Title: Surviving the Shadows
Author: Miranda Turner
Series: The Bearer of Truth #2
Genre: M/M Romance, Fantasy
Release Date: June 14, 2019
Cover Design: Lou Harper
Gabriel has been gone longer than predicted, and Evander is growing increasingly worried each day that passes without his return. Confounded by their leaders’ lack of answers, Evander and the team begin to fear the worst.
In the midst of fruitlessly searching Miami for clues to the Daemon Abaddon’s whereabouts, Evander begins to have disturbingly vivid dreams. With a little help from a newly-returned and empty-handed Michael and Barabbas, Evander discovers Gabriel has been calling out for help across their nascent bond. With a little backup from an unlikely source, they set off to rescue Gabriel from the depths of the Underworld.
Gabriel is old friends with torture, and his captors haven’t been gentle. Despite growing weaker every day, Gabriel resolves to survive long enough for rescue, or to die fighting, until a Dark Seer begins to dredge up the terror of Gabriel’s horrific childhood, threatening to destroy his mind and soul. Nearing the end, Gabriel manages a last-ditch effort to contact help, reaching out to Evander in his dreams.
Against all odds, Evander and the team fight through the Underworld to reach Gabriel and come face to face with mortality. Sacrifices made for the bonds of brotherhood nearly break them, and Gabriel learns the hard way that embracing the darkness while fighting for the light may be the only way to survive.
From the underbelly of Reno to the glitz and glam of Vegas, Gabriel, Evander, and the men they call family will be tested, and the final confrontation with Gabriel’s maker may be the end of everything they hold dear.
“His aura has indicators that he practices or has practiced dark magic, but his underlying nature is fighting against it. Right now, his aura resembles an ouroboros.”
“A what?” Delsin asked.
“It’s a circle made out of a snake that is consuming itself. It’s supposed to symbolize wholeness or infinity, but in this case, our young magical friend over there is in trouble. If his magic continues to consume itself, there won’t be a renewal of life but a loss of something good and right as his magic perverts into something dark and unrecognizable.”
A visible shiver moved down Delsin’s body, causing him to wrap his arms around himself; clearly he’d been shaken by Nico’s words. “Can we help him?” Gabriel asked Nico.
Nico sighed. “Your savior complex is raising its ugly head again.” Delsin snorted, but Gabriel just stared Nico down. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for your dad?” Gabriel stayed silent and lifted one eyebrow. “Ugh…fine, geez.” Nico stomped toward the teenage magic user with Gabriel and Delsin following close behind him, Gabriel’s face breaking out in a shit-eating grin.
“A what?” Delsin asked.
“It’s a circle made out of a snake that is consuming itself. It’s supposed to symbolize wholeness or infinity, but in this case, our young magical friend over there is in trouble. If his magic continues to consume itself, there won’t be a renewal of life but a loss of something good and right as his magic perverts into something dark and unrecognizable.”A visible shiver moved down Delsin’s body, causing him to wrap his arms around himself; clearly he’d been shaken by Nico’s words. “Can we help him?” Gabriel asked Nico.
Nico sighed. “Your savior complex is raising its ugly head again.” Delsin snorted, but Gabriel just stared Nico down. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for your dad?” Gabriel stayed silent and lifted one eyebrow. “Ugh…fine, geez.” Nico stomped toward the teenage magic user with Gabriel and Delsin following close behind him, Gabriel’s face breaking out in a shit-eating grin.
What is the biggest influence/interest that brought you to this genre?
I think I’d have to go with a mixture of things depending on what subgenre of LGBTQ+ books you’re talking about. But as far as gay fiction in general, I grew up in a family that accepted gay as normal, at least a specific kind of gay. Two men or two women in a relationship was accepted, the wider rainbow, not so much, or maybe it was more not understood. I was largely unaware of many of the issues that affected the community because I had a gay family member and no one had any issue with it, but we also didn’t talk about it. It just was. I lived in a weird bubble that the AIDs epidemic (granted I was very young when it occured), outside of watching the movie Philadelphia, and gay bashing never entered until my freshman year of college when I made more openly gay friends and Matthew Shepard was viciously beaten and murdered. I clearly remember the day it hit the news on campus, wandering around with my GSA friends stunned. There were many such occurrences over the years, and I began to realize that I had a voice and I should use it in a positive way. It was only later that I connected that voice to my love of writing and reading.
As far as Urban Fantasy, I grew up reading Anne McCaffrey books, and once I found those I attacked the fantasy section of the library shelves and read so many I’m ashamed to say I can’t even remember authors or titles. I often think I haven’t read something only to find that I have once I start reading. While I love and read many genres, speculative fiction is where my heart is, and I even have a sci-fi book in the beginning stages that I’m very excited about.
When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process(outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
I’m kind of plantser. By that, I mean I normally start with a loose idea of where things are going, but I make room for my characters to make the hard left they tend to make every book. My favorite part is the surprising places my writing sometimes leads me, and I’m a huge nerd, so the research I get to do because of it. The universe I’ve created in The Bearer of Truth series comes from hours upon hours of research. I’ve researched Dante, the gods, the underworld, demons, and so on and used all that research to create my own world, and I’ve loved every second of it.
I also do enjoy the editing process, even if at first I sometimes get emotional. The process of breaking down something I’ve written and building it back up into something even better is very satisfying.
When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
Speculative Fiction
If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
I can’t pick one here. While it’d be great to say someone super famous, I think I’d stick to people who have similar writing interests to me but would stretch me as a writer. Elizabeth Hunter, SJ Himes, Hailey Turner, or Jex Lane are a few good examples in Urban Fantasy/PNR. I could name people in each of my favorite genres, but I’ll spare you that. lol
Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?
I came into publishing later in life, but I’ve always been a writer. I just don’t think I was ever sure I was good enough. In fact, I’m still not sure. I just took the plunge anyway.
I think I’d have to go with a mixture of things depending on what subgenre of LGBTQ+ books you’re talking about. But as far as gay fiction in general, I grew up in a family that accepted gay as normal, at least a specific kind of gay. Two men or two women in a relationship was accepted, the wider rainbow, not so much, or maybe it was more not understood. I was largely unaware of many of the issues that affected the community because I had a gay family member and no one had any issue with it, but we also didn’t talk about it. It just was. I lived in a weird bubble that the AIDs epidemic (granted I was very young when it occured), outside of watching the movie Philadelphia, and gay bashing never entered until my freshman year of college when I made more openly gay friends and Matthew Shepard was viciously beaten and murdered. I clearly remember the day it hit the news on campus, wandering around with my GSA friends stunned. There were many such occurrences over the years, and I began to realize that I had a voice and I should use it in a positive way. It was only later that I connected that voice to my love of writing and reading.
As far as Urban Fantasy, I grew up reading Anne McCaffrey books, and once I found those I attacked the fantasy section of the library shelves and read so many I’m ashamed to say I can’t even remember authors or titles. I often think I haven’t read something only to find that I have once I start reading. While I love and read many genres, speculative fiction is where my heart is, and I even have a sci-fi book in the beginning stages that I’m very excited about.
When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process(outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
I’m kind of plantser. By that, I mean I normally start with a loose idea of where things are going, but I make room for my characters to make the hard left they tend to make every book. My favorite part is the surprising places my writing sometimes leads me, and I’m a huge nerd, so the research I get to do because of it. The universe I’ve created in The Bearer of Truth series comes from hours upon hours of research. I’ve researched Dante, the gods, the underworld, demons, and so on and used all that research to create my own world, and I’ve loved every second of it.
I also do enjoy the editing process, even if at first I sometimes get emotional. The process of breaking down something I’ve written and building it back up into something even better is very satisfying.
When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
Speculative Fiction
If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
I can’t pick one here. While it’d be great to say someone super famous, I think I’d stick to people who have similar writing interests to me but would stretch me as a writer. Elizabeth Hunter, SJ Himes, Hailey Turner, or Jex Lane are a few good examples in Urban Fantasy/PNR. I could name people in each of my favorite genres, but I’ll spare you that. lol
Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?
I came into publishing later in life, but I’ve always been a writer. I just don’t think I was ever sure I was good enough. In fact, I’m still not sure. I just took the plunge anyway.
Miranda Turner is a single mom of eight living outside a small, hippie town in the middle of Ohio. She’s surrounded by children, chickens, and one temperamental editor kitty who is silently judging her on a daily basis. She is a voracious reader and an editor who decided she had different stories to tell. She firmly believes a happily ever after is there for everyone, but she likes to make her characters earn it.
EMAIL: author.miranda.turner@gmail.com
Surviving the Shadows #2
Shadowing the Light #1
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