Gina Rae Mitchell

The Dark Beast by Dave Maruszewski | $20 Giveaway, Excerpt, Author Chat, Spotlight

Children’s Chapter Book | Middle-Grade

A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.

Book Details

The Dark Beast by Dave Maruszewski
Series: Raven, Romda, and Ravai #1
Published by BOOKBABY on 02/08/2022
Genres: Chapter Books, Fiction, Children's, Middle-Grade
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 118

Recently knighted squires Raven, Romda, and Ravai are tasked to help a nearby priest. However, this simple errand turns into much more, as they will soon learn of a dangerous villain only known as "the Dark Beast."

From local gossip, the Dark Beast sounds more like a character from a fable than a real person. But the Beast is on a mission to destroy an entire city, and Raven, Romda, and Ravai will have to leave their safe castle walls and venture into a country of unknown people and places to stop this villain.

As the trio travels on, they meet a host of people, all of them with their own stories about the Dark Beast. How could this fiend have escaped the kingdom's gaze for so long? Is he even real?

Raven is skeptical, Romda is knowledgeable, and Ravai isn't too worried about anything. The three knights have their own strengths, but will it be enough to defeat a being so superior? They may have no choice. The Dark Beast is coming…

A great gift for the fantasy lover, this adventure will please those who enjoy a strong build that culminates into an action-filled ending.

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Excerpt from The Dark Beast

Raven’s cut is not deep, but that doesn’t make it hurt less. Raven pulls out his short sword and slices the man. The man falls to the ground immediately. The others pull out their blades. Raven hits his foe on the wrist, knocking the blade loose. The man grabs his hand in pain and turns around to run. He finds Ravai standing directly in his way. He takes one punch and knocks the man out.

Paces away, both Romda and the leader are now on their feet with swords out. Romda can parry everything that the man can throw. However, his aggression pushes him closer and closer to her. She pulls back and stumbles over some debris on the road. This gives the leader a chance. He thrusts his sword toward her abdomen. She blocks it at the very last moment of opportunity. The leader gets so frustrated that he kicks at her and connects. She falls to the ground again.

The leader starts his approach again. This time he does not get any closer. Instead, he feels Raven and Ravai gang-rush him. He’s on his back in less than a second, now feeling the weight of them smashing down on and knocking the breath out of him.

Now, two of the four are winded and in pain. Another is knocked out. The last has a serious wound across his ribs. They don’t put up much of a fight but surrender. As they round them up, now Raven, Romda, and Ravai do the circling. They tell the captives to put up their hands.

Ravai tells them sternly, “Keep them up in the air the entire time we walk. If I see them drop we will assume that you are attacking again.”

They do as they are told. They are led past the other citizens, both the good and the bad. They are embarrassed. Many in the crowd are relieved.

Raven leans over to Romda and says, “Look at that guy’s arm.”

Romda looks. At first, she notices nothing peculiar. Then it hits her. She sees what Raven means. It is a mark on the forearm that she has seen before. In fact, not too long ago. It was on the driver of the caravan, a symbol of the Dark Beast.

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Purchase Links for The Dark Beast

Amazon     Bookshop/IndieBound

Waterstones     The Wordery

The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour.

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A chat with Dave Maruszewski

Author of The Dark Beast

I’d like to reach younger people who don’t like to read. If you have seen any of my other posts, you might recognize this is one of my common motifs. My goal of creating the Raven, Romda, and Ravai series was to address just this reading hesitancy.

I started out writing these books as a way to engage my son who doesn’t like to read. More so, I realize that he is not in the same boat. There are others out there (in large number) who aren’t that different from him. Thus, I started with my son to understand this issue.

Later, I cast a slightly larger net: my wife and I. Yes, I ashamedly admit. I hated reading when I was younger. My wife admits this a little more freely. She sees it as a shortcoming of what gets presented to children.

In the present, my wife and I read much more than the average person. To note, we don’t read one thing. We read a wide swath. I think my wife is reading a juicing book. I am reading a scientific magazine. There are others mixed in there as well:  an autobiography, a testimonial trade publication, a cookbook, a self-help book, a politics book, and more. Fiction is just one piece of the whole pie. How did we get here from there?

I studied what all three of us like and dislike (which may be more important) and branched out. I’m a teacher, so I talked with youth and friends of my son. Occasionally, not only would the younger people admit that they didn’t like to read, but sometimes their parents offered up that they didn’t as well. With all of these anecdotal responses, I have started a database of sorts of good data on how to build a fun book for the non-traditional reader.

Currently, I think that I should spread out beyond those I can directly discuss this subject. Up until now, I have been slow to expand my sphere of people due to the fact that I can’t digest information very fast. That gets me to where I am now. I’d like to hear your thoughts. What makes it hard for you or your children to read? Is there something that attracts you to reading something in particular?

Think back to your childhood. Did you like to read? Why or why not?

Thank you in advance.

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I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!

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Purchase The Dark Beast online from a local book store.

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Giveaway!

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Official Tour Page

Full Tour Schedule:

January 31: Rogue’s Angels
February 1: Mythical Books
February 2: Read Your Writes Book Reviews
February 3: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
February 4: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
February 7: Kit ‘N Kabookle
February 8: Andi’s Middle Grade and Chapter Books
February 9: The Avid Reader
February 10: fundinmental
February 11: Literary Gold
February 14: Long and Short Reviews
February 15: Eye-Rolling Demigod’s Book Blog
February 16: Westveil Publishing
February 17: Fabulous and Brunette
February 18: All the Ups and Downs
February 21: Books in the Hall
February 22: Gina Rae Mitchell
February 23: Girl with Pen
February 24: The Faerie Review – review only
February 25: Sandra’s Book Club – review only
February 25: The Pen and Muse Book Reviews

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