Song Of The Oceanides by J.G. Zymbalist ~ Guest Post and Giveaway

Posted: May 5, 2016 in Blog Tour, giveaways, Guest Post, YA Fantasy
Tags: , , ,

SongOfTheOceanides banner

I have a wonderful book to share with you today. Song Of The Oceanides is a YA Fantasy blend and sounds wonderful.

Please enjoy Author J.G. Zymbalist’s guest post and an excerpt from the book.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

~~~~~

Guest Post by Author J.G. Zymbalist

Background of the book

I began to conceive Song of the Oceanides when I was just a little kid.  Every summer for about four or five summers straight, my family would spend the holiday in Castine, Maine right on Penobscot Bay.  Every June or July we rented out Robert Lowell’s house, and there I would look back on the previous school year and take stock of the latest round of insults I had weathered.  As I walked the halls of that house, I knew that someday I would have to do something about my growing sorrows—channel my childhood depression into something redemptive.

The house itself fascinated me and pretty much demanded to be the setting of a book.  As such, when I wrote Song of the Oceanides, I used the actual downstairs and upstairs floor plan as the model for the house where my young point-of-view character, Rory, lives.  Looking back, I think what enthralled me most about that big old New England house was the way the soft hazy summer light moved through the windows and all about the rooms and hallways.  Nothing triggers the imagination quite like the movement of light.

Almost as important, living in a New England house like that for the summer gave me the opportunity to experience the ocean:  the majestic sight of the bay, the roar of the Atlantic, the aroma of the waters and breeze, the alluring call of the seagulls.  Everything combined to give me the sense that I stood in the presence of either God or some eternal force of destiny I could not understand.  The ocean also terrified me, and for the first time, I actually remember thinking about things like mortality.  I can recall discussing my fears with my totally-baffled mother.  At the time, I did not know what ocean myth would be best to bring all these concerns to life, but I knew I would find it someday.  (It ended up being the Oceanides of course; hence my title.)

~~~~~

Song of the Oceanides

by J.G. Zymbalist

SongOfTheOceanides cover

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: YA Fantasy

Synopsis

Song of the Oceanides is a highly-experimental triple narrative transgenre fantasy that combines elements of historical fiction, YA, myth and fairy tale, science fiction, paranormal romance, and more.  For ages 10-110.

~~~~~

Enjoy the excerpt

Blue Hill, Maine.

3 August, 1903.

 

From the moment Emmylou heard the song of the Oceanides, she recognized something godly in the tune.  As it resounded all across the desolate shoreline of Blue Hill Bay, she recalled the terrible chorus mysticus ringing all throughout that extinct Martian volcano the day her father went missing down in the magma chamber.

Aunt Belphœbe followed along, guiding Maygene through the sands.  “Why don’t you go play in that shipwreck over there?”  Aunt Belphœbe pointed toward a fishing schooner run aground some fifty yards to the south.

When Maygene raced off, Emmylou refused to follow.  By now the chorus of song tormented her so much that an ache had awoken all throughout her clubfoot.  Before long she dropped her walking stick and fell to the earth.  Closing her eyes, she dug both her hands into the sands and lost herself in memories of the volcano.  How could Father be gone?  Though he had often alluded to the perils of Martian vulcanology, she never imagined that someone so good and so wise could go missing.

The song of the Oceanides grew a little bit louder and increasingly dissonant.

Opening her eyes, Emmylou listened very closely.  The song sounded like the stuff of incantation, witchcraft.  And even though she could not comprehend every word, nevertheless she felt certain that the Oceanides meant to cast a spell upon some unfortunate soul.

~~~~~

Author J.G. Zymbalist

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

J.G. Źymbalist began writing Song of the Oceanides as a child when his family summered in Castine, Maine where they rented out Robert Lowell’s house.

The author returned to the piece while working for the Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society, May-September, 2005.  He completed the full draft in Ellsworth, Maine later that year.

For more information, please see http://jgzymbalist.com

NOTE:  The book is on sale for $0.99.  Free for Kindle Unlimited Members or as part of Kindle MatchBook.

LINKS: Amazon / Goodreads

Purchase On Amazon

~~~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Click on the banner below to follow the tour and comment.

The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Goddess Fish Promotions

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Comments
  1. Lisa Brown says:

    thank you for the chance to win 🙂

  2. Jen S. says:

    I enjoyed reading the excerpt form the book which sounds like a wonderful read.

  3. JG Zymbalist says:

    To everyone at fuonlyknew, thank you for hosting me!
    JG

  4. JG Zymbalist says:

    Sorry about the photo’s being attributed to “Olympus Digital Camera!” I’m not sure how that little glitch happened. The name of the photographer is Jeannette Palsa, and she’s a very great artist!

    JG

    • fuonlyknew says:

      Thanks for sharing! I couldn’t get that caption off. So happy everyone is enjoying your tour!

      • JG Zymbalist says:

        Laura,
        Sorry about the caption. It’s my fault. I’m not very tech-savvy. I’m very old-fashioned and easily overwhelmed by computers and such.
        JG

  5. James Robert says:

    I am grateful you have taken time to bring us this great giveaway, thank you.

  6. Anne says:

    A captivating and special novel and an enjoyable excerpt. Thanks for this feature and giveaway.

  7. Becky says:

    Sounds like a great read.

  8. JG Zymbalist says:

    Becky,
    Thank you for your kind words!
    JG

  9. Sandra Watts says:

    This sounds really great!

  10. kim hansen says:

    Sounds good.

  11. steph y says:

    Sounds like a unique story.

  12. Rita Wray says:

    Great excerpt, thank you.

  13. Melissa Morr says:

    Enjoyed the excerpt!

  14. taylordeanbooks says:

    I love the guest post. I love the story behind the book. It’s so fascinating when authors use personal stories to inspire them in their writing.

  15. Victoria says:

    Thanks for sharing the excerpt! This sounds like a book i’ll enjoy, I’m looking forward to checking it out 🙂

  16. I enjoyed reading the excerpt. This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read! Totally can’t wait to check out this book!

    • JG Zymbalist says:

      Lil ally kitten,
      Thank you for your post! Oh, and while the book doesn’t include any kittens per say, there is a freaky grown-up cat in there. Her name is Zoe.
      JG

  17. Mai Tran says:

    What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?

    • JG Zymbalist says:

      Mai,
      Thank you for the question! It’s a very challenging question too because for me writing was never really a decision. It’s always been my natural unconscious instinct. When I was very young, I knew I had to write something about not just my own childhood experience but childhood generally. Later, as a teenager, I went backpacking through England, and at first I found it really uninspiring. Then, pretty much unconsciously, I wandered into a stationery shop and bought a diary. From that moment on, the trip had meaning because every day I could not wait to get back to the youth hostel or wherever just to lie down in bed and to write and to describe the day’s events. For me, the whole point of life has always been reading and writing.
      JG

  18. Dario Z says:

    Sounds like a great read, thank you for sharing!

  19. Great excerpt. From the blurb, I never would have expected that. I have a love of the water and can understand being inspired by it.
    sherry @ fundinmental

    • JG Zymbalist says:

      Sherry,
      Thank you for the very nice post, and yes I do admit the book begins in a very quirky way. For the other point-of-view characters, i.e. non-Martian characters, the backdrop of the ocean takes on a very different sort of tone.
      JG

  20. diannekc says:

    Love the cover and the review. Can’t wait to read, adding to my TBR list.

    • JG Zymbalist says:

      Dianne,
      Thank you for your kind words, and the cover is a painting by Goran Petmil. He has a great website, goranpetmil.com Anyway I wanted to use an elegant understated painting instead of going with a cheesy cover. I love kitschiness but not cheese!
      JG

  21. Mary Preston says:

    A curious title too.

    • JG Zymbalist says:

      Mary,
      I took the title from a German poem by Heinrich Heine. It’s a very sad poignant poem about heartache and longing. The Germans are very good at poems like that.
      JG

  22. I enjoyed reading the excerpt and the guest post. This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read. Looking forward to checking out this book.

  23. Sandra Watts says:

    Stopped by to share post. Happy Mother’s Day!

  24. Where is your favorite spot to read?

    • JG Zymbalist says:

      Lil Ally Kitten,

      Wow, what a great question! The answer for me would have to be my father’s study. He was a physician (just like Dr. Slocum in my book.) Anyway my father had a great big green leather chair where he read his JAMA serials and text books and medical files and whatever. On more than one occasion, I would go in there on a Sunday and read an entire book in one day. I always felt like I was in a library, and that helped me concentrate. Now that I’m old and world-weary, I’ve returned to the family house and still read in the study. And we still have that old green chair.

      JG

  25. nikolina84 says:

    I am really enjoying following this tour, thank you!

  26. Congrats on the new book and good luck on the book tour!

  27. sherry1969 says:

    Sounds like a very interesting book.

  28. nikolina84 says:

    How did you come up with the idea for the book?

    • JG Zymbalist says:

      Nikolina,
      Great question. The idea has been percolating ever since childhood. I’ve always wanted to write a sort of homage to the coast of Maine because that is where my family always summered. As a matter of fact, we rented out Robert Lowell’s house. He was a great but grouchy poet for those who don’t know.

  29. Sandra Watts says:

    Sharing again. Enjoy your week.

  30. JG Zymbalist says:

    Enjoy your week too!

  31. Stopping by to share post! Enjoy your week.

  32. Sandra Watts says:

    Stopped by to share post. Happy Memorial Day.

  33. JG Zymbalist says:

    Happy Memorial Day, Sandra. Say a prayer for peace.

  34. Sandra Watts says:

    Hey there! Have a great week. Shared!

  35. JG Zymbalist says:

    You’re so sweet, Sandra

  36. Sandra Watts says:

    Enjoy your week. Hopefully will be nice weather.

  37. Dario Z says:

    Thank you for sharing this interesting excerpt!

  38. Sandra Watts says:

    Stopped in and shared. Have a good week.

  39. JG Zymbalist says:

    It may be a Monday, but it’s the first day of summer. I feel like going to You Tube and listening to some Beach Boys.

  40. CJ Soyer says:

    I really enjoyed reading the excerpt and guest post. Thank you so much for sharing and thank you for the giveaway! 🙂

  41. Sandra Watts says:

    Shared on facebook and twitter.

  42. Nikolina says:

    Dropping by to wish everyone a happy Saturday!

  43. Sandra Watts says:

    Stopped by to share and say hi.

  44. Shared on G+, have a great day!

  45. Sandra Watts says:

    Stopped by to share post. Glad we finally got some rain here last night. We sure did need it. Have a good week.

  46. Sandra Watts says:

    Shared post to all sites above. Have a great week!

  47. Mindy Bel says:

    Thanks for the great giveaway!
    The book sounds amazing!

Let's Talk

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.