It’s time for another blog tour. This time it’s for author C.W. Briar’s debut novel. Whispers from the Depth.
About the book:
Joyful and blessed are Voice-bearers, for the Heavens have set them apart.
As Whisperers gifted with the Voice, Betka and her people are enslaved. Only they can control the dangerous spirits that haunt the waters, but they are forced to serve under cruel taskmasters. Betka has little hope of freedom from her service or her own bitterness.
They toil for the goodness of others.
A powerful water spirit terrorizes the castle where Betka’s sister is serving. Betka is assigned to the crew sailing to face the foe, and she fears for the only family she has left.
Rage is found nowhere in them.
In the beleaguered, flooded castle, a new threat awaits—a magic more powerful and horrifying than anything they have ever seen. Loyalties will be tested, and enemies will become desperate allies.
Betka is their only hope of escape—if she can subdue the wrath that endangers them all.
She who wields the waters for revenge drowns herself tenfold.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40800052-whispers-from-the-depths
Be Our Guest Post with C.W. Briar:
Thanks for having me. Can I start off by saying how surreal it is to be doing my first blog tour? It’s like arriving at the Academy Awards, except my ritzy gift bag looks more like a paper plate with Oreos from my own cupboard.
They’re delicious, by the way.
For those who don’t know me: Hello. I’m C.W. Briar, I write books, and I have cute dogs. That’s all the important bits about me. Those of you who already know me (sorry) have probably gleaned two other facts: I like creepy stories, and I joke around online. That might seem contradictory, but it’s because serious me is long-winded, and writing a dark fantasy novel lets me be super long-winded.
In addition to suspense, action, and humor, Whispers From The Depths is an exploration of questions I’d been contemplating. We’re all familiar with the phrase “love conquers all,” but how, exactly, does it conquer? How does love win against a foe that’s content with being violent and cruel? What does it look like to interrupt the downward spiral of grudges and vengeance?
As much as anything, it’s the immersion into those questions that pushes Whispers into dark fantasy territory. I threw the two main characters, Betka and Asi, to the wolves. They have immense power as Whisperers with water magic, but none to protect themselves. The limitation to their ability is that it can’t be used to harm others. The Whisperers are desperate for an escape or way to fight back against a kingdom that has turned against them.
Betka’s life is a nightmare, and that’s before she gets news that her sister’s village has been attacked by a dangerous spirit.
That was the heartbeat of the story, the lifeblood flowing through every chapter. The old Whisperer dictates about love feel oppressive in that situation. Betka wrestles with them, just as I wrestled with them. The great thing about fiction is that we can let characters explore difficult questions while we have fun as readers.
And the book is meant to be fun, not just moral ruminations. Readers will have form their own opinions, but I think the spirit Ylvalas creates an interesting conflict. In this world, spirits inhabit the waters and can manifest in various forms. I took rather morbid delight in creating ways for water to be used as a weapon, then pitting the characters against those threats.
That’s the situation Betka finds herself in, trapped between a murderous spirit and cruel oppressors, fighting to rescue herself and her sister. It’s Betka’s story, and I loved her honesty and resolve through it all. I loved the strength of Asi’s tender heart and the courage in Kuros’s humor. Now I get to find out if readers also love the characters and their diverse responses to the horrors.
Author Nancy Holzner wrote one of the novel’s blurbs. She said it “entertains on every page and leaves the reader thinking long after the last word.” Honestly, that’s everything I hoped for from the book.
Author Bio
C.W. Briar writes fantasy that’s dark but hopeful, filled with wonder and humor along with the suspense and creepiness. His favorite stories are the ones that make him both smile and perch on the edge of his seat. By day, he works as a systems engineer, testing or even riding on trains, airplanes, and helicopters. At night, when not writing, he prepares fancy dinners and shows off his awesome corgis. He’s a graduate of Binghamton University and lives in Upstate NY with his wife, three kids, and secret stashes of chocolate.
Sign up for newsletter exclusives through his website: http://www.cwbriar.com
Social Media Links:
https://www.facebook.com/CWBriar
https://www.instagram.com/cw_briar/
Whispers from the Depth releases February 19th in both Ebook and print.
UUP website (Rumor says these are autographed!): https://uncommonuniverses.com/books/whispers-from-the-depths/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Depths-C-W-Briar-ebook/dp/B07LC2VTLM/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whispers-from-the-depths-c-w-briar/1130009932
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1446792349
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/whispers-from-the-depths-1
![iwwc_ji[final2]](https://cobonham.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/iwwc_jifinal2.jpg?w=223&h=335)
So I accidentally killed a shifter. On purpose.
Janeen Ippolito writes steampunk fantasy and urban fantasy, and creates writing resources, including the reference book 
Onin’s life is changed when he meets a mysterious new student with a fiery dual dragon nature. Then the secretive alien Matari recruit him and his friends to track down the body-snatching Natas. Between the aliens, the cute new girl, and his idiot roommate, can Onin manage to graduate college?
Author Bio:
He doesn’t want to get married, but he wants to be a frog even less.
H. L. Burke is the author of multiple fantasy novels including the Dragon and the Scholar saga and The Nyssa Glass YA Steampunk series and Coiled. She is an admirer of the whimsical, a follower of the Light, and a believer in happily ever after. 
Devin is a very good looking rouge and he doesn’t care about the odds, like a certain sci-fi character. You will laugh out loud when you see who this story is actually dedicated to. It totally fits. Devin is everything I want in a man, funny, smooth, able to take direction, and he can think on his feet too.
(Dreamworld Duology book 2):
Kristina Mahr devotes her days to numbers and her nights to words. She works full-time as an accountant in the suburbs of Chicago, where she lives with her two dogs and two cats, but her true passion is writing. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, and waking up at the crack of dawn every weekend to watch the Premier League.
All That We See or Seem buy links
Flew works as a professor of wielder instruction at Rembrandt Academy, hoping to erase the regrets of his youth along with the resulting debt. But when he comes face to face with his biggest regret—the woman who broke his heart, Adelaide Favan—Brixton soon realizes his troubles have only begun.
C. S. Johnson
So I accidentally killed a shifter. On purpose.
Janeen Ippolito writes steampunk fantasy and urban fantasy, and creates writing resources, including the reference book ![iwwc_ji[final2]](https://cobonham.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/iwwc_jifinal2.jpg?w=589&h=883)
A new queen falls. A death lord rises. An ancient foe looms in the shadows.
Sylvie Imanthiya is desperate to lead Faerie well and deepen the bond with her husband, former king Taylan Ashkalabek. But all hope of that vanishes when the winter solstice ceremony ends in disaster, stranding her and Taylan in the Deathrealm, and stripping the kingdom from her.
With Faerie in chaos, Zad and Diza are separated once again: Zad to reconcile with an old mentor to stabilize the kingdom, and Diza to confront the nefarious Casimir in the mortal realm. But Casimir claims that a greater evil seeks to destroy both realms, an evil that Diza’s unique death magic can hold at bay—if she could only remember how.
In the Deathrealm, Taylan is succumbing to the lure of specters from his past, and pushing away Sylvie’s love. Overwhelmed by decay and darkness, Sylvie must summon unexpected magic from the soul of Kyure to fight for her convictions and her husband’s heart.
Shadows divide them. Their friends are in peril. If Sylvie fails, her marriage and her world will fall.
Sarah Delena White was raised by wolves in an alternate dimension. She writes eclectic speculative fiction that reworks mythology with a fine balance of poetry and snark. She’s an experienced world traveler who loves to weave world folklore and ancient concepts into vibrant, original story worlds. She is the administrative manager for Uncommon Universes Press. When she’s not writing, she can be found making elegant designer bead jewelry, traveling to festivals as a professional ballad singer, drinking tea, and seeking to create the perfect latte. She can be bribed with dark chocolate.
Join Uncommon Universes Press and Laura A. Grace of Unicorn Quester to celebrate the launch of Rothana by Sarah Delena White! Includes games, giveaways, exclusive behind-the-scenes, and more. Also features guest authors Bethany A. Jennings and Morgan L. Busse. Save the date to hang out with these fabulous authors!
The bloodstone has been stolen.
Author bio:
Sarah Addison-Fox is a New Zealand-born misfit who writes action-packed fantasy with a smattering of punch ups, mega amounts of romance and a dash of family values. She has an astonishing amount of nail polish, has all her creative writing credentials shoved in a drawer somewhere, and has a husband who, after 28 years, can still make her blush. When she’s not working on her YA fantasy romance series’ she can be found binge watching Mission Impossible movies, drinking lager and eating curry.
