Rogue Magic by Kit Brisby Virtual Tour | Spotlight, Guest Post, Excerpt & #giveaway @RiptideBooks @kitbrisby

 

Can he embrace his true nature when he's been taught to hate it his whole life?

While trapped in a stalled subway train on his morning commute, PR rep Byron Cole flirts with Levi, a young waiter with adorable curls. But Byron's hopes for romance crash and burn when Levi saves him from a brutal explosion—with outlawed magic.

When Levi is imprisoned, Byron begins to question everything he's ever believed. How can magic be evil when Levi used it to save dozens of lives? So Byron hatches a plan to save Levi that will cost him his job and probably his life. If he doesn't pull it off, Levi will be put to death.

Byron discovers that he isn't the only one questioning America's stance on magic. And he learns that Levi is stubborn, angry, and utterly enchanting. Time is running out, though. Byron must convince Levi to trust him, to trust his own magic, and to fight against the hatred that’s forced him to hide his true nature his entire life. The more Levi opens up, the harder Byron falls. And the more they have to lose.

Now available from Riptide Publishing or Amazon

Guest post with Author Kit Brisby...

Achieving Balance as a Writer

In our increasingly fraught political climate, it’s getting more and more difficult to make art. Don’t write off art as a frivolity. Making art is part of the resistance. The trick is making space in your life to tackle your methods of resistance and activism without completely burning out and losing the ability to make art.

I’ll admit I’m struggling with that myself, lately. We all have the issues that matter dearly to us. Women’s rights, police brutality, reproductive rights, global warming research, LGBT+ rights, access to education, disability rights and funding for the arts demand my attention and energy. And that barely scratches the surface. I’ve been following legislation and reaching out to my elected officials daily.

And I’ve been really, really angry. Let me tell you… it’s difficult to write books when you’re overcome with anger. That’s something I’m working on every single day. My therapist has suggested “dosing” the anger and grief I feel. I’m making an effort to spend a set amount of time reading the news and identifying ways to act that align to my personal values and feel productive.

Regardless of your political and social leanings, it’s undeniable that this is a time of upheaval. So my advice to you is to find ways to create structure and balance. Remember that it’s okay to tend to your own health—physical and mental. Whether others rely on you or not, you can’t fight if you’re not well. You can’t fight if you’re overcome with despair or anger or helplessness. Don’t deny yourself the things that feel good and bring you joy. It may feel like a betrayal to those who are suffering, but you cannot affect change if you don’t feed your soul.

As a writer, my struggle is coming to my keyboard with the energy and love to tell stories. I’m not sure how to do that right now, but I’m committed to achieving that balance, because I find storytelling to be a critical part of the resistance. Our world needs art and stories, especially when times are bleak. We need happy stories as much as we need reflections of dystopia and cautionary tales. We need representation. We need to life up the voices of marginalized storytellers and avoid speaking over them.

Regardless of your role in the romance world (and if you’re a reader, you’re very important!), I hope that you’re finding balance and giving yourself permission to read or create or amplify stories about love. Stories that make you happy. Stories that give you energy that you can draw on later when you’re feeling like you might drown. Thank you for being part of this community.

Excerpt...

Some Sign of Life

Byron Cole was well into his personal best score at Trivia Dash. His phone blinked with the next question, bright against the darkness around him. Another distant explosion shook the subway car, and the little boy across the aisle began to cry.

The trivia timer was already winding down. Byron clenched his jaw and skimmed the question and answers.

What year did Charlotte’s Law pass? It was ninety-eight or ninety-nine. A girl in his second-grade class had been sent to foster care that year, when magic users were first forbidden to raise their own children.

He went with ninety-eight, and his run of correct answers ended. Sighing, he tucked his phone back into his messenger bag and rehearsed his speech silently.

Thanks to our nation’s vigilance and dedication, the United States has incarcerated those mages who pose a threat to our freedoms. And now Cole Industries has developed a system to relieve the tax burden of these rogue mages by using them to generate electricity to sell back to the power companies. Magic is an untapped resource and can produce the kind of clean energy America needs.

He ran through it again, wishing he’d emailed himself a copy. He’d written the speech himself, so he shouldn’t have been nervous about messing up, but this was his first assignment in front of a microphone. And he wasn’t prepared for follow-up questions he couldn’t answer.

No one had explained to him how exactly mages were going to generate electricity.

At the moment he was picturing thousands of stationary bikes. That was better than tuning in to the restless chatter around him. If his uncle hadn’t advised him to take the subway instead of a town car, he would have been at the press conference by now. But he agreed with the reasoning: He needed to humanize Cole Industries, give people someone to relate to. Someone who took public transportation.

And got stuck on public transportation.

“The police will be here soon,” the young woman sitting beside the sniffling boy was saying. She wore cut-off shorts and sparkling tennis shoes. An older sister or a nanny, maybe.

“How do you know?” he asked between shuddering breaths.

Byron felt a pang of remorse for ignoring the boy until now. Adults had a way of doing that to kids when terrible things happened. “The sirens. Hear them? They’re close,” he said, hoping no one else realized that didn’t mean a thing.

The dim emergency lights were still working, and the car wasn’t on fire, so the likelihood of being rescued any time soon was slim. Judging by the number of explosions that had gone off like thunder, nearby first responders had too much on their hands to deal with a stalled subway train. Thankfully, the boy gave a shaky nod and wiped his nose against his sleeve, apparently satisfied with Byron’s answer.

“Do you think it’s the terrorists?” an older woman asked. She sounded more hopeful than afraid, as if a terrorist attack was the best possible reason for the subway to have lost power in the middle of a pitch-black tunnel. It took Byron a long moment to realize she was addressing him, and by then others were watching him questioningly. They obviously didn’t realize he was only twenty-two.

He shifted in his seat, and his name badge for the press conference he was now incredibly late to caught on his sleeve. The Cole Industries logo gleamed. No wonder they expected him to know something. He plucked it off and shoved it into his pocket.

The woman’s voice went shrill. “Well?”

To read the entire excerpt, learn more about the book or the Author, visit Riptide Publishing.

Kit Brisby lives in Tampa Bay, Florida, with her two young sons and two rescue dogs. A graduate of the University of Florida, she's been writing professionally since 2002. Her career has taken her from writing think pieces on breastfeeding to writing erotica for the adult industry—and nearly everything in between. She works in digital marketing and helps businesses find and tell their stories.

Kit is always trying to find balance between working full-time, revisiting or writing books every night, and modeling badass behavior to her two boys. Sometimes the lure of Tumblr interferes with all of that balancing. She's just old enough to still be utterly enchanted by animated gifs.

A single mom and aspiring yogi, Kit is open about her struggles with anxiety and the importance of self-care. She also advocates for neurodiversity and acceptance of those on the autism spectrum. Few things get her as riled up as bisexual erasure.

Though she lives in the South, Kit is a NYC girl at heart, and makes a point of traveling to the city as often as she can to catch a few shows and eat as much ramen as humanly possible.

She reads avidly, and gravitates toward historical queer romance and young adult fantasy, especially when the stakes are high. She's a fan of awkward first dates unless she's participating in them, and is outspoken about embracing kink and sex positivity.

Connect with Kit:

• Website: www.kitbrisby.com/
• Twitter: @kitbrisby

To celebrate the release of Rogue Magic, one lucky winner will receive a yoga mat from Kit and a $15 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 4, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!