portals of water and wine by r.l. haas // a celebration + cover reveal




Title :: Portals of Water and Wine
Author :: R. L. Haas
Release Date :: December 1st, 2014
Cover Artist :: Megan Mahen of Megan Mahen Illustrations 

// I am so grateful that I get to be a part of the cover reveal team for Rachel's debut fantasy novel today. She is the most genuine and beautiful writer, folks. I absolutely adore her and her brave heart-strung words, truly I do. So with a round of applause I welcome R.L. Haas' novel Portals of Water and Wine to the world's stage. Enjoy the cover and be sure to pre-buy a copy for yourself, dear-hearts. <3 //


Portals of Water and Wine Book Description :: 

Naya lives in chaos. Her family is shredded, with only bare threads of her long-dead mother and her absent father still lingering in her house. 

And then she hears the name -- Alonthiel -- spoken as a promise of freedom and escape, if only for one fleeting summer. And so she goes, hand in hand with her two best friends, allowing herself to slip into a new world of ancient origins, magical and sacred. 

Inside the gates of the hidden Fae city, Naya finds more than she could have ever dreamed. So much is waiting for her: magic, strength, and answers to the secrets kept from her since the death of her mother -- all lingering mere miles from her doorstep. 

But when a dark force threatens to raze her newfound home, leaving only rivers of blood in its wake, she must harness her fire -- or watch Alonthiel fall.


Exclusive Excerpt ::

The war had waged for nineteen years. Alonthiel had been overrun with the Fledgling Armies, the children of Ash and Iron. They were the sons and daughters born once to Alonthiel, now so twisted and dark that their former Fae heritage was barely a drop flowing through their veins.

There had been a treaty, but it had been broken…somehow…no one could even remember the reason anymore.  They had come in the night, with their feathered manes and glowing eyes the color of boiling blood and their fingernails set with iron. They had no need for swords, save the ones that grew from the ends of their hands. They were a deadly force, led into battle by their captain Flail, the son of the Fledgling King.

            The sounds of children laughing had been replaced with widow’s wailing. The smashing and splashing of men’s glasses and bar-house celebrations had turned into the sound of metal on metal, metal on flesh.

            The music was gone.

            King Aboras had been crowned for only six days, a rushed ceremony without much pomp or fanfare. He was the fourth King since the war had begun. There was no separation of monarch from common man in the eye of the sword. He crouched in his tent, eyes fixed on the maps splayed on the table in front of him but there was no focus or direction there.

            He knew that this would be the last night. His armies were exhausted, running on little sleep and handfuls of food they gathered from the nearby woods. The supplies were sapped, and their powers were dwindling down to sparks. This was the end.

            And so, in the darkness of the night with only the stars to provide light, Aboras gathered his people together, every last one that still lived. They circled around their king, loyal to the end. He could not lie to them. He told them of the losses, of the depletion of stores and the draining of magic. The end was coming; they should gather their families and run to the mountains, over the river that the Fledglings could not, would not, cross.

            No one moved. Not one child tried to run, not one husband left his family. They all stood. None would leave their king. 



About the Author ::



R. L. Haas is one of the wild ones, writing Faerie stories from her little self-declared cottage surrounded by Midwestern cornfields and never enough coffee. Her nonfiction work has appeared in such online publications as SheLoves Magazine and Literary Orphans. She lives with her beloved husband and equally wild daughter, along with their oversized Great Dane. They are ruled over by two fluffy cats. She blogs about her faith, her heart and her ever-growing literary obsessions at dramaticelegance.blogspot.com




Author photo by Jennifer Upton of Photography by Jennifer Upton.

1 comment:

  1. *shrieks*

    Sarah! Rachel! I could just hug you both with the loveliness in this post. Applauding you, my author friend! A hearty congratulations on a beautiful book I can't wait to read. :)

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