A warm welcome to author Alex Whitehall joining us today to talk about new release “Magic Runs Deep”.

Alex talks about “Bear” and brought a giveaway to participate in!

Welcome Alex 🙂

Hello, everybody! I’m Alex Whitehall, and I’m here today touring for my fantasy novel Magic Runs Deep, which is about one man’s search to find himself—and true freedom—after a long imprisonment, and the path to trust that he follows along the way.

You might have in mind what a bear sounds like—probably from a movie or television show—and if so, you are probably recalling a ferocious roar just before the bear attacks.

Unfortunately, that noise you heard was probably not a bear, as many of them don’t make a Hollywood-appropriate roar. Most bear noises tend to be grunts and huffs—not that those noises aren’t terrifying in themselves coming from a bear that’s way too close for comfort. Even a grizzly’s roar was probably modified to be more intimidating for film.

For Magic Runs Deep, I spent a lot of time listening to bear noises—I can only imagine what my neighbors thought. The world my characters live in isn’t ours, but I loosely based the bear form of one character on that of the moon bear (because for no other reason than I like the white patch). However, most of my research on noises relies on the more general black bear. For instance, the main character, who has been imprisoned, has been trained to make noises that aren’t natural for him, and the shift back to more normal noises is an element of reclaiming who he is.

If you want some examples of black bear sounds—and I recommend checking it out, as I think it’ll surprise you—this is a great source:

https://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/communication/29-vocalizations-a-body-language.html

I wouldn’t recommend checking out YouTube—almost every video I found had a comment suggesting that the audio had been altered.

If you checked out the audio, were you surprised by what you heard?

About Magic Runs Deep

For the last five years, Veier has been chained to a king’s throne in his bear form. When a neighboring kingdom overthrows the crown, Veier’s imprisonment ends, but true freedom is not so easily earned. With blood on his hands, he needs someone with patience, strength, and trust to help him become the person he was before and prove to the invaders that he isn’t the monstrous king’s loyal pet.

Elrid, the invading king’s brother and a powerful mage, is everything Veier despises. He’s also the only thing between Veier and execution, because he thinks he can help Veier change from an aggressive bear shifter into a reasonable man. While the pair have a rough start, with long talks and mutual leaps of faith, they begin to care for each other.

However, the closer Veier gets to his freedom, the closer he is to losing Elrid. He must find balance in his heart and his life if he wishes to truly claim the freedom he’s been given—and the man he loves.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Riptide

About Alex Whitehall

If there are two types of people in the world, Alex Whitehall probably isn’t one of them, despite being a person. Their favorite pastimes include reading, horseback riding, sleeping, watching geek-tastic television, knitting, eating, and running. And wasting time on the internet. And spending glorious evenings laughing with friends.

While Alex prefers sleeping over doing anything else (except maybe eating), sometimes they emerge from the cave to be social and to hunt for food at the local market. They can be found blogging, reading, and tending after their aloe plants.

Connect with Alex:

• Twitter: @AlexWhitehall
• Email: AlexDWhitehall@gmail.com
• Blogging: alexwhitehall.blogspot.com
• Tumblr: alexwhitehall.tumblr.com

To celebrate the release of Magic Runs Deep, Alex is giving away an ecopy of Second Skin! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 14, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!