alwaysjoart: Secrets Kept Guest Post and Giveaway ends 1/7

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

The Secrets Kept Tour!

This tour will explore the World of Nälu:

Where a story with adventure, action, love, betrayal, and a quest takes place.

We will get to visit sites, learn more about the cuisine, and be introduced to some elves, dwarves, and shape-shifters, at the least.

Secrets Kept

by JL Mbewe
YA Fantasy

October 30th 2013 by AltWit Press

With a curse, she will build an army.
With the dagger, she will undo the last sacrifice.
But first the sorceress must find the secret keeper.

Torn from her homeland and thrust into a betrothal against her wishes, Ayianna learns her family has a deadly secret that now has her on the run. She joins forces with Kael, an embittered half-elf, and Saeed, an elderly High Guardian, to seek answers to her father’s death, the destruction of Dagmar, and the plains people’s bizarre behavior.

Ayianna discovers there is more at stake here than just her mother’s disappearance and her familial duty to her betrothed. The sorceress has cursed the plains people, and it is a race against time to release them before the sorceress resurrects an ancient evil.

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GUEST POST

The Haruzo
The feline shape-shifting race of Nälu
The Haruzo are split into two ethnic groups: The Plarzo in Bonzapur and the Rugazo in the mountainous region of Arashel. Although each group claims to be the true Haruzo, they will refer to their specific title when they are in the midst of political exchanges. They each speak a dialect of Hazrul and the common tongue.
Bonzapur, the land of sun-fire. Arashel, the land of ice and snow, and mountains.
The Plarzo are the night to the Rugazo’s day. Where they are gracious, hospitable, and laid back, the Rugazo are unmerciful, cold, and rigid. The king of Bonzapur has a harem; the king of Arashel claims only one wife. The Plarzo embrace life outwardly, relishing in the colors, the music, and the beauty around them. The Rugazo are reserved, but don’t misjudge them. Their loyalty and integrity run deep.
But people like Stygian didn’t differentiate between the two. He hunted them both for their hides and awarded others who did likewise, except he much preferred the lush coat of a snow leopard during the winters. After Stygian’s defeat, the Alliance outlawed the hunting of them.
In Desert Rose and Secrets Kept, we meet only the Plarzo. The sleek black cats who mark the desert as their own, but their territory doesn’t end there. Their claim to land stretches beyond the Kha Vaaro Mountain Range to the rich verdant valleys of the Rimanga Jungle.
In the palace, Ayianna discovers the great murals depicting the fall of Stygian and the prophecy to come. She also learns first hand, much to her embarrassment, that a zaporza is a public bath house, and that the queen has a paqzrona, her own band of female warriors. Quite different than the western culture of elves and humans, and this gives her hope.
The music of Bonzapur was inspired by the Hang drum, which Ayianna found herself dancing to during the wedding feast of the king, but I won’t tell who she was dancing with. ;-)
Here are two music videos to give you a glimpse into what the music might have sounded like. They are a compilation of three groups I had the privilege of seeing at the Festival of Nations at Dollywood. LOVE this! Special time, special people. Enjoy!

FREE right now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

Desert Rose

(A Tale of Nälu #1)

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NOW AVAILABLE: Tales of Nälu (all three short stories in paperback) on Amazon!

Living life balanced between reality and dreams.

Writing as J. L. Mbewe, Jennette is an author, artist, mother, wife, but not always in that order. Born and raised in Minnesota, she now braves the heat of Texas, but pines for the Northern Lights and the lakes of home every autumn. She loves trying to capture the abstract and make it concrete. She has two short stories published in The Clockwork Dragon anthology, and is busily creating worlds inhabited by all sorts of fantasy creatures and characters, all questing about and discovering true love amid lots of peril. Her debut novel Secrets Kept and her short stories set in the world of Nälu: Desert Rose, Dragon Thief, and Indestructible are now available. She is currently living her second childhood with a wonderful husband and two precious children who don’t seem to mind her eclectic collections of rocks, shells, and books, among other things.

For more information about her journey as a writer mama and all things creative please visit her at:

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