The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell: Hydra's Nest by Fumi Hancock - Virtual Book Tour

Please welcome author Fumi Hancock  on her tour with Bewitching Book Tours today for her fantasy YA"The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell: Hydra's Nest".  The author answered a few questions for me, so sit down and get to know Ms. Hancock.

Why did you choose to write YA?

I have always had a “thing” for Young Adults. As a Social Worker and A Registered Nurse, my passion had always been taking care of Young Adults. I find them fascinating, intriguing and yes, perhaps majority was always in trouble with stories to tell. In addition, 5 years ago, I travelled to Africa alongside my team, The Adassa Foundation… Yet again, the crowd which surrounded me was Young Adults. Because of constantly being around them, I developed a flare for writing stories which would intrigue them. I soon found out that my poems and short stories captivated the young adults on my caseload when I was a Social Worker. Here go, my writing the Adventures of Jewel Cardwell. While many may run away from dealing with Young Adults, I find myself running towards them and wanting to share life with them.

What books were your favorite as a youth and why?

I love “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. I am always fascinated by how people move from a known setting into the unknown. Huckleberry travels were very engaging; the descriptions were incredibly vivid that most times, after reading a book; I always felt I had just visited a place. The travels were sometimes scary yet with messages that warm the heart.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

Yummy Milky Chocolaty Sponge Cake… salivating just thinking about it.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Why?

I have always known I was a writer though life’s journey did take me through Social Worker & Nursing. Let me tell you a story my parents shared with me over 14 years ago. I must have been around 2 years old when this incident happened. Mother always told me that at two while most kids were getting into various things, I had one … it was to write on any paper available at my disposal. My mum told me that it didn’t matter what type of paper it was, I would scribble things on it. At first, it was cute but when I started writing on important documents, they soon did not find it funny. At one point, for almost two weeks, my parents would put me in a room with old newspapers, gave me a marker and told me to go at it until I was tired. They felt that would help me to calm down a little where writing was concerned. They were wrong!

If you asked my parents, they would tell you they knew I was going to be a writer when I grew up at the age of 2! As for me, I can recall back as far as 6 or 7 years old when I started writing poetry.

Sum up your book for Twitter: 140 characters or less.

A Young Adult Fantasy & Romance Fiction based in a Unique setting unfamiliar to many ~ South Africa.

Favorite hot beverage. Why?

I love Steamy hot chocolate….

Ideal summer vacation.

Arghhhhh …. Hawaii is my dream place. Forget summer vacation. How about living by the ocean for a while? … That is a place I have seen so much of in the movies and one day will like to visit.

Which of your characters would you most like to meet IRL? Why?

Jewel Cardwell’s sidekick, Kaya Darkling, the Sorcerer’s daughter was so much fun to write. She is a culmination of what I would love to be in my magical world and some characters I have encountered in my life journey… full of strength with a little darkness and some light of course. She is a character you would love to hate because of what she represents yet her dark and mysterious side draws people to her. She is an unpredictable lone ranger, yet people look for her to help solve their mundane problems. My imagination truly went wild on her. I love her so much, I am seriously looking at starting a totally new series for her. My next book in this series will be featuring her a great deal. I can’t wait. Perhaps, I will take solace in knowing that she is also a part of me.

You’ve just won a million dollars and you’re not allowed to save any of it. What do you spend it on?

I am very passionate about African children. My experience over five years ago when I visited West Africa has been exhilarating. Because of my experience and the need I saw on my trip back… the abject poverty, lack of quality education and health; I returned to the US with determination to make a difference. The Adassa Adumori Foundation (http://www.adassafoundation.org) is a 501( c)3 US organization dedicated to alleviating poverty in Africa. Thanks to my Tennessean friends and my supporters across the US, we have been able to build the very first regional library in West Africa. We are also providing scholarships. Every year, many supporters travel to Africa with me, in the hopes of serving our children in different capacities. Portions of my sales are going to help fund our next project: Building a Youth Center. Now, if I won $1 million, you know where it would go to…

What would you do, if you knew you’d inherited an ancient curse?

What would do, if you found out you were racing against time to save yourself and your loved ones?

And what would you do, if you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a love triangle, amidst the unraveling curse?

******

When free-spirited and more than a little rebellious, seventeen-year-old Jewel Cardwell gained admission to Grayton Preparatory School, a prestigious, girls-only, top-notch private institution nestled in the South African farmlands of Limpopo, little did she know it would begin a trail of mysterious and unfamiliar events, changing her life forever!

At Grayton prep, a battle line is drawn between ‘good and evil’ especially when there’s a full moon and dark forces swirl and turn up in the form of hideous monsters and frightening demons. With her school fr-enemies, rivalry and treachery become the order of the day and Jewel is forced to question everything she thought she knew as she struggles to stay alive in a dubious place riddled with demonic activity!

Armed with a magical secret from her dying grandmother, she sets a new course in motion. In the middle of this whirlwind of events, she is caught between two boys: Darwin Morton, a lad she's known growing up, and Eric Broder, a soccer team leader with a silver spoon in his mouth. Why her love life has to get interesting now is a question she can't answer!

"I welcomed death with open arms, closed my eyes and listened as the aircraft made rattling and shaking sounds through the dreary weather. If this was my time to go, I would embrace darkness, as I had nothing else to lose" -- JEWEL CARDWELL.

Will Jewel be able to solve the mystery before evil is unleashed against those she loves?

PROLOGUE

My weary eyes opened to an ominous sky speckled with dim stars and a huge full moon dappled with unsettling, flaming balls of fire. I was in an unfamiliar setting, an open space surrounded by terrifying, blazing fires, and the humming of a charter aircraft shattered the stillness of the night.

Mum and Darwin hopped out of the car, with me following, and we hastened toward the small aircraft.

“What’s this?” I kept asking, with no answer from Darwin or Mum.

“Are we going on that?” I asked again, ducking a cloud of sand blown from the ground, a result of the blazing fires and rumbling aircraft.

In front of us was a six-foot-tall, dark-skinned man, dressed in a dark blue pilot’s uniform. His eyes showed great anticipation as he struggled to move toward us. No sooner had we closed the distance to the aircraft when we heard the terrifying staccato of gunshots.

Continues... 

Fumi Hancock is a walking example of how an ordinary person from a shackled life of broken promises and shattered dreams can live a fulfilled destiny. After twenty years of dropping her pen, she picks it right back up again by releasing the first in the Grimmlyn Series: The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell: Hydra’s Nest. Though graduated with a postgraduate degree in communication arts, and undergraduate degrees in English studies and nursing, she ascribes her writing to her life experiences, which were many times challenging. According to her, the protagonists and antagonists in her novels often come from the darkest moments of her life—a tribute to the fact that something good can come out of mysterious and difficult circumstances, if we choose to turn our challenges around. Age is merely a number where success is concerned. She also pulls some of her characters from her travels around the world—in particular, exotic Africa—uniquely weaving her tales.

Fumi loves to write for young adults, particularly urban fantasy, and paranormal fiction with a touch of romance. She aspires to one day write a mystery/detective novel for the adult audience. But for now, she is content with her young adult audience. With her background in nursing, she gently nurses her unusual characters to life for her readers to enjoy.

She lives in Tennessee with her husband, Dr. David Hancock, and her two grown sons, Bola and Demola Thompson. She cherishes her two stepdaughters, who reside in Michigan.

BOOK TRAILER: Trailer
INTERVIEW: "Tea at Home" with Fumi Q&A: Video Reel
Behind-the Scenes: Scenes from the Story
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFromscratchtv
Her websites are fumihancock.blogspot.com and worldoffumihancock.com
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fumihancock
facebook http://www.facebook.com/fumihancockgrimmlyn
goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/fumihancock

Current Giveaways:
2 Autographed Copy of the Adventures of Jewel Cardwell
2 Autographed rendition of scenes from The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell: Collector’s Item
3 eBooks: Kindle and /or Nook version