Shadows on the Moon Blog Tour - Extract and International Giveaway

* UPDATE - THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED - Winners announced here *

I absolutely loved Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott so was incredibly excited when I was asked to take part in the blog tour.  I'll be posting my review later today so make sure you come back to read it!  This is the 6th stop on the tour so if you've missed any of the earlier stops please be sure to check them out.  I've included links to each of the previous posts below along with links to the blogs hosting the remaining 3 stops to make them easier for you to find:

30th June - My Favourite Books posted 3 different posts - a review, an extract and a guest post about fairy tales with a giveaway
1st July - Serendipity Reviews posted a fabulous guest post about a day in Zoe's life along with a giveaway & a review
2nd July - Undercover posted a guest post about Zoe's favourite reads
3rd July - Book Angel Booktopia posted the soundtrack for Shadows on the Moon
4th July - Writing from the Tub posted an extract & giveaway
5th July - Feeling Fictional
6th July - Narratively Speaking
7th July - The Zoe-trope
8th July - The Overflowing Library

Suzume is a shadow weaver.
She can be anyone she wants.
Except herself.

Only one man sees through her illusions.
Only one man loves the girl within.
And he will not give her up.
Not even to a prince.

Visit Zoe Marriott's website more information.  You can also check out Zoe's blog or follow her on Twitter.











Shadows on the Moon Extract:

“Here, stand on this. You’ll get a good view.” His hand left my arm at last to grab my waist, and he lifted me on to a large coil of rope. I wobbled, and found myself clutching at him. Standing like this I was taller than he was, and the rail only went up to my hips. The sea was jumping and fizzling below, blowing more spray up into my face until I had to turn my head away. I clutched at him more tightly.

“Terayama-san, I do not think—”

As I spoke my eye was caught by a fleet, dark shape that swooped through the black tracery of the rigging, circling and diving as if at play. It was the falcon. This was the first time I had seen it since that day on the docks. Even above the sound of the sea I heard my stepfather suck in a sharp breath.

At that same moment the ship made another bucking movement. Terayama-san seemed to stumble. His shoulder drove into mine.

A scream wrenched from my lips as I was shoved forward, feet skidding off the coiled rope. My hips smacked into the rail and I tilted like an acrobat about to do a cartwheel.

I screamed again, slapping my arms down against the wooden planks. The silver-grey water reached up as if to grab me.

There was a flash of red on my left. A hand clamped down on my shoulder like an iron vice. Another hand grasped the back of my kimono. I was dragged back over the side, ribs grating painfully on the rail. Then I was falling again, backwards this time, on to the deck.

I landed with a sob, fighting to breathe. It took me a minute to notice that I had not landed on wood but on a person. My rescuer lay underneath me, his arm now around my waist. His heart was racing against my shoulder blade, chest heaving with shallow gasps like my own.

I turned my head and looked into the face of one of Terayama-san’s foreigners. The boy.

This close, I could make out the patterns of dark blue dots that swirled across his cheeks. His eyes were not dark, as I would have expected, but a sort of brownish-green, the colour of mulberry leaves. He smelled like cassia: the very best quality cinnamon.

The foreigner slowly pushed himself up, bringing me with him. His arm was still round my waist, and the heat of him seemed to pulse against my chilled skin, even through the layers of my clothes.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice a husky, softly accented whisper.

“I–I do not think so,” I said, taking stock of my aches and bruises. “Thanks to you.”

Giveaway Details:

Shadows on the Moon is a beautiful story and I'm very excited to be able to give away 2 copies to my readers.  Thanks to Walker Books for allowing me to host the giveaway.

• I have 2 copies of Shadows on the Moon to give away, 1 for a UK resident and 1 for an international reader.
• The UK winner will receive a finished copy of Shadows on the Moon that will be sent out directly by my contact at Walker Books.  The winner must give me permission to pass their contact details to Walker.
• The international winner will receive an ARC of Shadows on the Moon that will be posted by me.
• Winners will be chosen at random from all entries received. 
• Only 1 entry per person please, multiple entries will be deleted.
• To enter please fill in your name and email address in the form below and confirm if you are a UK or international resident.
• The giveaway will close on the 19th July 2011 and winners will be contacted soon afterwards.  You will have 48 hours to contact me with your address or new winners will be chosen.