The Reading Addict: The Cycle of the Six Moons Series by Adelle Yeung (guest post, VNBtM, excerpt and GIVEAWAY) GFT

It is my pleasure to share a guest post by author Adelle Yeung, who answers the question...

ELF: What is one of your hobbies and how has it enriched your writing?

Voiceover and Writing

Adelle Yeung

Although my number one passion has and probably will always be writing, I’m most well-known among my friends for my voice acting. I had always wanted to act, but when I was younger, I was too shy, so my teachers didn’t think they could count on me for a school play. When I finally did get to act in high school, it was at first more through the words. I didn’t know how to perform with my body.

Finally, in senior year of high school, I tried out for the school play and landed the lead role. But that’s beside the point. What’s really important is that’s the same year I started to voice act. (Actually, a more important lesson is that if you really want to do something, go for it. You won’t know how good you are until you try it.)

Even though I make money from my voice acting, I still consider it a hobby. If you do what you love, you won’t work a day in your life, right? I love it. It makes me happy, and I’m proud to see the work that I’ve completed. I love bringing other people’s characters to life through my voice.

But being a voice actor has also shaped other parts of my life. First of all, when I pick up a book and read aloud, I don’t do it monotonously like I did in elementary school. It helps at work when I answer the phone and have to use a sweet, customer service-y, “phone voice.”

Bringing this back to my first passion, writing, it also changes how I write the characters. The characters have a distinct voice in my head, a certain speech pattern, accent, vocabulary. I read passages out loud dramatically to myself to make sure that the words convey the emotion I want.

I also grew up with JRPGs. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI-IX, Earthbound… This was before voice acting was common in video games, and I often wondered what the characters would sound like with voices. In senior year of high school, I finally had the basic technology to give voices to the characters.

Of course, wondering what other characters sounded like, I also wanted to know what my own characters would sound like with voices from real people. Over the years, I’ve befriended many friends in the online voice acting network, and I finally cast my beloved characters from The Cycle of the Six Moons! I took excerpts from the books, formatted them into scripts, and directed others to create these teaser shorts. You can listen to them here on my website.

Not every writer will have the interest to voice act, though. However, some advice I do have for fellow writers is: read your work aloud. Even record yourself and play it back. If you experience your storytelling in a different medium, you may find awkward passages, which you can in turn hone and create a more effective piece.

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The Cycle of the Six Moons Series

by Adelle Yeung

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GENRE: YA Fantasy

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BLURB:

The Starriest Summer

Fifteen-year-old Michelle saves the world on a daily basis…with her trusty video game controller, of course! Naturally, she jumps at the chance to play an experimental virtual reality game.

The beautiful fantasy world of Starrs? Check. The power to mold matter? Check. No reset button? Wait, she didn’t sign up for this!

Turns out Starrs is really real, and to make matters worse, Michelle’s interference awakens the Cycle of the Six Moons, a series of devastating trials that will devour the universe.

Fighting the apocalypse was way easier when danger stayed on the other side of the screen, but Michelle finds a secret weapon in her new-found powers. She uses them to rescue the crown prince of a powerful magic kingdom from their sworn enemies, a technologically-advanced cult that strives to eradicate magical blood.

Michelle starts to fall for Prince Jayse, the only one who believes Michelle to be a savior rather than a curse. But not even video games could prepare her for what the cult has in store for them…

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An Eclipsing Autumn

Deciding last minute to stay in Starrs, Michelle continues her epic adventure as Goddess. After all, learning how to save the world sure beats a year of pre-calculus. With her friends by her side, Michelle travels to a city of scholars to learn the lore of the Cycle of the Six Moons.

At first, the exotic retreat turns romantic, as Michelle spends her free time exchanging sweet letters with the crown prince, Jayse. But, during her studies, Michelle learns something that drastically changes her game plan. Powerful blood must be spilled to end the Cycle…blood that only runs through her veins and the prince destined to fall in love with her.

During a celebration honoring their enlightenment, Michelle and Jayse are whisked off to a rogue city as trophies of a tournament, where only the strongest can claim a taste of their blood. Gallant as ever, their guardian, Gediyon, enters to prevent harm to his friends. Unfortunately for the contestants, the Cycle’s latest trial prevents everyone from waking from a cursed slumber…

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EXCERPT

He pulls up the stone and looks at it, then steps forward. “It’s midnight.” Standing a few feet in front of me, he lifts it from his neck and dangles the chain from both hands.

My heart wants to escape my chest. I know what he’s going to do. I watch him expectantly, wondering if he can hear the drums of my heart. He looks at me with his gorgeous green eyes, his cheeks tinged pink. Maybe they reflect the red of my own face.

“A few lifetimes ago, Cyal gave this to Saei to protect her. Now it’s time I return it to you.” He raises it above my head as if it’s a crown and slips it around my neck. I catch the stone as it falls over my chest. It’s still warm.

That was enough excitement for one night, but then Jayse leans closer and places his cheek against mine. He’s going to kiss me. Oh God, he’s finally going to kiss me!

He doesn’t, and instead whispers something even sweeter. “Happy birthday, Michelle.”

Then I burst into tears, cover my mouth with my hands, and gasp, “How did you know?”

He smiles bashfully, wiping my tears away. He says, “You told me once.”

He deserves a kiss for this. I’m crying, laughing, and I throw my arms around him. I don’t kiss him, and go on bawling, “This is the first time I’ve ever had a birthday without my family.”

“I’m sure they’re celebrating the day in honor of you.”

I don’t know if they are. Jayse tells me that he hasn’t told anyone else it’s my birthday, and I want to keep it that way. I don’t want everyone treating me any more special than they already have.

We don’t stay long at the Inner Temple, because we need to be well-rested for the performance tomorrow night.

I hold Jayse’s hand while we walk back to the guest house. I sigh every now and then, thinking about how perfect his fingers feel intertwined with mine. He has such a strong grip, but it doesn’t hurt me. I feel safe.

My parents used to ask me if I felt any different each birthday. When I was little, I thought I felt older. Then I started to lie to make them think I felt special.

Now that I’m sixteen, with the responsibilities as the Cycle’s Creator, now that I’ve fallen in love, I definitely feel different. I feel like another person.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Adelle Yeung is the author of The Cycle of the Six Moons trilogy, a young adult fantasy adventure.

She is also a voice-over artist who can't go a day without a cup of tea. When she's not writing or recording, she enjoys sewing costumes, baking sweets, and escaping on video game adventures. She lives in California with a cat that dreams of eating the pet bird.

She has provided script supervision for the independent animation, Shattered Heaven, and is head script editor and one of the co-writers for the upcoming game Fiona Frightening and the Wicked Wardrobe.

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