GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Story behind the cover with Dianne Lynn Gardner (Pouraka Book Tour) + giveaway | I Smell Sheep

Monday, April 13, 2015

Story behind the cover with Dianne Lynn Gardner (Pouraka Book Tour) + giveaway

Thank you Sharon for hosting me on your blog!

Sharon asked me why I painted Pouraka’s cover as I did. There is a story behind it. In fact there’s a story behind the whole concept of Pouraka and it stems from my love of nature and the sea. No matter what I’ve written, I always seem to come back to the coast. Having been raised in southern CA. I honestly believe there’s a ‘homing instinct’ inside of me that yearns for that great Pacific. 

Pouraka is more than a romance between two mer people. One reviewer suggested the romance was more an extra to the story, and indeed I meant it to be. The true romance of Pouraka is the love between the ocean and its inhabitants. 
The image of the two mers on Pouraka’s cover are symbolic of the beauty, mystery and love that graces the depths of the sea.

I’ve always been entranced by mermaids. I think they are one of legend’s most haunting characters. I can imagine how lonely sailors of the seventeenth century rode the rocky waters in ships that were mere toothpicks compared to the vast and horrendous seas, half starved for food and a woman’s companionship. I can hear them calling out to one another at the sight of a large fish, a dolphin perhaps, a whale - in hopes they were seeing a phantom mistress of the swells. I hear their laughter, elated, yet fearful should they reach out knowing that she’d lure them to their death beds.

Pouraka moves from the surface of the splashing white caps, into deeper waters and explores what a mermaid’s life might be like today. Mermaids, the last of a species whose truths are violently discovered and brought to extinction, as so many other creatures have faded from existence.

The image of merman and a mermaid sharing a tender moment in this painting, knowing their species cannot and will not continue, is a final impression of love and loyalty. Neptune’s seal, if you will, of two beings remaining true to each other regardless of what dim future lies ahead.



Book One
Dianne Lynn Gardner
Genre: Fantasy romance
Publisher: Dianne Lynn Gardner
ASIN: B00T0PED40
Number of pages: 242
Word Count: 75369
Cover Artist: Dianne Lynn Gardner
Pouraka is a magical sea cavern tucked under the rocky cliffs near Barnacle Bay. Cora, a Pouraka mer, is torn between her friends in the seaside town, and her true love Tas, a foreign mer whose people fled when men invaded their waters.

Life becomes difficult for all mers when an arrogant oil rigger's son, Tom, finds the bay and the rich aquatic life it harbors. When Tas attempts to rescue a pod of dolphins from Tom's gill net, he is captured and taken away as a prize to be sold to a theme park. When Cora hears of his capture she changes into human form and travels south to find him, risking her life to free him.

Time away from Pouraka leaves the cavern vulnerable, and a new threat arises when tourists discover its magic.

Available at Amazon

Excerpt:

The sand was cool, the shells sharp and prickly, making her toes itch. She strolled to the wet sand where the foam still bubbled into clam holes and the remnants of waves frothed over her feet. Seagulls clustered, pecking at shellfish and welcoming the end of day. Farther out the ocean throbbed, constant and carefree. Ever faithful, the sea rocked back and forth over the earth as it harbored its creatures, protecting them from the sun’s vicious heat, feeding them, nourishing them and cradling them. Cora should be in its belly, accepting its nurturing. She was the oceans’ charge and yet here she was, walking the land as though she were human. She’d been denying her heritage all this time.

A surge of shame swept over her. Why did she even want to be human? Merpeople were so much kinder to each other, and to the animals they lived among. Why did she ever doubt that she should live as a mermaid?

Cora took the basket off of her back and unfastened the lid. The water inside was so clear she could see the interior weave of kelp even in the fading sunlight. Scooting closer to the surf so that the waves rolled over her, she held the basket above her head.

Pouraka’s water dripped over her hair, onto her shoulders and her face. She lifted her chin and let it run down her neck, her chest, her belly. Cora poured the water over her hips, her legs, and her toes as the sea rumbled and came to her, a white roll of salt water rushing to immerse her. Cora leaned back and let the ocean swallow her human body. The sea wanted her home, grabbing her form and pulling her far away from shore. She tumbled in the breakers until she was saturated and far from land. Cora came to the surface and viewed the vanishing shoreline one last time. Sunset shined its face on her scales as golden fragments of evening glitter. She hadn’t felt so alive in a long time. She felt good, and somehow she would bring this freedom to Tas. She had to.

About the Author:
Website-Blog-Twitter
Rebel Mouse 
Pourka FB-Author FB
Goodreads 
Amazing Stories Magazine
Dianne is an author and illustrator of YA adventure fantasy with a dab of historical content thrown in. Building worlds that might resemble the forests of her home in the Pacific Northwest, or the shimmering deserts of Arizona, add to that a pinch of magic dust and a few million stars and you just might find the portal to another Realm.

Happily married to a man that puts up with her celestial wanderings and wonderings, she is the mother of seven lovely adult children and grandmother to sixteen gorgeous boys and girls.

Dianne loves writing, painting in oils and living in other dimensions. She finds life much more colorful that way! Her books are middle grade to young adult adventure fantasies with dragons and wizards and sorcery and battles on the high seas. Her grandchildren are a big inspiration for her stories. There’s a shared camaraderie, something akin to what C.S. Lewis said about someday being old enough to enjoy fairy tales again.

Dianne’s newest series Pouraka dives into the depths to explore life as a mer. She also has a series that is being re released by PDMI publishing called the Ian’s Realm Saga.

Stretching her tent stakes, she is working on an Indie Film production of her V book Cassandra’s Castle.



GIVEAWAY

1 ebook copy of Sasha which introduces the story.
5 8 X 10 prints of Pouraka's cover without the text, authographed by the author
1 digital copy of dystopia novel Altered
1 pair of earrings open to US Shipping



a Rafflecopter giveaway


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