Hello all! Welcome to our stop on Christian Schoon's blog tour for the release of Under Nameless Stars, the second book in his Zenn Scarlett series! This tour includes a tour-wide competition for a set of Under Nameless Stars and Zenn Scarlett (in paperback or e-book - it's up to you!) and a Name Your Own Star gift package! Super cool, right?
Each stop on the blog tour has a question for you to answer, and each question will gain you an extra entry into the competition! You can view the beginning of the tour on Strange Chemistry's blog, and then you can click here to find the rest of the tour stops
Q8. The Helen of Troy is how big?
a. About a quarter of a mile
b. About one mile
c. Almost three kilometers
d. Half a parsec
Make sure to enter your answer in the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post!
About the book:
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Title: Under Nameless Stars (Zenn Scarlett #2)
Author: Christian Schoon
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Date of Publication: April 1, 2014
Synopsis: Zenn Scarlett’s novice year of exoveterinarian training on Mars isn’t quite going to plan…
After facing a plot to destroy her school and its menagerie of alien patients, could things get worse? Yes, they could: her absent father has been kidnapped.
Desperate to find him, Zenn stows away aboard the Helen of Troy, a starliner powered by one of the immense, dimension-jumping beasts known as Indra. With her is Liam Tucker, a Martian boy who is either very fond of her, very dangerous to her, or both. On the verge of learning the truth about her father, Zenn’s quest suddenly catapults her and Liam thousands of light years beyond known space, and into the dark heart of a monstrous conspiracy.
Braving a gauntlet of lethal environments and unearthly life forms, Zenn’s courage is tested as never before. With the fate of entire worlds in the balance, she is racing headlong into trouble… again.
About the Author:
Christian Schoon grew up in Minnesota, and worked his way through college in a succession of rock bands before earning his degree from the U of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Journalism.
Following a stint as an in-house copywriter/scriptwriter at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, he supplied freelance copy for the entertainment industry and scriptwriting for live-action and animated TV.
Currently, he writes from his 150-year-old farmstead in Iowa which he shares with a fluctuating number of horses (generally less than a dozen, but not always), 30 or so cats, a dog, three ferrets and a surprisingly tolerant wife.
The Zenn Scarlett books are his first novels, however he admits to being an unrepentant fan of science fiction and fantasy ever since discovering the tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs in the fifth grade. He can be found at his blog: christianschoon.com and on Twitter.
Christian's TOP TEN Exotic Animals (real or imaginary) You've Always Wanted
Naming all of the real or imaginary creatures I’d like to get up-close-and-personal-with would make for a ree-heel-lee long list. As some of your readers here will have already discovered, I’m a pretty serious animal person. I live on farm where we take in abused/neglected horses and also work with wildlife rehabbers and special needs felines, as well as having range of other critters in the pet category. This immersion in the non-human realm contributed mightily to the first Zenn Scarlett book and its soon-to-be-published follow up, Under Nameless Stars. So, this being my very enjoyable/wonder-inducing lot in life, it’ll be easy to pick ten actual or fantabulous animals, in no particular order…
- Greater Kiran Sunkiller – These enormous flying reptiles (think pterosaur with two elongated heads) grow to have wingspreads exceeding 1,500 feet. Because they don’t flap their wings to stay aloft (they have gas-filled organs lining the underside of their wings), they’re stable enough to build habitations on their backs. I’d like to live for a while in one of the palaces the Kirans construct on these creatures (who don’t seem to notice the relatively minor added weight). Zenn had an interesting exoveterinary encounter with a baby sunkiller (a mere 60-foot wingspan. Pffft.) in book one that I suspect she’ll never forget…
- Wolverine – Fearless, powerful, mischievous, unstoppable, aromatic, gorgeous… these big members of the weasel family are just too freakin’ cool. Once dreamt I was surrounded by half a dozen of them and they were gently nibbling on my fingers, just being friendly. Woke up grinning. Best. Dream. Ever.
- Wookie – The Walking Carpet would just be great to pal around with. And I love to listen to ‘em talk. Plus, we’d likely end up playing poker with Han at some point.
- That giant air-born mutant Pekinese in The Never Ending Story. Because: flying dog.
- Dolphin – Or maybe a small pod of dolphins; they’re social, need company. The pod should delivered to my farm with their own city-block-sized aquatic environment. Or, a beachside cottage somewhere in the South Pacific could be provided for me and they could just come visit whenever. And, of course (spoiler alert!)… it would be extra cool if they came equipped with walksuits a la Jules Vancouver in Under Nameless Stars.
- Ghost – or any of the direwolves from Game of Thrones. I don’t care that they’re CGI. Still want.
- A hooloovoo from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. ‘Cause who wouldn’t want to be friends with a super-intelligent shade of blue.
- A panserbjorn from Pullman’s His Dark Materials books. An armored, sentient, talking polar bear. With opposable thumbs. Bring it. Would also settle for my own daemon.
- A Siberian tiger – Always wanted to scruff the belly of one of these guys and hear them purr. Close up.
- A sandworm from Dune. Need to be riding my 1,300-foot-long sandworm with a sweeping, epic orchestral soundtrack swelling up in the background, and with my eyes gone totally indigo….
Read an Extract:
Read and Share via Issuu.com
Thanks again to Christian for stopping by to enlighten us about those animals he's always wanted! Make sure to read the extract, enter the competition, and pre-order/pick up your copy of Under Nameless Stars when it comes out in April!
--Ashley & Paul
Falcooooor! *grin* Great choices! I'm not sure I'd personally like to go anywhere near a sandworm from Dune though!
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