Welcome to my stop on The Trickster’s Totem Blog Tour. Click HERE to see the full blog tour schedule!
Title: The Trickster’s Totem
Series: Relics of Mysticus, #2
Author: H.B. Bolton
Release Date: April 4, 2013
Links: goodreads | amazon | barnes & noble
Life has returned to normal for fourteen-year-old Evan and his older sister, Claire. That is until Dunkle, a clever but stinky little imp, pays an unexpected visit to their school. He has come to take the siblings back to Sagaas, the mythical realm of the gods. Once again, a Relic from the ancient Mysticus Orb has fallen into the wrong hands. Only Evan and Claire, with their unique mystical abilities, can help find it.
Through the power of the Trickster’s Totem, a coyote trickster has escaped. His laughter echoes throughout the realm, as he spreads mischief and mayhem. He burns an entire crop of popcorn, carves his grinning image into sacred artifacts, and things really get interesting when he shape-shifts into Evan’s friends.
Claire and Evan must capture the Trickster, retrieve the Totem, and be careful not to become sidetracked by robotic Steampunk animals, “sweet” pixie-like Pains, and a problematic mermaid … all while dodging Mothman-like aces. Most surprising, Evan discovers the true reason dragons exist in the Native American Spirit World.···
Description of the first book in the Relics of Mysticus series, The Serpent’s Ring:
Evan and Claire Jones are typical teenagers, forced to go with their parents to yet another boring museum … that is, until something extraordinary happens to make their day a little more than interesting. After following a strange little creature into a closed exhibit, Evan and his older sister, Claire, discover the Serpent’s Ring, one of the magical relics formed from the shattered Mysticus Orb. Purely by accident, they have awakened its powers and opened a portal to Sagaas, land of ancient gods.
Before the siblings can comprehend what has happened, the Serpent’s Ring is wrenched from Evan’s hand by an enormous fish and flown back to Aegir, the Norse god of the sea. Evan and Claire, accompanied by a band of unlikely heroes, must retrieve the Serpent’s Ring before Aegir uses its immense powers to flood all the lands on Earth.
Note: The Serpent’s Ring is FREE for Kindle May 28th through June 1st.
Today, I’m delighted to have author H.B. Bolton here!
She is going to share an excerpt from the book and also give us some insight into the Native American mythology.
I hope you’ll like what she is offering. 
Excerpt from
The Trickster’s Totem“No way am I going in there,” Evan yelled and dug his heels into the dirt. A tree branch came at him and tugged his shirt. A wisp of blue smoke circled him and forced him farther into the woods.
Laughter erupted, and a pale-blue light shifted among the trees. From out of nowhere, Mica’s gigantic arm reached for Evan, but he managed to dodge out of the way. Evan jumped and landed on one of the redwood’s highest branches. He focused below on a pile of leaves and sprayed them into Mica’s eyes. The Coyote Trickster flung back his head and glared up at Evan.
A fiendish grin spread across Mica’s face, and he began to laugh. And then he changed — really changed! He no longer looked like himself. He looked like Claire!
He cleared his throat and said, “Evan, do be a dear and let me see the Totem.” His voice was no longer gruff; now, he sounded like Claire.
“Ha! Obviously you don’t know my sister very well. You sound way too nice,” Evan hollered down to the shift-shaping Trickster.
“Humph,” Mica grumbled and returned to his Trickster-like self. He leapt into the air and landed on Evan’s branch.
“You have the Totem, and I want it,” Mica said. “I will follow you until I have what is mine.”
“How could you destroy that village?”
“What do you care? You’re not even from here,” Mica said and grinned. “Besides, I helped those people make their village more artful. Don’t you agree?”
“No. Why would they want to have your face plastered everywhere? Now they have to clean it up.”
“Oh, that is a shame. I rather liked my little enhancements.” The Trickster roared with laughter. “Perhaps next time someone pays them a visit, they will treat him with more respect!”
“I’m sure they would have been nicer to you if you hadn’t filled their homes with burnt popcorn.”
“Mmmm, that’s right,” Mica said thoughtfully. “Let’s face it, who doesn’t love popcorn? Like I said, I was helping those ungrateful people. Now, are you going to hand over the Totem or do I have to take it from you?”
“I don’t have it. I returned it to Kehl,” Evan said and smiled in a smug sort of way.
For the first time, Mica frowned. He charged at Evan and knocked him out of the tree. Evan wrapped his arms around the coyote-man’s furry waist and pulled him off the branch. The two hurled toward the ground, but before they could crash, huge cloverlike weeds sprouted and cushioned their fall. Evan tumbled to his knees but quickly sprung to his feet.
But where was Mica?
From the darkness, Mica snickered and rushed forward. He shoved Evan and leapt on top of him. The Trickster sneered and sprinkled dirt on Evan’s face, grain by grain. Evan gasped and sputtered and tried to wriggle free.
“What, you don’t like this game?” asked Mica. “Let’s play another.”
~
About Coyote
(Native American Mythology)By H.B. Bolton
The legendary “Trickster” has appeared throughout many different legends and myths. In fact, Loki was considered to be a Trickster in his own right. The Trickster is an anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. He is foolish and other times wise. He can be a hero in one tale and a villain in the next. Needless to say, the more I researched the Trickster, the more intrigued I became. I looked forward to integrating the Trickster-like qualities to the antagonist of The Trickster’s Totem.
The Trickster is prevalent throughout Native American legends and was a perfect fit for my story. Before starting The Trickster’s Totem, I spent some time considering the perfect animal to play the part of the Trickster. Should I have used the Sioux Spider Trickster or the Hopi Skeleton Man, then the story would have taken Evan and Claire on a completely different adventure.
Imagine a character who laughs like a hyena and rivals the Mad Hatter with his consistently inconsistent mood swings. Add that to his love of mischief-making and joke-playing, narcissism, and the fact he enjoys shape-shifting into Evan’s friends, and poof — there’s a character one could love to hate.
The Lakota people told tales about a Coyote Trickster named Mica. Mica has been brought to life in The Trickster’s Totem, wreaking havoc throughout the Native American Spirit World. Symbolically, the Coyote enjoys laughter, playing tricks on people, is cunning, easily adaptable, instinctive, intelligent, playful, and is able to hide sadness with humor — perfect for my story.
For more information about the many different Tricksters from Native American legends, check out this site: http://www.native-languages.org/trickster.htm.
Note: Picture illustration drawn by author.
About the Author
Connect with H.B. Bolton:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Amazon Author’s Link
A magical part of H.B. Bolton’s childhood was being swept into worlds of enchanting characters, fantastical creatures and extraordinary powers—simply by picking up a book. As a mother and a teacher, she was compelled to create imaginary worlds of her own in order to share them, not just with her children, but with all children. H.B. Bolton lives in Florida with her supportive husband and two highly spirited children. Shh, can you keep a secret? Not only does she write books for the young-at-heart, adventurous sort who yearn to dive into a good young-adult fantasy story, she also writes spellbinding, heart pounding women’s fiction. These particular books are written under the name Barbara Brooke, but that’s another story, altogether.
Books by H.B. Bolton:
The Serpent’s Ring (Relics of Mysticus, Book One)
Breaking Down (a short story)
Hungry (a short story)
Coming May 1, 2013
The Trickster’s Totem (Relics of Mysticus, Book Two)
Giveaway
- One person wins $25 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
- 2 people win paperback sets of both books (US)
- 10 people win ebooks of both books. (INT)
Good Luck!
This blog tour is brought to you
by CBB Book Promotions.
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