Audrey Grey & Krystal Wade: “Great Educators” + Our Dark Stars Blog Tour Giveaway

Today, we’ve got a guest post from Audrey Grey an Krystal Wade, the writing duo behind Our Dark Stars — and today’s featured blog tour. Be sure to keep reading for more about the book, plus enter for your chance to win a sweet giveaway!

When I was a little girl, I had horrible self-esteem issues. I desperately wanted friends and fun and to do well, but I struggled to believe in myself, struggled to put up with people’s nonsense, and found myself quite often depressingly alone.

Until I started band in the fifth grade. I remember Mr. Beatty coming to my school and bringing students into the cafeteria, and then one by one interviewing them. There was this small room behind the stage (also in the cafeteria) with musical instruments galore. He asked us what we were interested in, and I’m pretty sure every girl admitted the flute.

So he put a flute in my hands, and then a few other instruments, and finally told me I’d be playing the French horn in the fall.

I was DEVASTATED.

I swore off music and band and Mr. Beatty, but my parents encouraged me to try. If I didn’t like it, I could do something else besides music. And so I did.

I marched into class, eyeing all the flutists with an intense jealousy, and sat in my chair near the dreaded tubas and alto saxes (don’t ask me why this bothered me so much).

We didn’t play much those first days. We discussed music and rhythm and more. So you can imagine I was fairly unhappy for a long time. But the more we discussed, the more I realized how important the French horn was, how in most of the pieces of music we’d soon practice, there were key parts for the blasted horn.

And my teacher always looked at me knowingly, like he just knew I was a kid who needed to shine, who needed an opportunity.

When I finally picked up that horn and played? The sound was glorious. I was in love. That man knew me and what I needed better than I knew myself (of course, I was pretty stinking young). As my adoration for the instrument grew, so did my desire for more. And that teacher, he pushed. He made me attend solos, gave me key pieces in concerts, and talked me some of the roughest times of my life, all the way through the eleventh grade when I finally moved away.

We still talk, though I no longer play the French horn, and I think he’s retired as a teacher. He’s still pushing me though. I can’t tell you how many times over the years he’s suggested I buy a horn and find a group to play in.

I guess great educators never stop.

While she sleeps, the whole universe changes.

Princess Talia Starchaser has it all. Wealth. Status. Adoring citizens. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she’s forced to publicly betray her best friend, a companion mock she’s had since birth, setting events into motion that lead to the destruction of the humans, and the princess floating through space, a remnant of a time when humans ruled over droids.

One hundred years later, half-mock captain Will Perrault and his ragtag crew discover a device floating in space. When a very human Talia emerges from its depths, Will suspects she’s the key to buying his way back into the regiment he once commanded against the last remaining rebel humans—and the ruling mock queen’s good graces.

Both Talia and Will would rather get space-tossed than trust one another, but with the queen’s forces chasing them across the galaxy and the fate of both worlds hanging in the balance, they’ll forge the unlikeliest of alliances to survive.

Available Now: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | TBD | Goodreads

About Audrey:

Hi! I’m an award winning and USA Today bestselling author of several books, including the Moonbeam Children’s Award bronze finalist, SHADOW FALL. I live in the charming state of Oklahoma with my crew: one husband, two little people, four mischievous dogs, and one poor cat. You can usually find me hiding out in my office from said crew, surrounded by books and sipping kombucha while dreaming up wondrous worlds for my characters to live in.

In between the chaos—What’s for dinner? Stop pinching your sister! Homework! Dishes!— and my writing, I make time for various projects. An admitted paintaholic, I’ve painted, sprayed or transformed nearly every piece of my house at least once. I even painted my husband’s beloved fabric chair. Oops!

I thrive on creation: starting from an idea, a blank canvas, or perhaps an outdated room, and using my imagination to create something new and emotionally engaging that’s all my own. But stories have always been my first love. Weaving together complex worlds full of flawed, conflicted characters allows me to express myself in a way I could never do otherwise.

I started creating stories during the sweltering Oklahoma summers spent laboring in my father’s wheat fields. Alone and bored, I dreamed up wild fables of vampires (the Anne Rice kind), cave men, and love-torn ghosts. By college my tales had grown more persistent, and I started to actually write them down.

Now, fiction is my life, and I look forward to sharing my characters and their stories with all of you.

About Krystal:

I’m happily married to the love of my life (don’t gag) and raising three beautiful children in the gorgeous state of Virginia. We live just outside Washington, D.C., and every day I wake up to find myself stuck in traffic trying to get there.

The horrid commute gives me plenty of time to zone out and think about my characters in full, brilliant details (I’m a safe driver; don’t worry). Stories give me a way to forget about the sometimes smelly strangers sitting next to me on the fifty mile trek into town (I pick up hitchhikers every day. True story. Check out http://www.slug-lines.com if you don’t believe me).

I’ve been a part of organized hitchhiking for nearly fifteen years, but that’s just one small aspect of my oh-so-large life. When I’m not working, commuting, or chasing after my three children (four if you count the man), you can usually find me outside talking to my chickens like they’re the cutest things in the world (they are), or training my amazing dogs how to herd said chickens (which they love), or curled up on the sofa with a good book (why can’t that be 100% of the time?).

I hope you love my stories (or just like them a little; that would be okay, too). And I hope that one day you find your passion, because there’s nothing in life better than doing what you love while surrounded by people you love.

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1 winner will receive a $30 Amazon giftcard and a hardcover copy of Cinder; U.S. Only.