Reviews : Blog Tour: Flintlock by Ashley Nixon

We are thrilled to be bringing back this amazing author! Her first book in the Cutlass Trilogy was absolutely loved by our followers and we know that this book will be to! So first lets get to know a bit more about this Author:

Ashley was born and raised in Oklahoma, where the wind really does sweep down the plains, and horses and carriages aren't used as much as she'd like. She has a Bachelor's in English Writing and a Master's in Library Science and Information Technology. When she's not writing she's either working out or pretending she's Sherlock Holmes. Her obsession with writing began after reading the Lord of the Rings in the eighth grade. Since then, she's loved everything Fantasy--resulting in an unhealthy obsession with the 'geek' tab on Pinterest, where all things awesome go.

Links to social media:

Website

http://ashley-nixon.com

GoodReads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5199530.Ashley_Nixon Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/ashleynixonauthor

Twitter

https://twitter.com/AshleymNixon

Blog

http://ashley-nixon.blogspot.com

Flintlock is the second book in the Cutlass Trilogy. It continues Barren and his crew's story.

Barren Reed hopes to protect the Orient from his tyrant uncle, but his plans to make the King’s life a living hell aren’t supported by the Elders of the pirate community. As it stands, Barren has earned the Elders’ disdain for his carelessness, and they threaten him into exile if he makes one more mistake.

Barren’s not the only one feeling the Elders’ wrath—they don’t trust Larkin either. Worse, Barren can’t comprehend Larkin’s wish to have a relationship with her father, and the secrets she’s forced to keep create a tension that may pull them apart forever.

When the Pirates of Silver Crest begin to die, bullets laced with dark magic are to blame. With more and more of these weapons infiltrating the Underground, discovering who’s behind the dissemination is no easy feat. As fear and tension mount among the people of the Orient, Barren and his crew find themselves in a race against time to stop the spread of dark magic before the world of Mariana spirals into collapse.

Links to where book is sold:

Kindle:http://www.amazon.com/Flintlock-Cutlass-Ashley-Nixon-ebook/dp/B00XTH3XMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432517931&sr=8-1&keywords=flintlock+by+ashley+nixon

Amazon Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Flintlock-Cutlass-Ashley-Nixon/dp/0991132335/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1432517931&sr=8-2&keywords=flintlock+by+ashley+nixon

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flintlock-Cutlass-Ashley-Nixon/dp/0991132335/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1432518012&sr=8-2&keywords=flintlock+by+ashley+nixon

Author Top Ten

These are in no particular order. I tried to organize them, and well--no numerical order really fits. Just think of these things as things I love.

Writing (of course!)

This is obvious. One of my all-time favorite things is writing. I’ve been a writer all my life. It is my identity. When I'm having a bad day, I just go hang out with some characters. They don't always have bad days, but that's why I write--to get to the good ones. :)
Books (Reading) - I'm being obvious again! This is part of my bookshelf. Sorry it's messy. I tend to just stack stuff. But yes, reading, reading, reading. It's for any day, all day, good and bad!
My Aladdin (a.k.a my boyfriend) - Yes, he is my prince charming. And when I say Prince Charming, I totally mean it. He leaves sweet notes, and tells me I'm awesome very day.
Pride and Prejudice - I know I said books earlier, but P&P has to have a category of its own. It is ridiculous how much I love this book, especially recently. I watch the 1995 and 2005 versions of P&P on a regular basis. Why do I love it so much? I guess in some form or fashion, we can all be Elizabeths (or Mr. Darcys). The pics below are from my own copy of P&P!
Tea & Tea Cups - I LOVE tea. I drink it a lot when I write. I mean one cup after the other. I stopped drinking coffee about two years ago, and well...replaced it. I also love tea cups. The one below is one I got from Windsor Castle!
Travel - I’ve been to Ireland, Peru, Italy, and London and France - in that order. I have always dreamed of traveling, and thankfully, I’ve gotten to do it! There are so many more places I want to go! In 2016, we are returning to London and France to explore more! We also would like to visit Greece!

Ireland - Dingle Peninsula

Peru - Machu Picchu

Rome - The Colosseum

England - Tower Bridge

France - Point Du Hoc
Connecting with people who love my books! The feeling I get when I talk or chill with readers is just awesome. I mean, it's still a surreal feeling and I think it will always be, but I hope I can convey how grateful I am for every message, comment, and download of my book.
Cooking & Working Out - I know, I’m probably in the minority here. BUT, let me just say, while I don't always love either of these things, I do them consistently and they always make me feel AMAZING about myself and about my day. Starting a day with a workout, and eating well throughout the day makes me have a better day, I'm convinced. Some of the things I cook are below!

Vegan Shepard's Pie!

Tofu Scramble with Hash browns!

Delicata Squash Salad
Music - I love to write with music, and certain sounds get me into a certain mind set so I can convey the feeling of what I'm writing better (or so I think). Here are some songs I've been listening to recently:

10. Purple - I love the color purple. I have purple in my hair, the curtains in my office are purple, I even plan to have purple as a color for my future wedding.

Character Casting

Hi all!

So, you want to know about casting for CUTLASS and FLINTLOCK, yeah?

Well, I'm terrible at this. There are a couple of people I've always seen as certain characters (I'll point them out below). Mostly, I don't know many actors, I guess, but I'm going to give this a shot!

First, my main character Barren Reed. What does he look like? Well, of course he's handsome in that rugged sort of way. His hair is probably light brown, but appears lighter because he's always in the sun, his skin is bronzed and scarred. He has brown eyes, and I've always imagined a charming smile. Oh, he's also half-elf. Basically what will follow are pictures of some attractive men who might look like Barren, or sort of convey what I'm trying to covey...maybe. Or they could just be hot men.

Like this guy:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/99/2a/
a8/992aa8e60f83b4911e5e2f4e1e1ce7a5.jpg

And this ambiguous male who has muscles but could be Barren:

http://anotherdaylightgallery.tumblr.com/post/
108432951901/http-anotherdaylightgallery-tumblr-com

Or this man standing in shadow at the head of his ship:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/
88/19/68/88196804203932180377e0c64ec78f3e.jpg

Okay, so Barren's love interest is a pretty girl named Larkin Lee. She's also half-elf. She's also beautiful--long dark hair, green eyes. What's even more awesome about here is that she knows how to fight, and she's equal, if not better, than most of Barren's crew (and, Barren himself, just don't tell him). This is how I imagine Larkin when she's about to defy some order Barren has thrown her way:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timbo8184/4472122743/lightbox/

This is also a good picture that conveys her anger when someone tries to challenge her:

She might be a pirate, but Larkin was born of noble blood--also, it would be a book by me if there weren't pretty dresses involved. In FLINTLOCK, Larkin wears something that looks like this:

http://stellaresque42.tumblr.com/post/23411296405

Then, there's one of my favorites, Cove Rowell. Oh, Cove--you're so handsome and mysterious...those dark eyes and that dark hair...and all those secrets and stealth. There has been only one person I've ever wanted as Cove Rowell, and that is Ben Barnes, practically everyone's all-time-favorite-book-to-movie-cast-man! But he just looks so great in EVERY setting! *sigh*

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/98/
f1/f7/98f1f7f7a45f579bb327bb26a49da603.jpg

If not Mr. Ben Barnes, then this guy will do well as 2nd:

http://showbizgeek.com/meet-the-musketeers/

Also, in the books, I refer to Cove's ambassador uniform. It looks something like this:

http://shrinestore.com/store/catalog/product_info.
php?cPath=34&products_id=274

Then, there's Sara Rosamund who I also love. She's Cove's love interest, and while she doesn't have my sense of style, I truly adore hers!

http://www.missmoss.co.za

http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-
2012/ready-to-wear/marchesa

http://www.augusta-auction.com/list-of-upcoming-
sales?view=lot&id=13384&auction_file_id=29

http://kozmickitten.tumblr.com/post/4630853438

I'll move onto Em next--the assassin who once sailed with Barren's father. She's only ever been one person in my mind and that's Michelle Pfeiffer:

http://indypendent-thinking.tumblr.com/post
/42671488259/michelle-pfeiffer

Then, the new girl-on-scene is Aethea Moore. She's fierce, angry, and sorta evil. She could easily be played by Gemma Arterton:

Next, I found this guy--I guess his name is Mario Blanco, but this pic conveys the creepiness of Prince Datherious Reed.

http://www.malemodelscene.net/fresh-faces/mario-blanco-arno-roca/

Then I found these cool pics and thought this one really looked like Leaf:

http://dakkun39.tumblr.com/post/69178069233/zevran

And this really conveyed the 'spirit' of the Elves of Aurum--ya know, basic bad asses:

http://jlbryanbooks.blogspot.com/2012/06/
midsummer-dream-fair-day-8-elven.html

Last, there's a masquerade in this novel, so I thought I'd share some inspirational pics:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/anishpalekar/3391986470/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcocerbo/
12740898324/in/pool-2574099@N22

Want to view more inspiration?

Barren
Larkin
Cove
Sara
Flintlock (Cutlass #2)
Cannon (Cutlass #3)

Okay! That's my casting for FLINTLOCK. What do you guys think?