The Midnight Dragonfly Series Tour & Giveaway!

When Bailey from IB Book Blogging asked me to be on this tour I said yes without hesitation.  The series sounded really good and like something I would like.  Unfortunately I hadn't yet started the series.  I was open for a guest post though so we set that up.  Then the author, the wonderful Ellie James offered to send me book one, Shattered Dreams.  And I really enjoyed it!  You can stop by tomorrow to see my review!

Today Ellie James has shared a Secret Scene with us!

Secret Scene 2

When the Midnight Dragonfly series was born, there was Trinity, a sixteen-year-old psychic newly arrived in New Orleans, the town of her birth. The story that began, quite literally through a dream, was hers. She was the focal character, the narrator. She was the only one I knew.

As the story progressed, new characters entered the canvas. Trinity’s aunt, Sara, became one of my absolute favorite characters to write. She was warm and wise, hip and beautiful, loyal and compassionate. And she knew stuff, lots and lots of stuff J  And then there was Julian Delacroix, guru of all things metaphysical. He also knew stuff, and was a blast to write.

But of all the characters who found their way into Trinity’s story, no one tried to take over. No one tried to make the story their own. No one whispered constantly in my ear, enticing me to look away for a few minutes, to look somewhere different.

Until Dylan.

Dylan Fourcade emerged during the last third of the first book. He was supposed to be a trivial, secondary character. Sure, he was slotted to cause some trouble between Trinity and her boyfriend, but he wasn’t supposed to touch her soul. Heck, I was pretty sure he was going to die somewhere in the second book, Broken Illusions.

But there’s a funny thing about stories and writing. No matter how much we writers like to pretend we’re in control, we’re not. The stories aren’t even ours, really. Rather than coming from us, they’re given to us.  Basically, we’re just taking dictation.

And Dylan wanted to dictate. From the moment he appeared, standing in the shadows of his father’s porch, everything about the Midnight Dragonfly series—and Trinity’s fate—changed.  By the time I sat down to write the third book, Fragile Darkness, I was fighting Dylan tooth and nail. He wanted in on the fun. He wanted the reader to see through his eyes, and he did a darn good job of making his case. However, as my editor and I talked it over, we realized as much as we wanted to know what Dylan had to say, we couldn’t change the story telling method this deep into the series. These are Trinity’s books, and he couldn’t take over…even if that’s exactly what he was doing.

However, he’s continued to whisper in my ear…whisper…whisper. And a girl can only resist for so long. So I surrender. Dylan is finally getting to have his way through the revelation of a couple of never-before-seen scenes…

Secret Scene 2 of 5

The sound of a car engine broke the silence.

From the kitchen, he moved to the front window, positioning the slats of the blinds so that he could see. His dad didn’t get many visitors, especially unannounced. Tucked several miles back from any kind of main road, there was no random traffic, no passersby. People who came here, meant to come here—and his dad had designed his property so that no one could catch him by surprise.

That’s what happened when more than one person vowed to one day see you dead.

An old Camaro emerged from the densely-treed, one-lane road, slowing as it entered the clearing.

He’d never seen the car before.

It kept coming, sliding to a stop in the parking area, next to the old pickup.  The passenger door swung open fast, before even the engine fell silent, and for a cruel moment, everything stopped.

She emerged into the wash of sunshine, stepping from the car as she turned toward the house. Her hair was long and dark and wavy, her eyes alert, her features defined in a way they’d not been the last time he saw her.

Ten years.

She’d been a little girl then.

She was not a little girl now.

But she still walked with purpose, heading for the steps to the porch, hesitating only when the guy following her reached for her.

She took his hand and smiled, big and bright and intimate, and something inside him tensed.

He’d always known she would come back. That’s the way it worked. They always came back.

But the reality of what her presence meant was like a swift kick to the gut.

With all that long hair blowing around her face, she tugged the guy past the dream catcher dangling from the railing and headed for the door. The guy pulled open the screen and knocked forcefully, as if he had some right to be there.

In reality, he didn’t have a clue.

Several knocks later, they turned, walked from the porch and toward the yard.

Mistake.

He turned and ran, sprinting for the back door. But he was too late.  The dogs were big and strong, well-trained. And they didn’t like trespassers. A blur of brown streaked past the patio as he lunged outside.

“Alletez!”

They froze. All of them. The huge Rottweilers, and their targets.

He stood there in the shadows of his father’s porch, watching as, slowly, she turned toward him. He knew the second she saw him, the second her eyes met his.

He wasn’t sure what he expected—what he wanted. There’d been no communication in the years that separated them, no Christmas cards or emails, no pictures, not even a text. She’d been six years old the last time she looked at him. It was old enough to remember, but young enough to forget.

She stood there so very still, looking at him again, searching him, almost, seeking him, and for a moment he thought he saw the flare of recognition. But then she stepped closer to the guy, obviously her boyfriend, and grabbed on to his hand.

She’d clearly forgotten.

But he remembered. He remembered the way she’d looked cradled in his father’s arms, crying. He remembered the way she’d always tried to be brave, how she would solemnly nod , her eyes so big and lost that even as  a kid, looking at her hurt. He remembered the last time they’d been together, how brightly she’d smiled at him when he arrived, and how hard she’d tried not to cry when he left.

He remembered when his dad said they could never go back.

As if summoned, his dad chose that moment to emerge from the boat garage, hot and greasy and working  a white rag in his hands. “What the hell—” he started, but his words died the second he saw the ghost turn toward him.

Silently, Dylan went back inside.

But he couldn’t make himself walk out the front door and go back to his apartment in the Quarter, like he should have. He had things to take care of. Instead he watched between the iron rails of the big picture window, watched the way she looked at his father, again with absolutely no recognition. And he didn’t know. He didn’t know if that would bring his dad relief, or rip him up inside. There’d been a time when she’d loved his father like an uncle.

His father had always loved her like a daughter.

Now she looked at him like a stranger.

He kept watching, watched the way the boyfriend edged closer to her, holding her hand as if that was going to magically ward off the encroaching veil of evil. He wasn’t sure what his dad said, but it must have been much the same thing, because the guy’s feet went all defensive and shoulder width apart.

He told himself that was good, that she had someone who cared about her, someone who wanted to protect her, who she could trust and who made her happy. That’s what he wanted, for her to be happy and safe.  It was why she’d been sent to Colorado, why she should never have come back to New Orleans. 

But as hot poker of envy went through him anyway.

Suddenly they turned and crossed to the back porch. She and her boyfriend stood as far back as possible, while his dad decided to play harmless nice guy by picking up a tin can and watering the red petunias that dropped every afternoon.  

Dylan watched her, watched the way the guy slid his arm from around her waist to reach for her hand.

She cried out and yanked back, wincing in obvious pain. Automatically Dylan started for the door, stopping only when he saw his father going down on his knee and took her hand in his own. 

“Get me Mama Faye’s salve!” he shouted, but already Dylan was running for the medicine cabinet. Fifteen seconds later he made himself slow as he slipped onto the patio. He wiped it all away, everything he knew about her, and approached her with the same look she gave him—that of a complete stranger.

Except she wasn’t looking at him like that anymore. There was something different in her eyes, a vague confusion, the same haunting curiosity he remembered from all those years ago, when she first saw the silvery dragonfly hovering in the clearing beyond her grandmother’s house.

Knowing it wasn’t the time for a stroll down memory lane, he went down on one knee and reached for her wounded hand, for Trinity’s hand.

Big mistake.

About Ellie James

Most people who know Ellie think she’s your nice, average wife and mom of two little kids. They see someone who does all that normal stuff, like grocery shopping, going to soccer games, and somehow always forgetting to get the house cleaned and laundry done.

What they don't know is that more often than not, this LSU J-School alum is somewhere far, far away, deeply embroiled in solving a riddle or puzzle or crime, testing the limits of possibility, exploring the unexplained, and holding her breath while two people fall in love.

Regardless of which world Ellie’s in, she loves rain and wind and thunder and lightning; the first warm kiss of spring and the first cool whisper of fall; family, friends, and animals; dreams and happy endings; Lost and Fringe; Arcade Fire and Dave Matthews, and last but not least…warm gooey chocolate chip cookies.

 You can follow Ellie on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Dragonfly-Books-by-Ellie-James/154988421236309

Her next book, FRAGILE DARKNESS, is available from Griffin Teen November 27, 2012. 

About the Midnight Dragonfly Series

Glimpses. That’s all they are. Shadowy premonitions flickering through sixteen year old psychic Trinity Monsour’s dreams. Some terrify: a girl screaming, a knife lifting, a body in the grass. But others--the dark, tortured eyes and the shattering kiss, the promise of forever--whisper to her soul. They come without warning. They come without detail.

But they always mean the same thing: The clock is ticking, and only Trinity can stop it.

Find out how in Shattered Dreams, Broken Illusions, and Fragile Darkness, available from Griffin Teen!

About Shattered Dreams

Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late.

Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen.

But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.

Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.

Tour Hosts:
Monday November 12 Dear Teen Me
Tuesday November 13 Parajunkee
Wednesday November 14 Reading Angel
Thursday November 15 Candace's Book Blog
Friday November 16 I Love to Read Books
Monday November 19 Reading Teen
Tuesday November 20 Books Over Boys
Wednesday November 21 Vy's Blog
Thursday November 22 Cari's Book Blog
Friday November 23 The Curiosity Key
Monday November 26 Teen Shiver
Tuesday November 27 IB Book Blogging
Wednesday November 28 Bex 'n' Books
Thursday November 29 Paranormal Book Club
Friday November 30 Teen Shiver
Monday December 3 The Reading Fish
Tuesday December 4 Debra's Book Café
Thursday December 6 My 5 Monkeys
Friday December 7 365 Days of Reading
Monday December 10 Reads for Comfort
Tuesday December 11 Stuck in YA Books
Wednesday December 12 Just Us Girls
Thursday December 13 A Midsummer Night's Read
Friday December 14 Cool Kids Read

One lucky person is going to win one book in the Midnight Dragonfly series (their choice). 

Open to US/Canada only.

Must be 13 or older to enter.

Ends 11/28/12

Fill out the rafflecopter to enter.

Also, Ellie James has a preorder contest going on.  Everyone who preorders Fragile Darkness and sends their receipt to Ellie will get a signed bookplate and temporary tattoo.

a Rafflecopter giveaway