BLOGOVERSARY: GIVEAWAY and GUESTPOST with author Jessica McHugh!

Welcome everyone! This week, Novel Addiction is celebrating its SECOND BLOGOVERSARY! I'm also celebrating my birthday, so it's a super fun week! Be sure to check back every day for more great, fun content - go HERE to check out the schedule. Today, I'm lucky to offer you a guest post from Jessica McHugh, author of "Rabbits in the Garden," "The Sky: The World" and more!!! And Jessica has kindly provided a limited edition copy of "Rabbits in the Garden" to giveaway! See below for details.
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Alamyntal, Shir Mil ( A Farewell to Old Friends )
by Jessica McHugh

It's the end of an era I never intended to begin. Now, in the last month of writing my fantasy series "The Tales of Dominhydor", I find myself a veritable forest of feelings. Unfortunately, there are no helpful Care Bear Cousins to sing a song that reconciles my varied emotions.


I can’t believe it’s almost over. =)
I can’t believe it’s almost over. =(

Almost ten years ago, I started writing a story called "Maladrid" with no intention of it being the first book in a series. At that point, I had no intentions for my writing at all outside of using it to get through my eleven hour shift selling perfume from a mall kiosk. In hindsight, my logic about "Maladrid" being a stand-alone novel was pretty illogical. I spent months designing the world of Dominhydor. I invented a language, created original races of creatures, and wrote countless origin stories dating back to the very beginning of the world's existence---and for what? One book? One book that clearly states at the start that the entire story is a dream? Where's the logic in that?

Then again, what do you really know about logic when you're 19? Or writing, for that matter? (Or anything?) Nearly ten years and four Dominhydor installments later, I'm still learning how to best craft a story, but this month, I learn how to say goodbye.

Having written thirteen books, nine of which have been published since 2008, I've seen characters come and go pretty quickly. I've seen them simply walk out and I've seen them crash and burn. I’ve seen them die as innocents and die getting exactly what was coming to them. But of every character I've conceived, the denizens of Dominhydor have stuck with me the longest. They've been there for the best and worst of me, and it's going to be tough to let go. I am planning on writing the "Book of Dominh" in the future, which will include all of those origin stories I mentioned, but that's a ways off, and if I write a prequel, it won't actually be set in Dominhydor. And no, you can't have any more info than that. ;)

But these characters: Maladrid, Yven, Palaplia, Telinhe, etc...I probably won't ever write for them again. As much as I've complained about the massive revisions and rewrites that accompanied getting this series ready for publication, these books started my crazy adventure of becoming an author. It's been a long, tumultuous road. I've had to set aside a lot of projects I was passionate about to work on the Dominhydor books, but I don't regret taking the time to improve upon the stories and better develop the characters.

I had to go through the world of Dominhydor to discover the McHughniverse in which I now live. I’m grateful for the journey we embarked upon together, but I’m also grateful that it’s coming to a close. I have so many more worlds I'd like to explore, so many characters to meet and different writing styles with which to experiment. The Tales of Dominhydor truly was just the beginning of my writing career and there's no end in sight.

Now, cue the Care Bears finale music…
No?
Well, it was worth a shot. Then again, what isn’t?

Find Jessica on the web!
Jessica McHugh's facebook.

About Jessica:

Jessica McHugh is an author of speculative fiction that spans the genre from horror and alternate history to epic fantasy. A prolific writer, she has devoted herself to novels, short stories, novellas, and even playwriting. She has had nine books published in three years, including "Song of Eidolons", "The Sky: The World" and the first three installments in her "Tales of Dominhydor" series.

Now for the GIVEAWAY! Jessica is offering a limited edition PRINT copy of "Rabbits in the Garden" to ONE lucky winner! See the rules and form below to enter!

RULES and GUIDELINES:
~ Fill out the form below to enter, Comment does not count as an entry.
~ There will be ONE winner.
~ Contest ENDS Sunday, July 17th, at 7pm EST. Winners will be announced Monday, July 18th.
~ Open to US ONLY.
~ You must be at least 13 years old to enter.
~ Novel Addiction is not responsible for items lost in the mail or authors/publishers failing to deliver prizes.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
+1 for following Novel Addiction.
+1 for commenting on the guest post!



Be sure to check out Day 1 of my Blogoversary celebration! Lisa Beth Darling, author of "The Heart of War," stops by to talk about anniversaries, and offers up a copy of her book to one lucky winner! Go HERE to check it out.
And also, don't forget to enter to win three print books by Lori Foster. One lucky duck will get all three new releases! Go HERE to enter!
Want to get me something for my birthday? *Wink wink* Visit my RAK Wishlist!

Happy Reading! And be sure to come back tomorrow for more fun!
~!~ Amanda ~!~