, I took to the woods at the heels of my big sis so the guards wouldn’t spot us and run us down. But it as only a matter of minutes before we heard the dogs barking on our trail.
And after that, of course it wasn’t long before Mom called us in for dinner, and we tramped up to the house, dirt streaked and grinning from our play. We swiftly bundled the dogs back into our “prison,” their kennel, and then trooped inside for dinner.
A couple of minutes later, we heard the dogs scratching at the door. Turns out that a hole big enough for a seven year old is plenty big enough for a pair of dogs. So we spent the next day filling back in our brilliant escape tunnel, but the damage had already been done. From that moment on, we had a pair of escape artist dogs. We never were able to keep them in that kennel, or any pen, for long after that.
Now I can practically see you scratching your heads and saying “Well that’s a mighty fine story, Gillian, but what does it have to do with this post?” And I’m so glad you asked, because I … did … have a great answer to that question. In fact, the story tied in brilliantly for this post … but I cannot for the life of me remember how.
In any case, it is time for the next giveaway! For our second giveaway this month, I’m happy to be able to offer the winner’s choice of one of the books from Donita K. Paul’s Realm Walkers series: One Realm Beyond or Two Renegade Realms. If you haven’t read one of Ms. Paul’s fantasy novels before, then I must tell you that they are marvelously whimsical and fairy tale-ish and always have a host of intriguing and unique characters! Enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter below, but first, I’d love to tell you a bit about the book.
[Note: Due to the unusual number of portals reportedly opening over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and allegedly responsible for the disappearance of countless book shipments, I’m afraid that paperback copies are limited to US winners only. Ebooks, however, are available for international winners. Good luck!]
One Realm Beyond, Book One
Cantor D’Ahma waited his whole life for this day. Born with a gift to jump between worlds, the young realm walker is finally ready to leave his elderly mentor and accept his role as protector and defender of the realms. But mere hours after he steps through his first portal, Cantor discovers that his job will be more dangerous and difficult than he ever imagined. The realms are plagued with crime and cruelty, and even members of the once-noble Realm Walkers Guild can no longer be trusted. To make matters worse, his first assignment—finding a dragon to assist him on his quest—has led him to Bridger, who is clearly inept and won’t leave him alone.
With the help of his new friends Bixby and Dukmee, Cantor must uncover the secrets of the corrupt guild before they become too powerful to be stopped. But his skills aren’t progressing as fast as he would like, and as he finds himself deeper and deeper in the guild’s layers of deceit, Cantor struggles to determine where his true allegiance lies.
Find One Realm Beyond on Goodreads/Amazon
Meet the Author
Donita K. Paul retired early from teaching school, but soon got bored! The result: a determination to start a new career. Now she is an award-winning novelist writing Christian Romance and Fantasy. She says, “I feel blessed to be doing what I like best.” She mentors all ages, teaching teenagers and weekly adult writing workshops. “God must have imprinted ‘teacher’ on me clear down to the bone. I taught in public school, then home schooled my children, and worked in private schools. Now my writing week isn’t very productive unless I include some time with kids.” Her two grown children make her proud, and her two grandsons make her laugh.
Sarah says
Yay! I've been wanting to read this book for a while, though I haven't been able to get my hands on it.
I would totally take jumping through portals over flying. I mean, flying is cool, but portals are infinitely more awesome and less tiring.
Kiri Liz says
I've had my eye on this book for a while! I was so excited when I heard Mrs. Paul was working on another series, as the DragonKeeper Chronicles are some of my absolute favorite books!
Umm… that's a toughie. Portals would be fun and all, but I think I'm going to go traditional and say flying. Ever since I first saw dragons, I've always wanted to fly. The view is spectacular. :)
Caryl Kane says
Portal travel would be AMAZING!
Kathryn MacKinney says
This book looks awesome, and it has been on my to-read list for a while now. I would definitely fly between portals. I think it would be more reminiscent of A Wrinkle in Time that way.
Sparks of Ember says
I'd rather fly – for one, then I could see where I was going and two, I wouldn't be afraid of heights anymore. I fly a lot in my dreams – it'd be nice if it was real!
Mary B says
Jumping through portals. It would be faster and not as tiring.
Hannah White says
Flying, definitely!
songbird says
I would want to fly so I could see the scenery.
Ab Ray says
I have been waiting for this book too! I would love to do both, just imagine flying on your dragon then diving off your dragon into a portal with your dragon at your side that leads to another portal which leads to a rocky canyons to navigate through. That would be awesome!
Hope Oakenshield says
I have to say, traveling via portal woukd be amazing. But I would love to fly. Can I say both? :D
Meroc Wolfslayer says
I REALLY, REALLY ENJOY Donita K. Paul's books!! I've read two of the series that she has written Waiting to get fully into this new Series
Jaime says
I ADORE Donita K Paul & her books (she's a favorite because she's the Dragon Lady. I would like to be that position someday :D)
I've read both of the Realm Walkers Books. Excellent through and through. Whoever wins this will definitely be getting a wonderful adventure in their hands. :)
Elizabeth says
Another giveaway!! :) I think I'd fly. More of an adventure that way, and as someone else mentioned, I have flown in my dreams and would love to do so in real life :)
By the way, I'm thinking about doing NaNoWriMo this November, but I'm not sure if I can actually do it. I'll be a sophomore in high school and…well…I'm busy! Do you have any tips? Thoughts? Ideas?
Elizabeth says
If any of you other commenters has done it before, would you mind giving me some tips?
Kailin Richardson says
Flying, of course! Always flying. :)
Clare says
I think flying…. it is safer anyway!
Dmitri Pendragon says
If I was in a practical mood, I would probably choose to travel by jumping through portals. However, I've always wanted to fly…especially if I could do it like how the Windrunners fly in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. So I'd probably choose to fly.
Ekaterina says
Flying definitely! I've always wondered what it's like to fly like a bird. I love watching how they glide so effortlessly.
Ants and Epic says
This book sounds so neat!
I'd definitely pick flying since that's always been a dream of mine!
Abby
Jane says
I like flying, it's always appealed to me.
Tyrean Martinson says
Flying!
And Donita K. Paul's latest looks great!
Merenwen Inglorion says
"If you could travel by jumping through portals or flying, which would you prefer?"
Oh, man; I have to choose between two of my dream powers?? ;)
Let's see…
Flying would be awesome, because, well, it's FLYING!!!
Portals would be awesome because you could scare–I mean, arrive someplace very quickly without much trouble. Unless the portal were to collapse or something… :-/
Um, I'll go with flying. (Because that means I would have a dragon. A DRAGON!!! :D)
Rachelle O'Neil says
My fear of the unknown would make portal jumping terrifying – I mean, what if I aimed wrong??? So, I think I'd go with flying. A bit safer, in some ways, though harder to stay hidden. :D
Ooh, this giveaway has got me excited! I haven't had to the chance to start this series, but I did love her DragonKeeper Chronicles! Thanks, Gillian!
serena says
Oh, I'd definitely fly. I've always wanted to fly, and travelling through portals sounds a bit uncomfortable and not always entirely reliable, cool as the idea is (I mean, we could instantly transport ourselves from one place to somewhere far, far away, which is awesome and terrifying all at the same time!).
And I love Donita K. Paul's books — I've read One Realm Beyond, but haven't gotten my hands on the second book yet.
Jennette Mbewe says
Portals! Granted, they are secure and all. :-)
Sierra Joanne says
Portals, definitely! I'm scared of heights… so flying would probably be terrifying. :0)
Arandil says
I managed to get the first book to read from my library, and it turned out to be better than I thought, so I've really been looking forward to book two.
Polaris Northstar says
Awesome giveaway!