THE SKINWALKER'S APPRENTICE

Today we're introducing Claribel Ortega, author of the YA paranormal novel of two young witch's whose lives are 300 years apart and how they connect.  Pre-orders for the book available, follow links below.  Publishing date Feb. 24…enjoy!

The Skinwalker's Apprentice

by Claribel Ortega

Release Date: 02/24/14

Summary from Goodreads:

“Welcome to The Empire State, where banshees, witches, and skinwalkers wait…”

Margo Pennyfeather is being hunted. The 16-year-old witch has always been an outcast, in her home back in England, and now in the village of East Hampton New York where her family has settled. No one but her family has ever cared for Margo, but now the most important witch in the magic world wants her as an apprentice, giving her a chance to bring her family out of poverty.
Before long, Margo realizes things aren't what they seem, least of all, what kind of witch she really is. Now, the young witch must face a terrifying monster on her own, and the reverberations will reach farther than she could have ever imagined.

More than three hundred years later, in 1984 Emerald Kipp is a high school senior in New York City. A troubled teen with a rebellious streak, Emerald can't seem to figure out what to do with her life, and unfortunately for her, “witch” isn’t one of the available career choices in her guidance counselor’s office. As she struggles to figure herself out, Emerald is faced with the threat of being stuck in school and missing her final summer with her three best friends. Her last year of high school is turning out to be the worst yet, and Emerald thinks it can’t possibly get any worse. Unfortunately for her, she’s dead wrong.
And there’s something else, something far more sinister stirring in Emerald’s world, and she’ll have to believe in herself if she wants to get through it alive.

Two witches, three hundred years apart, one inescapable fate.


EXCERPT

Emerald slid one sneaker off with her right foot and kicked it in the air, then did the same with the other, not bothering to check where it landed. They’d put themselves away, she thought. Since her room was the only place she could use magic, she used it freely, enchanting every last thing from her socks to her wallpaper. Her walls were covered with posters of her favorite bands, and they all came to life as she entered the room. One drummer in a black and white poster twirled his drumsticks in an infinite loop, while the guitarist shredded his guitar midair, legs splayed out to his sides. The little wallpaper that was showing from underneath her posters, swayed as if the flowers were in a breezy meadow instead of an apartment in downtown Manhattan. Her mint colored robe laid lazily on her bed, its fluffy sleeves turning the pages of her precious Vive Le Rock magazine as if it could actually read, or see for that matter. Emerald shook her head and smiled, just as her slippers plodded out from underneath her bed, stopping at her feet. 

“Not yet,” she dismissed the slippers, and they shuffled back into the darkness underneath her iron wrought bed. Records lined the shelf to the right of her bed, and a record player sat on the sill of the bay window that looked out into her backyard. 

She looked at her record collection and twisted her mouth in thought. Before she could make up her mind what to play, a record flew off the shelf, slipping out of its sleeve and floating over to her stereo set. The needle settled on the vinyl disk, and “Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops,” began to play.  

The Skinwalker's Apprentice is a prequel to the upcoming novel, Emerald Kipp and The Riddle of The Timekeeper, a terrifying magical scavenger hunt through the gritty streets of 1980’s New York City,set to a killer soundtrack, and perfect for fans of Harry Potter and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Part of The Empire Witches series.

*Available February 24th, 2014 on Smashwords,iBook, Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and more!
(Pre orders available Jan. 20th)

About the Author

Claribel Ortega is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase journalism program, and got her start writing for the school’s Independent Newspaper. There, she quickly rose the ranks from editing the student’s often times hilarious ads and ramblings on the back page of the paper to staff and feature writer.

After graduation, Claribel worked as a reporter for The Rivertowns Enterprise, a local paper in lower Westchester County, New York. As a reporter, she enjoyed going to board of education meetings and texting the town mayors about the line at Starbucks.

Today, Claribel works for The Combined Book Exhibit, a book marketing company in Westchester NY.

She lives in New York with her really awesome boyfriend, her suspiciously intelligent yorkie Pancho Villa and is surrounded by an impenetrable fort of books she gets from her job.

“The Skinwalker’s Apprentice” is her first book, and cheese is her favorite food.

Author Links:

   

***GIVEAWAY***

Prize pack: (US only)

Forever 21 Mint green Handbag 

Forever 21 Emerald glitter nail polish 

Forever 21 Cat charm bracelet 

Forever 21 Pink heart gold necklace 

iTunes Playlist of all the songs in "The Riddle of The Timekeeper" (Playlist attached) 

Bookmarks and ebook of The Skinwalker’s Apprentice

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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