Gillian Bronte Adams

YA Epic Fantasy Author

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Of Fire and Ash Read Along 2023

September 1, 2023 by Gillian Bronte Adams 3 Comments

Welcome to the official Of Fire and Ash Read Along and (epic) giveaway! Today, marks the official launch of the read along, which will be running throughout the month of September. Whether you’re reading Of Fire and Ash for the first time, or re-reading before the sequel, Of Sea and Smoke, releases in November, we hope you’ll have a blast reading along with us!

While most of the Read Along interactions will be taking place on either my Instagram or my online Reader Community, sometimes social media algorithms make it difficult to see posts. So this page exists as a sort of home base where you can always access the Read Along information and Giveaway link.

Ready? Here we go!

How to participate/enter the giveaway: Each week, read-alongers will have the chance to gain four entries to the giveaway!

Each counts as a single entry:

  1. Read the chapters each week
  2. Participate in the week’s photo challenge
  3. Post updates on your reading (social media, Goodreads, blog, etc.) or create a post with your answer to the week’s discussion prompt
  4. Enter the Gauntlet: Complete a fun activity/challenge related to the week’s reading.

Sounds simple right? Scroll down to see the details for the current week. New details will be added each Monday of the Read Along.

To enter: Log your entries into the giveaway rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Prize: 1 winner (open to the US only)

  • Map of Soldonia woven tapestry blanket
  • Hardcover copy of Of Fire and Ash with gold stained edges
  • Swag pack: fireborn print, shadower print, map of Soldonia print, Onward laptop sticker
  • Fireborn mug

Week 4: September 24-30

  1. Reading: Of Fire and Ash Chapters 46-Epilogue. You can read/listen however you like!
  2. Photo Prompt: Post a photo on the theme of “epic tales.” It’s meant to be open to interpretation so you can get as creative as you like! You can post a photo of your favorite epic books, discuss what you love in an epic tale, or create a photo that reflects the vibes of your favorite epic story.
  3. Share a reading update online (on Goodreads, social media, a blog, etc.) or create a post with a response to this discussion question: Q: We’ve been on a long journey with Ceridwen, Rafi, and Jakim. Which of their personal journeys did you find yourself relating to the most?
  4. Enter the Gauntlet: Your challenge this week is a puzzle. Using your book, solve the 4 puzzles below for 4 hints at epic things you can look forward to in Book 2, Of Sea and Smoke.

    (Hint: you’re looking for words to fill the blanks)

    Puzzle 1: ________ ________
    (P53 | L19 | W8)
    (P98 | L22 | W9)

    Puzzle 2: _________ ___ _________ ___________
    (P149 | L6 | W7)
    (P167 | L6 | W1)
    (P45 | L33 | W6)
    (P417 | L11 | W8)

    Puzzle 3: ________ ___________
    (P397 | L32 | W12)
    (P27 | L8 | W7)

    Puzzle 4: ________________ ______
    (P170 | L7 | W4)
    (P47 | L21 | W7)
  5. Don’t forget to log your entries to the Rafflecopter each week!

Anytime you’re sharing on social media, don’t forget to tag me @gillianbronteadams and use the hashtag #OfFireandAshReadAlong.

Week 3: September 17-23

  1. Reading: Of Fire and Ash Chapters 31-45. You can read/listen however you like!
  2. Photo Prompt: Post a photo on the theme of “magical horses.” It’s meant to be open to interpretation so you can get as creative as you like!
  3. Share a reading update online (on Goodreads, social media, a blog, etc.) or create a post with a response to this discussion question: Q: Jakim thrives on having a sense of purpose. His oath, his vows, and his sister’s prophecy all give that to him. Where do you feel a sense of purpose?
  4. Enter the Gauntlet: Cosplay as a character from the series. You can keep it simple or go all out. The choice is up to you! You can share the results on social media by tagging me @gillianbronteadams or using the hashtag #OfFireAndAshReadAlong.
  5. Don’t forget to log your entries to the Rafflecopter each week!

Anytime you’re sharing on social media, don’t forget to tag me @gillianbronteadams and use the hashtag #OfFireandAshReadAlong.

Week 2: September 10-16

  1. Reading: Of Fire and Ash Chapters 16-30. You can read/listen however you like!
  2. Photo Prompt: Post a photo of you and your best animal friend. Extra props if you manage to sneak your copy of the book into the photo too. :)
  3. Share a reading update online (on Goodreads, social media, a blog, etc.) or create a post with a response to this discussion question: Q: Rafi dreams of freedom. To him, that is always symbolized by the sea. What represents freedom to you?
  4. Enter the Gauntlet: Make a giant pot of soup to share with friends/family like Saffa does in her rebel kitchen. You can share the results on social media by tagging me @gillianbronteadams or using the hashtag #OfFireAndAshReadAlong.
  5. Don’t forget to log your entries to the Rafflecopter each week!

Anytime you’re sharing on social media, don’t forget to tag me @gillianbronteadams and use the hashtag #OfFireandAshReadAlong.

Week 1: September 3-9

  1. Reading: Of Fire and Ash Chapters 1-15
  2. Photo Prompt: Post a photo of you and your copy of the book.
  3. Share a reading update online (on Goodreads, social media, a blog, etc.) or post a response to this discussion question: Q: The word “onward” has become a sort of motto for Ceridwen. Do you have a personal motto or is there a word or phrase that has come to mean a lot to you?
  4. Enter the Gauntlet: Create fan art for your favorite solborn steed! You can be as creative as you like! It can be a sketch, a photo of things that remind you of your favorite steed, latte or baked goods art, spine poetry, a video, etc. The sky is truly the limit!

    IMPORTANT NOTE: No AI-generated images, please. For the purpose of this challenge, please do not feed any art or written prompts into an AI image generator. Thanks!

Anytime you’re sharing on social media, use the hashtag #OfFireandAshReadAlong!

Filed Under: For Readers Tagged With: Books, Fantasy, Giveaway, Of Fire and Ash, The Fireborn Epic

With Fire in Our Hearts and Strength in Our Arms

January 2, 2015 by Gillian Bronte Adams 35 Comments

The New Year has come roaring upon us like a mighty dragon with storm winds in its wake. It is a time for the setting of goals. For looking behind and looking ahead. A time for comparisons and calculations. It can be discouraging, daunting even, but it can also be hopeful. The hope of a fresh start. Of a blank book spreading before us with no mistakes yet marring the pages. So let us face this fierce new year of 2015 with fire in our hearts and strength in our arms. And get excited because I’ve been planning all sorts of fun things for the blog this year! A Year of Giveaways It may come as a slight surprise to you, but I love books. I love reading books, writing books, sniffing books, stuffing books into my too-full bookcase … and giving books to friends. It’s a long-standing joke in my family that at least one person is going to get a book from me at Christmas time. This year, I managed to keep that number down to two. (The previous year, I realized I had given every single family member a book … only after they unwrapped their presents!) There is nothing quite like finding the perfect book—with just the right blend of setting, tone, characters, and plot—to match each reader. Because I love gifting books, I’ll be hosting a book giveaway for you, dear readers, every 1st and 3rd Tuesday for the duration of the year. Just for fun, I matched each month of the year to one of 12 Speculative Fiction Subgenres, so the giveaways for that month will fall under a certain theme. And January’s theme is … dystopian! January can be a bit of a bleak, dismal, gray month—words that tend to describe most dystopian societies … if not necessarily the books I’ve chosen. So be sure to stop by on January 6th for the first giveaway of the year! WDCC - Returns SoonWhen Destiny Comes Calling …  This serial short-ish story is one of my favorite things that I’ve ever tried on the blog, so I was quite sad to have to leave it hanging this fall amidst the crazed rush of a book release. But I think it’s high time we return to poor Alexander Mitus Scott Beauford III and his strange companions, Destiny, Fate, and the Wizard Doomsday, don’t you? Expect the return shortly! Need a refresher? Enjoy sifting through the archives to get caught up on the story! Master-Minding Murder and MayhemOn Villains and Heroes My spy has once again managed infiltrate the ranks of the Academy of Ultimate Villainy, so you can expect to enjoy snippets of lecture notes on all things nefarious and dastardly, including a series on “Master-Minding Murder and Mayhem.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds fascinating to me! Also, in response to a series of messages sent to the Warriors-in-Hero-Training School of the Round Table, I finally received a missive from Sir Galgadin. Hand delivered by a talking wolf—definitely a strange experience. Apparently, Sir Galgadin has been away for the past several months hunting ogres in the mountains where hunting eagles make pigeon-reception doubtful, to say the least. In any case, he has a series of Questology Lectures that he intends to submit whenever possible, so you can expect to learn all sorts of heroic and fascinating things about questing, damsels in distress, identifying enchantresses, and returning home in one piece. Clan Newsletter 2Stay in Touch There’s quite a bit in the works for this year—not to mention several books that will be coming your way shortly—and you won’t want to miss out on any of it! A great way you can stay informed is by joining the Clan Newsletter! By following my newsletter, you’ll be the first to receive giveaway announcements, see cover reveals, and hear about upcoming books. Not to mention receiving the occasional epic fantasy short story delivered straight to your computer … Click here to sign up! As always, I wish you all the best and look forward to spending this next year with you!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Giveaway, Questology 101, Villainy

Orphan’s Song Epic Photo Contest

November 12, 2014 by Gillian Bronte Adams 12 Comments

One simply cannot have enough contests and prizes and giveaways in my humble opinion. The last prizes for the launch contest have been shipped off, so I think it’s high time for another contest! So, we’re launching the Orphan’s Song Epic Photo Contest … because who doesn’t love epic photos and Amazon gift cards? Yep, you read that right. There is a $20.00 Amazon giftcard at stake here! Epic Photo Contest 2 Guidelines: The contest runs until December 3rd. To enter, take a picture of your copy of Orphan’s Song and post it somewhere online – your blog, facebook, pinterest, twitter, etc. You must either tag me in the picture, leave a comment with a workable link, or send a link to my email at thesongkeeper@gmail.com. At the end of the contest, I will compile all of the pictures into an album where everyone will have the chance to vote on the most epic photo to select the winner of a $20.00 Amazon gift card. (Important Note: by sending me the photo link, you acknowledge that you grant me permission to post your photo in an online album for contest purposes.) Frequently-Asked-Questions:

  • What if I got the ebook instead of the paperback? Can I still enter?

Absolutely! Take a picture with the cover showing on your ereader! Ebooks are awesome, so we definitely won’t let something like that stop you from entering the contest.

  • Do I have to be in the picture?

Nope, you do not have to be in the picture if you would prefer not to plaster your gorgeous face online. Simply take a picture of your book in an epic setting—see my photo above.

  • What do you mean by an “epic” photo?

I’m hoping that y’all will have fun with the contest and take pictures of the book in all sorts of adventurous settings, costumes, lightings, backdrops, etc. In short, be creative! Have fun! Use your imagination and try to convey a little bit of the adventurous feel of the story in your photo. The sky’s the limit here! Have fun and happy photo-taking! If you have any other questions, leave a comment and I’ll get back as quickly as I can. Don’t have a copy of Orphan’s Song yet? You’re in luck. I’m currently running a giveaway on Goodreads and it’s super easy to enter.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Orphan's Song by Gillian Bronte Adams

Orphan’s Song

by Gillian Bronte Adams

Giveaway ends November 24, 2014. See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Giveaway, Orphan's Song, Songkeeper Chronicles

Winners Announced

November 3, 2014 by Gillian Bronte Adams 13 Comments

First off, I want to say “thank you” from the bottom of my heart to everyone who entered the Launch Contest and helped spread the word about Orphan’s Song! We had a whopping 580 entries earned during the contest! Each point earned equaled another time your name was entered into the drawing, and the winners were selected at random this morning! Drumroll please… Birdie's Prize Bundle Collage And the winner of Birdie’s prize is Deborah O’Carroll Ky's Prize Bundle Collage The winner of Ky’s prize bundle is Allison Ruvidich Amos' Prize Bundle Collage 3 And the winner of Amos’s prize bundle is Ghost Ryter Winners please email your mailing address to thesongkeeper@gmail.com to claim your prize in the next 48 hours. Congratulations! Thanks for your help telling folks about Orphan’s Song! Didn’t win this time? Never fear. There will be plenty of other opportunities to win giveaways and prizes in the future. Follow my blog and like my facebook page to stay tuned for more information about the Orphan’s Song Epic Photo Contest and upcoming Goodreads giveaways if you haven’t yet received a copy of Orphan’s Song. If you have read and enjoyed the book, consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads or telling a friend what you liked about it. Word of mouth is one of the best ways you can help an author. Thanks all!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Fantasy, Giveaway, Orphan's Song, Songkeeper Chronicles

Orphan’s Song Launch Contest and Prize Giveaway–Week 3 Incentive

October 24, 2014 by Gillian Bronte Adams 8 Comments

Incentive #2 Something happened last week. I’m sure of it. I honestly don’t remember what. But whatever it was happened to be of such epic magnitude that I didn’t get around to putting up a Week 2 incentive for the contest. So we’re skipping Week 2 and moving straight on to Week 3, for the simple reason that time somehow keeps marching on even when things get crazy. Go figure. I have a fun challenge for y’all this week. (For a full list of prizes and ways to enter the contest, read the original post: Orphan’s Song Launch Contest and Prize Giveaway.) The paperback copies of Orphan’s Song are finally here! So if you preordered a copy through Kickstarter or Amazon, or logged on the other day and ordered a copy, it should be coming soon, if it hasn’t already arrived! As soon as my copies arrived, I stuck one on the shelf beside the books belonging to some of my favorite authors and couldn’t resist taking a picture. photo 1 (2) - edited So for this challenge, I’m inviting you to take a picture as well! That’s right, it’s the EPIC PHOTO CONTEST. How does it work? Simple. Take a picture of yourself with your paperback or ebook copy of Orphan’s Song at any point in time between now and the end of the Launch Contest, November 1st, post it on facebook, pinterest, or your blog, and earn 10 entry points. Easy, right? But wait, there’s more. Orphan’s Song is a fantasy adventure … and who doesn’t like epic, adventurous photos! So, as a part of the EPIC PHOTO CONTEST, you can also email a copy of your photo to thesongkeeper@gmail.com to be entered in an additional contest for a $20 Amazon gift card. When you email me the photo, you’re giving me permission to also post it online (on facebook, my blog, twitter, or pinterest) and ask readers to vote on the most epic, adventurous photo to determine the winner. Note: This portion of the contest will continue until the middle of November, but if you want entry points for the Launch Contest, you’ll need to post your picture before November 1st. Sound fun? A photographer I am not, but here’s one I took to get y’all started!  Epic Photo Contest

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Giveaway, Orphan's Song, Songkeeper Chronicles

Orphan’s Song Launch Contest and Prize Giveaway–Week 1 Incentive

October 8, 2014 by Gillian Bronte Adams 29 Comments

Well folks, it’s been one week already since the start of the Launch Contest for Orphan’s Song, and so far, there’s been an overwhelming response! So I want to start by extending a big thank you to everyone who’s entered in so far. If you haven’t entered yet, or you haven’t earned all the entry points you can yet, be sure to check out the original contest post here: Orphan’s Song Launch Contest and Prize Giveaway. You can continue to earn easy entry points for a better chance at having your name drawn as the winner until the contest ends on November 1st! In the meantime, because it’s been one week, it’s time for the first Contest Incentive! Week 1 Contest Incentive This week, we’re going to take Social Media by storm. Here are several super easy ways you can earn extra points! Just be sure to either comment with links or drop me an email at thesongkeeper@gmail.com so I can make sure to add your entries to the tally.

  • Like my facebook page and earn 5 entries! This is a great place to stay in touch with me, stay up to date on upcoming books and writing, and chat about fantasy, books, and characters. Comment and let me know that you liked it.
  • Post on facebook inviting a friend to my facebook page, telling others about Orphan’s Song, or sharing news about the contest! Earn 5 entries for each post. (Don’t forget to send me the link!)
  • Add Orphan’s Song on Goodreads and earn 3 entries. Add me as a friend and get an additional entry for a total of 4 entries. Leave a comment letting me know.
  • Follow me on Twitter and earn 3 entries. Leave a comment letting me know. Tweet about Orphan’s Song or the contest and earn an additional entry!
  • Mention Orphan’s Song in a blog post and earn 5 entries. Send me the link!
  • Review Orphan’s Song somewhere online and earn 10 entries—points increased for this week only! Email me a link to your review.
  • If you have an idea and you’re not sure if it counts or not, leave a comment and I’ll let you know!

    Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Fantasy, Giveaway, Orphan's Song, Songkeeper Chronicles

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