Author Guest Post with Lauren Wagner, Awaken

Natalia has embraced the choice of her people. She is honored to have been chosen as their human sacrifice and will surrender her life to the Gods.

Welcome to one of the March 10th stops on the blog tour for Awaken by Lauren Wagner with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

Lessons I learned from my protagonist:

Lesson One
Put yourself first. Natalia was so wrapped up in her purpose that she lost sight of everything else. She pushed so much of her identity into that purpose that she didn’t know who she was when it was taken away. She needed to put herself first before thinking about how her life could benefit others. We can’t just go through the motions. Otherwise, we lose ourselves in the process. There is more to us than what meets the eye. Every single one of us.

Lesson Two
You are more capable than you think. Natalia thought she was only good to her people dead. She didn’t realize that it was her actions that mattered the most. It was standing up for what she believed in, making choices that protected the people she loved, and learning her strengths and weaknesses along the way. She ended up a fighter, an adventurer, and an inspiration. She ended up doing more than she ever thought possible. And if she can do it, so can we.

Lesson Three
Life is an adventure. Live it. Do not just sit around and wait for life to come to you. Sometimes you need to be the one to go search for it, to experience it, and explore things you never thought possible. Natalia never thought having a future was possible. At first, she sat around waiting for something to happen. It wasn’t until she decided her life was worth living she started to experience love, friendships, and adventure. Just like Natalia, sometimes a little adventure helps us all grow a little stronger.

About the Book

Awaken
by Lauren Wagner

Published 1 March 2022
Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC

Genre: Speculative Fiction
Page Count: 272
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Natalia has embraced the choice of her people. She is honored to have been chosen as their human sacrifice and will surrender her life to the Gods. She awaits the call of her people for that final moment, living a life of solitude until it’s time. But then her death is stolen from her—she is kidnapped by her own guards and forced into an eternal slumber.

Hundreds of years later—now—Natalia is woken in a world that’s completely unfamiliar. The archaeological team was not looking for her. They were looking for Estancia, the lost city of gold, and Natalia agrees to guide them.

While they journey through the treacherous jungles of Argentina, Natalia stumbles upon the alarming truth of her past. Her life’s prophecy must be fulfilled to restore balance to her people, but only she can decide whether that balance is worth her death.

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Excerpt

I wake to a set of ocean blue eyes filled with disbelief and a smooth, unyielding face. Shock holds his cheeks tight. His lips purse together.

I am dreaming, I tell myself. One more moment and the dreams will subside. I will take another scale and my dreams will diminish. But until then, I remain in a daze. Confused with magic or maybe poisoned with despair, I feel my body move, but only in acute awareness. My muscles scream at me as my toes curl and my fingers stretch. I have a vague memory of moving my head from side to side. My eyes search for the Keeper, in fear he might stop this intrusion, yet I find only stone in a glorious lizard shape that reaches to the far end of the cave. He, as well as his magic, has gone.

The blue eyes belong to a man. Not yet filled to his height, but no longer built like a boy. Strange clothing falls too loose on his frame. His dirty shirt tucks into ripped pants held by a worn leather belt. Grime covers his pale skin. His hair is short and rumpled at the top of his head.

A man drops from the sky next to him and speaks a language not of my own. I listen for my breath. In or out. But in my shocked silence, I feel my heartbeat.

About the Author

Lauren Wagner’s love for reading started as a young adult after discovering her town’s public library.  After carrying out piles of books at a time, and re-reading them over and over again, she discovered her love for writing. She writes fantasy and science fiction as well as post-it notes about her future stories. Awaken is her debut novel. She grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago where she presently resides with her husband and two children. She currently teaches upper elementary students to love and obsess over written works of art.

Author Page | Twitter | Amazon

Giveaway Alert!

Lauren Wagner will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.