Saturday, September 19, 2015

Blitz : Cutlass


Cutlass by Ashley Nixon 

(Cutlass Series #1)
Publication date
: April 23rd 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Goodreads: Click
Purchase: Amazon
(Cutlass will be FREE on the day of the blitz, and Flintlock (book 2) will be 0.99c )

Synopsis:

Notorious pirate Barren Reed has one thing on his mind: Revenge against the man who killed his father. So kidnapping his enemy’s fiancé seems a perfect plan…until he actually does it.

Larkin Lee is more than a pretty face and fiancé to a powerful man. Her fierce personality is enough to make any pirate want to push her overboard.
But when the King of the Orient comes to Barren with a task—to find the Bloodstone, a powerful gem thought only to exist in legend, Barren sees another opportunity to destroy his enemy. Together, Barren, Larkin and a crew of pirates set off to find the stone, only to discover it caused the death of Barren’s own mother and Larkin’s, too. As his strongest allies turn into his greatest enemies, and the life of the girl he kidnapped becomes more important than he ever dreamed, Barren’s quest for revenge becomes a fight to save the Orient.

Excerpt:

Larkin had a hard time trudging through the mushy path of water, rocks and mud wearing a ball gown. She tripped several times on the too long skirt, only to be caught up in the ever-present arms of her kidnapper. It was infuriating. She would prefer being covered in mud, rather than allowing Barren’s constant attempts to keep her on her feet.
She couldn’t really figure out how to feel—she was scared, yes, but also strangely intrigued. She knew why they’d taken her: as bait to lure William to sea. Her father had warned her that she might be targeted, and she felt stupid having been taken. Every time she looked at Barren, anger flared in her chest.
She’d decided to leave the engagement party after spotting Barren. She’d gone through her options—returning home meant signaling a carriage and drawing attention, and while the castle might offer safety, it didn’t offer her peace. That’s why she’d chosen to head to shore—why would a pirate ever suspect she’d go there? She was a lady, after all. She’d thought she had been discreet on her way out, even escaping Barren Reed’s notice…but, instead, she’d drawn it.
She fell again and jerked away when she felt his hand on her arm.
“I am perfectly capable of standing on my own,” she spat.
Barren gave a short laugh. “Really? Because you’ve been stumbling all over since we left the ship.”
Larkin reached down and gathered her dress up as much as she could and continued forward. “If it is too bothersome for you, we can cut the skirt away.”
Larkin twisted, almost slipping as she did. Her eyes fell upon Barren, narrow and unkind.
“You will not touch me.”
Barren held up his hands. “I was just offering an option to ease your struggling.”
“I’m not struggling!”

She turned around and to her great annoyance, fell again as the rocks and mud gave way beneath her feet. This time, Barren stood aside as she got to her feet again. She refused to look at him, her face burning with embarrassment.

Dream Cast:

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 (on left) And this ambiguous male who has muscles but could be Barren (Center) Or this man standing in shadow at the head of his ship (Right)


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 (Left) This is also a good picture that conveys her anger when someone tries to challenge her: (Center) 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: (Right)


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* If not Mr. Ben Barnes, then this guy will do well as 2nd: (Right Pic)

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

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 (Left) Then, the new girl-on-scene is Aethea Moore. She's fierce, angry, and sorta evil. She could easily be played by Gemma Arterton: (Right) 
Next, I found this guy--I guess his name is Mario Blanco, but this pic conveys the creepiness of Prince Datherious Reed.

Then I found these cool pics and thought this one really looked like Leaf: (Left) And this really conveyed the 'spirit' of the Elves of Aurum--ya know, basic bad asses: (Right) 



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


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?

Author Bio:

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. When she's not writing, she's hard at work on her Master's degree in Library Science and Information Technology, 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.


Author links:

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