Over the Mountain and Back by Marie Astor - Virtual Tour and Giveaway

Please welcome author Marie Astor on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions today. We're featuring an exclusive excerpt from her YA fantasy adventure book, "Over the Mountain and Back". The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, so comment here and follow the rest of her tour to increase your chances of winning!

With his father gone missing and his mother losing her grip on reality, Peter Bailey’s life is no picnic. Peter’s gray existence changes unexpectedly after he takes his new snowboard for a ride in the mountains of Colorado and is stunned to find himself in Transadonia – a hidden world that coexists alongside with the Earth.

Lara Grover never listened to her elders, so warnings like “do not talk to strangers” mean nothing to her. When a boy from an unknown world saves her from an avalanche with the aid of a snow dragon, Lara is not stunned in the least. Instead, she joins Peter on his quest to help him realize the purpose behind his arrival to Transadonia.

Together, Lara and Peter embark on an adventure filled with perils, trickery, betrayals, and unexpected alliances.

Jasper returned with a shimmering silver snowboard in his hands. The aggressive cut and shape of the board was unlike any snowboard that Peter had ever seen, and he assumed that it must be a new model that he had not heard of before.

“Wow!” gasped Peter, unable to contain his amazement. “You’re going to let me ride this?”

“That is if you can you can ride it, pal,” replied Jasper. Noticing Peter’s questioning stare, he continued, “Five different customers bought this board, and all returned it – no one could ride it! They claimed that the minute they got on the board, it would not glide, and no matter how hard they tried, it would not budge. The funny thing is that the snowboard does look like it’s never touched the snow…”

“Where did you get it from?” Peter asked, enthralled by Jasper’s story.

“I found it outside the store the day the new shipment came in and assumed that it was part of it. I didn’t give it another thought until all the complaints started coming in, and then I pulled up the paperwork and guess what – it wasn’t in it! So I say, if you can ride it, it’s yours.” And with that Jasper thrust the snowboard into Peter’s hands.

The snowboard was made from some unknown material that looked like mercury and had an appearance of being liquid, but when Peter touched the board’s surface, he was stunned to discover that it was perfectly solid. In Peter’s hands, the snowboard felt sturdy and light, and its edges were so aggressively cut that they seemed capable of providing traction even on sheer ice.

As Peter touched the silvery surface, a strange sensation ran through him; it was a sense of wonder mixed with a foreboding of a great change.

Then the most unbelievable thing happened. For an instant, the snowboard glowed with a flash of blue light. It all happened so quickly that for a moment Peter was tempted to think that he had imagined the entire thing, but he knew what he saw, and he could not wait to get to the bottom of it.

“Thanks, Jasper,” said Peter, doing his best to keep his voice casual. “I’d better go and get some practice now - only one day left until the competition.”

Jasper did not see the flash since he was busy rearranging the snowboard display and his back had been turned toward Peter.

“Good luck.” Jasper smiled. “I hope you’ll be able to ride it.”

Me too, thought Peter, as he left the store, clutching the silver board under his arm.

Dear Reader,

Thank you very much for joining me for Over the Mountain and Back blog tour. The story of Over the Mountain and Back began over twenty years ago when I was fourteen years old and decided to write a novel as an anniversary gift for my parents. It was going to be a fantasy adventure about a boy named Peter and a girl named Lara set in a magical country, Transadonia. I remember writing studiously on the pages of an ornate notebook I had acquired especially for the occasion. Back then computers were not yet widely used, so I had to pay extra care to my handwriting. A year later, Over the Mountain and Back was completed, or at least I had thought so at the time. Needless to say my parents were very surprised with their anniversary gift.

Years passed; I finished high school and went on to college. Lara’s and Peter’s story faded from my mind, replaced by the hustles and bustles of everyday life. Then, one day – the day that happened to be my thirtieth birthday, my parents presented me with a gift: it was oblong in shape and wrapped in shiny paper. After I opened the wrapping, I was stunned to find the long forgotten story I had written all those years ago.

Long story short, after two years of extensive work, I rewrote and expanded Over the Mountain and Back into a novel of 95,000 words. For me it had been an exciting journey to be reunited with my old friends: Lara and Peter, Forest Witch Ramona, Chancellor Libra, Bookbrownies, and, of course, Carnelion, among the many others.

I hope that you will join Lara and Peter on their adventure in Transadonia.

If you would like to find out more about my books, please stop by website: www.marieastor.com.

Regards, Marie Astor

Books by Marie Astor:
For Young Adults:
Over the Mountain and Back – a fantasy adventure novel
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Mountain-Back-Adventure-ebook/dp/B008WF1Y78/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1348537570&sr=1-6

Kindle link:
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Mountain-Back-Adventure-ebook/dp/B008WF1Y78/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1348527276&sr=1-6

For Adults:

To Catch a Bad Guy – romantic suspense
http://www.amazon.com/To-Catch-Bad-Guy-ebook/dp/B008W1L5IA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1348537512&sr=8-5&keywords=marie+astor

This Tangled Thing Called Love – a contemporary romance about overcoming one’s inhibitions, learning to tango, and finding one’s true love match.
http://www.amazon.com/This-Tangled-Thing-Called-ebook/dp/B0078IPNCW/ref=la_B004EBDX9Q_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1337972977&sr=1-3

Lucky Charm – a humorous contemporary romance about love, luck and friendship.
http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Charm-Contemporary-Romance-ebook/dp/B005BZL3L4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336842915&sr=8-1

On the Rim of Love – a contemporary romance about the unexpected power of love.
http://www.amazon.com/On-Rim-Love-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B005TOWI7K/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

A Dress in a Window – a collection of short stories about love, coincidences, and fate.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Dress-Window-ebook/dp/B004E112TO/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Social Media Links:
Website: http://www.marieastor.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marieastorcollection
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4665230.Marie_Astor
Twitter: @marieastor